The Shattered Seam (Seam Stalkers Book 1)

by Kathleen Groger

  “Let’s go back downstairs, okay?”

  Marisol rubbed her palms together. “Sure. Sure.” She didn’t move.

  “Marisol, come on.”

  More rubbing. “You go. I need more sleep.”

  Chauncey sniffed the book. It weighed heavy in my hands. I planned to give it to Eric and not look at it. Yet a nagging voice screamed for me to open the damn thing. I jogged to the command center and dropped the scrapbook on the throne.

  Look at it or not? I paced back and forth between the monitors and the book. I caught movement in the monitor displaying the grand hall. I focused on the screen. It stayed the same. Maybe the movement had been a bug or a dust mote passing in front of the camera.

  “Chauncey? Want to come with me?” If I checked out the hall, I could put off opening the book of death.

  The dog came with me to the grand hall. The vast room was empty. I walked to one of the static cameras and searched around it. Nothing. No movement. Chauncey sat next to me on the floor. I glanced around. The huge clock’s arms still pointed to 2:13. The freakiness of how every clock had stopped at the same time made my skin prickle. I pulled over the closest chair and sat.

  Two thirteen. AM or PM? The journal entry I’d read last night had been February 13th. 2/13. I rubbed my arms. It was just a weird coincidence.

  A tingling sensation ran up my leg. The tingling turned to an itch, and I bent over to scratch. The itch intensified and started to sting.

  “Now what?” I sighed and rolled my jeans up. “Oh my God.”

  A black beetle crawled across my leg. I swatted the insect away and jumped up, dancing and twirling, making sure it was off, then I looked down.

  A line of bugs crossed the floor. My breath wedged in my throat. I followed the bug line. Hundreds more marched down the wall to the floor. My skin crawled, and every brain cell screamed for me to run from the invasion, but I stepped closer, making sure not to be close enough for another one to crawl up my leg.

  Chauncey stood and whined.

  When I was about three feet from the side wall, my stomach flipped over. Black beetles scuttled down it in a straight line and dropped to the floor, where they spread out in a formation that reminded me of pictures of British soldiers from the Revolutionary War. Chauncey inched his way closer to the beetle army and sniffed. The bugs had to have come in from a crack or something.

  Thousands of the beetles descended down the wall, scurrying toward me. I stepped back. Chauncey copied my retreat. This was worse than the idea of ghosts. Bugs were real, and these smelled like rotten eggs. I needed to arm myself with bug spray or something. Had to kill them. I wasn’t going to be a victim of Novak’s house of horrors.

  I turned and screamed. Beetles covered every wall in the grand hall. There had to be millions of them. And they kept multiplying. The army on the floor continued to grow and work its way toward surrounding me.

  My heart leapt in my chest. The beetles came closer, making a clicking noise similar to the sound of typing on a laptop. This couldn’t be happening, couldn’t be real. I had to be hallucinating or something. Maybe I’d really and truly stepped over the edge and descended into madness.

  The beetles clicked closer.

  17

  I ran.

  I ran from the grand hall. I ran from the millions of beetles. I ran from thoughts of Novak’s spirit sending bugs to attack me. I ran from the broken clocks. I ran from my future in a padded cell. I ran from the castle and burst outside.

  Once Chauncey’s paws hit the grass, he took off. I only stopped when I ran out of island and collapsed on the cold grass at the water’s edge, my chest heaving.

  “Wake up. Wake up.” I pinched the skin under my thumb. I had to be dreaming. There was no other explanation. As hard as I tried, nothing changed. I didn’t wake up in the bedroom in the castle. I remained outside on the dew-covered grass. I lay back and stared at the bluish-gray sky. Small puffy clouds floated by, mocking the fear coursing through me.

  I had to go back to the castle. Had to wake the others and figure out how to get off the island. I was done. It was time to go home. I needed Kyle to come rescue us.

  Shadows covered the carefree clouds, and the sky color changed to the shade of a new bruise. I blinked to refocus. No. I shook my head and jumped up.

  The sky filled with hundreds—thousands—God knew how many—black birds. Novak’s guardians. They circled and swooped, their cries breaking the silence.

  “Go away. Leave me alone,” I shouted at the creatures. I had to be imagining them. I needed to un-imagine them. I pictured them dead and unable to fly.

  They started dropping, one by one. One landed right next to me. My entire body shook. The bird’s neck was broken. “Help.” The word stuck on my tongue and came out almost a whisper.

  “Chauncey?” I turned to see if he had come back. He wasn’t there. Where did he go?

  Plop.

  Another dead bird landed at my feet, and another. I screamed. The ground stacked with dead birds.

  None of this was real. I scratched my arm. Tried to cause enough pain to wake up. It didn’t change anything. Birds continued to drop from the sky. I pictured them flying, but it didn’t stop them from dying.

  I ran, trying not to step on the creatures. When I hit one, tentacles of nausea wrapped around my stomach. The boathouse. It was the closest structure. If I made it there, I could at least hide from the death bombs exploding around me. I ran as fast as I could, pushing myself harder.

  I veered to the left and a falling bird smacked into my arm. “Owww.”

  My heart went into hyperdrive, and I almost peed my pants.

  Breathing became harder and harder. My chest burned, and my heart pounded. My vision blurred. Dizziness threatened to drop me on top of the birds. Oh, jeez. Was I having a heart attack?

  Dead birds fell like rain, and I pushed myself beyond my limits. Pain seared my chest. I reached the door to the boathouse, yanked it open, almost fell inside, and slammed the door shut. I slid down the back of it until my butt hit the wood plank floor.

  With tears stinging the corners of my eyes, I brought my knees up and covered my face with my hands.

  “It’s not real. Not real. Not real.” I repeated the words over and over, but my voice got softer and softer. I rocked against the door with a thump.

  “Are you all right?”

  I screamed and curled tighter into a ball.

  “Hang on. It’s me, Kyle.” His voice was calming, soothing, but I couldn’t figure out where it came from.

  I used my sleeve to wipe my eyes and lifted my head. Kyle stood about ten feet away, wearing his red fleece jacket. Singeing electricity jolted through me.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. It looked like a storm might be coming, so I pulled the boat inside.” Kyle closed the distance between us and crouched in front of me.

  I couldn’t think. The image of the dead birds consumed all my thoughts. “No storm … birds ... dead.”

  “What?”

  “Dead birds. Everywhere.” I rubbed my eyes again. Kyle’s face came back into focus. Even frowning, he looked incredible. And I was a red, puffy-faced mess.

  “Come on, show me.” He held out his hand.

  His fingers closed over my burnt palm, and heat radiated into my skin, but it didn’t hurt. For a minute I almost—almost—forgot about the horde of death on the other side of the door.

  I swallowed. My throat burned like I had eaten a bucket of Wally’s Atomic Wings. Time stood still.

  “Let’s look.” Kyle let go of my hand and the dull, constant pain returned. He opened the door. “Holy—”

  “Oh—”

  He walked to where the grass was supposed to start. “What happened? They weren’t there a few minutes ago.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Sh—it.”

  Dead birds blocked the entire path.

  “Have you ever seen anything like this?”

  “Never. What are they? Ravens?” Kyle nudge
d one with the toe of his dirty sneaker. The beak opened and spewed a pile of white maggots.

  I gagged and almost threw up. My chest heaved. I swallowed a gob of disgustingness.

  “Oh, God. Gross.”

  I wasn’t sure if he meant the dead birds, the maggots, or me. Or all three. I sure was making an impression on the guy, though. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I didn’t mean you. Are you okay? What killed them?”

  “I don’t know.” My voice cracked. My wish couldn’t have caused them to die. The weight of everything that had happened slammed into my brain, severing one more thread of my sanity.

  I wiped my nose and turned away.

  “Hey.” Kyle put his hand on my shoulder. When I didn’t move, he pulled me into his arms, my back against his chest. “It’s okay. We’ll figure this out. Don’t cry.”

  I spun around and looked up at him. Shadows the color of week-old eggplant weighed down his dark eyes. This close, he looked like he hadn’t slept in days. But I couldn’t get past how close we were and how much I liked being here. Why couldn’t he live in Pittsburgh? It wasn’t fair I wouldn’t get the chance to be friends—and possibly more—with him.

  “Do you think they have a contagious disease or something?” I leaned in so our arms touched. I wanted him to hold me again. In that short second, I’d felt safe.

  “You mean like bird flu or something?” Kyle wrinkled his nose like he smelled dog poop.

  “I don’t know. Do you think we could catch it? We need to contact the wildlife people, the CDC—somebody.” The idea the birds carried an infectious disease scared me more than the blood, the shadows, the fire, the woman. Diseases were real. I’d seen all of the carrier, contagion, zombie apocalypse movies. I’d be patient zero. Visions of turning into some mutant almost caused me to hyperventilate.

  “We need to tell my dad. He’ll know who to call.” Kyle glanced at the mass of death. “Do you want to come back with me?”

  My heart wedged itself into my throat. I needed to get off the island and wanted to say yes, but I couldn’t. I didn’t know him. And I knew less about the area. Mom had drilled it into me never to go somewhere with a guy if no one knew where we’d be.

  “I can’t. I need to get back to the castle. My uncle’ll wonder where I went. Damn my phone for not working.” I didn’t try to hide my extended sigh.

  “I don’t want to leave you here with—” Kyle swept his hand at the birds.

  A flash of light shot across the sky. Large pellets of rain suddenly pounded down.

  “Crap.”

  “Come on. Let’s run.” Kyle yanked my arm, pulling me after him.

  We ran across the raven carnage, the birds squishing and crunching under our shoes.

  “Oh, God.” I glanced down. Maggots squirted out of the birds we ran over. The wiggly masses looked like regurgitated fried rice. I choked down the ball of bile working its way back up my throat.

  We landed on the patio with a wet thump. Maggots covered the toes of our shoes. “Get off. Get off.” I stomped my feet. Kyle jumped up and down to knock the hitchhikers loose.

  “Disgusting.”

  “Are they off?” I bent my knee for Kyle to see the bottom of my boot.

  “Yeah. How about me?” He showed me the bottoms of his shoes.

  “You’re clear.”

  The rain pelted the patio and washed the nasty maggots into the grass. Water dripped down my back, freezing me to the core. The rain soaked my hair, clothes, shoes.

  I pulled Kyle under the small roof over the back door into the castle. “Come on in.” I didn’t want to be alone, and he made me feel anything but crazy.

  Kyle frowned, and it made him look even more tired. “I can’t. I have to go. I shouldn’t be out on the water if the storm gets bad. Will you be okay?”

  The concern in his voice warmed the ice in my bones. “Yeah.”

  Then I remembered what was waiting in the castle. With the bird massacre, I’d forgotten about the bugs. I pulled the sleeves of my hoodie over my hands. I was so doomed.

  “My parents have a land line. Give me your number. I’ll let you know what my dad says.”

  I gave it to him, but didn’t point out my lack of service on this crappy island.

  “You sure you’ll be all right?” Worry tugged at the corners of his weary eyes, making him look a lot older.

  No. I wouldn’t be all right. Ghosts were real. I was staying in a castle likely haunted by a serial killer and his victims. Dead birds littered the ground. Bugs had invaded the castle. I had seen a woman with half her face ripped off. My phone didn’t work. No, I wasn’t okay. I was freaking the eff out. All I wanted was to get out and go home. “Yeah. I’m good.”

  Another crash of thunder made us both look up. “I gotta go.”

  “I know.” It made no sense I was experiencing an overwhelming feeling of loss at the thought of him leaving. I didn’t know the guy, but I wanted to.

  Kyle gave me one last look, then ran back into the sea of ravens and maggots. I watched him go, my throat tightening with every second.

  I needed to get Eric.

  Time to face the bugs. And figure out what to do about the birds. One group dead, the other very much alive. I wasn’t sure which was worse.

  “Chauncey.” I called and whistled. The dog didn’t come. Hopefully he’d found a spot to hide from the storm and the wave of dead birds.

  I took a deep breath. I’d meant to ready myself for the bugs, but all I did was suck in the scent of rain and death. I went inside to rid the vile smell from my nose. The storm pounded the windows, and the castle seemed colder than the temperature outside. Running and sliding down the corridor, my slick boots skidded on the floor. I passed the windows to the courtyard. Blackness covered most of the grass. I kept running and had to grab the column outside the grand hall to stop.

  “No way.” I walked into the room. The white-covered tables and chairs sat untouched. The floors were bare. No bugs. Not a single stinking one. I spun in circles, positive I would spot the freaky things lurking in the shadows. They had to be here. I hadn’t imagined them. I wasn’t slipping deeper into the abyss.

  There had to be an explanation for everything, from the woman to the dead birds. Maybe Kyle was right, there was a bird flu epidemic, and we all had been exposed. And I was hallucinating. What was real and what wasn’t? How did I tell the difference? I had to wake Eric and the others, but they’d probably just gone to sleep. The bugs were gone. Maybe there had really been a storm last night, and the birds had gotten zapped by lightning. And the bugs had been searching for a dry place. Or it was a sign of the upcoming apocalypse. Didn’t the Book of Revelations have something about birds dropping from the sky or a wave of pestilence? Not that a biblical prophecy coming true was a better option than a paranormal explanation.

  I could handle this. I would be strong. Stronger than I’d ever been.

  “All right, bugs. Where did you little mofos go?” I tugged up the corner of the closest tablecloth. No beetles hiding there. “Come on. I’m not playing around. Show your ugly selves.”

  “What are you yelling about?”

  I jumped, dropped the cloth, and whirled around.

  Eric, dressed in his signature black and black, leaned against the wall, arms crossed.

  “Don’t scare me like that.”

  He took a step forward, then stopped. “What’s going on? Why are you so riled up? Why are you soaked?”

  “There were bugs everywhere. Beetles. Thousands of them.” My voice edged toward shrillness. “And dead birds … and …”

  “Whoa. Hold on. Slow down.” Eric closed the gap between us. He lifted my chin and made me look him in the eyes. “Start over. You saw bugs in here?”

  I swallowed and shrugged away from his touch. “Check the video. I was here. Bugs were everywhere.”

  “This happened today?”

  “Yes. Before the damn birds.”

  Eric glanced at the ceiling. “There were b
irds in here?”

  “No. Outside.” I grabbed his hand and dragged him to the windows. “Look.”

  Rain slammed into the windows, obscuring the view, and another round of thunder shook the glass.

  Eric held his hands up, palms facing me. “Okay. Sit down for a second.”

  “No. I’m not sitting in here again. I was sitting when the first black beetle crawled up my leg. Ain’t gonna happen.” I paced around a table. Where had they gone? They had been here, I was positive of it. As much as I wanted it to be true, I hadn’t dreamed it. They had been real. “Please check the film.”

  “We’ll check the footage, then maybe the rain will’ve stopped, and we can go outside. But why don’t you change first?”

  I was soaked clear through to my underwear. I nodded. Eric went with me to my room and waited outside as I changed in the bathroom and slipped Amelia’s wet page into the pocket of my dry jeans.

  Eric guided me to the empty command center. “How long ago do you think it happened?”

  I pulled my damp hair into a ponytail. “I got up early. Chauncey—where is he? Chauncey!”

  Eric whistled, but I could tell he did it for me.

  “He went outside with me and ran off. I haven’t seen him since.” I dropped into a chair. “If he gets lost—”

  “He’ll be fine. We’re on an island. He can’t go anywhere. He’s probably hiding from the rain somewhere.” Eric patted me on the shoulder. “So what, maybe about seven?”

  “Sure.”

  Eric punched buttons and fiddled with dials until one screen showed me in the grand hall.

  “There. There I am.” It was weird watching myself move on the monitor. “Any minute now. Okay, I’m sitting. Right after I scratch my leg.”

  The me on the monitor scratched, rolled her pants, and jumped up. She spun around and looked to be screaming.

  “Where are they? Why aren’t they on the footage? Is there sound?”

  Eric hit a few more buttons. “The audio wasn’t working. Maybe they were out of the camera’s line of sight.”

  I watched myself freak out at nothing. That wasn’t right. I’d seen the beetles. Felt them. Smelled them. “What about the other camera? Can you pull up its footage?”