Bridgetown, Issue #1: Arrival by Giovanni Iacobucci Read Free Book Online Page A

each
other.
    To all present, it was as if the sound of
Crupp's great spanking was loud enough to ripple throughout all of
Mississippi.
    The would-be assailant stumbled into the
water, crying for help, and paddled away.
    Jesse helped his thoroughly soaked and
bloodied brother up onto his feet. Wayne was winded, but
relieved.
    They climbed into their little borrowed raft
and paddled back to safety, using the baseball bat and their hands
in lieu of an oar.
    The ride back to shore was silent. Wayne
watched the three bullies on the island as they sat in silent
defeat, looking back at Jesse and Wayne as they disappeared into
the thick of swamp trees.
    Wayne waited until the bullies were no longer
visible to speak.
    "Thanks," was all he could manage.
    It was a half-hearted show of grace, for
every time that Jesse had to rescue him—and there had been plenty
already—it only cemented Wayne's status as the Littlest Big Brother
in the World.
     
    And so the resentment grew. And deepened. And
metastasized, until Jesse could virtually do nothing right in the
eyes of his brother. And, in turn, Wayne could do nothing right in
Jesse's eyes.
    At least that was his theory, right now, as
he chased after his own Jeep that Wayne had so thoughtlessly stolen
from him, along with Susanna.
    More thunder, and
lightning. Real wrath-of-God weather we're
having tonight .
    Jesse was driving the Volkswagen as hard as
its little, wheezing, blue-exhaust-spewing engine would let him. It
sounded like the bolts holding the damn thing together were
unscrewing themselves from their bearings. He bounced and jolted
around in the cabin that smelled of stale pot.
    He was no longer quite sure why he was
pursuing them, or what he'd say to Susanna once he caught up to
them.
    Maybe he should give up the chase. Maybe this
was a stupid idea.
    No, it definitely was a stupid idea.
    The taillights on the Jeep lit up in red.
They were stopping, after all.
    He hit his own brakes in turn, and the
Volkswagen bus began to lurch downwards, skidding against the dirt
floor.
    He shut off the bus and stepped out.
    He saw Susanna, her face illuminated by the
lightning. He was surprised, briefly, to find that she had been the
one driving.
    Then he saw the look on their faces, both of
them. They looked like Godzilla was behind him.
    So he turned around.
    And he saw Devil's Peak, glowing red.
    He squinted, trying to make sense of what he
was looking at.
    Then the mountain went white in a flash,
    And a bolt of crackling electricity shot
through the earth. It made a beeline for their position.
    Silence, for a moment.
     
    Then the scene resumes.
    Jesse looked back at Susanna and Wayne. There
was an immense, towering fountain of light behind them, spewing
liquid energy into the sky. The ground beneath Susanna and Wayne
appeared molten, though it did not seem to burn. They were
struggling to get out, but he could see they were being pulled in
closer to the light.
    Jesse, at the edge of the pool, crouched and
dipped his hands into the shimmering gold soup that had been dry
desert just moments before.
    He found its temperature to be as warmly
pleasant and sunshine. Touching it comforted him. For a moment he
thought he heard his mother's distant voice.
    "Hey! It's safe! Swim across! Try to swim
across!"
    But it was plainly clear they couldn't hear
him now.
    Susanna tried to swim, but
to no avail. Wayne was clinging to the Jeep, which was tipping into
the vortex and would soon disappear into it entirely. Wayne
never had learned
to swim.
    "Susanna!" Jesse cried out.
    But he didn't jump in after her. He knew it
would be futile.
    He caught a last flicker of her, as she
stopped struggling and flipped over onto her back. The ball of
light was glowing brighter, and he couldn't make out either of them
any longer.
    Susanna, Wayne, and the Jeep—all were gone,
pulled into the light.
    Jesse's head was spinning.
    He fell to his
knees. What is this? What's
happening?
    The ground around him began to