Eden's Ore - Secrets

  Chapter Six

  "Gabriel!" The familiar voice seemed louder than normal. Again, it called his name.

  Gabriel couldn't move – his body was overwhelmed by what had happened. He forced his eyes to open and stared up at the blue sky. The tent was gone. He twisted onto his side and gasped with pain. The ground all around him was scorched. Burnt black and charred. The smell of burning plastic stung his nose.

  "Gabriel!" Footsteps thundered towards him. A pair of hands grabbed him, tugging him onto his back. "Gabriel, look at me!"

  Overwhelmed with relief at seeing his brother, Gabriel struggled to control his emotions. It had been at least a year since he had last seen Adin. He hadn't changed. An expensive-looking black suit matched his dark sunglasses. His black hair was short and gelled forward, every hair perfectly in place.

  "My God." Adin pulled off his glasses. "Gabriel..." He stared down at his chest.

  Gabriel followed his gaze and saw the brightly glowing shard, which had burnt through his shirt. He didn't know what to say. He reached for Adin's hand, their mother's locket tumbling from his grasp. "I don't know what's happening to me."

  Adin hoisted him up to a sitting position and pulled the locked from his grip. Adin stared down at it and then looked at him. "Where’s Mom?"

  Gabriel just shook his head. He didn't have anything left.

  Adin pocketed the locket and hauled Gabriel up, leaving his arm around him. "We need to leave now."

  Gabriel didn’t understand. What had happened? His chest burned, his head was like soup. He staggered to his feet and looked around. There was nothing within a fifty foot radius of him. The tall grass had burned away.  Only a small piece of the ground beneath him had remained unharmed. He stumbled away from Adin’s grip and fell to the ground.

  "Gabriel!" Adin barely caught him.

  "What happened here?" Gabriel was physically sick, he struggled back onto his legs. They ached with pain, but held him. He trudged forwards towards Nate’s silver strongbox – it sat just beyond the edge of the scorched grass, a half melted piece of plastic covered it.

  Adin hesitated. "I just saw an explosion."

  "An explosion?" Gabriel turned to face him. "From what?"

  Adin's nostril’s flared as he breathed in. "I'm guessing, you."

  "Me?" Gabriel shook his head. “What are you saying?”

  "The ore in your chest..." Adin slowly shook his head. "I saw the blast of light as I drove up."

  Gabriel didn't want to believe it. He couldn't. "Adin, what's going on?"

  "We can talk later." Adin pointed at his SUV. "We need to leave."

  "Adin!" Gabriel yelled. "What’s happening to me?"

  Adin unexpectedly pulled him so close that their noses almost touched. Adin stared into his eyes, while tightening his grip around Gabriel’s arms. "That ore in your chest, it is dangerous. They'll hunt you down for it – we need to leave. Now." Adin's deep blue eyes were blurred with tears, but they still managed to burn into him. “Gabriel, please! We need to get out of here, before anyone else sees you.” Adin pressed his forehead into Gabriel’s – just like when they were kids and Adin needed Gabriel to listen to him. "Trust me."

  Gabriel nodded in surrender.

  Adin let him go, put his glasses back on and ran towards his black SUV. Gabriel grabbed the chest and painfully picked it up. He jogged after Adin, forcing his legs to move with each step.

  Adin popped the passenger door and waved him to get in."What's that?" Adin nodded towards the chest.

  "Nate's." Gabriel wasn't going to leave it behind.

  "Fine." Adin quickly took it from him. "Get in."

  Adin loaded the chest into the hatch at the back of the SUV and climbed into the driver's seat. The SUV whipped around on the gravel road as Adin accelerated. They shot forward down the driveway.  Adin kept both hands tight around the steering wheel. He didn't look back. Gabriel sat silently and watched tears trickle from beneath Adin's dark sunglasses. Their mother's bloodied gold necklace was clenched in his fist.