Death Made Me Do It

by Sarah WaterRaven

  When we passed the barrier that separated the two worlds, I unexpectedly paused to take a look around.

  In a way, I’d come to like the place, and I didn’t want to destroy the happiness of the ghosts here, but I knew it was a facade. It was a matter of time before every ghost laid down in a bed and was forgotten about. In some cultures, that meant they would cease to exist.

  “Let’s start by finding Kiara, seeing if she’s okay, and finding out what she’s been up to,” I said.

  “The government lady?” Cheetoh asked.

  “Yeah. There was a lot we didn’t get to discuss, but we’ll have plenty of time to talk about everything after we free these souls. All you need to know is that Kiara is here and she has been helping us.”

  Cheetoh’s face was thoughtful as we continued our walk. Everyone was quiet.

  I kept my distance from Salem, but I had to admit to myself that it was pressing on me. He was visibly hurt, but it was doing something to me as well.

  I wish I could understand these feelings. I hadn’t felt anything since Darren left. I didn’t play my violin, I was giving up on school, and I didn’t know what I felt for Salem. What do people do when they look inside and see nothing?

  I wasn’t lost in thought long. Raven was running circles around us in excitement, and I felt Tanner stirring in my jacket, reminding me that we were close.

  We rounded a corner, and I almost knocked Kevin over.

  “Oh! I’m so sorry,” he apologized.

  “No, Kevin, it was my fault. I wasn’t paying attention,” I told him.

  He straightened out his shirt and said, “I see you’ve made a new friend.” He indicated Cheetoh. “Where are you all off to?”

  Kevin gave everyone a passing glance and turned back to smile at me.

  “Actually, we’re looking for our friend Kiara, have you seen her?” I asked.

  “Yes, actually, I just passed her. She was sitting outside the soda shop enjoying a sizable milkshake.”

  I smiled at him and replied, “Thanks so much. Listen, we’ve got to go, but we appreciate the help, and it was nice seeing you. Say hi to Bob for me.”

  Kevin looked at me. “Bob?”

  Shit.

  Kevin had said Bob was sleeping more... He must have drifted off and never woken up... The thought of Kevin forgetting his husband furthered my resolve. I was going to tear this place apart.

  “Um, never mind. My mistake. We’ll talk later.” I awkwardly took his hand and held it in a strange half-handshake, half-condolence kind of way, and then sidestepped my way out of there. I would learn how to interact with human beings one day.

  I left Kevin with a puzzled expression on his face, but quickly spotted Kiara.

  She was sipping on a milkshake with all the fixings and flipping through her notebook.

  “Kiara!” I shouted.

  She looked our way and I waved.

  “Hey,” she said as we approached.

  “I see you still remember me,” I joked, but I was also relieved.

  “I do. I think my notebook has helped me with that, but each day I read over it, I’m shocked at the things I’ve forgotten.” Her tone suggested there may be someone important she had forgotten, as Kevin had forgotten Bob.

  We were going to fix this. It was time. “I’d ask how the milkshake is, but I think I’ll get straight to the point here. Have you been back to the center of the pocket dimension since I left?”

  She shook her head. “No. I wasn’t going to go there alone after what happened last time. I was worried those creatures would come looking for me, but they haven’t.” She paused to sip her milkshake. After she swallowed, she looked up and added, “But mostly, I keep forgetting. I don’t know how much longer I have.”

  “Right, well, we’re here to fix that. They won’t catch us by surprise this time—and I brought the big guns.” I indicated the mummy behind me and then turned back to Kiara. “You in?”

  Kiara put her milkshake down and stood up. “This simple living just isn’t for me, no matter what comes after this. It’s definitely time to stir things up. Let’s see what you’ve got, necromancer.”

  The silver sphere sat ominously quiet, with no chimeras in sight. We would have to draw them out—and we’d have to draw all of them out. We’d seen two, but there could be more. A necromancer so powerful that they could make two of these creatures could easily make more.

  Our undead posse was crouched behind a parked car across from the anchor. We’d gotten there quickly enough, but I wanted to do a little reconnaissance before we rushed in.

  I turned and raised my hand to get everyone’s attention. “We know there are two chimeras, but we need to be on alert for more. Cheetoh, you haven’t seen these things yet, but they are gigantic and disgusting. You won’t miss them.

  “As far as I can tell, they can feel enough pain to respond to an attack, but they are otherwise like mindless puppets, being controlled by someone else. Whoever the master is, they can use the chimeras to see us. If they’re human, then they’ll be limited to looking through one pair of eyes at a time, if they’re a god... Well, that will be a little more complicated.”

  Kiara shuffled. “We could be dealing with a god?”

  “Yeah, but don’t worry about it. Once I disable the anchor, we’ll summon another god to come deal with them.” I grinned wide, but Kiara looked skeptical.

  “Salem, Cheetoh, Raven.” I leaned to peer around Salem’s bulk and see if I’d gotten the grim’s attention. Her ears perked and her dark brown eyes met mine. I suspected she understood everything we said, but whether she’d do as I’d instructed was still up in the air. “I need the three of you to engage the chimeras and keep them from coming after me. I can temporarily take control of one, but it’s important that I get into that anchor and disable it. Once I do that, we’ll have the power of a necrogoddess behind us. Sound good?”

  Everyone nodded.

  I gave them a thumbs-up and we stood. “Okay, I’ll need all of you to suit up in a minute. Salem, Cheetoh, you know what to do. Raven—hulk out on my signal, and Kiara, you’re with me. If I can disable the barrier around that sphere, you should be able to get in.”

  “You act like you do this all the time,” Kiara commented.

  I rubbed the back of my neck. “I mean, not all the time, but I have been dealing with CSIS agents, the undead, other necromancers, and gods since I was a child.

  “It was easier then, though, because my mother handled most of it. There was a brief while where I was just a student. I could almost picture a different life then, but...”

  My eyes lowered. I swallowed and changed the subject. “Let’s get this bad guy and free these ghosts.”

  Kiara smiled at me and it oddly gave me hope, the kind that spreads through you and gives you warmth. Necromancy was usually a miserable business, but it felt good knowing that I was helping her, that I was helping these people.

  “Cheetoh... Salem...” My eyes flicked up at him before I continued, “Head for that anchor like you’re about to tear it down. Raven, run in as backup if they need help, otherwise, keep on the lookout. Got it?”

  The grim tilted her head. I could only hope that meant she would do it.

  “When you’re ready.” I nodded to Salem and Cheetoh.

  The mummy’s golden claws were already forming, and Salem’s body blackened until he was darker than night. They both sprinted for the anchor, while Kiara and I waited.

  Raven paced and then barked, wagging her tail. It seemed she was anticipating the upcoming battle, and so far, following my plan.

  My undead hadn’t gotten halfway to the sphere before a roar thundered through the air.

  The moose chimera came charging from the left of the sphere, followed by the heavy pounding of the bear chimera’s paws from the right.

  Cheetoh and Salem faced their opponents. They stood together, each challenging a chimera. Seeing again just how big these monsters were, I second-guessed sending my friends
to fight them.

  I spun around. “Raven!” The concern in my voice said it all.

  In moments she was as enormous as the chimeras. Her body became more fluid, and black mist wisped around her like fog swirling through the mountains. In an instant she went from the sweet dog that had happily trotted beside me to the HopScotch to a snarling beast, ready to tear the undead apart.

  She lunged for the moose chimera and bit down on an outstretched tentacle. Salem went in after her, using his claws to shred at the chimera’s front leg.

  Meanwhile, Cheetoh took on the grizzly chimera herself. She was fast and her golden claws flashed in the sunlight as she struck at every available surface.

  My palms were sweating and my heart pounded as I watched them. It had been so different when we’d faced Soma. We didn’t know what we were getting into, but with these creatures... We almost hadn’t made it out last time. If it hadn’t been for the grim...

  “Tanner,” I whispered. His spirit appeared on my shoulder, his fuzzy little body fading in as if he’d always been sitting there. “Get the mischief. We’re going to need help.”

  His beady eyes reflected his understanding and he faded back into the space where spirits lived when not visible.

  It was some in-between space, safe from veil demons and yet not quite our own world. All I really knew about it was that there was light. It was a feeling I got whenever Tanner transitioned in and out of reality.

  Once Tanner was gone, I had no choice but to continue to watch my friends fight while I waited for my chance to get to the anchor. So far, no one had been seriously injured—they’d all been smart enough to keep their distance and not engage the chimeras directly. If they could keep that up while I disabled the barrier, we’d all be okay...

  An eerie chill ran up my spine and I turned.

  A third chimera had crept up behind Kiara and me.

  “Kiara...” I managed to say before the creature snarled and swiped a massive claw.

  I got down, but Kiara was knocked into the car beside us. I knew it would hurt, but thankfully she was a ghost and would easily recover.

  I ran forward and helped her up, and not a moment too soon. When the monster swiped its claw this time, it overturned the car and sent it barreling into a nearby house.

  “Shit!” Kiara yelled.

  “Run!” I shouted, grabbing her hand and pulling her with me.

  The chimera was some unidentifiable mess. I had no idea what we were looking at. The claw that had come at us had resembled a lobster claw, but the face almost looked like a man’s. This chimera was smaller than the other two, but far more disturbing. My worst nightmares could not have conjured such a thing.

  When we were a safe enough distance away, I raised my hand and blasted the beast back with my necropowers. “Get lost!”

  The thing gave me the creeps.

  “Run,” I urged Kiara. I’d managed to toss the creature back several feet, but it had more legs than we did, and we needed to get to the sphere.

  I had hoped to have all the chimeras engaged and visible so that Kiara and I could safely get to the anchor, but there was no time for that now. We had to run.

  As we drew nearer to the sphere, Kiara cried, “I can’t get past the barrier!”

  “I’ll go first and try to disable it! I’ll be as fast as I can!” I knew it wasn’t a reassuring answer, but it was all I had.

  I sped up and leaped forward, throwing myself into the sphere.

  I fell through as if nothing were there. The surrounding air sizzled, sounding like circuits frying, and I thanked my demigod nature for disabling the wards without effort.

  Spells that were for humans or gods weren’t effective against me and sometimes, my conflicting energy overloaded them. It was one of my better gifts.

  Within moments, Kiara came flailing in and hit the ground beside me. She didn’t move, but mumbled, “I think I’ll just stay here awhile.”

  I patted her back. “Rough week.”

  I stood up and dusted myself off. For now, the chimera hadn’t followed us, but I remembered that the grizzly had originally come out of the sphere. I offered Kiara my hand. “We need to move. The spell never prevented the chimeras from entering.”

  Kiara let out a long moan and finally took my hand. “Remind me never to follow any leads on necromancer activity in my next life,” she teased.

  I grinned. “I’ll pin a note to your jacket with instructions for the angels, just to be sure.”

  We both took a look around.

  “Where are we?” Kiara asked.

  It appeared to be a massive laboratory. The ceilings were high enough for the chimeras to stand inside, and everything was spaced way out, with massive operating tables, large tanks, and aquatic pillars. There were also cables that descended from the ceiling and barbaric tools, such as hacksaws and butcher knives. We were looking at some very serious money and some seriously disturbed individuals.

  As we pressed forward, I noted the enlarged animal and human body parts in the tanks and pillars. I stepped closer to examine an unrecognizable tangle of remains and jumped back when the bulbous endpiece shot up and stared at me. It was a gigantic eyeball and optic nerve.

  Kiara gave me a judgmental tsk. “And here I thought you’d been dealing with gods and the undead since childhood...”

  “This is a giant eyeball, Kiara. Cut me some slack. No natural living thing has an eyeball this big,” I retorted. “Now shhh. Whoever is running this place may still think we’re outside. We’re supposed to be sneaking.”

  Kiara shrugged. Magick users were hard to sneak up on, and I suspected there was a reason that the third chimera hadn’t pursued us inside—they already knew we were here.

  As we drew closer to the center, the operating tables and lab equipment became human-size. There were also smaller aquariums and enclosures, some with animals and others with the undead. The undead paced mindlessly, and the animals hid or cowered with understandable fear.

  My fists tightened. I would come back for them. When this was all over, I would save them.

  We finally approached the center of this circular horror show, and a wide, cylindrical room lay at its heart.

  From where I walked, I could see inside an open doorway. I spotted computer monitors and even a small kitchenette with the smell of coffee wafting our way.

  Someone was home.

  When Kiara and I entered, my stomach turned.

  Inside the smaller lab, the radiant colors of a rifter were dimming. It was encased in what looked like a snow globe suspended from the ceiling, with silvery symbols that appeared and disappeared, as if writing themselves on the surface.

  “What...is that?” Kiara asked, her eyes wide.

  “An angel,” I replied. I didn’t bother to tell her it was dying. The pastel colors of its glass-like body pulsed, and with each pulse, the light’s reach grew shorter.

  “Hey, uh, take a walk around. See what you can find. I’m going to see what I can do about freeing them,” I told her.

  Kiara nodded and crept off in the opposite direction.

  I lost sight of her as I took in the strange enclosure the rifter was kept in.

  “I’m here,” I whispered to it.

  Their hair was long and their frame slim and feminine. This one seemed to present itself as female, but I wouldn’t make the distinction unless they stated otherwise.

  “Cecile, you made it,” a voice said from behind me.

  I turned, my eyes confirming who the voice belonged to: Ishita.

  “I knew you would. I had no doubt in my mind that you’d find my little project here—and get past my chimeras. I couldn’t be more impressed,” she told me, smiling. “My recommendation to the Toronto Academy of Magick and Alchemy was well deserved.”

  She stepped over to a nearby computer and put a clipboard down beside it. She clacked a couple of keys on the keyboard and then started recording information on her paperwork. “If you hadn’t disabled that group of amateur
necromancers, I would have had to do it myself. They were preventing my beacon from pulling in fresh ghosts and as you can see”—she pointed toward the dying rifter—“I’ve only got so much time before this dimension collapses. I was hoping she’d last longer, but we have to work with what we’ve got, right?” She turned to smile at me again.

  As if my silence somehow encouraged her, Ishita added, “If you look at this map here”—she clicked open a window on her computer that produced a topographical map of Silverbrook and the surrounding mountains—“you’ll see I’ve chosen the perfect location. The number of ley lines that intersect here were more than enough to power my trap and enclosures, but I’m sure you knew that, as you’ve chosen to live here as well.”

  I was taking in everything she was saying, but I was speechless.

  Ishita finished her work and turned to face me. Adjusting her glasses, she said, “I suppose it’s a lot to take in, but this is the potential future that any wizard student has. There’s endless possibility for work, and incredible resources, as you can see.”

  She stepped up beside me and studied the rifter.

  I continued to stare at her, but I finally spoke. “Necromancy is illegal. I don’t think I’d be welcome.”

  “Nonsense,” Ishita replied. “Look what I’ve accomplished with its use here. I’ve found a renewable energy source—an endless supply of power—and I’ve given these sad souls peace with it.

  “Like yourself, I was a natural. Another wizard spotted my talent and they recruited me to the academy. Now, not only can I use my necropowers, but I can also do other spells. Not to mention the pay and benefits.

  “You won’t find anywhere else in the world where you’ll be more welcomed, Cecile, I can guarantee you that. I am practicing government-sanctioned necromancy. There’s no need to live in fear and secrecy, Cecile. Not anymore. I can help you.”

  Dark mother, she meant it. Ishita genuinely liked me and wanted to help me. It was breaking me. A rifter lay dying not five feet from us and Ishita was offering me everything I’d ever wanted: acceptance, security, and a living friend. I would regret and hate myself for the rest of my life for what I was about to do to her.