The Shelf (Dead-End Ave) Read online

  “Hey.”

  Bri looked up to find none other but Korey standing over her. Somehow, she hadn’t heard him approaching. Too late to snap the notebook shut, Bri prayed that he didn’t ask about it. “You’re back.”

  Dropping back into his chair, he yawned, reminding her of how little sleep they had actually gotten. “Find anything yet? I’ve noticed from school that you’re a pretty hard worker.”

  He’d noticed? Bri couldn’t say why, but she was strangely pleased that he had noticed a small thing like that. She edged the notebook away with her elbow as she nodded. “Yeah, I’ve found a few things.”

  He nodded to the book she was trying so hard to make disappear. “Like that?”

  “And other things.” ‘Damn it,’ she thought.

  “No!” she gasped as Korey reached around her to grab the book. He’d think she was crazy if he read what she was writing. But she couldn’t stop him. Korey already had the book and was scanning the page.

  With a sinking heart, Bri realized that there was no way he would even respect her now. If her own friends (Aeryal’s own friends) decided she was on drugs the first time anything went wrong, then how could Korey even begin to give her the benefit of the doubt? Cause really, she was writing about raising a dead person, for goodness sake!

  Korey was silent as he read. Then he looked up. “Is this about Aeryal?”

  “Yes,” Bri sighed. Looking him square in the eye, she lifted her chin. “My friends informed my parents that I was on drugs, and all this,” she waved her hand over the notebook, “is a result of being strung out and hallucinating. You probably heard them saying that.”

  He nodded. “I did.”

  “I’m not crazy! Sometimes people just need to look beyond what they’re thinking and just listen!” Her cheeks felt hot and she knew that she looked furious, at that moment, she didn’t care. Someone needed to stick up for her, and she guessed that person would have to be herself.

  “I didn’t say you were crazy.” Korey’s voice was low. “For the record, I think you’re one of the sanest people that I’ve met since I moved here.” He gazed at her a long time. Then he said, “I believe you.”

  ‘What?’ He didn’t even know all the facts. How could he believe her?

  “What do you mean?” Bri stammered. “I mean…how can you believe? You don’t have a reason to. You definitely don’t know what I’m going to say next. And anyway, the rest of my friends wouldn’t believe any of this stuff and they KNEW Aeryal. You didn’t, so why do you believe?”

  His eyes met hers as he spoke, “Because I saw the creatures. And because there are things about me that you don’t know.”

  Before she could question him on that, he’d continued talking. Korey drummed his fingers on the wooden table. “You think that there’s something strange about the way your friend died, right?”

  Bri nodded and he continued.

  “Well, sometimes the impossible ends up being good enough to investigate. Death isn’t a light thing. I think you’re smart enough to know that by now. Everyone has to accept death when it comes. So, I think that the fact that you didn’t just accept her death, and then discovered that something freaky actually went down, means that you’re a smart chick. So if you say you want to talk to a dead girl to find out the truth, I say let’s figure out how to do it.”

  Bri sat back, amazed. How did he do that? Just accept what she said as if it were the holy truth? Korey always made her feel so …… normal. And wanted. More than anyone else that she ever went to school with, except for Aeryal, of course.

  “Ok,” she said faintly, lowering her head back to the notes.

  ****

  Even after three hours, their search had yielded no results. Bri had lost faith in their mission exactly one hour into that time. She didn’t know what Korey was thinking, but she was completely ready to give up and go home.

  “Find anything yet?” she asked, her voice cracking from not being used in several hours. She let her gaze rest on Korey as he read a thick book on ‘Documented Jacobsville Mysteries.’

  A head shake before he looked up. “Nope. Only if you count the fact that since 1820, exactly 20 men have been named Jayden Michael Nibbs.”

  Momentarily distracted, Bri’s brows rose. “There’s a Jayden Nibbs in our school right now. A junior. I had Enviro Science with him last year. You’ve probably seen him around school. He uses these metal crutches, from a car accident last year.”

  Korey nodded. “Bet his middle name is Michael. But anyway, nothing about the Swan family.”

  “The same here.” Laying her head on the desk, Bri closed her eyes. “Somehow, I would have thought that this would have been more fruitful. There’s just one last book. I’ll do that one.”

  “Great.” There was a sound of a chair scraping, and she opened one eye to see Korey standing. “I’m heading to the restroom to take a stretch.”

  “Sure.”

  He walked away, and Bri stared at the last book. It was a thin volume, with a faded green cover, more resembling a diary than anything. A sigh slipped from her lips, as Bri cracked the book open. ‘At least this one should be quick,’ she thought.

  From the moment she began reading, she knew that this would be a very different read. On the very first page, the words ‘Twenty of Ye Shall be Cursed’ were handwritten. Surprise floored her, and it took her a full thirty seconds to take it in before she could turn to the next page.

  It was exactly what they had been looking for. The diary apparently had been written by someone named Nehemiah Dead, one of a handful of townspeople who had been cursed. They were some sort of underground group called The Legion. As she read, bits of the story fell into place:

  Oct. 20, 1815

  We are ready for the summoning. Elmore has volunteered to be the spokesperson for us; obviously, with my family being the founding fathers of this town, I cannot venture to speak against the mayor, Elias Nathen. But our plan will be easy. Once we trap the beast, we will drain his powers and become the super-strong people that we should have been born as. Then we can take back the town from Mayor Nathen’s corruption..

  Nov. 7, 1815

  Something has gone horribly wrong, and I begin to wonder if we are not on a fool’s errand. The demon is no longer able to be wholly contained. Just this morning on my watch, it recited all the names of The Legion members. Hearing our names from its unholy voice made me shiver, all the way to my britches.

  How does it know who we are?

  Dec. 15, 1815

  There is a traitor in our midst. Someone, one of us, has tried to free the demon and gain his power all for themselves. Several of The Legion members have already been killed, found dead along the streets. Only a demon could have done this. Yet the beast, who calls himself Rik-soe, remains imprisoned in our dungeon. That could only mean a Legion member is working with him…

  Dec. 16, 1815

  My life is in danger, as is the other Holders of the Artifacts. The traitor cannot fully free Rik-soe without all the artifacts. My head is bowed in shame as I admit that only the eight Holders remain alive, which undoubtedly means that the traitor is one of the founders of The Legion, a Holder like myself.

  Dec. 20, 1815

  We still do not know who the traitor among us is. Today the demon made a declaration: it will kill every member of our lineage, even those still to be born, unless we free it. My heart hangs heavy as I realize the dilemma we remain in. A demon’s forked tongue spews mostly lies. It is obvious that if we free the demon, it will kill us regardless….

  Jan. 1, 1816

  Isabella was attacked today, and she lies near death in her home. I cannot watch her suffer. Something drastic must be done.

  The fact that only eight members remain alive, and so shall bear the brunt of this horrible curse is unfair. Is there no way to save ourselves? It is not right that we alone should be punished. At any rate, we are the bravest of The Legion, let our names live on in infamy:

  Isabella Fa
rrington. Anesto Rubaine.

  Celestine Swan. Elmore Nibbs.

  Nehemiah Dead. Emmaline Hamm.

  Dudley Smythe. Xavius Parsons.

  Bri froze, pen jabbing into the page of her notes. There was something she hadn’t expected to find. Xavius Parsons. Parsons, as in Korey Parsons? She gasped.

  Korey’s family was among the cursed. Which meant he was like Aeryal, scheduled to be attacked and killed. But that wasn’t the thing that got to her. What freaked her out was the fact that Korey had pretended not to know anything about any of this. He should know, if his family was indeed cursed. Aeryal Swan had known about her upcoming death, way before it came.

  Added to the fact that Korey didn’t have a scratch on him, proving that the demon wasn’t hurting him the way it had the others….

  “…we still do not know who the traitor among us is…”

  Bri was willing any money that it had been Xavius Parsons. She needed to write down what she had read quickly, before it slipped out of her brain. And she didn’t need Korey looking over her shoulder either. She remembered the backpack that she used to knock the demon-dog off of the jeep the night before. If it was still in the jeep, more than likely, Korey should at least have one notebook in there.

  Hurrying out to the parking lot, she crossed to the jeep and got in. The backpack was still there. Unzipping it, she rummaged through, first pulling out a notebook and then continuing to search for a pencil or pen, since stupidly she’d left hers inside. In a small pocket in the lining, something jabbed her finger.

  “Ouch!” Immediately, she withdrew her hand, bringing the offended item with it. “What the hell does he keep in here anyway?” Opening her fist to see what she’d stabbed herself with, Bri’s heart dropped into her stomach as she stared at the pendant in her palm.

  It was a mirror image of the one she’d taken from Aeryal’s shelf. An exact mirror image. “It’s him. He had the other half of the pendant all this time.” With shaking fingers, she drew her half of the pendant out of her pocket and put the two halves together. The instant the chunky metal pieces touched, a solid beam of light burst from the pendant, shining bright into the air.

  Pain flared sharply through the demon marks on her arm and she swung her gaze down. The four rigid lines stood out against her skin vividly, a slight reddish glow to them. That was weird, but not more so than the beam of light in her palms. Lips parted, she could only stare and hope that no one came along, down into the parking garage and wonder why the entire floor was strangely illuminated. A small glow emitted from the backpack at her feet and Bri bent down to retrieve it. The glowing object turned out to be a small box about four inches long by four inches wide, with a heart shaped cut-out right smack in the center of it.

  The pendant fit perfectly there as if had been made for it, which it probably had. A face appeared, carved of the light emanating from the box, already in the middle of a sentence.

  “…trying to reach you. Why can’t I get through to you? I need you. I need you! Or I’ll die. Why won’t-,”

  It was Aeryal, she realized, astounded. But it was just some sort of recording that she was seeing that was somehow looping over and over on this strange device. If she was figuring correctly, it seemed like Aeryal had tried to reach out to Korey before she died, asking for his help.

  Clearly, he hadn’t given it to her.

  “Bastard,” she hissed through clenched teeth. Her blood was already boiling with anger as she thought of how her best friend had suffered, waiting for Korey to come and help, which he never had.

  The very same, lying, deceptive Korey who was suddenly now doing everything in his power to help Bri. The same one who pretended not to know anything about the demon chasing her. The one she had almost kissed in the records room a few minutes earlier.

  He would be coming to look for her soon, and when he did, she wouldn’t be here. Pulling both pieces of the pendant from the box, she tossed the box back into his backpack and pocketed the pendant. He could keep his box, she didn’t need it.

  In an all-out run, Bri raced for the garage exit.

  CHAPTER

  18

  Only when she reached the turnoff into Jacobsville, did she stop running. Quick puffs of breath raked her lungs as she sucked in air through long pulls. Ahead of her loomed Fantasy, where her friends had taken her to eat after Aeryal’s death.

  For some reason, after the night she’d had there with Korey, she didn’t want to head there. It made sense that the demon-dogs might have followed her from there to her home. How else would they have known when she would be arriving?

  I SEE YOU ARE NOT TAKING ME SERIOUSLY. Rikgso’s angry voice boomed in her head, and Bri flinched, stumbling two steps before she caught herself.

  “Leave me alone,” she whispered furiously, cutting her eyes at a man staring at her. That man thought she was crazy, for sure, but Bri couldn’t be bothered to set him straight; truthfully, a demon was speaking into her mind, how much worse could it really get?

  OH, NO, LITTLE SACRAFICE. I CANNOT LEAVE YOU ALONE. YOU ARE MINE, AS YOU SEEM TO HAVE FORGOTTEN. PERHAPS I SHOULD PROVIDE YOU WITH A LITTLE REMINDER OF WHAT AWAITS YOU.

  Something slammed into her back, not enough to knock her to the ground, but still enough to completely diminish whatever wind she had gotten back. The next blow caught her in the head, and stars shot before her eyes. This was all before the onslaught of blows that came, fast punches, jabs and prods, followed up by the familiar, horrible compression of her lungs that Rikgso was good at.

  Bri screamed, finally keeling over onto her knees, hands wrapped tightly around her head, trying to block some of the attack. But as much as she couldn’t fight against the demonic attack, she couldn’t protect herself either. The blows seemed to pass right through her hands and hit their target: her head and torso. Already she could feel bruises forming on top of bruises, as new punches landed on already injured areas.

  Hysterical screaming was accompanied the beating, and it was a while before she realized that it was her own. Suddenly, as soon as it had started, it was over. But her body ached.

  Lying there, in the middle of the sidewalk, curled into a ball, Bri’s head swam. She wasn’t thinking straight enough to figure out what to do next, and she wasn’t even sure if she was strong enough to stand as yet. Agony overrode embarrassment, and even knowing that people had to be staring at her, she was in too much pain to care.

  ‘Get up, girl,’ something said in the back of her head, ‘now, now, now! Don’t trust that demon.’ Though she didn’t feel like moving and she was certain that she had several broken bones, Bri uncurled herself and pushed up to one knee. Pain lanced through it like a sharp knife, and she clamped down on her bottom lip, but continued pushing herself to stand.

  A furious snarl ripped through the air and Bri spun around to find four of the enormous dogs racing down the street toward her.

  “Gosh, no! He wants to kill me!”

  Hobbling along as best as she could, Bri forced herself onward, toward the welcoming awning of Fantasy. She was pretty sure that the creatures wouldn’t try to attack in there, but then again, she would have never thought that the beasts would come for her in broad daylight and on the public street. Really, it was one thing when Rikgso was terrorizing her at midnight when she was alone, but in public?

  It took terror to a whole new level.

  Knowing it was the wrong thing to do, Bri kept glancing backward as she ran, keeping an eye on the ferocious animals, each of whom seemed to be gaining with every step. ‘Ohnoohnoohno,’ was all she could think.

  Then she felt herself being yanked, off her feet, and dragged in another direction. Someone pulled her inside a store and banged the door shut. Then they were running, speeding through a tangle of display with books and magazines, into a maze of bookshelves towering over their heads. A bookstore. And the person determinedly pulling her along was Gerald, she was astonished to see.

  He led them to the back of the store and raced
down a narrow staircase. Then they stopped running and Bri was able to catch her breath for the first time, as Gerald flicked on a lightbulb overhead. Light flooded the room.

  “Whew.” He flopped into a nearby folding chair, then jumped up and ran back up the stairs to bolt the door behind them.

  Bri was still shaken from her close-call. Staring at her savior as he bounded back down the stairs, she shook her head. “Did you see them?”

  “See what?” He frowned.

  Now it was Bri’s turn to frown. Turning away to check out their whereabouts, she noted that they were in what appeared to be a storage room for the store upstairs. Boxes and boxes of merchandise crowded the floor. ‘Lots of merchandise,’ she thought, ‘but also lots of hiding places for evil creatures.’

  Still heaving the occasional wheeze, Bri peered into the far corners of the room, searching for any giveaway that Rikgso’s pets had made it into their hiding place. Finally satisfied that she and Gerald were alone, she let a smidgen of tension slip from her shoulders.