Chapter 1: Death Whistle THATWARD HO: In the Thunder and Heat chapter 1 by JollyJoe

Two young men sat under the pouring rain. 

 

Both somewhere in their early-to mid-twenties. Olive skin, dark hair, dark eyes. Little on the leaner side. Black knit beanies, leather jackets, riding boots. 

 

Despite their near identical appearance, they were not related. Ironic thing was, one of them did have an identical twin. 

 

They sat on the curb of a busy street in the big city. JJ pulled out his cigarette case and offered one to his friend. "So. What does we think?"

 

His friend took a smoke and borrowed JJ’s lighter. The brujo took one for himself, then used the lighter when it was handed back.

 

Eli inhaled. He kept his eyes closed. "No."

 

The brujo sighed. "No, what?"

 

"I hate this place." Eli rolled his temple over his index knuckle. The place was deafening, and it wasn't just the heavy traffic. "It's too loud.”

 

JJ glanced around. He could understand that. Lots of cars, lots of horns. But Eli said the same thing about the empty bar the night before.

 

"Can we go literally anywhere else?"

 

"Amigo, where else would we go?"

 

"You enjoy this."

 

"I tolerate it. Kinda annoying, actually. Can't take your sensitive ass anywhere."

 

"No, no.” Eli pointed accusingly. "You absolutely enjoy watching me suffer."

 

JJ considered it. "...Maybe a little. Just a little."

 

Eli groaned. "You are such an asshole."

 

"So I've been told. Not sure I believe it."

 

JJ waited. Eli pushed through every wave of emotion that came his way. Bitter lovers, grieving families, frustrated workers. And so much hate. Hate for themselves and their fellow man. The street was full of everything.

 

The brujo was always dragging him to areas like this. Places rife with upset people, or places touched by them so much that their feelings started to soak in the environment. 

 

Fucking dive bars. Eli hated dive bars. And he hated JJ for forcing him to go last night. Just like he forced Eli to come here, in the soaking rain.

 

No. That was the emotions getting to him. Emotions that didn't belong to him.

 

Then, the empath felt something else. He wasn't sure what it was, only that it felt off. “There.” He pointed to a window across the street. 

 

JJ perked up. Eli felt his anticipation. The brujo already knew something was here. 

 

The empath sighed. "You know, most people buy their friends dinner before using them as paranormal radar."

 

"I bought you beer." JJ said defensively. But he wasn't focused on the conversation. His attention was on something else entirely as he stood up.

 

"You did. Then you drank it."

 

"See, this is your problem. You see everything as a glass half empty." 

 

What the hell was behind that window? What was the brujo so excited for? There were very few things that worked him up. Outside of watching lucha libre, Eli never really felt any emotions from JJ. That was one of the few reasons Eli could stand his obnoxious ass. 

 

Eli did admire how that ass looked in those black bell bottoms, soaked in the rain. “My glass is empty. You drank it.”

 

 

JJ raised a finger. “But I also bought it for you. It evens out.”

 

****

 

The restaurant was closed. Which was reasonable. It was eleven o'clock at night. 

 

The door unlocked.

 

Eli shuddered as they stepped inside. He realized how cold and wet he was in the dry restaurant. “Whoo. Finger better have blankets and cocoa ready for us when we get back to my place. Hey JJ, mind telling me why we're breaking in here?”

 

“You were just barely bitching about me not buying you dinner. Thought we might grab some takeout.”

 

 

“Okay, but what's giving me that weird feeling? Also, you hate Chinese.”

 

 

“I doesn't hate anything that's free.”

 

 

“Or in this case, stolen.”

 

 

“Funny you should say that.” 

 

 

The brujo held up an object. A small whistle, shaped like a skull. Now that it was in front of him, Eli could define more of the weird senses. He held his head as a sharp pain hit him. He felt his skull being chipped at with a spike and stone. He felt half his skull being clutched by a young man ready for death. Fear and reverence, anticipation for offering his life to appease an angry god. 

 

Eli screamed. JJ eyes lit up, a shit-eating grin spread wide on his face.

 

“That good, huh? A keeper for sure. Hey, I'm gonna grab a couple cartons of rice. Want anything?”

 

****

 

When they arrived back at Eli's, Finger was furious. 

 

“Where HAVE you BEEN?!” The little pixie exclaimed, her wings flapping like a humming bird. “Some government agents came in earlier, I don't know what they were looking for, but they were tearing the place up. Your welcome, by the way, I made sure it's cleaner than you left it, Eli. And I made enchiladas, so I hope you didn't go out to eat. We're all strapped on cash as it is.”

 

“We–”

 

Eli didn't get the chance to finish his thought. Finger continued her tirade as she straightened her tiny dress. “And do you think I like hiding from suspicious men in black? Because I don't. And I don't trust you two alone. You can't leave without telling me. And you're tracking mud everywhere! You boys take your boots off this instance!”

 

The brujo looked at the empath and shrugged. Eli sighed and did as he was told. It may have been his house, but while JJ and Finger were over, they played by her rules. 

 

Or as much as JJ cared too. Ultimately, she was his homunculus, not the other way around. They sat on Eli's torn up sofa, something he found on the side of the road, like most of his belongings. 

 

“Oh, just look at you! Take off your shirts, I'll have them washed. Eli, you'd do well to invest in a washing machine and dryer. We're only here until JJ gets Bettie's engine fixed, and the walk to the laundry mat is way too far for you to continue to do it regularly.”

 

“Well–agh!” Eli tried to answer, but was hit by the same striking to his skull as before. 

 

Finger's face melted to something much more concerned. Her wings slowed their flapping as she fluttered to his face. “Eli, honey, what's wrong?”

 

“Oh, it's nothing.” Said JJ, pulling the whistle from his pocket. He held it up proudly. “Just this.” 

 

“Agh!!” Eli screamed again, clawing his scalp. “Please, find somewhere to put it!”

 

The pixie zipped to the offending curio. She tilted her face with a finger on her bottom lip. “Hm?” Her eyes met JJ’s. 

 

“Altar. It'll be great for display.” the brujo told her.

 

Finger nodded. She grabbed the whistle with both her hands and flew away. The brujo's altar was in Bettie's trunk. A Brewster Green 1973 Trans Am. Custom and heavily modded. And terribly cared for. JJ’s one true love.

 

By the time Finger returned, Eli was already feeling better. JJ wasn't a mystery, he just didn't have many emotions. Bettie, on the other hand, masked the ever-running resonances within her. And Eli wasn't sure how. He doubted that the brujo even knew the car did, let alone how it happened.

 

“Well? Supper's in the kitchen.” The pixie stated, landing on Eli's knee and preening. He wasn't sure why she looked familiar, beyond the other few times JJ stayed over. But Eli was sure she looked just like a woman he saw in a magazine, or maybe that woman riding a rocket they painted on jets. 

 

“Mamacita, qué tipo de enchiladas?” Asked the brujo. He already decided he wasn't going to eat. He already did.

 

“Chicken.”

 

JJ sucked his teeth. “Hsk. Finger, you know I'm vegetarian.”

 

“You know I know that. It's spiced soy!”

 

He inhaled again. “Oh gee. That does sound lovely. Thing is, I have a really bad stomach ache.”

 

Eli said nothing. He knew JJ was lying. They had rice and vegetables on their walk back. Eli had orange chicken with his. He felt Finger’s skepticism and rising frustration as she tapped her foot slowly on his knee and looked at him. 

 

“Eli. Are you hungry.”

 

“Oh–uh. I should probably eat, but–uh, I have to work in the morning? And uh, well, uh, I need sleep.”

 

Frustration. Her foot was tapping faster. He shifted uncomfortably.

 

JJ scrunched his face. “Ew. Work.”

 

Eli rubbed the back of his head. “Haha! Yeah, some of us have jobs. It's not like rent is free….”

 

The brujo patted his back. “Whelp. Best you get to bed then. I'm sure Finger would love to pack you some leftovers for lunch.”

 

She narrowed her eyes. Then a sigh. “I guess it's already cold by now anyways. You boys missed your chance of a fresh meal.” She flew up to Eli's flushed face and stared at him directly in the eyes. “Commicate with me next time, okay? And JJ? Eli is right. Rent isn't free. Tomorrow, we are going to find a way to pay him.”

 

JJ waved at the suggestion. “Sure. Tomorrow.”

 

Eli knew the brujo had other plans.

 

****

 

The next day, while Eli was at work, JJ went to his altar in the trunk of his car. Striking a match, he lit candles and a cigarette. He recited the enn of his matron demon, whose sigil was painted on Bettie's hood. 

 

Between drags, he held the whistle up to his lips and blew in it softly. Then came a loud shriek. Agony and terror. Wind rose around the brujo and his car. The world spun a

round him until he no longer knew where he was.

 

Apparently the whistle wasn’t just some cool curio with a sordid history. It might have been cursed. 

 

“Huh.”