Dead Spots (32 page)

“You went into the Weller House, and it brought you here, didn't it?”

“Me and my brother. But he's gone now. He's … bad now.”

“I'm sorry to hear that.”

Johnny shrugged his small shoulders and made another makeshift boat out of a twig and leaf. He sent it sailing across the pond. This one had better luck than the first leaf and stayed afloat.

“How long have you been alone?”

“I just woke up. I died again.” Rubbing his nose, Johnny looked sadly grim. “I didn't listen to Lucas and I ran outside.”

“Is Lucas your brother?” Mackenzie found some hand sanitizer in her purse and rubbed it on her face, neck, and hands.

“No. He's my new friend. I was running from the wolfman and Lucas found me. He shot the wolfman with a big gun. He had silver bullets so the wolfman stayed dead.”

Putting away the hand sanitizer in her purse, Mackenzie pondered what Grant had told her about the man with the leather jacket. Why hadn't she questioned him more closely? It made her uneasy that she had just accepted what Grant had said. The man had saved her. “So you liked Lucas? He was nice to you?”

“Uh-huh. He made me hamburgers and French fries. We even got root beer floats. And he had a car. I liked the car.”

“A car?” Mackenzie lifted her eyebrows, more confused than ever. Immediately her thoughts drifted to the car that had frightened Grant. Again, she had believed him when he'd said that humans trapped in the dead spots couldn't control vehicles. Was Lucas maybe a wraith deceiving the child? “How long were you with Lucas?”

“I think two weeks. Yesterday was scary though. We were almost killed by balloons.”

Mackenzie gaped at the boy. “Near an amusement park?”

“Yeah. Lucas saw some people going inside and he said it was a bad place. He tried to save them, but the balloons almost got him. I stayed in the car, but I saw them. I didn't know balloons could be monsters. That boat sank, too.” His small, chubby fingers began constructing a new boat out of two red leaves and bits of twigs.

Startled, Mackenzie remembered the man who saved her from Tildy the first time. Grant had told her he was a killer. That declaration really hadn't made sense to her then and didn't ring true now. Why would a murderer save her? Uneasy, she asked, “Does Lucas wear a leather jacket?”

“Uh-huh. He has pictures on his arms and earrings.” Johnny made a face. “It's kinda weird, but he's nice.”

It was difficult to reconcile what Johnny was telling her with what Grant had insisted was true about the mysterious man in the leather jacket. Grant had seemed completely terrified of him, but Johnny obviously had trusted him as a protector.

“How did you die? Didn't Lucas take care of you?”

“When we were getting food last night, the dead people came. The … zombos?”

“Zombies,” Mackenzie corrected.

“Yeah. They were getting in the house and Lucas made me hide in the closet and told me to stay there until he was done killing them. But I got scared. I heard my brother calling me, trying to find me in the house. So I ran outside and…” Johnny fell quiet as he set his new boat adrift on the gentle waves of the pond.

“You don't have to tell me. I died last night, too. I ran outside when the house where I was staying fell apart.”

“Did the zombies get you, too?”

“No.” Mackenzie hesitated, remembering Tildy's empty eyes and smirking lips. “Well, kinda. A different zombie.”

“I don't like dying. It hurts so much.”

“I don't like it either.” Mackenzie had to fight the urge to hug the little boy. He was such a solemn little creature with his haunted eyes and baby cheeks. Rising, Mackenzie stared across the graveyard, searching for the road she knew had to be close by.

“This is a bad place,” Johnny said in a disgruntled tone.

“I know,” Mackenzie said sadly.

“It was nice when my brother and I first got here. We lived in a dream palace with some other kids for a long time. It was kinda cool. Then one day, the bad stuff got in.”

Mackenzie flashed on Grace's gruesome visage when she had bit off Ted's head. “Yeah, I know how that can be. After that what did you do?”

“Ricky took care of me. He was sixteen. We tried to go home, but it didn't work. One time we went to Disneyland, but it was scary there. He always tried to keep me safe, but they killed him a lot. They killed him until he … Ricky is a monster now.”

Again, she fought the urge to hug the child. Johnny watched his leaf sailboat cruise the pond with a somber expression stamped on his features.

“Were you alone a long time before Lucas found you?”

Johnny nodded. “Yeah. I think it was a month. Or maybe longer. I don't know. I hid a lot. Are you alone?”

“A friend was with me, but we got separated when I died. I don't know where he is now.” Mackenzie folded her arms over her chest and nudged a stone with her foot. It was uncomfortable talking to the child about such dark subjects, but he had already endured far worse than she had.

“Are you going to go find him?” Johnny inclined his head to look at her, slightly squinting in the daylight.

“I want to find a road and try to figure out where I am. I know where he was headed, so maybe we can find him.”

“Can I come with you?”

Mackenzie looked at him in surprise. “Of course! I wouldn't leave you here.”

“Other people didn't want me. They said I have a bad imagination.”

“I have a bad imagination, too. Trust me.”

“Maybe we can find Lucas. He has a nice car.”

“I didn't think people could have cars in this world.”

“He does. It's cool. It's black and has red seats.”

Mackenzie spotted a thin line of asphalt at the far corner of the graveyard near a copse of trees and a single-story building made of pink granite.

“What are you afraid of?” Johnny asked timidly.

The question brought myriad images into her head, from the ridiculous fears her mother had imposed on her growing up to the image of Grace's shark mouth. “A lot of things.” She squatted beside the boy and stared out over the dark water of the small pond. It was such a tranquil setting with the little boat skimming along its surface. “I found the road out of here. I want you to come with me, okay?”

Offering her hand, she waited to see if he would take it. She dismissed her mother's nagging voice chiding her about taking on more than she could deal with, and Grant's voice admonishing her for taking in yet another stray person. The boy needed her and, strangely, she needed him, too. She didn't want to be alone and her instincts were to take care of the child. His small hand settled into her palm and her fingers closed over it.

“The boat is going to make it to the other side,” Johnny said, a smile gracing his face.

Mackenzie watched the little leaf boat accelerating toward the far end of the pond. It left small ripples in its wake. The shark burst out of the water, breaching like a whale, its white underbelly glistening in the muted sunlight. The tiny boat disappeared when its huge body crashed into the dark waves.

Johnny's screams broke her out of her shocked state and Mackenzie jerked him from the water's edge. Gasping for air, she stared in shock at the churning water. The shark had been a Great White. Its length had to be at least half of the pond. It was impossible for it to exist within such a confined space, but then again, this was the world of the impossible.

“It's okay. It can't reach us,” Mackenzie said confidently, but took a few more steps away from the edge. “It can't leave the water.”

The dorsal fin broke the surface, the huge white shape barely visible beneath the water.

“I want to go,” Johnny said.

“Me, too.” Mackenzie firmly held his hand, guiding him away from the pond.

Mackenzie couldn't help but steal looks at the giant fin slicing through the water. It made her stomach clench to see it so close, but she kept reminding herself that it was trapped in the pond. Yet, the terror it inspired in her made her walk faster and she hurried Johnny along.

“It's so big.”

“It's a Great White. Like in
Jaws
.”

“What's jaws?”

“Uh, a movie about a shark.” Mackenzie forced herself not to look at the pond, but to focus on getting to the road.

“I don't think I would like it.” Slightly dragging his feet, the boy kept staring over his shoulder, trusting Mackenzie to guide him.

“It's a very scary movie. Look, there's the road. We'll be there soon.” She pointed toward their destination while looking down at Johnny, who finally turned his attention forward.

“Lady,” the boy said, his voice hushed.

“My name is Mackenzie.”

“There's a wraith!” Johnny pointed, fear etched onto his face.

Near the road, a dark figure stood waiting for them.

 

CHAPTER 21

Stooping, Mackenzie grabbed another heavy chunk of a broken headstone. Johnny followed suit, still clutching her hand while he leaned over to pluck a baseball-sized piece from the ground. Determination was etched on his innocent face from the furrows between his eyebrows to his lips pressed into a tight line. His bravery touched Mackenzie.

The tall shape didn't move. It was backlit by the sun making it difficult to make out the facial features. From the way its head kept sweeping back and forth it appeared to be scrutinizing the graveyard. Mackenzie ducked behind several bushes. Johnny crouched beside her.

“Can we kill it, Macky?”

Mackenzie almost corrected his new nickname for her, but thought better of it. Her mother had never allowed anyone to use nicknames for her when she was growing up. Tanner had gleefully called her Mac just to upset her picky mother. Let Johnny call her what he wanted. It wasn't going to hurt either one of them. “No. We're going to try to avoid it. Maybe we can sneak around it.”

Watching the figure through the leaves of the bushes, Mackenzie experienced a twinge of recognition. Narrowing her eyes, she studied the form. For a moment she thought it was Tanner, but then she realized the shoulders were too broad.

“Grant!” she exclaimed. “It's Grant!”

“Macky, that's not your friend. That's a bad guy,” Johnny said somberly.

“No, it's my friend,” Mackenzie assured him, grinning.

Johnny shook his head adamantly, trying to keep her next to him by tugging on her hand when she started to stand. “Don't! Don't!”

“It's okay, Johnny. I promise. He's my friend.” Waving happily, she stepped into clear view. “Grant!”

“Mackenzie!” His voice floated through the air. He burst into motion, running toward her. His suit jacket flapped around him like wings and he quickly closed the space between them. Snatching her in his arms, he whirled her around, his face buried in her neck. “I found you!”

Mackenzie laughed with relief. “I can't believe you found me!”

“It was blind luck. I woke up nearby.”

Wincing, Mackenzie said, “You died, too?”

Grant nodded grimly. “I did. But at least I got my jacket back.”

Johnny dared to stand and grab Mackenzie's hand. “I want to go now.”

Grant abruptly let go of Mackenzie at the sound of the child's voice and stared in surprise at the boy at her side. “What's this?”

Johnny's fingers painfully clung to Mackenzie's hand, his small body slanting away from her, trying to pull her away. “Macky, I want to go!”

Witnessing the none-too-happy expression on Grant's face, Mackenzie regarded him in confusion. “This is my new friend. His name is Johnny.”

“Mackenzie, how could you?” Grant asked incredulously. Sweeping his hand through his hair, he paced in front of her, obviously frustrated.

“What do you mean?” Mackenzie scooted a little closer to Johnny, the joy of her reunion with Grant vanishing under the onslaught of his withering glare at the boy.

“Macky,” Johnny whispered. “I want to go. I don't like him!”

“Macky?” Grant shook his head, laughing bitterly.

“What's wrong with you?” Mackenzie demanded. “Why are you acting like this?”

“The boy's a wraith!” Grant pointed an accusing finger at the child.

“No, you are!” Johnny yelled back. “You're bad!”

“He's obviously taken advantage of the fact that you're mourning your dead baby boy to get his hooks into you! After what happened last night with Grace, how could you do this again? Didn't you learn from Tildy?” Grant stared at Mackenzie with a heartbroken expression on his face, his hands settling on her shoulders. “You died once already, Mackenzie, because of these
things
. The thought of you dying because I took in that group kills me inside. I should have never risked your life with them, or allowed you to take in Tildy.”

Everything about Grant's demeanor and words was painted with fear and affection. The softness in his eyes and the anxious tone of his voice affected her. For just a second, she wanted to console him and apologize for taking in Johnny, but then she looked at the scared boy at her side and shoved those thoughts away.

“We both made mistakes, Grant. Yesterday was … awful. Last night was worse. But I'm not going to turn my back on a little boy!”

“That's why it's disguised like a child! To lure you in! Mackenzie, when I died last night all I could think of was that I had failed you. The second I was alive again today, I started searching for you. My every thought has been about you. I'm not going to let anything or anyone close to you again. You and I need to stay on our own.”

“He's just a little boy!”

“Isn't that convenient? A little boy? Who calls you Macky? He might as well call you Mommy!” Grant flung up his hands.

“You're the bad thing! Not me!” Johnny shouted, tears sparkling in his eyes. He tugged on Mackenzie's hand again. “I want to go!”