by Gayle Katz
Gran muttered something she saw on the last page.
“What was that, Gran?” asked Charlie.
“The one spell to rule them all,” she replied.
Charlie turned and looked at Gran. By now she was almost fully enveloped in mist. “One spell to rule them all. CZS. Do not speak the meaning. Face-to-face eradication.” Then the mist cleared, and Gran seemed to pop out of it, looking normal again.
Chapter 8
________________________________________
“Gran! Are you OK?” Charlie rushed up to her and took her hand. It felt normal.
“Why yes, dear. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You came under a spell for a moment. Oh my god! I don’t know what to do! Is it safe? I should call Stewart.”
Gran stared at her in amazement, perplexed.
Charlie grabbed her phone. “Yes, Stewart. She was surrounded in mist. She uttered a phrase.” Charlie listened. “What did you say, Gran? Something about one spell to rule them all? That’s it! And CZS. What is that? And something about not speaking it and doing it face to face.”
Charlie listened to what Stewart had to say. “Gran! He says that CZS is me! Charlie Zombie Slayer! OK,” she said, before hanging up.
“What did he say, dear?” asked Gran, putting away the spell book pages.
“He said that it must be the clue to a spell having to do with the zleader. He is pleased that we got those pages out of the library.”
“So, CZS is you then?”
Charlie nodded.
“But what is the full spell then?”
Charlie shook her head. “No idea. But Stewart warned me that if we figure it out, to never say the words out loud.”
“This is progress,” said Gran. “Rarely do these things happen. The spell book wanted to reveal this to me at the right time.”
Charlie sat down opposite her. “Oh, and he said that he checked the spell book at the bank after your phone call, and it is definitely missing a page. Someone must have yanked it out before it passed to Stewart.”
Gran smiled. “Wow. How did Stewart get it?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t think to ask him if he inherited or bought it.”
Gran smiled back. “I know. One day it likely showed up on his doorstep.”
Charlie stopped blinking. “What?”
Gran explained. “Often spell books magically show up where they’re needed. They choose their owners. You don’t buy them. You find them.”
Charlie nodded in understanding. “That makes sense. So, the book in the library chose you then?”
“I guess so.”
“Does that mean that the zleader wouldn’t have been able to find the binder then?”
Gran frowned. “The trouble with life is that I don’t have all the answers. It is possible that even photocopied spell book pages have some power. So yes, it’s possible.”
Just then, they heard frantic pounding on the door. Charlie raced over.
“Be careful, dear. See who it is first.”
Charlie peered through the peephole. “It’s only Mark.” She opened the door.
“Hi, guys. Sorry for intruding.” He stepped in.
Charlie closed the door. “Mark, this is my grandmother, Rose. Gran, this is Mark, one of Seattle’s finest zombie slayers.”
Gran got up to shake his hand.
“Sorry for ruining your family reunion,” said Mark. “But there has been a sighting.”
“I’ll let you guys do your zombie talk while I go wash my hair.” She headed to the bathroom.
“Please sit down,” said Charlie, leading him to the chairs. “Do you want a soda?”
“Sure, but can we split it? We’re heading out later and I don’t want to visit the bathroom three times in a row.”
Charlie split the can of soda with him. “Here you go. So, what’s up?”
“Well, it’s kind of exciting, as it’s been boring in Seattle lately. Apparently, the library had a break-in just after closing.”
“Really?” asked Charlie.
“Yeah. It’s going to be on the news later tonight. The security guard said he saw a woman dressed in a muddy and torn Victorian gown with a fancy hat on the fourth floor. When she turned to look at him, her face was decayed. Her teeth were sticking out and she had empty eye sockets.”
Charlie had a momentary sense of panic, but then realized that she had packed her special dagger, the one that could be used to kill a zleader. She hadn’t needed it for the recent Portland zombies, as they weren’t controlled by a zleader.
“Hey, you OK?” asked Mark.
“Yeah, sorry. I was thinking about whether I packed all my stuff. Um, so, do you think this female zombie is a zleader?”
He laughed. “Without a doubt.”
“What happened to the security guard?”
“Nothing. He tried to shoot her in the head, but it didn’t drop her. He ran. When he came back later with reinforcements, she was gone.”
Charlie smiled. “Oh my god. We’ve been waiting for months and she just drops into our laps.”
“I know, right?”
“Oh, dear,” said Gran, coming out of the bathroom with a towel on her head. “It must have been my fault. I must have triggered the zleader by going to the library to look at the spell books.”
Mark looked puzzled. “Then that means that the zleader is aware of us?”
Charlie nodded. “Not only that, but she has been waiting for us. She may have even been the one who placed the book.”
“But that book triggered a spell,” said Gran. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“Well, maybe the zleader didn’t know that.”
Mark shook his head. “No, it wasn’t the zleader who placed the book. I’m certain she didn’t even know it was there, as it would have had a protection spell on it. But something must have triggered a warning to her.”
“I fear that must have been when I was looking at it,” said Gran.
“So this zleader is pretty smart then, if she knows there is a spell book and set a location spell,” said Charlie. “Oh, so was it the zleader who sent me that note?”
“What note?” asked Mark.
“The note that said, ‘I know what you did last spring?’”
“Is that a movie?”
Gran headed over to the table. “I didn’t know about that.”
Charlie shrugged. “I was hoping it was just the kitchen staff sending stupid notes to each other, or something.”
“Fuh kuk,” said Gran.
“That’s not how you say it,” said Mark, but Charlie held her hand up.
“I think we’re all in danger,” said Gran.
“Then there’s no question that Mark and I go into the underground at midnight tonight,” said Charlie.
“Crap,” said Mark. “Let me call my Seattle police contact so at least we have some backup.”
The team frantically got to work making their plans. Somewhere during this time, Charlie remembered to call Stewart to let him know about their plans.
She unpacked and repacked her backpack five times. She didn’t want it so heavy that it would weigh her down, but she wanted a full kit.
At one point, Gran handed her a pair of scissors. Charlie set to work cutting off the external pockets and ties that she wouldn’t need. She lifted her pack again. It was much lighter. She even went so far as to remove the wrappers from her granola bars before packing them directly inside her backpack. She’d deal with crumbs later.
“Please be careful, dear,” said Gran, giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
“Thanks, Gran. Don’t worry. I’m immune.”
“Yes, but she can still injure you, or worse, eat you,” said Gran.
“Thanks for that thought.” Charlie zipped up her bag and then went to meet Mark downstairs in the lobby.
zzz
The teens headed off to Prefontaine Street to gain access to the underground tunnels. They scoped out the location from acros
s the street.
“They’re apartment buildings, not businesses,” said Charlie, pacing back and forth. “How will we gain access?”
“Well, we can try a few different things, otherwise, I’ll trust your lock-picking skills.”
She laughed. “The problem is that there are a lot of people walking past. I don’t know if I could pick the door and get inside before someone called the cops.”
“Well, let’s just go and see if we can get in the normal way then.” Mark led the way, with Charlie following.
They gazed up at a series of apartment buildings. They were older, heritage-style buildings in gray and red brick. Each was a two-story walkup. The first building they checked out had a dark red door with an antiquated intercom system.
“OK, here goes nothing,” said Mark, pressing the button.
The intercom made a strange beeping sound, but nothing happened. Mark tried two more of the buttons before someone finally said hello.
“Hi! I have a pizza delivery for this building, but sorry, the resident isn’t answering their intercom, I think it might be…”
Mark didn’t get to finish before the door clicked open. Charlie ran to grab it before it locked up again.
“Nice going,” she said.
“It pays to be semi-honest,” he said, laughing.
They entered the building and saw a long hallway ahead of them.
“OK, so, which way to the basement?” she asked.
“I’ve been in buildings like this before. It should be at the end of the hallway. That’s where they keep the laundry facilities.”
Charlie carefully watched where they stepped. “Yuck! This place stinks.”
“Yeah, kind of like a crack house or something,” he commented. “They want to preserve the look of the building, but the innards go to waste.” He stopped in front of a door. “Here we are.” He opened it.
There was a long stairwell that led into darkness. Charlie carefully headed down the stairs. “I found the light switch.” Light filled the space.
Mark let the door close behind him and stepped down the stairs. “Wow, not much more than a root cellar with a washer and dryer in it.” If there had ever been anything on the dirt floor, it was long gone.
“There might just be a door or entryway then,” said Charlie, having a look around.
“Hey! Over here!” said Mark. “There is a small door here.”
“Neato,” said Charlie. “That must be it.”
Just then, there was a sound coming from above.
“Darn it! Someone is coming,” said Mark. He quickly pulled open the trap door and scrambled inside. Charlie jumped in just in time. They pulled the door shut just as they heard the sound of feet coming down the steps.
The teens waited impatiently as the tenant started up a load of laundry.
“Sorry,” Charlie whispered as she accidentally kicked Mark in the shin. They had to pretty much lay down on the cold, damp earth.
Finally, the tenant was done and walked back up the stairs, leaving the washing machine to do its work.
Charlie grabbed the cell phone from her pocket and used it to light up the space.
“Hey. I don’t see much. It just looks like it was used for storage,” Mark said, looking over the walls and the top of the space.
“Maybe press against the walls or ceiling or something?”
“Good idea,” he said, pounding on the walls. “Nothing.” He rolled over onto his back, then bent his knees and placed his feet against the ceiling and kicked. “Not getting anywhere here,” he said.
“Well, there are four other buildings on the street, maybe one of them will…” Charlie’s voice trailed off as she and Mark plummeted a few feet down. Dirt and debris fell all over them.
“Hey, that worked!” said Mark. The floor must have had a weakness.
“Great,” said Charlie, spitting some dirt out of her mouth.
“Well, I can one hundred percent conclusively say that we are down in the tunnels,” Mark said jokingly.
Charlie shined her smartphone around the space. It didn’t look too stable. The walls were brick, covered in dirt and debris. The ground they landed on appeared to be no more than hard earth. “Yep,” she said. “But I think we can still get out this way. We can easily climb back up, if we have to.”
“Good to know,” replied Mark. “Let’s get on our way then.”
Chapter 9
________________________________________
Rose was back at the hotel, looking over the zombie pages, hoping to find something new. The _ / c symbols puzzled her. She couldn’t figure them out. This was not her forte. She gave up and put the pages away. She could try to sleep, but wouldn’t, until she heard back from Charlie. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be gone for too long.
zzz
Charlie and Mark found that the tunnel actually enlarged the further they walked down it. Soon they could walk standing upright.
“It doesn’t look like anyone has been down here for years,” said Mark.
“Yeah. And it smells bad down here, like there’s been little to no air circulation for a while.”
“I didn’t think to bring a mask or breathing apparatus,” said Mark.
When they reached the end of the tunnel, they had two options. One was to turn to the left and go that way and the other was to head down the tunnel to the right.
“So, which way, or do we separate?” asked Mark.
“Not sure,” said Charlie. She’d replaced her smartphone with a flashlight from her backpack. “Hey! Look at this,” she said, pointing to the ground.
He peered down. “Are those footprints?”
She nodded. “So, someone has been down here recently. I think we need to follow the footprints.” She shined her light ahead while Mark followed right behind her.
“Zombies, zombies. Come on out, wherever you are,” said Mark.
They walked down the tunnel for several minutes. There were a few other route options, but most of them involved blocked tunnels, or tunnels filled with junk and debris that were too narrow for them to pass. If they couldn’t pass, zombies wouldn’t be able to either.
“I don’t think this is safe,” said Mark, following behind her. “I have a funny feeling about this.”
Charlie had her flashlight focused ahead the whole time, but then turned around to shine it back in his direction. As the light swept over the walls on the right-hand side, it revealed several inert zombies propped up against the walls.
Mark jumped back and was about to say something, but Charlie made a motion for him to zip his mouth, so he stopped. They carefully tiptoed down the tunnel, uncertain if they were really dead or the living dead.
Charlie thought how clever it was to have several zombies lined up and ready to go, if indeed they were an army. Then she felt a shiver go down her spine.
She could barely hold herself together until she and Mark turned the corner to where there were no zombies.
“There must be hundreds of them back there,” whispered Mark.
“Yes, and I have a bad feeling about this. It’s like it’s an army that’s in the making,” whispered Charlie back at him.
“That is so freaky,” he said back at her. “Now we know what they’ve been up to all this time.”
“Shh. Wait here,” she said, walking back around the corner. But he wouldn’t stay put, so he followed her.
She had another look at the zombies. She didn’t know how sensitive they could be, or whether they would wake up with light, so she kept her light down at the ground. She had another walk past them, and then ducked around the corner to chat with Mark again.
“See anything?” he whispered at her.
She smiled. “Yes, I noticed that the zombies are not only in various stages of decay but wearing a variety of different clothing from different decades.”
“So, they shop at thrift stores then?” he said, trying to control a laugh.
She shook her head. “No, I mean that they have
been created at different time periods.”
“Then this confirms your theory that a zombie army has been deliberately built up,” said Mark.
The teens continued to walk down the tunnels. If there was a zombie army in waiting, then that meant that the zleader had to be around here, somewhere.
“Hey. Look at that,” commented Charlie, seeing the same “_ / c” symbols up on the wall that Gran had showed her earlier. “I wonder what that means?”
“That’s odd,” said Mark. “It’s almost as if part of it is rubbed away.”
“Well, no time to play around,” said Charlie. “I’ll just take a snap of it and show Stewart when I’m back at home.”
The teens continued walking down the tunnel. “We must be getting closer to the shoreline,” said Mark. “It’s getting damper, and there is some water on the ground.”
zzz
The teens were about to give up and go back, when a woman jumped out at them. “Hi, guys!” she called out. “Is that the proper vernacular for today?”
Charlie shined the flashlight on her. “Um, hi. I guess?”
Mark grabbed her backpack from behind, trying to keep her from moving forward. “Careful,” he whispered.
Charlie was slowly reaching around her back to grab her dagger from its holster. It was that special dagger used for only special occasions, such as killing a zleader.
The woman in front of her was wearing torn jeans and an extremely dirty t-shirt. Her hair was cut short and uneven, but even Charlie could see that she was no longer human. Her lips were gone, revealing uneven and broken teeth. Her nose was intact, but both her eyes were gone.
“Can you see us?” asked Mark, curious about the being in front of them.
“There is zombie magic here,” said the zombie. “Of course I can see you.”
Charlie leapt into the air, landing just inches from the feet of the zombie. She took her dagger and aimed for the skull, but the female zombie effortlessly jumped out of the way.
