Chapter Eleven
Braden discussed his plan with Jillian, telling her that she should wait where she was. Jillian resisted at first, but Braden told her that they needed someone to stay in a safe place where everyone could meet after Braden acted out his plan. He knew this plan didn't include Jillian as much as it probably should but he wanted to protect her. He made fun of her a lot and teased her, but she was his little sister and his father always said to look out for her, that it was an older brother's responsibility. Braden thought keeping her safe right then would cover that.
After he finished explaining, Braden ran toward where Haley and Jack, hoping he could get there in time. He realized that for one day, he did a lot of hoping about things he knew little about.
“You’ll make it, the Gorgons haven’t started moving,” Jillian said in his head.
“How are you doing that?”
“I don’t know. I just thought it and you heard it. Pretty cool, huh?”
“Yeah, very. Alright, let’s hope this works.”
Jack was shocked by what he had done. He now knew why his face felt cold when he got scared. He took a big risk jumping off the building, but the boy must have known that Haley would save him. If so, how did the boy know that? Who was he? Jack got tired of asking questions but no answers came to stop them.
And what about what Haley did? She actually flew, like a superhero. So many things happened to them; so many different powers discovered. Jack never experienced anything like this before. He doubted any of the others had either.
“What do we do now?” Haley asked.
“I don’t know. I think we might have stopped them for a bit. But we have to do better than that.”
“I know. But how?” Once again, Jack noticed a question with no answer.
“Braden,” Gabby said. “Braden coming.” She pointed excitedly in front of her. “He is?” Jack asked.
Gabby nodded. “Building go boom.”
“There she goes again with that,” Haley said. “She said the same thing before and Uncle Johnny said she is probably right.”
“When did you talk to Uncle Johnny and how?” Jack asked.
“Before you pulled your little birdie stunt off the building. He said he can still talk to us.” “Really? Uncle Johnny, can you hear me?” There was no answer.
“Uncle Johnny?”
“I think he talks to us when he needs to. Maybe now he doesn’t need to.”
“That’s not fair. I want to talk to him. I want him to tell us what to do,” Jack said. He wanted someone to give them answers.
“He told me he can’t help us that way. Maybe when Braden gets here we will figure it out,” Haley said. Even though she felt just like Jack did, she didn't want to show it. Talking to Uncle Johnny had calmed her a little and she tried to believe everything would work out.
Just then, Braden did show up. He was out of breath.
“I need one of your powers. This regular running just doesn’t work,” he said, panting.
“Maybe I can teach you,” Jack said.
“It doesn’t matter. Right now we have to worry about the Gorgons who are on their way over here,” Braden said, getting more serious. "We have to finish them off before they do the same to us."
“They're on their way here?"
“Yes.”
“How do you know?” Jack asked.
“Think about it. Feel it,” Braden said. "If you concentrate, you can sense things around you in this world. I didn't believe Jillian at first but it works. Try it."
Jack did. “I do feel it. I feel like when you say it, you’re right. It’s kind of weird.”
“I feel it too,” Haley said. She could sense a large group of Gorgons moving toward them. She didn't know how it worked, only that she could see it in her mind when she focused. Weird.
“Then you know we have to do something, and I have a plan.”
“Where’s Jillian?”
“Back where we were before. I figured one of us had to stay in a safe spot. Plus, we are going to need our powers and not hers right now.”
“What do you have in mind?” Haley asked.
Braden told Haley and Jack his plan. It was absolutely dangerous and crazy, but they all figured it might just work. “Do you guys think you can use those powers?” “I have control of my running,” Jack said.
“I think I can do the protective bubble again, especially if you are going to do what you are planning to do.”
“All right. Now all we have to do is get those Gorgons to come over here. Jack, when I say so, you take Gabby and run right toward where Jillian is. Try to contact Uncle Johnny
and find out if we can get out of here.”
“Got it.”
“And Haley, you put that protective bubble over us when
Jack takes off. Got it?”
“I do.”
“If we can do that, we should be able to pull this off.”
Braden looked down and saw a large rock in front of him. He lifted the rock and launched it at where the Gorgons were. He did this several times and before they knew it, the ground starting shaking. About twenty Gorgons, way more than they figured they could fight head on, came toward them.
Braden’s plan had better work, they all thought.
Each one of them felt the fear inside them. The Gorgons came their way and they were huge. There couldn't fight them off. The Gorgons outnumbered them badly. Fighting was too dangerous, yet in a way, Braden’s plan appeared more dangerous than doing that. Neither option looked to be the right one but it was all they had.
The massive Gorgons got closer. They were beasts, looking even bigger than they had before. Braden had never seen them up close and it shocked him as they approached. Even he started to doubt his plan. Right then, all of them wished they were back in the basement playing video games instead of fighting huge beasts. But Braden took a deep breath. If they were back playing video games, he'd wish to be in this spot, right here, pulling off his plan. He had to believe, to trust himself and his cousins like Uncle Johnny said.
When the Gorgons, who rushed in a straight line at the kids, came within one hundred feet, Braden said, “Okay, get ready. This won’t work unless we wait until they are right on top of us, okay?”
“Got it,” Jack and Haley both said, at the same time. They tried not to think about how dangerous this was and did their best to trust it would work. Neither of them wanted the
Gorgons so close. Jack felt his mouth go dry and swallowed. It felt full of dust.
The Gorgons got to fifty feet away. The kids could feel the ground shaking below them. Dust flew in the air behind the wave of Gorgons. The sound of their footsteps grew louder and louder. The kids could feel it vibrate through their bodies. Jack felt his face get cold. No, he said to himself, now was not the time for his fear power. He squeezed Gabby tighter.
“Anger,” the boy said. “You have to get angry.”
“I know.”
“Think of how these Gorgons want to hurt you and your sister and your cousins. Think of how unfair that is. You did nothing to them.”
“I’m trying,” Jack said, though he couldn't say for sure he really did. What exactly was he trying to do? He thought of what the boy said, how the Gorgons attacked them for no reason. Still, instead of anger, more fear came. That, however, made him angry. He didn't want to be some scared kid when he could be a hero.
“Don’t try. Do. There is no time for a mistake.”
The Gorgons were now right on top of the kids, and raising their clubs high in the air as if they were going to smash the kids to pieces. Braden could smell them. He didn’t smell the breath Uncle Johnny had mentioned. He just smelled the Gorgons themselves. It reminded him of when his dog came in from the rain.
Haley felt the fear rise up in her. She knew what needed to be done and was pretty sure she could do it. But would it be enough? Would the bubble that knocked Jack down back in the basement be able to protect them from what Braden was about
to do?
Jack made sure he had a good grip on Gabby and looking at her, he got angry thinking the Gorgons would try to hurt a little girl. He got even angrier thinking about how he felt scared when he needed to protect her. It worked.
They stood right between the two buildings, and Braden raised both hands, pointing one at each of the buildings. He kept them there, concentrating like his uncle had taught him in the basement. He could feel their weight in his mind, their resistance to his pull. He imagined every brick, every support beam, the entire structure and willed it to do his bidding.
“Now!” he yelled.
Like a streak of lightning, Jack bolted away, toward where Jillian was, with Gabby under his arm.
Braden, in one smooth motion, brought his hands down, and the buildings started to fall toward them, like someone had blown them up. The noise thundered through the air, rippling across the field. Haley couldn’t even hear her thoughts.
Still, she needed to concentrate. She thought about what would happen if the Gorgons got to them, how much their attack would hurt. Her stomach tightened and she focused on that, told herself they surely would fail and fall to the enemy. The tightness and pain shot through from the pit of her stomach to her arms, legs, and then straight to her head. Just before the Gorgons could bring their clubs down on them, the protective bubble appeared, and the Gorgons' clubs all bounced off.
The Gorgons didn't pay attention to the buildings behind them, and the bricks came down on them. Haley and Braden ducked down to the ground and heard the bricks bounce off the Gorgons and the protective bubble.
Jillian couldn’t believe what she saw. A huge cloud of dust covered where Haley and Braden and the Gorgons had once stood. All of a sudden, she felt a fear she had never felt before. It flowed through her, pooling in her hands, making the feel like stone. She wasn’t sure why, but she punched the ground and it felt like the whole Earth shook. She had found her new power, strength, and she had a whole lot of it.
Jack arrived, holding Gabby under his arm.
“Boom,” Gabby said.
“Yes, boom,” Jack said, “you were right.” “Are they okay?” Jillian asked.
“I don’t know. Braden told me to leave before he knocked the buildings down.”
“Are you okay?” Jillian asked Braden in her head. He didn’t answer. Jillian was afraid he and Haley had gotten hurt. “What do we do now?” she asked Jack.
“Braden said to try and contact Uncle Johnny.”
“I’ve been trying, but he isn’t answering.”
“Yeah, I know. But we have to keep doing it.”
Braden stood up. The protective bubble Haley created disappeared, and bricks and rubble lay everywhere except for a small circle that surrounded Haley and him. Haley got up too. She looked very tired. Braden felt the same way, like knocking down those buildings took all his energy from him.
“You okay?” he asked Haley.
“Yeah, I am just weak.”
“I think it worked.”
They both looked around and saw no sign of the Gorgons. They must have been buried underneath the rubble. So, Braden’s plan worked. He felt proud but knew they hadn't won yet. Now they needed to find a way out.
“I think we should go find everyone,” he said.
“Braden, are you okay?” Jillian said in his mind.
“I’m fine,” he answered in his mind.
“I think we should go too,” Haley said.
“Good.” Braden let Jillian know they were coming.
None of them knew, however, that the Gorgons had a lot more in store for them.