The muscles on the thing’s back rippled as it bunched up to leap at Alex. She rose from her roll and leveled her gun. I could see her finger tensing on the trigger.
Then she hesitated.
I realized I blocked the line of fire.
She couldn’t shoot at it without risking a miss and hitting me, or a shot going through the creature and also hitting me.
But I couldn’t move. I was frozen, rooted to the spot with a silly knife in my hand.
The creature was going to kill us.
It leapt, claws slashing, and I knew they were going to rip Alex to pieces. She wouldn’t be able to dodge in time. But she was already moving. Her foot lashed out and hit the garbage can she had gunned down earlier, knocking it into the oncoming creature’s path. It didn’t do much, deflecting the creature a bit and slowing it down. The creature stumbled as it landed, crashing into another garbage can. Bits of rotting food, shreds of wrappers, and pieces of cardboard flew into the air.
That was all the space Alex needed.
She slid to the side and her gun chuffed over and over. Blood spurted from the creature as the bullets tore through it, splashing the walls of the houses and the refuse on the ground with crimson. The monster slashed at her again, weaker. Alex darted back out of reach from the claws. She shot into the creature until the gun’s slide locked back, then in a smooth motion ejected the spent magazine and pulled another from her belt. The new magazine had scarcely been shoved into the gun before she fired again. Alex took a few steps back as she did so, circling around so she stood between me and the bleeding creature.
It wasn’t moving anymore. It barely seemed to be breathing. Its faced toward us, mouth still snarling and snapping weakly with a mouthful of pointed teeth. Its eyes were the most human thing about it, and they glared at us with pure hatred.
“You need to get out of here,” Alex said, her voice dead calm. “I’m going to make some calls to get this cleaned up, but you can’t be here when that happens. Helix doesn’t know you are helping. They can’t find out, or they’ll shut me down too.”
“You OK?” I managed.
“Fine. Now get out of here. If you see anything following you, run like your life depends on it. Use that knife if anything like this gets close.”
I stared down at the knife in my hand. My grip on it was all white knuckles. I hadn’t been able to do anything with it before, what made her think I could do anything with it should something start chasing me again? My hands started to shake. What good were all these powers I possessed if I froze? What good were these powers against something like that creature? I imagined those teeth ripping into me. Those claws—
My head snapped to the side, and a stinging sensation burned on the left side of my face.
“Snap out of it, Jack. You can’t think like that,” Alex said. She had slapped me. “We’ll work out something later, but you’ve got to get out of here.”
She gave me a little push, and the next thing I knew I was running.
Chapter Eighteen
Alex watched as Jack took off in a sprint. The jumble of thoughts coming off him in waves were all studies in terror. He was absolutely petrified of the “creature”. He wasn’t only worried about it killing him. He was just as terrified it would kill her.
Jack was getting too attached. I could use that. Alex experienced immediately guilt at the thought. How else did she think he would react? If she’d been in his position, would she have acted any differently?
But Alex hadn’t been in his position. Ever. She’d been raised knowing exactly what was going on in the world.
Still. In a way it was nice that someone cared. Not about her ability, but about her.
She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled free her phone. She scrolled through her contacts until she reached her father’s information. She hated talking to him. The phone rang once, and then he answered.
“What is it?” her father’s voice questioned. Not ‘hello’.
“We’ve got another Hound.”
A brief moment of silence. “Is it neutralized?” Not ‘are you OK?’
Alex gazed down at the still squirming body of the Hound. It was a virtual twin of the one she had killed the night the Leech had been freed. “It’s dead,” she lied. The lie felt good. It gave her control and kept her father from being controlling.
“Good. I’ll send team to pick it up. Did anyone see?” Meaning ‘did you screw up?’
Alex pulled the phone away from her ear and had to resist the impulse to throw it against the outer wall of the house next to her. The Hound made a small growling sound. She cut it off with a foot pressed against its throat. Its arms weren’t able to move to do anything about it. Her .40 caliber rounds had made sure of that.
“Alexandra, is there a reason you aren’t responding? Were there witnesses?”
“No witnesses. I was alone.”
“Doing what?”
“Following a hunch on the death of that family,” she replied.
“And?”
It was like an interrogation. Every conversation went like this. It had been so different with Jack’s dad. He’d always listened, and when he did ask questions it was always out of curiosity. Never a demand. Always demands with her father. “It was the Leech,” she said before she could stop herself.
A pause on the other end. “How did you arrive at this conclusion?”
She silently cursed herself. Why couldn’t I just have kept my mouth shut? The conversation would already be over. “Tracks were mistakenly identified as the girl who lived at the home. They were the same size as the Leech’s. The cause of death also suggests it. Plus the presence of a Hound suggests it was tracking the Leech.” She was throwing stuff out now. It may or may not be true, but it would end the conversation.
“Supposition.”
“You have any better ideas while you sit there in your chair?” she snapped. Alex closed her mouth with a click. What was she doing? Why was she baiting him? It wouldn’t lead anywhere good.
“I’ll forgive your impertinence. You are, of course, doing everything you can. I’ll leave you to it. Text me the location. And don’t call me for at least a day. I will not be available.” Silence as he ended the conversation.
Alex looked down at the Hound beneath her foot. It still clung to life somehow. She risked a glance around to make sure no one was coming or watching. The fact no one had come already suggested no one was home at the houses adjoining the alley.
Nobody and nothing.
She pointed the suppressed pistol at the Hound’s face. This is almost becoming a habit. For a moment she pictured her father’s in place of it and squeezed the trigger.
Chapter Nineteen
The knock at my front door nearly made me piss myself. My nerves were ragged, and I hadn’t stopped shaking since I had run the three miles from the Smith’s home.
Not that it was their home anymore. The house was merely a shell.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to answer the knock, but I thought maybe Alex had made it here after cleaning up the scene in the alley. Whatever that entailed. Her push had flipped some sort of switch in my head, and all my body wanted to do was sprint away from the dead memories and the dying creature. No one was home to see me throw myself through my front door after dropping my keys five times. No one to see me sweating and freaking out.
The knock came again.
Rising from the couch, I set down the knife I’d been uselessly holding. Before opening the door I took a deep breath. I didn’t want Alex to see me still freaked out. She’d already witnessed enough weakness and cowardice in me for one day.
When I opened the door, Alex wasn’t standing there.
Barry was.
My last image of him flashed in front of my eyes—him flying through the air, landing in his group of new friends. His anger and jealousy became fresh and raw all over again for me. The sensation reminded me of when I had stepped into the footprints of the Leech. I hadn’t just seen wha
t sent off those extremely potent emotions. I’d experienced the emotions too, as though they were my own.
And here he stood in front of me.
He looked terrible.
“Hey, Barry,” I said cautiously. “I wasn’t expecting you to come by…ever.”
He shrugged, obviously exhausted. I think he tried to put a smile on his face, but couldn’t manage it. I don’t think he’d showered that morning, and his clothes looked like he’d slept in them. Dark circles around sunken eyes gave him a slight raccoon look.
“Can I come in for a second?” he asked. He wasn’t anything like the Barry who had taunted me like a schoolyard bully. It usually went something like this, with him coming by to apologize for being an idiot. But for some reason I’d thought this break permanent.
“Sure,” I said.
He glanced at the spot on the couch he usually sat in before this whole mess had started. Back when things were simpler. Nicer. Calmer.
Indecision shone in his body language. He wanted to sit down, but wasn’t sure if he should. More than just body language was in play; I was getting all sorts of weird…energy…from him. His aura—the same aura I’d seen when he’d tried to push me around—pulsed lightly. I could read it, in a muted version of what had happened before.
“Sit down, Barry. You look freaking tired.”
He nodded and sat down heavily. He appeared skinnier. Paler. “I haven’t been sleeping too well lately,” he said. “Every time I do, I start seeing weird stuff.”
“Like nightmares?” I asked. What was this about?
“Nah.” He licked his lips nervously. He wanted to ask me something, but I could tell he thought I wouldn’t believe him. That I would think he was crazy. He had mustered every scrap of courage to come and see me. He was braver than I had been today.
“Barry, what’s buggin’ you? We’ve been friends forever.” I figured it would be best to keep our friendship current rather than act like it was done. He was hurting, and I felt responsible. “I’ve never seen you this screwed up. Something happen?”
“We’ve been friends forever,” he agreed, ignoring my question. “Still, man, I don’t know how to explain this all to you. Don’t know that I can.”
“Then why’d you come?” It was a cruel question, but I had to ask.
“I think maybe you are the only person who will possibly believe I’m not going completely insane.” Barry rubbed his eyes hard. I was about to say something—what, I have no idea, but I didn’t like the silence—when he held up a hand to stall me. “First, I need to tell you I’m sorry.”
I didn’t expect an apology, but I could tell he meant what he said. His guilt over what happened seemed completely genuine, and I had a feeling it was all related to his state of mind.
“I shouldn’t have said all that stuff to you,” he continued. “I know now none of it is true, and that you’ve been dealing with some crazy stuff lately. I guess that girl Alex is the only one you can talk about it with. I just wish you’d have trusted me.”
My eyes narrowed. Those were some pretty specific words he’d used. A little too close to the truth behind everything. How could he possibly know anything?
But he did. I could sense it. His aura couldn’t lie to me. Barry may as well have been an open book.
“What are you saying Barry?” I asked as calmly as I could manage. “I mean, I’m glad you aren’t buying the crap being spread around by the news, but what wouldn’t I trust you with?”
“Have you been seeing weird stuff lately, Jack?”
The question caught me off guard. He was getting braver now. He’d committed to putting it all out there.
When I didn’t respond right away, he added, “I don’t think you are crazy or anything, Jack. I just…I just…”
“Yeah.” I said.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, I’ve been seeing some pretty crazy things.”
He hesitated. “Were they, like, purple?” The shock must have been obvious on my face. He started nodding. “I knew it. That day at school when I was stupid and pushed you around, something happened. One second I was trying to shove you, the next I was flying backwards. But between those two moments, I saw…well, I saw you. It was like I was seeing and feeling what you’d been going through the past few weeks since your dad vanished.
“Please tell me I’m not crazy, Jack. Please tell me this isn’t just in my head.” I could see the pleading look in his eyes. “I gotta know, man. I gotta know.”
I was speechless. Just like I’d seen everything going on with him, he’d seen everything going on with me. A sudden thought overrode everything.
What if that’s how it had been for Abby and her parents? What if they had seen all the horror of the monster being inflicted on them as it sucked away their souls? How twisted and sick would it have been if they felt some of the satisfaction the Leech enjoyed as it fed? The thought made my stomach do flips.
Barry stared at me with pleading, tear-filled eyes. “You’re not crazy. Where did you get the ‘purple’ thing from?”
He let out a long breath, one that sounded like he’d been holding it for weeks. “When I saw all that stuff, everything was tinged in purple. I was seeing through your eyes. You were seeing stuff. Tracks. Dreams. I don’t know. It was all kinda garbled, like in the movies when they do the ‘life flashing before your eyes’ thing. But I could feel how bad this was all going for you. How angry you were with everything. And how she was on your side. How she believed you. Did you, you know…”
“See what you were dealing with? Yeah.”
He winced at that. “It’s been rough.”
I didn’t say anything. What could I say? Instead, “How about now? You still get any weird sense from me?”
“Nah,” he waved it off. “I’ve just been beatin’ myself up over all this. I was an ass.”
So the whole episode had been a one-time deal. I wondered if this would happen with other people if I interacted with their auras. Not that I’d seen one since. “I wasn’t much better,” I replied, but my head wasn’t in it. I knew I should be having a full-on conversation with Barry, but I remained too wrapped up in all the other crap to really have a heart-to-heart. Maybe that made me a bad person, but how was I supposed to act?
“So what are we going to do now?” he asked. “I want to know more, but…”
But he was still trying to come to grips with the basics. I probably understood better than he could imagine.
I shrugged. “Not much we can do. I’m pretty much stuck here doing nothing.” It was lie, but I didn’t want Barry involved in what was really going on. Especially after what I’d seen today. “I can’t work—Helix won’t let me—and I don’t want to go to classes. I don’t see the point. Alex is keeping an ear open for news when she’s doing stuff at Helix. I’m just trying to keep things low-key until this all blows over.”
Another knock at the door prompted Barry to get up. “I’ll split. Look man, I’m sorry. If you need to talk to someone about crazy stuff, give me a call.”
“I’ll do that,” I lied. Sorry, Barry, I don’t want you getting hurt by all this.
He opened the door to let himself out. I didn’t go with him, but tossed a wave as he opened the door. Alex stood there.
“Uh, hey Alex,” Barry said. He was pretty ashamed about what he’d said about her too. “Look, sorry about the other day.”
“Don’t worry,” she said with an easy smile. “Everything is pretty tense right now. I get it. We all have things weighing on us.” She stepped aside so he could leave, shutting the door behind her.
“So he came to apologize, huh?”
I nodded. “Remember how I told you about all the stuff I saw about him? Well he saw the same sort of thing about me.”
“I read him as he left. He still doesn’t have any clue about me. So he must not have seen everything.”
“Nope.” I sighed. “But now I can tell exactly how he’s feeling.” I told her all about the conversat
ion, and how his aura was still visible to me.
“As long as he can’t still read you, I think we are OK.” She sat down next to me and leaned back. “I’m sorry.”
“Been hearing that a lot lately. What are you sorry for? You saved us today with your gun-stuff.”
“I’m sorry you have to push everyone away,” she said. “It sucks, but it’s safer for them.”
I let her comment go. That was a conversation I didn’t want to have. Ever. Instead I asked, “What was that thing that attacked us?”
“A Hound.” I was glad she wasn’t pursuing her last comment. “They are genetically engineered monsters Whyte Genetics has been using for the past couple of years.”
“What does Whyte Genetics have to do with anything?”
She looked at me like I was dumb. “They are Helix’s competition. Almost every major government contract in the areas of genetics or paranormal research goes to either Helix or Whyte. There are hundreds of billions of dollars on the line for each of our companies.”
It’s all about money, I realized. I shook with anger. “Tell me this is not just about money. My dad, the deaths, everything. Tell me this isn’t about money.”
“Everything is always about money,” Alex said. “Or about control. Often they are the same thing in business.” She leaned forward and pointed at me with a slender index finger. “But ultimately it is about power. Imagine if you could control this world that is unseen by nearly everyone. You could control all the psychics. The monsters. The paranormal sensitives. That is power. When you have access to virtually unlimited knowledge, you can shape the progress of everything.”
“Is that what Helix wants? What Whyte wants?”
“It’s the only reason they exist, Jack. The two companies are like two giant nukes ready to be shot off at each other. Whyte has taken the first shot by sending his Hounds.”
I saw where she was going with this. “It’s going to get worse,” I stated. “How bad will it get?”
Residue Page 13