As the soaring music echoed into silence, the sound of a string symphony took its place and Neil Diamond’s epic anthem “America” began to play; red, white and blue beams of light, mixed with projected images submitted by numerous citizens of Shadow Valley to create an audio-visual extravaganza.
Kiah looked around at the expressions of awe, delight and wonder on the faces of those standing nearby. He knew that from where the rest of their group sat at the front of the audience, they had the best view of the spectacle. He couldn’t help reflect back on Jake’s question before he headed up to the rogue: You’ve found your guy. Shouldn’t you be heading back to the Great Beyond?
“I don’t know what it all means,” Kiah yelled into Levahn’s ear, even as a flag of red and white stripes beside a field of white stars against a blue background waved suspended in the air before them. “But it’s sure struck a chord with the crowd.”
Transfixed by the images of children, people old and young, and majestic mountains in a full pallet of colors, Levahn only nodded.
Kiah waved a hand in front of Levahn, breaking the man’s unblinking stare. Becoming exasperated, he took Levahn by the arm and turned him away from the stage. “We don’t have time for this. Come on,” he said, pushing Levahn in the direction of the main thoroughfare.
“What’s going on?” Levahn asked in confusion.
Kiah led him to a vacant bench nearby.
Levahn didn’t protest and Kiah took a moment to regulate his breathing and center his thoughts. That’s when he noticed something tickling the edges of his mind. Somehow, he could sense, almost feel, the presence of a SoulStar, and with it, the identity of its bearer. He stood and looked out beyond the midway. “The time for you to return to the Afterlife is coming. We won’t have to wait long,” he said.
Suddenly looking panicked, Levahn asked, “What? Is he here? Where?”
Kiah held up a hand to calm Levahn, who at least quit babbling. He turned his thoughts toward that tickling sensation. Yes, it was at least one SoulChaser, possibly another, that he recognized. And the more he concentrated, the clearer his intuition spoke to him. “Pol and Brenden, now that’s a surprise,” he commented to himself. “Why send two?”
“They sent two?” Levahn exclaimed, then couldn’t contain himself any longer. Without warning, he bolted for the far end of the thoroughfare, heading for the aircraft hangar-sized building that housed the museum displays.
“What–? Are you kidding me?” Kiah demanded from no one, then grit his teeth and charged after the rogue.
Not far off, Pol stopped on one of the side alleys off the thoroughfare, putting an arm out to stop Brenden.
“What?” he asked.
Pol held the SoulStar in his firm grip, trying to hone in on the rogues they sought. “They’ve split up,” he said. “One remains nearby, probably where the crowd is densest. The other just ran off up the midway.”
He held his hand out that contained the SoulStar and Brenden covered the relic with his hand, trying to open himself up to it. They stood there, immobile for several seconds. Then Brenden nodded and let go. “I’ll go after the runner. You take care of the one nearby and come find us as soon as you can.”
Accustomed to taking orders, and uncomfortable giving them, Pol nodded and Brenden took off down the midway at a run.
With a scowl on his face, he turned and peered at what he could see of the mass of celebrants watching the presentation in the arena. He sensed the rogue’s presence there, but he wasn’t close enough to pinpoint the man. With deliberate caution, he began moving down the remaining midway toward the bleachers.
Chapter 53
“Taya, Unimpressed”
With her gaze fixed on the kaleidoscope of colors, Taya shook her head with disdain. This over-the-top presentation has Jake Andrews written all over it. Looking over to where he sat between both little boys, she could see the pride on his face as he watched the multimedia extravaganza unfold. Natey sat between them, and Trent sat to her left.
Natey had his hands over his ears, but Jake hadn’t noticed.
That added to her frustration. She kept her hands folded in her lap, to mask the shaking. The nicotine cravings only came on her when her stress levels went up; she’d already smoked several packs since arriving back in Shadow Valley. It was doubtful that Natey had noticed. If Jake had noticed, he hadn’t commented and in their time together over the last several days, she hadn’t seen him light up once. It would be my stupid luck that he’d kick the habit that I picked up from him. Well, if he can hold it together, so can I! she demanded of herself and laid her hands out flat on her legs. As long as she didn’t think about it, they stayed still, but the moment she noticed how still they were, they started shaking again.
As the last echoes of Neil Diamond whispered away, the female announcer Taya presumed sat up on the tech platform, called over the audio system, “Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome your County Centennial Grand Marshall, Kendell Brinks!”
All lights went out and the opening synthesizers to Alan Parson’s Project, “Sirius”, echoed from the system, accompanied by flashing lasers and multi-colored strobe lights. The crowd cheered again when all of the strobe lights focused into a single spotlight on an attractive man walking up the stage’s southern steps and onto the main stage. He approached the microphone and its clear plexiglass podium, even as the music faded away.
“They’re not just coming to America, they’re coming to the Pinebow County Centennial!” he announced and the crowd’s roar caused Taya to wince and put her hands over Natey’s hands, which still covered his ears. Absently, she noticed that beside him, Jake was clapping and laughing right along with Damon... one more log to throw on the fire of her dislike for the man.
Chapter 54
“Team-Up”
Brenden’s SoulChaser-heightened senses pounded in his head as he ran along the edge of the midway. He picked up on a large group of rogues some distance off to his left, but stayed focused on the rogue not far in front of him. As a SoulChaser, he supposed he should do all he could to retrieve any rogue he came in contact with, but one thing he knew was how well the Eternals ran the Afterlife. If he sensed a different set of rogues than the ones he and Pol were after, he could safely bet that more SoulChasers were on the way... possibly already Edenside and on the chase.
His unusual distraction meant he didn’t see anyone watching for him in the deep shadows until the dark-skinned man reached out and pulled Brenden into the deep shadows at a full run. He crashed to a stop against the wooden side of one of the midway snack shacks.
“Oof!”
His attacker spun him around and pinned him by the chest to the wood plank. It was only a moment later that he realized the man was being careful not to choke him.
“Oh, it’s you!” a man’s voice said and the pressure on Brenden’s chest vanished.
Peering into the darkness, he could almost make out the man’s features. Something about the man tickled the back of his mind.
“I was expecting Pol. Not quite sure how these Guardian abilities work, yet. Anyway, it’s good to see you,” the man said and smiled.
The smile caused a memory to shunt into place in Brenden’s brain. “Kiah! Woah!”
The corner of Kiah’s mouth twitched as if he was trying not to grin.
“I’d love to chat, but I’m tracking a rogue and I can’t–”
“I know,” Kiah said. “He’s my wife’s brother. That’s why I’m here.”
“You’re taking over this retrieval?” Brenden asked, sounding a bit putout.
Kiah shook his head, brushing some wood splinters from Brenden’s wind-breaker-clad shoulder. “‘Course not. Just here to make sure he doesn’t give you any trouble.”
“Well, that’s a nice change,” Brenden muttered.
Kiah stepped out and
looked up and down the midway. Ducking back in, he said, “He’s gone into the museum building. If we can contain him there, it doesn’t have to get ugly.”
“The cleaner the better,” Brenden agreed.
“Let’s go,” Kiah urged and the pair of them ran into the night.
Chapter 55
“SoulChaser Down”
As he approached the back of the large grandstand, Pol hoped that he hadn’t made a mistake splitting off from Brenden. The man knew how to retrieve a rogue, of that he had no doubt, but with this many people about, it could easily get ugly. And public.
He put the worries out of his mind as he reached the spider-web of pipes and beams that supported the large grandstand. Standing at the eastern rear corner, he could see the stage where a large man with a long mane of black hair was sitting on a stool, strumming his guitar and singing into the microphone. A haunting ballad, Pol had to make a firm attempt to ignore the performance and focus on the task at hand.
Bringing his attention to bear on the inner structure of the grandstand, he could see that the warren of metal girders and cables in fact had a system to them. His senses hummed in his head that the rogue was close enough to almost reach out and touch. Carefully, he began to walk the length of the grandstand, peering into the shadowy depths beneath the bleachers.
So intent was he, that he didn’t sense the danger coming. Without warning someone spun him around and slammed his back against one of the heavy steel support beams. His instincts screamed Rogue!, but the time for that was long past.
“Hello, soul man,” Masaal growled into Pol’s face, his own mere inches away.
“What? Masaal?” Pol stammered, looking around him. Even though the host looked nothing like Masaal, the memory of the rogue’s essence had been permanently etched into Pol. This wasn’t the rogue he was sent to retrieve. What’s going on here? his mind demanded.
Tilting his head a touch, Masaal said, “I’ll bet you’re wondering what I’m doing here and where your real quarry is.”
Struggling to breathe due to Masaal’s forearm across his throat, Pol managed to croak, “Shouldn’t... be... you.”
Masaal nodded. “Yes,” he agreed, “I know.”
Pol opened his mouth to speak again, but before he could utter another word, Masaal plunged a ceramic carving knife deep into his guts and twisted. Pol’s eyes bulged and he wanted to scream, but his strength had left him. The last thing he saw before abandoning the mortal shell was Clovis, the rogue he was sent to find, standing in the nearby shadows, light gleaming from his maniacal eyes.
Chapter 56
“Out of the Dark”
The Afterlife
Pol stepped out of the white mists, emerging into the eastern edge of a vast ranch. A corral containing eight head of horses took up space to his right and beyond that, the corn fields stretched to the woods at the far end. To his left was the vegetable garden, full of ripened foods that never spoiled, always there for harvesting. Ahead of him stood the large red barn, attached to the west side of the corral and even farther ahead, surrounded by a massive grass lawn was his white ranch house.
The SoulChaser stopped and looked from his eternal home back to the white mists in the woods behind him. Making a decision, he turned to walk back into them, when a voice behind him caused him to halt.
“No, Pol,” Joshua said, “you can’t go back.”
Following the voice to its source, Pol discovered Joshua leaning against the split log railing of the corral. His demeanor was casual, for possibly the first time Pol had ever seen it.
“I don’t understand,” Pol said.
“The situation on Eden has escalated since you and Brenden were sent down,” Joshua said, still leaning against the fence. “More souls have gone rogue since your retrieval started. We’ve had to send down an entirely separate team for them.”
The sense of urgency rising in him, Pol said, “In that case I should definitely be there. Brenden can’t handle two rogues on his own, let alone more. I should be there to back him up.”
Joshua levered himself off the fence and walked over to Pol. “Normally, I would agree with you,” he said, “but this comes from higher up and when that happens, I don’t ask awkward questions. Brenden should be fine. He’s got Kiah with him–”
“What?” Pol interrupted. “Kiah’s down there?”
“As I said, things have escalated,” Joshua said. He put a brotherly arm around Pol’s shoulders and steered him toward the main house. “Come on. I’ll explain.”
Chapter 57
“Blinding Strike”
As they half-ran-half-walked, trying to avoid drawing too much attention, Kiah kept a keen eye out for anyone ahead that could pose trouble. Which was why he didn’t notice Brenden had stopped until several steps later. Then he halted and turned back to the SoulChaser.
“What is it?” Kiah said.
“Did you feel that?” Brenden asked, listening intently, despite the chaotic noise of the Centennial and fireworks going off in the cloudy sky above them.
Kiah shook his head. He felt like something was off-kilter nearby, possibly between them and Levahn, but wasn’t sure what it could be.
“I think Pol’s dead,” Brenden said and a moment later nodded. “Yep, I’m sure of it. The rogue got him first.”
Very familiar with the link that SoulChasers shared while on a retrieval, Kiah held no doubt Brenden was right. “OK, then,” he said, motioning for Brenden to follow. “It’s that much more important that we get to Levahn quickly, then I’ll help you with the other rogue.”
Beside him, Brenden said, “I don’t think it’s only one more.”
Kiah agreed without speaking.
“One of the concerns Pol and I both had was that there seems to be at least one rogue, possibly more, not far to the east of where we are,” Brenden said.
Nodding, Kiah said, “I’ve sensed them, too. Along with... ’other world’ things. But if I know anything about SoulChasing, there’s another team on their way to take care of the rogues you’re sensing. Concentrate on the task at hand–”
Before Kiah could finish, the two of them passed into some heavy shadows and the darkness came alive around them.
One of the biggest hellhounds Kiah had ever seen pounced from around the corner of a concession stand and flattened Brenden.
Astonished patrons backed off, unsure of what they were seeing. To them, it appeared that Brenden had been tackled by a mastiff or possibly a crazed bull.
This is not gonna go well, Kiah thought as he circled the hellion, which hadn’t taken its time to do Brenden any further damage. Its attention was focused on Kiah.
Chapter 58
“Edging Toward Madness”
Across the fairgrounds, Masaal and Clovis stood at the top east corner of the grandstand, peering at the crowd seated in the arena. Pol’s former host body was shoved unceremoniously under the bleachers and had a tarp tossed over it. Even if someone looked for him, he’d be impossible to spot without stronger light.
“Where is he?” Masaal asked the rogue beside him.
Clovis’ twitchy gaze traveled back and forth across the backs of the crowd, then stopped and he pointed. “There,” he said, “the little blond one on the front row.”
Masaal followed Clovis’ direction. Through the mass of heads he managed to make out several patrons watching the performances. He couldn’t see any children, but he did spy the unmistakable blond hair of Taya, the mother of his bastard child. Knowing that was all he needed, he turned to look down at Clovis.
It hadn’t taken any effort for him to find the rogue here at the fairgrounds and in hindsight, it turned out well because the wormy man already had a pretty good idea of Masaal’s needs. Now, however, the rogue – who he found getting ready to yank the hair on a young girl sitting
beside them – had run out of time.
“Come with me,” Masaal growled, instead yanking Clovis to his feet.
The small rogue looked up at the large man and saw death in his eyes.
“No!” Clovis shrieked, to the consternation of those around them. He managed to pull himself free and dove over the edge of the bleachers, keeping one hand on the metal framework. With agility born from desperation, he spider-climbed his way to the ground.
Masaal watched as Clovis touched earth, cast him a crazed look tainted with fear, then disappeared into the sea of humanity.
Straightening, Masaal looked back to where Taya still sat, then shook his head and began the awkward descent row-by-row down the grandstand.
Given the diverse attractions and attendees at the Centennial, Clovis drew fewer stares than he would have expected as he ran down the thoroughfare. His crazed eyes, hunched over stance and thick drool scared a handful of children and earned him glares from as many adults, but that was all.
Unable to explain why, the rogue ran the length of the thoroughfare, drawn, pulled toward the large building at the end opposite the performance arena.
Free to those attending the Centennial, no one stood sentry at the open doors and without hesitating, Clovis disappeared inside. The cleverly designed displays and dioramas didn’t interest him and he spared no time on them. Down corridors and around floor displays he ran, getting closer and closer to whatever pulled him with each hurried stride.
At last, he careened around a corner displaying a replica of a massive, lumbering man with green skin, arms outstretched and metal bolts on his neck. There, looking at a large depiction of a silver disk partially buried in yellow soil, stood the man that had drawn him here. In his crazed, red-tinged haze, Clovis could see every twitch of the man’s face, every movement of the chest as he breathed, and in his complete madness Clovis hated him for it. A hatred he’d never felt for anyone before.
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