All of the deer and that bear and the cougars we saw the night we were trying to leave all make sense now. Even Yancy knew. Does that mean she’s safe?
“Okay,” I say, pacing. “So, say I am this thunderbird, or have the power of this thunderbird. How do I use it? How do I stop them?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know much about their powers. I do know about ours, though, and I know what they intend to do with you.”
“Do with me?” I ask, cocking my head to the side.
“The Council plans to make you one of us. They want you to join our cause. Malahas wants your power. She knows you are a threat, so she intends to bring you over to our side. With you beside us, we can easily wipe out the tribe once and for all and finally leave the confines of this town.”
“You can’t leave?”
Nana shakes her head. “During our final battle over this land, a curse was placed upon us. We cannot leave. Not until the curse is broken. The Council believes you can do that.”
No way. If the curse is lifted then that means these things—this Malahas creature—will have free reign over the rest of the world. Not gonna happen.
“That’s why we have to stop them,” Nana says, reading my thoughts in my horrified expression. “Your presence here will allow members of the tribe to come to your aid, and if you join your powers with theirs, you can kill Malahas. The Council knows this. That’s why they are desperate for you to join us.”
“I will never join them,” I say, turning on her.
“I know you won’t, which is why you need to be ready. They took Mitch because they knew you would come after him. When you do, they will try to coerce you into joining them, and if they can’t coerce you, they plan to force you.”
“And what if I still won’t?”
“They’ll kill Mitch, and then you.”
Before I can ask another question, pain splits my head as a piercing shriek fills the room. I immediately grab my head and sink to my knees, the pain unbearable.
Nana crouches beside me, taking my hand in hers. A jolt courses through my body and I begin to convulse, the pain unbearable. I manage to escape her grip just as the shrieking stops.
“What. The. Fuck. Is. That?” I say through clenched teeth. My breath comes hard and ragged.
“Did you hear that? Did you hear what was said?” Nana asks.
“All I heard was a deafening shriek. Whenever it happens, it practically splits my skull in two. It’s agonizing.”
“But, you didn’t hear words? Just shrieks?”
“Yes. What is it?”
“It’s a sort of telepathy. It’s how we communicate with one another.”
The shrieking comes back, once again scrambling my brain.
When it stops, Nana opens the door to the tunnels. “You need to go home. There’s a problem and they need me. If they find me with you—”
“But what about Mitch?”
“I told you. Mitch is fine. You still have a couple more days. Right now, you need to go.”
She points toward the door before stepping into the hallway. She should know better than to assume I would listen to her. I retrace her footsteps and exit the room just in time to see her disappear up the steps and into the first floor of the library.
I tiptoe up the stairs so as not to alert her of my presence. I peer around the corner of the front desk and see Nana looking out the front window. The same window Mr. Edwards died in front of.
“Abigail!”
“Daddy!”
Thick library walls muffle the terrified screams coming from outside. Sounds like the Redeemers are playing with their food again.
“You fool,” Nana says, placing her palms against the window as she peers into the mist. “You should know better.”
I rush to the window and stand beside her.
“What are you doing? I told you to go home.”
I ignore Nana, my eyes focused on the figures outside. The outline of a man kneels, and a smaller form runs toward him. It’s difficult to make out their faces, but I already know it’s Abby Morgan and her father. He must have tried to save her and it appears he’s been successful.
For now.
My heart drops to my shoes when I see a swarm of Redeemers circling above them.
I have to help them.
Without so much as a second thought, I push past Nana and rip open the front door of the library.
Chapter Twenty
The moment I emerge from the library, the fog suffocates me. The thick air reeks of decay. How many Redeemers are out tonight? The way it smells, there must be quite a few.
“Abby? Mr. Morgan? Where are you?”
A band of unbound souls swirl around me, but none of them attempt anything. They must have gotten the memo that I can smoke their asses with a simple touch.
“Who’s there?” Mr. Morgan’s terrified voice asks from somewhere in the thick mist.
“Caitlyn Foster. Mitch’s sister. Move toward my voice. Let me help you. We can go to the library.” I stand in place, my arms extended in front of me, hoping to feel one of their hands grab mine.
There’s nothing.
No movement. No sound. Where the hell is Nana? Why isn’t she helping me?
A child’s scream pierces the air a few feet ahead of me. I don’t hesitate. I don’t think. I just run, fear coursing through me. Please let me get to them before either of them are hurt—or worse—killed.
An agonizing scream slams into me and my eyes begin to sting with tears. The animalistic wail coming from Mr. Morgan sounds like a wolf caught in a trap.
“Daddy! Put him down!” Abby’s hysterical shrieks cause my heart to rattle with panic. They’re going to kill her father right in front of her. I can’t let that happen.
My foot catches something and I fall, sliding across the road. My hands sting with pain as they scrape across the gravel. I turn to look at what I’ve tripped over and see Mr. Morgan lying face up. A trickle of blood runs from his mouth.
“No!”
I scramble toward his limp body, tears flooding my eyes.
Abby sits by his side grasping his hand, wailing incoherently. Did she have to witness this?
A shriek pierces the air. I pull Abby under one arm while throwing myself across Mr. Morgan to shield him. The jagged nails of an unbound Redeemer scrape my back. My shirt rips and blood oozes from the fresh wounds.
I take a chance and let go of Abby, reaching out to grab hold of the creature’s misty body, sighing in satisfaction as it shrieks and erupts into ash.
I sit up just in time to see another unbound soul flying toward me. Razored teeth and tattered flesh fill my vision as the thing screams, descending upon us. I open my mouth and scream as well, releasing the rage coursing through me.
A burst of energy flies out like a powerful bird, wrapping its wings around the three of us in a protective circle. The Redeemer hits the invisible wall and immediately turns to ash. There’s another shriek from behind me, and I turn to see another creature disintegrate.
Keep coming, bitches. I can sit here and do this all night. This is easy.
A high-pitched ringing comes from outside my protective bubble. At first the sound is barely audible, but soon the bubble begins to vibrate, and my head fills with needles. The bubble begins to weaken as I struggle against the pain. I can fight this. I have to fight this.
My resolve weakens as a sultry woman’s voice fills my mind. It’s deep, commanding and unfamiliar, yet something about it feels like home.
“Their savior has arrived, yet it appears she’s not as powerful as they thought she would be.”
The pain in my head begins to subside, and I feel as though I’m floating. It’s like I’m high, but without taking the Klonopin. The tingling starts in my toes then travels up my legs, through my chest and down my arms. The pain in my head eases, and the ever-present tingling of my power stutters like it’s about to power off.
Fight it, Cait. Fight it.
My mother’s voice floats across the air, settling in my skull. Is it her causing this euphoric feeling? If so, I never want it to end. I’ve never felt this good before.
“Join us,” the sultry voice commands. “Revoke the tainted blood that runs through you and embrace your true calling. With you on our side, we’ll be even more powerful. The world will be ours.”
A bright, blue light illuminates the fog. The disembodied voice seems to have drifted closer to me, yet I still can’t see anyone or anything. I force my eyes all the way open, and do my best to focus even though all I want to do is sleep.
“Join me now and I will set your brother free. I will let your friends go. Bring me your power. Let us join forces, my child. We will rule the world.”
I want to agree. I feel myself start to nod and open my mouth to speak, but the words won’t come. Something doesn’t seem right with this. For some reason I know I need to fight the voice—fight her—but why?
“I can take away this pain forever. Let go of the lesser power inside of you and fully embrace my blood.”
Who are you? I mean to say the words aloud, but something seems to be holding me back.
Don’t listen to her, Cait. Open your eyes. Push through. Do not let her strip you of who you are. Pull on your power. Pull it forward. Unleash it.
I open my eyes, forcing myself to focus on my surroundings. I glance down and realize that somehow I’m floating above the ground. The last time this happened it felt like I had invisible wings, but now I’m just floating. My eyes focus on a shape below me, and I see Mr. Morgan’s bloodied face peering up at me. That’s when reality sets back in and the pain returns. They killed Mr. Morgan. They took Mitch. Just like they took Erin and Chas. I have to save those I love. I have to stop the Redeemers.
“Do not fight me, girl. Join me, or I will kill them all.”
The power within me sparks back to life and erupts. I begin to drop, and I brace myself for the impact, but somehow I manage to float softly to my feet.
“I don’t know who you are,” I say to the mist swirling around me, “but I will not join you.”
A horrible shriek fills the air and I look down to see Mr. Morgan’s body twitch. I drop to my knees and grab one of his hands, placing a thumb and forefinger on his wrist. He’s alive. He’s not dead, just unconscious. I slap his face to wake him, and when his eyes flutter open I stand, pulling him to his feet. I have to get him out of here.
The mist swirls around us as I wrap Mr. Morgan’s arm around my shoulders. The library isn’t that far away—I don’t think. I have to get back there.
I focus on my power, doing my best to keep it intact as I stumble down the gravel road, Mr. Morgan’s body propped against me, Abby clinging to my waist. I can feel my power weakening against the Redeemers throwing themselves at us. I have no idea where I’m going.
“I could kill you now,” the disembodied voice says. “Leave the man and child and join me.”
I ignore her, pushing forward. I’m weak. I can’t fight them off and hold Mr. Morgan up at the same time.
“Abby, I need your help, sweetie,” I gasp, buckling under the weight of Mr. Morgan. “Help me with your dad.”
Before she can help, I fall to the ground, my power spent. The air vibrates with the wretched energy of the unbound souls. I try to shift my body from under the weight of Mr. Morgan. He struggles to sit up, grabbing his head.
“Daddy? Come on. Let’s go.” Abby says, reaching for both her father and me to help us up. No sooner has she extended her hands than two Redeemers swoop in and whisk her up into the sky and out of reach.
“No!” Mr. Morgan leaps to his feet, but she’s gone in the blink of an eye.
I force myself to stand, grabbing Mr. Morgan around the waist, yanking him toward the library.
He pulls away from me, tears streaming down his face. “My baby! You can’t have my baby girl!” I grab him, but he brushes me off, screaming for Abby the entire time.
“Mr. Morgan. Come with me. Please. They’ll kill you.”
No sooner have the words left my mouth than three Redeemers swoop in, descending on Mr. Morgan. One of them sinks their teeth into his neck, severing the carotid artery. Blood sprays from the wound as a second creature swipes at his stomach with its claws, tearing him in two while the third takes a bite out of his leg.
I can’t speak. I can’t move. I can’t look away.
That did not just happen.
“That is just a preview of what I will have them do to your brother and friends. You will join me, girl.”
A fierce wind swirls around me, picking me up off my feet and slamming me into the ground.
“Deal with her,” the voice says before another burst of wind brushes over me. Almost immediately the eerie stillness surrounds me again, leaving no indication that anything had happened.
“Get up. Now!”
Nana’s furious voice startles me and I sit up, running a hand over my head. I notice that Mr. Morgan’s body, or what is left of it, is nowhere to be found. The air is still, the fog dense yet quiet.
“You have thirty seconds to scoot your insubordinate little ass into that library before I do to you what they did to Mr. Morgan, do you hear me?”
Okay, this is obviously not the time or place to question her. She grabs me by the arm and practically drags me into the library and down the steps to the tunnels. When she opens the door, Miss Simmons stands waiting, torch in hand, her face filled with concern.
“Take this idiot child home.”
“What happened?” Miss Simmons asks as Nana pushes me out the door.
“She decided to play hero and tried to save tonight’s offering, putting all of us in jeopardy. My plan has been compromised because of it. I have to go deal with this. Get her home. Tie her up with barbed wire if you have to, just make sure that she does not leave her house.”
“I’m sorry,” I mutter, unable to look at Nana.
“Do not speak to me,” she spits. “We could all be as good as dead now because of you.”
With that, she turns and disappears into the library, closing the door behind her.
I follow Miss Simmons down the dank tunnels, my mind swimming with what I’d just witnessed. I can’t get the image of Mr. Morgan being ripped to shreds out of my mind. Thank God Abby hadn’t witnessed that.
Even more disturbing was the disembodied voice of the woman. Her power was overwhelming, yet comforting. Something inside me was drawn to her—wanted to join her. Who was she?
“Malahas,” Miss Simmons says, stopping in front of me.
“What?”
“That was Malahas, or at least, the essence of her. She never leaves the mountain without a corporeal form, and she hasn’t had one of those in years.”
“So, then how did she—”
“She’s a part of them—us. The unbound souls are closest to her. Kind of. They’re like her vessel. They are attached to her. She feeds from the sacrifices and then whatever is left when she is done is bound to her. She basically eats their souls, and then … ”
Her voice trails off, and I can tell by the look on her face she’s trying to figure out how to phrase what she needs to say.
“So, the Redeemers are kind of like floating shit? She feeds on kids every few years and basically sucks their souls from their bodies, taking all the good, nutritious stuff from them and leaves the bad stuff to become clawed, fanged shit-bags of fog?”
“That’s one way of putting it,” she says, a smile toying at her lips.
“And Highland Falls is both her buffet and her toilet. Nice. No wonder I hate this town so much. Doesn’t she get tired of eating the same families all the time?”
“It’s much more complicated than that. Yes, most of the families who reside here have lived here for centuries, but they bring in new people now and then to mix things up.”
She pulls open the door to our basem
ent and indicates I should step inside.
“I can take it from here,” I say when I hear her step in behind me. “I’m going straight to bed.”
“No can do. Sorry. When your grandmother gives directions, I have to follow them. Besides, she’ll reach into my mind and see exactly what transpired. She’ll know if I don’t assure you are secured before I leave.”
I start to protest, but stop when I realize if Nana really can look into her mind and see what happened, I’ll probably be in even more trouble if I fight.
“Why don’t you lose the torch so you don’t set the entire house on fire?” I suggest as I walk up the stairs and into the kitchen.
I go up to my room, Miss Simmons directly behind me. I kick off my shoes and then turn to face her.
“Are you seriously going to watch me get undressed?”
She shrugs and walks over to my desk where the two candles immediately ignite. She picks up one of the pictures of my mom and me and smiles.
“That’s my mom.”
“I know,” she says without looking at me.
I remove my shirt, wincing as I peel it off of the scratches on my back. “I would so love a hot bath right now.”
“I can arrange that,” she says.
The sweet sound of running water comes from my bathroom, and my entire body sighs in anticipation.
“I probably shouldn’t, but I don’t see the harm in it. I’ll wait downstairs.”
Several glorious minutes later, I walk downstairs, freshly scrubbed and feeling better than I have in days. I step into the living room expecting to see Miss Simmons, but instead, I find Nana crouched in front of the fireplace. I shrink back, hoping to duck upstairs before she sees me, but I’m not so lucky.
“Stay,” she says. I should have known better than to try to escape.
I make my way to the sofa and take a seat, avoiding her cold stare.
“I need you to understand that your brother’s life, as well as the lives of your friends, all depend on you. If you can’t quit acting so impulsively, they will die and it will be your fault. Do you want that?”
Fingers in the Mist Page 19
