Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 99201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
They are… outsiders. And they came through a magic door that is still open.
Suddenly my mind is whirling with questions. “Where did you come from? Are there any more of you?”
They are still laughing, but their fit is beginning to wear off a little. So the first one manages, “We came all the way from Pittsburgh, lady. Just because someone was in a bar last week and told us about a little town filled with walking, talking monsters that are half human, half animal.”
“Did they?” I ask, still focusing on that door.
The second one says, “Yeah. But you’re not a monster, you’re just a crazy bitch. What is this? Some kind of weird cult?”
Cult. I consider this. It is, kind of, in a way, the Cult of Eros. So I say, “Yes. It’s a cult,” even though I understand we’re probably not using this word in the same way. And Savage Falls is not, technically, a cult, since none of the residents worship Eros—a few of them are related by blood and the rest of us are just stuck with him.
Still, I feel this misnomer is accurate enough for the moment, and now it is my turn for a question. “Would you like to come into town for a drink?”
They both look at me in a new way now. I am wearing fake horns, a ratty fur coat, and blocks of wood on my feet, but underneath all that insanity is a very beautiful woman. At least by human standards.
This is how they see me now.
“Uh,” that first one says. He looks at his friend and they have some sort of secret conversation with their eyes. Should we, shouldn’t we… Then he looks at me and smiles. “Uh, sure. Yeah. Let’s have a drink. Does the whole town dress like you?”
“Not exactly.” And now it’s my turn to smile. I extend both of my hands towards them. “Come with me, boys. Let me be your escort.”
They shoot each other another look, doing something with their eyebrows. Like I just made them an offer of sex. Absurd. But whatever. I smile even bigger as they come down the hill towards me, turn around, and I take both of their hands.
“Are we going to a bar?” one asks.
“Is there food?” the other asks. “We’re starving. We’ve been wandering in the woods for two days looking for you people.”
I don’t say anything, because we were not that far up the hill and the town is already visible through the trees.
“Oh, look,” the first one says, pointing with the hand I’m not holding. “A candle shop.”
“Oh, my God,” the other one says. “I’m so pissed. Look, it’s a road. We could’ve driven here, asshole.”
“We needed the door, remember?”
“That door didn’t do anything. It was just a stupid frame and we walked under it.”
Interesting. They found the door open in the middle of the woods. “Pittsburgh, you say?”
“Yeah,” the first one says. “We’re both seniors at Pitt studying ancient history. What do you do, lady? And why are you dressed this way? Is it a festival day or something?”
I’m not sure what a ‘pit’ means in their language, but ancient history I understand. “Oh, ancient history. Then you’re going to love this town.” I snicker a little. “And I am the queen. You shall call me queen.”
“Right,” the first one laughs. “I mean, yes, my queen.” He leans back to catch the eye of his friend, once again passing along some hidden meaning.
We are just about to step out of the woods when I catch sight of Batty—Darrel—coming out of the candle shop with a bag. It’s been closed for weeks—that shop’s owner went for supplies and never came back—but it’s stocked with plenty of little luxuries. Batty must be procuring Madeline a gift. Which I like. Because I like her.
And he is the perfect monster for this moment.
Which is the moment when the man-boys catch sight of him as well and their feet do a full stop on the sidewalk as they stare at the monster across the street.
Batty is formidable-looking. He’s almost a little Eros copy. Not as commanding, but he’s had his moments in this shit show we’re all playing bit parts in.
He is looking at us as well. His gaze finds mine, his eyebrows raised in confusion. Because he doesn’t recognize these man-boys and he has questions.
“Hello, Batty,” I say, which also takes him by surprise because I have never actually spoken to him. “We have guests. Can you help me? They would like a drink at the bar and I would like them to meet Eros.”
The man-boys are shocked, having gone very still. The first one whispers, “Dude. Are you seeing this? Or is that last hit of acid comin’ back to haunt me?”
The other one whispers, “No, dude, I see it.”