On the Fringe (27 page)

“Having fun yet?” Aden sneered.

Claire turned her head briefly, catching my eye. “
Go
,” I mouthed to her. “
Run
.”

She understood perfectly, turning sharply and jerking Felix backward. The knife slipped from his hands and fell to the side of the road as she ran away from him, down to the hill. As I silently cheered her on, Aden’s grip on me slackened long enough for me to escape. Before he could react, I’d already shifted away from him, straight to Matthew’s bedroom.

Matthew was sound asleep, the covers pulled up tight around him. I had absolutely no clue how to wake him—poltergeist-type activity being new to me. Getting right up in his face, I tried pushing my thoughts toward him. But nothing seemed to be happening other than a lot of snoring.

Aden poked in through the wall separating Claire and Matthew’s room. Only his upper torso and head were visible as he peered in, like he’d been searching each room in the house. When he saw me, he rushed forward, but I dodged him and he careened straight through the foot of the bed, creating enough of a draft to move Matthew’s covers. Matthew stopped snoring, and turned over to his side before falling back into heavy breathing.

I slid across the bed, purposely provoking Aden. “So, what’s your plan now, Aden?” I taunted, dancing around Matthew’s bed. “Your Felix wasn’t so great out there, after all.”

Aden careened toward me again, this time right on target. He tagged me and took me with him as we flew across the bed, creating enough of a draft to topple a lamp. It landed on the floor with a thud. Matthew’s eyes popped open.

“What the…?” he moaned.

Aden stopped when he realized his mistake, but it was too late. Matthew was already sitting up, scanning the room.

The door flew open, and Addie flipped on the light. “What was that?”

Aden glared at Addie, then at me, and vanished.

“What?” asked Matthew, still in a daze.

“Where’s Claire? She’s not in bed…not in the bathroom…and why is your lamp on the floor?” Addie asked, looking down.

“I don’t know. It felt like someone opened the window or something…” His eyes grew big and he leapt off the bed to the window, checking. He was finally awake. “
Wait
—Claire’s gone?” he asked, his face losing color.

“I don’t know. But she’s not in her bed.”

Matthew ran out of the bedroom and down the hall, flipping on the lights as he tore through the house. I shifted outside to Claire. She was scrambling along the edge of the lake, only a few yards ahead of Felix, who was momentarily lost in the fog behind her. But Aden seemed to be leading Felix right to her.

Back at the house, Matthew was still running up and down the hallway, still calling for Claire. But I needed him to hurry and get down to the lake. I shifted back to Claire, then back up to Matthew, trying to decide where I was needed most.

I took a gamble, and went back for Claire.

She was hurrying her way through the fog, across a narrow ledge over a steep embankment, stumbling across rocks and boulders that lay stacked atop each other among the grass and cattails. It was the same spot she’d fallen in on her birthday. Hopefully, she hadn’t noticed.

But she wasn’t fast enough. Felix’s hand caught her foot and pulled her to the ground, slamming her against the rocks. She screamed as Felix flipped her over and jumped on top of her, smothering her with his body. “You’re not getting away again, sweetie.”

Aden was right behind him—both he and Felix staring at Claire wildly, regarding her like a piece of meat or a means to an end. Furious, I dove in, trying to push Felix off of her, trying to yank her out of there. But I couldn’t do it.

Felix slapped Claire across the face and she screamed. Aden turned to me. “See what you started?”

Just up the hill, I heard familiar voices.

Finally.

Claire tried to scream again, but Felix shoved his hand over her mouth, and she seemed to choke.

“Hold on, Claire,” I said to her, hoping she could read my words, but she didn’t seem coherent. Her eyes were glazed over; she was already going limp, giving up.

Footsteps were coming…running down the hill….

Felix looked up at the sound, then clasped his hands around Claire’s neck. I instinctively flew at him, trying to pull his gigantic paws off of Claire’s body as Aden yelled in Felix’s ear. “Don’t kill her yet, you idiot! Pick her up. Let’s go!”

But Felix wasn’t listening to his demon anymore. He seemed possessed by something else—something inside his own head.

Claire’s eyes opened again, finding mine just as a dark shape approached from behind Felix, pummeling him in the head.

Matthew!

He launched Felix off of Claire, shoving him to the ground. Claire flipped to her side and began crawling out of the way while Matthew continued his assault, slamming Felix’s head into a rock, shouting at him furiously. It was a Matthew I had never seen.

I drifted backwards, hovering beside Claire. Aden held back, watching me, watching Matthew and Felix, probably wondering what to do next. I could only imagine what was spinning through his mind as he watched his plan disintegrate.

Claire lay there in a daze, gasping.

“Claire!” Addie was suddenly beside her, pulling her to her feet, squeezing her tight. “It’s okay, Claire-bear,” she said over and over again.

Claire’s parents emerged from the fog, calling her name as they ran down the hill. Relieved to see more faces, I looked up just as Felix broke free from Matthew. He dove straight for Addie and Claire, knocking both of them over a steep ledge. Right into the lake.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
SUBMERGED

Claire

The impact was so hard that I felt the wind go out of my lungs just as Addie landed on top of me. Water rushed in my ears and up my nose. Everything was melting together into one big watery mess as I struggled to untangle myself.

My head popped out of the water to a rush of cold air. I gasped and kicked, trying to keep afloat. Something brushed by me, and I twisted around to find Addie right behind me.

“Addie!” I yelled, reaching for her, but she wasn’t swimming. My heart nearly quit when I realized what that meant. I threw my arms around her and swam toward the shore. About halfway there, something pulled at my ankle, jerking me away from her. I kicked, trying to get away. Frantically, I swam toward the voices calling my name…toward Dad…toward his fingertips touching mine…

Like quicksand, I was sucked back down before I had a chance to grab his hand. The watery world enveloped me and the darkness returned, until everything was quiet.

Daniel

Claire’s parents made it down the hill just as Claire and Addie hit the water. Claire’s dad immediately jumped in the lake, leaving her mom on the shore, crying and blubbering into her cell phone, screaming for help.

Aden was down by the water, likely trying to figure out how to fix his botched plan, while I hovered near Matthew and Felix. They were still pounding fists into each other, when Felix suddenly flipped around on top of Matthew and started smashing his head into the ground.

“Matthew!” I yelled, drifting in close by his face. He was in trouble, and Felix wasn’t stopping any time soon. “Mrs. James! Someone!” I yelled, but nobody could hear me. No one was even close by. They were all down at the shore, still focused on Claire and Addie in the lake. The world was falling apart around me, and I was helpless.

Matthew’s eyes fluttered closed—I could tell he was losing it. Felix pounded his fist into Matthew’s stomach, and then brought his other hand to his face, swinging hard. Blood sprayed from a slit beneath his eye.

This was not happening.
I couldn’t let Matthew die.

I looked into Felix’s crazed face smeared with dirt and blood, then back down at Matthew’s bleeding head. It took me back to a different night, to an explosion ringing in my ears, expanding through my head. Matthew was screaming for me, holding my head in his lap…I could feel the slick warmth spilling out of my head. I tried to wake up, to keep my eyes open, but the world was so dark, the pain was too much, Felix had killed me…was killing Matthew…

No.

NOOOO!

I dove full-force at Felix, creating a gust of air that seemed to knock the wind out of him, a whistling sound coming from his throat. With a look of confusion, he pulled himself off of Matthew and looked around, his wheezing quickly getting worse. “Who’s there?” he asked, shaking. Maybe he thought Aden was attacking him.

Flying at him again, I drove straight through his chest. He shivered, shrieking, “Get away from me!”

I rushed him again, and he stumbled backward, landing in the lake with a loud splash. Hopefully, he couldn’t swim.

I turned to Matthew. Blood was smeared across his face, his nose gushing. He was limp. Quiet.
Too quiet.

“Matt, wake up, Bro.”

Nothing.

“Matthew!”

Screaming. Sirens in the distance.

“Matt, come on! You’re going to be fine,” I said, shaking him, trying to ignore whatever was happening in the water, hoping somehow Claire was okay. I couldn’t leave Matthew yet. “You have to help Claire now. You have to live for her.
Please
.” Something like a sob was climbing up my throat. “I need your help. Claire
needs
you, Matt. Felix…
Felix
is still after her. Felix was the one who shot me. You have to
hear
me. Wake up, Matthew
please
!” I begged, somehow placing my hands on his face and pulling his head into my lap.

Matthew’s body jerked and he inhaled, slowly crawling to his knees. He turned his head and looked up, his eyes blinking and then widening. He froze, like he was afraid.
Afraid of what?
Matthew wasn’t afraid of anything. Then I realized he was staring at me, looking me straight in the eyes.

I didn’t know what to do. I just watched him watch me, wondering what was going through his mind. He sat up, holding his head, hesitantly reaching for my arm, his fingers gripping me solidly. A faint smile emerged from his bloody face. “Daniel,” he whispered.

There was a shout from below. Something was still happening in the water. We both turned. Addie was standing at the edge of the lake, screaming.

Matthew jumped to his feet, but almost toppled over. “Dizzy,” he said, still holding his head.

“I’ll help you.” I draped my arm across his shoulders and walked with him a few steps, his weight leaning into mine. Suddenly, I lost hold of him as my arm sailed through him, and he fell. “Matthew?” I asked, in front of his face.

He just looked at me, like he was trying to read my lips. “Help me up,” he said, his hand extended.

I reached for his arm again, but our connection was gone. I shook my head as he hobbled over to the rocks, down to the edge of the lake, tripping a few times, but still managing to reach the shore.

Addie turned and ran to Matthew when she saw him, throwing her arms around his neck. She quickly pulled back, her eyes wide. “Your face, Matthew! Oh my gosh. And your eye…you’re bleeding. Are you okay?”

“I think so,” he said, looking past her to Mrs. James, who was standing in about two feet of water. “What’s going on? Where’s Claire?”

“She’s still under the water,” Mrs. James yelled hysterically. “Your dad dove in to find her.”

Matthew was already splashing through the water, stumbling over the rocks and picking himself up each time he tripped. He seemed to be regaining strength with each step. Spinning lights and sirens were making their way down the hill, but Matthew wasn’t waiting for anyone. As he swam, I shifted beneath the surface to search for Claire. The water was hazy and dark, but the moon glowed through the fog, softly illuminating shadows and a fighting Claire.

She was near the bottom, still holding her breath while trying to break away from some kind of whirlpool that appeared to be keeping her under. Just behind her, a faint outline rippled through the water. I zoomed closer to find Aden there, his arms extended in front of him, somehow using the water’s force to hold Claire under.

I shifted back to the surface, where Matthew had met up with his dad, their heads bobbing up and down in the moonlight. Just as I reached them, Felix came out of nowhere and jumped on Mr. James’ back, pushing him under the water, leaving a pool of bubbles in their wake.

“Get Claire,” Mr. James choked out to Matthew when he resurfaced, his arm around Felix’s neck in a chokehold.

While Mr. James grappled with Felix, Matthew turned my way, his eyes catching mine. Everything seemed to stall, like the world was crawling, when he looked at me and pleaded, “Do you know where she is?”

I nodded, moved by the intensity in his eyes. “Follow me.”

He dove under as I led him down to Claire. She was still caught in the freak whirlpool, which Matthew was already trying to breach. No matter how hard he kicked, he couldn’t break into the vortex of water that encaged her. Her eyes had lost focus, and I could tell she was out of air. Matthew knew it, too, and propelled himself forward again. I looked for Aden and rushed at him the same way he’d attacked me—but he remained unfazed as I flew through him.

Circling to try again, I turned around just as a flash of red zoomed by, knocking me off balance. The water rippled as the light barreled straight into Aden, knocking him backward several feet. The whirlpool instantly dissolved, releasing Claire. She weakly kicked for the surface, but stopped. She’d run out of breath.

I went to her and tried pulling her up, but she floated through me—her body limp and her eyes empty. Matthew’s watery scream matched what I felt seeping out of me, floating through the lake around us. He pulled Claire to him and raced to the surface, leaving me all alone. Claire didn’t need me this time. She needed
them
.

Feeling the pull of the water glide through me, I drifted through the lake in search of Aden, or for some explanation for what had freed Claire. Making out a faint outline of something in the distance, I drifted closer, soon recognizing the face belonging to all that hair.