Tales of Olsen

6

The next day Jordan and I decided it would be a good idea to check out the meetings the professor had invited us to. After our class, we went straight to the apartment to get ready to leave. There was no indication that he lived in this building and from what we had been told, our apartments had been reserved strictly for students. Together, Jordan and I managed to make it to the building listed on the card, but we couldn’t help wondering if we were in the right place.

“Is this the place?” I asked looking up at what looked more like an abandoned warehouse than a respectable meeting place.

Driving through the city had been a difficult task thus far.  We knew nothing and everywhere we went had to be GPS accessible. This building in the middle of nowhere didn’t seem like the type of place a professor would want to meet his students.

“Wanna back out?” Jordan asked looking concerned.

I shrugged. There was no reason to be scared yet. Just because it looked weird to us, it didn’t mean it was necessarily strange.

“Let’s at least see what’s inside.” I replied, “if there’s any trouble I can handle myself.”

“I can’t handle myself,” Jordan replied,

I shook my head and got out of the car. The parking lot was filled with other cars which were reassuring. Although the place had looked suspect from the parking lot, up close I could see intricate graffiti with symbols similar to ones I had never seen before. Something caught my eyes in the distance.

“We should go,” she said pointing to the drawing on the wall that resembled the medallion I kept hidden at the apartment.

“It’s not the same,” I replied

 This medallion had the symbol of a dove in the middle, the one in my room had the symbol of a star.

“Still, this is a pretty creepy place.” She continued

 I shrugged. Although I knew and agreed it was creepy, I couldn’t turn around. I wanted to be here badly enough to risk whatever may happen. Deep down I felt the same tugging I felt that night in the playground, but I couldn’t tell that to Jordan. She had enough of these creepy happenings without me making things worse.

“Let’s just see what it’s about and then head home,” I replied

Inside the building was covered with the same style of graffiti. There were young people of all types standing around the open room as if they were waiting for something. A few of them eyed us as we walked in, but their attention didn’t last long. We stood back trying not to interrupt the energy of the room and soon we could see why their eyes had been fixed on the front of the room.

“Is that?” Jordan began.

She didn’t have to finish because I knew exactly what she was about to say.

“It’s him,” I whispered, “the man we saw at the airport.”

Instead of the ghostlike appeared we had seen on that day, he was fully there and wearing a suit that spoke of great wealth. The room erupted in cheers and everyone seemed enamored with him. I looked over at Jordan and she looked at me. I knew she was asking me what I had gotten her into.

“Kindred spirit,” the man began, “welcome”

The room fell in a hush

“This is the wrong place” Jordan whispered,

“What are the odds?” I asked

She shook her head

“By wrong place I mean something is up and we should probably go.” She replied

“I know it’s been a while since we met,” he said, “tonight we have again a special speaker, he has been with us and amongst us but his time of reckoning is upon us! Welcome, Keith of Olsen, son of the wind and the redeemer of our world.”

There was complete silence around the room as I watched Keith walk onto the stage. He wore a blue cape that was so radiant that it hurt my eyes. His eyes which had been pitch black before were now a vibrant blue and everything about him looked sinister. His eyes scanned the room and I lowered my head so that he wouldn’t see me.

“Welcome back, son of Olson,” the man said, “we have waited a long time for this moment in our history,”

There was reverence in the older man’s voice which puzzled me and the crowd showed equal reverence. Looking around I realized the people in the room all began lowering into a bow.

“Do it,” I whispered to Jordan

She flashed me a defiant look and I moved closer to her,

“If you don’t want to stand out then do it,” I insisted

She soon recognized my point and lowered with the others who were still bowed.

“Arise,” Keith said aloud, “sons and daughters of the Olson, welcome to tonight’s ceremony.”

There was an eruption of violent cries around the room that stunned us. Jordan gripped my hand and tugged

“Is this the time that we leave?” she asked

I shook my head. I needed to know what was about to happen, especially because there was a part of me that knew this is where I was supposed to be. Everything that had happened in the last few days had led to this.

“Soon,” I replied, “they’re not dangerous just try not to stand out”

Jordan’s eyes were wide, and I could tell it was making her uncomfortable to stand amongst these screaming people.

“I’m ducking out the moment things get weirder,” she said, “I’ll walk home if you don’t come with me.”

I shrugged knowing she’d probably just wait by the car.

“Tonight’s ceremony will be a very special one,” Keith was saying now that the crowd had calmed, “for years we have been preparing and getting ourselves ready for the coming and the time is now!”

He threw his fist in the air and all around the room people began to cheer loudly. Suddenly I felt the hairs on my skin beginning to stand on end. At the front of the room, Keith was pacing across the stage and looking down into the crowd. His looks were so intense I wondered if he could burn my soul, but I could tell he hadn’t seen me.

“I’ve come to bring good news that the princess of the crown is here.” He said, “and soon, she will be one of us, and will help us to usher in the new age of To Telos.”

The words registered in my mind and I could hear Jordan whispering the translation behind me.

“The end,” she said

There was no longer any fear in her voice, only realization.

“Things are coming to us much sooner than we thought warriors,” he said, “we must be prepared for anything.”

“We need to go,” Jordan said, “I’m not scared or anything but if this is what I think it is, you can’t let them see you,”

I turned to look at her and the concern in her eyes was real.

“What’s going on?” I asked

Looking around to make sure nobody was paying much attention to us, she lowered her voice until it was barely audible.

“I know what To Telos is,” she whispered, “and if I remember clearly, that man may be the death of us all.”

I looked at her and then toward Keith, he was still talking but his words weren’t audible. He was being drowned out by the many voices in my head. All of a sudden, I couldn’t focus, I was burning up and I couldn’t stop the noise in my head.

“Run,” one very loud voice shouted. The rest followed suits and soon the only sound I could hear was the continuous whispers

“Run, run, run.”

Grabbing Jordan by the hand, I nudged my way through the crowd. The occupants were much too engulfed in Keith’s speech to pay much attention to us as we fled. As we neared the door I looked back and saw Keith’s eyes on us. He wore a smirk that said he knew I was there all along and it terrified me to think that he had invited us here for a sinister reason. Without waiting to see what would happen I burst open the door and ran to the parking lot. The medallion symbol on the building began to glow bright blue as we drove by and I tried to ignore the pang of recognition in the pit of my stomach.