by JK Accinni
Time stood still as the speechless crowd digested what their unbelieving eyes refused to accept. Johno walked slowly toward the cliff and knelt to pray, his anguish visible in the shaking of his shoulders as he sobbed. Bonnie could hear more sobbing as she wrestled free of Peter’s grasp to run to the men holding Seth.
As she beat her fists on him, she screamed. “You bastard. You killed Tobi. I’m gunna kill you! What did you do with my sister? You bastard, I’ll kill you.”
Seth laughed as Peter gently pulled her off, wrapping the young girl in his arms, shock still on his disbelieving face. Bonnie watched as her mama walked slowly through the crowd, arriving late with some of the keepers. She knelt in disbelief and held out her arms to her daughter.
“Mama, he killed Tobi and Emma. He killed them.” Bonnie sobbed uncontrollably in her mother’s arms.
Wil tried to quiet the crowd as the survivors called for Seth’s hide. “Stop. It will not be necessary.”
No sooner did the words leave his mouth than the walls of the great cavern began to undulate. Striations of gold and red flashed over the walls like lightning coming from inside the wall membranes. The pervasive and malodorous organic stench deepened. Panic registered on everyone’s face with the exception of Seth and Wil.
Salina clung hard to Bonnie as she shouted to Wil, “Where’s Netty? We need her help.”
A flutter and collapse of wings answered Salina as Netty appeared, her arms holding a child, her grand amber tail waving as furious as a whip.
Clyde took a step toward them as Netty held up her hand to stop, his voice unbelieving. “Jennifer?”
The young teen, all of a hundred pounds, took tentative steps toward the men who held Seth, her face flushed and intent. The walls of the cavern increased the dramatic movement of the striating colors. From the bowels of the cavern rose the smell of sulfur.
Jennifer stood unsteadily in front of Seth, who squirmed uncomfortably in the arms of his captors. “Hi, Jen. How’s my little doll? You look good.”
Soundlessly, Jennifer reached into the fold of her smock to pull out a long stainless-steel knife. As the crowd held their collective breaths, she stepped up and stoically plunged the knife deep into Seth’s stomach. She left the knife where she’d thrust it, backing away shaking and making low keening noises.
“You ungrateful bitch . . . I should have strangled you when I had the chance.” Blood leaked from Seth’s mouth as he choked out the words, the knife protruding from his gut, his eyes wide with surprise.
Clyde fought through the crowd to sweep her up in his arms. She turned inward to him, crying. “Grandpa? Oh, Grandpa.”
Seth’s feet buckled under him, held up by the strength of the men who detained him with their backs to the edge of the trail. As they fought to hold him still, the stench of sulfur became overpowering.
A dark cylindrical shape rose ponderously from the bowels of the cavern to loom over the men, striations of light swirling within the gelatinous mass. The horrified faces of the survivors warned Seth of the menace behind him as everyone shrank away. Bonnie shook loose from her mother to take a step forward as her eyes refused to register what was before her. Echo took to the air, her wings fluttering as she flew toward the mass.
“Oh, God . . . Echo, come back,” Scotty screamed, his voice hoarse and panic-stricken.
The mass was huge; the red and amber lights coalescing in the thickness of the thing that hung in the air; its head bulbous, similar to the Elder and minions’ tails. Its body disappeared many stories below. Tears slipped silently down Bonnie’s face as she beheld Tobi’s broken body wrapped protectively in the gelatinous mass of the thing.
Bonnie felt the presence of Netty at her side. “It’s going to be alright, young one. The Womb will provide.”
“Provide? Provide what? A way to give Tobi back to us? A way to punish the scum who caused this?” She threw herself into Netty’s arms.
“Shhh . . . little one. We must say goodbye.”
Rising, Bonnie and Netty watched with the fearful crowd of survivors as the gelatinous thing that loomed over them moved slowly toward the cavern wall on the side of the trail. Echo flitted alongside the mass, a golden escort for the beloved Tobi.
Dipping down to the wall, the mass moved through the membrane until Tobi was completely engulfed, Echo letting go of Tobi’s trunk as it slipped through her fingers to enter the membrane. As the stupefied survivors watched, Tobi completely disappeared, the huge mass withdrawing to loom over them again. Echo fluttered nearby, alighting back on the ground next to Scotty. He promptly scooped her up to hold her tightly to his chest, as he backpedalled away from the mass that had suddenly dropped down in front of them both, as if it knew them.
Slowly, the thing dipped over toward a petrified Bonnie. She felt Netty’s arm around her shoulder, holding her steady. It hung in the air as if to smell her, swaying gently. From over the edge of the cliff, a bulge appeared in the gelatinous mess. It rose high in the air, sucking its way up the neck of the giant entity. To everyone’s astonishment, the bulge moved out from the column toward the young girl. They watched the mass reshape itself to carry the bulge to the ground in front of Bonnie. The gelatinous glob then receded, leaving the remains of Bonnie’s sister Emma, broken and dead on the ground. Sounds of vomiting and the sharp acrid odor of fear came from the crowd of cringing survivors.
Before anyone could react, the thing moved like a cobra, snatching Seth from the arms of his captors, curling around him like a giant anaconda as Seth’s colon released its contents. The last thing anyone heard from Seth was his pleading voice as he blubbered his innocence, cut off abruptly as he was swallowed into the mass. It wavered in the air as if measuring its next victim before it vanished back into the bowels of the cavern stories below, leaving the survivors trembling and in shock.
Chapter 12
Scotty labored in the growing field with Kane, trying to sweat out the effects of the last three days. They were digging deep holes in the rich dirt for the fibrous plugs that Netty said would develop into rich, leafy plants. The plants would give them a natural source to replace the lack of salt in their diet. It could be dried or fresh, chopped in any number of dishes to replicate table salt, one of the luxuries missed by the survivors. The pressure on Netty to come up with this small luxury had produced these brown plugs, a token from the Womb, she said.
“Do you think she just talks to the Womb whenever she needs something? Or is it your little dude over there?” Kane and Scotty turned to watch Echo and Baby planting the plugs. Chloe sat by the hole, filling it in with dirt as the minions took turns dropping in the plug. Caesar lay curled up a few feet away with Barney and Teddy sprawled next to him. The rest of the posse sniffed and cavorted among the groves, tracking mice and monkeys.
One of the white-faced monkeys looked down from her perch with a baby in tow. It had come as quite a surprise to the survivors to discover the birth. The primate was well past the age of producing offspring and the males were well past the age at which they could viably produce sperm. It was suggested that the Hive was at work again in some way. Everyone was wondrously pleased to hear of the birth, but concern over the ability of the elderly female to care for the infant had focused their attention on her, which of course was noticed by the dogs. The new mother took to motherhood with the passion of a monkey decades younger, allowing the survivors’ attention to move on to other matters, but not the dogs. They still felt it was their duty to track mother and child from the ground, even as the rest of the troop chattered and dropped twigs and sticks down on the vigilant and harmless pack.
Three days had passed in the Hive since the discovery of the evil they had welcomed into the arms of their naive hospitality. Scotty thought back to the day of Tobi and Seth’s deaths as he dug.
No one mourned the passing of Seth and most believed he’d got off too lightly. The sketchy facts revealed by a shell-shocked Jennifer horrified them all. Jennifer haltingly disclosed the truth behind the d
eath of a young teen named Maryann at the maniacal hands of Seth as they lay locked in a bathroom a few steps away; the disappearance of her sister Suzy; and how she had learned during that disastrous day to protect herself by feigning unconsciousness. It was clear to the survivors that Jennifer had no real understanding of where she was or what had happened to the Earth above. Long lapses in her memory indicated her mind protected her still. No one quite knew what to say to her as she vacuously asked any survivor that crossed her path if they knew when her parents would be here to take her home.
Clyde spent every waking hour with Jennifer, leaving little time to console Salina who had been devastated by the loss of Emma. Poor Bonnie wasn’t much better. Naturally Salina blamed herself. Scotty, Abby and Jose tried to do what they could to be there for her. But this was the third child she’d lost when you recalled what had happened to Tomas during his involvement with Armoni. Scotty squeezed his effervescent eyes shut with pain as the memories came flooding back. The deaths reminded him of the loss of his mother and Hiro in the accident that had killed them almost four years ago. He sighed to himself, the weight of his wings heavy on his back. So much had happened—it felt more like ten years since they’d buried his mother.
It was safe to say that everyone who had made the trek to the cavern discovered by Tobi and Peter remained in shock. Scotty glanced over at Echo and Baby, well aware they had played a part in the finding of the cavern. Apparently, Peter and Bonnie had kept their roles quiet, protecting the duo for some reason. Bonnie herself had confided in Scotty that Peter had asked her to keep mum about it. So many secrets.
Scotty’s heart weighed heavily as he thanked the Womb they were all still together. He glanced over at Chloe, who resented having to work with Echo but wasn’t bothered by Baby. She moved at only one speed: slow. But he loved her. It made everything easier to have her by his side. He had no trouble picking up the slack and covering for her.
Kane threw down his shovel, dirt encrusted in the lines of his unabashedly handsome face. “I could use a break, bro.”
Scotty threw down his shovel, calling out to Chloe, “Want to take a break?”
He felt Echo’s aura pricking his brain. “Brother Scotty, Sister Chloe does not need a break. She needs to work. We will not complete our task if she stops. The root stock needs to be planted.”
“It’s okay, Echo. I’ll come over there and give you a hand after our break.”
“I do not need your hand, Brother. I need a whole body that will work, and not play at it.”
Scotty grinned, shaking his head.
Chloe’s head swung his way, then back to Echo, her eyes flashing with anger. “Are you two talking behind my back again? Scotty . . . didn’t we agree the two of you would stop that?”
Scotty winked at Echo. “Don’t know what you mean, babe.”
An aura sprinkled lightly. “Is there something wrong with your eye, Brother Scotty?”
Echo clapped her leather hands together as Chloe huffed, dropping down on the ground, grimacing. “Don’t we have more important things to talk about?” Annoyance dripped from her every consonant.
Scotty sent an aura back to Echo as their eyes met, vocalizing at the same time. “Come on over here, you beautiful girl. Let’s relax for a while.”
Chloe’s eyebrow arched at Echo. “What did you just say, Scotty?”
Chagrined, he turned to Chloe. “I said . . . I want to relax here with my beautiful girlfriend.”
Chloe sent a superior glare to Echo as Kane plopped down next to them. “Would you three please stop it? You sound ridiculous.” Kane sighed. “How can you joke after all that’s happened?”
Chloe sidled closer to Scotty, dropping her voice. “I’m sorry, Kane. Echo just gets under my skin sometimes.”
“Yeah, and I can’t erase the feeling that we’re being watched now.”
They all craned their necks to gaze up at the walls and the ceiling of the enormous cavern draped thickly with the same ubiquitous membrane found all over the Hive. The only difference was they couldn’t ignore it now. For ever since the dramatic appearance of what Wil described as a manifestation of the Womb, the membranes all quaked with bursts of light. As Wil and Netty explained, the Womb had been disturbed. But they failed to discuss exactly what that meant, frustrating them all and making everyone fearful.
Scotty watched the posse over in the next field where the fruit trees grew. They were all happy and healthy, keeping their eyes on the hooting primates. From between two trees, he thought he saw a figure moving in fits and starts, then stopping. He stared, attempting to identify the movement, losing interest as Kenya, Daisy and Bonnie climbed the knoll to join them.
Kane rose, quickly helping Kenya attain the knoll. “Hi, girls.” He gave Kenya a quick smooch, pressing his hands to her belly. “Any news?”
Kenya rolled her eyes and eased herself down to the ground. “I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to get back up on my feet, chickey. You just might have to leave me here.”
Bonnie chimed in, her voice empty of her usual animation. “We’ll never leave you here, Kenya, you know that.”
Kenya tilted her head toward Bonnie, her grateful smile dimmer than normal. She patted Bonnie and Daisy on their legs. “I know, chickeys . . . you’re my girls.” Kenya had stopped her vocalizing at dinner with the recitation of the events with Seth in the new cavern. The horror of the discovery had chilled everyone to the bone and she was no exception. Ever since, she, Bonnie and Daisy hung out together as much as possible, except for the time Bonnie spent with Peter and the lion cubs or when she helped with the food distribution.
Bonnie had not yet found the strength to visit Tobi’s herd, especially with Johno walking around like a zombie, bereft beyond comfort, to Crystal’s consternation. Even the impending birth of the new elephant calf could not assuage their heartbreak. And reports of an edgy herd, agitated over the missing Tobi, did nothing to help the situation. Johno had begged Bonnie to visit the herd, praying her presence would calm them down. She continued to refuse.
Even Kenya herself apologized for any inadvertent responsibility that may have pushed Emma into the clutches of Seth. No one dared mention the unintended consequences that stemmed from Kane’s covert affair with Emma and Kenya’s suspicions regarding the two. The fact that Kane’s subsequent rejection probably exacerbated Emma’s flirtation with Seth was left unsaid.
The only survivor who exhibited any happiness in the group was Dezi. His big baby, Chance, was safe and sound, and he had no intentions of taking his eyes off him, doting on his every squeak and squeal. He stuck to his side like a burr, happy to have his daddy to herself.
“I hope we don’t have to visit the funeral cavern anymore. The next time I show up there, it better be to climb out of this place,” Chloe remarked glumly, casting a quick glance at Bonnie.
Emma’s funeral had been two days ago. Scotty wondered how long it would take for the shock of the deaths to wear off. The fact that no one was talking, just skirting around what had happened, would surely cause questions to fester. He felt in his bones that a big explosion wasn’t far off. People could only live in fear for so long without cracking.
“I’ve seen it before.” All eyes fastened on Scotty.
“You’ve seen what before?” asked Kane.
“The thing . . . the gloopy monster.”
“It’s not a monster. Netty and Wil said it’s a . . .”
“I know . . . a manifestation of the Womb.”
Kenya skewered Scotty with her limpid brown eyes. “So, chickey, where exactly did you see this thing before?”
Scotty nodded at Echo and turned to Kane. “Remember the night Echo and I snuck out of the house and went into the woods past Lakewood Ranch, outside Sarasota?”
Kane nodded back. “I know where Lakewood Ranch is. That’s where the cops busted the big dog-fighting ring, where they found the skeletons of the dirty scum that were kidnapping pets to use as bait.”
“That was
us . . . me and Echo.”
They all looked at Scotty in surprise. “Well . . . and the Womb.”
Kenya was the first to break the surprised silence. “And just when were you going to tell us about your chummy relationship with the Womb?”
Chloe rallied to his defense. “He just did, Kenya.” She rolled her eyes at Scotty. “It might have been a help if you’d brought this up before.”
“Honestly, we didn’t think of it until the day before, did we, Echo?” Echo stood up and looked at Chloe, then turned away dismissively. Before anyone could comment, a shadow flicked at the edge of the grove, catching the corner of Scotty’s eye. He watched as Elias emerged to climb the knoll toward the young friends. As he approached, Scotty could see he wasn’t here for tea.
Elias’ brow was knitted with tension; his eyes seethed with contempt and were sunk into his rich, dark skin. He made a beeline for Kane with his fists clenched. Landing a blow to the side of Kane’s neck, he launched his body on top of him, causing the rest to scatter away. Poor Kenya was left to inch herself and her belly out of the way.
“You selfish prick. If you hadn’t decided to toy with Emma, she would still be here.”
“Whoa there Elias . . . you’ve got this wrong.” Kane rolled away from Elias’s punishing fists and jumped to his feet.
“I don’t have nothin’ wrong, white boy. You think you’re better than me? You think because you pal around with Golden Boy here, you can have anyone you want? Bet you didn’t know he was fuckin’ her, did ya Kenya? Yeah . . . and when he was done, he just tossed her away. And that left her open to the other sick fuck. It’s all your fault, white boy.” Elias struck out again at Kane. Scotty could hear Barney and Teddy barking in the distance. From the corner of his eye, he saw Caesar rise.
