by Wood, Rick
She was nowhere in sight.
“Martin,” Derek ran up to Martin, gripping Martin’s shoulders and shaking the young man more than he intended to. “What exactly did Jenny say?”
“Erm, I don’t know… I just saw her popping out, asked her where she was going. Said she was going to get water and stuff; that you sent her.”
Derek stumbled backwards, his feet giving way, a stark realisation dawning over him. He found himself sat back on a step, Martin continuously asking what was wrong.
The vision of the swing set.
She had thought that was Eddie speaking.
She had thought that was Eddie calling her.
“Shit!” Derek shrieked, his hands gripping into tight fists. His whole body shook in a quiet rage. He did everything he could to contain his emotions, but his anger and concern overcame him until he was visibly irate. “Stupid, stupid girl.”
“What’s happened?”
“She’s gone after him. Alone.”
“Why the hell would she do that?”
“Because she thought the swing set was a piece of Eddie still in there. She thinks she can talk him down.”
Derek sprang to his feet and wandered back and forth aimlessly, running his hands through his hair, his mind running through solution after solution, each one equally unfavourable.
“Well, ain’t that a good thing?” Martin pointed out. “What if she can?”
“No, you don’t get it.” Derek paused and leant against the wall, dropping his head. “Eddie didn’t give that memory to you in your vision. The heir used one of Eddie’s memories against us. It’s a taunt. A way of letting us know where he is so we fall into his trap.”
Martin finally understood.
“And now she’s walking right into it… She’ll die.”
“Yes, in no uncertain terms, that would be fairly accurate.”
In a quick, unexpected move, Derek rushed over to the phone and dialled a number.
42
Lacy didn’t care what time it was. She didn’t care how pathetic she looked. She didn’t even care about the tear marks she left smeared across the wallpaper.
She just didn’t care.
She slumped against the wall of the hallway, her head between her knees, manically weeping. Her cries were loud and continual, her grief never-ending.
For so long, she and Jenny had been indestructible. The one couple who all other couples envied. The two who remained strong, complement each other, brought out each other’s positives and banished the negatives.
Now what?
She couldn’t remember life without Jenny. Back then, she had only existed. This was the love of her life. The only person she had ever cared for enough to keep close.
And that person chose to leave.
Lacy had given Jenny a choice, there and then, to stay or to go. And Jenny had made her decision.
She had made her decision.
The shrill song of the phone ringing echoed throughout the house. She ignored it. She didn’t care. Whoever it was could leave a message.
But what if it was Jenny?
Jenny made her choice.
But what if it was Jenny, saying she was on her way back? Saying she was wrong?
Lacy jumped up and rapidly withdrew the phone from the wall.
“Jenny?”
“Lacy?” came Derek’s voice.
Lacy’s heart sank.
“Yes, it’s Lacy.”
“Listen to me, this is really important,” Derek told her. “Is Jenny with you?”
“No.”
“Has she come home at all?”
“Yes.”
She heard Derek breathe a huge sigh of relief.
What was going on?
“Lacy, how long ago did she leave?”
“About ten minutes ago, why?”
“Listen to me, Lacy – Jenny is going to confront the heir.”
“The heir?”
“Eddie. She is going to confront Eddie. But not Eddie the man – the monster, the creature he has become.”
“Why?”
“Because she thinks she can talk him out of it.”
“Can she?”
“No, Lacy, listen to me. It is a trap. Eddie is not in there anymore. It will slaughter her on sight.”
Lacy’s head filled with anarchy, shooting a hundred perplexed thoughts around her mind.
Is that why she was in such a rush?
She thought she could save him?
“Listen to me, Lacy; if Jenny does return home again, keep her there. Then phone me. It is really important that you phone me.”
“Okay.”
The line went dead.
Lacy slowly edged through the house and into the living room. She sat herself down, trying to make sense of it all, trying to understand what was happening.
Eddie was the heir of hell.
He had killed and slaughtered people already, she knew that.
Now Jenny was going after it.
Jenny will die.
She got up, paced back and forth, her hands stuck to her forehead, racking her brain.
Think. Where would she go? Where is she going?
Then it hit her.
One of the last things Jenny had said before she left.
“I’ve got to go to the swings, it’s the only way.”
The swing set Eddie and Jenny used to go to as children. It was Jenny’s safe place. The place she went to think, to worry, to feel at ease.
That’s where she was going.
Shoving a coat around herself, Lacy grabbed car keys and ran out of the house. She didn’t care she was wearing pyjamas; she didn’t care she had told Jenny not to come back. She didn’t care about any of it.
She loved her too much to let her die because of her own foolish wish that Eddie was coming back.
Eddie was never coming back.
But Jenny was. She must. She had to.
Lacy opened the car door and switched on the ignition, went to go, then – how do you get there?
She knew what it looked like, but she had little idea where it was. It wasn’t somewhere she had ever driven to.
But she knew where Jenny used to live.
Where Eddie used to live.
She would go there. Drive to every part of their history if she had to.
She slammed her foot on the accelerator, determined.
She was not going to let Jenny die.
43
Fine rain hovered in the air with a wary uncertainty. Grey clouds lined the sky, an ominous foreboding of further rain to come.
Jenny pulled up her car and ran out so quickly she forgot to lock it.
She didn’t care. She didn’t care how wet the rain was making her, how much she was perspiring out of despair, how much her legs hurt to carry her as fast as she was going.
She just didn’t care.
She slipped in a puddle, dirty water splashing up her trousers. She scraped her palm on the painful cement of the path as she stumbled forward, ignoring the flinching pain.
After only seconds of running up the path adjacent to the field, she reached the park. Memories consumed her thoughts.
As a child, her parents taking her and meeting Eddie’s parents for a chat, racing each other to the slide.
As a teenager, her and Eddie’s safe space where their solitude could be kept and they could endow comforting words upon one another.
As a woman. Desperately seeking the better side of the man she once knew.
Lightning flashed in the near distance. Thunder menacingly rumbled, continuously growling. The rain poured faster, pummelling and bombarding Jenny with painful missiles of water.
She reached the swing set.
She was already drenched. She could barely see a few yards in front of her, such was the ferocity of the weather. Her soaked clothes stuck to her skin, the coldness of the rain making her shake profusely.
The rain hurt.
But she didn’t care.
“Eddie!” she screamed, beckoning him out.
Flashes of jagged-edged lightning and water beating the ground occupied her surroundings.
There was no one near. Anyone sensible would be indoors, sheltering themselves from the downpour.
Not Jenny.
“Come on out here, Eddie, I know you’re there!”
She turned and turned, surveying the environment, seeking out the monster she summoned.
“Please, Eddie,” she whispered, mostly to herself, her throat hurting from her shouting.
But that whisper was enough.
A distant growl mixed with the sinister thunder.
“… Jenny?”
Jenny’s eyes darted around herself, seeking out the source of the rumble, looking for the face of the demonic beast.
The face of her friend.
A large shadow engulfed the swings, overwhelming Jenny with darkness. Her jaw dropped and her eyebrows raised in horror as her eyes fell on the man before her.
“Eddie…” she gasped, tears cascading down her cheeks at the sight of the friend she had lost.
He lifted a ravenous paw, as if it was about to strike; his eyes growing huge, malevolent pupils preying over Jenny.
“Stop!” she bellowed, standing her ground, peering up to the beast.
Eddie paused. A slight etching of confusion faded its way over his deformed face. A snarl protruded from his nostrils, his eyes glazing over with innocuous perplexity.
“I am not speaking to the beast I see now,” Jenny barked through gritted teeth, refusing to be coerced into feeling anything but love. “I am speaking to the piece of Eddie that still dwells within!”
Deep, booming laughter rang out over the field, mixing with the thrashing of the rain.
“Laugh all you want, you foul beast” Jenny barked once more. “I am speaking to my best friend!”
Her lips were pursed into a snarl, her eyebrows furrowed into a menacing glare, her face scrunched into an expression of pure intimidation. Her torso leant forward aggressively, her fists clenched by her side. She let out all her anger, all the bottled-up rage, all the ferocious guilt and spewing hostility she had kept inside.
She would not stand down. She would not be scared by the demon that was trying to shine through Eddie’s handsome face.
She would not let it win.
“Eddie, I want you to listen to me!” she screamed over the sound of the pounding rain, now turning to vicious hail. “Fight this, Eddie. Fight this! You know who you are, you know what you can do. You have defeated Balam, you have defeated Lamashtu; you have even defeated the devil. Now defeat this. Defeat it!”
His facial features turned beastly as he ducked its head, bringing a sinister grin toward Jenny, stepping toward her, dangling its malicious intent within inches of her. She could feel its tepid breath snorting through his nose, spraying over her face and blowing her hair back.
Still, she stood her ground.
Still, she would not falter.
“You can get as close as you want,” she spewed. “But you will not make me back down. Not until I get him back.”
His eyes were now level with hers. Its suffocating stench choked her, made her throat tight.
She remained firm, stood where she was.
“Come on, you prick. Is that all you got?”
Its claws trickled against the pavement, making a terrifying click as each one left an indented scratch. But the creature shivered, showing a hazy lack of confidence Jenny had not yet seen in it. Its claws began to retract.
There was hope.
“Give him back to me!”
It sneered, at first. Then that sneer got lost in the air, along with any deformed feature of a demon that remained.
“Give back Eddie! Give me back Edward King!”
It chortled, leering its playful laugh over Jenny. Its lingered laugh grew quieter as its fangs shortened.
In a moment of lightning, it was indescribably human in shape.
Edward King stood, looking back at Jenny, with fear spread across his face.
A solitary tear slid down Jenny’s cheek.
“Eddie?” she offered, cautiously keeping her distance. “Is that you?”
44
5 April 1991
Eight years, eight months before millennium night
Eddie anxiously tapped against the underside of the table. He sipped his coffee without consciously being aware of doing so.
Why was he so nervous?
He wasn’t the one who was being introduced to their girlfriend’s best friend.
Yet he knew how important this was to Jenny. How much she had done to get there. What an incredible journey she’d had.
The bell on the coffee shop door rang and Jenny strolled through. She held hands with a woman who followed behind her.
This made Eddie smile. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because of how much apprehension she’d had about revealing her sexuality, the initial unacceptance from her parents, or the years of coming to terms with who she was. But for her to now have the confidence to walk in public with her hand in another woman’s hand; it was remarkable. It made him beam with pride.
Eddie stood and greeted Jenny with an embrace.
“This is Lacy,” Jenny introduced.
Eddie grinned warmly as he gave Lacy a heartfelt hug.
“It’s so great to meet you,” Eddie told her. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Likewise,” she smiled.
As the waitress came over and noted their drinks, Eddie stole a look at Jenny’s girlfriend. She was petite, slim, and incredibly cute. She had purple-dyed hair, which made Eddie feel like she was a bit rebellious – the complete opposite of Jenny. She was a few months younger than Jenny, still seventeen. She wore a hoodie and baggy jeans and protruded a cool calmness.
Once Jenny had finished ordering and the waitress had left, she immediately started fretting.
“Oh damn it, I forgot to say no biscuit on the side,” she anxiously remembered. “What if it’s ginger? What if she doesn’t know I’m allergic to ginger?”
Lacy placed a soothing hand on Jenny’s leg.
“It’s okay,” Lacy told her. “If there’s a biscuit, I’ll eat it. Then it won’t get anywhere near your coffee.”
“Okay,” Jenny smiled, turning to Lacy and nodding.
Wow, Eddie thought. Someone who can calm Jenny’s irrational craziness.
As much as he loved Jenny, she did get worried about the most ridiculous things. Eddie was glad that she had found someone who could comfort her; show her that she didn’t need to be so worried about everything.
“So how did you guys meet?” Eddie asked.
“Well, we both went to the uni open day and ended up sat next to each other in the presentation,” Jenny began. “And, honestly, I don’t think I heard a word of the presentation. I was too distracted by the incredibly fit girl next to me.”
“Oh, was she on the other side of you, or…?” Lacy joked, and they all laughed.
“Amazing,” Eddie acknowledged. “So, what are you looking at doing at uni, Lacy?”
“I’m looking at doing my nursing training.”
“A nurse? Wow.”
“Yes,” Jenny nodded. “Far more worthwhile than a useless English Literature degree.”
“Hey, at least you’re getting a degree.”
They continued chatting and joking for hours. Eddie instantly adored Lacy, seeing what a perfect fit she was for Jenny. Someone who could calm her, guide her to thinking clearly. It was perfect.
He was so happy for her.
He was sure that these two would be together until the day they died.
45
1 March 2003
Three years three months after millennium night
Screeching her car to a halt beside the first payphone she saw, Lacy sprang out of the car and ran as fast as she could.
The mixture of rain and hail attacked her body, and she briefly regretted being
so hasty as to run out in her pyjamas. The regret didn’t last long, as she picked up the phone and punched in Derek’s number.
Nothing.
She had forgotten to put change in.
“Fuck!”
She sprinted back out of the phone box and opened the car door. Opening the glove compartment, she took out her purse and grabbed a bunch of coins.
In the few seconds it took her to run back into the phone box, she was drenched. Water fell from her hair, down her back, and beat against the floor, leaving her shivering from the cold damp.
But she didn’t care.
She shoved the coins into the payphone, not looking at how many she was putting in, just ensuring she had shoved enough in to be able to make the call. she dialled the number, put the phone to her ear, and waited.
Turning around, she took in the scene of the street. It was dark and the weather was like a ferocious animal uncaged. Wind carried rubbish around in circles, lamp lights barely lit the street, and not a soul was in sight.
“Hello?” came Derek’s voice.
“Derek, thank God!” Lacy shouted, alert. “Listen, I can’t find my way to the park. I know where it is, I just don’t know how to get there.”
“Well, where are you now?”
“I don’t know. Somewhere in town, I think. How close are you to leaving?”
“We’re ready, just going now. We won’t be long. Less than ten minutes.”
“Okay, but please, just tell me how to get there first.”
She realised she was crying.
“How far are you from the war memorial?”
“Erm, just passed it.”
“Right, head down past the museum, park your car, then get out to your left and down the path, it’s there. It’s minutes away, you’ll be fine.”
“Okay, thank you, Derek.”
She slammed the phone back into the receiver and ran back to her car, ignoring her change.
She turned the ignition and switched the windscreen wipers to full. She could barely see anything. She resorted to putting her high beams on, not caring who she startled or irritated.