Being cooped up in our tiny hotel room was driving me nuts. With a sigh, I tossed aside my Cosmo magazine and fell back on my twin sized bed. I tangled my finger in my thick curly hair, which was its natural purplish pink, and tried to think non-mischievous thoughts. It was hard though, and I was so bored.
In a last-ditch effort, I turned on the TV and flipped through the channels. Everything was in Thai and I hated subtitles. I let out a cry of frustration and chucked the remote against the wall.
The door to the conjoining room burst open. Warrior Boon ran in with his massive broadsword in hand. The muscle-bound barbarian, wearing nothing but a loin cloth and a bronze helmet, looked around the room with fierce eyes.
“God, Boon!” I flopped back on my bed after the initial surprise. “I’m not in danger. I’m bored! Why can’t I go sightseeing or something?”
The barbarian sheathed his sword in a scabbard hanging on his back. Then the giant blurred and his figure morphed into something new. A tall skinny man with a painted face, wearing a jester’s costume now stood before me. Clown Boon raised a decorative rattle and shook it.
“Want to hear a joke, Magenta? Knock, knock.” Clown Boon had a funny high-pitched voice.
I rolled my eyes and threw a pillow at my Boon. “I’m sixteen, Boon, I’m too old for clowns.”
Clown gave me an exaggerated pouty face. Then his body morphed into the form of an old woman. Nanny Boon gave me a warm smile.
“How about a story, Magenta. Maybe one about the Gingerbread Man. You love that one.” Nanny Boon had a warm nurturing voice.
It took a lot not to roll my eyes again. Nanny tended to flick my ear if I showed too much sass. “Yeah, I liked those stories when I was five. Why can’t I just go for a quick ride on the scooter?”
Nanny shook her head. Her body blurred and reshaped into Boon’s final form. Professor Boon, as I called him, was a clean-cut middle aged man who always wore a dark blue suit with a red tie. Professor adjusted his cufflinks and gave me an admonishing look.
“You know exactly why you can’t do that.” Professor spoke with an English accent. “I brought you halfway around the world to keep you away from Them. They will kill you if they get their hands on you.”
I waved off the old warning with a bored wave. “Maybe if you ever told me who They are I could keep a better lookout for them.” It was bad enough being on the move ever since I could remember, but not knowing why or whom we were running from drove me nuts.
Professor just shook his head. He turned and headed back into the conjoined room. “I need to go out for a few hours. You will remain here. You will not connect to a ley line and you will finish your schoolwork.”
I moaned and nudged the stack of textbooks on my nightstand farther away. After a few minutes, Professor Boon emerged from the other room holding a briefcase.
“Where you goin’?” I sat up, my interest piqued.
“Nowhere that concerns you. Stay inside and get started on your studies.” Professor marched out the front door to my room.
I threw one of my textbooks at the door closing behind the Boon. Then I let out a high-pitched squeal that could crack glass. I couldn’t blame the Boon too much. The mystically created artificial lifeform, commonly known as a Boon, was programed to only share certain information with me. He couldn’t go against his programming even if he wanted to.
For a full five minutes, I seriously contemplated behaving. Then my gaze fell on the brochure that had fallen out of my textbook. The massive Buddha statue pictured on the front looked interesting. In five more minutes, I was dressed and ready to go.
The last thing I did before I left was look in the mirror on the wall and activate a guise spell. My light brown skin paled to Caucasian coloring and my general features altered and aged a few years. The coloring of my eyes, which naturally matched my pink purple hair, turned blue, and my wild hair straightened and went blonde. With a wink at my foreign face, I made a beeline for the door.
***
The day was hot and humid. Warm wind blew on my face as I cruised down Chao Fah Tawan Tok road on my rented scooter. Traffic was pretty crazy in Chalong, not that it was extremely busy or anything. There just weren’t really any traffic laws in Thailand. Driving on the left side of the road was also throwing me for a loop.
Glancing down at my speedometer, I noticed my gas line was nearing empty. I pulled over at one of the many markets that lined the street and parked the scooter. I hopped off the bike and walked over to a rack just outside the market’s door. The rack was full of old beer bottles filled with a brownish liquid.
Grabbing the bottle of gasoline, I walked over to the market’s owner who had come to meet me at the door. He was an older man, with dark wrinkled skin and a bald head. His teeth were crooked and yellowing.
“Sah wahd dee kah.” I held up the bottle and gestured that I wanted to buy it.
“Sah wahd dee krahp, forty baht,” the old Thai man said.
Fishing around in my backpack, I pulled out my wallet and handed over two twenty baht bills. He took the money and the bottle of gasoline, and walked over to my scooter. I popped the seat up for him so he could get to the gas tank. As the old man emptied the bottle into the tank, I looked up towards my destination. High up on a nearby hill was a giant marble Buddha statue. I wasn’t sure how big the statue was, but judging by how large it looked from this distance, it had to be massive.
With the bottle emptied, the man replaced the gas cap.
“Kahp khoon.” I bowed my head politely.
Once back on the road, I zig-zagged around potholes and other vehicles. The helmet I wore didn’t fit me very well and the loose part of the chin strap flapped in the wind annoyingly. I wanted to take it off, but Boon had insisted I wear it at all times while riding. Even though it was unlikely, you could get arrested for not wearing a helmet. It did happen on occasion, and that was the kind of attention I didn’t need.
I wondered what my Boon was up to on his little mystery mission. He would be pissed when he found out I had left. I knew this was a stupid risk to be taking while on the run. However, I’d been on the run my entire life. I would have gone mad a long time ago if I let the risk of death keep me from having fun once and awhile.
Up ahead, I saw a big white sign reading, This Way to Big Buddha, with a red arrow pointing to the right. I made my way down the side street leading up to the Buddha. The road made several sharp twists and turns before it climbed up the hill.
The many shops and houses quickly fell away to be replaced with palm and rubber trees. Restaurants, viewpoints, and other stores geared towards tourists like me made the occasional break in native flora. A few advertised elephant rides. I felt bad for a baby elephant I passed who hopelessly tugged on his chained ankle. The winding road steadily steepened. My scooter’s engine struggled with the climb.
Just a little farther, I thought. You’re the little blue scooter that could.
Finally cresting the top of the hill, the massive marble structure came into view. I steered my scooter over towards the half empty parking lot. I parked the scooter in the shade, stood and stretched. My limbs were tingly from the vibrations of the scooter.
The Big Buddha sat in a cross-legged position raised up by a concrete foundation platform with its back to me. The foundation raised the statue at least twenty-five feet into the air, adding to its already towering height. Two smaller standing Buddha statues were built into the concrete foundation facing me. These were still under construction with green mesh covering their faces and steel bars sticking out of the tops their heads. To the right of the Big Buddha was another smaller Buddha statue, this one gold plated, which also faced away from me.
I walked through the parking lot and around the left side of the statue towards the entrance. The Big Buddha was a public shrine, so entrance was free. Several informational signs in both Thai and English spoke of the construction of the Buddha and asked for donations towards its completion. I hadn’t known it was such a newly created monument.
The entrance walkway led to a courtyard sitting about a hundred feet downhill from the statue’s foundation. From this angle, you could see big white letters embedded in the hillside that read THE BIG BUDDHA PHUKET. An assembly of tourists congregated around a group of statues in the middle of the courtyard. The tourists took turns posing for pictures next to the statues of a Thai monarch and an old man Buddha statue with the Big Buddha in the background. Another small group of tourists stood nearby around a large gong-like instrument. A blonde-haired woman made the instrument ring eerily by rapping her knuckles around the raised center of the gong.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a middle aged white man approaching me. I tensed, readying my muscles to flee.
“Could you take picture,” he said with a Swedish accent. He held up a camera and pointed to a woman and group of kids I assumed to be his family.
“S-sure, no problem.” I relaxed and accepted the camera.
You’re being paranoid, Magenta. There was no way the man could be one of Them. Boon had taken me half a world away from our usual stomping grounds in order to lay low for a while. There was no way They could have found me already.
The man joined his wife and herded his children in front of the monarch statue. His oldest child, a bored looking teenage girl, rolled her eyes as she put her phone away and grudgingly joined her family for the picture.
A ping of jealousy went through me as I snapped a few pictures of the happy family. The girl didn’t know how lucky she had it. What I wouldn’t give to have a real family like she had. The only family I had ever known was my Boon.
Boon had been my parent, friend, teacher and protector all rolled up into one, literally transforming himself into his different personas. Theoretically, he was all the companionship a person would need. It just wasn’t quite the same as having a real family, though.
“Thank you.” The Swedish man took back his camera with a smile.
“No problem.” I returned his warm smile, happy I could help immortalize this memory for the family.
Professor Boon always discouraged pictures. He said if they fell into the wrong hands, they could leave a paper trail They could easily follow.
Done exploring the courtyard, I wandered into an indoor area. The indoor area was one large room with tables on all sides covered in Buddhist charms, books, postcards, and various other souvenirs. I paused at a rack of necklaces. Pretending to examine the jewelry, I inspected my reflection in the small mirror on top of the rack to make sure my guise was still intact. I might take stupid risks now and then, but I wasn’t above some basic precautions.
Satisfied my guise was intact, I continued my examination of the various charms and baubles. Minor mystical vibrations coming off some of the charms told me the blessings placed on them were legit. On one table were several marble blocks destined to be a part of the Big Buddha. Tourists wrote their names and other messages on the blocks for a small donation. At the end of the table, two orange cats snuggled together, one giving the other a bath. I scratched one of the felines on the head as I walked by. It meowed happily in thanks.
I wandered towards the pull of even stronger mystical energies coming from the back of the room. The entire back section was dedicated to a large shrine. There was a distinctive line in the floor where the tile changed patterns, and a yellow sign requested the removal of shoes beyond this point. I slipped off my flip flops and walked over to the shrine.
On a raised stage, sat a variety of Buddha statues of all shapes and sizes. In front of the statues sat two monks, easily discernible by their simple orange colored robes. A line of tourists sat on the floor receiving blessings from the monks. I joined the line and knelt before the monks. I wasn’t really a religious person, but hey, every little bit helped. When my turn came, I bowed my head respectfully. The old monk smiled kindly down at me, and he held up a piece of colorful string.
“This for good luck,” he spoke with a thick Thai accent.
I nodded and held out my right wrist for him to tie it on. After securing it to my wrist, he picked up a handful of small sticks from a bowl and shook them above my head.
Water sprinkled on my head and face as the monk said, “Good luck, good luck, good luck.”
Bowing again, I placed a twenty baht bill in the donation bowl, and then moved to the side to let others receive their blessing. I exited the shrine area and slipped my feet back into my flip flops. I continued to examine the variety of informational signs and made my way to a side door with a sign that read, To Big Buddha, above it.
Outside the door, a set of stone steps led up the hill towards the Big Buddha. I ducked under a row of small golden bells hanging over the walkway and ascended the steps, which were steep and narrow, barely wide enough for two to stand shoulder to shoulder. I had to squeeze past several other tourists making their descent.
By the end of the climb, my skin was moist from perspiration. I swung my backpack off my shoulders, unzipped it, and pulled out a bottle of water. I took several large gulps of the lukewarm liquid as I got my first up close look at the massive statue. The Big Buddha was about 150 feet tall and 80 feet wide of shining marble that sparkled in the sunlight.
The platform holding the statue aloft was made of rough concrete. The incomplete foundation had spray painted numbers and jagged steel bars sticking out here and there. The foundation was round with a series of pillars on the outer edge. Beyond the pillars was a small overhang before a solid wall. Placed randomly between the pillars were more Buddha statues, none larger than six feet tall. At the very front of the statue, was an opening in the foundation’s wall.
I peeked inside and found a large room obviously still under construction. The room stretched the entire expanse of the foundation with dozens of concrete pillars supporting the monolith of stone above it. Six feet up in the air hung a checkered grid of white yarn. This I could only guess the purpose for. Light poured in from a similar doorway on the opposite wall.
My curiosity satisfied, I walked out from under the overhang, so I could look up at the statue once more. Walking counterclockwise around the Buddha, I admired the various smaller statues and the breathtaking view the hilltop had to offer. Looking out from the statue, I could see the various towns of southern Phuket, and the ocean beyond. The spectacular view would make one hell of a panoramic picture.
With a deep breath, I focused my core and used my second sight to look out over the horizon. Everything took on a reddish hue. I could see the many ley lines criss-crossing over the landscape, easily identified by their bright gold color. The stronger ones were thick bright lines pulsating rhythmically, the weaker lines thin and faint. On my wrist, I noticed the bracelet the monk had given me gave off a faint glow. The mystical energy coming off it was so faint I couldn’t even feel it, but I could see it with my second sight.
Reaching out with my awareness, I made contact with one of the closer lines. The raw power flooding into my core made me shiver. The ley lines here tasted different than they did back in the States. I slowly directed the power back into the line before I broke contact. It wasn’t smart for me to keep contact with a ley line for too long. If one of Them happened to be connected to the same line, they could track me through it.
Dropping my second sight, the colors of the world returned, and I resumed my walk around the Buddha. On the left-hand side of the Big Buddha was the golden statue I had seen from the parking lot. Though dwarfed by the Big Buddha, this statue still towered above me, thirty feet in the air. Like the Big Buddha, it also sat cross-legged, but had its hands in a different position. The golden statue didn’t look very secure on the edge of the plateau with two large steel beams bracing it up from behind. Several steel cables were also lashed around the statue’s chest and connected to the foundation of the Big Buddha.
After I completed my revolution around the statue, I sat down at a picnic table directly in front of the Big Buddha. I slipped off my flip flops and flexed my toes. The heat and humidity were making my toes and ankles swell. I removed the bottle of water from my backpack. I sipped my drink and watched the sun near the western horizon.
“Tommy, get back here.” A frustrated father chased his toddler son.
“Can’t catch me, Daddy, can’t catch me,” squealed the little boy, laughing. He ran between the pillars of the Buddha’s foundation.
A memory came to mind of Nanny Boon reading to me back when I was still jumping around from foster home to foster home.
“Run, run as fast as you can, can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man,” Nanny Boon read.
“I don’t get it, Nanny. Why doesn’t the Gingerbread Man stay and fight the old mean wolf? Why does he always run away?” I asked when I was no more than eight years old.
“Well, dearie, the wolf is much stronger and meaner than the Gingerbread Man. However, the Gingerbread Man is faster, so it is just smarter for him to run away,” she had answered.
“Is that why we always run away from Them?” I asked, pulling my teddy bear closer. Even at that young age, I had already had unpleasant encounters with my mysterious foes.
“Yes, that’s exactly why. You’re my little Gingerbread Man.” Nanny tickled my sides.
I giggled happily as the old woman tucked me in and kissed my forehead.
Coming back to the present, the runaway toddler was about to go through the doorway into the inner foundation when his father caught him and swooped him up in his arms.
“Awe, you caught me, Daddy.” The little boy made a pouty face.
“Yep, it’s time to go.” His red cheeked father swung the little boy to his shoulders.
I sighed and returned my attention back to the view. As the tip of the sun reached the horizon, I realized I was completely alone. Looking down on the courtyard below, I saw the last few tourists making their way to the parking lot. It was time to leave and go endure Professor Boon’s tiresome lecture. He would be doubly pissed I stayed out past dark.
Humming softly to myself, I walked down the stone steps. It had been a nice afternoon. I was glad I had decided to sneak out. Halfway down the steps, a weird feeling made me pause. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I got the distinct feeling someone was watching me. Paranoia took hold of me. I spun around looking for the unseen threat.
There was nothing behind me but empty steps. I had a real bad feeling about this. I needed to get out of here right now. I turned back around and made to run down the steps. My path was blocked by a tall figure. In the dying light, I couldn’t see who or what it was that stood in my way. When the figure raised its hands and drew in mystical energy, I knew I was in trouble. A green ball of light formed in between the figure’s hands, illuminating its face.
The figure was a tall Hispanic man with short, slicked black hair and an evil grin. “Found you, little girl.” He pulled back his hand and threw the ball of green light in my direction.
I ducked just in time. The sizzling ball of light singed my hair as it flew inches above my head. It collided with a small shrine next to the steps. The shrine burst into flames, melting the golden statue inside.
Holy shit, that had been a close one. I sprinted back up the steps to the Big Buddha. I couldn’t believe They had found me. This was so not good. I shouldn’t have tapped that ley line.
Running in flip flops was not the easiest thing in the world. I stumbled over the last step and nearly fell on my face. Regaining my balance, I continued running without looking back. There had to be another way down from here. A buzz of mystical energy came from my right. I dove to the ground. Another ball of glowing light flew over my head. It smashed into one of the foundation pillars of the Big Buddha. The stone pillar exploded into dozens of pieces. I rolled to my side and scrambled back to my feet to face my enemies.
Next to the picnic table I was sitting at earlier, stood three more of Them, two sorcerers and a sorceress. The men were tall white guys with brown hair. They looked like they could be twin brothers. Their accomplice was a short Asian woman with long black hair. A ball of mystical energy was forming in the woman’s hands.
I tapped into the closest ley line and let the power flow through my core. Manipulating it with my will, I formed it into a protective wall of blue energy. The impact of the Asian’s energy ball knocked me off balance, but my shield absorbed most of the impact. It was time to go into Gingerbread Man mode and get the hell out of here.
I spun around and sprinted towards the Big Buddha and through the doorway into the inner foundation. It was too dark to see in there. I focused the ley line energy still flowing through my core to my hand. “Lux Lucis,” I muttered.
A small ball of light formed in my right hand, illuminating the path to the other doorway. The inner foundation had a dirt floor, littered with random debris from the construction of the place. I leapt over a pile of steel bars in my desperate sprint to the other exit.
Where the hell was Warrior Boon when I really needed him?
When I was twenty feet from the exit, a tall figure stepped into the doorway. I skidded to a stop and held my light ball up to identify him as friend or foe. The light illuminated the Hispanic man’s face with slicked black hair; defiantly foe. He ran towards me with red mystical energy swirling around his hands. Instinctively, I threw my small ball of light at my attacker. The ball of light was harmless beyond a minor distraction. Upon impact it evaporated, and barley broke the man’s stride.
Trying to escape, I tripped and fell right on my ass.
My assailant stood over me with a nasty grin. The harsh red glow emanating from the man’s hands seemed to amplify his malevolence. “Time to die.” He brought his fists down on top of my head.
Terror broke my concentration and severed my connection with the ley line. I wouldn’t be able to get a shield up in time. Reflexively, I threw my hands up in front of my face, even though I knew it wouldn’t do any good. I was so dead.
When the man’s fists collided with my wrists, it was like he hit a stone wall. A bright light flashed, originating from my little string bracelet. My attacker’s magic rebounded back at him. He had a stunned look on his face as he was sent flying into the ceiling. He landed on the ground a few feet away from me out cold.
Wow, I thought. I looked at the colorful string tied to my wrist just as shocked as my downed assailant. Guess this thing really is lucky.
I could figure out what had just happened later, right now I needed to run. The man’s short flight had knocked down the string grid hanging from the ceiling. I felt like a fly trapped in a spider’s web as I struggled under the net of strings. When I broke free of my stringy confines, I ran out the door into the fresh air.
“There she is!” a man cried off to my left.
I reconnected with the ley line and threw up a blue shield. A green blast of energy side-blinded my shield. I took cover behind one of the outer pillars of the foundation. Then I cautiously took a peek at my adversaries. The twin guys stood side by side near the golden Buddha statue.
“Give it up, Magenta!” cried one of them. “You’re outnumbered, and there is no place to run.”
Yeah, like that was going to work. Did this moron really think I would just give myself up so they could kill me? These people were really pissing me off. Just one day. Was that too much to ask for? Just one day of peaceful sightseeing without being chased and shot at.
It was time to show these guys I was more than just a Gingerbread Man who only knew how to run away. I was also one of the most powerful sorceresses in the world, and it was time to show them that. In that moment, I decided to do something I had never done before. I decided to fight back.
“Okay, I’m coming out,” I yelled. “Don’t shoot.”
Drawing in mystical energy from the ley line, I projected a lifelike image of myself. My guise had fallen apart at some point during my struggles and my projection was my usual Hispanic teenage self. At least, I thought I was Hispanic; Boon would neither confirm nor deny this. As my illusion walked out from behind the pillar with its hands raised in the air, I crouched low and ran to a pillar closer to my enemies. Twin balls of green energy flew at my mirage. The spells passed through it and blew up a picnic table nearby.
I didn’t know many offensive spells, so I threw basic stun hexes at the twins. The one on the right dodged my spell, but his brother wasn’t as quick. Taking it full in the face, he crumbled to the ground.
The remaining twin gaped at his fallen brother. I crouched behind the concrete pillar as he threw another energy ball at me with an angry cry. The energy ball blasted the top of the pillar. Chunks of concrete rained down on me. I made a protective dome to shield me from the falling debris.
Standing up, I drew in as much mystical energy as I could handle. I couldn’t think of any good offensive spells beyond my stun hex, so I just released the raw energy towards my opponent, putting all my frustration and anger into it. A beam of purple energy shot from my hands. The remaining twin’s eyes went as wide as saucers when he saw what was coming at him.
He raised a shield around himself, but the impact of my energy beam threw him back into the side of the golden Buddha. The man fell to the ground and didn’t get back up.
“That’s right, asshole!” I yelled in triumph. I looked down at my hands, mystified. I’d never channeled such a massive amount of mystical energy before. I didn’t know I had it in me.
A loud snapping sound drew my attention back to the golden statue. My blast had knocked away the steel beams supporting the golden Buddha, along with a good chunk of earth behind the statue. The statue was leaning perilously off the edge of the plateau. One of the steel cables that attached it to the Big Buddha’s foundation snapped, making me jump.
The last two cables snapped simultaneously, and the statue tipped over the ledge. I stood there, dumbstruck, as the golden Buddha tumbled down the hill, making horrible crashing sounds.
Whoops, I thought. The statue came to rest in the middle of the parking lot. Time to go.
Running around the right side of the Buddha, I made a beeline for the steps. I noticed as I ran by that both the unconscious twins had miraculously avoided falling over the ledge with the statue. I could barely see where I was going in the fading light, but I took the steps two at a time. I was breathing hard by the time I reached the indoor area. That last energy blast had taken a lot out of me.
I slowed down my pace as I made my way to the exit. It was darker in here. I could scarcely see the many tables scattered throughout the room. “Lux Lucis.” A ball of silver light appeared in my hand, illuminating my immediate surroundings.
The Asian woman from earlier appeared out of the darkness and slammed into me. We collided with a table and fell to the ground along with a heap of marble bricks. My ball of light remained illuminated but rolled away from my hand. The woman straddled me, clamped her hands around my neck and squeezed. For such a small woman, she had a vice-like grip. I hopelessly clawed at her hands, trying to get air to my lungs. Seeing spots, I felt myself losing consciousness. I tried to tap into a ley line, but I couldn’t focus enough to get a connection.
“Meeeeeooooow, pssssst,” came from somewhere in the darkness.
An orange cat appeared and lunged at my attacker. The woman cried out. She released her grip from around my throat to try and fend off the cat as it bit and clawed at her face. I sucked in sweet oxygen, grateful for my feline friend.
With a feral cry, the woman threw the cat away from her. I grabbed a chunk of marble off the ground and hit her in the side of the head. My attacker dropped like a sack of bricks. I didn’t know if she was alive or dead, but I didn’t care as I rolled her off me.
I got to my feet. A dizzy spell hit me. I had to pause for a moment to steady myself.
“Meeeeoooow.” My feline savior rubbed up against my leg.
“Thanks, kitty.” I rubbed the cat’s head. “Gotta go now.”
“Meeeooow.” As the feline disappeared into the shadows, it looked like the outline of the cat grew and changed into a robed human form. It could have been just a trick of the light.
I picked up my ball of light and dropped one of the precious rubies Boon gave me for monetary emergencies in the nearest donation jar. Hopefully it would be enough to cover some of the damage done to the shrine. Then I ran out of the building towards the parking lot. I had downed all my attackers I knew of, but there could be more any second. I sprinted to my little blue scooter, the only remaining vehicle in the lot. I jammed the key it into the ignition and started it up. The weak growl of the engine was music to my ears as I strapped on my helmet.
I peeled out of the parking lot and zoomed down the hill. It took several deep breathes to calm my pounding heart. As the adrenaline seeped out of my system, fatigue creeped into my muscles. I grinned happily as I sped down the twisting road, confident I had escaped Them at this point.
Run, run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man, I thought as the warm air blew in my face.