Songbirds After Dark

Kiera II

 Poor kid, I thought.

She reminded me a little bit of Shae, right then. The two of them looked a little bit alike around the eyes. Big old doe-eyes, on the verge of buggish. Almost the same color too; a reddish shade of dark brown that reminded her of cherrywood. But that was where the similarity ended. Shae had been hard around the edges; there was nothing the world could throw at him that he didn't think he could take. Of course, I knew better, but it never made a difference, did it?

I was going to make a difference this time if it killed me (again.) So I pulled the kid up to her feet and we got going. One of the nice things about this place is that while you were here, you couldn't die, so not a lot of forethought was necessary. I took the bag because I couldn't bear to leave it behind, not because I needed it. I had taken it with me everywhere I went in life, why should that change in death?

"Where we goin'?" The kid asked after we had been walking for a while. Her eyes were still a bit red, but otherwise she looked as if nothing had happened.

"South," I said, "like I said, there's supposed to be some witch-doctor down there, people say she can get people back home. Jorge was right, odds are it's just a rumor, but I'm running out of time, so there's no sense in waiting around."

"What you mean, runnin' out of time?" she asked, looking up at me blankly.

"Yeah," I said. "We're here because we're transforming into some animals, right?"

"I dunno. I guess so?"

"Well, once we're done changing, we go away."

"Where d'we go?"

"Hell if I know." I shrugged. "I always believed in reincarnation, so I like to think that that's what happens. I guess there's no way of knowing for sure, though." We were silent. "Where are you from, Addie?"

"All over, she said." Her voice was still a bit shaky. "Mos'ly the swamp, down in Louisiana, though. Spent a lotta time in New Orleans."

"City girl, huh?"

"Maybe a little. Where you from?"

"Colorado." Addie gave a bark of laughter.

"So just 'bout the opposite, from me, then."

"Cities are the same everywhere, and I was never too far from one."

"Not New Orleans." Addie insisted, a soft smile on her face. "She's a real spirit, you know? A real damn prize at night, too. Loud and in your face, like a man possessed." She laughed again. "Jeez, listen to me. I really do sound like some city girl, don't I?"

"Just a little." I was smiling too.

"Forget I said that. I'm jus' a tiny bit homesick, I guess."

"It gets easier," I promised. We had come to a stop while we were talking. We were headed in the same direction I had first brought her from, and I could see the basin of the lake from here. I thought it best to keep my thoughts of home to myself. "We've got to stop in Korrhburg on the way to this witch doctor. That's a city of a decent size. Maybe you'll feel better when we're there."

"Maybe."