Dancing With Monsters (2 page)

April

No one expected me to run, but I did.
I never caused any trouble at Sunrise Acres, and was always the one
that helped the staff, or visited with the staff, and overall,
appeared like a normal teen. They trusted me, and that trust was my
ticket out of here.

I had earned garbage duty which meant
I got to go outside.

It was November, and the temperature
reflected the time of year. At least I had a coat, but my shoes
were flip flops—the only kind of shoes we had beside our slippers
which stayed in our rooms. I would have to make due, and find
something else later.

Most duties were supervised, and yes,
someone was supposed to come to the dumpsters with me. But I had
earned respect, and I had always come back before, except for this
time.

The paddle lock was supposed to be
locked, but never was and hung loosely on a chain like a pendant on
a necklace. I slipped out and ran into the timber.

Sunrise Acres was surrounded and
bordered a large park. Most of the park was left to Mother Nature
to take care of, while only a small portion beside the lake was
maintained for camping or picnicking. But at this time of year, the
park would be void of any campers, and the perfect place to make my
run.

I knew they would look for me, and
probably have not only search dogs, but the police as well. I had
to move quickly and find better transportation than my feet—I
needed to get a ride.

Across from the park was an old truck
stop. I could easily get a ride there, at least that was my
plan.

I didn’t follow any path, but could
see the lights from the truck stop glowing through the barren tree
branches. I had abandoned my flip flops when I left, throwing them
in the opposite way that I went. Hopefully, that would give me some
time.

The timber consisted of gullies and
small creeks. My feet were frozen, and stung with coldness and
scrapes. I just hoped someone would give me a ride.

“
No!” A voice cut through
the darkness. “I didn’t take any! I-I prommmise.”

I stopped and stood barefoot in a tiny
leaf-lined creek. The leaves were slimy under my feet as I looked
all around me to see who the voice belonged to.

“
I don’t believe you, and
you know what I have to do.” Another voice, male,
replied.

I held my breath as I slowly climbed
up the embankment on my stomach. In a stretch of land between the
truck stop and the park, was a thick wooded area where a lot of the
garbage along the road seemed to end up. It was the buffer between
the two areas, and by the looks of the two darkened figures, the
large one holding the other by the neck—a murder scene.

I hugged the ground as I watched with
unblinking eyes. The taller man held the other man up over his head
by the neck until his body withered like a deflating baloon. I held
in the scream I wanted to expel, and hoped whoever this was, left
without noticing me.

The man brushed his hand together as
if he was removing cookie crumbs from them. He looked at the ground
and kicked the area with his feet as if covering up any evidence.
But what evidence was there? He had just sucked the life out of the
guy. Had I accidently consumed one of my nightly pills? Things like
this don’t happen. Guns, knives and other weapons would be
believable, but simply turning someone into what looked like bits
of tissue paper, didn’t happen.

I sunk closer to the ground and closed
my eyes wishing the scene away. Hopefully, the man would leave none
the wiser that I had witnessed the murder he had
committed.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps came
up the other side of the embankment. They were heavy, and shook the
ground under me. Before I could think about jolting into the
darkness, a hand grabbed my thin shirt and turned me over. I would
had screamed, but the air wouldn’t leave my lungs as I stared into
gleaming eyes that reflected what light penetrated through the
trees from the truck stop.

Seth

Duneloc was one of the largest cities
in Iethia. Though safer than the Wildlands or Chardlands, it still
had its dangerous areas. Malachi, Nessa and I wound our way through
Flametree Street that twisted and turned in gentle curves like a
continuous S. It also went uphill following the gentle incline of
the landscape. The buildings of this area were of a bygone era.
Built out of glintstone, they caught the daylight and held it in
their tiny flecks of silver embedded in the irregular shaped stones
mortared together. Their delicate glow made all the buildings look
freckled with light. Weeping trees dotted the skinny road, and
orillion orbs lit up each door that had a plaque with a number
engraved on it.

“
Why didn’t we just go up
a block and then cut over so we didn’t have to climb up this never
ending hill?” Nessa huffed behind us.

“
Because they just had
riots in that area, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to
get caught up in that mess.”

Nessa limped along behind us pushing
through the pain of her swollen ankle. I felt bad for her and
offered to carry her up this steep hill, but she declined in her
strong willed way. Nessa was proud and since we left Light City,
she has done nothing but try to prove herself. Malachi, of course,
challenged her the whole way.

“
Two more houses and we’re
there,” I said, trying to encourage her.

She only looked at me with her bright
green eyes.

The house we stopped at was located at
the top of Flametree Street. On the north side was a tall iron
fence that partitioned the area from the other streets. A brick
path led to the brightly painted red door that was surrounded by
moonflowers. Their pungent, sweet, and nearly intoxicating smell
emitting from the bell-shaped white blooms filled the air welcoming
us.

“
Do you think your uncle
has enough of those stinking flowers? They about knock you over
from just their smell and it looks like they are trying to take
over the sidewalk.” Malachi scowled at the elegant
flowers.

“
They’re pretty and they
smell a lot better than you.” Nessa crossed her arms and glared at
Malachi.

“
Well excuse me for not
being able to take a bath the last three days. You know, you don’t
smell very pretty either.”

Before I could knock, the door swung
open. “You two are fighting like spoiled children. Stop it before I
get a complaint from the neighbors,” said a tired looking man with
grey-brown hair and nearly black eyes.

“
It’s good to see you,
uncle,” I said, cheerfully.

He stepped aside with a nod. “Please
come in.”

My uncle’s house looked like the lady
who was here before, still lived here. The walls were painted in a
mauve color, and some of the furniture she sold to him was covered
in a flower designed coverings. About the only thing he brought
when he moved here two years ago were his maps, books and journals
he kept. They were neatly put on the shelves that lined the walls.
Nothing about this home reflected who he once was.

“
Do you like it here,
Uncle Hes?” I asked as he shut the door behind us.

“
No, but I’m getting used
to it.” His stature was short, only an inch or two taller than
Nessa, but he could outwit a giant if he had to. “I’m glad to see
you made it here so quickly and…your mother…” He gazed at me from
under his bushy eyebrows.

“
She of course didn’t
approve of me coming here,” I said, in a cool tone.

Uncle Hes let out a sigh as he
motioned for us to sit on the puffy couch covered with over-stuffed
silk pillows. I almost expected to see a tea set sitting on the
table. “I knew she wouldn’t, and I wouldn’t be calling you here if
it wasn’t important.” He extended his gaze to Nessa and Malachi.
“These two squabblers are your capable help?” He then looked at me
with questioning eyes.

I smiled at him as from the corner of
my eye I could see Nessa trying to contain a comment to my uncle’s
blunt question.

“
Only the best,” I replied
with confidence.

“
Very well, time’s
ticking. Let’s get started.”

Uncle Hes unrolled a map with ink that
had been smeared from rolling it up before it completely dried.
Unusual for my uncle to treat a map he was working on like
that.

“
There are only two known
portals in Iethia.” My uncle looked up from his map and at us. “But
there is a third—forgotten in the Angel-Demon Wars. It was used by
angels as their escape route when things started to turn on them.
It was supposed to have been sealed, and right before I…retired,”
he said with a regretful glint in his eye. “I found out it had been
used, not only once, but several times. I think that’s where they
are taking it.” He tapped his finger on a small drawing of a
circular door part way open and light coming out.

“
Is that what it really
looks like—the door that the angels used?” Nessa asked as my
uncle’s face reddened.

“
I said bring with
you
capable
monsters, not incompetent ones!” His dark eyes shot to me.
“This isn’t a school field trip.” He hissed.

“
They are loyal and smart.
I’ve known them a long time and have complete trust in them.” I
gazed steadily at my uncle, almost challenging him.

He rolled up the map and squared his
shoulders. “You have a lot of my blood in you, and that’s why I
trust you to find out who is transporting, who the distributor is,
and what their plans are when they turn millions of humans into
monsters.”

“
Being a monster isn’t all
that bad,” Malachi said as he leaned back and grinned at my uncle.
“It might be kind of nice that the humans would cross over and
experience a little monsterism.” He meant to be funny, but by Uncle
Hes’s expression, he didn’t find humor with Malachi.

I snickered, which only angered my
already angered uncle.

“
You’ve never seen humans
transformed into monsters. They won’t be like us. It’s unnatural
for anything to change into something it was never intended to be.”
Suddenly, his words softened, and he looked at the floor. It was
almost like he was a volcano ready to explode, then, suddenly
stopped as if something had entered his thoughts.

“
Uncle,” I said softly as
his eyes darted to me.

“
You can’t stay here
long,” he said. “I’ve already inflicted suspicion on whoever comes
into my home. You will leave before the sun comes up.”

2

April

“
Please!” I managed to
yell out. “Don’t hurt me!” The man gazed at me with his glowing
eyes.

He stared as if he was studying me,
summing me up, or just waiting to digest his last meal before he
had dessert. He didn’t blink his illuminated eyes as they seemed to
penetrate through me. I stared back and waited for the life to be
sucked out of me.

“
I’m not going to hurt
you.” His voice was soft and eloquent, the opposite of his
appearance.

He grabbed my wrists and pulled me to
my feet. I stood shivering from cold and fear. The sound of trucks
rumbled in the distance, and beams from car headlights cut through
the trees in waves of light. I could scream, but the chances of
someone hearing me were slim. We faced one another as the wind
carried the smell of gasoline into the barren forest.

“
Please let me go.” My
lips trembled.

He snickered. Suddenly, bright lights
flashed from the highway behind us. His attention turned to it as I
caught a glimpse of his face. His wavy hair nearly reached his eyes
that still slightly glowed. His face had a roundness to it that
made him look harmless. Even his grip had softened. In the matter
on seconds, his whole appearance changed into something softer. If
I didn’t witness what he had done, I would have never guessed him
to be a murderer.

“
Running away are we,
fledging, then you’d better join me. They will be coming for you,
and I’m not waiting.”

Bright lights suddenly blasted from
behind us, and burned through the cold air. Was I hallucinating all
of this, or was it real. Whatever it was, it was unnatural. No one
can suck life out of another human being and leave them as bits of
tissue paper.

“
If you doubt me, don’t.”
He pulled back my sleeve exposing my wrist. “This isn’t just some
tattoo. This is a hexmark.”

I looked at the tattoo my mom made me
get right before she gave me away.

“
It’s for our
protection.”
I could still hear my
mother’s words.

I closed my eyes. A veiled woman gave
me the tattoo. We had gone to what I thought was a carnival, but
through the bright colors, balloons and performers, was a dark
feeling that made me want to run.

“
I’m asking, are you
coming with me or not?” He shook my wrist bringing me to my
senses.

In that split second, I had to make a
decision that could mean escape, death or going back to Sunrise
Acres—I’d never see the sun again if I went back there. He knew of
my tattoo, and maybe about the things that lurked in the darkness.
I had to take a chance. Voices from the search party echoed around
us.