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The alarm sounded in Frank’s room, waking Joe from his sleep. He cringed. Even in the summer, Frank always woke to a regular schedule.
“I should try hiding that thing tonight,” he thought as he turned in bed and finally drifted back to sleep.
In his room, Frank shut off his alarm. He had wanted to get up early to add on more to a new webpage he was designing. He had stayed up until late the previous night and wanted to get going early. As he got out of bed he expected to see Joe coming into his room, wanting to yell at him for putting the alarm so early on a summer day. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard his brother going back to sleep.
As he moved about the room, he thought back to the previous case. Until that time he didn’t believe that ghosts were real. Meeting Jim and Hannah changed his mind. In fact a lot of things happened over the summer that changed his mind when it came to things like aliens and the supernatural. Looking down at his hands, it still amazed him that he had the ability to control fire. Taking a glance at the picture on his desk, he thought about his new brother Dan. The Phoenix was true in that no one came looking for Dan and accepted that he was a cousin that had come to live with them. Now he and his father Fenton were due to come back from a camping and fishing trip in a couple of days.
After changing into lounging clothes and cleaning up, he sat as his computer. A few minutes later he began scratching at a patch of skin on his forearm. Looking down he saw that the entire top half of his forearm was covered in a rash!
“Must have brushed up against some poison ivy,” he thought as he went into the bathroom to put some cream on his skin.
Taking a peak into his brother’s room, he could see the blond head was still tucked underneath his blankets. Looking down at his forearm again he couldn’t understand where he could have brushed up against poison ivy. They had taken care to remove it from their mom’s garden when it tried to creep in, and they were always careful when they went to the beach.
Joe opened his eyes and was finally able to keep them open. Shaking his head he still couldn’t figure out why Frank would choose not to sleep in. Getting out of bed he stepped on his right leg and winced. Looking down he saw an ugly looking bruise on his right calf. Touching it, it hurt even more. He changed and limped into the bathroom, to clean up. Afterwards he went into his brother’s bedroom to find him sitting in his computer chair, typing fast on his keyboard.
“Morning,” Frank said without turning around.
“Morning. Did you sleep OK?” Joe asked.
“OK I think. Did you?”
Joe looked down at his leg. “I don’t know. I woke up with a large bruise on my calf.”
Frank turned around and was alarmed to see the ugly bruise on his brother’s calf. He got up and came over to get a closer look.
“How did you do this?” he demanded.
Joe shrugged. “I don’t know. I just woke up with it.”
“You better go put some ice on it. I’ll be down in a minute,” he said.
Just as he was about to leave, Joe noticed the rash on his brother’s arm.
“Did you rub up against some poison ivy?” he asked.
Frank looked at his arm. “I honestly don’t know either. I put some cream on it, and it’s stopped itching a little bit. I guess we’re both more tired than we thought.”
Joe nodded. “I guess so.” He felt his stomach grumble and left for some food.
In her bedroom, Staci woke up to Boomer whining at her. She couldn’t understand why until she looked down at her pillowcase. It had blood on it! Looking in the mirror she saw dried blood trails that led from her nostrils. Cleaning her face, she assured Boomer that she was OK. She put the pillowcases to wash and fed him. Touching her nose, she winced. It felt as if she had been punched very hard. Walking around, she also felt a little nauseated. Her throat was dry, and her mouth tasted funny, as if she had been throwing up all night. Swallowing some juice, she felt her stomach cramp over, like she hadn’t eaten for a long time. She sat on the floor.
“What’s going on?” she thought as Boomer came over to her.
The dog licked her face and pushed his head under her hands. She pet his head and scratched behind his ears. Shaking her head she could only think of how her father would have reacted had he been there. Getting up from the floor she let Boomer outside and stood out on the back porch. Taking in several deep breaths, the early morning air felt good in her aching lungs. Thinking she may be getting a cold she came back inside with Boomer on her heels. Taking out her nebulizer she filled it and began taking deep breaths of the fine mist.
Joe sat at the kitchen table holding a bag of ice to his bruised calf. The pain was starting to subside, but it still hurt to stand. He was lucky that his mom Laura had been called away to a disaster with the Red Cross and wouldn’t be back home for a couple of days. It would have been hard to explain how he had gotten the bruise, not to mention the rash on his brother’s forearm.
“Feeling any better?” Frank asked as he came into the kitchen.
“Only a little bit.” Joe admitted, “It hurts to walk.”
“I’ll make breakfast then, just keep that ice on that bruise,” Frank told him.
Joe watched as his brother moved about the kitchen making pancakes. For some reason when he looked at the kitchen clock he thought that it was two hours earlier than what the display read. Thinking back to last night, he couldn’t recall anything he had dreamt about. It was as if his mind drew a complete blank on anything that happened. Before he knew it, there was a plate of pancakes sitting in front of him.
“Is something wrong?” Frank asked.
Joe sighed. “Last night. I don’t remember anything I did after I laid down in my bed. It’s like I’m drawing a complete blank until the time your alarm woke me up.”
“Sometimes that can happen. Maybe you were just really tired,” Frank said as he spread syrup on his own pancakes.
Joe began to eat. No that wasn’t it…something wasn’t right. There was something missing.
“Frank, do you get the feeling it should be two hours earlier than what the clock says?” he asked.
Frank looked over at the clock. For some reason he had the same feeling. “Yeah, a little bit. I guess we’re just both tired.”
Joe nodded and finished breakfast. They really didn’t have anything to do today. Since it was still warm they decided to head to the beach with their girlfriends for a picnic lunch. Waking up with the bruise, Joe thought he might have to stay home. To his surprise the bruise gradually healed and by lunch time there was no trace of it. Frank showed him his arm. The rash was gone with no trace of redness.
Calling Staci and Vanessa both girls agreed to bring food with them if they promised to stop at the store and pick up some sodas. Agreeing to the deal they left the house. The warm sunshine felt great to Joe as he took in a deep breath of fresh air. For some reason he thought it smelled better than ever, like he had been breathing in stale air for a long time. After a brief trip to the supermarket to pick up some sodas, water, and ice, they filled their cooler.
Joe still had a sense of missing time when the arrived at the beach. They found both girls sitting on a blanket, putting on suntan lotion. Frank had never seen Staci in a bathing suit and thought she looked stunning in her deep blue tankini with yellow flowers on it. Joe was taken back with Vanessa’s bright pink suit with a black strip on it.
Joe noticed that Vanessa had a bright red triangle mark on her right shoulder as he put lotion on her back.
“Vanessa, how did you get that mark?” he asked.
“What mark?” she said, surprised that there was something there.
He described the mark to her.
“That’s funny I don’t remember banging into anything. I must have fallen against my nightstand in my sleep,” she answered.
Staci looked over at her. “You too? I woke up with a bloody nose.”
Frank looked at her. “What?”
Staci nodded. “I woke up with dried blood trails coming from my nostrils and a lot of dried blood on my pillowcases. My nose felt like I had been punched.”
He looked over her face. “I don’t see anything now. Did you put on foundation to cover a bruise?”
She shook her head. “No. It’s the weirdest thing. By the time I came here, it had stopped hurting, and there was no trace of anything.”
Joe thought about the bruise on his calf and the rash on his brother’s forearm. Both had disappeared without a trace. He decided to change the subject.
“Say what are we talking about aches and pains for?” he said, “How about we plan a welcome home party for Dan?”
“Now that’s more like it.” Vanessa said, “I can make some of my mom’s desserts.”
“I can get Cliff to be the DJ for the party. I can make up some Spanish goodies, but where to have it?” Staci asked.
Frank thought a moment. “Let’s see if we can get Mr. Prito to let us use the pizza shop after hours.”
They threw in more ideas into the mix before deciding to go for a swim. Frank was surprised that Staci was very good swimmer and enjoyed swimming out for long paces. It was very unlike Callie who preferred to work on a tan. Joe came over and splashed his brother. Pushing his ex out of his mind, he splashed him back.
After swimming and lunch, Staci wrote down all the food she could make for the party, and the decorations she and Vanessa needed to buy. Frank and Joe would help set up and bring the cake and ice-cream along with soda and water. Joe immediately called the bake shop to put in the order for the cake. The bakery was popular and often required a week’s notice to fill a special order.
They decided to swim another hour before it started to become slightly chilly as a storm was moving in over the next couple of days. Vanessa left in her jeep while they drove Staci back as she had arrived on her rollerblades.
The growing storm didn’t do much to ease Joe’s mind as they arrived home. Even after a shower, he wasn’t able to wash away the feeling like he had been touched. As he dried off he looked at his reflection in the mirror. Something wasn’t right. He could still feel the hands on him. He closed his eyes to try and make the uneasy feeling go away. He put on his lounging clothes.
Frank sensed his brother’s anxiety as they settled down to watch a movie. The weather report was bad, and they had a flashlight nearby in case the lights went out. Even as the movie played, Joe became nervous during the storm, something that normally didn’t bother him. Frank put an arm around his brother’s shoulder, trying to offer him support.
Frank couldn’t help but feel some of his own anxiety. Every time he looked at the clock it was always two hours later than what he felt it should be.
“Two hours,” he thought. “What is it about two little hours that I keep missing?”
Joe couldn’t stop himself from shuddering when Frank’s arm went around his shoulders. There was a flickering and everything went black. Frank felt himself holding onto his brother a little tighter.
“I guess it’s a passing blackout.” Joe said after a few moments of silence, “I just hope we don’t go all night without electricity.”
They stayed together on the sofa, not wanting to be away from each other. Frank knew it was only a blackout but passed experience taught him that criminal element always used things like this as a cover. He had nearly lost Joe in the past and wasn’t about to let his guard down. As they waited, Frank could feel his brother’s nervousness grow. He was actually starting to sweat.
“Baby brother, what’s wrong?” he asked.
Joe took a deep breath. “I don’t know. But something about the darkness is scaring me. It’s like I can feel there’s a lot of eyes watching and waiting.”
“Waiting for what?”
Joe’s voice began to shake. “I don’t know. It’s like they’re waiting for me to fall asleep.”
“If you’re afraid to go to sleep, you can stay with me tonight,” Frank offered.
“Thanks big brother, that would help,” came the reply.
A few more minutes of silence passed before the lights and TV came back to life. Frank sensed that Joe felt more at ease with the lights back. He couldn’t understand what was scaring him so much. The movie continued and soon he found himself growing tired from the day of swimming.
“You want to go rollerblading tomorrow if the weather clears?” Frank offered.
“OK,” came the quiet reply.
They stayed huddling close until they were both too tired to watch any more. Going upstairs, Joe had this terrible sense of foreboding. He took a deep breath as he waited for Frank to finish cleaning up and changing into his sleeping pants. The electricity had gone off again leaving the house very warm. As he was laying on his brother’s bed, a sudden chill came over him. Looking around he didn’t see anyone was there. For some reason he wished Staci’s dog, Boomer was sleeping in the room with them. He jumped when Frank came back into the room.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, noticing how pale Joe had become.
He came over and hugged him, shocked at how his brother felt so cold.
“Get under the covers, you’re freezing,” Frank told him.
Frank pulled back the blanket and covered Joe with it. Settling down next to him, Frank could tell even with him there, Joe was still scared to go to sleep. The lights went out again, leaving them in darkness. Frank turned on a couple of tap lights. The soft glow gave Joe little reassurance.
It wasn’t until Frank heard a deep breathing coming from Joe that he realized he had fallen asleep. He inwardly sighed. It was supposed to be a peaceful break before they went back to school. Joe couldn’t afford to spend more nights afraid to go to sleep. Frank wanted to stay up to watch over Joe but found himself growing tired. He couldn’t help it as the quiet and darkness of the house combined with the drumming of the rain finally lulled him to sleep.
It could have been a few minutes. It could have been a couple of hours. Frank didn’t know how long he had slept until a terrible screaming woke him from his sleep. It was Joe!
Frank reached over and shook his brother’s shoulder. Joe was trembling and covered in sweat.
“Joe!” Frank shouted.
It took a minute before Joe was fully awake.
“Frank?” he mumbled.
Joe looked around and took a deep breath when he realized he was in his brother’s bed.
“What did you see?” he asked.
Joe swallowed. In his mind he could see the weird looking people. They were hurting him. They were hurting Frank!
“Joe?” Frank asked as he hugged his brother. “You can tell me anything.”
“They were hurting you,” Joe said in a small voice.
“Who?” Frank asked.
“Them.”
Frank looked around. “Who’s them?”
Joe shivered as he thought about the eyes. The eyes that terrified him… dark, black mirrors. The look in Frank’s eyes... the terrified pain-filled look.
“Who?” Frank gently pressed.
“Them…. The eyes….” Joe cried.
Frank went to the bathroom and got his brother a sleeping pill along with a cup of water. He came back to find Joe scribbling on a piece of paper. He dropped it on the floor when he saw his brother come back into the room. Frank felt his heart break when he saw the terrified looked in his brother’s eyes.
“Here take this,” Frank said.
Joe swallowed the pill with the water. His hands were shaking so badly he could barely put the empty cup on the nightstand. Frank held onto his brother, trying to give him some sense of comfort.
“They were … hurting…you…” Joe said as the pills finally took effect.
Frank had no idea what Joe was talking about. He looked at the clock. Again he had the sense that it should be two hours earlier than what was on the digital readout. He said a small prayer that it was on battery backup, otherwise the room would have been in total darkness without the taplights.
As he looked around the room, something about what Joe said gave him a sick feeling.
“I can feel there’s a lot of eyes watching and waiting.”
Looking around the darkened room, he too felt that there was something there… something he couldn’t quite put his finger to.
Opening his eyes, Frank noticed that there was sunlight streaming through the window. He was grateful that the storm had passed. At least there wouldn’t be any more darkness for awhile. Looking at his brother, he could see that Joe was still asleep from the medicine. He closed his eyes, trying to enjoy the quiet and make sense of what had made Joe so afraid to go to sleep.
On the Kane campus those that were friends of the Hardy brothers were waking from their sleep. Each one found mysterious bruises or cuts that they could explain. Ray found his entire left arm bruise to the point that he couldn’t move it without intense pain. Pat and Mike woke with severe migraines and dried blood on their faces and pillow cases. Others would have strange looking bruises or cuts in unusual places. Brian found himself wishing he still had his mind powers. Not being able to figure out what was scaring him so much was making him think he might be headed for a nervous breakdown.
Staci found herself scheduling a doctor’s appointment. When her father saw the bloody nose again he feared she might be either anemic or low vitamin C count. After making her drink two glasses of orange juice, he told her to take it easy for the day as he was going to be doing a little undercover work for the weekend. He was a little reassured that she was going to ask Frank Hardy to drive her to the doctor. While he wasn’t sure of his daughter dating, he did know that Frank was a gentleman and would be careful to protect her.
Frank’s cell-phone rang, disturbing the quiet in the Hardy home. He agreed to drive Staci to her appointment. It was as good excuses as anything to get Joe out of the house. Her doctor wasn’t that far from the mall. Her appointment wasn’t until the afternoon so that would give Joe plenty of time to sleep off the medicine. Looking around he saw that the piece of paper Joe had dropped was still on the carpet.
Frank swallowed when he saw the image. The lines were of someone who couldn’t control the pencil, but the image was clear. The head was round, almost oval. The tiny mouth line…the small nasal holes. The eyes! Frank couldn’t believe it. The eyes were just as Joe had described….large and black.
“These are the people waiting for Joe to fall asleep,” Frank thought as he sat on the edge of the bed.
He looked at the clock. Again he had a deep feeling it should be much earlier than the readout was telling him. Thinking back to what had happened last night after the storm, he couldn’t recall anything that happened after he closed his eyes. When Joe is having nightmares he usually will get up two or three times during the night, even when he’s taken medication to check on him. He couldn’t even recall getting under his covers. Something was bothering him. There was a section of his memory he couldn’t get to, like it had been deliberately cut off from his consciousness. Looking again the hand drawn picture, he couldn’t help but feel that he had met the strange looking creature. Sighing he put it in his desk drawer and sat back down on the bed. He wasn’t about to let Joe wake up alone.
In her room Staci read her books on aliens and alien abduction. She saw the faces of the “grey men” that many people claimed were the aliens that had abducted them. Something told her they were not in control of what they were doing, that somehow there was another being controlling them. She could see it in there motions. There pleading in their thoughts for her to help them. Shaking she put the book down. Boomer came over and whined a bit.
“You want to go for a walk boy?” she asked.
The dog barked and seemed to nod. She followed the dog downstairs. Before she had her skates laced up, Boomer had retrieved his leash. She grabbed her bag, stuffed some plastic bags into it, and leashed her dog. Looking outside she had a feeling she was trying to escape something. As she skated down the streets, she took in deep breaths of clean air. Boomer pulled her along, as if he were trying to take her away.
Joe blinked his eyes open. After he had fallen asleep, the drug seemed to dull his senses, and finally the nightmares left, if just for a little while. He still didn’t understand what was happening. Looking around he could see Frank was laying next to him staring at the ceiling.
“Frank?” Joe asked in a quiet voice.
Frank blinked his eyes. “Baby brother, are you OK?”
“What happened?” Joe asked, sitting up.
“You don’t remember?”
Joe shrugged. “Now it seems more like one long nightmare. I don’t remember anything after falling asleep yesterday.”
Frank went over and took the piece of paper from his desk. “You don’t remember drawing this?”
Joe took the drawing and instantly his hands started to shake. He started hyperventilating. Frank came over and rubbed his brother’s back.
“Easy, take deep slow breaths,” Frank encouraged him.
He took the paper from his brother.
“It’s them!” he screamed.
Frank held his brother and rubbed his back until his sobs quieted down. He looked down and saw that Joe was staring vacantly at the wall. His eyes were red and puffy. He continued holding onto him to assure him that he was safe. Joe was still shaking slightly but at least he was quieted down.
“I promised Staci I’d take her to the doctor’s office. Why don’t you come with me, the fresh air will do you good,” Frank said.
Joe nodded and wiped his eyes with the palm of his hands. Frank helped his brother out of bed and into the bathroom.
“I’ll go make some breakfast,” he said as he left the bathroom.
Frank went into the kitchen. He wasn’t sure what to make as Joe seemed to be in an upset state. Settling on hot toast he popped in a few slices. It wasn’t like Joe to draw things then forget about them.
“Something’s scaring him.” He thought as he poured his brother a tall glass of water. “I’ve got to get him to talk more. But later, I’ll let him eat and get some fresh air.”
Joe came down and slowly nibbled on each slice of toast. Frank desperately wanted to talk to him but didn’t want him to become upset and shut down.
“Maybe you can have something more for lunch,” Frank suggested.
Joe nodded and finished off his toast with his glass of water.
Frank inwardly sighed as they drove towards Staci’s house. Joe did look a little better as some color had returned to his cheeks. Still, he remained unnaturally quiet. Frank tried to talk to his brother, but he answered with short or one word answers.
When they arrived at Staci’s house, Frank was shocked at how tired she looked.
“Are you OK?” he asked as he walked her to the van.
“I don’t know. This latest nosebleed has left me with one massive headache. I took something, and it helped a little bit. My father freaked when he saw the blood on my pillow,” she said as she sat down.
“Well, maybe the doctor can give you something,” Frank said as he drove the van down the street.
“I hope so. If not I’ll be drinking a lot more orange juice,” Staci replied.
As they drove down the street, she noticed that Joe was not his usual cheerful self. He wasn’t smiling or arguing over the music. He seemed to be depressed in a way. Thinking that it may have been an argument or something else, she felt it was best not to say anything about it.
“Joe, I might be able to score some tickets to that Metallica concert, would you be interested?” she offered.
Joe perked up a bit. “I thought they were sold out?”
“Well, my dad’s friend says he’s going to give me a pair of tickets because he was going to use them as a gift but won’t any more. Since I’m busy all day and night on that date, would you want them?” she asked.
Joe turned and gave her a small smile. “Thanks, I’ll take them.”
“Great, I’ll call my dad after the appointment,” she replied.
Frank smiled, grateful that she was able to at least get his brother to talk for a few sentences. The concert might give him something else to think about for a little while.
It wasn’t long before they arrived at the doctor’s office. They decided to wait inside the office instead of the van. The temperature was already warm and was expected to get hotter during the afternoon. Joe looked like he was a little sick as they sat and waited for Staci to return. Frank noticed that his face looked flushed, and he was sweating profusely.
“Joe, do you want a cup of water?” he asked.
Joe nodded but didn’t say anything. Frank went and got the cup of water. When he handed it to his brother, Joe sipped it slowly.
“Are you feeling ok?” Frank asked.
Joe looked around. “I don’t know, but it’s something about the smell that’s making me feel queasy.”
“Do you want to go outside? Walk around in the fresh air?” Frank suggested, “Maybe it’s the smell of the disinfectant.”
Frank noticed that the smell was making him slightly nauseous as well. Some fresh air would help to clear his head, too. As they walked towards the door, Frank noticed that Joe was very unsteady on his feet. Suddenly Joe’s hand flew to his mouth and he ran into the bathroom. Frank followed behind him. He came inside in time to hear his brother throwing up!
Frank rubbed his brother’s back until the vomiting stopped. After words he flushed the toilet but didn’t say anything.
“Let’s get you cleaned up,” Frank quietly said.
He went and brought back his brother a cup of water while he cleaned off his face. After rinsing the taste out of his mouth, he took a deep breath. The smell seemed to want to soak every pore in his body.
“That stench. It’s never done that before,” Joe admitted.
Frank watched as his brother tried his best not to cry. He could see tears forming in his eyes.
“What’s wrong with me?” he asked in quiet voice.
Frank hugged his brother. “Nothing’s wrong with you baby brother. You’re just a little sick. Maybe the doctor here can check over you while we’re here.”
Joe sniffed back a sob and dapped at his eyes with a dry paper towel. He nodded and followed his brother back into the doctor’s office. The nurse there saw how sick Joe looked and said that the doctor did have a few minutes between scheduled patients. She got him a glass of Gatorade to prevent dehydration and led him to a small room to lie down on the bed. Frank stayed with his brother as he tried to get the sick feelings to pass.
Staci finaly came out of the back with an order to take it easy and to get in more Vitamin C. She had also told her to use a nasal wash and humidifier at night.
“Frank, are you OK?” she asked, “Where’s Joe?”
“He’s being seen by the doctor. He started throwing up,” Frank told her.
Staci hugged him. “Maybe we’re all getting a cold or something.”
“I hope so,” he quietly replied.
Joe was putting his shirt back on when the doctor asked him a question.
“How did you get that bruise?” he asked.
“What bruise?” Joe asked back.
“This one on your lower back? Does it hurt?” he asked.
“I didn’t even know I was hurt. I’ve been restless a few nights so I may have banged into something,” Joe replied.
The doctor nodded. “In any case if it gets tender or doesn’t go away in a few days, you go to you primary doctor OK?”
Joe promised he would and followed the doctor out of the examination room. The doctor had diagnosed a stress-induced cold and recommended the usual treatments plus a stress-free environment. Frank was surprised to hear of the bruise, but wanted to wait until they got home to ask Joe about it. After filling out a few papers and sorting some other things, they left the office. They dropped Staci off at her home before coming back home. Too sick to eat lunch Joe chose to shower, put on fresh clothes and crawl into bed. Frank worked on his webpage. He wanted to be within earshot of Joe in case he needed him. Looking at the computer screen he wondered how he found himself on an alien abduction website.
“Maybe Joe’s been watching too many Sci-Fi movies,” Frank thought, “Maybe he should try working on a project or something like Chet’s car. That might help. And just where did he get that bruise?”
Frank thought back to Joe mentioning that he might be walking in his sleep. He looked at the small digital camera on his desk and wondered if he should film his brother at night. If he was sleep walking, they could deal with that. Hopefully it was just stress causing him to toss at night. He just wished he could do something about the nightmares. His brother hadn’t had a lot of nightmares, not since they were little, when he was still afraid of the monster in his closet.
Worried that Joe might be having another nightmare, he went into his brother’s room. Checking his forehead he was relieved to feel that there was no fever. He looked like he was sleeping peacefully for a change. He just hoped that it didn’t take Joe being exhausted in order to get a night’s sleep. He carefully moved the blanket and lifted his brother’s shirt. There was indeed a large purplish bruise near the left side. He wondered how Joe could have not noticed it. A bruise that large would have been quite painful. Covering his brother back up, his mind was set. They were going to put a camera on to watch him. The way he was going, the next injury might involve something being broken. Settling in his brother’s chair, he read a book. He didn’t want Joe to wake up alone.
On the Kane campus Sunray walked around, trying more to get fresh air into his lungs. He had been taking some summer classes along with the rest of the gang to get higher grades. Now he was trying to get rid of a terrible migraine that left him in bed since the afternoon of the previous day. The headache had gradually lifted leaving a dull ache behind his eyes. It felt like he had a hangover only he hadn’t been out drinking. He needed to talk to his new brother Dan. While it took some getting used to knowing that he now had three new brothers that he really couldn’t talk about, he felt it was finally nice to have brothers like Frank and Joe Hardy. Somehow he knew Dan would have an answer to what was going on, though how he would find out was a mystery. Looking at his watch he pushed all the thoughts aside as he had a computer test to study for.
Coming around a building he ran into Carl, the president of the charity group on campus.
“Hey Carl, how’s it going?” Ray asked.
Carl sighed. “I don’t know. Every time I shut my eyes I keep having these weird dreams. Now this morning I woke up, and my left side was covered in a rash. I’ve never been that allergic to anything.”
“I wish I could trade places with you. I’ve had a migraine for nearly two days that’s just now letting up. And those dreams… they wouldn’t happen to be like you know you’re missing time somehow?” he asked.
Carl’s jaw dropped. “How did you know?”
Ray shook his head. “I wish I could say otherwise, but the same thing’s been happening to me.”
Carl looked around and decided to talk more to Ray in the privacy of the club office. In this case, studying could wait. Along the way they’d be joined by Pat and Mike, both needing to tell their own chilling tails.
“What the hell have we all been poisoned with?” Pat thought as he remembered the violent belly ache he had awoken with.
They walked towards the hallway, down towards the club office. Little did they know that Brian and a couple of others were waiting for them.
Frank closed his book. He had gone three chapters ahead and found himself reading the same page three times. Checking on Joe he found that he was sweating and his skin was a little pale. Taking off the thicker comforter he went into the bathroom to wet a face cloth. Coming back he wiped down his brother’s face, trying to cool him down. He sighed as the bliss of sleep had only allotted Joe three hours of peace. Joe tossed in his sleep.
Pain…incredible pain…Things that were sharp…that hurt…
Those eyes looking at him…
Hurting him…hurting Frank!
“Stop hurting, my brother!” the voice in his mind screamed, causing the gray hands to let go.
They turn and look at Frank…
Frank’s in pain!
“STOP HURTING HIM!”
Joe lurched up in bed, causing Frank to fall to the floor. Frank got up and threw his arms around his brother.
“It’s just a nightmare baby brother,” he said, trying to soothe him.
Joe sobbed in low tones as he clung tightly to his brother. The images had been so vivid they seemed real. He could still feel the touch of their hands on his skin. He couldn’t get the feeling to go away. He continued holding onto his brother until he let go.
“I need a shower,” he quietly said.
Frank was confused. His brother had showered just before he had fallen asleep.
“Do you feel OK?” he asked.
Joe shook his head. “I feel dirty. I need a shower.”
Frank didn’t know what to say but nodded as his brother got up to go into the bathroom. A minute later he heard the shower water running. He sighed and tried to think back to one of their previous cases. The case when they searched for Dan’s missing brothers which turned out to be their friend Sunray and themselves. All of their powers had been locked inside of the crystal and assured them that all of the bad guys involved and others as well had their memories wiped. No one except the royal family and their friends would remember what happened. He walked around the room and began getting his camera together. No matter what, this had to end.
Carl stretched out in his chair, wincing slightly as the strained muscle in his back protested. So far he and the others that knew the brothers came to one conclusion,; all of them where either sleep walking or something was happening that was trying to drive them all crazy. Brian looked like he hadn’t slept in days. He admitted that whenever he closed his eyes, the images of the strange beings with the dark black eyes terrified him. Pat showed them the strange cut that decorated his left calf. Like his previous injuries, it too was healing rapidly. Mike Snow was sitting in his chair not speaking. He had woken up with a terrible sore throat. It hurt so bad that just trying to whisper was very painful.
“I think we should try not eating the campus food for a couple of days, maybe that might elevate the pain,” Ronaldo suggested.
“Anything is better than waking up with a bad belly ache,” Pat said.
Eric looked over at Pat. “Maverick, anything is better than university food. Trouble is, if this is a bad case of food poisoning why haven’t others said they were sick, or the university said something?”
Peter thought for a moment. “It wouldn’t be the first time the university would hide something.”
Kyle looked over at Ron. “Didn’t you say it looks like we’re all being fed some sort of hallucinogen?”
“Wait.” Ronaldo said, stopping all of them, “I’ve seen affects of drugs and trust me the symptoms would be similar not this diverse.”
“So then what the hell is going on?” Maverick demanded.
Rondalo didn’t have an answer. No one did.
Dan was sitting in the passenger seat. He had spent the past week fishing and camping with his new father. Both were things his real father never had a chance to do with him. Fenton allowed him to talk then would talk about what it was like to raise Frank and Joe. Now he was content to stare at the scenery. The week before that Fenton had taken him to various sites in the state, showing him famous sites, even taking him to see Niagara Falls.
Fenton was thinking of how choked up Dan had been when he had seen Niagara Falls. He didn’t know why he decided to take him to see the falls. It was just something he had taken his sons to see the previous year. Dan had admitted to him that he had never seen a live waterfall before. He had not been let out of the castle grounds, and the only waterfall he had seen was in a computer simulation. Things like eating toasted marshmallows and really camping he had never done with his real father. After Dan went to sleep, Fenton found himself privately grieving. Mourning the thought that Dan grew up without a father to nurture him in ways that a father should. Thinking back to all the ruined vacations with his sons Frank and Joe, he realized that he was lucky to have them. As soon as winter break came, he was going to plan the best vacation for all three of his sons together.
“I’ve never seen storm clouds that dark before,” Dan admitted.
Fenton looked towards the horizon. He swallowed when he saw the dark storm clouds ahead. They were extremely menacing.
“I think we should pull over for the night. Turn on the radio and punch button number four,” Fenton said.
“To repeat there is a severe thunderstorm warning for the entire area along with the possible chance of a tornado. The National Weather Service is advising people to stay indoors and to get off the road as soon as they can.”
“What are we going to do?” Dan asked.
“There’s a market coming up. Let’s get some groceries for a couple of days and go back to that hotel we just passed. We have a lot of mountain roads to drive back through, and I don’t want to take the chance on becoming stuck,” He answered.
Dan nodded and leaned back in his seat. He had seen storms on his own planet but always had the safety of the castle to protect him. This was going to be the first where he would see the storm for real. As he walked with Fenton, picking out the groceries, he wondered how his new brothers were doing. He had a sense that something was troubling them but couldn’t pick up on any thoughts. He was going to have to be totally relaxed to try again.
They were lucky that the rains held back until they had taken their things into the hotel room. Fenton tried to call Frank back at home, but the lines had already gone down.
“In a little while I’ll call Frank on my cell-phone. Hopefully everything’s OK where they are,” he told his new son.
Dan continued staring out of the window, watching the storm.
“Dan?” Fenton asked, “Is something wrong?”
Dan sighed. “I don’t know. I get the feeling something’s wrong, but I can’t focus on any one thing. I’ve been trying to get myself in a relaxed state. I know Joe has an heightened ESP ability now, but it’s like he’s trying to put up a wall to block it.”
Fenton could feel the worry building in him. It wasn’t the first time he had worried over his sons. It didn’t help that they might be stuck for a couple of days until the storms passed over.
“Dan is there anyway you can find out what’s going on?” he asked.
Dan nodded. “I can but it involves deep meditation.”
Fenton sighed. “I can’t ask you to do anything that would be dangerous. I’ll just wait until the phone lines are repaired, or the signal comes back on my cell-phone.”
Dan closed the curtains. “I have to do this. I haven’t done something like this in a while but something tells me that they need something.”
Fenton sat down and watched as Dan sat cross-legged on the floor. Dan closed his eyes and began to breathe deeply, in through his nose out through his lips. The area around him became lighter as his mind began to extend its reach.
Several more breathes and all sounds in the room became mute to him. He could only hear his own heartbeat as his mind moved through the void to the house on Elm and High streets. He could see Frank sitting in his room, tinkering with a digital camera. He could see Joe in the bathroom just getting out from a shower. There was something about Joe, and the tired look in his eyes that made him stretch further to Joe.
“Don’t worry Joe, it’s just me,” Dan’s voice played out in Joe’s mind.
Joe stopped. He knew he should be scared but for some reason he felt that he didn’t need to be scared. He could feel Dan there as sure as if he were standing next to him. Closing his eyes he felt Dan trying to see what was making him scared. The images of the grey beings with the large black eyes flashed again.
And the pain….the blind excruciating pain….
Dan looked at the image face to face… only to see another image behind the grey beings. He knew that image and his mind filled with terror.
“No…not this…not them…no!” His mind screamed more until he threw himself out of Joe back into his own being. Then there was nothing.
Dan’s mouth opened in a silent scream as his eyes opened wide. A bright flash of light flew into him as he slumped forward.
“Dan!” Fenton nearly screamed, remembering there were people around.
He gathered his son in his arms, picking him up and laying him down on one of the beds. He went into the bathroom and wet a face cloth with cold water. Wringing it out, he came back, hoping to find Dan waking up. He was still out cold. Dabbing at his face he tried to bring Dan around. He had no idea what had just happened. To him it looked like Dan had been violently thrown back from wherever he had been.
“Dan, come on please wake up,” Fenton pleaded, dabbing with the face cloth.
Dan moaned and blinked his eyes. He looked around and blinked them a few more times before getting his vision to clear. He turned his head to focus on Fenton.
“Thank goodness. I thought I was going to have to call an ambulance,” Fenton admitted.
“Got…thrown…out,” Dan mumbled.
Fenton heard Dan’s stomach growl. Despite the seriousness of what was going on, he couldn’t help but chuckle.
“I know what that sound means.” He put the trashcan next to the bed just in case. “I’m going to make up something to eat. It’s a good thing this place has a kitchen. You’ll eat then tell me what happened.”
Dan nodded and closed his eyes, trying to make sense of what he had seen. He knew what was controlling the grey beings. The same alien race that had tried to destroy his home planet had now several groups of the grey beings under their control. He needed to see the vision longer to figure out what was going on. He took a glance at Fenton who was busy cooking. There was no way he could tell him the truth. For now he could only say it was a bad nightmare, which was very close to the truth.
“Only it’s a reality,” Dan thought as he closed his eyes.
Fenton busied himself with cooking a can of beef stew. He wanted to question Dan as to what he had seen, what had happened, and what was going on. One look told him that until his new son had gain strength, there was no way he could answer any questions. What he had seen had scared him. He thought all this alien stuff was over as the Phoenix had told them. There was a small part of him that silently prayed that this was just an accident. He had gotten Frank and Joe back and by a miracle they chose to stay with him as his sons. He wasn’t going to give them up. Not without a fight.
Joe felt as though he had been hit with a sledgehammer. Barely getting his pants up, he staggered through the door and collapsed on the floor his brother’s room.
“Joe!” Frank screamed.
Just as he rushed to his brother, thunder rumbled outside.
“Great, a storm when we don’t need it,” Frank thought as he lifted his brother from the floor and put him on his own bed.
Joe’s breathing was strong, and he was already starting to come around. He was moaning and mumbling something. Frank had to hold his ear close to Joe’s face to understand what he was saying.
Dan…where did you go…Dan…do you know …them…
“Dan’s with Dad, little brother. Remember? Dad took him camping to have some time alone with him,” Frank said, trying to reassure Joe he was safe.
Joe could hear his brother’s voice. A calming presence over the storm that was still raging in his mind. He created a thin wall around the images and slowly opened his eyes. He could see the relief flooding through his brother’s eyes.
“Are you OK?” Frank asked.
“Ooh my head.” Joe moaned rubbing the sides of his head with his fingers, “I feel like I’ve been hit with a sledgehammer.”
“I just put on my pants when Dan’s voice came though my head. I swear I thought he was standing right next to me. He tried to see what those images where. I guess I was so scared when I saw them I sort of threw him out,” Joe admitted.
“Threw him out?” Frank asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“I guess it was more of a reflex action. After that I haven’t heard him.” Joe admitted, “I wonder how he managed to do that. Get inside my head like that.”
Frank looked out the window at the rain and the lightning flashing. “I guess there’s more to Dan that we don’t know. But I have a feeling he wasn’t trying to hurt you.”
“That was my thinking. He was more curious as to what the images were than anything else. I’m not sure who was scared more him or me.”
Frank nodded. “Then we’ll just have to wait until Dan comes back tomorrow. I don’t know if he can with this storm, though. Dad wouldn’t want to be traveling those mountain roads in this weather.”
Joe got up and put on his shirt and socks. Looking outside he saw the dark clouds. Thunder nearly rattled the house. Somehow he knew Dan might be able to help him unlock what was going on.
Brian was the last one to leave the charity club office. He and the others had spread out to various places on the campus before the rains came. Now he was heading towards the computer lab. All of them knew something was happening yet no one could figure out what was happening. Brian realized that they each had one thing in common. All of them could swear that it felt like it should be two to three hours early then what the clock was telling them. He knew he had to talk to Staci. It seemed like with her abilities even before everything happened, they might be able to finally figure out what was going on.
When he was able to call her, he was surprised to learn that she was just as sick as they were. She’d try and meet them later in the week but for now she was going to stay in bed and only get up when she had to let Boomer outside. He promised to keep her updated on what was happening on the campus, and she would relay the information to Frank and Joe.
Cliff Troup scratched at his latest drawing of the Phoenix. He had been working for a week now, going without any sleep. He found himself on some sort of autopilot. He added the finished drawing to the stack of nearly sixty he had already drawn. Now he started in on another one. This was the first he had ever received such an inspiration to draw his creation Legend of the Phoenix. Now it was as if his hand had a mind of its own. It was moving faster and faster.
The sketches were completely perfect from each start. The colors blended perfectly into the paper. The inks created perfect outlines while the charcoal create perfect shadows.
He stopped when the drawing was finished. The Phoenix looked like she wanted to fly straight out from the paper. Looking at the background he noticed it wasn’t his typical background. Instead of a more surreal background, it looked like she was flying through the rings of Saturn. Drawing his hands across the page, he could almost feel her touch. Like she was there waiting for him. Now in his heart, he knew she was close by waiting for the perfect moment. Looking at the crystal paperweight on his desk, he couldn’t help but feel that the time was drawing close for her return.
Dan finally woke up to the smell of food. Fenton helped him to the small table so he could eat. The hot stew felt great going down. It was like his body was trying to strain every ounce of nutrition out of it. He knew it was going to take a while for him to recoup. Without the power of the crystal he could not tap into the planet’s own energy to restore himself.
“Dan, what happened?” Fenton asked as he poured his son a second bowl of the stew.
Dan sighed and put the spoon down. “With the crystal I can tap into nature’s own ever restoring energy. That always kept me from collapsing the way I did. Now, without it, I have to watch what I do or else I could go unconscious.”
“But what about Joe?” Fenton asked.
Dan had to bite his tongue to keep from telling his new father what he really wanted to say. “It was a nightmare. It was bad one, and I was totally unprepared. It’s like the fear that the nightmare generated threw me out.”
Fenton nodded and ate his own dinner. He had a feeling that Dan was keeping something from him, something big. Looking at how tired his son was, it was probably better until he waited until they got home. He didn’t want to ruin their vacation.
Frank finally finished setting up the camera. It had taken a lot of convincing, but he finally managed to persuade his brother to let it record him while he slept. As a big brother, he didn’t want to take he chance that Joe could open the window and climb out or fall down the stairs…if he really was sleep walking. He had to admit that whatever Dan had done, it was working. Joe was not shaking, and he seemed calmer. He was a little jealous that he had not been able to help him. He sighed and knew that if Dan could help Joe, he had to put aside his own feelings.
“Is something wrong?” Joe asked, stopping his game station game.
“What?” Frank said, snapping out of his thoughts.
“Is something wrong?” Joe asked again, looking at his brother.
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Frank answered, getting the camera in the right place.
Joe wasn’t convinced. He always knew when his big brother was hiding something. This time, something was bothering him.
“Something’s wrong, I can tell,” Joe said, looking directly at his brother’s eyes.
Frank sighed. He didn’t want to appear jealous but that’s how he was feeling. “I can’t help but feel I let you down.”
Joe was confused. Frank had never done something like that. “Let me down? For what?”
Frank looked away. “For not being able to help you with those nightmares. All this time I couldn’t do anything. Dan helps you for a few seconds, and he’s able to help give you some peace.”
Joe gave his brother a tight hug and let go.
“What was that for?” he asked.
Joe smiled. “You can be so silly sometimes. You stayed with me all this time. You helped me through each nightmare when you could have stayed sleeping.”
Frank nodded. “I couldn’t let you think you were by yourself. There was no way I could leave you alone.”
“And that’s why I can’t live without you big brother. And I need you now more than ever, because….because,” Joe’s voice began to shake. “Because I know the nightmares will return. Dan was only able to help me put up a temporary wall. In that flash of him being thrown out, I saw him throw up that wall. I’m going to need you big brother.”
Frank hugged his brother tightly. He hated himself for doubting Joe’s love. Now he knew that he had to help no matter how little it seemed like he was doing. Deep in his heart he had a feeling that something was going to happen… something bigger than any nightmare that could come to Joe. Looking out at the window at the storm that was still overhead, he knew that he was going to keep Joe close to him. Whoever, whatever it was that was coming, was going to have to go through him first.
The storm continued dropping rain over the area. Frank’s weather radio announced that a flood watch and a severe thunderstorm warning were still in effect for the area. Joe looked out the window and shivered. Joe rubbed his arms. Frank put down his book. He looked at the clock. He knew he should talk to his brother about what he was thinking. He remembered seeing an article on what abductees refer to as missing time. They said it was described like a constant feeling that it should be earlier than any clock read. For days now he tried to shake it off. He tried to go back to being a man of science where aliens and ghosts were not real. Now he was a man of science who found out the hard way that they were indeed real. Still he had to keep on the idea that it may be just a terrible series of nightmares Joe was having. There was no reason to scare him any more.
“Are you OK?” he asked.
Joe sighed. “I don’t know. I keep waiting for something to happen. I just don’t know what.”
“Maybe you’re just tense from the last case. I mean becoming a ghost hunter doesn’t exactly fall under the skills of a detective,” Frank said.
Joe nodded at sat on his bed. “I hope you’re right. I don’t want dad coming back to find me having those bad nightmares. Remember how he was when we first met up with Dan? He thought we were going to stay with Dan on his home planet.”
“That’s just dad being dad. Hopefully Dan can help you without Dad getting suspicious. Maybe this will turn out to be that, just a very bad nightmare,” Frank suggested.
“Then if it’s just that, we might as well eat dinner before the electricity goes. There’s no telling how long it’s going to hold with this storm,” Joe said.
Just as he said that, a large thunder boom nearly shook the house. Frank agreed and they went to the kitchen.
Brian waited in the office trying to get some sleep. It seemed like it was the only place he could get any amount of sleep without any nightmares. The storm seemed to help block whatever was trying to get inside of him. He was joined by several others who camped out on the floor. They too, seemed to find solace in the storm.
Cliff found his energy restored when the storm came over his house. He found his hands on automatic as the drawings appeared on the pages. Now he was nearly ten books ahead in the series had had created. He looked over at the crystal. It was glowing softly, almost pulsating. Taking it in his hand, he could see the tenth book play out in his mind. The Phoenix was now defeating the alien presence with the help of the powers of the mortals who were helping her. She was now victorious and once again returned to her sleep. With the final page written, he got ready for the night. Even with the storm he still had a band that needed its bass guitarist. He took a glance in the mirror and blinked when he thought he saw the glow of flames in his eyes.
“I really need to get out,” Cliff thought as he checked on his guitar before leaving.
Frank had just pulled the chicken pot pies of the oven when the lights flickered off. Joe helped his brother with a flashlight as he put the pies on a cooling rack. They lit a couple of candles so they wouldn’t have to eat in the dark.
“It’s a good thing I poured some water before the electricity went. We better keep the door on the frig closed for now,” Joe said.
Frank nodded. “I just hope it’s not down for too long. I got some research I have to do.”
They both dug into the pot pies, trying to ignore the raging storm outside.
Staci tossed in her bed. The headache seemed to intensify as the storm raged. Boomer crawled into her bed and nuzzled against her. Her father had come home an hour ago to see if she was alright and was worried that she was getting sicker. He wanted to stay but was called in to the station to handle emergency services. She assured him it was probably a migraine, and it would pass in a couple of hours. So far that had not happened, and the pain grew. Boomer licked her face, in a small attempt to try and get the pain to leave his owner. Staci opened her eyes slightly and saw Boomer’s sad puppy dog eyes looking at her. Tears streamed down her face.
“What’s wrong with me Boomer?” she asked the dog.
“They been hurting you,” the dog wanted to say wishing she could still hear him.
She moaned and tossed in her sleep. Closing her eyes, she tried to find some relief in her sleep. Boomer cuddled to her as close as he could, ready to keep away the people that were trying to take her from him. He appreciated that she got up and gave him some food then went outside with an umbrella so he wouldn’t get wet, protecting her was the only thing he could do now.
With dinner over, Frank tried to pass the time by playing cards with his brother in the candlelight. He could see Joe’s hands had stopped visibly shaking as much as they had been during dinner.
“Feeling better?” he asked.
Joe looked up from his cards and sighed. “A little bit. I guess the storm is… I don’t know it’s like I know whatever it is can’t get through it.”
“I guess so.” Frank said, “Maybe it’s just something else to think about for awhile.”
They had put Frank’s weather radio on the table. Joe was relieved it was hand-cranked. Now they would have to fumble around for batteries. The weather reports continued to say that their area was still under a severe thunderstorm warning. The flood warning was really starting to worry them. If the levels got any higher they might have to evacuate the area. Frank hoped it wouldn’t come down to that. They had enough to worry about.
He looked at the cards in his hand. Glancing up he could see Joe looking out the window. He could see there was a look of terror in his eyes.
“Baby brother, what’s wrong?” he asked.
Joe sighed and turned back. “It’s those memories. I don’t know how long the wall will hold up.”
Frank put his cards face down on the table. He came around and hugged his brother. “I’ll help you fight the memories. All you have to do is trust me.”
Joe returned the hug. “I do trust you. I just don’t want you to have to live with the memories like I am.”
Frank hugged him tighter. “I don’t care. I’m going to help you no matter what.”
Joe could sense Frank’s sincerity, and it helped him to feel a little better. Maybe now he could finally conquer the nightmares.
Staci finally managed to fall asleep. The pain had eased somewhat, allowing her to fall asleep. Even the nightmares couldn’t break through the wall of pain. Somehow the terrible migraine had been a blessing in disguise. Boomer snuggled close to her and finally went to sleep. He wasn’t about to go into his own bed.
More people joined Brian in the club office. By then it was very crowded with people who were dating snuggling close together. No one seemed to mind. They found solace in that somehow all of them together would stop whatever was attacking them.
Cliff returned to his room totally exhausted. After practicing for a couple of hours with his band, he put in several more at Shooting Star to fill in for a DJ that was sick. Now it was nearly three in the morning and all he could think about was sleep. The rains had stopped for an hour allowing him to take his equipment home without getting them wet. Now he was on his bed, too tired to change out of his clothes. He turned in his bed as the crystal was glowing more brightly than he had seen in the afternoon. He couldn’t get the images out of his head. Sitting up he pulled out the sketch pad and began sketching down what he would see.
Six sketches later he found himself unable to stay awake and fell asleep with his sketching pencil in his hand. The crystal glowed softly as it changed colors from pale blue to deep red. On Cliff’s bed the latest sketch showed the Phoenix, in full glory, flying through the Milky Way galaxy. In her wings of fire she was carrying lots of people, all of which looked ready for battle.
Dan was playing checkers with his new father when he had an odd feeling come over him. He knew what that feeling was. The Phoenix was stirring from her sleep.
“Is something wrong?” Fenton asked.
He had been worried that Dan would need a doctor. After two bowls of soup and a nap he seemed much more alert and wanted to sit up for a little while to clear his head.
Dan nodded. “Everything’s OK for now. I think the storm is helping to keep Joe distracted. The storm should clear out by tomorrow and we’ll be able to get back home. I think Joe just needs to feel that he’s got people around him that will protect him.”
Fenton was a little relieved that Joe was feeling a little better. It found it hard to believe that Joe was growing up and would be a man soon. Still, he tried to soak in every time his baby boy needed him. Frank and Joe were still his sons no matter what anyone said to him.
“I’ll try calling them again in the morning. Hopefully the storm will have passed,” Fenton said.
Frank finally managed to help his brother fall asleep. It was clear that the sleepless nights were catching up to him. He didn’t mind that Joe was in his bed. It seemed to be the only thing now that would allow Joe to fall asleep. It was still raining hard outside of the window. His weather radio said that the storm would not let up until early morning at the earliest. The announcer didn’t have any word on when the power would be restored. He looked down at Joe. For once he looked liked he was sleeping peacefully. Taking his brother in his arms, he closed his eyes, trying to find his own peace in sleep.
The Phoenix stirred and finally awoke. She knew of everything that was needed and what would happen if they didn’t help. Flying invisibly through the night, she sent out across the country in search of the other guardians. She would first seek out the one who could unite the other guardians… the one called Angel.
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