“So,” Jude said. I must say, he looked cute. His clothes were completely plain, just a white t-shirt and black basketball shorts, be he was anything but. Something about him made it impossible to look away, if he wanted me to concentrate on anything he was going to have to stop existing altogether. “The hardest part about fighting the Ebony is the fact that they are invisible. Unless you figure out someway to make them visible, there is absolutely no way you will come out of that fight alive.”
I raised my hand. “Is there some kind of magic voodoo spell to make them seen or something, because that would be so cool.” I smiled just thinking about it…I have always wanted to be a wizard.
“Yes, there actually is.” Jude smirked. “It’s called paint.” He reached his hand in a large bad and handed me and Grace what seemed to be a water balloon full of black paint.
“Wait a second,” I said. “You are telling me that the secret weapon of fighting century-old evil monsters is a child’s toy?”
“Emerson, what did you expect? Machine guns and pirate cannons? I am only one guy and I certainly do have a budget.”
“Yeah, I guess. So, what now?” I wondered. I figured he would probably try and teach me hand-to-hand combat and I was completely dreading it.
“Now, I am going to tell you what to do if you suddenly feel an Ebony one around you. Feel free to write this down. Step 1: Run like hell. Seriously, if you can, run as fast as you can to safety. If step one doesn't work, move on to fighting. The first thing you do: explode the water balloon. All you have to do is squeeze it and black paint should go everywhere, and hopefully it will reveal them. Step 3, the most important step: don’t die. Please, fight as well as you can manage. Kick, bite, slap - whatever works for you. Just do me a favor and try your damnedest to stay safe.” Jude looked so genuinely worried it made me smile just a little even if we were talking about how to avoid death.
He wasn't the only one looking worried, though. Grace looked like she was about to cry. I rubbed her back and hoped she would relax.
“Grace, honey. Everything is going to be just fine. I promise you.” She nodded her head.
“Thanks, Emmy. I love you.” She sniffed.
“I love you too, Grace. And don't you forget it.” She smiled a little bit, as if she was reassuring me that she wouldn’t.”
“Okay,” Jude said, reminding me that he was still there. “Let’s go run a few miles, thats enough fighting talk for today. Maybe tomorrow, I’ll teach you how to throw a punch.” He winked at me. Like actually winked. I think my heart just grew wings and into the sun.
