Webb's a dead guy with no memory of his life, and that's how he likes it. He'd sworn he'd protect After, the city of the dead, from monsters, but the monsters have all been killed off. Now he has only one thing left to do: go through the Gate and fi...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I sauntered across rooftops and balanced on scaffolding like a sleek tomcat. Jacob sniffled and shuffled behind me like a kicked stray. He'd mostly calmed down since Orville took him under his wings. With all the softness and patience of a parent, the man had explained to Jacob about After. The kid still let out a snotty sniff every once in a while as he and I explored the city.
"And that's how Skye, Vale, and I fixed the sun and merged all the shadows and hollows in After together," I finished explaining. I crossed a rusty beam over a hundred-story gap without even looking down as I spoke. "Now we've all got halos and emotions and blood and stuff. You know, ghosts should really be called wholes now, but that never seemed to catch on."
"What happened to them?" piped Jacob's wavering voice. I doubled back to find him pausing at the other side of the gap. His eyes flitted from the dizzying depths below us to me. "Your friends, I mean."
I stared out into the Dim. "They left."
Something stumbled into me, and I found the kid at my side, clinging to me as he leaped clear of the beam. He, too, perused the endless black hills and mountains and the pirouetting red stars above. "Are there more of those monsters out there?" he asked.
"Shadows," I corrected. "And nope. They're all gone now."
Jacob wiped his nose on the sleeve of his tee-shirt with another wet sniffle. "I remember it now," he rasped. "Dying. I was outside in our treehouse, and there was a storm coming. Next thing I knew, there was this huge explosion. Then I woke up out there in the sand."
The gross, snotty kid now had my full attention. "Hold up. You mean to tell me you got hit by lightning? That's awesome!" I raised my hand for a high-five. Jacob just raised a brow at me. I stuffed my hand back into my pocket. "Right. Too soon."
He sighed and leaned into me. I leaned away. "What now?" he asked.
My lip curled. I balled my hands into fists in my pockets. That was the question, wasn't it?
"I guess the answer to your question..." I said. "is that." I gestured with my face toward the heart of the city. The ever-present Gate hovered only a few blocks away. I motioned for Jacob to follow me. "Come on. I'll show you."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
