Melati Jasmine had never seen anything like this before in her life. Granted, she wasn’t the most normal of Muslim women on the planet, but this went beyond the pale. When she’d told her husband about what was going on, he’d flat-out told her, “And I hope this bastard gets sentenced to whatever hell awaits him. I don’t care what religion it is, just stick him in the worst one.” Having seen what she was witnessing now, she had no doubt that this monster was going to drag the world through hell on Earth until he was caught.
One woman murdered, one man joining his love in the grave. She’d never understood the Romeo & Juliet angle of it all, but it wasn’t her cultural norm, she supposed. Then again, given that love suicide pacts weren’t the norm here either, maybe it was just one of those things that was from a different time.
“Hey, Mel?” Cuff ‘Em asked.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“This shit is fucked. Girl – just a friggin’ girl not much younger than me – dead, her guy gone off the deep end and then off the deep end, and now that woman there,” he said, pointing to the shaken landlady talking to detectives, “don’t look none the better, either.”
“Yeah, I know. But it’s up to us to find this asshole and put him behind bars.”
“I’d rather put him on a firing squad,” he said, as the coroner’s van drove off with its tragic contents.
Melati looked down at her service pistol, and briefly imagined herself drawing it against the murderer in her mind. She’d have zero hesitation pulling the trigger against a monster like that. But it also made her think: what kind of monster would do something like this? She read the profiles, that most serial killers were young white males. But she’d also lived long enough to know that her people, that had once been considered weirdos and unusual, were now considered murderous terrorists.
“Me too, Cuff,” she said as the meat wagon disappeared down the street. “Me too.”
Watching from a tree in the distance as she slipped on her clothing, Contralto felt a sensation like she never knew before. It was like an adrenaline rush, like orgasmic sex…but the moment she changed back into her human form, it had disappeared. She wondered: was it the killer’s instinct? The raw feeling of taking a life with impunity and with no one to stop you? Whatever it was, it felt…good. Like had to have it good.
As she watched the cops get into their cruisers, she leapt down from the tree she was in, ran across the nearby yard, hopped another fence, and then got into the car that she’d used to get this far. She’d heard that it had belonged to Piano Bliss before she gave her life defending the captain from Les SCARS. It didn’t matter; Bliss had been a stupid cunt that had gotten herself killed instead of proving herself in battle. And that’s just the way it was: like the freaky wizard they worked for had said, the strong ruled and the weak surrendered.
Gunning the engine, she headed southbound towards Colton, where she would then take an alternate route back towards headquarters.
“Has anyone tried to reach Fluttershy?” Rarity anxiously asked over the netcall.
“Yeah, me,” Rainbow answered. “Her old man said she passed out ‘cause of the news, and he’ll have her call me later. Oh, and he said that he wants us to take care of each other.”
“Eyup, Ah’d have to agree with him,” Applejack added. “When Ma heard the news, she practically broke down. Practically refused t’ let go of Bloomie. Pa had t’ come out of the storeroom and get her to let go, an’ she insisted Bloomie and Ah come right home. Ah don’t think Ah need t’ underline how much mah ma is worried about all of us.”
“Yeah, I here ya there,” Pinkie chimed in. “My mom called Auntie Cup and…well, I can still hear them arguing in the other room. Uncle Carrot took the twins downstairs so they could sleep, but….”
“I hope your mom doesn’t decide to make you move home,” Sunset voiced.
“Oh, not at all! Auntie Cup…wait, did she just?” A pause on the line. “Oh, wow, she did. Well, I’m not going to repeat it but Auntie Cup’s mad right now. She says I’m staying put, so there!”
“That’s good to hear,” Octavia replied. She was in her room right now, working with the replacement monitor that she bought. Hopefully, Sunset noted, her cousin wouldn’t lose her temper again, though it was understandable.
“Well, I guess there’s safety in numbers,” Twilight said from her computer. “But…I’m worried about the triplets.”
“They might be gone away from here,” Rainbow replied. “But you know what? I’m fucking pissed. They’re our friends – well, they were supposed to be, and they just bailed like this? With no fucking answer at all? That’s just dicked, I swear to God, that’s just so fucking dicked.”
“Rainbow, they might not have had any choice,” Sunset explained. “I mean, think about when I first came to live with my family: my choice was to stay here, or go to Social. All things considered, that wasn’t much of a choice and it’s entirely possible they had a situation just as fucked up.”
“Then we should be out looking for them! They’re our friends and friends stick together!” It was always amazing to Sunset how Rainbow would flop between criticisms of her friends to being closer than glue to them, but given her status as the Element of Loyalty, it shouldn’t have been a surprise.
Rainbow might bitch you out, but no one better to have in a pinch, Sunset thought with a smile. Then a thought came over her. “Does anyone want to have lunch?”
“Ah hope yer kidding, Sunset. Ah think mah ma’s going to go completely out of her mind if’n she even thinks that Ah left home alone!”
Sunset was about to speak, when she was completely caught off guard: “Actually, bring your sister along, AJ. In fact, Rarity, Rainbow, you do the same. We should show them that Canterlot girls aren’t afraid. We’re stronger than the killer.” Sunset practically wanted to leap out of her chair and hug her sister right then and there. She’d never heard such bravery in her sister’s voice before, and though it seemed maudlin, Sunset’s eyes glistened with pride for Twilight.
“Fuckin’ A, you’re right, Twily!”
“Rainbow, would you please be more circumspect in your language? Some of us prefer more ladylike speech!” Rarity groaned. “In any case, I think that would be a divine idea, Twilight, dear, and besides, I believe it will do my sister well to get out after watching that horrible conference.”
“Eyup, Ah think that it’s a great idea as well, plus, if’n Ah let Granny know where we are, she’s not gonna mind much. Count us in.”
“Hey, no way are Scoots and I missing this one!”
“Can someone pick me up? It can’t be a party without your local Pinkie!”
A second later, Fluttershy popped on the line. “Sorry, I…um…fainted and Dad told me you guys were having a meeting. Did I miss anything?”
“Only the fact that we’re all gonna have lunch somewhere together to show this puto that we’re not afraid of shit!”
“Rainbow, language!”
“No, Rares, Rainbow’s right. For a change, admittedly, but she’s right.”
“Well…um…hold on a sec.” Fluttershy had a quick conversation in the background, and when she came back, she said, “Well, Dad just told me that he insists I take you all to lunch. He just gave me his credit card, so where do you guys want to go?”
“What about the Goal Post?” Sunset suggested. “It’s fairly new, we can get whatever we want there, and it’s got good ratings on Yelp. Plus, if something happens, it’s across the street from City Hall, so the cops will be there in a heartbeat.”
“Great idea!” Pinkie cried. “And since we supply them with the desserts, I know their desserts are good! I’m just nervouscited to try one! Or two! Or three!”
“Pinkie, dear, please calm down. So, I suppose I can pick up Rainbow and Scootaloo,” Rarity offered.
“I can swing by and pick you up, Pinkie,” Fluttershy told her.
“Okay, so then meet in thirty?” Octavia asked.
They all agreed, and virtually as one, signed off. Sunset logged off and shut down her laptop, heading out of her room. As she stepped out, Twilight and Octavia stepped out of theirs as well.
“Twily, that was amazing!” Octavia gushed. “I’ve never seen you like that before. It was like you were a totally different person.”
Twilight blushed. “Well, I just had to say what I felt. Sunny does that all the time, and I guess it was something I needed to do.” She leaned into Sunset’s shoulder. “And I couldn’t have done it without you, sis.”
Sunset put her arm around Twilight. “You don’t have to thank me. We’re family.” She then reached around and hugged Octavia. “All of us, and we girls stick together.”
“Yeah,” Octavia said, looking at her cousin with love and telling the voice in the back of her head that no, she wasn’t going to rip Sunset’s heart out and feast on her entrails.
“Oh, shit – thanks for calling me, Mel.” Shining and Sandalwood had moved on from the restaurant off to the Equestria County Fairgrounds, which was located in Bella Vista. The place looked lonely, as the County Fair wasn’t normally until next week, and given the situation going on, it wouldn’t be surprising if it would be cancelled this year. A place like that would be perfect for serial killers to operate in, he knew.
But that wasn’t his worry. No, his worry was the girl trying to get a couple of cokes from the dilapidated vending machine. Melati had wisely called him to let him know about both her neighbors, and unfortunately, that also meant that her apartment was inaccessible while the investigation team checked it out. Sure, they’d let her go in to get some clothing, but she and the neighbor on the other side would be barred from going home for the next couple of days.
He texted Cadance a simple message: Sandy 06. Cadance would know what that was, just by the historical reference: it was the year that Sandalwood’s grandmother had died, and she’d been a complete wreck for a few days, needing a lot of attention from Cadance. A second later, a text came back: Buca’s, 8. I’ll make the reservations.
As Sandalwood came back with a couple of cokes, she asked, “How long?”
“How long what?”
The answer came as Sandalwood threw his can at him. “Don’t you dare treat me like some coddled child, Shining! How long have they been dead?” When he didn’t answer, she threw her soda down and the can exploded, sending Diet Vanilla Coke everywhere. “I’m not stupid – when you didn’t come over immediately, that meant something was up. Plus, the way you moved your fingers indicated you sent a text! Now when did they find Ruby’s body and when did True kill himself over it?”
Shining just looked at her in surprise, still not saying a word.
She flipped him off. “You know what? Fuck you – I’ll go find out myself.” She turned and he reached out and grabbed her arm, preventing her from leaving. “You’d better have a good reason for grabbing my arm,” she growled, “because I’ll fucking snap yours in half if you don’t.”
“Sandy, for God’s sake, listen to me!” he told her. “I’m not trying to treat you like a kid, okay? I just found out from Mel!”
“Fine, fine.” She yanked her arm away from him and looked away.
“Now relax, okay? I’m on your side!”
“Yeah, I know; sorry, lost my temper there,” she sighed. “I’ve never met a pair who was so perfect for each other like those two – they’d even give you and Cady a run for her money. I looked out for them not only because Ruby reminds me a lot of Minty, but also because True was a bit…unstable, I think. He didn’t just love Ruby, he obsessed over her, and that’s never good – that kind of stuff leads to abuse down the road; seen it in one too many cases. I had hoped that butting into their life would calm him down; maybe it did. But I knew the moment she was gone that she was dead, and I knew that the moment her body was found it was only a matter of time until he went.
“I don’t blame myself for True. He needed help and medication. No, I blame myself for Ruby’s death – because I wasn’t fast enough to put a fucking bullet in the brainpan of whatever motherfucker chewed her up and spit her out. That’s what I blame myself for – because I’m always second fucking place when it counts!”
“You’re not second place, Sandy. I don’t know where you—”
“You’re an idiot, you know that?”
“So you keep saying, but you’re not explaining.”
“I shouldn’t have to,” she said, sitting on the ground. “You know, I remember when I used to come here and pig out on cotton candy and ride the rides…and then throw up and get chewed out by my mom because I ate too much cotton candy and barfed on Minty to tease her. Good times.”
“You are weird, you know that?” he said, sitting down next to her.
“Whatever,” she sighed. “But I’m so Goddamn tired of being second place, Shiny. For once – just fucking once – I want to cross the finish line before everyone else does.”
“So you want to catch this guy because you want the fame and fortune?” he asked her.
“You know it’s not like that.”
“Could’ve fooled me with the way you’re talking,” he pointed out.
“I know, and I probably sound like an ass for that. Sorry. I mean….” She paused, then got up and brushed off her pants. “You know what? It’s not important. Now c’mon, I need to stop at the florist. Get some flowers, say my goodbyes to True and Ruby, then have you escort me into my place so I can get a few days’ worth of clothing. Your couch still open?”
“I thought you hated our couch?”
“I hate paying for a hotel room even more – HR takes forever to reimburse people.”
Celestia rushed down the steps of the school district building. “Sombra, wait!”
He stopped in mid-stride, looking at her with a smile. “Sorry, about that, Tia, lost my temper in there. Thank God Waddle’s my father-in-law, or…well, fuck it, he’s probably going to rag on me anyway,” he said with a laugh.
“I suppose. I just wanted to check on how you’re doing. Your school is year round and….”
“Look, though I hope to change their path in life, I cannot deny that the grand majority of my students are gangbangers, criminals and other lowlifes. I want to raise them beyond that, sure, but until I can, they are what they are. And right now, that’s an asset for them and frankly, I’m…conflicted.”
“Conflicted?”
He nodded. “Until this guy’s caught, what do I do? Steer my students towards non-violence, or let them stay the way they are and give them a fighting chance? You know that they’ve already got a dozen strikes against them, scholastically and extracurricular – they’d be prime targets for any serial killer and I’ll bet the Sunnytown PD wouldn’t bat an eye if they’re gone. But to me they’re not statistics, they’re my students.
“Take for example, Painted Lady – she’s originally from Colton High; got tossed out because she got in a fight and stabbed a teacher with a small Swiss army knife. Girl’s got a mouth like a gunnery sergeant and has tried to proposition a couple of her teachers. But she’s smart – AP-level smart – and she’s fierce and she admitted to her counselor that she wants to be a doctor someday, but can’t because she lives with her grandmother because both her parents are in jail. If I can steer her away from what she’s afraid is her destiny, she’s got the chance to be something far better than some thugette-in-training.” He threw up his hands and added, “But can I do that if she ends up dead on someone’s doorstep?”
“I’m sure you’ll figure that out, Sombra.” Luna had voiced that, coming down the steps after both of them. “It’s why you’re still at The Blanks all this time.”
He gave her a smile. “Maybe. Waddle offered me North Glades High, since Pinstripe’s retiring…but I couldn’t. My job’s not done at the Blanks, not to my satisfaction, anyway. But for now I’ve got to let my staff know that they can dial up the ‘mean sonnuvabitch’ mode. These kids are my responsibility during school hours and I’m not going to let a single one of them fall if I can help it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I promised my wife I’d meet her for lunch since I’m in the area. Talk to you again soon.” Nodding to them both, he walked over to the car.
“He deserves better than The Blanks,” Celestia said admiringly, “but they sure need him.”
“I agree,” Luna commented. “So, want to tell me what’s on your mind? It’s plain as the look on your face, you know.”
“It was an idle thought,” Celestia sighed. “You know I would never endanger Sunset like that.”
“Well…. That wasn’t exactly what I was thinking where your mindset was, but I’m glad that it’s not completely out there.”
“While I would be thrilled if she would be able to help us in this situation, I remember how much she exhausted herself during the Vibe incident and how much we worried about her when she went through the mirror. And aside from that, she might be far more powerful now, but in the end she’s still just a teenage girl and that puts her directly in the crosshairs already. I wouldn’t dare do that to her.”
“You mean you wouldn’t want Velvet to beat you within an inch of your life?” Luna mused.
“Exactly,” Celestia said with a grin. “So no, even if she volunteers, I’m against it. I’ve grown to like the person she’s become and I would be heartbroken if we lost her.”
“So would I, sis. So would I.”
“Thank you, Sparrowspeed,” Princess Twilight said, acknowledging the pegasus guard before her. “Please, rest before you return back to Canterlot.”
“Of course, your highness,” the guard said, bowing before he left Golden Oaks.
“Oh, my, Twilight, what’s that?” Fluttershy asked. The two were going over last-minute details before their plan to teach Rainbow Dash what she needed to know for her Wonderbolts test. Fluttershy privately had been briefly worried about playing Princess Celestia after her prior disaster, but Twilight assured her that everything would work out.
“It’s a book,” Twilight explained. “Apparently Razz wants me to look at it, given that it might contain a clue from Sunset’s world.”
“Oh, my,” the pegasus stated, cyan eyes gazing at the ebon-bound book. “It looks scary.”
Twilight gave her worried friend a comforting smile. “It might look scary, but all books in the end, even the magic ones, are just paper and ink. Sure they might have curses on them or horrific pictures inside, but books in and of themselves are just that – books.” At Twilight’s words, Fluttershy dived right underneath the table, and Twilight mentally chided herself for her slip. “Don’t worry, Fluttershy – it’s a book from the human world. There’s not much chance of it being dangerous. Remember, no magic in their world?”
“Sorry, I’d forgotten about that,” Fluttershy admitted, sitting back up.
“It’s okay,” the alicorn assured her. “It wasn’t as though we’re used to ‘magic books’ being not really that.” She looked at the book and the cover. “The Heptameron. I wonder what that means?” she said, before using her telekinesis to open the book.
A deep, bassy rumbling hum that seemed more at home in one of Vinyl Scratch’s speakers seemed to radiate from the book, and then a shockwave of smoky, undulating energy, hued as red as blood, blasted forward from the book, catching Twilight off-guard. Fluttershy ducked under the table to save herself, but the bow shock continued on past them through the walls and expanded forward, the deep tone of the magic blast continuing with it until it faded into the distance.
“W-what was that?” Fluttershy stammered as she dared to peek up from her hiding place.
Twilight was about to answer, when a group of guards rushed in. Wasting no time, Twilight ordered, “Racewing, gather your fastest pegasi and have them chase that blast. It might be harmless, but I want to make sure.”
“Understood, your highness,” Racewing said, saluted, and wandered off.
“Fluttershy, relax. I’m going to put this book in a containment spell, then I’ll check you out to make sure there were no ill effects.”
“I feel okay….” the pegasus said, checking herself.
“I want to make sure. I’ll be right back.”
He heard it.
Over the sandblasted hills and burnt karst canyonsides, he heard that, clear as a bell – that deep pulse of tone that gave him both direction and purpose.
The withered, wounded centaur gave a smirk of a smile. “Ah yes, that is where he shall head.”
The creature wandered towards the center of the sound, and towards destiny.
“Heya, Sunny!” The girls had no sooner walked into the restaurant when they were waved by another table. Bon-Bon had waved to them from a table containing her, Lyra, Trixie, Compass Rose and Rose’s girlfriend, Boysenberry. Thankfully the table had already been lengthened, so the Eightmazing Eight made room for themselves as everyone said hi and more menus were brought out.
“So, what are you guys doing here?” Applejack asked.
Rose blushed slightly and said in her usual soft voice, “Well, I thought it would be nice if we’d go out for lunch to show the killer that we’re not afraid. Take a stand, as it were.”
Brash as always, Boysenberry grinned. “And since none of our usual circle’s available, we decided to come on our own. We saw Trixie, Lyra and Bonnie here, so we thought we’d park by them.”
“As for us, we thought the same thing,” Lyra explained. “I take it you did too?”
Twilight nodded. “My idea, and the girls agreed.”
“Well, we just got here ourselves,” Boysenberry said, “So, have a seat and we can talk!”
“Oh, and don’t worry about your bills,” Fluttershy said with a sweet smile. “Dad gave me his credit card, so I’m taking care of it.”
“Wow, thanks, Flutters!” Lyra commented. “How are…well…you know….”
The chiffon-haired girl smiled demurely. “Now that we’ve mended fences, it’s finally nice to know what I’ve missed. And now that Dad can be himself out of the cameras constantly, he’s doing a lot of stuff that people didn’t expect. He’s planning to buy CHS all new musical instruments, both for the class and for the band. And he’s talking about helping fund a new afterschool program for County.”
“Wow, never would’ve expected that,” Lyra said to herself. “Discord, wild child of rock, turns out to be a family man. Who knew?”
Boysenberry’s eyes widened. “Wait – your old man is Discord?”
“Duh, Berry,” Rainbow groaned. “Didn’t you watch the concert at the beginning of the month that was on TV? Flutters performed a whole set with her dad and she fucking rocks the guitar and other instruments! You shoulda seen her shredding on the guitar onstage! I wish I could play that good – of course, I have to learn how to play a guitar first, but—”
“Rainbow, darling, perhaps you should watch poor dear Fluttershy instead?” Sure enough, Fluttershy – mortified by a combination of attention from the other restaurant goers, Boysenberry’s look of sheer admiration and Rainbow’s increasingly laudatory statements – did what any normal girl terrified of everything would do: duck under the table.
“Oh, sorry, Flutters,” Rainbow apologized. Fluttershy squeaked something approximating an acceptance of her apology and managed to crawl back into her seat just in time for the waiters to come out and take their orders.
A few minutes later, the group was snacking on various appetizers and chatting along breezily. Comfortable in her seat, Sunset looked around at her circle of friends from those closest to those newest in it (Boysenberry had admitted to Rose that Sunset had eyes that screamed “Do me now!” much to the former unicorn’s chagrin) and smiled. She knew that Princess Twilight had moments like this and Sunset no longer had to envy her sister’s counterpart; she now had the same luxuries of amicity that brought her joy.
But the circle of friends was missing three and seven other girls knew it. Each of them could practically imagine Adagio discussing a high-brow topic with Rarity, Octavia and Twilight; Aria, probably laughing to a rather earthy joke told by either Rainbow or Applejack; or Sonata, most likely challenging Pinkie to a contest of who could stuff the most jalapeno poppers into their mouth at once. The three were part of their circle, and would always be – and that made their absence all the more disquieting.
“Hey, just noticed something,” Bon-Bon spoke up. “Where’s the triplets? Usually they’re here with your gang.”
Not a single one of the girls in question spoke up until Octavia deflected with, “They’re…out of town right now. I think they’re on vacation, but I forgot to ask.”
“Wow, you guys look glum,” Lyra added. “What, you joined at the hip with them?”
“Nothing of the sort, Lyra, dear,” Rarity chimed in. “It’s just…well, Twilight’s birthday is next week and we were hoping they’d be back by then, but…you know how family vacations are.”
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Trixie chimed in. “Most of last month was spent on the road with my family and let me tell you: Branson, Missouri? Tough crowd.” Rose then asked more about it and the conversation then descended into the explanation of Trixie’s travels with The Amazing Lulamoons and all that it entailed, including a few tricks she performed on the spot for her friends, getting a few claps from the surrounding tables as well.
As the food arrived, a baker’s dozen worth of girls chatted on and ate food, their worries and cares forgotten for the moment. While they would return once the group departed the restaurant, for now, everything was right with the world.
“You okay, Cady?” Hearts Aflutter asked.
“She’s probably missing her schmoopy-boo,” Amicus Brief teased.
“No, thinking about tonight. Sandy’s neighbors were two of the victims, and she was kinda attached to them. So she’s staying over until she can go back to her place.”
Hearts dropped her burger. “Are you fucking stupid?”
“She’s my best friend, Hearts! Or are you planning to offer up your couch?”
“I don’t have a couch, just some beanbags my boyfriend couldn’t part with,” Hearts replied. “Besides, I know better than to invite the Serpent into the Garden of Eden.”
“I trust her – and him.”
“You’re one of my oldest friends, Cady, but you’re a fucking idiot.”
Amicus stopped in mid-bite from her salad. “Did I, uh, miss something?”
“Old history,” the other two women said at the same time.
“Well, want to update those of us who didn’t grow up here? I swear, for a city as large as Canterlot is, everyone seems related to or grew up with one another. Don’t know about you ladies, but that’s just freaky as fuck to me.”
Cadance said nothing, but instead stormed off snarling, “I need a drink refill.”
“Okay, Hearts, what the hell just happened?”
“Cady’ll get over it. Trust me, as long as Cady, me, Sandy and Lemony have known each other, we’ve drawn blood against each other and we’re all still tight. It’s just…well….”
“Well, what?”
Hearts groaned. “Sandy has always been in love with Shining, but she’s always been too chickenshit to admit it. She had a chance to go after him but because she and Cady are so tight, Sandy – and I quote – sacrificed herself for the greater good and all that shit.” Hearts took a swig and added, “It’s why she joined the Navy immediately after she graduated high school. It wasn’t to see the world, or because her old man was a sailor too, it was to get away from them before her heart got shattered into a billion pieces. Problem is, she came back, joined the sheriff’s department and now thanks to the world falling apart, she’s partnered with Shining.
“Look, I don’t think she and Shining are up to squirrely shit; they both care about Cadance too much to do anything like that; and besides, Shining’s too dense to even notice how Sandy feels. But I can tell it’s driving Sandy nuts as fuck and something’s going to give – and I’d hate to see a lifelong friendship between Sandy and Cady get nuked because, well, you know.” Hearts shrugged her shoulders and went back to her burger.
Amicus looked at Hearts, then in the distance where Cadance was blowing off steam by somehow managing to fill her soda with both Diet Coke and raw anger, then looked out the window. “Mom told me I should’ve went to college in New York, but did I listen? Nooooooooooo….” she muttered under her breath.
As Cadance came back, Hearts looked at her. “Sorry, Cady, but that’s just how I feel about it. Lemony would tell you the same thing.”
“I know. And if it was one of you involved and I had to turn to Sandy for advice, she’d say the same thing. But…she needs help, and she turned to me and Shining.”
“Then take my advice: don’t do this. I know they won’t do anything, but do you want her to hurt even more?”
“No, but what’s the alternative? Especially one that doesn’t make her think I don’t trust her?”
“I really don’t know. But, counselor, that’s why you’re a lawyer – you’re a professional liar. Better start thinking of one.”
“Come in,” Velvet blurted from her desk, which was currently swamped with paperwork.
“Here, thought you could use this.” Night was at the door, carrying a grease-stained paper bag and a pair of styrofoam cups.
“You didn’t!” Velvet said, a look of utter delight coming onto her face as her husband sat down at the other seat and set things on the one clear spot on the desk.
“Aren’t husbands supposed to come to the rescue?” he asked, pulling out two pastramis on rye, handing one to her, then chips and one of the cups. “Besides, Brisket Brine’s Deli is on the way here and knowing how your day was, you probably haven’t left for lunch.”
Velvet attacked her pastrami on rye, managing to say an “I love you” around mouthfuls. Swallowing her bite, she took a draw from her drink, then grinned. “Night, I swear, I’d marry you all over again if I could.”
“Wasn’t aware the pastrami was that good,” he teased. “But how’s your day gone?” Velvet then launched into her boss’ retirement, Mercury’s untimely delivery and the fact that she now had the whole kit and caboodle to look over, especially in a time of crisis as now. “Wow,” he said as his wife finished both explanation and meal. “And I thought that just having extra security guards at the university was going to be a headache.”
“I’d trade that for the meeting I need to have in an hour with Sheriff Cherry. Guy rubs me the wrong way, I swear.”
Night then produced a second bag, containing cheesecake from Brews & Bakes, as Sugarcube Corner Café was still closed for inventory restock. “Does this rub you better?”
Velvet took one and blew her husband a kiss. “Mister, you can rub me any way you want,” she cooed. After taking a bite, she added, “Seriously, though, we probably should think about the girls. I know we laid down the rules, but I don’t think it’ll be enough; one of them, it should be noted, is very headstrong.”
“I don’t think Sunny’s a problem, sweetheart. If anything, she seems a little too eager to please lately, as if she’s worried we’ll change our minds on the adoption.”
“Actually, I was talking about Tavi. I woke up in the middle of the night a couple of nights ago and just happened to look out the window and I thought I saw her walking around outside…and naked, if you would believe that. I went downstairs to check – should’ve checked the girls’ rooms first, I know, but I didn’t see anyone. Checked in Sunny’s room and there they were, fast asleep. Weird as could be.” She set down her cheesecake and added, “Maybe I imagined it, but I do think that what’s going on is getting to her. Tavi probably feels that Sunny’s impending adoption is sidelining her, and her birthday – especially your parents’ hijinks – didn’t make that better either.”
“I know. I’d say my parents learned their lesson, but these are my parents we’re talking about.”
“Regardless, I think you and I should have a talk with her. She needs us, probably more than she ever has before.”
Night nodded. “Of course. She’s just as much family as Twily or Sunny.”
Feeling utterly drained, Celestia went home. A simple lunch with her sister turned into an ambush interview by a reporter from the Equestria Daily, wanting to know how the school system planned to deal with the impending threat. Given that Celestia already had the authority to talk to the press – essentially why they ambushed her – she gave a measured response to the reporter. Said measured response turned out to be a bad move on her part, as the “couple of questions” turned out to be a practical indictment of the school system and the numerous problems it had over the years. From the destruction of the Canterlot High School façade to student stabbings to the numerous problems at the Blanks to the Vibe and now this, people wanted to know what the school district was doing to fix it. With Waddle likely to retire some day and Celestia’s name brought up more than once as not only a future assistant superintendent but even the superintendent people wanted to know from her and they wanted to know now.
Last time I speak to one of those morons at KPNY. “News 5 Now!” my ass, she groaned as she walked into the house, tossing off her shoes, setting her bag down….
…and immediately getting whisked off her feet by Sable. “Wow, you work fast,” she said with a grin.
“If I’d heard your car sooner, I would’ve carried you in from there,” he said, moving her over to the couch. Setting her down, he said, “For milady, dinner tonight is a fettucine carbonara—”
“Oh, my, making a dish I grew up with from scratch,” she said with a smirk. “Aren’t we being daring?”
“I have it on the best authority that the chef, a gentleman by the name of Ragú, knows his stuff. We also have a wine from Napa Valley, the finest vintage that I could find on hand while shopping in an utter panic; and last but not least, for dessert we have strawberries, dipped horribly in a chocolate fondant and drizzled by an even more pathetic attempt to add white chocolate to the mix.”
“Oh? And what is the cost for such a fine repast?”
“Lots of kisses and cuddles tonight wouldn’t be bad,” he commented. “I also won’t object to sex.”
“We’ll see,” she commented, tracing a finger against his jaw; he took her hand and kissed it tenderly before letting go.
Walking back towards the kitchen, Sable called out, “The dinner rolls should be ready in a few if you want to munch on something. Also, did you want some wine?”
“If you would, please,” she said, snuggling comfortably into the couch and sighing in relaxed contentment. Now she had a chance to catch up on a few movies she missed, and maybe she could not look like a crippled shut-in whenever Luna and Velvet talked about something over lunch. Not paying much attention, she reached over to grab the remote…
…and pulled up a gun. She dropped it in shock, sat up and gasped, “Sable!”
“Something up?” He was approaching her with a small basket of rolls and a glass of wine. If her panic hadn’t been so pronounced, she could have noticed the jaunty camouflage apron that read ARMY VET – I KNOW HOW TO COOK MORE THAN MREs.
“What is this?” she said, pointing to the gun.
“Well, I had to guess on some variables, so sorry if things aren’t perfect. It’s an FDA Model 92. Polymer, so it’s easy to carry, and fairly simple to point and plink—”
“What is it doing in my house?”
Setting down the rolls and wine, he said calmly, “It’s yours. This weekend, we’ll hit the range and teach you how to shoot it. Don’t worry, I still have my Springfield XDM—”
“English, please. Some of us aren’t ex-Army.”
“I got you a gun because I can’t be everywhere, Tia.” He sat down on the couch next to her. “I saw that news report. There is a madman hunting women and I cannot be there to always save you.” He grabbed the gun and held it up. “This, for good or bad, will.”
“Sweetheart, for starters, I don’t like guns. I’m not anti-Second Amendment or anything, I just don’t like guns personally. Plus, how am I going to carry it around on me? Hell, even you can’t carry guns at the Blanks.” He gave her an even look, and she caught it immediately. “Oh, that motherfucker,” she seethed. “How the hell didn’t Sombra tell—”
“Because it wasn’t his call to make; he argued against it as well. But Waddle apparently asked for a list of teachers and staff who are qualified with guns, just in case. And I want to make sure that you are as well.”
“We have a resources officer for that reason!” she argued. “If there’s a gunman, Officer Quickdraw can be on the scene in seco—”
“And if they take him out first? How fast until CPD gets there? How many children get killed, Celestia? How many innocent children have to die?” The look in his face was frantic, and from long practice and years of both her own experience and her friend’s knowledge told her something was very, very wrong all of a sudden. “And what about you? What happens if I get a call in class from your sister saying, ‘Hey, that woman you’re in love with? Time to fit her for a pinebox!’”
“Sweetheart, I’m not going to die. This isn’t Afghanistan.” She took his hands in hers. “This sounds macabre, I know, but I’m a woman in her fifties – and the killer is only going after young virgins. I’ll be safe.”
“Says the woman that I thought was only a couple of years older than me. And last time I checked, people still haven’t learned how to tell who’s a virgin and who’s not just by a casual glance.” To her surprise, he grabbed her close. “Please, Tia. I can’t bear to see another person I care about end up KIA. I just can’t.”
Reluctantly breaking from the hug, she looked at him, eye to eye, seeing the haunted look in his face. “What happened out there? When you were in the Army?”
He turned away. “You don’t want to know.”
She reached over to turn his head back to her. “I’m your girlfriend, Sable. I want to know. I want to be there for you.” She glanced at the clock. “Look, if you haven’t started cooking dinner yet, don’t. We’ll order Chinese or something. Just…please….” She took his hand, holding it up against her cheek. «Io sono sempre qui per voi, il mio amore,» she said in her native language.
At any other moment, he would have jokingly told her he had no idea what she said. But the translation in her eyes was clear enough: I’ll always be here for you, love. And he couldn’t hide anymore. He hadn’t even been with her a half a year yet and everything in him said that this was the woman he was likely going to spend the rest of his life with. If that was even remotely true, she deserved to know. And if it wasn’t true, he’d be able to tell someone who could help him – someone who would stand by his side and fight the nightmares that came so damn often.
He sighed, and when he looked up at her, a river of sorrow started to wend its way down his cheek.
“I didn’t come back whole from Kabul, Tia. I killed a child, and no sane human ever comes back whole from that.”
Cadance watched as Sandalwood crashed on their couch. After dinner, she called it an early night, and so did Shining and Cadance. I wish I could help you, Sandy, she thought to herself, but I don’t even know where to start.
She walked back to the bedroom she shared with her fiancé, and he looked exhausted, moreso especially since it was the first day he’d had off in ages. But he’d spent that day trying to keep his partner – her best friend, a woman that was in love with him just as much as Cadance was – from losing it.
“Ugh, this day’s been draining,” Shining said. “No closer to catching him, no closer to a night’s rest and I have to get up early tomorrow because Hardline wants us to go examine some possible evidence in Oregon.”
“This whole thing is a bag of cats, Shiny,” Cadance said as she slipped between the bedsheets. “Maybe we should’ve considered that offer.”
“I’m sure it’ll come up again. From what I understand, the police departments in Hawaii are always short-staffed and the recruiters there constantly try to poach officers from the mainland. But what about you?”
“Well, if I can’t get a job with the DA’s office or the state, I can always look into private practice. That should pay better.”
“Yeah.” He sat there for a moment before asking, “But do you really think we could leave this place?”
“Not really. I’m a Canterlot girl for life,” she said with a tired laugh. “Honestly, I don’t know how Sandy managed to do so for a few years.” She knew that was a complete lie, but she decided not to tell Shining the truth of that; he would be better prepared if he figured it out for himself. Then again, she knew that dealings with the fairer sex had never been Shining’s strong point.
If they had, maybe it’d be me on the couch and Sandy here with Shining, Cadance thought before brushing it away. That was for science fiction stories about other realities; this, however was real life and she was Shining’s fiancée.
“Well, I should get some sleep before it’s too late,” he said, turning off the light. “Night, love.”
She kissed him on the cheek before laying back down. “Night, Shiny.”
Sunset stood up from the couch. “I don’t know about you guys, but I need to get some sleep. I have to go back to work tomorrow.”
“That’s tough. You going to be okay?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah. Mr. Cake asked me to call him just before I get there, so he can keep an eye out for me. Admittedly, it’s during the daylight hours, and I should be safe, but I can understand how he wants to look out for me.”
“Well, we’re going to stay up a little longer and watch another movie,” Octavia commented. “Keep the bed warm for us.”
“Tavi, do you know how wrong that sounds?” Twilight chided.
“Oh, sorry – keep the bed warm for us; Twily and I are going to make out for a little bit down here and then we’ll be up for the threesome.” Octavia would have said more but then got hit in the face by a couch pillow.
“Well, our perverted cousin aside, we’ll be up after the movie, sis. Night.”
“Yeah, night,” Sunset yawned, before walking up the steps and into the bathroom, attended to her needs there, grateful that the monthly hell had stopped, then went into her bedroom, changed into her sleepwear, and—
BHWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMmmmmm….
She felt that in her bones. That…wasn’t an earthquake. It was a quake, however – a magic detonation, something that happened when a spell misfired horribly. She knew what that was like; as a filly of six years she’d spent a day in the hospital and the following week being attended to by Princess Celestia after she was trying to sneak cookies from the royal kitchens, ran into a bunch of old, leaking flour bags and gave them a telekinetic shove to get them out of the way….
Sunset chuckled at the memory. Most of my mane and a good portion of my coat singed; thankfully one of the chefs was able to put out the flour bomb I inadvertently created. But the smile fell away as she realized a huge fount of magic that hadn’t come from her just appeared. Did Twi come over and not tell me?
A quick spell changed her back into her normal clothing. A second spell—
—and she stood in front of the statue facing Canterlot High. Feeling the front of the statue, it was still solid, with no indicator the portal had been opened. I’m going to have to find a way to move the portal one of these days; I need it somewhere that I can monitor on a regular basis and I can’t do that here. Making a mental note to look more into that later, she had two other spaces that were mapped out and—
She stood on the summit of Mount Shasta, seeing the cityscape of Equestria County below. The thinner air bit at her and she quickly put up a counterspell to keep warm as she looked around, trying to avoid the one or two campers that were at the summit. There was a natural leyline here, she’d found but with the practical emptiness of magic here on Earth, it was pretty much all but dead to her. With her powers back at full, she could tap into it, but she didn’t want to risk turning the mountain into a volcano.
Besides, the magic’s dead, she thought, as her hand lay on the icepack at the top of the mountain. So nothing here. One more place to check—
—and a last-second second spell to keep her floating above the water just before she fell in. She was now currently sixty miles off the coast and there was nothing out here but the dark sea beneath her and the incredible canopy of stars above. Normally she would appreciate the view – I think Princess Luna would absolutely love this – but for now she had a job to do. Casting a warding spell to keep everything from the area, she then conjured a waterspout to remove the water, creating a tunnel of air, allowing her to look down. She didn’t dare descend, given that even though the water was gone, gravity and other physics still remained and if Sunset tried her magic directly against the Earth itself, it’d be a virtual punching contest and she didn’t like her odds of being hit with the planet.
Still, it was more than enough to…. Is that what I think it is? Her hand lit with aquafire and something rose from the ocean floor. A basketball-sized object rose to meet her, and a few minutes later, Sunset plucked the pearl from the air, letting the dead clam fall away. The fact that one that large was here meant it was ages old and probably even pre-dated the loss of magic on Earth, something that she still really couldn’t pinpoint.
Still, this has a tiny bit of magic in it…. A thought came, followed by a smile, and—
“Aaah!” Sunset popped right behind Twilight, freaking her out. “You scared me.”
Dammit, should’ve been more careful! “Sorry, sis. Didn’t mean to.”
“I know. Thought you went to bed an hour ago?” Twilight asked, pointing at Sunset’s clothing.
“Oh, I suddenly felt like talking a walk,” Sunset commented. “You guys were busy watching your movie, so I didn’t want to bother you.”
“Well, I’m not going to tell Mom or Dad about that, but please don’t do that again. You could have been attacked by that killer!” The look in Twilight’s eyes was one of sheer worry. Taking Sunset’s hands in hers, she said, “I couldn’t afford to lose you, sis.”
Sunset’s guilt kicked in; she’d been so focused on doing the job that Princess Celestia had assigned her that she’d completely forgotten about the reason she stayed in this realm. “I’m sorry, sis. I wasn’t thinking and I didn’t mean to worry you. It won’t happen again.” But Sunset’s worries were forgotten as her sister wrapped her up in an embrace.
I wasn’t thinking, sis. I forgot the most important thing of all while I was investigating that, and I can’t let that happen again. She looked at the dragonfire candle and the wooden box next to it, both reminders of her duties to Equestria. But that all melted away in the stark realization of the family member worried most about her.
Damn I fucked up.
Sitting on the floor just outside the door, Octavia cried. She didn’t know why, just hearing Twilight’s words of “I couldn’t afford to lose you” ripped a hole in her heart larger than the Grand Canyon. Logically, she understood that; of course Twilight loved Sunset – they were sisters. For that matter, Octavia loved her cousin as we—
—hateyoumurderyoudrinkyourbloodcutyourskinfromyourbodyandwearitlikearobedecoratemyroomwithyourentrailsihateyouihateyouihateyou—
—ll. And right now she needed to show that, to be with two of the people who were practically sisters to her. Forcing herself to her feet, she went in and wordlessly embraced both. She needed them, her sisters. She needed them both.
There was a knock at the door to the cottage. Solaire answered it. “Yes?”
“Sorry, your highness—” the security guard began.
“Please, while I’m here, just my family name will do,” Solaire told him.
“Yes, ma’am. Sorry. Anyway, Mrs. Solaire, I apologize for bothering you at this hour, but I wanted you to know that we’ve increased security patrols on the grounds,” he told her. “Frankly, Mr. Forest didn’t want to either, but we figured that we should before your consulate insists on increased security.”
Solaire groaned at that; as royalty, she was technically entitled to a security detail, courtesy of the French National Police Protective Service. She disliked it, but as a “living treasure of France” she could request that the Consulate in San Francisco send over two NPPS agents, but that would remove her desire that her daughter grow up as normal as possible.
Apparently Autumn had other ideas. But then given the news this morning, it was prudent. She wasn’t afraid for herself or her daughter; she knew long ago about the realities of living in the United States, but that’s just how things were.
“Well, thank you very much for that. It’s appreciated.”
He smiled and nodded. “Thank you for your understanding. Have a pleasant evening and again, apologies for the disturbance.”
Solaire shut the door and went back to the couch, the stack of documentation on the table and her glass of wine. On the loveseat, covered by a simple throw blanket, Shimmer dozed, the book in German that she’d tried to read set aside.
Solaire smiled. Ah, my little scholar. How proud you make me. At that point Solaire felt a pang of regret for not having taken education while she was studying at both universities here; imagine how interesting it would have been to be her daughter’s teacher as well as her mother! Alas, we all travel different roads and I am more than proud to serve the role that I do in your life, Sunset.
Taking another drink of her wine, she went back to her main duty: one of her family’s foremost diplomats. After all, even though France had long been a republic, there were still some times when the voices of the Kingdom or the Empire were more suited for France’s needs, and that was where Solaire, her brother and his wife, and her recently-deceased older brother and his wife had shone.
Hrm. According to this, Divine had been meeting a lot with Prince Opalflame quite a bit before his death. That was unusual, given her cousin’s predilections towards the sybaritic lifestyle as opposed to Opalflame; the latter was quite severe given his ties to the former royal family and was proud of his duties as an officer in the French Air Force. He died during a training accident; his plane had crashed just off Corsica. His sister, Princess Bienfait, was one of Solaire’s childhood friends. I suppose friendship makes for odd bedfellows; I always thought Opal was the kind of man that hated everything Divine stood for – he certainly railed about “useless playboy billionaires who were a drain on society”.
She gave it no more thought; besides, dwelling on it more meant getting involved in her cousin’s affairs, and she had no desire to be a part of that, metaphorically or literally. Setting that report down, she then focused on a request by the French government to represent them at a cultural festival in Russia in October.
Feeling restless, Celestia sat up in bed, the images of just hours ago filling her mind. Sable was many things to her, but tonight, he’d showed a side to her that he was terrified of, and that she had to privately admit scared her as well: the years in Afghanistan where he’d earned the nickname of “The Wolf of Kabul”.
The horrors he had to face, the atrocities he had to commit just to keep his fellow soldiers alive…. She bit her finger down to stop a sob even as the tears started again. He’s been through hell, goes through it nightly…and I’m such a Goddamn fool for not knowing earlier. Of course she had no way of knowing, but that mattered little in the presence of a man who slept next to her.
For the first time in probably ages, Celestia thought about something other than her own needs. Picking up her phone, she quickly popped off an email to her secretary, letting her know that she was taking the day off. Granted, she knew that said secretary would probably have a cow at the fact that her boss decided to take a day off during the period that no school was in session, but Celestia was a workaholic, she knew.
Now she had reason to be something else…and that something else was now starting to move. Fitfully, jerkily, she watched as the nightmares claimed him again. No! She reached over to him, hoping that her touch would stop them all…
…and he froze up, and as if it were nothing, all his muscles relaxed and he calmed down. A second later, his eyes fluttered open and he looked at her. “Hi.”
“Hi, yourself.”
“Sweetheart, it’s three in the morning. What are you doing up?”
“Watching over you and your nightmares.”
He swore something under his breath and sighed. “I knew I shouldn’t have told—”
“No,” she interjected. “You should have. Maybe there’s not much I can do, and unlike my friend Velvet I’m not versed in the ways of psychology. But if it means I don’t get a wink of sleep every night, I’ll be here to watch over you.”
He sat up. “You don’t have to do that.”
“You didn’t have to come into my life,” she said with a soft smile, “but you did.” She leaned forward and kissed him. “We’re two of a kind, Sable. Can’t get rid of me now.”
His face took on a contemplative look, and then he added, “Well, if you wanted me to move in, we’ll have to figure out a time to move stuff and all that.”
“I have an army of people who owe me favors,” she said off-handedly. “I’m sure that the traditional bribe of pizza and drinks should cover it.”
“Well, we can talk about that later. You need to get some sleep if you’re going t—” He was shut down by her finger laying upon his mouth.
“Not going to work tomorrow,” she told him. “I’m spending the whole day with my boyfriend, including learning how to shoot that gun he insisted on buying me.”
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“You want me to,” she told him, “and while I disagree, it’s at least something I can try, right?”
“Mom,” Trixie told Harmonic, “Go to bed.”
“Nonsense, dear,” Harmonic replied to her daughter behind a stifled yawn, “I can manage the store tomorrow. Must…realign my chi, however. Perhaps focusin—”
“Mom, please. You’ve been at this since the police were here earlier,” Trixie told her. “You didn’t eat dinner, and you’ve been researching at the table the whole time. Dad’s asleep, Lyra’s conked out in my room—”
“And you should be too, dearest Beatrix,” Harmonic replied. “I will be okay. At worst comes to, you and Lyra can open the store for me in the morning.”
Trixie put her arms around her mother in an embrace. “Okay, if you insis—” She suddenly felt her mother freeze in her arms.
“It can’t be. It can’t be!” The look on Harmonic’s face was one of complete and utter horror.
“Mom?” Without warning, Harmonic turned and hugged her daughter tight, tears flowing down her cheeks. After a second, Trixie joined in as well, entirely due to sympathy with whatever panic her mother felt.
Finally, after a few minutes, Trixie asked, “Mom? What—”
Her mother held up a book, Canon a Demonilor, where the title of the author had been replaced by incomprehensible sigils. She guessed it was from her mother’s research library; contrary to what most people believed, her mother was considered an expert in various non-Abrahamic belief systems, and had even taught a course on it once at Canterlot Community College. Harmonic no longer taught it, as she felt no one took her seriously and instead took the course as an “easy A.”
“This,” she said, “is a copy of a book dating back to the 14th century on how to summon demons from the spiritual plane. While a number of the beings within are daemons – the old spelling, meaning benevolent spirits – more than a few are demons, modern spelling, implying those with which we have more, ahem, ‘familiarity’. Each of them has methods of summoning, but it is this one that I am most worried about.” She handed the book to Trixie.
With some nervousness, the Alice-blue-haired mage took the book and started reading, ignoring the horrific picture above the description. “And this thus is the method of calling forth the Great Destroyer, who hath been sealed by the pernicious wizard Merlyn and his aide, a mystical wizard from beyond the lands we know. Those who wish to call the Great Destroyer must present him the brides, mandated by the cards, and shall serve the master who knoweth him by name….”
Una vez más, maldito aburrido, the man thought to himself as he sat in his little fishing boat thirty miles southwest from the coast of Ensenada, Mexico: Just another day of him running his charter boat so that drunken Norteamericano gringos could have another failed fishing expedition. He chuckled; last week had been fun. Sure, the guy who paid for the cruise had been an asshole, but his wife, oh, not only did she have a body, but by the way she was willing to sun topless? Clearly she flaunted it.
Vergaseca cursed himself; maybe if he’d straightened up, lost a few pounds and quit smoking, maybe he would’ve gotten himself a piece of sweet peach-haired tail that night; the way those two acted, they weren’t going to be together much longer. Ah, but he was a man of the sea, however, and any man of the sea never tied himself to the land – wives included – for long.
Which made him wonder why the hell he was out here tonight – oh, yes, it was the drunken stoner kids from San Diego that had hired him so they could do a little midnight fishing. Heh, “fishing”, right: They came out here to drink, smoke weed and all that shit because they couldn’t do it legally on their side of the border. ‘Course they could do all that shit here, and given that the head kid threw a few thousand at him without question, sure, some rich kids want to come and find a place where they could stare at the ocean at four in the morning and get blitzed. Personally, he stayed away from that stuff; beer was probably his only vice and that was more than enough of one.
Looking at the helm, he couldn’t help but watch as one girl, probably no older than twenty, kept looking back at him. Part of it was the druggy haze in her eyes, part of it was something else. He grinned. Maybe it wasn’t going to be as lonely a night as he thought. Sure enough, she saw him look at her, smiled, and started sauntering towards him, unbuttoning her shirt.
Damn, these girls work fast, he thought with a grin.
BHWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMmmmmm….
The sound hit his ears just as the girl, in her now-topless glory, reached him. He ignored the beautiful scene just before him as the ship buckled suddenly.
“Woah, man, look at that shit!” he heard one of the stoners exclaim. Giving the girl a look that said he would be right back and headed for the boat’s gunwale.
The water around him, undulating not with the movement of the waves, but as if by something else, was boiling, bubbling, as he’d been placed in a giant pot on a stove. A fish wafted up to the surface, the scent from it as if it had been cooked.
“Dios mio,” he said softly, as the water started to churn faster. Just beyond the movement, he could see the natural rhythm of the Pacific’s waves move, then stop, as it then bent to the unyielding cadence of the unnatural flow.
He rushed to pull up the anchor, but found it was steadfast, for some reason – then something tugged. The whole vessel jerked and he had the sensation of being tossed from one side of the ship to the other, like that American space show from the sixties.
The water started to glow, and Verga could start to make out unnatural, unholy shapes in the water. Not devils, demons or anything of the like, but clearly not of this world. And he remembered the stories of his grandmother, and how dark magic required a sacrifice. Back then, as a boy of ten, he thought she was crazy. Seeing them now…he knew he very much didn’t want to be that sacrifice.
Knowing he had to free themselves of the anchor before whatever yanked it pulled them to the point of capsizing the boat, he grabbed the nearby barge pole from its position on the hull, then swung for the cleats on the side of the gunwale, breaking them off and letting the anchor’s line race off the deck and slither down through the chock. Without giving it a second thought, he rushed back up to the helm, gunned the engine and sent them rushing even as the spiraling water started to claim more than an—
He heard a scream from the deck and turned around to watch with horror as one of the idiot stoners picked up the anchor line as a joke and got caught in it. The line did what line normally does in that situation, curling around him and thus his leg. But it got pulled tight quickly and yanked him along, without warning, until he got pulled through the chock, like squeezing a tube of toothpaste. Verga forced the bile in his throat down, and then felt the iron grip of the cute girl, as she held onto him in panic. In a normal situation, he knew he’d get some for sure, but now? It was a matter of seeing if he’d live to see tomorrow. If he pushed the engines, he could make Ensenada and let the Maritime Search & Rescue know. In a pinch, he’d gun straight east and then run them aground on the beaches of El Retiro. He’d ruin his boat, but better that than dea—
The world went black as the ocean became a massive wall of water, escribed with unnatural, blood-red symbols. The symbols seem to reverberate with a horrid tone, one that sounded like a hundreds voices all uttering a dark, hissing, dissonant chant. Behind him, he could hear the screams of the remaining stoners, as they freaked out about the fact that the boat was now imprisoned by a massive wall of water, moving faster and faster, like a spinning top…
…or a hurricane.
He looked at the girl, and the last thing Verga did was to kiss her. May as well enjoy one last kiss.
He and his clients didn’t enjoy much more as the wall turned into a massive hurricane, sending fiberglass, metal, wood, and dead, ripped bodies, all over the Pacific.