Chapter 4

Maria stood up quickly, nearly knocking her chair over. She left the table, and then the cafeteria as she tried to escape what Reaper said, wishing it wasn't true. Taylor ran after her, not sparing anyone else a glance.

Chris frowned. "What's her problem?"
"She's half wraith," Alex told him, making sure to keep his voice down.

"Who was messed up enough to marry a wraith, much less have a kid with one?"

Alex sighed. "They're shapeshifters, idiot. I thought you would've know that."

Chris pulled a face. "I don't know, everything."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Obviously."

Reaper laughed at the two. "Stop arguing."

Both immediately shut up.

Reaper nodded. "Thank you. Now, Chris, do you know who's leading them?"

Christopher shook his head. "No. Ava keeps very mum on that subject, though Alfred seems to have no trouble knowing who she's talking about."

Alex snorted. "You mean your own uncle doesn't trust you enough to tell you?"

"My 'uncle', as I am loathe to call him, hates me. Specifically he hates my guts."

Alex just looked away. "Sorry."

"It's okay. I don't like him either."

Alex let out a sort of strangled chuckle.

Chris gave him an odd look. "What's funny?"

"Nothing, really. It's just, what you said reminds me of my father."

"What he didn't like you?"

"No, he didn't like my younger brother."

"Why?"

Alex sighed. "He was an omega okay? Runt of the liter. Why all the questions?"

Chris shrugged, shifting Anthony on his lap. "Just curious. Where's your brother now?"

"Dead."

"Oh. I'm sorry-"

Alex shook his head. "He died of old age in two thousand nine. I wasn't surprised."

Chris blinked. "When did you die?"

"Nineteen forty-two. Now enough with the questions. What are we going to do about this war?"

Chris thought for a minute. "There's a band of . . .rebels. They've been trying to stop this war from starting, but seeing as the wraiths have infiltrated our government, it's kind of hard."

Reaper raised an eyebrow. "I though you didn't know wraiths were shapeshifters?"

Chris scowled. "I didn't know they all were. Anyway. Problem is I don't know where they are."

A short round man waddled past the table, flicking a piece of paper onto it. He clapped Chris on the shoulder before he waddled off. Chris looked confused, but picked up the paper anyway.

"Meet us at 176 Martin Street, Jonestown Mississippi at four p.m. today," he read aloud, his eyebrows knitting together, "Sincerely, T. Who's T?"

"Tomas," Reaper whispered.

Chris started, nearly dislodging Anthony. "Tomas Hart? You mean he actually exists?"

Reaper nodded. "Ava and Angie were on a mission to locate him. Their last report said that they were no closer to finding him."

"And we've just been handed his address."

Everybody stared at the piece of paper for several moments, without saying anything. Without warning, Reaper stood up and began to walk out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Chris called after him.

"To get the girls."

Chris nodded and let him go. Alex's eyes followed the ghost warily, something felt off about him.

Anthony leaned forward, so he was leaning on the table. "What's wrong, Alexander?"

Alex's eyes snapped to Anthony's. "Nothing. Why would you think something was wrong?"

"You obviously don't trust, Reaper."

Alex did say anything for a while. "I don't know what it is. I just don't think he's totally on our side."

Anthony cocked his head to the side. "What does it feel like?"

"It feels like he's hiding something from us."

Anthony smiled a little. "I get that feeling, too, don't worry."

Chris smiled at the two of them. "Glad you two are getting along."

Anthony nodded. "Yeah, me too."

Alex looked confused. "Why?"

"I think my sister likes you."

Alex looked down at the table, and didn't say anything. Anthony could see the blush spreading up his neck.

Reaper brought his cellphone to his ear as soon as he was out of earshot of the cafeteria. It rang two times before it was picked up.

"Hello?" a male voice answered.

"Bill?"

"Yes?"

"It's me, Reaper."

The voice was silent for a minute. "No kidding."

Reaper rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I know where Tomas is."

"What? How?"

"I pretended to befriend Christopher and the others-"
"You already were friends with Christopher."

"-And this short fat guy walked by and just handed us the address."

"What is it?"

"176 Martin Street, Jonestown Mississippi. We're to meet there at four o'clock."

Reaper could hear Bill smile through the phone. "Thank you, Simmons. You've done a good job."

"You're welcome."

Just as Reaper put his phone in his pocket, Maria and Taylor came walking around the corner. Maria, he noted looked a lot better now.

"I just text you a few minutes ago. Did you not get it?"

Maria pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Nope, sorry."

Reaper shook his head. "It's okay. We're heading out now."

Taylor's head shot up. "Where are we going?"

"Jonestown. It's about a two hour drive, and we have to meet some people there by four."

"Who?"

Reaper smiled at them. "It's not something we can talk about in the hospital."

Both girls nodded and walked back into the cafeteria behind Reaper. Taylor's eye flicked to Christopher. "Is he coming with us?"

Reaper chuckled. "Yes, Chris is coming with us."

"Why?"

"Because Anthony wants him to."

Taylor looked conflicted; not sure if her brother's happiness was worth her own discomfort. Apparently Anthony won out; Taylor's shoulders slumped and she let out a defeated sigh.

Christopher looked at the trio as they neared the table. "We ready to go?"

All three nodded and the three at the table sat up. They made to leave when Ava walked in. They all just stared at each other and the six quickly made their way through the door and out of the hospital.

Maria, Taylor and Alex got into Alex's car and Reaper, Anthony, and Christopher got into Christopher's car.

"So, Alex, what do you think is going on with Reaper?" Maria asked, leaning in between the front seats.

"I don't know. Trust me, something is not right with him. I've been around long enough to know when someone is not with you one hundred percent."

"You think he's still working for my dad?"

Alex shrugged. "I don't know. He's not giving us many hints, he just feels wrong."

Maria nodded. "Okay. And from this point until we reach Jonestown we won't talk about this war stuff. Agreed?"

Her companions nodded and parroted back, "Agreed."

Taylor shifted in her seat to look straight at Alex. "How do you know that dude at the meeting?"

Alex's eye flicked to her. "Robert?"

Taylor nodded.

"I raised him."

Maria leaned forward again. "This sounds interesting."

Alex rolled his eyes and looked at Maria in the mirror. "You girls are too curious."

Taylor laughed. "Come on, just tell us."

Alex smiled. "Okay. It was nineteen- sixty-nine; I had been dead for twenty-seven years. I was wondering around in Saint Louis, and I was passing by an alley way when I heard crying. I walked into the alley and there was a baby next to a dumpster. It wasn't very old, and it had been there for a little while, but I nursed him back to health, and I found out he was a vampire within about four minutes."

Taylor looked distraught. "Who would leave a helpless baby alone like that?"

"Vampires. They don't care about their children like other species do. It also helps that vampires are tougher than others, even as children, so they'll survive longer on their own as babies. It's cruel, but it's gone on for thousands of years, so there isn't much anybody can do," Alex explained.

Taylor looked horrified. "Won't they try to do anything?"

Maria shook her head. "Taylor, somethings just aren't' worth fussing over."

"And this is one of those things?"

Alex and Maria both nodded sadly. Neither liked the way vampires worked, but there wasn't anything either could do about it. Especially not then, considering the circumstances.

"Okay, let's change the subject. Again. We need to stay away from uncomfortable topics," Alex suggested.

Taylor nodded, and Maria sat back in the seat. They lapsed into comfortable silence, and Taylor watched the fields pass by. When they reached the first hill taking them out of the Delta, Taylor smiled and leaned forward in her seat. She hadn't been out of the Delta since her death and was therefore curious to see if she could. She let out a whoop of excitement when they went over the hill and she was still there.

Alex smiled at her. "If you don't mind answering, Taylor, how did you die?"

Taylor looked down for a minute. "I'm not sure how I died. I'm not sure if this is normal for ghosts, but after I died, I wasn't aware of anything real until my funeral."

Alex looked startled. "That's not normal. I remember looking down at my body. It was terrifying."

Taylor didn't say anything, just sat back in her seat and watched everything flash by once more. About twenty minutes later Maria fell asleep in the back, stretched out across the seats.

Chris watched Reaper quietly from the driver's seat. The ghost was sitting in the backseat, silently watching Christopher and Anthony interact in the front.

Reaper smiled when Anthony leaned across the middle and pecked Chris on the cheek. The older vampire smiled and let out a breathy laugh. Chris dropped one hand from the wheel and ran it through Anthony's blonde hair. Anthony laughed and moved back to his own seat.

"Why don't you two trust me?" Reaper asked, watching for the smallest reaction from the two vampires.

Anthony turned around and cocked his head to the side. "What d'you mean, Reaper?"

"I mean it's obvious that the two of you and the little ghostwolf don't trust me."

Chris sighed. "We're just worried that, because you used to work for people so ingrained in this war, you might not . . . totally be working with us."

Reaper leaned forward and brushed a hand over the back of Christopher's neck. "Do you really think that I would betray you?"

Chris pulled his head away from Reaper's and glared at him in the mirror. "I don't know what to think, Leo."

Reaper hmphed and sat back in the seat. "Fine."

No one in the car said anything for the rest of the trip.

Both cars pulled up to 176 Martin Street at exactly four in the afternoon. It was an unassuming house with a well-kept yard, blue picket fence, and a forest green front door. The house was painted sky blue and the shutters were a darker blue.

Chris stepped out of his car first and walked up to the door, the others following not far behind. Chris knocked on the door and it was immediately opened by a man in his late twenties with short sandy blonde hair and grey eyes.

"Christopher?" he asked in a gruff voice.

Chris nodded.

The man gestured to the others behind Chris. "Your company?"

Chris nodded again.

The man stepped aside and allowed the six of them into the house.

The inside of the house was just as immaculate as the outside, and bared no resemblance to it being the base of an underground rebellion. There were couches and tables, a television, a nice kitchen, and . . . a wolf?

Chris and Alex out right stared at the wolf that was curled up on the couch. The man who opened the door smiled and sat down next to the wolf.

"This is Broken," he said, patting the wolf on the head. "He's a werewolf, but he doesn't like his human form."

Taylor walked up to Broken and softly placed a hand on his side. "Hello, Broken."

Broken moved his head, so he could look Taylor in the eye. She gasped at his neon yellow eyes that widened a fraction as he looked at her. Broken licked one of her fingers, gaining him a disgusted groan from the man sitting next to him. Broken turned towards him and smiled wolfishly.

The man shook his head and turned to the group. "My name is Tomas Hart. I'm glad you made it here without much trouble."

Christopher smiled. "It's nice to meet you."

Reaper pushed Christopher aside. "How many people do you have in this rebellion?"

Tomas didn't look at him. "I would like to speak to you and your second in command in private, Christopher."

Chris nodded. "Of course. Come on, Alex."

Alex nodded and followed Chris and Tomas into the kitchen, where the door was shut behind them. The ghostwolf noted that Broken had followed them in and had shifted into human form, probably to give input into the conversation. Alex couldn't make out his features beside his yellow eyes because the hoodie he was wearing was covering his face.

Tomas turned around and faced Chris. "You are aware, I assume, that the bad tempered ghost in your midst is a traitor, correct?"

Chris looked at the floor. "We had our suspicions. He used to work for William Campbell, who I know is involved in this somehow."

Tomas studied Christopher's face for a while, before moving to study Alex. "How long have you people known of this war?"

Chris' head snapped up. "Not long. My uncle is a psychiatrist and one of his clients works for Campbell. She talks in code about it, so it took me a few of her sessions to realize that they were talking about war. I wasn't sure what to do, and I only mentioned it to these people a couple hours ago."

Broken glared at Chris from under his hood. How could he be so stupid as to not tell anybody that war was brewing? Were all vampires that stupid?

Tomas turned and looked at Broken. "Will you stop thinking so loud? It's grating on my nerves."

Broken shrugged and looked back at the floor.

Tomas shook his head and turned back to Chris. "Broken is a very loud thinker which makes it hard to be around him."

Chris looked surprised. "Loud thinker?"

Tomas nodded. "He tends to broadcast his thoughts loud and clear when he's in human form."

"How can you-?"

"Full-blooded wraiths can inherently hear the thoughts of other mildly telepathic species."

"You're a wraith?"

Tomas nodded. "Yes. Sorry to have not mentioned it."

"But, I thought-"

"Not all wraiths have an issue with their lot in life. I quite enjoy mine. War is something no one ever wants, especially the ones fighting it. The ones who began it don't care about the rest of us."

Chris looked at the floor. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Tomas smiled. "It's okay. Most of the rebellion doesn't know that I'm a wraith. If they knew they wouldn't follow me."

Chris nodded. "Are there only certain species in this thing?"

Broken looked up, his eyes flashing. "The rebellion is made up of a few hundred wraiths, all of the faeries, all of the angels, most of the wizards, about fifty werewolves, no demons, and as of today two vampires," he answered, voice gravelly from not being used. "As you, demons out number every other species put together."

"So we're screwed?" Alex asked.

Broken nodded.

Tomas sighed. "He's dramatic, but he's right. We're don't have much of a chance, but we have to do what we can."

Chris agreed. "Are you in any organized effort?"

Tomas shrugged. "Sort of. We have outposts all over the country and a few overseas. Each one is run by a wraith or a faerie, and they-"

There was a rap on the door leading from the kitchen to outside. Everybody turned to look at it, and Broken scowled at the figure standing there.

The man was tall and thin, with black hair that had yellow streaks going through it. He had dark thick rimmed glasses on, and was wearing a pair of dark wash skinny jeans and a yellow t-shirt that read "F*ck H8". He looked at Tomas imploringly.

Tomas nodded and opened the door. "What are you doing, Jeffery?"

Jeffery hoisted the bag he was carrying higher on his hip. "I was getting groceries and I forgot my key. So I came to the back, 'cause the door is always open, and I find you in here, with people I don't know, obviously having a meeting. Who are they?"

Tomas pulled Jeffery into the kitchen, and gestured to Chris. "This is Christopher Gore. He's from West Brooke." He then gestured at Alex. "This is Alexander Jamieson. He's originally from Chicago, but lives in West Brooke. They're part of the rebellion."

Jeffery grunted and started putting his groceries away. "That's lovely. Is Jake home yet?"

"No, he had after school detention today, remember?"

Jeffery slammed his hands on the counter, making Chris and Alex jump. "Why can't that boy do anything right?"

Tomas shook his head. "Why don't you go entertain the other members of their party, okay?"

Jeffery rolled his eyes, but did as he was told and left the kitchen. As soon as the door slammed shut behind Jeffery, Tomas slouched against the counter.

"He's the only grumpy faerie that I know," Tomas commented.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "He's a faerie?"

Tomas nodded. "Yeah, amazingly."

"He doesn't sparkle."

Broken chuckled. "He wears foundation to hide them."

Chris let out a snort of laughter.

Tomas smiled. "Okay, let's get back to . . ."

He trailed off when he heard something crash in the front room.

Broken morphed into his wolf form, as Tomas opened the door.

They found Jeffery pinning Reaper to the floor, whilst muttering something to keep him from going noncorporeal. Reaper was struggling to break the faeries hold, but Jeffery was much stronger than he look despite his small frame. Off to the side was Reaper's cell phone, the call he was on when Jeffery jumped him still going, though the other person had gone silent.

"Jeffery, explain," Tomas said, not wanting to read his best friend's mind.

Jeffery didn't look at Tomas. "He told them where we are."

Tomas furrowed his eyebrows. "He did what?"

"He told his boss, where to find us, Tomas. He works for Campbell. Get your stuff together and call Pegg, we need to leave. We'll pick up Jake on the way out of town."

"But, Jeffery-"

"Now, Tomas. We don't have much time."