“I wanna see,” Jonesy said, rushing forward.
We all stood in a circle around Jade, she was the shortest one in the group so we all had a good view.
Slowly taking her hand away from her chest she showed us what looked like a burn, just shy of the blistering kind. It was the worst in the webbing which connects the thumb and index finger. I touched a finger lightly to the worst spot.
“Yeah, it's tender.”
“Was it hot?” Jonesy asked.
Jade shook her head.
“Cold?” John guessed.
“Yeah... like colder than anything I've ever touched.”
“Kinda like that time Carson put his wet tongue to that frozen utility pole,” Jonesy smiled, remembering.
“And you pelted him with snowballs,” John said.
“Ah-huh, that was the time,” Jonesy said in that dreamy tone.
“Okay, so we know that they're dangerous,” Bry said.
“Not to them,” John said.
Everyone looked at Tiff and I. Awkwardness.
Tiff said, “That's good, right? I mean, that's the whole reason Jonesy thought we should come, we're the...”
“Contingency plan,” I finished.
“Yeah, that,” Tiff agreed.
I bent down and kissed Jade's hand and she smiled.
“All better,” I said.
“Pretty angry looking,” Sophie said, looking closely at it.
“Yeah, it's a war wound,” Jonesy said, eyes cutting to the staircase.
“Ah-no, haven't we had enough excitement for tonight?” John asked.
“Never!” Jonesy enthused, running over to the base of the staircase, Onyx at his heels.
“Wait a sec.... where did that ghost go?” Tiff asked.
I pointed above my head and we all looked up at the ceiling.
Jade said, “I'm game but no touchy.”
I squeezed her head underneath my chin, holding her. “It doesn't seem like the ghost meant to.”
“No,” Jonesy said. “It definitely didn't want to freeze my nuts off!”
Bry and John laughed.
Thanks Jonesy, so reassuring. “What I meant was, I think Jade took it..”
“... him,” Tiff clarified.
Right, definitely male, “... him, by surprise. He gave her the ice blast because she startled him.”
“It's a guy ghost ?” Sophie asked.
“Yeah,” Tiff said.
“Wow, hate to see what he'd do to really freeze us,” Jonesy said.
“He was warm to us,” Tiff said.
John said, “It's the AFTD thing. You guys are like the same element or something.”
“It was scared when I touched it,” Jade said.
“Evil?” John asked.
“Not really but, it could be. He could be.”
“I bet they got personalities!” Jonesy chortled.
“They do,” Jade said.
He stopped laughing, John and Bry's smile slipping from their faces.
Tiff stepped forward. “They do?”
“He did,” Jade said.
Whoa. “What did he think or whatever?” I asked.
“He didn't exactly think, I just got feelings about him being disturbed and then there were some random images of his life here.”
“Wait a sec, Jade, you're not AFTD?” Tiff clarified.
“No, Empath.”
“So how does she know anything about what it, okay, sorry, he thought?”
“I was holding her when she swiped the ghost. We've noticed in the past that I can put the zombies back into the ground better if I am touching Jade,” I said.
“Back-in-box, back-in-box,” Jonesy sang.
“Jonesy, come on,” Bry said.
Bry stated his question, “His life here?”
“Yeah, he was the caretaker guy here,” Jade said.
“Okay,” I said. “Let's cruise the upstairs really fast then maybe we can rip by the hideaway after.”
“I don't know, that's way across town,” John said.
“Who doesn't have a bike?” I asked.
Jonesy raised his hand.
“Be a peg-rider, dude,” Bry said.
“For five miles?” Jonesy asked.
“Who's driving?” John asked.
Our collective attention turned to Bry. He was the smart one that brought up the peg idea.
“Oh come on! He can't last five miles on my pegs.”
“Can you?” A direct challenge from the sister.
Bry's eyes narrowed to slits. “Yeah, I can do it.”
John clapped his hand together. “Settled then!”
Jonesy air-pumped. “Let's investigate!”
“Wait!” I said, arcing the LED in the air toward Jonesy, who smoothly caught it.
He took the steep steps two at a time never slowing down, Onyx at his heels.
Bry and John racing after him, John slipped and nailed a knee on the way up. “Ouch, damn,” he said, cupping the offended joint, jumping up the rest in an ungainly frog hop.
Jade, Tiff and I climbed the steps with Sophie slightly ahead. It was dark and I held the railing in a death grip because the light was utterly non-existent here.
At the top of the staircase stood the gang, mouths agape, looking at the scene in front of them.
Wisps of luminescent figures twirled and sailed about, lighting the area with their phosphorescent glow, frantically gliding back and forth, agitated. There were “eye-windows” on either end of the eaves, caressing the floorboards, but the ceiling was really tall down the central section of the roof. We couldn't have touched it if we tried.
Jonesy looked less enthusiastic than earlier and inching closer to the staircase by the second. Our male ghost hovered in the middle, looking intimidating. But I wasn't worried, he hadn’t been hostile to Tiff and me. But he'd hurt Jade and about frozen Jonesy's jewels off, caution was good.
Tiff looked at the agitated ghosts. “They're kids.”
That made me stare. They were swirling so furiously that it was hard to tell... but, I thought she was right.
I didn't want to leave Jade. I looked at Bry, he nodded. Guy-speak, a wonderful thing.
He moved closer to Jade and I said, “Be right back.”
Tiff followed me, turning around once to look at John. “I'm shielding,” he said.
I kept approaching. The large male ghost was hovering and I was seeing more of him this time. Tiff looked at me with wide eyes, our hair starting to rise off our heads, floating with static electricity. The small ghosts hovered around us, slowing their frenetic spinning, calming. We stood in front of the one big ghost, it held out what had once been hands, and Tiff and I each took an opaque “hand.”
Images flowed into our minds; reverse history. We saw his death, in broken images, like a kaleidoscope rapidly spinning backwards, colors and shapes, jagged loneliness and care-taking, feelings of accomplishing, then... a lonely death here in this house, with no one to take care of him.
“So sad,” Tiff said through clenched teeth.
“Yes,” I agreed.
But the images weren't done. We saw the ghost's pain as children were killed and he could do nothing. He took care of their spirits, that much he could do. He was still the caretaker for the dead.
He dropped our hands and floated back.
His message was clear, we could speak for these dead children.
We could do what he could not.
“Wow,” Tiff said.
“Yeah.”
We moved back and the ghosts returned to swirling again.
The evilness of his message began to sink in. Children had been murdered here. Kids. Like us. Tiff and I looked at each other.
Jonesy said, “What's the deal?”
I said slowly, “The deal is, he is the care-taker of a bunch of dead kids.”
“Told you!” Jonesy said.
“What?” Bry asked.
“I told everyone that some boy had died here.”
>
“Jonesy's right, he did say that a boy died here,” John said.
Jonesy scowled at John. “And, there's a helluva lot more than just one.” He indicated the ghosts floating and diving in the background, holographic in the moonlight.
We all looked at them, Sophie said, “Why are we seeing them?”
“I got this,” Tiff said. “I did read all the stuff...”
You did? Sophie mouthed silently.
“Ah-huh, and us AFTDs,” she looked at me and I shrugged, I didn't know, “give off an aura so others can see stuff like ghosts.”
“So, if Caleb and you take off, then they disappear?”
“It sounds that way,” John said.
“Shit, that's swift,” Jonesy said, impressed.
The greater point of the murdered children was being lost to the jack-in-the-box ghosts.
Bry chuckled. “He does have a way with words.”
“Yeah,” I agreed but was thinking about all we'd seen. The horror of it felt like a splinter in my head.
“We'll have to do something about this,” Tiff said.
“I know,” I said, grabbing Jade's hand, comforted by the solidness of it after the creeping warmth of “our” ghost.
“I wanna see if they'll disappear, Caleb,” Jonesy said.
“Jonesy, give it a rest,” I said.
“Yeah, let's book. I want to check out this hideout you guys have,” Bry said, glancing again at the ghosts.
John stood, mesmerized. “Not every day you see ghosts.”
“Yeah, they're kinda pretty,” Sophie said.
Jonesy raised both eyebrows, uncomprehending.
Jade nodded in agreement with Sophie.
Our group headed down the stairs. Jade, Tiff and I lingered. A palatable weight hung over us. Breaking contact, we climbed back down the stairs.
Walking through the door we shut it softly behind us, the sadness and horror clinging like smoke to our bodies.
CHAPTER 31
Coming out into the moonlight we sucked great gulps of fresh air into our lungs, trying to expunge the cloying feeling of claustrophobia the house had given us.
“Okay, so... let's shake that off,” Jonesy said.
“Maybe you can but not me, not for awhile,” Sophie shivered.
I agreed. It'd be awhile before Tiff and I would get over that.
Jade looked around, seeing the group lounging by the gate. “Let's pulse the adults.”
Bry said, “Great idea, mom's going to have a kitten if we don't check in.”
Tiff nodded, letting her brother pulse for the pair. One by one we shoved our pulses back into their respective spots and looked around.
Jonesy got a strange light in his eyes. “What do ya think...” he began.
“No.” John said.
“Right. What he said,” Jade agreed.
Bry said, “What, Jonesy?”
Tiff waggled a finger. “You don't know Jonesy that well Bry, he gets these ideas,” she made the universal choking gesture with both hands around her throat, “that usually get us all in trouble.”
“Oh, I don't know about that, so far the night's been pretty exciting,” he said, smiling.
“See, there's a dude that knows how to keep the adventure rolling!” Jonesy said, giving Bry guy acknowledgment.
My watch said it was only eleven; felt like hours had passed.
“Looks like we got the green light to do more screwin' around. Let's see who we can jerk outta the pasture here Caleb.” Jonesy said, thumb in the direction of the old graveyard at our backs.
“Nah, I don't want to. I've had enough for tonight. And with ghosts so close, I don't know. Things could go bad. Besides, it seems wrong to do it for sport or something.”
“The element of surprise!” Jonesy said, ignoring me.
Bry blanched. “Would it be like Scenic?”
“May have been because Gran was a relative,” I said.
“Well that one zombie, Chris, Claude...” Jade began.
“Clyde,” I supplied.
“That's him!” she remembered.
“Yeah, he seems more aware,” John said.
“What do you mean? I've never seen the zombie trick.” Sophie said.
“It's not a trick,” Tiff said, offended.
“I didn't mean anything by it, I'm just sayin'...”
“Caleb's raised this particular zombie, what, three times?” John looked at me for confirmation, I nodded. “So each time he comes back he seems to be...”
“Smarter,” I said.
“Yes,” John agreed.
“Last time he seemed to communicate with the other zombies like a captain or something,” Jade said.
“Captain of the Zombie Guard!” Jonesy laughed.
Right... so funny, not-laughing.
“I don't want a repeat of the Gran Incident,” Bry said.
“Yeah, that went pretty sideways,” Tiff agreed.
“And then Garcia and his creepy partner showed up...” Bry began.
“McGraw,” I added.
“Yeah, him,” Bry said with gravity.
We were all quiet for a little bit.
“So Garcia's corrupt?” John speculated.
“It's lookin' that way, I don't know for sure. But they're pairing mundanes with paranormals now and McGraw was quick to show us he was an Elemental, sorta like a threat,” I said.
“Wait, I hadn't heard they had decided that, pairing mundanes and paranormals,” John said.
“They haven't, but Ward and Gale said that it was going to be a permanent rule or whatever soon,” I said.
“A sanction?” Bry clarified.
I nodded.
“That makes sense. Look at what would happen if a bonehead like Carson decided to do crime professionally.” Everyone nodded their agreement. “And two regular cops showed up?” Jade stated.
“Sish-kabobs! Cop-kabobs!” Jonesy yelled, making the up in flames noise.
Nice visual.
“The original human torch,” Bry agreed.
“My point exactly. There's got to be a counter for that level of power, like a John,” she said.
We all looked at him. “Bet there's a ton of Nulls on the force,” Bry stated logically.
Sophie nodded. “Jade's right. Psychic Nulls would mean the negation of all those freak-a-zoids.”
“Negation! Are you one of those smart girls?” Jonesy asked, eying Sophie.
“Sometimes,” she smiled and even I saw the wink in the moonlight.
“Okay I give, what does that mean?” Jonesy asked.
“I can neutralize other paranormals' abilities.”
“Oh yeah, I remember, you do the whammy and they can't zap us.” Jonesy nodded, shaking a finger at John.
“That was alarmingly close to girl-speak, my friend,” Bry said warningly.
“That's okay, I'm diversified, and consider my girl-speak to be my second language.”
“Nice,” Sophie said, unimpressed.
Jonesy grinned again, his teeth a pale sliver.
“That will count for college,” John laughed.
Suddenly, Onyx emitted a soft growl of alarm at the same moment that Jade asked, “What's that noise?”
I looked around but didn't see anything. Then I heard it, a soft thump-thump-thump. If I hadn't known better, it sounded like a giant's heartbeat thumping through a pillowcase loaded with feathers. We frantically looked around but didn't see anything. Onyx gave a single sharp bark, looking up. The trees above us parted like a dark invitation, exposing a helicopter over our heads, over the graveyard, over our lives.
****
Jonesy stepped forward, legs planted wide apart, stabilizing his balance as the helicopter swept the trees in a silent hurricane, their tops bending back to accommodate it. The stealth helicopter descended like a black spider. The sky was its web, a fat body with chopper blades like legs ready to spring down.
Our loose group watched, Onyx outright growling with a random bark u
nderscoring the oncoming threat.
Some spark of understanding swam to the surface and it was in that moment of self-realization that I felt responsible for more than just me and Jade.
I turned to the group, yelling over the wind tunnel noise of the chopper, its bulk blotting out the moonlight, “Get to the graveyard now!” I shouted out, “Bry!”
“Yeah!” he yelled back.
“Protect the girls, get them out of here!”
“Tiff, I need you!” She ran to me, her hoodie falling away from her face, leaving it exposed and vulnerable. I had a stab of guilt as she raced at me, but we needed to survive this, survive the now.
John and Jonesy gave me a profound stare; I was the leader here, whether I liked it or not.
“Stay with Jade and Sophie, Bry will help,” I yelled.
Ropes dropped like snakes out of the belly of the helicopter; I counted: one, two, three. Resolve solidified into a tight knot of dread.
I would get us through this.
Tiff stood by me, her stance like Jonesy. I was counting on her being a guy right now, even though she looked so girl. Her slight body stood next to me, hands balled into fists. If things hadn't been so dire, I would've smiled.
The shadow of the chopper blades made her face a jagged dance of light. “We're in deep shit,” she said.
“Yeah, it'll be okay.” The closest to a lie I'd ever told.
“Take care of my sister, Caleb,” Bry shouted.
We stared at each other across the space of the graveyard, he at the back with Sophie and Jade behind him and the Js in front, their bodies a shield.
“Yes!” I bellowed.
Onyx stood on all fours, his head lowered, as the three men dropped to the ground, the ropes loose and swinging.
The Bad Males had arrived and a grinding fear was covering the Boy, its smell permeating his nose like a coating of oil, slimy and alive.
He would protect the Boy.
Onyx crouched, preparing to lunge. “No!” I yelled, leaping at him, doing the superman, arms out in front.
“Not the boy!” the man in the center yelled over the noise of the chopper, their guns trained on me and Onyx.
Onyx and I rolled together and he sprang up. I got up on my knees and was greeted with the muzzle of a gun in my face. I was glad that my parents had been thorough in their potty training because I swear I felt my bowels hiccup.
“Easy there, young fella,” Gun-Holder said.
Death Whispers (Death Series, Book 1) Page 33