Running Home – Chapter 12 (Penn and Swords series)

Penn wields his key, crackling his magic across the red door again. This time, no sudden lightning bolt sends him flying back. With ease, his chest lights up with the reddish magic along his tattoos and he’s able to open the door in a quick motion.

I cross through the threshold after him without thinking. The weight of the shifted air hits me hard, and I have to catch my breath. Penn’s hidden study truly makes everything—my body, my clothes, my breath—feel lighter. And here, back in Excalibur’s dark third-floor hallway, Earth’s reality feels nothing but lung-crushing. Everything feels heavy with the honey in my hair and soaked into my clothes. I calm my breaths into a steady rhythm, acclimating back to reality.

At some point, I’m really going to have to confront the existence of magic. But for now, like Penn said, the creepies take priority.

Penn shuffles down the stairs to the kitchen, muttering about “origin” and “Francis” and “thieves.” I can’t make out much more as I hurry to follow.

In the main living room, the rest of the roomies sit close to one another, all piled on the couch cushions and arms. Jordan hugs Bethany close and protective. Landon yawns but shakes himself awake. Their sagging, tired eyes switch from an animated cartoon on the TV when we enter.

Simon’s the first to stand. “Where did you go? Are you all right?” Pointedly, he steps around Penn to check on me, up, down, on top of my head, down to my feet. “It’s been like two hours! I couldn’t find you guys.”

I bristle at his direct attention. Something so ordinary in the face of the incredible. “Oh, I’m fine. We were just, um…”

Simon squints. “What’s in your hair?”

“Oh, uh…”

Landon approaches Penn, their heights near equal, with Landon just winning out. He leans over Penn with a questioning glare. “Where are those things? How’d you get rid of them?”

Everyone focuses on Penn, the same questions mirrored in their tired eyes.

Penn, so out of place among the new college students with his fancy vest and honey-drenched hair, motions to me. “We’ve concluded that the creatures are not nightmares infiltrating your dreams.”

Simon switches his eyes from Penn to Acantha. “And you figured that out. Together.” Worry twists his frown. “Wherever you were.”

I refocus on Penn, gritting my teeth at the puppy dog look in Simon’s eyes.

Penn continues, “They have been displaced from their home and we hypothesize they were seeking warmth within your bodies, but ultimately they are harmless.”

“Excuse me?” both Jordan and Bethany snap.

Harry sighs, rubbing at his eyes. “Can we sleep?”

“Staying in one room together might be a good idea,” Penn says, gesturing to the couch. “Just in case. They’re frightened, but scared animals lash out.”

“So, you didn’t get rid of them?” Landon pushes. His dark eyes dart across the floor, the walls. Everyone follows suit, searching for the creatures they’ll never be able to see with their invisibility cloaking them.

“Yes,” Penn says. “I suggest ice cubes. Low temperatures. And as few clothes as possible.” As if to demonstrate, he shoulders off his vest and starts untying the leather-strip belt around his waistband.

“Penn!” I rush over, waving my hands. “Keep your pants on! Cheesus!”

Penn pauses. “We have to lower our body temperatures—”

“We don’t know that! You don’t have to-to strip!”

“It’s the best way to release the heat.”

Landon laughs and follows Penn’s example, stripping down to a bare chest and boxers. “No time to be shy, Sword. Lives are at stake.” He sends me a wink.

Simon shakes his head, face red. “I’ll, uh, turn down the thermostat.” He escapes to the kitchen, head down.

Over on the couch, Harry nods, lifting his sweatshirt off, but leaving the rest of his pajamas on. The girls don’t move at all out of their bottoms and tank tops, eyes roaming the boys with a mixture of trepidation and eager assessment.

My stomach pulses. I purposefully look anywhere but at Landon’s grin. “Uh, I’ll, uh, get some… ice.”

Stripped down to his white shirt and red-dyed boxers, Penn nods to me in approval. Down his knobby knees and calves, more of the black-ink roots stretch over his skin, seeming less and less like a tattoo the more of it I discover. The ends divert over his toes, of which he has ten. Just like a human. I make sure to count.

Penn rolls up his sleeves. “I’ll begin the search for how Francis and his friends got to our side.” He chooses the closest wall and starts knocking his knuckles against it at different intervals, searching the paint, listening to the drywall. Perceiving something beyond my senses. I share a concerned glance with Landon, then head into the kitchen. It feels simple enough. We just need to lower our body temps, figure out a way to get the creepies to leave, and all will be back on track for school on Monday. Then I can get back to asking Penn where he comes from.

Still, the thought of school when Penn’s red door, the Phoenix Ivy world, and the strange tea all exist, it feels… hollow. It was my only plan forward just this morning and now I question ever applying.

But none of that matters if we lose our dorm building to an invisible infestation. I hurry to the freezer to grab the ice bucket.

Before I turn back, however, I find Simon standing over the sink, gripping the counter’s edge hard. I pause, searching him for pain, but finding his breathing normal. “You okay?”

He gives me a side-glance, lips twisting. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“We’ll be okay,” I say. “Penn’ll figure it out. Get those things outta here and… we’ll be okay.”

Simon turns around, pinning me in place with a stare. “Who is he?”

I try for words, but find nothing to explain the magic I’ve witnessed. “I… don’t know.”

“And you trust him?”

“I think he knows what he’s doing. And we don’t.”

“But.” Simon searches the floor. “How is this possible? Invisible bugs? Attracted to body heat? Inside of us? That’s crazy. I’ve never heard of anything like that. And how does he know what to do?”

“He just… does.” I want to tell him the truth about the other worlds, the secret of Penn’s red door, to ease his mind. But also… I want to keep the adventure to myself. My thrilling distraction. Penn had shared it with me, sent me a letter. Not anyone else. For once in the last three weeks, I feel like I’m part of something special again.

Simon shakes his head. “And what’s with your hair? What were you doing up there? This is all just… too weird.”

“We’ll be okay,” I say again, having nothing else to say. I hold up the ice bucket. “Here, suck on a cube. Let’s just hunker down until it’s over, okay?”

Simon doesn’t move, blue eyes unfocusing beyond my shoulder. “My mom said I shouldn’t have left. Should have stayed home, saved money. But crazy me, I wanted to go out on my own. Figure out my life away from the family business. What I want. But this? What the hell is this? How was I supposed to plan for this?” He pins me with a stare. “And why are you so calm?”

I sigh. “I get it, needing to get… away. From family.” I swallow back the rest of that story, making sure the icebox in my mind keeps the memories cold and stagnant at the bottom of my skull. “This is just a blip. A teeny-tiny speed bump. And by Monday morning coffee,” I say, searching his anxious eyes, and he perks up. “Everything will be fine. Back on track.”

Simon doesn’t seem convinced, but nods. “I’ll be in. In a minute.”

I nod back and turn to bring the ice to everyone else. Only to smack right into Penn. Ice cubes scatter the floor, and the magic-man steadies me by the shoulders. I balk. “What’s going on?”

Penn holds up his single lens. “They’re back. And moving.”

I tense on the spot. “To where?”

“I followed them in here…” Penn’s stormy eyes cast over my head. “There!”

I spin about in time to see Simon fall to the ground, every finger scratching at his neck. His pale face turns crimson as he chokes for air. He reaches for me until his bulging stare rolls backward.

Penn and I drop to our knees on either side of Simon. Penn raises his key to Simon’s mouth, just like with Bethany, but Simon bucks and slaps him away.

“He’s going to help you!” I grab at Simon’s flailing arms but can’t keep him still. “Simon, c’mon, you’ll be fine if you just—”

“Move.” Landon appears, and I immediately slide out of the way. The taller boy snatches Simon’s wrists and pins them down to the floor. “Do it,” he instructs Penn.

Penn dives in with his wand key, the red tip glowing beyond Simon’s lips. The invisible bugs make his mouth bulge and his cheeks puff under their crawling movements. But worst is the bump in his neck, unnatural and throbbing. My stomach flips.

“Out, out, out,” Penn mutters, over and over. “They’re not leaving. They’re getting too far down.” He sits back, searching the room, then points at the icebox. “Make him cold, now!”

I pull the bucket over and press ice into Simon’s neck, his chest, his legs, and feet. Landon struggles to keep Simon’s gasping, bucking form still. “Take off his pants!” he says, motioning with his chin.

I cringe, but do so as Penn tries to coax cubes into Simon’s mouth. Once Simon’s bottoms are off, I dump the rest of the ice over him. Then jump up to fill the bucket with cold water. I splash it down on his chest, but he keeps twitching and choking for life.

“Why isn’t it working?” Landon shoves Penn’s shoulder. “He’s going to die!”

Penn runs his long fingers through his honeyed hair. “I-I don’t know. They’re single-minded. They’ve latched on.”

“But why?” I drop to my knees again. “He’s shivering. But it’s not working.”

“Is it not the heat they’re after?” Penn taps his chin.

My mind sifts through everything we know about the strange bugs. The emberite attracted Francis, but maybe it wasn’t just the heat. The emberite was from their home. A home that’s now gone. He was drawn to it almost immediately upon escaping the jar. Gripping my sister’s necklace charm, I try to think faster, cleverer. Then look down at the triangle bit of metal, the one piece of memory I always keep with me, always drawn to it without a thought.

Heart bursting, I cast Penn a slack jawed stare. “Home.”

Penn snaps his stare to mine.

“The-the attacks. The dreams! I was dreaming about home when they crawled all over me. And then when Francis broke the jar, I was missing my sister. Bethany was saying she wanted to go home. And just now, Simon was talking about his mom.”

Penn scans Simon again. “A psychic connection.”

“The dreams weren’t a coincidence.”

“Then he needs to stop thinking about home,” Landon concludes. “Yo, dude, stop thinking about your mom. That’s my job.”

Penn grips Simon’s shoulders, shaking the poor kid. Simon’s eyes roll backwards again, undulating lips going too blue. “Stop thinking! Now!”

“That won’t work. We need to distract him. Stop the thoughts completely, I think.”

“I should knock him out,” Penn says, lifting a fist.

“Stop!” I shout, catching his arm. I think fast and bite my lip before shoving Penn and Landon aside, straddling Simon’s hips, and dipping my face low. Stomach churning, I cradle Simon’s head in my hands and press my lips to his.

He’s cold from the ice, shivering like mad. Furry bodies squirm against my face, but I hold Simon close for several seconds, hoping this works, hoping his little crush will short circuit his homesickness.

When I lift away, Simon chokes and coughs to the side. Cheeks deflating. Redness receding from his neck. He lays back on the tile, hyperventilating for breath. But alive.

Landon sits back with a shaky laugh. “Damn, Sword. Helluva distraction.” He grins at me. “Should I start choking, too?”

I hit his arm, relief pulling a laugh out of me as well.

In the kitchen doorway, the rest of the housemates watch on with horror and shock. Jordan glares at the entire scene, shaking her head. “This is so messed up.”

Penn shrugs in response. “At least we have a response to the attacks.” He nods in approval at me. “Very good, very good. Yes.” His stormy eyes search the air, then something in his thoughts pulls him back to his feet. He mutters yet again about “Francis” and “home” and “portals.”

I want to help Penn and figure out the mystery, but check on Simon first. The blonde boy finally settles and looks up at me with watery eyes. “You still with us?” I ask.

“Uh,” he coughs out. “Could you…?” His gaze lowers to my straddling legs.

I jump off him at once. “Shoot, sorry.”

Landon laughs again. “You got game after all, Si.” He holds out a hand and helps the blonde boy sit up.

Simon and I both blush. “Uh, thanks,” Simon tells me.

“Don’t mention it,” I say, finding my feet. “Ever. Seriously. Don’t mention it ever.”

“Oh, we’re not forgetting that one, Sword,” Landon teases.

Simon smiles softly, rubbing at his throat. But doesn’t continue the teasing. “Let’s get outta this house.”

“Agreed!” Penn cuts in. “Out, out, out, should have evacuated you little humans sooner.” He shoos us all toward the front door. “So fragile and young and homesick. No wonder the creepies are stalking your dreams.”

Landon rolls his eyes and helps Simon stand while Harry follows the girls out the front door.

I start to follow, but lag behind with Penn. “Psychic connection?”

He smiles, tapping his temple. “I already have a plan.”