Polaris (12 page)

In the distance he heard music and got up to follow where the sound came from. As he neared a clearing, he saw a dim light in the distance.

“A closed-down carnival?” Aaron whispered to himself, as he wrung out different parts of his shirt. “There are no carnivals this time of year in Bixie. Where am I?”

Aaron stopped at the entrance and looked for the ticket booth. There was none, only a sign that read, “Your adventure begins with your first step.” When he looked down, he saw a red line. He heard children laughing in the distance.

He placed one foot over the line and looked around the area. He brought his other foot across. When his foot crossed over the line, the amusement park lit up with lights and the rides seemed to start up on their own.

Aaron slowly moved forward, looking for whoever had turned on everything.

“Excuse me, young man,” a voice said from behind him.

Aaron turned to find a clown standing inside a booth that read “tickets”. “Where did that come from?” Aaron asked. He silently questioned if he’d somehow missed it when he entered. Although he knew that he had not.

Aaron approached the clown. “Um, I guess I somehow missed you on the way in.” He looked the clown in the eyes. No amber sparks.

“No problem, young man,” the clown said. “Most do.” He smiled.

“How much are the tickets?” Aaron asked.

“They’re free,” answered the clown.

“Okay, thanks,” Aaron said as he turned and walked away.

“Excuse me, young man,” the clown yelled.

Aaron stopped and returned to the booth.

The clown squeaked a horn in Aaron’s face and tossed confetti. “You didn’t get your ticket.”

Aaron’s eyebrows cinched together. “But you said it was free.”

“Yes, it is free, but you still need a ticket,” the clown said. He wiggled his massive ears and clapped his hands together above his head before bringing them down and stretching them toward Aaron.

Aaron’s eyes went to the clown’s hands, back to the clown’s eyes, then back to his hands again. The clown opened up his hands and in them was a bright orange ticket.

Aaron retrieved the ticket. “Thank you.”

The clown curtsied and then vanished.

“What?” Aaron looked over and behind the counter. The clown was gone.

He looked down at his ticket and read the words out loud.

Experience the thrilling excitement

of the one-of-a-kind carousel!

Close the hundredth eye of Argus

and watch life abound.

“My clue?” Aaron said out loud to no one. He continued to roam around, passing by several rides that were in full motion, but seeing no other people. He walked past a corndog stand. The delicious smell caused his stomach to grumble and ache.

“The clown said it was free, so I’m sure he meant the food, too.” Aaron quickly glanced around before grabbing one of the corndogs from the stand and slathering it with mustard. He bit into it. “Mmm … so good.” He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and continued his search for the carousel.

Once he passed the bumper cars, which mysteriously moved around unmanned bumping into themselves, he saw the glowing golden lights of the carousel directly in front of him. The large carousel, covered in thousands of twinkling lights, stood majestically as a centerpiece for the park. The slowly rotating circular platform held throne-like seats for riders, along with galloping horses, tigers, giraffes, and zebras. Floor-to-ceiling mirrors covered the inner walls, and rustic wood planks covered the floor.

Aaron took the final bite of the corndog and tossed the stick into a nearby trashcan. He then retrieved the orange ticket from his pocket and read it once again.

Experience the thrilling excitement

of the one-of-a-kind carousel!

Close the hundredth eye of Argus

and watch life abound.

He thought for a moment and remembered his English teacher discussing Argus during Greek Mythology week. Argus was killed by Hermes and afterward Hera transferred his one hundred eyes to the tail feathers of a peacock.

Aaron turned his attention back to the carousel and walked around it in the opposite direction of which it turned. His eyes zeroed in on a large feathered bird positioned next to the lion.

“Nah, that’s not a peacock. It’s an ostrich,” he whispered to himself.

He moved closer to the carousel and noticed another large feathered animal coming around the bend.

“There it is,” Aaron said as he climbed up onto the platform and made his way over to the peacock.

It was large and emerald green with twinkling blue spots covering its massive wingspan. When Aaron reached the peacock, he realized the spots were not twinkling lights. They were blinking eyes.

Aaron looked at the dozens of eyes staring back at him. “I need to close the one hundredth eye, but which one is it?” He reached toward one of the eyes as it stared intently at him, the pupil following his hand.

“Eww, stop
looking
at me,” he murmured as he took his index finger and gently closed the eye. He quickly looked around for anything odd. Nothing.

He continued closing each of the eyes, until he reached the final one. “This has to be it.” Just as he reached up to flip the final lid closed, he saw a quick movement from the corner of his eye and smelled the odd burnt odor.

“Nakal,” Aaron yelled out as he turned to scan the area. “I know you’re here. I can smell you!”

Aaron turned around and closed the final eye that glowed, rapidly gyrated, and shifted around. A popping sound was heard as the eye fell from the socket. Aaron watched it hit the platform. As he reached for it, the platform suddenly stopped, causing Aaron to fall backwards. The eye rolled out of his reach.

He quickly crawled toward it, but the platform tilted upward at an angle that caused him to slide in the opposite direction. He reached out and caught the giraffe by the leg, but quickly let go when the giraffe came to life and looked down at him. Aaron stared wide-eyed at the giraffe and came to an abrupt stop by sliding into one of the seated chairs. While Aaron looked for the eye, all of the animals on the platform slowly moved, as if stretching after a long nap.

The platform tilted upward and in the opposite direction. As Aaron rose higher, he looked down and saw Nakal standing at the edge of the platform, rotating it around as the eyeball rolled back and forth, hitting different objects like a pinball machine.

Aaron rolled over to a seated position and allowed his body to slide down toward Nakal. He kept his eye on the glowing eyeball, careful to maneuver around the now shifting feet of the animals. Just as he neared, Nakal reached up, grabbed the eyeball, and held it up for Aaron to see before shoving it into his pocket.

A flicker of light appeared in front of him before the board came into view. A check mark appeared under Nakal’s name.
Nakal—2 Aaron—1

Aaron frowned.

“You snooze, you lose,” Nakal said as amber sparks shot from his eyes. “You’re not going to win. This world took my family from me. Now, I’m going to take yours, but don’t worry, I will take great care of your family.”

“What do you mean?” Aaron yelled. “We don’t know your family. We only tried to help you.”

Nakal placed his hands under the platform and shook it quickly back and forth. The animals were now fully alive and startled from the sudden movements. The tiger growled.

“Wake up!” Nakal yelled. “I’ve brought you a snack,” he said to the animals before giving the platform one final jarring shake.

Nakal looked at Aaron. “One word of advice. This would be a good time to run!” he said before he vanished into the ground.

Aaron scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as he could through the amusement park. The animals teeter-tottered on their stiff legs behind him. Aaron stopped at the entrance to gauge how far away his pursuers were and saw them galloping a little more smoothly on legs that did not seem as stiff.

Aaron continued to run out of the amusement park and through an open field, thinking if he could locate the pond, he could find his way back out. He turned and found the animals gaining on him, so he continued to run across the field looking for a place to hide. He spotted a house in the distance and ran toward it.

His chest felt as if it would collapse inward from his heavy breathing. His foot caught against a rock, causing him to stumble. He could hear hooves and large paws steady on his trail. Aaron quickly got up and continued to run toward the house. He approached a small picket fence, but he did not stop to find the gate. Instead, he dove headfirst over the top and went into a roll before staggering back onto his feet.

The house was old and rundown, and boards covered several of the windows. The dilapidated front steps sank in the middle. The railing lay on its side on the ground. A small light turned on inside, and the front door swung open by itself.

Aaron ran straight in, not hesitating to see who had opened the door, but slamming it shut behind him once he was safely inside. He could hear the tigers and other animals from the carousel clawing the front door, and their noses sniffing for him beneath the door. Aaron stood with his back against the door for a few moments as his eyes adjusted to his surroundings. Someone was there inside the house with him and moved into another room as he watched the glow of the light fade from the adjacent dining room and into another room. There was a thud and then a shuffling sound. Aaron slowly made his way into the dining room before stopping. Whoever it was carried some sort of lantern.

“Hello?” Aaron called out. “I’m sorry for coming into your house, but I was being chased by some … um … wild … well, I was being chased.”

He listened for some type of response. None was given, only the glow coming from the next room. Moving forward slowly, he paused between each step to listen. He eased around the corner, feeling along the wall for a light switch. His fingers found a small round knob, which he pressed, and the room lit up. Directly in front of him sat Mr. Kessler in a tattered leather armchair, holding a lantern.

Mr. Kessler smiled. “Well, you’re a lot tougher than I thought you to be,” he said as he turned off the lantern and placed it on the floor. He laid his cane across his lap and leaned back.

Aaron looked at the man’s eyes; they were normal. He swallowed and leaned back against the wall, keeping his gaze on Mr. Kessler, but unsure of what to say.

“Nakal is determined to win this game and will do anything to accomplish that,” Mr. Kessler said.

“Why, is he so determined to have
my
family?”

“Perhaps the closeness of your family reminds him of his real family,” Mr. Kessler answered.

“But his real family abandoned him. That doesn’t sound like they were very close.”

Mr. Kessler remained quiet for a moment before answering. “That was just a story he’d made up.” He gestured for Aaron to have a seat.

Aaron shook his head. “I’d rather stand.”

“As you wish,” Mr. Kessler said. “Well, here is a little information about Nakal that the council members don’t think I know.”

Aaron eased near the couch and sat on the arm of the chair, keeping his body turned toward the entryway in case he needed to run.

Mr. Kessler leaned forward. “Did Nakal tell you where he was from?”

Aaron shook his head. “Not really. When he first arrived he mentioned he was from a small town south of Albuquerque, New Mexico.”

“Nakal is from a town called Roswell, or well, perhaps I should say he landed in the town of Roswell when he was thirteen years old.”

Aaron’s eyes widened. ”Landed? As in a spaceship?”

Mr. Kessler nodded. “Oh, yes. It was national news back in 1947. Although the crash was witnessed, the government explained it away as hearsay, conspiracy theories, and a weather balloon.”

“What actually happened?”

“Well,” Mr. Kessler started, “it’s been said that there were three bodies found on the crashed spacecraft. Two were dead, and one was alive. Nakal survived; his parents did not. You see, Nakal became acquainted with the council members by accident. He was a troubled youth. Before he arrived on Earth, he’d been in and out of trouble, and he actually stole something from one of the council members that was very precious. He was caught and since the council members are always trying to make their games more exciting, they decided to incorporate Nakal and his family into their game. The council sent them aboard a spacecraft to Earth.”

“But,” Aaron interrupted, “why did they have to come by spacecraft when they could’ve just walked through the dimension, like I did through Zion’s building?”

“At that time it was the only way to get them here. The interconnecting dimensions were only discovered by the council twenty years ago.”

Aaron thought for a moment, allowing this information to sink in. “Hold up! If Nakal was a kid way back in 1947 that would make him over seventy-five years old now.”

“Yes, that is correct,” Mr. Kessler said. “You see. Nakal is from the planet Venus, hence the rotten smell, because it’s full of sulfuric acid. Also, it’s a hot planet, so I’m sure he’s been whining about the cold. Our atmosphere has a different effect on non-Earth persons, depending on where they’re from. I’m thinking the effect on Nakal has made him ageless, but for Zion’s people, the atmosphere causes them to age. Of course that’s just my opinion. I could be totally wrong.”