At first all she could see were his eyes, burning black holes in the pallor of his hard face. More details slid into view as she stood, frozen, unable to think of anything but the fact that her workbag was still in her apartment. She had no salt or bones, no herbs, no Ectoplasmarker, no way to protect herself or summon a psychopomp.
And the farther underground one went, the more powerful the ghosts became.
On top of his head sat a peaked cap of some kind, sepia tinged as though it had been brown in life. It matched his jacket and the suggestion of baggy trousers below his belt before his feet faded into nothing.
Lex, to his credit, stood rock still next to her. He barely seemed to be breathing.
I thought you said the walls here were banded with iron, she muttered.
I lied.
Great. Chess turned to the ghost, holding her hands palm up, hoping he would read innocence and helplessness from the gesture.
Were just passing through, she said carefully. Were not trying to disturb you.
It didnt work. The ghost shrunk, his features twisting into a furious grimace, like a lion preparing to pounce. Chess spun away, grabbing Lexs arm.
Get us out of here! Get us out of here now!
The filth on the floor sucked at her feet as they ran into the darkness. Behind them she felt the ghost, felt the freezing cold of its spectral body almost touching her back. They couldnt get away, there was no way to escape it. Ghosts didnt get tired. They didnt give up.
The bulb ahead of them flashed, blinding her, before exploding in a shower of powdery glass. Chess ducked her head and yanked up the bottom of her T-shirt to cover her face.
Her left foot slipped sideways. She kept running, taking long, awkward steps in an attempt to keep her balance. Lexs fingers bit into her skin as he grabbed her, dragging her along like a reluctant toddler.
She didnt know what made her fall, if it was simply that she could not regain her stride or if the ghost somehow managed to hit her with something. Aboveground they couldnt attack humans without using a weapon. Below, all the rules changed.
Filthy water filled her nose and stung her eyes. It tasted like sewage and iron. She gagged, trying to raise herself back up, but something forced her head back down.
Her fingers curled into sludge as she tried to grab hold of something, anything, to help her. Filth oozed through the bandage on her palm and soaked her wound. In the chaos of the tunnel her heartbeat seemed unnaturally loud, only drowned out when the roar of a gunshot made the floor beneath her vibrate.
She thought her ear drums were going to explode. The sound didnt stop, reverberating through the confined steel-and-concrete space for what felt like hours, while she struggled beneath the weight on her back.
Gathering all of her remaining strength, she managed to shift her body sideways, lifting her face out of the foul wet slime. Air rasped into her throat to fill her lungs. A very dim light still shone, enough for her to see Lex backed against the wall, aiming for another shot.
No! Put it away! It was meant to be a scream. It came out more as a gurgle.
Metal glinted above her head as the ghost raised his hands. In them he clutched the end of a piece of pipe from the ceiling. If he touched her with it, she was dead. Even from her position on the floor she could see the wires sparking inside it.
Time froze. Chess watched the pipe start its descent, watched a single glint of light erupt from the end of it and die. Her fingers found a seam in the wall and gripped it, so hard she felt each individual piece of grit in the cement as she struggled to pull herself out from beneath the ghosts legs.
Lex stepped forward, his heavy industrial boot catching the pipe and trapping it between the wall and the rubber sole. The ghost turned to him, its face contorted in fury.
Chess scrambled out of the way as Lex fell backward. The ghost lifted the pipe again, aiming for him. He ducked. Metal rang against cement.
Break the pipe! she shouted, hoping Lex would understand as the ghost turned on her.
Lex did. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him leap up and hook the length still attached to the ceiling with his bent arm, using his leather jacket as insulation. For a moment he hung in the air, his legs spread like a professional basketball player making a slam dunk, before the brackets holding the pipe creaked and snapped and they were plunged into blackness.
Get out the water, he gasped. Something scraped behind her as she braced her feet against the very edges of the floor.
It only took a second, but it felt like forever that she stayed there, shivering and covered in filth, listening to Lexs heavy breathing in the dark.
Then light exploded through the tunnel as the live wires hit the sludgy mess covering the walkway.
Like a photo negative Chess saw Lexs tall, slim form outlined in blinding blue-white, saw the ghost contort and disappear. She squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as she could but still she saw it, still she heard the shrieking hiss as thousands of volts poured through the tunnel.
A final explosion, somewhere in the distance, and it was over. She didnt realize she was crying until she tasted salt on her lips.
You right, tulip?
He could have been anywhere. Right beside her, or fifteen feet away. She started to nod before she realized he couldnt see her, either.
Im fine.
His hand brushed her arm. Didnt know electricals killed the kickers.
They dont. I mean, it doesnt work that way. It was probably an energy overload. Shorts them out, same as the lights. It would also get her shoved into a cell for a few months if anyone from the Church ever found out about it. Spectral abuse was a pretty serious issue, ever since some descendants found out a Debunker purposely summoned a spirit wolf instead of a dog and it savaged the ghost. The descendants sued and won.
Metal clicked against metal, and the tunnel filled with a soft yellowish glow. Lex held the lighter up near his head. More light a few turns away. Lets us move, aye?
Is the ground safe?
Safe enough. Transformer blew, Im guessing. He stomped his feet in the sludge. No volts here.
Not quite as brave as he, Chess stepped gingerly into the center of the path. Okay, then. Can we get out of here now?
He laughed softly. Whatever you say, tulip, whatever you say.
Half an hour under the hot water in her own bathroom was just about enough to get the stink of sewer out of her nose. Funny how the tunnel itself hadnt smelled so bad, but that mess at the bottomurgh. Her hand stung from the water and the gallon of disinfectant shed soaked it in.
The only thing the shower didnt help was knowing what she had to do next. Terribles note had not been eloquent, but it had been clear. He didnt appreciate being stood up when they were supposed to go back to Chester that afternoon, and she couldnt blame him.
She popped another Cept on her way out the door, preparing to be yelled at. He hadnt said on the note where he would be, but the Dusters were playing at Chucks on Fiftieth, and she bet shed find him there. The Mortons would have to wait. They wouldnt break down her door or cause her severe physical pain if she failed to break into their home tonight without their knowledge. Terrible might do one or both of those things if she didnt make an appearance immediately.
Donning clean jeans, a semi sheer black top, and a pair of high-heeled boots, she tucked her knifereturned to her by Lex when he let her out of the tunnel six blocks from her housea twenty, and her keys into her pocket and headed out.
Two steps down the hall she turned back and grabbed a small bag of asafetida, too. It had been stupid to go out without it the night before. She wouldnt make that mistake again.
Of course, it had been stupid to trust a word Lex said and go into the tunnel to begin with. It had been stupid to sort of agree to this. Hell, pretty much everything shed done in the last few days had been stupid.
Nothing she could do to change it now. Surely some way to keep two drug dealers and their various minions in the dark about her activities, while pretending to one that she couldnt Banish Chesters ghosts, would come to her. Probably in the car. Most of her best ideas came to her in the car.
Her heels clicked pleasantly on the pavement as she rounded the corner of Fiftieth and Ace. The usual suspects dotted the street, shoulders hunched against the mild November chillrockabilly punks like Terrible with their greased DAs and bowling shirts, a few old-school kids like Lex with spiked hair and padlocks around their necks, even some lounge boys in sharkskin jackets and creepers. Most of the girls dressed like Chess. Punks were like birds. The men got to decorate more than the women, as a rule.
The Dusters hadnt started playing yet, so everyone was outside drinking from paper bags. Chess bummed a smoke off a retro skater kidcomplete with a ragged Lance Mountain T-shirt she imagined would fall apart if he tried to wash itand crossed her arms, scanning the crowd for Terrible. Might as well get it over with.
He didnt seem to be there. Most of the faces were familiar, but his wasnt one of them. She circled the crowd, frowning. If he wasnt there shed have to go to Bumps, and shed rather see the show.
A couple made out against the gritty stucco wall on the side of the club. Chess watched them for a second, embarrassed to do so but unable to turn away, something quiet and small twisting in her chest.
The girl was a little thing, platinum blond, in a miniskirt and a pair of platform heels that looked like they weighed more than her entire body. Her thin legs crossed at the ankle behind the guys waist, while her tiny, pale hands dug into his back. Chess couldnt see her face; it was almost entirely hidden by the guys hands, cupping her cheeks like he thought the bones might break. Chess didnt think shed ever been touched like that. A pang of pure envy ran through her.
The girl caressed the back of his neck and lifted her hands to twine her fingers in his hair. His hips pressed forward, pinning her against the wall, and he dipped his head to kiss her throat. The light caught the prominent ridge of his brow and the crooked bump of his nose.