by J. E. Cluney
I gasped as he held me tight and lifted me up, the whoosh of air more than welcome as he flitted us home.
The world flew by, and I didn’t have a chance to see anything in the minute it took for us to end up in the lounge room at home.
“Thank fuck,” Skip exclaimed as he shot over and pulled me from Marcus to wrap me up in a tight hug.
“Zombies now too? This shit is insane. I should’ve gone home with Hayley,” Trish said as she shook her head on the lounge.
Skip led me over and sat me down beside her.
“How are the police handling it?” I asked as Marcus flitted off and returned with some clothes for me. I rose and turned away from everyone to dress, but they didn’t seem to care.
“They’re struggling. They’ve only got two officers left at the station taking calls. They’re telling everyone to remain indoors and hide. Hopefully, Mr Brady will be back soon with reinforcements,” Marcus said.
“Why do I feel like the apocalypse is upon us?” Skip growled out, his brow furrowed as he glanced at the door.
“We should turn all the lights off too,” Marcus noted as he lurched off, flitting around the house. He closed all the curtains, checked all the locks, and flicked off all the lights.
I wrapped my arms around myself as I was thrown into darkness, only a slight sliver of light slipping in through the gap in the curtains.
“So now what?” Trish asked softly as she wrapped an arm around me while Skip sat on my other side.
“We wait. Wait for Mr Brady to bring help, and for Ollie and Lucas to find the dagger,” Skip said with a firm nod as Marcus returned and stood before us.
To anyone else, he’d look eerie, all pale and frozen in the darkness.
I jumped as my phone went off, and I frowned.
I would’ve lost it in the shift, surely.
Nope. There it was, perched on the arm of the lounge.
‘I portaled it home with your clothes,’ Lucas informed me, although his voice sounded distant. Would our bond work if they were extremely far away? Just how far were they anyway now?
‘We’re just going over Miles now,’ Lucas said.
Damn, that was far. A four- or five-hour drive.
I snatched up my phone, frowning at George’s name on my screen.
“Hello?” I answered, the sudden fear for all those I knew kicking in. Was Emma okay? What about Gina and Henry? Other students I’d come to know?
“Allison, you’re okay, thank god,” he said with a sigh of relief.
“How about you guys, Emma? Her family?” I asked quickly, my voice hitching.
“We’re all fine. I’m with Emma, her mother, and her aunt now. They’re trying to figure out what this spirit thing means as Emma keeps getting dizzy spells. But we’ve just heard from some witch friends who were trying to leave. The wardings have gone weird. No one can get through them. And now there’s fucking zombies around the place,” he explained, and I could practically hear him shaking his head in utter shock and disbelief.
“Just stay inside,” I said, although dread was washing over me at his words.
Did that mean Mr Brady and others couldn’t get back through? What about Ollie and Lucas?
We were trapped here.
I choked at the thought, not hearing George’s words as my body went numb.
This town was going to perish without their help. Without the dagger.
We were all going to die here.
“Allison?”
I blinked as Skip took the phone from me, and Marcus knelt down before me.
I heard Skip tell them to stay safe and promise we’d do the same as Marcus took my hands in his.
“Everything will be okay. Just breathe. Mr Brady will know what to do. We’ve just got to hang tight. This thing with the wardings won’t last. It’s probably just a scare tactic,” Marcus murmured as he traced gentle circles on the backs of my hands.
“Either that, or he’s herding everyone into a corner. Scaring everyone in town with zombies and the lockdown, making them all flee, and then they’ll get trapped on the edges of town. There’s only really two main roads in and out. He’ll mow them down easier with those creatures or his zombies,” Skip spat as he flicked his eyes around, his mind whirring logically.
“He’s right,” Trish mumbled as she played with the front of her top nervously. “They’ll be trapped, sitting ducks out there.”
I stared at Marcus, those frosty eyes boring into mine.
He had an idea coming together in his head, one that already had me shaking my head.
“It’s too dangerous,” I hissed as I grabbed his hands. “Please.”
“People could die. Us vampires, we can help,” Marcus said softly, giving me a small smile.
My stomach lurched at the thought as my heart fluttered.
No. I needed him here. I only had him and Skip with me now.
If anything were to happen…
“I’ll be fine, I promise,” he said sweetly as he rose and leaned forward to kiss my forehead.
“Don’t break your promise,” I choked out as the grief and despair hit me.
This was more than anything we’d ever gone through.
Sure, we’d brushed with death before, but this…this was the whole town at stake.
People were dying all over.
“Take care of her,” Marcus said firmly as he flicked his gaze between Skip and Trish.
“Always,” Skip said, his jaw set firm as Trish nodded her head and pulled me closer into her side.
“I’d die for her,” Trish said, her voice deathly low.
She knew the stakes. Marcus and Skip had told her of how a warlock could amplify my touch of death. If Joseph got a hold of me and somehow harnessed it…well, at his power, anything was possible.
I flinched as Marcus flitted off, and a million thoughts raced through my head of things I wanted to say to him.
How much I loved him, how I was beyond grateful for all he’d done for me. For loving me beyond anything else.
‘I could say all the same about you, Allison. Stay safe, I’ll be back in no time,’ he said, his smooth voice slipping into my mind as he tried to push relaxing feelings onto me.
But there was no relaxing in all of this.
‘Guys, I just got a call from my dad. He’s at the edge of town, but they can’t get in. He’s working with the other warlock and witches to bring the warding down or at least make it passable,’ Lucas said, his frantic words cutting through my chaotic mind.
Fuck.
So our cavalry was stuck.
And I was alone in this house, with a crazed warlock after me.
At least I was safe within these walls.
We huddled on the lounge together, and I closed my eyes as I focused on Marcus, keeping an eye on what he was doing.
He’d called the vampires he worked on Nightwood with, and then they’d all called every other vampire they knew in Maple Grove.
Most were willing to help, and they were flitting to the two main roads of town, whisking people out of their cars and taking them to the nearest houses.
He was asking where some people lived before taking them home and heading back out.
People were scared.
I didn’t blame them.
I was terrified too.
After all, Joseph wanted my power most of all.
3
Marcus.
I flitted to the road out of town, and the scene that greeted me made my skin prickle.
Cars were strewn all across the road, the ones at the front, up against the warding, busted with their engines smoking. They’d hit the wardings hard.
A few people were tending to those driving them, and I spied one couple sitting on the boot of their car as a witch cleaned up the scrapes on their faces.
People were in a panic as they hit the wardings, leaning against it and crying out, the magical blue warding shimmering with each hit, but it was holding strong, easily resisting their futile a
ttempts.
Trapped. We were all trapped, and the people here were freaking out, many sobbing and crying.
Some were sitting in their cars, looking defeated as they just stared ahead, lost and confused.
A woman was cowering on the ground behind her car that had hit the warding, comforting her two young children.
“So get them to safety, right?” Jack asked as he appeared beside me. We’d worked on Nightwood together, and unsurprisingly, my entire team had jumped into action to help the townspeople.
“Yep, and quickly. I passed some zombies on the way here,” I said, still not believing the words coming out of my mouth.
“Zombies. Wondered if I’d see the day,” Jack said with a smirk and clicked his tongue.
He flitted over to the nearest people, informing them it was dangerous outside, and he could flit them home until help arrived.
They were hesitant at first, but agreed after he explained the situation more.
I wondered if getting them all into some semblance of order was best.
I flitted to the rooftop of one car, yelling out to catch everyone’s attention. Only a few turned to listen, and I groaned inwardly as others ignored me.
“Want some help?” a young woman asked as she gingerly walked over to the car, giving me a grim look.
From the pentagram necklace and charms she was wearing, I guessed she was a witch.
“Yes please. Everyone here is in danger,” I said with a nod.
She nodded softly, like she’d expected as much as she brushed her blonde hair out of her face. She couldn’t be older than sixteen.
She reached across the rooftop of the car, her hand gripping my ankle gently before she nodded.
I called out again, and this time, my voice echoed around and caught everyone’s attention.
Thank God.
“We need to get everyone to safety. You’re not safe here. If you could all just calm down and wait in an orderly fashion, some vampires and I will flit you to safety. You just need to tell us where you live, or where the closest place is that you can stay,” I informed everyone, my voice booming around.
“What’s going on? Why are the wardings like this?” one man yelled back.
“I saw some hurt people on the way here. They looked dead…but they were walking. They attacked some poor guy on the road,” another woman cried out.
“Listen, we don’t know exactly what’s going on. But the police have ordered a lockdown. We need to remain indoors, barricade ourselves in, and wait for help. We can’t leave, so this is our only option,” I shouted out, not wanting to confirm the whole zombie thing. Best not to make this panic any worse.
“Where’s the area Enforcer?” a woman close by demanded, her eyes glistening as she held her daughter close.
The look of despair etched across her face made me grit my teeth.
“He’s working out a plan of action,” I answered after a moment. I was sure that was exactly what he was doing. “But we need to make his job easier. This panic and attempting to flee isn’t helping, it’s only bringing us all together in a group.”
A group that was an easy target, but I didn’t add that.
“I heard there’s a crazed warlock in town doing all of this. Some freak necromancer. He’s killing us and taking our powers!” another man yelled, causing a stir in the crowd as murmurs and worried voices rose up.
I watched as more of my vampire friends flitted through the crowd and took people to safety, some of them not completely willing. We needed them away from here.
I turned my head as low moaning rose up behind me, coming from the direction of town.
The crowd started to fall silent as the shifters amongst them picked up on it too.
“Someone’s hurt,” a young man close to me stated.
“No, they’re not,” I said with a frustrated sigh as Jack reappeared beside me.
“I’m not sure if perhaps they’re drawn to crowds or something, but there’s a couple of those things headed this way, and some weird shadow things,” he hissed softly.
“Right, got it,” I said with a nod. Great, we were running out of time, and there was still a heap of people here.
“We need to get everyone out of here. Please remain calm,” I shouted before clambering off the car.
“The town is going to fall, isn’t it?” the young blonde witch murmured, her green eyes broken and scared.
“No. Everything will be fine. We’ve got the best on it, but we need people home and safe so we can focus on fixing this,” I said quietly. “Where do you live? Have you got anyone here with you or a friend that can stay with you?” I asked, wanting to flit as many people as I could at once. Two was probably my limit though, as flitting wasn’t easy.
“My friend Hannah can come stay with me. Her parents are out of town,” she said as she pointed to a brunette standing off to the side, her arms wrapped around herself as she just stared at me.
“Right.” I nodded as I took her hand and flitted over to Hannah. “I’m taking you both to somewhere safe. Where do you live?” I asked the blonde.
She gave me her address, and I flitted off.
I returned after dropping them home and reminding them to lock all doors and find somewhere safe inside and to keep all lights off.
The other vampires had made good work, and only half the crowd remained. I wondered how things were looking on the other end of town. I’d head there once we’d dealt with everyone here.
I flitted a couple to their home, where they thanked me as their car had been busted beyond repair when they hit the warding hard.
I gave them the same spiel as the girls before flitting back.
The crowd had calmed somewhat and were more willing to go with us now.
I flitted a mother and her daughter, before returning and flitting a father and his son while his wife waited behind. She wanted her son to be safe first.
When I returned yet again, things took a turn.
A shrieking rose up, and the small crowd of twenty froze as the shadowy creatures shot through the air towards us.
“Any witches here?!” I yelled out, recognizing a few amongst the remaining crowd. “Use magic to strike them down, that’s the only thing that works. They’re made of dark magic,” I barked out.
Jack flitted to my side, giving me a panicked look before grabbing the wife I’d left behind and an elderly man who was alone. He’d just have to bunker down with that family. We didn’t have time to flit everyone to their own houses now.
Terrified murmurs broke out in the group, and two witches stepped forth, hurling beams of yellow and pink magic at the shadowy creatures.
Two of them exploded into black clouds, while more continued on.
We had to get these people to safety, now.
I flitted off, grabbing the nearest couple and flitting them to a safer spot on a side road not far from there. I asked them to wait patiently while the other vampires and I relocated everyone there before moving them on to their own homes.
I hurried back, catching Jack as he went to flit some more people out of there.
I informed him of the side street I’d taken the couple to, and he nodded as I informed another vampire as he showed up.
We worked quickly, tiring ourselves as we flitted everyone around.
In mere minutes, I returned, the two witches the only two remaining as they shot down the creatures, the zombies now having reached the pile-up of cars and dashing around them.
The two female witches looked utterly terrified, and I whisked them both away to the side street.
We didn’t slow down as we flitted everyone home from there, and I prayed those on the other side of town were managing okay.
This was insane.
To think there were honest-to-God zombies on the loose. Ones that ran too. Wonderful.
Thanks for the lies, Walking Dead.
4
I took comfort in knowing Marcus had saved everyone on one side of town, but he’d fl
itted to the other side now, and they weren’t faring as well. Supes were fighting off a group of undead, and the shadow creatures were raining down on them, despite the witches working their arses off to banish them and hold them at bay.
Marcus cursed inwardly, and I bit my lip, flinching as he grabbed a zombie and hurled it into the nearby trees.
The other vampires followed suit while flitting people to safety, but some were already going down from the attack. A woman was cowering on the ground, covered in blood as a shadow creature tore into her while she screamed.
Marcus flitted to her, flitting her away, but not before the creature slashed open his arm.
‘Marcus!’ I cried out mentally.
‘I’ll be fine. We need to help them,’ he barked back.
I knew he was right, but my heart was hammering away at the thought of him getting hurt or worse.
“He’ll be okay, don’t think like that. He’s a strong one,” Skip said softly as he took my hand.
I swallowed down my worries, knowing Marcus didn’t need my panic right now. He needed to keep his head on and focus if he was to succeed in saving them.
I just wished I was there so I could kill those wretched shadow creatures, since the witches were struggling.
I was yanked from Marcus’ mind as the house groaned around us.
“What the fuck is that?!” Trish hissed as she gazed up at the ceiling in the darkness.
The house creaked again, groaning softly around us, and a shiver ran down my spine.
“That can’t be good,” Skip muttered as his hand tightened around mine.
‘Allison!’
I jumped as Lucas’ voice slipped into my mind frantically.
‘What’s wrong?’ I asked, hating how our bond felt strained by the distance.
‘Someone is trying to break through the protective magic on the house. It’s holding for now, but without me there to fortify it, it may fail. The magic being used, it’s strong, and it’s coming from many,’ he said quickly, his voice laced with panic and frustration.
“Someone’s trying to lift the protective magic on the house,” I informed the others.
‘What can I do?’ I sent back.
