Beyond the Veil - J.C. Kelley (ready to read books TXT) 📗

he snuck smokes any time he could. When he smiled his teeth looked like dead wood, with all of their holes and jagged tips. Of course no one else noticed, but it was always uncomfortably clear to me. I could deal with all of his nastiness, but one thing about him just plain ticked me off: He was always too close to Sarah. I don’t mean physically—although he was a little closer than usual tonight—but intimately. When Sarah pulled up to school he was there in a flash, nuzzling her neck or just plain making out with her. He just seemed way too eager to actually be believed when admitting his virginity, you know what I mean? That—plus the fact that he was strong enough to snap her like a twig—made him seem unsafe to me. I was always cautious when he was around, especially tonight, since Sarah was surely to be in a “great mood” for while. She may have been annoying as all Hell, but she was still my little sis. 

“Hey, Kay. Hey, Tyler,” the vile excuse for a man said. 

Tyler nodded and mumbled, “Hi.” 

I gritted my teeth and crossed my arms, feeling bold. I was incessantly hinting my disgust at his very presence. I was starting to think he was catching on. He caught my eye and the corners of the would-be smile drooped—Yes! He finally caught on!—as he quickly looked away. He squeezed Sarah a little harder. “Do you want to go open some presents? You can open mine first.”

Sarah’s anger dissipated at the mention of gifts. “Sure,” she said. Jason gave us a thumbs-up behind his back as led her away.

Tyler breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God for Jason. Your sister’s scary when she’s angry.”

My mouth drifted open on a growl. “He’s the product of feces and bile.” Tyler’s eyes widened as he glanced up, startled.

But my mind had already refocused on the second part of what he’d said. “You really think she’s scary? I don’t really think so.”

Tyler snorted. “What, do you actually enjoy her yelling at you?”

“Yeah. A lot. ‘Cause her face goes all red and her lips go white and she clenches her teeth and narrows her eyes at you, and then altogether she looks kind of funny.

"What?” I said, seeing his expression.

“Why do you always do that?” he asked.

“Do what?”

He sighed dramatically. “Babble. Every time you’re required to say more than five words, you drift and say whatever comes to mind.”

“Isn’t that what’s supposed to happen? Like—you’re saying I’m actually gonna have to think about what I say…before I say it?”

He erupted in a fit of laughter as he realized I was seriously worried about he was saying. “No, no,” he rasped. “That wouldn’t be human.”

I must have visibly relaxed because he started a whole new round of cackles.

“Good. Well, I’m starved. Do you want something to eat?” I was fully alert as I went searching for a decent snack, which meant just about anything. I chose not to think about why Tyler was giggling under his breath the whole time.

*

*

Jon got home about half an hour later. His eyes narrowed suspiciously as soon as he entered the kitchen. His nostrils flared at the lemon-scented cleaning spray and he caught Robyn's still bloodshot eyes. “What did you see?”

She looked down. “Well, it was confusing, but I know it has something to do with us.”

Kade stepped forward, presenting the slip of paper. “She wrote this down after the vision. We were hoping you could make sense of it.”Jon took it and read, shaking his head when he came to the end. “I’ve never heard of this, nor seen anything like it. Robyn, what else did you see in your vision?”She hesitated before answering. “Us. I saw different flashes of us. And—four faces. But they kept changing. I could only catch glimpses.” Kade eyed his little sister. She seemed close to tears, hugging her hands to her chest and breathing shallowly.Jon took notice as well. He smiled at her reassuringly. “Not all visions come true, Robyn. Remember that what you saw was only one possible future.” His gaze returned to the slip of paper. “But I think we should be cautious about this one. You never know.” Robyn spoke up. “Do you know what Lucivur means?”Jon’s eyes widened slightly and he flinched, as if the word had taken a physical toll on him. “Why do you ask?”“I saw the word in my vision,” Robyn said. “I heard it too.”Her uncle heaved a tremendous sigh and rubbed his eyes. Somehow in the past few seconds he’d aged visibly. Robyn spotted the gray hairs and purplish bags even with her eyes still screwed up. “Not what

,” Jon finally murmured. “Who

.” He rubbed his surprisingly small belly. “I’m hungry,” he grumbled. “Why don’t you guys go into the dining room? I’ll meet you in there in a minute.” He walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a few pots and pans. As they fled for fear of the inevitable flames to come, he called, “Do you guys want anything?”They responded with an instantaneous “NO

!” Jon gave a throaty cackle and turned on the stove burners. ___________________________________________________I yawned. I was sitting next to Tyler, kicking his butt in “Call of Duty: World at War” in my bedroom. He hit pause and stood up, wiping his hands on his patched up jeans. “I’m beat,” he said, walking toward the door. “Don’t forget about the Literary Terms Quiz tomorrow.” I was so forgetful all the time, so he always had to remind me about stuff like that. He was the only reason I was barely passing. I didn’t know what I’d do without him. I nodded, unable to speak. My head was throbbing and a cold sweat had started up on my forehead and neck, as well as the small of my back. I was shaking by the time the door finally closed. I stumbled toward my tall twin bed, barely even reaching it before my legs buckled and gave out. By the time I flopped gracelessly onto the bed, I had already been sucked into the alternate reality of my unconsciousness.___________________________________________________Four burnt meals, fifteen deadly sparks, and two fire extinguishers later, they were seated in a lopsided circle in the dining room, though it hadn’t been used for dining in some years. It was tall and oval in shape, and it seemed to go on forever. Piles of trash and forgotten items filled the corners and edges. In the years that they’d been there, Jon and the kids had only cleared out enough of it in order to form a long path which lead to a large cleared-out space in the shape of a circle. They each sat in a different chair; Kade in a plush blue one with the foam coming out in patches; Nick in a hard wooden one with high curved arms; Jon in a plastic black one that could be bought in any convenience store in the country. Every one of the teenage warriors were charred at the edges, their eyes a matching watery pinkish where the whites were, and staring furiously at Uncle Jon, who was grinning contentedly while holding an empty paper plate. “Now, that was an exquisite omelet. Don’t you agree?”“I wouldn’t know,” Jade huffed. “I was too busy putting out the flames to notice.” She turned to Alex. “Did you happen to?”“As a matter of fact, I was pouring water on the fire,” he said. Jon clapped his hands together. “Alright, that’s enough chitchat for one day. What was it you wanted to talk to me about?”Kade ran his hands through his hair, making it stick up wildly. “Who is Lucivur?”Jon’s kind humorous brown eyes darkened to a near black. “Yes….Lucivur is a sorcerer, you see. One you’d not want to cross. He has an immense amount of power over the Supernatural world.” He looked up at Robyn, now sobered. “And if you saw him in your vision, we are in big trouble. “Lucivur is an evil power-hungry man. Has been ever since he discovered his powers. And very dangerous if you catch his attention. He’s used his influence more than once throughout history. In the late fifteenth century, the Native American leaders on the coast refused to teach him a spell which required human sacrifice. Next thing you know, English and Spanish explorers are suddenly eager to find the Northwest Passage to Asia.” Jon looked at Jade. “You remember reading about the Irish potato famine?” She nodded. “If you dig a little deeper, you’ll find it wasn’t just food going rotten; it was all of the plants and animals. Acres of land within Ireland were reduced to little more than lifeless dirt. Tons of people died from disease and starvation.“Lucivur has started wars, destroyed whole civilizations. He’s more powerful than you can imagine.” Jon went pale. “And he has control over the Seer, Dominik. The immortal.” Kade knew what that meant without reading Jon’s mind. “And he’s probably had the vision by now. He’d want the Elemental Children for more power. Hell, he’d be the most powerful sorcerer alive with control over them.” “We can’t let that happen,” Alex said. “How?” “Well, that part, at least is obvious.” Everybody turned to stare at Alex, who shrugged nonchalantly. “We find these kids first. If we can convince them not to give in to Lucivur, they should be safe if they stay with us.” Uncle Jon stood up and stretched. “Might as well try.” Nick’s eyes flashed a bright emerald as he started. “I know how we can find them easier,” he announced.“How?” Jade asked. “Well, Robyn said she saw their faces.”“But I only caught bits and pieces,” she admitted. “If you think about it, it’s just like a puzzle.” Nick shrugged. “Put the pieces together and before you know it you’ve got the whole picture.”“I like to draw,” Alex said, leaning forward. “I’m sure if you describe what you saw, I could draw it.” “Alright,” Uncle Jon exclaimed. “Let’s get started.”___________________________________________________Images swam before my closed eyes. My breath came in rapid gasps, my heart fluttering hysterically in my chest. The pain in my temples peaked—and suddenly I was standing in a clearing, surrounded by trees of massive heights. It was nighttime and the world was shrouded in an ominous darkness.To my left, a woman with brown hair crouched, baring her teeth with a feline hiss. Across the clearing, three men approached calmly, fathomless shadows following in their wake. They wore long black cloaks that seemed to have minds of their own as the wind blew over the scene. They were deathly pale and bald, and from where I stood I couldn’t make out their faces.The man on the left stuck out a palm glowing red-white. The air crackled with electricity, and the woman’s eyes flashed liquid silver as her fangs extended until they poked her chin. A bolt of pure red electric current shot from the fair man’s hand and demolished the place where the woman had crouched only a moment before. She was now running towards them, fingernails growing into jagged points. I observed all of this with a kind of grim acceptance, only mildly shocked as she leapt over them, literally fighting tooth-and-nail to survive.Then I caught movement in the corner of my vision, and my attention was captured by a small child with curly red hair held up by a long red ribbon. Her teal eyes shined as she gazed at the violence in front of her. “Mommy!” she cried at the lady, who I assumed still fought the cloaked men.Suddenly a huge pair of hands wrapped around her little waist. I opened my mouth to scream, thinking it was one of the pale men, but no sound came out. The girl was hoisted up into massive muscular arms, and a fourth guy came out of the shadows. He had matching red hair, and a huge figure. He towered over me, cradling the doll-like child. She, however, didn’t seem to be fazed by his shocking resemblance to a giant. “Where have you been?” the man grumbled. “I was looking everywhere for you!”“Daddy,” she exclaimed.