by Mark Tufo
“Not at all. You’re a lot less powerful than you think. I could kill you easily enough; the chains are for me not you. You’re just stupid enough to keep trying to escape and I’m afraid that one of those times I’ll just kill you instead of delivering you safe and sound. Here’s your stupid bag; not sure why you’re carrying around eyeballs and I don’t want to know.” He shoved them in my pocket.
“How long?” I asked after a while. “How long have you cared so little for me? Is it this place that turned you or was it ever since the Walmart roof?”
“I hated you the moment you exited your mother’s womb. Your lineage destroyed my sister.”
“Oh, the fucking saintly Eliza. Listen, I’m sorry she had such a shitty childhood, actually breaks my heart, but I think it’s your dear old da’ you should be harboring feelings of hatred for. It was that twisted fuck that started her off on her course. And oh yeah, your saintly sister is anything but. She’s destroyed hundreds, if not thousands of lives in her unnaturally long and cancerous existence.”
“Careful where your words tread, I care more for a fallen hair of hers than I do your survival.”
“So, you’ve made a deal with Ganlin. And what makes you think he’s going to honor it once he has me?”
“Oh, Mr. T, look at you and your rudimentary attempt to enshroud in doubt my contract with the mage. I can assure you, our agreement is based on something stronger than mere word.”
“You’re just going to hand me over and walk away? Then what?”
“I would think your life will have become unimaginably horrible by that point. There are things that can be done down here that cannot happen to beings in our natural realm due to physical limitations. I will get my sister, we will have a pathway forged for us past the Guardians, and from there we can escape back to your world. By then Azile will have attempted her own rescue of you, at which she will have failed miserably.”
“She killed him once. What makes you think she can’t do it again?”
Tommy outright laughed. “It was all a set-up! Every facet of it. The idea was to get her down here, where her rather significant powers of light could be drained and used against her, taken, and then unleashed in your world. Speaking of which, when my sister and I are once again free, our first plan of action will be to rid the world of all those who knew and loved Michael Talbot. I would not think there would be very many; might only take us a few days, but it will be so fulfilling.”
This just wasn’t making any sense. This wasn’t even a one-eighty from the boy I knew; it was someone entirely different. Was it possible that this wasn’t him? How could this thing have lived and fought right alongside me for so long without the barest hint of its true nature? No fucking way. There is no fucking way, something like this can hide for so long right in front of you and not give any indication of what truly lies beneath. There would have been a slip of the tongue, a sneer when he didn’t expect somebody was looking, whispers of hatred in his sleep. Something. Nobody can wear such a complete mask, it isn’t possible. Humans aren’t capable of it. And that was the rub; he wasn’t human, not anymore. I almost severely screwed up and told Tommy that if he laid a finger on my children I would kill him, but he didn’t know about them, and right now their best defense was to stay hidden. Though if Azile did come down here, the only people she would entrust with them would be Lana and Mathieu and Tommy sure did know about them.
“Getting your head ripped off by a couple of werewolves–that part of the plan, too?”
He didn’t answer that one. It did seem at the end that he had given up, but really? Allowing your head to be ripped off? That’s a pretty extreme way of calling it a day. There were too many variables. It’s possible he could figure out a way to make us meet up in the way station we had found ourselves in; but then the doorway? Was it all a giant conspiracy and even now I had no idea the breadth and scope? And why move my piece around so fucking much if it was Azile they truly wanted? Was I really her only weakness?
“Can almost hear the creaky wheels spinning in your head trying to figure out what’s going on.”
“You could just tell me.”
“I could, but I’m not going to. In the off chance you pull a rabbit out of your ass like you’re wont to do, I don’t want you having any more information than you should.”
“Aw, that’s just the pussy in you talking, boy,” I said it as derogatorily as I could. His next step hesitated before he started back up. A loud scream, at a key I didn’t even think possible issued forth from Tommy’s chest. I ran a couple of steps before he turned with an evil smile on his face.
“Don’t even think about it, Mr. T. She’s a fucking bug to me. I care for her even less than I care for you. The only reason you’re alive is because you’re my bargaining chip. Her?” He held up a visibly distressed Linnick. “Dead or alive makes no never mind to me. How about you?”
“Fine, fine. Have it your way. Just leave her be; put her back in your pocket.”
“I love it when I see the dawning of realization in someone’s eyes as they figure out that I am truly and wholly in charge.”
I said nothing. I’ll take a punch or two for a snarky comment, somehow makes me feel good inside that I pissed off someone enough to earn a hit from them, but he’d just crush Linnick. This wasn’t just a threat; it was the truth–I could see it on his face. Time was just becoming a blur. My body and my soul was one giant ache, my shoulders from having my hands clasped behind my back, the constant rubbing of the metal on my ankles, the worry for my friends, this trek wasn’t doing me any wonders. That and the fucking halting shuffle steps I had to take was wreaking havoc on my thighs.
“I’d like to take a break.”
“Keep moving.”
That was it. I could grumble about it all I wanted; he seemed pretty set in his ways. So, walk we did. Blood began to run from my wounds and onto the ground; it had been doing so for a while. Tommy turned to look at me when he got a whiff.
“How long…how long have you been bleeding?” He was looking down at my ankles and the trail I was leaving. Like Hansel and Gretel only grosser.
“I don’t know. Been in and out of dazing for a while. Couple of miles, maybe.”
“Fuck,” he said, very uncharacteristically.
“You worried about my well-being?” I asked and gave a dry laugh at the end.
“I’m worried what your blood might attract. Leaving a blood trail is like chumming for sharks down here. Anything could stumble upon that.”
“You mean I could get eaten before you have a chance to hand me over? Well, that sure would be shitty for all parties involved.”
He pushed me down, I fell like a plastic army man, had not been expecting it at all. Landed hard on my ass, nearly bit through my tongue–I had been in mid-word. “I fucking cried when you died.”
He’d pulled up the cuff of my pants. I tried not to look but I did anyway, wish I hadn’t. I was looking right at my shin bone and some of the muscles attached to it. The manacle had worked straight through the flesh. On a side note, in twenty or thirty more miles I might have sawed through my entire leg and would have been halfway free from my constraints. Probably wouldn’t have put up much of a fight by then, but it would have been the principle, that I was halfway free. And completely free to bleed out. Tommy roughly ripped off my shirt and then made strips to wrap around my legs. He tied the left tight enough my foot began to tingle from the loss of circulation. I said nothing, I did nothing, as he worked on me. That was until I saw Linnick poke her head out of his pocket. She was going to make a run for it.
“Your sister,” I started. “That whole, ‘she hates you and you love her’ thing you have going on.” Linnick had swung out and was reaching for the heavier jacket where it was less likely he would feel her.
“What about it?” He was making another strip for my right.
“That real or fake?”
He thought on it. “No harm in telling you that. It’s true enough.”
“As much as I would like to be mean about this I am not. I am merely curious. What makes you think that springing her from this place is going to change that? You think that all of that time she’s been leading you around the world by your short hairs will go by the wayside? That she’s just going to be so appreciative that you rescued her, that she’s going to fall into your arms and profess her undying love?” He started to notice something on his leg and was about to check. “A little unnatural!” I said louder than I needed to. “That love thing you have going for your sister; you sure you don’t have a little more of your father in you than you care to believe?” Yeah, that got me a nose flattening strike to the face. Blood had burst away from me in a radial pattern. He’d fuckin’ hammered that thing in like a stubborn nail. So worth it, I thought as my head bounced back onto the ground. I’d watched as Linnick had bounded off his leg and run to parts unknown. When I awoke, we were once again on the move. Tommy was dragging me by my foot.
“Time to walk.” He dropped my leg to the ground.
“How long have I been out?”
“Too long. Been dragging you for almost an hour.”
“Then you can go fuck yourself. I’m not walking.”
“You are just the stupidest man I have ever had the displeasure of meeting.”
He reached into his pocket, then felt around frantically.
“Missing something?”
“You knew?” He looked at me savagely.
I was smiling. “How could I? Been having my head dragged.”
There was a quick moment of panic, maybe indecision, as he looked around, desperately trying to find a sign of Linnick. Maybe he was worried she would get help, I don’t know where the hell she was going to get it from, not like she could call 911 down here. I just hoped she ran and kept running.
“Get up!”
“Come on ma, can’t I just sleep five more minutes? I’m so tired! School won’t miss me.”
“I will beat you senseless.”
“Some would say that’s already happened. Naw. I ain’t moving without some rest and maybe some water. A little food would be decent as well. A deep tissue massage, but not that Swedish stuff, too rough.”
“This look like a hotel?”
“Was it hard?”
He looked at me quizzically.
“The act, I mean. You played it for so fucking long. Was it hard?”
“Humans see what they want to. When I needed some down time from dealing with all of you that was when I would check out.”
“The silent times. Man, I knew you were deep in thought, I just never figured it to be because of your hatred for us.”
“Now you know. Does the new knowledge make you feel empowered?”
“No, just sad. Sad that I wasted my breath on you. Sad that any moment with you was one I could have had with one I loved and loved me back.”
“Boo fucking hoo. Who’s the pussy now?”
“That came full circle pretty quick. Karma usually gives you a little break before it comes back around.”
He weighed carrying me; he could have done it easily enough–I’d seen him heft twice my weight without breaking a sweat, but this wasn’t the world to be caught with your hands full of chained human. He went a few feet from me and began to do some rhythmic chanting. It was spells; I’d seen Azile do enough of them to realize what he was doing.
“You’re a fucking witch?”
“Warlock, idiot. And shut-up.”
“That’s how you got all those gross ass Pop-Tart flavors. And the foreshadowing…that had nothing to do with your vampirism, it was magic. How in the fuck did I miss all this?”
“We’ve already discussed your intelligence level.”
I don’t know what cosmic grocery store Tommy was shopping at but he pulled out a couple of large bottles of water and of all things, an MRE, mac and cheese, to be specific.
“I take it you can pretty much get whatever you want and it’s an MRE?”
“Plenty of calories and protein. I don’t give a shit what you do, but this is the last time we’re stopping. Your little fucking bug friend could screw this up for me.”
I asked how, he responded by telling me if I didn’t eat now, I wasn’t going to be able to.
“I don’t have my hands,” I said as I looked down at the nuclear-proof packaged meal sitting on my lap.
“I’m not your mother.”
“You sure? We had a complicated relationship, too.”
“I’m not feeding you.”
“I’m not asking you to. Undo my hands so I can do it myself.”
“This some sort of trick?”
“My legs are shackled, you’ve beaten the shit out of me for countless miles, you have been stronger than me since the day I was born. What trick do I have that you could possibly not know? You are handing me off to an asshole who is going to use me for all manner of abuse and torture. Is it too much to ask that I can enjoy one last fucking meal, such as it is, before that happens?”
He eyed me looking for some different truth. “You try anything and I will chop an arm off.” He was behind me, undoing the cuffs.
My shoulders, thankfully, slid back into place as I moved my sore arms. It was a few moments before I even had use of my hands to open up the package. I’m not going to say I took my sweet time, because Tommy would not have allowed it, but I sure did savor that food knowing that is was very likely possible that I would never dine again. I had a feeling that prisoners eating their last meal went through this. At some point, we all eat our last meal, but most of the time we don’t know that it is, and that’s a key difference. I think maybe cosmically, the universe owes us the ability to choose what we want for that last meal. I mean, come on, convicted assholes that do the most heinous of crimes used to be able to order whatever the hell they wanted. Probably didn’t taste so good knowing you were about to be electrocuted or hanged, but still…naw. Forget I asked, better keeping it as a mystery.
I was squeezing the remnants of a tube of peanut butter into my mouth when Tommy told me to stand.
“I see it in your eyes, Mr. T, you’re thinking about taking a shot. I’m advising against it, you just got the feeling back in your hands and your shoulders are burning. You can’t get into a decent fighting stance because of the leg irons. All that’s really going to happen is you’re going to suffer more damage.”
“Yeah, it would appear you’re damaged enough for the both of us.” I turned to give him my hands, this wasn’t the opportunity I was looking for. Who knew if I was ever going to get one…but this wasn’t it.
Chapter 19
ELIZA
Jazmixer had bargained one final nugget of information before Eliza had killed him.
“Ganlin, the Green Man...he was born of your world, remolded down here and sent back.”
“Tell me more.” Eliza said with her mouth full of demon. She had stopped pulling the blood from him in great floods yet kept her canines in position. The desire to feed was too strong to stop. She was not sure she could have stopped even if he was capable and willing to open a door out himself.
“That’s all I know. The demon that created him was betrayed and another was attempting to control Ganlin’s actions for his own goals,” Jazmixer said breathlessly.
“And what were those goals?” Jazmixer winced as Eliza gently tugged at the main artery with her front teeth like she was pulling tenderly on a lover’s neck.
“To escape this world.”
“And that demon’s name?”
“Trinitor…” He could barely get the word across his lips.
“I have two names and forever to find them. It has been a long time since I have been on a quest. I will not leave any loose ends like I did the last time. A Talbot killed me, though she was not of the blood; it seems something like that was always pre-ordained. I do not know whether I should laugh or cry. Oh, but the thrill of it all. The Michael Talbot clan was so special, he fought me at every turn. I am glad I did
not kill him those first few times we met, it would have been easy enough. I’ve never told anyone this, but I visited him once when he was five. Tomas knew I had been close and he kept a vigilant watch over the Talbot’s. For all the power my brother has, I am his one true weakness. Getting past him was remarkably easy.”
Jazmixer began to shudder.
“Hold on a little longer, darling, this isn’t a lengthy story. It was past the hour of the witch when I crept up to that boy’s window, and you know what? He was standing by that screen watching me the entire time. Yes, there was fear fluttering in his small chest but still, he stood there, not frozen from his fear but rather in spite of it. That was partly why I did not kill him then. It was not his age nor his frailty that kept me from that most wonderful of feelings. It was that I saw a worthy adversary in him if I but let him mature. Was that folly on my part? Hubris perhaps. But when one slaughters sheep for hundreds of years, just the sight of a ram can be invigorating. We stood looking at each other for close to five minutes. Because even though intrigue was prevalent, the thought of dining on his blood kept invading and I am smart enough to know that I would have eventually caved in to my vices. But that boy grew into a magnificent man, everything I thought he would be. It might have been much wiser of me to turn him in his younger adult years when he would have been more malleable. But by then Tomas had grown in his powers and proved very adept at keeping Michael safe. He’d somehow figured out that this man was a key of some sorts. I do not know if he was the key to killing me, because he did succeed in that, or perhaps there was some other great feat he accomplished. By this time, I was distracted.” Eliza smiled, remembering her time in purgatory.
Jazmixer coughed up a ball of bubbly blood which Eliza grabbed out of the air with her hand, brought to her face, and licked off her palm.
“Is there a deeper underworld for those that are considered bad down here? Truly what is the penalty? Or are you without consequence? Perhaps you are forced to go to heaven; I would imagine that would be its own hell for someone like you. I am glad we had this talk, you and I.” Eliza reached into his throat and with one savage motion tore it out. She threw it onto the ground and stood.