Requiem for the Living (The Reanimation Files Book 2)

by A. J. Locke

  “I’m caught. You have me, what do I have left to lose at this point? I know you won’t want to admit that Renton’s past and his true nature eluded you, but everything I said is true. He murdered Cecelia. And he has some master plan that’s tied to his experiments in that hideaway of his. I can give you exact directions, just take a team and check it—”

  “Enough!” Her calm had broken and now she let her anger show. “I don’t want to hear another word.”

  “But you have to,” I pressed. “I am the only one who can stop the beastie. Once Renton’s treatment wears off, and I can access my reanimation power again, I can once again bind that beastie and make it stop rampaging. It’s free because the treatment blocks my power.”

  “I said enough.”

  I fully believed that if there wasn’t a barrier between us Tielle would have slapped me. “I don’t need you to take care of the beastie. It can be done without you.”

  I frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “We’re going to strip your power, Selene. After seeing the anchored beastie and the massacre it’s enacting, the courts have finally granted us permission to strip you. They realize how dangerous it is to allow you to keep your power. Once I have your reanimation power I can use it to stop the beastie myself.”

  My eyes widened. “You’re not serious. What about the risk to my life?”

  “It is a risk we will have to take,” Tielle said. “Look, Selene, I know to you I am the enemy, but I have a much harder job than you could ever imagine. My job is keeping people safe and sometimes that comes with sacrifices I don’t want to make. I am not thirsting to kill you, but I have to do what I must.”

  “Tielle, you can’t do this. I am not the enemy here. How can you be OK with this?”

  “The only way to stop this is to neutralize your power. It just has to be done. The sacrifice of one will save many. It is high time things were brought under control.”

  The doors behind her opened and two men came in wheeling a gurney between them. She punched in a code on the keypad next to my cell and the doors slid open. The men grabbed me, and before I knew it I was strapped down. I started thrashing even though I knew it would get me nowhere.

  “Don’t do it! Tielle, there has to be another way! You know that I could die! Tielle, please!”

  “Let’s go.” Tielle led the way, and I was wheeled down the hallway after her. My heart was beating too fast. I really hoped this was all a terrible dream, and I would wake up any moment, but the horror kept going. I was going to be stripped; those words kept playing in my head over and over. I could not believe I was going to die like this. Tears slid down my cheeks, both from fear and from anger at my helplessness. I wanted to see Micah. We weren’t on good terms but in the face of my death I couldn’t believe that I would die without seeing him one last time. I wanted to see Ethan and Ilyse too. I wanted to let them know that if my ghost rose I wouldn’t haunt them. Ethan would probably chuckle at that and say he didn’t believe it. More than anything I just did not want to die like this, with Tielle and these white clad strangers who wouldn’t think a second thought about me once they were done with me.

  I was taken onto the elevator and down a few floors. As far as I knew Affairs did not own any of the floors this low, but why should I be surprised that Tielle and her team had invested in some real estate geared toward doing what they came here to do with me?

  After taking a few hallways on this empty and deathly quiet floor, we ended up in a room that had the windows shuttered but was still quite bright due to the fluorescent lights above. I sat up as much as I could and saw that there wasn’t much in here except for a table in the middle of the room with runes and other objects on it, along with a few of the people who’d come here with Tielle. I was wheeled next to the table and left there. The men who’d wheeled me in retreated, and Tielle stepped into my line of sight.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, voice soft. “I take no joy from this, but I have to think of the bigger picture. I have to think about more than just your life.”

  “I hope my ghost rises, and I hope my unfinished business is to turn into a beastie and step on you.”

  She showed no reaction to my words.

  “You are going to kill me, does that weigh on your conscious, even a little?”

  “It can’t,” she said shortly. She looked around at her colleagues. “Let’s get started.” Then she looked at me again. “Selene, I truly wish there was another way for this to end. You won’t believe that, but it’s true.”

  “See you in hell, Tielle.” I lay back, unable to get a grip on my emotions, but who would blame me? I was staring death in the face and all he was doing was holding out his hand and waiting for me to take it.

  While I lay there trapped in a storm of my thoughts, a couple people strapped me down even more, ensuring that I would not be able to move an inch. Tielle and some of the others then lay dark gray runes on different parts of my body, reminding me of what Renton had done not too long ago when he’d blocked the Rot. Runes were placed on my forehead, chest, stomach, arms, thighs, and in the palms of my hands. Each necromancer then stood near one of the runes and touched them. Tielle was at the one on my forehead. No one looked at me. Tielle nodded, and a few moments later I felt the runes activate as everyone channeled energy into them. The runes then went from lightly laying on my skin to feeling as though they were suctioned to me, and the suction power was trying to drag them though my body and out the other side. I screamed. The pain was indescribable, and again I was reminded of what Renton had done to me. I kept screaming since my mouth was the only part of my body I could move. The tears were flowing faster now as I felt the rune’s power enter my body, seeking to attach to my reanimation power and draw it out of me. Hell, it’d probably take my necromancer power as well. I wouldn’t need it when I was dead right?

  When would it end? God, just let it end. I gave up. All my fighting, all my efforts to be strong and forge ahead with my life and stay out of trouble had just gotten me here, so what was the point? I stopped screaming, there was no use to it. I just lay there and bit my lip until I tasted blood as I rode wave after wave of pain.

  “It’s not working.”

  I almost didn’t hear the whisper someone released over the sound of thunder in my head. “Tielle…”

  Whoever it was, they sounded very uncertain.

  “It’s like there’s nothing there,” someone else said, just as softly.

  I couldn’t really make heads or tails of what they were saying, I was still waiting for death to take me.

  “Stop.”

  Stop? Suddenly the pain started to flow out of me, and I felt the runes lifted off. I was covered in sweat and felt extremely weak. Even if I wasn’t strapped down I don’t think I’d be able to move. I did note that I did not seem to be dead. Tielle moved to stand by my side. Her eyes were narrow as she looked at me.

  “What have you done to your reanimation power?” she asked.

  I opened my mouth to say something but ended up coughing.

  “Get her water,” someone ordered. Moments later a Styrofoam cup of lukewarm tap water was put to my lips. Nothing had ever tasted so good.

  “You tell me,” I said once I could speak properly. “You’re the one who went on a manhunt for it.”

  “Something is not right here. What have you—”

  “Tielle!” The door behind me banged open and someone ran into the room. “Washington is calling for you. They are demanding you talk to them about the ghost monster situation.”

  “Damn it,” Tielle said. “Where is the ghost monster right now?”

  “China Town,” the man said. “The damage so far is…”

  “Catastrophic,” Tielle said tightly. “You don’t have to tell me that.”

  “I don’t think they will accept any more excuses for why you aren’t taking their calls.”

  “As well they shouldn’t.” She glared at me. “Now I have to have my ass handed to me over a
problem you created.”

  “Not because I wanted to, damn it!” I said. “And you know I am the only one who can stop it. You have to let me out of here. You have to let me try. You need me, Tielle. Sorry you have to realize that so soon after you tried to kill me.”

  “I have to do no such thing. You’ve done enough. Lock her up. I’ll go deal with the higher ups and be back. I will get to the bottom of whatever is going on inside that body of yours before you bring true hell on earth.”

  “That’s a bit overdramatic, don’t you think?” I muttered. She swept out of the room and I was taken back to my cell.

  The two men who’d brought me back hastily retreated while the guard looked at me in bewilderment. Clearly he hadn’t expected to see me alive again. His television was still relaying the ghost monster attack. I felt sick to my stomach watching what was going on.

  I slumped to the ground and stared at the screen, watching the beastie tear apart China Town. There was no stopping the damn thing unless I could get it back under my control again. When would the Rot finish eating through the foreign reanimation power? And even though I was more grateful than could be put into words, why had the stripping fail? What was going on inside me? Once again I was full of horrifying questions to which there were no answers. Although I was sure the answers would be just as horrifying.

  Hours passed, during which time I remained on the floor leaning against the wall staring at the television. As I had known, there was nothing Tielle or anyone else could do to stop the beastie. Dozens and dozens of rune bullets were wasted, and dozens of bodies lay in the streets. I tried to implore the guard to let me go, but he ignored me even though he looked scared as shit.

  At some point I must have dozed off because I woke up when I heard the sound of the door opening. To my surprise it was a familiar face coming toward me, but not one I wished to see. Andrew, dressed in an impeccable gray suit with his hair neatly combed back, came down the hallway. The guard stood up and tried to stop him, and to my further surprise Andrew punched him in the stomach then slammed his head onto the desk. The guard fell to the ground and didn’t move.

  I moved back, watching as Andrew approached with an easy smile on his face. Something about him seemed different in a way that made my stomach churn, and it wasn’t just his act of violence. Instead of punching in the code to open the door, he ripped the keypad from the wall with a burst of sparks. The disabled door slid open but I didn’t move.

  “Selene.” His voice was like warm honey dripping into my ear but it didn’t feel good to hear it. “Shall we?” He gestured for me to walk past him but I remained where I was.

  “What the hell? Andrew…”

  “Do you want out of this place or not, my dear Selene? I came for you the first opportunity I got.”

  “Yeah, I want out but…” I looked at the broken keypad and the unconscious guard. “Something doesn’t seem right about you…” He was right about wanting to get out of here though, so I walked out of the room. I hadn’t really thought I’d be leaving this place on my own two feet.

  “Let’s go before someone catches on,” he said.

  It wasn’t exactly the ticket out of here I was hoping for, but I would take it. Andrew and I headed to the doors. I spared a glance at the guard, who was bleeding from the head, and hoped he was alive. Andrew being violent was not a huge surprise, but I had an uncomfortable feeling that I couldn’t shake. Something about him wasn’t right. I would take the escape that he offered then try to get away from him as fast as I could. I had to head downtown to try and stop the beastie. I’d need to get a binding rune first and hope that Renton’s treatment wore off by the time I was face to face with the beastie.

  I followed Andrew to a set of stairs that led out of the building through a back way. It was the way we were to exit should there be a fire. I half expected that Tielle would have had her armored guards posted everywhere, but we didn’t encounter anyone. Guess she had total confidence that I would not be going anywhere. When we got outside, I almost wanted to kiss the ground but settled for breathing a sigh of relief and jogging after Andrew as we headed to his car.

  Andrew and I were soon driving off. I could not believe I had escaped Tielle’s attempt to strip my reanimation power. It was one thing to know I might eventually die from the Rot. Knowing I was in essence being murdered was something I could not completely handle. I leaned back and closed my eyes, trying to relax a little even though my troubles were far from over. There was still the beastie to take care of, plus once Tielle knew I was missing the manhunt would be on. I had some idea how to tackle problem one, and no idea how to tackle problem two.

  Where were Micah, Ilyse, and Ethan? I wish I had my phone on me so I could call them. I know I had pushed Micah away but right now I really wanted to hear his voice. I wanted to try and forget everything that had happened and just let him hold me.

  “Are you OK?”

  “No,” I replied. “I most definitely am not.”

  “I can understand. I’m sorry I could not get to you sooner. As soon as I caught wind of what Tielle was up to I came for you.”

  “I appreciate it. I need to stop the beastie that’s on the loose. It’s anchored and the only way to stop it is to use a binding rune to control it. Can you take me to my house first?”

  Andrew didn’t reply, and when I glanced at him there was a small smile on his lips that made me feel very uneasy.

  “Andrew? Did you hear me? I need to go to my house.”

  “I’m afraid not,” Andrew said. “You’ll be coming with me.”

  I frowned. “What the hell? I don’t have time for your flirtations. People are being massacred out there, and I am the only one who can stop it.”

  “The ghost monster is not your concern,” Andrew said. “You are with me, my sweet Selene. I finally have you.”

  I did not like the way he said that. Before I could tell Andrew how out of his mind he was, he reached over and placed his hand on mine, giving it a squeeze. I gasped. It wasn’t the hand squeeze that made me gasp, but him touching me suddenly made me realize what it was about him that was off. My heart started pounding, and my throat dried up as I stared at Andrew, who looked calmly ahead as he drove, one hand still covering mind.

  “You’re tangible.”

  “Of course I am.” Andrew chuckled.

  “Where are your energy runes though? And why do you feel so warm?” For the first time I noticed that there were no energy runes around Andrew’s neck, nor any bulges in his suit pockets to suggest the runes were tucked in there. And the warmth…it wasn’t like the warmth Ethan gained by being bound, because there was still a touch of coolness there. No, Andrew’s warmth was different. It was like he was…

  “Alive.” I uttered the word and Andrew’s smiled widened. He turned to me.

  “Yes, Selene. I am no longer an anchored ghost. I’m alive again.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  I snatched my hand from under his as though I’d been burned. “No, it’s not possible. There is no way you can be alive again. Good joke, Andrew, but now really isn’t the time for jokes. Where are the energy runes? In some hidden pocket? In your shoes?” I looked him over and over and resisted the urge to pat him down.

  “I can assure you there are no energy runes,” Andrew said. “And if you don’t believe me why don’t you feel my pulse?”

  “Pu-pulse?” I stared down at where he was holding his wrist out to me. I used two fingers and checked for his pulse, and when I felt one steadily beating I could not begin to describe what was going through my head.

  “How the fuck do you have a pulse? How are you alive? Andrew, what the hell is going on and why won’t you take me home?”

  “There is so much that can be done if one just has the power,” Andrew said. “The ability to create a new body for my ghost to inhabit. The power someone would need to do that is just incredible.”

  I was pretty sure I knew who that someone was.

  “Renton. He did
this didn’t he? How?” So this was what Renton was up to in his secret lair? I couldn’t begin to think about how he would go about recreating someone’s body, but it was a terrifying thing to know that he had the ability to do so. That was truly playing God.

  “Yes. Renton gave me what I needed to finally claim you. This new body is a gift I will not take lightly. I know you will eventually feel about me the way I feel about you.”

  Right now all I felt was sick to my stomach. I wanted to throw up. I should barf all over Andrew and his new body. This was too much to try and process on top of everything else.

  I had to get the hell out of this car and as far away from Andrew as possible. His obsession with me went way further than I had ever thought if he had gone as far as having his body recreated. I could not wrap my head around that. I knew I had recently become capable of doing unheard of things with my evolved reanimation magic, but recreating a body? This blew my abilities out of the water. All this time I had focused on my death due to the Rot and trying to figure out who was dumping bodies around me instead of making Andrew a priority like I should have. And he had used that to his advantage. Now I knew what his other unfinished business was. He hadn’t just wanted me. He’d wanted a new body to get to me.

  We were at a red light and it couldn’t have been a better opportunity for me to get out of this car. As awful a situation this was, there was an even more awful one out there in the form of Isabelle’s anchored beastie and the death and destruction it was causing. I had one hand unbuckling my seat belt and another one about to open the door when Andrew said something that made me stop.

  “Micah.”

  I slowly turned to him. “What did you say Micah’s name for?”

  “Because I know you are a smart woman, and that there would have come a point where you sought to escape me. So I’ve gotten myself some assurance of your cooperation in the form of your boyfriend. He is currently bound and gagged at my loft. And maybe just a little beaten up.”

  I almost reached over to strangle the new life out of him but stopped myself and slumped against the door instead. “You son of a bitch.” I was happy with how much of a snarl that sounded like. Andrew just smiled as he continued to drive.