Dead End: Midnight Hollow

by Penn Cassidy

  “Freddy, you have to stop the mayor! He’s trying to raise my mother!”

  His yellow eyes went wide, and in the face of a werewolf, it was an incredibly odd sight. Jason slammed into Freddy a moment later, peering into the small slit in the stone. “October!” he shouted with relief coloring his voice. “October, is that you?!”

  “It’s fucking me!” I called out through tears, watching as his face came near the bars I was gripping. All around him was a swirling fog, green lightning, and the smell of decayed flesh. Corpses were staggering out of their graves in every direction I looked, and they began to gather slowly towards us with their arms outstretched. Their eyes were empty and soulless and unnatural.

  The ground rumbled again, but this time it was different. The rumble was low, shallow, and thunderous. I peered past Freddy and Jason, and a hysterical sound fell from my lips.

  “To the death!” came the smallest, squeakiest voice I’d ever heard. Jessica barreled around the headstones, and Maddie was sitting on her spidery back like a rider on a horse, with freaking Roger behind her, throwing rocks at the undead.

  Jessica was currently the size of a Volkswagen Beetle again. Sparks of magic were flying from Maddie’s fingertips, and her battle cry was one for the history books. I realized that aside from that day in the library and that broomstick ride, this was the first real time I’d seen her use her powers.

  “Be gone, foul beasties! Back to the graves with ya!” Mads shouted, her magic flying from her fingertips and zapping the undead in the butts.

  Jessica was swiping corpses around left and right with her big spindly spider legs. Beside them was a massive greenish man standing over ten feet tall, with skin the color of moss and fat tusks protruding from his lower jaw. It took a second to realize who it was. Baen. It was freaking Baen in his true form, and he was crushing corpses under his fist like the Hulk.

  “That’s my man! Don’t mind me, just staring!” Mads cheered on Baen, then blew him kisses before stampeding away on Jessica.

  “Where's Cal?!” Jason/Damon demanded, grabbing my attention again.

  I shook my head in shock. “Don’t hurt him, he’s on our side. No blowing him up.”

  He gritted his teeth, his eyes blazing with rage. “He kidnapped you!”

  “I don’t care, he’s the only reason the ritual isn’t working! Ichabod is trying to resurrect my mother, and Cal tricked him. It’s not going to work, but I need to get out of this fucking coffin!” I looked at Freddy next, his nose was in the air as he sniffed around the coffin, trying to figure out how to get me out. “We have to stop him before Calvin’s ward breaks around their graves!”

  Freddy went to nod, but was thrown backwards when one of those clown assholes slammed into him from the side, its freaking toot horn blaring as they went down. I screamed his name, but I saw Norman there, ripping into the fucker’s throat a second later and spitting out the blood in disgust, his eyes completely black.

  “And stay dead,” Norman mumbled under his breath and kicked the clown in the gut for good measure.

  I knew they could take care of themselves, as they grew into their powers every day, but I still couldn’t handle the thought of any of my guys getting hurt. I’d already lost them once. I couldn’t waste this second chance.

  My friends were fighting the attacking horde, and even Jason had to rip himself from beside my coffin to help. There must have been fifty zombies snarling, scratching, and biting. Payton and her mother were cowering, just watching the spectacle—bitches—until Mads hopped off a running Jessica and marched over to Payton with clear revenge in her eyes. Payton hopped off the tombstone with a back flip and shook her pom-poms in a come and get it motion.

  “There's only one cheerleader allowed in this town, and that’s me! My name’s Maddie, head cheerleader at Sunset Hollow, prepare to die!” Mads took a fighting stance, but not before pulling off her hoop earrings and throwing them to Roger, who caught them without looking as he charged away into the zombies.

  Look at his little legs go. So cute.

  I shook my head and cheered for Maddie as she danced in place with her fists raised, dodging a pom-pom and doing a back hand flip that made her foot connect with Payton’s chin. Her head snapped back, and she spit out a broken tooth that added a gap between her teeth, her smile was even creepier now.

  “You're going to pay for that,” Payton said with a lisp.

  “Bring it on,” Maddie goaded and charged towards her head first like an all-star linebacker.

  I saw Baen standing off to the side, throwing zombies around like flopping fish, but he kept looking over his shoulder to shout encouragement at his girl. That was kind of sweet in a weird way. Maddie kept swinging her arms, her fists connecting over and over again, until Payton’s face was black and blue instead of a powdery white. She passed out as Maddie stood to her feet, dusting off her hands, and then jumped in place, throwing Payton’s pom-poms in the air.

  “Take that, you bitch. Who’s the cheerleader now?!” Maddie sneered down at her with a head bob and skipped away with a smile, all the way to Baen’s side, where she stroked his hulking back muscles in wonder.

  “Where are the aunties?!” I shouted, terrified because if something happened to them, I’d lose it for good.

  “Getting a special book at my shop,” Baen grumbled out as he lifted two zombies by the necks and sent them flying.

  I closed my eyes in relief but snapped them back open when I noticed how silent it got.

  My eyes went back to Ichabod, who suddenly stopped chanting and started cackling, his fingers curled towards the sky. My heart dropped into my stomach when I watched that green lightning strike the graveyard dirt, right over my parents’ grave.

  “No!” I screamed, thrashing again. “Freddy, tip the coffin!” His head popped up at the sound of his name, and he fought to get back to me, biting through jugulars and clawing faces of the undead. “Freddy, tip this thing! Do it now!”

  He took a running start and slammed into the stone coffin, making it rock. I teetered backwards, head spinning as he slammed into it again. I needed to face the moons. I needed the eclipse to shine directly on me for this. I was so out of my league here, still new to all of this, and it wasn’t fair.

  The coffin toppled finally, and I slammed against the stone when I hit the ground. My head nearly cracked against it, but I covered it in time and saved myself from a concussion. Moonlight washed over me as I laid on my back, staring up at the sky through the opening of the bars.

  Closing my eyes tight, I let the moonlight sink into my skin and concentrated on my breathing. The fight happening around me was dimmed to background noise.

  “Dad…” I whispered quietly. “I don’t know what I’m doing, but please, please help me do this. You never taught me how to be what I am, but I'm begging you to help me now before I lose everyone…”

  I didn’t know where people went when they died. I didn’t even try to imagine, but I hoped wherever he was right now, he could hear me. I had the power to control the dead, shouldn't it stand to reason that I could breach that veil, too?

  A stark cold seeped into my veins then, and my mind went blank. It was as if the shaking had stilled and the hurricane force wind stopped. I could hear nothing but the blood pumping under my skin and my heartbeat as it slowed. And then I felt my lips moving.

  “Et vocavi vos oriri ex somno... Intra haec vita in regnis hoc iterum… Arcum meum sentire potestas, et meo imperio…”

  The words were not my own, but they were coming from my mouth. My voice was tinged with another, and power filled my veins. I chanted the same words over and over again, until something began to burn deep in my chest.

  My eyes flashed open when a blast lit up the world around me. Bright green swirls of power and strikes of lightning hit me at once as the stone coffin shattered into millions of tiny shards. Static electricity ran along the surface of my skin as some invisible force lifted me into the air. My body righted, and I hovered t
here, my feet inches from the soil. My dress and hair flowed around me, but my lips kept on repeating that same ancient chant. Over and over again, until my voice rose to a scream, a desperate cry, as the earth began to shake.

  “No!” I heard from the ground. “Cal, stop her!”

  It was Ichabod. He sounded panicked and desperate, but I couldn’t see him through the lightning. I could suddenly feel every deceased creature buried in this graveyard, and those undead as well. I could feel the power of their empty shells writhing, trying to break free from Ichabod’s unorthodox hold. I called out to them, beckoning them to come to me.

  “Meus es tu…” I said softly, my voice strong and echoing around the graveyard. I chanted the words over and over again… “You are mine,” I told them.

  I could hear Ichabod shouting louder now. He screamed, “No, no, no!” over and over again, until his voice was drowned out by the moans and gurgles of my corpses—the ones he’d raised from their eternal sleep. The bodies he’d desecrated began to turn on him.

  That invisible force carried me forward, floating inches above the ground. Ichabod was staring right at me, mouth agape. The blackness I’d seen in his eyes before was gone completely, replaced with a frightened watery brown. I saw the corpses come to a standstill in my peripheral, no longer fighting my guys. My eyes flickered briefly to where Jason stood with his boot on Payton’s mother’s chest, eyes triumphant as he held her down before Cal laid a hand on his shoulder to take over guard duty.

  Maddie was heading over with Baen and Roger trailing behind her, a once again small Jessica perched on his shoulder. Blackness was receding from Michael’s arms, and he was holding Freddy by the shoulders to keep the werewolf from running over to me. Norman grabbed his other arm, keeping a hold on his twin. They all watched me as I pulled the corpses closer, beckoning them to come to their master.

  My lips were still moving, those words rolling out effortlessly. I had an inkling of what I was saying.

  “Meus es tu!” I shouted, my voice carrying over to the front gates. I was telling the corpses to do my bidding, to submit to me and turn on the one who’d ripped them from their rest.

  They staggered forward, and Ichabod scrambled back on his heels, feet kicking up dirt, chanting, “Tuus ego sum. EGO teneo et tibi dominantur!” He screamed the words over and over again, but the zombies didn’t even flinch.

  They converged on Ichabod and bypassed Cal, who was standing close by in a protective stance as he formed an invisible wall around Payton and her mother to trap them together in case they woke up.

  I felt something then—a gentle breeze against my neck that had a sense of comfort and warmth rushing through me. It was a familiar sort of warmth, and immediately, I knew exactly what it was. Tears sprung to my eyes as I felt my parents' spirits wrap around me, fueling me with the strength I needed. Invisible fingers laced through mine.

  “We are so proud of you, darling girl. We’re always here…” they whispered in my ear as my eyes closed to absorb the sound of their voices one last time.

  “Tolle eum,” I said softly, knowing my undead servants would listen. “Take him.”

  My guys were surrounding me now for support, watching Ichabod cower. The corpses ignored everyone I loved. The guys watched as they converged, and Ichabod screamed as hands groped him, jaws clashing and nails scratching at his skin.

  I smiled down at the man that I realized was responsible for the death of my parents. It really was him all along. I knew that now. I didn’t know how I’d missed it before. He was the top hat wearing man in the street that night who’d made our car fly off the road. The one with the power to disappear like magic. The one who set all this in motion.

  “Take him,” I’d said to them. Not kill him. No, I didn’t want this vile, worthless warlock dead just yet… I had plans for him.

  I felt taller than tall, over the moon and on top of the world. I rode the beast on its back through a bonafide battle and lived to tell the tale. My strings were cut loose from my master, and I was a free marionette.

  No more cold, lonely nights on the job being told what to do. I was my own fella, destined to set the rules, until I needed a new master. But who would treat this detective with the respect I deserved?

  I rubbed my smooth, porcelain jaw and moved my head around three hundred and sixty degrees, gazing at the broads and guys in the room. I stopped on the tall, raven haired gal and felt a keen respect for her. She looked sad and yet tough enough to survive on the streets. But we could only roam alone for so long before it gets tiring.

  I wondered… Maybe she wouldn’t mind a dummy for a companion? She and I could keep this town safe, keep the riff-raff out.

  ‘Detective Roger and his assistant, Miss Mads on the case’ had a nice ring to it.

  I showered the second we got back to the manor after I forced myself to take the two huge mugs of Auntie Fe’s healing tonic. I was stalling, really. My wounds would stitch themselves back together. I hadn’t been badly wounded, but when that coffin shattered, it scratched me up pretty good.

  I found myself standing under the hot spray, letting it rain down over me with my eyes closed, because I didn’t want to stare at the dirt and blood trailing down the drain. Hearing the sound of a door opening and closing, I didn’t even bother to move. Even as the sound of the shower doors sliding open registered, I kept my eyes shut, content to bask in the heat scorching my healed skin.

  Hands slid over my shoulders, gently massaging the aching muscles. I let my head fall back, resting against a hard chest. Lips caressed the front of my throat, and I felt another presence in front of me. I smiled, knowing exactly who had joined me.

  “We’ve got him locked up until you’re ready,” Michael whispered, smoothing his palms down my arms, kneading gently the whole way. “Just say the word, and we’ll take care of him.”

  I knew they would. I knew Freddy was ready to rip Ichabod’s throat out with a hooked claw, but he was refraining for my sake. Yes, I wanted the warlock to die a miserable death after what he’d done to me, what he’d done to my parents, and to all of us, but more than that, I wanted him to suffer.

  “Patience is a virtue, warlock,” I purred, running my slicked palms up his bare torso that rippled under my touch. He stared down into my eyes through the spray, his silvery hair dripping with water, and the little droplets highlighted the tan color of his skin where it was dotted with small freckles.

  “None of us are feeling very patient right now, luv,” Jason’s voice whispered in my ear. I knew that accent, and if I turned around, I knew I’d be staring straight into bright yellow eyes.

  Damon seemed to come out to play a lot more often now, especially when clothing was optional. I’d asked Jason how he felt about that the other night, and he assured me he and Damon were one and the same, like two sides to the same coin. I found out Jason could feel everything that Damon did, and they spoke to each other in their minds. I didn’t understand it in the slightest, but fuck, that forked tongue just did things to my insides…quite literally.

  “You know…I’m still a little sore,” I murmured, tilting my head to the side, allowing Michael to place small kisses along my collar bone. “Any idea how I can relieve the aches?”

  Jason sucked in a hissed breath near my ear, and his hands slid around the curve of my hip. “I think we can help with that,” he chuckled darkly.

  Michael dipped lower and took my puckered nipple between his lips, prompting a low moan from me. At the same time, Jason’s deft fingers swirled around my clit. My knees felt like buckling, but the two of them made sure I stood steadily. I was thankful my shower was big enough, because being in this cube made me acutely aware of how large they really were.

  “Are you sure? What do you need? Ask and it’s yours,” Michael said, pulling back, his sky blue eyes searching mine in earnest. My heart swelled at the concern on his face.

  Reaching up, I skimmed my palm along his neck, coming to a stop when I reached his cheek. “I need
both of you. Just make me forget for a little while,” I replied, meaning every word, because I ached inside too.

  His eyes were molten, and they dipped to my lips seconds before he took them with his own in a kiss that could set the world on fire. Jason’s fingers were moving over me faster now, the rhythm close to driving me insane with need. I kissed Michael fiercely and felt that tingle of power as it zipped over his skin like an electric current. I knew if I looked down, creeping black veins would be writhing under his skin. His connection to dark magic was growing stronger by the day, and I liked this darker side of him because it made him who he was.

  “Lift her,” Jason said over my shoulder, his lips curving into a sinister grin that made me shiver, but it was the heated look in his eyes that had me whimpering.

  I just needed to feel, feel their touch to know it was okay to have grief, hatred, happiness, and love all at the same time, because it balanced me, making me whole again.

  Michael hooked his hands under my thighs, along with Jason, and my feet left the ground as they lifted me. I was already pulsing and throbbing, needing to feel them deep inside me. My back laid against Jason’s hard torso as he started to lower me. His cock brushed my ass, making me moan, and the feel of him slowly stretching and filling me up was pure ecstasy with a bite of burning pain, until that washed away too, replaced with only mind numbing pleasure.

  He cursed the entire time under his breath, switching back and forth between accents. I knew he and Damon were flitting in and out, trading off control. Idly, I wondered if this could technically be considered a foursome.

  Michael’s cock pushed at my soaking wet entrance, and he slid in inch by beautiful inch. His pelvic bone grazed my clit as he filled me up, leaving me breathless. I watched as his snake tattoo slithered over his skin, wrapping around his neck and causing his eyes to go dark. Having the two of them inside of me was an amazing sensation, making me feel connected and cherished at the same time. It was pure bliss in every way.