Intersections Read online

  “Ha! There’ll be nothing left by the time it’s your turn, little man.”

  Lily found herself in a place where a diffused blue light came from everywhere yet nowhere. It created a diaphanous membrane between Lily and the men. Shuffling behind her. She turned and the blue world resembled a wide corridor seemingly stretching on forever. On the right, a white light pulsed behind the membrane. Darkness on the left. The atmosphere gave the impression of being caught between two realities like a holding area or purgatory.

  The source of the shuffling came into focus. Goosebumps rippled across Lily’s skin, pulling her scalp tight and raising hairs on her arms. People crowded around her. Halos of silvery blue light traced their outline. While many of the people—Ghosts, oh my God they’re ghosts—appeared normal, some showed their death. A little girl with her head caved it. A man with stab wounds. Another with bullet holes. A woman with bruises around her neck. Lily shivered.

  “We won’t hurt you, Lily.”

  Not trusting them, she backed up into the membrane. It bulged but didn’t break.

  “What the hell is that thing? A dumpster?”

  Lily had briefly forgotten about the men waiting on the other side.

  “Hell if I know.” In the silence, Lily watched the two look at each other in wordless communication. “Let’s check it out.”

  She shifted her weight and prepared to run.

  “They can’t see you, but you shouldn’t linger. This is no place for the living.”

  “Empty, fuck. I thought we had her for sure.”

  How do I get out of here?

  “Trust me,” an alien voice said.

  In a blink, Lily stood outside the grocery store. The Ouija was back in the messenger bag slung over her shoulder. No sign of the ghosts. No sign of the gang.

  Compared to the silence of what she thought of as Purgatory the noise of explosions and screams were deafening. The dust and smoke choking. Lily pulled a bandana over her nose and picked her way through the rubble toward Mad Molly’s. More than once, she glanced over her shoulder and didn’t relax until she made it home.

  At the sound of laughter, Lily crouched behind a burned-out car. She pulled the Ouija board out. The sun and moon gave her a wink as she laid her palms on them. It wasn’t the first time after the grocery incident she’d used the board to take her to Purgatory. The sense of protection and calm it provided allowed her the freedom to move about and collect supplies. And the spirits left her alone. Yes, they were creepy but less so with every trip.

  Two sets of booted footsteps came closer. Through the blue veil of Purgatory, she spied two men. Both had rifles slung across their backs. Behind her, the spirits hovered and watched over her shoulder.

  “We should find that refugee camp,” the taller man said. “Stop struggling to survive and rest awhile. We can figure out what to do after that.”

  The other scratched his beard. “Might be a good plan. The Thols have taken over most of the grocery stores, and I’m tired of fighting.”

  Lily shivered at the mention of the Thols.

  “The time to go would be now while they have the Demons occupied in the north.”

  The men moved out of earshot but not before Lily caught something about the camp being at the edge of the city. Keeping to Purgatory, Lily headed the way she’d come. Mad Molly’s was home for now, but one day she might need to leave and rejoin humanity. She dreaded the thought. The Ouija and the crystals were all she needed.

  4

  February

  The fire burning across the street cast a dim orange glow over the field across which Lily hiked. Freshly filled water bottles sloshed against the Ouija board that now went everywhere with her.

  Lily jumped over a small fissure. Hot air venting from it turned the grass brown and dirt into dust. A little puff of it wafted around Lily’s foot when it hit the ground. Behind her, a stone rattled on pavement. Her heart jumped, and she ran for the rubble at the middle of the field. If she were able to find a hiding spot, the Ouija would shield her. Another stone skittered but the sounds of running feet didn’t follow.

  “Wait!” a male voice boomed. “We’re friends!”

  She wove around cement blocks that lay scattered around like children’s toys and ran for the towering pile in the center. Her backpack scraped against the sides of the slabs as she slipped through an opening. The space inside allowed her to stand. She saw the legs of student desks protruding from gaps between the stone. She heard feet pounding on the dirt.

  Friends, my ass.

  Lily worked her way to the back of the cavity and crouched.

  “Hey, lady, where’d ya go?” said a girl’s voice. It sounded as if she were right there. “We won’t hurt you.”

  Lily didn’t hear malice in the young voice, only a subtle pleading. The girl stopped in front of the opening and looked up over her shoulder at someone behind her. She appeared about twelve, but the grime streaking her face made it hard to tell.

  “Why won’t she answer?” the girl said.

  “She’s probably scared,” said the man.

  “Why? We’re not mean.”

  “She doesn’t know that.”

  The conversation—so like a daughter and a father’s—convinced Lily to take a gamble. She stood up as the girl started walking again and Lily saw her companion. Orange glowed through the cracks in its blackened skin, wing tips scored furrows in the dust, and a great taloned hand reached out to swallow the girl’s. Lily dropped to the ground.

  “Did you hear that?” the Demon said.

  Terror ate the spit in her mouth. It blasted through her heart. She grappled with the buckles of the messenger bag in an attempt to free the Ouija board. It was the only thing to protect her from the monstrosity and its evil little devil child. The thing probably used the girl as bait. And Lily had almost fallen for it. Angry now, she tore at the clasps. They jingled together.

  “Shhhh,” the Demon said. “Hear that now?”

  Her throat worked as if in a whimper and for once Lily was glad she had no voice.

  “No,” the evil girl child said.

  Finally, the buckles slid free. She pulled the Ouija board out. Crystals tumbled after but didn’t spark into their usual glow. She laid her palms on the sun and the moon. Nothing. No warmth, no radiance, not ever a whisper in her mind.

  Come on, damn you.

  No blue mist. No ghosts.

  “Listen,” the Demon said.

  She pressed her hands harder onto the Ouija. No safety of Purgatory.

  Don’t leave me here now.

  Tears born of fright streaked down her cheeks as she continued to plead with the board. Off to the east came the rattle and slide of concrete tumbling down.

  “Now I do,” the devil child said. “Over there.”

  Lily listened to the pair recede, then broke. Curling into a ball, she let the fear wash over her. She cried and shook until all that remained was anger, a fury at the Ouija board. Why hadn’t the Ouija taken her away? Wasn’t that its purpose? To protect her? Fresh tears coursed down her cheeks and dripped off her chin. The board had given her the sense of safety and protection she’d been accustomed to in the old world. How would she survive without it? Then it dawned on her.

  The Angels’ refugee camp on the outskirts of the city. Rumor was they had power, hot water, food, and security. And they didn’t turn away the uninjured. If you were able, you were put to work. She figured she’d shirked people long enough, and besides, they wouldn’t be like the gangs she’d been avoiding. She’d be safe. Decision firmly made, she pushed the Ouija board and crystals to the side and unrolled her sleeping bag.

  She dreamed of ghosts and of having a voice.

  Hungry, dirty, and drained, Lily trudged toward the Angels’ camp in the near distance. Smoke from the fires and dust lent the day an overcast sickly yellow quality. Half a week of hiking left her with blistered feet, tired legs, and shoulders aching from carrying the backpack and messenger bag. No matter h