Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #20 November 2015 | Page 87

“Hold on.” She looked for the grey lines
around the octagon, and followed them with her gaze
under the bar and through the door. “You guys get in
the van, I need to check something.” Mike shook his
head and left. The guys knew better than to argue with
her.

tears running down his face. He couldn’t save her. All
that he knew – and he was useless. Patrick dropped
the chalk he was writing with, and wrapped his hands
around Jake to stop him from doing something rash.
He knew they tried everything they could, but his
heart still jumped to his throat when Zetal plunged one
of his sais into Margo’s torso.

She walked out the back door and circled
around to the side, sticking to the trees. No one would
figure this out if they didn’t know what to look for.
She noticed Ted standing next to the delivery door
about five minutes after he noticed her. He nodded in
greeting. She nodded back and left.

The runes on Zetal’s body began to glow,
covering his skin in a pleasant tingle. He got up,
shaking his blood-soaked hands like someone who had
spent five hours washing dishes at a dingy bar. He was
not like his cousin – he didn’t worship blood and gore.
He enjoyed winning, the blood and gore was just a
bonus. He ignored the incessant banging coming from
Lucas repeatedly hitting the force field with fireballs
and dropped a small plaque in front of his own feet.
A large circular doorway swirled into existence, and
Zetal stepped back to let it suck Margo’s body inside.
The doorway closed, and the octagon started to vanish.
Zetal prepared, releasing a large telekinetic wave that
knocked Lucas directly into Jake and Patrick.

When she got back she found her bandmates
huddled in the back of the van.
“Shit Lindsey, you got us worried.” The
guitarist closest to the door, a tall skinny guy with
brown shaggy long hair, pulled her into the van by the
hand. He was visibly shaking, and annoyed at himself
for that.
“Relax Lenny. I know what’s going on.”
Lindsey waved him off.

Zetal telekinetically smashed the plaque into
dust, and then brought his sais to him. Why stop now,
when he had them right where he wanted them? He
could dispatch all of her friends in just a few minutes.
Three less problems for the clan.

“Okay. Now what?” Mike asked, his fangs
appearing out of nervousness. He was used to letting
her take the lead. It always turned out to be the best
idea, since the last time he was in charge they almost
caught fire.

“Crap!” Patrick managed to push Lucas off
him. “Jake, I think this is an emergency!”

“Now we sit here until they clear out. And then
you go home.” Lindsey looked out of the window and
turned off the small light.
“And you?” Liam, a kind-looking man with
short blond hair, piped up. He was the only one that
looked remotely calm.
“I go visit someone.”
***
“Margo!” Lucas yelled, as Zetal grabbed her
telekinetically and slammed her to the floor. Margo
felt the bones in her arm give way and split in half.
Jake’s body felt too heavy, and he fell to the floor,

Jake reached into his pocket and pulled out a
small blood-red crystal. “Hold on to your breeches!”
He grabbed Patrick’s hand, while Patrick grabbed
Lucas’s foot. Jake cradled the crystal in his palm.
“Ianua m aperi!” A blood-red portal opened under
them, and they fell in a heap on the floor in their
living room. Zetal ran towards the portal, but it closed
immediately.
After they finally managed to get up, the full
weight of what happened came crashing onto them.
Lucas dropped onto a chair like a heavy bag, tears
streaming down his face. He had jumped over a lot
of hoops in his life, but the loss of a family member
was not one of them. His entire body was shaking as

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