by Catie Rhodes
And Dwight. I should have fried his brain back at the Stephens Ranch, no matter how tired I was. He was a worthless person. Whatever he’d done to turn the citizens of Devil’s Rest into lunatics proved that.
Tanner and I reached downtown. Neither of us could speak for several seconds. The sight in front of us was just too much.
Not ten feet from me, a woman beat a man with a golf club. His head had a dent in it, and blood was spreading in a pool around his body. But she kept right on swinging, hollering, "In his name, rise.”
Rise. That was different. The rest had just been saying "In his name." Where had the “rise” come from?
On the street, one of the boys from the car who’d passed by the dentist’s office chased one of the girls. He was laughing. She wasn’t.
Tanner yelled, "Hey!"
I elbowed him as hard as I could. He took it with a pained umph.
"Don’t get their attention," I said in a low voice. "Let’s find Dwight, get the book, and stop them then."
That satisfied Tanner enough to get him moving. We walked in the direction of Dwight’s preaching. The highs and lows were really no different than what I’d heard in the churches of my youth. But his words were.
"You feel the Serpent God's spirit. Let it take you. Let it use you," Dwight’s magnified voice boomed. "Look upon the man next to you. Has he sinned against you? Then you deserve to avenge it."
Dwight said a string of words in another language, his voice guttural. The spark of rage from back at the Stephens Ranch woke up and burned bright. Mohawk's voice whispered in the back of my mind. I pushed it away.
All around us, the citizens of Devil's Rest did the opposite. They tore the flesh of their neighbors and family, broke the bones of people they’d known all their lives. They did it yelling, "Rise," calling the Serpent God to power in Devil’s Rest. Their eyes shone with animal insanity.
Tanner and I moved underneath the awning of the buildings, our steps as swift and silent as we could make them. Dwight’s voice got louder and louder until my eardrums rattled. We found him standing in the bed of a truck behind a wooden podium. The book was open in front of him, a portable PA system piled around his feet. Josie Stephens sat on the cab of the truck, swinging her legs in time with Dwight’s shouts.
He yelled into a microphone, "The Serpent God rewards those who sacrifice to him. Those who survive this night will live like royalty. The Serpent God will bless us and keep us. So sacrifice, sacrifice for him."
Bloodcurdling screams rose over Dwight’s commands. I stepped into a doorway and pulled Tanner with me.
"What is it?" His breath tickled on my face.
"I need to see what I’m up against." The heat coming off Tanner’s body turned me on, despite the awful scene in front of us. I wanted to spend the night in his arms, not dead. That meant giving it all I had, not living like a ghost in my own life.
I settled my gaze on Dwight and opened my second sight. Loretta Nell moved just underneath his skin. I focused on Josie and saw the same thing. Loretta Nell’s ghost was in two places at once. How could that be? It didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting the book away from those two freaks, killing them if that’s what it took.
Evil emanated from the book like an egg salad fart. But I felt more than just evil baking off the leather cover and pages. Power surrounded the book and its current owners. Loretta Nell’s body had protected the book all these years. She’d formed a relationship with the power in it. Now that power belonged to her ghost.
"Spill blood," Loretta Nell screamed in Dwight’s voice. "Spill blood in his name, and he will rise in this town."
A chorus of screams started up and quickly cut off. The hair on the back of my neck bristled. I had to put a stop to this.
I called to the mantle. Orev’s caws came from nearby. He’d probably perched on top of a building. His presence met mine. Though ready to help, he was almost as scared as I was.
The wind on the street picked up, spraying grains of sand on all the revelers and murderers. Now or never. I stepped out from the doorway and walked toward Dwight, gathering power as I went.
Tanner walked with me, one hand in his pocket. I understood now I couldn’t keep him away no matter how hard I tried. He had a right to choose his fate as much as I did. The two of us marched into the middle of the street in lockstep.
The city fountain stopped flowing as I passed. The water boiled and steamed. Earth magic came up through the concrete. My steps rang as loud as a giant’s might have.
Dwight stopped talking and smiled. Loretta Nell’s spirit flashed over his face.
"Hi, Dwight." I spoke as though we were at a church service. Calm and sweet. Just one member of the flock greeting the other.
"Peri Jean. I see Roderick failed at his task." His lips pulled down in a mock scowl.
"So what? You killed Mandy anyway," I sneered. Thunder rumbled in the distance, as though agreeing with my accusation.
Dwight’s smile broadened. He bent at the knees, grabbed something out of the bed of the truck, and held up Mandy’s severed head. She’d died screaming. He lobbed the head at me. Josie shrieked with laughter and clapped her dainty hands.
Tanner let out a repulsed yell, but I focused on not letting the head hit me. Human heads were heavy. It would hurt. The head slapped on the pavement and rolled underneath an abandoned car.
I stepped back in front of the podium. "Give me the book, Dwight." I held out one hand.
He made a pouty face and shook his head. Josie gave me double fuck-you fingers behind him. I wanted to send it back but figured I could be adult about this.
"Loretta Nell’s making you feel all pumped up like you’re getting revenge for her. But this isn’t some movie. The cops are eventually going to show, and you’re going to die." I held out my hand for the book again.
Dwight gave me the finger and went back to preaching, Loretta Nell roiling behind his face.
Fine. We’d do this the hard way. I drew on the waiting power I’d built up, pulling magic from everything around me, including Tanner. The power built until my eyesight changed into what I called LSD-vision. Everything came to life.
I called fire. It flamed bright inside me, powered by all the other elements. I aimed it at Dwight and let it fly. The young man jittered as though he’d picked up an electrical wire, his arms flung out from his sides. I kept pushing power, expecting his eyeballs to burst or his skin to melt. Instead, Dwight began to laugh. Loretta Nell’s mad howl mixed in with his laughter.
I quit pushing my power at Dwight. It wasn’t hurting him. It was only tiring me out. But why?
My only guess was that Loretta Nell’s power and the book’s power outranked me. Fine, then. What now? My body still trembled from the wasted effort. One more good blast, and I was done. I’d better make it worth it.
Dwight picked up the book off the podium, walked to the edge of the truck bed, and knelt down. He crooked one finger for me to come closer. I did but stayed out of reach, hand on Hannah’s gun.
Dwight fixed knowing eyes on me and spoke in a low voice. "The Serpent God wants me to deliver a message to you. You ready?"
Sweat broke out on my forehead.
"The Serpent God says there’s no way for you to win this and that he’ll be along to collect you directly." Dwight rose and walked back to the podium.
How I wanted to bite him and claw out his eyes. But jumping him wouldn't get me anywhere. Right then, Dwight, Josie, and Loretta Nell created a triumvirate of evil I couldn't whip.
My fingers caressed the pistol. The idea of whipping it out and pulling the trigger flashed in my mind over and over. Two things kept me from it. One, I was no longer sure the pistol would kill Dwight or Josie. Not after my magic failed to do the job. Two, I still had to face Mohawk.
My magic still seemed the best solution. But I needed to quit farting around and bring out the serious firepower. My problem? I had no idea what to do with it. One glance around me indicated I was going to
have to figure it out. And fast.
I stood on the street like a moron while Dwight went back to convincing the townspeople of Devil’s Rest to do horrible things to each other. He ignored me as though I was no more important than a fly. In his current state, I suppose I carried about the same threat.
Suddenly I understood what Linus Bramwell had meant about breaking the bond between the book and its users. It would level the playing field.
I leaned to speak in Tanner’s ear. "I’ve got to banish Loretta Nell."
As though he’d heard me, Dwight stopped speaking and glared down at me. "Leave now, Peri Jean. You’re under the protection of the god of the serpent. But Tanner there?" His smile chilled me. "At my word, these people will fall on him like a pack of wild dogs." Loretta Nell’s voice blended with Dwight’s, gave it a demonic burbling effect.
The corpses littering the sidewalks and the streets came into focus, their glazed eyes seeming to stare right at me. Dwight wasn’t lying. The same folks who killed them would tear Tanner to bits in a matter of seconds. All my bravery dropped to my feet where it puddled and cooled.
A cold hand pressed against my back. Priscilla Herrera’s voice whispered in my head. Ignore your fear. Think of all you win if you fight.
Tanner faced Dwight with his fists clenched, not willing to back down even with the threat of Dwight siccing the crazies of Devil’s Rest on him. He was here for me, willing to face this horror right alongside me.
Someone that brave deserved bravery in return. I pulled myself together.
There had to be a way to catch Dwight off guard. I grabbed Tanner’s hand and started to back away. He resisted, but I caught his eye and shook my head. We walked away. Once we passed Dwight, I called on the mantle and on Orev. He’d have to help me pull Loretta Nell out of Dwight, Josie, and the book.
I’d already called the elements. They were ready to help me. I used my physical connection to Tanner to pull on his magic, letting its warm energy seep through me. Still walking away from Dwight, I took a deep breath and spoke a banishing incantation I'd created on the spot.
I said in a low voice,
"Loretta Nell Grimes,
from the living plane I banish thee,
Loretta Nell Grimes,
With the power of North, West, South, and East
I banish thee,
Loretta Nell Grimes,
With the power of above and the power below
You must go."
Behind me, Dwight stopped his chanting to kill, kill, kill and said, "Peri Jean Mace, are we not finished playing yet?"
I turned around. Dwight leapt onto the truck’s cab, climbed over it, walked down the hood, and hopped to the pavement in front of me. Josie came right behind him. Both stalked toward me.
Were they really going to make it this easy? The closer they got, the more power I could direct at them. I called to Orev.
The bird swooped down from whatever rooftop he’d been perched on and landed on Dwight’s head, digging in his claws. Dwight screamed and danced, grabbing for the bird's legs. Orev’s wings flapped. I sent my magic out to the bird, and we connected.
Through the bird’s primitive mind, I saw Loretta Nell’s spirit within Dwight. I grabbed onto her and pulled as hard as I could.
Loretta Nell dug in deep, summoning the power of the book she’d managed to absorb. Dwight threw his head back and screamed, the whites of his eyes blooming red as the blood vessels inside exploded.
I sunk my claws, Orev’s claws, deeper into Loretta Nell and kept pulling. My body began to shake with the effort. I ignored the pain and kept on without care for what it did to Dwight’s body or mind. I just pulled with all I had.
A burst of Tanner’s power warmed me, replenishing me. I gave one last hard yank. Loretta Nell came out of the top of Dwight’s head, exploding it as neatly as a shotgun blast. Dwight’s body slumped and thumped to the pavement. The smell of fresh sewage hit me.
Intent on survival, Loretta Nell wiggled away from me and snapped her full presence into Josie. The girl-woman jolted, body stiffening as though caught in the throes of an explosive orgasm. She shook from head to toe as the spirit absorbed.
I hurried toward her, Orev cawing right behind me. Josie recovered and raced for the truck, slipping in the gore from Dwight’s exploded head. I stayed right on her heels and caught her as she tried to vault onto the truck’s hood. She flipped over and clawed at me, snarling like an animal.
She dug her fingers into my neck. "Now it's time for you to die. Your only true purpose was to find the book. I'm the Serpent God's favorite daughter." She spoke through bared teeth, flecks of spittle flying into my face.
I reared back and hit her in the mouth. Blood spurted onto her teeth.
On the other side of the truck, the screams ceased. In their place rose a chant. "Holy, holy, holy."
"Holy fuck is more like it," Tanner muttered.
Josie-Loretta Nell let go of me and hurried to see what had changed her acolytes' focus so quickly. She scrambled back onto the truck to see over their heads. I followed and immediately wished I had stayed ignorant.
The biggest, whitest snake I’d ever seen slithered down the middle of the street. Easily the length of a car and the girth of a tree, the snake's belly made a rasping sound on the pavement. People knelt on either side of the street and salaamed it. Tongue flicking, woody brown eyes fixed on me, the snake came right for us. As Dwight had promised, the Serpent God was coming for me.
Fear crowded out all rational thought and ate the little bit of courage I possessed with relish. The primitive part of my brain blared one message, run, run, run.
But it wouldn’t do me any good to run. Not now. Mohawk was right here, more powerful than I’d ever be. He’d catch me with no effort at all.
The snake morphed into the shape of a human man as it came. Mohawk ran the last few steps to the bed of the truck where Dwight had been preaching.
"I ssssee you killed one of my disciples." He showed me his snake fangs.
Josie-Loretta Nell grabbed the book and held it against her chest, eyes glittering, lips stretched into a crazy grin.
Shaking head to toe, I pointed at the book. "Here’s your book. I retrieved it for you."
Mohawk laughed so hard the punk chains on his leather jacket clinked. "Yes, you did what I wanted. You found the book. You did this." He swept his arms wide. "But you don’t possess the book. I ordered you to possess the book. Loretta Nell Grimes, through the body of Josie Stephens, still possesses the book. Your freedom is forfeit."
Tanner and I huddled together. I don’t know which of us shook harder. Dizziness filled my head, cool and light. Black dots danced in my vision.
"No," I managed to whisper. "I got the book. I dug it up. I found it. That’s what you said."
Mohawk glided closer. "When I gave you this task, I knew you would fail. Loretta Nell’s spirit and the book’s power are fused together. You cannot possess the book. Therefore, I’ll possess you."
The pieces clicked together, each one making me a little sicker. Mohawk had had a plan from the first second he gave me seventy-two hours to go on this wild goose chase.
Dwight and Josie were primed and ready to use the book to drive the town of Devil’s Rest right into apocalypse. Aaron Todd had the key to open the book. All I had to do was locate Loretta Nell’s body and get the book out of the ground. And I had done it.
I slipped my hand into my pocket and pulled out the little pistol Hannah had loaned me. This was it. Faced with human slavery, I’d rather die.
Tanner put his arm around me. His body trembled against mine. I let him see the pistol. He nodded. We’d die together. I put the gun to my temple and placed my finger through the trigger guard.
"Oh for Pete’s sake." Mohawk flicked his fingers. The gun pulled out of my grip and flew toward him. "You can’t think it would be that easy. Do you?" He flashed his snake fangs again.
Josie-Loretta Nell pealed a victory whoop, followed by a vo
lley of mad cackles.
Through the fear, a little embarrassment sparked. Actually, I had thought it would be that easy. Fury chased the sharp shot of embarrassment. This sucked. Mohawk had tricked me, made me complicit in the deaths of Aaron Todd and a bunch of other innocent people. How dare he?
The answer came right away. He didn’t dare. He just did. He had the power to take, and so he did. Josie’s hoarse laughter cut off like a switch flipped.
"You should've just let her kill herself, your majesty. You don't need her to sire your offspring. I am your favorite daughter." Josie threw back her shoulders and arched her back. The posturing would have been funny had Loretta Nell’s face not been rippling right beneath the surface of Josie’s, driving her laughter and foolish actions.
Mohawk's eyes grew wide. Energy crackled around him. "Things will go the way I say they will and no other way. If you want to continue as the high priestess of my message, you will obey me without question."
Mohawk's voice boomed off the buildings and echoed in the black pit of this night. Every voice stilled at its command, even Josie-Loretta Nell. Bottom lip juiced out in a pout, she nodded.
Mohawk smiled, showing his snake fangs, and crooned, "That's my favorite daughter. Such a good girl."
Josie-Loretta Nell threw me a smirk of triumph.
I wanted to kill her. Everybody won tonight, except me. It sucked, and it made me furious, but I had to face the truth. I had lost.
The human mind is a torture device unlike any other. Mine went to work, making a chronicle of how things would go.
Mohawk wanted to sire a halfling with me. In my current state, I couldn’t conceive. After my miscarriage, I hadn’t gone to the doctor and had developed an infection. It had rendered me infertile.
Mohawk would have me supernaturally healed. Then he’d do things to me. Horrible things that would chip away at my sanity. In the end, I’d probably be a giggling mess just like Josie-Loretta Nell.
I wanted to put my hands over my face and scream. Everything I’d endured, everything I’d learned. All of it was rendered worthless tonight.