Author's Note: Here I am again (twice in one day, holy shmo!), posting a new story before finishing any of the others. I'm a lazy fart, I know it. Anyway - this one will be rather different than the other stories I have posted thus far. The idea popped into my head a while back and it wouldn't go away, so I figured I may as well write the danged thing down. So, here you go. It'll be confusing and at first, but hopefully I'll get around to explaining things eventually. Enjoy!
Thoughts in italics
His feet were pounding against the ground. His lungs were burning. His heart was hammering in his chest. His muscles were screaming at him to stop. But he couldn't, not yet. The young man was running as though his life depended on it, only it wasn't his life at stake.
"Just a little bit more, almost there. Almost there." He chanted in between strained puffs of air.
He checked his watch as he ran, which nearly caused him to careen in to a tree headlong.
"Whoa!" He cried out, dodging the large maple and stumbling over a thick root protruding from the ground. In the dark, tree branches reached for him like disjointed limbs – one catching him on the cheek, tearing the skin. He barely winced, but continued on through the night.
So close. Come on….please be there, please be there…
He rounded a corner on his path and slid to a halt behind a hedge. Going down on one knee, he flung his backpack to the ground and carefully, but quickly, removed a heavy golden orb about twice the size of a softball and set it gently on the ground. As he placed his hand over the orb, he closed his eyes and a light began to emit from the orb and swirl out into the night. At the same time, a golden light shone from the young man's chest, through his clothing and joined the swirling light from the orb. He stiffened, his face contorting into a look of concentration and discomfort until the glow faded from his chest. Finally, the man opened his eyes to watch the gathering light. He sighed in relief and smiled.
"Oh, thank God. Just in time."
The light was forming a large barrier that was rapidly spreading. It stretched out to the sides, down to the ground, and up into the sky - creating what looked like a curved wall, stretching far past the treetops. As the wall expanded, another barrier became visible, reflecting the light of the new barrier. He sat this way until the light stopped spreading and began to diminish into tiny golden pinpricks of light.
He hadn't even given himself time to catch his breath before he grabbed his backpack and took off at a dead run again. Once he reached his destination, he crouched down behind another thick bush and repeated the process. He watched as the wall stretched to join with other one he had just created. He did this two more times until all four walls formed a complete dome of golden dust-like particles. An identical dome, just a 1/2 inch below the new one, could be seen reflected in its dim light. The young man wearily sat back to examine his work and smiled. The great, sparkling, golden dome completely encompassed several acres of land, including Sacred Heart Hospital and its parking lot. The tiny specs of golden light began to dwindle. Before the light was extinguished altogether, the old barrier seen in its reflection suddenly broke apart into minuscule light fragments. They fell like embers of a fireworks display toward the ground, disappearing before they reached land.
Wow. I really cut it close this time. Just a minute later and it would have been unprotected. Well, unprotected for just a minute…but still. Too dangerous. I guess it's time to clean up.
He held his hands out to his sides and whispered, "come." Then he held one hand out in front of him and said the word again. After a minute, three orbs flowed through the air to him and he placed them back in his backpack along with the one sitting on the ground in front of him.
Exhausted from the night's activities, the young man allowed his body to collapse to the ground, onto his back. A quiet laugh escaped his lips and his eyes drifted closed.
Well, that's done for one more month, he thought, before giving into the sleep that was strongly enveloping him.
When he woke up, he immediately registered a creepy feeling that he was being watched. Sitting up abruptly he whipped his head around, but only saw a few trees and bushes gently swaying, and a quiet parking lot beyond the wooded area he was in. The feeling was still there, and he knew it wasn't one to be ignored as some trivial, meaningless sensation. His chest tightened in an all too familiar way and he was on his feet in a flash, turning in all directions. And still, he saw nothing.
He swept his arms in front of him, turning in place and shouted, "Reveal!" And still, he saw nothing. He kept looking, peering into the darkness. He didn't begin to relax until his eye settled on an almost imperceptible brush stroke of pink on the horizon. The sun was rising. Even then he was on his guard. Falling asleep outside in a unprotected area at night was not a very intelligent move, especially not for someone like him. He turned to pick up his backpack and noticed a small piece of wood on the ground that had not been there before he fell asleep.
The piece of wood looked ordinary on one side, but turning it over revealed that it was a message. Words in a neat cursive glowed red. As he read them, the color faded into a rich charcoal and smoke rose from the text.
J –
Falling asleep outside of the arch? Brilliant. You own me one, dingus. You're lucky I watch your back or you would be Giltch-Meat by now. Be careful. I mean it. Something is stirring.
- E
"Elizabeth?" He gasped, whirling around once again.
"Elizabeth!" This time he called into the dim morning. "Damn it." He cursed under his breath and he snatched his backpack from the ground and took off in search of his invisible guardian. Pausing briefly here and there to get his bearings and hone his senses to track her, the young man ran as hard as he had the night before – calling her name.
After about 5 miles he lost her trail, and could no longer sense her. Frustrated, sweating, and painfully out of breath, he stopped without bothering to see where his race had taken him. He bent over, with his hands on his knees gasping for air.
"Damn it."
He allowed his shaky legs to rest and sat down right where he had stopped, grateful the sun had risen over the horizon.
"I gotta get back into shape," he gasped.
This is pathetic. She's right. I'm way off my game.
Falling onto his back he raised the piece of wood in front of his face to read the message again, a smile ghosting his lips as his fingers gently ran over the letters burned into the wood.
I do owe you one, Lizzy. I can't believe you didn't wake me up you little brat.
The smile faded into a worried frown when he reread the last sentence. Something is stirring. What the hell does that mean?
His thoughts were rudely interrupted by a loud blast of a car horn and the sound of screeching tires. With a shout of alarm, he scrambled to his feet and watched a familiar black Porsche come to an abrupt halt several yards away off the side of the road. The road? Oh my gosh, I was lying in the middle of the road!
A car door slammed and angry foot steps on the pavement grew closer.
"What the hell? Hey – what do you think you're….Newbie?"
Oh crap.