the rhythms and the dense cords, but the negative lyrics turned her off.
Next, a chorus roared:
“I have chosen my afterlife
And darkness it shall be
Satan!!! Open wide the gates of Hell for me!”
The Gothy mix of Hard-Industrial treatment with Slayer-like lyrics didn’t work for her. She switched the boombox off. But what could explain this strangeness? It was the same cassette tape that the girl in her delusion had given her. The tape in the boombox was real, and so was the one in her hand.
And there was another coincidence, wasn’t there? I just happen to find a tape full of satanic music ... in a room where a satanist supposedly sacrificed babies.
She sighed and turned. The round oculus window full of stained glass re-faced her. The faintest light glowed in a scarlet pane—the moon, no doubt.
Something urged her to open the window. The metal hinge squealed when she pushed against the circular frame. Warm air brushed her face. She looked out the window.
And fainted at once.
It was not the rolling nighted landscape that she’d glimpsed when she looked out.
It was a city, miles distant and seemingly endless. A city silhouetted by a luminous dark-red sky.
A city that wasn’t there.
(II)
When Cassie wakened, she felt as though she were rising from an entrenchment of hot tar. Some aspect of her consciousness pushed upward, and when she opened her eyes, she saw only strange blurred squares. “Cassie?”
The voice helped her to focus; the squares sharpened. They were, of course, the fancily embossed brass and tin ceiling tiles in her bedroom.
She was lying inert on top of her bed.
“Cassie, honey? What’s wrong?”
The voice, warbled at first, was her father’s. He leaned over, his face stamped with worry.
Scraps of memory began to re-assemble.
I was upstairs....
The oculus room.
A breath seemed to snag in her chest.
That ... city.
A city that didn’t exist. A city so immense that it seemed to go on without limit. The south side of Blackwell Hill extended as miles of open farmland and then a gradual rise of forest belts that ended at the mountains.
But when she’d looked out that window ...
No Blue Ridge Mountains, no farmland, no trees.
Instead she’d seen a cityscape that glowed as if built on embers. She’d seen a starless twilight of raging scarlet. She’d seen bizarre, lit skyscrapers haloed by dense shifts of smoke.
What WAS that?
“I found you upstairs, in the oculus room,” her father said. “You had passed out.”
“I’m ... all right now,” she murmured, leaning up in bed.
“I should probably call a doctor—”
“No, please. I’m okay.”
“What were you doing up in that room, honey?”
What could she say?
“I thought I heard something. I’d never been up there before, so I went up.”
“You thought you heard something?”
“I don’t know, I thought so.”
“Then you should’ve come and gotten me.”
“I know, but I didn’t want to bug you. Sorry.”
Her father sat in a cane chair beside the bed. He looked exerted, which was no wonder because he’d obviously been the one who carried her back downstairs to her room. She didn’t like to lie, but how could she tell him the truth? There’re dead people living in the house, and the sky outside is red. I saw a city where there IS no city. He’d have her committed for observation immediately. No, she couldn’t tell him the truth.
She didn’t even know what the truth was.
The difficulty of the next question shone in his pinched expression. “Honey, have you been drinking again, or taking drugs. If you have, just tell me. I promise I won’t go apeshit, but I need to know.”
“I haven’t, Dad. I swear.” The question didn’t anger her as it had in the past. After all my screwing up, what’s he supposed to think? “It’s just the heat, I think. Too much sun. I’ve felt kind of sick all day.”
He patted her hand. “You want me to get you anything?”
“No, that’s all right. I just
Next, a chorus roared:
“I have chosen my afterlife
And darkness it shall be
Satan!!! Open wide the gates of Hell for me!”
The Gothy mix of Hard-Industrial treatment with Slayer-like lyrics didn’t work for her. She switched the boombox off. But what could explain this strangeness? It was the same cassette tape that the girl in her delusion had given her. The tape in the boombox was real, and so was the one in her hand.
And there was another coincidence, wasn’t there? I just happen to find a tape full of satanic music ... in a room where a satanist supposedly sacrificed babies.
She sighed and turned. The round oculus window full of stained glass re-faced her. The faintest light glowed in a scarlet pane—the moon, no doubt.
Something urged her to open the window. The metal hinge squealed when she pushed against the circular frame. Warm air brushed her face. She looked out the window.
And fainted at once.
It was not the rolling nighted landscape that she’d glimpsed when she looked out.
It was a city, miles distant and seemingly endless. A city silhouetted by a luminous dark-red sky.
A city that wasn’t there.
(II)
When Cassie wakened, she felt as though she were rising from an entrenchment of hot tar. Some aspect of her consciousness pushed upward, and when she opened her eyes, she saw only strange blurred squares. “Cassie?”
The voice helped her to focus; the squares sharpened. They were, of course, the fancily embossed brass and tin ceiling tiles in her bedroom.
She was lying inert on top of her bed.
“Cassie, honey? What’s wrong?”
The voice, warbled at first, was her father’s. He leaned over, his face stamped with worry.
Scraps of memory began to re-assemble.
I was upstairs....
The oculus room.
A breath seemed to snag in her chest.
That ... city.
A city that didn’t exist. A city so immense that it seemed to go on without limit. The south side of Blackwell Hill extended as miles of open farmland and then a gradual rise of forest belts that ended at the mountains.
But when she’d looked out that window ...
No Blue Ridge Mountains, no farmland, no trees.
Instead she’d seen a cityscape that glowed as if built on embers. She’d seen a starless twilight of raging scarlet. She’d seen bizarre, lit skyscrapers haloed by dense shifts of smoke.
What WAS that?
“I found you upstairs, in the oculus room,” her father said. “You had passed out.”
“I’m ... all right now,” she murmured, leaning up in bed.
“I should probably call a doctor—”
“No, please. I’m okay.”
“What were you doing up in that room, honey?”
What could she say?
“I thought I heard something. I’d never been up there before, so I went up.”
“You thought you heard something?”
“I don’t know, I thought so.”
“Then you should’ve come and gotten me.”
“I know, but I didn’t want to bug you. Sorry.”
Her father sat in a cane chair beside the bed. He looked exerted, which was no wonder because he’d obviously been the one who carried her back downstairs to her room. She didn’t like to lie, but how could she tell him the truth? There’re dead people living in the house, and the sky outside is red. I saw a city where there IS no city. He’d have her committed for observation immediately. No, she couldn’t tell him the truth.
She didn’t even know what the truth was.
The difficulty of the next question shone in his pinched expression. “Honey, have you been drinking again, or taking drugs. If you have, just tell me. I promise I won’t go apeshit, but I need to know.”
“I haven’t, Dad. I swear.” The question didn’t anger her as it had in the past. After all my screwing up, what’s he supposed to think? “It’s just the heat, I think. Too much sun. I’ve felt kind of sick all day.”
He patted her hand. “You want me to get you anything?”
“No, that’s all right. I just
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