Most Ardently

by Sheena Austin et al.

  “I know what gambling is!” Charity exclaimed. “I just did not know the Boneyard was a casino.” She leered at him. “I am from the 2000s, so you know. I am not some dusty old-”

  “Mummy?” He winked.

  “I would not say that! One of my-” she stopped herself. She was just about to call Nefera a friend even though she had not warned her about any of the things on the map. Charity focused on the papyrus.

  “One of your-?”

  “One person I know, now sush and pretend that you are an Uber.”

  Jerry stopped in his tracks. “Wait, you are really from the 2000s? The recent 2000s, not the before-christ 2000s?”

  “Well, yes.” She looked at him. “You know what Uber is?”

  “Dude, I have driven an Uber.”

  “Then you know what to do. Chop chop.” Charity said and focused on the map again.

  Jerry stared at her face for a moment before he continued walking to their destination. Something told him that this ‘customer would not rate him five stars no matter how fast he would move.

  Meanwhile, Charity hid embarrassment under her scarf. She noticed a note from Nefera on the map. It said with big bold letters Jump off the ledge to reach the old Graveyard and walk towards the big dead tree. There you will see the lights. That is the Boneyard. It is a gambling hot-spot so be careful.

  Charity had been walking towards the funhouse which was the opposite of Nefera’s instructions... She buried her face deeper into the scarf and this time really took in all the words written on it. “Oh yeah, what is your name?”

  “Charity.”

  “Ok.”

  ONE DEAD TREE, A SOAKING wet swamp that Charity did not need to touch even a little while being carried, and many silent hours later, they reached the Boneyard.

  It was like Vegas, but dead, and entirely constructed of bones lit with thousands of different light sources. The streets were full of happy-looking undead pretending that they were not decaying with every single step and signs that all said that they should try their luck until they lost it all.

  “Are your legs better yet?” Jerry finally asked when they passed the first casino. It had once been blue.

  Charity rolled her ankles. “I think so. I can’t hear any grinding anymore.”

  “Good.” Jerry dropped her on the ground unceremoniously. “You have reached your destination and now it is time for you to pay for the ride.”

  “Pay? I thought this was free.”

  Jerry crouched next to her. “Nothing is free. I helped you, you help me.”

  “But... You are supposed to be doing unselfish things to gain more flesh!”

  He looked at her strangely. “How long have you been here?”

  “Hard to say...”

  “A day, two? A week?”

  “Maybe a couple of days?”

  “Well, I have been here for months and concluded that there are other ways to stay intact. So, I need trades to do just that.”

  “I have nothing to give you.”

  “You have that map.”

  “I need the map!”

  Jerry straightened his back and looked at her getting up. Her hat revealed some of her hair under it. “Say what, I will help you find your friend then and you will give me the map... and a lock of your hair.”

  Charity looked around the strange place and sighed. She knew when she was defeated. “All right. But you only get them if we find Taka before the storm ends... and get her safely home!”

  “Where is home?”

  She thought of the map. “I think it is called Old Town.”

  “As you wish. We will find your friend and deliver her home, and I get that nifty map and a bunch of your hair.”

  “A lock.”

  “A lock,” he repeated.

  Charity took off her hat and stuffed it and her gloves into her pockets. She did not want to know how she looked right now but a large zombie carried a well-maintained mirror just past her. One glimpse and she wished that she had kept the hat on. Her hair was glued on her scalp, the volume was almost all gone from the hats squeeze; she looked worn out and her bruises had become more prominent on her face.

  She looked deader than ever.

  “So, your friend,” Jerry intoned as he ran his fingers through his short brown hair. “What is their name?” He selected one casino and started to walk towards it. He did not wait for Charity to follow.

  “Taka,” she said and hurried after him.

  For the second time that day, Jerry stopped moving and stared at Charity.

  “What?”

  “THE Taka?”

  “Are there other Takas than Taka?”

  “The Neanderthal?”

  “She is one, what about it?”

  “Oh, Sweet Jesus... I know exactly where she is.”

  “You do?”

  “I do.”

  “Then take me there.”

  “As you wish...” Jerry said and grabbed Charity’s arm. “But just for the future, remember that I said ‘I told you so’.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I am telling you right now that this is Not a place for a lady.”

  “Why?”

  Jerry gave her a quick glimpse, moved a manhole cover with his foot and pushed her inside.

  Charity had enough time to wonder how damn deep did the Land of the Dead really go before she hit the bottom of it.

  A SOFT MATTRESS WELCOMED her legs and bounced her off it towards a crowd of raving undead. They were all wearing shining bracelets and had painted day of the dead-style masks on their variously withered faces which Charity got to see very close by as she was thrown at their arms. Their hands lifted her above the crowd and steered her towards a stage in the center of the hall. On that stage was a large rounded cage and in the cage was Taka. She was painted head to toe, and she was grunting and yelling at the audience. At her feet was a large dead man slapping the ground in defeat.

  Somehow she had made it to some kind of fight club that was also very much a club. Loud music was blaring, everyone was dancing in ways that would have shaken the history books, and there was some sweet smoke in the air.

  “Try not to inhale it!” Jerry yelled next to her. He was carried towards the stage too but he was also tying up a rag around his face to remind himself not to breathe.

  Charity nodded and tied up her scarf on her face.

  The ravers dropped the two right in front of the cage where they had the best seats in the house. Charity could see close by how Taka was dismantling her opponents not in a very ladylike way.

  “Taka!” she yelled at her. “Taka! It is Charity! Prudence- PRU NEEDS YOU TO COME HOME!”

  Taka stopped pulling an arm off a zombie and looked at her direction.

  “HERE!” Charity yelled again and waved her hands at her.

  Taka noticed her, slammed her adversary to the ground once with a skull shattering power, and ran to the edge of the cage. She grunted.

  “Hi,” Charity said and touched Taka’s hand. “Glad to see you are okay. Everyone was worried sick that you got stuck in the storm!”

  “Ugh.”

  “We should go home. Em, Pru, and Nefera are all waiting for you to come.”

  “Ugh.” Taka nodded and scratched her scruffy hair.

  Jeremy stared at the two until Taka backed off. Then he placed his hand on Charity’s shoulder. He had a million questions in his mind but he only said, “She needs to get his price before we can go.”

  “What is the price?”

  “Today?” Jeremy looked into the cage. “Probably some magic.”

  “Magic?”

  They watched as Taka was announced a winner and handed a shining pendant with a large red gem on it. It shone a strange light on Taka’s bare chest. She lifted her arms to roar her victory. The crowd became crazier for a few seconds to celebrate her.

  Charity noticed something. “How will she get out of the cage? There is no door.”

  Jerry did not have time to answ
er before Taka gathered speed and lept to the chain-linked fence to climb it all the way to the high top to drop right next to Charity.

  “Like that,” Jerry said and gave the two some space.

  “Ugh?” Taka grunted and pointed at him which made Jerry back off more.

  “He helped me to find you... so he is ok.”

  That was enough for Taka so she grabbed both of their hands to lead them out of the club. Charity looked behind them when they reached what she assumed to be ‘the back door’ and saw the name of the party spot. It was called ‘The CLUB’ and it made her chuckle a little. Of course it would draw in a Neaderthal being named like the wooden mallet.

  “Where are you taking us?” Charity asked when Taka led them to a long cave that had tons of hand paintings on it. Row after row after row of red hands, all the same size.

  A lightbulb lit in Charity’s head when they stopped by a puddle of red mud and Taka dipped her hand into it. She watched in silence how Taka made another hand mark on the stone wall.

  “You have won a lot of fights, huh?” Charity whispered.

  Taka looked into her eyes and nodded. That is when Charity really understood how ancient this person before her was. She had not needed help to survive down here.

  It made her wonder, had Nefera known that Taka did not need saving?

  “Um, not to hurry you or anything, we should get to the upper levels before the storm ends?” Jerry said from a respectful distance. He had came to the same conclusion as Charity but for him, it was a terrifying notion that this woman was the victor of enough battles to redden an entire cave.

  “Ugh,” Taka grunted and took Charity’s hand in hers. She led them to a smaller passageway that soon opened to a cave that had a strange contraption in it. It looked a lot like a metal basket connected to a worrying amount of rusty chains and some cogs. “Ugh,” Taka stated.

  “Is this... an elevator?”

  “Yes, it is,” a voice answered next to them. “You need to pay to pass.”

  They turned to look at the skeleton in an impossibly large top hat that kept dropping over his empty eye sockets. Jerry offered his hand to him before Charity nor Taka had time to react.

  “How much?” Jerry said to the man.

  The skeleton only looked at his hand. “You can’t pay this fare.”

  “Why not?”

  “Ugh,” Taka said and tried to pass Jeremy.

  “I got this,” Jerry said impatiently to Taka and turned back to the skeleton. “I am sure we can work something out.”

  “No.”

  “Come on.”

  “...No.”

  Taka sighed and pushed Jerry aside to show her winning to the skeleton man.

  “Now this is a fare I accept. Please step into the elevator.”

  Jerry stared at the skeleton and took a step closer to him.

  Charity blocked whatever his intentions were. “We need to go now. The storm, remember?”

  Soon they were all locked in the cage that worried everyone else by creaking horribly but Taka and the skeleton that was ready to pull a gigantic lever on the other side of the cave room.

  “Are you ready?” the skeleton asked but did not wait for an answer.

  The elevator zoomed through the air into a tight hole in the roof and gently scraped the rock causing sparks to fly. Taka was screaming from joy as the speed tickled her tummy but Jerry and Charity were grasping first on other sides of the elevator and then, because of the sparks almost hitting them, on each other. The speed only increased as they were spat into a cave so huge that the top of it looked like the sky. They only had a glimpse of the settlement in there though before they dashed into a second hole in the ceiling.

  They whooshed out another hole into the sky when the whole thing fell apart and spat them into a snowbank to scream and hold on to each other.

  Taka laughed gutturally and pointed at their up pointing hair and pale faces. Her mockery caused her an ear but she kept laughing.

  Jerry slowly let go of Charity and helped her up. From the outside, he was cool and collected, but a small part of him was embarrassed and still screaming. “ To The Old Town, huh? I know a route that won’t take us through the storm. If you please follow me...” He began strolling on the said way.

  Taka hobbled next to Charity and gave her a shoulder to lean on.

  “Never again,” Charity said weakly.

  Jeremy heard it and said to himself. “I told you so...”

  THE WAY JERRY TOOK them was not quick, but it allowed them to pass the horrid snow through multiple houses that all either stayed vacant or gladly allowed them to pass safely. Charity thanked them all wholeheartedly and made sure that each door, window, or hatch, they used, were all tightly locked. She did not want any of the people living there to get hurt because of them.

  Taka just followed them along and grunted once in a while like talking to herself. She also showed her new jewelry to everyone willing to look at it. That was almost everyone on their way.

  “Okay, careful now,” Jeremy said when they reached a long flowing red curtain.

  “Why?” Charity asked.

  “Playhouse is behind here and we don’t want to fall through the holes, ok? It would be a long way to climb up all the pipes.”

  Charity remembered her way down the slide and nodded.

  Taka grunted excitedly. She seemed ready to slide time or two.

  Behind the curtain was well lit large room with dozens of holes on the floor.

  Jeremy pointed at the door on the opposite side “This is the last door... and also as far as I dare to go. You probably know your way home from here.”

  “We agreed ‘all the way home’,” Charity said.

  He was about to argue but then he just sighed and made his way through the swiss cheese of a floor. Charity followed in his footsteps carefully until they reached the door that someone, or something, had closed after she had last time opened it up.

  Taka looked sad that she could not take a dive to deeper levels.

  They could hear the wind scream on the other side of the door but it was not as loud as before. It was losing its strength.

  “Here we go then...” Jerry said and pushed the door open. A pile of snow fell on him and the wind slapped him on the face. Taka pushed him out and helped him dig through the snow using him like a snowplow. Charity wrapped herself with her clothes quickly and followed them, hanging on Taka’s loincloth.

  The wind did not rip Jeremy, Taka, or Charity apart as with every step they progressed, the wind calmed down.

  When they reached the front door, the storm was over and they were covered in snow.

  Jeremy dared to open his eyes slowly when Taka stopped pushing him. He shook off the snow and looked at the two. “Here we are. Your home.”

  “Ugh,” Taka said, patted him strongly on his back and opened the front door with a key she had kept hidden in a pouch on her side. She moved the table off her way and closed the door again.

  “Your payment.” Charity looked at the man in front of her and handed him the map. He did not take it.

  “The storm ended before you got home,” he said and eyed the building. “Looks like you will need the trade for yourself anyway...”

  Charity frowned. “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah... tho there is one thing.”

  “....There it is, huh? What is it?”

  “Your friend Nefera. Is she the sorceress?”

  “I don’t know if she is a sorceress or not but her name is Nefera and she can do magic as far as I know.”

  “Well... All right,” he rubbed his hair that was still pointing up to the skies. “Can you keep a secret, Charity?” He looked almost feverish when he asked that.

  “I guess?”

  He stepped closer to her and whispered into her ear, “There is a way to get to the Land of the Living and your friend Nefera has it. It is a spell. If you can get your hands on it and meet me in the old graveyard again, we can both go there. I know h
ow to do it. Just.. Think about it.” He pulled himself away from her and looked her in the eye. “I will be there every day.”

  Charity did not have time to answer him when the door behind them opened and Em surged our to hug her and tell her how brave and awesome she was. When Charity looked back at where Jeremy had stood she only saw footprints pointing back to the Playhouse door slamming shut.

  “Will you come in? We have decorating to do!” Em glowed and led her in.

  “Yeah... All the good deeds and all,” Charity said but in her mind, she thought, but could I maybe... get an easy way out instead?

  That thought began eating her like a worm consumes a corpse.

  “ARE YOU SURE THAT YOU want to do this?” Em asked as she watched Charity’s hands at work. “I mean... this is your wedding dress!”

  Charity sighed. “For the thousand time-yes.”

  “But-”

  “I am just happy that it can be used for something that washes away all the bad memories it carries. Plus, we need to hurry. Pru will be home any minute now.”

  Em nodded and hugged her briefly. She was almost in full flesh and Charity could see how her slightly orange tan glowed much less green these days. “You are the best, Cha-Cha!”

  “Sure.” Charity smiled at her. “Now run off to put them up!”

  Em disappeared with a handful of things and left her alone with Nefera to the dining room.

  Nefera gave her a doubtful look but even she was smiling behind the bandages that were new and fresh. She was neatly packaging gifts on the floor.

  Charity looked at the things she had been making in secret with Em and Nefera for the past few days. They gleamed slightly in the candlelight.

  “She will love them,” Nefera said once more as she threw the last package under the now more festive Christmas tree. “It will be a nice surprise.” She did not mention how somehow Charity had not gained back her missing toe or the chip on her lip she had eaten when she arrived.

  “I hope so.” She dangled the feathered decoration and the tinselling she had created from the washed-up remains of her dress. The whole room was decorated with those, and long streams of diamonds Charity had picked off her designer shoes that lay next to the shreds of the dress on the table. She had also hung ribbons made of her hair that now was much shorter than before. It only reached to her shoulders.