Tease

by Mary E. Twomey

  “Almost there, sisters!” the one near my head shouted. She crammed the spices back inside and held my mouth shut while she pinched my nose. She lowered her head so I could only see her black eyes and pale skin. Her long nose twitched as she cut off my air. “Just swallow, and it’ll all be over. We’ll leave right now and never bother you again. We don’t want to hurt you or your Puller. We know you need to reap. It’s only the baby we want. You and I both know this child can’t live.” Her determination was calm, trumping my terror as the seconds that I went without air ticked by.

  “No!” Danny and Von both cried in unison, slicing and punching to get to me. Each time they killed one Manas, two more took her place.

  A contraction hit me, making me suck in, the herbs tickling my throat and causing an involuntary swallow as I tried to work out a scream. I choked, my eyes watering as she held her hand over my mouth and maintained her pinch on my nose long after the first swallow. “A little more,” she urged like a gentle mother figure.

  I was determined not to cooperate as the contraction rippled through me. My body rebelled, seeking air when there was none. It was searching out relief, when I knew by now there never would be any.

  The woman had the gall to kiss my forehead as I thrashed on the bed. When she pulled herself up, she let out a shrill whistle. “It’s done!”

  With that, the Manas left their fights mid-swing and flew out of the house as if they were fleeing a fire. Leathery bat wings flapped with purpose as they flooded out of my home through whatever entrance they could find or make for themselves.

  Thirteen.

  A Good Ruse

  I was still spitting the herbs out of my mouth when Danny and Von descended on me. They turned me onto my side as Von shoved two frantic fingers down my throat, triggering my gag reflex. “No, no, no, no!” he cried over and over, fear taking over the bloodlust as he forced vomit to thrust out of me all over his hand and onto my formerly white carpet. “Get it out of her!” he shouted to his brothers, and I could hear tears in his command.

  Graham ran in with a canister of salt, sprinkling it on the dead Manas so they would stay dead. “What is it?”

  “It’s the patayin root! They force-fed it to her. If we don’t get it out now, September will die! Hurry!”

  Graham swore and ran to my side, holding my hair back as Von forced me to puke over and over. Von gripped the back of my head to keep it from bucking backward when his fingers dove to the back of my throat over and over. “It’ll be okay, hani. Just get it out of your system. It hasn’t had time to work its way through yet. Right?” Von asked Danny, and I knew he was trying to will his words to be true.

  Danny was grim, his voice unsteady with a waiver that made me nervous. Danny was never uncertain. “Don’t do any pulling. Our best bet is to let her deliver the baby right now. Get September away from the poison.”

  “Wha–?” I worked out before I barfed again on Von’s hand. “Gross! Von, I have to breathe for a second.”

  Von wiped his hand off on my comforter as another contraction hit me like a wrecking ball. He looked up and gusted out a greeting of, “What took you so bloody long? I thought your mark was supposed to be some kind of insurance for her.”

  Kabayo’s voice made me turn my head so I could see his giant horse head and neck entering my bedroom. “I came as soon as I could. How can I help?”

  Danny briefed him on the situation, ending it with the nonnegotiable, “We don’t have time to muck about. She’s going to deliver the baby right here, right now.”

  Kabayo took in my fear and narrowed his eyes, giving a snort that told me to get over it and rally already. “My wife gave birth without a doctor just fine. You’re made of sturdy stuff. I’ve seen your quality.”

  I felt a trickle run down my legs and swore loudly. “No! Von, I think my water just broke! I need to get to a hospital!” A contraction hit me again, and I doubled over on the bed, gritting my teeth through the pain that forced a scream out of me.

  Graham was on the phone with Ezra, his voice scared as he watched me like I was an alien on the bed. Danny let out a petrified bleat of distress before coming to himself. He straightened and got in my face. “Alright. The baby’s coming. Those last two contractions weren’t even a minute apart. All this stopping and starting of your labor’s going to make for a quick delivery, apparently, which is exactly what we need. This is a good thing, so get focused and let’s do this.”

  “What? No! I’m not ready to give birth! I’m not having a baby in my bed! This is the twenty-first century!”

  Kabayo called over his shoulder to the living room. “Finn! Get in here and help me.”

  “What? No! I don’t want this! I don’t need a horse and a fish! I need a doctor!”

  Danny paid me no mind. He snapped his fingers at his brothers. “Boston, Graham, salt and move,” he said, indicating the Manas’ carcasses. “Toss the bodies in her garage to make some room. Mariang, turn on the kettle and boil me some water. Then get me as many clean towels as you can find.”

  The three sprang into action, scattering and working as fast as they could. I could tell they were all grateful to be out of the room that would soon have one more person in it.

  Finn stumbled into the room, his eyes wide as he took in my sweaty face and the fear I didn’t bother hiding. “How can I help?”

  Kabayo rolled up the sleeves of his beige button-down, as if gearing up to slay a zombie army. “I’ve done this a couple times, but never with a human, and certainly nothing like an Omen. I don’t know what to expect, so stay right here to help me.”

  Finn met my eyes and nodded once, giving me his best impression of a calm smile. “It’ll be fine. I’m right here.”

  “I’m scared,” I admitted. “This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.”

  “I told you from the start, if you needed me, I’d be there.” Finn was earnest, almost poetic in his devotion to me. Here I was about to give birth to another man’s baby, and he was still by my side.

  Speaking of the other man...

  “I swear to you, if I didn’t need as many hands as I can get right now, I’d knock the dreamy look in your eyes straight off of you. Make yourself useful and give her something to drink to rinse out her mouth.” Von was on the left side of my mattress, and Danny knelt on the right.

  Finn sidestepped my towel-covered barf on the carpet and cupped his hand to my lips. “Don’t swallow. Just swish the water around in your mouth and spit.”

  I obeyed, cringing as I spat onto the towel on the floor.

  My perfect white carpet. My perfect home. I spat on my perfect home.

  Kabayo set the tone of speaking quietly between my contractions in hopes of calming the atmosphere in the bedroom. My screams were the only thing that rose above a respectful whisper. I squeezed Danny and Von’s hands for support when the countdown to the next contraction came faster than I anticipated.

  Danny locked his eyes on me, giving me his best “let’s do this” face. “This baby’s coming out of you now, so don’t wuss out on me.”

  “No, Danny!” I whimpered. “I need a real doctor and a hospital! I need Ollie and another week and a... and a...”

  Danny and Von gently laid me back and held my hands while I screamed through a contraction that made me feel pressure where I didn’t want it. “I don’t want to push yet!” I shouted to my traitor body.

  My mouth still tasted a little like vomit and my body was acting without my consent. Kabayo was saying something to instruct me, but I couldn’t hear anything other than the sound of my own screams. When the contraction passed, Finn helped Boston drag the last Manas out of my bedroom and shut the door with only Danny, Von, himself and Kabayo inside with me. Kabayo gave me a calm, reassuring look as he worked off my soaking and bloody leggings, gasping as he took in the damage. “Were you cut by the Manas? Did they hurt you?”

  I worked out a breathy, “No. I don’t think so,” between contractions.

  Kabayo waved Von
and Finn down toward my feet, and I wanted to kick them both. Finn pointed with dread and shook his head. “Is there supposed to be this much blood?” It was the first time I realized Von had been breathing through his teeth instead of his nose.

  Von’s jaw stiffened while Danny held my hand and tried to make me comfortable with pillows. “Let’s get September out now.”

  As if on cue, another contraction hit seconds later. With Kabayo running the show, the four moved quickly, doing whatever they could to help my horse doctor deliver my baby. “Finn, rinse her off so I can see what I’m doing.” Then he instructed Danny and Von to each take one of my bare and bloody legs, and drape it over their shoulders. They obeyed without hesitation, angling their heads towards mine so my legs were bent with my knees inches from my chest.

  Finn migrated toward the money shot, a controlled tight line to his lips that I knew was hiding his internal terror. “It’s all okay, hani.” In a brotherly move I didn’t expect, Finn put his hand on Von’s back. “Von, are you doing alright with the blood? Do you need to step out?”

  Von spoke through gritted teeth. “I had my fill of Manas blood earlier. I couldn’t be hungry right now if you paid me. Just worry about her. I’m fine.”

  Kabayo shut everyone up so I heard only his voice. “Push only when I tell you to, and stop when I say. Are you ready?”

  “No!”

  Kabayo narrowed his eyes at me and nodded once. “Okay, now!”

  I don’t know for how long I pushed, but an eternity of searing, ripping agony wasn’t too far a stretch. I sobbed between pushes. I was in so much pain; I knew there was a reason medical advances had gone to such leaps and bounds to ensure no woman had to go through this experience without medication, should she elect to have it.

  Von’s eyes were my focal point. When Kabayo told me to push, I did. When he told me to stop, I obeyed, never once taking my eyes from Von. “You’re doing great. You’re amazing! You’re doing it!” Though Von was scared, he pretended we were in control of this situation. He pretended everything would be okay. He pretended the pain would go away and that everything broken was fixable.

  It was a good ruse.

  WHEN THE TIME CAME for the final few pushes, Von was instructed to come near my legs so he could catch the baby with Kabayo, who most certainly hadn’t anticipated a home birth in his schedule that morning. Finn took Von’s place, holding my left leg back. Kabayo was calling out instructions, but I could barely see through my tears and mind-numbing pain. His horse face blurred in my vision as he ordered me to push one more time.

  It was with a final scream of agony and triumph that September broke free. I flopped back on the bed with so much relief, I could barely feel my limbs. I was weightless, floating as I waited for the sweet sounds of my daughter’s first cries to greet me. The sound that she knew I was near, and that I would be good at quieting her fears. Something in her would know that I was her mama, and that I’d never leave her. I’d never let her know what it was to be alone and scared.

  I waited.

  When I finally heard the soft sounds of a sob, it wasn’t September, but Von. “Why isn’t she moving?” he asked, helpless and scared.

  Kabayo started calling out commands to Finn and Danny, moving September to a clean towel so they could work on her.

  I waited for her cries as my body delivered the afterbirth on autopilot.

  I waited for the sweet sound of my daughter as I bled.

  And bled.

  The world shifted unnaturally and blurred, and I felt everything in slow motion crash over me.

  Terraway.

  Bev dying.

  Ollie bringing a lifeless Allie home.

  Terraway.

  Then I felt nothing. I heard nothing. I saw nothing as the world faded to black.

  Fourteen.

  A Little While Longer

  I awoke to my bedroom in shambles, and was surprised to find that I didn’t care about that anymore. I was disoriented, and my tongue was fat and fuzzy in my mouth. I tried to unstick it so I could form words. The world had a black furry halo around it. I tried to get my peripheral vision to work, but it had apparently gone to lunch.

  “September?” I croaked out.

  Mariang came into my vision with a glass of water, tipping it to my lips as her tearstained face tried to make out words. I drank the cool beverage, feeling a little better as the haze around my vision started to clear a modest amount.

  “Can I hold her? Where is she?”

  Mariang shook her head, her lips pursed together through a sob as she tried unsuccessfully to communicate something to me.

  I tried to sit up, but Danny came to my other side, his face red and sweaty as he lowered me back down. “You lost a lot of blood, so you have to stay in bed a little while longer.”

  I felt the bed beneath me, but there was no wetness or blood anywhere. “Did you change the sheets? How long have I been out? Where’s September?”

  Danny sat down on the side of the bed and picked up my cold and limp hand, sandwiching it between his meaty ones. “September’s...”

  Mariang’s bark was angry, which was uncharacteristic of her dealings with her surly husband. It seemed that while I was out, they’d switched roles. “Don’t you dare, Danny! She just woke up. Let her rest a minute.” She faked a smile down at me and switched her tone to the one Allie used to use when she was trying to will something to be true that just plain wasn’t. “Von’s with September now. You can see her in a little bit.”

  Danny glared over at his wife, unwilling to bend to her. “You’re not doing her any good. Go try and help the guys with Von. I’ll handle this.”

  Mariang left the room, though I sensed it wasn’t because Danny told her to, but because something bad was about to happen here, and she needed to flee from the scene of the impending crime.

  I looked down at my significantly flatter stomach. I felt like a deflated balloon beneath the sheet I’d been draped in like a corpse. “What happened?” I was barely coherent. Every breath brought me a smidgen more lucidity until I was able to look up at Danny and squeeze his hand. “Where’s September?”

  Danny addressed my hand that was squished between his as he spoke, afraid for some reason to look at me. “The Manas forced you to swallow the patayin root they’d ground up. Do you remember the whole drama with the women in Sakuna losing their babies?”

  “Yeah. How awful.”

  “They lost them because King Geon poisoned the river with patayin. A faction of the Manas were afraid of Sama reproducing, so they snuck Topside to force the patayin on you.”

  I stared up at the ceiling. “I guess my spontaneous labor was a good thing. Thank God we got her out right then.”

  Danny shook his head, still fearful of meeting my eyes. “We got her out of you, but it was too late. The patayin is powerful, and works quick.”

  I didn’t understand what Danny was trying to say. Impatient, I shifted uncomfortably on the bed. “Can I just have my baby already? Is she sick from the patayin or something?”

  Danny cleared his throat and held my hand tighter as dread painted his monster of Frankenstein features. “September isn’t sick, hun. She’s...”

  I saw Danny’s lips move, but my ears felt like they had cotton in them. “What?”

  “She’s....”

  “I can’t hear you.” Each time he tried to tell me, my hearing deserted me. It was the strangest thing.

  Finally Danny let go of my hand and held my face so I was inches from him and could see his lips move in slow motion. “September’s dead.” He leaned forward and rested his forehead to mine. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. We did everything we could. She came out without a pulse. There’s nothing you or anyone could’ve done. The patayin works fast. She was probably gone the minute the herb touched your tongue.”

  “What?” I asked, confused as the insane information mangled my brain and refused to make sense. “She’s not dead. She’s my baby. She just came out of me! I just
had her with me a second ago!”

  Danny shook his head. “She’s gone. Kabayo even worked on her for half an hour. She didn’t make it. After the patayin, she didn’t stand a chance.”

  The earth shook as I shouted in Danny’s face. My body was too weak to sit up, so my voice tried to compensate. “Stop it! You’re lying to me! You know she’s fine!”

  Tears welled in Danny’s eyes while he tried to make sure there was at least one sane person in the room. “She’s dead. They pronounced her a while ago. Then Von lost himself. He took her into the kitchen and won’t let us near them. He bit Graham when he tried to take September from his arms. Then he bit Finn when he tried to take her away after that.” He waved his hand like he was clearing the air of a bad smell. “That’s nothing for you to trouble yourself with, though. I’ll take care of it.”

  I had no words or concept of time as the seconds passed, giving my mushy brain a moment to process as much as it could of the chaos. When I finally spoke, a whisper was all I could work out. “Bring them in here. Von and September. I want to see my baby.”

  Danny shook his head, swiping at tears that trickled down his cheeks. “No. You don’t need to see what you lost. It’s bad enough you lost her. No need to put a face to the nightmare.”

  A low rumble started in my disoriented guts and echoed out through my body like a war cry. “Bring me my daughter!”

  It was a thing of mercy that Danny obeyed me for once. I wasn’t sure what kind of inhuman damage I might do if he didn’t. It took some time, but finally a wild-eyed and disheveled Von inched into the room. He was clutching a swaddled blanket in his arms like it was a treasure he was afraid would be stolen right out from under his nose. “I... I can fix this,” he promised, his wet eyes like saucers, and his movements stiff and unpracticed.

  “Come here. Let me see my daughter.” I patted the space next to me on the bed, waiting with bated breath to get a look at the person who’d changed my life the most thus far. Von climbed into the cleaned bed and laid his head down on his pillow, resting September between us.