Timed

There wasn’t a thing to worry about now. Cullen was right, I had only twenty-four hours to choose-either save Ace, or let him now turn to stone, where he will remain forever. There had to be some other way to reverse the deal, or try to save him. I had to save him, that only thing I had to do. Not for love, but for a life that didn’t deserve to go.

It was close to noon, and we were hot on the trail. The trees were opening to a large field where cows could’ve grazed on. We had come to a small town that was about forty minutes from our previous checkpoint. On the way in, we both passed a sign that reigned in haunting suspicion, “Welcome to Cairo”, the opening was monstrous. Windows were boarded up along the streets, causing it to end in infinity. There were only small portions of businesses left; if it had to be anywhere else, I wouldn’t pick here.

We walked towards a nearby liquor store, the windows were partially boarded up, and half of the store’s lights were out. It either meant there wasn’t anyone working, a janitor was cleaning, or they were barely getting any business, despite the nasty weather that was reigning in. We entered the store, approximately two people followed in after, pushing both my father and I into the door and slamming into a nearby wall.

We turned to look at each other, but my father had already started walking towards the cashier, “Pardon me,” he had his hand clasped around a ripe 20 dollar bill, “But do you have change?” The young man looked him up and down vigorously, analyzing him like a shoplifter.

The young man was pale; he looked like he had just gotten over pneumonia, or at least the flu. He was a sickly pale; his eyes were red, his irises causing them to appear glassy. He handed the change over with a shaky fist, his fingers unclenching as the change dropped into his hands. He gave a cold smile, and we both walked out.

“He was a certainly a charmer,” my dad joked as we headed out through the door, huddling together to keep each other out of harm’s way.

We had made it to a hotel about five miles out, we both got a room and settled in for the night.

“So, this Ruler, who was he?” I asked my hands wrapped around a pillow.

“He was quite like many other Ruler’s you learn in your history class,” he exaggerated. He clearly knew that I was probably going to gullible and assume that the Ruler was quite like Prince Henry of 16th century France, or King George the III. “Except, he had a bit of a swagger to him, per se.”

“What do you mean, did he brag about something, or was some sort of trendsetter?” I questioned, my ignorance now skyrocketing.

“You’re a stubborn child-basically, he bragged about all the chivalries he had committed as a lad-a man, if you aren’t familiar with the term,” he placed his hand on the nightstand, his body getting slightly closer to mine. “He worshipped God, he did all of the work God and Jesus both wanted him to do at that time, like spreading the good word, and baptizing those that would want to be born again into the Christian faith.”

“What does that have to do with him disappearing?”

“Because of jealousy, envy, any word that revolves itself around the word jealousy.” He snapped his fingers lightly, as if saying that it was that simple.

“So, what is my role in this? Where am I at?” I asked.

“You are going to be assassinating, and tracking down the real truth of what happened to Miles,” he coughed lightly.

“And, that is how Ace will live?” I asked, my eyes gazing around the room, and my head now getting heavy with all the information that was being absorbed.

“Yes, each gargoyle, werewolf, and vampire, are marked with a destiny. Ace’s destiny happens to be finding you, which he did, and figuring out why Miles, the Ruler, had disappeared.” he said.

I had it all figure out now: assassinate creatures that don’t do their destiny, and figure out what had to the Ruler, Miles Liverstone. My father had called every person he had known over in Ireland to help me train, secretly, for the massive slaying that was coming soon.

We were set on track then, my life was nearly over, and I would possibly die if I even tried to assassinate someone like Cullen-a vampire that had lived for over 400 years. I had detested each of them. They were embodied with immortality. However, the only drawback they had was being given a task to complete before being immortal.

“Here they are,” Kenny said, showing me the people he had called over from Ireland. I gazed, they were pure immortal, their bodies were tightened with unbreakable bones, and disclosure of their bodies. Their jaws were locked in, their stance was soldier like.

“Eustace, step forward.” His build was heavy; he looked like he could run through a tree and have it split in half in under a second. He looked frightening; his face was composed of erupted eye sockets that seemed to grow in age over centuries of living.

“What is he going to do?” I spoke.

“He will be guarding you, making sure no one breaks in and tries to assassinate you at your own will.” The group seemed to chuckle lightly in unison. “As for the rest, they will be preparing you for missions. And possible trips to several places to kidnap, and possibly kill any werewolf, vampire or gargoyle that refuses to finish their task for immortality, and, for those that have lived during Miles’ time period, who don’t give you clues on his whereabouts.”

I nodded my head.

“Claus, here, will be the first that will be helping you.” The rest of the line had dispersed; Eustace had maintained his position on the outside of the area.

Claus gazed down at me, his 6’5 composure made me feel like I was shrinking. He laughed lightly, and slowly grabbed my hand and followed me over to a far off distance inside of a cave. The interior was dark, but when we stepped in, a spark of electricity had awoken candlesticks, each engulfing itself into flames, burning away at the stub that it was lit on.

Just a few feet away, a bear was asleep; his fur making it evident that he was heavy. “Um, why am I here?” I asked. My eyes tracing back and forth at both the bear and Claus.

All he did was stare blankly.

“Fight the bear?” I gulped.

He nodded his head; he clearly was not a very good teacher, and there was no way I was going to fight a bear and get mauled in the process of it all. Claus clapped his hands loudly, his thoughts emitting inside of the bears mind to wake it up, and roam over to where I was.

The bear roared loudly, the sound now reverberating around the room, causing it to echo towards the outside of the cave. I had toppled over my feet and landed on the outside.

Before the bear could fall on top of me, I quickly rolled over, grass sticking to my layers of clothing, and grabbed the bear by the neck, my arm squeezing in until his neck felt loose. Finish him off, I heard someone creep inside of my mind. The voice was clear. Finish him; this is a counter attack in case someone was to sneak up from behind. I did so; my left hand carefully reached the other side of his head, and then turned. The bear was lifeless in my arms. His corpse resting calmly. I knew that the mind was only alive for twenty more seconds, so the bear could hear every word I spoke for only twenty more seconds. “Did you speak to my mind?” I asked, my feet crossing over.

He nodded, In order to be a true assassin, you need to know the weakness of your opponent, and that means to manipulate the mind’s wellbeing.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

It means to travel deep into the middle part of another individual’s brain and plant seeds, those seeds will prevent them from using any attack against you. It can also be deadly, so choose your mind weapon wisely.

I nodded. This time, I was silent. Only until I spoke again: “Can I try on you?”

His eyes grew wide, and he stepped back slowly. The mind is a dangerous place, and I refuse to train an amateur. The best person to look for to train yourself on is the weakest of us all.

“Who is that?” I asked. My eyes were sparking with rage, the green now turning cold.

Who do you think?

“My father?” I asked, my eyes roaming around.

Yes, back in Ireland, we used him to train ourselves well with mind speak. We even did it so bad, he was in a coma for a whole winter.

“Uh-huh,” I questioned my own insecurity, maybe Claus was right, Kenny would work well enough to practice mind speak on. The only drawback he mentioned was being in a coma for a while, or even worse, death.

“Should I go now, then?” I asked, my feet slowly started to rise and pretend to begin walking away. He nodded his head.

“I need you,” I said, my eyes locked into his.

“For what in particular?” He asked, his own eyes were on me for a long period of time.

“To practice mind speak on.” I said, my voice dropping slightly.

He seemed to chuckle slightly; not taking his eyes away from me. “Why would want to do that?” He gave me an exasperated look.

“Hello, I’m going to be an assassin, I need to know how to defend myself in attack.” He laughed harder this time, not letting the bar down any lower.

“You don’t know anything, do you?” He stopped laughing.

“No,” I looked at him, my eyes pouring out guilt.

He then looked at me apologetically, his arms now wrapping me up, and tugging me into a hug. “Look, I can help you, it’s just, I don’t want the same thing to happen again.” He said.

“It won’t,” I shook my head, “I promise.”

He took my hand then, and guided me back out into the field that Claus and I returned in.

“Now,” He placed me in the middle of the wide field, “focus, who is your main source?”

“You,”

“Who do you want to manipulate?”

“You,”

“Yes, all signs point to me as being the attackee.” He looked tense, he of course had a worried feel on him, and his eyes even contained the feelings he had. “Close your eyes, I will be on the perimeter; the farther I am, the easier it can get to track down your opponent, but the closer I get, the harder it can be.”

I nodded my head, I had wondered why Claus had chosen to only mind speak instead of repeating things back verbally. I had an idea: he had possibly grown used to it.

Kenny was now farther than I could see him, every step he took, he had appeared smaller until I could no longer see him. He had to be at least two-hundred feet out.

Now, focus, I told myself, my feet were now glued to the surface, my eyes closed slowly, I know you are near, come out.

No, don’t make that approach, it will make you sound dumb, and it will alter your chances of getting what you want out of them. Kenny had then spoken.

I’m talking to you now, it doesn’t seem hard-

Yes, that is true, but you must also know, this doesn’t count as an attack, it counts as a normal talk over a cup of coffee.

I rose myself up again, my eyes still closed. What should I do?

Do what Claus taught you. Throw tricks at me, plant small seeds into my head. These seeds contain illusions, the easy illusions consist of people running into things, or getting distracted by something that is adorable looking. He spoke into my mind, the words weren’t just words, they meant something. The harder tricks consist of catching on fire, or me falling off a cliff. The better you get at this, the better you can do if you wanted to try something physical, like levitating.

I nodded. My head was feeling less heavy as the information was being absorbed. I threw my nets overboard, letting them remain afloat until I swam even farther to find where Kenny’s mind was.

He seemed to grow tense with worry. Had I done it right? His hands flew in the air, throwing them forcefully through his hair, trying to fight off whatever was attacking him.

You’re doing great, but please, cut it down a little. I didn’t listen, I was amused, and I was enjoying every minute of it.

Stop, Ivory, you are going to kill him! Claus had ran to me, his arms touching my shoulders, I could feel the heat starting to form then, an image was being created:

Kenny was running, killer bees swarming his head, and going through all parts of his body. He seemed to dance in fear of being stung.

Let go of the thought. Claus threw at me, I finally let go. Kenny was on the ground then, his hand hovered over his heart. His other hand exploring the rest of his body for any stings that may have appeared on him.

“You did it,” Kenny whispered, his voice was shaking. “You used it well, but going overboard with it is too much.”

“So, what is next?” I asked, ignoring his response.

Everyone had circled around me, eyeing me like prey. I knew then that I had done something both good and bad. And they all seemed to have enjoyed it.