everyone was looking at me with horrified expressions, and I put what I’d just said together with what we’d been talking about.
‘Ohmygod, no, the creature isn’t like the Red or the White. He’s not like in me in me.’
‘Then what is it?’ my dad asked, obviously affecting calm.
‘It’s like…’ I tried to put into words what the creature and I were, but it had changed so much so quickly that I realized I wasn’t sure myself. ‘Before Whitby, it was like the creature was just somewhere else but we could reach out to each other if we wanted. If I needed it, I’d call, or it would pop in to say “hi”.
‘Now, after Whitby, it’s like we … have a Bat Phone to each other,’ I said, finally hitting on the metaphor I wanted.
‘It’s not in me all the time, and it isn’t me, as the Red is Morrigan. It’s like we have a permanent line of communication, an exclusive line, but we’re still totally separate. And sometimes we’re in more communication than others. Sometimes it’s like we haven’t bothered to pick up the Bat Phone at all for a while, and it’s like it’s not even there. But then if I need it, voilà! Bat Phone.’
Everyone still looked confused, but less alarmed, which was good. I gave it one more go.
‘So don’t worry about me going all Morrigan, and being taken over by the creature. It needs me to have my own agency,’ I said, startled by that realization. I think the creature had fed that fact to me. ‘It needs me to be Jane and it wants me to be Jane. I think we did become sort of like the Red and Morrigan in Whitby, but as soon as I was okay, it backed away. But I can pick up that Bat Phone whenever I need it.’
‘Good,’ Nell said, nodding brusquely to end that conversation. ‘That explains everything.’ Caleb and Iris looked less convinced, but I hoped I’d made some sense. The creature was a part of me, yes, but it wasn’t me. And we weren’t always in direct communication by any means. It was busy doing its own creaturely thing, plus it wanted me to be independent.
The gnome, meanwhile, kept talking, moving swiftly on. ‘So, we have manpower, brainpower, and, er, creaturepower. Now, what’s our goal?’
‘Get Anyan back,’ Iris said immediately.
‘Kill the White and the Red,’ Caleb said.
‘But for good this time,’ my dad added.
Tears really did well up in my eyes when I didn’t have to answer that one.
‘Great. We have clear goals,’ Nell said, nodding excitedly. ‘So, where do we start?’
Crickets chirped.
We all looked from one to the other. Facing ancient evils was bad enough, but facing an ancient evil that, for all intents and purposes, was holding your boyfriend’s body hostage while using him as a barghest shield was really bad.
Iris leaned forward, her pretty mouth in a moue of concentration.
‘I think,’ she said, ‘that we’ve got to figure out what, exactly, the Red and the White are.’
I cocked my head at her, unsure what she meant.
‘Like, are they things we can touch, hold, et cetera. Or are they more like … souls, or spirits?’
My mind did a little explosion as I realized what she was saying.
‘That’s brilliant, Iris,’ I said breathlessly. ‘They’ve always had their own bodies to recreate, through their bones. We never thought they were anything but physical. But after what happened with Morrigan and Anyan, they’re clearly not. So what are they, if they’re not bodies?’
‘It’s totally like Supernatural,’ Grizzie said, and my dad started nodding like crazy.
I’d seen the show, but my supernatural brethren clearly hadn’t. My dad explained what they needed to hear. ‘In the show, ghosts will be tied to their bones,’ he said.
‘Or in something super personal, like a doll,’ Grizzie added.
‘Creepy dolls,’ said my dad, then he and Grizzie both shuddered exaggeratedly. They’d obviously been watching a lot of TV together.
‘The ghost idea is interesting. Maybe that means the Red and the White can be exorcised?’ Caleb mused.
‘That’s a great place to start,’ I said, just as my back pocket buzzed. When I took my phone out, it had gone blank, the battery dead.
Almost immediately, Caleb’s phone started buzzing from the table in front of him. He snapped it open.
‘Yes, boss? … Yes, she’s here … Okay, I’ll put her on.’ Caleb held out his phone toward me.
‘It’s Ryu. He wants to talk to you.’
I blinked at the phone in surprise. What could Ryu want?
With