Haven [1] A Stranger Magic (11 page)

Sam ran as fast as his legs could go. Travis was not far behind. Their gangly shadows stretched across the tunnel walls, disappearing and reappearing as the candle lantern bounced in Travis’s hand.

“Come on, Travis, we’re almost there!” Sam yelled.

The first ledge was right in front of them. Sam leaped up onto it as darkness engulfed the tunnel. A loud crash of breaking glass rang out, followed by an ominous thud. Travis had run straight into the wall of the first ledge and had broken the lantern.

“Travis, are you okay?” Sam yelled.

He stood on the ledge and looked back down into the sea of darkness, frantically searching. All Sam could hear were crunching sounds as Travis’s shoes moved back and forth over the glass and gravel.

“Ugh … I’m okay!” Travis yelled as he stood up, reaching for the first ledge.

Sam felt Travis’s hand brush his own, and he quickly moved to the right, giving Travis room to get up. The bats had fallen back now, and were only flying past them every now and again, but the eerie insect sound of the spiders was growing closer.

“Faster, Travis, they’re almost on us!”

Travis’s body was still hanging halfway off the ledge. He swung his knee as high as he could, trying desperately to reach the edge. Sam grabbed the back of Travis’s shirt and pulled him up next to him.

Sam could hear the loud hissing and squealing of the spiders below, and it sent cold chills up his spine. Every hair on his neck was standing at attention; his body quivered in disgust at the thought of a hundred hairy spider legs climbing over his body.

Sam looked up through the round hole of the entrance to the caves, just as the moonlight broke through the silver clouds. It cast a faint silhouette of oak trees on the preceding level. Hundreds of bats burst from the tunnel behind them and flew out of the cave. They scattered into the night, causing the moonlight to flicker.

Both Sam and Travis reached for the top of the entrance, but Travis looked back down. The spiders were quickly scaling over the edge behind them.

Illuminated by the moonlight, Travis could now see the group of spiders making their way forward and gathering around Sam’s feet. In seconds they had swarmed his ankles, and were moving up his legs.

“Sam they’re on you!” Travis cried out.

Sam felt them moving up his calves. The light pads of the spiders’ feet tapped sporadically as they made their way toward his knees. He jumped as high as he could, hurling himself upward toward the entrance of the cave, but he fell short, hitting the edge of the rock with his ribs. He dangled there for a brief moment with his body halfway out of the entrance. The impact had left him breathless, as if all the air in his lungs had been sucked out by a giant vacuum cleaner. A sharp pain was shooting across his rib cage. With nothing to hold on to he slowly began to slide back into the hole. He reached for the tall tufts of weeds in front of him, and grabbed two large fistfuls, and pulled with all his might, slowing his descent. Gasping, he hoisted his right leg over the edge and heaved his body onto the soft ground. He rolled through the grass as fast as he could, sending spiders flying in every direction.

Travis followed close behind him, but he also got stuck halfway out and could not get his leg over the edge of the opening. His hands began to slip; he reached for the surrounding weeds, but they tore from the ground as he grasped them. Spiders were crawling up his legs and up the back of his shirt now. Stuck in the same spot as Sam had been, Travis slipped back into cave entrance.

“Sam! Help me!” he cried out.

Sam shot his hand over the edge and grabbed the back of Travis’s shirt, pulling him upward and sending spiders flying into the air. The two boys both fell back on the ground. Travis’s legs were covered with spiders. He landed on the ground with a loud thud and began to shake himself frantically.

Sam and Travis rolled on the ground for what seemed like forever, until every spider was either gone or smashed to death by the violent thrashing.

Sam and Travis lay on their backs, breathing hard and staring up into the dense canopy of tree branches.

They could smell the familiar mixture of bark and weeds in the moist air around them. The blackbirds nesting above them crowed erratically, and the moonlight that had once seeped through the treetops had vanished behind the clouds. The screeching sound from the spiders and bats had stopped, and nothing seemed to be following them out of the cave entrance.

“You alright?” Sam asked, trying to straighten himself out.

“Yeah, I’m okay. You?” Travis replied between deep gulps of air.

“I’m okay, but let’s get out of here before the rest of them make it up here,” Sam said.

“I’m right with you!”

Sam stood quickly, holding his ribs. His arms and elbows were scraped and cut. Travis didn’t look much better. Both boys were still soaking wet and covered in grass, dirt, spider guts, and bat droppings. Sam helped Travis to his feet and they both turned and ran as fast as they could past the oak trees, tall weeds, and into the open area of the quarry, all the while constantly checking behind them for spiders and bats.

T
he night sky was filled with silver clouds and a radiant cream-colored moon that seemed to follow the boys as they walked briskly back through their development.

Sam’s ribs were throbbing now; the cuts and scrapes were starting to sting. His mind kept flashing back to the mirror. Had the stranger come through a mirror like the spiders did, he wondered.

Travis was walking very stiffly, trying not to cause any additional pain. Trickles of blood from small scrapes cascaded down his arms like road maps to nowhere. His muscles were taut and his legs ached as if he had run a small marathon.

“Sam, I’ve never seen anything like that in my life! The mirror was floating above the water! Just freaking floating!”

Sam looked over at Travis. He had no idea just how bizarre things really were.

“I mean, how in the world did it do that? Where did it come from?” he continued. “And who or what made the new tunnel?”

Sam thought for a moment before he spoke. What would be the best way to tell Travis that yes, he had seen something just as crazy before and it happened just the other night? What if he went on to tell Travis about the stranger that might be stalking him and that he can vanish into thin air? Surely he would believe him now! Surely after tonight he would know it was in the realm of possibility, surely.

Sam knew if he told Travis the truth it would place him on the same path as Sam. But what was that path? Where was it headed? Perhaps Travis had been on the same road all along without knowing it. After all, it was Travis’s idea to come to the caves. Didn’t he owe it to Travis to tell him the truth? What if the stranger came after Travis? That was a chance Sam couldn’t take, Sam concluded. Travis had to know.

“Well, to tell you the truth Trav, there have been some very strange things happening around the Dalcome house lately.”

Travis looked over at Sam with his dark brown eyes squinted and eyebrows flexed, preparing himself for more of the bizarre.

Sam began to explain in detail the events of the last several days. He told Travis about the dreams he had and the mysterious stranger outside his house. He told him about the chocolate wrappers and how the stranger had disappeared into thin air.

Travis listened intently, never interrupting to ask questions. By the time Sam had finished Travis’s face had gone sallow. The realization of what Sam had said was slowly sinking in. The moment had come and gone, the words had escaped Sam’s mouth and seeped into the air, changing everything they knew around them. Things were different now; more real, and more alive. Magic had fused unimaginable possibilities together with imminent danger bringing forth a world they never knew existed, but that had always been there. Magic had slumbered in the shadows until now. Now it was awake and nothing would ever be the same. Sam shivered at the thought.

They rounded the corner to Giddyup Lane. Their neighborhood in the past had felt like an old friend—familiar and comfortable, but most of all safe. But tonight it felt foreign and eerie. Things they took for granted, such as next door neighbors, stray animals, and insects, for that matter, could no longer be looked at in the same way. Not anymore, not with magic out there. Not with the stranger out there.

Sam and Travis continued to walk in silence. The soft breeze grazed against treetops of maples, elms, and oaks that perfectly lined both sides of the street, rooted in small, overpriced lots. Sam’s house was the fifth from the end on the left.

As the boys approached his house, Sam could see that the light in his mother’s bedroom was still on. His heart sank just a little, remembering that he still owed her an apology. With all that had happened he had simply forgotten about it. It was just one more thing that would have to be done before the night was through.

As they stopped in front of his house Sam turned to Travis with a sardonic grin.

“Well, we made it.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure that’s a good thing,” Travis said.

He quickly surveyed Sam’s appearance and shook his head as a smile crept to the corners of his mouth.

“You look like crap,” Travis said.

Sam could not help but laugh; it was the first time he’d laughed in days, as far as he could remember, and it felt good.

“We smell like it, too!” he added.

They both continued to laugh as they tried half-heartedly to straighten and dust themselves off. But it was no use. Their shirts and shorts were stained and torn, their hair matted to their faces, and Travis was even missing a shoe.

“Hey, what are you going to tell your mother?” Travis asked.

“Nothing, I mean, do you really think she, or anyone else, would believe me?”

“No, probably not. Heck, I wouldn’t believe you if I hadn’t been there.”

But Travis had been there and he had seen the magic with his own eyes. Sam was glad Travis had gone to the cave because now he was no longer alone.

“Okay then, well, I’ll talk to you tomorrow, right?” Travis asked.

“Yeah, I’ll talk to you tomorrow. You okay walking home?”

“I’m okay. The stranger’s after you, not me, right?” Travis said smiling.

“Well, for now.” Sam grinned back.

Travis’s smile faded. “Yeah, not funny Sam.”

“I’m kidding.”

Travis turned, and with only one shoe on he headed home.

Sam opened the front door to his house. It was dark inside except for the dim light coming from the kitchen. He had been out much later than he expected, so late that he had missed dinner, and both Sarah and his mother were either in bed or asleep by now.

The smell of homemade meatloaf from dinner lingered in the air, which made his stomach growl. For a brief moment his body wasn’t hurting, he wasn’t scared, he was just hungry. Really hungry. It felt good to be home.

Sam slowly closed the front door and quietly walked into the living room. His mother’s self-help book
Stretching a Dollar
by Reginald Blum was lying on the couch, and a mug of decaffeinated green tea sat atop a silver coaster on the wooden coffee table.

His mother had finished her nightly routine, which consisted of light reading followed by a hot cup of tea and bed. Sam looked up to the top of the stairs; her light was turned off now. He had missed her once again, and his apology would have to wait till tomorrow.

Sam sighed and walked into the kitchen. On the counter top in all its edible glory was his favorite meal in the entire world—his mother’s meatloaf.

The meatloaf was piled high and surround by fresh green beans and homemade mashed potatoes. A rich yummy tomato sauce covered the succulent meat. Sam thought it was almost too beautiful to eat.

He opened the counter drawer, pulled out a fork, and began to eat. The meatloaf was still warm and moist. He shoveled his food in so fast that for a brief moment he forgot to breathe.

Before Sam knew it, he had eaten the entire meal and his belly was full. He washed his plate and placed it in the dishwasher. Normally he would just leave it in the sink because dishes were Sarah’s chore, but for some reason he didn’t. Why was he feeling especially nice? Maybe it was the fact that he had triumphantly escaped the spiders in the cave, and now he was home, and had just eaten the best meal of his entire life. Despite all this comfort, Sam still felt uneasy about the events of the past few days. Then he remembered the spiders.

“Spiders, oh no!” he said to himself.

The spiders that were in the rosebushes were the same kind spiders that had attacked him tonight. Were they still out there? Were there more of them?

He quickly rounded the kitchen counter and headed to the front door. He turned on the front porch light and made his way down the steps to the rosebushes.

His eyes scanned every leaf, stem, and thorn on the twisted clump of bush, but he found nothing. There was not a single spider or trace of a web. Part of the bush was still mangled from where he had fallen in the day before. It was a sad-looking bush; there wasn’t even a single rose on it.

After closely scanning the surrounding area he finally felt satisfied that the spiders were gone. He made his way back into the house, locked up, and went upstairs. Sarah’s light was off too. Apparently they both had gone to bed early.