by R. W. Holmes
Emily frowned as Oscar passed her a slip of paper.
“Does that mean you're going to help us?” asked Shay.
“It means we're going to try” Dover answered with an all too friendly smile. “We should have more to say by the time you've shown up.”
“Right, thanks” Emily said as she stood up. “Shay, Zinerva, let's go.”
Oscar furrowed his brow and looked to Dover, who did the same.
“Zinerva?” he queried confusedly.
“The fairy was keeping someone invisible, I think” Dover said knowingly. “Explains the distinct lack of a demon.”
Chapter 15
Welcome Home, Gael Walsh
Gael marched out through the deli's front door and onto the sidewalk outside, his face red with rage as he stormed off towards the sedan and his mind burning with all the senseless acts of violence he wanted to impose on his home town.
“HEY!”
Gael stopped, and slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder.
“You're him, aren't you!?” a man at the forefront of some twenty people proclaimed angrily. “HE'S HERE! GAEL WALSH IS HERE!”
“I never got a reception like this while I was still living here” Gael said as he turned to face his harassers. “What's the occasion?”
“You were supposed to stay gone!” shouted one of the women in the crowd.
“It's a free country” replied Gael.
“Is that so?” asked another in the crowd, this one a police officer. “I don't think anyone's going to enforce that.”
“That's exactly what I'd expect from the town that would put my grandmother's insulting obituary up in a restaurant” replied Gael. “I had no idea your decency was shanked in that prison cell with Donald.”
“DON'T YOU DARE SAY HIS NAME!” shouted a younger man at the back of the crowd.
“You know, it's funny you should talk about your grandmother” said another. “We all took a vote after you left, and we had her body exhumed and moved to the pet cemetery while you were away.”
Gael inhaled sharply and clenched his jaw. “You what?”
“Yeah” said the police officer. “That way she can rest with her own kind, you know? All the other bitches in the city.”
The crowd erupted into laughter, and Gael found his jaw clenched so tight he worried for his teeth. Reaching behind himself, he retrieved a small razor blade he'd begun hiding in his belt and nicked his palm with it.
“You're all going to pay for this” said Gael.
“Whoa, that sounded like a threat” the police officer said as he stepped forward and pulled out his handcuffs. “I think I'm gonna have to take you down to the station.”
Gael thrust his bloody hand at the police officer and bellowed, “KNEEL!”
The crowd gasped as the command boomed with the force of a trumpet and stole the breath from their lungs.
The officer, meanwhile, felt himself unceremoniously forced to one knee by some unseen force. Stuck fast, the officer began writhing about helplessly, but found any piece of himself essential to the kneeling completely unresponsive.
“You lied” Gael rasped hatefully. The pavement below him grew darker as the first few frustrated tears fell to the ground. “Tell the truth, and tell me it was a lie. Do it.”
The officer continued to writhe about, but felt his mouth moving of its own accord when he said, “It wasn't a lie. Your grandmother is in the pet cemetery.”
“NO!” screamed Gael. “TAKE OUT YOUR GUN, AND PUT IT TO YOUR HEAD!”
“Gael!”
Gael paused as Emily and Shay pushed their way through the crowd.
“Gael, come on, we have to go” said Emily. “You've done enough.”
The feeling of something clawing its way up Gael's side kept him from acting, and before long the invisible thing reached his shoulder, and a familiar voice began whispering in his ear.
“You could do it” said Zinerva. “Go ahead. Imagine them trying to prove it, that you were somehow behind Officer Dickhead's suicide. You'd walk, and the whole city would see it happen.”
“They deserve this” said Gael.
“Yes.”
“You don't, though” said Emily. “You deserve better.”
“She doesn't realize just how 'good' this is.”
Gael audibly growled as he exhaled sharply, the need to exact revenge growing too great. He was going to do it, he knew he was.
“I'm going to do it” he whined. “Zinerva, I'm going to do it.”
Zinerva giggled excitedly into Gael ear, until a particularly dark thought struck her and her own wicked nature couldn't keep her from blurting it out.
“Are you talking to me, or your grandmother?”
Gael didn't respond, and suddenly the reality of the situation became too heavy for Zinerva.
“H-Hey, she wouldn't appreciate this” Zinerva whispered quickly. “You gave me her name, right? This is what she'd say. These people have to live with themselves, so let them.”
Gael cried out angrily, unable to hedge his growing anger any further.
“THROW THE GUN AWAY!”
The sound of the officer's pistol clattering to the ground preceded the sudden and violent slamming of a car door as Gael got into the sedan.
Emily and Shay were in the car seconds after Gael, and in an instant the group was peeling away from the madness that had taken Nashua.
“Argyle” said Emily, her voice still shaking with adrenaline from earlier. “I-I need directions to an address.”
“What's wrong?” asked Argyle. “You sound shaken up.”
“You are not allowed near R'lyehans” replied Emily. “Gael Walsh is not allowed near the city of Nashua. Is that understood? I don't care who he's with, Gael Walsh does not go near his hometown. Hell, blacklist all of the Boston area. These people are fucking insane, and the worst of their crazy is for him.”
There was a moment of silence from Argyle's end, before he sheepishly asked, “What's the address?”
Half an hour later, Emily pulled up to a small suburban home on Nashua's outskirts.
“Gael...” she started. “Are you okay?”
“I'm fine” replied Gael, the last remnants of bitterness still clinging to his tone. “In fact, I feel great about not actually killing anyone.”
Emily nodded and said, “Well, we're here. Even if you're not well enough to participate, it's probably best if you're not out here in the open.”
“Agreed” Gael said as he began getting out of the car. “Why don't you start without me. I need to talk to Zinerva for a second.”
Zinerva audibly 'Eep!'d as Gael said this, before quietly and obediently hurrying out of the car after him.
“This is getting weird” Shay said to Emily. “I know you couldn't see earlier, but she was on his shoulder when he had that cop with a gun to his head.”
Emily sighed and shook her head. “Shay, this is a kind of messed up I've never had to deal with.”
“Oh, is your new boy toy too much work again?” teased Shay.
“What? No!” snapped Emily. “I mean, honestly I was worried he was going to be too boring, and these people... Can you hang back here in the car and talk to Argyle about getting his grandmother exhumed? I know that's a weird request, but-,”
“Literally nothing would make me happier” Shay interrupted. “Seriously, a pet cemetery? After she was already dead and buried? The next time someone forces me to go to a church, I'm going to thank God for making Hell.”
Emily got out of the car last, leaving Shay behind, and hurried up to the front door after Gael and Zinerva.
“Right” she said as she pushed past them and knocked on the door. “Sorry, I was just asking Shay to talk to Argyle about something for me...”
The door opened to Dover, who was, for the first time, standing before everyone without any music present.
“Holy shit!” exclaimed Zinerva. “Dude, you're a fricken deer!”
“Faun” Dover said with
a smile, before clicking each of his hoofed feet against the ground. “And yeah, I get it, lower body of an animal. Funny ears. It's not all bad, though. I run an amazing mile, and I can jump really high.”
Oscar appeared at the door next and flashed a guilty smile at Gael. “I didn't know about the pet cemetery thing” he said immediately. “And for what it's worth, the Fae does not hold your actions today against you.”
“I didn't make him shoot himself” replied Gael.
“Really!?” Oscar said in surprise. “I'm sorry, we were well away from the area before things were resolved. Uh... you should come inside! We wouldn't-,”
Gael, Zinerva, and Emily all hurried inside before Oscar could even finish the thought, and he reciprocated their desire to be out of sight by leading them out of the foyer and into the breakfast nook in the kitchen.
“This is a little casual for Fae business, I'll admit” Oscar said as he took a seat. “But it's private, and that's a premium right now.”
“Zinerva and I are going to step out back” declared Gael. “We'll only be gone a minute.”
Oscar eyed Gael suspiciously for a moment, but was put at ease when Gael pulled out his cell phone and left it in the room. He decided to allow Gael's request as he and Zinerva stepped out through the back door.
“It's been a day” Emily said sheepishly.
“This has R'lyehan all over it, though” replied Oscar. “It's never a coincidence when things like this happen. They enjoy nothing more than getting into a person's head and letting them destroy themselves.”
“That would explain why they came here specifically, sure” Emily muttered uneasily. “Regardless, I've had a friend looking into things while all of this has been going on. He should have an address with the Four Seal Scroll for us shortly.”
Outside, Gael and Zinerva surveyed the quaint, well mowed and even more well cared for backyard of Oscar's home. They did this not because they had nothing to talk about, but because they didn't particularly want to talk about what they'd sought privacy for.
“Why?”
Zinerva scowled and kicked at the ground. “What do you mean 'why?'?” she snapped back. “I wanted to see that jerk shoot himself! I wish you could have made them all shoot themselves!”
“But you don't want everyone to shoot themselves” said Gael. “Why them?”
“I'm a demon, Gael” Zinerva replied with a snicker. “Angels talk about punishing the wicked, but my kind, we're the ones that actually do it. There's nothing better than when a soul comes down from the fire and we get to mess with them till they escape our area, or Hell pulls them to a deeper circle.”
Gael nodded. “Okay. Back to the original question. Why?”
“That's what we were talking about!” snapped Zinerva.
“That's not what I meant, though” said Gael. “I wanted to know the answer to the less obvious question. Why did you change your mind and convince me otherwise?”
Zinerva scoffed and turned away from Gael. “I don't know” she said as she folded her arms. “I just... It got really weird when you said 'Zinerva, I'm going to do it'. I was being funny when I asked if you were telling me or your grandma, but then I realized you might actually be saying it to your grandma, and... It was weird! I got scared!”
“Scared of having to deal with me” Gael guessed.
“No...” Zinerva mumbled feebly. “I'm a monster, Gael. It wouldn't be hard to deal with having another one in the room, but that's what it would have done. Even if you had kept it together this time, I'd do it again, and again, and again, because it's fun.”
“But you didn't” said Gael. “Why.”
Zinerva took a deep breath, and then exhaled shakily.
“Because you said you'd forgive me for it” she said sadly. “Remember when we talked about that? I didn't care back then, but just now, when things were getting really messed up... It made me feel awful. It made me feel cold in ways I didn't know were possible. And that felt wrong, too, like my brain didn't know how to feel, so I just panicked and made you stop.”
“Are you saying you're physically incapable of feeling guilty?” asked Gael.
“Apparently not!” blared Zinerva. “It was so weird, like I was born with my legs in the sand and didn't know they were there until they were dug out.”
“So how is it?” Gael asked with a smirk.
“IT SUCKS!” screamed Zinerva. “Consequences for doing something wrong are only supposed to exist if you get caught. Thank goodness I'm a terrible person, or I'd be really upset. Could you imagine if I felt bad about doing little things, like calling Shay an idiot? Or stealing the ice cream out of Angelica's freezer?”
“There's nothing wrong with having a line you won't cross” replied Gael. “Besides, you're not supposed to feel that way, right? It's like God made a rule that's physically impossible to break, and you broke it anyway. I thought you'd be ecstatic.”
“I mean, yeah, except that I liked that rule” said Zinerva.
Gael laughed and reached out to Zinerva so that he could turn her around. “This is really upsetting you, isn't it?”
“The most upset I have ever been was when I found out Angelica is lactose intolerant” replied Zinerva. “Because her ice cream was made without milk, and it tasted weird. Living in Hell wasn't even upsetting, because it was all I knew, and it was chaos, and I feel at home in chaos.”
“Are you going to be okay?” Gael asked next. “Because, you know, my home town has made me have the worst day of my life before. I know I can get over it, and I have you to thank for that.”
“Honestly Gael, I don't know” said Zinerva. “Because now I kind of feel like I should get Angelica more ice cream to replace what I took, and if that's the guilt talking I'm-,”
“Will you shut up about the ice cream!?” snapped Gael. “Everyone already knows you're a little shit. It's part of your charm, so stop worrying about that.”
Zinerva audibly growled in frustration as she clenched her fists. “Why?” she asked. “Why should I have guilt, Gael? I don't get anything for being good, in case you've forgotten. And-,”
“Friends.”
“What?” Zinerva queried confusedly.
“You get to keep your friends” replied Gael. “You know, instead of eventually driving them off.”
Zinerva sighed and nodded. “We should go back inside.”
As if on cue, the back door opened.
“Hey!” snapped Emily. “Argyle just called, he's got the scroll's location. It's time to go.”
“But we weren't done talking!” snapped Zinerva.
“I-I... You'll have to finish-,” started Emily.
“She's kidding” Gael said as he stepped past her. “Your timing was perfect. Come on, Zinerva. There will be lots of people to set on fire where we're going.”
“Okay, now that makes me feel better” Zinerva said as she followed Gael and Emily inside.
Two cars driving down the road wasn't quite a caravan, but having support was something Gael and Zinerva weren't used to. Then, after an hour on the road, they became a real caravan when another two cars pulled up alongside Oscar's own sedan and signaled to him just as they were due to get off the highway.
“These are Oscar's people” said Emily. “We won't really have time for introductions when we arrive, so try to memorize who they are now.”
Gael nodded as Zinerva clamored over him to peek out his window with him.
The first car was an SUV driven by a woman with flamboyant, pink hair. She was grinning like a maniac, and her 'fae', if that's what you would call the seven foot tall, pock-marked skin goliath of a humanoid with her, was slumped like an angry teenager in their punk rock phase.
“That's a troll” said Shay. “Which is, you know, awesome. Their pain tolerance is insane, and they regenerate through just about everything other than fire.”
The second car, a luxury sedan, hosted a younger man who looked like he'd just been called away from a business meeting. He wore a
finely tailored suit, and had his hair slicked back in that timeless way only those with classical good looks could always hope to make use of. His fae, though, was relaxing in the backseat with a glass of champagne in his hand and running a comb through his fine red beard.
“Oh God, no!” Shay blared despairingly. “Not a leprechaun!”
“Shay, you're better than this” Emily said immediately.
“No I'm not!” snapped Shay. “That little ginger fuck deserves his entire pot of gold shoved right up his-,”
“SHAY, NOT NOW!” blared Emily.
“Wow...” Zinerva muttered with a smirk.
Emily turned around in her seat, keeping her eye on the road as best as she could, and said, “I'm really sorry, but can you two help me keep Shay away from the leprechaun? It'll be fine once we're fighting, I swear, but this is a powder keg situation. Fairies are very proud, and leprechauns are extremely condescending. Also, leprechauns are very good at insulting people. They like to get under your skin, and when you do that to a fairy-,”
“My mother keeps a leprechaun locked up in her dungeon back in fairyland” said Shay, a wicked smile spreading across her face. “She did it because he'd laid the most blistering series of insults ever heard, and at a gala attended by almost all the important fae no less. He's sentenced to be locked up in there until people talk more about how long he's been locked away than about the things he's said.”
“Your mom is awesome” beamed Zinerva.
“We're pulling up on the warehouse” Emily said as she cut a sharp left. “There's no security cameras on the property, so we don't know what to expect. Gael, Zinerva, back us up from afar and check in with Argyle every few minutes. We need to know if anything changes.”
“Sounds good” Gael replied nervously. “Argyle, did you get all of that?”
“Yes” Argyle said quickly. “I-I-I, uh... Right, all of the traffic cameras in the area are mine.”
The warehouse, a large building on an empty, gravel lot with little more than a chain link fence topped with barbed wire around the perimeter, came into view. It was rusted over every inch of its iron surface, a series of rippled sheet metal plates that comprised the walls and roof. The steel beams that formed the structure's frame had long since turned a deep, repulsive brown with age and even greater rust, and the windows, few and far between as they were, were clouded with grime and filth.
