The winds howled as the storm blew wickedly around the house. Ma and Aunty M walk the halls, passing each other. "Everything alright?" Martha asked as Aunty M looked into the rooms upstairs of the farmhouse.
"Just fine, Martha, just came down for some warm fresh milk," Aunty M replied, watching the shadows on the walls. Martha looked up at the foot of the stairs towards the boy's room, listening to the wind or anything out of the ordinary.
"Martha, he is fine. It has been months since." Everything chat can go wrong did go wrong not more than a few months back as Aunty M looked at the passing shadows chat hung on the wall. Thinking just for a minute, she thought she saw something. No. It was just the wind. "Now, go to bed; you need your rest, dear."
"I know," as Martha headed up the stairs toward EJ's room.
Aunty M puts her right hand on Martha's left shoulder, stopping her from climbing the stairs. "Trust me, dear, he'll be alright," she said.
Martha sighed and hung her head. "I just worry, that's all; he's been through a lot." Once more, she looked up towards the boy's rooms.
Aunty M wrapped her arm around her. "If it makes you feel any
better. I will check once more," she said, rolling her eyes. "Thanks."
Aunty M climbed the stairs, looked into his room where EJ was sleeping, gave Martha a nod, then walked down the hall to her room and closed the door. "Margaret," as the shadows stirred in her room, whispered her name.
"Who's there?" she asked as Aunty M searched the room, listening to the voice speaking softly. Aunty M felt the room get cold and tried to reach for the door as the shadow leaped into the room, laughing, and taunting her to chase him or it. Knowing there was a way in at last and had broken the spell that hovered over the house.
He thought it was child's play ever since the night he gained his new powers from his master Hess, known as the Shadow King. For releasing his spirit once more from the Cross Bone Gate Prison, the very prison the old fools of the Counsel of Light put him in over three hundred centuries ago, give or take a decade or two. He said. "Don't play coy with me, Margaret; you know who I am. I have come to give you one last chance to join my side and leave these pathetic fools to their doomed cause and their own misery." The shadow of a man called Morgan said, standing by the door beckoning her to come closer.
"You can't have him, Morgan, and I will never join your cause, for I would rather die than betray the ones I love." Seeing his red eyes glaring back at her from across the room and the huge ugly scar on his right cheek. "Why can't I?" he asked as he laughed. "He belongs to me and always has," he hissed at Aunty M. "I know his flesh, and soon he will be mine forever as my Dark Prince," as he laughed, his eyes bearing down upon her. "I am only giving you this last chance to join me before I take him. Yet I see that is not going to happen; fine, if you want to Die, then Die, you worthless coward. You'll Die like the rest. Sooner than you think," he laughs.
Aunty M yells as loud as she can and rushes towards her nephew EJ's room, hoping to get there before Morgan does. She shouts, "No! And I won't let you have him! EJ, run!" She points at the man, who is a dark shadow of Morgan, and begins reciting a spell of entrapment that she found in her late husband's journal. She chants, "Nira-Nora-day."A bright light shoots out of her fingertips, draining her life force and weakening her. The light hits Morgan Shadow directly in the chest, causing him to freeze in place for a moment. With a puzzled look, he realizes that capturing the boy might be more challenging than he thought. However, he is soon freed from the spell and resumes his task of collecting the boy prince.
When Aunty M suddenly started screaming, Will and Robert quickly got out of their beds and rushed towards their brother EJ's room. They noticed a man's shadow moving across the hallway towards EJ's room. They shouted to their brother to run. As the shadow of the man named Morgan passed them, Will and Robert ran down the hall toward EJ's room and yelled, "Run, EJ, run!"
EJ jumped towards the door as it closed, locking him inside the room. Will and Robert pounded on the door, trying to open it, and saw a flash of light coming from underneath. With Robert nodding in agreement, Will quickly drew a magical rune on the door and placed his right palm on it. Will uttered the words of power, "Teaea Desta keray destnta," Will activated the rune, watching it glow blue, causing the door to shake and break apart. EJ screamed. "No! Leave me alone!" as the shadow hissing towards him solidified and became Morgan, who tried to wrap his arms around EJ.
Robert held two fingers in the air and drew a traveling rune, which opened a doorway behind EJ. EJ fell through the opening, screaming. "Help me!" Then there was silence, and the doorway closed behind him with a loud resounding snap, trapping him in the strange hallway behind the looking glass.
Morgan was confused about how EJ had opened a portal that could lead to any point in time and space as long as one had the right set of keys to gain entrance. However, he soon realized that there was another possibility when he saw the two Downing brothers, Robert and Will, standing in the now ruined doorway of their brother's room.
Morgan had only a moment to glance back at the brothers when he noticed fragments of the door shattering. Some of it was suspended in the air as if frozen in time. Although he thought they had no powers, they seemed to possess a small fragment of the gift of "Sight." At first, Morgan had thought it was insignificant, but apparently, he was wrong and hated being wrong. However, he didn't have time to ponder this further, as the young prince was getting away. He made a mental note to add this to the long list of things he needed to do.
Morgan was extremely angry and cursed, feeling like he was running out of time to deal with a problem. He wondered how and when the situation occurred and suspected that his old colleague Derrick, a member of The Counsel of Light, was involved. Morgan was frustrated and yelled out his anger, knowing he couldn't afford to waste time on their games. He shouted, "Come back here, boy! I will deal with you two later for daring to interfere!" With a wave of his hand, Morgan opened his own doorway and followed EJ through it.
Robert and Will found themselves inside EJ's bedroom when they were suddenly caught off guard by a raging storm. The wind was blowing hard, and lightning was flashing all around them. They screamed EJ's name through the open portal, but their voices were drowned out by the fragments of Morgan's spell slowly dissipating. Robert had thought he had sent EJ somewhere safe, but now his brothers were searching for any signs of him. Despite the difficult conditions, they continued to call out for EJ.
*****
Morgan is inside the long hallway after the boy. Morgan ran down the corridors of Time. "I see you, boy," as EJ ran further down the hellish walls, feeling his way. Shadows leap against the walls, chasing him further down the corridors of time behind the looking glass.
EJ screamed. "Leave me alone!" Crying for all his worth as he tries to
find a place to hide. His heart pounded as he ran; the air was thick, and his ears rang with the sounds of footsteps coming towards him. Seeing another doorway open, EJ leaped towards it as it began to close. Then he watched it shut behind him as he jumped into the shadows of nearby bushes.
He was hoping to hide from this madman who was chasing after him, as well as old memories rushing through his mind, as the old man within him struggled in the boy's mind to stay calm, seeing the events of his life change before him. But the spell Death put on him hinders him, blocking his way back to reality.
The stiff wind blew in the trees as they creaked and moaned. Morgan leaped towards the same doorway, screaming after him."You can't hide from me, boy!" Morgan searched the boy's scent in the air with his red glowing eyes, focusing on every detail around him. "Your flesh gives you away, boy," as he laughed. The air crackled as it shook the very foundation around him. Without giving him away, Morgan searched the nearby bushes and tall weeds. EJ huddled, shaking not more than a few feet from him, daring not to make a sound as Morgan passed by him and leaped again towards the doorway before it closed completely.
"I see you, boy," Morgan replies as he tries to reach for him, scraping his arm with his long, bony fingers as the drops of fresh blood fall on the ground where he stood moments ago. Morgan laughed. "There is nowhere you can run to, boy," he said as he chased after his prey. "For you are mine forever," laughing, chasing EJ through the shadows of time.
A loud cry is heard somewhere, calling his name. The voice sounded familiar, but EJ couldn't place it. "EJ. Where, are you?" As if it's heard from a long distance as another shadow crosses his path whispering. "Do not be afraid, EJ," a hand reached toward him. "For I am a friend and come in your need." Standing before him was the young man he had seen dying years ago, shining like a beacon of light. "I am the beacon and the guide and have cometh to guide you to safety."
EJ did not have time as he tried to remember this strange personage that was saving him from Morgan. The only registered thought was Jeff, Jeff Mandon, but how could that be? He's dead, yet then he remembered so was his grandfather, and his Great Uncle Mike. However, they are not as dead as he had once thought. Both had visited him not More than a few months back. When they dragged him back through the corridors of time. Where they gave him a chance.To have a second chance.To save him and his little brother Danny. He had chosen Door number 2 and
option B. To become the White Sokmand save all the realms and worlds in them. Most importantly, work for the Gods of Light. Yet they never said when that was going to take place. So being Dead. Is only a mere stepping stone to become something more. Not actually being Dead at all. Yet right, that wasn't important. Escaping this madman named Morgan. EJ turned, seeing the doorway back to his open just enough for him to slip through, and dived through it. Known to EJ, Jeff Mandon is watching the door close behind him once more.
EJ could hear a scream as the door opened just enough for him to slip through, again as Morgan tried to grab EJ with his outstretched hands.
"No!" Morgan screamed.
A young man named Jeff Mandon, who had been a victim of Morgan's actions in the past, appeared in front of Morgan just as he was about to
close the portal gate of time. Jeff stood before the door, blocking it, and warned Morgan in a loud voice that echoed around him, saying, "Morgan, you cannot touch him! I am his guide and protector, the warning before the tide, and you will not harm him!" Jeff then raised his hand, and a lightning bolt struck Morgan down as he said, "He is mine and is bound to me. You cannot interfere with him." Suddenly, a man's scream of agony echoed in the room as the portal closed completely and vanished.
****
EJ huddled under the bed as he shook with tears strolling down his cheeks with fear, not seeing his family searching the room for him. The room was in disarray as his brothers moved the bed, seeing him huddled under the mattress. Robert yelled down the hall. "Ma, we found him!" EJ looked at Will and Robert as they sighed with relief and helped him off the floor.
Aunty M helped Ma up the stairs, and EJ ran into her arms, crying and shaking. "Shush now," as Ma soothes her little boy while his brothers help Aunt M straighten his room and put him back to bed. Ma sits on the bed beside him, rocking him back to sleep. "Shush now," as the lightning strikes the sky and the wind howls around them. "Sleep, my son, sleep," she said as she brushed his hair with her hand. Singing a soft lullaby in hopes of calming him.
As Aunty M walked towards her bedroom, she noticed some small
droplets of blood on the floor. She looked back towards EJ's room and whispered. "I hate storms." Upon entering her room, she gazed out the window and saw the lightning illuminating the nearby mountains. She felt that the storm was not just a natural occurrence, but a distraction created by Morgan in another desperate attempt to kidnap the boy once again. They were in serious trouble, and they knew it because time was running out for EJ and all of them.
EJ was sound asleep in his bed now. Ma approached him and pulled the covers over his shoulders. She noticed a long gash on his arm that was now dried up with blood. She traced the mark and rubbed the dry blood away from his skin. She assumed it must have been an old wound and shook her head in disbelief. She gently tucked him in and left the room.
"Everything ok, dear?" Wayne asked, watching his wife crawl back into bed.
"Yes, just a bad dream again, that's all," she replied, snuggling up to him to get warm. "Goodnight, dear," she said and fell asleep in his arms. Robert and Will across the hall took turns watching over EJ as he slept that night, looking down the hall placed several magical runes of protection around their brother EJ's room, watching the shadows as they hung silently once more. EJ's eyes shut tight in fear as if they were after him still as the lightning flashed and the roar of the lightning-struck across the sky. EJ stirred while he looked to see who was in the room, seeing Will or Robert. "Just me, EJ," they would reply as they sat in the chair with a quilt over them.
EJ closed his eyes and nodded as they stared around the room, taking turns. EJ sighed with relief. "Thanks."
"Hey, that's what brothers are for -you know that" they whispered back. As the storm subsides, passing through the night, EJ falls asleep at last. Their two-farm rooster crows their musical sound, cock doodle doo, as the boys yawn. In the chair, Robert stretches. "Oh, my back," as he stands to shake EJ awake with a soft nudge on the shoulder.
"I know, just another few minutes," EJ says as he yawns, scratching his arm where the wound is and seeing the dried bits of blood falling away. "Man does that itch?" he said, scratching at the red wound on his arm.