Crossed Out (18 page)

“Stephanie, it doesn’t work that way.” Dr. Anthony sighed. “Trust me, we’re not super-humans here. We didn’t know if Mark was involved but with what you’ve been telling me it only makes sense.”

“Telling you? I don’t get it. Enlighten me.”

“Stephanie, the undead have only one purpose in this life. Think of them as parasites. They only have a short amount of time to stay alive. They need a host to feed off.”

“
Eww.
You sure you haven’t been watching too many sci-fi movies? Are you saying he’s feeding off—” I gulped when the gross realization hit “me?”

“Yes.”

Yuck. Double yuck.
No longer did the memory of his kiss seem, well, so great. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. I resisted the urge to hurl. This was just too gross.

“What do I need to do?”

Dr. Anthony went back to the computer screen. “They usually stay close to the place where they died, in his case, this coffee house.”

“How do I drive him back?”
Duh.
I thumped my head. “A cross, right?”

“Yes, but not just any cross.” He rose from his chair and limped to that dreaded file cabinet in the far corner of his office. It still gave me creeps, remembering the first time he’d shared what was inside. Opening up the drawer he pulled out a smaller version of the wooden crosses I had made. And it wasn’t made out of wood either. The fluorescent light in the room reflected off the silver metal, making it appear to glow.

“Okay, you guys are full of clichés.” I went over and carefully touched it. “Are you telling me those dumb vampire stories were right? You have to drive, not a stake – but a cross into their hearts?”

“Now
you
have been watching too many movies. You don’t drive a stake into his heart. Instead you need to drive it into the ground in the place where he died. Think of it as a reverse rescue. But you need to have the sunlight hit the cross, which will drive Mark and his kind back to where they belong.”

“You mean Hell, right?”

“Where he goes is not our concern, Stephanie. As long as he doesn’t interfere with those who need to go to the other side. Remember that.”

“Okay, so I’m not God.” I pushed the cross into one of my pockets and walked away. “Let’s help him with his decision and get this over with.”

“Stephanie, I’m coming with you.” Dr. Anthony turned off his computer.

“But, why,” I challenged. “I’m the rescuer. And he’s just a dead guy.” I opened the candy jar and grabbed a handful of chocolates and shoved them into my pocket.

“Don’t underestimate what the undead can do.” Dr. Anthony removed his glasses and wiped them with a cloth then put his glasses back on. “You did think he was one hot guy, right?”

“Don’t remind me.”

I shuddered with that memory. Not only was I disgusted, but I was pissed. Pissed he messed with my mind, and pissed he took Dylan too. Mark’s rear was mine.

“Let’s go,” the counselor said. “Don’t think you can do anything without me. You don’t know what you’re dealing with.”

“And you do?”

Dr. Anthony scratched his left leg. “Let’s just say I have a constant reminder of my last encounter with one of them.”

Too freaky.
Why did things have to happen to legs when dealing with the dead?

As we left the room, I fingered the cool surface of the cross. The talisman only strengthened my resolve not to sit around – doing nothing.

No dead guy was going to kiss me and get away with it.

Chapter 27

The fog hadn’t tapered off. Thick and ominous, it made the drive to the coffee house difficult.

I glanced at Dr. Anthony. His round glasses hid his expression. But I could tell he wanted a piece of Mark too. The veins in his hands bulged from gripping the steering wheel so tightly. I almost imagined him strangling Mark.

I felt uneasy. I’d never seen an angry counselor. Well, I take that back. There was that one time Counselor Carter caught me smoking behind the building. Yeah, he’d been upset, but not enough to kill me. It didn’t help that the cigarette ended up burning a hole in my new pair of designer pants. I swore then and there I would never smoke again.

“Where’s this coffee house?”

I jumped at Dr. Anthony’s question.

“Over there.” I pointed to some older buildings beside the mall. “It’s one of those smaller places on the left.”

Dr. Anthony turned into the left lane, making his way to a few sorry-looking shops hidden behind some tall California live oaks.

“What’s the name?” he asked.

“Uh.” I frowned. “It’s over there.” I leaned close to the window, hiding my embarrassment. “You can’t miss it. It’s some ancient place with posters of some old ’90s pop groups plastered on the sides.”

“Is that it?” He gestured to one of the smaller places.

“Uh … maybe.”

I hated that I couldn’t remember the stupid name. I mean, my constant obsession over Mark couldn’t be the reason for having this major brain fart.
Or could it?

Dr. Anthony parked the car. “Let’s find out.”

I hurried out and slammed the door. As I made my way to the building, the hairs on the back of my neck rose.

“Yeah, this is the place.” Ancient was a good way to describe the broken-down building standing in front of me. I recognized one of the pop posters, though only a fourth of it remained intact. “Let’s put that cowardly piece of crap back where he belongs.”

“You have the cross?” Dr. Anthony asked. He got out and opened the trunk of his car.

“Whoa, time out. What are you doing?”

He brought out a black plastic bag. It reminded me of that sack back at his office. At the time I’d had a field day imagining gruesome things hidden inside. Sure, it had only been a cross, but for some reason I knew that wasn’t what he had in it now. Considering I had the talisman.

“Let’s just say I like to be prepared.” He slammed his trunk shut. “Trust me. This will come in handy for the battle ahead.”

“Battle?” Now I felt sick. “How hard can it be to rescue Dylan? I mean, don’t you say some mumbo jumbo stuff over Mark and poof, he’s gone?”

“Stephanie, this isn’t Hollywood.” I noticed a bulge in the bag. And he held it as if it were heavy.

You don’t have like a weapon in there, do you?”

Dr. Anthony smiled, but his gaze was like granite, hard and flinty. “Let me worry about that.”

“You sure don’t act like any shrink I know.” I moved away. “Who are you Light Bringers, anyway?”

Dr. Anthony shrugged. “I’m here to help you, and drive the evil back to where it belongs.” He motioned to the door. “And we don’t have time to stand around and talk about this.”

“Okay, whatever,” I said. “But after this I’m getting my mother to tell me more about her so-called sorority group.”

Dr. Anthony slung the bag over his shoulder. He looked back at me. “Tell you what, when this is done, I’ll call your mother in for a meeting. Then we can go over everything.”

Should I trust him?

Staring into his eyes, I couldn’t help but feel that he was telling the truth.

Yes – and it scared the crap out of me. But he was right. We needed to find Dylan. Later we could go over everything else.

With that, I followed Dr. Anthony to the coffee house.

Broken windows and old trash covered the walkway. The counselor kicked aside some of the debris and opened the door. “Let’s go.”

A draft blew some old copies of the
Sacramento Bee
against me. I flung them aside and followed him.

Once inside, I noticed the black and white floor was peppered with broken tiles and what looked like rat droppings. Spider webs hung like thick silly string from the ceiling. A small spiral staircase was tucked away in the far corner.

“Over there,” I said, motioning to the stairs. “Mark took me upstairs to a room.”

A thick layer of dirt clung to each step.

“Good,” Dr. Anthony said. “Now we can catch the rat in his own hole.”

No, Steph, I’m here!

I gasped.
Dylan? Is that you?

In my mind I saw Dylan again, but not upstairs. I pictured him in a cramped room with one window.

I turned and noticed a small door to the side.

“No.” I motioned to the door. “I think he’s down there, in the basement.”

Dr. Anthony hoisted his bag over his shoulder. “Stephanie, don’t go down there.”

“Since when are you my keeper?” I retorted. “I know he’s down there and I’m going.”

I didn’t wait to hear his reply. Opening the door, I braced myself for what might be downstairs.

As I went down the stairs, a familiar scent filled my nose. It was woodsy, with the sharp tang of cigarettes. I could feel Mark’s presence, as if his lips were only inches away from my own.

I turned, almost expecting him there. But I only saw shadows. I pulled my hoodie tighter.

Down I went. I held onto the side – careful not to brush against any spider webs. My skin crawled just thinking about bugs. Dampness permeated from the wall and chilled me.

I saw someone in a chair at the bottom.

“Dylan!”

I rushed down and threw my arms around him.
He’s alive!
I pulled away. A disgusting smell rose around him. I looked down and saw he’d been sick. But I didn’t care. All that mattered was he was here.

“Took you long enough,” Dylan said, a lopsided grin on his battered face.

“Omigosh, Dylan. What happened to you?”

“Can you untie me?”

I broke my gaze away. “Oh, right.”

Thump.

I jumped and whirled toward the sound.

“Hurry,” Dylan said, “we need to get out of here.
Now.
”

“What do you think I’m doing?” Whoever tied him up had done a good job. I cursed myself for cutting my nails. The plastic cords refused to come undone.

Thump.
“Don’t you know how to knock?”

Mark appeared out of the shadows, wearing the same outfit he’d worn a few hours ago.

“Can’t get enough of me, Steph?”

Chapter 28

The temperature in the basement dropped. I tugged at the plastic cords caked with blood from Dylan’s wrists. My hands shook but I refused to give up.

“I’m glad you decided to return.” Mark’s voice had a husky edge. As he stepped out of the shadows, I saw dark, wavy hair, piercing blue eyes, and a cleft chin. As always I was drawn in like a magnet, lured by the mere sight of him.

Tall, dark, and hot, he more than lived up to his bad-boy image. Though I knew he was dead, I couldn’t resist wanting him. I forgot about my mission – getting Dylan out alive.

Mark smiled from across the room. “Come over here. I have lots more to show you.”

I stepped back and glanced at Dylan.

One glimpse of his bruised face snapped me out of Mark’s spell for a second. I knew I had to help Dylan, but why did I still want Mark? I wrestled with these feelings burning inside me.

Slam.

The door above the staircase burst open. Dead leaves, twigs, and dirt fell on my head, jolting me back to reality.

“Stephanie, I told you not to—” Dr. Anthony stopped on the steps, clutching that insane black bag tighter.

Mark’s face soured. “Why are
you
here?” He glared pure hatred at Dr. Anthony.

My heart sank to my stomach. Something was very wrong. And it had nothing to do with Dylan. Who exactly were Dr. Anthony and these Light Bringers?

Mark turned away from the counselor and stared back at me. “So this is who’s been training you, Steph? You don’t need anyone to hold your hand.” Mark frowned, nodding in the direction of Dr. Anthony. “Especially one of
his
kind.”

“Leave her out of this,” Dr. Anthony said. “This is between you and me.”

He must have sensed my confusion. “Oh, didn’t Mr. Shrink tell you, Steph?” He looked back at the counselor. “We’ve been through this dance before. Haven’t we?”

“Okay, what is he talking about?” I asked Dr. Anthony, feeling queasy with the thought of him having anything to do with Mark.

“This is the demon that gave me this,” the counselor said, motioning to his left leg.

“So you remember,” Mark drawled. “And I thought you Light Bringers were short on memory.”

“Release the boy.” The counselor ignored Mark’s comment. “You know the rule.”

Rule? What was he talking about?

“Yeah, right. A Light Bringer like you would be into the rule game. Why should I? I like it too much down here.”

“Wait a minute. What rules?” I demanded.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Dylan slipping one hand out of the cords, then another.

I quickly looked away. A sliver of hope came back. Now all I needed to do was keep Mark occupied. Our lives depended on it.

“Those who died by their own hand can’t interfere with those still living.” Dr. Anthony opened his bag. The plastic crinkled in his hands. “There are consequences – as you well know.”

“Consequences?” I asked. “But what about him helping that girl?

“Helping?” The counselor shook his head. “I highly doubt that was on his agenda.”

“Are you saying I don’t care?” Mark laughed. “I care for Stephanie a lot. Don’t I?” He turned his icy blue gaze to me.

The tugging to go toward Mark grew even stronger.

“Stephanie Stewart!” Dr. Anthony shouted. “Don’t look at him!”

I stopped.

“Stephanie, I can’t believe you’d listen to him,” Mark said. “Why are you hanging with this wannabe shrink when you can be with me?”

“Don’t listen to him,” Dr. Anthony said. “He’s only interested in one thing. And that is sucking the life out of you.”

“What?” I could hear the counselor’s words in the back of my head but all I could focus on was Mark. His spell, his power....

I stepped closer.

Mark’s smile grew even broader. “I got what you want.”

I could see both of us together, locked in a passionate embrace – together, forever.

I drew closer and closer to him. I saw the counselor, but his words buzzed in the background like an annoying bug.

“Stephanie Stewart,” Dr. Anthony yelled. “Remember that girl Mark supposedly rescued? Do you want to share her fate?”

“Huh?” I pulled away. Memories of that spirit’s screams echoed in my head.