Game's End

by Natasha Deen

  “Where was this ability when I had to take gym?” I hunkered in my seat and processed his words. Then I considered his tone. “What are you not telling me about the visions and expanding power?”

  He exhaled. “If your future self was strong enough to reach back in time to try and send a warning, then very bad things are about to happen.”

  “What kind of bad things?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “I’m not psychic.”

  “Do you think this is connected to me trying to find out about my mom?”

  “Could be, but it could be something else.”

  “The only things that have happened in the last couple of months are Serge being murdered—”

  “Maybe the bad thing is Serge’s parents,” said Nell. “They were psycho, and they have hell on their side.”

  “Doubt it,” said Craig. “Hell keeps its souls.”

  “What about that horde of demons we battled last week?” I asked. “Seems like the underworld is missing a few tenants.”

  “They were loose in this world until I sent them to the other side,” he said. “Anyway, if the message involved Serge, then the message would have gone to him, not to you, Mags.”

  “But maybe I sent myself a message to give to him,” I said. “After all, he has reception issues.” I lifted my hand and wiggled my fingers.

  “Hilarious,” said Serge. “I’ll remember that the next time you need me to text your dad.”

  “Serge died first,” said Nell. “Then Kent. Both of those ghost stories are done. Maybe it’s about something you’re going to do, soon.”

  “So, what’re my options? I stay at home for the next three months until my future self signals the all clear?”

  “Whatever it is,” said Craig. “You’ve already opened the door, or else your future self wouldn’t have sent back a warning.”

  “But you said once that time’s not the same on that side. Maybe I gave the warning to Nell to prevent what I’m about to do.”

  “That’s fair,” he said. “But Rori was on the road—it feels too much like a warning about things that will happen, not a warning to prevent things from happening.”

  “Great,” I muttered. “I have enough power to have an otherworldly meeting with Nell, but I’m too stupid to give her the message in English.”

  “That’s my fault,” said Nell. “I tried to tell you, but the words came out wrong.”

  “That’s not on you,” said Craig. “The spirit realm has a language and syntax of its own.”

  Beware the light. He comes in red. “My future self is a moron. I couldn’t just give you a name?”

  “Maybe you were talking in code,” said Serge. “And we have to decode it—never mind. You’re not that smart. Ow!” He rubbed the spot on his arm where I’d punched him. “I didn’t mean it like that…okay, maybe a little like—” He ducked as I went after him again.

  “In your future self’s defence,” said Craig. “She probably did give you the name, but it’s lost in translation from that world to this one. Kind of like how a dream makes sense within the dream, but once you wake up, it doesn’t anymore.”

  “What are you going to do?” asked Nell.

  “If it’s not something that I do in the future and it’s about a door I’ve already opened, then this must be about my mom,” I said. “I want to find out what happened to her, how she died, and why she became The Voice. But now, Rori’s come back to warn Nell about things getting scary. Plus, I’m astral projecting and tossing up ‘beware of demon’ signs. Maybe I should shut it all down. Just forget about it.”

  “And leave your mom to whatever torment she’s living in the afterlife?” asked Serge. “You’d never do it.”

  “Sometimes trying to avoid your destiny brings you to it,” Craig added. “That night, on the bridge, when you and Serge agreed to become guardians, you accepted your fate.”

  “My fate,” I said. “Not everyone else’s.”

  “We’re all connected,” he said.

  “So, what’s the right answer?”

  “Sometimes there isn’t one,” he said. “Sometimes you just make the choice and go.”

  “What do I do?” I sat back and closed my eyes.

  “The only thing you can do,” he said.

  ✦ ✦ ✦

  “Good call on the poutine,” I said and used the last fry to scoop up the remaining gravy.

  “When stuck between a rock and a hard place, eat carbs.” Craig wiped his hand on a napkin and tossed it into the bag at his feet. Then he reached over the car console and nabbed a few fries from Nell.

  “Thanks for turning me solid,” Serge said around a mouthful of burger. “It feels good to eat.”

  “What does it taste like?” asked Nell.

  He shrugged. “Good but different.”

  She turned to me. “Does a large helping of cheese curds and starch answer your questions and sooth your troubled brow?”

  “My brow wasn’t troubled until you started talking about soothing it.” I’d managed to not think of my mother during the ride to the Tin Shack’s drive-thru, and I’d managed not to think of her when we drove to a deserted section of Dead Falls to eat. And I definitely hadn’t thought of her when I was scarfing down the food. But Nell’s mention of her killed my appetite. “Short answer: no, I still don’t know what to do about her.”

  “Tell your dad, for one,” said Serge.

  “I can see that conversation now. Hey Dad, remember how Mom left us right after I was born and you let her go because you thought it would make her happy? Well, she’s dead. And not only is she dead, she’s one of the lost souls.” I held up my hands as though stopping applause from an audience. “Wait. It gets better. However she died, it was so violent and traumatic, she became The Voice, the otherworldly thing that tortures me and, oh yeah, almost killed me once.”

  “But she didn’t kill you,” said Serge. “She was trying to help you, it just came out wrong.”

  “I’m sure that’ll make my dad feel better.” I shook my head. “No. I can’t do it. I won’t. He thinks she’s off in some sunny location, drinking wine and having fun. Let it go at that.”

  “Mags, this doesn’t feel right,” Nell said. “It’s you and your dad. You guys don’t keep secrets from each other.”

  Serge reached into the backseat for a napkin.

  “It’s going to hurt him. He’s going to question everything he said and did when she left. And then he’ll feel guilty and blame himself,” I told them. “He’ll never let himself be happy if he thinks she’s tormented in the afterlife. He’s going to break up with Nancy, I know it, and then everyone’s life will suck. That woman’s raisin scones make me believe in a divine and benevolent god.” I reached into the front seat and grabbed a handful of Serge’s fries. “I can handle this. I’ve got a ghost and a ferrier on my side.”

  Nell punched me in the arm. “Me too.”

  “I don’t know—”

  “I’ve been to the other side,” she said. “And I was strong enough to come back. I’ve got experience with supernatural stuff and, most of all, I’ve got pluck.”

  “Pluck?”

  She nodded. “Things always work out for girls with pluck.” She held my hand. “I’m on your side and I’ll always be beside you, I promise.”

  “Great, just when I thought my life couldn’t get any scarier—ow! Stop hitting!”

  “Stop being an idiot,” she said. “We need a plan. Craig, can’t you do some woo-woo stuff and get us answers?”

  “I wish. I’m only allowed access to the souls I transport, plus a little bit of knowledge about the people connected to them.”

  “But you knew that Serge wasn’t supposed to die,” she said.

  “Only because I was sent here to transport the soul of his girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend.”


  “Oh, right, I forgot that part,” said Nell. “Still, there’s nothing you can do? You’re ten thousand years old. Seniority has to count for something.”

  “Nell, I know you want to help—” I held up my hands to protect myself from another punch. “But pluck aside, this is dangerous territory we’re wading into.” I heard Serge curse. He disappeared into the footwell of the passenger seat.

  “More dangerous than the time Tammy and Bruce brought the Ouija board to your house and set free a horde of demonic ghosts? Or the time you made me take you to my aunt’s place and her house blew up?”

  Before I could answer, she said, “Rori said I shouldn’t worry. That things will get scary, but it’ll work out in the end. If anything, I’m your lucky rabbit’s foot. And I’m even luckier than that, because unlike the rabbit, I still have my foot. Both of them, come to think of it.”

  “I guess but—”

  “It’s starting,” said Serge. “Whatever you were warning yourself about, it’s happening right now.”

  “Can you feel something?” I asked.

  He came into view and pointed at the windshield.

  The rest of us glanced at each other, then ducked and looked up, trying to see what he did. Craig got out of the car.

  I wrapped my coat around me and stepped into the cold. High against the inky sky, the snow spun in a magenta-hued whirlwind. From its centre, red lightning flashed and dark shadows of souls swam in the eddy.

  “I don’t see anything,” said Nell, coming to stand beside me.

  “Craig, can you take Nell home while Serge and I check this out—ow!” I rubbed my shoulder and glared at Nell. “What did I say about hitting?”

  “What did I say about plucky sidekicks? You’re not moving me.”

  “Craig,” I said. “Help me out.”

  “If you rub the spot she hit and apply pressure, it’ll help with the bruising.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t mess with plucky sidekicks.” He popped a fry in his mouth. “Come on, let’s check it out.” He stepped toward the light.

  Chapter Three

  The wind set snow drifting across the hill, but the footing was solid as we made our way into the forest entrance. Craig turned Serge back to his ethereal form, in case we ran into anyone wandering the trails. Then he turned to Nell. “Come by me.”

  “Why? What’s going on?”

  “You were on the other side,” he said, as he handed me his cell.

  I adjusted it so the light shone on them.

  He took her face in his hands. His eyes turned red. “I need to see if it left a mark on you.”

  “Is that good or bad?”

  “If there’s an imprint, I can shift your perception to see what we’re seeing. It’ll help protect you.” He peered into her eyes. “It’s fading, but it’s there. Hold on.” He pulled her closer, then blew over her face. His breath was smoke and fire, with sparks of blue and white that swirled in hieroglyphs. He stepped back. “How do you feel?”

  “The same.” She looked around. “Oh, wait. I can see your auras. Mags, you’re glowing.” She grinned and sidled up to me. “Is that your aura or because you’re close to Craig?”

  “Nah,” I said. “It’s just the afterglow of being close to you.”

  She blinked and tapped my arm with her fist. “I love you, too.”

  We hurried after Craig and Serge, and Nell flipped on her cell’s light. I stumbled over roots and branches, and eventually slid my way down an embankment into a flat clearing. A ghost stood in the centre.

  “Oh, he’s cute,” said Nell.

  “Calm down,” I said. “He’s dead.”

  “I could make him feel alive again.”

  I punched her arm.

  “What did we say about the hitting?” she asked, but I ignored her and moved closer to the ghost.

  He was a couple years older than me, with light brown hair and dark eyes. Dressed in cut-off jeans and a white t-shirt, he didn’t seem to notice the winter cold. Which meant he was dead, and he was among the confused dead. I dug my hands into my coat pockets and moved closer. The smell coming off of him was evergreen pine, a sure sign he’d died recently. “Are you okay, sir?”

  “Oh, I ain’t no sir, ma’am,” he said, turning his attention from the barren tree tops to me. “My name’s Zeke, Zeke Addison, and I still ain’t sure how I ended up here.” The ghost left his spot and came over to us. His footprints left no mark in the snow gathering on the ground. The wind created by his movement did nothing to scatter the fallen snowflakes. He squinted to the sky. “Musta been some fall.”

  Some fall? The area surrounding us was flat and empty. “My name’s Maggie, and these are my friends. Can we help you with anything?”

  “Nah, I ain’t never seen this part of the woods before, but I figure I can get myself back home.”

  “You’ve never seen this part of the woods,” I repeated. “Because you’ve never been here. Your accent, you’re from one of the southern states in America?”

  He nodded. “Land of the free and the brave. The Ozarks are home to me.”

  “You’re not there anymore. You’re in Dead Falls, Alberta, Canada.”

  Zeke’s gaze went to each of us, a confused smile forming on his lips. “Y’all are funning with me, ain’t ya?”

  “I don’t joke about things like this,” I said.

  I felt Zeke considering my mental state. No doubt, he was wondering if he wanted to be in the dark woods, alone, with us.

  He came closer, a good sign.

  Zeke still hadn’t asked how he’d ended up in a small northern town or why he’d suddenly appeared in the middle of the road, in a swirl of purple light. Did the dead not see this plane of existence in the same way as the living? Or did they, like the living, lie to themselves about the reality surrounding them?

  I took another breath and tried again to help him cross over. “You mentioned the Ozarks.”

  But he wasn’t listening. He was staring at the sky. “It was a hard fall. I rolled a lot. Maybe I ended up on another trail…”

  “In Canada?”

  He smiled. “You can keep trying, but I ain’t falling for your stunt. Did the boys make you do this?”

  “Zeke, what do you see?”

  He gave me a sweet smile. “You, all lit up, pretty as a picnic. Warm as sunshine, too.”

  “What about around me? What do you see?”

  “Your friends.” He smiled again. “The woods.”

  “You don’t see anything else?”

  “What else is there to see?”

  Nell’s gaze went to the purple-magenta clouds swirling above us. “What about the snow?”

  “Ain’t no snow.”

  Nell opened her mouth, but Craig shook his head.

  “What was going on before you fell?” I asked.

  “Well, it’s like this. I was with my boys—Beau, Shortie, and Bubba—and we was at the crick—”

  My brain took a second to adjust ‘crick’ to ‘creek.’

  He nodded. “It’s real beautiful this time of the year. Clear and blue. Anyway, Bubba, he saw a skunk and started jawing about how the critter was better smelling and better looking than his ex, Wanda.” Zeke scraped the underside of his jaw. “It’s been real bad between them.”

  “I guessed that from Bubba’s comparison.”

  “Yeah, I suppose that’s kind of obvious, ain’t it?”

  “Happens to the best of us. Keep going.”

  “I ain’t had a date in a long while, and I started talking about how she was kind of pretty, for a skunk. Bubba thought it’d be funny to kiss her. The skunk, I mean. Not Wanda. He’d be real tickled if I did that. But a skunk…”

  “You really thought it would be funny to kiss a skunk?”<
br />
  He nodded. “It seemed like a good idea, at the time.”

  “Did you do it?” Serge asked, his voice part-horror, part-respect.

  “There was a six pack of beer and my family honour on the line.”

  “Some family,” I said.

  “Oh, now, when you think on it, a girl and a skunk ain’t that different. One’s better smelling than the other—”

  “I assume you mean the girl,” I said.

  He nodded.

  “Just checking.” I wiggled my toes to keep the circulation going.

  “—You gotta be nice and gentle with them, but if you treat them right, they’ll be okay. The skunk, I mean. Although, treatin’ a girl the same way, ain’t a bad idea, come to think about it.”

  I flexed my fingers, trying to get the warmth back. “Then what happened?”

  “I don’t rightly know. There was a lot of hooting and hollering, and I was crashing through the brush. Then all of a sudden, I was falling and then there was a bright light.” He shrugged. “Then I found myself here. Not that I’m not enjoying your company and all, but I can’t figure how I ended up here—” He squinted up. “I fell from a hill, and I thought I knew every road and twist in the backwoods.”

  I figured taking the blunt approach was best. Zeke was great company, but the longer he lingered, the harder it would be to transition him. Besides, my fingers were icicles. I wanted to go back to the car and get more answers from Craig. “It comes down to this: Zeke, you’re dead.”

  His eyelids flickered. “I’m what?”

  “Dead.”

  “Are you dead, too?”

  “No.”

  “Then how come you can see me?”

  “It’s a talent.”

  “A talent.”

  “Like wooing skunks,” I said. “I see the dead and I help them move from this existence to the next.”

  If his smile didn’t trumpet his disbelief, the fact that he started scanning for escape did. “I think you’re having a little fun with me.”

  “Okay, it’s one big prank. How did you end up here?”

  “If I’m dead, how come I don’t sink through the ground?”