The Death Series: A Dark Dystopian Fantasy Box Set: (Books 1-3) (31 page)

Bry's eyes narrowed to slits. “Yeah, I can do it.”

John clapped his hands. “Settled then!”

Jonesy air-pumped. “Let's investigate!”

“Wait!” I tossed the LED to Jonesy.

He caught it then took the steep steps two at a time. Onyx, Bry, and John ran up after him.

Halfway up, John slipped. “Ouch! Damn!” He gripped his knee for a minute then went the rest of the way with an ungainly frog hop.

Jade, Tiff, Sophie and I climbed slower. At the top of the staircase stood the gang, we all stopped and stared, mouths hanging open.

Wisps of luminescent figures twirled and sailed about, lighting the area with a phosphorescent glow. As they frantically glided back and forth, they seemed irritated. There were eye-windows touching the floorboards on either end of the eaves, but the ceiling was really high down the central section of the roof.

Jonesy started inching back to the staircase. Our male ghost hovered in the middle, looking intimidating. He hadn’t been hostile to Tiff and me, but he'd hurt Jade and almost frozen Jonesy, so caution was a good idea.

Tiff pointed at the frenetic ghosts. “They're kids.”

They were swirling so furiously that it was hard to tell, but I thought she might be right.

I didn't want to leave Jade alone. I looked at Bry, and he nodded.
Guy-speak, a wonderful thing.
He moved closer to Jade.

I squeezed her arm and said, “Be right back.”

John said, “I’m shielding.”

Tiff followed me to where the large male ghost was hovering. As I got closer, my hair started to rise, floating with static electricity. The small ghosts flew around us, but they slowed their frantic spinning. The big ghost held out its arms, and Tiff and I each took an opaque hand.

Images flowed into my mind, and I assumed Tiff was experiencing the same thing. I saw his death in broken images, like a kaleidoscope rapidly spinning backwards—colors and shapes, profound loneliness and caretaking, feelings of accomplishment, then... a lonely death in that house with no one to take care of him.

“So sad,” Tiff said through clenched teeth.

I nodded. “Yes.”

But the images weren't done. We saw the ghost's pain as children were killed and he could do nothing. He took care of their spirits, that much he could do. He was still the caretaker for the dead.

He dropped our hands and floated back.

His message was clear. We needed to speak for the dead children.

“Wow,” Tiff said.

“Yeah.”

We moved back, and the ghosts returned to swirling again. The evilness of his message began to sink in. Children had been murdered there
.
Kids. Like us. Tiff and I looked at each other.

Jonesy asked, “What's the deal?”

I turned to face my friends. “The deal is that he’s the caretaker of a bunch of dead kids.”

“Told you!” Jonesy said.

“What?” Bry asked.

“I told everyone that some boy had died here.”

“Jonesy's right. He
did
say that a boy died here,” John said.

Jonesy scowled at John. “And there's a helluva lot more than just one.” He indicated the ghosts floating and diving in the background, holographic in the moonlight.

Sophie asked, “Why are
we
seeing them?”

Tiff answered, “I read AFTDs give off an aura so others can see stuff like ghosts.”

“So if Caleb and you take off, then they disappear?” Sophie asked.

“It sounds that way,” John said.

“That's sick as shit,” Jonesy said, sounding impressed.

“We'll have to do something about this,” Tiff said.

“I know.” I grabbed Jade's hand, comforted by the solidness of it after the creepy hand of the ghost.

“I wanna see if they'll disappear,” Jonesy said.

“Jonesy, give it a rest,” I said.

Bry glanced at the ghosts. “Yeah, let's book. I want to check out this hideout you guys have.”

We headed down the stairs. When we left the house, I shut the door softly behind us, the sadness and horror clinging to my mind like smoke to our bodies.

CHAPTER 31

Coming out into the moonlight, I sucked great gulps of fresh air, trying to expunge the cloying feeling of claustrophobia I took from the house.

“Okay, so let's shake that off,” Jonesy said.

Sophie shivered. “Maybe you can but not me, not for a while.”

I agreed. It would be a while before I would get over that. I bet Tiff felt the same way.

Jade said, “Let's pulse the adults.”

Bry nodded. “Great idea. Mom's going to have a kitten if we don't check in.”

We all took a moment to check in with the parental units. Then we tucked our pulses away.

Jonesy got a strange light in his eyes. “What do ya think—”

“No.” John said.

“Right. What he said,” Jade added.

Bry asked, “What, Jonesy?”

Tiff waggled a finger. “You don't know Jonesy that well, Bry. He gets these ideas that usually get us all in trouble.”

Bry grinned. “Oh, I don't know about that. So far, the night's been pretty exciting.”

Jonesy did a fist-bump with Bry. “See?
Here's
a dude who knows how to keep the adventure rolling!” His thumb dove in the direction of the old graveyard at our backs. “Looks like we got the green light to do more screwin' around. Let's see who we can jerk outta the pasture here.”

I shook my head. “Nah, I don't want to. I've had enough for tonight. And with ghosts so close, I don't know. Things could go bad. Besides, it seems wrong to do it for sport or something.”

Bry blanched. “Would it be like Scenic?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “That may have been because Gran was a relative.”

“Well that one zombie, Clyde, seemed… I don’t know… more aware,” Jade said.

“Caleb's raised that particular zombie… what, three times?” John looked at me for confirmation, and I nodded. “So each time he comes back, he seems to be smarter or something.”

“Last time, he seemed to communicate with the other zombies like a captain or something,” Jade said.

“Captain of the Zombie Guard!” Jonesy laughed.

“I don't want a repeat of the gran incident,” Bry said.

“Yeah, that went pretty sideways,” Tiff agreed, sucking in a huge gum bubble.

“And then Garcia and his creepy partner showed up.” Bry shook his head.

“So Garcia's corrupt?” John asked.

“It's lookin' that way,” I said. “I don't know for sure. But they're pairing mundanes with paranormals now, and McGraw was quick to show us he was an elemental, sorta like a threat.”

“I hadn't heard they had decided to do that pairing thing,” John said.

I shrugged. “They haven't, but Ward and Gale said that it was going to be a permanent rule or whatever soon.”

“That makes sense,” Jade said. “Think about what would happen if a someone like Carson decided to do crime professionally and two regular cop...”

“Cop-kabobs!” Jonesy interrupted in a donkey bray. “Whoosh!”

Jade gave an uneasy laugh, but nodded. “My point exactly. There's
got
to be a counter for that level of power, like a John.”

“I bet there's a ton of Nulls on the force,” Bry said.

Sophie nodded. “Jade's right. Nulls would mean the negation of all those freak-a-zoids.”

“Negation! Are you one of those smart girls?” Jonesy asked, eying Sophie.

“Sometimes.” She smiled and winked at him.

“Okay I give, what does that mean?” Jonesy asked.

John answered, “I can neutralize other paranormals' abilities.”

“Oh yeah, I remember. You do the whammy, and they can't zap us.” Jonesy shook a finger at John.

“That was alarmingly close to girl-speak, my friend,” Bry said.

“That's okay. I'm diversified and consider girl-speak to be my second language.”

Sophie folded her arms. “Nice.”

“That will count for college.” John laughed.

Onyx emitted a soft growl of alarm at the same moment that Jade asked, “What's that noise?”

I looked around but didn't see anything. Then I heard it—a soft thump-thump-thump like a giant's heartbeat thumping through a pillowcase loaded with feathers. We all spun around but didn't see anything. Onyx gave a single sharp bark, staring up at the sky. The trees above us parted like a dark invitation, exposing a helicopter over our heads, over the graveyard, over our lives.

***

Jonesy stepped forward, legs planted wide apart, stabilizing his balance. The helicopter swept the trees in a silent hurricane, their tops bending back to accommodate the force of the wind. It descended like a black spider. The sky was its web, a fat body with chopper blades like legs ready to spring down.

Onyx outright growled and barked, underscoring the oncoming threat.

Some spark of understanding swam to the surface and it was in that moment of self-realization that I felt responsible for more than just me and Jade.

I turned and yelled over the wind-tunnel noise, “Get to the graveyard now!” I pointed at Bry. “Protect the girls. Get them out of here!” I looked around for Tiff.

“Tiff, I need you!” She ran to me, her hoodie falling away from her face, leaving it exposed and vulnerable. I had a stab of guilt as she raced at me, but we needed to survive the
now
.

John and Jonesy didn’t move. They just stared up at the helicopter.

I gave them both a little push. “Go with Bry!”

They finally snapped out of it and followed Bry and the girls into the graveyard. Ropes dropped like snakes out of the belly of the helicopter. I counted: one, two, three. Resolve solidified into a tight knot of dread.

Tiff stood beside me, legs planted wide and hands balled into fists. I was counting on her being a guy right now, even though she looked
so
girl. If things hadn't been so dire, I would've smiled.

The shadow of the chopper blades made her face a jagged dance of light. “We're in deep shit,” she said.

“Yeah, it'll be okay.”

“Take care of my sister, Caleb,” Bry shouted.

Onyx lowered his head and growled louder as the three men climbed down the ropes.

The Bad Males had arrived, and a grinding fear was covering the Boy. Its smell permeated the Dog’s nose like a coating of oil, slimy and alive.

He would protect the Boy.

Onyx crouched, preparing to lunge. “No!” I yelled, leaping at him, doing the superman, arms out in front.

Onyx and I rolled together. When we stopped, he sprang to his feet. I got up on my knees and was greeted by the muzzle of a gun in my face.

My heartbeats ground to a halt.

I was stoked the parents had been thorough in their potty training because I definitely felt my bowels loosen a little.

“Easy there, young fella,” Gun-Holder said.

It was an M-16, its black tip a solid circle in front of me. My eyes ran the length of the barrel, the spiral shape distorted, to lock gazes with Gun-Holder. His were dead, killer's eyes
.

A second guy strolled casually over and, using one finger, pushed the end of the gun barrel up in the air.

“What the hell, Parker?” Gun-Holder said.

“We're not here to kill but to acquire. Best you remember that.” The guy removed his knitted black ski-mask. 

I'd seen so many pictures that I would have known him anywhere.
Jeffrey Parker
. He wasn’t wearing glasses, and his body was hard and lean with a face to match. That unfinished quality he'd had in the last pic I'd seen was gone forever.

“Stand up, Caleb,” Parker spoke in a clear, ringing voice.

I did, but I was going to be in charge. This was not how I had thought I'd meet Parker, it was going to be on my terms. I glanced at the gun. But they weren't there to kill me. They wanted to “acquire” me. That was almost worse, but it was my only leverage.

I got to my feet. Tiff was standing with Man-Three, a short guy as wide as I was tall. He had a gun trained on her.

I faced Parker. “What do you want?” I yelled.

Man-Three said something into a radio on his shoulder. The noise of the helicopter toned way down, like air leaving a balloon.

“There, much better,” Parker said. “Do you know who I am?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, that saves time. We're here because we know what your potential is, Caleb.”

“You're wasting your time, Parker. I tested out as a two-point.”

He laughed. The sound was just short of a hoarse cough—creepy and false. “Yes, we're aware of that. Our operatives were watching things very closely. We have high hopes for you, Caleb, and you won't disappoint.”

I just stared at him. I wasn’t going anywhere with that guy. He made all the hair on my body stand on end.

Like recognized like.

Parker took a step closer.
“
Who do you think broke into your house? We heard every conversation you’ve had in there since then. We are very aware of what you and your clever father have been trying to do to keep your gift a secret.”

“Here's the thing,” I said. “I'm not going to be the government's bitch.” I spread my hands out away from my body. “Just sayin'.”

Parker smiled. “You'll be what we want you to be... to
become
.”

He signaled to Gun-Holder. “Get the girl. We can use her to persuade Mr. Hart to join our cause.”

I turned to look at Tiff but Gun-Holder was jogging toward Jade.

Oh no.

Everything seemed to begin moving in slow motion. I calculated how far away Tiff was. She seemed to read my mind as she nodded at me. A gun was inches from her head. I had to gamble with her life, but all our lives were at stake. I knew they wouldn’t just let my friends go. They wouldn’t leave witnesses.

I took two huge steps then leapt for Tiff. She extended her arm as Man-Three whipped his gun around, using the stock as a weapon. The butt whistled through the air and grazed her forehead, opening a gash. I grabbed her hand. She clasped my other one, and we pulled toward each other in a mid-air waltz. We landed just to the side of the cemetery. Our power shimmered between us like a thing alive.

“No!” Parker shouted.

He obviously hadn’t known just what Tiff was.

Their intelligence needs work.

I craned my neck to look at our group and saw Gun-Holder lurching toward them. Once Gun-Holder was in reach, Bry grabbed the man’s hand and yanked, using the guy's own momentum to pull him off balance. But Gun-Holder was larger, and he took Bry with him for the ride.

“Move!” I screamed at Jade.

Jade turned and ran through the tombstones. Gun-Holder began pounding on Bry. The Js went to Bry’s aid, while Sophie raced after Jade.

The operative was landing a solid beating on Bry (he never caught a break), as Jade ran through the tombstones like gray flags in the failing light.

“
Shit
! Get that girl,” Parker yelled at Man-Three.

Man-Three raced off after Jade, who had stopped right in the middle of the graveyard.Sophie creeped after Jade while Man-Three paced her, mirroring her progress.

“Jade, run to me!” I screamed.

Man-Three roared like a lion, rushing forward those fifteen feet to grab Jade. She saw him coming and leapt to the side.

I let my power loose—a precise laser sent straight in front of Jade. A zombie exploded out of the grave next to her. He was a macabre thing of beauty, his arms fully extended, knees bent up in the air, classic karate stance.

He appeared before her as a warrior
and I screamed inside its head the command:
protect
.

The zombie moved to stand between Man-Three and Jade. Man-Three unceremoniously pressed his gun barrel to the zombie's chest and fired point blank.

“No!” I shouted, my zombie blown to smithereens before my eyes.

But Jade kept coming, my zombie's sacrifice there in her eyes and body as she moved to me. Man-Three continued to fire. The zombie danced as the rounds penetrated its body. Bits of flesh flew, splattering tombstones. Even as he was blasted to smithereens, the zombie kept going, trying to get at Man-Three’s throat.

Man-Three must have had twenty-round clips. The gun finally clicked empty, my zombie's chest a hole the starlight penetrated, its face a dark prison of blood and gore.

Protect,
I commanded.
Protect.

Though slower because of the damage, the zombie surged forward and tore the gun from Man-Three's hands, tossing it like so much unnecessary candy into one of the tombstones and cracking the corner off like a chipped tooth.

“God
dammit
! Take its head, fool!” Parker yelled.

I heard a scream from Sophie and turned to see what was going on over there.