“Still?”
Sky frowned. He thought about Omokah, and how his real estate business would be ruined if he were ever found out. Santa Muerte herself would probably kill Sky if he gave away any information. And he knew she would know if he did.
“Silent, huh?” Zac said, “Do you want to know what will happen if you don’t give me the information?”
Sky looked up.
“You’ll be their substitute,” Zac said. “I’ll just gather all my research from you.”
“I told you, I’m not answering these questions,” Sky lost all of his charm. He was too tired to play the part anymore.
“Oh, no, dear. You misunderstand. I’m talking about physical research,” Zac used his fingers to list everything, “Nail samples, blood samples, and my favorite, skin samples.”
Sky curled his fists and gritted his teeth. Sky stood up and looked Zac dead in the eye. Zac raised an eyebrow, a playful smirk on his face. Sky gathered all his bravery and demanded, “You can’t do that to me.”
“Oh, yeah? Tell me one reason.”
Sky folded his arms and turned his head away. The hunter went to the door, “I’m going to give you until tomorrow morning to decide if you want to cooperate and answer my questions. If you don’t comply, you can find yourself strapped to a lab table by nine o’clock.”
“Wait!” Sky recalled the snow globe he stuffed in his pocket. He held it out for Zac to see. The man turned around and walked slowly to Sky. Sky stood, “This… this is something I can tell you about.”
Zac crinkled his brow, “What?”
Sky held out a finger, “Watch.” He took the snow globe and threw it down to the floor with all of his force. The snow globe shattered in front of Zac’s feet. The object in question only imitated a snow globe, and Sky thought it was a trinket of witchcraft.
It was called a Black Fog Bomb. When the glass is broken, the water turns into a black fog and incapacitates eyesight. He expected the whole room to fill with black smoke, leaving Zac blind, and him home free.
The water went unmoving. The black fog didn’t emerge. Zac folded his arms and looked down at the mess.
Sky backed up, “Oh, it’s just a regular snow globe.” Sky laughed, but Zac only glared. “You see… I thought it was a thing called a Black Fog Bomb. So after it’d break… you’d be surrounded by black fog, and I’d make a quick dash out the exit door.”
Zac went to the dresser. He shuffled through a drawer, “Oh, so you were trying to escape?”
“I mean, no… well, yeah,” Sky shrugged and gazed down at the floor, “No hard feel- hey!” Zac was at Sky’s side in an instant, shoving his wrist into a cuff. The hunter attached its chain to the headboard. Helplessness festered in Sky as he felt completely trapped, “Come on, man! This isn’t necessary!”
“Don’t worry, you still have enough slack to clean up this mess,” Zac sneered, and started to walk to the door, “Don’t cut yourself on the glass.”
Tremaine didn’t like the way she was feeling right now. She was pretty sure it was guilt, but she didn’t want to admit it. She tried not to think about it, but she found it impossible after all that happened. She had the urge to call Hannah again before she came over at seven, just to make sure Sky was still breathing.
She parked her bike in the back and walked around to the front of the video store. It was empty except for her mother. She walked to the counter, and said, “Hey, Ma.”
Tremaine’s stomach tightened as her mother turned around, anticipating a lecture, “Oh, hey. Any word on the monster thing?”
“Uh… no,” Tremaine said. She walked behind the counter, “So, uh, what have you been doing today?”
“Just sitting here, and stocking videos. Serving nada customers,” Josey shrugged one shoulder; “Your father is at the hardware store getting paint for our bathroom. I want to mix up the colors a bit. Where were you after school?”
“Hanging with Hannah,” she lied. Her hands were sweaty.
“Oh, okay,” Josey said, indifferent, “Can you do the dishes, please?”
“Oh, sure,” Tremaine headed toward the stairs. As she walked up to her apartment, she thought her mother was tricking her. She must have talked to the school about her getting two detentions in one day. She bit down on her lip when she thought of the home phone upstairs. They must have called that one. If Josey knew Tremaine had detention, she was going to get in even more trouble for lying.
She immediately went to the kitchen and then went over to the phone. She dropped her bag carelessly on the floor. She noticed there was one message on the phone.
She started to play the voicemail, “Hello, this is Principal King calling for the parents of Tremaine Boppel. Your daughter received two detentions today, one for screaming expletives in the middle of class and another for punching the fire alarm. No need to call back, we just wanted to let you-” Tremaine pressed delete and then checked the machine to make sure the message was completely gone.
Tremaine arrived at the front door of the St. Charles’s house at around seven. Her hand was an inch away from the knocker on the door until the door swung back. Hannah was there, “Sorry, I was just by the door. Come in.”
Tremaine stepped into the foyer. She heard noise from the kitchen, “So you guys caught the thing, right?”
“Yes, we did,” she answered and grabbed Tremaine’s wrist. She was taking her toward the kitchen, “Come on.”
“Hold up,” Tremaine said. Hannah paused. “What about Skyler?”
“What about it?”
“I need to see him.”
“Just come on,” Hannah said, and then continued to drag Tremaine through the hallway. René sat at the kitchen counter turned around on his stool while Zac had some papers spread out on the breakfast paper, standing at it. Miss Vargas was sitting over by the window, gazing out.
“Tremaine’s here,” Hannah announced.
The men both smiled, and René commented, “Our new informant.”
“I don’t know how much to thank you,” Zaccaria said, approaching Tremaine, “I had a feeling that the Krampus would be hanging around you, just because of the whole incident.”
“Zac told me you tricked him into staying there,” René said, holding a thumbs up, “Very deceptive. A quality of a hunter.”
“Oh, not me,” Tremaine brought a hand to her chest, “No, I’m more of a…”
“Don’t be so modest,” Zac said, and glanced at Hannah, “My sister here says that you’re a boxer, correct?”
“I know what you’re probably getting at, and let me tell you now; I don’t want to be a hunter,” Tremaine flat out said, avoiding the question. She thought for a moment and then asked, “I, uh… well, I came over here to see the creature. What did you call it?”
“Krampus. A yuletide monster.” Zac said, “You want to see him?”
“I just want to get… closure.” Tremaine put her hands on her hips, “That thing terrorized me today with some apparitions. I wanna tell him off.”
“Sounds fine to me. Do you have one of your parent’s permission?” Zac said.
“Sorta,” Tremaine lied.
“Good enough,” Zac carelessly shrugged.
René, Hannah, and Miss Vargas stayed behind, as Zac showed Tremaine upstairs. She was surprised with how elegant the St. Charles estate was. At the top of the stairs were two diagonal hallways. Zac led her down to the right hallway, passing various family photos. The floors were wood with a long carpet runner.
They stopped at a door with an outside lock on it. It was at the very end of the hallway. The room had a title card that read “Service Room” next to it. Their house is so big they have to have labels for their bedrooms, Tremaine realized. Zac unlocked it, “Would you like me to stay with you?”
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Tremaine said, “but I have some personal things to let out to him.”
“It’s fine,” Zac opened the door. Skyler looked up and backed himself into the corner of the bed
when he saw Zac. “You have a visitor.”
Tremaine stepped into the room. Sky relaxed when he realized who it was. Zac brought back the door when he left, leaving it slightly opened. Tremaine waited for Zac’s footsteps to fade before getting closer to Skyler.
Before she had a chance to say anything, Sky snapped, “What are you doing here?”
“Excuse me?”
Sky grimaced, “How did the hunters know I was outside the school?”
Tremaine held her arms together, and she looked down to the floor, “I told them.” She raised her head and pointed her finger in the air, “But that was before I talked to you! Hannah told me that they were following you, too.”
Sky folded his arms. Tremaine saw the cuff connected to his wrist. Her eyes followed the attached chain to where it was locked to the head of the bed. “Oh, sure. I bet after you lied to me and said that I could crash in your school, that’s when you called them.”
“Are you calling me a liar?” Tremaine raised her voice, “Because I’m tellin’ you how it is. You can either accept it or not, frankly, I don’t care.”
Sky fumed, “Then why are you here? Are you here to just… rub it in my face? I’m already captured by hunters. This can’t get any worse.”
“I told the hunters that you were outside the school before I met with you. I was completely on board with helping you after I talked to you. I went to the auditorium and opened the door to let you in.”
“Too bad I wasn’t there,” Sky said.
“Yeah, too bad, I guess!” Tremaine shot back.
“Fact of the matter is, you promised to help me,” Sky said. He rose up a cuffed wrist, “Now, look where I’m at.”
“You want out?” Tremaine asked, folding her arms.
“No, actually, this bed is pretty comfortable, I’d like to stay here for a while,” Sky said. “Of course I want out! What do you think?”
“I’m not going to help you if you have an attitude.”
Sky breathed out through his nose, biting on his lip, “You’re not going to help me at all.”
“Considering I don’t know how to when you’re trapped in this house,” Tremaine looked around at the room, “I don’t think I can.”
“I’ve talked to Santa Muerte, but I don’t know how she’s going to help. She’s the only one who knows that I’m here besides you and the hunters. I don’t know what else to do,” Sky’s voice cracked, and he brought a hand to his cheek. He bent forward like he was about to break.
“Okay, well, don’t cry,” Tremaine said hurriedly, “I-I’ll find a way to help you.” She didn’t know if she meant her words. She went over to the window and looked down. She knew he wouldn’t be able to leave through it; the room was too far up.
“Thank you,” Sky sighed in relief.
“But I’m not doing this out of the kindness of my heart,” Tremaine said and leaned up against the wall. “You owe me… big time… if I do this for you.”
“I can arrange something. I have a ton in savings,” Sky said, “I can give you money.”
“I’m not thinking money.”
Sky cocked his head, “Then… what?”
Tremaine thought of Zac’s online journal. She recalled the page that was titled “Immortality.” Tremaine spent nights pondering over the idea, fascinated with it.
“I want you to grant me immortality,” Tremaine said. “That online journal about urban legends says that non-humans can give the power of immortality to one human of their liking.”
Sky had a blank expression on his face, “I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“First, I have no clue how to do it,” Sky said. “Second, immortality is not just something you give away to a perfect stranger. It’s a precious gift you give to a human who means a lot to you.”
“Well, if your life and freedom means a lot to you,” Tremaine said, “then you’ll learn how to grant it, and then grant it to me.”
Sky scratched the back of his neck, “I don’t know…”
“Fine. We’re done here,” Tremaine adjusted her purse and started for the door. “I guess escaping from here doesn’t mean a lot to you.”
“No, no, wait!” Sky said, “I’ll do it. As soon as you help me escape, I’ll… I’ll learn how to do it.”
“Then…?” Tremaine paused her walking.
Sky sighed, “Then I’ll give it to you.”
Tremaine held out her hand. Sky questioned the gesture. Tremaine said, “Come on. Let’s shake on it.”
Sky rolled his eyes and shook her hand, “Why do you want immortality?”
“Personal reasons,” Tremaine said.
There was a knock on the door. Skyler's grip tightened on her hand. He looked at Tremaine with pleading eyes, and whispered, “Please don’t leave me here alone.”
“I-” Tremaine turned toward the door as it was slowly opened. They parted hands, and she backed up a couple of steps to stand away from Sky.
It was Zac. He looked at Tremaine and then to Sky. Tremaine swallowed. Did he see me shaking hands? Zac asked, “Are you finished?”
“Uh, yeah,” Tremaine said and walked over to Zac. Sky turned away from him, folding his knees up to his chest and cornering himself by the headboard of the bed. Zac secured the door when they were both out.
Chapter Ten
Sky woke up with a splitting headache and an uneasiness racking his body. He looked around and remembered he was a “guest” in the St. Charles’s manor. He sighed and glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It was almost nine o’clock. He sat up, still under the comforter, and stared out of the window. It was lightly snowing. He laid back and fiddled with the chain Zac put on his wrist last night, dreading the hunters.
The door creaked, and Sky snapped his head over to the direction of the sound. Zac entered, dressed a little more casually than he was yesterday in a hoodie and jeans. He carried an open notebook in his hand, “Are you ready to tell me the locations of the other monsters?”
“Good morning to you, too,” Sky said. He crossed his arms and gazed out of the window again, “I slept well, thanks for asking.”
Zac said, “I don’t have time for this.”
Sky gave a weak laugh, “Yeah, okay. What’s on your schedule, Mr. St. Charles? Going to miss your indoor tennis match at Old Tourmaline Country Club?”
Zac said, “You’re lucky I’m so patient.”
“Lucky?” Sky raised his cuffed wrist, unintentionally rattling the chain, “You call this lucky?”
“You’re ungrateful, you know?” Zac’s voice was high with frustration. He tossed the notebook down on Sky’s lap. Sky recognized it as the online journal, but printed out, and paper clipped to the notebook.
Zac said, “Read where I have it marked.”
Humans sure do love this blog or whatever, Sky thought, bitterly annoyed. He picked it up and read the paragraph; “Though it could vary from creature to creature, many monsters are known to heal quickly. One observation made is when a creature has its limb ripped or cut off, it can reattach its limb. If it holds the detached limb to its base where it was originally attached, within hours the bones, the veins, etcetera, attach, and it’s good like new.” Sky looked up at Zac unsurely.
“Keep reading,” Zac urged.
Sky looked down at the page, “Though many people have witnessed this happen, researchers have never determined if this was true.” Sky frowned, and read the last sentence, “As of the time of this writing, no experiments have been conducted to test this theory.” Sky threw the notebook to the side, flustered, “You can’t be serious!”
Zac shrugged, “If you don’t answer one of my questions in the next sixty seconds, I’m afraid this is what will happen to you.” He smirked, “Even as a kid, I was always interested in the idea of monsters reattaching their limbs once they’re ripped off. I’m eager to see how well this theory holds up.”
Sky felt like throwing up. The thought of him, awake, strapped down to a metal table whi
le René and Zac went to work cutting one of his limbs off shook him to his very core. He resisted the urge to tremble, and nearly cried at the thought. He closed his eyes and put a hand over his mouth.
“What’s wrong? You don’t want to be a part of my experiment?” Zac asked, “Well, if you don’t, then I suggest you cooperate with me.” He sat down on the edge of the bed, “Come on, kid. Just the name and address of one other monster. That’s all I’m asking.”
Sky didn’t respond until a good ten seconds later. He lifted his head, and looked Zac in his eyes, “No.”
Zac frowned and took the paper back. “Fine, then. I hope you have a high pain tolerance.” He left, slamming the door shut.
Hannah didn’t come to class for the first half of the day. Tremaine kept glancing over at her desk, expecting her to appear magically. Mrs. Lopez corrected her several times during her first class, on the verge of giving her student detention again. Tremaine stared straight ahead, unable to risk getting another punishment. She started to formulate a plan in her head for rescuing Sky, completely disregarding what the teacher was writing on the board.
By the first period, she was confident she could break in and get Sky out. By the second period, she was almost shaking with doubt. What if they catch me doing it? Tremaine thought as she mindlessly took notes. They wouldn’t hurt me, would they? No way, their sister is my friend. And I’m human. But what if they do? What if they kill me? What if they hurt Sky? They’ll tell my parents if they don’t kill me. I won’t be able to leave my room ever.
Tremaine’s next few classes were with Hannah. She only showed up in the middle of the last class in the late afternoon. Tremaine tried to get her attention with her bulging eyes, but she didn’t notice from across the classroom. Tremaine met up with Hannah while they were both walking in the same direction to their club.
“Hannah!” Tremaine called, “Hey, you got here late.”
Hannah stopped in the middle of the hallway. She looked down at the floor, clinging to her book bag, “I had an argument with my brother.”
Samhain Island (Episode One) Page 9