Book of madness, p.29
Book of Madness, page 29
“Yes,” Bad Jack growled.
“But the Umbral are extinct!” Gina said. “They were all killed off thousands of years ago—by your people!”
“There’s at least one left.” Bad Jack pointed at Neal. “It’s going to complete my Rondure and give me the power I need to destroy Brother Nothing. And after that, who knows? Maybe I’ll destroy the Omniverse next and create a new one.”
Juliana had been quiet for some time, but she spoke so forcefully now that blood sprayed from the ragged ruins that were her lips.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me!”
Peluda now had eyes, but kept them closed as Mommy carried it down the street. When its eyes were open, the wet stuff falling from the sky got into them, and Peluda didn’t like that. Change was hard, and it hurt. Peluda hadn’t expected that, hadn’t even known what pain was until it began to change. And Peluda was cold, too. Much of its hair was gone—or at least relocated to the top of its body, on the . . . head? Yes, the head! And the hair was wiggling around, like it was alive! It felt funny, but Peluda kind of liked it. Peluda’s body was now covered with that soft stuff the Big Ones had on their bodies. Mommy and Daddy had been Big Ones, too, and they’d been covered in the same stuff. Daddy was gone now, but Mommy was only half gone, and Peluda was glad. It would be so lonely without Mommy.
Skin! That’s what the soft stuff was called.
Peluda parted the fleshy things on the bottom of its face, its . . . lips, worked its new throat, moved its new tongue.
“C-cold.”
Peluda’s body began to shake. It didn’t know why.
I’m sorry, sweetie. I can’t warm you the way I could have when I was alive. Just hold on a little longer . . .
“Okay.”
Peluda continued changing. It hurt less now. Maybe it was getting more skilled at changing, or maybe it was getting used to pain. Maybe both. It felt a tingling between its legs, and it realized that it was now a she.
“I’m like you, Mommy!”
Yes.
The rest came quickly after that—toes, fingers, and ears emerged. Internal organs settled into place and began working. She felt a strange gnawing in her middle that was both pain and not-pain.
You’re hungry. Open your mouth and drink the Lachrimae. It wouldn’t have affected your Daddy, and it won’t affect you. It won’t feed you the way real food would, but it will quiet your stomach for now. But there are other things it can do instead of providing nourishment. Useful things.
Peluda did as Mommy suggested. She leaned her head back and opened her mouth wide.
The Lachrimae—wasn’t that a funny word for water?—hit her mouth cold, but reached her stomach warm. She could feel something pulsing inside her, filling her as if she’d been an empty vessel in the shape of a girl. She felt strong, as if she could do anything a Big One could, maybe more!
It’s called power, my love. Separately, the Lachrimae are many small things, but together they are so much more. You don’t need to be big to be strong. Your Daddy knew that, and it was why he was strong.
Peluda stopped drinking and lowered her head.
“I need to be strong, don’t I?”
I’m afraid so.
“Then I will drink as much as I can.”
She tilted her head back and opened her mouth once more.
How long she remained like that, she didn’t know, for she was still struggling to grasp the concept of time. But eventually, Mommy stopped moving.
We’re here.
Mommy lowered Peluda to the ground, and for the first time her bare feet touched something solid. It was wet and cold and the two sensations on her skin made her giggle. She didn’t know what the sound was, and it alarmed her, but Mommy assured her it was perfectly normal, and she relaxed. She was naked—another new word—and shivering so hard now that she thought she might never stop. Her belly bulged with Lachrimae, so much that it was uncomfortable. She wondered if she might burst. Is that something her new body could do? She hoped not.
They were standing at the edge of a slow-moving river, its black water filled with objects Peluda didn’t recognize. There were so many of them! White creatures with wings swooped down to the water, grabbed an object with their clawed feet, then flew upward and away with it. She wondered where they were going. She didn’t like them, though. They were creepy.
Ahead of them was a long stone bridge lit by blue fire torches. The bridge led to a high black tower with more blue fire burning around its base.
New concepts, new words—they were coming so fast now. It made Peluda feel dizzy.
She felt Mommy’s hand on her bare shoulder.
This is as far as I can go with you. I’m sorry we didn’t get to spend more time together. When I’m gone, you need to go inside and take the elevator to the top floor. You’ll know what to do after that.
Elevator, floor . . . Yes, she understood. But Mommy’s words frightened her.
“Where are you going?”
Your father gave you everything he could, and now it’s my turn to do the same. You already have the hair my living body had. Now I’m going to give you what my Wraith body can provide. It’s a parent’s job to prepare their child for the world they’re going to live in. In the state I exist in now, I can see many things that I could not see in life. I can see tomorrow and the tomorrow after that. You’ll need to be strong today, yes, but you will need to be even stronger in the days to come. Do you understand?
Peluda didn’t, but she trusted Mommy and believed what she’d said was true. She nodded.
Good girl. I’m leaving now, but I’ll always be part of you. I love you, sweetheart.
“I love you, too, Mommy.”
Something like a Lachrima slid down her cheek.
Mommy’s shadowy form began to change. It lost its human shape and became a dark blob. Then it rushed toward her, wrapped around her, and was still.
Peluda stood for a moment, her new heart pounding, unsure what had happened. She was covered in black from her neck to her feet, and she was warm. The black covered her hands and feet, but left her head bare. She reached for her chest, pinched the black between her finger and thumb, and pulled. The black covering came away from her skin a couple inches, but when she released it, it fell back into place. She felt her hair moving then, reaching behind her head, grabbing hold of something, and pulling it up. She touched it, and the name for it popped into her mind. Hood.
“Are you still there, Mommy? Can you talk to me?”
Silence.
Peluda wanted to fall to the ground and sob. She’d been through a lot today, from being born as a small hair-and-blood construct to becoming a human girl—or at least something that looked human—to losing her Mommy. How was she supposed to go on? Especially when she didn’t know what to do?
She remembered one of the last things Mommy had told her.
When I’m gone, you need to go inside and take the elevator to the top floor. You’ll know what to do after that.
She nodded to herself, and then stepped onto the bridge and headed for the tower. As she walked, she opened her mouth and let more Lachrimae slide down her throat.
She had a feeling she was going to need all the power she could get.
She didn’t see the shadowy forms glide onto the bridge behind her, didn’t see them drifting toward her, coming closer . . . closer . . .
Twenty
Everyone turned to look at Juliana, surprised. Except for Bad Jack—he looked angry.
“Excuse me?” he said, voice low and menacing.
“You can’t seriously believe all this bullshit!’ Juliana said. “Two objects of great power—the Insanitarium and the Mortuum Blade—just happen to fall into your lap within minutes of each other. One of those objects was brought to this dimension by your girlfriend and your son, and the other was brought by one of the boys whose families you killed. And as if that wasn’t improbable enough, the being you came to Ash Creek hunting—and couldn’t catch—just strolls into your rec room at the same time you acquire the other two objects. And here’s the kicker: All four of these people are from the same stupid town in Ohio. And to put the cherry on this shit sundae, this is all happening in Low Town, a dimension adjacent to the fucking Gyre itself—the absolute embodiment of Entropy!”
Bad Jack looked flustered.
“You’re human. You can’t possibly comprehend the cosmic forces at work here, the, um, confluence of events, the-the grand tapestry of . . .” He sighed deeply. “Well, shit.”
“I don’t understand,” Randal said.
“Bad Jack is a creature of Entropy,” Neal said. “So are your mother and you, as are the Insanitarium and the Mortuum Blade.”
“So?” Randal said.
“So, Entropy and complexity don’t mix,” Gina said. “Entropy breaks down complex systems and reduces them to their simplest, most basic elements. Like the Gyre. It chews up everything, then swallows and digests it.”
Neal picked it up from there. “For all of these things to occur the way they have in this place is impossible. That they have—”
“Means someone is fucking with me,” Bad Jack said.
The elevator door opened and a girl who couldn’t have been more than ten walked into the rec room. She was dressed in some kind of black leotard that seemed to swallow the light around it, and her long brown hair stood straight up from her head, the strands undulating slowly, like a sea plant moving in a gentle current. Her belly was swollen, so much so that it looked painful.
“Peluda?” Gina said.
“Hi, Auntie Gina! Sorry I’m late, but I had to grow up a little first.” She frowned. “Why is your shirt off?”
“It’s a long story, sweetie,” Gina said.
Peluda shrugged, then she grinned. “I met some friends outside. They’re really nice.”
She turned back to the elevator and beckoned with a hand.
“It’s okay, you can come in.”
A mass of black shapes flew into the room and began swirling around the sofa.
Donnie’s Wraiths had found him at last.
“Now!” Neal yelled.
Gina dove for the Carapacer.
Randal had seen movies where, when the action shifted into high gear, everything became slow motion, and you could see every little detail of what was happening. He’d never experienced anything like that in real life, wouldn’t have thought it possible, but that’s what happened now. Maybe it was because Daddy was one of the Multitude and he’d inherited some of the old man’s power. Or maybe it was because he was a Shadower and had the Eye. Whatever the reason, he watched in horrified fascination as a battle took place in slow motion around him.
It all started with the little girl with the weird hair and those ghosts—or whatever the hell they were—flying out of the elevator. Randal had no idea who or what they were, but their sudden appearance set everything off.
The Maintenance agent named Neal shouted, “Now!” and he turned around and lunged toward the table holding the white spheres. At the same moment, the other agent—Gina—dove off the sofa and grabbed Daddy’s Carapacer off the floor. Randal had never understood why Daddy liked the thing so much. He thought it was disgusting.
The one with the bloody mangled lips—Juliana—grabbed her untouched tea and threw its hot contents into Daddy’s face. Daddy yelled in pain, and Randal thought it must really have hurt when the tea hit his never-healing X wound. Mama snarled at Juliana, jumped off the sofa. and whipped all four of her tentacle arms toward the woman. Donnie—the fourth agent—sprang to his feet, looked upward at the circling shadow creatures, and shouted at them.
“My children! You didn’t desert me!”
Randal knew he didn’t have any room to talk, but the guy sounded to him like a real loon.
Neal grabbed one of the white spheres with both hands, turned, and flung it into the air. Gina aimed the Carapacer at the sphere and fired. Zzzt! An insect resembling a praying mantis shot out of the weapon’s muzzle, streaked toward the sphere, and hit it claws first. The sphere exploded with a sound like a breaking mirror, revealing the Mortuum Blade. The weapon tumbled through the air, but Donnie held out his left hand, and the blade shot toward him. The handle slapped into his palm, and he gripped it tight. Donnie looked like a man reborn. Where before he’d been a trembling wreck, now he stood strong and confident, his gaze flickering with dark purpose. He still had a Nullifier embedded in his shoulder, and his right arm hung like a dead piece of meat at this side. Neither of these facts seem to bother him at the moment, though.
Randal bet the agents wouldn’t have been able to break the sphere holding the Mortuum Blade if the Rondure had been completed and activated. Poor Daddy—he’d been so close.
Juliana crouched as Mama’s tentacles came at her. She grabbed hold of the edge of the glass-and-chrome coffee table and tilted it upward. Mama’s tentacles struck the table, shattered the glass, and pushed on through to wrap around Juliana’s throat. But glass shards jutted from the chrome frame, and Juliana violently yanked the table back and forth, slicing Mama’s tentacles with the sharp edges of the broken glass. Mama howled like a wounded animal but did not release her grip on Juliana’s throat. Mama should’ve injected the woman with her tentacle toxin—it would’ve been fast and efficient—but he knew Mama. She wanted to make Juliana hurt, wanted to make her death last, just as she and Daddy had done with her first husband.
So far, Peluda—the girl with the strange hair and bulging belly—had done nothing but watch, just like him. Her hair waved frantically in the air, as if it was alarmed, or maybe just eager to get in on the fight. Peluda stood completely still, though, and Randal had the sense that she was waiting for the right moment to act.
Donnie pointed the Mortuum Blade at Daddy and shouted, “Kill him!”
The shadow creatures—there were only five, Randal saw—streaked toward Daddy. At that same moment, Gina fired the Carapacer at him, and Neal, who’d grabbed another sphere, brought it down on Daddy’s head. The insect struck Daddy’s right eye, clawed its way through, spilling blood and vitreous fluid onto Daddy’s cheek, and burrowed into his brain. When the white sphere shattered against Daddy’s head, Randal hoped the Insanitarium would be revealed, but instead a brownish-red stone appeared, its surface so smooth it looked as if it had been polished. The stone fell to the sofa, bounced, then tumbled onto the floor. Must be the Umberstone, he thought. Wonder what it does?
The shadow creatures reached Daddy then.
Two took hold of his left arm, two his right, and lifted him into the air. The fifth became like black smoke, slithered toward Daddy’s face, and disappeared into the open X wound.
Daddy screamed, his voice so loud and powerful that it shook all of Blackhaven, and everyone covered their ears—including Mama, who released her grip on Juliana’s neck and wrapped her bleeding tentacles around her head to shut out the noise. Daddy was a god—or the closest thing to it—and until now, it would’ve been unfathomable to Randal that anything could make him scream like that.
Randal could no longer simply watch and do nothing. He needed to help Daddy—and that meant he needed the Insanitarium.
He turned, leaped over the back of the sofa, and reached for the closest sphere.
But before he could take hold of it, a burst of crimson energy erupted from Daddy’s body, sending everyone and everything in the room flying—including Randal.
Neal didn’t know what happened. One instant he was watching Donnie’s Wraiths lift Bad Jack into the air, and the next he was lying on the floor, surrounded by pieces of sofa and splintered wood. His head hurt like a motherfucker and his ears were ringing. He remembered Bad Jack screaming, so that explained the ears. As for his head, he must’ve hit it when he landed. Or maybe a chunk of debris had struck him on the way down. He was still alive, though, and he counted that as a win.
Then it came back to him—Bad Jack wounded, restrained by Wraiths, an insect from his own Carapacer inside his head, digging into his brain. Bad Jack then fighting back by releasing a blast of power.
Neal hurt everywhere, not just his head, and all he wanted to do was lie there and wait for death to claim him. Instead, he forced himself to sit up, the pain in his head intensifying to the point where he thought he might black out again. But he managed to hold onto consciousness. He might have a concussion, maybe even a skull fracture, but he didn’t have time to worry about that right now.
The room was a complete disaster. Every object in it—sofa, coffee table, Rondure table, TV, bar cart, side tables, lamps—had been overturned, knocked down, or broken. Neal’s face and hands stung, and he saw that wooden splinters and glass shards had been driven into his skin. He was bleeding from a dozen different wounds, but none of them appeared to be serious, so they could be ignored.
Gina lay on the floor ten feet away from him. She had propped herself up on one elbow, eyes wide, and she was blinking rapidly. Trying to get her vision to return to normal, Neal guessed. She had bits of shrapnel embedded in her skin, too, but her injuries also seemed minor. She no longer held the Carapacer. The weapon lay on the far side of the room, its metal barrel bent, its insectine component torn apart.
Then he remembered: Peluda! The girl—and how weird was it that she was a girl now?—had been standing directly in front of Bad Jack when he’d released his energy blast. Fearing the worst, he looked for the child and saw her standing in the same spot where she had been before, only she had pulled her hood over her face. When she lifted the hood, she looked perfectly fine. She gazed with dismay upon the destruction Bad Jack had wrought.
Whatever that black stuff is, it protected her, he thought. Praise Oblivion.
Juliana lay close to Melanie, the Witch Lady’s tentacles draped over the agent’s body. Neither was moving, and Neal couldn’t tell if they were alive or dead. Donnie sat in front of a wall, knees drawn to his chest, head down, his left arm—hand still gripping the Mortuum Blade—wrapped around his legs. The Nullifier still protruded from his right shoulder, and his right arm remained useless. Neal guessed he’d slammed against that wall and had the wind knocked out of him. His remaining five Wraiths—Neal assumed the rest had been destroyed during their battle with the Remnants—huddled around him, as if waiting to see what their master would do next. Neal recalled Randal attempting to grab hold of one of the white spheres just as the energy blast hit. He looked around and saw him struggling to rise to his feet. His skin was covered with white glass shards, and a particularly large one jutted from his left eye. Blood streamed down the man’s face, and Neal recalled that his father had lost an eye too, when Gina had shot him with the Carapacer. Where was Bad Jack?
