A Time to Die (Elemental Rage Book 2)

by Jeanette Raleigh

  Petrodus paced the room with sharp movements, quickly turning on his heel to pace the length again. He was used to being trapped in small spaces. Sometimes he thought he was still trapped. “Unfortunate,” he said. In his eyes, Claire could see that he thought less of Harold with each new revelation.

  Harold handed a book to Petrodus. Claire gasped. It was Jade’s diary. Harold said, “I wasn’t the only Death Keeper in the room. Matt was there to cull Bertha. We need to take care of him. The oldest daughter is in love with his youngest son, Zach. Perhaps we take Zach and kill Matt? Trap the Gray women into reacting.”

  Petrodus nodded, “We will go now and take care of the problem.”

  The vision ended and Claire splashed her way back to Mindy.

  Finally Water and Earth let them go. The house was a wreck, but that’s not what worried Claire. She ran to the bedroom. Aunt Bertha’s eyes were closed, her hands still clenched into claw-like forms.

  “Aunt Bertha?” Claire tiptoed into the room. She was so scared.

  “Gone,” Mindy said, her hand on Claire’s arm, her body so close that Claire could barely take a step. Mindy wouldn’t let go of her.

  “I don’t know what to do,” Claire sniffed. She had to be strong for Mindy. If she cried, Mindy would wail. She had to be strong, but she felt so fragile, so much like spun glass that she thought if she moved to much she would crack and break into a thousand pieces like a thousand raindrops falling on the world.

  Mindy crept forward. She touched Bertha’s hand and recoiled. Claire didn’t want to walk another step into that room. Aunt Bertha’s glasses were crushed on the floor next to the bed and for just a split second, Claire thought how upset she would be when they went to the restaurant. Bertha wouldn’t be able to read the menu. Just a passing thought and then reality hit.

  Bertha didn’t even look like herself. It seemed that somehow a wax dummy had slipped into her bed as a poor replacement, like the waxworks museum in Newport, Oregon where she and her sisters spent an afternoon. Claire felt trapped in that room. She couldn’t turn away. She didn’t want to stay.

  Bertha mouth was slightly open, but she wasn’t snoring or moving or anything. Claire couldn’t stay in that room any longer. She couldn’t stand to see Aunt Bertha with that empty look. She wasn’t there. Claire knew that truth in the depth of her being. It was too late for Aunt Bertha. Harold was a murderer and worse.

  They had to stop him before he killed Zach’s father, before he turned his attention on Jade or Raven or Mom, before they came back to finish Mindy and Claire. Claire took Mindy’s hand. “Come on, Mindy. We have to get out of here.”

  Chapter 16

  ~~ Claire ~~

  Mindy shuffled back to Claire. She took Claire’s hand and let herself be led out.

  Remembering what had happened to Zach’s Dad in the vision, Claire called Zach first. She was strong until he answered then she cried out “Zach?” in a wail, her tears rising in a flood.

  “What is it? Is Jade okay?” Zach asked.

  Claire tugged Mindy along behind her, leading her into the living room while she talked. She said, “Yes, Jade’s fine, but Harold killed Aunt Bertha, and he’s coming after your Dad. You have to warn him.”

  “Dad!? But I’m not there. I’m in town.” Zach was frantic. Claire understood the feeling all too well.

  Mindy tugged on Claire’s hand. “Claire?”

  Claire shushed her, “Wait, Mindy. Just a minute.”

  “Zach, I saw it. Harold can turn into a wolf. He already killed Wayne. I don’t know what to do,” Claire ran a hand through her bangs. She was just a kid. There was nothing she could do to help. Why would Diana lay this kind of stuff on her?

  Mindy tugged on her sleeve, “Mindy kill Harold.”

  It was chilling to hear Mindy string those particular words together in the same way she might say, “Mindy eat peanut butter,” or “Mindy go school”. Claire took a deep breath. “Zach, I think Mindy has an idea. We’re going to save your father.”

  Claire hung up on Zach and shoved the phone in her pants pocket. “Mindy, I know you’re tired, but we need to get to Zach’s dad. Do you think if Water and Earth worked together we could beat Harold there? Do you really think we can defeat him?”

  Claire couldn’t say kill. She felt guilty even thinking those words.

  Mindy nodded solemnly and lifted her arms. She was really too big for Claire to carry, but Claire lifted her anyway, her arms struggling with Mindy’s weight. Her plan to call Mom and Jade faded into the reality that they had to act now. Claire felt brave and strong.

  As she lifted Mindy up, Claire called to Water while Mindy called to Earth. Whispering Mindy said, “Rest. Time. Time. Time. Rest now.”

  Earth pulled Claire and Mindy down into the depths of her rocks. Mindy loved the cool feeling of stone on her cheek. Claire didn’t mind Earth’s dark embrace much because Water loved Earth so well.

  Something strange happened while they moved through the Earth. Claire felt as if she were there and then not there. It felt as if they were underground for a long time. Claire didn’t feel the least bit uncomfortable. The Earth had pulled them into a warm place that felt like being wrapped in a blanket. Claire couldn’t keep her eyes open and found herself dozing.

  She slept deeply and opened her eyes with a sudden jerk, feeling disoriented and anxious, afraid that it was too late to warn Zach’s dad. Earth relaxed her hold on the girls and Claire felt herself moving back up. When they emerged from the ground miles from home, Claire stumbled in a circle, dizziness making it impossible to stand upright.

  “Where are we? What happened?” Claire asked. Unfortunately she was talking to Mindy who even on her best of days was uncommunicative.

  They were standing on the side of a road with deep ruts. Mindy pointed down the road. Shrugging, Claire said, “Fine. Let’s take this road where it leads.”

  Her phone rang. It was Jade. If she answered, Jade would tell her not to go to Zach’s house. They were almost there anyway. She could always call her sister back in a few minutes.

  After Jade ended the call, Claire listened to the voicemail, “Hey, it’s Jade. I’m heading home now. Fire is acting weird. She said she’s going to help you and Mindy with your project, whatever that is. Can you please call me?”

  “Project,” Claire giggled at Fire’s term. Fire was about the most stubborn Element in the world. It figured that Jade would have ended up with Fire for her Element.

  Mindy walked down the road toward a large house alone. Claire was still messing with the phone when she realized that Mindy hadn’t waited.

  She ran to catch up, “Hey, what are you doing? You can’t go in there alone. There might be…” Claire realized that she had to be careful about saying anything too dark to Mindy. Mindy had a low tolerance for scary things. She finally said, “You just can’t go alone.”

  Mindy held out her hand. Claire sighed and slipped Mindy’s fingers under her own. Mindy said, “Angry.”

  “Me too.” Claire hadn’t yet processed what happened to Aunt Bertha. She didn’t even want to think about it. If she just focused on saving Zach’s dad, her mind wouldn’t replay that scene in the bedroom, wouldn’t see the glass of water that had been knocked over and drip drip dripped onto the carpet.

  Mindy climbed the steps to the porch slowly, deliberately. Once she started ringing the doorbell, she didn’t stop. She hit the buzzer over and over and over.

  “Mindy, you can stop now.” Claire would have grabbed Mindy’s hand away, but at the moment the buzzing was less annoying than Mindy’s scream would be.

  The man in her vision opened the door. Mindy rang the doorbell again.

  “Mindy!” Claire yelled.

  “Can I help you?” he asked. Zach’s dad was wearing the same blue t-shirt that he had worn in Claire’s vision.

  “You’re in danger. Harold just killed Aunt Bertha and he’s coming here to kill you,” Claire studied Zach’s dad, waiting to see what he would say.
She had a plan B if he dismissed them as children.

  He opened the door further and waved the two girls in. Claire stood on the threshold uncertain. He was a Death Keeper. She was about to walk into the enemy’s house.

  Mindy didn’t hesitate. She stepped inside. Ignoring proper convention, Mindy started up the staircase in the entryway. Claire was mortified, but she had a mission. Ignoring Mindy she said, “We need to get out of there. He’ll be coming soon.”

  “Why would Harold hurt me? We’ve known each other for years,” Matt ducked his head to look to the top of the stairs. Mindy was already at the last step and moving quickly.

  Claire said, “Because you reaped her. Harold felt your presence in the house.”

  “You shouldn’t know about that. Come upstairs. We have a lot to talk about.” Zach’s father exuded calm. Claire trusted him, trusted him with her life. She had little choice, but even still, she felt that she wouldn’t be betrayed.

  Since Zach’s dad wasn’t giving off a creepy vibe and Mindy was already on the second floor, Claire tromped up the stairs, studying the pictures of the happy family growing up. In the first picture going up the stairs the three boys were toddlers. As she took each step, the boys grew up.

  The stairs were carpet. Claire reached the top and followed two steps behind Matt. Mindy was in Matt’s office on her knees petting a golden lab. Smiling at Claire, she tapped the dog’s head with her finger, “Mine.”

  In a low voice Claire said, “We’d probably better just talk about what’s coming and let Mindy play with the dog.”

  “Too late,” Mindy said, lifting her head.

  Two howls erupted from the yard. Wolf song. The dog joined in. Mindy hugged the dog, “Earth. Earth. Help.”

  “No! You can’t fight Howard, not with Elemental powers. He can take them from you. It’s his gift,” Matt knelt beside Mindy. “Do you and Ferdi want to go to the basement to hide? You can show him how to fetch.”

  Mindy met Matt’s eyes. Claire shivered a little at the alien coldness coming out of her little sister. She knew Mindy hadn’t been touched by the Void, but that chilling stare was so out of place with her normal sweet countenance. Mindy said, “Earth is angry. We won’t hide.”

  Claire put a hand on her sister’s shoulder, “Mindy, we can’t let Harold have Earth. Listen to Zach’s dad.”

  A huge thump and then a crash sounded below them.

  Claire jumped and tightened her hand on Mindy’s shoulder. Mindy said, “Ow!” Then she turned to Claire and said, “Bad dog.”

  Matt slammed the door and locked it, dragging his computer chair to block the door. It wasn’t going to do much to stop the wolves. Claire could hear their paws on the stairs. “Why are they coming as wolves?”

  “Teeth and claws. They’re not here to talk.” Matt ran to the window, pushing it up. “You can get out on the roof here.”

  “No.” Mindy said. “Earth. Kill.”

  On the wall behind a sofa was a long sword. Claire ran for the sofa, jumping on it and pulling off the sword. It was so heavy, the point fell slashing the back of the sofa. Chagrined, she looked up with a guilty, “Sorry.”

  The door shuddered as the wolves, ever howling, slammed against it with their bodies. Mindy screamed, “Earth!”

  A cracking sound deeper than thunder, as if the Universe himself stepped into the fray echoed with the power of an explosion. The sound pierced Claire’s ears, and she let go of the sword to cover her ears.

  They were in sudden free-fall with the house breaking up beneath them. The wolves yipped and cried. Claire screamed.

  One of the wolves smashed through the door as the house dropped into a giant sink hole. Like an unstable elevator, Claire could feel the pressure in the room changing and buried her face when the windows suddenly burst.

  The wolf attacked Matt going for his throat. Mindy cried, “Bad doggy.”

  Ferdi blocked the wolf, taking the bite intended for Matt. Grabbing Ferdi’s throat, the wolf shook and shook. Claire dragged the sword off the couch. Earth shook again, trying to dislodge the wolf. Ferdi wasn’t moving.

  The wolf moved on, an intelligent gleam in his eye as he growled at Matt, moving in for the kill.

  Earth dropped the house again. Claire wondered how far underground they were. Sunlight no longer pierced the curtains and dirt was pouring into the open windows. Books from the shelf toppled on top of her head. One of them hit the corner of her temple and for a moment all she saw was a blinding flash of light.

  Mindy screamed.

  Everything happened at once. Matt was down but the wolf hadn’t latched onto his throat yet. The floor was uneven, as jaggedy as a mountain peak, but Claire had to do something. She grabbed the sword with both hands. Certain that she would only have the energy to lift it once, she dragged it up and down the peaks and valleys of the floor where shards of wood burst through and dirt and rocks filled spaces once carpeted.

  Claire knew she had to hurry. The vision she had seen, the one with Matt’s death was coming true before her eyes. Lifting the sword with a grunt, she let it fall on the wolf’s hindquarters. She didn’t dare aim higher for fear of dismembering or disemboweling Zach’s dad. The wolf yelped and spun around.

  Fire whispered to Claire. “Let me help.”

  “Yes. Yes. Please,” Claire begged as she dashed away from the wolf who was dragging his legs as he snapped his way to her. She watched with horror as his legs healed.

  Mindy hid in a corner crying. “Tired. Tired.”

  Fire touched the wood between Claire and the wolf, and the large upsurge of floor boards that had pierced the carpet flared into a blaze. Water added her own brand of help. Sizzling in the fire, Water sprayed boiling droplets at the wolf even as his hind legs knitted themselves together. Fire assaulted him.

  The room stank of burnt fur. The smoke was heavy. Coughing Matt said, “We’re underground. We can’t have a fire here. We’ll die of smoke inhalation.”

  Fire disagreed.

  Claire didn’t know what to do. The fire blazed between her body and the wolf’s. If she extinguished the flames, the wolf would kill her. The anger in his snarls scared her witless but Fire kept him locked in position. The smoke grew darker, sending the room into a red flickering twilight. For the first time since summer, Claire thought she was going to die.

  The fire petered out. Not by intention. Claire was exhausted, a sheen of smoky sweat coating her face. Smoke billowed from the wood and the carpet fibers, poisoning the air.

  Somehow Matt had gotten the sword. Her attention was locked on the wolf who was crawling toward Claire. Claire cringed away. Before the wolf reached her, Matt thrust the sword into its side. The wolf didn’t die. A flash of light and mist opened a doorway and the wolf dragged himself through, disappearing. Maybe that was the same thing as death. Claire didn’t think so, but she hoped.

  Claire took a deep breath that threw her into a coughing fit. When it finally ended, she said, “Thank you. Is he dead?”

  Mindy said, “One dead. One alive.”

  Matt wiped the sword on the carpet, leaving a line of blood, “How do we get out of here?”

  “Tired,” Mindy said.

  Claire explained, “That means we won’t be going anywhere for a while. Earth is Mindy’s.”

  The air was already thick with smoke. Every breath was followed by a cough. Matt stalked the room, looking for a way out. The pile of dirt beneath the windows was an avalanche. He might be able to dig a few feet before they ran out of air.

  “Maybe through the ceiling,” Matt said.

  Before he could start searching for a way to get up and through the ceiling, Claire said, “We’re probably a hundred feet underground right now. Earth is the only one who can get us out, and she needs Mindy. The rest of us can barely hear her. Once Mindy rests a bit we’ll be able to go back up.”

  There were really no great places to rest, but Matt pulled off the couch cushions. The corner where Mindy hid remained mostly untouched by Ear
th’s anger. The jutting spikes in the carpet gave the story of the wolf’s fight. Earth purposefully tried to strike the wolf with the spikes.

  Earth shuddered a little.

  The air was so thick with smoke and nearly impossible to breathe. They were suffocating. They were too far underground for Claire to bring Matt and Mindy out. She could abandon them, go to get help, but somehow she didn’t think there was enough air for them to wait. The only idea she had was to ask Water for rain inside the tight space. Water obliged, knocking the smoke out of the air. Of course, now everyone was drenched and miserable.

  It bought them a few hours, but they were still suffocating in the tight space.

  ~~ Zach ~~

  Zach called Jade first. Zach ran to his car while he dialed.

  Before he even greeted Jade, he asked, “What’s going on?”

  Jade assumed Zach meant the strangeness with Claire and Mindy. She said, “I don’t know. What happened there? Fire just told me that Claire and Mindy needed help with a project and bolted. She hasn’t spoken a word since. I’ve tried calling and got nothing. I told Mom I was heading home. Do you think they’re in trouble? Can you check on them?”

  “Of course, but they’re headed to my place. They said that Harold could turn into a wolf and that my Dad was in trouble. I have no idea what went down, but Claire sounded upset, like she’d been crying.” Zach didn’t dare tell Jade the rest, that her beloved Aunt Bertha had been murdered. That wasn’t the sort of thing a person should hear over the phone, not before a long drive.

  “Call me when you know anything. I’ll be on the highway. Mom said I can’t answer the phone or text when I drive. I’ll pull over at the first stop and call you back.” Jade was so strong. Zach loved the sound of her voice. He especially appreciated Jade’s last message before hanging up, “Please be careful.”

  “I will,” Zach said.