The 52nd (The 52nd Saga Book 1)

by Dela

  “Zara! Zara wake up!” a voice whispered in the dark.

  “Zara, you have to wake up!” It whispered again as my body shook violently.

  When the blackness lightened to the gray darkness of my room, I awoke, groggy and disappointed to see two thirty on my clock. I rolled onto my side to go back to sleep, but the shaking started again and rolled me back over. My eyes focused slowly in the dark until I saw Lucas’s face. It was obscured by the black hood pulled over his head, but his eyes glistened in the glare of light through the open window.

  “Zara . . . it’s time,” he whispered impatiently. “You have to get up; we don’t have much time.”

  “Already? It’s not even morning yet,” I mumbled, trying to roll back over, but his warm fingers held me firmly.

  “Yes. Now.”

  “Fine,” I groaned.

  My sweater and pants sailed at my face as I plodded out of bed. Lucas’s back was already turned so that I could change. As I stumbled in the dark, missing each pant leg, Lucas obsessively checked the watch on his wrist.

  “I’m ready,” I said, tugging my sweater down.

  Within the space of a breath, the window was thrust open noiselessly and he sat on the sill, silently beckoning me to come. As white flurries flew inside, I walked to the ledge nervously and looked down at the twilit snow beneath. Knots formed in my stomach, and I shook my head. I hated heights.

  “Don’t you trust me?” Lucas now looked concerned.

  “Yes.”

  I looked once more at the drop, shaking in terror, and he motioned me over to sit on his lap. “Then come here and hold on.”

  As I slowly sat, his arms snapped around me, and he jumped without warning. My stomach dropped instantly as I fought the urge to scream. When my mouth flew open anyway, his hand clasped tightly over it. We landed softly in the powdery snow, and he carried me to his car without a word and set me down on the heated seat.

  “You okay?” he asked. I hadn’t even seen him open his door, but the headlights were already on, and we were speeding toward Fallen Leaf Lake.

  “I’m fine.” I shivered.

  My hand collided with his as I reached for the heater vent. It was he who backed away, though, smiling.

  “What are my parents going to think when I’m not in my bed in the morning?” I felt like I was about to hyperventilate.

  “You’ll be back in bed before they even get up.”

  His voice was calm, but he looked at his watch again and accelerated onto the icy two-lane freeway. I was beginning to worry about speeding over black ice when a smoky black corpse appeared at my window.

  “Lucas!” I screeched.

  I leaned into Lucas just as the bony hand reached through the window, shattering the glass into thousands of tiny shards. Lucas reached over, clenched the deadly hand, and squeezed. There was a crunching sound, then a high-pitched screech. The demon’s mouth, which was inches from mine, gaped long and hollow as it shrieked. I slapped hands over my ears as Lucas released the dead creature, which shot away into the night.

  The car fishtailed as Lucas swerved away from another executioner. It flew at my window, but the Rover surged as Lucas gained control and turned sharply on the exit. The engine revved loudly as another wave of executioners came. I knew their bones, ropy like veins, but this time I clearly saw the dark silver bands that adorned their legs and arms as they followed us into the dense trees at the hidden turnoff.

  The road was untouched by the moonlight, a black, tree-lined tunnel lit only by the beam of headlights. Lucas barreled over the potholes as the executioners swarmed around us. But then I could see the black scrolls of the gate ahead, glimmering like gunmetal in the moon’s silver light—still closed.

  “Lucas, gates!” I screamed.

  “ANDRÉS!” Lucas yelled as the gates stood, unmoving.

  The gates moved, but slowly. The opening didn’t look wide enough for our car, and the passing black trees weren’t slowing. I screamed when Lucas floored it and we barreled through the gates, centimeters away from impact.

  On the other side, I panted and watched as Niya and Malik chased executioners through the snow at our side. Within seconds the mansion was before us. It was pitch black except for a trail of light to the open garage. As we pulled in, our headlights caught an executioner just as a sharp-tipped stick halted in its heart, and its black dust billowed around the car. Then the executioners wailed as one, some flying away as others evaporated into dust.

  Within seconds the way was clear, a glowing pathway behind the garage snaking down to the lake’s moonlit shore. I could vaguely see Gabriella and Dylan there, but then the awful whispers buzzed like bees in a hive, and I knew they were angry. My heart pounded once as Lucas cut the engine, and then he was helping me out as Andrés and Valentina ran toward us from the woods, dressed in black.

  “Where’s Tita?” Lucas asked. I sensed his heart racing, driving short puffs of air from his mouth.

  “Aqui!” Tita hustled out of the house toward us. A folded pile of thick, white fabric blazed against her black clothing. “Zara, put this on and don’t take it off until I say. It will shield you from the executioners, but the moment you take it off, you won’t be protected.”

  I nodded and grabbed the soft fabric with trembling fingers. It was heavy, woven with a thick, velvety pile and plush feathers. When I pushed my arms through the long sleeves, only the tiniest portion of my fingertips poked out. The feathers on the shoulders tickled my chin, but right away Lucas was in front of me, securing it around my neck with a satin sash. When he was done, he grabbed my hand and took a step toward the lake.

  Abruptly, shrieks split the night. I dropped his hand to reach for my ears in agony. Lucas threw his hands over mine, shouting urgently at me as our noses touched. But I couldn’t hear him. He pointed to the demons and held up all ten fingers. I still didn’t understand, but he squeezed my hand and began running, tugging me across the gravel toward the black lake.

  My body stumbled within his iron grip. My bones rattled in the heavy cloak as I tried to match his pace over the gravel—he was clearly moving slowly for me. But when the shadows of the woods approached, Lucas threw an arm around my waist and lifted slightly before speeding up to his inhuman pace. My toes danced over the loose dirt as my eyes blurred in the cold wind.

  Gabriella and Dylan opened safe passage for us as we crossed the dark expanse. Black camouflaged their bodies too, but the quiver’s glimmer just behind Gabriella’s shoulder caught my eye. It was filled with exotic, feather-fletched arrows. Dylan held a long, ridged stick with a steel-colored tip, a sort of spear, I supposed. But when he threw it, another appeared in his hand. Lucas sped toward them as Gabriella fired arrow after arrow and Dylan speared the executioners, reducing their numbers when the weapons struck their hearts.

  As we approached, they stopped and hopped onto the dock, but more black shadows swooped into range and circled us.

  “Dylan!” Lucas yelled, his arm tightening around my waist. My feet dangled in the air as he carried me closer to the water. “Behind you!”

  Gabriella spun and shot and faced us again before I could blink, black dust glittering behind her.

  “Hurry!” she ordered as another wave of shadows appeared. She shot another shadow with laser precision and reached for another arrow.

  Lucas stopped at the boat as she reloaded. Silver flurries drifted over the lake as I stared; no ropes bound its cleat to the dock.

  “You’re going in here,” Lucas said quickly, jutting his chin at the forward deck.

  “What?” I fought to catch my breath now that my lungs were free. I tugged at the sash around my neck as if it would help. “Why can’t I stay with you?”

  Another shattering shriek pierced my ears as more dust filled the air overhead. There was a murderous roar just beyond that, and more black specks followed. The battle ra
ged all around us, growing louder with each breath. My head spun with trying to follow it.

  “Zara!” Lucas shouted. I looked back, scared. The muscles in his forehead pinched together with distress. “Valentina can protect you over the water better than I can protect you on the land. And remember, the executioners can’t get within ten feet of you with that cloak on.”

  I shuddered as I thought about what he was about to do. Gabriella squeezed my shoulder sympathetically, then ran into the darkness. I watched Dylan disappear too, feeling sicker the farther they moved from me.

  “I’ll be struck by lightning,” I stuttered.

  Lucas squared his tall body in front of me and held my shoulders. “Valentina controls the lightning; it doesn’t control her.”

  My fingertips prickled with fear as my shoulders tingled at his touch. “Where will you be?”

  “Each of us will be around the lake at different spots. We’ll try to keep them off the lake as much as we can.” He spoke quickly, watching the spot Gabriella and Dylan had just left.

  Then he grabbed the loose fabric behind my neck and lifted it over my head. As the hood dropped over my forehead, I lifted my head to see his face. He cupped a hand on my left cheek as I placed my hand on the crease of his elbow. He watched me for the slightest second amid the commotion, his face a mask of pain.

  “We’ll bring you back to us when it’s safe,” he said.

  He leaned in and kissed the other cheek. I closed my eyes as he lingered, inhaling my scent. I wished the chaos would vanish, but all too quickly he backed away.

  “Lucas!” Dylan roared from the trees.

  The marching chant was growing stronger. Lucas lifted me into the boat and leaped away. The deck jerked under my feet. I grabbed the railing for stability and saw that the water below was rippling—the boat was moving slowly into the black lake. I looked back up, panicking when I saw Lucas vanish into the dark forest. My body tensed with such brittle force that the rush of icy air was more than I could handle. And then the first cold tear ran down my cheek. I was alone.

  My breathing grew shallower as the boat stopped in the center of the lake. The cloak kept me dry, but it didn’t keep the noise out, and I shivered relentlessly before it.

  “Tita!” Valentina’s urgent voice echoed from the trees.

  “Dylan, to the right!” Lucas yelled somewhere.

  I watched the rumbling trees and heard the screams and shrieks. Stiffness crept over me as I waited, feeling weak, expecting a black form to appear over the water at any moment. I squinted through the moon’s pale light, searching for anything through the dark trees. Somewhere to my right, a familiar aqua glow faded in and out as it weaved through the trees. Then another appeared, moving up and down as it sped through the darkness.

  Suddenly, across the dark waters, Lucas appeared on the snowy lakeshore. His arm glowed dimly under his black jacket, but he watched me steadily.

  “Lucas, MOVE!” Andrés screamed deep in the black forest.

  My fingers trembled as they touched my frozen lips. Lucas hesitated as he stared at me, unwilling to leave, but then disappeared back into the woods when an executioner appeared there, only the water between us. The black glare of the distorted human form locked down my gaze.

  “Lucas,” I whispered to myself, imagining him as my anchor as I felt a darkness growing inside.

  I prepared myself for the freezing invasion of my mind, but Lucas flew from behind, roped his arms around the creature, and crashed to the ground. Then he sprinted back into the trees, dragging the black form across the ground with him. I followed their trail through the snow and Lucas’s light in the trees until I could no longer see either in the thick brush.

  Another executioner passed the shore a moment later. It didn’t get far—a long spear struck its back. As the spear fell into the water, another executioner flew toward me from the right, but in the time I took to gasp, Gabriella’s arrow destroyed it. My body trembled when I realized, peeking past the cloak’s rim, that the horizon was graying. Dawn was coming.

  I dropped my chin again, lifting my eyes barely high enough to scan the woods, worried for the Castillos. Turquoise lights darted through the charcoal trees like fireflies as a swarm of executioners flew overhead. I pinched my eyes shut, hoping the shadows couldn’t get close enough to test Tita’s bewitching powers. But I noticed something different in their voices, the tone—it was gratifying, and instantly a strange sensation popped through me. The curiosity that had tempted me in the past exploded into a desire to go with these demons.

  “No!” My voice was a feeble whisper, powerless against my treacherous heart.

  I planted my feet on the deck as I resisted the urge. I reached for memories of Lucas at our utopia, but the seductive voices messed with my thoughts. I should go. I must go. I belong with them.

  Then one strong voice rose above the hundreds of whispers. It soothed my raging fear with indecipherable but ravishing Spanish. The dormant darkness I had felt for the past weeks now forced me to raise my head and look, curious and sickened. I did, and then I held my breath.

  Xavier stood alone on the shoreline with a vengeful grin. His hair was the color of sand against the snowy background, and he looked weak, but I feared for the turquoise lights moving throughout the trees. They weren’t getting any closer to him. A handful of executioners appeared by his side.

  “Valentina, now!” Lucas’s voice rang out, so weary and desperate, but so far away. “They broke my line!”

  A sudden bright light came from above, and I threw my palms over my eyes to shield them from the bolts that pierced each shadow. When the darkness returned, Xavier was alone, surrounded by glistening dust. But more shadows came from the trees. I counted, bile rising as they flooded in. Six. Eleven. Twenty. My breathing faltered as the black forms began to inch their way over the water. Then the sky showered arrows, and the remaining executioners fled angrily back to pursue Gabriella into the trees.

  “Dylan!” Gabriella screamed. A faint blue light flew through the trees with great speed.

  I quailed as Xavier turned a pleased, evil grin on me. I didn’t understand what he was doing until I felt a chamber in my heart open. It forced out all logic and all thoughts of Lucas. My eyes widened. My fear washed away before it, and I felt inclined—willing, even—to go in peace with these beautiful creatures of the dead. I belonged with them. It was a lovely sensation.

  My gaze narrowed on the pale god in desirous contemplation. My last few memories of Lucas had nearly faded when a faint pricking jarred my mind. I focused harder on Xavier, my eyes twitching from the burn of staring so long.

  “Zara! Quit looking at him!” Dylan shouted.

  His call was so powerful it rippled over my skin, and hatred replaced my dazed trance. Fear drove my focus to my feet, although it was a struggle to ignore the black-speckled shoreline.

  I fought to keep my head down, watching my short, foggy breaths as I waited for the fighting to stop, wondering whether anyone would be hurt. Or worse. Suddenly a flash of light illuminated my feet. As it brightened, I thought it might hit the boat, but it disappeared faster than it came.

  “Dylan, move!” Gabriella roared. “Malik, follow him!”

  I looked up in time to catch sight of Dylan chasing his pale brother into the woods.

  Right then executioners formed a wedge and zoomed over the lake. Before I could scream, knifelike bolts shot through them and dragged them down. I shielded my eyes with my forearm and squinted through the afterglow. Rays splashed down into the water, piercing each form as though they were black cotton balls. Anchored on tethers of light, their bodies bobbed for a moment, and then one demon burst into tiny rays of light. A millisecond later another dematerialized, then another. They popped like popcorn until the sky filled with their essence.

  But still one weaved through the dust, and the next seconds passed like hours
until it stopped ten feet from me. The demon’s hazy figure bounced against Tita’s invisible boundary. The viny ligaments of his brow furrowed with anger as he looked at me. I held my breath and watched him, trembling, terrified that Valentina’s powers wouldn’t be strong enough to keep him from me. Abruptly its contorted anger changed into a lively smile, and a rush of interest ran up my spine. I couldn’t help but stare harder into the eyes of the beautiful dead king. A tarnished silver crown graced his brow above large sockets deeply set in a face shaped with innocence, and I felt pity for this hollow creature as he beckoned me to come.

  As I breathed his smoke into my lungs and took a shaking step closer, the noise around me muted. He extended a bony hand stitched with petrified ligaments to me. I pondered this and took another step across the deck, lifting my hand to his.

  I was no more than two feet from his touch when a man’s scream made small ripples in the water.

  “Zara, no!” it yelled again, a nuisance jarring my reverie.

  The fabric draped over my head kept me from seeing this creature in full. I slowly removed it and stepped closer to the peculiar king floating above the water. I felt clearer when he grinned, pleased to no longer be suffocating with fear and insecurity. I smiled.

  Then, as my foot moved closer, brightness blinded me. I fell into a crouch, my face against my knees, my fingers jammed over my ears in pain as a shriek rang out.

  “Lucas!” I screamed, but it was inaudible over the high-pitched peal.

  Finally it stopped. I stood, a bit wobbly despite the calm that had come upon the lake. The skeleton king was gone, his dusty remnants floating away in a beam of yellow sunlight that had just peeked over the trees. Then a biting wind stroked my face, and the boat began its return to the house.

  “Lucas,” I gasped, searching for him in the circling trees.

  When he appeared, his hair blew wildly in every direction, and his shoulders jerked up and down as he panted. The dawn’s light picked out figures emerging from the trees at different places and gathering at the dock, but the warmth of the sun couldn’t stop my shivering. The boat was only feet away when I whimpered.