The Magi (The Magi Series) (38 page)

“How are you feeling?” Elijah asked.

“Better now,” said Uncle Stan, perking up. “You wouldn’t believe how thirsty I was there. The hunger I could live with—even the torturing was bearable when it was over—but the thirst was a nightmare.”

Elijah shook his head in horror. “Torturing?”

“Aw, there’s no sense in bringing up those memories now,” Uncle Stan replied, brushing it off. “I’d rather talk about other things. I assume you have some questions.”

That was the truth! Ever since his uncle left him he had questions. As he thought about it, Elijah wasn’t sure where to begin. There seemed to be too many questions that were all related somehow. He decided to start with Uncle Stan’s story.

“So what happened that night?” Elijah started. “You told me to meet you at the park, but you never showed up. Someone here in Savenridge named Walter told me a few details, but he didn’t tell me everything.”

“I guess that’s as good of a place to start as any,” Stan said. “Well, I suppose you would know by now that I’m a Magi—”

“Were my parents Magi?” Elijah blurted. He couldn’t help interrupting. It just sort of came out. He couldn’t wait any longer. “I’m sorry. I just have to know.”

Uncle Stan sat up straighter in his bed and let out a long, slow sigh. After a moment of thinking, he spoke.

“Yes. They were. Your parents called themselves Magi.”

It was like learning about a long, lost relative. Elijah’s mind exploded with memories of his parents that he now needed to dissect.

“How come they didn’t tell me?”

“Elijah, the power that the Magi have is not something to be taken lightly. Think about the first day you learned about it. I bet that wasn’t something that was easy to digest,” Uncle Stan explained.

“It wasn’t,” Elijah agreed.

“That’s exactly why your parents didn’t tell you at first. Their plan was to tell you eventually, and I imagine they were going to do it soon, but they had to make sure that you were brought up with a mind that was going to be able to handle the secrets. That you were going to use the power for good and not for your own gain. I’ve only been here a couple of days, and I’ve already heard from a couple of the Magi how solid your mind is. Where do you think you got that from?” Uncle Stan asked.

Elijah shrugged. He had the same question. “I don’t know. Everyone keeps telling me that, but I don’t know why.”

“It’s because of your parents,” said Uncle Stan sitting up taller. “They trained you how to use it. They may not have told you, but for your entire life, they have been preparing you for this time. They’ve been teaching you the difference between good and evil. They worked with you on being able to use your gifts, even though you probably didn’t realize it—through basic life lessons or small moments you had with them. They talked with you and shaped you into quite a young man. You may not have seen it, but they had a plan. A plan that has made you ready for the first day you stepped foot inside Savenridge. That is why you are so special. You had two of the best trainers at your service every singe day, who loved you more than you will ever know.”

It took more strength for Elijah to keep back tears at that moment than running all night through Malpetra. He thought back to the night his parents were killed, and the last thing his father told him was that he loved him and that there was a plan. For six months, Elijah thought that the plan had failed—that it had gone terribly wrong because they ended up dead. But it was Elijah who had been wrong.
He
was the plan. His entire life was a plan, and he was living it out now by following the path that they had made for him. Thinking about all of this was too much for Elijah, and his strength gave out. He never made a sound, but his chin quivered violently, and he had to dry his eyes multiple times before he spoke again. Uncle Stan was polite and looked away. After a minute or so, Elijah had composed himself.

“I didn’t want to tell you either because I didn’t know what your parents wanted you to know,” Uncle Stan said, sensing that Elijah was ready to talk again.

“Did Kyria know?” Elijah asked.

“Yes,” said Uncle Stan. “I didn’t talk with her much, but I remember your daddy telling me that she was real upset that she had to keep it a secret from you. Man, did she love you.” Suddenly, Elijah wanted the unread diary with him. He remembered reading that she had a secret she wanted to share with him. He wanted to read what that secret was now.

“So can you tell me now what happened to you that night?” Elijah asked, returning to the original question.

“Sure,” said Uncle Stan. “Are you sure you’re finished talking about your parents?”

“No,” admitted Elijah. “But I’ll get to that later.”

Uncle Stan smiled. “Ok then. I’m going to have to go way back—about ten years ago for this because it starts when I left—” he paused for a moment. “Well—let’s just say when I left to live away from the Magi. First of all, your parents and I were real close. You and Kyria were just young little things, but your parents were in danger. Real danger. Not even Savenridge was safe for them. They had to do something drastic. They believed the safest thing to do for their family was to disassociate themselves from all Magi and live among the common people. They left the life that they knew, changed their names, cut off all ties with the Magi, and moved to what you remember as home.”

“Why were they in danger?” Elijah asked curiously.

“I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t know,” Uncle Stan said. “I’m not exactly the inquisitive type, so when they told me they were leaving, I didn’t ask any questions. I just went with them. Sounds pretty stupid, doesn’t it?” Had it been anyone but Uncle Stan, it would have sounded absurd. But that was just the way he was. He was carefree and liked adventure, so it didn’t surprise Elijah that he didn’t ask questions.

“I saw your picture in a yearbook at Saint Phillip’s Academy, along with my dad,” said Elijah. “At least I think it was you. It said your last names were Benson?”

Uncle Stan nodded. “Yeah. That was us. We changed our name to Hawk when your parents left. Wow! I had no idea you went to the Academy! I guess it makes sense, though, since you would have been picked up by that maggot detective,” Uncle Stan replied. “I didn’t catch on that he was no good until it was too late. I’m sorry for that, Elijah. I really am.” Elijah shook his head and made a small wave with his hand, letting his uncle know not to worry about it.

“So when you left to live among the common people, you had no contact at all with any Magi?” Elijah asked.

“Well—I really didn’t follow your daddy’s request fully,” answered Uncle Stan with a small smile. “He told me I could never talk to other Magi. But, I had what you might call an addiction to living a little dangerously—still do if you want to know the truth—and I couldn’t stay away from the cause forever. Since I made a promise to move away, I wanted to keep that promise, so I found a way I could do both—to be away but still work for the Magi cause.”

“You mean by becoming a marshal,” Elijah said.

“Yes,” said Uncle Stan. “I became a marshal and worked to stop the Maliphists from doing all sorts of things, but I was careful to keep your parents out of conversations or any other associations that might bring up questions. For ten years we lived like this. I lived close enough to visit your family, but far enough away to work safely as a marshal.

“Then, about a day before your parents were—” Uncle Stan looked away for a moment, collecting himself. “—anyway, before that night, your daddy called me in a panic. He said that he sensed danger and he needed me to take some things to hide.”

“What?” Elijah asked.

“A book. Well, he gave me that whole box of things, but he was most concerned with the book. It seemed silly to me at the time, but he was genuinely afraid of having it, and he told me to take it and make sure it stayed safe. So I agreed and drove down and picked up the box. And that was the last time—” he cleared his throat and swallowed. “—the last time I saw your parents.”

“What was the book?” asked Elijah.

“I don’t know. I never looked at it. It’s in storage with the rest of your parents’ things.” Elijah looked at him with wide eyes remembering some of the contents of the large box he went through after his parents were killed. He still didn’t know what the cube of dirt was about, but it sounded like the book was important.

“You’re talking about the large brown book with worn edges? Looks very old?” Elijah asked.

“Yes,” answered Uncle Stan. “I had no idea how important this book was to the Maliphists until I was caught and put into prison.”

“What’s so important about it?” Elijah asked.

“Well, let me get there,” Uncle Stan said, ready to continue on with the rest of his story. “After you came to live with me, I was called in for an emergency to head all the way up to the Canadian border where there was apparently going to be a huge attack on a common city. We got there in time to stop it, but we still had to proctor the situation. That’s when I called you. I had no idea who Detective what’s-his-name was, but when you told me he came by, I knew something wasn’t right. I figured you would be safe if you were away from the house, so that’s why I told you to go to the park.”

Elijah interrupted Uncle Stan’s narrative to ask a question. “Roddick told me that Detective Scott was what they called a delivery runner, or something like that. What is that?”

“Deliverer,” Uncle Stan corrected. “Deliverers are not fully Maliphists, and not fully common people. They are sort of in the middle. They work
for
the Maliphists, however, and their job is to get access to troubled kids. Detective Scott is a real detective, in other words. That’s why he had access to everything. His job, as a deliverer, was to collect you and take you to the academy, where eventually, if you had the stuff they were looking for, you would be taken to Malpetra to become a Maliphist—in theory. I’m guessing that Detective Scott didn’t expect to have a Magi’s kid on his hands, though.” Elijah remembered how Detective Scott was so interested in the burn marks on the side of his parents’ house. He remembered the detective asking him what they were. He wondered now if that was just to find out if Elijah knew about the Magi.

“So then what happened?” Elijah asked.

“I was caught,” said Uncle Stan frankly. “They took me to Malpetra and threw me in the prison. Elijah, I want you to know that every single day that I was away I hated myself for leaving you alone in that park. I’m so sorry.”

“You couldn’t have done anything about it,” said Elijah.

“I was caught—plain and simple. I shouldn’t have been. I should have been more careful. And I paid for it. They questioned me every day about the book and about your parents. When I pretended like I didn’t know anything about it, they tortured me, but I still didn’t say anything.”

“Did you find out what’s in it that they want?” Elijah asked.

“No,” answered Uncle Stan. “But they want it bad, whatever it is. They’ve apparently been looking for it for years.”

“And you have it?” asked Elijah.

Uncle Stan nodded his head. “Yup. Right along with everything else that belonged to your parents.”

“Well let’s read it!” Elijah said excitedly. “Let’s go get it together and bring it here!”

“Easy now,” said his uncle. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. You have some training to finish, and I have to get healthy again.”

“So wait—” said Elijah, now putting the pieces together. “Is that why the Maliphists want me?”

“I would put money on it,” answered Uncle Stan. “They didn’t get the information from me, and you’re the only living Hawk relative left that hasn’t been questioned.”

“Do you think they’ll come looking for me again?”

“Unfortunately, yes, I do,” Uncle Stan said gravely. “So you’re going to have to be very careful. That’s one reason why we can’t just go waltzing into a storage unit for the book. We’re both going to have to watch our backs.” Elijah’s spirit of adventure was suddenly halted.

Uncle Stan shifted in his bed and grimaced with pain. Elijah sensed that maybe it was time to leave.

“I’m pretty sure that’s about all I have to answer,” said Uncle Stan. “Is there anything else you want to know?”

“I think that’s all for now,” answered Elijah. He knew where Uncle Stan would be if more questions popped up. “Well, I’d better go and let you get some rest.”

“Okay Eli. Thanks for coming to see me. Go say thanks to your friend Roddick for taking such good care of you,” said Uncle Stan. “I owe him.” Elijah smiled and headed out the door. All of a sudden, he thought of something. He turned back around.

“Where are you going to stay when you get out of here?” he asked.

Uncle Stan shrugged. “Haven’t thought that far ahead yet.” Elijah grinned at his uncle and shook his head as he walked back out the door.

When Elijah got back to Master Roddick’s house, he walked into his room, closed the door and took out Kyria’s unread diary. The torn-off lock was dinged and scratched. The cover, also abused, was folded and torn. He was angry with how little respect the Maliphists showed this treasure that Elijah now held. He carefully opened up the diary to the first page. There was nothing written there. Elijah turned it to the second page. Nothing. Then the third, then the fourth. He began to flip through the pages in chunks, but it was blank the entire way through. Frustrated, he dropped the book on his bed and it fell open to the first page again. Suddenly, Elijah noticed something. Out of the binding of the book, it appeared that there were several ripped pages. Elijah inspected it closer. He was right! Someone had ripped out the pages of Kyria’s diary. Had the Maliphists found something and ripped it out? Or, had Kyria ripped them out before she died? And if so, why?