Chapter 16
A loud noise woke Bone from his sleep. Becoming more alert he felt a sharp pain in his neck from laying his head over after falling asleep on his shop couch.
Opening one dry eye he could see Jax rustling around the shop benches and he appeared to have his shotgun strapped to his back and somehow he got some old work boots over his injured foot.
He looked like he was prepared for battle.
“The hell you doin’ preparin’ for war?” he said.
“No, goin’ huntin’. Koda hunting”
Bone was wide awake now.
“You are not going to kill my nephew,” he said forcefully stopping Jax in his tracks.
“He’s an animal, he killed your family. He’s not just going to all of a sudden feel remorse and come home to apologize. He has to be stopped.”
“No.” Bone slammed Jax into the wall pinning him there.
“He’s the only family I have left, I refuse to just go out and kill him over something that isn’t his fault.”
Jax shoved Bone off of him and straightened the shotgun strap around his shoulder, “fine, stay here and mope about it but I’m going to stop him.”
As walked passed him, Jax stopped and looked Bone in the eye, “he killed my best friend; his brother and his mother, that’s not something you can justify.”
Bone let him go feeling helpless but anger was beginning to mix in with it.
He needed to find Koda before Jax did.
He grabbed his old truck keys from a hook near his office door and left. Not sure where to start but something told him to head west.
The tickling feeling of something crawling on his neck caused Koda to smack at his face but that turned out to be a bad move as he discovered what was crawling on his face was a scorpion and out of fear it lunged its stinger into his wrist.
“Ow! Damn it!” yelled tossing the scorpion away from him.
He looked at the sting wound and it was already starting to swell. “Thanks,” he said as the scorpion scurried away into a rock bed.
His surroundings looked familiar to him when he noticed where he was laying. The tree that was providing him shade was the same tree he stopped to rest last night.
He suddenly remembered what happened. Jumping up from he was laying he searched for his bike but the search didn’t last long as he found it right behind him perched to the tree and it appeared not to have a scratch on it and hanging off the handle bar was his leather jacket.
Even his skin wasn’t scarred nor had any signs of injury from his high speed slide on the highway.
“Good morning to you.” A deep but whispery voice came from above him in the tree; he looked up to see Iah lightly lying on a thick branch. It appeared that he was just floating with the branch barely supporting his body, like a feather.
“The hell was that last night?” Koda said angrily.
Iah smiled gently, his body evaporated into a mist; he floated into the air gracefully then materialized in front of Koda with his same gentle smile, like an overly understanding friend.
“I can be two forces: violent and peaceful, which do you prefer?” his eyes bore into Koda’s.
Koda didn’t answer and tried to avoid Iah’s gaze.
“Have you ever noticed how evil can be the most cowardly force and yet the most destructive? Hate and destruction are easy but resisting it is the challenge.”
“What do you want from me?” he asked. Iah drifted closer to him as he felt his energy drain from him but he wasn’t feeling tired but more…at ease.
Without saying a word, Iah gently laid his hand on Koda’s head, closing his eyes as if trying to read his mind.
Koda fell into a trance as if he was no longer in control of his mind as Iah searched through his memories.
Koda’s memories flowed through Iah’s own mind. Some of them clouded by age, others clear and some appeared to be dream memories. He was searching for a memory in particular, one that would determine Koda’s life. Some memories were full of pain especially one that involved a very young Koda, about 5 or 6 standing near a burial. A school…so much anger, a diner, then finally last night.
He reached the end of Koda’s memories, he did not find that memory he was looking for. He took his hand off Koda feeling bewildered but relieved all at once.
Koda came to from his trance, his mind felt shuffled and disorganized but he was feeling less fuzzy now. “Did ya find anything interesting?” he said rubbing his eyes.
“You didn’t do it…” he said staring out in the distance.
Koda didn’t understand, “Huh? Do what?” he asked.
Iah looked back at him looking saddened but calm, “You didn’t kill them.”
“Kill who?”
“Your family…you didn’t kill your family.”
Suddenly Koda’s throat and chest tightened. He couldn’t breathe. Iah’s words made no sense to him.
My family’s dead?
His once calm mind was now filled with anger.
The highway was long and deserted, not a soul was out here except for the buzzards that soared above waiting for anyone or animal to die. Bone was certainly feeling like he wanted to die. His body was shaking, sweat rolled down his face stinging his eyes. His hands burned and throbbed like something was trying crawl out of them.
He hadn’t felt this way in years and he couldn’t understand why it was happened again. He thought he rid himself of this.
The pain spread from his hands up to his arms but he kept his eyes open on the road. A strange figure appeared ahead of him, it was hazy like a mirage. He was obviously losing it more and more. As he drove further he noticed the image was going away, in fact he was getting closer. When the figure wasn’t moving Bone had to jerk the wheel to the left to avoid hitting the person but he was in so much pain he couldn’t control the truck as it teetered on its side and rolled 3 times into the dirt. The sound busting glass and crushing metal was deafening as Bone tried to shield himself from the impact. Finally the truck stopped rolling but he jammed stuck inside with glass all around him and the smell of gasoline filled the air.
He was going to die if he didn’t get out of there.
You can’t die; you know that, Bone sadly reminded himself. He could hear someone walking towards the truck; maybe a passerby watched him crash and was offering him help.
Then he saw a furry shoulder and raggedy long black hair.
This was not a person to help him…but to bring him back to hell.
“Achack, Achack…did you really think you could escape forever?”
The Skinwalker Bone prayed he’d never see again was now standing outside his busted windshield.
A loud noise woke Bone from his sleep. Becoming more alert he felt a sharp pain in his neck from laying his head over after falling asleep on his shop couch.
Opening one dry eye he could see Jax rustling around the shop benches and he appeared to have his shotgun strapped to his back and somehow he got some old work boots over his injured foot.
He looked like he was prepared for battle.
“The hell you doin’ preparin’ for war?” he said.
“No, goin’ huntin’. Koda hunting”
Bone was wide awake now.
“You are not going to kill my nephew,” he said forcefully stopping Jax in his tracks.
“He’s an animal, he killed your family. He’s not just going to all of a sudden feel remorse and come home to apologize. He has to be stopped.”
“No.” Bone slammed Jax into the wall pinning him there.
“He’s the only family I have left, I refuse to just go out and kill him over something that isn’t his fault.”
Jax shoved Bone off of him and straightened the shotgun strap around his shoulder, “fine, stay here and mope about it but I’m going to stop him.”
As walked passed him, Jax stopped and looked Bone in the eye, “he killed my best friend; his brother and his mother, that’s not something you can justify.”
Bone let him go feeling helpless but anger was beginning to mix in with it.
He needed to find Koda before Jax did.
He grabbed his old truck keys from a hook near his office door and left. Not sure where to start but something told him to head west.
The tickling feeling of something crawling on his neck caused Koda to smack at his face but that turned out to be a bad move as he discovered what was crawling on his face was a scorpion and out of fear it lunged its stinger into his wrist.
“Ow! Damn it!” yelled tossing the scorpion away from him.
He looked at the sting wound and it was already starting to swell. “Thanks,” he said as the scorpion scurried away into a rock bed.
His surroundings looked familiar to him when he noticed where he was laying. The tree that was providing him shade was the same tree he stopped to rest last night.
He suddenly remembered what happened. Jumping up from he was laying he searched for his bike but the search didn’t last long as he found it right behind him perched to the tree and it appeared not to have a scratch on it and hanging off the handle bar was his leather jacket.
Even his skin wasn’t scarred nor had any signs of injury from his high speed slide on the highway.
“Good morning to you.” A deep but whispery voice came from above him in the tree; he looked up to see Iah lightly lying on a thick branch. It appeared that he was just floating with the branch barely supporting his body, like a feather.
“The hell was that last night?” Koda said angrily.
Iah smiled gently, his body evaporated into a mist; he floated into the air gracefully then materialized in front of Koda with his same gentle smile, like an overly understanding friend.
“I can be two forces: violent and peaceful, which do you prefer?” his eyes bore into Koda’s.
Koda didn’t answer and tried to avoid Iah’s gaze.
“Have you ever noticed how evil can be the most cowardly force and yet the most destructive? Hate and destruction are easy but resisting it is the challenge.”
“What do you want from me?” he asked. Iah drifted closer to him as he felt his energy drain from him but he wasn’t feeling tired but more…at ease.
Without saying a word, Iah gently laid his hand on Koda’s head, closing his eyes as if trying to read his mind.
Koda fell into a trance as if he was no longer in control of his mind as Iah searched through his memories.
Koda’s memories flowed through Iah’s own mind. Some of them clouded by age, others clear and some appeared to be dream memories. He was searching for a memory in particular, one that would determine Koda’s life. Some memories were full of pain especially one that involved a very young Koda, about 5 or 6 standing near a burial. A school…so much anger, a diner, then finally last night.
He reached the end of Koda’s memories, he did not find that memory he was looking for. He took his hand off Koda feeling bewildered but relieved all at once.
Koda came to from his trance, his mind felt shuffled and disorganized but he was feeling less fuzzy now. “Did ya find anything interesting?” he said rubbing his eyes.
“You didn’t do it…” he said staring out in the distance.
Koda didn’t understand, “Huh? Do what?” he asked.
Iah looked back at him looking saddened but calm, “You didn’t kill them.”
“Kill who?”
“Your family…you didn’t kill your family.”
Suddenly Koda’s throat and chest tightened. He couldn’t breathe. Iah’s words made no sense to him.
My family’s dead?
His once calm mind was now filled with anger.
The highway was long and deserted, not a soul was out here except for the buzzards that soared above waiting for anyone or animal to die. Bone was certainly feeling like he wanted to die. His body was shaking, sweat rolled down his face stinging his eyes. His hands burned and throbbed like something was trying crawl out of them.
He hadn’t felt this way in years and he couldn’t understand why it was happened again. He thought he rid himself of this.
The pain spread from his hands up to his arms but he kept his eyes open on the road. A strange figure appeared ahead of him, it was hazy like a mirage. He was obviously losing it more and more. As he drove further he noticed the image was going away, in fact he was getting closer. When the figure wasn’t moving Bone had to jerk the wheel to the left to avoid hitting the person but he was in so much pain he couldn’t control the truck as it teetered on its side and rolled 3 times into the dirt. The sound busting glass and crushing metal was deafening as Bone tried to shield himself from the impact. Finally the truck stopped rolling but he jammed stuck inside with glass all around him and the smell of gasoline filled the air.
He was going to die if he didn’t get out of there.
You can’t die; you know that, Bone sadly reminded himself. He could hear someone walking towards the truck; maybe a passerby watched him crash and was offering him help.
Then he saw a furry shoulder and raggedy long black hair.
This was not a person to help him…but to bring him back to hell.
“Achack, Achack…did you really think you could escape forever?”
The Skinwalker Bone prayed he’d never see again was now standing outside his busted windshield.
Victoria (:
Isabella
