Mohan opened the tailgate on the patrol truck while his partner roughly tossed Izzy in the back like a piece of old luggage. She was stunned to see she wasn't alone. Crammed in the small space were nine children, seven boys and two girls. Izzy quickly assessed their mutations. Each child had something visibly wrong with them ranging from a girl who appeared to be eighty years old to a hairy wolf-boy. He foamed at the mouth and stared through her with wild yellow eyes.

The grandma girl spoke softly to Izzy, "Hello, I'm Onyx. I know I look really old but I'm only fourteen."

Izzy squeezed in between the drooling boy and Onyx. "My name's Izzy. I'm fourteen too. I think I'm about to be fifteen only I don't know what day it is."

"I think it's April twelfth." Onyx was shivering.

Izzy zipped off her blue sweat shirt and placed it around her new little friend's shoulders. "Well in that case my birthday is four days away. Yay! Happy Birthday to me..."

"Seriously..." Onyx enjoyed Izzy's sarcasm. Izzy was also the first person who didn't act as if her aging disease was catching. "Izzy, if you don't mind me asking... what's wrong with you?"

Izzy treaded lightly. She didn't want the others to know she was "normal." She whispered into the elderly child's ear, "I'm pretending to be worse than I really am. But I'm far from normal. I'm a mental case!" She pulled away and crossed her eyes just to make her smile.

Onyx giggled. "I like mental cases." Suddenly she stopped smiling. "I'm dying you know..."

An angry boy with enlarged cauliflower ears spoke up. "We all are you old scab! Why don't you shut up and keep your freakin' toothless mouth shut?"

As if set off by anger the wild wolf-boy stood up in the middle of the paddy wagon and began to growl and pace. As he walked in the crowded truck he stepped on the other passengers. He ranted, "Dying, dying we all are dying. But before you die you will cry why, why, WHY?"

Izzy spoke up. "Knock it off kid. Sit down, you're hurting people!" She yanked him by his arm. He sunk his teeth into her shoulder. Izzy yelled, "Get off of me!" Grabbing him into a headlock she forced him onto his back. He gasped for air. She warned him, "If I let you go you better not hurt anyone else, you hear me?"

The crazed boy didn't answer. Instead he spun his body around in the air like a cork screw. At last he broke free of Izzy's grasp and clung to the ceiling like some rabid fly. While the other children seemed mesmerized by his unique talent, Izzy shivered. As the temperature in the cab dropped, white smoke puffed out of the children's mouths. Hanging his head backwards the demented boy's yellow animal-like eyes rolled into the back of his head. He spoke in a sing-song voice, "Izzy Quest is not like the rest."

"How do you know my name?" Izzy was visibly frightened. Onyx hid behind her back.

In a fit of rage the boy dropped down from the ceiling landing like Spiderman. He jerked awkwardly and his body spasmed as he headed towards Izzy. "Izzy Quest is not like the rest. She thinks she's best. This is your test Izzy Quest."

The temperature in the cab fell even lower. It felt as if they were in a meat locker. Instinctively Izzy knew she was dealing with much more than a psychotic boy. There was an evil presence residing inside the speeding truck. She asked the being, "Who speaks inside the boy?"

The single voice turned into a chorus of voices, raspy and deep. They echoed, "We are thousands."

"What do you want?" As Izzy stood up, and approached the beings inside the boy, the rest of the children huddled on the far side of the cab.

"We want revenge." The beings inside the boy caused him to levitate and then convulse. Red foam dripped from his twisted mouth.

Izzy stood and faced her fears. "Revenge for what? You don't even know me."

The chorale of voices spat, "You follow the Author. We hate the Author."

All at once the boy dropped to the floor and appeared as if he were being electrocuted. When his tremors subsided Izzy was certain she smelled cooked flesh.

The evil utterances continued, "Denounce the King and we will let this useless wolf-boy go."

Izzy objected, "Why would I ever deny the King of Everything? He is your king as well whether you admit to it or not."

The boy rose two feet and dropped, rose three feet and dropped, rose four feet and dropped... until finally he crashed into the ceiling of the truck. Then he fell so hard he dented the truck bed.

Izzy knew the evil spirits were killing the young boy and they wouldn't stop there. They would enter each and everyone of the children until she was the only one left alive. She and she alone was protected by the Spirit of the Author. She had entrusted her entire life to him and now they were inseparable. She hadn't read much of The Book yet but the spiritual realm fascinated her. She quoted her favorite passage so far, "As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons...'"

The clashing symphony of voices objected, "You have no authority over us Izzy Quest. You are nothing to us."

She was surprised when another passage flooded her mind. She repeated it, "He replied, 'I saw the Enemy fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.'"

That one did the trick. Shiny black slugs oozed out of the boys' ears, nose and mouth. The blights of clotted mucus formed one giant slug; it stood upright and made a sickening smelly roar before seeping through a crack in the floor board. It left behind a trail of smelly sickening slime which evaporated into black smoke until nothing remained. The temperature in the cab climbed back to normal.

The wolf boy woke up and he was no longer wild. He moved near the group of children. Still frighted, they scampered away from him. Izzy crawled over to the boy and rocked him in her arms. The boy sucked his thumb and fell asleep.

—-

-End of Chapter 15-

Author's note: What do you think of this scene? So much is happening and everyone is spread out. Izzy shares the light within her. Even if everything seems hopeless you are not alone.

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