Double Deal

Chapter 6 (Part 2)

Ajax looked around. “Do you know where Zephyrus is?” He asked Emmaline.

“Haven’t seen him since Holly wanted to talk to him,” Emmaline said, “That was, like, 5 minutes ago. You could take a seat at a booth, but I recommend not g]]etting anything to eat... or drink.”

“Oh. Okay,” Ajax said as Emmaline walked away.

He sat down at a booth, waiting for Zephyrus to reappear. He waited 15 minutes until Zephyrus popped up, running his hands through his hair. “Where were you?” Ajax raised an eyebrow.

“Did you get the recipe?” Zephyrus dodged the question.

“Yes,” Ajax said.

“Then let’s go,” Zephyrus said, walking towards the entrance. Ajax followed him. After throwing a coin and getting in and out of a black taxi, Ajax and Zephyrus arrived at Sam’s house.

There they found Lola wide awake. “Oh, you guys are back,” She said when she saw them.

“Yeah and we got the recipe to cure you,” Ajax said, pulling out his phone.

“I’ll go get it started,” Zephyrus took his phone and walked down to the basement.

“Lola, if you want to, tonight you can stay here, You can sleep in my bed if that makes you comfortable. Just so I can keep an eye on you,” Ajax said.

Lola nodded, “Yeah, that’s fine.”

“Alright. I’m going to head down to the basement to help Zephyrus. Just holler if you need anything,” Ajax said then walked to the basement.

There Zephyrus had already put a beaker on the potion pad along with the ingredients needed for the cure. “What do I do?” Ajax asked.

“Go get a cup of water,” Zephyrus asked, putting certain amounts of ingredients into the beaker.

Ajax took a bottle from the corner and gave it to him. Zephyrus looked at him and gave him a fake smile. He cracked the lid open and poured half the bottle into the beaker, stirring the ingredients around with a stick. He pulled his stele out and touched the tip to the potion pad. It lit up purple, changing the clear water to murky brown, almost like someone had thrown dirt in it.

“What now?” Ajax asked.

“It says that we have to wait 12 hours for it to finish. When it’s done, it should turn emerald green,” Zephyrus said, “If we go to sleep, it should be ready when we wake up.”

“Alright, Lola says she’s going to sleep here tonight in my room so we can give it to her first thing in the morning,” Ajax said.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m tired. I’m going to sleep on the floor in your room tonight just to make sure nothing bad happens while she’s asleep,” Zephyrus said, heading upstairs to the living room while Ajax followed.

“Okay, I’m going to be on the couch, but call me if anything happens,” Ajax said, heading into the kitchen.

Lola was already upstairs. Zephyrus found her sitting on the edge of Ajax’s bed, reading something. “Are you feeling better?” He asked her, throwing a blanket on the floor and sitting down on it.

“Yeah, my head just hurts,” She answered, putting the book down.

“You don’t have a stele, right?” Zephyrus asked.

“No, no one in my family has magic,” Lola said, grabbing her phone, “Kharis doesn’t know when to stop,” She mumbled to herself.

“Who‘s Kharis?” Zephyrus asked her, “I’ve never met her but you talk about her quite a lot.”

“She’s my friend from college, just like Tom. We had the same major, but we still haven’t gotten a job for it yet. Instead we work at the cafe and room in my apartment.”

“And she knew Tom before you guys got to college?”

“Yeah, they went to the same high school. Why?”

“I know this is going to sound strange, but have either of them ever acted weird around you whenever someone gets hurt?”

“You think Kharis is a monster?” Lola turned to him.

“Not necessarily. I’m simply saying that if Tom is suspected of being a monster, Kharis might be one too,” Zephyrus clarified, “But it's merely a suggestion. Of course, Kharis could just be a normal human being who happens to be friends with a potential monster.”

“To answer your question,” Lola said, slightly angry, “Both of them act like normal people when someone gets hurt: concerned. You saw how Tom acted when you bumped into me the other day.”

Zephyrus stayed silent before moments later asking, “Do you, deep down, believe that Tom is human?”

“Yes,” Lola answered simply.

“Then that’s the end of it,” Zephyrus responded, “You should get some sleep. In the morning the cure should be done.”

Lola shut the light off and rolled over under a blanket. It took Zephyrus a while to fall asleep, but eventually his eyes drooped closed and he knocked out on his makeshift bed.

“Please, I don’t want to do this anymore,” A young Lola cried.

“You’re going to do what I tell you to,” An older man’s voice said.

“Please,” Tears streamed down Lola’s face, her voice cracking, “No more.”

“Get up! They’re almost here,” Her father pulled her up off of the floor.

“No!” Lola screamed at the top of her lungs as her father held her tight, dragging her to the other room, “Leave me alone!”

Lola was kicking and screaming. Her father threw her to the floor, “I’ve told you before,” He said in a calm, low voice. Lola found it scarier than him yelling, “This is unacceptable.”

Lola looked at him in fear, still crying. “Do you see what you make me do? How bad you make me look?” Her father said.

“Please, I don’t want to do this anymore,” Lola said.

Her father glared at her. He quietly said, “Get up.”

Lola didn’t move. “Get up!” He yelled.

When she still didn’t move, he grabbed her by the arm, bringing her to her feet. He squeezed her arm tight, “You’re hurting me,” Lola tried to squirm away, but her father held her fast.

He slapped her, causing her head to jerk to the side. “When I tell you to do something, you do it. I don’t want to be the bad guy but you’re forcing me.”

The doorbell rang in the distance. “They’re here,” Her father said, “Fix yourself.”

Lola reluctantly fixed her outfit to how her father made her. “Come on.”

Lola stood still. Her father grabbed her again from her stomach and dragged her along with him. “No!” She started screaming as loud as she could again.

Zephyrus woke up with a shock to Lola yelling, “NO!” as loud as she could. He quickly shot up and shook her awake.

“Lola!” She stopped screaming as she woke up. She was breathing hard, a dazed look in her eyes. Zephyrus turned the light on, “Are you alright? What happened?”

Ajax ran into the room before she got a chance to answer, “Are you okay?” He asked.

“Yeah,” Lola said through her shaky voice, “It was just a bad dream,” She said, giving a small smile.

“What was your dream about?” Zephyrus asked, concerned.

“Clowns,” Lola said, “Hate them.”

Zephyrus felt like she was lying, but he didn’t question her. Suddenly, and quite awkwardly, Lola’s breathing became steady. Her eyes glossed over, like she was no longer aware of what was happening. “Lola?” Ajax asked.

They heard a hissing come from behind them. “Don’t move,” Zephyrus said.

Lola didn’t listen. She got up and walked right past the boys. “What’s happening?” Ajax asked.

“Yo-You remember when you were reading th-the symptoms after getting hit with venom by an Oxycoccus? Well, after the spot turns red, the Oxycoccus Regina can take control of that person. I think that’s what’s happening,” Zephyrus stuttered.

“Right you are, little boy,” A voice said, making Zephyrus tense up.

“Lola is her name right?” The voice was feminine. It sounded like the creature purred.

“What do you want?” Ajax said.

Ajax felt hands grab his shoulders. “There are plenty of things that I want,” She said softly.

“But for now, Lola will have to do,” The creature said, “After all, the bounty on her head is worth quite a lot.”

“Bounty?” Zephyrus asked, getting punched on his back. He cried out in pain.

The creature laughed. “How the mighty have fallen, Zephyrus Grace.”

Ajax looked over at Zephyrus, confused. Zephyrus had a frightened look on his face.

“Anyway, this was fun. Ta ta,” The creature said, her hands sliding off of Ajax’s shoulders, grabbing Lola, and the sound of their footsteps receded.

Zephyrus waited a few seconds before he began to move, running to where he’d been laying on the floor, grabbing his stele and a small book. He tucked the book inside his sweater and rushed past Ajax. “Let’s go,” Zephyrus said, running down the stairs into the basement. He grabbed what looked to be a compass from a drawer before running back upstairs.

Ajax got downstairs right as Zephyrus was heading out the front door. “Zephyrus, where are you going?”

Zephyrus turned around, “To get Lola,” He said as if it were obvious.

Ajax ran out after him, shutting the front door. Zephyrus pulled the book out of his pocket, writing ‘Lola Reeds’ down, then inserting it in a slot in the compass-looking object. It pointed straight. Zephyrus jogged down the block, the compass in his hand. He stopped at the corner, glancing at the compass. It turned, signaling him to turn left. Ajax followed after him as he ran away.

Eventually the compass led them to an abandoned building, looking like it was about to fall apart if you tapped it. The walls were cracked and pieces of lumber surrounded it. “She’s in there,” Zephyrus said, reaching for the door.

Ajax stopped him. “Are you insane? If you open that door, the whole building will come crumbling down.”

“So what? You have a better idea?’ Zephyrus sneered.

“Yes,” Ajax said simply, walking around the backside of the building.

On the floor, there was an entrance to an underground area. There was a chain wrapped around the handles, but it was unlocked, signaling that someone had recently been there. Ajax unwrapped the chain and pried open the door, which sure enough, revealed a staircase. Ajax smirked at Zephyrus. Zephyrus raised an eyebrow, but stepped through the basement doors. Ajax followed closely behind.

Zephyrus turned to him as he reached the bottom of the stairs, turning and putting a finger to his lips. Zephyrus, very quietly, led Ajax down the long hallway. Just like the building, it was in shambles. It almost looked like a*****e room because of all the junk that laid littered on the sides.

They finally reached the end of the hallway, which opened up into a giant dirt cavern littered with boulders. Dozens of bodies hung from chains from the ceiling. Lola was one of them. The Oxycoccus Regina sat on a throne to the right of where the boys were located. Zephyrus stood up straight.

“What? What’s wrong?” Ajax whispered.

“There are hundreds of those bugs in here,” Zephyrus whispered back, pointing to one of the boulders, “Those are the eggs. Once we walk out there, they’ll all hatch.”

Ajax looked around. There were hundreds of eggs around the cavern. “So… we’re going to die?”

“Pretty much.”