“See you in a few, you walking death-wish,” Juno said, as David fought to stop himself from beating Brent bloody. “Just be loud when you come back so I can get Brent’s cock back into his pants and avoid an embarrassing moment for you.”
David made his way down the hall, walking into Cadence’s open door, and closing the open bathroom door, as he entered her room and she closed her door behind him silently.
David began to speak, but Cadence silenced him. Before he could reverse the effect, she created a glass prison around them that extended into the hallway and encompassed both her room and the bathroom. She grabbed him by the neck, licking his nose and kissing him furiously. Wrapping her legs around his and pinning him against the wall. “You have no idea how desperately I want you.” She breathed erratically. “All that talk at supper. Though it was crude and offensive. And when you stood up for me and put Brent in his place. All of it. It made me feel so hot. So hungry I could hardly keep it in. I had to fight myself from taking you right then and there on the table, in front of everyone and...” She pushed herself away and turned around. Covering her bottom and breasts with her hands. Suddenly aware she’d forgotten to put her clothes back on. “Oops.”
“Damned spell. Don’t feel bad about it. You know I was struggling the whole time too. At least you had the self control to keep your thoughts in check. I suppose that’s easier for you, though. I nearly killed Brent on my way in here. The way he talked about you was just—”
She turned back around and smiled, still looking at the floor. “Forget about Brent, David. I heard what he said to you. Just like your friends when... His words mean nothing. And I know that your caring for me is causing you, and has caused you, much distress.” She blinked away another tear. “I think the entire town knows after what you’ve been telling the men from the city, on the phone, this evening.” She giggled. “And, even though I might not deserve it, I need you to listen to me. To hear me.” She scanned the floor, blushing. “Look. Here’s what I meant to say. Or what I wanted to say. What I said before. I meant it. I still do and... Oh damn it. Rewind. First, I want you to know I feel horribly about what I said to you earlier. Ever since you arrived here. How I treated you. I want you to know I only said and did those things because I wanted to believe Brent loved me and that he was the one meant to be on my path. It was unfair of me. Okay?”
He nodded. “What path? ...I mean, I didn’t hold it against you. Maybe I did. I don’t know. I’m just so... I can deal with the violence. Those people from the city. I can deal with the betrayal. Juno and her wandering everything. But, I think I’m, with or without Junie, going to have to leave tomorrow. I don’t know where to, but I can’t deal with—”
“I know, David. But. May I ask you something?”
“Yes. Is there anything else?”
“You know what I mean.” She batted at him playfully. “You’re impossible. But I love it. I missed you. And I miss you. Don’t ever stop having fun with me... I mean, I wanted to ask you something very personal.”
“Feel free. You can ask me anything. No matter what you say, though, I’ll still have a follow-up question.”
“Okay.” She paused for a moment as she felt his words sink in deep. “If I were to... I mean if I... Well.”
“It can’t be all that bad, Cadence. Just ask me.”
She ran her hands through his hair as she brought his face close to hers and looked him in the eyes. “Do you remember the first night we met, when you came over to eat? And you asked me how it was possible I was still single?”
“I remember wishing you were in a dark room on a dirty mattress. Please stop playing with me.”
Cadence choked a little and coughed, looking around, like she was searching for her original train of thought. “You’ve since learnt it was because of Brent and my promise to him. My own faulty perception. My foolish wish. I surely knew why you were here then, but my own morality wouldn’t allow me to express it. But that’s no longer the case, so I’m free to—”
“How are you planning to let me go this time? Easier I hope.”
Cadence continued speaking, ignoring David’s question. “After all that’s happened between us. Though it wasn’t all pleasant, I’ve come to understand that you were... you are the one. That It was right. I feel it very strongly now. If I were to pledge myself to you. Would that...? Would it be too forward? Would you think less of me? Would it be inconsiderate of me? Would it be a burden? Would—?”
“No.” He silenced her, which she immediately reversed.
“If I were to do that, would you return the pledge?” She looked down. “Because I love being with you. I knew it since I met you the first time. Before here. I want you to be mine. But, as I said, you might not like what that means, because... You know I’m a monster. And I selfishly turned you into one. And, well, I can become very jealous. If I’m yours, then I’m yours, and just yours. But if you’re mine, you’re mine, and just mine. I can be ruthless when I’m angered by other women who try to take from me that which I consider sacred. Or other men. Deadly, even.” She paused, looking down.
“Is that your explanation for why you left me wondering if you were alive or dead, Melody?”
“I’m asking too much of you. It’s only been three days... Okay, longer, as you continue to note. But, even with that history accounted for, you don’t really know me.”
She looked into David’s eyes again as he spoke. “I know you. You’ve never been anything but honest with me. Well, about who you are now, your beliefs and your feelings, anyway. But time is immaterial. How long does it take to recognise the real thing? To know it? I think it’s immediate. I think I knew it the first time I saw you, though I was too young to make sense of it. I think our souls know what it is, long before we catch up and stumble into the right place at the right time. I could deal with the jealousy. I could be as vicious as you, right? And I can be mean. Selfish. And, though I’ll never touch the dope again, I’ll always be an addict. Unpredictable. Since we’re the same, if we were to come together, you’d have to not play with the attention of other men. Or they might start mysteriously disappearing. Especially the way I’m feeling now. And you still need to ask me to tell you. I’m serious.”
She stifled a laugh as her left eye teared up. “I mean to. Just... You need to know certain things first. I would remove the other men myself. And the other women. Remember what I said: If you devote yourself to me, and accept my devotion in kind, quitting me is going to be so much harder than quitting any drug you’ve ever been addicted to. Because I will be a constant source of pleasure when you need it. You won’t be able to get that feeling from anyone, or anything, else but me. The more you partake of me, the more you’ll become dependent. I will always be there for you. Unless you hurt me, or wrong me, intentionally. Then you will suffer withdrawal until I’m satisfied you’ve hurt long enough or atoned properly. Perhaps you’ll treat me with the same coldness, if I wrong, or hurt, you with malice. I would expect it. Though I will never wrong you. Or hurt you. But things will change once we’re bound. I will be the only creature in this existence that can cause you harm, and you will be the only creature who can harm me. Even the Missionary you call ‘the shadow’, or ‘uncle’, won’t be able to touch either of us. The love we share will make us each other’s greatest, and only, weakness. And our personalities. Our selves. They will become one, also. As they have already slowly begun to. I may not always be the proper young woman you so adored.”
“You mean you’ll loosen up?”
“Yes, David. I just might. I already am loosening up. And you just might become slightly more civilised. But not too much, I hope. You weren’t raised to be proper, that’s for certain.” She let out a light giggle. “So would you? Would you allow yourself to be bound to love me? Would you allow me to be bound to love you?”
“Yes,” he replied. “I would love to see the side of you that’s like me.”
“I pledge myself to you, David.” She knelt on the
floor and kissed the palms of his hands. Twelve times for each. Then she stood back up and placed his palms on her cheeks.
“Do I do the same?” he asked. “If I’m to return the pledge?”
She shook her head. “No. All you must do to return the pledge is to speak your pledge and kiss me once on the lips. Kiss me like someone with whom you entrust your life. As I am willing to do with you. All you have to do is complete it. If I’m bound to you, I will never leave you. As I would never have left Brent if he would have pledged himself to me. And, I do owe my Lord God thanks for bringing you here, even if it was against your unconscious will. If I had pledged myself to Brent I would have been trapped for the entirety of his human life. ...But, if you do kiss me, then you will be bound to me in the same fashion. And as I said before—”
“I know. You’ll kill anyone who tries to lure me away.”
“Not just anyone who tries to lure you away. Anyone who threatens you in any way. And I won’t kill them, David. I’ll take them from this world and put them somewhere no one will find them. In the Underneath. I’ll feast on their souls, while They endure the agony for years. For lifetimes, if I so choose.”
“But you’ll give Junie twenty-four hours, right? So I can make sure she knows the score, since she still thinks I’m hers, though she’s not mine? Or do I go out and dismember Brent as soon as we’re done here?”
Cadence smirked. “I’m a monster, David, but I’m not a ‘monster’. We both have time to release our present obligations peacefully.”
“You’re not a monster, Cadence,” he said. “Not the way I see it. I mean, I realise what you are behind your mask, but I’m the same as you, in some respects. We both must possess some form of soul that attracts us to the other. What you see when you look at me is just a skin suit covering some pretty unappealing insides. You know that better than most. But outward appearances aren’t the issue, anyway. And the men coming after us, they’re the real monsters. Them and people like them. And we’ll rid the world of them, soon. But... Why won’t you ask me to tell you?”
Cadence’s eyes looked hopeful and then filled with emptiness. “I thought about what you said when I suggested you tell me, before. You were right, David. I can’t expect you to force me to love, and care about, you. Even though I know now, in my heart, that you are the one. That you must be, or you wouldn’t have allowed me to let you go. You wouldn’t have taken it so far...” She looked down and then back up into his eyes. “I need you to be with me of your own will. And I need you to know that I’m with you of my own will, as well.”
David nodded. “I understand. But, before we go any further, I need to know why. I need to know why you left me. When we were younger. Why you left me alone. To wonder if you were safe... or dead... or... I need to know why you hurt me. I need to know why you did that to me intentionally.”
“I will tell you, David. I swear it.”
“No.” David rubbed her cheeks with his hands. “I need to know before I commit myself to you. Because as much as I love the ‘you’ that exists underneath Cadence... and Melody... and the bloody winged thing you’ll turn back into from time to time if you get jealous. As much as I love you, I need to know why. Because I don’t trust what I feel right now. Not entirely. And I’d be lying if I promised myself to you unconditionally, knowing what little I know.”
“I pledge myself to you, David.” Cadence said again, kneeling on the floor before him and kissing the palms of his hands, twelve times for each again, as he shook his head. She continued. “And I promise you, on my life, that, though I will be bound to you, you will not be bound to me until such time as you have your explanation.” David tilted his head to the side as she looked at him and paused. “I smelt you coming, very distinctly, twenty-four hours before you arrived, but I foolishly ignored what I knew to be true about who you are to me. And if what I have to say to you. About me. About our past. If any of it causes you to not wish to return this pledge, I will honour your decision and release you forever.” She stood back up and placed his palms on her face again.
“You promise?” he asked. “Why should I trust you?”
“I know I’m asking a lot of you, David. But would you please give me one more chance? I only want to make you happy.”
“The last time you promised me that, you left and never came back.”
She began to cry. She didn’t sob or moan, like the hysterical women on the television news did, but her tears were warm—not fake. “And I have nothing to gain from you by shedding these,” she said. “I need you to, please, trust me once more. I understand your doubt, but, if it helps... If I’m lying to you, once we’re bound you will be able to torture me for eternities. And the shadow will help you, David. It will help you gladly. You must have sensed that when It, as you say, introduced Itself to you. It’s wanted to meet you for a long time.” She looked down. “I can’t offer any more assurances. I don’t know what else I can do to make you—”
“Please, Cadence. Just don’t play with me. I was... I am serious. I can’t deal with it. Not anymore.” David moved to kiss her.
“That’s not required yet.” She smiled through her tears. “And I swear to you that I’m not playing with your feelings. But, you don’t owe me—”
And he kissed her. As he already knew how to. But this time, though they’d known each other intimately before on other planes of existence, the kiss was pure. And it was true. No guilt. No shame. No half measure. Their physical lips and tongues loving each other. Not like when she’d transferred her gift to him and made him her somewhat-equal. This time they both came to the other from the same place of awareness and the same place of undiluted desire and, though they could not consummate their pledge immediately, the feeling was nearly the same.
When they finished kissing and their lips parted, she looked even more beautiful to him than she’d ever looked before. Almost Cadence. Almost Melody. And she saw him more wonderfully than she’d ever imagined she could, too. Like an Angel. Like she’d imagined he was when she first felt the warmth of his lips on her hand and she first tasted his flesh mixed with the salty sweat of her own.
“I believe you’ve told me the truth, Cadence. You still haven’t switched off your spell.”
“Oh.” She made a stupid face. “That’s true. I totally forgot, you fucker.” She slammed her hands over her mouth in shock and quickly withdrew them. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that in a really bad way.” She winked and he smiled back at her. “Now, as I was going to say... Beyond the relationship issues. We must complete our stories.”
“How do you mean?”
“You will help me end this chapter in my life. And I will help you end this chapter in yours, if you so desire. After I tell you what you wish to know.”
He still looked at her, not fully understanding. Only hoping the explanation he’d been demanding wouldn’t ruin them. And praying they would be together. Forever. Feeling certain he’d never wanted anything more than he’d wanted that.
“Go back to Brent and Juno. The spell is now lifted. Take Juno home. Spend one more night with her. I will spend one more night alone in my room.” She stopped him as he kissed her softly. On the chin and then the tip of her nose, causing her tears to flow again with remembrance as she took hold of his right hand and kissed lightly at his fingers and thumb. Closing her eyes, resting her head on his hand and experiencing its warmth. “Though it may be hard, and I will forgive you if you do, would you please not sleep with Juno any longer? Not lay with her?”
“I haven’t had any desire to sleep with her, save for the overwhelming one you saddled me with, since the morning I first met you again,” he replied. “And I want to believe I’ll be yours soon. Of course I won’t sleep with her.”
She smiled and jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and hugging him tightly. “I will make you so happy, David. My beloved.”
“And I hope I’m able to do the same for you. But don’t you need to show me how to do this spel
l? And undo it? Didn’t you promise me that earlier?” She untangled her feet and slid them from behind his back to the floor. “And, for the love of all that’s merciful and decent, would you please either put on clothes or send me on my way. I’m not posturing when I tell you I find you more than attractive.”
“Yes.” She shifted her feet and blushed as she bent over to pull a shabby nightdress out from underneath her bed and slipped it over her naked body. “And yes. I so wish I didn’t have to show you this trick. It was fun watching you get so worked up.” She giggled. “I don’t mean I enjoyed tormenting you. Just. You’re so cute when you get rattled. And... You make me smile. I’ve missed you. Maybe my entire human life. Maybe before I ever met you... Yes, I will show you.”
She sucked on her thumb for seven seconds, placed it against her forehead, and closed her eyes.
“That’s it?” He looked at her sideways.
“Well,” she replied. “This isn’t complicated, David. You can do the ritual in your head, now that you know what it is. All you have to do, while you have your moistened thumb attached to your forehead, is to wish to hear or unhear. See or unsee. Smell or unsmell. Etcetera. And then, as I’ve explained before, once you know how to do it. Once you’ve experienced it, you can produce the same results by visualising it in your mind. You understand?”
“Yes, I do, Cadence.” He began to suck his thumb.
She pulled his thumb from his mouth, held it to her chest and involuntarily hummed a soothing melody—almost a lullaby—for a moment. “Stop it, David. You’re being horrible. Having fun with me, always. I do so love that... I love you.” She silenced him, which he immediately reversed. “Don’t say that back to me. Just accept it. When you say it next, I want it to be spontaneous. Not an obligation or a courtesy.” She blushed more. “I do, though. Truly. Now go.”
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