Shadow and Shine (Book 2): Dark Divide Page 36

  Marshall nodded. “Yup. You’re a ghost.”

  Asher put his hands up. “Got me there. Where’s Mona?”

  “Uriah has her hidden. But don’t worry, Nino’ll get her.”

  “He’s dead. So I doubt it.”

  “You’re dead, too. Did it stop you?”

  “Got me again.”

  “That’s the third time I got you, huh?”

  Asher stood, he wasn’t going to waste his time with this mess. “Goodbye, Marshall.”

  “Shhhh. Can you keep a secret?”

  It felt like talking to a drunk teenager. Marshall’s head looked too heavy for his neck, his eyes fluttered in and out, and Asher smelled his urine soaked pants. Whatever secret he had, Asher would play along, Marshall may have been turned into a wasted man, but he still would know Mona’s location.

  “Sure you can. What secret?”

  “Promise not to tell?” Marshall started giggling.

  Asher was tempted to kill him and figure out another way to find Mona. Someone else would know her whereabouts. It wasn’t worth dealing with an infantile monster. All he could think about was Shelly’s death when he looked at him. He knew better though, he knew patience would be rewarded so he said, “I promise, what do you want to tell me?”

  “I know where your girlfriend is.”

  It was an odd way to refer to a fourteen year old, but Marshall was never great with words. “Mona?”

  “LUUU! SEEEE! Lucy, Lucy, LuLu. You love her even though she married your brother. Now she’s in California, waiting for the lights to go out. She’s going to kill thousands of people. Thousands and thousands and hundreds of hundreds. With her bare little hands. Those hands you wanted so desperately to hold.”

  Asher stood and raised his sword. If Marshall was just going to mock him, then Marshall was going to die. He knew Lucy’s location because he saw her on the television, but how did he know Asher was in love with her?

  “How do you know that?”

  Marshall pulled his hands from underneath himself and began opening and closing them like little mouths. “Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah.” He laughed at himself. “How is ten but What is zero. Hero. Hero. Hero. Do you want to know his name?”

  “Who?”

  “The He. Row. Heroherohero. I know his name. I want to tell you his name. Can I?”

  Asher didn’t answer him. It felt like another part of his insane game.

  “Hero is Hickory. Hero. Hero. Hickory. Hick. Are! E.”

  “Hickory?”

  “Hick. Arrrr. E.” He laughed.

  “Where is he?” Asher asked, “Where can I find him?”

  “No more questions, your honor. I plead guilty,” Marshall said as he pulled out his knife. Asher could have stopped him, he knew what Marshall was doing, but chose to let it happen. There was no sense in asking for information about Mona; Asher already received more than he asked for. The Hero was real and his name was Hickory.

  Marshall placed the knife under his mouth. “Thanks for the memories.”

  The knife pierced through the soft flesh under his chin and up through his mouth. Marshall patiently kept pushing it upwards, smiling, and showing Asher the blade between his white teeth.

  A deep grunt came from his belly.

  Asher turned away before the poison took over. He knew what it did, there was no pleasure in experiencing it from the other side.

  Instead, he walked out the door to go find the others. Someone should know where Mona is, otherwise Asher would pull every brick out from this building to find her.

  *******

  Greg/Seth

  Evening

  Union Matis, WV

  “Two. Four. One. Zero,” Greg recited the numbers from his memory. By chance, Bryce Chapman knew the code to break into Mona’s cell. By design, Greg decided he no longer wanted to keep Chapman’s company. Greg was confident enough in his memory, but there was still a brief amount of insecurity.

  Until the key pad flashed a green light.

  On the other side of the door was a long stairwell. It was dark, as the lights were still out from whatever burst through and shorted the breakers. It didn’t appear to be a natural occurrence, but Greg would not concern himself with issues in which he could not control. There were more benefits to adaptation than manipulation, in this specific case.

  Greg walked down to the door at the stairwell’s end. It was a relief to see there was no key pad to enter a separate code. If this would have been the case, Greg’s current plan would end in a drastic failure. He wanted to see Mona before the others. He wanted to show her he was still alive and gloat over the change in status. She showed up to Salt Lake City as a heroic child-leader and pushed Greg to the side. Greg could have been an asset for her, but she sent him away. The saying, one man’s trash is another’s treasure, fits the narrative of Greg’s newfound leadership and submission towards Adam. He wanted Mona to see it firsthand, and then he was going to kill her.

  How many people have to die in order for one to become a serial killer? The feeling was supposed to break a man down, but Greg felt only ca;,.

  She sat in the far corner of the cell, pretending to be unsurprised by Greg’s appearance. She was smaller than Greg remembered. It dawned on him, she may not recognize him. He was in and out of her life in a brief moment. When he was around her his face was a swollen, mangled mess.

  “Hello, Mona.” He admired his knife as he walked towards her. There was so much he wanted to say, but so little time. This moment would have been far more enjoyable if he could have savored her fear. Finally, the tables were turned between the adolescent and the educated.

  Mona kept her head down, unwilling to share a moment with her former friend. She was the one who boldly challenged him in Harry’s apartment, yet now she assumes the role of victim. Greg would have little patience for such a ridiculous stance. She stared at him in fear. “Do what you came for. I got nothing to say to you.”

  He chose not to correct her, but smirked at her poor grammar. “You’re not going to fight back?”

  “It’s not about the fight. It’s about the future.” To her bitter end, Mona was a seasoned politician stuck inside a prepubescent’s body. Always promising hope in the future, but unable to adjust to the present situation. She was the sole reason for Greg becoming abandoned, she was the microcosm of his demise. Or rather, she was the noose around his neck, while Adam was the air breathed back into his lungs. Greg wasn’t Adam’s slave, he was his warrior. Mona didn’t have time for warriors, just errand boys. She was too special and too immature to comprehend sound leadership and reasoning. For the sake of all who would cross her path, Greg was prepared to finish what the soldier’s first started.

  “You don’t have a future,” Greg said. His blade glided against her hand as blood leaked to the ground. They shared eye contact, while the poison worked its way into her blood stream. Greg smiled at her. She smiled back. Her eyes failed her smile as red tears dripped down her cheeks. Of those he’s killed, this was his favorite. He savored her pain. The New World was fighting back against the Old World saviors.

  “Black Bishop takes White Queen.”

  He chose not to stay and gloat, much to his own dismay. The others were coming, her people, and they would want answers. Greg already would have much to answer for, but there was no safe explanation as to why he was holding a knife that killed Mona.

  Instead, he would remove himself from the crime scene. Mona was not short on enemies, surely someone else would be a better suspect than he.

  *******

  Tink

  Evening

  Union Matis, WV

  “Her door is locked, we can’t get to Mona,” Mickey yelled down the hall. Tink recognized the old white man standing with Jenna, but didn’t know where from. He looked like the President; old, white, and wealthy. Jenna seemed to be comfortable with him, so that was something. If he looked like the President, maybe he would know Mona’s code. Mickey was already buying into trusting him.
Mickey ran up to them and yelled some more, “We’ll take you there, can you help us?”

  “I’m the Constitutional—”

  “Yeah, you’re Conrad Greene. The President said I could trust you. We need you to take us to Mona,” Mickey answered. The name was familiar. He would have to ask Mona where he had heard of him before. He felt like they talked about him, but didn’t know why.

  “Where is she?”

  “Secret room. President moved her,” Tink answered. He spent too much time around dangerous soldiers with fancy uniforms to trust the man in front of him. The difference was, now he could light him on fire and end his life in about two seconds. Tink thought about lighting his hands up, just to show Greene as a warning, but decided against it. Play it quiet for now. Burn him if he gets out of line.

  No one is going to sneak up on Tink. They walked back towards Mona’s room as fast as they could without running. Any faster and it would be a jog.

  “Where is the President?” Greene asked.

  “Dead,” Tink answered.

  Greene bit down on his lip and stopped walking. “How?”

  “Shot,” Mickey gave Tink a look, trying to tell him to be friendly. Apparently Tink wasn’t very welcoming, but he wasn’t here to small talk about a dead President. It was his fault they were here in the first place. If it weren’t for his own dumb decisions, he would still be alive. Mickey sighed, “He died trying to protect her. A soldier shot him.”

  “Where?”

  “Outside her room.”

  “Okay,” Greene answered. His eyes were teary, but he acted like it wasn’t a big deal. He was pretending as if it didn’t bother him. Tink knew that feeling. It hurt. It wasn’t fair. But the mission wasn’t over. Greene started walking again and unholstered his pistol. “Have you found Seth?”

  Typically, seeing a white man carry a gun would make Tink nervous, but this was understandable. He wanted some revenge, that’s all.

  “Who?”

  “Seth, your friend. Um. Uh. You left him in Salt Lake. Must have thought he died. Skinny kid. Caucasian.”

  “Greg?” Jenna asked.

  Mickey piped in, “Seriously, Greg’s alive?”

  “No. He said his name is Seth. He’s very smart.”

  “Busted up face?” Tink asked.

  “No. His face is fine,” Greene answered. He started to say something else, but stopped when he saw someone coming, he pointed his gun and shouted, “Stop! There will be no warning.”

  “I’ve already warned you. You still have one in the chamber?”

  It was Asher.

  Alive.

  Tink looked at him and couldn’t help but stare. He looked the same, but different. Part of him was still that Bahama Joe white boy, but the other part was hardened. His one eye was completely black and he had long streaks of thin black lines along the one side of his face. But he was alive. Tink wasn’t sure how, but he was.

  “Where is Mona?” Asher asked.

  Greene put his gun back in its holster as Jenna answered, “We’re going there now. Are you the one who did all this? Did you break us out? How are—”

  “Alive? Long story. Harry’s outside.”

  “Shell?” Jenna asked.

  Asher shook his head.

  Tink jumped in. Someone needed to be the voice of reason, they couldn’t just stand around and wait for Mona to break herself free. “Guys. We need to go. If Nino threatened Mona, you know he’s going to come for her.”

  “Nino is dead. So’s Marshall. I couldn’t find Mona. But I found them. They didn’t know where she was.”

  “We do. Let’s move,” Tink said, and wasn’t going to be stopped until he found his baby sister.

  *******

  Jenna

  Unknown

  Union Matis, WV

  “I thought you said it was locked?” Jenna asked. The door was open, showing the long stairwell down. They walked through the hallway passing by a bunch of dead bodies. The stenches nearly made Jenna gag.

  “No. No. No. No. No,” Tink said, speeding away from the group and rushing to his sister’s cell.

  This isn’t good. That door should be closed.

  Conrad stopped at the President’s body and crouched down. The rest of the group continued walking towards where Mona was supposed to be.

  The thought of Nino, or one of his men, taking her and hurting her was horrible. Nino was evil. He definitely wasn’t going to let someone like Asher have the last laugh, even after his death.

  “NO! NO! NO!” Tink screamed. “Baby! No! How? Oh, why!?” his voice echoed up the stairwell and through the halls.

  Jenna began crying. She knew what it meant.

  Mona is dead.

  “Please don’t, Mon. Please. Wake up.”

  Jenna slipped passed Asher and Mickey on the stairs and went into the room first.

  She was there. Eyes bloodshot and bleeding. Face grey. Vomit on the floor. Body limp. She was dead. Mona, the girl who saved her. The one who believed in her. The other half of Jenna’s idols. Dead.

  Nino got his revenge.

  She walked over to Tink, who held his sister like a baby. Her blood and saliva dripped all over his shirt. Jenna crouched at her feet and held onto her ankles. She wanted to pray. Or do something to help. Everything seemed to be a waste. Even being here. No matter what she did, Mona was dead. She could cry, and she would, but for what? Why cry? It wasn’t going to bring her back. If someone killed Mona, it’s because Mona let it happen.

  Jenna didn’t want to, but she started to feel a little angry at her.

  Mona knew what was going to happen. How else do you explain it? She knew she was going to die, AND Shelly was going to die. Maybe even thought Asher would, too. It broke her heart. She couldn’t talk after that because she couldn’t hold it in.

  Maybe that’s what it was. Either way. Jenna couldn’t be mad at Mona. She had a job to do. The Pulse was inside of her, and she needed to use it. Even though she didn’t really know what it was.

  “I’m so sorry guys.”

  Jenna recognized the voice. It wasn’t Mickey. It wasn’t Asher.

  Greg?

  *******

  Mickey

  Unknown

  Union Matis, WV

  No one was in the position to question Greg. They were too depressed to ask any questions. It was good to know he was alive, but learning how could wait until they were done mourning. Mickey didn’t care about forgiving Greg for being a psycho that one night in Salt Lake. Anyone who survived that place was family.

  But for now, none of them wanted to talk to Greg. He knew better than to approach Tink, the poor guy was sobbing. Mickey loved how much he loved his little sister, and it broke his heart to see Tink suffer like this. She was his everything even before Salt Lake. The rest of the group loved her for like a week, Tink did her whole life.

  Jenna was the second closest. She watched Mona and tried to emulate everything she did. Jenna tried to act like one part Mona, the other part Shelly. Seeing Mona dead had to have opened up the wounds of Shelly’s terrible death too. Scars don’t heal in a few days. It takes time. Jenna cried silent tears and held on to the only part Tink wasn’t holding onto.

  The only one not close to her body was Asher. He stood in the doorway and watched as the others poured out themselves. Greg must have thought this was a good cue to try to spark up a conversation, but Asher cut him off before he got started. Mickey didn’t hear the words, but he understood Asher’s tone. It was basically, Not now. Glad you’re alive, but don’t want to talk right now.

  Mickey was glad Greg didn’t try to chat with him. They would have their time. Mickey could ask his questions and pass his judgement about the night in the pharmacy. But not now. Now it was time to cry.

  And that’s what they did.

  After a few minutes, even Greg started to cry.

  *******

  Harry

  Evening

  Union Matis, WV

  He was late. Her li
ttle eyes were closed and her little lips were grey. Mona never knew how much everyone loved her. She would’ve cried if she could have seen everyone circling around her, weeping like children. Harry didn’t know what to do. He was too slow to make an impact. At least with Asher, Harry was there when he was stabbed, but now, Mona was dead.

  Then again, Harry refused to give up hope. His redemption story was her survival. Mona saved Harry when he was bleeding out on the street after Ben’s hammer attack. Harry refused to give her any less.

  Asher walked over to Harry, cleaning the tears from his eyes. “Come on, bud, let me help ya,” he said as he offered his shoulder to lean on. Harry put his weight into Asher’s thin frame as he walked over to her.

  “May I see her?” Harry asked.

  Tink shook his head, he wasn’t letting go. Harry understood his feelings and wasn’t interested in pushing him. Instead, Harry knelt down beside Jenna and held his hands over her wound. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The poison colored her little veins dark black through her body.

  Asher put his hand on Harry’s shoulder and whispered, “What do you see?”

  It was hard not to find his question annoying. Harry saw the same thing as everyone else, an innocent girl dead. There was nothing else to see. “I don’t know.”

  “Harry, what do you see?”

  He shrugged. “I see her.”

  “Who did this!?” Tink yelled. His eyes were a fiery bright blue.

  “Calm down, big fella. You’re going to hurt her,” Harry said.

  “She’s dead! Are you blind? Greene! Who did this to my sister?” there was fire inside his mouth. Harry wanted to tell him to chill out again, but it didn’t work the first time, so he wasn’t going to try again.

  “He’s not going to know, bro. You know that.”

  Greg chimed in, “I can’t believe she’s dead. I never got a chance to say I’m sorry.” Harry half-forgot Greg was actually there. He raised his eyebrows at the scrawny scumbag as he continued, “I wish there was something we could do. A doctor, maybe?” His face was healed, but his voice still made him sound like a phony. Harry didn’t like him. Not since the first day he met him. He might be a good guy, but he wasn’t the kind of guy Harry wanted to be around.