Excerpt: Queueing For Purgatory

“I need you to do something for me,” he said.
“You know, you could at least say ‘hi’ first,” Indigo returned.
“Sorry,” he replied, and the two hugged, unbeknownst to everyone passing them.
“And could we go somewhere more private?”
“Why? No one can see us.”
“If Kate, or someone like her came—”
“She doesn’t know.” It wasn’t a question; it was a simple, confident statement of fact.
“Of course she doesn’t, but that wouldn’t stop her following me. They’re all curious about where I go – I can tell. Anyone could tell,” Indigo said.
“But they’ve never asked.”
“So I haven’t told them.”
“Which begs the question would you tell them if they asked?”
“I don’t know,” Indigo answered honestly. “But to get back to my point, we could be seen here.”
He sighed. “Fine then,” he said, and around them the people froze. “I won’t take anymore of your time,” he added with a hint of reproval in his tone.
“There was a wraith,” Indigo said. “What’s a wraith?”
“You killed it?”
“Gideon did,” Indigo said.
“Oh yes – the vampire’s brother,” he said, nodding. “He would.”
“But what is a wraith?” Indigo persisted.
“One of Death’s creatures.”
“So we shouldn’t have killed her?”
He shrugged, and Indigo stared in surprise. He couldn’t remember an occasion on which his father had not known the answer.
“It’s a mess,” he said finally.
“What is?” Indigo asked.
“Everything. There’s a high probability it’s all just going to end.”
“End?” Indigo echoed anxiously. “As in... end-of-days end?”
“As in end-of-all-things end. This isn’t just the end of the world. That I could deal with – that I have dealt with... Which actually brings me back to the thing I need you to do: I need you to look out for Natalie.”
“Uh, can we just recap on the end-of-all-things, pending apocalypse?” Indigo said hopefully.
“Natalie is Julie’s granddaughter. She’s disappeared,” he explained.
“This isn’t how conversations work,” Indigo said. “A dialogue should flow – each person responding to what was previously said...”
“This is serious, Indigo.”
“So is the end of the world!” Indigo cried.
“Universe,” he corrected. “If it is ending, it’ll be the end of the universe.”
“And that’s not serious?” Indigo said.
“I promised Julie I would do everything I could,” he snapped. “She thought Natalie had gone to find her father, who Julie thought was dead, but he isn’t. It feels important.”
Indigo hesitated before saying, “You... used the past tense.”
“Yes. Julie died.”
There was a pause, then Indigo smiled grimly. “I’ll keep an eye out,” he said. “What about Eli? Have you asked him, too?”
“Not yet,” he said. “I’m not sure your brother will understand.”
“I think he will,” Indigo said. “’Specially if you tell him the universe will end otherwise.”
“That’s a blatant lie.”
“It might not be,” Indigo said, then realised what he had just said.
“What did you mean by that?”
“I really have no idea,” Indigo said.