Death Whispers (Death Series, Book 1) (37 page)

We all looked at him.

“He's
something,” John said.

Be
right back... stay,
I thought at Onyx.

The Boy made the people noises in the Dog's
head. But, the noises weren't as clear as the flavor. The Dog thought
about how the Boy put a smell inside his head, all different types of
smells, and they made a message. The Boy was very easy to understand.
He was different from the Others. The Dog would stay on this, (he
dropped his nose to smell)... soft thing that smelled like old pack
female...in the Boy's den. He closed his eyes, feeling something that
was familiar... a sense of home. The Dog was happy.

His memories of the other Boy were dimming.

CHAPTER 24

The rest of the week dragged by. Go to school,
daydream about it ending, then rush home to see Onyx, eat some food,
hang with the posse and Jade and do it all again. All of us were
getting so tired of school. The end of the year loomed large.

Hadn't seen much of Carson and Brett but I knew
we'd probably go to the same high school next year as freshman, Kent
Paranormal High, KPH. That's where all paranormals went. At the
regular (mundane) high schools in town everyone with different
academic aptitudes would go to the high school that specialized in
that aptitude. Jonesy had shown Math/Science aptitude so that's where
he was headed, Kent Lake High. The rest of the gang was going to KPH.
I was gonna really miss the Jonester, it seemed wrong somehow.

Friday finally rolled around and it was the sixth
of June. Jonesy, ever mindful with scheming said he thought the last
day of school would be a blast.

“Ya see... it's a special day.” We were all at
the lunch table festering about the possibilities of government
plots, hiding what we were and such; ya know, normal conversation.

We waited expectantly for him to continue. Jonesy
always had cool and bizarre ideas. Sometimes, like the disastrous
cemetery plot with Carson, they didn't work out but it was
interesting to see.

“
It's
Friday
the Thirteenth,”
he
said, clearly satisfied with himself.

Sophie rolled her eyes. “So?”

Jonesy grinned back at her, smug. “It's an
unlucky day. Stuff that's bad, that's gonna happen, happens then.”

Sophie stared at him.

“He
is amusing,” Jade said.

“He's right,” John agreed, showing
guy-support.

Tiff strolled up just then, hands jammed into the
pocket of her hoodie, the hood pulled all the way up, a sliver of her
face revealed. “Whatcha doin'?”

“Hey Tiff,” I said.

The Js nodded, the girls said hey.

“What's he sayin'?” Tiff asked.

Sophie said, “Jonesy thinks the last day of
school is going to be riddled with bad luck because it's Friday the
Thirteenth.”

Tiff said without preamble, “That's a load of
horseshit.”

Right.

Out loud I said, “Ya never know, it could go
okay. It's just supposed to be a warning, right?” I looked at John,
who nodded.

“I know some bad stuff that's happened on that
day,” Jonesy said in a creep-you-out voice.

“Yeah... what?” Tiff said, plunking herself
down between Sophie and Jade, who gave her a miffed look. She didn't
have girl radar or she'd have seen the problem with that move.

Tiff put her head in the cradle of both her hands,
clearly bored and waving the red flag before the proverbial bull.

Jonesy obligingly said, “There's this haunted
house...ya know, the one where that old cemetery is, it's just a
shack. I heard there was a kid that went in there and never came
out.” he was nodding his head the whole time.

“Who told you that lame-ass story?” Tiff said
skeptically.

“One of the teachers,” Jonesy said
triumphantly.

That got everyone's attention. Jade took a bite of
apple and John fussed with some Cheetos, putting a couple up his nose
and wiggling it. It was comical with a Cheeto sticking out of each
nostril. Sophie was unimpressed.

“You're gonna eat those now, aren't ya?” Tiff
said, smacking her gum.

Jade sighed. “Boys.”

“Hey!” I exclaimed.

“Not you.” She fluttered her eyelashes at me
and I was instantly smitten again.

“Listen up chumps!” Jonesy redirected.

The
girls gave dissatisfied grunts, John took the Cheetos out, peering at
the ends that had been in his nose...
nice
.

“
This
is the plan,” oh, here we go, John looked cautious. The girls were
clearly interested but they didn't know Jonesy
that
well.

“Jonesy...” John started.

He held up a palm, warding him off. “Hear me
out. We're gonna go to this shack...”

“That's
by a cemetery... smart,” said Tiff in a droll way.

“Yeah, and I have the ghost-buster team here
with me to take care of everything,” Jonesy said with confidence.

Tiff and I sighed.

“
So,
we're gonna go there and
see
.”

“See
what, Jonesy?” Jade asked.

“I don't know... somethin', whatever.”

“Well that clears things up a lot,” Sophie
said.

“Jonesy's consistent,” John said neutrally.

Jonesy gave John a speculative look and continued,
“It's a half-day but I'm thinking we have to wait until dark?”

I was figuring Jonesy for a full dark,
check-out-the-haunted-house kinda guy.

“Hell yeah! This is the best part, it won't be
dark until late, like ten, so we have plenty of time to rebel-rouse
before.”

“Rebel-rouse?” Tiff asked.

“Rouse means 'to wake' and rebel, well... you
gotta know what that means,” Jonesy said.

A sneaking seed of suspicion started to take hold.

“You're not thinking of some cemetery shit
again?” I asked.

“Who, me?” he asked, all innocence.

Tiff's eyes narrowed into slits. “We don't need
the spotlight, Jones. We need to stay underground.”

She was right, even if her way with words was not
real smooth.

“
That
wasn't The Plan,” he paused. “But if something cool were to
happen...” he spread his arms wide, w
hat's
the problem?

The voice of reason spoke up. “Let's stick to
checking out the old place and seeing what's in it; no cemeteries,”
John finished.

Jonesy looked embarrassed. Uh-oh, something was
up.

“Spill it,” Tiff said.

“Well, there's something I forgot to mention,”
he said, putting his thumb and index fingers almost together, a
paper's width from touching.

John
spun his hand like a wheel,
go
on
,
and Jonesy finished with, “You gotta walk through the cemetery to
get to the house.”

“I knew it!” Sophie said, Jade making a face.

Tiff and I looked at each other.

“I guess it's okay. Carson and Brett don't know
we're going,” I said slowly.

I looked at Jonesy who would tell The World if he
felt it would help The Cause, he shook his head; he hadn't said
anything... yet.

Tiff
interjected with, “And it's a bonus your Gran isn't buried there.
Wait, do you have any
other
relatives buried there?”

“No, they're all at Scenic.”

“Well thank God,” Sophie mumbled.

“Okay, I'm in,” Tiff said, leaning back and
crossing her feet at the ankles. “Can Bry come?”

“
Ah-huh...”
I thought about that more. “He's not gonna kick my ass, is he?”
Didn't want to set myself up for the fall
and
with my girlfriend as the audience.

“Nah... he's over it.”

“Is he the cute one?” Sophie asked.

Jonesy glared at that. Interesting.

“How should I know? He's my brother, gross.”

The pulse clock chimed and we stood, separating
our trash. The Js trailed behind as Jade and I walked to our next
class.

“What do you think you'll get out of Biology?”
Jade asked. “It was kind of a cluster with the frog thing.”

Yeah it was.

“Maybe I softened him up, knowing stuff about
flowers.”

Jade's eyebrows shot up.

I nodded. “Yeah, my mom makes me do gardening
chores.”

“That's
why you knew about the plant names when I came over.” She smiled up
at me.

Huh, bonus point.

“It beats cleaning toilets,” I said.

“Yeah, that's a gross job. I'd rather learn
about plants,” she said wistfully.

She had the chores I hated and I had made a big
deal out of it. Geez, Hart, good going.

“This summer you can come over and we'll do
gardening together. I bet my mom would love the help!”

“Alright, cool!”

We stopped in front of Biology. “Have fuuuunnn!”
she teased.

“Oh, yeah and monkeys will fly outta my butt!”
I said.

She giggled and I laid a kiss on her full mouth
that felt like crushed velvet (sensory overload!).

I entered the classroom thinking about the weekend
stretched before me. Last week of school, a plan for creepy Friday
the Thirteenth, a new dog and a hot girlfriend; life was rocking
about now.

CHAPTER 25

I was splitting my time between the Js and Jade
and it was a job. The guys wanted to hang at Jonesy's tonight. I
called Jade and she told me it would be okay to see me Saturday night
instead. I pulsed the Js and told them we were on for tonight. Mom
asked what Jonesy's mom was having for supper. I didn't know, like it
mattered? Knowing Jonesy, we'd forage in the pantry and come up with
something good. Mom decided to make a pizza and send it with me.

I jetted over to Jonesy's on Dad's old one-speed
Schwinn. I was sure I'd hear about that from Jonesy,
Caleb is
outdated, Caleb is... blah, blah, blah.

I didn't care, I loved the old stuff.

The pizza dangled from the handle bars in a most
undignified way. Mom had cut the pizza, so I was riding around with
eight slices of homemade pizza. The bag swung and whacked. It thunked
as I rode along, passing all the familiar milestones: 7-Eleven to my
left, QFC Grocery to my right... there it was, Meridian Villa. My dad
grew up there. The houses were just the next step older than my
neighborhood. Jonesy's parents had actually bought the house that
Jonesy's dad had lived in as a kid.

Swinging
my leg off the pedal and around to the other side as the bike slowed
I came to a complete stop at the top of their circular driveway. I
grabbed the bag of pizza and approached the front door, checking out
the house. Jonesy's house was cooler than mine, it had a basement.
Dad called those man-caves. The house was really flat looking and
hugged the knoll it lounged on. Small windows that looked like eyes
lined the point where the basement met the flower beds. Jonesy's dad,
Bill, had a very small lawn. By the looks of it, barely within legal
limits. Seemed like some dudes just had to have a lawn. Mom would
have never allowed it at our house, not
Eco
-enough.
Mom thought lawns were for outdoor sports fields, period. I loved the
lawn. It was an emerald slash of green that anchored the flower beds.
Jonesy's
mom wasn't a garden-Nazi like my mom but she made it look nice.

I climbed the three, broad, concrete steps,
ringing the bell.

Helen came to the door, grinning. “Hey Caleb!
Long time no see!” Her impenetrable hair stood at stiff attention
(and looked like a rat lived on top).

Aqua Net Queen.

I smiled back, she had Jonesy's grin exactly. “Hi,
Mrs. Jones.”

A frown appeared. “I mean... Helen,” I
corrected.

“That's better,” Helen said, ruffling my hair.
Geez, no touchy!

I ducked my head and threw over my shoulder, “My
mom made some pizza.”

“Good deal, we'll add it to mine.”

Great, more pizza, happy Friday! I rounded the
corner, walking down a long hallway painted McDonald's yellow. With
such a neutral exterior, the yellow was a shocker. But Mrs. Jones
(Helen), said with our gloomy Pacific Northwest days that she needed
the sun inside her house.

As I came down the hall I could hear the guys
before I got to Jonesy's room.

I opened the door, surveying the room. Jonesy sat
on the floor, pulsing through his dedicated reader, John likewise
absorbed. I walked over and sat on my haunches, they were looking at
comics. We were nuts over the super hero comics. Especially now that
some people's paranormal skills echoed what was once considered
impossible.

“Look at this dude... hell, to be him, huh?”
Jonesy said to no one in particular.

“You got that. I'm just a Null,” a disgruntled
John said.

“At
least you're something, you ingrate,” Jonesy replied.

“Hey, look at this.” I pointed to a spot
behind the guy lifting the car off the person.

We put our heads together, and saw a small boy in
the background with big eyes, watching the rescue of... I think his
brother, from under the car. But, he had one finger on the bumper.

“
Is
that kid
doing
it or the guy in the cape?”