Book 5 Age 10
MAGIC
By: B.W. Phillips
Demon. Devil. Vrolok. Nosferatu. For millenniums she has ruled monsters and demons of death and evil beyond the mortal minds comprehesion. For years she has been the soul of all the pain and death in this world. For many years she has laid within hiding. She becomes a moonbeam. A ray of light in the dark, but dark be that ray in the dark. She becomes a speck of fire in the human heart and then burns it to ashes of death and pain. For years she has never been challeneged. For millenniums, she has been the wife of the one enigma that has done more to the world than any one human can ever think of in a day and a night. She controlls all those that feel it.......
She holds only those that have it......She can kill anyone and anything with a simple thought. She takes what she wants and takes what she needs to survive and let her monsters loose upon this world. For centuries she has lain within the shadows of the mountains of another world and yet that world in apart of our own. In the barren wastelands of India, she has made her fortress. Now she means to take over our planet and turn the humans of this world into her slaves of evil. But six people have fought her.........They have challenged her
for the right of life........ Six mortals of teenage age have fought with this demon of hell. They have fought with her and......they......have.....lived. They have survived the terror and horror of the one thing that has enough Powers of Darkness to destroy an entire world. Elisabeth Phillips, who has the power to sence when evil beings are near. Randy Anderson, his spirit saved the group of six from their deaths. Jessie Williams, her bravery brought the group of six mortals to the world in which the final battle was fought and got them throught it alive. Jacky Donners, her strength in her mind, body, and spirit, saved the mortal six from maddness and the Powers of Darkness. Scot Conner, his wisdom, that goes beyond his mortal age, saved the group from a trap and peril. And then there was the Warrior. The Dark Warrior.........who alone knows about her immortal ways. Who alone knows of the danger the other five face. Who alone knows of the final Power that will be shown. Who alone knows what it means to fight the evil that has brought about her. Who alone knows of the Powers of Darkness and what they can do to a mortals' mind and heart. Only he knows of what it means to fight her.... Only he knows of what it means to do battle with her..... Only he knows of what it is like to do battle with one of the most powerful creatures in the world and live to tell about. Only he knows about her power and what she will do to the five mortals. Only he and no other knows of her ways of Darkness and of the ways of the five Warriors of Darkness, the five fiercest fighters in the world. Only he knows of what it means to challenge the evil powers and the enigma of..................................................................................HATE.
Chapter 1
As the clouds of the past night lifted to a new day and a new begining of life, they brought with their deaths, the light of the suns' rays. The only mortal to see this sunrise of new life was Benji Phillips. He was standing on the back porch of his home, looking out over the dark mountains. He looked over them and watched as the bright light of the suns' first few rays fell across the mountains and then fell into his deep blue eyes. He watched as the great sphere of fire climbed above them and then slowly began its endless path across the great expanse of pink, gold, and orange colored sky. He looked over to the clouds that had died with the coming of the light of the sun. They seemed to have spirited themselves away like ghosts long since dead and not wishing the light of dawn. Slowly the land around him came to life. Birds began to call and sing their lovely tunes of friendships long since dead and gone, the mists of the early morning crept about his feet and twisted with every turn he made to see the new day awake around his home. Soon they would be gone from the powerful heat of the sun. They would scury to some forgoten time and they would not emerge until their enemy, the sun, went from the land once more as it had done for millions of years long since forgoten by the mortal mind of humans. The forest animals began to wake and hunt for the food that they would need in the months to come. A chill wind blew from out of the north. A wind so cold that it seemed to Benji that death was borne upon its very touch of human flesh. Benji watched a cardinal light upon a branch of his apple tree in the backyard and begin to sing its tune of ages past. He watched as the little birds' deep black eyes sought his own and then lock upon his eyes. They stayed that way for several minutes and then the cardinal flew off in a burst of color. Benji watched until it was out of his sight and then he turned his eyes to the forest to watch as the rest of the animals began to come out. He spotted a fawn at the edge of the small clearing that his home was in. He watched as its mother walked up to it and then nuzzled it upon the neck. The two animals walked back into the forest without a trace of where they had been. A hand tugged at his sleeve and Benji looked down into the bright green eyes of his daughter. She had blond hair and a pleasant little face that always lighted with cherry thoughts and looks. She smiled up at him and he returned the smile.
"You know what mom said. No more watching the sunrise in this cold weather! You'll catch a cold out here, dad!" The young girl said to him. It had been twenty years since Benji and his small group of friends had been teen-agers themselves. Twenty long years of healing had many of them undergone so that they might forget what had taken place so many years ago. So that they might forget what happened to their world and the city in which they all fought in to keep the planet Earth alive and free of the grip of one person that they all feared more than death himself. That person was dead now. Wasted away into nothing. Only the face of the person still remained in Benjis' dreams of years past. That person was Evil. He was evil to the bone. It was Evil that Benji feared to this very day. He feared what he might have become had he joined his side of the war for the planet Earth and peace. Benji placed his right hand around his daughters shoulders and then they walked back into the house. They walked down a short hallway and then they turned to the left and walked into the dinning room. A pleasant smell wafted from out of the kitchen and the two humans knew that breakfast was about to be served.
"Take a seat at the table while I'll go and help your mother, Elisabeth." Benji said to his daughter. She nodded to him and took her seat at the table, while he turned around and walked through a set of double wooden doors and into the kitchen. Benjis' wife, Ray, was bent over a cook book, reading. Near her on the counter were several bowls and cups. Each of them had some kind of an ingredient in them. Ray took hold of a measuring cup and dumped a fourth of a cup of flour into a metal bowl that was being stirred by the electric mixer that she had placed over it. Benji walked over her and then placed his right hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and smiled. Benji did the same.
"Need any help, dear?" Benji asked.
"Hand me the cup with the sugar in it will you?" Ray said. Benji did so and the contents were deposited into the large metal bowl. Within a moment, the sugar was gone, mixed into the rest of the dough. Ray stopped her cooking for a moment and turned to face her husband. There was a bit of a worried look in her eyes, but it vanished without a trace before Benji could see it.
"You were outside watching the sun come up over the mountains again, right?" She asked him.
"Yeah, but I don't see any problem with that." Benji answered her. His deep blue eyes shinned brightly in the artificial light of the kitchen lights.
"You'll catch a cold in this chilly weather, dear!" Ray said to him.
"Give me a break! I'm not going to get sick from just watching the sun rise! Sheesh!"
"You might or you might not. Look......I don't really want you to get ill from this cold weather.....not when you have a kid take care of."
"True. If it'll make you happy, I'll stop going outside in shorts and a tee-shirt during the winter."
"Thanks. Oh, by the way, you need to take Elisabeth to the doctor for her check up tomorrow after she gets out of school. I don't have the time." Ray said to Benji. Her coal black eyes locked onto those of her husbands' and stayed that way for a moment. After a few more minutes, breakfast was served and quickly eaten. While Benji and Ray cleared the table and washed the dishes, Elisabeth went outside to go on a bike ride with her friends.
"Bye, dad! Bye, mom! Be back in a few hours or so!" She called to them from the garage. She opened the door of garage and then pushed out her black twelve speed bike and put down the kick stand. She walked back into the garage and pushed the button to close the door. It started to come down with a loud droning squeak. Elisabeth stood facing the door, frozen by the hand of time and then rushed forward. The garage door was less than five feet from the stone floor of the garage. She reached it when it was at three feet and then slid out from under it. She rolled and then stood up and looked back to the garage door as it closed down to the ground. She had missed being crushed like an insect by an inch. Ray looked out the dinning room window and saw what her daughter had done. She had told her more than a thousand times not to run under the garage door while it was going down, for she might get herself killed doing that. Elisabeth refused to listen to her mother and each time she did the trick that she had done a moment before, she always made it out of the line of the garage door before it would touch with the stone of the garage floor.
She climbed onto her bike and then pushed the kick stand upward into its resting place. She pushed off the cement of the sidewalk and then began to bike down a long winding hill towards the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota. She twisted her gear shift and set it into a hard gear for going down hill. She never did anything that was easy or very simple. She always like doing things that hard way, which was why she had become one of five champion bikers at her high school. The other four were her friends.
There was Randy Anderson, a tough teen-ager in his own way. He had the indomitable spirit of a fighter, but the courage of a leaf. He was the groups spirit to do anything that they could to win and win fairly. Then there was Jessie Williams, a good looking young girl of fifteen. She was the bravery in the group. Whenever things looked grim, they could always count on her to help them get through whatever they had to in order to win fairly. Then came Jacky Donners. She was the strength behind the group. Whenever any of them were being picked on by the tougher senoirs at their school, all Jacky had to do was step between the two and stare the bully right in the eyes for a brief moment. That would usually end things right then and there, but if that didn't work and the punk attacked, he or she would find themselves in the hospitle for the next few days. Then there was Scot Conner. He was a good looking boy for his age of fifteen. He was the one with the wisdom that went far beyond his mortal age. With his wisdom, the five friends quickly learned how to avoid fights and other troubles before they started. Though Scot was usually ice cold towards them all, he was a true and loyal friend to them all. Elisabeth was the sences in the group. She had learned how to sence danger even before the person that she faced, thought of it. She had stopped many fights between many of her other friends before things even got into a confrontation.
Elisabeth quickly began to pick up speed. Her speedometer was at the maximum spped that it could go at. She turned a corner on a red light at an intersection and was nearly hit by an oncoming car. The driver honked feriously as she brought her bike upright and sped off. Elisabeth looked over her shoulder and shouted to the driver while he was still in hearing range: "YA SUNDAY DRIVER!" A smile of glee and pleasure spread across her face as she sped away from the car and the road that she was on. Within a few moments, she was standing before a red brick house with a green shingled roof and wooden shutters covering the windows. This was the home of Randy Anderson, one of her friends. She looked over to the driveway and saw that both cars were still sitting there. Randys' parents were both still home. Elisabeth parked her bike in the driveway and then walked up the stone path way that led to the wooden door of the home. It was a crisp autum day and the leaves on the maple trees in the frontyard were starting to change to bright reds, oranges, and yellows. Elisabeth walked up the stone walkway and then stood in front of the door. She balled her right hand into a fist and then knocked a few times on the door. In a moment, Randy was standing outside with her, wearing his biking helmet and ready to go. Elisabeth could barely see the kids' light brown hair under the helmet for how big it was. They walked back down to the driveway and then Randy opened the back door of his fathers' station wagon and pulled out his new red ten speed bike. He pushed the door shut and then locked it again. After placing the key into his shorts pocket, he climbed onto his bike and then the two of them rode off down the street.
"So, how are you doing this morning, Beth?" Randy asked his friend. The name Beth was a nick name that he had given to her when the two of them had gone to seventh grade together. Elisabeth hated that name, but she would respond to it only because she and Randy were really close friends and that name stood for their special bond between each other.
"I'm fine. How about you and your parents? Are you still fighting with your father?" Elisabeth asked Randy. Randy turned to her and his light brown eyes shone with a slight pain. Elisabeth saw it in a moment and knew that she should have kept her mouth shut. Randy had gotten into a lot of fights with his father. Mostly they were about his grades and how he was doing in school and Randy felt that his father had no right to be so darn upset about an "F" or a "D". He didn't like fighting with his father, but he felt that sometimes that was the only way he could ever get through to him, by yelling at him and him yelling back. His mother would always come between them and, somehow, she was always able to get them to stop fighting with one another for at least a day....but now she was losing her touch so to say. The fights would get a bit out of hand and words would be used that would horrify his father and mother both. The two of them turned up a dead-end street and then biked to the top of the hill. There they stopped biking and then climbed off their bikes. They stood in front of an orange colored house with black shutters and a cement walkway leading to the front door. Randy walked up to the door and rang the door bell once. In a moment their third friend, Jessie Williams, was standing before them with her biking helmet in her left hand and she was ready to go with them. It took only a moment for them to get her twelve speed bike out of the garage and for her to close the door. She had blond hair and deep sea green eyes that could perice anything with one look.
"Howdy guys." Jessie said to her friends.
"Yo." Randy said. His light brown eyes shined bright in the bright light of the sun. Jessie smiled.
"Hi, Jessie. Ready to tackle Reapers' Trail?" Elisabeth asked her friend. Jessie nodded. She climbed onto her bike and then the three of them rode off down the hill of the dead-end street and then they bike for about a half hour before they turned up another street and then went half way up it. They stopped in front of a house that was painted purple and had dark blue shutters upon the sides of the windows. There was a small yellow mail box upon a black pole near the front door. Jessie was about to climb off her bike and go knock upon the front door, when it opened and a tall young girl stepped outside into the cool autum air. She had bright blue eyes, brownish-blond hair, and a deep taned skin. The girl walked down the front walkway and nodded to her friends.
"Howdy, guys! Reapers' Trail here we come!" The girl said.
"Hi, Jacky." Elisabeth said.
"Yo." Randy said.
"How's it going?" Jessie asked Jacky.
"Fine. Ready to go?" Jacky said. The other three nodded. Jacky walked back to her house and then went out into the backyard. In a moment Jacky was with her friends, biking down the street on her purple twelve speed bike. She changed the gears to the hardest one that they could be put onto and then fell back behind Randy. Jessie led the way and she was joined on her right by Elisabeth. Behind her Randy and Jacky biked side by side. Within a few moments time, the small group stood before another house that was painted yellow and had an enormous pine tree in the frontyard. Outside waiting for them was their friend Scot Conner. He was about six feet tall and had blond hair that shined brightly in early morning sun. His bright green eyes shown with pleasure. He was already wearing his biking helmet and was standing by his black ten speed bike. He climbed on the moment he saw Jessie and started bike towards them. The others kept going and knew that he'd catch up to them. Within moments, he do so and then they all started to bike at their fastest speed that they could go. After another two hours of bikeing, the group turned up an empty road and then biked until they had reached a dirt trail. They biked on for what seemed to be years, but was only a few short seconds. Scot braked sharply and turned his bike so that the back tire skidded along the width of the of the path. A small cloud of dust rose as he did this and then he came to a complete stop. He took off his helmet and then wait while the others stopped a foot away from him. He turned his head, bright green eyes shinning with the anticipation of finally being able to tackle this deadly trail of nature.
"There!" He said with a cold voice and pointed down the hill that they had all biked up. "Reapers' Trail." He said with an even more cold voice. The others looked and saw the trail that they had tried for many years to conquer, but each time they did so, there was always a surprise waiting for them that none of them, not even Elisabeth, could see or sence. The last time it had been an open pit dug into the trail and then covered with some branches that broke when Scot rode his bike over them. The pit had been about twleve feet deep and he had nearly been killed when he went down. He was lucky that he hadn't broken his legs, for his bike had fallen on top of him. The deadly trap had been the work of their arch ememies, the Blood Punkers. They were a group of a five teen-agers from a neighboring school who couldn't take losing at all and so had followed them all to this trail and every day that the kids went on it after that, there would always be some sort of deadly trap waiting for them. What would it be this time? They had no answer to that question unless they were to go onto the trail and find out.
Reapers' Trail was the most difficult trail that any one in the group knew about. It was full of twigs that could pop their tires flat, rocks that could kill them if they fell onto them and off to the left side was a drop of about two hundred feet straight down. There were also more than enough twists and turns in the trail and one wrong move would send the biker to his or her death. Already six people had been found dead on the left side of the trail. Their tires poped and the bike smashed from the fall. To the right was a large hill that was nothing but loose rock and soil. If anything sent that hill off, there would be a huge avalance that would bury the kids alive. Scot turned his bike around and pushed it to the top of the hill. The others did the same. Then they all lined up in a line that spanned the width of the trail that they were on and climbed back onto their bikes. They were ready to take on Reapers' Trail once more.
Chapter 2
"You guys ready for this? I mean we could turn around and then just say that we all defeated this thing." Randy said to his friends. His light brown eyes sparkled for a moment with fear. He didn't want to run the risk of getting caught into another trap like he done before. The last trap that he had sprung while biking on the trail with his friends, nearly cost him his life. There was a concealed spring board half covered by dirt from the dusty trail that he had gone over and then it had pitched him over the left side of the trail. He had managed to catch onto an outjetting rock and had saved himself, but he had been very shaken since that day. Scot looked over to Randy with cold curel eyes of anger with his friend.
"You've got the guts of a mouse, Randy! You were the one who also wanted to tackle this trail once more. If you didn't really want to do so, then why in all of hell are you here with us?" Scot said to him with a deadly cold voice. His voice bit through the air like an arrow being shot at Randys' heart.
"Scot, leave him alone!" Jacy said. "It's true that Randy doesn't have the courage that the four of us have, but you need not pester him about it." Scot tightened his jaw and then kicked off the ground with his right foot. He was starting down the steep hill that would take them to Reapers' Trail. Within a few seconds, Scot was traveling at almost fifty miles an hour! The others quickly pushed off and were heading down the steep hill, while Scot was preparing to turn on the ninety degree path that would make the begining of Reapers' Trail.
"Uh, guys, don't you think that Scot's going a bit fast down there?" Elisabeth asked her friends. Randy looked ahead into that small cloud of dust that Scots' bike was leaving behind. Sure enough, the kid was way too fast to make the turn in time!
"Hey, Scot! Slow down! You're not going to make the turn!" Jacky shouted to her friend. She knew that he didn't even hear her. The four friends watched as Scot neared the end of the trail and the begining of Reapers' Trail. Then, to their surprise, he skidded to the left and was standing on the start of the trail! He was alive and well, only his clothes looked like they had taken a mud bath! They were covered in dust! The rest of the group caught up to Scot and then they all looked him up and down as one.
"Did I forget to say that I'm somewhat of a dare devil?" Scot asked his friends. The others all let their mouths drop open. Scot had gotten the effect that he had wanted from them. He got back onto his dust-covered bike and then looked over at his friends. "Well, are we just going to sit here or what? There's a trail to be conquered! Come on and follow me!" He said to them and took the lead. He pushed off with his right foot and then the others followed him. The begining of the trail was very easy. All the group had to do was go up and down several hills in the trail and make sure that they didn't weave to the right or left too much. The next part was the part that gave the trail its name: The small group neared the drop side of the trail and then they had to bike in singnal file for if they didn't do so, they'd fall to their deaths. The trail thin enough only to let one six inch tire pass at a time. To their right were thousands and thousands of cement pieces of rock. To their left was a two hundred foot drop straight down to jagged boulders. The cement rocks were the remains of several buildings from twenty years ago when a tornado had ripped through the down-town part of Saint Paul, Minnesota......
Jessie sat all the way on the end of her seat and then gave her bike a sharp pull upward. The front tire came off the trail and she turned the bike over to the rocky part of the trail. Then she slamed the bike back down onto a flat rock and started to by on top of the rocks. Scot spotted what she had done out of the corner of his right eye. He turned his head to take a quick look at the rocks to see if Jessie were in any danger. She wasn't for the time being and Scot felt that he didn't have to ask her to get off the rocks until the danger came within a few yards of her bike. They all cleared the thin part of the trail and then came another section of it. The section where traps were usually placed to try to injure at least one of the five people on the trail. Scot stopped his bike and Elisabeth stopped right behind him. Randy followed and behind him was Jacky. Then Jessie got the clue and braked her bike on the rock that she was on. They all looked at the ground and then their eyes floated up to the horizen where the great pine trees of the woods met the trail. Once they had reach that forest of pine, it would be like biking in the dark. They wouldn't be able to see the trail, but they didn't really know if they could see in that thick forest because they had never gotten past this part of the trail before. The traps in the past had always sent them fleeing for their lives.
"Well, here we go again guys! It was nice knowing you all!" Jacky said to her friends. She pushed her bike up near Scot and then they looked over to each other. Scot nodded to her and then Jacky started down the trail. She stopped mid way and turned to wait for her friend to catch up. The rest of them quickly followed her. In this part of the trail, there were several dips in the dirt path that would criple the front tire of the bike that went into one. The five had learned of them the hard way. They had all plunged into a large one that was near the place where Jacky waited for them and the forks to their bikes had all been bent beyond repair. Within a few seconds, the other four people was standing near Jacky. So far there hadn't been a singnal trap for them to look out for. Scot was a bit nervous about this. Usually they never even made it up to where Jacky and the rest of them were standing right now. In fact, they barely made it past the first quarter of this trail! Scot and Randy stood side by side on the trail and looked down the rest of it to where it went into the forest of pine trees. There was no sign of danger, but looks could mean other things. Slowly they all began to push their bikes forward.
Suddenly the ground opened up under Randys' bike! He felt the change in ground instantly and he quickly jumped off his bike. He landed a few feet away from the concealed pit and then walked back over to it. It was only about two or three feet deep. He looked at the walls of the hole. They were straight and cut crudely into the ground. There was a white sheet of paper that had writing upon it. The words read: Blood Punkers. Randys' face turned to one of hate and anger. He wanted to get those kids back for what they were doing to them, but he had been trained by his mother and father in the ways of the martail arts. He could attack them until they had physically attacked him first. He could go after them with the thought of revenge upon his lips at all for what just happened. Elisabeth senced the anger in her friend and then placed her right hand upon his shoulder. He looked over to her and she smiled at him. They all pitched in to get the bike out of the hole and then fill it in with as many flat rocks as they could find in the mountain of rocks that they had just past a moment before. After the job was done, the small group climbed onto thier bikes and then began to head for the forest area of the trail. They soon reached it and then they stopped to rest for a moment. They had gotten past the most difficult part of the trail so far and they were all ready to take on whatever lay beyond the cover of the trees. The turned to face the dark pine trees and then they all started to bike towards them. Within moments, they had gone by them and were in the dark forests of Minnesota. The groups' unanswered question was answered. The branches of the trees were so closely locked together that they couldn't see too well in the dim half-light of the sun. Still streams of light did break through in some places and it was enough light to see the trail that they were on, barely. They biked onward and then they came to a fork in the path. The left side of the fork went deeper into the woods and the right seemed to be heading back towards the city. They all turned to Scot to see where they should go.
"Right." He said.
"Why?" Jessie asked.
"To refraim from getting lost in this dense forest of pine trees, you go to the right which is heading back to the city and civilization. If you guys really want to get lost, then you should take the left road, which will take you deeper into the woods and away from the city." Scot said. The others agreed to this and they took the path leading right. After half an hour of biking, they came to a small clearing. In the center of the clearing was a run down brick building. The buildings' roof was somewaht caved in and it was also rusted and in need of some major repair. The front door to it was made of wood and had many holes into through which someone on the outside or inside could look through and see who or what was inside of the building. Jessie was about to bring her bike out into the open veiw of the clearing when she was stopped by Elisabeth.
"What is it?" She asked her friend. Elisabeth pointed to the building in the clearing.
"I can feel someone inside. There would be danger should any of us go out into that clearing. We should turned around and go back home. I don't like the looks of that place at all." Elisabeth answered timidly. They all knew that when she spoke with a slightly timidness in her voice, that she had senced true danger and that they should do as she had said. They should turn around and go back home, but Jessies' excitement got the better of her and she turned back around and prepared to launch herself into the clearing and whatever awaited them there. This was the first time that any of them had gotten past the most dangerious part of Reapers' Trail so far and she wanted to make the most of it. Randy grabbed her arm as she eased her bike in front of him.
"Beth is right. Don't be so foolish to think that just because she can sence that there is danger out there that it is not there, Jessie. You could get yourself or one of us killed by going out there. Turn around and we'll come back tomorrow afternoon." Randy said.
"I would rather like to see what's out there right now than have to wait until tomorrow afternoon!" Jessie said. She freed her arm from Randys' hand and then started to push her bike out into the clearing.
"Jessie, why are you so darn impatient?" Jacky asked her. Jessie didn't seem to hear what Jacky had asked her. She was too busy biking out into the clearing. The moment that she was about five yards into the clearing, something moved behind the wooden door of the building. Scot saw the movement and he was instantly heading towards his friend to protect her if she needed help. The wooden door opened and out of it came Jackys' fear of the danger. It was the Blood Punkers.
By: B.W. Phillips
Demon. Devil. Vrolok. Nosferatu. For millenniums she has ruled monsters and demons of death and evil beyond the mortal minds comprehesion. For years she has been the soul of all the pain and death in this world. For many years she has laid within hiding. She becomes a moonbeam. A ray of light in the dark, but dark be that ray in the dark. She becomes a speck of fire in the human heart and then burns it to ashes of death and pain. For years she has never been challeneged. For millenniums, she has been the wife of the one enigma that has done more to the world than any one human can ever think of in a day and a night. She controlls all those that feel it.......
She holds only those that have it......She can kill anyone and anything with a simple thought. She takes what she wants and takes what she needs to survive and let her monsters loose upon this world. For centuries she has lain within the shadows of the mountains of another world and yet that world in apart of our own. In the barren wastelands of India, she has made her fortress. Now she means to take over our planet and turn the humans of this world into her slaves of evil. But six people have fought her.........They have challenged her
for the right of life........ Six mortals of teenage age have fought with this demon of hell. They have fought with her and......they......have.....lived. They have survived the terror and horror of the one thing that has enough Powers of Darkness to destroy an entire world. Elisabeth Phillips, who has the power to sence when evil beings are near. Randy Anderson, his spirit saved the group of six from their deaths. Jessie Williams, her bravery brought the group of six mortals to the world in which the final battle was fought and got them throught it alive. Jacky Donners, her strength in her mind, body, and spirit, saved the mortal six from maddness and the Powers of Darkness. Scot Conner, his wisdom, that goes beyond his mortal age, saved the group from a trap and peril. And then there was the Warrior. The Dark Warrior.........who alone knows about her immortal ways. Who alone knows of the danger the other five face. Who alone knows of the final Power that will be shown. Who alone knows what it means to fight the evil that has brought about her. Who alone knows of the Powers of Darkness and what they can do to a mortals' mind and heart. Only he knows of what it means to fight her.... Only he knows of what it means to do battle with her..... Only he knows of what it is like to do battle with one of the most powerful creatures in the world and live to tell about. Only he knows about her power and what she will do to the five mortals. Only he and no other knows of her ways of Darkness and of the ways of the five Warriors of Darkness, the five fiercest fighters in the world. Only he knows of what it means to challenge the evil powers and the enigma of..................................................................................HATE.
Chapter 1
As the clouds of the past night lifted to a new day and a new begining of life, they brought with their deaths, the light of the suns' rays. The only mortal to see this sunrise of new life was Benji Phillips. He was standing on the back porch of his home, looking out over the dark mountains. He looked over them and watched as the bright light of the suns' first few rays fell across the mountains and then fell into his deep blue eyes. He watched as the great sphere of fire climbed above them and then slowly began its endless path across the great expanse of pink, gold, and orange colored sky. He looked over to the clouds that had died with the coming of the light of the sun. They seemed to have spirited themselves away like ghosts long since dead and not wishing the light of dawn. Slowly the land around him came to life. Birds began to call and sing their lovely tunes of friendships long since dead and gone, the mists of the early morning crept about his feet and twisted with every turn he made to see the new day awake around his home. Soon they would be gone from the powerful heat of the sun. They would scury to some forgoten time and they would not emerge until their enemy, the sun, went from the land once more as it had done for millions of years long since forgoten by the mortal mind of humans. The forest animals began to wake and hunt for the food that they would need in the months to come. A chill wind blew from out of the north. A wind so cold that it seemed to Benji that death was borne upon its very touch of human flesh. Benji watched a cardinal light upon a branch of his apple tree in the backyard and begin to sing its tune of ages past. He watched as the little birds' deep black eyes sought his own and then lock upon his eyes. They stayed that way for several minutes and then the cardinal flew off in a burst of color. Benji watched until it was out of his sight and then he turned his eyes to the forest to watch as the rest of the animals began to come out. He spotted a fawn at the edge of the small clearing that his home was in. He watched as its mother walked up to it and then nuzzled it upon the neck. The two animals walked back into the forest without a trace of where they had been. A hand tugged at his sleeve and Benji looked down into the bright green eyes of his daughter. She had blond hair and a pleasant little face that always lighted with cherry thoughts and looks. She smiled up at him and he returned the smile.
"You know what mom said. No more watching the sunrise in this cold weather! You'll catch a cold out here, dad!" The young girl said to him. It had been twenty years since Benji and his small group of friends had been teen-agers themselves. Twenty long years of healing had many of them undergone so that they might forget what had taken place so many years ago. So that they might forget what happened to their world and the city in which they all fought in to keep the planet Earth alive and free of the grip of one person that they all feared more than death himself. That person was dead now. Wasted away into nothing. Only the face of the person still remained in Benjis' dreams of years past. That person was Evil. He was evil to the bone. It was Evil that Benji feared to this very day. He feared what he might have become had he joined his side of the war for the planet Earth and peace. Benji placed his right hand around his daughters shoulders and then they walked back into the house. They walked down a short hallway and then they turned to the left and walked into the dinning room. A pleasant smell wafted from out of the kitchen and the two humans knew that breakfast was about to be served.
"Take a seat at the table while I'll go and help your mother, Elisabeth." Benji said to his daughter. She nodded to him and took her seat at the table, while he turned around and walked through a set of double wooden doors and into the kitchen. Benjis' wife, Ray, was bent over a cook book, reading. Near her on the counter were several bowls and cups. Each of them had some kind of an ingredient in them. Ray took hold of a measuring cup and dumped a fourth of a cup of flour into a metal bowl that was being stirred by the electric mixer that she had placed over it. Benji walked over her and then placed his right hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and smiled. Benji did the same.
"Need any help, dear?" Benji asked.
"Hand me the cup with the sugar in it will you?" Ray said. Benji did so and the contents were deposited into the large metal bowl. Within a moment, the sugar was gone, mixed into the rest of the dough. Ray stopped her cooking for a moment and turned to face her husband. There was a bit of a worried look in her eyes, but it vanished without a trace before Benji could see it.
"You were outside watching the sun come up over the mountains again, right?" She asked him.
"Yeah, but I don't see any problem with that." Benji answered her. His deep blue eyes shinned brightly in the artificial light of the kitchen lights.
"You'll catch a cold in this chilly weather, dear!" Ray said to him.
"Give me a break! I'm not going to get sick from just watching the sun rise! Sheesh!"
"You might or you might not. Look......I don't really want you to get ill from this cold weather.....not when you have a kid take care of."
"True. If it'll make you happy, I'll stop going outside in shorts and a tee-shirt during the winter."
"Thanks. Oh, by the way, you need to take Elisabeth to the doctor for her check up tomorrow after she gets out of school. I don't have the time." Ray said to Benji. Her coal black eyes locked onto those of her husbands' and stayed that way for a moment. After a few more minutes, breakfast was served and quickly eaten. While Benji and Ray cleared the table and washed the dishes, Elisabeth went outside to go on a bike ride with her friends.
"Bye, dad! Bye, mom! Be back in a few hours or so!" She called to them from the garage. She opened the door of garage and then pushed out her black twelve speed bike and put down the kick stand. She walked back into the garage and pushed the button to close the door. It started to come down with a loud droning squeak. Elisabeth stood facing the door, frozen by the hand of time and then rushed forward. The garage door was less than five feet from the stone floor of the garage. She reached it when it was at three feet and then slid out from under it. She rolled and then stood up and looked back to the garage door as it closed down to the ground. She had missed being crushed like an insect by an inch. Ray looked out the dinning room window and saw what her daughter had done. She had told her more than a thousand times not to run under the garage door while it was going down, for she might get herself killed doing that. Elisabeth refused to listen to her mother and each time she did the trick that she had done a moment before, she always made it out of the line of the garage door before it would touch with the stone of the garage floor.
She climbed onto her bike and then pushed the kick stand upward into its resting place. She pushed off the cement of the sidewalk and then began to bike down a long winding hill towards the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota. She twisted her gear shift and set it into a hard gear for going down hill. She never did anything that was easy or very simple. She always like doing things that hard way, which was why she had become one of five champion bikers at her high school. The other four were her friends.
There was Randy Anderson, a tough teen-ager in his own way. He had the indomitable spirit of a fighter, but the courage of a leaf. He was the groups spirit to do anything that they could to win and win fairly. Then there was Jessie Williams, a good looking young girl of fifteen. She was the bravery in the group. Whenever things looked grim, they could always count on her to help them get through whatever they had to in order to win fairly. Then came Jacky Donners. She was the strength behind the group. Whenever any of them were being picked on by the tougher senoirs at their school, all Jacky had to do was step between the two and stare the bully right in the eyes for a brief moment. That would usually end things right then and there, but if that didn't work and the punk attacked, he or she would find themselves in the hospitle for the next few days. Then there was Scot Conner. He was a good looking boy for his age of fifteen. He was the one with the wisdom that went far beyond his mortal age. With his wisdom, the five friends quickly learned how to avoid fights and other troubles before they started. Though Scot was usually ice cold towards them all, he was a true and loyal friend to them all. Elisabeth was the sences in the group. She had learned how to sence danger even before the person that she faced, thought of it. She had stopped many fights between many of her other friends before things even got into a confrontation.
Elisabeth quickly began to pick up speed. Her speedometer was at the maximum spped that it could go at. She turned a corner on a red light at an intersection and was nearly hit by an oncoming car. The driver honked feriously as she brought her bike upright and sped off. Elisabeth looked over her shoulder and shouted to the driver while he was still in hearing range: "YA SUNDAY DRIVER!" A smile of glee and pleasure spread across her face as she sped away from the car and the road that she was on. Within a few moments, she was standing before a red brick house with a green shingled roof and wooden shutters covering the windows. This was the home of Randy Anderson, one of her friends. She looked over to the driveway and saw that both cars were still sitting there. Randys' parents were both still home. Elisabeth parked her bike in the driveway and then walked up the stone path way that led to the wooden door of the home. It was a crisp autum day and the leaves on the maple trees in the frontyard were starting to change to bright reds, oranges, and yellows. Elisabeth walked up the stone walkway and then stood in front of the door. She balled her right hand into a fist and then knocked a few times on the door. In a moment, Randy was standing outside with her, wearing his biking helmet and ready to go. Elisabeth could barely see the kids' light brown hair under the helmet for how big it was. They walked back down to the driveway and then Randy opened the back door of his fathers' station wagon and pulled out his new red ten speed bike. He pushed the door shut and then locked it again. After placing the key into his shorts pocket, he climbed onto his bike and then the two of them rode off down the street.
"So, how are you doing this morning, Beth?" Randy asked his friend. The name Beth was a nick name that he had given to her when the two of them had gone to seventh grade together. Elisabeth hated that name, but she would respond to it only because she and Randy were really close friends and that name stood for their special bond between each other.
"I'm fine. How about you and your parents? Are you still fighting with your father?" Elisabeth asked Randy. Randy turned to her and his light brown eyes shone with a slight pain. Elisabeth saw it in a moment and knew that she should have kept her mouth shut. Randy had gotten into a lot of fights with his father. Mostly they were about his grades and how he was doing in school and Randy felt that his father had no right to be so darn upset about an "F" or a "D". He didn't like fighting with his father, but he felt that sometimes that was the only way he could ever get through to him, by yelling at him and him yelling back. His mother would always come between them and, somehow, she was always able to get them to stop fighting with one another for at least a day....but now she was losing her touch so to say. The fights would get a bit out of hand and words would be used that would horrify his father and mother both. The two of them turned up a dead-end street and then biked to the top of the hill. There they stopped biking and then climbed off their bikes. They stood in front of an orange colored house with black shutters and a cement walkway leading to the front door. Randy walked up to the door and rang the door bell once. In a moment their third friend, Jessie Williams, was standing before them with her biking helmet in her left hand and she was ready to go with them. It took only a moment for them to get her twelve speed bike out of the garage and for her to close the door. She had blond hair and deep sea green eyes that could perice anything with one look.
"Howdy guys." Jessie said to her friends.
"Yo." Randy said. His light brown eyes shined bright in the bright light of the sun. Jessie smiled.
"Hi, Jessie. Ready to tackle Reapers' Trail?" Elisabeth asked her friend. Jessie nodded. She climbed onto her bike and then the three of them rode off down the hill of the dead-end street and then they bike for about a half hour before they turned up another street and then went half way up it. They stopped in front of a house that was painted purple and had dark blue shutters upon the sides of the windows. There was a small yellow mail box upon a black pole near the front door. Jessie was about to climb off her bike and go knock upon the front door, when it opened and a tall young girl stepped outside into the cool autum air. She had bright blue eyes, brownish-blond hair, and a deep taned skin. The girl walked down the front walkway and nodded to her friends.
"Howdy, guys! Reapers' Trail here we come!" The girl said.
"Hi, Jacky." Elisabeth said.
"Yo." Randy said.
"How's it going?" Jessie asked Jacky.
"Fine. Ready to go?" Jacky said. The other three nodded. Jacky walked back to her house and then went out into the backyard. In a moment Jacky was with her friends, biking down the street on her purple twelve speed bike. She changed the gears to the hardest one that they could be put onto and then fell back behind Randy. Jessie led the way and she was joined on her right by Elisabeth. Behind her Randy and Jacky biked side by side. Within a few moments time, the small group stood before another house that was painted yellow and had an enormous pine tree in the frontyard. Outside waiting for them was their friend Scot Conner. He was about six feet tall and had blond hair that shined brightly in early morning sun. His bright green eyes shown with pleasure. He was already wearing his biking helmet and was standing by his black ten speed bike. He climbed on the moment he saw Jessie and started bike towards them. The others kept going and knew that he'd catch up to them. Within moments, he do so and then they all started to bike at their fastest speed that they could go. After another two hours of bikeing, the group turned up an empty road and then biked until they had reached a dirt trail. They biked on for what seemed to be years, but was only a few short seconds. Scot braked sharply and turned his bike so that the back tire skidded along the width of the of the path. A small cloud of dust rose as he did this and then he came to a complete stop. He took off his helmet and then wait while the others stopped a foot away from him. He turned his head, bright green eyes shinning with the anticipation of finally being able to tackle this deadly trail of nature.
"There!" He said with a cold voice and pointed down the hill that they had all biked up. "Reapers' Trail." He said with an even more cold voice. The others looked and saw the trail that they had tried for many years to conquer, but each time they did so, there was always a surprise waiting for them that none of them, not even Elisabeth, could see or sence. The last time it had been an open pit dug into the trail and then covered with some branches that broke when Scot rode his bike over them. The pit had been about twleve feet deep and he had nearly been killed when he went down. He was lucky that he hadn't broken his legs, for his bike had fallen on top of him. The deadly trap had been the work of their arch ememies, the Blood Punkers. They were a group of a five teen-agers from a neighboring school who couldn't take losing at all and so had followed them all to this trail and every day that the kids went on it after that, there would always be some sort of deadly trap waiting for them. What would it be this time? They had no answer to that question unless they were to go onto the trail and find out.
Reapers' Trail was the most difficult trail that any one in the group knew about. It was full of twigs that could pop their tires flat, rocks that could kill them if they fell onto them and off to the left side was a drop of about two hundred feet straight down. There were also more than enough twists and turns in the trail and one wrong move would send the biker to his or her death. Already six people had been found dead on the left side of the trail. Their tires poped and the bike smashed from the fall. To the right was a large hill that was nothing but loose rock and soil. If anything sent that hill off, there would be a huge avalance that would bury the kids alive. Scot turned his bike around and pushed it to the top of the hill. The others did the same. Then they all lined up in a line that spanned the width of the trail that they were on and climbed back onto their bikes. They were ready to take on Reapers' Trail once more.
Chapter 2
"You guys ready for this? I mean we could turn around and then just say that we all defeated this thing." Randy said to his friends. His light brown eyes sparkled for a moment with fear. He didn't want to run the risk of getting caught into another trap like he done before. The last trap that he had sprung while biking on the trail with his friends, nearly cost him his life. There was a concealed spring board half covered by dirt from the dusty trail that he had gone over and then it had pitched him over the left side of the trail. He had managed to catch onto an outjetting rock and had saved himself, but he had been very shaken since that day. Scot looked over to Randy with cold curel eyes of anger with his friend.
"You've got the guts of a mouse, Randy! You were the one who also wanted to tackle this trail once more. If you didn't really want to do so, then why in all of hell are you here with us?" Scot said to him with a deadly cold voice. His voice bit through the air like an arrow being shot at Randys' heart.
"Scot, leave him alone!" Jacy said. "It's true that Randy doesn't have the courage that the four of us have, but you need not pester him about it." Scot tightened his jaw and then kicked off the ground with his right foot. He was starting down the steep hill that would take them to Reapers' Trail. Within a few seconds, Scot was traveling at almost fifty miles an hour! The others quickly pushed off and were heading down the steep hill, while Scot was preparing to turn on the ninety degree path that would make the begining of Reapers' Trail.
"Uh, guys, don't you think that Scot's going a bit fast down there?" Elisabeth asked her friends. Randy looked ahead into that small cloud of dust that Scots' bike was leaving behind. Sure enough, the kid was way too fast to make the turn in time!
"Hey, Scot! Slow down! You're not going to make the turn!" Jacky shouted to her friend. She knew that he didn't even hear her. The four friends watched as Scot neared the end of the trail and the begining of Reapers' Trail. Then, to their surprise, he skidded to the left and was standing on the start of the trail! He was alive and well, only his clothes looked like they had taken a mud bath! They were covered in dust! The rest of the group caught up to Scot and then they all looked him up and down as one.
"Did I forget to say that I'm somewhat of a dare devil?" Scot asked his friends. The others all let their mouths drop open. Scot had gotten the effect that he had wanted from them. He got back onto his dust-covered bike and then looked over at his friends. "Well, are we just going to sit here or what? There's a trail to be conquered! Come on and follow me!" He said to them and took the lead. He pushed off with his right foot and then the others followed him. The begining of the trail was very easy. All the group had to do was go up and down several hills in the trail and make sure that they didn't weave to the right or left too much. The next part was the part that gave the trail its name: The small group neared the drop side of the trail and then they had to bike in singnal file for if they didn't do so, they'd fall to their deaths. The trail thin enough only to let one six inch tire pass at a time. To their right were thousands and thousands of cement pieces of rock. To their left was a two hundred foot drop straight down to jagged boulders. The cement rocks were the remains of several buildings from twenty years ago when a tornado had ripped through the down-town part of Saint Paul, Minnesota......
Jessie sat all the way on the end of her seat and then gave her bike a sharp pull upward. The front tire came off the trail and she turned the bike over to the rocky part of the trail. Then she slamed the bike back down onto a flat rock and started to by on top of the rocks. Scot spotted what she had done out of the corner of his right eye. He turned his head to take a quick look at the rocks to see if Jessie were in any danger. She wasn't for the time being and Scot felt that he didn't have to ask her to get off the rocks until the danger came within a few yards of her bike. They all cleared the thin part of the trail and then came another section of it. The section where traps were usually placed to try to injure at least one of the five people on the trail. Scot stopped his bike and Elisabeth stopped right behind him. Randy followed and behind him was Jacky. Then Jessie got the clue and braked her bike on the rock that she was on. They all looked at the ground and then their eyes floated up to the horizen where the great pine trees of the woods met the trail. Once they had reach that forest of pine, it would be like biking in the dark. They wouldn't be able to see the trail, but they didn't really know if they could see in that thick forest because they had never gotten past this part of the trail before. The traps in the past had always sent them fleeing for their lives.
"Well, here we go again guys! It was nice knowing you all!" Jacky said to her friends. She pushed her bike up near Scot and then they looked over to each other. Scot nodded to her and then Jacky started down the trail. She stopped mid way and turned to wait for her friend to catch up. The rest of them quickly followed her. In this part of the trail, there were several dips in the dirt path that would criple the front tire of the bike that went into one. The five had learned of them the hard way. They had all plunged into a large one that was near the place where Jacky waited for them and the forks to their bikes had all been bent beyond repair. Within a few seconds, the other four people was standing near Jacky. So far there hadn't been a singnal trap for them to look out for. Scot was a bit nervous about this. Usually they never even made it up to where Jacky and the rest of them were standing right now. In fact, they barely made it past the first quarter of this trail! Scot and Randy stood side by side on the trail and looked down the rest of it to where it went into the forest of pine trees. There was no sign of danger, but looks could mean other things. Slowly they all began to push their bikes forward.
Suddenly the ground opened up under Randys' bike! He felt the change in ground instantly and he quickly jumped off his bike. He landed a few feet away from the concealed pit and then walked back over to it. It was only about two or three feet deep. He looked at the walls of the hole. They were straight and cut crudely into the ground. There was a white sheet of paper that had writing upon it. The words read: Blood Punkers. Randys' face turned to one of hate and anger. He wanted to get those kids back for what they were doing to them, but he had been trained by his mother and father in the ways of the martail arts. He could attack them until they had physically attacked him first. He could go after them with the thought of revenge upon his lips at all for what just happened. Elisabeth senced the anger in her friend and then placed her right hand upon his shoulder. He looked over to her and she smiled at him. They all pitched in to get the bike out of the hole and then fill it in with as many flat rocks as they could find in the mountain of rocks that they had just past a moment before. After the job was done, the small group climbed onto thier bikes and then began to head for the forest area of the trail. They soon reached it and then they stopped to rest for a moment. They had gotten past the most difficult part of the trail so far and they were all ready to take on whatever lay beyond the cover of the trees. The turned to face the dark pine trees and then they all started to bike towards them. Within moments, they had gone by them and were in the dark forests of Minnesota. The groups' unanswered question was answered. The branches of the trees were so closely locked together that they couldn't see too well in the dim half-light of the sun. Still streams of light did break through in some places and it was enough light to see the trail that they were on, barely. They biked onward and then they came to a fork in the path. The left side of the fork went deeper into the woods and the right seemed to be heading back towards the city. They all turned to Scot to see where they should go.
"Right." He said.
"Why?" Jessie asked.
"To refraim from getting lost in this dense forest of pine trees, you go to the right which is heading back to the city and civilization. If you guys really want to get lost, then you should take the left road, which will take you deeper into the woods and away from the city." Scot said. The others agreed to this and they took the path leading right. After half an hour of biking, they came to a small clearing. In the center of the clearing was a run down brick building. The buildings' roof was somewaht caved in and it was also rusted and in need of some major repair. The front door to it was made of wood and had many holes into through which someone on the outside or inside could look through and see who or what was inside of the building. Jessie was about to bring her bike out into the open veiw of the clearing when she was stopped by Elisabeth.
"What is it?" She asked her friend. Elisabeth pointed to the building in the clearing.
"I can feel someone inside. There would be danger should any of us go out into that clearing. We should turned around and go back home. I don't like the looks of that place at all." Elisabeth answered timidly. They all knew that when she spoke with a slightly timidness in her voice, that she had senced true danger and that they should do as she had said. They should turn around and go back home, but Jessies' excitement got the better of her and she turned back around and prepared to launch herself into the clearing and whatever awaited them there. This was the first time that any of them had gotten past the most dangerious part of Reapers' Trail so far and she wanted to make the most of it. Randy grabbed her arm as she eased her bike in front of him.
"Beth is right. Don't be so foolish to think that just because she can sence that there is danger out there that it is not there, Jessie. You could get yourself or one of us killed by going out there. Turn around and we'll come back tomorrow afternoon." Randy said.
"I would rather like to see what's out there right now than have to wait until tomorrow afternoon!" Jessie said. She freed her arm from Randys' hand and then started to push her bike out into the clearing.
"Jessie, why are you so darn impatient?" Jacky asked her. Jessie didn't seem to hear what Jacky had asked her. She was too busy biking out into the clearing. The moment that she was about five yards into the clearing, something moved behind the wooden door of the building. Scot saw the movement and he was instantly heading towards his friend to protect her if she needed help. The wooden door opened and out of it came Jackys' fear of the danger. It was the Blood Punkers.