Lucas Ryan Versus: The Return (13 page)

LEVEL 25

THE DAY THE WORLD WENT AWAY

The floor imploded in front of us. Long cracks shredded outward like lightning in a stormy sky. Dust and debris shot into the air making my sight hazy and raw. The damaged floor began to fall away into blackness. The sound of it crashing to the unseen bottom of the crater was followed by an earsplitting roar that literally shook my bones. It was a sound I thought I’d never hear again. Goose bumps lined my arms and neck as another monstrous bellow escaped from the growing hole before me.

“It can’t be…” I mumbled. The whole structure began to shake making my vision a blur. As the roars grew louder and more intense, so did the shaking. Shockingly, a rush of dark steam pushed from the hole. It shot into the ceiling, pushing against the rafters and shattering all the windows of the building. The steam was quickly followed by black sludge, wet and sticky, that exploded into the air and overflowed the rafters in seconds. A reverse waterfall of black filth flowed upward, dulling most of the light in the room. Pieces of black stained rock and bone fell from the upside-down river of grunge, peppering the floor just outside the rim of the hole. Queen Strickland watched in awe as her better half was only moments away.

The rush of liquid darkness quickened before us. I tried to speak but couldn’t find my words anymore. With another demonic bellow General Love stepped into our world again. The brow of his head pushed through the wall of black muck first. It slowly emerged with the dark ooze sliding down his forehead, and then the rest of his face. Eye sockets, cheekbones, mouth and chin, all taking a nightmarish shape. Just as his menacing head pulled all the way through, dragging his neck into the light as well, his eyes pulled open in two bright red slits. His lips pulled back revealing silvery teeth, long and sharp. He cocked his head to the left locking eyes with Queen Strickland. She slid us both closer to him as his broad shoulders peeked from the sludge. They were muscular and covered in pointy spikes.

“Welcome back, my love,” Queen Strickland hissed. Her serpent covered body quivered with delight as she leaned me closer to him. “I have a gift for you.”

“Oh, crap,” I stuttered.

General Love’s head snapped toward me, his snarl beyond horrific. His blood-red eyes sliced into me like daggers as he let the rush of memories from our previous adventure together sink in. His mouth pulled apart with a sickeningly wet ripping noise.

“Mr. Ryyyyyyyyan!”

I swallowed down my fear, and cringed, “General.”

“You look…different. Stronger,” General Love quipped.

“Well, you haven’t changed a bit. You’re still quite disgusting,” I chastised. He lurched backward, pulling his head and shoulders back into the reverse flowing waterfall of darkness. He rose upward just far enough that the cascading filth rained down off his upper torso. With a thick swish his arms and hands burst from the blackness. He crossed his arms over his chest and began to laugh. His voice echoed everywhere. He looked down at my tattooed arm that was still locked in the jaws of one of Queen Strickland’s snakes. The power within the ink was almost completely gone now. He knew instantly that I was almost at my weakest.

“I guess I spoke too soon,” he spit out. “You, my boy, look broken.” He nodded in Queen Strickland’s direction. She shivered in place, excited and breathless. He leaned back down and sniffed me with his noseless face, and added, “Yes, broken but delicious.”

“He’s almost ready for you, my love,” she grinned.

“And his friends?” he asked, point blank.

Blissfully, Queen Strickland said, “His friends are already being prepared for us down below.”

With another quick sniff of my fading power he growled, “Excellent.”

Queen Strickland tightened her clutches around me and slid us backwards, giving the General more room. He pushed the rest of his torso through the black waterfall, revealing the rest of his muscular body. His chest and stomach were covered in the same alien-like armor that Queen Strickland was. His lower half used to be a monstrous version of a giant spider and crab hybrid, but now, it was a long serpent tail that slithered into a scaly spring below him. As he slid himself around us stretching his new form out for me to see, he made a point to show me his tail. It was long and more horrifying then I remembered. It was split at the very end with to giant blades that sliced through the air with the ease of a pair of samurai swords. Twisting electricity popped around their ends with purple flashes of light.

The room began to spin slowly and I tried to find Ripley in my blurring vision. Ripley rested on the tar stained floor, motionless. Deep down inside though, I could still feel our connection. It was faint but still there. As everything began to fade to black, I mouthed one word, “Ripley.”

In a wet thud I crashed to the floor as Queen Strickland let go of me. She immediately slithered over to General Love and they intertwined like two knotted vines. They screamed and roared together so loud it hurt my ears. Quickly, they pulled apart and circled me with devious intent.

“Ripley can’t help you now,” General Love said. “No one can help you now, Mr. Ryan.”

“No one can save any of you. Not your friends, your school, your world!” Queen Strickland added, with zeal. They both erupted in evil laughter and lowered their hungry mouths over the top of me. The rushing stream of black sludge stopped and fell to the floor behind them, disappearing back into the gaping hole from which it came. I was almost blind now and could barely sense the light returning as the sludge fell away. Slowly, I rolled to my back and tried to breathe. Their otherworldly faces hovered above me, watching, waiting for me to fall unconscious. And just as I was about to…something changed.

Both General Love and Queen Strickland fell still, not moving, even an inch. All the sound in the room disappeared as if we were in a bubble. It was as if time had stopped. Suddenly, I realized, I wasn’t moving either. In a paralyzed panic I stared up at the two impossible creatures frozen above me. Glistening silver saliva dangled from their mouths like sick icicles, not moving. I tried to turn my head but couldn’t.
What was happening? Was this Ripley? Was I already dead?

Before I could ponder the questions rolling around my dizzy skull, the answer walked up to me.

“Lucas, hang on,” Sophia whispered, over the top of me. Her hands fell to my face and she smiled nervously. I could feel the familiar power of one of the Jynshee Rings wrapped around her left pinky. “Come on, we don’t have much time.”

My body snapped to life, feeling back to normal. She and I could move freely but everything else was locked in place, trapped in time. Sophia quickly helped me to my feet.

“You can freeze time?” I asked, excitedly. She scrunched her nose and wiggled her left hand in front of me. The small ring was racing in different colors like a moving rainbow.

“Cool, huh,” she smiled. She ran towards the shriveled remains of Ripley and scooped up the twisted corpse of my Wish Dragon. “Hurry!”

Racing from under the two demonic statues, I grabbed her free hand. “I feel better too. How’d you heal me?” I asked, looking down at where the bite marks used to be on my hand. Sophia whipped her head around and a tussle of hair still had one Jynshee Ring tied within it. The ring from before, the Invulnerability Ring. I guess it healed whatever or whomever its host touched too. Looking down at Ripley it was obvious the healing properties seemed to only work on me. I didn’t have time to worry about that now though.

I let a nervous smile appear before I asked, “How long can you keep time frozen? How long do we have?”

With a new frown, she sighed, “Not long.” The flashing colors of the ring began to slow themselves and she nodded toward the exit.

“How long does it last, Soph?” I asked, looking back at the General and his Queen.

“Thirty-seven seconds.”

I gulped, “That’s it?”

“I’m still trying to figure it out,” she said, upset.

Just then the room began to fill with sound again and the first sign of movement rippled along General Love’s spine and tail. I pulled Sophia toward the door in a fit. “Let’s go!”

We ran as fast as our legs would push us. I snatched the dried up carcass of Ripley from Sophia’s hands and hoped that my touch would awaken our bond again, but nothing happened. I couldn’t even feel Ripley in my subconscious anymore. From behind us came a staggered roar as General Love shook free from the enchanted time warp. Queen Strickland followed seconds after and they both spun toward our escape as we ran through the doors of the gymnasium.

“We’re outta time!” I called out. Sophia tucked her head down and ran even harder to keep pace with me.

“Where are we going?” she yelled, as we made our way through the unrecognizable school hallway.

“The Nest!”

“Where’s that?” she asked, in a panic.

“The library.”

Urgently, the terror duo smashed through the double door entrance of the gymnasium, shattering pieces of the wall and ceiling in the process. Their anger was unified as their claws cut through the walls of the hallway. They both were so large that they barely fit inside the corridor.

“You’ll never reach the Nest, Mr. Ryan!” General Love promised.

“It’s too late anyways. You can’t save your friends!” Queen Strickland snapped.

“Is that so,” I dared.

“You especially can’t save…her,” she dared back. Sophia’s grip tightened around my hand.

“Does she mean me?” she whimpered. Both General Love and his Queen burst with a frantic laughter.

I shook my head no. “It’s Olivia. They have your sister.”

Without any hesitation, Sophia insisted, “Then let’s get her back.”

LEVEL 26

THE HAND THAT FEEDS

Running. Faster and faster. The thrum of my heartbeat in my eardrums was drowned out by the erratic breathing of Sophia as we me made a mad dash through the beastly hallways of my school. General Love and Queen Strickland were close behind us, growing stronger with every step toward us. They had infected the entire building with their evil. Every nook and crevice was alive now. Scales, spikes, claws, and fangs greeted us at every step. The school was now completely taken over with their madness and resembled the inner workings of a mechanical monster. Like a gigantic alien whale that we were stumbling around its insides. We found the layout of the school was still the same but covered in organic magic.

“Lucas, how much further?” Sophia huffed.

“We’re halfway there! Keep moving!” The floor beneath us began to shake violently making it hard to keep our balance as we sprinted. Sophia’s hand gripped mine even tighter as we pushed on. From behind us, General Love and Queen Strickland taunted our every step.

“You can run but you can’t hide, Mr. Ryan!” General Love cackled.

“There is no escape!” Queen Strickland added. She slammed her gnarly fist into the ground and smiled. All around us razor sharp spikes exploded from the floor. Some as long as spears that reached to the bone crusted ceiling. One of the surging blades clipped the edge of my hand causing me to drop Ripley’s petrified body to the ground. It bounced around landing in between two of the lethal spikes. Blood slipped from my hand staining my pants.

“Ripley!” I yelped, in pain. Sophia ripped her hand from mine and quickly scooped up the stick that used to be my fire breathing dragon. At the same moment Queen Strickland adjusted her fist and another dozen spikes stretched from the walls and floor, all of them much wider this time.

“Look out!” Sophia screamed. She leapt in front of me with her arms outstretched and Ripley wedged between both her fists. “Grab onto me!”

Without thinking, I reached out, placing my hand on her shoulder. Instantly, a wall of clear energy wrapped around us like a bubble. The massive spikes crashed into our invisible walls and shattered into splinters of debris.

Sophia sang with excitement, “Whoa! That was close.”

“Neat trick,” I said, and paused. “Soph, do you think you can keep this forcefield up?” She shot me a confident smile over her shoulder. From down the hallway General Love slid forward and released a roar that shook the entire school. Purple flames crawled from his jowls and spilled along the floor and walls. It flooded the curved window of our bubble but couldn’t penetrate it. The sight infuriated the General and he ripped the nearest wall down in a fit.

Sophia finally answered. “Looks like it won’t be a problem.”

“Good,” I chirped. “Hang on!”

I spun around as she placed one hand along the small of my back and clenched the end of my T-Shirt. Her other arm kept Ripley’s stiff corpse at attention like a sword. I shoved my palms and forehead against the inner surface of the bubble and pushed with all my strength. The sphere slowly inched forward, picking up speed the farther we rolled. Another rush of fire washed over the top of us as we made our escape.

“Lucas, this is crazy!” Sophia cheered. We bounced along the monstrous floor, ricocheting from side to side.

“We’re almost there,” I announced. “We just need to make it around that corner and through the library doors.” Sophia gripped my shirt tighter and leaned closer into me.

“We can make it,” she laughed.

As our speed increased I began to fill with hope. The two beasts behind us bellowed with frustration as we pulled farther away from them. My legs ran harder like a giant hamster in its plastic wheel. The screams behind us fell away and I figured I’d ask Sophia a few questions while I still had a chance.

“So, how many rings do you have on you?”

Sophia was a little hesitant to answer at first. “Umm, why?”

“Because this spinning shell wasn’t created with the Time Ring on your finger, or the Invulnerability Ring in your hair.” Our protective sphere slammed into an extra bony wall with lockers. Their doors snapped together in a chomp like the mouth of a bear trap. It surprised me and almost made me lose my balance but I held on and pushed forward. “That means you must have at least one other ring on you.”

“I have one more,” she whispered, nervously. “On my necklace.”

“So, you have three rings with you? I thought so.”

She knew Olivia and I had specifically ordered her not to be carrying the rings around, but at the moment I was relieved she disobeyed us. She reluctantly asked, “Is that okay?”

I started to laugh, fighting off a coughing fit as my lungs tightened from the overexertion. “Of course it’s okay, Soph. You’re the reason we’re still alive. Besides, the more rings you learn to wield, the stronger your power will become.”

“You’re not mad at me?”

“Mad? Heck no. If anything, I’m jealous.”

“You are?” she gasped.

“Yup. My enchanted dragon is a giant piece of beef jerky and my power is gone. I’m feeling pretty worthless right about now.” She tightened her arm around me in a caring hug.

“I think you’re doing just fine,” she said.

Holding out the ring I had picked up earlier, I said, “Here.”

“Another ring, where’d you get that?” she blushed, and took it from my hand.

“It was the one Felicity had. She dropped it. I’m guessing it would be more helpful around your finger than mine,” I said, with a grin.

“Really? What does this one do?” she asked, as it quickly found a home along one of her fingers.

“I guess we’ll find out soon enough, won’t we,” I joked.

Just then, the floor in front of the library entrance pushed upward, closing off the hallway completely. General Love’s voice rumbled down the corridor.

“No more room to flee, Mr. Ryan!”

I mumbled, “Crap.”

They were closing in on us, and now, we were rapidly running out of space. Sophia desperately shoved Ripley’s shriveled torso into my side.

“Lucas, take Ripley! Hurry!”

I continued pushing our rolling fish bowl toward the blockade and grabbed Ripley from her hand. She immediately wrapped her hand around the ring on her necklace and warned…

“Get ready!”

“Ready for what?” I asked. Suddenly, the bubble popped into the air as it rolled over a bump along the floor. As we spun closer toward the enclosed hallway, I realized we didn’t have time to stop and we were going to smash into it. Just before we collided with it though, our forcefield vanished in a smoky poof. We were still in midair as it disappeared and we spilled to the floor just before hitting the dead end. General Love’s burning mouth arrived just behind us, ready to cook us like a marshmallow at a campfire. This was bad. We were trapped. Moments ago we were only seconds away from the entrance of the library but now, we were scraping our bodies along the jagged tongue of the school hallway.

As she jumped to her feet,
Sophia ordered, “Lucas! Duck!” I pulled Ripley to my chest and leaned backward as far as possible. Sophia slapped her hands together and a swirling blue light flashed outward, blinding me for a split-second. The light blazed outward, piercing the wall of debris that was piled up to the ceiling. With a crack in her voice, Sophia screamed out and thrust her arms forward again as if she were throwing a giant fireball from her palms. The beam of blue light turned white hot as it intensified in strength and size. Everything around us began to shake ferociously.

General Love came to a stop with his Queen right behind him. They knew instantly what was about to happen.

“It’s going to blow!” I yelled out.

“I know!” Sophia smiled, wickedly. A burst of blue tinted lightning surged into the blockade and the entire thing exploded everywhere. Most of the rubble launched directly toward us. I tried to grab Sophia and pull her down to me but I couldn’t get a good grip on her. The chunks of floor rushed over the top of us in a wave of destruction. Just before we were completely engulfed by it, everything stopped, frozen in place like before.

Burnt rock and charred bone hovered in the air. Dust, metal, and smoke were paralyzed before my eyes. General Love and Queen Strickland were twisted together as if they were fleeing the explosion. Their bodies now statues stuck in time. The General’s eyes seemed to curse us from his prison. I looked up at Sophia and she waved for me to get up as fast as possible.

“Thirty-seven seconds, remember…come on,” she said, excitedly. I jumped to my feet and she darted through the hanging rubble, zigzagging her way through the maze of floating carnage. I chased close behind pausing for a moment to touch a piece of the debris. It was the number dial of a locker door. It was free from its metal casing and burnt around the edges. Tiny embers glowed at the sides of it, highlighting a few of the numbers painted on it. With a curious grin I called out to her.

“Well, we know what the ring can do now!”

She looked at me with a wicked little smirk. “This is awesome.”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

As I quickly caught up with her through the mess, I noticed that she had blown a hole large enough for us to enter the library. She gripped her Jynshee Rings in a tight fist as she raced along behind me as I made my way to the back of the library. There were scattered books jumping from the shelves, obvious victims of the earlier explosion. They hung in the air all around like paperback butterflies. Their pages locked in an impossible flutter.

We ran up to the giant hole in the wall that led down to the Nest, and Sophia’s hold on time began to slip again. This time though, she was able to hold it a bit longer and everything began to move again but very slowly at first.

“I can’t hold it much longer!”

“It’s okay, we’re here.” I raised up on my toes to look down the long dark abyss and frowned. “Now, we just need a way down.”

Sophia grimaced as everything started to speed up to normal again. The sound of the frozen explosion returned with a deafening howl. Afterward, she eagerly asked, “How did you get down there last time?”

I held up my Ripley stick and tapped it to my forehead, gently. “Ripley.”

“Oh, great,” she huffed. From behind us the bookshelves pulled back before crashing into the opposite walls. General Love and Queen Strickland emerged from the damage with eyes alive with hate and mouths clenched in contempt. Sophia stepped backwards and her heel skidded over the edge of the hole. She reached for me and grabbed onto my forearm, filling my tattoo with a much needed boost of power. The lines of ink flickered back to life filling me with new strength.

“Looks like you two are at a dead end,” General Love grumbled.

Queen Strickland added, “No way down. So close, yet so far away from helping your friends.”

Without even thinking I shouted out, “Don’t come any closer!”

“Or what?” Queen Strickland snapped.

“Or…umm…” Quickly, I held what was left of Ripley out in front of me and made sure they could see the glowing lines of my tattoo. “I’ll unleash my true power!”

Sophia looked up at me, and mumbled, “Huh?”

“Shhh,” I warned her, under my breath. Queen Strickland lowered her head and hissed. General Love shoved his powerful body past her and dared me to unleash Ripley. He clamped his jaws together in a wet chomp.

“I’m waiting, Mr. Ryan.”

“Umm…”

He roared with laughter. “That’s what I thought!”

Uneasy and scared, I slid my arm behind me, bracing Sophia for the worst. She began to shake with fear but managed to push it away for a moment. She twisted her hands together, gently caressing the rings along her fingers. The rings lit up with energy again.

General Love slithered forward as his split tail scraped along the ceiling. “No need for that. You need a way down to my Nest, an express elevator to your friends and classmates.” He leaned back and crossed his muscular arms over his armored chest. “Let me help you out.”

Over our shoulders movement shot from the darkness. A dozen tentacles covered in black slime whipped around our arms and chests, like powerful nooses. Sophia scratched at the arm around her throat with her eyes bulging from their sockets.

“Soph…” I choked out, before my oxygen was cut off. We tried to fight the strength of the tentacles but it was no use. We were caught off guard and our balance was already giving way to the gravity of the deathly free fall behind us.

General Love snapped his jaw closed, making a gut-wrenching sound that signaled the serpents to remove us from the gaping hole. In a lurch, Sophia and I were sucked down the blackness without another sound. My worst nightmare had been realized.

General Love was back, and this time, I didn’t have the power to stop him.