"No," Alex said. "Jodi, there's something my parents didn't tell you about the prophecy." He grunted as he fought to hold the door handle still. "You don't need your blood to raise humans. Only Ophi. It's easier with your blood, but it's not necessary."
"I've never raised anything without using my blood. I'm not sure I'm strong enough."
Alex was really struggling, so I ran to the door and pushed my weight against it. Decayed arms reached through the window, grabbing for us.
"You need a power boost," Alex said.
"Yeah, well, the only way I know how to do that is by connecting with Medusa, and the statue is in the mansion."
Alex eased up on the door and looked at me. "The locket isn't. I'll slip out there and get it from Victoria. When I get it to you, drink the blood inside the bloodstone."
"You want me to drink blood? You know your family made my dad drink blood. They diluted his power with human blood, and I'm convinced Victoria did the same thing to me. That's why I was out cold the night she stole my locket. I was weak from the human blood."
"I'm not my family. Besides, the blood is Medusa's. It's the ultimate power source."
He was right, but how would he fight off all the Ophi to get the locket? Before I could ask, he said, "Close this behind me," and slipped through the door. I struggled to push it shut again. Luckily, they were probably so thrown off-guard that Alex was coming out that they forgot to push their way in.
There was a huge struggle outside, and I knew Alex didn't stand a chance. I grabbed the arm that was still swinging at me through the window. I let my blood bubble while I commanded him, "Help Alex. Attack Victoria, and help Alex get the locket from her. Go!" I released his arm, and he pulled it back through the window. I peered out. The man was going straight for Victoria, but the others were still attacking Alex. It wasn't enough. Abby had Alex in a headlock from behind. I opened the door and lunged at her, yanking her head back by her hair. I turned to the living dead Ophi coming toward me and commanded him to help Alex. The corpse fought off the others, helping Alex get free. I held tight to Abby, who kicked and swatted at me.
Alex lunged for Victoria, but Troy grabbed him instead. "I killed you once, and I'll do it again, son."
All eyes fell on them. No one moved.
"He's your son?" Leticia asked. "And you killed him?"
"Yes," I blurted out. "He and Victoria are ruthless. They only care about themselves." I shoved Abby right into Victoria. They fell in a heap. "Leticia, you don't have to follow them. Think about it. If they killed their own son, what would stop them from killing you?"
Leticia looked at her parents, standing next to Troy. She burst into tears and ran for the mansion. "Go after her and bring her back," Troy instructed her parents.
Alex's knee connected with Troy's stomach. Troy doubled over, and Alex ran to me. We clutched each other's arms.
Troy stood up, holding his stomach with his hand. "That was really stupid, Alex. This time I'm going to tear you apart so your little girlfriend can't put you back together."
"No!" We were outnumbered. I couldn't find a way out. Leticia's parents were dragging her, screaming, back to the group. Victoria and Abby were back on their feet. They closed in on us. The Ophi I had been controlling stood there motionless, waiting for orders.
Victoria burst out laughing, obviously amused at my pathetic outburst. "You're as stubborn as your father was. He disapproved of our ways, too, you know. He thought he was so much better than the rest of us."
"I bet you tried to trick him like you did to me," I said. "Pretended that he was special when really you were jealous of his power. Is that why you fed him human blood? To even the playing field?"
This time Troy joined her in laughter.
"Very good, Jodi," Victoria said. "Yes, it was my idea to give him human blood. You see, Troy and I were twenty-five when your father came here. I had just given birth." She turned to Alex. "If only I had known what a disappointment you'd turn out to be." She shook her head and waved the thought away. "No matter. I wasn't going to be led by a stupid boy who had been reckless enough to get a human pregnant. It was disgusting. A disgrace to the Ophi race, even if he did father the Chosen One. He needed to be taken care of."
"So, you killed him." Without commanding it to, my blood started boiling.
"Actually, I killed him," Troy said.
I should've known. Always the quiet one. Victoria talked a big game, but Troy was the muscle behind their relationship.
"You don't seem all that upset about this news," Victoria said.
"It's old news. Well, most of it anyway." I glared at Troy. "I broke into your files in the library. I found out my dad's name and the date of his death."
"Well, well, you have been naughty, Jodi Marshall. Like I said, you're so much like your father."
"What did you do with him? After you killed him, what did you do with his body?" I was afraid she was going to tell me they made him into a zombie. I couldn't handle that.
"Let me show you." She smiled and walked to the other side of the graveyard. We all followed. She stopped at an unmarked grave. One I'd seen before. I'd walked by it every day when Alex and I trained here. Victoria raised her hand over the grave and sliced her finger with her own nail. I screamed, but it was useless. Nothing I did was going to stop her. She flicked a drop of blood onto the dirt and stood back.
I was relieved I couldn't feel a soul I, myself, hadn't summoned. Feeling the torture in my dad's soul would've done me in. I'd be lying in a grave alongside him in no time. Still, my eyes burned with hot tears, and I felt bile at the back of my throat as I saw fingers break the surface of the dirt. I went to reach for him, but Abby grabbed me from behind, holding me back.
"No, no, Jodi. We don't help zombies around here," Abby whispered in my ear.
I stared in horror as he pulled himself out of the ground. He was no older than I was. His face looked discolored, purple in some spots.
Victoria tsked. "Ah, what a shame. It looks like the human blood in him was at odds with the Gorgon blood, even in death."
Oh, God! Those were pockets of human blood pooled under his skin.
"Jodi, meet your father, Derek Colgan." Victoria turned to my dad. "Go give your loving daughter a hug, Derek."
Abby held me still while my dad walked toward me with his arms out. "Dad." I knew I could've fought Victoria's hold on him, made him obey me instead, but I didn't want to do that to him. His arms wrapped around me, and Abby released me before she came in contact with my zombie father.
"Make sure you give a nice tight squeeze," Victoria said.
His arms tightened around me until I could barely breathe.
"Jodi, stop him," Alex said. "Use your power. You're stronger than Victoria."
"Shut up!" Victoria snapped. "You want to see real power, my dear son? Watch this." She took the locket in both hands, wrapping her fingers around the bloodstone. Closing her eyes she murmured, "Reach every dead body in this cemetery, find every soul, and bring them to me." Her body shook, making her let go of the locket. Her eyes rolled back into her head, but she managed to stay standing. It was like watching a demon possession. Something was taking over her body.
"Please, let go," I said to my father, hoping a request would work as well as a command. He released me but didn't back away.
The ground began to shake, and some of the living dead Ophi stumbled, not having complete control over their bodies. Headstones fell over left and right. Alex reached for me. "We have to get that locket," he whispered. "Even you won't be able to control a cemetery full of living dead without some help."
I nodded. He was right. I couldn't do it alone. "On three?" I asked.
"One, two, three!" We dove for Victoria, easily knocking her to the ground. Everyone else scrambled to stay on their feet. I yanked the locket from her neck, snapping the chain. "Run!" Alex pulled me up. We ran through hands and heads popping up left and right. The zombies moaned in pain as they dug their way out of the earth. Several clawed at our legs in the process, but it was their tortured cries that hurt me the most. I looked back to see if they were chasing us. Victoria was still on the ground. Troy had her head in his hands and yelled for the others to stop us.
"I have to get somewhere I can drink this," I said to Alex.
"Head for the trees. Maybe we can lose them in there."
We cut to the right toward the trees. One of the corpses was out of the ground and blocking our path. I couldn't concentrate enough to control him. Not while I was busy running for my life. Alex barreled into the guy. The force knocked the zombie over, and his head split open on the headstone. "Keep going!" Alex yelled to me.
The bodies were out of the ground now, and swarming us from every side. Apparently Victoria had commanded the bloodstone to carry a message to the corpses-a message to kill Alex and me. They clawed at our clothing and threw their bodies into us. Individually, it was doing more damage to them than us, but there were so many that it was slowing us down. The group behind us had almost caught up.