Requiem for the Living (The Reanimation Files Book 2)

by A. J. Locke

  “The process of creating a rune starts with selecting the right stone with the right properties,” Renton said. “We all know that the semiprecious stones used to create runes have innate properties that are enhanced when infused with magic. That innate quality of the stone determines what kind of rune power it will hold. This rune was created from a blue diamond. And the power we have given this rune is the power of healing.”

  “Healing?” I said. “This should be interesting.” I wasn’t necessarily a total geek about it, but I wasn’t lying when I’d told Renton my rune classes during my school days were my favorite. I had to admit I had also wondered if the abilities of runes were limited or endless.

  “I call this a Regeneration Rune,” Renton said. “It is the first rune we have developed under this project, which I have called Project Alchemy. Alchemy has come to be a fitting name, since much of what we do involves mixing different entities to see what greater entity could be born from it. I would now like to demonstrate what this rune can do.” He beckoned to Indira, and she brought forward something that made the entire audience gasp, even me. A knife.

  “Please don’t be alarmed, I promise you everything I am doing is not just for shock value. It’s to showcase the power of the rune. Bear with me.” I could practically hear everyone in the room take a breath and hold it as Renton rolled up the sleeve of his button down shirt. He held his arm up, lay the knife against his forearm, then after a moment’s hesitation he sliced through his skin. The room gasped again. I exchanged a look with Micah who looked both surprised and concerned for his uncle. I glanced at Tielle and saw surprise even on her face. Guess Renton hadn’t explained to her exactly how he was going to demonstrate his new runes.

  Renton grimaced but tried not to show it as he put the knife down and picked up the Regeneration Rune. He held it tightly in the palm of his injured hand, still holding his arm up while blood dripped onto the towel Indira held under it. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and moments later a soft glow encompassed his fist. There was yet another gasp from the crowd, this one of amazement, as the wound on his arm started to heal.

  “Unbelievable.” I looked at Micah who was just as wide eyed as I was. We turned back to the front of the room. Renton’s wound was gone and Indira used another towel to wipe the blood off his arm so we could see more clearly that his arm was healed. Everyone erupted into a standing ovation. After the applause died and we were all seated again, Renton stepped up to the podium.

  “Thank you for your enthusiastic response to my demonstration. I believe the Regeneration Rune can one day make great strides, especially in the medical field. As of now, the rune is only capable of healing small wounds such as the one I inflicted on myself. However, my goal is to one day give the runes enough power to heal more serious injuries, including broken bones.”

  “Mr. Morse, can you give us an idea of exactly how the rune was created?” The question came from one of the reporters at the front of the room. “How were you able to give the rune healing properties?”

  “Runes are capable of storing energy, as we are all already aware,” Renton replied. “We primarily rely on energy from plant life and humans. However, my work with runes has shown me that they are capable of holding other energies as well. The Regeneration Rune was created using medicine associated with healing such as penicillin and antibiotics. When mixed with dead witch magic and human energy—plant energy did not perform as well—the Regeneration Rune was born.”

  The audience gave another round of applause.

  “This type of work is not without risk, there must always be caution when mixing magic and energy with other variables, especially those that have never been used with runes before. I will admit we had a lot of failures before even the tiniest success. However, advancement is possible, and I am happy with the strides we have made. Now, the Regeneration Rune is not the only rune we have to unveil today.” He beckoned to Winston, who came forward with another black box. He handed it to Renton and took back the Regeneration Rune. The rune Renton held up now was purple streaked with blue.

  “This is an amethyst that was fused with lapis lazuli,” Renton said. “The power we gave this stone isn’t as exciting as what I just showed you, but it is an advancement nevertheless. It is an advanced Transportation Rune. When necromancers need to transport ghosts from one location to another, they temporarily store the ghost in a rune. However, the ghost cannot remain in the rune for very long, and if the necromancer has to transport it a great distance, they often have to stop, let the ghost out, reactivate another Transportation Rune, and reabsorb the ghost. This rune would eliminate those extra steps as it is able to store a ghost for much longer. So far our tests have been able to keep a ghost within the rune on a flight from Washington DC to Japan and back.”

  “That’s pretty cool,” I said as the room clapped again. “Not as cool as the Regeneration Rune, but still cool.”

  “It will be useful for sure,” Micah said. “Sometimes ghosts actually do have to be transported overseas. Many ghosts have hitched a ride on an airplane and ended up halfway around the world from where they need to be to have their unfinished business taken care of.”

  “True.” I said. “Looks like Renton isn’t done yet, wonder what’s next. Maybe a rune that can make chocolate appear whenever you want?”

  “I think that’s a rune you’ll have to develop yourself,” Micah said.

  “The last rune I have to unveil will probably be the most controversial,” Renton said, taking the rune Colin brought forward. It was a gold flecked emerald.

  “This is a Memory Rune,” Renton said. “It has the ability to alter or erase a memory. I developed this rune with people who are victims of severe emotional trauma in mind, such as a rape victim, or someone who was unfortunate enough to be witness to a murder. Living with tremendous grief can be incredibly difficult. This rune can take away a bad memory or make the pain of that memory less intense. This rune more than the others will be heavily restricted and only used after extensive screening of the patient is done, including therapy sessions to determine if this is the correct route to take. Because of this, I am not able to do a demonstration, but I had the full backing of the government in creating the Memory Rune. It is still some ways off from being approved for use, but I wanted to share it with you today.”

  There was some applause, but people were also talking among themselves about this Memory Rune. I was not sure what to think. If it was only used for the reasons Renton listed, I guess that would be a good thing, but things like this often ended up falling into the wrong hands. I wasn’t sure a rune that had the ability to erase or alter a person’s memories was something that was absolutely necessary.

  Since Renton was done with the demonstrations, he fielded questions from the reporters as well as the rest of the audience for a while, then brought the conference to a close. We applauded one last time, then people started to file out. Micah and I remained in our seats so we could wait for Renton.

  “What did you think?” Renton asked when he came up to us.

  “Amazing,” I said. “I had no idea those kind of runes could be created. I was especially in awe of the Regeneration Rune.”

  “The Memory Rune is probably going to be the most discussed one,” Micah said as the three of us exited the room and made our way to the elevator. “Of the three it has the most cons to weigh against the pros.”

  “I agree,” Renton said. “But with my line of work I know that tongues aren’t always going to be wagging in a positive way.”

  “Either way, I think this was a successful unveiling,” I said. We had made it out of the Paranormal Library.

  “Thank you,” Renton said. “I am happy you were able to attend. I am sorry that Ethan did not come along though.”

  “He’s coming to lunch,” I said. “His video game trumped your rune conference.”

  “Ah, I see,” Renton said, smiling. My phone vibrated, and I checked it to find a text from Ilyse.

>   “Ilyse is on her way to Maison,” I said. “Now let’s get a move on because I am getting hangry!”

  “Hangry?” Renton questioned.

  “It’s when you get so hungry you get angry,” Micah said, shaking his head. “She becomes something akin to the Hulk, so we’d better get some food in her quick. She bites.”

  I gave Micah a smile full of teeth.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Maison was one of those restaurants in the West Village that boasted a relaxed and casual vibe, but was overpriced even if the food was good. Therefore I was glad Renton would be picking up the bill, which he announced before we’d opened our menus. Ilyse had been waiting for us, and Ethan arrived about twenty-five minutes late muttering something about his raid taking longer than he’d thought. I’d just rolled my eyes at him.

  Renton had exuded warmth and friendless toward Ethan and shook hands with him, but I could tell Ethan was a little uncomfortable. But it wasn’t really because of Renton. As we walked into the restaurant, people weren’t subtle about looking our way. Their looks varied from curious to scared to fascinated to disgusted. I ignored all of it, because I was used to it by now, but Ethan wasn’t. He mostly stayed at home because he hated how much of a visible entity he had become, so this probably felt like he was under a microscope. It was both ridiculous and amusing how people reacted to Ethan and me. At least the waitress took us inside and seated us at a private booth. The dining room was mostly empty as people enjoyed the nice weather by dining at their outside seating area.

  “Thank you for joining me,” Renton said to Ethan. “I can tell it isn’t the most comfortable thing for you.”

  Ethan just shrugged and continued to look at his lap where he was twisting his fingers around. I nudged him with my foot and gave him a look that said he should stop acting like a child. He straightened up a little but continued to keep his gaze lowered. Guess that was the best he was gonna do.

  “He’s a nerd, so in general they are allergic to sunlight,” I said, which earned me an unfriendly look from Ethan. Renton chuckled and Micah shook his head. The waitress came over so we took a few minutes to peruse the menu and put in our order.

  “You’ll have to excuse me if I seem overly interested in your situation,” Renton said. “It’s just that I have only encountered reanimators bound to ghosts in history books. I never thought I would witness it in person.”

  “You have a rather macabre fascination,” Ethan said. “Seeing as how being bound to Selene is killing her.”

  “I’m sorry,” Renton said. “I of course am not happy that Selene is…sick.”

  “Dying,” I corrected. “You can say it, I’m a big girl.”

  “Selene,” Micah said in an unhappy tone. Ilyse gave me a somber look. I just shrugged.

  “Do you mind if I…” Renton raised his hand slightly toward Ethan, who looked at me.

  “He’s asking if he can touch you, in case that wasn’t obvious,” I said.

  Ethan rolled his eyes but nodded at Renton, who placed his hand on Ethan’s shoulder.

  “Incredible,” Renton said. “A ghost who can maintain solidity without energy runes. You don’t even feel very cold.” He dropped his hand but continued to stare at Ethan. “You don’t have much of a ghost’s glow either,” Renton continued. “And you placed an order for food, you can eat?”

  “I can get food into myself but it doesn’t come out,” Ethan said.

  “We don’t fully understand the mechanics of it,” Ilyse said. “We aren’t sure what happens to the food he consumes or why he is able to sleep. There is not very extensive documentation about the characteristics of bound ghosts.”

  “Which is not surprising, seeing as they were mostly used as weapons,” Micah said. “The reanimators who bound themselves obviously did not have documentation of their bound ghost on the brain.”

  “Maybe they thought they’d get to it after they were done killing off their enemies but died of the Rot before they could,” I said.

  “We’ll never know,” Ilyse said. “I know a case such as Selene and Ethan’s would have been very fascinating during your early days of research Renton.”

  “Ah, I did not know you knew much about me,” Renton said, smiling at her.

  “I came across your name while doing research into how we might be able to save Selene from the Rot,” Ilyse said. “I thought there might be some rune work I could do to help her, and I ended up reading a few of your books. I’m very sorry I missed your demonstration, I heard the runes you unveiled were incredible.”

  “I hope they will pave the way for even more new runes,” Renton said. “My interest in runes actually stems from my recovery when I returned from war. Part of my treatment was to work with a dead witch doctor. He specialized in using runes to draw pain from the body. It involved sending a small amount of ghost energy into the site of my injuries, then drawing the ghost energy out. Inside my body, the ghost energy would start to eat away at my wounds, and when it was withdrawn, the pain would ease significantly. It’s similar to how the Rot works but this treatment was very specific with what it targeted, as opposed to what’s happening with Selene where the Rot is breaking down her entire body. That treatment was where the idea for the Regeneration Rune first arose.”

  “It was Dr. Perlysse, right?” Ilyse asked. “His treatments were controversial but he was gaining some positive momentum until he died. Seems like you took up his mantle.”

  “Had he lived I think Dr. Raymond Perlysse would be doing work similar to what I am trying to do with runes,” Renton said. “I saw the great potential his treatment had, especially when it came to treating those injured in war. A doctor who specialized in what Dr. Perlysse did would have been a valuable asset in the army. He inspired me to study runes and experiment with them. They could clearly do things beyond what we already knew, and I wanted to push their limits like he did.”

  “You theorized that runes are essentially empty vessels that can be manipulated in an endless amount of ways,” Ilyse said.

  “That’s right,” Renton said. “I was extremely happy when the ability to work with the Paranormal Sector arose because it meant I would obtain sufficient funding for my research.”

  “The Alchemy Project is truly fascinating,” Ilyse said.

  “Thank you,” Renton said. “I hope my new runes will soon be in the hands of affiliated dead witches such as yourself.”

  The smell of food hit my nose, and I saw the waitress wheeling a tray over with our dishes. I got the lobster, which I looked forward to devouring. Just as the waitress and her beaming smile set our plates down though, an explosion erupted behind us and people started screaming. The four of us ran out of the restaurant where we caught sight of a ghost beastie barreling down the street. Anything that was in its way, cars, stores, trees, people, got trampled or flung aside.

  “Just what I thought my day was missing,” I said, drawing my rune gun. Micah already had his out. The beastie looked like a giant demented octopus, except it had a lot more than eight thick, slimy arms waving around.

  “Get as far inside the restaurant as you can,” I said to Ethan and Ilyse. “Head down to the basement if possible.”

  “I’ll go with them,” Renton said. “I don’t have my rune gun on me so I will try to help people get to safety. I’ll also call for back up.”

  Micah and I nodded, and Renton, Ilyse, and Ethan ran inside while we ran out to face the beastie. It wasn’t long before rune bulleted officers were on the scene, and we fanned out around the beastie and started firing.

  I hated that I was at a disadvantage with this damn Rot, but I wasn’t going to back down from helping everyone take care of the beastie. Micah gave me a look as though to suggest I do just that, but the look I gave in return put an end to that unspoken suggestion. He and I tried to get closer to the beastie, and fired our guns carefully since there were still a lot of frantic people running around.

  After helping an injured woman take refuge in a blasted
through cupcake shop, I ran back into the street and dove to the side to avoid being slammed by a car. The explosion it made as it hit the ground was almost deafening, but more than that the wind was knocked out of me and the dust that kicked up made me cough, which was of course accompanied by blood. I struggled to my feet, ignored the ache in my body, and pinpointed the beastie. I had lost sight of Micah. The beastie was about forty feet away and had over a dozen people firing rune bullets at it. I wanted to join them, but when I moved a wave of nausea and dizziness rolled over me, and I fell to my knees. Stubbornness made me keep trying to raise my gun and aim, but with my vision spinning it was more likely that I’d shoot one of the officers. I lowered my arm and doubled over, breathing heavily, coughing, and enjoying an all around feeling of absolute death. I pounded the ground with my fist, hating that the Rot made me so weak I couldn’t even help bring down a ghost beastie, something I’d done so many times.

  When I raised my head, I saw that the beastie had finally been done in. It fell over, causing the ground to shake, and soon faded. I slumped down, breathing hard. That had taken more out of me than I had to give. I started to cough amid the dust storm that settled around me. I almost choked on blood and had to go on all fours so I could spit the blood out.

  “Selene!” Micah ran up to me. He was covered in dust and dirt, but no blood at least. I collapsed into his arms. I would have liked to put on the strong act but I had to acknowledge that I wasn’t doing well right now.