The Devil Wore A Brown Suit novel Chapter 14

The moon is full. “Sarge, are you ready?” I ask as I run my fingers through his fur. He looks at me with his big eyes and acknowledges he is ready. He gets up. I am still sitting beside the rock grave. He places his paw on my knee. I can hear him.

“Stay still.” He sits in front of me and begins to howl. He stops places his nose to mine. He looks in my eyes. I start to think of KoKo. I focus on KoKo in the void. Sarge howls again.

 “He can hear you, Sarge.” Sarge keeps howling.

“Come to us KoKo!”  Sarge howls again. I can feel KoKo breaking free.

“Follow my voice KoKo!” I scream.

Sarge continues to howl. I can feel every move KoKo is making. He is trying to get to me.

“KoKo! I command you to come to me now!” I scream.

Sarge scrambles around the grave. KoKo is breaking free. It will not be a simple task for him. Sarge and I will wait for him. Eyes are on him everywhere. I can feel them. The watchers are on him.

 “Let him go!” I know he can do it. I need him. I need him to help me navigate what has to be done. I can see him breaking from the void.

“Follow my voice KoKo. It will lead you to an opening!” Sarge howls again. We have to get him out before my father knows he is trying to escape.

I see a light at the edge of the cemetery. Sarge turns to the light and growls. This is not good. Sarge howls again for Koko. I know it is the three idiots trying to stop me.

 “Izzy!” I hear from behind the lights.

 “Go away! I know the truth! Begone! I will unleash hell on all three of you!” KoKo is so close to the surface. I do not have time to deal with them.

As we approach the abandoned cabin, I remember Daniel here as a child. “Koko you brought me here once. I remember. I do not remember why.” I look at him.

 He is so tired and beat down. He has been through a lot. I know that look. I had that look when I got to the topside.

 “Izzy, The cabin is not on the topside or the underworld. It stands alone. It is neutral. I brought the two of you here to escape the underworld and just be children.” He softly replies. Sarge leads the way into the cabin.

I look around at this childhood memory standing before me. I start to cry. There is no time for this. I need KoKo one hundred percent for tomorrow. Sarge lies beside KoKo. I try to start a fire. There is a small fireplace. It is so cold in here.

 I take small pieces of wood. As I pick up a piece there is something written on it. I love you, Izzy. There is a raven beneath. Could it be my mother or my brother? I toss it in the fire. How am I going to light this? Why not use my anger? I place my hand on the wood and think of everything that has happened in the last few days. The fire slowly starts to pour out of my hands into the wood. Presto we have heat.

I check on Sarge and KoKo. They are both resting. I lay on the floor in front of the fire. I close my eyes. I smell magnolias. She was here at some point in her life. I hear laughter. I drift into the night.