Voodootown

Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Flow

His arms would barely lift anymore.  He was tired all over, but the sensation in his shoulders and chest was something Flow had never felt before.  He was sore.  It was a sensation he had vaguely experienced when Curtis had started lifting weights, trying to gain some weight back after cancer treatments.

He tried to raise them again, got them up enough to do a shake and a little green hippo dropped out of the light between his hands.  Cautiously, he picked it up.  He had designed the hungry hippo hex to eat energy, and he didn't want it latching onto him.  He didn't have any energy to spare and was worried that he had a lot of work left to do.

The side edge of the portal was so thin it probably didn't exist.  Whenever he looked at it, all he could see was the glow from the front.  The back was matte black, so dark that it didn't reflect anything.  He had never studied it this close before, and wished he had more time to figure out how it worked.  He could probably use it as inspiration for dozens of new charms.

But for now he just had to work fast.  After more than twenty different attempts at shutting it down, he had moved to making something that might eat the portal.  He held the hungry hippo up and tried to place it on the side of the portal.  It wobbled side to side, began to lift its upper jaw.  He let go and the hippo wobbled once more, then fell sideways into the portal.

Flow sagged.  He had tried to lock the portal, to loop it back to itself, and even blow it up.  Nothing had worked.  He knew there had to be a solution but couldn't find it.  He put his head in his hand and rubbed his eyes and temples.  His head seemed to be aching as well. 

He looked up, saw Ju Ju standing on the plywood.  Her doll was in her hands, ready to latch onto anything that came near.  He hadn't told anyone, but he had made a tinfoil charm for himself. 

Further off, Twister paced behind the row of hexes she had laid out.  With the two of them on guard, Flow felt safe enough, but his mind just wouldn't focus.  He wasn't sure how long it had been since Blink and Ash had set out to give the connection charms to the humans, but they obviously hadn't given Curtis his charm yet.

Shaking his head hadn't worked before, but he tried it again.  No help.  He pulled his bag closer and dug through it.  There were a few Tunguskas, some smoke screens and a windshield charm, but nothing that gave him any ideas.  Next to the charms and hexes was the burner phone he had made earlier.  Blink had one, as did Sticks.

He looked up at the portal again and frowned at it.  He knew Squat and Sticks couldn't keep the human distracted for long and were in danger every minute they tried.  He had to get the portal shut down before something happened to them and before Midnight came back.  Flow knew there was only one way to get his mind in working order so he could figure out how to get his part of the job done.

He picked up the burner and pressed the button.  "Call Blink," he said.

It chimed in his hand twice, then Blink's voice answered.  "You're done?  Seriously?  Awesome!"

That made Flow wince.  He had told the others he would call when the portal was shut down.  "Uh, no.  Sorry.  I just wondered if you were close to giving that charm to Curtis.  I kind of need it."

There was silence on the other end for a long moment, then Ash's voice came through.  "Curtis?  Okay.  We were going to James first, but we'll figure something out."

"Thanks," Flow said.  "Out."  He pressed the button and the burner switched off.

He looked up to see Ju Ju and Twister staring at him.  "I thought you said we shouldn't use those," Ju Ju said.

"You said there was a doll in town who could pick up transmissions," Twister said as she stepped closer.  "Midnight might have her ability."

All Flow could do was sit back.  He wished he could lie down, but knew that would only worry the others.  "I know.  I kept the call short."

Twister adjusted her grip on her pins and Flow hoped she wasn't thinking of him when she did it.  She turned around and went back to her pacing.  Ju Ju frowned at him and Flow looked away.  He stared at the portal instead.

Years ago, when Curtis had first been diagnosed with leukemia, Flow had pushed his human to start reading Marcus Aurelius.  The words of the philosopher and emperor had helped give Curtis perspective and the ability to cope with what his body was going through.  The pain had been distant for Flow back then and felt so present now. 

Marcus Aurelius had written about pain as an evil to the body or soul and said that the soul could remain composed and untouched by that evil.  But Flow didn't think that the ancient Roman could have imagined the lines between body, spirit and soul becoming as blurred as they were for the dolls and their humans. 

It was more than Flow himself would have considered possible a week ago.  And, he thought that evil seemed to be coming in a few different shapes and sizes lately, too.  But he had to make himself face it all.  If he didn't, he knew what would happen.  He set his hand in his lap, let his gaze drift and tried to focus on how to get rid of the portal.

Immediately, Flow began to smile.  All he needed to do was call Blink again.