by Peter Fang
What is this? Toherd asked himself. Then one of the bubbles in the cluster of muted light sparkled. The sparkle grew into a shade of dark blue and grey and died away. A large mushroom grew from the ground, and it was something that Toherd had never seen before. He tried to look away but it was too late. He felt drawn to it and saw his own hand reach out to touch the mushroom. He tried to pull back his hand but he had no control over his own arm. His finger touched the mushroom cap and a searing pain shot through his head and down his spine. He felt his mind explode into a million bits of colors and then turned dark. Then someone familiar whispered in his ears—it was Yhawri.
Then he felt Yhawri reaching out and physically touching his arm. Yhawri was no longer a snake; it was his human form. The scene was real, not just a picture anymore, and he felt someone was behind him, inside the chamber of the grub mother with him. He could feel his presence, a familiar presence––Yhawri. His cold head touched Toherd’s shoulder and whispered something very ancient into his ears. He saw the human character of Yhawri’s arm shape into a thorn and grabbed his own arm. Yhawri’s mouth dislodged, and it reached over and swallowed Toherd. He tried to resist but could not move. The last thing he heard was Yhawri’s voice.
“Call to your clans, call to them now. You have an important message for them, don’t you?”
Toherd nodded obediently and uttered, “Yes.”
Outside the grub mother, no one noticed when Toherd emerged from the chamber. He meandered out of the nursery followed by Yhawri several slithers behind. Yhawri followed him until Toherd exited the room. He knew then that everything was working as planned. There was a surge of feeling that he had not felt for as long as he could remember—happiness. The sense of relief bolstered the initial elation and made Yhawri wanted to shout out that the oppression was coming to a crashing end. He wondered what the grub mother depicted about him on her picture if he were to go back into the chamber and see for himself. He was sure that once the coup was complete he would have time to find out. Now, he and his small group of soldiers would just wait for Toherd to slip the knife deep into his entire toad clan.
“Yes, the day has come to show you what it feels like to be oppressed. It’s your turn to be the one begging for food and take commands. Your clan will be the one sacrificed for dangerous missions. You will have to face your family with no answers for them when they ask why things are the way they are. Your newborns will become Lão Chóng's food when he refuses to eat anything else, and dread will follow you everywhere you go. Welcome to the oppressed.”
Toherd watched in horror as his own body walked out of the nursery chamber and into the narrow hallway. The guards greeted him and went back to their stoic duties. He continued to walk and ignored the living things around him. His entire body was controlled by the spell, but he was lucid inside. As he walked past the hallway, he arrived at a larger chamber. There were other snake clans slinking by, busy with their tasks.
One higher-ranking clan member stopped to chat with Toherd but saw Toherd wave his hands to tell him to back down.
As the spell took effect, Toherd’s vision blurred and he could see his old memories appear before him. They were memories that he had long suppressed when he was in the human world. He saw himself wearing a traditional Chinese costume, attending a festival. His mother was holding his hand, and she looked tall. Then he realized he was just a kid in this vision. His mother pushed the people aside as she made her way through a dense crowd. He heard his mother asking people to make room as they moved farther to the center of a gathering. Finally, the dense crowd parted way into an opening, and there was a large wooden platform in the middle. There was a man standing on the platform waving at them to step onto the platform. His mother took him to the platform and the man held his mother’s hand. Father? Up close, he remembered the contours of his face and that wry smile he had when he was cheering him up. His father said something, but it was muted. He knelt down and looked at Toherd with a big grin. He pointed at the crowd and said a single word to him. “Sing.”
He turned to the crowd and looked down at the large crowd, now waiting with anticipation. He felt a nudge from behind and he looked back. His mother and father were both smiling at him with encouraging nods. They pointed at the crowd, spurring him to go back and face the crowd to sing.
He turned back to the crowd, walked up to the middle of the platform, and raised his voice. He didn’t know what he was going to do, but suddenly, song came out of his throat and streams of lyrics flowed into his consciousness. He saw his audience smiling at him and more people, young and old, gathered around the platform to hear him perform.
He felt a chill in the air and saw the sun was being blocked by a cloud. The sunny platform turned dark, and a dense cloud moved in. He kept on singing to the gathered crowd but saw their expressions turned. Their eyes turned glazed and they all slowly opened their mouths. Their jaws continued to stretch until their jaws were unhinged. Toherd was terrified, but he could not stop singing.
Moments later, he felt the stream of consciousness stop, and something tickling was moving inside his throat. He coughed violently and large beetles swarmed out of his mouth. There were hundreds of them. The swarm landed on the crowd and crawled into their mouths. His singing continued but the lyrics and tempo were completely different, now dark and low. Slowly, his audience grew taller, stretching up until their clothes burst. They all turned into cocoons and were metamorphosing inside at a rapid speed. The cocoons struggled and each hatched into something Toherd recognized—his clan member leaders. The clan members were staring back at him, still with their mouths open, but frozen and without any movement. Thunder clapped in the distance and a downpour ensued. He saw a small group of young snakes wearing bright red moving into the crowd and starting to kill his clan members. Toherd then heard his father calling to him from behind.
“Boy, look at me.”
The voice sounded just like Toherd’s dad. He had not heard that familiar tone for so long, but it was unmistakably his dad’s voice. Toherd turned and saw no one, but a vague image of a snake emerged from the rain—it was Yhawri, shifting between a human and snake form.
Toherd felt a sharp pain spreading in his chest. He looked down and saw a knife tip boring out from his chest, and then there was a kid’s giggle behind him. The knife was quickly pulled out with a sucking sound and a small well of blood poured out from the wound. His knees buckled and he fell to the ground. Before his face hit the wooden platform, he regained consciousness and saw many of his fellow toads already slaughtered. He felt his legs spasm as his body fought against the pain.
A snake came by and pushed the dagger into Toherd’s neck. “I have been waiting to do this for a long time,” it whispered.
The coup was complete.
25
Amnesia
Maria sat up in a stir. Her surroundings were of an unfamiliar scene, and she wasn’t sure if she was still dreaming. But her consciousness slowly settled in, and she realized that she was in a hospital room. There was an IV tube snaking out of her bandage, but she didn’t know why she was there. Her first thought was to get out of bed, but then someone walked into the room and spoke to her softly.
“How are you feeling, Maria?” A nurse with a professional smile was standing over her. She checked her vitals briefly and settled her eyes on Maria.
“What happened?” Maria wanted to sit up.
“It’s better not to move much. You need to get more rest.” The attending nurse looked at a nearby monitor and wrote down some notes on a nearby chart.
Maria didn’t try to press things––she was too tired and still felt disoriented. There was a rising voice in her head, almost like an imprint of knowledge that came from cantillation. Patient Maria Huang. Generalized seizures. A hairline fracture on her rib. Unknown origins of bruises and small bleeding in urine with indication of internal injury. Condition stabilized. Maria looked over to the nurse and saw her put down the chart, about to walk out.
The nurse stopped in her tracks, turned back, and smiled at her. “You need to rest. When you are ready, the on-call doctor will come talk to you. Did you ever have prior episodes of seizures?”
“No, I have never.” Maria tried to will herself to sit up but felt a sharp pain near her right rib. She also felt a sharp jab emanating from her right thigh. She cringed in pain.
“Easy––you have a cracked rib; the medic had to do CPR on you.”
“Where is Ansen?” Maria looked around the room absently. The nurse looked back at her with a blank stare. “Ansen?”
“My boyfriend––he should be wearing a suit and has a light complexion.”
The nurse shook her head. “I don’t remember seeing anyone wearing a suit, or a man at all. But perhaps the nurse before me knows of him.”
“Do you have my phone?” asked Maria.
The nurse shook her head again. “Sorry, dear. I will check with the station nurse, but you need to get more rest.”
Maria sat back into her bed and looked for something to do. She saw the remote control next to her bed and decided to give it a shot. She clicked on the TV and flipped through the channel and reached King5. The King5 news crew was on site of a fire near the Sandpoint Way. Maria paused her finger on that channel and listened to the reporter stating the cause of fire was unknown, but it was believed that someone was in the house when the fire broke. The firefighters tried to get in, but by the time they arrived at the scene, the flames had already engulfed the home as well as a nearby house. Maria suddenly had images of the party, Elise, Finley, and Craig...Maria saw some flashes of Craig's ghostly smile, followed by a spell of Elise's fear. She broke out in a cold sweat, her heart racing. Something was tugging her inside—it was shocking, surreal. But it was there; she could feel it in her bones. She didn't know why she felt that way, but she knew the feeling was unmistakable from Elise. Maria suppressed it to make it go away; it worked. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.
She wasn’t sure how long she was out, but when she woke up again, she felt a warm hand touching her arms; she recognized the touch instantly, and oddly, sensed his thoughts.
“Ansen?” Maria willed her eyes open. She felt more tired than the first time she woke up. She saw Ansen’s haunted face staring at her. She almost didn’t recognize him. His face was pale and tired, lips were swollen, and something was really bothering him. Briefly, images of someone she didn’t recognize flashed across her eyes. A panicking girl’s face looking back at her, choking, and blood was pouring out of her neck; it was brief, and the image was clear, like watching a holograph in front of her. It was there for a moment, and then it was gone, like vapor.
“What happened to your face? Did you get into a fight?” Maria sat up, pointing at the spot on Ansen’s face.
“Yes, I did. Ran into a drunk on my way over here. Someone was trying to take my wallet, but I fended it off. Took a shot in my face from the bastard but he ran off.”
“Are you going to call the police?” Maria looked worried.
“No, don’t worry about it. I’ll survive.” Ansen took out a tissue from a Kleenex box and gently dabbed it on his swollen lips.
“Did you see that spider?’ Maria suddenly pointed in front of Ansen.
“See what?” Ansen looked nervously for an arachnid that might be crawling towards him.
“That girl—” Maria let her voice trail off when she realized that she was hallucinating.
Ansen realized that she was spooked by her hallucination. He calmly got up and helped Maria lay back down. “The doctor was here when you were sleeping. He said you suffered a seizure episode, so you may experience hallucinations.”
“When can I go home?” asked Maria.
Ansen was surprised that Maria brought this up, because he really didn’t want Maria to stay at the hospital longer than necessary, given the pressure he was getting from Mr. Reed. “I already checked with the doctor, and he wants you to stay overnight for observation. You will need a crutch since somehow you bruised your thigh. They'll need to take an x-ray, but the doctor thinks you will not need surgery if it’s a hairline crack.”
“No more antiques shopping,” Maria groaned.
Ansen nodded back. “The most important thing now is for you to get rested up; then we’ll go home in a few days.”
“Can you do me a favor?” Maria asked, helping herself to sit up a few inches in bed. “Can you get my phone? I want to send an email to people at work to let them know what’s going on.”
“Sure, but let me do it for you. You need to get some rest.”
“Yes, but you don’t know who to send the email to.” Maria looked around for her belongings. “Where is my phone?”
“It’s probably in your coat. Let me go get it.” Ansen walked to the closet nearby and found her belongings. He searched for the phone in her coat, found it, but he took it and put it inside his pocket. “Shoot, I think we must have lost it on our way over inside the ambulance. I see your purse here but not your phone.”
“Shit," Maria swore. “Could you please go home and get my computer? I need to send a file out to my boss.”
“Can’t this wait until we get home?” Ansen reached out to touch Maria’s hand, showing concerns.
“Sorry to make you worry, but this can’t wait. There is a monthly report I was working on and I am the only one with the copy, so I have to send it out.” She struggled to sit up on her bed, aching and wincing along the way.
“Are you sure?” Ansen let go of her hand.
“Yes, I’ll be fine––really. Class dismissed.” She leaned over to kiss Ansen, then waved her hand. “Now you can go home. And don't forget to feed Joey!”
Ansen drove home, eased his Mini Cooper into the parking stall, and turned off the engine. He sat in the driver’s seat and waited. The parking garage’s neon lights cast a chill. He breathed in and out several times and started crying. He looked at the watch and was surprised that it was 6 a.m. He did not sleep at all and the adrenaline was starting to wear off. He felt exhausted but his mind kept replaying all of the events that had happened that night. He tried to shut it out of his mind, but it just made the images more vivid. He closed his eyes and wished the images in his head would disappear, but the memories stopped on Elise and Finley's eyes. Ansen stood up and took out his phone. There were no new messages. Where are they? What if the police found their burned-up bodies in the house? Will it lead back to me? He assured himself that even if they found the bodies, it would be a while before they could find out their identities. But are you sure? Elise and Finley's images repeated in a loop, and he couldn't find a way to stop it. He rubbed his temples and tried to erase them with the squeeze of his fingers. The images kept coming back. Finally, Ansen screamed and swung his fists against the dashboard. The pain in his fists finally interrupted the looping images in his head. He opened his eyes slowly, then reached under his car seat and took out a Smith and Wesson handgun. He brought it up, sliced the barrel to chamber the rounds, then put it into his jacket. If he waited too long in the apartment, whoever Mr. Reed sent to follow him home would get suspicious. He had to hurry.
Inside the apartment, he saw Joey’s dark shadow. The dog normally would jump up to greet him and beg for attention, but this time he just sat on the sofa like a statue. Even though it was dark, Ansen could feel Joey staring at him. Ansen wondered if Maria had brought home a different dog from the shelter. Ansen went over to make sure it was Joey, and sure enough it was. He laid his hand out to pet Joey, and in response, Joey sniffed him and wagged its tail. It was a relief for Ansen that nothing was wrong with Joey.
“What’s wrong, Joey? Can you sense that Mommy’s hurt? Don’t worry, she will be fine.”
Ansen looked around the kitchen table for the laptop but did not find it where he thought it would be. He turned around and saw Joey was there three feet away, staring at him.
“Jesus, Joey—you scared me! Shoo, get out of the w
ay—” Ansen tried to wave his hand and get Joey to move.
Joey didn’t. His dark eyes transfixed on Ansen.
“Okay, suit yourself. Looks like you are having a bad evening. Stay here then.”
Ansen went upstairs into the bedroom and found the laptop next to the nightstand. He opened it up, waited for the login screen to appear, and then he retrieved a tiny USB drive from his pocket and stuck the USB drive in. A green LED blinked, and a minute later, the login screen was unlocked and the machine booted into the desktop. A few seconds later, the machine was put back to sleep mode again. He got the power cable, put the laptop into Maria’s laptop attaché, and stood up. He turned around and saw Joey there again five feet away—his inky eyes were fixed on Ansen. Something in his eyes seemed to show an understanding of what Ansen was doing.
“Shhh…don’t tell Mommy.” Ansen reached over to pat Joey, but Joey growled at him.
“Wow—” Ansen pulled his hands back. “Suit yourself, then. Don’t come begging for treats next time.” He inched over to the window and made sure his body was well hidden behind the curtain; then he peeked out into the street. His eyes scanned the deserted scene and spotted several good hideout spots. He strained his eyes to detect movements, but it was dead silent; nevertheless, he could feel Reed’s people were out there watching. He suddenly felt ill in the pit of his stomach. He covered his mouth, then something wet splattered onto his hands. He looked down and saw blood across his palm.
“What the fuck?” Ansen ran to the bathroom and put his head near the sink and waited. But the coughing stopped. He looked down again and saw the dark, red blotch in the middle of his hand. He rinsed it off and washed his face. He looked himself in the mirror and almost could not recognize himself. “You look like shit! No wonder Joey growled at you.” He got some water and smoothed his hair back with his hand. He lifted his shirt up and checked for bruises on his body. Besides a few scratches and a dull pain in his stomach from the knee of Mr. Reed’s rougher, things seemed to be still intact.