The Eight Amulets, Vol. 1

Chapter XV - Fog

"We're screwed. We can't survive with out that book." Hannah complained as there feet crunched the leaves.

"Hannah, if we stayed around longer, the police, or someone would've gotten to us." Robert stated confidently as they stepped through the morning New York fog.

"They might as well get to us." William stopped. "We have no transportation, no guidance, no signal and we're being hunted by a trio of killers." He sighed, resting against a tree.

"We have to stay optimistic. We don't have time to sit around and sob. We need to get a move on." Robert argued as birds chirped in the distance.

"If we stay optimistic we're only digging ourselves deeper. We should just go home." William spat. Obediently, he turned around and started to walk into the fog.

"After all we've done? We have been battered, chased, jailed, and more just to give up? We can't go back to living there. We're wanted. If we leave we will only discover misery. Do this for your mother." Rob called to William, who froze.

"Keep her name out of your mouth." William threatened, starting to walk aggressively towards Robert. Hannah stepped in front of them.

"We don't have any time for this. I can't keep stopping you two from brawling, you are grown men. Yes I may want to leave, but last night Rob saved my life. Without him i'd be dead. We're only twenty minutes away from the airport so just keep it together, okay boys?" Hannah insisted, putting her hand in front of her to stop Robert from doing anything crazy.

"I don't want to hear it Hannah. You still owe us an explanation. Why did you keep it a secret?" Rob yelled, his fist in the air. They all knew he wasn't going to punch, or at least thought.

"There are some things best left unknown Robert." Hannah snapped back, not flinching.

"Is that so?" Rob thrusts his fist at her, but with her fast reflex, she grabbed his hand and pushed him back, causing him to clutch his wrist and stumbled back on a pile of leaves. "Careful with my wrist!"

"Is everything okay over here?" A warm voice said from the fog. They could make out a hunched figure with a cane, moving very slowly. Leaves crunched beneath his feet as he came to light. It was an old fellow, his glasses crooked and long nose. His hairline looked like it had receded for the past twenty years, and was just barely clinging on now. Only strands remained, but his smile shined.

"I- yes." Hannah brushed off her clothing, trying to look casual even though she was wanted by the police and being chased by psychotic madmen.

"Yes, we'll be on our way now." William said quickly, covering his face and grabbing the suitcase.

"Would you like a cold drink? My wife just made some lemonade, perhaps you would enjoy a few sips? Oh I'm Herb by the way. Well, Herbert but call me H-" William interrupted him mid-sentence, dropping his suitcase and walking over to him while gripping his shoulders.

"Listen 'Herb,' I'm sure you're nice and all, but we really have to go. Our flights leaves in... let's see... an hour. So have a nice life." William patted his back and ran back to his suitcase.

"I'm sorry he's just in a bad mood right now, I'm sure he'll get over it." Hannah assured, walking towards him.

"Hey... I think I've seen you before." Herb said, pointing at William. Hannahs eyes widened as Herb began to elaborate. "You were on the newspaper for that terrible car accident. I'm truly sorry." The nice man apologized.

"That's really nice. Well uh, I think a glass of lemonade sounds nice. Can you drive us to the airport after?" Hannah suggested, nodding at Rob who was too stunned to speak.

"Of course, follow me over here." Herb slowly turned around, walking cautiously in the New Jersey morning mist. Just over a hill, Herbs house sat crookedly, much like his glasses, and in elegant fashion. Vines covered the house, and wildlife was extremely prominent. His wife was sitting and knitting on the front porch. William was quick to pull Hannah aside.

"I thought you were all about going back home, but look who's so eager?" Hannah questioned, about ready to turn back to the house. William was able to grab her.

"If we're going to be dedicated to finding these Amulets, we're going to be dedicated." William snarled, his grip tightening on his shoulder. Hannah was quick to shove it off.

"Don't touch me. How about you grow up for once and stop being so stubborn." With that she pushed William lightly against the tree, leaving him in shock as she kindly introduced herself to Herbs wife, Matilda.

"Would you like some lemonade dear?" Matilda was already grabbing the pitcher full of a yellow substance and poured it into two cups when William emerged through the foliage, covered in leaves which he picked off. "Oh there's more? Would you like some lemonade?"

"Sure." William said awkwardly, shaking the wives hand as she passed them all lemonade, which they downed quickly.

"This is so— good." Rob exclaimed, lemonade dribbling down his cheek and falling onto his clothes. Once finishing he placed the cup down and wiped his mouth.

"Drink up sweeties, you look like you've had a long walk and you don't want to miss the plane." She smiled gracefully, while William handed the glass back to her and wiped his mouth with his shirt.

"What are you guys doing out here anyways?" Herb asked, hugging his wife and placing his cane down against the wall.

"Some bats came and tore our car up." William told, causing another awkward silence as the couple had no idea how to respond to the blatantly insane response.

"What he meant to say was that we crashed it into the tree so we had to try and walk to the airport." Hannah blurted aggressively, kicking William in the shin and he nearly feel backwards gripping his shin and limping.

"Oh yeah, definitely." Rob agreed and nodded, his silky ginger hair shining in the sun as the fog had parted and revealed the open sky.

"No, it was you who crashed the car, remember Hannah?" William passive-aggressively mentioned, his smile clearly fake. It didn't take a genius to figure that one out.

"William we don't have time for this right now." She uttered the words through her mouth, turning back to the old couple and hoped to forget about there conversation.

"So what time does your flight leave?" Matilda asked, her old curls flying in the wind while sipping lemonade.

"In less then an hour from now. How far is it from here." Hannah explained, while herb grabbed his cane and walked over to her.

"About 20 minutes. You should get going in a few minutes, wouldn't want to miss it. Where are you heading to?" Herb wondered, patting Hannah's back and looking up at the clearing in the sky, now clearly showing the sun which beamed down on the landscape.

"Australia. Sydney, Australia." She clarified, sitting on the edge of the porch and overlooking the beautiful scenery surrounding her and the lush forests while crickets chirped and birds fluttered.

"Oh, the capital. I know too." Rob smiled, leaning against a pillar while almost slipping off and falling into a thorny bush.

"No dumbass. That's Canberra." She rolled her eyes and outlooked on the fauna and vegetation, William staring at a stack of newspapers.

"Beautiful place. Me and my wife went there when we were still young. God how I wish to be young and beautiful again." He bittersweetly smiled at his wife, who smiled back. "Can you go make us some more lemonade Matilda?" She nodded and walked away.

"Well sometimes it's a big hassle. Everything's so intense. I would love to be old and have no care in the world— I'm not calling you old, sorry I didn't even-" Hannah tried to correct herself.

"It's fine, it's nice being old. But you kinda miss being a kid, you mourn for the days when you were stressed and wish you could know when it was your last time. Unfortunately life isn't that simple. So what are you gonna do in Australia anyways?" Herbert asked, sitting in his wives seat and muttering something about his back.

"We're-" Robert suddenly interrupted Hannah.

"Important business."