Split at the Seams

by Yolanda Sfetsos

  It reminded me of the water wall we’d just come through.

  Was this a shortcut as well? But to where?

  I stepped away from Mace, no longer able to feel him beside me, and approached the wall. It didn’t take long to find myself standing in front of it, but it wasn’t my reflection I found. On the other side of the wavering wall a multitude of ghosts milled around, as if waiting for someone to show them where to go next.

  Something from within called to me, and it wasn’t the bright light I’d heard the first time I entered the dark patch. I wasn’t controlling this. I’d gotten sucked into it because of the spectral activity and the girls. The catchers had sucked me in during their comatose states. Still, none of them seemed to have noticed me.

  As I stepped closer to the wall, I realized it was probably more like a one-way mirror. I could look inside but no one on the other side seemed to see me. It was an oval shape, twice as wide as my body and taller than me, and it seemed to be getting bigger.

  What is this thing? Am I staring right into the ghostly patch?

  Standing there, as close as I could get, I felt the spooks continue to sweep past me and enter the patch, appearing in their true forms on the other side. Could I touch them? Would my fingers go right through?

  I slowly raised a hand out in front of me, but paused when I noticed two particular ghosts.

  My heart drummed inside my chest. As I stared at them, they both turned around to look at me. They were holding hands and looked just as I remembered them during the happiest summers of my childhood—smiling and happy, a lot younger than they’d been when they died years apart. None of their joint secrets had been in the open back then, and I’d been in blessed denial and with the best grandparents in the world. Knowing they hadn’t been perfect didn’t change the way I felt about them, or my desperate need to get them back.

  Grandma smiled, and Grandpa waved. I somehow managed to do the same as tears collected in my eyes and blurred my vision. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

  They took a step closer, as if they were headed right for me.

  I couldn’t wait to speak to them, but a cloud of darkness appeared out of nowhere and formed a disjointed black arm with long, spiked fingers that engulfed them.

  “Grandma, Grandpa…”

  The dark, fingered form snapped back like a whip and when it evaporated, they were no longer there.

  “No.” I reached out for the spot they’d just been standing in. I knew what that black cloud was, but why had it taken them?

  A hand on my shoulder roused me out of wherever I’d slipped into.

  I turned around to glare at Mace’s smiling face. “What in the heavens are you doing? Who the hell do you think you are?”

  “Did you see them get dragged away? I’ve been waiting months to show you what I intended to do to your precious grandparents. It’s been hard keeping those shadows at bay.”

  It was no wonder the scrying had led to the top of this building. It’s where they’d been the whole time, because there was an opening right into the ghostly patch right here. Oren’s hunch had been right.

  “No.” I wanted to go back, to help them. I also needed to speak to the girls, had to find a way to help them where I’d failed Mara. “How did you get them?”

  “Pop was really easy to nab, with Troy and Travis’s help, that is. I’ve had Granny for a while. You can’t possibly imagine how much energy was required to keep your grandparents where I wanted them, and for as long as I needed them there.” He shrugged. “Where they’re going, I don’t need to worry until I need them again. It’s not something you need to worry about, either.”

  I clenched my hands into fists. “Is that what you’re going to do to me? Are you going to let the shadows swallow me whole as well?” I almost choked on the sobs.

  Until recently, I’d thought my grandmother had moved on and that was why I hadn’t seen her for years. Finding out someone had been holding her spirit prisoner was too much.

  Mace shook his head. “Oh no, I’ve got other plans for you.”

  “What about the other catchers, what do you intend to do with them?” I wiped the tears away from my eyes, angry at myself for crying in front of him.

  “You know, it wasn’t until what happened in the cemetery that I realized just how powerful your blood really is. The fact you managed to close a rift made me wonder how other catchers’ blood could be used in the same way.” He paced in front of me, slowly gazing at the rows of unconscious girls. “Using the chairs to do it just made sense.”

  My heart dropped right into my feet. I hadn’t intended to give him any further insight into what I could do that night. I’d just wanted to close the rift before any more demons could get through. Only someone as despicable as Mace would benefit from what happened in the cemetery.

  He stopped in front of me. “Of course, none are as powerful as you. But having a collective amount of them hooked up at once provided some very interesting results. And enough blood to power my plans.” His hand caressed my face before I could move away, taking some of the moisture with it. “I know you can see the portal, Sierra. But do you know what the key to opening and widening it is? I doubt you’ll guess, so I’ll tell you—the blood and energy of spook catchers. Can you believe it’s that easy?”

  “The spooks are then drawn toward them?” I took a step back, glad his hand fell away from me. These girls were being used as beacons and the poor ghosts of Sydney were being sucked in without a choice.

  “Exactly,” he said, smiling. “It was amazing, really. By hooking them all up at the same time, they became outlets of power attracting all the ghostly energy around them.”

  “But you’re banishing innocent spirits!”

  He threw his head back and laughed. “Is there really such a thing? When you get down to it, spooks are all selfish spirits who can’t let go of their former lives. It’s sad, really.”

  “If it wasn’t for these selfish spirits, you wouldn’t have a job, or free accommodation, and access to impressionable young girls to corrupt.”

  “You’re getting cynical in your old age,” he said.

  I couldn’t believe it, but he actually didn’t see this as hurting both innocent girls and spirits. “How did you find out how to do this?”

  “I’ve got friends in dark places.” He laughed.

  “You said nothing would happen to Ebony.”

  “I lied.”

  I slapped him again, hard enough to make my hand sting and to see a line of blood dribble out the side of his mouth. The disgusting leer stayed on his face.

  I stepped away from him and made my way down the middle aisle created by the rows of chairs. Being so close to him was making me physically ill.

  These things really did look like a cross between a demented dentist chair—with additional attachments—and something that belonged in the laboratory of a mad scientist. All the motionless bodies were wearing weird metal helmets. IV lines wound around the back of the chair and were attached to the girls’ arms, collecting on one side and injecting on the other. Vials embedded under the armrests collected blood, but I didn’t know what the clear liquids going in were.

  “Are you going to keep these girls like this until they fade away as well?”

  “Using their blood and energy keeps the portal open,” Mace answered in such a simplistic tone, anyone would think we were discussing a simple situation, instead of something so wrong and immoral.

  “Why keep them here, but Mara in the hospital?” I looked back and caught the surprise in his eyes. “How can she still serve as a conduit without being strapped to the chair?”

  “Mara’s in a much more advanced state than these girls. They still need the chair, but she doesn’t.” He looked so smug while explaining something so awful. “Having her in the hospital is practical. The more spooks we’re able to push into the ghostly patch, the bigger and stronger the portal gets. Having her there attracts those who die in the hospital. Eventually, the p
ortal will be so big you’ll be able to walk through and meet the one spirit who will seal this deal.”

  Did that mean Mara was beyond salvation? I spun around to stare at him, appalled. “So you intend to do this to me as well?”

  “Well, of course. I imagine that as soon as you’re plugged in, you’ll be like the live wire we’ve been missing. Nothing’s going to stop me from getting what I want after you’re strapped in.”

  “After everything I’ve seen and everything you’re doing, why the hell would I be willing to do this? The Council is supposed to regulate the ghosts and the catchers, not rule and force them to do their bidding. Is it just you, or is the whole Council involved?”

  “Well, it’s just me and a few board members at the moment. But I couldn’t share with them what I wanted to do without some sort of evidence, and you’re going to be the evidence.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “Anyone who walks into this room will only see a bunch of girls secured to some freaky chairs. You can’t actually show them anything!”

  “See, that’s where you’re wrong. As soon as you’re strapped in and enter past the portal, the barrier connected between will collapse. It will shatter completely and then everyone will see ghosts. There’ll be nothing special about you, or any of these girls. No one will give a shit about any of you.” His smile widened. “But the Council, we’ll be famous and powerful. We’ll have all the ghosts under our control and will use it to our advantage.”

  “That’s insane!” And exactly what Burr claimed was the worse-case scenario. Except, he probably hadn’t expected anyone to actually want the spirits to spill onto this side, or delude themselves into thinking they could control them. “You can’t release the spooks from the ghostly patch. You don’t know who you’re getting. It’s not just the silent ghosts that will get through, all the dangerous ones—orbs, shadows, and who knows what else, will also get free passage. You’ll change the world, destroy it and cause an imbalance in the patches. Is that what you want?”

  “There you go again, being all dramatic and negative. The world’s not going to go anywhere. I wouldn’t be opening up the portal permanently if I didn’t have a way to control it.”

  My blood turned to ice. “How exactly do you intend to do that?”

  “Through you, of course…”

  I snorted. “I really don’t know why you and your friends believe I’m some special force that’ll help you with all your dark exploits, but I can’t do what you want me to do.”

  Mace shook his head. “Don’t be silly, Sierra. We all know you’ve got witchy blood in your veins…and a little something extra.”

  “Why don’t you tell me what the hell you’re talking about?”

  “I don’t think so. I like to keep my cards close to my chest.” Mace approached me, once again closing the distance between us. “Now, why don’t we get you strapped in and get this show on the road?”

  “I don’t understand what you want me to do.” I put a hand on my hip, preparing to lean over and reach for the dagger.

  “You only have to do one thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You need to cross over and Professor Spooker will do the rest. Then, the portal will collapse and will become a gateway.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” The sound of the professor’s name made me pause, my fingers itching to reach my weapon.

  “Oh, I think you’ll eventually work it out.”

  “So, you don’t want to bring this guy back, you want to destroy him. And me?”

  “His spirit won’t survive, but I know yours will. We have a few more plans for you up our sleeves.”

  “Is this the Council you’re talking about, or your little friends?”

  “My friends, of course.” His smile twitched, making his handsome looks slip. “It really isn’t smart to have two ex-boyfriends in the same group. It encourages vengeance and makes the vendetta much sweeter.”

  “So Jonathan is in on this?”

  “He’s not in on this particular project, neither is Mr. Marquez for that matter. But we do have a joint venture in common that involves you.”

  If I could keep Mace distracted, I might stand a chance of getting the dagger before he could react. “Wow, I feel so lucky. Having a psychopath magnet on me really makes me feel special. Maybe you’re right… I am special in attracting twisted assholes.”

  He made a hand gesture and two familiar guards materialized out of nowhere. They each grabbed one of my arms before I could dodge them, or grab the dagger. Neither man was gentle as they dragged me along the tiles, my toes skimming the floor, and threw me against a chair at the head of the row. One I hadn’t noticed.

  “Strap her in. Make sure it’s real tight.”

  The men set forth to follow his instructions, but I kicked one guard in the face and kneed the other. The latter man punched me square in the face and pain exploded on my left cheek. My left eye started to close up, making my sight narrow and lopsided, giving them the upper hand to push me down against the chair, until my wrists were tightly secured with metal straps, and my ankles with leather. The dagger’s scabbard dug painfully into my ankle, but I was still grateful to have it go undetected.

  “Mace, don’t do this!” I curved my spine off the chair, but it did nothing to help.

  The bastard was standing at the foot of the chair with a predatory gleam in his eyes. I had no doubt he was enjoying this.

  “Sierra, it’s time to see how much power you really have,” he said with that lingering smile. “I’ve wanted to do this to you for so long.”

  When one of the guards placed the cold, metal helmet over my head, I screamed as an electric shock struck me.

  The immediate pain was so intense I thought my brain might explode.

  I screamed until my throat felt hoarse, and couldn’t stop as a new wave of agony rushed over me. My body was somehow being torn apart, and the need to be free of the sting eventually subsided as much as the connection to my body.

  Instead, I was once again back in the murky gray surroundings I’d first noticed upon entering this room of horrors. This time, everything hit me at once. Not just the haze of continuous spirits floating around us, but the weight of their energy.

  If I thought it was bad when I’d first stepped into the building, this was unbearable. But being torn away from my shell meant I couldn’t feel anything physically, I could only sense it.

  Summoning the control from somewhere deep inside, I pushed up and off the chair. Standing beside it long enough to inspect my motionless body—matching crimson lines ran down both of my nostrils, curling over my lips and down my chin. My face was a mess, both eyes closed but one of them swollen shut and bruised. The metal helmet strapped over my head looked like it was on so tight it left marks on my lumpy forehead. Blood was being pumped out of my left arm while clear fluid was pushed into my right. There were other tangled lines attached to me, but I couldn’t stay and watch as my body suffered.

  Besides, I had no real idea of what Mace was doing.

  “Sierra…?” Her voice sounded tinny and echoed around us, but I recognized her right away.

  I spun around and it felt more like swirling in water. “Ebony, I’m so sorry!”

  “It’s not your fault. Guess I should’ve listened to you,” she said. “Why the hell did you end up here?”

  “We were supposed to rescue you, but I was taken—”

  “Who’s we?” Her blue-gray eyes widened as she stared at me. “Please tell me no one else is going to get trapped in here.”

  I shrugged but didn’t answer. Deep down inside I knew it wouldn’t take Oren and Conrad long to figure out exactly where I’d ended up, and they would follow. Mauricio was waiting for them, and I didn’t want either to end up like Papan.

  Oh, Papan, we’d just discovered each other.

  I pushed away all of my fear and sadness. Now wasn’t the time to lose it. He was okay, I just knew it.

  “Do you kno
w what this is?” I asked.

  Ebony shook her head and opened her mouth to respond, but paused for just a second as a succession of spirits smacked into her chest, bounced off and then hit the wall. The portal was getting bigger, and now looked shiny and ethereal. It was also calling to me, trying to draw me in.

  I took a step toward it but Ebony suddenly appeared in front of me. How did she do that?

  “Where the hell are you going?” she asked, frowning. Her face looked different in here, haggard and dull.

  I pointed at the wall. “He wants me to go in there.”

  “Mace wants you to go inside?”

  I nodded.

  “Why?”

  “He wants to permanently break the barrier between us and the ghostly patch, and he thinks I can do it.”

  Ebony rolled her eyes. “Well, you know you can’t fucking do this, right? You need to get back into your body ASAP and get the rest of us out of here before we become spooks as well!”

  “I can’t get back, I’m as stuck as you are,” I said, shaking my head and making the gray place blur. The weight of the energy zapping around us made me feel dirty and clogged. I was pretty sure that if I’d been connected to my body right now, it would itch like crazy.

  “Come on, you’re Sierra Fox, the tough spook catcher who can defeat demons! Surely you can beat this bastard.”

  “He’s not a demon,” I said. Then something swirled through me and I realized spirits were starting to smack into me as well. Except, when they bounced off me and smacked into the wall, sparks brightened the whole place and the hole widened a lot more. It seemed to be happening a lot faster now.

  “Mace sure acts like one.”

  Of course, she was right! Mace might not be a demon but just like Troy, Travis, Mauricio and Jonathan, if they all belonged to the same organization…each and every one of them was somehow affected by a demonic entity. It had to be what gave them their strength, resilience and their otherworldly talents.