I smiled back. "Someone smarter than me could tell you exactly why you're wrong, but since they're not here, let's just say you're right."

His smiled broadened.

"That doesn't mean I want you to do what she did."

"That is up to you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"

"Throwaways do not have a say in who they become. April made June."

"How?"

He shook his head. "I have never become, so I don't know. June only said that she felt a thought from April."

"Felt a thought?"

"A void, as if something that should be wasn't. For April, June should be."

I searched my mind for a thought, something I could feel. There were too many to choose from, so I took a deep breath and attempted to push every thought out of my mind.

I peered over at the opposite corner of the room and admired the spiral staircase. It led up to a wrought iron balcony. Shadows danced and swayed on the walls. The motion relaxed me. It should have unnerved me, but for some reason I found it soothing. I felt my eyelids get heavier and heavier until I couldn't keep them open any longer. Just before I closed them I said, "If I fall asleep, you're in charge."

Tall Boy didn't answer.

"Hear me?" I asked.

He still didn't answer.

I turned to him. He stared at me with a half-smile on his face. "Did you hear me?"

"I did," he said. "I thought you were talking to Kimball."

Kimball's ears perked up at the mention of his name.

I chuckled. "You've got self-esteem issues, my friend." I closed my eyes. "I was talking to you."

"How do I be in charge?"

"Just sit there and wake me up if you hear anything..." I was asleep before he could ask another question.

I dreamed of Anthony and the day we both died. We were caught in the current and struggling to keep our heads above water. An invisible tide of water wrapped around my ankles and tugged me beneath the surface. I swallowed the salty water. I jerked and fought to release myself from the grip of the ocean. I peered through the murky water and saw Anthony. He was terrified. As hard as I struggled, he struggled twice as hard. I reached for him. Maybe together we could fight our way out of the current. A hand grabbed onto my wrist and pulled me away from Anthony. I watched as he grew smaller and smaller. A face appeared in the blue and green water beneath him. It was the boy from the Land of the Dead. He gently latched onto Anthony's foot and pulled him down.

"I hear anything," Tall Boy said.

I stirred out of my dream and opened one eye. "What?"

"I am waking you because I hear anything," he said.

I processed the information and then sat up with a jolt. "What... What do you hear?"

Just as I asked, I heard a creaking as if someone or something was stepping on a loose floorboard. I stood. The scruff of Kimball's neck was on end. "Who's there?"

We heard the creaking again. It was coming from above us. Someone was on the roof.

Kimball woofed.

I located my crossbow and armed it.

"What do we do?" Tall Boy asked.

"We either wait for them to come to us or we go to them," I answered.

Kimball barked.

"I was afraid you were going to say that," I said.

Tall Boy looked amused. "Did he say something?"

I nodded. "Plain as day."

"What?"

"He says we should go to them."

Tall Boy looked even more amused. "Is he always right?"

I smiled. "So far." I moved to the staircase. Tall Boy started to follow. I motioned for him to stay back. "You be the fall back position." I spotted a floor lamp. "Grab that lamp and if anything other than me comes down those stairs you knock the crap out of it, and then run like hell to warn the others."

He nodded.

I looked at Kimball. "You help him."

He sat and looked up at the roof access.

I started my climb up the spiral staircase. It was a narrow space that made me feel vulnerable. If whatever was making the noise decided to mount its attack at that moment, there wasn't much I could do. I was a sitting duck.

The closer I got to the top of the stairs the more the creaking noise sounded like footsteps. I could hear the heels of a pair of boots landing softly on the roof just outside. A shadow of a person, or what I hoped was a person, moved past the window.

I moved slowly with the crossbow ready to fire. Each step I took was deliberate and planned. I did all I could to control my breathing.

Another shadow. This time I heard a voice. Male.

My heart thumped, but that wasn't the only internal organ that reacted to the sound of the voice. The knot in my stomach was back. That meant two things. Whoever was outside on the roof was human, and... I was hungry.

"He's got one of them arrow guns," I heard someone say.

"Oz," someone else said.

I froze. I thought I recognized the voice, but it couldn't be.

"Oz, is that you?"

I felt a chill.

"Oz," the familiar voice shouted.

I hesitated and then cleared my throat before saying, "Archie?"

A door to the roof opened and in stepped a small-framed figure followed by a man of medium height and build, Bobby and Archie. I didn't move.

Archie smiled at the odd look on my face. "We ain't ghosts."

Bobby snickered. "Not hardly."

"How..." I started the question, but got lost in a muddled mess of a thousand questions I wanted to ask. I was happy as could be to see him, but at the same time, I was horrified to see him. They were human... deliciously human. Little Bobby I thought. The good meat is in the little one. I shivered and stepped back.

"Kavi, saved our butts," Archie said, looking confused by my behavior. "Took out three Delons *fore we could blink..." He suddenly looked very sad. "She got hurt."

"Where is she?"

He pointed over his shoulder. "Out to the front of the house... dead. She led us to the ladder and made it pretty derned clear that we needed to get on the roof quick as a cat." He paused. "Something's coming."

"What?"

He shrugged. "Haven't the foggiest, but I can feel it, sure as I'm standing here."

I chuckled and then sighed. "I'm not sure you really are."

Bobby looked down at his feet and then at me. "Where do you think we're standing?"

Ignoring his Storyteller's question, Archie stepped forward. "It's us, Oz..."

I stepped back. The gnawing in my stomach was stronger than it had ever been before. "Stop."

"What..." Archie was annoyed by my request. "Gotta say I thought you'd be a little bit happier to see us."

I shook my head. "Yeah, well I would be, but... I'm kind of dealing with something myself here."

"What?" he snickered.

"The urge to eat you."

TEN.

"You want to explain yourself?" Archie asked.

We had made our way down the spiral staircase. I positioned myself as far away from him and Bobby as I could. Every time they approached, I insisted that they not get any closer. I didn't just feel hunger pains when I got near him and Bobby. I actually started to salivate. I could practically taste their flesh as the longing to eat them grew stronger and stronger.

Tall Boy had not revealed himself yet. He had drifted back into a dark corner and stood as still as a statue. With his milky-white complexion, it was easy to mistake him for just that.

"It's not safe for you to be here," I said.

He chuckled. "Safe ain't something I've felt in a long, long time, Oz. Round here you got to pick and choose between what can get you killed and what can get you almost killed. Kavi seemed to think what was out there could get us killed, which means we're right where we need to be."

I rubbed my belly to try to soothe it. "I've got a feeling there isn't much of a choice this time."

He shrugged. "Appears the choice has been made. Now, you gonna get to talking or what?"

I hesitated. How do you tell someone that you've been possessed by an evil ghost? He'd believe it. There's not much you don't believe in this world. But still...

As I was about to explain the situation to Archie, I noticed a shadow move in the corridor outside the room. It startled me enough that I flinched and let out a quick yelp without even realizing it.

Archie wheeled around in the direction I was facing and drew his fists into balls. He grunted and gritted his teeth. "I hate this!"

Tall Boy moved ever so slightly and Archie saw him for the first time. He let out a savage scream and barreled toward the Throwaway.

"Stop!" I yelled, but it was too late. Archie viciously tackled Tall Boy to the ground.

Little Bobby skulked back into a dark corner.

I ran to Archie and Tall Boy. "Stop, Archie! He's with me!" I grabbed him by the back of his collar.

Archie pulled away from Tall Boy. He was breathing heavily and staring down at the strange pale Throwaway. "This is with you?"

"Yeah."

He stood, still staring at Tall Boy. "I don't understand... what got you all freaked a second ago?"

I stepped away from him as my stomach grumbled. "I... saw something." I clamped my hand on my gut and fought the hunger.

"Saw what?"

Before I could answer, the dark figure I had seen in the corridor showed itself. It was the Flish. The gray man glared and snarled.

"He with you?" Archie asked looking as uneasy as I felt.