by Jonah Hewitt
“Wait a minute!” They all turned around. It was Tim. He was still standing in the middle of the room. “What about me? What should I do?”
Sky looked at him for a moment and then fished Tim’s keys out of his pocket and tossed them across the room where Tim caught them. “Wait until you hear the fight start – they’ll be distracted. Then make your way outside to the car. Once you get there, get that gate open, push that dumpster out of the way anyway you can, and then get in your car and go.”
“Yeah, but go where?”
“Home,” Sky said as if it should have been obvious.
“So…what?” Tim sounded hurt, “I’m supposed to run off with my tail between my legs while you guys go off to save the world?”
Sky sighed, looked at Tim intently and then walked across the room and put his hand on Tim’s shoulder.
“I ain’t going to lie to you, bro. This isn’t the Battle of Yavin or the Plains of Pelenor, and you ain’t Han Solo or Aragorn…no offense. We are all going to die, and the world is going to end as we know it.” Tim looked down as if someone had just told him there was no Santa Claus. Sky took a breath. “The only reason I’m doing this is because I just can’t imagine living in world without Italian blazers.” He stood there awkwardly for a moment and then he pulled Tim into a hug. Miles was stunned. Tim was too. Just as quick as it happened, Sky let him go and patted him on the shoulder and looked down at Tim’s t-shirt and smiled. Sky started to walk away, but then he turned and walked the last steps to the door backwards and gave one last little piece of advice to Tim.
“Go home, Han Solo,” he said with a smirk, “Get in your Millennium Falcon and go back to Wilkes-Barre. If you’re lucky, you’ll get there just in time to say goodbye to your brothers and that kid sister you’re always going on about.”
Sky turned his back on Tim who was frozen in place in the middle of the room. Sky turned the key the rest of the way and everyone listened to the click of the lock as it opened.
Miles looked at Sky. He really hated the prick. And he knew that Sky really hated him, but he couldn’t help but wonder if he was as shallow and awful as he seemed. Was he really doing this for Italian blazers and the chance to suck dry a few more stuck-up co-eds, or maybe somewhere, deep inside, could Sky be doing this because it was the right thing to do, that maybe he wanted to be a better person. Miles tapped him on the arm.
“Oy, I’ll see ya in hell, mate.”
Sky laughed. “According to baldy we’re already there, so what does it matter?”
With that, Sky pushed open the double doors and strode out into the hall purposefully, and Miles followed him. Nephys came hurrying after and gave one last look back at Tim, who hadn’t moved. He looked like he was dead already. He held his hand up stiffly, and gave Nephys one sad little wave goodbye.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Opening The Gate
Things were moving quickly now. The lounge with her mother on it had been carried to the center of the room. Lucy was kneeling beside it holding her mother’s cold hand. Lucy’s other hand held the stone. Amanda was lighting candles to illuminate the large ballroom. Lucy turned around. Yo-yo was sitting on the edge of the raised dais hugging his knees. As usual, when she first looked at him, he eyes looked dead, his face distant. The second he saw her though he brightened and smiled and gave her a nervous little wave. Lucy smiled back. She turned back around.
Hokharty was on the right, pacing, looking concerned, but he gave Lucy a wide berth. Graber was already dragging Moríro’s body away like a bag of dirty laundry. He left it in a heap on the far side of the ballroom. Lucy couldn’t help but stare at it. She didn’t like Lazlo at all, but she hadn’t wanted him to die like that. Amanda was barking orders at Hokharty, something about guarding the doors. Graber lumbered off and opened the doors Lucy had first walked into and closed them behind him. She kept looking at Moríro’s body. Left for dead under a tamarind tree. Killed in a car accident. Shot in an old, dilapidated ballroom. She wondered how she would end up.
“Lucy?” A faint voice was coming from somewhere far off, but she ignored it and stared closer at Moríro’s lifeless body.
“LUCY!”
Lucy suddenly came to. She wasn’t even aware she had drifted off. It was Amanda. She had been calling her for some time apparently.
“Yes!” Lucy said anxiously.
Amanda’s face softened and then she kneeled close beside her.
“We’re ready, Lucy.”
Lucy looked into her eyes. She had taken her amber glasses off. They were brown around the pupils but grey around the edges. Good. Whenever they were grey around the pupils it seemed to mean that Amarantha was in charge.
“What do I do?” Lucy said nervously.
“The gate has only one location in the next life, but it can be found everywhere in this life. That’s why you can die anywhere in this life and reach the underworld, but you can only come back, with rare exception, to this world through the gate.”
“Rare exception?” thought Lucy but Amanda was already moving on.
Amanda took Lucy’s right hand, which held the stone and held it out in front of both of them over her mother’s body.
“Hold the stone out like this. Do you know what it feels like when you push a magnet against the same pole of another magnet?”
“Yes,” Lucy said, shaking.
“It will feel like that. The land of the living and the land of the dead are polar opposites. The gate will resist the stone and push it back with great force. It will be difficult, but don’t let the gate force it back, hold it steady. After a while, you will begin to see the gate opening.”
“What does it look like?”
“A tunnel of blue-white light.”
Lucy swallowed and nodded.
“Then what?” Lucy asked.
“Hold the stone steady and concentrate on your mother. After a while the gate will open enough that your mother’s soul can come through. Do you understand?”
“Y-yes,” Lucy said. She was breathing hard, trembling.
“It’s ok to be scared, Lucy.” Amanda put her arms around her and hugged her across the shoulders. “When the gate is open enough, I will turn in to my specter form. I will go through the gate and find the spirit of your mother. I will bring her as far as I can to make it easier on you. I will bring her to the gate on the other side, but you must bring her the rest of the way.”
“H-How?”
“Concentrate on your mother. Never let go of her hand. When you can see her on the other side of the gate, call her name and command her back in to her body.”
“Command her?”
“You will be the conduit for your mother’s soul. It will pass through the gate into the stone and then into you. Then it will pass from you into your mother’s body. Don’t worry. You’ll know what to do when the time comes.”
That was hardly comforting. Amanda held her at arm’s length by her shoulders and examined her like she was sending a child off to the first day of school. Her eyes were moist.
“No matter what happens, Lucy, I will be here for you.” They looked at each other for a moment, and then she pulled Lucy into a tight embrace and held her there for several seconds. “Whatever happens I am so proud of you.” Lucy would have cried too if she hadn’t been all cried out.
Amanda stood up abruptly and took a few steps back.
“When you’re ready, Lucy.”
Lucy turned back around and looked at her mother’s face. Then she looked out at the empty space beyond her. She swallowed hard and thrust her arm out rigidly with the stone in her fist. At first nothing happened. She moved the fist around, searching for the spot of resistance. Just when she was about to start feeling silly she felt it, a small spot of resistance floating about a foot above her mother’s heart. She kept overshooting it, as it forced her hand away to either the left or right. Every time she got close, the stone would glow so bright she could see its verdant light through her own flesh.
/> “Steady, Lucy,” Amanda said behind her.
Eventually, she managed to center the fist directly on the resistance. The stone was so warm now it was nearly too hot to hold, but she pressed on. It was difficult, like pushing against a coiled spring, but she breathed hard through her teeth, determined to go on.
“All right…let’s go,” she said to herself and shoved the stone forward into the resistance with all her might.
“SCORE!” Maggie Miller yelled when the little Chinese girl kicked the cabbage through the doorposts of Nephys’ tomb that they were using as a makeshift goal.
Maggie Miller jumped up and down and clapped and let out a few “WHOOPS” for good measure. Some of the kids just looked a little too nervous to try, but several jumped up and down too. They were doing so much better than just a day ago, but Maggie had to admit, that grey cabbage she had found made a much better ball than Hiero. The little Chinese girl even ran into Maggie’s arms. Maggie lifted her high into the air and spun her around, then hugged her and even nuzzled her nose against hers.
“Great job, Chenguang! FANTASTIC! I knew you had maroon blood! We’ll make an Aggie of you yet.”
Maggie tickled her sides and the little girl made a little smile and brought her hands in front of her face. Maggie hadn’t heard any laughter yet, but she just knew the little girl was bursting full of giggles. It would just take a little more time. Maggie gave Chenguang another spin and remembered how much she missed being able to do that with Lucy. Then she set her down and gave her another quick hug.
“Let’s just keep this between you and me and not tell Nephys? Ok? Hao?” She whispered into her ear.
“Hao!” the little girl said before Maggie gave her a love tap on her behind and sent her into the garden after the cabbage. Maggie turned around to look at the other kids milling about idly in the sandy street and put her hands in her back pockets. They were at least going after the ball now. It had taken them a long time to understand the concept of the goal. It was still kind of a free-for-all, and she wondered if it was time to introduce them to the concept of “teams” just yet. Maybe shirts against skins? Or perhaps togas against tunics?
Just then Chenguang came rushing out of the tomb’s garden screaming. Screaming was new, but this wasn’t play screaming. This was scared screaming.
Maggie spun around and the little girl cowered behind her legs, trembling.
“What? What’s up sweetie?” The girl pointed a finger back towards the tomb.
Maggie looked. Emerging from the tomb was a tall shade. It floated in with a raspy breathing sound. It was transparent and only had a vague human form and looked ragged, like an old lace curtain draped over a human-shaped bottle filled with smoke. Maggie felt the tips of her fingers tingle, still blue black from her last encounter with a shade, and she remembered what Nephys had said about them feeding on sorrow. Cheunguang gripped Maggie’s jeans tighter and began to whimper. Several of the other children began to whimper as well.
“No, no kids! It’s ok, stay calm, don’t cry, it’s going to be ok.” She kept talking to them reassuringly while she picked up Cheunguang and held her tight while the little girl buried her head into Maggie’s chest. The whimpering died down, but the shade didn’t stop or fade away. It just kept coming. Maggie took a few steps back and tried not to panic, but then the shade changed course and drifted right on past her. It didn’t even act like it noticed her or the kids, which Maggie found hard to believe from how hard her heart was pounding.
“Guardalo!” another boy called out, pointing down the street.
Maggie turned. There, coming up the street, was another shade, and another. She turned around slowly. They were everywhere! But they weren’t the least bit concerned with the children. They were all just walking in the same direction.
“Ok, kids,” Maggie said nervously, “Time to go home now. Go on.”
She set Cheunguang down but the little girl didn’t want her to let her go.
“It’s ok, Cheunguang. You’ll be safe, just don’t touch the shades. That goes for everyone!” Maggie said speaking to the rest of the kids. “Go home but be careful and don’t touch the shades. Go slow now. Be careful.”
The kids slowly dispersed, picking their way through the scattered shades. Cheunguang seemed nervous, but eventually followed the rest cautiously. Maggie watched them until they were safely away, then she turned and went to go investigate herself. She picked her way carefully through the garden. Already, three shades were drifting lazily through her most recent plantings. She made her way to the atrium and then into the tomb itself. The tomb had a window that looked out onto the swamps and she needed to see what was going on.
From the tomb window she couldn’t see the blue-grey reeds or water because it was obscured by a thick, white mist. She gasped when she realized that it wasn’t a mist at all. It was a wall of shades! Thousands, maybe millions of them! All gathering and coming towards the city. And behind the shades, there were shadows, shadows as big as hills, and they were moving her way.
“Hey, Mikhail, wassup?”
Sky was leading Miles and Nephys down the halls of the mansion. There were a few stray vampires milling about and Sky was playing it up, a lot.
“Hey, Betty! Looking hot tonight.” The buxom vampire in the 1960’s party dress just looked at Sky with a bored look.
Sky pointed his fingers at her like they were pistols. As he walked away from her backwards, he gave her a couple “pew, pew” sound effects before pretending to blow the smoke off the barrels. Then he whirled the imaginary six shooters back into their imaginary holsters near his crotch.
“Party at my place when this is over. Deal?”
She just gave him a “whatever” sort of look and moved on. Miles thought it was a bit ridiculous himself.
“Don’ya think you’re layin’ it on a bit thick, mate?!” Miles whispered into Sky’s ear, annoyed, “We don’t want to attract any excess attention!”
“Dude, I always lay it on this thick. If I played it more low key than this, THEN they would get suspicious,” Sky replied nonchalantly.
They made their way to the stairs that would take them down to the foyer on this side of the ballroom. They were almost there when the kittens erupted from a nearby parlor. They swarmed over Sky and starting purring.
“Girls! Girls! Easy does it.”
“Sky, we don’t have time for this!” Miles whispered into his ear impatiently.
“Give me a minute, willya?! I’m about to get killed, y’know!”
Miles gritted his teeth. Sky accepted the adulation for a minute before he managed to extricate himself from their clinging arms.
“Ladies! Hate to say it, but I gotta go, major business, special mission for Hokharty himself, very hush-hush, so if you don’t mind…tell ya what…why don’t you all head up to Wallach’s room, and in a few minutes, we can all par-TAY! Cool?”
The girls didn’t want to go, but this placated them enough for them to pull themselves away. Reluctantly, they made their way down the hall. A few feet on they broke into a run, giggling and blowing kisses back all the way.
Schuyler sighed, “Did I ever tell you how much I HATE you Miles?” he said longingly, watching them go.
Miles grabbed him and dragged him toward the stairs.
“Ok, you sure you can find this imp or yours?” Sky said to Nephys, skipping down the stairs quickly.
“Um, yeah.”
“Good, we need to…” Sky was about to say something else, but the second they hit the bottom landing and saw the double doors leading to the ballroom they came face to face with Graber.
They froze.
Sky turned to Nephys. “Go find your pet, kid.” Nephys hesitated, but then turned down the hall towards the kitchen and ran.
Graber grunted. He took a step forward, he clearly knew something was up, and was about to follow Nephys, but before he got very far, Sky stepped in front of him with a broad smile on his face.
“GRABER!” he sa
id in the most gregarious manner possible, “Hey! I was just dying to ask who your fashion consultant is, because that blood-smeared sweatshirt and jeans ‘Night of the Living Dead’ look you’ve got going is just KILL – er!”
“That’s it Lucy! Keep it up!”
Lucy could see the tunnel of light now. It floated over her mother’s heart and was about two feet wide, but it kept growing by the second. It was roaring like a jet engine.
“Just a little bigger!” Amanda kept encouraging her.
The gate was like a giant hole in space, and it felt like it was sucking the very oxygen out of the room. The candles had all been blown out and several loose scraps of paper in the room were being pulled in. The only thing that wasn’t being pulled in was the stone itself, which it strangely pushed away with great force. If Lucy hadn’t been holding on to it, she would have been afraid to be sucked in herself. Her arm ached like she had tetanus, but she didn’t dare let go. She just kept thinking of her mother and pushing the stone forward.
“Almost there!”
The strain was almost unbearable, but the gate kept getting wider and wider, the force growing increasingly more intense, shoving her hand away while it pulled on her hair and pajamas so hard it hurt. Soon the gate was nearly four feet tall.
“Almost there, Lucy! Just a little more!”
Lucy closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. The stone was so hot now it nearly burned, but still she didn’t dare give up. She groaned out loud and started hyperventilating and was about to give up.
“THERE!” Amanda shouted.
Lucy looked up. She could see a small, black circle at the end of the tunnel of light. The black circle expanded until it revealed a room, no another tunnel! There were piles of rubble and a debris-strewn path and what looked like the broken foot of an enormous statue. They had broken through! The pain and struggle eased up a little now, but didn’t go away entirely.