Forever Warriors Read online

  It was only half full, but he emptied it anyway, tied it and put a new plastic bag in quickly. He rushed around the counter and went through to the back room. His mind would not leave Cody. His green bike kept flashing in Zacke’s mind. He figured maybe Cody’s parents couldn’t afford anything better.

  Trash emptied, hands washed, Zacke came back into the main dining room. The treasure chest with the old lock popped back into his mind and he looked up to see Cody and his friends leaving with their to-go bags. Cody stared at Zacke. A thought popped into Zacke’s head that felt foreign, not his own.

  Get out of my head.

  It was as clear as any thought he’d ever had. When Cody saw the expression on Zacke’s face, the look that Zacke had heard his thought, Cody looked shocked. Cody quickly left with his friends.

  Did that just happen? thought Zacke. I’ve definitely gotta talk to that guy.

  CHAPTER TWO – KATIE

  Katie Moran stood in the small grove of eucalyptus trees. She had changed her clothes, and pulled her boots up. She carefully slid the short skirt and tank top into her backpack. Her auburn hair hung to her shoulders. She examined herself to make sure the clothes she had worn to school were all safely in her bag. Sammy seemed to like my outfit today. Leaving the trees, she was surprised by a voice.

  “Hi Katie.”

  “Megan! I told you not to scare me. How long were you standing there?”

  “Long enough,” said Megan, smiling.

  Katie breezed past her, “I’m not walking home with you.”

  Megan replied, “Mom said you have to.”

  “Walk behind me then.” Katie sighed, adjusting her long sleeve shirt. “Come on then, little monster.”

  Megan scowled. “Mom said not to call me names.”

  Katie shook her head. “My mom. She’s not your mom. She’s my mom, little step-sister.”

  Megan shrugged, and followed Katie down the packed earth trail along the edge of their field. They passed cabbage heads, lined up in neat rows as they made the last leg from the bus stop to their ranch style farm house.

  Megan asked, “Do you have a tissue, or something?” She walked four paces behind Katie.

  Katie kept walking. “Wipe your nose on your sleeve.”

  “I meant for you,” Megan said, “You probably want to wipe off your make-up before Mom and Dad see it.”

  Katie stopped, shot a “why didn’t you tell me” look at Megan and unslung the backpack from her shoulder. She took a well-used washcloth out of the front pouch, wiped her face. “Thanks. You can’t tell them.”

  “I won’t.” said Megan, “Do you wanna watch a movie after chores?”

  “I don’t know. I have a lot of homework.” Katie continued wiping. “Did I get all of it?”

  “Yeah. Can you show me how to put on make-up?” Megan asked.

  “Jason and Mom freak out about me wearing make-up and I’m fifteen. But they like you better, so they probably would let you try it at eleven.”

  Megan cocked her head, smiled widely and extending her arms out dramatically, “It’s true! Everyone knows they like me better.” She giggled and ran toward the house.

  “You are a little monster!” Katie said as she ran after her, but she was smiling too. They raced the last hundred feet to the ranch style house, nestled on three sides by farm land. They stopped, panting. Then Megan screamed.

  “Megan, don’t move!” Katie whispered. As if the rattlesnake responded to her voice, it raised its head and noticed the girls. The rattler’s body was coiled, less than a foot from Megan’s leg. Megan breathed heavily, frozen.

  The coiled snake flicked its forked tongue out, deciding when to strike. Megan screamed again.

  Katie’s hands shot out in front of her. The snake leapt into the air at the same moment, but whipped in the opposite direction from the girls. It landed ten feet away, and laid still.

  Megan stopped screaming. She turned to Katie. “Did you…?”

  Katie put her hands down. “No!” said Katie. “Maybe… you can’t tell anyone.”

  Jason burst out the front door, “What happened? Are you girls okay?”

  Megan looked to Katie, shaking her head.

  “There was a rattler.” Megan pointed over to the snake. It still hadn’t moved.

  “What happened?” asked Jason.

  Katie pointed. “The rattler. I… I picked it up and threw it.”

  “You what? Do you know how dangerous…?”

  Katie answered, “I wasn’t thinking! It was right next to Megan’s leg, and ….”

  “Megan, honey, are you okay?” He grabbed his daughter gently by her shoulders. Then he looked over and noticed the condition of the snake. Blood poured from its head. “Katie… what happened to it?”

  Katie hesitated. “I don’t know. Must have landed on a sharp rock or something.” she looked to Megan, warned her with a sharp stare. Megan didn’t say anything.

  “I’m just glad you’re both okay. Katie, you should have gotten me. Rattlers are...”

  “I’m sorry I saved your daughter’s life, Jason!” Katie exploded. “Next time I’ll let it bite the little monster!” she ran into the house, slamming the screen door.

  Jason sighed. He asked Megan, “You sure you’re okay, sweetie?”

  “Yeah, Dad. It wasn’t Katie’s fault.”

  Jason smiled at his daughter. “I know. Go on in the house. I’ll take care of the snake.” He went to the dead snake. The head looked like it had smashed into a brick wall.

  ***

  Later that night, Katie loaded her plate and headed for her room. Mom had given up eating together as a family. She was tired of fighting moody teen syndrome. Katie went to her room with her dinner plate and Megan ate in the living room, with her dad and step-mom.

  It wasn’t long before her mom knocked on Katie’s door. The laptop screen was facing away from her mother, but Katie clicked her favorite band’s fan site tab closed anyway, leaving only her history research on the screen. “Hey.”

  “Hey, came for your dirty dishes.” Mom looked at the days-old pile. “I should have brought a push cart.”

  “Ha, ha.” Katie answered sarcastically.

  Mom sat next to her desk, “I heard what happened.”

  Katie sighed. “Of course you did. Didn’t even bother to get my side.”

  “That’s why I’m here, Katie.” Mom moved to the edge of her bed.

  Katie said quietly, “Please don’t call me that, Mom.”

  “Kaitlyn, sorry. I get it, that you want to go by a grown-up name. But that also means you can’t throw tantrums. That snake scared Jason. It could’ve hurt you both.”

  Katie closed her laptop. “Did you tell him?”

  Her mom checked to make sure she had closed the door all the way, “No, Kati… Kaitlyn. I’ve always told him you’re special, that’s all.”

  Katie said, “Special. Great, so he probably thinks I’m a retard,”

  “Hey! We do not use words like that in this house. Do you call your friend Jeanie that?”

  Katie felt immediate shame at the thought of her developmentally disabled school friend. “No. Of course not. It just slipped out. Why does Jason hate me?”

  “Jason? Honey, he thinks you hate him!” Her mom inched closer on the bed.

  Katie rolled her eyes. Mom pressed, “Do you hate him? Is that what’s happening?”

  “No. No, I don’t hate him. I just…” she changed the subject. “Can I go see Dad?”

  Her mother tensed. “No. Not during the school year. He said he’d try to bring you out before Christmas. You were just there this summer.”

  “Yeah, for like a week,” Katie moaned. “He worked the whole time.”

  “You’ll have to talk to him about that. I can’t control what he does. Let’s get back to the snake, Kaitlyn.”

  She hesitated. “I didn’t mean to kill it. I just, it just scared me and I… I can’t control it.”

  “I know, honey. But I thought this,
whatever this is, had gone away. This is a lot more than closing doors from across the room.”

  “It was kinda gone for a while. It just…” Katie struggled. “I don’t know how to explain it. It just happened.”

  “Well I’m glad your talent was able to help your sister.” Mom rubbed Katie’s back.

  “Step-sister.”

  Mom conceded, “Fine. Step-sister. But she looks up to you, Katie. Especially after today.”

  “Yeah, she’s alright. She’s not as annoying as she used to be.” Katie smiled, until an image flashed into Katie’s mind, like an explosion. Her smile faltered.

  “Honey. Honey, are you okay?”

  Katie nodded to her mom, and cleared the awful image. Out of habit, she threw the thought into her mental suitcase, the shiny metal one she imagined when certain thoughts needed to be packed away. She smiled and lied, “No. I’m fine. Just have a little headache.”

  “Your face went white.” Mom looked into her daughter’s eyes, “I know when you’re lying. You’re terrible at it. What’s going on?”

  She burst into tears, “I just… I don’t want to be a freak, Mom. I’m scared.”

  Her mother hugged her, “Oh, honey. You’re not a freak. I don’t know what’s happening. There’s no doctor to tell us what this is.”

  Katie broke the embrace, “I know,” she wiped her eyes, “I wouldn’t want them to lock me up or anything.”

  “That won’t happen.” Mom said. A knock sounded at the door. It opened slowly.

  “Sorry, your phone’s going off honey. It’s your boss. She texted three times. Everything okay in here?” asked Jason, Mom’s phone in hand.

  “Probably wants me to do a double tomorrow. Flu season, gotta love it.”

  Instead of asking if her daughter was okay in front of her husband, she put her hand on Katie’s wrist and asked with her eyes. Katie nodded that she was okay, and her mom walked out.

  Her stepfather turned to Katie, “I really appreciate how you protected Megan today. Thank you, Kaitlyn.”

  Katie nodded and offered a smile. Jason smiled back. He closed the door. New tears formed. How could she tell her mother that she wasn’t scared for herself? The flash in her mind was Megan, face down and covered in blood.

  CHAPTER THREE – CODY

  Cody Nichols lifted the pads off his aching shoulders and let them drop to the floor. He thought briefly of putting them in his closet, but let them rest on the pile of dirty clothes instead, promising himself to do it later.

  He combed his hands through his short brown hair and stretched. Hard practice, thought Cody. He stripped off his shirt, drenched with sweat. He thought of getting a beer from the hidden mini-fridge in his closet, but Mom was still home. He didn’t want her to worry. The bedroom door was ajar. From the hall, he heard a whistle.

  “Looking good, son,” said his mom, smiling as she nudged the door open.

  Cody smiled, “Don’t be weird, mom.”

  She entered his boy cave. “I mean it, kid. Look at those muscles. The coach making you work out that much? Or are you doing it for the ladies?”

  “Mom,” he protested, but smiled anyway. “No girls yet.”

  “That’s from your own self-image. Son, look in the mirror.” She stood next to him facing the full-length mirror, “You are not the scrawny kid you were on that soccer field a few years ago. Newly sixteen, with all those manly muscles. You just need to see yourself as you are right now. Girls like confidence.”

  “I guess,” Cody shrugged.

  “Fair warning, I will automatically hate your first girlfriend. My only son is too good for those hoochy mamas.”

  “Mom…” They both laughed.

  Mom said, “Your dad never had muscles like that.” Cody lost his smile. “Sorry. I haven’t brought him up in a while. Anytime you want to talk about…”

  “No, thanks. I know all I need to,” Cody said. “I have to shower.”

  She took an exaggerated whiff, “Yes, young man. Yes, you do. Girls don’t like stinky boys.”

  Cody changed the subject, “Do you work tonight?”

  “Yeah, that’s what I came to tell you. I’ll probably be late,” she continued, “Two girls called in sick. You’ll have to make dinner yourself. I could bring you something, but it may be after midnight.”

  “That’s ok. I’m going to the gym later. I’ll probably get a burger or something.”

  His mom shook her head. “You just got back from practice. The gym? You’re ridiculous, number one son.”

  “I’m your only son.”

  “Got me there. Love ya, kiddo,” she said, closing the door on the way out.

  “Love you too, Mom.”

  Cody rubbed his shoulder, checking for new bruises. The coach announced loudly that no one would be left out of the fun, and had made them use the blocking sleds repeatedly at practice. He knew Coach was trying to make sure no one thought he was being treated special. Some of the guys resented Cody’s new position as quarterback, and the coach was trying to help with the heat. Maybe his mom was right, maybe confidence was the way forward. Fake it ‘til you make it, he thought.

  He looked at his chest and arms in the mirror. The gym and football practice had helped slowly add muscle. He was getting bigger. Cody naturally compared himself to the biggest guys on the team, who were huge compared to Cody. He would just have to work harder.

  In the driveway, mom tried to start the car. Cody listened to the engine try to turn over, and fail twice. He clenched his fist, and said quietly, “Come on Mom, try one more time.” The twenty-year-old Ford Focus tried to start again. Cody felt the tingle pass through him. He clenched his fist and the car roared to life.

  Cody imagined his mom’s sigh of relief as the ancient car got her to work one more day. He didn’t know how much longer his weird little talent would help her. But it had worked for the last few months. That wasn’t the only weird thing that had happened of course, but he tried to push those thoughts from his mind.

  Just about to head for the shower, he thought of that cold beer again. He didn’t like hiding stuff from his mom, but the beer did help after a hard practice. He knew a lot of the guys drank on occasion.

  He stripped out of his soggy pants.

  Cody glanced back at the mirror. But it wasn’t his room he saw. He froze. In the mirror, he saw a bookcase. He held his hand up to the mirror, but he did not see a reflection. The books, stacked in a haphazard way made him think of a shop from the Harry Potter films. Ok, I am going crazy. He swallowed and came closer to the mirror, changing his angle to try and see around the bookcase.

  A small table was there, and a very old man. He was sitting, hunched over a large, ancient looking book. There was a laptop behind him and a painting that looked like a modern art piece. The man’s lips were moving, but Cody couldn’t hear anything.

  With a start, the man looked right at him.

  He seemed just as surprised as Cody. A chill went through him as the old man stared with pale blue eyes. Cody couldn’t look away. The man was on his feet quickly, moving faster than any old man should, coming up to the other side of the mirror. Cody blinked, is this really happening?

  The old man smiled. Ice ran through Cody’s spine.

  Cody picked up his shoulder pads and hurled them at the mirror. The image disappeared and it was just a pile of broken shards, reflecting his own room from a million angles.

  He stood there for a moment, breathing heavily. A fresh layer of sweat covered him. He was glad his mother had driven away, not heard the breaking glass. He didn’t know how he would explain another broken mirror. But, I’ve never seen anything like that.

  Cody couldn’t tell her what he’d seen, of course. In the past, there were strange images that shouldn’t have been there, easy to dismiss even though they scared him. Sometimes a landscape from somewhere else, sometimes a pitch-black void where his mirror should have been. That was bad enough, and had led to two other broken mirrors in the past year. But this
was very different.

  Cody shook off his fear. Fake it ‘til you make it. Careful not to step on any glass, he went to the smashed mirror, picking up a large shard. No old man, just his own face staring back. He would clean it up after the shower. Cody wouldn’t get a new mirror for his room. He didn’t need to see weird old men staring back.

  He shook his head, trying to physically remove the image of the old man, wishing once again there was someone he could talk to. The other guys on the team wouldn’t understand. He thought of his dad for some reason, but angrily shut out the thought. This is probably his fault.

  “I know one thing that will help,” he said aloud. He gave into his recently acquired habit and went into his closet. The can of beer was ice cold from his small, hidden fridge. Cody took two long gulps, putting the can down on the counter, before he showered. Feeling a small buzz begin, he let the fear of the old man fall from his mind.

  As he stepped out of the shower and reached for the sweating can of beer, a small black spider skittered across the counter. A jolt of childhood fear knocked out his beer buzz. He grabbed the hand towel and smashed the spider. Cody wasn’t sure why, but the image of the old man popped into his head again.

  CHAPTER FOUR – ARIANA

  Ariana surveyed her backyard filled with family.

  “Ariana, you look so pretty,” exclaimed Mary, her first cousin, “Have you lost weight? You’re too thin already.”

  “Maybe a little.” Ariana smiled. She stood in a pale red dress, her long black hair flowed down to the small of her back.

  “Too bad,” her cousin teased, “my Mami brought her famous tres leches cupcakes.”

  Ariana eyes widened. “Oh no, why did I start a new diet two days before your birthday?” They both laughed.