Chapter 13: Childhoods End

Sean and Megan stopped at Mr. Rosella's classroom on their way to lunch on Monday, March 8, 1993. Megan needed to return a book she had borrowed, and she had a question. Megan hoped the answer would resolve an issue their study group had been wrestling with for the last week. She wanted to report the answer during lunch. They filed into the classroom, followed by Lilly, and Scott. Bell and AJ were getting some fruit they would share during lunch. They figured it would save time.

Mr. Rosella was sitting at his desk, looking at a piece of paper when they walked into the classroom.

"Happy Monday, Mr. Rosella," Megan said brightly as she entered the room.

Mr. Rosella slowly looked up at the teens, his eyes sunken and hollow looking. He looked like he had aged years since they saw him that morning when he had bus duty.

"Who are you?" Mr. Rosella asked, his voice husky and strained.

"You know who we are," Megan said hesitantly. "Megan and Sean and Lilly and Scott."

"No, not your names," Mr. Rosella said, his voice rising slightly. "Who are you? Why would I receive a message like this about you?" he asked, raising the paper and shaking it at them angrily.

"What do you mean, sir?" Sean asked as he stepped forward.

"My family has been taken," the old teacher said in a hollow, strangled whisper, as he shook the paper again. "All I have to do to get them back is to kill you. Who are you?"

"Scott," Sean snapped, pointing at the paper. "Can you smell anything?"

Scott strode forward to stand beside the teacher and bent down to sniff the paper. He gagged at the smell and quickly backed away.

"Brujo," he said, furiously rubbing his nose. He pulled out a handkerchief and blew his nose in an effort to get rid of the smell.

"When did you get that letter, Mr. Rosella?" Sean asked briskly.

"Just a few minutes ago," the old teacher said, looking at Scott in confusion. "It came special delivery and I signed for it just before you came in. What is he talking about?"

Sean shook his head and started thinking furiously. How was he supposed to react to this. How could the Brujos think they could be successful by telegraphing their actions like this.

Absently, as he tried to figure out what they were trying to do, he said, "It doesn't matter. What does matter is that your family is in a lot of danger. They may already be dead or worse than dead. The people that sent that letter don't release anyone once they gain power over them."

Mr. Rosella slammed his hands on the desk and stood. "Doesn't matter? May already be dead? Worse than dead?" he shouted his questions. "What is this about? Who are they and who are you? Why do they want you dead."

"Sir, you really don't want to get more involved with this," Sean said, as he sent calm emotions to the teacher. It didn't have the effect that Sean expected.

"I don't want to get involved?" Mr. Rosella asked in a harsh whisper of disbelief. He held up the paper, now wadded in his fist, and said, "Mr. Flynn, I ... am ... involved. According to this, I have to kill you and your girlfriend to free my family. According to you, they're probably already dead, or worse than dead, whatever the hell that means. I am very involved, young man, and I want some answers, NOW!" The last word cracked through the room, demanding answers.

"Tell him," Megan said. "He deserves to know."

Sean nodded, and tiredly sat in one of the student seats in front of the teacher's desk.

"A Brujo, or Brujos have taken your family, sir," Sean said.

"What the hell's a Brujo?" Mr. Rosella asked.

Sean took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. He looked at Megan again and she nodded in encouragement.

"A Brujo is an evil person that can practice magic," Sean began. "Wizards are the flip side of that coin, and can also practice magic. Wizards and Brujos derive their power from talents. A person that is talented in something, like music or math, simply have very efficient areas in the brain that enables that talent. Wizards and Brujos have many talents, and the combination of efficient areas in the brain creates something more than the sum of the parts."

Sean proceeded to give the teacher the short version of what Brujos and Wizards were. He explained how they were possible, and what the teacher had become embroiled in.

"That's impossible," Mr. Rosella said angrily, after Sean had completed his explanation.

Sean sighed and looked around. An eraser suddenly flew to his hand from the chalk board.

"Megan," Sean said as he pointed to a rock on a shelf that the teacher used as a mineral example.

Mr. Rosella looked at the large, jagged rock and it suddenly flowed, and formed a square block with smooth sides.

"It isn't impossible, Mr. Rosella," Sean said. "Not only is it possible, it is very real. What is worse is, you have been pulled into a war that has raged since man first walked out of their caves. My parents were killed on the day I was born by a Brujo, in an attempt to kill me. They thought they had killed me. They tried to kill Megan on the day she was born too, but we stopped them. We've fought them several times since she was born, but thought, well, we hoped they would leave us alone after their last failure."

"When was that? What happened? Why would you think they would leave you alone?" Mr. Rosella asked, not believing that he was giving this story credence, despite what he had seen.

"I was captured," Sean explained quietly. "I was helpless. They had me blocked from using magic, somehow. Maybe I was just drugged and couldn't focus enough to use magic. I'm not sure which it was. They were trying to take over my mind and body. Megan rescued me."

"When was that?" Mr. Rosella asked again.

Sean sighed and said, "I was five years old then. Megan was four. We, um, become aware younger and assimilated information earlier and quicker. We were in Washington State in May of 1980 and that's when they captured me. Megan kind of went overboard when she rescued me and kind of set off a volcano."

"That wasn't going overboard!," Megan objected angrily. "It was necessary to cover our escape and to get rid of all the extra energy I had pulled in. It was, um, it was doing something to me."

"Kind of set off a volcano," the teacher repeated softly, as if to himself. "Mount St. Helens," he said, just as softly, shaking his head. He held up the paper, still gripped in his fist and asked, "What is this about and why don't they just try to kill you? Why don't they just go after you directly?"

"They've tried that a bunch of times," Sean explained drily. "They weren't very successful. Actually, they could have taken over your mind and made you try to kill us, except, that wouldn't work either. Scott and Lilly can smell if a Brujo, or someone controlled by them comes near us. Trying to coerce you by taking your family is new though. We wouldn't smell the Brujo on you, so we wouldn't be forewarned."

Mr. Rosella sat down heavily and slumped back in his chair before quietly saying, "Since I've given up the element of surprise, I don't have a chance of killing you now, either."

"Would you really try to kill us?" Megan asked just as quietly.

"I wouldn't want to, Megan," her favorite teacher answered, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. "But, I was in the army during World War Two. I learned that sometimes it is necessary to do things that you don't want to do." He groaned, almost inaudibly as he looked at the page again. He couldn't hold his tears back and they streamed down his face when he continued, "My family is precious to me. My parents died almost twenty years ago. My youngest brother died in Korea. All that is left of my family is my daughter and her family."

"Mr. Rosella," Sean said sharply to get his attention. "Where was your family located? When did you talk to them last? Give us all the information that you can and we'll try to get them back for you."

Mr. Rosella looked up from the paper and the pain in his eyes made Sean want to cry too. Megan did start quietly crying, in the seat next to Sean. Mr. Rosella really was her favorite teacher. He was the epitome of what a teacher should be, in her opinion.

"I talked to my sister yesterday morning," Mr. Rosella said through his tears. "We made arrangements for all of them to visit over the summer. And then, today, I got this."

"You haven't had time to call them," Sean pointed out. "Maybe the letter they sent you was a fake," he said hopefully.

Mr. Rosella shook his head, and picked up a Polaroid picture sitting on his desk.

"This was in the envelope," he said heavily, handing the picture to Sean.

The picture was of a middle aged black woman with two boys, both young teen or preteen, gathered in her arms. A middle aged man stood beside the woman with one hand on the oldest boys shoulder. His other hand was holding up a newspaper, showing a headline that was similar to what Sean had seen on yesterday's newspaper at home. None of them were smiling for the camera. Tears glistened on the woman's face. The man's face was set in an angry scowl. The boys looked terrified.

Sean looked at the background of the picture. Trees with moss hanging from the limbs rose from the water behind them. Bright sunlight filtered through the canopy provided by the trees. It looked like water began a short distance behind the people in the picture. The water didn't look inviting. A green scum could be seen at the edges, and an alligator could be partially seen at the edge of the water. Sean couldn't help shivering when he saw two snakes coiled at the feet of boys.

Reptiles were the one category of creature that Sean couldn't sense. To Sean, snakes were a blank spot in creation. Both Lightning and Storm watched for snakes when they roamed in the mountain, and warned Sean if one was close.

"Do you recognize where this picture was taken, Mr. Rosella?" Sean asked.

"No," the old teacher said tiredly. "It could be anyplace in the swamp."

"Okay, but they were still in Fort Adams when you talked to them yesterday morning." Sean mused. "Do you have any maps of that area?"

"I have a road map of Mississippi in my briefcase," the teacher said.

"Would you show us where Fort Adams is?" Sean asked. "It might help."

Mr. Rosella looked at him a moment before wordlessly turning and picking up his briefcase from where he normally left it from beside his desk. After a short search of the pockets inside, he extracted a normal state highway map for Mississippi. He unfolded it and briefly searched.

"Here it is," he said, placing his finger on the map.

Sean walked around the desk to peer over one shoulder. Megan looked over his other shoulder. Megan placed her finger beside her teachers, and traced west to another town, Lettsworth, Louisiana.

"It's only a little over ten miles as the crow flies from where the thrall that killed David came from," Megan said.

"Which means that we're dealing with Eli," Sean said. His words and spoken mildly, but the tone of his voice would have matched any winter gale.

"Who is Eli," Mr. Rosella asked, suddenly eager to have a target for his anger.

"He killed a friend of ours," Megan said.

"And, he killed my parents. He killed AJ's grandfather and great grandfather, too. We should have gone after him years ago," Sean growled.

"We were too young," Megan said.

"Well, we're not to young now," Sean spat angrily. "We leave tonight. Scott, find AJ and Bell. Lilly, see if Udit and Lian have left, yet. They were rearranging the practice area for this afternoon's class. Mr. Rosella, I need you to tell us everything that you can about that area, on both sides of the river."

Scott and Lilly didn't ask any questions. Both hurried out the door, and Mr. Rosella watched them go.

"Are they, um, magic too?" he asked hesitantly.

"No," Megan said. "They help us. They have received some special training to help us with different things."

Mr. Rosella nodded and asked, "What do you want to know about the area?"

"Mostly, what is the land around there like?" Sean asked.

"Humph," the old teacher said, shaking his head. "There isn't much land around there. That's all Mississippi delta country. There's more land under water than above water. Everything above water usually has several creatures that you don't want to meet in residence. I'm talking about everything from gators to snakes to panthers. Almost all the snakes are poisonous but I hear a lot of pythons are loose in the swamps now and nothing is safe from them. People and territory competition have thinned the panther population some, but there are still some to watch for. There are even some wild hogs living in those swamps that are meaner than sin. Below water, you have more gators. Quicksand is common, and simple mud that's deeper than you are tall. It's easy to get lost too. Every storm changes the bayous. So, other than for main channels, maps are nearly useless. There are no land marks and every bayou looks the same. It isn't a country to go into without someone to show you where to go and how to get there. There are a thousand ways the swamp can kill you. Having an enemy in the swamp simply means that there are a thousand and one ways to die."

Sean nodded his head bleakly.

"You can't go someplace like that," Megan said urgently.

"Why can't he?" Mr. Rosella asked.

"He can't see reptiles," Megan explained.

"I can see them," Sean expanded on Megan's explanation when he saw Mr. Rosella's confused look. "I just can't sense them like I can other animals. Do you know anyone in Fort Adams that can help us find our way in the swamp?" Sean asked.

"Sort of. I know a guy that can guide you," the old teacher replied as he closed his brief case. "He grew up in the swamps."

"Who? Do you have his telephone number?" Sean asked.

"Me. I grew up in those swamps and I've hunted everything in them," the old man said grimly. "I'm going to hunt for my family, so I might as well let you tag along."

"Are you sure?" Megan asked. "You aren't as young as you were when you hunted in the swamps."

"Girl. I might be old, but I'm still tougher than most of the kids that I see," Mr. Rosella said grimly, but with a slight smile at her concern.

Sean narrowed his eyes in doubt as he looked at the old black man. On one hand, Mr. Rosella might be a good guide, if he was healthy enough for the trek. On the other hand, the note said killing Megan and Sean would get his family back. A good way to make that happen would be to take them into the swamp. Like he said, there were a thousand ways to die there. Sean shook his head, rejecting the suspicion. Doubt and suspicion were tools of the Dark Dream. The letter could simply be a way to draw him to the swamps, knowing the old man wouldn't try to kill the two Magi.

"What are you thinking?" Mr. Rosella asked.

"What do you think I'm thinking?" Sean countered.

"Well, if I were you, I would be wondering two things," Mr. Rosella answered. "First, I'd be wondering if this old man was physically up to the trip. Second, I'd be wondering if this old man was considering taking a chance on the word of whoever wrote that letter. Maybe I would save my family by simply killing a couple of kids. It wouldn't be that hard in the swamp."