The Locket (36 page)

My vision returned and I watched as a dark figure came to Kace offering him a trade. The menace in the tone of the dark figure was unmistakable. Red eyes glowed with fire behind them, as Satan came into view offering him a trade. Through smoke, Satan stood before Kace as a shadow with fiery eyes offering Kace the one thing he wanted more than anything else – redemption he thought had been denied him by the spirit world. His family would be returned to the physical world if Kace would spend eternity serving Satan. The vision changed again and Cecilia was alive. She was at a kitchen table, writing, and the child, now a few years older, burst into the room and hugged her. She held him close and kissed him softly. The visions ended and I felt a sense of pity for this man in front of me.

“I couldn’t let the woman I loved or my child pay for what I had done. I was the one to sin, stealing my brother’s wife,” Kace said, suddenly looking like a man who suffered for years. I held out my hand to him, but he refused it. “My brother took everything from me and I begged the Agents to give it all back, but they denied me. I had no choice. My family had to live. I made the deal.”

“There’s always a choice Kace, but being indebted to Satan was the wrong choice,” I said.

Kace grinned incredulously. “Satan? Really, Claire, isn’t that a tad bit dramatic? Are we talking horns and a tail even? You have quite the imagination.”

Was I wrong? The vision was only a shadow of darkness. “Is that not who you surrendered your soul to, Kace?” I asked.

He shook his head. “My soul, Claire? You do indeed have quite the imagination. I made an agreement. There is no Satan, Claire, just a shadow. The Shadow holds all of the evil in the world, enveloping the weak. I agreed to ensure his presence in the world, Claire,” Kace explained.

“It’s wrong,” I said firmly. “If you and your family’s time had come, then that was how it was meant to be.”

“You’re so innocent, Claire. Think about it. Could you let him die if you had an opportunity to save him?” Kace asked, nodding his head at Brent beside me.

I wanted to say yes, because that was the right answer but I glanced up at Brent knowing that I would be lying. Kace read my expression clearly.

“No, I didn’t think so,” he said, touching my cheek with the very tip of his finger, wiping away a tear. I saw the steam out of the corner of my eye before I felt the searing burn in my skin. I wanted to scream it hurt so bad but looking into Kace’s eyes, I saw the gesture was sincere. He was tormented with the choice he had made and his expression suggested he wanted saving.

Brent inhaled sharply, shoving Kace back.

“Keep your hands off of her,” Brent ordered, sliding in front of me. Kace’s sadistic laugh bounced off the walls echoing around us.

I stepped around Brent pushing him back. “No Brent, it’s okay, he wasn’t trying to hurt me,” I explained.

Brent turned to me, placing his palm over my scorched cheek, his touch instantly cooled my skin – in fact it was freezing in contrast to my cheek – healing the burn until the pain subsided and the gash was gone.

He leaned into my neck and whispered. “We can’t trust him, Claire.”

“I know. Just let him speak, please,” I whispered back. I saw a desire for Kace to explain what he had done and why. We needed to hear him out because that knowledge could only help us.

“The first person I ever haunted was my brother. I had him hearing voices by the time I was done with him. I wanted him to die but I knew being locked away in that mental hospital would be a far greater punishment,” Kace explained, his eyes dark and without penance.

“Why do it Kace? What purpose does it serve?”

He looked at me and for an instant I thought I saw a dim light behind his dark stare.

“The Shadow needed help. He agreed to save Cecilia and my son’s life if I agreed to help him. The Shadow can control humans or apparitions by closing and locking their seal. The Shadow can’t enter the physical world but I can, and the apparitions that follow me are able to as well. We haunt humans that are weak, preying on them until they give into The Shadow’s darkness. When they submit to The Shadow, their seal closes and The Shadow can control them, making them perform many evils.”

I held my hands to my chest, holding in my fear. “I don’t understand. I thought a human seal was matched to another human seal so we could have eternal love.” I watched Brent for an explanation as much as Kace.

Kace followed my gaze, glancing briefly at Brent before he continued. “Love is just one of the things the seal represents. Humans are sealed as a guarantee of salvation. The seal holds all of their wrongs and sins until the day of redemption. When that seal is locked the human will never get their day of reckoning, becoming enslaved in The Shadow. The more unredeemed souls The Shadow collects the stronger his power grows.”

“Are there more like you?” I asked.

“No. There are other apparitions in the physical world but they serve The Shadow through me. I serve The Shadow directly. When I made my agreement with The Shadow to save my family, I did so willing, therefore I was rewarded with powerful abilities. The others are humans that passed on but were unable to accept their death, refusing their higher purpose, stuck in apparition form. The Lost Ones, they’re called. Agents locked them away. I set them free, giving them to The Shadow who released them to the physical world as a virtual hell on earth. They have helped me haunt humans, preying on the weakest, those with little self-control until the human becomes a part of The Shadow, executing his will. Murder, rape, theft, all of the darkness in the world is controlled by The Shadow.

The very thought of what Kace was saying terrified me. If it was true, then this shadow of evil literally walked among us in the bodies of humans and apparitions who had no will to fight.

“Humans are stronger than you think,” I said, trying to persuade myself to believe it.

Kace half grinned before explaining why he thought I was wrong. “There was a time when I wanted to believe that, Claire. All humans have a shadow. You can’t see it, but it’s there. It’s a small cloak of darkness where humans hide all of their misdeeds. The Shadow’s presence in the physical world is only growing stronger. Think about what you see on the news every day. People killing each other, even small children are murdered and sometimes at the hands of their own parents. Humans no longer consider one another. They are selfish, greedy, and most of them are for sale to the highest bidder. Hate is alive and well in the weak. There are a lot of dark souls and The Shadow will control them all someday, ending your world.”

“No, No. I refuse to believe that. People are inherently good, Kace. They just need to be reminded,” I insisted.

“Claire. You’re blind to the darkness and forgiving without thought. You see, you were chosen as The Locket because you don’t have a shadow. You’re a rare gift to the human world. That is why I have to kill you, like I did The Locket before you,” he snarled.

Before me? What was he saying? Omni never mentioned another Locket.

“There was another Locket long ago,” Kace explained. “The other Locket was a boy and together with his followers of spirit hunters, he tried to trap me and send me back to The Realm. He was much too eager. I found him and his group easily. When I did, I locked all of their seals, destroying them, denying them their judgment day and sent them to the pits of hell to serve The Shadow.”

The fire burning in Kace’s eyes was his only warning that he would destroy me, too. Naively, I thought there had to be another ending to our story and wondered if the other Locket had thought the same. I needed to prolong things a while longer, knowing that once this fight began there would be no turning back.

In every storied battle of good versus evil, good always prevailed, right? Kace knew otherwise. He had lived it time and again, relishing in evil’s victory over mankind. He’s confident this will end no differently than it had with The Locket before me. Would I and my group of human friends bow to our own weaknesses, eventually submitting ourselves solely to The Shadow? I would not give up without a fight and I would not be weak.

My friends stood behind me, silent. As I listened closely, I heard heavy breathing and sobbing, mostly from Mandy, who I barely made out hiding in the corner of the room. Fear was radiating from her, filling the air, feeding Kace with ammunition. Surprisingly, the rest of my friends were calm and in control of their emotions.

The door swung open, slamming into the wall behind it. Riley and Brody came striding through the door screaming Layken’s name.
This is bad. Why are they here?

“Oh goody, more humans. This just keeps getting better and better,” Kace snarled, motioning the two of them to come, which they foolishly complied. “Come on, join your friends.”

I looked over at Brent and asked what they were doing here.

“I called them,” Layken answered. “I thought we were coming to get you from Logan’s. He’s such a jerk when he’s drinking. Since he had a gun, I told them where we were and that if they didn’t hear from us in half an hour, to come looking,” she explained. I couldn’t really blame her for considering her own safety.

“What is going on here?” Brody asked, standing protectively in front of Riley.

“You’re going to die,” Kace taunted, letting out an evil half laugh, half roar as he held up his hand. I watched as a blue ball grew slowly around his palm.

The light started to leave his hand in thin strings of iridescent light that reminded me of the Couriers. He pointed the strings towards Brody and they picked up speed as they raced towards him.

Layken darted in front of Brody, holding her hand out. The rays of light encircled her palm. I screamed out her name, expecting her to plummet to the ground before me, but I watched as the light traveled back towards Kace. The hum of the movement grew noisier as the streams met in the middle, forming a ball of brilliant electricity. Both Kace and Layken held firm.
How is she doing that?
The hum intensified, getting louder and louder as the ball grew larger. It was now the size of a basketball and Layken struggled to hold it back.

Brooke joined Layken at her side causing Reese to scream her name. Brooke ignored Reese’s protest, holding her hand out, sending her own electric threads towards Kace.
How is that even possible?
Riley and Brody fell in line sending their own current toward Kace.

I can’t believe it. My friends are Chasers, like me.

My head felt light as a vision came to me. I glanced at Kace who watched knowingly. The group of us stood in a huge clearing with a lake behind us in the distance. We had formed a row and Kace stood opposite us. The vision stopped. Kace saw it too. I watched as agitation crawled up his face. Brent and Reese joined the others holding off Kace’s electric charge.

Kace transferred his stare to Mandy who was still huddled in the far corner, holding her knees and sobbing. She was not present in my vision nor had she joined the others and it was obvious as to why. She was human, not a Chaser like the rest of my friends. Mandy was not a necessity for Kace to finish his game.

Kace figured out she was human. It was probably his plan all along. Baiting us, he used his attack on Brody to draw out the rest of the ghost hunters and see what he was up against. He would kill Mandy because he didn’t need her. He couldn’t let her go with everything she had seen.

I propelled myself in Mandy’s direction, hoping to save her, but I was too late. The thin streams of electricity passed in front of me so close the energy vibrated against my skin. The lighted strings penetrated Mandy’s chest and I watched horrified as her body shook violently, the electric seizure was ending her life. I had been too late to stop it. I dropped to my knees overcome with grief and crawled over to her.

Mandy looked up at me with large emerald eyes and I held her hand to console her.

“Sorry,” she whispered, before her head fell to the side. Kace had killed her.

I heard the chatter around me while I sat hugging her tight to my chest. She had done nothing more than have a crush on a boy. We should all be running because this was not going to end well. I felt a warm hand on my shoulder and turned as Brent’s thoughts were in my head. I glanced over his shoulder and confirmed them, Kace was gone.

Brent smiled softly and leaned into my ear. “You’re ready,” he whispered.

I smiled back, knowing he was right. I was ready. I felt it deep inside.

The group gathered around me still chattering among each other.

“We were designed to be ghost hunters, chosen to defeat Kace. More importantly, we were designed to be friends. I have faith in all of you. We can do this.” I encouraged the group, sensing they doubted if this was a task we could handle.

“How do we even find Kace?” Layken finally asked.

I answered, remembering my earlier vision. “I had a vision of all of us at the lake. I think that is where we’ll find him.”

“No, Kace saw the vision too. He won’t go there,” Brent reminded.

“He’s right. Kace won’t go to the lake,” I heard Logan say adamantly. I had forgotten he was here. He had not joined the group when they held back the electricity from Kace. Kace must have forgotten about Logan too, or surely he would have met the same fate as Mandy.

I was curious as to how Logan could be so positive Kace wouldn’t go to the lake even though he was probably right.

Looking at Brent for answers, I asked “Okay, if not there, then how will we find him?”

Logan strolled towards me. “I’ll find him, Claire,” he promised.

“How?”

“I’m a Hunter. Kace can’t evade me,” Logan replied confidently.

“What does that mean, Logan?” I didn’t understand his words. I knew he took hunting trips with his uncle all the time but I didn’t see how the ability to hunt deer or turkeys could help in this situation. I smiled at his sincere desire to help us, and frowned at the fact because he was human. We couldn’t allow him to come with us. Kace would use that against us as a weakness. My heart would break if anything happened to Logan.