Lucas Ryan Versus: The Hive Part 11

"Pick me up..." I barely whispered. My magical gauntlet-phone beeped with a new message. I squinted at the tiny digital writing that flashed upon the screen.

_____.

ONLY.

_____.

"Only what?" I asked it. Everyone watched me, suspiciously.

__________.

ONLY YOU.

__________.

I winced, "Oh." Only I could pick it up. As I looked around the room, I realized how insane I must sound; talking to my mystical gauntlet. Olivia slowly walked back over to me, stopping just before the sunken stone. She nodded to me to continue my conversation.

"What are you?" I asked, aloud. My voice was shaky and the room fell silent.

________.

BELIEVE.

________.

"Believe?" I was lost. What did that mean? I don't understand. What are you?

________________________.

BELIEVE BELIEVE BELIEVE.

BELIEVE BELIEVE BELIEVE.

BELIEVE BELIEVE BELIEVE.

________________________.

It spelled the same word repeatedly, until the entire screen was filled with it. The word burned into my retinas.

"Believe in what?" I asked again. The response I received was quite unexpected.

"I think I know what it is...or could be..." Roland spoke up. His voice was low, but full of seriousness. The screen suddenly blinked back to black, with all the words gone.

"What?" I asked.

"Your tablet...I need your computer tablet," Roland mumbled, reaching past me for my school bag. He quickly removed a slender touchscreen computer from it.

"Roland?" Morgan asked.

"Not now, sis. I need to access my files," he said. He pulled a small, black and white USB stick from his pocket and jammed it into an open slot at the bottom of the computer tablet.

"Your files..." I smiled. Roland was a bonafide conspiracy theorist. Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, Roswell, you name it...he had a file for it.

Felicity pushed herself from the back wall and into the conversation, "Well, what is it, Roland?" Roland ignored her as if she were a pesky fly, buzzing around his head. She crossed her arms, angrily. His fingers slid along the smooth gla.s.s of his tablet, tapping away on the electronic keyboard.

"Here it is," Roland said, to himself. Everyone moved in closer, surrounding him in a circle. Everyone except Dax, he started snoring from the floor, instead.

"Talk to me, Ro. What do you think you know?" I asked.

"It's not from this Earth," he started.

"Alien?" Morgan asked, worried. She placed a finger in her mouth and began chewing the nail.

"Not exactly...another dimension, maybe," Roland said, flipping through different folders and pictures. Pages of reports he had painstakingly listed in alphabetical order, whipped by at a frantic rate. Thank goodness Roland was a speed reader too, because I couldn't keep up with his pace. Roland Saint, my own personal X-file.

"What dimension?" I asked, excited.

"Here!" Roland double-tapped the computer screen and it zoomed in on a particular file. He leaned the screen forward, just enough for all of us to get a good look.

"Lake t.i.ticaca, Peru. There's a ma.s.sive rock wall with a large square cut into it. Inside that square is another carving, like a small door. Within that door is an even smaller hole, smooth and perfectly round. It's been there for years...like hundreds, maybe even thousands of years," Roland paused, just long enough to be interrupted by Felicity.

"So what."

Roland continued. "The ancient Inca civilizations believed this door was made by something, or someone, not of this world. They called it Puerta de Hayu Marka..." he drew in a deep breath.

"What does that mean, Ro?" I asked.

"Gate of the G.o.ds."

We all looked at one another, trying to understand.

"What does a door in the side of a mountain of dirt have to do with that thing?" Taylor asked, pointing at the stone.

"It's not a door, Tay. It's a Stargate," Roland corrected. Taylor rolled his eyes, annoyed.

I leaned in closer. "I'm not following you, Ro. What are you hinting at?"

"The ancient Incas wrote of a golden sun disc that fell from the skies one day. It was rumored to have unique abilities. It's written that their priests were able to open this Stargate with the sun disc." Roland's face drained of all its blood as he looked down at the stone. It was now pulsating in a golden yellow hue, as vibrant as our sun.

"A key to another dimension? That's impossible," Taylor shook his head. Everyone took a small step away from the glowing rock. I bent down and scooped it up, once more. It was light as air, again. My hands buzzed with a slight vibration as it changed color again, from yellow to black.

"T, nothing about this situation is possible," I smiled, trying to calm everyone.

Olivia placed her hands onto the stone again. Its glossy skin rippled over in a deep red hue, just like before.

* Do you really think this stone is some kind of key, Lucas? A Stargate? *

I don't know. My answer only made her more nervous.

"So, if that thing is a key...where's the lock?" Morgan chimed in. "Where's the door?"

"Don't you mean...Stargate?" Felicity added, snotty.

Roland nodded her way, "Thank you."

Olivia and I exchanged a quick glance, still holding the stone in our hands. My eyes found Roland's serious stare. "Where do I plug this thing in, Ro?"

"Luc, I don't know," Roland sighed. The stone flickered gold for a second, before settling back to red again.

* Lucas, there has to be more to this. *

I agree.

* I need to find Sophia. Do you think this beautiful mystery can help? *

Maybe. I promise I'll do everything I can.

Olivia smiled at me and slowly removed her hands from the stone. My chest filled with tightness as she let go, and the color of the stone immediately switched back to its familiar, gla.s.sy black. With our moment over, I grabbed my backpack and slid the stone back into it. From behind me Dax began to stir, rustling softly along the floor.

"How long have you been able to communicate with it?" Roland asked me, glancing at my otherworldly gauntlet. His question startled me.

"Um, from the beginning...I think."

"Hmm...maybe it's a dimensional computer, like a galactic telephone," he shrugged.

"You mean I've been receiving s.p.a.ce emails?" I laughed. Dax, now fully awake, shot me a dirty look. I returned his gift, and added a middle finger too.

"s.p.a.ce emails? Maybe," Roland thought out loud. I glanced at the tablet screen in Roland's hands, mesmerized by the picture of the mystic doorway gouged out of the mountain.

"I have some other theories too..." he said.

Smiling at him, "I know you do. You always do, my friend."

Taylor stepped up to us, "Enough with the fairy tales. You two have been playing way too many video games."

"Don't forget the comic books!" Morgan teased, scooting up to Taylor. We all laughed, nervously. For a short moment, things felt normal.

We needed a plan. We weren't accomplis.h.i.+ng anything hiding away in this giant closet. I searched the room, trying to hold in a large yawn. I was so exhausted. Across from me, Roland continued reading his many files on the tablet. Morgan and Taylor moved to the front of the room. Olivia had sat down next to Dax, who was holding onto his anger like an addict. His steely eyes watched me, unforgivingly. Felicity watched me too, from across the room. It bothered me just knowing she was breathing the same air as me. She stuck her tongue out at me, and began scribbling in a small notebook in her hands.

* Sleep. You need your strength. *

The exotic voice in my head startled me half to death, but I was relieved to hear it again.

Ahh, you're speaking to me again.

* Sleep. *

There is no time for sleep. I need to find Olivia's sister. Soon.

* We need your strength, Lucas. *

I leaned up against the closest wall, resting my forehead on its cool surface.

* Believe. *

"I'm starting to."

LEVEL 15: Sparks.

IN MEMORIAM: Olivia & Dax.

"You okay?" Olivia asked.

"Perfect," Dax grumbled, sitting on the floor. She checked his head for any signs of a concussion. He ripped his head away from her in a mild fit.

"Are you sure?" she asked, again. Her temper bubbled just below the surface.

Dax smacked his fist on the carpeted floor. "d.a.m.n it, Olivia. I came here to save you, and I find you and another guy!" he pouted.

"Lucas has nothing to do with you and I," she scolded, in a whisper.

He smiled, still angry. "Really?"

"That's because there is no you and I," Olivia's tone was deadly serious. He closed his eyes and let his throbbing head lean against the wall.

"I said it would be different this time...and I meant it," he begged. She shook her head, slipping her long hair into a loose bun at the back of her head.

"Dax, stop it. We're over, and if you want me in your life at all, you better start treating me better." Olivia said determined. "I deserve better."