OVERFALLS (The Merworld Water Wars, Book 2) (33 page)

“Look at the shiny train set! Wee, watch it go round and round,” said Jex, switching it on. “And a pirate ship! This one shoots cannons. Nice touch. Here we go, shoot your cannons, me matey.”

“Uh, I wouldn’t turn those on, Jex,” shouted Meikle.

Apparently, playing with the toys was the trigger: the plane no longer needed Troy’s hand to fly it as it fired freely at his head and mine; Jex’s pirate ship aimed their canons at his wings; the soldiers around the shop shot their guns, fired their cannons, and stabbed us with their swords; we had to dodge flying samurai swords, dolls and bears throwing wooden blocks, witch dolls casting curses as quick as Meikle could counter them, and race cars slamming into our feet. And, of course, there were the mer-toys: mer-dolls sending trident blasts bouncing off the walls; large inflatable sharks, whales, and jellyfish beating us over the head.

“Naughty monkey! Give me that!” said Airianna, scolding a mischievous stuffed monkey playing tug of war with a stack of papers.

“Ouch!” I said, still clutching the only friendly toy in the shop. “Ooh! Bad toys! You give a certain space ranger action figure and pull-string cowboy doll a bad, bad name! What would…ouch…Santa say?” Flying planes pelted me with bullets as the jellyfish flotation toy squeezed its tentacles around my stomach. Troy popped the jellyfish, causing it to deflate and fall to the floor. He tried to protect my head with his arms, but the bullets and bombs kept dropping, hurting him as much as me. “Meeks!”

“Working on it!” she shouted. “Can’t get a break from these witch dolls. Miserable stitched bitches!”

“Effing soldier made my feathers bleed,” said Jex, flicking the toy soldiers onto the floor.

“Aw, I can’t take it.” I dropped my little stuffed owl, threw my arms out to the side, and screamed, “ENOUGH!” KABOOM! Every toy in the shop exploded. “Oh Dear God. I killed the toys.”

“Looks like the Savior has a new talent. Blow-'em-up hands,” said Jex.

“What in heaven’s name is going on in here?” asked Ophelia, poking her head through the front door.

“Marina murdered the toys,” said Jex.

“Move! Let me in! Oh my!” Mrs. Waterberry, dressed in her nightgown, robe, and fluffy blue slippers, gazed disbelievingly around Macallister’s
broken
toy store. “Marina, who did this?”

“I killed the toys.”

“She’s distraught,” said Troy.

“Well, no matter. You lot have to get out of here, now. Woke up half the town, you did! Ravenflame police are on their way!” Mrs. Waterberry grabbed us by the arms (or wings) and shoved us out the door.

“Police? But what about the murdered toys?” I said.

“I—I’ll figure something out. Macallister has always been sweet on me. Just get out of here!”

“GOT IT!” yelped Airianna, waving a yellow slip of paper.

Once we were all in the street, Mrs. Waterberry told us to run and slammed the door on us; a dull pink and purple glow filled the shop.

“What’s she doing?” asked Maile.

“Trying to un-kill some of the toys,” said Troy, keeping me tucked against him. “Airi, what’d you find?”

“The Dealer.”

“WHAT?” I said, finally erasing the vision of obliterated toys from my mind.

“Mallorey Sloane ordered the dolls. She’s staying in room three hundred at the Saxet Shores Inn,” said Airianna.

“Ah, and off we go to face a hotel curse,” said Jex. “Survived a few of these. Just remember to stay out of elevators, avoid trash shoots, run from men carrying axes, and never speak to strange twins haunting hallways who claim they want to play.”

“Clever-cute,” I said.

Jex grinned. “I thought so.”

“Hurry! I hear police sirens!” said Ophelia.

We ran as fast as we could for the ‘No Vacancy’ sign in front of a quaint yellow and white structure. Four wicker rocking chairs and two porch swings welcomed visitors to the inn; it was hardly the kind of place a cold-blooded killer would stay.

“Maile, watch the elevators. Ophelia, you keep an eye on the stairs. The rest of us will head to The Dealer’s room. Jex, distract the desk clerk,” I said. “Tell her you have an angel cousin coming to town or something.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll work my charm,” he said.

“You’ll be working up a sweat, then,” Troy quipped.

Once Jex had the desk clerk batting her eyes and twisting her hair around her finger, we made our move. With Troy, Meikle, and Airi by my side, we hurried up the stairs to the third floor.

Standing in front of room number three hundred, I took a deep breath.

“Should we knock?” asked Airianna.

“I think not,” I said, kicking the door open.

Tied to a chair facing the door was a woman with mascara-stained cheeks, odd, sallow skin, and terrified eyes.

“Please, please. Go. Run,” she cried.

“Mallorey, right?” I said, moving to untie her.

“Yes, but please don’t come any closer,” she warned. “There’s a curse on me. If you touch me, we both die.”

“My magic’s not working,” said Meikle. “She’s not responding.”

“Mallorey, who did this to you?” Troy asked.

Shaking her head, she whimpered, “I don’t know. When I got to my hotel room on Halloween, I had a note at the front desk about some doll order. I never ordered any dolls.”

“And you never saw who tied you to the chair?” asked Airianna.

“No. Whoever it was knocked me unconscious and never said anything.”

“Is there anything at all you remember before being knocked out?” I asked.

“No, I—wait. Yes. There was this odd smell, like bleach and vinegar. And there was a music box play—”

Suddenly, a frighteningly deep, slow whisper filled the room. “Devious deeds deliver dastardly developments.”

Mallorey’s body slammed into the ceiling fan, sending its pieces flying across the room like helicopter propellers; we watched in horror as her body scraped back and forth across the ceiling. Though her mouth screamed for help, her voice couldn’t be heard, for it was muted by a simple music box tune…a tune I recognized all too well.

“Duet,” said the deadly whisper.

“
Over, over, over she falls
.” I sang with the whispering voice, terrifying not only myself, but my friends as well.

Mallorey dropped from the ceiling, landing on the bed, soaking wet.

“FREEZE! POLICE!”

*****

Sitting on the steps of the inn, we all waited while police talked with Mrs. Waterberry, Luxton Vipor, Madame Helena, Mom, Mr. Gibbs, Jex…and Doctor Tenly. For some reason, his principal look was especially messy and, truthfully, very, very scary. Mom and Mr. Gibbs brought Polly and Gully; Polly just kept shaking her head at me, while Gully…followed a pixie around the yard.

“Marina, you sang with The Dealer,” said Airianna.

“It’s what the undines sang to me during the first match.”

Troy squeezed my hand. “It’s not your fault, what happened to Mallorey.”

“If I hadn’t done what the voice said…she might be alive,” I said, wiping tears from my eyes.

“Would have been a long shot, since she was already dead,” said Jex, walking up behind us.

Shaking my head, I said, “What? No, we were talking to—”

“A corpse. When a soul is unable to accept its death, it clings to the body in the vein hope that life is still an option,” said Jex. “Someone drowned her days ago. That’s why none of Meikle’s magic worked on her.”

“We’re all set here. Have a good evening, Principal Jeepers,” said an investigator.

Mom placed her hand on my shoulder as Doctor Tenly walked past us on the steps, turned, and glared into each one of our faces. I’ve never seen him so upset.

Looking up at the sky, seething, he said, “Well, if you all are done playing dress up, invading hotel rooms, chatting with the dead, and blowing up toys—”

“Ooh, I forgot to pick up that little stuffed owl. I was going to check his price and maybe…get…him,” I said coyly as Doctor Tenly’s face did this scary, angry twitch thing. What the hell was wrong with me? I just finished blowing up a toy shop, singing a duet with The Dealer, and witnessing an innocent woman double-die...and my mouth dares to verbally vomit about wanting a stuffed owl?! Oh, I’m garbage. Stinky, gooey, rotten garbage!

“In the car. All of you. NOW!” said Doctor Tenly.

This night was about to get much, much worse.

Chapter Fifteen

Sinfully Thankful

Back at Hambury House, Doctor Tenly paced from one side of the study to the other. He must be seriously incensed, considering his appearance kept flickering from the usual Doctor Tenly to the scraggly Principal Jeepers. I was going to point this out when…

“You’re flashing us,” said Polly. “It’s confusing, rude, and it hurts my eyes.”

Horrified, Doctor Tenly quickly checked the front of his pants.

“She means you keep switching from Doctor Tenly to Principal Jeepers,” said Trey.

“Oh, thank my scales it wasn’t what I thought it was,” muttered Doctor Tenly, before uncorking on us. “I cannot believe you convinced Fletcher and Camille to cover for you! Surprised Tree wasn’t in on it.”

“David, how often do I wear the gotcha gown and hooker heels?” said Treeva, pointing at the skimpy red leather dress and silver spiked heels.

“Two occasions: when you want something, or when you’re trying to distract me,” said Doctor Tenly. “So, you knew, then.”

“Of course I knew,” said Treeva, tossing her hands in the air. “If the overall look didn’t work, I had backup…in the form of what I’m not wearing underneath the dress.”

“Tree, you just told the room you’re going commando,” Troy growled. Treeva did a little shoulder shimmy and grinned.

“I always go commando,” offered Jex.

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” I muttered.

“Disgusting,” said Polly, eyeing Jex, biting her lip.

For a moment, Doctor Tenly gawked at Treeva, his eyes twinkling with testosterone. Yeah, it didn’t last long. “None of you can conceive of the complex mind-magic I had to work tonight, just to help Luxton Vipor keep Madame Helena’s big beak from squawking to the Imperia about tonight’s little adventure. Be damn grateful Luxton has taken a liking to the lot of you. Have you anything to say for yourselves?”

After an uncomfortably long pause, I said, “I killed the toys.”

“TO THE BASEMENT! NOW!”

Oh, damn. “Wait! I just mean my hands can boom things up now!”

“GO! MOVE! The rest of you follow Tree to the attic for an especially punishing training session. Camille, Fletcher, you may watch them get their butts kicked, if you like.”

Once in the basement, Doctor Tenly grabbed me by the shoulders. “You could have been—”

“But I wasn’t. Troy got to me in time.”

“Speaking of the Shadow Wearers, didn’t you wonder why someone would release the kind of creature only a demon could defeat?”

For a moment, my mind acted like a sponge, soaking in the words Doctor Tenly spoke, but not wanting to make sense of them. Unfortunately, my instincts followed his train of thought like a flying blue car with a faulty invisibility button. “They wanted Troy to tap into his demon side.”

“Physically, Troy can handle his inner demon. Mentally and emotionally, he’s not there, yet. He’s too afraid of hurting you, and they know it. Hell, they probably hoped he would’ve joined in on the Savior-neck-squeezing party. His love for you keeps him strong, which is why this isn’t the worst of my concerns. The Dealer—”

“Is after someone I love, not me.”

“A doll in your likeness was hanging from that ceiling, too. Has it not occurred to you that all this talk of killing someone you love may be a decoy? That just maybe the real target is you?”

I shook my head. “The thought never occurred to me.”

“That’s because you never think of yourself.” Letting go of my shoulders, Doctor Tenly took my hands in his. “Only a truly brave and beautiful human being could forget themselves in darkening times.”

“You can’t protect me forever, Doctor. You want me to live up to my full potential as the Savior, right? Well, then I need you to let me
be
the Savior, really be her. And tonight, I was. I did what the Savior should do…would do.”

“You’re right, Marina. I should let you be the Savior, minus the eggshell walking.” Playfulness now raised one of his eyebrows and a crap-eating grin tugged one corner of his mouth.

“Oh, no.”

“You want to
be
the Savior, eh?”

“Oh, crap.”

Doctor Tenly waved his arms in front of the case containing the vicious-looking sea creatures. The doors of the case swung open, and dozens of drooling, fanged creatures slid, flew, jumped, and crawled towards me.

“Go ahead, fight and kill them. They’ll just keep regenerating until I call them back to their case. Just a heads up…the Figwittzers spit venomous fireballs, Martzenbloots like to poke holes in their victims with their five inch talons, and the Snarzmartz…like to peel flesh with their teeth.”

“Oooh, bad. So, so bad.”

And so began three hours of long, hard, painful, sweaty training.

Thanksgiving
. Well, that three hour torture session turned into about three weeks of twice daily ‘let’s beat the idiocy out of Marina,’ training sessions. They’ve kicked my butt so bad that school—yes, school—has actually fallen into the ‘Thank God, a break’ category. The same can be said of homework and team training. I must be ill.

Between Savior sessions, team training, and my friends struggling through Treeva’s power-enhancing classes, we were all too wiped to celebrate Trey’s birthday on the eighteenth. So, Mom suggested we have a big Thanksgiving and birthday dinner at Hambury House this year. Doctor Tenly was so giddy over the idea of celebrating his very first Thanksgiving and Normal birthday that he stumbled over his feet and fell into his gum wall. I really wish I could say we didn’t laugh ourselves to snorts.

This morning, Airianna and Troy came over to watch the parade and devour Mom’s famous Thanksgiving pancake breakfast. After the parade, we jumped in the station wagon and headed to Hambury House. Driving up to the manor, our jaws dropped: in the driveway stood an enormous plywood cornhusk, a giant birthday cake cutout, two pilgrim statues, three Native American statues, countless happy birthday balloons, and one mammoth turkey balloon hovering in the sky over the mansion.