Chapter
7
Howie’s point of view
Brian took a while to recover from malnutrition, but finally he
began to eat more and more until he was back to his old eating habits. Kevin’s
death hit him harder than I could have imagined. But at least he’d finally
managed to move on. I felt relieved that he’d gotten over this eventually. Yet,
the truth was that none of us could get over this completely.
AJ and me had patched things up since then. We had some petty
squabbles and arguments, but it was mainly Brian that sorted us out. It seemed
quite strange to me really, when Leighanne told me about what had happened to
Brian. After he had been released from the hospital, he spent a lot of time
quiet and not really doing much at all, as if suffering from severe depression.
Then one morning, he just snapped out of it. Leighanne said he got up and went
to Nick’s place in case Nick was still upset, but he actually spoke to her to
tell her, but in a normal tone, not a depressed one! It surprised her as much
as it surprised me.
I think that maybe Brian desperately needed something to do. And
maybe Nick’s misery of AJ and me fighting gave him a sharpened purpose to sort
everything out between us. He didn’t want to see any of us in a worse state
than he was. He managed to sit us all around a table and we talked it all out.
We also had agreed that the band was over. We couldn’t keep going
without Kev. I guess we were just one Backstreet Boy short of being the
Backstreet Boys. Besides, we needed to all be there for Kristin, and each
other, so we couldn’t just go off touring. We all would keep in contact, as we
were like brothers so couldn’t just lose each other. And we could still do
solo-projects without worrying about neglecting the band now; AJ had Johnny
No-Name; I could release some things with Pollyanna and maybe go touring for
the Lupus foundation again; Nick had his siblings to help out with their own
music ambitions and he’d released some stuff with Aaron before; and Brian had
his heart foundation. And we could also release solo albums on our own too.
There was a lot we could do. But would it all be the same without Kev there
too…………?
Kevin’s point of view
The air was hot and stuffy. I could hardly move, let alone open my
eyes. All around me I could hear rattling noises, tools hitting rock, chains
dragging along the ground. Where was I?
I used up what little strength I had to open my eyes.
There, sitting on my chest, was one of those creatures. One of the
aliens that had attacked me! If I had the strength I would have looked
surprised.
It looked down on me with curious concern.
“Try not to speak, creature.” It told me as it noticed the great
amount of effort I was using. “Do not fear me.”
It was instinctive to fear this thing, whatever it was. Yet, this
one was different. It looked less sinister, and was covered in grit and soot.
Was this a slave too? Were we now the same?
“You wear an Armband. Others wear these too.” It claimed.
So, I wasn’t the only Soul Creature after all. Whatever this
armband was, it forced me into a physical form. Maybe the others had befallen
this fate too then.
The alien looked at something walking past us and shrunk away
fearfully. Guards, other prisoners…. I couldn’t tell.
It then leaned closer to my ear.
“Don’t tell them who or what you are, Soul Creature!” it whispered
urgently. “You are one of the spirit brethren, and for that, you are the
scourge of many!”
It drew back and spoke more clearly, “Rest, and regain your
strength, for the guards here are not easy on newcomers. They expect you to dig
hard and fast when you’re on your feet again!”
“Dig…..?!” was my only, confused response before I slipped into a
world of darkness again.
Anubis’ point of view
“That FOOL!” I shouted in frustration.
I turned back to the council members who stood in a semi-circle
nearby.
“What fool, Anubis? What do you speak of now?” Horus, the
falcon-headed Ancient, sighed.
“Kevin! He left the Hall, after I forbade him to! He was my
student, and should have obeyed me!” I claimed, my voice rising in anger.
“Just like all the others then?” Sehkmet, the lioness, questioned
to mock my failure.
“Yet he did not change like the others!” I retorted. This was one
of those rare times when an Ancient lost their temper. When in the company of
mortals and young Soul Creatures, we stayed very self-contained.
Horus spoke up again. “What if he did? Haven’t
all of these twisted Soul creatures caused enough damage to the mortal
universe? We may be powerful but we are not Gods. We have no place to interfere
like this! Is that not true, Amon-Ra?”
Amon-Ra was the head of the council, and our leader. He nodded. “That
is true, Horus. And Anubis, I am not saying this human…… Kevin….. would have
become like the other Soul Creatures, but this is clearly not working. None of
these souls have become great warriors, but criminals and lone hunters.”
“But what if the Soul Warrior never rises because we stop
seeking?” Sobek, the crocodile, asked.
I grinned. “Thank you, Sobek. At least someone here has sense!”
Thoth, the wise ibis, jumped in. “Why do we assume that we are
responsible for his rising?”
The others looked at each other, unable to find an answer.
“We may not even need to look. Perhaps he will come to us?” Thoth
finished.
Sehkmet growled and snorted, “The Soul Warrior is just a myth!”
“Perhaps it is just that, Ancients – a myth. Yet, myth or no myth,
I think your little experiments have gone on long enough, Anubis!”
I glared around, angry but defeated, as the rest of the council
voted against my continued experimenting with Soul Creatures.
***
