Lord of the Feast, page 12
“I’ll be damned,” Reyna said softly. “They actually did it.”
Weston’s eyes were wide, and Ethan grinned from ear to ear.
The Lord of the Feast looked around, taking in its surroundings, and then it rose to its feet, moving stiffly, as if not used to its conglomerate body yet. Its mismatched legs weren’t the same length, causing it to stand lopsided, and one arm hung lower than another. The top half of its head was missing, and the upper part of the brain was visible, reddish-pink and pulsating. Waves of power rolled off the creature with physical force, and Kate felt her body being pressed back into the couch, as if a large hand had shoved her. A sound issued from the Lord’s mouth, so high-pitched that it was almost beyond the range of human hearing, and it cut into Kate’s head like a red-hot knife. She cried out in pain, and then grabbed Reyna’s arm and began shaking her.
“We have to go,” Kate said. “Now!”
“Are you crazy?” Ethan spoke without taking his eyes off the Lord. “It’s just getting good.”
Reyna was also looking at the creature, but her face was pale and she was trembling.
“I think you’re right,” she said to Kate. She grabbed Kate’s hand and stood, pulling Kate up with her. “Come on, you two,” she said to Weston and Ethan. Weston stood, but when Ethan didn’t budge, Weston took hold of his brother’s wrist and yanked him off the couch. Ethan protested, but Weston was bigger and stronger, and he tugged Ethan behind him as the four of them hurried toward the basement stairs.
When they were halfway up, Kate couldn’t keep herself from looking at the Lord of the Feast once more. It crouched low now, and it faced Kate’s mom. Kate couldn’t see her mother’s expression – she was facing the other way – but she did see the Lord grab hold of Mom’s head, give it a quick, savage twist and then yank. She heard the crack of snapping bone, the moist tearing of flesh, and then her mother’s head came free from her body in a spray of blood. Everyone screamed as her headless body slumped to the floor, and the Lord lifted her head to its mouth and began drinking from the ragged opening, blood streaming down its face and onto its naked body.
The adults screamed, and so did Kate, and then Reyna pulled her through the open basement door, and the four of them ran like hell.
* * *
“Jesus,” Lee said.
“The next thing I remember is standing outside in the night air with Reyna, Ethan, and Weston, watching the house burn. The fire was a strange reddish color, and it blazed hotter and faster than a normal fire would. I don’t know what started it. Maybe the Lord did it, or maybe one of my family members created the fire to try and stop the creature they’d brought to life. A few minutes later, Tressa, Caprice, Delora, and Elisha joined us. Delmar leaned on Elisha. Delmar was changing, his bones beginning to lose their solidity. They’d be completely gone in a few days. Ethan’s mom had bumps all over her body. The next day, they opened and revealed they were eyes. No one else made it out. We huddled together and watched the house burn down – it didn’t take long – and then we left. Tressa told me later that she and the other surviving adults came back to the ruins a week later. They found the remains of the Lord. The fire had caused the creature to separate, but its pieces were undamaged. When the adults realized the parts couldn’t be destroyed, they decided to divide them up between them and keep them safe until the day came to attempt the Incarnation again.”
“What happened to the book?” Lee asked.
“They never found it. Most of my family thought it had been destroyed in the fire, but Tressa once told me that a book like that is too stubborn to die so easy. I don’t know when the basement got the way it is now, though. Maybe the rite left a residue of negative energy that expanded over the years. All I know is I wouldn’t climb down in there for anything.”
“Me neither,” Lee said. “So what did your family want to make a god for anyway?”
Kate told them about the Gyre and how the Quintessence wanted to bring out the premature death of the Omniverse. The feeling that they were being watched increased while Kate was talking, and she turned her head this way and that, expecting to see someone standing nearby. She didn’t, but then again, she did – sort of. To their left, about twelve feet away, was a patch of air that didn’t look quite right. She could almost make out shapes, five of them, featureless outlines of human forms.
“Do you see those?” Kate pointed toward the shapes.
Lee looked in that direction, squinted, then shook their head. “I don’t see anything. Wait. I do see something, but it’s farther to the right, over there, by that tree.”
Now it was Lee’s turn to point, and Kate turned her attention to a large oak tree that Lee had indicated. It grew a dozen yards from where they were standing, and had a deep split running vertically down the length of its trunk. Kate remembered that tree. She, Ethan, Weston, and Reyna had used it as home base whenever they played hide and seek. The crack hadn’t been there then, though, and she assumed it had happened in the years since, probably as a result of the energies released during the failed Incarnation. The rift oozed some kind of weird green gunk, and strange insects crawled over it. There was something behind the tree, a dark shape that was leaning out just far enough to peek at them, revealing only a single yellow eye and a small portion of its head. The sight of the thing – even if it was only a partial view – gave Kate a sick, queasy feeling. She and Lee were in danger, she was sure of it, but just how much danger, she didn’t know.
“I’m going to use the eyes,” she said, “see if I can get a better look at these things.”
She reached into the plastic bag and pulled out the jar. The instant her hand touched the glass, she felt a sharp stab of pain in her head, and almost dropped the eyes.
Lee took the jar from her hands.
“I’ll hold it while you look. Just tell me where to point it.”
The pain was already receding, and Kate gave Lee a grateful smile. She pointed to where the almost-shapes were, and Lee held the jar in front of her face. At first nothing happened, but then Kate’s vision blurred, and when it sharpened once again, she saw five people standing shoulder to shoulder – three women, two men. Even with the eyes’ help, their features didn’t come all the way into focus, but she felt that she knew them. It was her parents, Ethan’s dad, her other grandmother, and her aunt: Nila and Dalton, Cordell and Victorina, and Lissette. She should’ve felt joy at seeing them, at knowing that their spirits had survived death, but instead she felt afraid. An inhuman coldness emanated from them, and while she detected no animosity to it, she knew that these weren’t her family members, not exactly.
“Turn the jar toward the tree.”
Lee did as she asked, and suddenly it was as if the tree vanished. Kate saw a lean, black-furred beast standing on two legs. Its hands terminated in wickedly curved claws, and its head was like a wolf’s or bear’s, with high pointed ears and a pair of yellow eyes that seemed to glow in its black face. Another relative she sensed, this one…yes, Uncle Felton, her dad’s brother. He’d changed, like Delmar had, although his transformation had been far different. There was nothing insubstantial about him – he was definitely no ghost – but Kate felt only a rudimentary intelligence in him. There was almost nothing human left. Felton remained hidden behind the tree and showed no sign that he intended to attack, but Kate feared that might change any moment.
“Look through the jar,” she told Lee. “See if you can see them.”
Lee did so. “Nope. I don’t see anything that I didn’t before. What are they?”
Kate told Lee who she thought the five ghosts and the beast were.
“This is wild,” Lee said. “Beyond wild.”
Kate handed Lee the plastic bag and they put the jar inside. They kept the bag instead of handing it back to Kate.
“What should we do now?” Lee asked.
“I think we should leave. Slowly. And maybe not turn our backs on him until we reach the woods.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Lee sounded scared but determined, and Kate loved them for it. They did as Kate suggested, moving backward, one slow step after another. Without the aid of the Lord’s eyes, Kate couldn’t clearly see the ghosts, but she could still make out the suggestion of their forms, and she saw they remained where they were. Felton did too, although he leaned a little farther out from the tree to better track their progress. Kate had to fight the urge to turn and run. She might’ve grown up around some weird shit, but that didn’t mean she was comfortable with being in the presence of ghosts and monsters. And just because these particular ghosts and this particular monster had once been her relatives didn’t mean that she trusted them not to hurt her and Lee.
But the two of them reached the woods safely, and only then did they turn around. They began making their way back to Lee’s car, moving as fast as they could through the underbrush. Kate listened for sounds of pursuit the entire way, but heard none. Still, she didn’t relax until they were back at the front gate and inside Lee’s Camry, windows up and doors locked.
“I shouldn’t have brought you here,” Kate said. “I didn’t realize it might be dangerous.”
“It was my choice to come with you. Besides, it turned out okay.”
“I wanted to show you the place where the Incarnation happened – or almost happened – so you’d believe my story. But that was selfish of me. I wasn’t thinking about your safety.”
“I’m okay, Kate. Really. A little freaked out – okay, maybe more than a little – but nothing bad happened.”
“This time. My family created this mess, so it’s my responsibility to try and fix it. But you don’t have to, and I can’t stand the idea of putting you in any more danger. I do need a car, though, so I’d appreciate it if you could lend me yours. We can drive back to your apartment and drop you off, and then I can—”
“I’m going with you. You said your family created the Lord so it could destroy the entire universe, right? Well, I live in the same damn universe you do, so I’d say I have a vested interest in helping you.”
Kate laughed. “Does this mean you believe what I told you?”
“I believe enough of it.” They paused, then added, “More importantly, I believe in you.”
Lee reached over and took Kate’s hands in theirs.
“I know we’ve been dating less than a year, but I really love you, and I don’t want you to go through this alone. Besides, tough and smart as you are, you could probably use some help.”
Kate feared she was being selfish again, but she was relieved by Lee’s offer to accompany her on her bizarre mission. Truth was, she was scared to death at the thought of doing this at all, let alone doing it by herself.
“Okay. Thanks.”
She leaned over and kissed Lee.
When they pulled apart, Lee started the car and backed out of the driveway. Once they were on the road and moving, they asked, “Where to next?”
“Tressa said we need to go see my cousin Reyna. She has a bar in Oakmont, and she’s probably working there right now.”
“Oakmont it is.”
They drove in silence for several moments, then Lee said, “Try not to worry about me, Kate. I’ve got a pretty good idea what I’m getting into.”
Kate sighed. “That makes one of us.”
* * *
The five shades watched Kate and her friend depart. When they were gone, Felton padded out from behind the split oak and crept closer to them, but not too close. The beast he’d become a decade ago was reluctant to trust anyone, including the ghosts of family members.
Was that Kate? She’s so much older, Victorina said.
Time doesn’t mean the same thing for us as it does for them, Cordell said. I’m sure my Ethan is older too.
Reyna too, Lissette said.
It was so good to see her, Nila said. But so sad as well.
Our girl has a difficult job ahead of her, Dalton said.
A virtually impossible one, Victorina said.
Felton snorted, as if in agreement with her, but there was no way to know how much, if any, of the conversation between the shades he understood.
Perhaps Tressa was right, Lissette said. Perhaps it’s the Omniverse’s destiny to suffer. Suffering purifies and clarifies. It shows one who they really are, deep down at their core. Suffering is growth, it’s life. It’s the Gyre’s way of showing it loves us. It wants to make us the best we can be.
The tastiest we can be, you mean, Victorina said. Suffering is how the Gyre seasons its food.
Flavor to the feast, Lissette agreed.
The shades thought on this for a time.
It was Cordell who eventually broke their silence.
Tressa is gone.
Yes, we can all feel it, Nila said.
She cannot help Kate any longer, Dalton said.
We could help her, Victorina said. We know where this will end. If we can get there in time….
The farther we travel from the basement’s void, the weaker we will become, Cordell said. We might not be able to maintain our presence on this plane long enough to reach our destination, and even if we do, we might not be strong enough to make any difference.
But we can try, Lissette said.
We have to, Nila said. Kate has her friend, but there’s no telling what a friend will ultimately do. They’re not family.
Felton let out a chuffing bark, as if he agreed with Nila. The five shades waited to see if any of them had anything to add. When no one spoke again, they began moving toward the edge of the woods, floating soundlessly above the grass. After a moment, Felton followed, making no more noise than they did.
Chapter Eight
Ethan drove down the highway, heading back toward Oakmont. After his visit with Tressa and Delmar, he felt good – calm and relaxed. He was looking forward to arriving at High Strangeness and seeing Kate and Reyna. Last he heard, his brother was working there too, and he was hoping to see him as well. It had been a while since they’d been together. Neither Weston nor Reyna liked Caprice much, and they thought she had an unhealthy hold over Ethan. They had no moral qualms about what took place in the House of Red Tears, although Reyna had once told him she found Caprice’s business tawdry. But they felt Caprice was using Ethan for her own ends, especially Weston, who had tried on several occasions to convince Ethan to leave their great-aunt’s home. When Ethan told Caprice about how his brother and cousin felt, she’d said, They’ve fallen from the true faith. They preoccupy themselves with small degradations that do little, if anything, to speed entropy. They resent me because I remind them of what they’ve turned their backs on: their beliefs, their history, their family….
Ethan figured that Caprice was right, but Weston and Reyna were still family, regardless of what they thought of their great-aunt and him, and he hoped that when they came to understand that the Lord’s Incarnation was going to occur at last, they’d return to the fold. And if they didn’t? He’d brought along the butcher knife Tressa had tried to stab him with. It lay on the passenger seat, the blade and handle clean. Plus, a bar had dozens of glass bottles that, once broken, made excellent weapons, and chair and table legs made good clubs. One way or another, he’d manage.
He was in such a good mood that he didn’t even mind the way he was dressed. It had been slim pickings in Kate’s room, but he’d eventually a found a T-shirt that was larger than the others in her dresser, gray, with the words I Wanna Rock and Roll on the front. A past boyfriend’s? Maybe Kate had worn it to sleep in, or maybe she just liked listening to rock music and being comfortable. All that mattered was that the shirt fit him well enough. He was a skinny dude, but even so, he hadn’t been able to find pants that would fit him. The best he’d been able to do was a pair of jeans that were too tight and which he couldn’t zip up all the way or button. Luckily, the front of the T-shirt hung down far enough to hide this fact. Shoes had been a near-complete bust. His feet were simply too big for any that Kate owned. In the end, he’d been forced to make due with a pair of bright yellow flip-flops that had plastic daisies on top of the straps.
He might look ridiculous, but he still liked these clothes better than the white monkey suit Caprice was always trying to get him to wear. He had no interest in looking like Axton’s mini-me.
His phone lay on the passenger seat next to the knife, and it began vibrating. At the same time, music started playing, Black Oyster Cult’s ‘Don’t Fear the Reaper’. Too much on the nose for a ring tone, he supposed, but he liked the kitschy absurdity of it. He picked up the phone and steered with one hand as he answered it.
Caprice started speaking before he could say hello.
“Did you give my regards to your mother?”
Ethan grinned. “Not in so many words, but I think it’s safe to say she got the point – multiple times, actually.”
Caprice sighed. “What did I tell you about making after-murder puns?”
“That it mocks the holy solemnity of entropy. You know, you can be a real buzzkill sometimes, Caprice.”
She ignored the dig. “So you got the left arm?”
“I did.”
He hoped to hear her praise him, but of course she didn’t. She continued as if he hadn’t spoken.
“Have you gotten any other pieces?”
His first impulse was to lie, but she almost always knew when he wasn’t telling the truth.
“I visited Tressa and Delmar.”
“So you’ve got the eyes as well.”
“Not exactly.”
He told Caprice about what happened with Tressa and Delmar, leaving nothing out.
“I made Delmar tell me where Kate was going before he died. She’s heading to High Strangeness, and I’m on my way there now. Not only will I get the eyes, Reyna has the right arm, and I’ll get that, too.”
