The Forgotten

by Bishop O'Connell

  “Well,” she said. “A little bit after you left, Wraith started talking in her sleep. I went to wake her up. I thought maybe she was having a bad dream.”

  “What happened next?” Geek asked.

  “I couldn’t wake her up, and she looked scared,” Sprout said. “I tried, but, well, then Con came over and when he touched her—­”

  “Her hands went up in flames, like mine do, but bigger,” Con said. “And it didn’t stop, so I pulled Sprout away just as two bleeding massive flames shot up and hit the ceiling.” He pointed to the scorch marks for effect. “She never told us she was a damned pyromancer.”

  “I’m not,” Wraith said. “I didn’t, I mean, I just use it to light my cigarettes. I’ve never—­”

  “It’s okay,” Ovation said.

  “Okay? Are you going soft, mate?” Con asked. “She could’ve killed us both, or lit the place up like a—­”

  Toto barked and growled.

  Everyone looked at the dog, then at Sprout.

  The little girl furrowed her brow.

  The dog barked again, more insistently.

  “What is it?” Geek asked.

  “He said he wouldn’t have let that happen,” Sprout said.

  “Well, if the pooch says so, that’s brilliant. I feel loads better.” Con nodded at Toto. “Cheers then, mate.”

  “She didn’t mean to do it,” Sprout said.

  “I’m not saying she did.” Con turned to Ovation. “But, mate, the best of intentions ain’t going to keep this place from burning down or blowing up, is it? I mean, we both know she’s packing more power than all of us put together. What if she loses it again?”

  Ovation ran his hands through his hair. “I understand what you’re saying, but, Con, I’m not about to send—­”

  “You don’t have to,” Wraith said and got to her feet. “I’ll go. He’s right, I can’t control my power. It’s not safe for you, and this isn’t your problem.”

  “That’s really not a good idea,” Geek said.

  Con looked at him. “Eh? What’s happened, then?”

  “Word is, two fifties and a slinger are missing,” Geek said.

  “We came across Fitch and the other Ghosts scrounging,” Ovation said.

  “Not real ghosts,” Geek said to Wraith. “It’s another faction.”

  “Who’d be crazy enough to go out alone?” Con asked. “Things haven’t been—­”

  “They weren’t alone,” Ovation said. “The three of them were nabbed together, in a warded safe house.”

  “The Ghosts were down the hall,” Geek said. “Not fifty feet away.”

  “Bloody hell,” Con said.

  “Who was it?” Sprout asked.

  “Charge, Mouse, and Slink,” Geek said.

  From the look on everyone’s faces, Wraith didn’t need to ask if they knew them.

  “Oh no,” Sprout said.

  “Charge weren’t no bleeding pushover,” Con said. “Lad packed a wallop with them bolts. Even Mouse and Slink were quick. Whoever is doing this, they’re some serious bad.”

  “So you can understand why I’m not quick to send Wraith out there on her own,” Ovation said.

  Con nodded. “I do at that.”

  “Everyone is shutting down,” Ovation said. “No one’s to go out after dark at all now, alone or otherwise. From now on, when we go anywhere, we all go and only during daylight.”

  No one spoke and Wraith could practically taste the grief and fear in the air.

  “So that’s all we’re going to do about it? Play like scared little bunnies, and hope no one knocks the door down like they did theirs?”

  “Con—­”

  “Well, they might not even need to,” Con looked at Wraith. “They might just teleport in.”

  “Is that your great plan?” Ovation asked. “To take the snatchers on?”

  “Too right! Beats hiding, don’t it?”

  “According to Fitch,” Geek said, “the FBI is investigating.”

  Con laughed. “Oh, well then, now you and the pup got me just full of confidence.”

  “Some high-­up in the court is in town too,” Geek said. “He was out where they found Luna, asking around. He told Blue he’d find whoever is doing this. Maybe we just need to wait it out.”

  “No, we get in touch with him,” Con said. “Whoever’s behind this, they’re part of our world. How else would they be able to pick out the slingers and fifties?”

  “There’s nothing more to discuss.” Ovation looked at Wraith. “We’re not putting you or anyone else out, and we’re not letting you leave.”

  Con looked to Ovation. “All right, you don’t want to fight, then why don’t we leave? This place might not be safe anymore. There’re plenty of other cities we can go.”

  “They’re everywhere,” Wraith said without thinking.

  Everyone turned to her.

  “Snatchers have been everywhere I’ve been.”

  “That’s a rather unpleasant connection, ain’t it?” Con said.

  “I don’t like what you’re implying,” Ovation said. “She didn’t bring them here.”

  “Yeah, ­people went missing before she got here,” Geek said.

  “You sure?” Con asked. He turned to Wraith. “What happened to your mates? Shadow and the others?”

  “Con,” Ovation said. “Don’t—­”

  Wraith thought back and her head started to pound. Pieces weren’t right. They weren’t fitting. “The snatchers showed up, I ran and waited, then—­” The throbbing increased and she winced.

  “Nothing down that path but pain,” Nightstick said from a dark corner.

  “Right in broad daylight, in front of loads of witnesses,” Con said. “A bit odd, ain’t it?”

  “I—­”

  “And where did you say that was?” Con asked.

  “He’s poking and prodding,” Nightstick said from behind Con. “I think it’s about time you start poking back.”

  Wraith winced as her headache worsened. “Outside a, you know, one of those big stores.”

  “What city?”

  “Poke, poke, poke, poke,” Nightstick said. “You have the means, he’s giving you the motive—­”

  Wraith looked at Nightstick, then at Con. That’s when she noticed everyone was looking at her.

  “It was—­”

  “The bastard is practically begging you,” Nightstick said.

  “Stop, just stop!” She put her face in her hands.

  “Can’t remember?” Con asked. “Shocking, that.”

  “All right, that’s enough,” Ovation said. “She can’t remember, so let it go. Maybe it was Seattle, maybe it wasn’t. That’s just another piece we’ll help her get back.”

  Nightstick began tapping his shillelagh on the floor.

  A sudden flash of pain made Wraith wince. Images flashed in her mind. Children were screaming, begging for help, reaching out hands to her. Then it was all blood, pain, chanting, and cold. Wraith flinched as more images flashed in her mind like lightning. In the distance, the cries wouldn’t stop. She put her hands over her ears.

  “Stop it! The shadows won’t stop! They just grab and take, but we don’t want to go! I’m not going to give them what they want! Leave us alone!”

  “Nothing but darkness down that river, and you don’t have a paddle,” Nightstick said.

  “Wraith?” Ovation’s voice was distant and echoed like he was in a cave.

  She fought against the onslaught of images, her jaw clenched tight in concentration. Distorted voices sounded from an inconceivably massive distance, and yet some part of her knew they were right there.

  Through the pain, Wraith could sense Nightstick doing a little jig and hear him singing a twisted lullaby. Then he fell to his knees next to her, hi
s voice a raspy whisper in her ear. “You’ve got more fingers poking at you, little girl,” he said. “I can give you a knife to start cutting some of those fingers off.”

  “What’s happening to her?” Sprout asked.

  “I don’t know,” Ovation said.

  “Uh, oh,” Nightstick said and looked at the door. “I hate party crashers. We need a bouncer.”

  Not far off, Wraith could sense ­people coming; a dozen or more. The world snapped into instant acuity. Her eyes opened. “We need to leave,” she said.

  “Technically, there is another option,” Nightstick said. “Though you rarely choose it.”

  There was a boom so violent that it shook the room.

  Ovation’s eyes went wide. “Crap!”

  “That was the third ward,” Geek said.

  “How did they get through the first two?” Ovation asked. “I know we reset them.”

  “Me too,” Geek agreed.

  Wraith watched from the floor, her fingers still in Toto’s fur. She had an odd sense of detachment. Con, Geek, and Ovation went to the door.

  “I knew we should’ve installed a peephole,” Geek said.

  “Sorry, mate,” Con said. “We never got around to the trip to Home Depot.”

  “Geek,” Ovation said. “You get the door. I’ll look out quick and see what we’re up against. Con, you be ready to torch anything that’s too close.”

  Geek and Con both nodded

  Ovation drew in a breath, then nodded.

  Geek pulled the door open.

  Ovation stuck his head out and immediately ducked back in. “Close it!”

  Geek slammed the door and leaned against it.

  “Bad?” Geek asked.

  “Ogres,” Ovation said and slammed a bar across the door. “They’re coming down the stairs.”

  “Oh, we’re buggered,” Con said. “What happened to my ward?”

  “I don’t know,” Ovation said. “You want to go ask them?”

  There was a thud against the door and a small dent emerged from the metal.

  “Uh, ocupado!” Geek shouted through the door.

  Everyone turned and looked at him.

  The hallway went silent.

  Geek shrugged. “Worked, didn’t it?”

  Something slammed against the door so hard it knocked Geek back and away from it.

  He looked at the fresh dent, deeper than the first. “Any ideas? The door won’t hold forever.”

  “Is there another way out?” Wraith asked.

  “No,” Ovation said. “The idea was the wards would deter anyone, or at least delay them enough to let us get out.”

  Toto growled and his fur bristled.

  With another bang, the concrete around the doorframe cracked.

  “Open up!” a gruff voice said from beyond the door. “We’ve got your eviction notice.”

  “Get bent!” Geek shouted back.

  “Oi,” Con said to Wraith. “Can you do that invisibility trick like you did when you first got here?”

  Wraith shook her head. “Not with all of us.”

  Nightstick laughed again. “Oh, but you’ve got all kinds of tricks you haven’t showed them, don’t you?”

  “So it’s a fight, then.” Con’s hands went alight in flames.

  Ovation, Geek, and Con traded a glance and Wraith saw them reach a silent agreement.

  “Wraith, you take Sprout and hide,” Ovation said. “We’ll draw them away from the door and you two make a run for it.”

  When the answer came to her, it was so obvious. Wraith furrowed her brow. “We should just use the door and leave.”

  “What?” Geek asked.

  “Well, love,” Con said with exaggerated patience, “the problem is, just now the door is holding back a group of angry, smelly ogres.”

  “No, not that door,” Wraith said and went to her bag. “THE door. Turn the knob, open the doors.” She reached into her bag, pulled out her composition books, and began flipping through the pages.

  Nightstick let out an exasperated sigh.

  “She losing it again?” Con asked.

  Wraith didn’t hear anything else. A subtle pain between her eyes was steadily increasing, but she pushed it, and Nightstick, aside as she focused on the pages. “You can use the randomness of the universe. Harness the chaos. But I need a knob.

  Con opened his mouth.

  “If you say one word,” Ovation said, “I swear to God, I’m tossing you to the ogres.”

  Con closed his mouth and looked away.

  “I suppose I could just make one,” Wraith said. She felt a rush of exhilaration as she came to a page covered in scribbles. The world returned through the pain, and it was like seeing the sunrise for the first time in years, or tasting water after weeks in the desert. When she looked up, everyone was staring at her.

  “What do you mean?” Ovation asked.

  Wraith held the page up. “It’s right here. See?”

  Ovation stared at the page, his brow furrowed.

  “Don’t you see it?” Wraith asked.

  Ovation looked at her, and his eyes were sad.

  Wraith dropped her arms and glared. “I’m not crazy!”

  “That’s not really helping your argument,” Con said.

  “Why don’t we try it?” Sprout asked. “I mean, if it works, we get away. If not, we’re in the same place.” She shrugged. “Seems silly not to try.”

  “She’s got a point,” Geek said, his voice strained. Sweat beaded his brow. “I vote yes.”

  “Mate, you realize that you’re suggesting a ten-­year-­old is the voice of reason here?” Con asked.

  “It’s a quantum calculation,” Wraith said, walking to the door. “Whenever you open a door, well not a door, but a door-­door, there’s a chance at any moment that space time will momentarily collapse in on itself.”

  “Now you’re just making my head hurt,” Con said.

  “You said we need a doorknob,” Ovation said. “Any doorknob?”

  Wraith winced against a flash of pain. “Yes, unless the door already has one.”

  Con closed his eyes and shook his head. “You’ve got to be taking the piss.”

  “Step aside,” Ovation said to Geek. “Let her try.”

  Wraith examined the door. Numbers flashed in sequence on the frame and around the knob. “It’s not right. It’s not a door, but it can be. I need to fix it.”

  “What do you need?” Geek asked, leaning against the door over her.

  Wraith pulled a Sharpie from her bag and began to draw tiny symbols along the frame, and over the knob. Each symbol encompassed a long and complex equation. The pain between her eyes intensified; the numbers not drawn into the equation began to swirl and power began to swell inside her.

  “Maybe it’s time to not run for a change,” Nightstick said.

  “No,” Wraith said as she continued writing, “not this time.” She focused her will and pushed power into the equation. The exhilaration didn’t slow the approaching stride, and she couldn’t pour power out of her fast enough until the equation was complete.

  “Fine, but soon,” Nightstick said.

  Wraith’s heart pounded and she was gasping, fighting to hold in the energy. When she was done, the metal frame and dented knob were completely covered in symbols and numbers.

  “There, we’ll smear the ink,” she said between gasps. “But that’s okay. It’ll close the door behind us so no one else can use it.”

  Everyone took a step back. Geek and Ovation took a ready stance, bending at the knees and ready to leap forward. Con lit his hands again and the three of them stepped in front of Sprout.

  Wraith knocked on the door three times, each time redirecting the rushing tide of power building in her into the door. On the third knock,
everything seemed to stop and the sudden disappearance of rising power that she’d been fighting nearly made her fall forward.

  The pain vanished and she felt this door connect with all the other doors.

  She knocked the bar out of place and pulled the door open.

  “That’s cool,” Geek said.

  “I’m fairly well gobsmacked,” Con said.

  When the last of the magic left her, Wraith sank into the warmth and slid to the floor. She didn’t lose consciousness as much as her brain took a time out, though on the way, she did happen to notice the smell of dust, stale air, and a perfume that was familiar.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Elaine narrowed her eyes, focusing on the distant alleyway. Around her, the sound of ­people and cars faded to nothing. “Are you sure?” she asked and turned back to Dasher.

  The dingy slinger kid arched an eyebrow and smirked. “Like anyone’s certain of anything in this mess. But they should still work.”

  Elaine flashed a half-­smile. “Fair enough.” She pulled a twenty out of her pocket and pressed it into his hand. “Get some food.”

  Dasher pocketed the bill and offered a fist. “Thanks, and watch yourself.”

  Elaine bumped her knuckles against his. “Always.”

  Dasher nodded, then turned and walked off.

  Elaine crossed the street and made for the entrance to the Underground. She stepped around tourists and locals, none of them giving her a second look. She smelled the magic almost a block before reaching the entrance.

  She made her way down the alley to the old wooden stairs. They creaked as she took the first step, and that made her pause. Her footfalls were usually so light that even wood in the worst condition didn’t make a sound. She glanced around, stepped close to the edge of the stairs, and reached the door in silence.

  The brick around the door was etched with the marks of the various factions who’d claimed this section at different times. There were magic sigils of warding and protection that had faded. A mundane symbol was more recent, written with a felt marker. It warned any slinger or fifty that this place was no longer safe. Leaning close to the brick; she sniffed the stone.

  The magic behind it was dwindling, but she could smell the potency of it. There was something else though. She licked her finger and traced it over one of the warding sigils. Then she put the finger to the tip of her tongue and blinked. It tasted of ash but was also acidic.