Read Alan Price and the Colossus of Rhodes (The Nephilim Chronicles) Online
Authors: Jonathan Yanez
Chapter 36
“Hey, hey, you can’t do that.
That’s littering.”
The student took a step back with a
wide-open mouth.
At first, the student looked like
he was going to respond. Dominic could feel a smile touch his lips as details
on exactly how he planned to kill this one took shape in his mind. His hopes
soon faded as the student thought better of his plan and instead bit his tongue
and started backing away.
The student complied with a large
swallow and lost himself in the crowd seconds later. Dominic allowed himself to
chuckle before turning his attention back to the busy school campus. Students
piled out of multiple doors as they hurried along to their next class or home if
they were done with their collegiate duties for the day. Dominic kept his eyes
glued on one door in particular.
Dominic studied each face as they
exited the classroom until the face he was looking for appeared. Kyle was
average height, lanky and wore thick glasses. He walked hunkered down as if the
weight of the world were on his shoulders. Unlike the other students leaving
the class, Kyle wasn’t talking with anyone. No friendly banter passed between
him and a companion. Instead, Kyle avoided eye contact with passersby and was
the first to move out of the way when someone was walking too close to him.
“It’s Kyle, right?” Dominic said
with a friendly grin.
Dominic threw an arm around Kyle
who tensed under the motion as they continued to walk, “No, you don’t know me
yet but you will. My name is Dominic Drencher and I am going to be your best
friend.”
“Oh, but I’m not selling just anything.
I’m here to give you something. And trust me, you do want my gift.”
Kyle looked up shocked as he
nodded.
Dominic knew he had him as Kyle
looked up into his sunglasses with an open mouth and nodded again.
Dominic chuckled aloud as they
continued to walk through the busy campus grounds. “You let me worry about
that. All I need in exchange is a book that you have in your possession.”
“Yes, that’s right. It would be old
with a beaten leather cover. It has a picture of a spear crossed with a sword
on the front. Probably a family heirloom passed down throughout the years.”
“Never mind the why, do you have
it?”
Dominic stopped walking and turned
to his unlikely companion, questioning his nonchalant response, “What do you
mean, ‘nope’?”
Dominic could feel wrath boil in
his chest. Kyle continued talking as if nothing of interest was happening. “He
turned crazy as he got older. He kept going on about angels and demons and that
the book could change the fate of the world and blah, blah, blah...”
Dominic could feel the heat in his
face subside for the briefest moment, “Wait, what did you just say?”
“Never mind my glasses, do you
still remember what was in the book?”
Dominic let out a long breath of
air. He would be spared from Ardat’s wrath. If the boy was telling the truth
and he had memorized the Chronicle’s information, Kyle would be just as good as
the Chronicle itself.
Chapter 37
As blurring city images passed,
Alan followed Angelica at a dead sprint. Only when they were in the center of
the college campus did Angelica call a halt. She chose a large grouping of
trees and bushes yards away from any student to finally stop and talk into her
earpiece. “Valkyrie, we’re here. Do you have an exact location on Kyle Brown?”
“Hacking into government satellite
feeds isn’t as easy as it sounds… That—that didn’t make sense. Hacking
into government satellites doesn’t even sound easy at all. Hold on, and, uh
oh.”
“What? What is ‘Uh oh’?” Alan
asked. “Like ‘Uh oh’ we have the wrong campus or ‘Uh oh’ we are all going to
die?”
“Like ‘Uh oh’ Dominic Drencher is
already walking Kyle away from the campus.”
“Which way?” Angelica asked.
“Go straight and make a right at
the last building. You’ll see a large parking lot. That’s where they are
headed. Be careful, guys.”
Angelica nodded towards Alan and
the two took off again. Fear more than anything else pushed its way through
Alan’s mess of emotions. Dominic was there. The same man who had beaten him in
his own home. Angelica was with him now but he was still learning. He wasn’t
ready for a fight with a demonic Nephilim, not yet.
Alan almost knocked into her. They
were facing a smiling Dominic Drencher who stood only yards away. Beside him
was another man who had to be Kyle Brown. The young man hugged his backpack
looking frantically between Dominic, Angelica and Alan.
Alan looked around. Although the
parking lot was near empty, plenty of college students still walked within view
and hearing distance of their confrontation. A few even paused as they walked
by sensing the tension of the moment.
“Kyle Brown already knows,” Dominic
interrupted. “We have an understanding. His knowledge for everything he has
ever wanted. What would you offer him? A life of service void of any vengeance
and the retribution he deserves to cast on those who have oppressed him?”
Kyle seemed confused as he made the
motion to speak yet no words came out. Alan almost felt bad for Kyle as he
stood with a bewildered expression, his head turning from side to side as he
looked back and forth between the two parties vying for his allegiance.
Alan empathized with Kyle more than
he thought he should. He knew what was going through the young man’s mind.
Kyle’s life didn’t sound so different from his own. With a few things in
history changed, Alan could have very likely been in Kyle’s position. Just as
Alan opened his mouth to try to convince Kyle, Kyle spoke to Angelica and Alan.
Alan already knew they were
defeated. Angelica’s response sounded like defeat in his ears. “No we cannot. On
our side, only a select few are chosen. Kyle, trust me, ours is not a life you
would choose if you knew the sacrifice involved. I cannot give you vengeance
but I can offer you peace.”
“Well, there you have it,” Dominic
said. “He’s coming with me by choice. The only way you can stop us now is
through force.” Dominic paused as he looked around the school parking lot. “And
we both know if you did that, dozens of lives would be lost even if you could
stop me. By the way, I’m being very generous when I say that. We both know even
the two of you wouldn’t stand a chance.”
Alan felt sick as he witnessed the
two men leave. A bitter taste entered his throat and no matter how many times
he swallowed, it wouldn’t go away.
Why didn’t you say something? Why didn’t
you say anything?
he asked himself. “We can’t just let them go. We have to
do something,” he finally said.
Alan stood with a nauseating
feeling in the pit of his stomach as Dominic and Kyle vanished from sight.
“What now?” he asked.
Chapter 38
“No,” Jacob said. “It’s not your
fault. It’s not anyone’s fault. We did exactly what we should have. They were
just one step ahead, that’s it.”
Just when Alan couldn’t take the
silence anymore the sound of the warehouse doors sliding open met their ears. Within
moments, Michael walked through the conference room door. Immediately the
tension in the room eased. Michael’s green eyes were twinkling and a smile came
to his lips when he saw the waiting group. “Wow, let’s take it easy in here,
people. Nobody died. We’re going to be okay.”