Suddenly, he heard whispering.
At first, he thought it might be the police outside the door with his dad again. But it wasn't.
It seemed to be in his ears—like it was coming from his own brain.
Lifting his head, he tried to locate the source, but he saw nothing except the police lights flashing from outside through the slats of his closed blinds.
Madaug... Filled with panic, his mother's voice was distinct. Undeniable.
"Mom?"
She didn't answer.
Great. I'm hallucinating. IVe now/lost even my sanity.
A light mist appeared outside his bedroom window. It dove and then formed a thin string that seeped up from his sill. In slow motion, it crawled along his desk like a creepy caterpillar until it gathered into a clump. Twirling and dancing, that clump solidified into an old, hideous, small woman who pointed an accusatory finger at him. "You are killing your mother and brother."
An image of them screaming appeared beside the miniature ghost.
Madaug put his hands over his ears. "Shut up! Don't hurt them!"
The old crone stepped closer to him as the image of his mother and brother faded. "Do you want to save them?" What kind of stupid question was that? "Of course I do." "Then you need to come to me."
He hesitated. "You're in my room. I'm already with you." Was she completely stupid?
"Not here, you imbecile. I need you with me."
What was he supposed to do? Guess randomly out of the millions of different locations in the greater New Orleans area? "Where are you?"
"The St. Louis Cemetery."
Oh yeah, right. He wasn't brain damaged enough to think it'd be that easy to get his mom back. If he showed up there, he'd have no leverage and the old ghost woman could do what she wanted to with both him and his mom.
Even Ian.
"You'll kill me if I do that."
The small woman laughed evilly. "I'll kill them if you don't."
Madaug wanted to slam his hand down on the table and squash her like a roach. But he knew it would only hurt him if he tried. She wasn't real. Just a ghost image with no real form or body. "Why are you doing this to me?"
"You're the one meddling with things you shouldn't have. Didn't you know that when you tamper with human will, dreadful things happen?"
"I wasn't trying to hurt anyone. That was never my intent. I just wanted them to leave me alone."
The woman shrugged. "Intentions don't matter. It's the end result we're all judged by. Evil in the name of good is still evil. And when you dance with the devil you seldom get to pick the tune."
"What's that supposed to mean?" "It means the countdown on their lives is speeding up and the longer you delay, the more likely they are to die." "Don't hurt them. I'm coming."
"You better be alone, mon petit, and bring your Zombie Hunter game program or else.... You have thirty minutes to get here." She faded into nothing.
Madaug bit his lip as he cracked open the blinds to see his yard crawling with police. How could he get to the cemetery without being seen or followed?
There was no way he could walk there in that amount of time.
What was he going to do?
Starting to sweat, he went down the back stairs that led to the kitchen. He froze as he saw his brother and crew with Bubba, Mark, Nick, and Simi.
"I'll leave Mark here," Bubba said to Eric. "He can help out while I go drop Cherise and Nick at Kyrian's. Then I'll be back.
Eric nodded. "Just be careful." "Will do."
Madaug slid out the back door while they were facing away from him and made his way through the shadows to the shed where his dad kept the lawnmower. It was also where Eric's old Honda scooter was kept. He'd always called it the nerdmobile and now he was going to be forced to ride on it. Gah, how awful.
But for his mom's life, he was willing to look like a total goober. He opened the door carefully so it wouldn't squeak and draw attention to him, then slipped inside the small wood shed.
As quietly as he could he made his way to the scooter and opened the gas cap. Just as he suspected, no gas.
Dang it. Eric? Couldn't you do anything right?
It's all light. You have a 160IQ. You can think of something. He forced himself to calm down so that he could postulate options. As his gaze danced around the darkened room, an idea formed.
Grabbing the hedge clippers, he cut a piece of hose to make a siphon, then drained the riding mower and poured the gas into the scooter.
As soon as it was gassed up, he grabbed the keys off the wall hanger, the helmet that was covered in cobwebs, and pushed the scooter away from the house. His heart pounded with every step he made. Any minute he expected to be caught.
But luckily, no one saw him. The police were too busy dusting for prints, talking to people, and standing around chatting to notice a kid rolling a bright red scooter across his backyard.
Actually, that was a scary thought. How oblivious could the trained experts be? If he didn't need them to be inattentive, it would horrify him. And later, when he looked back on this, he would be horrified. But right now, he kept his thoughts focused on his mom and brother.
With a relieved breath as soon as he was a block away, he got on the scooter and started it. It roared to life and shot down the street at a speed a rusted-out tanker would envy, but at least it was faster than walking.
And it would get him to the cemetery in time.
"I'm coming, Mom." He wasn't about to let anything happen to her, or even his brother. Ian might make him insane, but Madaug was the older brother and it was his job to protect Ian.
Even from brain-eating zombies.
Nick paused as a tingle went down his spine, making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. There was something ...
He saw an image in his mind of Madaug, looking really goofy with a red Power Rangers helmet on his head while riding a red scooter, sneaking awayfrom the house. He didn't know where it came from, but it was there as crystal clear as Bubba who was standing next to him.
"I think Madaug's doing something stupid."
Bubba scoffed. "And that would be different from normal, how?"
"Police! Stop!"
Nick looked over to where two officers had their guns drawn. His jaw went slack as he saw what they were focused on.
It wasn't Madaug. It was more zombies. Nick cursed.
The police didn't fire until the first zombie reached a cop and sank its rotted teeth into the officer's head.
Nick couldn't breathe as he saw more of them coming. "Oh my God ..."
It was an army of the undead and they were moving straight at them like a pack of ugly hyenas. Why didn't they stumble like in a Romero flick?
No, they had to be attacked by super zombies. Leave it to me.
"There goes the neighborhood," Caleb said. Nick shoved at him.
"Mark!" Bubba started for the house, but it was too late. More zombies were coming in from the back and they'd already gone inside where the others were. The house was now completely occupied by their enemies while civilians ran screaming only to get overtaken by the zombies.
Nick grabbed Bubba's arm to stop him from going in after Mark. "We have to go."
Bubba's features turned to stone. "Don't worry. I've seen that movie too. You go in to help your friend and they eat you instead. Mark's smart. He can escape. I believe that."
Simi got out of the SUV. "The Simi will go gets him. You get to safety and I'll take care of them old nasty zombies." She pulled a bottle of barbecue sauce out of her coffin-shaped purse.
Nick wasn't sure about that either. "Simi—"
But she was already halfway across the yard, sauce in hand and whooping with eager delight.
Bubba shoved Nick into the car by his face.
"Arm! Watch the arm!" Nick shouted as Bubba's grip sent pain all the way through him.
Caleb climbed in beside him as Bubba got in, turned the truck on, and slung it sideways into the street. He didn't even slow down as he plowed through as many zombies as he could hit.
They growled and hissed as they tried to grab and hold on to the truck to get to them. But Bubba's swerving sent them flying.
Nick cringed as one took a header into a tree and splotted like a multicolored bug on a windshield. "I'm so glad my mom's not awake for this. She'd skin all of us."
"Dang," Caleb breathed as he crawled over the seat into the front. "How many zombies are there?"
Bubba swerved to hit another one—at least Nick hoped that one was a zombie and not some poor innocent pedestrian. "You gotta figure there's three hundred years of dead in New Orleans. While Mark and me have taken out a few dozen over the years ... that makes for a lot of zombies."
Nick scowled. "But how could one bokor raise that many? Doesn't it suck juice out of them or something?"
Bubba shook his head. "Yes, and blood, unless they've made a pact with someone a lot more powerful."
"Someone like a god?" Caleb asked.
Bubba nodded at Caleb. "Yeah. Someone like a god."
Nick hissed as a pain shot through his skull. It was so intense it made his nose start to bleed.
Bubba snatched his head around. "You okay?"
Nick had no idea as he pinched his nose closed. "I feel sick. Real sick."
"You throw up in that backseat, boy, and I'll make you lick it up. I swear it. I'm still making payments on this thing and it's hard to get the smell of vomit out of the upholstery."
But it wasn't that kind of sick. Nick's head was spinning with images he couldn't understand. He saw fire and felt an unbelievable anger swelling.
It was his, yet not his.
Bubba looked over at Caleb. "He ain't turning into a zombie, is he?" "No," Caleb said, scowling. "But he is turning kind of green.
You got a bag or something in case he hurls?"
Nick ignored them. "We have to drop off my mom and find Madaug."
"What?" they asked simultaneously.
Nick caught Bubba's gaze in the rearview mirror as Bubba looked back at him. "Something bad's about to happen."
"Boy, in case it has slipped your oh so astute attention, something bad has been happening all day."
Caleb turned around in the seat. "Maybe we should go on then and find Madaug first."
"No." Nick looked at his mom, who was already going to be hotter than a nest of hornets flung against a house. "We take care of my mom first—she's my number one priority. I have to make sure she's safe."
"And then what?" Caleb asked.
"Then we break major zombie aaa ... sss."
CHAPTER 16
Nick had his head against the glass, watching the road pass by as he struggled to keep from being ill. What was wrong with him?
"You're fighting me. Stop and you won't be sick."
He looked around the car to see if anyone else heard the voice in his head. His mom was still unconscious. Bubba was listening to the radio while Caleb sang along to Iron Man under his breath.
And as Nick looked at Caleb, he saw his friend's form change before his eyes. It was like he could see under Caleb's skin and that Caleb was no longer human. He was ...
"A daeva. A midlevel class of demon. Not innately evil. They were soldiers of an older time and place. Protectors or messengers for the ancient gods. In the case of Caleb, he was a feared general who is still capable of summoning and commanding legions of demons.
"FYI, Nick, not all demons are bad. Like people, they're complicated life forms with varying personalities and quirks. Filled with complex emotions, some are malevolent and some are good. In the case of Caleb, he's your protector. He would die to keep you safe.
"So before you judge him about being born a species he couldn't help any more than you could help yours, you should know that he's stayed in the background as a silent bodyguard who didn't step forward until he was needed to keep you safe.
"Really, do you think he's enjoyed being in high school with you and the others when he didn't have to be?"
Nick saw an image of Caleb with wings, his flaming orange hair long as he stood at the helm of a thousand demons, leading them to battle. His skin dark red, he had yellow eyes like a serpent's and he fought with the strength of a titan.
Nick shook his head. I'm going crazy.
"No, you're becoming aware of who and what you are. Of everything around you that has always remained hidden—just as I promised you you would."
Who are you? Nick asked silently.
"Ambrose ... and I'm also here to protect you. Listen to me, Nick, and I'll teach you everything you need to fight the creatures who are going to come for you. The ones who'll ruin your life if you continue to live without the ability to see them and fight back."