Awaken (21 page)

John nodded. “We’ll go back.”

Mom reached out to snatch my hand, her face draining once more of color.

“Pierce, no,” she cried. “You can’t. Didn’t you hear what your father and I said? Mr. Rector has filed charges against you for attacking Seth —” She looked up at John. “Both of you. You can’t go anywhere near that place.”

“Mom.” I squeezed her fingers. “Don’t you get it? Mr. Rector can’t hurt you anymore. He can’t hurt Uncle Chris, either. You have us.”

“You have me, too.”

We turned to see my father standing in the entrance to the dining room, his cell phone dangling from one hand, his expression bemused as he stared at my mom and me.

“But then, you’ve always had me.” He took the step down from the dining room into the living area, and crossed the room to put his arm around my mother. “I’m not entirely certain why you ever thought you didn’t. And if I overheard correctly, and it involves that Rector clown, then you not only have me, but you also have my .22 Magnum.”

“You see,” Mom said. “This is
exactly
why I never wanted to involve your father. He always overreacts.”

“I don’t think Dad’s overreacting in this particular case,” I said. I glanced up at my father. “How’d you do on the boats?”

“Gary can get them here in six hours,” Dad said, looking pleased for himself. His gaze fell on Alex. “Who the hell are you?” he demanded gruffly.

“Zack,” Mom said. “That’s Alex.” When Dad continued to look blank, she added, frustrated, “My brother’s son? Your
nephew
?”

“Oh,” Dad said. His manner softened somewhat. “How you doing?”

Alex looked at my father with something like wonder, taking in his business suit slacks, T-shirt, and unshaven face. “I’m fine. Nice to finally meet you, Uncle Zachary.”

It was only then that I realized why Alex seemed so astonished. It wasn’t my father’s peculiar state of dress. It was that this was the first time my father had ever visited Isla Huesos. Alex had never seen my father in person before, due to Dad’s extreme prejudice against his in-laws … which was somewhat understandable, when you factored Grandma into the equation.

“Call me Zack,” Dad said to Alex. “You know about all this Underworld business?”

“I do,” Alex said with a nod. “I’ve been there. These two” — he nodded first at me, then John — “brought me back to life after Seth Rector stuffed me in a coffin and I suffocated to death.”

“What?”
Mom cried.

Dad, however, didn’t skip a beat. “No kidding. I’d love to hear more about that if we’ve got the time.”

“We don’t,” John growled. “Six hours isn’t fast enough, either. We need those ships now.”

My father eyed him. “Six hours is as fast as a two-hundred-twenty-five-foot-long ship built to accommodate twelve hundred passengers can travel … especially in rough seas, when they’ve only got two diesel engines with a top speed of” — he glanced down at his phone — “sixteen knots.”

John looked at me. “It isn’t going to be soon enough. Mr. Liu says some of the passengers have already begun to riot outside the castle.”

“Then take my dad’s advice,” I said, “and make your own fate. Do you know what I’m saying?”

He gazed down into my eyes, his expression filled with love, but also with uncertainty. “I already told you, the heaviest thing I’ve ever lifted is Frank.”

“I know,” I said, reaching for his hand. “But if you don’t do this, more people are going to die. People like Uncle Chris out there, and my mom.”

Dad looked up, alarmed. “What are you two talking about?”

I crossed the room to take my father’s hand. “Nothing,” I said. “We need a little favor from you, that’s all. It’s only going to take a second.”

“What is?” Dad protested as I steered him closer to where John was standing.

“Pierce,” Mom said. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing, Mom,” I said. “John just has to take Dad somewhere for a minute. They’ll be right back.”

“What do you mean, we’ll be right back?” Dad asked. “Where are we going? I don’t have my car, it’s with my driver back at the hotel. I’ll call him if you need to take a car somewhere, but —”

“John doesn’t need a car,” Alex said, with a smirk from where he was sitting at the kitchen counter. “He
is
the car.”

“Wait a minute,” Dad said, as I plucked his cell phone from his fingers and scrolled back to his last communication. “Here,” I said to John, showing him the attached photo. “Is that clear enough?”

John shrugged. “It better be,” he said, laying his hand on my father’s shoulder. “Hopefully we won’t end up on a dock in Hong Kong.” Then he laid a hand upon my shoulder, as well.

My father wasn’t the only one who instantly attempted to twist away from John’s grasp. Dad was the only one who wasn’t successful, though.

“No, John,” I said. “What if Grandma or some of her cronies show up while you’re gone? Someone has to stay to protect them.” I gestured towards my mother and Uncle Chris, now busily skimming the pool.

“What do I look like, a helpless kitten?” Alex complained. “I’m not going to let anything happen to them.”

John glowered at Alex. “How are
you
going to fight a Fury?”

Alex picked up a butter knife from the kitchen counter and began to dance around, jabbing the knife into the air.

“Like this,” Alex said. “See? I’ve got moves.”

Rolling my eyes, I took the whip from my waist, uncoiled it, then cracked it once, neatly striking the knife from Alex’s hand, disarming him.

“Ow!” Alex cried in indignation, grasping his wrist. “That really hurt. What did you do that for?”

“I’ve got moves, too,” I said, recoiling the whip.

“She always did have good aim,” my father said with admiration. “Remember the throwing stars, Debbie?”

“How could I forget?” Mom murmured. She was staring in shock at the butter knife, which had landed with a clinking sound at her feet. “You had to keep them locked up away from her.”

“That doesn’t prove anything,” John said. But I could see the grudging admiration in his face.

“It proves you should probably let go of me now,” my father said, referring to the iron grip John still had on his shoulder. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to make her angry, any more than it is you.”

John held on to my father more tightly. “No,” he said. “Sorry. We’re still going.” To me, he said, “If you’re going to stay here, lock the door and don’t answer it. Don’t let
anyone
inside, no matter who it is. And don’t go anywhere until I get back. Not anywhere, especially Reef Key. Do you understand, Pierce?”

I made a face. “No. Could you explain it again? Because I was thinking about going to Reef Key without you, and also letting any Fury who knocks inside.”

John ignored my sarcasm. “I don’t know how long this is going to take,” he said. “But I promise this time I’ll be back soon, Pierce.”

I crossed the room to stand beside him, laying a hand upon his arm. “You’d better be.”

His gray eyes seemed to burn through me. “If anything should go wrong —”

“It won’t,” I said firmly.

“Which it won’t,” he said. “But if it should, you know where to meet me, don’t you? Where we met the first night I saw you back in Isla Huesos —”

“In the cemetery.”
In the cemetery
sounded better than saying
Next to your tomb.

He nodded. “Under our tree —”

Before he could utter another word, I rose up onto my toes to press my lips to his. He seemed surprised — surprised enough to release his hold on my father — but not unpleasantly so.

I hoped he could feel through the emotion of my kiss the words I was too embarrassed to say in front of my parents … words I felt I could never say enough:
I love you, I love you, I love you.

He not only seemed to get the message, he didn’t seem at all embarrassed, since, as soon as our lips parted, he whispered, “I love you, too.”

I looked up at him and smiled, my heart so full of happiness, I was certain it was about to burst. My joy made no sense, of course. What did I have to feel joyful about? There was no future for us in this world, and the only one in which we could live was being pulled apart.

But he loved me, and that, at least, no one could destroy.

“Hello. Remember me? The dad. The dad is standing right here. Could the two of you please not do that in front of me?” My father sounded even crankier than usual. “Also, would someone mind explaining to me exactly what’s going on here?”

“Sorry, sir.” John dropped his hands from my waist and reached to grasp my father’s arm as I walked away from them. “Don’t worry. In a moment it will all become clear. Just close your eyes.”

Another burst of wind swept in from outside, causing the French door John had closed to crash open again with a bang. Flower petals and leaves Uncle Chris had yet to sweep up came swirling inside in mini vortexes. My mother yelped in alarm.

“What’s happening?” she asked anxiously. “What are they doing?”

“Don’t worry, Aunt Deb,” Alex said, reaching for a waffle. “You’ll get used to it.”

“I’ll be damned if I’m going to close my eyes,” my father said.

“We’re all going to be damned anyway,” John said, “if this doesn’t work out.”

One. Two. Three.

Blink.

They were gone.

E
verything all right in here?” Uncle Chris stepped inside to ask. “I thought I heard you scream, Deb. There a palmetto bug in the trash compactor again?”

Mom was clutching the collar of her robe closed at her neck. All the color had drained from her face. She stood there shaking her head, staring at the spot where John and my father had been standing a second before.

“I … I don’t understand. Where did they go?”

“To get the boats, Mom,” I said.

“But how did they … they were standing right there. And then they … ”

“It’s called teleportation,” I said gently. “If John pictures a person or thing in his head, he can go to where that person or thing is. And if he’s touching someone, he can take that person with him. But he can’t stay away from Isla Huesos or the Underworld for too long. If he does, he’ll begin to age and die.”

Uncle Chris looked at us. “Are you talking about
World of Warcraft
? Alex loves that game. Don’t you, Alex? How many points do you have? A billion?”

“That’s right, Dad,” Alex said. “A billion.”

I glared at Alex. This was stupid. He should tell his father the truth already. He’d suffered more than anyone because of it all — well, almost anyone. Uncle Chris hadn’t died.

Alex seemed to read my thoughts almost as easily as John had. Or maybe he was only reading my disapproving expression.

“Hey, Pierce,” Alex said, getting up from his counter stool and going to the refrigerator. “Remember when we played
World of Warcraft
and we hit the level where the guy was just an innocent pawn being used by all the much more evil characters?”

“I do not remember that level,” I said.

“Yeah, well, I do.” Alex opened the refrigerator, took out a carton of milk, and drank from it. “You insisted we tell him the truth, and he couldn’t handle it, and did something dumbly noble, and died. Don’t do that in this level.”

“Alex,” my mother said. “Please don’t drink milk straight from the carton.”

Uncle Chris saw the file Alex had stolen from Mr. Rector’s office sitting on the counter. “What’s this?” he said curiously, reaching for it.

“
Don’t!
” Alex and I both cried at the exact same time.

“It’s nothing,” Mom said. She quickly lifted the file. “It’s something of mine … for work.”

“Work?” Uncle Chris squinted down at the file in her arms. “It says
Rector Realty
on it. You work at the Marine Institute. What has the Marine Institute got to do with Rector Realty?”

“I’m, um, doing some research,” Mom said. “On Reef Key. Just a little private research of my own. In fact, I was about to head upstairs and get dressed and start my research right now on the computer.”

“That’s a good idea, Aunt Deb,” Alex said. “Want me to come help you?”

“No, thank you, Alex,” Mom said with some of her old acerbic dryness. “I’m quite capable of getting dressed and doing research on my own.”

“Really, Aunt Deb,” Alex said, following my mom as she backed out of the kitchen and down the hallway, towards the stairs. “I want to help.”

What Alex wanted, I knew, was not to let that file out of his sight. He wasn’t used to trusting adults — it wasn’t as if any had ever been there for him in the past — and it didn’t look as if he was ready to start now.

“Really, Alex,” I heard my mother say from the hallway. “I’m not going to do anything without your permission, and I’ll give it back when I’m done with it.”

Uncle Chris, looking a little anxious, watched them go.

“Piercey,” he said in a low voice, so they wouldn’t overhear. “Does Alex seem … different to you?”

“Different?” I asked. “In what way?”

“I don’t know,” Uncle Chris said. “He seems a little more … mature, or something. Almost overnight.”

Being murdered by your peers, then brought back from the dead, could certainly have that effect on you.

I didn’t mention this to Uncle Chris, however. All I said was, “I don’t know. I haven’t really noticed.”

I didn’t like lying to him. But he was Alex’s father and Alex didn’t want him knowing the truth, so I felt like I had to respect that.

“Well, I’ve noticed,” Uncle Chris said, reaching up to scratch his head beneath his Isla Huesos Bait and Tackle baseball cap. “I think it’s a good thing. Maybe that New Pathways program you two are in at school is working on him. Or maybe it’s you, being a good influence on him, Piercey. But I’m finally starting to get the feeling I don’t have to worry about him as much. You know?”

I swallowed. I couldn’t believe Uncle Chris and I were having this conversation.

“Uh,” I said. “I’m pretty sure it doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Uncle Chris said, grinning at me. “I was kind of suspicious of that boyfriend of yours at first, but I think maybe he’s a positive role model for Alexander.”

I tried not to glance at the burnt spot in the living room carpet. “Maybe. Or maybe Alex straightened up because he’s so worried about you, Uncle Chris, and that murder charge against you.”

“Oh, that,” Uncle Chris said with a shrug. “I didn’t do it, so I’m sure it will all get straightened out soon. It was nice of your mom to post my bail.”

His naïve belief that the charges would be dropped and everything would work out because he was innocent was sort of astonishing for a man who’d spent so many years in prison. Granted, he’d spent those years in prison for a crime he truly had committed (although the penalty had been far too severe, especially for possession of a drug that was now legal in many states), but surely he must have met a lot of people in there who’d been convinced they were innocent. How could he have so much faith he’d be exonerated?

I guess that was just Uncle Chris. He was a truly positive person. No wonder my mom felt so bad about not coming forward and telling the truth about Mr. Rector. He was a slimebag who preyed on those who weren’t able to defend themselves.

Like the dead.

“Hey, what boats did your dad and that boyfriend of yours go to get?” Uncle Chris asked.

“Oh,” I said. “For, uh, John’s business. His boats got destroyed in the, er, storm, and my dad says he knows a guy who has some other boats John can use.”

“That’s nice,” Uncle Chris said. “I hope your mom and dad get back together. He makes Deb really happy. And I think that John fella makes you happy, too, am I right?” His eyes glinted at me teasingly.

I smiled back at him. “What would make
you
happy, Uncle Chris?” I asked.

He grinned in that sweet, slightly childish way of his that never failed to tug on my heartstrings.

“If everyone I loved was happy, of course,” he said, as if it should have been obvious.

It was kind of funny that right as he said this, the doorbell rang.

I uttered a curse word I’d picked up from spending way too much time in the company of Frank and Kayla. Uncle Chris looked at me in surprise. “Piercey!” he said, shocked.

“Sorry.” My heart began to drum inside my chest. I heard rapid footsteps in the hallway.

“It’s Chief of Police Santos,” my mother said, her face a mask of concern. “I saw him on the front porch from the window.”

“There are cop cars all up and down the street,” Alex said, skidding into the kitchen right behind her. “Po-pos here to take us to the big house.”

“You don’t know that,” Mom said to him.

“Oh, yeah? Why else do you think they’re here, Aunt Deb? To help you clean up your lawn after the big storm?” Alex’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “Yeah, that’s a special service the Isla Huesos police chief offers to all the attractive new divorcées on the island.”

“Mom,” I said, my heart in my throat. “I think we need to borrow your car.”

“How’s that going to work?” Alex demanded. “Chief Santos parked in her driveway. And don’t think he didn’t do it on purpose to block us from getting her car out of the garage. Are we supposed to ram him?”

“Oh,” I said, disappointed. I looked at Alex. “How did you guys get here? In your car?”

“We walked,” Alex said. “Your genius boyfriend had Frank slash all my tires to keep me from going out after Coffin Fest, remember?”

“Oh, right,” I said. That had worked really well, since Alex had gone out anyway and gotten himself killed.

“This is crazy,” Mom said, as the doorbell rang again, this time accompanied by a knock and a deep voice saying, “Dr. Cabrero? We know you’re home. We need to ask you a few questions about your daughter.”

“I’m going to open the door and invite him in and explain the whole situation —”

Both Alex and I had glanced down at the diamond at the end of my necklace. It was the color of onyx. “No!” we cried simultaneously.

“Go out the back,” Uncle Chris said.

I looked at him, startled. I had almost forgotten he was in the room, he’d grown so quiet.
Go out the back
were the first words he’d said since my mom and Alex had said it was the police at the door.

“What?” I asked him, confused not so much by the words, but that he, my sweet, beloved uncle, was the one saying them.

“The two of you,” he said, pointing first at Alex and me, then at the backyard. “Go out the back way. The wall’s too high to climb, but I saw some bikes by the gate back there. You could get on them, then peddle towards the cemetery. The cops won’t be able to follow you. There’s a big tree down across the middle of the road. They’re still trying to find guys with enough chain saws to cut it apart since it’s too big to lift.”

I stared at him. He meant the tree that had fallen on top of Mr. Mueller.

Alex shook his head at his father pityingly. “Dad, you of all people should know you can’t run from the po-po. Besides, I told you, the driveway is blocked by their squad cars.”

“But we can still get bikes around them,” I said.

“Sure,” Alex said. “But they’ll see us.”

“Not if I create a diversion and distract them,” Chris said. “In prison, we had a name for when we did that.”

Alex and I widened our eyes at him. “What was it?”

“Well, prison riot,” Uncle Chris said with a shrug. “That was the most accurate term for it, although we did try to think of a better one.”

“No,” my mother said, looking outraged. “This is wrong. Christopher, you are not going to —”

“You’d better go,” Uncle Chris said, lifting my tote bag — which I’d left sitting at the bottom of the stairs — and handing it to me.

The thumping on the door had become more fevered. Now I heard the chief of police say, “Dr. Cabrero, I have a search warrant. I don’t want to break down your door, but if you don’t open it, I will.”

“Go,”
Uncle Chris said, and pushed us towards the backyard.

Alex faced his father, flabbergasted, but finally grabbed his backpack from the chair over which he’d slung it. “Don’t do anything stupid to get yourself thrown back in jail, Dad,” he said.

“Why would I do that?” Christopher asked, looking genuinely puzzled.

Alex shook his head, wearing an expression that clearly read,
This is going to be a disaster
.

“Christopher, wait,” I heard my mom call as she raced after her brother, who’d gone striding towards the front door.

I didn’t stick around to see what was going to happen after that. I grabbed the front of Alex’s shirt and dragged him through the French doors and across the back porch, down the steps and around the side of the house, towards the back gate and the bicycles Uncle Chris had said he’d seen.

“This is never going to work,” Alex was muttering. “They’re going to see us. And what about your necklace? There’s obviously a Fury out there. For all we know, it could be Chief Santos.”

“It isn’t him,” I said. I was surprised to see my bicycle sitting beside my mother’s. Somehow she’d retrieved it from the cemetery, where I’d left it locked up, or the police had returned it after I’d gone missing. “My necklace never turned black around Chief Santos before.”

“Well, maybe he’s a Fury now. Maybe they’ve possessed everyone on the entire island except us, like some kind of plague. Oh, hell no.” Alex looked down at the two bikes, mine and my mother’s. “I’m not riding a
girl’s
bike.”

“Fine,” I said, yanking mine from its kickstand. “Stay here and get arrested. You deserve it for being such a sexist snob. I’m leaving.”

“Get arrested?” Alex grabbed my mom’s bike — which was a red single speed with a simple wire basket — and hurried after me. “I didn’t do anything.
You’re
the one who —”

“Shhh,” I said. We’d reached the gate that led from the backyard to the driveway. I held up a hand to silence Alex as I listened to what was happening on the front porch.

“I already served my time,” I could hear Uncle Chris shouting. “Don’t I have any rights?”

“Of course you have rights, Mr. Cabrero,” Chief of Police Santos was saying in a patient tone. “We’re not here for you. We’re here to talk to your niece. We understand that she and this fellow we all were so worried had kidnapped her — but who we now come to find out is actually her boyfriend — were at a Coffin Night party last night out on Reef Key and caused a considerable amount of damage —”