When she handed Brian the cone, he looked at it for a moment, then he looked at her. It took her a second to get the message, but when she did, she bent over, ran her fingers through a pool of blood on the floor, straightened, then held her hand over Brian’s ice cream. Blood dribbled onto the butter pecan like strawberry syrup, and when the ice cream was completely covered in crimson, Brian said, “Thank you.”
Reeny smiled, nodded, then lowered her hand. She wanted to go back to the counter and get a fistful of napkins to clean off the blood, but she didn’t. Instead, she let her hand hang down to her side so she wouldn’t get the remaining blood on her clothes.
Brian lifted his treat to his mouth, extended his tongue – which had become a mottled gray – and began licking. Reeny sat down, and the cat woman, Katie, looked at the woman with the braid.
“So these two are after Lori, just like we are?” Her voice was a feline purr, and Reeny found it soothing in its way.
“Yes,” the Braid-Woman said. She turned to Reeny. “I’m Melinda, and this is Katie. You already know Justin.”
“I’m Irene, and this is my son Brian.” She glanced at Brian, saw his mouth was smeared with blood and ice cream. “People call me Reeny. It’s a nickname from when I was a kid.”
“What did Lori do to you?” Melinda asked. “I assume she did something or you wouldn’t be here.”
“She…. There was a shooting at the mall. Brian…. Lori caused it. I don’t know how, exactly, but she was responsible.”
“We’re going to make her pay,” Brian said happily.
A part of Reeny that was still fully herself – a part buried deep down in her psyche – protested that Brian would never talk about his Aunt Lorlee like this. Not only was it out of character, it was creepily adult. This part also told her that sitting in an ice cream shop with corpses strewn about the place was not, in any sense of the word, normal. Something had happened to Brian, had happened to her. Something bad. They weren’t themselves anymore; they were…what? She didn’t know. She only knew they weren’t right, and that they should get up and leave this place immediately, before things became even worse than they already were.
But then she remembered what it had felt like to hold her dead son in her arms, and cold anger swept through her, wiping away her doubts and fears.
She smiled at her son. “Yes, we will.”
“So you’ve heard the same call we have,” Melinda said.
“Not that we’ve been able to do much about it,” Katie said. “We’ve looked all over this goddamn town for your sister, but we haven’t been able to track her down. That’s why we came in here – to take a break and try to figure out where she might be. Do you know where she is?”
“No,” Reeny said. “I’ve tried calling her, but it always goes to voicemail.”
“Same,” Melinda said.
“It’s like she vanished off the face of the fucking Earth,” Justin said. “Gone-gone.”
“It’s extremely frustrating,” Melinda said. “We were created – or maybe I should say re-created – to go after your sister and convince her to….” She frowned, as if trying to remember. “To do something, but we can’t find her.”
Brian had continued working on his disgusting ice cream while the adults spoke, but now said, “I know where she’s at.”
They all turned to look at him.
“Go on, sweetie,” Reeny urged.
“She’s back in this world again. She just got a text message from a friend. A dead friend. I’m sensitive to that kind of thing since I’m dead too.”
Melinda, Katie, and Justin all leaned forward, eager to hear what Brian had to say.
“Tell us more,” Reeny said. “Do you know exactly where she’s at right now?”
“Better,” Brian said, grinning. “I know where she’s going.”
* * *
Lori and Larry passed her parents’ house on the way to Aashrita’s. Everything looked normal from the outside, but that didn’t necessarily mean her mom and dad were safe. She pictured Shadowkin swarming through the house, claws sinking into her parents’ flesh, tearing them apart as if they were tissue paper.
“Do you want to stop?” Larry asked. “Just for a minute, to make sure they’re okay?”
She was tempted. She knew Larry cared about her parents too. His mother had died when he was a teenager, and his father hadn’t really spoken to him after he came out as bisexual. Lori’s parents adored Larry and had become like a second mom and dad to him. Sometimes Lori thought they were more upset that she and Larry had broken up than she was.
“I’ll just call them. Can I borrow your phone?”
Larry nodded, and she took his phone from the cupholder and called her mom. She picked up on the second ring.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Lorelai! Thank god! I’ve been trying to call you all afternoon.”
“Sorry, I lost my phone. I’m using Larry’s. How are you and Dad doing?”
“We’ve been frantic! After what happened at the clinic, we thought…well, we thought the worst.”
Lori frowned. “What do you mean?”
Her mom told her about the murders at Get Moving!
“The police have no idea what went on there. And that’s not all. Have you been watching the news? The whole town’s going crazy! There was a shooting at the mall, and some kind of terrorists are running around killing people. Where are you? Come over here so we know you’re safe. Bring Larry, too.”
She wasn’t surprised that her mom didn’t say anything about Justin. Her mom and dad felt lukewarm toward him at best.
“I’ve got something to do first, Mom. But I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay?”
