“You’re responsible for their deaths,” Steven said.
“Yes,” the man replied, “but not just me, alone. I’m just a visitor here. There’s hundreds of my kind here, with varying degrees of strength. When someone’s halfway to suicide, it’s easy to make that someone think their family would be better off without them. Most of the creatures who inhabit this forest can do that with little effort. What’s really challenging is to make someone who’s in a normal state of mind think they need to tie a rope around their neck and swing from a tree.”
“That’s you,” Steven said.
“That’s right,” the man said. “That’s me.”
“You tried to get me to stab myself,” Steven said, “back at my home.”
“Just to scare you a little,” the man said. “I need you a little scared.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” Steven said.
“You should be,” the man said, smiling again. In the distance, he heard Eliza scream. Steven looked out over the clearing. Eliza was now suspended upright at the edge of the clearing. Steven could see something forming over her head, the same kind of twisting movement he’d seen above him in the dark in his bedroom. The twisting slowly stopped as it straightened out into a rope and wrapped itself around Eliza’s neck, forming a noose. He’s going to hang them, Steven thought. They’ll just be two more suicides out here. All of Steven’s muscles tensed, and he felt as though a cold hand ran up his spine. “Alright,” he said.
“I wasn’t interested in seeing you stab yourself, Steven,” the man said. “I was hoping you’d hold the knife to your chest, give yourself a good scare. That’s all. If I wanted you dead, your friends would already be swinging from the trees. I’d make you think you needed to take some rope and do yourself, too. It’d be easy.”
“We drank protection,” Steven said.
“It wore off,” the man said.
“What do you want?” Steven asked, angry.
“I want us to be friends,” the man said. “That’s the only way out. If we’re not friends, I’ll suspend those two from the trees right now, and we’ll part enemies.”
Steven swallowed hard and thought for a moment. He needed to play this a different way.
“Usually a friendship is something mutual,” Steven said. “You’re forcing me into it. Hardly a friendship.”
“I’m willing to forgive the initiation,” the man said, “in light of the end result.”
“Alright,” Steven said. “Let’s say we’re friends. What then? You take my hands?”
The man furrowed his brow and squinted one of his eyes. “You think I want your hands?”
“Like Robbie?” Steven said. “I’m marked.”
“I don’t want your hands,” the man said, shaking his head with repugnance. “You’ve turned. No demon wants you now.”
“But you wanted Robbie,” Steven said, a little confused.
“He was a morsel set out by Vohuman to tempt me,” the man said. “Any marked gifted boy at puberty is a prize. Vohuman knows I have a taste for them, that’s why he set it up. But after that age, you’re the opposite of tasty. You’ve probably noticed that most demons won’t come near you.”
“I have,” Steven said. “Is that why? I’m not ‘tasty’?”
“You’re worse than that,” the man said. “You’re lethal.”
“I am?”
“Very.”
“How?”
“You don’t know?” the man said. “Don’t expect me to tell you. My point was that the markings are enough to drive ordinary demons away.”
“But not you,” Steven said.
“I’m not ordinary,” the man said. “I’m ancient.” He smiled.
“Why did you try to seduce me?” Steven asked. “In bed?”
“It was worth a shot,” the man said. “You’d be surprised how often it works. When it does, it makes things a lot easier than resorting to violence. So I try that first. Didn’t work with you.”
“But it worked with Evie,” Steven said, almost to himself.
“Who’s Evie?” the man asked.
“The woman Vohuman mated with,” Steven said. “Robbie’s mother.”
“Oh, that whore,” the man said. “It’s nice to get a gifted one, you get more interesting offspring that way.”
Steven was trying to take in all of the information the man was giving him. It was hard. He wasn’t at all sure where any of this was going. It was time to find out.
“So you want me to do something,” Steven said, “since we’re friends.”
“And friends do things for each other, right?” the man asked. Steven noticed that the rope had disappeared from Eliza’s neck, and her body was drifting away from the edge of the clearing.
“What do you want me to do?” Steven asked.
“I want you to give it to me,” the man said.
“What?” Steven asked. “Give you what?”
“The glass,” the man said.
Steven slipped his hand into his coat pocket. There was the planchette he’d shown to Eliza. He’d kept it with him, obsessed with examining his marks. He removed it, held it up to the man.
“You mean this?” Steven said. “The planchette?”
The man’s eyes widened and for a moment he transformed into the demon shape Steven had seen in the River. Then he transformed back.
“Yes,” the man said, “that’s it.”
“But it’s mine,” Steven said. “Why do you want it?”
“It’s not yours,” the man said. “It belongs to me. How did you come across it?”
“I’d rather not say,” Steven said. “You’re right, it’s not mine exactly. I found it.”
“I’d like you to give it to me,” the man said, extending his hand.
“Is that what this has all been about?” Steven said, waving the planchette.
“I’m sure you’ve noticed it has special properties,” the man said. “It’s not a normal glass.”
“I know I feel sick when I look at my marks through it,” Steven said.
“That makes it valuable,” the man said. “And it has other properties.”
“What do you mean?” Steven asked.
“I’m guessing you’ve been looking with the engravings up, facing you,” the man said.
“Yes,” Steven said, realizing the man was correct; he’d always held the planchette with the engravings up. It seemed the right way to hold it.
“Well, it’s very useful that way,” the man said. “And it tells you far more than a normal glass. Try turning it over. Be careful, and look again.”
Steven turned the planchette over so the engravings were facing away from him. The underside of the planchette was bare and smooth. He placed the glass over his hand and looked at his mark.
Instead of a slowly growing revulsion, he felt a slowly growing euphoria. His marking began to pulse within his hand, and he felt a wave of intense pleasure shoot up his arm and into his torso. He kicked back in the camping chair, throwing his head back as the sensation raced into his brain. He felt himself drop the planchette on the ground as the pleasure quickly moved down his body. As it passed his groin he became instantly erect. It moved down his legs and into his feet. He felt himself shaking from the intensity of the experience, rocking in the camping chair. As it passed from his feet into the ground, he felt as though he was being grounded to the earth, attached in a permanent way that made him feel an intense connection with it. The euphoria swelled in his mind until he felt he might burst. It was the single most pleasurable experience he’d ever had. After a moment, he could lift his legs again.
“Oh my god,” Steven said. “What was that?”
“The opposite of what you felt looking through it the other way,” the man said. “And another of the reasons why I want it back.”
Steven slowly lifted his head back into a normal position. The planchette was lying on the ground at his feet. Why doesn’t he just take it? Steven wondered.
“I can
’t just take it,” the man said. “You need to give it to me.”
“If I give it to you, you’ll release my friends?” Steven asked. “And you’ll leave me alone from now on?”
“Oh, I’ll do more than that,” the man said. “I’ll offer you my protection. Vohuman will be angry you gave it to me. You’ll be on his enemies list.”
“You say this is yours?” Steven said, reaching down to grab the planchette off the ground.
“I commissioned its creation four hundred years ago,” the man said, “from a very talented fabricator. I wanted a glass that would allow me to not just see markings, but to know their consequences. It was very expensive. It was stolen from me a hundred years ago, and I’ve been searching for it ever since. When I was taking the boy’s hands, I noticed you had it on you, and I knew I’d landed a bigger prize than just little Robbie. I doubt Vohuman knows how beneficial his little trap worked out to be.”
“You can’t take it from me, can you?” Steven asked. “That’s why all this talking. You need me to give it to you.”
“Exactly correct,” the man said. “Another of its properties is loyalty to its owner. It apparently thinks that’s you. If you give it to me, I’m the new owner, and things will be restored. If I were to take it forcibly, it would shut down on me and become useless, as I suspect it was for the person who stole it from me.”
“And all this bullshit about being friends?” Steven asked. “You know I’m going to give it to you because you’re holding my friends. I have little choice.”
“I don’t know how you found it,” the man said, “but there’s a couple of other objects I’ve lost over the years. Well, not lost really, I’m more careful than that. They were stolen from me. I’m hoping you might have a source for the others. I’d like them all back, if I can get them.”
“I might have a source,” Steven said. “What’s to stop you from just tracking me to find them?”
“If they were in a place where I could get at them,” the man said, “I’d have already recovered them. Sure, I’ll track you. Why not. You’re an interesting fellow. And those two, out there,” he nodded towards the clearing where Roy and Eliza were still floating, “they’re hoots, the old man especially.”
“He’s my father,” Steven said.
“Whatever,” the man said. “But wherever you got it, I couldn’t get in. If you can locate my other objects and bring them to me, we’ll be good friends.”
“Hardly,” Steven said. “It’s still all by force.”
“So there are more objects?” the man said. “More objects that you don’t know anything about? What they do, who they belong to? Sounds like it.”
Steven pressed his lips together, remaining silent.
“I’m going to let your friends go,” the man said, “and I’m going to protect you from Vohuman so you can continue to return to me the items that are mine. That’s a fair bargain.”
“I’ve always heard that making deals with a demon is a bad idea,” Steven said.
“People say all kinds of things,” the man said. “I wonder how many of them are actually friends with a demon?”
“I do have a source,” Steven said. “I don’t know if your objects are there or not. I don’t consider them mine. If you give me detailed descriptions of the items you’re after, I’ll look for them. If I find them, I’ll give them to you.” Steven handed the planchette to the man. “Provided that once I do so – whether I have the items you want or not – you’ll leave me and my friends alone.”
“Deal,” the man said, taking the planchette, “provided you agree to keep the terms secret between the two of us.” He turned the planchette over and looked through the glass at himself. “Ah,” he said, closing his eyes. “I’ve missed that. I’m so glad we’ve met, Steven.”
As Steven watched, the bodies of Roy and Eliza slowly moved towards them and then around their chairs and back into the tent. As they passed, Steven could see that their eyes were still closed. I wonder if they heard any of this, he thought.
“No,” the man said, “they didn’t. And you won’t be able to tell them about the deal you’ve made with the devil.”
“Is that what you are?” Steven asked. “The devil?”
“I don’t know,” the man said, standing up. “What would you call someone who chops up little boys just for the pleasure of a chase?”
“If not the devil,” Steven said, “you’re pure evil.”
“Don’t forget our agreement,” the man said, turning to walk towards the forest. “I’ll expect you to live up to it.”
“You’ll have to give me descriptions,” Steven said as the man walked away from him. “I want a complete list before I start looking.”
“And you’ll get it,” the man said, his voice beginning to fade. “I know where you live.”
Steven watched as the man entered the woods and disappeared. The sky was beginning to lighten –sunrise was on its way. Steven remained seated in the camping chair, still angry from his interaction with Aka Manah. He racked his brain for options, for some way to get out of the deal he’d just made.
I don’t know what ninety-nine percent of those items at Eximere do, anyway. They’re useless to me. Returning a few to this demon is no skin off my back, especially if it keeps us safe.
But try as he might, he still felt wrong. The deal might not involve any more than a little of his time, but the idea of doing anything to help the monster that killed Robbie and June made him feel sick. And trapped.
Friendship indeed, he thought. I still feel fucked.
The light began to increase. He expected to hear birds responding to it, then he remembered where he was.
Still a while before it’s fully up, Steven thought. I’m not going to wake them. Let them sleep. I can explain all of this later. I’ll start the coffee.
Chapter Fourteen
“Judith,” Steven said, “this is Eliza. Eliza, Judith.”
“Nice to meet you,” Eliza said.
“Yes, isn’t it?” Judith said, eyeing Eliza from top to bottom.
“And here is the book I borrowed,” Steven said, handing Varieties of Demonic Repression back to her. “There was a deposit.”
“Oh, yes,” she said. “That. I’d almost forgotten. How much was it?”
“A thousand,” Steven said. “Cash.”
“You’ll have to take a check,” Judith said, reaching into a handbag by her side. “We don’t keep money like that around the house.”
“Sure,” Steven said.
“I trust you found it useful?” she asked as she looked for her checkbook and a pen within the handbag.
“I did,” Steven said. “Very useful.”
“And you were able to resolve your problems with the demon?” she asked.
“Yes,” Steven said, “as resolved as they’re going to be.”
“If only life were like the movies,” Judith said, opening her checkbook and beginning to write. “There would be a big explosion at the end and everyone would be fine. I’m guessing you cut a deal.”
“I can’t talk about it,” Steven said.
“Typical demon request,” Judith said, ripping the check off her checkbook and handing it to Steven. “I’m not surprised.”
“We’re grateful to you,” Steven said. “We would never have made it through without your guidance. And the book. Although it was completely wrong about how to deal with it.”
“You have to completely believe you’re fighting against it to gain any kind of a bargaining advantage,” Judith said. “They can read minds. If they know you’re about to negotiate, you don’t get much.”
“So you really did us a favor with all the misdirection,” Roy said. “The mirrors, the amplification, all of that were never going to work. It was about getting a better deal with the demon.”
“And did you?” Judith asked Steven.
“Everyone’s alive,” Steven said. “I can’t really discuss any more than that.”
“And tha
t is a good deal with an ancient demon!” Judith said. “Any deal that leaves you alive is a good deal. So I’ll just say, you’re welcome!”
“We’ll be going,” Steven said. “No need to call Clara, we know the way out.”
“It was nice to meet you,” Eliza said, following Steven.
“Tell Dixon hello for me,” Judith said as they walked out of the sitting room. “Tell him to stop in next time he’s in town.”
“Will do,” Steven answered.
As they marched down the stairs and into the entryway, Roy turned to Steven and said, “I can’t imagine what Dixon might see in her.”
“She did help us, Dad,” Steven said. “Can you hold your comments until we’re at least out of her house?”
◊
Steven walked onto the back porch. Eliza was sitting in a rocking chair, looking out over the beautifully landscaped backyard and the giant banyan tree. Steven walked over to her and handed her a glass, then sat in a hanging bench next to her.
“What’s this?” she asked, taking the drink.
“A mojito,” Steven said. “I muddled the mint myself.”
Eliza giggled. “I do like hanging out here with you and Roy,” she said, sipping the drink through a straw. “And this place,” she said, waving her arm in the direction of the banyan tree. “It seems I could never get tired of it. Isn’t it marvelous how it tends itself? No need to mow or clip anything. Unser did it right.”
Steven sighed and took a sip of his drink. She was right, the place was intoxicating.
“When do you want to go back?” he asked.
“Never,” she said. “Can’t I just stay here forever?” She turned to look at Steven and smiled, then laughed. “Maybe Troy can raise himself? Just pretend I don’t live in California at all?”
“You can stay here as long as you want, as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “It’s your place as much as ours. None of ours, I guess, really. We’re all just here as guests.”
“I guess that’s why it feels so wonderful,” Eliza said. “It’s like were guests at a fabulous hotel, and we can stay as long as we want. And no other guests around to ruin anything!”
The Suicide Forest (The River Book 5) Page 16
