by Val Crowe
He was toying with us. If he hoped to get us lost, he had succeeded. We didn’t know which way was the river or which way was the campground. We just kept running.
We were tired. Our muscles screamed at us. We hadn’t slept properly and we had been running the day before. Today had been a long draining day, and we’d done our fair share of walking already. We were out of breath. Sweat flooded our foreheads and faces. It traveled in rivulets down my shirt and back and into the crack of my ass, and I felt like death.
I wanted to stop running, but to stop was to die. And I wanted to live.
The sun went down, and we were trapped in the dark woods.
Macon flickered out from behind us.
We paused for a moment, waiting for him to reappear. We waited. And waited. And waited.
* * *
Eventually, we sat down. It was the longest we’d gone without seeing him in a long time. Maybe he’d been herding us through the woods to some special place where he would capture us, tie us up, and then use the knife to perform vivisections on one of us while the other watched.
I was so tired that I wasn’t sure I cared.
Rylan had lost her pack, and with it the stale chips.
I had some crackers in my pack, also stale. There wasn’t nearly enough water. We shared what I had.
And then we both fell asleep.
It was stupid, and we knew it, but we couldn’t keep our eyes open. As I drifted off, I wonder where the hell Dominique was. Why had she run off in another direction? Was she alive? If we had stayed with her, would we have been protected by her ghost friend? Where was Mads?
There were no answers in my sleep.
No dreams either.
Just an opening into sweet darkness. I tumbled inside, and I knew no more.
I awoke to a scream.
CHAPTER TWENTY
I sat up straight. The woods were dark. It was the middle of the night, late. I could tell because of how quiet it was save the scream.
It came again.
Rylan?
But no, Rylan was next to me, sitting up straight as well.
I got to my feet and started to move through the darkness in the direction of the scream.
“Where are you going?” said Rylan in a harsh whisper.
I opened my mouth to answer, but nothing came out. I guessed I’d been thinking that I would go to help out, but that was clearly stupid. What could I do? I was pointless against Macon. I assumed the scream was coming from Dominique, but it could have been a trap. It could have been some noise that Macon was using to lure me away from Rylan.
No, Rylan was right. It was probably best to stay put.
I started to sit down, but Rylan stood up next to me.
“We should be ready to go, though,” she said. “In case something’s going down.”
That made sense too.
We stood together, waiting in the darkness. We waited for the scream to come again.
Nothing.
And then, a noise. But not a scream. Instead, it was the sound of something coming through the underbrush, moving everything away. At first, I thought it might be an animal, like a deer or something, because I could hear the noises coming closer, but I didn’t see anything standing up. It was probably something moving low to the ground.
And then Dominique burst out from between two trees. She was bent over, practically crawling through the woods. Her face was scratched and bleeding, and there was sweat running down her face, cutting through the grime that was stuck to her skin. She looked awful.
She saw us, and she ran to us, looking relieved. “Deacon!” she gasped.
But Macon was right behind her. He came through the same two trees. Well, his knife came first, grasped in his hand. He was slashing out in all directions, leading with the knife, and coming behind in that way of his—the measured, even pace as if he wasn’t the least bit worried about catching us.
And hell, thus far, he had caught everyone.
“Run,” yelled Rylan, taking off without waiting to see if I was coming.
I hesitated, waiting for Dominique.
She tripped over the root of a tree and fell down, face first. Her chin glanced painfully against a stone on the ground. She cried out. Her chin started to bleed.
I hurried toward her to help her to her feet.
Macon was coming for us. He took long strides, and he was closing the distance between us and him with every passing second.
I reached down for Dominique.
She grasped my hand, but not well.
When I tugged at her, her hand slid out of mine.
Macon was closer still.
Dominique let out another scream. She scrabbled for my hand again, almost blindly. She was panicked.
I seized her wrist, wrapping my hand tight around her, and I hauled her to her feet.
Macon was practically on top of us. He slashed with his knife, and the blade went through the fabric of Dominique’s shirt.
Dominique screamed again.
I pulled her back, my body between her and Macon.
Macon grinned at me, gesturing with his knife.
And out of the corner of my eye, I saw something strange but horribly familiar. It was a blackish green floating liquid, and it was streaming through the air. I was pretty sure that it was one of those things that only I could see. I had seen it before when Negus had taken possession of my mother and later when the spirits of Point Oakes had done the same.
Now, this liquid was heading straight for Rylan, who was probably ten feet ahead of us.
Macon punched the knife through the air.
I let out a strangled noise, moving backward and barely avoiding his knife.
The liquid was on Rylan’s face. It was seeping into her eyes and nostrils and mouth. She had her head thrown back, and her limbs were splayed out and she didn’t look good.
Macon slashed diagonally.
His knife cut into my shirt, breaking the skin of my chest and stomach. I yelled.
Rylan was on her knees, coughing. Then her head snapped up. It moved too quickly, wrong somehow, as if she’d been invaded by a bird of prey. She bared her teeth at Macon.
Macon didn’t seem to notice. He was pressing his advantage, advancing on me.
“Hey,” I said to him, “you kill me, you can’t suck out my energy. Just think about that, huh?”
Rylan sprang forward like a jaguar. She soared through the air and collided with Macon.
Macon’s eyes widened in surprise, and then he seemed to shatter, going to pieces that scattered out into the air and then dissipated in wisps of black smoke.
Rylan had landed on her hands and knees, and now she stood up with a kind of awful poise. Her head ticked around to survey Dominique and me, her movements jerky. She raked her own nails over the skin of her face, drawing blood.
What the hell was inside her?
Rylan eyed me, and a grin split her face—a terrible grin because it seemed too large for her cheeks. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the little shit, after all these years.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I choked. “Negus?”
Rylan laughed, sounding delighted. “Oh, someone’s done his homework.” She closed the distance between us and she reached out her fingers for me. Somehow, her fingers managed to look spindly and unnatural.
I shied away from them. “How did you find me?”
“I’m here for her.” Rylan pointed at Dominique.
Dominique licked her lips.
“I came when you called, peanut,” Rylan said, her voice a rasp.
“You’re my… my friend,” said Dominique.
“Wait, what?” I turned to her sharply. “Negus is the one who protects you?” Of course, I had to admit that it made a certain amount of sense. After all, the way my mother had described it, Negus had spent hours lovingly staring at the pictures of Dominique. Maybe that was because he cared about her and wanted to keep her safe. Maybe he hadn’t meant her harm after a
ll.
“It’s funny, Deacon, because I’ve been looking for you for so long,” said Negus, “and now, here you are, practically gift wrapped.”
I pointed at Negus. “You get out of my friend. Get out of Rylan.”
Negus giggled, still grinning that terrible grin. He was sarcastic. “Oh, that’s going to work, Deacon. Yes, I’ll do exactly that.” He started for me, reaching out his hand.
I backed away.
“Hold still,” said Negus.
“Yeah, I don’t think so,” I said. “You want to kill me.”
Negus shrugged. “It’s nothing personal. I want your power. If there was a way to drain it and leave you alive, I’d do that. But I can’t, so you have to die.”
“You want to kill him?” Dominique’s voice was a squeak. “But you helped me before.”
“Of course I helped you,” said Negus.
“So, why would you want to kill him?”
“He’s powerful,” said Negus.
“Why?” I said. “Why am I powerful?”
“I don’t know,” said Negus. “You simply are. And I need your power.” He turned to Dominique. “It’s for you, peanut.”
“For me?”
“I could have explained this to you before, that time when I took you, when you were just a small girl. But I thought it would only confuse you.” He cocked his head to one side. “You’re older now. You could handle the truth now.”
“What truth?” Dominique swallowed.
Since the two of them were talking about something, I decided to get my body behind Dominique’s. She was my shield. Negus wanted to protect her, so I should be safe with her between us. It was cowardly, but I didn’t care.
Negus looked down at Rylan’s arms. “I could use this body, I suppose.” He eyed Dominique. “It’s really up to you, peanut. How weird would it be for you to explain that your father is in a woman’s body?”
“My what?” said Dominique.
“Yes,” whispered Negus. “Yes, it’s true.”
“But my father… what he did to my mother…” Dominique started to shake all over. “What are you?”
“I have my own unique powers,” said Negus. “And one of them enabled me to create you. By accident, I assure you.”
“By accident?” There was fury in Dominique’s voice. “You did what you did on purpose.”
“But I didn’t do it in order to create a child,” said Negus. “After I found out about you, though… it changed me.” He gave her a smile that could almost be termed soft. “I never knew I could care so much for another being. I love you, Dominique.”
“Stop,” said Dominique.
“And the piece of me that is in you has made you terribly vulnerable. You attract things that try to hurt you. I’m sure you’ve noticed.”
Dominique didn’t answer. She was still shaking.
“I’m sorry for that,” said Negus. “I’ve done my best to protect you over the years, but I’ve never been able to truly protect you, not the way that I could when I was with you in a corporeal body. Those months we had together, you were the safest you’ve ever been. But you saw what happened. It didn’t work. I burned through the vessel eventually. There’s only one way that I could have the power to keep a vessel together forever. And that’s to take Deacon’s power.” He pointed at me.
“That’s what you want me for?” I said.
“To protect my daughter, I would do anything,” said Negus.
“No,” said Dominique. “I don’t want your help.”
“And yet, I have to help you,” said Negus. “It is the most important thing that I will ever do. I’m going to use his power to make you safe. I will kill him for you.”
“You’re not going to kill him,” said Dominique through clenched teeth.
Suddenly, I remembered the box. It was in my backpack. I slung it off my shoulder, unzipped it, and reached inside, feeling around until I found the box. I opened it, holding it out at Negus.
Negus cocked his head to one side, looking curious.
“Get in,” I said. “Get in the box.”
Negus smirked. “Are you serious, boy?” He reached out and knocked the thing out of my hands.
It tumbled end over end on the forest floor, and I chased it until it came to rest. Then I picked it up and turned around.
Negus was right there. He put a hand on my forehead.
The sensation of being drained was back, everything going blurry, my essence coming out of all of my orifices. This time, it was intense. More intense than I thought I’d ever experienced. It hurt. It made my heart feel as if it was about to explode.
And then it stopped.
Dominique had dragged Negus off of me. “No! No!” she was screaming.
She let go of Negus and ran to me. She took my hand and dragged me along with her, and we were running, leaving Negus behind.
* * *
Dominique wanted us to run, but I couldn’t keep up. My limbs wouldn’t work. I was weak. Everything hurt. She literally dragged me for a while. I couldn’t even move my legs or hold myself up.
But eventually, she dropped me. She wheezed.
“Sorry,” I muttered. “I can’t move.” I looked around as best I could. My neck didn’t much want to cooperate. “Where’s Negus? Isn’t he following us?”
“I don’t see him,” said Dominique. “Or… I don’t see Rylan. It’s all very confusing.”
“He’s got to be able to find us anywhere he wants, right? He’s connected to you. That’s why he came when you called for him.”
Dominique shook her head, still struggling to catch her breath. “I don’t think it’s like that. He would have followed us if he could, but he doesn’t have good use of the vessel yet. I remember it took him a long time to be able to make the woman that he possessed when I was a little girl do complicated things like run.”
“Okay,” I said. “That’s true.” I had witnessed the same thing with my mother. Also, I’d been possessed once, and the entity in control of me had been clumsy.
“He will find us, though,” said Dominique. “You’re right about that.”
“I have to get him out of Rylan,” I said.
“What is he?” Dominique sank both of her hands into her hair. “Is he a demon?”
“I don’t know,’ I said.
“He possesses people. That makes him a demon, doesn’t it?”
“I… I’m not sure it works like that.”
“So, I’m a demon’s daughter,” said Dominique. “I’m evil.”
“You’re not evil,” I said.
“You practically called me evil before,” she said.
“Well, I didn’t understand then,” I said. Now, I did. It was worse than I’d imagined. If Negus was driven to do what he was doing out of love for his daughter, then he would truly never stop. I was going to have to kill him. Or find a way to force him into that box. And I didn’t know how to do either of those things. I needed Mads.
“Are you the son of a demon?” said Dominique. “Is that why you’re so powerful?”
I had been about to call out for Mads, but now I stopped, because Dominique’s words had taken me by surprise. “I don’t… No. I don’t think so. I mean, I never met my dad, but he died, like any regular guy would, so I guess he wasn’t a demon.”
“Okay,” she said.
“What about your dad?”
“Negus is my dad,” she said.
“No, I know, but your mother couldn’t have told you that a spirit was your father. Did he possess a guy or…?” If he had possessed someone, then maybe my father had been possessed too. I didn’t know what to make of that.
“I don’t know how it happened,” said Dominique. “My mother never really talked about my father when I was a little girl. When I tried to bring it up, she shut me down.”
“Oh,” I said. Well, if her mother didn’t want to talk about it, it was probably because it was sunshine and rainbows, yeah?
“She’s still never rea
lly given me all the details,” said Dominique. “But I’ve pieced things together. She was raped.”
I flinched. “I’m sorry,” I said softly.
“She was at a hotel for a conference for work. He took her back to her hotel room, and then he left when he was done. She never knew anything about him. The name he gave her? There was no one staying in that hotel under that name.”
“Jesus,” I breathed.
“I have always hated the man that did that my mother,” said Dominique. “I’ve always thought that if I found that man, I would kill him myself, or that maybe I’d sick a few ghosts on him, you know?” She gave me a grim smile.
I nodded. “Yeah, I get that.”
She looked away. “And now, I find out that the entity that I thought was my friend, the one that’s been protecting me all this time, it’s him? Well, I don’t need his protection.”
“I get that,” I said again. I licked my lips. “Mads?” I didn’t call out too loud, because I didn’t want to alert anything in the woods to our location—either Negus or Macon. I mean, it would be great if Macon had shattered and would never appear again, but I wasn’t sure that we were going to be that lucky.
“I’ll never let him near me again,” said Dominique. “I don’t know how to stop him, but I will.”
“Mads,” I said again, more loudly.
“What are you doing?” said Dominique.
“You saw her before,” I said. “My ghost friend.”
“Oh, right, the one who protects you,” she said. “I guess she’s not your secret parent.”
I made a face. “Yeah, I really hope not. That would be incredibly disgusting.” I cleared my throat. “Mads! Get your ass down here.”
We both waited.
No response.
“Where is she?”
I sighed. “She’s not like a trained dog or something. She doesn’t come when called.”
“Well, that’s not very helpful, is it? At least my ghost protector was consistent, not that I can ever use his help ever again.”
“She probably can’t make it through for whatever reason,” I said.
“Great,” said Dominique.
“Look, Rylan is possessed,” I said. “I have to do something about that.” What was I going to do for Rylan? I had to do something.
