Frowning, Kayla glanced over her shoulder to the backseat where Sam was still sitting there like a prop in a horror movie. “Have you ever considered that crazy ghost is a spy?”
Glancing into the rearview mirror, I studied Sam. He did look like he belonged in a horror movie with his bloody head and terror filled eyes. “I think you have a wild imagination. Besides, you are also a crazy ghost.”
“It’s your funeral,” Kayla said with a shrug before fading into a mist and disappearing.
I hated sassy ghosts!
Drawing in a deep breath, ignoring my annoyance with Kayla, I drove away from Shadow Grove. When I reached Old Post Road, I pointed Millie toward the Ricks Ranch, or the nut farm as Kayla had so sarcastically referred to it. I couldn’t say I disagreed. They were a pretty nutty bunch.
* * *
The sun was going down.
Where had the time gone?
I’d lost so much lost time that I had to wonder if I’d been abducted by aliens. Apparently, my time taking in Shadow Grove’s new look had taken longer than I’d realized.
Old Post Road turned into Highway 36 as it started into the Desolation Mountains. Technically, the Ricks Ranch wasn’t in Raven Point but it was still located in the Zone.
As I rounded a bend, Millie began coughing and sputtering.
My first thought was that I was running out of fuel but according to the gas gauge, I had half a tank.
What the heck?
As the engine died, I coasted to the side of the road. There was no telling what was wrong with it but I guessed it might have something to do with nearly wrecking Millie while on my way to Raven Point.
Either that or I’d been hexed. In the Zone, either scenario was possible.
Like most in the 21st century, I pulled out my mobile phone to call for help and like most people would do, I freaked when I saw there was no reception.
It’s the 21st century?
Why was there no reception?
Sighing, I stuffed the phone back into my pocket. This wasn’t good. The way I saw it, I had two choices. I could either stand on the side of the road or stick out my thumb, hoping for a ride or I could start walking. Waiting wasn’t an option. If my sisters were at that ranch, there was no way to know what was happening to them.
The ranch was still a couple miles away but if I took a shortcut through the woods, I could the distance down to about a mile.
The choice was easy. I had to get to that ranch and find my sisters. Besides, there was always the chance that once I made it away from the surrounding hills that I’d get some cell reception.
Checking my phone for reception every so often, I made my way through the trees and toward the Ricks ranch. Although I knew the area well, it had been years since I’d hiked the Desolation Mountains. It wasn’t long before I started to worry that maybe I was lost. Though the sun was getting lower in the western horizon, it was still behind me, which meant I was headed in the right direction.
Then I heard it. Something was tracking me.
Stopping, I scanned the trees for anything that looked out of place. There was nothing so I kept walking. A moment later I heard the sound of branches breaking beneath the weight of something or someone as they crept through the woods.
By the time I heard the growling, it was too late to react.
Chapter 17
I imagined this was what it was like to be hit by a Mack truck. One minute I was looking to see where the growling was coming from and the next, I was flying through the air. I hit the ground hard. Pain exploded in my head. Thankfully, before the pain became too excruciating, the world faded to black.
The music was hauntingly hypnotic.
That was the first thing that came to mind. The melody was so dark and seductive that it sent chills down my back.
But it was the deep, sexy voice that had me trembling.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for you,” he said, his sensuous voice sweeping over me like a lover’s caress.
Damian’s eyes pulled me in as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed against me. “You are an angel light in the darkness of man.”
I opened my mouth to question him by his lips pressed hard against mine. My legs seemed to melt beneath me until it was only his strong arms holding me up. His tongue invaded my mouth, compelling into acceptance.
Gasping, I pulled away but was unprepared for what happened next. The image of Damian spiraled into oblivion as I opened my eyes to star studded sky framed by the tops of the surrounding pine trees.
The dirt that was being tossed onto me was finding its way into my mouth and nostrils. Struggling to move, I tried to get up just to see a beast looming over me.
There was another explosion and then nothing.
* * *
“Get up! A dirt nap is one thing, but you have business to take care of.” The snarky, unpleasant voice echoed through my skull.
There was something strangely familiar about the voice. In fact, the spectral voice sounded quite a lot like Levi Jackson.
As angry as I was that he was harassing me while I was in the middle of dying, every time I opened my mouth, more dirt clogged my airway.
“If you don't do something, your nap will turn into a very long sleep.” the voice persisted, though now it was fainter and not so irritating. I was drifting toward a dark abyss and I had no idea what to do about it.
It was finally Ember’s voice that lured me back from that abyss. My little sister was pulling on my arm. “Come on, Destiny. Get up.”
Brushing the soil from my face, I gasped for air. This time I manage to actually pull some into my lungs. When I opened my eyes, Pippa, Ember, and Jackson was staring down at me.
Reaching down, Jackson offered his hand. Hesitantly, I let him help me up. As I sucked in more air, I studied the three of them. They were all covered with dirt.
“How did you know where to find me?” I asked when I’d finally recovered enough to force my tongue to actually form words.
Pippa glanced at Jackson as if the two of them were conspiring or knew something that I didn’t. “You better explain.”
Ember wrapped her arms around me. “I’m glad you are okay.”
“Thanks. I’m glad you’re okay. What happened?” I asked again, this time directing my question to Jackson.
“He’ll explain it to you. We’ll wait in the car,” Pippa said, grabbing Ember's arm and pulling her away.
For the first time I took in my surroundings. I’d been buried near a barn. I recognized it as one of the abandoned out buildings located on the Ricks property.
Jackson sank to the ground near where I was sitting. “How are you feeling?"
“Like a million dollars,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “How do you think I feel? Someone tried to kill me and actually bury me.”
“They did kill you,” he said, a frown marring his exquisitely handsome face.
“I might feel like death warmed over but I think I’m alive,” I told him. “So what happened?”
“I told you to wait for me. Your sisters were being held prisoner in that barn,” he said, pointing to the barn. “And there is evidence that others have been held in there. According to Pippa. She was ambushed and put in a hidden room below the ground. There was someone else in there that was taken out and sent into the woods. She heard them growling as they went after them. I think trafficking ring has something to do with the Ricks hunting humans.”
“Well, we have to get to the police and tell them,” I tried to get up but my legs wouldn’t hold me.
Jackson reached out to steady me. “Don’t rush it. You have to get used to your new biology.”
“What are you talking about?" I asked, furrowing my brows.
“You did die but for some reason didn’t stay dead. There's something about you that gives you extra lives or something.”
“Oh, give me a break. I just had a near death experience – a very strange NDE but still not actually dead. You’re not a doct
or so you just thought I was dead.”
“I know dead, I promise you,” he laughed. “I’m a reaper.”
“I thought you were a private investigator.”
“I am but I am also here to help guide souls to the other side. You have had the death halo hanging around you for a while. You were dead. It is still hanging around you,” he pointed to some place above my head.
Frowning, I looked above me but saw nothing. “Are you sure you’re not on drugs?"
“Very sure.” He nodded.
I wasn’t sure if he was screwing with me or if he was just nuts, but I decided to change the subject. “We have to get to a phone and call the sheriff.”
“I’m not wrong,” he said. “But obviously you will have to discover this on your own.”
Getting to his feet, he helped me up. “So, do you want a job?”
“Actually, maybe I do.” I was thinking about Damian and the experience I’d just had. Not only did I want to know more about this mysterious neighbor but I had a feeling that what happened with the Ricks was only the beginning of what was coming to Raven’s Point and the world.
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Bad Omens Page 10