by C. T. Phipps
I ignored Dave, who I understood to have come to Bright Falls explicitly for the purposes of being around shapeshifters so he could learn our ‘enlightened spiritual ways.’ My mother loved him and I did not. “What are you guys doing here?”
“Idiot thought you should come out here,” Deana said, gesturing to Lucien. “Apparently he thinks his brother might be in trouble.”
“He’s been kidnapped by evil!” Dave said, without irony. “Alex Timmons has fallen prey to corrupted spirits! The result of man’s insensitivity to the environment.”
I blinked. “So you’re teaming up with the local drug dealer?”
“More like local drug lord lately,” Harvey said, showing not the slightest bit of concern as to what he just said. “Also, I don’t care what he peddles to the tourists as long as it doesn’t fall back on the locals. This has the potential of bringing in a lot of feds, though, so I’m eager to get their agent back and out of here.”
“Wow, you are just the epitome of the corrupt small-town sheriff,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m looking for Alex too. The Big…a bad spirit has him along with Sheriff Clara, Emma, and Maria Gonzales.”
“Wow, Dave was right,” Deana said, blinking. “I owe him a Coke.”
“Well not about the environment thing,” I muttered, thinking about the kelpie. “Oh Jesus-Stag, he really was right about that too.”
Harvey grabbed his rifle back from Lucien. “Listen, little girl, we’ve got this under control, so why don’t you run along home?”
“She’s coming with us,” Lucien said dryly.
“And why’s that?” Harvey said.
“Because I pay your weekly kickback,” Lucien said.
Harvey frowned. “Yes, now’s the time to bring that up.”
“It’d be wrong to abandon her in the forest all alone!” David said.
“Oh, for the Dancer’s sake,” Deana said, covering her face. “She’s a friggin’ deer! The forest is her home.”
“Okay,” I muttered. “Now I’m not sure who is being the most racist.”
“Cervid isn’t a race,” Harvey said. “It’s a species.”
Lucien offered his hand to me, ignoring his colleagues. I took it and stood up, dusting myself off and wondering why the white stag had led me out here. I admitted, two sheriff’s deputies, a water elemental, and a dragon were pretty damn helpful but none of it was going to do any good unless I could actually find the Lodge.
“I disagree,” I said, taking a deep breath. “But let’s put aside everything else here and focus on getting back the people who are missing. This forest is full of monsters, ghosts, demons, and has a crazy serial killer. I know something of what’s going on and just killed a big-ass lake monster that has been here for decades. You also need me because there’s stuff you can’t see that I can.”
“All right,” Harvey said, surprising me. “However, you have to stay behind us. I’m not going to be held responsible for any civilian deaths. My chief priority is to get as many of you to safety as possible.”
“Neighborly,” I said, noting his dislike of shifters apparently didn’t extend far enough to let us die. “Do you guys have any idea how to find the Lodge?”
“Lake monster?” Deana asked, looking up. “You killed it?”
“Caused it to reincarnate, killed it, redeemed it, whatever you want to call it,” I said, unsure how I felt about it. I wanted to feel anger and satisfaction over its destruction but the truth was I just pitied the damn thing. It had been a slave of its nature rather than a being who chose to be what it was, and I didn’t even blame it for Jill’s death anymore.
Not entirely.
“Thank you,” Deana said, her voice low and almost a whisper.
I blinked. “Okay.”
“I’ve been to the Lodge twice,” Lucien said, looking around. “The first time was when my family’s murderers brought me there to awaken the monster within. The second time was when I wanted to find out who they were.”
I thought of Grandfather’s claim that my mother had been involved. “Did you?”
“No.” Lucien took a deep breath. “The price was too high. Besides, Victoria had already made contact with it. It didn’t have eyes for anyone but her and their little cult.”
“This is on you,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “As much as anyone else.”
“You’re right,” Lucien said. “It’s why I’m trying to make it right.”
I was really getting annoyed with Lucien. He was difficult to stay mad at for long. He didn’t come off as I thought a drug dealer and crime boss should. You know, actually sleazy and scummy. Instead, he came off more like television showed them as. I wondered if that was because he’d been raised by FBI agents. Then again, I couldn’t imagine what his family thought of his lifestyle choice.
“Do you know where it is or not?” I asked, knowing the answer was ridiculous.
Lucien didn’t respond.
“Great,” I muttered, saying to the air. “So God, Goddess, Santa, anyone got any more miracles you can throw our way? Because I’ve been dealing with gods lately and I really would like some more bang for my buck. No deer puns intended.”
“Faith is like a martial art, one must practice the basic forms even when you possess advanced knowledge,” Alex’s voice spoke behind me.
“Son of an elk,” I said, turning around.
I turned around and stared at the sight of Alex, covered in leaves and missing his jacket. He looked like he’d been worked over with a bruise on his face and a cut lip. Both his knuckles were bloodied with cuts on them. His nose may have been broken as well, but I was too glad to see him to care. Then I saw the woman beside him: Emma.
Emma was soaked, with all of her clothes dripping wet and her hair hanging down over her shoulders. Her arm was wrapped around Alex’s. There was a faraway stare in her eyes, not quite gazing at anything in particular.
I ran up to her and wrapped her in a hug, holding her tight. “Oh thank everyone and everything you’re alive.”
“You really should narrow your polytheism,” Alex said, cheerfully. “Not all gods are worth worshiping.”
“Hey Alex,” Lucien said, holding himself in place but looking like he wished he could do like I was doing to Emma. “I guess I didn’t have to rescue you.”
“The thought is appreciated,” Alex said, letting go of Emma. “I still owe you for your part at your den of inequity, though.”
“Den of inequity, really?” I said, looking up to Alex.
Alex shrugged. “As Plutarch said, a spade is a spade.”
“Hey!” Dave said. “I put up with enough of that from Deputy Chang.”
“No, I mean a shovel being a shovel. It’s an idiom related to calling things as they literally are since the word literally is often used to mean with emphasis,” Alex said, apologizing. “My apologies if that was unclear.”
“Oh,” Dave said, nodding. “Sorry. I’m Sheriff O’Henry’s deputy. So is Harvey here.”
“Nice to meet you both,” Alex said, giving a wave. “I’ve read much about you, Dave. You’re a figure to be admired. Not so much you, Mr. Chang.”
Harvey growled.
Emma, reluctantly, hugged me back. “Jane, never ever let me convince you to help me again.”
I hugged her tighter. “After this, I will gladly never leave the house again.”
“That sounds good,” Emma said, coughing a bit.
“You were able to escape the Lodge?” Deana asked, sounding like she couldn’t quite believe it.
Alex nodded. “Just barely. I’m afraid Rudy Gonzales is the killer, as he attempted to capture both myself, Sheriff O’Henry, Maria, and Emma in order to sacrifice them. He as much as admitted to being the one to have killed Victoria, but I believe his motivations aren’t to achieve power but to lay the Big Bad Wolf to rest.”
“The Big Bad what now?” Deputy Chang said, looking unhappy to have had more individuals added to our makeshift posse.
“Just g
o with it,” Lucien said. “What about the others?”
“Still there,” Alex said, frowning. “I was able to get Emma away, but the others? No. We don’t have much time until Rudy kills Sheriff O’Henry. He might spare his sister, but I believe the spirit of the place wants all of Victoria’s cousins.”
“I can’t go back,” Emma muttered under her breath. “I won’t.”
I didn’t want to ask my friend to. “I understand.”
“We still don’t know how to get there,” Deputy Chang said. “Kind of important if we’re to mount a rescue.”
“I don’t suppose any of you found my cellphone,” Alex asked.
I picked it out of my pants. It was, thankfully, still functioning despite being dunked in the water when I fought the kelpie. I made a mental note of the model for when I decided to upgrade.
Alex proceeded to type on it for several seconds. “Ah, there.”
“What?” I asked.
“I’m pinging the sheriff’s cellphone,” Alex said, pointing to the east. “She’s that way.”
Chapter Twenty
Well, I had a posse now.
Or maybe a herd.
Either way they had guns and that was a significant improvement over my previous situation. The discovery it was Rudy doing all of this was the non-revelation of the year and yet it made me sad. If he was possessed by the Big Bad Wolf or trying to lay to rest the monster then he wasn’t really evil. Maybe my head was screwed up by my encounter with the kelpie, though, because killing people was pretty damn evil no matter what. I felt pretty damn awful for Maria, though. I mean, her brother was the murderer. Mine was just a drug-dealing black wizard. Which was better, right? Ugh. I hated finding out all this stuff about my family!
I squeezed Emma’s hand. “We’re going to take care of this, don’t worry.”
Emma pulled away, her eyes turning wolf-like. “I’m not four years old!’
I grimaced. “I’m sorry, I was just trying—”
“I know what you’re trying to do, Jane! You’re about to run right to the place where everything is awful.”
She was right. “I’m sorry.”
Emma covered her face with both hands, both of which had grown fur as she hovered in the place between wolf and human. Don’t ask me how to explain it. It’s not like science has many answers about magic yet. “I remember that place, Jane. It was full of whispers and memories. My grandfather and worse.”
I closed my eyes. “It taunted me, too, Emma. The Lodge showed me my cousin Jill. I don’t know if what it said was true or whether or not I just misremembered. This place is evil and there are evil forces here. I overcame them, though.”
Alex surprised me by speaking. “My father, Elliot Blackwood, was a highly decorated FBI agent as well as a wizard himself. He was also a cruel, vicious, and unpleasant man with unnatural appetites. He could not control the latter and inflicted them upon others. My mother, Diane, for all her genius, was unable to see the evil within her own home. What my father did, though, was not as bad as what he made me feel about it. That I deserved it.”
Emma looked up from where she’d started crying. “Really?”
Alex nodded. “I spent many years coming to terms with the fact the evil was within him not me. To overcome the fear and anger he tried to poison me with in order to make himself feel justified.”
“What happened to him?” Emma asked.
“He died,” Alex said, his voice soft. “I wished him to die every day for a year and it came true. I can’t say whether I had any part in his death, as magic is slippery and strange like that. However, I have devoted myself to becoming a sin-eater as a result. I will use the pain I suffered to try to bring an end to others’ suffering. I would take the agony of your experiences tonight into me if you wish me to.”
I stared at him. “Excuse me?”
Emma’s eyes widened. “I…don’t know what to say.”
“You do this for free? If so I’ve got some breakups I’d love to shove off on you,” Harvey said, listening in on a conversation he had no business involving himself with.
“Shut up, Harvey!” Deana said, growling at him.
Dave also gave him the stink eye while Lucien kept his gaze squarely on his brother.
“I believe it is the purpose of a magician to use his powers for the betterment of all,” Alex said, his voice soothing. He extended out his hand. “The word ‘wizard’, after all comes from the word ‘wise’. I may not know anything, but I am aware of how much I don’t know. One of the few things I do know, however, is that the hand of compassion is not wrong to extend even if it hurts.”
Emma reached to take it then pulled it back. “No.”
“No?” I said, surprised.
“No,” Emma said, her face becoming like Lon Chaney’s The Wolfman as her fingernails became claws. Apparently, Alex’s speech had worked in changing her mind about returning to the Lodge. “I’m not going to pass this off on someone else. The Red Wolf deserves to pay for what it’s done. I’m going to fuck its shit up.”
My eyes widened at her sudden use of profanity. A second later, she turned into a red wolf again but this time a much larger and more dangerous-looking one. It was a dire wolf, only I imagined it was even bigger than the extinct canine species. Emma’s present form was the size of a small pony and resembled the kind of creature Peter Jackson had orcs ride in The Lord of the Rings movies. There was also an angry and vicious expression on her face that made me think she was ready to rip someone in half. That Emma, my sweet and gentle friend, was capable of doing that. Emma trotted over to join the ranks of Lucien’s group.
“Good doggie,” I said, watching her leave.
“Vengeance is a bitter medicine,” Alex said, taking a deep breath. “Though it can sometimes be achieved within justice, the ending of a threat.”
I looked over at him. “You are way better at this shaman stuff than I am.”
“Do you want to be a shaman?” Alex said.
“No,” I said, pausing. “Yes. I dunno, maybe. I want to matter. This seems like it matters.”
“You already matter, Jane,” Alex said, looking over at me.
Our eyes met. His were beautiful, blue, and possessed of a power that seemed to draw me in. I hoped mine were equally fascinating.
“Remember,” Alex said. “Wherever you go, there you are.”
That killed the mood instantly. “Did you just quote The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai?”
“Not many women your age are familiar with that movie.”
“You’re not that much older than me!” I said.
“Just saying!” Alex said, smiling. “Good advice is good advice!”
I shook my head and pulled out his gun before handing it back to him. “Here ya go. I imagine you’ll be better at using it than I am.”
“Unfortunately, I’ve had to use it before,” Alex said dryly. “But you should keep it. I have other ways of defending myself.”
I didn’t know if I was comfortable gunning down Rudy after what I’d seen with the kelpie. Still, I took the weapon.
“You know your brother came out here,” I said, looking over at Lucien. “To save everyone.”
“My problem with Lucien is not the good in him but the evil,” Alex said. “Every act he commits as a petty crime boss doesn’t bring him closer to Marcus O’Henry and his conspirators but makes him more like them.”
I disagreed there. “You know, I never understood why Batman didn’t just kill the Joker. Everyone always talks about how if you kill a murderer you’ll be just like them. That’s not the case, though. One is killing evil and the other is killing innocents.”
“Do you still think it’s that simple?” Alex asked, surprising me. Had he picked up, somehow what had happened between me and the kelpie?
“I dunno,” I said, frowning. “But if I was killing people I think I’d hope someone would put me down. Is your brother doing that?”
“Not yet,” Alex said. “But I dread the
day when I feel like I’d have to do him that favor. One can’t wade in a lake of evil.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” I said, trying not to remember what I’d seen. I started walking toward Emma and the others. “Let’s go kill a demon.”
“You can’t kill a spirit,” Alex said, walking beside me. “You can, however, force it to reincarnate.”
“Fine by me,” I said. “Let’s hope its next form isn’t a complete ass.”
It wasn’t lost on me the Red Wolf had been driven to his actions by vengeance too. The difference, though, was the fact that he was going after the children of the people who had wronged him. That was a big difference.
Would I think ill of him if he’d killed every person involved in burning down his home with his family in it? I didn’t know the answer to that. Yet, if Lucien ever found out my mom was involved in killing his family, would I be willing to kill him? Probably. Damn. It made me think there was more than just a cuddly long-legged omnivore down inside of me but a little bit of a monster. I really was going to have to talk to my mother after all of this.
I thought I’d have to assume my deer form again and travel alongside Emma. Instead, it turned out the Lodge was only a couple of hundred yards away through a group of trees that concealed a nearby clearing. Except, mind you, I explored the preserve a hundred times or more before Jill drowned and I can assure you such a clearing didn’t exist there before. Reality and space were like water around here, constantly shifting and flowing.
I hated water.
The clearing was a circular grassy plain surrounding a single one-story wood-and-stone house that looked like it had been sitting in the woods for decades. Despite its decay, it had electric lights powered by a buzzing generator outside but windows that were covered in drapes that only showed said lights’ reflection. Hundreds of blackbirds were sitting on the roof, chimney, and a pile of logs outside like we’d stepped into Hitchcock’s The Birds.
There was a huge black bear and group of similarly black dogs sleeping around the front of the house. They weren’t natural, I could tell, but corpses carrying something vile. I knew the smell of natural animals and these smelled of death as well as sickness. The noise from earlier around the lake, that terrible alarm, was coming from within the house, but it was almost imperceptible here. Background noise.
