The Land of the Dead: Book Four of the Oz Chronicles (6 page)

“Whatever,” he said. “I can tell you one thing, I’m not walking through this place by myself. You all are going with me.”

“We’ll go in threes,” I said.

“Fine, I get the gorillas,” Gordy said.

“You go with Ariabod and April,” I said. “Ajax will go with Tyrone and Wes. Kimball is with me and Lou.”

Gordy scowled at April. “Do me a favor and don’t yap the whole time.”

“Fine,” she said. “As long as you aren’t a stupid jerk-face the whole time.”

“Oh, my God. I so hope you piss the gorilla off and he snaps you in half,” Gordy groaned.

“Okay,” I said. “April’s with me. Lou, you go with Gordy.”

She looked surprised, but didn’t argue. She nodded and stood next to Gordy. April stuck her tongue out at him before moving next to me.

“Everyone happy now?” I asked.

“What about us?” Tall Boy asked.

“Oh,” I said. I had almost forgotten about them. In fact, I realized that from the moment we first met it was very easy to forget that the Throwaways were there. “You guys should watch the front the door.”

He scanned his group. None of them said a word, but they seemed to be having a conversation. He turned to me. “We feel that three is sufficient to watch the door. The rest of us would like to explore please.”

I nodded. “Okay, fine. You pick who goes where.”

“Me?”

“You’re the leader, aren’t you?”

He thought about the question. “Throwaways do not have leaders.”

“Well, you do in this story. I dub you the leader of the Throwaways.”

He smiled. “I will go with the fat man’s group.”

Wes rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Name’s Wes.”

The mimic huddled closer to April. “And I’m guessing she… I guess she’s a she… she’s going with us.”

April tried to subtly put distance between her and the mimic, but it was pointless. The mimic matched her step for step. “Ewww,” she finally said. “It’s called personal space. Try it.”

Gordy spoke up quickly, “Half-eye will go with us.” He wanted to make sure he wasn’t put in a group with No-face.

Lou shook her head. “We really have to give you guys names.”

“Okay,” Wes said. “We’ve grouped ourselves up. Who goes where?”

“How many floors are in this place anyway?” Gordy asked.

“Five, counting the basement,” Lou said.

“Crap, there’s a basement?” Wes said. “Never good in a place like this.”

I nodded and sighed deeply. “We’ll take the basement. Wes, you guys take the third and fourth floor. Lou…”

“Main floor and second,” she said.

I nodded and smiled.

***

The basement was a maze of rooms and hallways. Kimball led our small group, and I brought up the rear. The mimic grabbed onto April’s arm the second we started to descend the staircase. April was so scared she didn’t care. In fact, she seemed to welcome it.

We passed down a long stone hallway and rounded a corner that took us to a room labeled with a brass name plate that read “Halloween Room.” We paused. I closed my eyes and shook off the chill that was inching up my spine. “Go,” I said to Kimball.

He did without looking back, traveling beyond the beam of the flashlight. April, Mimic, and I stood in the doorway. What we were waiting for, I don’t know, but Kimball stepped back into the light and barked. I walked into the room, turned back to April and said, “Nothing to be afraid of.”

“You’re such a liar,” she said. She grabbed Mimic’s hand and took one cautious step inside.

I scanned the flashlight around the room. It was empty, and the walls were covered with a weird mural: a woman in a black veil, a fat friar or knight or something. It didn’t help make the room fell less spooky.

We quickly made it to the other side of the room and entered a long narrow room. It took us a second to realize it was a two-lane bowling alley.

“Cool,” April said.

“Yeah…” I was about to agree when I spotted something at the very edge of the light beam. I opened and closed my eyes to try to adjust them. It was a little girl in a black and white dress. She stood motionless. She was so still I thought I might be looking at another mural. I took a step. She didn’t move. I turned to see if April saw her. The petrified look on her face told me she did. Of course, Mimic donned the same expression.

I continued walking toward the little girl. “Hello.”

She darted back into the darkness.

“Let’s go,” April said. “Please.”

I turned to argue, but had to suppress a gasp when I saw what was standing behind her. A snarling old man dressed in gray painters overalls stared at April with a… hunger in his eyes. I had no doubt he literally wanted to eat her.

“Step this way,” I said restraining the panic that was building up inside of me. I tried desperately not to look shocked or horrified.

“Let’s just go back,” she said. Clearly, she had no idea what was behind her.

The old man took one lumbering step toward her.

“April,” I said slightly louder. “Come here, now.”

“No,” she said.

The old man took another step.

Kimball growled and barked in his direction.

“Oh, that’s nice,” April said smugly. “You going to sic your dog on me?”

“He’s not barking at you,” I said.

She stiffened and finally caught on that I was staring over her shoulder. “What… what’s behind me?” She swallowed. I could tell her mouth had gone dry.

“Never mind,” I said. “Just walk this way, quickly!”

She took one step toward me when the old man reached out and grabbed her shoulder. She screamed bloody murder. Before I could move, Mimic hissed and shoved the old man, causing him to lose his grip on April. April barreled toward me wailing like a crazy person.

I moved my flashlight to illuminate her path. She nearly knocked me to the ground as she wrapped her arms around me, crying madly. I regained my balance and shined the light back to where Mimic and the old man were… They were gone.

“Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!” April pleaded.

“Where’d they go?”

She mustered up the courage to look in the direction I was pointing the flashlight. “She didn’t follow me?”

Kimball started barking at something behind us. I turned to see the little girl standing in a doorway at the opposite side of the room. She smiled and motioned for us to follow her. I hesitated. We couldn’t leave Mimic.

A low miserable moaning came from the Halloween room. The old man emerged from the room. Seething, he stomped toward us.

“Go, go, go,” April said rapidly pounding my shoulder with the palm of her hand.

I thought about sending her on without me, but the old man scared the hell out of me. I couldn’t explain it, but I was more terrified of him at that moment than I had been of anything we’d faced up to that point. He wasn’t just menacing. It was as if he was hell itself. I didn’t want to abandon Mimic, but there was no way I was going to confront the old man. I grabbed April’s hand, and we ran toward the little girl. She had disappeared from the doorway, but that didn’t matter. She was showing us the way out. I was sure we would see her again.

We bolted through the door with Kimball sprinting in front of us. We had entered a large room that was made up of a series of small dressing rooms. The old man was on our heels. I could hear him heaving and snorting. When I looked to see exactly where he was, I just saw a glimpse of shadows moving across dark corners.

We exited the dressing room area and stood in a smaller room. I quickly darted the flashlight beam from wall to wall. There was a small set of stairs leading up to another room. I pushed April in that direction and whistled for Kimball to follow. We dashed through the door. It was a room with an iron fence overlooking a hole.

“What is this place?” April asked breathing heavily.

“I don’t know.” Our voices echoed in the cavernous room. “Looks like an empty swimming pool.”

A groan came from behind us.

“To the right,” I said.

We nearly stumbled over each other as we erupted toward another door. Another short staircase took us up to a small hallway into a small gymnasium. Just as we were about to enter the room, the little girl appeared at the end of the hallway. She motioned for us to follow her. I grabbed April’s arm and pulled her in that direction. “C’mon…”

An echoing scream crept toward us from the swimming pool below. April and I gasped in unison.

“Mimic,” I said.

“Oh my God,” April said placing her trembling hand over her mouth. “What are we going to do?” I could hear her struggling not to cry.

Mimic screamed again.

I pounded the wall with my fist. I wanted to block out her screams. She was just a Throwaway, after all. No one would blame us if we just left her. Not even the other Throwaways.

She screamed again. This time it sounded like she asked for help.

“You go. Take Kimball. Follow the girl.” I said.

“No,” April screeched. “I can’t go alone.”

“You won’t be alone. Kimball will look out for you. He got me this far.”

She grabbed my arm. “You can’t go back there.”

Mimic screamed.

“I can’t leave her.” I pried her fingers from my arm and tried to give her a reassuring smile, but there was no way I could pull it off. “Go.”

She backed away slowly at first. The tears were flowing now. Kimball barked, and she took that as him telling her to hurry. She turned and did just that.

I watched her until she disappeared through the door. I was never sorrier to see someone leave. I pressed myself flat against the wall and took in a deep breath. After a count of three, I peeled myself from the wall and slowly went back the way I came. I don’t know why, but I counted each step. On step twenty-three, I was back in the pool room. The air was different, cold and sickeningly sweet.

With a shaky hand, I held the flashlight in front of me. I didn’t want to see too much, so I kept it facing straight ahead, just enough to illuminate my path. I heard Mimic whimpering. I dashed down the path. I slowly turned to the right and saw what appeared to be a cross between a ladder and stairs leading down to the bottom of the empty pool. Before I took another step, I saw Mimic sitting on the surface of the neatly tiled pool floor. She looked different. I couldn’t put my finger on it… yes I could. She was clearly a she. There was no mistaking it. In fact, she looked… like April. I shook my head. I was seeing things. The flashlight was getting weaker, and I was seeing things.

I slowly descended the ladder and stepped onto the pool floor. The soles of my shoes galumphed on the sloping surface.

“Mim…” I was about to call her Mimic even though that wasn’t her name. “Are you okay?”

She turned to me and I saw her face for the first time. It was April. From the hair, to the clothes, to the way she looked at me, it was April. “How did you… I thought I told you to go with Kimball.”

She just shook her head and whispered. “He’s behind you.”

I tensed up. My bones ached. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I felt movement just over my left shoulder. I swallowed and slowly turned toward it. He was there.

He was a small, thin man. His face was etched with sharp lines and covered in white and gray stubble. I was frozen in fear. His eyes were not vacant and dead, but sharp and cruel. He snarled and said, “Do you know Jeremiah?”

April or Mimic or whoever the girl was sitting in the empty pool grabbed my leg and pulled her body in next to me as close as she could. “Go away! Go away! Go away!” She pleaded.

The old man narrowed his gaze. “Jeremiah is my favorite!” Spittle flew from his mouth.

I reached down and forced Mimic-April to her feet. “We have to get out of here.”

The old man moved closer. “Do you know Jeremiah?”

“No,” I barked. I wasn’t angry. I was scared out of my mind. I could feel goose bumps forming on my arm. “I don’t know who Jeremiah is.”

“Grace knows Jeremiah,” the old man responded.

“I don’t know Grace or Jeremiah.” I said.

“Nineteen nine,” the old man said. “Jeremiah is my favorite.”

“I…”

The old man looked past me. “You can’t be here! This is mine!”

I was about to volunteer to leave when I realized he wasn’t talking to me. I turned to see who he was talking to.

I was filled with relief and anxiety when I saw the dead that used to watch me sleep in the… facility. They were my connection to the Land of the Dead, and more importantly, they were distracting the old man. He stomped past us and headed for them in a huff. The dead backed away. The willowy boy in front looked as frightened as I felt.

I pulled Mimic-April to the ladder and quietly encouraged her to climb. She hesitated. I gritted my teeth and, slightly more animated, encouraged her to climb again. She finally did. I took one last look at the group of dead and the old man before I followed. The dead were slipping into the darkest end of the pool one at a time. The willowy boy gave me one last pleading look before being the last of them to disappear.