And so with this issue comes to an end the Family Reunion arc. We're
about to enter into a Fan.Boy crossover, which will occupy this series
for the next few issues. It's gonna be _cool_. Then, directly afterwards,
brace yourself, because... well... =)
Heh.
Thanks to the reviewers of issue eighteen:
Pam VanMuijen
Kelly Pekrul
Jamas Enright
Jaelle
=========================================================================
DERELICT Press Presents
The nineteenth issue of
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" Song and Dance "
A psuedo-Acraphobe title
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Paytan awoke to the heat of the morning sun on her face, baking
through the two layers of blankets she had needed so much last night.
With a groan she threw them off and rolled out of bed, opening sleep
encrusted eyelids unhappily. She was exhausted. It felt like she hadn't
slept at all last night. After a few moments of pawing around in her
overnight bag coming up with a change of clothes Paytan stood and glanced
at the sword lying dully across her night table.
" Good morning Dirmarw," she whispered quietly. Something stirred
faintly in her mind in acknowledgment, but no raspy voice issued forth
from the folds of her subconscious as it had done for every morning for
the past year of so of her life. Paytan sighed. He was probably just
sulking about something, that was all. That was all.
A few moments later the door to her room slammed open, admitting
the rainbow-colored form of Brittany Reeves, attired in the ever-present
trenchcoat of many colors, plaid shorts, a forest green blouse, and one
fuscia sock. Paytan winced as Brittany skidded to a halt, narrowly
avoiding tumbling head over teakettle onto the bed.
" Brittany, is there any way you could be less of an eyesore?"
she asked. Brittany gave her a look of total incomprehension.
" Good morning to you too, Paytan. Hope you slept well. The
ceiling wasn't a problem?" Brit paused momentarily to stare upwards,"
Well, it's still there, so I guess you didn't bother it too much. We've
gotta get to breakfast - Maug's discovered a way to find the Notes!"
" Maug?" asked Paytan tiredly. She reached down to grab her worn
out tennis shoes.
" My grandmother," elaborated Brit, already halfway out the door.
She spun and the tail of the trenchcoat filled out behind her for a
second before she disappeared around the corner, like the downstroke of a
ghostly wing... Paytan blinked, and for a second clouds of white doves
and a thin spear of stone thrusting tilted from the earth flashed through
her mind. Then she shook her head and slipped the second tennis shoe onto
her foot. She was at the door a moment later, and heading out into the
hallway. The sun shone strongly through the window behind her, baking
away the night's unreality and replacing it with a quiet undercurrent of,
if not sanity, then something akin to it. Sometimes she had the strangest
dreams...
-=ð=- -=ð=-
Downstairs was chaos distilled into physical form and forced into
a set of three medium-sized rooms. Paytan gave up keeping track of the
number of people related by blood to Brittany who introduced themselves
to her, and just kept nodding, something resembling a smile plastered
onto her face. After a while everyone assumed that she knew who they
were, and left her alone. She spotted Brittany's little cousin Billy in
one corner with a few other kids playing some kind of boardgame, and got
an occasional glimpse of Brit's Aunt JoDean as she rushed in and out of
the kitchen, decked out in a frilly blouse, riding pants, and cowboy
boots. Paytan barely got a chance to talk to Brittany, though the younger
girl would dart periodically back to her side to make sure everything was
all right.
The minutes passed slowly. Food was brought out, and a few toasts
were made over orange juice or whatever everyone had managed to pour into
their glasses. Paytan didn't toast anything, just continued to watch the
amazing variety of people passing before her eyes. Everyone seemed to be
waiting for something, or someone. They kept looking towards a small
closed door of to the side of one of the dining rooms, and there was
constantly a small clear area free of people around it. Other than that,
the only item of interest was Binky, burbling carelessly away atop the
pedestal Tim had set him upon yesterday afternoon. The pillar was set in
front of the door through which everyone seemed to enter, and like
clockwork, every single one of Brittany's relatives dropped to their
knees in front of him and bowed their heads. Seconds later they would
arise, and go on with life as normal. As if after that first instant of
worship, Binky no longer existed.
Halfway through the buffet of random food that had been dubbed
breakfast, Paytan glanced up to notice yet another one of Brit's
relatives watching her coolly from across the room. Paytan matched the
woman stare for stare. The woman was small, with hair so dark brown it
was almost black. Her eyes were a murky hazel, and she looked completely
unassuming, until one realized that the baggy sweatshirt she wore covered
a muscular set of arms, and a probably equally muscular body. Paytan
wondered briefly how long she planned on playing staring contest, then
froze. The woman had shifted slightly, a mere twitch of the leg and a
toss of the head. But her entire demeanor had changed subtly from mere
oddness into a madness that only killers could fall into. As if the
sweatshirt and glass of orange juice had suddenly peeled away to reveal a
darker, far more edged creature. She breathed like a demon breathed,
though Paytan, slow and stalking and without any comprehension of mercy.
The woman smiled at Paytan, as if sharing a private secret between the
two of them.
" Viveka," hissed Brittany. Paytan started. She hadn't even heard
her come up.
" That's your other aunt?" hissed Paytan back. Brittany nodded,
then pulled Paytan around a corner and out of sight. Paytan managed to
catch a last glimpse of Viveka, glass raised ironically in their
direction, the twisted smile still flashing across her face.
" Don't get too near her, okay?" said Brit, glancing nervously at
the doorway. A tide of relatives swept around them. "She's really angry
at me right now, and I don't know if she'll take it out on you or not."
" _That's_ who you were talking to in the attic last night?"
whispered Paytan.
" Yeah. She wants me to quit the LNH and stay here," replied
Brit. Then she snorted. "I'd like to see her try."
" Yeah well, I get the impression your whole family isn't happy
with you joining the LNH _or_ bringing me here," replied Paytan.
" They'll just have to deal with it," muttered Brittany. She
opened her mouth to say something else, but at that moment the door which
everyone was ever so studiously not paying attention to swung slowly
open, and she stopped. The whole room stopped, in fact.
Into the silence echoed a thin, weak squeaking noise. Like rusty
wheels. It echoed into the sudden silence like fingernails across a
chalkboard, growing progressively louder, until its source emerged from
the darkened doorway. Paytan felt Dirmarw thrash in her mind the same
time she stumbled backwards from the sudden sense of power that hit her.
The old woman in the wheelchair gazed towards her emotionlessly. She was
thin to the point of starvation, yet she seemed healthy enough. A dirty,
fraying dress made of shapeless material was draped over her form,
looking as old as some European castles. The skin hung limply across her
frame, and her hair was the old bone yellow that ivory gets after aging
uncared for centuries. And yet a sense of pure, unadulterated magical
prowess seeped from every pore of her body.
Everyone in the room bowed their head, and Paytan almost fell to
her knees. She could feel Dirmarw inside her skull, practically climbing
the walls of her mind in his desire to own power like that. But even he
was afraid of it. Or too unsure of his charge's magical prowess to take
the old woman on.
" Lily! Violet! Get up here," said Maug. Her voice came out clear
and unsullied by any form of aging rasp. She sounded as if she were
twenty, and free of any thought of age. Like clockwork, from the group of
Reeves' stepped two women. The first, Lily, was the same young lady who
had halted the snails back in the fields with a push of a button. Her
black hair was still ponytailed neatly atop her head, but she had
exchanged the white labcoat for a tank top and a pair of jean shorts,
though they too were cluttered up by various gadgets and machinery
affixed to them. The second woman was old, in her late seventies at
least, her skin tanned to a deep leather brown by the sun, and more
wrinkled than a raisin. She had two, two-foot long sticks affixed easily
to her back, over the loose, formless piece of clothing she wore. That
must be Violet, thought Paytan distractedly. Her nerves were still on
edge from the sheer nearness of Maug's magical presence.
" Now then," continued Maug, leaning forward in the wheelchair,
hands gripping the armrests. " JoDean has discovered a way to find the
Notes. It will work. All of you will listen to her, and do as she says
for the duration of the search. All of you," she emphasized, her gaze
falling on various certain members of the assembly. Viveka was one of
them. Brittany another.
" Well, I _think_ I've discovered a way," muttered JoDean as she
stepped forward, lifting her spectacles to the bridge of her nose
carefully before continuing. She grinned nervously. "It has to do with
the vibrational frequencies the Notes give off. Theoretically, though
their physical forms have not been transported through space and time,
the knowledge contained within their pages has, through Tim's memory.
This causes the physicality of the Notes to exist in two places in any
one time in our population's memory base. There is ours, the
control, and Tim's which is altered in the respect that he knows the way
they will have been altered in the future. These two conflicting bases
interfere with each other on quite a few metaphysical planes, completely
undetectable by we mere humans, exacerbated by the fact that we are all
from the same pool of blood and genetic relations. Now ordinarily, this
wouldn't be any help at all. We have no way of detecting these
metaphysical alter-planar vibrational frequencies generated by the
conflict. However some of current experimental evidence - "
" JoDean. Just tell them what you want them to do," ordered Maug.
JoDean's shoulders drooped.
" Oh all right," she said quietly, then brightened," We're going
to use the snails!"
" Are you sure it's safe, honey-bird!?" yelled one man in the
front row. JoDean smiled at him reassuringly.
" Yes, sugar-muffin. As long as Violet and Lily and everyone
knows what they're doing. Now be quiet and let me finish."
" That's my Uncle Bob," whispered Brittany. Paytan nodded.
" Well, to put it scientifically," JoDean glanced over at Maug,
sitting silently behind her the wheelchair," Er... Okay, to put it
simply, the snails can find the Notes. The attic's already been combed
over so many times that we found a little wooden chemistry set on wheel
that I lost when _I_ was a little girl. By now the Notes could be
anywhere, so we're going to release the snails into the entire property.
We just have to send them out, follow them, and make sure we get to the
Notes before they eat them. There'll be two teams, one with Lily, one
with Violet, since you two are the only ones who can control the snails.
And with each of them will be four or five people, armed, to help fend
off the snails when they find the Notes. Got it? Does anyone have any
questions?"
" They understand," said Maug,"Get on with it."
" 'Kay. Well, Lily has to go down to her lab to get her stuff,
and we have to pick teams. Billy, go get the walkie-talkies from the
fourth floor attic - "
" The one with the giant stuffed duck?" asked Billy.
" No, the one with ceiling arrangement of alien love poems that
Tide brought back from his brief stay at Alpha Centauri." Billy ran off.
"We need some people to go with my sugar-muffin, too, and get some good
energy rifles and stuff." Brittany bounced up and down, waving her arm in
the air.
" We'll go! We'll go!"
" Good. Okay, everyone else over on the left of the room! We have
to pick teams! Any one who doesn't move, has to be my guinea pig for the
next two days!" cried JoDean exuberantly. The entire room gravitated
towards the left wall. Paytan rolled her eyes as she followed behind
Brittany and her Uncle Bob, heading towards one of the house's side
doors.
-=ð=- -=ð=-
It was a short walk out to the silo. The building towered up less
than a quarter-mile away from the house, a huge and rusted cylinder with
decaying top, the holes patched over with large sheets of waterproofed
canvas. It looked like one of the main settings for a bad horror movie.
Evidently it was also Uncle Bob's main place of residence. Bob was the
kind of man who, in a conventional home, you'd find out in the back
tinkering around with the cars every chance he got. He was wearing a
bright yellow polo shirt, stained with grease and just barely managing to
hide a medium-sized pot belly. He was a cheerful enough guy, however,
even when he had to force the rusted door open to let them in.
" Darn thing always does this," he said cheerfully, motioning
them inside . Brittany giggled and trotted into the dark portal, Paytan
following warily behind her, wishing faintly that she hadn't left Dirmarw
up in her room. She could still speak with him, mind to mind, but it was
more comforting to actually have him with her... and she had been on edge
ever since last night's strange dream.
Then she heard Bob flip a switch behind her, and gasped as the
lights came on. All the lights. Level upon level had been built into the
insides of the silo, floor upon floor. Each of the walkways projected
from the walls about six feet, then terminated in a wide rail to keep
anyone from falling into the huge area of space that was left running up
to the top of the silo. Space filled by the half-constructed body of the
biggest energy gun Paytan had ever seen. Bob smiled proudly.
" That baby's my summer project. Soon as I get her finished,
whoooeeeee! But we're not here for her. Brittany, you and your friend go
up to the fourth and fifth levels and snag three wide-range beam rifles
and one of the sharpshooters. I'll get the handguns from down here," he
said. Brittany nodded, then grabbed Paytan's arm and ran towards the
ladder up to the next level.
When they reached the third level Paytan finally stopped staring
at the massive energy gun at the center of the silo.
" Geez, Brittany, with stuff like that, your family could be
another world power!" she hissed. Brittany paused for a moment to
consider the gun.
" Yeah kinda," she said," When my family gets angry its not a
really good idea to be around them, I guess." The wind moaned through the
silo then, low and cold. It began at the very base of the old edifice,
and flew upwards, brushing through Paytan's hair chillingly.
" I'll say," muttered Paytan. She wondered for a moment how many
things these people had stashed away in various attics and barns, thrown
into corners and forgotten about. She wondered what lurked unknown in
this farm in the middle of Wyoming, and how much damage it could cause if
brought to light. Brittany seemed unconcerned, scampering up the ladder,
squirrel-like and cheerful as always, heading directly up towards the
fifth level. Paytan sighed just as she stepped onto the fourth, then
took in a quick breath when something caught her eye.
It would have looked almost like a sculpture, if not for the
gears and pistons and sprockets collected in chaotic glory around the
original smooth glass shape. One end shaded from crystal clarity to a
deep fuscia hue at the other, and gold wire had been carefully wound
around the glass and gears alike, engineered so that at no point did it
interfere with the operation of the machinery. It was all bolted
securely to velvety black base, holding it up about three feet off the
floor. Yet dust coated its length, and it looked as if it had not been
touched for a very long time.
The wind moaned again through the lower reaches of the silo, and
Paytan realized for the first time just how high up they were. The weird
sculpture was set off to one corner, not in the direct line of sight. She
looked at it again, curiously. It looked so out of place here, among the
guns and weapons that filled the silo.
Brittany paused, already halfway up the ladder leading to the
fifth floor. She spotted Paytan, standing on the fourth floor watching
something, and stiffened.
" Um, Paytan, we should probably just go and get the guns..." she
said softly, then went quiet. A moment passed until she finally sighed,
and jumped down from the ladder. Her feet hit the floor with a resounding
clang that echoed up and down the height of the silo, paralleling the
wind for a brief instant. "Paytan, we need to get the guns - "
"Brittany, what _is_ that? And why is it the middle of a silo
filled with laser weapons?" asked Paytan, cocking her head to one side
quizzically and staring at it. Brittany stayed near the ladder she had
leaped off of, leaning against it as if for support. She watched the
machine/sculpture silently, taking deep, even breaths, then shifted and
glanced towards Paytan.
" One of my Mom's machines," she muttered. Paytan waited for her
to continue, but no speech seemed forthcoming. Maybe this wasn't
something she should be asking about, thought Paytan briefly.
" Hmmmm. That's cool," she said, then tried to change the
subject. "So where is your mom anyway? The rest of your family's
here."
" She's dead," whispered Brit, turning again to head up the
ladder that lead to the fifth level. Paytan bit her lip.
" Oh."
" Yeah. C'mon, you get the three wide-range rifles from down
here, and I'll go up and get the sharpshooter." Brittany reached the
ladder and practically hurled herself up it and out of sight.
-=ð=- -=ð=-
After three tries, Paytan finally found the case with the
wide-range rifles in it. It was off to the corner, at the most distant
point from the ladder. She sat back on her heels and brushed a stray lock
of hair out of her face tiredly. The dust around her had gotten into her
nose, and she had to keep sniffing to keep it from running. For a vague
moment she wished she and Brit were back at LNHHQ, and away from this
crazy place, but it passed quickly.
With a heave she managed to get the three rifles out of the case
and onto the floor next to her. She shut the case gently, flipping the
clasp shut and trying not to breath in any more dust.
" Heya! You girls found everything all right up there?" yelled a
voice from below. Paytan heaved the guns onto her shoulder and glanced
over the railing to see Brit's Uncle Bob standing on the floor of the
silo, yellow polo shirt dimmed in the murky light.
" I've got my three!" she yelled back, then glanced up to the
level above her. " Hey Brit! You find everything?"
Silence.
" Brittany?" asked Paytan. The wind moaned again, loud and long,
through the silo and around it. Paytan shivered, watching the unmoving
darkness in the level above her. No one answered. She walked forwards a
few step, to the edge of the platform, and leaned against the railing.
" Bob?" she asked, and he waved back at her," I'm going to stay
in here, okay? I'll meet you back at the house later." Bob nodded
understandingly, and Paytan dropped the three rifles down to him. A
minute or two later she heard the outer door creak open slowly, then slam
shut with a high screaming whine. And she was alone.
" Brittany?" asked Paytan again, walking slowly towards the
ladder that led up to the next level. There was no sound of movement from
the level above, let alone a reply. Paytan sighed, and started up the
ladder. The metal was cold in her hands, and smelled of old rust.
" C'mon Brit, if we don't get back to the farmhouse soon we'll be
trapped when they let loose the snails," cajoled Paytan, reaching the top
of the ladder, squinting into the shadows around her searchingly.
Nothing. Only silence and cobwebs. She waited one moment more, staring
pensively off into space, then started back down the ladder.
" Fine then, if that's the way you want it. I'll just head back
myself," she muttered. Around her the wind moaned again, lonely.
-=ð=- -=ð=-
Outside the wind had begun to pick up. It rushed through the low
weeds scattered around the base of the silo, and beyond it, deep into the
fields. It grabbed at Paytan's hair and sent it into her eyes, tangling
it and blinding her at times. In the distance, at the borders of the
Reeves' property, the evergreens bent _into_ the wind, branches whipping
wildly. Paytan sighed and crossed her arms, wishing she'd remembered to
grab the jacket that was still in her overnight bag, back in her room.
She glanced at the farmhouse, looming imposingly nearby, some
misformed child of weirdness, wandered out of the land of imagination
into the middle of a Wyoming prairie. Over half of its windows were lit,
and she could see Brittany's relatives moving restlessly within, their
shapes darkening a window for a brief instant, then moving on. She saw
Bob, climbing the back steps to the kitchen, the energy guns slung
casually over his shoulder. Off to her distant left, a hovercycle glowed
bright yellow, its two passengers guiding it towards the snail fields.
She could feel Maug's sorcerous aura even out here - the old woman was
restless, almost nervous. But there was no sign of Brittany.
Paytan growled something incoherent to herself, and turned
around, hands on her hips. The silo still loomed behind her, dark and
ever so empty. She couldn't just leave Brittany alone out there.
Especially when she didn't know what was wrong. Paytan turned in a slow
circle, squinting at the ground nearby. Off to one side of the silo, some
of the taller weeds had been crushed and turned aside. As if someone had
recently gone through them. Paytan smiled grimly to herself and started
into the brush, following what she hoped was Brittany's trail.
The wind continued to dance around her as she walked, until
Paytan finally pulled a dirty scrunchie out of one pocket and used it to
try to corral her hair into some semblance of a low ponytail. She
followed the weak trail, letting the occasional crushed stalk or
carelessly trampled bit of vegetation guide her.
Minutes passed while she walked, with only the wind and Dirmarw's
heavy silence for company. The cold cut through her T-shirt like a knife,
and she shivered, rubbing her arms. Couldn't Brit have picked a warmer
time to run off into the wilderness? She reached the top of a low hill,
and drew in a deep breath. Below her the hill dropped slowly away into a
shallow ravine, paved with a short black-top landing strip. Resting
heavily atop the pavement was a massive train, circa 1885, with numerous
technological additions seemingly stapled on to its body. So Brittany's
Great Uncle Brown _was_ here somewhere thought Paytan wearily.
By the time she reached the train itself, Paytan could tell that
it was empty. No sign of Brittany, or anyone that might have seen her
pass this way. Just the massive engine and a single car, sitting lonely
out in the cold and under the late morning sky. And even worse, once it
hit the blacktop, Brit's trail stopped entirely. Every other side of the
cement landing strip was bordered with unbroken walls of weeds.
Paytan clenched her fists in annoyance, and stalked around the
entire perimeter of the landing strip just to be sure. Then she circled
the train once, peering underneath it and inside it cautiously. With a
sigh, she leaned back against the engine, staring pensively back the way
she had come. The silo towered up, an iron spike piercing the sky, and
beyond it sat the Reeves' farmhouse, just where she's left it. The trail
just ended, with no rhyme or reason. Her mouth twisted into a frown,
Paytan looked up at the gently sloping sides of the ravine to either side
of her. No signs of forced passage there either, but for the way she had
come. There was no way Brittany could have gone but back, yet if she had
doubled back on her trail, why hadn't Paytan seen her? She couldn't just
disappear into thin air, and Brit had shown no previous evidence of an
ability to fly.
Paytan growled, again, and stalked up the other side of the
ravine. She'd have to head back to the farmhouse. It was stupid to wander
out here in the middle of nowhere, without even a trail to guide her, and
a horde of flesh-eating snails about to be let loose. She just hoped
Brittany had gone back already, and wasn't trapped out in the middle of
this.
She turned to head back home, back towards the warm insanity and
assumed safety of the Reeves' farmhouse. Off to her left something
fluttered, wildly and uncontrolled. Paytan spun, one hand reaching for
Dirmarw's hilt before she remembered she still didn't have him. But it
was only a small bird, thrashing in the weeds just off to the side of the
landing strip. Moments passed quietly as Paytan watched it flap and
jitter in the brush, without any knowledge of her presence. It looked
hurt. She walked carefully over to it and knelt down.
It was a dove. Feathers stained by dirt and thick black
substance, with tiny glittering black eyes watching her as if she were a
cat. One wing was snapped, hanging limply in the dirt. Paytan watched it,
remembering faintly something that had to do with doves. But the memory
was gone, as quick as it came, and the bird was hopping awkwardly away,
dragging the splintered wing and dirty feathers. Paytan frowned faintly.
Wounded as it was, the bird wouldn't live long anyway. She might as well
give it a quick death. Or, now that she thought of it, there was probably
someone back at the house who could take care of the thing until it got
better.
" Shhhhhh..." whispered Paytan, gently grabbing the bird with one
hand and lifting it towards her. It opened its beak wide, and made an odd
little squarking noise, completely unlike any sound Paytan had ever
heard any bird make. More like a walkie-talkie than anything else she
thought faintly. And the black stuff that coated the bird, and now her
hands, was nothing like blood. Paytan sniffed at the stuff
experimentally, and narrowed her eyes.
It smelled like oil. And it was sticky like oil, staining her
skin and the ground the bird had lain on. Paytan frowned, and rubbed her
fingers together thoughtfully, smearing the black stuff against her
fingertips. The bird shuddered in her hand, its feathers puffing outwards
protectively, eyes narrowing into black slits. Then it opened its mouth
and _screamed_.
It was a long metallic thing, a sound no living thing should
make. Full of bent metal and the bursting of tubes. Paytan dropped the
bird to the ground and covered her ears, sprawling backwards awkwardly as
the thing's decibel level continued to increase. Her heart beat three
times, and the wind picked up, throwing a few strands of hair into her
eyes and mouth.
In the distance the scream was echoed and returned, bouncing back
just as full of unnatural noise and feedback as the first. And it was
getting closer. Paytan jumped to her feet and spun, staring in the
direction of the call. The wind tossed through the weeds, sending
ripples reaching up towards the top of the shallow ravine, the low
rustling of plants contrasting oddly with the metallic wail crashing
around her ears.
In a flash of white, something rose over the top of the ravine
and sailed down it, skipping across the rippling sea of plants like a
stone across the waters of a lake. Two more white feathered bolts
followed in the first's wake, skirring low and fast along the tops of the
weeds. They tumbled and spun through the air, high-speed acrobatics
sending them hurtling forward like pale jets, the high wailing call they
made falling off and then coming back strong, a siren scream who's real
source still had not crested the ravine's top. And then it did.
Three more doves, like a miniature vanguard of soldiers appeared
at the top of the ravine, mouths open in the same eerie call, a
computer's whine given earsplitting power. They were the source, tiny
bodies producing a noise so alarmed and fearsome that every animal nearby
was cowering in the dirt. And they were circling Brittany.
Her face was set in a annoyed mask, one corner of her mouth
twisted into an unsatisfied frown as she stomped into view from the other
side of the rise. The three birds circled her continuously, dropping and
rising to different altitudes, dipping and looping and rolling, tiny
bodies seeming to strain with the effort of keeping the complicated dance
in motion around the girl whom they danced for. For the first moment,
Brittany didn't even know Paytan was there.
And for the briefest of instants, Paytan's subconscious supplied
to her the image of a thin stone tower tilted to one side, in faint
outline behind Brittany. There was no moonlight to provide an unearthly
glow, only the late morning sun beating relentlessly down, and the
unnatural
wind, taking the tail of Brit's trenchcoat and sending it flapping behind
her arythmically. The eerie song had been replaced with a jarring banshee
howl, and no dark hallways of ghostly footsteps existed to provide mood.
The doves were there, though, and that hint of unreality running
counterpoint beneath the warm sun, and below the rustle of the weeds.
And for a mere second, during the space of time that the earth
traveled a few tiny feet as it hurled helter-skelter round the sun, for a
blink of the eye, Paytan saw something of Brittany that she had never
seen before. A part of her friend well-hidden and cloaked, something that
existed in a world that so assured it of its regality that no crown was
needed, no staff of power. Just a simple glance of annoyance, ringed in
that palpable but truly invisible aura of confidence that all those who
were destined to rule wore around them always. Then Brittany turned
slightly, and for a second that gaze fell upon Paytan, then flickered
away instantly.
" Paytan!" yelled Brittany, and grinned, then bounded down the
slope towards her, arms flung outwards. Paytan watched her come,
marveling at the complete lack of any regality around the girl, let
alone grace. When things were calm, and they were both back inside,
thought Paytan firmly, there would be questions asked. But there was no
time now.
" What the hell are you doing out here?!" she yelled in way of
reply," They're going to let loose the snails any minute now!"
" I was having a talk," said Brittany firmly as she slowed to a
stop a few feet away from Paytan. " With Aunt Viveka."
" With Viveka?! In the middle of a field about to be covered with
piranhas in shells?!" yelled Paytan. Brittany lifted her left arm up
level with her shoulder, and the six doves fluttered onto it, roosting
neatly in a line. From the brush came a peculiar squarking sound, and
Brit turned and crouched on the ground, gently scooping up the last dove,
still leaking oil, with her right hand.
" She was killing my birds," said Brit matter-of-factly.
There wasn't much Paytan could say to that. Beyond the general
questioning of Brittany's sanity, or lack thereof, which never seemed to
get her anywhere anyway. So she just stood there with one eyebrow raised
until Brittany sighed and explained a little.
" My mom made them for me. She liked to tinker with things,
machinery and stuff. They were a birthday present. And now Viveka's angry
because I won't stay here, and she's trying to kill them all. So now
they're coming back to the LNHHQ with us. And if Panta eats them I'm
going to be miffed at her, too," chattered Brit, glancing nervously over
her shoulder. "We should go back. She's still out there somewhere."
Paytan felt the skin between her shoulder blades tingle, and she
shivered. She hated being surrounded, or not knowing if or from what
direction an attack would come. And frankly, Viveka scared her more than
some demons.
" Good idea," she said, then turned back towards the way she had
come.
" No," said Brit," I know a quicker way. C'mon." She hurled her
left fist upwards, launching the six doves from her arm and into the sky.
The birds began to fly a protective guard pattern around them, diving low
to the ground as if searching for hidden watchers. Then she was moving
into the weeds, Paytan at her heels, heading towards the farmhouse and
the rest of her family. This reunion had certainly taken a turn for the
worse, thought Paytan, glancing at the dove Brittany held gently in her
hands. It didn't look like a made thing, a creature of gears and
switches. But then many things here were not what they seemed.
-=ð=- -=ð=-
They made it to the house before the snails did. Only by a few
minutes, but they made it. JoDean let them in through the back door of
the kitchen, then went back to monitoring the two hunting parties as the
snails rushed across the property. Paytan leaned against the doorway,
pretending to watch the monitors coating every wall of the small
surveillance room of to the side of the kitchen. They covered every inch
of the Reeves property, especially the walls and the gate. And Paytan
hadn't even noticed a camera. But what she was really watching was
Brittany, who was watching the search with an interest too intense to be
faked.
She was normal, perfectly normal, for Brittany at least. Not even
a hint of the young woman who had stood on top of that ravine and watched
the world around her with a will of iron. Paytan shifted, moving the
bruised area of her shoulder where the snail had bitten in yesterday
off the doorjamb, then levered herself off the wall entirely and stood.
" I'm going to go get my stuff, okay Brit?" she asked. Brittany
glanced briefly at JoDean, who was studiously pretending not to have
heard the question, then looked up at Paytan.
" That sounds like a good idea. I'll call Insomnia Boy and tell
him to pick us up soon," replied Brit, and turned to go into the living
room through the other door. Paytan exited through the kitchen, and
headed towards the stairs. Funny how something you expected to be all fun
and weirdness could turn out so differently, she thought. She'd expected
Brit's family to be something of a circus of sorts, and some of them
were. But Viveka wasn't. And Maug wasn't. And in a very small way,
Brittany wasn't much either.
They had their arguments and feuds like any other family, only
perhaps with more extreme results and reactions. Paytan opened the door
to her room, and began to gather up her clothes from the bed. People were
funny sometimes, how you thought you knew them, only it was just a part
of them. Before yesterday, she had never particularly considered the fact
that Brittany must of had a mother _somewhere_. Brittany seemed like she
had sprung full-grown from some wild carnival night, and been released
into the world to sow havoc. She just wasn't someone one could imagine
having been raised from a child. Paytan had paused to check under the bed
for a stray sock when the room's door slammed shut behind her.
She spun to her feet, her right hand closing around Dirmarw's
hilt, left hand snagging the handle to her duffel bag and tossing it onto
the bed, out from under her feet. Viveka leaned against the closed door,
smiling quietly.
" Hello Paytan," she said, arms crossed over her chest, still
wearing that loose red-brown sweatshirt she had worn at breakfast. Paytan
glared at her, bringing Dirmarw up in a defense position and slowly
beginning to gather her power around her. Viveka smirked back at her.
Paytan realized faintly that she was taller than the older woman. Not
that it helped any.
" So this _is_ your room," said Viveka lightly. "I wasn't quite
sure, when I didn't find you in it, last night." She stepped forward,
smoothly pushing herself off the door and towards Paytan a few steps.
"Where were you? A trip to the bathroom doesn't take that long. Even with
Shirley's sheep blocking the hallway."
" Why should you care?" asked Paytan evenly. Damned if she was
going to cower into a corner and let this woman intimidate her.
" Oh I care very much," said Viveka quietly, a dirk suddenly
appearing in her left hand. " My niece wasn't supposed to bring any
friends with her when she came. Friends know too much. And now, instead
of staying here with her loving family, as soon as they find the Notes,
she's going back with her _friend_. To the place where there's so many
television cameras and monitors that one can't but help to catch her on
film multiple times." Paytan didn't understand the intent behind half of
that statement. Maybe, thought a tiny part of her mind, maybe Viveka is
nowhere near as stable as I thought she was... But something clicked, and
a few of the other pieces did fall together.
" You did it, didn't you?" asked Paytan suddenly," The Notes. You
just wanted Brit back her so you could have a chance at her. They were
never lost, just briefly mislaid. By you." Viveka smiled coldly at her.
" Brittany has to stay here. Or so many things will begin to
happen that shouldn't, that shouldn't even be conceived for a very long
time. And if she has to stay here without you, then so be - "
" Aunt Viveka!" barked Brittany from the doorway. Viveka spun,
cut off in mid sentence, glaring. They matched each other stare for stare
as time crawled by, silent and slow as amber molasses. Paytan watched, as
an entire argument went on in front of her, without a word being said, a
muscle being moved. Then Viveka glanced down.
" But you have to stay," she said, the dagger flashing once
against the sunlight then disappearing from sight.
" I don't have to do anything any of you say anymore, Viveka,"
said Brittany firmly. " Deal with it. Now, Paytan and I are going to go
out front and see Tim off, then leave by the front gates. And they _will_
be open when we get out there, right?"
Viveka watched her silently, like an angry wolf that knows it's
chained to a wall, and that the prey is just out of reach. As if she
wished the chain were just a little longer, or her teeth just a little
bit sharper... She finally grunted in agreement, and turned to look out
the window.
"C'mon Paytan," said Brit. Paytan grabbed her duffel bag and
tossed it onto her shoulder, but she kept Dirmarw drawn until she was out
of the room and downstairs heading towards the front door. She could feel
Viveka's steady gaze on her back all the way down.
-=ð=- -=ð=-
They had found the Notes a few moments after Paytan had left the
monitor room. Just under the back patio, underneath a bunch of bushes and
tall weeds. No one knew how they had gotten there, except for, Paytan
suspected, one person whom she didn't see for the rest of her stay there.
There was a brief flash of movement in one of the upper story windows
while Brittany was hugging Tim good-bye, but Paytan couldn't be sure it
was Viveka. Not really.
Tim seemed overjoyed to see they had found the Notes, and
entirely unaware of the plotting that had gone on around him. He hugged
everyone good-bye, and kissed Brittany on the cheek. Then to everyone's
surprise, he walked to Paytan and put his hands firmly on her shoulders.
" Be strong," he said to her, then smiled a lopsided sort of
smile, as if he was sorry he couldn't say more. Then the universe swept
him up in a cloud of time, and he was gone, heading into the past, into a
world where everyone he knew was always getting younger and he always
older. She hoped his glasses didn't get any more bent up than they
already were.
Everyone was leaving, it seemed, and tearful farewells were being
said all around her. The only people who remained permanently on the
farm, evidently, were JoDean, Bob, and any relative who was currently
lacking in any other place of residence. Paytan searched the crowd for
Brittany, then finally spotted her coming back from the house, Binky held
securely in her arms. Of course, thought Paytan ruefully, couldn't leave
the fish behind. The head of a dove peeked briefly out of one of Brit's
trenchcoat pockets, then disappeared, and a few large airholes had been
poked in the body of her overnight bag. Insomnia Boy was due to key in
the pick-up about five minutes from now. Paytan sighed. Things were
certainly going to be interesting when they got back home.
Little did she know.
________________________________________________________________________Binky, Dirmarw, Kismet, Lily, Out-of-It Lass, Perdition, Tim, JoDean,
Weirdness Girl, copyright Jennifer Whitson, 1995. Heck, everybody in here
is mine.
Next Issue:
CROSSOVER! CROSSOVER! Bing Bing Bing! Go over to Fan.Boy #16 and
see what's happening there, then wander on back to Misfits #20
for the results!
========================================================================
