by Amy Cross
“I will endure an eternity of this torture,” he continued, “so long as it keeps you from harm.”
She closed her eyes, but tears still ran down her cheeks. “Your love is... very touching, but...” She paused, before opening her tear-filled eyes again. She knew she should break the illusion for him, but at the same time she couldn't resist the temptation. “Do you not think, Edgar, that perhaps it is Estella to whom you should be saying these things? You love Estella -”
“Never.”
“But Edgar -”
“Estella means nothing to me,” he sneered. “If I had the chance again, I would end her miserable life and leave her corpse on the rocks, to be stripped clean by predators.”
“You would?” Taking a deep breath, Estella forced another smile. “Well, we shall see about that.” Leaning closer, she let her lips brush against his, and finally she kissed him properly. After a few seconds, however, she pulled back, as if in shock.
“You're not Kate,” Edgar whispered. “My eyes deceive me, but you're not Kate at all.”
“Edgar -”
“Get out of my sight,” he continued, as his anger grew. “You're a snake, Estella. You're a monster. Do you have nothing better to be doing with your time? Are you so pathetic that you use magic to try to fool me into thinking that you're someone else?”
“Magic? No, Edgar, I -” Stopping suddenly, she realized that perhaps he was right, that perhaps desperation had caused her to alter her appearance for a moment, fooling him. Turning, she saw the cat o' nine tails resting nearby on a bench, and she quickly got to her feet and hurried over.
“Yes,” he said suddenly.
With the cat o' nine tails in her hand, she turned to him.
“You asked me about the three children in the fantasy. Portia, Lucian and Marcus. I did give them a hint of self-awareness, just enough for them to know that they existed, and then to understand that they were going to die. I didn't have to do that, but I wanted to hurt you as much as possible. I wanted to punish you, Estella. You might think that I'm un-mannered or out of control, but the truth is, you have no idea how many times I had to force myself not to kill you.” He paused. “Compared to Kate, you're nothing.”
“Compared to Kate?” She made her way toward him, still carrying the cat o' nine tails. “It might interest you to know, Edgar, that your precious Kate Langley is -”
She caught herself just in time.
“Is what?” he asked.
“Is...” She paused, but no matter how much she wanted to tell him that Kate was dead, she knew it would be a risk. After all, Quillian was right: if he no longer worried about keeping Kate safe, there was no telling what form Edgar's rage might take. “Kate Langley is a weak and pathetic fool,” she continued, “and everyone knows it, everyone except you.”
“You don't know what you're talking about.”
“Don't I? How about this, Edgar? I know you're trying to make me angry, so that I'll use this thing on you. I can see right through your little trick.”
“It's not a trick,” he said firmly. “Hurt me.”
She shook her head. “Not now. Not when you want it.”
“Then when?”
Turning, she took a few steps away before dropping to her knees. She quickly unfastened her dress with trembling fingers, before dropping it down to reveal her bare back.
“What are you doing now?” Edgar asked, clearly unimpressed. “Do you have another pathetic -”
Before he could finish, Estella swung the cat o' nine tails over her shoulder, striking the flesh of her own back and bringing a cry of pain to her lips. Dropping forward onto her elbows, she held her breath for a moment, fighting the agony as she felt warm blood dribbling from the wounds. Her skin had been split open in several places, but as soon as she was able to do so, she straightened her back and got ready to strike again. She knew she'd not been hard enough, that she had more fury to vent.
“Are you insane?” Edgar asked. “Scratch that, I know you lost your mind a long time ago but -”
Again she struck, crying out once more as fresh tears were ripped across her back, running diagonally from her waist up to her shoulders. This time, however, she managed to stay upright, although she clenched her jaw tight and forced herself to keep from sobbing as her whole body trembled.
“Do you expect me to pity you?” Edgar continued. “Do you really -”
The third time, she slumped forward as shock-waves of pain shot through her body. The cat o' nine tails had torn through her flesh and had struck bone, but still it wasn't enough. Blood was pouring freely down her back now, but she straightened herself and held the cat o' nine tails up again, ready to strike. Staring straight ahead, she took a series of slow, deep breaths as she got ready to endure another bout of agony.
“Estella -”
***
Looking toward the hatch that led down to the basement, Quillian frowned as he heard Estella scream yet again. He paused, and then she cried out for a fourth time, then a fifth.
“You're insane,” he muttered, listening as she continued to whip herself, “both of you. Sometimes I truly think that the best form of torture would be to just lock you two together in a room for the rest of time.”
III
“No!” Winifred Wood wailed as she clung to Joshua's dead body. “Dear Lord, why did you have to take my little boy away from me?”
“It's okay,” Albert said, putting an arm around his wife's shoulder in an desperate attempt to comfort her. “He's at peace now. God knows he had his struggles and demons in life, but he's in a better place now.”
As his parents continued to mourn, Benjamin stood in stunned silence and stared at his brother's body. The injuries were so horrific, it was as if a wild beast had struck him, although some of the damage had been caused by the crabs and birds that had picked at the corpse in the hours before it was found. Parts of the face had been torn away, and one particularly enterprising scavenger had even managed to get under his shirt so that it could start gorging on his guts. All in all, there was barely enough of the body left for it to be positively identified, but Benjamin had no doubts at all. His brother was dead.
“I'll need to perform a full autopsy, of course,” Doctor Lassiter said, keeping his voice respectfully hushed as he packed his equipment back into his bag, “but my preliminary examination suggests that he died of a broken neck.”
Benjamin turned to him. “Are you sure?”
“His neck is certainly broken,” the doctor replied, “and most of his other injuries are either relatively minor, or were sustained post mortem. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but all things considered, I think someone or something deliberately snapped his neck in one clean move.”
“So it was...” Benjamin paused. “Are you saying that he was murdered?”
“Your brother was a heavy drinker, was he not?”
“Not heavy enough to break his own neck.”
“Exactly,” Doctor Lassiter continued, closing his bag. “Do you know if he was at the cantina last night? Perhaps a drunken fight got out of hand? Perhaps an argument spilled out and someone followed him to the beach. That's the problem with excessive drunkenness, it can lead to all manner of unnecessary complications. If I had my way, I'd ban the sale of alcohol from the island.”
“My brother knew how to fight,” Benjamin replied. “He learned from the day he first picked up a beer bottle.”
“I shall have to refer this case to the proper authorities,” Doctor Lassiter explained, “since it's clear that someone killed him.” He paused, as if he felt a little uncomfortable. “Given that Mr. Quill is no longer fulfilling the duties once performed by Inspector Tarud, I'm not entirely sure who I should approach first. Perhaps I should send word to Parios and get them to send someone. They're always rather reluctant to involve themselves in the life of the island, but if a man has been murdered, they'll have to send someone.”
“Do what you want,” Benjamin muttered, staring down at Jo
shua's body. “I have a feeling that whoever did this, they consider themselves to be above any human law.”
“No-one is above the law,” Doctor Lassiter pointed out as he headed to the door. “Not even on Thaxos. It just seems that way sometimes. I have absolute confidence that the perpetrator of this crime will be caught in due course.”
“Benjamin,” Madeleine called out suddenly, hurrying into the room but stopping as soon as she saw Joshua's bruised and bloodied body. “It's true, then?”
He nodded, still looking at the corpse.
“I'm so sorry,” she continued, putting her arms around him. “I know things had been difficult between you lately, but he was still your brother. As soon as I heard that something had happened, I came here to find you.”
“Difficult?” Benjamin paused for a moment. “The last time I saw him, he damn near killed me. He left me for dead.”
“I know what it's like to have a tricky brother,” she replied, still holding him tight. “I'm not going to pretend that I cared a whole lot about Joshua, but I don't like seeing you in pain.” Pulling back, she looked into his eyes. “I never thought I'd say anything like this to anyone, but... We can go somewhere and talk, if you like. I've never really bothered listening to people talk about their feelings, but I guess this is the kind of time when that'd be appropriate, so maybe we could give it a try. Plus, I actually care about what you're going through.” She waited for an answer. “Benjamin? Can you say something, at least?”
He continued to stare at his brother for a moment longer, before turning to her.
“Benjamin?” she asked, troubled by the hint of confusion in his eyes. “Am I doing a bad job of making you feel better? Sorry, it's the first time I -”
“Get her out of here,” Benjamin's mother shouted suddenly, pointing at Madeleine. “I will not have one of those filthy creatures in my house! Get her out!”
“I just -” Madeleine began to say.
“Out!” Winifred screamed, rushing over to Madeleine and pushing her toward the door. “You and your wretched family have done enough to this island already! It's not right to have you here, this is a holy family and we won't have monsters in our midst!”
“Okay!” Madeleine snapped, allowing the woman to push her out into the yard. “I'm going!”
“And stay out!” Winifred said firmly, before turning to Benjamin. “I forbid you to speak to that creature again. Do you understand? You're to stay here with your father and me. You've already brought enough misery onto our shoulders by associating with the Le Comptes, but it has to end!”
“I'll be back in a moment,” he told her, heading out to join Madeleine.
“No!” Winifred shouting, grabbing his arm. “Not one more word!”
“Stop shouting,” Benjamin hissed, pulling away from her. “Go back to Joshua. Show some respect instead of running after that foul creature.”
He pulled the door shut, before turning to Madeleine.
“Sorry,” she said after a moment. “I guess that might not have been the best time for me to make my entrance, huh? You always said your parents would be a tough crowd, looks like you were right.” She waited for a reply, but Benjamin merely stared at her. “Come on,” she continued, forcing a smile, “you're starting to freak me out a little here. Why don't we go somewhere and you can tell me what you're really thinking.”
Again she waited, but again he merely stared at her, as if he was trying to read her mind.
“Benjamin -”
“Did you do this?” he asked coldly.
“Did I -” She paused. “Did I do what? Did I kill your brother?”
“His neck was snapped. This wasn't an accident, someone murdered him.”
“Well, I...” She paused again, shocked as she realized that he truly suspected her. “Well, I can certainly believe that someone did that, but I hope you realize snapping necks isn't really my way of doing things. I'm more of a drainer than a snapper.” She waited, still half expecting him to admit that he was joking. “Benjamin, why would I kill your brother? He was an annoyance, a gnat, he was barely even on my radar. I mean, if I went around killing everyone who irritated me, there would literally be nobody left on this island. Apart from you, obviously.” She waited again, still clinging to the hope that he wasn't serious. “My brother has gone AWOL, Kate just died, Nixon's acting like he's got ants in his pants, Estella exists... I have far, far greater things to worry about than hunting down some dumb, drunk human and breaking his neck on a beach.”
“But it's what you do, isn't it?” he replied. “Your kind, I mean.”
“My kind?”
“Your species. You don't always need a reason to kill, it's just something you do for pleasure sometimes.”
“So you think I killed Joshua as some kind of stress-relief?”
“I really don't know what to think. I just know that my brother is dead.”
She stared at him for a moment. “I don't mind that you think I'm capable of killing him,” she said finally. “It's true, I have a dark side. But the fact that you think I'm lying to you, and that you think I'd hurt you like this... It's almost as if you don't really know me at all.”
“Then -”
“You really see me as a monster, don't you?” she continued, starting to feel a wave of anger in her soul. “You look at me and you see something that's just pretending to have a heart. Like you've cornered a wild beast and made it your pet for a while, but you know one day it'll snap and show its true nature.”
“Maybe I was wrong to suspect you,” he replied. “Let me go back in and talk to my parents -”
“Do they think I killed him?”
“I don't know, I -”
“It's so easy for you, isn't it?” she continued. “Blame the Le Comptes whenever anything goes wrong on this pathetic little island. Well, I've got news for you, we're far from the worst things on Thaxos. In case you hadn't noticed, there's a cold-blooded vampire living in the lighthouse, and he's already demonstrated that he's willing to kill. Did it occur to you that he might be responsible for your brother's death?”
“Madeleine -”
“Or what about Estella?” she asked, pushing him away as he tried to take her hand. “Maybe Lady Prissy Pants decided to test her powers? Hell, even Nixon has a dark side from time to time, especially when he gets into his wolf form. And that's not even counting the monsters we don't know about, Benjamin, because I'm damn sure there are more things lurking in the shadows around here.”
“Madeleine -”
“Oh,” she added, pushing him away and taking a step back, “and you're forgetting the biggest monster on the whole island. Humans.” She paused, a little out of breath. “Maybe your brother was killed by another human. It seems to me that humans have been responsible for more deaths on this island lately than any other type of creature. And let's not forget the small matter of the war that's been raging in this part of the world for the past few years.” She paused again, before turning and walking away. “Go back to your parents. Comfort them, they need you.”
“Stay,” he called after her. “Madeleine, please, I'm sorry!”
“I'm too filthy to be allowed in your house, remember.”
“Madeleine -”
“Besides,” she snapped, looking back at him for a moment, “I'm so angry, I don't know whether I can control myself. Maybe I'd end up killing a whole bunch of people. That's what I do, remember? You said it yourself. I'm little more than some kind of savage, wild animal.” With that, she turned and hurried away, ignoring his calls for her to stay.
***
“Hello, Anna,” a voice said. “And what are you doing on this fine, sunny afternoon?”
Looking up from the twigs and sticks she'd been collecting at the edge of the town square, Anna had to shield her eyes from the sun so she could see the face of the man staring down at her. As soon as she realized that it was Quillian, the man who'd imprisoned her mother, she felt a wave of fear in her chest.
�
��It's okay,” he continued, leaning on his cane as he stepped past her and then sat on a nearby bench. He seemed out of breath and in pain, even more so than usual. “I just noticed you here all alone, and I wanted to see how you were filling your time. Plus, I'm so tired these days. This old body of mine isn't what it used to be, and I'm not healing as fast as I expected. I've become rather attached to my current form, but I'm starting to wonder whether it might be time to come up with a contingency plan. Perhaps -” Before he could finish, he broke down into a coughing fit. Once that was over, he turned and looked across the town square, watching for a moment as several men worked to dig a pit in the center. “Do you happen to know what they're doing?” he asked finally. “I've been trying to work it out, but it makes no sense to me.”
“It's for the war,” Anna said cautiously.
“For the war?”
“It's going to be a memorial.”
“Oh,” Quillian replied, with a faint smile, “that war. The one that has been raging across this continent for several years, ever since that unfortunate shooting in Sarajevo. Humans certainly have a tendency to start killing one another at the drop of a pin, don't they? Where's the honor in -”
Another coughing fit struck him, and when it was over he saw blood and slime on his hands.
“My mother says it's almost over,” Anna continued, “and that after that, there won't be any more wars. She says there's going to be a lot more peace from now on.”
“How quaint.”
Anna stared at him for a moment. She knew she should run, that she should be scared of him, but at the same time her mind was a little foggy, as if some of her memories had been locked away. Besides, Quillian seemed so old and frail now, she had no doubt she could skip away from him without too much trouble.
“There will be more wars,” he told her. “There will always be more. Life without conflict isn't life at all. Life is about change and growth, and where one form of life grows, another must shrink back. Even the humble tree...” He turned and used his cane to tap a nearby tree. “Does this tree go to war, Anna?”
