Rupert closed his eyes as he spoke: “He said he will spare the girls if we bring him someone else. He wants a man. Snowbird.”
Dean let out another wet rolling burp and rolled his eyes in delight. The medicine man? Oh God. What if it wasn’t rabies? What if this was real? I wanted to run. I wanted to run and never stop. I wanted to run all the way back to Yellowknife and forget my life here, but I knew I had to protect everyone. I couldn’t run. I had to get everyone to safety. I forced myself to grin: “That sounds great.”
Dean made a sound, a groan of pleasure. He vomited back into his mouth and continued to chew. He burped and filled his cheeks with what he’d been eating before swallowing it all back down.
Rupert nodded, writing something down. We have to get the girls out before the movie ends. We have two minutes left. “He wants you to know something,” he motioned for Tony and Norman to get the triplets away from Dean. Tony and Norman looked worried. How? they asked. “He promises to serve us if we bring him Snowbird. So join us now and serve. He will know not to hunt you if you serve him now.”
Dean grunted his approval. He was hypnotized by the slaughter on the screen but he was still listening. He moved his jaw back and forth and I could hear his massive molars and teeth in his jaw scraping over each other like rocks. It can sharpen its own teeth!
What spirit – what monster was this? My stomach rolled with fear. What would Conan do? I thought. He’d play along to find out more information. I was cold inside and shivering. “This is awesome,” I bluffed. “I’m honoured you’ve called me here. I can bring you the medicine man called Snowbird. He is blind and trusts me. Tell me more.”
Rupert motioned for Tony and Norman to hurry but they were too scared. They shook their heads. “To rise, they need the old man.” Rupert made a motion that it was up to us to get the triplets.
I nodded and moved my hands to my belt under the table. “I can trick the old man,” I said. “He is weak.”
Rupert fake-smiled and started to move from behind the bar. He motioned for us to move towards Dean. I nodded, moving slowly. I unhooked my belt, pulling it out so it would fall by my leg without Dean seeing. “Once he has the old man, the mother can give birth to more of them. Her son has asked you to join us in their killing return,” Rupert said.
My mouth dropped. Mother? Killing return? What?
Dean hummed from his chest in approval and reached for more slop from the bucket. He worked his jaw again and we could all hear his teeth like bone on bone, molars against fangs. Those little hands of his were no longer little. They were long fingered, thick knuckled and strong. With claws that looked like they belonged on a grizzly.
“His mother is gaining in power,” Rupert announced with a grimace.
Dean nodded twice. He grunted to indicate he was listening as he watched the horrific footage of war and killing. “Bear,” Rupert said to me, “her son is honouring you tonight by asking you to be here. Bring us Snowbird and you can join us.”
The footage ended. Dean stopped smacking his lips and grinding his teeth. He looked confused, blinked twice, realized the movie was over and then looked at us. I quit moving, my hand squeezing my belt so I could use it as a weapon.
Dean looked at Rupert and Norman before gripping his seat and rising slowly, claiming its space. Dean had grown. He was now taller than all of us. His arms did not fit his body. They were too long. His hands were so long they looked like feet. He began to look at us and shake. Tony and Norman glanced at me for direction. They also readied their hands to cover their ears. That was when Dean spoke, looking down at us. His body started shaking. “Will the cunt mouth bring us Smoke Eyes?”
Rupert lowered his head and looked down as if not to invite an attack. “He said he is honoured. He will bring you the enemy magician.”
As the triplets held hands, prayed and wept together on the couch behind him, Dean Meddows lowered his voice and started panting. He looked at me once, directly into my eyes. God, his eyes were cold. They were the eyes of something dead staring at me. I pretended to fawn and got ready to strike with my belt. Aim for the nose, I thought.
“Bear is honoured to serve you,” Rupert called to Dean.
No, I thought. Don’t say my name. It must not know my name.
Rupert spoke. “He has brought you two hindquarters of caribou as a gift.”
Tony agreed. “Bear will help us.”
Dean’s eyes started to darken, his left eye dilated. “He’s lying.” His lips started to tremble as I heard a mewling inside of him – a rising growl in his chest. He raised his arms to his sides and hissed like a large cat. My strength left me as I saw his eyes change. All I saw in them was hate and cruelty, starvation. Not human, I thought. He’s not human anymore. Wait – they’re all wrong. It is just rabies –
The sound hit me before I heard it. The tiny bones in my ear lobes suddenly became rattling knives and my tongue twisted backwards with the force of his scream. I felt like I’d been shot through the spine. Time slowed and everyone in the room covered their ears. As much as I wanted to, I’d need both hands for what I had to do. I readied my belt. The wrap-around muscles in Dean’s face started to stretch and ripple under his skin. His mewling grew and it hit me like a
winding cold drill through my skull don’t faint don’t weaken
Dean started moving his jaw back and forth, unhinging it. He started to hiss and jerk towards me. He started to grow in the arms, neck, legs. I saw the skin of his face shake as he started to call something behind him forward.
Don’t, I thought.
Don’t let it make that sound. Fight the fear. Break it –
We could hear popping underneath his skin as ligaments and sinew stretched beyond their capacity. Dean’s cry hit me in the chest – I could feel it – and I felt the hair on my arms prickle in fear. It was like someone poured ice water all over me. I felt the strength leave my legs in cold fear.
But he was only inhaling.
My arms dropped
to my sides
the more Dean made this mewling cry
all I want to do
is let go,
fall into the dizzying grip
of this call.
My blood starts to thin,
my heart squeezes itself to stillness.
I can’t feel my hands
I can’t feel them.
I feel skinless.
It’s trying to break my mind.
I was just about to sink to the floor in surrender, about ready to drop my belt to the floor when a chair exploded over Dean’s head. Dean raised his arm and looked at Tony, breaking his cry. Tony stood there holding the broken legs of the chair. Dean backhanded him, throwing him back. Dean started to shake uncontrollably.
“Bear!” one of the triplets called. “Help us – please! Dean’s a windigo!”
I used the moment of confusion to raise my fist with my belt, plant my feet on the floor and strike Dean in the mouth. I had to stop him from making that sound. Dean’s eyes were full black now, eyes of pure hate, pure ferocity. I wound up and whipped him again, striking his nose. Blood began to flow.
“You girls!” I yelled. “Get up and get out of here. Run!”
I wound up again. The triplets – their eyes wide with fear – looked at Dean and started screaming. Now, I thought. Now!
Be brave, I thought. Be brave for them. Buy time and do not show fear. Whatever Dean was, he would taste the bite of Tlicho power! I wound up and started whipping his face with my buckle as the muscles in Dean’s face popped as his jaw unhooked itself from under his skin. I heard cartilage and muscle ripping inside his neck. His eyes rolled back as he started his cry again. I weakened but fought this power. I felt the ground move under my feet. It was like the whole house was moving, like a tornado was being born inside him. Dean was growing. His back hunched. I gripped my bel
t and backed up. I had to stall to get everyone out. Tony was still dazed and rolling around, trying to get up. Rupert grabbed the triplets and started pulling them past us. Norman started yelling, “We have to get outside. Run!”
Tony was still on his back and I had to stall for time. I would not back down. I had to break its focus from the rest of the group.
“Don’t let it bite you!” Rupert yelled from the hallway.
Dean’s body was still changing and he focused his attention on the belt, as if part of him remembered how I kicked his ass when he tried to steal it from me in Simmer. He stood lopsided. One of his eyes was monstrous and swollen. The other looked human. I could hear his tongue moving in his mouth as he took a large breath from his throat. I heard panting. “Help me, Bear,” I heard him croak. “Something bit me.” His eyes locked on mine before rolling back inside his skull. That was Dean’s voice.
“Dean?” I asked.
From his throat he began that dizzying cry again. Dean’s jaw now hung low and his teeth were sharp, like something canine for ripping. He pulled his bloody face up, into a grimace, so that his eyes sank back into his skull. He had become this creature that wanted to feed. He raised his arms up like wings and they started to grow. I looked up at the full size of him. His rib cage heaved under his skin to receive all he could eat.
Looking at the slop bucket that was beside him, I could smell that it fed on blood and meat. I remembered Sensei’s training: Defeat the weapon, defeat the opponent. Its form was physical power, yes, but its design was wrong. Its jaw was larger than its head – like an old jackfish. This was the flaw. Its weakness was its greed for feeding.
Before Dean could grow in power or make the dizzying cry, I spun and whipped the belt, striking his face again and again. He swung one arm to block the lashings. Dean’s jaw hung open and I saw his bottom teeth. They were brown with filth and his incisors jutted up and out like a bear’s. His nose split where I hit him. He started lapping at the blood. Dean kept looking at the belt, trying to remember where he had seen it before.
Give it what it wants, I thought. Buy time so everyone can get away.
“You want blood?” I asked. “Here it is.” I moved fast, kicking the slop bucket by our feet so blood, slime, maggots and meat sprayed his pants and shirt. My eyes watered from the stink and I started gagging. Dean spun his head and started sniffing himself. Muck spilled from his mouth as he started licking and lapping the air.
I looked to Tony. “Run,” I said. “Get out!”
Tony rose and, from my left, he scrambled up and limped out behind me, whimpering at first and then screaming as he left. I could feel Rupert in the hallway watching us. “You too,” I said, “Go! Run!”
He did. Rupert called, “Don’t let it outside!” Everyone was safe now, except me.
Dean continued to lap and lick at his own clothes and skin. Fear rippled through me but I had to stall for time so everyone could get away. Don’t let this out of the house, I thought. Don’t let this out into Behchoko.
I got my belt ready and aimed for Dean’s eyes. I thought of the kids playing outside across the street. No way, I thought. You’re not getting them.
Sensei told me that to become a ninja, you had to die first, and this was my chance. If this was it, let it be defending my community. Either way, this beast would not get out of the house. I had the power of my ancestors and I had Sensei’s training. I knew what I had to do.
Prepare, I could hear Sensei say. I shifted to Bear Stance and imagined a wall of concrete behind me. I would not be moved. The nine points of contact on each foot reached the centre of the earth. I knew I had to hold this ground until Severina returned, but I was already a ghost fighting for a body. My spirit was strong. I could think through the fear. I could. I used the time as it feasted to breathe, center myself and ready myself for the next attack. If death was soon, let it be. Let my name live on as someone who saved others.
Dean’s face contorted and pulled itself outwards, drawing its nose inward to transform into something with the rotting face of a dog or wolf. I realized my belt was wrapped around my fist so tight my fingers were purple. My blood turned to slush. “Jesus Christ,” I yelled. “What the fuck are you?”
I went to go whip him in the skull but he slapped my belt buckle away. He lunged towards me, biting towards my stomach when I heard something snap like a whip. It leapt backward, screaming in agony. The thing – whatever this was – backed up to examine the damage. It looked down. Its fingers started to twist into themselves up and backwards. It howled in pain.
“What is your weapon?” it asked. Me? What did I have?
The beast of Dean pointed his mangled hand at my hoodie. “Give.”
He charged me again and I whipped him in the mouth. His head snapped back and a tooth – an incisor as big as my thumb – fell out of his mouth onto the floor.
It looked at his hands again. They were broken in half, split and exposing meat. Blood started to seep over his own wounds. With this, the demon grinned, closed its eyes slowly and started slurping, feeding on its own hands, lapping up the blood that spurted up and out. It sounded like ice cracking under his skin. He howled in agony but could not stop feeding.
“Sorry,” it growled, with blood on his teeth. He flicked his tongue across them. “Tell… m-mm… mom I’m sorry.” His eyes rolled in their sockets towards me. “Bear.”
“Grab the tooth,” a voice said in my right ear. “I will help you. But you need that tooth.” Panic. Shit. How could I do this?
I carefully knelt and plucked the tooth up before walking backwards, backing my way out of the main room and down the hallway. I put it up my sleeve. I had to save Dean, whatever was left of him inside that thing.
The caribou meat! This could buy us time.
As it began to eat its own fingers Dean screamed in hysterical pain, as if what was left of him knew what was happening but the beast inside him could not stop itself. I turned and I ran, almost slipping on the CDs and DVDs on the floor. I raced to the freezer and grabbed the hindquarters and brought them out to show Dean.
He looked at the meat as I unwrapped it.
“Feast on this,” I said. I rolled the frozen meat towards it on the floor and Dean hunched to begin ripping into it. Its mouth opened to feast and rip and shred. I then rolled the other hindquarter towards it. There. Dean would be safe as long as it could eat.
This was a lot of meat. Dean would be safe for a little while. He held his broken hands up and away from his body as it fed.
“Dean,” I said. “What is left of you, I’m trying to save. Can you tell me what hurts you?”
With his eyes closed, I could hear Dean humming as he swallowed. He arched his neck back to swallow a huge chunk of meat. I spoke. “I will give you my belt, the one you tried taking from me. I’ll give it to you, okay, but you have to help me save you. What hurts you?”
Dean listened as the beast he was becoming was soothed – as long as it was eating. He let out a loud and wet “glut” as he swallowed.
“Water,” he spoke. “It hurts it if there’s loud water.”
“Okay,” I said. “I’m going to call for help. Keep eating the meat and we’ll get you help, okay?”
All of a sudden, the door opened a bit. “Bear?” a voice called. I turned slowly, positioning myself between Dean and the voice.
And who did I see but Severina standing with wide eyes behind two men: Snowbird and Torchy. Their faces were warlike, ready for anything. Around their heads and throats were bands of yarrow braided together. In Torchy’s hands were spears and axe.
Torchy spoke quickly. “Severina, go with him.”
Severina? Severina looked at me and nodded. She was dressed in black, her hair in a ponytail. She looked strong. Ready for anything.
“Wait,” Snowbird said. “Do you have the rat root?”
I stopped. �
�Rat root?”
He pointed to my jacket. “Did he ask you for it?”
I looked down and reached inside. I was shaking and felt it. I pulled it out and there it was: the rat root he’d given me when he’d come over for supper. It had the red string on it. This is what broke Dean’s hands. It was protection! “Yes. It asked for it.”
“Burn it now. Remember,” Snowbird said, “we must save Dean. Do you have the tooth?”
I reached in my sleeve, surprised. “Yes.”
“Give,” he held his hand out and I handed it to him.
“Do you want me to get the priest?” Severina asked.
“In le.” Snowbird shook his head. “These are older than Jesus.”
Snowbird nodded and placed his hands on Torchy’s shoulder. He carried a large moosehide bag filled with something that smelled strong. Yarrow? Bear grease? That was when I noticed all of them had yarrow stalks tied around their arms and legs. I could smell the plant, and it cleared the stench from my nose right away with its sweetness. Torchy placed himself first and opened the door to face what was inside. In his left hand he had a spear. In his right, he held an axe.
“No,” I winced. “Whatever that is, Dean’s still inside it. I heard his voice. It’s feeding on two frozen caribou hindquarters right now so it’s distracted.”
I watched Torchy’s hands. They clenched and unclenched. His sleeves were rolled up and I saw a tattoo of scars across his right forearm. He was looking forward to fighting this.
“I swear to you that Dean’s still inside whatever that is,” I said. “He told me whatever he’s becoming hates the sound of loud water.”
Torchy only looked at me once. His eyes were on fire. I saw them register. He released his axe to me. “Whatever it asked for,” he said, “burn it.”
Godless But Loyal To Heaven Page 3
