Haunting of Superior

Chapter 12

The rain was still pouring even as the sun set over the empty woods outside the city. Water dripped onto the weakening flame in the fireplace as the chimney was poorly damaged from years of neglect. The kids and Jamie sat shivering in front of the dying fire, wearing the dusty and old clothes that had belonged to Miriam and Malcolm. Claudia, uninterested in their suffering, had gone upstairs to sleep in a comfy bed. Everyone was quiet. A solemn mood had settled over the group as they thought about the plan Jamie had proposed. Nobody wanted to share their thoughts on it. They were scared. And they had every right to be.

Jamie looked around at the children, sorrow filling her at the sight of their tired faces. They shouldn't have to be dealing with this awful stuff. They should have been living peaceful lives, oblivious to machinations of a devious monster. They had seen far too many horrendous things, but then again so had Jamie. Her jaw clenched in anger. She should have been living at home with her mom and dad. She should have been in college by now. She should have been happy with Jack at her side. Jack... Tears welled in Jamie's eyes. Words could not describe how badly she wanted him back. Being around these kids didn't help. They were around the same age Jack was when he... died. Jamie stood up with a grunt; her limbs were stiff from being cold and wet. None of the kids spared her a glance; their thoughts were preoccupied. Jamie climbed up the stairs and peeked into the closest bedroom. The door was still open, and she saw Claudia sleeping soundly in a bed. Jamie quietly slid past the door, not wanting to disturb her. She didn't know if Claudia knew who she was, but she didn't want to find out. She was in no mood to clarify her allegiances again.

In the next room, she looked around for paper. Malcolm had said he'd lived in this house, so maybe there was some type of paper around here. As much as she had planned out her plan in her head, she needed to put it down on something physical. It was always good to have a map of the place you would be trying to sneak into. She opened the door to the closet where they had found some clothes, remembering that she had seen some type of paper in here. She spotted it lying abandoned and dusty in the corner and picked it up. To her disappointment, it was covered in scribbles clearly drawn by a child. She blinked, suddenly realizing what the drawing was.

The drawing was of a girl and boy standing on a hill together, with two stick figures that were taller than the smaller ones. They all had happy faces, and at the top was written "Mom, Dad, me, and Malcolm". Jamie dropped the drawing, feeling sick. She felt she had intruded on something way too personal for Malcolm and the person who had drawn this. She shut the closet door quickly, not wanting to look at the drawing anymore. Whoever had drawn that was no longer around.

Jamie took a deep breath, trying to push away the swirl of emotions attacking her brain. She had to stay focused. She had a mission. Just breathe. She suddenly noticed a pale shape under the bed. It looked like a file. Weird. How had she not noticed it when grabbing some clothes? She knelt down and pulled it out, curious as to what this was doing here. She opened it up and discovered that it was information about some of Antonio's employees. Isaiah and Lydia Hoffman. She had heard about them before. They had died in a car accident caused by Claudia. Jamie remembered she hadn't slept well that night as death always made her think of... Stop it! She couldn't be thinking about that. She had things to do. She looked through the papers and finally found one with a blank space on the back. Ignoring the information on the front, which was just a resume, she exited the room and headed back downstairs.

Almost all of the kids were still gathered around the fire, except for Amethyst. Jamie was immediately concerned. She hoped the girl hadn't snuck out to try and rescue Jacob.

"Where's Amethyst?" she asked the kids.

"She's with her bunny," Margie responded, managing to look up at Jamie. "We haven't really been around to feed him, so she was worried."

Jamie was glad that Amethyst had something to distract her from her cousin. Right now, though, she needed something to draw with. Fortunately she carried a pencil around in her pocket as any sane person should. She set the paper on the kitchen table and began to sketch out what she could remember of the plans Antonio had shown her a couple days ago. Fortunately she hadn't forgotten a lot yet, but it was necessary to write it down before she forgot it entirely. Jamie drew a circle and cringed when she saw how messy it was. Drawing had never been her forte. She erased the messy circle and slowly drew a new one. It wasn't perfect; one side was more squiggly than it should be, but it would do. She put some more details on the circular object and then wrote all the information she could remember beside the image. She didn't put down everything from the plans, just the necessary details. The most important piece of information was written in all capital letters and underlined.

TO ARM OR DISARM THE BOMBS, TAKE THE CAPSULES OUT THROUGH THE TOP.

After she had finished writing that, Jamie picked up her sketch and carried it over to the kids.

"Can someone go get Amethyst? I've finished drawing the bomb plans," Jamie said, sitting down beside Ed, who shrunk away. She pretended not to notice that.

"Okay." Margie immediately stood up and hurried down a hall to the right of the living room.

Jamie put the sketched out plans in the middle of their half-circle, and the kids peered curiously at it. Yana immediately pointed at a line of information above the awful drawing of a bomb.

"How on Earth did Antonio get enough materials to build a thousand bombs?" she asked, eyes wide in confusion and horror.

"He's rich, and they're not that big," Jamie explained. "He's planning on targeting the biggest cities in America so he can slowly take over the rest of the continents. He's going to get the capitol first so the government will be under his control."

The kids shuddered at the thought. Ed huddled close to Yana, who put her arm around his shoulder. They both looked scared. Malcolm just looked mad, his ears flat like an angry cat's. Jamie felt scared, too, but she couldn't show it. She was the only adult here, which meant she had to put on a brave face. The children would only be more scared if she showed how terrified she was. After all, Antonio was a man who had killed so many people. Jamie didn't know the exact number, but it was way too high for a simple scientist. If she and the kids failed, the price would be way too high. The world was depending on them.

Suddenly a blood curdling shriek came from where Margie had went. Yana, Ed, and Malcolm leaped to their feet immediately and took off down the hall. Jamie, startled by how fast they reacted, abandoned the plan on the floor and ran after the kids. Pure terror pulsed through her veins. Had Antonio's monsters found them? Were they going to find Amethyst and Margie's lifeless bodies in the room?

Jamie skidded to halt in the doorway as she took in the sight before her. There was indeed one of Antonio's creatures, but it wasn't the one attacking. It was a small creature, one that vaguely resembled a cougar but an extremely messed up cougar. Standing in front of it with a lamp in her hands was Amethyst. The creature was cowering in fear as Amethyst loomed above it, rage blazing in her eyes.

"Amethyst, are you okay?" Jamie anxiously asked. She was still surprised at what she was seeing, and the kids could hear it in her voice.

"This thing tried to eat Bun-Bun," Amethyst snarled like an animal. She took a step towards the creature, who cowered back farther.

The kids, except Margie, looked terrified of their friend. Amethyst was clearly very protective of her rabbit, and Jamie almost pitied the poor creature. It seemed like Amethyst had kicked it away from the rabbit's cage.

An idea suddenly popped into Jamie's head. "Wait!" she called out as Amethyst moved to pick up the creature. The girl paused and looked at Jamie. "We could use that thing in our plan," Jamie suggested.

"Didn't you say Antonio put some sort of mind control thing in them?" Margie asked. She gave the creature a suspicious look. "What if he's spying on us through it?"

"He can't see anything they do, he can only influence their actions," Jamie said. "Do you really think he can simultaneously and consciously control the actions of thousands of people?"

Margie still looked doubtful, but she eyed the creature curiously. "It does look very fluffy," she muttered.

Jamie was taken aback. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"We're all stressed, and petting things is relaxing," Margie said. She crouched down and patted her knees. "Come here!"

"Margie, that used to be a person," Jamie reminded her.

Margie's eyes widened as Jamie's words sunk in. "Oh yeah." She quickly stood back up. Awkwardness filled the room as everyone stared at the new creature, wondering what to do. It still cowered in the corner, gazing fearfully at the still fuming Amethyst.

"Wait." Yana turned to look at Jamie. "Didn't you say that Antonio some sort of mind control thing in them?"

"Um, yes?" Jamie said, making the word sound like a question. She had no idea what Yana was getting at and felt too tired to try and guess.

"Is there any way to remove it?" Yana asked. The question intrigued the other kids, and Jamie found herself in the middle of five curious pairs of eyes.

"He made an app that sends out commands to them," Jamie started, half-uncertain of what she was saying. "I guess we could try and turn it off when we go back?" Antonio hadn't fully explained to her how the mind control chips worked as that would be stupid. Antonio was careful with his plans and only told Jamie about the necessary parts, like the bombs. He didn't need the mind control chips, but he thought they would make it easier to initiate his plans. Unfortunately, he was right.

The creature suddenly darted towards the window, intending to escape while the group was distracted. It would have gotten out if the group hadn't been keeping a close eye on it while Jamie had been talking. Malcolm quickly ran after it. Despite the fact that he was smaller than this creature, he jumped onto it and pinned it to the ground. The creature whimpered as it scratched the ground desperately in an attempt to crawl out from under Malcolm. Seemingly on instinct, Malcolm growled at it; he almost instantly stopped the sound.

"What are we going to do with them?" Margie asked, kneeling down beside the creature. Her eyes were sympathetic as they gazed at the poor thing, still struggling to get out from underneath Malcolm.

Jamie put her hand on her chin thoughtfully. They couldn't just let the thing leave; it would go straight back to Antonio and reveal their location. An idea finally popped into her head, and she mulled it over for a bit while the kids stared at her, impatiently waiting for an answer.

"We could take it with us when we sneak in," Jamie finally said. "It would make us look less suspicious and not give away that I'm working with you guys."

"I meant right now." Margie looked annoyed that Jamie had misunderstood.

Jamie could feel her cheeks reddening from embarrassment, but she pushed away the feeling. "Let's just have Claudia guard it. If it tries to escape, she can handle it." She motioned for Malcolm to get off so she could pick up the creature. Malcolm hesitated, glaring down at it. Sighing, Jamie gently pushed Malcolm off and picked up the creature. Margie was right; the creature was as fluffy as a cloud. Holding it already made Jamie feel more relaxed. She headed out of the room and up the stairs, suddenly wondering how Claudia would react to her without the kids around. Would she try to attack her? She gulped, her limbs suddenly shaking. Claudia had killed many of Antonio's minions, and she had no reason to trust Jamie. Jamie shook her head angrily, resolutely pushing the fearful thoughts away. Antonio was much more terrifying than Claudia; if she was to face the man responsible for hundreds of deaths, she couldn't back down from something less threatening. She breathed deeply and opened the door to the room Claudia was in with her foot.

Claudia was asleep. Jamie glanced around the room quickly, noting that the room had no windows. The only way for the creature in her arms to escape was through the air vent, but it was in the ceiling. Jamie carefully placed the creature on the bed next to Claudia and tried to quietly walk out of the room without waking Claudia. Her shoes made soft little taps on the wooden floor, and she glanced at the still sleeping Claudia warily. Claudia didn't even twitch. Slowly, Jamie crept out of the room. She took the door and shut it as gently as she could. Once the door clicked, she let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Shaking all her nervousness away, Jamie headed back downstairs to find the kids huddled around the dying fire. Amethyst was cuddling Bun-Bun, who looked quite calm despite the tense atmosphere. Yana was holding Jamie's diagram. Her face was scrunched up as she scrutinized it; she hadn't had enough time before to properly examine it.

"I know, I'm bad at drawing," Jamie said, sitting down beside her and reaching for her drawing. Yana ignored her as she kept the paper away. Jamie frowned, hurt. Was she still not trustworthy?

"Where did you say the bombs were again?" Yana asked. Her eyes were still fixed on the paper. Why on earth was it so fascinating to her? It was just a poorly drawn picture of a bomb!

"They're in one of the bigger parks near Meyers' house. He started building them after he turned everyone in the city into... well, you know..." She looked at Malcolm. He put his head on the floor. Irritation filled his eyes.

Yana nodded and finally gave Jamie her drawing back. Jamie folded it up and put it in her pocket; the matches she had used to light the fire were still in there. They could be useful... maybe.

"We should get some sleep," Yana suggested. "We need to be well rested to execute the plan. Right?" She raised an eyebrow at Jamie.

Jamie suddenly felt the pressure of the last few days fall on her like bricks. She yawned. "I guess you're right," she mumbled. "But where are we going to sleep?"

"You can sleep on the couch," Malcolm said. "It's actually very comfortable."

"Amethyst, Margie, and I can sleep in Miriam's old room. The boys can sleep wherever they want." Yana gave the boys a sharp look when Malcolm opened his mouth. Malcolm immediately closed it and nodded.

Jamie yawned again and asked, "Where are the blankets?"

"We only have the ones on the beds," Malcolm informed her. "You can just use the pillows."

Dang it. At least Jamie was used to sleeping on uncomfortable things. She winced at the memory of the awful beds she and... Nevermind. She sat down on the couch and gathered most of the throw pillows on it, hoping that it would be enough to keep her warm. She lay down, listening to the thuds as the kids climbed up the stairs to their bedrooms. She closed her eyes, letting sleep wash over her.

***

"Is she asleep?" Margie hissed quietly as Malcolm peered down the banister at the couch.

Malcolm squinted, trying to see if her eyes were closed. She was turned over on her side, so he couldn't really see her face. "I think so. We'll just have to talk really quietly."

"Yeah, no, you're going to yell at the top of your lungs and wake not just her but also Claudia up," Yana said scathingly.

Malcolm's eyes widened, and he gazed up at Yana pitifully. "I don't yell all the time," he whimpered, trying to guilt trip her.

Yana rolled her eyes but patted his head affectionately. "You'll have to prove that first."

They left the banister and went into Miriam's room, where the rest of their friends were waiting. Amethyst had put Bun-Bun on the bed, and he was sniffing the pillows curiously. Margie and Ed were sitting on the bed, too, playing rock, paper, scissors. Yana closed the door behind her and cleared her throat. Everyone looked up except Margie and Ed.

"Guys, finish your game." Yana glared at them.

Margie sighed in disappointment when Ed's rock defeated her scissors. "Should have seen that coming," she muttered angrily. Ed just smiled victoriously.

Once everyone was settled and looking at her, Yana placed her hands on the edge of the bed. "So," she said simply. "The plan."

"Yes," Malcolm said. "The plan."

Everyone stared at each other, silent understanding passing through each of them. None of them fully trusted Jamie yet, and they were reluctant to fully cooperate with her plan. Who was to say that Antonio hadn't sent her to trick them? After all, he was desperate to finally get rid of them. They were like parasites to him, annoying and dangerous. Yana felt a twinge of pride go through her at the thought.

"Jacob and my parents are still Antonio's prisoners," she said after nobody spoke up for a while. "I know Jamie is reluctant to rescue them when we go back, but I think we could use all the help we get. Ed, do you have our ideas?"

Ed nodded and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. He smoothed it out and handed it to Yana. She looked over it quickly and then put in on the bed for everyone to see.

"Since we don't know if Jamie's plan isn't just a trick, we will initiate our plan to get away and solve the problem on our own. Does everyone know what they're going to do?"

Malcolm scowled and grumbled something to himself. It sounded like he hadn't wanted anyone to hear him say anything, but Yana, being close to him, definitely heard. She fixed a sharp glare on him, irritation glimmering in her eyes.

"What are you complaining about now, Malcolm?" she snapped. She wanted to get this briefing done quickly so she could go to bed. Her head was starting to hurt.

Malcolm winced at her sharp tone, ears flattening in guilt. On instinct, he made puppy eyes at Yana; she only twitched slightly. He sighed, realizing he had to reveal what he said. "I... why do I have to stay with Jamie?" he huffed.

Yana's expression softened, and she patted Malcolm's head to comfort him. He buried his face into his paws, embarrassed at being pet like a dog. "You're the distraction," Yana told him. "That's the most important job of all. You'll be keeping Jamie on track with her plan while we do ours."

"Yeah, you might even get to bite Antonio if she brings you to him!" added Margie, thinking that it would be reassuring. Everyone turned their heads to give her a scolding look, but Malcolm's tail had started wagging excitedly.

"I can practically taste his flesh now!" Malcolm chirped happily.

Everyone swiveled their heads to give Malcolm a questioning look.

"That is highly questionable, but we'll just ignore that," Margie said, gesturing for Yana to continue. "I volunteer to be in the team that goes to get Jacob."

Yana nodded and pulled out a pencil; she scribbled Margie's name below Amethyst's, which was written under the heading "Jacob Rescue Team". Next to that list was a "Parents Rescue Team", with Yana's and Ed's names written underneath. Yana put the pencil down and examined the lists.

"So we have two people on each team," she said. She looked around at all her friends. "Do you think Jamie will tell us where Jacob and my parents are being held?"

She had barely finished her question when a crash sounded from downstairs. The kids froze. Amethyst almost yelped, but Margie slapped a hand over her mouth just in time. Yana motioned for everyone to be quiet and headed out of the room. She cautiously peered over the banister preventing anyone from falling, scared that something else had broken in.

Jamie was on the floor, awake. She was rubbing her head, and she seemed to be breathing heavily. Yana, curious, hurried down the stairs and walked up to Jamie.

"Are you okay?" Now that she was up close, Yana could see tears in Jamie's eyes, and the adult was shaking like something had terrified the life out of her.

Jamie hesitated to answer; her eyes were fixed on the couch and were wide in horror. Yana was starting to feel legitimate worry now. She had originally thought that Jamie had just slipped off the couch in her sleep, but she was acting like Ed did when he had awful nightmares. Yana crouched down next to Jamie, careful to move slowly. She didn't want to startle her.

Jamie slowly looked at Yana. Surprise crossed her face when she saw her.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Yana asked, unable to help herself. Darn it. Why did her curiosity always get the best of her?

Jamie's expression immediately became guarded. She shook her head and pushed herself to her feet.

"Go to sleep, Yana," she ordered, crossing her arms. They were still shaking.

If Jamie expected Yana to be obedient, she was wrong. Yana squinted at her, trying to piece together what had happened. Obviously Jamie had fallen off the couch and hit her head, and it was probably because of a nightmare. But what that nightmare was about was another question. Yana's curiosity was getting stronger by the second; she didn't want to leave until Jamie gave a hint about her nightmare, so she just stood there. Jamie frowned. Yana expected her to look irritated at her stubborness, but the adult instead sighed in defeat, her eyes drooping with tiredness.

"Just go to sleep... please," she murmured. She turned and slowly walked to the door. Yana stood frozen in shock as Jamie practically stumbled outside and shut the door behind her.

Guilt almost consumed Yana the second the door shut. Maybe she shouldn't have shown such disrespect toward Jamie's privacy. It wasn't her business; she had only thought it was because she didn't trust Jamie.

"Yana!"

The quiet whisper broke through Yana's surprise. She tilted her head up toward the banister. Malcolm was peeking through the wooden bars.

"What happened?" he whispered loudly.

"Jamie fell off the couch," Yana whispered loudly back.

Malcolm winced. "Ouch. Well, the others agreed that we should go to bed now." He suddenly glanced at the empty couch. "Where did Jamie go?"

"Outside. I think she had a nightmare."

"Ok. Get up here before she comes back."

Once she was upstairs, she, Amethyst, and Margie went across the hall to what had been Miriam's bedroom. Yana was surprised to find files of her parents on it. How had those gotten here? Hadn't they been at Jacob's house? She remembered Miriam showing her, Ed, and Malcolm the photo of her parents' car crash. Her heart ached a bit in sadness. She missed Miriam. She quickly put the file in the closet, not wanting Amethyst or Margie to see it and ask about it. Fortunately, they were too busy putting Bun-Bun back in his cage.

The bed was big enough to fit all three of them. No one spoke. Jamie hadn't come back inside yet; they would have heard the door open if she had. There was tension in the air all around the house, a type of pressure that only exists when people are highly stressed and nervous. It made Yana's heart beat faster, and she could feel her anxiety eating away at the confidence she had mustered up when she had been reviewing their plan.

She covered her ears with her pillow to block out the sounds of Margie and Amethyst chatting softly with each other. She hoped that Jamie wouldn't turn on them, at least not before they had gotten her parents and Jacob out. The last thing she and her friends needed was another obstacle between them and Antonio. Don't worry about it, she told herself firmly. We can do this. We have to.

We don't have a choice.