Apparition (The Hungry Ghosts)

by Trish J. MacGregor

  “What the hell is she doing?” Karina murmured.

  “I don’t know.”

  The parrot suddenly struck the whiteness—and disappeared into it. Moments later, a small section of the barrier began to solidify in three dimensions—visible yet transparent—until it resembled a square opaque window about a foot tall and just as wide. Charlie had no idea what power or force made this possible, but it certainly seemed to be connected to Kali’s descent into the blinding whiteness.

  “Charlie, is Kali doing this?” Karina asked. “And if so, how?”

  “I have no idea.” He pressed his palms to the opaque glass or whatever this substance was and it began to clear until he glimpsed one of the neighborhood streets, a commercial area with cars and scooters parked at curbs, a couple of cafés, bars, a clinic, an outdoor market. But he didn’t see any people.

  “We need to make this window bigger so we can see more,” Karina said. “Where are all the people?”

  Charlie didn’t want to think about that. He ran his hands over the surface, but the window didn’t get any larger. He pounded his fists against it, threw his body against it, but nothing changed.

  “The rules are in flux,” Wayra said, as he and Illary came through the trees. “You’re here, Tess is in there somewhere.”

  “How do you know Tess is in there?” Charlie demanded. “Have you seen her?”

  “No. But other people have.”

  “You go through.”

  “I can’t. We’ve tried. Both of us have tried.”

  “How’d Kali get through?” Charlie asked, hating the desperate tone in his voice. “Illary can fly as high as Kali.”

  “Charlie,” Illary said gently. “It’s not about altitude. Kali traverses worlds and dimensions. That’s her purpose. We can’t assume that what worked in the past will work now.”

  “So what the fuck are we supposed to do?” Charlie snapped.

  “There’s only one thing to do,” Karina said. “Meet with the council.”

  “That’s a good place to start,” Wayra said. “But Charlie, first, I’d like you to talk to the woman and her son whom Tess rescued. There may be something in what she says that will help. She’s an herbalist and healer, quite famous among the Quechuas.”

  “The only thing I give a shit about is getting in there,” Charlie said.

  “What she says may help us figure out how to do that,” Wayra said.

  They followed Wayra away from the barrier, the crowd, down the street to a tiny restaurant so crowded that people spilled out the open doorways, onto a narrow deck and onto a playground with a merry-go-round and a couple of swings. People huddled together on the playground, comforting several women who were sobbing, children who wailed with fear, men who tried to look courageous and failed completely. The air crackled with tension and uncertainty; voices were hushed, tremulous.

  To Charlie’s astonishment, he spotted Lauren and Leo, rushing through the playground toward them. Behind them were Maddie and Sanchez, Ian and Pedro Jacinto. “You called all of them?” Charlie glared at Wayra.

  “Bet your ass, Charlie. This isn’t just about chasers and brujos. It’s also about everyone who lives in Esperanza.”

  “You think I don’t know that?” Charlie snapped.

  “Maybe you and Karina know it, but the rest of the chasers don’t seem to get it yet. It’s our city, too.”

  Greetings were subdued, tense. This was the first time Charlie had been with another woman since Lauren had arrived in Esperanza. It didn’t matter that both he and Karina were dead; in their virtual forms, they looked as animated and real as everyone else and the situation felt awkward and uncomfortable. He noticed how tired and worn out everyone looked. Circles like soft bruises lay beneath Maddie’s eyes. Sanchez didn’t speak at all and his gaze shifted around constantly, as if he were trying to identify the people around him. Anxiety pinched Ian’s face. The priest looked as if he felt like dropping to his knees and praying. Lauren was on the verge of tears.

  “Any more news?” Lauren asked Wayra. “We couldn’t get anywhere near the blocked-off area.”

  “Ed Granger and Illika are in his helicopter now, trying to get some sense of how widespread the disappearance is,” Wayra replied. “Juanito is taking a small group through the tunnels that lead into El Bosque, to see if they can get in that way. The mayor brought in a land mover. All flights have been turned away because there’s so much chaos around the airport. The last flight out left ten minutes ago.”

  “A land mover?” Charlie exclaimed. “No land mover is going to get through there. It’s not constructed of anything a machine can move.”

  “With the airport closed,” Lauren said, “we’re being effectively isolated. This disappearance created exactly the atmosphere the chasers hoped for, right, Charlie?”

  It hurt him that she glared at him. “I didn’t have any part in that, Lauren.”

  “Then who did?” Pedro asked.

  “There are seven us on the council who are against this,” Karina said. “So what happened in El Bosque was done by the minority of the chasers and goes against every edict that chasers have lived by.”

  “Then hold them accountable,” Lauren burst out. “Don’t stand there citing statistics. Get Tess and the others out of there, for Chrissake.”

  “We intend to,” Karina said.

  “How?” Ian snapped. “Just how the hell will anyone get in to even get them out?”

  Before anyone could respond, Wayra urged them all to keep moving. They skirted the side of the building and came out behind it, where a small lake spread out before them. A pair of swans—one black, the other white—drifted across the glistening water, scooping up handfuls of bread crumbs that a young boy tossed them. A pretty Ecuadorian woman, probably the boy’s mother, sat on the grass nearby, watching him, pointing as the white swan drifted closer to shore.

  “Quintana,” Illary said when they reached her. “May we join you?”

  “Sí, sí, claro,” she said, getting to her feet, brushing off her skirt. She hugged Leo, Wayra, and the priest hello, then her gaze went directly to Ian. “Ian Ritter. I recognize you as surely as I did Tess last night. She … saved my son.” Her eyes darted to Maddie. “The redhead. You’re legendary among the Quechua. No one alive has endured possession as long as you did with Dominica and lived to talk about it.”

  “I try not to think about it, much less talk about it,” Maddie replied.

  Quintana brought her palms together and bowed her head slightly. Then she reached out and touched Sanchez’s arm. “The viewer. Wayra told me what happened when you touched the stone. Are you better now?”

  “Not really.” Sanchez managed a small, nervous laugh. “I’m having trouble flipping my psychic switch to Off.”

  She gave his arm a quick squeeze. “We will talk about that in a bit.” Her gaze went to Lauren now. “You’re Tess’s mother. She has your eyes. It’s a pleasure to meet you. To meet all of you.” Now she frowned as she brought her gaze to Charlie and Karina. “I’m sorry, but I don’t recognize either of you.”

  “They’re the chasers I told you about,” Illary said.

  “I have seen chasers before, in my work, but this is the first time I have spoken to any of you. Isn’t there anything you can do to stop this … this barbarity?”

  “We’re hoping you can help us understand what happened here last night,” Charlie said.

  She tucked her long, black hair behind her ears, glanced around to check on her son, then looked back at Charlie.

  “I think it was around nine, but I can’t be sure because my watch had stopped at one-eleven.”

  Charlie noticed the glance that Ian and the priest exchanged and figured they were recalling what Sanchez had said about 11:11.

  “I had seen the news about the explosion and fire at the Pincoya and was worried that the brujos had invaded the city again,” Quintana went on. “So Hugo and I went to the market to stock up on food and supplies. I first noticed T
ess as Hugo and I were on our way into the Mercado del León. She seemed … confused, like maybe she was lost. Then Hugo and I went inside the market and as I got a cart, I glanced out the front window and saw … two chasers. They weren’t solid like you and Karina. It was like they were trying to assume a greater substance, but couldn’t quite do it.”

  “Did you get a good enough look at them to describe them?” Charlie asked.

  She thought a moment, her gaze fixed on something off to her right. “One of them had long, flowing hair. The other was bald and seemed to be wearing some sort of long … gown.”

  Shit, Charlie thought. “Like a toga?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly it.”

  “Victor,” Wayra said.

  “And Franco,” Charlie added.

  “What were they doing out here?” Illary asked.

  “No telling,” Charlie replied. But it explained why he hadn’t heard a word from either of them. “What happened in the store?”

  “It was incredibly crowded, I guess everyone in the neighborhood had heard about what happened at the Pincoya and were stocking up on food and supplies. Hugo had wandered away from me and suddenly I heard him … screaming. I raced around the end of the aisle and … and saw this … this strange and horrifying blackness seeping like molasses from … the shelves, the wall. I don’t know where it came from. Then it spread across the floor, in front of Hugo, behind him, trapping him. Tess was at the other end of the aisle, saw him, and ran for him. At one point, her leg got caught in the blackness. I somehow pulled her free, and even though she was laughing hysterically, she could barely walk. We raced for the … rear door and the black wave chased us. It was sentient, I’m sure of that. Tess slammed open the door so Hugo and I escaped the building. When I … I looked back, the blackness was … swallowing her.”

  That image, of the darkness swallowing Tess, horrified Charlie so deeply he couldn’t even speak. Ian just stood there, his expression revealing all the anxiety he felt. The tight silence was broken by a sound that one of the swans made, a trumpeting, honking, then the loud flapping of wings against the water, and the swans flew at each other. It was like a squabble between a long-married couple, lots of noise and no damage. But Charlie took it as a sign that his best recourse now was to create as much chaos as he could among the members of the council who had done this.

  “Did the … blackness reach the parking lot?” Ian asked.

  “No. It just stopped … at the door. It was like it had gotten what it wanted. Tess. Then Hugo and I ran on to my car and I left quickly.”

  “Shit, shit,” Sanchez murmured, pressing his fists against his eyes, his breath a rapid wheeze.

  Maddie took hold of his arm, steadying him, and urged him to sit on the ground. She crouched beside him and the two spoke quietly for a moment. She dug a bottle of water out of her purse, handed it to Sanchez, and he rolled it across his sweating face, then twisted off the cap and drank.

  “Sanchez, you okay?” Charlie asked.

  “Wayra might be able to get in.” Sanchez’s voice churned out of him, hoarse and gravelly. “But only by making a deal with the devil.”

  “What does that mean?” Wayra asked. “Illary and I have both tried to get in. We can’t. Neither can Charlie or Karina.”

  Sanchez pressed the bottle against his cheek and shook his head. “I don’t know, man, I don’t know what it means. I keep picking up this stuff, keep seeing it, a steady stream of shit, and I … I can’t turn it off.”

  Quintana immediately sat beside him and touched her hand to the back of his neck. “Take slow, deep breaths,” she told him. “Yes, that’s right, like that. Breathing in, you are safe and protected. Breathing out, you release the stone’s hold on you.”

  She kept repeating this until Sanchez’s body visibly relaxed. He pulled his legs to his chest, rested his forehead on his knees, and murmured, “Thank you. It’s … easier now.”

  “And will get easier,” Quintana assured him.

  Charlie turned to Wayra. “Do she and her son have a place to stay?”

  “With us. She’s insisted that she and Hugo will drive to Quito, but I think that’s a mistake.”

  Even though Charlie had told Leo to take Lauren and leave the city ASAP, he now thought it might not be the safest course. If Newton, Maria, and the rest of them were still experimenting with disappearing bits and pieces of Esperanza, they might practice on areas that were even farther from the city than El Bosque, like the roads to other towns. It would be the best way to isolate Esperanza completely before removing it from the physical world.

  “I think you and your son should stay with Wayra and Illary,” Charlie said to Quintana. “You’ll be safer with them than traveling to Quito alone.”

  Quintana’s face surrendered to the emotions she’d been struggling to hold in. She got to her feet, tears rolling down her soft, beautiful cheeks, and grasped Charlie’s hand. “Thank you.” Then she winced, drew back from him, and pressed her right fist to her heart. “A heart attack killed you. The pain was … extreme. But because of the good you have done since your death, I feel you will be reborn with an exceptionally strong heart.” She paused, her eyes widened. “You were Tess’s father.”

  It wasn’t a question and didn’t require an answer or reaction from him. Good thing. Charlie didn’t think he could utter a coherent sentence right now.

  Quintana hugged him and Karina, then she and Illary walked down to the pond and joined Hugo. Lauren turned to Charlie and sank her finger into his chest. “Make this right, Charlie. I don’t give a shit what you have to do, but make this right.”

  “All of you should stay with Wayra and Illary. You’ll be safer there.”

  “Safer from what? Brujos or you chasers?” she spat. “Jesus, you people are like politicians, Charlie. You don’t care who’s hurt. Your agenda is the only thing that matters.”

  “There’s another way,” Maddie said. “Segunda Vista.”

  “Second Sight?” Lauren exclaimed. “The magical weed?”

  “Count me out,” Sanchez said. “That’s one thing I don’t need right now.”

  “I didn’t mean you,” Maddie said. “Ian, Lauren, Leo, Pedro, and me.”

  “It’s brilliant,” Leo said. “The disappearance of El Bosque is supernatural and what better way to penetrate it than with an equal magic?”

  “It might work,” Pedro said. “The Queros use Segunda Vista in their spiritual rituals.”

  “I’m desperate enough to try anything,” Ian said.

  “Hold on, just hold on,” Charlie said, patting the air with his hands. “Karina and I, Wayra and Illary couldn’t get in there. It’s foolish to think Segunda Vista will get you in.”

  “We don’t need to get in, Charlie,” said Maddie. “We just need to be able to see inside, and maybe once we’re able to do that, we’ll be able to find a way for Tess and the others in there to escape.”

  Legend said that Segunda Vista was brought into the physical world with Esperanza, that it first appeared with the giant ceiba tree in Parque del Cielo. It was a feathery weed with tiny, lovely buds in luminous rainbow colors. The entire plant—buds, leaves, stems, even the roots—allegedly enabled you to see the truth.

  Charlie knew that many people in and around Esperanza—including Maddie—cultivated Segunda Vista, Second Sight, in their greenhouses. But the Queros were the first humans to discover it and they found that each of the different-colored buds blew open a particular chakra and conferred a distinct ability. The way Charlie understood it, the leaves could cure almost anything. The stems took you deep into the collective mind. The roots connected you to the divine. When all of the elements were mixed together, there were no barriers between the living and the dead. Reality shifted immediately, according to your deepest beliefs and desires, and you became the manifestation of who you really were.

  For some people, the cultivation was a business; they sold the weed to the company that resold it as a remedy for altitude sickness.
But for most people, Segunda Vista was for personal use. The psychic components of the weed were well documented—far-seeing, precognition, telepathy, clairvoyance.

  At one time, the council had talked about destroying all the Segunda Vista fields and greenhouses in Esperanza. Some council members—probably the same idiots who were trying to remove Esperanza from the physical world—thought the weed enabled the people to see too much. But in those days, they’d had brujos to worry about and the discussion never went anywhere. So Maddie, he thought, might be on to something.

  “Can you get the stuff around here?” Charlie asked. “Or do you have to go to your greenhouse, Maddie?”

  “It was sold in the Mercado del León,” Maddie replied.

  “There might be another place around here that sells it,” Wayra said.

  “Then see if you can find some. Karina and I will do what we can from our end.”

  Leo nodded. “There’re hotels a mile from here. We can get rooms and start looking for some place that sells Segunda Vista.”

  “I’ve got to pass,” Sanchez said. “I need to get away from here. Too much stuff’s hitting me all at once.”

  “Illary’s going to drive Quintana and Hugo to our place,” Wayra said. “Go with her.”

  “Our dog’s still at your place,” Maddie said. “So we’d have to stop there first, anyway.”

  Sanchez looked at Maddie, and Charlie sensed the context of the unspoken exchange between them. Maddie, he knew, was conflicted. Go with Sanchez or stay behind and try to search for Tess through the lens of a magical weed? She finally said, “I’ll go back to your place, Wayra, with the others.” She pointed at Lauren, Ian, Leo. “But if you guys need any info about Segunda Vista, text me. And oh, someone should act as a monitor, to record your perceptions.” She gave Charlie a quick hug. “Tell the council to go pound sand, Charlie.”

  She and Sanchez walked off toward Illary and Quintana, who were still down by the water. Leo, Ian, Lauren, and the priest headed for their car. When Charlie and Karina were alone with Wayra, the shifter looked as miserable as Charlie had ever seen him.