about it-but only because she knew Mikey had nothing to worry about. She had no desire to abandon Mikey for someone else, and certainly not for Milos. So she entered into her friendship with Milos fully believing she had her eyes open and her mind set.
She was very wrong.
CHAPTER 10
Skinjacking for Fun and Profit
The following morning, Milos suggested a skinjacking expedition to a nearby roadside cafe. 'No disrespect is meant to you, my friend,' he said to Mikey apologetically, 'but like it or not, we skinjackers do have needs.'
Mikey could see how much Allie perked up at the suggestion. He could also see how much she tried to hide it.
'Yeah, yeah,' said Squirrel. 'Needs. Like we need to sit inside a nice, juicy fleshie, and enjoy their nice juicy bacon cheeseburger.'
'Why should I care if you skinjack?' Mikey said. 'Do whatever you want.'
Then Milos turned to Allie. 'You should join us,' he said. 'I can see you are in need.'
'She doesn't need anything,' said Mikey.
But Allie said, 'I can speak for myself, Mikey.' Then she looked at Milos, and said, 'Thank you for the invitation, but I'd prefer not to.'
This, Mikey knew was a lie-he knew she really did want to go, but instead she stayed with Mikey as the other three left. It was a good feeling to know she chose to say with him, but that was tempered by how bad he felt to know he was making her suffer.
'Tell ush about Mary the Shky Witsch.'
'Yeah, yeah, tell us.'
Milos, Moose, and Squirrel had come back from the diner in good spirits. It was dark now and all five of them rested on a deadspot on the highway shoulder. Like Allie, these three other skinjackers enjoyed the act of sleeping- a totally unnecessary thing for an Afterlight. Mikey much preferred nonstop wakefulness-but he had been willing to adhere to a living sleep cycle because that's what Allie preferred. Now he realized it must be a common desire among skinjackers. It was just one more thing making Mikey feel like the odd man out.
'Iz it true the Shky Witsch iz beautiful?'
'Is it true she rides in a giant balloon? Huh, huh?'
Apparently Moose and Squirrel wanted bedtime stories as they sat there in a small circle. There was no campfire, only the gentle light of their afterglows.
'Do we really need to talk about this?' said Mikey.
'Of course not,' said Milos. 'If you would rather not.' But then he added, 'I am curious, though. I have never met anyone who knows the Sky Witch or the Chocolate Ogre- and you know both!'
Well, Allie was the one who dropped their names, Mikey decided to let her field the questions.
'So, so you're friends with them?' asked Squirrel. 'The Chocolate Ogre-Nick, I mean-is my friend,' Allie said.
Moose shook his helmeted head. 'Thatsh a bad name for an ogre.'
'Nick's NOT an ogre. Or at least I don't think he is-I haven't seen him for a long time,' Allie said. 'We died in the same car accident.'
Both Moose and Squirrel looked over at Milos when she said that. Mikey wondered why, and wondered if Allie noticed.
'Sho what about the Shky Witch?' asked Moose.
'Her name is Mary Hightower,' Allie said.
'I know, I know,' said Squirrel excitedly. 'I seen her books!'
'Her real name is Megan,' said Mikey, feeling further and further out of the loop. 'Mary's just her middle name.' But the others ignored him.
'Don't believe everything you read in those books,' Allie said. 'She lies and makes stuff up when it suits her.'
'She does not have nice things to say about skinjackers,' Milos said. 'Still, I would like to meet her one day. She seems very… intriguing.'
'That's not the word I would use,' Allie said. 'She lures souls in, and traps them in an endless rut, doing the same thing day after day, forever.'
'And,' added Mikey, 'she's my sister.'
The others looked at him for a moment, and broke out laughing.
'Yeah, yeah,' Squirrel scoffed, 'and the McGill is my cousin.' Now Allie burst out laughing, which just made Mikey more annoyed.
'If the McGill was your cousin,' Mikey said, 'I can guarantee he'd disown you.'
Allie reached over and secretly squeezed Mikey's hand, leaving him to wonder what the squeeze meant. Was it a show of affection, or was she trying to tell him he was revealing too much information?
'Now it's your turn,' said Allie, changing the subject. 'Tell us about Jackin' Jill.'
Clearly this was a sore spot with the other skinjackers, because they all looked away. Finally Milos spoke up.
'She and I were very close,' he said.
'How close?' Mikey asked, realizing Milos had a nice wound worthy of being prodded and poked.
'Close,' was the only answer he gave. 'We traveled together, doing jobs for other Afterlights, in exchange for crossed objects.'
'Jobs?' asked Allie. 'What kinds of jobs?'
'Jobs that could only be accomplished by skinjackers,' Milos said. 'We would tell family members that their loved one in Everlost was all right. We would pass on some information that they otherwise would have taken to the grave. We would finish their unfinished business in the living world.'
'Yeah, yeah,' said Squirrel. 'There was one kid who was obsessed with finishing his model airplane. So Moose and I skinjacked a couple of neighbor kids and finished it for him.'
'And don't forget the time we got hired by that kid in Philly to beat up the fleshie that got him killed.' Milos sighed. 'Some tasks were more appropriate for Moose and Squirrel than others.'
'Impressive,' said Mikey, in spite of himself. The idea of using skinjacking as a profitable skill tickled Mikey where he lived.
'Yeah, yeah-we were very impressive-and we were rich, too,' said Squirrel.
Milos nodded. 'By Everlost standards. We had quite a collection of crossed objects-and these were not just ordinary items. We had gold and diamonds-our customers would trade us their prized possessions in return for what we could offer. We even had a Porsche.'
'No way!' said Allie.
'It's true, it's true,' said Squirrel, 'but it was a pain in the neck, 'cause it could only drive on roads that don't exist no more.'
'Jill would be the one to pass on messages to the living. She was best at convincing the living that the message was real.' Milos looked off, caught in the memory. 'Then, one day we woke up, and Jill was gone, along with the car and all of our finest things-and she even stole things from the vapor of Afterlights that had taken us in. There were many, and they were all furious.'
'Yeah, yeah-they thought we had done it. We had to skinjack our way to safety. Lucky there were some fleshies around.'
'Jackin' Jill took everything worth taking,' said Moose. 'Everything! But we're gonna find her. And when we do…'He smashed his fist into his palm.
'I'm sorry,' Allie said to Milos, with a level of compassion that made Mikey sick. 'Serves them right!' Mikey said. 'It's what you get for being greedy.'
Allie threw him a disapproving glare. 'You of all people shouldn't talk about greed!'
