We listened, or at least, I did. Presumably he was listening too. The scuffling went by outside, and suddenly a black shape flitted past the crack in the door. He stiffened, and his grip tightened around me. I was holding my breath now, trembling violently. There was a soul sucker outside. It was crossing the front lawn.
We were like statues locked together. I had no idea who this stranger was, but in that moment we were united by fear, and if that…that thing came in, I knew we would fight together. We would try to protect one another. We were human, it was…a monster.
There was no more movement from the front lawn, and at last the stranger released me. The fear receded a little. The soul sucker had passed by. I turned to see who had grabbed me, who shared the dim shelter of the mansion with me, and my heart stuttered in alarm when I saw him.
From the way his cheek had brushed mine I’d thought he was a boy, not much taller than me. Now I knew he must have been crouched down, hunched over behind me. He was tall, over six feet, with tangled blonde hair that brushed his broad shoulders. It was difficult to make his face out in the shadows. He was…big.
Automatically the scythe went up in front of me, and I took a step backwards. My voice came out shaky. “Who are you?”
He put his hands up. “Woah, calm down. Don’t…don’t do anything crazy with that thing. Look, my name is Jai. I’m not going to hurt you.” He took a step back. “ Sorry I grabbed you like that, but I wasn’t sure if you’d give our position away.”
I lowered the scythe a little bit. Did I let myself trust him? The world was chaos, and I was no idiot. I’d read Lord of the Flies for English last year. I knew what happened to people when all order was lost. They turnd into monsters, no better than the soul sucks. Now that the danger had passed…or rather, now that the soul sucker had passed, I was rethinking the whole “fight for each other” thing. I had no idea who this guy was.
Maybe it was best to move on. To head for my patch of forest.
But when I reached it, what then? I hadn’t really thought that far ahead. Could I live in the forest by myself? Learn to hunt deer and make a fire by rubbing two sticks together? The thought filled me with panic. I didn’t know how to do that stuff!
I could text at lightening speeds. I could make awesome videos on the computer. I was a sixteen year old girl, not Xena the warrior princess. There was no way I was going to survive this. Not by myself.
I eyed him up again. “Jai,” I repeated.
He nodded, taking a cautious step out of the shadows toward me. His hair under the light was almost a golden color, and he had red cheeks and wide grey eyes. The start of a beard covered his jaw, and when he smiled it was wide and friendly. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have scared you like that.”
He was like a flipping Viking.
Okay, that could come in handy. “Do you live here…I mean, are you staying here?”
“You mean…am I on the run?” Jai shook his head. “Not exactly. I’m looking for someone.”
My heart sunk. “Oh, I’m sorry.” Whoever he was looking for, it wasn’t likely they still had a soul, but I didn’t say it. How could I tell him that this entire neighborhood had been taken?
Jai dropped his voice to a whisper. “Don’t be. I found her.”
It took me a minute of incomprehensive staring to figure out what he meant. The scythe went straight back up again, and I backed up so quickly I ran my shoulder into the wall. “What?”
Was he messing with me? Was he crazy? I wouldn’t be surprised if he was crazy. Being isolated for so long, cut off from companionship and not even being able to talk to anyone…well, it took a toll on you. I just hoped he was crazy in a confused way. Not in a “don’t eat the paint chips” kind of way.
Jai raised his hands again. The expression on his face was alarmed. “I’m sorry! Don’t run away. I didn’t mean…” he raked one hand through his tangled hair. “Aw, crap. My people skills are pretty rusty.”
I regarded him warily. He seemed lucid enough. “What are you talking about then?”
He hesitated, grey eyes scanning me. Darting from the scythe, to the hourglass tucked under my arm. I tensed, thinking maybe he was going to try to take away my weapon, but he only leaned his back against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. His voice was calm. “Why do you carry an hourglass?”
Instinctively I clutched the hourglass more tightly. That was a very good question, and it brought up the subject of crazy again. Did I tell him that the hourglass had apparently frozen the soul suckers that had been attacking me? If I did then hewould think I was the crazy one.
“I…I just grabbed it,” I stammered. “It’s…a family heirloom.” A total lie. I had no clue where the hourglass had come from. The people who lived in the house before us maybe.
Jai surprised me by coming closer, and I took another step backwards. My back touched the wall, stopping me from going any further. He reached out one hand and pushed the scythe aside gently and I swallowed, hard.
He towered over me. “A family heirloom. May I see it?”
Something made me tighten my grip on the hourglass, and on the handle of the blade. A surge of stubborn anger rippled through me, and I scowled at him. It was a surprise to even me, that the question had that effect. For some reason I couldn’t imagine giving up either one. Or even letting anyone else touch them. It would be…wrong.
He leaned over me until his face was inches away from mine. I felt sucker punched by his grey eyed stare. Somehow he knew. He knew what the hourglass was. What it did.
I let out a breath. “Who are you?”
Jai straightened up, backing away from me. “I’m a guardian.”
“You’re…what?” I blinked at him, confused. What did that even mean?
“I’m here to stop all of this," he gestured vaguely around us, but his eyes were still fixed on the hourglass in my hand. "I'm guessing you know what it does now.”
“I…yes. I thought…I don’t know…”
“That you were crazy?” He grinned. “You’re not. I assure you. But there’s a lot more I have to tell you, so you have to keep an open mind.” Jai reached out cautiously, touching the scythe with one fingertip. I felt something then, an electric tingle in the palm of my hand. It itched, and I drew the scythe away quickly.
“Don’t touch that.”
His smile was lopsided, and a little sad. “You haven't changed much."
I could feel my eyebrows crease. “What?”
“What’s your name?”
I felt like yelling at him. Demanding that he tell me what was going on. We didn’t have time to exchange names and phone numbers. Weird stuff was happening to me, and there were more soul suckers out there stalking the streets. One was sure to discover us sooner or later.
I held all of this in and said shortly, “Kali.”
“Kali,” he repeated softly.
Again, he raked one hand through his hair. “I’ve never had to explain this before. Look, there’s a veil between this world and the next, and sixteen years ago today, it was ripped wide open.”
I blinked at him furiously. “What are you talking about? Crap! You’re crazy, aren’t you?”
Jai frowned. “Come on, Kali. Where do you think the soul suckers came from? You really believe those…those things are an evolutionary mistake? You think some kind of monkey morphed into that?”
No. No of course not. That’s exactly what I’d thought earlier, wasn’t it? That the TV reports were all bull crap. That those thing had to come from…somewhere else.
I wanted to cross my arms over my chest and hug myself. To retreat to the corner and squeeze my eyes shut, maybe rock back and forth and sing to myself. It’d be crazy, sure. But it would make me feel better. Instead, I clutched the handle of the scythe more tightly and gritted out from between my teeth, “How did the veil rip open? Why now?”
“It was done by….an entity if you will, who calls himself Thanatos. He’s a sort of demon.”
I continued to stare at him. Not doing much more than blinking and breathing deeply. Trying to keep up with all this. Trying to figure out if I’d let myself believe any of this. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach, I was afraid I knew where this was going. Down a path that no sane person could truly follow.
Down the rabbit hole we go.
“A demon,” I repeated. Okay, apparently I was going along with this.
"Yes." He looked like he was going to say more, and then stopped himself.
“Oh man…”
“I’m sorry, I know it’s a lot to take in at once.” He glanced out the ruined doorway. “But it’s the truth. The tear in the veil is the reason the soul suckers are here. They crossed into the realm of time in a period that is very fragile. A period of transition.” His expression was dark now. He was obviously remembering something bad.
He trailed off for a second, staring into space, and I glanced towards the door, nervous. I had no idea what he was talking about but we couldn’t stand here while he reminisced. Those things were out there, moving through the darkness. Maybe getting closer.
“No…” I held up both hands, wanting him to stop talking. “No, this isn’t…it can’t be right. It’s too weird.”
He sighed, running his fingers through his tangled hair. “We don’t have time to argue about this, Kali. I’ve got to get you to safety…or at least, relative safety. I’ll tell you more on the way.”
Finally something I could agree with. “Fine. I don’t believe all this, but I do think we should get going. The sun will be up in a few hours, and we’re too visible during the day…”
“I have a car…a truck, around the back. It won’t take us too long to get into the city.”
Relief made me sag back against the wall. He had a truck. This was better than I’d expected. I didn’t even know there were working vehicles anymore, or at least, there was no one left to drive them. The soul suckers might be scary, but they couldn’t outrun a truck, and they were flesh and blood. You could run them over….
Did I trust him enough to get in a truck with a stranger? The thought almost made me snicker. The "don't talk to strangers" rule didn't seem as relevant when there were bloodthirsty monsters lurking out in the darkness. I'll take my chances with the crazy guy.
“Okay, let’s go. You can explain more while we drive.”