“We’ll have to stay in that spot until the marchers go dormant again,” Eliza said. “That’s at least ten or eleven hours.”
“I’ll go by myself if you two would rather wait it out up here,” Steven said.
“No, I’ll go with you,” Roy said.
“Me too,” Eliza said. “We’ll head down just before dusk.”
“What about Jonathan?” Steven asked.
“I suggest we leave him in here for now,” Roy said. “By tomorrow, he’ll be discovered in bed and I suspect someone will call 911. If we’re lucky, we’ll have resolved everything by then.”
Chapter Twelve
Just before dusk, they made their way back down to Eximere. Roy collected some food to bring along since they’d be camped out in the spot behind the tree for a while. Eliza removed a blanket from her bed and brought that as well.
When they reached the safe zone Eliza created behind the banyan tree, Eliza spread out the blanket and the three of them sat down on it. There was a small pond a few feet away. “Like a picnic,” Eliza said.
“With fireworks at the end,” Roy said, laughing.
“What if she sees us,” Steven said, “before the marchers get to her?”
“Have some of this,” Roy said, removing a flask from his pocket and handing it to Steven.
“Booze?” Steven asked.
“Protection,” Roy said.
“You brought some?” Steven asked. “Why didn’t you give us some earlier?”
“Well,” Roy said, “the first time she attacked you, it came as a surprise. I didn’t know you and Eliza were going to run down the hall and confront her like that. The second time, we were just trying to contact someone while in the tunnel. Didn’t occur to me that she’d detect that and come after us. And, I only have this flask. Didn’t want to waste it until we needed it. Now seems like the time.”
“I wonder if it would have slowed the draining,” Eliza said.
“It might,” Roy said, “but there’s only enough here for a couple of doses. The draining would have just continued after it wore off. Protecting us from Anita seems like a good use of it.”
They chatted for a few more moments and passed the flask around. Steven felt the protection hit his stomach, and a warmth slowly spread through him.
“Is it getting darker?” Eliza asked, glancing around. “Or is it what we’re drinking?”
“No,” Roy said, “it is getting darker.”
“James must have arranged for a day and night cycle down here, too,” Steven said.
“Or, Anita’s arrival has made it dark,” Roy said. “I thought I just saw her in one of the windows.”
They scanned the back windows, trying to detect any sign of her. The light around them was dimming rapidly, much faster than a normal sunset on the surface. Exterior lights on the house began to flicker on – they looked like old fashioned gas lights. Small lights popped on in the back yard, illuminating some of the features. Their eyes slowly adjusted to the dark.
“You sure?” Eliza whispered. She didn’t think anyone in the house could hear them from this distance, but she didn’t want to risk finding out.
“I think so,” Roy whispered back. “I saw a blur in the upstairs window.”
They all dropped into the flow. Steven noticed that it took longer for Roy and Eliza to join him in the River, and they both had pained looks on their faces. This has got to work, he thought. We’re running out of time.
In the River, Anita appeared clearer and more distinct. Lights were turning on inside the house, their brightness streaming into the backyard. They could see Anita, her dark gown flowing around her, moving back and forth in one of the windows upstairs.
Isn’t that James’ bedroom? Eliza thought.
I think it is, Roy thought.
Steven felt the silver fork, still in his back pocket. Shit! he thought, why didn’t we put it back? She’ll notice it’s missing!
They watched as Anita moved from room to room. Her movements were erratic, as though she was panicked. She knows someone’s been there, Steven thought. She’s searching. Where are the marchers?
Roy checked his watch. It’s just past dusk, he thought. Should be any time now.
Provided the changes worked, Eliza thought.
Steven’s anxiety began to rise as he watched Anita complete her room by room search of the top floor, and her figure appeared on the lower floor in the large archway. She turned and moved into the library. She’s just going to find more evidence of our being there, Steven thought. It’s just going to make her angrier. Where are the fucking marchers?
He saw her drifting inside the library, her movements becoming jerky and haphazard as she moved from one side of the room to the other and back again. She’s seeing the books we removed, Steven thought. I told you she’d notice!
She paused, then drifted smoothly out of the library and out of sight. Next she appeared in the large windows of the sitting room, past the library.
She’s still searching, Roy thought.
After a few moments, Steven saw her pass by the archway again, moving into the other side of the house. We’re running out of house for her to search, Steven thought.
Roy checked his watch again. It’s definitely past dusk, he thought. They should be down here.
If they’re dormant during the day, Eliza thought, it may take them a few minutes to wake up and get going. Nothing says they turn on like a switch, right at dusk. Plus they have to move from up there to down here.
How long is that going to take? Steven thought.
No idea, Eliza thought.
I played this wrong, Steven thought. We should have stayed upstairs. She couldn’t go back up there to try and find us. She’s going to eventually find us out here.
Let’s hope Roy’s protection helps hide us, Eliza thought. Steven felt the need to lower himself to the blanket to conceal as much of himself as possible.
Anita reappeared at the archway, looking into the back yard. She began scanning the graves under the tree.
Uh oh, Roy thought, and he moved quickly to flatten himself out on the blanket. Eliza followed suit; Steven was already down.
Shit, Steven thought. She’s got us.
Not yet she hasn’t, Roy said. Stay down. I don’t think she saw us. It may take her a while to search the whole yard.
Can you see her? Eliza thought.
Roy raised his head in the flow slightly above the sightline to the house. She’s still there, looking, he thought.
They kept their heads down. Sorry I dragged you guys down here, Steven thought. We should have stayed upstairs.
We both chose to come down with you, Eliza thought.
Roy raised his head slightly again. Fuck, he thought, lowering it quickly. She’s closer, past the graves. And I think she saw me.
Steven wasn’t sure if the thumping he heard was his heart beating in his chest, or the sound of the marchers. He didn’t dare look up to see. The thumping was increasing in intensity but it wasn’t as loud as he remembered when he was with Marilyn.
She’s here, he heard Roy think. Steven raised his head, and saw Roy and Eliza both looking up at Anita, who was floating ten feet in front of them, about a foot off the ground. She was still under the branches of the tree. She had clearly seen them. Steven could feel her eyes staring at him.
You again? she said. Why are you here?
Steven wondered why she didn’t notice the thumping behind her. He could see the black shapes of the marchers on the other side of the house, darker than the dusk that had settled around them. Upstairs, in the darkness with Marilyn and her dog, he’d not been able to see what they looked like – just their eyes above him in the moments before Marilyn was taken. Now he saw their shape behind the house, slowly marching, their eyes floating near the top of their heads. They didn’t have any features or limbs that he could see – just dark shadows, lumbering forward. They were passing through the house, towards them, but they were still too far away.
He looked back at Anita. She was confused, and the look on her face was not unlike the look she had when she first manifested herself to him, during the focus. She didn’t understand what was going on. Gotta stall her long enough for the marchers to take her.
We came here to pay our respects to James, he thought in reply to Anita.
You have no right being down here, she thought. You’re trespassing!
No, Steven thought. We aren’t. This place belongs to James, doesn’t it? James invited us. He asked us to stay, to meet you.
Anita looked bewildered. This was clearly not the answer she was expecting.
He said that? she thought. He wanted you to meet me?
Steven saw the marchers approaching behind Anita. They were past the house now, making their way into the back yard. They seemed to be walking in a pattern, crossing each other’s path. There were at least twenty, maybe thirty of them, and more seemed to be arriving behind the ones that were approaching in the back yard. They all stepped in unison, producing the thud Steven felt under him. They had a ways to go before they’d reach Anita. More stalling needed.
He told me you were the most beautiful and powerful woman in the world, Steven thought, and that if we could meet you, we’d know it too. So he asked us to wait here until you came down.
Anita seemed perplexed, her eyes shifting from side to side, as though she was trying to understand. When? she thought. When did he say this? When?
Just today, Steven thought.
Liar! she responded instantly, as though she’d caught Steven in a trap. He’s been dead for fifty years! He couldn’t have spoken to you today! She moved a little closer to them. Now her face was more distinct, the flesh of her left cheek hanging from her head.
Gotta keep her confused, Steven thought to himself, for a little while longer. She’s focused on us, she doesn’t realize the marchers are coming for her. Gotta keep her occupied, gotta make something up that will keep her attention.
No, we contacted him, Steven thought at Anita, and he told us he’d been disloyal. He told me he knew he had to be loyal. He wanted your forgiveness. He begged me to tell you.
He has been disloyal! Anita wailed. Ungrateful! Spiteful! Would you give up your soul to torment your mother?
No, Steven thought. I wouldn’t. He told me he’d made a big mistake. He wants your forgiveness. He wants you to wait until he can get here, to prove his loyalty.
The marchers were now thirty feet behind Anita. The eyes of the marchers could now clearly be seen, a greyness floating below the tops of their heads. Steven could see the eyes of one locked on Anita, but the marcher didn’t accelerate; they moved as a group, patrolling at the same pace. They were still too far from her. He felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest, twice as fast as the thumping of the marchers.
Disloyalty is hard to forgive, Anita thought. There is nothing worse. He must be punished. And so must you! She moved closer to them, now a couple of feet from the blanket. Her eyes were wild with anger, shifting rapidly, her black gown swirling around her. The marchers were now ten feet behind her, steadily progressing.
Can she not tell they’re behind her? Steven thought, at the last moment realizing he’d directed the thought at Anita by mistake. He’d run out of things to say to stall her. He could feel the cold, sure that she was about to attack them all.
Anita froze, the anger in her eyes changing to fear as Steven’s thoughts sunk in: she realized what was behind her, the sound of the thumping. For years she’d managed to avoid them, but now they were upon her. The fear in her face became panic as she realized how close they were, that there was no escape.
She knows, Steven thought to himself. She knows it’s about to end.
Steven saw the panic in her face slowly dissolve to resignation.
Then she said to him, calmly, You can’t imagine how horrible it is to have a child betray you.
Anita closed her eyes as the marcher lifted her from the ground. She didn’t scream, as Marilyn had done. She didn’t make a sound. The thumping stopped, and Steven saw the eyes of the other marchers turn to look at Anita as she lifted through the air, all vicariously anticipating her destruction. There was still enough light that Steven could see Anita’s face as she rose twenty feet and stopped. Then the hand of the marcher appeared, grabbing at the loose flesh on the side of her face, and in a smooth motion, ripped the flesh from her neck, shoulder, and side until it tapered off to a thin strip. There was no blood this time. Steven could see Anita was still there, behind what remained of her face, terrified. The hand of the marcher reached up and pulled on the other side of her face, and Anita’s features were torn away. Steven continued to watch as piece after piece of Anita was absorbed into the marcher. When it was done, there was no skeleton or corpse waiting to drop – there was nothing left at all.
And then, the thumping of the marchers resumed, startling Steven. The eyes of the marcher centered on him, and he knew the marcher was now intent upon capturing its next victim. One step brought it a few more feet in their direction, and for a moment they all thought it would continue towards them. They scrambled off the blanket, retreating backwards on their hands and knees. But the marcher turned at the edge of the blanket, and walked back towards the house, patrolling.
“Good job on the boundary!” Steven said, exhaling, returning to the blanket.
“God, that was horrible!” Eliza said.
“She may have been scared of them,” Steven said, “but I think we just did her a favor. I think we gave her the way to break her pattern and end the torment James had arranged for her.”
“I would agree with you,” Roy said. “I think in the end she was ready to surrender, to have it be over.”
“I’d hate to go via one of those things,” Eliza said. “There’s nothing left of her, it’s like they devoured her completely. Is that what it did to Marilyn?”
“Well,” Steven said, “it was dark, so I couldn’t see it exactly. But I heard it. And the blood came down. And then her corpse. With her, they only removed her flesh.”
“Apparently they find a ghost as tasty as flesh,” Roy said. “The good news is that by moving the marchers down here permanently, upstairs is free of them.”
Eliza sighed. “What’s next?” she asked. “Once the marchers go dormant, we go back into the house?”
“Yes,” Roy said. “We’ve still got to shut down the device. I don’t know about you, but I’m not willing to risk leaving this spot until they’re gone – not after what I just witnessed.”
“Agreed,” Steven said. “But after we shut down the device, what about Percival? Jonathan?”
“I don’t know about you two,” Roy said, looking toward the house and observing the marchers moving back and forth, “but I think we’ve landed on a goldmine here. Not for money, but for the gifted. I think we need to plan this out and play it smart.”
“You’re intrigued by the library, aren’t you?” Eliza asked.
“Yes,” Roy said, “and the objects you found. These items were all stolen from people like us. It was a crime. They have children and grandchildren who need them back.”
Steven thought this over. “Are you saying you want to try and return them all? That’s a big order.”
“I’ve been thinking about this,” Roy said. “I’d like to have something worthwhile to do in my retirement. Returning these books would be worthwhile. And you could help, Steven. We’d figure the books out, one by one, and try to return them to the proper people. Same with the objects, if they can be figured out.”
“What about Percival?” Steven said.
“Well, I’ve been thinking about that, too,” Roy said. “We’ll need a plan to deal with him. Here’s what I’m thinking: he’ll be jarred by what happened to Jonathan. That’s our opening to set up a story in his mind. We need to convince him that we’ve switched to his side. We’ll tell him that we found the device and broke it accidentally, but that it’s fixable, and we want to try and repa
ir it so he can continue his work.”
“Why would he believe that?” Eliza asked.
“We’ll tell him we’ve seen what James was trying to do,” Roy said. “We give him some kind of proof that we found James’ inner sanctum, and we’ve become converted to his cause. We want to step in where Jonathan left off. But it’ll take some time to repair the device, because we’ll have to do a lot of research to figure it out. Years of research. What better option will he have?”
“Meanwhile, we work on the library, and returning things to their rightful owners?” Steven asked.
“Exactly,” Roy said. “Percival can have the upstairs. With Anita and the marchers gone, maybe the place will become more of a draw, for tours. The fact that we removed the marchers and Anita should convince Percival we have enough power to pull off what we’re suggesting. He thinks we’re about to be drained completely; he’ll be shocked to see how the tables have turned. He’ll be lucky to have us on board. I think we can set this up any way we want, as long as we play it right.”
“Might work,” Eliza said. “But what about access? I hate that ladder.”
“I wouldn’t want Percival to even know when we’re here,” Roy said. “I think we should seal off the pantry access, and place a protection on it. We’ll leave the metal screen that he installed over the passageway door, and place a protection on that as well. We’ll come and go through the prohibition tunnel, find a way to access those metal doors as our method of getting in and out. We just have to leave every night to avoid the marchers. We tell Percival we’ll give him an update once every three or four months. Percival will have the house and the hope that his plan will eventually get back on track, and we’ll have this place to ourselves. He’ll never know when we’re here.”
Steven looked at Eliza said smiled. “Like a lair?”
“Yeah,” said Eliza, smiling back. “Kind of like a lair. Filled with amazing things.”
“And a house that never needs dusting,” Steven said. She laughed. It was nice to see her happy again.
“I don’t know how much time I can devote to helping you here,” Eliza said. “I have my obligations in California. But I’d like to do as much as I can.”
Eximere (The River Book 4) Page 19
