Ann Aguirre - Hell Fire

Until he leads me to the other eleven. Until then, I needed him.

Jesse nodded. “Good to know. I didn’t think so, but these folks are to blame for your loss. I’m not sure what I’d do in your shoes.”

Most likely, he thought me kinder and gentler than I was. I didn’t dispel the ideal right then, but I was afraid he might be unpleasantly surprised if he took a good long look. Deep down, I suspected Jesse Saldana might be a much better person than me.

As we finished our lunch, a thought struck me. “How many people are on the town council?”

Shannon shrugged. “No idea.”

“Who’s the mayor?” I pushed away from the table and went to the fridge for bottled water. If we were doing this, we needed to be prepared.

“Reverend Prentice,” she said.

“Your grandfather.” It wasn’t a question. Chance leaned forward, finally seeming interested in the conversation.

Shannon looked embarrassed, hunching her shoulders. “Yeah, we’re what you call a ‘founding family.’ We can trace our line on my mother’s side all the way back to the people who first settled here.”

“That’s a long time,” Jesse said mildly.

Something about that revelation nagged at me, but we didn’t have time to pursue it. We needed to get into the woods before the day got any later. Jesse insisted we take a couple of back-packs stocked with crackers and water, just in case. Chance added a flashlight.

I changed into old jeans and a faded sweatshirt, layered that with a light jacket, and then put on battered sneakers. The others donned similar uniforms, and then we were ready. Butch trotted after us, so I paused.

“You want to come?”

The dog gave an affirmative yap.

“Promise not to run off this time?”

I swore he sighed. Then he barked once to confirm his good intentions. Before adopting this attitudinal Chihuahua with his lion-sized heart and spiked collar, I had no idea dogs could have so much personality. Half smiling, I picked him up and stepped outside to gaze at the nearby tangle of trees.

Though it was daylight, the forest cast long shadows. Spanish moss hung like spiderwebs, making the woods look even more foreboding. Scaly-bark cedar, white hickories, red maple, sycamore, sassafras, and black gum trees grew here. I’d come to know this wood too well the night my mother died. The hickories, maples, and sycamores guarded the perimeter, and as the terrain grew wetter, they gave way to bald cypress and giant tupelo, but if you found yourself that far in, you most likely wouldn’t find your way out again.

On most of the trees, the leaves had turned but not fallen. When the wind kicked up, it carried a desiccated rustle like dying things, and it made me think of the ghosts that whispered in Mr. McGee’s radio. The air was heavy with brine and a hint of threatening rain, like a fine static shock lifting your hair a whisper off your neck. It had been a wet November compared to what I remembered as typical. September and October were normally dry and sunny, as I recalled, true Indian summer.

That was very different from where I lived now. In Mexico, spring was the hottest time of the year. If you weren’t careful, you could run out of water with the city on rationing. I’d once needed to call a private water truck to refill my tank when I hadn’t noticed a slow drip from my outdoor tap. Then, when summertime—rainy season—rolled around, you could set your watch by afternoon storms. Sometimes hail pinged down on the passing cars, filling the air with the wet rush of tires and a peppery serenade. Like a listing iron rooster weather vane on top of a farmhouse, my memories of this place carried a tarnished patina of fear and darkness, making me more reluctant to do what I knew needed to be done.

Shit, I hoped I was brave enough for this. I could sense the thing’s sharpening prickle of attention, like it had been watching us the whole time, and now it knew something interesting was about to happen. I started to think better of this idea. I mean, the forest was huge, right? How did we think we could find anything at all in there?

Before I could drown in fear and doubt, the other three filed out, and we set off. Since he’d been there with me, Jesse led the way, Shannon and I walked in between, and Chance brought up the rear. I was pretty sure the guys had come up with that to try to protect us. I doubted it would work, but I appreciated the intent.

As we stepped into the trees, the air chilled markedly.

Behind me, Shannon shivered and pressed closer. “I haven’t been out here since last year.”

When that kid went missing. She didn’t need to provide context; I understood her fear.

The trees loomed over us, bleak and skeletal. Like a lattice of graying bones, the limbs twined heavy overhead. Underfoot, fallen branches crackled as we walked. Ordinarily, silence didn’t bother me, but here, it did. There were no birds, no small animals nearby. I told myself it was just the season, but I drew the lapels of my jacket together nonetheless.

“Ideas on where to start?” Jesse asked.

I didn’t have any. None of our talents offered any help for this situation. Chance’s luck wasn’t working at all; Jesse might be able to find survivors; Shannon could only talk to the dead, if—

“We need to go back,” I said excitedly. “I have an idea.”

To my amazement, they didn’t ask, but just tromped back the way we came. They waited outside while I ran in. When I returned, I was carrying John McGee’s old radio. Shannon recoiled when she saw what I had, but Chance and Jesse looked intrigued.

“What did you have in mind?” Saldana asked as we retraced our steps.

“I was thinking maybe Shannon only had trouble with John McGee because they”—whoever they were—“knew we were trying to talk to him before he died. So they did a little afterlife damage control.”

Chance nodded to show he was following. “But to forbid her from communicating with all spirits around these parts would take a major working.”

“And I don’t think we’re up against that kind of magickal mojo. If we were, we’d be looking at sendings such as we had in Laredo, and so far, it’s been minor stuff. If there is a black coven here, I don’t think they have much juice.”

“That makes sense,” Jesse agreed, “and it fits the pattern.”

“What do you want me to do?” Shannon gazed at me wide-eyed, as if worried the trouble she’d had before would revisit itself on her.

That wasn’t good; she needed to face that fear, or she’d never get past it. Maybe these scary-ass woods weren’t the best place for it, but our enemies wouldn’t be able to target a spell if we kept moving; hence the big advantage to doing this on the fly.

“You knew Rob,” I said carefully. “There’s a good chance you can get in touch with him and maybe he can guide us to his body.”

Chance nodded. “That’s better than roaming around blindly.”

“But if you feel anything’s wrong, stop before it gets too tough, okay?”

She considered for a moment and then said, “I’ll give it a shot.” With some reluctance, she took the radio from me, flicked it on, and started messing with the tuning dial. Her eyes closed as she focused.

The antique radio crackled, hissing as she went point by point along spectral frequencies. Around us, the chill increased, eddying around us in currents that I imagined as spirits drawn to the power she exuded. Such unearthly cold could only come from a complete dearth of life. It reminded me of the shades that nearly drained me dry in Texas; I couldn’t repress a shiver.

“Cold—,” whispered a fuzzy voice through the old speakers. The person sounded young, frightened. “Shannon, I’m cold.”