Catalyst (38 page)

             
"What…
" I almost asked what happened, but like someone had plugged me in, I knew everything in an instant. I gasped and scrambled up. I ran. I flew with all my might down the hall, hearing them yelling and running after me. I got to one pantry door and threw it open. It was empty. I opened the next, empty. The third…oh no…it was empty too.

             
By the time I got done with them all, we were supposed to have nine pantries full of food to help tie us over for when the need warehouses opened to feed all these people. It still wouldn't have been near enough, but it was a start. Now, we only had one. One! That wouldn't last us two months.

             
"I should have realized…" Merrick said beside me and gripped his hair angrily in his fingers.
"I should have noticed you were acting strange
."

             
I turned a rage filled roar to Piper, who stood there smugly.

             
"How could you? Do you have any idea what you've done?"

             
"I know exactly what I've done!" she yelled back. "I've ended you. You've killed all these people now. They'll starve because of you."
             

             
"What's going on
, man
?" Cain asked
Merrick
. I looked around and realized that no one understood what was wrong except Merrick and I. And as I looked up at him as he stood beside me, he shook with his rage and hatred for his sister.
I gripped his hand.

             
"She knew I was
the only one checking the food, planning the meals.
Piper got Polly to compel me," I explained. "The pantries are empty." I heard their gasps and mutters of outrage. "Polly made me see a vision, a compulsion, so I'd believe they were full every time I checked back here. They've been slowly removing the food over the past few weeks."

             
"I should have seen the compulsion on you," Merrick sa
id in regret and rubbed my fingers with his thumb in a soft apology
. "It's why you've been so strange lately." Then he turned his gaze to Piper. "What did you do with the food, Piper?" When she stayed silent, his voice got harder. "If you wanted to go home so badly, then you should have just done it. You didn't need to hurt all these people!" Merrick roared.

             
"It was the only way to get you all to come with me though. See," she stepped forward towards him, "with all these humans gone, you won't have a reason to stay here."

             
"You are the most delusional, selfish, evil creature I've ever met. And I've met the Taker, Piper. You can go to hell!"

             
She cringed back against the wall.

             
"Where's your thirty
pieces of silver, Judas?" Jeff asked her
angrily as
Kay said, "Piper how could
you do that! You took the oath, as we all did!"

             
"That was your very last chance," she murmured in a sulk and never looked away from Merrick.

             
"Oh really?" Merrick scoffed. "For what?"

             
"To be redeemed. To be with your own kind. To come with me to the After."

             
"Never. Going. To. Happen."

             
She nodded and sneered, "Then I'm glad I did what I did."

             
"Just go home, Piper! Get yourself a new body, something. Just leave."
             

             
"Not on your human life," she barked. "I'm not leaving just so you can live happily ever after while I drown in misery."

             
"Well if you won't leave, I will." All heads jerked to Simon. He was looking at the floor. He looked up and met Cain's eyes. "I've done nothing but cause problems for you since I got here. I can't protect you in this body."

             
"Simon," Cain t
r
i
ed and sighed. "It's alright. We're all here together and we can help."

             
"It's not alright!" Simon yelled. "You may not care or want to be my charge, but you are. My conscience buzzes for you constantly because I can't do my job! I can't be your Keeper in this decrepit vessel."
He closed his eyes and said in a whisper, "Take me home."

             
Then in a slow hazy glow, his body began to take on a yellow hue. His eyes closed and all the Keepers sucked in quick, surprised breaths before they all fell to their knees. But it wasn't out of respect or reverence. Something made them do it. They all watched with faces of mixed variety as Simon's body slowly undulated
and waved, almost unnaturally.
Then with wide eyes, he dropped to the floor.

             
Kay scrambled over to him and looked at his face. She bowed her head and closed his eyes. "Fare thee well, brother. He's gone."

             
"Fare thee well, br
other," the other Keepers murmu
red.

             
"What?" Cain asked harshly. "What do you mean he's gone?"

             
"He went home."

             
"Home? Home as in…" He pointed up. "You can do that?"

             
"If we make the decision to go home, yes we can. If we shed the body and decide."

             
"But it won't last," Jeff said and looked at Merrick and Kay. "Why would he do that? He can't stay there, he'll go mad."

             
I remembered the time Merrick had explained to me about it. That's what Simon had done. He'd gone home, but Merrick said their conscience would drive them crazy if they didn't answer the call.

             
"Simon…left," Cain muttered. "What does that mean for me?"

             
"We don't know…just…" Jeff had no idea what to say, and we all could see that. He resorted to patting Cain's shoulder.

             
While Cain and Jeff went back and forth about Simon, I turned to Merrick. I didn’t even need to say anything. We were screwed, no other word for it. There would be no way
to gather enough food now and
we'd never survive on the amounts the need warehouse gave each person that could go and collect food. And our measly garden was a joke in terms of feeding a crew this size. It was only supposed to supplement.

             
He pulled me to him and let me squeeze him until my arms shook. The compulsion was gone, I felt like myself again. I was no longer twitchy, anxious and strange feeling. Like I was about to burst for no apparent reason. But I was upset, for
sure. There were
no breaks for us, ever.

             
I looked over and didn't know if I should mourn Simon or not. If he was happy and ok or not. It was just too much to handle, really. Too much in one day to deal with. And out of the corner of my eye, I saw Piper trying to sneak away. Before I could say something, Miguel grabbed her arms.

             
"Where shall I put the traitor?" he said loudly.

             
"Lock her up in the room on the far end," Jeff said and glared at her. "Where’s Polly? Get her too."

             
"I thought you said we'd be kicked out?" Piper protested.

             
"So you can run and tell the enemy where we are?"

             
"I wouldn't do that," she sneered back.

             
"Oh? Like you wouldn't try to starve us either? Take her, Miguel, before I do something I've never done before."

             
"Right."

             
He marched her down the hall and the rest of us moseyed our way back to the commons room.

             
"She must have gotten Polly to compel someone else to help them," I told Merrick. "I doubt those two carried all that food awa
y by themselves. Where is Polly
by the way?"

             
Miguel
heard us as he came back and
set
right
out to find her.

             
"I'll start looking everyo
ne over for signs of compulsion,
" Merrick said and bent t
o kiss me.

             
Everyone was watching Lily, who sat in the middle of the room with her doll and her little wooden horse, so innocently.
I saw
as
Miguel sat down with her and watched her play with her horse.

             
"What did you decide to name her," he asked.

             
"Pixie," she said and giggled
, falling over
into his shoulder. "Isn't that
so
cute!"

             
"It sure is," he said and laughed softly watching her.

             
Danny and Celeste sat by her too as Cain and Lil
lian parked it on the big couch by Billi
ngs. His arm was in a cast and h
e looked pretty uncomfortable. I decided to grab him some Ibuprofen.

             
He was eternally grateful, taking the pills and the glass of water and downing it quickly.

             
On my way to the kitchen
to see what we had in the pantries there
, I caught
- on the sly -
Rylee's look of awe and intrigue at Miguel and Lily on the floor. I looked
back and agreed. They were qui
t
e
a sight, opposites in every way.

             
I went to the kitchen
and looked around.
I'd been
thinking of making
something
for Lillian when
the compulsion start
ed
to unravel.

             
Ah, what were we going to do now?
The food…

             
I decided to make some coffee, though even that wouldn't help things now. As soon as it was done brewing, I made a cup and sipped the black energy. I held its warmth in my hands and left the kitchen
,
still gloomy.

             
When I came back
into the commons room
, I noticed
Cain and Lillian were totally involved with each other and nothing else. His hand traced a path in her hair around her ear, over and over as he looked contemplative. No doubt thinking about Simon a
nd all the crap we'd
been through. Her eyes were closed and she just leaned against him. 

             
Cain had fallen hard. It was the sweetest thing ever. Well almost…

             
I peeked at Merrick, but saw Jeff and Marissa in the corner behind him. He was soothing her
, rubbing her arms,
and she was looking green again. I wondered what we were going to do with her. She was getting worse, not better.

             
Lily pranced up
to me and grabbed my hand, yawning into her fist. I made my way to Merrick and said, "What are we going to do about Marissa? Something's wrong with her."

             
"Nuttin's wong with her!" Lily said and laughed loudly. "I told you I was gonna be an aunt. Aunt Rissa's gonna have a baby, silly!"

             
The whole place stopped. I swore the earth stopped spinning. Marissa's eyes bulged before they landed on Jeff and pleaded.

             
"Is that true?" he asked roughly.

             
"Please don't be angry with me."

             
"Is it true? Are you?"

             
"It wasn't on purpose."

             
"Marissa," he said in exasperation.

             
"Yes!" she sobbed and sucked it in. "Yes, I'm pregnant."

             
I'm not sure what she expected from Jeff, but from her expression it wasn't anything good. I felt a small sting in my chest at my own loss
,
but as I looked down at my Lily
that all went away.
             
I glanced back up and watched along with everyone else. Jeff was still. As still as a man could be.

             
"I'm the father?" he asked.

             
"Of course you are, fool," she said and swiped her tears off her chin before biting her lip and stepping towards him a little.
She sighed when h
e wrapped his arms around her gently, his eyes focusing on her flat belly.