by Wendy Knight
"You're sure Alec won't be here?" I asked Bryson, not sure whether I wanted to be wrong or right.
"No, he's at work. And he never comes home before eight. You'll be long gone by then." He sank on the couch with a frown. "I wish, just one night, I got to wake up with you." He looked up at me, blue eyes pleading. "Is that too much to ask?"
My heart hurt for him. "I'm sorry, Bryson. I can't miss work. Things are too stressful right now. And then I have school…" School. Crap. I had a project due the next day. I ran a hand through my hair and glared at my muffin. I felt like I was juggling all these things, trying to keep all the balls in the air, and soon one would fall. Or they all would fall. Maybe they'd turn into giant boulders and crush me when they came down. Maybe they already were giant boulders and they were already coming down.
When I woke up, the sky was dark outside and Elizabeth was trying to shake me. "Oh crap!" I sat up so fast I toppled off the couch. Bryson was nowhere to be seen, but Elizabeth was pacing, back and forth so fast I could feel an icy breeze.
"I've been trying to wake you for almost an hour. The asuwangs have risen, and some have already made it into the city."
"Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh!! How could I sleep so long?" I was going to strangle Bryson. He knew how badly I needed to be at work and he'd let me sleep anyway. Because he thought he was helping. "Arrgh!" I growled, tugging on my tennis shoes and shoving my tangled hair out of my face. I followed Elizabeth out the door, leaping down the stairs three at a time. I hit the landing and took off running as the world blurred around me. I saw Alec's truck out of the corner of my eye, just pulling in. The mere sight of him hit me so hard I stumbled and fell, skidding on my hands and knees. And let me tell you, when you're moving that fast and fall, it's more than a little asphalt burn. I felt the skin tear, then the muscle, and then I felt it clawing away at my bones.
I forced myself to my feet and tried to ignore the pain as I jogged after Elizabeth. Thankfully, by the time I caught up, I was almost completely healed. I risked one last glance over my shoulder, just catching a glimpse of him as he slowly climbed the stairs up to his door. I felt tears burning the backs of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Elizabeth had a point—I couldn't spend my whole life in love with him. I had to let him go so that I could give my whole heart to someone else and escape this hell I'd been living in the last four years. I needed to free my soul before I died and ended up fighting in someone else's army.
I just wish letting him go was as easy as, say, cutting off an asuwang's head. That, I could do with no problem.
"Do you feel them? They are near." Elizabeth stopped—since she merely floated and had no momentum to push her forward, she could stop instantly. Me, I went skidding past, arms cartwheeling and trying not to fall again.
I grabbed Golly and Kali and spun just as the asuwang flung itself off the roof of the shed we were standing near. I raised my swords just in time, cringing as black blood sprayed my face as it impaled itself. It screamed, but I mercilessly pushed my foot against its face and jerked my blades free. Its lifeless body fell to the ground as three more asuwangs barreled around the corner. "Holy crap. How many escaped?" I panted, swinging my swords up to fend off the claws. "And what time is it? How long until the sun rises?"
"It is past midnight. I do not know how many escaped. We have to"— Elizabeth brought her battle ax down with startling speed, neatly detaching the head of the demon—"find the rest of your army."
I scissored my swords to take off the other one's head, dancing away from the blood that sought to ruin my shoes. I dove after the third one, which had finally realized what I was and decided to escape. I landed on its back, cringing at its scaly, furry, slimy back. I wasn't even sure how it could have so many icky things at once, but somehow it managed. I plunged my swords into its sides, seeking the heart, riding it like a very fat horse. It screamed and bucked, throwing me in the air, but I held tight to Golly and Kali. They twisted and dragged upward and the demon finally collapsed, sawed almost in half.
I rolled away, coming up on my feet. "It will be a long night." Elizabeth was staring down toward the beach, toward battle, toward hell. More demons waited for us there, I knew. I wiped my blades on the grass and sheathed them.
Closing my eyes, praying for strength, I nodded. "It always is."
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Alec
Weekends at my parents' are what saved me. Without them, I would have worked myself to death. Instead, I ate my mom's cooking. I helped my dad build a deck. I coached Jack's baseball team and played football on the lawn with all the neighbor kids. I exhausted myself to the point that when I fell asleep, I was too tired to dream about anything but Navi's death.
Over and over and over.
I was so tired, that sometimes when I'd come home late at night from work, I'd think I could see her. She was like a ghost, barely more than a blur, but I'd catch a just a whiff of her lilac lotion in the air and I'd look up, praying she'd be there. She never was. There was nothing but my desperate desire to see her again slowly driving me absolutely insane.
"Hey." Josh nudged me. I wasn't even sure when he'd shown up, I was so tired. "You're still alive, right?"
I blinked at him and waved my newly-freed-from-the-cast hand around. "I'm peachy."
"It's for the best, anyway."
I did not want to have this conversation again. So I ignored him.
"I mean, Navi… she would have tied you down. You're only twenty-two, bro. You don't want a girlfriend who—"
"Knock it off, Josh." I hadn't had a reason to growl at anyone for a while, with Bryson gone all the time. It was somewhat refreshing.
"I'm serious. I mean, yeah, she's hot, right? But what else? She's got zero personality."
No personality? Was he serious? She had more personality in her pinky than most girls did in an entire clique. I stood up abruptly, glaring at him. "Knock. It. Off."
He held up his hands, "I'm just saying"—he stuttered for a second before he regained his footing —"she's not worth this, Alec."
"You don't know a damn thing, Josh. Shut the hell up."
"I'm just trying to help."
You can't help me. She was the only one who could. And that wasn't going to happen.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Navi
"It's been two months, Elizabeth. I've done everything humanly possible to forget him. I've been so busy fighting demons that I barely have enough energy to brush my teeth, but I always have plenty of energy to miss him." I flopped back into the soft grass, my feet still dangling in the river, and stared at the rising sun. "I can't love anyone else."
She nodded sadly, her eyes telling me she completely understood.
"So… maybe I'll become a nun. Nuns don't go to hell. I've never had a nun in my army. If I can't get over Alec, maybe I'll just be in love him from a convent, and never hurt another guy with my traitorous heart."
She rolled her eyes, which was both alarming and slightly amusing from a ghost with translucent skin. "I think quitting school was unwise. It provided a much needed distraction. Perhaps enough that you wouldn't have had to spend time with Bryson to find relief."
I cocked my head to the side to see her. There was still the outline of tears in her soul from the battle the night before, or the night before that… we'd been fighting every single night for so long that I couldn't keep track anymore. "You're probably right. But I can't keep up. I was failing two classes and mid-terms were coming up. There was no way I could study for them."
"When the sea witch rises, we will kill her and then you can finish school." Elizabeth nodded like she was so positive that's what would happen.
"She's killing off all my army. I'm not going to have one to fight with by the time she rises." I traced a dandelion, wondering why I was here at the river where I'd come with Alec so often instead of home sleeping. "That's probably her plan, huh?"
Elizabeth nodded slowly, her ghostly fingers trailing in the water as she lay on
her stomach, one hand propped under her chin. "She's sending her demons every night to diminish our forces, and when she's confident she can overtake us, she will rise."
"Well that's just awesome. I wonder if Death will let me scour hell for some more recruits." Rumors of our constant battles had spread, and finding more souls willing to fight with us was getting difficult. Death himself was trying to bargain with them, offering rides on his hell hounds or tea and biscuits at night when they returned to their cells. So far, it wasn't helping much, but I held out hope.
"I wish we could contact some of the other Agents. I'd like to see if they're having the same problem we are." I sat up so fast my head spun, and I had to try to hold my brain in my skull with both hands. "Ouch. Maybe we could ask Death if he would consider creating another Agent."
Elizabeth looked up sharply. "Are you going to quit?"
I shook my head, but gently this time. "No. No way. But if there was another Agent, with my strength and power, we'd have a much better chance of killing the sea witch."
"Your mother and aunt were both Agents and they did not succeed." Elizabeth relaxed back onto her fist as the sun's rays shone through her, sparkling against her soul. It almost hurt my eyes to look at her, she was so bright.
I slumped back onto the grass. "Yeah, I guess. Maybe we could convince the souls in limbo to join us. But I can't offer them freedom."
"They might join just for protection. Her demons are snatching up any of the souls they see—whether they're yours or just trapped ghosts."
The sun felt like it was frying my eyes. I slowly rolled over and shoved myself to my feet. "I'll get started early tonight. We'll see if we can find some souls to recruit before the sun goes down and we have to fight."
Her eyes widened. "Your shoulder is wounded, Navi. You should have taken care of that as soon as the demons sank into the sea."
I glanced down. "Oh. Yeah, so it is. It will heal tonight. I won't die from blood loss before then." I started slowly walking down the dirt road, swinging my shoes. "What are you going to do today?" I asked as she floated beside me.
"I will search for recruits. Maybe I could go to the other Agents. Gather information."
"That will take you clear across the world. You won't be able to come back quickly if something were to happen. Unless you went through Death's chambers."
She shook her head vehemently. "No, no. I'll stay here. In case you have need of me."
I gave her a sympathetic smile. She was so brave. But facing Death alone, no matter how adorable he seemed to me, was something she just couldn't do. And I didn't blame her. "Maybe one day we will find someone to travel with you."
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Alec
The weirdest sound woke me—like a moan, but not a moan. I sat up, rubbing my eyes with my finally cast-free hand. The fingers were weak and sore and misshapen, but I didn't care. I had my damn hand back.
Another moan echoed through my room. "What the hell?" I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up, staggering into the living room. "Bryson?" I called. If he was in there with Navi while I was right through the wall, I'd kill him. A guy only had so much willpower, and I had reached my limits.
I pounded on his door but there was no response, and then the weird moan thing slithered through the living room, coming not from Bryson's room, but mine. Just to be sure, I pushed his door open and stuck my head inside. It was empty. No Bryson, no Navi.
"Alec."
I spun, but there was no one there. Without a doubt, though, it was Bryson's voice. Weak and barely audible, but definitely Bryson's. "Dude, you're not funny. Where the hell are you?"
"I'm right here, bro. I need your help."
I could hear him like he was standing in front of me, but I couldn't see him. Maybe my phone… I stalked back to my bedroom and grabbed it, checking to see if he was somehow on the other end, but it was off. I'd long since gone to turning it off at night so I'd stop waiting for Navi to text me and tell me Konstanz was wrong.
Because she never did.
"Alec, I'm right here. I need your help."
I spun in a circle, checked under the bed, and then went back to the living room and looked in every hidden space in the blasted apartment. He wasn't there. And as far as I could see, there were no wires or speakers. "This isn't funny, Bryson. I'm going back to bed. I have to work in two hours."
I went back to my room and snapped off the light. And suddenly, there in front of me, stood my roommate.
Except it wasn't my roommate. The Bryson that stood in front of me wasn't standing at all, he was hovering, and he was translucent. Like a… "Ghost?" I stumbled back, bellowing like a mad bull, and slammed into my door. "Bryson, what the f—?"
"I know! I know, Alec, but calm down. I need your help."
"You're a freaking ghost, Bryson!"
"I know." His head hung in defeat as he wafted two feet away. I tried to rationalize my way through this. I knew it wasn't a dream because I'd just impaled myself on my doorknob and it hurt. And I know I should have suspected tricks or… or something, but he was right in front of me and there was no damn way any tricks were involved.
My roommate was a ghost.
"Look, I need you to get Navi for me. She'll know what to do."
I stared stupidly. "What do you mean, she'll know what to do? You're dead!"
"No! I'm not dead!" He held his hands up toward me, completely see-through hands. "I'm still alive. My body is on the beach, and if you get me to a hospital, Navi will know how to fix me. But there's not much time. Hurry, Alec!"
I stared stupidly some more.
"Alec!" He rushed toward me, a blast of cold air preceding him and freezing my exposed skin.
"Dude!" I screeched. Like a girl. I'm not proud. "Back off!"
"Get your keys. We have to get my body. I feel it fading."
I swore. I hadn't even had time to process this, but I was shoving my feet into shoes and pulling on a shirt. Before I realized it, I was in my truck, driving like a madman down the freeway to the beach. And Bryson appeared on the seat next to me. "Explain. Now. Before I go check myself into a psychiatric hospital." It was official. Navi had finally caused me to lose my mind. Maybe I'd killed Bryson in a jealous rage and I just didn't remember? Was this guilt that made me completely lose all sense of anything?
He started talking really fast, like he realized I was about to drive myself straight to the psych ward. "Okay so Navi has been working a lot at night, right? And Konstanz was really worried, because she's always gone and Konstanz can't sleep when she's gone. Navi kept saying work was really insane, that her parolees were losing these fights they were in and something big was coming. It… it wasn't believable at all." I risked a glance over at him. Yeah, I'd been there. I knew how bad it hurt when she started going out every single night.
"She was really edgy. Really nervous. She freaking dropped out of school, Alec."
I was having a conversation with a ghost and all I could think about was Navi. "What? Why? What kind of trouble is she in?"
"Something you can't even comprehend."
That sounded awful and ominous. "What do you mean?"
"There. Turn up there."
"You can't even get to the beach from there, dude."
"There's a rock formation. My body is by the base."
I followed his instructions as far as the truck would go and jumped out. He was already racing down the beach, his translucent form catching the moonlight and shimmering like a rainbow. If the situation wasn't so bizarre and terrifying, I would laugh at how completely unmanly he looked right then. I might have even tried to take a picture for Navi. Real tough boyfriend you've got there—he's all shimmers and rainbows! Yeah, the fact that I was having this conversation with myself clearly showed how out of touch with reality I was.
But he stopped by the base of Devil's gate, a huge rock formation that faded out into the ocean. He paced around and threw up his hands and then dove onto the sand, and be
fore I made it very far I could see Bryson's body laying motionless in the darkness. I slid to a stop next to him and fell on my knees. With one shaking hand I dialed 911 while the other one took his pulse. "What happened, Bryson?" I asked hoarsely.
"Well, I followed her to see who she was seeing—"
The emergency dispatch answered right then and I jerked a hand up to silence him. "I need help. My friend is unconscious. He's still breathing, but his pulse is really slow."
"Where is your friend, sir? Can you tell me what happened?"
"I'm by the Devil's Gate. I think he must have fallen or—or something? I don't know. I was looking for him and I found him and he needs help—"
"We'll send someone right away, sir."
I dropped the phone. "They're on their way. Talk fast."
Bryson was watching his body with such a horrified expression that I finally had the sense to feel sorry for him. The whole experience must have been terrifying. "I followed her." His voice was numb now. "She's not what you think she is, Alec."
"So—so what? You caught her with some guy and he attacked you?"
"No." He shook his head slowly, almost like he was suddenly in some kind of trance. "No. She fights sea monsters, Alec. With a bunch of ghosts. Ghosts like me. She fights sea monsters and a sea monster came out of the water and attacked me and she didn't see me but she chased it and killed it. With an army of ghosts. She fights sea monsters."
I fell backward like I'd been punched. Or maybe whacked in the head with a two by four. Everything spun and nothing made sense. "What?"
Seriously. What else could I say?
"I tried to go to her house. To get her to help me. But her ghosts won't let me through. They said I was in limbo and that I was haunting her and they wouldn't let me through." His head suddenly snapped up, trance gone, and his milky eyes focused with a terrifying intensity on my face. "You have to help me, Alec. You have to tell Navi to fix this."
I could hear sirens in the distance, coming fast. "Why can't you just, like, hop back in your body and wake up? That's how it works on TV."