* * *
I don’t know how long we sat in silence and in complete shock, but I finally noticed we were back in her father’s study. I looked around, not really sure if today was real or if I would wake up from this nightmare. I was just supposed to have a simple day with my folks, not go on some dangerous adventure.
I thought back to Mr. Murphy. I knew I would never get the image of his death out of my head. My thoughts quickly shifted to revenge. The Dark Men were going to pay.
I wiped my face and looked over at Amber. She was sitting on the floor near the middle of the room, her head was resting against her knees, and her hair hid her face. I knelt beside her and whispered, “Amber? Amber, we need to keep moving.” She sniffled and shook her head. “Amber, we’ve got to go. They probably saw where we went.” Amber finally lifted her head. Her eyes were red and wet. She wiped her face on her sleeve and got up.
“No,” she said firmly. “We’re going to do the spell here. We’re going to end it now.”
“Okay. What do you need me to do?”
Amber took the book out and opened it to the spell. I helped her clear the floor space in the study. We moved the furniture quietly, not really wanting to talk. She rolled up the rug as I pushed her father’s desk to barricade the door. On the wood floor was a painted pentagram in the middle of a large circle. There were various runes circling the pentagram. Amber began placing candles around the circle and lighting them. I paced the room nervously, waiting for the Dark Men.
After about thirty minutes of prepping, Amber was ready to cast the spell. She stood in the center of the circle, the book at her feet, the doorknob in one hand, and the key in the other. She was about to begin when we heard a loud crashing noise from downstairs. I could hear distant footsteps as the Dark Men approached. She looked at me really quickly, reassuring me, “Don’t worry, the seal should hold. I just need a few minutes to cast the spell.”
“Good luck,” I said, not really sure what I was supposed to say in this situation.
Amber closed her eyes and began chanting the spell. It was in a language I couldn’t understand, but it sounded beautiful. Her words weaved themselves into a melody and the circle beneath her began to glow an eerie green color.
A loud crash sent me sprawling to the floor. The force of the Dark Men’s attack sent me flying. I quickly scrambled to my feet and stood in between Amber and the Dark Men. I added my weight to the barricade, knowing that my efforts would do little to stop them. It was no use. I was knocked flat again. I got to my feet and could only watch as the door to the study broke into splinters while the desk and antique chair were struck aside with ease.
I looked back to see how Amber was progressing. She had stopped chanting and was staring down the Dark Men as they entered the room. She held the key within centimeters of the door knob. I turned watched the Dark Men just in time to see the fifth assassin enter the study. I could feel the pressure in the room change as the seal broke. I looked back at Amber again, the key was just now moving into the lock on the doorknob.
I courageously and stupidly stepped in between the Dark Men and Amber. I widened my stance and prepared for the beating of my life. A loud, strong gust of wind erupted behind me, knocking me flat on the floor. I watched as the wind blew the Dark Men out of the room. The wind didn’t stop there though. It plastered the five Dark Men to the wall in the hallway. A bright, green light erupted from behind me and the five of them screamed as they disintegrated into dust. The wind then blew them out of the house and into the chilly fall air.
When the wind and light had died down, I turned back to see Amber lying on the floor. “Amber!” I shouted. I rushed towards her side and pulled her into my arms. I gently nudged her awake. She stirred and opened her eyes.
“Did it work?” she asked weakly, looking up at me with those beautiful green eyes. I looked back at the hallway to confirm there were no more Dark Men.
“Yes,” I smiled. “What exactly did you do?”
“I used the energy released from breaking the enchantment on the key to blow them away.”
“You certainly did,” I whispered. Amber and I just sat there for a while, still processing the loss of Mr. Murphy and the end of this strange journey. The key was gone, but the fraternity of assassins still remained. Amber only “dusted” the ones that were after us.
I convinced Amber to come over to my folk’s place. My mother was livid at how late I was until she saw that Amber was with me. We told my parents and the police that Amber was scared after witnessing her parents’ murder and ran. It turns out she had reason to be afraid because the same person that had killed her parents killed Mr. Murphy at the antique store, or so we told them.
We purposefully left out that there were multiple assassins after us and that they had supernatural gifts. We didn’t think anyone would believe us, so we thought a simple little lie would be easier: one crazed madman, still on the loose. This was partially true, the Dark Men were still out there, but the assassins that were on us when the key was destroyed had been killed. We no longer had what they wanted and now the key was gone.
After all the questioning was done, Amber went home to finally face her parents’ death. There was the reading of the will and the matter of her inheritance. Her father had spent a large portion of the estate on finding a way to destroy the key. He had traded knowledge, antiques, and even cash to just find information on the key and the book. The information wasn’t cheap.
Amber had the lawyer cut some of her new financial losses and sold off the vacation home where her father was killed and a few other antiques to make up the difference. In the end she was left with the large house in town and enough money to go to any college she wanted. She chose Drummund Hills College, much to my delight.
About a month after the key was destroyed, I went over to Amber’s house to help her clean up her father’s study and I saw a curious looking package on the front step. It was a simple box wrapped in brown paper and twine. I grabbed it for Amber before I walked into the house. She was finally getting around to cleaning the floor in the study when I entered the room. I helped her replace the furniture in the proper configuration.
A few pieces were now worse for wear. The leather of the guest chairs was torn and one of them had a mangled leg. The desk’s front panel was damaged and she shrugged in apathy when I pointed it out.
Instead her gaze caught the curious package I had brought in. There was no address label. The package was completely clean of any marks. She gingerly picked up the box and shook it. There was a soft thudding sound of the object hitting the side of the box. Amber pulled the twine off the package and gently tore open the paper. Underneath the paper was a large jewelry box with a nesting lid. Amber pulled the lid off and we could see that inside was a serpent dagger. It was exactly like the serpent dagger the Dark Men used.
I looked at Amber and we stared at each other for one long moment as we wondered what the “gift” could mean. Was it from them? Was it a warning, or a sign they had given up? I think we both knew what it was, but neither of us wanted to say it. We did not want confirmation if it was a warning.
Amber put the lid back on the box and put it in the desk drawer. She quietly walked over to the bookshelf and found the book that Mr. Murphy had given her. She thumbed through it quickly and then looked up at me.
“So I guess I’m studying this and history in college.” I could tell, Amber wasn’t going to be caught unprepared no matter what that little “gift” meant.
I looked out the window for a moment. The sun was high in the sky on the cold winter day. We were both in a wordless agreement that this wasn’t over. I just didn’t know what to do. I looked back at her after deliberating and said, “I know I’m not a sorcerer, but do you have any other books I could study?”
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About the Author:
A. B. Betancourt wa
s born in Silver Spring, Maryland to an aspiring writer and an entrepreneur. From an early age, she was encouraged to write and be creative in a multitude of ways. Also heavily influenced by science and math, she got her degree in Electrical Engineering at University of Maryland. Realizing her true passion was writing, she turned towards publishing a book on Amazon. Now an engineer turned author, she writes fantasy and science fiction.
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https://AllisonBetancourt.com
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