Chapter 3:
The Accident
23/6/2016 – Poppy's House – East Hampton
" Say good-bye to Poppy, Jaden. It's time to go." Amanda called from the bottom of the stairs to her father's second story floor.
Jaden was busy playing with the set of dinosaurs that his grandfather kept in the spare room up there when he heard his mother's call. He had spent the past week at his grandfather's place to try and help him through the bad time with Nanny. And ever since that night after Nanny's wooden bed was placed in the cemetery, Digger would not stop barking at the sun. Nor did his mother and grandfather believe him when he told them that the dog was barking at the man driving the flying car through the sun.
In fact, when the boy next door, Joey, asked why the dog was barking so much, and Jaden had given him the same answer that he gave the adults, Joey just looked at him like he was strange and went back inside. That was when Jaden had decided that playing indoors, away from the devil dogs that appeared every night and the flying car man, was a much safer option. At least the dinosaurs and the toy soldiers that he played with understood him. Even if he did make them fight with toy animals and cars in a three-way battle against the Ben 10 aliens.
" Okay, mum!" Jaden called back.
He hurried to place the toys back in the toy box, making sure to keep his 'commander' Buzz Lightyear action figure away from the rest of the armies. Buzz was the one thing (aside from George the black dog plushie and Peter the red dragon plushie) that he always made sure he had with him when going to Poppy's house. He didn't know why, though. It may have been because it was Nanny who had brought him the Buzz Lightyear action figure. All he knew was that, as he climbed down the stairs with his toys in his hand, something didn't feel right.
Poppy was outside in the front yard talking with his mother, Digger trotting from the side of the house to the fence and back in the hopes that he would be let out. When Jaden came running out of the house, the dog instantly began whimpering. Somehow Jaden knew that the dog was also sensing that something wasn't right. But the adults seemed immune to the feeling, Poppy merely silencing the dog with a stern word.
" You ready to go, Jay?" Jaden's mother asked when she saw her son.
" Yeah." Jaden replied quietly, watching Digger curiously.
" You got Peter?"
" Yeah."
" What about George?"
" Yeah."
" Have you got Buzz?"
" Yeah."
" Have you got yourself?" Poppy asked.
" Poppy!" Jaden called, the hint of a smile on his lips as he turned away from the dog to look at his grandfather.
" Just making sure."
With a quick pat on the head, Poppy led Jaden to the car and made sure he was 'buckled up tight'. Then the old man closed the door and turned to his daughter. Jaden watched their goodbye through the window, the bad feeling in the pit of his stomach worsening at the sight. He knew for sure that something bad was going to happen to at least one of them, both if he was extremely unlucky. As his mother got into the car, he found himself praying that his 'school luck' would not affect him now.
They were taking a detour when it happened.
Jaden hadn't been paying much attention to his surroundings. All he knew was that the car ride was always boring, so he always thought of things to do. Things that didn't include looking out of the window. He probably should have been paying attention, though. It would have helped him understand what happened. Unfortunately, he didn't. Instead, he sat playing around with his dog tag, still trying to figure it out.
The bronze metal was cold and heavy in his small hands. If he tilted it on the right angle, the light would bounce off it and shine on the roof of the car away from the sun. That was pretty fun, trying to draw light images by shining his dog tag… until he noticed the image that was imprinted onto one side of the smooth surface. It was a sword; there was no two ways about it. And it seemed to be inked in with something black.
Staring at it, Jaden was almost sure that the bad feeling that was hanging over him was getting stronger. Slowly, he traced the simple design of the weapon. He couldn't understand how it had got there. A couple of nights ago, it hadn't been there. It was just a blank sheet of ever shiny bronze. Now there was the image of a sword.
Slowly he turned the dog tag around, wondering if it was just his imagination. After the first three turns, he found out that it wasn't. Come the fourth, there were letters on the back surface. Letters, Jaden was pretty sure, that were exactly like the ones he had found etched into the maple tree in Central Park on his birthday. Ερινυζ. A shiver ran down the boy's spine as he fingered the tiny etchings, the bad feeling in his stomach worsening as each second grew longer. But he couldn't stop himself from muttering the word fast enough.
" Erinyz." He whispered.
Instantly, the sword on the other side of the dog tag began to glow. From the driver's seat, his mother asked him something… but he was too intrigued by the light and the word etched into the brass plate to even hear her. Quickly, the light became too bright for his sensitive eyes to handle and he was forced to close his eyes. He didn't notice the feel of the car as it began to swerve to the side slightly. Nor did he notice the drops of rain that were beginning to fall.
When the light faded, Jaden found himself holding a pure bronze double-edged sword. The grip was made out of some sort of leather that felt comfortable in his hand. The pommel was home to a perfectly round stone that looked like it was made of pure amber. Inside that was a black shape that looked strangely like a scythe. Jaden didn't have time to wonder what that meant when he was suddenly thrown forward and everything around him turned pitch black.
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