Jeremy Chikalto and the Demon Trace (Book III of The Hazy Souls) (12 page)

“It's tea time.” Tina ripped up the
plant.

“What are the medicinal properties of mint
leaves?” asked Maren.

“Mint's fine.” Frisky handed Maren a small
container.

“Yeah, but I mean...” Maren sighed.

“Did you hear that?” Tina pointed just
outside the perimeter fence. A stick snapped somewhere close, in
the gloom. There were crickets.

Maren jumped. “Let's head back in.”

“It's fine. What were you saying?” Tina
smushed the leaves up against her nose. “This is great.”

“I think I'm pregnant.”

Tina gasped and inhaled some of the mint
leaves into her mouth. She began to cough.

“Really?” asked Frisky. “When...?”

“Um, don't be naive, Frisk.” Tina smiled and
then spit up a mint leave.

Maren stood up. “There's someone out there.”
She pointed to the trees beyond the perimeter fence.

Tina wandered along the fence and then
dropped into the tall weeds.

“What is she doing now?” asked Frisky.
“Tina, get back here!”

“Head back,” said Tina's voice in the weeds.
“I'm talking to them.”

Maren took a couple of steps back, but kept
looking for Tina. A small flame alighted by the perimeter fence. A
hand gripped her from behind and she screamed. Another hand covered
her mouth. She was pulled to the ground and ropes bound her arms
behind her. She gnashed her teeth and screamed out, but was gagged
with a cloth. Tina was flung beside her. Her eyes were wide but she
remained quiet. A group of strangers had infiltrated the camp and
were circling them. Two tall, gangly men and three women with
weather-worn faces stared down at them. They wore necklaces strung
with teeth.

“Want to know a secret?” said a gaunt older
man. His cheek bones jutted out and his lips were stained red.
“Your friend looks delicious. What's her name?”

Maren wriggled but stopped as soon as she
saw the boot stomp right in front of her belly.

“Her name is Maren.”

“They feeding you well here, Maren? We know
a source of endless food.”

Maren tried to push the cloth out of her
mouth with her tongue.

“She's pregnant,” blurted Tina.

The man smiled and his teeth, like his lips,
were bloodstained. “Maren, you ladies want to join us for
dinner?”

A woman with stringy black hair in her face
drew close to Maren and sniffed. Her teeth necklace brushed against
Maren's chest. “To join us, one of you will eat the other. But
it'll be okay!” The woman licked her lips and laughed. “Who will
pass the test?”

A man grabbed Tina by the hair and brought
her head down to the ground. She screamed and a boot kicked her
head. She slumped forward and went limp.

Maren shook her head and pleaded with
tears.

The old man grinned. “I'm going to take this
rag out of your mouth and you just be quiet as a little church
mouse. I'm going to cut my mouse a piece of cheese to eat.” The
man's eyes lit up, and he plunged a small knife into Tina's
shoulder. She jerked up, and the pack of strangers fell on her like
dogs. Just then Frisky leapt forward from behind a line of trees
and shouted, and the hungry pack turned to a more lively sport.

From the behind the line of trees, Wantoro
and Mateo emerged running, wielding a machete and a cast-iron
frying pan respectively, and Ren was bringing up the rear with his
sword. Frisky drew a hunting knife, cut Maren free from her
restraints, and then joined in the charge. The strangers beat a
hasty retreat, trying to take dinner with them, but someone dropped
Tina in the weeds. The strangers scraped and tore their way under
the hole in the barbed wire fence and fled into the night. A few
johnny-come-lately soldiers ran to the fence and fired off rounds
in the dark.

Chapter 22

Minor Key

Tina was brought to the medical ward—a
neighboring house absorbed into the compound, stripped of
unnecessary furniture and appliances, and painted a sterile
white—and Maren excused herself to her bedroom over Frisky's
protest. She shook violently, her nerves still splintered. The
worst part about it was being silenced—she was sick of being gagged
and bound, and considered herself an agent of change. A small part
of Maren raged. She held her belly, which now seemed a foreign
weight to her, and lay on her side.

“Hey,” Jeremy appeared at the door. “Is
Frisky here?”

“No.”

Jeremy entered the room and sat on the sofa.
“You look cute.” He reclined and set his hands behind his head.
“Want to come over here?”

“No.”

“Everything okay?”

“Something happened.”

“Yeah?” Jeremy frowned and waited
expectantly.

Maren began to shiver again. “I'll tell you
later.” She couldn't bring herself to relive the fear she felt
moments earlier. She'd almost lost the child she only just realized
she carried. “I need to sleep.”

“Okay.” Jeremy lingered for a few seconds,
and then left.

Maren dreamt that Jeremy was playing the
piano and singing:

The icicle shivers on the branch,

Because the twig sprang up some new
leaf-grass.

All the time the moon sings,

The sun bleats on its morning song.

The world spun and a second moon
answered.

And I found you, Goddess.

The next morning, song
birds gathered on the barbed wire fence and seemed to echo back
Jeremy's song
—
only in minor key. Maren awoke with a jolt, half-expecting to
find Jeremy beside her. But she was alone.

Chapter 23

In Passing

Following the cannibal attack, General
Forero recruited more guards to work in shifts twenty-four hours a
day walking the perimeter.

Maren visited Tina in the hospital.

“Dork, tell someone you need more rations!
You got a friggin' angel baby growing inside you!” said Tina.

“Sshh, keep it down. I'll tell Jeremy as
soon as I see him. I couldn't tell him last night. He came to visit
me in Frisky's room and I think he was trying to apologize. I
just...” Maren sighed, trying to find the right words. “I don't
want him to be with me out of some obligation. He has serious trust
issues.”

“A lot of issues, yes,” Tina nodded.

“It's just so
embarrassing, what he did. He needs to beg for me in order to right
things. Last night, he said, 'You look cute,' as his opening line.
I can't give in to
that
. I look like an idiot for even letting him talk to
me.”

“Looks like he's not the only one with pride
issues, at least.”

Ren and Frisky wandered in. Ren sat down at
a chair, saw that Frisky was chairless, and stood up, gesturing to
the seat. Frisky waved her hands, as if to say, “No thank you,” and
the two continued to gesture at each other politely in turn.

“Oh my God, I'll take it for my feet!” Tina
yanked it forward, and then stretched her legs across the
upholstered seat. “Or maybe Maren should get it for her feet?
That's a thing, right?” Tina smiled.

“Um, no, it's um, barely at that point.”
Maren laughed it off, but kept looking at Ren.

“He doesn't know?” asked Tina.

“Later,” said Maren, fidgeting.

“When can we tell people?” whined Tina.

Frisky made a brave face and tucked her
brown hair behind her ears. “I told him already. Sorry.”

Maren frowned slightly, but then remembered
Ren's loyalty. “It's okay Frisky, but I don't want anyone else to
know until after I tell Jeremy.”

Maren excused herself, then wandered out and
found Mateo, Wantoro, and Raaychila playing a game of cards in the
parlor, apparently gambling over a jar of blueberry preserves.
Wantoro frowned under heavy black eyebrows. Raaychila clicked her
slender fingers on her husband's arm while he determined his next
move.

“Hi,” mumbled Maren.

“You're doing all right, my girl?” asked
Mateo. He laid his hand on the table. “Full house.”

“Beats my two pair,” said Raaychila. She
slid the blueberry preserves across the table.

Wantoro frowned. “I thought I had it with a
three-of-a-kind.”

“Maren! Eat this preserve with me. Pull up a
chair!” Mateo twisted the lid off. “After what you've been
through,” he winked, “you need to take it easy.”

“Surely you'd want some bread with it,” said
Wantoro.

“Maren, do you want to talk about what
happened?” Raaychila asked.

“Well,” began Maren
uncertain of how best to blurt out the news. “I, so. There's this
thing
—
well, I
wouldn't call it a thing
—
”

“Jeremy will come around again. His ego is
just...,” Raaychila nodded, unable to finish the sentence.

“Yes, yes, I know that. I...” Maren groped
around awkwardly for a chair to sit on. “Please tell Jeremy to come
see me if you see him around.”

“Of course,” said Raaychila.

Wantoro and Mateo began to shift
uncomfortably. “Here, Maren,” said Mateo, and he handed her the jar
of blueberry preserves. Wantoro passed the bread.

Chapter 24

Muddy

Mantel floated through the Maze, followed by
Ms. Fritz and Jasmine. His black robe masked him completely, except
a little pink flesh around his eyes, which were presently bloodshot
flecks of light. “They're gone,” he said. “Every last demon is
gone.” The torches on the stone walls led them to a stone slab
covered in a thick green slime. Mantel floated over it, but Ms.
Fritz had to wade through the slime. For Jasmine and her baby,
however, the slime pulled back slightly, allowing Jasmine's feet to
pass through unscathed. The slime coalesced quickly behind her.

When they got to the other side of the
sludge, Ms. Fritz rubbed her hands together with gusto, stepping in
front of Jasmine. “So then the dead will flourish? The demons won't
take them from you.” She smiled up at him with her thin lips, and
her eyes were bright. Gorda's thick frizzy hair had been cut short,
and now curly ringlets lay neatly on her forehead.

Mantel considered this. “Yes, the dead will
flourish, but not for much longer. Apollyon will lead them. I don't
know where he'll take them.”

Ms. Fritz's cheeks turned
tomato red. “Master, I know you have the answers. I never doubted
you! I've seen the Cajjez up close
—
I know who he is. Jeremy is no
leader, he is a self-absorbed, mischievous thing. The dead belong
to you and you alone will grant them the freedom that is their
right! When I die, I will stay here in your Maze and I will serve
you. If the dead find you, they will stay with you, not Apollyon.
To hell with his demons!”

Mantel smiled wryly at Ms.
Fritz, and turned to Jasmine, who was quietly nursing her baby in
the shadows. “My dear flower, you've grown a fruit for
me
—
but consider
your baby spared. I do not need to consume him. Still, there's no
denying the power of infants in this place. It's almost like the
Maze is expecting.” Mantel raised a soddy lump of
flesh
—
what might
have been an eyebrow
—
in Jasmine's direction. “Try setting the baby in this
sludge.”

“We've tried this already!” Jasmine frowned
and held her baby closer. “Please, we don't have to do this. It
didn't work in the other room! The Maze is not interested.”

Mantel nodded to Ms. Fritz and she stepped
forward and pulled the small child from Jasmine's arms. Ms. Fritz
lowered the baby into the sludge. The sludge didn't budge; the baby
was waist-deep in green ooze.

Jasmine cried and scooped up her dirty baby.
“It didn't work.”

Chapter 25

An Announcement

The hail had subsided and Wantoro poked his
head out of the Victorian. He spotted Jeremy from a distance, took
a deep breath, and jogged over to him.

Jeremy stopped short of the stairs leading
up to the amphitheater and watched his father run. He wasn't used
to seeing him in a frantic state. “Hello,” said Jeremy, staring at
his father.

“Hi,” said Wantoro. He cleared his
throat.

“Did you have something to tell me?” Jeremy
climbed up the stairs and sat on the stage. He let his legs dangle
over the side. “Dad?”

“Yes! I was in the forest
the other day
—
it
was five days ago, I think
—
and I learned something. That
Frisko girl told me..., well Maren was with her friends. There were
cannibals
—
”

“What!?” Jeremy scanned
the distance for Maren. “I've got to find her
—
she didn't tell me. Is anyone
hurt?”

“No, no. Forgive me, that wasn't what I
wanted to talk about.”

“Okay, jeez. I had no idea!” Jeremy began to
chew on his fingernails.

“When a man and a woman
have a strong... connection
—
do you know how bees pollinate the
flowers?”

Jeremy shook his head. “Uh, yes? Did the
cannibals breech the compound?”

“Nevermind that! The bees weren't right to
talk about. I should cut straight to it.”

“Okay, do.”

“A man is never truly a
man until he has a responsibility
—
do you remember when you were
younger and you wanted that puppy?”

“I think? No.”

“But we got you Lyrna because the puppy was
needy.”

“And Maren's okay?”

“Yes! You weren't ready
for the puppy. But now, I think
—
no, you're still not ready for the
puppy.”