The Dark Between Dreams | ✔️

Chapter 11 🔻 Relic

I prodded one of the pointy tips of my new double-ended spear. Extra stabby. Just the way I liked it. I was kind of glad everyone forwent guns in the afterlife. It seemed like long deep gashes that allowed all of our coldness to spill out were far more fatal than a bullet wound that could heal quickly. Coating bullets in lux seemed like a waste of energy and resources as well. Plus, stabby things were way cooler.

Orville stroked his beard in amusement as he watched me. He'd graciously given my friends and me a discount on the spear. Or rather, the little girl at his side had convinced him to.

"She don't really talk," Orville told us while the orphaned child tugged on the hem of his ratty duster. With a sigh, he lifted her so she could perch on one of his massive shoulders. She wrapped her tiny arms around his bearded head, and instantly, a torrent of words in a language none of us understood spilled from her mouth like a waterfall. The four of us stared as the giggling girl babbled on. "An' when she does," the large hollow continued, his voice smothered. "I can't understand a derned word she says. But I think her name's Aluki." I caught a glint of affection in the old man's hardened visage as he regarded the child.

Webb elbowed the big man and teased him for going soft. Orville, with a sheepish grumble, shoved Webb away from him, hard enough to make the scrawnier ghost stumble.

My knuckles turned white as I gripped my weapon tighter. I shivered, just as I had when streets had grown cold and silent following the break-in of the shadows. I could only wish the best for Aluki.

I also wished the best for my friends and I after we left Orville's shop behind and After's gate rose with a mechanical wail in front of us. I shielded my face against the whirlwind of dust.

Before me lay the Dark.

Other scavengers, all donning their lux-lensed masks and coated weapons, skulked past us. Most of them hooted and hollered amongst each other as they took off into the night. Some of them paused beside me to side-eye the little anchored hollow tagging along with them. A tall man I recognized as Reynard, even with the red goggles he sported, purposefully shoved against my shoulder as he set off into the wasteland. My two friends and I lingered behind. Webb slashed his sword at some invisible foe and Vale leaned against her motorcycle, observing me—watching to see what I'd do.

I squared my shoulders and placed a single foot forward, free of After's threshold.

"Wait, wait," Vale tutted. "We have to make this official."

I raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

"I mean, we have to have a ceremony. Webb. Get the thing."

"Oh, right!" the blond hollow sheathed his sword and moved to stand beside Vale, bouncing in excitement. He pulled something wrapped in rags from the motorcycle's saddle-bags and shoved it in my arms.

Bemused, I unwrapped my impromptu gift. A leather mask, similar to the ones my friends carried, stared up at me with round, red eyes. It didn't smile like Webb's and it didn't frown like Vale's. But those two lenses seemed to carry a curious, intrigued expression. I ran a thumb over the mask, unable to feel its texture. Still, some faint warmth grew inside me.

"I made it myself!" Webb boasted.

Vale wrapped an arm around the excited ghost to settle him. "Look at him. He's so proud of himself," she said. Then she told me, "Go on, then! Try it on before Webby explodes!"

I didn't need to be told twice. I held the mask up to my face and secured the ties behind my head.

In an instant, the darkness vanished. Through a haze of red, I saw rolling dunes like ocean waves way out in the distance. And off along the horizon, mountains bit into the sky like fangs. I watched my friends put their masks on too. Vale unsheathed her machete and stood tall before me. She cleared her throat. Then she laid her luminescent blade on my shoulder. There was no need for me to kneel, not with our height difference. "Skye Whatever-your-middle-name-is Rhee," she said, her voice particularly posh. "We now pronounce you an official scavenger of After. Welcome to our crew."