The Vendeleer Brothers Book 3: Nightmare on Holly
Chapter 15: The Dangers of Knowing

Holly was settling down to watch Anne of Green Gables on her couch, placing a fan beside her to combat the hot humid air. The day had been full of surprises for her, and she was tired. As the movie went on, she found herself dozing off from the day’s activities. She wasn’t sure how long she was asleep, or what exactly had woken her up, but when she opened her eyes, her apartment was dark-except for the television, which was on static.

She yawned, and grabbed the remote to turn off the television, but it still remained in its static state. Slightly confused, she got up from her comfy spot on the couch to press the power button.

It still would not turn off.

Getting a little frustrated, she reached for the power cord, and then froze when she saw that the television wasn’t even plugged in. A shiver ran up her spine, and she slowly looked around to the screen, which seemed to be trying to show an image. A staticky giggle came from the speakers, and Holly took a step back as several wires from around the room came to connect to the tv.

For a moment, she thought she saw a warped version of the little girl from the movie she had been watching, with her red hair in braided pigtails, but the eyes were blocked out by static, and the mouth was distorted to look wider than it was supposed to.

“It’s… Anne… with an E…” the television said with an electric buzz. “We’re… kindred spirits…”

The cord with the plug suddenly whipped over to her, wrapping around her arm and pulling her to the ground. Holly yanked at it desperately as the tv kept trying to pull her closer and closer. She reached out and grabbed the couch, eyeing a pair of wire cutters on the counter.

Thank the Lord I’m a mechanic… she thought to herself, pulling with all her might against the tv and reaching for her kitchen counter.

“My… life is… a perfect graveyard… of buried hopes…” the tv buzzed, pulling itself from the wall as Holly struggled against it. She could feel the wire cutters with the tip of her fingers, and she grimaced as she felt the cord cutting off the circulation in her arm.

“Just… a little bit… more…” she strained, trying to inch the cutters closer. She was finally able to curl her fingers around them, and she took no hesitation in cutting herself free.

“TRUE FRIENDS ARE ALWAYS TOGETHER IN SPIRIT!!!” the tv screamed, whipping more cords at her. Holly felt a sting as a couple of the wires whipped against her cheek, neck, and legs, but she ignored them and grabbed her cell phone and car keys. She stumbled towards her front door and spilled out on the front stairs as the tv started to pull itself along by it’s wires and cords-some of which were now coming out of its casing.

Holly sprinted down the stairs in the dark, and then shakily started to put the keys in the door to unlock it. She didn’t have a chance to get in her car, however, for several wires shot forth with such force, that it penetrated the metal roof of the car and the thick glass windshield.

She gave a little scream as it jumped from her apartment and landed on the roof of her car, cracking a bit in the process, and crushing her car with more strength than it should have had.

“It’s delightful when your imaginations come true, isn’t it?” the tv said gleefully, wrapping a cord around her neck tightly. Holly choked, and with a wince, attacked the cord with the wire cutters she was still holding. With a gasp, she stumbled towards the garage. The tv shot forth its wires and wrapped around her torso and legs, and then around her neck again. Holly fell to the ground as the tv raised itself over her to smash itself over her head.

“Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing…” the tv sneered. Gasping and struggling to breathe, Holly glanced to her side to see one of her large wrenches sitting in the grass. Quickly, she grabbed it, and then smashed it into the screen.

The television screeched as it distorted the screen and caused black lines to jolt through it. Holly hit it again and again, breaking through the front of it, and finally causing it to topple over and fizzle with a couple of electrical sparks.

“God’s in his heaven, all’s right with the world…” the tv buzzed one last time, and then it died. Holly sat there panting for a moment before pulling the cords off of her. She recalled what Akaysha and Hector had said-about how they would be in danger now that they knew about Akaysha’s power. She suddenly got a sickening feeling about Roderick…

If something had come to life and tried to kill her, than Roderick could be in the very same danger…

Holly whipped out her flip phone and dialed his number.

“H-Hello?” Roderick practically yelled into the phone.

“Roderick? Are you ok? I-.”

“Sorry Holly-I can’t really hear you-I’ve got a little bit of a situation over here-!” he exclaimed. There was a lot of background noise, which included yells, groans, and breaking glass.

“I’ll have to-.” Roderick tried to say, but he was cut off, and she heard someone scream over the phone.

“Roderick!!” she shrieked, but the call was lost.

Not sure what exactly she was getting into, she picked up her keys and ran towards her car, only to remember that it had been smashed. Now, any other girl would have had no transportation left, but Holly just so happened to be a mechanic. She thought about Roderick’s truck that she had been working on, and how it was almost done… Turning on her heel, she ran back to the garage, thinking about what tools she could possibly use as weapons…

“DON’T LET THEM BITE YOU!!!” Brian screamed, swinging a video game controller over his head to hit a zombie in the face.

“DUH!” Ian yelled back angrily, side swiping one with a broom.

“Well, I’m finally replaceing a good use for your wii-fit!” Roderick exclaimed, swinging the white rectangular step pad.

“Hey! I use that to exercise!”

“When was the last time you used it?!”

Roderick looked around, trying to figure out how they could get out of the cramped apartment that was quickly filling with zombies. Quickly, he ran over to the hall closet and then ripped off the door.

“Guys! Get behind me! I’m going to push through them!”

Brian and Ian hopped behind him, and he held it out in front of him as a shield. Then, he forced his way through the front door. When they got outside, the realized that they truly were in a pickle.

“Uh… Maybe we should have hid in a closet or something…” Ian said warily as zombies surrounded them. The three men braced themselves with their makeshift weapons, as the walking dead closed in on them. Brian swung the video game controller around, knocking a couple of zombie’s heads off. Roderick bashed the closet door into their attackers, and Ian silently hoped that Roderick would not make any puns based off of their choice of weapons.

Suddenly, a loud, musty honk sounded in the air. The three of them turned to see a pair of headlights, and with a screech and a slide, a familiar orange truck ran over several of the zombies. Roderick blinked in surprise.

“Holly?!”

“Quick!! Jump in the back!!!” she exclaimed.

The men did not have to be told twice as they did what they jumped in the back. Holly hit the gas, and a moment later, they were speeding away from what very well could have been certain death. Roderick, Ian, and Brian all took a moment to catch their breaths. Then, Roderick opened the back window and poked his head through.

“So you finished my truck?” he said with a smile.

“Almost. I’ve still got a few kinks to work out. Sorry I had to take it out for a spin. My tv came to life and crushed my car.”

“Ah.”

Roderick turned to his brother, who was pulling out his phone.

“Apparently, things aren’t exactly safe for us right now, so I’m going to call Jordyn and Joey and tell them to meet us at the PDU. Give Holly directions on how to get there.”

Roderick nodded, thinking to himself how he could thank Holly for saving them from a zombie hoard.

Ian lay awake, staring at the ceiling in the darkness while Roderick snored softly nearby.

With the apparent lack of safety, they were sleeping in Shaq’s abandoned duplex in the center of the PDU. Jordyn and Joey were staying with Ramona, who had plenty of extra room, and Brian was staying with Everett. Even with all the strange things that had been going on, Ian couldn’t help but think about the strange letter Ramona had given them.

“Ian, don’t ask me about your future.”

What in the world did that mean??

Was there something wrong with his future??

With a sigh, he sat up, thinking that maybe a nightly stroll in the not as hot air might do him some good. Quietly, he got up and made his way outside, and then sat himself on one of the benches, looking up at the stars.

A moment later, he heard one of the doors open and close, and turned to see Shannon come outside. One of her children, the little girl that Ian thought was named Faith, followed her out, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

“Mommy… Where you going?” she yawned, tugging on her mother’s sleeve. Shannon seemed to be spaced out, and did not respond.

“Shannon?” Ian called out, feeling like something was wrong. Shannon remained silent as her daughter tugged a little harder on her sleeve. Ian’s eyes grew wide as Shannon’s eyes started to glow green, and she raised her hand.

“Faith! Look out!” he exclaimed, running over to the little girl on pure gut reaction and tackling her out of the way right as several knives shot themselves into the ground.

“Meddlesome child…” Shannon muttered, lifting the bench with her telekinesis. Ian pulled the now screaming girl out of the way as Shannon tried to hit them.

“Mommy?”

Ian turned to see that Shannon’s oldest girl was standing in the doorway in shock, holding the baby in her arms. The single mother raised the knives out of the dirt and shot them forward. The girl slammed the door shut just in time.

“Shannon!! Stop!! Those are your kids!!” Ian exclaimed, running over to her and tackling her.

“Stop trying to interfere!” the mother growled.

At this moment, all the ruckus seemed to have woken everyone else up, and they came out to an interesting scene of Shannon and Ian rolling on the ground.

“What the hell are you two doing?” Jordyn yawned crabbily. She had obviously just come out of bed, for her hair, which was usually back in a ponytail, was down and tangled. Shannon lifted a rock with her telekinesis and hit Ian in the face with it, knocking him off of her. This seemed to wake Roderick up fully.

“Woah woah woah! Hey there!” he exclaimed, rushing to his brother’s aid. Shannon stood up and dusted herself off.

“Shaq has come for the rest of us.” Shannon told them, holding her arms out. At that moment, Shaq himself stepped out of the shadows, and came to stand next to Shannon. Jordyn reached for her gun, only to replace that she was in her pajamas, and then curse.

“Time to go…” Shaq said eerily.

At that moment, a couple of people gasped.

Joey and Ramona staggered as if they had been hit with something.

“J-Joey?” Jordyn asked hesitantly. “Ramona?”

When the two women lifted their heads, their eyes were glowing green as well.

“Time to go…” they said in unison, stepping forward to join Shannon and Shaq. The others had no idea what to do as they simply watched.

“You too Everett…” Joey said, grabbing the old man by the arm. He did not seem pleased by this.

“What? No! What’s going on? Let go of me!!” he shrieked, trying to pull away from her. Shaq also grabbed on to him, and Shannon used one of the knives to hold at his throat with her ability.

“Goodbye.” Shaq told them all.

At that moment, the world melted in a swirly checkerboard, causing everyone to lose their balance. Ian felt like he was falling as the world dissolved into blackness. A moment later, the world came back to them suddenly, and when they looked up, Shannon, Shaq, Ramona, Joey, and Everett were all gone.

Vanished.

Without a trace.