The Infected, a PODs Novel

by Michelle K. Pickett

  Keren, thank you for your awesome fangirl-ness. You rock that PODs tattoo, girl. I have huge love for you!

  A huge thank you to all my beta readers, specifically Meradeth Houston, Erin, Mary and, Melissa Samples. You all are the bomb’s bomb. Thank you for always being around when I need someone to read for me. Meradeth, thank you for not only your unending support and encouragement, but for answering my yuck factor questions. You’re a super friend, and one incredibly talented author. And, I love our caffeinated emails!

  Larissa! Girl, what can I say? Your comments helped me in so many ways, and I hope I was able to finesse your changes into the story in a way that’ll make you proud. Reading all your little messages, your thoughts as you read the story, was so much fun for me! As an author, I don’t get to see how someone reacts while they read my work. I may get a review after they’ve finished, but I don’t see them as they read it. But reading your comments as I edited was like I was reading the story with you… and that was awesome. Thank you! Even though you did tell me, more than once, that I was letting the wrong guy get the girl (ha-ha).

  And to the readers of the PODs Series, wow, there just aren’t words grandiose enough to thank you properly. Without your emails reminding me you were waiting for book two in the PODs Series, I don’t think I’d have powered through and finished it. Thank you, truly, from the bottom of my heart.

  It’s bittersweet, the ending of a series. But I’ve created enough chaos in the lives of the PODs characters. It’s time to let David and Eva live in peace. But although the PODs Series is finished, I hope you’ll stick around and share the next adventure with me.

  Warmly,

  Michelle

  If asked, Michelle will tell you she is a wife, mother, author, reader, and M&M connoisseur, especially peanut butter, which she eats way too many of while she writes. Red Bull is her coffee of choice, and she can’t write without a hoodie.

  Born and raised in Flint, Michigan, she will always think of the Great Lakes state as home, but now spends warm winters, and scorching summers, in a sleepy suburb of Houston, Texas, with her extremely supportive husband and children, where she is currently working on her next novel.

  Michelle writes across genres in the young and new adult age groups, and absolutely loves to hear from readers, bloggers and other authors!

  Find her here:

  www.michelle-pickett.com

  Michelle@michelle-pickett.com

  www.facebook.com/michellepickettauthor

  www.twitter.com/michelle_kp

  www.pinterest.com/michelleauthor

  https://instagram.com/michelle_luvstowrite

  Turn the page for excerpts from Milayna

  and the award-winning Unspeakable…

  1

  The Pool

  That night, I dreamt of demons.

  They chased me. No matter how fast or where I ran, they chased me.

  Brown, curling horns protruded from their heads. They looked like wood with the bark whittled away. Some demons had two horns—one next to each pointed, gray ear—and some had just one in the center of their forehead. Their gray skin was covered with a layer of dark ash that curled behind them as they ran, bringing with it the smell of sulfur and rotting flesh. Their eyes were black orbs. They were dull eyes, dead eyes.

  I screamed for my parents.

  “Don’t fight it, Milayna. This is your destiny,” my dad told me.

  I ran to Muriel’s house. My best friend; surely she’d help. She waited for me at her door. “Help me,” I screamed and reached for her.

  She smiled, and horror filled me. Her jaw protruded and her mouth filled with long yellow teeth. Pointed like daggers. She grabbed my arms and held me for the demons.

  “Muriel, help me,” I gasped, trying to pull free.

  “I am helping you. You’ll see. You’ll be so much happier with us,” she hissed through her fangs.

  I struggled against the demons. Their black nails bit into my arms, drawing blood. They pulled me to their leader, who stood silently watching, adjusting the sleeves of his black robe as if he was bored.

  He looked like the devil. His skin was ruddy, and his eyes glowed amber. Jet-black hair, slicked back on his head, hung to his shoulders. But the demons didn’t call him Devil, or Satan, or even Lucifer. They called him—

  Azazel.

  ****

  The sun beat down on my back. It felt good after swimming in the pool’s cool water. I looked at the trees surrounding the park while I squeezed water from my hair. The leaves looked like someone had dripped orange and yellow paint on them. I loved autumn in Michigan, but it meant the end of swimming outdoors, which I preferred to the tiled, sterile pool at school.

  The water sparkled a silvery blue. I watched the children play, splashing and giggling as their mothers sat poolside, no doubt gossiping about the latest scandal in the neighborhood.

  A young girl, maybe six or seven years old, caught my eye. I watched her strawberry-blonde curls float around her in the water. She was a cute, at least as far as kids go. Kids just weren’t my thing. A whiny younger brother was all I needed. I didn’t even babysit, except when my mother needed help. But my gaze was drawn to the girl.

  What is it about her? I can’t stop looking at her.

  I felt like I had a knot in the pit of my stomach. It grew like a growth, moving into my throat. It was hard to pull in a breath. The strange feeling wasn’t directed toward the girl, although she was part of it. It was more a feeling that something wasn’t right. I could feel the cold fingers of evil slide up my spine.

  I sucked in a breath, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I dropped my towel and focused on the girl.

  She climbed out of the pool. Her mother was still deep in conversation with another woman. The red-headed girl yelled to her mom, but she waved her off, never looking away from the woman talking animatedly beside her.

  It must be juicy gossip.

  Happy, the young girl—why was I fixated on her?—scampered off to the playground next to the pool. She plopped down on a swing and pumped her legs back and forth until she swung high. Leaning back, she stretched her legs out, her chubby face to the sky, and smiled.

  And then I saw him.

  He stood just inside the trees at the edge of the playground. Watching. Waiting. I don’t think he cared which kid it was. She just happened to be there. Either way, his stance changed. His face became animated. An ugly grin slid across his face as he waited next to a towering pine tree. He knew his chance was coming soon, his gaze followed the girl. His prey had just entered his line of sight.

  The knot lodged in my stomach twisted, as if someone was tying my insides together like they would their shoelaces. I sucked in a breath through my teeth and tensed against the pain.

  Without thought, seemingly without my conscious control, I rose from my seat and circled the pool. I continued into the parking lot, where the sharp, small stones embedded themselves in the bottom of my feet, but I hardly noticed. I was on a mission. Why, or what I was gonna do, I wasn’t sure.

  It’s her mother’s responsibility to watch over her. Well, that’s not exactly true. We should— no, we’re required to watch over each other. At least, that’s what Mom and Dad pound into my brain every chance they get, usually right before they ask me to babysit Ben.

  I continued through the gravel parking lot to the hill on the edge of the tree line. Glad to feel the cool grass under my burning feet, I picked up speed. He wasn’t hard to spot when I entered the trees. The sorry son-of-a-bitch stood watching her with his hand down his pants.

  Eww and ick.

  He was so engrossed he didn’t hear me behind him. I picked up a fallen tree branch about the size of a baseball bat. It felt heavy in my hands, and the bark scraped against my fingers. With visions of his hands on the little girl running through my mind, I swung the limb as hard as I could. It cracked against the back of the man’s balding head.

  I had no emotion as I watched him cru
mple to the ground. I stood over him, images of him with the girl mingled with images of him with other children. As I watched his blood trickle through the grass, I realized what I’d done. My hands started to tremble, and the branch slipped from my fingers and landed on top of him. My heartbeat was frenzied in my chest, and I turned and ran from his scrawny body.

  Thoughts scrolled through my mind at triple speed. What caused the unstoppable desire to save the kid? I would’ve never let him touch her. But normally I’d tell her mother that she’d wandered too far or call the police and alert them to the possibility of a child predator roaming the park. I never would have stepped in myself, but I wasn’t able to stop. Drawn to the girl, to her safety, I couldn’t walk away.

  I went back to gather my things at the edge of the pool. I looked over my shoulder to check on the girl. Her red curls bounced as she swung in the sunlight. Her mother still unaware of where she was or how close she’d come to losing her childhood innocence.

  Before climbing into my beat-up Chevy, I stopped at a payphone near the restrooms, shaking my head with a smile.

  I can’t believe I found one. Everyone uses cell phones. I thought these things were only in museums. It’s gotta be older than me.

  Using my wet towel, I picked up the receiver, dialed 911, and reported the man—and I used the term man very, very loosely.

  “You’ll find a man unconscious just inside the trees. Hurry before he hurts another child.”

  “What’s your name?” the nasally dispatcher asked. I dropped the receiver, letting the cord hang limp, and walked away.

  Let them trace the call. There’s nothing pointing to me. I don’t want anyone finding out I was here. What do I say? I had a funny feeling and…what? I had a vision of him doing stuff with kids so I bashed his head in? Yeah, right. No, they just need a valid trace so they can get here and catch the pervert before he wakes up.

  As I drove away I was struck by two things. First, what drew me to the girl? My eyes weren’t drawn to any other. In fact, I couldn’t remember the face of any other kid at the pool. My eyes wanted only her…searched her out. I knew I needed to watch her, knew that something was wrong.

  And second, how did I know?

  The Award Winning…

  “I want a life without you in it. I want memories that don’t include you.

  I want a heart that never loved you. I want a mind that doesn’t know you.

  And I want a new me who never knew you.” ~Willow

  1

  Jaden

  Breathe. No one will break me. I’m strong. Breathe. Just breathe.

  It wasn’t always that way. Him. Us. I knew people wondered. But it used to be different. It was sweet, loving, and everything a girl wanted from a boy. But he learned my secret and in that second, he wasn’t my wonderful, perfect boyfriend anymore.

  He was my jailer.

  I watched Jaden celebrate on the field with the rest of the football team. Another victory—the Cougars were on their way to another undefeated season. Jaden stuffed his blue-and-gold helmet under his arm and jogged across the football field. He swiped a bundle of red roses off the team’s bench as he passed. He’d had roses there for me the first time I ever went to watch him play.

  I waited at the fifty-yard line after the game just as Jaden had asked. Sweat dripped off the ends of his dirty-blond hair and his cheeks were still flushed from running the last play, but he stood in front of me and butterflies swarmed in my belly. Bright, beautiful butterflies. Fluttering their multi-colored wings, tickling me on the inside.

  “These are for you.” He held out ten magnificent, long-stemmed red roses tied in a shimmering, white ribbon. “Um, I made sure there were no thorns.” A small smile tipped the corners of his lips, giving me a tiny glimpse of his dimples.

  I sucked in a breath. “They’re so pretty, Jaden, thank you.” I took the roses from him. Goose bumps ran up my spine like someone had tickled me with a feather, and my fingers trembled when I grazed them over the velvety petals. “But shouldn’t I be the one buying you something? You just won the game.” I peeked at him through my lashes.

  Jaden shook his head slightly and wiped away the sweat on his forehead with his arm. “No. I had to buy something for my good luck charm. Something beautiful for the most gorgeous girl here.”

  I felt my cheeks warm and couldn’t help my nervous giggle when he slid a lock of hair behind my ear. Crossing one foot over the other, I brought the flowers to my nose. “Why ten?” I asked, my nose buried in the blooms. Ten seemed an unusual number, not that I minded.

  “I read on the internet that red roses were for love, and ten meant you’re perfect.”

  “Oh,” I breathed just before his lips descended on mine.

  After that night, at the end of every game, he’d meet me at the fifty-yard line and give me ten long-stemmed red roses.

  “Hey.” His voice brought my thoughts back to the present, and he leaned in for a kiss. “Some game, huh?” He pressed the flowers into my hand. A thorn bit into the soft flesh of my palm, and I winced.

  “Yeah, you were great.” I knew that was what he really wanted to hear.

  He gave me one of his swoon-worthy smiles before jogging toward the school. “I have to shower. Wait for me in the car,” he called over his shoulder before grabbing a scrawny kid by the arm. “Do you have money?” he asked him. He shook the kid’s arm to punctuate his question.

  “Ye…yeah,” the kid answered.

  “Good, buy her a Coke.” Jaden shoved the boy toward me, almost knocking him over.

  Rushing forward, I outstretched my arms to catch the boy before he fell face-first in the mud. I frowned at Jaden’s retreating back. “Are you okay?” I asked the boy.

  “Yeah. Here.” He shoved two wadded-up bills at me. “No, no, you don’t have to buy me anything to drink. Don’t listen to him.” I shook my head, pushing the money away.

  “Ha! Yes, I do. I don’t want him handing me my ass.” The boy’s eyes were wide as he shoved the money at me. It fluttered to the ground when he turned and jogged away. He acted like I had the bubonic plague. It was close. I dated Jaden.

  I looked at the ground where the money had fallen. With a sigh, I knelt to pick it up just as a black boot landed on top of the two bills. I jerked my hand away and looked up into blue eyes so bright they seemed to glow in the darkness. The owner of the eyes squatted next to me.

  “Yours?” the guy asked.

  “No… I mean, not really…” I looked for the kid who gave it to me, but he’d already disappeared into the crowd. I sighed. “Yeah, I guess.”

  His lips twitched into an amused grin. A lock of dark hair fell over his forehead. “Well, I’m glad we cleared that up.” He picked the money out of the mud, wiping it across the leg of his black jeans before he stood and handed the bills to me. “There you go.”

  “Thanks. I’m Willow.”

  “Brody. See you around, Willow.”

  “Who’s that?” a voice boomed behind me, and I stumbled forward.

  “Jeez, Karen, don’t sneak up on people like that.”

  “I wasn’t sneaking. You were preoccupied staring at the Scooby snack.” She smiled and quirked a pierced eyebrow, colored black to match the black stripes in her long, blonde hair.

  “No, I wasn’t.” I could feel the blush creeping over my cheeks and was glad we were standing in the shadows so she couldn’t see it.

  “Whatever. Personally, I don’t give two shits if you look, but you’d better not let Jaden see you scoping out some random guy.”

  “You’re seeing things. I wasn’t looking at anyone.” Stuffing the money into my pocket, I thought, Maybe I could find the kid at school and give it back to him.

  “I’m supposed to make sure you’re waiting at Jaden’s car.” Karen linked her arm around mine and pulled me toward the parking lot.

  “What, you’re his personal spy and wrangler now?” I rolled my eyes “I was on my way to his car. It’s not like he’s gonna hu
rry or anything. He takes longer than a girl to shower and change.”

  Karen laughed. “True, but he wants you safely in the car while you wait for him to pretty himself up for you.”

  The gravel parking lot crunched under our feet as we made our way to Jaden’s car. Karen kept her arm linked with mine like we were besties. We so weren’t. I could smell the reefer in her hair and cheap liquor on her breath.

  When we reached Jaden’s cherry red Mustang, I slid into it and, with a sigh, sank into the soft, black leather seats. I waited thirty minutes before Jaden sauntered out of the school and slipped into the car. He leaned over, wrapped his hand around the back of my neck, and pulled me to him for a hard kiss, his tongue invading my mouth. Lifting his head, he smirked.

  “Hi. Sorry it took me so long,” he murmured, his hand snaking under my shirt.

  Whatever. I’m used to waiting.

  “That’s okay.” I held my e-reader between us. “I read while I waited.”

  “You always have your nose in a book. Live a little.” Soft lips grazed across the skin of my neck.

  “It’s kind of hard to live life on the wild side while I sit in your car and wait for you to blow-dry your hair, Jaden.”

  Pushing away, he glared at me. “Check the attitude.”

  He started the car and pulled out of the parking lot, taking a left, the opposite direction of my subdivision.

  “Where are you going?”

  “There’s a party at Jamieson’s.”

  “I’ll miss curfew. I need to go home.” My hands balled into fists in my lap. I took a deep breath to stay calm. “Just because you don’t have a curfew doesn’t mean you can ignore the fact that I do.”

  “Damn it, Wills, I’ll miss half the party if I have to take you home,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “Don’t call me that. I have to go home, Jaden. You know I have a curfew. Why do we have to fight about this every time we’re out?”