The Mysterious Life Of Lorelei Jones

XXII

“Why do you look so afraid? We’re just having a conversation. No need to act irrationally,” Mortdecai smiled. “Hello, Lorelei.”

“Mortdecai?” Lori asked.

“In the flesh. We’ll not mine. Close enough, right? I honestly don’t remember what I originally looked like. I keep hoping from one form to another. But I digress; I’m so happy you showed up—both of you, in fact. You guys get to see the show up close. Sure, you could try to run, but I won’t recommend that. Look.” Mortdecai pointed to the roof, and they looked up. Hundreds of spirits floated above them. They covered the roof like a colorful painting. “One word. All I have to do is say one word, and all of these people will die. It took me a very long time to get them all here. They were promised a slaughter, and I hate to disappoint people.”

“There’s so many. How did you get them to agree to this?” Lori asked.

Mortdecai laughed in her face. “Did you really think you’re the only one who can ask spirits to do something? The threat of shattering can work wonders.”

“Shattering?” Connor thought. “What’s that?”

“It’s when spirits permanently disappear. I’ve seen it happen once when I was younger. A spirit was hurt badly. Something had partially shattered it. I tried to help it, but it was too late. It shattered completely in front of me.” Lori turned to Mortdecai. “It’s cruel.”

“Is that supposed to hurt my feelings? Only strong individuals can shatter spirits. You probably could if you practiced. I can show you how.”

“Prick,” Connor thought. 

Mortdecai turned his attention to him. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“Did you do this?” Mortdecai pointed to Connor. “He has powers too?”

“He did it on his own. I had nothing to do with it. Why? Can you not do something like that? I thought you were some all-powerful guy,” Lori said. 

“Sadly, I can’t awaken abilities in people. Even if I could, why would I make more competition for myself? It would be a waste of time. Awakening people weaker than me is a joke. Wanna know what I think? I think you did awaken them. You just don’t know how you did it. You keep amazing me every second, Lorelei.” Mortdecai stood up and walked away from them.

“What are you doing?!” Lori shouted. 

“Attention, everyone! Sorry to interrupt, but I have an announcement to make.” Mortdecai said, looking in Lorelei’s direction. “Those two over there have informed me that they have a bomb and are about to set it off.”

All eyes turned to them. “Did he say they have a bomb?!” “What a bomb?” “No way! Where are the police?!” “Help!” Screams and panic erupted in the station. People were trying to push others out of the way. Others were running for the exits. Some even making their way towards Lori and Connor.

“*******! He’s just ******* with us. What’s the point of causing panic?” Connor thought.

“Distraction. He’s stalling for time. Look at the clock. It’s twelve. The trains are still not here yet. He’s waiting for them.” Lori said, standing up.

“Why does she care about the trains?”

“More ****** off people are going to show up. His power thrives on chaos. I can feel his power from here. We have to calm them down.”

“How? Apparently, we have a bomb. I don’t think they will listen to us.” Connor stands up and grabs an umbrella. “Get back!”

“What’s that going to do?” Lori asked. Even though they’re starring down a mob, she still can’t help to feel embarrassed. 

“I don’t know. I panicked!” Connor thought. Jabbing the umbrella, it at the mob.

A scream bellowed out across the room. Lori looked past the mob and saw a few people lying dead on the ground. Mortdecai had changed into his shadow form and started clawing at people. Their bodies would hit the floor then stand back up again. Lori looked at the ceiling and noticed some spirits had gone missing. 

“He’s making them possess the dead! That’s cheating!” Lori said.

“Don’t think he cares, Lori!”

“Was this his plan? To kill as many people as he could to make an army?” Lori thought.

“You know, if we weren’t about to die, I’d say this would be a cool video game, boss.” Connor pushed Lorelei behind him. “Dying in a train station. Not the way I would’ve picked.”

“We’re not dying here! Maybe I can talk them out of…” One of the possessed stationers grabbed Lori and throw her towards Mortdecai.

“Hello,” Mortdecai said. Lori looked around her and noticed the floor was soaked in blood. She desperately tried to get it off of herself.

“Don’t tell me a little blood frightens you? This is nothing compared to what’s coming. Get used to it,” Mortdecai says, grabbing Lori by the neck. “What will you do now? You could stop this, you know, if you were stronger. You could end this. The more I kill, the more spirits get released, and the more spirits get released, the more I can control. The cycle will continue over and over again. My power grows with each death. How about yours?” He throws Lorelei into the ticket booth window.

Lori, picking herself up, grabs a dead guard’s gun and points it at Mortdecai.

“Ha! What are you going to do with that? You can hurt me when I’m like this. Ask your friend. No one can touch me in this form. Better yet, shoot your friend. It would be an act of mercy. I’ll make sure he dies painfully if you don’t.” Mortdecai stood there with his arms crossed. “Well, Lori? I’m waiting.”

“What do I do?” Lori thought.

“Hey, *******!” Joel said, grabbing Mortdecai by the neck and throwing him into the crowd. “Enough of this. Hey, Lori!”

“Joel!” She throws her arms around him. “Sorry, I got you all bloody.”

“Nah, it’s all good. Most of it is old anyway. Where’s Con?” Joel asked, looking around.

“Help!” Connor said in their minds. “I can’t hold them off forever.”

“Oh, there he is. Stay here; I’ll be right back. Thomas, mind keeping her safe while we go get Conner. Thanks!” Joel said, punching a path into the crowd. With each hit, the spirits possessing the dead bodies were ejected from their hosts and shattered. “I’m coming. Hold on!”

“Sure, don’t wait for me to agree or anything,” Thomas said. “Hi, Lorelei. Sorry, we’re late.”

“Thomas, you’re okay too! Thank god. I thought you were shattered.”

“For a brief second, I thought Mortdecai was about to shatter me. Back at your apartment, he took us by surprise. He looked like a woman, and we didn’t think anything of it. When she grabbed Joel, I knew something was wrong. Before we knew it, we were here. I was in a white room, and Joel…I thought Joel was dead. I heard them hurting him, and I thought it was over. Though, something weird is going on with him. He said “we” again. Like he was talking about someone else.” 

Lori sat down in the empty guard’s chair. “I noticed that too. I just thought he misspoke. Not only that, but look at him. He’s shattering those spirits like they were nothing. That’s some serious power he has. How did he get so strong?”

“He looks like he is enjoying himself. Something’s definitely wrong with him. I guess we can worry about that later. How do you feel?”

“Terrible, but I’ll live. I’ve been through worse. We have to help them.” Lori said, trying to stand, but Thomas forces her back to the chair.

“Nope, you’re staying here. You might act tough, but you’re hurt. I can tell. You need to recover. Besides, I think Joel has it covered.” They look over to see that Joel made it to his brother. Grabbing Connor by the arm, they run back to the ticket booth.

“Got him! Wow, that was a rush! Everyone alright?” Joel says, smiling.

“I’ve felt worse,” Connor thought. “Want to explain how you did that?”

“I don’t know. I knew I had to get to you, and there were spirits in my way. Who cares?” Joel shugged.

Lori was about to ask her own questions when they heard a burst of low, sinister laughter come from Mortdecai’s direction. “No. No. No. NO! I’ve been waiting for this for months. No way you ruined it after it was just getting good. *******! You even touched me. You? You dare touch me? I’ll kill you. I’ll make sure I wipe that smug look off your face. How are you even here?!”

“Ask your spirit friends. Oh, wait.” Joel laughed.

“They had you within an inch of your life. So how? How can you be here and barely have a scratch on you?” Mortdecai said, his claws getting longer and his teeth baring themselves at them.

“Right, Lori, I’m going to need your help. I can take him, but I need back up. Those remaining spirits are going to be an issue. Mind giving us a hand?” Joel said. Lori noticed he sounded different.

“Who are you?” Lori asked.

“Joel Robert Miller. Who else would I be?” He smiled.