by Bryan Cohen
Chapter 38
Ted looked at Erica. She was as beautiful as ever, but it wasn't her. He had his doubts after their encounters in the band room and by the pond and the way she looked at him. She'd come back different than she was before, and the fight with Sandra had proved it. The girl he grew up with was feisty, but she wasn't feisty enough to knock some possessed girl out cold.
"Who are you?" he asked.
Erica smiled as she untied Ted. Her scent brought years of longing to the surface.
"The girl next door."
As Ted got free, he used his powers to untie Dhiraj. Erica picked up her pipe wrench.
"She died, didn't she?" Dhiraj said. "You're like Sandra, only not evil."
Erica nodded.
"You two are smarter than you look."
Ted stopped walking. If this was some Erica imposter walking around, he wasn't sure if he could trust her. She looked and sounded like Erica, but a person he'd known for over a decade just tried to kill him; he felt he had some right to be suspicious.
"If you aren't Erica, who did I kiss yesterday?"
Dhiraj butted in, looking incredulous.
"You kissed her? Man, you're the one who isn't telling me the important stuff."
Erica tapped the wrench against the wall, disinterested in the banter. Ted had seen that look on her face before. It reminded him of when she'd gotten too cool for video games and wanted to do something else, anything else, with her life.
"We don't have much time. Let's just say the same people who gave you powers sent me to help."
Erica turned and continued toward the building’s exit, which had been crushed shut. She examined it while Ted examined her. He now saw what he wasn't willing to see before. She walked differently. Her usual stride called attention to every step she took. Now she looked like she had some place to go. The Erica in front of him also looked alert, not like the glazed-over, substance-filled Erica he'd seen walking around for most of junior year.
"You've got to tell me more than that. The people who gave me these powers – who are they and what do they want?"
"I think you're going to need to break a window. That trashcan may be heavy enough."
Ted took a deep breath.
"How do we know we can trust you?" he asked.
Dhiraj cleared his throat.
"She beat up Sandra, who was trying to kill you. The enemy of my enemy–"
"She's also been lying to me," Ted said. "She made me feel like I was connecting with a long-lost friend. Come on, Dhiraj."
Ted motioned for Dhiraj to walk in the opposite direction with him. Before he got far, Erica ran up and put her hand on his shoulder. He turned. She looked as she had the other day, and she apologized with her eyes.
"It's complicated, Ted. I'm a different person, but I'm not. I still have all of Erica's feelings. Her regrets."
Ted tried to look away.
"Regrets that she couldn't ditch me one more time?"
Erica put her hand on Ted's face. He wanted to push it away. He didn't.
"Regrets about what I – about what she did to you. She thought of you before she died. Everything I said to you yesterday was true."
A part of Ted wanted to kiss her again. He just wished he could believe her. The crackle of the loudspeaker broke up the moment.
"Ted and Erica to the auditorium. Ted and Erica auditorium."
Ted turned toward the trashcan, lifted it and sent it slamming through the window. Just as Erica had suggested, it worked like a charm.
"You two should go," Ted said. "It's my fight, not yours."
Ted started to walk away again, and again Erica stopped him.
"You don't understand. I'm more than Erica. I came here to protect you."
"Where were you at the diner?"
"I was still dead."
Dhiraj walked over.
"That's one for two. Pretty good odds. I'm staying here, too. I don't think they're alone in that auditorium. Sixth period acting class."
Erica looked confused, but Ted knew exactly what his friend meant. Dhiraj's constant talk of his crush made Ted memorize Jennifer's schedule, too.
"While everyone was getting out, nobody would notice the auditorium. It's all the way in C hall. We've got to do something."
Erica didn't stop him this time, as the three of them sped to the auditorium.
"So, if you're not really Erica, who are you and where are you from?" Dhiraj strained to keep up as they sprinted around a corner.
Ted looked over at Erica.
"I've been sent here as a protector from a world in a civil war. There's a law that has divided the people."
"Slavery? That got us, too," Dhiraj said.
Ted slapped his friend in the shoulder, mid-stride.
"It is slavery, in a sense. My side, the light souls, decreed that we may not take over the spirit of other worlds below us. The other side, the dark souls, they want dominion over all realms."
The three of them reached the outside of the auditorium. Ted put his hands on his knees and breathed hard.
"Can you tell me what that means in layman's terms?"
"Nigel and his friends want to conquer your world and possess every man, woman and child on Earth."
That was more ominous than Ted had expected. He looked over at Dhiraj. He seemed as surprised as Ted was.
"How do we stop them?" Ted asked.
"Don't let them kill anyone. In most cases, people from our world can only possess the dead."
"Except for me."
"You're the living soul. You get super powers and the job of keeping all the worlds safe."
"Lucky me."
Ted looked at the auditorium doors. He wondered if his peers would still be human by the time he went inside.
"We need a plan."
"I think I have one," Dhiraj said.
He pointed at a splotch of paint on the wall. It was fluorescent yellow and out of place on the surrounding beige.
"You think those guns are still locked up in the office?" Dhiraj asked.
"Go," Ted said.
Dhiraj hightailed it to the principal's office.
"What's the plan?" Erica asked.
"Let's just say, you missed a few things when you were gone."
Less than a minute later, Dhiraj had all the equipment they needed. They'd discussed their roles in the attack and crouched beside the auditorium door.
"Are you ready for this?" Erica asked.
"Maybe," Ted said. “I mean, sure."
She smiled as she cracked the door open. Ted floated a small, blue sphere into the room. It went between the legs of the Torellos and rolled all the way to the stage. He let the paint grenade fall onto the ground, where it exploded in a colorful arc. Ted, Erica and Dhiraj burst inside and started shooting paintballs in every single direction. As everybody ducked for cover, Ted concentrated on opening the locked doors backstage. He unlocked them from the other side and continued to fire. Dhiraj ran down the outside aisle of the auditorium and started to lead students out while Erica covered him. Ted used his mind to rip the stage curtain from its hooks, letting it fall on top of Nigel, Stucky and everybody else on stage. As the bad guys struggled to get out from underneath, Dhiraj helped the hostages get out the backstage door. The Torellos approached Erica. She tossed her gun back to Ted. He continued to fire paintballs to distract them as Erica delivered a roundhouse kick to the face of Jason Torello. She hit Phil in the stomach and then kneed him in the face when he bent over. As they nursed their injuries, she stepped over them toward her allies.
"Is that everybody?" she asked.
"I didn't see Jennifer," Dhiraj said.
Before they could react, both guns exploded in Ted's hands. They heard the sound of fabric tearing as the curtain ripped in a hundred different places at once. Everyone who'd been trapped underneath emerged, including Nigel, Stucky and Faraday, who had his arm around Jennifer's neck.
"You've had enough fun, Ted," Nigel said. "Now you're going
to come with me or I'll kill the girl."
Ted looked around at his options, which were narrowing. Tank appeared at the door with an obvious red mark where the books had hit.
"I'll do it, Ted," Faraday said.
"Mr. Faraday?"
"Project your voice, Ted, or I won't be able to hear you over the sound of your friend's neck breaking."
"Let her go!" Dhiraj shouted from the back of the stage.
Erica looked back at Ted.
"I need to give myself up," Ted said. "Half of them will come with me. Once they're split up, you'll be able to take them."
"Ted, you need to stay alive," Erica said. "The world ends if you don't."
"Good to know," he said, raising his voice. "I'm here. You can take me. Let the girl go."
Faraday released his grip on Jennifer as Tank pulled Ted's hands behind his back.
"Find me," he said to Erica. "I'll leave breadcrumbs."
Tank put a hood over Ted's head and kicked him in the back. When he got up, Tank pushed him forward. He couldn't hear or see much of anything, but he could feel when he exited the school. Before long, he'd been tossed into some kind of vehicle.
"Where are we going?" Ted asked, hoping for a slip up.
"A party with all of our friends invited," Nigel said. "A pity you need to die for all of them to come over."
