by Platt, Sean
Caleb was surprised, and disappointed.
He also wondered how he could have developed feelings for someone who was so deeply engaged in this cult.
Caleb realized that Raina was seeing these thoughts, that he allowed them to flow into their shared conversational link.
Shit!
Her eyes narrowed on him, her lips pursed.
She swallowed.
“Whatever you think is happening between us, is not.”
He looked down, feeling stupid and ashamed.
I’m sorry.
“And I’m not some stupid, naive simpleton being preyed upon by a cult. I don’t expect you to believe what I believe to do your job. But I do expect you to respect me, and clearly you do not.”
She sharply turned and began to walk away.
Wait!
She turned, eyes burning. “What?”
I’m sorry. I don’t think you’re stupid. I respect you. I care for you a lot. I really do. And I hate to see people getting screwed over.
“I’m not being screwed over.”
Okay, okay, let’s just get past this, please. We need to focus on Under Harbor. Is there anyone you know there who could talk to us without it becoming a big thing?
She looked down at the floating petals, and without meeting his eyes said, “Yes, there is someone. A werewolf named Baltazar, who has always given me information. But if Prophet Malachi finds out …”
What if I do it?
“You?”
Yes. That way, if anyone gets in trouble, it’ll be me, not you.
“It isn’t just trouble you’d be getting into. You’d be seen as directly disobeying The Gods. You could be excommunicated, or, more likely, burned alive. I think we should wait and see what The Council decides.”
Okay. Caleb nodded.
Raina turned and left without a goodbye.
Caleb couldn’t help but feel like he’d destroyed their friendship. Telepathy was a double-edged sword. While it had forged a bond between them that was stronger than most anything else he’d ever felt, it could be demolished with an errant slip of truth.
And Caleb was about to do something which might push her even further away: by going to the Town of Jonah himself.
Thirty-Three
Abigail
Abigail didn’t know what to expect as she entered the In-Between.
The trip through the portal from Earth to Otherworld was instantaneous, as if stepping through a doorway. This was more like stepping through a door into a hallway leading to another door.
Except there was no hallway.
Nor walls.
Nor a floor.
And if there was a doorway out, Abigail couldn’t see it.
There was nothing but outer space all around them, brilliantly alive with yellows, reds, blues, greens, and a million colors in between, all set against a canvas of what seemed like the darkest blue. Galaxies, stars, planets, and colorful gasses that looked like watercolors spilled to the horizon in every direction.
And it was cold. Ice cold. Abigail’s breath fogged the air in front of her.
For all the visual brilliance of light — and possibly life — around them, the utter silence and absence of sound, including Abigail’s breath, pressed on her head like a vice.
Abigail’s stomach dropped, fear gripping her as she failed to find something solid to land on, stumbling forward, certain she’d fall and keep falling, spinning out of control into space, forever and ever until she was incinerated by a sun or swallowed by a black hole.
Abigail screamed without any sound.
“I got you,” Talani said in her head, reaching out to grab Abigail’s arm, and helping her gain footing.
“Just close your eyes, and hold my arm. I’ll lead you,” Talani said. “We can’t see the ground, but you have to believe it’s there.”
How do you know? Have you been here before?
“No, but Judith has, and she told me how to navigate.”
Judith appeared on her other side, putting a hand on Abigail’s shoulder. “We’re not too far. Just keep steady.”
Abigail kept her eyes closed, walking shakily, taking small steps, knowing that a wrong one would send her stumbling again.
Thank you, Talani.
Thank you, Judith.
They continued walking as Abigail wondered how her friends were able to find and maintain their footing when she had so much trouble. Was it as easy as merely believing there was a floor there?
Suddenly, a shriek from somewhere.
At first Abigail thought she’d heard it outside of her head, but that was impossible since there was no sound. Instead, the noise had entered her head, unlike anything she’d ever heard — like a long, wheezing, high-pitched shriek.
Abigail opened her eyes and saw three large dark figures floating ahead. Like giant puffer fish crossed with octopi, black with purple lights inside their skin, long tentacles with more lavender lights on suckers.
Abigail stopped, not wanting to get any closer to the disgusting creatures.
From Judith: “Ignore them. Keep moving.”
But Abigail was frozen. I can’t. They’re scary.
Talani: “Remember what Mother said. They can’t hurt us. Just keep walking. If it helps, keep your eyes closed. We’ll guide you, Abigail.”
Abigail couldn’t close her eyes, though. Couldn’t stop staring. They were so disgusting with their slimy bodies and the way they floated, waiting, long tentacles undulating as if underwater and flowing with the ocean’s current.
Talani: “Close your eyes, Abigail. You can do this.”
Abigail finally squeezed her eyes closed and kept them shut, fingers tightening around Talani’s hand.
Judith slipped her arm in the crook of Abigail’s. “That’s okay, we’re right here, honey.”
Judith’s voice was calming, like Abigail’s mother’s had been — before she died. It felt warm and reassuring, and Abigail was glad she was there by her side.
As they walked, Abigail felt guilty for how she’d felt about Judith. She wasn’t sure what it was about the woman — the occasional frost or the matter-of-fact manner in which she often spoke to Abigail — but there was something she couldn’t quite place that kept her from bonding with Judith like she had with Talani.
Then again, sometimes Abigail sensed a distance between Talani and Judith, as though something wasn’t quite right between them, either. Something that Talani was much too polite to discuss.
Or too afraid.
“What?” Talani replied in Abigail’s head.
Oh God, did you hear my thoughts?
“No, thought I heard you say something to me.”
No, I was thinking about something. Can Judith hear my thoughts, too? Or only if I project them to her?
“Hear what?” Judith asked. “If you’re asking if I can hear the horrible things you’re thinking about me, then yes; yes I can.”
Oh God, I’m so sorry, Abigail cried out to them both. I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m just —
“You ungrateful little cunt!” Judith snapped. “What did you tell her, Talani?”
Abigail felt awful, wondering how she could fix this before it got worse.
“I didn’t say anything. What the hell, Abigail? I thought you were my friend!”
Abigail felt confused.
Judith and Talani were getting angry, and yet they were calmly guiding her. Talani hadn’t changed pressure on her hand, nor had Judith pulled away. Actions weren’t matching emotions.
Something was off.
Abigail opened her eyes.
And immediately wished she hadn’t.
The floating octopus-fish were surrounding them, just inches away.
Oh God!
They were even more horrifying up close, and larger than they appeared, at least six feet tall and maybe eight feet wide, each of their tentacles at least another six feet or more.
And finally Abigail saw what appeared to be one giant purple ey
e near the bottom of each of their bodies, at the tentacles’ origin. At least she thought it was purple, until realizing that was the eyelid covering the eye.
As they drew closer, all three shrieked louder at once.
Oh God. Please, make it stop.
They were closing in, and neither Judith nor Talani seemed aware, both still walking, holding Abigail’s hands, eyes closed to the world around them.
Look! Abigail shouted over the shrieking in her head.
But they either couldn’t hear or were ignoring her.
One of the tentacles bumped against her head.
It didn’t hurt Abigail so much as surprise her.
She yelped. Though she didn’t make a sound, all at once the three creatures opened their eyes to reveal giant, bright white lights, beaming right at her.
Tentacles whipped back and forth in a frenzy.
Abigail screamed.
She broke free from Judith and Talani, then ran.
Shrieking grew louder behind her.
Somewhere beneath it all, Abigail thought she heard her friends call for her. She wanted to turn but couldn’t.
If she stopped or slowed or turned around, she’d see one of those creatures coming at her with its big horrible bright light for an eye.
Mother had been wrong.
If these things could bump into her, they could physically hurt — or kill — her.
Ahead she saw a black slit floating, a portal, either the one she’d entered or the one they’d been seeking. Either way, she didn’t care.
She raced toward it and dived in.
She fell on her stomach, hitting the nonexistent ground hard enough to knock the wind from her body.
She was in a bedroom, small and sparsely decorated with a bed, a dresser with a lamp and a toy boat, and a few items of clothes hanging in a closet.
There were two light-skinned black girls: one, who looked to be about five, was in her bed.
An older one, maybe sixteen or seventeen, stood at the window, staring out.
Something bad was about to happen.
“What’s wrong?” Abigail asked.
Neither girl responded.
Abigail went to the window and saw a carriage with a big, scary-looking man standing outside of it. Beside him, a woman.
A chill ran through Abigail as she realized it wasn’t just a woman, but a younger-looking version of Judith.
“Judith!” she yelled out the window.
Neither man nor woman heard her.
Same for the girls in the bedroom.
“Hey,” Abigail said, reaching out to grab the older one’s arm, “can’t you hear me?”
Abigail’s hand went right through her.
The little girl in the bed cried out, “What’s happening?”
Abigail heard her voice and knew in an instant that this wasn’t just some little girl. It was Talani as a child.
Abigail had somehow gone back in time. Or was seeing something that happened.
“What’s happening, Raina?” Little Talani asked.
The girl, obviously her sister, told her to hide under the bed.
Abigail watched in horror as the scary man came in and killed Talani’s father. As Judith put a blade to Raina’s neck.
Then the big man left, leaving Judith and Raina alone, with Talani safe under the bed.
Judith saw the hiding girl.
Raina begged her to leave Talani alone.
“Sorry,” Judith said, reaching under the bad and pulling Talani out.
Raina screamed. “Talani!”
Suddenly, they were no longer in the bedroom.
Abigail was in another large room, dark red, with many chairs and couches. A long bar occupied the far wall. Men in suits stood in front of a stage where girls were lined in a row, dressed all in white, like simple wedding dresses. They all looked like teenagers, a few maybe in their early twenties. Each girl held a numbered card. It didn’t look like any numeral Abigail had ever seen, yet she somehow recognized it as a number, despite not knowing its value.
Men were eying the girls, some licking their lips as if ordering steaks. Abigail had, of course, seen that sort of sick desire before. In Randy Webster’s cold, dark eyes.
In the back of the room, two doors opened, drawing all eyes.
“Wait, we’ve got two more,” Judith said, entering the room with that frightening man. He held two leashes, and as he walked, Abigail saw Raina and Talani on their ends, also dressed in white. The man smiled as if showing prized dogs.
Oh God.
Abigail’s heart was breaking as they led the girls onstage. A fat tattooed woman sitting to the left of the line wrote more numbers on cards then handed them to the girls as if conducting a simple business transaction.
Abigail glared at Judith. “How could you?” she said, even though the past couldn’t hear her.
She wished she could kill Judith right there. Grab a bottle of wine from one of the tables, bash it into her face.
Abigail watched in horror as Raina and Talani stood on the stage.
Talani was shaking, crying.
Raina held her hand tight. “It’ll be okay,” she said, making a promise she couldn’t possibly keep. “We’ll get through this.”
Though Abigail was too far from the stage to hear Raina, she could hear the words as if they were being whispered in her ear.
We’ll get through this.
The fat woman stood and paced in front of the girls.
“Welcome to tonight’s auction, distinguished gentlemen. You’ll see that we have quite the beauties tonight. All are guaranteed clean. Even the little one.” She laughed, putting a hand over Talani’s head.
Abigail wanted to kill the pig bitch, even more than Judith.
“So,” the woman continued. “Let’s start the bidding with this beauty from the small village of Crow’s Nest. This farm girl can tend your crops in the day, and your cock at night. We’ll start the bidding at one hundred.”
Abigail was sickened as the men’s hands shot into the air, waving wildly like kids waiting to be chosen by the teacher.
We’ll get through this.
One by one, men claimed their prizes then went to a stairway beyond the bar to truly claim them.
All the girls had been sold — or perhaps rented; Abigail wasn’t sure — except Raina and Talani.
Talani was crying, shaking as Raina clutched her hand.
We’ll get through this.
Abigail wondered if the young girl knew what was about to happen, or only that men were going to buy her.
Abigail had once been naive enough to not know what sick men wanted. She missed that innocence, but was glad that she’d never be tricked again by a smiling man’s lies.
The fat woman said, “And, gentlemen, we’ve saved the best for last. Two pristine beauties. Sisters, no less. One so young she’s not so much as a single hair down below.”
She lifted Talani’s dress to show the men.
Talani cried out, trying to push her dress back down.
Abigail turned away.
We’ll get through this.
The men laughed.
Abigail wanted to kill them, too.
End everyone in the godforsaken place, except Talani and her sister.
“And because the wee one is a bit young, we’re selling them together.”
A few groans in the audience, while some of the men seemed thrilled at the prospect of buying both girls.
“We’ll start the bid at one thousand.”
Nearly every hand was raised.
“Do I hear one thousand one hundred?”
And so it went until the price reached two thousand, with one hand remaining.
A beautiful dark-haired woman in a long black robe and long black gloves was holding her right hand high. Abigail noticed a rose tattoo on her cheek.
“Two thousand,” she said, looking around.
The men seemed scared to counter her offer.
The fat woman on
stage asked, “Two thousand? Do I have any more bids?”
The dark-haired woman stared the men down.
Not a single man raised his hand.
“Sold to Esmerelda,” said the fat woman.
As Esmerelda approached the stage, Talani cried. Once there she looked down at the girls, and said, “Think happy thoughts, girls.”
Then the women and girls, as well as the room they were in, were gone.
And back in the sprawling nothingness of the In-Between.
Instead of being surrounded by stars, the sky was dark save for a large glowing white ball of energy that seemed like some kind of moon-sun swallowing much of the sky and casting a milky white luminescence on rolling desert sands as far as she could see in every direction.
“Abigail!” she heard Judith and Talani screaming in her head.
She opened her eyes and saw them running toward her, bathed in beams of light coming from the giant eyes of the big black floating things chasing them.
Talani pointed urgently behind Abigail.
“Turn around. The door is behind you!”
Abigail spun around and saw the portal, a thin black gash surrounded by gold light.
“Go, go, go!” Talani yelled in her head, though Abigail could barely hear her over the shrieking octopi.
Abigail went to the portal, was about to cross through, but looked back to wait for her friends.
“Go!” Talani yelled.
The things shrieked louder, and as they did Abigail thought back on what she’d seen — how Judith had destroyed Talani’s and her sister’s lives. How she sold them to some woman who did God only knew what.
How could Talani stay with her, let alone think of her as a mother?
Abigail again wished she could’ve gone back in time to be there, instead of being a mute witness. She would’ve killed Judith, and all the other horrible people in that room, right then and there. Finish the whole lot of them, and save the innocent girls.
Abigail reached into her pants pocket and palmed Mother’s blade, its blackness buzzing warm in her hand, full of deadly promise.
