by Ellen Oh
The soul eater that had taken Rose was a much smaller and weaker manifestation of the Razu that they projected into the human world to collect souls. On the island, so close to where they were imprisoned, they could manifest into larger, more deadly versions of themselves. But here they preyed only on those humans with strong auras. One human soul with a strong aura was equal to twenty without.
But the more souls they collected, the more power they had. Soon, Harper feared, they could break through the binding and enter the world once and for all, desperately hungry for blood and flesh.
“What can we do?” Dayo’s eyes were wide with fright.
“I have to reach my grandmother.”
Back at the house, Harper tried again to call her grandmother and then her aunt, but no luck.
“I’m going to have to call a spiritual adviser,” Harper said. “Hopefully, there is one nearby that can help me.”
From her suitcase, Harper took out three brass bowls, the bells Wisdom and Truth, and her mudang bells. She sat down on the floor and unpacked a stack of neatly folded crisp white paper in a ziplock bag, a large container of sea salt, and a plastic bottle filled with holy water. Her parents hadn’t been happy when Harper had to check her bag at the airport due to the holy water. But they hadn’t argued about it. The only thing she couldn’t bring was her lighter or even a book of matches.
“I don’t have matches for the paper,” Harper said. “But I bet my aunt has some in the kitchen.”
“Your uncle is down there right now baking,” Dayo said.
“Rats,” Harper said. “Okay, so we will do it without the purification step.”
She used her mudang bells to summon a spirit, but no one came except Holly, who watched in wide-eyed fascination. Harper kept trying, but still nothing. It was as if there were no spirits in the area, except for Holly.
“What are you doing?” Holly asked.
“I’m trying to call a spiritual adviser,” Harper said.
“What’s a spiritual adviser?” Holly asked.
“A ghost who’s been here for a long time,” Harper said. “But I can’t reach anyone.”
“That’s because there aren’t any,” Holly said. “I’m the only one on the entire island.”
Harper dropped her bells with loud clangs. “None?” she asked.
Holly shook her head.
“Of course,” Harper said grimly. “They’re soul eaters.”
“What do we do now?” Dayo asked.
“I’ll call my aunt!” Harper said. She dialed the number, but it kept going to voice mail. She left a message with her aunt to have her grandmother call her, and then she called her mother.
“What’s the matter, Harper?” Yuna asked.
“Mom, I tried to reach Auntie Youjin to see if she could get Grandma for me,” Harper said, “but no one is answering.”
“That’s because they’re all at the hospital,” Yuna replied. “She’s been having the longest labor ever. What’s the matter?”
Harper sighed. She’d forgotten all about the baby.
“Nothing. I just wanted to ask Grandma a question, that’s all,” she said.
“Well, hopefully I’ll hear from Auntie Youjin soon, but first babies can take a long time to deliver,” Yuna replied. “Michael is almost done with his camp, and we’ll be back at the house in time for dinner.”
Harper turned to Dayo with a helpless expression. “I just don’t know what to do now,” she said.
“Don’t worry,” Dayo said with a bright smile. “I’m sure she’ll call back soon.”
Harper really hoped so, too.
A MONSTER COMES CALLING
Sunday, October 29—Late night
Harper heard a sharp cry. She got out of bed and walked over to the connecting door to peer in at Michael. Moonlight streamed in through the shades of the large window overlooking the beach, illuminating the room clearly. He was feverishly twisting within a tangle of sheets, moaning and whimpering. Dayo sat up in the other bed, rubbing her eyes. She turned on the light between their two beds.
“Poor baby,” she said. “Sounds like a bad nightmare.”
Harper walked over and tried to shake her brother gently awake. “Michael, wake up.”
It took him a while to come out of the nightmare, his body still locked in a battle with his mind, eyeballs rolling madly behind tightly shut eyelids. Finally, he woke up and dove into Harper’s arms, hugging her fiercely. He was trembling badly, mumbling about monsters and ghosts.
“You’re safe. It’s just a dream,” she said. She rubbed his back until his sobs stopped and he calmed down. Tucking him in, she noticed a red triangular mark on the right side of his neck, underneath his jawline.
Harper froze in concern. It was the same mark that the teenage boy had earlier that day. She rubbed gently at the small mark.
“Ouch! That hurts!” he cried out, shoving her hand away.
Dayo came over to peer at the mark also.
“How’d you get this?” Harper asked.
Michael shuddered as he placed a hand over the mark. “In my dream, the monster stabbed me right here with its claw.” He looked at her with tears in his eyes. “Do you think it was real?”
“No way,” Harper said. “Maybe you poked yourself there as you were flailing around like a wild thing. There’s no such thing as monsters,” Harper lied, not wanting her brother to be scared.
Michael was quiet, and he looked up at her with wide, frightened eyes. “People say there’s no such thing as ghosts also.”
“Ghosts are the souls of people who have died,” Harper replied. “They were real. Their souls are real. But monsters? There aren’t any monsters here.”
“It looked real. I’m scared—I don’t want to stay here no more. I want to go home!” Michael said, beginning to cry again. “I want Mommy.”
Harper carried him to her parents’ room. Yuna opened the door before she could even knock, immediately gathering Michael up into a tight hug.
“Go to bed, sweetie. I’ll take care of him now,” Yuna said. She caressed Harper’s cheek before heading back in.
Harper returned to her room and saw that Dayo had fallen back asleep. The mark on her brother’s neck had really scared her. It was as if he’d been marked by the Razu. She pulled out her shaman bag and headed for the stairs. This time she needed to do the purification ritual, and she needed matches. She knew there had to be some in the kitchen.
She crept downstairs, making her way by the slivered moonbeams that cut through the darkness. As she pondered where in the kitchen her aunt would keep matches, a voice spoke from behind her, making her jump.
“Watcha looking for?”
Harper turned to see Holly perched on the counter. She was swinging her legs happily, as if she was waiting for someone to serve her a delicious meal.
“I’m looking for matches,” Harper said. “Do you think you know where they are?”
Holly nodded. “I saw your uncle put them in that cabinet next to the refrigerator. He was barbecuing on the grill out there.”
Harper opened the cabinet and found a large box of kitchen matches on the top shelf.
“I miss hamburgers,” Holly said wistfully.
She looked so sad that Harper wished she could somehow make her a hamburger and then realized how impossible that was.
“I’m sorry, Holly.”
“It’s all right. I miss my mom and dad the most,” she said, “and I was thinking that maybe you could help me get back to them.”
Harper sat on the other side of the counter, facing Holly. “I’d love to help you,” she said. “Are you ready to talk about what happened?”
The little ghost nodded. “I remember that night. It was all my fault.”
Holly’s eyes seemed far away, lost in a memory.
“I was sleeping when I heard the drumming. I just had to follow it,” Holly said. “It led me all the way to the scary trees. But there were already a lot of people there. They all had
marks on their necks, just like your brother has. I didn’t know if they were dead or just sleeping, but they were all lying on the ground, all around the trees. And then I saw them. I was screaming. My parents. They must have been trying to find me.”
Holly began flickering in and out as she became more distressed. “They couldn’t see the monsters, but I could. I saw them kill my parents. I tried to run away, but I fell and hit my head. When I woke up, I was like this and the monsters were sucking the souls of the people into their mouths. I just ran away. I went back to our hotel room, because I thought maybe I would wake up and it was all just a nightmare. But it wasn’t.”
“Holly, did you see a light from the sky? Something that might have pulled at you?”
She nodded. “Yes, but it was too close to where the monsters were.” Holly looked up hopefully. “Can you find that light for me again? It felt peaceful. I wouldn’t be lonely anymore.”
Harper felt the prick of tears in her eyes as she thought of Rose. “Yes. I have a good friend up there who would be happy to meet you. I’ll ask my grandma. She’ll know what to do. But please do me a favor and watch over Michael for me until then, okay?”
Holly smiled wide and glowed brightly with happiness. “Okay! I won’t let the monsters get him, I promise.”
Harper stepped out onto the patio and took out her container of salt. She shook out a large circle and sat down within it. She set out her bowls and holy water and her bells. Lighting a match, she set a white piece of paper on fire and caught the embers in her hand before dropping them in the first bowl. Filling the other two bowls with holy water, Harper closed her eyes and focused on opening a channel with the spiritual world. Although it was hard, she decided to try to call Mrs. Devereux. She focused on the name and began to ask the spirit to come before her. After several long minutes a familiar voice called her name.
“Harper girl, you can stop calling me. I heard you already.”
Harper opened her eyes and smiled in relief. “I’m so glad you’re here!”
“I’m not,” Mrs. Devereux retorted. “Of all the places I’ve been, this is the worst. There is something seriously wrong with this land. It feels empty.”
“Yes!” Harper said. “This place is inhabited by the Razu! Soul eaters! You have to get my grandma! I think Michael is in trouble, and I’m not going to be able to protect him myself.”
The spirit stilled completely. “Rakshasa. I haven’t heard of them in centuries,” she whispered.
“Rakshasa?” Harper asked. “No, I said Razu.”
“Razu is a perversion of what they once were,” Mrs. Devereux explained impatiently. “The Rakshasa were first named in Indian mythology. They are a monstrous race of immortal creatures. The Hindus called them the Rakshasa, the Japanese called them the Rasetsu, the Indonesians called them Rakus. Most Asian cultures are aware of what they are, due to the spread of Buddhism. Not all Rakshasa were bad. But a small group of them, the ones you call Razu, were the worst of them all, demanding to be worshipped as gods and eating human flesh as sacrifice. They became so warped, so evil and dangerous, that no one could defeat them.” Harper nodded but wished Mrs. Devereux would skip the history lesson. “Only one shaman was powerful enough to stop them, a woman named Baritegi. She was the only human to have ever walked into death and back to life. Because of her abilities to control both the world of the dead and the world of the living, Baritegi was able to trap the Razu in the spiritual realm to save humanity.” Mrs. Devereux shook her head. “This is bad. They are supposed to be imprisoned for eternity.”
“They’ve been eating the souls of people with the brightest auras,” Harper said.
“They must intend to try to escape. No wonder this land is a spiritual wasteland. I must leave immediately, or they will come for me.”
“But my grandma . . .”
“Shh, Harper! I will tell her everything, but you are in grave danger,” Mrs. Devereux said. “The reason the Razu can walk the land now is because the closer we get to All Hallows’ Eve, the blurrier the line between the spiritual realm and the human world becomes. You must hide your aura! Like you did before. Hide Harper. You are in terrible danger. I will send the madam to you.”
And with that, the spirit vanished.
Harper didn’t know how Mrs. Devereux was going to send her grandmother, but she felt a slight relief in knowing that a message would reach her.
But what did Mrs. Devereux mean that Harper was in danger? How was she to hide her aura? Harper looked around and saw that the ghost girl had also disappeared. The hairs on the back of her neck rose up as a creepy sensation began to overwhelm her. Something was coming.
Frightened, Harper sat still and closed her eyes and then willed herself into absolute calmness. She remembered Rose telling her that her aura had been muted when she couldn’t remember her past. Harper needed Rose. Rose would know what to do. But her friend was gone. All she had left were her memories. Thoughts of Rose filled her head—her laughter, her voice, her teasing. Harper missed her old friend so much. She imagined herself walking in a green meadow with soft tall grass and colorful wildflowers scattered in vibrant patches all around her. She took a deep breath. The crisp fresh air smelled of grass and flowers and mist. In the distance, she could hear someone calling her name. She recognized the voice immediately. She turned, and there was Rose. Not ghost Rose, but Rose alive and beautiful. Harper ran to hug her friend and gasped to feel a warm body and strong arms grab her and spin her around. They both laughed in delight as they lay down in the soft grass, their heads close together as they pointed out the shapes of the clouds in the bright blue sky.
“Rose, I know this is just a dream,” Harper said, “but it feels so real.”
“It is real,” Rose said. “I’m here for you, whenever you need me.”
After several more minutes of laughter and reminiscing, Rose got up and pulled Harper to her feet. “You have to go,” she said. “It’s safe now.”
“I don’t want to leave yet,” Harper pleaded.
Rose smiled and gave her a tight hug. “I’m always here for you if you need me. But someone else needs you more right now.”
With that, Rose gave her a shove, and Harper felt herself falling and then abruptly woke up. Harper opened her eyes. Everything seemed normal. The oppressive fear was gone. The only difference was the little ghost who sat in front of her, staring at her in awe.
“How’d you do that?” Holly asked.
“Do what?”
“Disappear!”
“I what?”
“I mean your aura disappeared,” Holly said. “At first you were glowing bright silver and then it dimmed to like a faint blue and then disappeared. Even now, you’re still not as bright as before.”
“I don’t know,” Harper said. “But I had the help of a friend.” A pang of sadness hit her as she missed Rose.
“A monster came,” Holly said. “He was looking for that other spirit lady. I tried to stay with you, but I was so scared. And then you disappeared.”
“Did you see the monster come?” Harper asked.
Holly shook her head. “I hided.”
“How were you able to hide from it?”
“I tried not to be afraid, even though they feel so scary. I think of my mommy and daddy and puppies and kittens until the monsters go away,” Holly said.
Harper thought that was interesting. “So, if you don’t see the monsters, how do you know when they’re coming?”
“I can feel them,” Holly said. “It’s the scariest feeling in the world. Like I’m too scared to even cry.”
Harper understood that feeling completely. Her arms were covered in goose bumps. She didn’t want to think about what it would be like to actually come face-to-face with a real live Razu.
“Holly, you said that all the people in the grove had marks on their necks like the one Michael has. Did you and your parents have marks, too?”
Holly cocked her head to the side as she thought. “I had one,
but my parents didn’t.” She started to cry. “It was my fault they died.”
“No, Holly, it’s not your fault at all! These are monsters,” Harper said. “They are evil. They targeted you. They are at fault. And we have to stop them. Will you help me?”
Holly nodded, her little face determined.
MRS. NAKAMURA’S CHARMS AND AMULETS SHOP
Monday, October 30
Olivia had invited them to tour the island with her. Leo was not interested and stayed home, while Kelly had plans with friends she’d made.
Harper and Dayo decided that they should go back to the local market and talk to the lady with the toy boat stand where Michael had gotten his boat. The more Harper thought about the woman’s reaction, the more it bothered her. She’d known that the mark meant something bad. What Harper wanted to know was, what exactly did that woman know?
Olivia had a shuttle bus take them to the center of the small town square. As the girls walked toward the market, they ran into Kelly with a group of teenage girls, all wearing similar short dresses in vibrant colors.
“You look like a flower garden,” Michael said as he grinned up at them.