Claire laughed, feeling good for the first time in a long time. She reached up and wiped the tears from her face. “You two have to stop, or I’m gonna wreck the car.”
Frank shrugged. “I’ll just teleport to safety.”
“I’m already dead,” Al remarked. “So, you’ll only be hurting yourself.”
Claire glanced at Frank. “How have neither of us asked him about that?”
“About what, lass?”
Claire looked in the rearview again. “If you’re dead, can you be hurt? Is this god going to be able to do anything to you?”
Al’s body shifted so that he appeared to be staring out the window. “Oh yeah. Hades can do a lot to me. No doubt about that.”
Claire’s eyes narrowed. “But can he kill you again?”
“There are things worse than death, kid,” Al replied softly.
Claire was quiet for a moment. “Are you scared?”
“Me hos ain’t scared of nothin’, lass, save me hands.” Frank turned his head over his shoulder. “Ain’t that right, Al?”
She knew Frank was trying to keep the mood light, but Al didn’t move from looking out the window, and when he spoke, his voice was grave. “Yeah, I am. Claire, you, those guys in the car in front of us, they look at him as a mythological being. Something that’s not real. That’s not the way I know him, and despite Frank’s joking, it’s not the way he knows him either. Hades is a god, and with that comes everything you would think. Almost unlimited power. If he wins, it won’t be good for any of us. Not your friends, not us three, not those in the other car. Not for anyone on Earth.”
Claire’s smile had died away as she looked out the front window. She didn’t say anything for a second, then reached over and tapped Frank on his knee. “Get your ho in line. We don’t have time for all that sissy talk back there.”
Frank grinned, turned around on his seat completely. “We’re going to go in there and wipe the floor with that god. We’re going to go through him like shit through a goose. Use him to grease the tread on our tanks. Because America loves a winner!”
Al’s chuckle filled the car. “You’ve been watching that damned Patton movie too much, Betty.”
Frank flopped back around on the seat, still smiling. “All the same, that’s what we’re going to do. You heard our leader. Get in line.”
Claire had an eyebrow raised. “I’m your leader now?”
Frank laced his fingers and stretched them out in front of him, popping his knuckles. “Only two spots in this car, me hos or me leaders. I know what I chose, lass.”
Claire nodded. “You chose wisely, Frank.”
They drove on, with Claire concentrating on the words Frank had said. Movie or no movie, they were going to go through that god like shit through a goose.
Claire parked the SUV and leaned forward to get a better look at the building in front of her. “Anyone have any idea what I’m looking at?”
Remington’s voice filled her ear. “We’ve been looking at it for the past thirty minutes, as the road you just traveled only leads here.”
Claire’s hands were on the steering wheel as she asked, “Well, what is it?”
Claire had followed the witch’s instructions, driving up a slow and winding mountain road. They were a long way from Boston, having driven all the way to Colorado. This wasn’t the top of the mountain, but there wasn’t anywhere else to go. The road dead-ends.
Remington spoke through her earpiece. “A church, or at least, it used to be. It’s old, from back when the Mormons built this as they were heading to Utah. The best information we have says that the Mormon Church sold it fifty years ago, and the last sale was about ten years ago. Since then, there hasn’t been any update from a legal perspective.”
Frank cracked his door open. “Thanks for the history lesson, lad. Got any useful information?”
Claire knew that drones were flying above this place, tracking her group. “What’s the rest of the layout like, guys? Can you see anything we need to know about?” She threw a glance in the rearview, but the two prisoners only stared out their opposite windows.
Remington’s voice filled her right ear. “Everything we can see right now shows no movement. We’re able to see heat patterns, which we think are showing us where the two different groups are. We’ve got an area on the east side of the church that looks to contain three people and another area in the west part that shows the cult.”
Claire leaned back in her seat. “Total of eight?”
“That’s right,” Remington responded.
Claire looked at Al. “They’re running heat sensors on the building, but they only have eight. Five for the cult, and three for Jack, Marissa, and Sam. What’s that mean about Hades?”
Al shrugged. “No clue. He might not show up on those things.”
Frank stepped out of the vehicle and groaned. He bent down and did a toe touch. “The ghost is about as helpful as you two on these freakin’ headphones. More, if he’s able to fight better than me once we get in, it’s because he doesn’t have any legs to get cramped up. Ye all hear me?”
Claire ignored him and opened her own door. She slid out of the SUV and stretched her own legs. “Anything else you can tell us, gents?” she murmured into the microphone.
“Not yet,” Remington replied. “We’ve got visual on you now, but we’ll be using infrared once you’re inside. We’re sending a blueprint of the building to your phone now.”
Claire reached into her pocket and pulled out the cell phone she’d been given. She didn’t like carrying it—she felt too connected—but there wasn’t much choice in the matter. “Frank, get over here. You too, Al.”
She pulled up the blueprints as the two obeyed.
Remington filled in the silence. “This is a massive church. It’s got three levels, plus an underground basement that is the same size as the other three floors. Now, we can’t tell you what floor Marissa, Jack, and Sam are on, only that they’re on the east side.”
“Yeah, but that could just be a trick as well,” Frank remarked. “Might not be those three at all. Might be they just want us on the east side.”
Claire nodded as Remington continued.
“That’s true,” the agent agreed. “It could simply be hexed with illusions that the witch put on the place.”
Frank shook his head. “Ye all haven’t worked out any of the kinks here. Looks like it’s up to me to save the day, yet again.” He looked up at Claire. “Ye ready to do this?”
Claire didn’t look down at her friend, but rather toward the church. She had a bad feeling about this, worse than she had at any point prior. She looked back at the SUV, and the man was staring out the window at her, his face calm. “Remington, do you think we leave those two in the vehicle or take them with us?”
“What do you want to do?” Remington responded.
Claire pursed her lips, thinking. “We’ve got enough to handle inside without having two extra enemies after us. I vote we leave them in. Frank, Al, what do you think?”
Tina was staring straight ahead, not bothering to acknowledge the people outside the vehicle.
Al shrugged. “I don’t think it much matters.”
Frank slapped Claire on the back. “Leave ‘em. If he called us here, then I’m sure we won’t need an escort into the place.”
“Sound good, overlords?” Claire said into the mic.
“Just make sure the doors are locked,” Lance instructed.
Claire rolled her eyes. She moved to the vehicle and tapped on the back window. “I’m going to go in there and kill your boss. I’ll be back in a bit.” The man nodded back at her, while Tina didn’t acknowledge Claire had spoken at all.
She’s been cowed, Claire thought. By the Myther you’re going to face right now.
She straightened and turned around. We beat her once already, she thought. Her and her evil friend.
“Okay, in we go,” she told the group.
“You’ve got the hat?” Remington aske
d over the mic.
Claire nodded, patting the hat that she’d hooked to her belt loop. “Yeah, it’s on me.”
“Don’t lose it,” Remington instructed.
“I’d sooner lose this mic that’s got you connected to my ear,” she shot back.
The man in the car tapped on the window. Claire looked over her shoulder.
The man waved his hand toward the church. “Go on, little bird. You and your friends. He’s waiting.”
Frank turned all the way around, raised both hands up, and slowly extended two middle fingers. “Sit on it and rotate, the both of ye.” He snapped back to the church and started walking. “Tired of waiting on ye two. I’m going to meet this god, free young Jack, and then get to the nearest bar.”
Claire touched the hat at her waist. She didn’t know when she would use it, or if it mattered at all. This was different than anything she’d faced before. No wooden stakes, no humans that could be killed. Everything she knew about Greek gods: they were nearly all-powerful.
She felt Al’s hand touch her shoulder. It was the first time the ghost had ever attempted to touch her.
“It’s okay,” Al told her. “We’ll be okay.”
Claire nodded, not sure if she believed him at all, but she knew that she was going to get her friends out of this church or die trying.
Frank stopped a few feet inside the front doors, looking around as he put his hands on his hips. “I have to hand it to either Hades or those cult people. They know how to decorate.”
Claire glanced quickly around the room, taking in her surroundings. It looked nothing like a church at all, but rather a billionaire’s mansion. They were in a plush lobby, with a large chandelier hung above them. To their left was a stairwell, and after that, there was an archway that led to something akin to a living room.
Claire moved past Frank and looked up the stairwell. “Remington and Lance, can you hear me?”
“We’ve got you,” Remington responded. “At least over audio. Where are you? The heat maps vanished as soon as you entered the building.”
Frank looked at Al. “Ghost boy, any idea how that might be possible?”
Al walked up to Frank and stopped. “You can’t see it, but I’m shaking my head, Betty.”
“Always with the jokes, this one,” Frank grunted.
Claire put one foot on the stairwell, looking up into the darkness. “We’re just inside the doorway. It’s a lobby of some sort. I’m looking up a stairwell on the left side.”
“That’s not in our blueprints,” Remington responded, sounding as if he was busy searching.
Frank walked across the rest of the lobby and poked his head through the open doorway. “Shocker there. The FBI is messing things up. What do you see up there, lass?”
“Lights are off.” Claire stepped off the stairs and nodded toward the living room. “What about in there?”
Frank stepped through the doorway, causing Claire to lose sight of him. “Someone was eating in here pretty recently, it looks like.” She heard a plate move around, and then when he spoke next, he was obviously munching on something. “Grilled cheese. Not bad.”
Claire rolled her eyes and then turned to Al, only he wasn’t there. Her face grew confused for a second, but then she saw that his shirt and shorts had been tossed over by the wall.
“Up here,” Al called.
Claire twisted her body and peered up the stairwell again. He’d stepped past her without her seeing it. “You’re naked?”
“I don’t have a hat, and I can’t teleport,” he responded. “Luckily, I’m invisible if I’m naked.”
Claire couldn’t hear his voice any longer in her ear. “Your mic’s off?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll find you two. Go on and look where the lights are. I’ll look where they’re off.”
Claire nodded. “Be careful, Al.”
“Just look after Betty down there,” the ghost responded, and then only silence came from the stairs.
Frank stuck his head into the lobby. “There’s another half sandwich here if you want it.”
Claire shook her head as she followed Frank through the doorway. Indeed, there were two empty plates sitting on a coffee table in front of a large couch, with two love seats at either end of the table.
Frank was holding half a grilled cheese sandwich up to her. Claire shook her head. “You go ahead.”
“Don’t mind if I do.” Frank bit into the sandwich, turning to look at the rest of the room.
It was large, bigger than the lobby by far, but Claire saw no one and heard nothing.
“He called us here, but he’s hiding?” Claire mused. “Lance, Remington, you still getting this?” Silence came back through the earpiece. Claire looked at Frank. “Did you hear anything in yours?”
The leprechaun shook his head and took another bite of the sandwich.
Claire gritted her teeth. “Well, that’s great.” She pulled the earpiece out. “Where are you?” she screamed into the room. Her voice echoed high off the ceiling, followed by more silence.
Frank swallowed his bite. “Maybe scream louder,” he remarked dryly.
Claire elbowed him in the arm. “I’m really going to have to search this whole place, aren’t I?”
Frank shrugged. “Depends on how quickly Al moves around. We could just chill on these here couches and wait for him to get back.” He walked over and pressed down on one of the cushions. “Methinks I might be able to take a nap here, actually.”
Claire sighed. “If I roll my eyes anymore, Frank, they’re going to fall out of my head.”
Frank jumped up onto the main couch, standing on it. “Ye need to take a life a bit less seriously. Now, if this joker isn’t going to show up, I have a mind to go ahead and pilfer a few items I sees in this room. That SUV is big enough to hold quite a few valuables, soon as we kick the ne’er-do-wells out.”
The voice that came next filled the entire room, and it boomed out as if God himself were speaking down from the heavens. “You killed a vampire. Am I right, girl?”
Claire’s hands turned to fists at the sudden sound, but she didn’t flinch.
Frank looked up at the ceiling, scanning the entire thing.
The voice spoke again. “You battled a few of the dead, then you beat two witches?”
Frank scuffed his shoe on the couch. “I get no credit, ever. I’ll have you know, I killed nearly all of those vampires, save for the last, and then handed Ms. Perfect here the gun right before she offed that witch.”
The voice held a touch of glee as it spoke next. “I like you, leprechaun. You will fit nicely with my crew of workers.”
“Ha!” Frank shouted. “This is the last work I’m doing. After this, I’m officially retired. So come on out and let us finish this.”
Claire spun around, checking the corners and everywhere else for any sign of life. Nothing, she thought. She came to a stop and looked into the air. “I’ve killed vampires, witches, and ghosts. I’m looking to add gods to the list. Where are my friends?”
Jack’s voice filled the room in the same way Hades’ had. “I’m here, Claire. Run, now.”
Marissa’s voice came next. “He’s hurting us, Claire. He’s hurting us bad.”
Samantha was last. “He’s going to kill us all.”
Claire’s eyes narrowed and she looked at Frank, who smirked as he shook his head. She chuckled silently before speaking. “You might be able to mimic their voices, but I know that’s not them speaking. At least not the first two. Jack doesn’t know how to spell run. He’s too brave. And Marissa? It’s hurting us badly, and Marissa would never make that mistake.”
The god’s voice was back, laughing so loudly it hurt Claire’s ears. “Clever, girl. Clever. Would you like to see your friends?”
Frank hopped off the couch, stepping closer to Claire. “Careful now, lass. Don’t let your temper get the best of ye, regardless of what he does. These gods are slippery creatures.”
Claire didn’t acknowledge
Frank as she spoke to Hades. “I came for my friends. I’m leaving with them. You can give them to me now, or I can tear this whole damn place to the ground.”
Claire saw the helmet first. It appeared as if it to be hovering in the middle of the air, and then Hades’ body formed as he removed it completely. She knew what she was looking at since there was only one Myther with a helmet that kept him hidden from everyone.
She also understood where the phrase “looking like a Greek god” came from because he was stunning in his beauty despite his evil intentions.
“One of my workers is here, yes?” the god asked. “I sense him upstairs.” Hades scanned the ceiling above as if he could somehow see through it. After a few moments, he looked at Claire. “There is a prophecy that you will stop the Veil from tearing. That you will kill me. Some warned me against bringing you here, but I wanted to lay eyes on you. The supposed god-killer. You may have guts, but in person, you look like any other human. Someone who will serve me in the future, when your life is over.”
There was glee in Hades’ expression.
Claire ignored the fire that burned in his eyes. “Tell me where my friends are.”
Hades nodded. “Certainly. I assume that my two acolytes are safe, but they remain outside?”
Frank stepped forward. “Yer minions are safe. Now do as the lass says and show us where the kids are.”
Hades smiled. “Yes, I’m going to like you very much, leprechaun.” He turned around, showing them his back. “Come, let’s go to them.”
Frank looked back at Claire with a raised eyebrow. She shook her head slightly but kept her eyes on the god, who was now walking away. She followed with Frank walking at her side. They moved through the large living room and down the stairs beyond.
The god didn’t look back at all, holding his helmet on his hip with ease—although to Claire, the thing looked heavy as hell.
They reached the bottom of the stairs, and the god stopped ten feet in front of them. Large windows to her left looked out on a grassy plain. They’d reached the basement.
Hades spoke without turning. “You know that you’ll never make it outside again, right? I’m showing you to your friends because I promised that they would watch you suffer.”
Paranormal University: Third Semester: An Unveiled Academy Novel Page 20