by Drew VanDyke
My mind whirled, and I wanted to ask him a thousand questions about everything ghosts knew – the afterlife, and souls, and God and stuff like that – but it was too late. Shane had already started to fade. His fingertips brushed my cheek, and this time I did feel them as tears flowed down my face.
“Goodbye, Shane. Forgive me.”
“I did. I do,” were the last words I heard from him.
Now there’s irony for you.
Chapter 23
“Still no dreams or visions, huh?” I asked Amber the first morning of the Homecoming Week festivities. The Knightsbridge high schools always held theirs later than anyone else, right after Halloween. I’m not sure why. Maybe it was because being in the western foothills of the Sierra extended our autumn weather and people liked to have something between the end of October and Thanksgiving.
“I can’t manufacture them, Ashlee. They come when I don’t want them, they don’t when I do.” She changed the subject. “So, I guess you’re playing in the game tonight.”
I laced up my high-tops, and the smell of leather hit me. I inhaled and relaxed. I was actually looking forward to getting rid of some of my feeling of helplessness, anxiety and aggravation on the basketball court at the alumni games that night.
“Yeah,” I replied. “I figured as long as I’m here, it’s a good enough reason to slam some backboards.”
“Yes, well, don’t be alone, and don’t take any drinks from strange water bottles.”
I looked at her, alarmed. “Will and the team will be with me the whole time. But do I really need to worry about getting roofy’d?”
“Just…be cautious.” She pulled me into her arms.
“Yeah, well. You too.” I hugged her back then stepped out of Elle’s way as she poked me in the side.
“Besides, I’ll be there and packing,” Elle said.
“Why doesn’t that make me feel better?” I teased. But I really did. Feel better, I mean. In a big place like that, surrounded by lots of people.
What could happen?
Shit, I so did not think that, did I?
The women’s varsity versus alumni game was like a Powder Puff match on steroids. I’d forgotten how good it felt to work as a team and my former classmates seemed to take it all in stride. I still had my jump shot, and my hang time was legendary. But what these girls didn’t know was that I had a lupine ace up my sleeve…I could dunk, at least on a regulation high school basket. Like I said, my monthly wolf run seemed to put my body into top physical condition.
Lucky me.
It was late in the fourth quarter when the scent came to my nostrils. I stood at the free throw line after sinking the first of two when I smelled him. Smelled Spanky. At least I thought it was Spanky. But there was a stale aspect to the spoor, as if the vitality of the dog was layered in an olfactory residue of other canines, some of them dead. My lip turned up at the thought of the violation of my pack.
Yeah, somehow, with the scent came the reminder that Spanky was just that. A pack mate.
I nailed the second free throw. As soon after as I could, I ferreted out the location of the Spanky smell.
Sean Gottlieb was wearing the uniform of the Animal Rescue Clinic and stood on the sidelines behind the other basket, holding a covered pet carrier. That was where it came from.
We took up defensive positions around the key and I waited to make my move. Cassandra Jenkins, wiry hotshot and point guard, took a dribble past me when I snatched the ball right out of her hands. Before I could even think, I had loped down the court and, after hitting my layup, I sent my body flying into Sean Gottlieb, knocking the carrier to the floor.
On the ground, I rolled over to look into the crate. Inside I could see a frightened miniature Schnauzer.
It wasn’t Spanky.
Sean paled as I looked into his eyes.
“Ashlee, isn’t it?” He smirked nervously. “Just couldn’t pass up a good game of B-Ball, could you?” It sounded like a line he had memorized.
I snarled and left him standing there. The bastard was taunting me, but his heart wasn’t in it, so I knew who had put him up to it.
Amber looked over from the sidelines. She and some of the other alumni cheerleaders had squeezed back into their old outfits and were doing a creditable job of rallying our fans. I shook my head and shrugged.
Time to finish this basketball game, and then we needed to finish the other game that someone was playing. Because I had smelled Spanky on Sean, even though our dog hadn’t been in the carrier. His scent had been fresher than the three weeks it had been since he’d gone missing, so the little weasel had to know where he was, had to have been in contact with him at some point.
I hate to gloat, but we toasted those kids. I knew when I was in high school that alumni games were about celebrating the ones who’d gone before. Why not let us bask in being a big shot for one night, even if I’m only reliving the fading dreams of my childhood? Back then I’d thought about going and playing college ball, even maybe working my way to a women’s pro league, before the Incident sidetracked me.
I even had a standing offer to assistant coach if I was willing to move back to town. It wouldn’t have been hard. I had to admit, it made me feel pretty good to know I wasn’t a total pariah as I collected quite a few pats on the back or the ass as I headed back to the locker room. I took a shower with the rest of the team and then hurried back out to the bleachers to watch Amber announcing the year’s nominees for Homecoming Court.
Standing there on the sidelines with Will at my back, feeling guilty for feeling so good, I asked myself what kind of person I was and what did I really want? Lonely but glamorous travel all over the world, or coming home to deal with real life and, oh by the way, no more free spa trips and an expense account.
What a quandary.
Then my hackles started to rise.
Jeanetta Macdonald stood behind the platform, next to the stage, and I realized that she was waiting to make an announcement, as she wore that Animal Rescue Clinic uniform and carried a pet crate. If she hadn’t come here for something official, she would have been dressed to the nines as she usually was.
I grabbed Will’s arm and pointed.
Will turned to where I was looking and said, “Stick close to me,” as he pulled me through the crowd.
Elle got there first. “And may I ask what you have there, Ms. Macdonald?” she was saying as we rounded the back of the bandstand where they were waiting.
“Well, since you know the Animal Rights Commission and the Animal Rescue Clinic has long been a supporter of the community, we thought we’d drum up some compassion for the animal shelter by showing one of our adoptees. Hopefully, we can find him a good home.”
“Him, eh?”
“Oh, yes. He’s just the cutest little thing. A couple of kids turned him in a few weeks ago and even though he was in pretty bad shape, we nursed him back to health and now he’s better than before.”
“May I?” Elle said. Amber was watching out of the corner of her eye and I shrugged my shoulders. I already knew it wasn’t Spanky.
But Amber didn’t know that and I could see her disappointment as Elle removed the animal. He looked like Spanky, but up close Amber could see he wasn’t.
I looked into Jeanetta’s eyes and saw a flash of victory there. Her pulse rate sped up and I gaped at her. She was actually getting off on this. I was so going to terminate that bitch.
“Let’s go,” I said to Will. “I don’t think I can stomach this anymore.” He walked me back to the locker room.
“I’ll just get my things,” I told him and I slipped inside to retrieve my gym gear from the locker, ignoring the “Cleaning in Progress” floor sign.
The place was a haze of moisture as I maneuvered around the wet patches yet to be mopped up by the janitor. The man shoved his mop here and there as his head bobbed and he hummed to himself beneath long hair and a ball cap, his shoulders hunched. My sense of smell got overwhelmed by perfumes, deodorants
and cleaning fluid scents, or maybe I could have avoided what happened next.
My bag was right where I left it on top of the lockers and as I climbed up on a bench to retrieve it, I felt a sharp pain in my ass overlaid right on top of the still-healing scar. Instinctively stepping down, I slipped in soapy water and landed on my back.
I smelled blood and rolled over, reaching down to where the pain had bit me. My hand came away bloody and in my palm was a smashed tranquilizer dart.
Seriously? In the ass again?
Those were my last thoughts before darkness took me.
Chapter 24
When I awoke, I found myself tied back to back with my sister in a hot, smoky cavern deep in the heart of Knightsbridge Canyon. I’d been here before in wolf form, as I’d explored every bit of the area around town between the Incident and leaving home. A certain set of stalactites that looked like a hanging line of banners made me sure.
My eyes watered and my pulse raced, fighting off the effects of whatever they’d shot me with. I knew my body was trying to drive the drug out of my system. Looking around I saw that Amber and I were flanked by a deep depression like a medieval fire pit, filled with red hot coals and rising heat waves. To the left I saw the climbing flames of a bonfire. Large ancestor rocks ringed it, touching the flames. I recognized them from research I had done on the Cherokees for a travel piece about casino resorts.
Wicker scaffolding arched above us, what I realized was the skeleton of a sweat lodge.
A sweat lodge in a cavern? Okay…
Sean Gottlieb tended the fire, half-naked with his shirt tied around his waist and a handkerchief across his face like a bandit. He had welts and scars crisscrossing his back and shoulders and I wondered what had made them, then winced as I speculated about his and Jeanetta’s relationship.
I heard a bark to my right and saw Spanky pawing at the bars of a cage, looking worriedly at me.
“Spanky,” I breathed. “Amber, it’s Spanky!” I hissed.
Amber didn’t answer. Must still be out from whatever they shot her with, I thought. I was a lupine, and in better physical shape than my sister, so naturally I would awaken first.
I felt the heat begin to rise as Sean shoveled some hot ancestor rocks into the depression near my feet. I stared up at him, but he didn’t look at me until I spoke.
“Why are you doing this?” I croaked.
Spanky barked and Sean looked away, not saying anything. He went over to pour some water into a bowl and slid it into the cage.
Well, he seemed to like animals. That might be something I could work with.
“Could I get some water over here?” I coughed.
He didn’t answer, but brought a water bottle to me and held my chin up as he poured some into my mouth.
“Thank you,” I said. “Now give some to Amber.”
“She’s still out.” He looked at me for a moment in apology, and then turned to walk away.
Before I could pursue that thought, Jeanetta Macdonald strode through the cave entrance. She wore a dark bustier and a pair of black chinos, with matching Doc Martens laced up the ankles, and I had to admit, she looked kind of hot.
For a raving lunatic, that is.
At least Amber would approve of her taste in S&M fashion. Wouldn’t want to be murdered by a tacky Vogue reject after all.
“Ah, you’re awake. Good. It’s just about time to start the ceremony.”
“What the hell are you doing, Jeanetta?” I coughed and elbowed Amber in the back. I got a grunt in response, which made me think she was playing possum and buying time, hopefully thinking of a way out of this mess. Mother! I sent out a silent prayer, or plea, or mental message, whatever you do to call ghosts.
What I thought she could accomplish, I had no idea.
“You’ll find out soon enough.” Jeanetta smirked and turned toward me, taking a burgundy colored velvet bag from her belt and raising it up to the ceiling while she began to chant. The cloth in her hands was threaded with amber strands that caught the light and seemed to spangle symbols across the cavern walls.
Sean proceeded to pull dark cloth over the bamboo and the little light we had dimmed as he affixed blankets to the semicircular poles. Jeanetta approached with a wooden mixing bowl and pulled a hunting knife off her leg harness. “It’s probably obvious that this is going to hurt,” she said with glee, grinning triumphantly as she sliced a gash in my jeans and thigh, and then held the bowl beneath it.
I clenched my teeth, hissing against the pain as I tried to jerk away, but we were too securely held, not like in the movies where the villain always leaves the bonds too loose, or easy to reach and untie.
Amber wasn’t so stoic. “You bitch!” she screamed when Jeanetta cut her.
“Language, Amber.” I laughed sardonically.
“Bite me, Ashlee,” she snarled. “You got us into this.”
“Funny you should say that,” I replied, but Jeanetta cut us off.
“Girls,” Jeanetta chided us as she took her knife and sliced a few hairs from both our heads and added them to the bowl. She then went to the cage and had Sean pull Spanky out.
Shit.
“Keep her talking Ashlee,” Amber muttered and I could feel her manipulating her wrists to try to get her hands free. Good luck with that. I had already tried, and I was stronger and more limber than my sister.
“Hold him still,” Jeanetta ordered as Sean lifted the squirming dog. Spanky hated being held by anyone but our family.
“What are you doing?” I demanded as she raised her knife. “I thought you were an animal rights activist? Or was that all bullshit, like the rest of your life?”
Hey, it was all I could think of at the time.
“Oh, don’t worry. I like dogs more than I like people.” Then she turned to back to Sean, who was frowning at her. “Present company excluded, of course.”
Spanky froze in Sean’s grip. He seemed to know when danger was coming and he bared his teeth.
“Don’t even think about it.” She narrowed her eyes at him as Sean held Spanky’s mouth shut while he snarled.
“If you hurt my dog…” Amber began, but then I smelled an acrid smell of hair burning, and heard a yelp of surprise and a curse as Spanky went flying out of Sean’s arms to hit the ground running. I could hear his barking fading in the distance and I thanked the Lord that at least one of our pack had made it out unscathed.
On the other hand, you would think that he’d show a bit more loyalty.
“I didn’t know you were such a witch, Jeanetta,” Amber snarled. “A bitch, well, that I knew. But blood magic? Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
Interesting. What did Amber know about magic beyond reruns of Charmed and Once Upon a Time? I started to get the feeling she’d been holding out on me again.
“You don’t think I came into this unprepared, do you?” Jeanetta mocked.
I looked at her blankly, and sensed Amber doing the same, if perhaps with slightly more comprehension.
“See, I know what you are,” Jeanetta continued.
“Oh really.” I matched her haughty tone. “And what do you think that is?” I coughed.
“Yee Naaldlooshii…” The words came out of her in a hiss, and a malevolent gleam sparked from her eyes. A shiver ran through me. Jeanetta poured more noxious herbs over the fire. “Ánt’įįhnii!” Her voice got louder and I could I feel an ache behind my jaw. “Adagąsh!” Her voice took on the cadence of a song as she screamed the last words. “Azhįtee! Nee Yaaldlooshii!”
“Ashlee!” Amber’s voice rose into a different register and I could feel my own anxiety begin to rise with hers as I felt the pads of my fingers tear and claws burst out from my knuckles, straining the tension of the rope that bound us. Blood ran down my wrists and the smell made me woozy.
Holy Shit! I thought. She was doing it. Jeanetta Macdonald was making me shift.
Yee Naaldlooshii. Skinwalker. She’d called me a skinwalker. I’d run into the Navajo l
egend when I first started researching werewolf mythology back in high school. But I wasn’t a skinwalker – I was something else, product of a different magic.
“I don’t know how you managed that,” Amber whispered. She couldn’t see that the sharp things her hands touched were actually a part of me rather than rocks or knives. Who knows what she thought? But I could feel her sliding the hemp fibers across my claws causing them to part, bit by bit, as she sawed at our bonds.
“Me neither,” I said.
“Werewolves, shifters, all the same thing,” Jeanetta cackled. “I knew it all along!”
But she was wrong. The legend of the skinwalker said that a shapeshifter utilized rituals to assume the form of a beast. In doing so, she would shed her human skin to become the shape of the animal she wanted to change into. But it cost a blood sacrifice to do so. In order to return to human form, a skinwalker had to consume her own human pelt, eyeballs, scalp and all.
Besides being totally gross and nasty, I wasn’t a skinwalker. Or a Navajo.
On the other hand, there had to be some kind of overlap, because whatever she had done had affected me.
“After you killed my brother I spent years researching the legends of your kind. In my travels, I found a tribal elder who was willing to share with me the secrets of your people.”
“What, Scottish people?” What my people? I barely knew what I was.
“He said if I could force the shape of the wolf onto you while the moon was waning, and then burned your skin, you would be bound into your shifted form for the rest of your days.”
“You’re insane!” I laughed uproariously, which made Jeanetta furious.
“Ashlee,” my twin said, “don’t antagonize the psycho.”
“We’ll find out who’s insane now, won’t we?” Jeanetta said tightly. “Sean, cover them up and then go look for that damn dog. We need it.” As she said this I realized that I could still hear Spanky barking from outside the cave. I guess the little furball hadn’t run off after all.
