Post by StoryGirl83 on Nov 9, 2011 14:37:40 GMT -5
Chapter Seven – A Time to Wait
Peter Silberman unclipped his seatbelt as Seth pulled the car to a stop in front of Nick Martinez’s home. There was no question this time that Peter was going in. He had his door open before his brother had even turned off the engine.
Seth sighed. “Peter, you have to slow down.”
“Or you’ll what?” Peter asked, amused. “Tell Dad?”
“Maybe,” Seth admitted. “You know better.”
Peter shrugged and headed for the door. He knocked on it as his brother climbed out of the car.
“What do you . . ?” the annoyed question in Nick’s voice ended the second her recognized the two brothers. “You’re back.”
Seth nodded.
“I thought you had to help your friend,” Nick commented confused.
“Can we come in?” Seth asked as he reached the door. “This isn’t a conversation I want to have out here.”
Nick nodded and stepped out of their way. “I didn’t expect you to come back,” he admitted.
“Well, we did,” Seth informed him, unnecessarily. “We needed to talk to you, again.”
“Couldn’t find what you needed?” Nick scowled as he closed the door behind them. “I should have known.”
Seth shook his head. “Actually, my friend’s brother found everything they needed, no help from me.”
“And what exactly is everything?” Nick asked, mocking back in his voice. “A time machine to stop Reggie from getting that stupid gem in the first place. Some sort of kick in the pants for Jarod’s wife, so she realizes that Jarod’s all talk and that he needs to talk to someone about this and that’s what’s making him crazy, not some suicidal tendencies. Some way for Ev to hold down a job without the voices in his head convincing him to do something that gets him fired.”
Seth frowned. “No time machine, sorry. We can’t affect the past, but we can affect the future. My friend’s brother collected the ingredients for a cure that will make those voices go away, that will allow your friends to stop hearing them. It will be up to them to fix what has come before, but at least this will give them a chance.”
“It’s not . . .” Nick stopped cold. “A cure? The one mentioned in the book? Does it work?”
“It should,” Seth informed him, “but I can call my friend first. By now his brother should have found a way to get it to him. His brother will be here later. We’ll need your help to get the cure to your friend Jarod. We wanted to let you know what was going on, so you could quit wondering.”
“I wasn’t wondering,” Nick protested.
“Of course you were,” Seth argued. “I would if my best friend had dealt with this for as long as yours have and someone told me they were trying to fix it. I’d want to know if they had, if there was a chance to help my best friend. Seeing as my best friend was infected with this and I can’t be there to help him myself, I understand something of what you are going through. I’d want to know, so I have to believe you want to know.”
Nick sighed and wandered over to his couch and sank down. “A cure. A real cure.” He looked up. “This isn’t some sort of joke? This is real?”
Seth nodded. “Do you mind if we stay here until my friend shows up?”
“The one who was cursed?” Nick asked, furrowing his brow.
Seth shook his head with a laugh. “Na. The brother. They are both my friends. One’s my best friend, but the other is my friend, too.”
Nick nodded. “Will it be a while?”
“I think so,” Seth decided. “When I talked to Chris he said he was going to talk to Reggie and Ev before he came over here, since he knows Reggie and I guess he knows Ev’s daughter.”
“Genevieve,” Nick informed him. “Since you’re going to be here a while, would you like to play a game. I have a bunch of board games in my closet. Before all this happened the four of us used to play a lot. Now, they don’t get used as often, but I still get a chance to play with Reggie or Ev from time to time. And I’ve found others to play with.”
“Do you have a favorite game?” Peter asked, curious about this. There weren’t too many board games at their house. And there were non the few times he’d been to his mom’s house.
“Not really,” Nick admitted. “I just enjoy playing. Why don’t you pick one? The closet’s right over there.”
Peter grinned and headed over to the closet.
Seth watched, amused, as his little brother opened the door and his jaw dropped at the treasure trove of games brimming from within.