Jeremy met my eyes and searched them for a long moment. “Thank you.”
Olivia asked him a few more questions, with Jax throwing out a few here and there, but I’d stopped listening. I planned instead, my lips curling as I imagined what I was going to do to the creature.
And how I’d enjoy it.
Even if it wasn’t Tashia, it’d feel good to fight back. To have the chance to save someone after failing my brother and friends.
Adele came to stand before me, yanking me from my blood-thirsty thoughts. She said nothing as she studied me. I wondered what she saw in my eyes.
Olivia was the one who always babysat for extra money while I mowed lawns, so my experience with children was slight, but she sure was cute. All golden eyes and tight black curls and smooth brown skin and an incredibly serious expression.
I dipped my voice low so we weren’t overheard. “You scared?”
She nodded.
“I am too. But I’m also pretty mad. Did you lose friends?”
She nodded again.
“I did too. It’s hard. And I’m sorry you’ve had to go through this. You look like a very smart and brave girl though. And you sure have a pretty cool dad.”
She shrugged, and it was a battle to keep the amusement off my face. “Wanna see something neat?”
She didn’t nod or shrug, she just waited. I reached into the inside pocket of my jacket and pulled out a miniature action figure of R2D2. “He’s my favorite character ever. I even named my bike after him.”
Her brow furrowed, and I scowled up at her dad. “You haven’t introduced her to Star Wars?”
He laughed. “Not yet. I guess I should, huh?”
I nodded emphatically. “Yes.” I placed the figure in her hand. “I think you should keep this and keep showing it to your dad until he puts on the movie. And he should really show you the one with Ewoks first because that’s the best one.”
My declaration started off an enjoyable argument around the table and I pretended not to notice when Adele crawled up into my lap, still clutching the figure.
We set out after the sun finished its descent behind the horizon and the last colors bled from the sky. It was a cloudy night, the sky gave off little moon or starlight. Olivia and I slipped into the foggy black night and started our search around the perimeter. If we could catch a kid following the spell, we could track them to find the monster and hopefully free the other children.
If they weren’t dead.
It wasn’t as cold as it was back home, but the chilled wet air made my lungs hurt as we walked down the unpaved road sporadically dotted with trailers and houses set far off the road, deep in the woods.
The few lights from the houses on the road flickered out of sight, leaving us in the dark and dank woods, haunted with whistling winds and forbidding shadows. Maybe the monsters caused this or woods like this drew monsters, but based on the quivering up and down my spine, we were not alone.
“I was surprised you agreed to help once we figured out it isn’t the sorceress doing this.”
“You think I’m so heartless I’d leave kids to die?” I couldn’t hide the hurt from my tone.
Liv tripped as vines tried to wrap themselves around her legs. “Not heartless. Determined and focused on one thing.”
I wanted to yell at her in offense, but if we’d had a credible lead on the location of the sorceress, I wasn’t sure I’d have stayed. “Well, you were wrong.”
“I want to get her too, Monet.”
“I know.”
We descended into a brittle silence, both of us frustrated and heartbroken. I knew she wanted to talk about everything, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t open up and share my feelings. They were buried and locked up deep inside me and there they’d remain until my quest was won. There was no way I could talk about everything without falling apart.
And she needed to lock it down if we were going to make it to the other side of this nightmare.
We walked miles through the deepening night, the town sprawled out in all directions. Weariness pulled at me until I couldn’t stop yawning and my eyes burned.
“Maybe whatever it is won’t show tonight.”
Olivia yawned in response to mine before she answered. “Maybe not. We should have napped before doing this.”
“Yeah. At least we were able to talk Jax into staying. I’m too tired to deal with his jabbering right now.”
She snorted, but didn’t reply. I kept my mouth shut, not wanting her to hear whatever she was holding back. Our easy relationship seemed broken, and I wasn’t sure if we’d ever get back to what we were. Too much had happened. We’d lost too many people. We were too broken.
Maybe we no longer fit, both of us changed and warped beyond recognition.
A lonely haunting tune played in my mind, my inner soundtrack always able to find the perfect song for every moment. I lost myself in it, letting the tune carry me away.
I vaguely heard Olivia ask if I heard it too, but I was too far gone to respond. The song swelled, and I had no choice but to dance to it, to follow wherever it led.
And there wasn’t an ounce of regret when I arrived.
I danced in a field of lavender and fireflies, the beauty of dusk water-coloring the sky in vibrant hues of purple and pink and gold. I was clothed in a deep plum dress which clung to me and whispered secrets across my skin as I spun and reached for the heavens.
The song changed to one of triumph and hope. The field disappeared, and I was onstage, the hues of the sky the spotlights aimed at me. The lavender turned to swirls of smoke at my feet. But instead of inside a defiled church and an audience full of monsters, I was in New York. And my parents and brother were in the front row, clapping with proud smiles stretched across their faces.
Pulsing rock music of an electric guitar ripped through me and I sped down the road on Artoo, wind whipping through my hair as Alcott grinned over at me from Chewbacca. We raced down the street, joyous giggles trailed behind us. We were wild and free.
A deep bass drum pounded in silence before a piano joined in and they morphed into a romantic love ballad. I wandered through the bustling streets of New York, arm entwined with Jax’s as puffy flakes of snow fell around us. We ducked into an alley and he pressed me up against the building, ravishing my lips, my face, my neck with kisses. I arched up into him, wanting to be closer, wanting more, wanting him.
A warm and peaceful lullaby took over, and I was inside my house sparkling with twinkly lights, a massive tree taking up most of the living room. My parents, Liv’s parents, Alcott, Jax, and Marie sat with Olivia and I at the table bowing from mouth-watering food. Wine flowed and laughter boomed and a cheery fire crackled in the fireplace.
I never wanted to leave.
I wanted to stay forever.
I was finally home.
I danced through a beautiful life, filled with love and peace and family constantly growing. A future of success and happiness and friendship.
I would dance until I burned.
The beautiful world I was happily lost in fell away with the rip of a DJ’s careless hands. Jax gripped me, held me upright, but not in the hot way he had in New York. His hands were harsh on my arms and his eyes searched mine with terror in them.
A sob scraped from my throat and I fell to my knees, choking on fury and pain. Tendrils of the dream still clung to me, but the nightmare was back.
This mad, gray world was back.
The one where my family was dead.
The one where I had no happy future in store for me.
I only had one thing in my future.
Death.
I just had to make sure the sorceress made it there first.
I bowed under the grief, let it wash away the last remnants of the dance. Olivia fell beside me, snuggling into my side as she wept. I didn’t have the energy to ask what she had seen. I didn’t want to know.
Once the loss and tears faded, I was left with a determination and rage stronger than ev
er. I vowed I’d kill every monster who came into my path, paying them back for the life I wouldn’t get to lead. For the hopes they’d crushed. For the deaths they’d caused. For the world they’d leveled.
Everything but the smoldering need for vengeance, I shoved into the box, reburying it and rose to my feet, hauling Liv up along with me.
“What was that? Why were you dancing and Liv playing air cello?”
I shook my head to clear my still foggy mind and tried to chase out an answer to Jax’s question. It came to me in a single glaring word.
“Shit. It was a Piper. A sort of enchanter or enchantress who uses music to trap whoever they’re after in a dream world. One that reveals their deepest desires, hopes, wishes, dreams. They use it to suck the energy from whoever they enchant. That child didn’t die from hypothermia. It was drained of his life force.” My words vomited from me in a stumbling rush. I kept peering through the dim light of the woods, waiting for the Piper to pop out at us and send us back into the dream world. Where we’d dance until we burned.
Liv’s face fell into her hands and Jax dragged fingers through his hair. They knew what we were up against. No one had ever gotten close enough to a Piper to kill them. Their magic music could reach for miles.
No one was immune, not even other monsters.
“How’d you find us without getting caught in it too?”
Jax shrugged. “I guess by the time I came to look for you guys, the music wasn’t playing anymore, but that wouldn’t matter for you two. Once you heard a single note, you’d be ensnared.”
Breaking twigs and a body crashing through bushes interrupts us and sent us scurrying for weapons. Jeremy burst through the trees, panting and roaring, tears soaking his face.
“Adele’s gone.”
“What? When? We just got caught in its web moments ago.”
He held up the R2D2 I’d given her. “I’m not sure. I went to check on her in her room and she was gone.”
Words failed me, only snarls ripped from my throat. He shoved the figure I gave her at my chest. “I thought you said you would take care of this.”
I squeezed the toy so hard an impression would remain stamped on my hand for hours. “We still have time. And we will get her back.”
“I’m coming with you.”
I didn’t bother arguing. There wasn’t time and there wasn’t a point. “Are you armed?”
He turned around to show me the shotgun strapped to his back.
“I have a bad plan, but we’re going to need a way to cut off our hearing.”
“I hope this damn thing is easier to kill than a vampire,” Liv grumbled.
“Me too.”
We dug through pockets, searching for ear plugs. Somehow we had them. Somehow we packed them. When we joined the Uprising and were taught to fire weapons, my mom handed them out to everyone. And Olivia and I had kept them all this time. My eyes burned at the memory, but I shoved it away.
We shared our pairs with Jax and Jeremy and I scrolled through my play-list for the perfect song to trap the Piper. I smiled an ugly smile when I found it, showing it to Liv for her approval. She smiled a nasty one of her own and nodded.
I propped my phone against a large rock on the ground and set it on repeat before pressing play and covering it with leaves. The music trickled out softly at first, but grew steadily louder. We shoved the plugs in our ears and the song cut off. I breathed out relief. It worked. We couldn’t hear the song.
We took our positions, withdrew into the shadows, and waited.
It was said Pipers couldn’t resist the lure of a song.
We were about to find out.
I crouched between a bush and a tree, and keeping a light grip on my sword, I unsnapped the thigh holster. The song was on its third time around when she finally appeared.
It was a small, willowy woman who skipped through the forest, clad in moonlight and moss. Until I blinked to clear my eyes and saw it was actually a green and silver dress-a rather raggedy one. Her magic was strong. An antique flute hung from her hand as she twirled it around in her fingers.
She sniffed and spun in a circle with jerky movements, like her bones weren’t quite attached right. We waited with bated breath, hoping she’d leave and lead us to where she had the children imprisoned. She swayed in an inelegant dance, closed her eyes and moved to the beat of the song.
It was strange watching without the noise of the forest, no rustling of leaves or screech of owls. Just the sound of silence.
The song must have ended because she stilled her movements before wandering away. We waited a beat before following in her wake, fanning out on all sides, hoping our footsteps were as silent as they seemed to us.
She led us through the woods, past several homes, for at least a mile. I hoped Jeremy knew where we were because I was completely turned around.
Hysterical giggles built up in my throat at the stray worry she was leading us to a gingerbread house.
My insides were still fluttery from the hangover of the dream world, flashes of it still burned into my mind. Flashes of what might have been.
I wanted the Piper dead almost as much as the sorceress. My fingers twitched on my sword, wanting desperately to slice into her now while we had the chance. I glanced over at Olivia and she already stared at me through the foliage, murder in her eyes. Her dream must have been bad.
At last we made it to a clearing where the Piper stopped and brought her flute up to her lips. I double checked the ear plugs, making sure they were secure. She started to play, but no sound trickled through. I breathed easier, and some of the worried tension drained from me.
It was going to work.
One by one, children filed out into the clearing, bleary eyed and grinning wide, lost in dreams of endless candy or still-alive parents, or a yard they could play safely in, or even school. They surrounded her, covering her with tiny bodies in a human shield so there was no way for us to shoot her from our hiding places.
I shivered with an ice-cold rage and wiped my hands on my pants, getting a better hold on my sword. Before we could make our move, Jeremy bellowed his daughter’s name and rushed out towards the kids.
“Dammit.” I raced after him, gesturing at Olivia and Jackson to cover us. Not that Jax would be too helpful with nothing but a baseball bat.
The Piper played harder and crouched down, disappearing under a swarm of children. Jeremy barreled through the kids, snatching his daughter up into his arms, but she fought him—screaming, crying, begging to be let down. To keep from hurting her, he didn’t hold on tight enough, and she slithered from his arms, merging back into the circle.
One of Jeremy’s earplugs fell out, and he dropped his shotgun, swaying to the Piper’s music, spinning faster and faster. I tried to grab him, but I didn’t duck fast enough to keep from getting knocked in the face by his arm. I fell to one knee, dropping my sword and cupped my aching cheek.
No idea how Jax was able to bring Olivia and I back from the dream, I decided to focus on the Piper. The one sure way to break the spell would be to kill her. Double checking my plugs and grabbing my sword, I rolled away from the path of Jeremy’s dance, barely escaping being trampled on.
The Piper used him to chase me about, giving me no chance to get close to her, and Jax and Liv could do nothing without revealing themselves. And I couldn’t hurt Jeremy, though I was tempted.
He gasped for air after dancing and running around for so long, but the trance-like blissful expression on his face didn’t change. Because of his body’s weariness, I was finally able to get ahead of him and make my move on the Piper, reaching out, setting aside children and taking their place in the swarm.
A scream of agony stopped me. It was so loud it reached my ears through the headphones.
I spun around and gasped in horror at Jeremy’s body hanging from a low branch speared through his stomach. I raced for him, shuddering and gagging as he howled in pain. The Piper must have taken away his dream and given him a nightmare in
stead. Or let him see the truth.
Jackson and Olivia emerged from their hiding places and slid him from the tree, blood spurting into their faces. Once he was settled on the ground, Jax started on him while Liv crouched at their sides, trying to cover us with her gun.
I caught sight of a self-satisfied smile on the Piper’s lips as she continued to play her flute. I broke out in a heavy sweat, anger and frustration burning me up.
I was sick of being helpless and second guessing myself. I was sick of being careful. It did no one any good.
I slid the sword back into the scabbard inside my jacket and pulled my gun from the holster on my thigh.
She got cocky, raising up from her cover of child bodies to crow over Jeremy.
So, I shot her between the eyes.
I ripped the earbuds from my ears, stumbling as sound returned. Kids howled, cried, and screamed, terrified and confused, cold and hungry, suddenly released from the spell.
Liv and Jax carried Jeremy between them while I rounded up the kids and herded them from the woods, praying we headed the right way.
Somehow we made it to the post office where the terrified parents waited for our return. They came sobbing and racing outside, snatching up their children and holding them close. Those whose kids didn’t return grouped together and melted into broken embraces. Adele refused to let go of my hand after I’d peeled her away from her dad’s side so Liv and Jax could get him back to the house.
I hefted her up onto my hip. “Come on. Let’s go check on your dad.”
Jax had looked grimmer than I’d ever seen him. Adele needed the chance to say goodbye.
Jeremy still hung on, but he remained unconscious as we settled him on the couch. Jackson tended to him through the night while Adele and I snuggled in the chair, her sad eyes never closing, watching each movement Jax made, making sure he didn’t make a mistake.
Jeremy woke right as the first tendrils of morning shined through the cracks in the curtains. He smiled at Adele when she raced to stand at his side. “Hey, baby. I’m so glad you’re okay. I was really worried about you.”
Dance of Ashes and Smoke (Age of Monsters Book 1) Page 7
