Diary of the Gone (16 page)

“
I can chase them away and
I can trap and torture them,” he said. “They fear death. I love
watching them as they suffer.”

I shook my head. The longer I stared
at him though, the more shadows swept past, away from him, clinging
to me for a few moments to take some of my warmth. Soon I felt so
cold that my teeth chattered. When I squinted, I suddenly could
make out a boy with a cut throat. Blood poured out of the slit as
he was choking on his own blood. He moved to me then stepped behind
my back. His cold hand grazed my shoulders, more of the cold
sliding down my spine.

“
Hey, what are you doing?”
Aiden growled at me. “Stop it!”

“
Stop what?” I asked, my
teeth chattering from the cold that wrapped me up.

“
You take them away from
me! How dare you!” He squeezed Vivian’s neck so hard I thought it
would snap.

“
I don’t
do anything. They don’t fear death as you say.” I shifted my gaze
from him to Vivian whose face was tinted with purple. “They
fear
you
. You
killed them all. You killed Greg Thornby.”

As I said his name, the wind picked
up, ruffling my hair. As if he were here, beside me.

“
Who? Ah, that boy. I
didn’t mean to kill him. He was supposed to be here, to complete
the set.” He nodded to the logs. “It’s good I ran into your sister
though. Now everything’s ready. I can help you to get rid of the
dead if they annoy you. You just need to follow me, son. The dead
will be at our mercy.”

“
No,” I said. “I. Won’t.
Follow. You.”

“
Then you’ll burn together
with your friends.”

Something shuffled hastily in the
dark. Aiden swiveled his head in the direction of the sound. I
followed suit.

“
Did you bring someone
with you?” He snarled at me like a rabid dog.

“
No, I swear.” I panicked,
fearing that he might break Vivian’s neck. “I’ve no idea who that
is.”

A black silhouette weaved its way
through the trees heading our way. A low wheezing sound soon
accompanied the shuffling, then the silhouette stepped into the
clearing, and I recognized Mrs. Palmer, as disheveled as ever.
“Aiden, let my niece go,” she croaked, clutching at her sides with
her hands.

Wrinkles on my father’s face smoothed
out, and he laughed out loud, a cold laughter. “Look who it is!
Gloria, you are just in time.”

“
You are
crazy, Aiden!
This
is crazy.” Mrs. Palmer looked at the logs and those tied to
them. Deadly fear flashed in her eyes when she realized what Aiden
was about to do. “No, Aiden, don’t do it. You’ve killed enough. Too
many people in Olden Cross had to suffer because of
you.”

Pleading, she approached Aiden and
Vivian bit by bit, nearly reaching them.

A spark of madness flared to a raging
fire in Aiden’s eyes. “They have to die,” he said. “New blood is
the most precious when you want to control the dead. It’s time for
them all to burn in hell.”

He grabbed one of the torches, then
lowered its burning end to the drenched ground.

Flames burst around him and Vivian,
flaring hot and spreading at lightning speed. The cold around me
dissipated—the dead souls left my side—and the heat wave rushed at
me with fierceness.

“
No!” I shouted and lunged
towards where they were supposed to stand, right through the wall
of gushing heat. Tongues of the flames licked my hands, scorching
me.

As I pushed myself through the first
firewall, I saw Vivian lying on the ground. Aiden was walking
towards Mrs. Palmer, then he hit her in the head with the torch.
Sparks flew in all directions at the impact. The flames hissed as
Mrs. Palmer dropped onto the moss. Aiden burst into a crazed,
hysterical laughter, and I knew I’d never wished to hurt any living
being more than I wished to hurt my own father. Taking a few quick
steps to shorten the distance between us, I sprang at him from
behind, punching him in the head. His elbow—as if made of steel—hit
my jaw, and my vision dulled for a few moments. I collapsed on the
burning ground and noticed that the voracious flames had reached
the hay and the logs.

Aiden grasped me by the shirt then
gripped me by the hair with the other hand. I screamed at the pain.
I thought he would tear it out of my scalp.

He pulled me across the ground as I
wriggled my legs and scratched his hands, trying in vain to set
myself free.

Aiden pinned me against a nearby tree,
his face a few inches from mine.

“
You’re not worthy to be
my son,” he spat at me, his fingers squeezing my throat. “You’ll
just have to die like them.”

He pushed me higher up against the
rough tree bark, my feet dangling like Frankfurter sausages. I
didn’t have any strength to resist his brutal force.

I kept staring back into his blue eyes
while he was taking my life away, and then the world withered to
gray. The Shadow. Finally, it was my turn to die. This pain should
come to an end. I’d had enough of it.

Aiden’s eyes widened all of a sudden.
It seemed he’d seen the same Shadow as I. A sharp blade stuck out
of his throat; blood gushed down his chest in violent streams, and
he let go of me. I dropped to the ground, coughing and breathing in
the sweetest air there could ever be.

“
You should have died with
your curse years ago, Aiden Blackwell,” I heard Mrs. Palmer’s
voice, weak but filled with fury. Slowly she turned and shuffled
away from me and my dead father, right into the raging
flames.

I tried to push myself up from the
ground, but couldn’t lift my hands heave as if filled with
lead.

What’s taking them
so long? Why are they not here yet?
I
squinted into the dark forest.
Please
hurry up.

As consciousness started failing me,
weak sparks shimmered like fireflies in the distance. My eyelids
drooped, and bone-chilling darkness wrapped me in its
embrace.

Chapter 16

Cautious, I slunk through the forest.
Tree branches kept scratching my hands, but I got deeper into the
wood. I squinted into the semi-dark; was it me or was there a
silhouette right there, among the trees?

My feet were drenched but I didn’t
feel cold, like someone had switched off my senses. As I moved, the
silhouette moved as well. Was it some kind of game?

Something pulled me towards that
silhouette. It seemed to be watching me, but there was nothing
threatening about it. And I couldn’t get why my soaked feet didn’t
feel cold.

Unusual warmth tickled my back; the
pools around me set alight, flaring with vibrant orange.

I looked back and squinted at the sun
that forced its way through black cotton-wool clouds. Either my
eyes played tricks on me, or the shriveled moss did change to
green. Something weird was happening to the trees as well. They’d
had no leaves, and I could see buds on the skeletal branches
growing into small leaves. Like the forest was awaking from a deep
slumber.

Whoa,
I thought.
That’s
weird.

When I turned to the
silhouette again, it glowed. I recognized him now, and a mingled
feeling of fascination and fear gripped me. Was I
dead?

Greg’s features were smooth, his skin
radiating the sun’s warmth. He didn’t have a noose around his neck,
no bruises on his cheeks. No symbols and numbers on his arms. He
stepped closer while I was watching him, rooted to the spot. He
smiled; the boy I’d never known in real life and met only as a dead
person.

“
Hi, Cal,” he said, his
voice no longer a static noise.

He greeted me as if we were friends
who hadn’t seen each other for ages.

“
Hi?” I looked at nearby
trees that sprouted even more green leaves. “What’s going on
here?”

“
Don’t worry. This is just
a dream.” His skin glowed brighter as more of the sunlight broke
through the clouds. “For you, I mean.” I stood watching him, not
really sure what to do. “I’d like to thank you for setting me free
from Aiden.”

“
Seems like you should
thank Mrs. Palmer, not me,” I said.

“
Mrs. Palmer did what she
was supposed to do. But if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be free.
Look at me. The symbols and numbers are gone from my hands. No
noose, no bruises.” He smiled, then stepped closer and stretched
his hand to me. I took it, looking into his eyes.

“
They’re waiting for you.
I think it’s time for you to return.” Greg let go of my hand and
his skin flared. I shielded my eyes with my palm.

“
Bye,” I
whispered.

Soon the brightness subsided and I
turned to the sun. The clouds were gone, and it shed its beautiful
light onto the dream world that my mind created.

Chapter 17

Voices filled my head, annoying. I
squeezed my eyes shut, but there was no turning back to the
dream—or whatever it was—where I’d been. The surface beneath was
too cold and hard to make a comfy bed.

“
Callum!
Callum!”

I inhaled the cold air, tinged with a
smell of something burning. My eyes hurt when I opened them, the
shapes above me indistinct. I recognized Beverly’s and Chief
Coleman’s heads. Bev was the one calling my name.

“
Good job, Cal,” Chief
Coleman said, clapping me on the shoulder. His breath still reeked
of nicotine. “You all right?” he asked.

“
I guess not,” I
mumbled.

The chief helped me up. Bev put her
arm around my waist, then laid mine over her shoulder. Chief
Coleman came with a thick blanket and wrapped us around with
it.

“
Will you be able to walk
him home?” he asked Bev. She nodded.

“
I’ll soon join and help
you.” Giving her the thumbs up, he turned and ran to the logs,
shouting orders to the others.

Bev led me away from that place. I
didn’t have the strength to resist.

“
Bev, wait.”

“
No, we have to go. You
need to get warm.”

“
How’re the guys?” I
asked. “How’re you?”

“
They’re okay. Chief
Coleman and his team made it just in time. The guys are really
weak, but they’ll be all right. It’s so good you came to the chief
and told him where to find us. I love you. I really do. I thought
we were dead. You have no idea what our father is like. Was
like.”

I couldn’t believe it had worked. I
could still picture Aiden’s face right in front of me. Right before
he died.

After Mom had told me her story, I
went to Chief Coleman. There was no way I could stop my father
alone.

I stopped to give Bev my first hug in
like my whole life. A strong hug a brother gives his
sister.

“
I know it’ll sound
stupid, but I’m sorry I used all your shampoos and lotions,” I
said.

Bev awarded me a warm smile. It was so
great to finally have a sister I’d always wished to have. “It’s all
right,” she said. “Only don’t make a habit of it, okay?”

“
I promise.” I raised my
right hand and smiled.

Chapter 18

The whole town buzzed when everyone
found out the truth about Aiden Blackwell. Luckily, no one gave me
suspicious glances anymore. On the contrary, everyone was
supportive and friendly. A few schoolmates who I’d never talked to
visited me. I reassured everyone that I wasn’t the one who needed
the most support.

Nathan and Audrey were weak, and it
took them a few days to get better. If Aiden hadn’t fed them
leftovers they’d surely have died, but my father’s mind had worked
in mysterious ways, so I guessed it worked out for my
friends.

Mrs. Palmer and Vivian visited me on
the following day after Aiden’s failed ritual. Vivian’s neck was
bruised badly, but she insisted she was all right.

While Mrs. Palmer was talking to my
Mom, Vivian and I stayed in my room.

“
You know, Viv, when we
were at the graveyard I wanted to tell you that I really liked
you.”

“
I know,” she
said.

“
You do?”

“
Yep. Bev just showed me
your diary. Thanks for the compliment, by the way.” She beamed at
me.

“
What? How? Oh, I see
now.” The diary I’d borrowed from Bev was missing. “Jeez, how could
she take it? But I guess it’s too late for me to get angry with
her, right? So what would you say? Would you like to go out with me
some time?”

“
Yeah, sure,” she said,
smiling at me. “I’m going to stay here for a while now. I asked Mom
if I could move here till the end of the school year, and she
didn’t mind.”

It seemed that my dream of getting a
girlfriend had finally come true. But I’d still needed to talk to
Mrs. Palmer. I had suspicions that she wouldn’t be happy about us
dating. Vivian went to talk with Bev while I was left alone with
her aunt.