by Jada Fisher
I reached the river that basically cut the lower income parts of the city from the higher ones and slid down the muddy bank, the noxious, muck-like soil clinging to the side of my leg. When I landed, I felt the stuff fill my shoes and quickly regretted not taking them off beforehand.
But discomfort or not, I headed toward the large sewage pipe that was spilling out into the water. Well, perhaps once it had been active enough to constitute spilling, but lately, it was more like a faint trickle.
I would like to say that was because the wealthy suddenly took issue with our water supply, but in reality, the toxicity of our river was beginning to affect the soil and air quality on the good side of the city, so they had simply taken to dumping elsewhere in the countryside.
Clambering in, the smell of it really hit me. I hadn’t visited the rat hole, as we called it, in quite some time. Breathing through my mouth, I barely made it down the long length of tunnel into the nearly empty reservoir.
That is, nearly empty of sewage, but quite full of many other things. Hammocks, grills, bedding, clothes, a few toys, some weapons, and more importantly, about five or so of my friends.
But no Rafjan. I hoped he was alright.
Odd, why would that thought come to mind? Sure, he’d been doing a little moonlighting after dark, but that was no reason to get paranoid.
“Look who it is! Little Krisjian. It’s been a while since we’ve seen you. If it weren’t for Rafjan, we’d think you dead.”
I looked to the owner of the voice to see Varista. She was a bit shorter than me, but she was the type of person who looked like they were cut out of pure muscle. The girl had been weathered and cured by the streets until there was nothing left of her but sinew and a whole bunch of spite.
I liked her, and had once fancied her, but we had spent enough time together to know that she wasn’t even remotely interested. Which made sense, of course, given she was at least three years older than me and saw me as some sort of orphan newborn since I had only been on my own for a couple years.
“I have been laying low. Don’t want to become familiar anywhere.”
“Ah, see, that is why I have always called you the smart one. You will outlive us all.”
“Not if he does not put some meat on his bones.”
That was Parscej that practically slithered out of his hammock, limping over to us. He had lost his leg when he was young, and was blind in one of his eyes, but he made quite a bit by begging. Varista, Marja, and Halstaf all had a deal to help him around and keep him safe in exchange for a cut of his funds.
Now, there was only Varista left. I did not want to think about what would happen if they took her too. I was not strong or savvy enough to tend to his needs like she did.
“You are one to talk,” I countered.
“But that is all a part of the appeal. Who wants to give money to a beggar who is fat? Only a fool, that’s who.”
“Well, hopefully, this isn’t foolish then,” I said, producing the two packages with a flourish. The other three, orphans I wasn’t as familiar with but knew well enough, perked up and I felt all eyes on me.
“What’s this?” Varista asked, opening one up. I was pleased when the top of several steaks were revealed, looking both beautiful and delicious even from where I was standing. “No, this can’t be real.”
“But it is!” I assured as Parscej hastily opened his own, revealing cured flanks. “Believe it or not, I had a great fortune today where one of the butchery trucks had an accident as I passed by. Of course, I had to share it with my friends.”
“This… I cannot recall the last time I had such meat,” Varista murmured, and I could tell she was just as near drooling as I had been.
“You said share,” one of the others—Fjalin, if I remembered correctly—said. “That means that this is just a part?”
Something in his tone caught my attention, and I shrugged noncommittedly. “There was jerky too, but I helped myself to that. I fear if I didn’t, there was no way I’d have the energy to come here.”
“Bull.”
I was surprised by the adamancy of his refusal and the hair on the back of my neck went up. Danger.
“There’s no way you just gave us these two things and only kept some jerky for yourself. The way I see it, you should bring the whole thing here and we’ll split it up evenly.”
He walked closer with every step and my body started to go into flight or fight mode. Fjalin was ridiculously tall, with long, long legs that could take him much further than my own. I wasn’t strong enough to fight him, and I wasn’t fast enough to get away.
Told you so.
As if that weren’t enough, I saw the woman, Davie, back again. She was laying in a hammock, her hair again different colors as she swung back and forth.
“That’s not helpful,” I hissed.
“What? I think sharing would be very helpful, don’t you?”
I wanted to snap that I wasn’t talking to him, but of course I knew better. So instead, I tensed and spread my legs slightly, lowering myself so I had more power for whatever move I chose next.
But before Fjalin could reach me, Varista stepped in front of him, a knife at the ready. Where she had pulled it from, I didn’t know, but I appreciated her preparedness.
When she kicks his legs out from under him, you need to go.
What? I wasn’t going to abandon my friend here, especially one who stood up for me. But of course, I couldn’t say that, lest everyone in the room think me mad, so I just shook my head.
Dude, you’re only going to make it worse by sticking around.
I shook my head again. I didn’t know what the ghost woman thought of me, but I certainly wasn’t a coward. I would defend my friend or go down trying. I could never do something so ungrateful as—
Oh, for crying out loud.
Suddenly, she dove out of the hammock, her body stretching out and thinning until it was practically a bolt of light.
That happened to hit me right in the chest.
I stumbled, gasping, and the whole world seemed to just float away as a new, slightly more shimmery world replaced it.
Fjalin lunged suddenly, trying to knock Varista’s knife to the side and go for her throat. She countered him, but he now had a grip on her neck with one hand while the other wrestled with her for the knife.
I didn’t even think, I just rushed forward in a tackle. But I was too loud, and Fjalin must have heard me coming, because he twisted so that I collided with Varista’s legs, not his own.
I heard the sound of bone snapping as we both tumbled to the floor. I hit my head, hard, and when my vision cleared, I could see Varista rolling on the ground beside me, screaming as she held her leg.
“I had it!” she cried. “All you had to do was run!”
Suddenly, I was being jerked up by the front of my shirt. It was Fjalin, and he held a knife up to my face.
“Now, about that food…”
Just as abruptly as the whole scene had played, it suddenly vanished, and I had to fight not to lose my lunch as everything fell back into place. Davie was standing beside me now, but she looked…different.
Sorry. Didn’t want to do that, but you are ridiculously stubborn.
I panted hard, looking up at her transparent face.
She now had deep circles under bloodshot eyes, her lips both pale and chapped. Her hair hung limply on either side of her head, a faded blond toward the bottom but with several inches of dark roots. Blood trailed from her nose in a brown, old scab that led down to her lips and chin. Her body was thinner, more broken in and used up.
Oh, and there was a gaping hole in her chest.
Oh, geez. I guess I expended myself a little more than I thought I did. I’m going to have to go back to the…wherever it is I am, but I’m gonna need you to run, kid. Can you do that for me?
“Krisjian, run! You will only get in the way!”
I didn’t need any more confirmation than that. I gave a quick nod to Davie, who shot m
e a relieved look before fading into nothing, then spun on my heel and dashed out.
Almost all of my mind was caught up in the need to run, run, run, but the tiniest portion couldn’t help but marvel at what had just happened. Somehow, I had a ghost who could see the future in my life and they needed my help.
Stranger things had happened, I supposed, although I couldn’t think of any, but what I thought didn’t matter. The only thing that was important was getting to safety, so I could find out what this ghost lady wanted and get her out of my life. Nothing good ever came of a ghost story, and I was anxious to quickly end my own.
10
A Peek Behind the Curtain
Krisjian
I didn’t sleep well. Every single creak and groan caused me to jerk away, sure it was Fjalin or his friends come to finish the job. But when I did rise to consciousness, I was completely alone, with not even my ghost-friend to greet me.
“Davie?” I asked, sitting up. “Davie?”
There was a small glimmer of light in the corner of the room, then Davie slowly wavered into existence. She still looked just as haggard as when I had last seen her, but with more bruising around her face.
“Why do you look like that?” I asked before I could think better of it.
Because I’m dead, doofus. You see how good you look after being expired for a few months.
“You certainly talk more than any dead person I know.”
Where was this sparkling wit when we first met? Or was it just hidden under all those ridiculously inconvenient layers of denial?
“I mean, did you believe all this seer stuff when you first heard it?”
Aw. It’s cute that you think seers are the big thing you’re gonna learn about. You’re in for a world of strange, my good man.
“What do you mean?”
Normally in movies and books, I hate when someone cryptically says, ‘you’ll see,’ but I don’t have time to go into all of that now, so…you’ll see. And soon. But first there’s a whole lot I have to tell you.
“You never answered my question.”
Hmm? She tilted her head to the side. She looked weary, and her skin was even paler than before. Had showing me that scene hurt her? The thought made me feel a bit guilty. I’d gone my entire life without hurting someone on purpose, and I was pretty proud of that. I also wanted to keep it that way.
“Did you believe all this seer stuff when you were first told about it?”
Well, yes and no.
“That’s not an answer.”
But it’s the truth.
I crossed my legs and arms, affixing her with my most serious stare. “Why should I do anything for you if you can’t even answer simple questions about yourself?”
That’s the thing. It’s not simple. In fact, you could pretty much call it complicated.
If she wanted to be stubborn, then I would give her stubborn. I sat there, hardly blinking, and just held her gaze until she sighed.
You know, I’m usually the one who does that technique. If I wasn’t so tired, I’d show you how it’s really done.
“Uh-huh.”
But anyway, did I believe? Kinda. That scene I showed you with your friends? I had those as soon as I woke up from the fire. They were terrifying, and at the time, I had no idea what they were. I would panic so badly that often, I would need to be sedated.
Eventually, it was ruled as PTSD. I was treated, seemed to recover well enough, and sent to a foster home with my sister for special needs children. After a while, the visions started to come back. They were vivid, but not all of them were scary. Some of them were quite fun, even. But I made the mistake of telling everyone about what I saw. That, combined with the zoning out for minutes at a time, landed me right back in the shrink’s office.
So, they threw some diagnoses at me, medicated me, and that pretty much stopped most of it. My abilities were sealed away under a haze of drugs and fear.
“What changed then?”
Well, that, my friend, is the best part. I was just floating through life, listless, when I met a dragon. All it took was one t—
“Whoa, wait, what!? A dragon?”
Oh, right. That was one of those ‘you’ll see’ things. Yeah, there are dragons. They can shapeshift between their reptilian form and humans, and for some reason, an unusual number of them are, like, incredibly attractive. I don’t know if it’s genetic, or magic, but yeah.
I blinked at her, wondering all over again if I was delusional, but there was no way I could make up something like dragons who could turn into humans. It was just far too absurd!
To top it off, he was a dragon prince. Not sure if the royal part matters on the whole ‘waking a seer up from her drug-induced repression,’ but whatever. Suddenly, I was knee deep in visions and being chased this way and that by guys who wanted to use me and guys who wanted to save me.
She cocked her head to the side, staring off into the distance like there was something incredibly fascinating there. I guessed it was one of her so-called ‘visions’ and waited for her to come back to reality.
Speaking of the guys who wanted to use me, I owe you an apology.
“What? Why?” Sure, maybe her and I hadn’t gotten off on the right foot, but I couldn’t think of anything she had to apologize to me for.
Well, you see, there are good dragons and there are not-so-good dragons out there. I happened to get wrapped up with the good ones, and the not-so-good ones were so mad about it that they declared war.
Unfortunately, they don’t know I’m dead, so they’ve been using what little grasp of the old magic they had to try and find me. My little display set off some alarms for them, and they’ve already sent some of their knights this way.
I jolted at that. “What? Are you kidding me? Then we need to go!”
No. You need to sleep. Believe it or not, you have until morning, and trust me, you’re going to need to get every bit of sleep you can, because I need you to take a message to my friends.
“Why can’t you just have me relay it for you once I meet them? That sounds much more streamlined.”
Because I’m afraid whatever’s stopping me from communicating with them will also force me to leave you. Besides… She sent me a wry grin. I’m sure you noticed I’m not looking so great lately. Instilling a vision in you seemed to have broken a lot of rules, and believe me, I’m suffering the consequences.
Ugh, that didn’t help me feel any less guilty. “How am I supposed to sleep knowing that a horde of evil dragons is coming after me?”
Oh, not a horde. As someone who’s had a whole horde after me, this is more like a cadre. A little mini-gettogether of ne’er do wells, and as for sleep, there’s a small, broken barrel under that pile of aluminum siding in the corner. If you pull that out, I can walk you through making a fire and you can cook yourself up a nice meal that’ll put you right into a food coma.
“Food coma? That sounds dangerous.”
To my surprise, she laughed at that. Don’t worry, that’s just an American phrase. Just eat up. Trust me when I say you’re going to want to give your body some fuel for tomorrow.
That was ominous, but I did as she said, indeed finding a barrel. My mind was so full of everything that had happened that I was questioning things that happened hours ago and still slowly making my way to the present.
One thing was for certain, I didn’t think I was going to be Krisjian the orphan anymore. One way or the other, I was involved in something so much greater than myself.
11
Joining the Party
Krisjian
Krisjian, you gotta wake up.
I groaned and threw my blanket over my head, trying to stay immersed in the dream world I was in. I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt so contented and full, my body feeling restored instead of aching from neglect, and I just wanted to hold onto that.
Oy! We don’t have much time! Get up!
The declaration ended in a shout and my eyes snapped open to see
Davie sitting beside me. For being a ghost, she didn’t float or hover, or do anything you’d expect an apparition to do. Did we have spirits wrong all this time, or was she just something different?
“Good morning,” I groaned, yawning and stretching, feeling my back pop all the way up my spine.
Yeah, totally. Hold onto that optimism. She stood up and began to pace, which was particularly unlike her.
Although I had only really known her for a day, I felt like I understood a bit about the woman, and pacing didn’t quite seem to be her thing. So, I sat up and listened, intent on her words.
Look, it’s not going to be easy to convince them, so I need you to remember what I say.
“Why wouldn’t they believe me? I assume that just telling them about you, including what you look like, would be enough.”
Yeah, that’s what I thought at first, but then I had a vision where that really, really doesn’t work out. Maybe it’s whatever is running interference with them, maybe there’s stuff behind the scenes that I don’t know, but I know if you just tell them outright, that they won’t listen.
She looked off again for several seconds, and when her gaze turned to me, she groaned.
Alright, we’ve got one hour before you need to get out of here and get out fast.
“Why don’t I just leave now and talk’n’walk at a more leisurely pace while you explain things calmly?”
She looked as if she was considering that, but then shook her head. Nope. Won’t work. I need you to leave at a certain time.
“Alright then, what do you need me to say?”
I figured we would start with Mallory, something only her and I could know. Not even Mickey would understand it.
I nodded, settling in to listen intently, although I couldn’t help but wonder—who the heck was Mickey?
Alright, you got all that?
I nodded, already getting that cotton-stuffed feeling from whenever I got a little overwhelmed, but I pushed through it. “I’m pretty sure I do.”
