by Mara Duryea
The woman opens the bag and takes out one cup with one cover. She unscrews it and the smell of food comes out. Is then that I realize how hungry I am. Is like I not eat for days. My hunger makes me brave and I crawl closer to her, but I careful not to touch her.
“Eat, baby,” she says. “It’s good for you.” She hands me the cup and I scarf it down. The meat floating in the brown liquid is sweet and tender. There’s no vegetables.
“Who are you?” I say.
“Your mother.” Her eyes glint when she say it. For one brief moment, her pink eyes are cloudy white. She not care when I start. Instead, she take out one stuffed kiderrin and throw it at me. “Play.” And then she leave.
Something swell inside my gums, like I gone and burn them. My fangs grow longer, but I hardly notice because is so gradual. The pain in my heart throbs in one dull way, and finally I ignore it. Is always there, and there not anything I can do about it.
I live in one boring stretch of eating, sleeping, and playing with the stuffed kiderrin. His name is Fat. Some time, the door opens. I lift my head to see who come in and see one big Hatrin man. His hair is black and his eyes blue. He have one long scar on the side of his face. The stitches look fat, like they made of wet brown bandages. I seen him from somewhere, but it was a bad place. Is like there is one shroud covering him. Sometimes his skin looks too pale. Maybe his eyes become milky white, but they turn blue before I get one good look.
Sitting on the bed, he gathers me to his bosom. “Do not fear me, child. I am your father. Your true father.” He rubs my head and ears. I shiver, but I not know why. “My poor child, look how the eyes start from their sockets! So wide, so betrayed! But all will be well in the end. He will see the wisdom in all this someday.” He slip me under the blankets and pull the covers to my chin. “Your brother will be in here to see you soon.” He kiss my cheek. His lips feel like they made of rough splinters. Maybe he scrape my skin, but there’s no blood when I touch it. Not noticing, he gets up and leaves.
My feet hurting and my arm throbbing like somebody playing little hammers on my bones. What goes on here? I have bandages on my back, legs and feet. I scared more than I ever been. I desperate to go outside and never come back.
Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I jump to the brass floor. I see my baby self reflected in the brass floor a split second before I land. The bottom of my feet seem to pop open. Pain clenches my flesh and crackles into my ankles. Crying out, I topple over and lay on the floor crying. My arm in the sling sends electric shocks into my shoulder. I not know who to call.
Somebody hear me anyway. The door opens and I almost scream. One Berivor has come in. His aura is winter at midnight. His eyes are cold. He not have the weird covering like the Hatrins. I see everything on him and it make my skin crawl.
“What’s your name?” he say.
I afraid he might hurt me if I not answer. “I don’t know.”
“Dad will give you a name.” He sat on the bed. “I’m Karijin. Do you know why you’re hurt?”
I shake my head as one cry about to break out of my mouth. Is better to keep it trapped behind sealed lips.
“You had a dad. He hated you. He let people hurt you. He said you were fake family. He didn’t like you. But you see the Hatrin? He saved you. He loves you. That other man didn’t. Not even your other mother. She abandoned you. Dad saved you. Do you understand? He saved you from bad people. Now they will all get what they deserve. When you’re older, you’ll see how much they suffered because of everything they did to you.” He stand up. “We’re going now, but we’ll be back.” He pick me up in one hand.
My body stiffens like one icicle, but Karijin either not notice, or he not think is anything. He take me out into one monster-size hallway all made of brass. One gold railing smothered with carvings block off one canyon of empty space. Is the same brass color like everything else. Karijin walk to the railing and let me look over it. Below is one brass foyer with nothing in it except one big door. I barely see the lines marking its position. One stairway flush to the wall leads down to it.
“The kitchen is through that door,” said Karijin. “There will be a long hallway, but you follow it, and there will always be food inside. You eat as much as you want, whenever you want.”
I nod.
Karijin bring me back to the bed and put me down. “There will be someone in the house to watch over you.” He leans on the bed, his hands on either side of me. His blue eyes glint like poison. “Don’t ever leave the mansion.” His voice grow rough and the air freezes like somebody open one door into one blizzard. “Stay inside.”
Squeezing Fat tighter than ever, I nod in mute submission.
“Good.” Karijin walk out and close the door behind him.
Why the Hatrin not get rid of Karijin if he save me from bad people? I not believe the Berivor. I see him as he is, but is dark and too thick to make out any human shapes in his heart.
***
I peek outside and looked around. The brass corridor leads into pools of brass in both directions. My fuzzy reflection on the walls at both ends look like other children in one golden haze. I wave my hand to make sure the figures are really me. Food is cooking down the stairs, through that door Karijin had shown me. My feet hurt, but my stomach is more hungry. I limp to the stairs, sit down, and descend the steps on my bottom. My tail trails behind me like one limp fluff.
On the ground floor, I pull myself up using the railing. Is not so hard as long as I move slow. The brass door is bigger than how it looked from upstairs. It not matter, though. Is not as big as my bedroom door, and I had open that one easy. I push it open onto the corridor. Is as brassy as everything else. The door at the other end is so far away that it look no bigger than my thumb. Taking one deep breath, I trek down that ridiculously long passage. I not know why anybody want to make the food place so hard to get to. They not hungry?
Finally I make it to the other door and pass through. I find myself in one kitchen that can fit one hundred Kabrilors. Is all the same color, too. Everything seem like sketches on one brass slab. The mirilite on the ceiling is the only thing different. Now to find the food. I follow my nose to one corner of the kitchen where one table just my size is waiting for me. One small chair is placed in front of one bowl of steaming soup.
I eat in the quiet, hearing only myself and the distant whistling wind. Chills run up my spine and I glance behind me. Nothing, but it feels like eyes are there just the same. That’s when I notice another door. It closes just one fraction of an inch. My hand clenches on the spoon and my fingers press against the brass tabletop. I suddenly not hungry anymore. My feet not hurt either as I jump up and run out.
The door at the other end of the hallway never gets any closer. I keep glancing back, but nothing comes out of the kitchen. Something could be there just the same. Closing my eyes, I sprint the rest of the way and almost bash my baby head against the door, but I open my eyes just in time. I get out and close the door. I safe now. I convinced whatever’s in the kitchen can’t come out.
I not want to go up the stairs again. Is one long way. Besides, it looks creepy up there. My two reflections might not be my reflections anymore if I go back. Across from me is one arch that lead somewhere else. This is where I go.
I enter rooms full of jewel-laden tables, old flickering lamps, and portraits bigger than me. Here there is thick red carpet to soothe my throbbing feet. Even this is not enough after one long time. I tired, too. Crawling under one desk with legs bedecked in blood-red jewels, I pull one embroidered pillow over and lay down on it.
Almost immediately, I fall asleep. My dreams are muddy. Somebody is crying. I think maybe is me. There is one big fire to my right, and it keeps reaching out and licking my feet. I yell for it to stop, but it only laughs. Is one bad fire. It has eyes like a retsinist in the middle of the night. Something is coming.
I wake up with one gasp. Something I can’t see is in the room. Heavy steps are moving toward me, and then it crosse
s my vision. Its long body looks like charred skin stretched over nothing but rickety bones. It crawls like one spider with four legs and two arms. The gnarled fingers digging into the carpet leave tiny dips in it. The head is wide. The mouth is almost wider. It has too many teeth. They all jumbled together like one badly-made fence. The misshapen eyes are black globs with two white dots moving around inside. All ten hairs are coarse and bent. The creature makes wheezy squeaks like is trying to scream. My throat constricts. If it turns its head to its left, it will see me, but it doesn’t.
It crawls out of the room, its eerie wheezing fades away. Is not good to be here. I should have gone back to my room. At least Fat is safe on the bed. As I hobble out from under the desk, I realize the thing had gone out in the direction I want to go. I not gonna follow it. I not that crazy. Instead, I turn around and go out the other way. My ears strain for the wheezing squeaks. I hear nothing but the wind.
I think I wander around for several Periods, because by the time I make it back to the stairs, I so hungry I about for to die. Who care what’s in the kitchen. I need food! I get the door open and limp to that thumb-sized door at the other end one mile away. My aching stomach is screaming by the time I reach it and I run inside. The food is waiting for me on the table. Is cold, but I not care. I scarf it down so fast I get hiccups. Squeezing my nose, I hold my breath to stop it.
In the absolute silence, a child’s cry makes me jump. Is coming through the other door, the one that had been open. One wave of worry washes over me. The cry is frightened and I not want it to be anymore. I have to help it, so I not afraid to go into the door.
I go through it. This new hallway is short and made of stainless steel. There is one carnage smell here. Is blood not cleaned up and left to sour. Is flesh out too long in the heat. It stings and is so thick I can taste it on my tongue. The child is sobbing now. I have to help!
I shove into the next room and freeze. Endless severed limbs drip from hooks in the ceiling. Tattered flesh is heaped on blood-soaked tables. Children’s heads fill blackened baskets in every corner. The creature from the carpeted room is pinning a crying Kabrilor girl onto a bloody table. She screams as it seizes her head. Her cry abruptly cuts off as it twists her head free and throws it into a pot of boiling soup.
My soup.
5
The Renzhie Room
I flee through the door, I sprint from the kitchen and I dart back to the stairway leading to my room. Out, out! I have to get out! In one mad panic, I scour the house for the exit door. The monster will twist my head off next. I not dare scream. It might hear me and come.
I stumble into one big foyer with nothing in it, except one giant iron door. Dozens of bolts run up and down its rough, gray surface. All of them are bigger than me. Cold air slips through its small cracks, like the wind is howling to get in. Strange laughter and eerie noises prance just on the other side.
For one long time, I stand there, wondering if I should proceed. Finally, I think, is better to be free outside than trapped inside with one baby eater. Besides, I not see what is outside, so I more scared of what is inside. I try for to unlock the bolts, but I can’t climb to the highest ones because my arm broken. I need something long to reach the high bolts.
Leaving the door, I wander through the rooms looking for something. There’s lots of things, but all of them too big for my one good arm to hold. As I wander past one hallway, I hear somebody crying, “Where are you? Where…?” The voice break down in tears and I think of the creature in the kitchen. Desperation cuts through me. I have to save this one!
Dashing down the long hallway to the only door at the end, I unbolt the door and pull it open. The room is the same as mine. There’s one Kabrilor crying on his face, his back to me. His whole frame shaking and I feel like crying, too. The monster in the kitchen wants to eat him. Is what I believe. What’s good is that it’s not here yet.
Running across the floor, I leap on the bed. The place around him feel warm, like one fire touching me on the inside instead of the outside. It make me feel safe. The Kabrilor jump with one startled gasp and he spin around. When I see his teary face, something happens inside me. Is like I see my good friend again after one long time.
Even though he all clean and wearing white pants and one long-sleeve white shirt, he covered in bruises. One bandage is wrapped around his head. His shaggy black hair falls under his shoulders and his furry Berivor ears peep out little bit.
“Don’t cry,” I say with all the compassion my baby heart possess. “What’s your name?”
The Berivor’s eyes sweep across my broken arm. “Zhin. Who are you?”
“I don’t know.” I pat his shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you out of here.” I talk different back then.
“How?”
I one baby genius. “I’m gonna get the chains off your feet.”
“You need a key.”
Before I can answer, Zhin suddenly grab me and swing me to the floor on the other side of the bed. From under there, I see the door opening. The Hatrin woman’s white dress slide across the floor to the bed. Zhin suck in air and I hear him move as far away from her as possible. Maybe he see her pink eyes turn into the white haze. I smell the soup from the kitchen.
“Zhin,” say the woman, “you remember me, don’t you? I am your mother. I have brought this soup to you. Eat it well and I shall unlock you.” She put the soup somewhere. “And if you do not, you will starve and I shall punish you.” I hear the sharp snap of flesh on flesh. Zhin gasp. “That will only be the beginning, boy.”
She sweep out the door, but she not lock it behind her. There’s one golden key hanging on her belt from one thin golden chain. To my baby mind, that’s the key I need to rescue Zhin. Running to the door, I hiss under my breath, “She has the key! I’ll be back! Oh, don’t eat the soup. There’s people meat in it.”
Zhin can only stare after me in bewilderment and worry. I slip out the door. The Hatrin woman is just rounding the end of the hallway. My baby feet silent, so I sprint after her without making one sound. I slide around the corner at the end and follow her. The warm bubble surrounding Zhin is gone now, and I not feel so brave. It not matter, though. The thing in the kitchen will come for Zhin and twist his head off if I not hurry up.
The Hatrin woman not go very far before she open one red door. It look like one big tongue that ate too many tipplenum fruit. She walks into one stairwell. The steps are layered with red carpet and the walls look like stones dipped in brass. I keep one good distance behind her as I ascend the stairs.
At the top, the Hatrin open one big door full of red and blue jewels. Her reflection looks hazy, but she not see me because I farther down the stairs. She pulls on one big latch full of carvings and go inside. The key wink at me before the door closes.
Fear fall on me like one creepy cloud, but I one baby on a mission. I creep to the door and let myself in. Inside is one majestic bedroom. Dark curtains hang across the ceiling and then fall to the floor along the walls. One giant gold and black bed is in the middle. It has one canopy with silk curtains around it. The curtains moving like they just been closed.
Beside the bed is one black end table. It has gold trim. The lamp on it look like one bunch of black vines grew upward and wrapped around one white orb with snaky fingers. The key winks at me from the base of the lamp. Glancing at the closed curtains, I fall to my good hand and knees, and crawl to the little black and gold table. Very slow, I rise to my feet, take the key and hang it around my neck. The chain clink a little.
The curtains fly open and the woman sticks her face out. “What are you doing?” For the first time, I see in full her white glowing eyes. Screaming, I try for to run, but she grab my broken arm and pull me to her. It hurt so bad, I can’t think. I so scared, I act on impulse. My little claws come out and I slash her across both eyes. One eyeball sticks to the end of my claws. The other eyeball spews red and white juices. Both of us scream, her in pain and me in revulsion and terror. She let me go
as she clutch her face. I speed out the door and down the stairwell. I not feel the pain in my feet at all.
Her shrieks follow me into the stairwell. Fleeing out the door, I close it and the cries cut off. Is not far from Zhin’s room, so I not get lost. The only thing I can think of is getting back to him. I burst into the room several minutes later. Luckily, nobody inside with him. He sit up when he see me and I hold the key triumphantly in the air.
“I got it! We can go now!” I jump on the bed and he take the key from me. He glance at the blood on my hand and on the key, but he say nothing. Escaping is more important right now. He twist the key in the locks and the cuffs pop open. He put the key in his pocket.
“Let’s go,” he say. “Do you know the way out?”
I suddenly realize he can open the big door. “This way!” I too excited to think about my foot as I spring to the floor. We run down the hallway and I lead him to the big iron door.
“Right here,” I say. “But I can’t open it.”
Zhin begin unlocking each bolt. Voices echo in the halls and both of us stiffen. My first impulse is to run for cover, but Zhin catch my arm and pull me to his side.
“Where is the little Antiminar?” I hear the Hatrin man say.
“Probably wandering around,” says Karijin.
Zhin begin unlocking the bolts faster, trying for not to make noise. The bolts still clink too loud and the sound bounce on the brass walls.
“Has he been eating the soup?” asks the Hatrin.
“How else would he survive? His memory will never return now. We’re just waiting for Zhin to eat it. Mother says if he doesn’t eat, she will starve him until he does. It is harsh, Father, but it must be done.”
“I understand, my son. I wish it were not so.”
Their voices are closer. I cling to Zhin’s leg as he reach the last heavy bolt and force it back. As he pulls open the thick door, it creak and moonlight from Blue Moon shine on the floor. Freezing wind break my skin in chilly bumps. There are things howling outside, but we dart through the opening and Zhin close the door.
