Keene Brian - A Gathering of Crows

“Damn straight,” Gus agreed, staring at his brother’s corpse. “We ain’t gone through all of this just to leave you behind, Axel. That wouldn’t be very neighborly. Wouldn’t be very Christian, either.”

Donny turned to Levi. His eyes were pleading. “There has to be something you can do. We can make a stand here.”

Levi glanced back at their foes and sighed long and mournfully. Then he turned back to them. His expression was grave.

“Take me to the woman and her child.”

“And?”

“And then do exactly as I say.”

Axel shut the door behind them and led the group back through the house and down into the basement. A lone candle burned. A young, pretty woman and a young boy who looked exactly like her sat huddled in the corner. The woman was stroking the boy’s hair and whispering in his ear. They looked up as the men entered, and stared at Levi in confusion.

“You can call him Levi Stoltzfus,” Donny said. “He’s here to help. Levi, this is Jean and Bobby Sullivan.”

“Nice to meet you,” Jean said. Then she turned to Donny. “And I’m sorry about your mom. I haven’t had a chance to see you since you came back.”

“Yeah,” Donny said. “Hell of a homecoming.”

“That it is, hon. That it is.”

“You lit a candle?” Paul pointed.

“I had to,” Jean explained. “Bobby was scared. I figured one wouldn’t hurt.”

Levi focused on their surroundings, studying the layout of the cellar and quickly inventorying its contents. He talked as he walked around the room.

“The universe is a lot bigger—and a lot more complex—than any of you know. Consider for a moment that the universe is infinite. Then consider the number of planets that infinite space must contain. Staggering, yes? And yet, that is only a very small part of what makes up the universe. There are other dimensions and other realities, and each of them are infinite, as well.”

He paused in front of a door and peeked inside. It opened into a shallow closet, inside of which were three shelves overflowing with old board games and forgotten winter clothing. He closed the door and continued.

“There is a way to move between all of these different worlds in all of these various dimensions and realities. It’s called the Labyrinth. Think of it as a dimensional shortcut of sorts. It weaves through time and space, nowhere and yet everywhere all at once. It connects to everything . Everything. Many supernatural beings—creatures beyond mankind’s knowledge—use it to travel between worlds and traverse dimensions. Some humans have traveled though it, as well. Sadly, for them, such an endeavor usually leads to tragedy. Normally, the only time we’re meant to see the Labyrinth is when our spirit has departed our body and we travel to the realms of existence beyond this one. But there are ways to pass though it while still alive. Safe ways. All it takes is the knowledge of how to open one of the doorways.”

“Sounds like an episode of Doctor Who ,” Donny said.

Levi frowned. “I’ve never heard of it. I don’t watch much television.”

“I hadn’t heard of it either until I went to Iraq. A buddy of mine used to watch it on his laptop. Guy flies around in a phone booth and goes to different worlds and stuff.”

“A friend of mine,” Levi said, “a reporter named Maria, told me that scientists call this string theory— different dimensions stacked up against each other like membranes. They are partially right. It sounds like this doctor program is partially right, as well.”

“Not for nothing,” Paul said, “but how does any of this help us?”

Levi pulled out his compass and studied it. To his dismay, the needle simply spun in a circle, not settling on any one point. He wondered if this could be some sort of residual effect of the soul cage, or if the compass was simply faulty. He put it back in his vest pocket and turned to Axel.

“You wouldn’t happen to own a compass, would you Mr. Perry, or anything else that I could use to determine direction?”

“No,” Axel replied, “but if you need to know which direction is which, I can help you there. If you turn round, back to that broom closet you were just snooping in, you’ll be facing due north.”

“Excellent.” Levi glanced at the ceiling. “And there are no eaves or decorations over our heads. Were it not for everything else, this would be absolutely perfect.”

Donny shook his head. “Everything else?”

“Normally, I would fast before attempting this working. Also, I’m missing some of the ingredients. Understand, I’m not a novice. I can do this without them. It just makes me uncomfortable—uneasy—to do so. These are forces that it’s better not to tamper with.”

“I don’t have a fucking clue what you just said.”

Levi chuckled. “That’s okay, Donny. It’s probably better that you don’t.”

“Just do whatever it is you’ve got to do,” Paul said.

“I need a minute to myself.”

“Do we have another minute?” Gus asked. “Will those things stay stuck outside that long?”

“Let us hope so. Could one of you snuff out the candle?”

Paul did as he’d asked. Levi fell silent. He stood in front of the closet door, bowed his head, folded his hands in front of him and then closed his eyes. His breathing grew shallow. He remained like that for a moment, feeling their gaze upon him.

“The hell is he doing?” Gus whispered.

“I don’t know,” Paul said. “Heck of a time for a nap.”

“Maybe he’s praying,” Jean said.

“Leave him alone, guys.” Donny’s tone was stern.

“I’ve seen him do things tonight that… well, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you, even with everything that’s happened.”

“None of this seems very Christian,” Gus said. “I thought Amish folks were Christians.”

Donny groaned. “You sound like Esther. She gave him shit earlier about that.”

“Oh,” Gus replied, “I ain’t saying there’s anything wrong with it. It just surprised me, is all. As for Esther, well… she’s old. Old folks are like that. Set in their ways.”

“Hey,” Axel said. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“No offense. I didn’t mean nothing by it.”

Levi opened his eyes again, and the others fell silent.

His arm was no longer numb. His senses were once again sharp and alert. Without speaking, he walked over to the couch, pulled off the red blanket that had been draped over the back of it, and returned to the closet door. The blanket smelled of dust and disuse, and he idly wondered how often Mr. Perry used this basement before tonight. He spread the blanket out in front of the door and smoothed it out with his hands. Then he reached into his pockets and pulled out the rest of the salt. He poured this on the floor in a circle around the blanket. Finished, he motioned them over.

“I need you all to stand together, as close as possible. It’s very important that you be on the blanket from this point on. Whatever happens—even if our enemies break in here—do not go beyond this circle of salt. Don’t reach beyond it for anything. Don’t stretch beyond it, not even an elbow or the tip of your toe. If we are attacked, stand where you are. Don’t flee. If you have to sneeze, cover your mouth. Don’t even spit beyond the circle.”

Paul stared at him, clearly puzzled. “Why not?”

“Because nothing must break the circle. Do all of you understand?”

One by one, they nodded.

“In a moment,” Levi said, “I’m going to tell all of you to close your eyes. When I do that, you’ll need to keep them closed until I tell you to open them again. I can’t stress this enough. It’s even more important than not breaking the circle. We’ll walk together, hand in hand. I’ll lead you. It will be very quick, but it might not seem that way to you. You may hear things. Smell things. Even feel things. Ignore them. Whatever happens, do not open your eyes.”