Set in Stone: Chapter Eight -

Set in Stone

Chapter 8: An Envelope of Rainclouds

…snatch.
There was always a way out if you had the right tools. Mine just so happened to be a flick of the hand away. And utilizing it was as simple as the press of a button. Within seconds, I was surfing the Sunday dawn on patterned wings.

Troy thought he had won. But I knew more than he could ever know about strategy, whether it be in this world or his. I knew the rules of the road. Come Monday, he'd be in for a rude awakening.

But when Monday came, Troy did not. He was absent to school.
"Oh, Troy? He transferred out. Said he was off to wander again…"
"And you don't find that even the least bit suspicious?"
"…I don't see the problem there."
Is this town really so blind? So jaded, that they can't see what's standing in plain view, directly upon them? I wondered. How could it be so?

Then again, we were all confused. It was Monday, and everyone around town was unfocused, demotivated, and emotionally drained at this point.

The sun did not come to school with me that day. It was caught and fastened within an envelope of rain clouds, its light unable to penetrate the squamous prison.

Enter Varis. My long-time best friend and confidant when it came to matters of great stress. He had always been there for me when he saw the look on my face. And boy, did I ever have that look today…

"Kyle? You look disoriented. What's wrong?"
"Varis… it's phase two."
"…phase two?"
"Troy is--"
"It's about Troy? You know, that kid creeped me out. He was so--"
"He killed them. He killed those people."
"…what?"
"In Anaheim."
"He killed…"
I nodded. "He came back to the scene of his crimes. He tried to throw me off the roof of a skyscraper… and now he thinks he's won. He thinks nothing can stop him."
"But you're the one who's trying to stop him, are you not?"
"I know, but… I just can't think of a plan! He's just too strong. I'd have to read his mind to--"

An idea.
"Wait a second." I looked at the Mark on my palm. "Maybe I can…"
I tried, on that impulse, to read Troy's mind using the Mark. I closed my eyes and attempted to request a mental portal, a vision of Troy's plot…

I saw the Mark glowing through my closed eyelids. When I opened my eyes, I was not at school. I wasn't even in Newport Beach anymore. I was in Los Angeles, and debris was crashing down from the sky. The smoke cloaked everything; it was like a toxic fog.

In the middle of an intersection, shrouded, but illuminated slightly by the sun, was a figure. It was a human figure, but… different. It was about Troy's height. It eyes glowed that same ubiquitous shade of purple. He lifted his arms…

Clap.
And with that clap, a roaring wind sent a skyscraper tumbling to the ground. The backwind was intense. It scorched my face as my vision faded.

The last thing I saw was those eyes, staring directly at me.

"Yes. I see now."
"What did you see?"
"I saw his thoughts. He's going to take out the cities, one by one."
"When?"
"I'm not sure."
"Well, how will you know when to go?"
"It's up to sheer luck for now. But know this: he's planning to take out all communications first. I heard that go across my ears as I watched him take out the city."

And sure enough, that evening, at 7:35 PM, all communications went dead. Every television network, blank. Local and cable, satellite as well. I checked the phone. Dead. I tried to access the internet. Nothing. The radio was all static.

"Touché, Troy. Touché."

But I was well prepared for this. I went up to my room and opened up a nondescript box in the corner of my closet, opposite the safe. Inside was my emergency source of communication: a shake-to-charge walkie-talkie. I had given the other one to Varis. I figured he'd have it in his hands at this very moment.

Five minutes later, a rolling boom of thunder cut all the lights. I shook the walkie-talkie and pressed the button.
"See? Silence."
Varis responded affirmatively. "Natch."
"Varis, now begins your portion of this deadly mission."
"You're giving me a part in this mess?"
"Well, nothing big, but… you're great at keeping track of things. I want to commission a log. A log of this adventure. For memory's sake."
The rest of my battle with Troy, from this point, has been transcripted from that log. It was Varis's first masterpiece. I still keep the log on my bookcase to this day.
"Nice. I'll make it the best log I've ever done. I never want to forget this."
"Good. Meet me at my house tonight at midnight. We've got to begin discussing the interception. We're going to bring his operation down at the source."
"Roger that. See you then."

Darkness began to invalidate the last vestiges of masked sunlight, conducted and radiated by the vicious storm clouds overhead. Lightning formed a transient grid of light overhead, one that flashed on and off for hours before it began to hail. With no electricity, I had only seconds to prepare for the midnight meeting before I got lost in my pitch-black bedroom.

"I at least hope this is temporary."

As darkness completed its engulfment of the world, I put on a hat with a built-in flashlight and turned the light on. Three and a half hours later, there was a knock at the door. Another light shone from outside. I smiled.

"The Crimson Crusade is go."