The Departed

in mind. Just wandering, trying to get a lock on that faint, insidious taint of wrong .
    It lay in the back of her throat like poison and she was glad she hadn’t eaten anything—she just might have started puking.
    “Are you looking for something?”
    Dez suppressed the urge to shiver as Tristan appeared at her side, too close. And cold—much colder than he’d been before. Being here was hard on him. She could see the icy glitter of rage in his eyes, see the emotional upheaval in his disturbingly solid form.
    Uneasy, she glanced past him and saw one of the children staring toward them. No…at Tristan . The look in the little girl’s eyes was a mix of fear and amazement. Damn it, Tristan was manifesting too fully. Looking around, she saw a rocky grotto with a sign— Over 18 only .
    Excellent. Many younger kids were more sensitive to the paranormal—she had to get him away from them before they started pointing at him. If too many kids began pointing at a guy no parents could see…well, she didn’t want to think about that. Draw no attention, a good motto.
    “We’ll talk in a minute,” she said, heading for that grotto.
    Once they were there, she sat on a lounge chair that let her see much of the water park and she started to study things. “Looking for something? Yeah, I guess. But I don’t know what it is.” She waited a beat, and then asked, “Do you have any idea?”
    Tristan shook his head no. His eyes closed and for the briefest moment, his image faded. But then he looked back at her, and his form strengthened once more and that glitter of rage in his eyes was even stronger. Bad, bad sign…too angry, getting too angry. “I don’t know anything, damn it. Shit, this is a waste of time. We need to go find Kyle, Mark. See if they’ll talk. Something .”
    “No.” Dez shook her head. “If I wasn’t meant to help, I wouldn’t have heard you. I’m here for a reason—believe that. And there’s something here, I can feel it.”
    The words had no sooner left her lips than she heard a bell. It was no delicate chime, either. It was loud, echoing through the cavernous room. And for some reason, the sound of it sent shivers racing down her spine.
    Like a puppet on a string, she found herself rising and following that sound, listening to the shrieks of laughter as she left the secluded grotto. Moments later, she stood at the entrance of what looked to be a huge fort, and at the top, there was what looked like an oversized wooden bucket. A very oversized wooden bucket. The sight of it made her gut clench and she didn’t even know why.
    It started to tip.
    The sound of laughter and shrieks grew louder and all the while, she grew colder and colder.
    Swallowing, she closed her eyes. Something was wrong…so very wrong.
    Tristan said her name, but she barely heard him. Barely even realized he was there. Dread crept through her. Although she knew it was the very last thing she should do, considering where she was and how many people were around her, considering what she suspected was going on, Dez lowered her shields.
    Logically, she could have expected nothing to happen, really. After all, the living didn’t call to her. But if that was the case, she wouldn’t have felt so overwhelmed just by the sheer delight of the children in this place, she supposed. Logically, she shouldn’t have felt much of anything.
    Maybe that was why it was so overwhelming when the wave of terror, pain, and desperation almost sent her to her knees. It hit hard, so hard and fast, in a rush of words and sensation and emotion.
    First, it was panic. Just sheer panic, followed by pain that wracked her body. Dez clutched her chest, felt like she was choking, gagging. But it wasn’t her . Then it eased, faded away, replaced by a ragged burn and a dismal, heavy weight in her heart, in her mind.
    The knowledge of death, coming soon.
    I’m going to die…will anybody know? Does anybody care? Do they even know I’m gone —
    The thought fizzed out, replaced by the sheer, utter terror, weariness, and pain, so much pain. And cold, mind-numbing cold. Something roared in Dez’s ears and for a minute she didn’t know if it was something she was hearing, if it was adrenaline or something else.
    Finally, though, she realized it sounded like a real sound. But not one she was hearing. It was coming from somewhere else—some one else. Water. Rushing water. Lots of it.
    Like a woman mesmerized, she continued to stare at that oversized