Dead Spots (41 page)

“Yesterday was scary.” Johnny stared at his toys with a sorrowful expression on his face. “I was scared.”

“But today we're with Lucas in this cool car. We're far away from the bad things, right?” Mackenzie lightly touched his cheek with her fingers, hoping he wouldn't look out the windows.

A smile brightening his features, Johnny ran his hand affectionately over the seat. “I like this car. It goes real fast.”

“So fast the bad monsters can't get us, right?” Lucas discreetly shaped a new firearm as the undead lumbered closer.

“Yeah. They'd never catch us! We'd go faster than Silver!” Johnny held up his toy horse for Mackenzie to view. “Silver does go very, very fast. Superfast.”

Through the rearview window Mackenzie saw the cemetery vanish, replaced by the highway and the shimmering heat hovering over the asphalt. With a smile, she petted the toy horse. “He really does go very, very fast, doesn't he? The zombies would never catch him.”

Exhaling with relief, Lucas shifted gears, and the Mustang rode on.

 

CHAPTER 27

The sun was blazing in the sky, but the harsh wind was cold. Mackenzie shivered in her lightweight leather jacket and considered creating another layer of lining for it. She leaned against the car waiting for Lucas to return while she watched for any sign of wraith activity. In the backseat of the Mustang, Johnny continued to play with his toys, content to stay inside the warm vehicle while Lucas explored the dead spot that had once been an elementary school. Mackenzie had wanted to join the search, but Johnny had refused to get out of the car. She couldn't blame him. They had already visited five dead spots since passing through George West. After their last trek through an abandoned restaurant, Johnny had declared he was done for the day.

She wished she could remove the mark Grant had inflicted on her. Lucas had nixed the idea of trying to remove it after the manifestation of the graveyard and the zombies. Lucas was still not sure he could remove it, and they were both worried that tampering with the mark might draw the attention of other wraiths. Even though they were in a more sparsely populated area of Texas, there had been more activity than anticipated. Lucas was clever, but he hadn't considered how much an imaginative seven-year-old would affect the fabric of their reality. Johnny wasn't the only person to blame though. Mackenzie knew her own fears were feeding into the world around them. Though she hadn't seen any of the manifestations that had haunted her while she had traveled with Grant, she continued to catch glimpses of several women in white wandering among the cactus and mesquite trees. Though they reminded her of the apparition of Grant's wife, they were of different races and ages. She wasn't sure if they were connected to her, or Grant, but something about them terrified her.

A noise drew her attention to the elementary school. It was so overrun with the local wild vegetation it was difficult to see the building. The cinder blocks were crumbling and brush and scrub trees poked out through cracked walls and windows. The roof was long gone, and she could see sunlight filling the rooms through the broken openings in the façade.

“Doors are shut,” Lucas said, stepping gingerly over some cactus. “Another dead end.”

“It's hard to think people in the real world even dare enter this place.”

“Desperate people do desperate things. Drug addicts, runaway kids, and the homeless are the people we're pinning our hopes on, you know.”

“Not the most comforting thought.”

Lucas patted her arm before leaning over the hood and spreading out his map. “This town has a few more places to check out.”

Mackenzie thoughtfully studied the long swatch of highway cutting through the Texas town while Lucas updated his notes. The town had a strong Spanish architectural influence, but most of the red-tiled buildings were falling to ruin. Because of the cluster of dead spots in the town, there were plenty of wispy black forms lurking in the shadows of the buildings. The sight of them made Mackenzie uneasy though none had focused on them so far.

“It's almost a ghost town, isn't it, Lucas?” The harsh grainy wind whipped her hair around her face and she started braiding it to keep it out of her face.

“It gets worse every time I come through here,” Lucas agreed. “Small towns dry up when the primary job provider dies. Down south, the dead spots are disappearing though. New oil wells are providing jobs and drawing in other businesses.”

“So we're not going all the way down to the border?”

“I think we'll keep to the west side of King Ranch, then head toward El Paso.” Lucas tapped on the map where the biggest ranch in Texas sat, then drew his finger along a path dotted with dead spots.

“What about the Hill Country?”

“It has spots of massive activity that are incredibly treacherous. When I showed you the reality of this world, did you see what looked like big clouds of smoke on the horizon?”

“Yeah, I did. They were kind of pretty.”

“Those are the high-activity areas. They give off a lot of energy, which naturally pulls wraiths into the area.” Lucas pointed to several regions on his map.

“So what causes it?”

“I would say population, but San Antonio doesn't burn quite as hot as parts of the Hill Country, so I'm not really sure. I do know that I avoid those areas. I don't feel like dying.”

“Have you died in here?” Mackenzie felt nervous asking the question. It felt like such a personal question. She glanced at him and saw her face reflected in his sunglasses. She was surprised to see how much more alive she looked, not like a shell-shocked war victim.

“Nope. I haven't. I feel a little guilty about that considering what you and Johnny have been through, but I've managed to avoid it.”

“You're lucky.” Mackenzie returned to scanning the long narrow strip of old buildings. She didn't want to think about her death. The taste of the cold clammy mud and the terrible burning in her lungs were things she just didn't want to dwell on.

Johnny tapped on the window. “I need to potty.”

With an amused smile, Lucas opened the door to let the little guy out. “I'll take him over behind the bushes.”

“I'll be right here,” Mackenzie promised.

“Keep an eye out. Things are calm right now, but—”

“I know. You be careful, too.”

She watched Lucas and Johnny trudge through the bushes to a discreet spot. A little white cowboy hat was perched on Johnny's head by the time they rounded the corner. It was pretty clear that Lucas enjoyed indulging the kid's every whim. Mackenzie found it endearing, but also it caused a tiny bit of pain when she wondered if Tanner would have behaved the same way with Joshua. It made her a little uncomfortable to play caretaker to Johnny in light of the fact she was never able to do so for her own son. Twinges of guilt struck when she was interacting with Johnny. Knowing that she could shape anything she wanted added another element of unease. The temptation to create Joshua and pretend he'd never died was dangerous.

Movement caught her attention and she turned to see a woman dressed in a flowing white gown disappear behind the house across the street. Reaching into her purse, she drew out the firearm. Another woman flickered into view briefly in the window of a burned-out store, then vanished. Mackenzie felt her heart speed up. She had yet to mention the women to Lucas, but she realized how foolhardy that was. The first woman reappeared in broad sunlight, hovering across the road. Mackenzie gasped in recognition. It was the same apparition she had seen after Grant had spoken about his wife. The white gown billowed in the wind and her long blond hair rippled like golden waves. The hands pressed against her breast were covered in blood and she stared at Mackenzie with tender sadness.

“Who are you?” Mackenzie took a step forward.

The woman winked out of existence, leaving the spot where she had stood empty with no sign she had ever been there.

“It's just a ghost!” a voice called out.

Startled, Mackenzie spun about to see an old man walking up the street toward her. The first dog she had seen since entering the dead spot walked at his side. It was a mutt with a silky black-and-white coat and a ruff of thick fur around its face. Its owner was a tall man with a receding hairline and a little bit of a belly. His old-fashioned attire reminded her of Grant: dark trousers and a white button-up shirt under a cardigan. Noticing the gun, he raised a hand and came to a standstill. The dog yawned and stared at her curiously.

“I'm not a wraith, so if you put that down I would sincerely appreciate it.”

“I have no idea who or what you are, so I'm not putting the gun down,” Mackenzie answered defensively.

“That's fair, I suppose.” He glanced at the car. “Where's Lucas?”

“You know Lucas?” Something that Lucas had told her stirred in her mind. “Are you Seth?”

“Oh, he talked about me, I see,” Seth said with a grin. “Yes, I'm Seth. I live up the road with Rosita, my wife.”

Lowering the gun, but not stashing it away, Mackenzie studied the man who had created his own dream palace complete with a replica of his wife. There was a pleasant aura about him that was surprising considering the world he inhabited.

“I'm Mackenzie. Lucas is taking a bathroom break with Johnny.”

“Johnny? Seems much has changed since I last saw Lucas.” Seth pulled a kerchief from his pocket and patted his sweating brow. “Sun is fierce even if the wind is chill.”

“Hey, Seth!” Lucas walked into view with Johnny perched on his shoulders. “This is a surprise.”

“I saw your car go by earlier from my upstairs window. When you didn't come to the house I decided to take a walk with Betsey.” Seth extended his hand and the men shook hands and briefly embraced. Craning his head to look at Johnny, Seth said, “So this is the mysterious Johnny. A lawman, I see by the badge and the white hat.”

“I'm the Lone Ranger,” Johnny informed him.

“Does that make you Silver?” Mackenzie asked Lucas.

Lucas playfully whinnied in response.

“I see you picked up new friends on your travels. What happened to Martin?”

“He decided to head back to Detroit and stake out his old house in hopes of someone eventually showing up.” Lucas swung Johnny off his shoulders and leaned over to pet the dog. “This is Mackenzie and Johnny, Seth. This is Seth, Mac. He's a great friend and an all-around good guy. He's also one of the most powerful shapers and seers in this world.”

Recognizing that Lucas didn't seem alarmed or worried, Mackenzie finally put the firearm away. The situation with Grant had her paranoid, but she trusted that Lucas could spot a wraith impersonator. She shook hands with Seth briefly, before taking a few steps back. It was difficult not to feel uneasy after all she had endured.

“You're a good dog, aren't you, Betsey?” Lucas said, playing with the dog. She returned his affection by licking his face with great enthusiasm.

“Is it real?” Mackenzie asked.

“She came in with me,” Seth answered. “We were on a walk and we took a scenic route right into a dead spot. She's been here with me since 1957.”

Mackenzie widened her eyes slightly. “I didn't think about animals stumbling into a dead spot.”

“They do more often than we do. They are just much better at adapting and hiding. I once saw a pack of feral Chihuahuas chasing after a rabbit. That was a sight to see.” Seth tilted his head, studying Mackenzie, then Johnny. “You're new here, Mackenzie.”

“This is my fourth day inside.”

“You're doing okay so far except for that death and the mark.” Seth took a step toward her, scrutinizing the mark that Mackenzie was glad she couldn't see. The memory of how it had appeared when Lucas had opened her eyes made her shiver.

Johnny and Lucas continued to play with Betsey, Johnny giggling with delight over the dog's antics. Mackenzie saw Lucas discreetly watching Seth.

“Looks like a lover-boy mark,” Seth said finally, shaking his head.

“Lover-boy?” Mackenzie arched her eyebrows.

“What he calls an incubus wraith,” Lucas explained.

“How did you manage to get away?” Seth regarded her with awe. “That's no easy feat.”

“I died. Then I found Johnny. Grant—the wraith—found us soon after. He tried to get rid of Johnny, but Lucas showed up in time. We escaped together.” Mackenzie didn't want to go into any details. She was still struggling to come to terms with Grant's true nature and intentions.

“Remarkable,” Seth said, impressed. “So I take it you're in town looking for a way out?”

“Not stopping until I find one,” Lucas said. He stood and crossed his arms over his chest. Johnny continued to play with Betsey, the dog and boy obviously enamored with each other.

“You're a stubborn man.” Seth's expression was a combination of amusement and annoyance.

“You know I am.”

“I suppose you can stay the night at my house. Rosita will enjoy the company. We haven't had anyone over since her folks visited last month.”

Mackenzie arched her eyebrows at the comment, but Lucas's swift look in her direction silenced her.

“Are you sure, Seth? We don't want to impose.” Lucas shifted on his feet and gestured toward the thick shadows dwelling under a tree.

“The mark is a concern, but one night should be fine. The same with the boy. But because of the mark I can't let you stay longer than that.”

“We don't want to intrude,” Mackenzie said, not even sure if she wanted to stay in the dream palace of a man who lived with an apparition of his dead wife.

“I can handle one night,” Seth assured her with a smile. “I'm old and powerful. But I don't like taking risks with Rosita, so you'll have to go tomorrow.”

“That's very generous of you.” Lucas stepped toward Mackenzie, appealing with his eyes for her to agree.