[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
here, I can t think of anywhere else she d be better off.
Rhes nodded. Good. Who s your friend? She okay with dogs?
Her name s Tori, and I have no idea. Guess we ll find out. Let him in before he
pees on the floor, Rhes.
Rhes opened the door to the kitchen, and the dog, Jake, came bounding out,
barking and wagging his tail. Tori took a nervous step backward, but Two knelt down
and cried out the dog s name, throwing her arms wide. Soon, both girls were laughing
and petting Jake, who was enjoying the attention.
Do you like him, Tori?
He s soft! And... eugh! Jake licked Tori s face, and she pulled back, grinning
and rubbing her cheek on her sleeve. Two laughed.
And friendly. And smart, although I guess that seeing-eye dogs sort of have to
be.
Sure do, Rhes said. Hey, Jake. Relax, big guy. They re not going anywhere.
He patted the dog, then pointed toward the couch. Jake leapt onto it and lay with
his head over the arm, watching them with big, dark eyes.
There were footsteps on the stairs, and Two looked up to see Sarah descending
them carefully. There better not be any boots at the bottom of these, Rhes. If the blind
lady trips and falls again, she s going to break your arms.
Rhes laughed, looking sheepish. No, Sarah. They re in the closet.
Sarah came to a stop in front of Two. Damn near killed me last week. Who says
love isn t work?
Two laughed. How are you, Sarah?
Better for hearing your voice, Two. Do I get a hug, or did Jake wear you out?
Two embraced Sarah, laughing. They broke apart after a minute, and Two looked
around smiling. Rhes spoke up. You look good, Two. I hope you don t mind my asking
but are you still, uh... you know? Staying clean, and all that?
Oh, yeah. That s done. Been done for a while now.
Any cravings? Sarah asked.
Not for that, Two thought. Out loud she said Occasionally. Mostly no.
Good.
Yes.
There was a pause. Two sat down on the couch, and Tori followed her. Rhes took
an armchair. Sarah pulled up the piano bench.
Silence for a moment more, and then Rhes tilted his head to one side, looked at
her for a moment, asked You going to tell us where you ve been, Two?
Two sighed. I don t know if I can. It s crazy, Rhes. You ll think I m crazy.
There was another silence, then Rhes shrugged. Okay. I won t push. Too happy
to see you, anyway. You want anything to drink? Beer? Soda?
Fuck, yes. Beer. Whatever you ve got will be great.
Rhes stood, moving toward the kitchen. What about your friend? And Sarah, do
you want anything?
I m good, hon, thanks.
Two turned to Tori. Do you want something to drink?
What s beer?
You wouldn t like it. It s a drink that sort of tastes like raw bread dough.
Tori made a face. Yuck. Can I have a soda?
Two laughed. Sure. Whatever you have, Rhes, long as it s got sugar in it. She s
not picky.
Rhes departed. Sarah got up, and stole Rhes s seat with a sideways grin toward
the kitchen. She bit her lower lip for a moment, then spoke. Two... Tori, I hope you
don t take this the wrong way, but I can t tell if you re five or twenty-five.
I m this many. Tori held up seven fingers with pride. Two rolled her eyes. Tori
picked a random number of fingers each time her age came up.
Tori, Sarah can t see that, and it doesn t matter anyway since you re making it
up. It s hard to explain, Sarah. She s sort of both, really.
Sarah raised an eyebrow. Don t suppose you d care to explain that, either?
No, but I figure you re probably going to make me eventually, so I guess I might
as well. Let s wait for Rhes.
I get the impression there s a lot you re not telling us, Two.
Centuries worth.
Sarah raised her eyebrows, but Two didn t elaborate. Rhes returned with the
drinks, handed Two her beer, sat down on the piano bench.
Way to steal my seat, dear, He said to Sarah.
Your fault for offering to get the drinks, sweetie. Sarah s was grinning, the
slightest hint of sarcasm in her voice. She turned to Tori. Where are you from, Tori?
I came from a big house. It was full of stuff but mostly I lived outside.
Outside?
Yeah. In the woods.
Oh, jeez... muttered Two. We don t know where she s from. She only
remembers the last place she lived, for now.
Right. The last place she lived. Out in the woods. What the hell, Two?
Two rolled her eyes, drank from her bottle of beer, looked around the room for a
moment. You re not going to let me not tell you this... are you?
Sarah spread her hands. Waddaya want from me? Rhes said nothing.
Two sighed. Okay. I... fuck it. Here goes. When it s done, you can call the loony
bin and have Tori and me committed. I ll start by saying that I can prove this, if I have to.
I can take you to where the mansion was. I can show you what I took from there. I can
dig down to... to Theroen, and show him to you, if I have to.
Theroen?
Let me tell it. It s going to take a while.
Okay, Two.
Two took a breath, gathered her thoughts, and began. It started on a regular
night, I guess. As regular as it gets, anyway...
* * *
The story took three and a half hours to tell. By the time she finished, Sarah
looked pale and shaken. Rhes looked dazed, like someone had hit him in the head with a
sledgehammer. Two couldn t meet their eyes. She was shaking, needed a cigarette, and
thought she might very soon begin weeping.
Questions? She asked, trying for humor and finding little. Her throat hurt, that
muscle ache at the back that comes with holding back tears, or talking through them.
Sarah ran a hand through her hair, exhaled as if just remembering that she needed
to breathe, flopped back against the cushions of the couch. I have approximately seven
hundred billion questions, Two.
That s about half as many as I have. I can t answer most of them, Sarah. I didn t
have very long to learn.
Rhes spoke up. I have one. You really believe this, Two?
Yeah. Yes. I really do. I suppose it s possible that I ve been lying somewhere
hallucinating for the past three months, but I doubt it. I don t have any pictures, but I
have the gun, and the stuff from the mansion, and Tori, who ll back me up as best she can
if you ask her.
Rhes rested his head on one hand, staring at the floor, looking confused. This is
crazy.
Yes.
It s... it s fiction, is what it is, Sarah said. She heard Two s intake of breath,
held up her hand, cut Two off. Not your story. I don t mean you re lying, or making this
up. I haven t even come close to making a decision on that. I just mean the whole
concept. The whole vampire thing. I want to believe you, but this isn t the dark ages. No
one buys into that stuff anymore.
I know. I don t know how to prove it, short of Theroen, and I guess even if I
brought you there, even he could appear to be human. Nothing I can do. All of my
witnesses are dead, except Tori. I guess she s not really that credible... but if you want to
take her outside, she ll happily lift the back end of your car six inches off the ground for
you.
Actually, I d say Tori s proof even without any of that. I don t think she s really
capable of lying. At best she d have been hallucinating right along with you, Two... and if
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]