Element
Of Dark
Chapter Eleven
"Frick! I’m open!" Nick waved his arms frantically. I nodded
and passed him the basketball. He caught it, pivoted and shot the ball towards
the net.
"Basket," I yelled wildly as I danced about. He ran over to me,
his blond hair bouncing in the wind.
"High five partner!" We raised our hands and smacked them
together. Pain shot through my body and I stumbled backwards. Nick reached out
and grabbed me by the shirt. "Yo, what sa’ matter Rok?"
"M..my hand." I rubbed my left hand fervently.
"C’mon. I couldn’t have hit it that hard. Now stop being a wuss
and let’s finish beating Kev and AJ’s asses!"
"Yeah. You’re right." Nick handed me the ball.
"Here, you start."
"Okay." I took the ball from him and began dribbling but my I
couldn’t concentrate on the game. My hand throbbed with an unnatural beat. I
passed the ball to Nicky and took a quick look at it. My heart stopped in my
chest as the image of a faint blue mark etched in the center of the palm filled
my eyes. It had been a month since I had last seen that mark. So much had
happened since then I had almost forgotten about it but there it stood, unable
to miss. What was it Dream had said? I racked my brain for the answer. Something
about a feast. Hold on, I remember...a heavy force knocked into my stomach,
causing my thoughts to be interrupted and I felt my breath escape my lungs. As I
hit the ground I saw the bright orange basketball lying to my right.
"Rok! What the hell ya’ think you’re doing?" Nick stood
above me disapproving. "If you’re gonna intercept a pass make sure you
use you’re hands." He shook his head. "As much as I appreciate the
effort, it’s not worth it killing yourself. We’re creaming these guys. A
point or two isn’t going to make a difference."
"That’s what you think pal," Kevin bantered.
"Oh, is that a challenge?" Nick raised his eyebrow in mock
comedy.
"Nick..." I started but he ignored me, too into his duel with
Kev.
"You bet your ass it is."
"Nick..."
"Bring it on old man," Nick taunted, a devilish grin spread
across his face. "But you’ll have to leave your walker behind. Court
policy."
"Nick! Listen," I screamed.
"Huh?" He turned to me as though I had just appeared.
"Look!" I thrust my aching palm in front of him. The color
drained from his face and his eyes widened.
"Oh...Oh my God." He took a step backward almost tripping over
himself. "N...no."
"What is it?" Kevin was interested.I could hear the clicking of
the nearby paparrazzi's cameras going off the scale.
"Frack," I called Nick over. Panting hard he advanced. When he
was close enough I leaned over towards his face. Pushing back his bangs I saw a
grayish mark hanging just above his left eye. A grayish pale that would
eventually turn black. My hands trembled as I removed them from his face.
"What's going on? C'mon guys. Tell me." Kevin took a sip from
his water bottle, wiped his mouth and walked closer to us. Nick couldn't speak.
His voice was stolen by the fear in his heart. Instead he pushed up his bangs to
reveal what lay beneath. The water bottle slipped from Kevin's hand and
shattered on the hard ground of the basketball court. He turned to me in shock.
I raised my palm slightly and he looked around wildly. "AJ," he
screamed loudly. "AJ!" AJ jogged over to us unaware of the situation.
"Yeah?"
"Gimme your phone," Kevin said without removing his eyes from
us. I was sure the press was eating this up. What a story this would bring. I
could already see the headlines. Black and Blue: Support for The New Album
or Something More? Backstreet World Falls Apart On The Basketball Court. I
looked at Nick, who was shaking violently. We couldn't give up. Not now. Not
ever. We had to stay strong. Frick and Frack…..always.