by Davis Ashura
“What now?” William asked.
Serena gritted her teeth and forced her mind to work. With an angry snarl, she mastered her fear and threw open a side door. “We carry through with the plan.” She hoped she sounded more courageous than she felt. Even during her Tempering, she’d never been so scared. “We knock him off the train and keep him off.”
A moment later, a scrabbling noise, like some giant insect clattering along the sides of the stock car, reached them. Serena followed the sound with her eyes. She traced its path. An instant later, Kohl leaped through the open doorway.
Jason met him with a blast of air, but Kohl leaned into it and spun aside.
Another blast of air was . . . consumed, and Kohl Obsidian loomed before them. The creature chuckled. “Oh, my little treats. I shall savor each of you while I split your bones and suck dry your marrow.”
“Do something!” William cried.
“I’m trying,” Jason shouted back.
They pressed deeper into the car, away from Kohl. Serena’s gaze darted about, desperate for a weapon. They should have brought their swords. Or purchased a pistol somewhere along the way.
The bears and elephants continued to thunder their fury, and an insane idea popped into Serena’s mind.
“Look out,” she hollered before freeing the bears.
With a roar, the animals surged out of their cages, charging straight for Kohl.
William and Jason flattened themselves to the sides of the railcar as the animals lumbered by.
Kohl backed away from the bears, an expression of concern on his face. The animals, a sow and a young male, reared, standing eye-to-eye and toe-to-toe with the necrosed. William and Jason peeled away from the walls and moved to join Serena.
Kohl flicked a punch at the sow, knocking her back. He raked the male across the chest, slashing him. A backhand slammed the young bear to the floor.
“He’s going to kill them,” William said.
“No, he won’t,” Jason vowed.
A blast of air from Jason hammered Kohl into the far side of the railcar before he could further injure the bears. Next came a roar of fire, blazing through the gap between the bears and catching Kohl full in the chest. Kohl slipped aside from the stream, but by then the bears had recovered.
Once again, the ursines faced off against the nightmarish creature, but they needed more help. Serena cast about, searching for something else that might aid the animals.
There! A pitchfork. Two of them. She reached for one.
William followed suit. “Ready?” he asked her.
Fear again thrummed through her veins, but she made herself nod and press forward.
The bears didn’t go after Kohl as they had earlier. They still snarled and reared at him, but this time they were wise enough to stay out of his range.
William stepped between the bears and stabbed at Kohl. The male used the distraction to slap the necrosed across the face. The blow would have decapitated a human, but it merely stunned Kohl. Serena stabbed as well, but the necrosed reached out, swift as a snake, and grabbed her pitchfork, nearly pulling her into his embrace.
The sow struck Kohl’s arm, and pustulant blood flowed from a series of slashes. The necrosed snarled and leaped upward to safety, hanging beetle-like from the ceiling as he glared at them. Serena was about to stab at him with her pitchfork, but an elephant, a cow, reached her trunk through the bars of her cage. She grabbed one of Kohl’s legs and yanked.
For a moment, the necrosed’s eyes widened comically before he slammed into the floor. The elephant didn’t release his leg, however. She pulled the necrosed to her, battering him into the cage and stabbing at him with her tusks.
Kohl managed to free himself, but the bears lunged again. Despite her fear, Serena laughed at how they took turns slapping him until he ended up against the other elephant cage. The necrosed scrambled to his feet, but the bull within the enclosure snatched at him. The elephant repeatedly battered his face into the bars of the cage.
Again came the bears, slapping, clawing, and biting.
But as before, Kohl managed to free himself of his attackers, shrugging them off and escaping their claws, teeth, and trunks. He stood silhouetted before the side entrance, battered and wrecked.
“The animals can only hurt me,” he said. “They cannot kill me. I’ll slay them after I slay each and every—”
His words ended in a scream as Jason blasted him out the side entrance. Kohl tumbled end over end across a wheat field.
Serena leaned out of the train, staring back at the necrosed. The creature lay still for a moment before slowly rising to his feet. He swayed, almost stumbling before eventually regaining his balance. Impossibly, he set off after them again.
Serena cursed, simultaneously angry and fearful. What would it take to bring the creature down?
Her worries were short-lived. Kohl’s pace proved far too slow to keep up with the train, and he stumbled to a stop.
Serena imagined she could feel his eyes boring into hers, promising death.
The bears whuffed, wrenching her attention to the interior of the railcar.
The ursines eyed them, and the young male reared up, growling.
“Uh-oh,” William whispered.
“We’re fine,” Jason said with a grin.
A wave of his hands, and both bears dropped down to all fours. The animals whuffed again, more quietly this time and looking quite docile.
Serena’s eyes widened, impressed with Jason’s control.
Jason scratched the young male behind an ear, and another hand-wave helped heal the animal’s injuries.
“Asra, remember?” Jason led both bears to their respective cages. “No worries.”
A WITCH’S PROPHECY
The next afternoon, Serena, William, and Jason remained huddled in the car hauling the elephants and bears, staying there until the train pulled into Las Vegas, New Mexico. There they helped unload the circus equipment and set it up in the campground outside the town. Evening had fallen by the time they finished.
“I know Kohl is probably back in Kansas or wherever,” Jason said, “but we can’t hide out with the animals forever.” He shrugged. “But I also don’t want to be alone right now.”
Serena felt the same way. “I heard Jimmy was supposed to prepare a Christmas dinner for everyone today. We should go.”
She led the way to the backyard. There they found a jumble of people mingling about, many of them stopping by to get food, drink, or both, and chat with their friends. The mouth-watering aromas of roasting meat and spices filled the air, along with the musky odor of spilled beer.
Some of the artists and crew were already well on their way to drunkenness. Sam the Strongman was laughing too loudly at something Lily Reed, one of the younger Dubrovics, had said, while the Fabulous Winona and one of the crew tossed back shots. Dr. Devious carried on a serious conversation with Elaina Sinith, who seemed quite bored with the good doctor. The entire area was a welter of light, laughter, and sound, as more people straggled in by the minute.
While Serena waited at the buffet table, she tried to soak in the sights of revelry, hoping they would ease her tension. Maybe seeing other people happy might unfurrow her worried brow or loosen her tense shoulders. She couldn’t take much more. Her strength and courage were reaching their limits.
Last night’s attack by Kohl merely previewed what would occur at the saha’asra in Arizona. There would be no running then. Worse, Serena’s options had grown increasingly narrow. She would either have to see William die at the hands of the necrosed, or she would have to kill him herself. Those were her only choices with no obvious options in between. Not if she wanted to see Selene, safe.
“What would you like?” Jimmy asked, interrupting her thoughts. “I’ve got roast beef, turkey, honeyed ham, mashed potatoes, mac ‘n’ cheese, a green bean casserole, and five kinds of deserts.”
“You cooked all this today?” Serena asked in amazement, taking in the tables loaded
down beneath the weight of all the food.
“Did my best,” Jimmy said with a proud grin. “But I can’t take all the credit. I had some help.”
“It smells amazing,” Serena said.
“You’re welcome to all you want,” Jimmy said, puffing up. “And if you ask nice, you can even have some beer or liquor. Boss’ orders. Ain’t no cops around tonight.”
“I’ll take a rum and Coke, hold the rum,” Serena said.
Jimmy laughed. “Anything for you, little lady.”
“Hey, Jimmy,” William said, surprising Serena as he appeared at her elbow. “You put on a good spread.”
“And you ‘uns put on a good show,” Jimmy replied. “Had my doubts about y’all when you first signed with us. What’s your poison?” he asked William. “Drink, I mean.”
“Just a Coke.”
“Two rum and Cokes, hold the rum,” Jimmy said with a wink. “Now get y’selves some food, and I’ll bring your drinks out to you.”
Serena led William to the tables of food, and when they each had a plateful, she found them a corner where they could talk. Jimmy brought them their drinks and chuckled as he left. Serena heard him mutter under his breath about young love.
“By the way, I got you something for Christmas,” William said. He held out a small box covered in pink wrapping paper.
Serena unwrapped the present, and within it found a small, silver anklet. She smiled. A thoughtful gift that left her more melancholy than before.
How would she find the strength to hurt William? To maintain all the lies she told him?
“You don’t like it?” William asked.
“I love it,” Serena said. “Thank you.”
“Then what’s wrong?” William asked.
“It’s nothing,” she said.
“It doesn’t sound like nothing.”
Serena sighed. Why couldn’t William leave it alone? The present was a kind gesture, but it left her even more worried about the future, a future she didn’t want to think about.
But William insisted on dragging her thoughts in that direction. Fine. If he wanted to talk about it, then she’d talk about it. “You want to know the truth?” she asked. “You’re right. I’m not okay. In a few days, Jason will probably find that saha’asra, and then we’re all going to die.” Blunt truth. Let him chew on that for awhile.
“We’re not going to die,” William said, clearly trying to soothe her worries.
Serena’s irritation flared at his condescension. “I’m not an idiot,” she growled. “We barely survived last night.”
“But we did survive. I talked to Jason about it. There’s never been any record of a person marked by a necrosed surviving an encounter with one, and we’ve done it three times.”
“Then none of this scares you?” Serena challenged.
“What, me worry?” William said with a silly grin.
Serena blinked, trying to place the words and the stupid smile. It took her a moment before she realized they belonged to the singularly mad Alfred E. Neuman, a character William evidently thought hilarious.
Serena didn’t, and she rolled her eyes.
“I’m actually terrified,” William said.
“That doesn’t inspire much confidence.”
“We’ll get through it, though,” William said, more seriously this time. “We have to. We’ll just have to be clever about it.”
Serena blinked. “Clever? You think we have to be clever?” Disbelief briefly overcame her unhappiness with herself. “Cleverness won’t stop a necrosed. Nothing will. Last night should have taught you that.”
“Last night we fought Kohl to a standstill. We can do it again,” William said with an obstinate set to his jaw.
“Fighting to a standstill isn’t the same as winning.”
“In our case it is. We’re not trying to kill Kohl,” William reminded her. “We’re just trying to get away from him. And if we fight him to a standstill again, we can escape to a place he can’t follow. We win.”
And then what would she do? It was a question to which Serena still lacked an answer.
“William! Jason! Wait up!” a voice shouted.
William glanced about from where he stood in the parking lot, and it took him a moment to recognize Elaina Sinith. With her dark hair hanging unbound from her turban and her face free of its usual creepy ghost-face makeup, she looked completely different. Her skin turned out to be a dusky brown, but more importantly, she was every bit as pretty as William had always suspected she might be. And instead of her bag-lady attire, she wore tight jeans and a form-hugging T-shirt, both of which looked several sizes too small for her. Or maybe she just filled them out really well.
After a few seconds of study, William decided it was definitely the latter: she filled her clothes out very nicely.
“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Jason asked in a strangled voice.
“Probably,” William said.
“And what are the two of you thinking about?” Serena asked, surprising both of them with her unexpected arrival.
William paled, and hoped Serena didn’t notice. “Err . . .”
“Cat got your tongue?” Serena asked with a knowing grin. “Let me guess. You’re probably thinking that our fortuneteller over there fills out her clothes real well.”
“Amen to that,” Jason said.
“It’s all right to look,” Serena said to William. “Just don’t stare. Girls don’t like that.”
William gaped.
“Now close your mouth, or people will think you’re a cretin,” Serena advised.
William reddened while Jason snickered.
“Say ‘hi’ to the fortuneteller for me and try not to drool all over her,” Serena called over her shoulder as she left.
William stared after her, feeling as if a boulder had run him over.
“Hi,” Elaina said as she drew up. “Where’s Serena going?”
“No idea,” Jason said.
“Oh.” Elaina looked unhappy for a moment but brightened an instant later. “I just wanted to tell you guys how much I loved your performance the other night.”
“You saw it?” William asked.
“Didn’t I just say that?” Elaina asked with a smile to take the sting out of her words. “By the way, why don’t you come by my tent and I’ll read your fortune? On the house.”
“We’d love to, but you know how busy Mr. Bill keeps us,” Jason said.
“Plus, we wouldn’t want to intrude,” William added.
“No intrusion. Come by after your performance tonight. You won’t be busy then, and neither will I.”
“Maybe,” Jason said. “We’ve got an early start in the morning.”
Elaina frowned. “Why? You aren’t staying with the circus?”
“Isn’t Las Vegas the last stop?” Jason asked.
“It is, but after that we head home to Salt Lake City. You’re not coming?”
“I’ve got relatives nearby that I want to visit first,” William said with an inspired lie. “We’ll catch up later.”
Elaina made a moue of disappointment. “Too bad,” she said, “but if you change your mind, you know where I am.” She flashed them a wink and a smile before sashaying on her way.
William watched her hips sway hypnotically from side-to-side as she walked away.
“Lord have mercy,” Jason whispered reverently.
Elaina turned a corner and was lost to view. “Did you see her wink at me?” William asked.
“She did not!”
“She did, too!”
“No way.”
“I’m telling you, she winked.”
Jason grimaced. “What for? I’m standing right here. If she should be winking at either of us, it should be me.”
William gaped. “Think much of yourself, do you?”
“It’s the truth.”
“Not the way Elaina sees it,” William said, offering a smug smile.
Jason grimaced and mumbled under his breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing,” Jason muttered, still scowling.
William sighed. “You know, you could be happy for me. It’s not like a pretty girl does this to me every day.” He reconsidered his words. “Or ever.”
Jason’s face partially cleared. “Yeah, I know. I’m being a dick. It’s just . . .”
“What?”
“You already have Serena,” Jason said, an uncharacteristic whine in his voice. “She doesn’t see anyone but you, and now Elaina, too?”
William gaped again. Jason was jealous of him? Why? There were plenty of girls interested in Jason. “You can’t be serious.”
Jason sighed. “Forget it,” he replied. “It’d just be nice if a pretty girl winked at me once in a while.”
“That’s what’s got you bothered?” William shook his head in disgust. “You’re a dummy. Maybe you should look around once in awhile. Then you’d see all the young Dubrovics and other artists staring after you like you’re a glass of water and they’re parched.”
“Really?” Hope bloomed on Jason’s face.
“You haven’t noticed?” William smacked Jason upside the head. “Dumbass.”
“Ow.” Jason rubbed his head. “Guess I need to surface from worrying about stuff all the time.”
“We’re going to be fine. I have a feeling about it.”
Jason blinked. “William Wilde, an optimist?” His features became mock severe. “Okay, who are you and what did you do to my friend?”
With the work before the night’s performance done, the campground housing Wizard Bill’s Wandering Wonders stood nearly empty, and everyone had a few hours to kill. Jason had gone to the backyard, presumably for food, his favorite pastime, but more likely to talk up Josephine Sandler, one of the Dubrovics, while Serena had to see Jane the seamstress about a tear in her outfit.
For the first time in what seemed like forever, William found himself alone and with nothing to do. As a result, he decided to take up Elaina’s offer to have his fortune read. After she’d spoken to him and Jason, he couldn’t get her invitation out of his mind. It sat hunkered in the back of his thoughts like a bothersome itch he couldn’t scratch.