Stalked by Death

Chapter 20

I didn’t move. The laptop was still in my lap, and my knees were sticking out from under the desk. Chase was going to find me and kill me. Or worse, he’d use his power on me to turn me into his slave again. If I’d had the choice, I’d pick death.

He moved to the bookshelf on the wall. I tensed up when his legs came into view. No way was I getting out of this. I thought about hitting him over the head with the laptop and making a run for it, but I figured he’d hear me and catch me before I could do any damage to him, so I stayed like a sitting duck.

“Did you find them?” Tony came into the office. He walked right over to the desk, and his eyes fell on me.

“No. Didn’t you say they were on the shelf under the severed hand?” Chase laughed. “By the way, it’s awesome that you use a severed hand for a paperweight.”

Tony continued to stare at me. I mouthed the word “please,” hoping he would understand. Chase’s little charade had done a good job of fooling Tony, but maybe seeing how desperate I was now would make Tony understand that I wasn’t losing my mind. That Chase was doing something horrible to me.

“You know, I just remembered I never made the copies,” Tony said.

Chase turned around, and Tony stepped toward him, blocking me with his legs. “I’ll make the copies,” Chase said.

“No, that’s okay. Why don’t you go back to class and tell everyone to study the image on slide twenty-six? It’s fascinating. I think you’ll all get a kick out of it. I’ll be back in a second.”

Chase left, and I finally could breathe again.

“He’s gone,” Tony said. “Now, do you want to tell me why you’re under the desk with my laptop?”

I handed him the computer. “Sorry. I needed to look up something.”

“From under there?”

“I didn’t want anyone to see me.”

“By ‘anyone,’ are you referring to Chase?” Tony put the laptop back on his desk.

“Yes.”

“Because…” His face softened. Maybe he did suspect Chase was up to something.

I wanted to blurt out everything. Tell him how awful Chase really was. That Chase was making me look like the bad guy to everyone else, but really he was to blame. So why wasn’t I?

“Does this have anything to do with Alex?” He put his hands up in defense. “I don’t like to pry, but you and Alex were awfully close, and now all of a sudden you and Chase are inseparable.”

Yeah, because Chase wouldn’t let me out of arm’s reach. I looked down, avoiding Tony’s eyes.

“You don’t have to tell me,” he said. “Maybe you should go for a walk to clear your head. I bet you’ll feel better by dinnertime.”

A walk. Like into town? I could go find Alex. I couldn’t just let Tony go on believing Chase was the good guy, yet something was telling me this wasn’t the time to tell Tony everything. Chase could walk back in.

“Thanks, Tony. I think I will, but please don’t tell Chase you saw me. He’s not what he seems to be. He knows his power is affecting me, hurting me—”

“Hurting you?” Worry spread across Tony’s face. “Jodi, we have to do something if—”

“I’m not sure what to do about it yet. I have to think this through. I think Chase is up to something, but I don’t know what it is. Please, just don’t say or do anything yet. Let me figure it out first.”

Tony nodded, but I could tell he didn’t like this at all. “You’re the boss, Jodi, but be careful. And might I suggest you take the back way out?”

“Back way?” I’d been sitting here this whole time when there was another way out?

“Right there.” He pointed to a door next to the copier.

“I thought that was a closet.”

“No. It leads to the storage room, which has another exit.”

“The one in the hallway.” Boy, did I feel like an idiot. “Thanks.”

I made sure no one was watching before I ducked into the storage room. It was pitch black. I’d never come in here before. No one but the adults ever did. That kind of made it the perfect hiding place. I’d have to remember that for next time, although I hoped there wouldn’t be a next time.

I felt my way along the walls to the other exit. It was in the same hall as the classrooms but farther down. As long as no one was in the hallway, I’d be able to get away unnoticed. I put my ear to the door, listening for footsteps or any other sounds. All quiet. I opened the door a crack. The hall was clear. I stepped out and ran for the stairs. I took the back way out of the school and headed straight for the woods. As long as Chase wasn’t at the classroom window, I was sure I’d made it undetected. I had to stop a few times, too drained to run the whole way, but I made it to Melodie’s car. The road wasn’t much farther, and this time I was going to make it.

I was so close, and I wasn’t going to let anything surprise me this time. I got to the road and ran into the center of the street. I’d make someone stop for me. Breaks squealed and a big gray car came skidding to a stop. My heart pounded, not because I’d almost been creamed, but because it was Alex.

I ran to the passenger side and got in. He pulled away quickly without saying a word. His tires screeched around the turn, and I struggled to get my seatbelt on before I was thrown through a window. I looked at him, but his eyes stayed focused on the road. I didn’t know if I should say something or wait for him to talk, but I’m not that patient.

“How did you know I’d be here? I just emailed you about an hour ago.” I held onto the door for support as Alex launched the car around another bend in the road.

“I answered your email from my phone. I knew if you tried to get away you’d head for home. You’re really predictable, Jodi. You’re lucky I got to you before he did.”

I could tell he was avoiding Chase’s name. “You’re right. The first time I ran away, he caught me. That was this morning. This day has been one unending nightmare. He’s pure evil, Alex. I should’ve listened to you.”

He still didn’t look at me. “You smell like his cologne. How do I know this isn’t a trick? That you didn’t lure me out here so he can come out of nowhere and—”

I reached for his hand on the steering wheel. “Because you know me.” I smiled, trying to ease the tension. “And because we’re in a car doing 85 on a windy road. He’d never catch us.”

Alex slowed down, but he didn’t face me. I let go of his hand.

“If you think he’s evil, why are you getting close enough to him to smell like him?”

I had to tell him everything. The way Chase really made me feel. The way I was defenseless against the connection we had. I took his hand again, hoping that, by touching him, he’d know I how I felt about him. Know how difficult this was for me to say and how much I didn’t want to hurt him.

“When Chase touches me, he transfers power to me. It’s not like anything I’ve ever felt. It’s—”

“You can tell me, Jodi. I can handle it. I need to know everything if we are going to fight him.”

“Fight him? What do you mean? He’s one of us.” As I said it, I felt my blood mixing. The whole Alex/Chase situation was screwing me up again. Making me unsure of everything.

“He’s evil, Jodi. You said so yourself.”

“I did?” What was happening to me? “My blood is acting strange. I feel so confused.” I rubbed my forehead.

“I think it has to do with this connection you’re trying to tell me about. I don’t blame you. I want to protect you from it.” Finally, he looked at me. He pulled into an abandoned warehouse and parked. He cut the engine and turned to face me. “We have to get rid of him.”

“Alex, I really do think we need Chase. The power between us is so strong. Maybe strong enough to fight off Hades. If that’s true, we can’t lose him. No matter what.” I looked down at my feet. I wished I could send Chase away. Things would’ve been simpler, but I was the leader of the Ophi. I had to do what was best for the group, not what was best for Alex and me.

Alex sighed. “Tell me everything. Don’t leave anything out. No matter how much you think it’s going to tear me up inside. Got it?” His features were hard, serious.

I nodded. I told him about the way Chase’s touch sent me into an almost euphoric state when he dosed me with the power in the right side of his body. How it made me feel better than alive. I also told him about the kiss. The way Chase had surprised me the day Alex had left.

“I wasn’t planning on kissing him. All I cared about was you leaving. Trying to convince you to stay.” I squeezed his hand, not wanting to let him go.

“I know.” He looked away. “I saw it. I saw him grab you and kiss you. I also saw you kiss him back. It wasn’t one-sided.”

“I’m not going to deny it or try to lie my way out of this, Alex. I did kiss Chase. I gave in to his power. It filled me up so much I was overwhelmed by it. I loved it.” I was embarrassed to admit I loved the power, but Alex needed to know. “I probably sound like a drug addict, don’t I?”

“Kind of.” He looked at me and brushed the hair from my forehead. “Why does he get to you like this? Make you lose control?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why does he make you feel so alive and…” He paused, but I knew what was coming next. “I can’t?”

“I don’t want you to make me feel like that, Alex. I’m scared of Chase. I’m scared of what I become when I’m with him. I lose control, and bad things happen. Everyone died when Chase kissed me. My powers went crazy, and I killed all the Ophi in the school. Medusa helped me bring them back.” I swallowed hard. “All but one.”

Alex narrowed his eyes. “Who?”

“Randy. He’s gone. His body couldn’t hold his soul in place. That zombie took a huge chunk from his shoulder and nicked a small artery. We couldn’t stop the bleeding. When I brought him back, he died all over again.”

Alex pulled me to him and hugged me tightly against his chest. I couldn’t believe it. I thought he’d hate me for everything I’d done. For kissing Chase, for giving in to the power, for killing Randy. But he was comforting me. As much as I didn’t want him to let go, I had to finish explaining what had happened.

“There’s more.” I pulled my head back to look at him. “When I ran away, he caught me and tortured me with his power. He can send the poisoned part of his blood to me in concentrated doses. It feels like I’m burning in a hellfire. Like when Hades stared at me. Chase can control me, Alex. He makes me hate him and crave him at the same time.” I was crying now. Admitting all this to anyone was hard enough, but saying it to Alex was heartbreaking. “I’m so sorry.”

“How does he control you? You have to tell me.”

“I don’t want to. You’ll hate me. I couldn’t handle it if you hated me.” I squeezed him to me, afraid I was losing him again.

“I won’t hate you. I’m going to hate Chase even more. I can tell. But I won’t hate you.”

I sniffled and looked at him. “Like I said, he can control what kind of power he transfers to me. When he sends me the life-restoring power, he can make me do anything he wants me to. My blood responds to him. I wish it didn’t, but I can’t stop it. When he touches me like that, I don’t want him to stop.”

The disgusted look on Alex’s face tore me apart. He was wrong. This was going to make him hate me. I tried changing the subject. “Chase also stopped me from saving Lucas, one of the Ophi from Serpentarius.”

“He died? How?”

So much for the topic change. “Chase kissed me again. Lucas was near us, and the connection reached out to him and killed him. It’s this weird thing that happens sometimes when Chase and I are together.”

“How many times have you kissed him?” Alex’s face was bright red with rage.

I shook my head and sobbed. “I don’t know. I swear I’m not doing it because I want to. He’s making me. When I tried to bring Lucas back, Chase pretended to help me because the others were watching, but instead of transferring life-restoring power to me, he dosed me with poison. He was killing me, too. I had to break the connection and let Lucas go.”

Alex punched the steering wheel. “I’m going to kill him! My God, Jodi, what he’s doing to you, it’s worse than—”

“Stop. Please, don’t say it.” I didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

Alex took a few deep breaths, getting himself under control. “I found out something while I was gone.”

“Where were you? Where did you go?”

“I went to see an old friend. Mason’s brother, Ethan.”

Ethan, the guy from the email. “Mason’s brother? That would make him—”

“Chase’s father. Yeah.”

I’d never stopped to think about it before, but Chase called Mason Uncle Mason. That meant his father was Mason’s brother, and since the only way an Ophi could have a sibling was to be a twin, it meant Mason was a twin.

“Jodi, there’s something you need to know.” He pulled away, just far enough to look me in the eyes. “It wasn’t Ethan. It was Mason.”

I shook my head. “Mason’s at the school.”

“No. Ethan is at the school. He’s pretending to be Mason.”

My head was spinning. Things were falling into place. “No wonder Chase was able to convince Mason to come here after I’d spent months begging him. He wasn’t convincing his uncle. He was convincing his dad.”

Alex nodded. “Mason told me everything. He said Chase and Ethan planned the whole thing. They made sure no one knew that Ethan would be taking Mason’s place. They were going to pretend Chase had convinced him to come with the rest of the Ophi because things were going so well at the school.”

“Wait, when Mason—I mean Ethan—practically demanded that Chase and I show him how our combined power worked—”

“That was part of the plan to get you and Chase together. I’m sure of it. They staged everything.”

“How could I be so stupid? I fell for all of it. They used me. Manipulated me!” I was yelling now.

“You couldn’t have known. I wouldn’t have figured it out either if I hadn’t gone looking for Ethan. I only knew he wasn’t Ethan because Mason has a tattoo on his shoulder. He got it from Thayer. He was working out when I found him. I saw the tattoo and realized something was wrong. He confessed everything to me.”

“Why did he go along with it?”

“Because he’s got to keep Serpentarius open to keep making money. He had no idea Ethan was up to something. He thought he wanted to check things out without people knowing he was Chase’s father.”

“Now what? Do we confront Ethan and Chase? Do we kick them out?”

“We play along. We have to find out what they’re up to.” He sighed and took my hands in his. “I’m going back to the school. I’ll tell everyone I got over you and that I want to go back to training. Do my part to fight Hades.”

“Then we head back.”

“No. I don’t want you back there. Not after what you told me about Chase controlling you. You can stay at Serpentarius with Mason, the real Mason. He’ll keep quiet. All he cares about is money and his precious club.”

I looked at Alex, ready to risk everything for me, even after I’d put him through hell. I couldn’t let him do it. “I’m going back with you. If we have to play along to figure out what Chase is up to, then I’m our best shot. I’m the closest to him.”

Alex shook his head. “Absolutely not. I can’t watch him control you, Jodi. I’ll kill him. It will be hard enough not to tear him apart without you there.”

“I know, but I have to do this. We’ll go separately so Chase doesn’t suspect anything. You can drive me to the path, and I’ll walk back. You show up in the morning. That should be enough time apart to avoid suspicion.”

“I can’t let you do this. He could hurt you.”

“I don’t have a choice. I’m the Ophi leader. I have to do it.”

He knew he couldn’t change my mind. As much as we both hated it, I was going back to the school. I was going back to Chase.