But Jackson? Jackson looked furious. His muscles worked as he clenched his jaw.
What was wrong with that man? Maybe all the monsters weren’t outside the house.
Zolzaya recovered herself first. “That—that is freakin’ amazing.” Her confusion was replaced by a broad smile. “Margo, how are you feeling?”
“Well rested,” she said, “and starving. Jeff is fixing me some lunch.”
“Where are Gary and Mikiko?”
Margo shrugged. “Haven’t seen Gary in a while. Mikiko I still haven’t met, but Lissa told me about her.” She peered around Zolzaya. “But you’ve found someone, too?”
A tall, stocky man with a round face and curly red hair stepped into the doorway, wearing a tentative smile. “Hi.”
Zolzaya gestured at one after the other of the people in the room. “Ben, Lissa, Margo. You’ll meet the others sooner or later.”
“I’m Gareth McCracken.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“He’s a doctor.” Zolzaya waggled a finger at her. “I’m glad you don’t have to be his first patient, however.”
Margo nodded in agreement. “I’m still a bit weak, but I’m feeling better even than an hour ago.”
“You can all come inside, and close the door,” Lissa said. “Standing with your back to an open door is not the best strategy when there are monsters outside.” Once they were inside and had closed the door, she shook her head, and smiled again. “Monsters. I can’t believe that actually sounds reasonable to me, but Ben hasn’t told you everything.”
Ben nodded. Through the introductions, he’d been quivering with pent-up excitement. “Yeah. I found more than that. I think the Tree Man that picked up Gary is this forest spirit called Leshy. I wish I’d noticed when we saw him… the book says that the weirdest thing about Leshy is that he doesn’t cast a shadow.”
Zolzaya’s intake of breath was sharp, and Ben turned toward her. “I—” She stopped, swallowed.
“What?”
“The first time I saw it was at night, in the front yard. But it was in full, bright moonlight, and it didn’t have a shadow.”
The kid nodded, as if he weren’t surprised. “I knew that had to be it. And I think I know what the other thing was that you saw, Z—you know, the old lady. Didn’t you say she had a weird walking stick?”
“Yes. The base of it was shaped like a chicken’s leg.”
“Listen to this.” Ben opened The Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Folklore to a page he had dogeared. “‘One of the most fearsome evil spirits in Slavonic folklore is Baba Yaga, who is the prototype for the evil old women who show up in later folk tales across eastern Europe. The oldest references to Baba Yaga describe her as a baleful old hag, wearing dingy clothes and a brightly-colored headscarf. She walks about aided by a crooked staff that ends in a chicken’s foot, and in some iterations of the legend, her hut in the woods rests on four posts shaped like chicken’s legs.’” He looked up, eyes wide. “‘Baba Yaga is notorious for kidnapping children.’”
“Good heavens,” Zolzaya said, in a hushed voice.
“Yeah,” Ben said. “And I think I found out what the thing is that is stalking Olivia and Jackson, too. There’s a legend from Louisiana about a werewolf-thing that lives in the swamp, called the Loup Garou. It marks people—you know, decides who it wants to kill. Then it follows them around, looking for a time to attack. If there are other evil spirits around, it marks the person’s door with scratches, to let all the other monsters know that person is his.”
“And the whirlpool with teeth that Lissa saw?” Zolzaya asked.
“Char….” Ben started, and then stumbled, looked over at Lissa.
“Charybdis. You’ve read The Odyssey, yes?”
“Holy shit.”
“Indeed.”
“But—” Zolzaya looked from Lissa to Ben. “What does this mean? We’re being attacked by things out of myths?”
“I know.” Lissa held up her hands. “It sounds ridiculous. But once I set aside my tendency to dismiss it all out of hand, I have to admit, it’s the only thing that makes sense of what’s happened to all of us. It can’t be coincidence that everything we’ve seen corresponds with something from mythology.”
“What about the thing that had me trapped in the hospital?” Gareth said. Lissa gave him a questioning look, and a blush spread over his freckled face. “We saw something else. A swamp monster, sort of. Made of long blades of wet grass.” He nodded toward Zolzaya. “Z shot it.”
Z could only shrug. “Dumb luck. Jackson was the first to be attacked. It knocked him down and the gun slid across the floor. I’m lucky I hit the thing and didn’t end up shooting myself in the leg or something.”
“It’ll be in here.” Ben’s voice was confident. “I’ll find it. You’ll see.”
“So, what do we do?” Jackson sounded like he was reining in his anger with difficulty. “Now, we have names for the things that are trying to kill us. How does that help? A thing that can tear you apart isn’t any less dangerous if you know its name.”
“But that’s just it,” Lissa said. “Once we know what these things are, it gives us a chance to deal with them. Because each one of them can be dealt with, but only on its own terms. You see? Ben knew how to free Margo from the feu follet because he knew what it was, where it was vulnerable. If we know each thing’s weak spot, maybe we can defeat it.”
“Both Grendel and the swamp thing in the hospital were vulnerable to a gunshot wound. I’m going to rely on that, and not on a book of mythology.” He almost stumbled over the word, as if it were hard to say.
“What Ben found is good enough for me. Everything we’ve seen is some mythical creature or another. However foolish it sounds, it is the only hypothesis that explains all of the data.”
Jackson’s lips tightened, and he didn’t respond.
Zolzaya came farther into the room, sat down on the sofa. “I didn’t even ask how you’re feeling, Lissa.”
Lissa gave a dismissive wave of one hand. “The big picture is more important, but I’m doing okay. Still hurts to breathe, hurts to move, hurts to sit still. But I’m not going to die of it.” She looked up at Gareth. “Sorry. If you were hoping to set up your practice here with two pre-existing patients….”
“No problem. I prefer people healthy.”
Jeff came into the living room carrying a plate with a sandwich and a glass of water. “Sorry it took me so long. I was trying to find something better than peanut butter and jelly, but that’s the best I could do.” He handed it to Margo.
“No problem.” She gave him a grateful smile. “Peanut butter and jelly sounds magnificent.”
“Jeff,” Zolzaya said, “this is the latest in our little Survivors’ Club. Gareth McCracken, Jeff East.”
“Hi, Jeff.” Gareth smiled affably.
“Hi.” Jeff frowned. “Can I ask everyone a question?”
“Sure, Jeff,” Lissa said.
“Nobody has a problem with all this talk about creatures from fairy tales all coming to life?”
“What kind of problem do you mean?” Zolzaya asked.
“A problem believing it. You all find this stuff in a book on mythology, and you go, ‘Yeah, that must be it?’” He turned toward Lissa. “Even you? You’re an atheist, right?”
“Yes.”
“So, you don’t believe in anything spiritual or divine or whatnot.”
“No, nothing I can think of.”
“But this all makes sense to you? You don’t see this as a whaddyacall, when two things say the opposite, but you believe them both?”
“A contradiction.”
Jeff nodded. “Yeah.”
“It is, actually.”
“Then why do you believe it? Or, if you believe this, why don’t you believe in God?”
Lissa didn’t answer for a moment. “I have evidence of what I saw in Margo’s room. You saw it, too. And it matches what Ben found in his book.”
“So, bec
ause one thing happened, you now have an explanation for everything?” He looked at Ben. “I’m not trying to pick on you, Ben. I know we’re all trying to figure things out. But I don’t see how this helps us. Seems to me like you’re saying, ‘Okay, now we got it all figured.’ But Jackson said it. All we got are names. Because, even if Ben’s right, we still don’t know what’s happening here. Suppose it is monsters from fairy tales that have somehow come real. That still don’t—don’t tell us why. You know?”
Jackson looked at Jeff closely, but didn’t say anything.
Lissa smiled. “Proximal causes rather than ultimate causes.”
Jeff frowned. “I don’t have the words you do to describe it. But it seems to me you’re saying things are figured out when they’re not.”
“I see what you’re saying, Jeff. But a partial explanation is better than no explanation.”
“No, it’s not. It’s not, because when you get a part of it, you stop working at it. I know I’m only a church custodian, not a college-educated scientist like you. But I can see one thing, and it’s that your science explanations still come down to faith. You got an idea, and you find out that it sorta works, and faith takes you the rest of the way.” He shook his head. “I’m not saying it very well. The thing is, we religious folk know one thing—you got to work at faith. Faith ain’t just saying, ‘I get it, I’m done, I can relax.’ It’s a lifelong work.”
“We’re still better off knowing something than knowing nothing. Because if we know what those things are, it gives us an idea of how to react.”
If she ever thought his religion got in the way of his ability to think, she was heartily sorry.
“Maybe.” Jeff shook his head. “Or maybe when the time comes, it will make you too confident in your own strength and knowledge. In the Gospel of Mark, chapter nine, Jesus drives out a demon, and it wasn’t by knowledge or talking about it. Jesus said, ‘This kind can be brought forth by nothing but prayer.’”
“I’m going next door.” Jackson’s face was set in a sneer. “Let me know when you all are done talking.” He opened the door and strode down the stairs after his usual cautious looks right and left. A moment later, Olivia followed, but she gave a frowning backwards glance at Ben as she left.
Gareth looked around at the people in the room. His face was crimson with embarrassment. “I—um, I think I’ll sit on the front porch for a bit.”
“You shouldn’t be alone outside,” Zolzaya said.
“I—” Gareth fumbled at the door handle. “I’ll just… I’ll just be out there. I’ll be okay.” He gave a nervous laugh, and left.
There was silence for a moment.
“I’m sorry,” Jeff finally said. “I didn’t mean to….” He looked down. “I’m sorry if I acted without charity, and upset everyone.”
“Arguing your point isn’t acting without charity,” Lissa said. “And it’s better to speak up and upset people than to stay silent. If you think we’re on the wrong track, you have to say so.”
His eyes met hers, and his face relaxed into a smile. “I wasn’t saying anything against what you and Ben did for Margo. I’m glad she woke up and is going to be okay. But I don’t want us to get cocky, is all I’m saying.”
“It’s good advice. We all need to be reminded of that every now and then. We should all keep focused on what’s going on around us, and keep our brains engaged. So far, we have the evidence of what Ben found in his book, and what he and I saw when Margo woke up, but it doesn’t mean we have the whole picture, yet.” She shifted in her chair and winced. “But I think I need to continue this conversation another time. Z, you said that you were going to bring back some painkillers from the hospital, right? Because if you found some, I could use one or two, and then head to bed for a long nap. Talking is hard work when your chest is one massive bruise.”
—
AN OXYCODONE TABLET effectively knocked Lissa out until dinnertime, when a hand shook her shoulder gently.
“Lissa?” came Ben’s voice. “Are you hungry?”
She opened weighted eyelids and struggled to make Ben’s face come into focus.
“I’m sorry to wake you, but Z said you needed to eat.”
She nodded. “It’s okay.”
“I wanted to ask you something—when the others weren’t around.”
“All right.”
Come on, brain, time to reboot.
“I’m scared.” Ben’s face looked younger than his thirteen years in the dim light. “And it’s not only because of the monsters. I’m scared because I think there’s something wrong with Jackson and Mikiko.”
“Something wrong? What kind of thing?”
“They’re—off. You know? Like Jackson. When he looks at people. There’s something in his eyes that is like, I don’t know—like he’s not seeing them as they are. Like he wants us to do what he tells us, not ask questions, act like he expects us to. He doesn’t like it when we’re….” He faltered, looking for the word.
“Unpredictable?”
“Yes.”
“I saw that, too. He didn’t like it that you were one jump ahead of him, figuring out what was going on.”
“And it wasn’t only because I’m a kid. He wants to make the whole game go. Have everything follow his rules. No one can argue with him.”
“Like Jeff did.”
Ben frowned. “I don’t know. He and Jeff were kind of saying the same thing, weren’t they? I think he doesn’t worry about Jeff. He seemed more, you know, pissed off, like Jeff was wasting time. But he hates Z, and he hates you. I could tell when he looked at you. I’m scared because I think he wants to hurt you.”
“Jackson Royce saved my life today, you know.”
Ben gave her a thoughtful look. “I know. I thought about that. But he couldn’t—couldn’t leave you there for the monster to get, because we all would have seen it and known what he did. He had to be the hero when everyone was looking. So, he picked you up and carried you back home. But it’s like—” His brow furrowed, and he rubbed his eyes. “It’s like a mask, and everything behind it is secret. He’s got a mask on, and it’s got most everyone fooled. He’s the commander, tough and brave and loyal and all. But if you take the mask off—” He swallowed. “I think he’s one of the monsters.”
Lissa shuddered at the memory that she had thought exactly the same thing, not three hours earlier.
“They both are. Just different monsters. I tried to warn Gary about Mikiko, but he wouldn’t listen.”
No surprise there. Someone as randy as Gary was wouldn’t listen to anything but his testicles on that point. “What did you tell him?”
“I told him that he needs to not—you know, not do it with Mikiko. That there’s something wrong with her.”
“That was brave of you.”
Ben shrugged, and his blush was obvious in the dim light. “I don’t know. It didn’t work. And now there’s Gareth here too, and—”
“What about Gareth?”
“It’s weird. Jackson and Mikiko—you can tell they’re strange. You can see it from the outside. But I don’t know about Gareth, either. It’s like he’s—”
There was a soft knock on the door. “It’s Gareth. Can I come in?”
She met Ben’s eyes, raised a questioning eyebrow. Had he been listening at the door? Ben shrugged again and looked away.
“Sure.”
The door opened, and Gareth stepped in, his expression uncertain. “Oh. Hi, Ben.”
“Hi.”
“I’m—I had a question, and I wasn’t sure who to ask. Z was busy making dinner, or I’d have asked her—”
“Go ahead.”
“It’s about Jackson.”
Ben’s gaze met Lissa’s, only for a second, and his intake of breath was loud in the stillness.
“Do you want Ben to leave?”
Gareth’s eyes flickered from Lissa to Ben and back. “Is it—is it my imagination, or were you just talking about Jackson?”
“Yes.�
� Ben regarded the doctor with narrowed eyes.
And about you, too, Dr. McCracken. But it was probably best he didn’t know about that.
“Have you noticed there’s something about him that’s not… all right?”
“That’s what Ben was saying, yes.”
“Then I guess—I guess Ben should stay and hear this, too.” He thought for a moment, and then shook his head, and swallowed. “I know I’m new here, and I don’t want to stir things up. But you said you’re a scientist, and I thought you might be the right person.”
“I’m listening.”
“I’m not setting out to poison the well, okay?”
She had to stop herself from saying, for mercy’s sake, cut to the chase, Gareth. With an effort she forced the irritation from her face. “Okay.”
“You know how when Jackson and Olivia left, I was sort of—sort of uncomfortable, so I went out onto the porch?” He gave a nervous laugh. “I’ve always hated being around people who are mad. But anyway, I went and sat on the porch, and I heard Jackson arguing with Olivia next door. The windows were closed, so I couldn’t understand words, but you could tell they were both angry. She sounded like she was crying, you know? So, I’m thinking, ‘Wow, I can’t get away from it.’ But then it stopped, and the door opened, and Jackson came out. He sat down on the front porch in a chair. He was kind of facing away from me, and I didn’t think he knew I was there.” He stopped, his brows drawing together.
“And…?”
“So he picks up this notebook, and he starts to write in it. He’s crouched over it, his face about two inches from the page, writing and writing. It went on for a while. I wasn’t really watching him the whole time, you know, only kind of half aware that he was there. I started to get sleepy, and I was drifting off, but then I heard him—talking again.”
“Talking to who?”
Gareth’s eyes were wide and frightened in the dimness. “No one. When I looked over, he was still in the chair, but he was sitting up straight, and his face was turned toward the street. His eyes were like half-open, and his mouth was slack. He looked like he was in a trance. And he was talking, like he was talking with someone, in this weird tone. You could tell he was answering things, but there was—there was no one there. There was only his side of the conversation.”
The Fifth Day Page 26