Severed

by Corey Brown

  “I know, I know but please don’t. It’s something really bad.”

  “God is here, do not be afraid.”

  David sits, staring forward. “It won’t matter,” he says, shaking his head. “The twin doesn’t care about God, it’s coming in anyway.” Then he turns toward Suzanne and says, “You were right, we should not have come here.”

  The Reverend frowns. “What do you mean?”

  There is one final, thunderous blow to the old doors and they shatter like driftwood. Suzanne and Reverend Burgh cover their faces as plaster and stone explode into the air and splintered boards crash into pews. Clouds of dust puff out and the metal door latch skids to a stop a few yards from Burgh’s feet.

  «»

  Cody is lying on the concrete, face on the curb and turned away from the street. His left arm and left foot hang into the gutter. Head to toe, his skin feels raw and abraded. Cody opens one eye. Shoes scuttle past. He stares at them, mostly hiking boots and athletic shoes. One pair stops. A nice pair, brown leather, polished. Now a bent knee covered in denim.

  “Hey, are you okay?”

  Cody raises his head. The wash of color and sound is gone, replaced by legs and car alarms and laughter.

  “Do you need a doctor?”

  Cody looks at the man, middle-aged with a mid-western twang, a tourist.

  “No, thanks,” Cody grunts, tries to sit up then drops back to the concrete.

  “I think you need a doctor.”

  “I’m fine,” Cody says, pushing to his hands and knees. He sits back on his haunches. “Really, I’m okay.”

  “But your face…”

  Suddenly aware of the sting on his left cheek, Cody touches the sore spot. He flinches, as dirty fingers find raw skin. Now Cody is not sure how okay he is. Looking around, traffic and people file past as if nothing is out of place. Cody tries to collect himself. His mouth is pasty and he is disoriented and confusion rains down, he is drowning in it. He feels as if revelation had kissed him ever so slightly and vanished, the taste still lingering but the experience barely a memory.

  Cody catches sight of his scuffed forty-caliber laying in the street. Strangely, the squat, black metal object brings complete clarity.

  What did she say it was? It wasn’t a gun, but a weapon?

  In a rush, it all comes back to him: the old woman, walking on Chartres Street, the swamp-thing creature, memories of Diazolón and giant snakes. To Cody, it is as though he had been caught in a riptide that suddenly parted, allowing him to see both currents working in opposition. He looks upward, seeing the steeples of Saint Louis Cathedral and knows where he is going.

  “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  A female voice.

  Cody looks in the direction of the sound. Next to the mid-western man is a mulatto woman. She looks apprehensive. Cody sees the wedding ring, the tourist’s wife.

  Cody nods. “Yeah,” he says, reaching for his gun. “I’m okay. Really, I’m fine, thanks.”

  “Sir,” the tourist says, “I don’t think you ought to have that.”

  “It’s okay,” Cody replies, getting to his feet, tucking the Smith and Wesson into his waistband. “I’m a cop, it’s my gun.”

  “I’m calling the police.” The tourist’s wife is speaking to the tourist. “He’s not well,” she says.

  Cody hears the electronic beeps, fingers working the cell phone number pad. Cody looks at the woman, squints at her as he works out what to do. Then Cody takes the cell phone and disconnects the call.

  “I’m a detective with the New Orleans police department, District One,” Cody says. “This is my gun and I need your phone.”

  “Hey, we were trying to help,” the tourist protests. “And you steal our cell phone? You say you’re a cop? Some policeman.”

  Cody reconsiders taking it. Maybe he doesn’t need the phone. But he knows Jamie is heartbroken, Cody knows she needs him and he wants to tell Jamie who he’d seen. Worse, he knows Derek is walking into serious trouble, how else can Cody warn him?

  “I’m sorry, but I really need this,” Cody says. “I’ll return it as soon as I can.”

  “How do you plan to do that?” The woman asks, hands on hips, angry now. “You don’t even know who we are.”

  Cody starts toward the church, almost jogging. “I’ll figure something out,” he says over his shoulder.

  “You’re just going to let him do that?” The wife is saying.

  “What do you want me to do?” The tourist says. “He’s got a gun.”

  Cody is shaking his head. It’s not a gun. Their voices fade into the din of French Quarter nightlife, into the rumble of a million thoughts.

  «»

  Suzanne is afraid to look. Slowly, she uncovers her eyes. At first she cannot see what has come through the doors. Squinting at the gaping hole that once was a beautiful entrance Suzanne sees people moving about Jackson Square, apparently unaware of what had just happened.

  Reverend Burgh takes a tentative step forward then halts as a man pushes through the opening. Suzanne and the reverend try to understand what they are seeing. The man seems to be both enormous and normal-sized at the same time. The man grunts, glances at his shoulder. Suzanne stares at what is happening. Was his shoulder wedged against the one side of the doorframe? An irritated look on his face, the man flexes his shoulder and crushes the jagged stone that blocks his entry to the church. Walking into the sanctuary, the man grows larger as he stands upright, his head nearly reaching the tall ceiling. But in the next blink of an eye he stands no taller than any other man.

  Burgh and Suzanne stare in disbelief, but David remains facing forward, toward the altar, facing the crucifix of Jesus.

  “That’s…” Reverend Burgh points at the man but is looking at David. “That’s you.”

  “Go,” David says, getting to his feet, knowing it was already too late. “You must leave now.”

  “But that’s you,” Burgh repeats, pointing at the newcomer.

  David moves to the center aisle and faces his twin. “What do you want?” David says. “Why have you come here?”

  Ignoring the question the other David steps forward, bringing his face close with Burgh’s and snorts, blowing little clouds of dust.

  “What did you call this place?” He roars. “A house of god? Where is your god now?”

  David can smell, taste and hear it: death has arrived in this particular house of God. He starts forward, trying to get between the reverend and his twin. But he is too late, too slow. The twin reaches out and clamps one massive hand around the reverend’s chest, while the other hand grasps his legs, pinching his thighs together.

  Stunned, horrified, bewildered, Suzanne watches as the clergyman is lifted and rotated parallel to the floor. Holding Burgh at arm’s length, the twin glances at Suzanne and grins. He is pleased by the shock registering on her face. Squeezing, the twin tightens his grip.

  “Please don’t,” Reverend Burgh says, his voice a little more than a squeak.

  The twin’s eyes flash back to the reverend. “Hush, now. This will hurt more than anything you can imagine. Don’t spoil it with begging.”

  Then, as if the twin were wringing the last drop of water from a wet towel, he twists Reverend Burgh in two, flinging the upper half of his body into a corner of the nave, dropping the lower portion to the floor. Suzanne looks down at the disembodied hips and legs, a choked scream bubbles from her mouth, and she starts to back away. She takes one step then two, but the third footfall loses purchase and Suzanne slips on the gore spreading around her feet.

  David scrambles over the reverend’s body parts, cutting off the twin’s path to Suzanne. “If it’s me you want,” he shouts. “Let’s have at it. But stay away from Suzanne.”

  “Oh please,” the twin says. “I’ve already taken what I need from you, why would I bother with leftovers? Oh no, it’s this hot little bitch I want.”

  «»

  Crossing Wilkinson Street, Cody picks up his pace. Forg
etting his watch had been taken at the Fifth District Police Headquarters, he looks at his wrist to check the time. Why the time is important Cody does not know, but he is certain too much of it has past. He flips open his newly acquired cell phone and dials.

  “Hello?” Jamie’s voice is thick, she’s been crying.

  “Hey, it’s me.”

  “Oh, Cody, I----,” Jamie’s voice breaks off. She swallows, tries again, “I’ve been trying to reach you,” she says. “Derek told me you’d been arrested but when I called the police department they said you weren’t there, they said you’d escaped, they’re looking for you. Cody, what’s happening?”

  “Yeah, I’m out, but forget about that right now. Honey, I know about Marion. I’m so sorry, I wish I could’ve been there with you.”

  There is silence on the line. Cody is close to Jackson Square now, close to Saint Louis Cathedral.

  “How did you know?” Jamie says, softly. “Did Derek tell you?”

  “No, he didn’t. I just know, that’s all.”

  “Cody, please, no more games, this isn’t funny. How did you know about momma?”

  “I can’t explain it, but I know your mom is okay…” Cody hesitates. He slows his gait, collects his thoughts. “Jamie,” Cody says, “I swear I’m not crazy, so much is clear now. You have to believe me when I say that Marion is helping me to bring Todd home.”

  “Why are you doing this to me?” Jamie says, tears flooding her words.

  “Jamie, oh honey, please believe me,” Cody says, emotion filling his own voice. “I’m not making this up. Marion may be dead but she has gone to be with God and on the way she saved my life, maybe Todd’s life, too.”

  “Leave me alone, Cody. I don’t know who you are anymore.”

  “Don’t talk like that. Just trust me a little longer.” A tear rolls down Cody’s face, he swipes at his cheek. “Look, I saw Marion, we spoke. Jamie, I swear it’s true. Listen, I didn’t ask for this to happen but it did and now I’m in it, I have to finish this thing, I have to get Todd. Just give me a little more time, just a little longer, Jamie. Please.”

  A few seconds of silence crackle through the invisible, wireless connection as Cody steps into Jackson Square. He walks past the Cabildo, makes his way to the steps of Saint Louis Cathedral.

  “Why should I?” Jamie says, after a moment.

  “Have I ever lied to you?”

  She hesitates. “Well, no….but you’re not the same, nothing is the same. Momma is dead, Todd is gone and you, you’re scaring the shit out of me.”

  “Jamie, please ----” Cody stops talking, stares at a gaping hole that was once the church door.

  What happened here?

  «»

  “You still need me,” David says, facing his twin. “You can’t exist, you aren’t human without me, so go to hell, asshole.”

  “Interesting,” the twin says. “Figured that out all by yourself, did you?” He shrugs, adjusts the shirt sleeve that wasn’t there a moment ago. “Okay, it’s true. I do need you. But you don’t know why and that makes you irrelevant.” The twin smiles, enjoying the moment, then cuts loose a howl of laughter. “Hey, here’s a little secret, I don’t need to go to hell, that’s where I’m from.”

  The twin laughs again, the force of his breath rippling Suzanne’s hair. She is on her knees, one hand on the back of a pew. Suzanne swallows, looks at David then back at his twin. The two of them, one a blind human man, the other huge and something other than human, form an incongruity so bizarre that she vomits.

  The twin straightens, draws a deep breath and rubs his nose. “Oh, that is disgusting,” he says, looking at Suzanne. Then he lets his gaze wander. “Humans are so pathetic,” he says, looking around the sanctuary. “They construct walls of wood and stone, bow before man-made artifacts and call out to a god who ignores them. In the entire universe, I’ve never understood god’s fascination with this place, this particular species.”

  “If humans are so pitiful,” David says. “Why did you work so hard to become one?”

  The twin raises his eyebrows. “You know about that, too. Very good, nice work. But let’s be clear. I’m not just human. Calí’s spirit lives in me and through her, the Destroyer lives in me, as well. I am both man and god.”

  The twin clasps his hands together and grins. “Why?” he says. “Why become human? It’s all part of the plan to fuck this planet, to steal it from your beloved Allah once and for all.” He makes a face. “And it wasn’t that hard, a little frustrating, perhaps. You know, having to wait so long.” He shrugs. “But hard? Not really.”

  “What’s your name?” David says, folding his arms. “It sure as hell isn’t David.”

  “Come now, you know me. I’ve been inside you for thirty years, more than.”

  David nods. “I know of you, but not your name.”

  “I have been the source of your ideas, your stories, your fame. I made you rich.”

  “Uh-huh,” David says. “I know that, now. What are you called?”

  “Why do you care?”

  David shrugs. “A name provides definition, a framework,” he says. “I suspect you lack both.”

  The twin looks hard at David, considers how to respond then says, “The Destroyer has not yet named me. He is waiting for the others to give birth then he will name us all. But soon enough you will call me Master.”

  They all hear the crunch of pulverized stone before the voice.

  “Police, nobody move.” The words come from the back of the cathedral. The twin whips around, a spark of confusion spreading across his face. Suzanne raises her head to see Cody Briggs standing a few feet inside the sanctuary.

  Cody looks at what is left of Reverend Burgh then looks at the twin. He knows the twin had killed whoever was lying all over the floor.

  “What are you doing here?” the twin says.

  “You should know,” Cody says. “Don’t you remember? Back in the station house you said you wanted to make it interesting, you wanted to fuck with me. Apparently, that’s one thing you seem particularly good at, fucking things up.”

  The twin starts toward Cody, halts, says. “What do you----?”

  “Tell me something,” Cody says, interrupting. “How interesting is this?” Then he levels his forty-caliber at the twin.

  Deafening staccato popping sounds fill the sanctuary. Suzanne claps her hands to her ears and the gunfire is so loud she almost has to shut her eyes. Cody aims for the chest and pounds off each shot with practiced accuracy, emptying the clip, the bullet pattern tight and it feels good, it feels like killing Skulls.

  Suzanne watches in stunned confusion as each shot clearly finds its mark, but her brother recoils with each hit. David and the twin react in unison to every crack of gunfire, to each shot. Confused, Suzanne can see that Cody is shooting at the twin, so why is David taking the bullets? She watches as Cody pulls the trigger once, twice, six, fifteen times, Suzanne sees Cody thumb the release and drop the empty clip to the floor.

  David stumbles backward and collapses into a pew. The bright popping sounds, the painfully loud echoes fade away with the final metallic clink of the empty clip striking the floor. Then nothing, silence.

  For a few moments, no one moves, no one speaks. Time stretches out. Cody lets the Smith and Wesson drop to his side. David groans, struggles to get up but he cannot make it. With the reverend’s blood staining her jeans, Suzanne scrambles over to her brother, cradles his head in her arms. David is full of holes, fifteen in all, each one leaking blood.

  “David?” Suzanne says. She looks up at Cody. “What did you do?”

  Cody moves closer, stares at David, not believing what he sees. He points at the twin and says, “I shot him. You saw me, I wasn’t even close to your brother.”

  The twin starts to get to his feet, looks at his chest then at Cody.

  “You----”

  Cody backhands him, knocking him to the floor.

  “Shut up.” Cody says. “Shut the hell up.”r />
  “You can’t kill him,” David mumbles. “Not like that.”

  “He won’t be around much longer,” Cody says. “I put five in his heart.”

  “Yes, you did,” David says. “And five in mine, too, but you cannot kill him.”

  “What are you saying?” Suzanne asks, wiping her eyes.

  “He and I are still linked,” David says. “Our bodies have split but not our lives. He has my eyes but I have his sight.”

  “I don’t understand,” Cody says, frowning. “What does that mean? I shot him, not you.”

  David shakes his head slowly. “I don’t really understand it myself, but what I do know is that when my eyes return the separation will be complete. Then you will never be able to kill him.”

  “Look at him,” Cody says. “Jesus, he’s all but dead.”

  Cody straightens. For some reason, using the name of a religious icon in this way seems unnatural, almost wrong. He looks at Suzanne and she sees the expression on Cody’s face. Suzanne’s look, his defamation, both draw Cody’s mind into focus.

  “He is both human and not human,” David says. There is resignation in his voice. He expels a sigh and says, “But I am only human.”

  “What are you saying?” Cody says.

  Suzanne knows exactly what her brother means. “No,” she whispers. “Please, not again. I don’t want to lose you again.”

  “If I die,” David says, he looks at his twin. “He dies.”

  “You want me to shoot you?” Cody asks.

  David sucks in a sharp breath and nods. “Yes. It’s the only way.”

  “Don’t listen to him!” The twin shouts. “He’s full of----”

  Cody twists, kicks the twin in the face.