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Day 7
I was watching Pearlanne’s body being lowered into the ground in the garden now. Literally standing on the edge. Of the cliff that threatened to swallow to the graveyard and garden and miserable mansion whole. The box was a plain box, no ornamentions. Not that my dear aunt, bless her, deserved any better. Tabitha and Stella were holding hands, and there were only a small amount of people left after the ceremony in the church. Most had not dared to wander up to the Estate afterwards, nor had they wished too. We all understood. Kaneeka was here for some reason, along with Sybil. Janey and Doctor Kelly and a few of the miners, with Pastor Daniel overseeing the burial.
With this, the spook was over. I could hear the Locked Door calling to me, from deep within the guts of the rotting house. It all ended today. My cousin wore a stone mask for a face, cold and icy, staring into the distance. Pearlanne didn’t deserve any better in that regard either. But the more important thing was that it gave me the opportunity to sneak off. I wouldn’t need long, if Wayne – strange to still call him that, even though I knew he wasn’t, not on any level that mattered – was to believed. And I trusted the entity, more than any other soul in Scarlet Hollow. Time was of the essence though. It’d have to be done before the ritual Sybil and Tabitha had concocted. Or really, Pearlanne. Rot in hell.
I mumbled something about needing to use the toilet and made off without looking at the expressions of the people I was about to deeply disappoint. God, I’d come here for the funeral. Which I was now skipping. The house was screaming at me.
I walked calmly through the door, passing by the greenhouse, goat still inside. Probably wouldn’t work anyways, I fed the thing peanuts, ruining its strict diet of mystical herbs. No matter. I entered through the door and started sprinting. Time was of the essence. No way in hell would Sybil or Tabitha let me go through with this if they were there to meddle. Sorry cuz.
I broke open the door to the room in which IT was sealed. Wayne joined behind me.
“So you came. It is wonderful to see you embrace your fate.”
Yes. That’s why I came to Scarlet Hollow. I felt it in my bones now. The finality of what I was about to do. The relief.
“You told me the bonds between us are unbreakable. I believe you. I always felt you, watching. As long as I can remember. It’s time to fulfill our promise.”
“And I will never leave you. Follow me.”
The room was lit by the last rays of sunshine. A prison really, bars over the windows, a hospital style bed in the corner. And at the center of it all, the stone seal. Bound within, I knew, was whatever Enoch and the Witch had summoned so long ago. It was magnificent. The creature depicted on it was otherworldly. A many armed giant, crawling out of a chasm, enclosed within a serpent of chains that bit its own tail. I knew the motive. Aegaeon coming to challenge Olympus after the Gods tried to overthrow Zeus.
“Can you tell me your real name now? I feel kinda stupid still calling you Wayne.”
“Not yet. I am still bound. Though it never mattered to me what you call me.”
Names were power though. I wondered if that was the reason it could not speak its own aloud. To know the name was to bind a spirit, at least according to all the folklore of the Earth. And the Scarlet’s had bound this one. Reneging on their promises. I wasn’t sure why it had taken the deal to begin with, but the allure of walking the physical world, free from shackles, was something I understood. Wayne was contemplating the stone in silence.
“What do I do now?”
“A drop of blood will suffice. Now that Pearlanne is in the ground, you are the heir.”
Because my cousin couldn’t bear children. I winced. Poor, poor Tabitha. Wayne pointed at the table beside the bed. A small knife was perched on it. Yes, that’d do. I hoped I wouldn’t give myself tetanus, it must have been decades old. It was still pristine.
I pricked my finger. And laid it onto the Seal. Wayne slumped over, strings cut. So did I.
___________
Where am I? I was surrounded by blackness. Nowhere. A pair of glowing eyes in the distance, lightning crackling around me. The howling void of nothingness. Where earthbound spirits sleep. Was the afterlife like this? I don’t know, I cannot die.
You’re here? It was. It was all around me. I am, it replied. Its voice was a thunderclap and the silent whistling of the air on a crisp winter’s night. At the same time. I smelled ozone. And flowers. And sickly sweet rot and everything else I’d ever smelled. Sublime.
Don’t be afraid. I have never lied to you, now you can know that to be true. I could. Could feel it in my heart and soul. Will you leave now? Not unless you want me to. I didn’t, I never wanted to be alone again. But a slightest hestitation tugged at the rational part of me.
Will I still be me?
Yes. No. We will be much and more.
Even when I die? Will I be a rotten corpse, like Wayne.
We will never die. Though you may walk the deepest abyss, I will be besides you. Everything yearns to decay and return to the Earth. We will be freed from that law, altogether.
Won’t you be bound, still, to me? Do you not want to be free?
I wished for this. That’s why I answered the summons so long ago. To escape this nothingness. And to be free. You can only be free in the company of another.
Pity welled up in me. Are there more like you?
How many angels can dance on the pin of a needle’s head? That is to say, it does not matter. Do not mourn them, for none can conceive what they lack.
Unlike you? It was cruel of the Scarlets to force you here and never give you what you wanted. A willing host, able to roam the world as you please.
It was not cruelty. You came to me after all, nothing else matters. Those without love cannot see it. The seventh son, the seven seals unwound, the seventh day.
The day of rest.
I’m ready. I will be yours. If you will be mine.
The lightning storm swallowed me. I burned. Excruciating, exquisite pain. The last and first day of my life. Oh, how I had yearned for this. Tears of joy dropped from my face. I could feel every nerve in my body being torn apart and being stitched back together. I saw my mother on her deathbed. She was smiling at me. I let it all in.
My name is a burning star.
__________
Where was he? Where was her cousin? Tabitha looked around the graveyard, concerned. The priest had finished speaking now and she’d stopped holding onto Stella. Only now had she noticed he wasn’t here anymore.
“Said he had to go to the toilet.” One of the last miners said, as he was turning to leave as well.
Tabitha couldn’t believe it. He’d actually skipped the funeral. In a manner of speaking. Typical. She still needed him for the goat ritual, if Sybil was to be believed. A shudder ran through her. Sybil hurried over, her expression panicked. It wasn’t something she’d ever seen before.
“Where is Noah? Where is he, Tabitha”, she was practically shaking her now.
“What’s this about Noah?” Stella joined in. “He just left for the toilet. Kind of a dick move, but you know the guy by now.”
“What is this feeling, mum? I want to vomit.” Kaneeka was clutching her stomach.
“Guys, do you hear that?” Stella looked over to the Estate, whining Gretched clutched in her arms.
Tabitha could hear it. Soft piano notes, ringing down from the sealed off wings of the house. Why was Noah in there? Was it Wayne? She wanted to sprint inside immediately, but reconsidered. She turned to the car and picked up the shotgun.
“Tabby, geeeez. What are you doing?” Stella and Sybil were looking at her concerned.
“I really hope we don’t need it. But I get the horrible feeling my cousin got himself into a pickle again.” As he always did. And on the last day as well! Incredible, Noah. Just incredible.
Kaneeka mumbled some sort of excuse and stayed outside. After everything her cousin did for her. No matter, she could handle this. She tried to get Stella to wait outside as well, to no avail.
The three were making their way to the forbidden wing. The door was wide open.
“Noah, you’re kind of creeping me out.” Stella was holding onto her arm now. It was nice. Though she couldn’t say she disagreed.
“Tabitha, be prepared.” Sybil urged her. They stepped inside, past the room with the tapestry, where Vivian had been burned off. Something new was scribbled beneath it. Noah. The piano was reaching its crescendo now. She’d never been very interested in classical music, but she knew this piece. It was one of Grandma Eddies favourites. And it fit the scary old woman well, haunting notes that whispered melancholy and death. How could anyone besides her know how to play it?
In the decrepit ball room, torn asunder by a crack caused by the Mansion sagging into the gorge above which it loomed, her cousin sat. Playing piano. The whole room smelled of wet earth and raindrops on concrete. Like an approaching autumn storm. And sick rot. Ditchling were crawling along the edges of the room.
“Noah, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Her eyes went wide when she saw Wayne laying on the ground besides him, a flower on top of the corpse. Noah didn’t look up from the piano, playing the last notes before the room fell into silence again.
“Tabitha. Your mother is dead and buried, congratulations.” Okay? This was the dead mums club guy after all. But something was seriously off.
“I must thank you from the bottom of my heart for calling me back to Scarlet Hollow. I’m whole now. I’m finally whole! I doubt you could even imagine how good it feels.” Was he having a psychotic break? He could at least look at her. A moment later she wished he hadn’t.
Her cousin turned around to face her. A placid smile on his face. His eyes were sparkling unnaturally in the evening dimness. It’d be better to say they glowed. Like Sam’s eyes had. Just slightly. But it was enough to make her sick. She dropped the gun and ran over to him.
Stella yelped out behind her. Sybil was whispering faintly.
“Noah, what the hell did you do? Why is Wayne lying there?” Her cousin looked down on her from the piano pedestal. Towering over her. She’d come to enjoy his presence, maybe even like him, but she was patently scared now. He didn’t seem right at all. And he smelled. Like that Reese kid had smelled, but different. Stronger, more electric.
“I fulfilled our family’s promise.” As if that explained anything. She turned to Sybil, who was clutching her heart.
“What the hell is he talking about?” Her cousins grin widened so much, she thought his face might split open.
“Oh, don’t bother with the witch. I’m beyond her now. Don’t look at me like that Sybil, what comes around goes around, huh?” He laughed.
“Stella, nice to have you here for this. Don’t worry, I’m good. And nice to see you too, Gretch.” The pug was growling at him, straining to get out of Stellas grip.
Whoever the hell this was, it wasn’t her cousin any more, Tabitha jumped backwards, reaching for the shotgun.
“Ouch. Tabitha, that hurts.” And she could hear the disappointment in his voice. She nearly hesitated, but she grabbed the gun and pointed it at him, protectively placing herself in front of Stella. Safety came first, even from her own family.
“Shut up. Tell me what the FUCK you did-” what? Her arm went slack against her will, the gun dangling uselessly by her side. She turned toward Sybil, panicked expression on her face. But the old lady was frozen in place, sweating now.
“Sorry bout that ‘cuz. But I’m not letting you point a shotgun in my face. I like my face.” He touched his face, as if uncertain. She still couldn’t move her right arm. What the hell had he done?
“Cool trick, huh? Pathetic, poor old Charlie could do it, so I thought..” He spread his arms wide, as if conducting an orchestra. Or rather, miming a puppeteer. When he dropped his hands, her arm was released as well. She didn’t raise it again.
“Let’s just talk, Tabitha. You don’t have to worry about us.” How could he say that with a straight face? Tears were threatening to spill from her eyes, she forced them back. She didn’t want to believe Noah could or would harm her.
“Tell me what you did.” She pleaded, voice low. Stella was staring at her cousin like a deer caught in the headlights.
“It’s just as I said. I fulfilled our family’s promise. And the promise of the Witch as well,” he glared at Sybil before continuing.
“I am no longer bound behind the seals. We. Hah, it feels so right, but it’s still kinda confusing. Sorry, moving on. The Entity, as I called it on Wednesday, was the source behind the Scarlet’s grip on this town. We were animating Sam Wayne’s body after Pearlanne murdered him. We laid him to rest.” he gestured at the corpse.
“He can sleep peacefully now, graced by a Crysanthemum.” He gave me a wink. Shut up shut up shut up shut up.
“Y-you took the demon into yourself?” Stella asked. Why the hell would anyone do that. His smile got weaker.
“Demon is a very ugly word. Not what I am, what it was. You’re forgiven, though. I suppose it’s not easy for you to get. We’ve always been together, ever since I can remember. I was watching him. I was waiting for the last Scarlet heir. Returning of their own volition, accepting me for what I am. Now we will never be alone, ever again.”
His eyes were glowing stronger as he spoke, as the darkness of night settled over the ball room. She was speechless. How could she even argue with this idiot. At the same time, a twinge of pain ran through her. Did he really believe that?
“Alone? I would have been there for you. You told me you could imagine staying in Scarlet Hollow. With me.” Noah looked away sadly at that.
“We’re your friends.” Stella added meekly.
“We can still be friends. Maybe. Probably. And I appreciate everything you two did for me. But you can’t understand. What it’s like to be completed. What it’s like to have the hole in your soul patched up.”
She couldn’t. But she also knew that merging with a demon was the wrong way to go about it.
“We can figure this out, Noah. Together. Just stay here for the meantime, I’m sure Sybil has some ideas to help you and we still need to do the ritual.” Yeah, the goat. As if a goat could save them now. But maybe, just maybe. Please.
“Don’t bother, there’s nothing behind the seals to receive that power any longer. It’s all within me now. In any case, the town is not long for this world.”
As if to accentuate the words, a rumbling shook the mansion right then. He spread his arms again. The ditchlings squirmed. Sybil collapsed onto her knees, steadying herself. Stella hold on tighter to her arm.
“What the fuck? What are you doing.” She glared daggers at her cousin.
“Me? Nothing. Well, not actively. The seals are gone, the metaphorical mine has run dry. They were holding this village together. Now that we’re no longer pouring our power into them, it’s going to collapse. Literally collapse. The moment we leave the Holler and take the last vestiges of ambient power with us.” He looked guilty. Then he smiled again.
“That’s why we gave it a nice serenade earlier. I loved Scarlet Hollow as well. For these short seven days. You didn’t think I was playing it for that bitch Pearlanne, did you. Oh yeah, I can play the piano now, can you believe it? Hahaha.”
His jolly laughter didn’t reassure her one bit. How dare he, talk this easily about taking everything from her? Everything from the people living here? She should have never invited him here in the first place. Stella was looking close to tears.
“The Holler’s going to be gone? Can you really not stop it? You know how much this place means to me, means to all of us.” Even Sybil looked shaken, a sad frown on her face. Her cousin just shook his head.
“I’m sorry Stella. I know you loved Scarlet Hollow, your home, everything. But it was built on a rotten foundation. It was always going to crash and burn.” then he turned to her.
“Tabitha, the same goes for you, I know you felt burdened by this place. I’m sorry about the mines, I knew they were your life’s work. But you can leave now! We can visit the Outer Banks if you’d like!”
What a sick joke. For that thing wearing her cousin’s face to shout her deepest secrets back at her. Just like it had been with Wayne.
“Shut up. Shut up. I don’t want to hear another word out of your mouth. I wish I had never called you here in the first place. If you don’t stop this, I won’t forgive you. Ever, I swear.” They’d been friends. And he had thrown it all away. For what? A stupid ghost possessing him?
“Do something!” She turned to Sybil, who had already taken matters in her own hands anyways. She’d drawn some kind of circle on the ground while pretending to kneel after the tremor. It looked magical, even to her untrained eyes. Small crystals were lain on the vertices of the geometric structures within.
“We can’t let that thing roam freely. Stand back.” she replied grimly and started to wail. It was a deep sound, guttural and primal like a wild animal.
Her cousin didn’t seem all too impressed. He crushed his outstretched hand into a fist.
The floor boards shattered. Tabitha pulled Sybil away just in time, but the stones fell into the darkness like glittering stars. Whatever power she had tried to summon from them gone as well. They landed rudely on their asses, a gaping hole where they’d stood moments before. Shit shit shit. She turned towards her cousin, who was pointing a finger where the floor had been.
“No. You have no power here, Witch. I always wanted to say that, heh. But seriously, please don’t try anything stupid. My other half is screaming at me to kill you right now. And if you tried to force him back into that darkness, you’d deserve it, Sybil. I’m not going to hurt anybody. Why would I? We’re perfect now. Absolutely perfect.”
A loud bang made Tabitha flinch. Stella had grabbed the shotgun and taken her chance while her cousin was rambling. She was a very good shot, spent her whole childhood hunting with her father and she definitely didn’t miss. There was a hole in Noahs stomach, electric spiderwebs visible deep in his twisting red guts. Before she could fire another slug, a yellow tendril of lightning slashed at her, the gun torn in half on contact. The tentacle-thing - God, she was going to be sick - slithered back up the sleeve of her cousins shirt. The air reeked of ozone.
“Urgh, really Stella? I admire the sheer audacity, but I meant it when I said we’re still friends.” He sounded heartbroken, not like he’d just been shot. The flesh on stomach was knitting itself back together already. Just like Reese’s face had. Tabitha was immobilized again, unable to move a single muscle and she guessed it was the same for Stella and Sybil. Noah picked up the broken gun and threw it into a dark corner of the room. Then he turned towards them again, stumbling for words.
“Fuck, y’all are taking this worse than I thought. Uhm. Okay. The Holler is not going to get sucked back into the ground where it belongs tonight. I was always planning on leaving everyone enough time to get out of here safely.”
Tabitha was glaring at him with a furious hatred. Stella was just quietly crying. Sybil looked resigned.
“You’re not in the mood for talking, I guess. I get it. We’re not gonna let you hurt us though. Or seal us. Or anything. I guess I can stay here at the mansion for a while. I’m going to let you go now, please just tell everyone in town to scram. And tell Doctor Kelly to leave Reese in the clinic, I’m going to get him out of there when they’re all gone.”
The jerk was actually starting to tear up now.
“D-don’t come back here, unless you actually want to talk. You can get your belongings out tonight, Tabby. Tabitha.”
The sadness in his voice, his defeated posture, almost made her feel bad, but she squashed the feeling. She didn’t dignify him with a single word, just grabbed Stella and got out of the crumbling ball room. Sybil was talking to her cousin behind them. Tabitha didn’t care. Didn’t want to care.
__________
I winced, sitting in the empty ball room. Wayne’s corpse beside me. Not really alone though. I could feel the electricity coursing through our body. That hadn’t went as well as I’d expected. Don’t worry about them, I am by your side. I know. And all the time in the world to mend your relationship to your cousin. I don’t really think it necessary, but since it’s what you want, we’ll make it happen.
I sighed, mentally exhausted, but fundamentally happy. It was too bad about Tabitha and Stella, but hopefully they’d come around. And get out of here safely. They didn’t get it. Of course they didn’t get it. I was barely beginning to understand it myself. Still just scratching at the endless canvas that was my mind now, flooded with memories and feelings that weren’t my own until a few hours ago. It was like having an entire library crammed into my head. I could feel the raging light within me. It spilled out of my eyes like a flashlight if I didn’t focus on keeping it down. The assessment we’d made in the void had been correct, I wasn’t really Noah anymore. I wasn’t not myself either though.
I could feel some part of myself flowing out into the village. Keeping it all together. For a short while. The mines had been expanded by eldritch magic from beyond mortal ken, what the hell was Tabitha expecting to happen? My family had meddled with something vast and ancient and now the town was going to have to pay back the loan. With interest. Sybil understood at least. Or accepted that she couldn’t do anything about it after our short talk. Her grandmother had played a part in this as well.
If the greatest of their kind summoned the least of mine, it’d still be hubris. Pride comes before the fall. They should be happy you are not vindictive. If you wanted me to, we could make them suffer.
I thought about Bo, having to leave his farm days after his dad died. The diner being shut down, no one being served heavenly biscuits by Avery again. Oscar and his library. Stella losing her parent’s house. At least Kaneeka would relish the chance to get out of this dump. A dump I could have called home as well.
Tabitha wouldn’t stay mad forever.
And home was with myself now.
What else can we play on the piano.
I know most of the classics, let me guide your hand. Our hands, I corrected. Your body just as much as mine. The distinction between us will cease to matter eventually, we are still in the process of integrating into each other, Noah. Wonderful, isn’t it?
It was. It really, really was.
__________
Stella, Kaneeka and Avery came to the mansion to talk to us two days later. The old gang, reunited. I greeted them at the entrance. The three were looking uncomfortable to be there, fidgeting under my gaze and staring at me awkwardly. I couldn’t fault them that. Kaneeka was holding her head like she was having a headache. She was off the tea at least. Or maybe it was us that was unsettling her, she was quite sensitive herself.
“Uhm, hi Noah.” Stella waved at me, she didn’t have Gretchen with her.
“How are you, eh, feeling?” Avery added. Kaneeka reminded quiet, a concentrated look on her face.
“Out of the world. Metaphorically and I guess, literally.” Ah, how to explain this to them. You can’t. And I’m not sure it’s worth trying, but be my guest.
“That’s. Good?” Stella couldn’t keep eye contact with me. You’d think she would relish the chance to talk with me. I was a honest-to-goodness cryptid now.
“I like the glowing eyes. Looks good on you. So, you’re like, possessed now?” Avery, I knew you’d get it. They don’t get it at all, what a crude approximation of the bond we share. They’re not weirded out, what more can I ask of someone? Love. You wouldn’t get jealous? I would. Then be reassured, I need no one else.
“It’s not really possession. Fusion would be a better word.” I grinned at Avery. Human words can not describe our bond. It cannot be sullied by metaphor, no. It just is.
Stella took a deep breath, still squirming.
“imsorryforshootingyoujustdidntknowifyouwerestillyou”
I could barely understand the rapid stream of words that came out of her mouth.
“andyouwereweirdandreallyimsorryishotyou”
She looked like she wanted to disappear into a sinkhole. Oh, that. I started laughing.
“It’s fine, Stella. It’s fine. Don’t beat yourself up over that. Didn’t hurt, or even leave a scratch.” I pulled up my shirt, there were no signs of the gaping hole left. “It’s nice of you to apologize, but I was indeed acting weird.” The world at my fingertips. To the blind, sight is insanity.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there. You… I don’t feel good around you. I still don’t.” Kaneeka chimed in, as much for me as for her friend.
“You have it too. The third eye, whatever you want to call it. I must not seem very human to it. I am not very human anymore.”
“I want to vomit when I look at you. Sorry.”
“Did you talk to your mother?” My best guess was that her powers were at a peak right now, finally no longer conceiled by Sybil’s vile tea. I can feel it welling in her, she is stronger than you were before we became one. So she was a magical girl, after all.
“I… did. I don’t want to get into it now, sorry.” A natural reaction. I let it lie.
“Stella. Has Tabitha said anything?” I was disappointed she wasn’t here. More than I cared to admit. She is your cousin, your last family. I see how strong your love is now. There’s no need to be embarrassed. I don’t share your love for her, but I will accept your feelings in full. Do not hide.
“She’s still pretty mad at you. We all are, kinda. Give her some time, I’m sure she’ll be okay, eventually. There’s really nothing we can do to save Scarlet Hollow?” Stella was downtrodden.
We could stay here. Forever. Perpetuate the festering corpse of this place. I could bear it, if you really wanted it. But you don’t, do you? No. Everything must come to ruins one day. Tabitha would like you more for it. I knew that, but nothing would force me back into a box, ever again. It is undignified.
“Oh, Stella. Nothing lasts forever.”
We will be the exception. I let my other half speak. I have nothing to say to your little friends. Try, you have a say in everything we do. I want them to know your perspective. For their sakes and yours.
“In a very real sense of the word, I am Scarlet Hollow. It’s genius loci. I do not wish to sustain this place, this cage the Witch devised for me. I long to see the beach. I long to walk the deepest places of the Earth and the highest. That promise drew me here in the first place, from the howling nothingness on the other side. There is no space or time or decay there. I learned much from Scarlet Hollow, but it is time to move on. I have always watched over you, but you have never seen me.”
I am loved now. Thank you, Noah. We all want someone to witness us, I understand. I will show you everything the world has to offer.
They were looking at me in awe and with a healthy amount of fear. Not that they had anything to fear from me. Other than the shattering of their exceptionally small perspectives. Kaneeka was looking very sick. Avery seemed only delighted though.
“Woah, woah, woah. That was rad, Noah. Was that the ...entity? Speaking through you? Your voice changed. It makes my skin crawl, in a good way.” I smiled at them. Maybe Avery does have an inkling of how blissful we are.
“I am never going to be alone again.” I grinned a smile so wide it might actually have hurt. If anything could hurt us now.
“That’s nice for you.” Stella said, she seemed unsure if she meant it or not. “The ditchlings were here for you then?”
“They were feeding off the residual power of the seals, anticipating the collapse. They will prepare the soil so new flowers may sprout here after we leave.”
“They are everywhere now, even during the daytime. People are freaking out, most of the miners have already started to get out of town. We can get everyone out by the end of the week, I think. Bo and his mum will take the most convincing.” Kaneeka sighed, like she couldn’t wait to leave herself.
“I would talk to him myself. But I cannot leave the mansion. It will crumble if I do.” Poor Bo. The farmers always appreciated Scarlet Hollow, I have no dislike for them. They paid me the respect I was due.
“Yeah, don’t do that, I think he’d try to blast your head off. You feel seriously bad, man.” It would almost be fun to see him try. But no. No need to frighten the boy, after everything he’d been through.
Stella was fidgeting again. Playing with her phone, not looking at me.
“I think we should get going Noah. But, don’t be a stranger?” She tugged on Avery and Kaneeka’s sleeves. I think I spooked her. We’d been closer than most. You scare her, no longer being quite what you were. I scare her. She looked like she might close in for a hug, but decided against it.
“If you want me to, Stella. Same goes for you two.”
“Yeah, sorry, but no. I don’t think I want to see you again. Nothing personal, it’s just. You know.” Kaneeka was already turning to leave. It was personal, but I understood.
“I’ll stay in touch.” Avery gave me a wink.
Then they went about their way. Good-bye, my friends. You’ll see them again. Do you want that? Not really. But I know how much they mean to you.
_______________
Tabitha never came to see me. Stella let me know when they’d evacuated Scarlet Hollow though. She still texted me, asking me if I was okay. Avery too. Getting everyone out had taken longer than a week, but not by much. The tremors were getting stronger and the ditchlings were everywhere now.
I sent her back a shoggoth with a smiley face mask and an “everything’s going to be daijoubu” caption. Maybe dumb humor would lighten her mood.
Tabitha never replied to my texts. So yeah, she could stay mad for a week.
Then I made my way through the mansion for one last time. The possums were perched in a cat travel cage now, which had taken some force and I’d shooed the goat away. I could only hope the ditchlings wouldn’t get it. I looked through the guest bedroom again and put on my last pair of fresh clothes after showering for the first time in a week. In the shower, I had thought of strange vistas that couldn’t be described to any other person. Unless they were tripping on DMT, I guess.
The estate was lonely now. I almost wished I could stay here forever after all, but that way lay foolishness. I headed outside, taking the building in one last time. The ball room had fallen down into the ravine yesterday, when I was preoccupied with forcing the goat out. The house was nearly torn in half now. It was strangely beautiful. Wayne’s body would never leave the town, I thought with a pang of sadness. Don’t mourn him, he is long gone. We remain. Goodbye, our prison, our true place of birth
I jogged through the town. Empty. Not even ghosts inhabitated it now, they were sleeping peacefully. With the seals gone, nothing should bind them to this place any longer.
In the woods, ditchlings teemed, preparing for the destruction of the very earth and it’s eventual replenishment. They were strangely beautiful too, Avery had gotten that right. Goodbye, weird little guys.
I made my way up to the clinic. Tabitha had answered my call without hesitation, guns blazing. It’d be nice if she was here right now. Maybe good she wasn’t though, for Reese’s sake.
I knocked on Doctor Kelly’s panic room. An anguished voice replied.
“Is that you Noah? The doc told me you’d come for me when everyone else left.”
“Yeah, it’s me Reese.” A white lie,“Noah” was not what I thought myself to be anymore. But if anyone could understand, it’d be him.
“Don’t freak out when you see me. Or do. It’s not like you can hurt me.” I opened the door.
Reese was cowering inside, monstrous, but still with human features. The mark on his shoulder, where we had touched him, was still there. Fading now, but it might not ever heal entirely. Our touch lingers. He took a scared look at me.
“You smell very different.”
“Yeah, a lot of shit happened. Let’s get you out of here. Sorry for letting your mum lock you up, but Tabitha forced my hand. It was either that or letting her burn you.” He bristled at the mention of her name, but he came out anyways, closed the gap between us and hugged me.
I was surprised, but I hugged back. Harder than any human could have handled. Not that Reese wasn’t human. He isn’t human, just as you aren’t human anymore. It is a good thing.
“I had some time to think. I still hate the doc. But I’m not going to hunt after her. Sybil offered me to stay with her and I think I will. Even though I kinda hate her too.” Yeah, I’d talked her into that. She still had mistakes to own up to. Kaneeka didn’t dislike the idea, though she was probably off to vet school soon anyways.
“Can you handle Miles? He’s a really dumb teenager.”
“I’ll manage, I think. What about you, Noah? What are you going to do?”
That was a million dollar question. I had no idea on the concrete plans.
“Don’t know. Didn’t think that far ahead. But I’d like to see a lot of stuff. The swamps on the coast, the mountains, the sea. I’m already kinda happy?”
“That’s, uhm, good for you?” He glanced away awkwardly. Still got it. The Scarlet charm.
“I want to reconnect with my cousin eventually, but she’s still mad. I think I did the right thing though.”
“Anyways, lets get out of here. Unless you want to save some of your stuff? There’s enough space in the car.”
He look back towards the stairs to the basement. Then he shook his head.
“I don’t need the paintings. I can always make new ones.”
“Wait. I still owe you a viewing of Shi no Chi Death Blood, though” and ran off to grab it. And most of his movie collection.
Sure, why not? I’d have all the time in the world. For movies, for everything. I’d never get bored. Was Reese ageless, or just very hard to kill? Well, I’d find out eventually. He was a comrade in arms though, at least spiritually. He’s nothing like us. He’s basically your son though, right? He is impermanent, malformed. He was made of a strange fancy, an urge to change the status quo. I was overeager. But I understand what you saw in him now. He could have made a nice companion. Nothing compared to me though.
With everything packed in the car, we drove up the quiet mountain roads. I didn’t really have much to say to Reese. At least until we reached one of the ridges with a good view of the town. I stopped the car.
“You’re gonna want to see this.” The possums too. I let them out of the cage and they scurried off, spooked by Reese and me.
I could see the crumbling estate from here and even the mines. The hill was looming ominously over the diner, the general store, the library, Tabbys vacation home and all the rest. Then I let out a deep breath. Return from whence you came. You can rest easily now, mum. I’ll be fine.
The ground shook and quaked. With an otherworldly roar the hill collapsed on itself, the Estate torn apart instantly. A cloud of dust billowed upwards, but I could see the village being buried under the avalanche of rock. It was gone about 30 seconds later, taking all of its bloody history, its wonderful vibes and gruesome mystery with it. The pull it had on me vanished as well. My other half was quiet, contemplating. It had loved Scarlet Hollow too. A twisted love, more stockholm syndrome than anything else. It’s everything I ever knew.
“Guess you were right about the town being doomed.” Reese was whistling as the Holler hollered one last time. It sounded funny, all monstrous and weird.
Couldn’t add much to that statement. Good-bye, Scarlet Hollow.
_____________
Many years later.
Tabitha was just coming home from work. The apartment she lived in now was tiny and cramped, but she did her best to keep it clean. It was the least she could do. She sometimes had Stella over, but their relationship was rocky. They’d grown apart after being forced to leave Scarlet Hollow. Everyone going their own directions, spreading all about North Carolina and the rest of the country. Wherever they could get jobs. Tabitha had wanted to get as far from it as humanly possible. She was living near Seattle now. Stella still lived in the outskirts of the Appalachian mountains. Never could leave them behind. And really, she just wasn’t good at relationships.
She hadn’t seen Noah since that last day at the Mansion, he’d gone radio silent, even on Stella. She didn’t want to think about him. It was painful. She’d gotten to know him over those miserable seven days, he’d told her he could have imagined staying in the Holler, with her. And damn, if she hadn’t been glad to hear that. They’d eaten ice cream together, he had her back and she his. And then he’d torn the whole town apart and left. Was there anything, anything at all, she could have done differently? She didn’t think so.
She settled into her couch, ice cream in hand. It was a nice enough life. Easy. She even tried to hook up with people once in a while, but it had never lead anywhere. She silently ate, some boring TV show in the background. She checked her phone, Stella had texted her again.
Tabitha shot upright. She could smell it before anything else. That sickening geosmin, ozone crackling in the air. She’d have grabbed the pistol she kept for home-defense, but she knew it to be useless. If whatever was left of her cousin wanted to hurt her, there wasn’t much she could do about it.
She looked through the peeper at the door. It was undoubtedly him, obscured though his face was by his drawn-up hoodie. The glowing eyes were piercing straight into her soul. Should she ignore him? Pretend to hide under her bedsheets, like he had done once? The memory shot a pang of melancholic sadness up her spine. Maybe she should, so he could experience how dumb that was first-hand. But she resigned herself to opening the door. There was no point in deferring this even later, was there?
Her cousin just stood there. Tall, threatening. His clothes were dirty, his face turned upwards in a pleasant smile. Eyes glowing in the dark. He didn’t look any different than he had back in 2022, like he hadn’t aged a day. Acting like nothing had happened.
“Tabitha. Can I come inside?” her cousin asked politely.
For a moment she wondered if he operated under vampire rules now. If she could just turn him aside and forget he ever showed up at all. She didn’t think it likely, and there was nothing to be gained from it. She nodded at her cousin and gestured inside.
“Thank you.” He took off the hoodie. Her hairs stood on edge. Nothing was physically wrong with him, not like Wayne had been. But he felt off all the same.
“What do you want? Come back to finish the job?”
She hissed the words as she slumped back into the couch, picking at her ice cream. She didn’t have to look into his glowing eyes if she didn’t want to.
“You wound me, Tabitha. Is that what you think of me? No, I just came to check on you.”
He sounded hurt, though also amused. And he was still smiling, he’d have looked almost idiotic, if he wasn’t so fucking capital-w Wrong. Tabitha didn’t think her cousin was lying though. It just brought up more questions.
“How did you even find me? Did Stella tell you where I live?” She didn’t want to think Stella could be that dumb, but she definitely was sometimes.
“Oh, no. I was walking up and down the states for the past decade. When I got to Washington, I felt your presence. You are the last family I have left in this wide world, we will always share that bond.”
Her cousin said it with such calm serenity, she almost wanted to drop her guard. Just sit there and eat ice cream with him. But he was wrong, they weren’t really family. Not any more. The anger over the loss of Scarlet Hollow had subsided many years ago, but she knew it in her bones. Every subconscious instinct in her brain was screaming it at her. That he was a monster. Not something you should get close to.
“You’ve just been hiking this whole time?” Now that sounded like her dumb cousin.
“Yes. Stretching our legs, so to speak. We’ve been walking day and night. Listening to the sounds of nature, tasting the crisp air, speaking to the woods. I no longer hunger or thirst. I don’t think we’ll ever tire of it. But I don’t usually stay in cities too long. That’s enough about me. How are you, Tabitha?”
“Fine.”
“You got old. It surprised me for a second. Do you have anyone you wish to spend your life with? Or are you alone?”
He stopped smiling when he asked that. Alone. She had wanted to spend her life with Stella. And, her cousin too. But she knew that both were no longer possible. Stella was married now, her cousin was not her cousin anymore.
“I’m not that old. What’s it to you.”
“It’s a fearful thing, to be lonely. I don’t want that for you. And I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. To be honest, I didn’t even think about you for a long while, I’d hoped time and space would mend our relationship. I should have come to find you sooner, but I am satisfied by myself.”
She buried her face in her hands. It was so unfair of him to say that. He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. She let him.
“You don’t have to say anything. You owe me nothing. I was planning to leave the US through Alaska, cross the Bering Strait and continue my travels in the Old World. Now that I think about, it could take a lifetime before we find our way back here. If you want me to go, this is good-bye.”
She looked up at him. It was an offer to stay.
“Can you give me a bit of time? I’ll have to think about it.”
“I can. Take all the time you need, Tabitha.”
______
We wandered the streets late at night, face hidden, eyes seeing through the gloomy not-darkness of the city. Sometimes people stared at us funny. I wondered how many people had the gift, like Sybil and Kaneeka. Even if they had, there was nothing to be afraid of. I prowled the dimmest alleyways, taking everything in. Cities were amazing after all. Monuments to complexity and ingenuity and healthy doses of suffering. I pitied them, that they had to suffer, to be alone.
Laughable, that the Scarlets had offered blood and soul, just to hold onto a small slice of this world. Clawing at it feverishly, like starving men in the desert. It had been easy to give them wealth, but they didn’t gain any satisfaction from it. They could have been so much more.
We were staying in an abandoned property at the outskirts of town. It was overgrown and mossy, filled with rats, possums and bats. It was a good temporary home. Tabitha had offered her couch, but I could tell we made her antsy whenever we hung around too long. But she gained some measure of comfort from this body, so I stayed in the city, dropping by every now and then. Mostly sitting with her in silence. Preparing proper meals for her occasionally. I would stay as long as she wanted me to. It was the least I could do for her.
I knocked at the door of her complex, mustering her face as she opened the door. Looking at the hard lines on her face, results of stress and age. Every day a little death, impermanent and fleeting.
It made me sad. Very, very sad. In the way a wilting flower in the dying heat of summer could blanket you in melancholy. I enjoy your wistful longing, it is so very human. I complement you. Naturally, together we are everything.
“Can you stop staring at me? God, you’re so creepy.” She sighed and plopped down in front of the TV.
“Just thinking.”
“Do I even want to know? You’re incomprehensible, cousin.”
I personally thought what I was feeling was perfectly sensible. It is. But it’d bother her, to talk about mortality and that I could understand just fine. It was nice to be around her. To try and lend her the tiniest fraction of the grace I enjoyed. She will always be fundamentally empty, it’s good she doesn’t understand. You’re too harsh, humans learn to cope with that. It was the truth, of course.
“Thank you for having me. How was your day, Tabitha?”
“Pain in the ass. The people I have to bother with at work, you wouldn’t believe it.” She looked away, with a blush. “But I met someone nice.”
I recalled the memories of Sam Wayne. Tabitha could be a gentle soul in the right hands. I hoped from the bottom of my heart she could form a connection like she’d had with him or Stella again. Then I’d no longer have to worry. You’ll always worry, I know you.
“Oh?” I smiled at her. Open your heart, Tabitha. Let it spill out on the floor. Break yourself and pick up the pieces. Fill the cracks with radiant gold. It’s the only way humans can live, we will stand witness for you.
“I might have given him my phone number. We’ll go on a date tomorrow.” She turned to look at me again.
“What are you grinning about? And God help you if you stalk the man. I don’t want him to even see you, you hear me?”
“Ouch. I would never.” Not if she asked me not to.
“Thank you, I guess. I don’t think I’d have accepted if you weren’t here, pushing me to take some risks. I was stuck in a rut of my own making. It’s pathetic, really.” She was nervously fiddling with her spoon.
“You’ll be fine.” I knew it to be true.
“It’s just kind of scary.”
There was no other way to live.
You scared me too, before we became one. I trusted you, but it was frightening.
It was fate that I won your heart.
“I was afraid too, Tabitha. But I think you can do it. You’re stronger than I ever was.”
“We both know that’s not true. God, it must be kinda nice for you. I almost get why you did what you did.”
We ended up watching a movie in silence, leaning against each other. I was happy for her.
______
Tabitha looked out of the window from her hospital bed. It was a grey, rainy Autumn night. Her children had left earlier, to give her some rest. Not that it mattered anymore now. She knew it’d be time soon. Time to go. She wanted to struggle against, deny it, but she’d accepted it years ago. That she was old. Too old for a Scarlet really. None of them had lived as long as her. Well, he didn’t count.
Speak of the devil. She always knew he’d come by one last time. The eyes were glowing at the window and she struggled for a minutes to get up and open them. He was wet as a dog, but not much bothered the man. She wasn’t sure whether anything could.
“Tabitha. Hey.” He spoke gently and guided her back to the bed, tucking her in. She was too weak to make a fuss about it.
“The door too good for you?” she laughed feebly.
“Don’t think they’d let me in this late. I waited until your grandkids were gone. They’re cute.”
“They’re young adults now.” She chuckled. “So this is it? I think we both know this is the last time you’ll see me. I’m going to be dead soon. Very soon now.”
It was almost comforting. She’d lived a life worth living. Couldn’t have done it without his support. She’d let her cousin back into her life in her mid thirties, tentative and with great hesitation. But it’d been good to have him around for that short year, when she’d been alone. He’d occasionally visited her in the years between, but after she met her late husband – God rest his soul – they’d grown apart again. Not strangers, but he was strange. He’d creeped out her family whenever they caught a glimpse of him. She’d made peace with that too, after all this time.
He started at her, unblinking, eyes glowing in the dark hospital room. She never tell what he was thinking. Though to be honest, she couldn’t even when he was still entirely human.
“Yes. Yes, you will. We both know it’s not the end though. Give Vivian my regards, if you’re able. I don’t know what happens when the soul moves on, not truly. We have good guesses, but there’s no need for you to hear them now.”
The knowledge had made it easier to come to terms with her end. That souls were real. Though maybe old Charlie would have disagreed that it was a good thing.
“I’m proud of you, Tabby. I love you for everything you are and everything you’ve done. You saved us, though you didn’t intend it. We will remember you, always.”
Sentimental sop.
“I’m too old for tears, cousin. Likewise though. I love you as well.”
“I don’t have much else to say. You’re the last Scarlet. I’m sorry I can’t be by your side for the very end, that you have to brave this last journey alone.”
“I haven’t been a Scarlet since I married. And don’t be. Dying kind of sucks.” Her children weren’t hers by blood and none had taken the name, not that she wanted them to. Let the Scarlet line die with her. It was a wretched thing and she wasn’t sad it’d be buried with her.
“You’re the last one now, Noah Scarlet. Forever the last.” Though he’d shed off both names long. She usually just called him cousin in her head now. And they’d talked about the whole dying thing too. He wasn’t truly immortal. If he burned to cinders, his body would die like any other. So maybe she’d see him again after all. In a billion years, when the sun consumed the Earth. If the thing inside him would ever let his soul go. Or him its soul. But this was as much of a final goodbye as one could get.
He looked like he wanted to say something deep. But he just rummaged through his backpack instead.
“I brought you that ice cream you liked so much when we first met. They no longer make the same brand, but it should be similar.” He held the container into her face.
“Oh god, I haven’t eaten that in decades. It’s way too sweet for me.” She had to laugh though. So this was her cousin’s idea of a final meal. He was still an idiot, after wandering the Earth for nearly a century. She took it gladly, but after a few scoops, she felt too sick to her stomach to continue. A damn shame.
“What are you going to do now, dearest cousin? Wander for the rest of eternity? Until the stars burn out?”
She was worried about him. He insisted he wasn’t alone, but he always came back to her to catch up and talk eventually. She hoped he had other people like that, but she wasn’t sure.
“Yes. Until the sun grows cold. I want to witness everything humanity does. I do not hunger or thirst or labor or lust. I am content. Don’t leave this place with worry on your heart. I’ve had more time and chance to contemplate the point of all this than most.”
He was stroking her head now. It was nice. It was very nice. She could feel the sleepiness now and she closed her eyes. Despite better judgement, she hoped she’d wake up again. To see her family again tomorrow and to see her cousin as well. But if she didn’t, that was fine as well.
“Did you come to any conclusions?” Her voice was weak now, she hoped he could still hear him.
“Yes. Life is short and worthless without love. Your life was worthwhile, Tabby.” She felt him kiss her forehead and a wet drop of water falling from his eyes hit her face. Sentimental sop indeed, her life had been anything but short. She didn’t feel cold, just warm and cozy. The taste of sweet cream still lingered on her tongue and the smell of lightning was all around her.
“I think I’ll go to sleep now, good night Noah.” She drifted off into a deep darkness.
“Good-bye, Tabitha Scarlet.”