“I’ll make sure of that,” I volunteer, hoping to change the terms of our agreement because God knows her other two family members aren’t going to fair as well.
The crowd presses in. A series of grunts and moans swell around us until it’s difficult to make out an escape route in this thicket of undead bodies.
“Cooper…” Laken’s voice quivers.
“We’re going to take them to the Transfer now. We’ll be back for you later.” I shout it loud enough to appease the crowd, and a rush of voices rise into the sky as they cheer in hopes of their newfound freedom.
How are we going to pull this off? Laken squeezes my arm like she’s juicing it for blood.
On three, pick up Kara, and I’ll take Richard. I’ll lead us out to the boulders. Make sure you run as inhumanly fast as possible. Once we hit through the barrier, we can figure things out from there.
Laken looks down at the little girl with her misshapen head, her round eyes bulging unnaturally. I know Laken is thinking of Lacey, how precious this little life is and doesn’t want to hurt her.
Laken presses her face to my neck and inhales sharply as if holding back tears. We can’t let Ezrina hurt her, either of them.
We won’t. Let’s get out of this mosh pit, and we’ll see what we can do. I nod over to Flynn in his haggard state of being.
I clear my throat. “Laken and I will lead the way with the Tobias siblings.”
Hattie and Amelia each hug them goodbye.
“Kara”—Hattie bends to meet her—“you be a good girl. Soon you’ll have your life back, and Laken here will treat you as if you were her own sister. Isn’t that right, Laken?” Hattie glares over at her. She knew just where to place the dig. “Take care of Richard as well.” She straightens. “You did good. When you yield the proper results, we’ll discuss the passage to your loved ones.”
I glance over at Laken. Throw Kara over your shoulder, and whatever you do, don’t let go of my hand.
She offers a firm squeeze. Her eyes light up as if she’s ready for a fight.
“Three!” I shout.
Laken and I snatch up the Tobias siblings and drive down the field, laden with Spectators, as fast as our feet will carry us. Bodies fly as we pick up our pace to supernatural speeds. My foot catches on something, and I send Richard flying through the air like a projectile missile. Laken’s fingers disconnect with mine, and the crowd fills in, pushing and shoving.
“Laken!” I drift further east with my feet off the floor as the Spectators carry me closer to the boulders fully expecting to cross over to the promise land.
We hit the overgrown rock formation and noticeably nothing happens.
Fists pound against the pale blue granite. The stone lays still as the crowd begins to swirl in confusion.
An angry growl penetrates the air and the zombie parade shifts direction.
The entire lot of them, turn and head toward campus.
First stop on the way—Henderson Hall.
Wesley
After scouring every known dorm looking for Coop and Laken, I end up back at the party.
Kresley spent the last twenty minutes teasing me every which way with her stripper routine. No matter how hard I try to avoid her, she manages to pop up in my line of vision with those swollen boobs aching for attention.
“Face it Paxton”—she slithers up from behind and whispers into my ear—“you’re mine tonight, and you know it.”
Shit.
Ironically, despite all of her attention seeking, her periodic nipple flashing, Kresley is the last person on my mind tonight. That picture she showed me of Coop and Laken exchanging a kiss in their coordinated outfits keeps regurgitating itself. What the hell was with the themed costumes, anyway? Is that Laken’s way of giving me the middle finger? I would have sworn on my life that she loved me—that every part of her was genuinely into me—and now she’s off doing who knows what with Cooper.
I bet she spilled the deep dark secrets of her imaginary past, and he chose to play along. In the beginning I considered it. Just something to pass the time until her true memory came back, but I knew it would be dangerous. He’s hurting her in an effort to get into her kick pants. It just proves what an ass Flanders is. And to think, I felt bad about Grayson cheating on him earlier with Fletch. Some part of me wanted to believe Laken tried his blood just the once—one and done. I bet they’re having a good laugh over what an idiot I’ve been all along.
Fletch comes over, looking wrecked—like he’s had some serious carnal affection in that bathroom with Grayson, and now he’s worse for wear.
“We’re going to kill Flanders,” I say, not giving a shit that Kres continues to linger within earshot.
“A felony in the making?” Her eyes sparkle. “Oh, Wes”—she purrs with wicked undertones—“prison colors won’t do a thing for your eyes. Why don’t you let that river rat have him? If she cheated on you once, she’ll do it again. I bet they’re doing it right now as we speak.”
An image of the two of them tangled up in one another, laughing at me with their in sync costumes, grinds through my mind.
Shit. I shake my head, unable to process what’s happening.
We went to the tunnels tonight. We shared something special. There’s no way she’s faking anything with me. Laken is just confused.
A few girls scream near the entrance as an entire group of people move into the party.
Fletch smacks me in the stomach. “Looks like we’ve just been invaded.”
“It’s those douches from Rycroft.” Kres folds her arms and rocks on her heels. “Rumors were flying all week about some lame stunt they planned because they lost the homecoming game.”
Grayson pops up beside Fletch. “Looks like they took the zombie route.”
They grunt and push their stiffened limbs well into the common room. The crowd goes ballistic with people shoving and pushing as the furniture topples over.
A window bursts from behind, spraying the vicinity with broken glass as an entire legion of idiots stream in through the jagged shards.
“Shit!” Fletch jumps back, and his shirt catches the light with flecks imbedded in it.
“Get security,” I snap. “I have to make a phone call.”
I pluck my cell out just as I’m bumped from behind, and it goes flying.
“Shit.”
One of the bastards from Rycroft grabs me by the neck and pulls me in with bionic force. Then I smell it. That distinct stench I’ve gagged on at least a thousand times before. My knee flies up like a reflex, and I manage to topple him right out the broken window.
“Get Cooper,” I bark to Fletch. “These aren’t idiots from Rycroft—they’re Spectators.”
Flanders bursts in through the room and turns on the lights.
“Everybody out!” He booms as if he were about to launch a grenade. He holds up a fire extinguisher and lets it rip over the crowd as bodies begin to stream outside.
“There’s some more in the back.” I pull Fletch to the kitchen, and we pick up our own extinguishing weaponry.
We spray down the room, covering the cowering menaces until all of them have hightailed it back outside.
I launch the metal canister across the room and shove Coop against the large framed window so hard the glass rattles around him.
“Where the hell is Laken?” I roar it in his face.
“Out there.” He nods past the door.
From over his shoulder, I can make out the crowd dispersing, and girls screaming, as a few stray Spectators give chase. I toss Coop to the floor as I barrel my way outside.
“Laken!” My voice pierces through the icy night air as the fog blankets the area.
Edinger pops up wearing that sickly smile he dons like a disguise.
“Have you seen her?” I pant wild into the night. He knows damn well who she is. We’ve had enough conversations about her. He knows what Laken means to me.
“We’ve a situation, Wesley.” He grins out at the scene as
if he were conducting a circus. “Round them up and throw away the key.”
“And how am I supposed to do that?”
“Promise them everything, then pull the rug from beneath them. Bait and switch, sort of like your sweetheart has managed to do with you.”
I let out a growl and head into the crowd.
“Flanders!” I call to the bastard just as he speeds out of Henderson. “I want all of them gone, or I’m feeding you to them for dinner.” I’m done shitting around the bush with him. It’s about time he feels a little threatened. That’s the underlying problem here. I made him feel too damn safe—coddled him like some damn pet. And the biggest mistake of all—I trusted him.
He squints into the forest in the distance.
“They’re clearing.” He shakes his head. “Flynn’s rounding them up.”
“Flynn?” I pan the crowd for him, but he’s nowhere to be seen.
“He’s one of them now. It’s a long story. I’ll see about getting him back. I’m dropping a couple of young ones off at the Transfer.” He nods over at a little girl by the edge of the woods. “The rest will have to wait. Why don’t you make sure Henderson’s cleared out, and I’ll meet you back there in a few.” He darts his gaze into the crowd as if he’s looking for someone. “Find Laken. Make sure she’s safe.”
I give a little laugh. I’m sure he’s about to do just that.
“I’ll kick your ass later, dude,” I say, making my way back down to the dorm.
Why do I get the feeling I’ve just been played?
12
Digging for the Truth
Laken
Coop signals that the coast is clear. I peer out from the evergreen I’ve been sitting behind and watch as Wesley heads back down toward Henderson. It breaks my heart knowing Coop and I are working against him. If only he weren’t so hardheaded, so brainwashed into believing everything the Counts had programmed him to—all of this could have been avoided—well, most of it anyway.
I take up little Kara’s bony fingers—literally bony—skeletal in fact. Her skin has been eaten away on two of them. It sickens me to see her this way, knowing she was a sweet little girl and they killed her for the hell of it only to bring her back as this partial being.
“Laken!” A female voice reverberates through the woods. I signal for Coop to wait in the event he decides to launch himself into the Transfer without me.
It’s Hattie. She’s got a smile a mile wide, and I’m assuming it has something to do with her Spectator boyfriend, Flynn.
“I’ve exacted my revenge for you.” She takes up my hand victoriously as if it’s the best news ever.
“What revenge?” Suddenly I’m fearing for Wesley’s balls. Wait—why would I want revenge against Wes? This makes no sense.
“Not Wesley—Grayson and Kresley.” She nods, not bothering to hide the fact she read my mind. “I’ve hung them from the elm in front of Austen House. They said they had a noose ready, for you and for me, so I beat them to the punch.” Her dark eyes sparkle with genuine pleasure. “You’re forever free of their wickedness, Laken.”
“Stay here,” I whisper to Kara and push her toward her brother. “Cooper!” I wail his name as I run toward Austen House.
“What the hell?” he asks, catching up to me.
We speed down the hill to find a crowd amassing around the regal tree planted just outside the dormitory as two twitching bodies writhe from the branches above.
“It’s so tight!” Kresley sings it out like a song written in dead minor.
Grayson makes a choking sound. Her legs kick through the air causing her body to spin in a circle. It’s a macabre dance, a horrible wreck of a show that you can’t take your eyes from.
Coop bounds up the tree like a lion and picks her up, slipping off the noose.
“What the hell happened?” Wes says out of breath.
“I don’t know.” I’m more than a little afraid to cop to the felony in the making.
Cooper lowers Grayson to safety before traveling back up to get Kresley. A branch snaps and sends him sailing to the ground, flat on his back. The rope holding Kresley cinches. Her entire frame goes rigid as she spins like a top.
I push my way beneath her and jump up on Wesley’s shoulders without thinking twice. My foot slips as I try to balance myself. I lean up and catch her feet and lift her just enough to take the weight off the noose.
Blaine claws his way up there. “I got her!” he shouts as he reels her over to him like a fish.
I drop down into Wesley’s arms, and a look of sadness sweeps over his face.
“Are you okay?” He lands a gentle kiss over the top of my head.
“I’m fine,” I say, landing back on my feet. “Crazy night,” I whisper, glancing away. It pains me to look him in the eye. It’s as if we’ve crossed a line and now we could never go back.
“Wesley.” Edinger snaps as he makes his way over. “Did you witness the event?”
“I caught most of it,” he says as the fog swirls around the two of us.
“Stick around, I’ll need you for the report.”
Coop signals for my attention before dodging behind Austen House and heading back up the hill.
“I left Jen up there.” I motion behind me. “I’d better go make sure she’s all right. She’ll probably want to know about this.” God, I pray Jen is somewhere getting busy with just about anybody. The last thing I need is her blonde mop springing up and ruining my lying streak. I hate lying to Wes. As soon as I free my family, I never plan on keeping things from him again.
“Hurry back.” He pulls me in and presses a kiss over my cheek.
Blaine helps Kresley lie down on the lawn.
“What the hell were you two thinking?” he demands. “This stupid prank could have cost you your lives.”
She shakes her head, denying his accusation. Kres clutches at her throat with one hand while pointing to me with the other.
Shit.
An ambulance screams its way over, and I push in one more kiss to Wes before taking off toward Sleepy Hollow. I don’t turn around until I hit the hilltop and gasp at the horror of what I find below—Wes and Jen.
My body surges with regret, deep as the ocean. Wes knows I’m a liar. He knows just enough to hate me, and it kills me.
I glance into the woods at Kara’s frightened face, her body in rags just like her clothes.
Screw it. I need to get my family out of hock and running back to Wes isn’t going to help.
Cooper picks up Richard over his shoulder, and I do the same with Kara.
We race all the way to the granite boulders and melt our way inside through a series of wild vibrations. Wes wouldn’t understand.
Cooper is the only living soul on the planet I can trust.
The Transfer appears around us, a little too bright, a little too loud as if all our senses were heightened just being here.
I plunk down Kara and straighten with a groan.
“You okay?” Cooper gently glides his hand over my shoulder before tracing my spine, causing my insides to lacerate in a fit of pleasure.
“I’m better than okay.”
Coop leads us down a maze of white elongated halls, and we find the haggard old witch hunched over yet another one of her disastrous projects. Although, each experiment is Count sponsored, so I’m not certain how much blame I can place on her shoulders.
“More?” She looks surprised as she twists her shriveled frame to take them in. Her flaming orange hair wafts through the air like cotton candy as she inspects the two siblings.
“Richard and Kara.” Coop conducts a brief introduction that results in a series of grunts all around. “Whatever you did to Pearl, don’t do it to them.” He looks dejected at the thought of hauling the two of them down here only to let them sit captive.
“New formula.” Ezrina’s eyes bulge wide and round.
“No,” he says it stern.
“Yes.” The hag’s voice reverberates through the walls—th
rough my body like a sheet of metal flexing in the wind.
“Maybe we can find some volunteers?” I clutch onto Coop trying to back us the hell out of this hostile environment. She’s totally off her rocker. Doesn’t Coop know he’s supposed to humor the obviously insane? Never, ever argue with a nutcase who runs an underground body resurrection lab as her primary occupation.
“Flynn,” Cooper says it like a revelation.
“Flynn?” I’m not feeling confident in his candidate for the new formula especially after witnessing the unfortunate demise of her last victim, firsthand.
“Can you house these two in that haunted mansion outside until we see if it works?” He inquires of the tight-lipped witch.
“Do.” She motions for the lot of us to disappear.
Honestly, it just feels as if she’s too despondent to carry out a complete sentence.
Coop and I lead them out of the complicated maze of glossy halls, out into the night and into the haunted mansion where a woman dressed in a full hoopskirt welcomes them with open arms. It’s dim inside with the faint sound of the piano playing from another room.
“You’ll be safe here,” I assure them. “We’ll be back as soon as we get Flynn. I know you’re in good hands with Ezrina. Even if it takes a while to get the formula right, we’re anxious for you to have your lives back. Not just because of our families, it’s because the two of you deserve to be free from the bondage the Counts imposed on you.”
Coop wraps an arm around my waist. “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
Kara opens her mouth with a sense of despair. Her sad eyes latch onto mine.
I lunge forward and offer her an embrace that feels like it lasts a lifetime. Kara needed it, and, in a way, I did too.
Coop and I say our goodbyes and make our way back into the elongated hall of the lab.
“So what do you want to do now?” I ask. “It sort of feels like the whole night was a bust.”
“Not really,” he gives a sly smile. “How about you and I take a little trip? Name anyplace in the world, and I’ll take you there right now.”