“What're you guys looking at?”

  “Jimmy-san,” Tanaka said, “do you remember your Papa Fincher talk about how he can sense the Shadow Ka? The black haze?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, very dark haze over there.”

  He pointed up ahead, where the road curved back toward the city to go around a massive cliff that jutted out from the main mountain. In the middle of the cliff side facing us, a long waterfall fell from a large crevice near the top. It widened as it fell until it was thirty or forty feet at the bottom, where it smashed into some rocks before flowing under a bridge and down toward the city.

  Above the waterfall, the cloudy haze of the Shadow Ka was thicker, like a brewing storm cloud, dark and gloomy. Tendrils of black mist hung from the cloud like moss, reaching for the bottom of the waterfall.

  “So … you think that's where they are?” I asked.

  Hood knelt down and painted a few words on the pavement.

  “WE'VE BEEN DRIVING AROUND THE MOUNTAIN FOR TWO HOURS. THE GRAYNESS IS STRONGEST HERE.”

  A chill went up my back as the reality of what we had set out to do sunk in. Until that moment, it had almost been like a fun day trip with two very strange friends. I was almost enjoying the adventure of it. But seeing that darkness again, knowing what terrible things it represented, brought back the fear and the panic.

  “So … what do we do?”

  Tanaka laughed. “We drive over there and go hiking.”

  “I was afraid you would say that.”

  As we got back in the car, I thought to voice a question I'd been scared to ask for a long time.

  “Hood,” I said as I turned in my seat to face him, “A long time ago, when we were in the mountains looking for you after the Pointing Finger, Rayna told me there was something … special about you. She made it clear that I shouldn't look at you without your robe.”

  Hood shifted in his seat, as if the conversation had given him a bad case of hemorrhoids. Tanaka put the car into drive and pulled back onto the road, heading for the waterfall up ahead.

  “Well,” I continued, “granted, I wasn't particularly excited to see you naked, but I got the feeling that wasn't the reason Rayna made me stay back. Plus, I'm sure you have other clothes on under that thing.” I paused. “Uh … right?”

  Hood shifted again, facing the window to his right.

  “Okay, forget the whole naked thing—just tell me, or Tanaka, you tell me. What's up with Hood? Who is he really and why does he wear the robe?”

  Tanaka said nothing, and stared straight ahead.

  “Tanaka, come on. It's gotta be something really weird to shut you up like that.”

  “Not my decision,” he replied. “You talk to Hood, leave me out.”

  “Hood?” I turned to him again. I didn't want to be rude, but he had become such a close friend, I felt I deserved to know the truth. Hood's pale hand appeared out of the folds of his robe, and he gripped the Bender Ring at his side like a security blanket. Then he reached forward and patted Tanaka on the shoulder.

  Understanding Hood's signal that it was okay to tell me the secret, Tanaka sighed. He slowed the car down a bit and then spoke two words with a soft whisper.

  “He dead.”

  Tanaka looked back to the road ahead of him, and said nothing more. His words skidded through my brain for a few seconds but made no sense.

  “Dead?” I asked. “What do you mean?” I let out a courtesy laugh, trying to force Tanaka to tell me he was just kidding. His face didn't crack a bit, and he turned to me, his expression solemn and cold.

  “Jimmy-san. The Hooded One is a ghost.”

  “A ghost? What is that supposed to mean?”

  “We don't know much. All Hood told us is that he thought he died, killed by terrible men, and then woke up in the same place but as ghost. He find robe, rest is history.”

  “A ghost?” I repeated. “But his hands … I've felt his body through the robe. How can he be a ghost?”

  “Hard to explain. This is the form he takes. Not like ghost from spooky stories.”

  “As usual, Tanaka, you've cleared it right up.”

  A feeling of sickness invaded my stomach, and bile slimed the back of my throat. There was no doubt in my mind about Tanaka's words, and I knew he wasn't joking. It had to be true, as creepy as it made me feel. I turned my head slowly around to look at the dead man in the backseat. He sat there, his head hanging low, and a rush of shame filled my heart.

  I knew that I loved him, just like I loved my mom and dad. And yet I was treating him like some kind of outcast, some kind of freak. The world had changed for me, and one more thing that was crazy shouldn't have made me feel such a way about a friend.

  “Hood, I'm … sorry. I didn't …” No words would come to me, my mind numb with shock.

  Hood lifted his head, and then reached forward to grab my hand. The touch of his skin was ice cold, and seemed to have a hint of electricity in it, or something that made my arm tingle. It was the touch of a dead person. A dead person who was somehow alive. I decided it was too much to try and figure out.

  “Hood, you … and this goofy Japanese guy are two of my best friends in the whole world. Sorry if I made you feel bad.” I shrugged. “Makes no difference to me if you're a dead guy.”

  It was surely one of the dumbest things I'd ever said in my life, but I think he understood.

  Five seconds later, something landed on top of our car, and all thoughts of walking dead men left my head.

  The center of the roof, right behind my head, dented in several inches with a loud clank of crushing metal. Tanaka yelled out and almost lost control of the car, swerving to the edge of the other side of the road. Another thump above us was followed by a louder smash into the metal roof, caving it in near the Hooded One, even further than the first one. Hood sank lower in his seat, clasping the Bender Ring to him.

  Another hit from above, and then another one. The roof of the car was being pummeled by something big and terrible. Tanaka yelled for us to hang on and kept driving, veering the car left and right, trying to shake off whatever was attacking us.

  A loud crash next to my head made me jump, the window shattering into a million pieces. The fragments bounced off me as the Shield kicked in its power. Another boom sounded to my left, Tanaka's window splintering with a loud crack. Immediately, both of the windows in the backseat were smashed to pieces. Then the back window. Hood cowered, his pale, deathly hands covering his head.

  “Hood!” I yelled. “Use the Ring! Get out of here!”

  Before I could say anything more, something black appeared from above in the now windowless back of the car. It was the fully formed head of a Shadow Ka, looking at me with its eyes of darkness. Its mouth opened and let out a piercing scream, exploding the last window left in the car, the front windshield. Then its hands appeared, and it started crawling from above into the car, reaching for Hood.

  With a quick thought, I called upon the Ice. A swirling string of mist solidified at once into the hard stuff and blasted the Ka away. I could see it tumbling over and over as the car left it behind. Amazingly, Tanaka was still driving, still swerving, snapping his head back and forth to see what was happening.

  Another Ka appeared in the back, screaming its fury. Then one poked its head down on the side. Then one on the other side. I shot balls of Ice at them, but they ducked away. Their shadowed, clawed hands appeared, gripping the edges of the top of the car. I knew what they were going to try, because I'd seen them do it before.

  “Tanaka! Slam on the brakes!”

  But it was too late. Just as he pushed his foot hard against the pedal, the car lifted from the ground. The Ka tilted it heavily to my side, and Tanaka slammed into me, the Shield throwing him backward. Then they tilted us the other way, but I stayed put because I had my seat belt on. I could hear Hood and the birdcage bouncing back and forth behind me. The Ka shook the car, bounced it, tilted it over and over in all directions.

  It hit me what they were doing, and it was working. They were trying to keep me confused—trying to prevent me from settling down and using my Gifts to stop them. Steeling myself, I put my mind to figuring out what I should do.

  I reached down and unfastened my seat belt. The Ka were shooting for the sky, carrying us higher and higher. I yelled at Hood and Tanaka to hold on, and then I reached for the dashboard in front of me. I shifted my weight onto my feet and pushed myself forward and up through the front window. I grabbed the outer edge of the top of the car; then I turned myself around and sat down on the hood, my head now above the roof and facing the three Shadow Ka flying us away. I tightened my hold to steady myself.

  The Ka screamed, shattering the air with their horrible sound. But I knew that they knew it was over. Their only hope was that I couldn't save my friends.

  With a flurry of thought, I sent all three of them to oblivion in an explosion of ice and wind. The car stopped, seeming to freeze in midair with them gone. Then it yawned toward the front engine, where it was heaviest, and started falling back to earth.

  My stomach tried to jump up my throat, and the sudden speed of our descent took me by surprise. My fingers slipped from the edge of the window and my whole body slid out of the car.

  Free-falling, I stared in horror as the car carrying my friends slipped out of reach.

  We were only seconds from smashing into the mountainside. Butterflies flew out of the windows in droves. I shot a stream of Ice toward the top of the car, connecting my arm to it, and then shrank it as fast as my mind would let me. The cold rope pulled my whole body and slammed me into the car, the Shield making it rebound slightly. I froze my hand to the metal of the roof and kicked my feet through the front window, felt my left foot touch the passenger seat.

  The ground rushed up at us, the whole of it filling my peripheral vision.

  Tanaka grabbed my leg, squeezing tight, knowing the Shield would expand and protect him. I had to get to Hood. “Grab on!” I yelled to him.

  Grasping the steering wheel, I tried to pull the rest of my body into the car. But now I was upside down, the ground only feet away. I could see the jagged rocks waiting to tear us apart. With a last grunt of effort, I threw all of my strength into lifting myself into the car.

  But it was too late. The car smashed into the side of the mountain. Metal crumpled all around us as the Shield protected Tanaka and me. My mind screamed out in hope—hope that Hood would grab me in that last split second.

  A spark ignited the spewing gasoline, and the world around us exploded in a blast of heat and light. Tanaka held on as the Shield expanded into a perfect sphere of protection, keeping us safe from the fire and twisted metal.

  But there was no sign of Hood.

  The sickening smell of burning gas, the sounds of warping metal, the occasional explosion of something new—it filled the air around us. Hugging, Tanaka and I walked away from the destruction, the Shield moving flame and metal out of our way as we walked. Soon we were clear of it, and the fresh air that hit us was like coming out of the pool after a contest to see who could stay underwater the longest.

  In the air above, hundreds of okisaru flew in a tight swarm, waiting for a command from Tanaka. I hoped they all had escaped.

  We kept walking until we were far enough away to be safe. We collapsed to the ground near a patch of trees on the slope, exhausted. My heart ached with the thought of losing Hood, especially knowing that I could have saved him. If I had just waited to get rid of the Shadow Ka …

  I got up and walked back to the wreckage, even though I knew there was no way he could have survived, ghost or no ghost. Unless he pulled a Casper and flew away at the last second. How does that work, anyway? I thought. How does a ghost die if it's already dead?

  I walked around and through the burning mess, the Shield protecting me like usual. I kicked pieces of the car and let the Shield move some of the heavier ones aside so I could get a good look. I couldn't find signs of him anywhere.

  Nothing. Wait a minute …

  Nothing. The light went on in my head. There was no sign of Hood, no sign of his robe, no sign of the …

  I sensed someone behind me, and a smile lit up my face. Of course. I turned around, knowing full well who it was before I saw him. He had taken my advice after all, and used the Bender Ring to get the heck out of that flying car.

  I gave Hood the biggest hug I could, ignoring the fact that it wasn't even a real body I had my arms around.

  After scouting around for more Shadow Ka, we sat down on an outcropping of rock looking over the valley. Exhausted both mentally and physically, we needed a break. And we needed to talk about what to do next.

  “Our plan is dead,” said Tanaka. “Dead like Hood here!”

  “Why?” I asked.

  Tanaka threw his hands up in frustration. “What you mean, why? You think those black buzzards not go and tell their friends we here? Our whole plan, dead.”

  “You think they survived? I'm sure they're lying dead down there somewhere.”

  “So what? Even if they dead, they have others nearby who saw everything. I promise you that.”

  He had a good point. Before I could think of a reply, Hood got up on his knees and started painting on the rock.

  “THIS MAY HELP US.”

  I raised my eyebrows, knowing that he would explain what he meant.

  “THINK. NOW IT WILL WORK EVEN BETTER.” Hood had to shuffle a few feet over to keep writing. “NOW THEY KNOW WE ARE IN THE AREA. NOW IT SEEMS MORE NATURAL WHEN WE PLAY OUR TRICK.”

  “He's right, Tanaka,” I said. “Before, they might've been suspicious that we just happened to show up—they might've seen through our plan. I think Hood's right.”

  “Unless,” said Tanaka, “they know each Shadow Ka, each one, individually.”

  Another good point. Raspy had once told me that the Ka shared their minds somehow—that they could communicate and exchange thoughts and feelings in a way that we would never understand. But the more I thought about our plan, the more perfect it seemed.

  “If the okisaru can truly do what you say they can, it will work.”

  “Why you say that?”

  “Just trust me.” I stood up and stretched my arms and legs, letting out a yawn worthy of lion-roar status. “Come on. The road is just up that ridge, and we couldn't have strayed too far from where we saw the waterfall. The black haze is thick up there.”

  I offered a hand to both of them, and soon we were on our way.

  As we clambered up the side of the densely forested mountain, it grew darker as the taint above grew thicker. When we reached the road, I looked up into the gloomy sky. The black cloud-like haze seethed and boiled like a fast-motion storm, and it reminded me of a story Joseph once told me.

  When he first went into the Blackness, the Givers showed him a world that had been completely taken over by the Stompers. All he'd seen was a sea of stone beds with covered, humped shapes sleeping in the Coma. The entire world had been covered in a blanket of dark, gray clouds. Now we knew why, and could see the same darkness taking over our own world.

  Without a word, we crossed the narrow road and entered the brush on the other side, heading for the waterfall. The roar of the falls was getting louder, and the air seemed to grow more damp as we approached it through the thick vegetation. Tanaka's arms were scratched and bruised from the endless branches and pointy twigs, and Hood's robe kept getting snagged left and right. The Shield made it easy for me, opening up a path as I moved forward.

  How did I ever live without this thing? I asked myself.

  After a half-hour or so of hiking, we broke through into a clearing, and the mighty falling wall of water appeared in front of us. The boom and crash of the falls hitting the jagged rocks along the bottom was loud as a freight train. A fine spray of mist filled the air around us, instantly matting my hair to my head and soaking my clothes. A quick look around revealed no Shadow Ka, at least not in plain sight.

  Worried we had come too far, I hurried back into the cover of the woods, motioning Tanaka and Hood to follow.

  “You guys ready?” I asked. “Hood, do you know where to go?”

  He nodded, and then I turned to Tanaka. Only four butterflies had come along, the rest ordered to wait in a place of safety back near the road. They rested on Tanaka's shoulders, their wings moving back and forth ever so slowly.

  “Are you ready, General Tanaka?”

  I expected some type of joke, but he nodded his head without a word or smile. Then he barked out something in Japanese, and the butterflies took flight. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next.

  With the same flash of light, the same trailing blur of brightness, the okisaru began their transformation. Our entire plan depended on it.

  Right before our eyes, they turned themselves into Shadow Ka.

  It was hard to repress the feeling of terror that filled my heart at seeing four Ka standing in the woods next to us. They were seven feet tall, blacker than the depths of space, huge wings folded back behind their bodies. Their faces reminded me of dragons, although their features were obscured in the strange shadowy substance of which they were made. Long, thick arms ended in black claws, as did their short but stocky legs.

  They were horrible, and therefore perfect.

  “Tanaka, have them scream,” I said. “Make sure they can talk to the other Ka.”

  He said a few words to the transformed okisaru, and they all screamed as one, shattering the air like invisible lightning. The suddenness and sheer power of it made me fall back onto the ground. Tanaka said something else, and all four of them flapped their massive wings, lifting themselves up into the trees. Then they came back down, and looked at me. A racing shiver of fear swept across my body, but I forced it away. As terrible as these guys looked, they were on my side.

  I got up and brushed myself off.

  “Let's go then, before these fellas make me wet my pants.”