Be Holden

Chapter 9: To Earth

You, Ether, and the minion have descended from the sky. Now, you all are sitting under a tree in silence. Ether keeps scanning the vicinity. It is as though he is waiting for something. Maybe he notices something you cannot. The minion crawls off of Ether's right knee. Its breathing has stopped for a moment. He looks at a distant shadow behind a tree. It is a small, still shadow. You cannot believe the minion is so paranoid. It is probably a stone. You look away and into the sky. It is dark red and cloudy. Something moves in your peripheral on the left of you. You look in that direction and nothing is there. There are little stone shaped shadows sitting beside the buttress tree roots. Ether stands up and the minion crawls up his bloody, flat sleeve to sit on the shoulder of his long, thin, and white vest. The vest has a deep neck pluge at its back that are forgiving to his wings, in which they flutter as he continues to look around. "Why did you stand up?" You ask. "Something is coming." He says.

"Well, that is really vague. Can you give me some details that will help me understand your alarmed state?"

"Hold on..."

He walks forward to a tree with a small, stone shaped shadow. "Can you help me with this?" He asks and looks at you. "What do you want me to do?" You ask.

"I want you to touch it."

"No."

"I need to know if it is some contraption that will snip our heads off."

You roll your eyes and push yourself to your feet. You jog over to Ether. You poke the shadow with your finger and it squirms. "Ew, it is slimy and sticky. What is that?" You ask. You rub your index finger and thumb together. The sticky muck wraps around your wrist and engraves itself into your skin. The black color lightens until it is silver. "My cousin is behind this. This is his brand markings." Ether says.

"Your cousin is doing this... Then tell him to stop!"

"It is not that simple. He is hunting you. I don't know why he wants you, but I have to get you out of here. Stand next to me."

A strong wind gust lifts you all into the air as his wings flap and sends you to the first half of the backyard of the manor. You run inside through the backdoor and your company follows you. The minion pushes the door and it closes.Thyme stomps down the stairs. He meets you all in the kitchen and a baffled look quickly etches itself onto his face. "Hello, cousin." Ether says. "What the hell are you doing here? You know that he will get mad, if he finds out you are in here." Thyme says.

"I am not leaving. This future tree is being hunted by your brother."

"I can handle it. I will protect it."

"Will you? When lust wraps your thoughts and your brother gives you an offer you can't refuse? We both know that he can be persuasive when he wants something that is not his."

"I can handle this. You should leave, now."

"Ishin is with him, the overseer of evil."

Thyme's expression turns to an exasperated one. He looks at Ether's bloody sleeves. Then he looks at the sink. He rubs his arm a few times and then he walks out of the kitchen. Ether walks out of the kitchen and leads you and the minion to the west wing of the manor. The windows on this side of the manor are black because of the sticky, mucky things squirming all over them. You all walk up to a stairwell. You go up and pass rooms full of white pods. Ether leads you all into one of the rooms. You look at Ether. "What is this? Why am I here?" You ask. "I am leaving, but I want you to be safe until the overseer of evil comes back." He says. He opens a pod. The minion hops in and waves its hand at you to get in. You shake your head at it. "You must get in or you will be eaten alive." Ether says. You shake your head and run out of the room, down the halls; back down the stairs. You run to the stairwell by the front door but you stop in the hall when you see Thyme talking to the old man that has a youthful voice. You eavesdrop."Brother, I don't have a problem with you or your lover I just want the tree." The old man says. "I can't..." Thyme says.

"You know I saw a fruit with Ether. That is strange. I am satisfied with growing my own tree for the Garden of Elixirs. Just give me the fruit."

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"You can't be choosing those strange overseers over your siblings? I am your brother! What about your sister? She cares about this matter too. We only have each other. Those two are outsiders that father felt bad for. It is so strange that father disappeared not too long after the overseer of this manor showed up."

"He didn't just show up. Father got him from elsewhere."

"Did he? Do you know that for sure? Did father tell you that?"

"Actually, he did. The day sister ran away. I do remember that you ran after her as soon as you found out she left. Now, you two are married to each other."

"It is better than her being the wife of the overseer of evil. Plus, he seems to have moved on easily. Now, he has this creature that he brought back from his world. I heard there were more of them but you killed most them. Why did you do that, brother? I thought you looked up to the overseer of evil? Why would you hate creatures from his world?"

"I-It does not matter."

You turn away and bump into Ether's moist, bloody sleeve. You look into his eyes and nod. "Brother, I see the fruit before my eyes. You don't have to do anything. Just allow me to chase it without your interference in here." The old man says. "You have thirty seconds." Thyme says.You run past Ether. Ether stays behind to fight the old man. You run up the stairs and hop into the pod the minion is laying in. You close the lid. Click. Beep. Beep. Beep. After a while you hear thumps that drift away. Beep. Beep. Beep. You are connected to machines with intravenous tubing. Your eyes squint until they adjust to the bright hospital lights. "Hubby, our baby is waking up. Look!" Your mother says.