Two of them stood there. Not moving. Staring out into the alley beyond them.
They didn’t scare her any longer, but these two weren’t worth lingering on. They would be no help to her. There wasn’t enough resonance there, just wispy memories of the humans they had been.
For as long as Eva could remember, she had seen ghosts. The first time she’d realized she was a freak was when her friend Jolene had drowned. They’d been six, sneaking off to swim in the river. Of course, no one had known that a massive storm had blown up upstream, and the gushing torrent of water took both girls by surprise. Eva was pretty sure she had died too, but for some reason her body had managed to wash up on the bank and still be breathing. Eva was like a cat: she’d escaped certain death more than once. Jolene’s body had been found three days later.
Eva hadn’t been devastated to start with, mainly because Jolene was sitting in her room. Sure, the sad, pale little girl hadn’t said anything to Eva, but to a six-year-old, that had been okay. She’d just played quietly beside her friend, all the time wondering why everyone was still searching, so distraught and panicked.
When her parents had come to her room to explain that Jolene’s body had been found, that she was no longer alive, Eva had tried to tell everyone they were mistaken, but before she could show them Jolene, the solemn, confused little specter had disappeared.
It was then Eva realized that there was something wrong with her. Even at six she’d known better than to speak about ghosts.
Now, Eva understood that Jolene had moved on. To wherever the dead go. On to the next life. Every soul is different. Some take a few hours, others linger for weeks before finding their way to the afterlife. And some never leave. In particular, those who had suffered greatly in the moments before death.
The little Eva knew came from a few books she’d found on spiritual teachings. Teaming this knowledge with quite a lot of guess work, she sort of managed to understand the dead. For example, she knew that those two souls – also known as spirits and energy entities – which she had seen at the dumpster were nothing more than holographic projections now. Barely even there anymore. For the most part they had moved on. Only a faded resonance of them remained.
But others … well, they could talk to her, warn her about things. It was how she kept her wits on the streets. It was why she was so valuable to Kata. And right then she was looking for a sign of what they were walking into. Where this smuggling ring was going to appear. Of course, that day there were no useful spirits around. Nope, they were never around when she needed them.
Kata silently raised her right hand, palm vertical, indicating that they must halt their movements. The females reacted immediately. On these streets you had one chance, and Kata seemed to be blessed with a second sense of when danger was approaching. Eva often wondered if their leader harbored a secret similar to her own. Or she just possessed really advanced senses.
The vigiladies were like shadows, their dark clothes blending into the rubble of urban landscape which surrounded them. The girls were great at silence. Damn, Eva couldn’t even hear them breathing. And they stood within five feet of her.
After about a minute of tense silence, Kata finally lowered her hand. She then jabbed a two-finger gesture to the left. Seems they were getting off the main drag. Eva fell to the middle of the pack, reaching back to rub her hand over Mortem again. The sword was definitely a comfort for her. Lain, an African-American female to her left, lifted her arm up to retrieve an arrow. As they continued to step through, Lain slowly fitted the razor-sharp shaft into her composite bow.
Eva really liked the quiet and beautiful archer. Lain was in her mid-twenties, wore her hair in rows of braids and had stunningly regal features arranged around beautiful dark eyes. More importantly, she was solid; she had your back and could be counted on in any situation.
It didn’t take long to learn that you couldn’t really trust anyone but yourself. Still, there were others that could at least be looked to for assistance should the crap hit the ceiling. Lain and Kata were at the top of that very small list.
The vigiladies crept along the street, the cracked pavements allowing slivers of greenery freedom to try to overgrow the cement jungle. One day Mother Nature would take this place back.
A low bird call rang through the eerie silence.