“We're still looking into that. But, with the number of Nulls that fall in the under-eighteen, high risk category, a random patrol would be all we'd be able to shake out until we validated more man power.”
“Or another child dies,” she said with surety.
Ouch, she was right. I watched Smith cringe and I was with him. It was the hard new reality.
There was a creeper gunning for the Nulls and John was in the crosshairs.
CHAPTER 13
I couldn't get Jade out of my mind.
I knew that she was Safe at Sophie's. But after what we'd discovered, the brawl in her yard, the unresolved issue with Brett sniffing around, I had to admit I felt unsettled.
For an extra dose of worry, her dad was out of the slammer.
I lay in my bed, absently stroking Onyx, thinking about the complications of my life, different than last year but somehow the same. Maybe this was what life was? A series of crap that popped up like weeds, some became a jungle and some stayed in line. But pulling them constantly was becoming a chore.
The Boy seems troubled, the Dog thought. He would stay close to him until the somber mood was gone. The Dog thought all of this would go away more quickly if the Boy threw the toy that smelled of him, that was soft and made an interesting noise that the Dog liked.
Caleb watched Onyx jump off the bed and grab that sick-smelling doggie toy. He couldn't understand why he liked it. The squeaker was shot-to-hell and it had been a peach color when Mom had bought it and it was some kind of pale sherbert now, with stiff spots where he had slobbered on it. He approached Caleb, giving him eyes that blended with his black face, his tail wagging, the gaze steady and faithful.
Ah-hell. He needed some time.
I got off the bed and we tore down the steps and out the door.
Mom called after me, “Caleb!”
“Yeah?” I said, my hand on the knob for the front door, the metal warming under my touch, Onyx waiting impatiently for me to manage The Parent.
“Where are you going?”
“Takin' Onyx out to play with his ball-thing.”
“Okay, supper's soon!”
“Yeah!”
“Yes, what?”
I rolled my eyes, this Nazi-response stuff was getting on my last nerve.
“Yes, Mom.”
“Thank you, acknowledgment is a good thing.”
Right.
Onyx raced out ahead of me and I launched the sucker as far as I could. He watched it arc, judging its trajectory then sprinted after it, nose down, all business.
The Dog saw the wonderful soft thing twirl above his head and the smell of it wafted on the wind to him, spearing his nose, giving the Dog the direction he needed to race after it...which he did. He lighted upon it, grabbing the fragrant mass into his mouth, giving it 'soft mouth'. Which made the Dog pause, a sensory memory of his other life sliding just out of the reach of him...he remembered a similar game with the Other Boy, a game in which he needed to not use the sharp things in his mouth for the toy...
“Onyx!” Caleb yelled, seeing that he stood there with the ball-thing in his mouth, staring. What? Was he having a dog moment or something?
The sound of the Boy's voice shattered the memory, and the Dog came to the new Boy, his tail wagging, all memories displaced by the anticipation of another toss.
I hucked the thing again, wiping off the dog-grossness on my jeans when my pulse vibrated in my pocket. My face lit up when I saw it was Jade:
Activated: Top-five contact- Jade LeClerc
Still at Sophie's? -CH
Yeah, I'll be here the whole weekend.- JLeC
I'll see ya at school tomorrow and then Gramps is having the BBQ @ his place Sat.- CH
Oh yeah? Hope it's hot weather.- JLeC
shrugs idk...you know how it is around here.-CH
Listen...we didn't really get a chance to wrap up the crap about Brett.- CH
disruption in pulse conversation
I know. But, seriously, Caleb, nothing happened. I don't think he'd hurt me. Look at what's going on...from his perspective. His brother was one of the victims of this psycho, his dad makes mine look...tame. Idk, he needs a friend and it makes me feel bad to be a jerk to him.-JLeC
She couldn't be serious! I thought, lifting my thumb so it wouldn't railroad straight to her pulse.
strong emotive response Jade...wow, is there some amnesia bull-profanity-block happening here? Didn't we just get in the biggest profanity-block-ing brawl in your yard, for cripes sake? Did he not just try to drag you off, cave-man style and kiss you? Have you forgotten that? He is not safe! This is what I was talking about last pulse: I need help from you. I can't protect you when I'm not around and you airquotes 'feeling bad', for Brett makes you vulnerable to his profanity-block! -CH
disruption in pulse conversation
crying I didn't mean to make this...happen between us. I don't know what to do! He lives by me and what happened today...I didn't want to kiss him! I don't get him! He knows I don't like him! -JLeC
I got him.
Hell...Jade, don't cry. Let's just...let's get together tonight and talk in person. I need to see ya. Come on...Sophie will be cool with it.- CH
Idk...Sophie's parents don't like boys coming over.- JLeC
What the hell? I was starting to feel panicky now. I tried to get a handle on this. I took another tactic:
How about you guys meet us at the hide-a-way? Then you're meeting us somewhere and not at her house? -CH
Pausing BRB -JLeC
I died a little while I waited. Jade was the only person on earth that made me feel unsure of myself. I hated that, but I loved her. Why was life so complicated? Onyx stood patiently at my feet wagging his tail, the gross blob in his mouth. I ripped it out of his mouth and chucked it again, he sailed after it. My screen lit back up:
Okay, Sophie wants to know what time? JLeC
Idk, let me round up the troops and we'll meet with whoever can come tonight at 8.-CH
That doesn't give a lot of time, with school tomorrow and all.- JLeC
We don't need a lot, I just want to get this behind us right away, figured out. I don't like it hanging around.- CH
Like a black cloud.- JLeC
Yeah, like that.- CH
K, see you @ 8.- JLeC
Love ya.-CH
U2.- JLeC
****
The Parents watched me pork down on the spaghetti and meatballs. I was trying not to shovel but the self-restraint had turned ugly. Dad watched with something like a smile and Mom was frowning. The Hunger had overtaken my thought processes but the frontal lobe was still on line. Maybe there was hope.
“So, to recap, Caleb: this Null...” Dad began.
“Smith,” I mumbled through noodles while Mom scowled. I was dangerously close to showing my food as I talked and that would provoke the Food Lecture. Which should be avoided at All Costs.
“Right. He thinks that all Nulls are in danger?”
I nodded, slurping a ton of milk to facilitate the load down the pipe.
“Caleb, you're going to have digestive problems. No one is going to steal your food!” Mom said.
Well, probably not but... I swung my forearm around the perimeter of my plate and Dad barked out a laugh.
“I give up!” Mom huffed.
“Okay, back on track. The police will be patrolling the Null's homes?” Dad continued.
I swallowed. “Yeah.”
Mom stared. “Can you expound on this a little?”
Mom was sounding frustrated. I didn't feel compelled to expound. For me, it was all about conveying information and then everything else was just fluff. Mom liked fluff.
Dad sighed. “Normally Caleb, I am not a big believer in the superfluous, but, we may need a tiny bit,” he held his index and thumb apart by the smallest measure, “more information. Especially in light of the events that transpired last year.”
Fine.
I looked at the clock and realized there was o
nly an hour until showtime with the gang. The parents saw my glance.
“Keeping you, son?” Dad said, getting a tone.
Brother.
“No. It's just there was this thing that happened at Jade's.”
The silence swelled in that ominous way it does when you're gonna drop a bomb.
“Remember stupid Carson and Brett?”
Mom frowned at the description but Dad said, “Unforgettable.”
Okay, he was down with it. “Well, they're back and their little group has grown.”
“What happened at Jade's?” Mom asked, worry making the angles of her face show in stark relief.
“There was a fight.”
Mom slapped her forehead.
Dad said, “Zombies make an appearance, son?”
I scrubbed my face. “Yeah.”
“Great,” Mom said.
“Hang on, Ali.”
Mom rolled her eyes.
“Garcia, Gale and that new guy, Smith, showed up and got it all under control. But now that Carson has picked up an older kid, who's a fire-freak too, and he's dating an AFTD...” I trailed off.
Dad's eyebrows shot up.
“Really,” I stated.
“That's not great news. Why did this escalate into a fight?” Mom asked.
“Because it could. 'Cuz that's what they're always gunning for. Because Brett digs Jade and I want to kill him.”
“Caleb!” Mom yelled.
Dad's brows fell low over his eyes. “Really, Caleb?”
Kinda “No, but he pisses me off.”
“Language.”
I turned to Mom. “Mom, please.”
“Caleb, watch your tone with your mom.”
I shoved my plate away and stood, Onyx backing away from his beg-spot.
“I'm going to the hide-a-way at eight. I need to straighten this crap out with Jade. I can't think with Brett doing the stalker, lurk thing with her.”
The Parents watched me walk my plate over to the sink. I scraped the non-protein stuff into the compost canister under the sink and used the gray water spigot to rinse off.
Mom walked over and came to stand beside me, I was abusing the faucet, turning it on and off with hard strokes, her eyes looking at mine.
I turned and we faced each other. “I trust you, Caleb. But don't forget who you are. What you are.”
I looked down at her, realizing I'd grown taller than her sometime this summer. “I never forget it. I think that it's part of my problem right now. Sometimes, Mom,” I looked at Dad, “I just want to be what I was before. I don't want this bullshit right now. I wanna just hang with my friends and be a regular boyfriend to Jade.”
Mom didn't correct my language.
Normally, I felt better when I could bounce crap off the Parental Unit, but tonight, I just didn't want to be in my house. Hell, I didn't even want to be in my own skin. This whole paranormal thing was blowing.
Big time.
“Caleb,” Mom said.
I turned before I hit the front door, I'd get there early, I thought, itching to leave.
“It's a school night, not past ten.”
Dad said, “Be careful.”
“Okay,” I said, sliding through the front door.
I turned around once and saw Onyx watching me through the narrow side-lite, a plaintive whimper escaped him.
I'll be back soon, boy, I thought at him.
The Dog watched the boy leave and had A Very Bad Feeling. Sometimes the Dog would have a feeling like that. It always meant that something Bad would happen. He did not like the Boy out of sight. His tail did not wag. Instead, the Dog sat down by the low window.
He waited for the Boy's return.
CHAPTER 14
I put my pulse away, the Js were coming. The Wellers were gonna have to sweet-talk parents that may have been getting sick of them leaving the house and coming back abused. But they'd show, somehow.
I pulled my pulse back out and thumbed in my thought: Jade
Hey.- JLeC
Hey...I'm already on my way there.- CH
Huh? Why? -JLeC
Had to get out of the house. The Parents were starting to get on my nerves. -CH
I looked up, keeping my bearings on the side of the road, I'd been walking for awhile and had just passed Scenic, the dead humming their music... calling to me like a lover; I mentally clamped down on their melodic song... concentrating. It was getting a little easier.
I swung my gaze away, seeing the hill appear that signaled the dump at its crest. I looked down at my pulse again.
smiles ...they're pretty cool parents, Caleb! JLeC
Yeah, I hear that...but, lately, I just don't want to listen to their reasonable-ness about all this profanity-block I have goin' on that is my weirdness.-CH
proximity alert!
Caleb! Look out! -JLeC
I was hit from behind with what felt like a ton of bricks. My pulse flying out of my hands as I lurched forward, plowing into the sharp gravel, my palms saving me from a face-plant.
I flipped on my side and blindly swung my leg out in a defensive jab, sweeping it in the path of whoever stood closest. As they landed beside me, I registered it was Carson.
Big surprise.
What I wasn't planning on was Brody, Diego and Brett beating the snot out of me too.
I tried to get to my feet but Brett landed a good one to my ribs and I felt something integral give. I yelped, staggering to my feet when Brody's fist connected with my jaw and my face rocketed back almost knocking me on my ass.
“Hold 'em!” Carson bellowed.
Diego and Brody came for me, Brett close behind them. I tried to focus for the zombies but everything was happening too fast and in all the control I'd mastered in the last year, my power just didn't automatically leak anymore. I was so stressed that I couldn't seem to pull it out of my ass if my life depended on it.
It sorta did.
I was taller, I was stronger, I took Judo, did pullups, pushups and all but none of it mattered against the dismal ratio.
I wasn't going to make four to one.
But still, I fought.
When Diego latched onto my arm I swept his legs and threw him into Brody like a bowling pin. But they were older, it just caused them to stumble and fall, springing back up with a bucket that overflowed with more pissed off.
Carson got into it then, coming from behind and dragging me into a chokehold while Brett delivered a nice one-two to my stomach, my ribs screaming under the onslaught.
“This is what you've been beggin' for, Hart. This will teach you that you're no better than the rest of us.”
My trunk was a burning disaster, the pain roaring up and engulfing me. Brett's fists kept connecting, with Diego and Brody each holding an arm. The chokehold was working its magic and I could feel myself slipping, beginning to sag against Carson's forearm.
Then, as in a mirage, I saw someone advancing in the distance, gaining fast, sprinting. My vision swimming in streamers of fog, everything in triplicate.
The figure drew close and I knew I might get relief when Carson yelled, “Fuck me!”
It was Clyde.
They dumped me on the ground to concentrate on the one zombie that apparently didn't need a lot of juice to get his groove on.
I didn't move... couldn't move. I spit out a glob of mucus that was mostly blood and it landed in a dull heap, only a foot away from my head. Clyde tracked it like a falcon.
“Gentleman, you abuse my master. You will cease and desist.”
“Piss off, creeper,” Carson said, all bravado. Throwing his foot out casually it connected with my abused side. I groaned in response.
That fast, Clyde swung both hands out and grabbed Carson by the torso and flung him ten feet into a neighboring tree. He slid down, his bell rung and out.
Clyde turned his dead attention to Brody and Diego, who were taking shallow breaths. Clyde had been raised in a hurry and was little more than a skeleton with some skin hanging on.
I was impressed. I hadn't even felt my call; thought I hadn't had time to use my power. But he was very near the surface of my call and came.
He came.
I lay there helplessly while my zombie started in on the other boys, smelling like fresh death.
First he knocked Diego and a struggling Brody together and I could feel heat building. Brody was fumbling with a lighter, the flame ignited and it roared up Clyde's arm, but my boy didn't feel pain. He crushed the hand that held the lighter and Brody screamed and wailed.
Clyde was grinning, his teeth white marbles in a black mouth.
Brett was backing up, his arms straight out, hoping to placate Clyde, who he'd already become acquainted with.
Clyde was a believer in follow-through. Dumping the injured jerks where they stood, they landed about five feet away from me and he began to track Brett like prey.
I suppose to Clyde, he was.
“You learn quite slowly. As I recall, we had a similar event one year past,” Clyde said, his partial tongue making everything sound like mud pie.
Clyde, I thought, my mind a literal fog, consciousness running along a thin tether. I needed to get this managed because I thought Clyde would see things through.
All the way to the end.
He turned those eyes to mine, the only part of him that was whole and complete. “Yes, Master?”
“Don't kill him, Clyde,” I whispered.
He looked at me for a heartbeat's pause. “I will not kill him.”
He turned away from me and hissed at Brett, “A lesson will be learned here this day.” He charged at Brett, who tried to escape but Clyde tackled him from behind.
I saw it all unfold in slow motion, Clyde leaping through the air, the sleeves of his dress shirt sailing behind him like a flag shredded into dirty strips, caked dirt riding it in crumbling bits.
The Death Series, Books 1-3 Page 51
