Revolution (Collide, #4)(77)

It hit me then. I wasn't sure how I knew, but Lily and Mrs. Trudy were involved somehow. I turned back to see The Graphter lowering Chesser's feet back to the ground. They were fighting...internally. Chesser would lose all his color and look sick, and then the Graphter would shake and fight for control again as Chesser's cheeks turned pink with life.

Finally, I saw Chesser was winning. "Merrick!" Sherry yelled and silently pleaded with me to believe her. I did. Chesser was winning over the beast and he would become the new Taker without even realizing what he was doing. I yanked the crow bar from Miguel's hand then staked the Lighter who tried to stop me. The lightning that blasted from him shook the others, who were watching the Graphter display with interest, out of their funk. I avoided them barely and then stuck the bar through the Graphter's back and out toward Chesser through his chest.

Chesser turned to us and I could see it was too late. He was the Taker.

I shook my head at what I had to do, but Lily ran past me and went to stand in front of Chesser. He grinned down at her. "Hello, little girl."

"You don't remember me, do you?" she asked.

I bolted forward to stop her, to get her away from him, when Sherry grabbed my arm. Anyone else would have gotten the shove-off, but she was crying and begged me in a whisper, "I know this is crazy, just please let her do this."

I wanted to be angry at her. What the hell was she doing? I turned back to Lily just as Chesser, the Taker, was answering her.

"I don't remember you, no. Should I?"

"Not really," Lily said and smiled.

"I am kind of hungry," he drawled and stepped a little closer. He crouched down to be at her level and I almost lost it. Sherry gripped me tighter, her sobs getting a little louder. "Know where I can get some souls to eat around here?"

"You are a bad man. You used to be a good man who carwed about his people, but now you only care about yowself!"

He chuckled. "You humans are so full of passion and pity. It's why you taste so good." He reached for her and my heart stopped, but before I could even think about moving, Lily grabbed his face in her hands.

"I see you in there, Chesser." She moved closer, only an inch away from the man who wanted to end her life. "Come back, Chesser."

The Taker jolted and looked around wide eyed. "Help me!" he yelled to the Lighters, but they just watched in an awe that startled me. It was as if they wanted him to die. "Help me, you fools!"

No one moved a muscle, we just watched, horrified and hopeful, as his skin began to ashen. And then real ashes appeared on his body. He looked like he was falling apart. At first I thought Lily was becoming the evil thing, but the wind blew and we saw the ashes float away from Chesser's skin and drift into nothing as the wind carried it away.

Lily let his face go and he just stayed there like that, wide eyed. Lily turned to look at the other Lighters and they all fell to the ground. The Markers burned up and fell the long way to the ground. Black Marker bones and lifeless bodies littered the area. All except for Piper, who knelt in the dirt and looked lifeless and dead inside.

We all waited for something to indicate what was going on. Lily turned to us. "They went home. For good dis time. The Taker was a bad man to them, too."

I rushed her. "What did you do?"

"I did what Mrs. Twudy told me to. She said to tell the Taker to go to…" she looked around and whispered, "H..E…double hockey sticks."

I wanted to laugh, but my body wouldn’t. "You sent him away."

"He was mad," she said. "He didn't want to go, but he was a bad man, Daddy. Mrs. Twudy said to make him go away and the other guys would go home, too."

I hugged her to me tightly. "Oh, baby. I'm so glad you're ok."

"I'm ok. But mommy isn't." She pointed behind me. Sherry was rocking and sobbing on the ground. I finally could let something else in and saw everyone was waiting for something. I realized what it was.

"It's over," I told them. "They're gone…for good. Lily sent them home."

"Over, over? Like….over?" Danny asked and wrapped his arms around a smiling Celeste from behind.

"Like, over, over," I confirmed.

He laughed and then his chest started to shake. He was crying. He ran and gave me one of his big hugs, taking Lily from me and holding her in the air as she squealed and laughed. Then he yelled and laughed and whooped as he swung Lily around. Celeste was jumping up and down clapping as she watched Danny. Miguel started next and by the time I reached my Sherry, the whole yard was erupting in cheers and tears. There wasn't a dry eye in the place.

I bent down on my knees and lifted Sherry's face with my finger under his chin. "It's over, baby."

"I'm so sorry," she begged. "I saw Mrs. Trudy! She told me I had to let Lily go. I didn't want to, but I…."

"Baby, Lily saved the day. Do you understand what happened here? Not only did the Lighters and Markers leave this place, they left the world. Honey, our little girl just saved the human race."

She sniffed. "You're not angry with me for putting her in danger?"

I chuckled, almost hysterical with everything that had happened. "I'm not sure she was. She seemed to be pretty good at what she was doing."