Velocity (31 page)

Dexter whined and put his head on his paws when she spoke Ruby’s name.

“Harlow told us about the vessel, too. What is it?”

“Phillip is trying to help himself by transferring his essence into his healthy son. He will take over your love, Henry’s, body. If they get a hold of Henry, and he’s able to open the portal, you are the only person who can stop it. You have to send the stone back by dropping it in and then end this by sealing it with your blood.”

My jaw dropped, even though I should have known. Why Phillip had controlled Henry’s every move, why he’d stopped hitting him, why he hadn’t been invited to most of the meetings. Why he’d made him stay away from the Orphanage’s bad energy.

Silver lightning cracked across the sky. Eleanor looked up at it and frowned. “It’s time for you to go back to your body.”

The dog led me back to a way out. I saw Ruby for a moment in the distance, a burning, flowing red spot. I could sense so much power and anger from her.

He led me to the clock that looked like the one in my house. Mist swirled around us, and I could see the shadows running and moving, much more formed and dark than before.

This is the way you must go,
the Dexter-dog said in my head. The shell of my house was around it. I didn’t want to go in, but he nudged me gently, the strange, too-hard feel of his muzzle. I moved the hands of the clock.

These were my symbols to show which ways to travel
, he said.
If you cannot go in directly, look for the clock.

The clock pulled away and revealed a black hole of a door in the wall. I stepped through, and back to my body.

CHAPTER 29

AS SOON AS
I came to, I immediately ripped the necklace off. The skin on my chest was burnt, and a bright red circle stood out on my flesh. I sucked in a breath.

Henry and Callie were arguing. “You said you were going to pull her out!” he shouted, getting up in her face. Callie was staring at him defiantly, a look I’d never seen before from her. “She’s been down for a while and she’s obviously uncomfortable.”

“If she was in pain, she’d let us know,” Callie said. I didn’t like her tone of voice.

“How? She’s gone, she’s not even in her body anymore. You are pushing her way too hard, just like last time.”

“Guys,” Theo said quietly. She held my hand and smiled at me.

Henry was immediately at my side, hauling me to my feet. He hugged me tightly.

“I wanted to bring you out of it,” he said. “The necklace was on for almost an hour, and all the color left your skin and you were writhing. Your lips turned blue.”

“It was more intense than the grounding stone,” Theo agreed. “By far. You looked like you were possessed.

“I’m just looking out for what you would want, Ariel,” Callie said. “I understand why you’re so protective of her. But this is what she wanted.”

“Where’s my father?” I croaked, searching the room for him.

“He’s seeing what kind of supplies we have here,” Theo explained.

“What did you learn from your journey?” Callie said.

“We need to get Henry out of here,” I said. I took a step forward and toppled over as Henry caught me.

“Steady,” he murmured, holding me up. “Why?”

“They want you,” I told him. “You’re the vessel. Phillip is going to transfer his spirit into your body, and then use it to take the Dark energy in. When the ritual starts, I’m the only one who can stop it. With my blood.”

Henry took me aside. “Can I talk to Ariel for a second?” he asked the others.

Still confused, they nodded and Henry led me by the arm, taking care not to touch the bandage, to a few rows away from where I’d been.

“What’s this all about?” I whispered loudly. The sense of urgency I’d felt wasn’t dampening down. “We need to move.”

“I think your father is being influenced by Callie. Because of his grief, he’s listening to her too much,” Henry explained.

“Callie has been on our side for a while,” I said back, frowning. “She’s the last person I’d worry about.”

“Just watch her,” Henry said meaningfully. “I’ve misjudged people before, so I’m certainly not the last word on anything. But pay attention. She was definitely pushing you farther than she should have. Maybe she’s just as desperate as the rest of us, but your safety comes first.”

He ran his hand over my upper arm, his expression softening. “You know, we haven’t had time to talk about…last night.”

I felt a blush coming on, but I resisted the urge duck my head. It was just light enough with the candles to see his face. The shadows danced over his handsome, etched features.

“It was amazing,” he continued. “And just in case, no matter what happens, I want you to know that I’ve loved you since the first time we kissed back at that Halloween dance.”

My emotions felt heavy and powerful in my chest. I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his. He drew me close, deepening the kiss. “No goodbye speeches,” I told him as I drew back. “We’re going to make it out of this together.”

He didn’t look convinced, but I could tell he was trying to hide it for my benefit. I felt his heart beating against mine through his shirt. He stole another kiss, his lips lingering against mine.

A huge boom from outside erupted. Henry let go of me and we ran around the shelves. Several pieces of glassware on the shelves fell over and broke. Hugh ran back towards us with several of the other men. “They must have figured out we’re here,” Hugh said gravely. “They set off an explosion in front of the building.”

Then we all saw them. Shadows began creeping towards us from the dark aisles of clothes and merchandise. As we backed up, disembodied white hands shot out of the walls and the floor. Theo and Lucy screamed.

Hugh took the necklace from where it lay and stowed it in his pocket. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

As we ran towards the loading dock, Henry whispered at me.

Shadow creatures were crawling along the ceiling, fixing their red eyes on us. One dropped to the ground by Mr. Taylor, and he pushed it away, shouting.

Another boom sounded from the front of the store, and we ran out the exit onto the street. We didn’t see any unnatural shadows outside, just those our own bodies projected. Our group stopped, and Lucy bent over, trying to catch her breath.

“Thank goodness we left them in there,” she said between gasps.

Then we saw them―a group of about fifteen hooded figures,striding purposefully our way. Several of them were burly men cluching tree branches as weapons.

“Go the other way!” Hugh shouted. Henry grabbed my hand and we turned, running in the opposite direction. But we saw that was a dead end, blocked off by huge delivery trucks. They had tricked us. We were being ambushed.

The ground began to shake. A great fissure opened up beneath us. I saw Deana Ford standing off to the side, squinting at the ground. Her red bow lips were whispering very fast. Henry and I were standing on opposite sides, and the ground continued to break and spread beneath our feet.

“Henry, reach out your hand!” I shouted, stretching my own out for him.

He stretched out his fingers, the strain reddening his face.

“No!” I screamed in frustration as the figures closed in.

Our hands clasped. He smiled gratefully, his eyes reflecting warm relief. Then the ground shook again, and I couldn’t help but let go. He was completely separated from the rest of us. Thornhill’s members reached him, and grabbed his arms and legs. He shouted, twisting and trying to get free. One of them, wearing a bird’s mask, clonked him in the side of the head.

“Don’t damage the vessel, you idiot!” another woman scolded. I noticed with a macabre sense of fear that it was Ms. Fellows, my dreary old English teacher.

Henry pulled the gun that he’d stolen from Vanderlip out of his pocket. The members of the cult backed away from him.

“Don’t be stupid,” one of the men said, getting closer. He started to rush towards Henry.

Henry pointed the gun at him and pulled the trigger. The gun clicked, out of bullets. Henry tossed it to the ground as the man nabbed him up and pulled him away.

“Henry!” I shouted one last time. I wanted to cry but I swallowed my tears, anger filling me.

The fissure opened wider, rocks falling down into burning red lava below. I dropped to my knees on the ground, watching them take him away, staring at the ravine. Trees collapsed as it reached the side of the parking lot, falling with a crash into the lava. Deana stopped chanting and glided off with the others.

Theo and Callie pulled me to my feet. Callie put her hands on my face and forced me to look into her dark eyes. “Don’t stop now. Let’s go. We can still save him.”

Thornhill’s group had already disappeared around the corner of the building. We followed the outside line of the fissure past the trees and walked around. I was barely holding myself together at that point. I thought I heard the orphans singing through the trees again, the tune mocking me.

Hugh came up to us. “Take her through the shortcut,” Hugh told Callie. “We need to come at them at all different sides. We’ll go directly there.”

“I want to stay with you,” I protested.

“Callie will keep you safe. You can trust her,” Hugh said. He kissed my head, holding his lips there for a long moment. “I love you.”

He hurried away with the rest of his group. In a second he was gone in the direction the Thornhill group had been going. Everything moved too fast for me to protest, and then we were off.

Theo and I walked together behind Callie as she went through the trees. My friend held my hand and we silently tried to give each other strength. It was eerie how quiet it was, all except for the persistent beat far off down the road. I’d grown used to the sound by now, although it wasn’t at all comforting.

Callie started to hum. It was quiet at first, but then it grew in volume. It was a song from the Wizard of Oz, best I could tell. She wasn’t a bad singer, but it seemed a little spooky and inappropriate. The birds flying over the rainbow in the song mimicked the ones overhead.

We crossed the empty street, where a fire burned in a puddle of oil on the ground. Across the road was the cemetery. She walked purposefully through the fence, picking up a stick off the ground and dragging it on the tops of the tombstones.

“Isn’t it a lovely night for a fight?” she called back to us.

The hair stood up on my arms. Something really wasn’t right.

“Is she acting a little weird?” Theo whispered.

“Definitely,” I whispered back. “We need to find our own way.” Raising my voice, I called to Callie. She stopped, her back to us. “I don’t know if this is the best way to get there. Theo and I are going to go back to the road and head through the woods.”

She didn’t turn around, just standing there with her long hair falling down her back.

“Callie?” I asked, frowning.

All of a sudden, a flurry of activity broke out around us. Men in hoods jumped out from behind the tombstones.

Finally Callie spun around, and started to mutter under her breath. “Desino,” she said suddenly.

I felt a shot of energy hit me, and Theo let out a gurgle. I suddenly couldn’t move. It didn’t look like Theo could, either. The men encircled us. I recognized Theo’s father, Richard Weaver, with mounting horror. His robe was filthy with mud and leaves. He grabbed onto her shoulders with dirty fingers. The stale smell of old cigarettes wafted from his skin.

“Dad, what are you doing?” Theo squeaked in a frightened voice.

Callie came closer, smiling smugly, and stopped before us.

“I thought you were my friend, Callie,” I said. “How could you do this?”

“You’re an idiot, Ariel,” Callie said with a tinge of laughter. “I’ve been playing you like a guitar the whole time. And you never figured me out. I was the one who chased you through the rain that day at the library, when you thought it was Warwick. I was the one who stole the
Other Worlds
book. I only gave you the other book because I hoped it would fish the necklace out. I was working with McPherson to try to get it out of you.”

An epiphany hit me. “You were blocking me from seeing Thornhill’s recent activity somehow, weren’t you?”

“Slow on the uptake but she finally gets it,” Callie said, smirking. “You were so desperate for a new mommy, so eager for me to be your girlfriend, that you just let me in.” Her words stung me and made me feel like a moron. All this time I thought I’d been entertaining her notions.

“You weren’t around back in the day. Your family isn’t part of Thornhill. So why would you be on their side?” I asked.

Callie shrugged, twirling the stick in her hand again. “I’ve always felt like an underdog. I was the youngest kid in a family of overachievers. Never could do enough. I used to work at a clinic in Pennsylvania, and one day I met Phillip when he came in for a physical. We started talking about the supernatural, and he told me about his plans. Phillip likes the ladies, no wonder your mommy tried to go back with him. He treats them well.”