The Haunting

Chapter Four

I stood there with a scowl on my face. What did the Pack want with me? I was just a little necromancer. Granted I had what were apparently vast amounts of power, but, still. Besides that I really didn't have any benefits he would want. I was a necromancer, and he was a werewolf. I could see absolutely no reason to capture me.

"You see my dear Chloe, you and your little army can't stop anyone. And, yes, we have been tracking you for a long time so we know that you are planning on stopping us, well them anyways, they just hired us."

"T-they? W-w-who are th-they?"

"They being the Cabal's, of course. You know how hard they were looking for you, right? You see they were having . . . issues finding you. So they contacted us, because we are the best at tracking," he gave me a knowing look, "and we were to find you and turn you in blah, blah, blah." He waved his hand in a circle motion while moving his eyes in a large rotation. Any other time I would have laughed at a villain dissing another villains plan, but I my nerves were stretched so far right now, you could see through them.

"W-w-w-where's D-Derek?" I asked nervously. I needed to know that he was okay.

"Derek? Oh, your boyfriend? Yes, he is in containment, for . . . certain reasons."

What? What reasons could they have for locking Derek up? Oh, right. Duh, he probably tried to escape or something. He must be insane with worry about Simon right now.

"W-w-well, a-are y-y-you gonna t-t-turn us i-i-in?"

"Well, sweet child. I was going to turn you in, but now that I've seen the extent of your powers I feel the need to experiment. And, trust me. If you are as powerful as they've said, you should be a good test subject. Do you know how hard it really is to raise a zombie, Ms. Saunders? It takes days of preparation to raise a zombie, and when it happens it requires such a force as to knock you out for a couple of minuets. Only the most powerful of necromancers can rise the dead. Do you know what the standard age for necromancers to raise the dead is, even if they have the power?"

I shook my head.

"At least the age of forty five." I stared at him in shock. I was starting to feel faint.

"And even then, most need a great many things to raise them. You can raise them by trying to summon. That is so delightfully messed up. Don't you think?"

I stared at him in horror. He was going to experiment on me? With what? How? I shuddered at the mental images. Me, with wires stuck in my brain. Me, with a vacant expression, a living zombie, a vegetable. Or worse yet, me, as a real zombie, brought back to life by the demented necromancers that I read all about at Lyle House. And, I was even more of a freak than I thought before.

He seemed to know what I was thinking, because he said, "Oh, no, not those kinds of experiments. Just so--. No, you'll see later. And you are not a freak, you are special." And forgive me for saying this but, he gave me a wolfish smile.

I'm pretty sure I passed out right after I said, "Is Derek gonna be experimented on too?" and he nodded.

Ah, floating. There is nothing better than the feeling of floating, except maybe flying, and I was in the perfect place. All peace, and no worries. Hakuna Matata. I was drifting over a house I didn't recognize this time though. It was a large brick building, with nice cozy feeling to it. I think it was a Tudor.

"I don't remember this house. Why did I imprint on it?"

A sly voice chuckled menacingly. It gave me the chills. "That is the house you saw your first ghosts in, don't you remember, Chloe? You were so afraid of the basement you forever left your imprint on this place."

"No, I-I-I d-don't remember," I replied quietly.

"Mrs. Hobb, the one who always scared you? Mrs. Miller and Mr. Drake? The man behind the furnace? You don't remember?"

"I . . . I think I do remember," I said. Flashes swept me up. A face blackened with glittering teeth. A purple face that swung. Kindly people who asked me whether people had colonized the moon, or called me Mary. They kept flashing before my eyes. Mrs. Hobb an old lady who enjoyed scaring me, her face would blacken and she would burn before my eyes, while still keeping those glittering teeth. I shrieked in terror. I put my hands in front of my eyes to stop the flow of images. "Stop!" I shouted. Then just like that the pictures stopped.

"I-I-I r-remember n-n-now. I h-had a dr-dr-dream about Mrs. Hobb on the day of my first, ah," I stumbled over my words.

"Yes, yes on the first day of becoming a true necromancer," he answered coldly.

"Why? Why would I need to remember that?"

"No reason. I just like to hear you scream." I woke up.

I liked to think that I was in just a regular room, but I watch cop shows. Like Lie To Me. They could see my every move right now. Just because I couldn't see them, doesn't mean they can't see me. I started to panic because I know they saw it won't be long and shizz like that but, I was a test subject right now. I was in for the long run.

Adrian entered the room with a man I didn't recognize. He was stout and stocky without being chubby, and he had that kind of face that told you he smiled often. His eyes were a shocking shade of blue, and he had dark curling hair. In short he was cute. But not cuter than Derek, I assured myself. "Chloe, this is Ash Drake. He is a shaman. This is part of your test."

Ash came in the room, looked around confidently, and strode over to the other empty chair. He looked at me with those intense eyes of his and he flashed me a Colgate worthy smile. He looked around once more then looked back at me. I could tell he was one of those people that know they look good, so they flaunt it. Quite frankly, I disliked people like that in general because they thought they were the coolest things ever.

"So Chloe I hear a lot about you." He said it with a purr in his voice. God, he looked about as slimy as his voice sounded. "I've never heard of you before."

"Yes, I know." Crap, I was trying to deflate his ego, and it wasn't working. I glared at him.

"According to Adrian I am supposed to teach you how to be a shaman." I gasped.

"What?"

"You heard me."