by K. C. Blake
Jersey’s lips stretched thin, tight. He looked horrible, even for a werewolf. There were dark circles beneath his eyes as if he hadn’t slept since losing Blanca. In a gruff voice, laced with raw emotion he said, “Seems you can’t follow the simplest of directions. Why am I not surprised?”
“It couldn’t be helped. Where is Billy?”
“Where is Blanca?”
Jack glanced over his shoulders at the others. Ian immediately set the box on the ground. Knocking the lid off, he pulled Blanca out by the scruff of her neck and dangled her in the air. With his other hand he produced a knife. Holding the blade near the cat’s neck he shouted, “One wrong move, Clifford, and the feline dies.”
This hadn’t been part of the original plan. Jack’s blood cooled as he waited for Jersey’s reaction to the threat. He wished Ian wouldn’t improvise. His father didn’t know Jersey like Jack did. Ian didn’t know what Jersey was capable of, or maybe he did know and just didn’t care.
Ignoring Ian, Jersey spoke to Jack. “I will get Billy while you get Blanca. We’ll meet back here. No tricks or I’ll kill your brother while you watch.”
“I won’t try anything if you don’t.”
“Good. Then we understand each other.”
Jersey spun on one foot and marched back to the line of trees at the outer edge of the cemetery. Jack watched him until he was certain Jersey was following through with the deal. Hopefully, the exchange would go smoothly. Jack hurried to Ian. He took Blanca from the other man’s hands, careful not to cut himself or her on the knife Ian continued to brandish.
“Perhaps we should rethink our position,” Ian said. “That werewolf cannot be trusted. He’s up to something. I can smell it.”
Jack silently agreed. Unfortunately, Jersey had his brother, and Jack was willing to do anything to get Billy home safe. When he looked across the cemetery, he saw Jersey heading for the center spot with Billy in tow. So far, so good. Jersey seemed to be sticking to the deal.
“Be careful,” Silver said.
“Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”
“Famous last words,” Ian said, gruff voice.
Jack and Silver shared a brief understanding, a look that spoke more than words ever could. She was keeping her eyes on Jersey. If Jersey tried to hurt him, she’d be there in a flash. The two of them would attack Jersey together.
Jack cradled Blanca against his chest while he walked back to the middle place where Jersey and Billy waited. Billy was in one piece, but he’d obviously been in a fight, probably with Jersey. Dried blood covered half his upper lip. There was a deep purple bruise on his forehead and there was a place on his cheek that looked like it had been scraped raw by a cheese grater.
“Here he is,” Jersey said, gesturing to Billy. “You give me Blanca and you can take your brother anywhere you want.”
“Sounds fair.”
Jack pushed the limp cat into Jersey’s arms. He reached for his brother. Jersey’s steely voice cut through his intentions, freezing his feet to the ground. It wasn’t going to be smooth sailing, after all.
“What are you trying to pull?” Jersey lightly shook the cat. “What is wrong with her? What have you done to her?”
“The same thing you did to Isobel.” Jack grabbed Billy just above the elbow and prepared to run while dragging his brother behind him.
“You traitorous liar! She’s no good to me like this.”
“I thought maybe you knew a way to revive her.”
“There is no way to undo what you’ve done.”
The rain began to fall harder.
Palpable anger radiated from Jersey in hot waves. It was time to make a run for it. Silver shouted a warning. He heard his friends racing towards him, knowing Jersey was ready to attack. It would be even harder to fight Jersey while trying to keep his brother from running off. Too bad Billy’s ankles weren’t tied.
Jersey didn’t attack. Petting the damp cat with one hand, he leaned forward and whispered, “I didn’t come alone either.”
Jack didn’t need to ask what Jersey meant. Familiar shrieks burst through the air, so loud it was easily heard over the thunder and falling rain. Wraiths. Jersey had created more wraiths. He telepathically summoned them to attack. Jack and Silver looked to each other. They were doomed. They both knew it.
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*****
Chapter Twenty-One:
PREPARATIONS
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Everything happened at once, too fast for Jack to focus on just one thing. Jersey raced from the scene while hugging Blanca close to his chest. Jack wanted to stop him. There wasn’t anything he could do other than watch the werewolf get away. He had other things to deal with.
Billy performed a Superman move and pulled his wrists apart. The tape stretched around them instantly broke, and Jack realized his brother hadn’t been securely tied, a trick orchestrated by Jersey. Billy was an accomplice, not a prisoner.
Silver ran at high speed straight at Jack, obviously trying to reach him before the wraiths did. Vanessa hurried after her. She shouted her daughter’s name, but Silver’s legs continued to pump hard, desperation etched on her face.
The wraiths circled above them, wisps of blue smoke against a black velvet sky with occasional streaks of lightning intermingling with them in a dangerous dance. The rain turned to a steady downpour; it had no effect on the wraiths. Their collective shrieks sent a chill of terror up Jack’s spine.
Not for himself. He had nine lives, possibly more. He was worried about Silver and Billy and Vanessa. There wasn’t anything he could do to protect them from the wraiths. Even if he could come up with a smart, strategic move, he couldn’t save everyone. There were too many flying monsters.
Billy attacked him with a flying kick, taking the choice from him. The foot hit him in the stomach and knocked the breath from his body. He staggered backwards, landing hard on the soggy ground. Water got in his eyes. Everything blurred. He turned his face to the side. Blinking rapidly, he tried to clear his vision.
Silver was next to him in an instant, falling to her knees beside him. Her hands slid over his body, checking for injuries. He couldn’t breathe yet, couldn’t talk, couldn’t tell her he was okay. Fluttering motion from above caught his eye. A wraith hovered over them. He couldn’t warn Silver it was going to attack her. He opened his mouth, desperate to let her know. No sound emerged.
Too late. The wraith dove down and grabbed Silver by the shoulders with
claw-like hands. She screamed. It tore her away from Jack and flew straight up.
Jack grabbed her lower legs and held on tight. He struggled to keep her with him. If the wraith managed to fly away with her, he’d never see her again. The fact that nobody knew what wraiths did with prisoners gave him added strength. He couldn’t allow the thing to take her, even if it meant dying in her place.
The wraith stared down at him with black, soulless eyes. It shrieked again and tugged harder on its prize while Jack held on with all his might. He used his body weight against the thing. Leaning back, he pulled on Silver. His entire body weighed her down like an anchor.
The wraith was winning. Inch by inch, it managed to draw Silver higher into the sky. Jack’s body rose with her. His butt left the wet ground. He arched his back and gritted his teeth, pulling harder. If something didn’t happen soon to tilt circumstances in their favor, Silver would be gone forever. He needed help.
Billy stood nearby, watching with a neutral expression.
“Help me!” Jack yelled at him. “Remember who you are, Billy! Don’t let it take her!”
Billy didn’t budge. A malicious light glinted in his eyes, barely human. A sneer touched his mouth. He wasn’t going to help them because he was too far gone, too much a werewolf to care what happened to mere mortals. Jack knew he’d lost his brother without a doubt.
Jack turned his head as he was lifted off the ground a bit more. He saw Vanessa cornered by two wraiths. She fought them in vain. Every swing s
he took went through the airy bodies. She stumbled and fell. A wraith attacked her. In danger herself, she couldn’t help them.
The next person Jack’s eyes found was Ian. The man stood statue still. Jack yelled to him for assistance, but Ian didn’t give any indication he heard the desperate cry. What was wrong with him? Why wasn’t he doing anything?
The second the question came to Jack’s mind, he saw Ian lift his face to the sky. Ian opened his mouth and released a yell ten-thousand times louder than any human should be capable of. The force of it shook the ground. A burst of energy accompanied it. Like the mushroom cloud produced by a bomb, the energy spread until it encompassed the whole cemetery.
Somehow the scream hurt the wraiths.
The one trying to kidnap Silver let her go with a startled cry. It rippled, changing from shimmering blue to a putrid green. The thing’s empty eye holes snapped to the left and found Ian with little effort. It didn’t try to attack him. Instead, the wraith flew straight up into the sky and disappeared.
The others followed suit.
Jack spun around, performing a quick perimeter search for enemies. Jersey was long gone. Every single wraith vanished from sight. That just left one enemy. Billy remained where he was as if his feet were stuck to the ground. He stared at Ian, cold fear in his eyes. Defeated, he gave up without a fight. His arms slowly rose into the air. He surrendered.
Ian hurried to Vanessa.
Jack took Silver’s hand and pulled her to her feet. When she saw her mother lying on the ground, she ran to her and knelt beside her. “Mom, are you okay?”
“My arm.” Vanessa cradled the appendage close to her upper torso. “I think it’s broken.”
“Let me see,” Ian said. He gently probed the arm with his fingers. “I believe you are right in your diagnosis, doctor. You need to go straight to the hospital. Jack, you take Vanessa to the hospital, and I will escort Billy to the mansion. It’s the only place we can secure him properly.”
No way was Jack going to leave his brother in Ian’s hands. He slowly shook his head. Not going to happen. “I have a better idea. You take her to the hospital, and I’ll watch over my brother.”
“I am the only one who can handle Billy right now.”
“Oh really? Exactly how are you going to handle him?”
Vanessa cried out in pain as she inadvertently moved her arm. She bit her lower lip to keep from yelling again. Her suffering was evident. Someone needed to do something for her soon.
Silver turned to Jack. She touched him with pleading eyes and said, “Take her, for me. I’ll go with Ian and Billy. I’ll make sure everything is okay. You can trust me.”
Jack reluctantly nodded. He watched Ian steer Billy to the waiting car. Silver wished her mom luck and asked her to call as soon as she saw the doctor. Then she ran after Ian. Jack’s stomach muscles tightened. He hoped he hadn’t made a terrible mistake. He hoped Silver could handle his father. If Ian killed his brother, he wouldn’t be able to forgive either one of them.
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*****
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Jack hated waiting.
He sat on an orange plastic chair that was linked to several others in one row out of six. His patience was nearing the end. He got up and paced the floor for a while. The big hand on the nearby wall clock seemed to be moving extra fast. Wondering what was happening with Billy was driving him crazy. He paced faster. There were only a few other people in the room. They were too involved in their own personal problems to notice him. He glanced at the clock for the millionth time. Vanessa had gone into the inner sanctum over three hours ago. How long did it take to put a cast on?
Jack walked over to the counter yet again and asked, “Could you please find out what’s going on with my friend? She should be done by now.”
The nurse’s smile was strained. “I’m sorry, sir, but we have a lot of patients right now and too few doctors. There’s a bug going around.”
“Bug?”
“We’ve seen over forty people in the last twenty-four hours, all suffering from high fevers, chills, and uncontrollable bursts of anger. Don’t worry about your friend. She’ll be out soon.”
“You say they have high fevers? How high?”
The nurse’s eyes narrowed on him. “Are you feeling ill, sir?”
“Not really, but I want to make sure my friends don’t have it.”
She looked around to see if anyone else was listening. She leaned over the counter and whispered, “They don’t want to start a full-blown panic, but a few people have died. They have fevers so high they break the thermometers. All the people should be dying or at least have fried brains afterwards, but they get better in a matter of a few hours. It happens so fast. It’s like they were never sick. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The door opened and a woman rushed in with a young boy in her arms. “Help me! My son! We need a doctor.”
Jack stared at the kid with the tomato red face. The boy began to convulse, and his mother almost dropped him. She managed to lay him on the floor. The kid struck out, swiping metallic claws at his mother. Jack knocked the woman out of the way, saving her. Unfortunately, he was the only one who saw the claws.
She stumbled backwards and glared at him. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Sorry.” He shrugged. “I thought he was going to hurt you.”
She stared at him like he was stupid. “He’s only six years old. What are you, a nut? Get away from us.”
Jack backed up, and the kid’s fever subsided. His eyes opened, focusing on his mother’s face. The nurse reassured the mother in a calm voice. They lifted the kid onto his feet and got him into a wheelchair. The nurse pushed him through the double swinging doors while the frantic mother followed close behind.
Jack stood in the corner and waited.
Vanessa came out a few minutes later. Her arm was in a brand new white cast. Like a patch of clean snow, it begged to be signed. Without asking for permission Jack picked a pen off the counter and wrote his name on it.
A wry smile touched Vanessa’s mouth. “Sorry it took so long.”
“That’s okay. The nurse entertained me with stories while you were gone.”
“You won’t believe what I saw while I was being wheeled to x-ray.”
“Let me guess.” They stepped outside into the dark and rainy night. Jack wished he had worn a jacket. “You saw a bunch of people suffering from high fevers, convulsing, scratching anyone who got near them.”
“You saw them, too.”
“I saw a fresh case.” Jack sighed and pushed damp hair out of his eyes. “Jersey is building his army. It’s actually happening.”
“We need to hurry home, warn Silver and Ian.”
“We’re getting closer to the final battle.” Even as he said the words he found it hard to believe them. Light from a streetlamp glinted against the metal surrounding Vanessa’s third finger. He smiled at it. “You found your wedding ring.”
She lifted her hand as if admiring the gold ring. “It was in the bathroom. I took it off to shower and forgot.”
It was an understandable mistake. Rain plastered hair to his head and clothes to his skin as they made their way to the car. He glanced sideways at Vanessa. Her shoulders shook. She looked frozen. Digging keys out of his pocket, he prepared to race for the car. The least he could do was to open the door for her before she reached it. If he’d been thinking, he would have left her inside the hospital while he went for the car.
Because the raindrops blended with the tears on her face, he didn’t realize she was crying until they were inside the car. She gulped heavy breaths. Her shoulders shook harder. Jack didn’t know what to do. Comforting crying women was not his forte. He froze in the driver’s seat, unsure of whether he should start the car or not. Maybe she needed some time to vent.
They sat in silence in the car’s dark interior for a few minutes before she finally spoke. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” Her voice was a mere whisper. “And
rew and I worked hard to train Silver to kill werewolves. We prepared her the best we could for the final battle with the head werewolf. In my wildest dreams I didn’t imagine it would be like this. Andrew was supposed to be here with us.”
Jack remained still and silent. There wasn’t anything he could offer her, no sage advice that would make her feel better. He stared at the windshield. It was raining harder now, and he could barely see through the glass. Blurred headlights moved past them. Jack’s hand tightened on his car key until it hurt. He wanted to slide it into the ignition and drive away. He wanted to go home and go to sleep, but Vanessa wasn’t finished.
Quiet sobs grew louder. Wrapping arms around herself, she bent forward as if she was experiencing stomach cramps. Once her tears subsided she said, “I’ve tried to be strong for Silver. She lost her father. I don’t want my grief to interfere with hers. Do you get that?”
He nodded. “She’s going to be okay, you know. She’s strong and fierce, and we’re going to make sure she’s okay.”
The cloud in Vanessa’s eyes dissipated, and she smiled with warmth. Her hand rested on his. Giving his fingers a gentle squeeze, she said, “I am so glad my daughter has you.”
“We’re going to get through this. Somehow we’re all going to survive, and Jersey Clifford is going to die.”
“Thank you for being patient with me and putting up with my meltdown. I’m fine now. We can return to the house.”
It was music to Jack’s ears. He shoved the key into the ignition while holding back a yawn. Somehow he needed to keep his tired eyes open for a couple more hours. Instead of crawling into bed the second he arrived home, he was going to have to check on his brother.
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*****
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Ian put Billy in one of the mansion’s bedrooms. It surprised Jack to hear this news because he was half-expecting to find Billy hanging upside-down in a dank dungeon no one but Ian knew about. Ian explained the bedroom had werewolf spells written on the walls, windows, and threshold. Billy wouldn’t be able to leave the room without assistance.