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Authors: Mike Carey
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are you?” I again demanded. I moved closer to Rebecca and extended my hand as if I might touch her.
When I was almost upon her, she smiled. It was an old, ugly smile. “Beast,” she told me. “I know you.”
“Lovely. Is that supposed to impress me?”
“Man of Sin. Son of Perdition. Your father calls.”
“I don’t take his calls anymore.” Yes, I can be a total asshole to demons. It’s even a little bit fun.
“You,” she said. “You are the Dragon in the Pit. You are the man who will swallow the moon . . . ”
“That’s rather melodramatic, don’t you think?”
“He burns.”
“Who burns?” I said.
“Peter. He burns.”
I felt my stomach lurch at the words. The thing inside Rebecca moved, slithering around like a wet snake. I knew it was full of lies. I knew it would try and deceive me. But that realization didn’t make things any easier. I calmed myself, though I felt my hands shaking. I clenched them both into fists. They felt hot. “You lie.”
“I know.”
“You know nothing. You deceive.”
“He burns, Nicky. He lives on in the bottomless pit.”
“No,” I said. “He doesn’t. He was a good man.”
“He cries, Nicky. He cries in hell. Who has put him there?”
“You’re nothing but a lying cunt of a demon.”
“You don’t eat right, Nick,” Rebecca Berger said in Peter’s voice.
I stopped only a few paces away from Rebecca as the world swirled around me in a surreal spectacle of light and colors. That was something that Peter had said to me on the last day of his life. Those were the words he’d spoken in the car the morning before he’d died. We’d stopped for coffee and donuts and I’d bitched about how clichéd it all was. Then Peter laughed and invited me downtown to his mom’s for dinner that night. She was making eggplant parmesan. She had been heating it in the oven when I arrived to tell her about Peter.
I looked deep into the depths of Rebecca’s eyes and saw only more depths. “They fuck him, Nicky,” she said sweetly, smiling. She blinked, and the thing inside of her moved again. “The demons fuck him, Nicky, every day, all day. And he screams for you…”
I felt a rush of heat all through my body. I hadn’t realized I’d moved. Suddenly I was standing over Rebecca, my arms raised as if to strike her. Rebecca was on the floor at my feet, cowering, her arms over her head, rocking violently back and forth and screaming in a way that made every hair on my body stand at rigid attention.
Everything happened fast after that. Within seconds, I heard footsteps thumping on the carpeted stairs, and I could see Thom Berger’s bald palate rising up past the spindles of the banister as he raced toward us. He was shouting for his wife while Rebecca screamed on and on, hysterically, like a machine with no end.
I instinctively backed away as first Thom, then Ben, burst through the doorway of the bedroom. I backed until I hit the wall, the cross, and then jerked reflexively away before it could burn its way into my back. Their eyes settled on Rebecca, then on me as if I had done something to her, something hideous and depraved. Ben immediately moved between me and Rebecca like a referee. Thom rushed to Rebecca’s side on the floor and gathered her into his arms. She began to writhe, then scream again, her entire body electric with terror. He hushed her. She looked up. She saw me. She screamed louder still and clawed at his back. Thom turned to Ben, his face contorted with an almost inhuman rage and shouted, “Get him out of here!”
Ben swiveled on his heels and I felt his hand latch onto my arm like a snake biting down. His face was pallid. I had never seen a black man so pale in all my life. “Get out , Nick. Now .” His voice wasn’t angry, not yet, but the timber was deep and resonating. He showed his gleaming white teeth like a dog about to bite. “Back to the cruiser.”
I knew I was done. Just like I knew Ben wasn’t going to require my
When I was almost upon her, she smiled. It was an old, ugly smile. “Beast,” she told me. “I know you.”
“Lovely. Is that supposed to impress me?”
“Man of Sin. Son of Perdition. Your father calls.”
“I don’t take his calls anymore.” Yes, I can be a total asshole to demons. It’s even a little bit fun.
“You,” she said. “You are the Dragon in the Pit. You are the man who will swallow the moon . . . ”
“That’s rather melodramatic, don’t you think?”
“He burns.”
“Who burns?” I said.
“Peter. He burns.”
I felt my stomach lurch at the words. The thing inside Rebecca moved, slithering around like a wet snake. I knew it was full of lies. I knew it would try and deceive me. But that realization didn’t make things any easier. I calmed myself, though I felt my hands shaking. I clenched them both into fists. They felt hot. “You lie.”
“I know.”
“You know nothing. You deceive.”
“He burns, Nicky. He lives on in the bottomless pit.”
“No,” I said. “He doesn’t. He was a good man.”
“He cries, Nicky. He cries in hell. Who has put him there?”
“You’re nothing but a lying cunt of a demon.”
“You don’t eat right, Nick,” Rebecca Berger said in Peter’s voice.
I stopped only a few paces away from Rebecca as the world swirled around me in a surreal spectacle of light and colors. That was something that Peter had said to me on the last day of his life. Those were the words he’d spoken in the car the morning before he’d died. We’d stopped for coffee and donuts and I’d bitched about how clichéd it all was. Then Peter laughed and invited me downtown to his mom’s for dinner that night. She was making eggplant parmesan. She had been heating it in the oven when I arrived to tell her about Peter.
I looked deep into the depths of Rebecca’s eyes and saw only more depths. “They fuck him, Nicky,” she said sweetly, smiling. She blinked, and the thing inside of her moved again. “The demons fuck him, Nicky, every day, all day. And he screams for you…”
I felt a rush of heat all through my body. I hadn’t realized I’d moved. Suddenly I was standing over Rebecca, my arms raised as if to strike her. Rebecca was on the floor at my feet, cowering, her arms over her head, rocking violently back and forth and screaming in a way that made every hair on my body stand at rigid attention.
Everything happened fast after that. Within seconds, I heard footsteps thumping on the carpeted stairs, and I could see Thom Berger’s bald palate rising up past the spindles of the banister as he raced toward us. He was shouting for his wife while Rebecca screamed on and on, hysterically, like a machine with no end.
I instinctively backed away as first Thom, then Ben, burst through the doorway of the bedroom. I backed until I hit the wall, the cross, and then jerked reflexively away before it could burn its way into my back. Their eyes settled on Rebecca, then on me as if I had done something to her, something hideous and depraved. Ben immediately moved between me and Rebecca like a referee. Thom rushed to Rebecca’s side on the floor and gathered her into his arms. She began to writhe, then scream again, her entire body electric with terror. He hushed her. She looked up. She saw me. She screamed louder still and clawed at his back. Thom turned to Ben, his face contorted with an almost inhuman rage and shouted, “Get him out of here!”
Ben swiveled on his heels and I felt his hand latch onto my arm like a snake biting down. His face was pallid. I had never seen a black man so pale in all my life. “Get out , Nick. Now .” His voice wasn’t angry, not yet, but the timber was deep and resonating. He showed his gleaming white teeth like a dog about to bite. “Back to the cruiser.”
I knew I was done. Just like I knew Ben wasn’t going to require my
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