Double Trouble

Getting his cousins out of the Evermore home was the easy part; waiting for his aunt, uncle, and father to come after him was the hard part. He stood there, tapping his foot impatiently, wanting nothing more than to return home to New York. Under no circumstances was Eli willing to deal with any of this, not after of the problems the previous generation had in dealing with Jason, Justin, and Calarasi. There was no reason that Eli, Reuben, Keith, and Dawn should be dealing with this; it should have been over with, Dawn tugged on his sleeve. “Eli, what are Mommy, Daddy, and Uncle Thomas doing?” she asked.

“They have a situation to deal with,” he replied gently.

“What about?” she asked.

“It’s a complicated situation,” Eli warned. “For now, you can’t worry about this; it’s my job to worry about things like that and ensure that your uncles can never do something like this. Despite the fact that they’ve been stripped of their immortality, I doubt they’ll stop trying to seek revenge what Uncle Toby and Aunt Savannah did to them so long ago; your parents—Aunt Savannah especially—have been lifelong enemies with Jason and Justin Evermore. I doubt it would ever end now that they’ve been stripped of their immortality.”

“Hey! What’s that?” Keith asked.

Eli spun around to see what his middle cousin was pointing at only to see a large explosion go off in the direction of the Evermore home. With the explosion, Eli watched as a huge chunk of Uncle Toby’s former home blew up. “No!” Eli yelled. His father, aunt, and uncle were still inside dealing with Calarasi; Eli refused to call the man Grandfather, even though it seemed that was exactly who the man was to Eli. All he cared about was seeing his father, aunt, and uncle emerge from the burning Evermore home complete unscathed.

A few minutes went by before Eli spotted his father and aunt emerge from the Evermore home; they were carrying Toby out. Knowing what that could mean, Eli insisted that his cousins turn around; they didn’t need to see this. Aunt Savannah must be devastated. She never wanted to lose Uncle Toby, especially not to Jason, Justin, and Calarasi. What happened over there? When I left, everything was okay; now this? What happened?

“Mom, what’s wrong with Dad?” Reuben asked.

“Something happened,” Aunt Savannah said quietly.

Eli looked at his uncle, arms slung over the shoulder of Aunt Savannah and his father. “Aunt Savannah, is he dead?” Eli asked in whisper to keep the others from finding out if this was indeed the case. They couldn’t find out—at least not yet—if their father was dead.

“He not dead; not yet,” Savannah replied. “But, he will surely die if we don’t get him out to the hospital.” As his aunt spoke, Eli could see her blinking back tears; there was something very wrong. Seeing his uncle in his condition was definitely the cause of his aunt’s distress, something that would not go over well; not for her or his cousins. “It should have been me. Calarasi threatened my life and had every intention to kill me, even if I am his son-in-law’s younger sister; Toby stepped in the way and Calarasi’s fireball hit him instead. He’s willing to give his life to keep me safe. I have to try to keep him alive; I know that’s being selfish, but I don’t care. After everything that’s happened, I’m not willing to lose Toby; I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that he’s okay.”

Thomas eyed his sister. “How do we get back?”

Savannah motioned to her children. “Thomas, remember when I ensured that the only lingering remnant of Toby’s vampire past was to be his ability of flight?” He nodded. “That’s the key to all of this. In doing so, my children possess that same ability, one that only Toby and I ever knew about. My children are the only ones that can take us home; I don’t even know if they’ll be strong enough to get us all back, but we have to try. We have to get Toby back into New York and see to it that he gets medical attention. There’s a chance to save him; I know there is. All we have to do is return to New York and get him to Iyana.”

“And, if we don’t," Thomas wondered.

“I don’t even want to think about it,” she replied.

Eli understood exactly where his aunt was coming from. After all that she suffered through during the span of seventeen years, Savannah Dawn Meadowbrook was, in no way, willing to lose her husband; not when he protected her so much over the years. Her days spent at Camp Strange were probably running through her mind; all of the good times she had with Toby. It wasn’t right for her to lose someone as important to her as Tobias Evermore. Reuben, Keith, and Dawn were probably the only chance Savannah had left at saving the man she loved; her children had the power to aid their mother in her time of need, something Eli was going to make sure happened. Eli clenched his fists; he blamed Jason, Justin, and Calarasi for this. They were responsible for the possibility of his aunt losing the person she cared about most in the world. And, Eli was going to see to it that she kept the most important person in her life alive since losing that part of herself just didn’t seem right.

“What about Jason, Justin, and Calarasi?” Eli wondered.

His father waved it off. “Jason and Justin are lying unconscious in the rubble. I doubt they’ll be able to get out of here. As for my father-in-law, he disappeared just as we left. No doubt he’ll come after us at a later date. For now though, it’s necessary for us to deal with Toby. My sister is not about to take this without a fight; Toby means too much to her.”

“I know,” Eli replied.

“What’s going on?” Reuben asked.

Eli knelt down his cousin’s level. “We need to get your father to the hospital. Unfortunately, we flew here using Uncle Toby’s latent ability of flight, meaning that we don’t exactly have any means of getting home. That is, of course, if you, Keith, and Dawn don’t do anything.”

“What can we do?” Keith inquired.

“Your father passed on the ability to fly to each of you,” Eli explained to his cousins. “The only chance we have at saving your father is for the three of you to help us get to the hospital.”

“The only chance?” Keith asked.

“I’m afraid so,” Eli replied. As hard as it was for Reuben, Keith, and Dawn to hear, Eli knew this had to be done. There was a chance for his cousins to save their father, using a dormant ability these three had. “We need you to dig deep within yourselves and find the power you hold within; the power that can help you save your father.”

“Flying?” Dawn asked.

Eli nodded. “So we can arrive at the hospital in time to save your father. You were never told this, but your mother lost her parents when she was thirteen. It was the most painful thing for her to ever deal with. After losing them, she swore that never wanted to lose someone else she cared about. Now, because of relatives you guys and I never knew we had, she’s about to lose the person she cares about most: your father. Find that ability to fly and we can go; we’ll be able to ensure that your father does not lose his life.”

It did not take very long for the Evermore/Meadowbrook children to agree to do as they were told. That was the easy part. The difficult part of their task was getting seven people up in the air and holding it for ten minutes until they arrived at the hospital. Because they were so young and untrained in flight, it took twenty minutes. Eli could tell that his cousins were stressed by what was happening; he couldn’t blame them. A lot of pressure was being put on their young shoulders to ensure their father’s safety; it would stress anyone.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Thomas led the way to the E.R. The receptionist recognized him and stood up suddenly. “Mr. Meadowbrook, what are you doing here?” she asked in confusion.

“My brother-in-law is in need of medical attention!” Thomas shouted, an angry look in his eyes as he pointed towards where Eli and his aunt supported Toby’s weight against them. While his father dealt with getting them inside, Eli kept an eye on his aunt and her sanity. Uncle Toby was in danger of dying and she needed to be watched. “I also need to speak with my wife. There are some issues she and I must discuss and it cannot wait.”

A doctor rushed over as Thomas was talking. “Hello, I’m Dr. Iy-Thomas! What are you doing here?” Eli’ mother asked. “I thought you were going with your sister to deal with that family issue.”

“Yes, a family issue, something you seem to know absolutely nothing about!” Thomas retorted angrily. “And, just so you know, Toby was injured while we were dealing with said family issue. He needs your help. After that, the two of us need to have a little talk.”

“What about?” Iyana inquired.

“Family,” Thomas replied.

“Uh, sure,” Iyana shrugged. Eli could see his mother pale slightly, which Eli took as nothing good. The way she was acting made it seem as if his mother might be hiding something from them. It could be nothing good. “Now, with Toby, what seems to be the problem?”

As Eli and his aunt lay Toby on a bed, Thomas explained the situation to his wife. Given all the secrets, it was agreed that certain aspects of the trip would be left hidden from Eli’s mother until she could be properly confronted about all that she was hiding. Until that time came though, Eli, his aunt, and father would be hiding the true reason for what happened from the doctor; Reuben, Keith, and Dawn were to be taken home—to be watched meticulously by Eli—so that Aunt Savannah had no reason to fret over them as she concerned herself over the possibility of losing her husband. “…as we were leaving, an explosion went off and Toby was nearly killed,” Thomas explained. “He only just survived, but barely. My guess is that he sustained a few second-degree burns from the blast.”

“He’s not dead?” Eli’s mother asked.

“No,” his father replied. “I’m pretty sure we got to him just in time to save him. If we waited longer though, my younger sister’s husband would probably be dead right about now.”

Iyana nodded. “I’ll see what I can do, Thomas.” She peered over at Uncle Toby’s injuries, eyeing them carefully. “However, I cannot guarantee that anything will come of this. You must know that and so must your sister. For reasons you have yet to explain to me, Savannah is far too attached to Toby. Knowing this, I’d hate to see how your sister might react to the news of his death; surely, that would be a tragic sight to behold,” Iyana warned.

“And, it is exactly what I wish to prevent,” Thomas explained. “Though I may not have said so at first, Toby’s appearance in my sister’s life was a true blessing. I don’t know what I would have done if not for Toby. Savannah was in a bad way; depressed and isolated before Toby came. He helped her resume a semi-normal way of life and I will always be indebted to him for the way he was able to brighten my sister’s day in a way that I never could.”

Iyana nodded. “I suppose.”

“Good. Then, after you’ve treated Toby, I must speak with you about something,” Thomas informed his wife. He cast a quick glance at his younger sister and his son, letting them know of what he intended on doing. “It’s something rather urgent and cannot wait until your shift ends. To wait would be a mistake, something I assure you I will not do; not again.”

“Not again?” Iyana asked.

“I’ll explain it later,” Thomas told her.

Iyana headed off with Toby and Thomas while Eli remained with his cousins and aunt. “Eli,” his aunt said. “I must speak with you about something. It is an urgent matter I don’t dare discuss around your mother, for it was her father that first made an interest known in it.”

“What’s this about?” Eli wondered.

“A rose,” his aunt explained. “In my room, there is a carpetbag, hidden in the back of my closet. I hid it there long ago, when you were but a year-old. There was never a need for it to be used. Inside the carpetbag, I have hidden several blue roses. After you have put the kids to bed, I need you to go into that carpetbag and remove the thorny blue rose.” Aunt Savannah bore a grim look on her face. “Because of her father, I do not trust that your mother will save him. I must take matters into my own hands and ensure that he stays alive.”

Eli recalled the rose his aunt spoke of. When he was a year-old, Eli had but a faint memory of seeing hundreds of roses sitting in his aunt’s bedroom. Days later, all those roses were gone, condensed to a select few. For years, he always wondered what happened to them. It was when he learned the truth about his uncle that Eli finally understood; the roses were gifts from Toby to Savannah during the time they were apart. They apparently all died the minute Toby’s immortality was removed; only the blue roses remained. Eli could only wonder why his aunt would simply request for a rose…unless! “Auntie V, is this the rose you used long ago to help expel Uncle Toby’s vampire blood?”

She nodded. “It is.”

“Why do you need it?” he asked.

“You will find out soon enough,” Savannah explained. “Just get me the rose and I will explain what’s going on the first chance I get. As much as I don’t want to do this, I know that I must, to save his life.”

Just based on what his aunt was saying, Eli could make only one assumption; Aunt Savannah was about to do something she would regret, something that she never wanted to do. Eli nodded. “I’ll get the rose,” he replied. With that, he headed home, taking his cousins with him.