Ace Of Spades
Joshua Meihaus

 


Ace of spades
Chapter one
The man walking on the sidewalk of the dark street stopped abruptly. He stared at the ground wordlessly, and pulled a card case out of the pocket in his leather jacket, dark sunglasses obscuring his eyes. Opening the flap on the front of the pack of cards, he pulled out a solitary card. He looked at the word written on the front of the card, while fingering the golden cross that was hung across his chest.
His thoughts remaining on the word written on the card, it almost seemed as if the wind was whistling the word Loren.
His grip on the cross tightened, as a single tear rolled down his cheek and fell to the sidewalk below with a gentle dripping sound. A he watched the tear fall to the floor, a single word echoed through his mind repeatedly.
Goodbye.
A gentle rain started to fall, washing away the small puddle left by his fallen tear. Pulling the collar of his jacket closer to his face, he began to walk, stowing the deck of cards in the pocket of his jacket.
Each of his steps seemed distant, as if miles away. Nothing seemed to be real anymore. Nothing seemed like it was truly reality.
�Why?� he whispered, the rain that was falling mixing with the tears that now flowed down his face uncontrollably.
A heavy footstep splashed the water on the ground in the distance. The man reacted instantly, flinching in the direction of the sound. His walk sped to a jog, and as the number of footsteps multiplied rapidly, slowly turned into a run.
Walking down the alley and suddenly coming to a dead end, the man searched desperately for an exit. His fears seemed to be confirmed as he flinched at the sound of a deep voice rumbling through the empty alley.
�You�ve been far too elusive, Deren.� said the voice maliciously, as five other heavily muscled men surrounded him.
The man called Deren stood expressionless.
The man standing before him continued unperturbed. �I assume you thought that leaving anyone who knew you would stop us from harming them� So idealistic and foolish, thinking all Hunters are so kind and reluctant. Your decency is what makes you so weak.�
Deren�s expression suddenly turned to steel. �What have you done to them Zachara?� he whispered viciously.
Zachara�s mouth twitched into a sickened smile. �Nothing that a some stitches wouldn�t have cleared up� If they had gotten treatment quickly.�
The man around him roared with laughter, as Deren made a movement toward them.
Zachara smiled coldly again. �So na�ve. They�re gone. You can�t do anything for them now. If only you hadn�t been a coward, they might still be here��
Deren looked as if he would�ve killed, flames flickering in his eyes.
�Only such a coward as you would require help to capture someone like me.
Annoyance flickered across Zachara�s face. �Joaly, Smith, take him.� he barked.
Two of the men started toward Deren, brandishing massive handguns.
Blue flames suddenly erupted out of the ground. The men Joaly and Smith jumped back, terrified.
�KILL HIM,� shouted Zachara. �KILL HIM NOW!�
Deren�s eyes burned with satisfaction. �You remain as you always have, Zachara.�
Out of the darkness of the alley, a massive flash of light appeared, the flames retreated, and the man called Deren had disappeared.
Zachara screamed in anger.
�We must follow him.� he screamed. �We must capture the last Orion.�

Chapter two
Through the flash of light Deren could see the last expression of Zachara, in a horrible rage at the loss of his prize.
�Childish�� said Deren, his lips curling into a crude smile.
Looking around to where he had appeared, he quickly realized that this was no strange land; this was his hometown.
Sighing as he saw how much damage the Hunters had done to it, he felt as though a cinderblock had dropped into his stomach as he realized on thing: His family would be here.
Taking a deep breath and beginning to walk to the destroyed traffic light ahead, he had only one thought: Revenge.
�Revenge.� he whispered, as though to an invisible person in front of him, and began to walk once more.

* * * * *

Reaching the once great house of his family, his heart seemed to stop as he walked in the front door.
The entire house had been destroyed, looking for him. The couch in the living room had been overturned and ripped apart, and the television in front of it had been blasted apart as if by a massive shotgun. A massive well of emotion formed in his throat as he saw the body of a woman lying innocently on the floor, completely helpless looking. Hands shaking, he turned her over, and realized that it was his wife. Eyes completely open, face white, mouth agape, as if she had seen a ghost. Looking down at her limp body, he realized a large knife wound above her waist. The blood had stopped flowing, but he realized there just how much Zachara had done.
�Why�� He whispered. �WHY?! Why am I cursed like this?!� he screamed at the sky, fully aware of the tears now leaking uncontrollably from his eyes. Finally letting go of his wife�s limp body, he stood up, and noticed the spilled pack of cards on the table in front of him. One card was turned face up. The ace of spades, a single word written upon it.
Goodbye.
His mother was handing him a playing card.
�Take it honey, take the card.� she said playfully.
Assuming it would be unwise to refuse, he took the card from her hands. Turning it over curiously as his parents watched as if waiting for something to happen, he looked up at them searchingly. Suddenly, before his eyes, the card he was holding burst into blue colored flames and started smoking violently.
Deren yelped with surprise and dropped the card quickly. His parents started applauding, and Deren looked up at them, shocked.
�So it�s true,� said a voice behind them. �Your son is an Orion.�
Deren shook himself back to reality and let the card go, watching it float slowly to the ground before coming to rest in a pool of blood.
Tears once again began to fall from his face. He turned around and began to walk away, before stopping once more. He turned back to his wife�s motionless body. He pulled the cross hanging around his neck off, and placed it gently over her body.
�Goodbye, my love.� he whispered, and walked away.

Chapter three
The man behind them moved forward.
�What are you doing here Zachara?� said Deren�s father fiercely.
�Well, as you have just so kindly shown me,� said Zachara, lips curling into a cold smile. �Your son is an Orion. I believe you know what must happen now.�
Deren�s mother turns milk white. His father merely stood motionless, as if prepared for a fight.
�He�s just a teenager,� his father said. �You have no right to take him.�
Zachara smiled sickeningly. �I don�t need right, you fool. All I need is power.�
He waved his hand and Deren�s father flew across the room and was pinned to the wall by an invisible force.
Screaming, Deren�s mother ran to the edge of the room, raised a hand to the shelf above, and finally lowered it, clutching a small revolver with a shaking hand. Zachara gave a casual wave of his hand and the gun crumpled as if made of tin foil. Still raising a hand as if holding Deren�s father from across the room, he started toward Deren.
�Come with me child,� he said. �And you will have power.�
�Don�t listen to him!� His father screamed. �You have a gift, you must use it for the right purposes.�
Deren looked completely torn. Looking between his father and Zachara�s outstretched hand, he seemed to have decided. He ignored the Zachara�s hand, and raising his own, caused a pillar of fire to erupt from the palm of his hand. Zachara was flung backward out of the door.
Getting to his feet, he screamed, �You will live to regret this you fool. I will make sure of it.�
His thoughts were shook back to the task at hand: I must find Zachara.
�You will pay for what you did to my family.� he whispered.

* * * * *

�You will find him, or you will suffer greatly.� said Zachara coldly.
�Please, sir, I did not mean to let him escape! There was no way we could capture him!�
�I do not need excuses!� bellowed Zachara. �I only need to find Deren.�
�Then don�t bother setting your assistants on me.� said Deren from the front of the alleyway. �I wont let you do any more damage to innocent people. You�ve spilled enough blood already.�
�Ah�. So na�ve, even after all you�ve seen�.� said Zachara. �All that death could�ve been avoided if you�d just given yourself up��
�I will spill the blood of the man who has killed countless others.� said Deren, eyes full of fire.
�Then prepare yourself!� bellowed Zachara, rushing at him.
A smile flickered across Deren�s face as he raised his hand, and with it, Zachara.
�All this has made you a fool, Zachara. I will take revenge for all of the wrong you have done.�
He raised a hand, there was a flash of light, and Zachara had disappeared.
�Power made you strong, but time has made you weak Zachara.�
He turned around toward the end of the alley, and began to walk away. And with the first true smile for years, and a flash of light, Deren disappeared, finally at peace.

 

 

Copyright © 2008 Joshua Meihaus
Published on the World Wide Web by "www.storymania.com"