Chapter 13 - Chapter 13

Chapter 13



Ben opened his eyes. He was swimming in his cold sweat. He had the same nightmare again, but this time he had a strong headache after the dream. He got up and went for a glass of water.
- This has got to stop... – mumbled he for himself.
Suddenly, Lantara evolved from the darkness right in front of him. Ben jumped back.
- Whoa!!! What are you doing here?! – He asked loudly.
- You know I sleep watchfully. – smiled Lantara.
- But it still weird and unnatural to scare me like that, phasing through things, in the middle of the dark night! – gabbed Ben.
- Yes it is! Just like having the same nightmare for three days, that’s also weird isn’t it? – retorted the ectonurite.
- Yeah, you’re right... – agreed Ben. – It’s draining my power and this headache... oh, man...
- Relax! – whispered Lantara. She touched Ben’s shoulders and began to massage them.
- Oh, that’s so good... – sighed he with a little surprise in his voice.
Lantara’s palms sometimes strongly squeezed his shoulders; sometimes they were gently stroking them.
- What’s the matter? You wouldn’t expect from an ectonurite to be that...
- Sensitive... – finished the sentence Ben.
- We should get back to sleep. – said he after a few minutes.
Lantara agreed and relaxed her hold on Ben’s shoulders.
- Did you enjoy it? – asked she.
- Yeah, it was awesome! I didn’t know you’re that good at giving a massage. – smiled Ben.
They went back to sleep. For the rest of the night, Ben had no further trouble with his nightmares.

The next day arrived. Ben got up late. There was nobody in the room. He changed clothes and then tried to find the others. Suddenly, he heard a singsong. He went on and the chant became louder. He recognized an opened door. It led into a room. Ben thought it was empty. He pushed the door and saw Gwen in the middle of a circle, made of candles. She was holding an old book in her hands. She didn’t see Ben. Her eyes were pale, as she chanted the ancient words. Ben looked around in the room. There was the same weird writing on the walls, and even on the ceiling but the letters had an orange glowing. Suddenly, Gwen put the book down to the floor and drew a circle in the air. Blue smoke followed her movement. Her face distorted as she chanted the spells louder and louder. The two clouds of that smoke united and became a gauzy mass, forming a circle. Ben just watched the events; he was unable to do anything. He heard a thunder, then he saw a blue lightning, evolving from that strange mass. It struck Gwen down, but before she could fell on the ground, Ben caught her with Xlr8’s speed. She fainted. The tubular mass have became frayed and the letters on the walls have lost their glowing.
Ben carried his cousin to her bed. He put her down. Gwen came to.
- Ben? What happened? Where am I? – asked she.
- I though you will tell me what happened... – replied Ben.
- Oh yes... Now I recall...
- Gwen, since I’m here, I wanted to ask you something. What was that strange writing on the walls? – questioned her Ben.
- I should have told you before... After Kevin seized control and I’ve been forced to live in abolishment, I’ve spent most of my time studying ancient magical spells. My plan was to find the spell of time traveling to create a time portal. However, there are hundreds of spell combinations... I’ve became a fanatic of the time portal, I focused on nothing else. My previous knowledge have disappeared, I had forgotten everything... I still haven’t found the correct spell. Even if I’m ever going to figure it out, it takes a lot of talent and practice to actually create one. – replied Gwen.
- You wanted to change the past?
- Exactly. If I could go back in time, a few days before Kevin killed Grandpa, I could warn you to the danger. With the help of my younger self, you would be able to stop Kevin, before he could ever become what he is now. But since I don’t know how to make a portal it’s just speculation. – explained Gwen.
- And what was that lightning?
- It happens every time I attempt to open a portal. I use the wrong spells and the energy of the portal strikes me, not the time line.
- I suppose that really hurts... – said Ben.
- I got used to it. - replied Gwen shortly. She stood up.
- Where are the others? – She asked.
- I don’t know. You sure, you’re okay? - worried Ben.
- Yeah, I’m fine. We should find the others, it’s dangerous to go out, you can always count on some aliens. - declared Gwen.
Suddenly, a huge explosion shattered the old building. They heard a crunch. They looked up. Above them, the heavy planks cracked, then collapsed. Before they could smash them, Ben changed into Xlr8 and saved Gwen. He ran out of the theatre.
- You were saying? – The kineceleran asked when they were in safety.
- I think we have a bigger problem now. – Gwen said with a little fear in her voice.
Xlr8 looked around. There were different kinds of aliens everywhere.
- Oh, no... – sighed he.
Then a deep voice accosted him.
- Hello Benjie!
Xlr8 looked up. He saw a man floating man in the air. He couldn’t see his features clearly, but he already knew his identity.
- Kevin! – exclaimed Xlr8.

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