Jack Staples and the Ring of Time (9 page)

Boom
!

A great wind slammed into Alexia, knocking her flat on her back on the entryway floor. For a moment, her ears rang and the world spun. As her head began to clear, Alexia rose to a sitting position. Confused, she looked outside to see the sun shining in a cloudless sky. Hadn’t it been dark just a moment earlier? Her eyes focused as she stood and leaned heavily against the doorframe. And then she saw her.

Alexia stumbled off the porch and over to Megan, who was lying on her back on a sea of grass. Dropping to her knees, she grabbed Megan’s hand in hers. She was alive but incredibly pale, and she was trying to say something, yet struggling to speak. Alexia knelt and placed her ear to Megan’s lips, desperate to help, to hear her words.

“I am sorry, my girl. I wanted to tell you about … about everything. Thought we had … more time.” Megan convulsed in pain, yet Alexia couldn’t find any injuries on her body. “You are special. You both are …” She coughed again as pain wracked her body. “The Assassin wants to steal you away, but he is evil! I wanted more time.” Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. “I love you, my girl … always have …” With one final convulsion, Megan Staples exhaled a long, slow breath, and the light faded from her eyes. Once again, Alexia Dreager’s world stopped.

A few minutes later, Jack Staples also ran out the front door. When he did, Alexia barely noticed him. She was sitting next to Megan’s body, holding her hand and rubbing it softly. She had shed no tears. She’d not had a single thought. She just sat and held Megan’s hand in hers.

When Jack screamed the first time, she ignored him. Only when he was standing over her, screaming again, did she look up.

I wonder if this is how I looked when my parents died?
she wondered numbly. When Jack fell to his knees, she watched him curiously. As he collapsed on top of his mother, unable to fill his lungs due to the shock he was feeling, she didn’t move. Alexia knew there was nothing that could be done to help at a time like this.

Almost an hour later, Jack and Alexia hadn’t moved. And though Alexia’s eyes were open and there was nothing stuffed in her ears, she neither saw nor heard anything. After a moment she realized they were no longer alone. A stranger had arrived from somewhere and was kneeling over Jack and Megan. The stranger had to be the oldest woman Alexia had ever seen. She had long gray hair pulled up in a large bun and wrinkly skin with sunken eyes. Alexia watched as the old woman lifted Jack’s limp body off of Megan Staples. Placing two fingers to his neck, the woman checked to see if he was alive. Next, she bent over Megan and did the same.

“Stand up, child. We haven’t much time,” the old woman said in a brusque tone.

Alexia’s head felt as though it were stuffed with wool. She could barely make out what the woman was saying.

“I am not accustomed to having to say things twice. My name is Mrs. Dumphry and I expect you to listen. If you want to stay alive, you will do as I say. And if you want to help Megan Staples, you will do it quickly. The Oriax have come, and there’s no time to dally.”

Chapter 13

WHEN EVERYTHING CHANGES

Boom!
Jack’s eyes shot open as thunder roared from somewhere outside his window. Pulling the covers up past his nose, he stared out his bedroom window at the darkening sky. Something about the boiling clouds terrified him.

He wasn’t sure, but he thought it must be morning. When a second clap of thunder rattled the windows, Jack squeezed his eyes shut, pulling the covers over his head. He was much too afraid to go and look out the window.

He lay under the covers feeling like a foolish child.
You’re too old to be afraid of the dark!
he berated himself. When he pulled the covers down from his head, he saw that outside the sky was blue and the sun shone brightly.
Maybe it was a dream
, he thought as he stepped from his bed and quickly dressed. Still too nervous to look out the window, Jack went in search of his mother.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw her apron lying crumpled on the floor next to the open front door. Still not wanting to look outside, he walked toward the kitchen and stepped on a broken piece of crockery. His mother’s two favorite mixing bowls lay shattered on the floor with five broken eggs and a number of strawberries scattered nearby.

Jack ran into the kitchen. The moment he entered, he coughed at the smoke filling the air. He quickly spotted a frying pan filled with burning bacon, sizzling on the stove. His mother was nowhere in sight.

As he ran to the next room, fear formed a knot in his belly. “Mother, where are you?” There was no answer. He darted up the stairs and into his parents’ bedroom, finding it empty. He walked to the window, and the foreboding grew stronger. At first he wasn’t sure what he was seeing. His mother was lying on the ground in the font yard with Alexia sitting beside her.

Terror gripped him as he lumbered out of the room and down the stairs. When he darted out the front door, he stopped.

“Mother.” Jack’s voice was hesitant. “Mother, what’s wrong?” His throat tightened.

Alexia must have known he was there. She must have heard him speaking, but she didn’t move. Jack stepped forward. “Mother!” he screamed. “Talk to me! What’s going on?”

Darkness pushed at the edges of his vision, but he forced it away, making himself take another step. His mother was very pale, and her eyes stared unblinking at the sky.

“Why is she just lying there?” he screamed.

Alexia wore a blank expression as she gently rubbed his mother’s hand. She was staring out at the forest, but didn’t seem to be looking at anything in particular. Jack couldn’t breathe. Alexia blinked and looked up at him as if she were only now noticing he was there. Still she didn’t say a word.

The darkness pushed in harder as the world began to spin. He dropped to his knees. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t fill his lungs. As he gasped for breath, somewhere in the distance Jack heard the ringing of bells.

Overwhelmed with grief, he collapsed and landed on top of his mother. The last thing he remembered was the distinct sensation of flying backward, high into the air.

Jack stood in the upstairs hallway listening to the bells. Abruptly, he realized he wasn’t breathing. Dropping to his knees, he gasped, feeling as if someone had punched him in the gut. Something was wrong. Something terrible had just happened, but what? He wracked his brain, trying to remember. Struggling to his feet, he opened his bedroom door and looked out the window with a sense of dread. Jack was starting to feel sick. It was snowing hard, and the world was covered in a thick sheet of white. Yet Jack didn’t see the snow or the man and two boys building a very large snowman in the front yard. Instead, he saw his mother’s body lying on a sea of green grass. She wasn’t really there, but as he looked, he could see her in his mind’s eye, and he remembered.

“Mother!” he screamed as he bolted from the room. “Mother, where are you?” Sprinting through the hallway and down the stairs, he screamed again, “Mother!” As he entered the kitchen, he was surprised to find his mother with her sleeves rolled and flour covering her arms up to the elbows.

“You’re alive!” he exclaimed, wrapping her in a hug.

“Jack, what is it?” She was breathless. “Why are you screaming? What’s happened?”

Jack felt tears in his eyes, and his head swam dizzily. “What’s happening?” he asked. “You died. You … you were dead! You were outside on the ground. Please, tell me what’s going on. Alexia was there, and she …”

His mother let go of his hands and took a step back, a look of pain and disbelief crossing her face. “What did you say?”

“You were dead. You were lying on the ground, and you were—”

“Not that!” she said, cutting him off. “Who was there, Jack?” She stepped forward and grabbed him by the shoulders. “Who did you say was beside me?”

“Alexia was there. She found you first. I don’t know what happened, but I …”

The blood drained from his mother’s face, and she whispered, “I need to sit down.” She lowered herself to the kitchen floor.

“Mother, what’s happening?”

His mother reached out. Jack sank down next to her, enfolded in her arms. “Oh, my Jacksie, it’s going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay. I need you to tell me everything, and I need you to do it right now. You are—” She stopped as if unsure what to say. “You are dreaming, and you will wake any minute now. But tell me everything you know about Alexia.”

Jack pushed his mother away angrily. “She doesn’t matter!” he said. “Didn’t you hear me? You died! And if this is just a dream, then you’re dead, and there’s nothing I can do about it!”

“Listen to me. I’m sorry, but I haven’t been fully honest with you. This is …” She paused again, looking for the right words. “It’s more than a dream. I’m not supposed to tell you, but maybe it’s time you found out.”

Just then the front door slammed open. Jack’s father called out, “We’re back! And ready for some of Mom’s famous hot chocolate.”

His mother looked toward the sound of his father’s voice. “We need to hide you,” she whispered. Moving quickly, she took Jack by the shoulders and led him to the back entry.

“Where are we going?”

“I need you to stay quiet. We’re running out of time, and I can’t let the boys see you.” As his mother opened the back door, Jack saw that the snowfall was much heavier now. The snow was so deep it reached his knees.

“Megan,” Jack’s father called again. “Where are you? You’ve got to come see the size of this snowman. It’s twice as tall as Parker and three times bigger than Jack!”

Jack’s head was swimming as his mother pushed him out into the snow. The cold was intense, and wind whipped at his shirt, making him shiver. His bare feet turned to icicles. After closing the door behind them, she quickly knelt and held his face in her hands.

“Listen to me, Jack. You can control it. It’s just like any dream. You are in control. You can change things. Not completely, but you can shift them.” She spread her hands, gesturing toward the world around them. “But you must concentrate! I couldn’t tell you earlier because it was too dangerous, but it’s time you learned.”

“What are you talking about? What do you mean ‘control it’?” Jack had to shout to be heard over the wind. “Mother, haven’t you been listening? You are dead! You died in the front yard! I found your body.”

“That’s enough!” she said angrily. “Don’t say another word about it.”

Fresh tears sprang to his eyes; the wind threatened to turn them into icicles too. He was confused and hurt that his mother wouldn’t listen to him.

“I am sorry,” she said as she scooped him up and pulled him close. He hugged her as tightly as he could, and when she hugged him back, he thought his ribs might crack, but he didn’t care.

His mother was also crying now. Pulling him even closer, she whispered into his ear. “I need to ask you to do something for me. I need you to look after Alexia. If she is truly alive, you take care of each other. The two of you must stay together no matter what happens!” His mother kissed him on the forehead before continuing. “And if you haven’t met her yet, you will soon meet Elion. Know that you can trust her above all.”

Jack had no idea what his mother was talking about, but he nodded anyway.

“What I must ask you next will be much harder. But when the time comes, I need you to let me go.” She held his face in both hands. “You cannot fix everything. No matter how hard you try, you can’t save everyone.”

“No! I won’t do it!” Jack told her. He didn’t care what she said; he wasn’t willing to let her die.

“Please, Jack!” she pleaded. “You must promise me.”

As the ringing of bells sounded once again, Jack exploded out of his mother’s arms, flying backward through the air.

Disoriented and confused, Jack opened his eyes and began to scream. His leg burned like fire. When he looked down, he saw a beast unlike anything he’d seen before. It had blood-red eyes and two rows of razor-sharp fangs in its black snout. And the terrifying beast had bitten down hard on his leg.