A Time to Die (Elemental Rage Book 2) (11 page)

“He lied to me. 
Aunt Bertha, he’s one of them,” Jade wanted to crawl under the covers and cry. 
Her whole heart hurt.

“Well, Dear, you
sure liked him enough a few nights back.  Just give yourself time to settle and
try to forgive.” Aunt Bertha was winding up for one of her super long anecdotes
about how she learned to forgive as a child when Raven opened the door.  Saved
by the sister.

“Aunt Bertha, do
you need help getting to the kitchen?  I’ll bring Jade some pancakes. She can
have breakfast in bed.” Raven held her arm out, giving Aunt Bertha a strong arm
to lean on.  Over her shoulder, Raven said, “I’ll be back to talk to you in a
minute.”

Jade wanted to
grumble. She wanted to cry.  She felt used up and worn out, and the idea of a
charity talk with Raven didn’t appeal.  It would end up in massive pity or
massive scorn, neither of which Jade wanted to face.

She was surprised
when Raven returned and her first topic of conversation had nothing to do with
Zach or Jade’s near-death.  She said, “I know how to get Mom back.”

Surprised, Jade
waved for the pillows on Mindy’s bed, “Help me sit up, and then tell me.”

Raven grabbed the Tigger pillow from Mindy’s bed.  Mindy loved
Winnie-the-Pooh more than anything else. Handing Jade the pillow, she said, “What
the Void told me was that ‘Earth, Air, Fire, Water, must join with a Keeper to
open the portal to the Dark Keeper, the one who lost Time.  We take the key
from him, which might require releasing him for reasons the Void didn’t go into,
and then we use the key to get Mom.  The Keeper will have to help us with that,
too.”

“We have to work with the enemy who kidnapped Mom to save Mom.  Sounds
like a brilliant plan.” Jade said sarcastically.  The bitterness of Zach’s
betrayal would take a long time to overcome.  She didn’t want to see him in
Chemistry tomorrow.  It would be tomorrow or the next day.  Aunt Bertha said
she called the girls out of school today, but they’d have to go back eventually. 
She’d have to go back and face him.

She wasn’t ready.

Raven said, “It’s Mom.  You can swallow your pride and ask Zach for help.
If you won’t, I will.  Are you going to trust Harold?  The Void said that he
killed Dad. The person I saw was so much younger, but looked a lot like him. I’m
not sure, but what if it’s true?  Are you really going to risk something like
this over a misunderstanding?”

Jade didn’t want to have this conversation.  Not now. Not ever.  She
said, “Yes.  You ask.  I’m not talking to Zach ever again.  We could ask
Wayne.  I’d trust him over Zach any day.”

“Well, I wouldn’t.  I’m asking Zach. Today.”

Jade heard the stubbornness in Raven’s voice, and knew it was a losing
fight. She said, “Ask him whatever you want.  Just don’t involve me.”

Raven put a hand on her sister’s arm.  “I am glad you’re okay. I was so
scared.”

Jade remembered opening her eyes and seeing Raven, Claire, and Mindy
huddled next to Aunt Bertha, each one of them watching her, mourning her. She
had been perfectly and completely healed with no explanation. Now she knew it
was Zach.

Her clothes had been soaked in blood.  Even when Raven opened the window,
the smell was overpowering.  Raven helped her change and dumped her clothes in
the garbage.  The carpet was stained. No amount of scrubbing could get it out. 
Raven again took charge, because Jade was so exhausted that once they moved her
to the bed, she could barely keep her eyes open, and Aunt Bertha sat beside
her, nearly as drained.

After eating three bites of pancake, Jade asked Claire to take the dish
away. “Has Raven already gone?”

Claire was still in her pink footy pajamas.  She looked much too young to
deal with everything, but she was doing fine, better than Jade. She nodded, “Do
you think we’ll get Mom back?”

It was the question of the day. That and ‘Did I really almost die?’ 

Jade handed Claire the pillow, “I hope so.”

~~Raven~~

Raven nagged Aunt
Bertha to drive her to Zach’s house.  Poor Aunt Bertha was looking as beat up
as Jade, but Raven knew it was important.  Finally Aunt Bertha relented, “But
you’re driving.  It’s high-time you put that learner’s permit to use.”

She didn’t mention
Raven’s crazy driving last summer, which was probably for the best. After a few
minutes of driving in silence, Aunt Bertha said, “I’m not going to be around
forever.  Jade won’t turn eighteen before I pass.  I’m planning to leave the
care of you girls to Bill and Martha.”

“The Death Keeper
Bill?  Jade is going to love that,” Raven said.

“Exactly.  Don’t
trust him.  He’s nice enough, but he’s a wild card,” Aunt Bertha leaned back against
the seat.  Even while Raven was driving, she glanced over to see the paper thin
skin and weariness in Aunt Bertha’s whole demeanor.

“Are you in pain?”
Raven asked as she turned onto the highway.

“Some.  Honey,
I’ve had a vision, and I know you’re going to suffer terribly.  If you save
your mother, you will pay in a way that costs you happiness and peace of mind. 
I won’t fault you if you decide another path.  We can find another way to your
Mom,” Aunt Bertha said.  Her glasses were slightly askew and even her wispy
white hair seemed dull.

Raven hadn’t told
Aunt Bertha about the Void’s agreement.  She hadn’t said a word about any of
it. The attack on Jade had taken so much out of her aunt.  Raven didn’t want to
worry Aunt Bertha or be grounded from saving Mom.  As they say,
Easier to
ask forgiveness than permission
.  And yet, Aunt Bertha knew.  She always
knew.

“I know how to get
Mom back.  Please, what did you see?  We’re planning a rescue as soon as we
have all of the Elements in place.”

“You go into a
land of mist, a place where shadows build upon shadows.  There you meet evil in
the form of a Death Keeper. Somehow the bridge fails and you are trapped in
that world with him.  Raven, you'll have no power there.  Air won’t be able to
help you.”  Aunt Bertha paused.  Raven could tell that she didn’t want to say
what came next, “He assaulted you in a way no person should have to suffer.”

Raven gripped the
steering wheel tighter and braked.  She couldn’t concentrate on driving and a
conversation like this.  It’s not like she didn’t know.  You go to grab a key
from Jack the Ripper, and you’d better go armed.

“How do I stop
him?  How do I change the vision?” Raven wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. 
She wanted to say that she was too young to make this kind of decision or to
face this level of menace. 

Turning to glance
at Aunt Bertha, Raven was gripped with sudden terror.  A skeleton spoke to
Raven.  Just like that night at the party, Raven was seeing Bertha’s death for
the first time.  She turned off onto a dirt road and stopped the car. 

Her hands were
shaking, her whole body thrumming with tension.  Tears filled Raven’s eyes. 
Aunt Bertha was really dying. For the first time, Raven believed it. The trees
along the side of the road seemed suddenly menacing, and the whole world a
giant battleground.

Aunt Bertha peered
at Raven through glasses that made her eyes look big.  She answered Raven’s
question carefully and with consideration, “Find another way.  The place you go
is a prison for ancient evil.  He has thousands of years more experience than
you.  He’s cunning and ruthless.”

Raven thought of
being shipped off to some relatives she had never met, a Death Keeper and his
wife. She thought of leaving her Mom trapped because she was too cowardly to do
anything about it.  Raven couldn’t look at Aunt Bertha now, not after seeing
her as a skeleton.  She was too afraid of what she’d see this time. She
squeezed her eyes shut and said, “I’m going to do it.  Tell me what I can do to
avoid getting attacked.”

Bertha didn’t
know.  She pleaded with Raven, “Don’t go, Raven.  He’s a monster.   How can I
advise you?  He had you on the ground.  He held a knife to your throat. I was
torn out of the vision before it went much further, but his intent was clear.
He brutalizes women. Do I have to be more specific?  Please don’t make me.”

They were both
crying then. 

Raven reached over
and grabbed Bertha’s hand, “I have an idea.”

Her hand felt so
cold.  Raven had been looking at everything but Bertha. Now she chanced another
look at her aunt and audibly sighed in relief when she was met with those faded
green eyes.

“I love you,
Raven. I love all you girls.” Aunt Bertha said softly.

“I love you, too,”
Raven gave a half-laugh which was as much strangled sob.  She said, “I guess
we’d better get back on the road.”

It took Raven a
few minutes to get the car turned around because she was definitely not as
comfortable learning to back up as driving forward.  Aunt Bertha was patient.
Raven couldn’t help but think about what Bertha told her.  It’s not like the
Void could be trusted.  Who did Raven trust?  Did she trust Zach? Maybe he
would know more about this.

He lived a mile
out of town in a beautiful two story house that had a woodsy feel to it.  Raven
felt awkward pulling into Zach’s driveway. She hoped he would talk to her. 
Bertha said, “You’ll get more if you talk to him alone.  They’re a little
afraid of me.”

Raven knew.  It
was because they thought Bertha had their gift.  Heck, maybe she did. Even
though she gave Emptiness to Raven, gifts could be staggered and stacked. 
Sometimes one Elemental in the family might have strength in all four
Elements.  Raven wondered if she had been a single child if maybe she would
have gotten all of the Elements. Maybe the gifts just pass through the family
depending on how many people there were to share.

“Want me to leave
the heat on for you?” The air had a cold bite to it. 

Aunt Bertha
nodded, “Please.”

She was putting
off the inevitable.  Clenching her jaw, Raven stepped up the walkway, too
worried to admire the little lanterns. Raven nervously rang the doorbell.  Zach
answered.  He looked terrible. For the first time, Raven was at a loss for
words. She said, “Hi.”

“Jade sent you?”
Zach asked.  He seemed so vulnerable that Raven hated to dash his hopes.

“No. I need your
help.  It has to do with being a Death Keeper.” Raven said.

Zach opened the
door, “We don’t have long.  My Dad’s in the garage.”

“Aunt Bertha’s in
the car.  She didn’t want to come in. I think she’s having trouble getting
around,” Raven followed Zach through the door.  To be honest, she was curious
about what a Death Keeper’s house might look like.

What a
disappointment! There was nothing unique in the house at all, not even book
shelves with crazy titles.  Anyone could have lived here.  She said, “Where’s
your bat cave?”

Zach just raised
an eyebrow.

“Your super powers. 
Why don’t you have anything weird in the house, anything that says, ‘Hey, look
at me.  I’m a Death Keeper.”  Raven ran her hand along the back of the dark
green sofa.  Everything looked so elegant. 

Barking laughter,
Zach said, “As if you have anything in
your
house that says, ‘Look at
me. I’m an Elemental.’”

“True enough.”
Raven sat down on the sofa, sinking into the plush cushion and wondering where
to start. 

Zach started for
her, “What’s going on?”

“We need you to
get a key and rescue my Mom. We’re going to try to find the evil guy who
originally had the gift of Time because there are apparently only two people in
the entire universe with the ability to get to her. He has to agree to take us
to her, but then he would be out of his cage,” Raven leaned back against the
sofa and stared at the ceiling. While all of the kids at school were thinking
about what they were going to be and do after high school, Raven was trying to
rescue her Mom. It hardly seemed fair.

“First of all, not
all the Death Keepers get along or even respect one another, so I can tell you
without a doubt that no one wants Petrodus set free, if he can be which is not
certain.  He should be long dead by now,” Zach took the opposite end of the
couch, his hands folded between his knees.  He slumped, and Raven thought he
looked more depressed than Aunt Bertha, who had been moping around the house
for weeks.

“Assume he’s
alive. Can you help us get to him?” Raven heard a crow caw outside the window. 
It gave her an eerie feeling of being watched.  If she could watch through crows,
what others had the gift? She asked, “Can you close the curtains?”

When Zach stood
up, it was a bit too quickly, too hurried, and he looked absolutely haunted. As
he fumbled with the cord to the curtains, he said, “I lost my Death Keeper
gift.  I’m grounded.”

“What? But you
were just with Jade this morning!  How do you lose your gift from one hour to
the next?” Raven tried to keep calm.  She was starting to sound shrill.  That
never worked in trying to sweet-talk someone into something  As the curtains
fell closed, Raven felt better.

Zach stared down
at his hands, his cheeks flush as he admitted, “I cheated.  My job this morning
was to escort Jade to the land beyond life. We have the ability to heal, but
only at the Universe’s direction.  I disobeyed the direction and saved her
life.  She is supposed to be dead.  I just…I couldn’t, and now the Universe
won’t talk to me, not even to punish me.  Everything gone. I’m all alone inside
myself.”

As Zach said the
words, Raven knew how very alone he felt. It oozed out of him.  Raven
understood.  She remembered those dark days not so long ago when Air was
silent.

“Well, the Unmaker
didn’t say we needed a Death Keeper with power.  He just said we needed a Death
Keeper. The next full moon falls on Sunday, October 16
^th
at 12:23
AM. We’ll probably be out most of the night.  Will you help?” Raven asked.