by Cady Vance
She managed to draw them out of the room while I did my boneshaker incantation. Even though I usually did it in front of people, I wanted to toss bones alone this time. It was easier for me to concentrate and make sure the protection was as strong as I could make it.
“All done.” I hiked my backpack over my shoulder and joined the group where they were huddled around the foosball table. Laura cheered and clapped her hands when she got a goal past Brent, who gave her a mock frown, too amused by her excitement to be a sore loser.
He glanced up at me and nodded before heading into his bedroom. While we waited for him to come back, I watched Nathan spin the dials of the foosball table, his tongue sticking out between his teeth. He made a goal, and Laura kicked the table.
“Let me give it a try.” I took Laura’s place, meeting Nathan’s wicked grin with one of my own.
“You may be the master at the art of ghostbusting, Holly, but this,” he waved at the table, “is my expertise.”
“You think so?” I widened my grin. “I’m not sure you know enough about me to make judgments on my foosball abilities.”
“Maybe we should change that.”
My breath stopped puffing out of my mouth, and I stared at Nathan across the table full of little plastic men. Inside my chest, my heart still throbbed, but fear no longer gripped my emotions. It was Nathan, and the way his eyes searched my face for a sign that I’d liked what he’d said. And I was sure my hot-sauce-colored cheeks gave me away.
Brent reappeared with an envelope and handed it over, breaking the moment. I ripped my eyes away from Nathan’s angular face and let out an inner sigh of relief when my fingers touched the money. One step closer to paying the mortgage. I pocketed the cash in my backpack.
“Thanks,” he said. “I owe you one.”
I tapped my backpack. “No, you don’t. You paid.”
Nathan looked at his sports watch and grimaced. “I’ve gotta get home, man. My parents are big on the whole family dinner thing.”
“Me too. Mom’s expecting me home,” I said, surprised at how fast time had disappeared. Even though I’d been dealing with dangerous spirits, the last two hours had been fun. It had been awhile since I’d hung out with anyone other than Laura. I actually felt sixteen years old tonight instead of thirty-five.
Brent followed the three of us to the little porch outside his back door. I took in a deep breath, the scent of the ocean mixing with the unique smell of evening air and something chemical, like his parents had sprayed the grass with fertilizer. Skin prickling, my eyes darted to take in the darkness as thunder rumbled overhead. A part of me hoped the shamans weren’t waiting in their SUV at the end of Brent’s driveway. And part of me hoped they were.
“You need me to walk you guys home or anything?” Brent asked, one hand still on his doorknob.
“No, we’re good. We rode our bikes over,” Laura said. She met my eyes for an instant, and I could tell she regretted her words. She wanted Brent to walk her home. My best friend has a crush on Brent Ackers. I couldn’t stop the grin from blooming on my face. That explained why she hadn’t been too hesitant about coming over here today.
Brent nodded and looked a little disappointed before taking a step back into the house. “Thanks again, Holly.”
A shadow moved by a tree a few feet from the porch. My skin prickled again, and the world seemed to slow for just a moment in time. Something is wrong.
Two rough hands grabbed my arms. I opened my mouth to scream, but fingers shoved a bitter piece of cloth between my teeth, muffling my scream into a whimper. I kicked out my feet, bucking my body, but whoever held me was a hell of a lot stronger than I was. I whipped my head around, and my eyes met those of the guy I’d seen yesterday at Kylie’s house.
The shaman.
I froze, and in that instant, I heard the sounds of struggle.
Laura.
I could hear her muted screams, and I caught a glimpse of the other shaman holding her before something dark and heavy fell across my vision. I hadn’t seen Nathan or Brent at all in the chaos, and I heard nothing to indicate they were here. I hoped Brent had gotten inside. I hoped Nathan had gotten away.
I tried to kick again, but my body wasn’t responding. A sickly sweet smell filled my nostrils, and a deep sense of dread and exhaustion washed over me. I realized it hadn’t been chemicals I’d smelled on Brent’s lawn. It had been whatever the shaman was poisoning me with.
I tried to choke out a warning to my friends, but it was like I wasn’t connected to my body anymore.
Darkness surrounded me. I fought against it. But then all was silent…
***
My head throbbed.
The earth shifted underneath me. My face was smooshed against something hard and cold. Everything vibrated and rolled like the sea. I couldn’t move my arms. My wrists ached and burned.
I opened my eyes and saw nothing but dark shadows. It reminded me of the Borderland. I sucked in a deep breath only to taste blood in my mouth.
My eyes slid closed. I fought to keep them open, but they refused to listen…
***
Consciousness returned, and I immediately stiffened. The world was still, and my body was sitting up straight, my hands behind my back. I wiggled and felt the contours of a chair and heard the unmistakable creak of wood.
Slowly, I opened my eyes, fighting against the pressure throbbing in my skull and the nausea choking my throat.
Bright light shone in my eyes, and I had to blink several times. Nothing was in focus.
The fuzziness cleared after a moment. The light shone from an overhead bulb, and stars twinkled in the night sky through the open blinds. How long had we been sitting here? How far had we gone from Brent’s house?
Panic swirled in my belly. My mom was home alone.
I heard a rustling beside me and saw Laura in a chair to my right, her hands and stomach circled in thick rope. I glanced down and saw rope tied around my belly, too, keeping me strapped into the chair.
Brent and Nathan were nowhere in sight.
I stared at Laura, at her head hanging down with drool slipping out of her cloth-filled mouth. I felt a pang of guilt. She looked terrible. Even from this distance, I could see her eyes were ringed with dark circles.
It was my fault she was here. She’d thought going to Brent’s was a bad idea, and I’d talked her into it. And look where we’d ended up.
Which was where exactly?
I eyed the room. It didn’t look much different than the kitchen in my own house. It was facing a large backyard with lawn equipment and a grill. To the right, there was a small L-shaped counter with stainless steel appliances. Laura and I were strapped into two of the high-backed wooden chairs that belonged to the oval table on my left.
Just an ordinary, everyday kitchen. No sign of runes or dark magic. No blood or bones. I didn’t know what I expected, but this wasn’t it.
Who were these people?
A stack of envelopes caught my eye on the end of the table farthest from me. It looked like mail. I wasn’t sure if we’d get out of this, but if we did, it sure would come in handy to know the address of this house.
Now if I could just somehow get myself over there.
I twisted my wrists, grimacing when the tight rope dug into my skin. I pushed my shoulders back and forth, hoping to loosen the bonds, but they didn’t budge at all.
I shuffled my feet and realized they were free. At first thought, it seemed pretty stupid of my kidnappers, but then I realized that they were probably somewhere in the house, and there’d be no way for me to run with the rest of my body tied to this chair. And they had to know I wouldn’t leave my friend behind.
Still…if I could somehow manage to push myself over to the envelopes, it’d be better than nothing.
I leaned forward, and…nothing. With the weight of the chair, there was no way I’d be able to stand while being tied to it.
“Shit,” I mumbled around the cloth jammed into my mouth.<
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I thought for a few moments before remembering how easy it was to scoot in the desks at school while staying seated. I hooked my feet under the two front legs and threw my body forward. The chair inched forward. The sound of the legs scraping over the tiled floor made me stiffen.
I waited for a few moments to see if anyone had heard the noise. When no one came barreling into the kitchen, I scooted forward some more. Inch by inch, until I was on the other side of the table and could see the writing on the top envelope.
Bingo. The name “Mark Sampson” was prominently displayed on the receiver part of the envelope, as well as his address. I committed it to memory. Six-Seven-Two West Chase Lane, Berrytown, Massachusetts. So, we weren’t that far from Seaport. Only a fifteen minute drive outside the main drag.
I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with this information, but it felt good to know where we were and at least one of the names of our captors. It also told me they weren’t in the business of regularly kidnappings girls. If they were, they would have known not to leave their electric bill sitting on the closest table to their prisoners.
The muted mumble of voices filtered through the thin walls, and I quickly pushed my chair back to where it had been. The scraping of the legs sounded like Wolverine’s claws down a chalkboard, but when the two shamans strolled into the kitchen a few moments later, they didn’t appear the least bit concerned. They must not have heard me. That little victory felt hollow when I saw the look in their eyes.
They didn’t have normal eyes. There were hints of danger, carelessness and madness in them, their pupils as big as Frisbees and moving from side to side like a pendulum on five gallons of coffee. Red tinted the whites, and their eyelids were half closed. It made me sit back against my chair in hopes to get as far away from them as I could.
They looked high, but not in the relaxed, lazy way I’d seen friends get when they smoked pot at beach bonfires. This was something else. Something much worse.
The taller one, who was wearing a red tee with a skull on it, walked right up to Laura and slapped her face. I flinched like it’d been my own, especially when her head shot up from her chest, and she choked on the cloth.
“Sorry we had to do this, but we didn’t think anything else was going to get your attention,” Red Tee Guy said, but he didn’t sound the least bit sorry.
The other guy, who had a cross tattooed on his neck, stepped forward and leaned down to stare me in the eyes. “Stop interfering with our summoning spells. We were going to ask a little more politely, but you ran off.”
I stared back. Chasing us with guns did not equal asking politely. And this certainly put a damper on any delusions I had that these guys were good. Those were their summoning runes. I felt like a total moron for thinking anything else. And a little more terrified knowing I was looking at the men behind the spirit attacks. Tied up and helpless. I fought against the urge to close my eyes and wish myself far, far away from here.
“Right,” Red Tee Guy said. “We didn’t realize any other shamans lived in the area, but you’re just kids. You didn’t really know what you were doing. Just agree to stay away. We’ll let you go and leave you alone. Simple, right?”
No.
“Yeah, just kids,” Neck Tattoo Guy said, squatting down so I could smell his stale breath. He didn’t look much older than me. Maybe a year or two. “Plus you’re girls. Pretty shaman girls.” The way he looked at us when he said that made me shiver. “We don’t want to hurt you.” His eyes flashed, a little bit of the madness peeking through.
“Yeah, we don’t want to hurt shaman girls.”
“Agree to stay out of our summonings, and you’re free to go. Got it?”
His dark eyes bored into mine, and my head itched to nod in agreement. But I couldn’t do it, no matter how hard my heart was beating in my chest. I could see Laura out of the corner of my eye, and she was sitting there as silent and still as I was.
“You should nod your heads now,” Red Tee Guy said, like we were babies that needed coaxing.
Yes, I should. But no, I shouldn’t. If I agreed to back off, what would happen to the people in town who were being targeted? They’d die, be sucked dry of all life. And I’d stand aside and let that happen? I may have done several things I’m not proud of, but there’s no way I could live with that.
The devil on my shoulder started whispering in my ear, reminding me these guys had guns. The look in their eyes showed they meant serious business. They really would hurt us if we didn’t agree. And then my mom would be left all alone.
I had to pick the lesser of the two evils here, and the problem was I didn’t know which one that was. Save myself, save Laura and be there to take care of my mom while standing aside and watching others get their life sucked away. Or refuse to agree and get hurt, maybe even killed. And save…no one.
Or option three. Pretend to agree, go along with their little game, and be set free. And then go behind their backs and stop them. I didn’t know how I’d do that, but I could figure it out later when both of us were safe.
Before I could nod, Neck Tattoo Guy stood up fast. “Fine. I can see you need a little more nudging.”
A few seconds later, he dragged in a struggling, bound Brent and tossed him on the floor where he fell with a thud. I jerked in my seat and rocked against my ropes.
Neck Tattoo Guy moved out of the room again and returned with a tied-up Nathan. Nathan fell on his knees next to Brent, and I cried out through the cloth lodged in my mouth. Knives appeared in the shamans’ hands, and they moved to stand behind Brent and Nathan.
“You.” Red Tee Guy pointed the knife at me and then Brent. “Agree to stay out of our business or I’ll kill him.” He pressed the blade against the skin of Brent’s neck, and blood pooled onto the sharp knife. “He’s no pretty shaman girl.”
Laura yelled into her cloth.
I nodded my head as fast as I could, and my shoulders sagged in relief when I saw the knife drop away from Brent’s neck. And with the relief came a surge of anger they were threatening my friends like this.
Laura nodded before they even had a chance to put the blade against Nathan’s neck. And as soon as she did, the two shamans strode forward with creepy, triumphant smiles I knew I’d never forget. I didn’t even struggle as they pressed the chemical-scented cloth against my nose. Seconds later, darkness enveloped me again.
CHAPTER 10
The world jerked into focus. My mouth sputtered on dirt, my lungs taking in big gulps of air. My hands were finally free, and I rolled onto my back in a patch of grass. When my breathing steadied, I pushed myself upright. Brent, Laura and Nathan were all lying around me, beginning to stir and grumble.
They were alive. I was alive. We’d somehow survived the nightmare.
I blinked at the dark sky where a full moon hung obscured by navy-outlined clouds. Groaning, I looked around. From the sight of yellow buses in an empty parking lot and the familiar schooner sculpture proudly displayed beneath a waving American flag, I realized we were right across the street from our high school. I looked down at my clothes covered in grass stains and spots of blood, glad we hadn’t been plopped here during school hours.
I’d never been fashion conscious, but I couldn’t imagine walking down the halls like this.
Ignoring my aching arms, I shook Laura’s shoulder. After a moment, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Blond strands were caked in mud. “Where are we?”
Brent rolled onto his side and squinted with purple-lined eyes. “What’s going on now? Holy shit, that disgusting-ass sock is out of my mouth.”
“We’re in Oceanview Park,” I said in a croak. My mouth felt like it was full of Astral’s fur, and if I’d thought I had a headache before, I was sorely mistaken. Someone could have told me a construction worker was slamming a jackhammer into my head, and I would have believed it.
Nathan sat up and groaned, swaying and splaying his hands on the wet grass. There were bluish-black spots underneath his eyes, and I could see
where the ropes had chaffed his wrists. Mine looked just as bad. It was like we were all wearing matching blood-splattered bracelets.
“They dumped us off at school,” Nathan said. “How nice of them.”
Laura stood and brushed the dirt and grass off her black pants. “Well, I’m going home. My dad probably realized by now that I’m gone, and he’s going to totally freak out. Especially when he sees me like this.”
I could see her point. She looked like she’d been in a fight with a tree ent.
She patted her pockets, eyes slitting. “I had money. They stole my money.”
My heart jolted in my chest. I stuffed my hand into my pocket, and my shoulders sagged in relief when my fingers closed around my familiar cell. But my backpack was gone, along with the money Brent had given me.
“They took my backpack.” I closed my eyes, the words of the foreclosure notice rolling through my mind. “I hope Mom is okay.” I finally pushed myself off the ground. I had to concentrate on standing as the world seemed to spin around me. I blinked, and Nathan was at my elbow, holding me still. His hands were soft, his eyes so concerned. I felt terrible I’d sucked him into this.
“You okay?” he asked, still holding me. “We all need to go home and eat something. And I don’t know about you, but I can barely keep my eyes open.”
I stared hard at the ground, ignoring the spinny circles of light dancing around in my vision. “Sleep sounds fantastic.”
“Can you guys tell me what just happened back there?” Brent asked.
“Honestly, I’m not sure,” I said.
“They talked about summoning,” he said. “Summoning ghosts?”
“Spirits. Right, Holly?” Nathan said. He kept holding my arm as he looked at Brent, but his skin touching mine was all I could think about. My entire body was cold except for the spot where his fingers were wrapped around me. “I think they put them in your bedroom.”
“Why?” Brent strode forward a few steps before pausing to wince. He rubbed his head.
“I have no idea,” I said. “But they got pretty pissy that Laura and I banished it from your room.”