Doc Harrison and the Prophecy of Halsparr Read online

  Aw, man, it’s smashed up pretty good.

  Back in the Hood, I show Keane and the girls what’s happening only because they’re demanding it.

  “Open the door, you idiot!” Keane hollers.

  “You think?” I shout back.

  I find the garage door remote clipped to the sun visor and hit the button.

  The door buckles and screeches and gets stuck about halfway open because I basically destroyed it.

  “I can’t get the car out,” I cry.

  “Just hit the gas!” Steffanie shouts.

  Mrs. Bossley’s legs appear in my side view mirror. She’s planted herself on the walkway, and leans down, sticking her head between the gap in the door.

  I leap out of the car and duck outside.

  “Docherty!”

  “It’s an emergency,” I tell her. “Do you have a phone?”

  “It’s back home.”

  “Then just get out of the way!” I rush back into the garage, hop in the car—

  And blast out of the garage, with the door rattling and groaning and scraping across the metal. The rear window cracks but doesn’t shatter.

  Mr. Bossley clutches her chest as twisted pieces of the garage door crash across the driveway. Her face glows like a ripe watermelon. Her huge eyes look animated. She thunders toward me, wagging her arms for me to stop—

  But I pull into the street, throw it in drive, and then bang on the accelerator, lurching forward so fast that my head hits the seat.

  Oh, well, I forgot my wallet and my learner’s permit. Like they really matter now.

  “Okay, Meeka, you’re my GPS,” I say. “You ask Tommy how to get to Zach’s. Tell him I’m crossing onto Tuskawilla Road right now.”

  With hands still trembling, I guide the car past the Zoo Health Club on the corner, heading south on Tuskawilla.

  “Okay, Doc. Tommy says as soon as you get to Zach’s you should ditch the car. You should’ve done this quietly.”

  “Like I had a choice?”

  “Just keep driving.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Meeka guides me through the turns, and within fifteen minutes, I’m cruising into a subdivision. I park at the curb near Zach’s ranch-style house and ring the bell a few times. No answer. I peer into the bay window. Dark.

  “He’s supposed to be home from the hospital,” Meeka tells me. “Unless he’s working overtime.”

  “Seriously? I need to borrow a phone.”

  I jog over to the next door neighbor and ring the bell.

  A man calls from behind the closed door. He sounds old.

  I tell him it’s an emergency, that my car broke down, and I just need to make a call. “Can I borrow your phone?”

  He doesn’t believe me. He knows all about scams like this. He says he’s got a gun. This is Florida. I believe him.

  With my eyes burning in frustration, I hustle away from the house and hop back in the car.

  I share what’s happened with the others.

  After a few seconds, Meeka gives me new instructions: “Tommy wants you to get on four-thirty-four and go to the gas station. Somebody there should let you borrow a phone so you can call Zach.”

  Still trying to catch my breath, I head back to Highway 434, with two lanes on each side and a speed limit of 50 mph. I’m still concerned about driving at higher speeds, but I’ll risk it anyway.

  I worry for nothing. Traffic’s heavy due to an accident, and I practically crawl down to the gas station. I mean I could ride a bike faster than this. I pull around the side and park in the last spot, hoping that if the police come by, they won’t notice my tag.

  And by now more cops are at my house, and Mrs. Bossley told them I should be arrested immediately.

  I head inside and ask the clerk if I could borrow a phone. He’s not much older than me and seems like an okay guy. He sighs and says I can use his but only for a local call. I tell him the number, he thumbs it in, and then hands me the phone.

  I get Zach’s voicemail, which isn’t even his voice, just the female drone telling me he’s unavailable, and at the sound of the tone, please leave a message:

  “Zach, it’s Doc. I’m at the Speedway on four-thirty-four. I need to get back to the engine right now. I’m running out of time. So, yeah, call me at this number as soon you get this and come get me.”

  I return the phone to the clerk.

  He looks at me. “You’re really stressed out.”

  “I’m not having a good day. So do you mind getting me outside if he calls back?”

  “If I’m not with a customer.”

  “Thanks.”

  It’s nearly six p.m. I’m down to a quarter tank of gas. I should’ve looked for my father’s wallet and credit cards, but it’s too late now. I lower the windows and sit there in the oppressive heat with the engine off.

  I close my eyes.

  * * *

  “Hey, bro? Wake up.”

  “Whoa? What?” I’m soaked in sweat and glancing around, completely disoriented.

  Earth. Separated from persona. In the car. Okay...

  It’s the clerk from inside. “So your buddy never called, and it’s already seven. My shift’s over. I’m going home. If he does call, should I tell him you’re still here?”

  I sit there for a few seconds, realizing that I fell asleep and blew an entire hour in the car.

  “Bro, you okay?”

  “Uh, yeah, yeah. So my buddy’s name is Zach. If he calls, tell him to meet Doc at the engine in Chuluota. He’ll know what I mean.”

  “All right. Maybe you should get yourself a pre-paid phone or something.”

  “Yeah. And thanks. I owe you.”

  “It’s good karma.”

  As he walks way, I turn on the engine and blast the air conditioning. It feels like paradise.

  A trillion miles away, Keane and the girls go off on me for falling asleep. It’s not like we had a busy night, rescuing all those people from the ship of personas.

  I have a good idea how to get to the house in Chuluota, but I accept Meeka’s instructions just to be sure. Tommy says there are at least two security guards stationed outside.

  But when I arrive, there’s no one there.

  And the front door’s not even locked.

  I walk inside, shift into the dark living room, and stare at the marks on the floor where the engine once stood.

  Yep. It’s gone.

  My bad luck is now legendary.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  I stand in the empty living room, feeling sorry for myself—

  While back in the Hood, I’m with Keane and the girls and doing the same.

  Meeka drapes an arm around my shoulders. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out. Tommy thinks your Dad had the engine moved. We just need to find Zach, find the engine, and get you home.”

  “Should I go back to Zach’s house?”

  “No, stay there,” Keane says. “In case he calls back. You told that kid at the gas station you’d be there.”

  “That’s right, but what if I’m too far from the engine? Wait a minute. What if it’s not even in Florida anymore?”

  “Don’t go there, okay?” Steffanie asks. “Just don’t.”

  “Meeka, get with Wexx,” I say. “I think he was the last guy with Zach. See what he knows.”

  “Good idea.”

  We left Wexx and the rest of the rumms at the safe house. According to Wexx, he convinced (probably forced) Zach to give them the neutralizing agent, allowing them to jump into their personas.

  Once that happened, they became vulnerable. The Masks of Galleon swooped down, captured them, and forced them to use their personas to become part of their ship.

  Fortunately, Zach’s a former member of the Monkshood, and his wreath no longer functions, so he’s not vulnerable.

  Yet now I’m wondering if Wexx never told us the truth about Zach. Maybe he did something to the man. Maybe…

  I dig through one of the kitchen drawers and find an
old pen, along with a flyer for a lawn service company that my dad never threw out. I scribble a message for Zach:

  Leaving here and going to the safe house. Going to take some mirage. Meet me there.

  I inform the others what I’m doing. “I’ll just take a tiny bit, and who knows, maybe Julie will come back for me before then…”

  “Don’t count on it,” Meeka says. “She’s got her own fight.”

  I leave the house and get back on the road. The dashboard clock reads 7:48 p.m. My wreath’s a ticking bomb, and my chest already aches.

  Maybe I’ll find some mirage and buy myself more time. Exactly how much I’m not sure. Hopefully enough until Zach finds me.

  And if he doesn’t, then… what an annoying way to die.

  Of course this could’ve been Solomon’s plan all along.

  When he realized that I was here with Julie and that my persona was back on Flora, he did everything he could to separate us.

  Still, I thought he wanted to recruit me for the armadis. My blood type is laurel, and the trrunes allow me to see where people jump. I’m supposed to be valuable. If I become a Lord of Galleon, Solomon will earn his little promotion and achievement badge.

  However, maybe he gave up on recruiting me, so now he has orders to eliminate the threat.

  What sucks even more is if I die like this, then I can’t give my immortal to anyone or pass down the others inside me. I’m still carrying Lori, Alina, Hollis, and my father. That’s four precious immortals that’ll be lost forever.

  As I drive, Meeka and Steffanie discuss who had mirage and where they kept it in the safe house. They ask Keane if he knows anything. He says Blink, the blind rumm who wound up turning against us, had the largest stash, so I’ll check his room first.

  “Guys, if none of this works out, I just want to say—”

  “Shut up, Doc,” Steffanie says. “We’ll figure this out.”

  I shake my head and stare at them. “Don’t look at me like that?”

  “Like what?” Meeka asks.

  “Like I’m already dead.”

  “There has to be something else we can do. How far are you from the safe house?” she asks.

  I’m about to answer when something flashes through the passenger’s side window.

  Oh, no. I wasn’t paying attention.

  I just ran a red light. I’m passing through the intersection, and another car’s about to T-bone me in three, two—

  The impact slams me into the door.

  Every window explodes.

  Now I’m in the air, the car’s rolling over, onto the roof, and then it comes crashing down.

  I’m spinning, getting knocked away by another car. More glass shatters. Plastic snaps. Metal twists and wails. Rubber burns. BOOM!

  Another impact blasts the car back onto its wheels.

  More hot air whips into the cabin. I gag over the stench of gasoline as—

  Something slams into my head… and then…

  Darkness.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  I open my eyes, and for just a few seconds, I’m back in the Hood with Keane and the girls, ready to tell them I’ve been in a major car accident.

  But then the place disappears around my persona.

  A pinprick of light appears in the sea of blackness. I lean toward it, squinting and wondering with a shiver if this is a near-death experience.

  The light grows larger and brighter. The light forms into a face, a glowing face.

  Is that Julie? Is she here to save me?

  No, that’s not her.

  Is it Zach? I shout his name.

  Wait, he can’t jump in his persona. It’s someone else.

  Oh, no. I recognize that smirk and that thin, spiky hair.

  The face grows into Solomon’s fully armored body, the cape fluttering as we stand in the middle of nothingness. He snorts and shakes his head.

  I don’t waste a second and lunge at him—

  But he jumps away.

  And something’s wrong. I’m in my persona but I couldn’t pick up his trrune. I don’t know where he is. I spin around.

  He stands behind me, looking bored as he digs beneath his breast plate for a pack of cigarettes and a Zippo lighter. The metal lighter’s thick, rectangular, and flips back like a Pez dispenser before he fires up a cigarette.

  After taking an enormously long drag, the cigarette’s tip glowing a bright red, he exhales smoke and asks in a very calm voice, “How are you?”

  I just glare at him.

  And now he frowns. “What? Does my cigarette bother you? They’ve allowed me one pleasure.”

  I just want to rip his head off for murdering my parents and my grandparents and for destroying Flora. I can’t even control my breath. I’m drooling with the desire to kill him.

  “What is this? What happened?” I ask.

  He laughs. “What happened? My daughter fell in love with you. That’s what happened.”

  “She doesn’t love me.”

  “That’s not what I heard.”

  “What did you hear?”

  “That she’s been holding back all these years, just waiting for you to catch up. But now she’s ready to teach you how to be a man. How to… love… like a man.”

  I glance around at the darkness. “This isn’t real. You’re just blocking the Hood.”

  “That’s right. You’re stressed out and your guard’s down and I’m reading your mind. I’ve read hers, too. And she does love you.”

  “You just want to use me, and you’re wasting your time if you still think I’ll make a deal.”

  He aims his cigarette at me. “Oh, this time you’ll take it.”

  “What’s the armadis? I mean, what is it really?”

  “It’s your new family.”

  I raise my voice. “Are you deaf?”

  “I hear you perfectly. And you will join us.”

  “After what you did?”

  “Yes—because now you have a problem. You’re hanging between life and death, and I’m the only one who can save you. So here’s how we play. I jump you back to Flora, you get your persona back in your body, and then you join us. You’re a Lord of Galleon. That means you can save Julie from them, and then the two of you can be together.”

  “I don’t need your help.”

  “Really? Do you still think my daughter’s coming to take you home? She can’t.”

  “What’re you doing to her?”

  “Not me…”

  I grind my teeth, step forward, and get in his face. “If they hurt her—”

  “I know it’s terrible, Doc. So come on, let’s get the hell out of here so you can save her.”

  “She’s your daughter. You save her!”

  “I can’t. You think I’ve had a choice in any of this? Listen to me, Doc. I had no choice… but you do…”

  “I don’t—because I’ll never join the Armadis. I mean, what part of that sentence do you not understand?”

  He sighs in disgust and glances around, growing more frustrated. “Okay, so your plan is to stay on Earth and die?”

  I talk through my teeth. “Are you done?”

  “Doc, no one’s coming for you. Your boy Zach is gone.”

  “No, he’s not.”

  “We picked him up and sent him home to Flora—after he told us where to find the engine. We’re the Masks of Galleon. Who do you think you’re dealing with? The B Team?”

  “No. You’re the Murderers of Galleon.”

  He turns and waves his hand. The Hood reappears, with Keane and the girls drumming fists on an invisible wall. They’re screaming, but of course he’s locked them out of our conversation, and I can’t hear them.

  I’m trying to figure out how he’s made this connection to me and controls it.

  And then I realize what he’s done: he’s connected to Julie, who must be still connected to me—

  Which means she’s probably watching this right now.

  So I have an idea:

  “I guess l
etting me die would score big points with Julie, right? Or maybe she’ll never look at you again.”

  “I can’t save her, Doc. But I can save you—”

  “Yeah, so you can save yourself. What happens if you don’t recruit me?”

  His expression darkens.

  “I’ll tell you what happens,” I continue. “I know you guys need to rebuild your ship with more personas, so they’ll just take a failure like you and turn you into a toilet or something. Am I right?”

  Without warning, his body flashes into a mask.

  Blue cobwebs of energy leap from his eyes and strike my chest. Blinding hot pain knocks me to my knees. I curse as the bolts fade. A chill rips across my shoulders.

  A shadow passes over me.

  It’s Solomon, back in his armor. I’m too weak to stand. He offers his hand. “My way or the highway, bitch.”

  I just shake my head and curse at him.

  What’s that beeping noise? I glance over my shoulder.

  “Ignore that,” Solomon warns me. “We’re not finished.” He drops his cigarette and crushes it with his glowing boot.

  I gesture to Keane and the girls. “You can block them,” I tell him, “but you can’t break my connection. And now I can feel it. You’re getting weaker. You can’t keep me here anymore. I can break this connection right now.”

  He reaches for me. “Don’t do it!”

  “Adios, bitch…”

  My eyes snap open. My real eyes.

  And then I gasp.

  Because my situation just went from bad—

  To worse. Much worse.

  I’m lying in a bed… inside a hospital, the very last place on Earth any Floran should be, the place where they have cat scans that can see your wreath and tests that detect the alien things in your blood.

  Hospitals. My father’s worst nightmare. He did everything he could to keep me away from them. We had our own doctor because he always said it was “safer.”

  And now… here I am.

  Curtains hang to my left and right, with a wall opposite me partially blocked by more curtains.

  Beyond them lie rolling carts of medial equipment. People in scrubs walk by. A cop the size of Colossus and with a badge just as shiny chats with a nurse.