“Seb,” he said. “Seb.”
“Let him go,” Sebastian said. He managed to push himself up to his knees as Gareth let go.
Callum flew across the clearing, arms wrapping around Sebastian’s neck. Sebastian almost fell over again and would have if Jessica hadn’t steadied him. The boy sobbed against his shoulder, his entire body shaking. Sebastian wrapped his arms around his brother, holding on tight.
He should look at his neck, he knew, check to see if Sebastian had bitten him but he couldn’t, not yet. He couldn’t bear to face that thought just yet.
“You didn’t bite him, you idiot, it’s a fricking nose bleed again. Geez, I don’t know how you’re gonna manage on your own.”
Charlie!
Sebastian turned his head. Charlie leaned against a tree, arms folded across his chest. He wore a green sweatshirt with the arms rolled up to his elbows. He shook his head, making his blond hair shimmer.
You’re still here!
“Not for long,” Charlie said. “Just wanted to say goodbye and good luck. You’ll need it.”
A small hand flashed out from behind the tree, swatting Charlie’s upper arm.
“Stop that, Charlie, he’s done pretty well.”
Alexa stepped out from behind the tree.
Sebastian stiffened, hugging Callum closer. But she wasn’t... he peered closer. She smiled and he could almost see the bottom tip of a leaf through her lips.
She wasn’t solid.
A ghost.
Like Charlie.
“You really are slow,” Charlie said.
Alexa shook her head and swatted Charlie’s arm again. “Stop being so mean. You didn’t figure it out until now either. Stop pretending you were smarter about this than him.”
Charlie laughed. “He knows I’m kidding. Right, Sebastian?”
“What are you talking about?” Sebastian said.
“Is that Charlie?” Jessica’s voice came from behind him.
“Yeah,” he said. “I have to talk to him.”
He took Callum’s arms from around his neck. The boy sniffed as Sebastian pulled away. His head bowed.
“Callum, I just need to do something for a minute. Can you stay with this lady for me? She’s really nice.”
Callum grabbed hold of Sebastian’s hands. His thin fingers clutched until they bleached white.
“Don’t go, Seb,” the boy said. “Don’t talk to those transparent people.”
Sebastian’s eyes widened. “You can see them?”
Callum nodded. His black hair flopped in his eyes.
“Them?” Jessica said. “I thought it was just Charlie.”
“Poor kid,” Charlie said. “He’s weird like you. Must run in the family.”
“Shut up,” Sebastian said. “At least I’m not a dorky ghost.”
Callum giggled, but as Sebastian rose to his feet and took a step forward, the giggle stopped. Callum grabbed his arm.
“Don’t.”
Sebastian pried his brother’s fingers away. “It’s okay. It’s just for a second. I’ll be right back.
He glanced up at Jessica. She moved to stand by Callum’s side. She put her arm around the boy’s shoulders.
“Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to him,” she said.
Callum’s brow still twisted with worry but his hand loosened.
“I’ll be right back. I promise,” Sebastian said.
Callum’s hand fell away. He pressed against Jessica’s side.
Sebastian turned back to Charlie and Alexa. Even in the darkness, they seemed to have a soft glow around them that illuminated the trees and surrounding clearing. Every small, shuffling footstep sent pain shooting through his head but Sebastian kept moving, wincing as he went. Finally he stopped just in front of Charlie.
“What is going on?” he said. “Explain it to me.”
Charlie opened his mouth but Alexa stepped forward.
“He can’t explain it, he barely understand it himself,” she said.
“Hey,” Charlie said.
“Well, it’s true.” She turned back to look at Charlie. He pursed his lips and shook his head, blond hair shaking around his shoulders.
She turned back to Sebastian. She looked just like she had before this had all happened, before Constantine, before anything. The same bright eyes, the same wide open expression, the same relaxed poise. Everything Sebastian had loved.
But he could still see the outline of leaves through her skin and he knew what that meant.
“It’s not your fault, Sebastian,” she said. “It’s not like you did this on purpose. How many evenings did you walk outside and not get attacked by a vampire? It’s not something most people expect.”
The catalogue of his subsequent sins flashed through his mind, all the things he should have done, could have done, should have said, but it all seemed pointless.
What would any of it matter to a ghost?
He’d failed at that major thing. All other flaws paled in comparison.
“It wasn’t your job to save me,” she said. “You had to take care of yourself. I made my own decision.”
“What do you mean?” he said.
“I mean he gave me a choice. It wasn’t a good choice but it was still a choice. I was... I was afraid to die.”
“You... chose?” he said.
“I didn’t really understand, there wasn’t time to consider...” Her shoulders drooped. “I tried.”
“You did the best you could,” he said.
Her head lifted. “So did you.”
He felt her words sink into him, past the pain throbbing in his head, past the fear that still clenched at him, even past the heartache of losing his parents. The best you could...
She was lying to him, he realized, trying to make it easier on him. She’d never chosen. Constantine had chosen for her. But still she didn’t blame Sebastian.
The best you could...
“Thanks,” he said.
She smiled. “Thank you.” Her smile widened. “You saved me after all, Sebastian. And brought me Charlie to guide me home.”
“I brought?”
“Why do you think I was stuck with you?” Charlie said. “Something in you wouldn’t let me go until Alexa was here.”
“Me? I didn’t do anything,” Sebastian said. “You just showed up.”
“He showed up when you were ready to deal with me,” Alexa said. “He had to. I was the one that killed him. But you were the one who could free me.”
“But I didn’t… do anything,” he said.
Had he? He couldn’t remember. It was getting fuzzy. The pain in his head increased.
“It’s okay, dude, let it go,” Charlie said. “I think you maybe broke something in there. Don’t push yourself.”
“Yeah, okay.”
He could feel fresh wetness on his lips. A swipe with his hand showed him his nose was bleeding again.
“You better go take care of that,” Charlie said. “Better take care of all of them.” He nodded back behind Sebastian.
Sebastian glanced back at Jessica and Callum. He flashed an index finger at his brother; just one more minute. The boy frowned but nodded.
When he turned back, both Charlie and Alexa looked faded, like an old black and white photograph. Even the colors looked washed out.
“Hey,” he said.
“We have to go, Sebastian,” Alexa said. “It’s time. Thank you for freeing me. I can never repay you for that.”
“But you’re dead,” he said.
“Some things are worse than death. Being a vampire is one of them.”
“Don’t worry about her now,” Charlie said. “She’ll be fine. I’ll make sure only upstanding angels hit on her.” He winked. Alexa swatted at his arm again.
“Hey, good thing I don’t bruise easy.” He wagged a finger at her. “Listen Sebastian, heal up good and take care of your brother. I don’t know if you’ll be able to do this again for any of the other vampires, you may have p
ushed yourself too hard. If you did, you did all you could do, man. Even for me. You gave me the chance to help you and that’s what friends are for. Hope to see you again. But not for a long time.”
Charlie moved forward as if to give him a hug but faded before he even reached Sebastian. It didn’t matter, he felt a very Charlie-like essence tickle inside his mind, leaving him with an overriding sense of laughter and friendship.
Tears rose in his eyes. He had a Charlie-shaped absence in his life now. He could feel it.
Soon he’d have an Alexa-shaped one too.
Even faded, she looked lovely, reminding him of his infatuation. He had loved her in a puppy-dog kind of way. Worshipful, as if from a distance. Maybe it never would have worked because he’d never really seen her a regular person.
Her smile widened. “I liked being your perfect woman,” she said. “But you’re right. I don’t think it would have been sustainable, for either of us.”
She moved forward to stand right in front of him. Without the sourness of the vampire, he could almost smell a faint whiff of her sweet perfume.
“Goodbye, Sebastian,” she said.
“I’m sorry, Alexa,” he said. “I wish this had never happened to you.”
She nodded. “I know. I wish the same thing for you. For me, it’s over. For you, it’s still going on. Take care of yourself, Sebastian. Take care of them.”
“I loved you, Alexa,” he said.
She smiled again even as she began to fade, her image thinning like mist.
“I loved you too.”
And like that, she was gone.
CHAPTER 20
Gareth knew someone who knew someone with a safe house where they could hole up for a few days. It was a small bungalow a couple of miles outside Ridgeview City. Set far back from the road, it almost reminded Sebastian of his first glimpse of a farm house in France with its off white walls, dark brown shutters and the porch that wrapped around one side.
He shook that out of his head, but without actually physically shaking his head. The ache pounded away at his temples although it had faded quite a bit. Jessica fussed over him most of the time, but without the more developed network in Europe, there was little they could do for him right now.
But every day, the pain lessened a little bit, and with it, the more severe symptoms of being an In-Between. Maybe he had broken something inside himself like Charlie had suggested, and maybe that breaking would reset him to be just like the others.
Maybe he wouldn’t be quite so much of a freak anymore.
Four days after rescuing Callum, Sebastian knocked on the faded white wood door before opening it. Callum was sleeping in the small single bedroom beyond. As the door creaked open and Sebastian poked his head around, he caught a glimpse of Callum still lying in bed. He swiped his arm over his face before turning his back to the door.
“It’s almost ten,” Sebastian said. “You want some breakfast?”
Callum wasn’t eating enough. Sebastian didn’t like the gauntness in the boy’s face. Although the vampire Alexa had fed on him, it wasn’t enough to turn him into an In-Between, as long as he ate properly and got out into the sun. But Callum wasn’t being very cooperative.
Sebastian crossed to the bed and sat down. He tugged on the boy’s shoulder. After a moment, Callum turned over. He blinked rapidly, keeping his gaze low.
Trying not to let Sebastian see the tears.
Sebastian’s hand tightened on the boy’s shoulder.
“I had a dream about Mom.” Callum’s voice trembled.
“That’s okay,” Sebastian said. “You should dream about her. You should remember her.”
“Was she really a vampire?”
Sebastian let out his breath slowly. He hadn’t wanted to tell Callum but he deserved the truth.
“She was but deep inside she was still Mom. The last thing she asked me was to keep you safe.”
“Really?” Callum looked right at him, eyes wide and brimming with tears.
“Really.”
Callum launched himself up, hugging Sebastian in a fierce embrace.
“She was herself deep inside too, wasn’t she?” Callum’s voice was almost muffled in Sebastian’s shoulder.
Sebastian puffed his brother’s hair out of his mouth. “Who?”
Callum pulled back to face him. His hand swiped at his face.
“That girl. The one who took me.”
“Alexa,” Sebastian said.
Callum nodded.
“Yeah, she was.”
“The rest are too, aren’t they? Themselves deep inside.”
“I think so,” Sebastian said. “At least the new ones probably.”
“And you can set them free.”
“Well, sort of. I could. I don’t know if I can now. My head, I might not be able to.”
“Sure you can,” Callum said. “You just need a rest. Teach me how to do it.”
A laugh escaped Sebastian’s lips. “Teach you? I don’t even know how I do it.”
“You can learn by teaching me.”
Sebastian shook his head. “Cal...”
“Come on, Seb, you can. I saw the ghosts. I bet I could do this too. Teach me!”
Sebastian tilted his head at his brother. The boy had seen Charlie and Alexa, without even the benefit of being a full In-Between. Maybe Charlie had been right, maybe it was something in his family. If being an In-Between had awoken that ability in Sebastian and Callum could see them even without being an In-Between, no telling how far the boy could go. He might end up teaching Sebastian a few things.
And he might end up being better at it.
If Callum could learn to release vampires, it might just be the thing to turn this whole mess around.
Who knows, maybe together they’d be able to stop vampires for good.
The door creaked open behind them. Jessica appeared in the doorway. She leaned her hip against the frame, tilting her head to the side. Her hair spilled across her shoulders. She’d taken to wearing it loose. Sebastian liked the way it hung down, the way it moved like a curtain in the breeze.
“Before school starts, I think you both need a good breakfast, don’t you?” she said.
Callum ducked his head a little. He was still shy around Jessica. Probably because he liked her. Sebastian pressed his lips shut tight to stop the grin.
“We’ll be right out,” he said.
“Okay. Eggs are getting cold. I’m not making more.”
She stepped back, her shoes clicking on the wood floor. The door swung shut.
“What do you say?” Sebastian said. “Breakfast? Then we talk some more about this teaching thing?”
Callum nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay.”
Sebastian kissed his brother on the forehead. Callum squirmed away.
“Don’t!”
“Mom would want me to do that.”
“Shut up!”
The boy’s arms shoved like a piston but Sebastian caught a glimpse of a grin before Callum ducked his head down.
Sebastian got up from the bed and the flurry of arms and legs twisting away from him.
“Hurry up or there won’t be any food left.”
“Shut up!”
Sebastian closed the door as his brother started to climb out of bed.
He followed the shadows down the hall toward the kitchen. Bright sunlight reflected off the pale yellow surfaces. He winced, feeling his head start to throb again. Funny, he hadn’t been quite so sensitive to light the last few days but it seemed to be starting up again.
Jessica stood by the stove, stirring at a pan in front of her. She glanced over her shoulder as he walked in.
“You okay?” she said.
“Yes, just the light. Where’s Gareth?”
“He went to fill the van with gas and use an Internet connection in town. He doesn’t want this place traced.”
She knocked the spoon on the side of the pan and set it down on the stove. As she turned the temperature d
ial down it clicked under her fingers like a hammer. Then she crossed to him. Her hand felt soft as she touched his cheek.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she said.
“Yeah, I just need a rest,” he said.
Her hand dropped away. She frowned. “Okay. Fine.” She started to turn away.
Talk to her. He could almost hear Charlie’s voice in his head.
He caught her arm, stopping her. She didn’t look back at him.
“I’m getting sensitive to light again,” he said. “I thought it was going away. I thought I’d be just a regular In-Between but it’s all coming back again. I’m still a freak after all.”
“You’re not a freak.” She turned toward him. “I don’t love freaks.”
“What?” he said.
“You heard me.” She moved closer. He felt her soft breath on his cheek.
“Yeah, I did.”
He closed the inch wide gap and kissed her. Her body curved perfectly against him. Somehow, talking to her, being with her made it hurt a little less.
Funny how that worked.
“I thought there was breakfast.”
Callum’s voice came from behind him.
Jessica broke the kiss and stepped back. “There is. Come on in.”
She turned back to the stove as the boy clomped in. The laces on his running shoes slapped on the floor as he crossed to the small green Formica table. His jeans hung low on his bony hips and the t-shirt looked like it was three sizes too big. None of it looked like an affected style although Sebastian could see white ankle socks poking out from under the jeans. Growth spurt? Was that maybe why Callum looked too thin?
Sebastian sat across from his brother as Jessica dished out eggs onto three plates. A plate of toast, a pitcher of orange juice and a carafe of coffee finished the meal. Callum toyed with his fork as Jessica sat down on his left.
“Don’t play with them, eat,” she said. “I won’t let Sebastian teach you anything if you don’t clean off your plate.”
Callum took a tiny bite of egg and swallowed it down. “If I learn that will it make me a freak too?”
Sebastian’s fingers tightened on his own fork. How could he reassure the boy that he wasn’t a freak when Sebastian wasn’t so sure about himself?
Retribution of Soul: Book 3 of the In-Between Page 23