by Randy Henson
I nodded. What he was saying made sense.
“Have you ever heard of Category Sixes?” I asked.
Orin’s eyes narrowed and he said, “Sixes? No. That’s a new one on me.”
“That’s what Moira called us. Her and me. I think she was just using it as an example, though.”
“Example of what?” Orin asked.
“You know, to express that we are a category all to ourselves. It makes sense, both of our eyes glowing gold the way they are. Plus, she says she can see in the dark as well.”
“As well? You can see in the dark?”
I nodded and said, “Yeah, in the men’s room I didn’t even need to turn on the light to see. I saw everything clearly in the dark. Weird, right?”
Orin nodded slowly.
I looked over at Jack and saw that he had finished his cheeseburger and was licking juice and grease from his fingers. I grabbed a handful of napkins and wiped Jack’s mouth for him. Then I started to wipe each of his fingers one at a time.
“She also said I’d get stronger.”
“Stronger?”
“And faster.”
“Hmm.”
I looked from Jack’s fingers to Orin and said, “She also said I would eventually be able to read minds.”
Orin frowned and said, “Read minds? That’s a bit farfetched.”
“I don’t know. For some reason I believe her. Or, at least, I believe she believes it. She wants us to stay.”
“Here?”
I nodded.
Orin shook his head and said, “Well, I’m not. I’m going to Virginia. I’ll be leaving first thing in the morning. And if you’re smart, you’ll come with me.”
“Moira says she has a cure.”
Orin’s eyes went wide and he said, “She has medicine?”
I shook my head and said, “No. She said she has the power to relieve symptoms. You know Joe? He said he was a Category Two, like you, and Moira cured him.”
“Cured him how?”
“With her mind.”
Orin squint at me and said, “Mind control?”
I shrugged and said, “Maybe. I don’t know. I guess she didn’t explain it too well to me. Or maybe I just didn’t understand.”
Orin sipped his coffee and then said, “Well, I guess it’s a good thing you can’t read my mind yet.”
I felt my face flush as I said, “Oh, really? And why is that?”
“Because I’m thinking you’re as crazy as she is if you believe anything that old woman tells you.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“What the hell?” Colonel Lundy yelled.
Colonel Lundy, Lieutenant Hale, and Dr. Nichols all stepped backward as soon as their captives started shaking and foaming at their mouths. It was as if their captives were being electrocuted.
“What’s wrong with them?” Lieutenant Hale asked.
“I don’t know,” Dr. Nichols said.
Then the two men who were tied to the chairs started to bleed from their eyes and noses.
“Have you ever seen anything like this, Doctor?” Lundy asked.
Dr. Nichols slowly shook his head and said, “No, sir. Never.”
Then the froth that foamed from their captives’ mouths turned pink.
“They’re bleeding internally,” Hale said.
“I can see that,” Lundy said.
“Maybe it was an overdose,” Dr. Nichols said.
Colonel Lundy looked at Dr. Nichols and said, “Well, you have your equipment now. Take some blood samples. That should tell you what’s wrong with them. Right?”
Dr. Nichols pointed at their captives and said, “I can’t take blood samples with them shaking around like that.”
Blood was now pouring out of their captives’ ears.
“Sure you can. Just swab their ears or cheeks. They’re bleeding everywhere,” Lieutenant Hale said.
Dr. Nichols knelt and opened his equipment case.
Then the captives’ eyes exploded and they slumped in their chairs, finally still.
“Well, they’re not shaking now,” Lundy said.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
I awoke to the smell of minty fresh breath. At first I didn’t even remember having fallen asleep. Then it all came flooding back to me in a millisecond. Orin and I had cleared our dinner table and I had led Jack upstairs to brush our teeth. Then I had helped Jack off with his shoes, had pulled off my boots, and we had crawled under the covers.
Then nothing.
I didn’t even remember dreaming anything.
“Bernie,” a voice said as someone shook my shoulder.
I opened my eyes to see Jack smiling down at me.
“Jack?” I said as I rose up on my left elbow.
“Good morning, sunshine,” Jack said.
I was groggy with sleep and it took me a moment to realize what was going on. Jack was talking to me!
I must still be asleep.
Jack was staring down at me with his baby blue eyes. And he was smiling. I hadn’t seen him smile like that in forever it seemed.
“Jack? What’s going on?” I asked as I looked around our cubicle. Orin’s bed was made and he was nowhere to be seen.
“I think I’m cured,” Jack said.
I reached up and put my right palm against Jack’s left cheek. Then I noticed that though his irises were blue and not yellow, the whites of his eyes were still red. No, not red, not as red as they had been. They were now pink, as if he’d been smoking weed or had stayed awake for several days. Maybe I wasn’t dreaming.
“You remember?” I said. I didn’t know what else to say.
Jack brought both of his palms to my cheeks and kissed me on the forehead.
“I remember everything, sweet sister. I remember how you saved me, how you took care of me, I remember everything,” Jack said. Then he kissed me on the tip of my nose.
I heard myself giggle as I sat up in bed and rubbed my nose with the back of my hand.
“Please tell me I’m not dreaming,” I said.
Jack stood and said, “I hope not. I feel like a fog has been lifted. I feel like I’ve been underwater for a very long time and I just now broke the surface. I can breathe again, Bernie. I can finally breathe again.”
“I’m so happy, Jack. I thought I had lost you forever.”
“No, sis. You didn’t. I was there. It was like I was on the other side of soundproof glass. I knew you were there. I just couldn’t reach you.”
I wiped my cheek and noticed my fingers came away wet. I was crying. I felt the tears roll down my cheeks. I let them. They were the good kind of tears that didn’t sting my eyes a bit.
“Where’s Orin?” I asked.
“At breakfast. Come on. They have a buffet set up down at the food court,” Jack said as he motioned for me to get up and go with him.
“You go ahead, Jack. I’ll be right along once I wash up and get myself together,” I said.
Jack, still smiling, said, “We’re going to be okay, sis. I can feel it.”
I gave him my best smile and said, “Me, too, Jack.”
“I’ll save you some coffee,” he said, and then he turned and left.
I climbed out of bed and stretched. Then I sat on the bed, pulled on my boots, and laced them. I then picked my gun belt up off the floor.
As I stood again and strapped my gun belt around my waist, I wiped my eyes on the shoulders of my t-shirt. I noticed that one of my pistols was missing. This worried me for a split second until I lifted my pillow. I grabbed the pistol off the bed and holstered it. I then rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands and collected myself before I left our cubicle and walked down to the ladies’ room.
I splashed cold water onto my face and looked in the mirror. I looked like a train wreck. I splashed some more water on my face and then dried off with a fistful of paper towels I pulled from a dispenser.
I then combed the tangles out of my hair with my fingers. I had promised myself a haircut when I had found the time. P
erhaps today was the day.
I left the ladies’ room and headed back toward our cubicle. I wanted to roll on some deodorant I had stashed in my backpack.
I entered our cubicle to find Orin stretched out on his bed with his ankles crossed and his hands behind his head.
When he saw me he stood up and asked, “Did you see Jack?”
I’m not sure what came over me.
Actually, I know what came over me. I had my brother back and I was feeling something I hadn’t felt in a very long time… joy.
I walked over to Orin, grabbed his shirt’s collar with two fists, and pulled his face down to mine and kissed him on the mouth. Then I pushed him away and smiled.
Orin wore a mask of confusion and asked, “What was that for?”
I felt my smile falter. Maybe I had misread Orin’s signals. Was that possible? Maybe I mistook his teasing for flirting and now I had embarrassed him and myself. After all, he hadn’t kissed me back. Had he?
After a moments hesitation I said, “For the medicine. The medicine you gave Jack.”
Orin frowned, shook his head slowly, and said, “But I didn’t give him any medicine.”
“But how?” I said.
Then it hit me.
I knew how.
Moira…
DEVIL GIRL: FORGOTTEN
(The Somnopolis Saga: Part Three)
By Randy Henson
Copyright Randy Henson 2014
CHAPTER ONE
Molly knew her granny was wrong. She could feel it. Granny’s just scared, that’s all, she thought. This new woman couldn’t be a bad witch. Bad witches are ugly with warts on their noses, and they have black teeth. This new woman wasn’t ugly at all.
Molly hadn’t noticed before that the young woman’s eyes were gold. She just thought the young woman was lost. Now she knew. She saw the young woman’s eyes really good last night when she crawled up on the dresser and peeked into the cubicle.
Plus, the two young men she was with were pretty. Pretty men don’t hang around bad witches, do they?
No, Molly didn’t think they did.
Granny was just scared. She didn’t understand.
Plus, if this new woman was a bad witch, they would have locked her under the merry-go-round with the others.
Molly was now following the pretty man with the curly gold hair. He has hair like mine, Molly thought. She followed him out of Macy’s and all the way to the food court.
She waited while he piled eggs from the buffet onto his plate. When he sat down to eat, Molly decided it was now or never. She walked over to the young man’s table, pulled out the chair across from him, and climbed up on it, sitting on her knees.
“I’m Molly. What’s your name?” she said.
The young man stopped shoveling scrambled egg into his mouth and swallowed.
“Uh, Jack.”
“Nice to meet you, Jack. Is the redhead your sweetie?”
“What?”
“Your girlfriend?”
Jack laughed and said, “Bernie? She’s my sister.”
“Is she a good witch or a bad witch?”
“What?”
“I’m thinking she’s a good witch. She’s beautiful. But that could just be a trick, though, I suppose.”
Jack looked around and said, “Where are your parents?”
“Daddy’s dead. Mommy was taken. She was a good witch and they took her.”
“Who took her?”
“Bad men. Who’s the man that’s always with your sister? Is he a bad man?”
“Orin?”
“Is Orin her boyfriend?”
“Listen, kid…”
“Molly.”
“Molly, who takes care of you?”
“Granny.”
“Where is Granny now?”
“Sleeping.”
“Didn’t anybody ever teach you not to talk to strangers?”
“You’re not a stranger. You’re Jack.”
“How do you know? I could have been lying.”
Molly shook her head and said, “No, I’d have known if you were lying.”
“How?”
“My belly would get sick.”
Jack scratched his chin. This Molly kid was cute, but creepy.
Molly put her palms flat on the table, leaned forward, and whispered, “If you kiss a bad witch, you’re face will melt.”
Yeah, really creepy.
CHAPTER TWO
Orin looked around the cubicle as if he was embarrassed to be alone with me.
I shouldn’t have kissed him. I had been out of line.
“Well, I’m going to go find Jack and grab some breakfast,” I said as I turned to leave.
“I’ll come with you,” he said.
“You haven’t eaten already?”
“No, I was waiting for you. They have a type of buffet thing going on. I was helping them set up.”
“Oh, okay,” was all I could think to say.
We left the cubicle and made our way through Macy’s. I saw a few people, mostly the elderly, still curled up in beds inside the many cubicles we passed, bald or silver heads poking out beneath covers.
As we exited Macy’s I looked over at Orin and asked, “So, are you leaving after breakfast?”
Orin looked at me, smirked, and said, “After you kissing me like that? No way.”
I didn’t know what to say. Was he kidding me?
Orin shook his head and said, “I’m teasing you.”
“So you are leaving.”
“No, not with your brother waking up normal like that. I think I’ll stick around a bit until I have some answers.”
“You know it was Moira, right?”
“Maybe.”
We passed several shops and entered the food court. Jack and Orin had been right, there was a giant breakfast buffet set up. People shuffled sideways along tables filled with platters and chafing dishes as they filled their plates. All of them were dressed to the nines. Most of the men wore ties, and the women wore brightly colored dresses and a few even wore fancy hats. It was as if it was Easter brunch at a church social.
Orin and I each grabbed an empty plate off a table and got in line as I looked around for Jack. I found him seated at a table with a small blonde girl who seemed to be yammering at Jack a mile a minute. Jack appeared to be hanging on her every word as he shoveled scrambled eggs into his mouth as fast as humanly possible.
The smell of the food made my stomach roll over and I suddenly realized my bladder was about to burst.
I set the empty plate down and said, “I need to go to the restroom.”
“You okay?” Orin asked.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll be right back.”
“Want me to fix you a plate?”
I looked from my brother to Orin and said, “Sure. Thanks. Just some eggs and fruit will be fine.”
“And coffee.”
I smiled and said, “Of course coffee.” Then I turned and headed to the ladies’ room, which was next to the men’s room where Jack and I had hid the evening before.
My stomach turned again in anticipation as I pushed open the restroom’s door. I marched into the first stall, closed its door behind me and locked it. I unbuckled my gun belt and hung it on the stall door’s coat hook. Then I fussed with my jeans’ button and zipper as I examined the toilet and found it clean.
I sat down and immediately began voiding the cheeseburgers I’d eaten the night before. It didn’t seem like just two cheeseburgers though. I felt like I was dumping half a cow into the bowl. As I voided my bowels I flushed the toilet three times like my mother had taught me when I was little. It was supposed to keep the smell to a minimum. In this case I’m not sure it helped. Then I released my bladder and sighed. When I was finished I wiped myself really well and flushed again.
I pulled up my underwear and then my jeans, fastened them, strapped on my gun belt, and left the stall. I then washed my hands, soaping and rinsing twice, and dried them with paper towels. I kept one
paper towel to open the restroom’s door since I didn’t want my thorough hand washing to be in vain.
I shoved the paper towel into the back left pocket of my jeans as I left the restroom feeling ten pounds lighter. I felt like a new woman.
I walked over to the table where Jack and Orin were seated. I sat down in the empty chair that had a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of it. There was also a plastic bowl of fruit salad and a steaming cup of coffee. Once I was seated I scooted the chair closer to the table and picked up the cup of coffee.
“Feel better?” Orin asked.
I sipped the coffee, nodded, and said, “Yes. Thanks. This smells great.”
Jack wiped his mouth with the back of his left hand and said, “It’s better than great. I think I just ate half my weight in eggs.”
I reached over and pulled a small paper napkin from the dispenser resting in the center of the table. I passed the napkin to Jack and then grabbed another for myself.
I then set the cup of coffee down, picked up the plastic fork resting on my plate, and began devouring the eggs.
“Your brother made an interesting friend while he was having breakfast,” Orin said.
Jack nodded as he wiped his mouth with the napkin.
“Her name’s Molly,” Jack said as he looked at me, “And she told me you’re a witch. That’s why your eyes glow. And you cured me with your magic.”
I nearly choked on egg. I wiped my mouth and said, “It wasn’t me. Believe me, I wish I had that kind of power. I’d grow warts on my nose and carry a broom if it meant I could keep you like this, Jack.”
Jack’s smile faltered and he said, “I know you would, sis. Molly also said her mother was a witch and that is why they took her.”
“Why who took her?” I asked.
“The Night People. That’s what she called them. She said they were dressed in black and moved funny.”
“Sounds like military to me,” Orin said.
