Psycho Candy

by Steven Hunter

  Marcus can you hear me?

  Marcus heard her but he found that his thoughts were still caught up in everything, yet he smiled and she knew he heard.

  Just think what you want to know and it will come to you, like if you want to know the meaning of the sun then just think it and you'll know it.

  Marcus stood and stared and as the light shone down upon him he smiled, it was there at that moment just to make him happy, the rays of pleasure and he was yet still unsure if he had got the right answer.

  It must be right if that's what you think, otherwise how could your thoughts be wrong when they're your thoughts, especially when It's personal to you. You could think how to talk to me

  I'm not sure I'd be able to do that to control that, to-

  Her smile said it all. He could talk, he knew how, it was like it made sense here in the way speaking, actually vocalising out loud did in the other place, where was that again?

  Where did we-

  Shhh... not to think about that now. we're here for as long as we can be. Take my hand.

  How do we get down?

  Why ask what you know, your reassurances are merely fears trying to convince you otherwise. See the trap in emotion here?

  But why is that?

  Why is the sun warm or the colour blue, blue? Come on, I want you to see it all, my home world, the place I was born.

  Her hand felt warm and his sweaty yet she held tighter still and he felt her urge away his fears, and as he felt himself letting go he realised that he was now over the rooftop and plunging to the ground, but the thing that he should be scared of, it seemed to have another name for it here and she seemed to keep it hidden in his mind, yet he should suddenly take fright, and he wanted to ask her

  What now?

  Now we do it all, what we can. Let's get a drink, my mother's old hang out. You need to accept it Marcus, and we can't do it just standing around.

  Her hand still warm, seeming to grow warmer with each passing breath and Marcus wondered about the perfect sound of silence, what then would grow from each passing moment, just as Faith senior had done nearly twenty three years before.

  Accept what though? There was something he just couldn't seem to come to terms with. Not yet, not in this moment.

  Then suddenly he was aware of the wind on the guttered leaves and the scent of a city new to him, a fragrance that he knew did not belong to him, and he felt saddened by this, and she saw the trace of a tear in her eye and wondered why then-

  I did not bring you here to feel sad, Marcus. It is every bit your right to be here. Come, the bar is near now. We will take something to make us feel good and then you will come to realise that what you want cannot be.

  The Fluid ambition blared beats which seemed to rupture and bleed and he walked in and felt the minds on his and he cared little for their thoughts, although he could sense some difficulty in their communication regarding his thoughts.

  Of course Marcus you can speak wolf, you can think like a wolf and they cannot follow you but for the feeling which makes them afraid and this is good it will keep them away while we journey, but we are not stopping here, I just wanted to give someone something.

  Faith stepped up to a woman behind the counter and whispered in her ear. Immediately the music stopped and Faith took Marcus by the hand and they walked in near perfect silence until he finally understood.

  Your mother's death. You told them.

  They knew, but it was like knowing you yourself are going to die, you push it away or you embrace it. Either way the music will be on again by now and things going again, they did that for me.

  But you did not do it for you?

  I did it for them. My mothers. They should be remembered if even for a short while. Jan my eldest mother was the only person to ever traveller to earth apart from myself and of course my earth mother.

  She came to find you?

  She came to rescue me. But it was too late. I had caused too much death by then. I did it on purpose Marcus. I chose Candy, because I knew she would do as I wanted, she would avenge my mother’s death. That is not to say I don't love her because I do, but I manipulated her, made her feel like all the things she needed to feel to cope with what I had made her become.

  You never took her soul.

  Faith looked Marcus in the eye and for the first time he saw something there he wasn't sure he liked.

  You didn't? How could you, I mean, how?

  It was simple. My Goddess is Rubiconeteka. I worshipped her for years in secret, not even my mother’s knowing. We met one night. It was nightmarish. I was walking home and the car stopped and there she was sitting, you can see in my mind, the goat just sitting and the door was opened and I got in. She apologised for my mother’s death, said it was not on her command, but you see she can't read us, that's our gift not hers, so she didn't know then I was only befriending her to see her destroyed.

  But why Candy out of anyone else?

  She was being watched already. All I had to do was give her the special trip. It was LSD but mixed with the dust of something, something that cleans the eyes and makes things real, not just fantasy but real and I did it, not because I knew then what she would do for me but because I wanted my mother so badly and she was dead and I didn't care who died.

  But her life Faith? You could have refused.

  I couldn't have refused. They would have killed me if I had. I had to. . . the words caught in Faith Emeralds throat. . . I had to let them touch me, the one Mephinie, she likes woman, none of the men, only the women and I had to let them or they would have killed me, because she had this thing, she called it the- the – ablath – and holy shit Marcus I'd never been so scared in my whole life. They showed me what happened to others who had crossed them. They have ways Marcus, of torturing you after death, whatever remains they own if they are strong enough to take it and they do not forgive; ever. So I did what I was told, because they cannot read, It is a Dizorian gift, early in earth, very primitive telepathy, but here it is natural, it is Jan, our way.

  But Jan is your mother's name. . . but wait. . . your, eh, Faith, really dug that how it meant those things- I am sorry, I am interrupting.

  Faith Emerald continued. I cared little for Candy at the time. They had chosen her. The goat was partially interested by her; she has Reckwick so cares so little for humanity except for when he is fighting for her, and he always wins of course. But Mephinie told me she has something going with Xcetral and they were going to make her their champion, to beat Reckwick. You see there was a grudge. Reckwick was nearly put to death. He touched Mephinie, thinking he was one of them, touched her in a way that implied intimacy and Mephinie broke his arm and told him if he ever touched her again she would see him eat his own organs and limbs, starting with his feet. One of the other Rubiconeteka, Blismasatakk, had done the same thing, after Reckwick had, just to push her buttons; it was a political thing, kinda... a way of displaying power... but back to Reckwick... She then petitioned for his death. But Shub would hear none of it, she is crazy you see, she needs to be loved, but she doesn't know love, how can she? Faith laughs; But she carries a lot of sway, she is powerful and she is to be respected just as every other and so Mephinie was outvoted by one, no one is sure who, but we think perhaps Blismasatakk, partly for his touch of Mephinie, but also merely because he hates women and Mephinie truly loves them, in her way at least, in her nature. So Reckwick never knew how close he came to having to eat himself in front of a Goddess for touching her on the buttock and calling her sweetheart. She was heard to have remarked “you shall see how sweet your heart tastes, believe me vile creature!” That was when she broke his arm, she just reached out and touched it and it broke every bone in that limb. Of course he went running to Shub who immediately set out for Mephinie but she is fucking powerful, they are all of equal power, it is more political than who carries the strongest punch. Anyway, she healed Reckwick, then severed his little toe for ever touching another female, although I think she used
the term 'woman who was not her'. She took it with her teeth. Then she banished him to her world to work for her there and to come back repentant, which of course he did. He came back stronger than ever, killed four men or women a night on the walk, earned souls for his Goddess and she rewarded him and all the time Mephinie and Xcetral had it planned from the beginning, Candy's fate.

  Faith, this is madness. Why don't we stay here, away from all the fighting, away from all the people who want to hurt us, we could raise the baby here, give-

  -Her

  -Her a fresh start into life.

  So we run away Marcus and all the while she hungers for the other half of her, the half that is you. No Marcus, we return. I cannot hide from them, they would find me and they would kill me and you and her and...

  Stop. Shhh. Do not cry. I see now that is what you were hiding from me, the fact that we have to return.

  Don't you see, both my mothers are dead. I cannot live in HER world any more, any more than I would raise my child to this place. It would make no difference. I am obligated to see Candy fight Reckwick. It is not just my want but also that of Mephinie. When that is done then I am free of her and she has promised me I will never be forced to return here, that she will take me as her Verket.

  Verket? I-

  It means a combination of love interest and I suppose pet. I will be her domesticated fuck toy.

  No, Faith. The baby. Me, I. . . How could you do this to us? To us!

  We shall be left alone for the most part but it is the cost of her protection. I enjoy women Marcus, and she is a fine lover and she truly cares for women, although, she is herself something only in women form, I think the essence of women is what she is; she is Danu I sought so long ago, Diana, Athena, all the Greek myths were really just her. It is done Marcus. And I brought you here so we could talk in peace and...

  And?

  And, this is your honeymoon, silly. I've booked us a room, up river. It's the most expensive in the city, I have both my mother’s savings and after the room there will be enough to buy us food and drink and drug and then after we shall return we shall always have this. My mother used to forget what happened here, just that she had to come here, and that will not be possible when we go back, but I will help you remember, I will put the images in your head and I will tell you stories of how we made love on our honeymoon under the stars of another world.

  Then we make love?

  Unless you want to fuck?

  The hotel was unlike anything Marcus could have imagined.

  There were no escalators or stairs or key cards or anything of that kind. It was based on what was in your mind. They paid for the room which had been ordered on Jan's credit card which she had found lying in the middle of a pile of old ribbons. She had tried that night to get into her mother’s head, the ribbons, why? But the significance never stood out, and she guessed in death also some things should remain private. She took Marcus into one of the booths and just told him to relax to hold her hand and remember what they had paid and the room number and suddenly they were there. They stood inside another similar booth although this one had seating and he quickly leaped to his feet whilst Faith lazily wandered from room to room.

  She caught up with him in the bedroom and he was trying to switch on what he thought was a television and she laughed and suddenly her memories were on screen, her as a child, her mother’s playing with her, then further back, her mother and Tony engaged in such violence that Marcus felt his head turn away, yet his eyes stayed fixed.

  You were not alive when this was happening. How do you know such things, in such detail?

  How do you know I was not alive?

  I, cannot say, it makes sense to me that you should not be.

  I can remember-?

  Exactly, each memory is one, there is only one yet what you watch and what I watch we will both see and hear the same thing but we shall remember it differently.

  And then on screen, Faith Emerald and Marcus naked, him holding her thighs apart and fucking her and he turned and she was naked and he held a questioning eye up.

  Hey. This crazy thing upstairs don't just make memories. A girl can dream can't she?

  Marcus didn't waste any time answering with words, playfully pushing her onto the bed. Smiling with anticipation she lay on her back, legs apart. He was surprised to see she wore nothing underneath her dress which had hung around her ankles all day from the neck down. Her naked cunt glistened with her excitement and he wanted to taste it, to satisfy one desire and perhaps two, yet she merely stared at his eyes.

  Let go. In your mind. It's different here, we can share feelings.

  Marcus nodded. He understood. There was a built up sexual charge between the two, that was undeniable yet when he felt the mingling of the feelings he felt himself relax, not like he had climaxed; it was in fact the opposite, an intensity that came from such relaxation; and yet it was with speed and vigour that he pounced on her, tearing at the striped cloth which separated him from the skin he needed to feel, and she lost in his feeling combined with her own let him. Soon her dress was rags and Marcus kissed chaotically at her, starting with her stomach but with no real plan in mind as his hunger for the parts of her body would not be satisfied until he had covered each square inch and all in equal measure, he did not rate her tits higher priority than her thighs for example; except her pussy. He was keeping that until last.

  Meanwhile she moaned and gasped and shivered with delight as she stroked his hair, trying in vain to remove his shirt. "No fucking fair Marcus. Get your kit off. If I wanted an affair with a clothing store I'd have married a mannequin."

  He wordlessly complied and for the first time he felt, actually knew, how she felt when she saw his body and he didn't think his ego had been so well stroked, but more than that he now knew she felt how he wanted her to feel and that was the best revelation he had ever experienced, he now knew love, love shared and it was better than. . . well, sex. It was sex as it was meant to be and he was inside her now and soon there was nothing but the oneness of shared orgasm.

  They were spent, they were laying in the hotel room and suddenly Marcus felt faint, and he saw in Faith's eyes it was time to go. Yet there was a look in his eyes now, and she saw a betrayal of his own, yet she could not read him, and she could not fathom why. For Marcus the switch to his wolfish mentality had been easy. He had planned to tell Faith about The Skin Walker, about all of it, but now he could see no point; not yet at least and there was no need to worry her further.

  He laid a hand on hers. Silence prevailed then they were back and they saw the bloodstained walls and the footprints and Faith screamed as Marcus began to take form. Soon the wolf was leading the empath up the stairs.

  Faith silently wished for a hand.

  Or a handgun.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  GREAT DEMONS AND SERIAL KILLERS THINK ALIKE

  This demon Glasyabolas liked this woman he was talking with. She was a life taker and this was something that he could respect and relate too. The other the Mohawk, well he was another matter entirely. He had taken more life than the girl, maybe as much as Glasyabolas, but there was a darkness which seemed to haunt him, and he knew that the man was not scared of shit but was in some way sorry for something. He wanted to tell him how to deal with the conscience, how to unload the bricks so to speak, but he said nothing, feeling it was not his place. This man had power and knowledge and he could speak for himself. But the young woman, Candy, well what a treat for the conversational powers. He was to make her friends invisible so they could sneak in and with the other demon in the room who seemed cowed in some way were to take on a host of Gods and Goddesses. He liked the spunk of this one.

  She was to engage in a fight to the death, and it had been a while since he had been invited to play. The last time was back in the witch burnings when he was responsible for the deaths of 1900 Catholics or Christians or whatever the hell they called themselves. He himself loved witches, was acquainted with Pan the
Greek God, and also Mephinie although he knew not that she was involved tonight. His job was pretty much to start a riot, to turn the crowd against each other. He had been released from the triangle straight away, and had taken it to be a kindness, as some kept you there until your promises really had to be kept. But this was a battle and the stakes were impossibly high and he could not wait.

  The librarian lay; his skin stripped to the bone and his organs as well as his brain gone, eaten by both Agares and Glasyabolas.

  Candy looked at his remains and was glad. He had been a terrible date. "John, you stay here with our guests. I'm going back for Brekin and Faith and Marcus. They should be ready."

  "Why don't you stay? He likes you. I'm just a fucking inconvenience."

  Candy looked shocked. "I think you need to talk to someone John. I can feel it. I don't know for sure, but something bad has been happening and you need advice that I can't give, I just know I can't as if I did it would affect the outcome. Please John, I could never have done this without you. Whatever it is you can tell these guys, they won't tell me. I can swear, it’s eating you up, and we need you."

  "Damn it Candy, I'm-"

  "Save it John. I can't know. I don't know why but I know I can't ever know. It's not a case of forgiveness; I'm just getting clearer readings. I know I've been set up from the start, she hid it well but she wants me to know and I don't give a shit. It's been one hell of a ride. We'll be back within twenty minutes. Get it off your chest and we'll be there for you, okay?"