Sealing Death (17 page)

Grandparents And Internet Access

      "Wait, so you are saying that you're the Internet!" Chrissy yipped. Internet nodded, and explained, "Technically I power the Internet. I was put here in 1965 by, I forget the names. I know it was part of a deal, but since I'm no longer hooked up, I don't have access to the memory."

      "So without you," Will pieced together, "there is no Internet!" Internet nodded, "And something tells me we are in danger now. The ones who did this are probably coming back to fix it."

      "They can't be too dangerous." Stella stated, "1965 was ages ago! They are probably ancient by now!" "Hey!" Internet yelled, "I'm only forty-nine!" Cassie smirked, "You look good, though. But how dangerous could two seventy-some year olds be?"

      Grace packed their blue 1992 Chevrolet Lumina with the essentials: extra clothing, medications, kitchen knives, and a few magical items she had collected over the years. "Phillip!" she howled, shutting the trunk and back doors, "Get out here! It's time to go!"

      "Electra!" she called, while she waited, "I need you!" "How may I help you?" Electra questioned, leaning on the car. "We need to fix the Internet." Grace explained, "And take care of a pest. My adoptive-granddaughter to be precise."

      "You mean Cassie?!" Electra yelped, "I'm going to have to say no." Grace grinned and walked around the car. "Oh well!" she sighed, reaching in her purse, "I thought it would be easier, but I guess not." "I'm sorry." Electra apologized, "But I'm pretty sure the Furies-"

      Electra was cut off as Grace shoved a police taser into her hip. She shook as the electricity shot through her and she crumpled to the ground. "You will help." Grace whispered, opening her purse, "Even if you don't know you are." Grace then bonded Electra with a very thin, silk-like chain. "Gleipnir. The strongest chain in the world." Grace sighed, "Why in the world did she give me all of these goodies?"

      Grace was shoving Electra in the back when she heard a clang. "What's this?" Grace wondered, picking it up. It was a dagger with a pitch black handle and shining silver blade. The Silver Shadow.

      "Let's get out of here." Internet persisted, "Never underestimate someone able to tie up a baby to power a computer network."

      The group walked back up the hill and got in the trailer. "Are we going now?" Braddock asked, impatiently. "Wait a second." Cassie answered, squinting her eyes, "Is that Grandma's and Grandpa’s car?" Susan looked out the window, and sure enough, it was.

      "Granma?" Vanessa squeaked.

      The Lumina pulled up next to the trailer and Susan's parents got out. "Mom? Dad?" Susan asked, hopping out of the jeep, "What are you doing here?" Braddock slammed his head on the steering wheel.

      "We're here on business." Grace smiled, looking at her husband, "We used to work for W.W.W. back in '65." Grace walked up to her daughter. "Where's Cassandra?"

      Susan pointed to the trailer. Grace smiled and walked over. "Dad?" Susan questioned, "What’s going on?" Phillip's eyes twinkled and he smiled.

      "Cassandra?" her grandma called. Internet froze. "It's her." she mumbled, "We need to go. Now." "It's my grandma!" Cassie informed, angrily, "She'd never hurt me! And I'll prove it."

      Cassie got out of the trailer and ran over to her grandma. "Hey!" she greeted, "What are you doing?" "Taking care of some long overdue business for one thing!" Grace huffed, taking out the Silver Shadow. "Grandma!" Cassie cried. "You're not coming home alive!" Grace shouted, "And I'm NOT your grandma!"

      What was happening?! What was Cassie supposed to do? She was definitely not going to fight her own grandmother! Even if she did just say she wasn't her grandma.

      Cassie turned around and sprinted back to the trailer. "Electra!" Grace hollered, "Stop her!" Electra exited the car and walked over to Grace. Her eyes were frosted over.

      "Mom!" Susan exclaimed, running over to Grace, "Stop it!" Susan grabbed her mother's arm to get her attention. "Susan!" Grace snapped, slapping her across the face, "I'm doing what needs to be done!" Grace turned towards Electra and ordered, "Kill her."

      Electra held out her hand, the trailer door flew open, and Cassie was dragged out kicking and screaming. "Help!" she screamed.

      Stella looked around frantically. She had to do something! Wait! Stella gave herself a pat down and was glad she didn't get rid of her purse since their visit to the Everlanon market. "This is the Elixir of Clear Sight. It shows you what is right in front of you, that you've taken for granted, looked past, or what you haven't let yourself believe." the man had said. She took the pink vial and ran straight for Grace.

      "Electra!" Grace ordered, "Stop that child!" Stella screamed and threw the vial as hard as she could at Grace. The bottle smashed open and the pink sparkling liquid got all over her. It trickled into Grace's eyes and she rubbed it away. Her angry frown turned into a surprised frown and she yelled, "STOP!"

      Electra's eyes began to glow and the frost disappeared. "You are an awful person!" she shouted, putting Cassie down, "Good riddance! And I'm sorry I almost killed you, Cassie." Electra flipped her blue hair and vanished.

      "Susan, I am so sorry." Grace apologized, crying, "I don't know what I was thinking. I am so sorry! I hope you can forgive me!" Susan looked at her mother. "I want to." she sighed, "I really do. I just can't."

      "Mommy!" Vander called, "Please forgive her!" Susan shook her head and cried, "Good bye, mother." She pushed past Grace and got in the jeep.

      Cassie walked over to her grandma. "I forgive you." she began, "I hope you'll visit when we all get back." Grace smiled and mouthed, 'Thank you, Cassie.' Cassie closed her eyes to send them back to the Realm of the Foretold, and felt the sting of a nine-inch blade penetrating her side. She fell to the ground, and everyone ran over to her.

      Grace stood in disbelief as her husband retrieved the Silver Shadow from Cassie's side. "You told me to finish the job if you went soft." he explained, the black twinkle in his eye disappearing, "What have I done?!"

      "One will die!" Susan wailed, looking at Vanessa, "Somebody do something!"

      Grace threw down her purse and ripped it open. She took out a blue vial labeled 'Panacea'. "Here!" she said, pushing the vial to Cassie, "Panacea can heal any wound, big or small." Susan opened the vial and poured the blue liquid on the wound. Everyone watched as Cassie coughed and the wound magically sealed up, as if it never happened. "Thank you Mom." Susan smiled, "And I guess you redeemed yourself. But what are we going to do about the Internet?" Grace smiled and decreed, "Let science have at it!"

Basements

      "Well it's about time you woke up!" Mayor Sanders told King Albert, "We need to get out of here!" "Where are we?" King Albert asked. "In my basement." a man answered, "I'm Gary Spencer. As soon as I brought Charlotte in, she shoved me up against the wall, and threw me down here. All I know is one thing: that is NOT my Charlotte."

      "Gary!" the fake Charlotte cooed, "I told you to be quiet! Now you have to die!" She tossed a gallon of gasoline down the stairs and took out a match. "So long!"

      Judy took out her phone and dialed her contact. It didn't work. After multiple times, she opened the Internet to try and find out what was going on. A box popped up that said, 'No Internet Connection!'

      "That can't be right!" she yelped, walking back into the fake hospital room, "We have a perfect- WHERE'S THE PRISONER?!" Charlotte's bed was completely empty, the sheets thrown to the side.

      Judy ran over to the bed, and without warning, was smacked over the head with an IV pole. She tumbled forward and crashed into the lunch cart, falling to the ground. "I've dealt with hundreds of kids over the years!" Charlotte reminded, "If I can deal with them, I can definitely deal with you!"

      Mrs. Spencer took Judy's I.D. badge and walkie-talkie, then tied her to the bed post and gagged her. "Good-bye!" she whispered, running out of the room.

      The men in the basement watched in horror as the doppelganger lit the match, and waved it in the air, mockingly. "Poor boys!" she taunted, pretending to drop the match.

      Charlotte ran through the halls, and raced down the steps. She walked into a lobby and was eyed by the receptionist as she walked out the door.

      She had a feeling, and it wasn't a good feeling either.

      Riley walked down the road and knocked on Mrs. Spencer's door. She was planning on asking the superintendent for advice on what to do without Internet, and asking her how she was doing after the attack. Riley was also curious about Cassie and the others, but she doubted Mrs. Spencer knew anything about that.

      When no one answered, Riley knocked again, and looked around. "What's that smell?" Riley wondered, sniffing the air, "It smells like smoke!" Riley looked at the south window and screeched. Black smoke rolled out, followed by a series of bangs. "No!" Riley yelped. She grabbed the stone lion from the porch and smashed the window. Climbing through, Riley held her shirt over her mouth and yelled, "Anyone here! The house is on fire!"

      "Basement!" a man yelled. Riley opened the basement door and walked down into the flaming cellar. "Mayor Sanders!" Riley screamed. "Tied up!" he coughed, "Help!"

      Riley nodded and untied the mayor, then the king, then the husband. "Let's get out of here!"

      Charlotte walked down the road to her house. That was when she saw the smoke rolling out of her house. "No!" she gasped, running as fast as she could, "Why is this happening to me?!" As Charlotte ran to her house, a hand grabbed her leg and she fell to the ground. "You are needed by the association." the fake Charlotte explained, "And your friends and family aren't!"

      Charlotte rolled on her back and threw a rock at her doppelganger. "So you are the one who tried to replace me!" she accused, "And what association are you talking about?"

      The doppelganger looked at Mrs. Spencer and growled, "You'll just have to wait and see!" Phony-Charlotte's arm flew at Charlotte, but was blocked by a glowing blue hand.

      "As much as I want to see what happens next, I think it's in everyone's best interest that I help Mrs. Spencer escape." the blue-haired Electra sighed, holding the doppelganger's fist, "Now run along Charlotte. So you don't have to witness me beat you up, badly." 

      Charlotte struggled to stand and ran to her infernal of a home.

      "Now for you!" Electra decreed, squeezing the fist, "I don't know much about you, but I know I don't like you."

      Riley helped the men up the stairs and out the window. The support beams snapped and dropped to the ground. A loud crack, and the floor fell down into the basement. Riley pushed the king out the door as she lost her footing and fell in the fiery pit.

      Riley clung to the threshold of the house. It was the only thing keeping her from the fiery pit below. Charlotte ran over and pulled her up and out as a four-by-four crashed down and the roof caved in.

The Hole

      After Electra took Cassie's grandparents, and Internet, back home, Braddock drove through the portal and to the next Realm.

      Braddock stomped on the brake as the front of the jeep tipped forward. Before them, a dark, deep menacing hole spanned about three miles, and a low growl echoed from inside. "What is that thing?!" Betty exclaimed.

      "The answer is simple!" Electra said, excitedly, "That is the pit from the Greek legends, also known as the Tartarus! It contains Reality's worst, including the Scarrcedenhogg. They say it is so deep that it reaches all the way to the Death Realm, and then continues!"

      A large skeleton-like dome spanned above the pit with strings of moss and flesh hanging down. Cassie gulped and sat back in her seat.

      "So we don't want to fall in." Cassie summed up. "Well," Electra stuttered, tapping her fingers together, "You can get to the Death Realm quicker by pit than by Realm-jumping. We are right above the Death Realm as we speak. But that is the idiot's way."

      Cassie looked around. Everyone was hesitantly looking at each other. They all heard the Scarrcedenhogg roar as the beast smashed into the Realm they were in. The ground shook and cracked. "I'm outta here!" Electra stammered, vanishing as the jeep and trailer jerked forward. The ground beneath them collapsed, dropping them deep into the Tartarus.

      "Newcomers." a deep voice growled quietly after the vehicle slid down the side of the hole. As they fell, the gravity shifted, and they plopped on the side of the pit, which formed into a sturdy ground. "Welcome to the end of light, the place where darkness rules." the voice snarled, as the doors flew open. The Christmas decorations of the trailer were yanked from the sides, each light bulb bursting with faint sparks, and the wreaths and trees shriveling into rusty metal wires. The ornaments darkened and rapidly decayed to grey dust.

      Cassie jumped out and yelled, "Who are you, and what are you doing?!" No answer. The tires of the jeep popped, and the headlights flickered off. "I guess we will be walking from here on." Will whispered to Chrissy. Chrissy nodded and hopped out.

      "You are in the darkest place in all of existence!" the voice advised, "Light magic won't help you here!"

      Stella looked at her hands. They were frosted over. Looks like she had dark magic. She looked at Cassie as she got out of the jeep. Uh-oh.

      "Mommy!" Vanessa squeaked, "Me and Vander can't do magic." Susan looked down and smiled, "It's okay. We'll be fine."

      Cassie looked around and started marching down the Tartarus. "Come on!" she called.

      Charlie looked around. He was very scared. No one knew it, but Charlie suffered from achluophobia. The only other person who knew it was his grandma, but she had other things on her mind at the moment.

      Charlie looked up at the dark. It engulfed everything, probably hiding man-eating beasts that waited to spring on them. To rip out their throats and stomp on their skulls!

      He shook the thought away. There was hardly enough light to see about a foot away, but he heard the comforting voices around him.

      They stumbled through the pitch black, tripping over lumps of, mud? "That's it!" Cassie cried. A flame swung around and flew up to the sky. It rocketed up, or over, and exploded against the other side of the pit, showering light into every nook and cranny of Tartarus. It was huge. Six miles up was the cavernous dome of rocks and bones, and a thick black sludge was plastered on the ground. Everyone's shoes sank into the mess. "My shoes!" Stella screamed.

      "How did you do that!" the voice thundered, "Light magic cannot work here!" "Dark magic can!" Cassie shouted.

      The group trudged through the slime and came to a stop. There was a giant man hunched over in front of them. Vander sneezed, and the man sat up. He turned around, and everyone screamed. He only had one eye!

      His single red eye was located in the center of his forehead, and a gigantic nose sprouted from beneath. He had two large ears on either side of his head, stood at around eight feet tall, and was probably around four hundred pounds.

      "WHO ARE YOU?!" he roared, as he stomped on the ground, sludge splattering all around.

      "Hi!" Cassie chirped, waving to the cyclops, "I am Cassie Smith. And you are?" "I am Arges!" he bellowed, standing up straight, "The mightiest cyclops of all! Son of Queen Gaia! Mother Terra!" The monster jumped forward, knocking everyone down into the sludge. "I was thrown down here when I made a lightning bolt wrong and it boomeranged back at Zeus!" Arges explained, "I've been here ever since. I thought I could escape when the Death Realm opened, but I couldn't! Stupid pit!"

      The cyclops stomped on the ground and splattered sludge on everyone. "Stop doing that!" Stella demanded, wiping the slime from her face, "This stuff is disgusting!"

      "It is evil in its purest form, princess!" Arges pointed out, "You're in the Tartarus for crying out loud! The place even the gods fear!"

      "That's enough!" Braddock huffed, "Those 'gods' are liars! They are a race of wizards called the Olympians that fooled people into thinking that they were gods to build their powers!"

      Everyone looked at Mr. Braddock, and then at the one-eyed monster. "Wha?" he whimpered, "But, I, what?" A giant tear rolled down the beast's face and fell to the ground. The ground shook and the sludge crawled up Arges. It ran up and wrapped around his throat. With a squeeze of the black-liquid rope, Arges exploded into sludge, splashing down around Cassie and the others.

      "I believe we should hurry up!" Mac whirled, "We are approximately twenty-four hours of foot travel away from the entrance to the Death Realm."

      "Well we better hurry!" James shouted, "I'm sure that Scary-Hog thing isn't waiting for us to catch up!"