Zombie Queen of Newbury High (8 page)

“I never should’ve trusted her. You know, she had very beady eyes. So what are we waiting for?”

Chase paused for a minute and studied his BlackBerry. “According to this, her store doesn’t open until eleven—”

“Even better. We can leave now and break in.” Mia nodded her head in approval. “Then we can have this whole thing fixed before lunch. Perfect. Why are you shaking your head?”

“You think you can just break in and steal something from a Chaos Maker?” Chase lifted an eyebrow.

“Yes. Absolutely. Look,” she wheedled, “I saw her use a black book to make the potion. She kept it in the top drawer behind her counter, and it had Elvis on the front of it. Can’t we at least try to get it?”

“I’ve dealt with Chaos Makers before and you can’t break in. The only way to gain entrance is if they invite you in or if the door is open. Which means we’ll have to wait until she opens up for business.”

“Oh, like vampires.”

“I thought I told you that vampires don’t exist.” Chase frowned.

“I meant in
Buffy
,” she explained. “If you’re a vampire, you need to be invited in unless it’s in a public place.”

“Oh, right.” Chase nodded. “Well, if they get hit by a thousand kilowatts of sonic energy by stepping over the threshold, then yeah, it’s the same thing.”

“We can get fried?” Mia gulped. Honestly, Algeria should come with a government health warning since she was getting nastier by the minute.

“Only if we try and break in. Look.” Chase glanced at his watch. “We might as well go to our class, and I’ll meet you at the front of the school after second period. Okay?”

Mia nodded her head before she realized the seniors were still all lined up at the door. “Oh, and I don’t suppose there is a way to lose this chicken smell? I think it might blow our cover if we have a group of almost-zombies trailing after us.”

“There is something you can do, but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

Mia sighed. With the way the day was shaping up, that was a given.

seven

“
I
t’s water,” Mia pronounced as she stood at Chase’s locker and studied the spray bottle he had just given her. “I don’t understand. Is it holy? Will it burn them?”

“You really do watch too much TV.” He shook his head. “Actually, it’s just tap water.”

Mia looked at him blankly as she tried to ignore the gaggle of other seniors that had followed them and were now standing in a huddle on the other side of the hallway. Didn’t these almost-zombies have classes to go to?

“You spray it on your skin,” Chase explained. “Not only does it help buffer the pheromones you’re putting out, but zombies hate water. Actually, if they’re getting too close, you can just give them a quick squirt. It won’t kill them or anything, but it will make them back off. I always keep a few bottles handy. Just in case.”

“You want me to spray water all over myself?” She stared at him as if he was nuts. Actually, scrap that. He was nuts. “I’ll look like I’m trying out for a wet T-shirt contest.”

“I said you wouldn’t like it,” Chase told her.

“Okay, fine. But if I find out this is some sort of zombie-hunter joke, I won’t be happy,” she informed him as she started to cautiously spray water on her exposed arms. A light mist settled onto her skin and the next minute the students started to disperse to their various classes.

“See?” He leaned against a nearby locker and lifted an eyebrow in her direction. “It works.”

“So I don’t smell like chicken anymore?” she checked.

“I don’t have the zombie virus, so you never smelled like chicken to me,” he assured her.

“Well, thanks. And sorry about the major freak-out. I still can’t believe this is happening.”

“I know. I’m sorry, too. When the department called to say a ritual had been done here at Newbury High, I thought they were joking. Then when they identified you as the person who did it, I definitely thought they were joking. I mean, you seem so normal.”

“I
am
normal,” Mia responded before letting out a sigh. “Well, I was. And then Rob asked me to the prom and Samantha started trying to steal him away and I just went a little . . . un-normal.”

“I guess it happens. Though I wouldn’t have thought Rob Ziggerman would be your type,” he said, his green eyes drilling into her.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mia bristled.

“Nothing.” He shrugged and shook his head. “It’s none of my business.”

“That’s right. And besides, he’s totally my type.” As she spoke, she tried not to notice how her damp skin prickled under Chase’s gaze. She rubbed her arms to try and hide her reaction. It was obviously just from the water.

“If you say so.” He reached over into his locker and pulled out two more bottles of water. “Anyway, until this thing is over, you’d better take these, as well.”

“Thanks.” Mia put them in her bag just as she caught sight of the inside of his locker, which was crammed with books and papers sticking out in all directions. A lot like her own. “Wow, it’s messy.”

“Oh, yeah. Don’t ask me why but I can never keep it clean. I like to think of it as—”

“Organized chaos?” Mia suggested, and then grinned at him. “Me, too. I can’t stand a neat locker. And it’s good to see that you’re not so perfect.”

“Me? Perfect? What gave you that idea?” He looked at her in surprise.

“Well, you just seem like a rule-following zombie hunter, that’s all.” Mia shrugged. “I guess you didn’t really strike me as a messy locker sort of guy.”

“Looks can be deceiving,” he said simply as he shut the door of his locker. As he did so, one of the many loose pieces of paper fluttered down to the ground. Mia bent down to pick it up and realized it was a photograph of a fragile-looking blonde-haired girl. She looked a little younger than Mia and was laughing at the camera, but unlike when Grace posed, there didn’t seem to be any conceit or arrogance in the picture. Just sweetness.

Mia handed it back to him.

“That’s Audrey,” he said as he used his index finger to trace the image. “We went to school together in Boston.”

“She’s beautiful. Like
model
beautiful,” Mia said, surprised to see how much his face softened as he looked at the photograph.

“Yeah.” Chase’s voice seemed distant and wistful. “She did some modeling when she was younger, but it wasn’t really her thing. She was more about what was on the inside.”

“You must miss her.”

“I do,” he said simply. “Every day.”

“So will you move back to Boston to be closer to her when you graduate?” she asked as she studied his face to see his answer. It was weird that it made her look at him differently just because she knew he had a girlfriend. Chase’s jaw tightened, but before he could open his mouth, there was a coughing noise from behind them.

“Chase Miller and Mia Everett. Is there any reason why you’re still in the hallway instead of going to your next class?” a voice cut in, and they both spun around to where Principal Keegan was standing with an intrigued expression on his face. Crap. “By the way, Mia, this is for you.” He held out a tube of Pringles and she let out a silent groan.

Double crap.

This day got worse by the minute. She quickly gave herself another spray of water as Chase shut his locker. Thankfully, Mr. Keegan suddenly dropped his hand back down to his side and looked confused.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what just came over me.”

That would be the zombie virus I gave you.
Mia gave herself another light squirt and just hoped she wouldn’t have to smell like chicken for too much longer. Next to her, Chase was as still as a statue, and she had the crazy desire to reach out and touch his clenched fingers with her own.

“Anyway, I want you both to get to class right now. Understood?”

“Of course.” Chase nodded as he gripped Mia’s arm, and they both hurried away before the principal changed his mind.

“That was too close for comfort.” She shivered and Chase pulled a sweatshirt out of his backpack.

“Here, put this on. You look cold,” he said as he draped it over her shoulders. Mia was about to tell him she was fine, but the minute the faint lingering smell of soap that still clung to the fabric hit her nose, she found herself wrapping it around her arms.

“Thanks,” she said as she tried to figure him out. He didn’t seem to mind killing two hundred students, but he was worried about her catching a cold? And the worst of it was that despite knowing what he wanted to do, she felt safe around him. “So are you sure we have to wait until Algeria opens her shop?”

Chase nodded. “It’s going to be hard enough as it is; we don’t want to make it any more difficult than we need to. In the meantime, I think we should just go to our next classes, because the less attention we draw to ourselves, the better.”

“And me sitting there spritzing myself every five minutes will look completely normal?” Mia raised an eyebrow.

“You’re not in any immediate danger. The water is more to stop them annoying you than anything else.”

“Okay, fine.” Mia turned toward Business Studies. “So I’ll see you out in the parking lot,” she said as she watched him walk off down the hallway in long strides. Then she turned and gave herself one final light spray before she opened up the door, made her apologies for being late, and tried not to notice all the candy that was piled up on the desk where she normally sat. The sooner they got this sorted out, the better.

 

As Mia hurried out to the parking lot at ten thirty, she was relieved to see Chase was already there waiting for her. He was leaning against an old Impala that looked like it had seen better days. Still, the important thing was that he was on time, because even with her water spray, Mia’s morning lessons had left her in no doubt that the zombie virus was real. Not only had people continued to give her food, but everyone around her seemed to be eating meat. Lots and lots of meat.

“Are you okay?” Chase asked as she hurried over to him.

“I’ll be better when this is over. At this rate, no one is going to be able to fit into their prom dresses. Even Samantha Griffin, who has been on a permanent diet since she was eight, was eating a triple turkey-bacon sandwich.”

“Let’s just hope this works,” Chase said as he walked around and opened her door. Wow, Mia didn’t realize guys still did that sort of thing.

“It has to,” she said in a firm voice as she hopped in.

Chase started the engine and pulled out onto Luna Drive. They made the short trip in silence and he soon pulled up at the strip mall, which didn’t look any brighter or less dilapidated with a second viewing.

“You bought a spell from here and you didn’t think it was weird?” He leaned across and opened her door from the inside.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Mia defended with a gulp as she got out of the car. It wasn’t nearly as luxurious as Rob’s SUV, but then again it probably had less chance of having its wheels stolen while they were away from it.

“Okay, so I suppose we should go and do this thing,” Chase said. “But let me just remind you that Chaos Makers are very dangerous. In fact, it’s probably best if you let me handle this.”

As they walked through the door, Mia wrinkled her nose at the overwhelming smell of patchouli oil. She made a mental note that next time she smelled that, she would take it as a sign to turn around and leave.

“Hello, there. We have a lovely selection of virgin’s blood on sale today.” Algeria shuffled out from behind the beaded curtain; however, the moment she caught sight of Mia, her pale eyes narrowed. “Oh, it’s you. No refunds if the spell didn’t work.”

“Yeah, well what about a refund if it turned everyone into zombies?” Mia demanded.

Algeria scoffed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said as she stepped back and fluttered her eyelashes, much the same way Grace did. It wasn’t a good look on a fifteen-year-old girl, and it was even worse on an evil old bat. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have work to do.”

“Oh, like turning even more people into zombies?” Mia retorted as Chase glared at her.

“Remember our little chat outside?” he said through a clenched jaw. “Because you’re really not helping matters.”

“That’s right. You should listen to your friend. I’m an honest businesswoman trying to make an honest living.”

“Well, you might find that hard if all your stock is impounded by the Department of Paranormal Containment.” Chase pulled out his BlackBerry and started to take pictures of the shop. “And my bosses will be especially interested to see that you have an Amstell 500 on the premises.”

“It’s good for cleaning crystals.” The old woman gave a defensive shrug.

“It’s also good for doing incarnations,” he said as he walked straight past her behind the counter, where he began to inspect a large machine up on the top shelf. “And I’m going to need to see the license for that KS10 up here.”

Mia glared at him. They were in the middle of a zombie crisis and he was worried about some stupid license for something that she’d never even heard of before?

“Fine,” the old woman muttered. “It’s in the back.”

“Chase, what are you doing? Because this is not the time to be following the rule book,” Mia hissed the minute the old woman had disappeared through the Elvis-beaded curtain.

“It’s okay, I’ve got it,” he assured her just as Algeria made her way back out and thrust a couple of pieces of paper at him.

“There. Like I said, I’m an honest businesswoman.”

“Honest?” Mia spluttered as Chase glared at her some more. “You let me turn my whole class into zombies. How is that honest? Now tell us how to reverse it or else.”

“Do I look like an amateur who would sell reversible rituals?” Algeria demanded as she waved an arthritic finger at her. “Pah. My rituals are foolproof.”

“You are unbelievable.” Mia clutched at the counter. “What kind of person would do that?”