Book 2 of the Eternal series

Chapter 15

Ashta sobbed over Roman’s body, and Riah and Ray cried as they held onto each other. After a few moments, the three felt a small surge of energy, and Ashta gasped as she pulled herself back from Roman’s body. Amazingly, the room began to light up with a golden glow, and Riah and Ray looked at Ashta in question. Ashta also had a confused look on her face.

Suddenly, Roman lit up with the same glow, and they all looked at his body. At that moment, his body faded away and disappeared. Shocked, Ashta, Riah, and Ray looked at each other.

“What happened to him?” Ray asked as he wiped his face with his free arm and looked at Ashta.

Sadly, Ashta shook her head, and then she hung her head in sorrow.

“It doesn’t matter. He’s gone now,” she said sadly.

It had been a week since Roman’s death, and Ashta, Riah, and Ray felt hopeless. They still couldn’t figure out how to get home, and the weirdness had gotten weirder and weirder. The daily repetitiveness had changed, and now the three guardians were on a constant loop where the people with dead eyes would all gather in the grocery store parking lot. Oddly, they would stand in the middle of the lot and stare into the sky with their mouths open.

Such a strange and unearthly sight made Ashta, Riah, and Ray stay back at the house. These peculiar people made them even more nervous now, and they did their best to steer clear of them.

During the day, the three guardians would feast in the garden, talk about a plan to escape the weird world, and how Roman’s body vanished after he died. Sadly, Ashta would cry herself to sleep every night, and it broke Riah’s and Ray’s hearts to see their friend in this state of mind.

They tried to do their best to keep her spirits up, and sometimes it would work, but other times it didn’t. Ray deeply missed his cousin, but he would bottle up his emotions deep inside, so he could be strong for the girls. However, by doing so, it ate him up on the inside. Riah even missed his annoying, arrogant self, and she loved that man like a brother. The three felt lost, and they didn’t know what they should do next.

One evening, while Ashta, Riah, and Ray were getting ready for bed, Ray went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. He grabbed a towel off of the rack over the toilet, and he patted his face dry.

Feeling defeated, he looked into the mirror and gasped when he saw Roman staring back at him.

“Roman?” he asked, and his cousin smirked at him.

“Yes, Ray, it’s me. Listen, I don’t know how much time so I need you to listen to me closely. You have to die so you can join me,” said Roman, and Ray stared at him with wide eyes.

“I’m sorry it had to be this way, but it is the only way you can come join me,” he added, and Ray felt pain surge in his heart.

“Man, I miss you so much, but what about the girls? I can’t just leave them here,” said Ray, as tears rolled down his cheeks.

Roman gave him a knowing look, and then he smiled.

“We will be back for them. Trust me. Come join me,” said Roman, and then, without warning, Ray watched his cousin fade away.

Confused, Ray stared at his reflection, letting his tears fall. He missed his cousin so much, and he wanted to join him, but he couldn’t just leave Riah and Ashta on their own. That would make him a coward. To him, the image of Roman in the mirror was just a trick that his mind was playing on him. Irritated, he threw the towel on the counter, and then he walked back into the bedroom.

Riah looked up at him as he entered the room, and she noticed that he had a look of sorrow on his face. She looked at him with concern, and he looked at her.

“Is everything alright?” she asked, and Ray blinked a couple of times.

He thought for a moment and decided it would be best if he didn’t say anything. It wasn’t a big deal.

“Yeah, fine,” he said, and Riah only nodded as she put clean pillowcases on their pillows.

Ashta looked at both of them, and then she sighed. They crawled into bed and turned off the lights.

That night, Ray tossed and turned as visions of Roman came into his mind.

“Ray, everything is going to be okay. You will see. Trust me. Join me,” said Roman.

Surprised, Ray looked around and saw that they were inside a castle, and he looked at his cousin.

“What is this place?” he asked, and Roman chuckled.

“This is home, where you will come to when you die. Please, Ray, we don’t have much time,” said Roman.

Ray looked at him for a moment.

“How do I know this isn’t some trick that my mind is playing on me?” he asked, and Roman looked at him honestly.

“You don’t,” he said, and Ray looked at him in shock.

Roman laughed, and then he winked at his cousin.

“Have I ever steered you wrong, dear cousin?” he asked, and then he disappeared.

“Wait! Roman!” Ray cried, and then he sat straight up in bed.

“Ray?”

Slowly, he looked to his side, and he saw Riah and Ashta staring at him with wide eyes. He shook his head, and then he looked down at the bedsheets.

“It was just a, just a nightmare,” he stuttered, and Riah blinked at him.

“Are you okay?” she asked, and he nodded as he took in rapid breaths.

Was it really Roman? He asked himself as he got up from the bed, and he started pacing back and forth.

“Ray?” asked Riah, ignoring her as he continued to pace and let his thoughts roll around in his head.

If that was Roman, and he said they would come back for the girls, maybe he did make it out of this place alive, and he was trying to tell them how to get home.

“Ray!” Riah and Ashta said in unison, and he looked up at them.

“Listen, I think Roman is still alive,” he said, and Ashta’s and Riah’s mouths dropped open.

“Ray, that isn’t funny,” scolded Riah as Ashta hung her head, and Ray shook his head.

Sadly, Ashta looked up at him, and Riah wrapped her arm around her shoulders.

“No, no. I think he has been trying to tell me how to get out of this place, but it’s crazy,” he explained.

Riah looked at him with care.

Ray, no. That is your mind. You haven’t dealt with your pain and his death. Come on, come back to bed,” she said soothingly, and Ray shook his head as tears streamed down his face.

“I’m sorry, I have to know,” he said as he walked over to the dresser and grabbed the dagger.

Horrifically, Ashta and Riah looked at each other and climbed out of bed. Slowly, they walked over to him and cautiously put their hands in the air.

“Now, Ray, think about this for a second,” said Riah calmly as she slowly approached him, and he looked at her with a tear-stricken face.

“I’m sorry, Riah, please forgive me. I love you, and I always will,” he said, and then he jabbed the dagger into his throat.

“No!” cried Riah and Ashta in unison as Ray’s body slid down to the floor.

Ashta’s hands flew to her face, and Riah hit the floor next to Ray.

“You’re an i***t,” Riah cried as Ray struggled to breathe.

Riah sucked in a breath as she saw his body go still and his head tilted to the side. He looked up at her, and then he gasped his last breath of air. Riah’s chest began to heave with uncontrollable sobs, and Ashta slid to the floor next to her. She began to sob with her as she held onto her.

“No,” Riah cried as she held onto Ashta’s arm.

At that moment, the room filled with a glowing green light, and Ray’s body began to glow with a golden light. Riah and Ashta watched in awe as his body faded away and disappeared just like Roman’s body did. Sadly, Ashta and Riah looked at each other.

Suddenly, Ray inhaled sharply as he opened his eyes, and noticeably, everything around him was pitch black.

Am I dead? he wondered as he coughed a couple of times and put his hands out in front of him.

Surprisingly, he felt the cool rock from the inside of the statue against his skin, and he felt around the cool stone.

Where was he? he wondered, and then, at that moment, he had a sudden urge to punch through the stone wall.

He took a deep breath as he pulled his fist back as far as he could, and then he punched the stone wall in front of him. Shockingly, the wall busted open, and he felt the cool air rush inside the statue.

Ray laughed as he felt a powerful surge of energy flow through his body, and then he saw a face on the other side of the opening he had just made. It was Roman.

“Roman!” he exclaimed, and Roman put his finger to his lips as he shook his head.

Ray only nodded, and he pulled himself out of the statue. He couldn’t believe that he was standing in front of his cousin, alive and well, after he had seen him take his last breath of air.

“I can’t believe that you are really alive,” he whispered, and Roman put his finger to his lips and pointed.

Ray looked at where he was pointing, and his eyes widened as he saw the slick, black, humanoid-looking creatures standing at the front door of each house. He swallowed nervously as he nodded, and Roman walked over to him. Roman grabbed Ray’s shoulders, and suddenly, a bright light flashed next to them. Surprised, Roman and Ray looked at the man that appeared when the light faded away.

“Well, I see that since you want to play with my statues, it seems as though we may brave a problem,” said Bestol, and Roman and Ray looked at the blue-haired man.

“What?” asked Roman, and Bestol sneered at him.

“I wasn’t talking to you, guardian,” he sneered, and Ray looked at Roman in question.

“Guardian?” he asked, and Roman glanced at his cousin.

“I’ll explain later,” Roman breathed unevenly, and then he let go of Ray’s shoulders.

At that moment, a man with long, shiny black hair and reptilian eyes appeared next to the blue-haired man, and he gave Bestol a guilty look.

“I thought you said you took care of this,” Bestol snarled, and the man shrugged his shoulders.

“So, what. Two of them got out. The other two won’t, Bestol!”

“Yeah, and how can you guarantee that, Mertheis?” Bestol snarled, and Roman growled at both of the strange-looking men.

“You two!”

Bestol and Mertheis looked at Roman, and they both snickered.

“You don’t have the power to stop us. You are only two of the Elemental Guardians, and you will never see the other two again,” laughed Mertheis, and before anyone could say a word, he snapped his fingers.

Horrified, Roman and Ray watched as Ashta’s and Riah’s statues turned to dust. Angrily, Roman roared at the two demons, super-sped at them. Quickly, Bestol and Mertheis disappeared, and then they reappeared where the statues used to stand.

“Like I said. You two are no match for us, and after we are finished with gods, we will be back to deal with you two,” snarled Bestol, and then, he and Mertheis disappeared.

Roman and Ray looked at each other, and then they looked down at the piles of sand that used to be Ashta’s and Riah’s statues. Nervously, Ray looked at Roman and swallowed hard.

“What do we do now?” he asked, and Roman walked over to him and grabbed his shoulders.

“Let’s get you all fixed up first,” he said, and Ray looked at him oddly.

Roman super-speed them both to the castle and down to the sanctuary room without another word.