End of Days (32 page)

“What do I do?” asked Suki.

“Pull over up there,” said Charlie.

We turned off of Clonsilla and Suki slid in along the curb. Charlie had to get out first so I could climb past his seat. I heard Luna's voice in my head:
Call her.
I dug out my phone. Found Ophelia's number. There was no answer. I started running. Several officers tried to stop me, but I was moving too quickly. Then I reached the front walk. The heat from the building was so intense, I couldn't get near the door. I felt someone take hold of my arm, a firefighter. He started talking to me.

“It's my house,” I said. “My mother is inside.”

I don't know if he answered me, but he let go. I guess he knew I wouldn't be able to get any closer. I just stared at the inferno. If Ophelia was in there, it was going to take a time machine to save her.

Charlie caught up a moment later. Luna was with him.
Listen!
she thought.

I looked at her, then realized Charlie was talking to me.

“. . . be around.”

“What was that?”

“If Hyde did this, he might still be around. We need to get out of here.”

“What about Ophelia?” I couldn't leave until I knew if she'd made it out okay.

Luna took hold of my arm.
She would want you to get somewhere safe.

That was true.

Luna started pulling me away from the crowd that was gathering on the sidewalk to watch. I didn't resist. Men and women in uniform were trying to move everyone to the other side of the street.

Then my phone rang. I checked the display. Iron Spike Enterprises. It was my uncle. He would know what to do. I picked up and said hello.

“Zack. What a relief! Everything okay?”

“No.”

“Are you here—at the hospital?”

It was just up the hill. “I'm down the street at the apartment.”

“What's going on? It sounds like a circus.”

I told him about the fire. He swore. “I'm still at the Civic. It's crazy here, as well.” I could hear him stumbling around. “Wait. I can see it from the window. Did Ophelia make it out?”

I couldn't answer. He repeated the question. Luna moved her mouth closer to my ear and told him we didn't know.

“Zachary, listen. This is important,” he said. “Hyde was just here. He's taken Baddon's son.”

I thought of the small, frail child and a part of my mind snapped awake. It was angry. “Is he still there?”

“Who? Hyde? I don't think so. I can't get near the room. Security has it cordoned off. I was asleep when he broke in and didn't get down the hall in time. Dammit, I can hardly move.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No. It's the radiation treatment. Burns your insides. . . . Poor Adam. I think he might be dead.”

Who's Adam?
Luna asked.

Detective Baddon.

For a few seconds all I could hear was static and the sound of sirens and chaos.

“Get somewhere safe,” my uncle said. “I'll find you. Just get out of sight.”

Somewhere safe?
Unless he had a spaceship and could ferry us to Mars, we weren't going to be safe anywhere. And I had to look for Ophelia. She had to be somewhere. My uncle started talking again. I couldn't really hear him. The hand I was using to hold the phone had dropped to my side, and the sirens were making a lot of noise.

“Zack. Zack, are you still there?”

Luna took the phone. “We're here. We'll call you once we're clear.”

My uncle said something to her, then she hung up and handed the phone back to me. I felt Charlie's hand on my back. He'd opened the door to the car and was guiding me in.

“What's going on?” Suki asked.

She and Luna and Charlie started talking. I didn't follow their conversation. My mind was too busy trying to figure out how to find Ophelia. If she'd made it out, where would she go? Would she stay here knowing we'd be back? Did she have another safe house I didn't know about? Would she try to find Mr. Entwistle or go to the hospital to get my uncle?

Suki pulled out of the parking spot and Charlie fed her instructions. I didn't pay attention. Not until the car stopped.

We were outside of town on Highway 4. A familiar pasture was beside us. It was where Mr. Entwistle, Charlie, and I had followed Hyde's trail the night before. Charlie got out. So did Suki. I felt Luna nudge me gently. I climbed outside and she followed.

Where is this?
she asked.

I told her.

What is Charlie thinking?

That we have something to take care of.
I turned to face my friend. He was talking to Suki.

“Then we followed him out here. His trail is just off the road.”
He reached into the car along the side of the seat to where he'd stashed our weapons. He handed me the sword, then pulled out the long-handled voulge.

“What are we doing?” I asked, although I already knew the answer.

Charlie looked at me. His pupils were widening. I saw his tongue flick up against his gums, a sure sign his teeth were dropping.

“We're going to follow Hyde's tracks,” he said. “You and I. We're going to find his lair and wait for him there. Then when he comes back, we're going to kill him.”

My thoughts seemed to be stuck in slow motion. Luna's were racing. There was fear. Uncertainty. Questions. About me. About Mr. Entwistle. About Ophelia. About Hyde and the stupidity of two young boys who thought they could deal with him using weapons that were out-of-date three centuries ago. I didn't have answers. I only knew Charlie was right—we had to kill him.

I hadn't spoken to him much about the prophecies—about the son of the hunter, the messiah. The End of Days. Not after we'd read the letter together. But Luna and I had covered them thoroughly when we'd met on the Dream Road. Since then, I'd spoken to Ophelia, to the prophet Baoh, and to Mr. Entwistle. It came down to this. None of it mattered. Not one pinch. Was I special? Well, sure. Isn't everyone? We're all the heroes of our own life stories. We try to be good. To do what is right. And we have to live with ourselves. With what we do. And what we don't do.

Hyde had stolen a man's son. The boy was finished if we didn't find him. I didn't even know his name. But if Maximilian's hunch was right, his father, Detective Baddon, was dead. I thought of all that had happened in the last few nights. I heard Baoh's voice in my head.
Be righteous. And do not do to others that which is harmful to yourself.
What could be more harmful to a person than being left in the hands of a beast like Hyde? In my mind's eye, I could still see the boy as he'd appeared in that hospital bed. He reminded me of myself. I was his age when Vlad had infected me. It was just after
my father died. I'd spent weeks in a coma. But I hadn't been alone. Ophelia had saved me. But she was gone now. So was Mr. Entwistle. My uncle was a walking corpse, a man just waiting for his cancer to kill him. That left only me. And Charlie. And Luna. She moved closer to me. I could feel the nervous energy in her.

Are you sure about this?

I was. And I wasn't. Our chances weren't good. The words
snowball in hell
came to mind. But maybe two snowballs have a better chance than one, and a kind of certainty comes from having a purpose, even if the odds aren't good that you'll make it to the finish line. I knew that if I balked—if I ran and hid—then every bad thing that Hyde did would, in some way, be my fault.

You aren't to blame for any of this.

No,
I thought.
I'm not to blame. Unless I do nothing.

“You girls better get going,” Charlie said.

Luna looked at me. Her eyes were burning.
I'm coming with you.

I shook my head. I remembered what she'd said on the roof. That if she were Charlie, I'd have different expectations. That was true, but what could I say? I had a double standard.

Charlie was saying good-bye to Suki. He had his arms around her. Her head was tucked under his chin. He kissed her once, then let her go and walked over to the two of us.

“Get her someplace safe,” he said to Luna. “Don't let anything happen.”

“She'll be fine on her own,” Luna said. “I'm coming with you guys.”

Charlie looked stunned. He glanced at me.

I shook my head. “No, you're not.”

“Try to stop me.”

“I don't have to,” I said. “I'll just outrun you.”

I thought she was going to hit me.

That's not fair.

Is it fair to Suki if she loses her boyfriend and sister in one night? You haven't seen this thing. We have no chance.

You have a better chance if I come with you.

I didn't think so. But she quickly reminded me of what had just happened back at the apartment.

You had a brain freeze. What if that happens again?

I grasped the handle of my two-handled sword and felt the leather grip twist and creak beneath my fingers. I understood what she was thinking—that my mind often strayed, so I wasn't always in the moment. Well—that wasn't going to happen again.

I thought back to our meeting on the roof, when she'd asked me to teach her how to fight. I didn't have anything to teach her. Fighting wasn't my forte, and it certainly wasn't hers. But I was the fastest and the strongest, so I had the best chance. And if I was going to be some kind of messiah—didn't I have to earn it?

Not by getting yourself killed!

Getting killed wasn't the plan. I wanted to find Detective Baddon's son and bolt. But if Luna came, and she got into trouble, I wouldn't be able to run. I'd have to stay and fight a losing battle. Did she understand? I could see her following my thoughts, but her mind was suddenly closed. I didn't know how she'd done it, but I couldn't hear her anymore.

I handed Charlie my sword. He shot me a puzzled glance. Then I reached up and undid the clasp of my necklace. In nine years, I'd only had it off twice, once to show Luna and once when Vlad took it from me. I slipped the two ends of the chain from around my neck, then took hold of Luna's hand.

Don't you dare give that to me!
The sudden eruption from her mind was painful. She tried to pull her hand away.

I grimaced but didn't let go. Instead I put the necklace in her palm and folded her fingers around it.
Give this back to me tomorrow.

Her eyes closed. A deep breath followed.
Just get the boy and get out. Don't try to fight with Hyde. Promise me you won't.

I couldn't promise her anything. I had no idea what might happen. I looked at Charlie. He handed back my sword, then nodded that he was ready. It was time to go.

I love you,
she thought, and I thought the same.

As she looked up at me, I studied at her face. Her chin, her mouth, her eyes. Every line. Every contour. Just so I wouldn't forget.

She turned and got in the car. Her mind was closed again. A few moments later, she pulled away.

“You didn't even say good-bye,” said Charlie. “If I did that, Suki would kill me.”

He jumped the ditch at the side of the road and started across the field.

“Come on. We're losing time.”

I watched the car disappear down the highway, then followed him. We quickly found Hyde's tracks. They led farther out of town. We ran like two wild wolves. Never had I set such a fierce pace and maintained it for so long. In the city, we were always having to slow down, but now we were in the darkness, with nothing around us but farms and fences and the cool night air. So we reached our destination with a few good hours to spare before sunrise.

“I should have known,” Charlie said. “Where else would Hyde go?”

Field had given way to forest. We crossed a road, then came to a parking lot. The sign at the entrance said
WARSAW CAVES
. I remembered what Mr. Entwistle had said about darkness. For a vampire, it is never total. The moon and stars are too bright. But the deep earth would be different. Dark like the grave.

Charlie pulled up beside me, then reached out and slapped my arm gently with the back of his hand. I looked up. He was pointing to a black van. It was streaked. Poorly painted. The ambulance Mr. Entwistle had stolen from the hospital.

“He's here,” Charlie said.

We rushed over. The parking lot wasn't paved. I could see the marks of Mr. Entwistle's boots where he'd stepped out onto the stone dust.

“You smell that?” Charlie asked.

I could. The faint trace of wine and sweat that clung to Mr. Entwistle's body armor.

Charlie looked at the ground carefully. “Do we follow Hyde or Entwistle?”

Did it matter? They would probably take us to the same place. “Mr. Entwistle,” I said. “He might still be alive.”

Charlie looked doubtful. He took the voulge from his back. I followed his lead and drew my sword. The metal, dark and scarred, made an odd rasping noise, like an angry serpent, when it rubbed against the leather sheath.

“I'll go first,” I said.

Charlie nodded, then followed me into the woods.

We weren't running long before Hyde's tracks and Mr. Entwistle's overlapped. And soon after that we caught the smell of blood. The first splattering was across the rocks under our feet. More showed up on the trunk of an oak. Then on the soil and the carpet of needles underfoot. On low-hanging leaves and needles, and the long grasses that grew in clumps where it was too rocky for trees to take root.

“They must have fought for hours,” said Charlie.

It was impossible to know. The ground was torn up. Small trees had been uprooted or snapped at the trunk. Rocks were overturned. The bark of the tall pines was scarred. Lichen and moss were shorn loose. Every aspect of the landscape had been altered in some way.