Perennial (25 page)

He’s telling the truth. Despite all the evil he’s committed over the years, Face is telling the truth, I realize.

Baffled, I shake my head and say, “If you merely
ordered
the hit on Mr. Watkins and had nothing to do with William’s murder, then who’s responsible for their deaths?”

Face groans as if he’s frustrated with me. Then he says, “The same person.”

“Who?”

I feel Face reading me. He knows the strength of my Light and that I’ll never join Fire, even if it means dying in this hellish dungeon at the age of seventeen. I’m sickened by the next message he sends me—to the point that I actually consider dropping the knife and walking out. I can’t do that, of course, not when Vagabond, London, William (even with his lies), and Mom are counting on me.

Alix, regardless of what happens here tonight, I will always be everywhere. As long as you work for Light, I will see to it that you and I do battle often, and you don’t have the strength, courage, or abilities to defend yourself against the kind of pain I can and will inflict upon. I will be your top demon, Alix Keener. I’ll be watching everything you do. I’ll track you like a hellhound day and night until you can’t take it anymore and finally give up from agony and exhaustion. You can’t handle me forever, Alix. Nobody can.

“That all may be true,” I say, choking back fear. “But I need to know who killed William and Mr. Watkins.” I swallow hard. “I’m not leaving here until I know.”

“Then let the games begin,” Face says, followed by a round of hacking laughter. “Give me the knife, and I’ll give you the killer’s name.” He extends a long, glove-covered hand toward me. “The knife, please.”

Blade pushes back against me with extreme force and nearly knocks me off balance. William is looking at me again and desperately trying to message me, but Face is too strong and easily blocks everything.

“How do I know I can trust you?” I say, considering the offer. “After all, look what you’ve done to William. You obviously have no plans of making him a Fire warrior.”

“That’s because William’s an idiot,” he says, growing impatient now. “You’re not. I respect you, Alix. Therefore, you have my word. Give me the knife and I’ll tell you who killed William and Marc Watkins. Then you can walk out of here unharmed and run to your big bad cop daddy.”

“Okay,” I say, wanting to trust Face and at least catch a killer. In the end, that’s why I decide to surrender the knife. Even if Vagabond denies me acceptance as a demon slayer for Light and a member of the Group, I’ll still catch a killer and help bring closure to the friends and family of William and Mr. Watkins.

“Here’s the knife, Face,” I say, bringing Blade up from my side in an underhand motion, ready to toss the weapon. “Catch.”

That’s when William spits out “Alix, no! It’s a trick!”

“Idiot!” Face yells. He snaps a finger and turns his hooded head as a thick purple cloud of dust—Perennial—surrounds William and knocks him unconscious to the floor.

At the same time, the word cloud William sent me when we last touched returns:

DEMONS FEAR LOVE. I’M NOT PERFECT, BUT I LOVE YOU, ALIX. USE THE LOVE.

Face screams with rage as I message him the word cloud while simultaneously putting all my strength into my right hand and releasing Blade in one swift and powerful motion. Distracted by the word cloud, Face wraps his hands around the sides of his hood as if he has a headache and never sees the brilliant silver knife rocketing toward his head.

Blade enters Face’s left eye with the speed of a missile. The velocity of the blow jolts Face’s head backwards, causing his hood to fall off. When he brings his head up, I get a momentary view of his actual face and understand why he’s always concealed it. Behind the fountain of yellow demon ooze exploding from his left eye socket, I see a blood-red face and a hideously deformed, hairless head full of leaking blisters and grotesque purple lumps. His right eye is a dull shade of red that grows dimmer by the second, like an old light bulb about to burn out. His pre-Fire heat builds, and I watch in horror as his awful red head begins melting like candle wax.

Between his angry screams, he manages to speak two final sentences: “Perennial is all around you, Alix. It always has been.”

Blade rockets out of Face’s destroyed eye, reversing its original path and landing securely in my right hand. White light suddenly explodes in my head and drops me to one knee. I see an image of the four Oval City towers burning uncontrollably and know the entire complex is about to explode. When I open my eyes, Face is stumbling toward the back wall, and William still lies motionless on the ground.

That’s when the room begins shaking like there’s a violent earthquake.

“William!” I stand and launch myself toward him. I smother him with my body as Face explodes into an orange, red, and blue fireball that flares brilliantly throughout the room before disappearing into the back wall. And through it all, Face manages to send me a final message—one that is so terrifyingly unbelievable, all I can do is scream as the entire Oval City complex begins to self-destruct.

I’m kneeling beside William and shaking him, but he won’t respond. He’s lying on his side. The candles have all gone out, leaving us in a dark room trembling with great force. I’m not sure how much of Face’s Perennial cloud William inhaled, but the thought that he’s overdosed fills my mind.

Along with that unbelievable message Face sent me.

There’s no way. It’s just some sort of final cruel joke of his.

“William?” I say. “Wake up, William. Come on. We don’t have much time.”

Oval City shakes at its foundations, and I’m knocked sideways. Ancient dust starts falling from the ceiling. I figure we’re goners if we’re not aboveground and off Oval City soil in less than five minutes.

“William!” I shake him again. He groans and rolls onto his back. “Yes. That’s it! Wake up. We need to get out of here. The place is self-destructing. You’ve beaten Perennial before, which means you can do it again.”

“Alix?” He opens his eyes and looks at me. “Why? After everything I’ve done, why are you still helping me?”

“There’s no time to talk.” I take his hands and squeeze. “Can you move on your own?”

“I…” He closes his eyes and nods slowly. “I think so.”

A violent tremor, followed by awful cracking sounds, brings William quickly to his feet.

“The walls,” I say. “They’re caving in.”

“My head feels like it’s caving in. Where’s Face? Did he hurt you?”

“Face is gone, William. And so are we if we don’t get out of here right now. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah,” he says. “Dizzy, but I think I’m good. Did Face tell you who killed me?”

“Just follow me,” I say, ignoring the question. “It’s almost over.”

I take his hand and lead us out of a room that’s moments away from sinking down to God knows where.

Despite the cool October air, a stifling, hellish heat greets us the moment we climb out of the underground shaft and step back on Brewster Loop. The ground continues to shake. We hear the faint wail of sirens in the distance. William and I are exhausted and covered in dust, but we somehow manage to muster the strength needed to drag the manhole cover back over the opening, hiding any hint of us having been down there.

“The police will be here any minute,” I say. “Can you drive?”

“Always.”

Brewster Loop shakes angrily, forcing us both to keep a hand on the side of the Yukon for balance. Once inside, we slam our doors closed. Then William starts the engine, executes a tire-squawking U-turn and heads straight for the exit.

“Hurry, William!”

“The road!” he yells. “It feels like it’s sinking!”

“Just get out of here and we’ll be fine!”

“Oh my God,” he says, staring wide-eyed into the rearview mirror when we’re one hundred feet from Alfred Street. “Alix, look.”

What sounds like the world’s loudest thunderclap makes me flinch and scream. I glance over my shoulder and see Aruna’s tiny, blanket-covered body. Then I look above her and out the rear window. The four Oval City towers are collapsing, sending an enormous cloud of purple, grey, and black skyward that forms what looks like a multicolored dome-shaped smokescreen over the ruins of Oval City. What scares me even more is the sight of Brewster Loop caving in like a sinkhole twenty feet behind us. The cave-in snakes toward us as if hell-bent on taking the Yukon down with it.

“William, the road,” I say. “It’s collapsing and chasing us at the same time.”

“I see it!” he yells. “Hold on tight, Alix.”

Although the right side of my head bangs against the passenger-side window, William somehow manages to keep the Yukon under control and expertly completes a dangerous high-speed right turn onto Alfred Street. I feel all of my wounds heal instantly and my strength and abilities fully returning the moment we leave Brewster Loop. The evil road completely collapses behind us, sending a fresh cloud of purple, gray, and black into the afternoon sky.

The final explosion occurs as we cross over I-75 and turn left onto the northbound service drive. I watch in stunned silence as a fireball the size of a football stadium erupts over Oval City. On the opposite side of the service drive, the first wave of emergency vehicles approaches the fiery scene, but they’re too late, and I know that’s good. What I wonder is if anybody else sees the thin band of Perennial purple surrounding the fireball.

William is silent as he merges onto I-75. I watch the fire until we’re too far away to see it. After one last look at poor Aruna, I turn to William and break into tears.

“Alix, what’s wrong?” William says. “You did it. You destroyed Face, Perennial, and Oval City! It’s obvious that Face was lying about not killing Mr. Watkins and me. He’s the only one who had motives. I don’t care what he said about respecting me for beating Perennial; the simple fact is that I was his top dealer and a huge threat to him once I walked away. He wanted me dead. Face killed me, Alix. You passed Vagabond’s test.”

I pull myself together and stare out the windshield. William is right. Oval City is gone. Face is gone…Well, for now anyway. Most importantly, I sense the entire Perennial operation is ruined. A dangerous factory that produced a sinister drug no longer exists. Yes, there’s still Perennial out there, but the leader demon is history. No new Perennial will be produced, meaning Face can no longer pursue his goal of using Perennial to possess human souls. Somehow I know this.

But one troubling issue remains.

“It’s all one big lie,” I whisper.

“I know I’ve lied to you,” William says. “But I love you, Alix, and in the end, I couldn’t let Face trick you. His plan was to take the knife and kill you with it.”

There’s a long silence.

“Take me home, William,” I say calmly. “There’s something I need to know.”

William nods and speeds toward Beaconsfield. Police and emergency vehicles speed past in the southbound lanes, their sirens screaming. I reach around to the small of my back and feel Blade securely inside the sheath. Then I put my face in my hands and think hard about my past, present, and future.

Dad isn’t home. William and I stand in my father’s office. I’m back in my jeans and Detroit Tigers sweatshirt, staring at Dad’s large safe and thinking back to my battle with Face as the Crawler. Face wanted something from this room besides Blade and my soul. He wanted something inside Dad’s safe. I sensed it.

“I know the combination,” I say. “I’ve never had to use it, but I know it. My mom told me when I was a little girl.” I pause. “Dad has no idea.”

William and I stare at each other. I know he loves me. And as crazy as it might sound, I love him and always will. Yes, he’s told many lies, and I’m smart enough to realize I’ll never fully trust him, but in the end he redeemed himself in the underground portal room. William more than likely saved my life. I was ready to give up Blade and trust a demon. Technically, William has about nine hours left before his energy disappears and he’s gone from my life forever, but something tells me he’ll have to vanish much earlier than midnight.

I take a deep breath, crouch in front of the safe, and spin the dial, stopping it on the six numbers that match the month, date, and last two digits of the year I was born. I turn the steel handle clockwise. The safe door opens toward me with a loud click.

Inside I find countless neatly arranged stacks of hundred-dollar bills in ten-thousand-dollar bundles.

Dad has millions in here.

I move a few bricks of cash aside and see numerous clear bags full of the evil purple powder that has changed my life forever. Perennial. The only other item in the safe is a sheet of yellow paper, folded in half. I unfold it and find myself staring at a list of ingredients. The recipe has no title. It doesn’t need one.

Tears streaming down my face, I take out my phone and dial 911.

And that’s when I hear Dad barge into the house, calling my name and demanding that I come see him immediately.

I wipe my face and stand. Blade is motionless and secure in the sheath. The demon slaying might be over for now, but the human danger hasn’t passed yet.

“Stay in here, William,” I say, giving his hand a squeeze as I pass him and head for the closet. “This is between my dad and me.”

I grab the emergency gun in the top corner of the office closet, the one and only gun Dad has taught me how to clean and use. The irony, of course, is that I’m taking the weapon because I’m afraid of him.

He’s waiting for me in the middle of the living room, halfway between the foyer and the kitchen. Clint Keener looks pale and unstable. His eyes constantly dart around the room as if he senses a trap. There are some people you can never really know at all, no matter how well you think you do. My dad is one of them. That’s what I’m thinking as I stare across the room at him, both hands behind my back, one gripping the gun, the other balled into a tight fist.

“Alix, why did you miss school today?” he asks quietly. “And whose Yukon is parked in our driveway?”

There’s a long silence.

“I know about you, Dad.” A warm tear trickles down my face. “I know everything.”

He nods but doesn’t say anything, just scratches his unsightly beard and stares hard at me.

Finally, he says, “And what is it that you think you know, honey?”

“Mom didn’t know for sure, but she suspected, didn’t she?” I pause. “It’s been going on for years. That’s why she gave me the combination to the safe.”

He looks more distraught now. I tighten my grip on the gun.

“Did you look in my safe, Alix?”

“You killed William Weed and Mr. Watkins, didn’t you?” I start crying but manage to stop. “You’re a dirty cop, Dad. You work for Face, but you want the whole thing to yourself. There was never any insurance money, was there? It’s all Perennial drug money.”

“Alix, listen to me.” He raises his arms in a calming gesture. “Everything in that safe is related to an undercover Perennial investigation. You’re getting emotional and making up crazy stories. I’ll explain everything, but you need to breathe and relax, honey. Be a master of your actions as opposed to a prisoner of your re—”

“I am a master of my actions!” I yell. “You have no idea what I can do. I’m different, okay? I can see things other people can’t. I’m a two-way psychic, Dad. How do you like that? Even the government is interested in me. So don’t lie to me, okay? I’m
sick
of people lying to me. Face is gone! Perennial is gone! It’s over!” I choke back more tears. “How could you do this?”

“Alix, did you have anything to do with what just happened in Oval City?”

“Do you know who Face really is?”

“I’m not sure what you mean by that, Alix. And I’m not sure how and why you even know about Face. But I’ll tell you who Face is. Face is a freak. He’s a drug kingpin who likes wearing things over his head to hide is identity and intimidate people. Problem is I’m not somebody who’s easily intimidated.” He keeps glancing at my waist, surely wondering what my hands are doing behind my back. “You just said he’s gone. What did you mean by that?”

Blade’s lack of movement confirms that my father knows nothing about Fire and Light. To him, Face is exactly what he just said—a freaky drug dealer.

“I meant that Face is gone forever from your life,” I say. “But he sent me a message before he left.” I swallow hard. “Face asked me how well I really know my father.” Dad doesn’t respond. “Marc Watkins was the creator of Perennial and the main maker of the drug. You killed Mr. Watkins at Face’s request because you were Face’s partner in Perennial, and Mr. Watkins was in the process of exposing everything, especially
you
. You have the Perennial recipe in your safe. You know how to make the drug, so getting rid of its creator was no big loss.” Dad closes his eyes for a few moments and then opens them. His vacant stare chills my bones. “Two years ago you killed William Weed in this house because William was the top Perennial dealer and decided to quit the drug business. Face was okay with William leaving, but you weren’t. You killed William and made it look like a suicide, and I’m guessing you snatched this house up once you had enough cash to move us here. I mean, no Beaconsfield cops would ever think to come sniffing around the house of the almighty Clint Keener. As long as you own the house, you own the crime scene of the murder you committed.” I hear the faint sound of something clicking outside and pause, but my unstable father shows no sign of having heard it too. “I think what you ultimately wanted was to get rid of Face, but he always ended up being stronger and smarter than you, didn’t he?”

“You shut up!” he yells, forcing me to take a step back. “Goddamn you, Alix. Everything was for you. Don’t you get it? All of this is for you. I want you to have the future you deserve.”

“Oh my God, it’s all true.” Tears stream down my face. “Why, Dad? Why? How could you do these things? It goes against everything you and Mom taught me about how to succeed in the world. You’re like some kind of monster I don’t even know.”

“Alix, stop it,” he says. “I need you to listen. If what you’re saying is true and Face is gone, then we can keep all of this between us and get far away from Beaconsfield. Nobody needs to know. There’s enough money in that safe to keep us comfortable for the rest of our lives.”

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “Don’t even try that. Please. Just stop.”

Dad is about to say something, but then he looks over my right shoulder, and his eyes bulge like basketballs.

“Hi, Mr. Keener,” William says, entering from the hallway and standing near the entrance to the kitchen. “We never met officially, but I’m sure you remember me.”

“What the…?” Dad squints. “Who are you, and what are you doing in my house?”

“You know who I am,” William says. “If not, maybe this will help.” He rolls up his sleeves to show his dragon tattoos. “I was fond of baseball hats and sunglasses when you knew me.” He gives me a look. “So tell me, Mr. Keener: What does it feel like to be a cold-blooded killer?”

“William?” Dad says, suddenly pale and confused as he stares at the tattoos. “No,” he whispers, shaking his head. “It can’t be. I killed you.”

It happens too fast for me to stop it. Dad draws a gun from the small of his back. I scream as he fires two shots at William. The sound blasts through my ears, but what shocks me most is that William doesn’t even flinch. The bullets pass right through him and lodge into the plaster wall.