Apocalypse For Realz

by Bella Street

  “You're sure.”

  Her cheeks reddened. “Yes, Gareth. I'm sure. She's exhausted.”

  “Well, last time she ended up sleeping with a corpse, so we need to pay a little more attention to detail.”

  Addison's green eyes flashed up at him.

  He felt her ire almost physically. “Hey, I'm just saying out loud what you two are thinking.”

  “Don't presume to know what's going on in my head,” Addison snapped.

  Lani took a deep breath. “Okay, we are not going to start bickering.”

  “Because right now all that matters is Seffy?” Addison said. “I've heard that one too many times. She's not the only one with issues around here, you know. We're all pretty much screwed.”

  “Yes, I see your point,” Lani said evenly, “but none of us has lost a loved one, so let's try for a little civility, shall we?”

  Gareth sighed, weary of the petty arguments they'd indulged in lately. “Okay, let me get to the point of why I called this meeting.”

  “Please tell us you've figured out a way for us to get back to 2006.”

  He shook his head at Addy. “We're getting closer, but apparently when we thought we were right last time, we were wrong.”

  “So you don't have any good news for us.”

  “Let him talk,” Lani said, exasperated.

  “It's not exactly good news, but may be a solution to a more immediate problem.” He looked down at his clasped hands. “I need you two to have an open mind here, because you're not going to like this idea at first.”

  Addison sat back, crossing her arms over her chest.

  “It's about Seffy, and her...difficulties. If the past months are any indication, she is going to lose it big this time.”

  “Gareth, have a little faith in people,” Lani chided.

  “Seffy is a danger to herself, Lani, and deep down you know that. How many episodes, seizures, disappearances, flights of fancy do we need to witness before we get her the real help she needs? Help she's always needed.”

  “That's not exactly fair,” Addison said in a low voice. “She was drugged and tortured, which accounts for a lot of her recent looniness.”

  “And obviously she's not recovered from those experiences, which is why we need to be ready.”

  “Why do you say that?” Lani asked.

  Addison snorted, her expression hard. “He thinks it's the only way Seffy would hook up with Trent.”

  “You ladies have very short memories. We were all united in our hatred of Trent at one time, even Sef.”

  “I never hated him,” Lani said. “I didn't particularly like him—”

  “I think we can say without question that Seffy is mentally and emotionally disturbed, and now coupled with her grief, she's basically a psychotic time bomb waiting to go off. Worst case scenario, she hurts herself. And I for one don't want to wait around and watch it all go down. I think if we lay out the facts to Olga, she might be able to help us.”

  Addison glanced at Lani.

  Lani kept her gaze averted and nibbled her lip. “So what do you propose?”

  Gareth took a deep breath, bracing himself for the storm to come. “Well, oddly enough, the solution has been staring us right in the face. Where are we sitting right now?”

  “In an abandoned psychiatric section of an ex-Soviet military compound in some remote corner of Montana,” Addison groused.

  “And how did people deal with the disturbed in places like this?”

  The redhead frowned, not following him.

  Lani sucked in her breath. “No, Gareth. You can't be serious.”

  “What is he talking about?”

  Lani shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes. “He's talking about a lobotomy.”

  Chapter Four

  Seffy ignored the fast-falling snow and howling wind, and trudged away from the compound towards the cemetery. Her hair flew out behind her, her pajamas flapped away from her body as she leaned into the wind. The ground was ice cold against her bare feet, but she didn't care. She had one goal and nothing would stop her.

  After stumbling and pushing her body past the point of exhaustion, she saw the grave. The freshly-dug dirt was evidenced by the lumpiness under the otherwise flat blanket of white.

  Seffy fell to her knees and began to dig. Trent would be freezing by now and she needed to get him inside the compound. Why she'd ever agreed to this whole burial idea, she couldn't imagine.

  The ground proved stubborn to her efforts and soon her chipped nails and bloody fingers made it difficult to continue.

  She breathed heavily, feeling the icy air fill the deep pockets of her lungs, and marshaled her strength for another push. Straining her muscles, she yanked up handfuls of dirt and cast it aside.

  Soon, she reached something solid. Seffy ran her hands along the damp wood, exulting that she'd nearly succeeded.

  It took nearly another hour before she'd freed the top part of the casket.

  Suddenly the lid of the casket moved. Seffy paused, wondering if she'd imagined it. Snow swirled around her making it difficult to see. When she heard the creaking of the hinges, she realized she hadn't imagined the movement at all.

  Before her eyes, the lid eased upward.

  Seffy sucked in a chilly breath, assailed by a quickening fear. Why would it open if its own accord? Something about that worried her, made her frown.

  She scrambled to her feet and twisted around, unwilling to watch. She'd heard of this happening before, graves opening, the dead rising. Scrunching her eyes closed, she concentrated on summoning an explanation.

  Her eyes snapped open. Of course! Trent was now a vampire. It only made sense. The werewolf theory was wrong. He'd obviously been bitten by a vampire and so his rising from the dead was the next step. He was coming for her and soon they'd be together forever.

  Forever. That was surely enough time.

  But a small fear kept her from looking behind her. Why was she afraid? He only wanted to be with her. Soon shame joined the fear, but Seffy was still unable to face him.

  The howling wind dropped for the space of a heartbeat and she felt his heat behind her, his breath on the curve of her neck. When his hands rested on her waist, she closed her eyes.

  Of course he understood her childish fear, and it didn't matter to him. He wouldn't let her silliness stop them from being bound together for eternity.

  The heat increased on her neck and she knew he was going to bite. It would probably pinch, but then it'd be over. Her blood would finally be cleansed of the death it held.

  Twin pokes pushed at her skin, cold and sharp. Seffy tensed, then forced herself to relax. It would over in a minute.

  Pain shot like liquid fire along her throat. God, she could feel the sinking of his fangs. Tears squirted from her eyes and froze on her cheeks. She bit her lip to stop from crying out, then tasted blood.

  She tried to twist away, but his hands caught her shoulders and held her in an iron grip. Still he bit, deeper and deeper until she couldn't hold back her cries.

  She caught her breath when the suction started. No! It was just a bite he needed to spread the poison or virus that caused the change, right? But the legend was faint in her mind. In fact, her surroundings became faint as the life blood surged from her throat to his. Dizziness rocked her, making it hard to hold her head up.

  Suddenly his bite became savage, galvanizing her to action.

  Drawing on the last of her strength, she tore from his grasp and stumbled forward in the snow.

  Touching her neck, she felt the holes. Her hand came away slick with warm blood. Fury filled her at his mistreatment, and she faced him, planning to accuse him for hurting her so.

  But instead of silvery gray eyes, blue ones stared back, glowing like a gas flame against the blinding whiteness. Blue eyes, high cheekbones, dark hair...and blood, sliding from his mouth, dripping from his skin. She could hear the patter of drops falling into the snow below, staining, creeping, tinting the white to
pink, pink to red. She looked back at him, finally realizing it wasn't Trent at all.

  It was Fenn, and he wasn't finished with her yet.

  She began to scream, but her voice was lost in the wind.

  Seffy lurched forward, hearing a hideous echo bouncing from the walls.

  Who screamed? She shoved her hair from her face and glanced around the room. The lamp was still on. When her breathing slowed somewhat, she realized the horrific images in her mind were remnants from a nightmare. But it was okay now. She was awake.

  Seffy glanced at the empty space next to her and frowned. She touched the pillow, surprised to find it cool. Where was Trent? She needed his nearness to chase away her scary dreams.

  After scooting from the bed, she checked the bathroom. Nothing. A pang of fear throbbed within her as she ran down the passage to her bedroom. He wasn't there either. She stood in the center of the room balling her hands, struggling to fight a nonsensical panic.

  Sweat beaded on her brow, making her realize she was wearing Trent's hoodie. Why? It wasn't cold in the room. On second thought, it would come in handy if he was in the Light Room. It was a lot colder up there. It'd be nice to have the extra protection until she could slide under the covers and snuggle with him.

  After returning to Trent's room, Seffy climbed onto the desk and moved the ceiling panel.

  Her smile turned to a frown when she saw the lights were out.

  A dark thought nibbled at the edges of her consciousness, but she ignored it and hoisted herself into the attic. Moments later, Seffy stared at the empty Light Room in confusion. The blankets were smooth and unwrinkled over the cushions. She turned and slowly made her way back, panic becoming an acrid taste on her tongue.

  His room was still empty when she returned, so she headed out into the hallway, determined to knock on every door until she found him.

  The door from her room swung open, but it wasn't Trent who burst into the hall, it was...Gareth?

  “Where the hell were you?”

  Seffy blinked, made nervous by his tone.

  He walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders. “Are you all right?”

  She nodded. “I had a bad dream.”

  “I guess so, judging by your scream.”

  Seffy looked past him to see Lani and Addison appear.

  “What was that scream?”

  Gareth continued to stare at her as he responded. “Sef had a nightmare.”

  Lani came up and put her arm around her. “Are you sure you're okay? I was so worried when I heard that—I mean it was so loud I could hear it all the way down the hall!”

  “I'm fine.” Seffy peeked up at Addison, wondering at her friend's wide green eyes.

  “Well, I'm not going to worry about a false alarm then,” Gareth said, giving her a hard side hug. “Are you going to be okay?”

  “You should let me stay with you,” Lani said gently, releasing her.

  Yeah, that wouldn't be awkward. Seffy pulled in a cleansing breath, wondering at their fawning attention. “Uh, I'm actually looking for Trent. When I woke up, he wasn't here, and I've been looking everywhere...”

  Three pairs of astonished eyes stared at her. She licked her lips, the dread growing stronger. “Have you seen him?”

  They glanced at each other before returning their gazes to her.

  “Sef.” Lani's voice cracked as she took her arm. “Let's go back into your room, okay?”

  “Why?”

  Lani nudged her toward her door. Once they were inside her darkened room, Gareth turned on the lamp. But it only illuminated their strange looks. “What's going on?”

  “You don't remember?” Addison said, her face pale.

  Seffy's stomach twisted. “Remember what?”

  Lani touched her shoulders, facing her. “Honey, Trent...died.”

  She went very still. “What are you saying?”

  “God, Sef, the funeral was a few hours ago. How can you not remember that?”

  Seffy began to shake. The hovering dread mushroomed, sucking the oxygen from her lungs. Images cascaded in her memory, unreality blending seamlessly with reality until nothing made sense. “So I was outside?” A new image shimmered in her mind. She touched her neck, feeling for holes, looking at her hands for blood, but finding none.

  “You were outside?” Lani shook her head. “You're confused. Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry you have to go through this.”

  “Go through what?” The room tunneled down and she swayed on her feet.

  “Sef, Trent is dead. He was shot.”

  Seffy turned to Gareth and stared at him in horror as a vague memory rose to the fore of him walking out of the woods with a rifle. She blinked against the growing darkness and clenched her fists.

  Blind fury propelled her forward. “You killed him!” She shoved him against the wall and punched at him with all her strength.

  “Seffy, stop it! Jared shot him.”

  “Murderer!” She fought off his hands, kicking and clawing at him until she felt someone pulling at her from behind.

  Suddenly her bones melted and everything went black.

  ***

  Gareth held Seffy's limp body in his arms, breathing hard through gritted teeth. “Anyone have a problem with me calling Olga?”

  Chapter Five

  Gareth decided he was seriously losing his touch. Olga's severe expression—despite her red eyes—didn't abate a whit, even after he'd tried a charm offensive when cold hard fact didn't persuade. His smile felt stiff, so he leaned back in her overstuffed chair and sighed. “Aren't you worried we could end up acting too late?”

  The nurse adjusted her half moon glasses then regarded him over their tops. “As I've said before, Seffy is grieving. It's work, and it's not unusual for people to do some strange things. So if you're truly worried that she needs help, talk to Fenn and he can bring in a psychiatrist, or there are several excellent doctors on staff who can help.”

  “The doctors around here wouldn't come near her,” Addison said morosely from where she sat perched next to Lani on a Victorian-styled sofa. “If it wasn't for you, Seffy would've been dead a long time ago.”

  “Maybe we should talk to Fenn first,” Lani said in a low voice.

  He snorted. “And that's been successful when?”

  “Gareth, I admit that I'm very fond of Seffy,” Olga said, “and the idea of any kind of Draconian medical intervention makes me squeamish for that reason alone, but at this point, you simply don't have a case. With her altered blood chemistry, coupled with the drug concoctions she's already been subjected to, I'm not comfortable with her being on anything stronger than over-the-counter medications. Besides, heavy drugs will only prolong the process. I understand that she's been upset, maybe even irrational—”

  “She's been super mean to Gareth.”

  “I thought you said you weren't qualified to make that judgment,” Gareth said, ignoring Addison's jab. “How can you say we don't have a case?”

  Olga pursed her lips and got up from the wingback chair. “You're welcome to pursue your options with someone more qualified. I'm afraid I'm very busy just now.”

  Lani lowered her gaze as if she was ashamed of the whole conversation. Addison arched a brow at him as if to say told you so. Gareth wondered how he'd gone awry of every female he knew. Even Fiona barely had time for him these days.

  He stood and tried to soften his disappointment with a smile. “Thank you for seeing us, Olga. I know Seffy is very fortunate to have your support.”

  Her face softened slightly. “Where is she now?”

  “Malone is staying with her while she rests,” Lani said.

  “I do have some mild sleeping pills, non-narcotic, of course. Let me get those.”

  Gareth watched the nurse go into the kitchen. There was a curtain separating the kitchen from view. That was new.

  He looked up at the ceiling. Maybe he was wasting his time trying to get Seffy under control. No matter how bizarre her behavior, there was al
ways some excuse. He decided to redouble his efforts to push Fiona on the time-travel thing. There was no reason it should be taking this long, and maybe by getting Seffy and the others back soon, the nightmare would end for good.

  Olga returned with a small plastic bottle, which she handed to Lani. “They're very mild but Seffy shouldn't have access to them all at once.”

  Lani nodded, then sent a sidelong glance at Gareth.

  Addison led the way out the door and they made the long trek back to their rooms in silence.

  ***

  “You know they think you're crazy,” Malone said in his usual gruff voice.

  Seffy ignored him and continued looking for the latch to the French door. She knew it was in the wall somewhere, under layers of beige paint.

  “Especially if you keep scratching at the wall like that.”

  Seffy spun around and glared at him. His shiny bald head, pale green eyes, and dark goatee made him look exactly like the low-level ex-henchman he was.

  “I'm just saying, they're lookin' to find some way to put you in the loony bin.”

  “I'm already in the loony bin.”

  Malone got up and walked across the room. He took her by the wrist and drew her to the side of the couch where she reluctantly sank onto the cushions.

  “Gareth and your friends will be back soon,” he said, returning to the desk chair.

  “I don't want to see Gareth. He's a murderer.”

  Malone crossed his arms over his chest. “Who did he murder, princess?”

  Seffy looked down at her hands, at the faint bruising under her skin, and frowned. “He's a murderer.”

  “If anyone is guilty, it's me.”

  She glanced up at him, wondering why he was in her room.

  “It was my responsibility to maintain control of my firearm, and I failed.”

  Seffy got up and returned to the wall. Through the French doors, maybe she'd see him. Maybe he was coming back to her.

  She sensed a presence behind her and looked up to find Malone. His fierce gaze was shadowed by heavy brows.