Lewis tried not to imagine them eating his flesh, but when the tiny stinging bites began, he could avoid the thought no longer.
For the thousandth time since entering the house, Lewis thought he was going crazy.
After what felt like hours later, her arm budged, sinking into the wall a little. Jina awoke from her half-sleep. What the—
She pushed, and crumbling bits of plaster and wood fell. The smell of dust filled her nostrils. She fought off a sneeze.
The wall deteriorated. With the new hope of escape, she flexed her muscles. More pieces of plaster crumbled away. She bent her knee. Wood slats creaked, splintered, and gave.
Her sinuses could no longer be ignored, and she sneezed, almost breaking her nose against the remaining slats. She shook off the burning swell in the center of her face as well as she could and twisted her arm up to the new dent in the wall by her head. A beam of dusty light shone through when she wiggled her fingers through the weakened wall.
After more struggling she pushed her way out into open air. She inhaled deeply, savoring the freshness and openness of the old music room. It smelled like flowers.
As she dusted herself off, her attention was drawn to the couch. Lewis sat in front of it, holding his knees together and quivering intensely in a catatonic stare. His whitened knuckles clutched the kaleidoscope. He trembled and ignored Jina altogether.
The room itself was drown in full daylight. It had been redecorated. White satin draped over everything, with iridescent lace draped over that. Green ivy twisted around the ceiling, around the windows, along the floor. Red roses poked out from every crevice, and rose petals were scattered all around the floor. The room looked as though it were ready for a… wedding.
S.A. would be here soon, and she would be ready for him. She found the railroad spike where it had fallen by the door. She slipped it into her pocket.
Lewis had the ‘scope, and didn’t look like he was willing to give it up. Before she could attempt to take it from him, Sandy appeared on the stairs. A strapless long white dress form fit her body and she held a bouquet of white roses.
“Sandy! Where were you? Why are your shoulders so red? What did he do to you?”
But Sandy ignored her, staring straight ahead, not even looking at her feet as she descended. She had paused at the bottom of the stairs, the long train of her dress trailing all the way up the steps. But then she began walking again, the hem of the dress hissing along the floor. Each of her footsteps was deliberately placed. A wedding march.
“Sandy, what the hell is going on?!”
Sandy’s gazed blankly toward the other end of the room, where a dais rested under a brightly lit window. The simplistic beauty of her dress stood out. It was long and straight, unembellished white, unblemished with any lace or flowers. A crown of daisies encircled her hair, which was darker auburn than Jina remembered it, as if her hair were in nighttime.
Sandy approached the dais. Faint choral singing faded in slowly. She climbed up onto the first step and stopped. Jina could see no one in the room other than Sandy and Lewis, but she seemed to be listening intently. She nodded from time to time and smiled distantly.
Jina turned to Lewis, who still shivered and clung tightly to the kaleidoscope.
“Lewis,” she said calmly, “could you please give that to me?”
To him, she wasn’t there. She knelt down and reached for his fingers to pry them off. Lewis growled at her and took up a defensive stance, crouching into the corner between the couch and the wall. He didn’t seem to recognize her.
“Lewis, it’s Jina. I have to get that kaleidoscope so I can save Sandy. Please?”
He merely stared and trembled. His knuckles grew whiter.
“If you don’t give it to me, I’ll take it from you.”
He inhaled fearfully as though she had just threatened to gouge out his eyes. But he did not move.
Reasoning with him wasn’t going to work. Fighting with him might. She would have to try, to save Sandy.
She distracted him by pointing away and saying, “Look, it’s a crocodile!” Lewis did as she had expected, and looked where she pointed. She seized the opportunity and grabbed the kaleidoscope.
Getting it out of his hands was going to be a different matter. Lewis was stronger than her, and he fought.
She pulled as hard as she could. It finally slipped out of his grasp when she put her foot against his stomach and leaned back. It gave her the leverage she needed.
Without his safety blanket, Lewis fell to his side and began kicking and screaming. Jina jumped out of his way. She felt sincerely sorry for him. When they got out of the house, she could get help for him, and he’d be all right.
But now, she had to defeat S.A. in his game. She pointed the kaleidoscope at Sandy and peered through it.
Her fingers almost lost their grip on the kaleidoscope when she saw S.A. inside, smiling wickedly. Somehow she managed to hold on to it. But now it seemed that all hope was gone.
“Sandy is all mine now. She wants me. Her power is mine, so your little toy isn’t going to work.”
“Fuck off, fairy face!”
“Now, now, let’s not resort to strong language. The game is nearly over. For being such a good sport earlier, I’ve given you a few extra turns.
But Jina didn’t want any more turns, and she said as much.
“You know you can’t resist me. You’ve tried before. Horrible things will happen if you do.”
“And horrible things will happen if I don’t,” she said.
S.A. chuckled. “All I ask is you play along. Sing to us our wedding song.”
Jina smirked. What he asked her to do seemed easy enough, but could she really let him continue to have his way?
“Consider the alternative,” he said. Lewis’s screams had quieted to whimpering. Jina looked over at him. He rocked back and forth chewing on his hands. Blood fell in streamlets from his wrists to the floor.
The alternative was insanity, dealt by S.A.’s hand, and she knew it. But somehow it seemed she would be driven insane regardless. It was like playing a game of tic-tac-toe using a knife on a bare patch of skin. Every game would end up a cat’s eye, but even a tie meant someone would get hurt.
Jina stuffed all of her emotions into a little box and locked it tightly. At least if she played the song, she might have a little time to think of something.
She put the kaleidoscope into her pocket and sat at the piano. The song she had written the night before had never been played, and because of this, it took most of her concentration to arrange it as she played. Nevertheless, she tried to think. She needed to get S.A. out of the ‘scope and into the room. She wondered at what S.A. had said about taking Sandy’s power. Why did Sandy have power when Jina didn’t?
She finished playing. Lewis continued to whimper, and Sandy continued to stand at the dais. Jina left the ‘scope in her pocket and took as much time as she could.
The kaleidoscope worked because it was S.A.’s personal item. Or did it? How did Sandy know it was his, anyway? Had she lied?
A crow called from somewhere in the house, and suddenly Jina thought of a movie she’d seen as a child. A clever mouse had given Dumbo a black feather. But it wasn’t magic. It was just a crutch.
Sandy’s power came from her confidence.
A small spark of emotion crept out of the box she had stuffed them into. Hope.
Hope pushed open the lid. Now a hundred feelings came pouring out like Pandora’s demons. Anger, hatred, determination, spunk, fury, defiance, and rebellion blinded and motivated her. There was no room left for futility.
Just then she heard Sandy say, “I do.” Was it too late?
The kaleidoscope vibrated, like her phone. She pulled it out of her pocket, and at the same time, removed the rail spike and sat it on the stool next to her.
“Is that what you wanted?” she asked into the kaleidoscope.
S.A. crouched within. He looked sad, and a tear rolled slowly down his face.<
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“Beautiful song. Good move.” Then his face snapped into an evil gleam in an instant, as though he had never cried before in his life.
“Aren’t you going to congratulate me?” he asked.
“No.”
“Fine,” he growled. “Your turn again!”
“No. Just let us go.”
“Nope, nope, nope.” He shook his head like he was shaking water from his hair.
“So what do you want?” she snapped.
“Don’t take that tone with me, young lady. I can do anything to you.” S.A. held his chin and twisted seductively.
“Yes, sir. Is that all, sir?” Jina sarcastically retorted.
“No. You still have two turns left.”
“What’s next?”
“There is a knife inside the piano. Take it out, and give Lewis a scar tattoo, of your own design.”
“You’ve got to be… kidding.” She had almost said crazy, but that was better left unspoken.
“I’m not kidding, but I am crazy…”
She would not, could not, let him use her like a puppet. She sat up straight and pulled together all the courage she could muster. Ignoring the fact that S.A. had managed to marry Sandy, she reached into her box of emotions, and pulled out defiance.
“I’m not going to do it,” she said firmly.
“Yes you are,” he countered.
“No, I’m not. Because you are not inside this kaleidoscope. That’s impossible. No one can be inside a toy. You’re right here in this room, standing in front of me, and I’m just looking at you through it.”
S.A. winced. She lowered the scope to see him standing before her. She lunged at him with the spike, aiming for his heart. In spite of his surprise, he whirled away. The spike merely touched him on the hand. It made a sizzling sound and steam rose up from a black gash in his pale blue skin.
S.A. laughed. “A stake? I’m not a vampire!” he shouted.
With a determined growl, Jina lunged again, and this time she finally caught him off guard. The spike plunged into his chest, just above his collarbone. With a shriek he stumbled back.
Sandy started screaming. Jina rushed to her side.
“Shh… calm down.” She gently eased her friend to the floor. She tried not to touch any of her bright red skin. It looked like light burns covered most of her exposed flesh.
“It hurts,” she whimpered.
“What did he do to you?”
“I let him do these things to me. I liked it,” she sobbed.
Jina glanced over, and S.A. was writhing on the floor, the spike sticking out of his shoulder. Assured that he was still incapacitated, she turned back to Sandy.
“It’s not your fault, Sandy. Whatever it was, he made you do it. He’s insane.”
“No. He’s not insane. He’s beautiful. Fuck, I don’t know what I’m saying. I was inside his head. I knew everything he knew. I liked what he did to me as much as he did. It’s so… gross. But I still remember.”
“It’s ok Sandy. He’s can’t do anything to you right now. He’s hurt.”
“I know. I felt it. Iron, it hurts him more than you can imagine. His step mother used it on him.” Sandy glanced over at him. “I want to pity him now. I almost want… to help him.”
“Now you’re talking insanity.”
“The iron broke his spell. He made me want to be inside of him. I could have left at any time, but… I didn’t want to. Not until the pain. I didn’t want to be in there anymore, not with that thing burning a hole in me.”
“Anything to help a friend. Can you walk?”
“Listen closely, Jina. I know his true name. It’s Perrihaunisplaun.”
“How am I supposed to remember that? What am I supposed to do with it?”
“I wish I knew.”
“Sandy, I know you’re hurt but I need to know if you can walk. I need to get you and Lewis out of here in case Perrih… In case S.A. recovers.”
Jina heard something behind her that sounded like a mix between a gurgle, a growl, and a scream. Turning, she saw Lewis standing there, with the spike in his hand. He looked at Jina apologetically. Parahana-whatever-his-name-was rose unsteadily to his feet.
“Perrihaunisplaun,” Sandy whispered. Jina repeated it over and over in her mind, like lyrics of a song she didn’t have time to write down. She gave it a little melody to help her retain it.
He glared at her.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” he said calmly.
He seemed to be gathering strength from the room. She watched his flesh knit back together. “I have more power now than ever. Healing is trivial. I fed from the song you wrote. So creative. So lyrical and rhythmic. And Sandy…” He gave her a possessive, loving look. “You gave me so much of your will. I feel like I could tear this house down around me. Like I could mesmerize every living creature in this town. Like I could make every person in the world think they were in love. Or in peril.”
“He’s right, Jina,” Sandy whispered. “I’ve got nothing left.”
“Speak up, my love. I very much want to hear your lovely voice.”
“I’m empty,” she said.
“Like peanut shell, a dried corn husk, a dead flower?”
“Yes,” Sandy whispered.
“So, Jina. It’s all up to you. What will you do?”
“Perrihaunisplaun!”
He winced. Waited. Nothing happened. Then he started to grin.
“Perrihaunisplaun! I banish you!”
Now he laughed. “You hold the most powerful weapon that could ever be used against me, but you really have no idea how to use it, do you?”
Frustrated, she tried again. “Perrihaunisplaun, your magic is not real. You have no power, Perrihaunisplaun!” Then for luck, she said it a third time.
He simply chuckled and grinned in glee. Sandy stirred beside her, then she shuddered. “God, I know how he feels. I still know how he feels. I remember. I still want it. I want him to win.” Jina looked to her for help but realized just how alone she was.
Her skin tingled. She looked at her arm, and green fuzz oozed out of her. It spread as she watched, from her elbow to her wrist to her fingers. Mold grew out of every pore. Tingling turned to stinging pain as the fungus ate away her flesh. She rubbed at it, trying to remove it from her skin, but it only pulled away bits of her own body. It felt like she was decaying. She reached out and held on to Sandy with all her might.
It isn’t real, it isn’t real, it isn’t real.
The pain subsided only a little while the vision remained. He said he had fed on them, that he was more powerful. Why hadn’t his true name worked? She would simply have to summon as much will as she could to defend all three of them.
Lewis ran to her side. “I’m sorry, Jina,” he croaked.
With one arm still around Sandy, she put the other around him and clung to them both. If anything was true about those old fairy stories, perhaps…
“Jina, Jina, Jina…” S.A. chided. “Now we must move on. You hurt me very badly with that thing over there.” He motioned towards the spike. “Now it’s my turn in this game, and it’s time for me to punish you.”
Her skin began to burn all over her entire body. The mold gave way to blisters.
“I’ll hold them. I’ll hold on to them until you’re finished, and take them out of your twisted idea of fairyland, Perrihaunisplaun. You’re nothing but dirt, and nothing you do to me will hurt.” She wanted to chuckle at her unintended rhyme, but instead began chanting, “It isn’t real, it isn’t real, it isn’t real.” Again the pain subsided, and she felt nothing.
But the visions, the visions filled her with terror.
A praying mantis polished its eye with a forelimb and then popped off its own wing and ate it. Soon it was replaced with a hundred cockroaches crawling over a sickly, half-wilted flower. Drops of blood fell from its withered petals.
She closed her eyes but it didn’t help.
“I cannot fear what isn’t real.”
The room filled with skulls. They morphed into the faces of screaming children. She heard the sound of chalk screeching on a blackboard, and then the sound of cats being murdered. Flies, snakes, rotting carcasses, she would not let them destroy her will. She was going to empty S.A. of all his power by enduring everything he had to throw at her. Each time she thought of giving up, another of Pandora’s demons — determination, anger, rebellion, hatred — surged through her, pushing her on.
The room filled with wasps. They landed on her, covered her skin, stung her. It helped that she couldn’t feel it. It made it easier to believe it was illusion.
Why didn’t any of the apparitions hurt? They had started too… Until she had said…
The rhyme.
S.A. had written rhymes. Were they spells? Did she have to use his name in a spell? Did rhyming make it a spell?
This would be difficult without paper. But it would be possible. She had written enough songs in the shower.
Ignoring the half-rotten kitten corpse that limped towards her, she concentrated on the words. Giving them a tune made it easier. When she was ready, she started singing:
I have no worries, I have no fear,
What I really want is for you to be out of here
Your spiders are dross, your croc is a fraud,
Yet here you stand pretending you’re God.
Perrihaunisplaun, if that’s your true name
I’m singing this now because I’m on to your game,
Perrihaunisplaun, I sing this banishment song,
You must leave this house, now go, move along.
Perrihaunisplaun, leave forever, return nevermore,
Let us walk out freely, through the front door.
Leave us in peace, I know that you will
Because this is my spell and …
She had forgotten the last part… what was it? It didn’t matter…
“And… I think you’re a pill.”
Everything vanished. The bugs. The skulls. The screams. S.A. The piano. The couch. The furniture.
Sandy still wore her wedding dress, and an old telephone hung on the wall by the stairs, just as it had when they first entered the house. The kaleidoscope and railroad spike littered the floor. Everything else was gone.
Make Willing the Prey (Dreams by Streetlight) Page 11
