Read Online Fallen Nation: Party At The World's End by James Curcio - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: James Curcio
Tags: Urban Fantasy, Sex, mythology, goth, polyamory, Myth, Rock, counterculture, psychedelic, gonzo, burning man, rave culture
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under the faucet, testing the
temperature. “It can take a real shock to bring it to the surface.
First, I've got to draw this bath.”
“ Now I know why you shackled us before telling us your little
story,” Ariadne said.
Lilith laughed. “I like
you. I hope you make it through in one piece.”
“ One piece?”
Lilith felt the water one
last time before turning it off. She got out bronze incense
burners, dropped herbs in, and lit them. Thick black smoke filled
the room.
“ Hope he got to the alarms or this is going to be
short-lived.” She waited, looking up. Nothing. “No? OK then. It’s
time. Get in.”
The room seemed to distort
with the swirling smoke. The girls slipped into the
water.
“ Breathe in deeply. Let all it into your lungs. Breathe in...
and out.”
“ So you’re going to drug us, and then we can attribute the
effects of the– Wait, what the fuck?” Ariadne felt strange. It was
nothing like LSD. “What’s it doing to me?”
“ Clearing out illusions,” Lilith said. She put a hand on
Ariadne’s forehead. “Take your last breath.”
She gulped for air. Lilith
plunged her under the water, and broke into fractals on its
surface.
Amanda was seventeen years
old again, clad in tight denim and a band T-shirt. Ear-buds dangled
like earrings from her ears. Five feet of wristbands, tattoos and
attitude. Not yet
Ariadne . Riding a bus to Anywhere But
Here.
There was no way she could
explain to the tear and mascara stained eyes of her sister why
she knew she had
to leave. It was more like the pressure before a big storm hits.
The leaves turn up, there’s a faint smell of ozone in the air and
if you are wise to it, you get the hell out. Most people don’t drop
everything on a whim like that, but for Amanda, even on a regular
day, it was common practice. Winding up like everyone else in that
miserable town was worse than any fate she could dream
of.
There had been a price,
even if she knew it was the right choice, the only choice she could
have made. Her sister never called her “sis” again, never told her
she loved her. She became a distant, cold, “Amanda,” delivered on
the other end of a phone before she was passed on to their
neurotic, equally distant and ever-confused mother.
The bus ride that followed
their parting was the longest trip of her life. As she sat stewing
in emotional denial, the incredibly flatulent, obese Mexican that
sat beside her the whole way from Biloxi to El Paso leered over at
her as if they were sharing some private joke, his eyes surrounded
by crinkles like balled aluminum foil. He shot her a disappointed
look before he swaggered off at his stop. Maybe the fat bastard
expected a blow job in the bathroom.
Lilith pulled Ariadne out
of the water. She was half-conscious, hyperventilating. Her eyes
rolled up into her head. Lilith seemed incredibly
pleased.
“ Why is she like that?” Amber asked. “What are you
doing?!”
“ She’s about to have a vision.”
“ Should we call 911?”
Lilith stared them down.
“Quiet. We’re not nearly deep enough.” She plunged her under the
water again.
Ariadne’s eyes snapped
open.
She tumbled through empty
space, landing in a stone labyrinth. Implacable wailing greeted her
as she entered light and open air. Squinting, she spun around and
saw a tree, heavy with babies suspended by their navels from red,
pulsing limbs. At first, all she could hear was her heart, working
hard to rush blood through terrified extremities.
Drums beat in the distance.
She felt an immediate sense of peril, and got to her feet. Strange
murals, gouged with bleeding fingernails, children’s paintings and
graffiti lined the walls. The ground was spongy, which made
progress slow and exhausting. She heard hooves beating on the
stone, drawing nearer. Panic overrode every nerve and she ran, her
mouth open in a voiceless scream.
Ariadne was screaming and
thrashing helplessly in the hot tub. Mary and
temperature. “It can take a real shock to bring it to the surface.
First, I've got to draw this bath.”
“ Now I know why you shackled us before telling us your little
story,” Ariadne said.
Lilith laughed. “I like
you. I hope you make it through in one piece.”
“ One piece?”
Lilith felt the water one
last time before turning it off. She got out bronze incense
burners, dropped herbs in, and lit them. Thick black smoke filled
the room.
“ Hope he got to the alarms or this is going to be
short-lived.” She waited, looking up. Nothing. “No? OK then. It’s
time. Get in.”
The room seemed to distort
with the swirling smoke. The girls slipped into the
water.
“ Breathe in deeply. Let all it into your lungs. Breathe in...
and out.”
“ So you’re going to drug us, and then we can attribute the
effects of the– Wait, what the fuck?” Ariadne felt strange. It was
nothing like LSD. “What’s it doing to me?”
“ Clearing out illusions,” Lilith said. She put a hand on
Ariadne’s forehead. “Take your last breath.”
She gulped for air. Lilith
plunged her under the water, and broke into fractals on its
surface.
Amanda was seventeen years
old again, clad in tight denim and a band T-shirt. Ear-buds dangled
like earrings from her ears. Five feet of wristbands, tattoos and
attitude. Not yet
Ariadne . Riding a bus to Anywhere But
Here.
There was no way she could
explain to the tear and mascara stained eyes of her sister why
she knew she had
to leave. It was more like the pressure before a big storm hits.
The leaves turn up, there’s a faint smell of ozone in the air and
if you are wise to it, you get the hell out. Most people don’t drop
everything on a whim like that, but for Amanda, even on a regular
day, it was common practice. Winding up like everyone else in that
miserable town was worse than any fate she could dream
of.
There had been a price,
even if she knew it was the right choice, the only choice she could
have made. Her sister never called her “sis” again, never told her
she loved her. She became a distant, cold, “Amanda,” delivered on
the other end of a phone before she was passed on to their
neurotic, equally distant and ever-confused mother.
The bus ride that followed
their parting was the longest trip of her life. As she sat stewing
in emotional denial, the incredibly flatulent, obese Mexican that
sat beside her the whole way from Biloxi to El Paso leered over at
her as if they were sharing some private joke, his eyes surrounded
by crinkles like balled aluminum foil. He shot her a disappointed
look before he swaggered off at his stop. Maybe the fat bastard
expected a blow job in the bathroom.
Lilith pulled Ariadne out
of the water. She was half-conscious, hyperventilating. Her eyes
rolled up into her head. Lilith seemed incredibly
pleased.
“ Why is she like that?” Amber asked. “What are you
doing?!”
“ She’s about to have a vision.”
“ Should we call 911?”
Lilith stared them down.
“Quiet. We’re not nearly deep enough.” She plunged her under the
water again.
Ariadne’s eyes snapped
open.
She tumbled through empty
space, landing in a stone labyrinth. Implacable wailing greeted her
as she entered light and open air. Squinting, she spun around and
saw a tree, heavy with babies suspended by their navels from red,
pulsing limbs. At first, all she could hear was her heart, working
hard to rush blood through terrified extremities.
Drums beat in the distance.
She felt an immediate sense of peril, and got to her feet. Strange
murals, gouged with bleeding fingernails, children’s paintings and
graffiti lined the walls. The ground was spongy, which made
progress slow and exhausting. She heard hooves beating on the
stone, drawing nearer. Panic overrode every nerve and she ran, her
mouth open in a voiceless scream.
Ariadne was screaming and
thrashing helplessly in the hot tub. Mary and
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