Black Fall

by D.J. Bodden

CHAPTER 24

  “Jonas, why are there hunters in your apartment?” Viviane hissed in his ear.

  “They’re friends,” Jonas said.

  “They don’t look like friends.”

  “Frank, you mind pointing that gun somewhere else?” Jim said.

  “Can’t do it, Jimmy,” Frank said through gritted teeth.

  “Yes you can, Frank. She can’t do this many at once, not if you’re all fighting it,” Jim said. He wasn’t smiling, which was a first for Jonas.

  Viviane shuddered, and Frank quickly swung his weapon to point at her.

  “Jonas, you need to stop this,” Eve said.

  “Atta boy, Frank,” Jim said. “Billy, how ‘bout it, buddy? You gonna let that bloodsucker make you dance?”

  Billy scowled, his arms twitching.

  “Even if you break two away, the others will still shoot you,” Viviane told Jim.

  “I’ll shoot you first,” Jim said, winking at her. “And if I don’t, Frank will.”

  Eugene and Steve suddenly swung their guns on Frank, while Billy’s arms continued to tremble. Then Kieran walked into the room and said, “Uh, guys? What’s going on?”

  “Damn it, Billy! Show a little self-control!” Jim said.

  Jonas noticed sweat running down Billy’s face and neck, just as the man snarled, broke free, and pointed his gun at Viviane.

  Why didn’t you tell me she was with Eve? Jonas asked Madoc.

  I couldn’t see her.

  “That man is insane,” Viviane said, her voice filled with wonder. “Mad as a hatter.”

  “Thank you,” Jim said.

  “Guess we know what Fangston was trying to do, sending them all out at once,” Frank said. He aimed for Viviane’s head and started to squeeze the trigger.

  “What?” Viviane said.

  “Jonas, do something!” Eve said.

  Jonas could feel the amount of power emanating from Viviane, but she was struggling to maintain control of eleven people at once. And Jim probably counted for more; his mind – like a black hole – was swallowing her attempts to control him. Remembering how much he’d strained just to make two people see a slightly different version of the apartment, Jonas couldn’t imagine how she was managing complete motor control of people who’d been dealing with vampires for years.

  It didn’t take much, just the equivalent of a mental shove.

  Viviane stiffened. “Jonas? What are you—?”

  She crumpled to the floor, unconscious. The hunters, who’d still been under her control, all started moving at the same time, shouting and pointing their guns. Except for two of them, who also collapsed.

  “Freeze!” Frank shouted, stopping the hunters in their tracks. “Unload and show clear, gents. Nice and steady, now. Lots of firearms being waved around, and far as I can tell, no one needs shooting.”

  The hunters grumbled as they ejected their magazines, racked their weapons, and holstered them, as Frank tapped each of them on the shoulder, one by one, and said, “Safe.”

  Jim went straight to Viviane, hooked his arms under her armpits, and dragged her to a chair.

  “What are you doing with her?” Eve asked.

  “Tying her up and blindfolding her. Any objections?”

  There was a chorus of no’s around the room, except for Eve, who said, “Yes! Absolutely!”

  “Handle your girlfriend, Jonas,” Jim said, as he zip-tied Viviane’s wrists together behind the chair.

  “Excuse me?” Eve’s eyes narrowed, she curled her hands into fists, and her face turned bright red. Jonas had seen the look before, during training.

  “Uh, guys?”

  The hunters were picking up their gear, talking in twos and threes, while throwing dirty looks at Viviane. Kieran was staring at Eve, his eyes glazing over.

  “Guys!” Jonas shouted, adding a little force to it with his mind. The conversations stopped; even Eve turned to look at him.

  Jim said, “I’ll shoot you too, kid. Don’t test me.”

  “Enough, Jim!” Frank said. “Jonas, what is it?”

  “Guys, I’d like to introduce Eve. She’s very capable, and doesn’t like to be ignored, and if you don’t shut up and listen for a minute, she’s going to make you listen.” He glanced at Eve and whispered, “Is that about right?”

  “Yes, that’s about right,” she muttered through clenched teeth.

  “She’s just a kid,” Steve said, “what could she possibly—” Eve snapped her head toward him and he went limp, falling backward. His head bounced when it hit the floor.

  “Eve?” Frank said, clearing his throat. “Jim’s just going to finish tying up the lady here, but we won’t hurt her. Otherwise, except for Steve, you have our undivided attention. I’m assuming he’s just asleep?”

  Eve brushed a lock of hair from her face. “He’ll be fine,” she said. “Probably have a headache and a nice sized bump on his head, when he wakes up.” Then she turned to Jonas and nodded toward Frank. “Who’s in charge, him or you?”

  Jonas wasn’t sure how to answer. But before he could speak, Kieran said, “Frank is second in command of the hunters, but Jonas is in charge of the whole operation.” Frank started to say something, but Kieran put a hand on his shoulder — the way Jonas had seen Phillip do to Bert — and whispered something that Jonas couldn’t hear.

  Frank nodded, “Kieran’s right. Jonas is in charge.”

  Eve huffed. She pulled off her gloves and scarf, unbuttoned her coat and placed everything neatly on top of the makeshift dining room table, while everyone waited. Billy shuffled his feet and looked at Frank, who shook his head. Eugene chuckled, sat back on the couch, and picked up his newspaper. Jim finished tying a dishtowel around Viviane’s eyes.

  Eve turned back to face them, and said, “Viviane’s been protecting me from the Director for the past two days. There are non-enforcers with weapons in the Agency, now. Most of the real enforcers were sent on missions over the past month. Fangston tried to summon me to his office, alone, three times in the past twenty-four hours, and Viviane sent his goons packing. He’s been increasingly erratic, beat at least two students, and dismembered one of the zombies. So I told Viviane everything we’d found out. She didn’t believe me until this evening, when Fangston let Doris out of the lobby.”

  “He what?” Frank, Kieran, and Jonas said at the same time.

  Eve reached out to Jonas with her mind, and he saw it through her eyes — walking through the lobby of the building, the smell of burnt rubber in the air. The security guards were dead, their mouths open, their skin shriveled, their eye sockets empty. The charred bodies were still smoking. Jared, the security chief, slumped over the podium, his corpse twitching irregularly.

  Jonas felt like he’d been punched in the gut. I should have moved on the Agency sooner, he thought. Jared is dead because of me.

  Eve’s eyes were watering. She sniffed and said, “Anyway, Viviane ordered the evacuation. She got as many out as she could.”

  No! How could I have missed this? Madoc said.

  “What’s wrong with the specter?” Frank asked.

  “You found him?” Eve said.

  “I did,” Jonas answered. He turned to Frank, “I’m not sure. Something to do with Doris.”

  “Who’s Doris?” Steve said, rubbing his head.

  “A lich,” Frank replied.

  Eugene groaned. “I hate those.”

  “Everybody hates liches,” Jim said.

  They’re dead, Madoc said.

  “Who?” Frank and Jonas asked at the same time.

  All of them. Homeless man, slumped against the side of Grand Central. A full subway car on the ‘6’ line. A couple and their nine-month-old child in Central Park. A taxi driver, dead at the wheel, cars honking behind him. Thirty people are dead, and I didn’t see it. I have no idea where she is, but she’s headed this way.

  Frank frowned. “What do you mean? It’s just one person. I thought you could—”

  She’s a lich, Madoc
said, More powerful now than she was in life. If I look wide, she’s invisible. If I look too close, she’ll shred me. Same goes with other magical creatures. There’s nothing I can do.

  “What about this one?” Frank said, nodding toward Viviane.

  She was hiding herself, somehow. Puppeteers are weird.

  Jim chuckled.

  “It doesn’t matter, I know what Fangston’s doing,” Jonas said, grabbing his coat.

  “What’s that?” Frank said.

  “Giving me a choice, same as he did when he put Kieran in Grand Central — bring him the journal or more people die. We need to move on the Agency… now.”

  Eve touched his shoulder. “Jonas, Fangston can’t control Doris. She’s just feeding to regain her strength. She could keep killing no matter what you do, or she could be off the island already.”

  “He just wants mayhem,” Jonas said. “If we wait, he’ll just release something worse. Kieran, are you coming?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m coming, too,” Eve said. Jonas reached out and squeezed her hand. She squeezed back, then grabbed her coat.

  “Kid, we’re not—”

  “I’m in charge, Frank. You said so yourself. And unless I’m mistaken, saving people from ‘freaks’ is what hunters do, right?” Jonas looked at Jim, pointed at Viviane, and said, “Let her go, and be polite when she wakes up. We’re going to need her.”

  “You’re the boss, kid,” Jim said, reaching for a knife.

  “No, he’s not,” Frank said, moving toward Jim. “We’re not letting her—”

  “It’s the right thing to do, Frank. I’ll keep my eyes on her,” Jim said, cutting through the zip tie.

  Eugene walked over to Jonas, a shotgun hanging from a sling under his coat. “I’ll walk you out,” he said.

  Frank sighed in resignation. “Steve, get everyone geared up and ready. Billy, cars. Madoc, tell Macready—”

  Jonas didn’t hear the rest of it; he was already out the door, heading to Mrs. Eidelmeyer’s apartment. Once they were out of earshot, Eve said, “I assume you have a plan, beyond just walking back in there. Because Viviane and I just went through a lot of trouble to get out of the Agency.”

  “Well, that’s actually about it. The plan, I mean. Hold on just a minute.”

  Jonas stopped and knocked on an apartment door. Eve frowned, as Kieran walked up behind her. “Sorry,” he said, “This place reeks of peppermint. You need me in there?”

  “No,” Jonas said, “I’m just picking something up, then we’ll go.” He saw a shadow at the peephole and heard the deadbolt being unlocked. The door opened a crack, with the chain lock still in place. “Mrs. Eidelmeyer? It’s Jonas. I need the book that I gave you for safekeeping?”

  The door shut.

  “You left the journal with your crazy neighbor?” Eugene said.

  “She’s not crazy, just a little paranoid. Besides, I remember my mom saying her husband died while working with my dad. Back then, I thought she meant on a sales trip or something. But since it turns out my dad was an enforcer, I’m not quite sure how it all ties together. I just knew I could trust her.”

  The door creaked open again, and the journal was thrust through the crack. As soon as Jonas took it, the door shut, and the deadbolt clicked back into place.

  “Friendly,” Eve said.

  Jonas shrugged.

  Eugene called the elevator, and the four of them piled in.

  “So, you were about to share this plan of yours,” Eve said.

  “Really?” Jonas said, grinning.

  Eve punched him in the shoulder.

  Jonas reached out, took her hand, and sent the plan he and Madoc had discussed.

  Eve’s eyes widened. She let go of his hand and stared at him. “That’s it?”

  “Madoc says there’s a seventy-nine percent chance we’ll make it to the room with the wards in it. Fangston won’t see us as a threat, because we’re kids.”

  “We aren’t a threat, Jonas!” She looked at Kieran. “I can’t believe you’re going along with this.”

  Kieran shrugged. “Need to find my brother.”

  The elevator doors slid open, and they headed for the exit.

  “You don’t have to come,” Jonas said.

  “Oh, shut up. Of course I do,” Eve said, crossing her arms.

  Eugene was in the lead. He opened the door that led outside the building, shouted, then raised his shotgun and fired. Almost immediately, his body lifted off the ground like gravity had suddenly been turned off. He looked back at Jonas and flailed, trying to grab the doorframe, as an invisible force pulled him away.

  “Come out, Jonas, or I’m coming in!” Doris said.

  Jonas mouthed, “Stay here,” to Eve and Kieran, then stepped outside before they could argue.