Cherry Moon’s dream home.
The last time I saw Cherry was in the Tenebrae. Now that I can’t go there and I can’t depend on her coming to me, I’ll have to try Maria’s trick. I set the Hello Kitty mirror on the makeup table and whisper some off-the-cuff ghost-conjuring hoodoo. I’ve always been good at improvising spells, but this one might be a bust. Nothing appears in the mirror. I open the bag I picked up from the bakery and lay out some mochi and a bun filled with sweet red bean paste. A few seconds later, Cherry’s face drifts into focus in the mirror. She looks over the edge and crinkles her nose.
“Why did you bring that garbage?” she says.
“They’re Japanese desserts. I thought you’d be clicking your ruby slippers and wishing you were home when you saw them.”
She shakes her head.
“I hate that stuff. If you want to talk to me in the future, bring ice cream or pie.”
“Cherry, right?”
“Who’s my smart boy?”
Cherry hasn’t changed. She looks around twelve, but she’s really in her midthirties. She wears a schoolgirl uniform and pigtails. Seeing her face in the mirror reminds me of Maria’s lost ghost, Dash. Some ghosts don’t like the limelight and some can’t get enough. Cherry, for instance. I glance at the TV when something makes a weird squishing sound, wish I hadn’t, and look back at the mirror. Cherry is gone.
Over to my right someone says, “Where did you learn the mirror trick?”
I turn.
“A witch named Maria. When did you learn to manifest yourself?”
She tosses her head, making her pigtails bounce.
“Like it? I thought if I was going to be a real ghost, I might as well be able to haunt the store properly.” Cherry nods at the mirror. “If your friend has to use that trick, she must know some shy spooks.”
“The one I’ve met seems a bit reserved.”
“Well, I’m not, so put that silly thing away.”
I set the mirror on the table and put the pastries back in the bag. When I start to drop it in the trash, Cherry says, “Leave it for the girls. Kitty has a gentleman caller who’ll grunt like a pig and eat it off her ass. It’s hysterical. You should stick around.”
I tap my wrist.
“I’m a working man these days. I have a schedule and a boss and everything, but thanks.”
Cherry presses her fingertips to her chest in mock horror.
“How the mighty have fallen.”
“We can both probably say that.”
“Touché. Now, why are you here, Jimmy?”
&n
bsp; “Now that no one is dying anymore, I’m trying to find out what’s going on with people who are already dead. Has anything changed for you? Is there anything new in the Tenebrae?”
“New? Nothing. Oh, unless you mean the humongous black twister that’s blowing all over the desert on the outskirts of town. Aside from that, it’s a mellow scene. How are you doing?”
“Swell as always. What does the twister look like?”
“Like something out of the Bible. Wrathful God stuff, you know? It’s a tower of swirling black as far up as you can see, and every now and then there’s sort of a guy’s face.”
“Can you tell me what he looks like?”
“He doesn’t stick around long. I guess he’s a WASPy-looking white guy. Sometimes he talks. Sometimes he screams. Maybe being a big tower of farts and lightning isn’t as much fun as it looks. What do I know?”