The next day they walked in the darkness to the ripple that formed. It was a murky rolling thing, one-sided and transparent. Jace saw and heard no demons. The street was deserted. Even the Deadheads were quiet today.
Merrick said the old Mexican Jose recognized Drea and knew his days were numbered. The group was trying to keep her away from the old man before she tossed him to the demons. It was a tense group these days. They rescued more Newbies the night before and Merrick was distracted. Jace claimed he needed a break from the nightly patrols to stay behind to talk Daphne through the membrane-like opening.
They stood in front of it now. Daphne wore a frown. She glanced at Jace with a trembling smile.
“Well, here goes nothing.”
“Two weeks, Daphne. No matter what.”
She smiled sadly. “Two weeks. I promise.”
Jace talked to her as she stood at the opening of the ripple. She stuck her hand into it and it disappeared. She gasped and drew her hand back.
“It’s cold.”
“Just concentrate on home as you walk through.”
“How does it close up?”
“I use my mind to will it shut,” he told her. “That’s it.”
“That sounds easy enough.”
“Just listen to my voice and keep thinking about home the whole time.”
“I’m scared Jace.”
“Merrick said it’s easy.”
“Not about that,” she confided. “What if I find out something I don’t want to know?”
Jace knew what she meant. Would it really be worth it to know?
“You’ll come back knowing more than you do now.”
She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders as she stood in front of the ripple.
“Yeah, you’re right. I have to know.”
She walked into the membrane and Jace watched in fascination as it swallowed her before his eyes. He concentrated on closing the ripple. It evaporated before his eyes, sealing it instantly. He sensed the demons nearby.
They felt the breach in the lining of their world and came to investigate. He knew the next ripple would open somewhere else. He would have to find it in two weeks and wait for her. He didn’t look forward to deal with fighting them off upon her return.
Jace waited for Merrick, surprised he came back on the patrol alone. He seemed perturbed to know Daphne ran off too. The black man rolled his eyes.
“Damn Newbies,” was all he said and cooked himself another disturbing meal Jace wanted no part of. He went out to the fire escape and watched the demons loitering around the ripple Daphne disappeared through, hearing them seethe to know they couldn’t follow. He was distracted as Merrick joined him for his nightly smoke.
“Raymond finds out what you two are up to; he won’t like it,” he said as he lit up.
Jace hid his surprise. This was Merrick. He knew what they were up to.
“She had unfinished business.”
“We all have unfinished business, kid. Don’t matter. He finds out where she really went he could kick you two out of here.”
“Will you tell him?” Jace demanded and looked angry.
Merrick chuckled and shook his head. “Nah, I ain’t no snitch. Won’t do no good to go back anyhow. Just holds ya back even more.”
“What do you mean?”
“When ya go back ya leave some trace behind and it ties ya there. That gal will find out she gonna stay here longer now.”
“Maybe it’s worth it to her to find out what she needs to know,” Jace argued back.
Merrick shrugged. “Hope so cause time is all we have down here now, that and more time.”
Jace thought about what Merrick said long after he left him to secure the warehouse for the evening. What if Merrick was right? Was going back worth the risk? He had no idea what he went back to or if he could even make a difference for those he loved. He prayed it wouldn’t prove as disastrous as Merrick’s crossing over.
Thinking about a demon getting Lindsay or his brother and sister haunted him for many days and nights of inky darkness. He went about the nightly patrols, waiting for Daphne and hoping for her safe return. It was an eventful couple of runs. They took down a fair share of demons that first couple of days.
The Deadheads nabbed the last batch of new arrivals and they searched the outer reaches in vain for them. They were hiding them now. Merrick seemed worried about these unknown Newbie’s fates.
“We gotta find them,” Merrick muttered one night as they gathered their arsenal and packed the van. “Raymond is ticked. The Deadheads are getting smarter the longer they’re here. It ain’t like them to evade us like this.”
“You said they were all brain dead or something,” Jace pointed out. “We’ll find where their holed up.”
“This is different. Raymond says they have a new leader now,” Merrick said and shook his head. “They’re getting organized.”
“Who’s their leader?”
“White Mohawk, remember him?”
“Yeah. What about him?” Jace asked, remembering how the man kept getting up and coming after them.
Merrick frowned darkly. “His name is Rhys. He showed up down here ten years ago. He’s smarter than the others for some reason. It wasn’t hard for him to become their leader, trust me.”
“What does this Rhys want?”
Merrick grinned. “To get rid of us, kid. Ain’t that obvious? He’s working with the demons now. They promise him he’ll get out of here if he delivers us to them.”
Jace thought of the man with the white-blond Mohawk and his pale, lifeless gaze. The other Deadheads followed him without thought or question. Combined with their lack of intelligence and desire for pain, the Deadheads were angry. They didn’t think it was fair they were sentenced to eternity here. If they managed to achieve an alliance with the demons, none of them were safe while they waited to be redeemed.
“What does Raymond say about the Deadhead leader? Has he found anything out?”
Merrick laughed and kicked back on a lawn chair. “He don’t have much to say, kid. He got his hands full with Jose right now.”
Jace thought of the man who killed Drea with a surge of anger. “How’s that going?”
“Drea confronted him. It got real ugly. He remembers her.”
Jace tensed, imagining Cameron in front of him down here. “What happened?”
Merrick raised an eyebrow and blew out smoke. “Now you know Drea by now. What you see is what you get. How do you think that went? She threatened him.”
“I don’t get why we protect him after what he did to her.”
“I don’t make the rules, kid.”
“No, you don’t and either does Raymond!” Jace snapped and stood up, glaring. “Who died and made Raymond boss? This is a joke! The guy doesn’t deserve us protecting him.”
“Ain’t for none of us to decide, kid, which is why we don’t.”
Jace was frustrated with the answer. “You keep saying that! I don’t agree.”
“Look at it this way,” Merrick said and tossed his smoke over the side. “None of us has a right to judge another down here. I wish we could toss his ass to the demons as much as you do, but it ain’t our call, Jace.”
Jace fumed to know Merrick was right. Jose would be judged, as would the rest of them, but not by any one of them, but by a higher power he had yet to see or confirm. In the meantime, they would have to tolerate Drea’s murderer. It galled him to know what that would feel like was Cameron to join their ranks. He prayed Drea moved on to that other place, and soon. It was tense out on patrols each night.
“Where are we going tonight?” he asked trying to change the subject.
“Raymond said he and the others are setting up shop at the edge of town. We cover this side and take down spooks.”
“Anybody hear anything about Will and Goose yet?”
“Those dumb Newbies probably got took by a demon the first night out. They didn’t believ
e us when we told them they’re better off with us. We tried to tell them.”
“Wait, I thought they just ran off?” Jace asked in confusion. “You let them go?”
“Don’t look at me like that, kid. I didn’t have no say in it. Raymond called the shots. He got tired of them blowing off their responsibilities and told them if they didn’t like it to leave. They did. Ain’t seen or heard from them since.”
Jace was irritated Raymond got some say in who stayed and who left. In truth, he couldn’t fault his reasoning, but he had yet to warm up to the Union officer from Civil War times. He resented his influence. Raymond would likely kick him and Daphne out of their ranks if he caught wind of what they were doing. The others would no doubt follow him.
“You tried a lot harder with me, as I recall.”
Merrick grinned. “Again, kid, you was worth my time. Ya can’t save the ones who don’t want to be saved. You’ll learn that real quick.”
“It seems pointless.”
“Yeah, well good, bad or otherwise, that’s what we got down here.”
Jace sat outside long after Merrick went in to get cleaned up. He was in conflict with what he was planning on doing now and eager for Daphne to return to tell him about her experiences as a ghost.
He laughed as he thought of Caspar the Friendly Ghost. Somehow he didn’t think it would be quite so light and amusing. The thought of possibly scaring Lindsay or the kids bothered him.