NOVEL NEXT Chapter 23: Eclipse, Part 1
We followed Rob, leaving the last of the undergrowth behind. Within moments of properly breaking the tree line, I could feel dozens of eyes locked onto myself and especially Erica. Shouts began to ring out on all sides, and the people who’d been outside the walls began rushing towards the gates, and the few sentries I could see on top of the wall began to crowd on the nearest edge, drawing their weapons. We stopped dead, raising our hands above our heads and trusting that nobody up on that wall would get too trigger happy. Rob just kept strolling forward, hands in his pockets, as he called out to the guards.
“Cass! Tommy! Good to see ya both! Mind not aiming those things at my new pals?”
A wave of voices rose from the people on the wall as they began to whisper among themselves until finally one of them spoke up. A woman, who looked close to Rob’s age, stepped forwards and called down to him.
“Your new pals? Rob, we’re not letting those things in here! I have a responsibility to protect this damn town, and I’m not gonna let two monsters just wander in!”
Rob just sighed as the woman continued.
“Look Rob. I’m willing to let this slide, and those two can just walk away, but I’m not opening this gate! I want them gone, and I don’t want them coming back. I won’t ask again!”
Rob was tapping his foot as she spoke, hands still in his pockets as he waited for her to finish.
“You done?”
She looked like she was going to start shouting again, but Rob cut her off.
“Cass, let them in. They’ve been on the road ever since the world went to shit, you know what that’s like, how things were before Cyrus found you. They’re kids, just a couple of college gals. They were taking classes downtown less than two weeks ago.”
The woman - Cass - seemed lost in thought, suddenly much less certain than she was before.
“Just one night Cass. Can we at least give ‘em one night? Good food and a warm bed, just once, before we send ‘em on their way.”
She breathed in, deep, before letting it all out in a huff.
“Fine Rob. They get one night, but I’ll be watching them, and I want them gone by noon tomorrow. Open the gate! Cyrus will be back soon anyway, it’s not like they could try anything with him around.”
Well, we were certainly off to a great start, weren’t we?
The guards finally lowered their weapons and the gates creaked open, revealing a crowd of people just behind it, all of them gathered around to see the odd pair that had come to visit. I found myself shrinking backwards, peeking out from behind Erica’s considerable bulk. She gave the crowd an awkward wave.
“Hi…”
A chorus of gasps rang out from the gathered onlookers and several of them flinched backwards. The murmurs and the eyes and the people on all sides of us left me feeling small. I guess I kind of was. I hadn’t fully come to terms with just how much I’d changed until this moment, having only had Erica (and recently Rob and Co.) to go by. I was easily the smallest person here, five foot nothing at most, and I was really feeling that. I was about two seconds away from asking Erica if she’d be ok with leaving, but then a new voice emerged. A boy, probably about eight years old, wormed his way through the crowd and stepped forwards, staring at Erica in awe.
“How’d you get so big?”
Several of the adults in the group took tentative steps forwards, yelling for the kid to step away, shouting that we were dangerous, that we’d hurt him. Erica just crouched down, getting down to the kid’s level, as she smiled.
“Heh, I eat my veggies. Lot’s of them.”
We wouldn’t hurt the kid, of course we wouldn’t. I thought that maybe, maybe this would be a chance where we could prove it. Nervously, I stepped out from behind Erica, leaning on my friend’s shoulder.
“It’s true! See my teeth and claws and stuff? That’s cuz I’m a meat eater, and I’m hardly bigger than you!”
I was trying, really really hard, to come off as friendly and non threatening. Every ounce of my will was focused on suppressing whatever that weird aura I seemed to radiate was, and it looked like it was working. The crowd looked like it was relaxing somewhat as it became clear we weren’t going to just lunge at the kid or something, but it was obvious they didn’t want him getting any closer. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Cass was there, looking down at me with an odd look on her face.
The kid looked like he was about to come closer, but Cass stopped him with a wave of her hand.
“Why don’t you go play with the others, Derek? These two will be staying here tonight, you can ask them whatever questions you have at dinner. For now, they probably need some time to get settled in.”
She leaned down and whispered quietly into my ear.
“I’ll be watching you. Do you understand? If you hurt him or anyone else, I’ll make damn sure to hurt you a thousand times worse…” She paused, “Now go. Clean yourself up. Take it easy. We have showers down by the river. You’ve… you’ve been through a lot.”
Standing up, she looked at Rob then addressed the crowd.
“Now move on! There’s nothing to see here, and we’ve all still got work to do!”
The crowd began to disperse as Cass patted me one more time on the shoulder. She climbed back up the wall, standing on a sturdy looking walkway, and suddenly it was just me and Erica, the humans nearby going about their business and at least pretending they weren’t staring at the two “monsters” now wandering their midst. I looked at Erica, still in her low crouch, with my arm resting on her shoulder. I laughed nervously.
“Well that was… tense.”
“Yeah, no kidding. So Pipsqueak, wanna go wash up? A real shower sounds pretty nice right now.”
I nodded and started walking towards where Cass had directed us. The people nearby were giving us a wide berth, but I tried not to notice, or at least not to care. They’d never seen people like us before, I couldn’t blame them for being nervous. We’d take our showers, have our food, rest for the night, and be on our way soon enough. I hadn’t given up on reaching Willow, and maybe these guys could help. If their leader really had a potion that could give you wings, that’d certainly make things easier. We’d just have to wait and see.
As it happens, we didn’t have to wait long. As soon as I’d finished washing up, I smelled the intoxicating scent of roasting meat washing over me from the town’s center. I grabbed Erica’s massive hand in mine, and she allowed me to drag her down the streets towards that delicious aroma. I’d made it about two blocks when suddenly, in a flash of gold, a man dropped from the sky in front of me, landing silently in a casual pose in spite of the speed of his descent. Cyrus, it had to be. He looked shockingly average, a fairly athletic white guy in his mid forties, his graying hair and dense stubble giving him a slightly rugged look, he was remarkable only in the bright gold of his wings and scattered scales. His wings were shrinking right before my eyes, and the scales melded slowly with the rest of his skin.
“Well ain’t this an odd sight. Cass filled me in while I was flying over.” He gestured towards a walkie-talkie he had on his belt. “Glad to meet you. Both of you.”
He’d been looking up as he spoke, staring into Erica’s eyes, but now he looked at me, and his eyes shone gold. Something strange happened then, something stirred deep in my gut, some overwhelming instinct that left me sick to my stomach. He was ordinary, painfully ordinary, but something was so terribly, nightmarishly wrong, I just couldn’t say what.
He seemed to drink me in, devouring me with his eyes. His friendly smile was feeling more predatory by the moment, and I stood transfixed. What was he? He wasn’t human, he couldn’t
be human. What was he?!?The same as you, my instincts told me. He is like you, but older, bigger, stronger.
That realization hit me like a freight train, and dozens of painful, frightening emotions welled up within me. Something deep and primal was writhing in my head, the nature of whatever the hell my species even was kept screaming at me, raging, and leaving me rooted to the spot.
Older, bigger, stronger.
My inner voice just kept chanting
Older, bigger, stronger.
He was talking to Erica now, still smiling, and she didn’t even notice.
Older, bigger, stronger.
Shut up shut up SHUT UP!
…
He’ll kill you.
He could, and he would. I knew that. I didn’t know how I knew, but I did. As I came to terms with that, as I reconciled that idea in my head, I felt my mind split into three parts. One part, the smallest, wanted me to fight. It was raging against this fear, against whatever his eyes had done, it wanted me to rush him, to gouge him, to bite and rip and tear and not stop until he stopped moving. I’d stop moving first though. He’d win. I knew that. I’d just be killing myself with extra steps.
Another part, larger but not the largest, wanted to run. It wanted me to fly as fast as my legs could take me. Away from Cyrus, away from this town, away from even Erica. To run and run and run until I couldn’t run anymore. That wouldn’t work either though. He’d catch me. He could fly after all, and when I was finally exhausted, finally spent, I wouldn’t have the strength left to fight. No. I couldn’t run.
The last part, the largest part, revolted me. The last part told me to submit. It told me to fawn over him, attend to his every need, and pray for his mercy. It told me that all other paths would do nothing more than prolong my death. This part told me the only path to survival was complete and utter obedience. It made me want to puke.
He locked eyes with me again, he was saying something, but I couldn’t hear him. His smile, it seemed, had grown wider, as though he was aware of the conflict boiling inside me. Maybe he was. He stepped towards me, and that was too much. The straining instincts in my head snapped all at once, and instead of listening to any of them, I just collapsed. I felt my consciousness fading, and I heard Erica scream. Cyrus was at my side, he’d caught me before I fell, and now my head was in his lap. In my last waking moments, I saw him lean down, whispering softly in my ear.
“Sleep, little moon. I still need to pay you back for last time, look forward to the dawn.”