A Gathering of Crows

counter. Levi looked up and nodded.

“Those will be fine.”

“I don’t think Mrs. Laudry will be too happy with us. These are nice bowls.”

“I think she’d be even less fond of the alternative.” Levi reached in his vest pocket and pulled out the two dried bundles of sage. He tossed it to Donny. Donny caught it with one hand. “Put some of that in each bowl.”

“How much should I use?”

“All of it, but in even amounts, if possible.”

Donny spread the bowls out on the counter and began dividing up the sage. The smell was not unpleasant. He found it strangely soothing. While he did this, Levi left the room. Donny finished just as he returned.

“What now?”

Levi picked up two bowls. “We place these around the first floor and light them.”

He placed one bowl beneath the kitchen window and another next to the back door. Then he picked up two more. Donny did the same and followed along behind him. They put the bowls all over the house, and Donny noticed that Levi had salted most of the house. All of the doors and windows had a line of salt beneath them. The only areas that didn’t were the front door and the stairwell.

“Don’t we need salt there, too?” Donny nodded toward the front door.

“Not yet. Remember, I placed a ward above the door before we left earlier.”

Squinting, Donny looked above the door. Sure enough, the words were still there, written in black Magic Marker and almost unnoticeable in the gloom.

“What about the stairs?” he asked.

“That comes next. Listen carefully. They’ll be coming soon.”

“Wait—I thought you said they couldn’t find us as long as we’re in the house.”

“They couldn’t,” Levi said. “But now I want them to.”

“So you’re using us as fucking bait?”

Levi didn’t respond. “I’ll remove the ward over the front door. When I do that, they’ll be able to sense our presence. I imagine they’ll waste no time in coming here. The rest of the house will remain sealed, so they’ll have no choice but to enter through the front door.”

“And kill every one of us. This plan sucks, Levi.”

“They won’t hurt the others. It’s me they want most of all, and perhaps Randy.”

“All the more reason not to lead them here. We’re sitting ducks. Talk about a fucking ambush!”

“It is an ambush,” Levi agreed, “but we’re the ones ambushing them. They’ll go after me first. Trust me on this.”

“But there’s no salt in front of the stairs. What’s to stop them from going up there first and slaughtering everybody?”

“You. You’re stopping them.”

“How?”

Levi pulled out his copy of The Long Lost Friend and handed it to him. “All you have to do is stand firm. They can’t hurt you as long as you have this. If they go for you first—and understand, that is unlikely—then you’ll only need to stall them long enough for me to get their attention. But I don’t think that will happen. I think they’ll come in the front door, see me and let their anger and hatred consume them. In fact, I’m counting on it.”

“But without the book, they’ll rip you to pieces.”

Levi smiled. “They didn’t get me back at Axel’s house, and I’m confident that they won’t get me here. I still have a few other tricks up my sleeve. And again, that’s where you come in. I need you to hide on the stairwell. When they come in, wait until all five have gone past you. Then, I need you to sneak down the stairs behind them and salt both the front door and the bottom of the stairwell. Do the door first. Then the stairs.”

“And they won’t be able to get upstairs.”

“Exactly. Nor will they be able to leave.”

Donny shook his head. “I don’t know, Levi. This sounds like suicide to me.”

“I need to have them all in one spot. This is the only way to do that.”

“What happens after you’ve got them in here? What are you going to do? A big magic battle?”

“Hardly. Nothing so cinematic. That only happens in Harry Potter. The truth is, I still don’t know how to fight them.”

Donny’s heart sank. He gaped at Levi, speechless. After a moment, he ran a hand across his head, feeling his scalp tingle beneath his buzz cut.

“So . . . all of this is what? A bluff? A lie? Something just to make the others feel safe? Are we gonna die?”

“No.” Levi’s paused, and then softened his tone. “No, not if I can help it. I don’t know how to defeat them for good, but I do know how to make them someone else’s problem. If my plan goes accordingly, they won’t trouble our world again. They’re revenants, but of a type previously unknown to me. When we’re done, I can search for their physical forms— probably buried in a grave somewhere near the original Roanoke Colony. Usually, if you destroy a revenant’s physical remains, you destroy its spiritual form, as well. I’m hoping that rule will apply to our adversaries.”

“It damn well better.”

Levi leaned against the wall. His shoulders sagged. He seemed tired. When he looked at Donny again, he seemed ten years older.

“Go upstairs,” Levi said. “Join the others. But be ready. After you’ve completed your task, do not cross the lines of salt—for any reason—until you hear from me again. Now, I must pray for God’s guidance and strength. When I’m done, I’ll let them know where we are.”

Donny nodded. He started to leave and then hesitated. Turning, he thrust out his hand. Levi shook it.

“Good luck,” Donny whispered.

“May the Lord protect us all,” Levi answered.

Then Donny went upstairs and waited for Levi to ring the dinner bell.

***

After Donny was gone, Levi quickly went to the pantry door. He placed his forehead and palms against it, closed his eyes and murmured a prayer in a language not spoken on Earth. Slowly, the light returned and began to creep out from beneath the door again. Then the light changed color, first turning red and then pale blue, before settling on a sickly grayish hue. When Levi straightened up again and pulled his hands away from the door, they were shaking. His forehead was bathed in sweat. He placed his hand on the doorknob. It was warm and wet. He turned it, opening the door just an inch. More light leaked through.

He pulled out his cigarette lighter and, one by one, lit the bowls of sage. The thick, pleasant aroma quickly filled the house. Levi breathed deep, drawing strength from it. His aches and pains vanished. His mind was soothed. He patted his vest pockets and discovered that at some point during the night’s battles, he’d lost his knife. With no time to mourn the loss, he selected a steak knife from one of Esther’s kitchen drawers and stood beneath the front door. Gritting his teeth, he turned his right-hand palm upward and sliced it open with the knife, moaning slightly from the pain and hoping the others wouldn’t hear him. Then he made another cut, forming an X pattern in his flesh. Blood flowed over his hand and splattered onto the floor. It streamed down his wrist and crept beneath his shirtsleeve. Grimacing, Levi held up his red right hand and smeared blood over the words written above the door. He did this three times, moving from left to right, as if he were painting. Then, he stood back and surveyed his handiwork. Satisfied that the words were obscured, Levi opened the front door.

“Get ready,” he called to Donny as he hurried back to the kitchen. “They’ll be coming now.”

As if in confirmation, the creatures’ cries echoed across the town. Levi sat cross-legged in front of the pantry door, lit by the glow coming from the other side, and squeezed his wrist, hoping to stanch the flow of blood.

He did not have to wait long. His foes arrived within minutes. They made no attempt to mask their approach. Their cries and threats preceded their arrival. Even so, he felt their presence long before they reached the house. The sensation filled him with loathing . . .

. . . and terror. A terror he hadn’t felt in quite some time. He focused on his breathing and tried not to panic. He needed to keep his thoughts clear and his will strong. Was it his imagination, or was the scent of the sage fading?