Forty-Four Box Set, Books 1-10 (44) (82 page)

“You’ll be okay,” he said.

An old movie was playing in the background. I put my ear to his chest and listened to his heartbeat. I felt safe.

“This is the best I’ve felt all day,” I said.

I could hear the rain still, on the rooftop, on the window.

“Here, put this blanket around you. You’re shaking.”

“I think she’s dead. I don’t think she could survive him. He’s too powerful. She’s out there dead somewhere.”

“Shhh,” Ty said. “Just rest. I’ll be back in the morning.”

I was in bed suddenly, darkness around me.

I was hot.

So hot.

Like I was in hell.

CHAPTER 42

I sat up, dizzy, my stomach nauseous again, my throat hurting. My head burning.

“Kate?” I whispered.

I was in bed and I must have been sleeping for hours, since getting home. I was in my pajamas, the volume from the small TV low.

“Kate?” I said again, throwing the covers off.

I was soaked in sweat. I heard her slippers on the wood floor.

“Abby, you’re up,” she said, pushing pillows behind me. “How are you feeling?”

Her eyes were wide and crazy, studying me.

“Like shit on a stick,” I said. “I guess I have the flu.”

“Such a mouth,” Ty said and smiled, taking my hand.

“You’re here,” I said.

“Of course. Kate called me and I came over after work.”

“What time is it?”

“Almost midnight,” he said. “Do you need anything? I’m going to the store.”

“No,” I said.

“Get some rest and I’ll see you in a little while,” he said, kissing my forehead. “I love you, Abby. Try and feel better.”

***

“Your temperature was up to 103. But you’re cooler now.”

I nodded.

“That’s a good sign,” she said. “Can I get you anything?”

I shook my head.

“Here. Drink some water,” she said. “And then I’ll help you change.”

I sat up, letting her guide my arms and legs into shorts and a T-shirt. I started coughing and shivering as I laid back down while Kate pulled heavy covers over me.

I couldn’t think straight, big black holes in the middle of my thoughts with everything spinning like I was on one of those rides at a fair. Up, up, up in the air, spinning and lost in the sky, spinning and lost.

Spinning.

My arms and legs ached. It felt like I had been running for days. Weeks. My whole life.

CHAPTER 43

I woke up with mud on my feet and rain on my face. I was shivering, standing outside. Lost.

“No! Abby!” she yelled, her words echoing in my ears over and over again. “Don’t do it! Put down the shovel! Put it down!”

I shook my head. Kate was standing in front of me, horror in her eyes. We stood in the rain.

“Kate?” I screamed. “What’s the matter? Why are we outside?”

But she didn’t answer me.

“Abby,” she said again. “Abby, put the shovel down. Drop it. Now!”

What was she talking about? But then I followed my arms up to my hands and saw it.

“Just put it down,” she repeated.

We were standing in the backyard, the rain coming down in sheets. I didn’t want to let it go, didn’t want to let it fall from my hands.

I inhaled, looked up, and let the rain hit my face.

And threw it down behind me.

“Good,” she said. “Now, take my hand.”

We stumbled to the house, like we were drunk. I bent over and threw up in the mud.

“Come on, Abby,” she yelled again. “You need to get inside.”

I just stood there. I couldn’t feel my feet or my hands. I couldn’t feel anything. I tried to breathe, but couldn’t, couldn’t move. The light from the porch burned into my eyes, the smell of mud strong in my nostrils.

Kate was holding a gun.

“You can’t shoot me anymore!” I heard someone shout.

“What are you saying, Abby?” she said, putting it in her pocket. “Take it easy.”

“Leave me alone,” I said as she dragged me over the grass, through the kitchen, down the hallway. “Leave me alone. Get your filthy hands off of me, whore!”

***

I crept to the bathroom and turned on the faucet, letting the cold water run over my hands and splashing some of its cool sweetness on my face, on my neck, in my hair.

“Better,” I said in a low voice. “Much, much better.”

I looked in the mirror.

Those stark eyes, the scar running down my face, the mustache.

Handsome as ever.

***

I opened my eyes and didn’t recognize where I was.

The dark hallway smelled of coffin varnish, as though the wooden floors had been soaking the whiskey up for decades upon decades. The strong smell of tobacco lingered in the air, along with the stench of sweat. And other bodily fluids.

I stood in the shadows, waiting for someone.

The sound of laughing and yelling erupted from downstairs, drowning out the piano music for a few moments.

I felt different. Strong, like my hands could crush whatever they came in contact with. Like I could bend whatever was between my hands to my liking. As if they were made out of iron.

I heard her coming up the stairs, her heels heavy and leaden against the wooden steps.

The sight of her made the blood in my veins turn to liquid fire. An anger more intense than I’d ever known rushed through me.

But it wasn’t uncontrollable anger. It was a perfect rage. I was in charge of it. Completely. It bent to my will.

She walked past me, her long lace dress dragging on the floor. She was alone. She didn’t see me.

As she opened the door to her room, I lunged out of the shadows and took her by the arm, squeezing it with my grip of pure iron.

“I know you’ve been holding out on me, Inez,” I said, tightening my fingers.

She screamed and looked at me with desperate, animal eyes. The terror made me smile. Her eyes pleaded for a mercy that would never come.

“No,” she blubbered. “I promise you. I wouldn’t do that to you, Clyde. You take care of me.”

“Where’s the money, whore?” I said, pushing her into the room.

She cried out and collapsed down on the floor.

“Why would I do that to you? You let me stay here in your hotel. Why would I keep money from you?”

“Don’t lie to me, slut,” I said, the anger growing stronger.

“I’m not,” she sobbed. “I’m telling you the truth.”

But I knew she was lying. She was like all the rest. Cutting corners and sloppily planning their great escapes. Trying to steal what was mine and make a fool of me. Trying to rob me behind my back.

I wouldn’t stand for it. My iron hands were the instrument of my justice.

I grabbed her and made her stand up.

Soon, they were around her, squeezing tighter and tighter. Her large brown eyes bulged out of their sockets. I wanted to hold a mirror up to them so they could see what she had brought upon herself. I wanted those eyes to witness the wrong of what she’d done. I wanted her to know. I wanted her to pay.

And she did.

She fought for breath, but she was weak. She was like a newborn calf in my hands. My terrible iron hands. She was weak and feeble and worthless.

In a few moments, the light went out of those eyes, and I let her limp body drop to the floor.

She understood now. I had made her see the error of her ways.

My hands felt alive. I felt alive, power pumping through my veins like a train from hell ripping through the night.

I looked at her dead body, and I looked back at my hands.

And sure as she was lying there, I knew there would be more.

I never wanted to feel anything else.

***

Kate was crying.

“What happened?”

“Rest now, Abby. I’m right here. I’ll be here with you all night. Hang in there.”

I saw a man in the corner and I screamed.

“Kate,” I yelled. “It’s him! It’s the ghost of Clyde Tidwell. The one who killed Paloma!”

I screamed again with everything I had, thrashing my arms and legs on the bed. My face hurt, thick drool leaking out of my mouth.

“Get him out of here,” I yelled.

But she wouldn’t listen. She let him move closer to her.

“No, Kate! No! Stay away from him.”

Then the ghost turned into someone else.

“Shhh, Abby,” Dr. Krowe said, staring down at me, a stethoscope in his ears and on my chest. “You’ll be okay.”

I was so hot. Burning, burning, burning.

I pushed him away, pushed him away from me.

“I’m just here to help,” he said.

“Here to help?” I heard myself screaming. “Here to help? Help yourself. Help
yourself
.”

I fell back into the strange darkness, repeating those words over and over again and laughing so hard it hurt my face.

CHAPTER 44

It was the deepest blue sky I had ever seen.

I threw myself down on the ground, staring up at it, swimming and dancing in the rich color.

“I can see it!” I screamed. “I can see it, Jesse! I can see colors again!”

“Of course you can, Craigers,” Jesse said, taking my hand. “They were here the whole time.”

I turned and looked at him, hearing the tears fall off my face, like rain, hitting the ground in a loud splash.

“Oh, Jesse,” I said. “Your eyes are the most incredible green. I’ve missed them so much. They look like emeralds. And the grass. The leaves. They’re so beautiful. This is so amazing.”

I sat up and looked around. We were in a field, the sun bright, the blue sky laid out in front of us like those long, lost summers of our childhood. I looked at my shirt. Purple. My shoes were white with yellow streaks on the sides.

“It’s a miracle. I can see color again. Everything is so deep and rich. Where are we?”

He sighed.

“Somewhere you don’t belong,” he said.

I touched his cheek.

“It’s okay,” I said. “It’s all good.”

“No,” he said. “It’s not. It’s not good. Look.”

He pointed. Way in the distance, someone was walking.

“But I’m going to try. I’m going to try and help you.”

“I love you,” I said, rolling over and hugging him. “I love you so much, Jesse.”

Then I looked back up at the black shadow figure now walking quickly toward us, still just a silhouette against the sunlight. And then I saw those eyes. Those terrible, stark, light blue eyes.

Sharp as obsidian.

He was coming right for us, crossing the grass.

Jesse pulled me up. I squinted in the sunlight, staring.

He was getting closer and closer.

“He’s growing off of your energy,” Jesse said. “I have to stop him.”

“Don’t go,” I yelled. “Jesse. Don’t leave me again. I love you!”

“Run, Craigers!” he said, letting go of my hand. “Stay away from him. Now. Run!”

Clouds came in and the rain started, my feet stuck, sinking in the mud that was suddenly everywhere. I stared at Jesse, who was going full speed, flying into it, while his voice was still in my ears, screaming at me to run.

I ran toward the light. With Jesse’s words still echoing in my head, I ran through the colors and left them behind.

His voice fell away as his world disappeared behind me.

CHAPTER 45

The sunlight was in my face. Kate was sitting on the bed, looking at me.

“How are you feeling?” she said.

I reached up and touched my head. My stomach felt okay finally. I didn’t feel hot anymore.

“Better,” I said.

She reached over and felt my head and nodded.

“You’re a lot cooler.”

I looked around. Ty wasn’t in the room.

“Where’s Ty?” I asked. “I thought he was coming back.”

Her eyes fell to the floor.

“He was here for a long time. You’ve been pretty out of it for two days.”

“Two days? That can’t be.”

“I told him to go home and get some rest.”

“Tell him I want to see him,” I said. “If he calls. Tell him to come back.”

She didn’t answer right away.

“Just rest. Rest, Abby. You’re improving. That’s all that matters at this point. You’re okay now. You’re safe.”

***

The water felt warm on my skin and I stood in the shower for a long time and let it wash the dried sweat and grime away. When I came out, I felt new again. Stronger.

The dream and Jesse were still vivid in my mind. The colors, Jesse, the black figure walking toward me. Was it just a dream? I didn’t know what any of it meant, but it felt like it had happened, that he ran off to fight the darkness that was coming for me.

I had to find him. And make sure he was okay.

I went out to the kitchen and sat down at the table. Kate put down toast, some grapes, and a glass of orange juice in front of me.

“Let’s see how that sits before you eat a real meal.”

I was wearing a purple shirt in the vision. And I saw it. I saw the color.

Kate sat across from me with large eyes. I kept eating until everything was gone.

“It’s good to see you eat,” she said, smiling weakly. “It’s been days.”

“That’s how it feels,” I said, wiping my mouth. “Now tell me what you’re not telling me.”

CHAPTER 46

We moved to the living room and I pulled a fleece blanket around me and put my feet up on the coffee table. Kate sat down, close to me, tucking the blanket under my legs.

“The important thing is that you’re all right now. We were so worried about you. You were really sick. Coughing and throwing up a river. You had a high fever. You said some really crazy things. That’s why I called Dr. Krowe. He was here, do you remember?”