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  And then, with no warning, the banshee wailing came s-c-r-e-a-m-i-n-g back into Gabe’s head.

  The jolt was much greater than it had been in the canyon. The sound louder. Higher-pitched. Sharper, like red-hot needles jabbing in his brain. Again and again and again. Somewhere a small part of him realized that the strangled screaming was coming from him, and the warm, sticky fluid he felt on his hands, that was his too. Father Simon had known he was going to die, and here he was, about to go into the final fade.

  Stella, who had been sticking to him like they were Velcroed together, staggered away as she saw Gabe, face contorted and gargoyled, bent double, hands to his ears, blood leaking through his fingers.

  It was the sight of her horrified, wide-eyed expression that snapped something inside Gabe and gave him access to a core strength he never knew he possessed. This Rafael, this dead-priest-walking, wherever he came from and however he’d got here, was not simply going to trample all over him like he was no more than dirt on the ground, and then discard his lifeless husk.

  Not going to happen.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Summoning up what felt like an almost superhuman degree of control, Gabe forced himself to ignore the pain, push it away and stand straight, legs apart. It was the hardest thing he’d ever done. Hands clenched tight, the outward expression of the huge effort he was making to stop himself from falling apart, he stared back at Rafael, looked straight into the heat of his dark, burning eyes.

  Father Simon believed he, Gabriel Mason, had somehow brought this evil back to life, dragged it here from whatever hell it had been sent to centuries ago.

  Father Simon believed he’d prayed and his prayers had been answered in the shape of the thing now just a few metres away from him. And Gabe had, for a moment, believed it could be true, got sucked right into Father Simon’s story.

  But it wasn’t his story.

  He could see now how it had to be. Wavering like a candle near an open window, the dim light of revelation illuminated the truth. He had to believe in his own story or he was lost. Gone.

  Instead of giving in, Gabe did the opposite and went on the attack.

  “I don’t believe in you, in any of this!” Gabe fumbled inside his T-shirt and grabbed at the cross, yanking it so hard it felt like a red-hot knife slicing across the back of his neck.

  He held up his fist, defiant, the cross dangling from its broken chain, and threw it at Rafael. The intricate tangle of fine gold links and the cross they were attached to seemed to float through the air between them. A twisting, snake-like arc of precious metal and symbolism. Gabe followed after it, fists flying. All the pent-up anger that he’d kept tamped down for days now rose up to the surface and boiled over. He’d been scared for far too long. It wasn’t his fault that he’d stumbled on the skeleton, found the gold and taken it to help his family out of some bad times!

  Not! His! Fault!

  Gabe punched Rafael’s stunned face. He could feel his knuckles as they hit bone, saw the astonishment in those coal-dark eyes, watched blood drops fly lazily from the man’s mouth. Every punch hurt Gabe too, sent shockwaves of pain buzz-sawing through him, but he couldn’t stop. He would die before he stopped. This close to the man the air around them became feverishly, suffocatingly hot, the smell of old earth overpowering, but through it all there was just one thought ringing, clear as a bell in Gabe’s head. Kill him!

  In between punches Gabe saw Rafael’s look of surprise and disbelief change, and figured he was about to begin fighting back. Gabe was expecting to have to fend off a rain of iron-fisted jabs, which didn’t come. Instead his opponent dismissively pushed him away, then stepped back and pointed at him.

  “It doesn’t … matter to me … what you believe…” Rafael’s chest was heaving, his words punctuated by deep, rattling breaths, making him sound so very old. “We … are … connected, acolyte…”

  Gabe stood, unsteady on his feet, puzzled. Why wasn’t Rafael fighting? What was he saying? What did he mean, connected?

  “No.” Gabe shook his head, tiredness soaking through him. “No, we’re not.”

  “Denial is pointless … you came to me, you found me … you do believe and you are the first of so many more … the first disciple!”

  “No…” The voice was in Gabe’s head. Again. He hadn’t realized at first, but Rafael’s lips weren’t moving. The man was right, denial was pointless. There was a connection. And he had made it possible, he had allowed this wicked, corrupt monster to breathe again. To breathe and become more and more powerful with every breath.

  “Gabe?”

  Gabe glanced to his right, shocked to see Stella brandishing a wrought-iron poker in both hands… The second coyote had made an appearance and Stella was making like Xena and fending off both of them with the poker.

  “Gabe, what’s happening? Why are you just standing there, looking at him?”

  “You cannot break this.” In front of him Rafael smiled, eyes hooded, his top lip curled back. “Bring me what is mine. All of it. I have work to complete, a mission to accomplish!”

  The next chunk of time – minutes, possibly a lot of minutes, Gabe had no idea how many – went by in a total blur.

  Rafael was there when he turned towards Stella and the coyotes, and he had disappeared when he looked back. In his place, Stella was now standing in front of him, frowning, concerned. She shook him gently, then she too was gone, between one blink and the next, only to return with a damp cloth, which she started wiping his face and hands with.

  The room filled with all kinds of people, some he recognized, like Janna’s parents, most he didn’t. It was chaotic, everyone talking at the same time, some crying, a few shouting, some in uniform, quite a number of them talking directly to him. At him. Gabe didn’t even try to make sense of what was going on. There were handshakes, and for some reason he couldn’t fathom, pats on the back. But Remy was there; little nosy Remy was hugging him, crying then not crying. There, alive and unhurt, with her pink Hello Kitty backpack, clutching his hand. And then they were walking down the driveway with Stella. Stella holding Remy’s other hand. He was with Remy in the back of the car, still gripping the crucifix and broken chain, then putting it in his pocket. Stella driving away from Janna’s house. And as she drove, the further down the road they got, it felt like the world finally came back into focus, sound synched with vision. Tuned in.

  “You were brave, Gabey.” Remy leant in close. “Everyone said.”

  “I don’t know about that.” Gabe gave his sister a hug.

  “You were,” Stella glanced back. “Believe me.”

  “Remy?” Gabe tried to sound as nonchalant as he could. “That little thing you borrowed from my room, yeah?”

  Remy, who could spot trouble coming a mile off, moved away from her brother slightly. “You had so much, and it was the littlest, Gabey, so I didn’t think you’d notice… And I only borrowed it, honest.”

  Gabe held out his hand. Remy dug into the front pocket of her pink Hello Kitty backpack and gave him the medallion.

  “Sorry, Gabey…”

  “It’s OK.” Gabe squeezed Remy’s shoulder. But no way was it OK, no way at all.

  There was a tap on his bedroom door, which Gabe knew would be his dad. He’d figured he wouldn’t be able to get away without some kind of confrontation about what had happened at Janna’s, and he supposed now was as good a time as any to have it. He had a story which, as Remy was asleep, no one would be able to check on straight away, so there was nothing left to do but get it over with.

  “Yeah?”

  The door opened and his dad came in, this time walking straight over and pulling up the ratty office chair Gabe had salvaged off the street a couple of years ago.

  “OK … you kind of freaked your mother out, earlier on.” His dad sat back, the old chair creaking. “You and Sarah rushing out of the house like that, no explanation.”

  “Stella.”

  “Sorry, Stella. And I know everything wo
rked out fine, Gabe, but what I don’t understand is how you knew there was anything going on at Janna’s in the first place?” His dad made a ‘beats me’ face.

  “It was a hunch.”

  “A hunch?”

  “Yeah…” Gabe shrugged, hoping he looked way more relaxed than he felt. “Like, there’s been some guy hanging round and I was, you know, worried?”

  Gabe’s eyes flicked from his dad to his laptop screen and back. He was going to have to take a risk now, and hope it worked out.

  “Remy saw him too.”

  His dad stiffened. “Did you tell the cops this?”

  “I guess so…” Gabe rubbed his eyes with his knuckles and shook his head. “I guess I did, I don’t remember. It’s all, you know, kind of like a blur? What I did and what I said?”

  “Sure, I understand.” Gabe’s dad reached over and patted his knee. “A bit of a shock, right?”

  Too right, Gabe thought, smiling lamely and nodding.

  His dad got up. “You did good, Gabe, real good… You must be tired.”

  “Yeah…” No argument there.

  “End of the day, all that matters is that you’re both fine.” His dad went to the door. “Crazy world out there… See you tomorrow, OK?”

  “Sure, dad,” Gabe said, thinking, You have no idea…

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Gabe looked back at his house, then walked over to the Toyota where Stella was waiting for him. He felt exhausted, but no surprises there as he hadn’t slept that well, and he’d had to get up earlier than he’d wanted so that he could have time to talk to Remy before Stella came. If she was asked, Remy had promised – cross her heart and hope to die – to say she’d seen a strange man, and that she’d told him about it. In return, Gabe had had to swear to be nice to her forever, and buy her a present. His little sister drove a hard bargain.

  “Thanks for doing this, Stella.” Gabe felt back for his seat belt, found it and put it on. “I cannot believe last night, and I cannot believe you are here, driving my sorry bones around, my bike still in the back of your car. Sorry about that… Sorry about everything.”

  “A girl’s gotta do.” Stella started the car. “You have to get that medallion to Father Simon, and this is the quickest way it’s going to get done.”

  “After everything you saw? I figured you’d drop me and Remy off and that’d be the last I’d ever see of you. Really.” As Stella drove away from his house Gabe leant forward. He stared at the dashboard and massaged his temples while he talked. “I mean the whole school thing – breaking in? That was big, but it was kindergarten compared to what happened at Janna’s. I don’t even remember a half of what went on there, which, considering what I do remember, is probably a good thing.”

  He glanced at Stella. “I mean, really? I was sure there was no way I was gonna get off this thing lightly, but all I got was my dad wondering how I knew something was going on at Janna’s.”

  “What did you tell him?”

  “Made some shit up about seeing some guy hanging round.”

  “He bought it?”

  “Uh-huh,” Gabe nodded.

  Stella slowed to a halt at a junction. “Do you always go to such lengths to make yourself seem interesting on a first date?”

  Gabe looked at her, amazed. First date?

  “I gotta say –” Stella turned right – “you really freaked me out, the way you looked when that guy – what did Father Simon say his name was?”

  “Rafael.”

  “Right… When he came into the room with the, you know…”

  “Coyote?”

  “Yeah. Teeth on legs. I thought you were going to, I don’t know what I thought… It was like you’d gone totally catatonic? But you were amazing, especially when the cops came to Janna’s house. No panic, just went with the flow, didn’t say too much of anything and let people make their own minds up about what’d gone down. Genius. Let them have it whichever way they want, whatever way makes sense to them.”

  “What did you say when they asked you about what happened?”

  “Nothing. Acted all girly, cried a bit and took care of Remy. They left me alone.”

  “OK…” Gabe smiled.

  “I can do ‘all girly’ when I need to!” Stella punched Gabe’s arm lightly. “And now you have to tell me, now there’s just the two of us, what was going on with you and that weirdo? The bleeding, and your face? I mean you looked like you were screaming, but no noise – and all the intense staring, after you’d been trying to bust each other’s faces apart? Man, that was so bizarre.”

  Gabe quit looking at Stella and stared out of the car window. Bizarre wasn’t the half of it; he figured the only reason he hadn’t been hauled off to a Psych Ward somewhere was that he didn’t have the energy to have a meltdown. But what was he supposed to tell her? The truth? Oh right. That was going to see him get a second date.

  “Just tell me, Gabe. How bad can it be?”

  Gabe glanced at Stella and then looked out of the window again. “Oh, I don’t know, pretty bad.”

  “Come on, no secrets.”

  “I’m hungry, you know?”

  “Don’t change the subject.”

  “I can’t be totally honest on an empty stomach, and I mostly skipped breakfast.”

  Stella pointed at the dash. “Emergency peanut M&M’s stash is in the glove compartment.”

  “Cool.” Gabe opened the packet, lodged it in the central console and took a handful. This was it. “So, the thing of it is, I can hear him, that guy Rafael? I can hear him in my head, Stella. Right inside my head. He talks to me. And I can, you know … talk to him. He told me we were connected. And the creepiest thing? D’you remember how I described him?”

  Gabe could see the expression on Stella’s face change.

  “Yeah, I do… You said he was an old guy.”

  “Right, and now he’s a lot younger than the first time I saw him.”

  In the silence that followed, Gabe’s imagination ran around doing somersaults, constructing all the different ways Stella could/would/should react to what he’d said. None of them very positive.

  “OK, right … that is certifiably weird.” Stella took some M&M’s. “So did he say anything else?”

  “You don’t think any of this means I’m insane?”

  “Yeah, sure, it sounds crazy, but if you say that’s what happened, I believe you. I saw something going on between the two of you, and actually what you just told me is about as logical an explanation as anything else I can think of right now. Kinda fits with the rest of the scenario, right?”

  Gabe took a handful more candy, wondering at this girl’s ability to stay calm in the face of a crisis; OK, so it was his crisis, his head that had been invaded by The Insane Undead Creature from the Canyon, but still, there were no visible signs she was freaking out. “He said I couldn’t break the connection, and that I had to give him back everything I’d taken. All of it, he said… Give him all of it.”

  “Don’t think that sounds like such a great idea, somehow. Leastways, that was the vibe I was getting from Father Simon.”

  “But what’s he gonna do with it? You know, the gold? Some sort of exorcism ceremony?”

  “No idea.”

  “D’you think he’ll have to do the same kind of thing with me, to break the connection with…” Gabe stifled a yawn, and blinked gritty eyes. “Sorry, I’m kinda blitzo…”

  “Not surprised. I wonder why he just left…”

  “Who?”

  “What was his name? The man, Rafael… Why’d he just up and leave like that?”

  “No idea…”

  “One minute he looked like he could spit bricks, the next he just walked out the house.”

  Gabe remembered what this Rafael person had said. Something about how he had come to him… ‘You came to me, you found me,’ that’s what he’d said. And then the man had repeated that he had to return everything.

  “Gabe?”

  “Sorry … I was just,
you know, thinking…”

  “And?”

  “And I think he didn’t kill me because he needs me.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  After there’d been no reply to ringing the bell or knocking, Stella tried the door to the rectory.

  “I don’t think it’s ever locked,” she said, turning the handle. The door swung open with hardly a sound, revealing a dark, empty hallway leading down to the Father’s study door at the end.

  For the third time Gabe found himself about to enter what appeared to be an empty house. But maybe it meant nothing. Maybe the Father was already over at the church doing a service, what did he know? He stood on the threshold, the possibility he might have to face another round of ear-bleeding brain damage making him about ready to throw up. But he knew there was no way he could let Stella go in alone. They had to find out if Father Simon was all right.

  “Father?” Stella walked into the hallway, reaching to her left and flicking on the hall lights. “Are you there?”

  Swallowing hard, Gabe followed her inside and closed the door. The click of the latch seemed oddly loud in the eerie quiet of the house. They went down the hall, it felt in slo-mo, Gabe noting that the doors to each room they passed, two on either side, were shut. Which did not mean anything at all. He kept walking and as Stella reached for the study’s door handle he beat her to it.

  “I’ll go first…”

  Gabe stood in the doorway scanning the room, but there was no sign of Father Simon, dead or alive. The place looked exactly the way it had when he’d first walked in, just yesterday. The same, except for a number of open books on the Father’s desk, and more of the same, plus a yellow legal pad, piled on the low table. Research, old-school, pre-Google style, Gabe thought, then saw there was a closed laptop among the books.