Drawing Bloodlines (33 page)

Nathan and Malick became quiet, and all Nathan heard was the sound of his heartbea
t quickening inside his chest.

“What are you guys listening f
or?” asked Leah, joining them.

“Shh!” said Malick immediately. “There’s so
mething moving in the forest.”

Leah turned her head, trying harder to hear the sound. “Whatever it is, it’s getting closer,” she whispered.

Suddenly, Leah’s eyes grew wide as a metallic screeching sound echoed among the trees. “Necrocritters!” she shouted. Her hands trembled as she held out the crescent-shaped medallion.

“Leah, wait!” Nathan shouted.

“I–I won’t be a victim,” Leah stuttered, and she took off running into the trees.

“Nathan!” screamed Lafonda. She called his name so lo
ud that Nathan froze.

Nathan turned around. In front of him, two slivers of light were fast expanding into two blue rectangular doorways — one near Lafo
nda, and the other one, close to Jonathan.

“I think you be
tter get over here,” she said.

Nathan’s stomach twisted in knots.
What should I do?
He thought.
Do I go after Leah, or do I stay here and help Jonathan and Lafonda?

A high-pitched scream pierced the deafening silence. It sounded like it was coming from b
ehind him. Nathan spun around. Past the dark gray trees, deep in the forest, bolts of white light intermittently shot out in all directions, tearing into the darkness. “Leah,” Nathan muttered, softly.

“Nathan!” Lafonda yelled, and he turned back a
round to face the cliff again.

“I just have to have faith that Leah knows what she’s d
oing,” he mumbled and he took off running.

Malick had already joined the chaos and he appeared to be in a fistfight with Monique. “You know better than that,” Nathan heard Monique say. She delivered a successful suc
ker punch to Malick’s face. “Woman or not, never take it easy on an active member of the Vanguard.”

Nathan stopped short of Jonathan, but his stomach dropped after catching a glimpse of Lafonda and Liz. They fought dangerously close to the cliff’s edge. “Lafonda, watch out!” Nathan yelled. Liz’s sword came close
to taking off Lafonda’s head.

To the side of him, Nathan heard a loud gasp, and then a soft thud, as if somebody had hit the ground
. “Jonathan!” Nathan screamed.

Jonathan lay motionless on the ground. The front of his shirt was bloody and slashed open. His dark, square-rimmed glasses lay crooked across his nose, and his cell phone lay precar
iously in the palm of his open hand.

Eleazar closed in on Jonathan and it appeared his sights were set on the cell phone in his hand. “Stop!” yelled N
athan. Immediately, Eleazar paused.

Slowly, Eleazar turned around and, with a devilish grin, he raised his long, double-edge sw
ord and charged toward Nathan.

Nathan’s heart pounded and the sound of it swelled in his ears. Quickly, he raised his hand, forming a pulsating ball of blue energy. But Eleazar was gone. Nathan spun around. He searched all around, but Eleazar had myster
iously vanished.

Nathan lowered his hand. Before he could take a step forward to check on Jonathan, he felt a paralyzing pain across his back. The excrucia
ting pain traveled throughout his entire body, causing his eyes to water and his hands to ball into fists.

“Hello, Firewalker,” he heard someone say. Nathan turned around to find Eleazar standing in front of him. This time, blood stained the length of his silver sword. “I didn’t want you to miss me while I was gone … so I left a little souvenir on your back.”

Nathan felt the anger building inside of him and his palms began to burn a bright red. Nathan looked down and, to his surprise, both his hands burst into blue flames. When he looked up, though, Eleazar was gone again.

“What the…?” Nathan murmured. Suddenly there was a searing pain across his shoulder. Quickly, Nathan grabbed his shoulder to ease the pain. When he looked down, hi
s hand was covered with blood.

“Hello,” waved Jordan, playfully. “Did you miss me?” He pointed his sword at Jonathan, blood dripping from it to the ground. “I couldn’t just leave something for the Spirit Walker. I had to leave something for the Fir
ewalker too.”

Nathan looked at him, confused, while holding his arm, his vision blurring.
What the heck is happening
? He thought to himself.
How can I fight them if they keep disappearing and then reappearing
?

“They’re mirroring,” yelled Malick. He was still attemp
ting to avoid Monique’s punches. “It’s a form of traveling between realms — but it’s unique to twins.”

“Right, he is,” said Jordan, and he landed a punch across Nathan’s jaw before di
sappearing again.

“Try to anticipat
e their moves!” Malick yelled.

Nathan shook his head; he was trying to restore his v
ision. He balled his hands into fist and then raised them to his face, preparing to block an attack. Swiftly, Nathan looked to his left and then to his right. He then took a deep breath and tried to slow his breathing.
Okay, Nathan
, he said to himself.
You have to be alert. Try to Think. Where will they strike next?

“Peek-a-boo,” whispered Eleazar, and Nathan ducked just in time, allowing Eleazar’s sword to go smoothly over his head. Eleazar was just as quick, however, and with the ha
ndle of his sword, bludgeoned Nathan on the side of his head.

“Don’t just try to defend yourself.” shouted
Malick. “Go on the offensive!”

Nathan’s legs buckled and for the first time in his life, he thought he saw stars as his knees crashed to the ground. Eleazar was gone again, but everything around him started to swirl. He could still make out, however, that it was Liz and Lafonda who fought in front of him. “Go o
n the offensive,” he muttered.

“Your shield may protect you from my energy balls,” N
athan heard Liz say. “But you’re about to learn the hard way what it doesn’t do.…”

Nathan’s head stopped spinning just in time for him to see Liz’s hand pass through Lafonda’s purple energy shield as she slapped her across the face. Lafonda fell to one knee, and the sound of th
e blow echoed over the cliffs.

“Number one, it won’t prevent someone from hitting you,” continued Liz. She raised her sword. “And number two, it won’t s
top my sword from killing you!”

A jarring metallic sound rang all around them as Liz’s blade met Lafonda’s sword. “And you’re about to learn the hard way that Lafo
nda Devaro is well-schooled in the ways of the sword!” bellowed Lafonda, standing up.

Liz came in fast at Lafonda, lunging forward with her sword. Lafonda quickly blocked her attack, leaving a gash acro
ss Liz’s cheek in the process.

“Things just got a little more serious,” grumbled Liz, while wiping the blood from her cheek with her hand. She took a few steps back, r
emoving her black trench coat, and tossing it on the ground.

“How’s the arm?” asked Lafonda, mockingly. She eyed the white cloth ban
dage wrapped around Liz’s arm.

“It feels great actually,” sneered Liz. She had a devious grin on her face as she cast a look toward Jonathan. “Prob
ably fairing a lot better than your Spirit Walker, I suppose. I really didn’t appreciate our last run-in at the good doctor’s office. Hopefully now, he’s learned his lesson.”

Nathan watched from his knees as Lafonda and Liz swung their swords at each other, exchanging blow after blow. “Go on the offensive,” he muttered and he witnessed Lafonda disarm Liz. Her sword landed in
front of them, on the ground.

“Give up!” demanded Lafonda, extending her sword arm. Liz attempted to retrieve her sword, but Lafonda was quick and pointed her blade directly at Liz’s throat. “I’m warning you,” she said. “You won’t ge
t another chance to surrender.”

Go on the offensive, the offense
, he ruminated. In a blink of an eye, Liz charged Lafonda. They both fell over the cliff’s edge.

Nathan couldn’t believe what had just ha
ppened in front of him. “Lafonda!” he screamed.

Nathan’s mind and body felt as if he burned in a haze. For a moment, he thought he was looking through fire. N
athan looked down and saw the scorching red flame burning in his hand. When Eleazar rematerialized in front of him, he threw it in his face.

Stunned, Nathan staggered to his feet. Everything was still a haze and it was as if everything played out in slow motion. He watched as Eleazar ran around in circles, his face contorted with agony. Eleazar appeared to be screaming bloody murder. He saw Malick break free from Monique, knocking her down. He also witnessed Malick run to the cliff’s edge, diving to the ground. Nathan couldn’t hear an
ything. It was as if someone hit the mute button, and he didn’t hear a sound.

Slowly, Nathan made his way over to Malick. It wasn’t until he realized that Malick was mout
hing his name over and over, that he could finally hear him.

“Nathan, help me!” he heard Malick say. Nathan conti
nued to stand still. He appeared almost zombie-like — aloof.

“Lafonda, I’m going to need you to grab my hand,” said Malick. There was a sense of urgency in his voice. “I pro
mise you, I won’t let you fall.”

Lafonda
? Nathan pondered, still in a daze.

Malick turned to look at him. There was desperation in his eyes. “Come on, Nathan!
” he pleaded. “Snap out of it!”

Slowly, Nathan began to speak.
“
Lafonda?” he muttered. Nathan looked down and hanging from a tiny branch in front of him was his childhood friend. She dangled several hundred feet in the air.

“Lafonda!” he yelled, taking to the ground. He leaned over the edge of the cliff, next to Malick, and felt queasy after looking down at the frozen lake.

“Okay,” said Malick, addressing Lafonda. He almost sounded out of breath. “When you’re ready, I want you to reach out and take my hand.”

Lafonda took a deep breath and, for a second, closed her eyes before nodding her head. She looked up to the gray branch that she held, pr
otruding outward from the cliff wall. Slowly, she released one hand and attempted to grab Malick’s, only to quickly retract it again.

“I–I can’t!” sh
e shouted, her voice quivering.

“You can,” said Malick. Tiny beads of sweat began to a
ccumulate on his forehead.

“I–I can’t,” she said again. She sounded defeated. “My hands are too slippery. Every time I reach out,
I feel like I’m going to fall.”

“You can do it,” said Nathan. Malick looked at him with worry. “You just hav
e to try again, one more time.”

“Look at me,” said Malick, calmly. Lafonda looked into his eyes. “Don’t look at the branch. Don’t watch you hand. Just reach
out and keep your eyes on me.”

A few moments passed, but Lafonda’s eyes never left Malick. She took a deep breath, and the moment that she reached out, the branch snapped. Malick,
however, had snatched her hand.

Malick and Lafonda continued to look at each other. Both exchanged thankful glances as the branch fell without a sound, to the frozen w
aters down below.

“Help me — pull — her — up,” said Malick
, his voice sounding strained.

In one big effort, Nathan and Malick pulled Lafonda up. Her f
eet were back on solid ground.

“I’m sorry about Liz,” she said, softly. She peered one last time over the cliff before bur
ying her head into Malick’s shoulder.

“I guess the frozen lake is now Liz’s watery grave,” said Malick.

“I guess so,” said Nathan, somberly. He peered over the cliff, catching a glimpse of the frozen lake. “And I guess the third time is the charm.”

20

NO SWORDS, NO SHIELDS, NO ARMOR

There was a faint sound of someone moaning behind them. Nathan, Lafonda, and Malick turned around to see Monique helping Eleazar through a blue doorway, near the fringes of the forest. Eleazar appeared in pain as he held his face and Monique had an intense look of hatred as they hobbled through.

“Is it me, or did she not just look at us with daggers i
n her eyes?” commented Lafonda.

“No, it wasn’t just you,” said Malick, gravely. “And I’m sure we just had an invisible bull’s-
eye marked on our heads.”

“Did you guys hear that?” asked Nathan, stepp
ing away from the cliff’s edge.

Lafonda placed a lock of her long black hair behind her ear and positioned her head sid
eways to listen closely. “I thought it was Eleazar, but it still sounds like someone is moaning.”

“Jonathan!” said Nathan and Lafonda, in unison. They both ran to him, kneeling down, but Malick stayed behind
.

“Ugh,” Jonathan moaned, slowly sitting up. He stopped to cradle the wound across his chest, and then adjusted his glasses so that they lay properly on his face. He then looked at them with grave eyes. “Monique …
she took my cell phone.”

Nathan quickly turned toward the blue doorway that Monique and Eleazar escaped through, but it was already gone. “We ha
ve to get it back!” he blurted.

Suddenly, there was a metallic screeching sound and a small shadowy figure bounded into the air at them
.

Nathan gasped. He recognized its gerbil-like fury face, sharp claws, and teeth. “Look out!” he shouted.

Quickly, Nathan raised his hand to form a fireball to protect them, but raging through the air was a bolt of white light. The dark fury creature crashed to the ground, dropping mid-air.

“I think that was the last of them,” said Leah. She stepped out of the dark grey forest, her hair and clothes appearing disheveled. The meda
llion in her hand glowed hot, ready to fire again, but like a scurrying rat, the menacing-looking creature took off into the forest, vanishing into the shadows. “There were so many of them, but suddenly, they were gone.”

“You’re getting pretty good with that,” said Lafonda, staring at the crescent-shaped meda
llion. Leah smiled. “The Necrocritters probably left after Liz.…” She hesitated, pausing to look at Malick.

“After Liz plummeted to her death,” finished Malick. He had picked up Liz’s black trench coat and sword and walked in their direction. “The way she was acting was completely rec
kless, and her death is no one’s fault but her own.”

“Come on,” said Nathan, helping Jonathan to his feet. He then took the sword out of Malick’s hand and gave it to Lafonda. “We need to get going. If we’re going to complete the Legend of the Firewalker, the prophecy, we’re going to have to get that phone back
.”

“But why? They have what they wanted,” blurted Lafo
nda. She placed the sword down at her side. “I’m sorry that all of Jonathan’s research has been destroyed — but if we walk away now, all of this can be over. Things can finally get back to normal.”

“Normal?” asked Nathan, dramatically. “And what do you expect us to do? Just go back to Cahokia Falls? Hope that Monique and the ot
hers feel the same about Liz’s death the way that Malick does?” He pointed to Leah. “And hope beyond hope that the Fallen Ones will forget about Pius’s medallion?”

“I get the point,” said Lafonda. “But look at you — your
back, your arm — you’re bleeding!” She took ahold of his arm. “How can we fight if we’re all beaten? We need to rest. Get you and Jonathan back to Angela, or Ms. Pam, so they can heal you....”

“I’m not sitting around anymore,” said Nathan, taking back his arm. “I’m not leaving it up to them to decide whether to leave us alone, or to attack us.” He turned to look at Malick and nodded. “It’s time we bring the fight to them and attack them first, go on the offensive.”

“I’m with you,” said Leah, energetically. Nathan looked worried as he watched Leah place the medallion around her neck.

“Okay,” said Lafonda, with a sigh. “But how are we ge
tting out of here?” She looked sorrowful as she eyed the bloody slash across Jonathan’s chest. “Are we expecting him to travel back to the other side
and
find someone to open a doorway for us?”

“No,” said Nathan, checking his pockets. “He doesn’t have to.” Lafonda and the others looked on. “I totally forgot I had this.” Nathan held out a sparkling blue vial from his pants pocket. “One doorway to Colorville coming right up. And, based on the color, I’m guessing the blood came from a Traveler.”

Malick nodded.

“And how will we find Monique and the others?” asked Lafonda. “They could be anywhere by now.”

“I don’t think we’ll have a problem,” said Malick, with a grin. He pulled out a small, maroon, burlap bag from the pocket of Liz’s trench coat.

“Tracking Dust!” said Nathan. His face lit
up.

“I’m guessing that’s how they knew where to find us,” said Malick, somberly. He reached i
nto the pocket of the trench coat again and held out what looked like a scrap of paper. “I also found this.”

“What is it?” asked Jonathan, taking it into his hand. He closely examined both sides of the p
aper, feeling the texture with his hands. “Based on the thickness and quality — I would say this was torn out of a book.”

“And how do you know?” asked Malick, doub
tfully.

“Because I spend a lot of time with books,” Jonathan sneered, forcing a smile. He handed the piece of
paper to Nathan.

“Who is J.G. Grimm, J.P. Grimm, and J. Grimm?” asked Nathan. He handed the paper back to Jonathan, who placed it into his pocket. “Are any of these Grimms, James Grimm?”

“It looks like an account of a bloodline,” said Malick. “Gannicus Grimm, the Grandmaster before my grandfather, had two sons: Japheth and James Grimm. So, I’m assuming two of the J’s belong to them.” He shrugged while shaking his head. “As far as who the third one could be, I don’t know. But we do have books with family bloodlines in the Hall of History, Books, and Records.”

“So, are we ready to go?” asked Nathan, taking a deep breath. He looked into each of their faces. Everyone, but Malick,
nodded.

Malick, with his head hung low, headed toward one of the trees that were closest to the trail, leading into the forest. Slowly, he lifted his head and hung the trench coat in his hand onto one of its’ branches.
“I’m ready now,” he said.

Lafonda, Malick, Jonathan, and Leah watched closely as Nathan put the sparkling blue vial to his lips, finishing it. “Okay,” said Nathan, with a frown. He smacked his mouth in distaste, as his brown eyes quickly flashed a bright blue. “What’s next?”

“What does it taste like?” asked Lafonda, appearing to gag.

“Don’t ask,” said Nathan.

Malick reached into the small burlap bag and began tossing fists full of black dust into the air, around Nathan.

“So, how
does this work?” Nathan asked.

“You’ll see,” said Malick and then, suddenly, an outline of the vanished blue doorway became
visible.

The black outline of dust that revealed the door sparkled like tiny diamonds. Nathan approached the outline and, i
mmediately, felt the need to close his eyes. “This is weird, but I think I know where they’ve gone,” he said.

Nathan gave in to the heaviness of his eyes and involu
ntarily raised his hand. Soon, a trickle of blue light crept from his index finger. It filled the outline and recreated the door.

* * *

Nathan let out a huge sigh of relief as he and the others stood outside. They appeared to be in a park. He never thought he would be this happy to see color again, even if it was just a hint of the color green that he caught in the dark. The full moon that nestled high above him appeared to be hovering in a midnight blue sky. He smiled as he detected the color green in the wall of hedge that bo
rdered the area around them.

“Looks like it worked,” said Nathan. He watched as the bright blue doorway began to dissipate, still casting light into the fog that swept the ground. “I have no idea where we are, but
at least we’re out of the Space-In-Between….”

“Unfortunately, I do,” spoke Malick, softly. He had turned completely around and N
athan had a good view of the back of his head for a moment, before he noticed the not-so-modest structure. It was built with several protruding towers that overlooked all, in the darkness.

“Where are we?” asked Lea
h, standing in awe beside them.

“T–
the courtyard of Malick Castle,” said Malick, hesitantly. He toke a dry gulp, keeping his back to the others. “It’s the home of — the Order.”

“The Order!” blurted Nathan, and immediately Malick tried to shush him. “H–
how? I mean, obviously, we tracked Monique and Eleazar here, but Malick Castle — the headquarters for the Order? How connected are you to these people?”

“Y–
yes,” said Malick. He appeared to wince a little after his eyes connected with a discerning Lafonda. “Malick castle is the headquarters for the Order, but it was built by my ancestor Grandmaster Abraham Malick a long time ago. He had it built after the fire that destroyed most of Grimm Castle. I believe it was in December — December of 1699.”

“You’re referring to the Winter Fire,” said Jonathan
, and Malick looked surprised.

“Alan,” explained Jonathan, smirking back at him. “He sent me a text about it back at Black Manor.” He cradled the wound across his chest before adjusting his glasses. “Along with a few other things, he also filled me in on the original scrolls and the Grimm Di
aries.”

Malick rolled his eyes and shook his head before contin
uing. He then suddenly looked gloomy. “Until my grandfather, Abraham Malick was the last Malick to serve as Grandmaster for almost three centuries. A Grimm has always served after him....”

“Until your grandfather,” said Jonathan, i
ncredulously.

“You’re just full of secrets,” commented Lafonda. She switched sword hands, a
fter pocketing her cell phone.

Lafonda looked up at the castle while cros
sing in front of them. “I got a text from Angela,” she said, following Leah to the hedge wall. “My father hasn’t returned yet with my grandmother. And Alan and Angela are alright. Apparently, Liz and the others left soon after we did.”

Malick ran his hand backward through his hair and his cheeks grew red, “Secrets?” he said, with a nervous chuckle. “I would like to th
ink of it more as … surprises.”

A gust of wind blew through the courtyard, rustling the leaves on the nearby hedge wall
, bringing a chattering sound. “Malick?” asked Nathan. He watched as Lafonda and Leah examined what appeared to be an opening, or entrance in the wall. “What’s over there, behind the wall?”

“Do you hear that?” asked Jonathan. “I hear other voi
ces.” He gestured toward the wall. “Do you think that’s Monique and Eleazar, over there?”

Nathan looked at Jonathan a
nd both their eyes grew wide.

“Guys, wait!” shouted Malick, but Nathan and Jonathan had alre
ady taken off toward the wall.

The wind blew through again and Lafonda and Leah cleared the hair from their faces. “Leah just said she thought she heard voices coming from somewhere over here,” said Lafonda, turning t
o address Nathan and Jonathan.

“We heard it, too,” said Nathan, and Le
ah drew her lips into a smile.

“This hedge has to be at least 8 feet tall,” said Jonathan. He bent over and examined a dense cluster of hedge leaves. “The way this shrub has been trained to grow is really quite fascinati
ng. It’s like a living wall.”

Nathan got an unsettling feeling in his stomach, as Leah peered through the dark opening in the hedge wall. He watched as Leah clutched tightly to the crescent-shaped m
edallion around her neck.

“I don’t hear the voices anymore,” s
aid Leah, turning back around.

“Guys!” said Malick, joining them. He stopped running, short of Nathan. “We rea
lly should leave from over here.”

Another gust of wind swept through the a
rea, rustling the leaves and carrying a foul voice over the air. “Firewalker,” echoed the voice, and chills ran up Nathan’s back.

Nathan and the others froze and Leah started to back away from the dark opening. The medallion around Leah’s neck glowed. She paused to look down at it and then a pair of large hands emerged from the shadows, grabbing her and pulling her into the dar
kness.

Lafonda, the closest
one to her, recoiled in shock.

“Leah!” Nathan yelled, and he immediately took off ru
nning.