Authors: J. N. Duncan

The Lingering Dead (31 page)

BOOK: The Lingering Dead

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I'm crossing over,
Laurel replied in a tearful voice.
I'll make her come back.

Can you do that?

I'm going to try! Damn her.

A moment later, she was gone, and Jackie was left with Rebecca, who to this point had retreated into silence since her sister died. A girl, one hundred years dead, and a freaking alien who she had agreed to help if it helped her, but she had been too late. She would've dropped the stupid Nix idea and let Charlotte go, if it meant keeping Shelby alive.

I'll go help her.
It was Rebecca. Y
ou helped me get my peace, Jackie. Let me try and help you.

Won't that mean the end of you, Rebecca.

I'm at my end. I'd like to go out doing something good, instead of what my death helped bring to the living world.

Rebecca, you aren't to blame forâ

I know. Good-bye, Jackie. Thank you. I hope you too find peace in your life.

Rebecca's energy flowed out of her and into Shelby before Jackie had a chance to respond.

Nick pulled his hand away and looked at Jackie. “Did you do that?”

She shook her head. “No. Rebecca did.” Jackie placed her hand over the spot of cracked, dented skull, and did her best to focus on helping Shelby come back. In the distance, Jackie could now hear the wail of sirens.

“How is she, Jack?” McManus called out to her.

Jackie had to swallow hard to make her voice work. “Not now.” She closed her eyes and focused on the soaked, bloody hair beneath her palm.

A moment later, Nick's hand closed over hers. “She'll come back,” he said. “She's not ready to go yet.”

“She better not be.” Jackie tried to laugh, but it came out as a half-sob. “Who's going to kick my ass when I act like an idiot?” Nick gave her hand a gentle squeeze but said nothing. “Come on, Shel! You actually want to miss out on seeing Nick and I together? I can't believe that for a second.”

Whether she actually heard or not, Jackie likely would never know, but she felt the doorway open. The familiar ghostlike quality that both Nick and she had began to fill up Shelby's body once again. Rebecca's presence was gone.

Nick smiled and leaned over to kiss Shelby on the forehead. “Thank you, Rebecca.”

Shelby's breast pushed into Jackie's stomach as she drew in a lungful of air and Jackie laughed. “Ha! She's back, Laur! She's back.” Laurel was back with her a moment later, tearful and laughing with relief as well.

From above them, the disturbing hollow voice of Nix echoed down. “Friend lives.” His head cocked to one side, peering at Jackie with apparent curiosity. “Resourceful. Agreement completed, yes?”

Jackie nodded. “Yes, Nix. You completed your agreement. Thank you. I guess that means I get to help you.” Her joy at Shelby's living evaporated into the damp, night air.

Nick gave her a wide-eyed look. “What did you agree to, Jackie?”

She gave him a helpless smile and a tiny shrug of her shoulders. “Said I would help him if he helped me.”

He stood up and turned to look at Nix. “Help him do what?”

“I'm, um, not sure exactly,” she replied.

A pair of ambulances arrived then at the top of the drive, along with a fire truck. McManus's voice could be heard over the din. “Sonofabitch. Maddox! Go hold them off. Jack? You need to get that thing the hell out of here. Now.”

“And put it where, McManus? Jesus Christ.” Jackie gathered Shelby up in her arms. “We need to get her out of the rain. Nix? Stay right there, please. I need to put my friend someplace safe. I'll be right back.”

“Agreement?” it asked.

“Yes, agreement. Wait.” She took Shelby over to the SUV where the emergency personnel were gathering behind it. Nick limped after her, not quite as badly as before, but his body was slowly improving. At least the horrid-looking split along his jaw was now closed. “Hello, gentleman. This here is your first casualty. She's got a nasty blow to the head. We'll bring more over. Just stay over here. There's a propane leak, and we're trying to get everyone moved to a safe place.

A grizzled, scruffy fireman stepped up to her, glancing over Jackie's shoulder at the scene beyond. “What in Sam Hell happened here?”

“Local gathering,” Jackie replied. “Something set off a propane tank and blew the house to hell. A bunch of the townsfolk were gathered here in front when it happened. I think there's some fatalities and at least a couple dozen injuries. Maybe ... um ... I was thinking the mill over there might be a good spot to get people moved to out of the rain so you can look them over?”

His narrowed eyes looked suspiciously across the front of the yard, at the men in FBI jackets, and the sprawl of injured and likely dead people on the ground and then back at Jackie. Finally, he shouted at this men, “OK, boys. You heard the girl. Let's see if we can use the cover of the mill there to help these fine folk. I'll go checkâ”

Jackie knew where he was going and cut him off by shoving Shelby toward him. “Here. She needs help now, and this guy needs his ankle bound up. I'll go check on the others.” Maddox gave her a smirk before she spun on her heel and tried not to run back to Nix. When she reached him, Jackie tried to keep herself parked in the line of sight. “Nix, let's go over here, away from the crowd.”

Hon, is that safe? I don't like the idea of being alone with this thing.

Me either, but I don't want this fiasco any more public than it already is.
Jackie walked around a pile of rubble that had been the front porch and stopped, mostly out of view of the firemen.

“OK, Nix. This is good. What is it you need my help with?”

It looked back out at the chaos and then turned to gaze at Jackie. As much as the spines freaked her out, the eyes were by far the most unnerving aspect of Nix. You could not tell if he was looking directly at you or not or what it could even see with those veiny, pupiless eyes.

“Test,” Nix said.

“Test?” Jackie did not understand. “What do you mean? Test what?”

It gave her that odd little head-cock, which gave Jackie the feeling of being the bug in the scientist's little Petri dish. “You test.”

“You want me to test something? I don'tâ” She stopped when Nix reached down and plucked a spine from its chest. It rolled the six-inch needle between spindly, multijointed fingers. Jackie got a sudden panicky feeling in her chest. “Hold on. What is this?” She tried to back up, but the crumbled remains of the house lay behind her, giving her nowhere to go.

Jackie, get out of here. Run!
Laurel said.

“Test,” Nix repeated and reached out to grab Jackie by the chin, the short, thin spines cover its palms digging into her skin. “See if prepared.”

Jackie squirmed, losing traction as Nix pulled her up onto her toes. She latched onto its wrist, trying to break free of its grip, but she was obviously no match. Its body swam in the energy of the dead. Hundreds if not thousands of souls coursing through its body. Nix raised the needle between them, the end of it beginning to glow with the familiar green hue of its power.

“Wait!” Jackie tried to say, but her mouth was distorted by the fierceness of its grip. “No, don't. What are you doing?”

The tip poised dead center over her chest, and Jackie tried to jerk free, thrashing until she could feel the pins in its hands digging into her face.
Oh, my God. It's going to plunge that fucking thing right in my heart. Laur! Laur, help me.

“Test,” Nix said, one final time and thrust forward with the spine.

Jackie felt the first pinch of pain against her skin and tried to open her mouth to scream.

Chapter 30

Her voice would not work. Jackie's mouth moved, but everything inside her had frozen. With her head twisted upward by Nix's spindly fingers, she could only see his arm inching forward, until its fingers pressed against her chest between her breasts. Oddly enough, it did not have the piercing pain of a knife, but instead, the fiery burn of dry ice. Her chest felt like it was freezing into a solid block. A maelstrom of dead energy was turning her blood into syrup and locking her muscles into rigid pieces of stone.

Laur! Oh, my God. What do I do? He's going to kill me.

Laurel did not answer. Jackie could not even tell if she was with her.

“Jackie!” It was Nick.

“Interfere and you die, souldrinker,” Nix said.

She tried to say his name, tried to shake her head to tell him to back off, but no part of her body would respond. She was a thousand pounds of ice with the howling wind of the dead whipping through her.

Jackie could only see Nick's dust-caked, rain-streaked face and shoulders, but there was no mistaking the Glock that raised up to eye level and pointed at Nix's head.

“Put her down, Nix,” he said.

“Test,” Nix said.

Nick stood his ground, the Glock about two feet from its head. “I don't give a fuck what you're doing,” he said, in a cold, harsh tone Jackie had not heard before. “I'll give you to the count of one to let go of her.” Nick's lips barely moved. “Then I'm emptying this clip into your head and we'll see how quickly your souls help you.”

Nix's head turned slowly to regard Nick, and Jackie felt her heels touch back to the ground. The spine slid out of her, an icicle of steel. The thing had to have pierced her heart. There was no way it did not. The needles digging into her skin released and Jackie immediately fell to her knees.

“Test done,” Nix replied. “Not ready.”

Nick lowered the gun and knelt next to Jackie. “Hey. Are you OK?”

Jackie pulled up her shirt, expecting to find blood pouring from the puncture wound, but there was little more than a bright pink spot on the skin where Nix had stuck her. The bitter, burning cold was fading quickly.

“I think ... I think so. Yeah.” She sat back on her heels and sucked in a deep breath. “Spindly little fucker caught me off guard. I had no clue what the hell it wanted.”

“Test,” Nix said.

“Yeah! I got that,” Jackie snapped back. “What the fuck did you do?”

“Test. Not ready,” it said once again.

“Not ready for what?” She slapped Nick's hand away from her chest. “It's OK, I'm fine, more or less.”

“You're shaking,” Nick replied.

“Not ready to help,” Nix replied. “Come back when ready.”

“What do you mean, I'm not ready?” Jackie said. “Ready for what? What is it you need me to do?” she yelled.

Nix's spindly fingers dug through the spines on its head, as though trying to get to an itchy spot. “Need to wait. If ready, will tell.” It turned and surveyed the crowd, which had backed well away from them toward the emergency crews, those who were able to see at least.” Explore this place.” It took in a deep breath, sounding like a wheezy asthmatic and then said something in the language Jackie found incomprehensible.

“Wait! Here?” Jackie started to stand but then had to grip Nick's shoulder for balance to get herself up. “You can't stay here. You have to go back.”

Nix looked back at her, the thin crease of its mouth curled up in what had to be a smile. “Living world,” it said. Nix held up the spine it had removed from Jackie's chest and then tucked it in, point first, among the bristly strands on its head. “Back when ready.” With that, Nix turned and began walking away, stepping carelessly among the dead that lay strewn around the front of the house.

Jackie reached down for the Glock in Nick's hand. “We can't just let it go.” Nick's grip was too tight for her to break.

He stood up next to her. “I don't think we have a choice, Jackie. We've got no way to fight that thing.”

“But ... fuck!” Her hands knotted up in her hair. “Nick, what have I done?”

“What you needed to do,” he said. “Nobody can blame you for that.”

She pointed a shaking finger at Nix's back as it disappeared into the darkness going down the hillside. “That thing is way worse than Charlotte. You've seen what it can do.”

“I don't think we know that yet,” Nick replied. “It'll be back.”

“Not encouraging,” Jackie replied.
Laur? You there? You can come back now.
Laurel stepped through and appeared beside her.

“That can't be good,” she said.

“No, it can't,” Jackie replied, and finally tore her gaze away from the wooded hillside. “We need to help whoever's left here.” She began to move, and found her legs were still barely strong enough to stand. Nick grabbed her by the arm to steady her.

“Maybe you should go sit down,” he said. “Let the emergency crew do its job now.” She tried to shrug away from him, but his grip tightened. “Jackie, please. Go rest. Perhaps Jessica is able to talk.”

“Don't patronâ” She cut herself off and jerked her arm away. What an unmitigated disaster this had turned into. How many people had been killed in this fiasco? Was this all worth it in the end? At the moment it sure as hell did not seem like it. “Fine. Sorry. I'm just ... look at this. I fucked it all up.” She blinked away the tears pooling in her eyes.

“You saved Shelby's life,” Laurel said. “The town is free. The price, well, it was a heavy price to pay.”

Nick put his arm around her, hooking his hand under the opposite arm. “Come on. What's done is done, Jackie.”

“Not with that thing out there, it isn't,” she said, but gingerly followed along and let him lead her back to the SUV.

Jessica was not awake, but appeared to be sleeping, wrapped in a blanket, her head leaning against the window. The scruffy fireman walked up to them as Jackie was getting ready to get in.

“Mind telling me what in hell's name that was out there?”

“Don't ask,” Jackie said. “Trust me, you don't want to know.”

McManus came over as the fireman was walking away, shaking his head. “Do we have something new to be worrying about?”

“I don't know, McManus,” she replied, and sat down on the edge of the seat. The cushion felt really good on her backside. “We don't really know anything about that ... whatever it is.”

He ran a hand over the short brush of his wet, reddish brown hair. “Can't lie here, Jack. This is one hell of a mess we've got. It's going to be a PR nightmare.”

“I'll help with some of that,” Nick said.

McManus smirked. “Nick, no offense, but you look like a PR nightmare all on your own.”

“I'll have a little talk with everyone I can find here,” he replied. “Convince them that what they saw really wasn't real.”

“Ah, that's right,” McManus said. “I forgot about that nifty trick. Well, don't worry about the townsfolk for now; just focus on the emergency personnel.”

“Just give me a few minutes,” Nick replied. “My reserves are running a bit low after all of that.”

That made McManus laugh humorlessly. “No kidding. I'll be very interested in reading the report on this.”

Jackie pulled herself into the car and out of the rain. The engine was running and the warm air from the vents felt like bliss. Whatever Nix had done to her, she still had a chill, beyond the damp, night air. Curled up in a corner of the backseat, leaning against the window and wrapped in a blanket, Jessica slept, undisturbed by their presence. If Nick could suggest away what had happened to the important players in this night's events, it just might not blow up in their faces.

Laurel moved into the car with her. “Hon, you doing all right?”

She nodded. “Cold, but warming up finally. What happened back there? You were gone in like two seconds.”

“Less than that,” she replied. “He blew me right out of you and through to the other side. You were flooded with a massive amount of spiritual energy, hon.”

“Why? What could it have possibly been testing me for?”

“Maybe to see how you handled it? I don't know. Whatever it is, it's beyond my knowledge, or comprehension for that matter. I'm just glad it doesn't want to kill you. That saved all of us tonight.”

“A lot of people it didn't save tonight,” Jackie said and leaned back against the seat, closing her eyes for a moment. She got a precious few seconds of rest before a familiar voice had her jerking her head back up.

“Chief Martin? Philip Margolin,
Chicago Tribune.
Can you tell me what the casualties are here? Do you know anything about a botched FBI raid on this house tonight?”

Jackie shoved the car door open. “Motherfucker. I'm going to kill him.”

“Jackie,” Laurel said. “Don't. It's not worth it.”

“Oh, yeah it is.”

Nick beat her to the punch, though. Literally. He came from the door of the mill, his cowboy boots across the wet gravel and barely showing the limp. Margolin saw him coming and started to back up, but he had nowhere to go.

“Mr. Anderson.” He laughed nervously. “Looking a bit worse for the wear.” He kept backpedaling. “Hey, if you have a complainâ”

Nick did not stop. His fist plowed right through Margolin's upraised arms and smashed him in the face, dropping him like a stone. “As a matter of fact, I do.” He stood over Margolin for a moment and then limped back toward the mill. He turned to the fire chief as he walked by. “Might want to have him looked at.”

Jackie smiled at his retreating figure. “Almost as good as I would've done.”

Laurel huffed at her. “That didn't serve any useful purpose.”

“The hell it didn't.” Jackie turned back toward the warmth of the car. She was already starting to shiver again.

BOOK: The Lingering Dead

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