“I see a child, but I still can feel the woman inside you,” he said, holding her hand.
“I feel a bit creepy holding the hand of a man young enough to be a child of mine,” Mia said. “Today, a thirteen-year-old Ted kissed me, and all I could think of was yuck.”
This caused Burt to laugh despite the situation they were in. “Not too much different than normal.”
“You are a cruel man, Burt Hicks.”
They had made the center of the lobby by the time Murphy joined them. He guarded their backs as they moved slowly towards a crowd of insane ghosts. The followers of the doctor were pressed against the glass windows and, unfortunately, the glass doors.
“WHAT IS ALL THIS COMMOTION!” bellowed a voice from above them.
Murphy looked up and saw the mad doctor who thought he was king. “Mia, the crazy monarch is here,” he warned.
“Who are you?” he asked. “Why have you taken my prize patient?” he asked.
Mia let go of Burt’s hand and hissed to Burt, “At the first opportunity, get to Cid. He’s a little chubby fella with big glasses.” She turned and looked up at the doctor.
“You with the white hair, you do not belong here,” he said. “Men only.”
“I’ve come to collect what is mine. Thank you for keeping him safe,” she lied. “In your honor, I’ve brought this entertainment for your court.”
The doctor wavered a moment. Murphy could tell he was drawing power from the guard on either side of him. “Mia, he’s recharging,” he warned.
“We need to get Burt out. Whatever it takes,” Mia said, pulling a handful of jacks out of her pocket. She divided them between her two hands. She turned and scattered the jacks. The ghosts were confused by the pops and the smoke. It didn’t affect them as much as it drew their attention away from the glass doors.
Burt ran for it while Murphy hewed anyone who got wise and headed in pursuit.
Mia continued to attract the insane army. They stood in a large circle around her, watching what she would do now. Mia unwound the jump rope and started jumping.
Burt was three yards from the door when a large stag jumped through the glass, knocking Burt aside as it charged towards Mia.
Murphy picked him up and pointed to the door. “Go. Find Cid, and snap that candle in two. Don’t look back.”
Mia turned and looked in alarm as the stag methodically tossed whatever ghosts were in its way to either side. Mia called for her knives. Although she doubted the trick would work twice. This wasn’t a low-class assassin; this was the best. Unfortunately, in this form, it was primal, and it couldn’t be reasoned with.
The doctor saw the stag as more of a threat than Mia, so he ordered his army to attack the deer-woman.
The deer-woman didn’t see the ghosts as a danger, but when Mia started to use the insane battlers as a shield, she became angry. The deer-woman called for assistance.
The air popped around them as the large hands pushed into the realm of the living.
“Murphy, get the fuck out of here!” Mia screamed, “REAPERS!”
“No. I’m with you.”
“I need you out there with Burt. He’s dazed and confused. You can’t save me. I’ll fight as long as I can. The only way I live is by resetting time,” Mia told him.
Murphy knew she was right. He took one last look at the white-haired child who was coiling the jump rope.
He found Burt hiding behind a large tree. He looked and saw the reason for his concern. A reaper was moving slowly around the open space between the building and the wall.
Murphy knew to confront the large hand was a folly. He moved to Burt and said, “I’ll lead him away. You have to get to Cid.”
“Snap the candle in two,” Burt confirmed.
Murphy sent Mia a mental message he didn’t know if she could receive as young as her talents were, but he had to try. He said, “Stone fruit trees will always be my favorite.”
Murphy gathered as much energy as nature would give him and sped across the path of the reaper. He took his axe and sliced off the thumb of the creature and sped away.
The reaper gave chase.
Burt left his hiding place and went in search of Cid, whom he assumed had taken refuge when the reapers arrived.
Mia faced the stag. It charged her with its deadly antlers. Visions of Father Santos’s body impaled on a future deer-woman’s antler points flashed in Mia’s mind. “That is so not how I want to die,” she said as she managed to jump out of the way. The stag slid on the linoleum floor. It regained its footing and came at Mia again. This time, she tossed half the rope into the points of the beast as she dove to the side and pulled hard.
The rope jerked the head of the stag to the side, not fast enough to crack the neck of the beast, but fast enough to break half the points off as it sliced through the antlers when the stag fought to right itself. Mia ran alongside the creature and sliced it with the knives in her hand. Blood sprayed behind Mia. She hated to destroy this creature, but she had to stay alive as long as she could. She was very aware that the reapers were presently cleaning the hospital of inmates and would soon return to take her.
“Stone fruit trees will always be my favorite.” Murphy’s message filled her mind. Tears filled her eyes, and her nose burned. He knew he wasn’t going to make it. He was telling her in his own way how proud
