by Matthew Fish
That day, Cain returned to the council…his resolve set back on finding the Perpetual that had killed his love, and Mark’s mother. He took Christopher and Jenna with him. He believed they would prove to be valuable new members. Christopher turned down being a Grand Conductor, saying it was just something his father would have wanted, but not him. Also, he had a thing going on with Jenna; apparently no one had told him that relationships between Mortals and Perpetuals were messy things. That…or he was rather aloof and simply did not care. Cain promised they would always be around in case they were needed. He was sure that there would be another time…there always seemed to be with this group. Captain William left Red Manor as well. He had a job to do, a community of Perpetuals to reassure that they were safe from harm. That this unusual creature that fearful whispers spoke of was vanquished…he also had to do a lot of damage control with the Mortals regarding the mess that Matthiessen State Park had become. He ended up blaming it on a military accident. A live rocket had fallen from a fighter jet and blown up the area around Lake Falls. It took a team of police about a week to pick up all the stray bullet casings and remove the dead bodies. The park eventually reopened…a little worse for wear, but still a great place to visit. That evening, Emily, Mark and Maddie said farewell to the last person to leave Red Manor.
“I do hope that you find your parents,” Mark said as he took Lily’s hand into his own and squeezed it tightly.
“I will tell them of Justin,” Lily said as her eyes began to tear up.
“Tell them he was brave,” Maddie said as she placed her arms around Lily and squeezed her tightly. “Tell them you were brave as well.”
“Just out of curiosity,” Emily added as she looked around the room. “We still get to live here right?”
“Of course,” Lily said as he nodded and smiled. “Red Manor is your home—our bond may be over. But we will still care for each other. Nothing needs to be down on paper. We shall care for each other as friends.”
“Agreed,” Mark said as he smiled. “We will see you again?”
“Count on it,” Lily said.
They walked with Lily as she met with Sun and Leaf at the edge of the property. Mark and Emily patted Leaf’s head as he rubbed against their palms. Lily looked back as her grey eyes flashed in the dying light of the day as she disappeared into the forest. Three White Stags bounded off into the woods.
Exhausted from the day, Mark lay in bed. He allowed himself to drift off to sleep.
“Maaaaarrrkk,” Caesar’s raspy voice whispered.
“I was hoping you’d show up at some point,” Mark said as he sat up in bed as the young Caesar sat beside him.
“I had hoped to come earlier—but Cernunnos would not allow me to borrow the passage. It is such a terrible thing, to see your friends in pain and not be able to warn them of things—I wanted to do so…poor dear Madeline, how is she holding up?”
“As well as can be expected I suppose…”
“She is a strong one,” Caesar said as he nodded. “In time, she will be just fine—fit as a fiddle, they say. I do worry about that Lily—she seems to hold a bit of anger in herself that she would not show…anger towards Cernunnos, her creator….”
“Well, I imagine she does feel rather betrayed,” Mark added. “Did Cernunnos play a part in what happened?”
“In a way, my dear Mr. Argent—he did, he sat by and allowed things that ought not to be allowed. I believe he wanted to see the outcome.”
“Well…then I could understand her anger.” Mark said as he shook his head.
“If I may ask, what do you plan on doing now?”
“Headed west for a bit…I guess, some kind of vacation. None of us has seen the Pacific Ocean, so…yeah, that’s the plan.”
“Good,” Caesar said as he smiled happily. “Some salty sea air will do you all some good. I do…I must, profess, admit that I have kept one small little tiny secret from you.”
“I’m shocked,” Mark said as he buried his face in his hand and shook his head.
“It is not a bad one, so to speak,” Caesar said as he shrugged and placed his hands gingerly upon his knee as though he were innocent as a kitten. “I just…came to care deeply for both you and Madeline when you were here…so I made a little addition to my agreement with Lily before I went through The Passing.”
“And that would be…?”
“That upon you and Madeline’s twenty-fourth birthday, you would stop aging and live on as Perpetuals. Well…you kinda made it a moot point on your part, by dying so dramatically and turning out to be one of us anyway…”
“Maddie though?”
“Yes,” Caesar said with a nod.
“It’s the least I can do for her…after all she’s been through with us—and with that terrible fire that burned down her family’s farm and killed her parents.”
“She never mentioned that…”
“Touchy subject I’d imagine, I suppose it was easier for her to just say that she’d been sent away to school to become a Conductor—truth is she was taken away after the fire. Hadn’t been back since, nothing to go back to really, a shame.”
“Well, that’s a lot to take in,” Mark said as he let out a sigh. “I guess I’ll be the one that has to tell her.”
“Anyway, do enjoy yourselves on your vacation—but do not be gone for too terribly long. I do fear that you will be needed again. After all…that Lily might get herself into trouble—if she is not careful.”
“Of course…” Mark said as he shook his head.
“Maddie…” Emily whispered as she entered the pool.
“Hello, Em,” Maddie said as she swam to the edge. “You’ve come for a swim?”
“That guy…” Emily said as she nodded and dipped her feet into the water. “He’s out like a light.”
“Wish I could sleep so easily,” Maddie said as she laughed.
“It is really good to hear you laugh,” Emily said as she allowed herself to plunge into the cool water. She emerged from the surface as her pink hair clung to her face. She brushed it away and swam over to Maddie. “After everything…well, after I heard what happened…I felt really, really bad for you—I don’t know how you manage…?”
“I just…stay hopeful,” Maddie said as she smiled. “That’s all I can do right now.”
“I need to hug you,” Emily said as she brought her body close to Maddie’s and squeezed her tightly. She felt Maddie’s warm body against hers as they stood in the shallow end of the pool for what seemed like a slightly awkward eternity. Emily’s eyes met Maddie’s brilliant green eyes as she felt a strange connection in that moment, something she could not quite understand. Without saying another word, Emily placed her lips firmly against Maddie’s and then began to kiss them passionately. Emily placed her hands over Maddie’s head and ran her hands through her wet hair as she continued to kiss at her lips, slipping her tongue past Maddie’s soft, wet lips. Maddie did not protest. She seemed more shocked than anything else. Emily pulled away and opened her eyes as though she allowed herself to slip into some kind of dream. She backed away and shook her head and bit her lip nervously. “I um…yeah—gotta go now.”
Mark awoke as a rush of water filled the bed.
“Were you swimming?” Mark asked as he rubbed at his eyes.
“I just…went to comfort Maddie.” Emily said shortly as she climbed out of her swimsuit and attempted to towel dry the bed.
“And you…projected back?” Mark asked as a confused look washed over his face.
“Yeah,” Emily said shortly as she continued to towel dry the bed. She climbed atop Mark, her body naked and still very wet. Mark also, did not protest. He removed his boxers as she grinded against his dick, eventually allowing him to slide into her. She let out short whimpers as she clawed at his chest and bounced herself atop him faster and faster until she came loudly. She pressed her wet lips against Mark’s and kissed him over and over again as she bit down on his lower lip as she felt him come inside of her.
“Shit…” Mark said as he pulled Emily close to him.
“Okay,” Emily said as she nodded and gently slid off of him. “Yeah…I needed that.”
The next morning, the sun shone brightly and a perfectly clear blue day presented itself to Mark, Emily and Maddie. They carried their suitcases out to the black Charger and piled them into the trunk.
“Thank you, Mark…” Emily said as she pulled up the passenger seat and allowed Maddie to crawl into the back.
“For what…?”
“For keeping your promise,” Emily said as she smiled happily. She climbed into the passenger seat and pulled her cat-eared hoodie over her head to protect her eyes from the bright morning sun.
“So west—to see the ocean…?” Maddie asked as she smiled. “It’ll be nice to get away for a bit.”
“Yep, that’s the plan.” Mark said as he was about to start the car. “Before we go...Maddie—you know I have a big honesty thing…”
“Yeah…” Maddie said as she looked confused, and a little bit guilty.
“When you…well, Caesar may have made some kind of arrangement for you with Lily,” Mark fumbled for a moment. “That on your twenty-fourth birthday…you’re going to stop aging and live on as a Perpetual.”
“He could do that?” Emily asked as she shot Maddie an odd look. “Holy shit, we’re all going to be together forever.”
“Emily and I kissed in the pool…a lot,” Maddie blurted out, unsure of how to respond otherwise. “I mean…yeah okay.”
“What?” Emily said as Mark raised his eyebrows at her. “She was…feeling down. Needed to be cheered up and all that, don’t look at me like that—you did the same thing.”
“Well we weren’t a couple at the time…?”
“We had sex the night before,” Emily said as she threw her hands up in front of her as though it was some kind of justification.
“What?” Maddie asked. She did not remember Mark mentioning this.
“Let’s just…be on our way,” Mark said as he started the Charger. He drove down the driveway and stopped for a moment to look at Red Manor in the rearview mirror. “We’ll be back—when we’re ready.”
“Don’t go getting too sentimental, Golden Girls,” Emily said as she placed her arm on Mark’s back and rubbed it for a moment. “We’ve got a road trip ahead. No use dwelling on what’s behind us now.”
“I’m excited,” Maddie spoke as she pressed her back against the seat and let out a sigh. It was wonderful to be getting away—to spend some time without living in fear or worry of what the next day might bring. After all she had been through, and lost—she had gained just as much. She was a little worried about the whole becoming a Perpetual thing—but she did not let it bother her that much. In a way, she kinda looked forward to it. She believed that Caesar should have asked…that she should have been given a choice. But this time…this one time—she really didn’t care all that much.
*
Tany Zampa awoke the next day. He rubbed his head as he twirled around in the empty woods. “Where in the fuck am I? Goddamn that little piquer and his cunt friends…”
Every way looked the same…just lots and lots of trees and forest. The sun streaked through the thick forest around him as he picked a direction and folded his arms beneath his chest and grumpily began to walk. He made it a few miles as he let out an exasperated sigh. “I hate nature… you hear me trees! I fucking hate this place! If I had fire, I would burn this whole place to the Goddamn ground, merde…”
“You make such a noise, it makes you easy to find.” A woman with pale blonde hair and yellow eyes spoke as she emerged from behind a tree. She carried with her a large wrapped item that was slung on her back and pressed against her flowing white dress.
“Ah, my dear Calla,” Zampa said as he smiled. “I was beginning to think that I was to be stuck wandering this frustrating place for decades.”
“You’ve been out here for hours,” Calla said as she shook her head. “My folk walk the forest for years. You must control that temper of yours, your son needs you.”
“Has he, been born?” Zampa asked as he ran a hand through his messy curls. “The death bringer knocked me off—the piece of filth.”
“Your son has sent me to retrieve you,” Calla answered as she walked behind a tall ash tree and emerged as one of the White Stags. Zampa climbed atop her back and wrapped her arms against her large neck. She began to sprint through the wood.
They rode on, all through the day and all of the night—it was nearly seven a.m. by the time they reached Zampa’s secluded Red Manor.
“It is so good to be home, so good…” Zampa said as he climbed down from Calla and raised his hands out wide. The large, three story red-brick building stood before him. Its large rounded windows and sculptured garden looked just as he left it. One of his three cars was parked in the driveway. It looked a bit rustier than he remembered and was covered in a layer of dust. He shook his head and shrugged as he and Calla entered through a large black door atop a grand staircase.
“Where is my boy?” Zampa asked as he stepped into a darkened room that smelled slightly of musk and burnt oak. Small streaks of light filtered into the room as most of the curtains were drawn and the windows shuttered away from the world.
“I am here, father,” a strange deep and twisted voice sounded off in the darkness.
“Where are you, my boy?” Zampa asked as he spotted a pair of brightly glowing blue eyes in the darkness. Calla pulled open one of the curtains as a large, pale skinned man with a youthful face and large stag horns sat upon a red throne. He wore a golden sash against his bare, muscled chest and a crimson pair of pants adorned with golden leaf patterns.
“Not what you were expecting, I would imagine,” the youth said as he got up from his throne and approached his father.”
“How long have I been gone?” Zampa asked as he looked strangely at the young man.
“Fifteen years,” the pale young man spoke as his catlike eyes met his father’s hazel eyes. “You were lost to time…do you fear me? You do not look pleased.”
“You are the son I wanted—I am sorry that I have been absent from your life for so long,” Tany Zampa spoke as he wrapped his arms around the youth. “I will do everything I can to make up for the lost years.”
“I am pleased to hear you say such things, after all—you main wish was for me to be here.”
“I am not displeased in the least,” Zampa said as he smiled. “Has your mother named you, what can I call you?”
“I have been born with a name already, it is Cernunnos. Mother—did you fetch the object?”
“I did,” Calla said as she nodded and produced the large wrapped object and held it with both arms out as though it was an offering. “It was difficult to track down, but you were right…the one that called himself the Ankou left a faint trail.”
“Excellent,” Cernunnos said as he unwrapped the cloth, revealing the large woodened handled scythe with the long jagged blade made from the large antler of the Ankou. “I shall call it Death Bringer—to our enemies it will be a bane. To all who live on our side, it shall be a beacon of hope.”
“What are we to do?” Zampa asked as he looked at the weapon with a heavy sense of fear for he knew what it was capable of.
“Save this world, of course,” Cernunnos said. “And…rule it. We must protect the world from its inhabitants—I must succeed where the Ankou had failed. Soon, will be the time of our great hunt.”
*
To Be Continued in The Betrayal of Cernunnos
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