by R. J. Ladon
“Wait a minute, didn’t you tell me this was a sex trafficking ring?” Grandma questioned. Kevin could hear the disapproval in her voice.
“Yes.” Johnny laughed. “But that was no human he had. You know those rubber dolls you can buy online.” He snorted. “He was having intimate relations with it.”
“What?”
“I know, I know.” Johnny slurped a drink and placed it on the table. “When he was brought up on charges, his defense was that he didn’t partake in the deflowering of the girls and boys he was charged to oversee.” Johnny’s tone turned somber. “What a slime. He expected leniency because he didn’t rape anyone. He only imprisoned them and took money from the rapists.”
“I heard a similar story about a fellow who robbed a bank, but the gun wasn’t loaded. So, he received less time than someone who used a loaded gun. I always wondered if those stories were true.”
“I don’t know about that case, but on this one, the guy got life. He won’t be eligible for parole until he is eighty.”
“You tell the most interesting stories, Johnny.”
“Bah, it’s nothing.”
“That was when you worked for the FBI, right?” Kevin didn’t hear the answer but assumed Johnny nodded. “What does AKG stand for?”
“Asylon Kryptos Gignoskein.”
“So, you work for some kind of foreign country?”
“Oh no, it’s nothing like that. AKG is in every country. We have unique jurisdictions. The words themselves are Greek. The only word I know for sure is Kryptos; it means hidden. But I think the word Kryptos as more of a puzzle. Like cryptography, where a cipher is used to solve a secret message.”
“A puzzle, huh?” Grandma sounded like a lovesick puppy. “I bet you’ve seen all kinds of strange things. Can you tell me what your job is like now?”
“No, I’m not allowed. Even if we were married.”
“Oh, Johnny,” Grandma Ruby said, her voice dripping with velvet.
Was Johnny trying to move in on Grandma? Johnny was older, but grandpa old? Kevin narrowed his eyes. He walked into the kitchen and looked in the refrigerator.
“Hi, Kevin,” Johnny said.
“Are you looking for something to eat? There’s deli meat in the drawer, with lettuce and tomatoes.” Grandma Ruby suggested.
“Um,” Kevin said noncommittally. He pushed the milk aside, then changed his mind and pulled it out, setting it on the counter. He grabbed the brownies and a knife and started cutting.
“You wouldn’t happen to have some ice cream, would you?” Johnny eyed the sweets, a half-smile on his face.
“Oh no, you can’t have any.”
“Kevin!” Grandma scolded.
“I’m bringing the brownies over to my sisters. I made Inez mad or scared, and I need to make peace. Brownies worked in the past.” Kevin begged with puppy eyes.
“So, you’re telling me there are only three servings?”
Kevin looked at the pan, with only two vacant spots. His shoulders slumped. “Okay, you’re right. There’s more than enough.” Kevin pulled out two dessert plates and placed a brownie on each. He deposited the plates before Ruby and then Johnny.
“So, Johnny, what are your intentions with my Grandmother?”
Grandma dropped her fork. “That’s none of your business.”
“We’re sharing stories,” Johnny said.
“I don’t think that’s all you’re sharing.” Kevin glared at Johnny. “You should know my grandmother has dementia. I’ll not allow you to take advantage of her.”
Johnny took Ruby’s hand. “I know. She told me. That is why I’m collecting her stories before she loses them forever.” He pointed at his phone on the table. The red light of the recording application blinked at Kevin.
“Oh.” Kevin looked at his feet, feeling embarrassed.
“You did the right thing to confront me and protect your Grandmother,” Johnny said.
Kevin turned away from Johnny. “I’m going to bring the rest of the brownies over to Mom’s.” He took the pan and left out the back door. As he walked, he wondered if he should have left Ruby alone with Johnny. That man didn’t appear to be everything he said he was. Kevin didn’t trust Johnny, but he didn’t get a save your Grandma feeling from him either.
Mom assembled sandwiches on the kitchen counter. She still wore her beautiful clothes from church. “Hello, Kevin. I wish you would come to church with us.”
Kevin smirked a little. “Didn’t Father Pat tell you? I was there this morning.”
“Were you now?” Mom looked at her son appraisingly. “Still, it would be nice to go as a family.”
“I brought over Grandma’s lava cake. I want to make up with Inez.” He set the pan on the table.
“I’m not sure cake will fix this problem. I don’t even know what the problem is.” Mom removed a few large carrots from a bag on the counter. She cut them into three-inch sections then halved them into snack-size with a large cleaving knife.
“I don’t know either.” Kevin turned to walk into the living room. He paused. “You know, Mom, you were right. I miss my sisters.” The knife stopped cutting for the briefest of moments, and Kevin imagined his mother smiling at him.
His father sat on the couch in the living room, wearing green and gold sweats, watching football. He clicked the remote to switch between two different games. He nodded a greeting to Kevin but didn’t say a word.
The girls were conspicuously absent. Kevin went to the game cabinet and pulled out Monopoly. He set it up on the dining room table for four players, hoping the girls would play a game with him. As he counted out the money, Mom came into the room with a tray of sandwiches.
Mom turned and spoke loudly into the house. “Come and get it.”
Dad appeared, grabbing a few sandwiches, and then ran back to the couch and television.
Mom rolled her eyes. “You’re welcome, Jerry.”
Dad grunted a response. He loved football, and there was nothing anyone could do to pull him from the television. Kevin never got addicted to the games despite his father’s attempts. He had more important things to do. Like, play video games, something he hadn’t partaken in since he moved in with Grandma.
“I’m going to change.” Mom tugged off her earrings. “Girls, food.” She shouted then went to her bedroom.
The girls ran into the dining room, and upon seeing Kevin, they stopped cold. Inez bit her bottom lip, then turned and ran back the way she came. Mina and Tess exchanged a look but continued forward, grabbing plates, sandwiches, chips, and carrots. Tess filled two plates and went back to their room.
Mina turned to leave but stopped. She faced Kevin. “Inez thinks you’re evil.” She sat across the table from Kevin. “I saw the creature you turned into last night.” Mina bit into a carrot.
Kevin blinked in surprise. “What did you see?”
“A monster.”
“Oh great, I’m a monster.” He tossed his hands. “A werewolf?” He looked down at the game.
“No.” She crunched into her chips. “I didn’t see any hair. Looked more like a demon.” Mina tossed a carrot, hitting Kevin on the head. “Shhh, Mom.”
“Mina, I’m scared,” he admitted to his sister. He picked the carrot off the table and ate it.
Mom strolled into the dining room, looking more comfortable in jeans, a tee-shirt, and a light jacket. “Where are the other two?”
Mina shrugged.
Mom gave her a stare. “Is Inez still hiding from her brother?”
Mina shrugged.
“This nonsense has got to stop.” Mom raised her voice so everyone could hear her, closed door, loud TV, or not. “You all need to get along. Talk, figure it out.”
Mina’s eyes widened. “But, Mom…”
“No, buts Mina,” she scolded.
“Mom. Stop,” Kevin pleaded. “Mina is talking with me. Please stop yelling.”
“Fine.” Mom turned on her heel. “I am going to Janet’s house to partake in a Footba
ll Widow’s Party. Your father will be here. But he is watching football, so he really isn’t here, is he?” She left the dining room and then the house. Her car started, and she was gone.
“Now, that’s melodrama.” Mina rubbed her chin and smiled as if she were taking notes.
“She’s right, you know. I miss you three. I miss the trouble and games.” He gestured with his hand toward Monopoly spread out on the table. “But most of all, I miss the talks we’ve had, even when we talk about nothing.” He felt foolish. He changed his tactic. “How about a game? Maybe the others will join us.”
Mina raised her eyebrows. “A game? With me?” She laughed, a deep and hearty belly laugh. “You’ll lose, of course.”
“Maybe.” Kevin picked up the dice. “I’d like to play anyway.”
Mina grinned. “Yes, this will be fun. Tess isn’t a challenge, and Inez cheats.” She shook her head when Kevin offered the dice. “No, you go first.”
“You’re not allowed to have fun without me.” Tess stood in the doorway, hands on her hips. “But she needs a handicap. Five hundred, take it, or leave it.” Tess pointed scathingly at Mina.
“That doesn’t seem fair.” Mina pouted.
“Fair?” Tess yelled at Mina. “What do you know of fair? You never study, and still, you get straight A’s. I study and retake tests, and I’m lucky to get a B. So…If you’d like an alternate handicap, I can hit you in the head with this.” She reached on the far side of the doorway, producing a Louisville Slugger, a maniacal grin on her face.
Mina eyed the bat. “Five hundred seems fair. What about Kevin? Do you think it’s fair for him?”
“He should get an extra…two hundred.” Tess tapped the bat against her other hand. “Right, Kevin?”
Kevin looked at Mina, who nodded encouragingly. “Yes, that’s an excellent idea.”
“Good.” The bat skittered across the floor, out the arched doorway, and into the hallway. Tess settled onto a bench, taking an extra five-hundred-dollar bill. She looked at Kevin then nodded to the bank. “Well?”
“Sorry, lost in thought.” Kevin reached into the bank and removed two, one-hundred-dollar bills. “This seems like a different side to you. I’m not sure what to think of the threats.”
Tess smiled. “Aw, thank you, Kevin. We tone it down for Mom. She gets bent out of shape easily. If we behave, we can have gymnastics lessons for Christmas.”
“Speak for yourself. I want Bobby Fisher or Coding lessons.”
“And Inez?” Kevin said quietly.
“Martial arts.” Mina and Tess said together.
Kevin nodded. That made sense. “Don’t you think Dad can hear what’s going on?”
“Football.” The girls said as if that explained everything.
“Can you keep all this,” Kevin waved his hands about, “toned down until Christmas?”
“We have to.” Inez entered the room, bat in hand. “It’s a form of bribery. Mom gets what she wants.” She smiled a humorless smile. “We get what we want.”
Kevin felt the urge to run. His sisters seemed older and creepier than just a couple days ago. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a moment, trying to find calm. He opened his eyes to see Inez moved closer to his side. The bat was on her shoulder, waiting, begging for use. He cleared his throat. “Um, Inez, would you care to join us?” Kevin was surprised by how calm he sounded.
“No, I prefer to stand right here to make sure you don’t hurt my sisters.” He could have sworn her eyes flashed red. “Besides, Monopoly on a table this long is only suitable for three players.
“I have no intention of hurting anyone.” Kevin protested.
Inez looked at him like he was an idiot. “This Kevin,” she poked his flesh with a finger, “isn’t a problem. It’s the other Kevin.”
“Other Kevin?” He looked to Mina.
Mina nodded.
“I see.” Kevin swallowed. “Inez, Mina, Tess,” he looked at each of them. “I don’t know what happened or how it happened, but I think you’re right. I blackout every night. My clothes get ripped up. Just this morning, I woke up in a cemetery, naked.”
Tess giggled at the word naked. Mina lifted her eyebrows, and Inez dropped the bat off her shoulder.
Kevin continued. “At first, I thought I was a werewolf. But Father Pat said a cemetery and a church are consecrated ground, and nothing evil can go there.” Kevin shrugged. “Mina told me the thing she saw wasn’t furry.”
Inez let the bat touch the ground and moved by her sisters. She squatted, and the three talked in their secret language. It was disconcerting watching them as if they had a hold over his actions, his soul. Like they could give him permission or give him death. Kevin shook his head, trying to shake the feeling that his biological sisters were something more. Like Benny or himself.
Tess looked at him, frowning.
Instinctively Kevin knew he should keep his mind quiet. He focused on the little silver game pieces, sitting on the board, noticing how the light bounced off their corners and bumps. He let his eyes blur, making the edges of the silver pieces disappear, and the reflected light grew to gain color, then moved and stretched into surreal shapes.
“Kevin.”
He felt his body roll in his chair; someone shook him.
On the far end of the table were the triplets, playing Monopoly. Kevin blinked. The game was in front of him moments ago.
“Kevin.”
He looked up. “Oh, hello, Ruby.” To his ears, he sounded drunk. “What’s going on?”
“I sure would like to know.” Grandma looked at the girls.
Mina waved off the accusation. “He’s fine. He was meditating, and we didn’t want to disturb him. So, we moved the game to this side of the table.”
“I didn’t know he could meditate.” Grandma forcefully opened Kevin’s eyes wider.
“We didn’t know either. But Kevin does an outstanding job.” Inez said.
“I’m hungry,” Kevin heard himself say.
“You didn’t slip him something? Did you?” Grandma asked the girls.
“Of course not,” Inez said. “That wouldn’t be any fun.”
Grandma Ruby made an unusual noise and then sat next to Kevin. She pushed a sandwich into his hands. Kevin ate mechanically, food in the mouth, chew, swallow, repeat. He continued until the sandwich was gone. He stopped and stared at the game the girls were playing.
“How long have I been sitting here?” he asked.
The girls shrugged in unison.
Kevin ate some carrots, watching the girls. “Um, Ruby.” He waited to see if she would look at him.
“Yes?”
“The girls think there is an evil monster in our house,” Kevin said.
All three girls gasped then held their breaths, looking at Grandma.
“Bah, I know evil, I’ve seen evil. I would feel it. There’s no monster in our house.” Grandma studied the triplets, daring them to say otherwise. “Rapscallion would have warned me if he sensed something. No, I stand by my first impression, nothing evil.”
“Maybe it’s a monster that’s not evil? A good monster?” Kevin proposed. “Is that possible?”
“Why not? Evil is about action, not appearance.” Grandma Ruby folded her arms. “You’re old enough to know that simple truth.” She stared the triplets down, daring them to argue with her.
“Like beauty and the beast,” Tess said dreamily.
“Exactly,” said Grandma.
“Oh, brother,” said Inez. “I can’t believe how far our conversation degraded.”
“Are you friends with your brother again?” Grandma asked Inez.
“Until he does something stupid,” Inez said.
Kevin felt more like himself after eating. What happened to him? Why did he fall into a stupor like that? Did his sisters drug him? Was it a monster side effect? He looked out a window and noticed twilight was setting in.
“I need to get home.” Kevin stood. “It’s getting late, and I don’t feel
right.”
“Give me a minute, I’ll come with you,” Grandma eyed the triplets, then went into the living room to talk with her son.
Kevin watched the girls play their game for a few minutes before realizing they made purchases and payments to each other without saying a word.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ve had enough weird for one day. Ruby, I’m going home.”
Chapter 31
K ragnor opened his eyes. He was back in the house, back in the bedroom. He was confident he slept in the cemetery.
On the desk, a book laid open. In the spine was a yellow object that smelled like wood. Kragnor moved it aside and noticed a cup-like-container that held similar items. The pages had blue horizontal lines across them. Someone wrote a paragraph, out of curiosity, he read.
Sunday, October 18, 2026
This morning I awoke in the cemetery at St. Stephens (naked). After a conversation with Father Pat, he’s convinced that I am not a werewolf. He suggested I keep a journal, hoping that with self-reflection, I’ll discover what’s going on. This is my first attempt, and I don’t know what to write.
Grandma has dementia and sees things—I hope it’s not genetic.
I don’t know if I am sleeping; I have no dreams.
My sisters are acting strange, even for them. I brought brownies to Mom’s, and I believe they like me again.
Hopefully, I won’t wake up in a cornfield tomorrow.
The bottom lines were in a shiny grey script while the top was written in deep blue ink. Kragnor looked across the desktop for a quill and inkwell. His eyes lingered on the yellow object that sat in the spine of the book moments before. He gripped the instrument and wrote with the pointy end.
He swept left and right, making circles and geometric shapes. “Fascinating.” The cup-container had other objects with a similar design. He dumped it, watching the tools roll across the table. He picked a short one that smelled like candles, placing the tip to his finger. It left a spot of orange on Kragnor’s flesh. The soft, creamy texture of the crayon was a delight. He moved his exploration to his arm, captivated by the amount of color left on the rough surface of his skin. The orange crayon broke. He frowned.
