Dead Spots

by Rhiannon Frater

  Ducking behind the trees, Mackenzie followed Grant through the underbrush toward the road they had traveled to enter the town.

  “So a crazy person draws them all in and then what?”

  “You’re about to find out.” Grant was moving faster now, ducking around branches and shoving through overgrown weeds.

  A massive wave of heat slammed into Mackenzie, tossing her off her feet before a thunderous explosion ripped through the air. Mackenzie landed painfully on an outcropping of rocks and winced. Raising her head, she saw the skyscrapers on fire, raining debris on the small farmhouse. The dark shapes whirled faster and faster, fanning the flames higher and higher.

  “It looks like the building in The Towering Inferno or 9/11,” Mackenzie grunted, climbing to her feet.

  Huge fireballs blasted out of the windows and Mackenzie screamed, covering her face just before another shock wave hit them. Smoke, dust, and ash filled the air in a rolling wave that washed over them.

  Grabbing her arm, Grant tugged her along. “We need to keep going. This place is very active.”

  Mackenzie dodged around fallen branches and tried to avoid the more uneven patches of ground. Air sirens sounded while more explosions rocked the town and made the earth tremble. It was difficult to maneuver through the trees: the smoke, ash, and heat made it difficult to see or breathe.

  “What the hell?” Mackenzie cried out.

  “Just keep moving!” Grant called out. His tall body was a dark shape wading through the thick cloud of dark smoke.

  They finally crashed through the last of the trees and darted onto the country road. To her surprise, the air was clear, refreshing, and slightly cool. The air sirens and explosions fell abruptly silent. Looking over her shoulder, Mackenzie was stunned to see the skyscrapers returned to their former appearance. The sky was clear and there wasn’t any sign of the thick billowing smoke. The sinister forms still circled the towers, careening wildly in an aerial dance. Mackenzie had the impression they were waiting for the explosions to begin again.

  “What was that?” she demanded, rubbing the grit from her face with the edge of her shirt.

  “That person’s fears manifested,” Grant answered in a neutral tone.

  “That was insane! One person’s fears do that here?”

  “I was told about what happened to New York and Washington. That sort of event will have a terrible effect on already sick minds. And that’s nothing compared to the nuclear explosions I witnessed near New York. Someone’s Cold War fears.” He wagged his head. “You don’t want to experience those.”

  “This is insane!” Mackenzie exclaimed. “Simply … insane!”

  “Since when do dreams, or nightmares, make any real sense?” Grant handed her his damp kerchief. “You have soot all over your face.”

  With a weary sigh, she took the cloth and wiped at her face. She didn’t point out that Grant’s suit had taken yet another beating. His hair was covered in ash, and his shirt was far from white.

  Handing it back, she hauled her purse over her shoulder and waved toward the road.

  “Lead on, fearless leader.”

  “Is that sarcasm?” Grant lifted his brows, amused.

  “No, not really. But seriously, let’s get out of here before that happens again.”

  Strolling alongside Grant, Mackenzie glanced toward the houses tucked into the woods. They looked like regular homes, but strangely stagnant. Grant was right. It was as though she were walking through a snapshot of this road. Everything appeared oddly flat and empty.

  As she continued to peer at the houses through the dappled light, she realized that her assessment was not entirely correct. Strange creatures lurked in the murk dwelling beneath the trees and bushes. She couldn’t clearly make out what they were, but she doubted she truly wanted to discern their appearance.

  “Don’t look at them too long. We don’t want any coming after us,” Grant warned her. “Wraiths are usually attached to just one location unless they become aware of one of us. Even the wraiths of the dead spots won’t follow us from one area to another.”

  “But those … mourners followed us. They were at the house, too,” Mackenzie protested.

  Grant shook his head. “All that energy you used to shape the house last night was manipulated by your fears today. You were afraid of the graves and the … uh … mourners, so that is what it created to feast off of you.”

  Incredulous, Mackenzie shook her head.

  Grant lightly touched the small of her back, a fleeting gesture she was sure he meant to be reassuring. “You’re doing okay so far, Mackenzie.”

  “If you call being nearly buried alive by my ex-husband and haunted by a bunch of creepy women clutching dolls doing okay, I don’t like the sound of that. What do you consider doing badly?”

  “Dying,” Grant answered simply.

  “Not comforting.” Mackenzie frowned at him. “When can I go back to the café?”

  “Not for a while.” Grant’s gaze constantly shifted to scrutinize their surroundings.

  “How long? Because we’re getting farther away,” Mackenzie pointed out.

  “Maybe a month or two.”

  Mackenzie stopped short. “What?”

  Grant sighed, his wide shoulders drooping. “Mackenzie—”

  “I can’t stay here that long,” she protested. “I need to escape.”

  Pivoting toward her, Grant wore a sardonic smile on his handsome face. “I’ve been saying that for sixty years.”

  Mackenzie pressed her lips together, tears stinging her eyes. “Shit.”

  “We should move south. We should get away from here and aim for the areas that are less populated. Until you gain total control of your emotions and learn how to deal properly with the dead spots and this world, we should try to keep moving.”

  Swallowing her fear, Mackenzie lifted her chin. “Why are you helping me, Grant? You could save yourself a lot of grief by just going off and doing your own thing.” Truth was, she didn’t really want him to leave her. In the last twenty-four hours, she had grown to like him a little despite her initial misgivings. Maybe even consider him a possible friend. It irked her that she was dependent on him for survival in this strange horrible world, but she had to wonder why he was even putting up with her. “Isn’t being here with me putting you in danger, too?”

  Grant tucked his hands into his trouser pockets and stared at the strange toadlike creatures moving around a trailer set back from the road. “I have two reasons. Both are selfish.”

  “Okay. Spill them.”

  “I need you to eat, drink water, find shelter. I’ve died so many times, Mackenzie, it’s difficult for me to be a shaper anymore.” Grant settled his gaze on her face and gave her a slight smile.

  “So I’m convenient,” she said, feeling slightly hurt.

  “And I’m lonely, Mackenzie. I have lost companions over the years for many different reasons. Sometimes we just decided to travel in opposite directions, but other times…” He shrugged.

  “They became wraiths.”

  “And shadows.” Grant shrugged again. “It’s also difficult to travel alone. I don’t want to die anymore. I don’t want to be one of those things. Having a companion means someone is watching my back.”

  “I see,” she said in a thoughtful voice, and she did understand. If not for Grant, she was certain she would have already died at least once in this strange world.

  “Is it so bad to want a friend?”

  “No,” she said, truthfully. “Lord knows I’ve needed a friend the last few months.” Looking down at the knife in her hand, she saw it was deformed and scorched again. “If all of this is real, if I’m really trapped here, I’m glad that at least I found you. If not for you … Honestly, I don’t think I’d want to know what would have happened to me. I’m grateful that you’re here.”

  “Thank you,” Grant said, his smile deepening. “Thank you for saying that.”

  “I have to admit that the fact I was pret
ty much convinced you were a figment of my imagination is a major reason that I went along with you to begin with. But now—” Mackenzie gasped. A giant black wolf with glowing red eyes peered out at her from a window in the trailer. “Shit.”

  “Let’s keep moving,” Grant said. He hesitated, and then held out his hand to her.

  Though she had taken his hand before, this moment felt different from the others. Perhaps it was because she finally believed in the world around her and in his good intentions. She stared at his strong hand with its elegant fingers and carefully manicured fingernails.

  “Grant!” Unexpected tears filled her eyes. “Grant, oh, God.” She touched the gold wedding band on his finger.

  With a sigh of sadness, he lowered his hand. “She’s probably long gone by now, Mackenzie. We were newlyweds when I went to the audition. And that was a very long time ago.”

  “Yet you’re wearing your ring,” Mackenzie said, holding up her own hand. She still wore her own band and engagement ring.

  “Maybe we both just have a tough time letting go.” Grant glanced into the woods and sorrow filled his eyes. “Let’s go.”

  Mackenzie followed his gaze and let out a soft cry of surprise. A glowing, translucent form of a woman clothed in white hovered in the trees. Spirals of golden curls twisted in the breeze like a halo about her serene face and the silky petticoats of her dress writhed around her like tendrils of white fire. Her eyes were closed, her lips slightly parted, and the only color on her seemingly tranquil form was a splotch of red blood spreading under her pale hands pressed just over her heart.

  “That’s her, isn’t it?” Mackenzie whispered, unable to look away.

  “No,” Grant said in a pained tone. “It’s just a wraith.”

  The floating woman remained motionless, blood dripping off her toes and into the detritus of the forest.

  “Mackenzie.”

  She forced herself to look away and focus on Grant. He again held out his hand, waiting for her to take it. Accepting that Grant was her best chance for survival and companionship in this terrible world, Mackenzie rested her hand in his palm and his fingers closed around it.

  “Let’s go,” she said.

  Grant walked steadfastly forward, not daring to take another look at the apparition of his wife. Mackenzie was not so strong-willed and cast a furtive glance at the creature.

  The woman’s eyes were now open and watching her.

  Mackenzie tightened her grip on Grant’s hand and hurried on, tearing her gaze from the bleeding woman hovering in the trees.

  CHAPTER 10

  “Do you hear that?” Mackenzie asked, hesitating in her stride.

  A cry reverberated through the trees bordering the narrow lane.

  Grant stopped, tilted his head, listened, then shrugged. “It’s a bird. Let’s keep moving.”

  Straining to catch the sound again, Mackenzie ignored Grant. The sound was high-pitched, but it didn’t sound like an animal. A sliver of disquiet pierced her soul. “I think it’s a child, Grant. Listen.”

  The screech came again, seeming closer.

  “Grant, it’s a kid!” Mackenzie darted across the road toward the trees, but hesitated on the shoulder. Her companion reluctantly followed, clearly wanting to move on. The thick brush and gloom made it difficult to see into the woods. Doubt and fear nibbled at her burst of daring, and she reconsidered plunging into the forest to save the child. She opened her mouth to call out, but Grant clamped his hand over it.

  “Mackenzie, it’s a trick. Ignore it.”

  Yanking his hand away, she said, “How can you be sure?”

  “Because we’re near a dead spot. It’s trying to lure you in, Mackenzie. You lost a son. Isn’t it convenient that you’d hear a child?”

  Again she heard the wail, but it was difficult to ascertain where it was coming from as the sound reverberated around her. Anxiety bubbled in her chest making it hard to breathe again. She dragged air through her nose and exhaled through her lips to calm her nerves. “Damn,” Mackenzie muttered, recognizing the veracity of his words. “Are you sure?”

  “It’s bait.” Grant lightly touched her shoulder. “Come on.”

  It was difficult to ignore the keening echoing around her. It definitely sounded like a frightened child. There weren’t any words, just screams.

  “God, Grant, how can you hear that and not want to go help?”

  “You get used to it. You learn to stay away from traps. And it is a trap. Why do you think I’ve been guiding you around areas like this?”

  For hours, they had been skirting around populated areas and dead spots. Though this realm resembled the one Mackenzie had unintentionally left, the farther they traveled the more evident it became that it was not an exact mirror image. The dreams and nightmares of the inhabitants of the real world significantly altered the landscape. Shadows slithered along the sides of roads shifting into nightmarish creatures. Disturbing, jagged constructs made of shadows rose up over towns, writhing with monsters of unimaginable terrors. Throughout the day she’d been discovering new fears. She’d never been particularly afraid of spiders, but the eight-legged creatures in this world were horrifying. Twisted, gnarled, giant spiders with many red eyes skittered along the utility pole wires, scaled walls, and perched on webs that dripped red viscous fluid. It had taken all of her willpower not to scream.

  In spite of all she had seen, Mackenzie was still on her feet. That fact made her proud of herself. The anxiety attack from the morning had dissipated, but the niggling discomfort in the back of her mind warned her that it could flare alive again. She tried not to think about the open graves, or the scrawny creatures clutching their rag dolls.

  Now she was faced with yet another potential terror. How could she ignore the child crying out nearby? What if there really was a child? But what if it was just a wraith attempting to bait her? Maybe it was the silent mourners luring her into the woods. Did she dare plunge into the forest to face the nightmare creatures?

  “Are you sure, Grant? Absolutely positive?”

  “Mackenzie, look around you.” Grant waved toward the east where an enormous tornado filled a quarter of the horizon. Its powerful, intimidating silhouette against the rest of the blue sky stirred the primal need to flee before such a terrible force of nature. It had been a part of the landscape for hours, never moving, never stopping. “Look at this world. It’s filled with the torments of people’s minds. You lost your child. It’s going to use him against you just like at the café and those women with the dolls.”

  The cries started to diminish, as though the child were running away from the road and deeper into the woods. Guilt tore at Mackenzie. How could she ignore the screams of an innocent? Fingers flexing on the straps of her bag, she found it difficult not to rush into the trees. She couldn’t save Joshua, but she could save another child.

  “Mackenzie, listen to me, please.”

  Grant rested his hands on her upper arms and rotated her toward him. Instead of drawing away as he had previously, his touch remained. His palms were very warm against her skin and the sensation made her somewhat uncomfortable. It was a reminder of how long it had been since she’d been touched by a man. Uneasy with his closeness, she stepped out of his grasp.

  “I am listening to you, Grant,” Mackenzie answered. “It’s just difficult to adjust to all this. Yesterday I was on the road to go home and start a new life. Today I’m walking to who knows where with a total stranger and seeing things that look like they’re out of horror movies. You’re asking me to ignore my very nature and not help a child screaming in a forest. You have to realize how hard that is, right?”

  Pressing his lips together, Grant nodded. “Yes. I do. For a long time I made the mistake of trying to rescue people that were actually wraiths that dead spots were using to trap me. I had to break myself of the habit of rushing in.”

  “But you saved me. Why?”

  “Well, I wasn’t going to at first, but then I realized you weren’t
a wraith. Your life force was just so … bright. I can’t explain it, but it feels like warmth from an oven on a cold day. I was so hungry that I decided to help you so I could get a meal. But then”—Grant lifted his eyes to the heavens, slightly cracking a smile—“you won me over with your scintillating personality.”

  Mackenzie chuckled despite the seriousness of the situation. She knew she had been anything but charming when they’d met. “You’re one of those white hats, huh?”

  Grant arched an eyebrow.

  “Those guys who have to ride in and save a damsel in distress like the old westerns?”

  “You calling me John Wayne?”

  “If the cowboy hat fits…”

  With a grin, Grant pretended to tip a hat in her direction.

  The wails from the forest were gone.

  “They stopped.” Mackenzie stepped away from the forest, unnerved by the silence.

  “You were distracted and the dead spot lost its connection to you. Which means we should move on now.” Grant held out his hand to her, an obvious offer of friendship and comfort.

  Hesitating, Mackenzie pretended to fuss with adjusting the straps of her big purse while pondering the proffered gesture. Their growing relationship was based on mutual survival. He was a guide in the strange new world she was ensnared within and she was a provider of safety and food. Yet, Grant had also shown he was willing to fight to save her, and he’d shown compassion in a way she hadn’t experienced in a very long time. If she was honest about it, Grant listened and didn’t judge her, which was a far cry from almost everyone else in her life.

  With a small smile, she slipped her fingers across his palm and clutched his hand.

  “Friends?” Grant asked.

  “Yeah. Friends. Besides, we’re kinda stuck with each other, huh?”

  Walking onward, Grant gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “We are. Plus, we need each other.”

  The words struck deep into Mackenzie’s heart and tears flared. Her new friend had spoken the truth. It was good to feel needed again.

  * * *

  Hours later Mackenzie and Grant were close enough to the enormous stationary tornado to hear its ceaseless trainlike growl. The sound made her skin crawl. All her life she had feared thunderstorms, but she had never seen a twister. They were a rare occurrence in the area of Texas where she’d grown up.