Split at the Seams (34 page)

It took a lot of shrugging and pushing against the current of energy he possessed, but when I finally managed to pry him off me, a fine line of orange light seemed to be spilling from me. Was I bleeding energy?

“What the hell did you do to me?”

His face looked hideous—sharp teeth, hollow eyes, my energy dripping down his chin like blood. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t supposed to do that, but I’ve been starved for so long. Do you know how lonely it gets when you’re segregated from everyone? To be left in limbo, not quite dead and certainly not alive…”

I didn’t bother with a response. I was too freaked out and pissed off to do either. “Look, I don’t know why I’m here, but Mace Clamber thinks you and I will eventually break this barrier and allow everyone to slip out into the living world.”

He scratched his chin and was slowly becoming the gaunt man I’d first spied. “Why would he want us to do that?”

“I think it’s why he’s been keeping you here,” I said, very weary of his movements.

For a moment, Professor Spooker didn’t say anything. “You’re the one he was waiting for. From the family I never should have told anyone about…”

What the hell was he talking about now?

“The name Clamber sounds so familiar…why?” He scratched the top of his head. “I knew a Mason Clamber once. A very ambitious young man who wanted to know everything there was to know about ghosts, during a time when most didn’t believe in them. You have to understand that I confided in a great many people—my two assistants and this Mason fella. I let him intern with us for a few summers. He was there the first time I revealed what the chair could do.”

“Wait a minute, you know about that thing?”

He nodded. “Of course I do, I designed it! Have you seen it?”

“I’ve seen more than one. Why did you build such a thing, and who did you test it on?”

He shook his head, and I wasn’t sure if it was because he didn’t remember or because he didn’t want to tell me.

“Professor Spooker, I need to know.”

“I didn’t mean to,” he said. “But she was the only one…”

I suddenly remembered the few things Oren had told me about this man, and my stomach turned. “You used it on your daughter?”

“Yes!” His spiky teeth reappeared. “I want to have another little taste of you, please.”

“
Your daughter?
” I hoped it was enough to get him back from wherever he kept slipping to. “Why did you do something so horrible to her? You knew it would split her in two.”

He shook his head. “The chair is capable of seamlessly putting spirit and body back together. But only when they haven’t been separated for longer than six hours at a time.”

“What happens if they’ve been separated longer?” I wasn’t sure how long Ebony had been strapped in, but I was betting most of the other girls had been attached for a while. And Mara, how long had she been that way? Roe had told us about her slipping into a coma last month. Was that what Mason meant by
advanced state
?

“I don’t know. I just know it gets harder for the two to reconnect every hour that passes.”

“Listen to me, what does Mace know about my family that he wants to use against me?”

Professor Spooker looked me in the eye. “You look like her, you know? She’s the most powerful spook catcher I know, and she could even speak to me in here. You’re her granddaughter, and she wanted me to make sure I told you what she didn’t have time to.”

“What’s that?” My whole body shook with the need to know.

“Your line of spook catchers is a strong one,” he said. “She always knew that, could feel it in her bones, and she knew that each generation got stronger. The daughter of the daughter carries the gene, and reaches full power when the grandmother dies.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. Was this why so many people thought I was special and powerful but I had no idea? Had my familial line passed on a legacy no one bothered to tell me about?

“She knew you would be strong and your power would attract the wrong kind of attention, so she made you even stronger. But adding witch blood to strengthen you wasn’t enough.” All of his maniacal tendencies seemed to have passed, and he just looked like a shriveled-up man. “I don’t have long. I think he knew that.”

“He knew what?”

“Mason must have known I would combust whenever such a powerful source of energy came anywhere near me. Taking some from you made it so much worse. I’m so sorry.” His body was changing color, slowly turning amber. “I must control it for a little longer. You need to know.”

I reached for him, to help keep him upright, but he was the one who stepped back this time.

“You have to listen to me. She wanted you to know that you have witch blood running through your veins so it can make you stronger. She also ensured you were touched by the demonic when you were just an infant. A gamble she won, because it helped you become who you are now.” His body flickered. “It’s something her grandmother did to her, and went all the way back to the very beginning. She was supposed to teach you, so you could one day do the same to your granddaughter and not be ignorant of the power.”

I couldn’t believe this. Did my grandmother sleep with Oren on purpose, so that her daughter’s daughter would be stronger and immune to whatever dangers lay ahead? I felt like such a failure because I’d let her down.

Wait a minute…
How had she exposed me to the demonic? I cringed, not wanting to know, even if it probably explained the whole dark patch thing.

“You are very strong, Sierra Fox, and you’re sure as hell not going to die here today. Even if it’s what he wants, I won’t let it happen.” The professor was now turning orange, and I knew we were running out of time. “Your grandmother was stolen from you at a young age by fate, but she was then taken hostage. Until the day she moves on to the afterlife, you will never come into your full powers, and someone is making sure this doesn’t happen.”

I knew exactly who it was, Mace—or Mason—Clamber. The fact he’d been young when the professor was in his prime so long ago made no sense, but knowing he was involved with the dark group so eager to tap into my energy source, I had no doubt age wasn’t a barrier.

“You must find your grandmother. You need to help set…her free…” His skin was now glowing orange-red. “Until that day, you will never overcome the
Obscurus
.”

I looked up, hadn’t expected to hear the name. “Who are they, why do they want me?”

“They want your power for their circle.” His skin was now red and looked as if flames were going to shoot out from beneath his body. “It’s time, Sierra Fox. Take my hand.”

“But we’ll blow up.”

“Not you…I will.”

“I don’t want to be responsible for that—”

“This is not your doing, but
you
will need to end it.” He took my left hand in his right and although he looked like a piece of heated coal, he didn’t burn me. “Are you ready for this?”

“What are we doing?”

A small smile spread along his lips. “The opposite of what Mason intended. He wanted to use your energy and blood to open this portal, but we’re going to use it to permanently close it.”

This was exactly what I’d done to close off the ley line rift near Roger Hocking’s gravesite.

“Gorge, it’s showtime,” Professor Spooker called, looking around.

The orb I’d once imprisoned, delivered to this very place, and then saw drift out from the cemetery ground before shooting up into the sky, appeared out of nowhere. Orbs didn’t have features or limbs, they were pure balls of energy that resembled jellyfish, and I was a little scared about its presence.

“What’s the orb doing here?”

The professor didn’t reply, instead he took my other hand and the world exploded in a burst of red, amber and blue. I couldn’t see a damn thing but felt the weightlessness of being transported somewhere else.

“Goodbye, Ms. Fox,” called the familiar voice of Mrs. Wicker. “It was a pleasure to know you.”

The shock of hearing her voice made me wonder if I
was
dead, but then my eyes snapped open and I sucked in a deep breath.

Mace was standing near my chair, but the guards were gone. It was just us and the unconscious girls. The restraints around my wrists and ankles were undone. Had Gorge taken care of them too?

“What the hell’s going on?” Mace asked, advancing on me.

I looked past Mace and caught a glimpse of what was going on. The orb was bouncing off each one of the girls like a demented beach ball, in the same way he must have done to me. Some responded with a sudden intake of breath, others went completely limp and I watched helplessly as their spirits headed for the shrinking portal.

I waited until all the girls had been released from their restraints and watched the orb hover near the wall, once again taking on its familiar jellyfish shape. The hole was now as big as a truck tire and I knew why Gorge was waiting. As soon as the orb hit the wall, this place was going to blow. I needed to get the surviving girls out of this nightmarish room.

Mace bent over me, placing a hand on each armrest. He looked mad as hell. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m doing exactly what you wanted me to do,” I replied.

His eyes narrowed. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Not wasting another breath on the wicked son of a bitch, I yanked the helmet thing off my head. My scalp ached and the lines attached to my arms pulled at my skin, but held. I focused on wrapping my fingers tightly around the edge of the metal helmet. When I had a tight grasp, I swung it and smacked him in the temple. He recoiled, so I whacked him another two times for good measure.

Mace crumbled to the floor with red-black blood pooling beneath him. Was that black stuff the same as what Mauricio oozed? I was pretty sure it confirmed he was tainted by the demonic.

I exhaled, trying to calm my breathing, and was about to pull out the drip line and the thing sucking out my blood, when someone yelled, “Ms. Fox, don’t do that!”

With fingers poised over the line, I looked up to find a familiar face approaching. “Roe, what are you doing here?”

“I’m here to help,” he said, with a rueful grin. “But you can’t be yankin’ the IV line off like that. I’ll do it the right way.”

“We don’t have time!”

“Hush, I know what I’m doin’.”

Before I could protest, Roe carefully disconnected the IV line from my arm, taking the time to apply enough pressure before bandaging it up. He did the same to the other arm. I was grateful to be free from the macabre machine.

“Thanks.” I attempted to sit up, but my head spun for a few seconds.

“Take it easy,” Roe whispered.

Sucking in a deep breath, I took my time getting off the chair. Roe helped me onto my very shaky legs, and even held me steady while I limped all the way to the girls. Only three of them had their eyes open, and looked as dazed as I felt.

The orb was still hovering by the wall, watching me. The hole had now closed to the size of a basketball.

“Come on, we need to leave,” I yelled, yanking their helmets off. I hesitated, not wanting to touch the drips and wires. “Shit.”

Roe brushed past me. “I’ll take care of these girls. You know what to do now, go and grab Ms. Aikan.” He handed me a roll of bandages before unwinding another roll, ready to use it on the catchers. How the hell had he known what to bring with him?

I didn’t have time to question him, was just glad he was helping. I turned to look for Ebony. There she was, still lying on one of those horrid chairs with her eyes closed. I rushed to her side and felt for a pulse. It was sluggish but she was still breathing. I pocketed the bandages.

Now that I knew it wasn’t a good idea to yank these attachments off, I lifted the helmet away from her tangled hair and put it aside. Then pulled the drip line gently, applying pressure. I then disconnected the wires taking blood and reached for the bandage, but the only thing dripping around her was the clear liquid. She wasn’t bleeding.

“Eb, wake up,” I said, patting her cheeks in an attempt to rouse her. I wasn’t full of ideas about how to force her to wake if she didn’t on her own. I looked up and the hole on the wall was just a little bit bigger than a tennis ball. We were almost out of time. “Please, Ebony, wake up.”

“I can take care of her too,” Roe said behind me.

The catcher trio scampered out of their seats and it took several attempts for them to get to their feet. They all looked pale, dazed, disoriented.

“Run, get out of this room!” I yelled at them.

None of the girls challenged me, and instead limped their way out of the nightmarish white room, leaning on each other.

I turned back to Ebony and found Roe holding up a syringe.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to revive her—”

“Wait, with
that?
What is it?”

“A shot of adrenaline,” he said.

“Are you sure it will help?”

“It’s what gets me going every time I zone out.” Without waiting for my response, he shoved the needle into the middle of Ebony’s chest and she sat upright, sucking in a deep breath and looking around before once again slumping back onto the chair. “There! She’s okay, but she won’t be able to walk.”