This alley wasn’t straight, and it was darker than usual, despite the hour. Tall, cramped buildings were squashed in next to each other, creating a crooked path. The buildings leaned over the narrow passage, crowding out the light as if they were jealously guarding the darkness. CeeCee took a wary step in and was hit by a rank wave of smell. She gagged and staggered back. Garbage was scattered as far as she could see—rags, rotting food, rusty appliances—before a jutting wall cut off her line of sight, twisting the alley in another direction. The walls were smeared with refuse and who knew what else, thick enough that giant mushrooms as big as her head were growing out of them. They looked slimy and pale in the dim light. It was disgusting, but the twins had said this was the direction to find the Queen.
She wasn’t sure if the Queen was an actual ruler of the alleys or just another weird character, but she was taking all the tips she could get from now on. In her experience, people who threw parties usually had some influence or at least knew a lot of people. It was strange how friendly and normal Red the Coffee Man had been, just like any barista, even if he looked different. The twins, however . . . well, the twins looked like they could be in a cereal commercial, but there was definitely something odd about them, almost eerie. She wondered if this place had changed them or if they had started off like that.
What if the alleys changed her into something awful? The rabbit in her pocket dug into her thigh. She remembered her fight with Trudy, the accusing eyes staring at her in the hall.
What if I already am someone awful?
Her fists clenched, and she forced them open. She tried plotting a course through the garbage. She wondered how long the alley was. Could she hold her breath until the end? She adjusted her backpack and took a deep breath.
A hand clutched her elbow and spun her around. Her stomach leaped into her throat, and she shrieked. Jesse stood there, looking half-concerned and half like he wanted to laugh. She yanked her elbow out of his hand. “What’s with people grabbing my arm?!” she yelled. “And where did you fricking come from? Are you following me?”
“Don’t travel down that way,” he said seriously.
“Don’t sneak up on me!” she snapped back. “Why not? Besides the smell.”
“Pretend like you’re walking away.” He moved just to the side, out of sight of the alley and waved her over.
CeeCee still felt like hitting him. “What? Why?”
“You’ll see.” He grinned at her, but there was caution in his expression.
He stared at her, unblinking, looking altogether too sure of himself. She didn’t know why he expected her to do anything he said. He curved his tall frame against the side of the wall so that he could look around the corner down the alley and still leave room for her to see. He patted the wall and waited, smiling that annoying smile. Then again, she thought grudgingly, he had warned her about Doc M.
She moved next to him and pressed her cheek against the wall. He was taller than she was but not by much. She could feel her hair shift with his breath.
“Now watch.” He pointed. “It’ll take a moment.”
They stood hidden against the wall and spied down the alley. At first there was nothing to see but the twisting lane of stink and garbage. CeeCee jittered her leg up and down impatiently. Then a pile of old clothes moved, shifting in place and settling down again. A hand crept out from inside a box and grabbed a mushroom from the ground. A shadow crept very slowly across a broken fire escape and up another ladder. A chill skittered down CeeCee’s spine. It was eerily quiet, but all along the passage, small bits of the scenery jerked and twitched.
“They wait for people,” Jesse said. “They’ll take everything you have. Not everyone makes it back out.”
“What are they?” she whispered.
“Just people. Sort of like the people at the park but . . . worse. This is what happens when they go too far, so drunk or drugged out they give up and crawl in there.” He shrugged. “The mushrooms keep them going.”
CeeCee looked at the twitching people, horrified. “Will they chase us out here?” She’d thought the slug man was disgusting, but this was worse. Did the twins know about this when they pointed her in this direction?
Jesse stepped back and smirked at her confidently. “No, like I said, they’ve given up. And they don’t really like the light anymore.” He paused. “I wouldn’t hang around this area at night, though.”
She decided to forgive him slightly for scaring her—but only just.
She shifted from foot to foot. “I need to go that direction. Was that the only way through?”
“No, come on, I’ll show you.” He strolled down the alley without waiting for an answer.
She glared at his back. There he went, expecting her to follow him again. She stomped to his side just so he would know she was annoyed.
She glanced at him sidelong. The sun peeked in and out between the buildings as they walked and made his dark hair gleam in the light. She wondered what his story was . . . he didn’t seem like a runaway or someone stuck in this place. He was cute, with high cheekbones and warm golden-brown skin. But his cocky air also made it seem like he might get into trouble. She usually avoided people like that because she always got the blame. He turned and caught her watching him.
“So . . . what do the mushrooms do? Do they eat them? Are they another drug?”
“Both. It changes them, makes them stronger when they should get weaker. There’s a lot of drugs in the byways, but the mushrooms are the worst. Highly addictive. Sustainable as food, if you’re willing to live like that.” He pointed behind him. “It makes them different.” He said it lightly, but his face was thoughtful.
She wasn’t sure if he was serious or not. “Are you different?” she asked. “Are you one of the ones who changed?”
“I’m exactly as I always am.” He waved grandly. “Sometimes I am this, and sometimes I am that.”
CeeCee’s temper flared. “That tells me . . . exactly . . . nothing.” She sarcastically waved.
Jesse laughed as if she surprised him into it. He looked at her with a new light in his eyes.
“You’re . . . unexpected.”
“You’re . . . a little annoying.” She knew it was rude, but he seemed to enjoy rankling her.
He laughed again, as if to prove her point, and stared at her unblinking. “How do you like it here so far?”
“You know I’m trying to get out.” Are you though? a voice whispered inside her.
“A shock, isn’t it? Not quite what you expected?” he needled.
“I didn’t expect anything because I didn’t expect to get lost!” she said hotly.
She took a deep breath and wrestled her temper under control. She didn’t know why she was reacting to him so intensely. The twins had been annoying, and it hadn’t bothered her like this.
“It just seems like there are a lot of changed people here,” she muttered.
He was watching her again. He changed the subject. “Where are you trying to go?”
“I met these twins. They told me I could find the Queen if I went in that direction.”
The grin dropped off his face. “You’re going to see the Queen?” he asked. His voice sounded funny.
“They said she could help me get out,” she explained, nonplussed. She waited, half expecting him to tease her again.
“Oh.” He stopped in the alley and stared toward the sky. CeeCee followed his gaze. Birds danced around the chimney of a building, swooping and diving at some game she couldn’t guess at. She looked at him again. He stood perfectly still. She couldn’t tell if he was going to pounce or was trying to blend into the wall. She had a feeling he was avoiding her eyes.
“What does that mean? ‘Oh’?”
“The Queen can probably help you, but that doesn’t mean she will,” he said carefully. “Everything comes with a price.”
She bristled at his tone of voice, like he thought she couldn’t handle herself. “Maybe I’m willing to pay.”
“Are you?” he asked. “There are other ways to get out. The Queen’s more for . . . last resorts.” He started walking again.
She trailed after him. “If you have any suggestions, I’m more than happy to hear them.” It came out sounding more belligerent than she meant. She wanted help. He just kept working her nerves.
They came to a section where five paths branched off. CeeCee had that feeling again that they all belonged to different streets and were somehow pasted together.
Jesse jumped up onto a low wall and waved down one of the passages. “If you go that way, you’ll find the Queen, or someone who works for her.” He waved to another passage. “If you go that way, you’ll hit some halfway shops. If I were you, I’d try that first.”
He meandered along the wall until he suddenly hopped down out of view on the other side. She was unexpectedly crestfallen at his disappearance.
She wavered at the crossroads, feeling very alone all of a sudden, the different paths echoing empty bricks and pavement and concrete. Then, for reasons she couldn’t say, she turned down the path toward the halfway shops.
From THE BYWAYS, Copyright © 2023, Mary Pascual, with permission from SparkPress.
Neurodivergent high school student CeeCee Harper has a temper and a reputation for trouble. Angry at the rumors and afraid she’ll never fit in, she makes a wrong move—and lands in the byways, a world of alleys, magic, and forgotten people . . . some that aren’t even human. And if she doesn’t escape quickly, CeeCee learns, she’ll be trapped for good.
Searching for a way out, she gets lost among monsters, drug pushers, the homeless, and political upheaval, and soon finds there are those who will stop at nothing to keep her from leaving. But the byways pull people in for a reason. CeeCee must figure out why she got stuck in the first place—before her loved ones are put in danger and she loses them forever.
A dark retelling of Alice in Wonderland meets Neverwhere, this contemporary fantasy will enchant Neil Gaiman and Christina Henry fans
Young Adult Fantasy [SparkPress, On Sale: June 6, 2023, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781684631902 / ]
Mary Pascual is a writer and artist who believes finding magic is only a matter of perspective. She loves stories about characters with heart and fantastical settings that are more than meets the eye. She grew up in California and enjoys reading, art, traveling, exploring outside, and building elaborate stage sets for Halloween. Writing has taken her on a number of unexpected adventures, including working in high tech, meeting psychics, interviewing rock bands, and even once attending a press conference for Bigfoot. She got hooked on reading adult science fiction and fantasy in the fifth grade - so in retrospect, much of her reading material was completely inappropriate (which probably explains a few things). She lives with her husband, son, and assorted demanding cats in San Jose, CA.
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