You're Dead Chapter Four (special preview)

Freddie took me to the downtown area, which was very close to where my old apartment was. I watched the buildings as we drove past them, remembering how I would walk the same streets. I leaned a little closer to the window just to see the alley where Clover’s night club was.

“I just detailed, don’t touch the glass,” Freddie warned.

I pulled back with disdain and slouched in my seat. “How did you afford a Porsche anyways?” I asked.

Freddie tilted his chin up. “Is that really what you want to ask?”

I pouted, turning my head to the side. “No.”

Freddie’s eyes cut from the windshield and towards me. For some reason, while we were in his car, he seemed much calmer than at Stevie’s place. “Then speak your mind. Stop avoiding the bigger issue.”

I held my head between my hands then combed my fingers along my scalp. The slight pressure of my nails assured me I was grounded, but it did nothing to affirm that I was alive. I still wasn’t even sure how that worked. “The bigger issue is everything. How can I not avoid it?”

His fingers lifted up from the steering wheel and he waved them. “Baby steps.”

“It doesn’t feel that simple just yet,” I grumbled.

Freddie sighed. “You don’t have to climb a mountain. You’re just walking around it. The mountain isn’t to be understood, but revered.”

I frowned, scrunching up my nose. I was never a fan of philosophy or poetry. It always sounded to flowery for me.

Freddie sighed and shook his head. “It’s something Mara told me,” he muttered in defeat. “Look, I’m not a teacher. I do my job and get out, just like anybody.”

Outside the buildings were growing darker and more shrouded. A dark gray haze was falling over everything, aging everything with a strange patina. “Yeah, but the job is death.”

“No.” His voice sounded so stern it made me jump. “Our job isn’t death, Daisy. Our job is protection. Death is just one power in this world. It’s not something that can be controlled. It’s in everything from the moment it comes into this world. What we do as Psychopomps is to assure the soul doesn’t get lost.”

I bit down on the side of my cheek. Freddie was hard to get a read on. I didn’t know if I could relax around him or if I needed to be on guard all the time. “And we do that with scissors?”

“It’s more than scissors!” Freddie pulled the car over, parking on the street. He took his hand off the wheel and faced me. His long scar was smooth for now as his expression was calm. “I’ve brought you here so you can see the effects that ignoring your gifts can cause.”

“Oh, it’s a gift now,” I sniffed.

His scar went tense as his eyebrows pinched. “Yes. It is.” He got out of the car and I followed. I stood on the street, looking up towards the sky where everything faded away into a dense fog. It wasn’t even cold out, but there was a chill that ran through my body.

“This area is warped, not just because of lost souls, but because of decades of intense emotions placed here. One soul gets lost here, and it can get trapped and tormented forever.” Freddie waved for me to follow and he continued down the street.

I looked back, seeing the road sign where Clover’s night club was. I could easily walk there now if I wanted.

“Daisy!” Freddie snapped.

I jumped and dashed to keep pace. “Coming!” I came up beside him. He was looking straight ahead, but I couldn’t focus on one place for too long. In the shadows I saw movement. Creeping fingers like I saw on the ceiling of Stevie’s apartment. Moths fluttered closely to buildings, and cats darted out as we walked by. Some cats followed alongside Freddie. One was this gray fluffy creature, and I wasn’t sure if it was a cat or a miniature buffalo.

“She was here again,” the cat said.

“Shit-” I whispered under my breath and covered my mouth.

The buffalo cat looked up at me. “Is this the new one?”

Freddie nodded. “She is. Mara is no longer here.”

“Sorry to hear that,” the cat said as it trotted alongside Freddie. It then leaped across our path and bounded up a brick wall. It gazed down upon us with stern blue eyes. “Grace came back through these parts the other day.”

“I thought as much,” Freddie sighed. “I saw roots coming up on Karloff Avenue the other day. It made me worried. Where did you see her?”