Snapdragon Book I: My Enemy

by Brandon Berntson

  “Well that’s gonna change,” Jeanie promised.

  Rheanna nodded, not believing.

  “You don’t believe me?” Jeanie asked, raising her eyebrows.

  “You know how it is.”

  “No, Rheanna. How is it?”

  “Friends,” Rheanna told her, as if that answered everything. “They just don’t stay all the time, hardly ever. People move away, get wrapped up in their lives, and don’t have time anymore like they used to.”

  “Rheanna Goodwine,” Jeanie said. “I will not tolerate that kind of talk. We have been friends for a long time. I’m not gonna listen to this. We will stay friends, all of us. Is that clear?”

  Rheanna, though skeptical, nodded.

  “Hey, lets not have a fight,” Masie said. “We just need to remember what’s important, right?”

  Again, Rheanna nodded. But her eyes suggested otherwise.

  “Yeah, Mase is right,” Jeanie said. “We just need to make time for each other.”

  Seth didn’t know what to make of all this. He thought he shouldn’t be listening.

  “Friends, right?” Masie said.

  “Friends,” Jeanie said.

  “Friends,” Rheanna repeated, and smiled.

  “Good,” Masie said. “I wasn’t leaving until that was clarified. Don’t get in a fight on the way home, either. If I hear about it, I’ll soak your tampons in gasoline. Sorry Seth,” she said to her brother.

  Jeanie laughed. “God ole, Masie. Making peace by threatening everyone’s privates.”

  Rheanna giggled.

  “Good night, you two,” Masie said. “I love you.”

  She and Seth got out of the car.

  “We love you too, Mase,” Jeanie said. “Don’t listen to Rheanna. We just need to get her laid, I think.”

  “Jeanie!” Rheanna exclaimed.

  Seth laughed at this, and in turn, the girls started laughing.

  “Bye, Masie,” Jeanie said. “Bye, heart throb,” she said to Seth.

  “Double heart-throb,” Rheanna said, waving.

  Seth smiled and said good night, watching them pull out of the driveway. The car disappeared down the street.

  “No movie tonight?” Masie asked.

  “Bed sounds good enough to me,” Seth told her.

  “Good. Let’s get a tall glass of chocolate milk and retire.”

  Seth agreed. Masie put her arm around him, and they looked at the stars for a second before heading inside.

  ix

  As he lay in bed, Seth tried to savor every spoken word, every piece of audible laughter. Something told him it was the last time he would be out with Masie and her friends, at least for a while. He knew why, of course. Important things were on the horizon.

  Despite the emptiness he felt, another feeling embraced his heart. Hadn’t Ben told him how important it was to relish the days ahead and not grow up so fast?

  Maybe life was about making memories. It had been an eventful day, and he realized how tired he was.

  And maybe that’s what you are, Seth thought. Not melancholy, but what Malcolm said you were. Maybe you’re alive to make as much good in the world as you can.

  Thinking this way didn’t seem egotistical, pompous, or even sanctimonious. His intentions were genuine, even hopeful, and shouldn’t that count for something?

  But you’re ultimate test awaits you still, Ben said.

  He still had a battle to face. If that were true—if his friends were to accompany him on this journey—he could not ask for a better group of warriors in which to go into battle.

  He would win, he promised himself. For Sadie, the Pattersons, for Howard, and for Ellishome.

  Seth turned out the light beside his bed and went to sleep.

  CHAPTER XV

  Yes, the voice said, he was too late. He could do nothing now. Austin McCall had given up, and the pain, the realization, was unbearable.

  But you still have a son.

  Austin prayed for Mattie’s recovery. She was stronger than this breakable, easily corrupted woman he now lived with. The blows life had delivered to the McCall residence had been brutal, but Mattie would survive…or so Austin told himself.

  But he knew…no matter how many times he prayed, how often he hoped, he could not shake the futile, dreadful feelings he had.

  He’d been wrong. It was his job to be the man he hadn’t been, to admit his mistakes, and forge ahead.

  With hope…

  He’d overestimated Mattie, the pride of his life. He’d left her alone with the barbaric treatment life had delivered, hoping she would come out a survivor. For Austin, it wasn’t a question that she would fail.

  But now…

  He could do nothing, and he knew it.

  He would call a doctor, he told himself, even if the thought horrified him. For a fleeting moment, he thought a doctor would actually work, but this—what Mattie was going through—seemed beyond medical needs. Something else had a hold of her, something…unnatural.

  But you have to do everything you can. If you don’t…if you don’t…

  It would be his last resort. For now, he was still willing to hold on. He didn’t want to take Mattie out of the house. She would grow worse if he did. If anything would bring her back, it would be the house—the house they had put together as a family—the house they’d built every memory upon.

  Visions danced through Austin’s head of psychotherapy, needles in Mattie’s arms, straightjackets, cold, isolated rooms with a small, mesh window. A little dramatic, perhaps. He’d seen too many movies. She would come back, the futile, hopeful part of his mind told him. Nothing was better than the bucolic surroundings of Ellishome, the quiet bed she slept in at night. He just had to give her more time. A little more time, and she’d snap out of it…Home was the best medicine for Mattie right now. Home was the thing, if any, to cure her.

  Back from the dead, Austin thought, and put a hand to his head. God, had he really just thought that?

  She was still talking to herself, to someone, a child, he couldn’t see. The ghost of a child was in the house…a young girl. Austin used this as an excuse to keep Mattie home. The ghost, the specter only she could see, was what kept Mattie alive.

  His life—their life—was no longer their own. Something evil had moved in, an entity of shadow. Even Rudy had changed; he was no longer the bright, ebullient teenager Austin remembered.

  What happened? Austin thought. What happened to the life we had? Didn’t we have a good life once? Didn’t we have everything?

  He was changing as well. Summer…baseball…gone.

  Austin put his hands to his face, blaming himself for Sadie’s death. He blamed himself for his wife’s insanity. He blamed himself for Rudy’s absence and anger.

  If only he could salvage what remained…if only he could make amends. He would. He would do anything. He would start right now if only someone would tell him what to do.

  Please God, just tell me what to do!

  If he weren’t careful, he’d drive himself crazy, and he would be no better than Mattie. He was making excuses; that was normal. He told himself it was normal.

  Nothing slithered from out of the murk to convince him otherwise, though. Life would not return to normal. Perhaps he did have every reason to admonish himself, but he didn’t have the strength to listen to the voice of nightmare. Not anymore.

  He had to do something about everything they’d lost, because he was still losing. Mattie was gone, and Austin had to accept it, as much as it terrified him.

  But…he still had a son, one he could make amends with. Sure. It was possible. If only to regain a shred of what he’d lost, it would be worth it. The doctor could always come later.

  Jesus, am I living in denial?

  Analyze her, he thought. Poke and prod, run your tests, but…not…just…yet…

  Dear God, not yet. Mattie might turn violent. She’d proved that already.

  Guilt stabbed his conscience.

  Too many day
s under the drink. Too many days. It did something to you. It killed everything. It’s why you’re here now.

  Austin was leaning against the kitchen counter. The sun shone through the window. Mattie was upstairs in the bedroom. She enjoyed the bedroom a lot these days.

  Tanisha and Hailey have been killed, he thought, a boy named Howard, roughly Sadie’s age…

  At least Mattie wasn’t screaming, wasn’t talking.

  Not yet, he thought.

  Austin put a hand to his face, bringing it roughly down from his forehead to his jaw, as though trying to wipe away his features. Something had to give.

  He knew what he had to do, and he was trying to muster up the courage to do exactly that. If he wanted to save Mattie’s life, he had to call for help. He had to get a doctor to sedate and analyze her. It was the only way.

  A second voice spoke as well. One telling him it was his wife, for God’s sake!

  She’s not that weak! She’s not that far gone! She’s never needed that kind of help before, goddamnit!

  The house would not cure her, the comfort of home. He knew and hated it, hated himself for having to make this decision, that he’d brought this nightmare on himself. What kind of husband admits his wife to an insane asylum anyway?

  What kind of wife completely loses her mind when her child dies?

  All of them, Austin thought. All of them. Aren’t you a little mad yourself, Austin?

  He had to get Mattie help, no matter what he believed. Maybe her madness was slipping into him.

  You have a son, too, a voice reminded him. You might want to think about talking to him.

  Austin nodded. He would talk to Rudy. He would bring life back to his family. He would try his damndest…or die.

  Austin resolved to do just that, feeling himself harden inside, the pride he had to swallow.

  In the next instant, however, Mattie wailed in hellish thunder from upstairs, a voice he didn’t recognize, a sound he didn’t think his wife capable of mustering.

  Tears came into Austin’s eyes.

  The wail was something Mattie did to taunt and traumatize him. The demon which had moved into his house had stolen Mattie’s brain. She didn’t think Austin was trying to help her. He kept the bedroom door locked, took away every sharp instrument in case she decided to hurt herself. He would have to call for help before she broke the bedroom window.

  His wife was still in there, he told himself.

  Can it get any worse? Austin wondered.

  Mattie’s screams echoed down the stairs. She was cackling, unnatural laughter. The sound terrified him. Mattie was gone, whether he wanted to believe it or not. A demon lived inside her.

  Mattie screamed:

  “YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME! YOU CAN’T KEEP ME LOCKED IN HERE FOREVER YOU SONOFABITCH! YOU BASTARD!”

  Austin rubbed his hand over his face a second time. He walked out of the kitchen, taking the stairs slowly, wondering how in God’s name it could get worse.

  Oh, it’ll get worse. Rest assured. You think this is bad. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Life is about to get a helluva lot worse.

  ii

  Seth wondered if their journey into the mountains wasn’t sooner than he expected. If they’d already agreed, why wait any longer? Did they want another death looming over their heads?

  The following day, after his memorable night at the drive-in, Seth rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and put his bare feet on the floor. Yawning, he stretched his arms to the ceiling, trying to get his blood going. He stood up, slipping on a T-shirt, a pair of jeans, and shoes without socks. This was becoming a ritual: getting up in the morning and scanning the meadow for Ben.

  He walked the length of the hallway, through the kitchen, and out the back door. He stepped down the porch, across the lawn, and stopped at the chain-link fence, looking across the meadow toward the mountains.

  Something nudged him between the shoulder blades. A breeze touched his cheeks. Autumn was right around the corner. Seth felt a noticeable lapse in the temperature and wondered if summer was finally gone for good.

  Something whispered, telling him to go farther, and Seth did. He walked along the fence to the gate, lifted the handle, and stepped into the meadow.

  Seth looked behind him, scanning the windows of the house. His mother and Masie were still asleep. He forgot to see what time it was. A chill sent a shiver through his body. His arms broke out in gooseflesh.

  He thought about taking a journey through the mountains before the colder months settled in. It would be dangerous, more than he could imagine.

  Seth sighed, looking out over the meadow, and thought about the summer, the events that had transpired since he’d played with the Cat Fighter Attack Plane.

  Seth stepped into the high grass.

  See me through your single mind’s eye. I am with you.

  Ben. An anxious longing welled up to see the tiger again.

  “Ben?” Seth said.

  Nothing replied. No mystic tiger spoke, only the coolness of an ending summer. Autumn’s leaden chill moved crisp fingers around his skull.

  A journey, he thought. Is it real?

  He wanted confirmation. Something told him all he needed to know: the rest of his life, the quest, his friends…

  But no. The day spoke as well. There was peace out here in the meadow, something timeless, wizening him for the future.

  Because you are unblemished. Because you are filled with magic and wonder. Because you have done what you needed. You know now. You have grown. But you have stayed the same as well. It’s okay. Don’t let your dreams bog you down. There are grander designs than these, palaces, too. They are yours. And they are mine. We are the same and always have been. That is why I need you.

  He was bound to greater feats. The friends he’d met…a weary bunch of travelers experiencing the harshness of Mother Nature. He felt at peace when he was with them, invincible even. Meeting Eddie, Malcolm, Gavin, Albert, and Kinsey had proved prophetic. It was not an alien feeling, but a sense of kinship. Each of them owned something vital to the quest.

  Congratulations.

  “Ben?”

  Nothing stirred but the wind. Soft, thudding prints sounded on the ground, however. The mountain brome parted, revealing black and orange stripes. Ben emerged, and Seth virtually cried in relief. It seemed ages since he’d seen the tiger.

  Seth wrapped his arms around Ben’s neck, and the tiger licked Seth’s cheek with a thick, sandpaper tongue.

  “Where have you been?” Seth asked. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”

  Easy. I’ve been with you the whole time. I’ve never been away. Ben paused for a second and said, Our enemy grows stronger. But I wanted to say, ‘Congratulations.’

  “For what?”

  You are a discovery of your own, Seth. Through time, I have tried to find you, and I think I finally did. I never knew who you were exactly, what you looked like. But you have put it all together. You have done well. You and your friends.

  “We have?”

  When Seth pulled away, something else was visible in Ben’s face, not the simple gloss of a tiger’s eyes, but time woven together by the fabric of space. Ben was not only magical; he was more powerful and ageless than Seth could comprehend. He smiled, loving Ben all the more. What would his friends think now?

  Seth put a hand on the side of Ben’s neck and stroked his fur. The tiger seemed preoccupied.

  Yes, Ben said. You have done well.

  To meet Ben’s approval, made him proud, but he had questions. Surprising himself, Seth leaned over and kissed the animal between his furry ears.

  “So, I was supposed to meet them?” Seth said. “Eddie, Malcolm, and the others?”

  Yes. And more.

  “More?”

  The palace, of course.

  “The palace?”

  Yes, Seth. Your dreams brought you all together, not just me and my adversary. But the palace. And you’re right. You
must head west. And soon. But you will find the palace of your dreams, and it is quite real. I have battled this ageless foe for centuries, and worlds change. From one to the other and back again, we forge. We battle. His, of unruly, unnatural darkness—bound by suffering, horror, and death. And mine, of light…and warmth. You have seen these worlds, Seth. At least, you have felt them. And you will continue to feel them for a long time. Remember, it is more than the fate of Ellishome in which you’re fighting. You know the things you need to. I know this is difficult. But there is more, and when you find it, you will know. And remember, you can still decide otherwise.

  Seth was puzzled.

  “What do you mean?”

  You can choose evil. You can destroy your friends and build a kingdom of darkness. It is still undecided. My enemy demands it of you.

  The very thought made Seth recoil. How was that possible? Why would he do such a thing after all he’d leaned? Was Ben serious?

  Into your journey, Ben said, without answering or explaining, you will see the hope in every color imaginable. There will be magic all around you, and it will not be the same as in your world. Take this magic, hide it away, and you will be safe. Take this magic with you, and you will be victorious. But only, Seth, if you believe.

  “What do you mean?”

  It means we are drawing closer to the end. But I must warn you. There are dangers. The enemy’s world grows darker and stronger. He will influence you with horror, but you must stand strong. He will assault you with all his power in the beginning. More evils than you realize. It will not be safe. Or easy. You might be gone a long time. Longer than you think. You would be wise to prepare.

  “Gone? Long? Why?”

  Because it is a necessary part of the journey. This is not an overnight stay, Seth. This is a long and painful endeavor. You will need your friends, and they will need you. Prepare well. Take food and water. Take warm clothes. The enemy’s world is bitterly cold. It brims with death and isolation.

  “You’ve got to be kidding, right? How long are we going to be gone?”