Dust to Dust Read online

  Part of my job as Seeker was to keep a close eye on all situations that could have an Otherworldly behind it. There’s been a rash of violent killings about two hours away. The media was screaming about a serial killer. The police were baffled. There was no pattern, no MO. That screams Otherworldly, a collective name for monsters from any of the other realms.

  I parked my car two blocks away from the most recent attack. To track this sneaky devil I needed to track him fairy style. My glowing silver eyes would be a little conspicuous so I needed to be cautious.

  I got out of my car and got myself set up. I was in black jeans, a black V-neck tee, and black heels that came up to my calf. In one boot went my wand, which was shrunk to protect it, in the other went a sheathed dagger. A medium length sword went in a sheath down my back and I put on my black jacket. If I got caught, they’d probably think I was the killer.

  I snuck into the back yard, which was luckily surrounded by a tall wooden fence. With my keen fairy senses, I hit pay dirt immediately.

  Anything not from this realm leaves behind a trail of dust, power dust that can be traced to a specific someone. This one was big.

  I poked around a little more and found a trail that seemed a little fresher. I followed it.

  After being led around a little it led into a house about four blocks over. Oh, this was not good. I followed the trail in a circle around the house and discovered an open window. By now I was completely covered with darkness. I wouldn’t be seen by anyone or anything unless they were right next to me. Unfortunately the same could be said of my sighting anything not good lurking around.

  Obviously it had gone in through that open window. I did the same. I never left windows open anymore, not after seeing some of the nightmares that roamed around. The teenaged girl I found in that room hadn’t believed in the monsters hiding under your bed, or in your closet, or watching from the darkness outside your window. And that one had gotten her.

  I was horrified by the blood splattered around, the girl’s open eyes, and the loss of someone so young. I followed the dust trail through the open door. There was another trail of blood. I compartmentalized all of this. Right now I would focus on getting the creature responsible for all of this and later I would deal with my human emotions.

  The next body was the father. His body was sprawled in front of the staircase. Okay, so he’d gone to his daughter’s room to save her but he’d been unprepared and probably too late anyway. He’d run here. Why here?

  My gaze went to the top of the stairs, following the dust. I crept quietly up the stairs. Thanks to my mad fairy skills not one of them squeaked. Another blood trail started at the top. The smell of blood, death, and horror was about to make me ill. I followed this trail down a hallway that used to have pristine white walls. It would forever be stained with the dark red handprints and splatters.

  This person ended up in the bedroom farthest down the hall. The mother in this now ruined family. She was sprawled face down in the middle of the room. Why had she run here?

  I turned in a circle in the room. The only thing that stuck out to me was the closed door in the back corner. Well, it had been closed, now it was splintered and basically open.

  I peeked in the doorway and my heart broke. A little girl, perhaps eight or nine years old, had tried hiding behind the shower curtain. Now her tiny body was sprawled in the tub, shreds of a bloodied shower curtain around her.

  My fairy-self faltered for a second as I was sickened by this little girl’s death and the horror she must have felt those last few moments of her life. She had hidden here and listened to a nightmare kill her older sister, then her father, then her mother in the very next room.

  My senses came back in a flash as there was a strange sound. I stiffened as I heard it again. After a quick sweep of the other room I realized that there was nothing dangerous in here. At the moment. I listened for it closely the next time. It sounded like…someone struggling to breathe.

  I tucked the wand I’d yanked out of my boot reflexively back and ran for the bathroom. I leaned over into the bathtub to feel the little girl’s pulse. It was weak but it was there.

  “Hang on, sweetie,” I said. I wracked my brain for a way to save her. Obviously the Otherworldly had taken off for parts unknown. I needed to get this girl to a hospital. But I didn’t want to move her and make things worse.

  There was a low, spine tingling growl from somewhere behind me. I knew it was spine tingling because it happened to me, right before the hairs on the back of my neck prickled.

  I straightened and turned around. Glowing red eyes gleamed at me from the doorway of the bedroom. Unless this was a bug-eyed freak monster, this thing was big.

  I pulled the dagger out of my boot and tossed it in the general area that I figured the thing was. Judging by the lack of reaction, I missed. I used that as a little diversion to get out of the enclosed bathroom. I kicked up my fairy-ness a notch. Silver eyes glowing, finger tips tingling with pent up magic, I was in full Seeker mode.

  The Otherworldly, sensing a challenge, growled and rushed at me. Luckily I could see in the dark now.

  This thing was huge. Picture a buffalo sized mangy coyote that was perfectly comfortable running around on all four legs or two. I say that because it rose to its full height, eight feet I’d guess, and saliva dripped from its mouth. Apparently it thought I was the next dinner. There were sharp claws, pointy teeth, and oh, I’d say about 500 pounds gunning for me. I could definitely outmaneuver it, but it could definitely squish me.

  I pulled out my sword just in time for it to rush me. I managed to avoid impaling myself with the sword but lost my grip as I was slammed into the wall. The Otherworldly whirled around and slashed at me. I cried out as it sliced my thigh. Yeah, the outmaneuvering thing wasn’t working.

  It went to ram me again but I dove to the side. I hit the floor and rolled under the bed. Maybe it was a stupid Otherworldly and would leave if it couldn’t find me.

  Or it could be really smart and immediately go for the bed.

  My dagger? Stuck in the door frame. Sword? Out of reach. Well there was one weapon that couldn’t be lost.

  The Otherworldly tried swiping at me from the gap between the bed and the floor. To my shame I squealed before rolling out of reach. Well, almost out of reach. It grazed my arm.

  It gave up on that and jumped on top of the bed, furiously scratching and growling. The wooden bed frame was quickly splintering. Great, I would get impaled and then eaten.

  There was now a hole in the mattress. I was wracking my brain for a way out of this but it’s hard to concentrate when some big creature is breathing on you with hot stinky breath and drool is dripping in your face. I couldn’t reach my wand so any magic I did would not be controlled. But in this case that might work for me.

  I waved my hands around a little to gather the power and then released it upwards with a push of my hand. The bed frame shattered upwards, a piece of it embedding itself in the Otherworldly’s chest. I scrunched my eyes shut as blood poured out of the wound. The Otherworldly struggled to get at me weakly then finally stopped moving.

  “Sick,” I muttered, rolling out from under the bed.

  In normal mode I picked up my sword and pried my dagger out of the doorframe. I checked back on the little girl. She was still breathing. I quickly went downstairs to find a phone that couldn’t be traced back to me. I found one and quickly snooped through some drawers to find mail to get the address. I called 9-1-1 and pretended to be a teen girl freaking out. I managed to tell them there were people dead and the little girl upstairs was barely breathing, told them the address, and hung up. Then I wiped down everything I might have touched. I slipped out the back door as sirens could be faintly heard.

  The sound of sirens split the night as the blue and red lights flew past me. I huddled in my jacket down the block, ignoring the pain in my arm and leg. I needed to know that the little girl would be safe. I’d broken one of the golden rules, I’d let this get personal.

  The two police cars had screeched to a halt and parked haphazardly in the driveway. Several officers went into the house, guns drawn. I waited impatiently as the ambulance parked at the curb. Two medics got out.

  I was still waiting when a medical examiner’s van pulled up. Crime scene tape was now up, keeping the nosy neighbors at bay. The paramedics had gone in a while ago; hopefully they were keeping the little girl alive.

  I was at the back of the crowd of neighbors when I heard the front hush. I craned my neck and saw that they were bringing out a body bag. A few minutes later another followed. Now the whispers and speculating was starting. Eventually someone would realize I wasn’t a neighbor and that I was bleeding. A third body bag was wheeled out. Okay, any time now they would be bringing out the little girl.

  I saw the paramedics coming out of the doorway, wheeling a gurney. I hung back, wanting to see her one last time. Then I saw that the sheet was pulled up over her little face.

  I turned away, my heart crashing to the ground. I quickly headed for my car. I held myself together until I closed the car door after me. “Goddammit,” I whispered, hitting my steering wheel. “Dammit!” I shrieked, hitting it harder.

  The ambulance glided past my car, lights and sirens off, because there was no rush. I hit my wheel one more time before slumping over it and crying my eyes out.

  I woke up the next morning, feeling sore. I stumbled to the mirror and groaned. Not only did my hair look like nightmare but I was bruised all over my back. Then there were the cuts on my left arm and leg. “Perfect,” I mumbled. These were the finishing touches to my graduation dress. Thank goodness for those hideous yellow
robes that would hide the bruises until they super-healed.

  I changed the bandages on my cuts after I showered, and then began doing my hair and make-up as best I could. Nothing looks good with yellow and me so it was fairly hopeless.

  I grabbed my white heels and went downstairs.

  “Hi Mom, hi Dad. Bye Mom, bye Dad.”

  “Wait,” my dad stopped me. “You need to eat something so you don’t pass out when they hand you your diploma.”

  “Dad,” I whined, taking a seat at the table. “I’m not hungry.”

  He pushed a piece of toast at me. “Eat.”

  I took a bite. “Happy?” I asked.

  “My daughter is now the queen of Whisper. I’m not happy at all.”

  Yes, my parents knew about Whisper. They’d actually been inhabitants once upon a time. But everyone gets a chance to decide whether to keep their powers and live where ever or give up their powers and live in the mortal realm. Both of my parents had gone mortal. But the fairy DNA was still present. My older sister was totally mortal but my older brother had been a Guardian. He’d been taken when he was ten and I was eight. Apparently Seekers and Guardians couldn’t train in the same household.

  “I’m not going to be Queen for long,” I said reassuringly. “And I think I can swing it so that it ends positively. While I’m Queen, not only am I going to find Ethan but I am going to change the stupid bylaw that says at least one person from each line must keep their powers. I win.” I took another bite of toast.

  “Cortland, you’ve got assassins after you.”

  “I can take them,” I said confidently. “Plus I had some powers temporarily reinstated.”

  My mom sat her cup of coffee down with a thump. “You didn’t.”

  “I am sure that Monty, Shay, Ash, and Kendall will understand. Okay, Kendall won’t understand. But once I explain the situation and tell them how much I need them, they’ll at least cooperate.” I took another bite of toast. “And if that doesn’t work I’ll guilt them about me being the one to take the fall by keeping the powers.”

  My mom’s mouth dropped open again. “That’s horrible.”

  My dad just flipped open his paper again. “What were those people thinking when they made your daughter queen of the realm?”

  “Oh, now she’s my daughter? When she’s being crowned Homecoming Queen or giving a speech at National Honor Society, she’s yours, but when she’s blackmailing her friends…”

  I looked at my phone. “Oh. Got to go.”

  “Wait.” This time it was Mom that stopped me.

  I sighed and turned around. “What now?”

  “Cap and gown?”

  “In my car.”

  “Stole?”

  “School.”

  “Bobby pins?”

  “In my purse. I thought this through, Mom.”

  “Really? How are you going to explain the bandages wrapped around your arm?”

  “Umm…”

  “Blue jean jacket, hanging on the front door.”

  “Thank you, Mom. Love you.”

  “There are extra bandages on there too. Blood will show on that cute white sundress.”

  I rolled my eyes. She really did think of everything. Maybe I should have asked her how to tell my best friends I’d re-gifted their powers to them and how to avoid them until I figured out what to say.

  The senior class crowded into the auditorium to wait for our cues. Well, crowding wasn’t really involved since there were only 38 of us. But it felt crowded when you’re trying to avoid two of the people in the room with you.

  I chatted in the auditorium for about an hour. The bandages on my leg were itchy so I decided to go change them so I wouldn’t fidget through the entire ceremony.

  I hung my robe on the door of the stall and hiked up my skirt. It took some talent but I finally got it rewrapped.

  My senses started tingling as I was putting on the finishing touches on the bandages. There had been some chatter but now it was completely silent. I flinched when I heard the clicking of heels against the floor. I was pretty sure I knew who belonged to those strappy black heels that were too high to be sensible. I was wearing them in white.

  “Cortland, you can come out. I know it’s you.”

  I made sure that my skirt was fixed before I stepped out, robe slung over my arm. “Hey, Kendall. What’s up?”

  “Would you mind telling me why this pain in the ass is back?” Kendall showed me the fairy wing tattoo on her wrist, identical to mine. It was even less her style than it was mine.

  “Well, I’m no doctor, but if something on your wrist is causing a pain in your ass, you might want that checked.” I tried to get past her. Kendall sidestepped and blocked me.

  Kendall crossed her arms and glared. The only thing we had in common was the dark shades of our hair. Where mine had red throughout, hers was a dark brown, almost black. Her hair was perfectly straight, falling to her shoulder blades. Angled bangs really emphasized her big brown eyes that were perfectly made up. With her tan skin she was the only one who could pull off these hideous yellow robes.

  “No, Cort, what I need checked is why it is back. It was gone.”

  “And now it’s back?” I said innocently. “Huh. That is really weird. I have no idea…”

  “Cut the crap,” Kendall interrupted. “I know you have something to do with it.”

  I weighed my options. Kendall was the hardest out of the group. She was edgy, she was tough, and she wouldn’t fall for the guilt trip. She was also persistent so she probably wouldn’t let me out of this bathroom until I told her the truth.

  I sighed and quickly explained the situation.

  “So they make you Queen and the first thing you do is drag us down with you?” Kendall exclaimed angrily. “What a great friend.”

  “No, they forced me to be Queen and I needed backup that I could trust so I can take out this rebel group.”

  “Or the rebels take you out and then go after your closest friends.”

  “Kendall, it was kind of sudden and I had no idea what to do.”

  “Here’s a thought, think things through before signing your friend’s death warrants.” Kendall turned to storm out.

  I sidestepped around her and it was my turn to cross my arms and block. “First of all, my life expectancy as a Seeker wasn’t too great but I never get any concern from you guys. And, I already made a ruling that if I die you guys are exempt from Whisper and can turn in your powers whenever you want.” Then I stormed out.

  It’s hard to avoid someone when you’re walking in together since your last names follow each other alphabetically.

  I didn’t even look in Kendall’s direction. I was more focused on the nervous butterflies in my stomach. There were the kids that I’d grown up with. We’d argued like siblings and helped each other out. We knew each other’s secrets and dreams. Yeah, at times we didn’t get along. But we always cheered, we always supported, we always cared. I was going to miss them.

  The song started. Every pair paused in the doorway for pictures for the yearbook. Kendall and I were second to last.

  “Cort, when are you going to tell the others?” Kendall asked quietly.

  “I’m sure they’ve noticed that their marks are back. Maybe I could just send a text and then…” I broke off at Kendall’s look of disapproval. “Fine. I’ll tell them tonight.”

  “Good plan.” Kendall glanced at me from the corner of her eyes. “Why are you fidgeting?”

  “Because I’m nervous. And this is a big step,” I snapped defensively.

  “Oh look.” Kendall and I could see into the packed gymnasium. Graduation is the event of the season. “There’s your ex and his baby mama.”

  I raised my chin and refused to look. “That was very nice of you, Kendall.”

  “As you will recall, I never liked that d-bag. I’ve been predicting heartbreak from the get-go.”

  “I just can’t believe he’d do-“

  “You on breaks and her every day in between?” She said frankly.

  I was shocked but it was so funny I laughed. “Oh, I have missed you.”

  Kendall and I stepped into the doorway and the cameras rose. We were the belles of the senior class. I’d been Homecoming Queen and she’d won that honor at prom. I was head cheerleader at the sports she excelled at. I rocked out in band and choir and in the plays and Kendall rocked out in art. I smiled while checking out your groceries and Kendall smiled while finding your filled prescriptions. The town knew us and they mostly loved us.

  Kendall and I tipped our heads towards each other and smiled brightly. Click. And there was a keeper for the yearbook.

  After an extremely boring ceremony I finally had that diploma in hand, I waited, still numb, at the end of the cafeteria. My dad was the first to spot me, since he was the tallest. “Hey, kiddo. We’re so proud of you.”

  “I didn’t trip or knock anyone over,” I said. “And I didn’t drop my diploma.”

  “Did they sign it?” Dad asked.

  “Yes,” I wrinkled my nose at him. That had been the first thing I’d checked. Well, that and to make sure it said my name on the front. We’d been warned to check that.

  Mom whipped out the camera and started taking pictures. Kendall’s parents were next to us, doing the same. Then they had the brilliant idea to take photos of the two of us. Then Monty and Shay walked by, trying to leave, when they got pulled in too. Ash was hunted down and added.

  I felt trapped. Shayla and Montgomery knew. They were ticked. They were ticked at me. Oh, if the rebel assassins didn’t kill me, the four smiling faces around me would.

  “Oh come on, guys,” my dad called,
grinning widely. “Get a little closer.”

  Monty and Shay, on either side of me, each put an arm around my waist. I plastered a smile on my face. As pictures were snapped their grips slowly got tighter. “Ow, guys, that hurts,” I said, not losing the smile.

  When their iron grips didn’t slacken their hold, I snapped at the cameras. “I think we’ve got enough pictures.”

  “Yeah. We’ve got grad parties to go to.” Monty smiled dangerously at me. Clearly the grad parties were not first on her list. But torturing me probably was.

  Uh oh. “You know, mom, I think you should take some pictures of me around the school. For memories. And I’ll just catch up with you guys later.” Much later, I thought as I took in the daggers shooting from their eyes as I stood between my parents.

  Dad pursed his lips thoughtfully. “No, I think we’ve got enough pictures. Go, kiddo, have fun.”

  “Whose side are you on?” I hissed at him.

  He just arched his brow. “You need to answer for your actions.”

  There was no way to get out of this one. I was totally screwed.

  In the midst of my panicking and looking for an escape route I caught a glimpse of someone I did not think I’d be seeing. “Campbell,” I said happily.

  He caught me looking and waved, then politely shoved through the crowd. “Congrats, Cortland,” he greeted me, wrapping me in a hug. “I hope you don’t mind me showing up here but you texted me that you were graduating today and I wanted to see if I could get that coffee.”

  I could feel some glares pointed at me. Shay was going to make this horrible later. “No, I don’t mind,” I said. “But you’re going to have to settle for punch and homemade mints in purple and gold.”

  “I’m okay with that,” he smiled.

  Mom smoothly dove in. “So, Cort, who is this?”

  “Oh right. Mom, Dad, this is Campbell. He sat next to me during the Spanish placement test that I failed. Campbell, meet my parents, Shayla, Montgomery, Kendall, Asher, and their parents.”

  Everyone mumbled greetings. Campbell nodded and stuck his hands in his pockets.

  “So what’s the schedule for today?” my dad asked. “So I know where to direct the search parties.” He made it sound like he was joking but Shay and Monty and especially Kendall could be quite evil.

  “Just making the rounds,” Shayla smiled sweetly.

  “Don’t worry, Daddy, I will text you every half hour.” Monty smiled and rolled her pretty eyes. Make that a phone call to Dad every fifteen minutes.

  “So, Cam, ready to go?” I nudged him with my elbow. Hopefully I could make the rounds and avoid the Cortland-haters.

  “Yeah, ready when you are.”

  “I’ll ride with you guys,” Shayla volunteered.

  I smiled at her and waved at my parents. Shayla was going so I wouldn’t escape. She would keep tabs on me and keep Kendall, Ash, and Monty informed of my whereabouts. I was going to be hunted down like a rabid dog.

  Shayla settled in my backseat as I tossed in my diploma. I went to get in the driver’s seat and she eyed me. “Are you going to take off that hideous robe that makes you look like a giant glob of mustard?”

  Campbell leaned in the passenger seat to survey me better. “I don’t know… with the cap she looks like a hunk of cheese.”

  I reddened a little and unzipped my robe. I tossed it in the backseat and started to pull out the bobby pins holding my cap in place. “Do I have cap hair?” I asked as I slid in. Ah, the joys of curly hair.

  “Just fluff it a little,” Shayla advised. “It kind of flattened a little on top.”

  I pulled down the visor and flipped open my mirror and fluffed. “So Shayla…” Campbell began. “You have a pretty unusual name.”

  “Says the one named after a can of soup,” Shayla shot back rudely. She was taking out her anger towards me on him. I narrowed my eyes at her via the rearview mirror as I started the car.

  “Parents are weird,” he said easily. “They named my older brother Cael. And their names start with a ‘C’ so the pattern had to continue.”

  “How long does your brother have to stay?” I asked, joining the stream of cars heading for the exit.

  “I don’t know. He’s being very vague about it.”

  I finally got on the highway. “Okay, Shay. What parties do we have today?”

  She ran off the list and their attributes. “I just want cake. So let’s do this the easy way,” I mused. “If we go to Ty’s, we can hit the three on the way in and then the ones in town are within three blocks of each other.”

  I parked at the end of a long driveway which was as close as possible with all the cars that had beaten me here. “Geez,” Campbell said.

  “This is the social event of the year,” I said to him. “It’s like summer in the Hamptons.”

  Hours later I was waving at Campbell as he left. “Ugh, I think I overdosed on sugar.”

  “Maybe if you’d said no to some of those homemade mints,” Shayla suggested. “So… got any plans tonight?” she leaned against her car.

  “I actually have to go do some Otherworldly hunting. But I’ll call you later.” Or never. Whichever comes last. I hopped in my car and locked the door, barely rolling my window down.

  “We’re going to catch you and make you talk eventually,” Shayla said. “We know you know something.”

  I waved at her and put it in drive. “Ugh,” I groaned as I pulled out of the parking lot again. “I really don’t want to talk to them.” But I knew I had to.

  I parked my car in front of the house and went around back. Mom hated having my Seeker gear in the house so I was forced to keep it in this old barn. Since it was empty and spacious I also used it for training.

  I perused my gear, mentally taking inventory since I was Queen now and they did that sort of stuff. I needed to be prepared. I pulled a map out of a drawer and spread it out on a rickety wooden table. With a quick focusing job my Seeker vision came about and I looked at the map that I’d long ago charmed to show Whisper dust. Only high levels that indicate something big.

  “Hmm…which one, which one,” I mused out loud. I closed my eyes and randomly picked one. That’ll do it. Then I studied the map closer. That dot was me. That dot was too close to me for comfort. It was probably Kendall coming to kick my butt. I still had time. I could get away.

  I shook off the Seeker vision and went into the little tack room turned dagger storage.

  I was humming cheerily when I stepped into the doorway again to go into the main room. Then a small board smashed me in the face. I was stunned for a second and that allowed the Board Swinger to shove me in the tack room, turn off the lights, and slam the door shut.

  “Ow,” I moaned, tilting my head back to stop the blood gushing out of my nose. There went my white sundress.

  I crawled across the floor and pulled myself up at the door. I tried the handle. Nothing. I tried pushing it open. It didn’t budge at all. “This is just great.”

  Ignoring the twinges of my surely broken nose I slipped into Seeker senses so I could see in the pitch black room. And so I could be prepared if whatever had disfigured my face with that board came back.

  I rubbed my hands together. I could totally do this. I was the Queen now. I didn’t need my wand to unlock a door. I had fairy power out the wazoo.

  I focused and did what I would normally do with a wand only with my bare hands. The tack room door exploded outwards, shattering into a million tiny pieces.

  I stepped through. “Oops.”

  “I think that was a little much, don’t you?” came Monty’s clear voice.

  I turned towards her. Ash, Kendall, and Shay were beside her. Their eyes widened at the blood stain down the front of my dress. “Like whacking me in the face with a two-by-four and then locking me in the tack room wasn’t?”

  “We wouldn’t nail you in the face with a board,” Shayla said. “Where’s the first aid?”

  “Same place as always,” I waved my hand in the general direction.

  Asher led me to a seat. “There’s blood running down your hand.”

  I thought back. “I probably reopened my fight scratch when I was shoved to the floor.”

  “Dammit, Cort, you need to take better care of yourself.”

  “I’ve been doing pretty well for the past eighteen years,” I snapped.

  Shayla was back with the first aid. You wouldn’t think that we’d get hurt in training but at times we’d managed to. And even with our super healing gauze was a must.

  “I can do this myself,” I said, snatching away the wipe that she was using to wipe the blood off my chin.

  Kendall and Monty were back from investigating. “Enjoy the attention,” Kendall said. “Now explain why someone trashed our good weapons.”

  -Chapter 3-