One Foot in the Grave: An Almost Zombie Tale by Shanti Krishnamurty

and growling.”
    “It’s that club,” she says. “It’s giving you nightmares. I really don’t think going back there is a good idea, honey.”
    And that’s when it hits me. “Actually, Mom, it’s the perfect idea. I have to go back.”
    “What are you talking about? How’s going back the perfect idea?”
    “Nacelles is a magician.” My words come slowly as I noodle out exactly what I’m trying to say. “So theoretically, he could stop me from decomposing. Right?”
    My mom rubs her eyes with the palms of her hands. “I suppose it’s theoretically possible. But is it wise?”
    Probably not, but that isn’t going to stop me.

Seventeen:
    The Blair Lich Project.
    Nacelles drums his finger bones on his table. “Ink, you know my services don’t come cheaply. Why would you bring her to me?”
    The vampire leans back in her chair. “She came to the club to find you, Nacelles. I found her pressing random panels on the wall. Did you really want me to let her continue doing that?”
    He doesn’t answer her, but turns to me. I swallow.
    “What brought you here, Isis?”
    I reach into my pocket and pull out my bits of ear and cheek, carefully preserved in a quart sized baggie with two ice packs. My mom is nothing if not super-efficient.
    “I see,” the lich says. “And you wish me to what? Reattach them?”
    “Can you do that?”
    “Isis, be careful what you ask for. Magic has a price,” Ink cautions me.
    “I don’t need him to reattach them,” I hurriedly reassure Ink. “I’d just prefer it if nothing else fell off, y’know?”
    “I will need a payment of some kind from you,” Nacelles says. “It’s the only way the magic will work.”
    “Is that why you’re willing to help me?” I ask. “What’s in it for you?”
    “I’m a lich by nature and a researcher by trade.” He leans toward me across the table. It takes everything I’ve got not to send the chair I’m sitting in flying backward. “You are a fascinating conundrum, Isis. Quite frankly, I wish to study you, but in order to do that, you need to stay whole.”
    If that’s the price I have to pay…and speaking of prices…”You said I had to pay you?”
    The tall creature nods.
    I catch a glimpse of something hound shaped at his side, but even as I blink, it vanishes and I’m not sure I really saw it in the first place.
    “What kind of payment are you talking about?” I ask.
    Nacelles’ shrug is oddly graceful. “It’s nothing we need to discuss yet.”
    “Ummm…I disagree,” I say.
    “Come with me,” Nacelles commands. “I find this room damp and uncomfortable for extended conversation.” He waves one hand and the room we’re currently in lights up, which means I get to see the hound shape clearly. Except that it’s more than one shape. And they’re large. I mean, they’re huge ; like brahma bulls huge. And they’re all drooling.
    Ink notices my wide eyed stare. “They’re hell hounds,” she responds to my unanswered question. She holds out her hand and one of the monsters flickers in and out of reality until it reaches her. Then, much to my surprise, it swipes her hand with its tongue. Okay, so hell hounds aren’t always evil, either. Boy, this night is turning into some sort of an education.
    “Isis, this is Maxx.” Ink introduces me.
    The gigantic beast opens its jaws. “Isisss,” it repeats.
    Oh. My. Gawd.
    “Maxx is my companion of many years,” Nacelles says. “I watch over him and he returns the favor.”
    Maxx opens his mouth in a wide, doggy-like grin. It would be cute if it wasn’t for the strings of steaming saliva dripping from fangs as long as my pinky.
    “That’s…nice,” I say.
    “She is nervous,” Maxx states the obvious. His body isn’t pure black, like I originally assumed. Undertones the colors of magma coat the animal’s fur. I stretch out my hand, but before I can touch him, he pins me with a golden eyed stare. My hand drops back to its side.
    “It’s not you,” I