SHATTERED: SECRET SOCIETY OF SOULS, BOOK 1

by K. C. RILEY

  “Oh shut up,” I answered frustrated. Was that all he could say? How about a little help.

  “You shut up,” Meghan said.

  “I wasn’t talking to you.” The night just kept getting worse.

  The van came to a halt. I thought that would have stopped Meghan’s mouth. It didn’t.

  Despite the disappointment, I needed Jake up and ready to pull some Fallen Angel kung fu on Kai’s ass. “Why isn’t he waking?”

  Meghan shrugged and then passed out. Great. There had to be a way to get everyone away from Kai. I just needed to figure it out.

  The light that came in from the back window grew brighter as the sound of a car pulled up behind the van. There was nothing I could do but scream for help.

  The back of the van doors opened. The dark figures of three men were bathed in the headlights of a car. The only thing I could make out were the floppy pig ears on their heads.

  “What the hell?” one of them muffled through a mask to the other. “Are you crazy? You said this was a frat prank. What kind of bullshit is this?”

  I recognized the voice. It wasn’t Kai. It was... “Mason?”

  “Yeah, what the hell’s going on?” another voice added.

  “Boyd?” That’s when I was sure what was happening was a prank. Kai didn’t have anything to do with it. It was all one big dumb joke that wasn’t funny.

  Boyd and Mason pulled off their pig masks.

  “Quiet,” the middle guy said. “You guys are idiots. I told you I would do the talking. Now she knows who you are.”

  “Of course she does, we go to the same school,” Mason said. “And why are they all tied up?”

  Boyd motioned to untie us, and a gunshot went off in the air, numbing my ears. It took me back to the night I had been shot. This wasn’t a game or a prank. It was real.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the guy in the middle said. He pulled off his mask. It was Zander.

  “Are you crazy?” Mason said, holding his chest.

  “Kind of...yeah.” Zander’s voice oozed with an edge of cruelty.

  Meghan snapped up out of her drunken nap. “What’s going on?”

  Zander stepped in closer toward me. “So here’s how this is going to go. You’ve got a map to something I want. I know it’s in there. And I know it’s on.” He pointed the gun at my head. “And don’t try to deny it. Let’s say you and your other girlfriend weren’t alone when you found it. I’ve been tracking you for weeks, the smell of fresh witch blood in the air. They’re rare you know. It’s been a long time.” He then sniffed me, and I wanted to vomit.

  “I’m not a witch,” I said. “I don’t have powers.”

  “She’s lying. I’ve seen her do magic. She tried to kill me with a chandelier.” Somehow Meghan miraculously sobered up. “Anyway, we all know she’s a witch. Why am I here?”

  “Do you really think I’m stupid,” Zander said.

  “Do you really want me to answer that?” Meghan countered.

  In a flash, Zander grabbed and pulled Meghan by the back of her hair, exposing her neck. “Fallen venom. I can smell the remnants of it all over you. You know what happens when you mix Fallen venom with Vamp?” Two pointy teeth protruded out of Zander’s mouth. “Your veins blacken, you lose your mind, and then you die. It’s not pretty at all. Now, do I or do I not have your cooperation?”

  Meghan nodded her head.

  “Good.” Zander retracted his pointy teeth.

  As soon as Zander released her, Boyd hit him with a bat. It snapped across Zander’s back like a toothpick. In an instant, Zander was holding Boyd inches off the ground by his neck.

  “Uh, uh, uh,” a voice interrupted. “That’ll be enough of that. Now you just set him down.” Charlene held some kind of small crossbow set with a stake in her hand.

  I wondered where she had come from, but then again didn’t care. It was help. Zander growled and locked eyes with Charlene as he lowered Boyd back to the ground.

  “Charlene, please. We need help,” I yelled out.

  “Oh, we’re definitely here to help, sweetheart. But we need your help first to find the Devil’s Gold.”

  The whole thing was starting to piss me off. “There is no gold,” I snapped. “I don’t know how many ways I can say that. It’s not what you think.”

  Duke came up from beside her holding a metal chain roped in his hand like he was going to beat someone in the head with it. “Do you know how long we’ve been looking for that witch’s gravesite? The Devil’s Gold? You were right to keep an eye on her, baby.”

  “What do you wanna do about the vamp?” Charlene said.

  “Kill the ba—”

  Before Duke could say the next word, Zander had already ripped his throat out with his teeth.

  Mason and Boyd screamed like girls. So did I.

  The mini crossbow Charlene held in her hand locked up, and she fell to the ground with her throat ripped open and raw. We all watched in shock as Zander fed on both of them.

  Zander tore off a piece of Duke’s shirt and wiped his mouth clean with it. “Now, where was I? A witch, that’s right. Only a witch can retrieve the Devil’s Gold.”

  Tears ran down my eyes. Defeated, I whimpered, “There is no Devil’s Gold.” I tried to swallow the lump of terror in my throat. “And what have you done to Jake?”

  Zander pulled out a syringe from the inner pocket of a frat jacket soaked in blood. “A little cocktail I made. A dash of angelic silver and a whole lot of vervain. He’ll be out for a while. Long enough for you to get me what I want.”

  “She’s exactly what you want...” Meghan said. “...a natural witch. But me? I’m all juiced out. I’ve got nothing. You don’t need me.”

  In another flash, Zander was at Meghan’s neck again. “Don’t fret, you’re only here for backup. And as far as being juiced out, I’ve got that all taken care of. If anyone makes a move...” Zander looked over at Duke’s and Charlene’s bodies on the ground. “Well, don’t.”

  He then disappeared and reappeared with a glass jar in his hand. Zander pressed a finger at the roof of Jake’s mouth and serpent fangs flashed out. Meghan wasn’t lying. Fallen angels were vampires? Zander capped the jar onto Jake’s fangs like he was milking a snake. Who knew what he would do next?

  “I’ll take you to the gold. But on one condition. You leave him behind.” It was my fault Jake was in this mess in the first place.

  Zander completely ignored me as black venom dripped into the jar a few drops at a time.

  “Did you hear me?” I yelled. “Leave him alone and leave him here.”

  Before I could get another word out, Zander was already in my face. “I heard you the first time. And let’s be clear, luv. I don’t take orders very well. As I said, it’s insurance. In case you can’t...” Zander ran the back of his fingers down my cheek. “...perform. And if not, your best friend here will pick up the slack.”

  I wanted to vomit on both accounts.

  Zander hopped out of the van. “You two grab him and leave him here. I don’t need him anymore.”

  Mason and Boyd stood their ground until Zander growled at them. They both looked at me and mouthed sorry. They then grabbed Jake’s body and laid him on the ground by a tree.

  “Good, now get in the car and follow the van.” Zander ran his fingers through his hair. “One false move and the girls are dead. And don’t even think about using your phone. I can hear a mile away.”

  The boys did as they were instructed and got in their car.

  Zander then appeared next to me with his cold breath and mouth close to my neck. “Don’t worry, luv. I’ve already eaten.”

  I rubbed my wrists from where he untied my hands.

  “You’re going to ride up front with me,” he said, smiling. “And remember. No sudden moves.”

  Meghan rustled in her seat. “What about m—”

  Zander slammed the back door to the van.

  “What have you done with Josie?” I still couldn’t u
nderstand what she ever saw in the guy. “If you’ve hurt her.”

  “You’ll what?” Zander forcefully held my chin between his fingers. “Nothing. You’ll do nothing.”

  I jerked my head from out of his hands.

  “Awweee. Don’t be like that, luv. Josie is back at the dance exactly where she wants to be, in the spotlight. Now...about that map.”

  19

  Trapped in the passenger seat of Zander’s van, I reluctantly explained how the map was like a visual-sensory compass. Every time it turned on, I was pulled or guided toward a whirlwind of blue flames that I could see burning into the sky.

  In another hour we passed a sign for Shadowick Mt., and then another for the lake.

  My mind was in a tailspin of supernatural beings. Fallen Angels, vampires, witches, and ghosts all living and breathing in one town? What kind of place was Shadowick, really?

  “Pull over,” I said. “That’s where we have to go. Through the woods.”

  “You better not be lying.”

  Vamp or not, Zander’s threats were getting on my nerves.

  “Wait here, and don’t try anything funny.” Zander got out of the van and walked around to my passenger door. “All right, get out.”

  Mason and Boyd pulled up behind us.

  Zander opened the back and banged on the side of the van. “Wakey, wakey.”

  Meghan awoke from another intoxicated nap. “And here I thought I was dreaming.”

  Zander untied her hands. “Let’s go.”

  “You know you’d be kind of cute if you weren’t such an ass,” Meghan said, playing with fire.

  Zander growled in a low tone, “And you’d be kind of cute if you weren’t such a bitch. Now get out. I won’t ask again.”

  Meghan smirked like the devil and flipped her hair as though she was turned on. As far as I was concerned, they were a match made in hell. Mason and Boyd still looked as helpless as I felt.

  I pointed north into the woods. “We need to go this way.”

  “You better be telling the truth,” Zander repeated. “Mason, Boyd, grab the gear.”

  “We’re not your slaves,” Mason said.

  Zander growled, “I won’t ask again.”

  The guys grabbed shovels from the back of the car and passed out flashlights. Zander secured Jake’s venom in a small leather bag he held in his hand.

  “You can’t expect me to walk in heels,” Meghan huffed. “Let alone a dress.”

  “I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Zander replied.

  With a flashlight in my hand, I took the lead. Meghan, Mason, and Boyd followed while Zander held the back of the line and growled at any suspicious moves.

  It felt like we’d been walking for hours.

  “Ouch. Damnit. How much further?” Meghan had already broken both heels and thrown her shoes into the blackness of the night. Adorned with broken twigs and leaves, Meghan’s dress was almost as shredded as the one she had gifted me with. Karma was a bitch.

  “Yes, luv. Tell us. How much further?” Zander asked. “That is if you haven’t been lying the whole time.”

  “I don’t know how much further,” I snapped. “It’s not like I’ve done this before. All I can say is that we’re close. And stop calling me luv.”

  Zander wasted no time grabbing my arm and breathing down my neck. “Let’s not forget our place.”

  “You’re hurting me,” I said.

  The pain of Zander’s grip was numbed by the feeling of something darker. It was the same electric feeling I felt when Serene ascended through the Black Mist. The symbol at my wrist burned. My time was running out. “Listen to me. You need to get back to the car. All of you. Something is coming that you don't want to be here for.”

  Zander squeezed my arm tighter. “You’re lying.”

  “I’m not.”

  The creatures of the forest went silent. Zander looked around while still holding onto my arm. I knew he could feel it, what was coming. Whispers filled the darkness around us. It was too late. The leaves on the ground lifted into mini cyclones. The wind picked up. The Black Mist was here.

  “We have to get back now.” I could barely see.

  “We’re not going anywhere without that amulet. No one move,” Zander said. “All hail, Azazel. All hail, Azazel.”

  Azazel? He chanted the name over and over like it would calm the storm that was brewing. It did nothing of the sort. And how did he know about the amulet? He had called it The Devil’s Gold earlier.

  My wrist burned like fire as the mark glowed in blue light.

  I shouted to the others while still latched to Zander. “Run.” Thunder cracked, and black mist thickened across the ground.

  Zander squinted from the wind in his eyes. “I said, no one moves.” The guy was off his rocker.

  The Black Mist gathered off the ground and formed a hole in the air.

  “You’re taking me to the amulet. Now,” Zander said.

  “You don’t understand.” I tried to pull myself free.

  He was going to get both of us killed.

  The shadows of reaper arms and fingers reached out of the Black Mist and snatched Zander up into the air, dragging me with him. I took a pen from my shirt pocket and stabbed him in the hand. With glowing red eyes and extended fangs, Zander hissed and loosened his grip.

  I fell to the ground.

  As strong and as fast as Zander was, it was too late. The Black Mist had taken him.

  Everyone watched in horror as the black shadows tore into Zander’s flesh, peeling it layer by layer from his bones. It was as though phantom fingers were tearing him apart. Zander screamed and hollered in agony, begging us to save him. The bag with Jake’s venom and the gun Zander wore at his belt fell to the ground. Within seconds, the Black Mist swallowed and gulped what was left of Zander’s skeleton whole.

  No one moved. Fear had stunned us. But the Black Mist wasn’t done. There was still something it wanted. Me.

  “Run,” my voice squeaked. No one budged. I forced my limbs to move and grabbed Zander’s bag and his gun. The jar with Jake’s venom rolled out. There was no time. I aimed directly at the Black Mist and shot at it. “You want me. Come and get me.” I had lost my mind.

  Mason, Boyd, and Meghan finally came to their senses.

  “Run,” I said.

  “We’re not leaving without you,” Mason said.

  I pointed the gun toward him. I wasn’t going to shoot them, just scare them into getting the hell out of there. The Black Mist screeched as shadowy fingers reached out to grab everyone, and well, that did it. Everyone took off.

  Meghan ran in my direction and made sure to grab the jar of Jake’s venom that rolled onto the ground. There was no time to stop her. I ran for my life. I ran and ran, never looking back until I ran out of the woods and onto the shore of a lake.

  I looked out across the water to the tower of blue fire that burned straight up into the sky.

  I leaned over onto my knees to catch my breath and turned my head back to the woods. The Black Mist was gone. And so was Zander’s gun. Somewhere along the way I had dropped it. I churned over and over in my mind how the Black Mist that came to ascend Hannah and Serene was nothing like what I had just experienced. Something was off about it. Wrong. Either way, the only answer to surviving was the amulet.

  I got off my knees and looked around by the light of the blue fire. There was no boat in sight, and there was no way I was swimming to it whether the Black Mist was after me or not. Footsteps trampled out of the woods, Boyd on my left and Mason on my right. Out of breath, they staggered in the dark toward my direction.

  “What the hell was that?” Mason was about to keel over.

  I didn’t answer him. Where would I even start? “Where’s Meghan?”

  “I don’t know,” Mason panted. “It looked like she was heading back toward the cars.”

  “Maybe she made it, maybe she’ll go get help,” Boyd said.

  Yeah, right. This was Meghan we were talking abou
t.

  “And again, what the hell was that?” Mason asked.

  Boyd steadied his flashlight at Mason’s head.

  “Mason, your neck, it’s bleeding,” I said.

  Mason placed his hand on the scratches and then looked at the blood on his fingers before wiping it on his tattered shirt. “The Black Mist, it grabbed for me. And are you going to answer me or not? What the hell is after us?”

  “I don’t know,” I said.

  Mason countered my lie with a piercing stare. “But you do know what it wants.”

  I didn’t say a word and didn’t look him in the eye.

  Boyd broke the silence. “If we make it out of this, what do we tell people about Zander? What do we tell people about the couple he killed? Someone’s going to find their bodies.”

  “Along with ours,” Mason added.

  Boyd’s question hit like a ton of bricks. We were in big trouble. I would call the police and tell them what? That I saw Kai suck the life from a woman who was now a mummified corpse in a broom closet? That an ancient Black Mist that ascends witches devoured, killed, and took the remains of an arrogant psychopath vampire that had kidnapped me? Oh, and by the way, it was the same vampire that killed Duke and Charlene, you know, the treasure ghost hunters.

  “Nothing,” I said. “We say nothing. At least, for now.”

  “But—”

  “But what, Boyd?” I snapped. “Think about it.”

  “She’s right.” Mason lightly pressed his hand against his wound. The bleeding had already stopped. “We need to get back to the car.”

  “You guys go on, I can’t. There’s something here I have to do.”

  “Are you serious?” Mason asked. “Like what?”

  “Yes, darling.” A voice spoke out from the darkness. “Please. Tell us. What exactly do you have to do?”

  Three figures outlined in the moonlight walked toward us.

  “Tell them about the tower of fire out in the lake, the one only you can see with that map in your head. Tell them all about the amulet you think will save you.” The voice in the dark came closer.

  Mason and Boyd pointed their flashlights toward the stranger’s voice.

  It was Kai. His voice was weird. He sounded like a woman. And in front of him was Cassie. A band of water swished around her neck like a collar. It was so tight she couldn’t talk. What the hell was going on?