Whispers From the Dead

by B. L. Brunnemer

  Our plan to keep our eyes on them had pretty much gone to hell right then. We’d searched the parks Sophie loved, the places the twins’ liked to go to hide out. Even started calling their friends. We had nothing.

  “Have you found them?” Miles answered his phone.

  “No. We’ve looked everywhere!” Zeke barked at the speaker phone.

  “What about the quarry?” Miles asked.

  “Shit, I forgot about that one. We’re right by there.” I said as Zeke immediately took the road on the right that would run by the quarry.

  “They have to be there,” Miles stated.

  “We’re on it,” I said before hanging up.

  Zeke sped the jeep up the gravel road, I held on to the oh shit handle for dear life.

  I can’t believe we forgot the quarry. It was Sophie’s favorite swimming spot. Zeke kept straight at the fork, speeding down the gravel path that would bring us out inside the old abandoned quarry. The deep pit had filled with water years ago and it was the only place to swim if you wanted to jump from heights. Sophie had loved it.

  When we pulled out of the tree line, the twins’ sedan was parked off to the side. Ethan and Isaac were at the water’s edge. Isaac sitting in the dirt while Ethan threw rocks into the water.

  We skidded to a stop, blocking their car in. We were both out in seconds and moving toward them, my heart pounding.

  Isaac got to his feet as we came closer. Ethan turned and swung. I staggered from the blow, tasted blood. Isaac went after Zeke. Ethan tried to tackle me, I took him with me to the ground. I rolled him off me and gave him a small jab to his face. Chaos ensued in blood, knuckles, and cursing.

  I focused on pulling my punches while Ethan focused on trying to hurt me as much as he could. I don’t know how long we went on like that. I just remember tearing into each other.

  A loud car horn echoed through the quarry, bouncing off the stone. I instantly covered my ears cursing; the sound was like an ice pick being driven into my ear. We broke apart and turned.

  Miles was at his car which he parked across the road, cutting us all off from the exit.

  “ENOUGH!” He shouted. Zeke let Isaac out of his head lock and wiped the blood off his face. Miles strode towards us. “Are you guys done?” Miles demanded in his ice-cold voice. We all nodded. I took stock. Several places hurt, but nothing felt broken. It didn’t look like anyone else had broken anything either. But Miles wasn’t done. “Because Sophie needs us right now, and you guys are acting like idiots.”

  Ethan glared at Miles. “Don’t fucking talk to me about what she needs! You should have told us!” Ethan shouted. Isaac walked away to stare at the water. Miles moved through the group to his side.

  “What would have happened if we told you in December?” Miles asked pointedly. Ethan opened his mouth to answer, Miles didn’t let him. “Nothing. The Way was still closed. And Lexie hadn’t even managed the link to the Veil yet. What could we have done? Let you two torture yourselves until she could cross?”

  “She could have worked harder to get the link open!” Ethan shouted. Fury burned through me. All the torture, all the pain that Ally went through for Sophie and he…

  I clocked him across the jaw with a right hook. Then I went after him. Arms grabbed me and pulled me back.

  “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about!” I snapped, straining against Zeke’s hold. “She practically killed herself for her!” Zeke stopped pulling me back as Isaac turned and joined us. Ethan stood up and wiped his nose as he eyed me.

  “What are you fucking talking about?” Ethan growled.

  “Lexie! In December, she practically killed herself to reach the Veil,” Zeke shot at Ethan. “Or don’t you remember her being so sick she didn’t realize she walked in the snow to the cemetery?”

  Ethan grew still.

  “That was for Sophie,” I bit out. Zeke let me go. I stepped away from him, still seething. “She stayed with me that week. I saw what she went through. The nightmares she kept having so she could cross Sophie when she was ready.”

  “What nightmares?” Isaac asked, his voice thick. Everyone looked at me expectantly, moving into a circle.

  She didn’t….? I sighed. Of course, she didn’t tell them.

  “Remember the serial killer’s memories? The ones that she had?” I asked. They all nodded. “While she was at my house. She could either work on the link to the Veil or get rid of them. But not both.” I met Ethan’s eyes. “Guess which one she chose?” Silence swept through the circle. “She’d wake up, thinking she was the one killing and… hurting those women.”

  Zeke turned away and took a few steps off, his hand running down his face. Isaac ran his hands through his hair, his fingers digging into his scalp.

  “How bad was it?” Miles asked.

  “Bad enough that she forgot who she was almost every night,” I explained. “I had to tell her she wasn’t the one doing those things. Some nights it took a couple hours to bring her back.”

  Everyone cursed. Ethan started twirling his rings, Miles started tapping a staccato rhythm against his leg.

  Zeke turned back to the group. “She didn’t tell us about the nightmares.” Zeke caught Miles gaze. “Why didn’t she say anything?” Zeke looked at me. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  I sighed. Because I liked knowing something about her that you guys didn’t. I couldn’t tell them the truth, not right now.

  “I thought she would,” I lied.

  “So, Lexie went through a great deal more than we were aware of,” Miles summed up, his voice cold.

  I nodded. “Yeah.” I turned to Ethan. “So, don’t ever fucking say she could have done more. She went through hell already for Sophie.” Isaac turned his back, walked to the edge of the water and sat down again. He was still and quiet. That was never a good sign.

  “Tell her to cross Sophie, now,” Ethan said, his gaze on the ground.

  “It’s not that easy. She was pulled back here, by you,” Miles explained. Ethan cursed. Isaac was still as a statue as Miles continued. “You have to deal with this, Ethan. She’s not going to go be able to leave until you do. And she wants to go. She’s ready.”

  The quarry was silent as Ethan turned away from the group and went back to his brother. He sat down next to Isaac. Without a word, the twins turned away from each other and rested against the others back. It was what they did when either of them was upset. Ever since we were kids, one would find the other and they’d sit that way.

  My own heart heavy, I moved to Ethan’s right and sat down in the dirt next to him. Miles sat next to Isaac’s left. Zeke sat behind the twins.

  We watched the water with them. If they thought we’d leave, they were wrong. We weren’t going anywhere. Not as long as they needed us.

  Lexie

  The drive to Northridge was a blur. I barely remember parking the car or climbing the steps. When I walked into the store I didn’t wait for her. I strode through the curtain at the back and found her in the kitchen. Two steaming cups of tea were already on the table. Serena put the kettle down then turned to me, her silver eyes assessing.

  Serena was pretty woman with mocha skin and a lovely face. Her tight curls were pulled back into a bun at the back of her head.

  “I felt you coming ten miles out,” She said calmly. “You’re hurting.”

  “No shit,” I growled. “What can pull a ghost back after they crossed?”

  Serena gave me a serene smile. “Why do you-”

  “Because I just had to tell two of my best friends that their dead little sister is in their house,” I snapped. “And she says one of them keeps pulling her back. Now, what can do that?”

  Serena leaned back in her chair. “It depends on the situation-”

  “Give me a list Serena,” I bit out. Serena’s eyes flashed mercury at me and I didn’t give a damn.

  “You’re in a lot of pain, so I’m going to give you some slack.” Her voice turned heated. “Don’t hang yours
elf with it.”

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I need answers, not the run around,” I told her. “You owe me.”

  Her eyes narrowed at me. “For what?”

  “Mary Summers,” I reminded her. “You held back information that could have saved her.”

  She was quiet for several heart beats. “Are you calling in that debt?” she asked in an oddly formal way.

  “Yes,” I all but hissed, my temper still boiling inside me.

  “What do you want?” Serena asked in a neutral voice.

  “I want the truth, not the run around. Nothing held back, all of it,” I told her. She sighed as she looked over my shoulder.

  When she met my eyes again, they were all business. “Just for today. Agreed?”

  “Fine.” I sat down across from her. “Now, what can call someone back after they have crossed?”

  “Danger to a loved one, a family member holding on too tightly or as a messenger. Or even the soul watching over a family member,” Serena stated simply. I was almost shocked that I had gotten a straight answer from her.

  “And I’m thinking I can’t cross her until whoever is holding her here lets go?” I leaned back in my chair, my anger fading from me leaving only a deep ache in my chest.

  “Correct.” She nodded. I moved on to my next question.

  “There’s no other way?” I demanded.

  “Not unless you want to unmake her,” she countered. I moved on.

  “Why didn’t you help back in October?” I asked, my voice turning raspy. I swallowed trying to fix it without drinking the tea Serena set out.

  She sighed. “I had just met you. Magic is an extremely powerful force. I didn’t know you well enough to give it to you.”

  “Why won’t you give me the second book?”

  “Because I haven’t seen your control, I haven’t seen how you work. I’m not about to just hand you what the Witches Council has been protecting for centuries and hope that you can handle it.”

  “Hmm. Good point,” I said sarcastically. “Except, I don’t work in the physical world. I work in the Veil. And I need to know more.”

  “I’m sure you think you’ve got it down-”

  “I made an alarm within the Veil itself this week, anything crosses into it and I’ll know,” I stated. She blinked. Then I added. “Just the other morning I crossed a rotting ghost. You know the kind, like Mary Summers.” Her face went white. I held up my forearms for her to see the scratches. “He fought the entire way, but once he hit the Veil the extra energy was taken from him and he was himself again.” She lifted her mug and sipped her tea. “I can conjure anything I picture in the Veil. Now tell me again, that I don’t have the control for the next steps.”

  Serena met my eyes. “I’ll have to talk to the Witches Council. They’ll want a meeting before they hand over the next book from the archives.”

  I scoffed, “So, you don’t even have the information I need.”

  Her eyes narrowed on me. “You need to step lightly. The guardians of this world have pulled back, the Witches Council policies for magic users are law now. You’re going to have to follow their rules.” I grew still. That sounded like a threat.

  “You said that before. You also said that Necromancy is a road that doesn’t end well.” I met her eyes. “Care to explain all of that?”

  “This world's guardians kept the balance. Though, for the last four hundred years their numbers have dropped, so 200 hundred years ago they had to pull back. A Witches Council was formed. A deal was struck recently that allows Witches to police all Witches and magic users without them looking over our shoulders,” Serena explained. “Our rules are simple. Harm none.”

  “And about Necromancy being a road that doesn’t end well?” I reminded her. She wasn’t going to slither out of this one.

  She sighed. "Our records over the two hundred years show that Necromancers, more than any other kind of magic user, go rogue."

  "Rogue?" I asked, my voice dead. Serena met my gaze.

  "Bad enough to have to be dealt with,” Serena said nonchalantly. My stomach knotted.

  "They kill Necromancers?" I asked bluntly because I needed the truth.

  "Only when they've crossed lines that should never be crossed,” Serena explained.

  “And who decides where the lines are?” I snapped back.

  “The Council.”

  “And what’s your version of rogue?” I asked, my temper spiking. “Is it one mistake? Two?”

  Serena held my gaze as she answered. “Once a Necromancer raises the dead, they usually have to be dealt with.”

  “Why?” I asked directly.

  “Because your abilities come from death. You’re attracted to it, you live in it. You are surrounded by it.” Serena leaned forward. “And it will twist you until you aren’t you anymore. Once you raise the dead, you’ll change.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. This was… just… too much today. I eyed her. “Is one of the reasons you won’t give me book two because you think I’ll use it to work in the physical world?”

  Serena’s eyes didn’t move from mine. “Yes.” I nodded. Great. Prejudice among magic users. Figures.

  “Now, the big question,” I said. “Can I trust you?”

  She blinked then met my gaze again. “Depends.”

  “On?”

  “If you raise the dead or not,” she said matter of factly. I had my answer.

  “I’m trying to save the Veil here, I have bigger concerns.” I got up and headed for the curtain.

  “If you can already do everything from the book in the Veil,” Serena began. I stopped at the curtain, “your abilities are strong and growing rapidly. By my guess, it won’t be long before you’re raising the dead from their graves.” Her voice was cold with an edge to it.

  I pushed the curtain aside and walked away from her threat. Because that’s what it was. If I raised the dead, the Witches Council would come for me. Shit.

  * * *

  By the time I got home it was almost dark. I cursed as I looked at the house. The shadows crossing the lawn, the tall bushes hiding who knows what. I closed my eyes and told myself to nut up. I climbed out and walked up to the door with shaking hands. I went inside quickly. I took several deep breaths as I tried to get my calm back. Rory spotted me from the kitchen.

  “Hey, Kid, how was your day?” he asked.

  “Terrible bordering on catastrophic,” I told him as I walked to the table and dropped into a chair.

  Rory turned off the stove and came over with a dish towel over his shoulder. “What happened?”

  I looked up at him, tears filling my eyes. “I had to tell the twins about Sophie today.”

  He cursed as he pulled out a chair and sat next to me. “Tell me what happened.”

  I did. I told him everything. Then I told him about my meeting with Serena, leaving out the Witches Council and her death threat. Rory wouldn’t take well to that.

  “So, there’s nothing you can do if Ethan keeps holding on?” he asked, his eyes worried.

  “Nope. Not a damn thing,” I admitted quietly as I looked down at the table. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze.

  “It’s going to be okay, Kid,” he said gently. “They just need to get over the shock and process everything. Then they’ll be able to deal with it.” I nodded, hoping that he was right.

  “I should have told them when I found out,” I muttered.

  “No, that wouldn’t have made it any better,” he assured me. “Sometimes not telling someone something important is for that person's own good.”

  “Like Tara?” I asked before I could think. He sighed. I turned to him. “Sorry, it just popped out.”

  “Yeah, like Tara,” he said. “It’s obvious she’s not mine biologically, but she is my daughter in every way that counts.” I left it at that. It was his story, he could tell who he wanted to. He met my eyes again. “The point is, it would have hurt those boys mo
re if they knew their sister was there and they couldn’t do anything about it.” I knew he was right.

  “It just sucks,” I muttered.

  “I know, Kid.” He gave me another squeeze.

  I looked up at him. “Want help with dinner?”

  He grinned. “Sure. Come on.”

  I followed him into the kitchen to find him trying to bake chicken and make the fixings. Only he was way off on the potatoes and the green beans were already burnt. I showed him what to do and soon we had an edible meal.

  Tara came in just as we were sitting down. She dropped her bag and joined us. Over dinner she kept shooting me smug, knowing looks. I ignored it because I had enough to deal with already without her adding her own crap to the mix.

  “I heard a rumor today,” Tara announced. I took a bite of my chicken and ignored her.

  “What rumor?” Rory asked before taking a bite of mashed potatoes.

  Tara looked at me smiling smugly. “That Lexie is sleeping with Asher Westfall,” she announced.

  I rolled my eyes and went back to my dinner. The silence grew thick around the table.

  “Lexie, anything you want to say about that?” Rory asked calmly. I looked up from my plate to find his face blank.

  “It’s not true,” I told him simply. “I’m not dating anyone and I’m not looking to right now.” Rory seemed to believe me since he went back to his meal. Tara on the other hand….

  “Oh please, Jessica Westfall saw you coming out of his room early in the morning in nothing but one of Asher’s shirts.”

  I shrugged. “I went over to talk to Asher early in the morning, and I was fully dressed in my own clothes. The same way I arrived, thank you.”

  “Why’d you go over so early?” Rory asked.

  “I was having a panic attack and couldn’t remember how to make breakfast,” I muttered as I started poking at my food with my fork.

  “Which is how you ended up at Asher’s,” Rory finished for me. I nodded.

  “How could you not remember how to make breakfast?” Tara asked.