thing-it was there in the panicked look on her face.
'I'll go after it!' Mikey told her. 'I'll dive down after it and bring it back!' But even as he said it, he knew it wouldn't work. Yes, he had ridden the horse out of the earth once before, but such a feat required a certain passion he no longer had. The monster within him had been tamed, but domestication came with a cost. Surely he still had the power to pull himself out of the depths, but he doubted he could do it on horseback.
Mikey had no way of knowing that Allie's troubled look had little to do with the horse. She had run from the gas station so quickly, she actually felt out of breath-a sensation that was technically impossible for an Afterlight, and yet still she felt it. When she saw the horse go off the dock, her heart sank. First for the loss of Shiloh, and second, because with him went their only chance for a quick escape.
She tried to get Mikey's attention, but he still blustered like the storm clouds above. 'Stupid horse!'
'Forget about that! We've got a bigger problem.' She grabbed him and forced him to look at her. 'Skinjackers.'
'Huh?'
'Two of them! They've been following us-we've got to get out of here!' But as she turned, she realized it was too late. The two skinjackers were at the foot of the dock, stalking toward them. Allie had not seen them in their true form-she had only seen the hosts they had inhabited. In a way it was easier to face them in the living world, where everything was limited by the simple rules of flesh and bone.
Even though she had never actually seen their faces, she knew which was which. The skinjacker to the right was tall and thin, with a puffy, rodentlike face. He had knobby knees and elbows-too knobby, actually-exaggerated like his skewed grin, which practically stretched all the way to his right ear.
'Well, well,' he said. 'Jackin' Jill has a friend!'
The other skinjacker was in a blue and white football uniform, and his face was little more than a pair of unpleasant eyes in a football helmet. He was big-the kind of kid who was destined to be a linebacker whether he was good at the sport or not. Now, after what must have been a very bad game for him, he was stuck as a permanent linebacker in Everlost. When he spoke, his words came out slurred and slobbery, due to the fact that he also had a mouth guard stuck perpetually between his teeth.
'Wait a shecond,' he said. 'That'sh not Jackin' Jill!'
'It is! It is!' said the skinny one. 'She just made herself look different, that's all!'
'She can't do shumthing like that, can she?'
Allie leaned over to Mikey and whispered in his ear. 'We'll run on the count of three.'
To which Mikey responded, 'I don't run. And neither do you.'
He was right about that. But seeing other skinjackers- it had shaken her even more than she realized. 'Okay,' she said. 'We'll fight them.' Then she thought about how she had been pushed against the gas pump. 'But the football player's mine.'
Both Allie and Mikey prepared themselves for the battle, but before it could begin, someone else showed up on the scene. A fleshie came running onto the dock. A teenaged, leather-clad punk with spiky hair that defied the rain. But in an instant the wet spikes resolved into dry curls, and the face became a little less angular. It took a moment for Allie to realize what was happening. A third skinjacker had arrived, and he had just peeled out of his host. He wore a striped T-shirt that was a little too tight for his muscular frame, and he was old by Everlost standards. Seventeen maybe. While the punk-fleshie toddled off in confusion, the third skinjacker grabbed the gangly kid and the football player.
'What do you think you are doing!' he demanded. He had an accent that Allie couldn't quite place at first.
'It's Jackin' Jill!' said the gangly one, weakly.
'Does she look like Jackin' Jill to you?' the third skinjacker said. The accent was definitely Eastern European. If Allie had to guess, she would say it was Russian.
The football player wasn't sure whether to shake his head or to nod, so he did a little bit of both. It made him look like a bobblehead doll. 'When we shaw her jack the fat girl back in Virginia, we weren't closhe enough to shee her faish.'
'Yeah, Yeah,' said the other one, 'and when she peeled out we had to hang way back, so we still didn't see her face then, either.'
The Russian kid heaved a heavy, resigned sigh, then he turned to Allie and Mikey, apologetically. 'This is my fault,' he said. 'When they told me they found a skinjacker, I told them to keep their eyes on you. Now I realize I should have done it myself.' He let go of the other two, and took a step forward. 'I am Milos-and you have already met Moose and Squirrel.'
He threw an angry look at his cohorts, and Moose pushed Squirrel, nearly launching him off the side of the dock. 'It was hish fault!' Squirrel pushed him back, but it wasn't nearly as effective.
'You have some nerve spying on us at all!' Mikey said.
'Please, forgive me,' Milos said calmly, 'but we have had some… bad experiences, and they thought you were someone else.'
'They attacked me,' Allie said. 'I had to hurt a couple of fleshies because of them.' Mikey looked at them, furious, and clenched his fists. 'They attacked you?'
'I assure you this will not happen again.' The third skinjacker turned to Moose and Squirrel. 'Your behavior was unacceptable. Apologize!'
The two looked down like kids in the principal's office.
'Sorry,' said Squirrel.
'Yeah, shorry,' said Moose.
Allie shook her head. 'Sometimes sorry's not enough.'
'Then,' said Milos with a slight bow, 'allow me to make it up to you.' He held his hand out in an open-palmed gesture, as if he expected Allie to place her hand in his. She didn't.
'You can make it up to us,' said Mikey, 'by getting lost.'
Milos remained calm and smooth. 'But have you not longed for the company of other skinjackers?' he asked Mikey. 'Surely we can put all this behind us and start again.'
Apparently Milos just assumed that Mikey was also a skinjacker. Mikey didn't say anything to correct him, so Allie kept quiet about it as well.
'We're fine on our own,' Mikey said.
Although Allie knew they didn't need Milos's help, and certainly had no desire to spend quality time with Moose and Squirrel, there was something enticing about Milos. He was civilized and sane-she could see it in his eyes-curious eyes that were blue, speckled with white, like a sky dotted with clouds. It would be a relief having another skinjacker to talk to-someone who could understand what it was like. 'We're on our way to Memphis,' Allie told him, and Mikey looked at her, incredulous.
Milos smiled. 'Then allow us to accompany you. At least part of the way.'
'No!' said Mikey.
Allie gently took Mikey's hand, holding it to reassure him-and also to make it clear to Milos that the two of them were together in every way that mattered.
'You can travel with us for a little while,' Allie said. 'I'm Allie. This is Mikey.'
Moose gasped. 'Allie the Outcasht?'
Mikey grabbed him by his face guard, pulled him close and growled in his face. 'That's right. Touch her again and you'll wish you never died.'
'Yesh shir,' said Moose.
'Now,' said Milos, 'I suggest we get off this dock before we sink right through it.' He gestured for Allie to take the lead, which she did-and although she never let go of Mikey's hand, she couldn't help but appreciate Milos's suave manner. Most of the boys she had met in Everlost were wild to the point of being feral. Allie never considered herself a lady, but for once it was nice to be treated like one. In her book Further Reasons for Caution, Mary Hightower has this to say about roving bands of skinjackers:
'While a single skinjacker is trouble enough, a group of wild skinjackers is a frightening prospect, indeed. These Afterlights caught between two worlds are to be pitied and feared, for the madness of flesh has infected their minds. If word reaches you of skinjackers in your area, it is best for all involved to steer clear of them, and report the sighting to an authority.'
