Stacy Pendragon

Coming of Age

    CHAPTER ONE

         I pushed my way through the revolving doors and out into the open, still looking over my shoulder at the two guys in trench coats. Their faces were not visible beneath their hats. It was like twenty nine degrees outside, but these guys wore trench coats wherever I saw them, no matter the temperature. These two have been stalking me for a while now. They were everywhere. They always strolled around my home when my parents weren’t around, followed me everywhere I went. Even when I look outside my  window at night, I would see them standing by the maple tree out back doing nothing but watching me all night long. Most nights I felt uncomfortable falling asleep.

      I was out grabbing some veggies so mom could make soup. I was down at Langenstein’s picking up some eggplants when I saw them standing by the broccoli section, and like always, they just stood side by side, looking at me. I tried to keep my composure and act all natural, but I couldn’t concentrate. People went by their usual businesses like they weren’t seeing these two. One lady even pushed her shopping cart, hit one of them who let out a noise like a hiss. She simply muttered something like “Stupid old carts! Don’t they oil these things?” and pushed he cart away. She didn’t seem to notice that she just ran into a stranger. I stuffed a bunch of carrots into my shopping basket as I walked by and went to the receptionists’ desk to pay for my veggies. I stole glances over my shoulder at the strangers. They stood at the same place in the same pose, unchanged. The vegetables were put into a shopping bag and I was told the price. I hastily gave out the money and hastily hurried out of the shop. As I pushed my way out, not paying any attention to the receptionist calling me to come get my change and the stream of incoming customers. Outside, I ran into someone real hard.  The impact made me fall to my butt.

          “Whoa!” said a familiar voice “Watch where you are going Princess!”

          I looked up into his face “Zeke!” I hastily got to my feet “Wha . . . what are you doing here?”                                                             

             He smirked and pulled me off the ground. “Why shouldn’t I be here?” he said looking into the grocery mart. I remembered why I ran into him in the first place. I looked into the shop through the clear glass windows. The strangers were gone. I turned my attention to Zeke, trying for a smile.

           “I told you not to call me Princess” I picked up my grocery bag. Zeke was a friend from school. He is new and has been around only for about two months.  We got close in such a short time.

          “What are you running from? Are you a shoplifter now?” he looked at the store as if he were expecting someone to run out yelling “STOP THIEF”.

          “No I’m not!” I protested “he’s keeping my change”

          “I don’t see you making an attempt at getting it back”

         “Nah, it’s fine. Just pocket change. Where are you off to?”

         “I was on my way to the emporium. I need a new set of rear view mirrors. Someone stole mine”

           I looked over to his Freeway parked on the other side, rear view mirrors gone. I chuckled.

           “Who would wanna steal from you? I mean your stuff is just plain odd. Maybe it was just a prank from one of those guys you hang out with at school. Or maybe you got careless.”

          “Or maybe someone thinks I have good taste with mirror choices. Happens often. Well most of time”

          “You won’t find any emporium around this part of town.”

            “Fine, you caught me.” He said. “Would you believe I was simply following you?”

            “And why would you do that?” I asked.

            He shrugged. “I have to check up on you once in a while. You are like a walking beacon for trouble.”

            For no reason at all, I looked into the store again.

           “I should give you a ride home.”  He said. “You shouldn’t be out this late.”

I didn’t get what he meant, but with those two guys stalking me I had to agree with him.

         “I don’t trust your biker skills, but sure, why not?”

         “You don’t?” He asked. “I give Mallory rides all the time.”

         “She is just as crazy as you are, it makes sense.” I said walking after him.

          “Fair point.” He said as he swung one foot over his bike and was on it. He picked up his only safety helmet which he reserves for passengers only and handed it to me.

           “See what I mean?” I asked, holding up the helmet.

           “I already said ‘fair point’, didn’t I Sam?” he asked.

           I didn’t reply. I climbed up behind him as he started the bike. Before we rode off, I looked back once again towards the store, and sure enough, the two trench coat stalkers stood, looking at me

           Zeke pulled up by my driveway. I got off his bike and took off his helmet. I forced it unto his head.

        “It’s not safe riding without a crash helmet you know.” I told him.

        “You’re telling me about safety now? Right after you are done using my helmet.”

         “I thought I already let you know that when you gave it to me.”

         “Don’t worry about me Princess, though you should be more careful when you are away from your house without your parents.”

        I frowned. Does he know about the strangers stalking me? I shook the thought off my head. He can’t possibly know. Zeke and I are close friends, but not that close. Sure enough I told my best friend Mallory about them, but she laughs it off every time. So either she snitched to Zeke, or that’s just his weirdness at work.

       “Why don’t you come inside and meet my parents?” I asked.

         Zeke paused halfway with strapping on his helmet, frowned in sadness, looked toward my house and said “Nah. They are probably faced with a lot right now.”

        “What are you talking about? Wait, have you guys met already?” I asked.

         “Uhm, I have met with Sphyxar and Helena a couple of times. We also share a mutual friend.” He said.

          “Zeke!” I said in a low voice.

          “Yes?” he answered.

          “Spencer and Helen.” I said. “My parents’ names are Spencer and Helen Madison.”

           “Oh, right. I just keep forgetting.” He grinned.

           “You know, they seem to think you are okay, you still don’t wanna come in and say hi?”

           “Sorry Princess.” He started his bike once again. “You will be at The Dance tomorrow night.”

           It was a statement, not a question. I sighed. “Only if my parents let me.”

         “Oh they will. They will have to” He revved his bike.

        “How do you figure?” I asked.

        “It’s quite obvious, isn’t it? It’s going to be your birthday Princess.” He swerved past me and onto the street.

        “Wait how did you. . . “ I began, but he was long gone.    

         Zeke is a strange guy. He knows stuff about me I never tell him. He knows my full names, Stacy Audrey Madison. He calls me Sam, by my initials. It was really embarrassing at first, but I got used to having him as my first real guy friend. It also meant I could talk to someone while Mallory had a basketball game going on, but talking with Zeke was really not usually very comfortable. He always goes a bit off topic, ranting about fantasies and stuff. He did know some pretty good stories, and was very much into mythical creatures. In short, he is weird. But weirdly enough, he still doesn’t play Dungeons and Dragons in the basement of some fan boy dressed up creepily as a knight or something, nor does he know what that is.

        My parents, however, are weirder. They were always there to make my life even more miserable than it already is. My social life is under strict surveillance. Any new friend I had, my parents were supposed to know about them and would evaluate them personally, finally deciding who I should be friends with and who I shouldn’t be friends with. Their choices ever worked out only once, with Mallory.

       As a result of their pickiness, I had really few friends my parents would describe as “harmless”. I don’t have a girl’s night out, no parties (not even birthday parties. I’m not even allowed to celebrate mine with friends), no hanging out with friends outside school (except special cases with Mal), no slumber parties, no boyfriends, in fact, no guy friends. Zeke was somehow the only exception. Probably because he was an i***t and was basically harmless.

         They were such control freaks. I never told them about Zeke. I didn’t know we would end up as friends, but once we did, I decided my parents won’t like him. I turned out to be wrong. They actually liked Zeke. From the way Zeke spoke earlier, he even hinted on them having met each other.

       I walked up to the porch, fetched my key and unlocked the door.  I pushed open the door and walked inside. My parents were home. Dad was playing the crossword puzzle from the morning paper he had saved for the evening, Mom was doing the Dishes. Dad looked up from the paper and sighed a sigh of relief. Mom ran out to the living room, cleaning her hands on her apron.

       “I’m home.” I announced.

       “Are you OK Stacy?” my mother asked taking me by my shoulders and sizing me up.

        “Mom I’m Ok don’t fuss.” I handed her the bag “Here are the veggies. I left some change behind.”

         “Oh don’t worry about the change dear.” She took the bag from me “I’m just glad you are home safe”

        “Why are you so worried anyway?” I asked.

        “Letting you go get groceries was a bad idea.” She said ad she hurried off.

        “Who was that guy who dropped you off?” my dad asked me. I remembered Zeke knew my parents.

        “That was just a Zeke.” I said.

         “Oh.” he said. “He is giving you rides now?”

        “Dad,  he is not exactly a stranger” I said.

        “What have we told you about accepting rides from strangers Stacy?” my mom said from the kitchen. Apparently, she didn’t hear what I said.

       “He is not a stranger. We meet at school” I said, to my Dad mostly.

       “How frequently do you meet at school? Do you have more boy friends?” dad asked. There was the sound of china plates breaking on the floor of the kitchen.

       “You've got a boyfriend?” mom shrieked now walking out from the kitchen.

       “What? No, I don’t have a boyfriend. That was Zeke, he just gave me a ride home.”

        “You are not supposed to take rides with rough boy with such terrible hair and reckless enough to not put on a helmet, even if it’s Zeke.” dad complained. Zeke was right about them having issues. He might have made a good choice and stayed away.

        “Dad I’m not a kid anymore okay? I can make my own choices”

        “Oh no. Not in this case young lady.”

        “I walked thirteen blocks, thirteen blocks to Langenstein’s to get those groceries.”

        “You wanted to walk.” My mother said.

        “I was going to call an Uber.” I said.

        “We made this clear Stacy, don’t use public transport. No Ubers.” My Mom said, one time more times than I could count in four lifetimes.

        “Here we go again on the Millions of Don’ts I need to be reminded of.” I said.

        “Stacy,” my father cut in. “Listen to your mother.”

        “Dad, I’m turning sixteen tomorrow. You haven’t given me a chance at living my life. I can’t even have my own birthday party! My friends, at least the ones you chose for me wonder if I even have a birthday.”

        “Honey you don’t understand.” mom said walking out into the living room. “We have a responsibility to protect you”

        “You guys are overdoing it!” I pressed my hands on my temples momentarily. “You have made my life look like a high security prisoner. Always watched, always told what to do. Mom, I’m really tired of it. All I ask is one night out. The school is having a Dance tomorrow night. Just let me be there, please!”

        This totally had an effect on them. Dad sighed. “She is turning sixteen tomorrow.” He said “she will after all come of age.”

       “Come of age for what?” I asked. As usual when they have puzzling exchanges like this one, I am ignored. Mom’s expression softened.

       “Is that really all you ask?” she asked.

       “Well, for now. That’s all I ask”

She sighed like she has been burdened with a great load. “Alright Stacy. Just one night out.”

        “Thank you!” I breathed out my sigh of relief. “I’ll go clean up the mess in the kitchen then help you with dinner.”

      CHAPTER TWO

          I don’t do much about describing boring unimportant details like how my day was at school. Imagine a girl with a life like mine, then you can guess how my day was. Plain boring. But with an incident like yesterday’s, my parents actually letting me go for a school party, made it less boring than usual.

       My friend Mallory was excited that for once my parents actually gave me the go ahead to attend the school dance. She wished me a happy sweet sixteen and gave me a bracelet to renew our friendship. Usually, I gave her bracelets on her birthday, but she kept losing them in the changing rooms during practice. This time, she gave me one, and I knew this was different. It was a beady drawstring bracelet, with the ornamental piece being a teardrop shaped silver piece of magnet, with a black S carved into the surface of the larger portion. I soon realized she had a matching piece, which was black with a silver M at its head. The two pieced attracted each other into the circular Yin-Yang symbol. It was the most amazing gift she ever gave me.

        She then went on ranting about things like what dress to wear, how to dress up her hair in an attractive style, and whether she should dance with Phillip or Richard. She has a crush on them both. I gave her five minutes tops to get over them for someone like Todd, or her ex boyfriend Grayson (she has issues). I kept a lookout for Zeke. Usually he would meet up with me at recess whether I wanted him around or not. Today he was strangely absent. None of his buddies had seen him either. I didn’t even know what year he was in to begin with.

          Along the hallways, at every turn, you could see girls posting up banners and cut out decorations for the Spring Dance tonight.

     School closed early today so we could go get ready for the Dance. Mom and dad were home early too, for some reason. They both sat at the couch staring emptily into the space where I think the TV should have been. Well, we don’t have a TV. We don’t have a computer, I don’t have a laptop, we don’t even have a radio. We have a telephone we don’t even use. Each time our neighbors the Callaways and the Sullivans would call to check in, either one of my parents will ignore it or disconnect. They never even answered any calls from the authorities in case of any you know, questioning. The only electronic gadgets I owned were my wristwatch and my phone. The phone was encrypted so I could only call my home number, mom or dad’s number and I could receive calls only from them. It couldn’t even get 4G or Wi-Fi. I only watch movies when I hang with Mallory. She bought me an iPad last year, but I knew my parents wouldn’t let me keep it, so she keeps it, and has it loaded with movies and our favorite music.  

      Did I mention we didn’t get any visitors? And I’m not allowed to visit. So I hardly bond with the neighbors.  We never call a plumber or an electrician for maintenance. If there is anything that needed repairs, I just had to wait for my parents to show up, and just like magic, the issue is fixed. They seem give stares so stern even problems solve themselves.

       ”Hey mom, hey dad” I greeted.

      “You came home early.” Dad said grim faced “What's wrong?”

      “Dad we were asked to come early and prepare for the Dance.”

      “Ah. Yes. The Dance.”

      “Is something troubling you guys?” I asked “You seem so distracted”

      “Nothing to worry about sweetie” Mom said rising from her seat and forcing on a smile. “Go shower. I picked up a dress for you on my way home”

      I hadn’t even given a thought about what I should wear. Mallory had spoken so much about it I had dismissed it.

        “Oh right. Thanks mom! Cant wait to see it.”

         I bounded up stairs and unlocked my room. My parents had a spare key for emergencies (emergencies mostly being anything that gets them worried). I saw the dress that was laid out on my bed and gasped in awe. It was a sleeveless ruby red dress laced with sequins and rhinestones of the same color. Its bottom half closely resembled a blooming rose petal. As I watched the dress sparkle in the evening sunlight I was reminded of a red rose in the morning with the early morning dew glistening on its petals. It was beautiful. Mom hasn’t bought anything like this for me in a long time. I took the dress in my hands and sat down on my bed. 

          What am I doing? I thought to myself.  I have never been to a dance before. I don’t even know how to dance! I lay flat on my back staring into the ceiling. My room was not someplace one would like to visit. My walls were blank. I wasn’t also allowed to hang any pictures or wallpapers on my wall. It was always in order. The books on my table neatly stacked, my pens and pencils and other writing material placed in a rack. My wardrobe always carefully arranged, and my only companion in this house, my guitar, leaned against the wall by my table.

          I don’t know how I have survived sixteen years like this. I got up and walked to the windows. I looked out expecting to see my two stalkers standing out there staring up into my room like they usually did. Thankfully, they weren’t there. I drew my curtains closed and stripped off my clothes and into my bathrobe. I stepped into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Warm water gushed out of the tap into the tub.

          It was early spring. It was still a bit cold outside. I added soap and fragrance into the tub and stepped in when the suds had spread over the surface. The warmth was reassuring. I felt good just sitting like this. You get used to it once you notice there isn’t much to do in this house. I closed my eyes for a few minutes and tried to associate myself with this warmth. I took great care not to fall asleep. I'm known for doing that. I then scrubbed myself clean with a bathing sponge. When I felt satisfied with my scrubbing, I then pulled the plug letting the water sink in. I then stepped into the shower and washed off the suds. I dried myself with a towel and then my dark hair with a hairdryer. I wish I had asked if I could dye my hair blonde too.

           Mom came up to help me dress up. She helped me into my new dress and shocked me by even using a bit of her make-up on my face. When she was done, she turned me to the mirror. I gotta say, I was stunning. I don’t like looking into the mirror. I usually don’t see the beauty in me everyone does, but this time, it was undeniable.

        “You are a beautiful child.” mom said. “Very much like your mother.” She laughed a bit.

        “Thanks a lot mom” I turned to her and gave her a hug.   

        “Come down stairs. There is something your father and I have for you.” She took me by my hand and led me downstairs. Dad was still sitting on the couch and this time, he was clutching a wooden chest in his hand. It was the size of a shoe box made of polished mahogany with strange designs. It looked like something you would find in an antique shop.

        “My dear Stacy” he said “Inside this box are a few things that you might need. I will leave it here at the house so you can come back for it later.” I didn’t like the way my parents spoke at times. Always so comical.

          “You’re not . . . “ I started. “You’re not sending me off to boarding school, are you?”

         They laughed and shook their heads. There was so much sorrow in their laugh. Have they both been crying?

         “What's inside the box Daddy?” I asked.

          He smiled and said “You will see in due time honey. But as of now, the only gift we have for you now is this”.

         From the box, he pulled out a silver chain. The pendant was a silver claw clutching a ruby that was the size of a marble. It was the most beautiful piece of jewelry I had ever seen. Ornately carved and designed. Whoever made this was truly a master in the art. He stepped forward and put I around my neck. For a moment I thought I saw it glow.  

         “Thank you dad!” I breathed. He smiled at me. “Never take it off, love.” Mom said “it will protect you in our absence”

          Leave it to my parents to ruin the moment with their overactive imaginations. “Mom nothing will happen to me. It’s just a dance.” She broke into tears “Oh sweetie” she said “We wish we could have driven you there ourselves!”

        “Don’t worry. Mallory’s mom is gonna drive me there. It’s fine.” I said. She wiped her tears just as a car honked outside and Mallory’s voice called out to me. I took my purse and walked out the door. My parents came out to see me off. “Happy birthday Stacy.” Dad said.            

       “Thanks a lot you guys” I said. They took me in a spine crushing group hug, mom sobbing violently. “I wish it didn’t have to end like this” she said “I wish we could do more”

         “You guys are doing me a great favor letting me go out tonight. I appreciate it.” I said hugging them back.

       “Just keep watch for the guide okay? He will come to you” She said. Even when I'm about to go out alone my parents manage to hire a personal chaperone for me. “OK mom.” I said with a sigh.

         “Stay close to Zeke, and beware of the Screechers” dad added helpfully. I won’t get hit by a screeching car dad. I thought to myself.

        “Always remember this Stacy,” mom said breaking away “We have and always will love you. Everything we have done, was to protect you. I love you Stacy, given the chance, I would live this life over again.” I gotta say they freaked me at this point. But I didn’t let it show. “You guys may be all strict and all, but I love you too. I always have and always will. Don’t fret. I will see you guys after the Dance.” I said with genuine sincerity.

       “Have fun at the Dance honey.” dad whispered. “Don’t miss us.”

        “I will have fun, but wont miss you that much. Goodbye mom and dad. See you later tonight” I said as I got into the car. It only caused mom to sob even harder. I rolled my eyes and sat in the car beside Mallory.

        “Hi Mrs Summers.” I said to Mallory’s mom.

        “Looking good Stacy.” She said, flashing me a grin.

        “Your folks are so emotional.” Mallory whispered as I slid in beside her. “I never once saw them like this, but this is overkill.”

        “Yeah tell me about it.” I said. “One dance and they act like I am going to college.” I looked out and saw my parents teary eyed and waving me goodbye. I waved them goodbye as well. Then my eyes wandered to the tree at the front and I saw something that unsettled me. I saw the two  strangers standing on either side of the tree, heads facing my direction, of course, Staring straight at me.

 CHAPTER THREE

        We arrived the dance a little late. The hall was so spacious I couldn’t tell what part of school this was. Balloons decorated the entrances and exits, the ceiling as well as the floor. Music seemed to playing everywhere at once and in semi darkness, disco lights installed on the ceiling shot around multi-colored light. The tables were laden with food, delicacies and beverages, and placed well away from the dance floor.  Loudspeakers were placed at each angle of the hall. The dance floor was littered with students all dancing and putting their hands in the air like they don’t care, barely moving to the rhythm of the beat. I could spot teachers walking around and making sure we all were in check.

           Mallory grabbed my arm and was pulling me toward the dance floor when some of her friends rushed to meet us.

“Oh my gosh guys!” one of them said. I didn’t recognize her. “You look gorgeous. Wow, Madison, look at you? You're so pretty in that dress.” I didn’t know what to say. I was stranger to compliments, but responding to them was an issue.

         “Thank you” I managed.

         “Hey Mal, you seen Richard?” another one of her friends said.

         “No, I just came in, why?”

         “He's been looking for you.”

         Mallory gasped “Shut up!!!” and she went off with them for a moment, remembered I was here then she turned around and came back for me.

         “You should come with us.” She said, taking my hand. “I hear Richard was bringing along his gorgeous friend.”

          “No, you should go.” I said. “Have fun. I will wait here for you.”

          “Girl, it’s your birthday.” She said. “You should come have fun.”

        “I will,” I said. “Right after I find Zeke.” I grinned. She grinned back, gave me a hug and ran off.  I just stood there, trying to decide whether to actually join the party or just grab a drink and sit down when a hand extended toward me grabbing a disposable plastic cup filled with a cherry red beverage.

        “Have a drink Princess.” Zeke said sipping from a cup of his own.

        “Zeke” I said taking the cup “I was just talking about you.”

        “To who exactly?” he asked.

        “With Mallory.” I said. “She just left.”

        “Oh. What about?”

        “Nothing important.” I said. “Where have you been?”

          He shrugged. “Around” he said “had to skip school and gather some supplies.”

         “What kind of supplies? You going on a trip?” I asked sipping the red juice. Hmmm, it was cherry juice. But I doubted if it was actual cherry. Maybe a fruit mix with cherry extract. Either way, I didn’t like cherry much.

        “Actually I'm escorting someone. It‘s going to be a long and dangerous journey.”

         “Oh not you too Zeke” I punched his arm playfully “you sound like my parents.”

        “No I don’t.” He drained his cup “Do you dance?”

        “No, I don’t dance Zeke. I don’t even know how to dance.” I drained my own cup.

        “A shame.” he said “would you like some more cherry juice?” He asked me.

“No thanks. Put away my cup for me though.” I gave him my cup and he went up to one of the tables to refill his, and struck up a conversation with a friend of his, an unnaturally pretty girl called Ivy, whose eyes looked like they have seen more than 50 years of history. Boys. I thought to myself. Always keep the ladies waiting. I sighed and took a seat. Ivy was a close friend of his. We never spoke, but I saw them together once in a while. She looked too old to be in this school, though she had a lithe form. She showed up weeks after Zeke arrived, but I don’t see her much often.

           The hall was getting hotter by the moment and it stank of sweat. Zeke was so deep in his conversation with Ivy he forgot I was waiting for him. I didn’t mind calling him back. I always imagined my first party would give me a great feeling of being alive. Right now, all I could think of was what the hell I'm I even doing here? I buried my face in my hands and let out a breath.

            “Hey there.” came a voice over my head. I looked up into a smiley handsome face and managed to stretch my lips into a smile “I am sure you would like to dance with a handsome guy like moi. What do you say?” he said examining his fingernails.  The way he did it told me he was not a guy who was usually told “no” for anything he wanted, this guy always had his way and believed every girl can fall for him. I remember him now. Though his name keeps slipping off my mind. This guy was popular. Me dancing with a popular in-crowd guy was a major hit. But I didn’t like the way he asked.

           “Nah. I'm good” I said. His face turned into a color I didn’t quite recognize under the disco lights. He opened his mouth to say something, maybe protest and tell me I can't tell him no. He straightened his tie and muttered something like fine, you don’t look that good anyway and left me. As I watched him leave, my attention was drawn to the guy standing by the table that carried the food.

     I hadn’t noticed before, but there were two new uninvited guests. I had to do a double take once I saw them. I couldn’t believe this! It was the stranger again. This time he was alone standing unnoticed before the students and teachers, and he held something in his hand. I got up and spotted Mallory in the crowd still dancing. I walked up to her squeezing my way among the students. I placed my hand on her shoulder and pulled her around to face me.

       “Hey Mal,“ I said pointing to the stranger “That’s one of those guys who have been following me.”

         She gave me a confused look and asked “What guy?” Then she looked over me to where I pointed, then her eyes widened and she looked back at me “Wait, who are you?”

         I frowned and said “What are you talking about? It’s me Stacy.” She even looked more puzzled.

        “Uh, okay?” she said. “Do I know you? Do you school here?”

        “Is this a joke? Your mom drove us here.” I said.

        “No she didn’t.” she said, “Are you okay? You sound like you are high or something close.”

         “Mal, stop it! I am being serious here.” I said.

         “Yeah,” she said. “You sure sound like it.”

         I looked into her face and saw that she looked back with utmost sincerity. She was totally frank about not knowing me. She started to back away from me and I grabbed her on both shoulders as a thought crossed my head.

         “We are minors.” I said. “How are you drunk or are you just having too much fun?”

          She shoved me away with so much force I fell.

         “How dare you accuse me of being drunk you stupid little freak?” she said.

          I couldn’t believe this! Mallory shoved me!

          “What?” I asked in total confusion.

          “You better stay away from me!” she said.

          “How could you do that?” I asked. You gave me a matching bracelet to celebrate our friendship and my birthday, see?” I held up my hand. That was odd. I was putting it on before.

           “You better stay away from me.” She said and backed away into the dance floor and continued dancing as if this little exchange never happened. What was going on here? How can my best friend treat me like this? What scares me most is that she seemed absolutely certain she did not remember who I was. I looked back at the stranger who now appeared to be clutching white knives in his hand. I had to get out of here. I looked for Zeke at the table but he wasn’t there. Neither was Ivy. I backed out of the hall determined to get as far away from the stranger as I can. It was high time I left this place. I got up and ran away from there as fast as I could.

       I was out at the parking lot where I took out my cell phone and dialed my parents’ numbers. I needed them to come pick me up. They were both unavailable.

       I was about to dial our house number when I saw something odd. Farther to the right of the parking lot, where the trash cans were, something caught my eye. It was a piece of metal glinting in the moon light. It looked like someone had dropped a knife. There was also a pool of dark stuff around the knife. For no reason at all, I began to walk toward it. The closer I got, the clearer I got to see the cans. There was some hastily stuffed piece of trash in it, which was keeping the lid from closing all the way. I got closer, and I saw a human arm sticking out from inside. Someone was in there. Probably one of those boys who do drugs.

      “Hello?” I called to the guy who thought it was a good idea to crash in the trash. “Are you okay?”

       I got close enough to pull open the trash can lid. Two things hit me at once as I did. A knife in a pool of dark liquid, a body in the trash. I had to say, I was pretty naïve. Very slow too.

       I looked into the can and saw the body. I forgot how to breathe. Yes, the body. Just the body. His head was gone, cut clean off his shoulders. I dropped the lid on his hand with a loud bang, screaming my head off as I retreated. I fumbled for my phone for a while and dropped it into the pool of blood. I left it there and ran for help. There was a dead body out here in the parking lot!

      I pushed open the doors leading to the hallway, and several feet away, the murder suspect stood blocking my path. It had to be these guys in trench coats. They killed someone, and were most likely after me. I turned and ran outside into the parking lot again. If he was after me, I probably wont outrun him. I ran in between two parked cars and crouched, trying to suppress the sound of my breathing. What the hell was going on? Try as I could to be quiet, it only got me sobbing more. I just saw a dead guy. Worse? He was dead and headless. And now my headless body would most likely be lying next to his in a few seconds. I clutched my head with both hands, crying as I did. Maybe I cried z bit too loud.

     I heard foot falls coming from before and behind me. I held my breath. With each footfall, my heart beat so fast I feared it would give away my position. The two strangers (yes, there were two of them now)showed up and stood at my front and back, blocking any chance of my escape.

       They had me trapped.

       “Ssssstacy?” the one at my front asked in a hissing voice, the words seeming to rattle. It sounded like a snake had learnt to speak. I swallowed the lump in my throat and managed to say “Yeah, that's me”. I was aware my voice was barely a squeak. Maybe they weren’t killers. Maybe they could be reasoned with.

         The stranger said something that made me wish I never left home. Something that made me wish I were never born.

         “Pendragon.” he said again “We are here to kill you, nothing persssonal. Now hold ssstill.” He raised a hand holding a knife with five blades. “It hurtsss more if you don't sstruggle.”

     CHAPTER FOUR

       They closed in on me both clutching wicked sharp knives on their right hands. Five knives each. There was something really strange about those knives but right now I was busy trying to keep my heart from hammering its way out through my ribcages. I stood in a position that would keep my eyes on both of them. These guys meant business. There was no room for negotiation. They were close now. So close I could smell the stink of rotting flesh and stale blood from them. I was hoping I passed out from the stench before they could dissect me. No such luck. It was evident now that they had killed that other guy. I thought of begging for my life. I couldn’t even ask why they wanted me dead or what I did to offend whoever sent them. All I could do was burst into tears and cry furiously. Even if I shouted for help, I knew no one could hear me.

       That's when the trash can lid flew over my head hit the first stranger in his hooded face.

       I turned around to see who threw it, hoping for a second it was Captain America. I know, I know. I read too many comic books (of course I read them. When you live in a home like mine, you can read anything). Instead, when I saw my savior, I was so stunned my tears stopped flowing. Wild haired guy in a suit running at me with another trash can lid in hand. There was a blue symbol on the lids face written in luminescent paint.

       “Zeke?” it really was Zeke. The second stranger turned to face this new threat. He hissed as Zeke approached, and lashed at Zeke with all five blades, who managed to dodge and shoulder tackle the assailant into a car’s widow screen.

       “Go!” he shouted at me pointing to the street where a taxi cab was already waiting for me. The Driver apparently was not noticing the commotion here. Or maybe he was not aware. But how can he not be aware? He is looking straight at me though his head moved to the beat of some 90’s pop music on his radio.

      The first stranger Zeke had knocked down got up and his hat had fallen off. His head was bald and scaly like he had a bad case of ichthyosis. When he turned around, I saw his face was dark-green in the moonlight, his eyes were yellow with slits for pupils. He snarled revealing a set of yellow curved teeth with a long forked tongue which flickered around his scaly lips. His breath smelled like rotting meat.

        I screamed so loud the SUVs glasses shattered and the car alarms went off. This thing before me was the stuff of nightmares, a creature straight out of a horror movie or a Spider-Man Vs The Lizard comic issue. My heart almost stopped in fright.

       The thing was frozen, still as a statue and unmoving. Even his forked tongue froze. Did my scream scare it? Zeke rushed past me and drop kicked the lizard-man hybrid that was standing before me.

       “GO!” he said once he got up “Don't get help, don’t look back, don’t worry about me. Get into the cab and GO!” he turned around and slammed the lid into the other monsters face. I turned around and ran to the cab, not looking back. Obeying him now very easy.

       “Your boyfriend sure knows how irritate you” said the driver once I shut the door. I looked at him.

       “What are you talking about?” I said not getting him.

       “I was right here.” He started the car. “I watched you guys arguing and him throwing tantrums and you screaming out of irritation. Any girl would run from such a guy. Look at him? Even with you gone he still throwing a temper tantrum. He will get in trouble for all those car damages though.”

       “Are you crazy? He will get himself killed!” I said looking out into the parking lot and watch the two monsters fought back and began to close in on a trapped Zeke. Just then, the cab drove away from the scene. Zeke was hidden from my view, and the monsters were crouching as if over a fallen prey that was to become their dinner. I succumbed to tears once again.

         I was dropped at my place, still shaken and teary eyed from what just happened. Zeke just gave up his life to save mine. And there was nothing I had done to help him. I fled. Like a coward. He barely even knew me yet he willingly put his life in the line for me. What were those things that followed me? That wanted to kill me? What were those things that have been stalking me for the past year? I couldn’t make sense of anything.

        I had made a quick stop at a payphone to report the incident. I told the police about the already dead body at the parking lot, the two stalkers who assaulted and tried to kill me, and a possible casualty, that being Zeke. I gave them my school address and they said they will show up to investigate my claim. I didn’t want to tell them about the reptilian humanoids that had tried to kill me. I didn’t want to make this sound like a prank call. I assured myself that it would be fine. All the commotion the car alarms put off must have drawn attention. Maybe someone got to Zeke in time. Maybe they didn’t.

       I had to tell my parents. I walked up the porch and rang the doorbell. I heard mom’s voice call from the kitchen.

      “Sweetie? Is that you? Why did you come home so early?” she was talking and walking to the door at the same time.

       “Mom!” I was so relieved at hearing her voice I started crying again. “Mom there was this terrible accident back at school and there was a body, and Zeke, he . . .” I stopped speaking when she opened the door.

     We both put on looks of surprise when we saw each other. This woman standing at the door was not my mom.

    “You are not my mom.” I said.

     “Who are you?” she asked.

     “I live here. Where is my mom? Are we having guests?”

     “What are you talking about? This is my house.”  She said with a nervous laugh.

     I was really confused right now. I looked inside and saw the change. Pictures and wallpapers were plastered on the wall. What took most of my attention was the flat screen TV. Where did that come from? Then there was a PC desktop too!

         “This is impossible. This cannot be your house” I said “I have lived here for six years. What did you do to it?”

          She looked me like I was deranged. “You are clearly lost.” She tried to shut the door but I held it open.

         “No this is my home. I live here. I even have a spare key, look” I fished around for my spare key . . . and did not find it.

         “That's odd. I always walk around with it. Mom and dad always made sure I left the house with it.” it was true. I have never let the key out of my bead bag.

         She was really certain now that she was dealing with a lunatic.

“Look, I'm really sorry, but I can’t help you. This is my home and I have lived here with my family for sixteen years. I don’t know what you are talking about.”

         “No, no, no. Look, I live here.” I insisted. I looked around and saw Mr. Callaway closing his car door from his driveway.

        “Mr. Callaway! Hey!” he turned around and stared at me like he always does when I tried talking to him. I was relieved. At least he could back me up.

         “Young lady I think you should leave.” The strange woman asked.

          “Mr. Callaway,” I persisted. “you recognize me right? We are neighbors.”

         He stared at me really hard and said “Are you one of the Sullivan kids? Its hard to tell. Mrs. Cartman is that your daughter or is she a Sullivan?” he was absolutely sincere. He didn’t recognize me.

          “No, I'm not her daughter. I'm not a Sullivan. I'm a Madison. Stacy. You remember me right?” I waited for his answer. When it came, it hit me like ice daggers.

        “No, I most definitely don’t recognize you.” Then he left. While we were talking, the woman’s husband had come down to check what was going on. She had gone to make a phone call. I was pretty sure she was calling the cops. She was.

        “No don’t call the cops!” I pushed my way past her husband who grabbed me and tried to pull me out. “Let me go!” I screamed. “This is my house and I will prove it! Please, let me go!” 

       “Calm down little lady, and get out nicely.” he said. I fought back. I was stronger than I let on. His wife was now giving the cops my home address.

       “NO!” I swung around and punched him in the nose by accident. He fell to the floor and I ran into his wife and seized the phone from her hands. Her husband got up with a bloody nose and grabbed me with brute force, dragging me toward the door.

       “Please give me a chance to prove my claims.” I begged.

       “You will get out now, or I will kick you out by whatever means I see fit!” he said.

       “NO! Let me go! Let me go! LET ME GO!!” I screamed.

        There was an explosion. She had probably left the gas on in the kitchen. It exploded. I think it did. The woman was blown off her feet and the man was torn from me. I was somehow barely affected by the shock waves. I felt weakened like some great amount of energy had left my body. I felt the room ripple with energy as I collapsed to the floor, so weak I could barely keep my eyes open to take in the scene that lay before me. A house perfectly ruined, by the explosion. The lady was lying on the floor unconscious, a red mist hanging in the air as my vision got blurrier by each passing second. I passed out.                        

 CHAPTER FIVE                     

I came to in a police station in a holding cell, all by myself. I was being detained. I felt weaker than I ever have in so long. I also felt cold. The only warmth I felt was coming from the necklace Dad had given me earlier today. Was that memory real? I sat on a cold seat, beneath a broken light that kept flickering, waiting, and thinking. I was unscathed after the explosion. I wonder how the Cartmans were after that.

        A female officer came over had me cuffed and asked me to follow her. She gave me her Jacket which I put on and was feeling warmer. She took me into a room that had only a table, two chairs and a two way mirror. I was gonna be interrogated. I sat down on one of the chairs and was handcuffed to the table. An inspector in a suit with elbow patches came in and sat on the chair opposite me.

         “Hello there young lady.” He said “I'm Inspector Jones. What is your name?”

        I paused for a moment to gather myself I took a deep breath and said “I'm Stacy Audrey Madison”

        “Well do you know why you are here Stacy?” he spread some papers out before him. I shook my head.

        “I might have an idea.” I said. “But I really don’t know what I did wrong.”

       “Well you did thrash up the Cartman’s house,”

       I vigorously shook my head. “It‘s not their house. I live there” I said shaking my head. “Besides there was a gas leak in their kitchen. It exploded.”

       “. . . beat them to unconsciousness,”

      “That's ridiculous” I said weakly. “It’s good to know they are okay after the explosion.”

       “. . . and you knocked yourself out as you tried to run from the law.”

       “What is wrong with everyone tonight?” I asked. “Everyone is acting all weird. First Mallory didn’t recognize me, then there is a dead guy, and these two reptilian human hybrid things attacked me with these vicious blades and my friend Zeke died holding them off so I can escape and this crazy driver thought we broke up and he was having a temper tantrum, then I arrive home barely ninety minutes after I left and I find out we now have a TV, a computer and different people now live in my house and Mr. Callaway doesn’t recognize me and I am arrested for something that doesn’t even make sense!” I realized I was yelling. Jones (yes, Jones. No courtesy) was watching me apparently amused by my tale, yet not buying it.

       I broke down in tears.

      “You are an interesting storyteller Miss Madison. But I'm not buying this. Who do you say your parents were again?”

        “Spencer and Helen Madison” I said.

        “We don’t have any records of those names. No dental records, no medical records, no driver’s license, no ID cards, no public transport cards, report cards, no blogs or social media accounts, no insurance. No name matches any of these two. They don’t exist.”

         I stopped sobbing. “That's not true!” I pounded my fists on the table. Jones sighed.

       “It is true.” he said “And of course, neither do you.”

       “What are you talking about you moron? I am right here!” I said shaking with fury.

       “Of course you are here, but you are not who you say you are. You have no medical records, dental records, no school records or report cards, no driver’s license, .”

        “Well first of all, I can’t drive” I said, no longer crying but furious. “I have never been to a hospital, I don’t remember ever falling ill. I was down at school, at the Spring Dance. With my friends when those strangers attacked me at the parking lot. It is littered with broken glass now.”

        “Oh it is littered with broken glass alright.” He said. “Tell me,  did you make a call about an attack at the school parking lot, a dead body and two assailants in trench coats?”

       “Yes, that was me! Did you find Zeke?”

       “We at the Orleans precinct are not some tools for your amusement, girl, we take our work seriously. We most definitely did not appreciate your prank call.”

       “Prank call?” I asked.

       “Wise move doing it at a pay phone. Hard to track, no caller ID.”

       “It was no prank call!” I said. “My story about the parking lot incident was true!”

       “The police arrived minutes after your call. There was no dead headless body, no assailants in trench coats, no blood either. There was lots of broken glass from car windows though. Some rascals probably decided it was a good idea to smash car windows while their owners were having fun inside.”

        “You got it all wrong!” I said.

         “I also asked around the neighborhood about you after Mr. Callaway had given me your name”

         “He recognized me?” I asked, maybe a bit too hopeful.

         “No. You had told him your “name”, earlier last night” he stressed on the word name.

         “Wait, last night?” I asked not sure if I heard right.

         “Oh right. Forgot to tell you. You’ve been out for twenty two hours.”

         I almost passed out again. “Not to worry. The Cartmans are still out cold. Anyway, I asked about you in your school, and in your neighborhood. No one recognizes you.”

       I slumped on my seat, rattling my bonds. Where did it all go wrong? What did I ever do to anyone to deserve this? I did not even want to think that this was some dream. What was going on with my world?

      “You know little miss,” he said, basking in the certainty of my defeat. “when the Cartmans recover, they will press charges for assault and property damages. Added to those are other criminal charges. Like prank calls and false identities. You are a minor, too young for jail, but there are repercussions.” I just lay on the table in defeat. “Right now, your chances are about twenty months in juvie. Hard labor of course. Now those months could be even lesser if you will come straight with me. Work with me.”

       He leaned in and clasped his hands on the table. “I need you to come clean with me. Who are you really? Where do you come from? Who are your parents? What are you doing in Orleans? Why were you . . . “ he stopped abruptly.

       The alarms went off, the lights turned red. Inspector Jones and I sat up straight.

       “What's going on?” he yelled and apparently had no reply He reached to his holster and pulled out his side arm and held it on the ready. He looked up into the camera that was trained on us at all times.

       “Dawson, Lawrence what’s going on?” he yelled into the CCTV cam.                                                                                                                                                                                       

         I was pretty sure what all this meant. There has been a breach. The facility had an intruder. Something told me it was two strangers. I got into my panic mode again. I rattled my cuffs.

      “Jones, hey Jones! My cuffs, please undo them! Those things they are back, they are gonna kill me! Please they’re gonna. . “

      “SHUT UP!!!” he said training his gun on the door now, which happened to be rattling like someone was banging on it from the other side.

      My heart skipped a beat. It was really silent now. Even the alarms and horns were silent. The lights back to normal now. But the banging on the other side of the door went on. I was breathing heavily now. The banging stopped for just a second and the silence was even worse. Blue mist swirled around the door frame and it exploded, whatever was left of the door flew and hit the opposite end. I screamed momentarily. The person on the other side slid into the interrogation room. It was a figure of a man, dressed in black. He had a sword strapped on his back, black leather boots, a black travel cloak that ran from his head to just above his ankles, silver bracelets eight inches in length with carved designs. And you guessed right. He was wearing a hood over his head. Blue mist flickering like light around his fingers as he crouched, one hand on his sword.

         My first thought was oh no, Ezio himself has been sent to kill me! (Yes, I do know about Assassins Creed. I have seen some guys play it at school. Besides, the intruder dressed like him, only he wore black).      

        Inspector Jones fired two shots at him. The surprising thing was, he raised his arms and deflected the bullets like on metal cuffs on his wrist. Then he fluidly moved toward the Inspector, swept his leg under him and brought him to the ground. He landed a punch that knocked out the poor Inspector. The guy then turned toward me. I decided not to scream. It was useless. It won’t help. He pulled out a throwing knife from one of his metal bracelets and flicked it toward the camera which sizzled and went out. He then pulled off his hood and drew in a deep breath, drawing his sword and striking at my hands, breaking off the cuffs and setting me free. I saw his face.

          “Come on Princess,” said Zeke grinning like an i***t. “We have to go.”  

       He put a finger to my forehead and before I could digest my shock, I passed out again.

  CHAPTER SIX

      I had passed out two times in less than twenty four hours. My life just went from boring and almost normal to completely absurd and making no sense at all. And it felt more like a video game to me. Not that I would know much, but I had an idea. I came to, this time, in a car. I was lying at the back seat with a stuffed drawstring bag as a pillow and some empty bags lying at my feet. I looked to the driver’s seat to know in whose hands did my life lay in now. It was empty. I looked outside to see where I was now. I did not recognize this place. We were seemingly in a desolate area. All I could see was a bell tower in the distance, worn away by time and elements of nature. It was well beyond repair and it was crumbling still. The surrounding was bushy with thick grass and brambles.

               I got out of the car and looked around hoping to see any sign of life. There was a diner, though I didn’t see why there would be one out here.

      “Glad you are awake Princess” Zeke said startling me.”

       He was still dressed in his Assassins Creed outfit. His hood was off and he was munching on a burrito. I forgot he had an obsession with burritos.

       “Where are we?” I asked.

       “I don’t know” he said “I just come here each time I want to Jump.” He took a bite.

        “Excuse me? Why would you want to jump here? You couldn’t jump anywhere else?”

        “Mmhmm hmmh mhmmhh” he said with a mouthful of burritos. He then took his time to chew and swallow, then he said

       “Ley lines. This place is full of mystical energy. I only came here because I want to Jump with you and it will need more energy.”

        “What is going on Zeke?” I asked feeling it safe to burst out in anger. “What were those things? Why were they after me? Who were those people at my house? Who are you? Why doesn’t anyone recognize me? How come you recognize me? Wait, how are you still alive? Didn’t those things kill you? Who is that guy they killed?” I was breathing really hard when I was done asking these questions.

       Zeke on the other hand, wasn’t moved by my anger. He ate his burrito as if I wasn’t there. When he was done, he crumpled the wrapper and flung it into the bush, cleaned his mouth for crumbs and grease then sighed like, what a great burrito. He looked at me and said       

“What were you saying again?”

       I screamed in frustration reached into the car, grabbed the nearest, heaviest bag I could and flung it at Zeke. It hit his head with a muffled ‘bong’.

        “Uhm. . . Ouch?” he said rubbing is head.

        “Zeke you moron!” I yelled even louder “You catch bullets but not a stupid bag?”

         “Well technically, I didn’t catch it. I deflected it.” he said. I reached my screaming threshold. I couldn’t scream any louder.

        “Ok I got you. I'm just messing with you.” he said laughing. “You sound hungry.”

        “I’m not.” I said.

        “The diner across the street makes great fries and burgers. You haven’t eaten chicken dips as good as theirs.” He said and crossed the street. I didn’t know what to do. Right now Zeke was the only guy who had an idea of what could be going on with me, and I needed answers. I followed him.

       I was worried that he will draw too much attention dressed as a video game character complete with a sword, but before I could say it, he was inside. I followed him in. The diner was already occupied by seven customers, and two people at the counter making them nine in total. There was some country music playing as all heads turned weirdly in our direction. There were a bunch of strange looking people, most of them sitting in booths. They stared at Zeke first, then as some went back to doing what they did before we came in, the rest kept staring.

      The waitress at the counter flashed a flirty grin at Zeke as he walked in. She was wearing a white apron with a butterfly necklace made of colored glass. She had a mole on her upper lip, and I could swear I occasionally saw butterflies flying around her. When I looked out the corner of my eye, I saw them, but looking directly at her, I saw nothing.

      “Why Zeke’” she said, fluttering her eyes. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”

       “Sorry Vickie.” He said. “I have been busy.”

       “You definitely look it.” She said. “You brought me a customer, I see.”

       “She’s dining with me once.” He said. “She needs her strength to make the jump.”

       “Of course dear.” Vickie said. “The usual?”

       “The usual.” He said. “For two of course.”

       “Of course.” She said and turned to her assistant as Zeke led me to the farthest booth. I sat opposite him, my view away from the others, while he sat looking toward the entrance. He pulled his sword from his back and placed it besides him.

          “Now to answer your questions while we wait for food.” He said once we got comfortable. “Where to start, hmm, well first of all, those things that attacked you were Screechers. Why they are after you, I can’t tell you here. Those people at your house, were not at your house. You were in their house. Who am I? I am Zeke. You know me really well. No one recognizes you because you don’t exist here anymore. No one knows you, no one ever did. How I recognize you? Well I'm simply special. How I'm still alive? It is because I'm not dead. The Screechers didn’t kill me.” Here, he scoffed and went on “It will take more than two Alpha Screechers to finish me. And that guy they killed? Well he was to escort you home. Poor guy was horribly unprepared. His head was chewed off and the rest of his body stuffed into the trash cans. I was quite fond of him. Well only when he wasn’t trying to kill me. Anyway, now that I have answered your questions, what is next?”

       Nothing he said made any sense to me. Then one thought crossed my mind.

      “Screechers” I said “My parents told me to look out for them.”

“Here.” Zeke handed me the bag I had flung at him. “Supplies. Food, clothes, and a gift from your parents.”

     I looked in and saw extra clothes, food bars and other snacks’ then the mahogany chest dad had left for me. I guess this is what hit Zeke with the bong sound.

      “Where did you get it?” I asked.

      “I did damage control.” He said. “I dealt with the Screechers. One of them died, the other escaped. I had to clean up the mess, so I dealt with the blood and body. I didn’t have time for perfection, so I let the broken glass be.

        I traced your footsteps to your house where I found the inheritance box your parents concealed, then I realized the Alpha Screecher brought back up and was unto you, so I busted you out of jail. You are welcome.”

      “Where are they?” I asked.

      “Oh they aren’t real too.” He said as easily as one would say “Have a candy bar.”

      “What's happening to me Zeke?” I whispered.

     “I wish I could say it is puberty.” He pulled a kunai blade seemingly from nowhere and began playing with it. “But uhm, you are entering a phase. Don’t worry. I will explain most of it once we reach Eidenvellir.”

       “I have never heard of that place.” I said hugging the bag. I was still wearing my red dress and the Jacket I was given back at the station.

     “Why are you not hungry? You haven’t eaten anything for a day now.”

       “I'm not hungry Zeke.” I said.

       “Then I will have that.” He dug into my bag and took out my burritos, my fruit punch and cheerio pack. He ate them with much gusto.

        “The guy the Screechers killed, my escort, where was he escorting me to?” I asked.

      Zeke swallowed the burrito in his mouth then said “Your new home Stacy.”

        My new home? Was I getting adopted? I didn’t like the idea of having foster parents. I haven’t even gotten over losing my real parents.  I mean I just lost them yesterday. I didn’t even know how I lost them. How could they just disappear?

       “She is taking too long to get here.” he said.

       “Who are you talking about? Who are we waiting for?”

      “Oh it's just Ivy. She was supposed to be here by now.”

      “There you go Zeke.” Vickie said, suddenly beside our table carrying a tray. She set down a plate before Zeke, in it was a cheeseburger surrounded by fries with mayo and ketchup spread in wavy patterns along them, and there were two drumsticks and three dips. She set down a plastic cup full of coke complete with a straw. She served me the same thing as Zeke, but mine for some reason looked more enticing than Zeke’s did.

       “Thank you Vickie.” Zeke said, picking up his cheeseburger and biting through it. He chewed for a few seconds and frowned like something was wrong.

      “Awww, Vickie!” he said, almost disappointed. He set down his burger and continued chewing like he enjoyed it. He picked up his napkin and dabbed his lips.

        “What?” she said in a sweet voice. “Honestly, I couldn’t help it. It’s a Pendragon. Come on.”

       “I am guessing you gave her the same thing?”

      “Depends on who wants her more Zeke.”

       “I’m guessing they all have a part in this?”

       “This is you we are talking about Zeke, one can’t be too careful.”

      “I have to say though, you made this one especially delicious.” He said.

      “How sweet of you, dear boy. You should try it Stacy.” She told me.

      “Sure.” I said. I was too focused on my burger to hear what they said. I was about to take a bite when Zeke took my hand and drew some shape on it with a permanent marker.

       “Oh come Zeke you sourpuss.” Vickie said. Suddenly, I didn’t want to eat anymore. “You shouldn’t.”

         “You know there is only one way you can break that, right?”

         “I didn’t want it to come to that.” She admitted.

        “Is your bathroom soundproof?” he asked.

        “So soundproof you could drop a grenade at its door yet no sound of explosion will be heard inside.”

        “Awesome.” Zeke grinned. “Stacy?”

        “What?” I answered.

        “Go use the bathroom please.” He said and snapped his fingers.

        “Why would I – “ suddenly, I felt the need to go use the bathroom and empty my tank. “Fine.”

       I got up and Vickie pointed me off in the right direction. I went through the door she pointed, and to the left were the bathrooms. I pushed my way into the ladies room.

      Several minutes later, I was through, and I stood before the mirror to wash my hands. They were out of soap and sanitizers, so I went ahead to wash without soap. Cold water gushed out from the tap head and I began to wash. The cold made me realize something I didn’t realize before.

        Something was off. What was I doing in here? I looked on the back of my hand where Zeke had inscribed his rune. It didn’t look like anything familiar and it tingled. Something else struck me as strange. Vickie called me by my name. Zeke didn’t tell her my name, neither did I tell her. I switched off the faucet and ran out of the bathroom. A totally different scene from what I left behind welcomed me.

       Zeke was still seated just as I left him, though he was breathing hard and clutching at his stomach. His hair was more of a mess than it usually is. The whole place was trashed up really bad. All those people who were here while I cane in, were all over the place, their bodies lying in the oddest places possible. One was even put through the glass window, half in, half out, another was hanging by one foot by the ceiling fan, his unconscious body drifting around in lazy circles. Swords and other assorted weapons were strewn all over the place. A savage brawl had taken place here in only a few minutes.

       Vickie’s body was across the table from Zeke, lying like he had reached forward, grabbed her head and banged in on the table. There was a bizarre looking knife in her hand, and the side of her head was bleeding.

       Zeke looked at me and grinned. I backed away.

       “They’re not dead.” He said. “I roughed ‘em up a bit.” He said that easily as one would casually say pass me the salt.

       “A bit.” I said. “Sure.”

       “Pass me the salt.” Zeke asked casually.

       I had to blink a few times to make sure I didn't imagine him say that. “What happened here?” I asked.

       “No time to explain.” Zeke said. “Pass me the salt, please?” 

        Something hit me. Zeke was the only man standing. He did thus to these people. He was dangerous. Why was I with him? I barely even knew him enough. He sat there in his Assassin’s Creed uniform, looking calmly at me. I did the logical thing. I turned towards the door and ran. I heard him sigh audibly behind me and snap his fingers. I felt a tingle on my hand where he had drawn the rune, and then I stopped running. Why did I stop? Why couldn’t I run?

      “You are making me use this power more than I want to.” He said. “Please just grab the salt shaker and water jar on your way back, will you?”

     I turned around and first walked toward the counter. I grabbed the items he requested and took them to him. Why was I obeying him? Why was I doing all he asked?

     “Thank you.” Zeke said. “Now sit down next to Vickie there will you?”

      I looked down at Vickie’s creepy unconscious form, complete with a knife and did not want to sit next to her. I did.

      “Who are you?” I asked.

       “Right now Princess, I am your only friend.”

       “Why did you do this to this people?”

       “Wrong question.” He said, grabbing the salt shaker. His movements were slow. “You should ask who these people are.”

        “What have you done to me? Why cant I run away?”

        He raised one eyebrow at me.

        “Who are these people?” I asked.

        “Bounty hunters.” He said. “They were after both you and me.”

        “Are they trying to kill me?” I asked.

        “Yes, most likely.” He began to shake the salt into the water jar while whispering something. “I put a seal on you to protect you from them. The only way to break it was to kill me or for me to remove it. They chose the easy way. So I sent you to the bathroom using the same seal. You are hard to control.”

         “Why would you bring us here where there are people after us?” I asked.

         “Well you see, I didn’t know it will take two hundred gold crowns to turn Vickie against her favorite customer.” He stopped adding the salt into water.

         “What are you doing?” I asked.

         “Purification spell.” He said.

         “What?”

         “Vickie here is more than just a bounty hunter.” He said. “She also happens to be a witch. She poisoned our burgers. You should be fine since you didn’t eat. Luckily, I got to take them all out before the poison took effect.”

        I said nothing. I looked at Vickie’s unconscious body beside me, with the knife in hand. Zeke called her a witch. I didn’t find that odd. In Orleans, people do sometimes look like so. There was a loud bang as Zeke slapped his hand on the knife. I yelled, startled. Zeke pulled away a bleeding hand.

        “Sorry.” He said, plunging the bleeding hand into the jar. “The poison was such that my magic wont be able to expunge it from my body. I am concentrating all my energy into this single limb.”

       I looked at the jar and watched as his blood flowed out from the gash. It changed color from red to purple as it flowed. Zeke’s stiff movements eased, and soon he was able to move again.

      He picked up his sword. “I didn’t want to startle you before, but our Alpha Screecher is back.”

      I began to panic.

     “No need for that.” He said standing up. “Just get up, and follow me.”

     “Where do we go now?”

     “We’ve got to move! Now Stacy.” He said pulling me off my seat and through the doors and across the street, straight into the bushes.

      Running through grass as high as I was wasn’t easy. It was really slow and it brushed against my face, eyes and skin leaving it really itchy. Zeke pulled me toward the crumbling bell tower.

       We reached the tower and I was pulled inside its crumbling ruins. Zeke brushed aside the rubble that was on the floor, pulled out a blue piece of chalk ad drew a wide circle on the floor. Along its inner circumference, he was drawing more of those strange runes on the floor. When he had drawn runes all round the circle, he drew concentric circle within the first one, and he drew more runes inside the smaller one. Was that an occult thingy or something?

      “What is that for?” I asked, dreading the answer.

      “I usually don’t do it with chalk.” He said. “but it should be enough to make the Jump.”

      “Zeke you have been making no sense lately. Can you please tell me what is really going on?” I said.

      “Stacy can you please stop asking me these things and be of use, I am trying to save your life here!” he said reaching into his tunic and pulling out a necklace. “Step into the circle.”

      I gasped. I recognized it. It was silver chained with an eagle claw clutching a marble sized pendant jewel. His was a blue sapphire. Unlike mine which was a ruby, but other than that, they were pretty much identical.

       “Hey where did you get that? I got something very similar!” I said.

       He paused midway to touching the central rune with his sapphire, which I noticed was glowing.

      “You cant.” He said, frowning as he stared at me.

      “Why not? I do have it.” I said, already reaching for it. “Is something wrong?”

     “What color is it?” he asked the exact same time a knife flew from nowhere and planted itself on his left biceps.

       He gritted his teeth against the pain. I turned to whoever had thrown the knife and saw a girl similarly dressed like Zeke, Assassin’s Creed style, with strawberry blonde hair and lethal throwing knives lining her belt. Zeke’s eyes widened when he saw her.

      “Serah?” he said. She flicked two more knives which Zeke caught with ease. He rose to his feet.

       “How . . . Argh . .   How did you get here?” He asked pulling the knife out of his arm.

     “You left me back there and came over here so you can hang out with some random Earth girl?” she shrieked throwing more knives.

       “Look she is no random girl, we are not safe and we have to go now!” he said dodging the knives.

       “Enough talk. You said that the last time you left me at the mercy of slave traders!” she said. “In Yevenr of all places! Of all places Zeke!”

       She rushed at Zeke with identical close combat knives. Zeke barely pulled out his blue bladed sword in time to fend off the attack.

     “Yes Serah I did. I didn’t mean to leave you behind. I was going to come back for you.”

     “Did you Zeke? Did you come back?”

     “I did come back, but you and the caravan were all gone.” He said.

     “Liar!” she said.

    “This is not the time and place to discuss this Serah we can do this later –“

     “What was that sound?” she cut him off. “Who else is here?”

    “That's what I was going to tell you. We are being followed by – “

     I screamed. Up to this time, I was silent so I could not attract Serah’s attention. But as the two argued, the Screechers had crawled in. Three of them this time. Two of them came through one of the broken walls. The other came in crawling across the ceiling. Zeke and Serah were too busy to notice. Once I called it to their attention, the Screecher on the ceiling made a dive for them. Zeke pushed Serah away from him and tried to impale it with his sword. Serah turned around and attacked the other two with her knives. The Screechers rose to full size and swiped at the fighters. Those knives they held on their right hands were actually claws. They were large on one hand and small in the other. Screechers weren’t mindless attackers as I thought. They fought like they were trained killers, and were skilled too. As they fought, the Screecher whose claws were on his right hand slowly grew a tail. When it was full grown, he lashed it at Zeke catching him unawares and sending him to the floor. Then it lunged at me so fast I never stood a chance.

         I felt a soothing warmth in my chest. As I looked down, I saw my ruby pendant glowing a red light and it rose right out and hung before me. Then it unleashed a wave of bright red energy which hit and immediately vaporized the Screecher that was flying at me. What the heck just happened? Zeke was giving me the exact same look, wondering what just went on here.  We both watched as the pendant fell to the floor, right on the central rune. I bent down to pick it up just in case another Screecher lunged at me, and watched as it turned the central rune red.

         The blue chalk runes and circles Zeke had drawn were turning red as the energy spread from the central rune. I collapsed to the floor in exhaustion.  Zeke must have realized what was happening because he got up, ran into Serah who was in the middle of slicing her Screecher, wrapped his arms around and snatched her off the ground. He then  jumped toward the circle. At that moment, the circle was fully illuminated in red light and the only thing I could say about what I felt, was that the circle exploded.