Lucas Ryan Versus: The Return (5 page)

LEVEL 08

BIG FREEZE

Detention. Again. Story of my life. At least I was able to share this latest round of punishment with Olivia. She quickly walked past my desk, pulling her long brown hair up into a ponytail. Strips of vibrant purple were painted throughout, highlighting her perfect face. She impatiently tapped her fingernails along the surface of her desk and looked my way.

“Hey,” she whispered.

“We meet again,” I teased. She playfully rolled her eyes and leaned closer to me.

“I’ve got some good news.”

“Really? What?”

“Homecoming Dance!” she announced. A disgruntled kid in the back of the room grumbled disapprovingly. We tried our best to ignore him.

“Homecoming?” I asked, wide-eyed.
Was she going to ask me to the dance
? I hated school functions, especially dances, but for her, I’d make an exception.

“Yeah. My band just got the word, we’re playing the dance.” She sounded so excited but all I could do was pout. I thought for sure she was going to ask me to be her date. For a split second I thought maybe she had reconsidered our arrangement.

“Oh,” I mumbled. “That’s great, Olivia.” She could tell I was upset but she pretended not to notice.

“Lucas, I was hoping you’d be there.”

“I don’t know. I’ll probably still be grounded then, and I really hate school dances.” I searched my brain for more excuses not to come and she looked hurt by my words.

“Is that so?” she frowned.

“Yes.”

Looking away from me, “Okay.”

An awkward silence began to fill the void between us. I shuffled in my seat nervously. I felt bad. Surprisingly, my arm began to tingle and Ripley came to life inside my head.

~ Lucas, you should accept her invitation. ~

I should?
I responded back with only my thoughts.

~ Yes. ~

Why? She said she needed to take things slow. I think the fact that I have an all-powerful dragon living inside of me is just a bit too much for her.

~ You’re wrong. ~

How would you know?

~ Because I believe. ~

With a huff and a slap on my desktop, I snapped out loud, “Don’t start that again!” Olivia looked at me with shock. Quickly, she glanced down at my tattoo along my arm and smiled.

“What’s Ripley saying now?” she barely whispered.

“Umm…nothing…” I said, embarrassed. She locked her eyes on mine and tilted her head my way as if to say,
‘stop lying to me’
. I shrank in my chair a little before finding my courage again. Maybe Ripley was onto something. Why would she be upset that I refused to come to the dance if she didn’t still have feelings for me? I held my breath and slid closer to her.

“Maybe I could stop by the dance for a few minutes.” Her face lit up a little at my words.

“Really?”

I nodded my head yes, and asked, “Would you save me a dance?” Her eyes spun with anticipation.

A playful smile crawled along her lips. “Maybe.”

Time slowed down and I felt my heartbeat in my cheeks. Olivia always seemed to do this to me. I returned a goofy smile and leaned back in my chair. I could’ve lived in that moment for at least a week but like the rest of my day, things were about to get complicated.

“Are you two done?” Someone asked disgusted from the back of the classroom. “I understand detention is supposed to be a punishment, but listening to you two lovebirds is just plain painful!”

Olivia and I whipped around to find Rory McConnell, the school’s worst bully. Red hair, pimples, bad teeth, all wrapped in a leather jacket and attitude. He was one of my regulars. A bully you could set your clock by. Looking into his bloodshot eyes, I knew two things. He hadn’t slept in a while and this would surely suck.

“How’s it going, Rory?” I said, sarcastically. He cracked his knuckles and stood up.

“Shut up, Lucas! If I wanted to hear anything from you, I’d smack it out of you!”

“Calm down, we’re already locked up in this room for the next hour. Maybe we should try getting along,” I helplessly tried to reason with him. It was a waste of time.

“Don’t tell me what to do!” he roared. With a stomp of his booted feet, he made his way toward us. Olivia immediately jumped in front of him.

“What’s your problem, Rory?” she scolded.

“You and the nerd are my problem,” he said, with his eyes stabbing me. Man, when would these bullies get new material? “I’m here to serve my time, not watch a couple of idiots play the Dating Game!”

Olivia shoved herself into him only inches from his face. “Call me an idiot again. I. Dare. You.”

“Ha, ha, ha, are you serious?” Rory wiped his mouth in anticipation and stared past Olivia directly at me. “You really gonna let her fight
your
fight, Lucas?”

His words made my blood boil. The lines of my tattoo warmed with a dull glow as Ripley dared to make an appearance. I quickly hid my forearm behind me as I turned to face him dead on. His eyes focused harder on me. Olivia placed a hand on my chest, firmly.

“Lucas, no. He’s not worth it, not today.”

“He’s the only one who’s in trouble, Olivia,” I smiled, and snapped my fingers behind my back. Ripley spun to life inside my slightly opened fist, tiny and fierce.

“Bring it on, geek!” Rory taunted. I nodded to Olivia just as she noticed my coiled fist behind me. She looked unsure but slowly backed out of the way. Rory didn’t waste another second. He lunged forward with teeth clenched and dirty fists pushing outward. I gulped a large piece of oxygen and closed my eyes. Instantly, I shot my arm in front of me and slammed my open palm into his chest. A puff of blue and black smoke painted his T-Shirt and lower neck.

“Ahhh!” Rory hollered, before falling silent. His body immediately flew backwards landing back in his chair at the desk he had previously occupied. His torso slumped forward as if he had fallen asleep at his desk. He was unconscious but not terribly hurt. He’d probably wake up with a decent headache, but I made sure not to hurt him too badly.

“Lucas!” Olivia snapped.

“No worries, I just stunned him.” I revealed my hand with a silly wiggle of my fingers, exposing my open palm. Ripley’s glowing gold eyes stared from inside letting her know that it was all under control. Swiftly, my magical weapon faded away into my skin and my markings along my arm fell back to normal.

“You can’t do that,” Olivia said, directly.

“I’ve spent my whole high school experience being pushed around by him and his loser buddies, maybe it’s time for me to stand up for myself. Taylor won’t always be there to save me,” I said, more upset than I was planning.

“What if it had killed him?”

“But it didn’t.”

“Lucas, you know I’m right. You have to be more responsible until you learn how to control your new…gift.” Her eyes fell on me hard and angry. She was right. I didn’t like it, but she was.

“Okay,” I wilted.

Suddenly, we were joined by Mr. Parker, the school’s Guidance Counselor. He was in charge of after-school detention. He actually volunteered for the duty. His face jabbed through the doorway led by his thick glasses. They dangled almost at the tip of his nose, just a nudge away from falling to the floor. He searched the mostly empty classroom before directing his attention my way.

“Ryan,” he sulked. “Of course it would be Mr. Ryan.”

“Good afternoon, Mr. Parker,” I mumbled, and sat down in my chair. Olivia followed my lead.

Mr. Parker then acknowledged Olivia with a head nod. “Ms. Weaver, as usual.”

“You’re late,” she said. He immediately grew upset, but turned his attention to Rory who was lightly snoring now.

“What happened to him?” Mr. Parker asked, annoyed. Olivia and I glanced at each other and we both shrugged our shoulders in indifference. Mr. Parker walked to the front of the room and sat down at the main desk. “All right, there’s still forty-five minutes left in this session, I suggest you two use it wisely.”

Olivia pulled a pad of paper and a pen from her small backpack. She flipped to a fresh page and began scribbling down lines of text. Probably lyrics for a new song. Reaching into my school backpack, I removed three different cell phones and placed them on my desk. I pulled a small kit of tiny tools out next, and began tearing the gadgets apart. I had three recent customers who needed their phones fixed as soon as possible. If I was going to spend the next few weeks locked in this timeout, then I’d at least make some money during it. Lucky for me there wasn’t a piece of electronics I couldn’t fix.

Detention flew by and Olivia let me walk her to the school parking lot where her band members milled around. They were waiting for her to finish up her punishment for the day so they could start this afternoon’s band practice. They did have a dance to prepare for after all. Just as Olivia climbed into the passenger’s side of the older SUV, she called out to me.

“You need a ride?” Her eyes smiled my way and I blushed a little. The other band members fidgeted impatiently, ready to rock.

With a wave of my hand, I smiled, “Nah, I’ve got a ride.”

“Okay.”

“See you tomorrow, Rockstar,” I said, coyly.

“Be good,” she whispered back. Olivia and her band drove away quickly and I cautiously surveyed the parking lot. It was almost empty, just a few cars left. Probably some late working teachers. But there was no prying eyes in view. I raised my hand in front of my face with my palm opened, and my fingers bent in anticipation. Ripley materialized inside it only six inches tall.

“Ripley, it looks like I don’t have a ride home.” Ripley nodded in understanding. A huge smile cut across my face. “I have an idea…”

Moments later I found the town below me rushing by at an insane speed. I held onto Ripley’s neck as we raced through the fluffy white clouds, making my way to my house in a matter of minutes.

Yup, I think I was getting the hang of this phenomenal cosmic power.

LEVEL 09

PANIC STATION

Soaring. Twisting. Gliding through the open air. As I outstretched my arms and let my fingers tickle the stars, I laughed wildly. With each flicker of spinning light, I pushed Ripley faster.

“Fly faster! Faster!”

Ripley’s metal body pointed itself toward the glowing moon and rushed forward. The midnight sky swirled from purple to black as the bursting stars bounced off of our bodies. From below us the ocean grew darker and darker. The wild moonlight sparkled like diamonds in its mighty reflection. For the briefest moment I couldn’t tell which way was up or down, heaven or Earth. It felt wonderful. It felt crazy. It felt unreal.

It was most definitely a dream.

Ripley tore through the atmosphere, punching us both into the center of the moon. It exploded like a firework, sending colorful bursts into my hair and clothes. I screamed with excitement and begged Ripley to fly faster. Unexpectedly though, Ripley froze in place, leaving us stranded a million miles above the world.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

~ Listen. ~

“For what?”

~ Don’t speak. Listen. ~

I closed my eyes tightly and focused all my attention on the sound of…nothing. What the heck was going on here? This was
my
dream. Ripley didn’t control that, I did.

“Ripley…”

~ Listen. ~

Just then a faint scream echoed below us. “Did you hear that?”

~ Listen. ~

“I am.” Another scream followed, this time much louder. It sounded like Olivia’s little sister, Sophia. Then, another terrifying scream. There was no doubt this time that it was Sophia. I’d recognize that call for help anywhere.

~ She’s in trouble, Lucas. ~

“Go! Now! Take me to her!” I demanded. Ripley coiled around me, clutching me like a vise with steel appendages. “Hurry!”

In a blink of an eye we disappeared in the sky. When we reappeared we were in the middle of a classroom, but not just any classroom…Biology II.

“Why did you take us here?” I began to ask when another scream shattered the windows around us. It hurt my ears and Ripley retreated into my arm without a word. I spun around to find Sophia in the back of the room, clutching the walls of a dark corner. Her face was pale like a ghost and tears were pouring down her cheeks. She was moving wildly but it was in slow motion as if she was underwater.

“Soph!” I called out, and ran up to her. Her eyes grew big and round. As I reached for her, she shrieked one terrifying word.

“SHE!”

“She? She who?” I asked, in a panic.

“SHE!” Sophia bellowed again. I didn’t understand. My hands reached out for her but like a candle flame, she disappeared. Vanished.
What the heck was going on?

“Soph?” I trembled. No answer though. She was gone. From behind me came a sound. It was just as annoying as it was horrifying.

SCREEEEEEEEEEECH!

The unmistakable sound of nails on a chalkboard. Only it was louder and more electronic sounding. Like metal against cracking glass. Before I could spin around it happened again.

SCREEEEEEEEEEECH!

“Mr. Ryan!” an unwelcome voice announced. My eyes focused harder revealing Ms. Strickland standing at the front of the classroom like a beautiful statue. Her eyes were alive with hate and she wore a smirk at the corner of her mouth.

“Ms. Strickland?” I asked, without much sound. She smiled wider and took a step closer to me. It was an unnatural stride though, almost like she wasn’t flesh and bone. Mechanical, like a robot. Then another step. I wanted to turn and run but I couldn’t move. I was frozen in place as if my feet were buried in concrete.
Crap.

“I have something for you, Mr. Ryan,” she said, from the corner of her perfectly painted lips.

“That’s okay, you can keep it.”

Another crunch of her foot thundered inside the room as she was only a few feet from me now. “And, Mr. Ryan, you have something I need.”

Crap, crap.
She stepped right in front of me, inches from my face.

“What are you?” I said, petrified. Her smile faded away and she brought her hands up to her face and removed her thin glasses, placing them along the top of her hair. She brought one hand down and wrapped it around my tattooed wrist. Her other hand slid along the line of her chin. I watched as her blood-red fingernails found their way to the side of her face and cheek. Then, with the movement of a ghost, she jabbed her index finger into one of her lower eyelids. I tried to look away but couldn’t. My mouth fell open, unable to say a word.

“What am I?” she cackled, as dark black liquid streamed down her face. With a sickening crunch she jerked a convulsing spider-serpent from her eyeball and let it writhe in front of my face. Its legs clicked and clawed for my nose. Its stained little body fighting to get at me. From behind it Ms. Strickland frowned and whispered, “I’m your worst nightmare.”

In a cold sweat I lurched from the safety of my bed. I had already pulled all my blankets off of me and clutched my pillow like a baby holds its mother. My heart was pounding like a drum and my hands were shaking. It took me at least thirty-seconds to calm down enough to move. I threw my pillow down and sat up at the end of my bed, letting my feet adjust to the coldness of my bedroom floor.

“A dream…just a horrible dream…” I told myself. Brushing the cobwebs from my eyes, as well as some crust, I let a long breath escape me. My tired eyes found the clock on my wall. They took a moment to focus themselves before I spoke. “1:35.”

With a nervous hand running through my messy hair, I looked at my marked forearm, and said, “The last time I had a nightmare like that, you showed up.” The tribal tattoo flashed once to acknowledge my comment.

Quickly, I calmed myself and headed downstairs to grab me a bottled water from the kitchen. At the refrigerator I basked in the white light as I searched its innards for my drink. The bottles were hidden in the back behind the leftover Chinese food. As I reached inside something startled me. A sound emerged from the bottom of the shiny silver sink. I grabbed my water and shut the door to the fridge tightly. In the darkness of my kitchen the sound from the sink grew louder. It sounded like scratching. Almost like claws on metal. Slowly, I stepped up to the counter where our double-sided sink resided. Both sides were empty and still slightly wet from the earlier dinner activities and cleanup. The scratching doubled in intensity.

“Great, I think we have a rodent problem,” I said, to the darkness. We had a small mouse infestation when we first moved into this place ten years before, but never had any problems with the pesky cheese-snatchers since. “Mom’s going to be pissed.”

CLANK. BANG. SCREEEEEEEEEEECH. CLICK.

That wasn’t a scratch. I swallowed down a nervous lump in my throat and peered over the right side of the sink, where the garbage disposal was located.

THUD. CLANK. THWACK.

“I don’t think that’s a mouse,” I said, trying to ease my own panic. It didn’t work.

SCREEEEEEEECH.

I slowly leaned in closer. That was a mistake. A thin and pointy appendage emerged from the black hole. It was followed by another one and then another. I readied myself to scream when a fourth arm slid out. The tiny sticks reached out before snapping with disturbing cracks, like knuckles popping. With malicious intent they bent away from each other and jabbed their pointy ends along the outside ring of the drain. A hissing crept from the opening and six red slits appeared inside the blackness of the hole. They were eyes.

“Oh, no,” I cringed. The creature pulled itself up from the drain revealing the familiar snakelike head with spider legs. Its mouth pulled apart in a wicked little smile. Glistening saliva dripped from its razored teeth as it began to vibrate in place. The sink began to shake and then the kitchen counter. I turned to run back upstairs to my room but the floor started to tremble so badly that I almost fell over.

“Not possible!” I yelled out. The entire kitchen rattled and shook violently. The plumbing crashed against the walls and a pounding filled the house. With the speed of a ninja the spider-snake leapt from the sink with its arms ready to grasp any part of me. Its long alien body twisted through the air like a vicious corkscrew. I fell backwards and smacked the back of my head on a kitchen stool. The room began to spin as I fell to the floor.

The little demon landed directly in the middle of my chest but before I could pass out from the sheer terror and shock, another creature jumped from the sink. And another one frighteningly followed. Within seconds a steady stream of spider legged serpents were flying from the disposal. My kitchen was blanketed in their writhing bodies and deafening shrieks.

“Ripley! Help me! I need you!” I begged my tattoo, but when I looked down at my arm, it was no longer there. I screamed at the top of my lungs as a sea of monsters rolled over the top of me. Their miniature legs stabbed me repeatedly. Their buzzing mouths sinking into my flesh. I was trapped. I was finished. I was dinner.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

As my alarm clock rang in the new dawn I shot up in my bed, clutching at my mouth and face. It was only a dream, another nightmare. I couldn’t handle this. One horrifying dream in one night was enough.
Ugh.
Urgently, I slammed a shaky hand down on my alarm clock and fell back into my pillow and blankets.

“Ripley?” I whispered, holding my arm in front of my face. The magical markings were back and slightly filling with golden light.

~ Yes, Lucas. ~

With a huge sigh of relief, I began to laugh, “Just checking.”