Vestige (21 page)

Thomas watched Clarke head upstairs. This was his chance. He pulled out the gun and did his best to steady his hand as he rounded the corner into the hallway. Thomas’s stomach lurched when he saw Grimshaw standing right in front of him.

“You look surprised, Thomas.” Grimshaw laughed.

Thomas raised the gun towards Grimshaw’s face.

“I knew you were there. I could taste you. I could smell you—your sickening-sweet reverence.” Grimshaw smile turned to stone.

“You need to leave, or I’ll shoot,” said Thomas.

“I’m not leaving without Clarke.”

“I will shoot you,” Thomas repeated as the gun trembled. Beads of sweat covered his forehead.

“See…I don’t think you will.” Grimshaw paused. “Why are you alone Thomas?” Grimshaw looked over Thomas’s shoulder. “Didn’t you complete your task? Did you chicken out? Or maybe you weren’t convincing enough.” Grimshaw’s smile returned, exposing his perfectly white teeth. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that the Guardian isn’t going to be a problem for me after all.”

“Micah is on his way. He knows everything, and he is ready to fight you.” Thomas hoped that this lie would force Grimshaw to leave.

“Well then, it’s time for us to go.” Grimshaw turned and yelled up the stairs, “Clarke, come down here please.”

“I won’t let you take her.”

“Yes, you will.”

“I’ll shoot you!” demanded Thomas.

Grimshaw ignored him.

Thomas pulled the trigger. He watched as the bullet tore into the back of Grimshaw’s suit coat.

Grimshaw turned back towards Thomas. He wasn’t affected by the bullet at all—no blood, no wound, only a damaged suit. “Dammit! You’ve ruined it.”

“I…I…” Thomas stammered.

“Come on Thomas, you had to know that you couldn’t kill me. Only one person can do that, but he doesn’t want the job.” Grimshaw raised his hand making like it was a gun, closed one eye, and pointed his index finger at Thomas. He bent his thumb down and said, “Bang.”

Thomas felt a sharp pain in his chest. He dropped his gun as he fell to his knees.

“Thomas, if you don’t mind, I’d like to do a little experiment.” Grimshaw walked toward Thomas and picked up the weapon from the floor. “There are new rules in place, and I’m not sure how all of them work. For instance, what happens to a person like you, a person without a tag, when your body dies? You see, once a person is tagged, that person is mine. That person will go to hell. I’m know that much. But now that heaven is closed for business, I’m not sure what happens to the untagged who have redeemed themselves. They can’t go to heaven…. They can’t go to hell….”

“What? Heaven is…” Thomas could barely speak.

“That’s right. Once all the innocent and righteous were safely inside, those pearly gates slammed shut never to reopen unless—of course—Micah fulfills his legacy.” Grimshaw aimed the gun at Thomas and pulled the trigger.

Searing pain tore through Thomas’s chest. He felt as if he were on fire. He rolled onto his side as his blood spurted onto the floor. Thomas raised his hand to his chest. He could feel the bullet’s entry point. He’d been shot close to his heart.

Grimshaw bent down and placed two fingers on the side of Thomas’s neck. He straightened himself and laughed. “Look at that. You have no pulse. Your body is dead, but you’re still in there. That means you have no place to go. You’re trapped in a dead body.”

Was this true? Would Thomas have to suffer such a curse? The pain was overwhelming. He thought he might pass out but then he saw Clarke racing towards him. He was supposed to help her. Now what was going to happen?

“Father Thomas?” Clarke rushed past Grimshaw and fell to her knees next to the priest. “Father Thomas—”

“We need to go Clarke,” Grimshaw said.

“You shot him! He’s going to die.” Her voice trembled.

Grimshaw stepped towards Clarke and picked her up by her shoulders. He held her so that her face was at the same level as his. “We are leaving now. Do you understand? Micah is on his way, and if we’re still here when he arrives, I’ll kill him too.”

Clarke glanced down at Thomas. Her eyes looked distant and confused. Thomas tried to speak to her but he didn’t have the strength.

She looked back at Grimshaw. “Micah?”

“Clarke...no…don’t…” Blood gurgled out of Thomas’s mouth.

Clarke stared at Thomas as if she didn’t know who he was. What was wrong with her? Did Grimshaw drug her? Thomas struggled to stay conscious. The pain was more than he could bear. He wanted to give up and let himself slip away. Helpless, he watched Clarke leave with Grimshaw. As the door closed, Thomas drifted into darkness.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Thomas shivered as he lay in the dark. Was he dead? Was this hell? Would he spend the rest of eternity in this frigid blackness, alone? How could this have happened? He grew up with faith. He once believed in heaven, and God, and hell, and Satan. He once believed in all of it, but the devil won out in the end. The devil had convinced Thomas that he didn’t exist, and that God didn’t exist. He tricked him into being complacent. Hell is what Thomas deserved.

Out of the darkness, a brown dog trotted towards him. “Bob, is that you?” Why would this dog be in hell?

The dog licked Thomas’s face. Thomas expected the dog’s tongue to be hot, but instead it was icy cold.

“Thomas, are you still with me?” Micah placed an icy rag on the priest’s forehead.

Thomas opened his eyes and tried to speak. “Micah…Clarke…”

“I thought you were dead. I couldn’t find a pulse. Who did this to you?”

“Grim…” Thomas couldn’t finish.

“I have medicine and painkillers back at my house. I’m going to run home and get them. Can you hang in there until I get back?” Micah didn’t expect an answer.

Thomas wanted to tell Micah what had happened. He wanted to tell him that Grimshaw had taken Clarke, but he could barely breathe let alone talk. As Thomas watched Micah walk out the door, he slipped back into unconsciousness.

“Thomas you have to pull yourself together.” Jon knelt next to him. “You have to tell Micah about Clarke, so he’ll go after Grimshaw. Once Grimshaw’s in Washington it will be much harder for Micah to get close to him. You can’t let Grimshaw getaway."

“Was Grimshaw telling the truth? Am I dead?” asked Thomas.

“Your body is dead. You need to keep things straight in your head. You can’t let the pain take over. It’ll drive you mad if you let it. Micah has medicine that might help you deal with the physical pain for the time being; you won’t need it for long. As your cells die and your nerves stop firing, your physical pain will end. But, sadly, your spiritual pain will only get worse. Once the antichrist has been defeated, Satan’s reign on earth will end. Then and only then will heaven open and allow entry to you and other new souls.”

The pain in Thomas’s chest began to lessen; Jon and Bob began to fade.

“Help Micah…”

“Thomas, Thomas…” Micah tapped Thomas’s cheek.

Thomas opened his eyes to find Micah kneeling over him. His pain was all but gone. “Micah…”

“I gave you a drop of morphine. The bottle is in your pocket. I have more back at the bunker…and other stuff if that stops working. Thomas you don’t look good. I…I can’t find your pulse. Before you opened your eyes, I thought you were dead.”

“Micah, I shot Grimshaw. I was only a few feet from him when I pulled the trigger, but nothing happened to him. Then…Grimshaw shot me. I
am
dead, Micah.”

Micah pulled his hands back from Thomas. “I don’t understand.”

“My body is dead, and heaven is closed. If I had a tag, I’d be in hell right now, but since I don’t, I have nowhere to go. I’m trapped here on earth.” Even though Thomas wanted to break down and cry, he maintained his composure. He needed to stay strong for Micah.

“Heaven is closed? Will it ever reopen?”

“Only after you defeat the antichrist…”

“I…I…” Micah’s voice trailed off.

“What’s happening to me is not important. I have things to tell you…. Grimshaw is afraid of you, Micah. When he heard that you were on your way, he couldn’t get out of here fast enough. He knows that you’re the only one who can kill him.” Thomas coughed and blood bubbled out from his mouth.

“Jesus, Thomas, I need to get you to a hospital.”

“They can’t do anything for me. Even if they could, I doubt they would help a person without a tag.” Thomas coughed again. “You need to listen, Micah. You have to stop Grimshaw, now. It’ll be much harder to kill him once he’s back in Washington.”

“I told you Thomas. I’m not cut out for this. I don’t want to kill anyone.”

“Micah, he has Clarke. He’s taking her back to Washington with him.”

“No…no, no.” Micah stood and rubbed his hand across his forehead. “I don’t believe that. She would never leave with a complete stranger.”

“Micah, Clarke is gone. I watched her walk out that door. She knows that Grimshaw is married to Lilith.”

“That’s all the more reason for her not to go with him.”

“Micah, Grimshaw threatened to kill you…. She doesn’t know what we know. She doesn’t know that you’re the Guardian, and Grimshaw realizes that. Another thing, she was out of it. I think he drugged her with something.”

Adrenaline surged through his veins. He needed to go after her. Micah pulled out the Jericho.

“Micah…the gun won’t work. You know what you need.”

“Yeah, okay, I’ll go get it.” Micah rushed to the door and pulled it open.

“Freeze! Drop your weapon and put your hands on top of your head.” Three soldiers stood at the door with their guns pointed at Micah.

Micah dropped his gun and looked back at Thomas.

One of the soldiers stepped into the house and grabbed Micah’s right hand. “Check his tag.”

A second soldier approached Micah with the scanner. “Nope, it’s a fake. Cuff him.”

“You need to go after the secretary of homeland security,” Micah insisted. “He shot that man and kidnapped a girl.”

The three soldiers laughed.

“We’re only here to enforce the Tagging Mandate.” The first soldier stabbed the butt of his gun into Micah’s gut.

Micah let out a gasp of air and tried to bend over, but the soldier behind him jabbed him in the back. “You’re going to jail unless you want to get tagged.”

“Never….” Micah coughed. He took one last look at Thomas before the three soldiers dragged him out the door.

During the transport, they roughed him up. Two of the soldiers sat in the back seat on either side of Micah and took turns beating him. By the time they reached the police station, Micah had two black eyes and a split lip.

“Hey Manny…we’ve got another one. And make sure this one doesn’t get away.” The soldiers turned to one another and laughed.

Manny grabbed Micah’s arm and lead him down a flight of stairs. They walked down a hallway and stopped. “This is your new home.” Manny lifted his casted hand and wacked Micah in the face. “You better not give me any trouble.”

Manny removed the cuffs and pushed Micah to the floor of the cell. He slammed the door and locked it.

Micah’s face throbbed. Who reported him? Cody, Dustin, Grimshaw? He struggled to his feet and staggered to the cot. A sharp pain stabbed at his side, and it hurt to breath. One of his ribs must be broken.

He struggled to get comfortable. The cot was lumpy, but it was better than the floor. He turned towards the wall, and that’s when he saw it. A black outline of a heart with the words
Clarke loves Micah!!! XOXO
written in the middle. He lifted his finger and traced the heart. His eyes burned. He couldn’t swallow.

“Whatever it takes Clarke…. I promise I’ll find you.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

“Micah…please. Can you hear me? Wake-up.”

Micah struggled to open his eyes. The white light from above was blinding. His head throbbed as he tried to sit up, so he fell back down onto the cot. Where was he? And what was wrong with his body? Had he been hit by a truck or something? “Ooh, I can’t move,” he moaned.

“No, don’t try to move. Micah, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

He focused on the owner of the voice until her blurry image became clear. Amber. “Where am I?”

“You’re in jail. I’ve been looking for you for the last day and a half. What happened to you?”

A day and a half! Did he hear her right? Micah’s brain didn’t seem to be working. How exactly did he end up—“Oh God…Clarke!” Micah shot up so that he was sitting on the bed facing Amber.

“Micah, I don’t know how to tell you this, but she’s gone.” Amber sat down next to him. “Clarke’s step-dad took her back to Washington D.C. with him. Did you know that Mr. Grimshaw was married to her mom?”

“I’ve gotta go after her.” Micah swung his legs over the side of the cot in an effort to stand, but his legs felt like Jello.

“Maybe you should just sit for a few minutes before you get up. Have you had anything to eat or drink?”

“No. I’ve been out since…. The last thing I remember is—Oh God! Father Thomas. He was shot.” He cradled his head in his hands.

“What are you talking about? Father Thomas is fine. I saw him leaving Clarke’s house the other night,” said Amber.

“Wait…you were at Clarke’s?”

“After you kicked us out. We headed to the village hall to check in with….” Her voice trailed off, and she looked at the ground.

“Village hall? You went to see Grimshaw, didn’t you.”

“I tried to tell Clarke, but she wouldn’t listen; she was too mad. Grimshaw made us do it.”

“Do what?”

“Separate you and Clarke. At first, he wanted us to just keep an eye on you. I didn’t understand why. But then, he wanted us to get Clarke away from you. Now that I know he’s her step-father, it all makes more sense.”

“How could he make you? Amber, I thought you were my friend. Even if you didn’t like Clarke, how could you do that to me?”

“Micah, you have to understand. He does this thing. He makes you feel special, and all you want to do is please him.” Amber’s eyes began to tear up. “I don’t expect you to get it. Now that he’s gone, I don’t feel his…his power anymore. I’m having trouble believing I did it. I’m so so so sorry.”