by Tobias Wade
Mrs. Robinson looked so tiny and alone sitting there on the podium with the whole class staring at her. In the big scheme of things though, Noah decided they were all in the same boat.
“For a little while,” Mrs. Robinson conceded. “I’ll share a book with Jamie until I get my own.”
“Is that alright with you, Jamie?” Professor Humstrum asked. He puffed out his chest and beaming with pride as the cat hopped onto the ground and made her way to Jamie’s desk.
“Of course she can. I love her.” Jamie said shyly, clearly embarrassed by all the attention. More giggling erupted around her.
“Ah, love,” Humstrum said, stroking his orange beard. “A passenger of the soul, so closely entwined that it gets carried along from one world to the next. No doubt you have all experienced an inexplicable attraction or fascination in your life. The glimpse of a stranger with the familiar eyes—kindred spirits—yes, I’m talking about soul mates. When you have loved another soul in a previous life, you can’t help but love them again, sometimes without knowing why. Some famous lovers in history—Paris and Helen of Troy, Cleopatra of Egypt and Mark Antony, Amal and George Clooney—have loved one another for a thousand years. Such feelings should always be trusted, because you would have never loved them so long without them being worthy of it. Yes, in the back?”
“Teresa Hides,” the girl stated her name in clear, clipped tones as though terrified someone would misspell it. “I noticed everyone has started over as a child here, but not as a baby. What happens when a baby dies?”
“The souls of young children haven’t finished crossing from the spiritual world to the corporal world,” Humstrum replied. “That is to say, they are still a lot of who they were and very little of who they will be, and the whole process leaves them very confused. An early death will send them back to the spirit world where they will be ready to try again in the form of their previous life. Now please take out you textbooks, and let us begin with Chapter 1: The First Soul.”
The remainder of the class was spent learning about the tree of life with its great bloom from which new souls grew like seeds. Such a bloom was theorized to occur every few millennia, but there was a prominent disclaimer that read that seed theory was merely a mathematical proof consistent with the findings of modern spiritology. The fact that no one has yet found this legendary tree does not, however, mean that there isn’t strong evidence that it exists.
“Before our next class, you will visit the bestiary, marked by the stained-glass lion, where you will try to determine which animal you have an affinity toward. You are also welcome to use the library, marked by the camel, at any time, although you will only be permitted up to the floor equivalent with your grade level. You may now stash your books in the mausoleum except for Understanding Undead: The Spirit’s Guide to the Other Side. You will need that for Professor Wilst when the harpy announces it’s time. Class dismissed.”
Most of the students hadn’t gotten the hang of their self-propelling carts yet, and there were multiple collisions as the students pressed for the exit. Noah waited until the traffic jam had subsided, causing him to be near the back of the crowd as they made their way toward the central stairs.
Walter too was straggling behind the others, because every few steps he would turn around and swear at something. Noah had to get closer to reveal the offending pursuer to be an imp trotting along at his heels.
“Get the hell away from me,” Walter said, “or get to hell—whatever you do. I’ve got no business with you.”
“Not afraid of an imp, are you? He looks like he only wants to play,” Bowser said, surfing by gracefully in his cart.
“He won’t leave me alone,” Walter whined, “and look, he’s holding something. I think he’s trying to stick me.”
“I don’t think so,” Noah said. “Isn’t that the imp you defended before?”
“I was defending your books, not him. And how am I supposed to know—they all look the same, don’t they?”
“This one’s got kind of a long nose,” Noah said.
The imp made a little charge toward Walter who dodged out of the way and let it tumble past.
“I think he’s trying to give you a present,” Jamie said, hurrying to catch up. Mrs. Robinson lazed comfortably in her arms, apparently accepting her fate. “I bet he wants to thank you.”
“I don’t want anything he’s got, thanks anyway,” Walter said. He shirked around his cart as the imp came round the other way. The imp leapt from the ground onto the rim of the cart, then set a small black stone on top of Walter’s books. The imp grinned with all its sharp little teeth, nudging the stone closer. Walter picked up the stone and inspected it distastefully before chucking it across the ground. The imp chittered crossly before scampering after it as it clattered across the floor.
“He doesn’t mean it!” Jamie called after the imp. Then, to Walter, “There’s no reason to be so rude. You know they’re intelligent, so they must have feelings.”
Mrs. Robinson failed the temptation and bounded away to chase after the imp. The pair darted through the legs of one student after another, causing a ripple of confusion and counterbalance to spread throughout the whole group. This led to even more collisions from the already unstable drivers, some of which veered dangerously close to the edge of the pit.
“Now look what you’ve done!” Jamie scolded.
“That’s all Mrs. Robinson!” Walter protested. “It’s not my fault I don’t want to be friends with those nasty little things. If it wants to thank me, it can deliver a message back home. Otherwise it’s no good to me.” He slid his cart angrily through the air and started climbing the stairs.
“The people you left are going to be okay,” Jamie said, keeping up. “Your girlfriend will know you love her without you having to say it—”
“No she won’t! Not after how we left things…” He pushed his cart ahead, not looking at her. He seemed like he was about to say more, but his jaw tightened and he shook his head.
“This isn’t quite a message, but I know how you can hear what she’s thinking about you,” Noah said. Walter stopped abruptly and turned around. Several other students glanced at them too. Noah wasn’t sure how Professor Salice would react to him making this public knowledge, so he leaned in closer to continue in a hushed voice.
“The Whispering Room, fifth floor. Professor Salice gave me a key.”
Relieved to have a chance to talk about it and try to figure out what happened, Noah told Walter and Jamie about his experience with Salice. Walter became excited as soon as Noah explained what the Whispering Room could do, and he turned around to cross the nearest junction of the double-helix stairway to head in the descending direction instead.
“Why do you think he was so interested in Chainers?” Jamie asked.
“I don’t know, but it made me uncomfortable just to be near him,” Noah said.
“I wouldn’t worry about your daughter,” Walter said. “They’re in a completely different world now.”
“That’s what I’m worried about though,” Noah said. “If he’s so enthusiastic about having Chainers around, don’t you think he’d be happy if Mandy died?
“So what if she does?” Walter asked. “She’ll just show up here, right? Then you could go to school together.”
“That’s just callous.” Jammie sniffed indignantly. “Who would look after the baby then? And anyway, life is precious even if you do have a chance to do it again. You never know which one will be your last.”
“Exactly,” Noah said, “and Salice could send a demon or something there. Or maybe he already has—there was a gargoyle that got me killed.”
“I think demons are only in this world,” Jamie said. “Otherwise people would know about them, don’t you think?”
Noah explained the monstrous thing that had attacked Samantha before chasing them to his death.
“He’s a Professor though, Noah,” Jamie insisted. “He’s already delaying his own rebirth to pass on his
knowledge, which seems like a pretty noble thing to me. I think you’re worrying over nothing.”
“I don’t know, that guy gave me the creeps on the Daymare,” Walter said. “If I were you, I wouldn’t tell him where you lived. Give him a wrong address on the letter.”
“Yeah? Then what if some other innocent person gets killed?” Noah countered. After checking to make sure the fifth floor was empty, Noah unlocked the Whispering Room. “I think I’ll just keep stalling.”
Jamie hesitated outside the room. “I’ll just wait out here then. Let him have a private moment.”
“Actually, if it doesn’t bother you… I wouldn’t mind the company,” Walter said, sounding embarrassed.
“Well, I should be there to show you how it works,” Noah mused.
“Yeah, that’s the reason,” Walter agreed readily.
“And I should be there to see, in case I want to use it!” Jamie volunteered.
Walter grinned in appreciation and they all went inside. The mist bleeding through the circle was definitely more of a pale green than the blue Noah remembered last time. Noah didn’t see that it mattered though, and he instructed Walter to stand in the circle, describing his first experience with seeing the faces appear in the mist. Almost immediately upon entering the circle, tears begun to swell in Walter’s eyes.
“Is she saying anything?” Jamie asked. “I can’t hear it.”
“Neither can I,” Noah said. “Salice saw and heard my daughter when they were talking though, so we should be able to.”
“I’m sorry,” Water mumbled as he turned in slow circles. “Baby, I’m so sorry.”
“Well he’s clearly talking to her,” Jamie said. “You know what that means, don’t you?”
“Yeah… No. Actually no.”
“It means Salice was doing something special to listen in!” Jamie said. “He brought you here for a reason, then he eavesdropped to learn something from it.”
“Last time the mist was more blue than green,” Noah conceded. “So you’re saying my theory about him wanting to get my daughter isn’t so far off after-all?”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Jamie said, “but it is suspicious. I guess I’m just saying it wouldn’t hurt to be careful.”
Walter staggered out of the circle, breathing heavily. His brow was damp, either with perspiration or from the mist, and he wiped it with the bottom of his t-shirt.
“Are you okay?” Jamie asked. “Was she—”
Walter closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then nodded. “Yeah. She’ll be okay. With or without me.”
“Oh, that’s a relief—” she started.
“We can’t just focus on our previous lives, right?” he blurted out, the words all competing to be the first out of his mouth. “I mean we’ve got to look forward too, right? No point dwelling on—” he took another deep breath, then weakly added, “aren’t you going to listen too?”
Jamie shook her head slowly. “I don’t know if we’ll hear the harpy down here, so we should probably go now.”
“It only takes a minute,” Noah said. “You shouldn’t feel like you have to though. I know it can be hard.”
Jamie shook her head, resolutely this time. “I’ve lived my life, and I don’t have any regrets to linger on.”
“I want to try again then,” Noah said, mounting the dais, “This time without Salice interrupting.”
Noah stood in the circle once more and saw his daughter’s image appear in the mist. She noticed him immediately this time, but she closed her eyes and slapped her hands across her ears.
“He’s not real,” Mandy said before Noah could speak. She prattled in a sing-song voice which sounded like it had been repeated so many times as to become a practiced mantra. “I know he’s not real. I see things that aren’t real all the time. Barnes told me so, and he’s real. I’m real, but they’re not real. And if a real thing thinks too much about not-real things, then the real thing becomes not so real herself. We can’t have that, now can we? Stupid, horrible woman. Who will ever love you if they find out you’re crazy?”
“Mandy I am real…” Noah said, but he could tell she couldn’t hear.
“Sad? Why should I be sad?” Mandy asked herself, clenching her eyes more tightly shut than ever. “I shouldn’t feel sad about something that isn’t real. I mustn’t feel sad.”
Noah couldn’t bear to watch anymore. He leapt down from the dais and waved his hands through the mist to clear her face away.
“Did you hear what she said?” Noah asked the others, perhaps more sharply than he’d intended.
Walter and Jamie shook their heads. Jamie was about to speak, but Noah cut her off.
“Jamie is right! We won’t hear the harpy down here. We should be upstairs now.” Noah was halfway out the door before either of them could say a word. They took the hint and did not press him for an answer. That was fortunate because Noah had no answer to give, not even to himself.
There weren’t any students left in the stairway, but Noah remembered that necromancy studies were on the second floor. If he could get there fast enough, then he wouldn’t have to think about what Mandy was going through. How could she tell herself he wasn’t real? She’d been seeing spirits her whole life, although perhaps not as vividly as he did. Of course it might be more convenient to pretend, but why did she have to erase him to do it?
Noah found the distraction he was looking for when he emerged onto the second floor, although the atmosphere here was considerably less inviting than the jungles on the third. As soon as Noah opened the door from the tree, his nostrils were assaulted by a powerfully sterile smell like an insecure hospital.
“Beats the smell of rot, I guess,” Walter said, covering his nose.
“Can you not smell the rot?” Jamie whined. “It’s definitely under there.”
The vertical safeguards on this bridge were primarily composed of rib bones. Long femurs on top formed the railing, some of which were much too large to be human.
“Feels just like home,” Noah said, pushing his cart across the bridge.
“What, seriously?!” Walter asked.
“Yeah, whenever I murdered people I’d bring them back to the cave I lived in,” Noah said conversationally. “This is how I decorated.”
“He’s obviously pulling your leg-bone,” Jamie said.
Walter didn’t look so sure, but at least the conversation kept them busy long enough to cross the unwholesome bridge.
“Which room do you think they’re in?” Walter asked.
Jamie moved ahead to listen at the first of the eight doors which was identified by a skull mounted overhead with a single remaining tooth. Jamie shrugged, apparently unable to hear anything inside.
“It has to be number one, doesn’t it?” Noah asked. “We’re first years, it’s our first class.”
“Yeah but what if it’s not?” Walter asked. “It could be a changing room for ghouls for all we know. There could be a vampire just waking up from its nap.”
“What exactly would a vampire do to you?” Noah asked. “You haven’t got any blood.”
Jamie opened the door, revealing little as it was so dim inside. “Hello?” she called. “Is this Professor Wilst’s class?”
Walter and Noah huddled behind her to peer down the long, round hallway. The rays of will-o-wisp light reflected from a thousand glinting diamonds embedded every few inches along the wall and ceiling like so many stars. It might have been beautiful apart from the oppressively hot and humid air. Jamie took another step inside.
“He wouldn’t be teaching a class in the dark,” Noah said. “Let’s try another one.”
“How do you know?” Walter asked. “Maybe Necromancy only works when it’s dark. Hello, is there anyone here?” Jamie stopped suddenly a few feet ahead, her stance rigid.
“Let’s get out of here,” Jamie said carefully. “Slowly—well not that slowly—go!”
Without seeing what she had seen, both boys beat a hasty retreat. Jamie back
ed out right behind them, not taking her eyes off what she had seen until the door slammed shut.
“What was it?” Walter asked. “The room looked empty to me.”
“It was empty,” Jamie said, heaving a sigh of relief. “It wasn’t a room though. Didn’t you see the walls? They were breathing.”
“No they weren’t,” Walter said, unconvinced.
“Go ahead. Open it and look,” Jamie replied.
Walter didn’t think much of that suggestion. The door in the tree stairway presently flew open though, and a mass of first year students came pouring through. Most of the human children weren’t pushing their carts anymore and were instead carrying a single book in their arms. At their lead strode Professor Wilst who looked quite at home with his own foot bones clattering along the skeletal bridge.
“Are they in trouble for sneaking down here early?” Brandon asked hopefully. “They probably stole something. You should—”
Professor Wilst pivoted without a word and moved to the door marked by the skull with two teeth. He opened it and vanished inside, prompting the perplexed students to hurry and catch up. Brandon gave Noah and Walter a wicked grin as he passed, shortly followed up by Teresa’s signature stink eye.
“Necromancy,” the dry voice from the darkness within said. “Your one true path to resurrection begins now.”
Qari Olandesca Illustrations
Necromancy
“What is an animal to man? Limited, weak, stupid, unable to recall yesterday or ponder tomorrow with more than a dim glimmer. So is man to the undead, lost and isolated in his single life without memory or foreshadowing of who he was before or what he will return to after.”
The powerfully sterile and pickled stench was coming from this classroom, although a morgue might be a more fitting name for the space. There were no desks or chairs, but rather evenly spaced metal slabs each occupied by a naked human body. Their eyes were closed and they drew no breath, yet they were so immaculately preserved that they looked more asleep than dead. The walls were lined with jars on shelves containing hands, eyeballs, brains, and other assorted body parts preserved in a syrupy liquid.
