Jeremy Chikalto and the Demon Trace (Book III of The Hazy Souls) (4 page)

"Yeah. What were you doing, looking for
treasures?"

Maren tilted her head to
the side. "I didn't see much. Even real deep where the pressure
hurts my ears
—
I
don't know
—
it
feels empty." She squinted up at the sun and pushed her hair back
off her face. "I'm ready to head in."

"Me too."

When they got back to the street beyond the
beach, people were gathered together in small clusters, talking in
low voices. A man on a bike whizzed by Maren and Jeremy, brushing
Maren's shoulder as he passed. He jumped off the bike and ran along
side it and into a group of people. The circle of people opened up
to receive him and soon they were all embracing.

"I guess we should just drop these off
then," said Jeremy, gesturing to the snorkeling gear and trying his
best not to stare at the crowd.

"Yeah." Maren ducked into the surf shop and
led the way to the counter. Everyone in the store was watching a TV
positioned in the corner of the store just above the register.

The news was playing in Spanish, one of the
Earth languages Maren neglected to learn. The anchor seemed
nervous, and there were pictures of numerous people stacking up to
his left in a news graphic.

"Here," Maren lifted the snorkeling gear
onto the counter. The man behind the register didn't even look her
way. She glanced back at Jeremy.

"We already paid earlier," he said softly,
“so we can just... go.” He glanced at the TV screen. A woman was
describing a first-hand experience. Tears were streaming down her
face, and she kept throwing her arms up, yelling “Tragedia!”

Maren walked back outside and Jeremy
followed.

"It was a missing person's report, or a
series of them I guess," said Jeremy when they were on the sidewalk
that led back to their hotel.

Maren shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah. It seems
to be a big story. Hey, so I'd like to buy some new shoes."

"Of course." Jeremy and Maren were walking
through the shopping district now, just behind the hotels.
Colorful, eclectic stores lined the street. They walked into a shoe
store.

Jeremy patted her on the back. "Something
practical, in case we have to flee," he said with a fake laugh.
People were standing in a back room, watching news on the TV.

"Got it. I hate the way sneakers look on me,
though."

Jeremy lifted up a pair of zebra-striped
high-tops. "These look like you."

Maren smiled but then noticed that an old
man in the back was staring at her. She was horrified to realize
that more people were staring. "I don't actually need shoes."

"You do. And you will get shoes."

Maren backed towards the store exit.

Jeremy sighed and grabbed a pair of gray
high tops. A single, purple paw print was sewn onto the side of
each shoe. "These are you. Size, Maren?"

"I don't need it."

"Size," he repeated louder, more stern. When
she didn't respond, he walked over to her, yanked her shoe off and
located the size. She hobbled uncomfortably on one foot. Jeremy
walked irritably to the counter and paid for the shoes. The clerk
was distracted. As he turned to walk out of the store, a man
grabbed his wrist.

"Hey idioto!" shouted the man, black hair
curling out from under his bandana. "You good? Comprende?" he
called back to Maren.

"Yes, good." Maren's voice was a little more
singsongy than she'd meant.

Jeremy squinted viciously at the man and
jerked his arm back. "You've no idea what we've been through."

"Has visto las noticias? News?" The man
jabbed a finger to the TV. The customers in the store seemed to
swell in size and stature.

"Yes, I get it, something bad happened,"
shouted Jeremy. "I'm sorry you feel the need to take it out on me."
He backed out of the store.

"Adios,” said the shopkeeper. “Go home to
families! Adios!” he repeated. He waved everyone out of his store.
“La tienda esta cerrada!"

Maren ushered Jeremy towards her. "Gracias."
She grabbed Jeremy's hand. "Let's just go." She led Jeremy quickly
down an alley.

"Smart, Maren," said Jeremy. "People are
acting all weird and you want to go down a shady alley."

"Do you hear yourself, Jeremy?" Maren
crossed her arms and leaned against the brick wall of the store.
"They are no threat to you."

"But
—
"

"Something's going on and we have to find
out what. Come." Maren took his hand and led Jeremy through to the
other side of the alley. The clouds were dispersing, and the sun
shone brightly in the sky. The street was swarming with talking
people now, and the fear was audible.

Then there was a great rumble, and the
ground began to shake violently, knocking the crowd to the ground.
Glass was shattering all over the place, and people were screaming.
A building down the street crashed down. And then it was still.

Jeremy and Maren hopped to their feet, and
people around them began to moan. There was blood and glass shards
on the ground. A siren pierced the air, blaring from a speaker in
the shopping district, and Jeremy and Maren covered their ears.
Then another building collapsed down the street, and someone fired
a gun. The shot seemed to freeze everyone for a time, and then the
stampede began. Men and women screamed and fled in every direction.
Jeremy and Maren ducked into a nearby art gallery and rushed into
the back. “I just need a second to think!” began Jeremy. An old man
with dark skin and white whiskers hobbled over to them from behind
huge canvasses. He massaged the beads of his rosary and spoke to
them in a thick accent. "But of that day and hour no one knows, no,
not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only." He had sad,
bloodshot eyes. “All the good ones are gone now. Gone!”

Chapter 5

The Violence of Each
Wave

Maren gasped. "The missing people on the
news."

"The Rapture?" asked Jeremy.

The old man nodded and limped into a side
room behind a curtain. The lights in the store flickered and then
went out.

Jeremy looked down at the blue aura
emanating from his hands.

An aftershock jolted the floor, and the
screams outside peaked. Jeremy and Maren walked through the artwork
over to the cracked windows, and a few men ran past them into the
store, grabbing as many canvasses as they could and running
out.

“Revelations talks about a leader who will
be revealed soon after the Rapture."

"Am I...?"

"The Antichrist." Maren
blurted the words out. "No! I mean, the coming world leader is
sometimes
referred
to as the Antichrist. Not you!"

Jeremy stood up. "You said it yourself,
Maren." He looked outside. “Do you hear that?”

Through the blare of the siren, a voice
spoke in a clear tone. “Alerta de Tsunami. Por favor, busque
refugio sobre el nivel del mar. Tsunami Warning. Please seek
shelter above sea level.” The message continued to loop.

"Should I show my demons?” He turned to her.
“A reign of terror is still better than chaos. That's what you
said, right?"

"Jeremy!" Maren waved him back to her. "This
is madness. Take us to the hotel, now!"

The two disappeared into the Haze. A minute
later, they were in the hotel room. They heard gunfire, and Maren
made sure the door was bolted. The sirens continued to blare and
Jeremy ran to the balcony to look at the sea. He shielded his brow
with his hand and squinted at the horizon. “I don't see the
tsunami.”

"Do you believe it?" Maren asked as she
walked to the balcony. "That all the true believers were
transported to Heaven?" She paused. “The Greeks believed that souls
are ferried to the land of the dead. In accounts of astral
projection, subjects are connected to their bodies by a chord. Each
story is like a lens that brings things into focus, and when they
are stacked vertically, the clarity multiplies."

Maren left the balcony, and Jeremy pondered
the expanse of the ocean and the violence of each wave.

Chapter 6

Apex

The next morning, Jeremy poured himself and
Maren a glass of orange juice. At least the electricity and their
mini-fridge were still working. Jeremy was keeping it well-stocked
with choice looting around the world. It was a strange night, but
the hotel seemed relatively safe. Maren took a bite of her egg
croissant and stared out the window. The hotel was a ghost town,
and the beach was empty.

Jeremy turned on the TV, and it began to
stream the latest news in English, from the UK.

~

“
Late Friday night,
billions are believed to have disappeared or else remain
unaccounted for. It seems every family has parted with some
relative, and in certain areas, entire families have disappeared.
The World Health Network has cautioned that this might be a plague,
with the virus causing a fast-acting breakdown of the human body in
a matter of minutes. NATO believes a chemical agent is to blame.
Some religious leaders believe this to be the Rapture. NATO agents
are on the ground conducting tests for trace chemical agents in the
air and in water supplies. For the time being, everyone is advised
to stay indoors until more information is available.”

~

Jeremy clicked the TV off and sighed. "So
where to next, boss?" He stood up and turned the radio on. Techno
beats bumped from the speakers and Jeremy started doing jumping
jacks.

Maren laughed. "Jumping jacks and demons?
You are quite the specimen."

"You should do some too, they clear your
head." Jeremy jumping jacked over to Maren and lifted her up to her
feet. She joined him in a few half-hearted jumping jacks and then
stopped.

"It's the end of the world and you still
need booze to let loose? Tomorrow morning, we'll drink mimosas."
Jeremy started doing squat jumps.

Maren looked at her toes.
She wished to paint them. But even more so than that, she wished to
paint her whole body
—
in the nude. "Honestly, Jeremy," she slid out of her pants,
"I don't have the same humors as you. I'm calm. To me freedom feels
like this." She pulled her shirt off over her head. "In my last
hours, I'd like to be naked."

Jeremy was smiling ear to ear. "And in the
daylight! I could die like this, too."

Maren walked over to the sofa and lay on
it.

"So...?" Jeremy sat at attention on the edge
of the cushion.

Maren smiled at him. "I
just want to sit and enjoy being naked
—
this is not for you, though you've
been trained to think that way." She rolled her eyes. "It's hot
outside, and I'd love to just lay here for a moment. Go finish your
uninhibited jumping jacks."

Jeremy had to slap himself on the cheeks a
few times to take his eyes off of Maren and leave her be. He
understood her desire and wanted to respect her. But it wasn't easy
considering the circumstances.

The morning sun had reached its apex. Maren
put her clothes back on while Jeremy doodled geese on the walls of
the hotel with a pen he'd found in the nightstand drawer beside the
bed.

Maren interrupted the artistic genius. "So
I'm thinking our parents might be on my home planet, Olg."

Jeremy leaned back against the wall. "Quite
possible, assuming there's still chaos on Watico."

"There is. Do you think the Rapture affected
the Farmoore Galaxy?"

Jeremy considered this. "I'm not sure. We're
of Judas's stock, so to speak."

"Vordin Chikalto repented. That has to count
for something."

“Let's go find out."

Maren nodded and they disappeared into the
Haze.

Jeremy raced her through, crossing
dimensions at top speed. In his peripheral vision, he saw that his
demons were rallying again. The spirit animals kept their distance.
Below him, a boar was running circles in a purple-gray cloud,
seemingly out of boredom. No souls were visible.

Jeremy pulled out. They were on a distant
planet in the Farmoore Galaxy, but still had another stop before
reaching the planet Olg. The sky was a burnt orange and insects
buzzed in the tall grass. Maren took a breath and Jeremy watched
her intently. He sat in silence, trying to decipher the change that
was taking place in the Haze. While Maren stabilized, Jeremy took a
peek behind the veil.

He was on a dark purple vapor, drifting
downwards. A hyena's laugh echoed all around him. "Lyrna!" he
called. A few spirit animals swam towards him, sniffing the air,
until a demon floated to him and stretched itself thin, as waify as
a sheet of paper. Jeremy got lost in the dark, wide 'O' of its
mouth. He pulled away and settled on a lighter cloud of pink. "It
feels empty in here." Jeremy shooed away a raccoon who was eyeing
up his chest. "What?" The critter started to claw at him. "I don't
have a chord," he said.

The raccoon looked puzzled
and floated away. A lot of spirit animals had stopped their
meandering to watch the exchange.
What was
missing?
No souls were passing through the
Haze. The animals spirits were without charge.

Then Lyrna swiped at Jeremy's back.
"Mew."

He turned to face her. "Why are so many
spirit animals idle?"

"Dead turned away."

"Oh? So... are they ghosts?"

Lyrna shrugged.

Jeremy swished away a dark purple cloud that
had begun to form in front of his face. "I have to take Maren
through to Olg." Lyrna nodded and Jeremy returned to Maren's side.
He embraced her from behind and pulled her back through.