Between the Heaves of Storm

by V. J. Chambers

  Eve laughed. “When it comes to getting laid, there’s only one kind of guy.” She walked into the living room.

  I stood in the doorway. “That’s not true.”

  Eve spread her hands. “It’s not a big deal, Kieran. I want you to be straight with me. You want some company. You don’t think it means anything. That’s fine. You don’t have to lie to me about trying to leave your girlfriend.”

  “That is not what I’m saying.” I strode into the living room and faced her. “I’m not saying I’ve never had no-strings-attached sex, but I’m not the kind of person who’d do something like that when I’m in a relationship.”

  Eve folded her arms over her chest. “You were just saying that your relationship is kind of on the weird side lately.”

  I sighed. “Look, all I’m saying is that I’m not trying to get in your pants.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Right.” Eve crossed the distance between us in two steps. She ran her hands over my chest and stomach, letting one hand trail lower. She arched an eyebrow. “Not trying to get in my pants, huh?”

  I snatched her hand away. “That is not fair. If you come up to me and start doing... I mean, of course, I’m going to...” I turned away from her. “What is it with you, anyway? Why are you convinced that I couldn’t, you know, like you?”

  “I think you like me. I like you too. All I’ve been trying to say is that it doesn’t have to be a big deal. It can just be fun.”

  I turned back to her. “You keep saying stuff about how guys aren’t into you and how it’s okay for things not to mean anything. What if I wanted things to mean something?”

  She flounced away from me and sat down on the couch. “You’re a guy. Get real.”

  “That’s not fair.”

  She sighed, inspecting her fingernails. “It’s just that in my experience, guys are only interested in one thing, and it’s not having a big, meaningful relationship.”

  “Is that what happened with Cameron? Did you guys have a one-night stand that went badly?”

  Eve didn’t look at me. “Cameron’s, um, gay.”

  I sat down on the couch next to her. “What?” Here I thought she was really into him.

  “Yeah,” she said. “Really gay.” She sank further into the couch. “And even after I found that out, I still wanted him. Couldn’t stop thinking about him. I’m pathetic.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not a big deal,” she said. “Look, ever since my high school boyfriend Darius turned out to be a cheating bastard, I’ve had a string of bad relationships. Okay, most of them weren’t exactly relationships. I kept hoping they’d turn into relationships, but the guys were always into keeping things ‘casual.’” She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, when I met Cameron, he seemed so different. He was considerate and polite and nice. So, I let him move in here. I thought things were maybe going someplace. And then he told me he was gay.”

  I tried to reconcile this new knowledge with Azazel’s memories of Cameron. “Cameron never seemed gay.”

  She gave me a strange look for a minute, and then understanding flooded her features. “I forgot that you have all of Azazel’s memories for a minute. I couldn’t figure out how you knew him. Anyway, I think he was trying to hide it in high school. I don’t think he even wanted to admit it to himself. I mean, this is West Virginia, after all. People around here would not have been cool. Heck, most of the coven doesn’t even know. Cameron kind of liked letting them think we were together.”

  “You’d think Satanists would be cool with homosexuality.”

  “Not redneck Satanists,” said Eve.

  I considered what she’d told me. “Well, that sucks. I’m sorry. But at least I know that you’re not just trying to use me to distract yourself from Cameron.”

  “How do you know I’m not?” she said. “I still have a crush on him.”

  “Okay,” I said. “But he’s not into you for obvious reasons, so it’s not really a conflict of interest for me.”

  She smiled tightly. “You and Zaza, however...”

  I looked away. “You’re right. The whole thing is complicated.”

  She put her hand on my knee. “It doesn’t have to be complicated.”

  I turned back to gaze into her blue eyes. She was so stunning. I hesitated there for a minute. Then I got up. “But it is complicated.” I left the living room.

  * * *

  ~joan~

  I felt like I’d been searching for Jason for hours. I really didn’t know how long it had been. It was midmorning, I thought. The sun was climbing into the sky. Garth had gone completely insane. He was demanding to see Jason. The only problem was that we didn’t know where Jason was. I’d been through every room of his house. There was no sign of him. I’d searched the river bank and the fields. No Jason. I was currently crashing through the woods behind Jasontown, screaming Jason’s name over and over, and hoping he’d hear me. But I was beginning to suspect that he didn’t want to be found.

  I leaned against the trunk of a tree, feeling defeated. God knew what Garth was going to do to Tessa. I couldn’t figure out what had come over him, but it had to have something to do with being locked up in that basement for so long. He’d come mentally unhinged. I needed to find Jason, because he was the only person who could stop Garth and make things right. But I was going to have to face the facts. I didn’t know where he was. I was going to have to go back to the A-frame and tell everyone that Jason was gone.

  I threw my head back and yelled his name one last time.

  There was a slight stirring in the underbrush behind me. I turned, expecting to see a small animal, but instead Jason was walking towards me. “All right, already. I’m here.”

  I was so relieved that I threw my arms around him. “You’re here. I’m so glad.”

  He didn’t hug me back. “I’m here. What’s going on?”

  “It’s Garth,” I said, pulling away from him.

  He gave me a blank look.

  “The guy who I had you release from the basement underneath the guard’s quarters,” I said. “He’s gone nuts. He’s demanding to see you.”

  Jason didn’t appear very concerned. “Maybe he went nuts. Or maybe he was working for the OF all along, and I was right to lock him up.”

  “I don’t think so,” I said. “He seems really off balance. He’s trying to hurt his sister, Tessa.”

  Jason shrugged.

  “Jason, you have to stop him!” I said.

  Jason pulled a leaf off of one of the trees surrounding us and studied it. “I don’t have to do anything.”

  “He’s going to hurt Tessa.”

  “So?” said Jason, still looking at the leaf.

  “So, she’s my friend.”

  Jason tossed the leaf on the ground. “I think you have me mixed up with someone who gives a damn.” He started past me, walking deeper into the forest. “Leave me alone.”

  He was just going to leave? No. I wouldn’t let him. “Jason!” I shrieked. “If you don’t come with me now, I will leave you, and I will never speak to you again.”

  He stopped walking. I could see his shoulders heave as he took a huge breath. He turned around. “Okay, okay. Take me to see this Garth guy.”

  Garth met us at the doorway to the A-frame. Tessa was still with him, only now he’d managed to get a gun from one of the guards. Several of them were lying on the ground bleeding. I didn’t think they were dead, but I couldn’t be sure.

  I expected Jason to register some kind of emotion at the sight of his wounded guards, but he didn’t. Instead, he folded his arms over his chest. “You’re Garth, I guess.”

  Garth shoved Tessa away from him. He leveled his gun at Jason. “Guess again.”

  Jason shot me a look. “You did say his name was Garth, right?”

  Garth grinned. He looked absolutely insane. “It’s a body, Jason. Practically nothing more than a husk. It wasn’t hard for me to take over.”

  So wait. Someone else was controlli
ng Garth’s body? What?

  Garth used the gun to scratch his head. “You know,” he said to Jason and me, “I never really did get the chance to thank the two of you for ruining my life.”

  Jason and I exchanged a glance, both of us confused.

  “So,” said Garth. “Thanks. Thanks for getting my foster parents killed and unleashing me back into the system and taking me away from the only family I ever knew.” He smiled at me. “Especially you, sis.”

  Jason cocked his head to the side. “Cameron?”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  ~kieran~

  When Chance woke up from his nap, Eve offered to feed him a bottle. She had him down in the kitchen. I was in the living room, looking through Eve’s grandparents’ old books for something to read. We hadn’t heard word from any of the search parties looking for Azazel, so it was just a matter of time before we needed to go to the OF for Cameron. Until then, I was bored. And I couldn’t stop thinking about my confusing love life, or lack of one to put it more accurately.

  I was perusing the back cover of a Michael Crichton paperback when I heard the gunshots.

  At first, I didn’t think much of it. After all, there were usually people hunting in the woods for food, and it wasn’t like this wasn’t gun country.

  Then, I heard Eve’s voice, strangled and full of fear. “Kieran! Raiders!”

  I dropped the book on the floor and scrambled out of the living room. There were these groups of traveling thieves these days. People who’d decided that since society had collapsed, it was a good time for them to go traipsing about, taking food and provisions from people. Usually at gunpoint.

  I heard glass shatter as I ran into the hallway. They were breaking in. Goddammit! This was my fault. If I hadn’t gotten Eve to send half the Satanists away on a wild goose chase for Azazel, this would never have happened. We’d have had plenty of protection.

  Eve screamed. Oh God. They must have broken into the kitchen!

  I sprinted for the kitchen where Eve and Chance were, uncapping the power inside my body as I ran. I reached out with its fizzing fingers for minds, and I found them.

  But the problem was that I couldn’t tell who was who. There were too many individual people this close. I felt lots of confusion. Lots of rage. But that didn’t help me tell the difference. Which were the raiders? Which were Eve and Chance? I couldn’t unleash the power over everyone. I couldn’t risk hurting either of them.

  I careened around a corner in the house and was in the doorway to the kitchen. I had about a second to take the scene in. Eve was standing with her back against the counter, her body curled around Chance. A man with a ski mask over his face had a gun in her face. There were other men going through the pantry. I started to differentiate minds from each other with the power when—

  Something fast and heavy slammed into the side of my waist. There was loud crack, like thunder.

  I felt myself thrown back from the doorway. I landed sprawling in the hall outside the kitchen, feeling like something was exploding inside me.

  A half-second later, I was blinded by excruciating pain, radiating up and down the side of my body.

  I gasped, looking down at myself. I was bleeding.

  Someone had shot me.

  Dumbly, I gaped at the spreading red stain on my shirt. So much blood. And Jesus, the pain. I wanted to cry out, to scream. To do something. But instead, I stared at myself, not speaking, not moving.

  Around me, everything else seemed to have gotten fuzzy and slow. I couldn’t understand the noises I was hearing. They sounded like people underwater or the way the adults sound on A Charlie Brown Christmas —completely unintelligible. I caught a vague hint of laughter and something that sound like wailing.

  It hurt to breathe. More and more blood was seeping out of me. It was soaking my shirt and the top of my pants. It was so dark red. I couldn’t look away from it. Was I going to die? Was I dead? Was that why I wasn’t moving?

  No. It hurt too much to be dead. It hurt like hell.

  I could still hear the underwater voices, and I was starting to be able to understand them. But I couldn’t do anything except gaze at myself bleeding, watching all the red life drain out of myself.

  “Leave the fucking baby,” a voice was saying. “But take the girl. The girl might be fun.”

  A chuckle.

  The baby? I knew who that was, didn’t I? And the girl...?

  Shit. Chance and Eve.

  Concentrating as hard as I could, I wrenched my gaze away from my gunshot. I struggled to focus on the scene in front of me. Everything seemed a little hazy.

  A man with a gun was ripping Chance from Eve’s arms.

  She spat in his face.

  The man yanked Chance away and set him on the floor, laughing. “Feisty one, are you?” He pushed the length of his body against Eve’s.

  She whimpered.

  And the power surged up inside me like a tidal wave. It crashed over the men’s heads, tugging them out of the kitchen. There were gunshots. There were throaty screams. Outside, blood and brain matter spattered against the kitchen windows.

  And then it was quiet.

  I looked back at my wound. Shit. That really hurt.

  * * *

  ~joan~

  “Who’s Cameron?” I said.

  “Your foster brother,” said Jason.

  “How many brothers do I have?” I said.

  “A lot,” said Jason. “But most of them are dead.”

  I was confused.

  “Don’t worry,” Jason said. “My brother’s dead too.”

  Garth or Cameron or whoever he was waved his gun in Jason’s face. “Shut up.” He raised his eyebrows. “How did you know it was me?”

  Jason considered. “Well, I had a fifty-fifty shot. You said foster brother, and I figured you had to be either Cameron or... I forget the other one. Ned?”

  “Nick,” Cameron said. “You’re disgusting.”

  Jason nodded. “Yeah, that seems to be the consensus these days.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “So, you’re controlling this guy’s body. That takes some mojo. What did you do, start messing around with Satanist powers or something?”

  Cameron smiled. “You always were pretty darned smart, Jason. I should kill you right now. I could. I could shoot you in the head.”

  “It probably won’t work,” Jason said. “I heal pretty quickly from gunshots unless she shoots me.” He jerked his head at me.

  “I shot you?” I said, feeling even more confused.

  “What can I say?” said Jason. “You were grouchy last spring.”

  And what did he mean that he healed from gunshots unless I shot him? There was so much I didn’t know. It was driving me insane.

  Cameron looked annoyed. “Maybe you’re right. After all, I’m only blocking your powers of persuasion right now. I haven’t figured out how to block out everything.” He snapped the gun away from Jason and aimed it at Tessa again.

  She was lying on the ground next to him, terror all over her face.

  “Don’t,” I said.

  Cameron leered at me. “You abandoned me. You and Jason ran off, got everyone killed, and left me all alone. I was happy with your family. It was the only time I ever belonged. And you ruined everything. So explain to me why I should listen to anything you say.”

  I didn’t have an explanation. “I don’t remember doing any of that!”

  “Right,” said Cameron. “Your amnesia. I’d forgotten. Convenient for you, I guess. Funny that even though you don’t remember anything, you’re still shoved up Jason’s ass.”

  “You’re blocking my powers?” said Jason.

  “With a little help from the OF,” said Cameron. “I popped in to give you a little message, Jason. I’m going to destroy your world, the same way you destroyed mine.”

  Jason rolled his eyes. “Please. I hardly think whatever you went through could possibly compare to what I’ve been through. So your life is destroyed. Poor, pitiful Cameron.
Whatever kind of life you’ve got, it’s a paid vacation to Hawaii compared to mine. Get over yourself.”

  Cameron’s face twisted in anger. “Don’t mock me. I have access to power that can bring you to your knees, you arrogant twat. You have no idea the things that I can do.”

  “Oooh,” Jason said, “you can take over bodies. I’m terrified. Grow up, Cameron. This revenge stuff is so high school.”

  Cameron stalked over to Tessa and pulled her up by collar of her shirt. He fitted the gun underneath her chin.

  “Stop!” I said.

  Tessa’s eyes met mine. She was so scared.

  “This would be Azazel,” said Cameron, “if I didn’t want to make sure I got her memories back in her before I killed her. It’s no fun to kill someone who doesn’t understand why she’s dying.”

  “Let Tessa go,” I said.

  “I don’t even know that girl’s name,” Jason said to Cameron. “You’re not really doing much to me here.”

  “Jason.” I grabbed his arm. “That’s Tessa. She’s my friend. You can’t let him hurt her.”

  Jason glowered at me. “You’re really awfully bossy now that I can’t control your mind, you know that?”

  I pulled back, hurt. Why was he talking to me that way? What was wrong with him? “Help her.” I begged him with my eyes.

  Jason turned back to Cameron. “So, I think I got your message. You had a terrible life, and you blame me, and now you’re going to get revenge. That about sum it up?”

  “You aren’t afraid of me,” said Cameron, “but you will be.” And he pulled the trigger.

  I screamed.

  Tessa’s head whipped back with the force of the bullet and hung lifeless from her neck. Her eyes had gone glassy. A dribble of blood and spittle dripped out of the side of her mouth.

  “NO!” I yelled.

  Cameron dropped Tessa and put the gun against his temple. “See you soon, Jason.”

  He shot Garth’s head, and Garth’s body fell lifelessly to the ground next to his sister’s. I lurched forward, dropping to my knees next to them, tears streaming down my face, a sob caught in my throat.