Angered Seasons: Volume Three (You Mess With the Bull, You Get the Horns) Read online

  Angered Seasons

  Volume Three

  You Mess With the Bull, You Get the Horns

  Mireille Chester

  Copyright © 2012 by Mireille Chester

  Published by Mireille Chester

  Smashwords Edition

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any way, shape, or form without the express written permission of the author. For more information, please visit http://mireillechester.blogspot.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  You Mess With the Bull, You Get the Horns

  I must be dreaming, I thought. I gazed at my friends who were frozen in time. Lane was frowning, his hand still against his face where it had been running over his chin, a sure sign he was stressed. I knew that if he’d been able to move he’d be grinding his teeth. I took a deep breath and scoffed. He’d have a fit when he found out he’d been frozen. Alright. So, maybe the silver-eyed man wasn’t lying about being Time. Could he also be telling the truth about being Maxy’s father? And what about the bit about Mother Nature being Max’s mother? This whole situation was so farfetched I was getting a headache trying to process it all.

  “Gabby?” Max’s voice broke and he cleared his throat. I looked up at him and grew worried at how pale he was. I mean, even for Max, this was a drastic lack of color.

  “How are you holding up, Maxy?”

  He ran a hand through his blond hair and inhaled deeply, the silver of his eyes disappearing behind a curtain of light lashes. Father Time, Death, or whatever he was called cocked his head to the side.

  “Max?”

  Maxy’s eyes found his. “Don’t talk.”

  Time blinked in surprise.

  “You can’t just pile all this shit on me and then expect it all to be fine. It’s going to take some time to process. And cut the concerned father crap.” Max turned back to me. “We’re fucked.”

  I grunted my agreement.

  “Okay. You’ve made your point. Unfreeze them.” Max didn’t look at his newfound father as he spoke the words.

  Time gave a wave of his hand and the conversations that had been going on resumed as though they’d never stopped. Lane did a double take.

  “What the… How’d you end up there?” He ran his hands through dark hair, his cobalt eyes wide.

  “Daddy dearest needed to prove a point,” explained Max. “He froze time so we’d believe he was who he said he is.”

  Lane’s jaw clenched. “You froze us?”

  Time shrugged. “It had to be done. Now, you all need to leave.”

  Max scoffed. “And go where? Glade found me once, he’ll find me again. And that’s another thing that doesn’t make sense. When he was here, he tried to get me to remember. If I’m the only one who can stop this, then why would he do that? Why not just leave me alone and get the job done before I remembered?”

  “So, you remember?” Time looked hopeful.

  Max shook his head. “No. Not a thing. I’m just going on what the two of you have said.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t want to believe a word of it and even though it doesn’t make a stitch of sense, I just… it’s a little hard to deny after everything that’s happened.” He glanced at the door and swallowed hard. “Christ,” he whispered. “Lizzy would have shit if she’d heard this.” He looked down at the touch of Jenny’s hand on his arm. She smiled.

  “So what’s with the zombies?” inquired Jason.

  “They are Glade’s army,” explained Time.

  “But how? They’re humans. What’s he doing to them to turn them that way? I mean, are any of us going to catch it?”

  Time shook his head. “It’s not a disease. Terra has many beings who would serve her cause. In this case, it is the earth sprites doing her dirty work.”

  “Sprites?” John blinked. “Like the drink?”

  Everyone turned to gawk at him.

  “Yeah, Dude. That’s it. Mother Nature is using carbonated drinks to take over the human population.” Brent rolled his eyes and Grant snorted.

  Time looked at them impatiently. “Earth sprites. Small impish elves, if you will. Terra finds those who have fought for her cause and the sprites possess them in order to walk in this realm.”

  “And by those who have fought for her cause you’d mean like activists?” Jenny’s hand tightened on Max’s arm and he covered it with his own.

  Time nodded. “Activists, outspoken individuals who took a stand in order to protect the planet and its creatures.”

  Everyone turned to look at Lane.

  “Looks like you were right about the vegetarians,” muttered Max.

  Lane ran a hand over his face. “So how do we stop her?”

  The amused looks directed at him turned to those of shock.

  “It’s Mother Nature, dude.” Grant shook his head.

  The only one to look enthusiastic about the question was Time himself. “She can be stopped.”

  Max snorted. “She has elves taking over humans and a son that can kill us without touching us.” He fought the urge to glance at the door again.

  “All of this will depend on you,” stated Time. “Only you can stop this.”

  Max blanched and I put a hand on his arm.

  “You’ll need to eliminate Glade.”

  I blinked. “You want him to kill his brother?”

  “It will be one or the other. I’m assuming you want Max to live through this.”

  Max took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “What do I need to do?”

  Time smiled kindly. “First, you need to remember who you are. Once that happens, you’ll know what needs to be done.”

  Father and son blinked in unison. Max made his way to the door and opened it cautiously. A German Shepherd sat outside, his tail wagging at the sight of Max. Silver eyes met and held. Max frowned.

  “Brat?”

  The dog’s tongue lolled out of its mouth. Max ran a hand over his face and shook his head.

  “You’re name’s Brat and you’re here to help… and you just told me that in my fucking head.”

  Brat gave a happy yip and trotted into the shop.

  “I’ll be right back.” Max closed the door behind him, his fists clenched. Brat came to sit at my feet and all the rest of us could do was stare at him.

  “Well, I’ll leave you to it, then.” Time gave a nod and vanished into thin air.

  “What the fuck! He’s not going to help us?” Brent was so pale I thought he might pass out. Brat nudged his leg with his nose and whined. Brent squatted and put his arms around the thick, furry neck.

  “What did he say?” questioned Grant.

  Brent scoffed. “How the hell am I supposed to know? He’s a dog.”

  “He’d better be house trained,” mumbled John, “cause I sure as shit am not picking up after him.”

  Brat turned his head in John’s direction, a low growl rumbling through him.

  Brent laughed. “Dude, he’s here to help. Don’t insult him.” Some color returned to his face as he smiled and he stood, giving Brat’s head one final pat.

  We all turned as the door opened and Max returned, his chest heaving, his
knuckles bloodied. He stopped short.

  “Where’s the old man?”

  “He said he’d leave us to it and left.” Lane’s voice had found his calming tone.

  “Wow…” Max made his way to the couch and sat down.

  I made my way to his side. “Do you remember anything?”

  He shook his head, closed his eyes, and hung his head back with a groan.

  “Max?” Jenny held out a wet cloth. “For your hands.”

  I watched as he took it from her with a shy smile. I had to admit this young woman shocked the hell out of me. After everything she’d been though, from her sisters killing her parents to the rest of the aftermath, she was managing to keep a very level head. Throw in the fact that she wasn’t even a tad bit afraid of Max and seemed to go out of her way to put him at ease and little Jenny was quickly becoming one of my favorite people.

  “Do you need anything else?” she inquired quietly.

  “I’m okay, thanks.”

  Brat moved to Max’s side and gazed up at him. The latter frowned, engrossed by whatever was being relayed mentally.

  Maxy grunted. “Huh. So ‘man’s best friend’ isn’t just a coincidence, then.” He turned his attention to the rest of us. “Brat says that all dogs will be hunting down yellow eyes. Apparently, when humans came to be, Time had a feeling Terra would try to interfere if things went bad for the planet. He designed dogs to watch over us.”

  Brat’s tongue lolled out and I thought he looked quite pleased with himself.

  “Does he know how you’re supposed to stop the end of the world?” Brent was kneeling by the dog again. I could have sworn Brat rolled his eyes.

  Max shook his head. “He says he’s just a dog.”

  “So what do we do?” Brent’s love of dogs didn’t seem to run in the family as Grant eyed the German Shepherd warily from over the back of the couch.

  Max ran a hand over his face with a snort. “I guess I need to start remembering who I really am…”

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  “Hello? Time?” Max’s low voice carried across the sleeping shop, though I could tell he was trying to be quiet. “Look, you can’t just tell me I have to save the world and then disappear. It’s been over a week. I don’t remember a thing…” He let out a frustrated breath.

  Quiet footsteps came down the loft steps and made their way to the window where he stood in the moonlight.

  “Do you think he’ll come?” Jenny gazed at the stars.

  “Doesn’t look like it.” He sat on a box. “Why aren’t you sleeping?”

  I saw her silhouette shrug. “Lots on my mind.” He scooted over on the box and she sat beside him. “How are you doing?” she inquired.

  “Oh, you know…” He didn’t elaborate. “You?”

  “Oh, you know…”

  The pair looked up into the night sky.

  “I’m sorry about Lizzy.”

  Max took a deep breath and put an arm around her. “I’m sorry about your parents and your sisters.”

  Jenny laid her head on his shoulder.

  I rolled over quietly and Lane pulled me to his chest in his sleep.

  “Max?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “You’ll remember.”

  He grunted. “Even if I do, all I’m going to manage to do is maybe accidently help Terra destroy us.”

  Her soft chuckle surprised me. Max appeared to feel the same way.

  “Why is that funny?”

  “You. You’re funny.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you really don’t see it. You really think you’re this awful, scary, destructive thing.”

  He scoffed. “That’s because I am. Jenny, I even managed to get exiled from an alternate dimension or reality, or whatever because I destroyed things.”

  “But Time, Time brought you here, hid you from her because he knew better. He saw what I can see.”

  “Yeah?” Max cleared his throat. “And what’s that?”

  Someone shifted on the box.

  “You might break things, Max, but you don’t hurt things. I haven’t known you very long, but I am observant. Between your meltdowns, you’re one of the kindest, warmest people I’ve ever met and even though you tend to focus on the times you break things, you actually spend a lot more time being that selfless person you don’t want to see.”

  I smiled and waited for his response.

  “I… I don’t know what to say to that.”

  I peeked over my shoulder and watched as Jenny settled herself against him once again.

  “Just take the compliment. There are a lot of people in this building who give a shit about you and it’s not because you break things. Maybe it’s time you see it, too.”

  “I’ll try,” Max whispered.

  “That’s all I ask.”

  “Hey, Jenny?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “Are you a part of this? Were you sent here to help me though this?”

  “No. Not that I know of, anyway.”

  “K.” He paused. “Would you tell me if you were?”

  Jenny’s laughter rang through the shop. “I don’t know! I guess it would depend on what my orders were!”

  “Shhhh! You’re going to wake everybody up!” Max’s laughter was even louder than hers.

  I fought the urge to join in as they tried to calm themselves.

  Max took a few deep breaths. “Well, even if your orders are to not let me know, I’m glad you’re here.”

  I could hear the smile in Jenny’s voice. “Me, too, Max. Me, too.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  The air nailer kicked in my hand and I stood back to admire the shelf I’d just built. Slowly but surely, it was starting to be obvious we were going to be staying here for a decent amount of time and I was trying to get the shop more organized and multi family friendly. Lane smiled from where he was helping John, Max, and Jason frame in their new bedroom.

  “Gabby! Lane! They’re here!” Max’s panicked shout was followed by Brat’s low rumbling growl.

  My heart jumped in my throat and I turned to Lane who was running his hand over his face.

  “I guess after two weeks without seeing one of them, it shouldn’t be surprising.” He grabbed a rifle and a bag of ammo and handed them to Pete. “Get in the office with Marie and Ashley. Do not come out.”

  “Is Glade with them?” Jenny checked to make sure her rifle was loaded then checked the safety.

  “No.”

  Lane squeezed his shoulder. “Think you can do the whole ‘blast them to bits’ thing?”

  “I have no idea. I’m not even sure how I did it the first time.”

  We all stopped moving and watched as the door handle turned and the door slowly started to open.

  “I forgot to lock it when I took out the garbage this morning…” Grant turned an ugly shade of green and I hoped he’d wait until after the fight to throw up.

  If ever there was a slow motion moment in my life, this was it. I shouted Brent’s name as he launched himself at the door in an effort to get it closed. A hand closed around his wrist and jerked him through the opening. His scream of pain as he pulled the door closed on his free hand tore through me and my throat clenched.

  “Brent!” Grant ran after his brother, his riffle held like a bat, Brat on his heels. The rest of us were a fraction of a second behind them.

  I blinked rapidly to adjust to the sunlight reflecting off the snow. A pair of yellow eyes appeared on my right and I jammed the butt of my gun into the woman’s throat. Grant and Lane launched themselves into a group of five that were trying to take down Brent. The latter was swinging and punching for all he was worth, his efforts to stay on his feet amplified by his grunts as his hands, elbows, and feet connected with his would be killers.

  One of the Yellow Eyes managed to pull him to the ground and Grant yelled, his riffle connecting with one of the freak’s heads. Brat’s jaws clamped on the back of a second one’s neck. Jenna’s rifle boomed from the window as she
took out a couple of the stragglers that were still coming up the driveway.

  “Gabby! Look out!” Max’s cry wasn’t enough of a warning and one of the freaks grabbed me from behind, the force of it making me drop my weapon. The Yellow Eyes I’d been facing off with grinned and came at me with renewed vigor, his hands going for my throat. Behind him, I caught a glimpse of Lane, frozen as he tried to decide who he should helping; me or Brent.

  Robby helped him make up his mind by kicking the Yellow Eyes in front of me in the side and sending it sprawling to the ground. Shawn’s baseball bat caved his head in with a crack and a spatter of blood.

  I threw my head back and cried out in pain as it connected with the second freak’s face. His nose broke with a sickening crunch and I felt the sandwich I’d just eaten start to fight its way out of my stomach. Max grabbed my arm and pushed me back toward the shop, throwing me through the door before closing it between us.

  I ran back to my things and looked up as the door opened again before I could grab my bow.

  “Gabby!” Jenny’s rifle followed the Yellow Eyes as the woman ran at me and I scrambled backward until I was pressed against the wall. “I can’t take the shot!”

  The air compressor by my feet rumbled as it pressurized itself and I fell to my knees, grabbing the air nailer. The freak never slowed and I brought the gun up, my finger squeezing the trigger as hard as I could. The plunger on the nailer slid back as it connected with her forehead and the familiar sound of a nail leaving the nozzle was quickly followed by the thud of the woman’s body falling to the ground. I squatted back against the wall, my chest heaving with the sobs I was trying to keep down.

  Jenny turned back to the window and let out a long breath. “They got them all.”

  Lane burst through the door, his dark blue eyes scanning the shop until they met mine. “Christ, are you okay?”

  I nodded and tried to pull myself together. He swallowed hard and looked back at the open door. I noticed everyone except for the twins and Max had made their way back in.