Maria shrugged. In all honesty, one time Gramps had mentioned something about the world’s biggest plate of spaghetti. He was into weird stuff like that.
“No. It’s not a vacation. It’s more of a…mission.”
“ ‘A mission’?” they said in unison. “What are you, a secret agent?” Tabby added.
“Yeah, are you Jack Sparrow or Tom Cruise? You can’t be both.”
Maria didn’t see why not, but she had since thought of herself, in light of the recent discoveries, as a mix between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Harry Potter. Except she wasn’t slaying vampires…yet. She was slaying giant spiders. Or at least, she hoped if it came down to it, she would come out on top.
Tom Sparrow has a nice ring to it, eh? Sherlock said.
Again, Maria ignored him.
“No, I’m going back where I came from,” Maria said.
“So, St. Thomas Hospital?” Tabby said.
That was it. Maria had tried to ease them into it. She wished she had proof, like she had proof when she and Claire were in the mall parking lot. Maybe a first class ticket to Oriceran or something like that. She was pretty sure it didn’t work that way.
“Oriceran! I’m going to Oriceran. I’m going to save that village of people I told you about, Claire! My village.”
Both girls stood saying nothing, trying to wrap their head around it.
Finally, Tabby spoke. “Oriceran? Isn’t that in South America?”
Maria sighed. She walked over and hugged them. They were both rigid as corpses. She wished this meeting could’ve gone better. There was a chance it could be their last meeting. But not everything works out the way you want it to in life — a lesson Gramps had taught her when she was much younger.
“I love you both. I’m glad you are my friends.” She kissed each one on the cheek. Claire made an audible yeech noise. Maria ignored it. “I hope I see you again. My heart tells me I will, but the path ahead is unclear. I can’t say for certain.”
“Geez, you’re starting to sound like your grandpa,” Tabby said. “Weird.”
Maria said nothing. She snapped her fingers, motioning for Sherlock to follow her. His toenails clicked on the plastic slide as he came down, and the two of them left Claire’s backyard.
A talking dog, and a telepathic witch with a sword on her hip.
Sometimes, the world was very weird indeed, Maria thought.
As she walked down the dark street, fearing nothing besides the future, Maria thought there was one person she had wished she could’ve said goodbye to.
Joe. The cute security guard she’d had a schoolgirlish crush on for the better part of her time employed at Rolling Hill Mall.
‘Better part’? Who are you kidding, Maria? she shook her head while rounding the corner of Jean Street, which lead to Main. It was love at first freaking sight; that crap you see in romance movies that you never believed.
Sherlock sniffed at some roadkill, and Maria nudged him. “Don’t do that,” she said.
You aren’t my boss, Sherlock responded.
“For a while, I thought I was. Until you opened your mouth…well, I guess you don’t really open your mouth to talk. Telepathy and all.”
Magic, Sherlock corrected. If I want to sniff dead squirrels, I can.
“I guess. Just don’t eat them. Can’t afford to have you puking while we portal through worlds, or whatever the hell we’re doing.” Maria noted how silly it sounded, saying it aloud. She still couldn’t believe it. So much had happened to her in such a short span of time. She thought if she took a moment to let it all sink in that she might go crazy. Crazy would not be good; not with a giant spider potentially stalking her for a music box that, somehow, was a key to the purgatory world, where the things we know of as ghosts roamed and rattled their chains.
Maria shuddered.
Why do you seem so down? Sherlock asked.
Maria gasped sarcastically, put a hand to her heart. “Aw, wow, Sherlock, I didn’t know you were so concerned.”
I’m not. You’re just kind of a drag to be around right now. Ruining all my dead-squirrel-sniffing festivities. I mean, come on. You had your little goodbyes. Don’t I get something? I’m a Bloodhound, for crying out loud. Sniffing is what I do!
“If you really want to go sniff roadkill, I guess you can…”
Nah, the feeling’s passed. I’m hungry now.
“Jesus, do you ever stop being hungry?”
He shook his head. But seriously, Maria, why are you so down?
“I guess it’s just all of this, you know?”
So not because you really wanted to sniff the dead squirrel, too?
Maria screwed her face up in disgust.
Guess not.
“I’m sad because I’m leaving a life behind.”
Not much of one, if you ask me.
“Well, I didn’t.” Maria crossed her arms. Pissed off by a dog? What is the world coming to?
Well you don’t have a boyfriend, you lost your job, you aren’t in school…hell, you don’t even have a car, Sherlock counted off.
“Gramps was gonna give me the Firebird. I know he was!”
I think he’d give it to me before he gave it to you. Sherlock stuck out his tongue.
Maria laughed and patted him on the butt.
Whoa! Buy me a drink first.
Maria rolled her eyes. “Thanks, Sherlock.”
‘Thanks’?
A car went by. Maria checked to make sure their windows were up. She hated the idea of anyone besides Tabby and Claire knowing she talked to her dog like this. Their windows were up, but it didn’t stop the older man and woman from giving Maria and her Bloodhound a long, hard look.
“Must be the sword. Man, people aren’t too big on the sword these days.”
Wrong era, Sherlock said. But why are you thanking me again?
“Because you always know how to make me feel better. I mean, look at me. Two days ago, I was a somewhat normal girl. Now I’m a witch who can communicate with dead kid soldiers and a dog, walking the streets close to midnight with a sword on my hip. Talk about a complete 180…and I don’t completely know
