The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker

by Lauren James

  Kasper’s roaming touch trailed down Felix’s fingers, bending and straightening the joints, comparing the length to his own.

  “I hope not.” Felix sighed through his nose. Why hadn’t he done something about Harriet earlier? He shouldn’t have left her to wander the building, leaving chaos and destruction in her wake.

  Kasper sat upright, suddenly. “Felix, I never said thank you.”

  Felix blinked. “What for?”

  “After Lisa disintegrated, you were there for me. And again, when Harriet – you know – dumped me. You were there for me again. I realized that I never said thank you afterwards.”

  Felix was shocked. Kasper was voluntarily talking about feelings. Usually he seemed terrified of even admitting he had any emotions at all.

  “I…” Felix stuttered, but Kasper clearly wanted to get the words out in one go.

  “It meant a lot. That’s all I wanted to say. And – and I appreciate it.”

  Felix’s eyes dropped to the ground. He smiled. “Any time, Kasper.” Then he looked up, distraught. “And I don’t mean that in a ‘I hope you get your heart broken again’ kind of way. God.”

  Kasper laughed. The sound was relieved, filled with a rush of affection. He hauled Felix into a hug, squeezing him hard. Felix’s nose hit his cheekbone, too hard and painfully real. He twisted his face to the side.

  “Thanks, buddy. You’re a really good mate.” Kasper rubbed his hand up and down Felix’s back in familiar, gentle strokes. There was something awful in the words when combined with those intimate movements, so tender and personal.

  Felix went still. Kasper was saying one thing, and doing another. It wasn’t fair on him, not one bit. He couldn’t call Felix his friend, and then touch him like they were more than that. This was something more than friendship, at least for Felix.

  “No,” Felix said, quick and rough. “No, sorry. I can’t do this.”

  “What?” Kasper said, confused.

  Felix clenched his fists so tightly that the muscles in his hands popped. A whiff of dust, mixed with the humid scent of a brewing thunderstorm, hit his nostrils. “I can’t live like this any more. It’s not enough.”

  Kasper was floored. “What? I don’t, I mean – what?”

  “I thought it would be enough, to just be here for you when you needed it. But you have to – you have to know. It’s not like you don’t – it’s not – I can’t keep doing this. I can’t always be here when you need me, and then pretend I don’t care when you’re fine, because it hurts too much, OK? It hurts.”

  Felix’s eyes were wet. He wiped at them roughly with the back of his hand. “I’ve spent decades trying to get rid of this thing, this torch I’ve been carrying around for you, and all that keeps it burning is pure pigheadedness, but I can’t any more. OK? I can’t. For my own sake. I’m sorry. You’re going to have to find someone else’s shoulder to cry on.”

  “Felix,” Kasper said, sounding like the words were torn from his throat. He looked petrified now, rabbit-heart pounding in his neck. Felix had seen that expression on his face before, whenever Felix made too many jokes about being gay.

  Kasper was afraid to even hear the words. Why was Kasper so scared all the time?

  Before Kasper could say anything else, Rima appeared in the doorway. There were dark, hollow bags under her eyes.

  “He’s here! Felix, Oscar is here!” she yelled, with pure panic in her voice.

  Felix stopped thinking about Kasper immediately.

  “Oscar,” he said, fear running through him. Oscar was here while Harriet was on the loose. This couldn’t be happening.

  HARRIET

  There was a reason Harriet had liked make-up so much when she was alive. It was a way to control how people saw her. She could make sure that everyone’s first impression of her was positive: someone who was careful about her appearance; sociable and fashionable. They would never see the real person, hiding behind the mask.

  Because Harriet had always known, deep down, that she was a mess. She was inarticulate, embarrassing. She could be mean. If people got to see the real her, they would hate her immediately. It was better that they only saw the filtered, artificial Harriet that she’d made up.

  She wished desperately that her old disguise still worked. Because she was exposed now, completely and utterly. Everyone here saw her for who she truly was, regardless of her perfect eyeliner.

  Harriet hid on the roof, giving her energy levels a chance to equalize and calming the torrent of emotion inside her. The sky went dark, and then a pair of headlights lit up the road below. A lone figure parked and walked over to Mulcture Hall. A human was coming into the building.

  Harriet let out a yelp of delight – she could use this! Her plan of possession could still work! Then she saw their face.

  The man looked familiar. A bit older, but his features were almost identical to Felix’s. Didn’t Felix say he had a twin? He’d said that his brother always visited on the anniversary of his death. Oscar, his name was.

  This was perfect. She knew exactly where Oscar was going to go – and she was willing to bet that where Felix was, Kasper would follow. With both Kasper and Oscar in the same room, the rest would be easy. Kasper had leapt inside that police officer without any hesitation. If she got him close enough to Oscar, then all she had to do was make sure that she was there to piggy-back the possession.

  Harriet ran down to Felix’s room. She would be nice, and give Oscar a bit of time to mourn before she made Kasper possess him.

  To her surprise, Leah was sleeping on the floor. She looked faint and muted, like the Shells had been. Claudia was curled up at her mother’s side with one tiny fist wrapped in the fabric of her dress, whining softly.

  “… Leah?”

  The girl didn’t stir, but there was a tormented expression on her face. When Claudia caught sight of Harriet, she stopped crying. She rolled over onto her back, regarding her with a surprisingly intelligent expression. Then she reached out towards Harriet with chubby arms, looking at her almost greedily. Harriet crouched down to wrap her hands around the baby’s torso, but someone ran into the room before she could touch her. Surprised, Harriet jumped backwards. It was Felix.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Felix shouted, as Claudia started screeching.

  “What do you mean?” Harriet asked. “I was trying to stop her crying.”

  “Not the baby! Is he here yet?” He looked around, wild-eyed and chest heaving. “What are you going to do to Oscar?”

  She sighed. She’d been hoping that Felix would never have to know about this. It wasn’t like it would hurt Oscar to be possessed. Once they reached her gran’s house, he’d be free to leave, confused but unharmed.

  “Go away. This is none of your business.”

  “What … what are you planning? I know you attacked Greg. I’m not letting you take my brother too!”

  Rima and Kasper appeared behind him in an act of perfect coordination, looking equally furious. How did they all fit together so well? Why had they not made space for her?

  “I didn’t do anything to Greg – he made his own choices. I didn’t realize you were close.” She kept her voice disinterested, as if she didn’t care that they were looking at her like she was a monster.

  “Why is everything a game to you?” Rima sounded winded, like she’d been punched in the chest.

  “I want you to leave this room before Oscar gets here,” Felix commanded with remarkable single-mindedness, walking towards her.

  Harriet held her ground. If he came close enough for her to touch, then she would make him feel fear worse than he’d ever even dreamed possible.

  “Absolutely not.” Harriet tilted her chin upwards determinedly. “You can’t stop me. I’m not going to hurt him.”

  “You can’t touch him,” he said, fear sending his voice paper-thin.

  “I’m not going to do anything life-threatening. Honestly. Please calm down.” She wished Oscar would walk a bit faster. He was taki
ng so long to arrive. Had the police boarded up the entrance and windows again, after they’d cleared away her corpse?

  “Felix, use your power,” Kasper said.

  Felix stretched his hand out towards her. It was a growing tickle at the back of her mind; the compulsion to go to sleep. She shook her head, forcing the feeling away. It snapped.

  Felix’s brow furrowed. You don’t want to do this, he whispered into her mind. You want to sleep for a long time. You’re so tired.

  It was harder to resist now, as he moved closer. She yawned, and then shook it off again, snapping the connection once more. It hit her like a physical blow that he could stop her from doing this. She should have hidden, invisible, until Oscar arrived. Felix was more dangerous than she’d planned for.

  “Felix,” she said, voice oozing charm, “Felix, relax! I’m not going to do anything bad. I promise.”

  Felix’s gaze flickered, but he carried on moving towards her. A muscle stood out on his neck. You want to go into the basement. You want to leave Oscar alone. You want to see the Tricksters.

  Grinding her teeth, she focused on the ache deep in her gums and fixed her feet to the ground. If he came nearer, she could use her power and make him scream in agony. Though if he came close enough for her to touch him, he’d have her completely under his control. They were at a stand-off.

  Felix’s plaid-clad shoulders were tight with tension as he pushed the message into her. Again, she snapped the control, feeling the command ricochet back at him. He winced.

  “You don’t need to do this,” she told him, as he recovered. She could feel herself weakening. She wouldn’t be able to hold off his next attempt. “It’s immoral to hypnotize people without their consent. You told me so yourself.”

  Felix frowned. “It’s not immoral to do it to protect people.”

  She scowled. Fine. If he wanted to be like that. “Then again, Kasper could ask you to murder someone for him and you’d leap at the chance, drooling for more.”

  At that, Felix lunged at her. Harriet ducked, spinning across the room as the tail-end of his words hit her.

  … to the basement.

  When Kasper tried to grab her, she pressed a burst of pain into his fingertips. He let go reflexively, like he’d been burnt. She pushed past Rima, who moved to stop her, too late.

  Running into the corridor, her main thought was to get away, but then she heard footsteps. Real, human footsteps, shaking the rotting wooden floorboards as they moved down the corridor. Oscar.

  Behind her, Felix yelled, “No!”

  A man in a well-tailored suit was walking down the hall. He kept his head ducked, focusing on not tripping over the endless debris filling the building.

  For one crystal-clear moment, nobody moved. Harriet stopped thinking about Felix and started preparing. It wouldn’t take much. She just had to get Kasper close enough to touch him and he’d latch onto Oscar like a mosquito. With a bit of confusion sent Kasper’s way, Harriet would follow him inside the body. She could make him go to her gran’s house immediately.

  She ran. She could feel the air move behind her as Felix followed. He was slow, too slow. She was going to beat him. She grabbed Kasper’s wrist, tugging him along with her across the room with all of the strength her new energy had given her. He let out a yelp, tripping over his own feet as he tried to jerk his hand free of her grip.

  Oscar had the same dark cropped curls of hair as Felix. There were lines on his face in the places that creased when Felix smiled.

  Flames shot up between her and Oscar, and Harriet jumped back, startled. Where had the roaring fire come from? She couldn’t feel any heat on her skin. Tentatively, she touched it. It was cold. Felix had sent the vision to her with his power, making her hallucinate a fire blocking her way.

  She strode through it, ignoring the flames. At once, they disappeared. Felix let out a groan behind her. Harriet grabbed Kasper by the waist, using his stumble to throw him towards Oscar.

  “No!” he cried, and reared back, clawing at her cheek as he tried to escape.

  Let go.

  Harriet released Kasper automatically. When she fell, Felix’s grip on the back of her neck was the only thing that stopped her from hitting the floor. Cody was hanging from Harriet’s leg, teeth sunk deeply into her calf. Rima leapt on her, tiger claws digging into her skin, sliding down her back in deep gouges. Harriet pushed pain into Rima until she yowled, jaws stretching wide in agony and claws digging in harder.

  Softer emotions like lust and love were easy to push away, because people did that all the time anyway. Everyone had a crush they tried to ignore. But pain? That was harder to dismiss.

  Harriet stumbled across the floor with Felix and Rima, struggling to break free. They knocked into Kasper, who flew forwards and passed through Oscar. The human stopped walking, a dizzy look crossing his face.

  Kasper stopped in his tracks. He snarled and jolted forwards, reaching into Oscar’s skull. His instincts had taken over.

  “Kasper, no!” Felix yelled, letting go of Harriet to stretch his hand out towards Kasper. His command came again: You want to go to the basement, and then, distorted, a version he must have meant for Kasper: You want to let go of my brother.

  Harriet laughed. Felix couldn’t control them both. This was going to work.

  She flung Rima across the room, ignoring Felix’s orders telling her to leave. It was weaker now that Felix’s attention was divided. He couldn’t hypnotize them both at once. It was her or Kasper.

  Felix commanded, Leave Oscar alone, pulling back Kasper, who fell limp into his arms. His mouth was a hungry, gaping void, but his eyes were pained.

  Harriet threw herself at them, knocking the pair into Oscar’s body. Her skin was slippery with blood from Rima’s tiger claws, deep gouges running down her back and chest.

  Go down to the basement. The command was weak, desperate now. Harriet didn’t even try to wave it off.

  The three ghosts wrestled inside Oscar, who made a cut-off, instinctive jerk of alarm. Harriet could feel Kasper trying to latch on to Oscar’s soul. Every time he got close, Felix tugged him away until he lost his grip on the human’s brain.

  Harriet hooked her fingers around Oscar’s soul, guiding it to Kasper. The three of them stretched and pulled at the human’s body, fighting for control of the delicate layers of energy that held it together.

  When Felix jerked Kasper outside the body, something came loose. Oscar grunted – a chest-deep, involuntary noise of shock. His soul split open as it was torn away from his body. There was a sudden explosion of golden energy.

  Harriet couldn’t help herself. She gulped down Oscar’s spirit. It swelled inside her, burning along her veins faster than she could control. There was more than she’d anticipated – far more than the weak remnants of life she’d absorbed from the Shells.

  She tried to pull away, but the torrent was too strong. The energy came faster and faster, and she couldn’t make it stop. Then she didn’t want it to stop, and relaxed in ecstasy, letting it gush into her in an endless stream of delicious life.

  Oscar screamed.

  Kasper screamed.

  Felix wailed.

  Harriet moaned. She could feel the tender skin on the pads of her fingers splitting open from the pressure of absorbing so much energy.

  Finally, the flow of energy slowed to a trickle. Oscar collapsed to the ground, completely limp. A white fire burned inside Harriet, so strong that she didn’t know if it was killing her, or the only thing keeping her alive. She’d thought that she had overdosed on energy before, but this was something new. Her brain was rewriting itself, blowing out the nerves and replacing them anew. She wasn’t just Harriet any more – she was a god.

  Harriet looked down and smiled.

  FELIX

  Felix knew the second that Oscar died, because Kasper went limp in Felix’s arms, gasping for breath as the urge to possess left him.

  “Is he…?” Felix asked.

  Harriet looked like
she was laughing. He wanted to rip her heart right out of her chest.

  “Yes,” Kasper said. “He’s dead. I’m so – I’m so sorry.”

  Belatedly, Felix released him. Tears dripped from his jaw. He rubbed them away absently.

  He’d always braced himself for his brother’s death. The year that Oscar didn’t turn up, when Felix would know that he’d lost his brother for good. He’d never expected to watch the life sucked from Oscar’s body. He’d had the power to stop it happening, but he was too weak.

  He sobbed, closing his eyes against it all. He couldn’t process what had happened. He didn’t want this to be real. He didn’t want to have to deal with this. He couldn’t.

  His twin was old, but not old enough. Felix had wanted to see what that hair looked like when it was grey, what that face looked like covered in wrinkles.

  He dropped to his knees, wishing desperately that he could touch him, and feel the last traces of warmth leach from his skin.

  Kasper laid a hand on his shoulder. And then gasped.

  Oscar’s ghost was hovering above the corpse, looking around in confusion. He saw Felix and broke into an enormous smile.

  Oscar stepped forward. “Felix,” he said, arms outstretched to hug him.

  Felix jolted forward into the embrace. They touched for the first time in over twenty-five years. Then Oscar trembled and disintegrated into nothing.

  Felix’s heart broke in two.

  Chapter 17

  RIMA

  Two days after Oscar Anekwe’s death, Leah sat bolt upright and shouted, “She’s going to kill Oscar!”

  She was glowing with the energy released throughout the room when Oscar died. The death had released too much energy for Harriet to take it all, and Leah had absorbed the rest.

  Even though it had brought her back from the edge of disintegration, Leah hadn’t woken up. Rima had been terrified. She’d worried that they’d just pushed Leah too far, and something inside her had broken, even when she wasn’t a Shell any more.

  “Oh, Leah,” Rima said, beyond exhausted. “You’re too late. Far too late.”