“I have no interest in the blood of innocents or your sniveling. The contract was simple.” The monster snarls, its breathing becoming heavier. “I gave you what you sought.How you squandered what was given is no concern of mine.”
“No!” Elias shouts, wiping his face with the back of his arm. “I ain’t lettin’ ya take me.”
Elias knocks over a small table between him and the creature, turning to run down the hall. The monster snaps its jaw shut, huffing plumes of shadow from the nose holes in its skull. It briefly turns its burning eyes toward the bed, silently telling us it knows we’re under here, before following Elias out of the room.
The sound of claws dragging against the wall echoes down the hallway. As soon as the noise grows distant, Cyrus pulls me out from under the bed, his bewildered face staring at mine. Glass shatters in the kitchen, followed by more bellowing from Elias.
“Let’s get out of here,” I whisper, tugging on Cyrus’ hand.
By the time we make it to the living room, the monster has Elias cornered in the kitchen. The clicking of the gas stove stops me in my tracks. Elias stands by the stove, a box of matches in his hand. His eyes are wild, no longer glassy with tears. Cyrus stares at him in disbelief, taking a hesitant step forward, as though he’s about to rush to him, but I pull him back, vehemently shaking my head. “No,” I mouth to him.
Cyrus’ face tenses in pain as he squeezes his eyes shut. I wrap my arms around him, holding him tightly against me. Smoke drifts through the house as Elias begins lighting the trash littering the kitchen on fire.
“Burn in hell, you demon!” he shouts, throwing another match towards the stove and dashing out the back door. The monster chuckles darkly, its laugh sounding like several people at once. The pitch of it rises until it’s squealing in my ears likea tea kettle. Cyrus and I clamp our hands over our ears, but it barely dampens the sound.
Spirals of flame and shadow engulf the kitchen. Cyrus nudges me, nodding towards the front door. We both make a run for it, escaping the house just before a ball of fire consumes the living room. “Holy shit,” Cyrus says breathlessly, his body shaking. “I didn’t think he’d actually burn the place down.”
A fit of coughing snaps our attention away from the flames rising from the house. Elias crawls across the snow, hacking and wheezing. The monster emerges from the inferno, its shadowy tendrils racing across the ground to wrap around Elias’ ankles.
“No,” he gurgles, a rope of shadow wrapping around his neck to lift him into the air. “No, please.”
“Funny,” the monster laughs in Elias’ voice, “those whose blood you spilled said the exact same thing.”
The air shifts around us, clouds appearing in the night sky out of nothing. They spiral in slow motion, like water circling a drain. A murky mist oozes out of Elias’s body, funneling into the creature’s open maw. His screams grow quieter, the flush draining from his skin until he’s a sickly shade of grey.
I bury my face into Cyrus’ shoulder, fighting back tears. “It’s over,” Cyrus whispers, smoothing my hair.
There’s a nauseating crunch, and I peek out between my fingers to see the monster holding Elia’s body between its jaws. It carries him back towards the house, chomping down a final time before tossing his body into the flames.
The clouds clear,revealing a moonless night sky. Cyrus and I sit in the clearing until the fire dwindles to embers. The onlyremnant of his former home is its charred skeleton. “Are you okay?” I ask, breaking the silence.
Cyrus rolls his bottom lip between his teeth, his hands fidgeting in his lap. I reach out, gripping them tightly between mine. “I always dreamed about burning it down.”
“It’s not your fault.” I cup his face, turning it to mine. “None of this haseverbeen your fault.”
A tear rolls down his cheek, and I wipe it away. “Thank you,” he says through soft sobs. “Thank you for loving me even when I made it hard, even when I was unlovable.”
“You’ve never been unlovable, Cyrus.” My throat tightens, wishing we had the chance to say these words before he walked out the door that final time.
“Neither have you,” he whispers, pulling me into him.
We hold each other until the stars begin to fade. The sound of branches breaking, feet crunching through the snow, draws me out of our solitude. Both our heads raise, turning towards the woods. Pearl and the creature emerge from the trees, hand in hand. A soft glow emanates from them, illuminating the clearing. Their presence is softer than it was before, a quiet snowfall instead of a torrential storm.
“Now it is us who owe a debt,” Pearl says, and the creature nods in agreement beside her. She offers her hand to me. Hesitantly, I take it. Cyrus grabs my other, and we both stand.
“How does it work?” I ask, voice quivering.
“Time is a circle, all of this existence superimposed upon the next,”the creature rumbles, shaking its antlers.
“Thanks for the clarity,” Cyrus mumbles. I kick his foot, shooting a stern expression his way.
“Oh, you are your mama’s son,” Pearl laughs, reaching for his hand. She holds on to both of us, gazing at us with soft eyes. “It’s as easy as falling asleep, my dears. You only have to drift off and imagine you’re someplace else.”
Pearl releases our hands. Shadows swirl around us, concealing us in a circle of darkness. Cyrus pulls me into him, nestling my head against his chest. “I love you,” he whispers in my ear. “There’s no existence in which I won’t come back to you.”
“I love you too, Cyrus,” I whisper back, closing my eyes.
EPILOGUE
