Chapter 15
“Wow. You guys have had it rough,” AJ noted, biting into a warm piece of pizza.
They shrugged. By now, Rena had woken, giving details and correcting certain parts of the story.
“Demons…I hate them. They could die and no one would care, I think,” AJ spat. “My friend…he’s one of ‘em.”
They looked at AJ with interest.
“So…what about your story?” Rena asked.
AJ took a deep breath, and let it out. “It was in 1999…me and two of my friends- Brian and Shawn- we came here. I guess we wanted to research this horrible place. Well, we were walking in the night, with our flashlights. Well, Shawn’s flashlight found a flash of red, and we kinda stopped, cuz we were wondering what it was. And then we saw more and more of that red…and it made a circle around us. We were shining our flashlights everywhere,trying to find out what it was. Then, it seemed like all at once, our flashlights were on the ground. But we could see the outlines of the things that were coming at us. Their eyes…it was the worst thing in the world. I could literally see the different eyes…different people he had taken. So I did a couple round kicks to knock the three in front o’ me out, and I ran. I called to Brian and Shawn…but only Brian and Kiara came back. We ran. But I could hear Shawn scream. I can still hear it. I could never forget it. I keep thinking he was screaming more because we betrayed him rather than pain…
“Anyway, Brian and I ran back to here, where we built this thing. And the next day, we walked out again, trying to find Shawn and Pricara. And we did.”
Rena gasped in horror, knowing what must have happened, ignoring the confusion of the female names. Justin’s eyes were cold with fear. A fear only he could know out of the three of them.
“It was the worst feeling in the world…seeing your friend…your BEST friend holding that red necklace, eyes so cold and full of hate…I could only stare. And he said…he said that I betrayed him, like I thought. He said that he should have never trusted me to bring him there- he was a mortal. And he got sentenced to the worst death possible. I nearly lost it then. But Brian pulled me away. And we stumbled upon the crystal palace of the Lurkers.
“Brian was ahead of me. They caught him. I barely escaped. When I was a safe ways away, I turned invisible. And I looked through the window and I saw Brian.”
AJ was choking back tears now.
“You don’t have to keep going, you know,” JC said softly, seeing how hard it was for him.
“But I have to. Brian was strapped to this…this board, his wrists and his ankles tied down. Kiara was snapping and biting… they were fighting so hard, I swear they were going to die of exhaustion. And when I saw the whip one of those bastards held, I Transformed into an Armored Bear* and ran in. I threw them against everything I could find, and I ripped that board from the ground, and I ran. I ran with everything I had. Brian kept talking to me, you know he believed I could get him safe…Kiara was behind us, running as fast as she could. And I heard gun shots. I kept turning in the forest, hoping to get them lost or confused, anything. But they still followed. More and more gunshots rang through the entire forest. And still I ran. Brian was still saying, that we’d be safe, and then…he stopped.”
A tear made its way down his cheek, and Rena found herself crying with him.
“Do you know what happened? Do you KNOW what happened? They shot Brian. They SHOT him,” AJ whispered, his head in his hands, shaking back and forth. “And I was horrified. I couldn’t move. Still I carried them back to this shack, and they were so weak…he said…he said he didn’t blame me. He didn’t think I betrayed him, because I still went back to rescue him. He said he loved me. Then…they died. Do you know how it feels to have two of your best friends die when you were this close to saving them? To be here for who knows how long…to bury your friend?”
AJ’s eyes flicked upward when he felt arms around him. It was Rena, sobbing into his shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” she choked. “I’m so so sorry…”
The brunette closed his eyes and melted himself into her embrace. It had been so long…too long, and he relished the feeling.
JC watched, and his eyes grew wet. He couldn’t help it. And he knew what Rena was doing was for AJ’s sake of sanity.
“He’s probably never told anyone,” Justin whispered to JC. “He’s probably been here all alone…for two years.”
JC could only nod numbly. “How could he live like that?”
“Brian.”
How long they stayed like that was unknown, but it was only until the door opened and a lioness padded in. Her fur was of the rarest shades of gold. It gleamed in the light of the candle. Her intelligent eyes were violet, radiating strength and beauty. They were also wet.
“It will be ok in the end AJ,” she said.
Rena, JC, and Justin gawked at the talking lioness.
Pulling away from Rena’s embrace, AJ said, “Guys, this is Brianne, my dæmon*.” AJ stroked the lioness’s great head.
“Uh…dæmon?” Justin asked, not sure if he should be scared or not.
“There are three parts to a human- body, ghost, and soul. A dæmon is the soul part. You have dæmons, don’t you?”
“Uh…no,” JC said, unsure of what this meant.
“Well then they’re a part of you.”
“Lioness?” Rena questioned.
“That’s her shape. When you’re a kid, it can change from one animal to another. Then after adolescence it stays fixed to one shape.”
“Why is she a lioness though?”
“Because…I guess that’s what kind of personality I have. Strong, but kind-hearted someone told me…”
“Does everyone have dæmons where you’re from?” JC asked.
“Actually…yes.”
“And our dæmons are part of us,” he went on.
“Yes.”
“What would ours be?”
“That I can’t say,” the brunette said, hand resting on his dæmon’s head.
“Then I bet Justin’s would be a parrot.”
Everyone laughed, even Justin. It was a rare moment of peace in the timespan of the last week. The laughter died, and they found themselves thinking.
“So let’s figure out a way outta here.”
<><><><><>
After resting and eating a hearty dinner, the four (five including Brianne) set off for their journey. With a small spell, everything was as light as a single paperback book. Brianne was good for a lot of things- carrying things, for one, and she was able to sense any upcoming danger, so they didn’t let her carry too much.
Since Rena hadn’t used any more of her magic since the Trolls, the Lurkerswere stumped. Fortunately they still had magic.
“How do we beat dragons again?” Justin asked, stepping over a dead root.
Rena swatted a pesky Prey Gnat out of her face, “Sing or play music.”
“Do any of you people know how to conjure up an instrument?” Justin asked the magical beings.
They shook their heads.
“So I guess we’ll have to do it the hard way huh?” Justin said, screwingup his face. “Oh well. Can you guys sing?”
The two men nodded.
“I can’t sing worth crap,” Rena said sullenly. “But I can grab it, thenwe can run.”
“Yeah that’s true; I have a feeling you’re the only one that can touch it anyways,” AJ said, annoyed to be out in the insect filled forest.
AJ suggested that the ring was powerful enough to get them out of there,so they had created a plan to go retrieve it. “How much farther?” JC asked.
“Um…lemme see…” Rena said, looking at her ring. The two diamonds on the left and top started to blink. “Northwest guys.”
So they turned northwest and stumbled on, meeting bats and other verminon the way. Soon enough, they were puffing and in dire need of rest. Their feet were pounding with the pressure of the packs on their backs, their thighs and calves were tight and sore, and their stomachs were detesting the lack of food. So they found a comfortable enough place to sit and rest, to the delight of Brianne, who was showing major signs of weariness.
After a while of walking, the three newcomers realized that by looking at the dæmon, they could tell what AJ was feeling- whether it be weariness or anger or fear- they would see it in Brianne. And Rena realized that AJ was never alone, for he had his dæmon with him at all times. She learned from he himself that if a dæmon wandered too far from its human, they both would experience great sorrow, grief, and pain, so they made sure that the other was nearby at all times.
They munched on sandwiches and drank soda to quench their thirst except for AJ who opted for water. Brianne ate whatever she wished, even human food. It didn’t matter to a dæmon as it would a pet.
At last, they were ready to be on their way again.
<><><><><>
“There’s no signal m’lord,” Shadow informed.
Alastor let out a fierce roar that echoed through the chamber, and rattled the weapons hanging on the walls. “This isn’t POSSIBLE!!”
“Oh but it is.”
Alastor whirled around to see…a ghost.
“W-who’re you?” Alastor demanded.
“My name is Brian.”
<><><><><>
“It was just BATS Rena,” Justin laughed. “You WERE one, remember?”
“I wasn’t being eaten alive by them then!” she argued, her hands on her head and hair.
“It landed on your shoulder Rena,” JC said, joining in on the laughter.
“It landed on my shoulder!”
“Ok stop the bickering here children,” AJ mock scolded, stepping to lead the group. “We still goin the right direction?”
“Uh…no turn left a little.”
“Ok kids, follow me!” AJ said, his hand beckoning them to follow.
“Ok Barney,” Justin mocked, creating another round of laughter to follow.
“AAAAHH!”
“AJ!”
JC and Rena thudded into Justin’s back, who had stopped dead on his tracks. They stepped around to his sides and saw that AJ had fallen into a seven-foot deep pit.
Brianne growled and snapped the air around her, scared for AJ.
“Who in hell set this up?” AJ cried, kicking the walls.
“Sure as hell ain’t me,” Justin muttered.
“Your sarcasm cheers me to no end my comrade,” AJ said dryly.
Brianne roared, enforcing AJ’s sarcasm.
“Ok before we all lose our sanity, let’s just get you out,” Rena said, gathering her wits.
She turned and grabbed a rope, pulling it all down- it was long enough. Slowly, she lowered it into the pit into AJ’s hands. To her shock, he jumped back, screaming. “GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!!!”
Brianne roared and nearly jumped into the pit.
“What? Why?” Rena asked, confused.
“SNAKE!” Justin cried, backing away from the edge of the pit.
“OH MY GOD!” Rena exclaimed, dropping the “rope”.
“GET ME OUT OF HERE!!” AJ cried, jumping up and down frantically, the snake now completely inside the hole in the ground. Brianne reached out her paw, attempting to reach her human.
“Magic!” JC yelled at him, being the only sensible one out of the three.
“Elevate, elevate, elevate!” AJ said quickly, and with a shimmer of crimson sparkles, he was floating up out of the ditch, just out of the snake’s reach. It hissed in protest and anger.
He seemed to be floating on a cloud as he landed back on earth.
“Oh. My. Lord.” AJ grabbed hold of the dæmon. “I am NEVER going to lead, EVER.”
“Justin? Justin it’s safe,” Rena called out amusedly.
Slowly, the blonde stepped back out from behind the large trunk of a tree. “You’re sure?”
“Yes Baby I’m sure.”
Justin took a cautious glimpse at the madly hissing snake in the pit and shivered.
“Have I mentioned I HATE snakes?” he said feebly.
JC laughed. “I got the impression.”
“Ok can we go now?” AJ said warily, inching away from the ditch, Brianne not far behind.
“Yeah, c’mon guys,” Justin said enthusiastically, nearly jogging away from the group.
“Justin, come on! It wasn’t THAT bad!”
“Oh yes it was!”
“Come ON you guys!” JC said, rolling his azure eyes in annoyance.
“Race ya!” Rena laughed, running by him.
“Oh you’re askin for it!” JC chuckled, jogging after her fading form.
They hadn’t gone far before Rena screamed.
JC froze and looked around frantically. “Rena?”
“HELP!”
He ran in the direction of her voice, but…nothing. “RENA?!”
“JC!”
He dodged a rat and searched the forest in vain. “RENA!”
“AAAH!”
“AGH!”
“Got ya.”
“GET BACK HERE YOU RAT!” JC yelled, chasing after her like a dog on a cat.
“NOW who are the children?” Justin asked indignantly.
“For once I agree with astro puff.”
“ASTROPUFF?”
AJ snickered. “Sorry- couldn’t resist.”
“Well, next time, watch out cuz you are goin down for that.” “OOH I’m shaking in my boxers.”
“They still clean?"
“HEY now boys,” Rena butt in. “We’re never going to get to the heart of the forest this way. Let’s just go. It’s north. C’mon.”
AJ started walking and thought, ‘Bossy lady.’
‘But you like her, don’t cha?’
‘Oh brother. She’s the only female I’ve gotten in contact with for who knows how long. I’m bound to like her. So back off Bri.’
‘I still say you like her.’
‘Well duh! You’re Brianne.’
‘Yeah well, she looks pretty busy with Astropuff and JC.’
‘True. See now Bri, you can’t make everything go your way.’
‘But I can sure as hell try.’
‘Try then. But I’m not gonna stand by to watch!’
‘You only WANT me to try. I know you better than that J.’
‘Not working Bri.’
‘Well you like her. Discussion closed.’
They were speaking by thought. With the dæmon being his soul counterpart, she knew what he knew, thought the same thoughts- as long as they were together.
‘For now. Once we get back to Alethior, I’ll go back to who I was.’
‘You’ll never be who you were.’
<><><><><>
“Who are you?”
“I just told you…my name is Brian.”
“What do you want?”
“I want to get out of here.”
“Why must I listen to YOU? After all, I AM Alastor.”
“Uh huh…King of the Dorks. Don’t you remember Aladork? Your minions killed me,” Brian said sarcastically, his thin arms crossed.
The Lord seethed with anger. What right did this man have to insult him?
“What do you want?”
“Get me out of here. For some reason, there are barriers here.”
“Why did you wait till now?”
“I was watching my friend.”
“Friend? Who might that be?” Alastor asked almost sweetly.
“I’m not stupid Aladork,” Brian scoffed, using the nicknamed he heard Justin use. “I know you want to kill him.”
“And your point?”
Brian rolled his blue eyes. “Let me get this straight you bastard of a midget: you are the enemy. You are the evil, and you shall die. I’m not leaving until I see that, but I will leave this horrible place.”
“And you’re the one wanting to leave…how will that be accomplished if I die?”
“I’ll find a mortal. But I’ll be waiting to see you be killed, and I’ll relish it to the very last breaths of your life Alastor. Count on it.”
<><><><><>
“Hey AJ,” Rena said, walking beside the brunette. “You seem to be all alone.”
“Not really,” AJ shrugged, pointing to Brianne, who was padding alongbeside him.
“Do you enjoy being by yourself?”
He shrugged. “You get used to it.”
“It must’ve sucked, huh?” Rena asked, a knowing smile on her dirty face.
“Yeah it does. But life goes on.” AJ paused. “Life goes on.”
“You still feel bad about them?”
“Huh? Who?” AJ asked, not catching who she was talking about.
“Your friends.”
“Oh. Them. Yeah, I am.”
“It’s not your fault. Remember that.” Without another word she rejoined JC and Justin.
“Such beauty and eloquence eh Bri?” AJ joked.
Her laugh was deep inside her throat, and one could have mistaken it for a growl if they didn’t recognize it.
“Do you ever wonder if Shawn and Pricara are still alive? Out there somewhere?”
“Of course I do. As Shawn was your best friend, Pricara was mine.”
“Maybe we can still save them Bri.”
“Only time will tell.”
“You’re so deep Bri.”
“I try.”
“AJ! C’mon!”
The brunette smiled. “She’s trying hard to get us to be part of their circle. But it’ll never happen, will it?”
“If you accept it, it might.”
“Don’t go all sappy on me.”
“Really. She wants to be your friend. Take that.”
“AJ!”
Rolling his brown eyes, AJ ran up to join them.
“What took you so long?” Justin joked, his sea-blue eyes glimmering in the disappearing light.
“I’m slow.”
“Right.”
“Do you think we should stop yet?” JC asked, looking around in the fading light.
“Maybe. We need to find somewhere safe.”
“I’ll be back in a second,” AJ said, becoming the last of the group once again.
He reached into his sack and took out a palm-sized compass. It was analethiometer*. He had gotten it from his father, who had left and never returned. Thirty-six symbols on the circumference of the circle, each having more than a hundred meanings. Three hands movable, one telling the truth. AJ set the hands on the symbols, calmed, and asked, “How much farther?”
The longest hand swung around, stopping at certain symbols, stopping once or twice, or thrice to get to the level of meaning.
A day’s walk.
“What kind of danger lies ahead?”
Fire, ice, and blood.
AJ stared, horrorstruck. Blood?
“What do you mean by blood?”
Someone will bleed.
“Who?”
But it wouldn’t tell anymore.
AJ stomped on the ground with annoyance. It seemed sometimes the alethiometerhad a mind of its own. But he’d find out. He always did.
<><><><><>
“Ok it’s almost pitch dark, and we have no place to stay. What is wrong with this picture?” Justin asked, trying to mask his fear.
“Don’t worry Baby,” Rena soothed, squeezing his hand. “Only a little ways more.”
“We have only about a day’s worth of walking left till we get to the heart of the forest.” AJ was suddenly by their side with a flashlight, Brianne almost silent beside him. “Oh god, don’t do that!” Rena put her hand on her heart. “That scared the shit outta me.”
“Yeah well…I have a feeling there will be a lot of danger sooner or later.”
“Yeah isn’t that what’s been going on all day?” JC asked dryly, his eyes aching to close, but he wouldn’t relent. “Stop.”
The voice made them halt on their tracks.
“RUN.”
They took off straight ahead, not even knowing why they were running.
The four stopped abruptly when they saw a pair of red eyes gleaming back at them. Backing up, they saw many more eyes appear.
“Demons,” Rena whispered hoarsely. She was so over these guys.
There was a deafening roar in the forest, and the bats flew, the rats took shelter, and the eyes only grew brighter.
“Justin? JC? AJ?”
Finally one set of eyes came with a face, and stepped forward to greetthem.
“Why if it isn’t you again.”
Justin felt AJ falter beside him.
“S-Shawn?”
“In the flesh. Nearly.”
“W-what’s happened to you?” AJ asked, hoping his voice was strong. Brianne growled at the wolf dæmon.
“Why, the Demons happened to me. You of all people should know that.”
“AJ don’t let him get to you!” Rena shouted, kicking at a Demon getting to close.
“Smart girl. But you know it’s true AJ. You let me down. And now look at me.”
“It’s not my fault Shawn!” AJ cried.
“Oh but it was.”
In a moment, the Demon leader was on the ground, lying on his stomach. A foot came crashing down onto his back.
“Don’t say another word. And if you do, you get it,” Justin growled.
“Ooh tough guy.”
“Save it for hell.”
“You know you should really let me up.”
“And why would I do such a stupid thing?”
“Maybe then I’d let you off the hook- you got lucky. This time, you’ll stay a Demon.”
Justin and Shawn stared each other in the eyes for who knows how long, Justin’s live blue eyes boring into the eyes of many others. But out of the corner of his eye, the blonde saw the red necklace around Shawn’s neck. One swipe, one shot. That would do. But he didn’t have the magic.
He tried to speak to AJ through Telepathy, but he realized that Rena hadn’t cast the spell on him.
JC scrabbled to get a spell in mind, and he turned, “NOW!”, and Justin jumped back.
A beam of deep blue glitter slammed into Shawn’s midsection, knocking the wind out of him, and whisking him away to collide with the trunk of a tree. He landed with a loud grunt, and the wolf howled in pain. Shawn propped himself shakily on an elbow.
“Good…now you’ve got me bleeding,” he muttered, wiping the bit of red from his mouth. The coppery taste was filling his mouth.
“NOW!” The beam hit Shawn again, this time, hitting it’s target.
The wolf howled and shrieked in agony, falling to its side. With an explosion of red, the dust cleared.
AJ’s eyes were wide and fearful. What was going on? Was Shawn ok?
The Demons cried out, and dispersed quickly.
Rena ran to Shawn’s side, knowing it was safe.
“Shawn? Shawn?”
He was still.
“Shawn? SHAWN?” AJ cried, dropping down to his friend’s side. “Shawn buddy wake up!”
Brianne was off to waking Pricara.
With a groan and a moan Shawn slowly opened his green eyes. “What? AJ? AJ?”
“Right here. You’re safe now Shawn.”
Shawn’s eyes darted frantically and grabbed tight hold of AJ. “Oh god AJ! You had NO idea…it was horrible! I almost killed you! And Bri! What have I done? Oh my god,” he sobbed, his tears glistening in the tiny bit of moonlight streaming through the canopy down to the floor.
“It’s ok buddy. You’re safe now,” AJ soothed his friend.
Brianne had woken Pricara, and was now licking her old friend, embracing the wolf.
“This is too much,” Justin said slowly. “How will we ever survive out here? There’s too much…”
“We can do it Justin, I know we can,” JC’s strong voice said. “We justn eed to stick together.”
“But how long can we last?”
<><><><><>
‘Not long now my friend…not long yet…’
*Taken from The Golden Compass
<><><><><>
Chapter 16
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