Terran Knights: Chapter 37

It was an orange type of day, the sun lazily hanging in the air. A light breeze rolled through the air, getting stopped and trapped behind buildings. People out and about with cars on the street despite the staleness of the air. Marco stood on the edge of the bridge staring over at the river, as the waves moved slowly.

He tried to come up with plans and contingencies for when the big day came but he was blocked by stress and second guessing. It had been a solid week since Ley disappeared, he had no idea what the last gift it gave them was but it was really hard to plan for something that he had no idea about.

They all met in the dream a few times, talk strategy and if anyone had seen anything strange but it was the same. Nothing going on. Nothing changing. The only news that he could report or understand was the fact that Seth had been on the mend and was almost back to one hundred percent which was a weight off his mind. Apparently, Ben was going to be leaving the city for a while which he agreed with. Likely the city was going to be ground zero of the fight for good or ill.

Marco dug his fingers into his hair and pressed his head against the metal railing of the bridge that separated him from tipping over into the river. Not that that would kill him. He could transform at a whim and suddenly he’d be a red armored, gun wielding warrior ready to swim to shore and fight embarrassment. Or he could not and just drown and let that be someone else’s problem.

Pushing away from the bridge he sighed and shoved both his hands into his pockets. Getting away from the dreary thought and question he crossed the bridge feeling it shake as a truck passed over the bridge and laughed to himself. He may not jump but it could just break and fall beneath his feet and then he’d definitely transform to keep himself alive.

Sitting up he crossed the bridge, his feet kept moving him forward. He was so deep in his own head he didn’t know where they were taking him though it was familiar. His legs crossed the street, took a few rights, and then went straight. It wasn’t until he felt the elevation change and realized that he was on stairs that he suddenly started paying attention again.

It was a small pier against the river that extended straight into lake itself. There were pillars with small cubby holes for smokers to put out their cigarettes instead of the water itself. There was a broken box where a life preserver should have been but was missing its primary contents. A few steps were there that led into the water itself. Across the water there was another identical looking pier.

Walking toward the edge he sat down and stared at the water. Grasping at the ground for anything to pick up he had nothing to work with. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a nickel and stared at the face side and then the tails side. Turning it in his hands and flung it across the river. It bounced twice across the surface and then sank.

He stared at where it went away and just felt the emptiness in his chest. Not because he felt that they didn’t have any hope but because he missed his best friend. He missed Jack’s optimism and his absolute faith in not just himself but in Marco.

“We’re really up shit’s creek,” he said to himself. “And I really wish you were here Jack. You may not have known what to do but you’d throw ideas at the wall until something stuck and then throw it at me with confidence.”

He laughed but leaned his head forward and shut his eyes as the tears pricked at the edges of his eyes. He covered his face and just let his tears follow. He kept his head down and cried resting his head against his arm and between his legs. Biting his lip, he tried to contain it but he just couldn’t. Every idea sounded farfetched and end with all of them dead and the rest of the planet worse.

“I’m sorry Jack,” he said gritting his teeth together. “I don’t know if I can do it. If I can keep my promise. I don’t know if I can protect any of us.”

He shook his head grinding his teeth against one another and pulled his hair hard. Slowly though he felt arms around his shoulders and waist. He felt the arms pulling back slightly and he knew the smell of her shampoo and the gentleness of her touch. Sarah put her head on top of his and he shuddered.

Sarah stroked his arms and kissed the top of his head holding him tightly as his tears fell. He squeezed her hand, lacing her fingers with his own and shut his eyes shuddering. Breathing slowly, he moved her hand to his face and kissed her hand gently.

He wiped his eyes and looked back at her. She stroked his cheek wiping away the tears and he saw her own tears being held back. She kissed his forehead then his lips lightly and he pulled her even closer before breaking away. “What are you doing here?”

“You think I didn’t notice how weird you were this morning?” she asked as she continued stroking his cheek. “Or that I wouldn’t know where you would go. I’ve come here since then too.”

She pointed not far away from them at the wall that connected the two piers. Marco could see the triangle scratched into the wall with a J, an M, and an S at the corners and a heart in the center. It was a little faded but Marco smiled, “I remember when he did that.”

“He fell in the water. We had to drag him back out,” the smiled creeped back onto her face. “It sounds weird but I’ve been feeling him more and more. Just around me. Making stupid jokes. Trying to make me laugh or smile. He’s with us still. I really believe that. I have to.”

“I do too,” Sarah pulled him too his feet slowly and he smiled down at her. “I’m supposed to be protecting you and you’re taking care of me.”

“Just like you’ll always be there for me, I’m there for you. No matter what.”

She smiled up at him ready to say more and froze. Marco turned too and went still. They saw a dark shape in the sky appearing out of nowhere. It was some sort of massive rectangle. Their hearts dropped fear trying to take them over. And in a flash, a green light appeared, so bright it eclipsed the sun. Both of them averted their eyes, feeling it burn into their retinas.

Then a wave of noise that they could feel washed over them. It set off car alarms and they even heard a few windows shatter. Both of them stared into the sky and the shape was still there but it was rapidly sinking toward the ground.

“What the hell was that?”

“I don’t know,” Marco said and grabbed his stone that glowed like a beacon. “But that thing is definitely them. We gotta go to work.”