Special Eyes Ch. 25

As soon as Arthur Liu was gone, Jackie collapsed, rolled onto his back and laid on the floor. 

"Jackie!" Alice lost count how many times she got scared out of her mind at this point. With a shriek, she rushed over to Jackie's side and dropped down next to him. But to her relief, he was still conscious and looked back at her with a weak smile.

"Hey," he said, voice soft and cracked. "Been a while. What've you been up to?"

Alice laughed through a sob. She sniffed back a runny nose and responded, "You moron."

Her smile quickly faded, and she bit down on her lower lip, riddled with guilt.

While most eyes were on the duo, Donatello Putts once more started crawling for the nearest exit. But his way was blocked by Tom Waller, who stood over the Wizard with a scowl.

Arms crossed over his chest, Waller said, "Don't even think about it."

He proceeded to throw some salt from a Ziploc bag on the Wizard, dampening whatever supernatural powers remained. As an added measure, the accountant gave the cage with eyes all over a look and asked it, "You want some of this?"

The cage monster did not and scurried out through the kitchen door, abandoning its master for good.

At that moment, dozens of police officers stormed in, led by Arnold.

"Jackie!" Like Alice, Arnold was horrified to see Jackie lying on the floor and rushed over to his side. He looked his stepson up and down, glad to see Jackie still conscious but still overwhelmed with worry. The police officer was pained to see Jackie's injured leg and then flared with resentment when he heard Alice's voice call out to him, "Officer . . ." 

His anger dissipated however when his eyes caught sight of the dark rings under her teary eyes, the deathly paleness of her face and the shallow, but bloody scratches around her neck. But still, he glowered at them both, as he must and said to them, "You two are in big trouble. You better be ready for what's coming."

Jackie and Alice nodded, and Arnold called for an ambulance.

Jackie and Alice were taken to the hospital at the east side of the city. Needless to say, Jackie had to stay overnight and recuperate from his injuries. Alice did as well at the insistence of a doctor out of precaution.

Donatello Putts was taken to different hospital to the south where he was watched twenty-four, seven by officers in tactical gear. The police officers had been warned of how dangerous the Wizard was and never let down their guard, which Donatello didn't mind, fearing the return of the scary enforcer with a sword, Arthur Liu. Once he recovered enough, which was shockingly fast to the doctors' astonishment, he was formally arrested and moved to a jail cell.

The doctors over at the eastern hospital experienced astonishment of their own thanks to Jackie. Despite being landed on by a huge piece of stage equipment that must weigh a ton, the bones of Jackie's injured leg remained intact. In fact, come morning time, the leg looked good as new. It was baffling to everyone, Jackie included who experienced the pain firsthand. It hurt so badly, it had to have been snapped in two.

But X-rays don't lie, and Jackie's showed his leg was perfectly fine. There wasn't even so much as a bruise on it, which should be pleasing but left both Arnold and Alice frowning with concern. Waller too, when he heard.

So, after a night's rest and further examinations in the morning, both Jackie and Alice were allowed to leave the hospital in the afternoon. Arnold was still technically on vacation so had the time off to take Jackie home. Alice expected to be picked up by Granny Tsing but was surprised by both of her parents showing up as well.

George Tsing, a professional filmmaker, was supposed to be in South Africa creating a documentary while his wife, Joan, was supposed to be in France for corporate business consultation work. Apparently, as soon as they heard that Alice had gone missing, they immediately dropped what they were doing to head back home. Or at least they tried to. 

George was stranded in a village for a couple of days because his car broke down and there was no one who could fix it but himself. Joan's assistant bought the wrong plane ticket, and she ended up stuck in Puerto Rico after her purse with her passport, phone, and credit cards got stolen. Eventually, George was able to get his car repaired and Joan was able to get her belongings back (don't ask how), and both made it to their respective airports to get on the next flight home.

Although it sounded unbelievable, Alice was certain those were not mere excuses. If they had been, both her parents would be suffering from Granny Tsing's infamous, utterly painful ear twists. The true matriarch of the family was none too pleased by how long it took the couple to return home when their only child had been abducted.

Alice thought she was going to get the punishment of a lifetime for running away and getting mixed up with a dangerous group like the Gathering. But instead, as soon as the Tsing family members all laid eyes on each other, Alice found herself buried beneath her parents and great-aunt in a group bear hug.

Jackie, on the other hand, spent hours and hours listening to Arnold scold and lecture him the moment the door to their home closed behind them. His internet privileges remained revoked, and he was allowed only a basic flip phone to make calls with. The phone, Jackie was quick to notice, had a tracking device stuck to it.

A new week had started when Jackie could finally return to school. He went down ahead of Arnold and found Alice waiting outside of the apartment building.

Alice quickly turned away when she spotted Jackie coming out of the lobby. She was still not able to look Jackie in the eye without her feelings going into turmoil. Honestly, she had planned never to see Jackie again, feeling it was no longer right for her to be with him after the predicament she had put him through. But as if able to read Alice's mind, Granny Tsing pulled her aside earlier this morning and gave her a warning. 

"Do not try and avoid Jackie," she said. "Especially do not think about running away or disappearing. That boy dove into Hell to find you. And he will do it again if that's what it takes. If you really care about him, then there is only one thing you can do. Do you already understand what that is?"

Alice did.

As they had always done before the whole Gathering incident, Alice and Jackie walked side by side. Much of the journey to school was spent in silence, heavily awkward silence. There were street noises of course, like passing cars, or the chatter of fellow pedestrians on their phones, but all that was counted as part of the quiet atmosphere around the two friends. Alice never looked Jackie's way once, but she could feel his eyes on her, which just made things very uncomfortable. She wanted to break the silence badly, but she had no idea what to say.

No, wait. There is one thing she could say. Something she had to say.

"Sorry," she said. 

It was barely a whisper, but Jackie heard. "Sorry for what?" he asked.

Alice frowned. Is he seriously asking right now? She wondered and was tempted to see but resisted and decided to assume he was.

"You know," she mumbled, gaze moving skyward. "For the whole Gathering thing. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have gotten mixed up in that mess and ended up in the hospital."

"It's no biggie," said Jackie. "You were just looking out for me. If anything, I'm the one who should be sorry. You wouldn't have thought to see what the Gathering was like if I was a better friend."

"What? No!" Finally, Alice whirled around and faced him. "You were the best friend I could possibly have! In fact, you're more than just my best friend. You're - !"

She stopped herself.

Jackie gave her a puzzled look. "I'm . . . ?"

Turning beat red in the face, Alice turned away, muttering, "Never mind."

"You okay, Alice?" asked Jackie. "You're looking rather hot right now."

"Damn it, Jackie! Yes, I am!" Alice knew what he meant, but she still felt extremely flustered. 

Jackie was doubtful she was being truthful and gave her a piercing stare. "You sure about that?"

"Yes, I'm sure!"

Alice needed to change the subject, and she desperately looked around for inspiration. She found it right at their heels.

"Psst! Jackie! Don't look now, but we're being followed."

Jackie gave Alice a sideways glance. "Human or Egregor?"

"Egregor."

"What kind?"

"A huge skeleton."

"Oh, no need to worry then. That's just Boney."

Alice stopped. "Boney?"

"Yeah, I told you about him before. We started off on the wrong foot, but now we're friends. Ain't that right, Boney?"

Jackie flashed a smile at the skeleton monster lumbering behind him. The monster nodded back.

Jackie first spotted Boney crouching low at the hallway outside of Jackie's room during lights out. Of course, seeing a huge skeleton lingering in a dark hallway was startling and he had never seen what Boney actually looked like before. But Jackie knew who it was right away and invited him in for a late night chat. Since then, Boney had stuck to Jackie like a dog stuck to its owner. Of course, much to Jackie's regret, Boney had to stay outside. The apartment's size made it an unsuitable living space for the immense skeleton. It was a miracle it was able to navigate the hospital's narrow, low-ceiling hallways.

Alice looked at Boney with very mixed feelings. On one hand was apprehension from years of bad experiences with its kind and knowledge that Boney had once tried to "unalive" Jackie, as the boy himself put it. But on the other hand, Boney helped Jackie and was even now keeping the other monsters away. She didn't need to be on Jackie's level to notice that.

But I can do the same just fine on my own now, she thought with a little pout.

"Actually," Jackie suddenly spoke up, "that reminds me . . ."

"Reminds you of what?" Alice asked, returning her gaze to him.

"There's something I wanted to tell you. It's something I realized while I was looking for you?"

Alice was curious, but also a little afraid. But still, she mustered her courage and timidly asked, "What?"

And then, to her surprise, he held her hand in his. His hand was very warm.

Jackie flashed Alice a smile, leaned closer until his mouth was at her ear and whispered into her ear, three words.

An instant later, Alice's already flushed face turned several times redder.

**********

Ten o'clock in the morning, Tom Waller strolled into a quiet cafe, the interior of which was designed to look like an elegant, classic shop made out of woodwork. After a brief word with the waitress, he was led to an outdoor porch where he found Arthur Liu flipping the page of a hardcover novel beneath the shade of a brown umbrella.

The novel appeared to have been borrowed from a nearby library. It had the telltale glossy sheen of clear plastic wrapping, and a white square label at the bottom of the spine. Waller recognized the title as a story by a modern writer set in the world of Sherlock Holmes.

Seeing Waller's approach, Liu closed the book and set it down next to his cup of coffee.

"Thomas," he said, "fancy seeing you here. Please, have a seat."

To the waitress, he requested a second order of coffee for Waller as the accountant got settled down. Once the waitress was gone, the two men went straight to business.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Liu inquired.

Scowling, Waller replied, "You know already what I want. Give it to me straight Liu, what are you really doing here? I know you didn't just happen to show up when the Gathering started making trouble. And I know guys of their level usually don't even make it on your radar. Putts' plan was doomed from the start. The only reason the locals in the same business as you didn't do anything was because they saw you snooping and figured they could kick back and relax while you did their work for them."

"A fortunate thing for those children who had fallen under that so-called Wizard's influence," said Liu. "Hopefully, with Jackie Li's show of kindness, they won't stray to darker paths."

"If not his nice guy shtick, then you scaring the pants off them should do the trick," Waller pointed out.

"So you realized my intentions back then." Liu took a sip of coffee, savored the flavor and then set the cup down. "Very well. I suppose you have a right to know since your territory was mixed up in this matter of mine. But before I proceed, may I ask how much do you already know?"

"Only that a few years ago, that idiot Putts was just a normie with no powers whatsoever. He never had the kind of eyes that could see pests." The pests Waller was talking about were, of course, the Egregors. "But then he somehow got his hands on a PDF file full of legit magic spells and potion recipes."

"Did he say how he obtained that file?"

Waller shook his head. "Doesn't remember. The Chief grilled him, himself, so I think it's true."

"I suppose I have this Chief to thank for this meeting? I was not exactly hiding, but I was surprised you found me when I only decided to visit this establishment on a whim. He seems formidably skilled."

"Yeah, well," Waller shrugged, "we both needed answers anyway."

"Then I will give you them now," Liu stated. "My true purpose in coming to this city was to hunt down a merchant. This particular merchant makes his living by selling supernatural knowledge. He sells them to the desperate, the uninitiated, and the untrained. To 'normies', as you would put it. I trust you can imagine the sort of damage that could cause?"

Waller nodded. "Yeah. The only thing worse than a wizard, is a wizard that doesn't know how to be one."

"Which is exactly the sort of wizard Donatello Putts revealed himself to be," said Liu. "Although it is true his plan was doomed to fail, had Jackie Li not intervened, that fool's misguidance would have had children jumping to their own destruction, which, as far as you and I are concerned, is plenty damaging."

"I still don't see why you had to come all the way out here," Waller pressed. "What business is it to you what happens this side of the world?"

"Make no mistake, Thomas," Liu stressed, his face and tone grave. "My homeland will always be my top priority. That said, the lives of all innocent people is a concern of mine. And I also strongly believe that what happens on one side of the world can have an effect on the other. By ensuring balance remains in other countries, I protect my own. But that is difficult at this moment because of this merchant roaming about, uncontained by borders and picky with his customers in the worst possible way."

"And does this merchant have a name?"

Liu shook his head. "No, he does not. At least not any that I am aware of. He, she, they are clever enough to hide all traces of identity, going as far as to erase their customers' memories. I doubt questioning Putts myself will yield anything more than what your Chief unearthed already."

"So we got a troublemaker running around here, teaching idiots how to pull off real magic for a couple of bucks while being smart enough to stay under the radar even from you." Waller felt the onset of a headache. He was grateful that the waitress chose then to show up with his coffee, which he finished in one gulp. As soon as the waitress departed again, he concluded, "And what those idiots do with all that magic learning usually ends up becoming big disasters."

 Liu nodded. "That about sums everything up."

"Well, that is just terrific!" Waller sounded the opposite. He went slump in his chair and then flipped open the menu, feeling the need for something sweet. On Liu's dime of course. But as he tried to decide on a specific dessert, something else important crossed his mind. "There is something I don't get."

Liu stopped just as he was about to take a sip of coffee and looked up. "And what is that?"

"I got a good look at Putts' setup at the restaurant, but as far as I could see, there's no way any stray pests could've gotten in. And the guy might be a moron, but he's no slouch with keeping his pests on good behavior."

"I agree Donatello Putts has taught himself well in the art of taming Egregors, but what is your point?"

"My point," said Waller, "is that it's weird that one of those small pests made that stage light fall, like Jackie said happened. It makes no sense if that moron was in complete control of the place. And it's not like he wanted any of his followers squashed. At least not until after they started to have second thoughts about him. Unless he slipped up somewhere?"

Liu shook his head. "I may have arrived late, but I can assure you that is not the case. Big or small, his control of the Egregors was only shaken after he was inflicted injuries. And even then, they continued to act only on his orders until prompted to leave like you did that cage mimic. Could Jackie Li's mind be playing tricks on him at the time? He was, after all, in a considerably bad condition."

"Do you really believe that?"

Liu confessed, "No, I do not. There is something I neglected to tell you. While I had my confrontation with Donatello Putts, I sensed the remnants of energy in the air separate from the Wizard's. I had thought it belonged to one of his superior apprentices, but it did not match anyone present in the room at the time. And with this mention of yours of a misbehaving Egregor, I have my doubts this energy belonged to an apprentice at all."

"So someone hightailed it before you showed up," Waller concluded. "Someone with their own agenda. That merchant you were talking about, maybe?"

"Unlikely," said Liu. "He never stays to see what his customers do with their purchases, seemingly uninterested in the consequences. No, this energy belongs to another party with their own schemes and goals."

"And we know nothing about them or what they want." Waller sighed. He really needed something sweet now. "Why can't anything ever be simple?"

Empathetic, Liu shrugged. "That is just the way the world works. It is all a clash and mix of different motives from different people and groups that cannot help but step on each other's toes as they each pursue their goals. That was how Jackie Li got involved in this affair."

"Well I hope for my sake, and Jackie's this is the last we'll have to deal with them."

Somehow, Liu thought to himself as he watched Waller hail the waitress to make his dessert order, I seriously doubt it. After all, Jackie Li has talent that could change the world. And destiny is not about to allow that talent to go unused.

<== Chapter 24                                                                                                               Book 2 ==>

Special Eyes Ch. 24

Donatello snickered. "Oh, sorry! I completely forgot to mention that those eye drops are actually pretty painful."

That was a lie. He never forgot about that nasty little side effect and purposely withheld it until it was too late. Neither was he actually sorry.

Jackie dropped to his knees in agony, hands pressing against his eyes. Even with them closed, he could still feel them burning as tears rolled down the sides of his face. Alice watched with tears of her own, but the pain was in her heart and not where the tears came from.

After some time of taking in sharp, hissing breaths, Jackie gingerly removed his hands and opened his eyes. They still stung, but not as badly as before. His vision was thoroughly blurred at first, but it cleared up after a couple of rapid blinks. When he lifted up his head, he found a pair of empty, black pits staring back at him.

The empty eye sockets belonged to a face of stone-gray skin stretched tightly over a misshapen skull. Only three strands of white gossamer hair could be counted on the otherwise bare head of the bone-thin man (if it could be called that).

Jackie fell backwards, screaming. He was prepared to see something scary, but he wasn't prepared enough to come face to face with a horrific, zombie-like creature. Fear overtook every part of his brain and urged to him to get as far away from the hideous being as possible, which he did by frantically crawling on all fours only to end up face to face with a bulldog with its head replaced by a green flower bulb.

The flower bulb split open five ways, looking like a sea star. Curved and pointed fangs lined the edges and a tongue with its own mouth and set of fangs flew out screeching.

"Ah! Ah! AH!" Jackie shrieked three times and retreated, but bumped into the knees of the zombie. "Ah!"

Donatello watched laughing. Zak laughed with him. A few others joined as well. Some were grimly satisfied by Jackie's suffering, but quite a lot did not find it amusing at all. Alice certainly didn't and she felt blistering hatred towards those who laughed.

Jackie fled a third way, only for a porcelain doll to jump out in front of him. The doll resembled a girl with curly blond hair and dressed in a frilly pink dress. It looked like a normal doll until its head split open down the middle revealing a set of sharp, triangle teeth.

With nowhere to run, Jackie's only recourse was to curl up in a ball and hyperventilate.

Donatello decided he finally had enough and strolled over. He knelt beside Jackie still curled up, clutching the  hair at the back of his head and breathing loudly in and out, in and out.

"So, how is it being one of us? Not so great, huh? Tell you what? You don't have to wait for those drops to wear off. You can escape this horrible nightmare right now by taking this."

Donatello took from his pocket another bottle. Unlike the one from before, this one was made with pink glass. He dangled it in front of Jackie's face.

Jackie heard every word, understood it and watched the bottle hungrily as it was gently swayed side to side. Slowly, he reached for it, his hand shaking badly. And then he snatched it from Donatello's fingertips and hugged it close to his chest.

Donatello smiled triumphantly and sniffed. "Thought so."

He straightened up, looked at his expectant audience and gestured to the boy lying on the floor.

"See? This guy said he wanted to understand. But the moment he took a step into our world, just a tiny peek, he instantly wants out. Look at him right now as he is about to abandon us, just like everyone else who called themselves our friends, our family."

With a smile, he turned back around. "Go on, then," he said to Jackie. "Use it. Use those drops and leave us. Turn your back on us. Abandon us to our plight."

Jackie didn't hear. He was too focused on twisting open the bottle. But as he did so, his eyes caught sight of Alice who was looking back at him from behind the bars of a cage with centipede legs and eyes all over. They were close enough to each other for Jackie to see the tears rolled down the cheeks of his beloved friend, the girl that he had been risking his life to find and rescue.

He took a look around at the hideous Egregors that served under the Wizard and then at the bottle in his still-trembling hands. His mind raced.

Even now, those monsters terrified him. But they were something that Alice had lived with her whole life. She had to deal with them all alone. And she will probably still deal with them all alone the rest of her life if Jackie put whatever was in the pink bottle into his eyes.

No. No way in Hell was he letting that happen. 

The rhythm of Jackie's breathing quickened and grew more intense. He sprang up and with all his might, hurled the pink bottle away. He didn't wait to see it crash against the wall and shatter to pieces with a splat of blue juice that trickled down to the floor. His back was turned to it as he twisted off the cap of the brown bottle. But instead of using the dropper, he tossed that aside too and poured the whole bottle's contents into his eyes.

Even Donatello was shocked by what Jackie did. The Wizard's jaw dropped, unable to believe his eyes and thought, Holy . . . This kid's insane!

With the bottle empty, Jackie no longer needed it and tossed it aside like he did its cap/dropper. It bounced off the floor and cracked but otherwise remained intact, a fortune its pink twin did not have. He wiped the skin around his eyes dry with the sleeve of his jacket and then glared at Donatello. "I'm not abandoning anyone."

No sooner did he make that declaration, the side effects of the eye drops kicked in and inflicted torturous pain worse than the last. Way worse.

He collapsed onto the floor screaming while pressing his hands over his burning eyes. And then he spasmed, kicking against the floor as if trying to do a tap dance while also laying on his back before going limp.

Alice screamed through the bindings over her mouth. She thought the worse had come to pass and it made her heart burst in despair.

Donatello stared at Jackie for a bit, waiting to see if something else would happen. But nothing did, so he turned his back to the fallen boy and addressed the crowd. 

"Well, that's that, then," he said casually. "Let's get back to the Ritual, shall we?"

He grinned at his followers, but none of them could muster a grin back. 

Sensing the gloom hanging over the Gathering, he said to them, "Oh, lighten up. He was never one of us! And he never will be. He can't understand you like I can. He definitely can't do anything to help you now."

Jackie's fingers twitched.

"But I can," Donatello Putts continued. "I have. And I am. Wasn't it me who showed you how to control these monsters so you never have to he afraid of them? Wasn't me who showed each and every one of you that you're not alone? And wasn't it me who gave you all a place to belong when even your own houses, or condos, didn't even feel like home?"

Jackie opened his eyes to the ceiling. He rolled them over to the sound of Donatello's voice and it was there he noticed a trio of black rags flying around one of the stage lights. No one else noticed because their eyes were all on their leader who was, himself, absorbed in trying to get everything back on track.

"We can make the world a better place for me. For us. This Ritual is the ticket to that. It's now or never, folks."

Then came a snap. Everyone looked up. And the down went the light fixture to the head of the boy who had taken Alice's place as an Acolyte.

The boy saw the big, bell-shaped light above him fall. But then the next thing he knew, he was pushed into a crowd of people and heard a crash. And then an agonized cry.

He looked ahead, astonished to see Jackie lying flat on his stomach in front of him. On Jackie's right leg was the face of the stage light.

It quickly clicked in the boy that his life had been saved. And it was by none other than the guy he, and everyone else thought was an enemy.

Again, Alice screamed. She was at first elated to see Jackie moving again but then felt her heart tear apart the second time this day when he dove to the rescue the boy.

But she wasn't the only one horrified by the accident.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Panicked, Donatello raced back over to the magic circle and knelt beside Jackie. "Are you okay? There's not a scratch on you is there?"

He was not speaking to Jackie, who was breathing heavy from the pain endured from his leg injury. Nor was the Wizard speaking to the boy who nearly lost his life from that heavy piece of stage equipment that was swept out of the way by an invisible force. His gaze, his entire concern, was aimed at the red drawings on the floor. 

With the thorough care of a mother concerned over her child's bloody knee, he examined the area of the scribblings struck by the stage light. As he did so, he swat away Jackie's injured leg.

"Ow!"

When he was done with his examination, Donatello breathed a sigh of relief and straightened up. The scribbles were unharmed.

"Alright! Good news, everyone! The magic circle is A-okay! Let's get back to where we left off, shall we?"

He flashed the Gathering a big smile, but none of his followers smiled back. 

Quickly, Donatello's smile turned into a frown, and after clapping his hands a few times, "What's wrong with all of you? Times a-wasting people! Come on! We haven't got all day! We got a Ritual to complete, some revenge that needs revenging!"

Still, the Gathering did not budge and glared at him. One girl voiced what they were all thinking. "What the hell is wrong with you? A kid nearly got killed! But all you cared about were some drawings on the floor!"

Donatello was quickly offended. "Some drawings? SOME DRAWINGS? I worked my fingers to the bone to draw this magic circle, checking and re-checking there's not a line out of place, for this very moment! For this Ritual! How could anything be more important?"

That outburst proved to Donatello Putts' biggest mistake since both his family's business empire and reputation burned to the ground by his own hands.

"You don't care about us!" a girl shouted at him. "You never did! The only ones who were really looking out for us were Jackie and Alice! They were right all along!"

"Yeah!"

"That's right!"

Pretty soon, murmurings of suspicion elevated in volume to shouts of conviction. No one wanted to do the Ritual anymore, let alone continue to follow this man.

"You can forget about me doing this stupid Ritual!"

"Yeah, count me out!"

"I'm out of here!"

"You want to do the Ritual so badly? Just do it yourself!"

It was more than the once great Wizard could take, and he truly lost his temper.

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!  Why, why, why, why, why, why, WHY? WHY WON'T ANYONE JUST SHUT UP AND DO WHAT I WANT? WHY? ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS WHENEVER I GET AN IDEA, THEY SAY IT WON'T WORK. IT'S A BAD IDEA. THEY NEVER UNDERSTAND ME! THEY NEVER UNDERSTAND MY GENIUS! WHO CARES IF SOMEONE GETS HURT IN THE PROCESS? HUH? DO OTHER PEOPLE MATTER MORE THAN ME? NO! NOTHING MATTERS MORE THAN WHAT I WANT! NOTHING MATTERS MORE THAN ME!"

In his tantrum, he completely exposed his true self. Whatever lingering attachments or trust a scant few members of the Gathering still had, were instantly wiped away. Their dismay at the realization they were just Donatello Putts' tools grew, and so did their voices of dissent. That's when the Wizard threw his hands up to the ceiling in preparation to lash out with his occultic powers. But he never got the chance to.

While everyone was distracted, Taylor took the chance to sneak away and enter the stage from the side. She rushed over to cage monster and hissed, "Psst! Alice!"

Alice rolled her eyes to the left where Taylor stood. 

"Quick! Now's your chance to get out! Remember what you learned about these things."

After giving Taylor an understanding nod and watching her take a few steps back, Alice closed her eye in concentration. She felt the ribbons on her quiver as she reached into the monster's mind with her will. 

Let me go, she mentally commanded.

The cage monster immediately loosened its hold and retracted the ribbons, unceremoniously dropping Alice down. She hit the floor with a painful thump just as the door swung open.

When she saw the Wizard raise his hands up to attack, she quickly jumped out of the cage and threw an attack of her own. It was the spell she had ready to sabotage the Ritual's essential magic circle, a basic pyrokinetic attack. A big ball of fire was flung off Alice's hand and hit Donatello Putts' side. The fireball exploded on impact and sent the Wizard tumbling across the floor.

Alice watched, hands over mouth, in horror as he rolled left and right, screaming while covered in a blanket of dancing flames. Behind her, Taylor gazed at the Wizard's suffering with a look of grim satisfaction. And then the flames died away and Donatello Putts laid still.

Believing the worst, Alice fell to her knees, tears streaming down the sides of her face and she whimpered. "Oh no, oh no, oh no. What have I done?"

Taylor walked up from behind and placed a comforting hand on Alice's shoulder. "You didn't do anything wrong. It was either him or them. And look, it's not as bad as you think."

Alice looked. To her relief, Donatello Putts rolled to his side with a groan. But she was horrified again when she saw as he sat up that the side of his face struck by her attack was darkened and blistered. However, she would soon discover even that was temporary. The burn marks and blisters quickly shrank as the Wizard clumsily stood back up. He swayed about as if strongly inebriated and even slurred like one.

"You don't want to help me get revenge? Fine!" He shouted in half-sob. "I don't need you. I don't need any of you!"

He swung his pointer finger at everyone.

"I'll find other people, SMARTER people, who'll help. People who won't STUPIDLY miss a chance to get their own revenge! And when I get enough people, you'll be sorry. You'll ALL be sorry! Because once I start the Ritual up again, I'll be aiming it at all of you too! Hell, while I'm at it, I'll take the whole city down!"

"Oh, now that, I cannot allow."

As soon as Jackie heard that familiar voice and that familiar accent, his blood ran cold.

Donatello frowned and turned around to see who had spoken. Strolling in from the front of the restaurant was a middle-aged Asian man in a black three-piece suit beneath a long trench coat and a fedora hat.

"Who the hell are you?" Donatello rudely asked.

The man stopped a couple of feet from the Wizard and tipped his hat.

"Allow me to introduce myself," he said, both hands resting on top his cane. "I am Arthur Liu, an enforcer for the Black Tortoise Order."

"Who of the what? Never heard of you."

"Evidently," Liu said, turning his nose up at the Wizard. "If you had, you would not be so brazen."

"That right?" Donatello said. The last of the scars inflicted by Alice had faded. On his mental command, the hideous monsters that had scared Jackie out of his mind soundlessly approached the new uninvited guest from behind. 

The closest was the dog monster with that flower bud head. It opened its five-way mouth and slowly reached around Liu's head. A split second later, Liu spun around the beast like a top. There was a glint of metal and in a reversal of roles, Liu stood behind the three monsters, sword blade pointing right. All three monsters crumbled into dust.

Donatello Putts was stunned by how easily his ferocious monsters had been dispatched, and so quickly too, by that dainty-looking sword. He looked at Liu, their eyes met, and then he ran. But he didn't get very far.

Liu casually pointed at the fleeing Wizard and then jerked his finger up.

With a cry of pain, Donatello fell. Blood caked the back of his shirt beneath his shoulder. "OOOOWWW!"

He was racked with agony and unable to do anything except weakly look up as Liu slowly and menacingly walked towards him, eyes lit in fear.

"What do you want with me?" he cried.

Liu stopped and answered, "I think that should be obvious. I've come to end your life." 

"What did I ever do to deserve this?"

Liu coldly gazed over the fallen Wizard. "Are you seriously asking that after confessing your intentions to misuse forbidden Western knowledge to commit murder?"

"Wasn't trying to murder anyone!"

Again, Liu pointed at Donatello. Blood burst from the Wizard's lap. "Argh!"

The surrounding Gathering cried out and grimaced. Others turned away, covering their eyes. Some just stood paralyzed.

"Do not lie to me," Liu growled at Donatello. "Not now when your plans have already been made clear. You have proven yourself a danger to the world. Worse, you tricked innocent children into nearly dirtying their own hands and jump to their doom."

He threw a look towards the Gathering, who flinched and backed away with feelings of dread stirred up within them. It was obvious to them all by the way he trounced the Wizard that this fedora hat-wearing gentleman was dangerous. Not just dangerous, downright frightening. Only one person, however, dared to talk to him.

"Stop!"

Liu did so and slowly turned. "What do you want, Jackie Li?"

Jackie approached with a crawl, unable to stand on account of his injured leg. He glared back at the enforcer of the Black Tortoise Order and bravely answered, "I told you what I want. I want you to stop. There's no need to unalive him."

Liu raised an eyebrow. "Unalive?" 

Donatello Putts took this chance to try crawl away, only for a wound to burst open from his other thigh. "Argh!"

This was not something any of them wanted to see, no matter how much they now hated him. Some of the younger members whimpered and shrank into the embrace of the more protective older members.

"I said stop!" Jackie shouted. 

Liu frowned at Jackie. "Why do you defend this knave? You know what he wanted to do. You understand what he would have accomplished if his plans were not interrupted. Countless lives could have been lost because of him. The world will be better off without him."

"Maybe," Jackie admitted. His voice was strained and the pressure of his fingers on the floor increased as he tried to fight back against the pain in his leg. "But it's still wrong. And it doesn't have to be this way. There's no getting away for him now."

"I said before, countless lives could have been lost because of him. I will add countless more could still be lost if the dangerous knowledge tucked in his brain were allowed to be spread. He is too dangerous to keep alive."

"But he hasn't done that yet! And who is he going to tell?"

"Yeah!" cried Donatello. "I won't tell anyone! I swear!"

Liu snapped at him, "Your oaths mean nothing to me." And then the enforcer returned his attention to Jackie, pointing the sword straight at the young man's head. "You are too naive, Jackie Li. You do not understand the depths of darkness in this world and the sacrifices necessary to keep that darkness at bay."

But Jackie shook his head. "No," he said. "I understand plenty. I just don't want it to get darker than it already has. For me. For Alice. For every one of these guys." He glanced back at all the Gathering members before locking eyes with Liu. "For you too."

Liu raised his eyebrows. For the first time, in a long time, he was astonished. His sword wavered for a moment but then was still again.

Then came a bang after the kitchen door flew open and hit the wall. Waller had come bursting in.

"That's enough, Liu!" he shouted. "Put the sword away and leave."

"And what if I refuse?" asked the enforcer. "Will you try and make comply?"

"Don't need to," Waller said. He pulled from his pocket several sheets of paper that he tossed Liu's way.

One sheet drifted close enough for Liu to catch. But even without the close look, he recognized his own talismans. "I see. So you disabled the barrier I erected to contain the Ritual's effects as well as keep any riffraff out. That was rather foolhardy of you. What if the Ritual was still ongoing when you did that?"

"Well, I figured you'd have finished putting a stop to it already," Waller said. "But as you can see, with that fancy force field of yours down and all the pests under that idiot exterminated by you, the cops will have no trouble getting here. It's only a matter of minutes. If you want to steer clear of them, now is your only chance to beat it."

Even now, sirens could be heard wailing from outside. Lots of them. 

Arnold must be bringing in a whole army, thought Jackie.

"Hmph! Very well," said Liu. "I will leave. Congratulations, boy. Today, it seems, will end in your favor. But don't expect it to happen again. One day, you will have no choice but to choose between two evils for the greater good. And as for the rest of you . . . "

He slowly waved his sword, pointing it at each and every one of the Gathering. They all shrank back in fear.

"Be grateful for this boy and his kindness!" Liu told the Gathering. "He has saved all of your lives. If he had not stopped you, you all would have become dangerous threats to humanity that need to be destroyed. And know this: I am not the only one in this world who hunts such threats. All such hunters will be watching you. Follow the same path as this Wizard, and you WILL meet your doom. We will come for you."

He turned to the Wizard. "And as for you," he said, pointing his sword and eliciting a short, frightened shriek, "you most of all are lucky. But I warn you, do not test the limits of your fortune. Money and lawyers cannot protect you as they have done in the past. Such things do not bind me or people like me. Nor can you ever hide from the likes of us, least of all from me. I will be watching you. Try anything and I will end you. Slowly."

Donatello Putts shook his head up and down. He could just be trembling in fear, but Liu took that as a nod of understanding and finally sheathed his sword. Having said all he needed to, he exited the restaurant without another word.

<== Chapter 23.                                                                                                           Chapter 25 ==>

Special Eyes Chapter 23

When the elevator doors parted ways, the first thing Jackie saw were the glass doors that led into the desolate dining room. He could see that it was packed with people, most of them he had seen before at the amusement center. The window pane, though slightly smudged and dusty, also gave him a clear view of the stage where he could see Alice squirming around while seemingly floating in midair.

His first instinct was to run straight through the front door to get to her, but he stopped when he realized that there was no way he could crash through the thick glass pane. The metal frames also looked more than sturdy enough to hold against the strongest tackle he could pull off. He had to find another way in and fast. It was obvious by the way everyone had their eyes closed that the Ritual was now underway.

His eyes scoured the entire inside of the restaurant through the window until they landed on the flap doors leading into the kitchen. The bit of light spilling out through the tiny round windows of the kitchen doors was enough to tell Jackie what he needed to know.

He stepped away from the door, looked right and left, and then raced down the left hallway. The right was just a wall with the painting of a clown juggling colorful balls outside a yellow and red striped circus tent.

Towards the end of the corridor, he found a door, plain white, with a red sign. Bold white letters read: "No trespassing! Staff Only". This door, he could kick open and he did, ignoring the sign that forbade his entry. After crossing through the kitchen like Alice did earlier, albeit more frantically, he slapped the flap door as hard as he could with both his hands.

The door banging against the wall accomplished just what Jackie had hoped for and the Ritual was stopped. For now, at least.

Jackie wanted to ride the momentum, but he had to pause to catch his breath before glaring at the Wizard.

"Stop right there, Wizard! Or should I say Donatello Putts!"

Heavy silence hung over the entire room for a moment. It was then broken by the Wizard who gave a slow clapping and a sarcastic, "Wow, you know my name. Really impressive, Jackie. What gave it away?"

The Wizard was only being rhetorical, but Jackie answered anyway.

"Well, all the places you used for your operations belonged to the Putts family. I thought it was a long shot at first. But when Alice showed up at the warehouse, it pretty much confirmed that the Gathering, or at least one of its members, was connected to them. The Putts family used to be really, really rich. You have a watch that's old, but worth a lot of money. Your first name starts with the letter D. Public records on the internet showed that the last known member of the Putts family was a guy named Donatello who publicly blamed all the people slandering him for the family business going downhill after he took over the reins and vowed revenge. But really, it was your own fault for being a bad businessman who did things that hurt a lot of people. That's why you lost all those lawsuits."

Slowly, the Wizard's face twisted, and his cheeks flushed red. The anger and rage he showed frightened Alice, not because he looked frightening to her but because she was sure that he was going to strike Jackie down with a bolt of lightning now.

The Wizard, Donatello Putts, really wanted to do just that. But luckily for Jackie, Donatello remembered that he had an audience. And Donatello knew better than anyone that the key to keeping the audience on your side was to keep cool and confident. He chose his words carefully before speaking up.

"That's some big mouth you got there, kid. But that's all you got. Yeah, I'm Donatello Putts. My family used to be really rich. And yeah, all that money went down the drain under my watch. But it definitely wasn't because I was a bad businessman. It was because of lies perpetrated by those I thought were my friends, by people I thought I could count on. Who here understands what I'm talking about? Isn't there anyone else here who went through the same thing? Betrayed, spurned and lied about because they were different?"

Whispers among the crowd, a fire lighting in the eyes of his followers brought a smile on the Wizard's face and he pressed on the attack.

"Isn't that why we're all here? To get back at the people who betrayed us? Who shunned us? And speaking of being shunned, aren't we also here to take for ourselves a place in this world that refuses to give us one?"

"That's not true!" Jackie cried out. "Not everyone in this world's your enemy! You guys, all of you, still have people who care about you!"

"Oh, what do you know?" Donatello Putts snapped. "You don't understand us. You don't understand what it's like for us! Any of us!"

"I do!" Jackie said. "I do understand!"

But Donatello fired back, "No you don't! You could never understand!"

The crowd roared with agreement. 

"Yeah!"

"You don't belong here!"

"Go away!"

"That's right! Go away!"

The Gathering all together chanted, "Go away! Go away! Go away!"

Despite the overwhelming rejection, Jackie did not back down.

"Revenge is wrong," he insisted. "It's not going to make things better."

Then a girl's voice called out, "You can only say that because you don't know what it's like!"

"But I do!" Jackie shouted. "I do know what it's like to be rejected, to be called a liar even though I've been telling the truth all along! To be bullied even though I was just trying to do the right thing!"

"Oh yeah?" went Donatello Putts. "Well, whoever called you a liar's right! There's no way you could ever know what it's like!"

"But I do!" Jackie still insisted, more desperately.

The Wizard opened his mouth to argue some more, but then a girl's voice called out again, "Then prove it!"

"Yeah," said Donatello Putts. "Prove it!"

"But you can't, can you?" the girl continued.

Donatello parroted her. "You can't, can you?"

"I don't think you even WANT to understand!" shouted the girl.

"I do!" Jackie cried back. "I do want to understand!"

"Then prove it!" the girl shouted again. "Prove it! Prove it! Prove it!"

The others chanted with her. 

Jackie shouted over them, "Then tell me how! I'll do it! Anything!"

"Oh, anything, will you?" Donatello said with dramatic intrigue. "Then . . ."

"Oh!" cried the girl. "I have an idea!"

Throughout this whole time, she was indiscernible within the crowd. And she remained indiscernible save for a pale hand that beckoned the Wizard to come. Donatello obliged and bent down to hear what she had to say, which only he could hear as it was whispered into his ear.

Jackie noticed Donatello hold out his hand as he straightened up. The girl, whoever it was, must have handed something to the Wizard which he clenched in a tight fist as he walked over to Jackie.

Alice followed Donatello Putts' movements with her eyes, not liking one bit the wicked smile on his face. It was the biggest smile she had ever seen on his face yet. And it alarmed her to see some of the most hideous monsters she's ever seen before slither out of the air ducts and the restrooms. They followed close at the Wizard's heels, but never daring to overtake him as he approached Jackie.

A mighty wailing escaped the ribbons around Alice's mouth. She wanted to yell at Donatello and to order him to stay away from her friend, the boy she had grown up with and was the most important person in her heart. And she wanted to scream at Jackie to run away, to leave her behind and save himself. But she couldn't create any words with her voice with her lips sealed shut.

And deep down, she knew neither of the men she wanted to shout at would listen to her anyway.

Donatello stopped short a couple of feet away from Jackie.

"You said you'll do anything, right?" the Wizard said to Jackie. "Anything to show you want to understand us?"

Jackie stared into Donatello's eyes, which were full of undisguised malice. It didn't take a genius to figure out the Gathering's leader had something nasty in store for him. But he couldn't back down now. 

Much to Alice's dismay, Jackie nodded and said, "Tell me what I gotta do and I'll do it. Whatever it takes to prove that I want to understand and that I do understand."

"Oh, it'll be easy," said Donatello. He uncurled his fingers to show a small glass bottle laying on its side on his palm. It was brown with a black bulb on top. "This bottle contains some very special medicine for the eyes. Magically special. One drop in each eye, and you'll be able to see the things we can see. For a brief, TEMPORARY moment, you will have special eyes and can see all the invisible monsters people like you refused to believe in before!"

Jackie was not surprised. He could tell right away the bottle contained eye drops. The black bulb was a huge giveaway, showing the bottle's cap was a dropper. Additionally, he noticed the way members of the Gathering shifting around while flashing uncomfortable grimaces on their faces, which indicated that some very ugly guests had decided to join the party. 

At that point, it was pretty obvious to Jackie what Donatello Putts had planned. He planned to scare Jackie into proving himself wrong. But the joke was on him. To be able to see the same things Alice could was one of Jackie's greatest wishes. He was always curious to know what the monsters were actually like. But more importantly, he always thought that being able to see the things Alice could, would allow Jackie to better understand and help her.

But just for verification, Jackie asked, "So all I gotta do is put those in my eyes and I can see what you can?"

Donatello nodded.

"And it's only temporary?"

Again, Donatello nodded.

"What if I want it permanently?"

A muffled scream of dismay came from Alice, but no one looked her way.

"All you have to do is put drops in a second time," the Wizard answered. "But I doubt you'll want to do that."

"We'll see," Jackie said. 

Lacking any hesitation, he snatched away the bottle, twisted it open and held the dropper over his eye. Both the tube and the liquid inside were clear. With practiced hands from the frequent need of relief drops when he was younger, Jackie gave the black bulb a slight squeeze. Two droplets fell out, both twinkling like diamonds against the white light shining from the ceiling. One fell into his left eye and the other fell into his right. They both felt warm, likely from the heat of Donatello Putts' hand.

Jackie blinked a couple of times as twisted the cap back onto the bottle, keeping his face parallel to the ceiling so that the droplets wouldn't fall out and go to waste. Seconds passed without anything happening. And then -

"Argh!" His eyes burned. "OOOWWWW!"

And they hurt badly.

<== Chapter 22                                                                                                           Chapter 24 ==>

Special Eyes Chapter 22

Boney arrived at the hotel just as the last wisp of sunlight faded from the sky turning it entirely black. But the street remained bright thanks to the excess of lights glaring out from all over the orange shell of the tall, classically grand building. In contrast to the lustrous tower, flanked at either side of the glowing red carpet laid out at the entrance to receive visitors were two large Egregors. One was a marble pedestal with an entire squid attached to its top standing on spider legs at its base. The other Egregor was what looked like a plastic animatronic of a puffy-cheeked, round-bellied boy dressed in the traditional attire of the Swiss Alps, but three-quarters charred and melted around one eye missing.

They appeared to be the only two guarding the hotel's exterior, but Boney was not fooled. From the alley facing opposite of the hotel, it could sense more, much more, hiding from its sight. There were plenty of humans coming and going through the grand tower's glass entrance, but it would be a bad idea to let Jackie enter the same way. Boney still had a connection to the Wizard and heard its former master's orders to tear Jackie apart on sight.

Honestly, Boney was reluctant to allow Jackie into the building, knowing he would be walking into extreme danger. However, it felt in Jackie an immense stubbornness that made it clear that no amount of dissuasion would stop the scrawny young human from trying. That left one course of action for the skeleton monster.

A wave of impatience alerted Boney before Jackie could slip off its shoulder. It held up a hand to stop him and then gently put him down.

Jackie felt three taps on his shoulder. Well, they were more like thumps. There were three more before Jackie finally got what Boney was trying to tell him.

"Wait on the count of three?"

There was an affirmative knock on the wall.

Jackie wasn't sure what was going on, but he decided to trust Boney and crouched for a running start. "Alright. Whenever you're ready."

Knock! "One."

Knock! "Two."

THUMP! "THREE!"

Boney and Jackie sprang at the same time. Being larger, Boney overtook Jackie by several feet and then launched itself on the two Egregors guarding the entryway. It gave the squid-headed pedestal and the animatronic a barbaric beating as Jackie ran for the glass doors. A fifteen-foot tall, human-shaped shadow tore itself from the wall and reached down to grab Jackie but was struck in the head by the animatronic which was tossed like a frisbee by Boney. When he saw more shadows tear away from the walls and ground to surround Jackie, Boney leaped into the center of that horrifying circle and spun while holding the marble pedestal monster by its bundled tentacles.

The shadows were all sent flying into the night sky around an ignorant Jackie who wondered what was going on after bumping into Boney's left thigh. After pausing to rub his sore nose, hoping it wasn't bleeding, he continued on into the hotel's lobby.

Egregors everywhere tried to chase after Jackie, but Boney was not about to let them ignore him.

As soon as Jackie slipped through the door, Boney jumped right in front of it, barring the other monsters' way in. It raised its arms and braced for impact as dozens and dozens of the monsters charged at it.

Boney held firm for one, two, maybe three seconds before being swept into the flood.

Jackie ran into the glittery, glamorous lobby that, with the lighting, looked like it was made entirely out of gold and looked around before rushing to the elevators. A lady receptionist and two security guards saw the teenage boy and instantly smelled trouble. 

The receptionist reached for the phone to call the police and the guards swiftly flew to stop the boy. She grabbed the phone. They reached the elevator hallway. Jackie pushed the button ten times in one second.

The guards were just about to lay their hands on Jackie's shoulders when suddenly-

CRASH!

The entire glass front of the hotel burst. Glass shards and mangled steel flew into the lobby. Following the crescendo of noise came screams of horror as confused patrons fled from the destruction. The guards turned around just as the elevator door slid open and Jackie slipped inside. 

He heard the crash and hesitated for a second, but decided stopping the Ritual was more important.

One guard noticed, but he couldn't decide where his priorities should lay fast enough. The decision was made for him when the elevator doors closed. So, with his partner, the guard charged into the mayhem and helped usher people to safety.

No one could see the monsters or stuck around long enough to see them. Luckily for the guards and everyone else who couldn't get out in time, the monsters quickly realized that their target had already escaped to the second floor. They were not allowed to go in beyond the lobby, so they could not give chase. Since it was futile to stay, the monsters returned to their posts, leaving behind the chaod they had caused.

Boney was the only monster to remained. With how many times it had been trampled over, it was no surprise that this brave Egregor could not move even a finger as it laid on its back and stared at the lobby's central crystal chandelier. But even as every part of it burned with pain, Boney could only think about Jackie, hoped he would be okay and wished the boy who had saved its life before Godspeed.

Its thoughts were suddenly cut short by the gravelly sound of glass pieces crushed under foot as someone calmly strolled into the lobby. Each second step was accompanied by a sharp tap from the end of a cane which had, unbeknownst to Jackie at the time, was capped with metal.

Whoever approached stopped beside Boney's head where it could see a familiar pair of glistening black dress shoes. A very, very familiar pair of shoes.

**********

The Wizard had the cage monster crawl over to the stage with its many, many insect legs and sit down where Alice could get a good look at the performance she had failed to stop. This also allowed the Wizard to watch Alice futile struggle against her bonds, and struggle she did even as she felt the unexpectedly sharp ribbons dig painfully into her skin around her wrists and neck. Beads of blood had actually been drawn out, but Alice didn't care.

"Don't do this!" she cried as everyone got into formation. "The Ritual's not what you think! You're going to end up killing a lot of people! Stop!"

Annoyed, Zak loudly asked, "Can someone please shut her up?"

"I'll do it," said a girl from the crowd.

But the Wizard cut in, "No need. I'll do it."

He snapped his fingers and more silk ribbons descended from the shadowy top of the cage to tightly wrap themselves around the lower half of Alice's face from beneath her nose. Her lips were pressed tightly together, preventing her from speaking more. All she could do as she writhed around was scream muffled screams, hurting herself in the effort.

"Okay," said the Wizard, rubbing his hands together. "So now that Alice is out, I'm going to need a new Acolyte to take her place. How about you?"

He pointed to a pleasantly surprised thirteen-year-old boy, the same one that Jackie had tried to talk out of joining the Ritual earlier. Shortly after fleeing from Jackie, the boy had found a bus that took a shortcut to the hotel, beating Boney by several minutes.

"Me!?" went the boy. He couldn't contain his excitement.

With a big grin, the Wizard beckoned him over. "Yeah, you! Congratulations, kid. Today, you're an honorary Acolyte. Work hard from now on and that honorary title will turn into a full-blown one. Now get over here."

With a huge smile of his own, the boy hurried over and took the place originally reserved for Alice as everyone around him applauded congratulations. Some, however, wore frowns of envy and vowed to work harder in their lessons to achieve better. 

"Seven Acolytes, check. Big magic circle, check. Me, check."

That illicit some giggles.

After making one final check, the Wizard announced, "Everything checks out so let's get started! It's pretty easy. I'm going be standing here, doing my thing, my wizard thing. The only thing you all have to do is hum. Just keep humming. Breath in when you have to."

There were relieved sighs from the crowd and even among the Acolytes, some thinking to themselves, "Oh, is that all."

Quite a few people had been nervous and feeling unconfident about pulling this Ritual off, especially without knowing what they were supposed to do before.

Alice continued to scream through the wrappings, imploring them all not to go through with it. But her muffled wails fell to deaf ears. No one was even looking her way, except for the Wizard who gave her one last sneer before throwing all his concentration to the task at hand.

"On the count of three," he instructed the Gathering. "One . . . Two . . . Three!"

Everyone, save for the Wizard and Alice, closed their eyes and hummed. Their sounds came together in unison. It was musical, almost beautiful, if not for what the song was for.

The Wizard pulled out his smartphone and began reading aloud from a PDF file he got open. Alice couldn't hear what he was saying over all that humming, but she could his lips moving in ways that she could not recognize. And as he continued to chant, the humming got louder and louder.

Around Alice, the many eyes of the cage grew wide and their pupils constricted, signs that the Ritual was already starting to have an effect. The ribbon's hold on Alice's wrists and necks tightened, causing pain to shoot through them.

Alice winced. She tried again to implore the Gathering to stop, but her cries had become feeble as it became harder for her to breathe. The ribbons around her neck had begun to crush her windpipe, cutting off oxygen to her brain. Everything in front of her spun while turning darker and darker.

Ah, thought Alice, I guess this is it for me. I really wished I could have stopped the Ritual. But at least Jackie is safe.

Complete blackness was about to take hold. And then -

BAM!

Everyone in the dining room ceased humming.

The ribbons loosened their grip, and Alice could finally breathe again. She breathed in deep through her nose at least three times before the fog in her head cleared. When it did and the spinning around her slowed, she turned her gaze to the kitchen doors, one of which had flown open and slammed hard against the wall and made the noise that startled the Gathering and interrupted their Ritual.

To Alice's complete shock and horror, she saw standing there at the doorway with white light spilling in from the kitchen around him and a deep, dark shadow stretching out from his feet, Jackie Li who was drenched in sweat and panting like she was.

After taking a moment to catch his breath, Jackie straightened up and stared at the crowd staring back at him.

"Stop right there, Wizard!" he shouted. "Or should I say, Donatello Putts!"

<== Chapter 21                                                Chapter 23 ==>

Special Eyes Chapter 21

As the monster sped down the empty road, Jackie clung to the monster's neck, which felt thin, rock hard and jagged. It felt like hugging a giant neck bone. Chances were, he really was hugging a giant neck bone. He suspected, rightfully, that the monster was a giant, living skeleton. 

It mostly looked like how a human skeleton would look if picked clean and polished to an ivory white shine. But both its hands and feet were clownishly big for its size and within each of its eye sockets was a ball of blue light. There was also a faint line across one of its legs where Arthur Liu had snapped it in half. The leg since had fully repaired itself. 

Spotting cars going back and forth on the road up ahead, Jackie got worried about being seen riding on an invisible monster. He wasn't sure how he was going to explain it to anyone if he ended up filmed and the video went viral. But his ride was way ahead of him and turned to a red brick building and leaped. 

"Whoa!"

The monster climbed up the building's walls, its fingers clinging to the bricks like the sticky fingers of Spider Man. After reaching the rooftop, it gently poked Jackie's chin and lifted it up. Jackie understood what it was trying to say and clenched his teeth, bracing for what he was sure to come.

Once more, the monster jumped, soaring towards another rooftop. It ran to the edge and jumped again. Like this, the monster and Jackie went from one building to the next. No one below noticed the flying boy, too busy with what was ahead to look above. The wind whipped his face and swept his hair back, swaying up and down with each jump. 

To be perfectly honest, despite the grim mission he was on, Jackie found the ride exhilarating. The way it tore its way forward was just awesome. But as he looked down below, he spotted someone walking down the street, a familiar small person he had met before.

"Hey! Drop me off in the alley up ahead! There's someone I need to talk to!"

Sure enough, the monster obliged and dropped into an alley between a red brick building and one that looked like a vanilla-colored woodwork house in the front. It gently put Jackie  down and he sprinted out to meet the younger boy he had encountered at the Gathering's gathering. The boy was probably headed to do the Ritual, which Jackie could not allow.

"Hey!" he called out.

The boy face immediately turned displeased and he circled around Jackie in a run.

"Hey, wait!" Jackie ran after the boy. "Hold up!"

"Leave me alone!" the boy snapped.

He tried to put as much distance between himself and Jackie, but he was no match for the older and taller boy. Jackie was able to close the gap in an instant.

"Listen, kid!" he shouted. "I know what you went through was bad, but that Ritual is not going to make things better. A lot of people are going to get hurt by it. It's wrong!"

Finally, the boy stopped and whirled around with a retort. "The only people getting hurt are the bullies who started it! Are you saying what they did to me is not wrong?"

Jackie shook his head. "No, bullies are definitely wrong. But that doesn't make the Ritual right! Haven't you heard the saying two wrongs don't make a right?"

"That's a stupid saying," the boy said. "And so are you!"

"Hurtful!"

"Go away," the boy told Jackie again. "Go away and stay away. If you know what's good for you."

He turned and started running again. Jackie didn't follow this time, but he still had something left to say.

"He's wrong, you know!" he shouted to the boy. "The Wizard's wrong! Not everyone in the world's against you! You're not alone!"

The boy never looked back. He kept on running until his shrinking back became nothing to Jackie.

Having said everything he could to the younger boy, Jackie was about to go back to the alley when he heard clapping, slow and sarcastic, from behind. He turned and gave a cry of both surprise and a bit of disdain.

"What are you doing here, Mr. Liu?"

Arthur Liu, the Rat, ceased clapping and rested his right hand on his cane while his left hand went behind his back.

"I heard a commotion and came to see what it was about," he said. "I found your attempt to appeal to that child not to do something foolish rather touching."

Jackie frowned at Liu's clear-as-day mockery and was not in the mood for more.

"Just tell me what you want, or I'm leaving now," he said. "I haven't got all day."

"Evidently not," sai Liu, with his nose turned up.

Jackie took a step.

"I am aware you have discovered the location of the Ritual and you are on your way to stop it," Liu said. "Take me there and I will help you."

Jackie wasn't sure how the old man knew, but he had a feeling something supernatural was involved. He eyed the famed Rat with suspicion and asked, "What do you plan to do when you get there? How do you plan to stop the Ritual?"

"I will kill the Wizard and all else who tries to complete it."

Jackie always suspected that was what Liu was going to do, but to hear the gentleman say it in such a straight and immediate manner was just chilling. It sent shivers down the teen's spine.

He could not stand to be with this dangerous man for a minute longer, so he quickly swallowed his fear and looked Liu in the eye before answering, "No. You want to find the Gathering, do it yourself."

"Why do you refuse my offer to help?" asked Liu. "You clearly stand no chance against that Wizard. You must understand that."

Because you're a bloodthirsty maniac, Jackie thought. But instead of saying that aloud, he fired back, "Why do you want to help me? You can clearly find the Gathering on your own. You showed us back at the old Putts Amusement Center. Why do you care about me so much?"

"If you must know, it is because I sense something special in you," said the Rat. "Potential to do great things. You have talent that could change the world. I want to teach you how to unlock it and how to use that talent for the greater good."

Sounds like the kind of scam a supervillain would make, Jackie thought. He wasn't buying it. And he's wasted enough time.

"No thanks. I already got plenty of good teachers back at Colbert High School. Anyway, this has been a productive chat, but I really need to go now so . . . Good bye!"

And then he fled back into the alley. As he did so, Arthur Liu called out with one final warning.

"Mark my words, Jackie Li! You cannot help those children. You cannot help anyone the way you are now. Only with power can you hope to stand against the forces of evil. Only with power can you hope to accomplish anything!"

Jackie didn't listen. Once he was deep in the alley enough, he called for his invisible friend, which he decided to name Boney. And then, once again, Jackie was flying over rooftops as the sun began a rapid drop into nighttime. below the horizon.

Arthur Liu did not bother to follow. As Jackie correctly pointed out, he didn't need to. Instead, he shook his head and sauntered off, muttering to himself, "Such a foolish and naive boy."

**********

Alice followed her fellow Acolytes through the back rooms of the restaurant. After crossing the massive kitchen, they entered what would have been the main dining area, twice the kitchen's size and left barren after being shut down. 

The dining area had become just a stretch of gray concrete underneath everyone's feet. But overhead were stage lights attached to a system of metal bars hanging from the ceiling, covering from one end of the room to the other. To the right was a grand stage, big enough to house a Broadway musical, but left dark and gloomy as all lights were concentrated on the center of the room where the Wizard awaited.

Already, the majority of the Gathering had arrived, standing in circles around the Wizard, who, himself, stood atop a huge circular formation of drawings and writings that no one, not even the Wizard himself, could read. A single strip of concrete divided the Wizard's followers, allowing the Acolytes a way forward to join him on the mysterious and chilling piece of art, which was drawn in red.

Alice doubted it could be anything else other than paint or ink, but it still made her skin crawl to look at. She and the others stood around the Wizard in each of seven circles drawn within the greater one. An eighth circle at the heart of all those scribbles was where the Wizard stood.

He looked around and beamed a big, tight-lipped smile to the crowd. And then he raised his hands in the air and said, "Well, we're here. It's finally happening. Are you all ready for some revenge?"

Cheers came from the crowd. "Yeah!"

"I can't hear you!"

"YEAH!"

"Then let's do this!"

The crowd went wild. Alice couldn't understand why these guys were so hooked when it was obvious just looking at the drawing beneath their feet that something bad was going on, but she joined in the revelry as hard as she could to keep up the illusion she was still on their side. One eye stayed on the drawing, which she guessed was a pivotal part of the Ritual.

If I can do something about these scribbles, she thought, then it's bye-bye Ritual.

It was obvious just stomping on and scrubbing her feet over the writing would not be enough. This was good paint the Wizard used. But that wasn't going to be enough protection against what Alice had in mind.

She had learned much from her time studying in the Wizard's house. And there was one spell she obsessively practiced which she thought would be perfect for the mission she set herself on. Her fervent work left her with deep, dark circles under her eyes and a head foggy from sleep deprivation, but it will be worth it if she could destroy that evil artwork. All she had to now was wait for the perfect opportunity when everyone was too busy casting the spell to stop her, which won't be long now.

"But before we do get started," said the Wizard, "I gotta say, I'm really proud to be here and see all you people here with me. When I started this Gathering thing, I never imagined we'd grow to be as big as we are now. But we did."

"Come on . . ." Alice tapped the heel of her foot impatiently. "Come on . . ."

Her fingers wrung, itching to act and weave together some fire, but the Wizard continued regardles.

"Now, I know you all are eager to get started right now. I am too. But there is still just one more little thing that needs to be done before we can actually do that."

Alice internally groaned. The guy just can't stop being a showman, she thought.

But then he turned around. His eyes landed on her and then Alice was suddenly pulled back and thrown in a cage that suddenly appeared at the edge of the circle. She was suspended in the air in the cage by red silk ribbons around her wrists, waist and throat. The door slammed shut and eyes blinked open on the iron bars, revealing the cage's nature as an Egregor.

Alice tried to pull herself free, but of course the ribbon held strong. She stopped at the sound of approaching footsteps and looked to see the Wizard grinning at her. Dread bubbled up from the pit of her stomach, but she tried to play dumb and cried out in dismay, "What the hell, man? What's going on? Why'd you just throw me in a cage?"

The Wizard chuckled. "Oh, Alice, Alice, Alice. You can drop the act. I've known for a while now what you've really been up to. I must say I'm disappointed. We might have only known each other for a few short weeks, but I really came to like you. You're a hard worker and I admire that. It's like looking in a mirror seeing you set your sights on something and going all out to accomplish it. It's just too bad what you set your sights on was betraying me."

Color drained from Alice's face and the Wizard grinned.

"Wondering how I know? Well, I'd like to say it was thanks to my good looks and my gooder brain."

He paced around the tent, eyes staying glued on Alice. 

"But really, I'm just careful. I got eyes and ears everywhere. And one of those ears happened to overhear a little bit about your plans to stop the Ritual in its tracks. Too bad though. Even if you did manage to light this place on fire, that's not going to stop us. Because we are special. We are the Gathering. And there's nothing stopping us from getting our revenge."

He stopped where he began, in front of the cage and pressed his face against the bars, still smiling but with no sparkle in his eyes. Only venom.

"Least of all, mine!"

<== Chapter 20                                                                                                           Chapter 22 ==>