Unleashed (#3 Deathwind Trilogy) Page 2

  “Okay. It’s not fair that the Deathwind is making you finish this, even if you can find a cure from it. You still have to turn people, right? To get the Deathwind to go away?” I can feel Dorian's horror rolling off him in waves.

  I shudder at the idea of making others suffer my fate. “I don’t know if there’s a way around that. I guess it’s better than letting it turn into a giant tornado and killing everyone around here. Including us.” Even Outbreakers aren’t safe from the full-blown Deathwind. The last time it started to break out, it nearly killed me and even Madeline and my dad had to let himself get turned to make it calm down again. “I don’t know how much time we have. Madeline was able to talk to it. That means I can, too. I just need to learn how.”

  “Is that why you ran out of the station?” he asks. Because it wanted you to turn the people in there?

  I look down at the pavement. Yes. I can’t meet Dorian’s eyes. Not because I nearly let the Deathwind turn that receptionist, but because I didn’t. Maybe I should have. The Deathwind could be ready to blow up tomorrow for all I know. If I don’t turn people fast enough, it will get more unstable until it reaches that point. Madeline went two months without turning anyone, so it has to be pretty bad by now.

  “Allie, I would have freaked out, too. You need time to think about how to do this. I’m going to help you. We need to merge one more time and then I’ll help you look for a cure. You’re not shouldering all of this alone.”

  “We could really kill some people if we merge again.”

  “We’ll do it somewhere where there aren’t any people. We have to act fast. It’s October starting tomorrow. Once winter gets here, there won’t be any storms for us to use. Heck, there aren’t going to be a lot this month, either.” Dorian lets go of me and grins. “I used to love winter for that reason. It’s when most Outbreakers don’t have to worry about transformations. Well, except for the ones in the South.”

  “I never thought I’d say this, but I was looking forward to it, too.” Then a thought hits me. “Maybe we have longer than I thought. The Deathwind shouldn’t be able to unleash in the winter. It needed a storm last time it—“

  A growl rises up in me, so fast and intense I can’t speak. It grabs at every cell in my body and I bend over, gasping for breath.

  WE DON'T HAVE UNTIL WINTER.

  The words scream together, so loud in my head that I think I’m going to explode.

  “Allie!” Dorian’s kneeling down, facing me. I take his hand and squeeze. If he’s trying the mind speak, I can’t hear it over the roar in my head.

  At last it dies down. I suck in a breath. My heart’s racing.

  “Allie…what happened?” Dorian links his hand under my arm and helps me stand up taller.

  The roar of the Deathwind is gone now. I stay tense, afraid it's going to come back. The look on Dorian’s face tells me I’m the only one who heard it. I hadn’t expected the Deathwind to be so…invasive. So with me all the time.

  My heart's pounding. “We might have only days to end all this for all I know."

  Dorian wraps me in a hug again. “Allie, we need to leave, go find someplace that’s having storms, and merge again. If the Deathwind wants two masters, then it must need two masters. Maybe it's too unstable for one person to handle now. I’m not saying you couldn’t do this, but it’ll definitely help if there’s two of us handling this.”

  “I agree. But I don’t want to throw this on anybody else. Especially you.”

  “Come on, Allie. In a way, you do. I can tell. And I’m fine with it. I’ll even help you cure Tommy. If there’s part of the Deathwind in him now, there’s got to be a way for us to take it out. The same goes for your father and Eliza.”

  Dorian has no clue.

  He thinks Tommy got turned into a new Outbreaker. Well, Dorian did find him lying there in the classroom with the Deathwind swirling overhead and Tommy did have his eyes closed as we carried him out of the school. And it’s night. When Tommy opened his eyes out on the grass, nobody could see the color change.

  Dorian, there’s something—

  “Guys. Time to break it up.”

  I jump.

  It’s Tommy, waiting at the corner of the bank. He’s stiff like he’s standing in front of a drill sergeant. His glasses reflect the ugly orange light back at us. Behind him, my parents are at the door of the police station. Three officers converse with them. They’ve turned in Uncle Cassius.

  I pull away from Dorian. A flare of anger rises in me. I’m mad at Tommy. Furious. “Why did you throw it all away?”

  “I didn’t throw anything away,” he says. His jaw wobbles as he eyes Dorian. He saw us hugging. Maybe more. He’s nowhere near over this yet. “I wanted the Deathwind to turn me. I’m tired of being so useless with all of this. What good is a normal human guy in this situation?”

  Tommy’s purposely leaving Laurie out of his story. I get why. If Dorian finds out his mother did the deed, he’ll get more distant from her…and closer to me.

  “This is the last thing I wanted,” I say. Tears are welling up. The world turns into an orange and black blur. “Tommy, you know that I never wanted you to get turned. I told you this. I made a promise to Bethany that I’d rescue you and that you’d still be human. I made a promise to myself that this would never happen to you. Now I’ve broken them both. I—“

  “You didn’t break anything,” he cuts in. “I chose this. You saw that. And listen to how you’re talking. I was someone that needed to be rescued all the time. And, well, I was sick of it.”

  Dorian steps forward. He’s squinting like he’s sharing my pain. Which, now that I think about it, he probably is. “Dude, do you know what you just got yourself into?”

  “Well, duh.” Tommy shrugs, trying to look cool.

  “No, you don’t,” Dorian says. “You had better hope that we can find a cure before your first transformation. It might pay to avoid Allie when it storms. We don’t want anything happening to you like going bad or anything.”

  I tense. I know where this is going. Dorian's anger smolders. My shoulder blades tense with it. He's livid that Tommy's putting me through this.

  Tommy glares at Dorian. “You’re just saying that because you don’t like the fact that we’re friends. Close friends.”

  Dorian holds a hand up. I feel his struggle to stay composed. “Wait. I’m just trying to stop this from getting even more complicated than it already is.”

  “So now I’m just complicating things?” Tommy advances on Dorian.

  It’s like I’m not even there anymore. If I don’t do something they’re going to brawl. Even though Tommy’s an old Outbreaker now, he’s still smaller and less muscular than Dorian. He’s going to wind up hurt.

  “Knock it off!” I step between them like a referee. “Look, we’ve all had a really long day. We’re tired. We’re all ready to tear someone’s head off. We should all go get some sleep before we even think of meeting again. The last thing I want is for you two to fight.”

  Tommy faces me. His shoulders droop. Dorian backs away a bit. He doesn't want to make this any worse for me, so he's holding back. I feel his struggle. I can imagine that Tommy's doing the same.

  I’ve got to take the opportunity. “Nobody here’s complicating things.” That’s a major stretch. Tommy just complicated a lot and so did I by taking the Deathwind. “We all need to go home and think. Especially me.”

  Dorian squints at me. He doesn’t have to mind speak for me to know what it means. He doesn’t want me doing this alone.

  But I need to. At least, at first.

  “Okay,” Tommy says. “We should meet tomorrow. Figure this all out.” There’s a lot more to his words than he can say.

  “I agree.” I'm glad things are calming down. The tension's still there, but it's thinning. I still have to tell Dorian the worst part of all this. I can’t do it in front of Tommy. It’ll start the fight all over again.

  Headlights bounce in the dark and approach down the drive. The car pulls into the station and parks on the other side of Eliza's. Two figures sit inside.

  “Well, it looks like my parents are here,” Tommy says, facing the police station. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He waves as dread comes over his face. Now the shock’s wearing off and he has to explain things. I wonder how he's going to tell his parents about his eye color change once he's home. They won't notice until they step in their house and turn on the lights.

  “See you,” I say. Dorian will have to give Tommy back his car. His mom still has it. The three of us will need to meet again very soon. I should probably be there for that.

  Tommy’s parents wrap him in a hug. I’m glad to see it, to see something happy after the argument. Tommy's got to be hoping I won't have the guts to tell Dorian the real story. He wouldn't have lied like that otherwise.

  I need to do that. Right now.

  Allie, what do you have to tell me? Dorian slips his hand into mine.

  He’s already starting to pick up on it.

  You’re not going to like it, I think back. I’ve still got my mental wall up, holding that thought back. I’m scared to let it fall just yet. I have to brace him.

  Have either of us liked anything that’s happened in the past week or so?

  Well, no. Except for the cabin.

  Dorian smirks at me. Yeah. Except for that.

  A loud ringing pierces the air. Dorian jumps. It’s coming from his pocket.

  “It’s your mom,” I say. I know this. Laurie must be back home now and she’s discovered that Dorian’s left. He has an angry phone call waiting for him.

  He grimaces. “I figured she’d get mad. Well, I guess I’d better get a ride back home.” He lets the phone keep ringing in his pocket. We both know there’s no point in picking it up. Dorian turns and cups his hands around his mouth. “Eliza?” He shouts.

  “Wait,” I say.

  “Oh,” he says. He comes back up to me and kisses me again. “Why would I ever forget about that?”

  “That’s not it,” I say.

  “I know,” Dorian says. His phone’s still ringing. “My mom doesn’t want us to be together. I won’t let her move me away or anything. I know that’s what she’s thinking, with Jeff and all that crap. I promise I won’t let that happen. We have other ways we can stay away from Jeff.”

  Jeff. The guy who wants to kill me because I’m in the process of going bad. He’s out of state right now looking for us, thanks to Laurie leading him off our trail, but he won’t stay gone forever. Sooner or later, he’ll come back to Williams Town and we’ll have to worry about the issue then.

  “Look, I have to go do some damage control,” he says. “I’m sure my mom will take away my phone for this, but we don’t need that to communicate.” He’s rushing. I can’t help but get the feeling that he wants to get out of here, to deny the worst. “Love you, Allie.”

  It’s the first time he’s said that out loud. “Love you, too.”

  I let him go.

  He runs back towards the police station as his phone starts ringing again. Opens the door. Darts in to where Eliza is probably still on the bench, reeling.

  He doesn’t want to hear the truth tonight.

  Laurie drove me out here, after all. It’s not hard for him to figure out that his mother had something to do with this all. Laurie didn’t hide it very well from him.

  I’ll let Dorian go right now. He needs to be able to sleep.

  And so do I.

  * * * * *

  I’m out as soon as my head hits the pillow.

  My sleep’s anything but peaceful. I keep seeing my parents’ long faces as they come out of the police station without Uncle Cassius. I see the giant tornado the Deathwind will turn into if I fail to turn enough people in time to make it go away. I see Dorian climbing into the backseat of Eliza’s car and rolling away, back towards his mother and an ugly secret. I see Tommy, angry and scowling at Dorian. And there’s Laurie, turning him and letting him fall to the floor. At last, the Deathwind spins over me, ready to claim me as its master.

  I wake, gasping for air. “Tommy—“

  It’s dark. My computer’s on as usual, playing its radar loop. There’s a couple of tiny storms heading away across the lake, far away, but nothing else. The screen tells me it’s fifty-four degrees outside. My clock reads 4:12 in the morning.

  I breathe in. Dorian must still be awake. Otherwise, he might have shared that horrible dream with me. I know Tommy’s a few miles away. Maybe he’s lying on his bed, thinking about what he’s done and hoping that it's going to be worth it. Hoping that one day, we can somehow be together again.

  An ache throbs in my chest. Maybe I even drove him to this when I said that painful goodbye to him in the parking lot.

  I have to get up. I can’t lie here anymore.

  My body thrums with energy. I don’t even feel tired. I pace around my room, staring at that screen. Exhaustion should be dragging me down into an ocean of oblivion. I don't get it.

  A breeze snaps through my room even though my window’s shut. My gemstone poster billows and settles back onto my wall with a thwack. My heart races. The Deathwind’s returned.

  Its growl fills my being and shapes into words. We need…

  “No,” I mutter. I don’t want to wake my parents. I don’t want them to suffer, knowing I have this responsibility. I want Dad to be able to rest, thinking that maybe I escaped from this.

  Turn someone…

  NOW.

  I keel over with the roar. There's nothing else. I'm never going to get used to this. “There isn’t anybody,” I mutter. I can't even hear my own voice.

  There is.

  The growl lessens enough for the world to come back. I straighten, grasping the edge of my desk. A chill passes over me. I know who the Deathwind is talking about.

  I can’t.

  You must.

  Dorian! I think.

  There’s no answer. It’s as if the Deathwind has put up a wall between us. He can’t hear you, it roars.

  “Shut up,” I say. “Let me talk to Dorian.”

  The radar updates on my screen. There’s a small green blob just west of Williams Town and heading this way. My chest explodes with panic.

  The last time I saw this was when—

  We unleash if you do not turn someone NOW.

  Oh, God. I’m on my own for this. If I don’t meet the Deathwind’s demand, it’ll turn into a giant tornado right here and annihilate my town.

  The radar updates again. The blob’s a bit bigger, with hints of yellow and orange. The little blob of rain is quickly evolving into a massive storm. The Deathwind’s impatient. It’s waited too long to turn others after Madeline’s failure. I have minutes before the worst happens.

  Turn her, the Deathwind growls. Turn your mother.

  Chapter Three

  Not her. I won’t. We’re finally getting along. It’ll ruin everything.

  I shove open my window and punch out the screen. The odor of rain wafts in. There’s no time to waste.

  I jump out and tangle myself in the hedges. The Deathwind growls again in warning. I can’t tell if it’s outside of me or in my head. My hair stands on end. Wind’s snapping through the trees. A single flash of lightning snakes overhead. The storm's growing faster than any storm ever should.

  Not my mother. Anyone but her.

  I bolt down the street, pajama bottoms flapping. It's still dark. The streetlights blink and off in warning, urging me to hurry. I have to find someone. But who's up this early? Will I have to order the Deathwind to invade someone's home?

  There’s a car starting down by the corner in the last driveway. Someone must have to get to work early. Tall grass and weeds wave next to the car and the shadow of a man sits inside, turning the ignition. It’s the guy who never mows his lawn, the one that my parents always complain about. His car coughs. Sputters. Fails to start.

  He’ll do. I’ll feel bad about this later.

  The guy gets out of the car, dressed in a greasy Burger Planet uniform. He’s got an energy drink in one hand and his keys in the other. He drags himself towards the house with a scowl that I can see from here. This guy’s not looking forward to his day.

  His life’s about to get a lot worse. It’s that or we all die.

  I slow and duck down behind a row of shrubs. I hate the idea of dooming someone else to my fate.

  HIM.

  The Deathwind growls in triumph between my ears. The guy goes in his house. Comes back out a few seconds later and slams his door. He climbs into his car and manages to start it this time. The sound of some morning radio show echoes out.

  The sky ignites in electric blue. I catch a glimpse of low, ominous mountains of clouds on a backdrop of light.

  “Okay,” I mutter. “Turn him. Make yourself happy.”

  Darkness bubbles into existence over my head. Swirls. Rages. The car door slams shut and its taillights switch from red to white. He’s backing out.

  I can’t watch but at the same time I have to.

  Thunder splits the air. The Deathwind vanishes above me. It bubbles to life above the guy’s car and spins faster and faster, tightening into a funnel of rage. It descends. The lightning reflects off the toiling clouds. I can't help but imagine screaming faces in the Deathwind, begging for release.

  A metallic grinding sound cuts over the roaring wind. Metal from the top of the car flies. It misses me by inches, clattering to the sidewalk. There’s a scream, a man’s scream that cuts off. The Deathwind descends into the car, drilling into the guy. Finally after what feels like minutes, it dissipates, turning to vapor that drifts away. The car engine keeps going but the car stays in the driveway, its taillights still white in reverse.

  The wind stops as if choked off by a giant’s hand. One last bolt of lightning forks across the sky and all is silent.