The Death Series: A Dark Dystopian Fantasy Box Set: (Books 1-3) (35 page)

CHAPTER 36

The cemetery was exactly as I remembered it, except instead of being silvered by moonlight it had a hazy white quality. The evening sun hung low in the sky, slanting through the trees.

Tim Anderson strode forward, moving between the tombstones and heading toward the caretaker's cottage. He arrived at the front steps and turned around to face us. “Where, oh where, is the crashed stealth chopper? The gun casings? The knives? The remnants of battle?”

We all started scouring the graveyard. Apart from a few tromped-down places of flat grass between the graves, there wasn't a mark anywhere. I couldn’t believe it. There was no way they could have cleaned this place up overnight.

Jonesy opened his mouth, and Dad held up a finger in warning. I guess Dad was up to
here
with Jonesy.

Jonesy nodded then calmly asked, “What about the tombstone that got whacked by the chopper blade? And what about the blade that got stuck in the ground?”

We sprinted to the spot where we thought the chopper had landed. The marker was gone, completely gone. Only the hole where it had been was left.

“They took the whole damn thing!” Jonesy yelled.

Anderson bent down and trailed his fingers over the displaced dirt that hadn't been exposed in over a century. “You might have something here.”

John yelled from a few feet away, “Look at this!”

We ran over there. Well, we kids ran. The adults sort of walked fast. John pointed at a place where a huge gouge had been dug in the dirt. On either side was a crescent-moon shaped swath, like a smile, with the center being a deep well.

“Just a minute.” I ran over and grabbed a long stick from the nearby patch of trees. I returned and stuck it into the hole until I felt it touch bottom. I put my fingers on the stick at the lip of the hole, then pulled it out and held it against me.

Dad said, “That’s about four feet.”

“Looks like you guys might have been telling the truth,” Anderson said. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking up at the sky, then back at the wound in the earth. “Let’s go back to my office.”

*

Back at Anderson's office, where we passed through security unscathed by hysterics, we sat for a solid hour, telling our story.  His pulse recorder loaded everything directly to his pulse-top.

A couple of times, Anderson remarked or asked a question to clarify something. But mostly, he just listened. Finally, we were finished.

“Well, that's one helluva story there. A real humdinger. I can understand you coming to me, or someone like me. I will do my best, tonight,” Anderson said.

“Tonight?” Dad asked.

“Yeah, my boss is going to be thrilled. But better than that, it offers a little protection for your kid there.” Anderson pointed at me. “I'm not a real introspective guy, but I'd say you've been given something special. It's how you use it that'll make a difference.”

Standing up, he offered his hand to Dad. “Sorry I was so tough on you in the beginning. It's been a pleasure. You've got a good kid here, Dr. Hart.”

“You can call me Kyle,” Dad said.

He smiled at me. “I know we do.”

“Those other two though...” Anderson waggled his finger at the Js. “They may be trouble.”

Then he laughed, taking the sting out of it.

CHAPTER 37

The article came out and sensationalized the paranormal community. People believed what they wanted to believe. Some thought it was a greatly exaggerated story about a bunch of teenagers who got together to be wild in cemeteries. Others thought the government was putting its nose where it didn't belong, endangering the new generation of kids.

Still others thought the drug cocktail gave humanity a key to power that came with a huge price tag.

Having survived the last few months, I had to agree.

Summer rolled out like a great sea of time before us. I had an awesome girlfriend, a terrific dog, and my best friends, the Js.

Life is good.

But in the quiet dark of my room, questions pressed at me before sleep took hold. Where was Parker? What had they been planning for me? What
had
caused the electrical problem that ultimately saved us? Were we finished? That little voice in my head didn't think so.

A few days later, Jonesy asked if we could go raise some zombies. I told him no. I was zombied out.

But someday, that would change...
sooner
rather than later.

The End

Praise for
DEATH SPEAKS:

“....Truth time here, I was so hooked on this book that I listened to it on the drive to and from grocery shopping, even took my Kindle in the store with me, earbuds in.-
Dianne tometender.blogspot.com

“.... Blodgett knows how the young male mind works; her characters' actions and dialogue are just like what I observe in the classroom on a daily basis, making this paranormal novel all the more real.
 A Book Vacation

“...Jade's dad....ughh he gets on my last effing nerves. What I love about this series is that I'm reading a book that COULD be about my own children. 
Ms.Mathis

Caleb's in high school now and thinks the chaos of last year is behind him. Unfortunately, a serial killer is on the loose and children are his victims. Caleb agrees to help the police apprehend the murderer...until the killer takes notice of Caleb and his paranormal friends.

Carson and Brett remain the bullies they always were and their posse continues to grow. How long can the two groups stay out of each others' way before there's a firestorm of retribution...

The Government Graysheets continue to keep tabs on Caleb's every move while Jade's family threatens their relationship. Can they still be together even when events threaten to tear them apart?

Book Two: The Death Series

Copyright © 2011 Tamara Rose Blodgett

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without the prior written permission of the publisher.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

All rights are reserved.

Edited by Stephanie T. Lott

DEDICATION:

For Danny, “You're hired...”

Prologue

I'm Caleb Hart,
still the son of the famous scientist who mapped the human genome back in 2010... but I'm down with that now.

In 2025 my paranormal ticket was punched and I began raising zombies...
accidentally.
After narrowly escaping the Graysheets, (a super-secret bunch of government creepers bent on making us robots for their Evil Plan). I managed to get a great girlfriend, Jade, all-that-is-girl, survive Brett and Carson's full attention, and was ready for freshmen year at Kent Paranormal High (KPH).

I have a cop that
might
be trustworthy named Garcia. He and his new partner, Bobbi Gale (she's got the undead vibe too), really want some help  finding the person responsible for the deaths of all those kids we ran into as ghosts last year at the caretakers shack...

Journalist Tim Anderson wrote the cool article spotlighting the Graysheets so they'd get off my back. But some nights I lie awake, thinking about my counterpart, Jeffrey Parker, and what he spends his time doing for
them
.

Jade's dad was in prison for a month for resisting arrest and assaulting a minor. Too bad he can't be put away forever, cuz I know he'll pop out of his drunken toaster to make us miserable again.

My thoughts frequently stray to Clyde, my main corpse...he could be a really righteous commando for an undead team. You never know when you'll need one.

Onyx is a teen's best friend and (except for Jade) the best addition of last year.

I'm feeling a little stressed out about my freshman year in high school and how my Affinity for the Dead class will flesh out (hardy-har-har), but if I can survive last year, I can do anything.

But right now it's late summer and the school year threatens to descend and shatter the fun of it all. How will I get through one day in school without the Js as my tag team? It won't be the same without Jonesy, but it'll be great to have Brett going to derelict KM where his ass belongs. I guess I'll just have to wade through it all like everyone else, me and the gang... minus a J.

CHAPTER 1

“Go in, Caleb” Jonesy said, arms crossed across his chest, standing gooseflesh riding his forearms like chicken skin.

“I will. I'm working up to it.”

John Terran, Mark “Jonesy” Jones and I were all standing on the dock looking out over the murky waters of Lake Tapps. Mom had given us a ride out to Gramps' who had lived on the lake (since the dawn of time) in a small house with the biggest (illegal as hell) lawn in the entire universe. Jade and the girls were the smart ones, beach towels thrown beneath them, sunning themselves on the lawn.

Jade looked up, her eyes shadowed by her hand. “Go ahead Caleb, you've been diving in all summer. You can't let Jonesy be the only one.”

Easy for her to say. None of the girls wanted to be lakesicles.

Jonesy gave me his best Devious Look and smiled. John's eyebrows shot up to his hairline, I knew that look, he meant business
.

Jade had made her comment and flopped her head back down on the towel, looking every inch the hottie lounging in a patch of sun. Sophie and Tiff lay on either side of her. But my eyes were only for Jade.  She wore a bikini that was about the size of the floss I hated using, in a mouthwatering tangerine that shimmered in the afternoon light. Sophie was wearing a turquoise suit that set off her dark skin and  light sea-colored eyes while Tiff had exchanged her trademark hoodie for a bikini top and shorts. Huh.

Jonesy leaned in quietly, “The girls look really dry right now.”

“Alarmingly,” John concurred.

“That's what I was thinking,” I said.

Tiff must've known something was brewing because she had the eagle eye trained on the three of us and sat up, looking alert.

Too late. We sprinted for the girl posse and Tiff was up and off her towel taking off before Jade and Sophie had barely cleared the terry cloth.

I grabbed Jade as she was trying to take off from behind, wrapping my arms around her and pinning her to my chest as I lifted her bodily off the lawn. “Caleb!” she squealed, and I lurched down the long dock, with her flailing and squealing where I heaved her off the end into the lake. Jonesy followed, with a bellowing Sophie and then there was John.
Where was John?
I wondered as Jade bobbed to the surface, sputtering and fuming.

John was having a helluva time getting Tiff to cooperate. His lankiness and reach drawing her in and her shrieking at the top of her lungs, “Knock it off, Terran or I'll de-jewel you!” giving John pause, as he deftly avoided her fast feet.

Finally, when Tiff and John were battling it out, he swung her with the arm he had latched onto, and she started to sail off the end of the deck. John had a huge grin on his face until her free arm swung around, using the momentum he had started and she latched on to him and their combined weight took them both over the edge into the icy water.

Jonesy looked over the edge of the deck at an enraged Sophie and an irritated (and very wet) Jade. “Looks like Terran ended up going first after all.”

Right.

I turned around thinking I was going to have to suck it up and heave Jade out of the lake on the dock ladder when Gramps appeared out of nowhere.
Cripes, he was kind of a ninja.

A long cigarette dangled out of his mouth, the ash about two inches long. Just as I thought it'd fall to the ground he flicked it, stuffing it back in his mouth, his eyes narrowing. “I thought Terran was the smart one?”

“Well...” how to defend this, “he, ah, fell in by accident.”

“Accidents will happen,” Gramps said, winking. He totally
knew
.

He turned around without saying a word and went back to using that dumb push-mower thing on his half-acre of
illegal
lawn.

Jonesy looked after Gramps. “He's kinda weird, Caleb.”

Gramps turned around, his eyes lasering Jonesy.

He jumped, saying quietly, “He couldn't have heard me.”

Gramps kept on walking, throwing over his shoulder, “Yes, I did!”

I laughed; Gramps had it goin' on for an old dude!

I raced over to the ladder to pull Jade up.

“No-oh, you get your butt in here Caleb Hart, I'm all used to it now!” She crossed her arms in front of her, feet moving to tread the water. Tiff sat glaring at John who looked like a drenched greyhound, mopish hair plastered over his head and bones sticking out everywhere like tent poles.

“I'm not asking anyone for help and you...!” Sophie glared at Jonesy. “Your ass is mine!” Sophie said, swimming over to the ladder and heaving herself up, while Jonesy touched a hand to his chest,
who me?

“Come on Jade, I won't dump you in again, I promise.” I gave her my most sincere look.

She said, “Okay, but help me out.”

“Okay,” I said, walking over to the ladder, she obviously wasn't as mad as I thought she'd be. I leaned over the top of the two poles that began the rungs and extended my palm, which Jade grabbed then pulled with her body weight...

...and in I went.

The water slammed into my body like an icy slap, taking my breath away. I spun in the water, heading up toward the surface. I was gonna tickle Jade until she peed, that's what I was gonna do. Then the talking started. The fish...

Images flooded my head: their life in the murky wetness, a sharp hook in their mouth...no escape, no breath, the enveloping waters of their home gone, while a bright orb of heat lay upon their sleekness...drying their flesh as a shadow moved over their still form, a mouth gasping for breath... a sharp pain...and then, nothing...

I was floating when strong arms encircled my waist and I was towed to the surface where four faces peered down at me.

“What's going on, Caleb?” Jade asked, her face a pinched mask of worry.

Tiff looked steadily at me. “Did ya have an undead moment?”

I nodded.

“You can let me go now, I'm not gonna take long showers with ya or something.”

Jonesy pushed me away. “Yeah, well, the next time you look like you're drowning I'll sic our boy Terran on ya!”

“What was it?” Tiff asked.

“Fish.”

“Geez, I'm not sensing them...”

“I didn't either until Jade pulled me in.” I gave her a narrowed-eyed look. She wasn't sure how to respond to that because suddenly Gramps' face appeared in the sea of teens, his cigarette jammed precariously between his lips. “Taking a bath, Caleb?”

I blushed, feeling stupid. “No Gramps, Jade pulled me in...”

He turned that stern face to Jade, smoke escaping the sides of his mouth. “She did,
did she?
Well good for her!” he said, flicking the ash in the water where it floated away to pollute and contaminate. I could hear Mom's ranting all the way from Kent.

The Js widened their eyes at the flagrant environmental contamination but said nothing, knowing where that conversation would lead: exactly nowhere
.

“It's time for you to get your dead ass out of there anyway and have some lunch.” Gramps straightened, not seeing his undead pun for a mile, lighting a new cigarette with the old one.

The girls watched him, fascinated. That an adult would disregard his health so much, unbelievable. But I was used to Gramps, he was just him and that was a good thing.

The Js perked up over the mention of a lunch. “What's for lunch, Mr. O’Brien?”

“Mac, John.”

“Yeah, okay, Mac.”

“Same thing as I always fix you guys: hotdogs, and bags of chips and all the pop you can drink.”

Everyone was grinning, mine the biggest. Mom didn't allow me to have pop because it had the Evil Sugar. But when I went to Gramps, he gave me an IV of the stuff, that was fine by me.

I heaved myself out of the lake, dripping all over the deck, the dark splatters of water soaking into the wood.

Sophie huffed past me and the Js, mad for part of the day at least. We trailed after her and Tiff, the pissed girl contingent.

Jade leaned a head into my shoulder and said as we walked, my arm slung comfortably around her, “You could have just
asked
me to swim, ya know.” She smiled up at me.

“You didn't ask me!” I said, my thumb to my chest.

“Yeah, but it was fair. You had to get wet too!”

Feisty, I dug it!

“Way to get Sophie's attention, Jonester.”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe just ask her out and get it out of your system,” John said.

“Yeah.”

Jade smiled and didn't say anything.

Smart girl.

Jonesy scowled, he wasn't quite getting it with the girl thing yet. I went ahead and said it, “Practice makes perfect, Jonesy.”

“Piss off, Hart.”

“I'm just sayin'”

“Yeah, well
don't.
”

“Geez, touchy-much!” Jade laughed and Jonesy wasted a scowl on her. Which made her laugh harder.

Jonesy sighed and stalked off toward the wrap around deck (in real wood). It held Gramps BBQ-er. Another illegal item as he used those old-fashioned briquettes that caused more environmental mayhem.

Gramps was busy torching the hell out of the hotdogs, taking them off the grill and mashing the whole group onto a huge platter that had a stainless, fork thing stabbed into the unfortunate center dog. Three bags of chips lay open on top of the picnic table that was clipped on all four sides with these metal clamp-things and the pop bottles lined on end, standing at attention on the red and white checkered tablecloth. A huge fishing weight lay on top of the napkins to keep them from blowing away.

Sophie looked at it curiously, wondering what it was.

Jonesy breezed in to relieve her of her ignorance. “That's for fishing.”

“I know
that,
” she said.

Oh, well that went well.

Jonesy scowled again, he couldn't win for losing.

“Makes a good weight for things.” Gramps stated, squirting water onto the flames to keep them low. God, was that gray water? Geez.

I thought about the memories dead fish and wasn't sure that I wanted to talk about fishing right now.

Jonesy gave up trying to get back in Sophie's good graces and dove into the food instead. Piling his plate with four hot dogs and a half bag of the chips he grabbed the first of the pop when Gramps said, “Why don't you let the girls dish up first, eh?” Without even turning.

Gramps was performing the BBQ dance, swiveling his hips, he danced in front of the circular thing, taming the flames and spearing the dogs. I guess that was a skill.

“Don't you have to register those now?” John asked Gramps, pointing to the BBQ-er.

“Yes, you do, no, I did not.”

Don't ask John, don't ask.

He asked.

“Why not?”

“Well, mainly, it's because they told me I had to.”

The girls turned to him, interested in what he had to say because Gramps was just that way. Interesting.

“All these hot-shot government types spewing their lies around and all the sheep in the country thinking that they know everything. Let them come on my property and try to enforce any of those bleeding heart laws, I'll give them all something to think about.”

Don't ask, don't ask.

Jonesy asked.

“Well, I think I'd start with the kneecaps, and eventually work my way up to the...”

“Gramps?”

He turned his head to me. “Maybe my friends aren't ready for The Solution yet.”

“I'm ready,” Jonesy said.

“Me too.” John echoed.

Brother.

Just then, there was a huge clatter as a dilapidated car drove up, had to be Bry.

He cranked open the door, which squealed in protest. Saved by Bry. I did a mental forehead-wipe.

“Hey guys,” Bry said moving into range of Gramps.

“Hello, Mr. Weller.”

“Hi Mac, how's it goin'?”

“Fair to middling...”

Bry raised his eyebrows and I translated old-guy-speak, “Average.”

“Oh, right, I gotcha.” He said, plopping down next to Tiff and wading right into the food with typical teen boy gusto.

Tiff gave him The Look. Apparently, she had a special one reserved just for sibling interaction. “Ya gonna be okay?”

“Yeah,” wolf-slurp-gulp, “just need to fuel up, didn't have anything at work,” he said, his cheek already distended with a half a hotdog.

Gramps was wiping his hands off on a cloth dishtowel he always kept stuffed in his back pocket. “You kids get enough to eat here?”

He looked at the girls, who all had one hotdog each, except Sophie, she seemed to actually eat food, with two on her plate.

The boys nodded, cognizant of food showing if they spoke.

Then Jade chimed in, “Do you have diet?” She pointed to the pop.