The Reckoning

Two

I WHEELED AS THE door swung closed behind me. I caught the edge, but something hit it, hard, and it slammed home. I grabbed the handle as the dead bolt clanked shut. I twisted the knob, sure I was mistaken.

“Leaving so soon?” he said. “How rude.”

I stared down at the handle. Only one very rare type of ghost could move stuff in the living world.

“An Agito half-demon,” I whispered.

“Agito?” He twisted the word with contempt. “I’m top-of-the-line, baby. I’m a Volo.”

Which meant nothing to me. I could only guess it was a more powerful type. In life, a telekinetic half-demon could move objects mentally. In death, they could move them physically. A poltergeist.

I took a careful step back. Wood creaked underfoot, reminding me of where I was. I stopped short and looked around. I was on a kind of walkway that circled the third floor-the attic, I presumed.

To my right was a nearly flat section littered with rusty bottle caps and beer cans, like someone had used it as a makeshift patio. That calmed me down. I wasn’t stranded on a roof, just a balcony. Annoying, but safe enough.

I rapped on the door, lightly, not really wanting to wake anyone, but hoping Derek might notice.

“No one’s going to hear you,” the ghost said. “We’re all alone. Just the way I like it.”

I lifted my hand to bang on the door, then stopped. Dad always said the best way to deal with a bully was not to let him know you were frightened. At the thought of my father, my throat tightened. Was he still looking for me? Of course, he was, and there was nothing I could do.

Dad’s advice for bullies had worked with the kids who mocked my stutter-they gave up when they couldn’t get a reaction from me. So I took a deep breath and went on the offensive.

“You said you know about the Edison Group and their experiments,” I said. “Were you a subject?”

“Boring. Let’s talk about you. Got a boyfriend? I bet you do. Cute girl like you, hanging out with two guys. You’ve gotta have hooked up with one of them by now. So which one?” He laughed. “Dumb question. The cute girl would get the cute guy. The chink.”

He meant Simon, who was half Korean. He was baiting me, seeing if I’d leap to Simon’s defense and prove he was my boyfriend. He wasn’t. Well, not yet, though we seemed to be heading that way.

“If you want me to stay and talk, I need some answers first,” I said.

He laughed. “Yeah? Doesn’t look to me like you’re going anywhere.”

I grabbed the doorknob again. A bottle cap pinged off my cheek just below my eye. I glowered in his direction.

“That was only a warning shot, little necro.” A nasty tone edged his voice. “Around here, we play my game by my rules. Now, tell me about your boyfriend.”

“I don’t have one. If you know anything about the Genesis experiment, then you know we aren’t here for a vacation. Being on the run doesn’t leave much time for romance.”

“Don’t get snarky with me.”

I banged on the door. The next bottle cap hit my eye, stinging.

“You’re in danger, little girl. Don’t you care?” His voice lowered to my ear. “Right now, I’m your best friend, so you’d better treat me good. You’ve just been led into a trap and I’m the only one who can get you out.”

“Led? By who? The guy who brought us here-” I thought up a fake name fast. “Charles?”

“No, some total stranger, and Charles just happened to bring you here. What a coincidence.”

“But he said he doesn’t work for the Edison Group anymore. He used to be their doctor-”

“He still is.”

“H-he’s Dr. Fellows? The one they were talking about at the lab?”

“None other.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’d never forget that face.”

“Huh, well, that’s weird. First, his name isn’t Charles. Second, he’s not a doctor. Third, I know Dr. Fellows. She’s my aunt, and that guy downstairs looks nothing like her.”

The blow hit me from behind, striking hard against the back of my knees. My legs buckled and I fell on all fours.

“Don’t toy with me, little necro.”

When I tried to rise, he hit me with an old plank swung like a baseball bat. I tried to twist out of the way, but he got my shoulder and knocked me into the railing. A crack, and the railing gave way. I toppled, and for a second, all I could see was the concrete patio two stories down.

I caught another section of railing. It held and I was steadying myself when the plank swung straight for my hand. I let go and scrambled onto the walkway as the board hit the railing so hard that the top rail snapped and the plank snapped, too, splinters of rotting wood flying.

I ran toward the flat section of roof. He whipped the broken board at me. I stumbled back, bumping into the railing again.

I caught my balance and looked around. No sign of him. No sign of anything moving. But I knew he was there, watching to see what I’d do next.

I ran for the door, then feinted toward the flat part of the roof. A crash. Shards of glass exploded in front of me and the ghost appeared, lifting a broken bottle. I backpedaled.

Sure, that’s a great idea. Just keep backing into the railing, see how long it’ll hold.

I stopped. There was nowhere to run. I considered screaming. I’ve always hated that in movies-heroines who scream for help when cornered-but right now, caught between a broken-bottle-wielding poltergeist and a two-story fall, I could survive the humiliation of being rescued. Problem was, no one would get here in time.

So…what are you going to do? The superpowerful necromancer against the bullying poltergeist?

That was right. I did have a defense, at least against ghosts.

I touched my amulet. It’d been given to me by my mother. She’d said it would ward off the bogeymen I’d seen when I was little-ghosts, as I knew now. It didn’t seem to work that well, but clutching it helped me concentrate, focus on what I was.

I pictured giving the ghost a shove.

“Don’t you dare, little girl. You’ll only piss me off and-”

I squeezed my eyes shut and gave him a huge mental push.

Silence.

I waited, listening, sure that when I opened my eyes, he’d be right there. After a moment, I peeked and saw only the gray sky. Still, I gripped the railing tight, ready for a broken bottle to fly at my head.

“Chloe!”

My knees shook at the shout. Footsteps thudded across the roof. Ghosts don’t make footsteps.

“Don’t move.”

I looked over my shoulder to see Derek.