Flight of Life (Essence Series #1) (36 page)

“
That must be why it
glows,” Callow said sadly.

“
How do we remove the
essence stored inside?” Breccan asked.

“
I have no idea,” Calloway
said. “But we’ll find out.”

Calloway leaned back in his chair and
stared at the bookcases that surrounded the library. It always
seemed like a Hara-Kir was lurking in the shadows, waiting to
pounce on them at any moment. Some of the shelves were still on the
ground from his flight from the Hara-Kir weeks ago. He hadn’t
cleaned up his mess.

Their constant presence made Calloway
wonder what their fascination was with this place. Yes, it was
abandoned and deserted, making human contact minimal, but if they
were on this side of the portal weren’t they looking for humans?
Calloway still didn’t understand why they were always here. What
was it?

The realization suddenly dawned on him.
“The Hara-Kirs are always here,” he said quietly. “The last time we
fought a Hara-Kir we were here for an hour before it attacked us.
Why did it wait?”

Easton stared at his frightened
expression. “What are you saying?”

“
It didn’t attack us right
away because it wasn’t here.”

“
What
?” Breccan asked.

“
I’m saying that the
Hara-Kirs aren’t hiding in the library,” Calloway said. “They
are
coming
from
it. The portal is here—in the Grandiose Historian
Library.”

Easton ran her hands through her hair.
“You’re right,” she said. “I didn’t realize it before. That
explains everything.”

“
That’s creepy,” Breccan
said.

“
Very,” Calloway
said.

“
That explains why your
father bought the building,” Easton said. “He protected the
innocent people from being killed.”

Calloway nodded. “Now we just have to
find it.”

A New Look

“
Let’s get out of here,”
Marquan said as they walked out of the sandwich shop. “If I have to
look at any more sandwiches I’m going to heave.”

“
It’s not that bad,”
Calloway said. “It’s free food.”

“
Well, you haven’t been
working here for three years.” Marquan laughed. “You’ll get
there.”

“
I sincerely hope not.”
Calloway laughed. “I wasn’t planning on working in college. I want
to focus on my studies.” They got inside the car and Marquan drove
down the street.

“
Don’t you need food and
water? You know—the basic necessities.”

Calloway shrugged. “I’ll get a loan.”
He assumed he would qualify for a scholarship to cover his basic
needs but he didn’t mention this to Marquan. There was no way to
discuss his outstanding exam scores without Calloway sounding
arrogant or pretentious. He decided to keep it to
himself.

“
Loans are dangerous,” he
said. “I try to avoid them as much as possible.”

“
We’ll see,” Calloway
said. “I have time to figure it out.”

Marquan nodded. “Yeah, that’s true.” He
drove down the road and approached the house. “You got plans
tonight?”

Calloway shook his head. “No,” he said.
“I think I’m staying home. What are you up to?”

“
I’m going to a friend’s
party,” he said. “It should be cool.”

“
Well, have fun,” Calloway
said as he got out of the car. “And be safe.”

“
Who are you? My mom?” He
laughed. “I’ll be fine.”

The phone on the wall was ringing when
Calloway walked into the house. His aunt and uncle weren’t home so
he took the call.

“
Hello?”

“
Hey, it’s
Easton.”

“
Are you coming
over?”

“
No,” she said. “Weston
wanted me to invite you guys to her New Year’s Eve party. She
assumed you didn’t have any plans.”

“
I thought she hated me,”
Calloway said. “Wants nothing to do with me?”

Easton sighed. “That isn’t what she
said. She just can’t be affiliated with you politically, if you
understand my meaning. She still cares for you. So are you coming
or what?”

“
I guess,” Calloway said.
“It should be fun.”

“
Okay,” she said. “I’ll be
there soon.”

Calloway ended the call and walked
upstairs to his bedroom. Breccan was sitting on the bed with
Calloway’s laptop in front of him. The laptop was a communion piece
of equipment and Calloway shared it with his whole family. The
sound of Breccan typing echoed in the room and Calloway assumed his
cousin was completing his school applications.
“Weston invited us to her New Year’s Eve party,” Calloway said. He
sat on the bed across from his cousin and leaned against the
headboard.

“
She did?” Breccan asked.
“I thought she didn’t trust you.”

“
She still doesn’t.”
Calloway sighed. “Maybe I can convince her tonight.”

“
I would let it go,”
Breccan said. “You’re just going to irritate her.”

Calloway nodded. “You’re probably
right.”

“
Wait,” Breccan said. “How
did you know about the party?”

“
Easton told
me.”

“
When?” Breccan asked.
“When did you talk to her?”

“
She called the house a
few minutes ago,” Calloway answered. The unusual questions were odd
coming from Breccan.

“
She called you?” he
asked.

“
No, she called the house
phone,” Calloway answered. This conversation was so awkward and
unexpected that Calloway wasn’t sure what to think. Why did Breccan
have such an interest in Calloway speaking to Easton? “So, are you
coming?”

“
Yes,” Breccan answered.
“I love college parties.”

“
You’ve only been to one.”
Calloway laughed.

“
Well, I’m sure there will
be plenty more,” he said. “Are you going to talk to
Weston?”

Calloway shrugged. “If she talks to
me,” he said.

“
Are you going to tell her
about the Kirin Book? Maybe she’ll trust you if you hand it
over.”

“
No,” Calloway said. “She
would confiscate it and never return it. After we decipher the
whole thing, I have no problem handing it over. But for now, it’s
ours. Since we can’t count on any help from Weston, I think we
should move forward. Our next step will be finding the portal
inside the Grandiose Historian Library.”

“
Are we going to cross
it?” Breccan asked.

“
Yes,” he said. “We have
to. There’s no other way to learn about the enemy.”

Breccan nodded. “Weston will be angry
if we hide this—especially since Easton is involved.”

Calloway shook his head. “She doesn’t
want to be associated with us,” he said. “I wish I could confide in
her. It would be nice to have help.”

“
Yes, it would.” Breccan
sighed. “But we’ll prove your loyalty to her eventually. You can’t
be shut out forever. After you kill a hundred Hara-Kirs people are
going to realize it.”

“
That’s a lot,” Calloway
said. “I sincerely hope it doesn’t take that many.”

“
It might even take more.”
He shrugged. Breccan closed the laptop and looked through his
clothes to find something to wear to the party. “All my clothes are
dirty, worn, and too big. I wish I had something else to
wear.”

Calloway recalled the night of the
formal and how different he looked in the mirror. Just a change of
clothes and a shower had transformed his appearance. Since he was
going to a social gathering he wanted to look presentable even
though no one care about how he looked. He wanted to look his best.
“Let’s go shopping,” he said. “I’ll buy us new outfits.”

Breccan stared at him.
“Really?”

“
Yes,” he said. “Since
your parents rejected my money I’ve been saving my checks—I have
some spare change.”

“
Let’s go!” Breccan said
as he jumped up. “No one is going to say anything to us
now.”

Calloway laughed. “They didn’t say
anything last time we were there.”

“
I wonder what Easton will
say,” Breccan said.

“
I doubt she will care,”
Calloway said as they walked down the stairs. “We can ride our
bikes to the department store then shower when we get
back.”

“
That sounds like a plan,”
Breccan said as they walked out the front door and locked it behind
them. They traveled down the street to a mens clothing store and
picked out an outfit they could wear to the New Year’s Eve party.
Calloway found a pair of dark jeans and a thin blue sweater to
match. Breccan found an outfit with plain jeans and a gray
long-sleeved shirt. After they bought the clothes they rode their
bikes home and showered before the party.

When Calloway looked in the mirror, he
was pleased with his appearance and wondered if anyone would notice
him. When he was dressed in clean clothes he felt more confident
and calm, knowing he wouldn’t be teased about his looks. Now he
could blend into the crowd like a normal student. Instead of being
identified based on his low income, people would know him based on
his personality—who he actually was.

“
How do I look?” Breccan
asked.

“
Like a million bucks,”
Calloway said.

“
Cool,” he
said.

The doorbell rang and they knew Easton
had arrived. When they opened the door she stared at them both for
a moment. “Did you get new clothes?”

“
Yes,” Breccan smiled.
“Calloway bought them.”

“
That was nice,” she said.
“What’s the occasion?”

“
Not having anything else
to wear.” Calloway laughed. “Our jeans have too many holes. It
looks like one big rip.”

“
Are you guys ready?” she
asked.

“
Yes,” Calloway
said.

They got into Easton’s classic car and
drove to Weston’s small house on the other side of town. Calloway
turned to Easton while they drove. “I think we should search for
the portal at the Headquarters soon. We aren’t going to be getting
any help so we are on our own. We need to start moving
forward.”

Easton sighed. “I suppose you’re right.
I’m not sure where to begin.”

“
Neither do I,” Breccan
said.

“
We’ll figure it out,”
Calloway said. “I’m certain the portal is in the library. That’s
the only explanation for the plethora of Hara-Kirs.”

“
In the spirit of the
season, let’s forget about the end of the world and the Hara-Kirs
and try to have some fun,” Easton said.

Calloway laughed. “We can give it a
shot.”

New Year’s Eve

There was nowhere to park when Easton
reached her sister’s neighborhood. Every curb and driveway was
occupied by a vehicle, and Easton was forced to park down a
different street away from the house.

“
Someone is popular,”
Breccan said as they climbed out of the car.

Easton locked the door and headed
toward the house down the road. “My sister is known for her
parties. The basement is really convenient. She doesn’t have to
worry about making a mess because it’s concrete and it’s impossible
to break anything down there.”

“
That’s good to know,”
Breccan said. “How many people are going to be here?”

“
I have no idea,” she
said.

When they reached the house they heard
the faint bump of music from the underground basement as it thudded
against their eardrums. The beautiful rustic house on the front
yard appeared vacated. All the lights were off and there were no
cars in the driveway. It seemed like everyone was already asleep.
When they came to the front door, Calloway felt his heart hammer in
his chest, and he felt immensely nervous, unsure how he should act
around Weston. Would she tell everyone in the White Wing to stay
away from him next year at school? Would he be just as much of an
outcast as he was now? But then he became more pragmatic when he
realized Weston would never do that to him. Only if he was a threat
would she tell everyone about his circumstance.

They walked inside and saw people
standing in the corners, holding cups in their hands while they
were engaged in conversation. Most of the women wore healed leather
boots with bright colored sweaters. The men wore thick jackets that
protected their bodies from the cold. It was evident that Weston
didn’t have the heater on because of the cold temperature in the
house. Calloway assumed it was because she anticipated the comings
and goings of people.

A man that Calloway had never seen
before came up and patted him on the shoulder. “Good game,” he said
before he left through the front door and walked across the grass.
The three of them stared at each other for a moment then moved
further in the house. There was a Christmas tree in the small
living room and the house was still decorated in the festive
spirit. The kitchen table was laden with Christmas cookies along
with chips, dip, and slices of pizza. Calloway looked for Weston in
the room but he didn’t see her—she must be in the
basement.