The shows were always general admission, and Skylar was able to use her Grayer connection to get a place down front. She was wedged between a braless twentysomething in a sheer cotton dress and a woman twice her age wearing an 80’s hair band T-shirt that was two sizes too small. It reminded Skylar of the first night she’d heard Joshua sing at Art Bar. That night, he’d stared at her like no one else existed. Tonight, though, she didn’t exist. He didn’t look at her once during the entire show.
By halfway through the evening, Skylar was livid. He got what he wanted and now he’s ignoring me? she fumed.
Joshua ended his set with his latest song, “Banshee,” which was destined to be a hit. It was wild and brought the crazed crowd to the verge of hysteria. Skylar thought it was an excessive amount of fervor.
When it was over, the five thousand ticket holders chanted “Grayer 2020!” dozens of times. The lights came up and the crowd slowly dispersed.
Skylar was going to wait as long as it took to get Joshua alone. She walked around to the talent trailer in the back of the college arena. It was tucked in an alley behind a campus building, shielded from the breakdown activity around the stage. For the next hour, she watched the other musicians get their gear on the tour bus but saw no sign of Joshua. The bus pulled away, and she worried she’d missed him somehow. Just as she stepped into the light of the streetlamp, planning to walk to her car, the back entrance door swung open.
“You told me you would get it done,” Joshua spat at the slender man walking out with him.
“It’s going to take more time,” the man said in a low, raspy voice.
“We’re out of time. I told you, my job’s been done. You have to move now on this.”
“I don’t see why you’re so uptight about it.”
Skylar recognized the slender guy from the new barn, though she didn’t know his name. He was one of Milicent’s lackeys. She stepped quietly back into the shadow of the building, certain she shouldn’t be eavesdropping but unsure how to leave without being seen.
“I don’t want to have to explain the delay. You know how she handles delays,” Joshua said.
“Hey, that’s your problem. I don’t make promises to her I can’t keep.” The slender guy turned to leave, but before he could take another step, Joshua had him on the ground. He huffed through his nose like a bull, and in one clean shot he struck his fist through the man’s chest with minimal effort. He pulled back his blood-soaked hand, holding what looked like his heart.
Skylar blinked hard a few times, not believing her eyes.
Joshua stared at the large organ in his hand and took a bite. He immediately spat it out. “You were always poison,” he said. He wiped blood from his mouth with his forearm, stood, and looked right in Skylar’s direction. She shrank even further into the shadows, but it was like Joshua could see right through the darkness. He made his way toward her, panting. His eyes blazed red.
“You weren’t meant to see that,” he growled.
This wild beast was eerily similar to the man in her dream. His eyes were wild; blood streaked down his neck.
Skylar stood motionless. She knew she couldn’t outrun him.
“You . . . weren’t . . . meant . . . to see that,” he said again slowly, as if to calm himself down. His breath continued to come out of his nostrils in great puffs. “No matter,” he said, pacing, the monster within him subsiding. He pushed her back in the shadows.
Her eyes darted down the alley, but she was too petrified to run. “What . . . are you?” she asked, pressing her back hard against the bricks.
“You’re scared again,” he said, regret in his voice now. “Don’t be scared. I would never hurt you.” He stood within inches of her; his breath smelled like rust and charcoal. “You left me the other night. We had a connection and you left.” He shook his head like an animal shaking off trauma. “No matter, we are together now. And connected for all eternity.” He wiped blood from his cheek with the back of his hand. He continued to pace in the shadows.
“What?” Skylar was confused.
“Our union. I had to get that done. It was just a bonus that I desired you so much,” he said, coming back toward her and touching her cheek with his blood-stained hand. His eyes had a bright sheen over them like a cat at night. She recoiled from his touch.
“Don’t judge me!” he snapped. “We are not that different, you and I.”
“I never ate a human heart,” she stammered. She made herself as flat as she could against the wall.
He relaxed. “Shame. A woman in your condition needs her iron.” He rested his hand on her belly.
“What?” she asked.
“The world will have you to blame in about nine months.” He backed away from her with a look that resembled shame. “I’m almost sorry.”
Skylar stood in silence, slowly putting the pieces together. All this time she had been in awe that Joshua had pursued her so forcefully. She’d never understood his attraction to her. The book, her dream, the unhealthy attraction that seemed inescapable—now she realized it was all part of some plan with an end she wasn’t aware of. She touched her palms to the cold bricks behind her and slid down the wall until she reached the ground. Her head rested on her knees, and she heard his footsteps retreat into the darkness.
Daylight peeked through the foggy blanket around Skylar. The days were no longer cooling at night, so the air had taken on a permanent mist. Hours had passed, but Skylar was still unable to move from the alleyway. Her cheek had found its way to the cold cement ground, her hair splayed around her. She heard footsteps but didn’t stir. She opened one eye to see the toes of a pair of familiar black Converse staring back at her.
“Leave me alone,” she said, her scratchy voice barely getting the words out.
“I should,” Ocean said. “But it’s not in my good nature. Get up.”
“How did you find me?”
“I got an anonymous tip,” Ocean said.
Skylar didn’t think to press it and rolled to sitting. “It’s too late,” she said. “We had sex. And then I saw him eat some guy’s heart, and he said the only reason I’m not dead is because I’m now carrying his baby.” She stared at her hand. “Now that I think about it, he never said the word baby, but he did talk about nine months from now and the end of the world.” She hiccupped in a stuttered breath. “No, that’s not right either.”
Ocean sighed. “Well then, let’s get you and your baby up off the ground. If you’re going to be a mother, you better start acting like one.” She bent in half and scooped Skylar off of the pavement.
“You can’t be serious,” Skylar said. “He ate a human heart. Well, he took a bite and spat it out. Who does that? What does that?”
“An experiment gone horribly wrong,” Ocean said as she draped Skylar over her shoulders. She guided her down the alleyway, then helped her into the familiar passenger seat of her maroon ’90-something Pontiac Firebird.
Ocean got in and the car roared to life. Skylar jumped.
“Still purrs like a kitten,” Ocean said, patting the dash.
Skylar watched the lights pass by as she leaned her head on the car window. The hum of the moving car made her relax slightly. For the moment, she felt safe. She was numb from too many things happening at once and appreciated Ocean’s silence.
Ocean veered off on a dirt road ten minutes from campus. Skylar realized she must have driven past it a hundred times and never noticed it. The land they passed through was heavily wooded, and Skylar was certain Ocean’s car wasn’t equipped for all the potholes.
The road ended at a palatial gate flanked with iron eagles, wings outstretched, welcoming them home. The gate opened, and the car came to a stop in a circular drive in front of a grand stone house. It appeared to have been there long before America’s founding fathers. The sunrise peeked over the horizon and reflected off of the honey-colored Cotswold stone.
Skylar got out of the car with her mouth gaping. “Where are we?”
“My
place. You can rest here,” Ocean said.
Gleaming green marble lions protected both sides of the dozen limestone steps leading up to the front door. Behind the lions sat six-foot-tall iron urns. They should have been covered in snow at this time of year, but in the unseasonably warm weather, bright-green-and-purple leaves cascaded down each side.
Skylar stopped when she reached the top step. “Ocean, who are you, really?”
“There’s plenty of time for backstory. Let’s go in and get some sleep,” Ocean said.
“You’re always telling me to get some sleep!” Skylar whined.
“I’m always picking you up at ungodly hours of the morning!” Ocean snapped back.
They walked through Ocean’s sprawling house. It was dimly lit, so Skylar couldn’t see most of the interior. She followed Ocean upstairs to a guest room. It was furnished with early English antiques and infused with a strong scent of lavender. The room was as big as Argan’s studio above the barn.
Thoughts of Argan gripped tightly around Skylar’s heart. She had ruined the best part of her life for reasons she didn’t completely understand.
“You’ve been through a lot,” Ocean said softly. “Trust that today is the first day of getting your life back on its intended course.” She fluffed some pillows on the bed. “For now, please try and rest. I’ll check on you in a bit.” She walked out the door and shut it behind her.
Left alone in a strange room, Skylar didn’t foresee getting sleep. She sat on the vintage area rug covering the wide plank floor and closed her eyes. Morning sunshine streamed through the window, warming her face. She thought of asking Ocean to take her to get her car. She wanted the comfort of her tiny house. But she’d finally found Ocean and didn’t want to lose her again.
As if reading her thoughts, Ocean knocked on the door and peeked her head in. “Hungry?” she asked. A floral turban sat atop her head, concealing her red frizz. She wore a matching caftan.
“Yes,” Skylar croaked out. “Thirsty too, apparently.” She got up from the floor and followed Ocean out into the hallway. Now that the sun was out, she was able to see the interior of the house in the daylight. The hall was painted a garish red with black filigree accents. It was something out of a Moroccan nightmare.
“Head down to the parlor and I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Ocean said.
The hallway spilled out into a grand staircase also trimmed with iron filigree. The walls, however, had migrated from red paint to dark cherry wood. There seemed to be no consistency in Ocean’s decorating style. Skylar walked down the stairs and into a room with a greenhouse attached. Three of the walls were glass, from the floor to the twenty-foot-high ceiling. It was a stunning view of the mountainside, and Ocean appeared to have every exotic plant imaginable growing wildly inside. The hibiscus bushes and pineapple palms looked awkward against the backdrop of confused maple trees, unsure what to do in the warm December sun.
“Come out to the lanai and eat,” Ocean said, breezing by with a tray.
Minutes later, Skylar sat in front of a bowl of granola, yogurt, and a green smoothie similar to Rachel’s concoctions. She watched Ocean disappear into the greenhouse with a pair of metal shears, then looked out over the immense deck railing onto the grounds three stories below. A massive tree stood ominously in the afternoon sun. It had no leaves, which wasn’t strange considering the time of year. But it looked like it never had leaves. Black branches curled oddly in every direction. Thick, snakelike roots weaved back and forth above ground, stretching out well beyond the canopy of branches. Below the tree sat an ornate stone wishing well covered in blossoms of every color. It was an odd sight to see the blooms flourish under the great tree, which seemed neither living nor dead.
Ocean emerged from the greenhouse holding a thick leaf. She sliced it with a blade of the shears. A clear liquid streamed into the smoothie. “Drink,” she ordered.
Skylar’s eyes widened. “What did you put in there?”
“Aloe,” she said. “You want that baby gone, right? We’ll start with aloe.”
“I don’t have any proof that what Joshua said is true,” Skylar said. “And I took morning-after pills. I shouldn’t be pregnant. I need to take a test.”
“Take all the tests you want,” Ocean said. “Now drink.”
Skylar took a sip of the smoothie and wrinkled her nose. She pushed the granola around with a spoon and stared at Ocean. So many of Skylar’s recent trials had involved this frizzy-haired woman who still remained a complete mystery.
Ocean looked out over the vast grounds with her arms across her chest. “The past few months have been quite extraordinary, haven’t they?”
“To say the least,” Skylar said.
Ocean sat next to her and double-wrapped her caftan around her legs. She took a deep breath. “I knew Joshua when he was a small boy,” she started, with sadness in her voice. “He was born into an impoverished family on the other side of the world, a place where it was commonplace to send children to orphanages, hoping for better care, a better life. Those places suck the dreams out of children. I almost think it’s better to keep your kid and starve to death—but that’s just me.” She started picking at Skylar’s granola. “He was three years old. He had been in an institution for about a year but hadn’t completely lost the sparkle in his eyes. He still had the glow only hope can give you. I knew he was special and tried to adopt him, but the red tape was immense. I was denied twice and had ideas of just taking him. I mean, who would have cared, really? But the next time I went in, I was told he had been adopted and was gone.”
“Oh my God.” Skylar stared at the white planks of the deck floor.
Ocean continued. “It took some digging—and bribing—but I was able to track him down and keep an eye on him. He was in a good situation, or so I thought. His papers said he was with a stable family here in the States. It wasn’t until years later that I learned he was being used as a guinea pig for medical experiments. He was pumped with all sorts of drugs to alter his chemical makeup, altered in a misguided attempt to turn him into the first human to live indefinitely. Once puberty hit, his hormones ran amok and he morphed into the beast you saw in the street.”
“You mean like the Hulk.” Skylar almost laughed, but she knew it wasn’t funny.
“Yeah, anger brings out the worst in him. But none of the drugs ever had the desired result. He isn’t immortal. He’s only been raised to believe he is. And that comes with its own headache. Our beliefs are the strongest drug there is.”
“And the heart thing?”
“Joshua was raised like an animal in a laboratory. He was shown certain things no one with his physical strength should be exposed to. His keepers knew that the heart is the key to the next rung on the evolutionary ladder. It holds all power, physically and spiritually. He often confuses the two.”
Skylar got up from her chair. “It sounds like you’re defending him. He killed a man!”
“When you know a person’s history, you can have a more compassionate point of view,” Ocean said, slightly accusatorily. “And the man you refer to was a thug the world won’t miss.”
“You knew the skinny guy?” Skylar asked.
“I’ve had to clean up more than one of Joshua’s messes. That’s all I’ll say.”
Skylar looked over the railing at the curious tree and wishing well. She appreciated Ocean sharing this story and felt compelled to do the same. “There’s something I want tell you,” she began slowly.
“What’s that?”
“It’s about when my mom died. We had a . . . a plan.” Skylar’s voice cracked. “She wasn’t supposed to die. Well, she was, but then we had a plan to . . .” Could she say the words out loud? To another human being? “To bring her back.”
“From where, dear?” Ocean said calmly.
“From the dead.” Skylar held her breath.
“And?” Ocean asked, unfazed.
“And?” Skylar repeated, incredulous. “It didn’t work.”
&n
bsp; “I know that, dear,” Ocean said. “Or your life would be much different now.”
Skylar whirred around to face Ocean, and she started to spew words. “I failed! I was supposed to do the job and it didn’t work. I did exactly what she said to do, what we practiced hundreds of times, and when it came to that moment, I failed. And now I need a Plan B.”
Ocean looked at her with kind eyes. “Maybe you didn’t fail,” she said. “Maybe everything you did has led you to this moment, and you are exactly where you are supposed to be.”
“Without her,” Skylar said.
“Yes, but did you ever stop to think”—Ocean put her hand on Skylar’s shoulder—“that you are Plan B?”
A faint ring sounded from the other side of the house.
“Ah, the house phone. Excuse me.” She got up and walked inside, leaving Skylar to contemplate the bombshell that her mother never meant to come back.
Skylar waited for Ocean for almost an hour, but she never came back outside. She walked back into the house. “Ocean?” she called. No response. She walked down the hallway under the great staircase. It was lined with stone pedestals supporting various crystals shimmering in a rainbow of color—amethysts, citrine, and quartz stones—and varied in size from small fruit to cathedral-like geodes.
When Skylar was a young girl, her mother had taken her to quirky geode stores in the crunchy side of their sleepy town. She always thought the rocks looked sad and neglected. They held the promise of eternal life in the sunshine when they were mined, but those in the store seemed like pet store animals that had gotten too old. She wanted to save them all from their dusty life on the shelves of Rick’s Rock Shop. But here in Ocean’s house, these crystals had a life to be proud of.
As she walked down the hall, she became dizzy from the large amount of energy pulsing through the corridor from the stones. She held a wall for support. When the dizziness passed, she lifted her head—and caught a glimpse of a bare foot disappearing around the corner. Skylar ran to the end of the hallway, but when she rounded the corner, whoever she’d seen was gone.
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