Everlost

They took Allie to the nearest town, the place Joh

“It’s because of the Chinese restaurants,” Raggedy Andy explained. “They’re supposed to be bad luck or something—at least that’s what Joh

They brought Allie to their hideout. Stupid that they called it a hideout, because they didn’t have to hide from the living, who couldn’t see them anyway.

Like Mary, Joh

At least there was some justice in the universe. There were about thirty kids total, all disciples of Joh

“How come there are no girls?” Allie asked.

“Girls come by once in a while, wantin’ to join,” Joh

Allie couldn’t help but grin. “I think you died about a year too young.”

“Yeah,” Joh

Now that she was accepted by their leader, the other kids kept stealing glimpses at her, like she was some sort of exotic creature. Great, she thought, I’m playing Wendy to a delinquent Peter Pan and the Lost Boys of Juvie Hall.

She told them all about the pickle factory, and the Haunter’s air-soldiers.

“His magic ain’t no match for us,” Joh

“The hard part will be getting in. There’s a big steel door—not living-world steel, but steel that crossed over with the building. I pounded on it for hours and couldn’t make a dent.”

Joh

“You’ve got explosives!?”

He called to a kid on the other side of the church. “Hey, Stubs, get your fat butt over here!”

The kid came ru

“A few years back,” Joh

And then Joh

“Yeah,” said Raggedy Andy, laughing. “That’s how come Stubs can only count to three.”

Allie and the “Alter” Boys left at dawn, the members of the gang all carrying baseball bats, chains, and various other makeshift weapons that had somehow crossed over. They would have been terrifying in the living world, but with the threat of pain and death not applicable in Everlost, it was all pretty much for show; fashion accessories for bad boys who didn’t get where they were going.

All the while as they marched south toward the city, Purple-puss kept giving Allie dirty looks. Not too long into their journey, he broke his silence. “I don’t like this, Joh

Joh

“For all we know,” Heimlich said, “she could be leading us straight to the Sky Witch.”

“Shut up,” said Joh

“Sky Witch?” asked Allie.

Joh

“She devours kids’ souls,” said another kid.

“Yeah,” said Raggedy Andy, baring his teeth and hooking his hands like claws.

“She grabs you and takes a deep breath sucking your soul right up her nose.

That’s why they also call her the ‘Queen of Snot.’”

Joh

Allie,wisely, said nothing.

“We should make her skim,” said Raggedy Andy. “That way we’ll know whether she’s worthy.”

Joh

Allie was confused. “But…how can you skim an Everlost coin on living-world water? It wouldn’t work — it would just fall straight through.”

“Well,” said Joh

The next morning, they came to the George Washington Bridge, which crossed the Hudson into the northern tip of Manhattan. There they halted. Allie looked back to see them all milling around near the on-ramp.

“We don’t do bridges,” Joh

“Oh, are you scared?”

Joh

Allie was about to fire right back at him, about how she had already crossed this bridge, and maybe his name should be Joh

Everyone looked down sadly, realized their shoes were sinking into the road, and began to shuffle around again.

“Old news,” said Joh

Allie swallowed everything she was about to say. She wondered if she, Nick, and Lief would have sunk through this bridge, if they hadn’t been wearing their road-shoes.

“Maybe she is working for the Sky Witch,” said one of the little kids. “Maybe she wants us to sink.”

The others looked at her now with frightened eyes, but the look quickly mildewed into threatening.

“Joh

“We’ll take the tu

Flurries were falling by the time they reached the Lincoln Tu

The Everlost version of macho, thought Allie. Although she would have much preferred the catwalk, she didn’t want to show any signs of weakness, so she walked side by side with Joh

By the time they reached the Manhattan side of the tu

Snow felt different than rain or sleet as it passed through Allie. It tickled.

As for the wind, she felt it, and it was indeed cold. But like all other weather conditions, feeling it and being affected by it were two different things. The cold did not, could not, make her shiver. And yet as unpleasant as it seemed for the living people fighting the snowstorm, Allie wished she could be one of them.

But Joh