by Sara Clancy
“She needs to find some way to contact Marigold. She’s our only hope.”
“Isn’t she possessed?”
“The demon was forced inside of her. She’ll still have some level of control.”
“And she can help, how?”
“The demon is feeding off of Cypress, which means that it has to have his soul. That’s why the exorcism didn’t work. And it won’t work. We need Cypress to break the hold but he can’t if he still has unfinished business. ”
“Family,” Nadia said. “Cypress wants family. So does Marigold.”
“And Maggie is the last La Roux,” Louis said as he threw the car into gear. “Cypress wants to reject the demon but he can’t. Not as long as his need for acceptance remains.”
“So you’re thinking that if Marigold accepts him and brings him into the family, that the demon wouldn’t be able to feed anymore and whatever Ma’s doing will work?”
“That’s the plan.”
“How is Marigold supposed to bring him into the family? What does that even mean?”
“I don’t know,” Louis said, his hands tightening on the wheel until his knuckles ached. “But Marigold needs to get Cypress to choose her over the demon or we’re all doomed.”
“Right,” Nadia said. “I’m calling Ma now.”
Within seconds, they were in the car and racing back towards the town, Fleur’s screams following them the entire time.
***
The hound barreled down the corpse-lined hallway, lips curled back as to expose his fangs. Sparks spewed from his molten skin with every bound. Marigold’s resolve weakened with every step that it took. Fear coursed and simmered along her veins like acid. Her heart attempted to break her ribs with every beat. Sweat slicked her hands against the metal bar. The hound leaped and Marigold swung.
She had meant to hit the corpse nearest to her and force it into the hound’s path, to buy her a few more seconds and a possible distraction. The bar drove into the man’s side but instead of staggering forward he exploded. Marigold reeled back in surprise as the man’s scattered remains rained down like a breaking wave over the hound. Each droplet sizzled on contact. Steam bellowed out in blistering hot cloud, forcing Marigold to back up. The sight was both disgusting and empowering. For all the running and the fear, it hadn’t occurred to her that she could have power in this world. And now that she had it, she was going to use it.
As the hound burned, Ma’s words became audible. The incantations were louder than her whispering would offer. Each word reverberated through the world of gray. It rippled and distorted like water brought to the boil. The words grew louder. Their effect on the demon’s reality were instantaneous and violent. It was Ma. She was destroying this world. Panic became thick on the back of her tongue, bitter and stale, as a question formed in her mind. What will happen to Cypress if the demon still has him when the world collapses?
She swung with great strength into the next person in line. Once more, the body exploded and rained down against the hell hound. It roared as it burned, then turned on her renewed vengeance. Marigold struck the beast as it lunged for her, the assault doing little compared to the effects of the water. Shaking off the attack, it charged for her again. Its jaws clamped down on the metal bar, holding it in place as it bore down with its massive bulk. She couldn’t stand against it. Her knees buckled and she was forced to the ground. The huge dog drove her back, crunching the strip of metal as its flesh made her own skin boil.
She screamed in pain and tried to struggle out from under it. Hunks of her skin melted under its touch. Each attempt to free herself ripped off another patch. Blood covered the ground beneath them. She pushed off the metal pole with both hands, sliding herself further out from under the beast. With a sickening crack, it severed the metal pole. It lunged forward, jaws open wide, and Marigold stabbed down with the jagged remains. The edge sunk into the hound’s eye. It wailed in agony. Ma’s voice grew louder, and as it grew stronger, the pole sunk deeper. Marigold swung the other end of the stick with all her might. It crashed into the hound’s skull. With the incantations working in her favor, the hound’s jaw released a wet crack. It stumbled to the side and Marigold hit it again. Segments of her skin tore off with it and she lurched to her feet.
The corpses moved forward to block her path, their dead hands grasping at her clothes and tangling in her hair. Their fingers left trails of rotted slime but their grip was as solid as stone. Ma’s words sounded like tolling bells, rhythmic, bellowing. The figures began to boil and crumble. She wrenched her arms free, cracking off their skin into trails of smoke and steam. The world was breaking apart. She could feel the shift. The loosening of her cells.
Marigold forced her way through the crush of bodies. The crowd closed in on her, clutching and shattering. She kept moving, hacking, shoving, whatever she could do to take just one more step. Cypress. The name rolled over in her mind until it poured out of her mouth. Keep going. Save him. Cypress.
The noise grew louder, transforming from a death toll to an air raid siren. The crowd around her thinned, shattering apart under her attacks. Through the lingering dust and grime, Marigold spotted herself once again, the demon still a hideous shadow draped over her form. Its attention was diverted between blocking her and fending off Ma. What she hadn’t anticipated was that Cypress would be struggling against it, too, as much as the infant was able. He squirmed and thrashed, his tiny limbs flailing as much as his slight limbs would allow. The motion did very little. It was what he denied that was devastating to the demon. Without Cypress submitting to the demon’s will, it struggled to draw any power from the infant. Cut off from its source, the demon’s shadow began to shrink, its tentacles becoming sluggish and weak. A healthy layer of fat began to plump Cypress’ cheeks and body. As Cypress swelled and flushed with healthy weight, the demon grew weaker. It pulled back, its shadow becoming lighter. Ma’s words began to hit the demon like a physical force. It crackled and staggered under each attack, growing more desperate to wring any amount of energy from the child.
She could feel its rage as it twisted towards her. Its tentacle wrapped around itself tightly, covering Cypress in defensive layers of graphite limbs. Marigold tightened her fingers, the bar at the ready. The demon’s roar filled her ears, distorting her own features into something horrid and deformed. It charged towards her, a wall of darkness and rage. Cypress. Marigold broke into a run, racing to the oncoming demon, throwing herself into the churning smoky abyss. The flames consumed her, boiling the blood within her veins and roasting her bones. It rushed past her and swirled around her like a firestorm. She felt the creature pass by her, engulf her, consume her. Every last agonizing second. It ripped her apart like a rabid animal. Claws and fangs and a raging inferno. Amongst the mounting torments, she felt it. Him. Cypress. She couldn’t pull him out. Couldn’t save herself. All that was left was to hold the small child to herself, to protect him with her body as best she could, to cradle him tight and give him some measure of comfort. It’s okay, Cypress. She threw the thought out with no hope that the infant ghost could hear. You can stay with me. Pain sliced through her stomach as something unseen began to rip her apart. Still, she clutched the child with all the strength she possessed. I’m right here. I won’t let go. I promise. After all, we’re family.
***
The car’s tires squealed as Louis pulled to the side of the road. He threw himself out of the vehicle and took in the sight before him. People from animal control were busy gathering the alligators that spotted the grassy field in front of the hospital’s main entrance. Shell shocked emergency personal stood sentry, trying to keep the growing crowd of onlookers away. Not that anyone wanted to move in too close. Spider web cracks covered the glass of the windows that lined the walls. The first set of doors had been shattered but the second still remained intact.
“The demon?” Nadia asked.
Louis didn’t stay long enough to answer. He bolted forward, pushing through the crowd and racing int
o the open space before anyone could stop him. They screamed at him, a mix of warning and profanity. It was also how he realized that Nadia was following him. An alligator lay across the threshold. It lifted its head as Louis neared, displaying its massive teeth and releasing a spine chilling hiss. Before it could snap down on his leg, a wrangler hooked a noose around its open upper jaw. The animal swung around to the worker, leaving Louis to jump over its thick tail without breaking his stride. Glass crunched under his shoes as he ducked through the remains of the first door. He yanked open still intact door and stormed into the waiting room.
“Cordelia!” he bellowed.
He scanned the crowd with wide eyes, his heart hammering painfully until he spotted his cousin. Cordelia sprinted from the crowd and wrapped herself around Louis in a tight hug. Exhaustion slammed into him and he sagged against her, barely able to keep on his feet.
“Are you okay?” he whispered.
Cordelia nodded and tightened her grip.
“René?” Louis hesitantly asked.
“Over here, bon ami.”
Louis pulled back from Cordelia and laughed. “I’m a ‘good friend’ now, huh?”
René shrugged, “Seems appropriated. I ain’t hugging you though. We’re not there yet.”
“Where’s Ma?”
“She’s fine,” Cordelia rushed to say.
“But they’re still getting all the snakes out,” René added.
Cordelia turned to him, too exhausted to properly yell at them. “What is wrong with you?”
Louis spotted René’s smirk out of the corner of his eyes as he hurried towards the swinging doors. Once again, everyone present seemed too bewildered to care much about anything that he did. Nadia once again followed him.
“You don’t have to come with me,” he said.
“Please,” Nadia scoffed. “After everything I’ve been through, I’m getting a damn story.”
He pushed through the door just as animal control put the last few snakes into a sack. Ma scrambled down from a gurney and opened her arms wide. Louis fell into the embrace.
“I’m okay,” Ma said warmly as she rubbed his back.
“I should have been here. I’m so sorry.” He pulled back to look her in the eyes, his words rattling out at a rapid pace. “We tried to call. The infant, his name is Cypress. He’s a La Roux and was murdered by Fleur but we couldn’t get the body.”
“It’s okay, Louis,” she soothed. “Just breathe.”
“But the demon–”
“It’s gone.” Ma interrupted.
Louis shook his head in confusion. “I don’t understand. How is that possible?”
“I’m not entirely sure. But now that I know that the child which the demon was feeding off was a La Roux, I can hazard a guess.”
“Which would be?” Nadia pressed.
“Ghosts linger for a reason, normally unfinished business or desire,” Ma said. “My guess would be that the child sensed that Marigold had the same unrequited need as he did.”
“Family,” Louis smiled to himself. “They both wanted to be a part of a family.”
“The child most likely chose her over the demon, and without the child, the demon no longer had the strength to fend off my exorcism. Whatever the case, I didn’t sense the demon when she went down.”
“What?” he rushed. “Went down? Is she okay? Where is she?”
“Calm down,” Ma said. “She’s fine. They took her for her leg surgery. She’ll be out soon.”
“They still did the surgery?” Nadia cut in.
Ma chuckled, “At times like these, people tend to lean on habit and denial as a way to cope.”
Movement made his eyes skirt to the side and his stomach plummeted.
“Sheriff,” he acknowledged with a stiff nod.
“You can relax, Louis,” Berret said. “Don’t get me wrong, I am going to have some questions later. A lot of them. But for now, I’m going to embrace the whole denial concept.” She patted Ma on the shoulder before she headed out the door without another word.
“You’re friends with the sheriff now?” Louis asked.
“You’re hanging out with Nadia.”
“Completely different.”
“How?”
Louis stammered, “Because.”
“Good retort,” Nadia laughed.
Their conversation died down when a nurse rounded the corner. He hesitated for a moment, checking the hall for any snakes, before he continued down to the group.
“You came in with Marigold La Roux, correct?”
“Yes,” he said instantly. “Is she okay?”
The nurse held up a hand, “She’s fine. Her bones have been set and she should be out of surgery soon.”
Louis smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. Look, this day has been amazingly stressful, could I ask you to tell me that one more time?”
With a wide indulgent smile, the nurse placed a hand on his shoulder and said with absolute certainty.
“Marigold and the baby are just fine.”
The whole group spoke as one, “What now?
Chapter 12
Marigold flickered her eyes, opened them and looked around the room. Everything looked normal but she couldn’t quite bring herself to believe it. The room was colorless. A pure, brilliant white that made her eyes ache. A slight, repetitive beep wafted into her head. Pain lingered, shifting through her legs even as the drugs in her system tried to dull it. She whimpered as she struggled to sit up.
“Maggie,” Louis said as he cupped her hand with both of his. He moved into her line of sight, his face lit up with a warm smile. “You’re finally awake. Don’t try to move. You’ve had quite a bit of surgery Maggie. You don’t want to pull anything.”
Marigold squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her jaw, whimpering slightly until the pain began to ebb away.
“Cordelia? René?”
“They’re both fine. Everyone’s fine,” he said. “You were amazing.”
Rolling her head to the side she offered him a sleepy smile, the drugs keeping her from doing much else.
“You’re definition of ‘amazing’ must be pretty loose, Louis. Hey, I said it right.”
“Not even close,” Louis laughed. “But I kind of like it better that way.”
She tried to sit up, the slight movement sending sparks of agony through both of her legs. Flopping back onto the bed, she struggled to breathe, her hand clutching Louis in an iron grip.
“It hurts,” she grumbled.
“It will pass,” he promised. “Can’t I have more drugs?”
His hands were warm as they squeezed her fingers. It was reassuring and she clung to the sensation until the spike of pain began to ease. Blinking rapidly, she looked up to him. Her brow furrowed.
“Unfortunately, no. Your . . . condition, doesn’t allow it.”
Her brow furrowed, “Why did you say condition like that?”
Louis chuckled as he rubbed the back of one hand over the scruff that now covered his jaw. “About that.”
She heard René’s voice before she saw him. “Well, look who’s up.”
“She’s awake?” Cordelia said as she burst into the room. She glared at René before hurrying to take Marigold’s free hand. Her skin was still hot from holding her coffee cup. “I told you we shouldn’t have gone for coffee.”
“That smells great,” Marigold said. “Can I have some?”
“Sure,” René said as he held out his cardboard cup.
Cordelia quickly grabbed his forearm. “There is caffeine in coffee, remember?”
“Oh, right. Sorry.”
Marigold felt loose and almost giddy as she melted a little against the bed. “I could use some caffeine.”
“Yeah, but the baby could do without it.”
Every hint of sleepiness disappeared in a second. “Baby?”
René and Cordelia both looked to Louis. He clung to an awkward smile.
“Hadn’t had a chance to tell her ye
t.”
René’s face turned a unique shade of red as he struggled to keep himself from laughing. “This must be embarrassing for you.”
“And it’s not for you?” Louis said.
“I have a high tolerance for embarrassment.”
“He really does,” Cordelia said with a hint of pride.
Louis’ hand smoothed over her hair, reassuring her for a moment before he glared at René. Cordelia back-handed his shoulder. While they were distracted, Marigold struggled to lift her head and looked down at her stomach. She didn’t know why she had expected to see a baby bump, but she was a little disappointed to find her stomach the same as before.
“How is this possible? When would this have even happened? Are you sure?”
“The blood test confirmed it,” Louis said. “And Ma figured it was during the exorcism.”
“That was a possibility?” she shrieked. “No one mentioned that?”
“Normally, no,” he was quick to say. “But your situation was different. You didn’t open yourself to the possession. You fought it every step of the way, just like I knew you would,” he paused to give her a proud smile. “With Ma fighting it, the only thing tethering the demon to this world was the child.”
“Cypress.”
His smile grew, “Cypress.”
“You know, you don’t have to stick with that name,” René said. “You can choose a different one. Like, I don’t know, René.”
Cordelia pressed her face against her husband’s shoulder as she giggled.
“When he chose you, the demon had no defense. No link to this world. It had to leave.”
Cordelia smiled with a hint of humor, “I guess he really chose you, huh?”
“I felt him crawl inside,” Marigold remembered. “I thought he was just using me as a human shield.”
“Louis,” she heaved. “I don’t think I can do this.”
“Is ‘this’ being a mother, possibly having a demon child, or the more likely option that your kid would be kind of incestuous?” René asked.
“What? Demon child?”
Cordelia shoved him out of the door with strict orders not to come back until he could get his ‘sense of humor’ under control. It was only as Marigold watched him leave that she spotted Ma in the doorway.
