A Time to Die (Elemental Rage Book 2) (18 page)

Zach’s father
nodded, “I think you do.  Matt, from the oath meeting. Are you ready?”

Bertha took his
hand.  She said, “You know this death isn’t natural.  Harold just murdered me. I’m
not sure why.  It’s not as if I agreed to pass my power to him directly. I
could see the greed in his soul.  I was too careful to do it any other way.”

Matt didn’t smooth
over his startled look in time.  It was too bad Bertha couldn’t tell Jade. It
would be nice to declare to the Gray family that Zach’s father had definitely
not been involved in Harold’s evil, even if he was a Death Keeper, that he was
surprised at Harold’s hand in her death.     

It was time to say
goodbye. Her family, long dead, were waiting.  Bertha released Matt’s hand and
walked into the light where her sister waited.

~~ Mindy ~~

Earth rumbled.

Water streamed
tears through the mud, crying for the lost Elemental.

Water and Earth
blocked Mindy and Claire, an attempt to prevent them from seeing the evil that
killed their aunt.

But Mindy saw
anyway. Time would have it no other way.

Horrified, Mindy
witnessed the pillow coming down over Bertha’s head, her fingers wrapped around
Harold’s wrist.

“Claire. Claire.
Claire. Claire.” Mindy whispered into Earth’s embrace, trying to find her
sister in all that Water.

“Shhhhh…” The
water gurgled.

Mindy cried.

She didn’t have
the words to tell the story.

Still, she felt
the loss.

Aunt Bertha.

Gone.

“Help me,” Mindy
whispered.  She was begging for someone to stop Harold, to save Aunt Bertha
before it was too late.  Mindy struggled to push her energy into Earth, to
force the rocks to swallow Aunt Bertha and Harold and save her the way she had
with the vampires.

If only she hadn’t
used so much power last night with Raven.  Mindy didn’t have the words for all
of this.  She only knew that her struggles to save Aunt Bertha were fruitless.

She didn’t
understand death, only that Aunt Bertha was no longer at home with herself

The only answer
she got back was,
It was her Time.

“Noooooo.” Mindy
cried out.

Claire’s voice
came through Water. “What’s wrong?”

“Bert” Mindy
said.  Sometimes she didn’t bother with Bertha’s whole name, especially when
she was upset.

Claire was still
water and her voice echoed and splashed because at that moment she was more
Element than human. “Mindy, what is it?  Water? Show me.”

Water knew
better.  Harold was still in the house. He was tearing books out of
bookshelves, pulling sheets off of beds, dumping the potted plant on the sill
on the floor, screaming his rage at the trick Bertha had played on him.  Not a
single strand of power, not an Element added to his power or knowledge upon her
death.  She wasn’t the first he had taken.  He knew the sweet taste of power
pulled from a dying Elemental. 

Water hushed
Claire.
We must stay hidden.

“Why? What is
happening?” Claire asked, splashing water all over Earth’s walls.  The cave was
big enough for Mindy and Claire, but it felt small now that Claire was upset.

Mindy knew. How
could Claire not see it?

Harold hurt Aunt
Bertha.  That was the first thing.  Mindy tried to make Earth roar, tried to
make him stop, but Earth held her tight and said,
No, Mindy. We’ll fight
after you’ve rested.  He’ll kill you.

“Help me,” Mindy
cried. She knew that with Earth and Water’s help she could have saved Aunt
Bertha. Her heart hurt that Earth would fight so hard to stop her.

Earth was ancient
and wise in her millennium. Even if they shook Harold to pieces, Bertha had
been too weak.  She died before Mindy started watching. Harold was holding the
pillow over Bertha’s head, but Bertha was no longer there.  Her spirit already
fled. Earth knew this even if Mindy thought there was hope.

Mindy watched as
Harold smashed the television, yanking the cords out of the wall and throwing
it against the coffee table. He opened the cupboards and smashed every
breakable dish they had, leaving the kitchen floor a glittering minefield of
shards.

She hated him when
he picked up Pebbles.  Earth held her,
Stop watching.

But Earth wasn’t
that strong, not compared to some, not compared to Time.

Mindy watched
until Harold left, her own rage so strong that she was shaking with it even
while the tears that filled her eyes refused to fall.

~~ Claire ~~

Claire couldn’t
see anything, and Mindy wasn’t sharing.  Water wouldn’t tell her what was
happening either, only that the Death Keepers were in the house. Claire splashed
through the house and out to the pond.  As she dribbled down the bank, a
thought occurred to her.  She would ask Diana.

Diana gave the
power to the Elementals and intelligence to the Elements.  If anyone could tell
Claire why Earth and Water stopped helping, it would be Diana.  Of course,
Claire had never asked, and she wasn’t sure of her reception.  It was a bit
like walking up to a king and expecting him to give you directions to the mall.

But Diana smiled
on the Elementals.  That was where the power came from, so maybe she would
listen, maybe she would help.

Claire asked,
speaking to the Demigod who created Elements and Elementals, who drew Earth’s
fire to the surface and poured heat over the coldest mountains, who touched the
clouds and threaded water in a tapestry of rain and snow to cover the Earth in
a veil of life, who blew the gentle breezes that teased the blades of grass or
tossed trees with the force of a gale. She brazenly asked for what she needed. 
She was an Elemental.

Claire said,
“Diana, I know you’re busy.  We’ve been going through a lot here what with the
vampires, and Mom being kidnapped and all.  Can you tell me why Water won’t let
me see inside the house?  Tell me what is happening with all of this.”

Perhaps her
request was too broad.  Perhaps she asked for too much. Diana answered. When
Diana answered, it was like a movie playing in her head, clearly and cleanly.

Claire saw a woman
who looked like she belonged to the Gray family with her black hair, but her
eyes were brown and her tan Mediterranean. Claire watched the love this woman
had for the Earth, for Fire, for Air, for Emptiness, for Gravity.  Diana’s
favorite, the nymph lived and loved in a quiet world untouched by evil,
sheltered in a quiet place apart from the battles of the world, protected from
the evils that men can do.

Until Petrodus.

Claire was too
young. No parent nor guardian would ever allow her to see the events that
unfolded upon this poor woman, but the Gods are not censors nor parents, and
Claire watched the event as it unfolded, seeing an attack on Diana’s chosen
that made her weep.

The woman lived in
a quiet house apart from the village with her two young daughters and a beloved
husband whose heart was broken by the evil that dragged her into an early
grave.

Petrodus did
things to her, things that hurt Claire’s mind. The woman saw him use powers
that the Death Keepers hid in the modern age, the wolf change, the ability to
move through time and space. For that, Claire’s ancestor was raped and
murdered, her body chopped to bits and buried in a dozen graves in an attempt
to hold the powers she commanded at bay. Feeling sick to her soul, Claire
watched while Petrodus passed his power of the Wolf to other Death Keepers. 
Harold was among them, but it was at least a thousand years ago. 

When Harold’s
change from wolf to human was complete, the vision changed and Claire watched
while Harold murdered Wayne, a man she had a crush on for a little while.
Claire tried to splash away from Diana, to run from the vision that held her in
its grip, but the vision didn’t stop. Not yet.

Tears mingled with
Water when Claire saw Harold murder Bertha.  She thought maybe she could still
save her, but Diana said with a booming voice in her mind, “No.  She’s already
gone.”

“Stop!” Claire begged,
“Please stop.”

But Diana wasn’t
done.

She said, “Watch.”

Harold drove to
his house in town.  Petrodus was waiting.  Claire felt an alien emotion akin to
anger, but so much more bitter and so much bigger than she had ever felt
before.  It belonged to Diana. The gods don’t always forgive. They don’t always
forget.  And Diana was angry over an injustice never repaid in full. 

Diana admonished
Claire, “Pay attention.”

Claire focused on
listening to what Harold and Petrodus said. Petrodus asked, “Did the witch have
it?”

Harold shook his
head, “No, the old woman lied. We didn’t have to kill Wayne.”

It sounded almost
like an accusation.  Petrodus turned, lifted an eyebrow, and in that feral
stare, Claire could believe that he would kill Harold at the slightest turn.

“Could it have
gone to someone else?” Petrodus pressed.

“I’m next in line
after Wayne.  The gift should have passed to you as the greatest among the
Death Keepers, but if not you, then me. I don’t think she ever had it. We were
tricked.”

Petrodus paced the
room with sharp movements, quickly turning on his heel to pace the length
again.  He was used to being trapped in small spaces. Sometimes he thought he
was still trapped. “Unfortunate,” he said. In his eyes, Claire could see that
he thought less of Harold with each new revelation.

Harold handed a
book to Petrodus.  Claire gasped.  It was Jade’s diary. Harold said, “I wasn’t
the only Death Keeper in the room.  Matt was there to cull Bertha.  We need to
take care of him. The oldest daughter is in love with his youngest son, Zach. 
Perhaps we take Zach and kill Matt? Trap the Gray women into reacting.”

Petrodus nodded,
“We will go now and take care of the problem.”

The vision ended
and Claire splashed her way back to Mindy.

Finally Water and Earth
let them go.  The house was a wreck, but that’s not what worried Claire.  She ran
to the bedroom.  Aunt Bertha’s eyes were closed, her hands still clenched into
claw-like forms.

“Aunt Bertha?”
Claire tiptoed into the room.  She was so scared. 

“Gone,” Mindy
said, her hand on Claire’s arm, her body so close that Claire could barely take
a step.  Mindy wouldn’t let go of her.

“I don’t know what
to do,” Claire sniffed.  She had to be strong for Mindy.  If she cried, Mindy
would wail.  She had to be strong, but she felt so fragile, so much like spun
glass that she thought if she moved to much she would crack and break into a
thousand pieces like a thousand raindrops falling on the world.

Mindy crept
forward. She touched Bertha’s hand and recoiled.  Claire didn’t want to walk
another step into that room. Aunt Bertha’s glasses were crushed on the floor
next to the bed and for just a split second, Claire thought how upset she would
be when they went to the restaurant. Bertha wouldn’t be able to read the menu. Just
a passing thought and then reality hit.

Bertha didn’t even
look like herself. It seemed that somehow a wax dummy had slipped into her bed
as a poor replacement, like the waxworks museum in Newport, Oregon where she
and her sisters spent an afternoon. Claire felt trapped in that room.  She
couldn’t turn away.  She didn’t want to stay.  

Bertha mouth was
slightly open, but she wasn’t snoring or moving or anything. Claire couldn’t
stay in that room any longer. She couldn’t stand to see Aunt Bertha with that
empty look.  She wasn’t there.  Claire knew that truth in the depth of her
being.  It was too late for Aunt Bertha.  Harold was a murderer and worse. 

They had to stop
him before he killed Zach’s father, before he turned his attention on Jade or
Raven or Mom, before they came back to finish Mindy and Claire.  Claire took
Mindy’s hand.  “Come on, Mindy.  We have to get out of here.”   

Chapter 16

~~ Claire ~~

Mindy shuffled
back to Claire. She took Claire’s hand and let herself be led out.

Remembering what
had happened to Zach’s Dad in the vision, Claire called Zach first.  She was
strong until he answered then she cried out “Zach?” in a wail, her tears rising
in a flood.

“What is it?  Is
Jade okay?” Zach asked.

Claire tugged
Mindy along behind her, leading her into the living room while she talked. She
said, “Yes, Jade’s fine, but Harold killed Aunt Bertha, and he’s coming after
your Dad.  You have to warn him.”

“Dad!?  But I’m
not there. I’m in town.” Zach was frantic.  Claire understood the feeling all
too well.

Mindy tugged on
Claire’s hand. “Claire?”

Claire shushed
her, “Wait, Mindy. Just a minute.”

“Zach, I saw it.
Harold can turn into a wolf.  He already killed Wayne. I don’t know what to
do,” Claire ran a hand through her bangs.  She was just a kid.  There was
nothing she could do to help.  Why would Diana lay this kind of stuff on her?

Mindy tugged on
her sleeve, “Mindy kill Harold.”

It was chilling to
hear Mindy string those particular words together in the same way she might
say, “Mindy eat peanut butter,” or “Mindy go school”. Claire took a deep
breath. “Zach, I think Mindy has an idea.  We’re going to save your father.”

Claire hung up on
Zach and shoved the phone in her pants pocket.  “Mindy, I know you’re tired,
but we need to get to Zach’s dad. Do you think if Water and Earth worked
together we could beat Harold there? Do you really think we can defeat him?”

Claire couldn’t
say kill. She felt guilty even thinking those words.

Mindy nodded
solemnly and lifted her arms. She was really too big for Claire to carry, but
Claire lifted her anyway, her arms struggling with Mindy’s weight.  Her plan to
call Mom and Jade faded into the reality that they had to act now. Claire felt
brave and strong. 

As she lifted
Mindy up, Claire called to Water while Mindy called to Earth.  Whispering Mindy
said, “Rest. Time. Time. Time. Rest now.”

Earth pulled
Claire and Mindy down into the depths of her rocks.  Mindy loved the cool
feeling of stone on her cheek.  Claire didn’t mind Earth’s dark embrace much
because Water loved Earth so well.

Something strange
happened while they moved through the Earth. Claire felt as if she were there
and then not there. It felt as if they were underground for a long time. Claire
didn’t feel the least bit uncomfortable.  The Earth had pulled them into a warm
place that felt like being wrapped in a blanket.  Claire couldn’t keep her eyes
open and found herself dozing.

She slept deeply
and opened her eyes with a sudden jerk, feeling disoriented and anxious, afraid
that it was too late to warn Zach’s dad. Earth relaxed her hold on the girls
and Claire felt herself moving back up. When they emerged from the ground miles
from home, Claire stumbled in a circle, dizziness making it impossible to stand
upright.

“Where are we? 
What happened?” Claire asked. Unfortunately she was talking to Mindy who even
on her best of days was uncommunicative.

They were standing
on the side of a road with deep ruts.  Mindy pointed down the road.  Shrugging,
Claire said, “Fine. Let’s take this road where it leads.”

Her phone rang.  It
was Jade. If she answered, Jade would tell her not to go to Zach’s house.  They
were almost there anyway.  She could always call her sister back in a few
minutes.

After Jade ended
the call, Claire listened to the voicemail, “Hey, it’s Jade.  I’m heading home
now. Fire is acting weird. She said she’s going to help you and Mindy with your
project, whatever that is. Can you please call me?”

“Project,” Claire
giggled at Fire’s term.  Fire was about the most stubborn Element in the
world.  It figured that Jade would have ended up with Fire for her Element.

Mindy walked down
the road toward a large house alone. Claire was still messing with the phone
when she realized that Mindy hadn’t waited. 

She ran to catch
up, “Hey, what are you doing? You can’t go in there alone.  There might be…”
Claire realized that she had to be careful about saying anything too dark to
Mindy.  Mindy had a low tolerance for scary things. She finally said, “You just
can’t go alone.”

Mindy held out her
hand.  Claire sighed and slipped Mindy’s fingers under her own.  Mindy said, “Angry.”

“Me too.” Claire
hadn’t yet processed what happened to Aunt Bertha.  She didn’t even want to
think about it.  If she just focused on saving Zach’s dad, her mind wouldn’t
replay that scene in the bedroom, wouldn’t see the glass of water that had been
knocked over and drip drip dripped onto the carpet.   

Mindy climbed the
steps to the porch slowly, deliberately. Once she started ringing the doorbell,
she didn’t stop.  She hit the buzzer over and over and over.

“Mindy, you can
stop now.” Claire would have grabbed Mindy’s hand away, but at the moment the
buzzing was less annoying than Mindy’s scream would be.

The man in her
vision opened the door. Mindy rang the doorbell again.

“Mindy!” Claire
yelled.

“Can I help you?” he
asked. Zach’s dad was wearing the same blue t-shirt that he had worn in
Claire’s vision.

“You’re in danger.
Harold just killed Aunt Bertha and he’s coming here to kill you,” Claire
studied Zach’s dad, waiting to see what he would say. She had a plan B if he dismissed
them as children.

He opened the door
further and waved the two girls in.  Claire stood on the threshold uncertain. 
He was a Death Keeper. She was about to walk into the enemy’s house.

Mindy didn’t
hesitate.  She stepped inside.  Ignoring proper convention, Mindy started up
the staircase in the entryway. Claire was mortified, but she had a mission. 
Ignoring Mindy she said, “We need to get out of there.  He’ll be coming soon.”

“Why would Harold
hurt me? We’ve known each other for years,”  Matt ducked his head to look to
the top of the stairs. Mindy was already at the last step and moving quickly.

Claire said,
“Because you reaped her.  Harold felt your presence in the house.”

“You shouldn’t
know about that. Come upstairs.  We have a lot to talk about.” Zach’s father
exuded calm.  Claire trusted him, trusted him with her life.  She had little
choice, but even still, she felt that she wouldn’t be betrayed.

Since Zach’s dad
wasn’t giving off a creepy vibe and Mindy was already on the second floor,
Claire tromped up the stairs, studying the pictures of the happy family growing
up.  In the first picture going up the stairs the three boys were toddlers.  As
she took each step, the boys grew up. 

The stairs were
carpet. Claire reached the top and followed two steps behind Matt.  Mindy was
in Matt’s office on her knees petting a golden lab. Smiling at Claire, she
tapped the dog’s head with her finger, “Mine.”

In a low voice
Claire said, “We’d probably better just talk about what’s coming and let Mindy
play with the dog.”

“Too late,” Mindy
said, lifting her head.

Two howls erupted
from the yard.  Wolf song.  The dog joined in. Mindy hugged the dog, “Earth.
Earth. Help.”

“No! You can’t
fight Howard, not with Elemental powers.  He can take them from you. It’s his
gift,” Matt knelt beside Mindy. “Do you and Ferdi want to go to the basement to
hide?  You can show him how to fetch.”

Mindy met Matt’s
eyes. Claire shivered a little at the alien coldness coming out of her little
sister.  She knew Mindy hadn’t been touched by the Void, but that chilling
stare was so out of place with her normal sweet countenance. Mindy said, “Earth
is angry. We won’t hide.”

Claire put a hand
on her sister’s shoulder, “Mindy, we can’t let Harold have Earth.  Listen to
Zach’s dad.”

A huge thump and
then a crash sounded below them.

Claire jumped and
tightened her hand on Mindy’s shoulder.  Mindy said, “Ow!” Then she turned to
Claire and said, “Bad dog.”  

Matt slammed the
door and locked it, dragging his computer chair to block the door.  It wasn’t
going to do much to stop the wolves. Claire could hear their paws on the
stairs. “Why are they coming as wolves?”

“Teeth and claws.
They’re not here to talk.” Matt ran to the window, pushing it up. “You can get
out on the roof here.”

“No.” Mindy said. 
“Earth. Kill.”

On the wall behind
a sofa was a long sword.  Claire ran for the sofa, jumping on it and pulling
off the sword.  It was so heavy, the point fell slashing the back of the sofa. Chagrined,
she looked up with a guilty, “Sorry.”

The door shuddered
as the wolves, ever howling, slammed against it with their bodies. Mindy
screamed, “Earth!”

A cracking sound
deeper than thunder, as if the Universe himself stepped into the fray echoed with
the power of an explosion. The sound pierced Claire’s ears, and she let go of
the sword to cover her ears.

They were in
sudden free-fall with the house breaking up beneath them. The wolves yipped and
cried.  Claire screamed.

One of the wolves
smashed through the door as the house dropped into a giant sink hole. Like an
unstable elevator, Claire could feel the pressure in the room changing and
buried her face when the windows suddenly burst.  

The wolf attacked
Matt going for his throat.  Mindy cried, “Bad doggy.”

Ferdi blocked the
wolf, taking the bite intended for Matt.  Grabbing Ferdi’s throat, the wolf
shook and shook.  Claire dragged the sword off the couch.  Earth shook again,
trying to dislodge the wolf.  Ferdi wasn’t moving.

The wolf moved on,
an intelligent gleam in his eye as he growled at Matt, moving in for the kill.

Earth dropped the
house again.  Claire wondered how far underground they were.  Sunlight no
longer pierced the curtains and dirt was pouring into the open windows.  Books
from the shelf toppled on top of her head. One of them hit the corner of her
temple and for a moment all she saw was a blinding flash of light. 

Mindy screamed.

Everything
happened at once.  Matt was down but the wolf hadn’t latched onto his throat
yet.  The floor was uneven, as jaggedy as a mountain peak, but Claire had to do
something.  She grabbed the sword with both hands.  Certain that she would only
have the energy to lift it once, she dragged it up and down the peaks and
valleys of the floor where shards of wood burst through and dirt and rocks
filled spaces once carpeted.

Claire knew she
had to hurry.  The vision she had seen, the one with Matt’s death was coming
true before her eyes.  Lifting the sword with a grunt, she let it fall on the
wolf’s hindquarters.  She didn’t dare aim higher for fear of dismembering or
disemboweling Zach’s dad. The wolf yelped and spun around.

Fire whispered to
Claire.  “Let me help.”

“Yes. Yes.
Please,” Claire begged as she dashed away from the wolf who was dragging his legs
as he snapped his way to her.  She watched with horror as his legs healed. 

Mindy hid in a
corner crying. “Tired.  Tired.”

Fire touched the
wood between Claire and the wolf, and the large upsurge of floor boards that
had pierced the carpet flared into a blaze. Water added her own brand of help. 
Sizzling in the fire, Water sprayed boiling droplets at the wolf even as his
hind legs knitted themselves together. Fire assaulted him.

The room stank of
burnt fur. The smoke was heavy. Coughing Matt said, “We’re underground.  We
can’t have a fire here.  We’ll die of smoke inhalation.”

Fire disagreed.

Claire didn’t know
what to do.  The fire blazed between her body and the wolf’s. If she
extinguished the flames, the wolf would kill her.  The anger in his snarls scared
her witless but Fire kept him locked in position.  The smoke grew darker,
sending the room into a red flickering twilight. For the first time since
summer, Claire thought she was going to die. 

The fire petered
out.  Not by intention.  Claire was exhausted, a sheen of smoky sweat coating
her face.  Smoke billowed from the wood and the carpet fibers, poisoning the
air.

Somehow Matt had
gotten the sword.  Her attention was locked on the wolf who was crawling toward
Claire.  Claire cringed away. Before the wolf reached her, Matt thrust the sword
into its side. The wolf didn’t die.  A flash of light and mist opened a doorway
and the wolf dragged himself through, disappearing. Maybe that was the same
thing as death. Claire didn’t think so, but she hoped.

Claire took a deep
breath that threw her into a coughing fit. When it finally ended, she said,
“Thank you.  Is he dead?”

Mindy said, “One
dead. One alive.”

Matt wiped the
sword on the carpet, leaving a line of blood, “How do we get out of here?”

“Tired,” Mindy
said.

Claire explained,
“That means we won’t be going anywhere for a while. Earth is Mindy’s.”

The air was
already thick with smoke.  Every breath was followed by a cough. Matt stalked
the room, looking for a way out.  The pile of dirt beneath the windows was an
avalanche.  He might be able to dig a few feet before they ran out of air. 

“Maybe through the
ceiling,” Matt said.

Before he could
start searching for a way to get up and through the ceiling, Claire said,
“We’re probably a hundred feet underground right now.  Earth is the only one
who can get us out, and she needs Mindy. The rest of us can barely hear her. Once
Mindy rests a bit we’ll be able to go back up.”

There were really
no great places to rest, but Matt pulled off the couch cushions.  The corner
where Mindy hid remained mostly untouched by Earth’s anger.  The jutting spikes
in the carpet gave the story of the wolf’s fight. Earth purposefully tried to
strike the wolf with the spikes.