Chapter Twenty-Seven

The clouds of yesterday had darkened; rain was imminent.

            Nicolle was running horribly late for school. This was, according to the plan, the last day they would go to school until after Dom’s Up-and-Coming Artistry thing had passed them by; the campus was considered too populated for him to be on. Nicolle didn’t actually think any of them would die, not with all of the precautions they were taking to be extra careful, but still: she recognized that this could potentially be the last day she had with her friends at Maple Hill High School in a long time. She still wasn’t used to the envious stares of other students as she and the Chess Club walked down the hall, a sensation compounded now by the fact that Eli was now at her side.

            All they had to do was make it past the day of the lights and after that it was smooth sailing. She could practically smell the ocean… but for now, all she could smell was the incoming thunderstorm.

            Making sure that the flannel square from Adam’s childhood jacket was in her pocket, Nicolle ran from her bedroom and into the living room. Her mother was splayed out across the couch. For a second Nicolle considered saying something… maybe just ‘have a nice day’ as she walked out the door. But her mother was resolutely staring straight ahead, ignoring Nicolle’s presence altogether. Without a word to the woman who should have been her mother, Nicolle exited her house.

            The atmosphere of the day seemed charged, like lightning was in the air; a heavy wind buffeted the countryside, blowing her hair around her head as she ran to her car and got in. She took the time to text Vee, telling her she would be a little late, before backing out and driving away.

            She made it only about two miles before the Lincoln behind her began flashing its lights.

 

            Presley watched the students of the school walk, umbrellas in hand, to the front doors, some laughing, some morose. She fell into the category of exhausted. College planning wasn’t simple; she’d been up most of the night looking at forms, filling things out, talking things over with her parents… it was a lot to juggle at once, especially considering the homework she still had.

            Where had her life gone? She was supposed to be a little girl; years weren’t supposed to pass that fast. Goodness, even the recent months flew by. It seemed like only yesterday she was starting her senior year. She had a morning routine: get ready, swing by the coffee shop for a cuppa, and meet Elijah on the front steps of the school. She hadn’t been part of that routine in a while… she didn’t even stop for the coffee anymore…

            A chilly, almost misty wind shoved across the campus, causing students to shield their faces and hold onto their things to keep them from blowing away. Was it supposed to storm, too? She hadn’t heard. She figured she should go inside now; she began walking across the large expanse of grass to the front doors and that was when she saw them.

            Wearing sunglasses despite the weather of the day, Dominic, Vivian, and Eli were also headed for the front doors. For a moment she considered walking over and saying hello, mostly to Eli… she missed him, truth be told. But then she thought better of it; none of them looked like they were having smiley-face days; in fact, poor Dominic looked downright ragged. When she’d known the Chess Club they walked as a pack, all ten or so of them, but now the numbers had dwindled. Where were the jocks? And what about that girl that was always on her phone, the one with the bad attitude? And what about what’s-her-name, the girl Eli was always with now… Nicolle? Nicolle Darling? Where was she?

            Oh well, she thought, slowing down so that she and the Chess Club remnant didn’t reach the doors at the same time. But she watched them still, watched the cautious way they moved forward, watched the uneasy expression on Eli’s face grow darker and darker…

 

            Thunder crackled and popped, the final peal shaking the building. Elijah looked out of the largest window in Room 44, arms crossed, surveying the cloudy world beyond.

            Something wasn’t right. He could almost smell it. The lights weren’t supposed to arrive until tomorrow, but still… Elyse was still reportedly “missing”, and Jackson, Darius, and Brooklyn had been out of contact for a while, too. Peter stayed home, and probably wisely, but what if help was needed? It was made even worse that Nicolle was running late on such a day… he would have preferred to have her near. She wasn’t his girlfriend, true… but she was his. And… he was hers. He knew that now. Why weren’t they dating? It was for him, in order to take things slow, but he didn’t need any more time. When he was with others, it was like watching a pasture of stallions run free; when he was with the girl named Salem, it was as if he had chased those stallions down, mounted them, and ran free, too.

            “Did she say how far she was?” Eli asked over his shoulder.

            No one replied; he turned around and saw Vee and Dominic sitting on the couch together. Her hand was gripping his forearm, as if to impart comfort. She hadn’t heard his question; she was concerned with his brother, his hand covering his eyes, sweat beginning to form on his brow.

            Eli walked over and sat on his heels. “Dom… let’s go home, brother. There’s no need to be here.”

            “I agree,” Vee said, now placing her other hand on his forearm too. “Natalia will want to escort us back, so I’ll have to call her if we do… we can meet up with Nicolle and get some breakfast… does that sound good Dom…?”

            Before he could answer lightning struck; Vee startled at the blast, jumping in her seat; neither Eli nor Dom moved an inch. About one second after the strike the lights went off; as expected, downstairs students screamed in playful horror, some of them laughing outright. Why did people have to do that when the power went out? Then the lights kicked back on, winking feebly overhead.

            Dominic gasped.

            “What, what?” Vee asked. Her telepathy was faster than Dom’s reply; her gasp was even louder. She leapt to her feet in fear.

            “What is it?” Eli asked, looking between the two of them.

            Dom had at last raised his head from his hand. His Green Eyes were wide and scared. Yes… scared. Elijah hadn’t seen that look on his brother’s face since they were probably little boys together.

            “The lights have arrived,” he said. “They’re here, right now! It’s about to happen!”

            Elijah bolted to his feet and looked around, looked to the corners, turned and looked out the window, as if expecting meteors to fill the sky, for the horizon to be red with flame. But no… whatever Dom had foreseen, it was happening quietly somewhere…

            Eli thought of Nicolle and his heart plummeted.

            The rain began.

 

            Timmy stood in the rain, his trench coat billowing behind him dramatically. He took no care to cover his eyes with sunglasses; as the Truthbringer he wanted the world to see the one they trampled, to see the one exacting justice on this day.

            He popped open the trunk of his car and saw three things.

            The first was the music box he’d gotten for Nicolle. Why had be brought it? He didn’t even know. He reached down and touched it, twisting the little knob without really thinking about it; perhaps he was stalling. Despite his every effort to break the thing it still worked; music chimed out into the rain.

            The second thing was the handgun he’d found in Hugo Reid’s room. Extra ammo was in the pockets of his trench coat… he figured he would need it. He’d never fired a gun in his entire life, not once. But he was the Truthbringer, the judge, bringing justice down on those that have done wrong. He couldn’t be weak; he would pull the trigger many times this day.

            The third was the bright red gasoline container, filled the brim. He kept it in his car for emergencies, something his mother had taught him to do, but today it wouldn’t be put in his car. He had a better use for it.

            No one would realize that Timmy was crying, the rain all over his face, but he was. He was heartbroken. Thoughts of joy departed crushed him, made him want to turn that gun on himself. For a moment he considered doing this… an absence of heartbreak would be paradise. But no: justice would be even sweeter.

            He thought of Nicolle Darling.

            Then he turned, walked across the gravel parking lot, and proceeded to the hell hole he’d once called his high school.

 

            Hugo Reid walked through the woods and Nicolle followed him.

            She almost didn’t stop her car when he began flashing his lights at her; it wasn’t until she recognized the Lincoln as his that she pulled over and rolled down her window.

            “Hello Ms. Darling! I need to have a word with you for a moment!”

            “W-what is it? Is something wrong?”

            He’d said yes, there was, that it was a

            matter of security, my dear… for purposes of safety I can’t tell you much more than that, but I need you follow me back to Riverlove.”

            “Why?”

            He wouldn’t tell her anything more, other than that

            everyone else is already there,” he said. “I’ve been sent to get you. Natalia has asked that you do not contact anyone with your phone, for any reason… to just follow me back. Do you understand, dear?”

            She said yes, and now here she was, walking through the trees with this jester of a man, rain falling down around her; she could feel the smoosh of rainwater inside her shoes. This was weird… she’d never been to this part of Riverlove Run before; this place wasn’t even on a trail. What was everyone else doing out in the middle of the woods? She asked him this and he refused to answer kindly, telling her that all would become apparent in time.

            Something in the pit of her stomach told her that this was connected to Dom’s foretelling… it had to be. That made her nervous; she’d hoped to be in the protection of a very secure plan when those lights finally came, Natalia and Ian nearby to help with whatever it was. She didn’t like being out in the middle of nowhere with a man that, truth be told, she didn’t know that well, even if he was a Kincaid Gardens person.

            Finally, probably a quarter of a mile off the trail, Reid turned to her and smiled.

            “I apologize for misleading you, dear,” he said, his hands clasped in front of him.

            Nicolle stopped and looked at him; why had they stopped? Natalia and Ian and the others were nowhere around…

            “What do you mean?” Nicolle asked. Her voice was fairly level, but beneath it, her heart beat rapidly, each beat like a warning to run, get away, run, get away…

            “I mean that there was no security issue… I truly do apologize, I meant no harm,” he said. Smiling. “It’s raining pretty steadily, so I’ll cut to the chase, okay? Does that sound okay?”

            Nicolle didn’t respond.

            “Many desire a life of conscience, Ms. Darling… a life of meaning. Would you say that you also desire such things?”

            He’d asked her this before, that night on the tiny bridge in front of their cabin. She’d said yes then.

            “I don’t know,” she said, if anything just to throw off his apparently rehearsed speech. “What’s going on?”

            His smiled widened. It looked so… fake.

            “I’m making you a proposal, dear… you see… I’m not truly with Kincaid Gardens.”

            “You’re not?”

            “No, Ms. Darling… I am with a group called the Unseen Society. We are in opposition to Kincaid Gardens.”

            Opposition? But that would mean…

            “So… you’re against Natalia?” Nicolle asked.

            This time is smile looked a little more sincere. “Yes ma’am. If Natalia Hawthorne knew what I was doing now she would probably be somewhat unhappy… that is why I must propose this in secret. I want you to join us, Nicolle… to become part of the Unseen Society. I assure you, your destiny lies with greatness, dear, just as Mr. McKay and Mr. Geldart and Ms. McKenna’s destinies lies with greatness. And Mr. Stoker. All of whom have elected to become part of the growing greatness of the Unseen Society.”

            Reality opened up for Nicolle then, and it all began to connect together: those four had already been approached by Hugo Reid and all of them agreed to join this Society, this group that was against Kincaid Gardens. This man had come into Savannah not to aid Natalia and Ian in their recruiting, but to compete with them in it. And what became of the ones that said no?

            “Elyse,” Nicolle barely choked out. Her hands were shaking now, both from the cold rain and her fear.

            Reid ignored this; to Nicolle it confirmed everything. His demeanor was changing, his voice, his face… falling into something more natural for him…

            “Kincaid Gardens suppresses the power of the Artist by forcing them to live in muffled silence and secrecy… my Society believes that we are meant to be heard loud and clear. Kincaid Gardens won’t last much longer, dear… even as I speak, my fellow agents of the Society live inside Garden walls, pretending, just as I did, to be servants when in fact they are leaders. Join greatness, Nicolle. Join us.”

            Nicolle’s breath was coming out in ragged sputters now. She was petrified, her legs unable to move.

            “What happens if I say no…?”

            Reid took a deep breath. “Is that your answer?”

            Nicolle didn’t reply. She was scared to; she expected that if she said no, that the next day her car would be found wrecked somewhere, her body forever lost, no one to ever learn what became of her… just like Elyse…      

            The rain poured down harder.

            Reid shook his head in disappointment. “You know… Mr. Stoker specifically requested that I keep you alive, no matter what your answer. He’s obsessed with you; you know that, I’m sure. I fail to see why. You’re weak, Ms. Darling. You’re not special in any way. It would be more trouble taking you against your will than anything.” He chortled. “I read your profile. Unwanted by your mother… unwanted by your father… unwanted by anyone else after the death of your equally weak brother. Unwanted by any boys in school, unwanted by all. And now… that includes the Unseen Society. No one will miss you, Nicolle Darling.”

            From his suit jacket he withdrew a gun. The muscles in Nicolle’s face stiffened in fear; her stomach became like stone; her hands and feet were numb with paralysis. She never expected to learn what it felt like to be shot. She expected to die in bed as an old woman, maybe… or from something more common, like a heart attack. She wondered how badly this would hurt…

            She closed her eyes.

            “You know my full name? It’s a darned mouthful… Vee is shorter and cuter. Nice to make your acquaintance.”

            “I’m Dom. Dominic, really, but you’re not my mother, so it’s Dom. I’m the co-founder of the Chess Club. Nice to meet ya.”

            “I hereby pledge to start living, if you will too,” he said with a smile, speaking as he wrote on the napkin, “Elijah Beaumont”.

            Nicolle held her breath and prepared to die.

            …

            …

            … and then, from behind her, there was a sound.

            Low and fierce. The sound of one preparing to kill.

            A ferocious growl, ripping through the forest.

            Nicolle opened eyes. Reid was standing in front of her, his gun still drawn but not quite pointing at her; his troubled eyes were on whatever was making that noise behind her.

            She heard the wet leaves displacing with each step taken, getting closer and closer, until at last it passed by her right side.

            A wolf, teeth bared, eyes locked on Reid with such murderous intent that the air seemed to suck right out of Nicolle’s lungs.

            “What the hell…?” Reid said.

            The wolf walked forward, placing himself directly between Nicolle and Reid, his shackles raised high. Then a familiar voice, like wind chimes in a storm, beautiful and melancholy, came out.

            “I’ve got you, Nicky,” Adam said; gone was the laughter filled voice of an angel that he’d always spoken with. Now his voice was heavy with fury. “I’ll protect you.”

            And like a bullet fired from a gun Adam bolted forward.

            Reid fired his gun, coming out of his stunned reverie just in time.

            Nicolle saw Adam take the shot in the side but it didn’t seem to slow him down; he was in the air, mouth open; his jaws clamped down on Reid’s gun arm and he shook his head violently, twisting the Artist of the Purple left and right. They fell to the ground in a heap, rainwater splashing everywhere.

            “AHHHHH! URGHH!” Reid scream inhuman yells, fighting to shove Adam off his body. Adam removed his teeth from Reid’s gun arm and went for his face, snapping and barking; Reid groped for his gun, dropped as they’d fallen, with his mangled hand and found nothing.

            Adam took Reid’s face into his mouth with one fast snap of the jaws, tearing him apart; blood was pouring from his eyebrows, from his cheeks. Reid screamed again, redoubling his efforts to find the gun at his side.

            Nicolle lunged forward onto her knees, hoping to reach the gun before Reid did, but she wasn’t successful. Reid lifted the gun up, placed the barrel against the wolf’s side, and pulled the trigger.

            Whether it was the wolf or Adam she did not know, but it let out a horrible yelp; all of the fight left it at once and it struggled to stay upright. Reid shoved with all of his strength and the wolf collapsed off him onto the forest floor.

            “ARGHH, DAMN BEAST!” Reid yelled, firing three more shots at the wolf, killing it.

            “NO!” Nicolle yelled, the feeling of salvation fleeing her; a glow surrounded the wolf and Adam’s spirit emerged, his eyes still looking on Reid murderously, but what could he do now to help now? As a spirit he could do nothing but watch as Reid turned the gun on his little sister…

            “Run, Nicky!” Adam screamed. “Don’t fight, make for the trees!”

            But she had to fight; if she tried to run she knew a bullet would find her back. Adam had already destroyed Reid’s arm and wounded his face and shoulder… now it was time for little sister to take a stand.

            “Black Mark: Touch of Death,” she whispered, and it was there, the power of the Black Artistry humming in her fingers. She would see Eli again, and Vee, and Dom… she couldn’t give up now… even if he was a grown man with a gun…

            She ran at him, screaming like Salem might have in she and Adam’s old comics, reaching him before he had time to aim his gun; her left hand found cloth, imbuing no damage to Reid whatsoever; her right hand reached for his face but he brought his arm up to protect himself, forcing her to grab cloth again.

            “Ughhh!” She yelled, throwing her tiny weight against him as much as she could… if she could only touch his skin…

            “You… B***H!” Reid screamed, trying to shove her off him; as soon as he did, she knew, he’d have a clean shot and he would end this.

            “NICKY!” Adam yelled, tormented to watch helplessly.

            Putting his hands on the clothed area just below her throat Reid shoved her and she flew away from him with force.

            … she latched out and grabbed his hand, keeping her from falling away, and sent a surge of her power into him. Nothing happened: he was wearing leather gloves…

            Reid shoved her again, one last time, and she collapsed against a large oak tree. He took three steps back, heaving for breath, his face covered in blood and bite marks. How was it that this man had ever smiled? His expression of rage denied that he’d ever smiled at all. His gun pointed right at her. She’d lost.

            “Useless little b***h,” he said, and the sound of gunfire echoed through the forest.

           

            Was it Noelle slumped against that tree, covered in rain and blood?

            No… no… it was Nicolle… it looked so much like that day, with Noelle bloodied in the corner of that room, Natalia too weak to save her…

            With one huge difference: Natalia knew no weakness this time.

            Her first bullet took him in the leg; the second in that fat a*s of his; the third somewhere in the back. Reid dropped to the forest floor in an ungraceful plop.

            “For you, Noelle,” she said venomously. Ian was already running forward; Natalia followed behind him.

 

            Nicolle couldn’t speak. She was shaking. Ian Erlander lifted her to her feet without effort.

            “Are you hurt, Nicolle?” He asked. Heaven above, he’d always had a soothing voice, but at that very moment to Nicolle it was downright cherubic. She was saved.

            Natalia stepped forward, taking pains to kick Hugo Reid in the back of the head with her boot. She gently took Nicolle by the chin and guided her face to look into her Yellow Eyes.

            “You wounded, Enn? Did he hurt you?”

            “I’m okay, I think,” she said. “I’m just shaky…”

            Natalia turned and looked at Hugo Reid with pure disgust. His head was resting in a muddy puddle, his breaths bubbling the water. Natalia sat down on her heels and placed the barrel of the gun directly against Reid’s forehead.

            “You traitorous b*****d,” she said, her normally contained emotions spilling over. “You can tell me what your intentions were or I can decorate these woods with your brains. Choose. You have three seconds.”

            Reid gurgled something; it was clear that he intended to speak so after three seconds Natalia didn’t shoot him. He turned his head with whatever strength he had left, smiled, and croaked out what Nicolle assumed were his final words.

            “The Uns-s-seen S-society… … h-has already won…”

            Ian laid a hand on Natalia’s shoulder, perhaps to keep her from taking any action. “The Unseen Society…? What is that?”

            Reid just smiled as death took him. Slowly his head lowered back into the mud; his Purple Eyes rolled to the back of his head.

            “Errrr… d****t!” Natalia said, punching the dead man square in the face, sending blood and rain into the air. He never felt it, but Nicolle didn’t care.

            It was over.

 

            As they walked Nicolle talked, and as she talked, Nicolle watched. The silent conversations they had, carried out only with eyes and light nods and shakes of the head, were an enigma to her. They were keeping something from her; it was possibly bad news, or perhaps it was merely official news, things only for Expeditionaries to know. She felt somewhat like a patient at the hospital, explaining to the good doctor all of the medical anomalies you’ve experienced and realizing that he knows just how bad the truth is but doesn’t have the heart to say it aloud.

            She told them everything she knew and everything she suspected, that Elyse had been murdered by Hugo Reid, that the Evil Three and Timmy had been recruited by him, and that this Society of his had infiltrated Kincaid Gardens; that soon the Unseen Society would be heard “loud and clear”. Natalia was not one to express her emotions easily; therefore, when Nicolle recognized a look of barely contained dread on the woman’s face, she momentarily was afraid again. Ian noticed this as well and voiced it.

            “Have you heard of them, Natalia?” He asked. There was usually a smile in Ian Erlander’s deep voice; today there was warfare there instead. “The Unseen Society?”

            “Maybe… years ago,” she said. The expression faded and professionalism returned. “We need to contact Atticus immediately. Report everything. And only to Atticus Kincaid himself will we report. No one else is to know.”

            “There could be reprimand if don’t file a report with the central offices as well,” Ian said. But it sounded like he agreed with her.

            “We don’t know who to trust right now in the Gardens… which makes me sick. Makes me wish I could kill Hugo Reid all over again. Until we learn more, we only report to Atticus.”

            Ian nodded. “I’ll have to retrieve the body of Reid later. For now it’s off the trail well enough that I don’t believe it will be found. Our top priority is to find the ones that he claims joined him.”

            Natalia nodded. “The ones he claimed had a getaway car nearby. Halting their escape is priority, yes.”

            As they emerged from the woods and out near the cabin, Nicolle asked, “What should I do now?”

            “You’ll be safer with the others,” Ian said. “We escorted them to school this morning.”

            “There will be no need to escort you this time, though… Reid is gone, and we have very important work to do,” Natalia said. Her right hand was still rested on the gun at her hip. “Do you think you can make the drive?”

            “Yeah, it won’t be a problem,” Nicolle said, examining herself. She was a mess… but that was the least of her morning’s problems. “I’m just a little wet… and I still have the shakes. But I’ll feel better once I’m with the others.”

            She would have felt better with Adam near as well, she thought, but she hadn’t seen him since Natalia rescued her. Perhaps he ran out of spiritual energy and disappeared for now.

            “I’m thankful that what Dominic foresaw has come and passed without casualties,” Ian voiced; a tiny ripple of thunder overhead seemed to agree with him.

            Nicolle hadn’t said as much but she was thinking the exact same thing. How happy Dominic probably was right now, off at Maple Hill High, the lights finally gone for him, everyone safe from harm. She took a deep breath and even allowed herself to smile. No more worries about the future; she and her friends survived the day and the prophetic lights they’d feared for so long. All she wanted now was to find one of the couches in Room 44, grab a cup of hot chocolate, and tell her friends all about it. And once that topic had passed, and they all laughed like crazy people, high on the happiness of life, she’d bring up the topic of Tybee Lighthouse and see just who was up for the trip.

Reviews

[Melody]

I want to read the next two chapters but I CAN'T read the next two chapters!! I'm freaking out!! THE EMOTIONS ARE OVERFLOWING AND I WANT TO CRY BUT CAN'T!!! I'm drowning in my own despair... :'(

[ScottWinchester]

Goodness, Melanie!! You're going to read the entire thing?!?!?!? That's 700 pages in, like, TWO DAYS!!! You're probably the best person of all time! lol :)

[Melody]

(Yeah I know, I was gifted with awesomeness, just kidding.) Lol. Yeah well, its pretty freakin' fantastic. Lol