Ghost Guard (10 page)

ABBY WAS FUMING and almost out of control, but she managed to force, “REV!” through her clenched teeth.

Rev pointed at himself.

“Who, me?”

“Don’t play me for a
fool, Rev. Your straying outside protocol has cost us this mission! You get it?”

“Okay. Just relax,” he said. “It wasn’t just about me. You heard him. They’re worried about our safety. Maybe it’s for the best. Maybe you should take some time
off. You need it.”

“What the hell did you mean by that!” she
barked. “Do I look tired to you?” without waiting for an answer, she faced Morris. “Well, do I?”

Both Morris and Rev looked away. Ruby had to come to their rescue, saying with a succession of clicks and squeaks she looked wonderful, better than the day they met. She also had something for Abby—a package of Skittles
. Where it came from was anyone’s guess.

“Thanks,” Abby smiled reluctantly. “You always know what to say, Ruby.”

“Relax, Abby,” Rev shrugged. “I was just saying no one needs a little time away from everything more than you do.”

“
Jerk!”
the candy whizzed right through his face.

“Hey!” he watch
ed the package hit the wall and explode into pieces. “What are you trying to do? I didn’t mean anything by it. I just thought—”

“What? You thought I could use a little time off because why? Say it! You think I look tired, don’t you?
A little haggard? Dark circles under my eyes? Is that it? Well, you know what? If you’re so repulsed by the way I look, then I’ll just take care of that for you!”

She turned on her heels, glamorous black hair bouncing, and stomped to her office.

Rev sauntered to Abby’s door. Fading to invisibility, he stopped at the physical boundary, artificial to a ghost, yet very real for a living person, especially one who sought privacy. Rev knew she wanted to be alone. He couldn’t help it. Something told him to go to her.

“Rev, leave her be,” Morris had to use his multi-spectrum glasses to spot the remorseful ghost. “Can’t you see she wants to be alone? Don’t make it worse.”

Ruby squawked in agreement. Rev glanced at her. She and Brutus hovered side-by-side with arms crossed. None of them wanted anything to do with what was going on, yet they all felt compelled to make a stand. The mood at Gasworks always turned black as night whenever Abby was upset. Lately it seemed she was upset with more regularity, and that had everything to do with Rev.

Still invisible
, Rev smiled wordlessly then stepped through the door without opening it and, worse, without knocking. To a normal human with normal perception, he would have been unseen. Abby wasn’t normal. Right away, Rev reversed course and burst through the wood with blinding speed, just ahead of a
CRACK!
and the shattering of glass.

Morris
flinched, throwing is hands in front of his face. Ruby and Brutus darted for cover, neither one knowing what had happened. Then it became obvious when Abby screamed.

“Don’t you
ever
barge in here like that, Rev! What the hell do you think you’re doing!”

CRASH!
another eruption of shattering glass.

Morris shook his head and lowered his guard.

“Told you so.”

Rev smiled again. He wouldn’t let the female angst get to him. Calmly, coolly, he rapped on the door with solid knuckles.

“Go AWAY!”

“Abby, I just want to talk to you,” his voice was the exact opposite of hers.
Calm, patient.

“I don’t want to talk to
you
. GO AWAY!”

He
peeked at Morris, and then Ruby and Brutus. None of them had an encouraging word. He refused to be swayed by their negativity.

“Come on, Abby. You can’t be this mad about what I said. Besides, I didn’t mean anything by it. Really, I didn’t. I think you’re
a doll,” he waved for some support. “We all do. Right, guys?” and the team backed him up with a universal vote.

The door opened a crack. Abby spoke with tranquil
malice.

“I said go away, Rev. If you don’t, I’ll make sure you’re sorry.”

He put up his palms.

“Peace. I come in peace.”

The door slammed. Another
Crash!

“Why, dammit!
Of all the ghosts in all the towns in the world, this one had to walk into my life—why!”

“Abby,” Rev was hurt. “You don’t mean that!” he paused.
Silence. “Do you?” More silence. He leaned against the door. “Abby?”

Gathering his courage, he passed through once more, stepping straight into Abby’s private sanctuary. Mistake number two.

BASH!
another glass vase hit the wall, quite near Rev’s face. He slipped out again, breathing heavily, even though ghosts don’t breathe.

“Hey! That could’ve hurt. Ghosts have feelings too, you know?”

Suddenly the door opened. Abby stood there with a frown.

“Come in, shut up, and sit down!” her anger proved potent. He slumped in the nearest chair. “You have no idea what you’ve done!”

“What? What did I do? All I said was you looked like you needed some time off.”

“Not that, stupid!” she stomped her feet. “I’m talking about how you’ve sabotaged everything! Everything’s ruined because of you!” she pointed her accusing finger at him.
“YOU! I should have known. In fact, I did know. I suspected all along, but didn’t want to say it.”

“That’s a load of
bull, Abby. Mahoney said we weren’t supposed to intervene because it wasn’t within Ghost Guard’s scope of operations. That’s the real reason.”

She sighed and pulled herself together as best as she
could.

“You know I want only the best for this team. I would never want to lead any of you into harm’s way. But I feel really strongly about this one, Rev. I’ve got a bad, bad feeling something’s going on, something below the surface we’re not being told
about.”

“Isn’t that always the case?” he pointed out, and he was right. “Aren’t we usually the last to find out? I mean, face it.
Exceptional or not, we’re still just grunts, pawns, boots on the ground answering to a higher power.”

“But don’t you ever want to question that higher power?”

He smiled.

“Abby, who are you talking to?”

“Oh, yeah,” she nodded. “How could I forget? The rebel race car driver who died to become a rebel ghost. You never do what you’re told. Why are you deciding to play it safe now? What’s gotten you so scared?”

“I’m not scared,” he straightened, even stretching a little artificially to give the illusion of being even taller than his normal six foot
two. “Elyxa just…well she just…”

“What? Say it?” Abby waited. Then impatience got the best of her. “Okay, if you won’t, then I will. I think you’re scared
. You’re scared because you know she’s powerful enough to extinguish you, and you’re afraid she’ll do it.”

“Ha!” he shot her an ironic grin. “That sounds great, especially compared to the way
you’ve
been treating me lately!”

“Oh, yeah!” she slung back
in her reclining office chair. “If it sounds so wonderful, why don’t you just go to her? I know she’d love it. The way she looked at you. And the way you ogled back. It was disgusting!”

“You’re jealous
, aren’t you, Abby? That’s what this is all really about. You’re not mad about me screwing up our chance at going after Elyxa. You’re not even mad at Mahoney for trying to stop us. He can’t really stop you, and we both know it. So that only leaves one possible explanation. You’re
jealous
.”

“Get out!” she picked up a ceramic lamp. The shade fell off as she shook it at him. “I mean it! Get out!”

“You wouldn’t!” he crossed his arms high in front of his chest.

Without a word, she flung the lamp hard. Rev had to react quickly, and dissipated into nothingness as the
heavy object whizzed through the space where his head had been. When he returned to physical form, his eyes were wide.

“You would!" he backed through the door.

“And stay out!” Abby screamed from inside her office. More slamming and crashing. She sounded like she wanted to tear the place down. And she did. Rev made her furious.

He looked at the faces looking
at him. Ruby rushed to his side, examining him up and down, asking if he was all right, and squawking about him needing to go back to his SME chamber.

“I’m fine, Ruby,” he twisted away.
“Not a scratch, really. She couldn’t hurt me.”

The other three team members chuckled. They knew that statement was an outright lie. Ever since the day the two of them met, she’d been handing him pain like it was candy.

“What?” he asked, pretending to straighten out his shirt, an old habit from when he was alive. “Okay, she might be able to hurt me a little.”

Then his hand started to fade without him trying to. Fatigue set in like a heavy fog. It felt like a giant weight had been placed on his head.

“You all right, Rev?” Morris noticed him beginning to falter.

“I said I’m fine!” he hurried to his own private
office on the opposite end of the hall. “She thinks I’m the one who balled this up, but that’s bull! She did! She can’t keep her big mouth shut!”

Abby’s door flew open and she stuck out her head.

“What did you say?”

Rev didn’t answer. For dramatic effect, he yanked open the door to his office, stormed in, and slammed it. Abby looked at her teammates. They stared wordlessly. She squinted at them and then forced her door closed with a
Crash!

Morris spun in his chair and offered Brutus and Ruby a weary smile.

“Well, I guess things are back to normal around here.”

SEVEN

THE CHARCOAL MERCEDES
pulled into a private parking structure off Northwest Vaughn. Down a dark, narrow ramp, its tires screeched on the sharp left, gaining speed until it hit bottom solidly, the back bumper throwing copious sparks. The woman in the backseat whimpered. She didn’t appreciate the way Elyxa was driving.

“Too bad!”
Elyxa shrieked, though verbal words weren’t necessary. She communicated with her mind almost exclusively. Using a larynx was so human, so…mortal. So was driving, really. But she needed to fit in if she was going to hunt in this city. She cleared her throat, wishing for some honey wine to wet her parched tongue. “This is
my
carriage now,” she slammed the brakes, screeching the tires to a stop. “That
is
what you call it these days, isn’t it?” she studied the luxuriant interior. “Though they certainly have changed.”

The woman whimpered once more.
Elyxa could feel her fear. It made her happy.

She
looked closer at the woman. Long, striking blonde hair, much like her own. It was the reason Elyxa chose the woman, that plus the gorgeous motorized carriage. She had to have it the moment she’d laid eyes on it. Taking a soul was just a side benefit. But she didn’t want to take this soul. Not yet.

The woman seemed older than she actually looked, as if she was somehow not quite real. Her lips were abnormally thick and her eyebrows and nose too thin. Her face contorted in fright, yet her forehead seemed wrinkle-
free. Flat and flawless.

Elyxa
touched her cheek. Rubbery. Almost artificial.

“What the hell are you, some kind of rubber doll?”

The woman tilted her head, unable to speak. That had been the question on
her
mind. What was this thing?

Elyxa
saw something wedged in the seat. A handbag. Inside, she discovered a billfold and rifled through it. The name she found was Gloria Calvin.

“Gloria is it?” she observed the woman’s eyes. Strange, unnatural colors that seemed almost like glass. Gloria nodded, mortified and mystified at the same time. Maybe if she just answered this thing’s questions, she’d survive.

“Says here, Gloria, you were born in nineteen forty-eight,” she studied the card with Gloria’s picture on it, the word ‘OREGON’ printed on top. “That would make you sixty-five years old,” she looked past the card at Gloria.

Gloria searched the backseat, though she wasn’t really looking at anything in particular. Mostly she searched her own mind for the reasoning behind her captor’s questions. Failing to understand, she decided to be honest, and pray that would be enough.

“Uh, yes,” she coughed into her hand. “I
am
sixty-five.”

“Impossible. You look thirty
-five!”

Gloria felt her shoulders loosen. She dabbed at her own cheek.

“Why, thank you. That’s so sweet of you.”

Elyxa
blinked. She delved into Gloria’s mind and uncovered the truth. She
was
sixty-five.

“I must know. What’s your secret? Did you find everlasting youth?”

Gloria chuckled.

“No. Well, maybe I have,” she cupped her hand to her mouth as if there were someone else in the car with
them and whispered. “I go to Doctor Hunnicutt. He’s the best.”

“Doctor Hunnicutt? Ah, you mean a witchdoctor! You’ve found one to place a spell on you?”

“Dear, where did you come from, outer space? Haven’t you ever heard of—” she lowered her voice again. “Plastic surgery?”

“Plastic surgery?”

“Sure. Botox, lypo, facelifts, tummy tucks, nosejobs, and, of course, where would we be without a little boob job now and then? It’s a woman’s best friend, trust me,” Gloria winked, handing Elyxa her doctor’s business card. “Looks like you could use a little work on your crow’s feet, there. A couple visits to my guy, and he’ll clean that right up.”

Elyxa
felt the skin around her eyes, then turned in her seat to look in the mirror, fingering the fine wrinkles.

“Where is this doctor of yours?”

“He has an office in Goose Hollow. Says right there on the card.”

“Goose Hollow?”
Elyxa studied the small piece of paper.

“We’re not far from there,” Gloria saw a possible way out. “We should go
sometime.”

“You can take me now.”

“I, uh,” Gloria stuttered. “I can’t get you in until tomorrow, dear.”

Elyxa
trapped her in a stare. Gloria took a quick breath, watching Elyxa’s eyes become bottomless black holes. She felt a gravitational pull, an instant and deadly force. Then Elyxa’s eyes went back to normal, or what passed as normal. Cerulean blue, the color of the sky. Gloria had to inhale abruptly once more. The young woman was striking. But was she really a young woman?

“I take that back. We
can
get in right now. I’ll just-I’ll call Doctor Hunnicutt,” she said, looking at the front seat.

Elyxa
squinted.

“You want something?”

“I need my purse. My phone’s in there.”

“I have a better idea,” she pointed at the ignition and the Mercedes started. “Let’s go
down there.”

Headlights blasted through the window, blinding them both
in a moment of confusion. A roaring engine and squealing tires. A car was coming at them. Fast. Elyxa cranked the wheel and burned rubber, spinning the Mercedes and facing the exit. She almost made it. But the other car was too swift, and had the angle, wedging in front of her and blocking her path. She slammed on the brakes, cussing.

Two giant beings stepped out of the
other car. Actually, they didn’t step so much as bluster out like rapid funnel clouds. Immediately, Gloria raced to images of her childhood. A gray-skinned bald man with black fingernails and even blacker eyes. The man haunted her nightmares for years. And now she saw two of them, both bigger and scarier than she had ever imagined. They peered into the windows on either side, greasy fingers slithering along the glass. One put his face close and opened his mouth. Deep, dark stained teeth and a wretched tongue. He licked the window like it tasted divine, staring at Elyxa and moaning in delight.

“Ogilvy!”
Elyxa pounded the glass and the hideous thing backed away with a start. It was afraid of her. That should have made Gloria feel better, but it didn’t. She was just as frightened as Ogilvy. “You stinking, nasty beast.”

Ogilvy
eyed her up and down lustily.

“
Mmmm,” he licked his discolored lips. “The things I would do to you, uh-huh. The pleasure.”

“In your dreams!” she screeched. “Now leave me alone, and get that thing out of my way!”

He hissed. “Master wants to see you, Elyxa.”

“Don’t give me orders,” she threw open the door. It should have hit him. Any normal person it would have. Ogilvy possess
ed an otherworldly speed that allowed him to dash out of the way. He couldn’t out-quick Elyxa, though. In the blink of an eye, she was holding the sinewy monster by his neck. “He may be
your
master. But he’s not mine.”

A scratch at the window startled Gloria.
She remembered there was another. Renault was his name—though Gloria didn’t know that—and he looked identical to Ogilvy. Maybe a little uglier, if that was possible. Sunken cheekbones and nearly no body fat, the thing was almost naked aside from a heavily-soiled cloth around its waist, much like a diaper. She couldn’t smell him from inside her car, but she just bet he reeked.

“And who’s this one?” he smiled, revealing a hideous set of sharp, decayed teeth. “She looks tasty. Did you bring us a little treat?”

Elyxa threw a steely glare at Ogilvy, then at Renault. Gloria shuddered with terror at what she told them.

“Be my guest
. Just leave her soul for me.”

“N
O!” Gloria begged the wicked woman for help. Ogilvy appeared in a bulk of tempestuous haze in the seat next to her, his twinkling gaze locked on her milky flesh. “Please don’t leave me…PLEASE!”