I dived into the back with him and opened a cabinet, pulling out an underwater breathing unit. I put the oxygen mask over Augie’s mouth. He bit down on the mouthpiece as I turned the valve.
After he stopped freaking out, he gave me a thumbs up. He pointed to the surface. I shook my head. He shrugged his shoulders as if to ask why.
I wasn’t going to leave this truck.
Not only was it my favorite truck, I had too many valuables in the back. Things that were irreplaceable. I put my hands into fists and acted out like I was driving the wheel. Then I pointed up. He shook his head and shrugged with a That’s Crazy gesture.
But I knew better.
I swam out the back and hurried to the front driver seat. I was running out of air. I didn’t have another breathing apparatus.
The engine was still going. With my foot on the gas, I punched it. The truck rolled as I drove along the bottom of the lake. The new tires were large and, aside from the flat tire, were all gripping like they were made for this.
I drove over logs and garbage. The incline to get out would be the hardest. Gaining traction up a wet hillside wasn’t ideal. As we came up to the hill, I gunned it.
The tires gripped the mud and pulled us to the surface. We drove out of the lake onto the bank like it was something we did every day.
Rolling to the surface, I let my foot off the gas and parked it. As the water poured out, I opened the door and fell to the ground, gasping for air.
I coughed and sputtered like the engine.
Old. Used. And rusty.
But I had more miles in me.
Augie ran to my side. “Holy shit,” he said, jumping up and down. He was full of adrenaline. “That was awesome.”
I coughed water from my lungs until I was dry heaving. “Not awesome,” was all I was able to get out.
“You drove the truck across the bottom of the lake, man.”
“Had to.”
“I didn’t think that was possible.”
“Everything is possible,” I said, coughing and wheezing. I patted the door like man’s best friend. “Good boy.”
Leaning against the truck, I crashed and breathed deeply until my air intake became normal.
On the lake in front of us was a rowboat with an old man holding a fishing rod. He was staring at us, unmoving. His fishing line was extended all the way to the front grill of the Chevy.
Probably not the catch he was expecting.
I got to my feet, almost losing balance. I unhooked the fishing line and dropped it. “Sorry,” I said, waving at him. Without changing his blank expression, he waved back.
I grabbed Augie. “Tell me you didn’t ingest any of that water,” I said.
“I don’t think so. Why?”
“It was infected with Landon.”
“Professor Landon is dead.”
I scoffed. “You’re a regular brainiac, aren’t you?”
“Why did the blood do that to him?”
“Forever blood is potent. The results are unpredictable.”
“But it healed you when you used it.”
“It has to be distilled. Cooked.”
“Like meth?”
“Yeah, like meth. It combines with other elements to form a delicate and volatile cocktail. Only three people alive even know how to do it.”
“Like Heisenberg?”
“What?”
“Walter White from Breaking Bad.”
“No more Netflix for you.”
“What I gave Professor Landon wasn’t the cocktail?”
“What you injected into Landon was pure blood,” I said, getting to my feet. “We’re lucky it wasn’t worse.”
“Wasn’t worse? He’s dead. How do we find the portal to my mom now? He was the only one who knew where it is.”
“We improvise.”
I went to the back of the truck. Searched through the drawers and pulled out a small talisman attached to a necklace. By the wheel well sat Landon’s disembodied head and torso lying underneath the beast’s dead body. I kicked it aside, slipped my fingers between Landon’s ribs, and brought it with me.
I dumped it on the grass near the passenger side of the truck, away from the fisherman and other prying eyes. When I dropped it, his mouth let out a wisp of black dry dust. A strange occurrence, considering we were just in a body of water and he had no lungs.
The remains were a black, burned set of ribs with Landon’s scorched head attached. It was so charred black, it looked like I pulled it from the center of Chernobyl.
It didn’t look human.
Hopefully, if any nosey Netties saw it as they passed by, they wouldn’t know what the hell they were looking at. And, in turn, wouldn’t be suspicious enough to call the police.
Augie stepped back and acted like he was going to vomit. “Oh, God,” he said, holding his stomach and mouth. “That’s so gross.”
The grass around the carcass faded to brown and gray. In seconds, a three-foot radius around the body was nothing but dead grass.
I crouched next to the remains and held the talisman over Landon’s heart. Rather, where his heart used to be. The spiritual blueprint of the body was still there, even if its physical equivalent wasn’t. To put it simply, in the spirit dimension, his heart was still in his chest.
I felt the talisman come alive. The necklace is from an old necromancer I use to do business with. I took it off his dead body after driving a dagger through his heart. Don’t weep for him, he was an asshole. He got what was coming.
The jewel is a conduit of spiritual energy. I may not be a necromancer, but over the years you tend to pick up a trick or two.
Augie leaned on his knees. “What are you doing? Saying a prayer?”
“Something like that.”
“I didn’t know you did magic.”
“Shut up.”
The kid was naïve. He still thought magic was actually a thing. There are only the laws of the universe.
Either you know them or you don’t.
Ninety eight percent of the universe is a mystery to us, but only because we don’t understand it, not because it’s magical. Science is that small part of the universe we understand. What we call magic is our lack of understanding. When you understand something, it’s no longer magic. It’s science.
Holding the jewel over Landon’s heart, I imagined Landon standing before me. Seeing his round pudgy face. Hearing his annoying voice. Listening to his stupid, degrading jokes.
I whispered, “Immaru Lu. Gi lu za eme. Harold Barry Landon.” The talisman swayed in circles around Landon’s chest. Similar to a dowsing rod finding water underground, it was searching for Landon.
I looked up, expecting to see Harry Landon. He wasn’t there.
“It’s not working,” I said.
“What’s supposed to happen?”
“It was a fifty-fifty shot,” I said. “I’ll have to figure out another way to—”
“What’re you guys looking at?” Harry asked, his voice coming from behind Augie.
Augie spun back. “Holy hell!” He flipped out and fell forward, tripping over the corpse. “Professor Landon?”
Landon looked at the dead charred head and ribs on the ground. He leaned over to get a better look. “What happened to that poor bastard?”
It was always unpredictable with these things. Especially when the person was killed by supernatural means such as Forever blood. Landon wasn’t a ghost, you see. Not really.
He was a Remnant, a left-over phantasm, the reflection of the energy body he once was. This wasn’t his spirit, it was an echo. An echo that could interact with the world. If even for a brief moment in time.
“Landon,” I said. “You need to give me the location of the gateway to Ghostworld. And you need to give it to me right now.”
“As soon as I give you that location, you’ll kill me.”
He didn’t know he was dead. He didn’t recognize the darkened face of the remains. I needed to get an answer before he realized
he was dead. If he discovered that, it would be all over.
“Harold, I won’t kill you,” I said. “I promise. I’ll let you loose from our contract. You’ll no longer have to be my informant. Ever. You just have to tell me where the gateway is.”
“How can I trust you’ll keep your word?”
“I always keep my word.”
“What about the time that hot tour guide really liked me and you said I could sleep with her but only after you interrogated her?”
“I kept my word. I interrogated her and she was all yours.”
“You turned her into a zombie.”
“At least you knew she was available.”
“What about that time you said you wouldn’t stab me in the back and you literally stabbed me in the back?”
“You had a bee on your back and you’re allergic.”
“You stabbed me with a pitchfork.”
“It was a really big bee.”
“What about the time—”
“Okay,” I said. “I get it. I haven’t treated you well. But I’m keeping my word now. Give me the gateway and you’ll be indebted to me no more. You’re free.”
“And a million bucks,” he said.
“What?”
“You always have a backup plan. I know you have money stashed somewhere. In case of a rainy day.”
“Fine. It’s yours.”
“And the Forever blood so I can heal my fucked up heart. I want more than six months.”
“Done,” I said. “Now give me the location.”
“You drive a hard bargain, Ivy. But okay.” If it was that easy to get the info, I should have thought of it before he died. Then again, I wouldn’t have made that deal when he was alive. I wouldn’t have given him the blood. And he was worth more to me as a snitch than a million dollars.
Landon was losing focus. He stared into empty space.
“Focus, Harry,” I said, snapping my fingers in front of his face.
“Oh, right,” he said, shaking his head. “His name is Rory. Good kid. A student of mine. Stumbled upon the portal in his new apartment. It’s a crazy ass apartment too, let me tell you. Built on a nexus between worlds. Who the hell builds an apartment building on a nexus anyway?”
“Landon,” I said. “What’s his last name?”
“Right, sorry. Rory’s last name is-” He noticed the face on the ground and cocked his head. “Wait. Who is that?”
“It’s no one you know, Harold,” I said with sternness in my voice. “Tell me Rory’s last name. Now.”
“Seriously, guys. Who is that?” He looked closer at the remains. “That poor chump looks kind of like me.”
Before I could stop him, Augie opened his big, stupid mouth. “Of course it’s you, Professor Landon,” he said. “You’re dead.”
A look of horror came on Landon’s face. “I’m dead?”
I sighed and massaged the bridge of my nose, shaking my head. “Shit.”
Augie’s voice raised an octave. “You don’t know you’re dead?”
“I’m not dead,” the phantasm said. “I’m right here. Wait. How did I get here?” The phantasm started to fade like a bad signal on an old TV. Flickering in and out. “I got shot. In the back of your fucking camper, Ivy. I didn’t make it, did I?”
“No, you didn’t,” I said. There was no point in hiding it anymore.
“That is me on the ground, isn’t it? Looking like an overcooked cheese-stuffed bratwurst. I don’t want to be dead. I have six months left. Solomon, you promised.” He faded into the air, the wind carrying the ethereal ashes of his spirit. “I have six months…”
He was gone. Like I said, Landon was a Remnant. An echo. And like all echoes, it eventually fades away.
Augie’s expression went blank.
I turned to him. “You look like you just fucked your mother.”
He shook his head. “Why do I feel that was all my fault?”
“Because it was, you idiot. We almost had the name. You shouldn’t have told him he was dead.”
“What was I supposed to do? Lie to him?”
“Yes. I thought that was obvious.”
“How can you lie to a ghost, man?”
“It wasn’t a ghost. It was—” I got up. “Nevermind. He’s gone now. We can’t get him back.”
“Well, at least we have a first name.”
“Which isn’t worth dick if we can’t find the last.”
“Are we screwed?”
I pulled out my phone. It was underwater too long. It was dead. Even with the water resistant case. Piece of crap. I opened the front seat and pulled out a red tool box.
My lifeline.
I opened it and searched past the guns and knives until I found the ziploc bag holding several burner phones. I grabbed it and called Zac. On the fifth ring, he answered.
“Zachary’s fish pizza. You got the dime. We got the anchovies.”
“Zac, I need you to find someone’s whereabouts.”
“Go for it, boss.”
“His first name is Rory. No last name. He was in Landon’s philosophy class. Within the past five years probably. You’re looking for an apartment building with a history of weird reports.”
“What kind of weird?”
“It’s on a nexus.”
“No kidding?”
“There’d be known disappearances. High turnover. Tenants skipping out on rent and never being heard from again. Possible sightings of ghosts, demons, or monsters.”
“Yeah, but people might not report that for fear of looking batshit.”
“He was Landon’s student, so it’s probably safe to say he lives in the same district as his school. Or close by.”
“That’s a good place to start.”
“I don’t have to tell you we need this yesterday.”
“Lucky for you I have a DeLorean. I’ll call you back when I find him.”
CLICK.
I dropped the phone in my pocket and stuffed the toolbox behind the seat.
“We’re going to Zac’s to regroup,” I said, my eye catching traffic in the truck’s rearview.
“Can Serena contact Professor Landon?”
“What?”
“I mean, she does all that crazy magic shit, right? Can she do a seance or something? Isn’t that what necromancers do?”
“Serena can’t help.” She could, but I wasn’t about to ask her. She was difficult enough on a good day. But when she knows you need her, she’s unbearable. And we were already in her debt as it was.
“Are you sure?” Augie asked. “She found my mom’s spirit pretty fast—”
“I can do it myself, August. We don’t need her.” I walked around to the driver’s side and got in. I slammed the door, but Augie wasn’t in the passenger seat.
“August?”
A bright array of liquid light flashed in the passenger side mirror. I jumped out and ran around the truck.
“August?”
His Ore necklace was on the ground. The piece in his back pocket must have come out in the lake.
A half mile down the road, past the bridge, skidding away, was Poe’s black SUV.
Augie was gone.
Chapter 31
The Reverend
“So let me get this straight,” Zac said. “You landed in the lake and drove the truck to shore?”
“Did I stutter?” I said. It was almost midnight and I was tired, pissed, and hungry. I rifled through the closet for new outfits. All the clothes in my camper closet were soaked. I had a few old backups here.
“I didn’t think that was possible,” he said.
I pulled out the outfit I was looking for. “Look it up.”
He typed away on his computer.
Serena stood behind me, smacking her annoying gum in my ear. “Landon is dead?”
“Deader than most,” I said.
“I could summon his spirit. Find out where the gateway is.”
“Zac’s on it.”
She blew a bubble and cl
eared off Zac’s magazines from the bean bag chair. “They took Augie?”
“That’s what I said. Don’t act like you care about the boy.”
“He’s a good kid,” she said.
“He’s just a plaything to you,” I said. “A means to get your own Forever Person to brainwash.”
“Maybe,” she said, planting herself on the bean bag chair. “But I like him.”
“You don’t like him. You like what he can do for you. You use people, Acosta. And when they’re all used up, when they have nothing left, you discard them like empty soda cans.”
“What can I say?” she said, glaring at me. She stretched the gum from her mouth and twirled it around her finger. “I had a good teacher.”
“They won’t kill August,” I said, holding the black robe to the mirror. “They’ll use him to get to me.”
“Are you sure they won’t find us here?” Zac asked. “I’ve got a lot of stuff here that’s valuable. Like my soul.”
“Don’t worry. They didn’t get close enough to pinpoint the apartment’s location. And they can’t teleport in. It’s warded with Ore.”
Zac scratched his chin. “Still, I’m going to have a hard time sleeping tonight knowing they tracked us here.”
“Sleep with a gun under your pillow. Or two,” I said, dusting off the pastor’s outfit. “You’ll sleep better and live longer.”
Zac eyed the pastor robe. “Back to the old digs?” he asked. “Return of the Reverend?”
“Not likely. I need a way to get to the girl without suspicion.” I rubbed a dirty spot on the white collar.
Serena sat up. “What girl?”
I closed the closet. “The survivor,” I said. After taking an unexpected bath in the lake, I needed a shower.
Zac stared at his monitor. “Maya Hayes,” he said, clicking through her info on screen. “Twenty one years old. Currently unemployed. Last place of employment was at Russo’s Garage and Auto. Went to college at the Chicago Art Institute, but dropped out.” He turned and shook his head. “Why the hell would someone drop out of art college?” He returned to the screen. “She loves poetry, Harleys, and rebuilding engines.”
“I need to find out what she knows,” I said, putting the Beretta in my holster and setting it on the table.
Memoirs of a Monster Killer: Killing Forever Book 1 Page 17
