Ghost Guard (15 page)

“Abby! You can’t! Remember what
Mahoney said!”

“Hell with
Mahoney! Morris, you really want to just sit here while one of our own is in trouble? We all know what Elyxa can do, and there are more of them with her in that building. Think of it—Rev, going up against that kind of supernatural force alone!”

Morris glanced at the monitor and listened for a moment.

“Follow me,”
Rev told Riley. Then a piercing scream and more shooting. A flash of light. An explosion rocked the camera.

“Okay,” Morris decided against his better judgment. “He
ck with Mahoney.”

“Ruby, Brutus? What about you guys?” Abby
gazed up at her faithful friends, who were getting more and more impatient by the second. “Are you in or out?”

Brutus, nothing more than a heavy, dark cloud, seemed to grow even bigger and darker.

“How could you even ask that question?”

“Good! Let’s go save Rev’s butt…again!”

ELEVEN

“STAY WITH ME,” Rev whispered.

“What happened?” Riley was dazed. He couldn’t stop his teeth from chattering.

“It was an ambush, Riley,” Rev shook him by his vest, waking him from a horror-induced coma.

Riley stared. In the greenish night vision,
the strange man looked almost reflective, his skin a colorless mix of moonlight and star glow. A magical being.

“How’d you know my name?”

“Never mind that. Come on, and stick close to me or this thing’s gonna end really bad for you.”

“What about my team?”

“It already ended bad for them. Don’t try to be a hero.”

“All teams respond! Anyone, please respond!”
the message came loud and clear.

“Sky Eye!”
Riley screamed into his radio. “Sky Eye, this is Riley! What’s the status? Where are all the teams? Where is everybody?”

“Riley? Is that you? Thank god you’re still alive!”

“Where the hell are my men!”

“We
-we lost ‘em. All readings gone. No thermals. No infrared or ultraviolet. No vital signs. No communications. Nothing. Riley, you’re the only one in the building.”

“You mean me and,” he
glanced at Rev. “What’s your name?” Rev just shook his head.

“What are you talking about?”
Sky Eye demanded.

“I’m with somebody. You can see him too, right?”

“That’s a negative. We’re only reading one live body in your vicinity. Copy?”

“No, not a copy,” he pointed his gun at Rev. “All right, who are you?”

“Never mind who I am,” Rev said. “Just trust me. I’m on your side.”

“You know what? I don’t really care who you are,” Riley squinted. “I want to know
what
you are.”

Rev looked him up and down.

“What do you think I am?”

“It’s like you aren’t alive. It’s like you’re a…”

“Ghost?” Rev raised an eyebrow.

Riley stepped back, his heart racing even faster than before.

“Y-you’re a ghost? What kind of a fucked-up mission did they put us on, anyway!”

“Forget
the mission. You need to think about yourself right now, and get your ass out of this building.”

Riley pointed his gun at him again.

“Who the hell are you, and don’t fuck with me!”

“All I can tell you is I’m here to help,” he reached for Riley.

“NO!” Riley stepped back. He didn’t mean to, but he grazed the hair trigger and his AR-15 sent three quick bursts at Rev. He held his breath as Rev stood there, staring. For a second, he thought he saw blood trickling from Rev’s upper torso, but that was only a trick of the light. Or was it? Rev shook his head, scrutinized his own chest, then the wall where three bullet holes marked the impacts.

“Are you done?” Rev put his energy into making his hand whole and grabbed the gun from Riley’s grip. He then used his psychokinetic power to bend the barrel backward, rendering it unusable, and handed it back to the stunned operative.

“These things are practically worthless against immortals. That should be Paranormal 101 with you guys. Who trains you idiots, anyway?”

Riley could only look at this man, who appeared, dressed, and acted completely out of place. His skin tingled the more he thought about it, until he came to the full
conclusion he truly was standing in the presence of something other than a natural being.

“Y
-y-you really
are
a ghost.”

“Rev’s the name. And you can
pop your peepers back into their sockets. Like I said, I’m here to help you. I’m from Ghost Guard.”

“Ghost Guard?
What the hell is that?”

“We don’t have time. I
f you don’t do exactly what I say, I won’t be responsible if you get bumped off.”

“But my men!” he shook his head, trying to rattle away the tingling. “I won’t go anywhere without my men!”

“They’re gone, man! How many times do I have to tell you? Bumped off. Just like you’ll be if you don’t scram! Now come on!”

Rev strode down the hall. He didn’t need to take actual steps, but he wanted to look as natural as he could to not
frighten Riley any more than he had already. He could pick up Riley’s anxiety even without tapping into the unknown. It was written all over his face.

“I thought you guys were supposed to be some
big shot paranormal warriors or something,” Rev said.

Riley stood straight and cleared his throat.

“What? What’re you talking about?”

“You guys are invading the lair of one of the most powerful
supernatural beings ever known and you’re clueless. You should be prepared for anything when going up against an immortal like Elyxa. Don’t you know that?”

“Wait a minute,” Riley eyed him. “
Who the hell is Elyxa?”

“Oh-ho-ho!”
Rev burst in cyclical laughter. “Somebody’s been double-crossed!”

Riley ran his fingers over his sweaty scalp.

“This doesn’t make sense. What’s going on?”

“What’s going on is you’re getting out. Follow me,” Rev started down the hall with the fullest of intentions on going through the window to the fire escape. Before he could make it, he saw Riley sprint down the stairs.

“WAIT!”

Riley didn’t answer. At least not out loud. Rev could read his thoughts like a loudspeaker.
My team
! he screamed inside his own head.
What has that monster done to my team!

Rev dropped to the lower floor, getting there just as Riley made it to the bottom of the stairs. Riley saw Rev and his eyes widened. He raised his gun, noticed the barrel had been bent, and tossed it. Rev raced next to Riley,
seizing his arm firmly, not letting him move another step. Riley squirmed, but Rev held fast.

“Shhh,” he told Riley. “Be careful in here. I sense a lot of pain,” he closed his eyes and let the stream of human consciousness flow
through him. “A lot of pain.”

They surveyed the
empty warehouse floor together, a vast, open concrete cave inhabited by several large support columns like giant, smooth tree trunks. Water dripped into some unseen pool, a
plink-plink
reverberating in the emptiness. The lights were out, save for an emergency exit sign, casting an eerie redness which penetrated only so far. Beyond that, anything could have been lurking. Rev got the feeling it probably was.

Not many times in his death had Rev been truly afraid. He could have counted on one hand the number. This, though
, was unlike any dread he’d felt before, even during his natural life. When Rev released him, Riley took a breath and maneuvered toward the center of the giant room. Rev moved with otherworldly speed to block him.

“Don’t go in there, seriously. You don’t want to see what’s in there.”

Riley didn’t stop. He passed straight through Rev, who felt violated and a little angry he let it happen. Usually he was too fast to let the living do that. But this time he’d been caught off guard. So he tried once more.

He showed up
out of thin air in front of Riley, smiling this time, and much more confident. He exerted more of his energy field, making sure the plucky breather didn’t have the chance to go through him again.

Riley could see Rev had manifested fully, right before his eyes, a virtual living, breathing person form
ed seemingly from nowhere. He was over being shocked and frightened. Then something over Rev’s shoulder caught Riley’s eye, and the fear pumped through his veins, returning with even greater fervor.

“What…what…” Riley studied
the stationary figure in the dark. A man. One of Riley’s teammates by the look of his black tactical gear, packs, harnesses, and full range of weapons strapped to various parts of the body.

He pointed his halogen lamp and illumination flooded the gloom. Riley recognized this man, even though he was turned away, leaning against
a support structure.

“
Edwards?” he said softly. Deprived of an answer, he repeated, this time at a full shout, “Edwards!”

His voice
resonated off the hard surfaces. It seemed Edwards moved, only a little, and only his head. It may have been a conscious act, or it could have been his lifeless body settling against the wall. Riley had to find out which. He stepped closer, and Rev bristled with static magnetic energy. Something wasn’t right, though he didn’t say anything. He knew Riley knew. Riley didn’t care. He reached for Edwards’s shoulder and pulled him around.

Rev felt a cold, lifeless sensation unlike anything he’d ever experienced—and
he was dead. Death didn’t mean the end of feeling. In fact, quite the opposite. To die was liberating. Yet he could tell Edwards, wherever he was, didn’t feel that same liberation. The look of desolation on his face told the story. Skin pulled tight to the facial bones, dried like tanned leather. He looked mummified in time, contorted in terror.

Riley fought for breath and stepped back. His fear turned to fascination, then
to anger.

“What happened to
him! Edwards! Speak to me!”

“He
won’t be talking to anyone anytime soon,” Rev stated. “And neither will you if you don’t listen to me. Riley, can’t you see this place is a deathtrap?”

“No!” he was indignant. “I won’t leave knowing someone might be alive. I’d never be able to live with myself. How could you?”

Rev shrugged.

“Oh, yeah.
That’s right,” Riley said. “You wouldn’t have to. You aren’t alive!” he shook his head. “Convenient.”

“Oh, sure,” Rev snorted in disgust. “We dead people
…we get all the breaks.”

“This isn’t funny, ghost. I’ve lost good men and women!” he stood straight. “
Wait. You’re a ghost. If Edwards is dead, can you see him? Is his spirit here?”

Rev looked at his own feet.

“What is it, Rev? Tell me.”

“It’s just that…his spirit. It’s…it’s gone.”

“Gone? What do you mean, gone?”

“
Elyxa took it.”

“Took it? What do you mean she took it?”

“All I know is she takes souls.”

“Man, they didn’t train us for this shit. They told us we were going up against some people who thought they were
new age witches and vampires. A cult of blood drinkers, sacrificing humans to their dark gods. They didn’t say a goddam thing about any soul-sucking immortals. What the hell’s going on?”

“Your COs were lying.
Elyxa doesn’t hold ritual sacrifices in hopes of appeasing the dark gods. She
is
the dark god. Now turn around and forget about this place. Forget about Elyxa. In fact, retire. Right now. Get out of this line of work, because it doesn’t suit you,” he frowned at the emaciated corpse that used to be Edwards. “It didn’t suit him, either.”

“This is no time for jokes. I’ve got personnel unaccounted for, and I intend on getting them. So get out of my way.”

Rev shook his head. “You’re not gonna like what you see.”

Riley took a step then stopped.

“You’re a ghost. You can go anywhere, see anything, can’t you? Tell me, then? Which way do I go?”

“You go that way,” Rev pointed to the exit. “That’s where.”

“I mean where are my men,” he glanced at Edwards’s dried up, leathery face. “The ones still alive.”

“For the last time, there aren’t any,” Rev
said matter-of-factly.

Riley squinted.

“You’re lying. Either that or you really don’t know. One way or the other, there are survivors in here somewhere. And I’m going with or without your help!”

“
RILEY!” Rev knew the special agent wouldn’t be stopped. He also understood the slaughter wouldn’t be stopped unless he did what he should have done from the very beginning. It was time to pay Elyxa a visit. Trying to ignore that voice in his mind—a voice that sounded a lot like Abby’s—railing about the recklessness of his plan, he disappeared in a funnel cloud of dust and mist.