Five Moons of Pluto by Andre Jeter

and it wanders around the nether realms until your murderer dies. Sonya never believed in this superstition but her brothers did.
    “We have to find a way out of here,” she says, looking around the room.
    “There is a loose board on the window. You can get out from there.”
    “I’m not leaving you, Janovsky. I—”
    “We’ll both die if you try to save me. Gimme your sidearm. I’ll stall them long enough for you to escape.”
    Sonya hands him the sidearm. He checks the clip and loads a round into the chamber.
    The wooden guard comes off with little effort. Snowflakes enter and dance in the air before melting. She sticks her head out the window. Snow has covered the ground and for once the world looks much like the old one. She is three stories high.
    She turns around and sees Janovsky has found a piece of lumber and uses it as a crutch. She watches as he awkwardly walks to the door.
    She takes one end of the chain and secures it onto the pulley, then throws the other end out of the window.
    He turns to her as she inspects the strength of the chain. “Sonya.”
    She stops.
    “Your father was a brave man.” He exits the room before she can say anything. For Sonya, that was enough.
    She climbs out of the window and scales down the building. Gunshots ring out. She scales down a few feet more and releases the chain.
    Sonya lands on her feet and quickly crouches down behind a bush. A Vulture patrol car pulls up to the side entrance. Vultures exit the car and rush inside the school.
    This is her chance thanks to Janovsky. She rushes to the car and enters. She puts the gear in reverse and smashes the pedal. The car whips around the correct way and speeds off. Sonya looks into the rearview mirror just when an explosion erupts from one of the classrooms.
    As she drives down the snowy road, the wind begins to howl and she’s pretty sure it was speaking to her, saying, “Avenge us.”
     
    ****
     
    Sonya wakes up to the sweet smell of ginger and honey. Joseph walks in the room with a cup of tea and a little bowl with herbs in it.
    She sits up but her body is a little numb after whatever Joseph did to her. She also discovers that she is not tied up and has her clothes on now, which is the biggest relief of all.
    He holds out the tea cup in front of her. “Here, drink this,” he tells her. “You will recover more quickly.”
    Sonya looks at the cup then at him, not knowing if she can trust him, but if he wanted to kill her he could’ve done it while she was unconscious. Then again, there’s no telling what he did while she was unconscious. She takes the tea cup from him and carefully takes a sip. The soothing taste of ginger and bitter tea leaves tickles her tongue.
    Joseph lights the herbs in the bowl on fire and places it on the nightstand next to her. He waits until the fire is has burned most of the herbs, then he smothers the fire with another small bowl. He takes the bowl from the top and smoke rises from the ashes of the herbs.
    “Inhale,” he says.
    Sonya takes a deep breath and obliges. She feels the smoke traveling slowly through her body, untying the knots in her muscles.
    “What did you do to me?” she says as she inhales the smoke.
    “It’s a very old spell handed down from my ancestors.” He sits down in a chair in the corner. “The tea and the incense will help you recover. I’m sure by now you have many questions.”
    “Am I your prisoner?” she asks.
    “Not unless your brother returns what he stole from us.”
    Us ? Is there more of his kind here in Zone Gamma? She wonders. Isaac has never stolen anything in his life, as far as she knows.
    Sonya takes another sip of the tea. “What did he steal from you?”
    “He stole a very precious statue from my village and we need it back or else many will die.”
    “Well before we get into this whole statue and stealing thing, tell me how you know my brother in the first place?”
    Joseph searches his pocket and pulls out a picture, then he hands