WnW 9.11

A lounge chair stirred. An arm pulled free at its base and pushed, tipping the chair over onto its backrest. A single bloodshot eye stared out from between the cushions. From there, the chair split apart, more limbs unravelling from where they had been stuffed into concealed compartments, all in the name of presenting as a piece of the background, the kind of repetitive furnishings that my eyes had slid over by the third room we passed through.

The Chair-man joined the others and struck quicker than we could come to terms with the fact that we had never been alone.

“What the fuck. What the-”

Three of the chair-men descended on Mouths Wolf, knives popping out from their wrists and elbows. Alarm swept over me when I saw how easily they overpowered him, a Wolf. They brought him to the ground and all I saw were the knives rising and falling in an erratic rhythm and the Mouths Wolf’s legs jerking from the blows. The sound of the blades sinking into his flesh was sickening.

The scream of the Collector drew near.

Charcoal Mask held out his remaining arm to me, fear shaking his voice. “Quick, tear my arm off and throw it at them.”

I grasped him by the wrist and forearm and pulled. There were small sounds of cracking, but it wouldn’t give. A Chair-man rose up behind him, knife poised to strike. Chiara planted both feet on its chest, sending it crashing into the aquarium, before she twisted like a cat to land back on her feet.

“It’s not coming off,” I panted. The pain in my side was making me feel weak.

“Someone else!” Hurry!” Charcoal Mask shouted.

I backed away, taking in the full scope of the room. The remaining Wolves fought back against the chair-men. Some of the chair-men held syringes full of the Shape-deadening drug, which let them drain the remaining supernatural strength from their victims before they finished them off.

The screams and shouts bounced off the walls and Charcoal Mask’s pleas were lost in the noise. I couldn’t hear myself think, let alone…

The Collector. I couldn’t hear its screams.

“Stay away from the walls!” I shouted.

Only for arms to erupt from the floor, piercing through two of the remaining Wolves, splitting them lengthwise like logs. 

The Collector pulled itself up out of the floor. Its face was a mess of torn skin hanging down across its empty eye sockets and gaping toothless mouth.

I turned the other way. Fish Face was still alive, struggling against a lone Chair-man. I ran over to him, I practiced the very basics of anti-Wolf martial arts they had taught all their operatives: leverage the small joints. It took my whole body weight just to pry a thumb away from the knife of the Chair-man. Fish Face went for the knife, but the Chair-man took advantage of the opening to lock him into a chokehold from behind.

Fish Face slapped his assailant’s arms, staring at me with bulging eyes. 

I couldn’t help him. I wasn’t strong enough…

Oh.

I thrust out my arm and Fish Face slapped his hand on it. The stinging brand attached itself to my skin and I waved it in front of the Chair-man. His eyes followed it like a magnet. Then he opened his mouth and bit down on my arm. I held it there, blinking back tears as the Chair-man took a chunk out of my arm. He grinned at me, chewing on the bloody skin, before spiny teeth burst from his face. He slumped down and Fish Face pulled free.

“I owe you,” he said, massaging his throat.

“Then help me!”

I ran to the wall where the Collector had first entered the room. “Use your assimilation here.”

“Hold on. We can blow a hole and get out of here.”

Fish Face turned back to Charcoal Mask, who was backing away from the Collector.

“Forget escaping! We need to go deeper!” Chiara shouted.

Charcoal Mask tore off his mask and threw it at the Collector. The explosion rocked the room, throwing chair-men and Wolves off their feet. Orange firelight made the aquarium look like it was full of lava. The Collector screamed as its shoulder was ripped open by the blast.

Charcoal Mask turned to us. His expression was eerily calm.

“Give me the mark.”

“What?”

“Give it to me. I will not let my last moments be wasteful.”

Fish Face snarled in frustration and placed his hand on Charcoal Mask’s face. When he pulled away, there was a red handprint, like warpaint.

Attention around the room began to shift as Charcoal Mask walked to the center of the room and raised his arm. I stared in awe. His presence was utterly enrapturing. If only I could get a little closer, so I could touch his face…

Fish Face pulled me away and I felt my focus snap back to reality. I grabbed Chiara and we returned to the wall. Fish Face ran his hands along the wall and confusion crept across his face. Then the wall began to melt, merging into his hands, paint peeling back to reveal the inner cavity of pulsating living matter.

Chiara kicked away another chair-man who drew near. Most of the others were swarming around Charcoal Mask, reaching for the mark.

Finally Fish Face pushed through to the other side and stumbled into the next room. Chiara and I ran after him.

Seconds later, a shockwave ripped through the space like a tidal wave. I was brought to my hands and knees as the heat washed over my back. The floor wavered underneath me, making it hard to stand. The whole mansion was shaking and the lights flickered. The sound of collapsing wood and metal came from the aquarium room and a cloud of dust blew over us.

Then the shaking stopped.

I looked back and saw the Collector-shaped hole we had just come through had been filled with rubble.

Fish Face groaned and picked himself off the ground. Chiara helped me up and then led us forward. 

The urgency remained. Every chair and table had to be closely watched. I felt the ache of all of my injuries, felt the weakness that had settled into my bones, and most of all I felt the dullness of my mind. I was thankful for the unlikely allies.

Chiara continued to find open doors and when we were stuck, Fish Face and her searched for false walls.

“My Shaping is starting to come back,” she said, showing a small amount of assimilation of a false wall. “Let’s hurry.”

We hurried forward, hoping that our progress would be harder to track. Maybe we could stay ahead of Maria’s instructions to her Shaped staff.

Chiara urged us forward, leading the way through rooms full of unfinished statues, gardens made of marble, even an entirely disassembled car where every tiny piece was held aloft by wires.

Fish Face was beginning to lag behind. He was breathing heavily, sweat shining on the parts of his cheeks and lips I could see.

“C’mon, Fish Face,” I urged him. “We don’t want to stick around to find out if the Aberrant survived.”

Fish Face chuckled and doubled over. “Haha… That’s what you’re calling me? Fuck you, buddy.” Somehow he made that sentence sound endearing. “Fuck you…”

He straightened and tugged on his side. A chunk the size of my fist came off into his hand, like he was disassembling himself.

“I guess that fucker actually got a piece of me back there.”

He waved us on. “Keep moving. I left you behind, used you as bait. I don’t expect any favors.”

I hesitated.

“What? You got something to say to a stranger?”

I shook my head, backing away. “You kinda suck. But your mask is cool.”

He chuckled. “Thanks.”

I turned and kept going. It hurt to keep running. Chiara’s feet in front of me was my only focus as I struggled to get a proper breath in between each stride.

“This way, Nick.”

Yet another room in this labyrinthine house. Then another. Suddenly I couldn’t see her anymore.

The lights were off, but I could tell that the space was large from how our footsteps echoed. 

Then Chiara’s footsteps went quiet.

I slowly came to a stop, trying to see through the pitch black darkness. 

“Chiara?” I called out quietly. “I can’t see you.”

There was no response. Occasionally, there was a creak of something above my head. My eyes began to adjust and I saw that something was hanging from the ceiling. A rotten smell reached my senses.

“Chiara?” I spoke into the void.

She responded sadly, “I’m sorry, Nick.”

Lights clicked and sputtered on, blinding me.

I squinted and saw the cubes of cross-sectioned animals hanging above our heads from chains. Bears, wolves, even lions and elephants. A whole zoo of dissected pieces, preserved in glass.

My eyes dropped and my skin went cold.

Each exit was filled with Chair-men peering in. When I turned, I saw the line of men holding guns. Each wore the mask of a taxidermied deer, fur matted with blood, one even still had a knife embedded in the neck. 

Chiara stood behind them with tears in her eyes.

My heart hurt. Which was stupid. I hadn’t known her for much more than an hour and yet… I believed she was a good person. Is a good person.

Doesn’t make it hurt any less, does it?

The line parted and a woman in a wheelchair approached, pushed forward by another woman. No doubt this was Maria, dressed rather lazily compared with her surroundings in sweats and a sweater. Yet my eyes were mostly drawn to her attendant. The woman stared at me with such vitriolic, unfiltered hate that it rivalled the Aberrants.

Then came Chase. He strolled forward with a laconic smile. There was no longer a flower sprouting from his eye and when he blinked, the new eye looked perfectly natural. The eyelashes of that eye had a deep reddish hue to them.

“Hello, Chase,” I said, feeling so, so tired. “Is this your checkmate?”

“Hi Nick!” he called out cheerfully. “I was hoping for a stronger reaction. This is quite the reunion. I even brought an old acquaintance.”

He gestured to the attendant pushing Maria’s wheelchair. She was in her twenties and had a fairly youthful face. I didn’t recognize her and yet the hate in her expression told me we had met before. Who? Even with my addled mind, I should have been able to remember.

“She’s grown up quite a bit since you last saw her, so I suppose the confusion is warranted. Nick, meet Julie.”

Ah. I hadn’t pushed Jason further. I assumed he wouldn’t want to talk about it. It wasn’t just him that was forcibly aged after being kidnapped by Organ. His sisters had been with him. I remembered their names. Abigail, the one who shared a similar Shape to Terry, allowing her to command people with her voice. 

And Julie. The baby. The one who tracked my every step. Through walls and over vast distance. Her Shape letting her see my beating heart.

Julie didn’t speak. I supposed she never had the chance to learn. Even after going through years of development in an instant, the grudge had remained fresh. She had kept an eye on me. With that realization came another: I never would have been free from Chase.

“Quite the audience, I know,” Chase said, rolling his eyes. “I would have preferred to meet you alone, seeing as we go way back. But this has to go perfectly. So I prepared for every outcome. No tricks will save you this time. No deer on the side of the road to distract me.” 

The smile dropped from his face.

“No allies. No Witch. Just you. Alone.”

I tried so hard, but found my voice still shook as I spoke, “For what to work?”

“Oh. I’m sorry if you weren’t prepared, Nick. But it happens to all of us at some point. It just so happens to be your day.”

He waved with his arms to his audience of motionless onlookers. 

“We are all gathered here today to watch you die.”