by Martha Carr
“Well, thanks.” When he opened his eyes to look at her, she smiled. Her dad’s lips curled up into a crooked grin. “I’m definitely not perfect, though.”
“You are to me.”
“Yeah, I bet you say that to all your daughters.” They both laughed. “I think Laura’s the only one who—” A sharp pain burst behind her eyes, and she swallowed. “Who—” Three seconds of that ancient, primal drumbeat pounded in her head, like the opening echo of a gladiator match or some old, dark ceremony about to begin. Nickie clenched her eyes shut and tried to fight through the pain.
“You okay?”
She sighed, but it came out more like a grunt. “Yeah. I’ve just been getting these really bad migraines late—” The drums pounded louder and faster and suddenly stopped, yet the pressure kept building behind and between her eyes.
“I’m sorry, kiddo. I bet Margot’s got some aspirin or somethin’. Want me to go check?” Greg shifted in the rocking chair like he was about to get up.
Nickie patted his arm. “No, Dad. I’m okay.”
“You should still take something.”
She shook her head. “I’ve got something in the car. And I should probably get going anyway. It’s…what? Almost one o’clock.”
“Is it really? Hoo, boy.” Greg snorted and shook his head. “Feels like the sun should be comin’ up.”
“Yeah, I’m gonna go.” Nickie stood, blinking furiously against the lights strung across the porch.
“If it’s that bad, Nickie, you should stay here. I know Ronnie and Margot have an extra room. Or at least rest until that headache goes. I don’t like the thought of you drivin’ like this.”
“I’ll be fine. Promise. It’s just a little one. If I take something now, I’ll be okay.” She set her guitar into its case, locked it, and stepped toward his chair. “Thanks for inviting me. I needed this.”
“We did too. Old-folk parties aren’t nearly as fun as they used to be when we were younger.” He laughed. “Well, they were young-folk parties, then. Seein’ you play reminds me of how many good things this world still has to offer, you know that?”
Nickie forced herself to smile through the migraine. “I do now.” She bent and placed a kiss on his warm, scruffy cheek. He smelled like bourbon fumes and soap. “Love you, Dad.”
“I love you too, Nickie.” He patted her arm, then leaned back in the rocking chair again. “You be safe.”
“I will.” She picked up her case and headed for the sliding door. I really hope this goes away like last night. Probably shoulda told my sisters the truth.
There were fewer people inside the house now. Music still played through their surround sound in the living room. Ronnie, Ken, Bobby, Margot, and two other people she didn’t know stood around the kitchen island, digging into what was left of Margot’s barbeque.
“You change your mind about the brisket?” Ronnie asked with a grin.
“I’m sure it’s amazing.” Nickie shook her head. “No, I’m headin’ out.”
Ken choked on his bite and leaned over the clear plastic plate in his hand. “Well now I’ve seen everything. A musician in her prime turnin’ in before us ancients.” He wheezed out a laugh.
Margot slapped his arm with the back of her hand. “Speak for yourself.” She turned to Nickie. “Drive safe. You feelin’ okay?”
“What? Yeah.” Nickie gave the woman a hug. “Thanks for having me over, Margot.”
“Anytime, girl.” The woman pulled back and studied Nickie’s face with concern. “You sure you’re okay? Your color doesn’t look so good.”
“Just tired. I was up late last night too.” Nickie nodded at everyone smiling at her. “Bobby, nice to meet you.”
“Pleasure, darlin’.”
“And I’ll see you two in a few days, right? Next show?”
Ronnie nodded, and Ken swallowed his mouthful. “As long as Chuck hasn’t decided to replace us.” He winked. “We’ll be there.”
“Good. Thanks again.”
“‘Night, Nickie.”
Their conversation started up again as she headed through the house toward the front door. A few feet before she reached it, the drumming blasted into her head, fast and urgent, desperate. Calling. It lasted twice as long this time. Nickie staggered sideways and almost dropped the guitar case.
“Woah.” Three people on the couches in the living room definitely saw her. “Hey, you okay?”
“Yeah.” Nickie caught her breath and tried to smile. “Just tired.”
“Didn’t have too much to drink, did you?”
“Definitely not.” She turned, smiling through the pounding throb growing behind her eyes, and touched her nose with her finger. She took a few steps toward the living room in a perfectly straight line and nodded. “I’m not drunk. Just tired.”
“Okay…” The man grinning at her glanced at her steady feet and nodded. “Be safe.”
“Thanks. Y’all have a good night.” Nickie couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
The minute she pulled the front door shut, she booked it down the walkway and to her car. Fewer cars were on the residential street, and most houses were dark. She brought her guitar case with her when she slipped behind the wheel and placed it gently in the backseat. Then she shut the door, stuck her keys in the ignition, and sighed. “Good thing this started after Dad gave me a few tips.” She strapped on her seatbelt and drove slowly down the street. “Other than that, this is the worst timing ever.”
The traffic lights on her drive west into downtown didn’t help the migraine, but she pushed through. Halfway home, though, the drums returned, each beat rattling her brain the way she could feel Marcus’ bass drum and Melvin’s low bassline rattling in her chest during a show.
Nickie’s vision darkened. “Oh, god. I’m gonna hit something.”
She pulled into a gas station lot. As soon as she turned the engine off, she jerked the keys out of the ignition, fighting to catch her breath, and pressed her thumb into the coin on her keyring.
Her skin tingled everywhere, and then she was sitting on the floor in the middle of the Clubhouse. The Gorafrex’s luring and agonizing drumbeat cut off immediately. The headache remained, but at least she could hear herself think.
With a sigh of relief, Nickie stayed where she was in the middle of the room and lay back onto the floor. “Just for a little bit. Just until the headache’s gone.” She slowed her breathing and closed her eyes. “Then I’ll tell Laura and Emily that thing’s gonna start hunting again soon.”
An hour later, she jolted awake. It took her a few seconds to remember where she was and why. “Oh, man. I still hafta drive home.” Her keys were clutched in her hand. “Here’s to no more drums.” She pressed her thumb into the coin again, not once noticing the massive iron socket wrench lying on the cherry-red futon beside her. Then she disappeared.
Fortunately, neither the drums nor the migraine returned during the next ten minutes of her drive home. Nickie grabbed her guitar case out of the passenger seat and headed up the concrete stairs set into the hillside toward the house. She sidled inside without hearing anything from her sisters, and wherever Speed was sleeping, he stayed where he was.
Leaving her guitar just inside the living room, she climbed the stairs with heavy eyelids, relieved to be back home and headed to her room. At least my sisters are both here if something happens again.
Nickie stripped off her clothes, crawled into bed, and dozed off with the keyring—her only means of escape from the Gorafrex—clutched in her hand.
24
Laura jolted from her bed Sunday morning with a feeling of dread. “That’s the first time I’ve dreamt about the drums…” A glance at her phone on the nightstand told her it was 6:03 a.m. “Okay, I got plenty of sleep. So why do I feel like something awful’s about to happen?” She rolled out of bed, stuck her bare feet into her plain brown slippers, and headed out of her room in her pajamas.
The first thing she noticed when she walked down the hall
was Emily’s door wide open. “She never leaves it open…”
Stepping quietly toward her younger sister’s room, Laura blinked the sleep out of her eyes and peered inside. “Em? You awake?” Something rustled on the foot of the bed, and Speed poked his head out of the wadded-up comforter. He grunted at her and disappeared again. “And now I see why she doesn’t leave the door open.”
Emily’s room was a disaster, clothes flung everywhere, scattered papers across her desk, and the bed, of course, wasn’t even a little made. Laura grabbed the door handle and pulled it shut, then turned toward the stairs.
Nickie’s bedroom door opened, and her sister shuffled out in loose plaid pajama pants and an oversized t-shirt, her hair a tangled mess, and dark circles under her eyes.
“Woah, Nickie.” Laura blinked. “What happened to you?”
“Huh?” Her sister slowly looked up at her. “Oh. I went out last night.”
“After we went to bed?”
“Yep.”
“Where did Chuck take you this time?”
Nickie smacked her lips, eyelids drooping and moved toward the staircase. “Chuck was at a dinner meeting, I think. I dunno how late. I went to the East Side instead.”
“Who’s on the East Side?”
“Dad. Ronnie and his wife were having a house party.”
Laura snorted. “It was a bunch of people older than our parents, wasn’t it?”
Her sister nodded. “It was weird but also cool. We played a little bit, and then I…” Finally, Nickie’s eyes opened wide. She turned at the top of the stairs to stare at Laura. “I need to tell you something.”
“Good or bad something?”
“Uh…both.”
“Okay.” Laura nodded toward the stairs, and they made their way down. “Emily didn’t go with you, did she?”
“No. She went to bed when you did.”
“Well, she’s not in her room—”
“Hey! You’re both awake!” Emily came skidding around the dining room corner and into the foyer, grinning at them. “Excellent.”
“You are way too chipper,” Laura muttered.
“Weird, right? Only got a few hours sleep.”
They made it down the staircase, warily eyeing their youngest sister as she bounced on the balls of her feet with way too much energy.
Nickie frowned. “When did you wake up?”
“I dunno. Four, maybe?” Emily shook her head and took off into the kitchen. “I couldn’t sleep. But we really need to talk, guys. I…well, I need to tell you something you definitely wanna hear.”
“Can it wait ‘til after coffee?”
“Uh…are you telling me to wait?”
Laura raised an eyebrow at her sister and headed across the kitchen. “Do I need to?”
“No. Nope. Definitely not. I can wait. Oh, yeah. Just made another pot.” She gestured toward the coffeemaker on the counter.
“Another pot?” Nickie squinted at her.
“That’s what I said. I already had a few cups, so go crazy.” Emily snickered and rubbed her hands together. “You look like you could use a few cups, Nick.”
“Yeah, and you like you shouldn’t touch coffee again for a week.”
“Hey, that punishment in no way fits the crime.”
Laura filled a mug and set it on the counter. “Why would you need a punishment?”
“What? I don’t. I mean, I wouldn’t.” Emily sighed and pointed at the coffeemaker. “Just make your coffee already, okay?”
Nickie joined Laura at the counter and picked up the first cup. “She seem weird to you?” she muttered.
“Yeah, that’s not happy Emily. That’s slap-happy, hyped-up-on-caffeine Emily. What happened?”
“Guess we’re about to find out.” Nickie shrugged, then turned slowly toward the table as Laura grabbed the milk from the fridge to add to her sugar and coffee.
“Oh, my god. You guys move like frozen slugs.” Emily stopped behind a chair at the kitchen table and drummed her fingers on the back of it. “Come on, Laura. I think you’ve stirred it enough.”
“And I think I’m just gonna take my time, nice and slow this morning.” Laura grinned at her youngest sister and lifted the mug to her lips with agonizing slowness. “Just to—”
“Just to mess with me. Yeah. I get it. Can you just…” Emily twirled her hand and bobbed her head in impatience.
“Hey, maybe you should sit down.” Nickie nodded at the chair in front of her.
“What? Yeah. Good idea.” Emily jerked the chair back and plopped into it, then drummed her fingers on the table.
“Em…”
“Sorry.” She dropped her hands into her lap, then her knee started bouncing while she waited for Laura to join them.
“Okay.” Laura slid into the other chair and took another sip. “So you both have something to say this morning, right?”
“We do?” Emily glanced at Nickie.
“Yeah, you go ahead.” Nickie snorted. “I can wait. Doesn’t look like you can.”
“Cool. Thanks.” Emily lifted her hands a little, dropped them in her lap, then decided to pull them up and fold them on the table. “I went back to the energy core under the Thinkery last night.”
Laura choked on her coffee. “What?”
“Are you kidding me?” Nickie added.
“Not even a little.” Emily cocked her head, her knee bouncing beneath the table. Then she took a deep breath. “Okay, to be fair, I knew it was a bad idea before I went.”
“Then why did you—”
“I wanted to get that wrench thing. You know, the one the Engineer gave you.”
Laura sighed. “Em, it’s just a tool. That thing isn’t worth risking yourself. Especially going back there alone.”
“But did you see what it did?” Emily glanced back and forth between them with wide eyes. “One little tap, Laura, and that wrench brought the entire energy core crashing down.”
“Yeah, and it almost took you with it.”
“That’s…” Emily sighed. “That’s not the point. That tool is seriously powerful. We need it. It’s the only thing that’s pretty much guaranteed to break down the energy cores at this point, which we really need to start doing faster.”
Laura shared a concerned glance with Nickie, then narrowed her eyes. “Why?”
“Well…because now the Gorafrex knows we’re destroying them.” Emily’s smile came out as an apologetic grimace.
The tension erupting in Laura’s shoulders made her entire body ache. “Please tell me you’re just guessing, Em.”
“No. I’m absolutely positive. It was there last night. In its new host.”
“Oh, my god.” Laura set her coffee cup down on the table, splashing some of it, and stared at her youngest sister. “You went back there by yourself, without telling either of us, and you saw the Gorafrex?”
“Yeah.”
“And you thought it was a good idea to wait until we woke up on our own before saying anything?”
Emily shrugged. “I mean, that’s why I couldn’t sleep…”
Nickie blinked and felt a little dizzy. “What happened, Em?”
“Well, it was seriously pissed that the energy core was broken. Win for the Hadstrom sisters. Then it saw me.”
“Is that a guess,” Laura asked, “or are you sure?”
“No, it definitely saw me. Right before it came after me.”
Laura clenched her eyes shut. “Please tell me you didn’t try to fight that thing by yourself, Em.”
“I’m not stupid.” Emily stared at her sisters, then tilted her head. “Okay, maybe a little reckless, yeah. But I didn’t know it would show up at the same time. And, of course, I didn’t try to fight it. I grabbed the socket wrench and popped out of there.”
“And now it knows we’re the ones destroying the energy cores,” Nickie said.
“Probably, yeah. But that’s not the most important thing.” Emily swallowed. “The Gorafrex came after me, and it tried to do the w
hole drum-luring thing.”
Laura opened her eyes and frowned. “What do you mean it tried?”
“I mean it tried. And the drums cut out after a few seconds.” Emily glanced at Nickie, who stared at her with wide eyes, looking paler. “You okay?”
“Keep going,” Nickie muttered.
“Okay. So, the drums wouldn’t work, or whatever. It tried again and stopped again, like it couldn’t…I don’t know. Like a car engine that won’t turn over, right? It was super pissed, as far as I could tell from the woman’s face. And it yelled at me that it wasn’t finished. Oh, that little shimmery thing happened again.”
“What shimmery—”
“Like the first host. The guy in the vest. We chased him into the parking lot, remember? Then he kinda dropped, and the Gorafrex shimmered out of him.”
Nickie nodded. “Before it took that woman as the next host.”
“Right. That happened again last night. But the thing just, I dunno, sucked itself back into her body? And then it didn’t seem to have any problem at all with the drums.”
“It’s getting stronger,” Laura murmured, staring into her coffee cup.
“Yeah, I think so.” Emily nodded. “I don’t know how many hosts it’s had since we found the…dead witch in the second host’s house, but if the woman I saw last night was only the third, that means it’s staying inside them longer.”
“How’d you get away from it?” Nickie asked.
“The Clubhouse.”
Nickie’s eyes widened more. “What time was that?”
“I dunno. Maybe twelve-thirty. Almost one?”
“Oh, my god.” Nickie buried her face in her hands and took a breath. “I should’ve come looking for you. I should’ve gone straight home, and if I knew you were gone, maybe I could’ve helped.”
Emily blinked. “Really, Nickie. I’m okay.”
“Now you’re okay, yeah. But you almost weren’t.” Nickie shook her head and stared at the table. She took a sip of coffee to steel herself. “Okay, now I have to admit something.”
