Psycho Candy

by Steven Hunter

  "Okay Candy. I'll try my best but even John can see the future better than any of you people and he know. . . "

  "Know what John?"

  "Just know."

  Candy eyed him for the first time with a wary eye and left the room.

  The walk to Faith Emeralds didn't take long. As soon as she arrived she could sense the vibrations, the scent of torture in the air. Then she saw the blood. As she followed the trail she could see a note sitting on the table, yet she ignored this and carried on up the stairs. The blood was thicker on the walls up here and she knew instinctively to head towards the bathroom.

  Her scream was louder than Faiths, dissolving into sobs of sadness choked with anger and she looked away then forced herself to look back. He had obviously been stabbed where he would have been sitting in the lounge, then again in the upstairs hall. His body was littered with wounds, some still leaking blood, yet it seemed he had lost so much already; there was something different about the shape of his body. In his mouth was his severed penis. Candy again tried to look away but she had to know and she sent out her thought-voice and instead of just getting voices telling her she started to see pictures.

  She couldn't understand how this could be, just watched in horror as the man entered the three story apartment, sneaking up on Brekin, the first knife wound going to the back of the spine. Brekin tried to move yet was now paralysed down each side of his body. The next image showed Reckwick, she knew it was him now, sawing at Brekin's penis, a sock gagged In the Rastafarian's mouths and she could see the agony in his eyes, the pleading and Reckwick's smiles and laughter although there was no sound. She tried to listen and then her thought voice kicked in but with his tone, and he was laughing and saying –

  "Guess you won't be fucking that bitch now, huh? Not unless she wants to practice necrophilia with a strap on. Come on, let’s get you upstairs on the toilet. I've got a couple of things I want to flush away."

  Candy walked over to the toilet and there was Brekin's testicles floating in water mixed with blood and the noise that came out of her was more like a squeal than a moan or sob and she turned away and shut down all the vision and the voice.

  She had seen enough. She wondered where she would find Faith and Marcus's bodies. No doubt in their bedroom downstairs. She wandered into their room but it was empty.

  She walked over to the table, tears streaming down her face and picked up the letter.

  It read -

  Dear Candy,

  You know now my part in this, and I feel responsible for the death of your loved one. It was my own selfish motive that has lead to so much death. That is why I have left to go to the covenant; Marcus has refused to stay, despite this no longer being his fight. He says he will change into a wolf and we shall walk in together. I have protection there, with Mephinie and Xcetral, and I shall explain why we are here and that we expect you to follow, as we are sure you shall get even with Reckwick for what he has done. I understand if you hate me and no longer wish to see me, I only hope that you don't want to use me to avenge Brekin's murder. I have the baby coming, although I know in some way I too deserve whatever happens, even the worst as this is all my doing. We hope to see you there. Both of us - and we are sure John shall do everything in his power to help you get back your soul, and live in peace afterwards. You are a victim here, your life is destroyed and it is my fault. Perhaps you will forgive me, although I do not think for a moment that you will. Hopefully when you arrive there is enough power on your side to destroy Reckwick with ease. One more thing - I left a set of mental images I scanned. I knew your empathic vibrations would be enough to pick them up. You cannot imagine how sorry I am.

  Faith -

  Candy crumpled the letter into a ball and threw it as hard as she could at the wall. Then she checked her attire, her sword and her knife and the handgun that had once belonged to Jan and set off to pick up John.

  She knew how this was going to end, for her at least.

  Peacefully.

  John saw the look in her eyes as soon as she entered the room.

  She fixed him with the same stare. "You knew didn't you?"

  "Why do you think I wanted you to stay here? No woman should find her man like that."

  John had spent the past half an hour or so discussing the murders he had been committing and how he didn't know how to get rid of his dark side. They had gone back and forth on the matter and decided like last time it would run its course, yet that for tonight he should embrace the darkness and do as much damage as he could.

  "Where are Faith and Marcus? Don't tell me... I had a thought that they would leave first but just couldn't believe they would be so stupid."

  "We have to get there fast. Can either of you do something about that?"

  "Yes, first I will make John here invisible, and then Agares and I shall teleport you to the entrance. We shall also be invisible. Then we shall enter and we will all do our thing. I believe you have a fight first. So we shall wait until that ends, with I am sure you being the victor and at that moment we shall strike, is this not so Agares?

  "I have been commanded. I will fulfil the commitment."

  "Right," said Candy. "Let’s get the fuck out of here. It's time."

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  CANDY FINDS DEATH, LIES, AND SWEET PEACE AT LAST

  She knocked heavily on the door to the covenant. Behind her, totally invisible to the naked eye were Agares and Glasyabolas alongside John who also held no perceivable form.

  The hatch slid open and there was Jack's unmistakable face from behind it. "Ah, Candy. We've been expecting you."

  "Have you let anyone else in tonight, Jack?"

  "Not personally, although I believe the Goddess Mephinie let in a male and female around an hour ago."

  "May I enter Jack? I have Reckwick to fight tonight and the Rubiconeteka don't like to be kept waiting. I brought this token-"

  Candy was waved off from the severed finger of the librarian's.

  "Tonight you enter for free. There is a great deal of politics here this evening and a large crowd."

  "Then open the fucking door, Jack, It's getting cold outside."

  "As you wish."

  The large heavy door swung open and Candy walked in first, backing Jack up against one of the walls before he had time to close the door. The invisible three entered without problem.

  "What is it, Candy? You want a little you and me time, hmm?"

  "I just want you to know, Jack, that you've been a great host. And I wanted to give you a little kiss, just on the cheek.”

  "You don't want to see what's under here, Candy. I doubt you'd want to kiss it."

  Still he lowered his hood and beneath was a pale white face, with the eyes removed and sewn up. A single scar ran diagonally from one side of his face to the other. Candy leaned forward and planted a kiss on his lips.

  Jack smiled. "I never thought I'd feel that again. You . . . thank you so much, Candy. You are the nicest contestant I have had the fortune to meet. Now you must excuse me. I must take my place as caller at the walk. I have to introduce the fights. You're on in about twenty minutes."

  The four walked down the corridor, and yet because John was invisible nobody saw or even heard him be pulled into a room on the side of the corridor.

  There in front of him stood Jessie. She was naked, her hair tied back in plaits and she indicated a double bed with sheets of silk and rose petals scattered across its surface.

  “Take a seat my sweet love,” said Mephinie.

  Blismasatakk sat crouched in the corner of his chamber of Bliss.

  His reflection gazed upon his cloaked appearance in endless multiples. He lifted his hood and stared into the mirror of blue, and watched the chromatic change in hue reflected by the other spectrum mirrors; distorted images of rainbow heaven, contrasted by the hellish look in his eyes. He sat and counted to ten – “one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine... Ah, Ka, how good of you to join me. I trust our guests have
arrived?”

  Ka nodded, and Blismasatakk noticed the green of his eyes and the interference pattern it created upon the reflective screens around him. Ka paused for a moment; appeared in thought, although Blismasatakk knew this was just the preamble for his prepared speech. “Bliss, yes they have arrived. Skin man says that you have to go tell the goat.”

  “And may I ask why you cannot tell 'the goat', yourself?”

  Ka laughed. “It's your thing. It's personal to you. Go do your own work and get the fuck out this palace of pain or whatever the fuck you call it.”

  Blismasatakk smiled. “Pleasure, pain; call it what you like. The sadomasochistic sensations of bliss. You look tired, Ka. Why not sit and rest a while and admire your ... aha... beauty? There are fresh souls in the spirit-refresher by the corner there – see? Why don't you sit and help yourself? Indulge yourself for once... it is after all unlike a gentleman like you to do so.”

  Ka caught the sarcasm in Blismasatakk voice; however the thought of free fresh souls was too appealing an argument to disagree upon. As he teleported towards the souls, Blismasatakk walked towards a mirror, its colour defined in pale blue hues of evil, the colour that matched his own skin and stepped through the liquid shine of transient molten sand.

  "Jessie, it is so good to see you, I have missed you."

  “But I am here now, my sweet. And I have something I'd like to share with you.”

  "What is it my love? What do you wish to show me?"

  “Me.”

  And suddenly Mephinie was herself and instead of John launching into a murderous rage he was suppressed beneath her gaze.

  "Meph, what is this?"

  “Call it a betrayal. Call it whatever you like.”

  “I don't understand. After what I did for you? A betrayal? How is this-” John suddenly noticed a difference to Mephinie's gaze, subtle yet distinct.

  “I lured you here John. To die. You and that Candy cunt. And the half cast traveller and her wolf.”

  Now John knew something was up. He had never heard Mephinie refer to a woman with anything but love.

  And the other thing.

  Yet he held his tongue and Mephinie continued. “You are just pawns to us, sorcerer; all of you. Pawns on a board that you do not own. Your friend Faith should be able to tell you all about it. After all it was her who made the deal.”

  John nodded. “I already know about that, thank you very much. What bothers me though Meph is when the fuck did you start wearing contacts?” And it was true, for Mephinie's normally purple eyes were looking down at him with a deep red. And suddenly Jessie was standing there again in front of him. Yet John had already foreseen this and as he gazed up at an impression of his lost love he noticed shadows begin to dance on the wall behind the dead red eyes which gazed from the features of his beloved.

  John roared!

  "Where the hell is John?" cried Candy.

  "Calm yourself," said one of the demons, Candy couldn't tell exactly which one due to their invisibility but did not think it Agares.

  She had been left in a main quarter which was sort of like a dojo, a place where she could practice for the fight ahead. In it hung bags filled with sand to punch and kick etc., and a table with every known drug in four dimensions sitting in case she wished some refreshment. Bottles of liquor from each of the Rubiconeteka's home towns sat alongside the drug collection as did an assortment of glasses. Candy had already tried a pink powder and she was starting to see the bigger picture, how multidimensionality was basically just a collection of spiritual realms and that she was not a human but solidified spirit living in the spiritual dimension of earth – the two basic spiritual questions had been answered so easily... who am I and what is my world?

  However what she desired was her beloved crack and she could find it nowhere.

  “Looking for this,” said Mephinie holding out what appeared to be a crack pipe except made entirely of a pearly, crystallized substance, not your run of the mill glass one. In her other hand she held out a bag full of rocks of crack cocaine.

  Mephinie placed them in Candy's hand and indicated for Candy to take a seat. “It has been said that you have been good for us. You have pretended to fight for the side of Shub Niggurath, yet you have accepted in reality Xcetral's offer to be his champion. You will fight Reckwick and a score between me and him shall be settled. For this I promise you back all your soul.”

  Candy couldn't believe what she was hearing, she had the backing of two of the boundless ones and she was to have her soul returned.

  She smiled. "So when do we start?"

  “Not so fast Candy. Reckwick is strong, so we both must bequeath you with three gifts each. Xcetral shall go first.”

  The God whose body was a black as the first night ever created, when there were no stars to walk across, reached out and laid his hand on Candy's forehead. “I grant thee the power to withstand enormous pain for Reckwick can create such feelings. This shall not stop you feeling pain, but it shall make it an even match. The second gift I grant thee is the gift of time and peace. When you feel it sliding away from you and it’s all too much, you will know then how to use this gift. Thirdly I grant you pure mental clarity. I know this may sound like the same as the last but it is not. You will be able to use you empathic powers without any outside interference. Go well my sweet champion, you shall prevail.” Xcetral's hand began to glow from red to orange to yellow to green to blue to indigo to ultraviolet, as his powers worked their way into all of Candy's Chakras. Then the colour turned to the purest black Candy had ever witnessed as she caught glimpses of what was transpiring before her very eyes. She felt something akin to an anaesthetic wash over her, but it was nothing like the Ketamine she had tried or anything. It was like being bathed in soothing pain free feelings.

  She had no time to wonder about her second two gifts as Mephinie approached her. Candy expected the Goddess to grab her by the hand but instead she took Candy by the hand and sat her on the bed. “The three gifts I shall give to thee is firstly the feelings I have towards this man. With Xcetral's third gift and your empathy that will give you reason and power alongside your own to fight. It will be like an extra motive. The second gift I shall give to you is speed. You will be able to move like the wind, from one corner of the ring to the other in a matter of milliseconds. And for the third gift – I give you my Love,” Mephinie reached out and kissed Candy softly on the lips. She felt this Goddesses' anger mingle with her own, a powerful force which she could now control. The speed she knew she now possessed. But it was the love which gave her the true power. She felt blessed. She felt forgiven for every remorseful act. And she knew this love would last forever, beyond death and lifetimes to come should there ever be any. It was the greatest gift she had ever been blessed with.

  "But what about my friends? Faith and Marcus-"

  “Worry not. They are under my protection here. To go against my wishes would be to start a war and the council are divided as it is. Shub Niggurath would not be that stupid. They are safe in my quarters. I am keeping them away from all of this. She is with child, and the goat might just go to war for the sake of it if she knows it is a way to get to me. She does not however know of this aside between us,” said Mephinie.

  And as if on cue the call came through.

  “CANDY TO THE ARENA. IT IS YOUR WALK. RECKWICK TO THE ARENA. IT IS YOUR WALK.”

  Mephinie smiled and took her hand. She felt the love radiate.

  Xcetral took her by the arm. “It is customary that the champion's benefactor escorts her. However in this case Shub thinks you are fighting to be hers so you must walk to the ring alone. Be brave. You will win this.”

  Candy smiled and turned and walked out the door.

  Blismasatakk stepped out from the fused quartz; his reflection floating out behind him like trails of hallucinogenic vapour, catching up with him moments later, leaving only the appearance of him walking away resonating on the fluorescent glass. He looked around. Where the hell was he?
He did not recognise his surroundings, which was strange as he knew mostly all of the many quarters in which the Rubiconeteka took their various residences, depending on their mood. He had searched for Shub, and it would be like that Goat to have some kind of limbo room, in case someone came searching for her - paranoid bitch!

  Blismasatakk heard a snap of fingers behind him and even before he could turn around the walls of the room changed to a padded green; long spikes emitting from various angles, and he felt a change in the pressure of the air and knew he was in the Vacuum. He clenched his fists and prepared himself for battle.

  Behind him, Rivvells adjusted his eyesight to measure the vacuum pressure adjustment necessary to fight the virtual particles belonging to the Bliss man.

  The hallway was narrower than Candy last remembered it, but then the first time it had been like a dream to her and now it was more reality. She walked towards the Arena and could see Reckwick walking down the other walkway, the Goat proceeding behind him, being carried on a throne by four beings all dressed in red cloaks which covered their eyes. They set her down on a high seating arrangement, a viewing box made of stone and Reckwick entered the ring.

  Immediately the fight was under way and he was charging for Candy.

  As John leapt towards Jessie, her figure changed and for the briefest of seconds a vision of Mephinie was standing there, and then The Skin Walker was moving, shifting, one minute a figure of a man, the next a wolfish grin stealing across his sharpened jaws. John stared into those dead red eyes, and for a moment he was lost, and The Skin Walker leapt at him. John saw the gaping sharpness heading for his face; razor teeth that would disfigure and kill. The sharpened points neared his eyes, jagged points to cause blindness and John laughed and disappeared. There was a clacking sound as the teeth collided together, and The Skin Walker muttered, “Fuck.”