We went inside. The interior of the club was devoid of ghosts. It was also an almost uniform brown, the color of an old cigar. That seemed to be the best this world could muster when blacks were called for.
'What does the Between look like at night?' I asked Honey.
'Like night, only bluer.'
'Huh.'
I walked across the club to the dance floor and stopped in the middle. I turned around.
'Hello?' I called. 'Anyone here?' There wasn't even the barest hint of an echo. The words just died in the air.
'I am here,' said a voice from the brownish shadows. I recognized the accent.
'Fred? Is that you? Come on out here where I can get a look at you.'
Low laughter, like rats in the walls. I couldn't get a fix on the sound. It was like a theater audio system that kept switching channels.
'Don't make me come looking for you, Fred. Let's have a talk and I won't have to put the beat-down on you again.'
'Uh, Domino…' Honey said nervously.
'Oh, I don't think we'll have to worry about that. You're in my world now, Miss Riley.'
'Your world, huh? I didn't see your name on it.' It sounds weak, I know, but I was just trying to keep him talking, see if I could home in on his position.
I caught a blur of motion out of the corner of my eye, and turned. Something brushed past me, and I wheeled around. Nothing. Soft laughter seemed to float from every corner of the room.
I reached for the juice and started to spin a spell. Nothing happened. I recalled my battle with the ghost dogs on the playground in Crenshaw. Oh, shit.
'Domino, watch out!' Honey cried.
I turned to look in her direction, and the vampire hit me from behind. I never actually saw him, so I'm assuming it was the vampire. The force of the impact whiplashed my entire body as I was launched across the club and through the front door. I hit the pavement, skidded, rolled and crashed into a bank of newspaper machines on the other side of the street. I'd been doing a lot of skidding recently. I was getting pretty good at it.
I lay there, dazed, and heard sounds of combat from inside the club. Actually it sounded more like an earthquake having a go at the place. The Goth ghosts showed no signs of noticing and remained standing patiently in line. I wondered distractedly how many of them the vampire had killed. Finally I got an arm up on the L.A. Times box and dragged myself to my feet. I started back across the street.
A shape materialized from out of the darkness behind the shattered doorway and quickly resolved into a giant speaker from the club's sound system. I dove to the parchment-colored asphalt as it traced a low ballistic arc over my head.
I looked up just as Honey flew out of the club. She was holding a tiny silver sword in her hand. Black magic- Fred's juice-ran down the blade and sizzled when it hit the pavement. Honey was hurt. Glittering green energy streamed from her wounds and hung in a contrail behind her.
The vampire appeared in the doorway. He paused and straightened his tie.
'Domino, run!' Honey yelled, zipping over my head.
While I'd more or less missed the fight, a few obvious facts came to mind. First, as I'd already seen, Honey was injured. Second, Honey was fleeing. And third, I couldn't put together a spell.
I got up and ran. The vampire's laughter chased me down the street.
'See you soon, Miss Riley,' he said, as I plunged into the mist and the world shifted around me. Eight We arrived back outside my condo, both Honey and I having instinctively realized that my first sojourn in the Between had reached a logical stopping point. I bent over and grabbed my knees.
'So, what are you doing tomorrow?' I gasped, looking up at the piskie. She'd alighted on the stucco banister that flanked the steps to the front door of the building.
'No plans,' she panted.
'Meet me here about ten?'
Honey shook her head. 'I'll cross with you. You're going to bring me over, remember?'
'Oh, yeah,' I said. 'Now?'
'Sure. It's not hard. When you get back, just call me like before. It might take a little more magic, but no big deal.'
I nodded. 'How bad are you hurt?'
'I'll be okay.' Her wings drooped and she was pressing her hand against a wound in her side. 'Just need some rest.'
'Sorry about that. Last time we met I owned that fucking guy. I can't cast spells here, though.'
Honey shook her head. 'It's not just that you can't cast spells. He's stronger here.'
'Yeah, what's up with that? He's a vampire and it's daytime.' I looked around. 'More or less. Shouldn't he be sleeping it off in a coffin somewhere?'
'Vampires exist simultaneously in the physical world and the Between. They're active in the physical world at night and in the Between during the day.'
'Oh, didn't know that.'
'And they're much stronger here, close to the Beyond, than they are in the mortal world.'
'Yeah, found that out. So what gives with my spells?'
Honey shrugged. 'Spells are for channeling and manifesting magic in the physical world.'
'This place sucks.'
'In the Between, everything is magic. You're magic. Well, a magical construct, really.' I'd added to my road rash collection when Fred threw me into the street, and Honey eyed the glowing blue juice soaking my shredded clothes.
'I'm a magical construct?'
'Yeah. All you can bring here is your magic, so that's what you are.'
'So my body is stronger here, but I can't cast spells.'
'Yeah, you could probably do all kinds of cool stuff if you knew how to fight.'
I scowled. 'I know how to fight. Fred just got the drop on me.'
'You never even saw him. You're strong enough, but you don't know how to use your power here.'
'So are you saying I need to learn kung fu or something?'
'No, kung fu is for manifesting ass-kickings in the physical world. Wouldn't help you much here, seeing as how you don't have a physical body or anything.'
'What then? There's something I need to do here, and I'm not going to be able to do it if a pussy like Fred can kick my ass.'
'You just need to learn how to control your magic in this place. Like I said, you're pretty strong, just inexperienced. Well, completely untrained, really.'
'How do I learn how to control my magic?'
Honey sighed. 'I suppose I could teach you.'
I laughed. 'No offense, Honey, but you're eight inches tall. And you have a sword.' I noticed the sword was missing. 'Where do you hide that thing, anyway?'
'It's a secret.'
'Whatever. Like I said, you have a sword, and you can fly. I'm sure you're quite the little warrior-princess, but I don't think you're-'
Honey blurred, there was a moment of intense pain, and then I was on my back and staring up at the pale yellow sky.
'Ow,' I said. I sat up, and Honey was perched on the banister again.
'I am, you know,' she said.
'What?'
'A warrior-princess.'
'Okay.'
'So do you want me to teach you?'
'I guess,' I said, climbing to my feet. I felt the instinctive need to rub away the pain, but I couldn't tell exactly
