by J. L. Murray
“Are you going to keep me in suspense?” Gage said.
I looked at him. “Sam didn't hire me because he thought I was good at what I do. He didn't hire me because he was in love with me either. Bobby, he hired me because he wanted to switch places with me.”
“Come again?”
“I guess he had some dark caster who could take the curse off Sam and put it on me. Since I could see the dead and help them cross over, I was the only one that could take his place. He wanted to trick me into becoming Death.”
“Jesus, Niki,” he said. “What the hell?”
I shrugged. “I don't even know what to think any more.”
“You doing okay?” he said.
“It's like everything I knew about him was a lie,” I said. “Everything good I thought about him. Everything but him dying to save the world. That was real. And he said he really did fall in love with me...”
“You can't possibly believe that.”
“I don't know,” I said. I reached for the abandoned whiskey again. Gage pulled it away from me and set it on the other side of him. “You're full of shit.”
“What?”
“I love you to death, Nik, but you're a damn train wreck. I saw the way you were looking at blondie. You're crazy about the guy.”
I snorted. “No, I'm not.”
“Bullshit,” he said. “I've seen you with Eli, and I've seen you with Sam. Don't let this Sam shit ruin something that's real. When I met Sarah, I didn't let anything get in the way of being with her. Even if it meant running.”
“Didn't work out so well, did it?” I said, immediately regretting my tone.
“Years,” he said.
“Years what?” I said.
“I got years with the woman of my dreams,” he said. “It was the happiest I've ever been. If anyone has a chance to be that happy...even a fraction of that happy...” He shook his head. “Shit, Slobodian, you gotta take it. Ain't nothing can take that time away from me. It's sad, yeah, when I think about what happened. Makes me tear up whenever I remember what happened. I've got a damn hole in my heart where she used to fill me up. And that kid...” He laughed. “God, he was amazing.” Gage wiped at his eyes and looked at me. “Don't be an idiot.”
“Sam died for me, Bobby,” I said.
“Deal with it,” he said.
“What?”
“It's what you would say to me,” he said.
I smiled. “Yeah, I probably would.”
“So is that it?”
I bit my lip.
“What?” he said.
“He wants me to bring him back,” I said.
“Oh, for Christ's sake!”
“There's this necromancer,” I said. “In Erebos, I think.”
“Necromancer? Do you know what those guys do?”
“I told him I wouldn't do it,” I said.
“Well, that's something, I guess,” he said.
“He said he could take it away. Being Death. He said he'd take over again if I brought him back. But I told him I didn't want him to take it away.”
“What did he say to that?”
I looked down. “He said I owed him. He said he died for me and I owe him.”
“You're kidding.”
“He's right,” I said. “I do owe him. Maybe I should do it.”
“Slobodian, how many times are you going to let that guy manipulate you? He's goddamn dead and he's still yanking your chain. I admit, the guy had his good qualities. He helped me when I was down. He brought you back from the dead. He stopped you when you tried to destroy the world.”
“Hey!”
“It is what it is,” he said. “But goddamnit, Slobodian. The Niki I know has a hell of a lot more backbone than this. You let Lucifer treat you like this?”
“No,” I said. “I put a gun to his throat.”
“See? Right there. That's the Niki I know. Batshit insane and taking no shit.” He slid the pastry box toward me. “Now eat a damn doughnut and let's get going.”
“Hang on,” I said, taking the fritter back out of the box. “What the hell happened to you? Why are you all beat to shit?”
He shrugged. “Is it important?”
“Yeah, it's important!”
“Just so happens I know a few guys. Casters some of them. A demon that does potions and whatnot.”
“And?”
“I was looking for Kane,” he said. “I started asking questions. The demon beat the holy hell out of me. I didn't even have time to get a punch in.”
“You never were very useful in a fight,” I said, through a mouthful of pastry.
“That's cold,” he said.
“It is what it is,” I said.
“Fair enough,” he said. “I'm better now, though. The blood doesn't make me puke. And I did fight off this caster.”
“Impressive,” I said.
“Not really,” he said. “It was a dame.”
“You're just a knight in shining armor,” I said.
“She was a big dame,” he protested. “Anyway, she cheated and used magic. Gave me this.” He lifted the hair off his forehead to show me the goose egg I'd seen before. “Not everyone was afraid to talk to me. A couple of guys had seen Kane. I showed up at a couple of his haunts. This bar that was supposed to look like a Speakeasy, a little house he kept over by the railroad tracks, a couple more places. Once I even managed to grab his jacket, but the bastard disappears so fast. He's like a damn cockroach. And that piece of shit he runs around with is one mean son of a bitch. Thought for sure I'd have internal bleeding after the last time I saw him.”
“You didn't tell me Kane was an Outsider,” I said.
“Never came up,” said Gage. “You satisfied now?”
“Mostly,” I said.
“Good. Let's go to Hell.”
“Let me just grab one thing,” I said. I went around the bar and found the leather gloves I'd stashed under the sink. I pulled them on. “Ready,” I said.
“Are those really necessary?” said Gage, raising an eyebrow.
“You have no idea how necessary,” I said. “Let's go.”
TWENTY
I was nervous about crossing through the Unsung with Gage. I'd never done it alone, and the thought that I might lose him – or both of us – in the void was terrifying. But once I set my mind on what I wanted to do, I found it to be easy. I just had to concentrate on breaking through. In moments I felt a tear slowly ripping reality apart. With Gage hugging me awkwardly, I stepped into the hole and into the darkness.
“Close your eyes,” I said.
“Why?” he said, his voice higher than usual.
“It just works better,” I said. “It's kind of freaky in here.”
I focused on Erebos, just outside the city. It was where Sam had taken me the first time. We spun through the void, shapes moving around us in the pitch blackness. I could feel some of them stalking us. But somehow I knew they couldn't touch us. Or maybe didn't dare to. We tore through into Erebos, the gap in reality sealing itself as our feet landed on solid ground.
I stepped back from Gage. “That wasn't so bad,” I said.
“You're kidding, right?” he said. “That was the single most terrifying thing I've ever seen. Those things, in the darkness...were they chasing us?”
“I told you to keep your eyes closed,” I said.
“What are they?”
“Things that have gotten lost in the Unsung,” I said.
“Unsung?”
“The void,” I said. “Of course some of them were put there on purpose. That's where my father was.”
Gage seemed to realize where we were. He turned around slowly, taking in the sheer blood-red cliffs, the street illuminated by an odd light, the source of which was indiscernible, and the noisy city below. I squinted at the city. It was louder than usual. I could distinctly hear the sound of voices yelling. Lucifer's tower was still standing, the windows shining dimly with light. I had the sudden urge to forget the Outsiders, forg
et everything but just going back to that tower to see Lucifer. Realizing what I was thinking, I physically flinched. What the hell was wrong with me?
Gage had apparently taken in the sights around him. “So, your dad was in the...Unsung?” he said, saying the last word slowly.
“Yeah,” I said, mentally shaking myself out of my ridiculous thoughts. “Pineme.”
“Damn,” said Gage. “Place like that would drive a person insane. Is he, you know, all there?” He took a step over to the cliffs and ran a large hand over the face of them.
“I don't know really,” I said. “I haven't talked to him much.”
“You should,” he said. “Get to know the guy. Maybe he can help you with things.”
“Things?”
“You know, your angel shit.”
“Classy,” I said.
“I know it's tough,” said Gage. “You can pretend all you want, but this is new for you.”
“We need to go this way,” I said, pointing away from the city. “Toward Sheol.”
“You want to make a stop?” he said.
“A stop?”
“You know, go to Sheol and see Sasha. Or whoever.”
“Do you want to make a stop?” I said.
“Not really,” he said.
“Then let's just do this,” I said.
We walked down the road, the echoing of our footsteps the only sounds. Slowly, the light from the well-lit city began to subside, the light source not bothering to illuminate the road this far away. Gage muttered a word and a pink light sprung up from his hand.
“Why's it always pink?” I said.
“My casting?” he said. “I dunno. Always been that way.” He saw me looking sideways at him. “Shut up,” he said.
“I didn't say a word,” I said.
We walked on. Soon the road became gnarled and cracked and we tripped on upturned patches of earth. When it felt familiar, I turned to Gage.
“Can you send your light up higher?” I said. The pink flame in his hand rose several feet and I could just make out the holes and crevices in the cliff face. They were caves that Sasha had said the Outsiders sometimes took shelter in. I looked up higher and saw a silhouette no more than a fleeting shadow at the top of the cliff. I blinked and it was gone.
“Up there,” I said. “At the very top. Can you get us up there?”
“You betcha,” he said. He swung his satchel around to the front and pulled a gargantuan book out of it. He held it in his hands and opened it. The pages flipped around for what seemed like a long time. Finally they stopped and Gage rested a finger on the shifting symbols from the book. He casted under his breath. I tried not to listen. I tended to bleed out of places that should not be bleeding when I listened to magic. Bobby's eyes went dull as he chanted, the symbols rising up from the pages of the book. There was a crackle that seemed to come from all around us. Then, slowly, a translucent pink film rose up from the ground and encircled us, forming a bubble. I felt the ground shift and looked down to see we were beginning to float off the ground. I laughed, but Gage was deep into his spell. His eyes were glassy as he continued to whisper the words.
I looked up, toward our destination. The world was wavy and rose-colored through the bubble, but I could make out the top of the cliff. There was someone at the top. I saw the shape of the person move. Someone large.
“Oh my god,” I said. I remembered the vision I had gotten of Boshta's death. He had been watching two figures rise in a translucent bubble. Flashing through my mind came the other images. Burned bodies, and my own face looking fierce and horrible, with cracks emitting light in my face, like a clay mask on the sun. I knew that light. That light had been inside me before. It was the Creator's power. But that had vanished when I gave it back to the Creator. And what the hell was Boshta doing here? Surely Kane wasn't here. But as I thought about it, somehow I was positive Kane wasn't here. Boshta was alone. I wondered if it had something to do with the woman I had seen in the vision: a woman with a demon's face, but a human's body and hair.
We approached the top of the cliff, my anxiety rising with every inch we gained. I had to send Bobby away. Something bad was going to happen. Something to do with me. My heart was beating in my throat by the time we got to the top. There was no one here. Only empty plains of dry weeds, scratchy and exuding a smelly liquid not unlike skunk spray. No wonder the people of Erebos didn't come here.
Gage had come back to himself. He closed the book and dropped it back into his bag. “What now?” he said, looking out over the desolate landscape.
“You have to get out of here,” I said.
“What? Not a chance.”
“I'm serious, Bobby. Something bad is going to happen. I had a vision when I touched Boshta.”
“Boshta?”
“Kane's muscle,” I said. “People are going to die and...and I think it's going to be my fault.”
“Then you should go,” he said.
“How?” I said. “There's no way down without your magic.”
“Then I guess we're stuck together,” he said. “Besides, you see any people here?”
“They're here,” I said. “I can feel them.”
“Yeah, there's something powerful coming from over there,” said Gage, pointing to an area that was slightly downhill. He nudged me. “Hey, don't worry. Kane was probably just messing with your head. He used to do that to me sometimes. Back in the day. Once he made me believe I was covered in spiders.” He shuddered. “I still scream when I see a spider ever since.”
“Pansy,” I said, smiling. But I didn't believe him for a second. Maybe Kane had made him hallucinate, but what I had seen was no trick. Something was going to happen. Maybe for the best, maybe not. But now that I was aware of it, I needed to try to keep Bobby safe. I looked almost wistfully toward the city. It was just a conglomeration of dimly-twinkling lights from here. I could see the black tower rising high above the city. Lucifer had enough to deal with. I wasn't going to bother him with this. It might be nothing, while from the sounds of it, the city was rioting. I had no doubt he could handle it, but he didn't need me mucking up his business. I turned to Gage.
“Shall we?” I said.
“Yup,” he said. “We sure as hell shall.”
Our feet crunched on the dried-out plants as we crossed the plain. Something shimmered in the near horizon. The closer we got, the stronger the feeling of magic got. It was like flint sparking against my skin. I could feel the air buzzing and even smell it; like electricity, only hotter. The air in front of us started to shimmer like asphalt in high summer. After a few more steps, Gage put out his light; he didn't need it any more. The very air seemed to radiate light. And then it was there. A city. Of sorts.
As my eyes adjusted, it looked like a normal city: buildings, streets, people moving about. But as I got accustomed to the light, I realized the buildings were not made of stone or wood. I squinted my eyes as we approached.
“Is it...made of garbage?” Gage said, his voice full of disbelief.
He was right. A low wall around the city appeared to be made of discarded pieces of damaged wood and thin, rusty sheets of metal. Some of the sheets still had business names painted on them. Looking past the wall, I could see the buildings were constructed of the same material, as well as paper wrappings from food, and even cardboard that looked suspiciously like it had come from the world. A vague smell of mildew reached us on a hot, dry breeze. The people I had seen milling about were dressed in dirty tatters. A few froze and faced us when they saw us coming. Larger than the others, the ones that stopped to face us were holding weapons. Soldiers in rags. Slowly, like a gentle breeze, all the people walking about seemed to feel our presence and turned to look at us.
We were to the wall now, and I could see the looks on many faces was the same. It was fear. The larger men with guns even took a step back from me, though their faces showed no trace of what they were feeling. But I could feel their terror. It radiated.
“They're afra
id of you,” Gage whispered.
“I know,” I said.
“Well, can't you, I dunno, turn it off or something?”
I rolled my eyes. “No, Bobby. I can't turn it off.”
The people were backing away. The men with guns stayed, but I could somehow tell they were itching to move away, to hide like everyone else. Finally, after staring at us for what seemed a long time, they began to inch back. I heard a child crying somewhere. After a moment the squalling was hushed and I didn't hear anything.
“Maybe it'd be better if I asked them about Kane,” said Gage.
I saw a silhouette moving toward us. As it got closer I could see the slow, graceful movements, the long, sweeping skirt. The long hair. And then I saw her face. She was the one I had seen in my vision. The woman consoling Boshta. She didn't smile at us as she had at Boshta. She didn't stop when she saw us; on the contrary, she seemed to be intent on reaching us. I stepped over the low wall to meet her and Gage did the same. When we met she just stared at me, as though she couldn't believe I was there.
“Go,” she said.
“What?” I said.
“You have to leave,” she said. She looked behind her, as though afraid of being overheard. She leaned in and whispered. “Get out now.”
“Well, that ain't very charitable,” said Gage.
“Shut up, Gage,” I hissed. “What's going on?” I said to the woman. “Who are you?”
“You don't know what you've walked into,” she said. “Please. You have to trust me.”
“I'm looking for Kane,” I said.
“He's not here,” she said, her voice rising with panic. “He hasn't been here for a long time. Now go!”
Another figure had emerged from one of the larger dwellings. A squat man was coming toward us, moving easily, as though without fear. The woman gave a squeak when she saw him, like a frightened rodent. “It's too late,” she said, her words barely audible.
TWENTY-ONE
The man closed the gap quickly. He smiled at us with slightly yellowed teeth, like those of a lifetime smoker. His face was human, his bulbous nose and wide eyes making him seem almost approachable. For a moment I was confused by the woman's fear. He laid a stony-skinned hand on the woman's shoulder. And then I felt it. A darkness came off of him. Something black and formless that radiated from him, like the darkness in the void. It was an absence of something.
