The Haunting (32 page)

Uneasily, I concentrated on the swirling tornado that began to form inside my chest. Neive let go of my hands. My fingers tingled until they’d gone completely numb.

The energy rippled outward, slinking through my torso and into my shoulders.

“Concentrate,” Neive whispered.

I heard Aidan grunt a reply, determination written over his face. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back; I could practically feel the calculations. It was harder for him, the sweat beading against his temples.

I bit the insides of my cheeks. The unearthly pitch from behind sounded like a cross between a child and a dog.

Movement caught the corner of my eye.

I turned my head to see zombies walking on stiff legs towards us. They had dirty tattered clothes with moss growing alongside their loose flesh. Drooping half-eaten eyes were unseeing but somehow, they saw us.

I half expected to see the two men who’d abducted Neive and me when we were young but couldn’t find them in the crowd.

Stiffening, I felt a surge of adrenaline fuel the whirlwind of energies.

Somewhere, I heard Damien shout, “No! Neive, stop!”

Spinning, I tried to look for the source. He had freed himself from Neive’s trap. He could be upon us any second. Shuddering, I looked away to see spiders, hundreds of large black hairless spiders, racing up behind Neive.

“Keep concentrating. I’m losing you,” Neive commanded.

Panicked, I met her steely gaze. She seemed so unafraid and confident that I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

Damien had to be pushing these nightmarish images our way. He wanted it to stop. Something had to be working.

I felt the heavy thrum of energy rippling along my skin. The heat radiating from Neive was almost too hot, but I didn’t dare take a step back.

Between gnashing teeth and moans behind me, I heard the earth moving with thousands of tiny feet through the grass ahead of me.

Neive counted on me. Aidan and Cooper too. I tried not to think about what would happen to Neive when this was all over.

I had to let go of the past, I realized. There was no changing it now, no regretting what I could have done to save her as a child. No one could give Neive back her youth, but Neive didn’t seem to mind, either. There were no apologies, no making up for past mistakes; it was what one sibling could do for the other now, in this instant. The past was smoke made to shape whatever guilt I could conjure.

This was now, and I looked to my sister, loving her in a new way. Not a childish longing to be her best friend, but just to be family—blood. I had to believe that we’d be connected somehow, no matter how this turned out.

But at the same time, I couldn’t let Damien have her…or did I just want to stay?

I felt a tickle on my skin above my socks.
The spiders are here
, I thought with dread. In the first Challenge, I had to endure several minutes of them crawling all over me. I had managed to use some of my powers before I even knew they existed. This time, however, I had to save it.

I could feel them as they climbed steadily up my leg. It tickled sensitive skin to the point where I began to shudder so not to indulge a scratch.

“Don’t,” Neive said in a warning tone.

He’s just trying to make you fail
, I thought to myself.
Concentrate, concentrate
…

“Nora,” he whispered in my ear. I could feel the cool breath of the intruder run down the side of my neck.

Concentrate, concentrate.

“You can never leave,” said Damien.

Ignore him!
my brain commanded.

The illusion of this place,
that
was what I needed to destroy.

I opened my eyes to see the entire cemetery glowing.

“You’ll never work this magic,” Damien growled, his voice low, threatening.

Following his voice, I saw him standing off to the side now. The spiders avoided him as if repelled by some invisible wall while the zombies appeared too focused on us to care.

At first I’d thought Damien was talking to me, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was looking past me.

Jerking my head, I saw Aidan’s eyes open in narrow slits. The sweat began to glisten across his face, dampening the front of his shirt.

“Aidan,” Neive warned harshly, “like I taught you!”

The zombies were only a few feet away, their excitement evident as their voices rose. Their fingers flexed in anticipation, as if they could pull themselves closer, faster. The spiders made their way onto my pajama shorts as well as up them.

I gritted my teeth in a savage grin.

Neive’s eyes were open as well. Damien returned her blazing stare.

The energy I’d stolen from Aidan was becoming too heavy. The intensity increased to the point where it felt painful, almost too much to keep contained. Did all of this borrowed energy come from them both?

“Not yet,” Neive whispered to me, eyes wide but not looking at me. For the first time, I saw a flash of fear in them.

I whispered, “I don’t think I can hold on.” Just speaking made me afraid it would leak from my mouth. If I didn’t let it out soon, it would leak through my eyes and nose. The pressure against my sinuses and against the back of my eyes was surprisingly cold.

Damien watched with shiny black eyes.

His beauty began to fade. I blinked to be sure. His skin wasn’t the smooth marble, rather a skin color. His black eyes dulled to a brown, and his hair fell limp against his skull. He lost weight before my eyes too, growing sickly and strained. I watched as his skin sagged, shoulders and ribs jutting from behind his shirt.

The familiar devilish smile eased across his lips.
She’s not leaving with you
, his soothing voice danced inside my head.

I felt my eyes widen as the energy began to tear at my skin. No physical holes could be seen, no blood, only pain. Crying out, I held back, quivering, trying not to fall to my knees as one of the zombies grabbed a handful of my hair, yanking my head back.

“Now!” Neive shouted.

“
Don’t
!” Damien’s powerful voice overrode Neive’s, but it was too late.

I couldn’t have held on anyway.

Everything burst like a geyser, reaching up towards the sky. I felt Neive’s darker power mixing, overlapping mine—or rather, Aidan’s.

I could almost see it now. It bent the air and moved like impossibly clear water.

The emancipated demon stepped forward, and Aidan’s power lashed out in spikes of clear energy. The stabbing effort sent prisms of light through it, fleeting but sharp and beautiful.

A haze crept into my vision, dots peppering its edge. I felt light-headed and my knees knocked together, but I’d be damned if I let my exhaustion get the better of me, not now.
This was for Neive, not me
…
not me.

The illusion exploded.

Not only the illusion, but Neive as well. Damien ducked, pushed back by the Keeper’s powers that shot from Aidan.

What was happening? I glanced between them, feeling the powers sapped from my limbs, weakening every inch of my body and mind.

A sensation of falling overtook my stomach. The itching stopped, the zombies shattered. The same prisms of light flashed as if they’d been made of individual water droplets.

The cemetery evaporated, and I could see the energy within each blade of glass. It was a kaleidoscope of color, but behind it was darkness, only a siphoning blackness that threatened to devour everything.

I turned to look for Neive and realized Aidan had disappeared too.

My eyes grew wide. “Hello?” I shouted, but my voice was swallowed into the darkness. The darkness closed in further, broken bits of illusion floating around me like shards of broken glass.

I tried to twist around to find my sister again. “Neive?”

My eyes grew wide as I tried to force the darkness away.

Debris flew around my head, whipping my hair around my face. I squinted and hunched my shoulders against the fragments that might fly into me.

I wasn’t standing; I was falling. My stomach hit my throat, choking the scream.

I was floating. I felt my hair brushing my face and my clothes rippling.

The world was light—heady even. I relaxed into it, and for the first time in a while, I was at peace.

Then I heard someone speaking. It was barely a whisper at first, hardly worth my time.

I tried to sink into the nothingness. There wasn’t any stress here, no loss or fear. I could sleep here, I realized, and I wouldn’t regret a thing.

Recognizing the voice, I opened my eyes reluctantly.

It was too bright to focus. I tried to shield with my arms and strained to listen to Phoebe.

Straining, it took some time and worry before I could hear it. “
I’ll wait for you here
,” she said. Phoebe whispered it again. “
I’ll wait for you here, Fuller.
”

I felt the floorboards beneath my hip and shoulder and rolled onto my back, away from the sunlight that streamed full force through the tiny window. My butt hit something behind me and stopped me mid-roll.

There was a vibration in the air, something familiar. My foggy brain was having trouble identifying it.

Easing my arms away from my face, I saw a circular brick room. I looked behind me; wooden back-to-back chairs were in the middle of the dustless room.

I saw the carved initials in the leg of the first chair.

N.E.F.

I whispered, “Neive Eleanor Fuller.” Twisting around, I traced the letters with my finger, feeling dried of tears. I just felt numb. That was something I could be grateful for.

Sitting up slowly, I held my head in my hands. Pins and needles prickled my skin. I was suddenly very aware of the ache in my back, the bruises, and a peculiar numbness in my fingertips.

I saw healed scabs up my arms. My palms still had the thumbprint-sized marks, but they didn’t hurt. The bruises on my legs had faded to a green. How long had I been gone?

Standing, I used the chair to steady myself.

The small marble door was situated against the orange brick wall, closed and undisturbed.

It took me several seconds to realize I was in the tower. The brick walls with the ominous writing chiseled on them were like something I hadn’t seen in years.

Also, I wasn’t alone.

Aidan lay not two feet from me, his cellphone on the floor at his hip.

He was on his stomach, and his roan hair was splayed across his face, his eyes closed. I froze, not daring to breathe until I saw his back rise and fall. The cast was still on his arm, and I realized in that instant that he had come back for me. They must have all escaped, and he came back.

“Neive?”

“She’s gone, Nora.” His voice both thrilled and scared me.

Damien sat in one of the chairs. I knew he hadn’t been there before. He didn’t look like the demon we’d left behind. Instead, I got the devilishly handsome man I’d first met.

“Gone where?” I asked.

“She freed you and your friends’ souls by sacrificing herself.”

“Sacrificing?” I felt the word draw a knife through the numbing emotions.

It was a morbid theme to her life—to our lives. “She’s dead?” Dead a second time? On some level, I knew she was gone.
Where was she now?
I wondered weakly.

I’d let her go, I realized. Back when we were together for the last time, I knew I had to let go of the past, and essentially, I let Neive go with it. The knot of grief gave a vulgar twist.

Damien said, oblivious to my internal lashings. “Blood sacrifices hold more power then even I can manipulate.” Emotion touched his voice briefly. “She can never cross the Grave again.”

“And you’re without a Neophyte,” I said guardedly, trying to absorb the shock. I had just seen her. She had to have known what she was doing.

“Yes.”

“What now?” I knew I was crying but couldn’t feel the tears.

“Now you become my messenger, of sorts,” Damien answered, sorrowful eyes turning upward. “The Birket will take his grandfather’s place as Keeper.” He jerked his chin toward the unconscious Aidan on the floor. “He must guard the door in the tower until his death. That is his duty. He’s proven himself worthy of the task under Neive’s guidance.”

“What if he refuses?” I asked.

“He won’t. Neive not only trained him on your plane here but also in the Grave in your absence. Without her, he’d be dead.” His jaw twitched as if he weren’t entirely pleased at the idea.

“And what if I don’t want to be your messenger?” I asked.

Damien leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of him, breathing out. “I told you, you could never escape the Demon’s Grave. You’re half in and half out now, Nora. Neive made sure of that in her sacrifice.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that even in your refusal, you will hear me call. You will be allowed to open the door but only when I signal you.”

“How will I know?”

“The Keeper will know,” he said. “Half your life here, half your life in the Grave. You lost the Challenge, Nora.”

“Half my life?”

“If you need a time table,” Damien waved a careless hand, “approximately six months. Time is different in the Grave, though. Don’t be surprised if it varies.”

I stared at him, waiting for more, but he wasn’t budging.

Six months.

“So this is it. It’s over,” I said, meeting his gaze.

The corner of his mouth twitched as if to smile but settled back in place. “It’s never over.”

“So you’ll call for me and I’ll pop back in the Grave, for what?”

“For whatever is required.” In one fluid motion, he was out of the chair and so close I realized I’d grabbed for his sides to steady myself. It was dizzying to see him move so fast.

I stared up at him and felt the corner of my mouth twitch. “What about your Neophyte?”

“We’ll find it together,” he said, his cool breath touching my forehead.

“And Phoebe?”

“She decided to stay.”

I nodded, the regret stinging. “Why?”

“Here she’s a corpse, and she’s uncertain of the consequences. I’m allowing her to stay.”

“You are?”

Damien started to roll his eyes, then stopped himself. “For you, I’ll allow her to stay. You’ll need someone there when you come back.”

“So she’ll be waiting for me.”

“As will I,” he added.

I couldn’t help but smirk at that. It was a twisted glee. I should be upset about Phoebe being gone, but I’d get to see her again. I wondered if there would be a way to help her live in there, to give her hope.

Damien’s cheeks were hollowing out. It was subtle, hardly noticeable at first, but I saw the dark circles starting to line beneath his eyes. He’d said magic was stifled here.

“Will you take care of her?” I asked. “In your illusion. No Challenges this time?”

He cupped my face between his hands and nodded his sincerity. “I will, but the entire world is an illusion, Nora. Not just the Demon’s Grave. We all want to see what we want to see.”

“What do you see?” I dared to ask again. “Something interesting? A specimen?”

He paused, eyes flickering between mine as he mulled over his answer. “Something beautiful.”

“Cheesy,” I tried to joke, realizing he was talking about me.

“Where I’m from, it’s a rarity.”

His hair was limp, looking greasy and thinning before my eyes.

My breath caught in my throat just before I leaned up to kiss him.

His cool lips were just as strange and inviting as before. I could have stayed with him, I realized. I could have learned to trust being on my own. I didn’t need to rely on anyone anymore or wait for someone else to make the first move. Those were the things that made me kiss him. Because I wanted to.

Dropping back down, breaking the kiss, I whispered, “See you soon.”

I realized we had identical crooked smirks, and I bit the insides of my cheeks.

“You would have made a good Neophyte, Nora,” Damien said, backing away. His frame had thinned as well, making him look gaunt instead of lean.

And with that, he was gone. A blink of an eye and he vanished from our world.

I heard scraping behind me and looked to see Aidan squirming awake. Blinking away the light, he tried to shield his eyes with his arm cast. The other patted the floor until it found his cellphone.

He caught sight of me and froze.

“Hi, Aidan,” I croaked.

Without a word, he sat up slowly. I offered to help him stand, but he waved me off. The hum was back in the air, and that meant the old and sometimes uncomfortable shock would be back as well.

Standing, he dropped his good arm around my shoulder, careful not to touch skin. I still felt wobbly, and we supported each other for several silent seconds.

“You came back,” he whispered, squeezing my shoulder. “I thought you might’ve stayed.”

“Not exactly…”

“Neive’s dead?” he asked cautiously.

I glanced at him, but he wouldn’t look at me.

“Yeah, she’s…she’s gone.”

“I thought that’s what she was doing,” he murmured, his gaze distant.

He wore clean clothes, jeans and a striped shirt, while I was still stuck in the soiled pajamas.

“What happened while I was away?” I asked softly.

“I thought we lost you for good,” Aidan said. “When Read found that ring, everything went dark, and we were ushered through a doorway.” He shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “Except for Phoebe.”

He stepped back, his arm dropping to his side.

“Neive didn’t tell you?”

Aidan blushed at the mention of my sister. “Yeah, she told me eventually. Phoebe’s dead. So are Cody and someone Joel and Claire brought with them.” He glanced at me finally and took a deep breath. “You saw Phoebe though? Is she okay? I mean…other than the obvious.”

“From what I know,” I said. I believed it. I had to. “What happened after the doorway?”

Aidan looked around the room as he spoke. “We all woke up in here. Neive came with us. Said she’d hitch a ride while he wasn’t looking.”

“Then what?”

Aidan shrugged.

“Then what, Aidan?” I hardened my tone.

“She lived with me here for that week.”

“To train you.” I didn’t have to wonder; his discomfort was obvious. He liked my sister. I wasn’t sure what kind of jealousy twinged inside of me. Was it because they were falling for each other? Or because he was able to spend time with Neive in our world?

“Yeah,” he said, sounding sad. “She trained me as best she could. She said that if we were going to get you back, I was the only one who could help.”

“Because you’re the Keeper,” I said.

He nodded. “With the title, I guess I get some extra…” he looked at his good hand, “…magic or whatever it is.” He smirked. “She hated that word.”

“Magic?”

“Yeah, said it made it sound mystical when really it was just a hypersensitivity to energy in the body.”

“Huh,” I said, “wish I’d been around for the training.”

He nodded. “Wish she could have come back, too.”

In that, we agreed, and we awkwardly went quiet again. My eyes strayed to the warnings etched in the walls.

Offered death for once the brave.

I immediately thought of Phoebe and missed her terribly in that moment.
But I’ll see her again
, I reminded myself.

“I didn’t know that you and Damien were—”

“I was distracting him,” I interrupted, louder than I meant to. I didn’t know why I lied about how I felt about Damien. It felt safer this way. Plus, Aidan didn’t need to know about that side of me.

He blinked at me before nodding. “What happened anyway?”

I told him what Neive’s sacrifice meant.

Aidan’s eyes narrowed. “So you’re going back.” It wasn’t a question. It sounded more like an accusation.

“That’s the deal,” I said. “I lost the Challenge. I should be there forever.”

“Do you want to be?” It was a valid question.

“No,” I said truthfully. “Not forever.”

“So he’s pulled a Hades,” Aidan said and rolled his eyes.

“Sorry?”

“Hades had a wife named Persephone. She lived half the time in her world and the other half in the underworld with her husband.”

I blushed. “Well, he’s not my husband, so—”

“Same idea,” Aidan interrupted. He didn’t look pleased, but he lost his angry edge.

“I’m sorry about Neive,” he said finally.

“I’m sorry too,” I said and saw his ears redden a little. “You really liked her, huh?”

Aidan looked down, collecting his thoughts before looking up and forcing that polite smile. He changed the subject. “Thanks for coming back.”

I could feel myself blush as he backed away and instantly realized the warmth of his proximity was gone. It wasn’t like that with Damien.

“Come on.” Aidan motioned to the doorway leading downstairs. “There are a lot of worried people who need to see you.”

Aidan stopped just before the doorway. “I’m just happy it’s finally over.” He didn’t look happy, but I nodded anyway. In the back of my mind, I could hear Damien’s whisper, “
It’s never over
.”

Honestly, I was happy to be back with people I knew and loved, but at the same time, the Demon’s Grave wasn’t something I was scared of, not anymore. Even now, I craved that warmth in my stomach and to feel it ride up my arms. Just a hypersensitivity to energy. I guess my hypersensitivity started in my stomach, which was no surprise.

“I’m hungry,” I announced and rubbed my palms as if that could recharge the warm, power sensation.

“We’ll get you food.” Aidan smiled politely and closed the door behind us. The hinges squeaked, trapping us in temporary darkness.