The Orphans (Orphans Trilogy Book 1) (20 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

“
This really sucks,
” Eddie said. “It shouldn’t be like this.” He and Antony sat on the church steps, watching as JP and Naomi moved one of the bench seats from the campfire and back into the van.

“I know,” Antony agreed.

After Eddie had turned down the offer to save his mother when Antony held firm that he wouldn’t leave without Charlie, Naomi and JP redrew, with Naomi selecting the winning blade of grass. None of Eddie’s pleading had been able to convince them to stay.

Malika exited the church, a couple medium-sized cloth pouches in tow, and stood next to Eddie and Antony. “Both Charlie’s pulse and temperature are down. It appears he may have turned a corner.”

“Finally, some good news,” Antony said.

“I get the whole free-will thing,” Eddie said to Malika, “but you don’t have to make their decision easier by driving them to the train station.”

“It would make no difference if I drove them or if I did not,” Malika said. “They have made up their minds. They have made their choice and decided to leave.”

“Yeah, but still,” Eddie said.

“But still, nothing,” Malika said. “The both of you must let go of any feelings of disappointment you harbor. Acknowledge them and release them.”

Antony and Eddie took deep breaths and exhaled. While it was obvious that much, if not all, of Eddie’s weight was lifted, Antony appeared to hold onto his. Antony kept quiet as JP and Naomi joined them at the church steps.

“I think we’re good to go,” JP said.

“Before we leave,” Malika said, “I found these inside.” She handed both JP and Naomi their own pouches. “They shall work perfectly for carrying your serpents.”

Naomi hefted her pouch. The contents wriggled around. “I’m assuming there’s a garter already in there.”

“Yes, there is,” Malika said. “And if you should deem it necessary to carry rattlesnakes or any equally venomous serpent, which I do not doubt that you will, I would recommend using something sturdier than cloth, preferably leather.”

“Thanks. I definitely will,” JP said. He looked to Naomi. “I guess that’s it, right?”

“Yeah,” Naomi said. “Although, I feel like I should say goodbye to Charlie first.”

“He just fell back asleep,” Malika said. “It would be best to leave him as such.”

“I don’t need to wake him. I’m pretty sure I saw some loose-leaf paper inside. I can just write him a note. It’s at least better than nothing.”

“That should be fine.” Malika stepped aside.

Naomi cut in between Antony and Eddie and disappeared inside the church. All of the others stayed back.

A couple uneasy moments passed.

“You know, it’s not too late for you guys to change your minds,” Eddie said.

“It’s funny you mention that. Because I was just about to say the same thing to you guys,” JP said. He chuckled, laughing at his own joke.

“Fair enough,” Eddie said. “So, how should we get a hold of you guys when we’re ready?”

“Since none of us have phones, email is probably the easiest,” JP said, and then gave them his address, which was just his name and some numbers. “Hopefully, it doesn’t take you guys too long to get out of the woods. Otherwise, I might have to save your parents for you.” He looked at Antony while he said the last part.

Antony stood up from the steps. “Yeah, well, hopefully you guys don’t end up in over your heads,” he said. “And then we have to come save you.”

“Ha!” JP said, feigning laughter. “Now, that’ll be the day. I’d bet it’s more likely you guys never even leave here.”

“We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Naomi exited the church, her return interrupting the escalation. She nodded solemnly to Malika. “You were right,” she said. “He was out pretty hard.”

“Sleep is his best medicine,” Malika said.

“Hopefully, it starts kicking in soon.”

“It will. But his full recovery will take time.”

“Speaking of time,” JP said, “we might as well get going. I’d be willing to bet the trains don’t run that late around here.” He gestured to Naomi. “Are you good to go now?”

Naomi nodded.

They all said their goodbyes, some more genuine than others, and then continued to the van as a group. JP and Naomi climbed into the van and shut the door.

“The train station is about a half hour away,” Malika said to Antony and Eddie, “but I think it would be best if I wait there with them, so it might be a couple hours before I return. However, I will leave you with a little something to keep you occupied while I am gone.” She scooped two large mounds of dirt and blew them into the wind. A slew of miniature tornadoes swept across the clearing, depositing sparring vessels in their wake. When it was all said and done, the vessels stood in a tight formation, six per row and ten rows deep, like some imposing
irs
agent versions of the terra-cotta warriors.

“Those dudes look like they’re here to party,” Eddie said. “I can’t wait to show them a good time.”

Malika grinned. She turned to her angelic self as she made her way around the front of the car to the driver’s door.

“On second thought,” Eddie shouted to her, “I could always ride along with you. You know, to keep you company. The vessels will always be here when we get back.”

“Thank you for the offer,” Malika said, “but I will be more than fine.” She hopped in the van, shut the door, and fired up the engine. Before pulling away, she lowered the window and reminded Antony to acknowledge and release one last time.

Antony shook his head as he watched the van drive off.

Eddie patted him on the back. “They’re gone. Nothing you can do now except just listening to what Malika said.”

Antony let out a heavy sigh. He closed his eyes and cycled through a handful of inhales and exhales.

Eddie continued his thought, “Of course, I wish Malika would have said she needed company. I’d be lost in those eyes right now, but that’s another story.”

Antony was just beginning an exhale and exploded with laughter. “You are completely ridiculous.” He smiled, no longer burdened by his feelings.

“No. I’m the tortoise. Slow and steady wins the race.”

Antony cut to the campfire. “You’re gonna have to shed your tortoise ways if we’re gonna get through those guys,” he said as he retrieved a snake from an old steel barrel they had found behind the church and were using to house the serpents, and then tossed it to Eddie.

“Don’t worry,” Eddie said as he caught the snake. “I can turn it on and off.” He transformed the snake into a staff.

“Good.” Antony pulled two snakes from the barrel and transformed them both. “Because right now, it’s time for some action.” He twirled the staffs with his wrist before catching them under his armpits. He swept his staffs across the first row of vessels, challenging them.

“Let’s do this,” Eddie said with a grin as he and Antony stepped toward the center of the clearing and the six vessels that were on their way to meet them.

◆
◆
◆

A couple hours later, Antony and Eddie had battled their way through nearly fifty of the sixty vessels, including the five that they were currently engaged with, which had been whittled down from ten.

“Where is everyone?” Antony heard from an unexpected voice. The question caught him by surprise. Antony turned his head for a split second to find Charlie leaning against the railing as he struggled to make his way down the church steps. Antony was about to respond to Charlie’s question when he picked up a whooshing sound, the same sound a very large fist makes when it flies through the air. Rightfully so, the fist took priority.

Using the sound of the fist to estimate its location and trajectory, Antony flipped his head backwards to avoid contact. The vessel’s knuckles barely grazed the crest of Antony’s forehead as its fist flew by.

“Give us a minute,” Antony shouted back to Charlie as he popped his head back up. He nimbly sidestepped and swung both of his staffs, one low and the other high. The low shot was just a fake. The high shot was a bull’s-eye, or more accurately, third eye. Antony pierced the vessel’s forehead, turning his opponent to dust.

After some acrobatics and swift strikes from both Eddie and Antony, they had worked their way down to the last remaining vessel. With the two-man advantage, they closed in from opposite angles.

“Wanna do a little
Karate Kid
?” Eddie said to Antony.

“Sure,” Antony said. “I’ll be Johnny.”

“Then I guess I’ll be Daniel-san.” Eddie raised both of his arms and one leg as if he were about to pull off a crane kick.

The vessel’s head swung back and forth, unsure which of the two teens to focus on.

“Over here,” Antony said, getting the vessel’s attention. Antony swung high on the vessel. But this time, high was the fake. When the vessel blocked the staff with his arm, Antony dropped to his knee and spun around, swinging his other staff and sweeping the vessel’s legs.

Eddie moved quickly on the grounded vessel, planting his staff in the vessel’s head. “There’s your body bag,” he said as the vessel combusted. He withdrew his staff and twirled it expertly.

“Nice work,” Charlie said, attempting to clap and keep himself steady at the same time. He quickly discovered that his legs weren’t quite strong enough and began to sway.

Antony rushed to the church steps and grabbed ahold of Charlie’s arm, catching him just as he was about to go down.

“Thanks,” Charlie said.

“Of course,” Antony said.

Charlie examined his injured wrist. “What happened?”

“You don’t remember? Eddie said.

“I remember turning the snakes to staffs, but that’s it.”

Eddie explained to Charlie how he and JP had found the rattlesnake in the woods, how JP had accidentally tossed it to him, and how it had turned back and bitten him.

“You need to get your rest,” Antony added. “Malika said that rest and your mind-set will be the biggest determining factors in how fast you recover.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Charlie said. “My mind-set has never been stronger. You guys saw that I controlled both snakes, right?”

“Of course,” Antony said. “Everyone saw it.”

“Yeah,” Eddie chimed in, “I was freaking out partly because I knew it was a rattlesnake, but mostly because you totally owned it.”

Charlie smiled. Bite and all, his belief in himself hadn’t wavered one bit. “I knew I could do it,” he said. “I just had a split second of doubt when I saw the look on Naomi’s face. But like Malika said, that’s all it takes.”

“Yeah,” Eddie agreed. “That’s all it takes.”

“Speaking of Naomi and Malika, where are they? And JP, too? Did they go out into the woods or something?”

Antony and Eddie shared a look. Antony shrugged and then broke the news about how Naomi and JP had left to save Naomi’s parents.

Charlie nodded. “That stinks, but I understand why they would wanna do that. We all want to save our parents.”

“Yeah,” Antony agreed. “Well, we’re glad you’re feeling better, but you really need to get more rest and heal up. We need you at full strength as soon as possible.”

“Fine,” Charlie said. “Just let me see one of your staffs.”

“You might be too weak still,” Antony said. “I don’t want you to get down on yourself.”

“Don’t worry about me. Just let me see it.” Charlie extended his hand.

The glare in Charlie’s eyes made it clear that he wouldn’t be backing down. Antony reluctantly handed over his staff, which instantly turned back into a snake as soon as it settled in Charlie’s grasp.

Charlie narrowed his eyes, concentrating his focus. But it appeared to be no use. The snake continued to wrap itself around his good wrist.

“You’re still really tired,” Antony said, trying to keep Charlie from letting even more doubt enter his mind.

“Yeah,” Eddie agreed. “Your energy has to be affected or something.”

“No excuses. It is what it is,” Charlie said. “Maybe I’m not as strong as I thought I was”—a slight grin began to cross his face—“or maybe I’m just messing with you guys.”

The snake flipped back into staff form in a flash, startling Antony and Eddie. Antony shook his head as the smirking Charlie handed the staff back to him. “You’re a clown,” Antony said. “You know that, right? Now go get some rest.”

“Okay,” Charlie said, still chuckling to himself. “Just make sure to leave some of those guys for me. I don’t want you two to have all the fun.”

“Don’t worry about them. There’s plenty more where they came from.”

“In no time, you’ll be all healed up,” Eddie said. “And we’ll be back with Naomi and JP, taking on the real thing and saving our parents.”

“Yeah,” Charlie said with a grin. He started for the church door, got a couple feet, and then stopped. “Wait a second,” he said, the wheels in his mind still turning. “How are JP and Naomi gonna find the Beast that took her parents’ souls? They don’t even know who to look for.”

“Naomi seemed pretty confident,” Antony said. “She must have some clue.”

“When she first emailed me, she said she had no idea,” Charlie said. “The only way they could find who was responsible is if they cross-referenced her parents’ associations with the contact spreadsheet.”

“But you still have the
usb
drive, right?” Eddie said.

“Yeah. Of course. It’s in my pocket.” Charlie patted his pant’s pocket for confirmation. He got a confirmation, but not the one he expected. His faced dropped.

“What’s wrong?” Eddie said.

“It’s not in my pocket,” Charlie said. “It’s gone.”

Antony and Eddie shared in Charlie’s worry.

“Maybe it fell out when Malika was carrying you inside,” Antony said. “It could be by your bed.”

Charlie hobbled, as fast as he could, back into the church.

Antony and Eddie followed.

Charlie dropped to his knees by the pew where he had been sleeping. He scoured the surrounding area. “It’s not here,” he said. “It’s not freaking here!”

“Well, where could it be?” Eddie said. “When was the last time you had it?”

“I don’t know. I know for a fact that I had it right before I came back from the woods today.”

“I bet JP took it,” Antony said. “It had to have been him.”