Vampire Manifesto

by Rashaad Bell

  Chapter 14

  My dark haired savior…

  “Nice of you to join us.” He admitted, a hint of victory in his voice. “Please, take a seat. Would you like some caviar?”

  “What are you?” I demanded.

  He shook his head. “No, no of course you wouldn’t. How about a burger?” He motioned to the flight attendant. “Mademoiselle, please get my illustrious companion here a burger…a bacon double cheese burger, seasoned home fries and a pink lemonade.”

  “Yes sir.” She answered back in a thick French accent and then disappeared towards the rear of the plane, closing the curtain behind her to give us some privacy. I’d never seen a plane like this before, resembling a spacious studio apartment then an aircraft. There were leather couches and chairs, a pool table, multiple flat screen televisions, computer monitors and what could only be a stripper pole. Oh and a kitchen apparently, hidden somewhere in the rear.

  Connor just sat there, reclined back comfortably, scooping massive amounts of what looked like black jelly on crackers, sipping red wine. Jimmy Hendrix was playing somewhere in the background. He took a bite of his cracker, then motioned for me to take a seat. I stood my ground, defiantly.

  “We are about to take off, my dear, so unless you wanna go bumbling down the aisle on lift off...”

  He had a point. Reluctantly I took seat opposite of him, keeping a fair amount of distance between us. “Are you one of those mutants they’re constantly talking about on TV?”

  “Gods no.” He just laughed the question off as if it was the dumbest thing he had heard all week. “Besides that word is derogatory. I do believe they prefer the term Hyper Sensitive or some other irrelevant drivel.”

  His eyes, they seemed to glow and in that instant I understood that it wasn’t a trick of the lighting, or some type of fancy type of movie contacts. They were his eyes and they produced some odd type of incandesce.

  “Then what are you?”

  “Do you really want to know?” He pushed the crackers and the caviar away from him on the table and then pushed the table itself out the way, the thin marble tray swiveling somewhere out of sight.

  “I followed you down the rabbit hole, didn’t I?”

  He crossed his arms. “Why yes, you did.”

  I could feel the plane tilting upwards, rising into the infinite, the ground beneath us disappearing in the window. He was beside me, just like that. Eye blink style.

  “Do I frighten you?” He asked in all sincerity.

  “Yes. No.” He was so close to me now. The hairs on my neck stood on end. “I should be, but I’m not.”

  “Hmm…” He titled his head somewhat, at an angle impossible for a human to hold. “What do you think I am?”

  A part of me wanted to move, to slide further down on the couch or move to another seat altogether, yet another part only wanted him to move closer. “I don’t know? The way you move, it’s like the Flash or something.”

  “Or something.” This time when he smiled, I could see how sharp his teeth appeared.

  Unnaturally sharp.

  “Let me explain something to you.” His fingers caressed the side of my face momentarily. His touch, the way it felt against my flesh was like concrete cinder block inside a satin bag. “I am not the hero of this story.”

  I drew back. “What’s that supposed to mean Connor?”

  The flight attendant came back with my food, placed it on an ivy counter top, then disappeared back where she came.

  “It means that Palm Coast, this is MY city. Mine and mine alone. I run this. What happened to you, the way that went down, nobody does that in my town without my prior knowledge and permission. It’s disrespectful.”

  “Why are you telling me this?” I wasn’t sure where this conversation was going, but I didn’t like it.

  “I just want you to understand, so you don’t have any misconceptions about who and what I am.” He took a bite out of one of my home fries.

  “What are you Connor?”

  “I am a Vampire, Madison.”

  “You? You’re a Vampire?’

  “Yes.”

  I couldn’t help but let out an unexpected giggle. “No, come on, really, what are you?”

  He sighed. “You’re so not taking this seriously are you?”

  “Do you sparkle in sunlight?” I asked.

  “Now you’re just mocking me.”

  I grabbed my bacon double and took a humongous bite. “You just don’t come off as the Vampire type is all. I mean, mutant type, yeah, I could kinda buy that, especially with the super-fast running thing you got going on. Plus I watch the news, they claim mutants might be real now, some genetic thing and all, but a Vampire?”

  I grabbed a handful of fries and stuffed them in my mouth as well, speaking through mouthfuls of food. “Are you sure you’re a Vampire? I mean, are you certain?”

  “You must need another visual aid.” He said “Mademoiselle!”

  The cute little blonde Stewardess drew back the curtain and stepped inside the cabin. He was on her before she could speak, clamping down on the arterial vein in her neck with his sharpened teeth. Blood sprayed everywhere, his hand fastening down around her mouth to muffle her screams. He drew his head back, eyes closed, as he let out a moan of pleasure, his face and neck covered in blood, dark crimson dripping down the sides of his mouth and jaw.

  She was still alive, but barely, whimpering softly. Connor wrapped his hands around her chin and head then twisted violently, snapping her neck with such ferocity, such force, that she just slumped to the ground dead. His head came to attention, opening his eyes to look at me. They were jet-black orbs surrounding a bright glowing amber iris. His skin had gone a sickly pale white and I could see the blood moving in the veins of his face.

  I wanted to scream, but my voice was caught up in my throat. I wanted to run, but there was nowhere for me to go. Just like that he was in front of me again, his face ever so close, covered in the blood of a dead woman, a ghastly apparition, just like the monsters from my dream.

  “I am not…the hero…of the story.” He repeated again. Very slowly this time, so that every word sunk in.

  I could see his teeth, see how Vampiric they were as he spoke and yet they were nothing like the movies where it was just the fangs that were sharp, it was the complete opposite. It was like a mouthful of perfectly manicured talons, akin to a lion’s maw. His face was blood soaked from the nose down.

  It was the most frightening thing I’ve ever witnessed in my life.

  He was across the cabin now, instantaneously, sitting in his original chair, the one he was resting in when I first entered the plane, napkin in hand, wiping off his fingers. His face was immaculate, completely free of blood, as if nothing had ever happened.

  He finished grooming himself, then looked at the back of his hands examining his fingernails. He dropped the blood-drenched cloth on the dead woman’s head at his feet and then tossed me a clean napkin. I think it was cashmere.

  “You’ve got blood on your face.”

  A redheaded Stewardess appeared from behind the curtain along with two, buff looking men. They grabbed the dead woman by the legs and dragged her back behind the curtain.

  “Anything else Monsieur?” Asked the cute little redheaded Stewardess.

  “That will be all.” Connor announced, waving her off. “A little privacy for me and my colleague here.”

  She turned and disappeared behind the red curtain. Apparently, dead co-workers must come complimentary with the inflight movie. I looked in the mirror, my hand trembling as I wiped a dark streak of blood from my face. I was so terrified that it was difficult for me to concentrate.

  This was it Madison, I thought to myself. This is your moment.

  “I…I want to go home.” I could barely get the words out. Barely enunciate them correctly even though they were the only thing on my mind.

  Connor just shook his head and laughed. “It’s too late for that now baby, we’
re going to San Francisco.”

  “Are you going to kill me?” I had to regain my composure. It didn’t matter that I just witnessed a brutal murder by some…Mythological Creature in Urban Society.

  Damn you John Rogers.

  “Quite the contrary, Madison. You and the rest of your little Wu-Tang Clan, Aiden, Ethan, Abigail, the whole Scooby-doo network, all of you are under my protection.”

  “What does that mean? Your protection?” I couldn’t understand how calm he was. How he was going on and on about whatever, ignoring the fact that some women…I mean he just snapped her…oh God I’m going to die. He’s going to…

  “Oh, well this just isn’t going to do.” He seemed agitated by my emotion. “We can’t have a civilized conversation if you’re thinking I’m going to murder you at any moment.”

  No, we can’t.

  His eyes were back to normal, that is, back to normal for Connor. Beautiful grey, with tiny amber flecks that began to glow brighter than normal. “It’s okay. Repeat it.”

  A dull hypnotic trance began to take over me, my mind becoming all wishy washy. “It’s okay.” I repeated.

  “I’m not going to harm you.”

  “You’re not going to harm me.” I could feel my trepidation about Connor slip away, still there, yet just out of my grasp.

  “Despite what anyone else says about me, you can always trust me. I will always protect you and yours.”

  “I am completely safe with you. You will protect me, my family and my friends.” I don’t know what I was even thinking before. Connor would always be there for me. He already saved my life once. If he wanted me dead, I would be dead. He doesn’t want to kill me, he wants to protect me.

  Duh.

  The amber in his eyes dimmed down a bit. “There, much better now, eh?”

  I blinked my eyes, shaking the cobwebs from my head. I felt so much calmer than before. Yeah, I was still frightened, I mean, the dudes a Vampire, a real Vampire, but he was…my Vampire. If that made any sense.

  “What did you…what did you just do to me?”

  “Super-secret Vampire trick.” He seemed amused with himself.

  “Which is?”

  “Become a Vampire and find out.”

  “I don’t want to become a…” I stopped, my eyes drawn to the deep, saturated bloodstain on the carpet. “You just made me an accessary to murder.”

  “I told you that before we left the house.” He laughed.

  “You can’t…” I struggled with the words, not ever imagining in my life that they would ever be coming from my lips. “You just can’t kill people around me Connor.”

  “I’m a Vampire, Madison. I can do whatever the hell I want.” He said. “Especially kill people. That’s what Vampires do.”

  “Not anymore.” I was regaining my courage somehow. Despite what I just saw, I wasn’t as frightened. My composure was returning.

  “Whatever, Madison.”

  “No, it’s not whatever.” I snapped. “Promise me…”

  “Promise you what?”

  “Promise me that you’re not going to kill anyone while we’re in California, Connor.”

  He gave me the most incredulous stare. “I’m not gonna do that.”

  “Promise me or when we land, I’m catching the first flight home.”

  He refused to speak.

  “Now, Connor.” I demanded. “It’s a deal breaker. I…I can’t be involved in that. I refuse to be involved in that.”

  “Fine. Whatever. I promise.” He said begrudgingly.

  I couldn’t believe what my life had become. How much it had changed in a matter of days. It seemed like just yesterday I was hanging out with my friends, drinking alcohol, cutting class, partying down at the beach and tonight…

  Well tonight I’m on a plane to California, witness to a murder, companion to the murderer, who was also a Vampire, who also just happened to save my life. As the world turns, huh? I studied his features, yet he seemed so normal, so complacent. Nothing like those vile creatures I’ve been dreaming about. Well, at least now he doesn’t. Just a few minutes ago however…

  “How did it happen?” I asked.

  “How did what happen?”

  “How did you…you know, become a Vampire.” I specified. “How did it happen?”

  There was a long pause and I could tell he was mulling over in his mind what he should say. “I don’t know.” He admitted finally.

  “You don’t know?” I repeated. “How is that possible?”

  Connor shrugged. “I just woke up like this one day. It’s not like the movies Madison; sometimes there is no rhyme or reason to things. No tragic, poetic meaning at the moment of Vampiric creation. Sometimes it just is what it is. I woke up and didn’t know what I was and a lot of people died because of it.”

  He seemed somewhat taken aback, like the memory of the thing had just rose up from some dark abyss and was attempting to swallow him whole. In that moment, he seemed almost human to me.

  Almost…

  “Tell me.” I asked again. “I…I need to know.”

  “You don’t need to know anything.” He replied.

  “Connor...”

  He just snorted loudly.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Connor.” He repeated slowly. “That’s not even my real name.”

  “I know.” I could tell he was hurting. “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry for what?”

  “You didn’t ask to become a…” I trailed off.

  “Just say it.” He actually came off somewhat concerned. “It becomes easier the more you say it out loud. It’s easier for the brain to process it as fact.”

  “You didn’t ask to become a Vampire.” I managed.

  “Don’t feel sorry for me.” He said. “I get to live forever.”

  “You make it sound like that’s a good thing.”

  “And you think it isn’t?”

  I glanced out one of the windows, looking at the clouds underneath us as we soared towards our destination. “I find it quite sad actually.”

  “How so?”

  “Because you’ll outlive all of your friends, your family. You’ll watch each one of them die eventually, over and over and over again, repeatedly throughout the centuries. I couldn’t live like that. Anyone you ever get close to in your life, in the end, you’ll just watch them die out.”

  “I don’t have to worry about that.” He admitted.

  “And why is that?”

  “Because all my family and friends are already dead.” He stated with finality.

  “You’re wrong about that last part Connor.” I corrected. “You have me.” That almost seemed to make him sad.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  “No, tell me.” I pressed.

  “I think I might have over did it a little bit.”

  I was confused. “Over did what?”

  “Nothing. I’ll fix it later.”

  “O-kay.” I didn’t ask him to elaborate, because I knew that he wouldn’t. “So what’s in California?”

  “I’m not sure yet.” He stated. “The man who tried to kidnap you…”

  “The man in black, you mean?”

  “The one and only. His name is Terrence Goodwin.”

  “Did you kill him?” I asked suddenly, even though I already knew the answer to my question before I asked it.

  “Of course I did.” Connor admitted freely. “He had to die. There was no other way around it.”

  “Nobody has to die Connor.”

  “You don’t have the luxury of living in that world anymore, Madison. That life is over for you now. You’ve been swept up into something bigger then yourself, broader in scope and infinitely more dangerous. You don’t know the players, you don’t know the rules and ignorance in not bliss, it will only get you killed.” Connor pulled out his phone, pressing the touchscreen a couple of times with his finger, searching for something.

  �
��My world isn’t going to be filled in a never ending cycle of blood and death.”

  Connor shook his head. “We operate above human laws, not because we can, but because we have to.”

  “I refuse to believe that.” That was not the way I planned on living my life.

  “Take the high ground all you like, I’ll visit your grave soon enough because of it.” He said simply. “Goodwin had to die, otherwise, he would have tried it again, tried to kidnap you, murder you or whatever nefarious plot he had in mind. Someone hired him Madison, hired him to come after you. Once a contract is accepted, it’s a done deal. He wouldn’t have stopped until he either completed his mission or he was dead.”

  “Someone hired him?” The puzzle pieces were starting to link together in my mind. “So there’s like, a contract out on me or something?

  “Oh, most definitely.” Connor slid his phone across the table towards me. “Three point five million.”

  “What?” I was in a state of shock.

  “And that’s in Euros, not American dollars. Congratulations, you’re in the major leagues now. Have you ever seen that tattoo before?”

  I picked up the phone, looking at the photo on the screen. It was a picture of the back of a man’s neck. Located directly in the center was a tattoo of a dragon, mouth wide. The dragons neck snaked down his spine, ending in a large circle in the center, the dragons belly, containing a flaming sun and a half crescent moon, with stars dotted around it. The dragon’s tail ended in a writhing snake, poised to strike, fangs dripping venom.

  The artwork was beautiful and the amount of detail, astounding. “No, I’ve never seen anything like it.” I slid the phone back to him. “It’s beautiful though.”

  “It is isn’t it?” He agreed. He rolled the sleeve of his shirt up to his elbow, revealing the same tattoo inked across the inside of his forearm. Although there were some slight deviations, it was in essence the same. “This was on the back of your would be kidnapper. It’s not just a tattoo. It represents membership into The Brotherhood of the Snake and Dragon.”

  There were more tattoos covering his arm, but he pushed his sleeve down before I could make them out. “Snake and Dragon? What is that, some type of college frat house thing?”

  “The Brotherhood of the Snake and Dragon is an ultra-exclusive, ultra elite, secret society, dating back three thousand years before Christ.” He explained.

  “Oh.”

  “Membership is a rarity.” He continued. “And by invitation only. Exclusivity is paramount. Humans are not allowed.”

  “What do you mean, not allowed?” I asked.

  “It’s for Immortals only. Originally, it was two separate institutions. The Brotherhood of the Snake, which only accepted the undying into its ranks, things and people who by birth or by chance of fate were rendered immortal or something so close to it the difference was inconsequential.”

  “You mean people like you?” I connected the dots. “Vampires?”

  “Among other things.” He stated. “Vampires aren’t the only immortals walking the earth.”

  “What did you mean by something so close to it?”

  “Minimal potential lifespan had to exceed two hundred years.” He said. “If you were able to live for two centuries, either through natural, technological or temporal means, then you fit the basic qualifications for membership.”

  “Temporal? Sounds just like some technobabble Rogers would say.”

  Connor placed his phone back in his pocket. “John Rogers is an active member in The Brotherhood.”

  “You're kidding me?” I couldn’t believe it.

  “John is in possession of a Chaos Equation and is not limited by linear progression. He has born witness to the Forgotten Future and is now premeditated paradox. You would do well to heed his words.”

  “You said there used to be two? Two separate Brotherhoods?” I didn’t want to get caught up in the world of John Rogers at the moment, even though I was slowly coming to the conclusion that it was my world now as well.

  “The other is called The Brotherhood of the Dragon. Some of their members date back to when time was a liquid. Membership is reserved for true immortals only.”

  What he was saying wasn’t making any sense. When time was a liquid? What does that even mean? “Wait, immortals, true immortals, what’s the difference if you live forever?”

  He seemed to have anticipated the question. “In theory, I am immortal. I cannot die. I will be here until the day the earth corrodes upon itself or the sun gives us a supernova kiss and wipes out this entire solar system. Twelve thousands years from now, I still shall be. I might not look the same; Vampires tend to lose that which makes us human over the centuries. There will come a point in time that I will no longer be able to blend with humanity, visually I’ll be…something else. Something other than human, to the point that it will be noticeable, but I will still be me…somewhat. I think therefor I am.”

  Connor appeared next to me, moving in that why that he does, just appearing at my side. He ran his fingers across my forehead softly, sensually, the way a lover would touch his mate, yet when he drew back, those very same fingers were soaked in blood.

  He licked his index and middle fingers clean. “Missed a spot.” He was at the bar now, at the other end of plane, pouring a glass full of red wine.

  “Yet, like I said, that is in theory only.” He was at his chair now, glass already drained empty, resting it on the table that separated us. “I could have a bad day you see, a very bad day and just like that, I’m dead. Fineto. But a true immortal, ah, a true immortal, well, they can’t die. Ever. They can’t be killed. They just persist. They keep on with the keeping on. And that is what separates them from me.”

  “And now The Snake and The Dragon are one? One Brotherhood?” I didn’t like where this was going. Not one bit.

  “Well yeah, happened not that long ago. I’m kinda new to the scene, so I don’t have all the details. But yes, one Brotherhood. One ring to rule them all so to speak. They were powerful separate, but together, well…”

  “And that tattoo, the one in the picture that was all tatted up on my attacker, that signifies that he was a part of The Brotherhood? The Brotherhood of the Snake and Dragon?”

  “You’ve got the ball, now run with it.” He said.

  “Which means, he was…some type of immortal, either regular immortal or true immortal?”

  “Well, not true immortal because he died easily enough.” Connor added.

  “You mean you killed him easily enough.” I corrected.

  “He had to die.” He repeated.

  I found myself saying: “I kinda agree with you.”

  “Oh do you now?” My response caught him by surprise.

  “I honestly don’t think I want to be on their radar.”

  “Too late.” Connor admitted. “But at least now you’re in stealth mood.”

  “But what I don’t understand is why someone is so interested in me? I’m just some random chick from Palm Coast, Florida.”

  “Well that’s why we’re going to San Francisco, baby. Last current address for our dead little immortal, Terrence Goodwin.”

  “No, that’s why I’m going to Frisco.” I interjected. “Why are you going? What’s your part in all this?”

  “I told you, Amber Rose, I may be the new kid on the block, but Palm Coast is my city. And I’ll be damned if any immortal, true or otherwise, rolls up in my city and starts making power moves.”

  That was just the company line. “Come on, there has to be more to it than that.”

  “I also think you’re kinda cute.”

  “Focus Connor.” Gotta keep him on topic. “It’s the Mark of Pandora.”

  “What about the Mark?”

  “I have the Mark. John said you have the Mark.” I was starting to see the dots again. All I needed to do was connect them. “Ethan has the Mark.”

  “John says a lot of things, honey.”

  “Don’t call m
e honey.” The fact that I said this to a Vampire who just licked blood off my forehead, blood from the woman he killed in front of me…

  “And now it’s John says a lot of things?” I wasn’t buying it. “At first it’s all, John has born witness to the Forgotten Future, whatever the hell that means and now it’s, John says a lot of things?”

  “You don’t know John like I know John. The last time I saw him and the last time he saw me was only a couple of weeks apart, yet years past between us. Think about that.” Connor stated. “What’s your theory? I can tell by the way your heart beat just spiked you’ve had that literal, light bulb above the head moment.”

  “According to the gospel of John...”

  “I like that. The gospel of John. Do you mind if I tell him that line and take credit for it?”

  His attention span is almost as short as my brothers. “What? I don’t care! Stay on topic dude! So there are like, thousands of Madisons and thousands of Connors across thousands of realities, all on the same airplane, having the exact same conversation. There has to be some…transference of emotion. I mean, just think about it, we're all connected, all doing the same thing, at the same time, all of us! It’s bound to make our connections to one another stronger than normal. It would explain the bond between myself and Ethan as well, how connected we feel to each other even though we only just met."

  “It all comes back to the Box.” Said Connor.

  “The Box of Pandora.” Dot one to dot two.

  “What’s in the Box?” He asked. Dot two to dot three.

  “I have no idea.” I admitted. “But according to John, I’m the only one that can open it.” Dot three to dot four.

  “Whatever’s inside must be worth at least three point five million.” Connor concluded.

  And there it was.

  Connor was across the cabin now, by the curtain where they dragged the dead blonde woman. “Was Goodwin a Vampire?” I asked. “Is that why he had the Brotherhood tattoo?”

  “No. He wasn’t Nosferatu.”

  “Then what is he?”

  “Dead.” He replied. “Get some rest Madison.”

  Connor disappeared behind the curtain, leaving me to myself. I couldn’t believe I was here in this plane, heading to San Francisco. I don’t know what made me choose the path that I’m on. It wasn’t anything that John Rogers initially said to me, everything that remotely came out of that man’s mouth was congruent to madness.

  Yet now…

  I didn’t know what to believe anymore. My whole testament of faith was being shaken to its core, it’s very epicenter being rewritten in New Testament verse, the scripture of the Vampire and somehow I found myself the author of its bloodbath prose. My dark haired savior, who in essence was anything but. Yet somehow, I allowed myself to become wrapped up in the subtle intricacy of this new world without so much as a hesitation.

  I was still hungry, yet my food, that bacon double with the extra delicious fries was covered in the life essence of someone who apparently had no need of it anymore. The scene replayed in my mind over and over, the way he bit down into her, the sheer ecstasy he seemed to take as her life slowly ebbed away into the nothingness of the abyss.

  And this is the person I chose to align myself with?

  Someone with so little regard for human life that he would end one with such malice and forceful violence and for what? Just to prove a point? I am not the hero of the story. Am I supposed to put my trust in paper tiger promises of safety? As if that nameless blonde with the pretty lipstick didn’t get those same promises?

  Oh sure, come into work today, it's going to be fun, I promise! It’s not like I’m going to murder you, drain you dry then snap your neck and have your coworkers drag your lifeless corpse off to God knows where. I promise, you’ll be safe.

  Did she know what he was? Did they make her sign a waiver or something, tottaly absolving him of all legality in case of random death?

  This is the person who you’ve placed your trust in Madison. Does anybody even know where I am? I mean, yeah, sure they know I’m out on a…whatever this is with Connor, but what is that, the Gulf of Mexico underneath us? Abigail probably thinks I’m at Steak-n-Shake. I wanted to call her, let her know…something, but I decided against it. If this turns out badly, I don’t want her or Aiden involved. The less they know, the safer they are.

  This was the misadventure of Madison Amber Rose. No need to add guest stars when I can sing the solo all the way to the grave. Even still, I couldn’t shake the undeniable feeling that I was safe, that nothing would happen to me. Never mind the fact that in the other room was a…

  “Vampire.” I said it aloud instead of thinking it. I don’t know what he was thinking though, saying it out loud doesn’t make the reality become any more believable. It just makes me doubt my sanity even further than what I already did, which was no small feat by a long shot.

  I got up and walked to the bar. It was filled with top shelf liquor, mostly labels from other countries with names I couldn’t pronounce. I instinctively grabbed the bottle of red wine Connor had poured from earlier, filling up a glass with the dark red liquid. I took a drink then nearly choked, my gag reflex kicking in almost automatically as I spit the remainder back into my glass. Whatever it was, it wasn’t wine that’s for certain.

  In fact, it kinda tasted like…

  I stopped myself from thinking the rest of that sentence. What else would a Vampire drink Madison, Thug Passion? Whatever, it’s just static cling to me. I headed back over to the couch and crawled up on the snug leather and closed my eyes. Maybe it was just a bad dream, maybe I’m not in some plane flying across the country, but rather, I was home asleep in my bed.

  I knew I was fooling myself however, because when I dream, I only dream of Vampires. Now for some reason, when I’m awake, I’m surrounded by them still.

  I drifted in and out consciousness for most of the flight, never fully sleeping more than ten or fifteen minutes before my eyes would snap open. There was just too much on my mind for slumber. After a while I just gave up on that option altogether, instead turning on one of the flat screens and clicking the built in Netflix app. I scrolled through the movie selection but couldn’t settle on anything worthwhile.

  It was like their whole streaming section was filled with really bad B movies. All the good stuff was on disc, mail in only. I tried their TV choices and finally settled on Super Jail. Doesn’t get any crazier than that. I watched about half the season when I felt the plane beginning to dip towards the ground. Seems like we were making our decent.

  “Did you get some rest?” Connor was sitting next to me, drink in hand. I almost had a heart attack at the sound of his voice.

  “Don’t do that!” I wasn’t keen to him being this close to me, not after last night, not after everything I had witnessed. And yet, despite everything, I still felt completely safe in his company. “Boundaries, dude, boundaries.”

  Connor just rolled those eyes, disregarding my statements entirely. “Get up.” He shoved an extremely hot Caramel Macchiato in my hand. “We’re about to land. Time to make the donuts.”

  I could feel the walls of the universe closing in around me. “It’s not going to stop is it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “People are going to keep coming after me. It doesn’t matter that the man in…it doesn’t matter that Goodwin is dead. I’m the only one who can open the Box of Pandora. It’s going to happen again and again. It’s not going to stop.”

  He was next to me suddenly, so close. Kissing distance. “That’s why we’re going to San Francisco, Madison. I’m going to find out who is behind it all. We’re going to Oz and then we’re going to pull back the curtain.”

  “Then what?”

  “Then I’m going to kill the Wizard.”