Darker Days (The Darker Agency #1)(39)
Part of me screamed victory, while another hesitated, terrified to repeat the incident in The Pit. “You sure?”
He watched me in that way of his. Searching, yet somehow distant. Annoying, yet at the same time intriguing. “Positive.”
The halls were so empty that I heard each tap my sneakers made as they hit the floor. Every now and then, my foot would turn the wrong way and the rubber would make an annoying squeak. Stealth had never been a strong suit for me.
We passed the cafeteria and hooked a right to head through the English wing. At the end of the hall, two girls were playing tug-o-war over a green football jersey.
“Give it to me. I want it!” The taller one screeched. It was Gabriele Murphy, the editor of the school paper.
“It goes better with my eyes!” the other wailed. I didn’t know her name, but we shared the same gym class. At the beginning of the year, she’d spiked a volleyball at Kendra’s head because Jeff Brennan, her summer fling, had been talking to her in the hall before class.
I stormed up to them and yanked the shirt away. They’d already started to tear it, so the rest was easy. With a loud rip, the jersey separated down the middle. I handed one half to Gabriele and the rest to the other girl. “Here you go. Enjoy!” I turned back to Lukas. “Greed again?”
He shook his head, distracted. “Envy.” With a few steps toward the science lab, he cupped his hands to either side of his face and peered through the window. “Vida.”
I elbowed him to the side and stood on my tiptoes. Principal Dubois was locked at the lips of Mrs. Hastings—the guidance counselor. Good thing I hadn’t eaten lunch. I seriously would’ve lost it.
We left them to their gropefest and continued down the hall, peering into classrooms as we went. Everything was empty. Like the mall on the first day of school. I was about to suggest we call it, convinced the Sins had scattered already, when we came to the teacher’s lounge.
Pushing though the door, I froze, trying to digest the scene before me. Mrs. Manning had her feet kicked up onto the table, shoes off and stare vacant. Around her head, a fly circled, landing finally on her cheek. I waited for her to shoo the bug away, but she ignored it.
Across the room, Mr. Marks sat in front of a small TV screen, expression eerily blank. There was nothing but static on the screen, yet he still seemed enthralled. Every few seconds his eyebrow would twitch along with his right cheek. On the floor by his feet was an overturned cup of coffee leaking out across the floor.
As I watched, James Farley, one of the school’s janitors, shuffled past. He slipped in the cream-colored liquid, losing his balance and landing hard on the floor. When Farley finally pulled himself into a sitting position, two of the fingers on his left hand were twisted at an odd angle. Broken. Instead of cursing the pain, he simply sat there staring ahead as the cuff of his pants soaked up the coffee.
“They’re just… It’s like they’re dead. Breathing, but dead.”
“Sloth,” Lukas said in a low voice. “He would have them sit here and waste away—starve to death slowly—and feed from the resulting energy.”
The looting at Flankman’s had been bad. Chaos and fighting. People had gotten hurt… But it was somehow more unsettling to see those people just sitting there. Blank and expressionless. It was like they were alive, but trapped. Trapped—like Lukas. “No, he won’t. We won’t let it get that far. The Sins are going down.”
I scanned the room and, in the far corner, saw a man I didn’t recognize. He leaned against the wall, watching with pale blue eyes and a bored expression. Bored—yet more alive than the others.
I stalked toward him. “Leave them alone.”
He barely glanced my way before yawning and casually waving me off. “Go away.”
“Sloth, right?”
“Tony,” the guy responded. He spoke with a thick city accent and nodded his head a lot. Turning to Lukas, he said, “That’s this body’s name, anyway. I like it. Wrath?”
“Lukas,” he said in an icy tone. “My name is Lukas.”
“You’re the human, aint’t ya? Tough break gettin’ stuck in the box, kid.” He almost sounded sympathetic. “Vida’s lookin’ for ya.”
Turning back to me, Tony said, “Lookin’ for you, too. Not fans of ya family.”
“The feeling’s mutual.”
“What’s a little laziness, eh?” Tony grinned. “And ya should be thankin’ me. I got yas out of school.”
“I’ll be sure to add you to my Christmas card list. Where are the others?”
“Listen up, girly. The thing ya gotta worry about is Vida and her new friend. The rest of us just wanna be left alone. I ain’t hurtin’ no one in here.”
That got my attention. “New friend? What new friend?”
“Sometimes we don’t get what we want.” Lukas’ fist shot out, lightning fast, and caught Tony across the lower jaw. There was an instant of shock before the man’s head rocked back and his eyes rolled up. He crumpled to the ground like a sack of quartz powder, expensive looking suit jacket bunching at the waist.
“Effective, but badly timed. Now we don’t know what he was talking about.” I poked him with the toe of my sneaker. Twice. Just to be sure. If it were me, I’d play possum if outnumbered and wait for an opportunity to strike. “And getting him back to the office is going to be a little tricky now. Ya know, with him out like a light and all… Unless you’re rocking the super strength thing.”