Ready or Not (The Hide and Seek Trilogy Book 3)

by Mark Ayre

  “They transferred to her?”

  Pluto nodded at Mercury, who continued the line of logic.

  “That means if someone can kill Cleo, that someone would take her power. That same someone would be able to stop the weapon and save the world. That about the size of it?”

  “It is. If we don’t kill her too late.”

  “And that knife will kill her?”

  “With a direct hit to the heart, it should do the job. It’s worth noting Cleo’s power makes it incredibly difficult to get near her if she wants you to stay away. The previous commander let his guard down. Having profited from such carelessness, Cleo has never allowed anyone the chance to attack let alone kill her.”

  “So we’re probably still screwed.”

  “Probably.”

  Mercury crossed the room, collected the blade and held it aloft, staring at the shining metal. It stank, but other than that was like any other knife. Amazing to think it could kill a creature with such incredible power.

  “Does it have to be you who kills her?” Mercury asked. “You who takes the power?”

  Pluto didn’t answer immediately. Worse, he looked away from Mercury and made it clear he did not want to answer.

  “What?” she said.

  “It shouldn’t be me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I can’t return home. Not without tearing that same hole between dimensions that Cleo wants to tear. When Cleo killed the commander, the transference of power shredded her possessed body. Her spirit was released. But that isn’t supposed to happen. Our spirit forms aren’t meant for ordinary worlds. Once she broke free of her skin, with all that power, there were natural disasters, cataclysmic events all over the globe. Millions died and kept dying until Cleo tore a hole between realities and annihilated everyone anyway. All of which is to say if I kill Cleo, the world will still face an apocalypse. It cannot be me.”

  Mercury placed the knife on the table. She still held Xyla who slept calmly. Trey was a little dazed but was coming into focus. He had been listening. It had internalised for him slower than for Mercury. He still got it.

  “Say it then,” said Mercury. “You always needed at least one human by your side. Tell us the plan.”

  Pluto sighed. He didn’t want to. What choice did he have?

  “One of you or another human puts the knife through Cleo. You take her power. I don’t know for sure, but I imagine you’ll have a minute or two in which to stop the walls between dimensions from tearing. After that, the power will overwhelm your body.”

  “But we don’t have a spirit form to release,” said Mercury.

  “No,” said Pluto. “I believe it’ll kill you.”

  Trey fell back in his chair, head once more in his hands. Mercury kissed the top of Xyla’s head and nodded. In a way, this was a relief. The decision made for her. She met Pluto’s eye.

  “Well, consider me your volunteer.”

  “You mean—“

  “I’ll do it. I’ll die, and we’ll save the world. Let’s do this.”

  Thirty-Eight

  Most of their walk they spent in silence. Edie led Sam on a loop through the trees, and they ended up around the back of the house. They came to the front and sat outside the front door, their backs against the wall.

  Close to her father again, knowing he was right around the corner, and as dead as before, tears glistened in Edie’s eyes. She was so strong but could only hold it together for so long. Knowing this was her time to be the brave one. Wanting to be the brave one. Sam reached out a hand, and Edie took it. The two teenagers entwined their fingers. They stayed that way in silence, drawing strength from one another until there was movement within the house.

  “Thank you,” Edie said to Sam as Mercury stepped outside, followed by Pluto and Trey. “I’ve enjoyed our walk.”

  “I’ve enjoyed it too,” said Sam. “I hope to see you again.”

  Edie smiled, leaned in, gave Sam a hug. It was strange, to feel so close to this younger girl when they’d only just met. Maybe it wasn’t surprising. Sam hadn’t had any friends in a long time. Benny was all she had. She’d thought he was enough. Maybe she’d been fooling herself.

  As she broke from the hug and rose, Pluto said, “Where’s Stephanie?”

  “She left,” said Sam. “She wasn’t happy with you wanting to save the world. She doesn’t think it deserves to live. She started talking about Noah’s ark.”

  Pluto sighed. “I should have killed her the moment she’d got you on board. Her heart was dark. I could see that. She would have been a valuable ally if she could have stayed the course.”

  Sam didn’t know what to say. She hated Stephanie. No doubt the evil beauty deserved to die. But she was coming to terms with Pluto being the good guy. Though it was naive, she didn’t like to think that good guys ever killed. She liked her heroes pure.

  “I don’t think we’ll see her again,” she said at last.

  “I hope you’re right.”

  Trey had been looking at Mercury, who stood over Edie. Girl and woman looked awkwardly at each other. Trey read the situation well.

  Moving past Mercury, he leaned over and kissed Edie on the cheek. He hugged her and told her he was sorry for her loss. Promised he would come and see her if they survived the coming ordeal. Then he rose and gripped Mercury’s shoulder.

  “We’ll meet you at the car.”

  Keen to get going, Pluto prepared to interject. Sam caught his eye and shook her head. Trey also gave him a meaningful look.

  “Right,” he said. “At the car.”

  Sam smiled again at Edie, told her to stay safe, then followed Trey and Pluto away from the woods, away from the carnage, and on to wherever next.

  Mercury and Edie watched the trio walk away. Stepping over the girl’s legs, Mercury dropped to her side, sitting where Sam had sat. As had Sam and Edie, they held hands. In Mercury’s free arm, Xyla slept soundly.

  For thirty seconds, neither spoke. They stared into the trees and at the sky. They didn’t meet each other’s eye. Mercury might have sat that way forever. Once again, Edie was ready to play the responsible adult, even if the actual adult wouldn’t.

  “They’ll be waiting for you. You should go.”

  Mercury forced herself to turn her head, to look at the girl. She smiled and tilted her head to the side. Edie tilted hers, and they pressed their heads together. Their hands remained entwined.

  “I don’t like leaving you alone. Especially not with—“she stopped short of mentioning Will. Edie didn’t seem to blame Mercury, but how could she not? If Mercury hadn’t come, those bastards wouldn’t have torn apart Edie’s life. Again. “It’s not fair.”

  “Nothing about this is,” said Edie. “Never blame yourself for what happened to my dad, please. I know he got angry when you arrived, but he agreed to hold that stuff because he understood the importance of your mission. You’re trying to save the world, and bad guys are trying to stop you. They followed you here. I hate that I’ve lost my daddy. It breaks my heart, but don’t ever, ever blame yourself, okay?”

  Mercury squeezed Edie’s hand, kissed the girl’s head. “I don’t know where you get your strength.”

  “That’s not an answer.”

  Mercury smiled. “Okay. I’ll try. For you, I’ll try not to blame myself.”

  Edie removed her hand from Mercury and stood. Bending over, she claimed the sleeping Xyla from Mercury’s arms.

  “I’ll call the police as soon as you’ve gone. I want you to focus on saving the world. Once it’s done, I’d love to see you again. If you still want to see me.”

  “You know that I do.”

  Rising, Mercury hugged Edie and Xyla. The hug went on too long. Again it was Edie who had the strength to push Mercury away, turn around and look into the hall at her father, still against the stairs. Tears broke into the girl’s eyes. She stayed strong, kept hold of Xyla.

  “Edie—“ Mercury started, but the girl turned to her with a smile. />
  “I’ll be okay. You have to go now. Keep doing the right thing.”

  Mercury nodded. Came forward and gave the girl one last kiss on the head, then turned away.

  As she started to leave, Edie said, “I know you’re going to win. I can’t wait to see you again.”

  Turning back, Mercury saw Edie was still staring into the house, at her father. She hadn’t looked to Mercury as she spoke.

  The words came, rushing up her throat. Mercury opened her mouth and was going to tell Edie she was going to die, no matter what. Because she had to die. Being honest with Edie, who hoped soon to see Mercury again, would be the right thing to do.

  After a few seconds, Mercury’s mouth closed, the words sank into the pit of her stomach, residing beside her cowardice. If only she could have had a tenth of the strength as did Edie.

  “Love you, kid,” was all she could manage.

  This time Edie did look back. Her smile was heartbreaking.

  “Love you too.”

  Crying freely but quietly, Mercury turned away from Edie and walked off to join the others.

  Thirty-Nine

  Stephanie had stolen the car. That meant they would have to travel with Mercury. The problem being Mercury’s car was penned in by the vehicles of their recent assailants. They couldn’t ask the assailants to move their cars because they were dead, and no one had the appetite to return to the house and start routing through dead bodies.

  “Merc can probably turn around,” said Trey. “The problem is getting it back up the path.”

  “Let me deal with that.”

  While Pluto went to the side of the first car to be as good as his word, Trey looked to Sam. In the company of Amira and Mercury, Trey had always felt both young and woefully out of his depth. Here was someone even younger than he, with no experience of the threat they were facing. Confusion was written over her face. Sadness too. She could see the importance of what they were trying to do but didn’t want to be there. Trey had heard a little about Sam’s brother. Enough to form a picture.

  “You’re worried about Benny,” he said.

  Sam seemed startled that someone had spoken to her. When she had gathered herself, she nodded.

  “Tell me about him.”

  She flushed a little. Shook her head.

  “You don’t want to hear about him. About me.”

  “Sure I do,” said Trey. “Asked didn’t I? Stephanie said you’d lost your parents too?”

  Sam nodded. “In a car accident. Few years ago now.” She said this last line as if to brush it away. Few years ago, no big deal. Trey could tell she was on the verge of tears as she pushed the topic to him. “What about you?”

  “My father had a terminal illness for a long time,” said Trey. “Before it could win, someone stabbed him to death.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. My family were not good people. You’ve been involved in a ritual? To raise Pluto? That’s why your brother’s in hospital?”

  Sam nodded.

  “Someone died, I’d guess?”

  A little surprised, Sam nodded again.

  “Death petrified my father. He sent his three children to perform a ritual on a stranger. Idea being, if we could nail a test run, we could then possess him. The ritual worked. Problem was it killed my siblings.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said again.

  “Still don’t have to be. I spent my childhood, my adolescence, and the first couple of years of adulthood desperate to make my family proud. Took me too long to realise I was an idiot. It wasn’t that they were crooked, though they were. They were abusive. I suffered many beatings at the hands of my father and brother. As well as some of their colleagues. Contempt was all my sister and mother could offer.”

  “Did you upset them?”

  The question came, and Sam flushed a furious red. Trey understood why. She had asked thinking not about Trey, but about herself. It was enough to confirm Trey was right in his beliefs about her brother. The thought of it made his blood boil.

  “Sometimes I upset them, sometimes I didn’t,” said Trey. “Here’s what I’ve since learned. The people who love you should never hurt you. They might lay a punch on you and call it punishment. They might twist your wrist so hard it breaks then tell you it wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t upset them. They’ll say it comes from love. They’re wrong. They’re probably not lying. They’re deluded. It’s not love. It’s abuse.”

  Trey watched for a reaction. Sam was playing with her hands. She turned to Pluto who had lifted one car and shoved it into a tree, crushing it enough to move it out of the way. He was on to the next one. Sam watched it tilt, tip.

  “You want to talk about your brother?” Trey asked.

  It was a bridge too far.

  “Mercury’s here. We have to get going.”

  She turned and rushed towards Pluto as Mercury stepped through the trees and stopped beside Trey.

  “You okay?” He asked.

  “Nope.”

  “Me neither. Shall we do this?”

  “Yep.”

  They prepared to leave.

  Pluto warned them they didn’t have much time. He was an advocate for driving straight to the mansion and facing Cleo head-on.

  Mercury chucked the black bag into the back, where sat Sam and Pluto.

  “You said we have a few more hours. I say we use them.”

  “Money,” said Pluto, looking through the bag. “What good is this?”

  “We’re going to meet one of Amira’s contacts,” said Mercury. “We’re going to give him that money, and he’ll give us a weapon.”

  Mercury passed Trey the little black book.

  “Then we’re going to destroy Cleo.”

  Amira’s contact lived on a farm. Trey had to jump out the front and open an old, creaking gate before they could proceed. They drove another thirty seconds after that through mud and puddles before pulling up in front of the farmhouse.

  The farm owner, Dwight, answered within ten seconds of Mercury ringing the bell. As soon as he did, Mercury handed him the little black book, opened to the page on which could be found his name. Glancing over Mercury’s shoulder, he saw Pluto, noted the black bag in his hand.

  “Where’s Amira?” He asked.

  “Dead. Can we still do business?”

  Dwight held Mercury’s eye a moment, looked again to the bag, then back at Mercury.

  “Don’t see why not. Come in.”

  The house was creaky and old. Drafty. The ceilings were low enough to cause Dwight and Trey problems.

  In the living room, they found a tiny, ancient TV, a dresser, and a couple of sofas. A circular, patterned rug covered a sizeable section of the wood flooring.

  There were no pleasantries, preliminaries or formalities. Dwight offered no one a drink, which was a shame because Mercury was parched. As soon as they entered the living room, Dwight reached into his cliched farmer’s gilet and withdrew a gun which was most certainly not a farmer’s cliche. Small, snug, sleek, it looked more suited to James Bond than someone who, supposedly, spent his time tilling fields and milking cows.

  “I trusted Amira,” Dwight said. “She told me about you two—“ he pointed to Mercury and Trey. “Gave me descriptions.” He pointed at Sam and Pluto. “Don’t know you two. I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt cause of who you’re with but let me be clear, this gun ain’t a toy, and it ain’t a prop. I know how to use it. Anyone tries to mess me about you’ll be dead before you have a chance to piss your pants. And I got plenty of land what’s perfect for burying bodies under. Everyone understand?”

  Pluto and Trey nodded. Mercury said, “Couldn’t get it more.”

  Dwight pointed his gun at Sam, who whimpered. “That one looks terrified.”

  “Big surprise,” said Mercury. “Sam, would you like to wait outside?”

  Sam didn’t give an answer one way or the other, but her terror was clear to see. Mercury turned back to Dwight.

&nb
sp; “Can she wait outside?”

  Dwight considered. Looked Sam up and down. Smartly decided she wasn’t a threat. She wouldn’t be setting the house on fire while they conducted their business.

  He nodded.

  “Go on,” said Mercury. “Go wait by the car. Want someone to go with you?”

  Sam glanced at Trey, then shook her head.

  “I’ll be okay.”

  They watched her leave. Uncomfortable with the situation, Mercury nodded to Trey.

  “Maybe you should go with her.”

  “No no,” said Dwight. “You start shifting more people about, I’ll get jittery. What say we do this. You can all join little missy in a few minutes.”

  Mercury looked to Trey, who nodded. Mercury passed the nod down the line to Dwight, who pointed at Pluto.

  “Show me the money.”

  “Hey, that’s Tom Cruise as well,” said Mercury, and was roundly ignored as Pluto unzipped the bag and chucked it to Dwight.

  Catching the goods one-handed, so as not to give up his gun, Dwight dropped to the floor and with the same one hand routed through the money, checking everything was present and accounted for.

  “I thought you trusted Amira,” said Mercury.

  “There’s trust,” said Dwight. “Then there’s trust. But you’re all good.”

  Rising, he nudged the bag to one side. With one hand still on his gun, he whipped back the rug. Beneath lay a trap door, set into which was a small indent, big enough to get inside a finger and pull. Dwight pointed his gun at Mercury.

  “Open it.”

  Mercury did as asked. When she lifted the trap door, automatic lighting flicked into life, illuminating the hidden cellar below.

  “Fancy,” said Mercury.

  Dwight only grunted. Pointed down the hatch. “You first.”

  A fixed ladder led into the hole, but there wasn’t far to go. Mercury sat on the edge and dropped before moving aside to make room for whoever came next.

  The cellar was as large as, if not a little larger than, the living room above. The walls were stone. Affixed to them on all sides were rudimentary wooden racking. On the racking were hundreds of guns in numerous varieties, including handguns, rifles, automatic rifles, sub machine-guns, pump-action shotguns, standard shotguns and a few Mercury didn’t recognise. On the shelves that held no guns were boxes packed with thousands of bullets and a multitude of grenades, plastic explosives, Semtex, dynamite and a load more products that went bang under the right conditions.