Niklosi's Nightmare (First Wave Book 10) (10 page)

Traze stood and huffed as he
brushed off the twigs and grass that covered him. His head spun towards some
rustling coming from his left, and he saw several flashes of light. Not knowing
or caring what it might be, he tore off after the disappearing Niklosi and
Bess.

“Is BJ doing OK?” Nik asked as Bess
strolled up beside him along the small path.

Bess held her hands casually behind
her back as she nodded and smiled at Nik.

“She’s doing very well. She’s a
strong woman,” Bess assured him.

“Yeah, I got that impression,” Nik
admitted with a grin.

“What the hell?” Traze whispered as
he caught up to them.

He couldn’t stop staring at the
strange netting of vines and foliage creating a bizarre but completely natural
overhang above them along the path. Bess just chuckled at him.

“It is amazing what can be done
when different energies combine for a united cause,” she said cryptically.

Moments later a doorway appeared in
front of them and while Nik and Traze paused for a moment and looked around at
the vine covered overhang, Bess walked right inside and left the door open for
them.

Traze looked fearfully at the
doorway and shook his head emphatically. Nik sighed and walked into the door,
surprised when his stomach growled at the unique aroma permeating the entryway.

Nik was getting ready to shut the
door on Traze when the man-child ran into him and slammed the door shut.

“Don’t ask,” Traze whispered.

Nik just shook his head and
followed the sound of laughter and talking until he entered a well-lit,
spacious kitchen. Mojo was standing in front of a large, old-fashioned
wood-burning cook stove, while BJ was chopping vegetables on the counter.

“Hey guys, dinner will be ready
soon,” Mojo offered as he threw a little more parsley into the stew and stirred
it.

Nik was pleased to note that BJ had
cleaned herself up at some point between the walk to the house and when he
arrived. Her shoulder length hair was hanging loose, her soft waves bouncing as
she chopped some carrots.

Gone was the wax that made her
appear to have missing teeth, and she’d taken off her uniform shirt and was
wearing nothing but a black tank top and her khaki pants. She looked beautiful
to him.

“What’s in the pot?” Traze asked
suspiciously.

BJ and Mojo just laughed.

“Damn sure isn’t the possum Gus and
the others are going to try and pawn off on those idiots in town,” Mojo said
with a laugh as he stirred what was in the pot.

BJ saw the look of horror on
Traze’s face and felt sorry for the kid.

“It’s a vegetable stew made with
regular old vegetables and herbs,” BJ explained.

The look of relief that crossed
Traze’s face had everyone chuckling at him.

“Don’t you worry, child. We won’t
harm you,” Bess said reassuringly.

Traze wasn’t reassured at all as he
looked around the weird house. It appeared to be made solely out of vines and
trees.

“What the hell is this place?” he
had to ask.

Nik finally stopped staring at BJ,
looked around the cozy kitchen, and nodded his head.

“Yeah, I have to admit I’m real curious
about how you managed this. This is incredible,” he whispered in awe.

Traze pulled out his comm to take a
few pictures before Bess put her hand up in front of him, blocking his shot.

“What the hell?” he asked the
annoying woman.

“You may think we’re backward, but
even we don’t go into someone’s home and think to violate their privacy without
asking permission first,” Bess chastised, causing Traze to blush furiously.

“I apologize for him,” Nik said,
itching to smack the kid. “We won’t take any pictures.”

Traze looked over at Nik’s glaring
face and put the comm away.

“Sorry,” Traze muttered petulantly.

Bess just laughed at him.

“I didn’t say you couldn’t. I said
we ask first because it’s the polite thing to do,” Bess said with a wink at
Traze. “Dinner is almost ready, but after dinner there are some places you will
definitely want some pictures of.”

“Yeah, like I want to eat your toad
poison,” Traze mumbled under his breath.

“You’re welcome to starve instead,”
Bess offered, startling Traze.

BJ snorted her laughter and looked
away when Nik grinned at her.

“How did you manage to do this?”
Nik asked as he walked over to a shelf on the wall near BJ.

He ran a finger over the wooden
shelf and shook his head as he tried to figure out how they built it into the
wall like that.

“We asked it,” BJ replied.

Nik chuckled and ran his finger
around the edges trying to see how the intertwined vines were attached to the
wall but couldn’t find anything.

“Seriously, how did you do it?” Nik
asked as he turned to BJ.

BJ smiled softly to herself and
handed the colander of vegetables to Mojo.

“I just told you how,” she told Nik
as she brushed by him to get a loaf of fresh baked bread and moved back to the
cutting board.

“You asked the trees and vines to
make you a shelf on the wall, and they just did?” Traze asked incredulously,
looking to Nik to see if he finally believed how crazy these people were.

Nik’s eyes widened in shock when he
saw a small vine shoot through the window above the sink directly behind Traze
and snap him in the back of the head.

“Ow, fuck!” Traze roared in anger
as he whipped around to face who had hit him this time.

His eyes widened in fear as he
stared at the thin, green vine hanging suspended in the air. His mouth opened
and closed soundlessly as the frilly end of the vine arced upward and shook
itself from side to side before retreating back out of the window.

“There is much more to this world
than your closed eyes can see, child. Try opening more than lids next time,”
Bess said with a laugh.

“How did you do that? Is your
ability tied to flora? We have some amazing hybrids who are incredible with
plants, but I’ve never seen anything like this,” Nik said in complete awe. “The
shelves and cabinets . . . you really did ask them to do it?”

Nik looked around the kitchen at
all the shelves and cabinets that were clearly made out of natural vines.
Looking around at the walls and floors he couldn’t help but wonder just how
much of the house had been made with the assistance of the natural elements and
their abilities.

Bess just snorted and shook her
head at Nik before she pointed a wooden spoon at him.

“You’re as blind as the young one.
You’d do well to learn quickly while you are here,” she warned.

“Good thing we won’t be here long,”
Traze said hopefully, looking to Nik to back him up.

Nik was studying the walls and
cabinets and completely ignoring Traze.

“How much of the house was made
like this?” Nik asked as he knelt near the table BJ was working on.

BJ leaned down until their heads were
close.

“Most of it, actually. Including
the paths here,” she whispered and winked.

Nik was so mesmerized by her that he
jerked his head up too quickly and smacked the back of it on the bottom edge of
the table. He grabbed his bruised head and hissed with the sharp pain.

“Are you OK?” BJ asked as she stood
to try and see if he was bleeding.

“Yeah,” Nik said with a blush.
“Wounded pride. The table is growing out of the floor isn’t it?”

BJ nodded and smiled.

“Holy shit! Holy shit!” Traze
whispered hoarsely as he began to panic.

“What’s wrong with you?” Nik asked
as he turned to the irritating kid.

“Dude, we gotta get out of here!
Don’t you get it? Haven’t you been paying attention?” Traze asked, his voice
rising with his panic.

“What the hell are you talking
about now?” Nik growled, getting sick of the dramatics.

Bess just laughed and shook her
head before joining Mojo at the stove and starting to ladle out the stew into
colorful bowls that were obviously handmade and painted.

“The boy is a hoot,” Bess said.
“You have to hear this one.”

Traze’s eyes widened, and he took a
step back before whipping around to make sure nothing was behind him.

“We need to go Nik,” Traze warned
in Nik’s mind as he kept a close eye on the crazy people.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Nik
growled back.

“Nik, pay attention, damn it!”
Traze growled back. “She admitted it! The house is fucking alive, dude!”

That made Nik take a mental step
back as he took another look around the room and remembered the vine coming in
the window to smack Traze. The living table, cabinets, shelves, walls, and the
covered paths leading to the house took on a more ominous look now that he saw
it from Traze’s point of view.

It’s more than a little creepy now
, Nik
thought.
Way more than creepy.

Chapter
Nine

Nik began to feel a little
claustrophobic as he realized they were closely surrounded by living plants
that could be asked to do whatever Bess wanted them to do. He swallowed the
lump that formed in his throat as Bess, Mojo, and BJ all stared at him.

“So, uh, how safe is it to be inside
something living like this?” Nik asked.

“Dude! We need to get the fuck out
of here!” Traze argued. “She’s probably going to sacrifice us to the fucking
thing! It’s probably how she gets it to do what she wants!”

Bess burst out laughing.

“And there it is!” she laughed so
hard tears popped into her eyes. “I swear the boy is so funny! Stupid, but
funny.”

Traze looked like he was going to
hyperventilate, and Nik tried to calm him.

“I think it’s pretty safe if they’ve
been living here,” Nik said.

“I’m out of here!” Traze growled.
“You can be a willing sacrifice all you want, but I’m leaving.”

Nik moved to stop Traze, and Bess
just laughed and shook her head.

“Let the child go. He’ll be back,”
Bess said cryptically as Traze ran out of the room.

BJ took two colorful bowls of stew
from her mother and handed one to Nik. One of her perfectly arched brows
quirked at him as if daring him to take it.

Nik took the blue bowl and stared
into her beautiful, unusual eyes as his fingers lingered on hers for a moment.

“Let’s eat while it’s hot,” Mojo
said as he plunked his own bowl on the table and sat down.

Nik jerked his hand away and took
the nearest seat, setting the bowl down in front of him as Bess handed out
glasses of iced tea.

BJ set a bowl of freshly sliced
bread in the center of the table while Bess set another place setting with food
and drink in front of an empty chair.

Nik wondered what the woman was
doing but shrugged it off as the steaming food in front of him beckoned to his
empty stomach. He watched Mojo take a bite and followed suit, dipping his spoon
and getting a healthy portion before putting it in his mouth.

“Mmm, this is so good!” Nik
muttered when the flavors burst in his mouth.

The Markson family just smiled at
him and continued to eat until the peace was shattered by the screams coming
from outside. Nik launched himself to his feet and was getting ready to run
outside when Bess cackled with laughter.

“Don’t worry. It’s the child coming
back inside. He’s scared himself so bad he didn’t recognize your own sibiox
outside,” she said with a laugh.

Seconds later, Nik heard heavy boot
steps running towards them, and sure enough, a sweating and shaking Traze came
barreling back into the kitchen.

“The fucking place is alive with
demons! They’re everywhere Nik! She won’t let us leave! We gotta get Grai to
port us man! Call him! He won’t listen to me!” Traze begged.

Traze jumped several feet when
Gibly came trotting into the kitchen and chuckled as he nuzzled against Bess’s
leg.

“You big scaredy-dog! Sibiox not
demons,” Gibly said with a snicker.

“That was you!” Traze accused as
his anger and embarrassment began to hit him at once.

Gibly shrugged casually as he sat
beside Bess.

“It was you who panicked when you
saw our eyes shimmer in the dark,” Gibly said.

“I didn’t panic!” Traze said
defensively.

“You should try the stew, it’s
really good,” Nik said, keeping his voice even in the hopes of calming the kid.

I refuse to bring him again
, Nik
thought, then wondered why he assumed he’d be back.

He stole a glance at BJ and knew
he’d be back. Seeing her smiling and laughing with her family showed a tender,
loving side of her that was in contrast to the tough but intelligent cop he’d
first met. Her beauty radiated from her as she relaxed with her family, and he
couldn’t help but be affected by it. It was her ease in this living place that
made it easier for him to tamp down his own reticence at being inside the
unusual home.

“Try the stew? Are you fucking . .
.” Traze began before his voice strangled in his throat.

“Enough with the cursing and
scaring yourself to death,” Bess said in a voice that sounded deeper, more
primal. “Sit down!”

Nik watched in shock as Traze’s
eyes widened, and he moved to where Bess had set an extra place at the table
before he sat down in jerky movements.

“That’s better,” Bess said with a
smile. “Now eat!”

The last was said in the same odd,
deep voice, and Nik was amazed when Traze picked up the spoon, dug it in the
bowl and brought it to his lips with a shaking hand. He shoveled it in and
began to chew when his face relaxed, and he swallowed.

“It’s not going to harm you, child.
Eat in peace,” Bess said, and Traze’s whole body looked like it relaxed.

Nik looked at BJ curiously.

“Momma’s just trying to help calm
him in her own way. I swear she’d never hurt him. For some reason, she’s taking
a real shine to him,” BJ whispered in Nik’s mind.

Nik nodded and smiled, having
already assumed the same thing. He still felt better hearing it. He liked Traze
more than he let on and didn’t like seeing the kid so upset and scared.

“Would you like to try the bread?”
Bess asked Traze politely as she handed the basket to him.

Traze looked at it curiously for a
moment before he shrugged and gingerly took a piece and sniffed it while
holding it between two fingers.

“Why does it smell funny?” Traze
asked, causing Bess to laugh.

“We seasoned it with herbs and rose
hips to compliment the stew,” BJ added before she took a bite of her own piece
of bread to prove to Traze it was good to eat.

BJ smiled when Nik slathered his
own piece with butter and took a huge bite of it.

“Wow, that really is flavorful,”
Nik admitted.

That does go well with the stew,
he thought
as he finished his piece and took another from the basket.

Traze took a small bite, and after
chewing it for a few seconds, he nodded his head and took another bite.

“You’ll love the berry tarts for
dessert,” Bess offered with a wink.

“So, tell me about those ships
hovering above us? Who do I have to kill to catch a ride in one?” Mojo joked
only half-heartedly. He was dying to get in one of them.

“I’m sure Grai wouldn’t mind if you
went up later for a ride. The transports are capable of interstellar flight so
you can probably get a tour of the solar system in before morning,” Nik offered.

Mojo looked at his mother with
pleading eyes, and she just smiled and nodded her head at him.

“You’re a grown man. You make your
own decisions, child,” she told her son. “Besides, you should experience the
magic beyond this world.”

“Magic? There’s nothing out there
but stars and planets,” Traze scoffed.

“You must see with more than your
eyes and listen with more than your ears. There is magic all around you if you
but look and listen,” Bess chastised.

“Magic is a myth. Some things are
exactly as they seem,” Traze countered.

“Nothing is ever as it seems
because magic, energy, mysteries, and the wonders of this world have yet to be
rediscovered by those who choose not to see it, who’ve been taught not to see
it. It’s only when we suspend our disbelief and open our minds to the magic
around us that it finds you. A willing vessel. Be that vessel,” Bess said as
she looked deeply into Traze’s eyes.

Traze just stared at her as if
mesmerized and nodded his head.

Nik had to admit his own curiosity
at Bess’s words, but he didn’t want the woman to take a shine to him as well.
He knew Traze’s dramatics were causing most of his problems, but he could
acknowledge the place was weird as hell and felt odd. It wasn’t necessarily
unpleasant, just different.

“So . . . uh, dinner’s almost
over,” Traze began swallowing hard. “It was very good. Thank you for inviting
us.”

Bess laughed and Nik saw Traze
shiver.

“Child, your brother said he’s not
coming for another two hours, and I have plans to show you some real magic,”
Bess assured him.

Traze closed his eyes and appeared
to be struggling to keep himself in the chair.

“But I would like to leave,” Traze
ground out through gritted teeth.

Bess stood and put her empty bowl in
the sink and rinsed it out.

“But I think you are here because I
have much to teach you,” Bess countered.

Traze stood and crossed his arms
over his chest as he looked at Bess with narrowed eyes.

“I don’t want to know your . . .
witchy magic! You’re a fucking horror movie come to life!” Traze shouted as he
threw his hands up in the air. “I can’t do the creepy, man. I just can’t.”

Bess cackled with laughter as she
dried her hands on a towel and turned around to smile at Traze.

“See, you’re already making
wonderful progress,” her patient smile only seemed to goad Traze’s panic.

“Progress? Are you fucking
delusional?” he asked incredulously before he shook his head. “What am I
saying? Of course you are. I’m surrounded by a killer tree and the insane cousin
fuckers that talk to it!”

“Traze!” Nik growled as he stood.
The man-child had gone too far.

Bess frowned and narrowed her eyes
at Traze.

“BJ, why don’t you show Nik the
grotto. Mojo, find something to do,” she said as her children jumped up from
the table.

BJ moved over to Nik and slipped
her hand in his as she looked up at him.

“Come on, you’ll love the grotto.
There are so few places like it left,” she assured him.

Nik looked over at Traze with
concern, unsure if he should leave him alone with Bess after he’d been so
offensive.

“I give my word that no harm shall
come to the child while he is under my protection,” Bess said as if she’d read
Nik’s mind.

Nik nodded his head and let BJ pull
him out of the kitchen door and into a moonlit canopy of vines and flowers.

Mojo walked over to his mother and
kissed her cheek before he left the room and moved into another part of the
house. Traze’s eyes widened when he realized he’d be left alone with the crazy
witch.

Nik looked around at the covered
path they were taking upwards and couldn’t help but appreciate the place’s
beauty despite the humidity.

“Is it always so hot here?” he
asked, wondering how she could look so refreshed and cool while he felt like he
was melting.

“It takes a lot of getting used to,”
BJ said as she looked up at him with a smile. “Do you want to take a rest? It’s
not far up ahead, then it’ll be cool.”

Nik refused to let her think that
he couldn’t handle the short walk. It wasn’t that he was tired-he was hot.

“No, I’m fine. Where are we going?”
he asked, hoping to change the subject.

“It’s a special place. One of our
most beautiful as well,” BJ said, not giving Nik much to go on.

“What makes it so special?” Nik
asked, hoping she’d give him more information.

“You really have to see it to
understand,” BJ said as she led him into a dark area.

He was just going to ask if she had
a light source when she tugged him into a well-lit cave. There were so many
vines and flowers growing along the walls that he couldn’t see what the light
source was as BJ gently pulled him further into a twisting cave system.

The place was large, and Nik was
fascinated by the patches of the walls that were bare except for what appeared
to be fossilized crustaceans and sea creatures imbedded in them. He reached out
to touch one of them as they passed and could have sworn he saw a spark of
light before they moved out of view.

“How can there be fossilized sea
animals in the walls so far inland?” he asked.

BJ turned to smile at him.

“This place is one of the oldest on
the planet. There are several like this-where the magic of the elders is the
strongest,” she explained as she continued to lead him deeper into the cave.

“What kind of magic are you
speaking of? Your mother mentioned something about that to Traze. What was she
referring to?” Nik’s curiosity had finally gotten the best of him.

“Only you can answer that,” BJ told
him as they began to hear the echoes of water flowing.

“That’s not really an answer,” Nik
muttered as the sound of water became louder.

The tunnel opened up into a huge
cavern that made Nik gasp.

“What the hell is this place?” he
whispered in awe.

“What do you see?” BJ asked him as
she looked at him curiously.

Nik wasn’t even sure where to begin
as he moved to the nearest wall and ran his hand over the fossilized remains of
a whale that were imbedded into the wall near the tunnel.