The Unleashed

by Danielle Vega

  Please don’t be dead, she thought. She balled her hands at her mouth, holding her breath.

  Vi’s eyelashes fluttered. Her lip twitched.

  And then she moaned. “Portia?”

  Connor exhaled, his shoulders sagging in relief. “You’re awake,” he said. “Thank God.”

  But Vi was shaking her head now, trying to sit up. “Portia?” she said. When she saw that Portia wasn’t there, she said again, more insistently, “Portia?”

  “What happened to Portia?” Connor asked her. “Do you remember?”

  Vi lifted a hand to her head, cringing when her fingers met her scalp. When she pulled it away, Hendricks could see the red stain of blood on her skin.

  “W—we were walking down the hall. Portia was going to drive us someplace, so we could be alone. She was upset, because—” Vi glanced up at Hendricks, then swallowed and looked away. “She was upset,” she said.

  Hendricks felt an overwhelming wave of guilt crash over her. Portia was upset because of her, that’s what Vi had been about to say. She was the reason Portia left the dance early.

  “What happened next?” she asked, her voice raw.

  “Some—something appeared outside the window. I didn’t see what it was—it was dark. But then the glass broke and . . . and Portia screamed.” Vi’s face crumpled. “I—I tried to fight it off, but it was too big. It hit me. And then it dragged Portia out the window. And I—I . . .”

  Vi couldn’t seem to go on anymore. A sob escaped her lips, and she lowered her face to her hands. “I’m sorry.”

  “You did everything you could,” Connor said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. To Hendricks, he said, “I’m going to text the others. We have to find her before . . .”

  He swallowed and averted his eyes, leaving his sentence unfinished.

  He didn’t have to finish it. Hendricks already knew what he was going to say.

  We have to find her before he kills her, Hendricks thought, and fear roared up inside of her, making her feel dizzy. Her knees knocked together, and she had to press a hand against the wall to steady herself.

  Justin was back. Their séance hadn’t worked.

  She leaned out the broken window and peered into the pitch-black night. There was nothing out there, not a single stray student or chaperone standing on the streets, no witnesses.

  Hendricks breathed deeply. If she searched her heart of hearts, she knew where the ghost was taking Portia. Steele House was the center of everything. There, Justin Morrelly was going to sacrifice Portia, just like he’d tried to sacrifice Samantha.

  Footsteps pounded down the hallway behind her, and Hendricks turned just as Finn and Blake rounded the corner. Connor quickly explained what happened.

  “I don’t understand,” Blake said. “We put him back, didn’t we? That crack, or whatever it was, it closed. Isn’t this supposed to be over?”

  Hendricks flinched. Out of nowhere, Eddie’s message came back to her:

  Close the seal.

  “It didn’t work,” she said, turning to face them. “Our séance wasn’t strong enough.”

  “The séance where Ileana vomited blood and killed a freaking rabbit wasn’t strong enough?” Finn said, his eyes flashing. “How is that possible? What more could we do?”

  “We could use a conduit,” Hendricks said. All at once the truth of what they had to do crashed over them.

  Connor looked confused. “I don’t understand. We already used a conduit, didn’t we?” he said. “The rabbit—”

  “The rabbit wasn’t enough,” Hendricks answered. “We need a human. We need . . . we need Raven.”

  CHAPTER

  27

  None of the lights were on inside of Raven’s house, but they circled the block anyway and pulled to a stop up the street. They’d taken Connor’s car. He drove, and Hendricks had the passenger seat, while Vi, Blake, and Finn were squeezed into the back.

  Connor cut the engine, and for a long moment, none of them spoke. Hendricks knew they were all thinking about the horrible thing they were about to do, and whether they could really go through with it.

  Finally, Hendricks cleared her throat. “What are we going to do about her mom?” she asked.

  “I can distract her,” Connor said.

  Hendricks cut her eyes at him. “How?”

  Connor scratched his chin. “Moms really like me.”

  “That’s true,” Finn said. He leaned forward, his head between the two front seats. “The rest of us can focus on getting Raven out, but how are we going to get inside?”

  “Break a window?” Blake offered.

  Connor shook his head. “You won’t have to do that. They leave a key under the plastic turtle by the back door. I’ve seen Raven use it before, when she’s gotten locked out. Hendricks, you go with Finn and Blake. Vi, do you think you could stay out front? Text me when they’ve gotten her out, so I know it’s all clear?”

  Vi nodded, her eyes distant. “Yeah,” she said. “I can do that.”

  “Okay.” Connor exhaled. “Let’s go.”

  Hendricks, Finn, and Blake crept around to the back of the house. Blake reached the corner first and hesitated, one hand up to tell them to stop while he peered into the darkness. Hendricks froze, her skin pricking with nerves.

  After a few minutes that seemed to stretch, he waved them forward. The little stone turtle was right where Connor had said it would be, on the ground next to the back stairs. Hendricks flipped it over and found the key nestled in the dirt.

  She stood, slid it into the lock, and turned.

  The door creaked inward, revealing a dark hallway.

  Hendricks hardly dared to breathe. She crept into the hallway, the bottom of her gown clenched in her fist, Finn and Blake crowded close behind her. She’d removed her shoes back in the car, worried that the high heels would be too loud. It was the right move. Her bare feet made almost no noise in the hall.

  A light flipped on at the front of the house, and Hendricks froze, her heart beating fast in her ears. A moment later, Connor’s voice drifted toward them from the front door.

  “. . . just wanted to stop by to see how you were doing . . .” he was saying.

  “That’s so sweet of you, Connor,” Raven’s mom responded. And then, more hesitantly, “Are you . . . in a tux?”

  Hendricks didn’t wait to hear Connor’s response. She swallowed and nodded at the others to keep going.

  Raven’s bedroom was the third door on the right. Blake and Finn slipped inside, their black tuxes nearly indistinguishable from the darkness. Hendricks hovered at the door, thinking.

  How were they going to do this? Raven had an oxygen tube in her nose, and an IV connected to her arm, the needle piercing the skin just below the crook of her elbow. They couldn’t disconnect her.

  “We’ll have to take the oxygen and the IV with us,” she whispered, her eyes moving over the equipment. Luckily, the oxygen tank was a small, portable version. She could carry that. She wasn’t sure what was in the IV drip connected to Raven’s arm—morphine, maybe? Or something else to manage her pain?

  She began packing up the oxygen tank and the IV pouch while Blake eased Raven out of her bed. He carried her like a baby, her head resting against his silk tuxedo jacket, her bare feet dangling over his arm. Hendricks slipped the IV pouch into her clutch, making sure to stay close enough to Raven and Blake that she wouldn’t accidentally pull the tubes from her arm. She leaned over to grab the oxygen tank.

  “I got it,” Finn told her, and hoisted it off the floor, grunting slightly. “Check the hall.”

  Hendricks nodded. Leaving her clutch with Blake, she crept across the room and poked her head into the hall. There was no one there, but she could see shadows stretching from the living room, and she could hear Raven’s mother and Connor talking.

  “. . . how ar
e your brothers doing?” Hendricks heard Raven’s mom ask.

  “Good,” Connor said. “Patrick is liking school.”

  Hendricks closed her eyes for a beat, her chest tightening. It seemed criminal to sneak Raven out of her home. But what else were they supposed to do? If the roles were reversed, she knew that Portia would let herself be used as a conduit if it meant saving a friend. She could only hope that Raven felt the same way.

  “Coast is clear,” Hendricks whispered, nodding at the boys to go. “Come on.”

  * * *

  • • •

  Mist hung low over the Steele House grounds, obscuring the foundation and the grass in a milky-white cloud. It was thick as smoke, and it stretched beyond the boundaries of the grounds, rolling into the street and drifting through the trees.

  “Whoa,” murmured Blake, from the back seat. “That mist is intense.”

  “Where’s Portia?” asked Vi.

  That was a good question. Hendricks leaned forward in her seat, squinting through the windshield to try to make out some shape in the fog. She thought she saw movement, something deep within the mist stirring, but it was too thick for her to see anything else.

  Connor slowed to a stop at the curb and cut the engine. One by one, they climbed out and made their way across the grounds.

  The crack had reappeared in the foundation. It was bigger than it had been before. It was now wide enough for Hendricks to stand inside, arms outstretched, and not be able to touch either wall.

  Portia lay beside it, curled on her side, her cheek pressed against the foundation. Tears and snot streamed down her face, streaking her makeup. Thick ropes bound her wrists and ankles, leaving deep red welts in her skin. She had a dirty rag stuffed in her mouth, but she tried to talk through it when she saw them, her eyes widening.

  “Oh my God!” Vi had both hands pressed to her mouth, her eyes wide with horror. She took a stumbling step toward Portia, but Hendricks jerked out a hand, stopping her.

  “Where’s Justin?” Hendricks hissed, looking around. As far as she could see, Portia was here alone.

  “You can’t see him?” Connor asked. Hendricks shook her head. His eyes flicked back to Portia. He must be using her as bait, expecting Hendricks to run up to her and make sure she was okay.

  “We need to do the ritual now,” Hendricks said. “Before he figures out what we’re doing.”

  Vi looked at her like she was insane. “He’s going to kill her!”

  “Not if we get him first,” Hendricks said. To the others, she said, “Come on. We have to hurry.”

  Finn and Blake carried Raven and her medical equipment up to the edge of the foundation.

  “Get her as close as you can to the crack,” Hendricks said. Blake nodded and gingerly placed Raven onto the cement, taking a moment to brush the hair away from her face. Finn set her oxygen tank and held the IV above her.

  Hendricks nodded. This was good. “Okay, now we form the circle.”

  “What about Ileana?” asked Finn, frowning.

  “There isn’t time to get her,” Hendricks said. “Raven will have to be our seventh.”

  And I’m a medium, she thought. There has to be some part of me that knows how to do this.

  They knelt. Vi helped Portia press one hand into the ground and took the other while Blake did the same for Raven. The rest of them followed: one hand on the ground, one hand grasping their neighbor’s wrist. Just like before, Hendricks felt a pulse move through her once the circle was completed. Some invisible power, protecting them.

  She closed her eyes, trying to remember what Ileana had done next.

  “I—I call upon light and earth to the north,” she said hesitantly. As soon as the words were out of her mouth a flash of lightning broke across the sky, making her flinch. The ground began to rumble.

  Her chest hitched. She didn’t know what was happening, didn’t understand the forces she was calling. She had a sudden memory of Ileana doubled over, blood spilling from her mouth as pain tore through her body. Oh God . . . what was she doing?

  She wet her lips and forced herself to keep going. “Air to the east, fire to the south, and water to the west.”

  Wind rustled the trees above them. Thunder growled somewhere in the distance. It began to rain.

  At first, there were only scattered drops, pricking at Hendricks’s shoulders and hair. Then it changed, coming suddenly faster. The sound of water tapping against the packed earth was like hurried footsteps, followed by a heavy torrent that instantly drenched them all.

  Hendricks gasped, her hair wet and heavy against her skin. She felt like she was drowning. She could barely breathe. Her fingers were slick around Connor’s wrist.

  “Draw a circle around those gathered here and keep us safe,” she demanded.

  Wind howled past them, kicking up heavy clumps of wet dirt, ripping the leaves from the trees. Lightning struck a low-hanging branch, which fell to the earth in a sudden crash, flames licking at the bark.

  Hendricks felt the air around her go cold. It wasn’t just the rain and the wind. She was sure that Justin was here, that her call for protection hadn’t worked at all. He was doing this to them.

  She blinked rapidly, searching the circle for his familiar leather jacket and dark hair, but it was too dark, and the rain was thick. It left everything hazy and unfocused. She could barely see two feet in front of her.

  “Whatever you do, don’t let go of the circle,” she said, remembering Ileana’s warning from the last séance. “He can’t hurt us unless we break the circle.”

  “You sure about that?” said a voice directly into her ear.

  Hendricks jerked her head around and found herself staring into Justin’s dead black eyes. He grinned at her.

  “Boo,” he spat.

  Hendricks forced herself to hold his gaze. Her nostrils filled with the bitter scent of him, rotting meat and decaying flesh. The taste of bile rose up in her throat, but she choked it down.

  She wouldn’t look away. She wouldn’t be afraid.

  “W—we are harboring a restless spirit,” she said, speaking directly to Justin now. Though her voice felt hoarse and small, she could feel confidence building. “Take him back.”

  “Take him back,” the others recited with her. Hendricks was heartened to hear how strong their voices were, how sure they seemed of her. Portia squeezed her wrist. She thought she saw something in Justin’s face tighten. Fear, she thought, clenching her teeth together.

  Good.

  “Go back where you came from,” Hendricks told him.

  There it was again, that twitch of fear. It tightened the muscles in his jaw and narrowed his eyes. But he only smiled wider.

  “I’m taking Sam with me,” Justin said. “I need her.”

  Tell him now, Hendricks thought. If she told Justin that she was the medium, not Portia, then he might leave her alone.

  But when she opened her mouth, she saw Samantha’s mutilated face, her blood-covered dress. She felt her voice die in her throat.

  Justin grabbed Hendricks by the shoulders and wrenched her out of the circle before she could say another word. Hendricks barely had time to catch her breath before he’d lifted her into the air above his head. The ground swam below her distantly, barely visible through the driving rain. She thought she heard her friends calling her name, but the sounds of thunder and wind drowned them out.

  She felt like she was flying for a fraction of a second before the wet concrete rose up and slammed into her face. Dull, stinging pain tore across her cheek and chin. And then she was rolling, tumbling across the Steele House foundation. She threw out a hand on instinct. Pain rocketed up her wrist, but she managed to stop herself before she tumbled into the chasm. Everything was slick and muddy.

  Lifting her head, she saw that the circle had devolved into chaos. Blake had dropped to the gro
und next to Raven and seemed to be trying to check that she was still breathing. Squinting through the rain, Hendricks realized that something had happened to her; Raven was convulsing, her arms and legs jerking against the ground. Her eyes had opened, but her pupils had rolled way back into her skull.

  Oh God, she thought. The pain in her face seemed to diminish a little, or maybe it was just her panic, forcing her up. She crawled for Raven, arms trembling. Her wrist felt like it might be broken.

  Justin moved through the circle with unearthly speed. Finn was in front of him, but Justin brushed him aside with an easy sweep of his hand. The six-foot-tall teenager went skidding across the ground like a stone across a still pond. When he lifted his head, Hendricks saw that it was badly scratched and red with blood.

  Blake ran toward Finn, but a backhand to the jaw sent him spinning to the ground. Hendricks heard the dull thump of Blake’s head meeting concrete and Blake’s mouth fell open, the color drained from his face.

  Vi was cowering away from the circle, but Justin found her. He picked her up as easily as if she were a doll and threw her, like he’d thrown Hendricks. Hendricks watched in horror as Vi went flying past them and hit the cement with a hard slap. She didn’t move again.

  Hendricks lunged forward, but she was too late. Justin had reached Portia first. He hoisted her over one shoulder and looked down at Hendricks, baring his teeth in a gruesome approximation of a smile.

  He didn’t resemble a boy anymore. His eyes were a pure, flat black, and blood oozed from around the sockets, trailing down his cheeks in thick tears. Skin slid away from his skull like old paint, revealing a yellowed skull and tender pink muscle tissue beneath.

  He had the face of someone long dead.

  “She’s mine,” he said. And then he stepped into the chasm and was gone.

  “No!” Hendricks shouted. She pushed herself to her feet, ignoring the pain coursing up and down the side of her body. She glanced over her shoulder at the others.

  Raven was still shaking on the ground. Her skin had gone deathly pale, and her eyelids were fluttering. Connor and Blake were helping Finn back to his feet, but Vi still hadn’t moved.