And the wall itself. She cups her hands around her eyes and stares at it. It glistens slightly, from the constant trickling of the remains of the Becher running down its walls. Lubricant, Alex thinks with a shudder, for the ease of Becher’s glorious ascent as the one who comes before whatever it’s pulling up from the depths of the planet’s womb. She wonders how many will try to scale the wall in an attempt to escape. She wonders how many will try to burrow below, to see what they can see. She wonders which one of those groups she’ll join, or if she’ll find another, entirely different purpose and way.
A horn honks—she turns to see a rusting red taxi slowing as it makes its way to her. She’s going home. For the first time in she can’t remember how long, Alex feels a kind of lightness in her heart. Is this happiness? She doesn’t dare say yes.
“You know where we’re going, right?” she asks as she opens the door and slides into the back seat.
“Yes, ma’am, I got the address from dispatch—146 Bernd Street, Powerhouse Parish.” The cabbie starts off down the street. “That’s where all the big-ass factories and machines are, right? Some serious fucking dark magic going on there, some real black shit.”
“You are correct.”
“You’re a long way from home this morning. Or, today, this afternoon, I really don’t know what the fuck to call it anymore.”
“Yeah. I really am.” Alex rolls down the window and lets the air stream over her face. It’s far cooler than yesterday, there’s almost a bite to the air. Relocating over half a mile below the surface has some benefits, apparently.
“You look like you had a rough night.”
“I most certainly did.”
“What did you do? If you don’t mind my asking. Orgy?”
“I tortured and killed a couple of people, then I quit my job and killed and helped throw a few of my coworkers into the engines of those big machines that came to life and brought us down here; and then I died and brought myself back to life. Twice.”
“Ha. Okay. Rough couple of nights. Was it worth it?”
Alex stares outside. They’re on Calatrava Boulevard now, heading back into the heart of Becher, and she’s shocked to see how many people there are, how many remained behind. Cars and trolleys and horse-drawn wagons, clogged traffic of all shapes and sorts, horns blaring and pedestrians running or flying across the streets, screaming obscenities and spells. The clang of church bells and cry of police sirens. The roar of a city in full gear, clamped on the body of some great and enigmatic god as it forces its way out of the womb of the earth to be born.
“I don’t know. You tell me.”
The cabbie shrugs. “As long as I have passengers, I’m fine with it. I mean, I’m sure things are gonna change, but people still need to get places, so I’m good.”
“Okay, then. It was worth it.”
“Bet you’ll never do it again, though, right?”
Alex doesn’t respond. She’s staring down at the side of her left leg, still almost black with bruises and dried blood. Peeking out of the empty sheath is a tiny square of paper, bright pink. She plucks it out, and peels it open. One of Quartus’s Post-It notes. Neat block letters, just like yesterday.
THE FINAL DELIVERY
MUST NOT BE COMPLETED
YOU ARE THE WEAPON
WE WILL USE AGAIN
~WE HAVE FAITH IN YOU~
“I said, I bet you’ll never do that again, right?”
Alex flops back against the leather seat, and stares at the back of the cabbie’s fat, oily head as she raises her hands in front of her face. Her silver fingernails begin, ever so faintly, to vibrate and thrum. All the beloved bones in her body follow suit; and the avenue turns silver like the stars.
“Oh, I wouldn’t bet on that.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Livia Llewellyn is a writer of dark fantasy, horror, and erotica, whose short fiction has appeared in over forty anthologies and magazines and has been reprinted in multiple best-of anthologies, including Ellen Datlow’s The Best Horror of the Year series, Year’s Best Weird Fiction, and The Mammoth Book of Best Erotica. Her first collection, Engines of Desire: Tales of Love & Other Horrors (2011, Lethe Press), received two Shirley Jackson Award nominations for Best Collection, and for Best Novelette (for “Omphalos”). Her story “Furnace” received a 2013 Shirley Jackson Award nomination for Best Short Story. Her second collection, Furnace (2016, Word Horde Press), received a 2016 Shirley Jackson Award nomination for Best Collection. You can find her online at liviallewellyn.com, and on Instagram and Twitter.
AKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many thanks to Brian Keene for inviting me and authors Rachel Deering, Chesya Burke, and Amber Fallon to publish our novellas in his Maelstrom imprint anthology, despite the protestation of a few horror fans who seemed convinced that publishing a bunch of damn females could only bring about the downfall of the genre (for better or for worse, it did not). Thanks also to Alessandro Manzetti for giving my novella a second life, to George Cotronis for the spectacular cover art, and to Jodi Renée Lester for her meticulous edits. And as always, thanks to my writing work husband Robert Levy, for his endless love and support.
FORTHCOMING BOOKS
THE WISH MECHANICS
by Daniel Braum
Collection – Paperback and eBook Edition
June 2017
THE BEAUTY OF DEATH 2 – DEATH BY WATER
Anthology – Paperback and eBook Edition
Edited by Alessandro Manzetti and Jodi Renée Lester
October 2017
AVAILABLE BOOKS
SELECTED STORIES
by Nate Southard
Collection – Paperback and eBook Edition
April 2017
THE CARP FACED BOY AND OTHER TALES
by Thersa Matsuura
Collection – Printed and Digital Edition
February 2017
ALL - AMERICAN HORROR OF THE 21ST CENTURY
Edited by MortCastle
Anthology – Paperback and eBook Edition
November 2016
BENEATH THE NIGHT
by Greg F. Gifune
Novel & Novella – Printed Edition
October 2016
THE BEAUTY OF DEATH
Edited by Alessandro Manzetti
Anthology – eBook Edition
July 2016
DOCTOR BRITE
by Poppy Z. Brite
Collection – Digital Edition
December 2016
THE HITCHHIKING EFFECT
by Gene O’Neill
Collection – Digital Edition
February 2016
SONGS FOR THE LOST
by Alexander Zelenyj
Collection – Digital Edition
April 2016
THE USHERS
by Edward Lee
Collection – Digital Edition
May 2016
SELECTED STORIES
by Poppy Z. Brite
Collection – Digital Edition
February 2016
THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE
by Poppy Z. Brite
Novella – Digital Edition
May 2016
USED STORIES
by Poppy Z. Brite
Collection – Digital Edition
June 2016
THE HORROR SHOW
by Poppy Z. Brite
Collection – Digital Edition
August 2016
SELECTED STORIES
by Edward Lee
Collection – Digital Edition
July 2016
WHAT WE FOUND IN TE WOODS
by Shane McKenzie
Collection – Digital Edition
September 2016
Independent Legions Publishing by Alessandro Manzetti
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Books in Italian:
www.independentlegions.com/pubblicazi
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