Page 108 of How To Take Down A Cult At The End Of The World
I give him a gentle push. “You’re a good one, Clyde. Take care of Dina. Live happily.”
“I will,” he says, “I still think you should come though.”
“I’ll be right behind you,” I lie. “I’ve just got something to take care of first.”
He swallows hard and looks over my shoulder at where Eri is still laying in a puddle of her own blood. I don’t think he believes me, especially because I don’t move to follow after him but Clyde still gives me a nod and a smile.
“See you out there then.”
“See ya round, Clyde.”
I watch to make sure Clyde is gone before I turn back to Eri. She’s stirring, slowly getting up to her feet. I cross my arms and wait for her to get her legs under her. I want her to be fully aware of what I’m going to do to her. There’s no sport in it otherwise.
She spits blood on the floor at my feet. “You fight like him.”
“I know.”
Eri doesn’t make a move after that, I watch her close. She’s assessing the situation, even if she’s a god she can’t have lasted this long by making the stupid bet. She’s weighing her odds of being able to take me down. Her odds are bad. We both know it.
“Don’t forget.” I point at her chest. “That’s mine.”
The reminder is all it takes for Eri to turn and sprint away from me. I watch in confusion, ready to chase her but she doesn’t go for the hallway Clyde just left through. Where the fuck is she going? Eri runs at the back wall and slams her fist into it. The wall shakes and she hits it again and again. It’s only when a hole appears and I see sunlight that I realize what she’s doing.
She’s trying to knock the wall down.
“You’re that much of a coward that you’d knock a wall down to run away?”
Eri doesn’t respond. She’s knocked a big enough section of the wall out for her to get through. The god slips through it and doesn’t even bother giving me a backward glance.
I throw my hands up in the air. “What the fuck was that?”
Chapter Forty Three
I debate going back to tell the others what Eri did, but I know I’d lose her if I do that. She could become anyone. I’d never find her again so I follow after her through the wall. I know I’ve only been inside the Chamber of Commerce for an hour, two at most, but it’s jarring being back outside with the crowd. Even more so when I realize the band that marched through town is back for round two. The town square is on the other side of the road the band is on, a crowd of townsfolk and visitors on either side. They fill the town square and push up against me and the side of the Chamber of Commerce. It’s packed here.
“Are you okay?” A small boy asks me. He has a pumpkin balloon and he’s dressed like a bat. He looks between me and the hole in the wall with wide eyes. He looks me over slowly, taking in the blood on my hands and face and torn clothing. “Are you a superhero? Is that why you came out of the wall? Can you lift a horse?”
“Um, yeah, I am,” I lie and crouch down beside him. “Hey, I don’t know about the horse thing but do you want to help me catch someone bad?” I was always good with the kids when I was assigned to the daycare and pre-school. I pray I can use some of that kid mojo to get the drop on Eri.
He comes closer and looks around before he whispers loudly to me. “Like a super villain? We’re just visiting my cousins for the weekend and I’m not supposed to talk to anyone I don’t know. I’ve never seen a real super villain. Just fake ones.”
“Yes, exactly like that! I’m so glad you’re here. I bet it’s been, um, a lot of fun. Did you see where the other lady went? She had on a really evil gold dress.”
“I did,” he says with a nod and points towards the road where the marching band plays. “She went that way. She looked really mad.”
“Not as mad as me.” I turn to look for Eri and spot her immediately. Blond hair and the flash of a gold dress slipping into the marching band.
I hold my hand out to high five him. “Thanks, bat boy. I owe you.”
He slaps his hand against mine in a high “You’re welcome!”
I start moving and push my way into the marching band but it’s rough going. I catch a sax to the back and someone swings a clarinet at my head. This is bullshit. This marching band is feral. I’m never going to get through them in one piece if I don’t do something. Every second I don’t see Eri she gets closer to getting away.
She’s not getting away. Not before she pays for what she did to my husband. I duck past a clarinet and see Eri. She’s in the town square now. She vanishes into the crowd and I surge forward to run after her but I’m cut off by a brass instrument.
“Watch it!” A tuba player doing some weird twist dance with the rest of the band slams into me and I snap. I grab them by the front of their uniform and jerk them to a stop. “Hey, heyyy! What are you doing? No, not my tuba!”
I don’t listen. I go right for their tuba and rip it off of them before I shove them back into the pack of dancing tubas. Let’s see how he likes getting smacked around by a horn.
