Necromancer Legacy - 12. Fifty people

Shane was seriously starting to get on his nerves.

On Sunday morning, Nick was just minding his own business, making some tea. He kept yawning; he hadn’t been able to catch up on his sleep properly. The night had been rough. He just kept making weird dreams he couldn’t even remember, then going back to sleep, then waking up again and checking his phone only to see stupid annoying numbers like 3:36, 4:05, 4:41 AM. Followed by an episode of sleep paralysis, during which his demon father, whom Nick’s subconscious pictured as some kind of freaky alien with big ant eyes—he blamed his overly creative brain—came to threaten him and torment him.

Charming stuff.

In the kitchen, Shane was pouring himself a bowl of cereal.

“Why are you up so early?” Nick asked.

Nick had to get to work soon; he didn’t know what Shane’s excuse was.

“I need to study.”

“So you’re playing online with your friends later and you’re trying to fit in some studying before they get up?”

“Exactly. Hey, that’s dangerous. Let me do it for you.”

Shane pushed him out of the way and grabbed the kettle. As Shane poured it, the hot water submerged the green tea bag and filled the mug to the brim. Shane smiled proudly.

“Do you want to carry it for me, too, while you’re at it?”

Nick was kidding, obviously, but Shane did it anyway.

They had a tiny round white table with two matching chairs in their kitchen but they never ate there. They either ate in the living room in front of Shane’s laptop, or in their respective bedrooms. So Nick raised an eyebrow when Shane put down both the cup of tea and his bowl of cereal on the table.

“I need to talk to you,” Shane explained, and motioned for him to sit.

So Nick pulled himself a chair. “Sounds serious. Oh my God; you’re pregnant. Okay, okay, I’ll be the godfather.”

“Ha, ha.” But Shane wasn’t laughing much. He looked down at his cereal. Didn’t seem like he had much appetite. “So lately I’ve been feeling very… I’ve been having… feelings… about you… I mean, I’ve been thinking about you, a lot, and—”

Oh God. “Shane, stop.”

“No, you don’t understand. I’m very serious. I know you’re into this Sasha guy, and everything, but I had to tell you.” Shane started talking really quickly. “I just—I know it’s weird, and completely out of nowhere, but I can’t stop thinking about you, and I know how you always say we’re like brothers—”

“You say that.”

“But we’re not actually blood related. So if you could just give me a chance. I know you better than anyone. And I’ve always been very supportive. I helped my parents come to terms with you being gay, remember? So I think—”

Nick cut him. “Your parents never had a problem with me being gay.”

Shane ignored that. “I think you should really give me a chance, because—”

“Seriously. They had more of an issue with you being into My Little Pony. I had to explain to them that it was okay for their son to be a brony.”

“Nick please stop interrupting me. I’m trying to tell you something important. I think I’m really falling in—”

“Shut up! Stop. You’re not falling in love with me, damn it. I’m going to tell you the truth.”

Nick had no choice.

And besides, Shane had a right to know.

Right.

This wasn’t the easiest thing to explain, though. Now he understood Sasha better for just tossing his mother’s journal at him that time. Now he wished he had Sasha’s mom’s journal. He bet Shane would read the whole thing, too, if Nick asked him to.

Whatever.

Nick took a sip of tea. Ouch. Still too hot.

“I told you that was dangerous,” Shane said.

“Shut up.”

Nick sighed and dropped his arms across the table, trying to think. Shane took his hands.

“Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

“Ew, Shane, stop.” Nick yanked his hands back. “Okay, listen. Thing is, there’s something supernatural going on here. The feelings you have, they’re not real feelings. They’re an after effect. Of something I did. I had no choice.”

“I’m not really following.”

“Of course you’re not.” Nick needed to go for a more direct approach here. “Here’s the thing. I have demonic powers. And I’m friends—acquaintances, really—with this idiot reaper who thought it would be a good idea to kill you so I could bring you back to life by using my powers. Now you’re obsessed with me as a result, but he said it would fade.” Nick looked up. “Any questions?”

Shane looked puzzled. You couldn’t really blame him.

“Are you a vampire?”

Ugh.

“No. I’m a necromancer.”

Shane stared. Blinked. “A necromancer?”

“Apparently.”

“You can bring people back from the dead?”

“Apparently.”

“Have you done it to other people?”

Shane was starting to get excited. Nick sighed; he decided he liked puzzled-Shane better.

“No. You’re the only one.”

“Don’t you want to bring more people back? Your parents? I don’t know… How about Sasha’s parents?”

“I haven’t really thought about it. I don’t think that’s how it works. It’s been too long, so there’s the issue of explaining to everyone else how they’re alive…”

“Oh, yeah… So you have a reaper friend?”

“Yeah.”

“Does he look like the one from Death Note?”

“Debatable. You’ve met him. Friday night. It’s Cyan.”

“The British shemale?”

Ha!

“He’s also the one who killed you so feel free to hate him.”

“I don’t remember that.” Shane still wasn’t eating. His cereals were turning into mush.

“Well I do,” Nick said. He tried another sip of tea. It was just how he liked it now; mildly scorching.

“But how?” Shane blurted out.

“What?”

“How is he a reaper? How are you a necromancer? I don’t—”

“Hey don’t ask me that. I don’t get any of it either. All I know is my biological father got possessed by a demon so it would seem I inherited some of his powers. Lucky me.”

Shane’s eyes were really big, but he seemed to be taking this rather well, considering.

“How come you only know about this now? Or did you know before? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Relax. I didn’t know. Gabriel and Sasha were keeping the whole thing secret. They wanted me to have a normal life. Until it got too difficult to… hold on to those powers for me. So they had no choice but to let me have them. So far I’m doing okay, I guess. I don’t think I’ve turned into a demon.”

“Shit.” Shane leaned back in his seat.

“Yeah. How do you even believe me? It all sounds so insane, even to me.”

He frowned. “You’re right. It does. But I don’t know. I just believe you.”

“Oh, okay. That’s convenient, I guess.”

“Maybe it’s due to this whole bond between necromancer and…” Shane waved his hand back and forth between them. “What am I, anyway?”

“I’d rather not use a word for—”

“Minion? Servant? Underling? Slave? Should I call you Master?”

He didn’t even look like he was joking.

“No, Shane. What the hell? Do you want me to get you a leash while I’m at it?”

Shane shrugged. Like he wasn’t completely against the idea.

“You’re my friend, okay. Just my friend. Nothing’s changed.”

“Okay.”

“This is weird. I’m going to work.” He would just grab a bagel later or something.

“Wait!” Shane followed him to the bathroom.

Nick slammed the door shut, but Shane didn’t let that stop him. He just yelled through the door.

“What happens now? Are you bringing more people back?”

“No.”

Nick leaned against the sink counter, looking up into the mirror. He had dark circles under his eyes.

“You should! You could bring Michael Jackson back. And Elvis! What about Heath Ledger, that was so sad.”

“If you don’t shut the hell up right now,” Nick shouted, “I’m asking Cyan to kill you again. And just so you know, since you’ve conveniently forgotten, there’s a masked man with a chainsaw waiting for you on the other side.”

***

Roxy was done for the day. And Julian had left a bit early. Nick had to wait about an hour, in case some more people came by for piercings, and then he could close the shop.

It was so boring without those two. Plus Julian had taken his laptop with him so there was no music. Nick sat at the chair and looked around the place. It was clean enough. The tattoo design books were neatly stacked on the coffee table in the waiting area. The curtain was drawn on the separate space they always kept very clean and tidy for piercings. Nick had already helped Roxy clean her tattoo stall earlier.

His eyes hurt.

All those tattoo designs on the walls seemed to be glaring at him from all directions. Nick folded his arms on the desk and closed his eyes, resting his head just for a few moments.

Eventually he was poked awake by someone.

“Hey, are you okay? The door was open, you know.” A masculine voice said.

Nick had been in the middle of some freaky dream again, so when the guy poked him repeatedly and woke him up, he was still somewhat scared from the dream—in which he had been running away from something, but that was all he could remember—so he fell off his chair like an idiot.

God damn it.

He scrambled up to his feet and cleared his throat, replacing his shirt.

Man, he was such a mess today. Honestly.

“Can I help you?”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Perfectly fine, thank you.”

The guy didn’t look too sure, but he didn’t push it. He was an athletic looking guy with very short brown hair and really dark, almost black eyes.

“I just wanted some information.”

“Okay, no problem.”

He asked some useless and stupid questions, like if their tattoos were really permanent, and if they guaranteed that it would heal properly or his money back, and if he could swim right after getting it.

“No, you can’t.”

“All right, well, I don’t think I’ll get one. But thanks.”

“Sure.”

He stared at Nick with his creepy black eyes, and then left. Weird. Nick yawned and stretched his arms. What a waste of his time. Still, that could’ve been dangerous. Someone could’ve just walked in and stolen a bunch of stuff.

Nick carefully checked all the jewelry in the glass displays before closing the store. Nothing seemed out of place.

And off he was. On to the next job. He was teaching Zelda this evening.

***

Zelda was getting better. But the problem with a one on one class like this was that they had to take turns if she was ever going to learn to be a good belayer. That was part of the sport.

Now it was Nick’s turn to climb again, but he was getting really bored with those beginner walls.

“You know what? Do you mind if I do one of the more difficult ones?”

Zelda beamed. “Of course I don’t mind! If you trust me.”

“Sure, you can do it.”

So they moved to the higher walls. The ones with a bunch of overhangs and ledges, and barely any holds at the top. It was tricky, but he had done it before. Besides, if he slipped, it would be good practice for Zelda. She knew how to do it; she would be just fine.

They made sure the gear was all set, and Zelda gave him lots of slack at first because he was climbing rather quickly. The silence was annoying. Not enough music in his life today. And Zelda wasn’t very strong on conversation. She mostly just stared at him and smiled at him.

“Is it okay if I keep going?” he asked, looking down at her. “You’re not too bored?”

“No, no, it’s fine!” she smiled. “Keep going! I want to see you reach the top!”

“I’ll try,” he smiled back.

She was all right, he supposed. And she was a good belayer, actually. She had picked it up rather quickly, giving the rope either slack or tension when needed. Maybe he was actually good at teaching this.

At some point she kept the rope locked as she saw that he struggled to find a hold. There were almost just really small crimps left this high up.

But he managed. He was almost at the top, way up in the last quarter of the wall. He was okay to keep going now, but she wasn’t giving him any slack, even though he had already asked for it.

“Zelda, what are you—?”

He winced when he heard her scream—a horrible, high-pitched, blood-curdling scream—followed by a gun shot.

Panicked, Nick looked down to see what was going on. He almost lost his hold on the wall, but it was a good thing he didn’t, because no one was holding that rope now.

Zelda had been shot in the chest, and now she lay on the floor with blood all over the place. The young man who was holding the gun—clad in a stern black suit—was awfully familiar.

Liv’s brother. The tall one with the brown hair. Chris. What was he doing here? How had he found him? Was he being stalked now?

The cleaning staff was supposed to be at the gym tonight. Where the hell were they? Had Chris shot them, too? Maybe they were already done, and had forgotten to lock up.

Shit… Zelda. Nick really wanted to be angry, but right now he was just freaked out, and frozen in shock. He had a gun pointed at him for the second time in a week, and the feeling wasn’t great.

He couldn’t move. Chris, all happy with himself, had taken the rope out of Zelda’s now useless equipment and he was holding it. He kept the gun aimed at him the whole time and warned him not to move. Nick was about thirty five feet up in the air. He had no idea if Chris was a good enough shooter to get him, but he wasn’t particularly eager to find out.

Nick’s muscles were really aching and trembling, though. Despite the chalk dust on his hands, they were about to slip. He wanted to start climbing down—he had no choice. But Chris threatened him again. His voice resonated through the empty gym.

“Don’t move. I don’t want you to climb down, got it? Liv said not to kill you, but she didn’t say a thing about shooting your leg.”

“I can’t hold on any more,” Nick said.

“Then let go,” Chris taunted, “I want to see you dangle in the air.”

Oh, great. This was kind of humiliating. Nick held onto the wall for as long as he could. But soon enough his hands slipped.

Chris got what he wanted. That seemed to make him really happy. He was laughing, anyway, holding the ropes with one hand to keep Nick up there, and aiming his gun with the other.

“Nice,” he said, “moving target.” Then he tugged at the rope to mock him. “So if I drop this, you’re pretty much dead, then?”

Nick was working on that. If he could just get a little closer to the wall, he could grab those crimps again, untie the rope, and climb down without it. That was dangerous, but still better than this… Chris might kill him anyway. Might as well die with dignity.

His attention was brought elsewhere, though, as a familiar dark smoke curled in circles around Zelda. The next instant, Liv stood there in a red and black leopard dress with her brown curls all wild and free, like a halo around her head.

She bent over Zelda and Nick couldn’t really see what she was up to, but he had a pretty good idea.

“Afraid of the dark,” Liv said flatly, “can you believe it? So dull. I wish people’s worst fears were more creative.”

Then Zelda woke up.

“It’s all right, sweetheart.” Liv caressed Zelda’s hair and helped her to sit up. “You’re okay now. You’re with me.”

Oh, no… No, no, no…

Nick must have said one of those out loud without realizing it, because Liv looked up at him. She laughed, much like her brother had done earlier.

“Oh, Nick, look at you up there, all helpless.”

Yeah why don’t you rub it in some more.

“Well done, Chris. Just tie it somewhere. We’re leaving. Let someone find him like this. Lucas doesn’t want to kill you, Nick. No offense,” she smiled, “but he finds you cute. You know, like a puppy. You’re not exactly a threat. We have fifty people, oh, make that fifty one now. And you have one person, am I correct? It’s much more fun to just play with you, for now.”

Fifty people sucking up to her? No wonder her ego was bigger than even her wild head of hair could contain.

Chris tied the climbing rope to a hook at the bottom of the wall. His knot didn’t look very solid, actually, even from up here Nick could tell. He wasn’t sure that would hold very long.

They walked away. Only Zelda looked back.

“But will he be okay?”

“Hush, sweetie. Forget all about him, all right? That’s my first order. Let’s go get you cleaned up.”

And they were gone.

Nick felt a wave of hatred for Liv. It coiled inside him and burned. But at least Zelda was alive.

Okay, now to get out of this predicament. They were morons if they thought he was just going to stay like this all night and wait for someone to rescue him. Did they think he was a beginner at this, or afraid of heights, or what?

Idiots.

Adrenaline rushed through his veins.

The anger and indignation were giving him strength. He felt like there might be something else involved, too. Some kind of power deep within him, restless and limitless. So he managed to give himself momentum, and his fingers closed in on some holds on the wall. He untied himself to the climbing rope with one skilled hand and threw it away. Then he started climbing down.

He wasn’t even afraid. He just felt upset and angry at himself for not being able to see this coming. Whenever he glimpsed at the blood on the floor he felt his heart tighten with guilt. Why would Liv do this?

Fifty people.

What was she after? Didn’t she have enough indoctrinated people already? Why did she have to put Zelda through this? Zelda was just some teenage girl—with maybe a little bit of a crush on Nick—who had absolutely nothing to do with this.

He barely gave it any thought, but he realized later that he had probably never climbed down this quickly and this skillfully before. In spite of it all, he still felt the thrill of doing it without any protection. It was reckless, and stupid, perhaps, but he was so focused on thinking about everything else that he didn’t pay much attention. When he was close enough to the floor, he jumped, and landed in a semi crouch, his hands clenching into fists.

All this blood… Liv would pay for this. He didn’t know how yet. But she would pay. She couldn’t get away with toying with people like this. It just wasn’t right.

The silence weighed on him. Nick sighed, and after putting the equipment away he went to get the mop.

He needed to clean this mess up.