The Templar's Legacy (Ancient Enemy) (26 page)

A hollow heaviness weighed me down. “When do you want it?”

“I’m not in that big of a hurry. Let’s say tomorrow by noon. It’s already late, I’m feeling peckish, and I know how much you like to sleep in. Give my best to your parents.”

As usual for my uncle, he didn’t say goodbye. The phone beeped its lost connection. I just stood there watching Dave re-pocket his phone.

“Holy evil douche-bag Batman,” said Dave without much enthusiasm.

I had to agree.

“Since when was your uncle a spy?”

“He wasn’t,” I said hotly. “Wendigota’s just dicking with me.”

“Jerk,” he said. “This is why superheroes wear a mask.”

“Yep. And then there’s us.”

“Ha. So, what’s your ingenious plan for getting out of this? You gonna give Sauron his ring?”

A long time later, I found myself in the family room trying to ignore the odor of death, which now permeated the entire first floor. The sight and the smell tried to pull me back into memories of death and bloodshed not so long past, but somehow Spring helped me stay functional.

The forensic guys had measured, photoed, and done what they do. The bodies were gone, but we had to call in a crime scene cleaner Detective Hunter had recommended. I never realized the victims of violence had to pay for the cleanup. That’s seriously messed up.

My brain and stomach were churning so much I barely noticed any of that activity. But, when the detective wanted to leave, I’d stopped her.

Now, she was sitting in our rocker, my dad and mom were on the couch, and my sister in bed. Jen had fallen asleep in our comfy chair, and David was leaning against the doorway to the kitchen. I’d insisted he stay, but he was obviously poised to make a break for it if things got violent. My parents never struck me, but I wouldn’t blame them if they tossed me out the window after they heard what I had to say.

Hunter rubbed her face. “Please Finn, can we get on with whatever this is? I’m tired and dirty, and I want to go home.”

I’d walked up to a dozen ways to say this and nothing seemed adequate, but it wasn’t going to get any easier. I took a deep breath and jumped off the plank.

“Mom, Dad, Detective…”

Hunter interrupted. “Finn, I’m not on the clock here. Call me Vicky.”

I nodded numbly and continued. “Mom, Dave, Vicky, I haven’t told you everything about what’s been happening to me this summer. Please believe me that I was only trying to keep you from worrying about something you couldn’t change. I didn’t see how it would do anything but hurt you.” That got their attention and three sets of eyes bored into me.

“There is a...I mean when Erik...sometime things... Sorry, this is just hard.”

“Just start from the beginning, Finn, don’t worry about making it eloquent,” said my dad.

I looked at my feet—that was easier. “You guys know some of this. When we excavated the mound, we dug up a monster. The natives who killed it called it Wendigota. It was an evil spirit their medicine man trapped in the skull of its last victim. When we found the skeleton, it had been buried there for hundreds or thousands of years. Erik freed Wendigota when he vandalized the rock shop and broke the skull. The spirit possessed him. That’s what drove him crazy. That’s why he went on his killing spree.” There was no response but silence.

“You know I stopped Erik at Gregg’s funeral. With the help of the Caduceus, I pushed Wendigota out of him and nearly killed Erik in the process. I didn’t tell you that Erik came in and shot Dave before I could stop him—”

“David was shot?” My mom looked horrified.

“It’s okay, Mrs. M, it was just a flesh wound. I got better,” said David.

“I was trying to help heal Dave with the Caduceus when Wendigota returned and attacked me.”

I risked a glance up. Everyone was just staring at me. My mom still looked stricken, my dad looked gaunt and concerned, and Hunter looked... tired. Well, at least no one was throwing anything at me—or bleeding on me.

I hastily dropped my gaze and continued. “What I didn’t tell anyone is that Wendigota possessed me. It turned me into a killer who fed on people’s souls. I was overwhelmed by its hunger for them. It’s like there’s a black hole inside Wendigota itself.” I paused for a second to consider my next words.

“Everyone in the room suddenly looked like a snack, and I planned to feed on them all. The only thing that stopped me was Spring and my friends. They led me to Shady Oaks, where I planned to feed on every single patient...” I choked past a dry catch in my throat. “Daniel and Holly met me there. They stood up to me. They relied on my love of them to stop Wendigota. I... I... killed Daniel. I couldn’t stop it. I just ripped his soul out of his body, and he died right in front of me...” Tears were now flowing freely down my face and the constriction in my throat made it impossible for me to continue. I took a couple of ragged breaths.

My mother choked out her own sob, got up from the couch, and fled the room.

I’d betrayed her. Instead of a son, she had a murderer living in her home.

My god
,
Finn, get over yourself. Even I know she’s crying
for
you—for what you went through. I spent most of my life as a tree, and even I can see that.

Shut up, Spring!

Asshole,
she said as she retreated.

Annoying as it was, her mental interruption and subsequent guilt for snapping at her had dispelled some of the intensity of the memory I’d been reliving. It allowed me to finish.

“While I was busy eating Daniel’s soul, Spring and Gregg managed to free me enough to escape the monster’s control. I was able to stuff it into a cage in my mind.”

“Finn—” said my dad in a quiet voice.

I held out my hand to stop him. “Just let me get through this, please. Anyway, I kept Wendigota locked up inside of me with the power from the Caduceus. It was okay until a friend of Uncle Mark’s, Matt Smith, captured Colette and I.”

From there I told them what had happened while we were prisoners. I told them about our escape and then finally told them about Uncle Mark’s ultimatum. I finished my story and waited for the storm.

“Finn, how did Gregg help you if he was dead?” asked Victoria. Nothing got past that woman.

“Well, I got to his side too late to save him, but I was able to keep a small bit of his soul inside me. Il Saia told me his soul would regenerate, and we might get some of Gregg back.”

Dad and Hunter looked at me in shocked silence. The silence ruled for a few moments before my dad spoke. I cringed in anticipation.

“Finn, it’s going to take me some time to digest all this, but let me tell you one thing I know already—you were wrong. You were wrong to keep this from your mother and me. You didn’t have to bear this by yourself. If you had shared this as it happened, we would have been there to help you carry this...burden, this unnecessary guilt.”

This just made me feel more guilty.

“Yep, you’re a moron,” said David from the doorway. “It’s incredible how twisted up you got this. Finn, you’re a fucking hero. The only thing any of us did was to try to keep that monster distracted until you could toss it off. You did! Now it’s free again because some twit mad scientist and a bunch of religious freaks want to control the world? You can’t possibly be held responsible for that! No-one ever told us the world was this fucked up.”

See? Even David agrees with me.

Quiet!

I looked up and over at David, angry at his condescension and his language. Whatever I was going to say to him came out stillborn. My mother stood behind David looking at me with huge red-rimmed eyes. That did it. I broke down crying again, and then she was there. She held me and stroked my hair while whispering her love.

After a few moments Dave said, “My god, Finn, are you twelve? Man up, stop with the crying and start planning.”

I pulled back from my mom and turned on Dave. His familiar self-satisfied grin stopped me. As usual, his over-the-top inappropriate comments were just what I needed.

“Asshole.”

“Hey, sometimes they’re a pain, but everyone needs an asshole.”

I struggled to hold onto my scowl. Damn him.

Maybe I just need to be more crude, crass, and reprehensible for you to pay attention to me?

No, please don’t
,
Spring. I’m sorry.

“Finn,” said Hunter behind me. “Are you planning on giving Mark the Caduceus?”

My dad said, “Yes, that is exactly what he’s going to do.”

“What? Dad, what about all those people who’ll die if we don’t stop him?”

My dad shrugged, “Finn, from what Mark told you, it’s not in your power to help them.” He held up his hand as I started to object. “Finn, this is too big for you. It’s too big for us. It’s time to pull in the big guns. This seems more like something for the CIA and the FBI. They have the resources to handle things like this.”

“No, they don’t, and that’s the problem.” I said. “If Mark gets the Caduceus, he’ll be unstoppable. No one will be able to stand against him. All he’d need to do is go say ‘hi’ to the president and tell him to press the button. He would. You have to understand how powerful the Caduceus is.”

“I believe I’ve got a pretty good idea,” said my dad who’d been kept alive with its power before he’d discovered his new, uh, dietary preferences.

“Do you believe Mark will actually follow through with his threats?” asked Hunter.

I nodded. “This thing that has him is completely ruthless. He’ll do anything to get this.” I held up the Caduceus.

“You can just give it to the CIA to use,” said Dad. “We’ll do it publicly, and he won’t have a reason to retaliate.”

“I can’t take that chance, Dad. This thing
likes
killing. He might come after you just for spite. I also can’t trust this in someone else’s hands. Whoever has the Caduceus can become an unstoppable monster—even without Wendigota driving them. Detec...Vicky, do you think you can get my parents and friends into witness protection?”

She considered this a moment. “The U.S. Marshalls handle that. I’ve never worked with them, and I’d have to talk to some people to even know who to call. I’m not sure if we can give them enough justification to do it. It’s normally used for federal witnesses whose testimony will help the feds prosecute a case.”

“I’m sure I could convince the person who normally approves these cases.”

“
If
you can get hold of him, hoodoo him and get everybody protected—by noon tomorrow,” said Dave.

“Finn, I don’t see any way around this. You have to give it to him,” said my dad.

“No, Dad, I’m not going to give it to him.” I surprised myself with this, but when I thought about it, I’d known the answer all along. I’d hated bullies ever since I’d been persecuted by Erik, and I wasn’t going to let that thing bully me. Probably the wrong time to develop moral outrage.

“Great,” said David. “I’ll just nip along and kiss my parents goodbye, shall I?”

“No, Dave, I think we can keep everyone safe.”

“How?”

“I have a cunning plan...”

“Now, this, I’ve gotta hear...”

“Okay,” I said. “The first thing we need to do is figure out how to get in touch with Colette.”

“But, she stabbed you, Finn!” objected my mother.

“And shot him,” added Dave.

I scowled at Dave, “No, that was her partner.”

“Henchman, you mean.”

“It doesn’t matter, Dave. He’s dead. And yes, I have to get in touch with Colette. I don’t know where she disappeared to, but her family is probably the only group in the world that can help us. On top of that, Uncle Mark is going after them as well. We have to form an alliance with them. Dave, did you see where she went after we got here?”

“Nope, she just made scarce. Probably on her way back to Paris by now.”

“Do you know how to get hold of her?” asked Vicky.

“Uh, well no. I had her phone number, but Mark’s got my phone.”

“And, she probably lost her phone as well,” pointed out Dave helpfully.

“Yeah. Poop.”

“Not much of a plan, Finn,” said Dave.

“I’m right here, Finn,” said Colette from behind me.

“Ya!” I whirled on her. She was standing behind our TV stand. Her appearance set off a lot of shouting and finger pointing, but I was eventually able to convince my parents not to shoot her and Vicky not to arrest her.

“How did you get there?” I eventually asked.

She looked haggard, tired, and suspiciously clean, but she still rolled her eyes. “I snuck in.”

“Okay, so, Colette, can your family help keep our families safe from my uncle?”

“
Oui
Finn, but I don’t know if I could convince them to do it.”

“What if we could return a few of the shards that Matt Smith took?”

That got her excited. “You have found these?”

“Finn!” Dave yelled.

“It’s the only thing we have to bargain with, Dave. Do you want to keep your parents safe?”

“Crap, you suck at negotiation,” he muttered.

I turned to Colette. “We can offer you your St. Christopher medal and the other two pieces we found.”

“I found,” said Dave.

“...Dave found. In return, you’ll get your family to help us. On top of that, we’ll help you stop Mark and Smith’s organization.”

Spring gave me a metaphorical elbow dig.
You dog
,
you. What are you going to do with the other two pieces?

I don’t know yet. It seems like they’ll come in handy
,
though.

Colette’s pretty lips puckered as she thought about my proposition for a couple of seconds. “Very well, I will call home and we will discuss zis. How many peoples will we have to help protect?”

I shook my head helplessly, “Seven or eight families. Maybe thirty or forty people?”

Out went her lips again as she considered it, making me forget where I was for a moment. Damn, she was cute—even after... hey, wait a minute, she didn’t look nearly as bedraggled as she should. Did she use our shower or something? I shook it off. Who cared?