All the Pretty Ghosts (The Never Alone Series Book 1) (13 page)

My eyes flicked between him and the door. It had to be a trick. Nothing was that easy.

“I know how to open it now, how to turn the lock,” I pointed out. Nobody fooled me twice.

“You’re a smart girl.”

I tentatively rose to my feet and slowly crossed the room. At any moment I expected Jet to spring up and tackle me to the floor. Or perhaps he wasn’t that creative and would just pull a gun out of the small of his back and shoot me.

Something was bound to happen.

I made it to the door and twisted the lock. It clicked loudly in the quiet room. Surely if Jet was going to stop me, that would be the moment. I had one functioning arm and another almost-functioning one. I could open the door and leave.

Glancing back at Jet, he wasn’t even watching me. His gaze was fixed on the far wall, staring into nothing like it was the most fascinating thing on the planet.

He wasn’t going to stop me.

I was actually going to leave.

I pulled on the door and it shifted open. Another few tugs and it was wide enough for me to get through. Just a few steps and I would be free-

“Good luck with all the people out there who want to kill you, princess.” Jet’s words stopped me dead cold. “Make sure you give them my regards.”

And that was the punch line.

I would never get up above ground with the amount of mole people in the tunnels. They might watch me fumble along until I reached the exit, choosing to play with me for a while to work up a sweat.

But they wouldn’t let me go.

The bloodlust in their eyes still haunted me. If I encountered Perry again, she wouldn’t stop at dislocating my shoulder once more. She would tear me to pieces without a second thought. Especially after Jet had come to my rescue.

Jet’s laughter filtered through all my thoughts. Of course he was amused with my fear. People like him lived off it, fed off it. He was nothing more than a lion playing with his prey.

I let the door thud closed again. Perhaps it was better to risk it with the devil I knew rather than hinge it all on a lot more that I didn’t know.

When I turned around, Jet was standing right behind me. “Don’t worry, princess. I’ll walk you out.”

He reached past me to grasp the door handle and pull it open widely. He gestured for me to go ahead and I took a few steps. Much to my relief, Jet followed.

We were down the tunnel in complete darkness when the sound of the door closing echoed around us.

Jet didn’t grasp my wrist this time, instead choosing to rest a hand on the small of my back. It was warm and humid underground, his hand burned with every step we took. I was never more conscious of a single touch than I was walking along the pitch black tunnel.

When the light finally grew brighter at the end, I was exhausted – both mentally and physically. I longed for some rest but knew it would be quite some time before I would be able to.

We stepped out into the fading light. I had been underground for most of the day. Much longer and I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the two places.

“Where are you staying?” Jet asked as we continued walking down the street away from the tunnel entrance. A shiver ran down my spine when I remembered the encounter that had occurred there earlier with my ‘welcoming party’.

“You really think I’d tell you that?” I shot back. He wasn’t the only one who could avoid giving answers. There was no way Jet could know where I lived, even if it did change every night.

“Why wouldn’t you?”

I stopped, turning to Jet because I wasn’t certain if he was joking or not. “Because you tried to kill me.”

His brow wrinkled between his eyes. “When did I do that?”

Was he serious? He couldn’t possibly have forgotten about the time he
kidnapped
me and then had me tied up for days with his gang. Nobody could forget that. I doubted I would even if I lived until an old age.

“When you had your ‘friends’ do whatever they wanted to me,” I reminded him. Because, clearly, he needed it spelled out for him.

Jet’s eyed blackened, I didn’t think they could get any darker but they managed it. In the next instant, it was gone. His face relaxed into the arrogant grin we wore so well. “But they didn’t kill you. And you know what they say about what doesn’t kill you.”

I rolled my eyes, there was nothing more I could do. “So I should thank you for making me stronger then? Right.”

“Don’t worry, princess. I can just live with your perpetual gratitude.” He started walking again, giving me no chance to argue any further.

Which was probably a good thing, because I was lost for words. I had no idea what to make of Jet or whatever he said. But I did know he was dangerous and the sooner I got away from him the safer I would be.

We left the area that fell into the mole peoples’ territory. Jet stopped again suddenly. “This is the end of the road. Last chance to be personally escorted home.”

It could have been another trick. It couldn’t be so easy to get away from Jet and the horrible people he associated with.

Too easy.

Way too easy.

“I’ll be fine,” I replied, trying to keep my voice from wavering. I wanted to run for freedom but instead settled for being ready to spring. I wouldn’t be able to physically fight Jet, but I might be able to outrun him.

“Okay. Stay safe, princess. Feel free to visit anytime.” Jet shrugged and turned, walking back the way we had come with nothing more being said.

He didn’t even look back.

The shock of the whole day came crashing down on me like a lead weight. All the emotions I had been holding back threatened to overwhelm me before I could properly deal with them.

I started running.

Putting all my pain and anger into each step, I ignored all the burning from my limbs. I would seriously pay for the exertion later, but for now, I had to get away.

There was no place safe anymore. I couldn’t pretend I was running toward a haven that would cocoon me from the harsh reality of the world. I wasn’t that naïve. But I could return to the places most familiar to me and find Oliver.

I was still lost in the streets but I managed to find a few places I remembered from earlier that morning. Had it really only been a day since I set off? Time seemed to stand still underground as if it wasn’t a part of the world. An alternate universe that existed beside the one the rest of us lived in.

My body couldn’t maintain the pace and slowed down. By the time I recognized the shelter, it was dark. If it wasn’t for the few lights burning inside, I would have missed it altogether.

“Everly, thank God,” Oliver said as he spotted me. He was lingering at the shelter doors, his eyes scanning the room for familiar faces.

“Oliver, where have you been?” I asked, remembering the reason why I had set out so far that morning.

“I’ve been helping people all over the city. I’ve been looking for you for hours.”

I went to hug him with relief, but I stopped myself at the last minute. We weren’t people that hugged. We were friends, best friends, but we hadn’t overstepped the invisible line of more.

“You are never going to believe where I’ve been,” I said. “I’ll tell you everything, but let’s find a place to stay for the night first.”

Oliver nodded and waited while I got a small amount of food from the hall. They had cut their portions again, offering little more than a handful of cereals. The little girl I had met earlier filtered into my mind. The food was definitely running out. It wouldn’t be long before the starvation would truly set in.

I ate before I left the shelter, fearing someone would fight me for the meager serving. Oliver said he had eaten while waiting for me so he was ready to go when I was.

We walked around the streets until we found a quiet place. It was the basement of an apartment building. It didn’t look like anyone had discovered it yet, there were no signs of life or death through the windows.

I shoved a chest of drawers against the door once inside and took in the two rooms. They were tiny by any standards but they were relatively clean. Nothing was
actually
clean anymore.

Oliver was keen to hear about my day as we settled onto the floor. There was a couch in the room but it was full of mildew, ready to kill anyone who dared disturb its mold.

Launching into my tale, I saved the most startling part of my story until the end. I wanted to savor the look of surprise and utter shock I would surely receive with the big finale.

“…there were adults down there. Not many, but enough to know it wasn’t a fluke that they were alive,” I finished.

Oliver didn’t disappoint. His mouth hung open as his mind reeled with the news and all the possibilities it held. “Are you sure they weren’t spirits?”

I nodded eagerly. “They were real people. Jet could see them too. He said they’d never gone above ground since the Event. How do you think that’s even possible?”

He was quiet for a long time as he thought it through. I’d had all day to mull over the adults but he was still getting used to the idea. If I had told him I saw a rainbow unicorn he couldn’t have been more surprised.

“It can’t be possible,” he finally replied. “All the adults died. They’re all gone. Are you sure it wasn’t some kind of a trick? Jet isn’t the most reliable of characters, and these mole people, I don’t know what to say.”

I replayed it all in my mind, trying to work out if perhaps there was something I had missed. Could they have been playing a trick on me? Orchestrated it with nothing but smoke and mirrors to make me believe the impossible was, in fact, possible?

No matter how many times I went over the minute details I saw, there was no way I could see the trick. The adults had been walking around in the cavern, the whispers of their conversation had drifted up toward my ears, and they had interacted with those around them.

They had to be real.

There was no magic involved.

“It wasn’t a trick. They were real, Oliver. You have to believe me.”

His lips curled into a smile. “Of course I believe you. It’s just them I don’t. Adults alive, it’s a lot to take in.”

“It’s a sad testament to our world now that your statement is actually true. It
is
a lot to take in.”

“It certainly is,” he sighed.

Silence settled upon us as we let it sink in. Now I wasn’t in desperate fear for my life, I could truly mull it over. Somehow, there were adults still walking this earth that managed to survive the Event. When all the other adults were killed, they managed to stay alive for more than a year longer.

But they had never been above ground since it happened. If they had done nothing else in order to stay alive, then surely there had to be something in that.

Something above ground had killed the adults.

That was the only conclusion I could muster. Nobody knew what had caused the Event and nobody knew why it had only taken the adults. Everyone under the age of eighteen at the time was untouched. Their grief and confusion were their only wounds.

When the realization that they were all gone had fully set in and the deep-seated panic had really started, it was the seventeen year olds that worried the most. Those with birthdays approaching nearly went mad with the question mark over what would happen to them when they turned eighteen.

Nothing happened.

Whatever had caused the Event didn’t seem to linger to take those who grew older. It appeared that we wouldn’t be struck down when we turned into adults. It took only those unfortunate enough to already hold that status.

Which was a good thing, really. I wasn’t far off turning eighteen myself. I wasn’t worried about losing my life when that day arrived. But I did worry about it every other day. If I survived to eighteen I would consider myself lucky.

Many did not get that privilege anymore.

“What do you think it means?” Oliver asked, pulling me from the swirl of my thoughts.

I shrugged, because I really didn’t have any answers. Nothing that would really explain how it was possible. “I don’t know. But I think it’s wrong to keep them hidden away when we need them so much.”

“Could they really do anything up here? You said there weren’t many of them.”

“It doesn’t take a lot of people to make a difference. Sometimes even one person is enough.” I stared at the wall, trying to make everything fit together in my mind. All I could find were jigsaw puzzle pieces that didn’t fit together.

The seeping mildew on the wall made a butterfly pattern when stared at for too long.

“What about if they die above ground?” Oliver pondered. “That’s got to be a big risk. If they managed to stay alive this long, they wouldn’t want to put everything at stake.”

“They don’t all have to come up at once,” I mumbled.

I wasn’t heartless, I knew how terrifying it would be for the adults to take that leap of faith. The threat of an instant death was enough to make them run back to their safe cavern and live out their life there.

But there was a whole population that was dying on a daily basis from things that could be avoided. If the adults took some control, showed that we weren’t alone, they might be able to change things.