The Saffron Malformation

by Walker, Bryan

  Rain and Fire

  It had been over a year since Viona’s father had showed up to take Leone away from her. She’d passed on going home for the holidays later that year but when they came around again she couldn’t take it anymore. She had to see her brother.

  The train ride was agonizing. She dreaded seeing Gren and Voz. She dreaded seeing her father, when she thought of him now all she could see was the fury in his eyes as he’d yelled at Leone and beaten her. She dreaded also Mr. Stone.

  “It’s a common last name,” her father had said but they all knew. If anyone pressed the issue he got angry, so no one ever did. Everyone knew there was a reason they never said his first name and no one else at Blue Moon knew who he was. It was on the news wires. Sticklan Stone will break your bones and death will follow after.

  Viona had a little more info on the man as well. She knew there was no record of him anywhere in Blue Moons files, at least not under that name. Mr. Stone, whose eyes had always lingered until she passed from sight.

  The thought made her skin crawl.

  The train ride, getting a cab, the ride to the house, what had been so many hours now seemed short as she stood in front of the massive double doors in the front of her father’s house. She stood there for a long time, looking up at the house she’d once considered home. Now the warmth associated with that word was replaced by the foreboding cold of a tomb and she felt like a ghost returning to her grave. Finally she rang the bell and seconds later a maid answered, a young woman with dark hair who was probably years younger than she looked.

  “Any bags?” she asked, a broken spirit in a plain dress.

  Viona shook her head and answered, “Just the one,” holding up her small duffel bag. When her mother had been alive the staff was different. They looked alive and smiled from time to time.

  Viona’s heart skipped then, and her throat tightened as Leone came around the corner. In her mind she’d pictured seeing him again and she’d thought about stooping to hug him but over the last year and a half he’d sprouted, only nine and he was as tall as her now, though that wasn’t saying much. “You’re so big,” she whispered to herself and her eyes shimmered. She’d seen him on the chat screen every week but it’s not the same. He smiled and she grinned and hurried to him and held him, laughing. She smelled his hair and kissed his forehead and he gripped her. His head barely fit snug under her chin as she stroked his hair.

  She looked up from him for a moment and noticed Mr. Stone, standing at the end of the hall, watching her. After a moment he moved along, watching until he was gone.

  Leone started talking to her, a string of sentences that ran on from the previous and into the next about everything from school to music. She caught as much of it as she could but most would have to be repeated later. Apart once again, she wiped the tears from around his eyes and smiled at him as he did the same for her. He leaned close and whispered, “You and me.”

  She touched her forehead to his and said, “Forever.”

  He looked at her and his eyes surprised her, they were hard. “Find a way.”

  Emotion swarmed her, dizzied her, and ramped her heart. She nodded to him and he nodded back. ‘I will. You better,’ they conveyed through those simple gestures.

  Terrible curiosities trembled through her mind as she began to pose a question. “Leone is some-”

  “There’s my girl,” Richter Crow said from the end of the hall. He approached, a looming presence, and added, “Glad to see you decided to join us this year.”

  Viona nodded. “Me too.” She found it hard to look at him without remembering how violent he’d been. Standing this close to him made her tense.

  “Come with me V. Let me pour you some wine and have a chat. Then you two can run off and have all night to catch up before your brothers arrive in the morning.”

  Viona looked at him, surprised. “I thought they were already here.”

  Richter nodded. “When you said you were willing to come this year I pushed their arrival back. Wanted to give you two a bit of space. Would have been more but you kept delaying.”

  It was a jab at her, she knew, and it worked. It stung her heart to know she could have had all week with Leone if she had just come when he originally asked. Though if she had, would he have delayed Gren and Voz at all? She wasn’t sure yet.

  They were in the study and not his office, and she preferred it this way. He poured her wine, as promised, and though she wasn’t sure what sort, it was red and dry and she liked it. He fixed himself a Whiskey and they both sat on black leather, his was a chair and hers a sofa.

  “I used to love this room when I was little,” she said allowing the first sips of wine to lead her into nostalgia while she scanned the shelves of books and statues and awards and other trinkets of elegance.

  Richter smiled, “You weren’t supposed to be in here when you were little.”

  She smiled, “I’m not sure I’m supposed to be in here now.”

  They shared a chuckle and a bit of the mistrust dispelled. She remembered what he was like when she was young again, as opposed to the angry thing that kicked her ass and took her s… err brother. It was hard to remember that distinction sometimes.

  “My little girl,” he sighed, maybe with a bit of his own nostalgia. Viona looked at him. “I regret…” his voice trailed off. It’s hard for a man like Richter Crow to admit he might have been wrong. “I regret the way things have gotten between us. And I know you love Leone. I appreciate that, believe me, I do. Part of me even thinks maybe I should just let you,” he trailed off.

  Viona sat up slightly, eyes wide and heart speeding.

  “I just can’t,” he finished. “Its true, that Gren and Voz hold a higher place with me, that Leone will never be privy to the business of Blue Moon and running a world but maybe that’s why I can’t let him go. Because he’s the one who’s separate from it and reminds me there’s a world outside.”

  Viona’s eyes sank to her glass and she took a long drink while she fought the urge to cry. ‘All I want for Christmas,’ she thought briefly.

  “But I also don’t want us to be the way we’ve been this last year and some months,” he continued. “I just hope we can put all that behind us.”

  Swallowing hard, she began to nod, trying to deal with the heartbreak she felt. She would have given anything to have him say, ‘When you go take Leone with you.’

  “I’ve always been able to talk to you,” she began, not thinking just speaking. “Gren and Voz used to hate the way I had your ear. I knew it was wrong to try and keep him, that you would be angry. I even thought you’d probably come and take him eventually but,” she stopped. “I love him dad,” she said, eyes meeting his for the first time since she’d rung the bell. “Not like a sister loves a brother either, I mean I LOVE him.” She took a long sip of wine and Richter remained silent. “And you made it that way. You put it on me.”

  He nodded slowly, somberly.

  She went on. “Before you showed up I knew you’d be angry but I thought I’d be able to talk to you. Before you showed up I didn’t even consider you’d be able to,” she trailed off, “do that,” she finished. “Then to cut me off like that, to not let him visit at all and limit our time on chat,” her agitation rose through the sentence and culminated in the way she picked up the bottle of wine and poured a second glass. “I mean fuck.”

  “I wanted to get you to come back. Wanted to-”

  “Ask!” she shouted. “I mean fuck dad, just ASK!” She drank from her glass, long and deep. “I didn’t come home last year because of that shit. Oh, I hated you.” His eyes found her and there was a bit of hurt in them. “That’s right, I fucking hated you. I hated you all the way up until you told me Gren and Voz weren’t here so I could have time with him. You understand that? Do you get it?” She finished her second glass of wine in a long gulp and continued under the courage it provided. “I tried to give up. I tried to tell myself that I’d lost him forever but you know what I learned?”
He didn’t respond. “I can’t do that. I would burn this whole world down for him. You understand?”

  Looking at her, at the calm certainty in her eyes he realized he’d seen a similar look before. It was in Sticklan Stone. He nodded. “I don’t want to keep you from him anymore. I just… you can’t have him.”

  She took a long breath and nodded. “Transfer me to Saffron U.”

  He was shaking his head. “You don’t understand. I can’t have you here.”

  She glared at him, “Why?”

  He looked up at her. “It’s not safe.”

  “But it’s safe for Leone?” she asked, brow raised.

  He sighed long and deep. “I can’t explain.”

  She held up her hand, “You know what? I don’t want you to. I just want to know that I can see Leone again.”

  Richter nodded.

  “I can call him, whenever I want and him me.”

  Another nod.

  She glared at him. “He can come to visit.”

  He sighed. “If he comes back on time.”

  She nodded. It was fair.

  Joy combined with the wine she’d drunk as she walked to Leone’s bedroom with a fresh glass in her hand. When she opened the door to his room and saw him sitting at his desk she began to laugh and cry at the same time.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  Viona told him but he didn’t smile. “But I can’t go live with you?” he asked sadly.

  She shook her head and he started to cry. “Hey,” she said, crossing to him and sitting on the bed across from him. “What’s up? We get to see each other again. We can call whenever we want. I’m sure you’ll visit anytime there’s a school break unless it’s a holiday and then I’ll come here.”

  He looked up at her with fearful eyes that seemed to tremble. For the first time since he was a baby he looked really small to her.

  “Leone,” she said, her voice firm and terrified at the same time. “You tell me what’s going on.”

  He swallowed hard and replied, “He hurts me.”

  Her heart sank as her eyes widened and she asked, “Who?”

  “Stone.” It was a whisper that gently flowed from his lips, a sound a pin dropping could have drowned.

  She nodded slowly and thought of stabbing the man in the neck with a knife. “Where?” she asked, trying to hold together.

  Leone took off his shirt and Viona’s heart raced, her eyes flooded and rage boiled through her. He had cuts and bruises all over his torso. Suddenly something occurred to her and, trembling, she asked, “Does dad know?”

  Leone nodded slowly. “I don’t know for sure but I think he tells him to. Stone says it’s for my own good. Says I’m too soft.”

  She was rocking on the bed, eyes far away, lost in a deep thought. She wanted to kill them all. She knew that would be stupid. There was a smart way to go about this, but one thing was sure, the deal she’d made with her father, not even an hour old, was shit out the window.

  Eyes full of tears he looked up at her and pleaded, “Please Viney, you have to do something.” Then he wept and she pulled him against her and caressed his back like she did when he was a toddler and lay back on the bed with him while she plotted.

  When Leone’s tears had run dry Viona tried to focus on something good. She asked him about school and friends, teased him about girls he might like in his class. It was good to see him smile, and it made her smile. Five minutes after he was asleep she tucked the blankets around him and exited the room.

  Sticklan Stone was on the first floor, sitting on the sofa in the living room with a whiskey in his hand. Viona glared at him and he smiled. “Look like that,” he told her, “From a creature sentimental as you, I can only guess it’s about the boy.”

  Her brain flipped into a mode she didn’t know it possessed. Suddenly she couldn’t really see anything and she was walking toward Stone. Casually, he set down his drink and when she lunged at him he gripped her throat, corralled her arm and slammed her against the wall.

  “I’m going to kill you,” she spat at him despite her present helplessness. “I swear, I’ll eat your fucking heart.”

  Sticklan Stone smiled looking at her with something between a smile and a sneer. “You’re all the same. Every one of you. The body varies but the rest is the same.” He leaned close to her, caressed her throat and cheek with his nose and smelled her. When he met her eyes she recognized the look, it was the one cats use before they tear into prey. “Your father doesn’t want me to kill you. I want to, want to do all manner of unseemly things to this body you cart around in. But he says no and since I’m still taking the pill you’ll survive the night. I suggest, however, you reconsider your approach the next time. Things might not end so nicely.”

  He squeezed her throat once, his hands were strong and she gagged as he released her. A tremble passed over her skin, prickling every hair on her body, as she watched Sticklan walk away and she understood why it wasn’t safe for her in the house. It had taken all the control he could muster to let her go. Sadly, he’d also confirmed that her father must have known. If his command could keep the man from killing her then he wouldn’t hurt Leone on his own.

  Sticklan Stone left the Crow house and walked down the way to his own, a few hundred meters up the road. The girl haunted him. He remembered the raw hate in her eyes as she crossed to him and how it didn’t waver even as he gripped her throat and held her pressed to the wall. He remembered the feel of her neck, throbbing under his hand, and thought how easy it would have been to squeeze. Pop.

  Sticklan grinned and sighed. The groin of his trousers bulged as he imagined her tied up with tears in her eyes and the soft whimpers that would emerge when he revealed the knife in his hand.

  No!

  He shook his head. Composed himself. He couldn’t think of that now.

  It was a mystery to him, why he longed to hurt the girl so badly. Maybe it was her nature that made her such an appealing victim. She wasn’t, you see, not inherently a victim. She’d fight him. She’d resist being helpless, even bound, as she had tonight. Even held helpless she still had furry. Breaking that, seeing that spirit go out of her eyes before the life within followed was what made his dick hard.

  A long breath filled him and a soft sigh followed it. If he killed the girl now he wouldn’t have the luxury of stopping there. He’d have to do the whole house and he wasn’t ready for that yet. The pill had given him the resolve he’d lacked when he’d started twisting the heads off those kittens.

  The holidays passed much as they had for years before. They ate meals at the long table in the dining room, they sipped brandy and wine in the sitting room as gifts were exchanged and stayed up late while sleeping through half the morning. Clusters of people from Blue Moon came through, attending one party or another, depending on their positions in the company.

  Viona and Leone spent a great deal of time away from the others, talking and listening to music or watching movies. Mostly they just wanted each other’s attention and so they gave it. It was better than any other gift either of them received that year.

  It was the night before she was supposed to leave, with Leone cuddled in bed beside her, that she finally talked to him about his situation.

  “I want you to understand,” she began and her tone must have been heavy for he looked up from his pillow and into her eyes. “I know you’re young,” she said, “But you have to understand what’s going to happen.”

  His eyes watched her unblinking. His body tense with fear.

  “He’ll kill us. Not directly, of course, but he’ll send that man for us.”

  Leone didn’t have to ask whom she meant. He just nodded.

  “I have a friend with a van. I’ve sent her a few messages already and she might be able to help us run away but you have to be ready. We aren’t going to have much time to get out and we need a head start. We need to be as far away as possible before they notice you’re gone and figure out what’s happened, understand?”


  Leone nodded slightly.

  “If I send you a message,” she thought for a moment. “If I say Rain and Fire are going on tour, you know that means have any bits of precious you can’t bear to leave behind ready to go. Don’t get caught in sentiment though. One bag,” she told him firmly and he nodded. “We won’t have time for any more.” He nodded again and wrapped his arms around her.

  “Thank you,” he whispered into her ear.

  She held him and when they parted she looked him in the eye. “We’ll have to hide,” she told him. “We’ll be on the run forever.”

  He smiled and said, “You and me.”

  She chuckled, “Yeah,” and ruffled his hair. “You and me.” Then she held him tight until they both fell asleep.

  Guns and Ammo

  Morning came fast and it took another greasy breakfast to right Quey for the day, or at least make the idea of the day tolerable. Reggie was sitting on the patio behind Rail’s looking down at the beach below when Quey came out with a pair of plates. He set one down in front of Reggie and kept one for himself.

  “What the hell is that thing doing?” Reggie asked lifting his fork without looking away from the machine on the beach.

  Quey watched as Geo rolled across the sand and shrugged.

  “That your errand?”

  “Yup.”

  “And you don’t know what it’s doing?”

  “Some kind of study,” he started as he shoved a bite of sausage and egg into his mouth. “Geological,” he finished past a full mouth of slightly chewed food.

  Reggie nodded and looked down at his plate of eggs and sausage and… “Shit, Marcy made skillet fries,” he grinned and stabbed one of the wedges with his fork.

  Quey nodded, “Had her add some tarragon too.”

  Reggie grinned and took a bite. “Damn that shit’s gone atmo!”

  Quey and Reggie ate in relative silence for a few ticks before Reggie finally asked, “That what all that dyin’ planet shit was about last night? Whatever that thing’s doin’?”