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There was a bright flash of scarlet light, and then everything went black.
* * *
Water was dripping somewhere.It was the insistent tip-tip-tip of it that eventually brought her back to the land of the unliving. Bunny groaned as she rolled herself into a sitting position on a hard wooden floor, her back aching in protest. Her vision was foggy for a moment, but then cleared to reveal a long room with moth-eaten tapestries on the walls. Dilapidated couches were strewn here and there haphazardly, as though their erstwhile occupants moved them daily according to their whims.
“Welcome back.”
Startled, Bunny wheeled in the direction of the voice. The man who had distracted Roberta lounged on one of the couches, arms spread arrogantly across the back of it and one of his ankles perched on the opposite knee. Irritation flared within her. She was grateful he’d saved her somehow from whatever had been about to happen in that godforsaken alleyway. But would it have been too much to ask that he set her on one of the multiple couches lying around? Sheesh.
“It’s you,” she said, frowning, as she lifted a hand to her neck. She could feel the beginnings of a migraine starting there, right at the base of her skull, and she willed it away. She didn’t have time for that shit right now.
The man slipped into the same roguish grin he’d flashed her from behind the fence. “More importantly—it’s you. I’m glad you managed to get in.”
“Me too,” Bunny grunted, dragging herself to her feet before brushing her hands down her blue scrubs to dust them off. “Thanks for distracting Roberta.”
“For a being so smart, she can be pretty dumb sometimes,” he chuckled. “Think nothing of it. Are you okay?”
Great question. She took a moment to think it over. “I think so,” she replied, stretching her shoulders back to ease some of the stiffness there before she looked around the room. “How did you get me out of there?”
“Some of us have more privileges here than others.” He shrugged, but his eyes gleamed with obvious ego. “I happen to be one of them.”
“At least you’re using your powers for good,” Bunny muttered, rubbing her neck as she continued to try to limber up.
He frowned, his head tilting slightly to one side as he studied her. “What do you mean?”
She pressed her lips together, almost deciding not to say anything. But then the confession tumbled from her of its own accord. “I asked Death to help me get in, and he said he couldn’t.”
“Couldn’t,” the man asked pointedly, “or wouldn’t?”
Bunny nodded, suddenly feeling vindicated. “Both, I guess. I respect him not wanting to break the rules, but…” She shrugged helplessly. “This is my mom. What other choice do I have?”
“He’s always been like that,” the man replied nonchalantly, giving a small shrug. “I’m shocked you’ve seen another side to him at all, to be honest.”
“Yes, well,” Bunny murmured. Her mind wandered over to thinking about the side of Death she would have liked to explore more. Before she could help it, a blush started to pinken her cheeks.
The man’s eyebrows shot up as he recognized the expression for what it was. “Really?”
Bunny shrugged. “Who the hell knows,” she added offering him a grateful smile. “I should probably get going if I’m gonna stand a chance of finding my mom. Thanks for helping me. And for listening. It’s nice to be able to talk to someone who actually understands.”
He smiled back and stood in one fluid motion that solidified his flashiness in Bunny’s mind. “I definitely understand.” he nodded, reaching out to shake her hand. “Good luck.”
“Thanks,” Bunny said, meeting his brilliant green gaze as she shook back. But when his grip tightened on hers, she looked down just in time to see tendrils of black smoke emerging from the sleeve of his jacket. They snaked towards her hand, burning her wherever they touched.
“What the hell?” She struggled to pull her hand away but he held on like a leech until the smoke had encircled her wrist like a scorching vise. “What are you doing!?” Bunny shouted, trying to wrestle herself away from him. But he used the leverage of the smokey ties to pull her close, grabbing her other hand and binding it to the first.
“Takin’ care of business,” he growled, dragging her in the direction of a door between two tapestries. Once they were through, she knew why they were hung all over the walls.
He was using them like some kind of makeshift insulation. The heat behind them was unlike anything she’d ever experienced before in her life, and she’d been on vacation to Spain. It hit her like a brick wall, forcing her to gasp for air before he pulled her into a rickety-looking wooden tunnel. It reminded her of the wild west ride at that one theme park, except for the fact that she genuinely did think this thing could crumble at any damn moment. The planks beneath their feet sounded hollow, and Bunny couldn’t help but fear they were both about to fall straight through.
The tunnel had a low ceiling that forced her to duck behind the man as he towed her along, jerking roughly on the smoke-chain every so often like he was deliberately trying to pull her off balance. It was an effort for her to crouch and move at such a speed, and she was petite; but the much taller man in front of her navigated the winding warren with apparent ease, ignoring some corridors that split off from the main one and diverting them down others. Sweltering heat radiated from behind the wooden walls, and Bunny could see glimpses of what looked like a sea of molten lava through cracks in the planks.
She really hoped it wasn’t what she thought it was.
It was hard to tell how long they had been scrambling through the tunnel, because it felt like they were going in circles. The confusion to her sense of direction was only made worse by the heat, and her panicking mind was freaking her out. There was absolutely no way she would ever remember how the hell to get out.
At long last, they seemed to get to wherever it was he’d meant for them to be. A series of doors were set in the wood on either side of the tunnel now, and it was one of these that he stopped in front of. Bunny wasn’t ready and bumped into the back of him, causing him to grunt and shove her away. She landed heavily on her back foot and the wood gave way beneath her sneaker, which went with it. She gasped and wrenched her foot out of the hole, using the smoke-chain for leverage.
When she saw the depth of the fires below, she didn’t care she scraped her ankle on the splintered plank.
She scurried closer to the man rather than staying on unsteady ground, which only made it easier for him to shove her into the dark room behind the door. His hand was rough on the back of her neck, and she stumbled forward into the darkness before she landed on her front. The air whooshed right out of her lungs, stirring up the dirt floor that had broken her fall just enough so that when she gulped in another breath, she inhaled dust with it.
Bunny started coughing, wriggling onto her side as best as she could so she didn’t choke as tears streamed from her eyes and she struggled for air.
But then someone was there to help, firmly hitting her back in just the right spot, helping her to sit up so that she could breathe easier. Unable to speak, Bunny just let them, blindly accepting this assistance from a stranger in a pitch-black room. After a couple of moments, she had managed to claim a more regular breathing pattern.
“Thanks,” she croaked to the person-shaped shadow by her side that she could only just make out.
At first, the person didn’t speak. And then, sound that could have been a sob broke the silence.
“Bernadette?” her mother asked from the shadows. “Is that you?”
