The Ghost and the Darkness Volume 1 (The Fallocaust Series Book 2) (4 page)

I sunk down beside Reno; I took his hand with both of mine. “He’ll be in danger in Skyfall, won’t he? How is this all going to get past Silas?”

“When my pet was lifting the plane for our departure I enjoyed the sight of two deacon dogs pulling his spine in two. King Silas will not be fully resurrected from his ordeal for the next forty-five to sixty days. In that time it will have been long established that Reaver, yourself, and Perish escaped without a trace.”

“You’ll be able to hide Reno from them? The ones who would recognise him?”

Elish gave me a very slight nod “Because of who he will become. I doubt anyone would recognise him. You didn’t recognise this
Asher
as Silas, hm? Apparently there are people underneath those layers of dirt.” The corner of Elish’s mouth rose just slightly. The first time I had seen any emotion on his face.

I didn’t trust that smirk at all. “What do you mean
because of who he will become
? Who’ll he become?”

“My pet.”

My mouth dropped open.

I saw Reno look at me, then at Elish in confusion. “What like a cat?”

“No.” I swallowed hard; I put a hand to my neck as it ached. “You’re...” A lump caught in my throat as I remembered just who I was talking to. This wouldn’t be as bad for him as it would’ve been for someone like me or Reaver.

“God, that’s perfect for you.” I lowered my head and pursed the corners of my eyes with my fingers.

“What?” Reno’s voice was just as strained and confused as he looked. I just shook my head, unable to hide the hoarse laughter on my lips. Reno was going to be a sex slave for a chimera. There was no better retirement for my friend, at least temporary retirement.

“It is merely for his safety.” Elish’s tone bit through my laughter like a lance through jelly. “I will not be reducing myself to greywaste carrion let me assure you, Mr. Massey.” I cowered at the reminder that he indeed knew who I was.

Reno blinked, but nodded anyways.

“You’ll be okay, just do as he says.” I kissed his forehead. “You’ll get to laze around his house all day, eating real food and watching TV.”

“Do you have video games?”

Elish’s facial expression didn’t waver, but I got the feeling if he could show emotions beside callous and cold he would be giving him a very flat unimpressed look.

“My pet does.”

Reno said a very small
yaay
and gave me a reassuring smile. At least he wasn’t scared, I would’ve been.

I whimpered and wiped my face with my hands. “You’ll bring him back?”

“Once he is healed I will return him.”

My lips burned with the next question I dearly wanted to ask. I knew it would get shot down immediately but the off chance that this imposing chimera would answer left me no choice.

“Why are you helping him?”

Elish stared down at me. He was at least two heads taller than me. He must’ve been at least six foot five. “My servant will be bored without my pet to tend to. Mr. Nevada will offer a suitable distraction.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. I knew those words were only the skimmings of a deeper plan inside that genetically engineered brain.

I pushed him further. “Why are you helping us? Why did you save us?”

Of course it was useless to think that question would be answered. Without so much of a blink he looked down at Reno. “Keep him quiet. My cicaro will be landing the Falconer soon; he’s not as skilled at flying planes as he thinks he is.”

My ears went hot as he turned and left us, gracefully walking back into the cockpit without so much as a dismissive glance. I clenched my teeth, my emotions translating nothing but annoyance and further frustration.

I didn’t even want to believe we would be safe from now on. I was lying in the jaws of the beast, only a trigger word separating us from being torn to shreds by this ruling family. How could I calm myself and think of what we were going to do next when I was so helpless? Reaver was dead, at least for now, and my injured best friend would soon be taken from me. I was alone, the only companion I had now was an airsick deacdog. Even Perish seemed fully in Elish’s mental clutches.

“Hey...” Reno’s voice was strained with pain. He tried to adjust himself so he was sitting up. “It might not be much, but this situation is a step up from the one we left right? We still have all our parts, and the one that doesn’t apparently is just going to grow them back. Fucking asshole.” Reno groaned as he succeeded in sitting up. “All those times he put us in danger. All the times he made
me
plant the explosives and he made
me
go into the ravers’ den.”

Sometimes I hated how easy it was for him to make me smile. I think the day he took something seriously was the day the world imploded. I helped him sit up; still making sure the towel was over his wound. I noticed his leg was a bit... crooked though, but I didn’t draw attention to it. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was broken after the mob stomped on us a few times.

“You know what’s really great?” Reno continued, as the grey ash started dripping away from his face; his skin didn’t look much different from the dust. I felt uneasy with how pale he was looking.

“What?” I prepared myself for another grudging smile. Around us I heard the plane’s engine give a rev, and the gut twisting feeling of decent, like the elevators in Skyfall.

“If he ever makes you mad, Killian. You can beat him to death. He’ll come back all fresh and clean. Brand-spanking new Reaver.”

I chuckled, but inside my heart stirred. I... I never had to worry about him dying. Gosh, I was more worried about him not being able to die. What would Silas do to him? He could have Reaver forever.

But I had him now. I wasn’t sure how fast this plane went, but from how quickly the greywastes had gone by when I looked out the window I think we were deeper inside what had once been the interior of British Columbia. Even before the Fallocaust not too many humans lived in these areas, it was mostly just big trees and mountains. There would be no one alive out here, at least that’s what I assumed.

We were three men from Aras now thrust into a game we hadn’t even known we were playing. There would be no turning the system off this time. I had no choice but to play back.

The plane landed roughly, making me fly up in the air and making poor Reno groan with pain. I tried to get up to help Reno get off of the plane when I heard a teeth grinding sound of metal on metal scraping together. I shot up and ran to the window in the cockpit and saw us sink into the grey rocks we had landed on.

I watched in shock and amazement as the plane recessed into the ground. Soon the wasteland disappeared above us, and wires and metal beams took its place. The plane temporarily went dark as the sky vanished. We were underground.

Then a bright light that made me turn away from the window. I saw Reno looking just as amazed as me, sitting beside a sick deacdog, who looked like he was about to throw up over all of us.

When my eyes adjusted I looked back out, and realized we were in an underground garage. Or that was the only way I could describe it.

It was a large open room of metal reinforced beams, grey concrete, and stacks of boxes of all shapes and sizes. Above us I could see long strips of lights with coils of wire bunched up by white zip ties. It looked like we were in a warehouse that doubled as a garage.

I pressed my hands against the window and gaped at everything. Trying to take in and process exactly where we were. Even if we had to stay in this room we would be happy. It looked so dry and new. I couldn’t see any rust or paint chipping, even the concrete floor was clean of dirt and garbage. If I could imagine what Skyland would look like, it would look like this. It took my breath away.

I jumped as the sliding metal door opened. Jade jumped back onto the plane and started helping Reno stand. Though when I stepped forward to help him off of the plane, I realized he was directing him towards the cockpit.

“He’s leaving already?” I swallowed yet another boulder growing in my throat. I knew he had to leave quickly, but the reality of Reno being so far away was devastating. I didn’t want to trust him with Elish; he was my only friend. I wouldn’t have Reaver in my arms again for god knows how long. I had no one to, well... cling to.

Jade put a blanket over Reno and handed him a bottle of water and to my surprise withdrew what looked like an IV bag full of blood from a plastic hinged case. As he pushed the needle into Reno’s skin he nodded.

“Elish is getting a few things, after he’ll be leaving.”

I bit my lip hard and made my way over to Reno. As the blood started to drip into his veins I gave him a hug.

“You know, when Reaver first pointed you out, I really thought you were a bit of a weenie, but I think you’re one of my favourite people now.”

I choked back a laugh and squeezed him gently. “And I thought you were only his friend because you wanted to get into his pants.”

“That’s cute you think differently.”

I laughed and wiped a tear away from my eyes. Reno gave me another reassured smile. “When this is all over, if I don’t get my threesome, I’m going at both of you with a chainsaw.”

“Everyone has their price.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out a very dirty, lint-covered Dilaudid pill and gave it to Reno. Without hesitation he popped it into his mouth and took a drink of the water. It was the last one we had. Everything was hundreds of miles away in Reaver’s basement besides the heroin.

My face blanched. I put my hand to my mouth and looked from Reno to Jade. I felt dizzy enough to stumble back, my back hitting the door of the cockpit.

“What is it?” Reno suddenly became more alert as he saw the horror on my face.

I looked at Jade. “I need to talk to Elish. I have to talk to him.”

Jade’s yellow eyes looked at me inquisitively. “Why?”

“My... my cat, my cat is trapped inside Reaver’s basement. No one has a key to get in there; no one even knows where his house is. He’ll starve to death. He’ll die.”

I heard Reno swear, his voice sounded grim. I left Reno with his IV bag and started walking towards the plane exit. My legs felt like jelly, my right leg kept bending funny with every step but my adrenaline was blocking whatever pain signals it was trying to send me.

My legs buckled and almost gave out as I jumped off of the plane. I looked around the garage area the plane had been taken to, trying to look for a door.

I saw Deek sniffing a box. “Deek!” The deacdog perked up and gave me a cautious wag of his tail. “Find Elish.”

Deek raised his nose to the air, and with an excited shake he ran towards Jade and sat beside him.

Of course he didn’t know who Elish was, he was smart but he wasn’t psychic. “No, that’s Jade...” I said trying to sound encouraging though my heart was being torn to pieces imagining my loving cat being alone and cold. I saw Perish walking out of a pair of open metal doors carrying a bag. “Perish, where is Elish? Biff’s in the basement, we have to bring him here.”

Perish’s face fell; I saw his tooth bite down on his lip. “Poor Biff. I’m sorry, Killian.”

My face crumpled, I pushed past him and found myself in a clean, beige painted hallway. As I walked down it, I saw the concrete turn into a fine stone tile before, to my shock, I reached grey carpet.

“Elish?” Was that his title? I didn’t know how to address this intimidating blond chimera. What had Dad called him? I thought it was just Elish or Mr. Dekker. If he was defying Silas though did he still want to be referred to by his master’s last name? Fuck, my mind was swimming.

“Elish?” I called again. I glanced into what looked like a bedroom. I had to stop and stare at it for a moment, for the sole fact that my brain kept telling me I was looking at a magazine. The comforter was straightened out and colourful, the bed was perfectly made with pillowcases too. The night table was brand new with the wood polish not even peeling in the slightest. And the carpet... my god, I felt like I was walking on cotton balls.

I turned away from the room to carry on looking for the blond man, but as I turned and went to take a step I walked face first into something hard.

I was knocked off my feet; I looked up to see what I had hit when my eyes connected with the cold violet icebergs.

Elish hadn’t even flinched; me slamming into him was like the equivalent to a bird flying into a window. The chimera just stared at me like I was an annoying insect; his large, gloved hand holding a small black bag.

I shied away at his mask-like visage, feeling more small and cowardly with every passing moment. His eyes burned into me, as if asking why I thought it was so important to go running down the halls yelling my head off.

I cowered feeling stupid, before I rose to my feet, my head lowered. I wanted to turn and run, heck, I wanted to hide. I could feel the heat of those purple flames. Fire and ice at the same time but I had to save my cat.

“We left –” Just thinking about my fat tabby-spotted cat made the emotion rise up in my throat. I tried to control my voice wobbling. “We left me and Reaver’s cat in his basement. It’s a basement of a home, completely reinforced with concrete; no one knows where it is. He’ll die in there. Could, I wouldn’t be any bother. I would be quiet. Please, please can you let me quickly get him? The house is remote. No one will see me, I promise.”