Curse of the Red Evil

by Zel Spasov

  He quickly stopped this stream of thoughts. He couldn’t allow himself to think that way—it made his job more difficult. But now, in the arms of his wife, close to his children, the dark and cold night outside whispered to him to stay home.

  “We'll figure something out; we'll survive somehow,” Anna said as she hugged him hard. “Stay. Just for tonight.”

  He wanted to stay. He wanted it more than anything else in the world. He lowered his head over hers. He could just surrender. Let go of his sword and ditch headhunting. He imagined the peaceful nights surrounded by his family, by the love and tenderness he so desperately needed. He could stay. He wanted to stay.

  “I—” Bernard began to say, but the words stuck in his throat.

  God, his brother would’ve done a better job at this than him. Firstly, he wouldn’t have let his family live in such miserable conditions. Secondly, the captain was more restrained and even-tempered than the monsieur. Strangely enough, the headhunter sensed the presence of his brother, as if he were looking at him from the corner of the room. He could almost hear the encouraging words his brother would tell Anna if he were here. There was a strong connection between the two of them that sometimes bordered on the supernatural. They were like two sides of the same coin.

  Monsieur Gèroux was on the edge. Just one night. No more. His heart begged him to stay.

  Suddenly, pain flooded his body. The images he had seen previously flashed again in front of his eyes. The first one was of him as a Royal Bounty Hunter, surrounded by the loving embrace of Anna and the cubs. This picture was followed by the human's face, which was etched into his memory. The words “CATCH HIM! CATCH HIM!” echoed in his ears. His blood boiled. A thirst for revenge, too deep and powerful to be ignored, took over him. He lost himself in it. He swam in a fiery ocean of rage that threatened to drown him. The anger wasn’t his. It belonged to a Creature containing a vast evil. Bernard barely distinguished Its dark, monstrous silhouette outlined against the fiery elements swirling around him. When he tried to identify the image beyond the storm, the fire spat him back into his body. In front of him he could only see the face of the human fugitive.

  The foreign thoughts and feelings gradually faded. The headhunter knew what he was supposed to do.

  There was no choice but to go. Reality would soon hit his family hard. Without money, they wouldn’t be able to pay the rent and buy food. As small as their home was, it was a home. A place that kept them away from the street. And though their main meal was potatoes, they weren’t hungry. For the family to be safe and warm, Monsieur Gèroux had given up everything. He had sacrificed himself; his heart had become a stone, his body an instrument. All this, he did for them. If he stayed for even one night, his efforts would have been in vain. Because if he didn’t catch the fugitives, he wouldn’t be able to pay the rent, and there would be no money for food. They would be on the street without a prayer. And that wasn’t the end that Bernard had planned.

  He hardened his softened heart and wiped the tears from his eyes. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they weren’t the eyes of a husband and father, but of a hunter. A killer.

  “I have to go,” he said, his voice covered in steel.

  He walked out of the house without saying anything else. He put on his hood and his cloak and disappeared into the night, under the moon and the stars.

  As he headed for the city gates, Monsieur Gèroux walked past the burning debris of the demolished houses. Smoke from many extinguished fires filled the air. At the same time, the corners of the city were full of drunks, dancing flamenco, salsa, and other dances. Everyone was celebrating as if there was no tomorrow. Perhaps there wouldn’t be. A group of merrymakers tried to draw in Bernard into one of their dances, but he slipped away and left them behind. His determined figure disappeared amid the drunks in the streets; his dark cloak was lost in the multicolored festivity. The moon shone with a red hue, the music was wild, the feelings were running high.

  ***

  In the partially demolished prison of the palace, Jean the Frog was locked in a small cage inside a cell together with three of the apprehended badgers, since the rest of the intact cells were all filled with other prisoners. Jean was quietly contemplating his fate.

  This time he was beyond redemption. No Resistance was coming to free him—they were locked up in here with him. C'est la vie. He had led a relatively good life. To be frank, every kind of life would’ve been good after surviving that nightmare in the pond. He still remembered how hundreds of his brothers and sisters had swum toward him in a desperate attempt to eat him. The childhood trauma he had gone through had left the Frog with a deep distrust toward everybody. He had trusted Cayden before, when he was king, but after he had abandoned them and disappeared, Jean had lost his confidence in him. The human had betrayed him, an act Jean couldn’t forgive easily. The time spent together with Cayden breaking into the castle and escaping prison after nearly dying had been delightful, and it had reminded the Frog of the old Cayden. Jean had even tried to forgive Cayden for what he had done. However, Jean still remembered how Cayden had vanished suddenly and without explanation, throwing the Frog’s world into chaos along with everyone else’s. He had ditched them in their greatest hour of need—when the Evil was overtaking the city, killing thousands in the process. Jean despised the Red Evil. It was a being made out of pure hatred and anger; whatever it touched with its corrupted tentacles withered and died. And Cayden was somehow connected to it.

  And then there was Monsieur Gèroux. The Frog and the wolf knew each other; they had even worked together in the past. In the end, Bernard had betrayed him too. Now the monsieur was hunting him for the bounty on his head, which he valued more than their friendship. Jean lived in a city, surrounded by enemies, with no one he could trust. The only friends he had were the Sloth, the Rabbit, and the badgers from the Resistance. Only they had always stood by him and had never stabbed him in the back.

  The badgers were discussing their circumstances.

  “What are we going to do now? It’s so depressing in here,” said one of them, named Gregor. He was the romantic one.

  “We'll get out of here,” replied another, who was called Peter. He was the one with the plans.

  “And then we'll get back at the guards,” said a third, named Theodor, in a growling voice. He was the tough one.

  Jean had doubts regarding the success of their undertaking. The badgers' plans usually failed miserably. Partly because Peter wasn’t very good at planning, and partly because Theodor listened and agreed with everything, and then proceeded to attack the first opponent that came his way.

  “How exactly are we going get out of here?” Gregor asked.

  “As I said, I have a plan,” Peter replied. Jean wasn’t surprised.

  “I have a bad feeling about your plan,” Jean said.

  “Me too,” said Theodor. “Do you remember that girl Gregor fell in love with?”

  “Which one?” Peter asked.

  “The hairdresser.”

  “Lilly,” said Gregor.

  “No, before her, the other one. Her father owned a soap boutique.”

  “Ah, Christine,” said Gregor. He looked into empty space with glazed eyes.

  “Exactly! Peter wanted me and him to go bother her while she brought water from the well, and you’d come to save her from us. Do you remember how that turned out?”

  “Her brothers came, and then I had to save you from them,” said Gregor.

  “Yes, but we beat them up as well,” Peter said.

  “You couldn’t walk for three days after that,” Theodor said.

  “And then they put us in jail,” said Gregor.

  “All right, one of my plans didn’t pan out. But how many others have saved our asses?” said Peter stubbornly.

  “Not many,” said Gregor. “What about the time we wanted to steal shoes?”

  “Yes, Peter wanted to distract the shoemaker while you were swiping the shoes under his nose,”
Theodor said.

  “The plan would have worked if Theodor hadn’t seen one of Christine's brothers working in the shop, and he hadn’t charged him like a wild beast!”

  “And then they put us in jail,” said Gregor.

  “Again,” said Peter.

  “What was I supposed to do?!” Theodor’s voice rose. “Let him work in peace after the beating he gave us?!”

  “Christine was so pretty,” said Gregor.

  “Oh, please!” It was Peter's turn to be outraged. “Every week you swear you've met the love of your life.”

  “This time it’s true!” Gregor said. “Her name is Maria...”

  “Which Maria is that one?” Theodor asked.

  “She's the only Maria for me,” said Gregor.

  “I'm sure it's the seventh,” Peter said.

  “She is the one, you guys,” said Gregor. “I'm going to marry her.”

  “If we ever get out of here,” Theodor said.

  “We'll get out of here,” said Gregor. “I've never had such feelings for a girl.”

  “That's what you said about the last one,” said Theodor.

  “And the one before that,” Peter said.

  “And the one before that.”

  “All right, I fall in love easily,” said Gregor. “But this time I'm really in love. This time it’s the real deal.”

  The soft moonlight coming through the little window of their cell illuminated the scene appropriately for Gregor's love stories.

  “Is it bad?” Peter and Theodor asked.

  “Oh, is there something worse than love, boys?” Gregor said. “Being away from a loved one is the heaviest burden that this world can put on you. Two hearts belonging together but doomed to be far from each other! Oh, cruel fate!”

  “Does she know who you are?” Peter asked.

  “No, but I thought we could meet next Wednesday,” said Gregor. “We've got a job to do before then, you know. But, alas, Maria fell for another! That’s just my luck,” he continued with a whining tone in his voice. “Every time I like a nice girl, she finds someone else. I already imagined our wedding, the house we’re going to live in, and all the children we’re going to have.”

  “Yep, it’s bad,” agreed Peter and Theodor.

  “But it could’ve been worse,” said Theodor. “Broken rib. That hurts a lot.”

  “Not as much as love,” said Gregor.

  “What about a lone mother raising two children by herself?” Peter asked.

  “Yes, that’s a terrible fate,” the other two agreed.

  “Or marrying someone you don’t love and then staying together only because of the children?” Theodor said.

  “Or working in the mines,” Peter said.

  “Awful,” the other two said.

  “Those badgers working in the mines never go out,” Theodor added.

  “Guys, we have to concentrate here,” said Jean, who had been listening to them with increasing impatience. “No one is coming for us. We’re on our own. If we don’t find a way to escape soon, they’re going to behead us.”

  The badgers fell silent. Jean guessed they were probably imagining what losing their head would feel like. That was what he was thinking about.

  “Peter, I think it’s time you shared this plan of yours with us.”

  “All right,” said Peter. “The first step is: we have to make a lot of noise.”

  “That should be easy,” murmured Jean.

  “The guards will come down to see what’s happening. That is when we move to step two: we overpower them, take their keys and weapons. And step three is simple: escape.”

  “One slight problem there, Peter,” said Jean.

  “What is it, Jean?” asked Peter.

  “How are we going to overpower the guards, when we are locked up?! It’s an absolutely idiotic idea!”

  “Well, let’s hear your brilliant plan, then!” yelled Peter. “Oh, you don’t have one? What a surprise! I’m the only one doing the planning over here, and I never get the respect I deserve!”

  “Respect?!” Now Theodor was yelling as well. “Your plans never work and get us almost killed on a regular basis!”

  “They would’ve worked if you didn’t keep getting into fights at the first opportunity!” Peter shouted back.

  “Guys, could we please stop yelling? You’re ruining my romantic moment,” complained Gregor.

  “Shut up, Gregor!” yelled all three at him.

  “You all shut up!” screamed someone from the neighboring cell. “I'm trying to sleep!”

  “Hold your trap!” responded one of the badgers.

  “It’s none of your business!” another added.

  Heavy steps approached from the hallway. The guards had heard the noise and were coming to intervene.

  “Everybody shut up right now!” the guard said. “Go back to bed, or so help me!”

  “Make me, you piece of garbage,” Theodor said.

  “You want to get beaten up, huh?” responded the guard.

  Three armed men stormed the cell, ready to give a thrashing to the badgers. The room, however, was empty, except for Jean, who was locked in his small cage. The badgers had climbed up to the ceiling, waiting for the perfect moment to ambush the enemy. They dropped onto the heads of their opponents, scratching their eyes and faces. Amid all the chaos, the little beasts took the keys and the weapons of the guards—metal clubs, which they used to hit them on the heads.

  The battle was over quickly, thanks to the element of surprise. The three guards lay unconscious on the ground. The badgers used the keys to free Jean from his cage.

  “Guys,” Theodor said in a menacing voice, “it's time to get back at the watchmen.”

  Alarmed by the cacophony, more attackers stormed the corridor outside the cell. The Resistance fighters were outnumbered, but the hallway in front of the cells was narrow. Only two guards could stand in it shoulder to shoulder. The advantage was on the side of the badgers and the Frog, who were small and mobile—a difficult target for the big and clumsy soldiers. In the dimly lit corridor, a devastating whirlwind of fur, teeth, nails, and clubs dropped enemy after enemy until finally there was only one opponent left. The last guard left standing was paralyzed by fear. After considering his options, he decided to pee himself and faint for the third time that night. The name of this guardsman was George. After his previous two blackouts during service, his chief-in-command had demoted him to jail duty. Unfortunately, if he didn’t stop passing out, George could soon expect to be demoted to janitor.

  The badgers and Jean escaped the prison through the huge hole in its wall. Standing between them and freedom was a ditch, filled with water. As usual when the Frog was around water, he saw the hungry faces of his brothers and sisters, all swimming toward him, trying to eat him. This time, however, the thought didn’t scare him so much. He felt empowered by the fact that he had swum once and survived.

  He took a breath, tightened his jaw, and dove in. The faces of his brothers and sisters sank down into the deep darkness of the water. That’s where you belong, thought Jean. Screw you. Once he and the badgers reached the opposite side of the ditch, they climbed out and then vanished in the shadows of the city. Jean was sure they had disappeared without a trace.

  But what he didn’t know was that Captain Zacharie Gèroux was watching them from the shadows of a nearby alleyway. The king had sent him to the mines as a punishment for letting the prisoners escape. If he followed the badgers to their hideout and reported this back to the king, however, he could be reinstated as Captain of the Guard. But if he failed—well, let's just say he would have a bigger chance of survival in Windhaven.

  Zacharie followed the badgers quietly.

  Chapter 8

  T he patients sat on the ground of the hospital’s canteen. Most of them wanted to escape from the psychiatric hospital as soon as possible. Others didn’t seem to understand where they were or what was happening. And some were just having fun. One was speaking to the curta
ins on the windows; another was waving at two flies circling around the room. They didn’t look good as a team, Charles thought.

  They had barricaded the doors with a pile of chairs and heavy tables. On top of that, they had tied the handles of the double doors to each other with cables. Charles wasn’t fooling himself that their barrier would last long. It was only a matter of time before Doctor Perfect and Director Petrov got to them. Still, he wasn’t worried about himself—if the orderlies rushed into the dining room, he would run away. After all, he was a rabbit, and rabbits were notoriously fast. But what about the others? The poor Sloth wouldn’t be able to escape with his sluggish pace.

  They had left Cayden sitting on the ground with his back leaning against one of the walls. He had a blank look on his face as he stared into space. Charles waved his hand in front of him, but Cayden didn’t react. His mind was in another place. Doctor Dimitriou’s medication was keeping him in an awake coma.

  Someone banged on the doors of the dining hall. Charles told Lenny to stay with Cayden and approached the door.

  Through the small, rectangular windows, he saw the frowning face of Fraud—a patient in the hospital suffering from megalomania. He thought he was a king and a supreme judge and had the power to decide what was wrong and what was right. Persephone had attracted him to her side by promising him a reward for his services. He would do anything to fulfill her wishes.

  “Open this door,” said Fraud. “This is a rebellion! You're committing a crime! Give up now, and the judgment will be merciful.”

  Charles hesitated. What if their uprising was in vain? What if Doctor Perfect crushed their resistance and imposed an even harsher regime than before so they wouldn’t have a second chance to escape? Perhaps if they surrendered now, the techs wouldn’t be so strict with them. They could try again later, when they were better prepared.

  “If we give up, Doctor Dimitriou must promise that nothing will happen to Cayden,” Charles said.

  “You are not in a position to negotiate,” Fraud said. “If you surrender, your punishment will be more forgiving than the one you would otherwise receive.”