The Fallen Parler: Part One (A supernatural mystery thriller) (18 page)

‘AHHHHHHHHHHHH!’ shrieked Damien Bukhari. He gawked at the gaping hole that Sasha’s blade had gored through his palm and realised that he could no longer draw fire. Before Semal could decipher the cause of his brother’s howl, Sasha had already positioned the second blade. It swam through the air like a darting hawk, goring the centre of Semal’s head. Semal’s wail was even more raucous than his brother’s. The Bukhari brothers fell to their knees, yelping in agonizing pain.

‘Good work Sasha!’ cried Felix, ‘they’re down… at least for now!’

Glancing at Junior, Felix uttered, ‘now do exactly as I say. You need to tap into your power – you need to freeze everything, right now! Grab Sasha and run as quickly as you can to the Willow Lodge.’

‘What about Charlotte!’

‘Don’t worry about her, I will cloak her with invisibility and we will run right after you, just not as fast, of course…when you get to the Lodge, I want you to find chalk. Use it to draw a ring around the cottage. Draw the ring all along the pebbles and grass, make sure every corner of the cottage is enclosed within the chalk loop.’

‘Chalk? How will that help the situation-’

‘Just do as I say!’ snapped Felix.

‘Okay,’ sighed Junior. The young man realised that he’d only ever once been able to manoeuvre his powers on command, and that was when he desperately needed sugar in his tea. Junior knew that he could do it again, but only if he focused with every last shred of will. Junior closed his eyes and recalled what Felix had told him the night before.
‘Think of your body as a magnet and your ability as the metal… it will be drawn to you naturally.’
Spreading his arms wide and clasping shut his eyes, Junior felt a pulse of energy dissipate within him. When he opened his eyes, he saw that time had stopped. Unlike the last occasion which he had conjured his power, there was no slow, dragging motion. Rather, every living entity was in a perfect freeze frame, aside from Junior himself. Junior lifted the frozen version of Sasha into his arms and bolted into the dark forest. The young man leapt between leafless trees; he could hear nothing but his own drumming heartbeat. His breaths, deep and laboured, soon became shallow, panicky gasps. When the Willow Lodge was within his sight, Junior began to sense the effect of his freeze frame wearing off. The sound of nature increased around him, and Sasha began to curl restlessly in his arms. Luchia’s bubble-gum car was nowhere in sight. When he’d reached the cottage and saw that no-one was at home, Junior tossed Sasha onto the couch and stormed into the doctor’s study.

‘Chalk, chalk… where is the chalk?’

Scattering Dr. Willow’s documents over the desk, Junior spotted a jar of white stone.

‘Chalk!’

He bolted out of study, leaving a trail of dishevelled papers behind him. Outside the cottage, Junior broke the gritted stone into two pieces and handed Sasha the other half. Together, they began to etch a white line which spanned the entire circumference of the cottage.

‘Wait up!’ called out a panting voice.

Felix and Charlotte materialized on the tapered bridge, sprinting as fast as they could, towards the large cottage. When they arrived, Felix and Charlotte stepped over the section of the white circle which had not yet been chalked.

‘Hurry up, they’re not far behind!’ said Felix, snatching the white stone from Sasha and chalking the rest of the circle. When the circumference was complete, a glossy permeable barrier assembled where the lines of white chalk had been. The barrier rose into the sky and curled above the house, forming a protective globe.

Felix dusted his hands.

‘Chalk is a natural protective enchantment,’ he muttered, ‘it blocks the powers of parlers.’

‘I wish you’d have said that before,’ croaked Junior, his throat dry with angst.

‘They’ll be here any moment,’ panted Charlotte, ‘Semal’s stab wound had already begun healing when we started running. I’m sure he’s ready to kill now.’

‘Grab some garlic!’ chanted Felix, stretching his gaze over the tapered bridge, ‘it’ll act as a deterrent.’

Sasha and Charlotte disappeared into the cottage and returned with a fistfuls of garlic. Felix clasped his hands over his mouth and let out a nauseous whimper.

‘Throw – it – out – there,’ gagged Felix, pointing to the world outside the glossy orb.

Charlotte and Sasha each launched pieces of garlic into the air. Outside the chalk shield, the garlic pieces dispersed along the lawn and the tapered bridge.

‘What will the garlic do?’

‘The garlic will repel the Bukhari brothers… but not for long,’ groaned Felix. ‘In all honesty, the scent is making me feel nauseous.’

Charlotte, Sasha and Junior scanned the land in anticipation and Felix crawled over the floor; the scent of garlic was slowly debilitating him. Colourful balls of fire flew into the air, signalling the arrival of the Bukhari brothers. They bolted over the tapered bridge with ease, like two synchronous panthers. Distressed by the pungent odour, Damien launched a sweltering ball of fire at the scattered pieces of garlic. After the repulsive odour cleared, he redirected his attention to the youngsters, who stood motionless, at the other side of the protective glossy orb.

‘The filthy mere thinks that she can stab Damien-Bukhari-The-Great,’ yelled Damien, his fiery eyes burning at Sasha, ‘you will die tonight, mere!’

The crazed parler balled another fist of fire, this time, aimed especially at Sasha. Junior, who was now well-practiced in his power, froze the ball in the air and shifted Sasha out of its firing range. However, when time resumed, the fiery ball hit the glossy membrane and rebounded as if it had been repelled.

‘You’ve made a chalk shield!’ sniggered Semal, hysterically, ‘you think it’s strong enough to keep us out!’

Damien launched another fiery ball at the membrane, which recoiled, just like the first. The wild-eyed parler roared in anger, ‘no one messes with the Bukhari brothers!’

Semal attempted to draw his foot over the chalk line and howled in excruciating pain. The glossy membrane above chalk was burning his flesh. With bounteous determination, he pressed his half-scorched leg across the membrane. Semal was resolute on traversing the barrier, no matter how much pain it caused. Not shaken by his brother’s cries, Damien started across the glossy chalk shield. The Bukhari brothers shrieked in agony; the chalk membrane was frying them alive. The pain only served as ammunition. When Semal had manoeuvred one side of his body over the glossy membrane, Sasha let out a panicky gasp. Felix staggered backwards; he had underestimated the determination of the brothers. Foolishly, he assumed that a chalk shield, formed of impure classroom chalk, was strong enough to keep them out. It was too late. They could not be stopped. The Bukhari brothers were set on killing someone tonight and Felix knew, better than anyone, that when the Bukhari brothers were set on something, they would never stop. Damien’s neck pressed through the membrane; his fiery eyes had swollen out of their sockets, he would soon transverse the barrier.

‘I WILL HAVE YOUR LIVES!’ squirmed Damien. Junior stumbled backwards, shaken by Damien Bukhari’s vigour. If the crazed parler had such energy amid being scorched in the chalk shield, Junior wondered what Damien would do once he had crossed the barrier. Invariably, he would scorch them all-in-one, with his impressive fiery balls. It was a shame, Junior had almost been ready to die on the icy lake, protecting Charlotte and Sasha. Their narrow escape had given him hope that, somehow, they could make it out alive. Semal let out his last cries. Soon, he would be over the glossy barrier.

Suddenly, an ear-splitting ‘BANG!’ filled the air and reverberated from all corners of the Willow Lodge. The ruckus was followed by a thunderous explosion of light and smoke, which thrust the Bukhari brothers onto the lawn. Two glistening headlights poked out from the smoke; a small car was fast approaching the Willow Lodge. Dr. Willow’s head emerged from the window; in his arms was a peculiar gun-like instrument. Moments later, the doctor’s burly silhouette appeared through the smoke. Brandishing his weapon at the Bukhari brothers, who were sprawled, barely conscious, over the front lawn, the doctor uttered the words, ‘be gone…at once!’

‘What is he holding?’ Charlotte whispered, astonished.

His startled blue eyes widening frightfully, Felix muttered, ‘I couldn’t tell you child, for I have never seen such a weapon, myself.’

‘Be gone, or die!’ the doctor threatened again, levelling the gun-like weapon at Damien Bukhari.

Charlotte was positive that Dr. Willow’s exploding bomb had disabled the powers of the Bukhari brothers because, as Damien curled his fist, expecting a colourful fireball to materialize, nothing appeared.

‘You heard me!’ bellowed Dr. Willow, ‘off my land! And do not return here again!’

Semal made a small attempt at the doctor, but Damien, who sensed that the battle was lost, stopped in his tracks. Spitting on the ground in sync, the Bukhari brother’s yelled, ‘we’ll be back for your lives!’

Dr. Willow’s weapon followed the Bukhari brothers as they disappeared into the night. The doctor spotted Felix, who had forgotten to phaze back into invisibility, and mounted his weapon again.

‘He’s with us!’ cried Sasha.

Dr. Willow curled his finger away from the gadget’s trigger and lowered his weapon, ‘you’ve got some explaining to do,’ he muttered.

‘And so do you, Doctor.’

Thank you for reading The Fallen Parler Part 1

If you enjoyed reading this book, be sure to download Part 2.

Reviews are always appreciated!

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