CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Benny had stumbled onto some important clues that week. He was worried about the information he was uncovering.

"I have to go back to Salem," he said to Margo suddenly.

"Alright, but why?" Margo asked. She'd been extremely helpful to Benny, throwing herself into working on solving the mystery after her husband's death. He supposed that it was easier for Margo to find a sense of purpose in that mission than to dwell on her grief.

"The tomb is there, and something tells me that the key is as well."

"Do you really think so?" Margo asked. "If I was going to try to keep the tomb from being opened, I'd hide the key as far away from the tomb as possible."

"Well, look at this." Benny pointed to a paragraph in Latin.

Margo read the paragraph aloud in Latin before translating, "All things change, but energy can never truly be destroyed; it simply takes on a new form and becomes something else." She looked at Benny, puzzled. "Alright, what do you think it means?" She asked.

"The last passage we found implied that the key had been destroyed."

"Right... Do you think it's something other than a key now?"

"I think it could be anything."

"I suppose that's possible." Margo paused thoughtfully. "Benny, will you take me with you? To Salem?"

"Are you sure? I mean... With everything that just happened..."

"My husband died because of this mystery. I want it solved," Margo replied with determination. Benny couldn't help but admire her commitment to finishing what Gregory had started.

"Alright. I'll book us two tickets for tomorrow night," he agreed.

"Good." Margo smiled at him. "I think we're close to figuring the whole thing out."

"I think so, too," Benny agreed. Unfortunately, he suspected the closer they got to solving the mystery, the more danger they were in.

~*~

That night, Benny called home. Courtney picked up on the second ring. "Hello?" She answered.

"Hi, Baby," Benny greeted her.

"Daddy!" She cried in excitement. "How are you? I've been worried."

"Worried? I just checked in yesterday, Courtney," Benny replied with a laugh.

"And I've been worried ever since," she insisted.

"I'm fine, sweetie. In fact, I'm coming home tomorrow night," he reassured her.

"You are?" Courtney sighed in relief. "Thank the Gods! I'm so glad to hear that."

"To hear what?" Clarissa asked as she entered the room Courtney was in.

"Daddy's coming home tomorrow," Courtney informed her.

"Let me talk to him," Clarissa said.

"I love you, Daddy. I'll see you tomorrow," Courtney said. She handed the phone to her mother.

"Is it true?" Clarissa asked.

"Yes, I'm coming home," Benny replied.

"Good. I miss you so much, honey," Clarissa replied.

"I miss you, too. How has everything been?"

"Well, Courtney's been a nervous wreck since you've been gone, and Aideen's been angrier than usual, but other than that, it's going alright."

"And you, Clarissa?" Benny asked knowingly.

Clarissa sighed. "It's been strange without you, Benny. We haven't been apart this long since the twins were still babies."

"I know... Have Johnny and Danny been keeping an eye on you?"

"I can take care of myself, Benny," she reminded him, "but yes, they've both checked in on me multiple times a day since you left."

"Good. I know you're strong, but that doesn't mean you have to do everything by yourself."

"You're sweet to worry... Do you promise you'll be home tomorrow night?"

"Of course," he paused. "Is Deenie home?"

"Yes, she's upstairs. Do you want me to call her down?"

"Please. I need to talk to her."

"Okay. I love you, Benny. Don't start breaking promises now, okay?"

"I won't, Clarissa. I love you, too."

Courtney, having heard her mother's words, had run off to fetch Aideen. "Daddy's coming home tomorrow," Courtney said without preamble.

"Seriously?" Aideen asked in relief. "It's about time."

"He wants to talk to you."

"Alright..." Aideen replied, wondering if he had good news or bad news for her. She followed Courtney back downstairs and picked up the phone. "Hey, Dad. You're really coming home?" She asked.

"Yes, Deenie," Benny replied. "I'll be home by this time tomorrow night."

Relief flooded through Aideen, but almost instantly, she felt something troubling in the air. "Be careful, Dad," she said. "I have a really bad feeling."

"I'll be fine," Benny insisted. "Listen, Margo and I figured something out." He told Aideen about what they had discovered.

"Wow," Aideen said as she took the information in. "So you really think the key is in Salem?"

"Yes, I do. That's where it vanished from. Everyone assumed it was destroyed until a recent prophecy implied that the tomb would be opened."

"Dad... Be careful," Aideen said again.

"I will be, baby," Benny promised.

"I love you."

"I love you, too, Deenie," he said.

The doorbell rang. Clarissa entered the room Aideen again. "Arnie, Randy, and Cassandra are here, ready for another night of slaying," she informed her.

"Dad, I have to go," Aideen said. "I'll see you tomorrow." Even as she said the words, Aideen had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that they weren't true.

"Okay, Deenie. I'll see you then. Bye, baby."

"Bye, Dad." Aideen hung up and headed out with her friends, forcing herself to focus on her duties as a slayer.

~*~

Aideen was distracted all night, and it showed. Cassandra took her aside after a particularly nasty battle with a warlock that had nearly killed her. "Go home," she said. "Your head's not in the game tonight."

"You need me, Cass," Aideen protested.

"We need a slayer, not someone who's likely to get killed."

"I'd just come back to life," Aideen replied with a smirk.

"That isn't the point, Aideen! You're putting us all in danger by messing up."

"Go easy on her, Cassandra," Randy said. "We all have off nights sometimes."

"Yeah, she's just stressed out," Arnie added.

"Look, it's for her own good," Cassandra said firmly. "She's clearly exhausted and unfocused. A night off would be good for her."

Arnie looked at Aideen. "What's wrong?" He asked her.

"It's just that my dad called, and I got a really bad feeling," Aideen admitted.

"Is he okay?" Randy asked.

"That's the thing... He sounded fine, but I had this feeling like something really bad was coming. It almost felt like I'd never see him again."

"Your dad's tough, Deenie," Arnie said. "I'm sure he'll be okay."

"I hope you're right, Arnie." She stared at her shoes as she added, "I hate to admit it, but I'm kind of scared."

"That's all the more reason for you to go home, where you can try and relax," Cassandra said.

"Maybe you're right," Aideen admitted. Unfortunately, the option to leave vanished, as Aideen was suddenly grabbed from behind by a rotting hand.

"Zombies... Man, I hate zombies... Why is it always zombies?" Randy complained. He'd had a traumatic experience as a very young child when his grandfather had been raised as a zombie and had been ordered to kill him. Randy had never fully gotten over that, and he was still terrified of zombies because of it.

"Arnie! Get down!" Cassandra shouted. Arnie ducked out of the way as a zombie was about to bite him.

"Oh, gross, they're the flesh-eating variety!" Randy whined, sounding like he might start to cry any second.

"Thanks, Cass!" Arnie called.

"Aideen, can you lay all of them to rest on your own?" Randy asked nervously.

"I'm not sure," Aideen replied. "There are a lot of them here tonight and I'm not feeling so great... I'll try." She began laying the zombies to rest as quickly as she could manage without risking collapsing.

Three zombies suddenly grabbed onto Randy and held him between them. He struggled to fight them off as he panicked. The tallest of the three had rotted severely, which meant that he hadn't fed on flesh in a while. As a piece of his rotted flesh fell onto Randy's arm, he screamed in horror and disgust.

Aideen turned her attention to the three zombies that had attacked Randy. She started to lay them to rest, but another zombie came up behind her as she did it. He was carrying an ax. With one swift movement, the zombie decapitated her.

"Not again," Arnie complained as Aideen's body and severed head fell to the ground.

"Guys... We're screwed," Cassandra said. "None of us are necromancers. Without Aideen, the most we can do is hack them up, and you know the pieces will just keep coming after us... Unless someone has a lighter?"

"I left mine at home," Arnie admitted.

Cassandra cursed. She helped Randy get free from the zombies who were still holding him. The most rotten of the three collapsed. He hadn't gotten a snack in time and he was dead again.

Arnie hated being so close to Aideen when she was dead, but he knew that there was a chance that she had a lighter. After all, she was a pyromaniac. He searched her pockets and, sure enough, he found a lighter.

The zombies backed off for a moment when they saw the fire. Arnie looked at the zombies and pointed to them. "Zombies," he said. He pointed to the lighter. "Lighter." He grabbed one of the zombies and touched the lighter to its clothing. The zombie caught fire quickly. "Zombie flambé!" Arnie laughed hysterically as the zombie burned to ash.

"Arnie, stop clowning around and get the rest of them," Cassandra said as she examined Randy's arm. Randy had been injured in his struggle against the zombies, but it was nothing serious.

Arnie lit several of the zombies on fire. A lot of the others fled, but a few remained, watching what he was doing in horror.

Spencer and Jade appeared suddenly. "I had a bad feeling," Spencer explained.

"I sensed death," Jade added. She immediately set to work on putting as many of the corpses as possible to rest.

Spencer hurried to Aideen's side. "How long has she been down?" He asked Cassandra.

"Maybe ten minutes," Cassandra replied.

"Okay. We need her up faster than usual... Jade can't lay this many corpses to rest on her own. Only a Reaper could do this alone."

"How do we fix Deenie?" Randy asked softly.

"I'll do it. You guys watch Jade's back, and help Arnie." Spencer focused on Aideen's corpse. Using every bit of energy he could summon, he began pulling her back together.

"You can't reattach heads," Cassandra protested.

"No, but I can try and get Aideen to do that part," Spencer said, which was exactly what he was doing.

Aideen's soul responded quickly. She was in one piece and breathing two minutes later, and she regained consciousness a minutes after that.

"That hurt more than usual," Aideen complained.

"It was rushed. I'm sorry, but we really need your help," Spencer said, motioning toward the zombies.

"Wow, this is still pretty bad, huh?" Aideen asked.

"You weren't down for that long. Arnie's been torching them, but the ones that fled are still close. Jade's trying to lay them to rest, but no one can do this alone except for a Reaper."

"Where is Jade?"

"A few feet away from Arnie." Spencer pointed toward them.

"Alright, let's do this." Aideen allowed Spencer to help her stand before she joined Jade. Unfortunately, right before she reached her, Jade collapsed.

"Jade!" Spencer called. He barely caught her before she hit the ground.

"Get her out of here. I can handle this now," Aideen said firmly.

"Feed off of Arnie first," Spencer instructed. "You need the extra energy."

Aideen knew he was right, so she pulled Arnie aside, tossed her lighter to Cassandra, and bit Arnie's neck. Soon, she felt stronger, and she was not in as much pain. She began laying the zombies to rest, having no difficulty this time. When she was finished, the zombies were all back where they belonged. Aideen, Arnie, Cassandra, and Randy joined Spencer, who was still clutching Jade in his arms.

"Jade, don't die... Please don't die," Spencer whispered. He looked like he might cry.

Arnie put an arm around Spencer's shoulders. It scared him to see Spencer so shaken up when he was normally so stoic and in control of his emotions. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine," Spencer replied. "But she's not."

"What happened to her?" Randy asked.

"She sent out too much energy to try and put the zombies to rest. That kind of group usually needs a human sacrifice to raise them and another to lay them to rest. She didn't have one, so she just used her own energy... She was determined to save us, even if it killed her..."

"Which it won't," Alex said firmly, appearing behind Spencer and startling everyone. "Don't worry guys. I'll fix her." He took Jade into his own arms. Feeling how cold she was, Alex almost started to cry as well, but he fought the urge and won. "Come on, Kid... You're stronger than this. Come back to me," Alex said.

Jade began to shiver on his arms. "Cold..." She whispered. Her eyes were still closed.

"I know," Alex said soothingly. "It's okay, Kid. They're gone. It's over."

"So cold..." Jade said again.

"Get a blanket out of my car," Alex said to Randy, pointing toward the direction of his car. Randy left to go retrieve it. He returned a minute later. Alex wrapped the blanket around Jade tightly.

"Dad..." Jade whispered.

Alex held her tighter, trying to warm her up. "I'm here, Kid. It's okay..."

"What is she talking about?" Randy asked in confusion. "Why did she call Alex dad?"

"She's his soul's kid," Arnie explained.

"Yeah, her and about half of the East coast," Cassandra said, rolling her eyes. "Alex's soul gets around."

"You make it sound so dirty, Cass," Aideen said with a slight laugh. "Most of Alex's soul's kids come from merging energy with someone else, not traditional methods."

"It's still true that he has a ridiculous amount of offspring," Cassandra replied.

"Dad... I'm so cold..." Jade said again. She opened her eyes then, and there was something gentle about her. She seemed vulnerable, and suddenly, Spencer knew that Arnie was right. This tough New Yorker was actually an incarnation of his soul's fiancée.

Her eyes, Spencer thought. I know those eyes.

"It's over, Kid. You're safe," Alex said. Jade seemed to become fully aware suddenly. She looked at Alex and gasped.

"Oh crap... You're my soul's father..." Jade whispered.

"Guilty," Alex replied.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jade demanded.

"You have parent issues and I didn't want you to assume I was a bad guy," Alex explained.

Part of Jade wanted to pull away, but a bigger part wanted to stay in the protection of Alex's arms. She ignored the latter urge and pulled away from him quickly. She tried to stand up and nearly collapsed. Aideen caught her.

"Careful," Aideen said. "You used way too much energy tonight. Walking isn't going to happen on your own right now."

Spencer gently took Jade into his arms. She looked into his eyes and she couldn't bring herself to pull away. She recognized him, too, now. "I'll take her home," Spencer said.

"Alright," Alex said. "If you're okay with that, Jade?"

"Yeah," Jade replied, trying not to freak out as she realized the truth about her connection to everyone. "It's fine." She gave Alex the blanket and allowed Spencer to support her as they walked away.

"Okay, so, you kids have some explaining to do," Alex said when Spencer and Jade were out of sight. "What happened?"

Cassandra told him about the various events of the night. "Maybe this was why you had a bad feeling," Randy suggested to Aideen. "Part of you knew you were going to die."

"That doesn't explain why I felt like I'd never see my dad again," Aideen argued.

"Maybe it's because you would have stayed dead if Spencer hadn't pushed you to come back... I don't know," Randy admitted.

Aideen shrugged. "I guess that could be it." She still had her doubts, but did not dare express them aloud. Nothing could happen to her father, because the thought was simply too terrible to allow. Besides, Randy had a valid point. His explanation was certainly possible, and it was better to listen to logic than jump to conclusions.

Dad's fine, she told herself. This time tomorrow night, you'll be able to give him a hug, and you'll feel silly for worrying so much.