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Chapter Ten
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Nameless: The Darkness Comes Chapter Eleven
CHAPTER ELEVENI was viciously pulling weeds in the garden when a demon came sauntering by.“Remember me?” it called out cheerfully.“Whatever,” I said. “You all look the same.”It edged closer. “I told you not to go into that restaurant. Should’ve listened, huh?”I narrowed my eyes and gave a particularly stubborn weed a good, hard yank.“Luna. We need to talk. I’m not going to go away until we do.”I turned and threw the weed at it. It sailed right on through. “Oh, all right! What do we so desperately need to talk about, demon? I’m busy here.”The demon tsked sarcastically, and I felt my muscles tense.“Poor baby,” it said and flopped down on the grass. “Listen. You’re going to be in a boatload of trouble soon. I’m talking serious, serious trouble. Dig?”I attacked another weed. “You’re threatening me now? Typical.”The demon sighed and leaned back, staring at the sky. “That’s the thing about you people. You always expect the worst. Why can’t I be doing you a favor? Why ca
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Nameless: The Darkness Comes Chapter Twelve
CHAPTER TWELVE“That demon is a pain,” I said. “They’re all pains, but that one’s just extra irritating.” I shook the bottle of hair dye viciously while I talked. “He just pops up, starts talking like he’s my best friend come back from the dead or something. You know, he really—”“Don’t you need to be calm for this?” Reed Taylor asked me. His voice was tight.“What, Reed Taylor, are you scared?” I brandished the bottle of dye at him like a weapon. “Of this? This right here?”“Watch it! That stuff can blind me! I read the package.” He shuddered and wrapped his arms across his skinny, bare chest. I told him to lose the shirt so the dye didn’t ruin it, but secretly I was enjoying this way too much. Fan service!“Yeah, you read it like a million times. Relax. Think I’d steer you wrong?”“You say that an awful lot,” he pointed out.I caught his eye and winked. “Hey. You. Honestly. Do you really think I’d let anything happen to you?”He grinned, and I grinned back.“Okay, pretty gir
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Nameless: The Darkness Comes Chapter Thirteen
CHAPTER THIRTEENI walked in the front door and knew something was wrong. The house didn’t feel right.“Seth? Lydia? I’m home,” I called and dropped my backpack on the floor. Nobody answered.“I’m leaving my jacket on the couch like a slob. I’m wearing my boots in the house, and I didn’t even wipe them. You’d better come yell at me.”Silence.The sticky weight of the atmosphere nearly took my breath away. The Mark between my shoulder blades burned, making me slightly nauseous. I tiptoed to the kitchen and peeked through the door. Nothing. I reached in and slid a heavy duty kitchen knife out of the block, just in case.“Seth? Are you here?”I walked through the downstairs, checking closets and under tables as I went. The knife shone dully, and I swallowed hard. I hoped I didn’t have to use it. I took a deep breath and nearly decided not to go upstairs, telling myself I was obviously alone in the house, but the sickly, oily ambiance of the home made me grind my teeth and continue
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Nameless: The Darkness Comes Chapter Fourteen
CHAPTER FOURTEENSomebody was banging on the door.“Paramedics! We’re coming in.”I leapt to my feet.“Up here! Up here, up here,” I screamed and ran for the stairs. The paramedics were already on their way up.“Where is he, Miss?”“The bathroom. That door. I don’t know if he—”“We have it from here.”They pushed past me in the small hallway.“He’s alive!” one of them yelled. I wrapped my arms around myself and started to cry. The other paramedic turned back to me.“Miss? Do you have somebody to call? Somebody to give you a ride to the hospital?” He eyed me. “You’re in no condition to drive.”“I, uh, yes . . . ” Somewhere in the back of my brain, I realized I was only getting in their way. I grit my teeth and pulled myself together. “Yes, I have somebody to call. Excuse me.”The paramedic nodded and turned back to his work. I stepped into Lydia’s room and dialed Reed Taylor’s number.“Yeah, this is Reed.”“It’s me.”“Luna! Listen, I was just about to call you. I think we
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Nameless: The Darkness Comes Chapter Fifteen
CHAPTER FIFTEENI had my helmet in hand by the time Reed Taylor squealed into the driveway. I climbed onto the bike behind him, wrapped my arms around his waist, and rested my head against his back.“St. Marks,” I said.“Hold on, baby,” he answered and took off. I closed my eyes. I tried not to think about Seth. Instead, I tried to figure out where Lydia could be.Seth wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. So obviously she wouldn’t be in the house when he tried to . . . do what he did. Is she at the babysitter’s? Except I am the babysitter. Who could she be staying with? Or, and the mere thought made my stomach heave, did something happen to Lydia, and that’s why Seth didn’t think he could go on?My eyes snapped open, and I flinched.“What’s going on?” Reed Taylor yelled back to me.“Just thinking,” I yelled back. He nodded and kept up his breakneck speed.No, if something had happened to Lydia, Seth would have called me. No matter how bad it was, we would have figured something ou
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Nameless: The Darkness Comes Chapter Sixteen
CHAPTER SIXTEENThe ride home took forever, and the worst part was it gave me time to think. Obsess, really. If Lydia was with Sparkles, then that meant she’s hanging out with her mom’s demon. Who knew what was going on, wherever they were? Seth was in no condition to go after his daughter. I think Reed Taylor would be willing, but what good would he be without Demon Patrol? He can’t even see the things. And Mouth seemed like he might know what’s going down, but he was, after all, a demon himself. We all know demons are liars.Mouth was waiting for us when we pulled in. He looked irritated.“All right, let’s go.”He stalked up the porch stairs.“Hey,” I called out, “you’re not going to be able to—”Mouth glided through the front door. I froze. I couldn’t make myself breathe right.“What’s wrong?” Reed Taylor asked me. He cursed. “I can’t see anything!”I licked my lips. “He just . . . he just went through the door. He’s in the house.” I turned to face Reed Taylor, hoping his go
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Nameless: The Darkness Comes Chapter Seventeen
CHAPTER SEVENTEENI left Reed Taylor standing in my driveway and headed to the flower shop on the far end of town. We had a big garden when I was a kid, full of daylilies. I packed the flowers up carefully and hopped back onto the bike. It was a good long drive, and it was getting dark when I arrived at the cemetery.I had been here so many times that I could walk the place blindfolded. I stepped carefully past the tattered flags and broken stone. My boots didn’t make a sound on the soft grass. I knelt down by a double stone that had two names carved on it.“Hi, Mom,” I said and kissed my fingers. I pressed them to her name. “How are things going there?”I stopped for a second. I wasn’t really sure what to say. I forced a smile just in case she could see me. And it made me feel braver, more confidant. The last thing I wanted to do was curl up and cry on my parents’ graves. I am not an orphan in a Charles Dickens story. I’m more . . . Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Only not cute and perk
Last Updated : 2024-10-29Nameless: The Darkness Comes Chapter Eighteen
CHAPTER EIGHTEENI had no desire to go home and see if it was still Demonic Central, so I slept on the bench. Of course I was cold and cranky and stiff when I woke up. Not to mention I had dreams about demons and daylilies. I was a little more bitter than usual this morning.Mouth had given me something to think about, I guess. He was a demon, and demons were bad. But he seemed good. Ish. If he could just get over his hatred for Reed Taylor, that is.The first stop was the hospital. The nurse smiled when she saw me.“Hello. And who are you here to visit this morning?”Obviously, she hadn’t heard anything about me. I gave her my cheeriest grin. “Why, hello, my wonderful and helpful health care provider. I’m here to visit my brother Seth Masterson. How is the sweet boy doing today?”Her eyes flickered. “Seth. So you’re his sister then.”Ah, she had heard of me.They directed me to Seth’s new room. He was staring at the ceiling when I walked in.“Hey, Seth.”His eyes floated my
Last Updated : 2024-10-29
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Nameless: The Darkness Comes Epilogue
EPILOGUEI wish I could say I had imagined everything. For once, I wished that I was crazy, but that isn’t how life ends up. I’ll tell you how it ends up: It finishes out in its own fine way.After Seth bailed out of the House of Horrors, he headed straight for the police department. Half of what he said didn’t make sense, but they managed to piece together something about the mother of his child being totally strung out and unresponsive, and his daughter was missing, and demons were frickin’ everywhere. “Demons everywhere” is usually code for “Holy crap, everybody has gone nuts in that crack house” so they loaded up their gear and came. They made Seth wait outside while they came in and found me sobbing over Cecilia’s boyfriend, who had overdosed on heroine. Poor little me, I was absolutely traumatized by seeing death so up close and personal, they thought. They carted Reed Taylor off and took Sparkles away in an ambulance. Then they turned their attention to Seth and me. Good, hard
Nameless: The Darkness Comes Chapter Fifty
CHAPTER FIFTYI opened my eyes and gasped. The stabbing between my shoulder blades was too much to take. Every nerve was raw, a silver blade raked down each centimeter of skin. It felt right somehow, like hitting somebody on the head and killing them felt right, like running your car into a retaining wall felt right.“Let me die let me die let me die!” I screamed. I writhed on the floor, trying to cover my head and curl my body into a protective ball.“I have you,” Reed Taylor shouted to me over the noise. Wind roared and howled. No, not wind. The Tip-Toe Shadow. The shadow and somebody else.Mouth.My eyes were rolling up in my head. Reed Taylor gently shook me.“Luna, stick with me. I have to tell you something, okay? Okay?”My lips were pulled back from my teeth and my body convulsing from the agony, but I struggled to meet his gaze, blinked.He tried to smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Baby, I’m sorry. About everything. All of it. But I have to tell you something very
Nameless: The Darkness Comes Chapter Forty-Nine
CHAPTER FORTY-NINEIt hurt me to see the ones I loved damaged like this. Seth chased away, Reed Taylor broken, Mouth angry and helpless. All of these people brought together involuntarily because they cared about me in one way or another. Each, in their own way, only wanted to help.“Luna,” Mouth said, and he sounded worried. “Why are you looking at me like that? What are you thinking?”I reached for his hand, smiled. I ran my fingers down his cheek. “Thank you for everything, Mouth. I hope you know how special you are to me.”“Luna,” he said warningly, but I had already turned to Reed Taylor. “Reed Taylor, I . . . ”There wasn’t anything more I could say. His wild hair, his gorgeous greens that had gone frightened and worried and were now narrowed with resolve. He was perfect. He was my everything. How can you explain that to someone?“I love you,” I said simply, and then I turned to the Tip-Toe Shadow. “Demon!” I screamed and spread my arms wide. “Taste The Mark! I invite you i
Nameless: The Darkness Comes Chapter Forty-Eight
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHTMouth wasn’t happy. I could tell it by his wispiness. I could tell it by the way his mouth set itself into a firm line.I didn’t care.“Dolly, dolly,” sang the Tip-Toe Shadow, and he ran his long fingers down my hair, twisted them around my neck. They went around several times.“Can . . . can you let Reed Taylor go now, please?”I wanted to sound strong, but the feel of those dark fingers on my skin made my mouth go dry.“Reed Taylor, where is Lydia?”“There’s magic in the water.”Reed Taylor’s voice but not his words. I reached for him, but the demon pulled us further away.“No, dollies. Bad dollies.” He shook us, and I choked, grasping at my neck. Mouth clenched his fists but did nothing.“Hey, knock it off,” I hissed as soon as I had my voice back.The Tip-Toe Shadow giggled. “You want to talk to the puppet? Hear what the puppet has to say? Okay. Okay okay. Oh, it will make you cry. Big, soft, sad tears, and I will lap them from your face, and I will b
Nameless: The Darkness Comes Chapter Forty-Seven
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVENSeth was crouched over somebody on the floor. My heart sunk. It’s Reed. It’s Reed. It’s Reed.“It’s Sparkles,” Seth said, checking her pulse and breathing. She looked like she was barely conscious. Her demon twined around her arms and legs. “I heard her moaning in the back room.”I narrowed my eyes at the sight of her and spit on the ground. “What’s she doing here?” My eyes widened. “Wait, if she’s here, where’s Lydia? Is she here too?”Seth shook his head. “I didn’t see her. I looked everywhere.”I knelt by Sparkles, tried to make her eyes focus. “Sparkles! Where is Lydia? Lydia?” Her eyes rolled. I slapped her in the face, but she didn’t even react. Even her demon was moving slower than usual.What was going on here? Suddenly I had a thought. I yanked up the sleeve of her shirt. Fresh track marks. She was using. Disgusted, I let her arm fall to the ground with a thud.“You’re useless,” I spat. “You’re a waste of a person and a mother. You deserve everything
Nameless: The Darkness Comes Chapter Forty-Six
CHAPTER FORTY-SIXSeth opened the door from the inside.“I don’t see him,” he whispered. “I thought maybe he’d come to investigate the window.”I stepped inside and was immediately assaulted by the stench of rotting meat. Flies buzzed around the room in a swarm, blackening the broken window.“Ugh,” I said and covered my nose with my hand.“What? What is it?” Seth peered around me anxiously. “What do you see?”Something that looked suspiciously like entrails hung from the walls. Spider webs made out of skin covered the ceilings. I noticed my feet soaking in the familiar, bloody carpet.“I see a slaughterhouse. How about you?”He touched the walls gingerly. “This wallpaper is atrocious, but that’s the worst of it. That’s it. It’s not real, Luna. Let’s go.”I nodded and removed my hand from my nose. If it isn’t real, it isn’t real.A small boy swam through the air. He kicked his feet and splashed in nothingness. His dark eyes ran over Seth curiously.“Soul surfer?” I asked and
Nameless: The Darkness Comes Chapter Forty-Five
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVEThe sun was starting to rise by the time we bailed out of the hospital.“I am so tired,” Seth told me. He yawned as he got into the car. “I can’t wait to go to bed.”“Spill,” I demanded. “You said I wasn’t astute about Reed Taylor. What was I missing?”“Cripes, Luna. You sure you want to do this? You’ll be wound up, and we’ll never get any sleep.”I grabbed the lapels of his shirt and yanked him halfway out of his seat. “Seth Masterson, if you don’t tell me right this minute, I swear I’ll . . . ”“He was high, okay? He was high. Or coming down from it. That’s why he couldn’t bring you in or risk the ambulance. They would have known.My fingers went slack. Seth pulled himself gently out of my grip. “Listen, maybe now isn’t the time to talk about it. We already have a lot on our plates, and there’s nothing you can—”“He’s using again.”“Looks like it.”“After being clean for so long.”“It happens. I’m sorry, Luna.”“Because I broke up with him?”He shrugge
Nameless: The Darkness Comes Chapter Forty-Four
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR“Oh, Luna,” Reed Taylor said and squatted down beside me. I was too dazed to move. I noticed the blood running from my face and soaking into the porous stone steps. Nice color, good body. I wasn’t as iron deficient as I had told the counselor.“Sorry,” I tried to say, but the word came out funny.Reed Taylor cupped my face gently, turning it tenderly this way and that. I closed my eyes.“I haven’t seen you attacked on the street like this before,” he said finally. I missed his hands when he pulled them away.“They usually don’t . . . ” I stopped talking, tried to touch my mouth. The mere thought of my own searching fingers made me cringe, and I blinked tears out of my eyes.Reed Taylor stood up. “You need to go to the hospital. Is Seth home? I’ll give him a call, tell him to pick you up.”“Can’t . . . you take me?”My words were slurred. I suddenly felt very tired and cold. I shivered, and Reed Taylor looked away.“I can’t,” he said. “And I can’t have an amb
Nameless: The Darkness Comes Chapter Forty-Three
CHAPTER FORTY-THREEMy thoughts were going wild as I drove to Reed Taylor’s house. Anubis had very nearly stolen my soul as well as breaking my face, and I was still cursing myself for that. I had misjudged him. I thought about Seth’s confession about the Tip-Toe Shadow, and my eyes narrowed. I had misjudged everything.Well, if I was so great at misjudging, perhaps I had misjudged Reed Taylor.I pulled into his driveway and felt like pulling right out again. His house was perfect. His lawn, although more overgrown than I had ever seen it, was a thing of beauty. The flower bed was blooming with more flowers and . . . wait, are those actually weeds? Real weeds dared to invade Reed Taylor’s yard? Suddenly, every sense was alert. I slammed the car door and scanned the area. Something creepy and relatively harmless hovered around the backyard, yes, but that wasn’t alarming. But weeds? And the too-long grass? For such a cool, laid-back guy, Reed Taylor usually kept things surprisingly ti
