by Rei Fletcher
"Cowboy? Really?" It sounded bitchy to her own ears. She made herself smile. "When did you ever see a horse up close?"
"Fair, last year. Gonna see them again this year."
"Right. Congratulations again."
"Again again." He laughed. "You must be excited to congratulate me three times."
"What?"
"Here." Charlene shoved the controller at her. "Good thing you got here when you did. I think Sarah was hitting on her."
"Sarah?" Bobby nodded. "Be careful of her. She goes through girlfriends like crazy."
"I heard that, too," Charlene said.
"What are you talking about?"
"You don't know?" Bobby looked around, but Sarah had vanished into the kitchen. "She came out at university. I figured you'd've heard since you were friends."
"She dated guys in high school."
"Guess she's making up for lost time," he laughed.
"What's wrong with sleeping around a bit? I thought that was what everyone does after high school."
"Guys maybe," Bobby said.
"Isn't that sexist?" Charlene asked.
"It's just kinda true. I mean, I don't think it makes her a slut or anything, but lots of guys do."
Marianne selected Donkey Kong, trying to ignore them.
"I heard that guys like to watch two girls. It's in movies and stuff," Charlene said.
"Well, it's hot."
"What about two guys?"
"Not really my thing. It's not like I'm gay."
"See? You are sexist."
"How does that make me sexist?"
They argued back and forth across her while they raced. Charlene's voice grew broad and her laugh was loud. Marianne breezed across the finish line far ahead of them.
"Shit, that was fast."
"Someone else's turn," she said, abandoning the controller.
"Where are you going?" Bobby looked up.
"Just out back or something. It's really stuffy in here."
Behind the kitchens were tiny yards of cracked concrete. Patios, kinda, but no one seemed to use them. There was grass growing between the bricks in this one, and along the edge of the tall privacy fence. There was nothing to sit on but that was okay; she felt better as soon as the fresh air washed over her. It was nice. Quiet, even with the rattle of voices from the kitchen window above her head.
The community college was for washouts. That's what her AP classmates had said. For people who needed to get their grades up. Blue-collar. Trades. There was always a tone. The same one that was in their voices when they talked about welfare and trailer parks. You went away to a good university. A good university would make your career. Did it make that much difference? Maybe she could ask Sarah about it. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
She heard a raucous cheer from inside. Somewhere out there Ash was hunting and she was sitting here wasting time playing video games.
"Howdy again."
Bobby hugged her from behind, nuzzling her neck.
"You didn't have to leave the game."
"I wanted to finish what we started this morning. I've been waiting all day."
"What are you t—"
His hand pushed into the waistband of her jeans. For a minute it was okay. Or maybe she was just shocked.
"What are you doing?" She laughed uneasily, squirming. "Not…Knock it off."
"Come on. If you're quiet we can have fun."
"Not here."
"Don't be such a goddamn cock tease."
His embrace pinned her arms, tightening when she tried to move away.
"Stop it. There are people right there."
"Yeah. Sure. You're good at this." He pulled her jeans open.
"I mean it." Someone was laughing in the kitchen. It wasn't at her—how could it be?—but humiliation burned her cheeks. His fingers dug painfully into her skin as he forced his hand lower.
"Do you? Really?" His voice was playful. He was pressed so close that she could feel his—
She jerked away, breaking his hold more by surprise than strength. She fumbled with her button and zipper.
"What the fuck, Mare? You wanted me to—"
"Asshole."
"You started this! You told me before. You told me you wanted it."
His bewildered cry followed her through the door. She glimpsed Sarah's worried face as she passed the kitchen. Charlene wasn't at the TV anymore. She grabbed her stuff and left before she had to answer questions. Before Bobby caught up.
She walked blindly, head down. She willed away the feeling of his hand, replacing it with the bite of the wind, and the warmth of exertion. She scrubbed at her neck, where he'd kissed her. Eventually, she could convince herself that the lingering sensation of it was all in her head. Guys got carried away sometimes, everyone said so.
She took a deep breath and gathered her scattered thoughts. She'd walked pretty far. Off to the left was a patch of light that she recognised as a strip mall. That was good; the busses hadn't stopped yet, maybe. She could still get home without having to walk, but it would be a near thing. Faster if she took a shortcut. She really wanted to be home.
She turned off the sidewalk into a small lot of thin-trunked pines. A path wove behind a row of duplexes, beaten down by years of people with the same idea as hers.
Mind on a comfortable bus seat, the wall of stench caught her by surprise. She stopped, scrambling with her pack, listening for the telltale grunting. The oily line wound through the trees, unconcerned about following the well-travelled path. She thought it got thicker ahead, closer to the strip mall. Wider. Stronger.
Fuck it.
Hunting would distract her more than moping at home. She pulled the knife out of her bag and held it ready at her side. With the pendant and the smell helping her, she could follow the trail with ease. If it was just an Unformed Beast…
The trees backed onto the employee's lot of the strip mall. A row of dumpsters lined the edge. Irregular, muffled thumps came from one as she drew closer. The walrus-grunt sounded. The dumpster twitched, and she heard slurping.
It didn't look up from its feeding when she cautiously lifted the lid. Whatever was below it was about the size of a big dog, like a shepherd maybe, and furry, but she couldn't tell what colour it might have been. The paper and discarded packaging were smeared with blood and the Unformed Beast's goo.
The parking lot was dark, sheltered from view. She climbed silently up the side of the dumpster. It was going to suck if she got stuck in there but, again, fuck it.
She balanced for a moment at the top, then dropped onto its back
The knife drove deep into its neck. It twitched and shuddered and stilled. She twisted the knife once, reached around to cut its throat, then clambered quickly out of the dumpster, skin on the back of her neck crawling. It didn't move. She lowered herself to the ground and looked for a lock to keep the lid shut.
"That was a thing."
Ash stood in the shadows beneath the now-broken security camera. When she came forward her cheeks were flushed pink. She looked softer, and more real, somehow. Leather jacket, dark grey sweater, black jeans. It was simple, but she made it look cool.
"It's dead?"
"I think so. It stopped moving."
"A faster kill I've never seen."
She sounded impressed. Marianne looked quickly at the dumpster.
"It was feeding, so I guess it was distracted."
"That was what, two strikes? Throat?"
"I got it at the back of the neck. I made sure, though."
Ash hopped up to look, kicking the side lightly.
"That's damned impressive."
Marianne smiled and shrugged. She was about to point out that she hadn't even noticed the security camera but decided not to.
"Is it what you were scared of?"
"What?"
Ash waved at the fringe of hills. "You called me again. You were scared. Angry. I came as fast as I could."
"Oh." Marianne's good mood evaporated. She found
a grimy cloth hung over a tap and wiped her knife. "No, I guess that was something else."
"What is it?"
Ash touched her shoulder. Her hand was definitely warmer than usual. Maybe it was that, the warmth of it, that made Marianne want to cry, suddenly.
"Nothing. Just...Fucking Bobby."
"The boy."
"I told him I didn't want to. He shoved his hand down my fucking jeans, anyway."
"He did what?"
Her voice was like ice. Marianne looked up, a little shiver of fear racing down her spine. Ash's manner softened.
"Does that often, does he?"
She thought of the condom. And maybe there were a few times where she hadn't really wanted to, but she'd heard it was better just to fake it, sometimes. You had to give it up to keep a guy interested. Only right now, with Ash looking that way, it didn't seem as reasonable as it did when she was listening to gossip in the girls' change room at school.
"Sometimes, maybe."
Her voice was too high: tight and warbling and pathetic. Ash put her arm over her shoulders. After a moment of resistance Marianne turned, resting her head gingerly against her. She didn't cry, after all, but it was nice to put her arms around her, and feel Ash holding her, her hand rubbing Marianne's back soothingly.
"It's not like he...It wasn't any big thing. Sorry. Sorry for…this."
"He's an arsehole who deserves something to come of it."
"Guys are just like that."
"Arseholes are just like that."
Marianne nodded. She wasn't used to hugging, but she sort of got why people liked it.
"It isn't fair to say he never listens. It's mean. He does, sometimes."
"Not this time."
"No."
"He's owed a scolding, at least, for not. And more, if you ask me. That's a step down a road you don't want to take, not listening to a 'no.'"
"No means no, like the commercials."
"Well, it does." Ash's voice was light. When Marianne stepped back her expression was gentle. She tucked a lock of hair behind Marianne's ear.
She felt the heat rising in her cheeks. Despite the strangeness of the night she smiled.
"You're my hunting partner," Ash said, smiling too. "I'll have you safe from human predators, at least."
"It's no big thing."
"Don't sell yourself short, my dear Marianne. It's a very big thing, indeed."
Chapter 10
"I'm sorry. I took you away from your hunting."
"Ah, well. I think I know the direction to go."
"So it is something new? Not another one of those?" Marianne looked back at the dumpster.
"Bored already?"
"I like a challenge."
"Right. Well, we need to grab a taxi back to the car."
"You ran?"
"You called."
She looked down, touched by mild guilt, a little embarrassment, and something else that lifted her uneven mood. Ash called a taxi from the strip mall payphone and they headed west.
"Have other people called you like I can?"
"It's never happened before."
"Does it bother you? Is it uncomfortable?"
"No, not at all."
"What does it feel like?"
Ash slouched down in the seat. "The time that you were in the other world, I could hear words, like my inner voice, but it was yours. Other times it's only a passing feeling. Tonight it was so strong that I couldn't ignore it even if I tried."
"Even during the day?"
"Even in sleep, yes."
"Too deep to respond?"
Ash nodded.
"I bet you have the coolest coffin."
She laughed. "Same colour as my car."
"Are you sure it isn't annoying?"
"I'm sure."
The taxi ride was pretty long. She gave up on trying to figure out the math for how fast Ash must have gone.
"Wow."
"Hunting buddies." But she looked a little embarrassed, too.
"You could make a mint as a delivery driver."
Ash laughed.
The mustang was parked at a gas station west of town, at the corner of the highway and what seemed at first glance to be a logging road. Hidden behind the fringe of trees she knew there were million-dollar homes. People didn't really do ostentation here. Even Bobby's parents had money, but you'd never guess it. A couple of bored horses looked at them from behind a wire fence as they got into the car. Ash turned on the interior light and pulled a plastic terrarium out of the back seat. She'd duct-taped the bright pink lid on securely. Now, she flipped it onto its side to let in a bit more light. Instantly a toothy, round mouth struck at the plastic, attempting to find purchase on the smooth surface.
"Jesus fucking Christ!"
"I don't think he had a say in this one." Ash tapped the end of the terrarium and it lashed out with a speed that made Marianne jump back.
"I didn't think leeches moved like that. Or were that big."
"He's not from around here."
Marianne looked out the window. The interior light sapped all the details from the night outside.
"I really wish I could see. Like daylight. Daylight would be good. Maybe some sunscreen for you."
"Ha! That might do."
"It isn't the only one, this one you caught."
"No."
"How? Or do I want to ask?"
"Someone met up with them. I'm not even sure if they're all like this, or if there are other varieties. Kinds. I thought I saw other signs. But there were a lot of these little buggers."
"So it's gonna be like a swarm?" She looked at her knife. "I don't think even you can stab that fast."
"We have this one. We can research."
Ash sounded cheerful, all things considered. She wasn't exactly a scientist, but the shed behind her house became a temporary lab as they tried to figure out the best way to kill them. It was spotless and orderly and empty, a bit like her house, and nice enough to live in. It didn't even smell musty.
The leech was installed in a mesh cage. They fed it a rat. Marianne watched with horror as it lashed out, draining the poor rodent. It didn't feed as messily as the Unformed Beasts. All it left behind were bones and skin. Like a juice pouch.
"The guy who met them, this happened to him?"
"Yes."
The leech didn't have eyes, so it couldn't look at her, but she felt it watching, even when she was sitting by the door. She looked up at the light. It seemed to her that the shed should have been brighter than it was.
"Is there a word for something like anger, but bigger?"
"Rage?"
"No, not exactly. Rage and stuff, it's like someone is angry at you. This isn't at anyone."
"Malevolence?"
It rolled off Ash's tongue: a word that Marianne had read in books, but never heard spoken. In light of the malevolence, it was hard to feel sorry for it as Ash tried out various methods to kill it. It seemed immune to most things, shrugging off poison after a few twitches.
"Long odds, anyway. Fire, it is. Simple, easy to do. Fire purifies, they always said."
"That's pretty biblical."
"Wrath of God," Ash agreed cheerfully. "We need to find the source. Assuming they all decided to nest together somewhere foul."
"That would be convenient."
"I dare to dream."
"Should we look for it?"
"We'll have to take care. They'll have had time to settle in. If they do have a nest the easiest solution is a bit of fire all in a go." Ash offered her the bottle of whiskey. Marianne was coming around to the taste, but it also helped burn away the miasma of unwholesomeness the leech spread through the shed. "Has your lad been round to apologise?"
"I haven't heard from him." Otherwise quiet days were interrupted a lot by the phone. She didn't answer and lied about being outside if it was her mom trying to get ahold of her. "I don't know if I want him to."
"Was he your first love?"
The past ten
se sounded right.
"First boyfriend anyway. I don't know. It was just some girly crush, maybe."
"You stayed together a fair while for a crush."
"It was easier than breaking up. Or something. Better than being alone and all the rumours and stuff. Safer. I don't have that many friends." She stared hard at the amber liquid in the bottle. "Maybe I liked dating someone everyone wanted. That's gotta be the worst reason ever, right?"
"There are far worse reasons, I promise."
"You ever do stupid things for love?"
"Now and then. When it's returned, you know, it's the sweetest song in the world. When it isn't, what fools we are."
When Marianne slept her dreams were haunted not by toothy leeches or Unformed Beasts, but the feeling of hands pressing her down. She woke up fighting against her blankets, heart pounding as though she'd been running.
Gradually the sounds of her mother moving around the kitchen chased the tattered images away. When she knocked Marianne felt almost normal.
"You awake, kiddo?"
"Yeah. Barely."
"Up and at 'em." Her mom poked her head in. "We're going to see Nora at McDonald's."
There was no room for arguing. She left the restaurant with her training schedule and an ugly polyester uniform. The cloth reeked of old grease even after its trip through an industrial laundry.
"It's important to get out and meet people," her mom lectured. She was beaming, pleased to have been proven right in an argument that Marianne wasn't even fighting. She never doubted being friends with the manager would get a job. Marianne wasn't going to say anything, but the sight of the coarse uniform pants goaded her.
"Yeah, it's a real boon. Living on easy street now, with my minimum wage job shovelling garbage food at people."
"Christ, Marianne, what's wrong with you lately? I'm sorry your life isn't going exactly as you like, but I've got news for you: that's what the real world is like. Do you think I'm doing what I wanted? Do you think this is my dream?"
And that's why you crawled into a bottle and didn't come out until social services came knocking.
She had gotten out, though. Marianne never wanted to take that from her. She'd gotten out, and stayed where she was, and expected Marianne to stay there, too.
"Anyway, it's not forever. Get out there. Pound the pavement. I'll ask around. Maybe someone is hiring for office work. If your attitude is better someone will take you on."