Eli Fletcher: Mark of the King: Book 1

Chapter Twelve

T“Do you really think staying here will keep the children safe?” Tentatio’s echoes in my mind.

I sit up and spin my head in a panic. I’m in a wall-less room filled with bunkbeds occupied by everyone from the group home. I’m in the center, in the only bed that doesn’t have one above it. To my left, Fiona sleeps soundly and to my right is Billy, eyes also shut, but his head is tossing back and forth. Then he begins to claw at his face. I get up and approach his bed; his mouth and eyes are both sewn shut. I move to the next bed to find Steven the same way. I hop over the bed I’d been in and find Fiona’s eyes and mouth sewn shut as well, but her head is strapped down.

“Can’t have her reading minds,” Tentatio says, suddenly appearing behind me.

I spin around, clutching a sword in my hand. I have no idea where it came from, but I’m grateful to have it.

“I see you have your sword completed,” Tentatio says, eyeing the blade in my hand. “Are all five pieces there? No? Where’s your shield, Eli?”

“Shield? What are you talking about?”

Tentatio sighs. “They didn’t tell you about your shield? Honestly, does Allison even know what she’s doing?”

“She’s doing fine, what do you want?” I demand.

Tentatio smiles from ear to ear, flashing his pearly whites. He adjusts the tie to his pale, gray suit as he slowly approaches me, his black shoes clicking and clacking loudly on the hard floor. I grip my sword tighter, and move towards him as well.

“ELI!” Fiona’s voice finally breaks through. Tentatio looks in her direction as I spin towards her bed. She’s sitting up in her bunk breathing heavily. “WAKE UP!” she screams.

“What?”

“WAKE UP!” she screams again, and then her arm stretches like bubblegum towards me, and strikes me across the face.

________________

“Eli, wake up!” Miss O is shaking me out of my sleep. “Oh, thank God,” she says and then falls back into the chair she’d brought in and set next to my bed.

“Miss O, what’s going on?” I ask.

“You were talking in your sleep, so Steven came and got me. You were talking to Tentatio,” she states.

“No I wasn’t,” I retort.

“I heard his voice, Eli, don’t lie to me.”

I sigh and then push myself up into a sitting position. “Fine, he was telling me if I stay, no one will be safe; I don’t believe him, though. If I leave, that leaves no one here with powers to stop him.”

“Maybe he’s trying to tell you that you’re not strong enough to stop him,” Miss O says.

I gawk at her, unable to respond for a long moment before I let out a heavy sigh. “Well, if I’m not strong enough to stop him, who is?”

I lie back down and turn away from Miss O. I can’t believe how little she believes in me. I may not have everything I need to stop Tentatio yet, but I can’t let that stop me from trying. If I’m supposed to be some sort of hero, I can’t just sit around waiting to get all my powers; I have to do what I can with what I’ve got in hopes I can at least ruin his plans until I am strong enough to defeat him.

I don’t say any of this to Miss O, though. I ignore her until she leaves the room. If I have to leave the group home, I’m not going with the Adlers; I’ll be too far away to be of any help here. I go on with my day with this still on my mind, doing my best to keep it from Fiona.

Hours later I go to my room alone and look out the window between the two set of bunks to find a dark sky and decide now is the best time to go if I’m going to avoid living with the Adlers. I quickly double-check my small duffle to make sure everything of mine is in place, zip it up and then quietly slip out of the room. Scanning the hallway in both directions, I find that the coast is clear so I slip down the hall to my right, open the door quietly and then close it with barely a click once I’m through. I use my abilities to soften my steps so I can move soundlessly down the steps to the back door.

I find the door locked with a padlock since the back side of the building is never used. I squeeze it until it breaks in my hand and then pull the chain through, looking over my shoulder as the noise echoes through the stairwell. Once I’m confident there’s no movement in the dark hall, I leave the building, cushioning the closing door.

Now free, I run around the building towards what used to be a small warehouse. All that stands between me and freedom is the tall, wrought iron fence. Surging forward, I take a few more steps and then spring upwards, rising higher into the air until I’m floating over the fence. Eyes wide and mouth agape, I suddenly lose my confidence and begin to fall quickly back towards the ground like a missile. Closing my eyes, I remember the first night I had my powers and begin to slow my descent, floating like a balloon that’s lost its helium. Opening my eyes once again, I direct myself to the other side of the fence and land softly outside the campus grounds.

“I won’t be far,” I vow to the group home and then turn and make my way up the street towards Memorial Park.

There’s hardly any cars on the road this late at night, so I don’t worry about being seen wandering the streets on my way. However, I can’t help but feel like I’m being watched. I keep looking over my shoulder to make sure I’m not being followed by anyone from the group home, but all I see every once in a while is some homeless looking kid in tattered, baggy clothes, and long shaggy hair, covered with a black beanie.

I cross the street when the park comes into view and head for the only place I’ve ever really seen; the skate park. The park is deserted save for a few small groups of homeless people with their travel packs, shopping carts, and even a few tents. I smile at the sight of them; that’s true freedom there. No real responsibilities, no school or jobs to have to check in to, no demons tormenting them… Well, that last one I’m not entirely sure about; some of them seem to see demons everywhere.

I climb the grassy hill to the bowls where a group of skaters are still skating; some are sitting around the benches, smoking from small, rolled up pieces of paper. The smell reminds me of skunk, just not as sour.

“Hey, kid,” one of them says slowly. “What’re you doin’ here? I’ve never seen you before.”

I shrug. “I’ve never seen you before either,” I tell him.

He chuckles, his eyes half open. “Touché,” he says, taking another hit from the joint between his fingers. “What’s your name?”

I stare at him, debating whether to give him my real name or not. “Jeffer-…Jeff,” I stammer.

“Well, Jeff, where are you from?” He asks.

“Lots of places,” I answer.

“Why so vague? We’re not going to rat you out to anyone,” he says.

I shrug. “I don’t know you, why should I trust you?”

After staring at me for a long moment, a smile slowly spreads across his face. “I like you, kid. The name’s Tobey; if you ever need anything, you just find me and I’ll hook you up,” he says.

Confused, I slap his palm with mine and then quickly make a fist to meet his.

“Right on, bro. Well, we’re outa here. Catchya later, little dude,” he says and then he and his skater friends skate off into the night, leaving me alone at the skate park.

With a heavy sigh, I lie back on the picnic bench and stare at the gazebo roof. Between it I can see the night sky. Countless stars fill my field of vision as if I can see past the wooden posts and into outer space itself. I never saw skies like this in California; there was way too much light pollution (as they called it) to allow anyone to see many stars at all. But here in colorful Colorado, they seem to really appreciate the nature that surrounds them. Which reminds me…

I take the stone from my dad out of my pocket and turn it over in my hand again. No markings, no symbols to tell me anything. Just a weird groove around its edge as if it fits into something. My dream comes back to me; Tentatio said something about the pieces of the sword I was holding and if I remember correctly, there was a stone in the center about the same oval-ish shape as this one.

“What are you?” I whisper to the stone as if it will answer me.

Then down the grassy hill I see flashlights searching the grounds and those flashlights are in the hands of two police officers, or park security guards at least. If I move, they’ll see me for sure, so I hold as still as possible, trying not to draw attention to myself.

I close my eyes, chanting to myself over and over. “Please, don’t see me; please, don’t see me; please, don’t see me.”

“There’s something over here,” one of the officers say halfway up the hill.

I continue silently. Please, don’t see me; please, don’t see me; please, don’t see me…

“It’s just a hoodie,” the officer says, kneeling down on one knee and then placing a hand on the bench.

I feel the wood flex beneath the weight of him and I open my eyes to see his arm coming out of my chest.

“Ugh! It’s soaking wet!” he says, standing up and carrying the drenched hoodie away.

His partner is laughing at him from down the hill. “Why didn’t you just leave it there? You don’t have to put everything you find in the lost and found.”

Their voices trail away and I finally allow myself to breathe again. How did he not see me? How was his hand protruding from my chest as if I were a ghost?

“That was a cool trick,” someone says from across the bowl.

I spin on the bench and find the kid with the ratty clothes and long hair staring at me with his legs dangling over the edge. He then stands up and drops into the bowl with his skateboard beneath his feet, popping up in front of me. I sense power radiating from him when he grows closer. It’s the same feeling I get when Coquo or Tentatio are around.

“We all radiate power,” he says as if he can hear my thoughts. “We were all the same at one time, but a lot were deceived.”

“So, which one are you? Angel or demon?”

He grins at me with his eyes slit. “What do you think?”

“Since you’re not trying to kill me, I want to say angel.”

He chuckles. “Good deduction, kid,” he says and then takes a seat on the picnic table across from me.

“What are you doing here?” I ask him.

He shrugs. “Just keeping an eye on you; I don’t really tell people what to do,” he replies.

“Do you have a weird name, too?”

“No weirder than yours,” he says. “Call me Torrey.”

“Are you like a guardian angel or something?” I ask.

He nods. “In a manner of speaking. My name means watchtower. I look out for you to make sure you stay out of major trouble. Sometimes I let you learn your lesson.”

“Is that what you’re doing right now; letting me learn my lesson?” I ask sarcastically.

Torrey rolls his eyes with a grin. “Always a quick tongue; if you’re not careful, it’ll get you into trouble one day,” he warns.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I say and then lay back on my park bench again.

“Defiance doesn’t offend me, Eli. I just said that I don’t tell people what to do; I watch, protect and encourage.”

I lay in silence, hoping he’ll just leave, but he doesn’t. I can still feel him sitting there, watching me. With a heavy sigh, I sit up and face him again.

“So, why are you here? If all you do is watch, protect and encourage; which one is it?”

Torrey stares at me, his eyes slit, chewing on a bite from an apple I just noticed he’s eating.

“You have an arrogance problem, Eli,” he says. “If you’re not careful, it’ll be your downfall.”

“That’s very encouraging,” I say, shaking my head and rolling my eyes as I roll back onto the bench again.

“Here’s some encouragement for you,” he says, narrowing his eyes on me. He vanishes and reappears, sitting on the table above the bench I’m lying on. “Go back to the group home. You being out here doesn’t make sense. If you think they’re safer with you gone, then why stay close? If you think they’re safer with you nearby, then fight to stay. Allison is smart and reasonable; she’ll listen to reason.”

“But, she’s making me go with the Adlers and I don’t trust them. There’s something weird about them I can’t put my finger on,” I tell him, sitting up and resting my elbows on the table.

“Hmm,” he says, rubbing his chin. “I can try and find out more about this family,” he says, “but right now, you really should go back; Tentatio is very likely to use the children to draw you out.”

“Is that all he’s doing? Trying to use them to bring me to his side?”

“Yes and no,” he says. “He is using them as leverage, but at the same time, he can use their souls to grow a weapon that could slowly destroy the world.”

“What kind of weapon?”

He shakes his head. “I’m not even sure what it is; all I’ve ever heard about it is that it’s some sort of form of living death.”

Suddenly a bright, red light flies across the sky like a missile. It crash lands just a couple blocks away. Both Torrey and I stand up, facing where the light landed.

“Can you get me there faster?” I ask him and he nods.

“Hop on, kid,” he says, dropping his skateboard onto the pavement.

I stand on the plank of wood topped with black grip tape. The hard rubber wheels clicking and clacking on the cracks in the sidewalk as we speed towards the group home campus. With a slight glance over my shoulder, I see that Torrey is in full angel form. Large, strong hands grip me under the arms; white wings extend off of his back, pushing us along at a faster pace; his beanie is gone and so are his skater’s clothes, his long blond hair whips behind him while bright light covers his body in place of his clothing.

“Hold on!” Torrey shouts as we lift off of the ground and fly over the wrought iron fence, landing at the front doors of the main building. He holds his hands up and blasts the doors open with some sort of energy from his arms.

I gawk at him in amazement; Coquo hasn’t even done anything like this before.

“Go,” he urges and I run into the building.

I clench my fists as I stand in the center of the hallway in front of the administration office, trying to sense where the demon is. Slowly, I walk forward, my eyes closed as I search for the demon’s power. I feel it tugging at my chest, pulling me towards the bunk room where the younger kids sleep.

Abby! I panic for a moment and then rush towards the doors.

Beneath the door to the boys’ room, I see a red light glowing. At first I sigh with relief as I realize Abby is safe. I reach for the doorknob but the light vanishes and reappears in the girls’ room.

“No!” I say audibly this time.

I grab hold of the doorknob and then hold back a scream of pain as I try to let go of the burning hot, round doorknob. I look at my hand to see an imprint of the keyhole in the palm. And then the next moment, the skin repairs itself and the heat I’d felt vanishes.

“Cool,” I say, grinning and then I realize that the stone is in my other hand still; the stone had to have healed me. I try again at opening the door, but the heat of it gets stronger. Gritting my teeth, I raise my foot and kick the door open as if it’s made of cardboard. It swings open, falling off its hinges.

The demon turns to face me in his human form. His blond hair seems to flicker like slicked back flames; a dark green tank top covers an extremely muscular body (his muscles have muscles!); camo pants in different shades of green hug tightly at his thick legs and heavy black boots adorn his feet. He towers over me by at least ten feet (okay, maybe two or three, but you’d think the same thing if you ran into a guy with biceps the size of your head).

“Oh, hello there, Eli,” his whispery voice replies as if he’s gargling flames.

“Can I help you with something?” I ask, standing my ground even though he’s taken a couple slow, deliberate steps towards me.

“What do you have there?” he asks, eyeing my clenched fist.

I shrug. “Come and take it,” I challenge foolishly.

The demon laughs. “You’re brave, kid, I’ll give you that. What Tentatio wants with you, though, I’ll never understand.”

“He seems to be under the impression that I can be turned and ultimately lead you to destroying the world or some crap like that,” I tell him.

“I can see that you can’t be turned,” he says.

“Then you’re smarter than he is,” I compliment him.

“Now don’t go and try buttering me up,” he says, feigning bashfulness.

I almost smile at him. “I could say the same to you. Trying to appeal to my stubborn side was a smart move. But, I’ve chosen my side,” I tell him.

He shrugs and then sighs. “I guess I better get back to work then; if you’ll excuse me.”

“HEEELLLLP!!” a little girl shouts from across the room.

I whip my head around to see Tentatio lifting Abby over his shoulder and heading for the windows across the room. I try to run across the room but the demon in front of me ignites flames around his hands. He raises one of his flaming hands as if to throw a ball of fire at me or one of the other screaming girls in the room.

“Get out!” I shout to them all and they begin to push past me.

Clenching the stone in my hand tighter, I move towards the demon; water engulfs my hands in the same way flames surround his. He ejects fire towards me with is fist, but I punch forward and a jet of water collides with his flame, creating a hot mist in the room. The girls duck down and scramble for the door as I rush for the demon. My stream of water grows as I rush for him until it finally consumes him from head to toe. He coughs as if drowning, so I stop hitting him with water and then grab him by the tank top, raise my fist and then strike him across the face. He slumps to the floor in a heap.

“Someone go get Miss O, and someone else go find Michael in one of the dorms,” I say to some of the slightly older girls.

Two girls nod and then rush out of the room, their footsteps splashing cool water up as they run off. I turn towards where Tentatio had been standing with Abby, but he’s gone. I look at the windows to see him standing with her in his grasp. One of the windows is busted out, so I run for that one, step through and face Tentatio and Abby.

“Eli,” she cries. “Help me,” she says.

“I will, Abby, just stay calm.”

“How sweet, you actually care for this one, don’t you?”

I clench my fists again and then send a blast of water into his perfect smile, wiping it off his face. Abby rushes forward as Tentatio gasps for air.

“That was a good hit,” he compliments me after spitting water out of his mouth.

Abby hides behind me, holding tightly onto my shirt.

“There’s more where that came from,” I promise him.

Tentatio grins and laughs. “Don’t get cocky, Eli,” he says and then his black wings extend behind his back, tearing through his suit, and he takes off in flight.

“Really? That’s all you got?” I say stupidly and Tentatio stops a few stories above me. “Crap, Abby, get back inside,” I say frantically, pushing her towards the open window where Miss O and some of the other kids are reaching out for her. Suddenly Miss O and the kids fall back, I rush forward to help Abby through, but Miss O pops back up, unable to reach her hand through. It’s as if a new pane of glass has suddenly appeared.

“Eli, I can’t get through,” Abby cries, pushing on what used to be the open space Tentatio had brought her through.

I try punching through, but nothing happens; I try kicking and I still fail; I try slamming the stone into it, but that doesn’t work either. Miss O screams at me, even though I can’t hear her, but I can tell by her desperate expression that she’s trying to tell me something, and then she points behind me. Tentatio swings a sword towards me, but a sphere of water engulfs me.

“ELI!” Abby’s muffled voice calls out for me as her tiny fists pound on the sphere of water continuously swirling around me, protecting me from Tentatio’s attacks. But, Abby’s unprotected. I try to stop the sphere of water, but don’t know how it even formed. Tentatio grabs Abby around the waste and then flashes a sickening grin at me before he vanishes. The water sphere falls to the ground and Miss O steps through the broken window to grab me as I begin to fall, my vision blurring and then finally turning black.