Uprising (17 page)

I believe he paid you a little visit a while back in your mind. He warned you I was coming for you, didn’t he?

“He let me in on all your little secrets. But I knew...a Keeper could only love you if you were perfectly good. So, one quick glance at your pretty little mind and I knew that is was true. I could find a human worth something in this sea of useless mindless idiots. You were the one that I needed. Once I rid the world of humans, and we, “he palms his chest with both hands, “are all that exist, we need to have you for the balance. There can’t only be
evil
, as you put it. There has to be both. Balance. So, in a sense, if I destroy all of you, I destroy myself along with you. I can’t have that. And your altruism will be the key to your own races destruction. It’s the perfect wickedly ironic ending. Don’t you think?”

“You’re delusional. I’m not perfect nor selfless by any standards, especially not human ones. Merrick doesn’t love me because I’m perfect.”

“Then ask him why. Why would he risk everything for you if you were not?” he asks but I stay silent as does Merrick. “If I ask him, he will say that is why. You are quite a sight to behold, Sherry. I wish you could see yourself. So small yet so strong willed. Broken physically,” he gestures to my leg, then stretched his arms out to his sides, “yet here you are, in the Lighters nest ready to strike down anyone who comes between you and your precious Lily.”

“Why Lily? Why Calvin?”

“Oh, Sherry. They are nothing to me. Except food,” he said laughing maliciously. “Just as those people you saw in the basement will be. I want to absorb them, Sherry, that’s all. Children offer so much more...sustenance that Lighters and humans do. They are so pure and clean on the inside. It does wonders for my complexion.” He rolls his eyes to fake modesty and then he laughs again, making my stomach turn but I try not to show it. “More than anything, they were just my ploy to get you here. And here you are.”

Taking One For The Team

It was more than strange and embarrassing to have my husband, my brother, my family watch this thing - evil incarnate - sweet talk, seduce and basically try to make me run away with him. It’s sick and if he’d stop talking for just a minute, I’m sure I’ll throw up.

How do we get out of this? What do I do? If I have to sacrifice myself for Lily I will. She has plenty of people who love her and will take care of her. I’ll do it in a heartbeat. But I know, Crandle won’t let them go. Plus, if I go, he says he can destroy the world. So...quite a dilemma. It’s a trick and I know it. I also know he’s reading my mind, I wonder if it’s everyone or just me.

I see him raise his eyebrow in amusement to my internal question but he doesn’t answer it. What will happen if I go with him? What will happen to me?

“You’ll become like me,” he answers me. “A leader, of sorts depending on your behavior, though I can’t let you become a Lighter. I must keep you human. For some reason, we never could make females Lighters. Too weak I guess. But in your case, you could be the closest thing to one, one of a kind and worshipped,” Crandle answers me and I wonder why he did that when he can speak to me in my mind.

When I think back, I
have
only seen male Lighters.

Huh.

“You don’t know me half as well as you think you do if you could think that being worshipped is something I would want,” I say, but I feel like my arguments are beginning to loose steam.

How long can we sit here and go back and forth like this? Something’s gotta give.

“Oh, I know you pretty well. Every human female wants to be worshipped, especially by men. Have you yourself not thought in your mind that Merrick is at your every female command and pouty whim?” he says looking at Merrick, begging for a reaction.

Interesting.

I had thought that but not quite as devious as he laid it out to be. I was being silly and playful, wasn’t I?

“Being worshipped by my husband is a bonus, not a requirement, for me. I don’t need that to be happy. I’m not like other women. I think you’ve got the wrong girl.”

“Oh. I got the right girl. Modest as all get out and naïve as well. You don’t see how beautiful you are, how meek. It just makes people want to protect you. Love you. You don’t use your powers of persuasion anywhere near the level of what you could. Merrick is merely a toy, a play thing. Imagine having a fleet of toys under your every command.”

But before I can think of anything to say in response. I see Trudy in my peripheral. She was already the closest to Crandle, on his left, but now she’s inched closer.

“Enough of this rubbish!” she yells and takes her iron rod, ramming it right through Crandle’s chest. He falls backwards from the force and lands on his back on the floor, banging his head on the hall table. The table falls too and the flower vase shatters spraying water, yellow roses and glass over the floor.

Cain is under the attic door in seconds, trying to coax Lily, who is now looking down to jump.

“Lily!” he called and then looked back at us to make sure we heard. “She’s here. Lily! Come on. Jump down to me.”

“No! No! The bad man...” she starts and before I can even suggest it Merrick swings into action, instantly heading for the attic.

“Lily. The bad man is gone now. I’m here. Come on, sweetheart. I need you to jump to me. I’ll catch you, I promise. Come on, baby. Let’s go home,” Merrick says pleading.

Merrick is tall with a long reach but it’s still a pretty far jump, especially for a toddler. But, she must trust Merrick completely, like me, because she jumped without any further moments hesitation. She landed safely in his arms and she hugged his neck so hard and he hugged her so sweetly in return.

“Mewwick!” she yelled, still hugging him. “Mewwick! Don’t make me stay with the bad man! Pwease.”

“Never, sweetheart. You belong with me. With us.”

She continued to be a trooper, tolerating all the happy crooning and reassuring touches and pats of the others, as I stood in my same spot and observed.

She was happy. Maybe she wouldn’t be so happy to see me? She looked as content as could be with everyone else. But when Merrick turned with her in his arms, and she saw me, my heart stopped. She practically busted free of his grip to get to me, he had to hold tight to keep her from falling as he strode my way.

“Shawwy!”

She almost strangled me with her petite arms when Merrick reached me. He still held her because of my leg and crutches but she gripped my neck like a vise, and I loved every second of it. She was ecstatic, because of me. Seeing me made her happy. That, made
me
happy.

“Oh, Lily bug. I missed you,” I told her.

“I wike that name, bug, Shawwy. I wike you to call me dat.”

“You do? Well, I’ll always call you that then.”

I was crying, again. I cried a lot lately, especially when it came to this little girl.

“Shawwy, why you cwying?”

“I’m just so happy to see you, Lily bug. Are you ready to go home?”

She nodded her head vigorously with the cutest little turned up nose and raised eyebrows but our happy reunion was short lived when I heard a familiar laugh echoing in the halls.

Why won’t he just die!? Then I remembered that Merrick said Crandle couldn’t be killed by running him through, like a Lighter. Only by fire. Oh no. Merrick wraps both Lily and I in in his arms protectively.

“What a sweet reunion,” Crandle says, pulling himself up and slowly removing the rod from his chest even slower, with a grimace, white light spurting out of the wound until it heals shut. I can’t help but hope that it really did hurt. “Unfortunately, I’m tired of these games. I’m ready to go. Sherry? Shall we? Or shall I call the Lighters to deal with your family?”

The ones outside? The ones we already took care of? Others? What do I do? I can’t go with him. Come on someone, think of something!

“I guess I have your answer then.” He took a step forward and shook his head, looking at me. “I’m so disappointed in you Sherry. First I’ll call the Lighters to come and kill your ‘band of misfits’ as you once called them and then I’ll take you by force. One way or another, I will have you,” Crandle said raising his hands in the air, the rod still in his fist.

His palms start to glow with a faint light. Waiting for...lightning or smoke or something, I’m not sure but nothing seems to be happening. What’s he waiting for?

Then he blurs forward, moving the few feet to where Trudy is standing. He stabs her through the back, the rod protruding, coming out the chest, right where her heart would be.

“No! No!” I hear myself yell but I’m not the only one.

Trudy gasped and almost falls, holding her chest. Crandle, holds her in one arm while the other hand is placed over her chest. He breathes deeply, taking big breaths and concentrates. His hand starts to glow brighter then comes a white light from underneath his palm and his eyes glaze over black and dark. Trudy screams and wrenches to get free and just as Jeff moves forward to help it’s too late.

We see a ripple go through her entire body, a bright shining light with it that engulfs her and evaporates just a quickly leaving her skin dull and ashen, and then Crandle drops her and walks away.

Jeff, who was close to her already, catches her and helps lower her to the ground. Her eyes are wide and her face is pale. Not pale but ash white. She murmurs for us not to worry about her, she wouldn’t have lived much longer anyway...and then nothing. She stops breathing and her eyes close, head rolling to the side and she’s gone.

I realize, he’s just absorbed her. Something I thought I’d never see and never wanted to. I wouldn’t have Lily in my arms right this second if it hadn’t been for Trudy’s sacrifice.

I want to cry, scream, hit and beat something. But my need to make him pay is all I can handle at this point.

“Bastard! You bastard!” I heard myself yelling and cursing again. Cain tries to grab him and he pushes him away easily. Then he’s there, right in my face in a blur of a second.

His palm sweeps forward at the same time to Merrick’s chest with a powerful blow, sending him bounding backwards and slamming into a huge aerial picture of the town on the wall. I can hear it breaking and shattering to the wood floor behind us.

Crandle is right in our faces, I can feel his sickly sweet breath on my face as I hold Lily tighter, the Takers arms going around us both like an embrace. Maybe he’s gonna flee with us this way? Lily speaks before I can.

“You’re a bad man!” she yells with as much force as a three year old girl can muster.

Then she thumps his nose. As innocently as you would thump a bug off your arm.

Crandle’s eye go wide, he looks aghast, how dare she, and then he blinks, he blinks rapidly but then...something else. He starts to clear his throat...then choke. He removes his cold arms from us. He coughs. He gasps. He grabs his throat. He moves back and doubles over, putting his hands on his knees, still coughing huskily and looking up at Lily in angry wonderment.

Merrick has returned to my side in a blur now and we all look on, wondering what is going on. I’m wondering if Lily has a gift too and if she has just shown us all for the first time, not even knowing she was doing it. As I continue to watch the display, I’m sure she does and has.

Crandle wasn’t expecting us to be prepared. I ponder whether he knew about the Special’s gifts at all. He thought we’d go down admirably and fighting but still go down in the end. He thought he’d win. He was a fool for being so blind and arrogant. I squeeze Lily with pride and then look at Merrick. I see blood on his sleeve.

“You’re hurt!” I yell and move to examine it.

He has a gash on his arm. The glass cut through his sleeve and skin on his shoulder but doesn’t look too deep.

“It’s fine. It’s nothing.” He says, still watching Crandle.

Crandle continues to cough and hack, he’s on his knees on the floor now, and Jeff decides to use it as an escape opportunity. He motions for us to head out the hallway. Merrick takes Lily from me and I start to hobble away but stop.

“Wait. Trudy?” I ask Jeff, grabbing his sleeve in protest.

“I’m sorry Sherry. She’s gone. We can’t save her.”

I bite my lower lip to hold back the sob and nod as Merrick pushes me, urging me down the hall. Lana and Calvin are behind us. Everyone else in front.

Then I hear breaking glass, doors slamming. Pounding, footsteps. I realize the reinforcements have been called in. Theirs.

More Lighters are here. Merrick shoves Lily and I on the elevator and hops in with us quickly. The moment the doors open on the first floor, I see them. Waiting for us all.

Some of us, Jeff and Ryan I can tell, have made it downstairs and are fighting already. Merrick blurs us through the commotion and to the front door, putting us in the shadowed corner of the foyer.

“Stay,” he commands and kisses me quickly.

I will stay this time. I have so much to lose now. Precious cargo in my arms. The rest of them take their stand as the fighting continues in the main hall, a huge room with an obscene gold and crystal chandelier hanging right over the center. Right above the fight.

Jeff and someone else sneaks off, I can see them go. He see’s me watching. I must look frightened because he reaches out to my mind, which he doesn’t do often.