The men were nervous, their breathing ragged and heavy beneath their helmets. Their hearts raged like contending thunderstorms. The stench of their sweat filled the air. He searched their minds, reading only hatred and disgust, as if he was an abomination that deserved to be extinguished from the earth. There would be no bargaining, no compromise, no answers.
The men on their knees fired something attached to their rifles and a series of darts, tethered by wires, pelted him in the chest. The sharp prongs could not pierce his skin and instead, fell to the floor, sparking and sizzling with tiny arcs of lightning.
“Live rounds,” shouted one of the men. “Fire!”
He threw up his arms, protecting his face from the searing projectiles, which riddled him head to toe. The immense pain forced him backward. He pressed himself against the thick panel blocking the doorway, nowhere to go. At first, he thought the bullets were piercing his flesh and he couldn’t understand why he wasn’t dead. When he opened his eyes, he found that the bullets were instead flattening against his skin, falling away and leaving only tiny burns that healed almost immediately.
The men continued the attack, each row alternating between firing and reloading their weapons. Tiny flames spurted from the ends of their guns, creating a strobe effect even more irritating than the band of yellow lights in the room behind him. Acrid gun smoke filled the hall. The reports echoed off of the walls, fed off one another until the sonic assault was too much for even his enhanced hearing to tune out.
Another hunger pang quaked throughout his body. He pressed his fingers against the concrete floor hard enough to bleach the tips. He clenched his teeth and the cords in his neck drew taut. A great force churned within his chest as the pain within and the pain without fused. The air about him became dry and hot, as though he were standing near a great furnace. The concrete floor blackened. The tiles of the drop ceiling smoldered. The pain in his flesh ceased, for the bullets were no longer reaching him, but instead, exploded in white-hot sparks mere inches from impact.
The heat surrounding him became immense, setting the ceiling and walls aflame. Still, the men continued to shoot their rifles. He rose to his feet, his face screwed into a scowl, his eyes bulging. He screamed loud enough to deafen even the gunfire, and in his mind, he willed the great heat forward.
A great burst of fire exploded down the hallway, blowing all ten men off of their feet and igniting each like the wick of an oil lamp. None of the men had the chance to scream or flee or even flinch. One moment, they were ten living beings and the next, charred bones were all that remained.
Water showered down from the ceiling, hissing as it hit the scorched floor, though it was unnecessary. The fire had devoured all of the air in the hallway. What little bit remained burning, when he quenched the blaze with his mind, smothered on its own.
He looked up at the tiny metallic cylinders causing the deluge in the hallway. It was such a strange and marvelous thing to see. He closed his eyes and turned his face up to the indoor rain. He sighed and shuddered as the cool drops slithered down his head and body, washing away the soot and grime clinging to his skin. He reached out with his mind, searching for an answer to the inexplicable rain, and from another’s mind, he pulled the word sprinkler.
He swayed on his feet, a bit dizzied by the strange world about him. He could remember no past, but he knew he was not newly born, because some things were common place to him, like doors, fire and smoke. Then again, other things — the lights, guns and sprinklers — felt so foreign to him.
And what of his special gifts? His strength and speed, his ability to hear thoughts and make fire with his mind? They came as naturally to him as walking, yet he understood from the fear of those surrounding him that there was nothing natural about them. He was unique and with that came a burden of loneliness.
If he wasn’t human, then what was he?
Before he could search out the answer in the minds of his captors, the hunger pang returned tenfold.
There were others still within the building. He could hear them scurrying about like frightened mice, chattering to one another, seeking places to hide. But there was nowhere they could go that he could not find them. Their very heartbeats betrayed them.
He rushed past the burnt corpses, down another hallway and up two flights of stairs. He tracked the others, not just by the noise they made, but by the scent of their bodies and the beacons of their minds.
He found four of them huddled in a large stainless steel freezer. They backed into the farthest corner, stumbling over one another.
He didn’t like the fright in their eyes, nor the way they begged for mercy. He pitied them. There was evil within them, dark desires such as he could not understand; even so, he wanted to turn and leave them be.
But the hunger warring within was maddening, dulling all sense of justice, silencing all self-control. Breaking free of the black shell, his birth into this strange world, the regeneration of his wounds, and the mind-fire had stolen too much life from him. He needed to replenish life with life. He needed to feed.
Chapter Three
The sidewalk twisted away from the main school building, snaked its way around the student parking lot, and nestled up against a thick wooded area. Cars were escaping the parking lot like life boats from a sinking ship. Groups stood here and there, waiting for the traffic to thin before heading out. Jerusa waved to them, they waved back, some called her name, but none invited her over to join the fun.
Alicia followed, but instead of walking, she moved along, appearing and disappearing on the tops of the cars. She pouted, refusing to look at Jerusa.
“I’m going to see him whether you like it or not.” It wasn’t a good idea to talk to her ghostly friend where others might overhear, but she figured she was far enough away to not arouse any suspicions. Alicia didn’t look up. “Foster will be leaving soon. I want to say goodbye to him.” She had once asked Alicia why she didn’t like Foster Reynolds, but she gave no answer. Perhaps it was some secret that only those beyond the grave know. Or maybe she, like Jerusa’s friends and mother, thought it was a bad idea for a young girl to be alone with an older man.
Jerusa understood their concerns — she was eighteen and he was in his mid-forties — and with any other man, she would agree that it was creepy. But Foster was different. There was never anything sexual about their relationship. He was the father-figure she had needed after her father ran out, and she was the daughter he yearned for after he had lost his own years ago to cancer. No one approved of their friendship — not even Alicia — but Jerusa didn’t ask for their approval.
Foster was witty and charming. Crazy in a silly way. Wise and learned, without even a trace of the usual haughty hubris. And besides all of that, he was the only one that knew the truth of her supernatural gift.
Jerusa hadn’t meant to tell Foster about seeing spirits. He had drawn it out of her, as good friends often do. After she had told him everything, she had sat with her eyes to the floor, unable to bear the disbelief and pity that were surely painting his face. He had been silent for a long moment, and then he placed his hand on her shoulder and had said the best three words Jerusa had ever heard in her life: “I believe you.”
For that, she loved him. Not in the poor-broken-girl-with-daddy-issues way that everyone accused her of. She loved him with a purity that only comes from baring your soul to another and having them treat your secrets as a treasure to be guarded. Though he had never said so, Jerusa believed that Foster loved her because she had survived her illness. For him, in some small way, it was a vindication for his daughter.
They were just two broken souls being lonely together. What was so wrong about that?
Jerusa followed the sidewalk around the farthest parking lot. It was known as the tardy lot, because if you could only find a space this far back you were most likely late to school. The dogwood trees were blooming, sprinkling the budding green forest with a dusting of purple. The air smelled of magnolia, and pine overlaid the m
ustiness of decaying foliage. Something small, probably a squirrel or a rabbit, skittered about in the underbrush. Turkey vultures circled the sky, riding the thermals as they sniffed out their next ghastly meal.
Loud voices woke Jerusa from her thoughts.
A white Jeep Wrangler was parked just ahead. She knew it well. It belonged to Thad Campbell. Thad and his girlfriend, Kristen, sat in the front seat arguing about something. Their words were heated, but Jerusa couldn’t make out what they were saying. Thad’s voice seemed almost apologetic, but Kristen’s was as shrill as fingernails on the chalkboard.
Jerusa stopped and looked around, considering her options.
Thad and Kristen had obviously driven up to the Tardy Lot for some privacy. Jerusa didn’t feel right about intruding, but what choice did she have? They were parked right in front of the wooded path she needed to take to go to Foster’s house.
Suddenly, Kristen jumped out of the Jeep, her blonde locks trailing behind her, her face as fierce and beautiful as a thunderstorm. There was something in her hand, and for a moment, Jerusa was convinced that Kristen was going to throw it at her.
Kristen didn’t throw the item at Jerusa, but instead, walked to the edge of the woods. In a panic, Thad leapt from his Jeep and chased after her. Kristen reared back and lobbed the item into the air. A shiny, metallic glint flashed against the sunlight then the shadows gobbled it up. It jingled as it tore through the newly budding leaves, skipped across the carpet of dead leaves, and came to rest somewhere in the underbrush.
“Are you kidding me?” Thad asked, his hands plastered to the sides of his head.
Kristen turned and walked away, a satisfied little smirk resting upon her perfect face. She strolled down the sidewalk, strutting like a runway model. She slowed as she passed Jerusa, her eyes narrowed.
“What are you looking at, Frankenstein?”
Jerusa hated being called that. Her cheeks flushed hot and her palms broke into a sweat. She clenched her teeth, and stuck out her chin. Countless scenarios raced through her mind, each ending with her standing over a bruised and battered Kristen while a growing crowd cheered her on.
But what did a girl with a heart condition whose most athletic endeavor was walking to school know about fighting? Kristen would be the one standing in victory and Jerusa would most likely end up in the hospital. That’d be the end of her dreams of freedom. Her mother would carry her off and lock her in a tower like Rapunzel, except that Jerusa’s hair was brittle with split ends and could in no way support a full-grown prince.
Jerusa looked away from Kristen’s basilisk-like eyes. The blonde demi-cheerleader puffed out a laugh of victory then continued on, back toward the school.
Thad was thrashing around in the underbrush, hunched over and mumbling. Jerusa started to walk past. She had nothing to do with this. She hadn’t seen Foster in a long while and his sympathetic ear would go a long way in purging Kristen’s insult from her mind.
But then she stopped and looked back.
“Do you need any help?” She hated the nervous quiver her voice always took on when she spoke to Thad.
Thad looked up as if shocked. “Oh, hi, Jerusa,” he said with a forced grin. “I, um, lost the keys to my Jeep.”
Jerusa walked closer to Thad, so that they weren’t shouting across the tardy lot at each other. “Is that what Kristen threw?”
Thad had trouble holding her eyes and his ear lobes flushed pink. “You saw that, huh?”
“Yeah, sorry. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”
Thad stood a head taller than she did, with a slender but muscular frame. Jerusa craned her neck to look up into his face, and though it felt awkward to her, she found it impossible to look away.
Thad brushed the dark hair away from his forehead and shrugged. “Not your fault. It’s a public place. Kristen can’t keep anything private. Everything is a production to her.”
Jerusa didn’t know the protocol for dealing with boyfriends insulting their girlfriends. Do you laugh? Nod? Join in with a few insults of your own? Jerusa decided it was best just to remain silent.
Thad scanned the ground for his keys, but didn’t walk away from her.
“Do you have another set of keys?”
“I wish,” he said with a sigh. “My mom’s been telling me for a year to go have another set made. Guess I should have listened.”
“I’ll help you find them then.”
Thad shook his head. “Nah, I’ll be fine. You’ve got better things to do than to wander the woods with me.”
If only he knew just how wrong he was.
“I don’t mind,” Jerusa said, hoping her face wasn’t as red as if felt. “I’m good at finding things.”
Alicia materialized behind Thad, her arms crossed, eyes rolling.
“Really?” Thad asked. “You don’t mind?”
“That’s what friends are for.” Could she have said anything more cliché? It took a concerted effort not to gag on the embarrassing dribble falling out of her mouth. She had a sudden urge to run full-tilt through a briar patch as an act of contrition for her severe awkwardness.
Thad smiled and her knees went to butter. She caught herself staring at him too long, so she turned in the opposite direction and walked away, pretending to search for the keys.
Jerusa looked around for Alicia, but the ghost had vanished.
“Alicia,” she whispered through clenched teeth. “C’mon. I know you’re there.”
“Did you say something?” Thad asked.
Jerusa shook her head. “Nope.” She turned back around. “Alicia,” she said as quietly as she could.
Alicia poked her head through the thick trunk of a maple tree and Jerusa gave a quick, startled cry.
Thad ran up to her. “Are you all right?”
Jerusa’s cheeks were hot enough to ignite the forest, and she could only pray she didn’t look like a stop sign. “I’m fine,” she said with a wave of her hand. “I thought I saw a snake is all. It was just a stick.”
Alicia held her stomach, pulsating with silent laughter.
“I’m going to go look over here.” Jerusa walked twenty yards deeper into the woods then slid out of view behind the thick, interlocking limbs of a mulberry bush.
Alicia appeared next to her, still giggling.
“Ha, ha,” Jerusa whispered. “Thanks a lot. I feel like an idiot.”
Alicia shrugged in a semi-apologetic way.
“Yeah, well, you owe me.”
Alicia rolled her eyes and gave a bored little sigh.
“I know, you already found a set of keys for me.” Jerusa peered around the bush to make sure Thad wasn’t close enough to hear and think she was talking to herself. “Maybe the universe is full of lost keys today. Who knows? But I need your help. Thad is a nice guy and you know it.”
Alicia’s shoulders slumped and her mouth tightened to a fine line. She turned and scanned the forest, looking up and down and side to side. She vanished and reappeared in five different spots, each time shaking her head before continuing her search. At last, she settled on an area in between Jerusa and Thad only twenty or so feet farther into the woods. Alicia pointed to the ground, at her feet, with one hand and gave a thumbs-up sign with the other.
Jerusa went to Alicia, bent down, and found the keys underneath a layer of dead leaves. She held the keys over her head and gave them a triumphant jingle. “Found them.”
Thad’s face brightened. He jogged over to her and took the keys from her hand. His fingertips brushed her palm and Jerusa’s heart rate tripled.
“Wow! You really are good at finding things.”
“No big deal,” Jerusa said. “I just got lucky.”
Alicia threw her hands up in disgust, turned, and vanished.
“Can I give you a ride home?” Thad asked. “It’s the least I can do.”
Jerusa said yes and was buckled into Thad’s Jeep before she realized what she had agreed to. But Thad was already backing out of his parking spot and it was too
late to change her mind.
The wind blew through the open top, tousling her hair. She gathered it up and held it in a ponytail over her left shoulder. She looked from window to window, expecting any moment to see the shocked face of some informer that would run and tattle to her mother. It was ridiculous, she knew. Her mother was at work. Still, Jerusa continued to look until Thad asked her if something was wrong.
“No, I’m fine.” Jerusa sat back in her seat, still as a mannequin, as if this would somehow render her invisible.
“You just seem nervous, that’s all.”
“So … what’s going on with you and Kristen?” Jerusa asked, reaching for anything to break the long silence that had fallen over the Jeep.
Thad shifted in his seat. “It’s kinda complicated.”
“Give me the short version.”
Thad’s head bobbed side to side, his windswept hair dancing as he considered what he should say.
“Kristen and I broke up.”
Her breath stopped in her lungs as her heart tried to shimmy out of place. She didn’t understand why this news should make her so happy — it had absolutely nothing to do with her — but she couldn’t stop the smile from invading her face.
“Broke up?” Jerusa asked, needing it to be confirmed again.
“Yeah.”
“You and Kristen broke up?” She felt dangerously close to a fit of giggles.
“You sound surprised.”
“I am,” Jerusa said. “You two have been together for like three years. Everyone thought you’d get married.”
It was Thad’s turn to laugh.
“You do realize that prom is next week, don’t you?”
“Oh, believe me, I know.”
“No wonder she threw your keys into the woods.”
Thad smiled, but there was a sadness in it that made Jerusa regret her words. “Why did you break up with her?” It was none of her business, but she desperately wanted to know the answer.
Heart of the Dead: Vampire Superheroes (Perpetual Creatures Book 1) Page 2