by E. Van Lowe
Chapter Twenty-Four
Winnie hung in the creature’s gasp like a marionette on a string, her legs dancing as they dangled. She gasped for air, sounding like an asthmatic in the throes of an attack. Her throat was between the Lycorian’s forearm and bicep. It was a strangle hold Alan and I had seen on tag-team wrestling many times. We knew the result. She’d be unconscious long before her windpipe burst.
Alexia pounded on Alan’s arm. “Do something! It’s killing her,” she screamed. “Do something!”
Alan gazed over at me for the first time in almost an hour. There was fear intermingled with disbelief clouding his eyes. “J… Josh?” he stammered.
I grabbed hold of the rubber tubing from the contraption by the spring, and began yanking it across the yard, hoping it was long enough to reach. When I arrived at the rear wall, I began peeling back the shrubbery around her, raking at the leafy greens and vines.
Winnie’s eyes gaped at me. She looked like a subject in one of those Big Eyes paintings. As the shrubbery peeled away, the hideous face of the Lycorian came into view. It appeared as though he was trying to pull Winnie through the wrought iron fence that ringed the property.
He reached his free claw through the six inch gap in the iron gate, and lunged at me. I leaped back, but the slashing claw grazed my arm, and I felt a stabbing pain.
“Hit the valve, Alan. Now!” I cried out.
As if on cue, Alan came out of his trance. He moved to the metal contraption, and pulled on the valve Winne had pulled moments earlier. The rubber tube in my hand jumped to life. Pressurized, steaming water shot from the nozzle.
I jammed the nozzle through the iron fencing, into the creature’s eyes, giving him a dose of one hundred degree mineral water. He let loose an anguished cry that rocketed through the small backyard, tearing at our ear drums.
The creature released Winnie. She slid down the iron fence, her feet finally coming to rest on solid ground. With my free hand, I pulled her away for fear the monster might go for her again, while my other hand continued spraying water until the creature backed away from the fence.
He disappeared into the shadows. A few minutes later, we heard an anguished cry in the distance, and knew the creature was headed back to the safety of Alan’s pool. Winnie’s ordeal was over.
She leaned heavily on both Alan and I as we escorted her back inside. “My stars, a Lycorian in my backyard,” she rasped in disbelief. I had to agree, it was hard to fathom.
The bruise on her neck was angry and red. Alexia got an ice tray from the freezer and made a makeshift icepack out of a dish towel. We wrapped it around her neck, propping her up with several pillows in the high back chair.
“Thank you,” she said after we’d done all we could. Her voice was returning to normal, although she still sounded a bit raspy. “You boys saved my life.”
I looked at Alan who hovered by my side. I couldn’t read his expression, but the anger was no longer in his eyes.
“You’re bleeding,” he said, pointing to a long scratch on my forearm.
“I’m good,” I said. I grabbed some napkins from the kitchen table and applied pressure. I didn’t even feel it. The bleeding would stop soon enough.
“Now he knows about the hot spring,” Winnie said. “If word about this location gets back to his friends at the sea, they will swarm here, stake out the place, knowing it is a breeding ground for the Nereid. I will have to move.” Her voice hinted at sadness.
I understood how she felt all too well. The Wonder Water bottling plant was her place, her thing. Being responsible for the little hot spring in the backyard, and selling the water gave her a sense of independence. Despite her declining years, Great Aunt Winsome still saw herself as a contributing member of society.
I’d witnessed this with my own grandmother when my folks told her she had to move into the nursing home. Gram had to give up being a contributing member of society, and allow others to care for her. The idea of being a burden didn’t sit well with Gram. She didn’t last too long after that.
“The creature won’t make it back to the sea,” Alan reassured Winnie. “Me and Josh are going to kill it before that ever happens.”
While I didn’t want to have anything to do with killing the creature, I was more than happy to have a hand in giving Winnie some hope.
“Really?” she asked, gazing up at me.
My eyes moved to Alexia who had drifted off into the background. She gazed back at me wearing a newly minted self-satisfied smirk. The spoiled brat was getting her way.
“Right, Josh?” Alan prodded when I failed to respond.
A short while ago, Alan was scared to death of the Lycorian. He had every reason to be. Lycorians were dangerous monsters who could cut us down with one blow. Now, he was dead set on killing the creature, even though he’d seen the kind of damage it could do.
My eyes remained on Alexia. She’d gotten her hooks firmly back into my friend. Bravo, Alexia. Bravo.
After a while, she went back outside and filled two bottles with water from the spring. After saying the incantation over the water, she came back in, and handed the two bottles to Alan.
“Here you go, baby.”
She glanced at me and smiled.
I knew I was dreaming.
I had to be dreaming because Lara and I were together having a good time, and last I knew, that was impossible. We were on a blanket in the meadow. She was gorgeous in a tank top and shorty shorts, her green eyes sparkling.
“Your favorite food is cumquats,” I said.
“Your favorite food is Mulberry Street pizza. You like to put a Carney’s hot dog on top and make a pizza dog.”
We were playing the game again, laughing, talking, having a good time.
Dreams are funny because while part of your mind is dreaming, another part of your mind is thinking, reasoning, working through life’s problems. That’s why people like to sleep on big decisions, because they know even when they’re sound asleep, a part of their brain is still fully functional.
That’s what was happening with me. The lucid part of my mind was thinking about the Lycorian showing up in Winnie’s backyard.
Just then, the dreaming part of me on the blanket with Lara looked across the meadow and saw the Lycorian approaching us. I got to my feet.
“What are you doing here?” I called out, balling my fists.
“You haven’t figured that out yet?” The Lycorian called back. His voice was calm. It had a fatherly quality to it, like Morgan Freeman.
His response threw me. “No. Why? Should I have?”
“Dude, you are slow,” he called.
“Joshua, what’s the matter?” Lara asked.
I looked down at her on the blanket, and at that moment, my lucid mind and my dream state came crashing together. “I’m not sure.”
I bolted upright in bed. My mind had been whirling around a problem all night, and once I was asleep, it was free to roam, free to find the solution.
How could the Lycorian in Alan’s pool know where we’d gone last night? That was the hundred thousand dollar question. We didn’t know where we were going ourselves. Someone told the creature where we’d be.
I’d felt the question emerging while we were attending to Winnie’s wounds, but with so much going on, I dismissed it—the niggling thought that someone told the Lycorian where he could find us. I didn’t know how the guilty party had gotten word to the Lycorian. I didn’t know why he did it, but I had good idea of who it was.
The first part of our morning drive out to the Applegate fortress was quiet. Dad had finally burned out on talking about his lunch with his new pal, Tim Patterson. Good. For my part, I didn’t have much to say. The ordeal at the Wonder Water Bottling plant had left me with a lot to think about. Besides, I was still miffed at him for pressing me to fix things with Lara.
“I owe you an apology,” Dad said, intruding on the silence.
We’d been riding for fifteen minutes. My father’s words seemed t
o come out of nowhere.
“What are you talking about, Dad?”
“I know I was acting like an ass yesterday. I take that back. I didn’t know. Your mother pointed it out to me. But when she did, I recognized my behavior right away for what it was.”
“It’s cool, Dad.”
“You know me. I don’t hang out with movie stars. Having lunch with Tim Patterson went right to my head. But I want you to know, I didn’t picture myself going to movie premieres, and hanging out in the homes of movie stars. What I saw in my mind’s eye was an opportunity for you.”
I glanced over at him. He wasn’t looking at me. His eyes were still on the road, but there was an odd look in them that told me his mind was somewhere else.
“Me?”
“You’re an A student, right?”
“Not quite. A high B, but I’m getting there.”
“Suppose you wanted to go to one of them Ivy League schools? You’re smart enough.”
“Dad, I haven’t given my college choice much thought. I still have a whole year to decide.”
“I know. But suppose you did want to go to one. Last week, I would have had no idea how I could help. Now, I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. Now, I can come up with a plan to help you with whatever you decide to do with your life.”
I glanced back over at him. He was grinning at me.
“I’m not the smoochy type,” he said, continuing. “But you and Troy literally make my heart sing. Every night before I go to sleep, I thank God for sending me two fine young men like you and your brother.”
“Did you have some of that leftover wine from yesterday’s lunch for breakfast this morning?” I asked.
He laughed, big and loud, enjoying that I was razzing him. Me razzing him meant that things between us were good. “I’m no fool. I see what’s going on with kids these days, and then I look at you two. Aside from the time Troy set off that rocket inside the house, you and your brother haven’t given us a lick of trouble. I’m grateful for that.”
“Thanks, Dad.” Despite all that had gone on over the past few days, I started getting a warm feeling inside.
We continued through the gates, and onto the Applegate property in silence.
“Son, are you going to accept my apology, or are you going to make me beg?” he asked after a while.
I sat silent, not moving for several seconds.
“Son?”
“I’m thinking, I’m thinking!”
We both burst into laughter. It was a joke we’d heard on TV a long time ago. It never got old. We laughed so hard tears were streaming down our cheeks.
I was grateful as well; grateful Dad had taken the time to open up to me, and grateful for the laughter we shared. I loved my father. It was good to be reminded that he loved me, too, especially since what I had to do next was not going to be pleasant.
After we unloaded the truck, I asked Dad if I could take a short break.
“Already? I may have to change my opinion of you.”
We shared another brief laugh, and told him I’d be right back. Then I walked up to the mansion’s steps, pushed open the front door and went inside.
I started up the sweeping staircase, not sure where I was headed.
“Petros!” I called, raising my voice to the rooftops. “Petros. I need to have a word with you.”