The Donors (27 page)

 

 

 

 

 

Nathan fought the overpowering urge to turn around and run full tilt out of the tunnel that seemed now to close in on him. The glow he remembered from earlier had grown to a hazy light not yet bright enough to hurt his eyes. The air itself gave off the light and it penetrated through his skin. He could feel a constant irritation, like when he got a sun burn at the beach and the soft cloth of his shirt would just make it—not really hurt—just feel funny.

The tingling in his feet and ankles felt much worse. He now waded and splashed through the cave-blood river that sloshed over the tops of his feet at times. The tingly feeling moved up his legs now, gave his butt and privates a very unpleasant tightness, and made his stomach feel like he needed to spit up.

But he kept going. Every time he nearly turned around he pictured Mommy lying naked on her side in the big room. He knew if he pulled her hair away from her eyes that they would look like old milk, just like Jenny's. The Lizard Men would kill her if he didn't stop them.

“I gotta keep going,” he mumbled and waded on through the awful purple yuck. He had no idea where he would end up and certainly no idea what to do when he got there.

You'll know, Power Ranger. You discovered a new power before, didn't you? One you never knew you had?

I guess so.

He didn't feel powerful right now. He remembered the feeling of the power when he saved Jenny, but like remembering a dream, like watching a movie.

That power is real, Ranger. No dream, I promise. You can use it only if you believe it, though, and your fear will make it evaporate.

How can I make myself not be afraid?

That was like saying you wouldn't cry when you got a shot at the doctor—you really wanted it to be true, but when the time came you either cry or you don't. Not much you can do to change that. The idea that he had to make himself not be afraid or he would lose his power made him really afraid—which sort of meant…

This sucks.

It does. It sucks and it is not fair, but there it is.

The other-him stayed quiet for a moment and Nathan waded on through the goo and the nasty feelings it gave him. He tried to think about his mom and how much he loved her and how much he wanted to save her. Maybe the trick was just to be mad enough—then you didn't get scared ‘cause you didn't care what happened to you, right?

Stop for a moment.

Nathan stopped. He moved to the edge of the passage near the wall, close enough that the cave blood seemed a little less deep, but not so close that the little streams of it on the walls might splash on him. He knew he wouldn't be able to stand it on any other part of his body. He waited a long time.

I'm coming to help you, Nathan.

Jason's voice.

He felt a little panic now, not fear for himself but for Jason. He started to call out in his head, to make him go away, but the other voice stopped him.

It's okay. Let him come. He may be able to help you.

You said he would die. You said I had to do it alone.

He may be able to help you.

Nathan bit his lip, uncertain what to do.

Will he get hurt?

I don't know, but he has to help you. It has become his mission, too. Let him come, Nathan. Let him help you if he can. He will come no matter what, because he loves you.

There was a long pause and Nathan stayed still. He had no idea what to do. He thought he should probably go on by himself, but he thought maybe if Jason was with him he would have a better chance of not being scared.

You have a better chance to save your mom with his help—no matter what happens.

Okay.

He turned and looked back the way he had come. He reached out to his friend in his head.

Jason. Jason, I'm way down here inside the tunnel.

Wait for me, buddy. Don't go anywhere. I'm coming.

Okay.

He waited. The worry he had for Jason seemed like nothing compared to the relief that in a minute he would no longer be alone in this awful place. He waited at the end of the tunnel.

 

*  *  *

 

Jason felt nothing short of amazement that Nathan had come this far on his own—amazement and terrible guilt. He continued his jog up the passageway and tried to ignore the tingling in his bare feet every time they splashed through one of the blood puddles. The purple streams ran together into the depths of the tunnel as if pulled there by some gravitational force. He couldn't afford to slow down to avoid them and they seemed to coalesce into an unavoidable river in any case.

His back ached from his hunched-over jog, but he ignored it. Even though he cleared the ceiling by a foot, the closeness made him feel gross and so he bent awkwardly without meaning to. As he got deeper into the tunnel and the glow became a light floating in the air, he called out.

“Nathan! Nathan, are you there? Can you hear me?”

“Up here.”

The voice sounded close, but the echoes in the tunnel made it hard to tell. Jason cupped a hand over his eyes to shield them from the light, but since the light seemed to come out of the air, it didn't help much. It felt a lot like looking at a streetlight after hours in a chlorinated pool, a kind of eerie halo, except filling the room. He stated the obvious.

“I'm coming.”

A little farther up, a small shadow seemed to interrupt the glowing air. He picked up the pace as he saw Nathan's hunched form near the wall, not touching it. Nathan stretched out his arms to him and Jason picked him up and hugged him tightly.

“I gotcha buddy—you're okay.”

“I'm glad you came,” Nathan said and began to cry. He buried his face in Jason's neck and then wiped his eyes. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

Jason smiled and rubbed the boy's hair. “I think you're allowed a few tears,” he said.

Nathan hugged him again and then squirmed out of the embrace. He splashed into the cave blood and took Jason's hand.

“We have to hurry,” he said and began pulling him along by the hand.

Jason couldn't think of anything to say so they continued on in silence. He thought he needed to explain some things to Nathan, but maybe the lessons of his memories were only for him. He thought he knew what the other-him tried to tell him. Up ahead he saw the tunnel begin to widen and the glow in the air grew even more intense. He tugged Nathan to a stop.

“Nathan, listen,” Jason said. The boy turned and looked at him with fire in his eyes.

“We have to hurry, Jason,” he said. “My mommy doesn't have much time.”

“I know,” he answered. “I know, but listen a sec, okay?”

Nathan stared back patiently, the grown up indulging his child.

“Two things, real quick,” Jason said. “First, whatever you have to do there, just do it, okay. I mean don't worry about me. I want to help you but you can't worry about me and fail your mom, alright?” The boy nodded. “Okay, second,” he paused. He didn't know what to say exactly and maybe Nathan knew all of this better than he did. He continued anyway. “Second, the creatures can't hurt you, Nathan. They're afraid of you and they know the power you have. But, you have to know it too. You can't be afraid, not even a little. You can do that, though, if you believe in yourself. You have to believe in yourself, like I believe in you. Nathan, I think the power is from the believing.”

Nathan looked at him with a slightly cocked grin as if an idiot had just tried to convince him that fish lived in water. “I know, Jason,” he said. “I needed you to help me be brave, but now you have to stay behind me okay?”

Jason arched his eyebrows in surprise. He was not the rescuer he had imagined. He nodded and Nathan turned and led him by the hand a few more yards until the tunnel ended and they entered the large room and the source of the light.

It felt like he had walked into the center of a light bulb. Despite the brightness, it didn't make him squint—didn't hurt his eyes at all, in fact. The light seemed pale, almost liquid, and shimmered outward from a pulsing, watery ball in the middle of the otherwise-ordinary room. Even though the light ball sat on a slight elevation, the cave blood flowed to it and splashed in a little swirling circle at its base—an upside-down version of water, swirling down a drain. Here a water spout stood on its head and the ball of light sucked the purple liquid up into its center.

The light he had seen from Jazz's body—the light the creatures had sucked into their open mouths—had been harsh white. The light that had erupted from Nathan's fingertips and face had been almost blue. This light seemed much duller, a dirty yellow. Nathan pulled Jason's hand to step them out of the cave-blood river. He couldn't pull his eyes off the bizarre sight, though vaguely aware that the horrible tingling in his feet and the tightness in his groin and stomach stopped immediately.

“Wow,” he whispered.

Nathan said nothing and led him in a wide circle around the orb. On the far side of the light ball Jason saw that no other tunnels or passageways led into the room.

One way in and one way out. Now what?

The other-him stayed stubbornly quiet and Jason decided he would do best to just shut up and see what happened.

Then he smelled the shit smell and felt his pulse quicken and his throat tighten. He looked around the large room for the Lizard Men, but didn't see them. For a moment Jason considered snatching Nathan up and sprinting to the tunnel.

“No, stay still,” Nathan whispered to him as if he had read his mind. His voice seemed too large for a little boy. “I have to destroy the light.”

It took every bit of strength he had to obey the boy and stay still. Then he heard a voice in his head, but not the guiding, other-him voice.

Remember me, Jason? At last we have you. Now you can go and meet your mother while we feast on you like we did the others.

It was the voice from the alley, and the cave and his nightmares. Panic consumed him and he looked down at Nathan.

The fire in the boy's eyes filled him with shame and hope.

“Stay behind me, Jason,” he said and pulled his small body between Jason and the tunnel.

The two Lizard Men appeared from the passageway and moved swiftly, their mouths open, yellow liquid dripping from their long, razor-sharp teeth.

 

*  *  *

 

Nathan stepped backward and angled himself between Jason and the creatures. He didn't feel afraid. He felt mad. His mind flashed on images of Steve as he had picked Nathan up by his broken arm and shoved his hand into the blue flame. He felt the fear of the doctors when they came to peel skin from his deformed fingers. Then he pictured Jenny, curled up with the milky-white, dead eyes—and his mother. He couldn't have been afraid even if he'd wanted to.

You can't hurt me.

“Power Rangers—POWER UP!”

The power exploded outward from deep inside of him and he again floated upward in the air. He held up his hands and watched as they began to glow, flickers of sparkler-like blue light fizzled from the tips of them. He smiled and felt hot inside—and angry.

You can't hurt us.

Blue light flew out from his hands and eyes. Nathan focused on the dull yellow orb in the middle of the room and watched as his own light sparked out toward it like lightening. When it hit the dirty little sun, sparks flew in the air and the light ball pulsed weakly and began to fade. Around the light ball the cave blood began to boil and pop, stinking like old garbage.

Nathan sensed a sudden movement and looked away from the electric scene. When he did he felt his power weaken. He saw the taller creature move with remarkable speed toward them from the tunnel. No, not toward them—toward Jason.

We can't hurt you, but we can certainly tear him to pieces.

Behind him a white light begin to bleed out from Jason. The creature's lizard mouth smiled and sucked it in. Nathan heard Jason scream in terror and he spun around in the air in time to see the creature's claw tear through the flesh on Jason's chest. Blood showered the Lizard Man as Jason crumpled to the floor.

“No,” Nathan screamed, and redirected the blue light from his fingers and eyes. Lightning struck the creature in the neck and chest. Thin trails of foul-smelling smoke twisted from the green skin as an animalistic cry filled the room.

Beneath him, Jason shook his head clear, looked up at Nathan and nodded. Then he noticed the shorter creature circling around the other way from the tunnel.

“Nathan,” Jason hollered up at him over the sizzling of the Lizard Man's skin. “Nathan, you have to destroy the light.”

Nathan already knew that, but he didn't think he could keep the Lizard Men from killing Jason and destroy the light at the same time. He tried to move his power back over to the light ball, but when he did the taller Lizard Man gave out a terrible howl, the sound of an attacking animal, and moved again toward Jason. He started to feel frightened as he realized that he could save his mother or Jason, but not both. As his fear grew he saw his blue light fade in intensity.

“Nathan, destroy the light!” Jason called out again.

Nathan sent another bolt at the Lizard Man and propelled him backward, then sent another at the shorter creature who rounded the top of the circle and reached out for Jason.

“I can't,” he cried as the shorter creature fell backward against his strike. “They'll kill you.”

“No, they won't.” Jason's voice sounded different—stronger somehow. “They can't, Nathan. I believe too.” Jason struggled to his feet and dashed toward the tunnel. Both creatures whirled around and followed him. “I'll take care of the Lizard Men, you destroy that goddamn light so we can go home!”

With that, he disappeared into the tunnel and the Lizard Men followed him. Nathan hovered near the ceiling and tried to catch another glimpse of them, but they had disappeared. For a moment he thought about following them.