Cherry, Joe, and Tamar had noticed we’d stopped and were standing and talking a discreet distance away. Sara slipped an arm around my waist. “One order of fun, coming right up.”
We wandered into a couple of huge army tents set up as a tavern called Merry Prankster’s. It seemed to have been conceived as a way to indulge every possible vice openly permitted at Morph, and it was exactly what I needed. There was a stripper pole on a raised stage, a bar, a spanking bench, and tables for blackjack and poker, including strip varieties. Music blared from the speakers, people danced in between the chairs and tables, and the brash, curvy bartender shoved her untamed curls out of her face and bossed people around with a voice that didn’t need her microphone. “You wanna drink?” she demanded. “Get off your ass and play to earn some Mardi Gras beads. Drinks are for radically participating--hey, I didn’t make the principles, I just live by ‘em! Drinks cost beads, or a task assigned by yours truly.”
It was noisy, raucous, lit with lamps and electric candles and string lights, hazy with weed smoke. Perfect. Sara got right up on the stage and performed a slithering, scorching belly dance that earned her a roomful of cheers and a handful of beads, so she “bought” us the first round. That caught the bartender’s attention, and she began haranguing us to accept challenges from her as some kind of hazing ritual.
Cherry took one for the team, nestling a deep shot glass in her cleavage and bending over to pour the shot into the open mouth of a willing helper kneeling in front of her. She did it without spilling and won herself some status among our fellow Pranksters.
“Hey,” I heard at my elbow, and turned to see Dove there.
“Hey!” I tried to think of something else to say, and failed.
She looked around the room. She seemed nervous, distracted. “I’m glad I found you. I think--I think I need your help.”
I set my glass down on the bar. “Wait, what? With what?”
It was costing her an effort. “Vivi. I just don’t know what to do for her.”
“What’s going on with Vivi?” Oh, god. I pictured her skeletal, unable to stand for hunger.
“I don’t know.” She licked her lips. “Something’s really wrong. She doesn’t want to tell me. I think maybe she’s sick? I don’t know. But I think she said ‘Mari was right’. Can you come see if you can do anything for her?”
“I can try.” I caught Tamar’s eye, held up five fingers, and mouthed “five minutes”, pointing at Dove. Tamar looked skeptical, but nodded. “Let’s go.”
“I heard you were in the yurt earlier with heatstroke,” Dove said as we walked, looking me over with real concern. “What happened?”
“More like heat exhaustion,” I fibbed. “I just needed to cool off. Got too much sun. Everything’s fine.”
“Listen, I know things got kind of weird in camp this morning. And then after dinner--I’m sorry about that. Will you give me another chance? I had such a good time driving up with you.” There was a timid look in her big eyes, like she was afraid I’d blow her off.
If there’s one thing in this world I can’t resist, it’s someone asking to be my friend. I could be far more pissed off at someone than I’d been after leaving Dove’s camp, and one look from sad puppy eyes would evaporate it like rain on hot pavement.
“No worries,” I said. “You and Chris have been wonderful to me. I’ve been, uh, kind of dealing with a situation all day, but--yes, if I catch a break, we can hang out. I’ve got to see the big show at the yurt tomorrow, right?”
“Anything I can help with?”
Not unless you have ideas about preventing a fae war or demonic possession. I shook my head. “Probably not. I think things are as under control as they’re going to get.”
“Okay.” The silence between us felt awkward. “Well, let me know. And yes, you have to see the light show.”
We reached Science Faction, and Dove led me to Vivi’s tent. “Knock knock,” I said loudly.
There was a long silence. “Mari?” Her voice sounded weak, timid.
“I went and got her, honey,” said Dove. “I thought maybe you’d want to talk to her.”
Another long moment, and then the tent flap unzipped and Vivi crawled out and unfolded to standing. She was dressed up, a cute raver in a short shiny skirt with a big tulle cloud of bustle laced with tiny lights, and a striped bolero-length vest that matched her furry leg warmers. It was like looking at a cancer patient in party clothes.
I tried to hide my reaction. “Hey, Vivi. Sounds like you’re not having a great night? Can I help?”
She stared at her feet and nodded. She had Cherry’s sunglasses pushed up on her head. My breath caught. She looked at Dove.
Dove got it. “I’ll give you two some space, okay? You just grab me if you need anything. Anything.”
“Thanks.” Vivi shifted her weight, wrapped her arms around herself.
“I’m sorry I freaked you out before,” I said.
“Can we go for a walk?”
“Sure. Where to?”
“Anywhere.” She looked around. “Anyplace with a lot of light and people.”
“I know just the place. And--I know the feeling.”
We drifted toward the road. She studied my face. “I feel like you do.”
“What’s going on, Vivi?” I glanced at her hair. “You put on the sunglasses, didn’t you?”
She hesitated, then nodded. “It was--I just--I smelled something funny. Sharp. I remembered you asking about ozone this morning. And just, my skin crawled. I felt-- doomed. Like someone was pointing a gun at me, you know? It wouldn’t go away. It was making me crazy. So I thought, maybe I’d just put on your stupid glasses. Couldn’t hurt, right? I figured it wouldn’t do anything, like maybe they’d just be 3D glasses or something, and I’d know you were fucking with me and I got drugged or whatever. I put them on.”
“You saw something.” My stomach tightened.
“There was this--this vulture. Perched on my tent. Glaring at me. It hissed at me. And then--” She trailed off.
“Then what? What else did you see, Vivi?”
“There was a handprint on my tent. It looked--bloody. I looked in my tent. I was afraid someone had messed with my stuff. And--” Her voice choked. She gulped in a couple of breaths. “He was sitting there. On my bed. Grinning at me.”
I stopped and faced her. “The man I told you about?”
“Yes. I think. He was--smoky. Dressed in some kind of suit or uniform. His eyes--he didn’t have any.” Her breath was coming quick, shallow.
I remembered Sara helping me. “Let’s breathe together, okay? Nice and deep. What did he do?”
“Nothing. I screamed and jumped back and pulled off the sunglasses and I couldn’t see him anymore. When I put them back on, he was gone. So was the vulture. But the handprint was there. Everyone came running. I didn’t know what to do.”
Instinct flashed. “Vivi, you knew who he was, didn’t you? I mean--when I mentioned him.”
She looked down. Bobbed her head once. “I thought it was just a coincidence. Just a bad dream.”
“When?”
“Last night. I said I didn’t sleep well but--I had nightmares. Him. He wanted--”
“What?”
“He said he could fix things. I just--life has been kind of hard these days. Business and--stuff. He said, he knew I was failing. That I couldn’t handle it anymore. He said if I let him in...”
I realized I’d been holding my breath, and I let it out. “Did you?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know. I wasn’t sure what that meant. I was scared. But he was right. It was like he was saying what I was thinking.”
Shit. I grasped her upper arms. “It’s going to be okay, Vivi. I think I can help you--me and my friends. It’s what we came here to do.”
“To help--me?”
&nb
sp; “I know it sounds pretty nuts. But yeah, we all knew we were coming here to help someone and to stop him from hurting them.”
“Mari, I thought it was just a bad dream. I didn’t think it was real. Am I crazy?”
“If you are, then I am too. But that doesn’t mean it’s not real. Do you want us to help you?”
She bobbed her head again.
“Listen, there’s someone else on her way who should be able to help with him. With getting you free. But she won’t be here for a few hours. What do you want to do while we’re waiting?”
“You said--earlier, you said I was cursed to be hungry. From walking on some grass? Is that true? Did he curse me? What is he?” Her eyes were huge and red-rimmed and full of fear.
I thought for a moment about lying, just about that part of it. There wasn’t much she could do, and it seemed cruel to terrify her. But then, she’d be getting worse as she starved, and that would be even more terrifying. “I’m not sure, but I think he had something to do with the curse. He’s--well, there are creatures in this world that are...” I couldn’t figure out how to put it. “He’s like the vulture,” I said. “He’s attracted to you because of this condition. He was circling.”
“What is he?” she asked again.
“A demon.”
She coughed out a choked little laugh. “A demon,” she said at last. “Am I going to die?”
“This could kill you,” I admitted, and she made a noise that was half gasp and half sob. “But it’s not definite. There could be a way to help you. We’re all trying to find out how to get you through this, how to break the curse. First, we get you free from him. Vivi, you’re not alone.”
She ran a hand through her short hair and rumpled it. There was a wild sort of desperation in her face. “I felt like something was wrong all day. But I told myself it was just that I was outdoors and moving around so much, working up an appetite, that it was okay if I went a little nuts on vacation.” She hugged herself again and rocked on her heels. “Such little things, you know? The littlest choices we make. Like someone’s in an accident and they’ve got to be thinking, why did I decide to wait till later to stop for gas today? Everything changes. One sentence. One breath later, and--why didn’t I just go back to my tent to nap?”
I took her hands. They felt fragile, small birds shivering in my palms. “Don’t give up. This is dangerous, but it’s not set in stone.” I squeezed her hands. “I’m so sorry I had to tell you this. I didn’t think you’d believe me.”
“I didn’t. Or, I didn’t want to. But I believe that you all believe it. I can see it in your faces. And I can tell something’s wrong with me.”
“It would be better if you weren’t alone this evening. It’s okay if you don’t feel social, but you should let people keep an eye on you. Preferably us.” I didn’t add, because we stand a marginally better chance than anyone else here of being able to deal with anything weird that happens.
She closed her eyes and was silent for several long moments. “No,” she said at last. “I should be social. If you guys kept me company, I’d appreciate it. Just...distract me, okay? If there’s a chance--I want to have spent the night really living.”
“You bet. Come on.” I led her back toward Merry Pranksters. There wasn’t much else I could do about anything at the moment. Add it to the list of “things to worry about later, like preventing a faerie-demon war”, right up there with “figure out where I’m going to live after the weekend”.
Priorities. I’m a master at them.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Everyone else welcomed Vivi with cheer that felt only a little artificial, and didn’t question why she’d changed her mind about us. The chaotic, festive atmosphere brightened her within minutes, and I felt my own spirits rising again. We stayed at Merry Pranksters long enough to enjoy the spectacle of a handful of other people’s challenges and to play enough blackjack to win another round of drinks. Having a bit of a buzz seemed like a good way to keep from stressing out over things I couldn’t control, and things that would scare the living shit out of me if I thought too hard about them.
From there we hit a dance camp set up with an outer space theme, including a moon bounce next to the dance floor. Jumping around in a giant inflated box, falling over when we tried to walk out and having to booty-scoot across the floor to the door and laughing at each other about it, made everything feel much less sinister. We climbed on the art installations, dropped by Captain Benji’s Junkyard Drive-Through for some hokey vintage short films and some decidedly adult cartoons, accepted an offer to roast marshmallows over a burn barrel, drank some more, danced some more, and joined an impromptu kickball game played with oversized beach balls.
It’s odd how the simple act of having fun can feel subversive when circumstances demand that you should be grim or unhappy. It wasn’t the first time I’d felt this way. I’d thought about it every time I was at a squat party or a backyard jam or hanging out in a bar where the bartender would slip me free drinks while I hung out with my friends, how I was “supposed” to be miserable and hollow-eyed and Dickensian because I was broke and homeless and therefore without any status or worth in society. Enjoying myself felt defiant.
Everywhere we went, anytime we encountered people offering food, Vivi took some. One of us made sure to nosh a bit too, just to keep her company and to keep our energy up--and to soak up the booze--and after a little while it didn’t even feel like a big deal. I hoped she was enjoying herself enough to stop thinking about why she had to do it.
We were lounging in a hookah tent full of patterned rugs and throw pillows and platters of grapes when I saw a familiar face poke through the beaded curtain entrance. It took me a moment to figure out who it was, but as his gaze fell on me, I recognized him. He was the fae creature from Joe’s and my first trip out to create the fairy circle, the one I’d dubbed Longneck Blankface. Of course he was here now in his human guise, with the thick tousled dark hair and the strange dark eyes and unusually smooth skin, his fae clothing taking on the appearance of a simple striped shirt and dark jeans, his feet bare. Even at that, there was enough of the faerie about him to make him fascinating, and I noticed a lot of interested looks thrown his way.
He ignored them all and came straight to us, squatting beside me and wrapping his arms around his knees. “We received the message you sent.”
“Great,” I said. “And?”
“We are grateful to you for the warning. We are making plans to deal with the intruders.” His eyes were intense. He kept his voice low. “And there are other scouts here besides me, gathering information to learn when our enemies will make their move.”
“I would guess tomorrow night,” said Tamar, also quietly. “If we’re right, that’s when everyone’s energy will be at its most ecstatic and they’ll be the most unguarded. But your folk shouldn’t get drawn out by it. If you come through to fight the intruders, innocent people could be hurt. And your enemies could slip by and get into your world.”
“This is war,” said the fae. “We cannot ignore this kind of attack on this land.”
“Did you bring us any word about the hungry grass?” I cut in. “Do you know what we need to do to break the curse?”
The fae shook his head. “Not yet. Most of us only know rumors and legends about it at best. We have sent a special delegation to an archive with a collection of materials about curse magic. Whatever we learn, we must be careful. This is dangerous, powerful knowledge. It is guarded well, and for good reason. We cannot simply hand it over.”
“What does that mean? I don’t care about stealing your precious secrets. I just want to know what we have to do to help our friend.” I gestured at Vivi, who was watching all this silently with huge startled eyes. I remembered then that we hadn’t given her all that much detail about why this had happened to her or the bigger picture about what was going on.
He looked at
Vivi and his expression softened. “I am very, very sorry for your suffering.” Her eyes sparkled with tears at the sad tone of his voice. “It is unfortunate that you were caught up in this. The best I can tell you is that it is also in our best interests to see the curse broken. Once he is free, the fear gorta is an even greater danger to the land.”
“Wait, he who?” said Cherry.
“The One Who Hungers,” said Longneck.
“That’s real?” Joe looked gray.
“You know what that is?” I said.
“It was lost magic, but yes, it is real.” Longneck glanced around. No one was paying attention to us, but he moved closer and lowered his voice anyway. “Did you not know that the cursed ground was over an unconsecrated grave?”
“Wait, what?” I leaned in. “You’re telling us there’s a dead person buried there?”
Longneck sounded exasperated. “Of course. You were told that it was féar gortach, hungry grass.”
“Who is the One Who Hungers?” Sara put a comforting arm around Vivi, who shrank back against her.
Longneck sighed. “Everyone knows that the curse of the féar gortach must be laid over an unconsecrated human grave. The first human to walk upon the hungry grass becomes the vessel for the fear gorta, the One Who Hungers, whose famine is endless, and who consumes their life if he is not fed.”
Tamar snapped her fingers at Cherry. “Would you take Vivi out of here for a few minutes, please?”
“No,” said Vivi. “I want to stay. I want to hear. Who are you?” she asked Longneck.
He inclined his head. Despite his human guise, I could see echoes of the way he moved in his native fae form. “You may call me Boden.”
Huh. “He’s, um, from Faerie,” I supplied.
“Sure.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I’m sorry. You were saying.”
Longneck--Boden--looked to Tamar. “This one, does she have your leave to stay?”
“Not my place. Go on.” Tamar waved a hand, embarrassed.
“All right then.” He looked square at Vivi. “The hunger is great, and it grows. No human can consume enough to sate it. Soon, within days, the Hungry One will devour your life and you will die.”
MetamorphosUS: Book 1 of the Mythfit Witch Mysteries Page 24