'Til Death Do Us Part (52 page)

“
That
’
s good then?
”
John asked.

“
What?
”
I asked him incredulously.
“
Okay
,
let
’
s put this in terms you
’
ll understand. I feel about finding this like you would if this crate was full of prime California bud.
”

“
There
’
s weed in there?
”
John asked
,
pushing me to the side. He was mighty disappointed when he realized that wasn
’
t the case.
“
Why would you lie to me
,
man?
”
h
e asked with pleading eyes, like maybe I had stashed the find before telling him.

“
I was just comparing how I feel about finding this to how you would feel finding some weed.
”

“
Not cool
,
man.
”
He
returned
to the Rune stones, I suppose for solace.

“
Bullets?
”
Azile asked.

“
Shit,
”
I said. I had been so enamored with the machinegun
that
I completely forgot about the rou
nds.
Without
them
,
this just became a very heavy club.

“
There
’
s a
box next to him that says 5.56,
”
Azile said
,
pointing to the left of John.

“
No good
,
this takes 7.62.
That
’
ll work for the M-16s
, though,
”
I said
,
looking deeper into the truck.
“
This must be t
heir rolling armory…
and now it
’
s ours.
Well
if this doesn
’
t help to change the tide
,
I don
’
t know what will.
”
Nobody was listening
, but I was still talking.
This
was too big a find to keep bottled
up inside. We now had a machine
gun and about two dozen M-16s.

“
Just use more of them,
”
John replied in all seriousness.

“
That
’
d kind of be like me telling you to just smoke mo
re of the marijuana plant stalk,
”
I told him.

“
The plant stalk doesn
’
t have any THC
. Y
ou could smoke i
t all day long and not get high,
”
h
e said.
“
I
’
ve tried.
”

“
Same t
hing…sort of…with the bullets,
”
I said as I pulled a tarp to the side. There were three more stones making a total of five and two beautiful crates marked
‘
disintegrating metallic split-linked belt (M13 links)
, 7.62 in a ratio of 3 rounds to 1 tracer.
’
“
I think I
’
m going to need some time alo
ne,
”
I told John and Az
ile as I gently stroked the box.
Azile laughed
,
which was nice, it was the first time I
’
d seen any emotion out of her
, that didn’t somehow revolve around anger
.
John started to walk out of the truck.
“
I was kidding
,
man
,
”
I told him.

“
Wait
!
Are
you sure those are rune stones?
”
I asked John.

“
We should get going,
”
Azile motioned.

“
Sure
, you can tell by the markings,
”
h
e said as he ran his hand across the raised etchings.

Azile was getting down from the truck.
“
Hold o
n,
”
I told her.
She
momentarily eyed the doors, maybe figuring if she could close and lock the
m
before I could run to the end. She either figured she couldn
’
t get it done
,
or that it wasn
’
t such a good idea in the first place.
“
What
part do you play in this?
”
I asked her point blank.

“
I was a prisoner,
”
s
he told me flatly.

“
I gathered that much on my own,
”
I told her. At firs
t I just figured she was a play
thing for a demented
,
perverted truck driver
,
but she didn
’
t have the feel of
‘
victim
’
on her.
“
There
’
s mo
re here,
”
I stated as I began to wonder.
Her
name which was unique began to stick in my head.
“
How do you spell your name?
”

“
What
’
s that got to do with anything?
”
s
he shot back.

“
Humor me.
”

“
Is she going to tell jokes now?
”
John asked.

“
Azile!
”
I
snarled
. John and Azile jumped.

“
A-Z-I-L-E,
”
s
he said as she put her head down.

I rocked on my feet, John thankfully caught me.

“
What
’
s the matter
, man?
That
wasn
’
t even funny.
”
John asked as he propped me back up.

“
There
’
s more going on here than you
’
re telling.
You
just happen to have the same name as Eliza only in reverse?
”
I asked.

“
Whoa
,
that
’
s freaky.
Who’s
Eliza?
”
John asked.

“
My father knew her,
”
s
he said
,
looking back at me defiantly.

“
Let
’
s start at the beginning,
”
I said.

“
Well
,
scientists believe that the entire universe
—
”

“
John! Her
, not you,
”
I said.

“
That
’
s just it
,
Ponch, the begi
nning is the same for all of us.
That’s what makes us all connected,
”
h
e said proudly.

“
My mother was five months pregnant with me when Eliza turned my father. According to my mother, my father visited her once in those last four months and told her that the only way she could protect me was to name me Azile. My mother was
so
petrified
that
she believed him completely. She said she had
never seen someone so soulless…
that
was….
until I was seven.
”

“
Eliza,
”
I said.

“
She
and my father came to visit. Eliza killed my mother as my father watched
,
then she grabbed me.
”
Azile flipped
her hair over to show two long-
healed
,
puckered wounds on her neck.
“
She had just sunk her teeth into me when something in my father, some vestige of humanity showed itself a
nd he begged her not to kill me…
that I was
even named after her. She back
handed my father so hard
that
he slid across the floor of the kitchen.
”

***

“
What is your name
,
child?
”
Eliza said as she stroked the young girl
’
s hair.

“
Azile,
”
t
he girl said
holding her chin high
. Her mother was dead—
a small pool of blood by her neck. Her father
(
in
biological
terms only
)
was groaning, his back up against the far wall in the kitchen.

“
Azile! How rich!
”
Eliza said delightfully.
“
Perhaps I should let you live, if for no other reason than to see what happens.

Azile did not understand the monster
’
s words.
She
could see beyond the veneer of the beautiful woman to the cruelty and horror that lay beneath. The twisted, g
narled thing
shrank away from that gaze.

“
Well if you are not to die
, then it shall be your father,
”
Eliza said as she strode over to Azile
’
s father. She looked back
,
waiting for some sort of response. Azile stood defiantly, the only person she cared for in life
already dead;
her father meant nothing to her. She watched as Eliza ripped the man
’
s throat open. His gurgled cries for help went unheeded.

“
I believe we shall meet again,
”
Eliza said as she patted the girl
’
s head and left.

***

“
I saw her for what she was and
she let me live because of it…because of the horror of it,
”
Azile said as she covered her face.

“
I
’
m sorry for everything you
’
ve gone through.
”
I hopped down off the truck.

“
But?
”
s
he asked looking up at me.

“
You tell me.
”

“
Group hug,
”
John said
,
climbing down off the trailer.

I acquiesced
,
because if I didn
’
t
,
he would have gone on about it for hours.

“
After Eliza killed my mother, I vowed revenge. I knew
she was something out of a faerie
tale
,
so that
’
s what I decided I must become to defeat her.
”

“
A unicorn?
”
John asked
,
looking on her head for the horn.

We both stopped to look at him.

“
A witch,
”
s
he stated.
“
I studied the Wiccan ways of white light.
”