Page 103 of Girls Night
Behind the old lady stands Olectra.
My vision returns to normal, and I’m able to crawl to the wooden stairs, gulping for air.
Olectra glances down at me and sneers. The Rose Mother approaches her but she wags her finger and the old lady stops. “I wouldn’t come near me if I were you… Rose Bitch, is it?” She lifts her chin at the monstrosity and crosses her arms over her chest. “Delphi knows what I can do to bone. Just imagine what I’ll be able to do to wood.”
“Bone mage!” The Rose Mother spits, clasping her sappy stump and swaying slightly where she stands. “You have no business here. Remove yourself!”
The side of Olectra’s mouth curls up. “Or what? You’ll turn me into a wedding bouquet?” She brings a hand to her chin and taps it. “Let’s get something straight. I don’t care what you do toher.” Olectra jabs her thumb in my direction and I flinch. She laughs. “I don’t even care what you did to this butt-fuck town or its residents. Hell, you could turn the entire world into a jungle for all I care, I’d still think it’s pretty.” What little there was of a smile dies and her face turns sour. A lock of hair falls over her eyes but she doesn’t brush it aside. “I do, however, care when you fuck with my sister.” She raises a hand and ever so slightly turns it. “And that makes me mad.” She swats the air and the Rose Mother’s other arm bursts. “That makes me want to tear you, limb…” Olectra curls her hand into a ball and throws a punch. A hole blows through the Rose Mother’s left leg. “…Fromfuckinglimb!”
Screeching, the old deity drops to the ground, her remaining leg kicking out violently as she rocks her body. Tears of sap leak from her eyes. Her cries swallow the room.
“Kill her, Olectra,” I rasp, my throat still raw from the roots. “Just do it already!”
She laughs, spreading her arms Christ-wide, then claps her hands together and the Rose Mother explodes, spraying me with sap, bark, and brittle bone.
“That was incredible,” Olectra sighs, hands clasped and grinning. She winks. “I pretended she was you.”
Chapter Twelve
Final Destination
As soon as I am able, I stand and beg Olectra to see her sister. She doesn’t give in to me, says it’s probably best if she fronts for now and leaves Cotton Rock immediately. But after a while, she relents. Perhaps it has something to do with me getting on my knees for the second time today and weeping. Christ, I’m a simp.
When Electra appears, she wraps her arms around me and holds tight. We bury ourselves in each other’s necks. I apologize, and won’t stop. She tells me to hush, that it’s all over now.
I obey.
The vegetation around us shrivels and dies. One by one, every flower rots and perishes. Even the Rose Mother, now nothing more than shards of tortured wood, decays and becomes one with the filth she has left behind.
When we make our way back up to the house proper, day has given way to night. We make our way through the silent town of Cotton Rock, the only sound coming from our footsteps against the uneven sidewalks and streets and the occasional sniff and chuckle.
When we arrive at my car, it won’t start. Whether it’s magic related or due to me not taking it in for a service for the last three years, I’m not sure. I ask Electra if she can help.
She smiles and rolls her eyes. “I’m no tech mage, Delphi.” She taps the side of her head. “None of us are.”
Electra takes me through the forest, down to the road where she tells me the bus driver dropped her off. By this time, it’s nightfall. We finally hear the sweet song of cicadas buzzing through the trees.
We wait under the bus shelter, holding one another still. We don’t let go, not even when lights pool along the asphalt and the rumble of the bus can be heard not so far away.
“I’m going to call you tonight after I’ve dropped you off at the Three Blind Mice,” I whisper into her ear as the bus comes to a screeching halt. “Then I will visit you tomorrow. And the day after that.”
She looks up at me and grazes her lips against my cheek. “And what happens after that?”
I smile and my eyes drop to my shoes. “That’s up to you,” I say.
The doors to the bus creak open and we make our way toward it.
I stop dead when I see my own reflection sitting behind the wheel of the bus. An uncomfortable prickle crawls down my back and my jaw clenches.
Electra frowns, and, confused, nudges me gently in the ribs. “What is it? What’s going on?”
My doppelganger doesn’t move. It just stares. And sits.
That wet rag stickiness of the dark subway station descends onto my shoulders and I know it’s time to go.
It’s never good to keep magic waiting.
Epilogue
