Anansi's Web

I traveled back through the Chisisi system, hurrying through the busy passages. I remembered where I had come from thankfully, and after several minutes I ended up where I had started, in the small dark alley.

Tracy, and Ember both had gotten into my head on my way back out of the Chisisi network, but I never answered them. I only told Ember that I was coming back, and when she tried to talk to me, I was silent. They didn’t know what I was going through. They would have done the same if they were me.

I wished I could have picked something up in one of the tunnels, but many things sold down there were very cheap, or too fancy to have been legally obtained. I had no money for any of it anyways.

I walked into the street, and realized that I had no idea where to go from here. I could go back to the network, and find my way from there, but I wasn’t sure that Tracy would appreciate that. Besides, if they really have been tracking me, how are they not already here yet unless they were in the network itself?

I sighed in frustration, and tried to contact Tracy with the spell ember taught me. I said the words, concentrated on Tracy, and then I called out to her.

She responded, and after a bit of fluff about what I was doing, and how mad she was at me, I was able to shift the conversation to her picking me up.

I stood and waited for a few moments. The slightest noise rippling in the quiet ocean of dark silence made me jump, and take a step towards the door in the alleyway. I was frightened that the blue eyed man would pop out of the shadows, and grab me, but I had to be calm.

The whole time I was standing there, I was thinking about my parents, and their connection to Fervan. It was a lot of information to swallow, but it wasn’t so difficult to believe now. I felt a bit more appreciation for them, and I hoped as hard as I could that they wouldn’t get hurt when they tried to get to Othal. I started to doubt my decision to stop the director, but then I figured I had to do it, for the good of everyone. I was the only one who knew about the director’s plan, and strangely it was safer for me.

But thinking about what my dad said made me wonder who I would turn out to be. Would I become some cold, distant war machine, and would I try to protect my children from the same path? After everything I still had resentment for my dad, and I tried my hardest not to be like him, but it was getting difficult.

I stood there, and eventually I started to pace. Maybe they weren’t close to me, but if they had been tracking me like they said then they must be somewhere around here. Or maybe they’re inside of the Chisisi network.

I contacted Tracy with my magic.

Yes? She asked.

Where are you?

Close. Stay put. Be there in ten minutes.

I broke off the connection, and sat down on the side of the street, looking at the sky. It was starless, and bleak. I wondered what it was like out there, for the aliens. Did they have the same problems people here had? I always believed in aliens, even when no one else did. Anything was possible right? I mean, in history they taught us that the first humans on Zirea didn’t know that magic had even existed until they met the Amunites, who were slaves of the Siribi.

After I had begun to drift off to sleep, I heard footsteps and talking from down the street. I was so glad because it was a huge fight to stay awake, and I didn’t want to sleep on the sidewalk, it seemed scary, I mean, I’m out in the open for anyone to see.

“Angelo, is that you?” Tracy asked.

I stood up, my legs were noodles, and my eyes were heavy metal curtains that were malfunctioning, insisting on staying open despite the clear choice to close.

“I uh, here,” I said, my voice wavering.

Tracy ran up to me, and took me by the arm. “We’re going home.”

Home. That place wasn’t my home, it was more like a prison, but it did have a bed.

We walked back to a bus stop, and leaned against a brick building. The bus hours ran until twelve, and it was eleven thirty now. After a hard fight for sanity, the bus came, and we got on with a few other people. I squinted in the bright lights, and stumbled across the narrow lane to the plastic seat.

The rest was a bit of a blur for me, but the last thing I remember that day was kicking off my shoes aggregately, and burying myself in the covers with my day clothes on. In an instant, I knew no more.

I woke up at nine, which was about average for me. I tried to recollect what had happened last night, but I both didn’t feel like it, and the memories felt a bit blurry.

I sat up in the bed, and found that the door to the room was closed. I shrugged it off, and put on some new clothes. When I tried to open the door it was locked, and the knob wouldn’t turn no matter how I switched the lock. I rubbed my eyes a bit rougher than I had intended, and went back to my bed. I lay back down, and tried to get some more rest, but when that wasn’t possible, I took a deep breath, and called out to Ember.

There was no response until I heard some footsteps approach. Ember’s voice came through the door. “Good morning Angelo.”

“Good morning.” I said.

“Sorry you have to stay in there, but I can’t have you out because if you do you might leave again. So…”

“I promise I won’t, c’mon I need to brush my teeth, and eat breakfast.”

“Sorry, should have thought about that last night. No coming outside until noon today.”

It wasn’t torture, but I had a feeling it would get pretty boring in here I could feel the stress coil around my body, and hear the hissing of boredom in my ears.

I decided that my fate was final, and asked Ember about the plan to get to Fortri before she walked away.

“I don’t know yet, but I don’t think you have a good chance after what you pulled yesterday.”

I took a deep breath. Ember was being so aggravating. I had to see my parents, we were in Sraff anyway.

Ember walked away, and for the rest of the day until noon, I had no visitors, no food, and no way out. After taking a series of naps, I awoke to find the door had been opened.

Ember was in the living room, taking with Tracy.

“Is there anything to eat?” I asked.

“No.” Ember said, “You don’t get any dinner.”

I didn’t feel like arguing, but Ember was acting so smug, I almost couldn’t hold it.

I shuffled into the kitchen, and sat down at the table, where the other MOD member was reading the newspaper with a smirk on his face. I clenched my teeth, and crossed my arms, while listening to Ember’s boring conversation about hairstyles.

I yawned, and walked out the back door. I guess I’ll just practice some magic, if I have nothing else to do.

The day was warm, and there were hardly any weak breezes. The clouds above were wispy, and thin, and the distant sound of cars, and people rang around me.

I stood on the deck, and I saw Vince and Cara in the green grass, playing with a Frisbee. I wiped the irritation from my face with the swipe of my hand, and walked into the grass.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey,” Vince said, “You’re free eh?”

“Yeah, I guess I should’ve expected Ember to do something like that, but whatever.”

“Wanna play Frisbee with us?” Cara asked.

“Nah, I just came to practice my magic.” I lifted my hand, and wiggled my fingers in a mystical way. “Hey um, do you guys know when we’re going to the island?”

“No, but I have a feeling Ember’s gonna make a decision we won’t like. But I think I can convince her. After last night someone from Fervan was bound to see you right?”

“Yeah…” I said, thinking about last night again, and what my dad said.

Cara and Vince resumed their game of Frisbee, and I walked back onto the porch. I tried a few times to get the spell right, but it just wouldn’t work. Maybe Ember didn’t explain it right.

On my sixth try, I saw one small pop in the air, but it was gone in a second. I got excited, and wondered what I was doing right. This time was pretty similar to all the other times I tried, I wonder what happened. I tried again, and nothing. I cursed softly. How could I get this right?

I focused on the small beach chair that sat in front of me, hiding in the shadow of the roof, and then I tried to use the magic again. Two little colorful dots popped in the air. Maybe I had to focus on a target. I tried it again, and I got the same result. Now all I had to do was try it a few more times until I was comfortable.

After thirty minutes, Cara and Vince had stopped playing Frisbee, and were messing around with alchemy stuff that Cara had brought out. Vince was telling Cara about tricks he learned as a pirate with alchemists outside of Zirea. Meanwhile, I was getting better, and better results, but I noticed I started to feel hot, and tired, like I had been working out. Soon I found I was breathing heavier than normal.

I tried to do it one more time, and after I watched a strobe light show snap, and whip in front of the chair, I started to feel light headed. I slumped into the beach chair that I was attacking, and closed my eyes, trying to gather my energy, but my heart was beating quickly with the excitement that I actually did the spell, and the exhaustion of all that work. I remembered Ember telling me about how magic was like a muscle when we were in the mountains, and I knew what she meant now.

I listened to Vince and Cara talking about alchemy with my eyes closed. Vince was saying that instead of throwing stones, you can crush the stones into dust, and mix them. Vince also talked about experiments that turned inanimate things like statues into servants, but he hasn’t seen it done before. Eventually I got bored when they were speaking in some other alchemy language, and I tuned them out. It was actually kind of nice to sit and relax as the sunlight slid away.

The deck creaked, and I opened my eyes to See Cara, and Vince walking up the steps to go inside. “C’mon Angelo.” Cara began, “Ember told us to make sure you don’t go anywhere.”

I sighed, but I figured Ember would have done something like that. Inside, we all sat in the living room, and watched a show about baking cakes. It was weird considering that our lives were kind of in danger, but we managed to forget that until now.

During the commercial breaks I thought about what the director was doing while we were sitting here, watching a show about cooking. He was probably about to be on the island tomorrow, or maybe he was already almost there. He was trying to awaken a Siribi. In history class, my teacher told us that they could have been invented as a myth, but actual records found a few centuries ago proves that they existed. I shivered thinking about the stories of the eight huge monsters that were trapped inside of gemstones, and scattered across the world. It actually happened, like something from a story book.

The next day, I woke up, and the door was open. I was glad that Ember wasn’t going to keep this punishment going. The rest of the day not much happened, it was pretty normal except for Vince, Cara and I talking about the plan to go to the island. Vince had talked to Ember last night, and she agreed, but only said that we were going to the mountains, she didn’t say anything about going to the island. I wondered if I should give Vince the good luck necklace to wear next time he spoke with Ember, but I didn’t want to use the power too much before we got to the island.

“So how are we going to get away from the MOD members if we’re leaving tomorrow?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Ember and I might talk, and come up with something, but there has to be a way we can ditch them. One is always awake at night.”

So I went to bed that night, thinking about what tomorrow would be like, just the four of us again. I was excited, but at the same time I felt a little strange about leaving my parents. I called them with Cara’s phone, and they said they left for Othal this morning; they stayed at the hotel a little longer just to make it less suspicious.

I woke up with the feeling of someone’s hand brushing against my cheek. When I opened my eyes frantically I saw that it was just Cara. Her face was pale, but recognizable, and her body was draped in her black t-shirt, and long black pajama pants. The room was completely dark except for the bit of light from the street lamp outside, but that light only managed to leaves bars of white light on the floor.

I looked around, not quite sure what I was searching for before rubbing my eyes, and sitting up. “Cara?” I said with a weak, soggy voice.

“Yo, I just talked to Vince, he’s got a plan.”

“Umm, couldn’t y’tell me in the morning?”

“No, because that’s when we’re leaving.” Cara got a big grin on her face, making her look more impish than ever. “I knocked out the MOD members.”

I rubbed my eyes again. “No, no, no, no, no, why did you do that?”

“They had to be unconscious, so they wouldn’t try and stop us. What I did was I-” I stopped her.

“I don’t wanna know. Alchemy, I got it. But, they were just trying to help us.”

“I didn’t kill ’em. We just had to get away. I didn’t even make the smoke that strong; they should be awake by seven a.m.”

“Whatever, just, what’s the plan?”

“We leave, and go to a shadow magic shop. There, we’ll buy some special stuff, and boom; we’re back to the mountains.”

I squinted at her, not really comprehending what she was saying. “What time is it anyway?”

“Six in the morning. We gotta leave soon.”

I nodded, and woke myself up by turning on the light in my bedroom. I sat in my bed right after, and stared tiredly at the wall across from me.

I can’t believe Cara did that to those MOD members, they were only trying to help us, but I guess it had to be done anyway. I put on some simple clothes, a blue shirt, and jeans, and I walked into the living room.

In the living room Tracy, the female officer was sprawled on the couch, and the male officer was face down on the carpet, both of them were still breathing.

I heard footsteps, and I turned around quickly to see Vince walking in a chill manner towards me. There was a slight grin on his face. “They won’t wake up any time soon. That smoke I taught Cara nulls their senses, and puts them to sleep for a bit. You could kick them, and they would hardly feel it.”

I looked back at the two MOD members. When Vince said that, I was both reassured, and scared at the same time. Vince walked past me, and into the kitchen.

“Oh, I forgot, good morning. We’ve got a long day ahead of us Monrolee.” He said.

My weary feet stumbled across the carpet, making swishing sounds as I walked to the kitchen. “What’s Monrolee mean anyway?”

“A Monrolee is a pirate in training. I would be a Daron, a trained pirate. Cara is a Monrolee, and Ember is a Zon, because she used to work for Zirea’s MOD, but that is kind of offensive.” Vince said as he made some toast. In his voice I could hear something, it was like dreaminess, or maybe I was listening to hard.

Ember walked into the kitchen after taking the MOD member who collapsed on the floor, and putting him onto the chair closest to her.

“Good morning everyone, how are we?”

“Good,” I mumbled.

“I’m alright.” Vince said.

“I am so ready to get out of here. So Vince, what’s for breakfast?”

Vince took out the toast, and put it on a plate. “I made toast, don’t know ’bout you guys.”

Ember half smiled, “I guess I’ll make something for everyone then.”

Ember checked the fridge, and when she finished cooking, Cara, Vince, and I sat at the table as the dawn soaked into the darkness, rising into day light outside. I looked out of a nearby window, and thought about how the griffins were doing. Has anyone seen them, or checked up on them?

Ember gave us each a plate with a biscuit, some crispy fried bacon, cut in halves, and two pancakes. There wasn’t much talk happening while we ate. The biscuits were buttery, and flakey on the outside, and smoking, and fluffy on the inside, and the pancakes were fluffy, with crispy edges. I had no idea Ember could cook.

My mind was racing with thoughts of how today was going to go, and what the MOD members would do when they woke up. Soon, I was all done with my plate, and I almost couldn’t remember eating.

“How’d you learn to cook?” I asked.

Ember smiled, “The back of the box. There are tips about how to cook on the back.”

When we were all finished, I offered to take the dishes, and wash them. I imagined the MOD member’s reaction to seeing us gone, with dirty dishes in the sink to make it worse. It would be a little funny though.

We left the house shortly after gathering some of the stuff like clothes that the two members had bought for us. I looked at the house one time before getting into the car. (Ember stole the keys from the man’s pocket.)

We were only going to drive to the shadow magic place Vince looked up on Cara’s phone. It wasn’t far from here. I was half anticipating the journey, and half tired of moving around so much, but I let myself get carried down the street in the early morning. I wondered if my parents were in Othal by now, and I thought about what the director was doing, and I thought, and thought until my brain got tired of thinking. Soon I was just staring out of the window, watching the crowd of people outside slowly get thicker as morning rose.