Blood chilled. Grandmother writhed uncomfortably in the hollow of Sabrina’s soul. She didn’t want to lose Caleb either, but fear reminds you that you’re alive. Fear can get in the way, so Sabrina stowed it. Took a breath and controlled her geist and by extension herself.

“Fatima, group chat,” Sabrina put Fatima on speaker and started towards the front of the church. “The barrier should hold, but there’s more than one reaper. Get the whole krewe. Liam and Levi as well.”

“Right, how fast can you get here?”

“Fifteen minutes,” she looked to Lauren, who was watching with anticipation. “I’m bringing a friend.”

There was a moment of silence while Fatima tapped away. “I swear you like to be vague on purpose,” she said, and Sabrina heard the ping of a notification. Followed by more as the rest of the krewe joined in.

“I am. I need to call Grace. Keep them safe, Fates.” With that, Sabrina hung up and called Grace.

Five minutes later, she pulled up in front of the church.

“Everything’s going to be okay, right?” Grace said as Sabrina opened the back door and let Lauren crawl in.

The boymoder was solid to the car. Ghosts are always solid to objects with weight to them, like cars. She still sunk into the seat as if she was really crawling over it, though in the real world nothing moved. Sabrina went in after her.

“You know I don’t like lying,” she said. She wasn’t exactly calm, given the circumstances, but she didn’t have time for panicking. “But I won’t let anything happen to Caleb.”

“Valerie,” Lauren said with a huff.

“I know that.” Sabrina gestured towards Grace, who quirked an eyebrow in the mirror as they sped off. “But she doesn’t.”

“Rina?” Grace asked, sparing a quick look in the back when they got to a corner.

“I brought a ghost.”

Air simultaneously seemed to want to get into and out of Grace’s mouth, resulting in a strained little noise. Sabrina smiled.

“Did Caleb ever tell you about Lauren?”

“I…” She thought about it, “A while back he had a friend who went by Lauren, but…”

Sabrina nodded, and looked over to the girl. “She fell out of a tree. Family buried her under the wrong name.”

Grace looked back in the mirror. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Sabrina laughed, “you know me better than that.”

It wasn’t much longer before they made it to the house. Traffic was getting lighter as the sun was going down, and circumstances had Grace less cautious. Sabrina didn’t like it, and slipped her fingers between the buttons of her shirt. There was a circular scar there, on the inside of her left breast. In a normal person, it would be right over the heart. But Sabrina wasn’t a normal person, and that’s why she lived just long enough to get an infection. Her thigh twitched.

The Main Exhibit was still projecting itself. Sabrina could see Amy’s head peaking over the trees, and Lauren crawled over her to look out the window at it. “Woah, a dinosaur…!”

That unmarked 1989 Crown Victoria LX was in the back driveway, with a fresh skid of gravel where it had taken the corner at an unsafe speed and slammed on the breaks at the last moment. There’s a reason Sabrina tended to take the bus. “Frank’s here.”

“He’s in mom’s spot.” Grace pulled the car up onto the lawn rather than block him in, and before the parking break was on Sabrina was getting out of the back and helping Lauren.

The back door opened, and Frank stepped over the salt circle. He rushed over to Sabrina and stopped when he saw the ghost girl.

“Who’s the stiff?”

Frank looked like he’d slept scarcely more than Sabrina had. It was hard to tell because he had the wardrobe of a cartoon character, but it looked like he was wearing the same disheveled button up and slacks as last night. But he looked like he’d showered and shaved. That was a good sign.

“You stayed over Juste’s,” Sabrina said with a smile.

His confusion turned to a scowl, face getting red. “Damnit, Granger. This isn’t a social call.”

“She’s Caleb’s girlfriend.”

Frank looked over his shoulder to the house. He sighed, and rubbed a hand over his face.

Jinxy was coming up after him. She was taking a much more sedate pace. She had changed, into yet another extravagant bit of all black high fashion. Lace and leather, a corset and high collar. The skirt was only to her knees. That was good, she’d took Sabrina’s advice and made sure she could run if need be. She noticed Lauren, who like many a boymoder before her had stayed as small and hidden as she could, inching behind Sabrina and hiding in the door of the sedan.

“Oh, hello there,” Jinxy said, curtsying. The Black Veil Bride appeared as she did, mirroring the motion. “My name is Josette, but you can call me Jinxy. This is the Black Veil Bride. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Sabrina stepped out of the way and let the two talk. She lead Frank aside. Grace just stood there for a moment, watching in confusion. Then she went inside to check on the family.

“Murder?” he asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

Sabrina shook her head. “No. Fell out of a tree.”

Frank gave a gravelly sigh. “She’s, what, twelve?”

“Fourteen.” She looked back to Jinxy, who was much better with the dead than he living. “She was Val—she was Caleb’s girlfriend. They buried her under the wrong name.”

“How do you bury your own kid under the wrong na—” Frank was regrettably cis, but he caught on quick enough. He let out another growl of frustration.

“I fixed it,” Sabrina said, flexing her fingers in the shape of claws. Frank nodded. “At least until the parents find the headstone defaced and try to replace it.”

“Let’s burn one bridge at a time, Granger.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, then looked back at the house. Then back to Sabrina. “Fatima didn’t want to tell me what was going on, but I was a detective for twelve years. They taught me more than just how to be a piece of shit and blame minorities.” Sabrina smirked, but didn’t say anything, so he continued. “I saw the family photos.”

There it was.

He looked her up and down. “Also you’re wearing the clothes of the woman who just left.”

“Yeah,” Sabrina nodded. “That’s Grace. I got into a fight, so I borrowed some of her clothes.” She let it hang for a moment. “Sisters share clothes.”

“Fuck me.”

“Would Juste be cool with that?” Frank scowled. He had a face for scowling, so it was his default expression, but it only lasted a moment. Sabrina didn’t let silence last long. “Yeah. The Cunninghams took me in. And now a ghost is threatening them.”

She put a hand to her chin, and then looked to the third floor. Or second. It was hard to tell in Ashcroft, where you could go through a ground entrance and be on floor five of a building.

“Although I’m starting to think maybe we’ve got this wrong…”

“That’d be a first,” Frank grumbled. The purr of a motorcycle joined his growl, and up pulled the biggest bitch possible, with someone gripping tight to her waist. The two of them went over to meet with them.

Levi ‘Free Dog’ Birmingham was a sight to see. Six foot three, with the muscles of a predatory animal. Lean as barbed wire and twice as sturdy. Her face was strong as a brick, and she didn’t bother with a helmet. She’d probably damage the pavement if she ever spun out. Free Dog’s outfit was sparse, a pair of jeans—so low cut a patch of brown fur poked out, trailing up to her navel—and a hand cropped baby doll shirt that said SAVE A HORSE RIDE A COWGIRL, the words stretched across her chest. She had no problem showing skin, which was suntanned and free of lines.

Even after facing demons and monsters, Frank took a step back as Levi advanced on him. Free Dog towered over him, her natural height amplified by cowboy boots. She didn’t attack, she just wrapped her arms around him in a bonebreaking hug. He was lifted off his feet, and spun around before he found himself back on the lawn, a little shaken up. “I hear you got laid!”

Frank turned red and grumbled again, narrowing his eyes at the bike’s passenger.

Hobie Kochiyama got off, a sheepish grin on their face. They were mixed race, dark skin with Asian features. They wore androgyny like armor, plaid skirt mixing with a leather battle jacket of studded spikes and leftist buttons. Natural hair in tight, green ringlets hung over the side of their face in a fauxhawk, accentuating the scar along their eye. A shimmering little crescent from where their skull had been caved in by a tear gas canister, the vibrant eye shadow helping to emphasize it.

Hobie shrugged, a broad smile across their face. “What? I didn’t say all that.”

“I hate you kids,” Frank growled, but there was the ghost of a smile on his lips. “Waiting on Joy.”

Levi sniffed the air. “Jukebox Hero is inbound.”

As soon as she said that, a massive wolf, the kind that hadn’t been seen since the ice sheets receded and the mammoth died off, came bounding over the hedge. On its back were the bright colors of a girl who clung tight to it, fists holding the mane of fur. The wolf threw up gravel as it skidded to a stop, and Joy deVivre hopped off, stumbling forward from the momentum of falling from that massive back. The wolf went behind Frank’s car.

Joy’s geist appeared and caught her before she fell. A bare chested luchador with a skull face and bullet holes in the shape of the constellation Scorpio. When his bound companion was settled, he strode over to Hobie. We Can Do It appeared as well. The large dyke in a bloody boiler suit flecked with pins and buttons not too dissimilar from Hobie’s strode up to Señor Medianoches and the two began to flex, a ritual that they did every time.

Joy was the very antithesis of Jinxy. A riot of color. Bright blue eye shadow. A tunic of white flower polka dots on a field of yellow was held down by a black leather vest. One sleeve was long and the other was short. Her bangles and jewelry clinked together; the green sash around her waist and the scarf tied around her head—that couldn’t contain her wild blue hair—flowed as she rushed forward to leap into Hobie’s arms. They gave her a spin, mirroring the way Levi had done to Frank.

“Hey, love,” Hobie said with a smile, and the two shared a kiss that made Joy’s leg lift, her long black boot raising up.

“Hey yourself,” she said, giving him another little peck. The two of them looked over at their geists and giggled.

“What,” came a melodic Irish voice as Liam Byrne walked out from behind the Crown Vic. “No kiss for me?”

Jukebox Hero wore a simple outfit of jeans and denim jacket over a loosely buttoned shirt, and as he walked over to the others he pulled his gorgeous orange locks back into a ponytail. A pewter wolf head pendant hung at his neck, shined to look silver. There was a guitar at his back, slung over his shoulders.

Hobie pulled him in by the shirt and then took his lightly stubbled cheeks in hand and gave Liam a kiss. It was harder than with Joy, considering Liam was taller. “Ya don’t smell like wet dog this time,” Hobie teased.

Joy moved in to put her arm around Liam, and he put an arm around Joy’s shoulder.

The three of them looked to their elders. Levi looked back and forth, then stepped over to be with the zoomers. She gave Liam a fistbump. Jinxy came over, Lauren’s hand in hers, and stood with the others.

“So, you’re wondering why I called you all here…” Sabrina began. The words trailed off, and she leaned on her cane, which sank into the dirt a little.

“Not really,” Levi said with a shrug. “I only ever get called to hit stuff. Plus I can smell your blood over by that tree.”

Sabrina snorted. “Okay, but if you want more specifics, you’re not just here to fight. I wouldn’t need all of you if it was just that.” She looked around them, to the blood. Levi was right. That was part of it. But there was something else, too. A more important battle. She pointed to Joy, Hobie, and Levi. “I need you, you, and you to make a statement. The rest of you are important as well, but you three are key.”

Levi punched one fist into her other palm and grinned, her teeth sharp and canine. “Hell yeah! You know I love showing off.”

That elicited another laugh. “Not that kind. I just need you to be you. You’re going to go meet…” she took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She let it out, and Grandmother appeared beside her, hand on her shoulder. “You’re going to meet my family. My little brother.” She ignored Lauren’s discomfort.

It would be Valerie’s choice to tell them. Sabrina could just show her what’s to gain.

“You have a family?” Jinxy asked, her soft voice cutting through the stunned silence.

“That’s generally how it works,” Sabrina said with a snort.

“We all gotta come from somewhere,” Levi chimed in, “but I’m surprised you’re still talking to yours.”

Hobie added, “yeah, Boss Lady, I thought you were squatting in that old house.”

“You don’t mention them.” It didn’t feel like an accusation, but Joy’s words cut all the same.

“I thought they were dead?” Liam asked.

Five years or so of cultivated mystique was cracking. The wallpaper was peeling and the paint chipping, like the old Elizabeth house Hobie mentioned.

“It’s complicated,” Sabrina said, feeling everyone staring at her. She wanted to run. She knew they wouldn’t be mad at her, but she still felt exposed. She was caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Or maybe, hiding cookies. It was a terrible metaphor, but her mind was wandering. “I wanted to keep them safe.” One shoulder rolled casually. “I’m not safe.”

The krewe shifted around awkwardly.

“Fuck you, Granger.” Frank turned to look at her.

“Wah?” She hadn’t expected him to be the one to say something.

He gestured to the rest of them. Sabrina could see Frank’s shadow spread out along the ground. It had chiropteran wings and went towards the setting sun in defiance of the other shadows of the group. “How many of them have family besides the rest of us.”

She was the one to shift awkwardly this time. “Fatima has Ya’el…”

Frank grumbled, “A girlfriend doesn’t count and you know it. Besides, Yael is going to leave town in a month to go live in the fucking Amazon or something. Parents, Granger.”

“I actually do talk to my aunt,” Joy added.

“Joy has an aunt,” Frank conceded. “The rest of them have no one. You and me, and Fatima. That’s all they’ve got for parents. And Levi, God help us.” He added the last one after he caught her grinning and pointing at herself. “This is their family. Us. Don’t…” he sighed. “Don’t give me this dangerous bullshit. That’s an excuse.”

Sabrina stood quietly, her pulse quickening as much as it had when she was fighting the Harvestman. When he stood there running a hand over his face and scowling, the others were giving vague affirmatives.

“You’d make a good dad.” She looked at the ground, to the way Frank’s shadow—The Detective on Leather Wings—moved around him anxiously. She couldn’t help but smile.

“Fuck you, no I wouldn’t.”

The rest of the group fell into snorting laughter. Even Lauren found that funny.

“Anyway. We came here for a reason.”