“Obviously not great, but I didn’t follow you to talk about that. I assume you and Salem are not dead?”
“No. We are not. I am whatever demigods are, and Salem is undead.”
“Demi... You and your mother.” Her eyes lit up. “She’s a goddess and you’re her daughter. It makes so much sense now. Damn it. What I wouldn’t give to see the looks on the board members’ faces as they read that in my report.” She shook her head.
“It wasn’t us,” I told her. Some part of me needed her to know that we hadn’t taken her life from her.
“Are you sure?” she asked and glanced at Salem.
“What?” I followed her gaze in disbelief.
Salem was idly watching the sky.
“I was tailing your undead minion there to a funeral home and caught him grave robbing. I can’t pretend to know enough about magick users and the undead, but you better make sure someone else isn’t holding his leash.”
Kiara was serious and she was trying to be helpful, even in her afterlife, but I would know if someone had tinkered with Salem or Cheetoh. I felt the strings that bound us, always, and I gripped them tightly.
“I’ll check it out,” I said, and then surprised myself by adding, “Something isn’t right about this place.”
Kiara met my gaze. “You think so too?”
“I know so,” I replied. “This isn’t the afterlife, Kiara. I don’t want to scare you, but this”—I indicated the world around us—“all of this has been fabricated by someone or something. I don’t know if you’re up for it, but we could use your help in figuring out who’s behind this.”
What was I doing? Earth to Cecile, who are you?
Kiara’s eyes hardened with purpose. “What do you need me to do?”
“I need you to figure out if your new roommate knows she has a ghost statue in her spare bedroom and if there are more houses with ghosts like that in them. I’ve never seen anything like it. Something is happening to it.”
“I’ll check it out.”
Kiara stood tall and it felt good to reawaken a sense of purpose in her.
“Salem and I have to go, but we’ll be back soon. I know I don’t understand what you’re going through, but try to focus on this for now, and take it a day at a time. I promise to help you find true peace when this is all over.”
Kiara gave me a sad smile. “I was never really after peace. My life was about helping to maintain it. I thrive in chaos. I live for travel and action and for making a difference. Peace, a simple life—that’s the shit that terrifies me.”
I put my hand on her shoulder, surprising myself again. “Just a day at a time then. You may not be able to see the ghost I discovered, and if that’s the case, let me know. I have a tendency to see things others can’t.”
Kiara nodded. “I’ll let you know what I find.”
“We’ll be back soon,” I reassured her, and then waved a small goodbye, before I joined Salem to head back to our dimension.
UNDEAD ROOMMATES ARE A PAIN IN THE A**
“What a weird day,” I reflected as we got closer to our street.
Salem looked out over the snow-covered neighborhood and replied, “It was kind of you to include Kiara. I did not know her well, but giving her a job was smart. Not only will she be able to help us, but it will help her while she processes her death.”
“Speaking of,” I said, glancing sideways at him. “She followed you to the funeral home. You have to be more careful, Salem. It’s only a matter of time before they send someone out to look for her, and it’s possible we won’t get so lucky next time.”
“Lucky?” Salem asked.
“Okay, not the best choice of words,” I admitted, “but her death has saved us a headache for now. With you having to eat...what you eat, I get why you and Rafal had to stay on the move all the time.”
Salem turned away.
I rolled my eyes. I mean, I knew he cannibalized. My mother had made arrangements with the mortician to ensure he was fed. I didn’t understand why he was being sensitive about it.
“Anyway, we need to figure out who’s running the pocket dimension. There’s a rifter trapped somewhere in there, and ghosts are turning into statues—and Kiara was killed by a magick user. Now, that can’t be a coincidence, can it? Imagine if it was a group of wizards running that whole setup? That is something else.”
“You sound like you admire them,” Salem observed.
Did I? Maybe I did.
“They get to live out in the open, they have jobs with the government, and the prestigious schools. As much as I’d like to make fun of them, it’s hard not to be envious—and everything they must learn to do what they do... I have natural gifts, but my mother wouldn’t let me practice till I was older. I feel so behind.”
Salem adjusted his tuque before he said, “I don’t recall you taking this much interest in magick and necromancy when we first met. It seemed like you wanted something else for your life.”
“Yeah, well... No matter what I do, these kinds of things fall into my lap. I don’t think I have a choice in the matter.”
“Is that true or just something you’re telling yourself?” he asked.
We were almost home and I didn’t respond—because I didn’t know the answer.
Salem and I parted ways. I headed for the kitchen and he headed for the shower to get ready for work. After getting a bowl of cereal, I made my way to my room.
I didn’t miss the sound of the water when Salem turned the shower on, and found my thoughts wandering in directions I didn’t want them to go. Images of his bare chest, the fine lines of his jaw and neck...
I immediately fired up my PC in a desperate attempt to save myself. I had a paper due, statistics homework, and I hadn’t practiced my violin in ages, which translated to me sucking at it in class. I had just opened up my assignment when I felt the rat spirits in my room scatter.
I turned in my chair to discover my mother and a direhound walking into my room from the shadows.
“Malicia, is that you scaring away my mischief? Come here, you mighty huntress!” I exclaimed and jumped up from my computer chair.
Malicia whined excitedly and bounded for me. She was massive and knocked me right on my ass, but I didn’t care. Her tough, leathery hide and sharp teeth didn’t frighten me either. She could rip a body clean in half to tear a soul out, but she had always been a sweet dog to me. She was on the ground with me in an instant, demanding belly rubs. Her tail thudded against my bedroom floor as I obliged.
“You don’t bring them to visit me enough,” I scolded my mother.
Her face softened at the sight of us, and I believed a slight smile creased the corners of her mouth. “You could always come home. The entire pack would dote on you and stir the bowels of hell with their excitement.”
It had been a long time since I’d visited my mother’s home—there had even been a time when I considered staying there. It was like a fairyland, another world where I could be myself, but it was lonely too.
“When this semester is over, how about I come stay for a bit,” I suggested. It might help keep Cheetoh out of trouble, and it would be cool to show Salem. He was a quiet guy, yeah, but I never missed the wonder in his eyes when he discovered something new. Almost everything seemed to interest him.
“I shall have your room prepared. Your undead servants may stay in the servant quarters, of course,” she replied, but I didn’t miss the amused glow of her eyes.
I shook my head and stood up. Malicia was up in an instant with me and shoved her massive snout under my hand to maintain contact. “How about some guest quarters for them? Your servants aren’t exactly... Well, you know what I mean.”
My mother casually glanced around my bedroom, always taking it in, even though nothing ever changed. “Their state of decay is a consequence of their choices in life. It might do Cheetoh and Salem some good to see that.”
I sat back down in my chair and waited for Malicia to position herself beside me. My
mother remained standing.
“If this is in regard to Cheetoh’s lying and secrecy, I am handling it,” I told her.
I was hurt, but an eternity of decay was not a fair punishment for Cheetoh. I couldn’t blame her for wanting something for herself.
I scratched behind Malicia’s leathery ear. “So, I take it you know about Kiara...”
My mother couldn’t hold back a smirk. “The situation seemed to handle itself, though I am sure your mind is already on who they’ll send next, as mine is.” She stepped over to my bed and ran her large, pale hand over the sheets lightly. “This has been our home for so long.”
I nodded. “I was thinking the same thing, that maybe it was time for us to move on. With the events at the hospital and now a missing agent, they’ll be on our doorstep in no time. They most likely know who her suspects were—though I suppose I could just ask her next time I see her.”
The Nameless One arched her brow. “Oh? You’ve found her soul then?”
“Yeah. She’s in the pocket dimension. Whoever killed her tossed her in. They are either connected to the dimension or responsible for it. They have to be.
“Speaking of, I know I mentioned the ghosts were eating, but they’re also sleeping—which is odd, right? And I found one today that was like...like a statue. At some point, she must have laid down to sleep and never gotten up, and everyone had forgotten about her.
“I was examining her when a rifter possessed her—and called out for help. I didn’t know what to do. It faded so quickly from the ghost, I couldn’t find out where it was...”
My mother’s face was unreadable, but her silence said a lot. I waited for her response.
“And?” Her ruby eyes seemed to hum. It often felt like she could read my mind, but I reminded myself that she was just a keen observer.
I blew out a lengthy breath and ran my fingers through my hair. “And, uh, Kiara was killed by someone with a wand and it just so happens that I received an invitation to the Toronto Academy of Magick and Alchemy. So, what do you think? I get invited to a wizard school, Kiara gets killed by a wizard, there’s a pocket dimension...”
“Oh, wizards. How delightful, my daughter.”
I couldn’t tell whether or not she was being sarcastic.
“Well, the good news is... No, wait. I have none.” I gave her the fakest smile I could muster.
And she gave me a genuine smile in reply. “An invitation to a wizard academy. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were considering it.”
I snorted. “You know me, I don’t like those arrogant assholes, but a part of me wouldn’t mind being somewhere where my natural gifts were useful and maybe even celebrated.”
“I wonder how that works,” my mother pondered, finally sitting on my bed. The springs groaned. “Would your gift be celebrated? It’s not like you ever tried other forms of magick. Would you be allowed to practice necromancy under the label of wizard—or would you learn other skills instead? As you’ll remember, I have warned you in the past about wizards... It is not often gods find themselves on the same side as a wizard.”
I shrugged. “I remember. But who knows, maybe it would mean I wouldn’t have to hide anymore. Maybe I could help change things.”
My mother’s ruby eyes met mine. “As long as you keep undead servants, you will be isolated. The Wizarding Society of Great Britain and North America has a lot of pull when it comes to exceptions to governing law, but they will want you to use your talents to their benefit and under their supervision—and that may not include having servants of your own.”
“First, Salem and Cheetoh are not servants. Sure, they do their share of chores around the house and help pay rent, but they are my friends.
“Second, I haven’t decided whether I want to check the school out yet or not. Maybe I want to see if I can make a life for myself out in the open—or maybe I just want to say I stepped inside a wizard school and blew something up.
“I mean, they created a pocket dimension and are up to some next level shit in this town, and I can’t help but to admire that, but I also know it’s wrong.”
I would free those ghosts, but the thought of not having to run anymore...of being able to just be me, and build a life because I have a degree from a wizard school, I couldn’t ignore that.
We both heard the shower turn off. My mother’s eyes trailed over to the door. “You and Salem appear to have grown rather close lately.”
I blanched. “What? Close? No. What? Salem? He’s—he’s... Well, we don’t know what he is, but he’s not alive. Mom...that’s disgusting.”
I made a face for emphasis.
“If you say so...” My mother trailed off.
“Anyway... I’ve got finals coming up. I will try to make a last ditch effort for my grades, so I won’t get back to the pocket dimension right away, but Kiara will do some snooping for me. She’s going to see if there are more ghosts in comas and learn what she can.
“After that, I’ll try to locate the rifter or the anchor, whatever I can find to help us figure this thing out. Then we’ll decide where we’re headed next. Whatever happens with school, I know we can’t stay here.”
My mother stood and stretched her massive body. “As you wish, my daughter—undead and dead servants are excellent for multitasking, are they not? You should get more.”
I rolled my eyes and waved her off. “I’ll get right on that.”
Malicia left my side and joined my mother, but she took one last longing look at me.
“Goodbye for now.” My mother’s voice echoed as she disappeared.
I listened as Salem retreated to his room, not wishing to bump into him in the hallway. The thought made me strangely uncomfortable.
Once I heard his door close, I decided it was time to talk to Cheetoh—I could always write my paper later, right?
There was so much on my mind. I still didn’t know if I cared about school. Was music what I wanted to do? Did I even need a degree to do it? Additionally, I seemed to be a magnet for undead problems.
I wondered if I had to accept that, like my mother, I was now part of the world engine that maintained the balance of life and death. Was simply being a necromancer and protecting the dead my true calling? Was that who I was supposed to be? And if so, could I do it under a label that would protect me?
I gathered my strength outside Cheetoh’s door. I hesitated and then knocked. “Can I come in?”
She didn’t reply, but I opened it anyway.
I was surprised to find her room clean. After our argument, I was pretty sure she’d torn shelves down and punched a hole in the wall, but she either patched it or hid it behind a picture frame.
I idly admired the Lego builds on the shelves on her back wall. “So, Agent Peterson is dead, but uh...it’s only a matter of time before they send another agent or a team snooping. Her disappearance won’t go unnoticed, so Mom and I discussed that it might be time to move. There’s just so much going on... I don’t know what the right call is here.”
I braced myself, waiting for an outburst, but Cheetoh simply eyed me from her bed. She turned a page in her magazine without looking at it.
I sighed. “It’s just a really dangerous time. It seems Kiara was killed by a wizard or wizards, and the government is coming or already here... On a good day it’s not safe for you to get close to a living person, but now especially, it’s dangerous. I don’t want anything to—”
“Get out,” Cheetoh snapped.
“Cheetoh, I’m just trying to—”
“I said out!” she roared, red-faced. She threw her magazine across the room.
I stood my ground. “What was your plan with this woman? Huh? Do you know the particulars of your several-thousand-year-old curse? Are you done consuming humans to sustain your immortality or will you have to do it every ten years? Do you know? Because I don’t! What if you hurt her or kill her? What about someone she loves or knows? What will happen then, Cheetoh?”
“I said it was fling!
Get out of my room!”
My hands tightened into fists and just before I stormed out, I yelled, “It’s not my fault, Cheetoh! I didn’t do this to you. I am trying to protect you!”
Once I slammed her door, Salem opened his.
I huffed and turned away from him. I was done with both of them for today.
Unable to focus in my room, I furiously cleaned dishes. Our dishes had probably never been so clean—and I didn’t break a single plate in the process.
Once everything was in the drying rack, I decided to try again with Cheetoh. I’d cooled off and the more I thought about it, the more I realized how impossible it was to ask someone to live a half-life.
Cheetoh and Salem weren’t exactly alive, but they were alive enough. Alive enough to feel, to want, and to wish for more than just friendship.
I knew I was better than my mother with how I viewed and treated them, but I also knew I considered them other and set them apart from humanity.
I made two cups of hot chocolate, packed them with vegan marshmallows, and headed back to Cheetoh’s room.
I tapped the door lightly and stepped in.
Her light was off and she had the blankets pulled over her head. I stared at her silhouette, lingering a little too long out of sadness. Reaching creeper levels, I decided to leave and come back later.
I had been mad at her for so many years, but after...after Darren had stepped into our home, a lot had changed. He’d done something to me, and I was still feeling the effects of it.
I missed him. I wished I could talk to him, so badly.
Unable to bridge the gap between Cheetoh and I, I parked it in the living room with my hot chocolate. I sipped it slowly, waiting for the marshmallows to get gooey.
It wasn’t long before I heard Salem’s heavy steps come into the living room.
I held up the other mug and said, “It might taste bad to you, but let’s pretend and not let it go to waste.”
Salem thanked me as he took the cocoa and sat down at the opposite end of the sofa. He was quiet, presumably waiting for me to talk. He never pressured me into opening up, and I liked that.
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