Elect

The Elect 15, Abbyland: part 1 of 4

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Pierce brought the car to a stop.  He did not mind the traffic around Philadelphia, but he could understand why the people who did it every day hated it. ac pierce 8

He thought about his brother.  The last time he saw the boy, the boy was seven but looked more like fourteen or fifteen.  He remembered thinking at the time that the boy was growing up too fast.  Apparently, the obedience training did not work well, or take with the boy.  Somehow, the boy managed to run away from the residence.  Pierce never seriously considered escaping the residence, but it was an interesting thought.  He did have a mind of his own, despite everything.

At the residence, he discovered he had a baby sister.  She was two, and both looked and acted ac emily 9two, thank God, he thought.  But she was already being put through rigorous testing and being manipulated without any regard for her humanity.  He wished he could think of a way to save her from all that, but he could not think of anything, until he thought of Emily.

Emily was the only non-programmed thing in his life.  She was the only good thing in his life.  She was the only thing worth dying for.  He honked at the car trying to pull into his lane, just because he could.

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As you can imagine, things are about to get very strange.  Don’t miss the T, W and Thursday posts.  The Elect, chapter 15, Abbyland is a doozy.

Of course, you can wait until F (Sat or Sun) and read the whole chapter (4 posts) together in one sitting.  They are on the blog, on the right hand side under recent posts.  If you are coming in late, you can always click on the archives button and go back to the beginning, November 2015.  Do enjoy the story, and as I say, Happy Reading.

a a happy reading 4

 

The Elect 14, part 4 of 4: Finding

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Emily turned slowly and shuffled her way back to her room.  The campus was quiet, but she did not really notice.  She had Pierce on her mind and wondered how serious they might actually be.  She would not be nineteen for another two months and that still felt very young.  He was closer to twenty-four, not that it mattered.  Emily hugged her coat for warmth and briefly wondered why February, the shortest month, always felt like the longest month.

Emily unlocked the door to her room.  The first thing she noticed was a red rose on her desk. ac emily 8 There was no Shakespeare this time, but she smiled all the same.  It appeared as if Pierce was having the same thoughts she was having.

Jessica was not home at the moment.  That was fine.  Emily had some work to do and then she had to gather her stuff since it looked like sleeping over at Lisa’s might be a regular thing for a while.  She felt the urge to go to the campus center, but ignored it.  She did not need a latte.  She needed to catch up on some work so she buckled down, but it did no good.  The urge for the campus center nagged at her and of course, she could not avoid the Pierce fantasies.  After a time of being unable to properly concentrate on her schoolwork, Emily went next door.  Maria was not home either but her door was curiously unlocked.  Emily poked around and found Maria’s phone.  That really made her curious.  Maria was never without her phone.

Emily stepped back into the hall, Maria’s phone still in her hand, and realized the whole dorm was unaccountably quiet.  Normally after supper, the halls and lounges would be full of people trying hard to avoid studying.  Now there was only stillness.

There was a sudden bang in the stairwell and Emily was startled.  Two students came bouncing down the stairs and crashed open the door to the outside.  Emily stepped over to see the two head for the campus center.  It did not feel right.  Suddenly nothing felt right.  Maria’s phone rang and ac melissa 3Emily answered it.

“Hello?  Maria?”  Emily heard the voice and knew instantly who it was though she had only talked to the girl a couple of times.

“Melissa?  This is Emily.  Maria is not here right now.  What is it?”

Emily felt the hesitation on the other side of the line.  “Emily?”

“You remembered something.”  Emily’s intuition acted up.  “You can tell me, I’ll be sure Maria gets the message.”

“It’s just…” Melissa still hesitated.  “It’s just I remembered that girl’s last name.”  Melissa did not have to say which girl.  Emily knew she was talking about Abby.  “It is Swenson.  She is Abigail Swenson, the professor’s daughter.”

Shit!  Emily did not say that aloud.  Instead, she said, “What else?”

“I remembered the campus center.  There is a conference room upstairs.  That girl was talking about turning it into her shrine.”  Melissa sounded finished, but Emily did not need any further information.  The urge to go to the campus center was still in her system.  She thanked Melissa and promised to call back as soon as there was news.  Then she exchanged Maria’s phone for her own.  She had Lisa in her contacts.  Damn!  It was voice mail.  She left what information she had a student cent 2and started to run and crashed out the same door by the stairs that the two students had crashed out of moments before.

Emily was not surprised to see Jessica and Maria in the campus center, posted at the bottom of the stairs.  They were there to stop her.  They could not, but it took a minute to get by them without hurting them.  Of course, Maria and Jessica were not home.  Their eyes looked empty, but it was them, all the same on the outside, and it would be them again if Emily could do anything about it.

“Don’t worry,” Emily said as she peeled Jessica’s nails off her arm and flung the girl to the floor.  “I’ll get you back.”

She took two steps at a time and burst into the room to find Abby sitting on the floor, staring with red, blank eyes of her own.  The girl said one unintelligible word, and that became just like a pebble dropped into a still pond.  Something, some force or wind came from her and expanded out well beyond the building.  It knocked Emily to the floor as it went by.   When she sat up, she had the terrible urge to worship the bitch, but this time that feeling could not find a place in her mind to grab hold of her, and she did not get intoxicated.

ac abby w6When she looked up, she saw Abby staring at her, wondering how her magic fared.  Emily answered by pulling her knife.  Abby looked mad, but only for a minute before she spoke.  “It’s too late, you know.”  She began to laugh and pointed at Emily with the words, “Kill her.”  There had to be fifty students in that room eager to do whatever Abby said.

Emily threw a chair through the nearest window and then followed the chair.  She dropped from the second floor, got a small glass cut in her upper arm and imagined the others could not follow her in the two-story jump.  She was surprised to see several students jump after her.  They mostly got hurt, a couple rather badly.  She did not wait around.  She could still hear Abby’s giggle as if the girl thought this was all such great fun.  Abby came to the window and applauded as Emily rushed off across the campus.

Emily still had her knife and her most important weapon, her phone.  She thought first of the a library 1library.  She imagined there were secluded places among the books where she could hide and make some calls.  To her surprise, the students came roaring out of the library front door, yelling at her and throwing whatever came to hand, books, notebooks, backpacks, pens and pencils.

“My God, how far did that wave travel?”  She did a u-turn and turned up the speed with which she could easily outrun even the swiftest pursuer.  She ran around the science building and ducked in the back door.  There was no one in the downstairs hall so she ran the length.  She kicked open the door to the lab room she blew up.  They were rebuilding the room and there signs of progress everywhere, including the lab desks all pushed together in the center, gas piping snaked all over the floor, and wallboard stacked in the corner.  Emily opened the side window, the one she went through before, and kicked out the storm window.

a science 2She checked out front.  They were gathering from the library, the student center and the nearby dorms and spreading out again in every direction.  They were hunting, and several looked ready to come up to the science building, though Emily clearly and deliberately ran around the building to make them think she headed for the engineering school.  Emily raced across the hall to the front stairwell and pulled herself into the shadows behind and beneath the stairs.  There was a fire alarm exit door if she needed it.  She hoped she would not.  She had to call Lisa, but for the moment, she had to remain quiet as she heard the students come in.

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Monday, the Elect chapter 15, Abbyland…don’t miss it.

 

The Elect 14, part 3 of 4: Searching

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Lisa came to campus in the morning with a court order and plenty of back up.  It turned out there were seven Abby’s in the student body, but as Emily looked down the list she was sure none of the ones listed was the witch.

“We don’t even know her last name,” Lisa paced.ac lisa 2

“Amina says she is being blocked and Melissa can’t remember it either,” Maria reported as she played with her glasses.  Just to keep things even, Emily ran her hand through her hair.  It was not as short as it used to be.  Soon enough, it might be normal length for a girl her age.

“Have you talked to Heinrich?”  Lisa asked.

Emily nodded.  “Haven’t you talked to him?”

Lisa shook her head.  “We are not on the best of terms at the moment.”

ac emily 7Emily understood.  Latasha.  “He says finding a witch is not easy.”  He said it was not as easy as finding a rogue elect.  “Apparently when they are young they don’t know how to contain or disguise themselves so they tend to broadcast all over the place.  Finding a general location, like the campus is easy, but picking through the broadcast fog to find a specific location is not.”

The police spent all afternoon banging through one dorm room, office or classroom after another.  They came up empty.  Lisa had hoped they would find her.  She had also hoped the girl was raised to respect her parents and elders, and might hesitate to fight the police directly.  She doubted that was the case these days.  Lisa knew if this witch was a rebellious teen, she could easily fight, and from all indications, she feared that would be a serious battle.

When they found nothing, Lisa insisted Emily go with her to her house.  They planned to sleep three with one awake at all times to watch.  It was probably not the best plan, but what else could they do?

Emily caught up with Pierce the following morning.  He came to tell her he had an off campus errand and would not be back until late.  Captain Driver was also off campus again, taking another weekend in Washington.  Emily wanted to ask what was so special about Washington, but she ac pierce 2suspected it was his kids.  He was divorced and she did not ask because she did not want to be nosey.

Emily looked at Pierce.  She hated to be away from him.  But then, he was looking at her in the same way so she figured it was safe to feel what she was feeling.  She thought to hold him.  She thought to kiss him.  She thought about delaying his errand by taking him back to her room.  They had only done it that one time before Christmas.  She imagined it was time for another visit.  She imagined she would not mind if they made it a regular thing, but she was good.  She let him go and only stared until he waved and vanished behind the trees on the path to faculty parking lot, C.

The Elect 14, part 2 of 4: Dreaming

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“Granger isn’t involved,” Emily said.

Pierce countered.  “Unless she was involved and the one controlling the experiment decided she was expendable.”

Emily thought, but shook her head.  “There haven’t been any more attempts on her life.  And she was not around during the zombie attack at the library.”

“Circumstantial.  She may have made up with the ones in charge and I was not around when the zombies came in force.”  Emily looked up at him.ac pierce 7

“I was,” he admitted.  “I was with Bernie the campus cop, keeping a safe distance.”

“Good thinking,” she encouraged him.  “But mostly there hasn’t been an attack or any sign of zombies since before Christmas.  It has been over a month and nothing.”

“Maybe they can’t get the formula right since Swenson is no longer with them,” Pierce suggested.

“I don’t think so.  Swenson was the type to keep meticulous records.  She still had Owen’s freshman paper on file from a year ago.  Maybe they can’t get the magic component right.  Heinrich said he smelled magic on the zombies.  That may have been the trigger to make it all work.”

“Maybe Flabby isn’t cooperating,” Pierce suggested.

ac emily 4Emily shook her head again.  “Maybe Abby isn’t the one we should be concerned about.  Maybe there is another witch in town.”

Pierce sat up straight.  “How likely is that?”  This was clearly a new thought for him.

“No less likely than three elect being in this same little town together.”

“Hi.”  Jessica bounced up from the dance floor with a new boy.  “Pierce and Emily, this is Dylan.  Bye.”  Dylan just had time to wave before he was dragged out on to the dance floor again.

“The Undead are in rare dance form tonight,” Pierce said.

“I heard they play from Boston to Raleigh, mostly colleges and places like the Hive.”  Emily made it a conversation.

“Yeah, but they’re from Philly, so we get them a lot when they’re home.”  Pierce spoke, but his eyesac pap priest were elsewhere.  Emily followed his eyes.  “Papadopoulos,” he said.

“The antiquities professor?”  Emily looked close.  The man was sitting with three others.  Two looked fairly young, big and ugly.  The third was dressed in a robe like some Orthodox priest.  “I imagined him older.”

Pierce nodded.  “It was his grandfather that collected and brought the stuff from Europe during the war.  He persuaded a Greek shipper to front for the buildings to house it all and make the work space to study it.”

“Gorgon?”

ac pap 1Pierce nodded.  “Papadopoulos was the one who explained to me about the lower basement levels.”

“Do you want to say hello?” Emily asked, but Pierce caught her hand and shook his head.

“He is a strange fellow.  Probably comes from breathing so much dust.”  He took Emily by the hand and led her to the dance floor.  It was a wonderful evening.  Emily went to bed happy.  Too bad the night was so difficult.

Jessica was still out when Emily laid down to sleep.  She had plenty on her mind, but was too tired to think about it.  Pierce gave her a real workout, but it was good.  She did not stay awake long.  She dreamt about being in the student center on a busy afternoon.  The people there stared at her.  She felt self-conscious and tried hard not to notice as she bought her latte.  She sought out a back corner where she could be inconspicuous, but the eyes followed her.

Across town, Latasha tossed in her bed.  She was running in her sleep, running from the police who had all become zombies and put Latasha on the menu.  At the same time, Lisa huddled with ac lisa house 2her children.  The dogs were all around the house.  She could hear them scratching at the doors, trying to break in when the phone rang.

Lisa bolted up, but needed a moment to clear her head.  It did not clear quickly so she had to reach for the phone in her fog.  It was Libby.

“Wake up.  Wake all the way up.  The witch has got into our dreams.”

“What?”  Lisa asked before she understood.  “Call Latasha.  Get her up and walking.  Have her mother wake her if she has to.  I’ll get Emily.”

Libby said nothing.  She hung up to dial.

Emily was presently in the hands of a half-dozen men who held her out like a lamb of sacrifice.  The women in the center had the knives.  Emily did not see Abby, but she sniffed the air and it smelled familiar.  Something in the back of her mind said witch as her phone rang.  She was already half-awake, retreating from the attack as hard as she could.

“Hello?”

ac abby 3“Emily, get up.  The witch is in your dreams.”

Emily sat up and shook her head.  “I know.  I figured that out.”  She heard Lisa take an audible breath as they heard a third voice on the phone.

“That was just to say hello.  Now I know where you live.”

Lisa and Emily hung up the phones as fast as they could.

The Elect 14, Nightmares: part 1 of 4

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Maria answered her phone, “Ola, Maria”

“Hello Maria?  This is Melissa.”

”Melissa?  I was just thinking about calling you.  How are things in Vermont?”

“Fine.  And there?”

“Good.  Emily and Pierce are getting along great.  She loves him, you know, and he really loves her.ac maria 3  You can see it in his eyes every time he looks at her, lucky girl.  Jessica is on boyfriend number umpteen.  I can’t remember.  I don’t know if Amina dates.  She says her parents are really strict about stuff.”

“Are you seeing anyone?”

“No.”

“Good,” Melissa said.  “I mean not good, but I’m not either, and it wouldn’t be so bad if maybe we could be roommates next year.  I mean, I don’t know anyone else there.”

“You know me,” Maria said.  “And you know Emily and Jessica, and you met Amina.  Oh, and do you remember Mindy?  She is helping Amina with her history paper for Professor Schultz.  Little redhead—lived on your floor, originally?”

Melissa was silent for a minute.  “I think so.  She seems nice.”

“So you see?  You have friends.”  Maria paused and let the silence stretch out.  Since talking to Melissa after Christmas, Maria learned to let Melissa have time to frame her thoughts.

ac melissa 1a“Maria,” Melissa waited, but Maria let her finish.  “I had a bad dream—a nightmare.  I dreamt that Abby started making everybody into Abby worshipers.  All of you got taken by her spell, except maybe Emily.  I don’t remember Emily in my dream.  But it was terrible and I did not have near the power to stop her.”  Melissa grew quiet.  Maria spoke after a minute.

“I haven’t talked about Abby.  I figured it was something you probably wanted to forget.  But, since you mentioned it, it looks to us and Detective Lisa that Abby is planning something. I hate to ask you to think about it, but anything you can remember, like maybe Abby’s last name would be helpful.”

“I will—think about it,” Melissa said, and her voice brightened.  “It is the least I can do for my friends.”

“And roommate,” Maria said, and she could feel Melissa smile right through the phone.

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For those who are following this story, you are welcome to skip this part.  But for those who may be new, here is how it works.  The story began in November of 2015 and that is easy to access.  Just click on the archives button and select November and you can read the story from the beginning…and then December…and then January up to the present post.  Each chapter is posted in 4 parts: M, T, W, and Th.  To read the complete chapter 14, begin today and check the blog on T, W, and Th.  If you want to wait until Friday (Sat or Sun) the entire chapter will be on the blog under “recent posts” and can thus be read all in one sitting.

If you feel like you have come in the middle of things and are a bit confused…well, you have.  But hopefully, this has been written in a way where each chapter is reasonably complete, like episodes in a television show.  Please read the whole chapter…and if you want to skip going back to the beginning for now, a chapter or two should get you up to snuff on the characters and what they are dealing with… but you have to read the whole chapter, please…

I have enjoyed writing this.  I hope you enjoy reading it.  Whatever you read, Happy Reading

a a happy reading 1

 

The Elect 13, part 4 of 4: Rogue

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It was early Saturday morning.  Ms Libby was coming over for lunch, but Darren assured Latasha that they would be home long before lunch.  He kept saying he wanted to make a clean start and kept playing on her being family until Latasha relented and agreed to go along.  She did not feel right about it, but who was she to deny her own brother a fresh, clean beginning.  He assured her that simply by her being there, the others would behave themselves.  He said if she was there, no one would have to get hurt.  And she believed him, even if she did not feel comfortable with the whole idea.ac lat darren 2

They walked.  He was to meet a man named Carlos in a parking garage.  He said he would pay Carlos what he owed and that would be that.

“But why not meet somewhere around lots of people?”  Latasha asked.

“No reason,” Darren shrugged.  “Carlos said he had to go out of town and needed the money for the trip.  I guess the garage is where his car is parked, that’s all.”

Latasha frowned, but said no more.

“One quick stop first,” Darren said as they stepped up to a local mart.

“What do you need here?”

Darren did not answer at first.  He paused outside the door and looked at his sister with embarrassed eyes.  “Stay here, will you?  I need a box of condoms for later.  I’m seeing someone.”

“I can go in.”

“No, really.  It’s embarrassing.”

“I can go in.”

“Latasha, please.  Just wait here.  I’ll be right out, I promise.”

ac latasha 6Latasha kicked at the hole in the parking lot.  “Go quick,” she said, and she set herself to wait by the door.  It was quick.  Not three minutes later, Darren raced out of the door followed by a big white man with a baseball bat.  Latasha tripped the man, yanked the baseball bat out of the man’s hand and kicked him once, but not too hard.  She bloodied the man’s nose, but did not break it.  She tossed the bat and ran to catch up with her brother.

“What the hell did you do?”  She yelled.

Darren said nothing until they ran off the sidewalk and into an alley.  Even there he kept his eyes on the street in case they were being followed.  “I screwed his daughter,” he said quickly.  “It was about two months ago and I think she might be pregnant.”

Latasha hit him in the shoulder.

“Ouch.  Hey, I’m trying to do the right thing now.”  He pulled a single condom out of his jacket pocket to show her.  “I didn’t know he was going to be there.  Really, I’m sorry, but he did not exactly give me time to explain.”

Latasha was steamed.  She might have hurt the man.  “Let’s just get this over with,” she said, and Darren took her by the back ways to the entrance of the parking garage.  They scooted past the gate and walked to the basement level.  Normally, no one parked in the basement level unless all the upper levels were full.  All of the local drug dealers knew this.  Of course, Latasha did not.

###

ac carlos 1Three men came down the exit way to the parking garage lower level.  The one out front was not a big man, but his two companions were bigger than most.  There was an old white haired man walking up the ramp, and the small man wore a happy smile as he growled at the old man and raised his arms, like he was going to charge.  The old man cowered, while the two big men imitated their leader.  The old man put his free hand up to protect his head, expecting to be hit, but the three just laughed and continued on past.

“Probably wet himself,” the small man said just before he heard his name.

“Carlos!”  It was Darren

Darren and Latasha walked up when Carlos stopped.  His two big companions hovered over his shoulder.

“Hey, dipshit.  You got my money?”  Carlos was all business.

Darren pulled a wad of mixed bills out of his pocket.  “Yeah, I got your money.  But I was thinking maybe instead you would give me your money.”  The three men laughed as Darren took two giant steps back and Latasha’s jaw dropped.

“Hey, man.  Why did you bring your skinny bitch with you?  I think this is going to get ugly,” Carlos said.

“My sister.”  Darren smiled.  Latasha felt like killing her own brother, but she did not have time.ac carlos 7  The thought crossed her mind that she could say, “I’m not part of this,” and walk away, but it all happened so fast.

Carlos said, “Hurt him,” and the two big men moved to the front.  One reached inside his jacket and Latasha did not have to guess what he was reaching for.  She jumped and caught the hand with the gun not yet fully exposed.  The gun clattered to the concrete floor and she punched the man square on the jaw.  She did not pull that punch and the man went down.

The other man reached for her, but her long leg caught him in the belly. Then she remembered and kicked again.  She caught the man in the knees and he went to his knees.  That put his head at her head height.  She made her little fists, but it was a third strike with her foot in the man’s face than sent him also to the floor.

Latasha turned on Carlos and saw a gun in his hand.  Anyone else might have hesitated, but Latasha’s fury was up.  She was much faster than Carlos could believe, and caught Carlos’ hand and turned the gun away before he could fire.  The bullet ricocheted across the concrete.  She had to break Carlo’s hand to make him drop the gun, and then she ducked as he swung at her and punched him in return right in the solar plexus.  Carlos fell to his knees coughing and hacking for his breath.

ac latasha 3The first man was up by then, scrambling for his gun.  Latasha kicked it away and made those little fists.  The man clearly thought about it, but in the end decided to up and run back the way they had come.  His nose was broken and that was enough.

“You ass!  You set me up!”  Latasha turned on her brother, but he was already heading forward to take whatever these men had in their pockets.  Latasha stopped him with a slap to his chest.  Darren flew back five feet and landed hard of the concrete.

“But we’re family,” Darren groaned.

Latasha had some choice words to say but froze stiff at the sound of her name.

“Latasha!”  It was Heinrich, the old man with the cane, and he was dragging the runaway thug by the hair.  When he got close, he dropped the man’s hair, grabbed the big man by the arm and with one hand tossed him so he knocked Carlos flat and landed on top of the other thug who was holding his knees and struggling to get up.

Latasha saw him and went to tears.  She did wrong and she knew it.  Everything became clear.  Darren knocked off that gas-mart and she helped him do it.  The man with the baseball bat was probably the storeowner trying to get his money back.  And then Carlos.  She was set-up, but she ac heinrich 5was willing to be set-up.  She wanted to believe her brother so badly, she did not look closely at any of it.  Her insides said it was wrong, but she did it anyway.  She expected Heinrich to hurt her.  She deserved to be hurt.

Heinrich slipped his arm gently around the girl and she wailed as the tears poured out of her.  There was a corresponding wailing sound at the parking garage entrance as two police cars came in, sirens blasting.  The police stopped Darren who was struggling toward escape.  He got handcuffs, as did the men on the ground.

Lisa’s car roared into the garage a moment later and she screeched to a halt, not thinking twice about her tires.  She jumped out, but Libby was faster.  That old woman went straight for Latasha and thought nothing of pushing Heinrich out of the way so she could comfort the girl.  Lisa stopped still and stared at the man.  He returned her stare.

“Why are you here?”  She asked.

“Rogue elect,” he answered.  He did not have to point at Latasha.  Lisa stiffened, but the man was not finished speaking.  “Given her age, I am willing to accept that she was duped and behaved stupidly.  But she better wise up quickly.  If she turns criminal, I may have to kill her.”

“You—“

ac lisa a3“You and I have no quarrel.  But you better think fast if you hope to keep her out of jail and especially if you hope to send her to the police academy.”  Heinrich turned and walked off at a brisk pace and Lisa remained stiff, where she was until he was out of sight.  Then she said only one thing.

“Damn!”  He was right, and she knew it.

The Elect 13, part 3 of 4: The Children

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Libby Carter got out of the passenger side after a moment.  She let Lisa help her out, though she really did not need it.  Working with Latasha and killing zombies had reinvigorated her.  Then again, her arthritis was hurting in her knees and wrists, but what should she expect at eighty-eight.

“Lovely home.”

“Thank you, but you haven’t seen the inside yet.”ac libby 6

“No, but I can see your husband…Josh?”  Lisa nodded.  “I can see he takes good care of the outside.  I am sure inside will look just as lovely.”

Lisa knitted her brows.  “I don’t exactly have time for much cooking and cleaning.  Just remember, I have three children who have done who knows what while I have been at work.”

Libby tried to remember their names.  Lisa had to tell her.

“Bobby is thirteen, Adam is ten and Megan is seven.”

“The Ballerina.”  Libby remembered that much.

ac lisa home 4They stepped inside and Lisa breathed.  It did not look too bad, considering.  The couch even had all its little pillows in place.  “Have a seat.  I’ll just be a minute.”  Lisa stepped to the stairs.  “Kids!”  There was no response.  She smiled back at Libby and looked like she was about to go up and see what the problem was when they both heard a sound out back.  Lisa went to the sliding glass doors and Libby got up to look as well.  Sometimes moving felt better than sitting still.

All three children were running around the yard, laughing and playing something like tag.  Megan was giggling in the way she did, and Adam looked so serious.  “Adam is always so serious,” Lisa said.  Libby watched as Bobby slowed down so Megan could tag him.  Then he turned and played monster and she shrieked, ran and giggled some more.

“Lovely children,” Libby said.

There was a little snow in the corner of the yard left over from an early January dusting.  Adam began to pelt his siblings, and they turned toward him, but did not get far.  A dozen dogs came like a wild pack out of the yard next door.  They were not little dogs, but Dobermans, German Shepherds and several Pit Bulls.

“Mama!”  The children screamed as the dogs dragged them to the ground and began to tear them ac lisa house 2up.  Lisa could not get the sliding door open.  She tugged, and cried, but it would not budge.  Libby put her hand to the knob, not to help, but to hold Lisa’s hand instead.

“It’s not real,” Libby said, and the whole scene in the back yard vanished.  It was never there.  At the same time, letters as red as blood formed on the glass door.  They said, “Maybe next time.”  Then the letters faded and vanished as well.

“Mom?”  Bobby tumbled down the stairs followed by Adam and Megan.  “We didn’t hear you come in, but Adam saw your car in the driveway.”  Libby stood quietly by the back door and watched.  The kids could not understand why their mother was suddenly hugging them and crying.

###

Heinrich lifted his head.  He took a big whiff of air, then sighed, like a man suddenly disappointed.

“I didn’t think I was doing that badly,” Emily protested as she dropped the point of her sword.  It was Saturday morning and Heinrich said it was a good time to work out all the stress from the week.  Heinrich looked at her, but seemed focused on something else for a minute before he spoke.

ac heinrich 4“It isn’t you,” Heinrich said with a sad look on his face.  “I have an errand to run.”  He stepped over to open the cabinet and put his and Emily’s swords inside to be locked up for safe keeping.  “Besides, the library is open by now and I believe you have a history paper to finish.”

Emily groused, but turned to put on her coat and pick up her backpack.  She had clothes to change into in case they worked up a good sweat and she needed a shower, but that morning she felt they barely started before they finished.  She failed to notice Heinrich as he slipped several knives into his pockets.  He quickly put his trench coat over all.

Emily waited at the door for Heinrich to come out.  She thought how she picked Catherine the Great because Heinrich was in France during those days.  Amina picked some obscure Italian artist and philosopher, but she said Mindy helped her find some information in abstracts and reference works.  Heinrich locked up the Gymnasium and said good-bye when they parted.  He sounded serious, and Emily almost asked what the trouble was, but at the last, she thought the library was probably a good idea.

The Elect 13, part 2 of 4: Bewitched

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“Hi Emily.”  Jessica bounced up to the table with a boy in tow.  It was yet another one.  It seemed like she was going through the entire student body.  No doubt, enjoying the full college experience.  “This is Jacob.  This is my roommate.”

Emily managed to say, “Hi” before Jessica dragged the poor boy off somewhere else.  Emily downed her latte and watched.  Then she closed her book with the thought that her history class ac emily 1was not as much fun as she thought it would be.  Heinrich was a serious historian and he expected no less from his students.  She gathered her things.

She was due for her Thursday afternoon workout with the man.  He was teaching her the saber, which he said was still a fit weapon in some corners of the modern armed forces.  She thought she might have a few sharp questions for him as well, like why he picked on her in class.  Far from being the teacher’s pet, he seemed to expect her to do twice as well as any of the others.  It was not fair, she thought, as she happened to look up.

There was a rather plain looking young girl surrounded by a dozen young men and women who all looked like the pick of the litter.  They were doting on the girl’s every move and every word, like she was some sixties guru who knew the secret of life.  Abby was the name that came to Emily’s mind, and it did look a bit like some cult worship.  She shook her head and prepared to turn away, ac abby 3when Abby looked up and caught Emily’s eye.  Abby smiled and waved at her.  Emily returned some sort of smile and walked to the door.

Before she got outside, Emily felt a sudden intense urge to run back, throw herself at Abby’s feet and tell the girl how beautiful she was.  Emily only paused briefly before she stepped out for some fresh air.  The girl was not that good looking.  Maybe Emily loved her, but Abby was not that good looking.  Flabby was maybe a better name.  And anyway, she did not love her, she loved Pierce.

Emily staggered to the science building and found Pierce.  “Kiss me,” she said.  “I love you, I don’t love Abby, even if I do.  I would do anything for her, I mean you.  Pierce, you.”  She felt intoxicated, but fortunately, Pierce knew what to do.  He carried her most of the way and kept talking to her to keep her mind focused on him.

“Where have you been?”  Heinrich yelled as soon as they stepped into the gymnasium.

“Hello, Santa,” Emily said.  “Why are you such a mean teacher and such a nice man?  How can that be?”

“She’s bewitched,” Pierce spoke quickly.

“Here, set her down, here.”  Heinrich cleaned off a bench with a sweep of his sword.  Fencing gear ac maria 1and a stack of towels scattered across the gymnasium floor.  Pierce set her down gently, and Emily smiled up at them.

“Two nice men.  The one I love and,” she paused to think.  “The one I don’t know about.  Those are very complicated feelings.”  While she babbled, Heinrich concentrated and rubbed his hands hard together.  “Did I mention that Abby is wonderful?”  Heinrich touched her and Emily went unconscious.

By the time Lisa arrived with Latasha and Libby along as requested, Emily was beginning to come out of her stupor.

“Put these on,” Heinrich spoke to the women without any preliminaries.  He handed each an amulet that held a small blue stone on a golden chain.  “These were hard to fabricate on short notice, but they should afford you some protection as long as you don’t get too close to the witch.”

“Witch?”  Lisa asked.

Heinrich nodded.  “And a very powerful one who is not even fully grown.  She had Emily swooning, though Emily resisted.”

Pierce helped Emily sit up and Emily confirmed the words.  “I fought it, but the urge to become an Abby disciple was very strong.”

ac lisa 1“And these?”  Lisa asked.

“Like amplifiers for the natural resistance you have.  That is one of the things your goddesses forgot.”

“What, to make us witches too, like the council?”

“No.  I have no such power,” Heinrich said and pulled out his own blue amulet.  The women saw where he chipped away pieces of his own stone to make theirs.  “But my resistance to magic is generally stronger than yours and I have some ability to reverse some of the things a witch can do.”

“Thank God for that,” Emily said as she stood and began to feel more herself.  Abby no longer had any hold on her.

“We need to find this witch and put an end to whatever scheme she has in mind.”  Libby spoke in a calm and serious voice.

Heinrich shook his head.  “She probably does not yet know what she wants.”

“So maybe we can talk sense to her?”  Emily said, but it was really a question.ac Heinrich 2

“Witches don’t understand sense,” Heinrich took a deep breath before he explained.  “Magic is a skill, a talent like any other.  A surgeon will not save every patient.  A lawyer will not win every case.  So magic will sometimes be a bad thing even when the intentions are good.  But once a witch turns to the dark side, if I can use that term, they no longer respond to reason.  They only respond to power and getting what they want.  Great power over nature and people is worse than any drug ever invented.  The darkness can be hard to resist.”

“And right now she sees us as a competing power and a threat.  She may be hard to find.”  Lisa drew her own conclusion.

“I would not worry about finding her,” Heinrich countered her thinking.  “She will show herself as soon as she figures out what she wants.  She will also look for a way to neutralize your threat and then we will all be in the soup.”

“Hey.”  Emily noticed something.  “Pierce is wearing an amulet, too.”  It was just as blue as the others.  He smiled for Emily and showed her.

ac pierce 5“Right now, he is our only inside person in the biology department,” Heinrich said.

Lisa finally put her necklace on and nodded.  “There may still be a link there or a lead to the zombie lab,” she said.  “But Pierce, if you find anything suspicious, call.”

Pierce showed the knife in the inner pocket of his jacket.  “I’ve been practicing.”

“No!”  The women all shouted at him, Emily loudest of all.

“There is one other thing.”  Heinrich interrupted.  He was thinking on another track.  “The witch herself may be connected to the zombies.  I smelled the magic when we fought them.”

“Something to think about,” Lisa said.

“I don’t like witches,” Libby shivered.

Latasha smiled.  “Witches and zombies.  Just like home in New Orleans.”ac latasha 1

The Elect 13, Close Encounters: part 1 of 4

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The perpetrator recognized the car as a police car and took off running down the alley.  Lisa leapt out to chase him while Ashish turned on his lights and siren to follow around to the street at the other end.  By the time the perpetrator got to the far end of the alley, Lisa had gotten close.  He turned up the street and saw four rough looking young men sitting on a front stoop.

“Help me,” he said, and the young men stood to see what he was running from.  One, about ab man runtwenty-something, saw who it was and put his arms out to hold the others back.

“Can’t help you,” he responded, but one who was younger stepped on to the sidewalk to block Lisa’s way.  He bent down a little to completely block the sidewalk, and he pretended to look for something on the ground.

Lisa never paused.  She jumped, put one foot on the young man’s back which forced him to use his hands to keep his face from being shoved into the concrete.  She came down the other side without breaking her stride.  The perpetrator, who paused to watch the police lady get bruised by four on one, turned to run again, but it was too late.  Lisa had the young man turned and cuffed in a split second.  She put a hand on the young man’s shoulder, squeezed and spoke.

“We need to talk.”

ac lisa a4“Ouch, ouch, ouch,” was all the perpetrator could say as Ashish drove up.  Lisa stuffed the perpetrator in the back seat while she told him his rights.  She waved to the four on the steps and walked around to the passenger seat.

“Feel better?” Ashish asked as she got in.

“Regular, old police work,” Lisa said with a smile.  “I feel great.”

************************

The Elect, chapter thirteen, like all chapters in this serialized novel, will post over 4 days: M, T, W and Th.  Help yourself, and if you want to take a look at all the events in Emily’s first semester at New Jersey State University in Trenton, You are welcome to click on the blog archives and select November, 2015, which is when this all started.  No single post is very long, so it should not take too long to catch up.  Then again, this has been designed so if you read a whole chapter (4 posts) it should not be hard to get up to speed with what is happening.  Help yourself to some free reading.

Right now, Emily is starting into the second semester of her freshman year.  In the madness of first semester, the biology department got into a contest to create super soldiers, which included Frankenstein-type zombies built out of dead people.  Emily thinks all that is behind her now.  Ha,ha,ha,ha,…

Happy reading

a a happy reading 5

The Elect, Episode 12 part 4 of 4: Homework

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Latasha sat at the kitchen table dutifully doing her homework.  She never bothered with that much before, but for the first time ever she felt good about herself and her life.  She felt like she had a future, and that was an utterly new feeling.

“What are you doing?”  Leon asked.  He was the eldest and sometimes watched over them, though he had two children of his own, one by one of Latasha’s friends who was herself only sixteen years old.ac lat OB 1

“Homework,” Latasha said.

“Why?”  He was not asking what she was thinking.  He was asking why she bothered.  She had heard that bad attitude all her life.

“Detective Lisa says there is no reason I can’t go to community college and study law enforcement.  I am going to be a police woman.”  She was stating what she considered the facts, though she had to get the grades to get through high school first.  She felt the tension, spun and caught Leon’s wrist.  He had his hand open and he fully intended to whack her in the back of the head, hard.

He gave her his meanest stare, but she was not going to let him hit her again.  He finally yanked his hand free with a word.  “Stupid bitch.  The police are the main thing that keeps us down.  Why are you going to join the enemy?”

Latasha stood and made her little fists.  She did not need to hear this.  “They are not the enemy,” she yelled.  “The only thing that keeps you down is you.”

He had some choice words.  She returned as good as she got.  Even a year ago, he would have slapped her silly.  Now all he could do was growl at her and stomp out the back door.

ac lat mama 1Latasha could not sit down right away.  She was too steamed.  Her mother came down the stairs to finish puttering in the kitchen and put dishes away.

“He’s right, you know,” she said.

“He is not right.”  Latasha plopped on her chair.  “I want to do something positive and important with my life.  What’s wrong with that?  I mean, God didn’t put us here to sit around and do nothing, did he?”

“Baby.”  Mama sat beside her.  “I know the Lord has given you the most special gift I have ever seen, you and your…sisters?”  Mama was asking about the word and Latasha nodded.  Sisters was right, and in a way that went way beyond anything as petty as blood or skin color.  “Well, maybe if you can knock some sense into the heads of some of the men around here I am sure it will all be worth it.”  She patted Latasha’s hand and stood to clap her hands at the little ones who were spacing out in front of the television.  “You two, to bed.”

“No, not yet.”  That was expected, but they went upstairs with Mama.  They were tired from playing whack a zombie all day and hitting each other over the head with sticks.

James came down when they went up.  He was the youngest of Latasha’s older brothers at nineteen.  He finished high school last year and had some reasonably good grades.  Mama ac lat james 1cheered louder than anyone at his graduation.  He was her first who made it all the way.  He looked at Latasha.  He always encouraged her to do the work, and in that respect, he was like the black sheep of the family.  Latasha finally put down her pencil and looked up.

“I didn’t want to interrupt,” he said.

“Well, you did.”  The sarcasm just popped out like the old days, and she was immediately sorry.  She really looked at him and gave all her attention.

“I thought you might be interested.  I talked to Sergeant Whitaker today.”  Latasha raised her eyebrows.  She was getting to know some of the police but she did not recall a Sergeant Whitaker.  “Marine recruiter.  He says my grades may be good enough.  I’m thinking of joining the marines.”

Latasha dropped her pencil and rushed around the table to give him a big hug.  He said, “ouch,” and she lightened up.  Then he added, “Mama doesn’t know,” and Latasha pretended to zip her mouth closed.  Then she had to speak.

“I’m so proud of you.”

“Me, too.  Proud of you, I mean.”  He pointed to her open schoolbook.

“I’ll make you proud,” she said.  He just smiled for her and went out.

Latasha was just about finished with her work when Darren sat down in the chair opposite her.  She tried to concentrate, but at last threw her pencil to the paper and frowned.  “Every country ac lat darren 2heard from,” she said and looked up.  Darren had on his serious face, but it was also his manipulative face and Latasha was never quite sure which one she was seeing.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about what you did to those people,” he started right in.  “About you joining the police and all that.  I’ve decided that maybe I need to do something with my life, too.  I’m gonna get a job and work hard to make something of myself.”  Latasha waited for the but.  “The problem is I owe this money and well, I don’t know how to say this, I need your help.”

“I don’t have any money.”

“No, not like that.  I have the money.”  He patted his jacket pocket.  “I just want to pay it back so I can start with a clean slate.  You see?  The thing is I owe it to one of the real bad guys and I am late in paying him back.  I’m afraid.”

Latasha lifted her head and shook it a little.  “No.  That is not what I am supposed to do.”

“But you could go with me.”

Latasha waved her hand at him.  “Regular people problems have to be solved by regular people.  I’m not supposed to interfere with things that way.”

“But we are family.”  Darren paused and laughed as if the thought just occurred to him.  “No, I wasn’t saying you should come and beat them up or something.”  He laughed again.  “No, I was just thinking if my little sister was along, I would have a witness and they might not beat me up.”

Latasha was not sure.  “What about Leon?”ac latasha 7

“No way,” Darren was firm.  “If I brought Leon and James that would be like starting a world war.  But you, they are not going to beat up my little sister and a girl besides or make you watch while they beat me up so you can identify them later.  I don’t think so.  Really, listen.  All I want to do is pay them back and then make a new start with my life.  Really.”

He sounded sincere, but Darren was good at that.

“Saturday morning if nothing else is going on.  Just think about it.  Now I’ll go away so you can finish your homework.”  He did, and she would have to think about it.

###

Lisa and Ashish pulled up the alley as quietly as they could and turned off the engine well before they arrived.  “Still no word from Heinrich?”  Ashish had to ask.

“No.”  Lisa was still adjusting to the idea that she had a member of the mysterious council in town looking over her shoulder.  Maybe he was not exactly breathing down her neck.  In fact, he could be a great help to them.  But it felt like he was watching her every move.  “And no word from Emily ac lisa 4either.”

“Latasha?”

Lisa shook her head.  “She just needs to get her homework done and pass her tests.  Libby is working with her some and that is for the best.  They are too young and too old to be more deeply involved.”

Ashish nodded.  He was not going to argue, though it honestly looked like it might be impossible to keep them from being involved.  “Millsaps.”  Ashish spoke into the radio.

“Ready.”  The answer was brief and Ashish looked at Lisa.  She did not move immediately, like she had something on her mind, but she moved at last and it was quick and forceful steps.

Guns were drawn, and when they were in position, Ashish said “Now” into the radio while Lisa kicked in the warehouse door.  Police officers came in from the back door and the side windows were covered as well, but the place was empty.  There was an old forklift, some stacks of wooden pallets and a broken toilet cover on a pile of rubbish in the corner, but no sign of zombies or even that it had ever been used for such.  Lisa sniffed the air but said nothing.

Ashish holstered his gun with the words, “No surprise.”  It was the address where those rare and ac ashish 2controlled substances had been delivered, but they honestly did not expect it to be the operation center.

The police did a thorough job of it and even checked the dust pile beneath an abandoned push broom, but there was nothing.  Ashish thought to speak again.  “There are too many abandoned buildings in this city, and the lab isn’t necessarily in this city.”  Lisa was still sniffing and Ashish finally had to ask, “What?”

“Smells like magic,” she said.