by Marc Buhmann
“I don’t know where she is, but I’ll never let you get your hands on her,” Claire said.
“It’s unfortunate you say that. You see I already have her.”
“Where!” Claire roared.
“She’s safe, and I will give her the most wonderful gift imaginable. Not only will she help me return to Turmoore, she will also be at my side. And, with the ability to move between planes, we will be gods. We will learn all there is to know, who created the realms and orchestrated our existence, and join them.”
“No!” Claire screamed and charged DeMarcus.
Then she stood frozen, unmoving. Willem tried to go to her but was unable. All he could do was stand motionless, eyes ahead, watching the grinning DeMarcus.
“The necklace… who has it?” His eyes darted between the three of them before landing on Stavic. “Bring it to me.”
Stavic glided toward DeMarcus. Willem was sure Stavic was fighting DeMarcus’ control but was powerless to stop it. He came to a standstill in front of DeMarcus and reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace.
“Beautiful. Just beautiful,” cooed DeMarcus.
A scream erupted from within the picture. High pitched, terrified. It echoed through the room. DeMarcus joined in, screaming a deep baritone. Together the screams faded out as the air left their lungs. Emily emerged in the frame, looking around aimlessly, scared. She looked right at them—through them—yet did not see.
DeMarcus grasped the necklace, and the world began to darken and burn like newspaper in a fire. Pieces broke free and floated away, orange embers burning out high above. The white room dissolved around them leaving the underlying cabin.
And then Emily appeared, opaque at first, then solid, DeMarcus’ red capped man behind her.
Dad! Willem wanted to shout. All this time he thought his father had run off or died, but here he was working with DeMarcus. He looked the same he did the last time he saw him all those years ago, the day he’d walked out after saying those terrible things.
She looked around. “Mom!” she screamed, pulling herself free from Willem’s father’s grasp. DeMarcus signaled to Willem’s father to stay as Emily ran to Claire and threw her arms around her. Yet Claire didn’t move.
Must be killing her not being able to embrace her daughter.
“Come out, come out Lilly. I know you’re here,” DeMarcus sing-songed, his eyes searching the room. “I can’t believe you’re going to stay hidden away like this. Are you truly going to sacrifice these people?”
“Why are you doing this? What did you do to her?” Emily screamed.
“I don’t have time for your petty games. If you need convincing then I best start with the man you love.”
Stavic approached David, pulled out his gun, and aimed it.
* * *
It was the strangest sensation. She could feel but couldn’t move. When she heard the screaming she knew instantly who it was. She wanted to cry out, run for her daughter, protect her. Then when she saw Emily in that picture her heart sank. She felt powerless. Then, when she appeared right in front of her, ran to her and hugged her, she felt even more so. She couldn’t even wrap her arms around her.
Claire watched as Stavic moved to the side of David’s bed, pulled out his gun, and pointed it at his face.
No! Don’t do it! she wanted to scream.
She felt Emily stiffen and pull back, saw a glimmer in her eye. Her demeanor hardened. This wasn’t her daughter; these eyes were that of aged experience. Emily’s jaw set.
Not Emily. Lilly.
“Wait,” Lilly said, the word commanding and unflinching. She turned from Claire, faced down DeMarcus. “Enough.”
“That’s a neat trick you pulled,” DeMarcus said, “entering Claire and then Emily as you have. Though I have to admit I’m perplexed how you achieved it.”
“As am I regarding how you escaped belere.”
DeMarcus stepped towards Lilly, eyed her up. “I have to admit that you choose well. You’re even more stunning now.”
“And you’re a lecher.”
A shrug. “I have good taste.” Another step; Lilly held her ground. “So, Lilly, will you deny our original agreement?”
“After killing my parents? I think the agreement is void.”
“That was only because they hid you from me.”
“Can you blame them?”
“I can blame them for a great many things.”
“You think you can, but—really—it boils down to madness.”
DeMarcus’ grin dropped ever so slightly. Must have hit a nerve. Claire wanted to know what Willem and Stavic were thinking.
“I’m not mad.”
“You waged a war.”
“A revolution.”
“Call it what you will. You attacked us. You attacked the people. Turmoore hadn’t seen such blight in over a millennium.”
DeMarcus chuckled. “I see what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to convince me that I was wrong.” Another step. In a mocking tone, he said, “Please take me back and put me away. You were right!” For the first time his smile dropped, eyes hardened. It caused a shiver to run through Claire.
“You could have ruled, could have run Turmoore as you saw fit. No one would have stopped you.”
“You would have.”
She nodded. “I would have tried. Out of curiosity, why didn’t you go back to Turmoore? Surely you could have.”
“It requires the two of us. You and me. Of this I’m sure.” He stepped closer. “Why did you stay? Your father, before I cut out his tongue, told me you were supposed to return when you were twenty.”
Her eyes flicked to David lying helpless in his bed. DeMarcus did not miss it.
“Are you kidding me? You stayed for him? Is that why you didn’t transcend when your body gave out?”
“You wouldn’t understand,” Lilly said with a hint of sadness.
DeMarcus exploded, spit flying. “I came here for you! Don’t you dare claim I don’t understand!” And as suddenly as his anger flared, he regained his composure, eyeing her. “Do you have any idea what your staying here has cost Turmoore? Death. A plague across the entire plane that is wiping out all.”
Lilly’s brows furrowed. “You lie.”
“Did your parents never tell you who you really were? Why you were supposed to return at twenty?”
What was that? The sensation of pins and needles in her extremities. Claire tried to wiggle her fingers, thought she saw one move ever so slightly, but not again. Shit!
DeMarcus chuckled, and then it turned into a hearty laugh. Claire wasn’t sure if he actually thought it was funny, or was provoking her, trying to get under her skin. Once the laugher died away, he said, “You are the embodiment of Turmoore, the physical representation of all existence on our plane. When you stayed here, the realm perished.”
“You lie,” Lilly said again, a tremor in her voice.
“Believe me, don’t believe me, I care not. When you return you’ll see for yourself.”
She couldn’t tell if he was lying—the desperate ramblings of a madman—or if he was telling the truth. One thing had to be said, he was convincing. She could almost appreciate his plight.
Almost.
Lilly glanced at Claire. “Release her.”
“You’ll come with me?”
Lilly looked at DeMarcus. “Release them all.” Her voice was firm and commanding, a degree of defiance she’d never heard in her daughter’s voice.
And without warning Claire could move.
* * *
David was having an out of body experience. He could see and hear what was happening, not from his frail shell, but instead as a specter. He could move about the room freely. His heart hurt seeing Lilly superimposed over Emily.
“I will go with you so long as you let them leave,” Lilly said.
“Done,” DeMarcus responded with a shrug. “I have no need for them anyway. They can go about their insignificant lives as far as I’m concern
ed.”
“So… that’s it?” DeMarcus and Emily turned to Claire, her eyes wide. “What about Emily?”
“She is host to Lilly.” He said it matter-of-fact, as if that should be answer enough.
“She… she has to go with you?” She looked at Emily. “What will happen to her once you leave?”
Lilly said nothing; Emily’s eyes said it all.
“No!” Claire screamed, making a grab for her. DeMarcus raised his hand and Claire flew across the room, crashing to the floor. She picked herself up, sobbing. “You can’t take her! She’s all I have left!”
“A pity,” DeMarcus cooed.
“Please! You can’t! She’s still a child!”
“I need Lilly to return to Turmoore, Lilly is in Emily. I’m sure you understand the position I’m in.”
Claire stood on shaky legs. “I won’t let you.”
“Won’t?”
With a flick of his hand, DeMarcus sent Claire sailing through the air again. This time the wind was knocked from her.
“Stop it,” Lilly said. “What you’re doing… it’s unnecessary.”
DeMarcus ignored her as he watched Claire get on her hands and knees. “Stay down, Claire. There’s no need for this.”
“You will not take my daughter.” She stared him down, fury in her eyes.
DeMarcus raised his hand, Claire’s body stiffening. She looked as if she were preparing for a punch to the gut.
A deafening gunshot rang out. DeMarcus flinched and looked around wildly. He stood stoic and unmoving, stared down Stavic.
“Your weapon will not work on me.”
“You will leave her alone. Both of them. Claire and Emily are staying.”
“That’s not possible. We have to return to save our people.”
“Bullshit. I don’t buy it.”
“Whether you buy it or not is irrelevant. I will not be stuck in here or on your plane indefinitely. My time is at an end and Lilly is my key.”
Willem glanced at his father, cut in. “Why are you convinced you need her?”
“Her parents would not have sent her here unless they had a way to bring her back. No parent would do that.”
“Our history is full of parents that have done that, parents that would stop at nothing to ensure their children survive, even if it meant never seeing them again.”
“They told me—”
“What you needed to hear. You were cutting out their tongues for god sake. People will say anything under duress.”
DeMarcus considered it. “No they would not have lied. Not to me.” He grabbed Emily’s arm. “You will not break another agreement. I spare them and you come with me. If not for me, then for our people.”
He marched her to the door, Claire howling behind. She lunged but was caught by Willem, who struggled to hold her back.
“Do you want to get yourself killed?” he asked.
“But Emily—”
“We’ll find a way.”
On the opposite end of the room DeMarcus pushed Emily to the door, Willem’s father falling into step behind. DeMarcus glanced back. “Where are you going?”
“With you.”
DeMarcus chuckled, shook his head. “No.”
“You promised. After I saved you, you said I’d go with you.”
“I say a lot of things,” he said and cocked his head.
Willem’s father was thrown back, smashing into a wall. He crumpled to the ground, unmoving.
“Open it,” DeMarcus screamed, shaking her. “Open it now!”
She scowled at him, said slowly, “Let. Me. Go.”
He did and took a step back.
Stavic moved next to Willem and Claire all the while keeping his gun trained on DeMarcus.
DeMarcus slammed his fist against the door, screaming, “Open it!”
Emily gave one sad look back and made eye contact with Claire. “I’ll protect her.”
“No!” Claire cried, tears streaming down her cheeks. She fought Willem, but the man held her back. “Let me go with you! Let me come!”
“I’m sorry, Claire, but it doesn’t work that way.” There was a brief flash in her eye, then, “Goodbye, mother,” and she looked away.
Emily removed the necklace from around her neck and palmed the pendant, wrapping her fingers around it.
David watched sadly. It wasn’t supposed to have been like this, and he felt like an abject failure. All he’d planned to do was return to River Bend and warn Claire and Emily away from DeMarcus. That’s what Lilly had wanted him to do, that’s what he believed she’d been telling him. He’d almost done it too but DeMarcus had stopped him. Here he was, witness to an event he’d been trying to stop, powerless to do anything about it.
Emily opened her hand, the key sitting in it.
DeMarcus’ lips curled. “Excellent,” he said. “Open it.”
She slid the key into the lock and twisted it. There was a click and the door opened an inch, the industrial sound David remembered reverberated through the room. Emily pulled the key out of the lock, and DeMarcus grasped the door. He pulled it open and was greeted by blackness on the other side.
DeMarcus, in a very gentlemanly way, offered Emily to take the lead by extending his arm out. She moved into the doorway.
“No!” roared Claire. Willem tried to hold on but lost his grip and Claire swiveled to Stavic. “Shoot him!” she cried and grabbed for the gun in one last frantic move. The gun went off and there was a sharp squeal. Emily dropped to the floor.
The gun blast faded, and all eyes were on Emily as a pool of blood formed beneath her.
Lilly!
“Emily!” called out Claire, sobbing.
How…? Why…? David couldn’t wrap his mind around what he saw. He’d seen Lilly nearly die once, then pass away twenty years ago. Was he really going to be subjected to her death a second time?
“What have you done?” DeMarcus said, monotone. He looked from the struggling girl at his feet to Stavic and Claire, eyes wide and on fire. He gritted his teeth, raised his arms and pointed at them. Both went flying across the room, the gun dropping. DeMarcus slammed them from one wall to the next, bouncing them like a ball in a pinball machine.
Willem ran toward DeMarcus. His body froze and crumpled to the floor.
“You killed her!” DeMarcus bellowed as he took a step forward, continuing to slam Stavic and Claire against the walls.
What can I do? How do I stop this? Yet all David could do was stand there and watch helplessly.
And then he saw movement. Emily lifted her head and skimmed the floor, her eyes locking on the key. She stretched for it, grimacing in pain, snatched it up, and looked directly at David.
If he was breathing it surely would have caught. Does she see me?
Emily smiled.
From the other side of the door came the terrifying screech he remembered from oh so long ago, and in the blackness he saw movement. Through the doorway a four clawed lizard-like foot slammed into DeMarcus, knocking him to the ground. His concentration broken, Stavic and Claire fell to the ground, and Willem began to move.
DeMarcus stood and glared at the trio, eyes blazing. “When I’m through with you, you’ll be begging for death.” He moved toward them, raising his hand.
Willem’s father crashed into DeMarcus taking him down. They grunted and landed in a heap, the wind knocked from their lungs.
An ear piercing screech projected through the room, and DeMarcus looked back, a mix of anger and surprise on his face. Then that melted to horror as a giant raptor-like eye peeked through the door. There was another screech and DeMarcus flipped over, hands and feet slipping as he tried to scramble back.
The clawed foot jetted through the door and slammed into DeMarcus. He screamed in pain as one claw pierced his shoulder and was dragged to the door. He kicked and fought, pounding on the foot.
He lifted his other hand, took aim at the creature. The things eye exploded and it howled in pain. It shook its talon until DeMarcus s
lid off.
“You’re dead! You’re all dead!”
Before he could say another word the gormock grabbed him again. “No!” he screamed, fighting to keep his footing. He was almost to the door, the creature on the other side screeching angrily.
DeMarcus reached out his hands, grabbed the edge of the door and the door frame, holding on, pulling. The gormock began to lose its grip, DeMarcus slipping through its talons.
And then he was standing, the creature’s hold gone. The world slowed, and DeMarcus started to close the door, his trademark grin forming.
If he closes that then all is lost.
Before anyone could react Willem’s father slammed his shoulder into DeMarcus, wrapped an arm around his body, and propelled him through.
“Dad!” Willem screamed, watching the gormock moving toward the two men.
Then the door closed and all was silent.
* * *
Lilly picked herself up off the floor and leaned against the door, the pain in Emily’s abdomen intense. She pulled her blood covered hand away and looked down at the wound. Got her good. She felt woozy, probably wouldn’t last long unless this was taken care of.
DeMarcus’ words came back to her. Could her staying have caused the death of those in Turmoore? She couldn’t see how that was possible, and DeMarcus was known to embellish and lie to further his cause. It stood to reason he was saying whatever he could to get her to go back. After all, he was misguided about her returning at twenty. She and her foster parents were supposed to continue monitoring the doorway for signs when a return trip was possible, but nothing ever came of it. Then she fell in love and got married and forgot about the door.
By the time of their initial confrontation, she’d become too invested in her life here with David, and decided to stick with the fall back plan—live her life until dying of old age and then transcend back to Turmoore. But first she needed to protect herself, so she’d given a part of herself to Claire. Once she was sure DeMarcus was gone, that he wasn’t going to pursue her again, she’d take it back.