Mortal Obligation (5 page)

“What?” Ree demanded, frustrated. Her head was starting to pound, her breathing felt tight and constrained.

“Just look, and then you can tell me!” Juliette said, exasperated.

She opened the mirror and looked at herself in shock. Her eyes were glowing. The pupils were enlarged and the natural blue of her irises was swirling an eerie silver-blue color. It looked as if specks of light were swirling around her pupils. As she stood watching, the spinning slowed and her eyes started to darken back to their natural color. “I . . . I . . . ,” Ree stuttered, not sure what to say. Was this something Sophie had spoken about earlier?

Juliette raised a hand to stop her. Her eyes were intense, her face drawn in question. “It is fading now, but when Michael and the others got close, your eyes were like quicksilver.” She shook her head. “It was crazy. I don't know what is going on with you and Paden. But you need to tell me what it is.” Juliette suddenly looked very stern and placed her hands on Ree's shoulders.

“Are you an alien? Are you, like, the X-Men? A psychic with glowing eyes? Do psychics even have glowing eyes? What?! God, please don't tell me you’re an alien!” Each question was punctuated with a little shake.

Ree shrugged her off and looked in the mirror again. “I don't think so, but this is what we wanted to talk to you about earlier. Ms. Diakos said we needed to bring all of you to the island, too. Apparently you guys are involved in this mess . . . .” She trailed off, looking around. The air had gotten tense, and Ree felt something cold nearing them.

“Ree, your eyes are doing it again. And what is all this mess about Ms. Diakos? You aren't working tonight.”

“Hush! Do you feel that?” Ree stepped around Juliette and put her hand on the stall handle. That boiling feeling was rolling in her stomach again, but underneath that she felt something
unnatural
coming toward the bathroom.

“What? Feel what?” Jules asked in an angry whisper. They jerked their heads to the side when they heard the bathroom door open. Both of the girls were quiet except for their breathing.

“Jules? Alastriana?  Are you in here?” Shannon asked in a sing-song voice. Juliette's eyes narrowed and she grimaced. Ree knew she could feel that eerie sensation now. Like cold water running down your spine on a hot summer day.

Juliette jerked her head in the direction of the exit signaling they should make a break for it. Ree held up her finger to tell her to wait a moment. Something told her Shannon was hoping that they would run right into her.

“Jules, I saw you come in here,” Shannon neared their stall. Ree’s eyes grew brighter, practically emitting light the closer Shannon came to them. She nodded at Juliette and readied herself to throw open the door.

“I see your feet,” Shannon sang in excitement. Ree threw open the door and stepped out. Shannon smiled in satisfaction. There was something horribly wrong with the way she was standing. Shannon was crouched over, her torso at an odd angle with the floor. Her head was craned up and tilted slightly to the left, and her hands hung limply at her side. The most unnerving part was that her eyes were completely black. No defined pupils, no iris, only black spanning all the way across.

“There you are, Alastriana,” Shannon croaked. Her voice had shifted from the sickeningly sweet sing-song tone to that of the Dark One outside. Ree didn’t have long to think about it because Shannon attacked with staggering speed. She rushed forward, her hands outstretched, fingers wiggling greedily. Ree dodged, that boiling feeling built, and she threw one hand at Shannon. A wave of energy seemed to fling itself out of her palm. Shannon was quick, though, and she dodged to the side before rushing forward again.

Unfortunately, the energy had also thrust Ree backwards, knocking her off of her feet. There was a loud groan from the bathroom stall and the sound of something breaking. Just as Shannon neared her, Jules launched herself out of the stall, brandishing the toilet’s seat. With a heavy thud, it collided with the other girl’s head. The blow picked Shannon up off of the ground and flung her into the wall ten feet away. She landed in a messy sprawl just underneath one of the hand dryers.

Both girls took a moment to look at each before sprinting to the door. Ree yanked on the handle, only pausing as Juliette dumped the toilet seat in the nearby trashcan. They ran for the entrance, dodging people while they watched over their shoulders. Once outside they slowed to a power walk, scanning the parking lot for everyone else.

“Oh my God,” Juliette muttered to herself. “I hit her with a toilet seat.”

“Really, I don't think we had a choice. I'm pretty sure she would have done worse to us if you hadn't hit her.” Ree said. Personally she was glad Jules had acted so quickly. She’d been out of ideas. A shiver ran down her spine as she wondered what Shannon would have done if Juliette hadn’t knocked her out.

“Oh, it isn't that. I’ve always hated that bitch anyway. It's just that it was a toilet seat. At the Civic Center!” She scrubbed her hands on her jeans. “Can you imagine what was probably growing on that thing? No wait, don't. It might make me sick.”

Ree snorted and then looked at Juliette. When they made eye contact, both girls started laughing loudly, if slightly hysterically. How she could laugh right now, she didn’t understand. Instead she decided to let it be, as she wiped a tear from one of her eyes.

“Ree! Jules! Get in!” Bryce's SUV pulled up onto the sidewalk. Paden leaned out of the passenger side window waving them over. Weylin and Melanie were sitting in the very back, letting Jules and Ree have the middle section. 

The tires of the SUV squealed as Bryce swerved back into the street and headed toward the island. No one said anything for a few moments, concentrating on the road and gathering their thoughts. As Bryce turned onto the road heading out of the historic district, it was like someone flipped a switch. Suddenly everyone was talking at the same time, interrupting each other.

“Is anyone going to explain what the hell happened back there?” Weylin demanded.

“Listen, we didn't really plan on anything like this happening.” Paden craned around so he could see the back seat.

“Ree, your eyes! What was
that
?” Melanie leaned forward, her arm resting on Ree’s headrest.

“Where did you go when we went out for the car?” Bryce asked Juliette.

“The bathroom,” Jules said. “That bitch followed us! I had to hit her with a toilet seat!”

“Toilet seat? You hit someone with a toilet seat?” Weylin laughed. “How did you pull it off the toilet? That is just gross!”

“Ree, are you okay? They didn't hurt you, did they?” Paden reached around his seat and touched her hand.

“Geez, thanks for all of the concern, Paden! She wasn't the only one crammed in that stinky stall being stalked by a psycho, black-eyed freak!” Jules reached up front and punched him in the shoulder.

“Black eyes?” Weylin had to shout to be heard.

“I knew Shannon was a freak. All contorted like a broken doll. Completely spooky.” Jules shivered in obvious disgust.

Ree didn’t say much as everyone else tried to talk over each other. She watched out the window as the large mansions of the historic district flashed by. She had no answers for them. She was just as lost as they were, but hopefully her boss could explain. She tried to sort out what she already knew. She was different. Paden was different. And she had the sneaking suspicion the others were different as well. Green stuff came out of her hands. Her eyes could glow like silver. Paden had fangs. Michael and Shannon were dangerous, and they obviously knew she wasn’t exactly normal. And she knew from every sci-fi book she had ever read that it wasn’t a good sign when the bad guys were a step ahead.

“Ree?” Paden asked quietly. She sighed and turned away from the window. A lump caught in her throat as she stared into his eyes. His expression was tense and worried. She realized that he thought she was going to freak out. Everyone else got very quiet as they waited on her response.

“I'm okay.” She patted his hand with her free one. “Really. I think we should start at the beginning.”

“Yeah, that usually works the best.” Weylin offered his opinion from the back. Melanie swatted his shoulder in annoyance.

Paden nodded and squeezed her hand before turning back to the front seat.

Ree explained to them all about the feeling at the restaurant, the attack in front of the Civic Center, Ms. Diakos, and the odd things that had happened to Paden and herself. Everyone looked somewhere between horrified and skeptical, except for Jules.

“Really, guys, I saw the green stuff shoot across the bathroom. And we all saw her eyes go crazy when Michael and Shannon got near.”

“When you say green stuff, are we talking ectoplasm-style green goo? Or beams of green light, wizard style?” Weylin wanted to know.

“It’s more like this energy that just builds up and then flows out. It’s only happened twice now, so I don't know for sure.” Ree made a face as she tried to remember exactly.

“Yeah, and it looked more like a wave than a beam of light. It
rippled
across the room.” Jules added.

Bryce laughed from the front seat. “Yeah, and Paden here has fangs! I vant to drink your vlood! Arrggghhh.”

Paden looked at him sourly. “Shut up.”

“So, all of that stuff happened when you were around those dark creatures?”

“Don't forget Shannon. That was completely weird, even for her,” Juliette grumbled angrily.

“Going all killer-zombie on us.”

“That’s the thing. Sophie warned us that some of the people that were at the restaurant were not to be trusted,” Paden said from the front seat. He frowned, his brows pulling together and shadowing his eyes. “I never really liked Michael, but he was always involved in the same sports. It didn't do me any good to be unfriendly.” She could tell he was really angry that he hadn’t realized just how much he had missed.

“It's not your fault, Paden,” Melanie said. Ree swiveled to look at her. Mel's eyes were full of compassion. Her full lips curved into a comforting smile. Something in Ree's chest gave a lurch when she saw the intimacy in that look. Was there something going on between Melanie and Paden? She bit her lip and tried to quell the anger the thought brought her. Melanie was a wonderful person. There wasn't anyone more thoughtful and fun to be around. Everyone loved Mel. She was beautiful in that natural way, without any makeup or effort. Her hazel eyes were always open and understanding. It would make perfect sense for Paden to like someone along those lines. They would fit well together. That thought didn't do much to calm the anger, but it did smother some of the flames in disappointment.

Melanie looked away from Paden when she noticed Ree was staring at her. Her eyes shifted, obviously registering something in Ree's expression. Suddenly, her lips curved into a smile and she sat back, amused. She looked from Ree to Paden and raised an eyebrow. Ree just looked at her blankly, not sure what she was trying to convey.

“You missed the turn.” Paden pointed toward the street sign that said Waters Avenue.