Touch of Death (25 page)

“Like Matt did. He was so confused and out of control. He was acting without knowing what he was doing.”

“Exactly. You don’t want to put yourself through that again, so let’s come up with an easy task for the soul.” He looked around, and his eyes fell on the former servant’s grave. “I’ve got it. You can tell the body that he will be serving the Ophi who live in the house. He’ll cook, clean, and answer to the Ophi who live there. That will work, and Victoria will be happy to have a replacement for the servant she lost.”

I hated making another soul become a slave to the Ophi, but Alex had a point. I was the one who’d returned the soul to wherever it was before the Ophi had shoved it back into its body, and it would give this soul a purpose. “All right. But I’m not making any more servants after that. If I have to keep practicing raising the dead, I’ll release the souls after I’m finished.”

Alex shrugged. “Fair enough.” He smiled and tapped on the headstone. “Shall we give it a try?”

I closed my eyes and took a long, deep breath. I wasn’t sure I was ready, but I had to start sometime. I opened my eyes again, and Alex was at my side with his knife in his hand. “Whoa!” I jumped. “Don’t do that. You scared me.”

He laughed. “Sorry, but you need a drop of your blood, and remember, I’m the trusty Scout who is always prepared.”

“Yeah, well, I hate to break it to you, but the last thing a girl wants to see when she opens her eyes is a knife in the hands of the guy she—” I caught myself in time.

Alex cocked his head to the side and smirked. “Go on. The guy she…”

“She’s training with.” I took the knife from his hand and walked to the head of the grave. I needed to get moving before he had time to say anything else. I pricked my right middle finger and held it above the grave. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to speak anything out loud or just think the words, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to say them. “Find the body that rests beneath the surface of the earth,” I told my blood. A few drops fell onto the ground. I closed my eyes and almost gasped when an image popped into my head. I could see the drops of blood seep below the grass and dirt. They found a casket and penetrated the wood as if it was no more solid than water. They found their target, absorbing into the body, which was little more than bones.

In my mind, I heard shrieks and screams. I saw the soul soaring through the air and into the ground where it came to rest in its body. The soul fought against my blood, not wanting to be back, but the power of my blood was too strong. With the soul in place, flesh began to re-form over the bones. My cheeks felt wet and warm against the slight breeze in the air. Tears were the only outward sign of the agony I felt inside. I was torturing this soul. It was angry and in pain. The body moved slightly, and then its fists started pounding on the coffin. I didn’t want to see anymore. I couldn’t take it.

“No!” I dropped to my knees and started to claw at the ground, ripping handfuls of grass and dirt.

“Jodi!” Alex wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me up. He stepped back, away from the grave. “Stop! Calm down. Tell me what’s wrong.”

I doubled over, hysterical. “I saw everything. That poor soul was ripped out of the afterlife. It was crying out in pain, and it was terrified when it realized it was back in its body. Back in its grave.” I squeezed his arms for comfort. “Oh, God, Alex, it’s punching its way through the casket. I can see it all.”

“Open your eyes, Jodi.” He turned me around to face him and put both hands on the sides of my face. “Look at me. Jodi, look at me!”

I opened my eyes, but I saw double. I could see Alex in front of me, but I could also see the body. Its knuckles were cut up, skin dangling from the bones. It was halfway through the casket and starting to push through the dirt. “I still see it. Please, make it go away. Make it stop. Please!”

He pulled me into his chest and rubbed the back of my head. “Shhh, it’s okay. It’s okay.”

“How do you deal with this? How can you all raise the dead after seeing what the soul has to go through?” I cried into his chest.

“We don’t see it.”

I pulled away enough to look at him. “What?”

“We don’t see it. We know when our blood reaches the body. We get this feeling, but we don’t see any of it happening. It must be another one of your powers we don’t have.” By the way his forehead wrinkled, I knew he was confused by what was happening. This was new territory for the Ophi. They’d never met anyone like me before. I was the one and only Chosen One.

“You’re lucky. Believe me, you wouldn’t do this if you saw what I’m seeing now.” I turned around to face the grave. “He’s here,” I said a split second before his fingers pierced the surface. I rushed over to him and reached out my hand. I had to help him. He was suffering so much. I’d never felt such fear and anger at one time.

“Jodi, no! What are you doing?”

“I have to help him. He’s in pain, Alex. This is so hard on him.”

“You can actually feel what he feels?”

“Yes, and it’s killing both of us. Please, help me.”

Alex grabbed the other hand and helped me pull the body out of the ground. We had to be careful not to damage him. The second he was free—from the ground, anyway, because he had no will of his own anymore—his eyes found me. The hatred in his expression was more than I could take.

“You need to tell him what to do, Jodi. Quickly!”

I shook my head. “I can’t.”

“You’ll make this harder on him if you don’t. The other servants—the ones in our house—they aren’t suffering. Don’t let him suffer.”

I pulled myself together the best I could and looked the man in the eyes. “You’re going to come back to the house with us. You’ll live there and help the people there.” I wanted to make it sound pleasant for him. Like he’d be part of a family. Maybe if I could make him think that, this all wouldn’t be so bad. “You’ll cook and help with the chores. Do you understand?”

“You don’t have to ask him, Jodi. He’ll obey you.”

Alex didn’t get it. “I don’t care. I want him to understand. He’s a soul, not an empty body or plaything. He has a right to know what’s going on and to feel like he’s part of this world.”

Alex put his hands up defensively. “He’s your soul. You call the shots.”

“Don’t call him that. He’s his own soul.”

Alex stepped closer to me and whispered, “Watch what you say. If you go putting ideas in his head, like saying he’s his own soul, he may not obey anyone. A rogue living dead person could be very dangerous for all of us.”

Okay, I’d try to avoid giving him too much freedom. I’d find a happy medium. “Please, follow us into the house, and we’ll introduce you to the others like you. You’ll feel at home with them.” He stood there, staring at me, completely expressionless. At least the hatred was gone.

“He’s waiting for you,” Alex said. “You told him to follow you. The living dead are very literal. Whatever you tell them to do, they will do exactly that, so choose your words carefully.”

“Got it.” I turned and started toward the house. Every few feet I glanced behind me to make sure he was still following.

Alex smiled and shook his head. “You don’t need to do that. He has his orders.”

“I don’t like giving orders.” I turned back to the guy again. “This way, please.” The least I could do was be polite. The other Ophi tended to bark orders at the servants. I didn’t want to be like that. There was no reason to be like that.

I headed for the stairs leading to the front door, but Alex pointed around back. “We should bring him in through the servants’ entrance. He should get used to that.”

“I don’t think it will be a big deal to bring him in through the front.”

“Jodi, please try to remember that as much as you want them to be human, they’re not. This soul has been gone for years. If you want to make things easier on him, then help him fit in with the other servants.”

I hated this. More than I could ever express to Alex. I’d hoped he’d feel the same way I did, that he’d agree with me and maybe even convince his parents to release the souls of the other servants. It was ridiculous that everyone around here couldn’t pull their own weight. Hell, I’d wash the dishes and make the beds if it meant these souls didn’t have to be tortured like this. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized this didn’t seem abnormal to Alex because he had grown up here. Around Ophi. Around all this. Being waited on by the living dead was part of his daily routine. It was hard to see what was wrong with something if it was all you knew. I felt bad for him, so I gave in.

“We’re going to take you around back where the others like you go in and out of the house.” The guy continued to look at me without changing his expression. “This way, please.” He followed. We took him through the entrance by the kitchen. I heard the sound of pots and various other cooking utensils. The servants must have been preparing dinner. They probably spent all their time cooking. There were always so many foods to choose from at each meal. We walked into the kitchen, but the servants kept working, not even noticing us. They were like robots, doing what they were told to do and not wavering from their instructions.

I cleared my throat, but that did nothing to get their attention. Alex whistled and yelled, “Listen up.” All the servants stopped what they were doing. He leaned toward me. “Victoria told them to drop everything if one of us whistles. It lets them know they need to listen. It works well since we can’t really control them until we turn eighteen.” I noticed one woman by the stove put her hand on a bright-red burner. She rested it there as if it wasn’t even turned on. I ran over to her in horror. I heard her skin sizzle and got the faint smell of burned flesh. Her hand was blistered and red.

“Please, come here.” I brought her to the sink and turned on the cold water. “Put your hand under the water.”

“She can’t feel pain,” Alex said. “She’ll be fine. Stuff like that happens all the time.”

“That doesn’t make it okay.” I shot him a look, and he stepped back as if I’d punched him. “Look, I know this is just another day for you. You don’t know any other life. But to me this is awful. These were people. And maybe they’re not really alive anymore. Maybe they can’t feel pain, but that doesn’t make it okay for them to burn their hands on a hot stove or have to obey every command we give them.”

“Ignore what she said!” Troy’s voice boomed from the doorway. “Get back to work. All of you.” He looked at me and then Alex, the brunt of his disapproval falling on Alex. “Both of you, in the hall. Now!”

“Wrap your hand in a wet towel,” I whispered to the woman with the burned hand. Then, I followed Alex and Troy into the hall.

“What exactly did you think you were doing?” Troy asked, looking back and forth between us.

“One of the servants burned her hand. It was pretty bad. I was trying to help her.”

“Wouldn’t want burned flesh in the casserole.” Alex was trying to lighten the mood, but Troy wasn’t amused. “Jodi raised a dead body. We brought it here to replace the servant we lost yesterday.”

Troy’s expression softened. “Very good, Jodi. A successful raising on your first attempt is definitely commendable.”

“Thank you.” I was afraid Troy was going to start yelling again.

“What’s that I heard?” Victoria walked toward us. “Jodi raised and controlled a body on the first attempt?”

“Yes, she did.” Alex practically beamed with pride. “She’s a natural.”

“Well, that’s fantastic! I have a full set of servants back then.” She squeezed her hands together like an overly-excited child. “I am in awe of your abilities, Jodi. You may be teaching lessons soon. You seem to pick up on everything so quickly, and now that Medusa’s locket has presented itself to you, well, there’s no limit to your power.”

Someone scoffed behind Victoria. “Precious little Jodi and her amazing powers. Please! What has she really done?” I hadn’t even noticed Abby.

“How about everything the adult Ophi can do?” Alex said. “What have you done, except create a zombie that almost ripped your head off yesterday? I heard all about that. Quinn said you lost control in seconds and ran screaming toward the house. And you tried to tell people the locket appeared to you instead of Jodi?” He shook his head. “That’s nothing short of laughable.”

“Now, Alex, let’s not be rude,” Victoria said.

Abby was clenching her fists. “So Jodi’s done a few things right. You all think everything she does is amazing. Like holding both of Medusa’s hands. How difficult is that?” She turned and walked off. “I’ll show you how tough that is.”

“Abigail!” Troy yelled, but she was a girl on a mission. We followed her to the statue in the foyer. “Abby, stop right now!”

“Don’t be stupid, Abby,” Alex said. “You’re not Jodi. You don’t have Medusa’s blood in your veins. At least not in the same way Jodi does. You have no idea what will happen to you if you try this.”

“I know what will happen,” Abby said. “I’ll prove Jodi is nothing special.” She reached out and took both of Medusa’s hands at once. For a second, nothing seemed to happen. Abby shrugged. “See.” But then her face contorted. She screamed, and her body convulsed. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and she fell to the floor.