Liam ran for his life. If he couldn't keep ahead of the footsteps behind him, he wasn't sure he would live to see tomorrow. Harry was mad. Really mad.

Liam continued to run. Not only was Harry mad, but he was also fast. There wasn't a kid at school who could outrun him once he was at full speed. He could move! Harry's weakness, however, was his start. Harry would always start out slow. He would take a few steps and then begin to gain speed. Each step would carry him faster and faster. Once he was at full speed, there was no way to stop him.

The only hope anyone had was to change direction. Each time someone turned, Harry would have to take the time to pick up speed again.

Liam heard the pound of Harry's feet close behind him and turned sharply to his left down a side street. He heard Harry fly past him. The big guy had narrowly missed his target. It would take Harry a moment to bring himself to a stop and then figure out where Liam had gone. Then Harry would need some time to pick up speed again.

Liam wasn't far from home. He had run all the way from school, and he was exhausted. He never got used to those daily chases. If he could only make it home, he would be safe. Harry seemed to have a great deal of trouble figuring out which house was Liam's. They lived right next door to each other, but Harry wasn't the brightest guy in the world. Once Liam was out of sight, Harry struggled to remember where Liam lived. He had to get home.

Liam pushed his legs a little harder. He thought he could make it when he heard Harry's footsteps approach again from behind. He must have managed to turn around quickly and start running after Liam again.

Liam turned sharply down a side path. He couldn't remember where that path went but assumed it would come out somewhere, and he'd be able to find his way home from there.

As he ran down the path, something odd happened. He felt a strong pull. He wasn't sure what it was, but it made him feel as though he needed to go somewhere. He pushed the thought out of his mind. Now wasn't the time. He had more important things to worry about.

Harry came upon the path Liam had turned down, but he didn't quite make the turn. Liam heard him slam into the fence which lined the side of the path. Liam smiled to himself, but he knew he would pay for that one. He was sure of it.

The path continued past the two houses and opened up to a little park. It was a nice park. The grass was well cared for. There were swings, a slide and some climbing equipment. It was also safe for children to play there in the sense that a fence surrounded the entire park. The only way in or out was the path he had just come through.

This was not good for Liam.

Liam came to a stop and scanned the outer rim of the park again just to make sure. There was no way out. The wooden fence around the outside was tall. Liam might be able to climb it, but it would slow him down enough that Harry would be able to catch him.

Liam heard the footsteps behind him come to a stop. He turned around, and Harry stood in the entrance, blocking the only way in or out of the park. He walked up close enough for Liam to smell him. Harry normally smelled of onions or garlic. Today was garlic.

Harry stared at him for a moment. Liam had always been one of Harry's favorite targets.

The bully stepped close and stood only a step or two away. He was about four inches taller than Liam and roughly forty pounds heavier. After that run, he didn't even seem to be breathing heavy. Harry was a tank!

He bared his teeth and spoke up, "Hello, Ed."

The first few months after Liam had met Harry, he had thought Harry was somehow trying to make fun of him by calling him "Ed." Liam didn't know what was funny about the name "Ed," but assumed Harry meant it to be mean. In time, however, Liam came to believe Harry honestly thought Liam's name was "Ed." No amount of evidence seemed to convince Harry it could be anything else. From the first day they'd met, six years ago, when Liam had moved into his house and bumped into his next-door neighbor Harry, he had consistently called Liam, "Ed."

"Hello, Harry. Nice day for a run."

Harry growled. He looked at Liam as though he needed a moment to figure out how best to torture him.

Liam started to feel the same pull he had felt earlier. This time it felt like his whole body was being sucked somewhere. He put out a foot in the direction of the pull to steady himself and focused back on Harry. Whatever it was, he had more important things to deal with at the moment.

Liam had tried to stand up to Harry many times over the years. He had tried to fight back, but Harry was too strong. He had tried to outrun him, but Harry was too fast. Sometimes he found he could talk his way out of the situation. That was his plan this time. He had prepared something new for today.

Liam had learned the key to talking his way out of an encounter with Harry was to confuse him. If Harry could make sense of everything, he would get bored and turn back to his favorite activity: torturing Liam. If Liam could confuse him just a little bit, he might be able to get away.

"Did you hear about Liam?" Liam asked. There were few things Harry liked more than picking on other kids, but one of them was gossip.

Harry's face lit up with excitement. He grabbed Liam by the shoulders and pulled him in close. Their noses almost touched as he yelled, "Tell me, Ed!"

The best way to confuse Harry was to talk about someone Harry didn't think existed. The perfect person to talk about, then, was Liam. Harry didn't appear to know a Liam, only an "Ed."

"Liam broke his leg."

Harry looked upset. Liam suspected it wasn't out of concern for this "Liam," but because Harry hadn't been involved.

"How did he break his leg?"

"He fell up his basement stairs at home."

Liam gave Harry a moment or two to absorb his answer. He could see confusion in Harry's eyes as the larger boy tried to make sense of it all. Liam felt things were going well.

"He fell... up... the stairs?"

"Yah! Of course, not just one flight. That would be silly. He fell up from the basement, rolled all the way into the kitchen, down the hallway and up to the second floor. The poor guy looks terrible. He's covered in bruises. The doctors think he won't walk again for thousands of minutes."

Liam had prepared all that a few days before. He hoped it would confuse Harry long enough to give him a chance to get away.

Harry looked upset again. His face dropped, and he looked down at the ground. Liam was pretty sure he saw a tear form in one of Harry's eyes. He didn't know what to do.

"Uh, Harry?"

"Yah, Ed?"

"You okay?"

"Well, I'm just kinda sad, you know? I had planned to meet up with Liam later on today. I was going to maybe beat him up or something."

Liam was now confused. "You were going to meet up with him?"

"Yah, I had him in my schedule." He pulled out a little book and showed Liam his weekly planner. He noticed "Ed" was written on each page. Sure enough, later that day, Harry had the name "Leeum" written in for the evening with the words, "beet upp" scribbled underneath.

Liam started to suspect things were about to turn out poorly for him. It was easier to talk about someone Harry didn't seem to know. Who was the other Liam?

He had forgotten all about the pull when it ramped up again. Liam thought he could feel himself slide a little bit on the ground. Things were getting weird.

Harry growled again, and it brought Liam's thoughts back to the danger he faced. Harry's jaw tightened, and he looked at Liam like he was mad. "Ed! You tell Liam I want to meet him right here at lunchtime today. I don't care if he has a broken leg. He will meet me here or else!"

Things were starting to turn out poorly. Harry didn't take kindly to people who didn't do what he told them. Liam didn't know if there even was another Liam. He certainly couldn't bring him here. Even if he could find another Liam willing to come, that other Liam probably didn't have a broken leg, and then the real Liam would have to explain that one. On top of it all, Harry wanted the "Liam" kid there at lunchtime. It was already about four in the afternoon. There was no way Liam could survive the whole thing.

Liam looked down to see his feet start to slide. The invisible force was dragging him toward the side of the park! He tried to plant his feet firmly on the ground and leaned off to the side away from the pull.

Harry didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary at first. He continued, "If you don't get him here in time, Ed, I'll fight you instead. Uh, Ed, what are you doing?"

Liam looked down. He was at a perfect forty-five-degree angle. He knew enough about gravity to know that he should fall right about then. Whatever was pulling him was strong.

Harry looked worried. He walked around beside Liam and stared at him on an angle. Harry was not good at things like angles or gravity or intelligent thought, but he knew enough to see that something wasn't quite right.

Liam reached down and grabbed hold of a clump of grass on the ground to try to keep himself in place. The pull grew stronger. He started to slip, and Harry laughed as he watched Liam dragged by some unseen force over the grass of the park and toward one of the fences.

Liam hit the fence and came to a stop. The force which had taken hold of him couldn't seem to pull him through the fence. Liam was happy about that.

"Harry, something weird is happening. Go get help!"

Harry looked at Liam for a moment before shaking his head. "No, Ed. I think this is for the best."

"What? What are you talking about? What's for the best? I've been pulled into a fence by an invisible force!"

"Whatever is holding you there is going to help me." Harry smiled and charged at Liam.

I hope you are enjoying the first part of Arestana: The Key Quest.  Keep reading to find out what happens next! If you want to get a hold of this entire story, you can pick it up from Amazon, Chapters, Foyles or just about everywhere else!

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