Chapter four

Magnet Town

Kyle and Jerry said nothing on the way to the airport and Sam was both annoyed and grateful. He could feel Jerry was aching to tell him off and he felt pretty embarrassed that his brothers had to see that. Most of all he was angry with himself for his stupid shyness. He'd never brought himself to kiss Christine properly, even if she'd given him multiple chances. He kinda felt like it was too soon. It wasn't. He was a moron.

He looked to Kyle, but his brother only raised his eyebrows and drove on. Sam was relieved when they reached the airport and finally got on the plane. He wasn't a big fan of awkward silence and maybe they'd talk about the mission.

"What is it with you and Christine?" Kyle asked all of a sudden, making Sam jump. "That must've been the most embarrassing kiss in the history—"

"Now, Kyle, it's none of our business," Jerry said. "Though I do think you should've just walked away."

"Can we not talk about this, please?" Sam said, shifting in his seat, which was unfortunately right between Kyle and Jerry.

"Why do you think he should've walked away?" Kyle asked, pretending Sam wasn't there.

"They're young, they barely know each other..." Jerry started.

"God, Jerry, what is this? The eighteenth century? What, are you scared no one will want to marry Christine if Sam kisses her properly?"

"Oh, so you're suggesting Sam should just go around swapping saliva with anyone in his path?"

Sam frowned. "Wait, what? Christine's my girlfriend, Jerry."

"Of course not," Kyle said. "But it wouldn't hurt if he got some practice."

"Guys..."

"He doesn't need practice."

"By the looks of things, he does, and a lot of it."

"Knock it off!" Sam yelled. A few of the passengers stared at him. "This is all very awkward without you dissecting my relationship and my kissing."

Kyle narrowed his eyes. "You've never kissed a girl properly, have you?"

"Of course not!" Jerry piped in.

"Stop talking as if I'm not here. And how do you know, Jerry?" Sam snapped. Of course, Jerry was right, put his presumptuousness was annoying either way.

"So you have?" Kyle asked, his eyebrows threatening to disappear into his hair.

Ground, swallow me now! Except they were up in the air. "No. I never liked anyone enough before Christine. Can we drop this now, please? It's embarrassing enough as it is." Sam gave both his brothers the stink eye, and they finally got it.

And just as the plane reached cruising altitude, Sam realized he'd forgotten to call Billy. He groaned and closed his eyes, trying to empty his mind and relax. His eyes stung and he was tired. What with the mission jitters and worrying about Christine, he hadn't slept well the previous night. As he breathed deeply, the image of a desert appeared in front of his eyes.

He frowned. They weren't there yet, and he actually had no idea if there was any desert there. Yet, there he was, his boots stuck in the dust. Storm clouds gathered above him and lightning flashed. Then darkness. Another flash and he could see himself in the distance. Only that this time, he knew it was Tom. Darkness again and then light. Tom appeared closer, Snitch Gravel right behind him.

Sam's stomach clenched with fear and he darted towards Tom. If he ran fast enough, he could get to his twin, save him. Heavy rain fell from the sky and seemed to smash at his feet. When the lightning struck again, Tom was on his knees and Snitch Gravel was forcing him to look up as though trying to drown him in the rain.

The fear inside Sam burst into full grown panic and he pushed himself even more, running faster than he'd ever run. He could feel the electric sizzle in the air. Just as he reached Tom and Snitch Gravel, the lightning bolt struck. Snitch Gravel morphed into Kyle and then back in a blink of an eye.

Sam bolted up, screaming.

"Sam, calm down, it was just a dream."

Sam turned to Jerry, panting. He and Kyle both leaned over him, worried frowns on their faces. Seeing Kyle made Sam's head pound. What had happened? He tried to grasp his dream, but everything rushed away from him until the only thing he could remember was the fear.

"Are you all right?" Jerry asked putting his hand on Sam's forehead. "You're pale."

"Yeah. You were right, it was just a nightmare." Sam laid back in his seat, taking deep breaths.

"What kind of nightmare?" Kyle asked.

Sam frowned and looked at Kyle thoughtfully. "One I've had before. But I can't remember the details. Only the fear... and the cold."

Kyle seemed worried, but said nothing else.

"We're about to land," Jerry said after a few moments of silence.

"Perfect, I need to stretch my legs a bit," Sam answered shifting in his seat.

Jerry and Kyle looked tired, too. They probably were. Sam only hoped the journey to a place they could sleep wouldn't take much longer. But, of course, he wasn't that lucky. It turned out that, to get near the small town they were supposed to reach, they had to take a private plane.

They met their pilot, a skinny bow-legged old man with a tuft of grey beard like a goat's and an impressive bold spat, at the airport. He took them to a small rickety plane, and they were back up in the air. Sam's eyes burned, but he didn't want to sleep. He was afraid he'd have that darn nightmare again.

He wouldn't have gotten to sleep. Before they could make themselves comfortable, the plane landed on a dusty runway in the middle of nowhere. The pilot climbed down and pointed to a SUV that looked more like a tractor.

"Magnet Town is that way." He pointed to his right at a narrow dirt road that slithered on the edge of a cliff and chuckled like an old prospector. "Good luck, lads." He climbed back in his rickety plane and took off.

"Where the hell does Herrison keep finding these guys?" Kyle asked, shaking his head.

Jerry and Sam didn't bother answering and loaded the luggage in the trunk. Kyle got behind the wheel and they were off. Only that he was so tired, Sam was afraid he might end up driving them into a tree or off the cliff.

"Kyle, maybe you should let me drive," Sam said cautiously as he had to pull the steering wheel a little to the right to avoid a huge boulder that was conveniently placed in the middle of the road.

"Yeah, maybe I should let you drive," Kyle said, pulling over to Sam and Jerry's surprise. "I'm okay, I'm just very tired," he said, seeing their worried faces.

Sam and Kyle exchanged place while Jerry stayed in the backseat.

"You should be careful," Jerry said once Sam started the car and drove off.

"What, you think I'll drive us off the cliff? I'm not that bad," Sam answered, avoiding what looked like a rabbit-hole and getting back on the road. It was harder than it looked. The headlights barely shed any light at all.

"I'm not saying you're bad, but maybe you should pull over and let me drive," Jerry said looking at Kyle for support, but Kyle had his head leaning against the window and seamed half asleep already.

"No, you drive like a snail and we'll get there in maybe a week if we're lucky," Sam answered annoyed, driving off the road again because a tree had grown right in the middle of it.

"The road is dangerous and you've never taken the car out of the city." Jerry nudged Kyle a little.

"I bet that neither have you. Let the kid drive. Heaven knows he needs the practice," Kyle mumbled leaning his chair back in horizontal position and squishing Jerry who was right behind him.

Sam turned around satisfied and stuck his tongue out at Jerry. There was a crash and the car flew off the road. Sam hit the brakes. Kyle flew off the chair and hit the windshield head first. The car skidded on the dirt and stopped a foot away from the edge of the cliff.

"I told you to be careful!" Jerry screeched, but the rest of his lecture was covered by Kyle's furious swearing.

Sam ignored them both, trying to get his breath to even out and his heart to stop pounding. He hadn't moved much, since the wheel held him in place. Neither had Jerry, pinned down as he was by Kyle's chair. After making sure Kyle wasn't bleeding, which, thankfully he wasn't, Sam got out of the car to check the damage. The fender was bent and it appeared he'd hit a pretty big rock, but other than that, the car looked okay.

His legs still a bit shaky, Sam got back behind the wheel. Kyle had thankfully stopped swearing and was rubbing the beginning of a huge bruise.

"Damn it, Sam, watch where you're going, will you?"

"Wait, that's it? He almost threw us off the cliff!" Jerry said.

Sam wanted to argue, but Jerry was right. If he didn't know that Jerry drove like a granny, he would've let him drive. "I'll be more careful, I promise."

"Good," Kyle said, lying back on the chair, his folded hands behind his head. "Take this as a vote of confidence," he added, closing his eyes again.

"Why don't you put your seat belt on?" Jerry asked kindly.

"Because this piece of shit doesn't have seat belts," Kyle answered as Sam drove off again, going as slow as possible. "Come on, kid, you call this driving? Step on it!"

The little dust road seemed to go on forever. After a while Sam even wondered if they weren't actually moving around in circles. But they were still on the edge of the cliff, so he supposed not. After a while, Sam's eyes started stinging and it became harder to concentrate. Kyle and Jerry being quiet didn't help either. He could tell that Kyle wasn't sleeping, but he didn't know what to say to start a conversation. He wondered why Kyle was so tiered. He was usually the one who could go on for days without any sleep. It then came to his mind that Kyle had probably had a few sleepless nights.

Suddenly, something huge appeared out of nowhere in front of the car. He stomped on the break. Kyle flew off the chair again, but this time reached his hands out. He didn't bang his head, but the windshield cracked where Kyle's hands made contact with it. The car stopped a few inches from the obstacle.

"I'm gonna feel this in the morning," Kyle mumbled, rubbing his right elbow. "What happened?"

"This... thing jumped out in front of me," Sam said, panting slightly. What was that thing?

"That thing is a house, I believe," Jerry said calmly and Sam realized he was right. 

There was a wooden wall in front of the car. How could he not see it before? Was he that tired?

"Let's go check it out. We might be here." Kyle opened the door and got out of the car.

Jerry and Sam followed. They had stumbled on to something that much resembled a ghost town. The only thing visible was a plank, which warmly said: "Welcome to Magnet Town. Pop. 52". The plank was illuminated by what looked like an ancient oil lantern.

"Herrison wasn't kidding when he said it was a small town," Kyle said amused grabbing the lantern, since the rest of the town was drown in darkness.

The three walked a few more feet and stopped in front of the biggest building visible, which seemed to be a store.

"The Best Magnets in Town," Sam read as Kyle raised the lantern to see what the store was called. When Kyle lowered the lantern again, Sam's eyes fell on another sign, right next to the door "Out of business. Well, this answers a lot of questions doesn't it?"

They walked around for another ten minutes, but didn't find anyone even if they'd practically circled the town. They returned to the main square in front of the shop and Kyle put the lantern on the ground and yawned. Jerry was rubbing his arms and Sam followed his example. It was freezing outside.

"Where the fu— I mean, where is Herrison?" Kyle said, yawning again. "See, I'm trying not to swear," he said to Jerry.

"Yeah, and I'm proud of you. But maybe it's because you've used all the swear words you know when you bumped your head against the windshield," Jerry answered, yawning too.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it," Kyle admitted.

Sam lifted the lantern again, this time looking for some firewood or anything that could help him warm up. Just as he was considering setting fire to the big store, a shadow moved towards them. Kyle immediately disappeared in the darkness and attacked. He came back a few seconds later holding Herrison in a headlock.

"You can let go Kyle, it's only Herrison," Sam said tired, putting the lantern down again.

"What are you, crazy?" Herrison coughed as soon as Kyle let him go.

"What if you were one of Snitch Gravel's men?" Kyle said, pulling away from Herrison.

"Well, I'm glad you're finally here," Herrison said after a few moments in which he panted to catch his breath. "And I'm glad you're not playing around. We have very important things to discuss."

"Is it urgent? We're a little on the tired side right now," Sam said, trying to keep himself from yawning.

"Well..." Herrison tilted his head and took them in. "I guess we could talk tomorrow morning. Let me take you to the inn."

They followed Herrison without a word and entered one of the wooden buildings which showed no sign of actually being an inn. But they went through a small reception, up some stairs and ended up in a cramped room with three beds.

"See you tomorrow." Herrison waved and left them to it.

They didn't say anything as they changed into their pajamas. Actually only Sam and Jerry did as Kyle pulled on a pair of sweat pants and dropped on his bed, already half asleep. Jerry and Sam put their things away and climbed in their beds, too, after putting out the lantern. For a few moments they lay in silence, then Sam rose on his elbows and looked at Kyle who was in the middle bed.

"When's the last time you slept?" he asked making Kyle jump.

"Come on kid, go to sleep," he moaned, putting the pillow over his head.

"When, Kyle?" Sam insisted.

"Wednesday night. Are you happy now?" Kyle mumbled into the mattress.

"Why?" Jerry asked quietly.

"Why do you ask when you already know the answer?" he snapped and stuffed the pillow over his head harder.

Sam and Jerry didn't answer. Sam lay down on his bed, staring at the wooden ceiling. Kyle was right. They both knew the answer, and the answer contained three letters: Kay.