In spite of what Duncan had said, Richard didn’t want to wake up. Even though the sun directly overhead beat against his eyelids.
He covered his eyes with a hand over his brow and lifted his head to look around. Everything was bright. Like the dazzle of sun on the snow. The ground looked like cheap gold polished until the tin underneath showed through.
Rocks dug into his lower back as he curled forward. Put his hands flat behind him to push himself into sitting. He tensed to lift his knees, and nothing happened.
Just a hollow grunt of effort.
His chuckle came out before he could stop it. Once he heard it, he let it become a full laugh. “That fucking figures.”
Bobby sat up with his eyes closed. His head hung forward, and he pulled his legs in to sit crisscross applesauce. “What figures?”
“Legs are dead again.”
His head came up, then he stared through slitted eyelids. “Why does that figure?”
Richard shrugged. “I don’t know. It just doesn’t seem unexpected, is all.”
Bobby leaned back to mimic Richard’s position. “You’re a sick man, you know that?”
Carter sniffed a trail through the gravel then crawled up Richard’s numb legs.
How he wished he could feel his little friend’s feet on his skin.
When the raccoon perched on his thighs with his nose pointed up, Richard’s hand rose almost on its own. The fingers found the fuzz under Carter’s cheeks.
As he scratched, the air filled with Carter’s satisfied chittering and he tensed in enjoyment. The simple act helped Richard relax. He sighed through his smile, and Carter lifted his chin out of his hand.
… there …
With a single nod of his furry head, Carter tipped his nose back to the ground and walked away.
Richard laughed again. He was oddly upbeat. Carefree and confident. The word that best described his mood was one that he was unwilling to say out loud.
Carter turned to look at him from the corner of his black eyes.
… positive …
Richard shook his head. “You smug little bastard.”
Carter shrugged as he continued his exploration.
“My leg don’t work, either.” Jericka sat next to Bobby, her natural leg stretched out next to the sheen of Girl Power. She put her hands under the metal knee and lifted. The creaky tick of the EM actuators sounded like a tap-dancing millipede.
Jericka nodded. “She’s dead, boys.”
Andrea scooted over through the dirt and rocks until she was behind Richard. Tucked her knees under her, sat back on her heels. Pulled Richard into her so he could relax, then massaged his shoulders.
She leaned forward to put her head next to his, and he smelled her. Nothing but the essence of what she was.
Pleasant and comfortable, and … just right.
Duncan’s voice sounded like the echo of a bass drum. “It’s about time.”
Richard looked up, but Duncan was standing with his back to the group. His head looked like a frosted light bulb sticking out of Titan-shaped lamp.
With his hands behind his back, he looked like a man admiring a rose garden, but the only thing Richard could see was the washed-out town of Hollow Hills.
He leaned his cheek into Andrea’s. “About time for what?”
Duncan shook his head. “Possibility moves at the behest of the collective, but it can also be directed by the observer. Sometimes, it is best not to attempt to alter the course of natural decay.”
Bobby threw up his hands. Pointed to his left, where Naomi sat with her arms across her body in a desperate embrace. Her face was as hollow as the town. She rocked back and forth in the dust.
“Change what you just said into English, and then tell it to her.”
Duncan turned to face them. Instead of the soft understanding that Jerry displayed, his face was stern and disapproving. “I can tell her nothing that she doesn’t already understand.”
Bobby jumped up then bravely stabbed the air in front of the Titan’s face with his forefinger. “You know, you’re a lot meaner than your brother.”
Duncan nodded. “I’m also not as stupid.”
When there were no more words forthcoming, Bobby spun around and stomped away from the group. As he passed Richard, he hissed, “Asshole!”
Andrea pushed off Richard’s shoulders to stand. “Now what?”
Duncan turned back around to stare at the invisible flowers. “We wait for the one that brought us here.”
As she bent down to help Naomi to her feet, she looked back at Duncan. “And who was that?”
“Telling you would not prepare you.”
Richard snorted. “You feel big because you know something we don’t? Cuz you can hold something over us?”
Duncan tipped his head. “No, I feel big because you are small.”
A dead calm settled across Richard’s shoulders. Jericka slapped the lock on Girl Power’s knee then stood like a pirate at sea with a wooden peg. Dropped her chin in a nod.
Richard leaned forward to set his hands in his lap. “I can bring you down a notch or two, big man.”
Duncan turned around with a sneering smile. Jerry’s face had been kind and beautiful. Duncan’s was hard. In the shadows created by the frozen sun, he looked cruel. “Do you think this is wise, little man?”
Richard grinned, but he kept his eyes hooded. Stared into the sparkling obsidian of Duncan’s gaze. “It’s always wise to let a bully know where you stand.”
“You think me a bully?”
“No. Like Bobby, I think you’re an asshole, and I’ll be damned if I let you get away with treating me and mine with disdain.”
Duncan leaned back with widening eyes. “That is some word coming from you.”
“How about scorn, shit heel?”
Duncan tilted his head in consideration. “Scorn is not bad.”
“Your head looks like a circumcised dick. How about derision?”
Duncan’s eyebrows drew together, and his sneer widened. “You are treading dangerous ground. I am not my brother.”
“You’re right about that. He didn’t look like a vampire with a thyroid problem.”
Duncan’s face changed to an expression of confusion. “Why do this?”
“I already told you. You’re welcome to treat me however you want, just know I ain’t gonna stand for it.”
Bobby laughed. “It looks like you’re not gonna stand for anything.”
Duncan looked at Bobby with disgust. He dropped his gaze back to Richard. “Surely, you know that to challenge me will result in failure.”
Richard shrugged. “Maybe.”
Duncan’s confusion deepened, and he brought his hands from behind his back. Held them out like he was waiting to be handed a gift. “I don’t understand.”
Jericka put her fists on her hips. “You sure you’re not as stupid as Jerry?”
Bobby held his hands up. “Whoa, whoa. Who said Jerry was stupid?”
He didn’t seem to mind being ignored.
Duncan dropped his hands to his sides. “I’m growing weary of this. The moment approaches, so tell me what you mean. Be plain.”
Jericka pointed at Richard. “He doesn’t care if he loses. He doesn’t even care if he dies. He will fuck you up. And you will learn who the bigger man is. And if you fail to get that lesson the first time, I’ll be right behind him.”
Bobby stepped back into the circle. “And even though I’m inherently lazy, and violence terrifies me, and I don’t really know how to throw a punch … really, it’s like a slap fight when I get mad. Plus, I have a fear of albinos, but—”
Jericka smacked her husband in the chest with the back of her hand. “Bobby!”
“Ow! What? I was just letting him know that I was gonna be next. Jesus, lady.”
… then me …
Duncan looked down in surprise, and his sneer became a surprised smile. Carter stood on his hind legs with his front paws in the air like an old-timey prizefighter.
Richard nodded. “So get your aggression out now, sweetie. It’s the last time it’s gonna be this easy.”
Duncan’s face took on some of the warmth Richard remembered from Jerry. “Humans. Rushing headlong into the unknown because your lives are so very short. Reacting to the turn of the clock.”
Richard was confused by the sudden change in the Titan’s demeanor, but he held firm under Duncan’s stare. “The fuck you want from us, Duncan?”
Duncan nodded. “You are right. I expect too much.”
Richard relaxed his shoulders. Leaned back with his hands behind him. “And we don’t expect much at all.”
Duncan looked down at his feet. The top of his head reflected the sun like a polished knob of bone. He clasped his hands behind his back. “We are on the point of a needle. Frozen in the moment where opposing desires stave off mutuality—that is, the point where we fall from the needle or get skewered by it.”
“And what are the desires? Are they ours?”
The corners of Duncan’s mouth turned down. “They are not yours … ours.”
Richard smiled at the Titan’s self-correction. “Then whose are they?”
“Jerry is one.”
Richard sighed. “And the other?”
Duncan glanced up at Naomi. Rolled his gaze to Richard. “The Dark Father.”
Naomi flung herself from Andrea’s grip. Her teeth sparkled under the red effort in her face. She screamed into Duncan’s face with wordless rage.
… nolay weeloh …
YOU BE STILL WILLOW GIRL
Naomi reeled as if she had been slapped. She put her hands over her ears and spun back into Andrea’s arms.
As if born of the dust blowing through the air, the Dark Father appeared out of the bright haze. The bright sun washed away the light of the flames in his eyes. The glow in the back of his throat was a dim orange.
The thin fascia over his intestines glistened like a wet condom stretched to its limit.
The muscles and ligaments under his melted and burned flesh slid over each other like bloody snakes. His flayed skin trailed behind him as if caught in a headwind only he could feel.
Bobby curled his lips in disgust. “Speak of the devil.”
YES FIRE EATER
Duncan smiled at Richard before turning around to address the creature standing under a sun that exposed the horror of his form. “Have you come to negotiate?”
I SEE A SHADOW BUT NO FORM
“You can hear me well enough, though.”
The Dark Father bowed his head.
I CAN HEAR THE SHADOW MAN
“And I can hear you, Willis Kemp.”
Despite having no lips, it was evident the Dark Father smiled. “That name exists only in the memory of his mother.”
Bobby stepped back and swept his hand toward the Dark Father. “This bag of rotting guts is Willis Kemp? That guy was a fucking dipshit.”
The Dark Father leaned to send his gaze past Duncan’s huge form.
BE SILENT FIRE EATER
“Go fuck yourself, Kemp.”
The Dark Father patted his leg like he was calling a dog.
… piyameh sa kaneela …
COME TO ME
Bobby’s hand dropped, and he stepped forward with his mouth hanging open. Duncan turned and held his hand against Bobby’s chest. When Bobby struggled to dodge the Titan’s grip, Duncan slapped Bobby in the face.
The crack of his hand echoed like a gunshot in a valley.
Bobby’s head rocked back. He dropped straight to his knees. His teeth clicked together as he fell over onto his side.
Jericka lunged with a shout, but Girl Power dumped her on her hands before she could get to her husband.
The Dark Father straightened with shake of his head.
WILL YOU PREVENT THEM ALL SHADOW MAN
Duncan crossed his arms. “If I have to, I’ll kill them before letting them take your mark.”
Richard nodded. “And if he won’t, I will.”
The Dark Father tipped his gaze down to meet Richard’s stare.
CRAWL
His dead eyes compelled him. Richard felt his muscles contract unbidden. His body was going to betray him and answer the monster’s commands. He imagined roots growing from his useless legs. They penetrated the ground and held him firm. The urge to obey passed.
I SAID CRAWL HALF SOLDIER
Duncan looked down with an impressed tilt of his head. He looked back at the Dark Father. “I don’t believe you have this one, Kemp.”
Orange fire belched from the Dark Father’s mouth when he growled in frustration.
WHERE IS YOUR DARK BROTHER SHADOW MAN
“You tell me, Kemp.”
I AM NOT THE SHADOW MAN WHERE IS YOUR DARK BROTHER
Jericka crawled to Bobby and curled on top of him like she was shielding him from a coming explosion.
Duncan shrugged. “To tell you the truth, I don’t even know where I am.”
Orange smoke billowed out of the Dark Father’s mouth to envelop Duncan’s head. The Titan waved it away like it was no more offensive than cigar smoke. “You’ve got some power here, but while we are thus displaced, it is limited to your mentalist stage show.”
YOU THINK I WILL NOT SACRIFICE SHADOW MAN
Duncan turned his ear toward the Dark Father as if he hadn’t heard him. “I think I will not budge, Kemp.”
VERY WELL
The Dark Father raised his hands, and his mouth opened in a hanging grin that made Richard’s guts tighten.
MY REVENGE NEEDS NOT BE SO GRAND SHADOW MAN
Duncan stepped back in a rush. Turned his eyes to the sky like he was watching for falling debris.
Richard tipped his gaze up but saw nothing but the brilliant sun.
I WILL BRING FORTH THE PLAGUE FROM UNDER THE GROUND
Duncan took another step back. His heels bumped into Jericka and Bobby, then he threw his hands out for balance. His face had none of the arrogance from before.
FOR IF I CANNOT LEAVE SHADOW MAN SO WILL NO OTHER
Duncan lost his battle with gravity. He fell back like a tree abused by a hurricane wind — flailing limbs and loose roots.
The Dark Father shot both hands above his head. Locked his fingers as if he held some object between them. He bent at the waist then swung his hands like chopping a tree.
The sun rocketed across the sky. Feeling flooded back into Richard’s legs. The muscles twitched in instant recovery, and as night moved from darkness to the blossoming light of dawn, the air filled with a distant howl.
Richard sat up on his knees and shuffled to Bobby.
The sky south of Holsterman ignited into blue and orange fire. A ball of rolling flames crawled along the surface of the dome in time with the movement of the sun. The air burned in front of it with a hissing growl, and the concussion of the blast lifted a haze of dust from the ground. Blew heat into his face.
He joined Jericka, spread himself out over the couple.
Duncan rolled away to rise onto all fours then straighten with grimacing strain stretched across his face. He lifted his hands as the Dark Father had, and the approaching flames slowed … stopped.
Their wail settled to a hum, then disappeared.
Richard heard the panting breaths of everyone in the circle and the hateful chuckle of the Dark Father as he dissolved back into the swirling grit that floated in the air.
SO IT IS
Richard looked away from where the Dark Father had been, and tried to roll off Bobby like Duncan had.
His legs were dead again.
“Figures.”