Sod saw his dad walking off with his backup team. They were all wearing black turtleneck sweaters and moving with swift purpose. Sod kept well behind them, pulling up his hoodie.
When they arrived at Main Street, he watched as his dad led the way into Danforth Manor. They would be confronting Uncle Rodge in a matter of minutes. Sod was about to jump into action and catch them up when he glanced across the road at Williamsburg Manor and spotted someone familiar walking up the driveway – Walter Bones. He was wearing a hat with a wide brim and was dragging poor Esmeralda along on a leash, despite the dog still having her leg in a cast. What was Walter doing back at Williamsburg headquarters? Why hadn’t he skipped town yet?
Sod watched as Walter tied Esmeralda’s leash to a banister and went into the manor. Sod just knew that Walter was at the heart of the whole thing, whatever the whole thing was. He turned and walked up to Williamsburg Manor instead.
He had no idea how he was going to get inside. The Williamsburgs were no fools. They would have CCTV and security guards. He wouldn’t be able to pick a lock and waltz right in.
He hid Julius Manflake behind a bush in the beautifully kept front garden and went up to pat Esmeralda, who was on the porch, perched awkwardly on her plastered leg.
‘How come you ended up with such a terrible owner, huh?’
Esmeralda nuzzled into Sod’s arms and an idea formed in his head. Or maybe it was just his reaper genes kicking in. He untied Esmeralda’s leash, twisted it around his wrist and rang the doorbell. Almost immediately, the door opened and a burly man stared down past a couple of prominent chin folds. Esmeralda saw the open door and tugged at the leash, desperate to get inside, where Walter was.
‘Yes?’ said Double Chin.
‘I found this dog running around on the street,’ said Sod, in a small, squeaky voice. ‘Does he belong to someone here?’
Double Chin looked down at Esmeralda and sighed. ‘Why, yes.’
‘Good. Here you go,’ said Sod, holding out the leash. But just as Double Chin reached to take it Sod let go. ‘Whoops.’
Esmeralda darted through the man’s legs and disappeared inside, dragging the leash behind her.
‘I’ll get her,’ cried Sod and before Double Chin knew what was happening, he’d squeezed past.
Williamsburg Manor looked like the more handsome twin of Danforth Manor on the inside as well as the outside. There was soft light, bright red carpet on the floor and large photographs of residential properties hanging from the walls. Esmeralda was hobbling off down a hallway and Sod dashed after her, hoping she’d lead him to Walter. Double Chin didn’t chase them, but Sod heard him calling someone on his phone. There wasn’t much time.
He darted after Esmeralda, who scrabbled down another hall and stopped abruptly outside a door. It was ajar and Sod swept Esmeralda off the ground before she could nose her way in. He peeked through the crack and saw Walter Bones standing in the middle of the room. He had his top off and Sod could see his wrinkly, old-man body as well as the large scar from the Eternaserum operation. Standing on one side of Walter, examining the scar closely, was Magic Williamsburg. On Walter’s other side was Uncle Rodge.
Wait, thought Sod. Uncle Rodge?
For a second he was shocked. But only because Uncle Rodge was supposed to be across the road, being arrested. Finally seeing the proof that Uncle Rodge was a rat and secretly in cahoots with Walter Bones was no surprise.
‘Interesting,’ said Magic, stepping back heavily. ‘And this scar is the only evidence of becoming a zombividual?’
‘That’s right,’ said Uncle Rodge, with a confident smile. ‘No-one will ever know. With Eternaserum in his veins, he’s been granted eternal life. And he didn’t even have to drink from a fountain of youth. Ha ha!’
Sod noticed his uncle didn’t mention the Black Portals that were caused by zombividuals.
‘I asked my father a question. Not you,’ said Magic Williamsburg, folding his arms over his ample body.
Uncle Rodge reddened slightly. Sod let out a breath as quietly as he could.
‘Actually, I feel like crud these days,’ said Walter Bones crabbily. ‘Even worse than before. Doesn’t help that I’ll have a split lip forever now, thanks to that Danforth hoodlum.’
Sod rolled his eyes. Walter was as grumpy in death as he had been in life.
‘The injury can’t be reversed?’ Magic asked, raising an eyebrow.
‘A minor side-effect,’ Uncle Rodge assured him quickly. ‘Zombividuals simply have to avoid contact as much as possible because of the risk of scratches, sores and wounds.’
Magic peered at the side of Walter’s face. ‘He looks paler than usual.’
‘A small amount of colour change is normal in a zombividual,’ came Uncle Rodge’s quick comeback. ‘Easily managed with fake tan, much like the living do.’
‘Don’t you people care that that Danforth kid split my lip?’ said Walter indignantly, moving away from both men and pulling his shirt back on. ‘And what that means?’
‘Of course we care,’ said Uncle Rodge smoothly. ‘But there’s no use bothering with Sod anymore. He’s served his purpose. We successfully manipulated him by allocating him your death and altering the data that appeared on his scythe. He didn’t even notice that you swallowed a cyanide pill right before you died, did he Walter?’
‘It’s true,’ said Walter, buttoning up his shirt. ‘The brat had no idea.’
Sod tightened his grip on Esmeralda as the men laughed. He felt sick at the thought that he’d been their pawn. He wished he could reach for his scythe to record this conversation. But he couldn’t do it without putting down Esmeralda and giving the game away.
‘Are you saying you want the kid dead?’ asked Magic Williamsburg with a cold smile.
Walter Bones frowned. ‘That’s not exactly what I’m trying to…’
‘Because you know how I enjoy the odd assassination. A man’s got to have a hobby. Be it throwing poison darts around or unloading bullets into lawyers.’
‘The lawyer was different though,’ interjected Uncle Rodge. ‘He knew too much about becoming a zombividual, and he’s not part of the family – yours or ours. His assassination was strategic. And I never asked you to try to kill my brother with poison darts. You decided to do that on your own.’
‘Daniel Danforth was on to us. He interviewed Walter on his own back porch. If it wasn’t for that kid I would have killed him too.’ Magic turned and rested a hand on Walter’s shoulder. ‘So leave the kid to me. After all, you’ve done me a big favour by being the test case.’
Sod held his breath. Dr Filibuster had mentioned a test case too. What did it mean?
Esmeralda started to wriggle in his arms. Please don’t bark, he begged her silently. He scratched behind her ear to try to soothe her.
‘You’re not listening to me,’ complained Walter Bones, starting to sound frustrated. ‘And it’s obvious you’re not interested in what I’m going through. What it’s like to be a …’
‘Are you not relatively healthy?’ snapped Magic.
Walter dabbed at his lip. ‘Relatively, yes, but …’
‘And you’re a dead man who is standing here talking like a living human. Isn’t that a miracle?’
‘I suppose it is,’ Walter Bones conceded. ‘And yet …’
‘It’s a miracle of science and business,’ cheered Magic. ‘Now, do you want the money for your part in all this or not? It was a million cold ones, wasn’t it?’
Walter Bones folded his arms and glared at Magic. ‘Yes.’
Magic laughed. ‘You haven’t changed one bit since you died. You’re just as grumpy and dramatic as ever. That’s proof enough for me that zombividualism works fine and barely changes a man.’
Sod hated to agree, but Magic was right: Walter had been grumpy and dramatic when Sod first met him right before the old man died. Hopefully Karma would be just like her pre-poisoned self when they turned her into a zombividual.
‘The money’s already in your offshore account,’ Magic said to Walter. ‘You can go and begin your new life now, and leave everything – including the kid – to me.’
‘About that,’ said Uncle Rodge, ‘I wouldn’t worry about Sod. Killing a loser kid will only attract unwanted attention at this point. Let me handle the Danforths.’
Wow. Walter Bones hated him, Magic was going to kill him and his uncle thought he was a loser. Only fourteen, and so many enemies already.
It was time to go. Almost as if she could read his mind, Esmeralda started wriggling with renewed force. He gripped her firmly and started edging away when Magic said something that made him freeze.
‘Roger, I’m buying the ability to zombividualise off you and your reaper family. I don’t need your advice on matters of assassination. Do you want me to cancel your debt or not?’
What did he just say? Sod quickly put his eye back to the gap in the door.
‘Of course, of course,’ Uncle Rodge laughed as if Magic had delivered a joke, not an admonishment. ‘But –’
‘Good,’ Magic said shortly, whipping a piece of paper out of the breast pocket of his suit. ‘Here’s the final paperwork, absolving the Danforths of their $5 million debt to the Williamsburgs. I’ll sign it once I have successfully become a zombividual.’
‘Wonderful!’
Sod could hear the relief in Rodge’s voice. His uncle took the documents and shook Magic’s hand. ‘We’re all set then. You’ll be the president of the Williamsburg family for as long as you like. Years, decades, centuries even.’
Sod went cold as the facts fell into place. His uncle had gotten the Danforths into crushing debt with the new reaping technology, and then sold them out by agreeing to zombividualise the most powerful Williamsburg. Walter Bones had been the test run. The final step was for Magic himself to become a zombividual.
Esmeralda had had enough. She let out a loud, piercing yap, flung herself out of Sod’s arms and raced inside the room.
Sod had everything he needed. It was time to get out of there and find his dad. He bolted down the hallway. Behind him he heard Magic shout, ‘How did that mongrel get in here?’
Sod didn’t look back. He pumped his legs, pushed past Double Chin, grabbed his guitar case and ran straight across the road.