Chapter 27
27
LUKE
A m I dead?
Is this darkness the afterlife?
I vaguely recall bright white lights and faces—maybe the light was heaven and the faces were angels. If that’s the case, why haven’t I seen Mom or Dad?
And why do I keep hearing Brad’s voice?
I still hear it now, calling to me, and my eyes flit open.
The light’s so intense, it takes me a few moments of blinking and wincing to adjust before I can scan the room. I’m lying on a bed with rails along the side, a TV mounted on the wall across from me. Brad sits in a chair next to the bed, reading out loud from a book.
It comes to me—I’m in a hospital room, and while I can’t recall being here before, I have a feeling I’ve seen it, maybe coming in and out of consciousness.
I run back through the moment I followed the light in the woods to Brad and Seth, who were confronting the Slasher. I knew what it would do to them. And though I’d only just discovered this power, I had to believe my instinct was right—I had to use it to destroy the monster.
As I charged, this primal instinct, a connection to the Rift, moved through me.
Then there was the fire.
Blinding, excruciating fire.
Like nails driving into each nerve as the monster sliced into my flesh with its claws.
I felt.
Everything.
And now Brad’s still alive. Maybe this means it worked.
Maybe this means the others are alive too.
But what about me?
Shouldn’t I be dead?
Oh fuck.
I start to look down at my hands but stop myself as I envision what’s been haunting me—crawling around, covered in black blisters. Surely, I’m bandaged up—is that what the coarse sensation at my fingertips is? But shouldn’t I be in pain? Given what I remember of the vision, this will be brutal.
I wait for it to hit me, the intense pain from the severity of what I sustained, but…nothing.
How is that possible? No meds can be that strong. Or maybe the Sinners performed a spell to ease my pain? Or what if it’s like with Brad’s mom and his presence helps me somehow?
Whatever it is, it’s likely temporary and at some point I’ll have to feel it again—those nails driving into me, searing to my soul.
Brad looks up from the book, and he must notice I’ve woken up because he sets it on the edge of the bed and rises up.
“Luke? Can you hear me?” His expression is tense with worry.
My thoughts return to those last moments, when I asked Seth to stop him. How Brad cried out, his agony mixing with the horrible screams of the Slasher.
I try to say his name, but it catches in my throat.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything. Just nod.”
I can manage that, and a gentle smile tugs up on his beautiful face, his eyes watering.
“What happened?” I force out.
“You did it. You killed it.”
Relief courses through me.
In our brief interaction with the Slasher, we discovered it was more powerful than we’d expected. And clever. If it hadn’t been destroyed, it would have killed everyone in sight.
And who would have stopped it?
As grateful as I am to have succeeded and still be here, I tear up at the thought that I’ll never be the same me. That I’ll always carry these scars with me. Will I even be able to walk?
I push those thoughts away. Plenty of time for self-indulgence later.
I fight to speak, finally managing, “How long have I been out?”
“Maybe ten…twelve hours.”
That can’t be right. Not for the injuries I sustained. And this doesn’t look like an ICU room. Shouldn’t I be intubated? What’s going on?
“Luke, you’re fine,” he says, intuiting my concern.
He reaches under the blanket and takes my hand. I feel his touch, so it’s not bandaged, which throws me. And then he displays it for me. “Look.”
My jaw drops. My hand looks a little paler than normal but unharmed.
“What— How? ”
“It was bad. Really bad. Just like in the vision. We called the paramedics, and as they were transporting you, they were trying to work out what the black stuff on your skin was. They discovered it was some kind of film covering your body. When they removed it, you were fine underneath. At least physically. They brought you in because of how they found you and because you’d passed out. They’re running tests on the black film. And they’ve done an MRI and other tests to make sure you’re all right, but everything looks fine so far.”
He releases my hand and pulls out his phone, turning the camera to display my face.
I’m not just fine—my skin looks better than it did before the attack. I’m even missing a lone faded freckle I used to have on my forehead. I gasp with relief, tears welling in my eyes.
Thank fuck.
“It’s okay,” Brad says. “You’re alive. And you’re here. With me.” He runs his knuckles across my cheek.
Here? With him? Can it be real?
No, it has to be some kind of dream.
His touch soothes me as he asks, “Are you in any pain? I can get the doctors to come in to give you something.”
I shake my head, and as relieved as I am that I’m all right, I have to know how the others fared. “Alexei?”
“He’s fine. Finn’s fine too. He checked out this morning. Needed some stitches and he was concussed, but that was it.”
I’m happy to hear that Finnegan’s okay, but with Alexei, how’s that possible? “No, it stabbed something right through Alexei.”
Brad opens his mouth like he’s about to explain, but then presses his lips together. “I don’t get it either. Cody was there when it happened, and he and Seth are in the waiting room now. But just know, everything’s okay.”
I wasn’t expecting to hear those words after the night we had.
He leans over the bed rail, puts his arm around me for a hug, then kisses my cheek. “I was so scared,” he whispers. “I didn’t want you to have to go through all that pain and suffering.”
He continues kissing my face, and I bask in the sensation of his lips against my flesh and his warm hold around me. It’s something deeper than the Lust, something that fuels me.
I run my hand through his hair as he kisses down to my neck, tightening his hold.
Despite everything he’s said, given the moments I remember before this room, it’s hard to accept.
As he buries his face in my neck, warm tears push up against my skin. I want to freeze this moment, cherish it for as long as I can, since as far as I knew the other night, I was never gonna see him again.
Once we finally manage to pry away from each other, he texts Seth and Cody to come to my room. When they enter, I sit up.
“Brad said Alexei’s fine, but I’m trying to understand what happened after I left that trench.”
“He has a little scar where the Slasher stabbed him,” Cody says, assessing my skin in a way that makes me uneasy. “And you don’t even have that much, but from how you looked last night, you should have something.”
“Cody, tell me what happened. Just give me the quick, thirty-second version, at least.”
“Thirty-second version: When I was working on the spell to make that circle of protection, something connected with me from the Rift. And it started controlling my movements. That’s why I was writing in the notebook.”
“I remember that. You wrote I am Kysar .”
“We’ve seen that name before,” Brad says. “Kysar is one of the Guides.”
“So when Cody grabbed me and I had that vision…”
“That was him,” Cody says.
“When you touched me…or he touched me…the vision was showing me what I had to do to save everyone.”
“I didn’t see it,” Cody says, “but I assumed based on what the guys said happened after.”
“And then what happened?” I ask.
“After I finished transcribing for him, he…possessed me. Went to Alexei, put my hands on him, and did something—the rod in him split in two and pushed out either side. Then his skin healed in seconds. At least that’s how it felt.”
“When I found them,” Seth says, “Alexei was unconscious but breathing normally.”
“Did he say why he was out there last night?”
Seth shakes his head. “When he woke, he wasn’t sure. Seemed really confused and out of it.”
“It’s weird that he happened to find us even before you guys did,” I say, having a hard time making sense of that.
“The Slasher sent Seth and me on a wild goose chase,” Brad says. “It laid clues to make it seem like you ran in the opposite direction, and we fell for it.”
“That must’ve been why we had time to make that first circle of protection,” Cody says.
“But why didn’t it just kill them?”
The room falls silent. Cody looks to Brad as if seeking permission to share.
Brad nods.
“Because it was after you, like we suspected. We think it could sense your power and that it could feed off it. I don’t think that’s what the Guides were telling us before, though. I assumed because the Slasher could prolong killing to get more power, that was why it chose fire for one of the victims—before we knew it was you. But now I believe they were trying to tell us that you were the one who could destroy it with your powers.”
“That makes sense,” I say. “After I discovered my ability to start the fire, I suddenly knew things, like I know my own name. I knew something was different about this Slasher.”
“Yeah, that’s for sure,” Brad adds. “The Slasher described in the bible wasn’t as cunning as what we faced.”
“It was from something older, wiser in the Rift,” I say, filled with some intuitive wisdom planted in me after Cody touched me in the trench. “And a blow to the head or even tearing it apart wouldn’t have been enough to destroy it. It had to be incinerated to prevent it from coming back. And I knew the message they gave you was intended for me. That I had to go right then, before it could strike again. Save Brad and Seth.”
“If all that’s true,” Cody says, “then Kysar must’ve known everything would play out like it did.” He spins his backpack around front and fishes through it, retrieving the notebook he wrote in last night, flipping the pages before displaying more writing. It doesn’t look like his handwriting, but more like the scrawling I’d seen when he was in a trance.
Cody reads out, “ I’m the Guide of the original Sinners. I was here to protect Mark and Josh. I am here to protect you. ” Cody flips the page. “ You didn’t unleash the Slasher. Something is happening. Something is shifting in the Rift .”
“What’s happening in the Rift?”
“He didn’t elaborate,” Cody replies. “But this is more than I’ve ever done before, and I think it’s more similar to how Dobbers used to communicate with the Guides. Here, look: there are a few lines that say This isn’t your fault . When all that stuff started happening, just based on the timing, we assumed it must have been from what we’d done, and then maybe involving your arrival, but he must know more.”
It’s not that comforting, especially when we don’t know much about Kysar or why he’s helping us. But what he says lines up with the things I felt in the trench, and at least he gave us some answers through Cody, even if they’re not wholly satisfying.
“Anything else I need to know?” I spit out.
“I think that’s enough for now,” Brad insists sternly. Cody and Seth glance at one another.
“Why did you say it like that?” When he doesn’t answer, I turn to Seth and Cody, who won’t make eye contact. “Why did he say it like that?”
Seth glances at the door, as if longing to make a break for it.
“It’s just a lot all at once,” Brad says. “But if you really think you’re up for it…”
“I don’t mind tearing off the Band-Aid.” After what I’ve been through, what could be so terrible?
Cody licks his lips, then says, “Kysar’s message included a warning: Something’s coming. Something worse than the Slasher . You need to be ready. Train. Train. Find me. ”
“But you contacted him. Last night.”
Cody’s face twists up. “Sort of. I channeled some information, and then he basically took over my body to help Alexei. But that was a struggle for both of us. And that’s why I think the messages are so vague—like when I just saw your silhouette initially. I had a hard time understanding everything I was receiving. We need to be more attuned to the Rift so I can translate better.”
Despite my reservations about this Guide, after what happened, I accept he’s the reason I killed that thing. And not only did he give me the answers I needed, he must’ve known I had the ability to heal from the burn. He’s the reason we’re all alive right now, and that’s not nothing.
“Now can we talk about what we’re gonna do about the cop situation?” Seth asks.
My eyes widen. “Cop situation?”
Seth winces. “You didn’t think they were just going to be totally chill about the naked guy covered in goo in a pile of ashes in the middle of the night, did you?”
“We’ll figure that out,” Brad snaps. “You’ll sit in while they talk to Luke and help them along, right? Didn’t have any problem doing it last night with a friend you vowed never to use it on, so should be easy with them.”
Seth and I exchange a glance. His expression’s rife with guilt.
“Brad, I told him to do that. If you had intervened, you would have died senselessly and I would’ve been fine.”
Brad blinks a few times. “Sorry, Seth. I just… That situation messed with my head. I know you were only trying to keep me from…” He doesn’t finish, doesn’t acknowledge that he was willing to die to save me.
“I am sorry,” Seth says, and it’s one of the few times I’ve seen him when he’s let his guard down, shown something other than being a total dick around me.
“I know you are,” Brad says.
Seth nods. “I can figure out the cop thing.”
“And there’s one more thing,” Brad tells me.
“More?”
“Your uncle’s on the way here.”
“What? Why?”
“The cops wanted to contact your parents, and I mentioned you had a guardian and that I’ll let him know. So I found him online and sent him an email. He called me, and we’ve gone back and forth. He’s on a flight from Maui now.”
“Fuck…” Of all the people I would rather not have to worry about this, he’s top of the list. “I need to call him.”
“He’s on a plane, Luke. He won’t be in for another three hours.”
“I’ll send him a text, then. He can get it through the Wi-Fi.”
But fuck, I hate that he dropped his Maui trip just to come make sure I was okay.
“Fuck, is my phone even—”
“Incinerated,” Cody says.
“Of course it is. Brad, can I—” But he’s already passing me his phone.
“They’re gonna want to keep you here for observation,” Brad says, “do you want me to run by the dorm and grab some things? Clothes, your laptop maybe?”
As much as I want him to stay here with me, I could use a little time to myself to digest everything.
“Honestly, before you go, I could use some water.”
“I’ll get that,” Cody says.
“And I’ll check with the nurse,” Brad says, “and then maybe pick up some food on my way back.”
We coordinate plans before he and Cody head out, leaving Seth and me alone together, Seth avoiding eye contact as I text Dan.
My uncle is worried, I can tell by the half words and no punctuation in his reply, but I assure him I’m all right.
Dan: be there soon love you.
Me: I love you too.
With that out of the way, I relax against my pillow, noticing Seth lingering awkwardly near the bed.
As much as he’s pissed me off since we’ve met, something changed last night. And I know I asked a lot of him.
“Thank you, Seth.”
“Huh?”
“For stopping Brad. You didn’t have to do that, but you knew it was right.”
His gaze meets mine briefly before he nods. “No problem. Guy would have thrown himself on that fire to save you.”
I knew it too. I saw the determination in his gaze as he started toward the fire. We both would have died to save the other.
Seth’s quiet for a few moments before he adds, “I’ve been a dick to you since you got here. But what you did…that was really noble. If I’d been in that situation, I doubt I’d have been able to sacrifice myself like that.”
It’s a sincere remark, a rare occasion for him. At least with me.
“I guess you don’t know until it happens, right?”
“I think you’re the only one between us who’d know the answer to that. It was just a fucked-up situation. I’ve never betrayed him before. I would do anything for these guys, so it was a mindfuck for both of us. Seeing him hurting, knowing I was the one doing it… I don’t think Brad hates me, but it must be hard for him to reconcile what happened with the fact that I’m his friend. Just like it’s hard for me not to feel guilty, despite telling myself I was doing the right thing.”
Like most of this shit, and like life in general, it’s complicated.
“I don’t know that any of us will ever be the same after last night,” I say.
And that seems like a massive understatement.