“As you predicted,” Derick said.
“Why’d you bring it back?”
“I told you I would,” Derick replied.
“Your sneaky monochild took it,” Mazlo said.
“You knew?”
“There’s not much I don’t.”
“So you let him take it. Why?”
Mazlo inhaled, looking out over his cemetery. “It felt like the right thing to do,” he said as he let the air out of his lungs, his words heavy with ambivalence, as though he was completely unsure if it had, indeed, been the right thing to do.
“The right thing to do,” Derick repeated. “Odd, coming from a man who chops up bodies and creates monstrosities.”
Mazlo laughed. “I remember one man I let in here, years ago. He was a lot like you. I think it was maybe…wait…” Derick could see him calculating. “A couple of hundred years before Christ…what would that have been? Twenty-five hundred years? Something like that.”
Derick’s mind began to numb a little. He knew the residents of the Belly were old, but hearing specifics drove the point home.
“A man named Bessus,” Mazlo continued. “Wanted a substance infused into golden chains, something no one else had been able to do. I sensed something in him that was different; unordinary. He had a penchant for stating the obvious, as you do, as though it was some kind of indictment.”
“What happened to him?” Derick asked.
“He’s over there,” Mazlo said, pointing out into the graveyard. “I managed to salvage what was left of his tendons after Alexander the Great executed him with recoiling trees. There’s not much left of tendons after that.”
Derick gulped.
“He was cocky and interesting, but he didn’t have exactly what you have,” Mazlo said, glancing back.
“Me?”
“You don’t have the faintest idea who you are, do you?”
Derick froze. It was not a question he’d been expecting. “I know exactly who I am,” he replied.
Mazlo stared at him, almost a challenge. Derick stared back.
“Bessus didn’t really know, either,” Mazlo said. “And his loyalties were misplaced.”
“I don’t know what that has to do with me,” Derick replied, matching Mazlo’s stare.
“Listen,” Mazlo said, finally looking away. “There’s one thing I want to make sure you understand before we go any further.”
“Further?” Derick replied. “I’m just returning the finger to you.”
“The Belly has been around long, long before LeFever and the current trouble,” Mazlo said. “I’ll help you destroy them, but you must understand which side of the fence I’m on.”
“I haven’t asked for help,” Derick replied.
“You did the last time you were here,” Mazlo said. “And you’re sure going to need it.”
“What kind of help?” Derick asked.
“The darkest kind,” Mazlo replied, and Derick began to sense a malevolence in The Blood Gardener that he’d not let bother him before. “I’ve been extracting and manipulating evil for thousands of years. That’s what we do down here. We’re not in the business of happiness and light. What do you think I’m growing out there?” He spread his arm, motioning widely to the cemetery in front of them.
“Things,” Derick stammered, looking for an adequate answer but coming up short. “Like the thing you sold to Lyman.”
“I’m growing evil,” Mazlo replied. “This field of stones has produced some of the most horrific events ever seen — both in the River, and in the world above. Mass murders, genocides, human depravity. It doesn’t happen by accident. It comes from somewhere; here. That’s my trade.”
“Then why would you offer to help me?”
“The enemy of my enemy is a friend,” Mazlo replied. “I’m fed up with LeFever. He’s making it far too hard to get things done. It’s time for his scheme to be dismantled.”
Derick paused. “What are you proposing?”
“Just some assistance, when you need it.”
“I can’t promise you anything.”
“I don’t expect you to.”
“And it won’t be right away. I have a job to do in the real world, it’ll take me to the other side of the country for a while. I don’t know how long.”
“That’s not a problem, considering you don’t even have a plan yet. Keep your eyes open while you’re working. There’s a confluence of events happening around you now, and a solution may present itself. That’s when I may be able to help, if you need me.”
“In exchange for…?”
“Nothing you can offer me,” Mazlo replied. “My interest is in LeFever’s operation closing up. That’s what I get out of it. And, if you would, please keep this little arrangement between ourselves.” Mazlo stood. “Oh, I have something for you.” He reached into his pocket, extracting a long, thin stick that looked like a dark, dried pea pod. He handed it to Derick. “Give this to your monochild. You won the lottery with that one, didn’t you?”
“His name is A,” Derick replied, taking the stick. As he touched it, it melted, forming into a centipede that quickly twisted around his fingers.
“What a unique name,” Mazlo said, as Derick shook his hand, trying to dislodge the creature.
“Stop!” Mazlo said, and the centipede hardened, straightening out into the pea-pod shape. “If it does that again, just tell it to stop.”
“What is A supposed to do with it?”
“It will try to crawl into his head through the gap by his eyeballs. Let it.”
“You’ve got to be kidding!” Derick replied, looking at the stick. “I’m not putting this into him!”
“Your monochild is a one in a million anomaly,” Mazlo said. “Most of the special ones go undetected, hacked up by Soul Grinders, but for some reason you’ve been smart enough to protect this one. The brain lice I’ve given you will allow him to develop beyond the limitations he’ll soon run into. It will unleash him from the constraints of this place.”
“How do I know it won’t turn him into some kind of zombie that you can control?” Derick asked.
“You know,” Mazlo said, “most people down here would jump at the chance to mutate a monochild with what I’ve offered.” Mazlo studied him once again. “You may be the real deal, Mr. Hall.”
Derick stood and handed it back. “I’m not putting it in him.”
“Just keep it,” Mazlo said. “If you decide not to, just throw it out, or sell it. Consider it my first attempt to help you. Well, second, if you count me allowing your monochild to steal the finger.”
Derick tucked the stick into his pocket, briefly worried that it might transform again and he’d feel it moving around near his crotch, but satisfied once he felt its rigidity against his thigh. I’ll have Monkey analyze it, he thought.
“And once he confirms I’m right, use it,” Mazlo said. “You need to allow A to become something even greater than he is now, especially if you want to succeed against LeFever.”
- - -
“I don’t like putting things from Mazlo into my machine!” Monkey said. “The finger was bad enough. It’s a dangerous idea. It might be infected with any number of hard-to-detect viruses that could take things over and ruin my work.”
“I think it’s OK,” Derick replied. “Do not incinerate it.”
“What’s it supposed to be?”
“Something for A,” Derick said. “Mazlo said it was safe, but I’d like your opinion.”
“Probably a poison, to pay the kid back for stealing from him.”
“I don’t think so,” Derick replied. “I think Mazlo wants me as an ally. I think he gave it to me as a kind of gift.”
“A gift from The Blood Gardener?” Monkey grumbled and took the stick, running his fingers over the bumps on its side. “You’d want a gift from him like a hole in your head.” The stick suddenly softened, and the hundreds of legs of the centipede dug into Monkey’s hand as it twisted through his fingers. Monkey ye
lped and shook his arm, trying to dislodge the creature.
“Stop!” Derick said loudly, and the centipede hardened back into a stick, which Monkey sent flying across the room. It hit the wall and fell to the floor.
Derick walked to retrieve it. “Just analyze it, will you?” he asked, handing it back to Monkey.
Monkey lifted a tray and held it out, not wanting to touch the stick again. Derick placed it on the tray and Monkey set it on his experiment table, near his equipment. “Give me a few hours,” he replied. “The machine’s in the middle of a recalibration.”
Derick turned and left Monkey’s lab, walking back to the living room. He thought about the things he needed to do before he left for Washington State.
I need to tell Franklin, he thought. Explain that I’ll be gone for a while.
He considered calling Kera, then thought better of it. Part of him really wanted to connect with the woman again, but he was still a target, and the more he involved himself with her, the more she would be wrapped up in trouble. It didn’t seem fair to her.
Still, he wanted to see her. Maybe it was just to discuss Anna; maybe it was just to have someone to talk to who understood the River, who had some idea of what he was going through. Franklin didn’t know, didn’t really understand.
A was sitting on a chair, his fingers twisted together with the metal twine, his eyes moving quickly over the game, trying to avoid the little lights racing through the strands.
I need to talk to you for a second, Derick said.
Hold on, I’m almost there, A replied, his fingers moving rapidly.
Derick knew he’d hear the same response for the next ten minutes. He considered reaching out to grab the toy and pull it from A’s fingers. Instead he decided to just continue the conversation.
I have to be gone for a while.
A stopped playing, lowering the game. For a day?
Probably longer, Derick replied. I have to travel west.
Where?
Washington. It’s thousands of miles away.
Why?
I have a job. In the real world, people earn money to survive. I need the money.
We don’t need money here, A replied. Why don’t you just leave the real world and stay?
I can’t do that, Derick answered.
Because of the eggs? A asked. The maggots that will hatch?
Partly that, Derick replied. And partly because that’s where I belong. I don’t really belong down here.
Monkey’s here, A said. My mother was here. Lots of people live here.
I can’t, Derick said. This is just a place I visit. I couldn’t live here permanently.
I understand, A said, looking dejected. He set his game onto the couch next to him.
I’ll come back, Derick said.
When?
I don’t know for sure. It depends on how long the job takes to complete. A few days, maybe. It might be longer.
A didn’t reply. He wondered what the kid was thinking.
I’m sorry, A, but it’s something I have to do.
Can I trance while you’re gone?
Derick sat next to the kid. Listen, you can practice trancing all you want, as long as you stay close. Don’t cause trouble for people by going invisible, either.
I won’t.
Derick considered telling A about the gift from Mazlo, but decided instead to wait until Monkey had completed his analysis. He had no idea how he was going to broach the subject with the kid. He struggled with the idea of just ignoring the object, and doing as Mazlo had offered — getting rid of it. It worried him that if he were to just throw the object away, he was denying A something. He needed more information before he would decide one way or the other.
I’ll miss you, Derick said.
I’ll miss you too, A said.
Derick stood, and A rose from his seat, grabbing Derick around the waist and burying his face into the man’s side. It once again reminded him of the kid’s horrific birth, when he had clung to him in the moments following Anna’s death.
What are you going to do in Washington? A asked.
I’m going to explore a house.
Why?
A company is paying me to document the place. I get to uncover its secrets. He rubbed his hand over A’s bald head.
It sounds fun, A said. I wish I could go.
It’s the real world, A, Derick replied.
I know, A answered, disappointed. It’s OK to wish I could go, though, right?
It’s fine, Derick replied. And speaking of the real world, I need to go back. Time to reset the eggs and leave for the job.
Can I walk with you to Roarke? A asked. Can we burn some things along the way?
Derick smiled and considered the kid’s request. The road between Monkey’s place and the Roarke portal was lightly traveled, and A was very familiar with it. He also had the ability to disappear if something dangerous happened on the return.
You’ll come straight back after I go through? Derick asked.
Yes, A replied. I promise.
Then yes, we can burn some things, Derick said.
A released Derick and jumped into the air, letting out a yell. He ran into the lab to tell Monkey the news.
Let’s see what Washington has in store, he thought, wondering how he might study up on James Unser before he made the trip west.
###
Michael Richan lives in Seattle, Washington.
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Gain an entirely different perspective on The Dark River by reading the books of the companion series, The River. Events intersect between these two series in interesting, intriguing ways.
The books in The River series are:
The Bank of the River
Residual
A Haunting in Oregon
Ghosts of Our Fathers
Eximere
The Suicide Forest
Devil’s Throat
The Diablo Horror
The Haunting at Grays Harbor
It Walks At Night
The Cycle of the Shen
A Christmas Haunting at Point No Point
The Port of Missing Souls
The Downwinders Series is also part of The River universe, and there is some crossover between all three series. Check out the
SUGGESTED READING ORDER
at the Author’s website.
The Blood Gardener (The Dark River Book 2) Page 18
