Thanatos

by Carmen Kern

  She squeezed back. “It was so dark. I couldn’t hear anything or sense Ferret. And I was so tired. I tried to stay awake but couldn’t. Phobetor took me. He pulled me into his nightmare.”

  “He came for you?” Persephone asked, leaning her knee on the end of the bed, leaning in. “How did he find you?”

  Kay Te licked her parched lips. “Can I have some water?”

  Hecate hurried to the small wet bar and poured the muse a glass of water.

  “He knows that we’re coming for Thanatos and Hades. I’m not sure how, but it doesn’t matter.” Kay Te reached out for the glass of water Hecate offered her. She gulped down half the glass and continued. “He wants to make a deal.”

  The others exchanged glances. Rad leaned back against the headboard. “You say you don’t trust the djinn, but the god of nightmares is worse than any of my kind. He rides people’s minds, pulls at the thread of their fears, and unravels them in their sleep. If you give him what he wants, he’ll leave you hanging. He’s a trickster through and through.”

  Hecate glared at Rad. “Takes one to know one. I said the same thing about you, yet here you are, pulling our muse out of Phobetor’s hands.”

  Rad flicked his wrist at her as if swatting away her comment. “If your queen didn’t have my ass in a proverbial sling, you’d have been on your own.”

  “Bullshit.” Bob paused, searching the djinn’s face. “For whatever reason, you want us to think that, but you didn’t leave us dead in the water off of Deadman’s Island. You could have, but you didn’t. You made sure we were safe before you vanished.”

  Kay Te held her glass out for more water. “Another glass, please?”

  Hecate went for a refill.

  “I think Phobetor was telling the truth,” Kay Te said. “He said he doesn’t want any part of his brother’s plan to take over the Underworld, not anymore.” The muse leaned toward Persephone, looking her in the eyes. “And I believe him. Pers, I was quaking…all over. I couldn’t stop the fear, the shakes. He took the form of Hades to ease my fear.” Kay Te turned to Rad. “You say Mr. Nightmare plays off of fear—he had me quakin’. I couldn’t stop shaking…couldn’t move, and the water came up higher and higher, and I thought I’d drown.”

  She took a giant breath and clasped Bob’s hand tighter. “I couldn’t hear his talking, and the water ate me up. That’s when he changed his face. He did it to calm me down. If he wanted to scare so hard I broke, he could have. But he wanted me calm enough to get what he was saying. He wanted me to bring you his message.” Kay Te dug her hand into the front pocket of her jeans and pulled out a crumpled but dry piece of paper with an image of a skeleton key drawn on the back. She held it out to Persephone. “He didn’t trust me to remember, so he wrote it down. All I have to do is draw the key he showed me.”

  Persephone glanced at Hecate, who shrugged. Persephone reached for the paper, unfolding it. The room was silent. Her eyes scanned the sheet from side to side. After she finished, she handed it to Hecate. The paper was passed around the room until all of them had read Phobetor’s terms.

  Hecate pulled up two chairs to the end of the bed, offered one to Persephone, and sat in the other. They sat in a circle around and on the bed, the strangest of slumber parties. None of them said a word for several minutes.

  Persephone started to say something twice and stopped. And then she said, “If I ask the others—Zeus, Hera, Poseidon—they won’t take this…deal. Helle is gone. Killed on Hera’s doorstep. They’re under investigation…all of them are.” She touched the sharp edge of her hound’s tooth necklace, running her finger over its smooth length. “Thanks to Phobetor and Thanatos.”

  “The deaths are on Thanatos, not Phobetor,” Hecate reminded her.

  “Yes, but the brothers orchestrated this together. They created these stories, even if Thanatos was the one to take the lives of the immortals.”

  Bob stood up and stretched his back out. “But the others want Thanatos as much as we do. Wouldn’t they do whatever it takes?”

  “They want Death under their control again, but they don’t deal. And they also don’t care what happens to my husband.” Persephone held up the note from Phobetor. “If they say no, we might not get Hades back. But if we take this deal on our own, Thanatos is ours, and Hades makes it back home. Or at the least, it gives us a chance at both.”

  “You’re right, Pers. The other gods won’t let Phobetor off. They’ll want the brothers to pay, a two-for-one deal.” Hecate kicked her feet up onto the bed and leaned back in her chair.

  “Seriously, people,” Persephone scolded, swatting at the witch’s feet. “Get your dirty shoes off the bed.”

  Kay Te’s cheeks regained some color, her eyes and hair brightening. “You want to take the deal without asking the others?”

  Bob looked at Kay Te. “I don’t have a lot of words of wisdom from my dad, but one thing he told me is that it’s better to act on something and get blasted for it after. You can always claim ignorance. But you’re screwed if you ask first and they say no.”

  Hecate chuckled. “Heph always saw the gods for who they truly are.”

  “Except when it comes to our dad…but yes,” Persephone said. “Bob, I’m with you and Heph. I say we decide right now. Just us. And we deal with the consequences after. You guys cool with that?” She studied each of their faces, going around the circle.

  Hecate took her feet off the bed and stomped them on the floor. “I’m in—as if you had to ask.”

  Bob raised his hand above his head. “I’m cool with it. And I’m pretty sure Heph would be, too.”

  “If this brings back Mr. Inferno, I’m in.” Kay Te grinned, her lips now shiny, the color of a Granny Smith apple.

  Rad had closed his eyes a few minutes earlier, his socked feet bobbing up and down on top of the bedspread. “You’re staring at me. It’s a bit of a turn-on, really. But I’ve already got a bad rap with your kind, especially you goddesses.” His eyes popped open. “What’s with that, anyway?”

  “Do you feel discriminated against?” Hecate asked, turning her lion face on the djinn, her eyes amber and feral.

  “Don’t pull that witchy stuff on me,” Rad leered. “I’ve seen it before. And I’ve dreamed about how you’d use it on me. But that’s a discussion for another time.”

  Bob turned on Rad. “Have you always been a coward? You’re willing to do the easy thing, the stuff that’s in your wheelhouse, the stuff that’s of little risk to you, like walking through dreams and nightmares, playing with people’s minds, appearing and disappearing with your smokeless flaming power… How about doing something that matters just for the sake of doing a good thing? How about helping someone without payment?”

  Everyone was staring at Bob now, watching how he spun circles with his hands, gesturing with each word while his voice rose in pitch and volume. He stormed over to the window, looked out for a moment, and then spun around to face them all again. “I’m sick and damn tired of the I’ll do this for you if you do that for me thing. Are we politicians?” He took a breath and kept going. “How about doing something because it’s the right thing to do? Period. Hades…he helped me get my mom back without a thought of what was in it for him.”

  Rad waved a finger at Bob. “Technically, he was going down in that pit with you to find Thanatos—”

  “But he didn’t have to sacrifice himself for her. Or for any of us. But he did. He deserves the same consideration. That’s all I’m saying. So grow a pair, and help us bring back the god that saved your flameless ass.” Bob slumped down into the chair by the table strewn with Kay Te’s drawings.

  “I feel like I should clap or something.” Hecate grinned at Bob. “Honestly, your motivational speeches have come a long way in such a short time.”

  Persephone looked from Bob to Rad and crossed her arms. “Well? You heard the man—either you’re in or get out. If you’re not going to help, then leave. The rest of us are getting our hands d
irty.”

  Rad looked around at all of them. “Wow. It’s fine to call me anytime you like, threaten me when you want something, and then discard me when you’re done?”

  Persephone searched the djinn’s face in a way she never had before. “We aren’t discarding you. As much as you make me want to skin you alive and leave you for my hounds to chew on, I would rather you stay. We don’t know what to expect when we break into Thanatos’s domain, but we’re dealing with death and nightmares, and chances are, we could use your help.”

  Rad swung his legs off the bed, stood, and slowly walked around the footboard to come face-to-face with the queen of the Underworld, their chests centimeters apart. His eyes flared with violet light, his tats lighting up over his body, the thicker lines first, shaded with heavy ink, and then bleeding off into the thinner, more delicate details of ancestral markings and symbols of great winged beasts covered with silvery scales and a multitude of other nameless beasts that used to roam the worlds when his kind first walked the earth. His body flared like a bonfire from underneath his skin.

  “Was it so hard to ask nicely?” Rad’s voice sparked, his smile blinding them.

  “Yes, it was. Harder than you’ll ever know. And before I completely regret being nice to you, let’s get this key and get Thanatos.” Persephone turned her attention to Kay Te. “Are you up for drawing that key?”

  Kay Te threw off the blanket and got up, steadying herself against the mattress. “What do we do once we have it? Who’s going in?”

  “Pers,” Hecate said, “I know you’re going to say you should go—”

  “And I—”

  “Hold up.” Hecate held up her hand. “I wasn’t going to argue. It should be you. But I’m going too. The binding spells woven into your necklace, I can call to its twin, scry for the one on Hades, assuming he still has it. The pull should be strong enough once we’re in the same world. It’s our best chance to find him.”

  Persephone nodded and then addressed the group. “Bob, how do you feel about coming along for some firepower support?”

  Bob chanced a glance at Kay Te. “Confident in a totally inept kind of way. But I’m good to go. I want to go.” He shifted his weight in the chair, his elbow dragging one of the drawings across the table.

  “Good.” Persephone favored him with a small smile. “Rad, help Kay Te however you can. If we get lost in a nightmare, or if this is another one of the Night brothers’ sick stories, we’ll need both of you to guide us back.”

  Persephone pushed Phobetor’s note across the table to Kay Te. “Go ahead and draw the key. Hec, Bob, let’s gear up with what little we’ve got.” Persephone turned and ran into Rad’s chest.

  The djinn took his time backing up to let the goddess pass.

  Bob gave up his chair, holding it out for Kay Te to sit.

  “Make sure you come back,” she said, looking up at him.

  He nodded.

  Kay Te took the seat he offered and reached for her black pen.

  Bob watched her for a moment and then followed the goddesses.

  Persephone touched the butt of her knives holstered on her thighs. “This is all I’ve got on me. Flames, I wish I would’ve thought about bringing guns and ammo.”

  “I didn’t know this was a ‘bring your own weapons’ party. I’ve got nothing but my hands.” Bob held them out, palms up.

  Hecate gave a slow nod. “If we had more time, we could call Heph for weapons. But we’ll have to make do with what we got.” She opened her leather coat, exposing an inner panel lined with small pockets and snaps holding vials and hex bags and bones. “I hope magic works in Grim world.”

  “We’ll find out.” Persephone examined Hecate’s goods. “You’ve got enough to create a diversion. At least we don’t have to look for Ferret if he’s on his way back. But we still don’t know if he caught up with Hades again. We need those cuffs.”

  Kay Te piped up from the other end of the room, Rad looking over her shoulder. “I’ll lead Ferret back toward the manhole cover to meet you. I don’t have enough details of Grim world to give him an exact location. You might have to look around for him once you get inside, but I can get him close.”

  “We get the shackles first, and then find Hades,” Persephone said.

  “No problem,” Bob said, rubbing his hands together as if priming them.

  Kay Te finished the last details on the eye of the skeleton key and placed her pen on the table. Nothing happened.

  Rad watched. “You sure you got it right?” he asked Kay Te.

  “I think so.”

  “So Phobetor was full of— It’s working.” Rad nodded at the paper. “It’s working,” he said louder to the others.

  The paper bled iron, rising up in liquid form, the outline solidifying, suspended in front of Kay Te’s eyes. Drops and more drops of iron flew upward to fill in the shape, until the red stone of an unblinking eye formed at the bow of the key, flickering with live flame. Kay Te reached out slowly, testing the heat, but it was cool to her touch. She snatched it out of the air.

  “You did it.” Bob stared as Kay Te held up the large key.

  “We’ve got our way in,” Persephone whispered.

  Kay Te handed the key to Rad, who studied the intricate design before taking it to Persephone. “Phobetor might just prove me wrong, but I wouldn’t count on it. Once you turn this key, anything can happen.” He placed the key in Persephone’s outstretched hand.

  “I hear you, but so far, he’s done all he said he would do.” Persephone scanned the hotel room, looking for anything they could use as a weapon.

  Hecate made a dash for their makeshift bar, took a small bottle of gin, and tucked it into her pocket. She met Persephone’s gaze. “Hey, we can use it to bash someone over the head or drink it. Either way, it’s useful.” She grinned a witchy grin.

  “Well,” Persephone said to Kay Te and Rad, “we’ll see you soon.” She held up the key and walked to the door.

  “What she said,” Bob said, and took a slow measure of Kay Te’s face. Turning, he gave Rad a quick nod before he followed the goddess.

  Hecate said nothing but gave a sly wink before she closed the door.

  “Now we wait,” Rad said. “You want a drink? I want a drink.”

  “No thanks. I want my mind clear.”

  “That, my dear, is highly overrated.” Rad snatched up a bottle and a glass and plopped himself down across from Kay Te. “Let the waiting begin.”

  The drink didn’t help his mood, but Phobetor drank it anyway while inking the story his brother wanted. There was no way out of it. Not if he didn’t want Thanatos to know what he’d done, what he planned to do.

  How quickly will you use the key now that you’ve got it, muse? he thought. It had taken longer than he had thought for Kay Te to call for his key. He had been sure the gods would take his deal. So sure. And now that they had, he found it hard to concentrate on his drawings.

  Phobetor forced himself to finish the last two panels on the page, on the sound words and the final dialogue said by the god of the Underworld before the RCMP carted him away. A great ending to a story that will never come to pass, he thought. “And all because of me,” he whispered to an empty room.

  He threw down his pen, the last text balloon still empty. Getting up to stretch his legs, he walked the perimeter of the large room, scanning the bookshelves. When he came in earlier, he hadn’t noticed that all their books were gone. The god of nightmares thought of the characters they had imagined and brought to life. Their superhuman abilities, their strange bodies, and horrific deaths. Those who had survived until now, they would be incinerated, and they wouldn’t see it coming. This world would cease to exist.

  Stopping in front of the massive windows, he chuckled. No matter what, the two brothers were always drawn to the endless night sky. It was born into them. And no matter how they felt about their mother, they looked for her every night, whether they would admit it or
not.

  It was while standing at the window, gazing up to Andromeda, that Phobetor felt the weight of his betrayal lift from his shoulders. “It’s done.”

  Phobetor clapped his hands with glee and walked back to the table, this time with a purpose all his own. He finished the writing in the text balloon within minutes and left it to dry on the table for a few minutes before gathering all the sheets to take with him. There were a few more things he had to take care of before he left. He closed the door behind him, hoping it would be for the last time.

  Phobetor took the stairs to the main floor and made a quick stop in his apartment. He grabbed a leather bag and hastily threw in a few journals, the newest comic spreads, and books he wanted to take with him. He stowed everything in a locked cabinet.

  Phobetor gave his living room a quick scan, shut his door, and made his way out to the city sidewalks, heading to his next stop.

  TWENTY-TWO

  Thanatos had drawn these dungeons in the early days of building this world, back in medieval times when stone prisons were trending.

  As time went on, the rocks, mortar, and iron used to replicate European castles were repurposed into an expansive chamber that had more of an asylum feel, with private rooms used for experimental treatments on the prisoners. Jailers were replaced by sadistic nurses and doctors who were encouraged by the god brothers to be creative with their treatments. Many of the characters became mere vegetables, drooling, mute, unable to eat on their own, and eventually, they were erased.

  And then there were those who became permanent residents of the establishment. Lifers. Those who developed superpowers, hybrid beings with grafted limbs that began to grow on their own, and those whose will to live was stronger than the tortures they endured.

  The passageways of the asylum were confusing, going on and on for one person and ending in a dead end for another. Cubbies and niches with levers and fake light fixtures led to other smaller rooms, some empty and some with windows looking out to spindly forests or endless wetlands, the horrific sound of war playing on an endless loop through unseen speakers.