The Land of the Dead: Book Four of the Oz Chronicles Read online

  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.

  The old man turned his attention back to us and flashed a yellow-toothed grin. I scooted up the ladder without any further hesitation. In my haste, I dropped the flashlight and heard it crash to the ground.

  “Go, go, go,” I yelled.

  Mimic-April clumsily climbed to the top and a split second later I did as well. I could hear the o
ld man clomping up the ladder. He was grunting like a madman. I grabbed Mimic-April’s hand and pulled her toward the entrance to the pool. I decided to go back through the bowling alley and Halloween room. It was familiar and I knew that it would take me to the stairs. I was done with the basement and had no interest in ever seeing it again.

  I navigated the dark corridors recklessly. Mimic-April and I crashed into walls and doors. The old man was having a much easier time of it. We heard him huff and puff as he pursued us, but there was no evidence that he was having trouble seeing in the dark like we were.

  As we entered the bowling alley, I could swear I felt his cold breath on the back of my neck. I pumped my legs faster and practically dragged Mimic-April to the Halloween room.

  As we raced through the room, I noticed an easing of the feeling of dread I’d felt since we first saw the old man. He was no longer chasing us. I could feel it. But, I didn’t slow down and turn to verify my theory. I just ran and ran and ran.

  ***

  We saw Gordy first. He approached wide-eyed when he saw our distressed faces. “You okay?’

  I shook my head, struggling not to go into shock.

  “What happened?”

  I pointed down. “The basement,” I said looking at Mimic-April in the better lighting of the main floor. She was not April. It was easy to see the difference. She was a faded copy of April. The coloring wasn’t quite right. The facial features weren’t quite complete. Mimic was a good imitation of April, but that’s it. That’s when it struck me. “Where’s April?” I asked sounding panicked.

  “Dude,” Gordy said, “she’s right there…” He stopped short when he got a better look at Mimic. Stepping back in fear or disgust or both, he said, “What is that?”

  “A Throwaway,” I said. “She became April… kind of.”

  He clenched his jaw. “How?”

  “I don’t know,” I said moving past him. “It’s not important. Help me find April.”

  He hesitated, still fixated on Mimic-April. “I… I thought she was with you.”

  “We got separated.”

  “Separated?” he said.

  I rolled my eyes as I grew frustrated having to explain everything to him. “There was… something in the basement. It chased us. We lost Mimic,” I said gesturing to the incomplete version of April. “I went back to get her and sent April and Kimball in the other direction. I thought for sure that there was another set of stairs.”

  It was then that I heard the click, click, click of Kimball’s nails on the floor as he sauntered toward us. I looked past him to see if April was following him. She wasn’t. I almost asked Kimball where she was, and then I remembered he was a dog.

  “You should see the winter gardens,” I heard Lou say. “They’re so beautiful… and creepy.” She stopped short when she saw my face. “What’s wrong?”

  “April’s missing,” I said.

  “She’s right there,” she said pointing at Mimic. I could hear her gasp after she took a closer look. “Wha…”

  “Long story,” I said. “Actually, I’m not really sure what the story is at all. I am sure that April is missing.”

  Lou shrugged. “Well, let’s go find her.”

  I turned back toward the stairs. My mouth went dry. A chill raced through my body. “I can’t…” I swallowed. “We can’t go down there.”

  “What are you talking about?” Lou asked.

  “Yeah, what’s down there?” Gordy asked.

  I shook my head.

  “April’s down there,” Lou said.

  I clenched my fist and thumped my leg trying to pound the courage back into my body. My teeth began to chatter.

  “His name is Albert,” Mimic said.

  I turned to her astonished. “He talked to you?”

  She looked at me dumbfounded. “He’s Albert. He didn’t have to say. He is the Flish.”

  “The Flish?” Lou asked no one in particular.

  “A scary old man,” I said.

  Gordy laughed. “Old man? Dude, we’ve taken on purple dead-eyed freaks, ant men, zombie-things…”

  “Takers,” Lou added.

  “Right,” Gordy said. “You’re sweating an old man?”

  “He just looks like an old man,” I said. “He’s more than that. He’s…”

  “Evil,” Mimic said.

  Gordy waved his hand to illustrate his disgust. “Just do that thing where you get all strong and stuff. You know, from the marking.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t like it when I get that way. It never feels like it will go away. And it only happens when I get mad. Not…” I hesitated.

  “Not what?” Gordy asked.

  “Scared,” I said just above a whisper.

  “I’ll go,” Lou said with a forced smile.

  “No,” I snapped. “No one goes. Not alone.”

  “Goes where?” Wes asked.

  We all turned to see him, Tyrone, Ajax, and Tall Boy coming toward us.

  “April’s missing,” Gordy said.

  “Who’s…” Wes began to ask looking at Mimic and then stopped. “What the…”

  Tall Boy approached Mimic. “Did it hurt?”

  Mimic nodded. “A little.”

  Wes cleared his throat. “I am all kind of confused. Someone want to explain to me what in tarnation is going on here?”

  Gordy groaned. “April’s downstairs somewhere. One of them Throwaways made herself look like April. And there’s an old man in the basement who may or may not be a fish.”

  “Flish,” Mimic said. “He is the Flish.”

  Tall Boy tensed up.

  “That mean something to you?” Wes asked him.

  “He is the Gray Man,” Tall Boy answered as if we should all know who is talking about.

  “Gray, pink, blue,” Tyrone said pulling a hunting knife from its sheath, “what difference does it make?” He stomped toward the stairwell.

  “Wait,” I said.

  A roar came from a back room. We all flinched and turned to see Ariabod dragging April’s limp body out of the room.

  Tyrone sprinted toward them. “Let her go, you dumb ape.”

  Ariabod snarled and refused to let go of April’s arm.

  Tyrone stomped his foot. “Haa! Get out of here!”

  Lou jogged toward them. “What are you doing? He understands you. You don’t have to act like a lunatic.”

  Ariabod smacked the floor with his free hand.

  “If he understands me, why doesn’t he let her go?”

  She stepped in front of Ariabod. “Because you’re not the boss.” She smiled and calmly said. “You can let go of her.”

  He shook his giant head.

  “Looks like you’re not the boss either,” Tyrone said. He turned to me. “Well?”

  “What?”

  “You’re the boss man,” he said. “Start acting like it.”

  I raised an eyebrow. I was getting tired of his act. If I hadn’t been so relieved to see April, I would have let him know exactly how I felt. I sighed deeply and said. “Let her go, Ariabod.”

  The silverback huffed and gently released April’s arm, letting it flop to the floor. Ariabod eyeballed Tyrone as he moved away, and Tyrone returned the favor. It was clear they didn’t like each other.

  Lou bent down and examined her. “She’s alive,” she said.

  The rest of us formed a semicircle around them.

  Wes peeked over Lou’s shoulder. “Looks white as a ghost.”

  Lou felt her forehead. “She’s cold.” She stood and motioned to Wes. “Pick her up.”

  Wes did so without asking why.

  “C’mon,” Lou said walking quickly to the stairs. “There’s a bedroom on the second floor.”

  “Bedroom?” Gordy said sounding incredulous. “What about the Flish? We need to get the hell out of here.”

  Lou didn’t slow down. “April’s in no shape to travel. We’ll hide out on the second floor. What are you afraid of? It’s all of us against him
.”

  Everyone except Gordy and me started following her up the stairs. Gordy looked at me. “It’s not enough, is it?”

  I wanted to tell him it was, but he would have known I was lying. Instead, I just ignored his question and started up the stairs.

  SEVEN

  The fifteen of us fit comfortably in the bedroom that belonged to the original owner of the mansion. The furniture was an intense red and there was gold leafing on the walls. April was lying comfortably on the canopy bed with Kimball beside her. Lou and Mimic attended to her. The rest of the Throwaways assembled in the corner opposite the door to the bedroom. They mumbled to one another. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I could tell they were deeply concerned. Wes was laid out on a chaise lounge in the middle of the room. Ajax and Ariabod huddled near him. Tyrone sat in a chair keeping a wary eye on the gorillas.

  I stood by the window that looked out over the property and searched through the darkness for any signs of unwelcomed visitors. Gordy startled me when he spoke.

  “We need to talk about our friends.”

  I pulled my head out from behind the red curtain and followed his gesture to the Throwaways. “What about them?”

  He snorted. “One of them morphed into one of us, that’s what about them.”

  I looked at Mimic hunched over the bed trying to get as close to April as she could. “Okay, it’s weird,” I said. “But not much isn’t weird in this world.”

  “It’s more than weird,” Gordy said struggling to keep his voice down. “It could be dangerous.”

  “Dangerous?” I asked.

  “What if they’re like pod people sent here to take our place?”

  “Pod people?” I laughed. “Have you met the Throwaways? They’re about as gentle as you can get. Can’t see them taking our place. They barely have their own place.”

  “Exactly,” Gordy said excitedly. “They don’t have a place here. They don’t fit in. If they become us, suddenly they fit in.”

  I muddled through his logic quickly and then waved him off. “I think you’re reading too much into this…”

  “Am I? April goes missing, and Mimic winds up looking like her. In case you haven’t noticed, No-face’s bump is now a nose. I’m pretty sure the one with a messed up half arm now has a messed up two-thirds arm.”