Brothers of Chaos (The Unstoppable Titans Book 1) (18 page)

“Hello,
Darlington,” said Nikki.

Darlington
nodded as he moved swiftly behind her, never taking his eyes off of Owen, which
made him feel even more exposed.

“Chris, do
you want me to help you?” Nikki asked.

“Yes.”

“Then you
need to tell me the truth about everything. That’s the only way I can See.”

Owen had no
idea what she was talking about, but he trusted Chris and figured it would all
make sense in the end.

“This guy,”
Chris said, “wanted Owen for something. We don’t know what, but he’s clearly
willing to kill for it.”

The room
fell silent for a moment. Nikki sat back in her chair, thinking. Owen noticed
she kept glancing over at Darlington. And then her gaze snapped to Owen. She
looked as if she were going to speak, but she said nothing.

“What is
it?” Chris asked.

“Do you
remember what I said when you told me you planned on starting this
monster-hunting thing?” Nikki asked.

“Yes. You
said it wasn’t a good idea.”

“No; I said
it was a
terrible
idea. I told you
nothing good would come from this. It was a noble effort, I’ll give you that.
But you four were not meant to join together.”

Owen gasped.
He had just been having similar thoughts moments ago, and now they were
verified. Somewhat. “Ever since we started, we’ve never taken on an incident
together, the four of us,” he said. Immediately he thought of the softball
games, which had been the only things they had tackled together on a regular
basis. And they’d lost every game. Were they cursed?

“I know,”
Nikki responded.

Owen was
silent for a moment, and then said, “How do you know?”

Nikki stared
at him for a long moment before responding. “I just do. This world is full of
mysteries; not all of them have to do with space aliens or demons from hell.
There are many people on this planet just like me, who can do extraordinary
things. Like you, Owen.”

“And
Michael?” he asked, trying to veer her attention away from him, per Chris’s
request.

“I think,”
she said to Owen, “you and this Michael are brothers.”

Owen gasped.
There was no way that was true.

“I don’t
mean blood-related,” she added, noticing his expression, “but you two are
related in some fashion. You’re two halves, but you used to be whole.”

“What does
that mean?” Owen asked.

“I don’t
know. I can’t think of any better words to describe it,” Nikki said,
frustrated. “I’ve never come across anything like this before. Usually people
just want answers to their mundane lives. Like that guy from earlier: I had to
tell him the girl he’s in love with doesn’t feel the same way about him.”

“The girl
doesn’t love him back?” Owen asked, distracted.

“Not
important!” Chris snapped.

“You’re
right,” said Nikki. “It’s not important. What is important is what Michael
wants.”

“What does
he want?” Owen asked.

“I don’t
know,” she said, looking at Darlington again, “but I have a feeling it’s not
good.”

“What makes
you think that?” Chris asked.

“Because of
the orb,” she replied.

Owen’s heart
skipped a beat. “How do you know about that?”

“What orb?”
Chris asked.

“You dream
about it a lot, don’t you?” she asked Owen.

“Yes, but I
don’t know what it is.”

“Well, I
don’t either, but I can only guess that’s what this is all about. I can see
your thoughts dwell on this orb, but you don’t know what it is or what it does.
Your thoughts aren’t complete. This is really all deduction, of course. Any kid
can do it.”

Owen smiled
but it didn’t feel real. He was more frightened than ever.

“What should
we do?” Chris asked.

“If you can
get me the orb, then I can tell you more about it.”

“Where is
it?” Owen asked.

“I’m
guessing Michael has it. Deduction.”

Owen grinned
at her playful energy. It alleviated the tension a bit. “How are we supposed to
get it?”

“Very
carefully, and I would do it as soon as possible, because I’m getting a very
bad feeling.” She leaned forward and added, “I never get bad feelings about
anything. Not like this.”

Jason sat at the end of the
bed of the hotel, staring at the TV. It was switched off, so he just watched
his reflection in the dark glass.

It was
almost time. He could feel it.

As he waited
in the hotel that had been paid for with someone else’s money, he wondered what
it would be like to rule the world. He and Michael were certainly going about
accomplishing that in a way Jason hadn’t planned.

For
instance, he hadn’t planned to be separated from his younger brother during
their search for the one who could power the orb. But Michael had simply left
the hotel and found himself a friend in Les. That had been unexpected, but not
completely unwanted. It was good for Michael to have a friend, and if Les continued
to be loyal to the brothers, the brothers would take care of him.

Jason
certainly wasn’t hoping for a repeat of the Christian incident. Michael could
use loyal friends for a change.

Since Jason
was apart from Michael, they’d had to communicate by phone, which felt silly.
He was so used to talking to his younger brother face to face.

Jason still
wasn’t sure quite how the orb would work, but Michael had assured him its power
wouldn’t affect either one of them. He hadn’t elaborated on that, but Jason trusted
him.

His heart
raced as he thought of all the things he would do once he had everyone’s minds
under his control. There would be no need for money, so robbing banks seemed
pointless. He and Michael would find the nicest mansions in the world and confiscate
them all.

He would
have slaves cook and clean for him and Michael. He would have to make sure to
get his minions to continue to take care of themselves (eat, sleep, bathe) or
else they would die off, but he would make sure they were always ready to do
his bidding.

After the
world was his, there would be no more war … but things would surely get boring
after a while. Jason decided he would have arena-style battles every now and
then, just to keep things interesting. He would have his slaves fight to the
death for his and Michael’s amusement.

Jason
grinned when he thought of all the women he would have to himself. He would do
whatever he wanted with them and they wouldn’t stop him.

Suddenly he
thought of population control. Surely a lot of people would die of natural
causes over the course of his reign. Should he have his minions continue to
mate, or let the world’s population dwindle down to a more manageable number?

Decisions,
decisions.

And how
would he take the entire planet under the hood of his influence? He didn’t know
the range of the orb’s power, so he decided he would have to do multiple points
of activation. How long would it take to do the entire world? Months? Years?

That
question exhausted him. He lay down on the bed, the covers still tucked in. He
hadn’t slept much since purchasing the room with the stolen cash from the man
whose car he and Michael stole. Michael had snapped that poor man’s neck
quickly and mercifully out in the small town of Birch. The brothers had needed
some way to get to San Sebastian.

Jason didn’t
regret committing murder to accomplish what he needed, and had instilled in
Michael the knowledge that if people stood in their way, they had to be taken
out of the way. Simple as that.

The younger
brother hadn’t taken too well to hearing that, but committed the necessary
murders anyway, to please Jason. Jason, in return, had promised Michael
everything would be peaceful once they gained control of this world.

But what
about the other world, the one that shunned the brothers—that tried to kill
them—simply because of who they were? Oh, Jason had plans for the home world,
the world that was so much like this one, except in this world everyone had a
last name. This world was just a testing ground. The home world wouldn’t be as
lucky when Jason returned to it with his powerful, unstoppable weapon.

He would
watch the home world burn to ash. There was nothing there he would miss; his
and Michael’s foster parents had been the only things that mattered, and now
they were gone.

Nothing in that
world would survive Jason’s wrath. Nothing.

*
 
*
 
*

Les ran into
the room and dropped down onto his bed, burying his face in his pillow. He
could hear Michael’s soft footsteps as he, too, entered the room. Les didn’t
want to open his eyes and look at him, at the man who had just brutally
murdered an innocent girl.

He’d watched
the entire event from the opposite side of the alley the monster hunters had
entered. He’d seen the fight, the death of Alyssa, and the explosion. And what
was worse, he’d been forced to help Michael put Alyssa’s body in the trunk of
his grandmother’s car, the car Michael had convinced Les to steal, where he was
horrified to find Marco’s body had been stuffed as well. Up until tonight, the
boys had taken cabs or walked to their locations.

This had
gone on far enough. Whatever Michael’s plans were, Les refused to take any more
part in them. He was going to put an end to them, right here, right now.

He slowly
lifted his head and stared at Michael, who was standing in the doorway, glancing
at Les with curiosity.

“What’s
wrong with you?” he asked Les.

“What’s
wrong? Are you kidding me? You just killed someone.”

They had
returned here earlier to drop off the orb before confronting the monster
slayers downtown. Michael went to
Les’s
closet and
pulled out the backpack, smiling at the
Norrack
and
Aslain
replicas. “So? I killed before and you didn’t have a
problem with it,” Michael said with a laugh that was not quite real.

“I did have
a problem. I had a huge problem. Why do you have to kill?” Les asked,
desperation in his voice. He truly needed to know why Michael was like this.

But Michael
did not respond. This made Les angry. He grabbed his alarm clock off of his
bedside table and threw it across the room, where it struck the wall next to Michael.

“I would
calm down if I were you,” Michael warned.

“I can’t
calm down. You just can’t go around killing whoever you want. It’s not right!”

“My brother
told me to do whatever it takes to get the job done. That was my dad’s
philosophy, too.”

“I don’t
give a crap! You should have taken that to mean putting extra effort into doing
things right, not going the easiest route possible. You can do whatever it is
you need to do without killing people.”

“I don’t
like being told what to do,” Michael said with a defiant tone.

“You let
your brother and dad tell you what to do,” Les responded angrily.

“They’re
family; you’re not.”

Michael
almost seemed sad now, but Les didn’t care. He was growing angrier by the
second. A long silence filled the room. Finally Les said, “I don’t want to help
you anymore.”

Michael
snapped to attention. “What did you say?”

“I said,”
Les began nervously, “I don’t want to help with your little mission anymore. I
can’t hurt people like you do; I refuse to be involved any longer.”

Michael said
nothing to this. He continued to gaze at Les as if he had gone crazy. “Is that
your final decision?” he asked.

“Yes,” Les
answered.

“Are you
sure?”

Les was
suddenly afraid to answer. There was something about the way Michael asked his
last question, the tone in his voice. It was the most sinister he’d ever heard
him speak. Les had been so full of courage moments earlier, but now his throat
seized up and he was rendered mute. He simply nodded.

Michael
nodded, too, and took the orb out of the backpack, studying it.

Faster than
Les could even register, Michael swung the orb at him, striking him on the side
of the head. Les flew off the bed and onto the floor. He lay there for a
moment, and then pushed himself up and felt the side of his head. It was
bleeding.

He looked up
at Michael, who was just staring at him. His face was unreadable. Les tried to
stand, but he was too dizzy from the blow. Tears started flowing down his face.

“Stop your
crying. I didn’t even hit you that hard because I didn’t want to break this,”
Michael said, indicating the orb. It appeared to be undamaged.

“Just go!”
Les screamed. “Do whatever you were planning to do. I’m not helping you
anymore.”

“I don’t
need your help,” Michael said coldly. “I know you tried to warn David about me
at the party. That’s why I sarcastically thanked you.”

He started
walking toward Les. Les reached into his desk drawer, pulled out a red crystal
and held it up to Michael.

Michael
froze in place.

It worked!
Les thought.
It actually worked! The
pagu
power crystal worked!

His joy
didn’t last long. Michael was still moving, though very slowly.

Les reached
into his desk drawer again and withdrew the bag of purple
burgani
crystals. He dumped them out onto the floor and began placing them around
himself in a circle, which was all he could do considering he was trapped in a
corner, separated from the door by Michael.

“What are
you doing?” Michael asked.

“I’m putting
up a protection spell.”

Michael had
an amused grin on his face. Then, he started looking around the room.

He must be looking for a way around the
circle,
Les thought.

Michael made
no attempt to even try to get to Les. He kept looking around, and then his eyes
settled on something in a corner of the room. Les followed his gaze and saw the
life-sized
Aslain
and
Norrack
replicas.

Les’s
heart quickened as Michael slowly made his way over
to them. His movements were strained, almost exaggeratingly so.

“Oh, man,
that spell you put on me is making it hard to walk,” Michael said.
He
winked at Les, and then placed his hand on
Norrack’s
beastly shoulder. A white mist flowed from Michael to
Norrack
.
For a few seconds, all was quiet, and nothing happened. Nothing at all—

Did it just move?
Les wondered suddenly.
He could’ve sworn he had just seen the replica, made of nothing but plastic,
move its head slightly. Not possible.

Then it
became unmistakable;
Norrack
had indeed moved because
he was moving even more now. He turned his head toward Les, and then began
stepping toward him, his movements slow and unsteady, like he was just learning
how to walk for the first time.

Les couldn’t
believe his eyes.
Norrack
held his axe about him,
ready to strike. Les got to his feet, making sure to stay within the protective
circle. He wasn’t sure if the spell would protect him from that, though.
Michael, who was now standing by
Aslain
in the
corner, grinning, hadn’t tried to approach once the circle was activated, so
maybe it did work. The freezing spell had worked on him, albeit temporarily.

Norrack
continued his slow approach toward Les. Under
better circumstances, Les would’ve been excited beyond belief to see his
favorite villain, in the most accurate depiction he could imagine, actually
moving around of his own free will. He was like a living action figure. But
seeing as the circumstances were grave, Les wanted nothing more than the beast
to just die.

Suddenly he
had an idea, but it involved getting past
Norrack
. He
didn’t trust this protective circle would hold. If he timed his actions just
right, he could dive past
Norrack
and—

Norrack
swung his axe right at
Les’s
head. He ducked quickly. Now was the time. He dove for the bed, bouncing off it
and landing on the other side, right in front of
Aslain
and Michael.

Les noticed
Michael appeared paler and weaker than usual, but he pushed this observation
aside and placed the red crystal on
Aslain’s
forehead. He muttered an incantation.

Now
Aslain
the warrior was moving. He raised his sword up high
just as
Norrack
, who was now upon them both, struck
down with his axe. The sword blocked the blow. Les stood behind
Aslain
, whimpering like a child.

Aslain
kicked
Norrack
across the
room.
Norrack
landed on
Les’s
desk, crushing it instantly.
Aslain
charged. Les
looked over to Michael, who was now leaning against a wall, looking nauseated.
He was still smiling, though, like he knew something Les didn’t. Les didn’t
care. As soon as
Aslain
defeated
Norrack
—and
Les had no doubt he would—he would set him upon Michael, and have him rip the
boy limb from limb.

Les’s
attention was brought back to the fight between
warrior and beast.
Aslain
had driven
Norrack
through the wall and into the living room. They
were completely trashing the place.

“What the
hell is going on out here?” Les heard his grandmother ask.

“Oh crap!”
he screamed.

He ran out
of his door and intercepted his grandmother, who was standing in the hall in
her nightgown.

“Grandma,”
he said to her, “go back to your room. It’s not safe out here.”

“Don’t tell
me what to do, you little bastard!” she screamed.

A loud crash
from the living room turned Les around quickly.
Aslain
had been thrown into the fireplace, knocking over a few china plates set on the
mantelpiece above. Now
Norrack
lumbered toward Les
again. Les turned back to his grandma, whose jaw had dropped. She pointed with
a shivering hand at the monstrosity heading their way. Les darted around her
and headed toward the end of the hall.