[Anthology] The Paranormal 13- now With a Bonus 14th Novel!

by Dima Zales

  “If you want to play, play with the other one. He has yet to give up his soul,” Rage orders.

  Two Akons had yet to speak. One of them looks very much like Agony but is slightly taller. “How come everyone got to introduce themselves but me?” he asks.

  “Oh, this is Chaos,” Rage says.

  “You killed my brother, Agony. You remember?” he asks me.

  “Dark hair, tall, pathetic loser? Yeah, I remember.”

  Chaos sets me on fire. Literally right then and there, my skin starts to melt. Not like the oil. It didn’t feel like it was burning. But it was. I had been set on fire. I jump up and go crazy.

  “Fire! Fire!”

  They laugh. Rage says something to Chaos and suddenly the fire stops. There were no flames or even smoke.

  “How?” I say, completely confused. Rage explains.

  “Chaos and Agony are the body and mind of our group. Agony controls the body and Chaos controls your mind.”

  “You have Marcus’ power?” I ask.

  “Please, like that no-talent hack could come close to me. All he can do is reflect a fear that you have. Me, I get in there, baby,” he says, crudely pointing to his temple.

  “Marcus has a million more skills than you and when he comes to get me, I’ll have him give you a demonstration.”

  “Why don’t I give you one instead,” the last Akon says. He has blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. He holds out both hands and takes aim at the wall next to me. I move and stay low to the ground. He shots out some type of spray.

  “That’s all you do, shoot out water? What’s the worst you can do, make my hair frizzy?” I snap.

  Then I look again at where he had just sprayed. The liquid had eaten right through the wall.

  “Acid?”

  “Maybe you won’t think it’s so harmless when I aim it into your freaky eyeballs.”

  “War doesn’t take kindly to remarks about his powers. He’s very sensitive,” Rage says.

  “What do you want? I’m not drinking any more oil so you can kiss my—”

  “She has a mouth on her,” Frenzy says.

  “I could fix her right up,” Chaos offers. Apparently he is still bitter about the slaying of his brother. He is out for blood, more so than the others.

  “We don’t need you to drink anymore. We got what we needed from the oil.”

  “You’re lying,” I shout.

  “No, we got exactly what we needed. It’s a memory of you and your mother sitting at the kitchen table a few years ago. She told you something and it changed your life. It made your tears reflect red in the cup. That’s not a girly kind of cry. Whatever she said changed your life forever. What did your mother tell you?”

  “None of your damn business”

  “I see why Marcus likes her. He’s always had a thing for hard-headed girls. Look at Ameana. That little kitten has claws,” Mayhem says without the use of a dagger this time.

  “What did your mother tell you?” Rage asks again.

  “Not to talk to strangers.”

  He turns to Frenzy and says, “Fry her.”

  I flinched and say, “Okay, Okay. My mom told me my grandparents died.”

  “Nice try but the thing with your grandparents happened before that. Don’t lie to me again.”

  “C’mon, let me just make her think she’s drowning or something. That is much faster. She’ll talk. Trust me,” Chaos offers.

  “Shut up,” Rage shouts as he walks up to me.

  “You know what I like about you?”

  “My smile?”

  “No—guts, you have lots of guts. Maybe I should have Mayhem shoot six daggers into you so I can see just how much guts you have.”

  “C’mon, guys, just leave the kid alone,” the prisoner shouts from the corner.

  Rage looks at him and thinks for a second. A cold smile spreads across his face.

  “He was very nice to stand up for you. I hope you do the same for him.” Rage goes over and picks up the prisoner by the collar.

  “I’m gonna squeeze him like an orange until juice comes out. When I’m done, I’ll leave him alive enough to let the boys have fun.”

  “Let him go, you bastard!”

  “What did your mother tell you that changed your life?” He presses down on the man’s windpipe until his eyes bulge out of their sockets.

  “You’re killing him. Stop it. Stop it!” Flashbacks of Sara swirl in my head. Oh no, please. I can’t take it again.

  The prisoner was turning blue. He was dying as his feet dangled in the air.

  “Okay, okay. I’ll tell you, just let him go.”

  “Talk first.”

  “She told me that my dad raped her. And that’s how she got pregnant with me. Now please let him go.”

  He drops the man carelessly to the floor.

  “Your dad was a rapist?”

  “Yes,” I say, unable to look him in the eye. He looks at the other Akons.

  “That’s it. That’s the clue. It’s her dad. We have to find him.”

  “He’s not moving, Rage. You killed him,” I accuse.

  They all laugh as if I had just told the funniest joke. Then Rage turns to the body on the floor and speaks to him.

  “Hey, are you dead?”

  “Nope, I’m good,” the prisoner says as he jumps up, unties himself and walks over to the Akons.

  I’m more stunned than I’ve ever been in my life.

  “I told you: self-sacrificing humans are all alike. Strong as steel but threaten to hurt someone and they become play dough,” Rage boasts.

  I look at the man who had cared for me while I was being tortured.

  “Oh, you guys have not met,” Rage says. He motions to the man and says, “Introduce yourself to the human.”

  The man takes a step forward, extends his hand and says,

  “Hi, I’m Tony-Tone. Nice to meet you.”

  15

  Marcus had told me about Sellers. He had mentioned Tony in particular. He had told me that Tony was not to be trusted, but I had never met him until now.

  For some reason Tony can’t bring himself to look at me. He was looking every other direction. That might be because of the sheer hatred I’m beaming towards him.

  “Now would be the ideal time to kill you, but we’re gonna double check to see if our suspicion is right. If it turns out that clue is with your father, we won’t need you anymore. Then we can come back and let Chaos get the first crack at you,” Rage says.

  “Thanks, boss. Looking forward to it,” Chaos says with a sneer.

  “The Guardians are coming to get me. And when they do, I’m gonna make sure you get the express to hell,” I say to all of them. They just laugh and head out the door.

  Now it’s just me in the room. As much as I hate Tony, being here alone isn’t the most comforting feeling. I wish I knew Morse code or something. Do angels know that code? What does it matter? I have been here for hours and no one has come.

  Okay, let’s look at the bright side here. There has to be one, right? Well, I didn’t have to drink any more Weeping oil. That’s only because they think I gave them what they want. What in the world had led them to believe that? I held out on telling the Guardians because it hurts to admit that my whole existence is a mistake. But if I thought it were a lead, I would have told them.

  “Where the hell are you guys?” I shout in frustration.

  Just then, the door opens up.

  If they feed me Weeping oil again, I will die.

  The figure that enters the room was the last person I thought I’d see again.

  “You have to be quiet,” he says.

  “Screw you, Tony. Did you come here to make sure I was still tied down like an animal?”

  “I knew you’d still be tied down because I’m the one who tied you.”

  “I freakin’ hate you, you evil bastard. I was worried about you.”

  “I know.”

  “Just kill me, or whatever you are here to do, and ge
t out.”

  He bends down within my reach. I rain blow after blow on top of him. He tries to fight me off, but I’m too pissed to be stopped.

  “Die, Seller trash.” He never hit me back. All he did was block the blows.

  “Alright, I get it. You want me dead, but can I do this first?”

  “Do what?” I look down and he is untying me.

  “Why?” I ask, stunned.

  “I told you, I’m not a completely bad guy.”

  “You helped them tie me up and torture me. You think you’re still in the gray area? Are you freakin’ kidding me?”

  “Look, I could have left you tied up.”

  “I could have beat you senseless.”

  “The point is, you’re free now.”

  “Why did you free me? And don’t give me that crap about not being a total jerk, because you are.”

  “When you thought I was in trouble like you, you were willing to help.”

  “So?”

  “Well, I’ve never had anyone go out of their way for me. Plus, Marcus has had plenty of chances to kill me but he hasn’t. So, I thought I’d do him a favor and help you out.”

  “You’re doing this because of Marcus?”

  “I’m doing it because I don’t think you would have revealed your secret if just your life depended on it. You only did it to save me. You put my life ahead of yours. That was nice.”

  “Had I known you were a traitor I would have told them to roast you and let me dance on your ashes.”

  “You have a dark side to you, you know that?”

  “I’m not an angel. I can have as dark a side as I damn well please.”

  “I can see why he likes you. You’ve got a little fire in you.”

  “I had a lot of fire in me moments ago, and it’s all because you helped them.”

  “I didn’t tell them to use the Weeping oil. That was an executive decision.”

  “Rage?”

  “And Lucy.”

  “So, you and all your friends just sit around thinking of ways to hurt people?”

  “I had nothing to do with that.”

  “Why am I even standing here talking to you? Which way do I go once I leave here?”

  “You can’t leave. They have a meter at the door. It will tell them if a human has entered or exited. The only one who can come and go is me. I know the code to turn it off.”

  “Then get moving,” I say as I head towards the door. He takes my arm. I pull it away from him.

  “You touch me and I’ll make you beg Lucy to end it for you right here and now.”

  “I’ll help you, but you have to let me go first.”

  “You could be setting me up again.”

  “For what? You already gave them what they needed.”

  “Thanks to you.”

  “I did not torture you.”

  “Who sold them the Weeping oil, Tony?”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah, you’re a swell guy”

  “They have something I need. They said if I helped they’d give it to me.”

  “What?”

  “Never mind. It can only be found in the Hun Market. It costs a lot of money and they were gonna get it for me.”

  “So, it’s something to do evil.”

  “You do-gooders are so judgmental.”

  “Shut up and help me get out.”

  “Okay, no need to shout. You know, on TV the guy who rescues the girl gets a kiss.”

  “The guy isn’t usually the one who put the girl in danger in the first place. Now move.”

  He leads the way, puts a key in the door and opens it. I see a series of dark hallways. We stay low and run down the first corridor to the left. At the end of the hall is a room where the Akons had gathered. Their voices fill the hallway. Tony mouths soundlessly that we need to keep moving. But I move towards the sound. This way I can find out how much they know or how much they think they know.

  Tony keeps waving “no” and tries to steer me towards the exit. I won’t go. I have to find out as much as I can. This is my chance to really be of help in this mission. I come as close as I can to the door without touching it.

  I hear Frenzy speak from behind the door.

  “I’m telling you, this is what we’ve been looking for.”

  “So, let’s kill her, then go find her father,” Chaos adds excitedly.

  “We have to make sure. After we get the father, then we kill her. Lucy won’t like us jumping ahead of ourselves,” the leader, Rage says.

  “I’m sure enough for all of us. The council gave us this guy’s daughter as a starting point. Now we have to find him,” Chaos replies.

  “He’s right. We need to wait on the girl.” I think that was Mayhem speaking, but I’m not sure.

  “Where’s Tony?” Rage asks.

  “He went to get some food.”

  “I forget that bastard’s human. They’re so weak. They need to eat several times a day. How pathetic,” Chaos says.

  “Weren’t you like that?” Rage asks.

  “I always choose job over food. Any opportunity to see the look on the victim’s faces as they cry out and ask you to spare their worthless lives. That was the only fuel I needed.”

  “That why you weigh ten pounds,” Frenzy says.

  “Oh, you wanna go? Anytime man.”

  “Enough. Tony should have been back. Go check on the girl.”

  “Tony would never help her. That guy is only two cycles away from being owned by Lucy. There’s no way he’ll make it into the light.”

  “Chaos, shut up and go find him. And if he is anywhere other than in the front door guarding the human, take him out,” Rage orders.

  I hear Chaos making his way towards the door. Tony drags me down the hall and into a stairwell. We run as fast as we can. We hear feet running behind us. They’re shouting to each other to catch us before we get to the exit. We go down two flights of stairs and down the hallway. Hand in hand, Tony and I head for the exit at top speed.

  At the exit is an alarm code of some kind. Tony goes up to it and punches in a few numbers. Nothing happens. The door remains shut.

  “What’s the problem?”

  “I can’t remember the code to get out.”

  “What? C’mon.”

  “Shh. I need to focus. Stop rushing me.”

  “They’re coming.”

  The footsteps get louder.

  “Tony, hurry!”

  “I got it.” He keys in the numbers, the alarm flashes green and the lock springs open. We never get a chance to open the door because at that exact moment Rage sends a ball of flames hurtling down the hallway towards us.

  We hit the floor as the blaze blasts the door wide open. Flames are everywhere. Tony drags me up off the floor. I get up just in time to see Rage’s next attack. The ball of flames is too close to us: we won’t duck in time.

  We brace ourselves as it bears down on us. Suddenly every thing goes black. I hear voices, so I think I’m still alive. How is that possible? I think back to the last time I felt this kind of darkness: it’s Rio. He’s shielding Tony and me from the ball for flames. I am right: when the darkness lifts, Rio hovers above me.

  Marcus had attacked Rage while Rio protected Tony and I.

  “We gotta go,” Rio says. Tony and I follow him out of the gaping hole that had once been a door. As we get outside, I look up and see Mayhem and Frenzy flying above us. They don’t get in the way of us trying to escape because they’re too busy attacking the other Guardians.

  From the roof, Frenzy aims at Miku and shoots a bolt of lightning from each hand. The lightning rocks her body. She shakes uncontrollably. Her eyes are wild and her hands clench. Seeing this, Ameana looks for a way to help her friend. She finds the perfect opportunity when Mayhem shoots daggers at Reese, who has just Blinked in.

  Ameana redirects the daggers so that they by pass Reese, go around her and head right for Frenzy’s chest. He sees the daggers coming and has to stop electrocuting Miku in order t
o take cover.

  No longer held up by jolts of electricity, Miku drops to the ground. She isn’t moving. Panicked, Ameana goes over to check on her. War sees Ameana is distracted and blasts a dose of acid directly at her. Reese Blinks in from behind and attacks War causing him to misfire. Jay helps Marcus take on Rage and Chaos. Rio leads us around the corner away from the fight.

  “Stay here. I’ll get Reese to Blink you home,” he says.

  “No,” I shout after him. He doesn’t hear me. He has already taken off.

  “We have to go help them.”

  “I’m just a human. There is nothing I can do.”

  “Fine, Tony. You stay here and be the coward they all think you are.”

  “Wait!” he says.

  “What?”

  “I learned some information about the Triplex from the Akons that might help you. I was gonna sell it to Marcus for a small fee but….”

  “What is it?”

  “According to the Akons, Lucy said that each member of the council has a say in where the Triplex is placed on Earth. Even though the council is not made up of humans, they each have traits that are specific to them.”

  “So they can be bad or good?”

  “No, that’s not what I mean. Take the first member to the council, Death. It acts independently of Omnis, but it cannot oppose the other two members. That means if Death wants to take a man’s life, it can only do so with the permission of Time and Fate.”

  “So the Triplex has to be somewhere that can be affected by Time, Fate and Death?”

  “Exactly. All three of them have to agree on the hiding place.”

  “So the Triplex is going to be somewhere all three can agree on. But that doesn’t really help, Tony. Fate, Time and Death exist in everything.”

  “No, Emmy. Think. Where can there be no death?”

  “Where there was no life.”

  “Exactly. How can something die if it never lived?”

  “So Death would want the Triplex in a place where death can occur, like a hospital or a nursing home?”

  “Yes. Next comes Time.”

  “How can we narrow down where on Earth Time would hide the Triplex? Time is everywhere.”

  “Yes, but everything doesn’t require the same amount from it. Flowers need weeks to grow. Trees need hundreds of years. But still they all require some aspect of time in order to come about. The thing which you are looking for will require a portion of time.”