Silence.
And then they heard a tiny click.
“Run!” Chase commanded, already in motion, yanking Alex behind him. The others were close at her heels.
She heard a squealing roar of rage. Alex didn’t know exactly where she was going, but the hallway twisted and sloped upward and sooner or later there wouldn’t be anywhere to go. The stench from the charred debris ahead burned her senses. When would the damaged structure give way?
At the peak of the rising ramp several yards ahead, finally, Alex could see the murky, gray sky above, but a mountain of rubble guarded the gateway to freedom. Crooked metal wheelchairs meshed together into a grisly jungle gym. They rusted against jagged piles of floorboards and fragmented doors speckled with chips of paint, slashes of wallpaper, and shards of broken glass. It stretched beyond what would have been the ceiling if the building still existed.
“Up!” Chase yelled when they reached it.
Alex’s fear hindered her concentration. She tried to climb the remains but couldn’t focus away her weight. The objects teetered under her. Her hands grasped pieces that crumbled or clattered, and her feet slipped against the glaze of ashes.
Jonas projected himself to the top of the mound, and he circled his hands, urging them to hurry.
Alex couldn’t stop gravity from pulling her down. She turned to see the banshee climbing the ramp of the hallway on her hands and knees, thrashing her body around in rage so violent her features blurred. The whips of hair lashed about in nightmarish snaps. She opened her mouth, preparing to shriek.
Chase reached for Alex. What do we do? They might be able to save each other again, but what about Skye and Jonas? How could they possibly survive this?
A flash of red whipped past them. Skype slid down the mountain of junk. She held out a handful of smooth, gray rock. She curled it into her fist and winked at them somberly.
“What is she doing?” Alex tried to grab her, but it was too late. Skye launched herself back down the ramp, skidding toward the banshee.
“Skye, no! Don’t touch it!”
Alex lifted her arms, but she couldn’t shove the space between them to separate them, as she had with Jonas in the clearing. The hallway was too narrow. Skye connected with the banshee, and the impact cracked like thunder before they flew apart. The banshee crumbled at the foot of the ramp and lay on her belly, blubbering in aftershocks of voltage. She began to drag herself away and disappeared into the abyss of darkness.
Alex rushed down to Skye.
“What was she thinking?” Jonas asked.
“She was thinking of us. She saved us. Darby said he lived through his banshee encounter because he ran at it. You tried to the run at that banshee in the clearing!”
“No. I was trying to get that banshee to chase me from the clearing. Touching a banshee is like hugging a bolt of lightning.”
“But Chase kicked it!”
“I never actually touched it,” Chase said. “I just aimed for it. An actual punch can’t hurt it, only the energy from it can.”
“She’s not dead, right?”
“We’re all dead, Alex,” Jonas said dully. “Believe me, Gabe withstood much more than that. The doctors at the medical center said the mind shuts itself down for protection.” He pulled Alex to her feet. “You need to take Skye back to Eidolon.”
Chase scooped Skye from the floor and cradled her in his arms. They didn’t dare go back the way they came, but luckily they turned a corner to find a crater in the wall, leading to fresh air. They stood in the middle of ruins, on what was formerly the roof, collapsed to the first floor. A step to the left and Alex would be out in the overgrown lawn again.
Jonas nudged her in that direction. “If you want Skye to be okay, you need to go.”
“Are you coming, too?”
His gaze shifted into the darkness. “Yes. After we either find Van Hanlin or find some other sort of witness.”
“The Jester said everyone is gone.”
“Jester?” Chase’s head snapped up. “You saw him?”
She nodded.
“Maybe he knows something about last night.” Jonas said hopefully.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Alex said. “You guys are coming back with us.”
“No, we’re not.”
“Jonas—” Chase began.
“I’m not leaving.” Jonas’s eyes darted around at their surroundings.
“What are you looking for?” Alex shouted. “You’ll hear it before you see it. That thing is pissed off.”
“Get out of here Alex,” Jonas urged her, but Alex remained rooted to the ground.
Chase stepped closer to Alex, holding out Skye. “I’ll stay here with Jonas. But I need you to go. You’re too much of a distraction.”
“If that’s true, then you shouldn’t have told me where you were going.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Why would you tell me where you’d gone if you didn’t want me to follow?”
Chase glanced at Jonas, who shrugged. “Al, I didn’t tell anyone where we were going.”
“You told Jack! He left me a note.”
“No.”
Three things happened at once. Chase shook his head. Alex felt several warm snaps of electricity. And a sharp cry of pain erupted from behind them. Jonas’s body arched back, suspended in midair before plummeting down to the dirt and ashes.
“What the hell?” Chase shouted.
Lights began to appear at various points atop the debris. Was it the Patrol again? Here to save them from the banshee? The logical part of Alex’s brain knew better. The Patrol wouldn’t have attacked one of them.
Dread filled her as, within seconds, they were surrounded.
33
Despite Alex’s inability to pull her attention away from their invisible company she couldn’t quite look at them. She wouldn’t. It would inevitably show her what or who they really were, and she wasn’t prepared for it.
Alex!
The desperation in Chase’s voice startled her back to reality. She watched him place Skye’s hazy form behind what was once a nurse’s station. Alex was sure it wouldn’t protect Skye if a spirit wanted to attack her directly, but it would keep her out of the line of fire.
Jonas had managed to pull himself to his feet, pressing his palms against his temples. He and Chase stood on either side of Alex.
“Can you see them?” Chase asked, but Alex shook her head. “I know you don’t want to. I don’t blame you. But you need to try.”
She didn’t want to know, but she opened her mind to see them nonetheless. Silhouettes appeared one by one, turning into full projections. They were children, newburies. They were her peers. Joey Rellingsworth sat on the top of a demolished wall. A large boy named Hecker Smithson, who never spoke a word to anyone, folded his arms and glowered at them. He stood next to Reuben Seyferr, and … Jack? Alex’s initial reaction was to call it a hoax. A test orchestrated by Ardor Westfall perhaps, to punish them for leaving campus.
Chase inched closer to Alex. “What’s going on?”
Alex couldn’t help herself. “Jack?” she exclaimed, lifting her palms upward in question.
His name acted as a chain reaction. One by one, the heads of the attackers turned to gawk in surprise at those who joined them.
Jack stood proudly and squared his frail shoulders. “Is it gone?”
Alex looked to Chase, who looked to Jonas, who opened his mouth to respond but hesitated, evidently surprised that Jack was addressing him. Finally, he offered a stiff nod.
Please get behind the desk with Skye, Chase commanded again. His head shifted slowly, scanning the disadvantage of their unfortunate positioning with trepidation in his eyes.