by Richard Lord
Harmony comments, “I’ve walked through these woods. Do you hear her?” Suddenly she sees a furry young lady dash between two tress. “This one is mine.” She clicks, slices at the tendon in the back of the girl’s leg and then quickly puts her leg around her neck as she begins to fall and pulls hard with her thighs.
“Not bad. Why the leg first?” Destiny asks.
“Effect. Next.” Harmony smiles at Destiny as they click. The slaughter continues well into the night. Harmony says, “I counted nineteen There were twenty one there.”
Destiny chuckles, “Good eye. I know where the twentieth is. He is the one who pulled the trigger. Where he is - is pretty darned bad, but it’s amusing to let him cower in fear for awhile. The other was their messenger. Something I learned from my grandmother.”
Harmony nods. “I guess we’re going to need a shower.”
“Not yet, now we go get Xaltuth so he can return without threat and pardon us for what we will admit to doing.” Destiny looks at her knowing she knew the plan.
“I thought we would do that after the shower.” Harmony picks a piece of flesh from her own hair.
“No, let everyone see us stand beside him like this when he announces the pardon. I think it will make our point clear.” Destiny silently thinks Harmony should have left that chunk where it was, but she knows Harmony so she says nothing.
“Legally speaking, you’ll have to kill the last one before the pardon. Even he doesn’t have the influence to pardon us twice and that doesn’t send a very good message even if he could.” Harmony begins looking through her own long hair for more gritty people pieces.
“Harmony, I dare say, I think you’re becoming a politician.” Destiny laughs quietly.
“Hard not to after sleeping with one every night.” Harmony fires back.
Destiny laughs. “Point taken. Let’s catch our breath, then concentrate on blocking his jump and be ready to get a lot messier. He’s going to have a rough night.”
“Ugh, my beautiful hair!” Harmony says and then laughs knowing her blonde hair will only aid in the grizzly effect Destiny is going for.
As the night does indeed become grizzly, Harmony turns to Destiny, “Why? A clicker named Desire?”
“Our daughter is a result of us.” She looks at Harmony as her eyes fall to take all of Harmony in. “Let’s go get our man.”
“Okay, but I’d like to have another with you. You’re sexy when you’re pregnant. It brings out a glow in you that I can’t resist.” Harmony comments.
“I’m glad my discomfort suited you. But I was pretty gassy for the last few months. That couldn’t have been fun to deal with.” Destiny laughs.
“It didn’t bother me. I went through the same thing and my butt is bigger.” Harmony turns to show off her derriere. “Alice never said a word. She just started to fight back with her own stink bombs.” Harmony laughed.
“She never came off to me as the kind to be…open.” Destiny commented.
“Well, given her situation, she was used to being closed a bit, but she opens up.” Harmony’s mind went back to her memories of Alice.
Destiny listened to Harmony’s mind and walked over to hug her. “I’m sorry you had to make such a hard choice.”
“Life is about choices. You helped me realize I had to do what I had to. If I hadn’t decided to follow your lead I would have never met Alice.” Harmony replies.
“I understand. Was Alice born that way? Was that a chosen change or was it effected in vitro?” Destiny already knows but realizes Harmony wants to be able to discuss it out-loud with someone and knows Harmony knows she already knows the answer.
“You do realize sometimes I can hear you too, right?” Harmony turns to look Destiny in the face.” So you already know. I don’t think it’s respectable to discuss her without her here.”
“Understood. So what would you name our next?” Destiny thinks about the gene splicing for a few moments but decides she has a daughter because of it and determines she’s fine with the concept.
“Constance.” Harmony whispers in her ear. Then let’s go of her.
Destiny nods in understanding. “Persistence sure lived up to her name, she would appreciate the gesture. She reaches to harmony to hug her again.
“May I point out it gets exhausting that you can hear my thoughts?” Harmony takes in the hug and then backs up to look at Destiny.
“And sometimes it works out in your favor!” Destiny smiles at her and Harmony knows exactly what she is referring to. “And I think you are due for the hard labor on our next one.” She grabs Harmony’s wrist, “Let’s go.”
Xaltuth, busy gathering wood to keep warm, looks up and sees Harmony and Destiny covered in several species of blood. He sighs. “What in the worlds have you two been into?”
“Making it safe for you to return so I can go back to being reagent in absentia. I know there is a lot you don’t know. All I need you to do is make a public speech and explain that we murdered 20 people last night. Of course you’ll explain that they were responsible for the attempt on your life and the murder of Ken. Then you will explain we will not tolerate that and took our duty seriously for the good of the whole. Then you will pardon is.” Destiny does not ask a question. She is clearly ordering Xaltuth to return to the main city, take the podium and do as she instructs him to do.
Xaltuth looks at the two of them. He briefly begins to say something but stops. Then he starts again, “Wow. That’s a lot.” Xaltuth drops the logs in his arms.
Destiny looks at him, “So you were starting to enjoy this life? Be honest with yourself. You want the position back. I understand you had to tell yourself that to stay here so long, but you don’t have to lie to yourself anymore. You’ve got back what you once coveted and you shouldn’t be at threat any longer. It was a small group, All but one is dead. Any side groups we don’t know about will know what happened because we did not kill the messenger.”
“That doesn’t come with a guarantee.” Xaltuth noted in response.
“Nothing in life does.” Destiny reaches out and Xaltuth holds out his hand for the click that is coming.
To Xaltuth’s surprise his announcement and the subsequent pardon are met with cheers and people screaming “We love you!”
Xaltuth thinks to himself, “This si not the prophecy. She’s a Renfield.” He turns to look back at Destiny and then takes her hand and pulls her to the podium.
“As you know.” She begins, “We have a lot of work to do to build this very special place we call home. As you know we have to find more of us. Xaltuth is a competent leader and I know you all will support him so that he can support our ideal of a place where we live amongst our kind.” She pauses to gauge the reaction, but immediately there are cheers. “Serving all of you is a wonderful experience. Building this special place is what we all focus on doing. We know what life is like when you don’t understand. There are a lot out there whom don’t. Let’s invite them into our home so they can help us build it!” Again, she hears cheers.
Destiny stand back from the podium and motions for Xaltuth to go on with the details she and Harmony had laid out for him to cover.
Destiny turns to Harmony, “Where to next?”
“The shower, then bed! Then we can figure it out!” Harmony looks proudly at Destiny.
“Are you suggesting I’m a dirty girl?” Destiny asks.
“Why do you think I added bed to that? I hope you are!” Harmony smiles and they click.
CHAPTER 34
“I spent more years with my love than can be imagined.” – from the Book of Sara
The jungle begins to grow dark and the rain hasn’t let up in over an hour. The two watch the water fall from leaves to leaves and both of them marvel at the beauty of what most would think was a miserable situation. Listening to each other, they know each of them appreciates the lush leaves bouncing with every drop and the glistening prisms of each drop as the light of the sun begins to fade.
“The sky is s
till changing color. That can’t be good for vegetation growth. What are our daughters doing?” Tomorrow comments while looking up.
“It’s fine for vegetation.” Renfield smiles and says, “Why do you think those grapes taste so good to Joy?”
Tomorrow looks at him. “Impossible.”
Renfield grins.
“Our daughters, what have they become?” Tomorrow asks.
“Something else.” Renfield answers.
“And Joy?” Tomorrow begins wondering if he would allow his first two daughters to become something else, what would he let Joy become?
“Time is confusing. You have three cities to run and I have to face Destiny.” Renfield purports.
Tomorrow moves towards him and grabs at him, kissing him while she feels for a reaction from him.
“Remember what I taught you here? You have to wrap the wood completely. It’s not dry if the ground gets wet.” He reaches to her.
“You’re so weird, Renfield.” Tomorrow says as she kisses him deeper.
“Yup.” Renfield grins. “For a moment there, I thought we were in trouble.”
Tomorrow considers the run-ins they have had with the Hunters here. Then she realizes Renfield means so much more than that. She smiles when she thinks of the first movie he ever showed her.
CHAPTER 35
“I watched. There was always more to see.” – from the Book of Joy
Joy looked through the bushes and saw her father approach a man in uniform. He had a lot of colorful things on his chest. She knew they were symbols of merits earned. She noted her father striding directly toward him, comfortable and recognizing. Then they both held out their hands to each other. Both were smiling easily. Then the man with the colors changed his facial expression and put his hand carefully on her father’s shoulders and both of them looked grim for a moment. She hears him think about Nikola Tesla, Niels Bohr, Albert Einstein and Douglas Adams. Then she sees Renfield step back, grin, then look directly at her in the bushes. As the other man walks away he thinks to her, “Forty two isn’t what he was saying. He was saying ‘for two’ that’s why he wrote it out as 42. It’s a joke.” The she sees him click.
