Requiem for the Living (The Reanimation Files Book 2)

by A. J. Locke

“I’m not playing hard to get,” I said. “But you’ve waited this long for me, dressed me up like this, don’t you want to savor the moment?”

  “I can think of no better way to savor than to taste between your thighs.” He rose up as though to reach for me, and I backed up.

  “Why don’t I strip for you?”

  Andrew paused, and his smile widened. He relaxed onto the bed and made a “go on” gesture with his hand. Any other man would have questioned my sudden changed attitude, but not Andrew. Those blinders were on and they were not coming off. Right now that was going to work in my favor.

  My heart beat ridiculously fast and it was all I could do not to stand there dry heaving. I had only halfway thought this through, but now that I was faced with Andrew wanting to have sex with me it was time I did whatever I had to do to get the hell out of here.

  “Any music in here?” I asked. Andrew indicated the stereo on the other side of the room and followed me with his eyes as I walked over to it. Unsurprisingly, the music that played when I turned it on was low and sultry. Perfect for stripping.

  I sauntered back to Andrew, trying to look sexy even though that was the last thing I could possibly feel right now. Andrew’s expression said it all, as did the ever present bulge in his pants. When I was a few feet away from the bed I started dancing. I slowly moved my hips around, letting him get more than enough views of my ass in the lacy panties. I trailed my fingers lightly over my breasts and down my stomach, whispering them over my thighs before moving them back up again. Andrew’s face become more lustful by the second, and he’d moved his hand into his pants to help himself enjoy the show a little more.

  I kept up the sexy little dance for a few more minutes, then it was time to start stripping. I walked up to the bed and put one of my legs up, slid the shoe off, and tossed it over my shoulder. Then I unhooked the thigh high from the garter and slowly rolled it down my thigh. Once I had also tossed it aside, I pulled the garter off and threw it at Andrew. He caught it in his mouth. What an expert. Now it was time to do the other leg. I put it up on the bed, slid the shoe off, and slammed the spiky heel into Andrew’s chest.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Andrew screamed. I had slammed the heel into him so hard that it lodged in his chest before his scrambling hands yanked it out. I wasted no time in picking up the bedside lamp and smashing it over his head, causing another scream to erupt. I then ran out of the room and over to Micah, quickly picking up the knife and slicing through his restraints. Micah’s eyes were wide with confusion as he slumped into my arms.

  “Selene…”

  “I have to get you out of here and to a hospital. Come on.” I tried to get him to stand, but of course it would not be that easy. Andrew came stomping out of the bedroom, and even though blood poured from his chest and head wound, he looked ready to tear me apart. And not in a sexual way. Shit. I eased Micah to the floor and stepped forward, holding the knife tightly.

  “You fucking bitch. I will make you pay for that. You just cost your pathetic boyfriend his life, and I will make sure it hurts and it’s slow. And you will watch every single second of it. Then I will fuck you over and over until you wish you were dead too.”

  “You want Micah, you’ll have to get through me first.”

  Andrew snarled, and I readied the knife. I was better with a gun but I had picked up a few skills with a knife a few years ago during a training class. Andrew came forward, but after only taking a few steps he stopped and doubled over, holding his head and screaming. Guess the head injury was worse than he thought. Good for me. I looked around for something else I could use to batter him with. There was a floor lamp not too far away so I grabbed it then ran over and swung it at Andrew, who was still doubled over. I knocked him down, and when he rolled to his side I saw that the skin on the side of his forehead where I’d first hit him was cracked like an eggshell. There were also cracks on his chest around the wound made by the stiletto. There was a faint light glowing from among the cracks as blood oozed out. Cracks and glowing? That wasn’t normal. It must have something to do with this new body of his.

  I was standing too close to Andrew and not paying enough attention. He grabbed my ankle and pulled me down. I landed on my back and the knife skittered out of my hand. Moments later Andrew was on top of me with his hands around my neck. I gasped as my vision crossed and my lungs protested the lack of air. I tried to reach for his face so I could scratch his eyes out, but he avoided me and kept choking. A few more seconds of this, and I was going to pass out. Or worse.

  Suddenly the pressure was released. Andrew screamed again, and went flying off me. I looked up to see Micah holding a chair and looking pissed as hell. I got to my feet and went for the knife, but Andrew had landed near it and now had it in his possession. He pulled himself up to his knees, one hand braced on the ground, the other gripping the knife. He was breathing heavily and there were cracks all over his chest and face. Micah and I took a few steps back.

  “I tried to be nice.” Andrew’s voice sounded distorted, and there was a thread of pain in his tone. His eyes were all for me. “I tried to show you what we could have together Selene, but you denied me.” He started to get to his feet, though I could see that it took some effort. He was standing now, but not steadily. He took a shaky step forward and Micah and I backed up again. I wasn’t eager to get close to him with the way he looked and the fact that he had the knife. It would be great if Micah and I could just back up until we got to the door then run out. Wishful thinking.

  “You’re a fool, Selene. You made the wrong choice. And now—” Now he stopped to cough as his body shook. He coughed up blood, and the toll the coughing fit took on him had him on his knees again.

  “What the hell is happening?” Micah said.

  “Something bad for him, but it may be good for us.” I was willing to do whatever it took to get us out of here alive, but if I could avoid actual murder, that would be a win.

  “No!” Andrew wheezed. He reached out his hand as though he could grab me but just ended up falling forward, though he managed to catch himself before landing on his face.

  “Now would be a good time to take advantage of this situation instead of merely being witness to it.” I walked over to Andrew just as he was able to get up onto his knees, although it took tremendous effort. He reached out for me again, but I avoided him and delivered a kick to the side of his face that toppled him over. His entire body was crisscrossed in glowing cracks. It was as though his body was made out of clay and now it was broken. From the cracks a dull, yellow light continued to glow. Andrew looked straight out of a sci-fi movie. It was both disgusting and fascinating to watch as he convulsed on the floor, coughing up more blood.

  “I am sorry it had to come to this,” I said. I wasn’t afraid of him anymore. I knew that whatever was happening to him would be his undoing. “I’m sorry your mind become so twisted and you became so obsessed with me that you took things this far. I do hope that you find peace, Andrew. It’s the only thing you need right now.”

  I don’t know if he heard anything I said because he was busy wailing. He’d covered his face with his hands as the light that poured from the cracks grew brighter. He thrashed and rolled all over the floor, and his body vibrated so hard I could feel the thrum of it under my feet. I backed up until I was near Micah again and we stared in silence as Andrew let out one last, wretched wail before his every movement came to an abrupt stop. His body lay there stiffly while his wide eyes stared straight up at the ceiling, then it all collapsed into a pile of dust. A ripple of shock went through me as the image of Ethan’s body falling to ash after the fight with Larry and Michael went through my mind. It was eerily similar.

  What was even more shocking was that after the body fell to dust, Andrew’s ghost remained lying there. It was just as prone as his body had been, but I was afraid that he would rise, and I would once again be stuck with his anchored ghost. However, after only a few moments, the ghost disintegrated into a fine wh
ite mist. I think if my eyes got any wider they’d tear apart.

  “What the fuck just happened?” My voice came out as a shaky whisper. “His body falling apart I saw coming, but his ghost? Since when do ghosts disappear like that?”

  “I don’t know…”

  Only when I heard the pain in his voice did I remember that Micah was injured. I put my arm around him so he could lean on me.

  “We can think about that later, we need to get you to a hospital.” I tried to lead him to the door but Micah stopped me.

  “You need to put some clothes on first.”

  I had completely forgotten what I was wearing. “And I don’t need a hospital, just bring me my messenger bag.”

  “Micah are you kidding—”

  “Selene, bring it, please.”

  “Fine.” I retrieved the bag, which Andrew had tossed aside behind the chair he’d tied Micah to. Micah slumped to the floor and rummaged around until he found what he was looking for; two of Renton’s Regeneration Runes.

  “Normally I’d protest you using those seeing as I know your uncle’s true colors, but you really need it, and I know from firsthand experience that they work amazingly well.”

  Micah offered a weak smile before he closed his eyes, holding one rune in each hand. He channeled energy into the runes, and his fists were encompassed in a soft glow. The knot of tension in my body eased when I saw his wounds healing. After a few minutes he opened his eyes and tossed the runes back into his bag. When he looked at me, his face was extremely sad. I knelt down in front of him and held his face in my hands.

  “Selene, I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault Andrew ended up like this. If anything, I have to blame myself for pushing him to the back burner.”

  “It’s more than that,” Micah said. “My uncle and everything he did, everything he’s doing. I turned a blind eye to it because he was the only one who could save your life, but in the end he just gave me to Andrew like I meant nothing to him. After he gave Andrew his body back he let him take me to use against you. Andrew has had me captive since last night.”

  “Shit. What is your uncle up to, Micah? What is he after?”

  “I still don’t know, but I do know one thing; that beastie you anchored that’s now rampaging is loose because my uncle has your reanimation power. He’s the one controlling the beastie.”

  If my jaw could have detached and dropped to the floor it would have. “What?”

  “During the ritual he did to save you, he also took your reanimation power. But Ilyse and I had no idea at the time, I swear.”

  “He…he took my power? That’s why Tielle couldn’t find it when she tried to strip me.”

  “What? What are you talking about?”

  I caught Micah up on where I was when Andrew found me. “Tielle said she couldn’t find my reanimation power. And while I’m glad I was saved from being stripped, it’s not any better that my power is in Renton’s hands. What does he want with it?”

  “Other than being able to control the anchored beastie, I know that your power was integral in being able to recreate Andrew’s body.”

  “So Renton wants to play God now? Go into the market of recreating the bodies of dead people whose ghosts hang around? There is no way that will be sanctioned.”

  “Renton has to be stopped,” Micah said. “I’m pretty sure his endgame wasn’t just to make Andrew a new body and have a ghost monster out on a massacre.”

  “Micah…” I hesitated, because even though Micah knew Renton’s true colors, he was still his uncle. “I found out some things about Renton before Tielle snatched me up. I tracked down Dr. Perlysse’s daughter, and she gave me access to her father’s files. Renton wasn’t doing well with his treatments so he was sent to an asylum in Switzerland. That’s where he was for those years between coming back from the war and working for the Paranormal Sector. He was certified to be mentally insane.”

  “What?” It was clear this was a tough pill to swallow.

  “PTSD from the war plus losing your mother and his wife and daughter drove him over the edge. I’m not saying he didn’t get better in some way, but at the base of everything he’s doing there’s a madman, Micah. And we can be sure we don’t know everything he’s capable of. He’s had a lot of people fooled for a very long time about who he really is, from Tielle right down to you. He’s very good at this masquerade, which makes him even more dangerous.”

  “I can’t believe this. All this time…”

  “What matters now is that we’re on more even footing with him now that we know what we know. And we have to expose him. I told Tielle everything but she didn’t believe me. We have to make her. But first we need to stop the beastie and that means I need to get my reanimation power back from him.”

  “Then we need to get to where the beastie is,” Micah said.

  “Right after I change clothes.” I headed to Andrew’s bedroom and came back out fully dressed again. Micah had his messenger bag slung over his shoulder.

  “Did you hear from Ilyse or Ethan before Andrew took you?” I asked. “When Tielle and her hoard came for me I told Ethan to run and find you or Ilyse. I didn’t want him to get snatched up too.”

  “He wouldn’t have found me since I was at the hideout with Renton while he gave Andrew his body back. He must have gone to Ilyse.”

  “I wanna call her but Tielle didn’t let me pack a bag so my phone is at home. Yours?”

  “Dead.”

  “Great. And I don’t know her number by heart or else I’d use Andrew’s house phone.”

  “Let’s just hope they’re both OK and check up on them after we deal with Renton.”

  “All right.” We started to walk out but I stopped and looked over my shoulder at the pile of dust. All that was left of Andrew’s second life. “How the hell do we explain this?”

  “We don’t. At least not yet. Andrew’s story is over now.”

  “Yeah.” I sighed and shook my head. “A very sad ending.”

  Micah took my hand and gave it a squeeze, then we left the apartment and headed out to face another nightmare. One that I was sure would prove to be much worse than the one we were leaving behind.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  I expected to be met with chaos as we got into Andrew’s car and drove off. I would have thought that a prolonged ghost monster rampage would have shut roads down and that there would be police everywhere trying to evacuate people. And while it was obvious that a catastrophic event had descended on the island of Manhattan, it was surprisingly easy in terms of driving. When I turned on the radio, I realized why.

  “The beastie disappeared,” I said after listening to a news program for a few minutes. “Renton must have called it off.”

  “Yeah, he must have.” Micah had a frown on his face as he sat in the passenger seat, and stared at the radio as though it was a television. “It’s great that the beastie has stopped, but…”

  “But there must be a reason for it,” I finished. “And even though it seems good now, it may not seem so good later.”

  “It also means we need to change course. If the beastie isn’t out and about then neither is Renton.”

  “My best guess would be that he’s back at his hideout.”

  “Yeah, that’s where we should go. Quickly.”

  “On it.” We were crossing the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn. I’d caught glimpses of the beastie’s damage as we drove and it made me sick to my stomach to think that Renton had let a ghost monster stomp on people for no reason.

  “I’m all for stopping Renton, but do we actually have a plan here, Micah? I feel like this is the type of situation where the two of us alone might not be adequate.”

  “Who can we call though? Tielle?”

  “It crossed my mind, but I recently escaped from her hold so I don’t think she would be up to helping us out.”

  “Yeah, and the police aren’t going to just come out to help us without proof that Renton is behind the ghos
t monster. Actually, I’m pretty sure the police and just about everyone else who knows about you must think you let the beastie loose.”

  “You’re right. I’m sure it didn’t escape anyone’s perception that it was an anchored beastie they were dealing with.” I let out a sigh. “I think we’re on our own then. So here’s the plan I propose: knock Renton out, get my reanimation power back, then call in Tielle and show her all the proof she needs.”

  “You know it won’t be that easy. Renton is powerful. And the fact that he’s in possession of your reanimation power makes him even more dangerous. If too much harm comes to him it could be detrimental to you.”

  “I know the facts, Micah, but we have to do our best. I’d love to swing by my house to get my rune gun, but I’m fairly certain it’s staked out. Tielle is surely on the hunt for me.”

  “Which means my place would probably be staked out as well so we can’t retrieve my gun.”

  “Great, so we’re weaponless and I’m basically powerless. Feeling great about this plan.”

  “We will stop Renton because we have to.” There was a strong note of conviction in his voice that actually bolstered me a little.

  “OK. Well, get ready, because we’re almost there. At any rate, how do I get my reanimation power back from him?”

  Micah reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a white rune that was streaked with green. I recognized it as one of the runes Renton had used when he’d done the treatment. “Turns out this is the rune Renton used to take your power, so this is what you use to take it back. You have to activate it then touch Renton with it. The energy used to activate the rune will recognize your reanimation power within Renton and draw it out of him.”

  “OK.” I took the rune and slipped it into my jean’s pocket. It was a plan, but not one I felt very strongly about. But it was all we had. Micah and I were silent for the rest of the drive, and about ten minutes later I parked on that dead end street. We scaled the wall and made our way to Renton’s hideout lab. My confidence about a favorable outcome to this confrontation shrank and my trepidation grew with each step. Would Renton have the beastie down there with him and set it on us? And just what the hell did he want my reanimation power so badly for?