Afterlight

by Elle Jasper

  With my backside pressed close to the aged stone, I slid sideways toward the crypt’s new, ragged opening. Mosquitoes sank into my bare thighs, and I swatted at them without making contact with my skin. They kept right on biting.

  I pushed through a final fall of moss and peered downward, my breath catching in my throat. The mausoleum looked more like an old stone shanty—a slab about eight feet long and five feet wide, maybe four feet off the ground. From what Preacher said, though, the crypt itself was a helluva lot bigger belowground—even here in the low country. They had kicked in the old rusted iron gate at the entrance and had lowered themselves inside. I couldn’t see them, but I saw a light flickering and their shadows moving about. Great. They were probably waving around their lighters.They’d catch the poor old dusty corpse on fire and themselves right along with it. Dumbasses. I wasn’t a chicken or anything, but no way was I going down in there. This was da hell stone, and I wasn’t taking any chances. I’d just scare the hell out of them and watch their bony rumps scramble out of the crypt. Then I’d yank Seth by the ears and drag them all home. Juvenile, I know. But it was the best I could do. If only I had some classic firecrackers, like Black Cats or Whistling Moon Travelers . . .

  With a deep pull of air, I steadied myself and deepened my voice as much as I could. Not too hard, since it was naturally raspy and a little deep anyway. “Savannah PD! Get your asses out of there now!”

  Waiting for the scrambling of bony behinds was almost fun. I stood there listening to their cursing, calling of vile names, and climbing up stone with one hand over my mouth, the other hand viciously swatting at the mosquitoes sucking the blood out of my hide. Then, many things happened all at once.

  Another crash sounded, almost like glass or pottery being broken, and a gust of wind seemed to whoosh from the crypt, high-pitched, almost like a howl. I turned my head to avoid the brunt of it because it smelled gross, like decay. Then one of the boys swore, and they all yelled with squeaky voices and piled out of the grave, flinging themselves onto the ground and then scurrying to get up. The wind abruptly stopped. The deafening chirping cicadas had grown completely silent. Bonaventure was as still as the death that lay buried beneath it.

  Seth stumbled by, and I grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him to an abrupt stop. He whipped around, his eyes glazed; they turned angry when he recognized me. I let him go and lifted a brow.

  “God, Riley!” he hollered. “What are you doing?” He frowned. “Let me go!”

  The other boys stopped their scrambling and turned. They all fell to the ground, laughing. One whistled. Riggs, whom I’d known since he was seven, said, “Poe’s sister is freakin’ hot!”

  “Damn, Poe—where you been hidin’ her?”

  “She married?”

  “Who cares, man?!” Riggs said. “Her ass is smokin’!”

  They all laughed.

  Seth’s gaze left mine, and he lunged toward his friend. “Shut up, Riggs!”

  I smiled. A small piece of me felt proud that my little brother—idiot that he was at the moment—would want to defend me against his pervy friends. Maybe I hadn’t done too bad a job in raising him after all. Again I grabbed Seth’s shirt and yanked him backward—not easy since the kid was already as tall as me with my boots on. “Let it go, Bro,” I said, and began tugging him toward the back of the cemetery. There was a place near the very back left fence where the ground sloped upward—enough for us to climb out. I glanced at Seth’s friends and inclined my head. “Let’s get out of here before the cops show up for real. I’m pretty sure you guys don’t want your parents to get a knock on their doors tonight. It’s a federal offense to desecrate a grave, you know.” That was all we’d need, especially since the cops already knew exactly who I was.

  “Dude, what’s desecrate?” one of the boys said.

  “You want us to go with you?” Riggs said, a smirk on his adolescent face. “So you can rat us out to our parents? No, thanks, babe!” He turned to the others. “Come on!”

  “Hey, wait!” I called, taking several steps and thinking that I’d let Riggs find out on his own that his mom already knew about his little scheme. “Come on, guys! I’ll drive you home.” I couldn’t just leave them out in the middle of the night. No way. “Swear to God, I won’t rat you out.”

  “No, thanks, sexy!” Riggs hollered, laughing, and he and the others took off into the shadows. He called back, “You’re fine as hell, but I ain’t letting you hand me over to my mommy!” More squeaky male laughter; then their voices grew faint as they slipped off into the night.

  Somehow, that made me very uncomfortable, and yet as agile as I was, even in spike-heel boots, I knew I couldn’t catch Riggs and his friends, corral them, and drag them all to my Jeep. I gave a sigh and shook my head. “Come on, Bro. Let’s get out of here.”

  I looked at my brother. Even in the dimness of the oaks, I could make out Seth’s venomous glare as he stared after his friends. He was truly pissed at them. “Whatever,” he mumbled. He kicked the dirt and threw a lanky arm over my shoulders. “Didn’t wanna come here anyway. Stupid idea.”

  I glanced at him. “Why did you?”

  He shrugged. “Just a lame bet.”

  More adolescent male giggling cracked through the night as Riggs and the others blew us off and ran in the opposite direction. I had half a mind to call the cops. Maybe that was exactly what they needed: a little heat. But since Seth would be the one to catch hell, I let it go. I’d circle Bonaventure to make sure they got out, and then I’d follow their stupid little keisters home.

  “Schmucks,” I muttered at them; then I turned back to Seth. I knew from experience not to pound him with why’s and how come’s—it’d been done to me plenty of times when I was his age, and it didn’t do anything but royally piss me off. I’d talk to him later. Besides, I could tell he regretted even hanging out with those guys, even though he’d known Riggs since grade school. “Hey, wanna grab some Krystal’s? I haven’t eaten yet.” I asked. Best fast-food burgers in the South, and they were open twenty-four seven. Nice and greasy.

  “Yeah, sure,” said Seth. “Hey.” He stopped at the sloped ground and faced me. In the moonlight I could see the patches of whiskers he’d tried shaving. His eyes, though, were completely sincere. I loved that about my brother. You could tell just about everything he was thinking and feeling in the depths of his eyes. “Sorry about tonight,” he said. “I know you gotta work in the morning.”

  I gave him a playful punch to the gut. “Yeah, well, not until eleven, so it’s no big deal.” I elbowed his ribs. “You can come in and sweep the floor for me.” I grinned and dug my boot toe into a gnarled bump in the tree. “You’d better turn your head unless you want an eyeful.” No doubt my skirt was about to take a ride up my fanny again.

  “Don’t have to ask me twice,” he said, and turned his back.

  As I crawled over the fence, I could hear Riggs and the others whistling. The sound wasn’t that far away, and I knew they watched from close-by shadows. Freaking little perverts. A growl escaped Seth’s throat, and I imagined that if Riggs had been close enough, Seth would have laid into him. My brother was lanky but as strong as hell.

  As I landed on the soft ground and my heels sunk into the dirt, I noticed how deathly silent Bonaventure was. Not a single night bird, bug, or frog—or Riggs and the guys—made a single sound. The fine hairs on the back of my neck and arms rose, and I quickly brushed the uncomfortable feeling off.

  “What’s the matter?” Seth said as he dropped to the ground beside me. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

  My gaze swept the graves, the luminescent marble statues that peeked through the trees, and the longer I stood there, the stronger the bad feeling became. “You don’t feel that?”

  Seth was silent for a split second. “Yeah. What is it? It’s creepin’ me out.” He scanned the cemetery. “Too quiet.”

  I glanced at him. “You know what crypt you were in, right?”

  H
e pushed his floppy bangs off of his face and nodded, his glassy-eyed stare reflecting the night. “Not until after. I tried to talk Riggs into leaving it alone, but he’s an idiot. He’d kicked the gate in before I could stop him.”

  I wholeheartedly agreed. Riggs was an idiot. “Well, let’s get out of here, huh?” I pointed. “Jeep’s over there.”

  “Can I drive?” he asked.

  “No.”

  “Damn.”

  I grinned as we hurried across the sandy lot outside the cemetery and past the two pillars of the entrance. But the weird feeling stayed with me, grated at my insides, even after we pulled away. I eased down the one-lane street, waiting for a glimpse of Riggs and the guys as they stumbled from the cemetery, and the raw gut feelings that clawed at my insides disturbed me. I’d spent too many teenage years looking over my shoulder in the shadiest streets of Savannah. I had to watch my own back, and gut feelings were things I paid attention to.

  I felt as though someone watched us. And I didn’t think it was Riggs and his friends, either. Weirdest damn feeling I’d ever had. I never get spooked. When I was Seth’s age, I was one badass punk kid. I didn’t have a scared bone in my body, and I’d do anything anyone dared me to do. I’d even looked scary as a teenager, with my naturally pale skin and, back then, red hair streaked black, kohl-rimmed eyes, and black lips. I’ve walked Savannah’s cobbles the whole of my life, been in the darkest alleys, and I’ve seen a lot of crap go down. I’ve been in a lot of crap as it was going down. I was one effed-up kid back then, and if it weren’t for Preacher, I still would be. But I’d never had a feeling creep over me like this one. I wanted to continuously look over my shoulder, or worse—overhead. What the hell would I be doing that for? What would be overhead?

  The muggy brine from the marsh whipped at my face as I shifted into third, and I glanced at Seth. He was biting his nails and staring out what would have been his window, had the Jeep’s top been on. I knew why he was acting funny. He’d been inside da hell stone. I’d be freaked-out, too, were I him. Dammit, he knew better than to go inside something like that. But I wouldn’t torture him by asking a load of questions tonight. Tomorrow. I’d wait until tomorrow.

  “There they are,” Seth said, pointing off to the left of the narrow street. Sure enough, there were those dingdongs, cutting across someone’s yard. They disappeared around the back of a small, white, concrete house.

  “That’s Todd’s grandma’s,” Seth said. “They’re staying there tonight.”

  I downshifted into first and slowly drove by the old home. After I saw a light flicker on near the back of the house, I felt relieved. At least the boys were off the streets. We pulled away and headed into the now-thinned traffic of Victory Drive.

  After going through the drive-through at Krystal’s, we headed home. The smell of grease-soaked bread and fried burgers wafted from the paper bags, making my stomach growl. I was a proud JFJ (junk-food junkie), and I’d bought a dozen. I’d probably polish off at least five or six myself. If you’ve never had a Krystal burger, they’re glorious—or hell on the stomach. Lucky for me, they worked perfectly fine for my digestive system, and I was starved. I turned onto Abercorn, hit all the squares, crossed Bay Street, and finally pulled onto the cobbles. The moment I turned onto the merchant’s drive, the scent of urine from a busy Friday night stung my nostrils. That’s something they don’t put in the tourist mags of Savannah—weekend public urination in the historic district. Nasty. Just freaking nasty.

  I parked the Jeep at the back entrance of Inksomnia, pulled the emergency brake, and shifted it into first. I grabbed the drinks. “Let’s go, Bro, before I start gnawing on that paper bag. Hey, will you take Chaz out for a walk? He probably needs to pee.” Chaz was our three-year-old Australian shepherd. Blue merle, one blue eye, one brown. Cool as hell, that dog, and we’d gotten him from a rescue organization two years before.

  Seth’s eyes still looked hazed as he climbed out. “Yeah, sure.”

  It was then that I truly noticed the silence in the streets. Not human silence, as I still heard music pouring from the Boar’s Head, laughter, and the occasional blast of a horn or the wail of a cop car in the distance. I even heard old Capote playing his saxophone on the river walk. But the cicadas? Crickets? Night birds?

  Dead silence.

  I shoved the key in the lock and went inside, Seth on my heels, and immediately Chaz was there, barking and wagging his backside. “Hey, boy,” I said, scrubbing the fur between his ears. “You miss us?” Seth grabbed the leash hanging from the wall, snapped it onto Chaz’s collar, and headed out with a waste bag. I watched him for a minute, until they disappeared up the walk. Before I closed the door, I glanced over my shoulder, out into the afterlight (the Gullah pronounced it afta-light).

  I saw nothing; I felt everything.

  Seth and Chaz came jogging up the cobbles, so I waited until they were inside; then I locked the door and threw the second bolt. Soon, though, I’d find out that locks and bolts were for the ignorant. In reality, they were absolutely freaking worthless.

  Part 2

  THE BEGINNING

  When the alarm went off at eight the next morning, I was surprised to find I’d actually had enough sleep despite the late-night escapade at Bonaventure. Although I didn’t open shop until eleven, I loved the morning on the riverfront, and although I was completely unpredictable ninety-eight percent of the time, I was a total creature of habit for the last two percent: Gullah tea. I know—to look at me you’d never think for a second I enjoyed strong-steeped African tea with cream and sugar in the mornings. I looked more like a . . . Red Bull type of girl (I saved the Bull for midday). But Gullah tea was absolute heaven, and I drank it every single day. Slipping out of bed, I threw on a black tee and a pair of frayed jean shorts, pulled my hair into a ponytail, slipped into flip-flops, and eased downstairs. I took Chaz for a short walk, poured a heaping serving of dog food into his bowl, and eased out the back entrance of Inksomnia. I briefly glanced down as I left and made a mental note to paint my toenails later. The black-purple polish I’d put on just two days before was already chipping off. I hated chipped polish. Total trash.

  The thick, humid August air smacked me in the face and clung to my skin as I made my way down Factor’s Walk to the back side of Preacher’s store, which sat directly next to mine. Da Plat Eye. Literally, it meant the stink eye, or the evil eye, in Gullah, and was a wicked-cool herbs, potions, and magic store. Preacher and his wife, Estelle, belonged to a small but tight-knit community of Gullah who grew their own loose tea and other herbs out on what they simply referred to as Da Island—one of the small barrier islands off the coast of Savannah. The tea was out of this freaking world. As I said, Preacher was an herbalist and conjurer, highly sought after for all sorts of cures for illnesses, hexes—you name it. Although Preacher was the quiet, stoic type and was as gentle as a kitten, it took only one look of disappointment from him to make you want to curl up and bawl with regret (I know—I’ve done it). So I’d decided to hold off on telling Preacher about Seth and da hell stone—at least until I’d gone over there during the daylight hours to check out how much damage had been done. Hopefully, nothing more than a gate and an old piece of pottery had been broken. As I pushed into Da Plat Eye’s narrow double doors—painted haint blue to keep the evil spirits out—the ever-familiar bell tinkled above my head, and Estelle immediately emerged from behind the blue curtain that led into their living quarters upstairs. A big, warm, blindingly white smile stretched across her ebony face, and the brightly colored red, black, blue, and yellow scarf traditional to Gullah women that she wore wrapped around her head and knotted in the front matched the flowing skirt that reached her ankles. A haint blue Da Plat Eye T-shirt hung past her hips. She was probably all of five feet two inches high. My little Gullah granny.

  “Ah! Dere’s my Riley Poe,” she said, and, as she did every morning, rushed over to hug me as if she hadn’t seen me in forever. I admit that it felt good to have someone care so
much. With a pair of strong, worn palms on either side of my face, she squished my cheeks, pulled my head down, and kissed me square on the nose. Dark, fathomless eyes stared up into mine, and she gave a mock frown. “Where’s dat brodder of yours, huh?” she asked in that unique Gullah accent that I never tired of hearing, even the more relaxed version they spoke around Seth and me. The cadence and pitch of that Creole blend of Elizabethan English and mesmerizing African drew the listener back in time. I loved it. “Dat lazybones boy still abed?”

  “Of course,” I answered, and linked my arm through hers as we made our way to their kitchen. The aroma of fresh-brewed tea filled the two-hundred-year-old building, along with aged wood and fried bacon. My stomach growled so loud, Estelle turned and giggled.

  “You poor tang; you don’t eat enough,” she said, shaking her head. “Now, git on in dere, girl. Your Preacher man is waitin’ wit your tea. I’ll bring da bacon and biscuits.”

  “Sweet,” I said. I gave Estelle a quick smile and hurried past stainless-steel pots, crockery, clay pots, and handwoven sweetgrass baskets hanging from the ceiling, and the newsprint-covered walls (newspaper print covering the walls keeps evil spirits at bay since they have to stop and read each word before taking action—another cool Gullah belief) to the breakfast nook just off the kitchen. Preacher was in his usual straight-backed wooden chair, which was probably a hundred years old, near the corner window facing River Street. And no matter how warm the weather, he always—always—wore a plaid long-sleeved cotton shirt tucked into a pair of worn jeans. With a cap of short, pure white hair standing stark against his satiny black skin, he looked every bit the part of a Gullah root doctor. All-knowing brown eyes evaluated me as I walked toward him, and somehow, even after so many years, Preacher still had the ability to do something no one else could: make me squirm. I’d never let it show, of course, and he knew it. It was a game between us, and one that wily old Gullah totally dug.