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Author’s Note:
This story is a continuation of Twinfinity: The Arena. While it is possible to read this story without reading The Arena I wouldn’t recommend it. In order to get the full effect of the story The Arena should be read first.
I would like to thank those that voted for and commented on The Arena. Your votes and comments were much appreciated, and if any of you made the decision to purchase the novel “Twinfinity: Nethermore” from Amazon I am honored by that. Every reader I acquire is deeply cherished, and with that said I give you the Onyx Ravens.
The Onyx Ravens
Chapter 3
Decker and his Gang
∞
“I can’t believe you didn’t punish that bitch right then and there!” Cree Davis said to Decker. He was leaning up against the outer wall of their fort and watching Decker tend to his busted nose. “You gonna go see a doc’,” he added.
Decker was gently placing toilet paper wads up his nose, wincing and grimacing as he did it, and taking his dear sweet time. Tending to his swollen nose didn’t keep his eyes away from the crimson stain on his shirt and jacket, however. After he finished blocking his ole factory passages, he stood up, and glared at Cree. “You’re not very smart, are you?”
Cree gave him an empty look, but said nothing.
“You’re new to the group, so I’m gonna cut you some slack, and educate you a little. When someone wrongs us we get better than even, but we don’t lose our heads about it,” he said as he walked over to the corner of their fort. He reached into the corner and picked up an Escrima stick made out of rattan, and tossed it to Cree. He turned back, grabbed one for himself, and headed for the door leading out. “Follow me,” he ordered.
Cree looked down at the weapon in his hand. His shoulders drooped slightly and his gaze was returned to the fort’s corner. The Escrima staffs weren’t the only weapons stacked there. The corner had accumulated an array of hand to hand combat weapons and armor. There were swords in scabbards, daggers, chain mail and breast plates, nun-chucks and metal helmets. Cree couldn’t help but wonder what he’d gotten himself into. He shrugged it off and followed Decker outside.
Decker had removed his stained leather jacket and was maneuvering his Escrima in a sed combat display. The rest of his cronies were gathered around and were watching. “This is your first lesson so I will go easy on you,” he announced as Cree exited the fort. “Take off your jacket and stand in front of me.”
Cree followed his instructions. Seeing Decker with his staff reminded him of why he had joined the group. He wanted to learn to defend himself against his father.
“You don’t ever react to a situation based solely on emotion. I didn’t pound that bitch at the festival because I couldn’t have done it the way it needed to be done,” he said as he swung his staff over his head and twirled it in front of Cree. His movements were fluid and graceful and the four-foot staff made whooshing noises as it cut through the air. “It’s much better for us to wait. I know Jacob well enough to know that he won’t get a ride home. They’ll spend the day laughing it up at the festival and then walk home. We’ll ambush them on their way so it can be done proper. If I would have reacted at the festival I would have had to go light on her. I would have had to limit my response—use restraint. She doesn’t deserve restraint!”
Cree continued to watch and listen to Decker as his Escrima staff whirled around his body with blurring speed. Decker’s feet were positioned in an athletic stance; his wrists remained flexible as he switched his hands back and forth working it in a baton like fashion. He twirled it over his head, on each side of him, sometimes going behind his back, and sometimes in front. The staff never stopped moving and continually whirred through the air.
“Isn’t that a little extreme? I mean, she is just some girl. She’s what? Eleven? Twelve?” Cree asked his mentor.
“Wasn’t what she did to my nose extreme?” Decker returned. “Did I threaten her? Did I push her to the ground and stomp on her face before she busted my nose? No! All I did was ask for a little respect and reach out to grab her arm. In return she busted my friggin’ nose! So no … cramming my staff where the sun doesn’t shine is a perfectly reasonable response! Besides that, the things coming down the pike will require some extreme thinking, and if you’re smart you’ll get with the program. Now get into an athletic stance and lemme show you how to use that thing.”
Chapter 4
Stomach Trauma
∞
It wasn’t until Whitney finished her third elephant ear that the group was able to move on from the dining pavilion. At first it had been the smell of cinnamon that had attracted Whitney to the elephant ears. The smell had reminded her of her Aunt Carol’s rolls. The first bite had led to another as the sugary taste exploded in her mouth. Elephant ears were much sweeter than cinnamon rolls and the surprising thing to her was that the taste of grease, mixed in with the dough and sugar, somehow made it better.
Come on Whit! Let’s get a move on! Tommy thought to her as she finished her third ear.
Just one more Tommy! These things are awesome! She thought back to him.
I never thought I’d say this sis, because it sounds so much like what mom would say, but you’ve had enough! You’ll get a stomach ache if you eat any more.
Whitney tried to persist, but Tommy had all of the money and he wasn’t giving in. She finally gave in and got up from the picnic table. She turned and, that’s when she began to feel claustrophobic. The pavilion was packed and in order to get to the main drag of the festival she was going to have to navigate through a dense crowd. The task seemed impossible to her as she considered it. In order to walk she was going to have to use her cane, but there wasn’t even enough room for her to extend it in front of her without her cane smacking into someone.
“She’s finally done eating,” Jessica asked. “I was beginning to think that we were going to be here forever.”
“Yeah, she’s done,” Tommy replied as he took Whitney by the shoulder and began to guide her forward. Whitney reluctantly walked forward. Her steps were tentative and small and her throat began to tighten up as people brushed by her.
God Tommy, I don’t like this, she thought to her brother.
Riley quickly got up from the table and caught up with Tommy and Whitney. She grabbed Whitney’s other hand. “Blind person coming through,” she announced. “Make some room People!”
On the one hand Whitney hated that this much attention was being drawn to her, but on the other hand Riley’s ploy and demands were being met. Her announcement that a blind person was there, and was trying to make their way out from under the pavilion was working. People looked at Whitney, recognized that she was the person that the little girl was hollering about, and they quickly made a path for Whitney to get out which was a relief. She was beginning to feel like hotdog in there.
She might be a little chitlen, but she’s actually starting to grow on me, Whitney thought to Tommy.
Yeah, Tommy thought back. She’s a little rascal sometimes, but she’s okay.
Jacob and Jessica trailed behind Tommy, Whitney and little Riley as they made their way onto the street, but Jacob quickly made his way to Tommy’s side as their feet hit the pavement. “What do you wanna ride first? Should we start with something easy and work our way up, or should we just go for the gusto?”
“The gusto for sure,” Tommy replied as he began looking for a ticket booth.
“I wanna ride the Ferris Wheel,” Riley announced. “Who’s going on the Ferris Wheel with me?”
“Not me,” Jessica said as the group headed off toward the ticket line. “The Ferris Wheel is BO boring!”
“You’re Bo boring,” Riley replied.
“You’re Bo Boring,” Jessica answered back sarcastically. “Twerp!”
The group of them made to the end of the ticket line and began waiting for their turn to purchase tickets. “We’ll ride the Taz first, Riley and then I’ll go on the Ferris Wheel with you,” Jacob said.
“Can Whitney ride it with me?” Riley questioned.
What’s a Ferris Wheel anyway, Whitney asked in Tommy’s head.
Tommy’s vision panned over to where the Ferris Wheel towered over the other rides along the strip. It was set up in the grocery store parking lot which wasn’t far away and Whitney watched as the big wheel spun with people in seats mounted onto it. You’ve seen them on TV before, but that’s the Ferris Wheel.
So it just goes around in a big circle? And people pay to ride it?
Yep, Tommy answered.
I think Jessica’s right. It looks kind of boring.
“I think Whitney would like riding that with you,” Tommy said.
Hey! I never said that!
“Really! That’s so cool!” Riley exclaimed. “Has she ever ridden one before?”
Tommy shook his head no. “Whitney’s never ridden any rides before.”
“Never? Not even one?” she asked.
“Not even one,” Tommy replied as they stepped up to the ticket booth.
The Tasmanian Twister had the biggest line out of any of the rides. There was a twenty minute wait to get on and the wait seemed to be getting longer as the day drifted toward night. Whitney and Riley waited off to the side while the rest of the group waited in line.
A thin blonde girl with her boyfriend were in line in front of Tommy, Jacob and Jessica. She had straight short hair with strands of it dyed orange and pink. She had piercings in her nose, eyebrows, and her earlobes were being stretched out with large pink circular earrings. She wore fingerless gloves, a black t-shirt and was wearing a large black leather belt with large silver rings attached to it. Her boyfriend dressed pretty much the same way.
What’s this girl’s deal? She trying out for a zombie movie or something? Whitney asked Tommy.
Tommy laughed internally. No. Believe it or not a lot of people are starting to dress this way.
Wow, she thought to him. I thought that was only in movies.
The seats for the Tasmanian Twister were round. They were in the form of cars in the shape of bowls that hung from cables and steel arms. All three of them were able to get into the same car and they all buckled themselves in as they waited in eager anticipation for their ride to begin.
“Who’s do you think is going to puke first?” Jacob asked nobody in particular.
“Won’t be me,” Jessica said. “I never puke from these!”
“Don’t look at me,” Tommy said. “I don’t plan on it either.”
Why does this all sound so ridiculous to me? I mean you guys are actually excited about the idea of a huge metal contraption that basically spins you around in circles for three minutes! I don’t get it. You’ll probably all puke!
Just wait and see Whitney. It’s pretty awesome, Tommy replied.
As soon as all of the cars were filled with riders the carnival attendant latched the gate to the inner circle, flipped a switch and the ride began. Screams began to ring out almost immediately as the momentum increased and the centrifugal force swung the arms outward. None of the riders in their car puked at all during the ride. Whitney, however, did.
Chapter 5
Setting up the Ambush
∞
“How long do you think we’ll have to wait?” Cree asked Decker.
It wouldn’t be long until the sun plopped its weary hide over the horizon and Decker knew that it wouldn’t be much longer. As a matter of fact, he was surprised that they had to wait this long, but Jacob wasn’t dumb enough to wait until after dark. At least that’s what he figured. Only time would tell for sure.
He also knew that Jacob would be coming their way because it was the shortest route. He could elect to take the roads, but that would add another hour onto their walk—cutting across Jessup’s creek was the only option that made sense, and their ambush was set up surrounding a clearing along the path that they’d be taking. Decker’s gang had the clearing surrounded. All they had to do was wait for their unsuspecting prey.
“Half hour at the most I’d say,” Decker answered. Both he and Cree were posted against a pair of trees. There were bushes in between themselves and the clearing and they were sitting, Indian style, with their backs against the trees.
“Man Decker,” Cree said as he rubbed his jaw. “You really did a number on me earlier.”
“Quit whining. You did good for your first time. I actually broke a sweat before I got my first point in. The other guys didn’t last half as long.”
“Yeah, well … I value my face.”
“Relax. Girls love a guy with bruises. You’ll probably end up getting a date out of it,” Decker said as he took another drag on his cigarette.
“You gonna hit her as hard as you hit me?” Cree asked.
“No,” Decker said. “You are.”
“Whoah, wait a second,” Cree said. He shifted himself sideways so that he could look Decker straight on. “I don’t’ think I can hit a girl.”
“Don’t look at it that way then. You’ll be doing her a favor. Believe me. The reason I ended up bruising you up so bad was because I was picturing her face. If I go against her I might end up ing the bitch and I’m not ready to go to prison for the rest of my life.”
“Yeah, but …”
“But nothing Cree! You wanna be a part of our gang? You gotta do this for me! I swear if I do it I really will the bitch! You’re my cousin for cripes sake,” Decker said with a glare.
“Well maybe I could just scare her a bit.”
“Scare shit! I want you to bust her up. I want you to make her pay ten times over! And if you don’t I’m gonna make you pay for what she did!”
Chapter 6
Crossing Bridges
∞
Whitney stood like a lone pigeon on the town-side of the bridge. The rest of the group had already crossed and were waiting for her to give it a go. The bridge wasn’t really a bridge. It wasn’t like someone had decided that a bridge to cross was needed and built one. The ‘bridge’ was just a fallen tree with the branches cut off of it. Tommy stood on the other side, giving Whitney a frontal view of herself, as she contemplated crossing it.
The rest of the group stood by silently watching and waiting and Tommy was doing his best to remain patient with her.
I don’t’ think I can do this, Tommy,she thought to him. There’s nothing to hold onto.
Just hold your hands out to the side the same way you saw us do it and take your time.
Whitney lifted a foot onto the fallen log and put some wait on it. She lifted herself up and balanced herself on the log, watching herself through Tommy’s eyes, as she did it. She could still see the remnants of her puke drying on her shirt from Tommy’s perspective.
She had ended up withdrawing from Tommy almost as soon as the ride had started, but she hadn’t reacted quickly enough to keep herself from puking. The ride had shifted into gear quickly and it caused an almost immediate unsettled feeling in her gut. Combining the fast, merry-go-round effect, with the elephant ears from earlier had been too much and the dizzying sensation brought the snack back up to the surface.
“Come on Whitney! You can do it,” Riley called out to her.
“Shh! She can’t hear you anyway,” Jessica said.
“So! I felt like saying it anyway!” Riley shot back.
But Whitney could hear Riley and Riley’s words did mean something to her. She liked the little runt. She liked her tenacity and spunk and she liked the fact that Riley seemed to take a liking to Whitney despite Whitney’s deficiencies. It was as if Whitney’s conditions didn’t register to the young girl.
Whitney took a couple of steps forward and then stopped. She was testing herself. She wanted to see how well she could move along the log without losing her balance and was pleased to see that it didn’t seem to be much of an issue. She decided to go forward a little more boldly and she was half way across when the odor hit her.
Smoke!
It wasn’t the smoke of a burning fire, or the smoke of a grill. It was the smell of cigarette smoke, but it was old smoke like an ashtray that she smelled. Whoever the smell was coming from wasn’t smoking as she crossed the log. They had smoked prior to that, but the wind had shifted temporarily and the scent was brought to her.
I smell it too,Tommy thought to her. I smell that, and I smell sweat. We’re not alone.
Whitney withdrew from Tommy. He was right--being in herself allowed her to see their shadows. There were six of them in all and it looked like they were set up for an ambush.
Six of them, Tommy. I think it’s that Decker and his buddies. What should we do?
Tommy turned to Jacob and explained to him that Decker and his friends were close by. Jacob got a worried look on his face. At first he didn’t say anything, but his silence didn’t last.
“We gotta go back,” Jacob said. He started to move toward the bridge but Tommy stopped him.
“They already know we’re here. They have to. Riley yelled loud enough for the people back at the festival to hear.”
“So we should get moving Tommy.”
“You’re not getting me. We can’t outrun them. Not without leaving Whitney behind and I’m not about to do that. She’s the one their pissed at.”
Whitney finished crossing the log. She stepped off of it when she got to the other side.
“Call my dad Jess,” Jacob said. “Have him come meet us here, and tell him we had a run in with Decker so he should bring his shotgun.”
Jessica pulled her phone out of her back pocket. Her shoulders sank as she pressed the button that should have brought it to life. “Battery’s dead. Shit!” she said.
“Dammit!” Jacob said. “I told you to charge it when we were still in the car!”
“Well it normally lasts longer than this. I usually only have to charge it once a day,” Jessica said in her defense.
I’m sorry, Whitney thought to Tommy. This is my fault!
“Well, what do we do now?” Riley asked.
“Nothing we can do,” Tommy replied as he ushered Whitney to continue by guiding her shoulders. “Looks like we have more than one bridge to cross today.”
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