by S. E. Burr
“I'll tell her we're going out again,” I said following after Anna.
Audrey nodded and sat beside her brother on the couch. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed. We had agreed that she would tell her mom she was spending the night since we didn’t know how long it would take to get the fruit.
Entering the hall, I stopped short. I watched Anna drop the biohazard bag into her purse and then open and close the incinerator door, pretending to incinerate the glove.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
She flinched and then turned, a sheepish expression on her face. She hesitated and then gestured toward the open bathroom door. “Let’s talk in here.”
I went into the bathroom, and Anna came in behind me, closing and locking the door. I could tell how nervous she was. She wrung her hands and then spoke all in a rush. “I collect the gloves for Nick. His lab’s looking for a cure for catatonia, but the disposal laws are so strict it’s hard for them to get any samples to test.”
I stared at her. The laws were strict. My dad didn’t agree with them, but I’d heard him talking more than once about how carefully we had to follow them. Improper handling of goblin fruit contaminants was a criminal offense. The catatonia center could be shut down. Or worse. “How long have you been doing this?”
She steeled herself before answering. It looked like every muscle in her body was tense. “A long time,” she said finally.
Holy crap. “And my dad…”
She shook her head. “He doesn’t know. Frank’s very exact about following regulations.”
I sighed and folded my arms around myself. I couldn’t deal with this right now. My mom was dying, I’d seen goblins, I was about to buy fruit, and now Anna was sneaking around behind my dad’s back. I didn’t know how much more my world could be turned upside down without me falling out into space. “You don’t want me to tell him?” I asked.
“I’d prefer if you didn’t,” said Anna.
I shook my head. “When I was younger you told me that if someone asked me not to tell my dad something—“
“You should say you won’t tell and then tell,” she finished. She nodded, though I could tell she didn’t like it. “I’m not asking you not to tell him, but I am asking you to think about it first and make sure it’s the right thing to do.” She paused, looking at me. “Nick wants the same thing Frank wants, to help catatonia patients. He thinks he’s close to a cure, but the residue from the gloves is very important to his research.”
“I'll think about it,” I said. “I’ll let you know before…if I do anything.”
“Good,” she said and smiled. She hugged me and her cell phone rang. I could feel it vibrating in her pocket.
Releasing me, she looked at the phone and then put it to her ear. “Maria?” she said, as I turned to leave. “Oh no.”
I stopped, turning back.
“No,” said Anna, “Of course you need to be with him.” She paused, listening. “Yeah, that's fine. Just come over for a few minutes so I can run home and get an overnight bag.” There was another pause. “Okay. Hang in there. I'll see you soon.”
Hanging up, she looked at me. “Maria's father has taken a turn for the worse. He's not doing very well.”
“Oh,” I said. I knew I should probably feel bad about that, but I just felt numb. It was all too much too fast. I couldn't process more bad news. “Audrey and I are going out again for a little while.”
“So late?” said Anna. “It's dark out.”
I shrugged. I didn’t think she had any business lecturing me, given what I’d just found out she was doing.
“Okay,” said Anna. “Well, be careful. Don't stay out too long.”
I nodded and went back into the living room.
Audrey was wrapping up the conversation with her mother. “I love you too, Mom. You don't need to worry. It's just a sleep-over...Okay. Bye.” She hung up the phone and looked at me. “She worries all the time since what happened to Andrew, but she's going to let me spend the night.”
16
As we approached Todd's house, we could hear loud music, laughter, and shouts coming from inside. Audrey hesitated at the front door like she didn’t know whether to knock or just go in. She was reaching for the door handle when a voice came from behind us, and we both jumped and turned around. “Audrey,” Todd said. He was sitting on the stonework that comprised his front porch, leaning against one of the tall pillars. His face was bruised and swollen, and there was blood dripping from a split eyebrow into his eye.
“Todd! What the hell happened to you?” she asked.
He grimaced, shaking slightly, with repressed anger. “Some piece-of-trash-freaking-fruit-dealer kicked the crap out of me in my own house.”
“What?” Audrey asked, kneeling down beside him. “Why?”
“Pete brought him here,” he said. “Pete brought that scum to my party. I wasn't going to let him in with that poison he had with him, and I told him that, and then he just started wailing on me. Pete just stood there and laughed while the guy beat the crap out of me.”
Todd was kind of hard to look at. He’d been pretty badly beaten up, and he looked rough, but it was hard for me to feel sorry for him. I mean, I had my own stuff going on, and if you asked me, Todd had been asking for a butt kicking for a while now.
Audrey didn’t seem to feel the way I did. “I'm sorry,” she said, touching him on the shoulder.
I rolled my eyes. “Is he still in there?” I asked “The dealer?”
Todd gave a small nod and then grimaced again, touching his head. “I'm sitting here thinking I should call the freaking cops, but this is my house, and if I do that I'll be ass deep in trouble too.”
“Well, we should at least go in,” said Audrey. “We should check that everyone's okay.”
Todd looked at her. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
She hesitated.
“I wanted to come,” I said. “You know, I love a good party.”
Of course, I was lying, and, of course, Todd didn’t believe me. “No, you don't,” he said. “Jamie and them are always making fun of what a prude you are.”
I could feel the blood in my cheeks. “I'm not...Look, my dad's out of town so I thought I'd go out.”
“Oh,” said Todd. “He's strict like my mom.”
“Yeah,” I said. That was a lie, too, but one Todd believed.
He stood up. “I guess we better see what's happening in there.”
What was happening was bedlam. Everyone was already drunk or high. Many of them were from school, but there were some older, shady looking people there as well. There was a thick plume of marijuana smoke filling the living room. A clump of people was dancing ungracefully in the middle of the floor. Some sort of wrestling match / brawl was going on at the side of the room. Two barely clothed sophomore girls were making out on the couch, and a group of boys and one creepy looking bearded guy were cheering them on.
We made our way past all that and into the family room, where there was a staircase leading up. Todd thought the fruit dealer might be upstairs, but before we reached the stairway, I saw something that made me forget all about the dealer. It was Jamie. I screamed and ran to her. She was lying half on and half off the couch. Her eyes were closed, and someone had drawn a mustache on her with a magic marker. She was asleep, or unconscious, or maybe catatonic. There was a bright orange liquid dribbling from the corner of her mouth, and that really, really scared me.
17
Audrey's stomach turned as she saw the intensely colored orange juice on the girl’s mouth, and realized what it meant. She’d taken goblin fruit. She was catatonic, and there was nothing they could do for her. As Clarity and Todd leaned over Jamie, uselessly trying to help her, Audrey backed away, and then turned and climbed the stairs.
She found the fruit dealer in the upstairs master bedroom. On the bed there were two women, or girls—she didn’t recognize them, but they looked very young—stretched out and giggling softly to the
mselves. Their eyes were wide, and they kept glancing around like they were looking at something Audrey couldn’t see. On the floor, the dresser, on the bed, even draped over the girls’ legs, were clothes—shirts, dress pants, ties—and standing near the closet door gazing at himself in the mirror was a man dressed in a tuxedo. He turned when Audrey came in the room, and she recognized him as the same fruit dealer who’d been on the playground. He was much cleaner now. His hair was wet, and he smelled strongly of soap and cologne.
“Why, if it isn’t the little girl from the catatonia center,” he said. “What can I do for you little girl?”
Audrey was terrified but hesitated only a moment. “I want to buy some fruit,” she said.
The fruit dealer laughed uproariously. “Why sure, little lady.” He flung the clothes from the foot of the bed to the floor. “But you don’t have to pay. Take a seat, and I’ll fill you up with all the fruit your little mouth can hold.”
“N-no,” said Audrey, taking cash from her pocket. “I don’t want to take it here. I’ll pay and take it at home.”
“You don’t want it now.” He eyed the bills, and came slowly closer, his hand in the pocket of the tuxedo. “You’ll take it at home,” he said.
“Right,” said Audrey, and then suddenly the dealer sprang at her. She stumbled backward and opened her mouth to scream, but in an instant his hand was over her mouth, and he’d shoved a fruit capsule in between her lips. The large, soft capsule burst between her teeth and she gagged and spat. The vibrant colored juice ran down her chin.
He laughed and said, “There’s your fruit!” and then he grabbed the money from Audrey’s hand, counted it quickly, and tossed a baggie containing several more fruit capsules toward her.
Audrey knelt and picked up the baggie, slipping it into her jacket pocket. The goblin fruit dealer went back to examining himself in the mirror. The girls continued to giggle softly on the bed. Audrey stumbled from the room. She went into the bathroom and quickly washed the juice from her chin and rinsed out her mouth. Then she splashed water on her face, trying to clear her head. The world was reeling as she made her way down the stairs.
In the family room, there was a strong odor of alcohol and citrus, and a puddle of vomit lay by Jamie, though she still seemed to be unconscious.
“It’s just jello shots,” Clarity said, with a big, relieved smile.
Audrey nodded and pulled a corner of the baggie out of her pocket, surreptitiously letting her see it.
Clarity nodded and looked at Todd. “Help me get her to the car,” she said, “and I’ll take her to the hospital.”
“I can take her,” said Todd. “I haven’t had anything to drink. You and Audrey go home.”
“Okay,” said Clarity. “Have you heard from your mom today?”
He shook his head. “She’s been calling, but I haven’t answered.”
“You need to call her,” Clarity told him. “Your grandpa’s in bad shape.”
“Okay,” he said. Then he lifted Jamie and started walking toward the door.
In the living room, Clarity switched off the music. Todd yelled, “The police are coming!” and everyone started to scatter.
They went outside. He loaded Jamie into his car and drove away. Audrey had driven on the way to the party, but that was not an option on the way back. She was still clear-headed enough to know that her head was foggy and getting foggier. She got into the passengers' side.
“What are you doing?” said Clarity, standing uncertainly outside the car. “I can't drive. They might come back.” She looked around herself nervously.
“Yes, you can,” said Audrey. “And you have to cause I can't. I'm shaken up from talking to the fruit dealer.”
Clarity looked at her closely. “You're right. You're shaking.”
Audrey looked down at her hands in surprise. They were shaking. She hadn't noticed. The world seemed to be moving, not her.
“What happened in there?” asked Clarity.
“Nothing,” said Audrey. “Everything’s fine. Just drive. I don’t think you’ll see any more goblins now. I have a feeling.”
Actually, Audrey didn’t have any idea what Clarity would or wouldn’t see, or what she herself might see for that matter, but Clarity seemed reassured. She got in the driver’s seat, and they drove back toward the center.
#
Anna carried her overnight bag from her bedroom into the living room, which was huge, immaculate, and modern. Nick had hired a decorator to make it like that, and a maid to keep it that way. The few homey touches that Anna had insisted on—a vase of silk sunflowers, a cute nurse statuette from the sister of one of her patients, and one of Clarity’s drawings—seemed out of place in a room that otherwise felt unlived in.
Anna fed the cat, its food and water in fancy, spill-free, silver dispensers. She scratched behind its ears and then picked up her overnight bag from where she’d set in the entryway. Switching off the light, she opened the door.
She gasped and stepped back, as two dark figures, one huge and hulking, loomed at her out of the darkness. Dropping the overnight bag, she reached into her purse, grasping for her stun gun. The figures stepped into the light.
“Nick. You scared me half to death!” Anna said.
“Sorry,” said Nick, and Marcos smiled sheepishly.
Nick stepped forward. “Where are you going, sweetheart?”
“Back to the center. I want to be there to support Clarity.”
Nodding, he said, “Good. We’ll go with you.”
“What about your meeting?”
“I postponed it. You want to be there to support Clarity, and I want to be there to support you.”
Anna’s eyes watered, and she threw her arms around him. “Thank you,” she said.
Still holding onto him, she looked up into his face, her expression nervous. “Clarity knows I’ve been giving you the gloves.”
Nick stepped back, anger flickering momentarily across his face before his expression calmed. “Is she going to tell Frank?”
“I don’t know. She said she’d think about it and tell me before she did anything.”
“Good,” said Nick, with a glance to Marcos.
“I’m so sorry, Nick,” said Anna. “I know how important those gloves are to your research.”
“That’s okay, honey,” he said, folding her again into his arms. “You don’t need to worry about that now.”
#
Audrey was quiet in the car, but the world around her was loud and vibrant. The sky flashed with lightning—in electric shades of blues, yellows, pinks, and oranges. The thunder clapped and gooey droplets of candy-colored rain fell from the sky but never seemed to hit the car or the ground. Shadows moved around the vehicle, running with it, outlines of men and animals. Audrey thought she should find it frightening but instead it was beautiful, and with every second it became more and more real. She wondered if she'd ever see the world the same way again.
They reached the catatonia center and went inside, Clarity leading, Audrey trailing behind. The shadows were still with them, following them every step of the way, and clearer now; she caught glimpses of fur, whiskers, and not-quite-human eyes.
Inside they walked past the dining room doorway, through which they could see Maria supervising the patients' dinner. Clarity said a few words to her as they went by and then she led Audrey into her mother’s room, shutting the door behind them.
Audrey felt as if Clarity were moving at high speed like she was watching her on fast forward. Sprint-walking to the wall, Clarity pulled gloves from the dispenser and put them on. Then she pulled on the corner of the baggie, and it slid from Audrey's pocket. If Clarity seemed sped up, Audrey felt slowed down. Acting instinctively, she flailed after Clarity, trying to get the baggie back, but her arms seemed heavy and slow, as though the air had turned into jelly.
Clarity’s back was turned to Audrey, and she didn't notice. Her hand shaking, she set the baggie on the bed, took a capsule from it, and put it
into her mother’s mouth. Audrey grabbed the baggie back.
As the girls watched, the capsule in the woman’s mouth melted and disappeared, apparently absorbed. Clarity looked at Audrey. “I don’t know how long it will take. If it’s too late for her…we might need to try it on someone else.”
“Andrew?” said Audrey. Her voice in her own head sounded booming, like grating stone.
“Yeah,” said Clarity in a squeaky, chipmunk voice, “but like you said, it’s dangerous. We should wait for my dad.”
Seeing movement in the corner of the room, Audrey glanced away. The shadows were gone and in their places were goblins, creatures remarkably similar to those Audrey had seen in Clarity's book. There was a snail-like one in the corner and another rat-like one climbing the wall.
“You don’t want anything to happen to Andrew,” Clarity said.
The rat-like goblin scuttled along the wall until it was beside the vase of flowers Marcos had brought a few days before. It sniffed the flowers, taking a big breath and then sneezed. The blossoms exploded, filling the air with pink, yellow, and lavender petals for one brief moment, and then they vanished.
Audrey looked back at the bouquet, and it was completely intact like nothing had happened. The rat goblin rolled its eyes. It twitched and kept twitching, moving its body in a rhythmic sort of way, thumping its tail against the wall. The snail creature took up the beat, moving back and forth in its place in the corner. Both goblins grinned like they were having a great time.
Suddenly, Audrey began to hear music, the beat of a drum, a guitar part starting up—Andrew’s guitar part. It was “First of Many.” She laughed out loud, her voice rocky and deep.
“Are you okay?” said Clarity.
Audrey stumbled backward through the door and then turned and staggered through the living room, past a wombat-goblin and into the dining room where the patients were eating. Maria looked up in surprise when Audrey came in.
