by Maaja Wentz
As she cracked open the Frigidaire, the reek of rotten food hit her. She stepped back, nostrils prickling as her eyes adjusted. Through the glass shelves, she could see foul liquid in the bottom of the vegetable drawers. She closed the fridge and checked the cupboards.
Nothing.
She gave up on finding fire charms but decided to stick to the plan anyway. Tonya groped around under the sink, grabbed the kitchen fire extinguisher, and ran. When she added it to the gas cans, the wheelbarrow got so heavy she could barely lift it.
Bending from the knees, she took a deep breath and lifted the handles. She started across the field but every time she hit a bump, gas cans threatened to bounce out. Tonya took off her coat and bundled the cans inside it to keep them together, then headed north to the western gate, staying on the edge of the road.
Through the gates she didn’t see one jogger or cyclist. The only signs of life were cawing crows until she reached the old section. Approaching the Three-Century Ash, Tonya spied a snoring pileup of shirtless men and women, apparently comfortable on the leaf-strewn ground. In contrast, Tonya’s teeth were chattering. Nearer the Ash, teens lay scattered like cast off laundry.
A mound of disturbed earth ringed the tree. Tonya considered how to scatter the gravedigger fungus’s sprawling would-be victims. They were sleeping peacefully, hands resting on distended bellies. Did that mean they would have to eat more before the Entity would absorb them? She kicked one snoring student with her foot.
“Hey!” He got up and started coming after her, slowly.
“Sorry.” Tonya held up her hands.
Before he could reach her, he dropped back to his knees and started scooping leaves into his mouth.
Tonya put a hand on his shoulder. “Wake up. Go home.”
The man shrugged her off then lay face down in the leaves. He was asleep before she could explain the danger.
At least he’d woken up able to move. When things started to heat up, these passed-out victims would be able to get up and flee to safety.
To be sure, she would make sure everything was ready to light before she woke them and sent them running, in case the Entity took control of them and made them try to stop her. Could It do that? Or could It make them grab her and bite her like the prisoners who attacked Drake? She would have to take that chance. Tonya unloaded the wheelbarrow and cleared away leaves with her foot, looking for the right spot to pour gasoline . . .
Was that white thing a bird’s egg? She put her face closer. A big opal caught the light, attached to a not-quite buried . . . finger. Ugh!
The finger seemed familiar. Where else had she seen metallic purple nail polish?
Lynnette! Tonya cleared loose soil away with her hands. Poor Lynette. Tears welled in Tonya’s eyes.
She was panting with effort by the time she unearthed the head. She touched the cheek which felt warm. Lynette was alive! Tonya dug like a dog after a rabbit. She uncovered the torso and put her head to Lynette’s chest. Her heart was beating! Tonya tried to pull her roommate out of the hole, but white roots grew around Lynette’s arms and legs, as well as into her mouth and ears. On closer examination, not all the roots were white. Some were pink, like veins draining fluid from her body.
Tonya gagged. She fought down the urge to vomit, but this was Lynette, not some faceless monster. She had to free her, but how, without a saw to cut the roots? Tonya rummaged through her bag until she found a metal nail file. It was dull and small, but she put all her weight behind it and pulled, breaking through roots one by one. Lynette didn’t move or make a sound during this painstaking process. Was she unconscious or in a coma? Either way, when Tonya snapped the last root, the body was limp.
Your efforts are touching, but in vain. Give up.
“No!”
How fast do you think you can carry her?
His consciousness felt so close. In moments, He would be free.
Tonya dug the body out of the earth, then slid her hands under Lynette’s armpits and dragged her onto the wheelbarrow. At least Lynette was light. Tonya rolled her up the path as far as she dared then ran back to the Ash. She wished she could move Lynette to a safer place but there was no time. All around her, frosty-eyed denizens of Loon Lake were stirring and getting off the ground, their unfocused eyes directed at her.
Without a charm to help, Tonya would have to control the fire with the extinguisher, no matter what Waldock’s frosty-eyed minions did to her. The Entity had almost surfaced and Waldock was growing in power every moment. She could feel it in the growing strength of his voice in her head. Tonya had no choice but to attack now, then retreat with Lynette in the wheelbarrow as best she could. Losing control of the fire would be a disaster, but if she didn’t act, they were dead anyway.
First, Tonya soaked a wide ring of grass around the tree with water, to form a protective barrier. Next, she soaked the ring of earth beneath the tree with gasoline. She chose a stout stick from the ground and wet the end with gas, then hurried up the path as far toward the gate as she dared. She lit the end then turned and took aim, but the sight of the majestic Ash brought her up short. How could she do this? To burn down that tree, to even harm it, was a crime.
The gas on the stick flared. The ember glowed and then dimmed, but that wasn’t her biggest problem. The shamblers were closing in. Once Waldock guessed her plan, he would send the horde to rip her apart. There was no time to lose, yet still she couldn’t do it.
The Ash Tree had protected her ancestors for centuries against the death magic which collected in this cemetery. To burn it down would be a sacrilege the Old Families could never forgive. She hoped destroying the gravedigger fungus would stop the Entity before it could rise. She hoped doing so would not harm the tree, which sheltered the fungus among its roots. If she killed the fungus and it didn’t stop the Entity from rising, burning down the tree would leave them even more vulnerable to Waldock’s death magic. It was a bitter dilemma, but somebody had to stop the Entity before it could bring Waldock back.
Hard as she could, she threw the stick. Flames leaped as gasoline ignited with a whoof!
VOLCANO CAKE
Tonya had soaked the earth in a broad ring around the Ash Tree, so she could safely burn the gravedigger fungus without setting the cemetery alight. Cold wet fall weather would help stop the flames from spreading across the grass. That was her theory, anyway.
It seemed to hold until sparks started leaping over the ring of wet grass onto the litter of fallen leaves beyond. Tonya stomped out little fires as they multiplied, quickly switching from her feet to the extinguisher. Flames flared in a widening circle so fast she couldn’t get to them all. Leaves caught fire and rose into the air, igniting bushes in fountains of red and gold.
The passed-out infected, awoken by primordial fear, fled the woods in all directions. Tonya stayed to fight the fire, sweating rivulets as flames grew. She would die if she failed to contain the blaze, and so might Priya and Drake, locked up in the nearby shop. She sprayed and sprayed until the extinguisher fizzled out.
“No!”
Trees crackled like overhead campfires and squirrels of flame leaped from branch to branch. Tonya squinted through smoke. The fire roared unstoppable, howling like a beast as it devoured more and more fuel. Her face was burning, and smoke stung her eyes. She had no choice. Tonya ran for the wheelbarrow.
As she ran for the gate she shouted, “Wake up! Lynette, you have to run.”
Lynette didn’t stir so she lifted the heavy wheelbarrow and retreated.
The fire was all around. Her shoes were smoking. Each wheezing breath ended in a cough. Tonya considered the awkward cargo she was pushing. Was Lynette even alive? The harder it became to push her, the more tempting it was to assume she was dead. Without Lynette, Tonya could run fast enough to save herself.
The shop felt farther away with every step as flames licked at her face. She would never make it to the Western Gate. She turned the wheelbarrow and headed through the long grass, toward the br
eak in the cemetery fence.
It was uneven ground and the weeds were denser than she thought. The wheelbarrow’s tire stuck in a clump of cedars. Frantically, she tried to pull it back or wriggle it out, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Wake up!” Tonya shook her gently, but Lynette remained limp. There was no way but to abandon the wheelbarrow and carry Lynnette on her back. She crouched and pulled her friend’s arms over her shoulders, gripping the wrists across her chest. Tonya stood. She saw stars. On the verge of blacking out, she bent lower and breathed through her nose until the light-headedness passed. As soon as she could see again, Tonya strode around the cedars dragging Lynette like a hundred-pound backpack, her dangling legs snagging on the undergrowth.
Now Lynette really owed her a favor. If they ever got out of this, Lynette would have to make her visiting friends acknowledge her. Heck, she should probably insist they swap beds too. Tonya had always wanted the one under the window!
Tonya scoffed at her crazy, oxygen-deprived thoughts. She moved between trees and tombstones until the billowing smoke choked her. She was doomed, fighting her way out of temperatures that belonged in a kiln, or Pompeii . . .
Panicked citizens in togas and sandals stampeded through her mind.
Where did that come from?
They were being buried alive in volcanic ash. She felt their terror as they asphyxiated or roasted alive.
What was happening to her? Tonya had never been to Italy. She had never even seen a movie about Pompeii. She only knew of its famous volcano. Why was she seeing the cranial sutures on a dead baby’s skull? Why was that man in a toga staring at her as he lay down to die?
A wave of darkness clamped her chest. Her body kept struggling through the woods to escape the fire, but her mind faced a larger danger. Even if she reached the gap in the cemetery fence and climbed through, all was hopeless. There was no escaping the force suffocating her mind. Tears caused by smoke and frustration streamed down her face. Tonya blinked and closed her eyes to clear her vision but when she opened them, she saw neither smoke nor forest nor fire. Kaleidoscope vision forced itself upon her again. This was the view Waldock saw, through the eyes of all his victims. He was forcing it upon her, superimposing supernatural vision over natural.
Functionally blind, she dropped to her knees and groped her way to the road. Lynette’s body was too heavy. She could try to save them both and potentially die in the fire, or crawl out fast and save herself. She still had time if she was quick. She could preserve her worthless, infected life, but for what? The Entity had won.
Tonya clenched her fists until her nails drew blood. She had tried so much and fought so hard, meanwhile Aunt Helen abandoned them. Her generation started this war. What right did they have to impose their vendetta on mundane citizens and innocent college kids? What right did they have to kill Lynette in their crossfire?
She forced herself back to her feet and pushed through flaming branches. She might be lost. She might be bombarded with hallucinations, but Tonya refused to let Waldock beat her. Lifting Lynette and draping her onto her shoulders like a cape, Tonya used one hand to anchor Lynette’s arms in front of her while she used the other to feel her way through the trees.
She was moving blind when the crunch of gravel underfoot signaled she had reached the edge of the cemetery. She opened her eyes not far from the break in the fence.
“Tonya!” Priya and Drake’s voices chorused from the other side of the fence.
She could see again! Tonya rushed to the opening. “How did you get out?”
“No thanks to you. We knocked a hole through the roof,” said Priya.
With Tonya’s help, Drake lifted Lynette into his sinewy arms. “What happened to her?”
Tonya gasped to get her breath back. “Call the Fire Department.”
“Already did.” Priya looked into the sky where smoke and flames rose high into the air. She pointed at Tonya. “You trapped us in the attic, then lit the cemetery on fire. Are you trying to kill us?”
THE SCENE OF HER CRIME
Tonya pressed her palms together. “You were supposed to leave when I asked you.”
“Is Lynette okay?” Priya’s voice trembled.
“She’s breathing but I can’t wake her.” Tonya tried to cross the road but stumbled on a rock.
“Can’t you see the ground where you’re walking?” asked Drake.
She felt him pass a hand in front of her face. Tonya could make out his tall form amidst a blur of colored light. She still had kaleidoscope vision intermittently, although now her eyes were starting to come clear. It was as if the presence of her friends could draw her back to reality.
“I’m fine. Lynette needs a doctor.” Tonya felt her knees buckle, her adrenaline spent.
“So do you.” Priya pulled Tonya’s arm around her shoulder. “I can’t believe you set a forest fire.”
“The car’s this way.” Drake took the lead with Lynette in his arms. Tonya crossed the field, supported by Priya. Tonya heard Lynette cough. As she let Priya direct her steps, Tonya’s black thoughts returned. Her mind swam with visions—hundreds of Pompeii’s dead. She saw stacks of ancient bodies, now with familiar faces: her parents, Aunt Helen, girls from the dorm, boys from her classes, plus Zain, Drake, and the other Ninjas. It felt like a premonition. Would Waldock kill everyone she cared for?
Tonya forced one foot in front of the other, supported by Priya.
Sirens approached but the fire truck was obscured by smoke billowing out of the cemetery behind her. She fervently wished they would save the Ash Tree but not the Entity buried under it. Faint hope. The volunteer firefighters would be lucky to save the Village as fire spread through the grass around the cemetery.
She suppressed a giggle rising inside her, the terrible guffaw of one who found everything incredibly funny. Who did these little people think they were? Who were they to thwart His victory? They were mice. Less than mice. They were insects, and He was chief exterminator!
Despite her blistered face, Tonya chuckled, then burst into a coughing fit of laughter.
Drake stopped walking. “Laugh, it beats crying. Not many women could have carried Lynette to safety like that.” He smiled at her.
Tonya returned his gaze, wishing she deserved his admiration. How to explain she heard Waldock in her head? That she felt their minds melding? “You should get away from me fast as you can.”
“Not a chance.” He smiled. “We’re almost there.”
With a tire screech, an ambulance pulled up and a pair of attendants came out. The first attendant held up a loaded needle. “She looks like she needs attention.”
Drake and Priya carried Lynette forward. The male attendant shot a crooked smile at a woman who looked like his sister.
They were the same attendants that Marta sent away, Tonya realized. “Don’t get in the ambulance.”
“Why?” asked Priya.
A third uniformed attendant came out of the woods and went for Tonya. “You seem delirious. Let me give you some oxygen.” It was the farmer, wearing a first responder’s uniform.
She dodged away.
“Waldock has allies in the hospital,” she called to Priya and Drake. “Run for the bridge!”
Tonya ran up the road, but police stood on the bridge, milling in front of a squad car blocking the way. She slowed down when she noticed how their sunglasses glinted in the sun. No more kaleidoscope vision. Why would Waldock allow her to see clearly now?
Oh no. She could see because he was using her eyes to see. Waldock was focused on looking through her now, right at her friends.
“You have to get away,” said Tonya. “Get away from me.”
The three attendants caught up. Two knocked Drake down and the third scooped up Lynette. Priya ran after them, shrieking and yelling.
Noticing the commotion, a police officer came over, but instead of rescuing them, he handed the farmer a firefighter’s axe.
“Come with us,” ordered the farmer.
&nb
sp; They could no longer refuse. As the farmer led them away, Drake gave Tonya a sideways look. “What do they want us for?”
“Arson.” The farmer brandished his axe. “Keep walking.”
“Waldock can kill me discreetly in the fire,” said Tonya. “When they dig me out of the ashes, Waldock can call me a criminal.”
“Why did you set the trees on fire?” Drake asked.
“To stop the Entity from rising. I had to burn Him while he was still underground, but I failed. The Entity will rise and Waldock with It.”
“So? We can take him.” Drake pretended to throw a punch.
“I’m so sorry to get you mixed in this.”
At the Western Gate she told the farmer, “You aren’t going to be able to breathe in there. I barely got out alive.”
“The firefighters are putting it out,” he said.
Tonya watched jets of water spray into the inferno but if it was making a difference she couldn’t see it. The water turned into steam on contact. All the trees and grass were aflame. If they couldn’t extinguish it before the wind changed, it could spread northeast across campus or west into Loon Lake Village.
“Shouldn’t you be rescuing people?” Tonya stopped and faced the farmer, hands on hips. The skin on the palms of her hands smarted with blisters.
“Time to pay for your crimes.”
Tonya’s will to fight drained away. What had she done? She thought the fire would burn the Entity in the ground and prevent him from taking physical form. Instead, she destroyed the Ash. Who knew what terrible energies would fester in the cemetery without the Ash to draw them out?
“Len was right about you.” The farmer glowered, stained teeth against a berry brown face. “Your death in the fire today will be justice.”
COOKING PIT
The farmer forced Tonya and her friends to trudge through gray ash speckled with embers. Making their way over and around fallen trees smudged their faces and blackened Tonya’s tender hands.