The Darkness That Hunts
Chapter 13

The fullweight of Divine’s gaze settles on me as if I’m the only person that exists. Itis disconcerting watching an ancient druid study me behind the face of ayouthful blond teenager. Pride and surprise filters through his gaze as hefinally takes note of the others around me.

“Youremember?”

My nod isshy.

“I don’thave long.” Divine/Dace’s head tilts left and right as if the druid is lookingat something beyond us, in Ater. “To hold this connection attracts attention.”

Divine/Dacelooks down. Though Dace doesn’t move--his hands rest loosely against the armsof the chair--I get the impression that Divine is rustling through a book ofsome sort. Pages softened by time hiss in the air between our dimensions.

“From theElements born

Throughbarren wombs,

Four livesdestined

To avertthe doom:

“A Vesselof wit and Flame,

A Mindthat Nature constrains,

AManipulator of sensation and Sea,

And anIntuitive who through Wind,

Knows whatis to be.

“Againstthe Hunter one is foreknown,

But to thedevas each are foresworn.

Into Aterland of death and despair,

The Mantleof Battle these Four shall bear.

“In aclash of Light and Dark,

The victorwill be the spark,

Thatignites two worlds into chaos and war,

Or purgesone world from the Hunter forevermore.”

Divine/Dacefalls silent and his expectant gaze returns to me. I exchange glances with mycompanions. They look just as baffled as I feel. I assume the poem containsclues to the identity of the Three but there’s hardly anything concrete to goon.

“How am Isupposed to get them back to Ater?”

“Thebridge is always open for one who has been.”

That’sprobably the most straightforward answer I’ve received so far. Licking my lips,I force myself to share what’s on my mind. “The Steel Fang is here. She knowsabout the Blood Shield.”

Divine/Dacegrimaces. Dace seems to age five years. “Time is shorter than we anticipated.You have no choice. You must kill her.”

Kamironstiffens.

I havetrouble hauling my jaw off the ground. “Surely you can’t expect me to--”

“Hurry,Shari. Bring them to me.”

The airheats up again. Dace’s breathing grows shallow and his muscles strain as if heis fighting some great battle. A mist belches from his ears, mouth, and nose.He coughs, doubling over as a pained grunt escapes.

Zakkrushes towards him as Dace begins to heave. The misty heat congeals above usfor just a moment and then vanishes. Dace crashes against the table, coughingand choking.

“Think I’mgonna puke . . .”

Hamiltonis on it in an instant, grabbing a nearby trashcan. Dace vomits into it whileKamiron sprints to the bathroom. I hear a faucet run, shutting on and offbefore Kamiron returns with a small paper cup.

Dacecurses, straightening. Sweat courses down his pale face as he reclines againstthe armchair’s legs and drains the paper cup in one gulp. Hamilton takes thewastebasket to the front porch.

“I’m never doing that again.”

I dip myhead to him reverently. “Thank you, Dace.”

“What’d itsay?”

“First,are you alright, bro?” Kamiron kneels beside his friend, concern etched intohis stormy eyes. Dace shoves back his sweaty blond hair and shudders.

“He rodeme hard for a bit there.” Dace falters and then grimaces at his choice ofwords. “But I’ll be fine. Throwing up ectoplasm’s the worst, though.”

“Ectoplasm?”

“Think ofit as ghost residue.” Hamilton settles beside me. In his hands I notice atablet and pen. He’d been taking notes. Why hadn’t I thought of that?

“It’sgross shit.”

“Language,dude,” Kamiron reminds.

“Gross stuff,” Dace amends. “What did Casper have tosay?”

Wehesitate.

“That bad,huh?” He sighs and reaches for his glasses. “So do we need to sacrifice puppiesor something?”

Kamiron’sface darkens. “He said to kill Sandra.”

Dace’sglasses dangle forgotten in his hands. “Shi--shoot.”

“There arefour people.” Hamilton glances down at his notepad. His handwriting is typicalof a teenage boy’s--I can barely make anything out. “‘From the Elementsborn/Through barren wombs/Four lives destined/To avert the doom--’”

“Soundslike bad poetry. Let me see.”

Hamiltontosses the poem to Dace who is silent as he reads it over. “Your handwritingsucks, man.”

Hamiltonflips him off.

“So thisis exactly what the guy said?”

“Word forword.”

“Why is itthese things are always so cryptic?” Kamiron paces the length of the smallliving room. “Why not just come out and say it?”

“Whatwould the be the fun in that?” Zakk muses, a small smile curving his lips.

We sit ina silence peppered by Kamiron’s agitation. We don’t discuss Sandra.

Dace letsout a slow breath. “Well, if we think about it logically--”

“As iflogic has anything to do with evil interdimensional creatures,” Hamiltonsnorts.

“It’s theLegend of Andhakar Lake all over again. Revamped. Four people are chosen toventure into Andhakar’s realm . . .” He lets the rest hang in the air--like thefact that the previous four never returned. “It’s happening again.”

The fullweight of his words sinks in and a chill steals underneath my skin. “You’resaying I’m one of the four who mustre-imprison Andhakar?”

“That’sthe most reasonable conclusion, Shari. The Legend never says how the four are chosen,” Dace gestures toHamilton’s notepad, “But now we know.”

My mouthfeels like dirty cotton. “But I always thought--”

“What,that you’d replace the three, bring them to your druid, and then be free to gohome?” Zakk’s disbelief stings and I realize how delusional I’ve been. Ofcourse I wouldn’t be free to return to my normal life. There is no freedom from TheDarkness-That-Hunts.

“Guess Ialways assumed that I’d replace these mysterious people and they’d know what todo. They’d be expecting me, and would take over once I passed them to Divine.”My voice sounds flat, lifeless.

Hamiltonrubs my back in an effort to soothe my budding despair. I like it when hetouches me. His fingers leave a trail of goosebumps.

“So,” hebegins, “the three Shari needs will fulfill Dace’s legend, and more thanlikely, they don’t know it.”

Daceshakes his head. “Poor bastards.”

Kamirontakes a break from pacing and peers through the wooden shades into the darknessthat slinks beyond the windowpane. The rain is tapering off, the storm cloudsbillowing away to reveal weak moonlight. Too bad the storm brewing inFirestarter isn’t one that’ll blow over if I just wait it out.

My fingersfold into fists. How can I possiblysave the world? I can’t go toe-to-toe with Sandra much less Andhakar.

A soothingcalm washes up against me, nuzzling my skin before sinking deep into my bones.My clenched feet loosen and I shoot Zakk a grateful look.

“We’rehere to help, Shari,” he assures. He flows around the table to take up thecushion beside me. His hand grips mine and more calm infiltrates me. Now morethan ever I’m thankful for his special talent.

Hamilton,chuckles. “Comes in handy, no?”

My gazebobs around the room, settling on the boys surrounding me. Kamiron doesn’t lookat me, preferring to stare at the fading rain and Dace is too preoccupiedre-reading Divine’s cryptic message, but I sense their resolve to help me andit untangles my knot of fear.

“Read itto me again, Dace,” I order and am surprised at the confidence in my voice.Now, if I can just feel it . . . “The partstarting with the clues as to who I’m searching for.”

“So itsays something about wombs and being born ‘from the elements’, whatever thatis. Okay, here we go--‘a Vessel of wit and Flame, a Mind that Natureconstrains, a Manipulator of sensation and Sea, and an Intuitive through Windknows what’s to be--”

I frown.“That’s four. Which am I?”

“The lastone,” they answer simultaneously. When I open my mouth to argue, Zakkinterrupts me. “You know what’s happening--at least more than us, right?”

My nod isreluctant.

“Andyou’re very intuitive,” Hamilton adds.

For allthe good my intuition’s been doing me.

“So theones I need are the first three.” I think over what Dace’s read aloud butcontinue to draw a blank. For ten minutes, we bounce ideas off one another,each trying to fit together the clues, but the puzzle is too complex and I feellike we’re just chasing our own tails.

“Well, thestorm’s passing finally. The stars are even out,” Kamiron alerts, breaking thesilence. He shoves away from the windowsill and perches on the arm of Dace’schair. “Any new ideas?”

I sigh andtry to massage away my sudden headache. “No. This entire thing is turning outto be a colossal waste of time.”

“Let’s tryexamining them one at a time,” Dace suggests. He plops the notepad on thecoffee table between us. “First up--our vessel of wit and flame.”

I stare atthe words as if expecting them to rearrange themselves into somethinguseful--preferably a name followed by a perfectly accurate physicaldescription. “Well, for starters, no one can be ‘of flame.’”

“Unless,”Dace begins slowly, his eyes narrowed in contemplation. “Maybe it doesn’t referto someone being born out of fire. What if it’s someone who can control fire?”

“Like apyrokinetic,” Hamilton, Zakk, and Kamiron chorus.

I blink.“Wait, so you’re saying the first has power over fire?”

“Maybe.”

I tilt myhead at the poem, my attention falling on Nature and Sea. “Then the others cancontrol earth and water?”

“Makessense--at least, in this context,” Dace replies.

It does,but something doesn’t feel quite right about the conclusion.

Sensing myhesitation, Hamilton tugs gently on my earlobe, forcing me to look at him.“What is it, bonita?”

“Well, ifI’m like them, then that means air is my element, but I certainly can’tmanipulate it.”

Theirshoulders drop.

Zakksighs. “It was a good thought, at least.”

“The starsare out.”

We stareblankly at Hamilton for a moment before Kamrion checks out the window. “It’sfoggy now, man. You can’t really see the stars.”

Hamiltonmurmurs in rapid Spanish and suddenly his eyes widen. He stares at us as if ourheads have morphed into pretzels.

Daceraises an eyebrow. “I’m guessing he objects to fog?”

Ourresident telepath ignores Dace and whirls on me. His violet eyes stab mine,anchoring me to him. “What’s your birthdate?”

After abrief pause, Dace swears long and slow. “Oh, this ain’t good.”

Onceagain, fear starts to tangle inside me. “October tenth,” I force between numblips. “My birthday is October tenth.”

Dace rubsthe bridge of his nose. “March thirtieth here.”

Hamiltonnods to Kamiron who sullenly declares he was born on December twenty-seventh.

“And mineis July fifteenth,” Zakk finishes, “Which makes me a Cancer.”

I’m stillnot sure what our astrological signs have to do with anything, but from theguys’ shaken expressions, I get the feeling I don’t want to know.

“It’spossible to be born of an element, Shari,” Hamilton says, and my attentionswivels back to him. “You’re a Libra and I’m a Gemini. Both of us are Airsigns. Zakk is Cancer, which is Water, while Kamiron is Capricorn, which isEarth and Dace is--”

“The Firesign Aries. Best of ’em all.” His cocky smirk helps to lessen the uneasinessswirling in the room, but even Dace’s usual snark fails to reach his eyes.

“Then theThree are connected to me through astrology?”

“The Threeare us, Shari,” Zakk corrects, his tonesomber. “Think about it. I can sense the people’s emotions and alterthem--manipulate sensation.”

The lastpiece clicks into place.

“Oh, no.”

“And I am a vessel.” Dace kicks the coffee table hardenough to make it rattle. “Knew being a medium would get me nothing butfriggin’ grief.”

Guilttwitches inside me but I hunt for a way out. “It can’t be.”

“It is,Shari.” Hamilton gestures to Kamiron. “Remember ‘A Mind that Natureconstrains’? ‘Mind’ refers to psychic ability. ‘Nature’ refers to naturalforces.”

“So mytelekinesis, my clairaudience, both are ways that I can ‘control’ nature.”Kamiron, looking grim, heads back for the window.

“No,” Isqueak and force Hamilton to look at me. “This is just a--”

“Coincidence?”Hamilton slides his fingers through the shaved half of his head. “No, love,it’s not. Think about the first part: ‘From the elements born/Through barrenwombs.’ We brushed it off before, but tell me--do you have any siblings?”

I wiltlike a gardenia in the Sahara. “I was a miracle baby. My mom wasn’t supposed tobe able to have kids.” From the flicker of Dace, Zakk, and Kamiron’sexpressions, I know I’m not alone. It is too precise to be coincidence. “I’m sosorry.”

We don’tspeak. Shame and fear burns my cheeks. I wanted to protect my new friends, but not only has my presence endangeredthem, I’m supposed to drag them intohell with me! I want nothing more than to run away. To put as much distancefrom Camp Genki as I possibly can and hope Andhakar never replaces me.

“You can’trun forever,” Hamilton’s voice caresses my ear and its warmth sends shivers acrossmy skin.

“I know.” But how can I convince them to come?

Hamiltonpats my arm. “Have faith.”

“Well,we’ve solved the mystery of the Three, but we’ve still got the problem ofSandra,” Dace broaches.

Kamironstiffens and glares. “You can’t mean to kill her.”

I lower mygaze and gnaw on my bottom lip. “She’s not what she seems--”

“So shecarries his mark. That doesn’t mean she’s completely evil.”

“She is, Kamiron. She serves Andhakar firstand foremost.”

“You don’tknow her, Shari. She’s kind and compassionate--”

“Kam,she’s evil,” Zakk chimes in. “I know you love her and all, but--”

“Butbecause some ghost says so, we should murderher?” Kamiron thunders.

I lift mychin forcing down the guilt and fear rattling inside me. “Do you think if shecould, she’d hesitate to kill us?”

Darknessflashes in Kamiron’s grey eyes. He studies each of us as fury courses throughhim. “I’m not sure about any of this,and definitely not sure enough to kill because of a tattoo and a ghost. Norwill I let any of you hurt her.”

He startsfor the door.

“Where--?”

“I’m going for a walk,”Kamiron interrupts, waving me away.

“But thecurfew--”

The shojiscreen slides open and closed and he is gone.

My heartraces with adrenaline and I leap to my feet. Hamilton grabs my elbow. “Give himspace, chica--some time to think.”

“Don’tthink we have that option.”

Zakkstudies Dace warily. “What makes you say that?”

“Chameleon’sloyal to the point of stupidity. And he loves her. Ten guesses where he endsup, without even knowing it. Factor in Sandra’s a psychic vamp . . .”

“She’llcrack him before he even realizes.”

Ham beatsus all to the door, but we crash into one another when we discover Kamironhovering just beyond the porch, head cocked to the side, his T-shirt billowingin a slight mountain breeze.

“What isit?” Zakk approaches him cautiously. Kamiron turns towards him, his featureshaken and vacant.

“Ithink--something very bad is happening.”

“Bad how?”Dace’s gaze darts to each shadow and pit of undulating fog. I huddle with myhands tucked beneath my armpits.

“I think,”Kam begins, turning in a semi-circle, his expression locked in one ofconcentration, “I just heard someone die.”

My breathcatches. Kamiron’s supernatural hearing.

Weare beside him in an instant. “Let’s go.”