Anansi's Web

A bright orange light shone into my eyelids, signaling that the day was here. I opened my eyes briefly, then turned over to go back to sleep, but I soon realized that I couldn’t.

I glanced at the clock that lay on the desk. It was eleven o’clock in the morning. I took a deep breath, and stretched my arms. Last night came back to me in slowly. We struggled to the hospital, and by the time we made it there the boy passed out. I remembered waiting with Cara to see what the nurse had to say. She told us that the boy had lost a lot of blood, but they had some donated blood that they could give him. If everything went well, he should be walking soon.

The thought of the boy’s leg almost made me sick. His calf was white, and cold, sticky with dry blood. He was sweating a lot, and when he passed out I thought it was all over. Cara and I left the hospital after looking at him to make sure that he was okay. He was hooked up to a few machines, and was still passed out. After that I came to the hotel, and passed out on my bed the moment after I saw that it was five in the morning.

I shivered despite being under the warm sheets. I couldn’t believe that happened last night. I was in a demon attack, and I survived, there was no damage at all. With some training I’d probably be super powerful.

After a few more minutes of letting my brain work through what happened, I decided to wake my parents up. Once we were all awake, we hurried to get dressed because it was eleven twenty, and the runners are supposed to get back around twelve. If we want a good place to see them, we have to hurry. I could hear people gathering in the streets below, walking towards the square to watch their family and friends come back. I wondered if there were any dangers on the marathon trail, like demons, or other creatures.

We headed outside. Mom was wearing a rainbow colored shirt, with words that read, welcome back. She wore shimmering plastic green necklaces, and her hair was brushed over her shoulder, contrasting the brightness of her shirt. Dad was wearing a grey shirt, jeans, and one green necklace. I was dressed almost identically to mom, a little to my embarrassment.

The hotel had free breakfast, so we stuffed our faces before leaving. I wasn’t very hungry, but the fancy sounding lavender lemon muffins called to me. I had three warm muffins and a small cup of coffee before rushing out. It would be eleven thirty when we got there, and the square was filled with people. I would hate to hear them scream as the runners returned, it would be too loud for me to handle.

We stood there with a fair view of the finish line. It was funny how I could spot the kids from last night in the crowd. Not just because I remembered them, but because they looked just as tired as I felt. They’re eyes were droopy, and red, and they swayed sleepily back and forth. I smiled, wondering where Cara was if she was even here. I wanted my friends to be here with me so bad, but most of them had other plans.

Reporters began to comb the crowd, asking people questions. I hoped that they would get to me, but they were at the front of the line, and we weren’t particularly close. Helicopters hovered above us, like huge fly’s, trying to get a good shot of the runners. Camera crews were squeezed into open spaces in the crowd, struggling to get a large shot of everyone here. No doubt this would be displayed all over the country, and I was right there.

The day was hot, and the sun beat down on us. People around me were wearing colorful wigs, and flying banners as a celebrity on a stage sung a song from their brands new album. The music filled all of the empty spaces, making me feel even more caged in. Everyone singing along wasn’t helping. I still had some part of myself that enjoyed this though; I liked how strange this felt, but I still needed to get away.

I looked around me, and found a shop a few feet away. An open sign hung in the window. I wondered why they were open, and not enjoying the festival, but I just went with it. Maybe there wouldn’t be as many people in there.

“Mom, dad, can I go to the shop over there, its open.”

After several attempts at telling them over the noise, the understood, and I was allowed to go.

I squeezed by the people, and over to the shop, where the noise was almost significantly muffled. There was a desk in the center, with a towering woman standing behind it. She had black hair, as dark as my mothers, with a face that was, for lack of a better word, perfect. Her skin was the color of caramel, and her lips were painted red. She wore a rainbow welcome back shirt, with purple and green beaded necklaces. On the counter there was a sign that read, out of business sale now, fifty percent off all items, and services.

I walked to the side as the woman greeted me, “Hello.” She said enthusiastically. Her voice was smooth as silk, and as clear as sunlight that shone through darkness.

“Hey.” I said. I wasn’t interested in her, she was way too old for me. Her beauty was more like a painting anyway.

The floors were wooden, the shelves were brick, but the place was fairly clean. It reminded me of the alchemists building. Her lighting was the same as well, soft, yellow lights that gave the place a medieval feel, because the windows were tinted.

“Um, what do you sell here?” I asked.

“Well, I sell hexes, and books about hexing.”

I turned around, “You mean, magic?”

“Yes, hexes are another branch of magic.”

I looked around the shop. The books lined on the shelves were labeled things like, how to hex, and, the art of hexing. I felt in awe, because I have never met anyone who actually uses magic regularly other than my dad.

I turned back to her, “What do hexes do?”

“They control the mind, things like telepathy, and mind control.”

“Cool.”

I turned back, and looked at everything on the shelves. There were crystal balls, voodoo dolls packaged with special pins, and all sorts of bottled up potion ingredients.

I took a step back, when I heard the crowd roar like a huge beast. I looked to the window, but I couldn’t see anything. Music continued to play, as the crowd continued screaming.

“Why aren’t you at the festival?” I asked the woman.

“I’ve seen it one million times; I don’t need to see it anymore. You should be out there, though, is this your first time?”

I nodded.

“I don’t want to take this time away from you, you should watch it.”

I glanced outside the tinted windows, pondering if I should go back out. I wondered if I could find my parents again.

“No, it’s pretty loud; I think I’ll stay in here. I don’t have anyone I know in the race anyway.”

The woman shrugged, and I walked back to the shelves. That was when the door opened.

I didn’t know who it was at first, but when I turned I saw the pirate from the train. The last time I saw him, he was walking into the alchemist’s store.

“I hear you have something.” He said. He sounded the same. He was wearing a grey suit, not trying to match the crowd.

“And that something is?”

“The emerald tablet.”

There was a brief silence, and then the woman answered, “I’m sorry I don’t have the emerald tablet, that was just a myth last time I checked.”

“Don’t play games with me, I know you have it, the man from the alchemy store told me that you did.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I don’t have what you are looking for.” The woman said. I kept looking at the shelves, eavesdropping.

“Don’t play games with me.”

“Leave.” The woman said sternly.

“That won’t work on me; I’ve been hexed to many times for it to work now.”

I heard the woman take a deep breath, and then I felt a huge gust of wind sweep through the small shop, knocking down books, and whipping my clothes and my hair violently. I turned around to see a flash of blue light form next to the woman. In all of a second standing beside her was a goat the color of cardboard, with blue sparkles still evaporating around it. I couldn’t process the feelings of confusion, and surprise before the man was surrounded by a purple aura, seemingly unable to move.

“Attack him Alexandra.” The woman said.

The goat backed up, and sprinted forward, to ram the man in the stomach. He let out a painful oomph, as he tumbled backwards into the door.

The woman looked from me to the man, as if she was wondering how to keep me safe.

The goat backed up again for another ram, but the man grabbed the goat’s horns, and tossed it off course. The goat slammed into the nearby shelves, knocking down books, and knickknacks with a thunk. It lay there limp, with its eyes shut.

The man tried to stand, but he winced, and staggered, falling to his knees. The woman’s violet eyes were intense with concentration, and her eyebrows were knitted with concern. I moved away to the back of the shop, not knowing what to do, when the man saw me.

“Hey, you’re the boy from the train aren’t you?”

I held my breath, not knowing what was going to happen next.

“What are you doing here? “ He asked as he struggled up, to hobble to me. Even though he was a bit disabled in a way, he still made icy fear chill my veins.

“Don’t touch him!” The woman shouted.

The man waved his hand lazily in her direction, and she was covered neck to toe in a glowing black rope. She squeaked with surprise, falling over, nearly hitting her head on the counter. I was scared that she might be unconscious.

I panicked, and I didn’t realize what I was doing for a moment, but I picked up a crystal ball, and hurled is at him. The glass shattered loudly against the floor, releasing white vapor.

The man turned to me, with a small, yet noticeable smile on his face. A purple flash came from under the counter, and the woman popped up. It distracted the man long enough for me to run around the counter, to the door, where the crowd was outside, oblivious to everything that just happened.

“I’ll get you,” the man called after me, “Don’t trust her.”

The last thing he said made me stumble as I walked into the hot, people stuffed square.

I looked around, and saw my parents standing right outside of the door. They must have been waiting for me.

“Angelo, why do you look so scared? What’s wrong?” My mom asked. When my dad saw me, he just looked at me with curiosity.

I swallowed my anger at my dad, and said, “The woman in the shop is being attacked, you didn’t hear it?”

My mom shook her head, “No honey, what happened?”

“The woman who works there was attacked by a man, he was on the train, I don’t know who he is, and dad you have to help her.” I blurted out, breathless.

My dad walked right past me, and into the shop called enchanted shack as balloons began to rain from the skies, and more runners arrived, their families cheering.

Inside of the shop shelves were collapsed onto the floor, spewing books, liquids, and crystal balls on the floor. The goat was gone from where it once lay, and the black ropes that the woman were tied in sat on the counter, looped up nicely.

The woman was standing behind her counter, sweeping. “Hello, sorry for the mess-” She looked up, and when she saw me, she looked in my eyes and said, “He’s gone.”

“What happened here?” My dad asked.

“He was a member of the MOD.” I said. The woman nodded, and looked at him.

“A man attacked the shop, and I’m not sure who he was, but he was disguised as a pirate, and there is a possibility that he was from Fervan. He was looking for the Emerald tablet.” The woman said to my dad in a low voice.

“Why do you think he was from Fervan?”

“He looked familiar, like he was on a wanted list, but he might not be from Fervan. How could he have been so proficient in magic, and slipped by unnoticed all this time?” Before my dad answered the woman saw me, and they took their conversation to the back of the shop.

I looked to see what my mom was doing. She looked a little too interested in a book called, subliminal control, keeping your relationship in line.

I looked around at the mess scattered at my feet. I saw the crystal ball that I threw at the director earlier, and I picked up one of the shards. It was hollow, and light. My reflection was warped, and twisted in it, I wondered if it still had some kind of magic ability. The glass began to feel warmer, and warmer in my palm, so I placed it on one of the only standing shelves.

My friends who had magic abilities told me that there are a lot of uses for magical things. Rachel could use magic, and she would always lift things with her mind instead of just picking them up whenever she was at my house, because magic wasn’t allowed at school. If you can use magic you have to sign a contract that binds you, so that if you do use magic in school you are teleported to the office, and expelled. At least, that is what my friends tell me.

The lady stopped talking to my dad, and they walked to the front of the store. “Alright, let’s go.” My dad said. My mom followed him out of the door, but when I was about to walk out, the woman put her hand on my shoulder.

“I have something to tell you.”

“Yeah, what is it?” I asked.

“I don’t want you to be afraid, but you might be a target of that man now, and I think that you’d be safer if you were with me.”

What the pirate said to me before I left came back to me. “He told me not to trust you.”

The lady looked at me with her harsh violet eyes. “He’s the one you should not trust, look, eh, what’s your name?”

“Angelo.”

“Angelo, I’m Ember, and that man was a pirate when you first saw him, correct?”

I looked around the shop, thinking. He was a pirate, but today he didn’t have the wrist band on, and he wore a suit. He acted pretty rude too. “I’m not going to stay with you, why would I do that?”

“Not stay with me, well, yes, but understand that I just want to keep you safe. He might be looking for you now, and I don’t want you to be hurt. I have a plan, just hear me out.”

I looked at Ember for a moment. Her skin was smooth, and looked soft. Her black hair flowed over her shoulder, but her face looked worried, and almost frustrated.

“I’m leaving tomorrow, what’s your plan?” I said, crossing my arms across my chest.

“I’m going to find out what that guy is, and what he wants so I can stop him. I was a member of the MOD. While I do that you need to be protected.”

“He can’t know where I am if I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“He stole one of my crystal balls Angelo, and one of the Emerald tablets. I just need you to work with me.”

“What is the emerald tablet?” I asked.

“Ugh, it’s an alchemy thing, you pour the panacea over it, and it opens up to let out something important inside of it, and that’s all you need to know.”

I wondered what the panacea was, but to be honest I didn’t care. “Look lady, I’m leaving tomorrow, there’s no way the guy can find me, and after what just happened I’m tired, so no.”

Ember took such a deep breath that I thought she was trying to suck my soul out. “Fine. You’ll need me soon, and I’ll be there to say that I told you so.”

She walked off to the back room, and slammed the door so hard that one of the only hanging shelves fell from the wall, splattering a blood red liquid at my feet, soaking into the splintered floor boards.