“Who are you really concerned about? The rest of us, or just yourself?”
Ed lunged toward Tim, but Bart intercepted and sat him down hard on the ground with a solid shove. “Stop this! Both of you! You’re behaving like children!”
“Look, I’m not talking full frontal assault. Obviously we can’t just run in with our one gun blazing,” Tim said.
Ed went to say something but Bart silenced him. “Keep going.”
Tim sighed. He did not think he would have to justify fighting back and, possibly, killing Alexandra and Sebastian. If they were so anxious to follow Father Mike to their freedom, why not do it themselves? “Chances are very good that Bart can’t go back. You said so yourself. For all we know, your house is ashes already, like Father Mike’s place. And I know I’ve got nowhere to go! My wife threw me out and got everything I own because she was fucking our lawyer. I have no family, no friends, no money, and everything I had when I left home is sitting in Alexandra’s garage!”
“So what?” Ed spat. “At least out there you won’t have a bunch of estrogen-laden psychotics trying to kill you every time you turn a corner!”
“He’s got a point, though,” Bart said. “I haven’t talked to anyone in our family since shortly after we came here. They all think I’m dead. I can’t just show up at their doorstep and say ‘Here I am! Can I move in for a while?’ And that’s assuming I can still find them! I’ve got nowhere to go out there, either.”
“Listen to the way you guys talk,” Tim interjected, getting to his feet to test the pain. “You call everything outside of Rapture ‘out there’ as if it’s some mysterious wonderland. You’ve let them beat you! Look at why we’re here: you’re trying to get me out of Rapture so things can go ‘back to normal’! Let me tell you, this place is anything but normal, and I think you’ve all forgotten that. After years of submitting to these witches, you’ve let it become the status quo. If you don’t like it, then damn it, do something about it! With or without me!”
“I’m with him,” Steve blurted out, breaking his silence for the first time. “You guys moved into this place as adults, but I was pretty much raised here. I got here in fourth grade, when my mother and I got away from my alcoholic father. She bought into this witchcraft stuff by the end of the summer. Needless to say, that’s when my education ended. I don’t have anything to get away to, either. I think we owe it to ourselves to take back our lives. And if not for ourselves, then let’s do it for Father Tierney! He fought at this stronger than anyone else, and we let him down!”
“Mike gave up,” Ed grumbled. “Just like the rest of us.”
“No,” Bart said sharply. “Not like the rest of us. He pushed us, and we gave up on him.”
Steve stepped forward, the three of them now looming over Ed who still sat on the floor. The flashlights clipped to their harnesses shined into his face, forcing him to shield his eyes with an upraised hand and look away. Ed suddenly felt like a criminal, as if he were the one ruining his friends’ lives.
“Father Tierney was a good man,” Steve said. “He’s the reason I’m here now. He also taught me that in the Bible it says ‘an eye for an eye.’ They took some of our friends. It’s time we took some of theirs.”
Ed pushed against the rock face behind him to get to his feet. “Alright! Just back off! Christ!” He had not heard talk like this for years, and he had to admit to himself that he missed it. There was no going back for Bart, his best friend. The two of them helped organize the original group of men that sought to destroy the witches’ influence before it was too late.
He practically raised Steve, having taught the boy a lot of the things he needed to know to run the farm his mother bought. He introduced the boy to Tierney, and endorsed Steve when he wanted to become involved in the “Resistance” as they liked to call themselves.
It suddenly became a profound moment for him. The thought they would be back in action again, that they would be free or die fighting for it, appealed to him. He felt ashamed of his behavior, and felt terrible for letting so many others down. He wished it had not taken the intervention of a stranger to get them back on track, but regardless, they dearly needed it.
“Alright,” Ed grumbled. “Fuck ’em. I’m in.”
“So what do we do now?” Steve asked as he helped Ed to his feet.
“We’re going to need a place to stay,” Bart said. “There’s no way this is going to happen by morning. Me and Tim are going to need to hide out.”
Tim looked at the cave walls all around them. “I think we’ve got a place right here.”
“What?”
“Sure. It’s got shelter, there were plenty of flat places to rest back the way we came, and it didn’t look too tough to get down to some of that water.”
“I can drop you some food from time to time,” Steve added.
Bart opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and ran a hand through his hair. “I was about to say I don’t want to live in a cave, but I don’t think we have a choice. Besides, it makes perfect sense. If they do come in here after us, we have plenty of hiding places.”
“Then it’s settled.” Ed consulted his watch. “Let’s get the hell out of here. We’re pushing the time envelope as it is.” He began gathering the rope and testing its pull, while Bart and Tim unclipped themselves. Steve removed the extra coil of rope from his belt and passed it to Bart.
“Do me a favor,” Bart said, digging out his wallet. He handed all the cash inside it to Ed. “Pick us up some camping supplies. May as well make the best of it.”
Ed pocketed the narrow roll. “No sweat. We’ll get back as soon as we can.”
Tim turned off his flashlight and sat back down. His gonads did not hurt as bad as before, but still felt like the aftermath of a good kick. He watched Ed and Steve’s lights disappear down the passage, then watched Bart for a moment, Bart stood at the top of a downslope, his hands clasped behind his back as he seemed to concentrate on the way the colors of the rock layers faded into one another.
“What’s on your mind?” Tim asked him.
Bart shrugged. “I guess I’m deciding on whether to kill you or to hug you.”
Tim smirked to himself. “Ah. Ed seemed to change his mind pretty quick.”
“Yes, I suppose he did. He’s a good man, really. Just a little thin-skinned and hard headed, you know? He’s been like that as long as I can remember.”
“Well, if my balls let up enough, I’m going to get some sleep.”
Bart only grunted and turned off his flashlight. From the noise that followed, Tim guessed he got down on the ground to get some rest himself. Tim wondered what he was thinking. Planning out their next move? Considering turning Tim in to save his own skin? Making a run for it after all? Only Bart knew, and apparently he would tell Tim when he was ready.
He could easily do without the cold and dampness of the cave. He twisted a number of ways until he found a comfortable position. At least, as comfortable as one can get on a cold stone floor in a dark cave. For the second time in as many days he found himself longing for the bed in Alexandra’s basement.
* * *
The sun still climbed toward the horizon when the crows circling over the town spotted the pair of headlights bouncing their way through the trees. As one, the entire flock swooped low for closer inspection. They silently paced the Jeep, which they immediately recognized as the one they sought. They did not, however, recognize the two men riding inside. They followed the Jeep until it emerged from the trees and crossed the narrow stretch of grass bordering the street. As the men turned one way, the crows veered off to return to their nests.
From there it the cats finished the job of identifying the riders. The streetlamps provided more than sufficient illumination for their sharp eyes, and they knew neither of the two men riding in the seats were the man they needed to find. The cats spaced themselves out in anticipation of the Jeep’s arrival, two to three of them at every street comer. Some tried to chase the vehicle,
but their four paws were no match for the engine-driven wheels.
At one point, one of the riders retrieved a stubby metal object from the back of the Jeep and hurled it at a cluster of cats. The flat of the item, a mountain-climbing piton, struck a young tabby full on the side. The impact knocked the cat from its feet with a wet, sickening thud. Its companions yowled and leapt away. The thrower gave a brief shout of triumph as the Jeep raced on down the street. The young tabby, its rib cage caved in, gurgled a few last breaths and died.
Alexandra, lying on her bed as she communicated with her animal soldiers, sat up abruptly and cried out. Alarmed, Gretchen and the twins came running up the stairs and burst into the room.
“Are you all right?” Gretchen asked.
“I’m fine. They killed one of the cats. I wasn’t ready for it, that’s all. I felt it die.”
“Then they found Wilder?”
“No. Not Wilder. Nor have they found Bart. Just the Jeep. They seem to be on their way back to the water works. Round up a few of the ladies and meet them there. Find out what they were doing, and what they know of the whereabouts of the missing men. In any case, I want the older one brought to me. I’d like to have words with him about that cat.”
“You got it, boss lady,” Gretchen replied. She led the twins out of the room. “No rest for the wicked, eh ladies?” Alexandra heard her say through the closed door.
She eased back, reclining on the pillows piled against the headboard. She reached out with her mind again, and the cats confirmed her suspicions: the men in the Jeep indeed appeared to be heading back to the water works. She reeled her consciousness back in, content to allow Gretchen and the others to do their job.
The baby kicked, rather hard this time. Alexandra ran her hands along her distended belly and smiled. “Any time now,” she murmured to herself. “Any time now.” She pulled her nightgown over her belly to her breasts, and watched what looked like a tiny hand press against the inside of her abdomen. Near as she could figure, it wound only be a few days before she reached full term. She felt in perfect health, and though the signs told her she carried a satyr child, they would not know for sure until she actually gave birth.
If she birthed a human child she would have to try again. The prospect of carrying another child to term did not appeal to her, and it would be a rough job getting Tim to cooperate again. She finally decided to worry about it when and if that problem arose.
A steady rapping at the downstairs window distracted her from her line of thought. She pushed herself up and out of bed, then made her way down the stairs and around to the dining room. Sebastian stood patiently at the patio window.
“We have to talk,” he said as she approached.
She unlocked and opened the sliding door and stepped outside. The cool grass tickled her toes as she followed the satyr out to the middle of the yard. The sun cleared the horizon but had yet to clear the cliffs. The sunlight that did creep over created a twilight effect inside the bowl of the valley, and Alexandra admired the way it accented Sebastian’s handsome musculature. He was so much more beautiful than any man she had ever known that she often wondered what any woman saw in her husband.
Or what Eve saw in Adam, for that matter.
She thought it rather quaint the way he refused to come into the house. In fact, her back door was as close as he ever came to the town itself. He always stayed within the confines of the forest, avoiding the “cancerous machinations of man.” When Alexandra arrived in the valley at the young age of sixteen, he befriended her and eventually she helped prevent the townspeople from cutting down too much of the forest and destroying his home.
Though her back hurt like hell and she was exhausted, she could not turn Sebastian away when he wanted to talk. He stood with his back to her for a few moments, as if considering something. When he finally turned back to her his expression was stern.
“What’s happened to Wilder?” he asked.
“He escaped. Ms. Grand, I think, tried to get herself a bit of revenge.”
“And she?” he asked. “What has become of the fat beast?”
“He killed her during his escape. She was too heavy to move, so I dispersed her elements where she fell, using some of the things you taught me. She’s hardly a stain on the carpet, now.”
“Good. Which brings me back to my original question. What happened to Wilder?”
Alexandra blew forcefully through her cheeks. “We haven’t found him yet,” she told him softly. She braced herself for an angry shout, maybe even a furious blow to the jaw. If anything, he shared a hot temper with human males. But nothing came. He took a deep breath and nodded his head.
“Very well,” he growled.
“It should only be matter of time,” she said, emboldened by his lack of reaction. “There are not many places for him to hide.”
“On the contrary. There are places in these trees where even I may be hard pressed to find him. It’s for that reason that I want you to stay indoors until he is found.”
“Until the baby is born?”
“Especially when the baby is born,” he told her. “There is no telling who he has fallen in with and what they will coerce out of him. Or coerce him to do.”
“He was last known to be with Bart Josephsen, the maintenance man at the water works.”
“He was close to the priest, was he not?”
“Yes, he was.”
“All the more reason to be cautious. I have a feeling our secret is out.” He ran the back of his hand along the curve of her abdomen.
“We will have little need to keep it once the child is born.”
His hand traced further the curves of her body. Her breast, her neck, her jaw line. He pressed a palm to her cheek, his thumb at her lips. “Were it not that you were so close to the birth…” His words trailed off but his desire made itself known from beneath his loincloth.
She smiled and kissed his thumb. Her hand wandered between his legs. “It won’t be long.” A motion in the trees caught her eye. Even in the dim light she could make out the forms of a pair of nude women hiding in the trees. They murmured and giggled softly to one another. “I see you haven’t waited.”
“No. I haven’t.” He turned and headed for the trees.
Taking the hint the conversation was over, Alexandra went back to the house. As she closed the patio door behind her, she heard a squeal of delight from one woman, followed by a soft, seductive purr from the other. The snap of the lock cut the rest off.
She felt a pang of jealously as she went into the living room, though she knew monogamy did not factor into her belief system. Nor would it ever be enough to satisfy the satyr’s legendary lust. She reminded herself that monogamy was a hypocrisy invented by men, reinforced by their religion, to keep a tighter rein on their women. Men perverted the very nature of themselves. It was their instinct to seed, thus they justified their own infidelity and lust. But it was the woman’s instinct to breed. Men stripped her right to selection, even in these times of supposed women’s liberation.
Carnal desire played a natural part of all life. The satyrs—and the nymphs, if any remained—were the quintessential representations of this fact. Men used it for themselves. Used it as a tool. Even used it as a weapon. The satyrs made no compunctions about their lust, no excuses for it, and thus began their persecution.
Alexandra sat down on the couch, her behind close to the front edge and her legs spread wide to ease the strain on her back. While she waited for Gretchen and the others to return with the man from the Jeep, she again began to examine her belly. Content in the knowledge that she fulfilled her destined role as a mother, she smiled. She felt blessed.
However, she tried to keep herself from feeling proud. Hubris, another trait of men, led to failure. Hercules, Jason, Odysseus, and more, their hubris ultimately caused their downfall. The Earth Mother taught her children the harmony of all life, not the glory and divinity of the single being as the Christians preached. It was shameful that the women
had to take such drastic action in Rapture. Unfortunately, the sacrifice of these men was necessary to maintain even this simple foothold. Unless they fought hard and viciously, men would bury them once more.
Possibly forever this time.
Such thoughts often made her wonder what the future of humanity held. Would their actions in Rapture be the first step in bringing men and women back to their roots? Perhaps her child, the next satyr, would lead a new generation of men and women on a crusade to eliminate the misogynist religions of man. She could not say, for the women were not so pretentious as to proclaim themselves prophets or messiahs. The spirit of the Earth Mother herself never made allusions to what the future might hold. The Earth Mother taught them that though time and fate were intertwined, one’s fate was not always predestined in some universal plan.
Where time remained constant and unswerving, fate often fell completely to the mercy of the actions of humanity. Action and reaction, cause and effect. While the Christians, the Jews, and the Muslims waited like sheep for the return of their respective messiahs, the Earth Mother taught her children to make their own fate. Only then might change be affected upon the world.
And so it came to be that Alexandra led her sisters to fight for the true state of harmony in life. She believed the teachings of the Earth Mother, delivered to her first by Sebastian, almost as soon as she learned them. The revelation of her lineage only reaffirmed her beliefs. Keeping clear of the trappings of pride, she never proclaimed herself a priestess or prophetess. The other women followed her naturally, like a she-wolf and her pack. They deferred to her leadership and lineage voluntarily.
The Inner Circle, those women who showed a natural affinity for the art of magic or a sensitivity to the energies of nature in harmony, came about shortly afterward. It did not take long before they, with Sebastian’s guidance, began making plans to take over Rapture.
Their actions had been set into motion long ago. Now only time would tell what their fate would bring.
* * *
Ed didn’t spot the Camaro parked on the far side of the lift truck until after they parked the Jeep, covered it, and started to lock the front doors. By then, the six women came out of hiding and stood in a loose semi-circle around the entrance, effectively trapping the two men.
Deadliest of the Species Page 21
