CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Even Josie had given up hope. It had been over a month since Jonathan, Alyxx, and Panya had vanished. They were no closer to finding them than when they began. Mark was barely responsive. Dean was full of rage. Ryan looked broken almost all of the time. Zane's heart was obviously breaking.

     Things hadn't been the same since Marie died. Somehow, the senseless tragedy had torn everyone apart. Dean and Ryan were even more hostile toward each other than usual. Janna was depressed at first but had become angry when she learned Ryan had her excluded from Marie's funeral. She stared daggers at him pretty much non-stop now.

     Julian rambled endlessly about useless prophecies. Even he was starting to give up on finding the answer in any book. Tommy and Angie retreated back into their own world. Keisha sank into a deep depression that may or may not have been set off by her hormones. Adara constantly snapped at anyone who got too close to her. She'd tried to set several of them on fire on more than one occasion. Trish and Shannon stayed close to one another. They seemed to find strength in each other.

     It was Olivia who had the strongest and most unexpected reaction to Marie's death. She stopped speaking to Janna entirely. As far as she was concerned, Janna was at fault for an innocent person dying and as a Goddess of Justice, she could not forgive that. By default, she had also basically stopped speaking to Dean.

     The tension was so thick Josie could barely breathe. Richie was the only one who tried to remain optimistic. He went out of his way to cheer them up as best he could. He brought over movies and comfort food weekly and he always had funny stories to tell. They were a good distraction, but that only worked for so long.

     Josie had moved into Zane's house. She stayed in Jonathan's room. His scent was slowly fading away. She spent most nights crying. It was a fairly frequent occurrence that Richie would spontaneously show up at the house, come into the bedroom, curl up in bed with her and hold her while she sobbed.

     "Where are you?" She whispered aloud. She was sitting on Jonathan's bed snuggling his pillow. Her hair was a wreck and she needed to get ready for school but she didn't care. Maybe she could convince Zane to let her stay home sick.

     Josie... Miss Josie...

     It was so faint, she was certain she'd made it up. Then she heard the same words again.

     "Jonathan! Oh Gods... I can hear you! Please hear me... Where are you?"

     I'm lost... So dark... Cold...

     "Don't you dare die on me, Soldier," she said firmly. "You promised you'd find me. You're not allowed to leave me now."

     Trying... Blood... So much... Panya... Alyxx... So much blood...

     For a single moment, Josie allowed herself to be consumed by terror. Then she decided fear was pointless and asked the question she didn't want answered. "Are they still alive?"

     Yes.

     She exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "Thank Gods..."

     They're hurt. So am I... We don't have much time left... I love you, Miss Josie.

     "Damnit, Jonathan Adams, you will not quit on me now! Tell me. Tell me everything. Just keep talking to me." She worked her way down the hall and knocked on Olivia's door.

     Olivia opened it. She was about to speak when Josie started talking again. "Come on, my soldier. I know you can talk."

     "Josie?" Olivia asked. "What's going on?"

     "I hear him, Olivia! I don't know how, but I just started hearing Jonathan all of a sudden," Josie explained.

     Hurt... Beaten... Whipped...

     "Who? Who, Jonathan? Tell me."

     Panya. He whips her all the time. Makes me watch... Can't help... Promised I would, but I can't...

     Josie's heart sank. "What else? Tell me more."

     Alyxx stopped speaking. They beat her. They try to do more but whenever they do, Neith comes. She won't let them go that far. It's the only time Alyxx fights anymore.

     Josie took in a deep breath. It was time to be strong. "What's he saying?" Olivia asked.

     "They're all hurt. Alyxx isn't responding. Panya's been beaten," Josie replied emotionlessly.

     "Does he know where they are?"

     "Do you, my soldier? Do you know where you are?"

     Dark. Underground. He lurks. He's going to get free soon. They're going to free him... Sacrifice... Jonathan replied.

     "Who? Who are they going to sacrifice?" Josie didn't need to ask who was lurking. Clearly it was Chaos.

     Olivia's eyes went wide in horror. She leaned in as if she could hear the telepathic conversation for herself somehow.

     Us. All three of us.

     "No. We won't let them. We'll find you, Jonathan. I promise we will," Josie replied.

     So weak... Can't focus...

     "Jonathan, no! Keep talking. Don't let go."

     I'm sorry, Alice... But at least I found you... I love you...

     With that, the connection shattered. Josie hit the floor hard. Olivia helped her get back up.

     "They're going to kill them! We have to find them, like, now!" Josie exclaimed.

     "I'll get Zane. We'll see if we can figure anything out from what he told you," Olivia replied.

     "It wasn't much. They're hurt. Badly. They're going to be sacrificed to raise Chaos. That's about it."

     "We won't let that happen." Olivia sighed. "Josie, you're going to be late for school."

     "Really? Am I supposed to care right now?"

     "Honey, you need to be there. Trust me. It's important."

     "It won't help them. How does it matter?"

     "It's just a feeling. Please go. For me?"

     Reluctantly Josie agreed. She went back to Jonathan's room and got ready for school.

*

     When Josie got to her first class she was exactly thirteen minutes late. She wasn't the only one. A boy who was even shorter than she was walked in right behind her. He had an impish grin, which he flashed at the teacher.

     "Hi," he said. "I'm Billy. I'm new."

     This effectively distracted the teacher. Josie gratefully took her seat. Billy sat down two seats to her right.

     When the class ended, Josie gathered her books. "Wait up," Billy said as they entered the hallway. "Hi. I have no idea where my next class is. Could you show me?" He showed her his program. It was identical to hers.

     Josie had a dagger in her hand before she even realized what she was doing. She'd been carrying it since learning her father was loose somewhere. She pinned the kid against the wall with her arm and demanded, "Who the hell are you?"

     The kid struggled. "Billy," he croaked out. "I told you that."

     "Don't lie to me. I will kill you."

     "Ah! Fine, let me go and we'll talk! Mercy!"

     Josie let go of him and he fell to the ground. Somehow he landed on his feet. He looked at her in confusion. "What the hell?" He asked. "I was just being friendly."

     "This is New York. No one's friendly. Who sent you?"

     "Uh, my mom and dad?"

     "Do you work for Chaos? Tell me the truth right now!"

     "Are you insane or something? The cute ones always are..."

     "I'm serious!" She slammed him against the wall again.

     "Josie! Let him go," Angie said as she spotted them. She ran over to join them. "He's one of us."

     "What? How would you even know? You haven't shown your face around me in weeks!" Josie argued.

     "I'm sorry. Dad pulled me out of school. It took me a while to talk him into letting me come back. He's afraid I'll disappear like Alyxx did."

     "Uh, a little help?" Billy asked. Josie still had him pinned to the wall.

     Josie reluctantly let him go. Billy picked up his fallen program card and said, "I think it's time to walk away now. Nice meeting you, Cute Psycho Girl."

     "Wait," Angie said. "Who are you?"

     "Billy. I'm new. I just moved here from Kansas. Can I go now, or are you gonna attack me, too?"

     "No, I mean, who is your soul?"

     "What the hell are you talking about? Seriously, is everyone in this school nuts?"

     "Your aura is Egyptian."

     "Actually, I'm Italian."

     "Please, just give me a minute... I know I can figure this out. I've been practicing."

     "You have?" Josie asked.

     "Well, yeah. What good is a super power if you don't use it?"

     Billy tried to walk away unnoticed. Josie grabbed him. He flinched. "Read him," she said.

     "He's definitely Egyptian... Very ancient and revered... He's probably got cults..." Angie stopped to think.

     "Cults? You guys are nuts. Let me go!" Billy objected.

     Josie ignored his request. Angie continued to focus on him. She closed her eyes and after a moment, she began laughing as she opened them again.

     "Is something funny?" Billy asked.

     "Yeah, kind of," Angie replied.

     "What is it?" Josie asked.

     "He's a deity, Josie. It's Bes."

     Josie immediately released her hold on Billy. "Oh crap! I'm sorry! I had no idea... What are you doing here? Why didn't you just tell me who you were?"

     "I did. I'm Billy from Kansas. I'm not some girl named Bessie," Billy insisted.

     "Not Bessie," Angie corrected him. "Bes. The dwarf God."

     "Was that a crack about my height?"

     "You really don't know, do you?" Josie asked.

     "All I know is you two sound insane."

     "Right. You're coming with me after school. You need to meet Zane."

     "Do you really think I'm going to go anywhere with you? You assaulted me, held me at knife-point, assaulted me again, and mocked my height. That's like every bad New York experience my mom was afraid of in one shot! Leave me alone!"

     "I'm sorry. Really. I didn't realize you were one of us. The universe is funny that way."

     "Funny? You call this funny?"

     "Yep. Don't worry, Billy. I promise this will all make sense later." 

     "I'd rather not find out, if it's all the same."

     "Too bad, because we have identical programs. You're stuck with me."

     "Super."

     "Come on. I'll show you where our next class is. We're late." She practically dragged him to Algebra.

*

     By the end of the day, Billy had calmed down a bit. He wasn't as afraid of Josie now that she wasn't trying to kill him. He still didn't seem thrilled at the idea of following her to some unknown place, but apparently curiosity got the better of him because they found themselves outside of Zane's house.

     Zane opened the door and looked at Billy in confusion. "Josie, who is this?" He asked.

     "Bes!" Trish and Shannon exclaimed in unison. They ran up to Billy and hugged him before he even knew they were coming.

     "Um... You guys are really friendly and all, but my name is Billy. That's what I keep trying to tell Josie," he said.

     "You don't remember? Oh man. That's gotta suck," Trish said. "I'm Bastet, Bes. Come on, we're friends. You must remember me."

     "Sorry, Basket, but I'm not sure who the heck you are."

     She hissed at him. He cowered behind Josie. "Bas-tet. Not basket. Get it straight."

     "Get Julian," Zane said. "We don't have time to do this the usual way. If he's one of us, he needs to remember before someone else figures it out." He paused. "I won't allow what happened to Marie and Li to happen again."

     Trish walked away to call Julian. Josie led Billy inside. Shannon stared at him expectantly. "He doesn't remember, my love," Zane reminded her gently.

     Shannon nodded. "Then he'll make new memories. Welcome, Bes, or Billy... You are safe here," she said.

     "Should I not be safe?" Billy asked.

     "Billy, you're not in Kansas anymore," Josie replied with a grin.

     "You've been sitting on that all day, haven't you?"

     "Kind of. Look, your arrival is a good thing. Really. Bes is a great guardian and I'm sure you will be, too."

     "Um... I'm fourteen."

     "When's your birthday?"

     "December twenty-second."

     "Yule. Nice. Wait, December? Yay! I'm not the youngest deity anymore! My birthday's in a couple of days."

     There was a knock on the door. Trish reappeared and answered it. An African-American boy clad entirely in black stood on the other side. She embraced him. "Finally!" She cried.

     "Finally?" Josie repeated.

     "Remember how I told you there were more of us here? I just sent them a message to get over here. It's time."

     "So who's he?"

     "Donnie," the boy said. "I also answer to Anubis."