The Land of the Dead: Book Four of the Oz Chronicles

by R. W. Ridley

  “How do you get there? I should go with you. I mean we don’t appear to want to eat each other. You should use me.”

  I considered it and then said, “You can’t go unless you’re dead.”

  “What?”

  “Something little Bobby told me. Only the dead and never-was, like the Throwaways, can go to the Land of the Dead.”

  “You’re not dead,” she said furrowing her brow.

  “I was… it’s a long story. Let’s just leave it at that.” I snapped my fingers. “You could do something else though. Since you don’t seem to be… hungry. You can go up to the fourth floor and start grilling Bobby. Ask him everything he knows about the Storyteller who came up with this Destroyer. Why the old man? There’s got to be a reason. Some kid with Down syndrome in the 21st century shouldn’t even know about a creepy old dude in the 1920s who ate little kids. Something else has to be going on here.”

  “Okay.” She smiled, and I felt better knowing I had her working with me. I pretty much felt like I could do anything with her on my side. I guess she had always been. I just forgot. “Still don’t think you should keep going to the Land of the Dead by yourself.”

  “Not much I can do about that. I don’t make the rules.”

  She motioned toward Throwaway Stevie. “Take him.”

  I looked him over. “A never was,” I said to myself. “Of course.” Turning back to her, “You’re a genius.”

  She blushed. “You can have mine, too,” she said pointing to Throwaway me.

  I almost gasped at the thought. It was just too creepy. “I’ll be okay with Stevie.”

  Her expression quickly changed to surprise. “Stevie? That’s ‘The’ Stevie?”

  “Well… no, not really. It’s Gordy’s version.”

  She made her way to Throwaway Stevie and looked him over. It was several seconds before she said, “Hello.”

  Stevie avoided eye contact with her. He looked down and held back an uncomfortable chortle. “Hi.”

  “It’s not really him,” I reminded her.

  She smiled. “I know, but it’s the closest I’ll ever come to meeting him.

  “I’m glad you’re here,” Stevie said.

  She was a little startled by this statement. Her only reaction was to blush again.

  “Do you remember my room?” he asked.

  I could feel the chill running up her spine from where I was standing. “Your room?”

  “I like my room.”

  She turned to me, but all I could do was shrug.

  “I was in your room once. With Oz. I met your mother. She made us breakfast. How did you know that?”

  He squirmed and seemed to grow more and more uncomfortable. He chuckled nervously and pointed to his head. “I have Gordy here.”

  She stepped back and studied Throwaway Stevie from head to toe. “Gordy, huh?” She leaned in and whispered something in Stevie’s ear and then walked back to me.

  “What now?” she asked.

  I thought it over. “We go our separate ways.”

  “What about him?” She pointed at Gordy with her thumb.

  “What about him?”

  “Well, what happens to you when you go to the Land of the Dead?”

  “Don’t know exactly. I blackout, and I’m just there.”

  “You’re there, but not your body?”

  “Near as I can figure.”

  She folded her arms over her chest. “So, without Kimball, you aren’t going to have anybody to watch over the part of you that remains here.”

  She was right. There would be nothing to stop Gordy from turning me into a meal. “I’ll deal with it,” I said with no clue as to how I was going to deal with it.

  “There you go again,” she said shaking her head. “You can’t do this alone.”

  “We don’t have a choice. I’ll talk to him.”

  “You two talking about me?” Gordy yelled.

  We ignored him.

  “Take Ajax,” she said.

  “No,” I responded. I had put Ajax in charge of watching over her. There was no way I was going to leave her alone with a bunch of cannibals running around the mansion.

  “Then take you,” she said.

  “Me?” It took a second or two to figure out she meant the Throwaway version of me. “Not a chance.”

  She groaned in frustration. “You have to take one.”

  “I don’t…”

  “You’re taking Ajax.”

  “No…”

  “Look, I know you told him to protect me, but it’s not necessary.”

  I was embarrassed that she knew I had assigned Ajax as her protector. I gave the big ape a dirty look for selling me out. He refused to look at me.

  “In case you forgot, I took care of myself and the others while you were gone. I’m not a little girl anymore.”

  “It’s out of the question…”

  She cut me off. “Save it.” Turning to Ajax she signed something to him and then directed Throwaway me to follow her.

  “What did you tell Ajax?” I asked.

  She smiled. “I told him not to let anything happen to you. He’s your protector now.”

  “Lou,” I protested.

  She held up her hand to shut me up as she back-peddled toward the Halloween room. “It’s time for you to be a warrior, not a hero.”

  ***

  I stepped into a dressing room with Throwaway Stevie while Ajax stood guard outside. I kwew Gordy couldn’t make his way past the big ape, but I was still a little concerned about the Flish. As far as I knew, he could walk through walls and go anywhere he pleased, but it was a chance I was going to have to take.

  Stevie sat on a chair in the corner of the small room. I plopped down on the floor.

  “Are we going home?” Stevie asked.

  “Someday,” I said.

  “What are we doing?”

  “Waiting.”

  “For what?”

  I sighed. “Something.” Truth was I had no control over my trips to The Land of the Dead. They just snuck up on me. I wasn’t even sure how I was going to get Stevie there with me. I was trying to figure out a way to explain this to him when I felt the floor shake beneath me. It was a gentle rocking at first, but it quickly grew more and more violent.

  “What’s wrong?” Stevie said grabbing onto my forearm.

  “Nothing to worry about,” I said. “We’re just taking a little…” The shaking suddenly stopped. “… trip.”

  Throwaway Stevie looked awestruck by the experience. His chest was expanding and contracting from his labored breathing.

  “Calm down,” I said.

  “Where are we?” he asked.

  Confused I said, “We’re here… nowhere… we didn’t go anywhere.” And we hadn’t. We were in the small dressing compartment. Nothing had changed. Or had it? It did seem a little brighter. I stood up and pushed the door to the small room open. Light poured in.

  “This isn’t here,” Stevie said.

  I shielded my eyes from the almost searing light. “No… it’s definitely not here.” My eyes adjusted and I could see that we were now standing on a busy sidewalk. We were no longer in the same place or the same time. We were in the Land of the Dead. The way the people dressed, along with the appearance of the dead boy, told me that.

  “What are we doing here?” Stevie asked.

  “I wish I knew.”

  The dead boy started to walk away. I instinctively started to follow him, but Throwaway Stevie didn’t move. I motioned for him to come along, but he didn’t budge.

  “We’ve got to go with him,” I said.

  Stevie slowly shook his head.

  “He has something to show us.”

  “I don’t want to see it,” he said looking as scared as I had ever seen anyone look.

  I smiled. “I know how you feel, but it’s important.” I stuck my hand out for him to grab onto. He examined it and then took hold of it. I pulled him to his feet and we followed the boy.

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nbsp; Stevie flinched every time someone passed us on the street. “They don’t feel right.”

  “Try to ignore them,” I said. “They can’t see you.”

  He fixed on a spot ahead of us and pointed. “He can.”

  He was pointing to the gray man. It was a younger version of him, but it was definitely him. He grimaced when he saw us approach, but he was clearly agitated before he even saw us. He was pacing in a small circle and gnawing on his fingernails.

  “It wasn’t hers to sell,” he mumbled. “I have to get it back.”

  The sign above the shop where he was standing read, “Patterson Pawn.”

  “It’s mine. It’s mine. It’s mine.”

  There was a note on the door of the pawn shop that said the owner was shutting down for a few days due to a family wedding.

  “Have to get it back. It’s mine.” Even though the old man was younger on this visit to the Land of the Dead, he looked weaker, more unsure of himself, than he had on previous trips. One thing was certain, he really wanted something that was in that pawn shop.

  “Problem?” I asked.

  He jumped at the sound of my voice, and it made me feel really good. He was scared of me.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Don’t talk to me,” he begged. “Please.”

  I giggled. “Oh, this is fun. The big bad boogeyman is afraid of little old me.”

  He cowered as I moved in closer. “Yes, I’m afraid. I’m afraid. I’m afraid.”

  I looked at the dead boy. “You finally made this worth my while.”

  The dead boy motioned for me to look inside the pawnshop, but I was enjoying myself too much.

  “Listen to me, old man, you go anywhere near any kids, I will haunt the crap out of you.”

  “They need me. I do them good. I save the kids, but I can’t anymore. She gave it away. She sold it. It wasn’t hers, but she sold it.”

  “Who sold what?”

  “She sold it. My fat ugly wife. She sold what’s mine and left with that man.”

  I couldn’t believe my ears. “You had a wife? You mean someone actually married you?”

  The dead boy grabbed my hand and tugged.

  “What?” I asked, irritated that he would interrupt my fun.

  Again he motioned for me to look inside the shop.

  I groaned and did as he asked, but not before I raised my fist and pretended I was going to throw a punch the old man’s way. He had the reaction I had hoped. He whimpered and covered his head with his arms.

  I looked inside the pawnshop window through cupped hands It took me awhile to spot what the dead boy wanted me to see, but when I did, it made sense to me. On the back shelf behind the counter was the old man’s canvas-wrapped package.

  I turned to the old man. “She sold your package. She knows what you are.”

  “She had no right. I have to save the children. I need my package to save the children.”

  “Save the children? You call what you do saving the children?”

  “It’s mine. It’s mine. It’s mine,” he repeated over and over again.

  I stepped toward him, but stopped when I noticed Throwaway Stevie staring a hole in me. “What’s with you?”

  “I’m just trying to see it.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “See what?”

  “It. The magic.”

  I raised both eyebrows. “What?”

  “She said there was magic in you.”

  “Who said?”

  “Lou. In the basement.”

  “What?”

  “She whispered in my ear about your magic.”

  “She whispered in your ear…”

  “Yeah,” he said excitedly. “She said ‘You were right to choose Oz. There really is magic in him.’” He hesitated and said, “What did I choose you for?”

  “I’m not sure,” I said.

  The old man growled. “She had no right!”

  Stevie looked at him and then back at me. “Maybe you can use your magic to get his property for him?”

  The Land of the Dead went completely silent. The people on the streets vanished in the blink of an eye. It was just me, the old man, and Throwaway Stevie, whose words still hung in the air. His property.

  DAY 5

  SIXTEEN

  An echoing roar stirred me out of my sleep or whatever state you call it when you go to the Land of the Dead. I sat up with a jolt and had to wait a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the extreme darkness. I felt around for my flashlight, found it, and clicked it on. I was back in the small dressing compartment.

  Another roar.

  I twirled around. Where was Throwaway Stevie?

  A scream.

  I threw my shoulder into the door to the dressing room and headed for the bowling alley. The commotion was in full swing. There was a thunderous roar followed by another. The beam of my flashlight zoomed across two furry animals pounding on each other. It was hard to make out what was going on in the sliver of light, but as soon as I saw the silver hair on the backs of both animals, I knew what was going on. Ariabod and Ajax were involved in a knockdown, drag out brawl.

  “Hey!” I shouted.

  They ignored me and continued to pound away on each other.

  “Stop!”

  They rolled on the floor in a tangled mess. I couldn’t tell one from the other.

  A scream came from behind me. I turned to see Gordy on top of April, his knees pinning her arms to the floor. She was snapping her jaws like a wild animal. He was holding his injured shoulder.

  Gordy laughed a horrible, maniacal laugh. “You bit me! It’s my turn now!”

  I started trembling with anticipation. He was going to eat April. I couldn’t wait to see. I couldn’t wait to taste. I inched towards them, the light from my flashlight bouncing as I walked. The beam fell on the faces of Throwaway Stevie and June huddled together just beyond Gordy and April. They were terrified. The looks on their faces snapped me out of my bloodlust and hunger.

  I barreled across the room and grabbed Gordy by the back of his collar. He reached up and tried to slap my hand away. His knees lifted off of April’s arms enough for her to work them loose. She shifted and maneuvered her head next to his calf and bit down, sending Gordy into a shrieking frenzy. He twitched and bucked like a mad man until he worked himself free of my grip and jerked back, pulling his leg away from April. I could hear his flesh tear from his calf. It sounded as if someone was ripping a plastic bag open.

  The cry Gordy let out at that point was as loud as anything I had ever heard. He clutched his leg and writhed on the floor. April was chewing away on the piece of flesh she had bitten off Gordy’s leg. Blood was dripping from the corners of her mouth and was smeared across her chin. My stomach burned. I wanted a taste so badly.

  Meanwhile, Ajax and Ariabod were still going at it. I grabbed April by her hair and yanked her to her feet. She yelped in pain.

  “You’re coming with me,” I said.

  She fought me as I dragged her towards the two gorillas. I got as close to them as I dared and hollered as loud as I could, “Help!”

  That stopped them. Their instinct to save a human in distress was greater than their desire to kill each other. They both looked at me panting and wide-eyed.

  “Now, I get why frick and frack were going at it, but what is up with you two?”

  Ajax began to sign, but I waved him off. “Don’t bother. I only know a few signs. I’d need Lou to translate.”

  “I can tell you what happened,” April said.

  I still had her by her hair. One look at her and I could see that I was dealing with somebody who was completely out of her mind. I slowly loosened my grip and backed away from her.

  She started licking her fingers like she had just eaten a greasy drumstick. “I broke the pact.”

  “You what?”

  “I took a bite out of the king of the jerks over there and gorilla ‘A’ tried to break me in half. Gorilla ‘B’ came to my rescue.”

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nbsp; Gorilla ‘A’ was Ariabod. “You were going to kill her?”

  April was licking up as much of the blood on her chin as she could reach with her tongue. She took time out to defend Ariabod. “He was only doing what he was asked to do. Something Chicken-Little gorilla was too wimpy to do.”

  “Chicken-Little just saved your life.”

  “And allowed me to get a second bite, thank you very much,” she said taking a bow.

  I shook my head. “Ajax, next time let Ariabod kill her.” I didn’t mean it. At least I don’t think I meant it. It was hard to think straight with the smell of human blood so strong in the room.

  Gordy continued to moan. She had taken a big chunk out of his leg, and I didn’t think he was going to recover any time soon.

  April smiled and I could see a piece of skin hanging from her teeth. “Oh, man that was so yummy.” She started for Gordy, but I pushed her back.

  “Not a chance,” I said pushing her toward Ariabod. “Hold onto her. Don’t kill her.”

  He growled.

  I took one step toward Gordy, but stopped. I could smell his open wounds from where I was standing. They were mouthwatering. I imagined myself sinking my teeth into the open wound on his calf and tearing the tender muscle from the bone. It was sweet and savory. I couldn’t imagine anything that could taste better.

  Sensing what was on my mind, Gordy demanded that I not get near him. He clutched his calf with both hands and did his best to stop the bleeding. His shoulder was bleeding, too, but he didn’t appear to be as concerned about that injury.

  I heard a cackle over my left shoulder and wheeled around to see the old gray man hovering near the doorway to the dressing room area.

  “Soup’s on,” he screeched.

  Ajax growl-hooted but didn’t advance.

  The Flish flashed an awful yellow grin at me. “Go on, young pup. Have your breakfast. I’ll be having mine soon enough.”

  I wanted to step towards him, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I knew he couldn’t hurt me… rather, I was pretty sure he couldn’t hurt me, but still, I couldn’t work up the courage to confront him, not here, not like I could in the Land of the Dead.

  “Not if I have anything to do with it,” I said.

  He giggled. “Time’s running, my boy. I’ll have what’s mine soon enough.”