My Friends Are Dead People

by Tony Ortiz

  Nail moved little Nick to her other arm and shook our hands as we all made our introductions. Nick was pointing at Dorian the entire time, thinking it was funny.

  “Nick, don’t be rude,” said Nail, lowering his finger.

  “Will you do me a favor,” said Jacoby, “and not look into the eyes of my friend, behind me. It’s a matter of–”

  “Certainly,” she said, stretching her hand out to shake Dorian’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Dorian. I’m guessing you want to talk to me?”

  “Yes, if that’s alright,” said Jacoby.

  “Of course. Let’s go inside before the town starts to wonder who you are.”

  The whole village was standing outside their home, staring at us.

  “It’s okay, they’re friendly strangers,” she called out to her fellow villagers and then turned to Dorian. “You come on in, too. Don’t worry, I’ve explained to Nick about your eyes. He might be three, but he’s smart enough to know better.”

  The place was very cool to look at. There was one room and a partially sectioned-off kitchen. Dirty flower vases and brown pottery hung from the ceiling. The walls were beautifully decorated with ceramic plates, colorful blankets, and medieval Muslim paintings of women at work in the fields.

  “Jacoby, you’re a halloween, right?” asked Nail.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “You remind me of someone my grandfather told me about and a graven image found in Brazil. The crazy hair, your figure . . . but you don’t have the beard.”

  “Do you know about Halloween?”

  “Yes. I was told about it. You four looking for Meesi?” Nail went to the back window and looked out at a large mountain. “Meesi’s hiding somewhere up there. She didn’t tell me where. She said Jack was looking for her.”

  “Do you know about Jack, too?” asked Dorian hoarsely, sounding sick.

  She looked directly at the top of his head. “Jack killed my parents when I was one. I know everything about him. You want some tea? You sound like you’re getting sick. I make my own tea from my gardens. It’s quite good.”

  Dorian nodded. Nick pointed back at him when his mother wasn’t looking.

  “Is he really coming after her?” she said as she poured Dorian a fresh pot of tea.

  “We think he is,” stated Jacoby.

  “You are here to help her, I hope?”

  “Yes. We better get going. But we would love to stop by soon and hear what you’ve been told about Halloween.”

  “It would be my pleasure.”

  Nail set Nick on the ground, where he immediately started spitting on a rug.

  “I think he has something in . . .” she said, reaching into his slobbery mouth and pulling out a wet twig. “Yuck.”

  “Thanks, Katie,” said Nail, picking Nick back up. “You should know better, Nicky. You thank Katie here for saving your life.”

  She turned Nick around, and he just drooled.

  “That’s his way of thanking you. . . . It was nice meeting you all. Make sure you bring Meesi back safe and sound. She’s a good halloween.”

  Nail lifted Nick’s hand and helped him wave goodbye. We were out of the village in a few minutes. Dark billowy clouds rolled in, putting the mountain in the dark. Before long, a sudden spell of rainstorm made our progress quite difficult as we climbed up a rugged slope. A flash of lightning illuminated the treacherous clouds and gave us a quick view of the mountain peak.

  “I suspect the tortics will be here soon!” announced Jacoby over the clattering rain. He stood on a gigantic boulder carved like a jack-o’-lantern. Half of it had sunk below the ground. “We need to be extra careful!”

  “They need to be dropped off!” said Dorian. “I’m not putting them in his path!”

  “They already are! But if it gets too dangerous, we’ll send them to Greenland!” Jacoby turned to us. “The locals will provide you with a warm place to wait out the last minutes of Halloween! We’re going to have to split up! Jesse, go with Dorian! In ten minutes, no matter if we find Meesi or not, we meet at the port of Greenland! The longer we’re here, the more dangerous it becomes! Many deaths are expected! There’ll be something happening here! Katie and I will check the south side!”

  “Ten minutes isn’t enough!” I shouted. The pounding rain was now coming down harder than before.

  “It’ll have to be, Jesse!” Jacoby widened his stance as the storm blew the rain sideways. “In ten minutes, the yslas will be inside, and, if the tortics somehow discover Meesi is here in Morocco and come here, there will be a war between them! We’ll have to get out! Yslas don’t get along with the tortics! If we meet an yslas, we must get them out!”

  “But they’re here for th-the same reason as th-the tortics!” I shivered through the blasting wind as Jacoby moved on through a flooded path of rocks. “They want to kill Jack!”

  “But the tortics don’t know that and will try and kill as many as they can if they run into them! Both are strong halloweens. I truly don’t know what will happen!”

  “What about Jack?” I shouted.

  “We should hope he doesn’t come here!”

  “Can he survive all those yslas?”

  “Jack’s been around for over two thousand years! It’s the yslas’ survival, not Jack’s, that’s at stake!”

  “Then . . .” I followed this train of thought, getting more frightened, just as the ice-cold rain changed course again and plastered us from the side. “Is it true: He isn’t allowed to die?”

  “Jesse, I don’t think Jack will kill more than he has to! If he knows about Morocco! He might not figure out Meesi’s here until days or weeks in his time! The worry is the tortics. They’ll easily kill us! We’ll all be dead if we run into them!”

  I wanted to ask more questions, but Jacoby continued. “I think it’s very good, Jesse, that the yslas are here! They could give us time to escape if we run into trouble!”

  “But what if you can’t detect Jack?” I muttered. The wind caught my words and swept them away.

  “Jack is smart, Jesse! He knows when not to play! He might not show up even if he knows where Meesi is. But yes, it’s going to be hard to detect him! Halloween traditions revolve around Jack: turnips, pumpkins, jack-o’-lanterns, the games – everything is connected to Jack! It’s this fearful sociability that created the festivals! Our fear has put him in control of us! And fear never goes away! And so, neither does Jack!”

  “Has anyone tried to attack him in the past?” I asked.

  “There has been many attempts! They never cease! Some much larger in scale than others! But today we must be careful! Another one is about to take place! And what shall pass if he does come . . . is the largest battle against him since the Veil of Time! The tortics and the yslas! Hopefully, Jack refrains from turning up for such a confrontation! Remember, Jack typically doesn’t like venturing out into a crowd! Alright, it’s time to go!”

  Dorian had already gone off the trail. Jacoby and Katie stayed on it. I didn’t think us splitting up was a good idea at all.

  I caught up with Dorian, who was sniffing a muddy stream. He winced and said something right as thunder shook the sky. We were right in the middle of the storm.

  “The tortics and the yslas are already here!” repeated Dorian.

  With some difficulty, I pulled myself over a boulder and crept past some trees, which were being blown almost completely sideways. Barely visible through the downpour was a small entrance into the mountain.

  “I’m going in,” I said.

  He didn’t say anything and followed me, entering it with extreme caution. The pounding rain echoed loudly inside. It was no use to shout. Dorian stretched out his hand after he stepped onto a dark ridge, but before I could grab a hold of it, I slipped and shot off the edge into the darkness. Seconds later, I crashed into a pool of raging water and was instantly sucked under. I fell into another pool and bounced on down to two more. Every ledge I hit had the same inscription: Put out a wet painting with the best in
the world, and it’ll capture everyone’s attention.

  I tiredly swam across a shallow basin and threw myself onto the granite surface. Sensing a presence, I slowly looked up. It was the other menala. It had to be. She had the common menala features of old man’s ears, scaly skin, long forearm hair, and odd-shaped blotches around the neck. But her color was different: she had pearl white skin, long white hair, white eyes, and white fingernails and toenails. And she was young. Her human age could have been fourteen or fifteen. She was wearing a flannel shirt and orange sweats, all completely soaked.

  The white menala gaped at me while a dot of fluorescent light lingered in the air next to her playing soft music.

  “Hi,” I said quietly, getting to my feet. “My name is Jesse . . . Jayden. You don’t need to be scared of me.”

  Her light dimmed a bit, and the music got softer.

  “Are you a menala? You have the ears and . . .”

  Her big ears flattened out of sight behind her hair.

  “No-no, they’re nice ears. It’s just that Dorian has them, too.”

  She tried to get a closer look at me by leaning in on her tiptoes.

  “We were looking for you.”

  She didn’t look that interested.

  “Jacoby and Dorian, and my friend, Katie.”

  Her mouth moved slightly.

  “What did you say? I didn’t hear you.”

  “Why?” she muttered.

  “Why were we looking for you?”

  Was it possible she didn’t know why? I didn’t want to be the one to tell her that the most dangerous halloween wanted her dead. But she had to know. Then why would she be here alone in the mountains? Nail even said she was up here because of Jack.

  “Meesi . . .” I dawdled.

  She was startled at my mention of her name. I thought of something.

  “Do you know what happened to Kala?”

  She shook her head as her eyes got bigger.

  Oh, great. I wasn’t going to tell her now. I stood there, listening to the chorus of the gentle song, enjoying it for a second. I wasn’t sure how, but somehow I knew it was in Hungarian.

  “Are you from Hungary?” I asked.

  She shook her head.

  “This is Hungarian right? Oh, you just speak it?”

  She shook her head faintly. “I like the sound of it,” she admitted bashfully.

  “Me too.”

  She smiled. “I have loads of songs in Hungarian. I have . . .” The dot of light by her ear made a squeaky sound like a rewinding reel, “. . . two-hundred.”

  Meesi became real still.

  “What?” I said.

  “I hear camera flashes sometimes. They go off up in the corner – oh, there’s one!”

  I looked up, but saw nothing. Was she nuts? . . . “I must have missed it.” My eyes fell onto a wall that was scribbled with the mysterious phrase. “What does that mean?”

  “It . . .” she gasped, embarrassed. Her ears flattened again, and she bowed her head. I spotted another one on a nearby boulder.

  “Did you write it?” I asked.

  “These are the quotes bestowed on me by the wiskchickian witches. My foster care said it to me when I was still human. I . . .”

  “We don’t have to talk about it.” I saw that she didn’t feel comfortable. “We have to find–” I began.

  “Dorian is here?” she finally got out.

  “Yes, and Jacoby. Meesi . . .”

  She was looking me straight in the eyes.

  “I have to get you out of here. We have to find them.”

  “Okay,” she said meekly.

  I looked around the big boulders. There was no way out but the way I came in.

  “Can you psyclin us out of here?”

  “No.”

  “Then we’re going to have to scream for them. Alright?”

  “Alright.” She waited for me to give the cue.

  “Okay. . . . Ja-co-by!” I shouted up at the waterfall.

  “Jacoby!” she echoed and turned to me for my approval.

  “That was good. Let’s just keep shouting. Jacoby! Dorian! We’re down here!”

  “Jacoby! Dorian! We’re down here!” She took out a red marker and drew a heart on her wrist, which had one already. She smiled and went back to screaming their names.

  “Meesi, how did you get in here?” I gasped, out of breath from all the screaming.

  “The tunnels. . . . Hey, Jesse, have you ever had mud for supper?” She gave me a horrific grin of chocolate-covered teeth. “It’s pretty good.”

  My hearty laugh broadened her smile.

  “I did this once at Candy Island. The waitress thought I was loony as a goon. I showed her my muddy shoes, which is why it worked. She really thought I was a weirdo. Chunky Chocolate or Almond Bundles work the best.”

  “What are you using?”

  “Almond Bundles. The almonds look like little rocks. See?”

  I nodded. “Why don’t we take the tunnel. Because I don’t think this is working and I don’t think it’s safe to keep screaming.”

  “Why?”

  “Because someone else might hear us. So where’s the tunnel?”

  She was hesitant to answer.

  “It’s behind one of the rocks. I forget which one.”

  “We’re going to have to get out of here. This is the worst place to be. We’re trapped in here. Meesi . . .” I sighed, knowing I had to tell her eventually. “. . . Jack killed Kala. He’s after the menalas. That’s why we came looking for you. Jacoby wants to hide you and Dorian.”

  “He wants to kill Dorian?”

  “He wants to kill all the menalas,” I hastened to tell her. “And the tortics will probably be here. Meesi, don’t be scared, Jacoby and Dorian will . . .”

  I couldn’t go on, having felt what she did. A light breeze had crept inside. Meesi watched as her hair blew toward the basin. There was something eerie about it. As it strengthened the water was pushed to the wall.

  “It’s pulling us,” I muttered, sliding down the basin. “What’s happening–”

  The blistering wind shifted, and the water began to spike upward toward the crevice, as though a huge vacuum was above us.

  “Meesi!” I shouted over the wind.

  Meesi seemed lost in some sad memory. My stomach hollowed out. I must have weighed an ounce. And then, we were lifted off the ground and carried up to the crevice.

  “I don’t want him to kill me,” cried Meesi.

  As something hit my foot, I threw my arms around some kind of root. Meesi was right next to me, holding fast to the same root. Both of our feet pointed directly in the air, blowing like flags in the wind.

  “I can’t hold on any longer!” wailed Meesi.

  The wind became even stronger, and Meesi winced as she was pulled off. She clasped her wrist with the two hearts drawn on it as she was sucked out. It wasn’t long before the demonic tug yanked me off. I was going to die. Then, something snatched my leg and pulled me into a tunnel in the wall. Meesi stared at me intense and bug-eyed. The wind wasn’t as strong here, and it was a lot quieter. We crawled down the sloping tunnel, with me leading the way. I could smell the fresh air and the cold rain. We were going to make it out of the mountain after all.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  JESSE IS LEFT BEHIND

  Meesi and I fell through a tiny hole in the tunnel floor, landing in a rugged room with crusted old lamps, three doorways, and dented walls like something big and bulky had been thrown against them. Now what? And where were Katie, Dorian, and Jacoby? Could they have left us and gone to Greenland? It was way past the agreed-upon ten minutes.

  “So there’s no way for you to transport us out of here?” I asked Meesi, who was standing stiff next to me.

  She shook her head.

  “Alright, this is what I’m thinking,” I started. “Jacoby told Dorian and me we only had ten minutes to look for you. If we couldn’t find you, we were going to meet up in Greenland.”


  “But you found me,” she said quietly.

  “Yeah, and before the ten minutes were up.”

  “Let’s go to Greenland.”

  “But we can’t get there unless we have someone who can psyclin. So I think we should look for them. What do you think?”

  “Let’s look for them,” she replied, child-like, already getting a quick start and bumping into me, thinking I had taken off. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. Do you know what side of the mountain has the entrance? That’s where Dorian and I entered.”

  “The left?”

  “I mean . . .” I sighed. I was never good with directions. I could think of only one solution. “To the right of the town’s road.”

  “Nail’s town?”

  “Yeah, Nail and Nick.”

  “You know them? Are they home now? I couldn’t find them earlier–”

  “Meesi, we’re not going to take that tunnel. That’s a waste of time. Dorian . . .”

  Meesi wasn’t paying attention, already charging down the left path. “I think it’s this one,” she said.

  “Dorian won’t be there now,” I explained, catching up with her, surprised she hadn’t waited for me. “Meesi?”

  “We should try to see if they are,” she said. “The others lead to the west and east sides. It’s scary in those.”

  The tunnel was damp and slippery with fungi that grew over the wet rocks. Something was happening on the other side of the left wall: it was constantly shaking and shedding small rocky debris. Meesi and I kept to the right, although it wasn’t any better with strange moans shaking the wall.

  Meesi stopped in front of a wall of darkness. “Before we’re outside, we’ve got to cross the open cave.”

  “What’s in the open cave?” I said, not liking how she said it. “Is it dangerous?”

  Meesi must have had second thoughts because she was striding back out. I jogged after her.

  “What’s this open cave?” I pressed, following her closely.

  “The open room is the center that opens to all the exits, but I forgot there’s no–”

  BOOM!

  The strong jolt caused Meesi to lose her balance. I helped her up, and she pushed me aside the second she was up just as a huge rock crashed where I had stood a moment earlier.