18 - Syrsee
I missed it?
The pink-haired girlstares back at me. I remember her from that night Paul first brought me to his compound. She was his… acolyte, or something. They had some kind of relationship, I do know that. Or least an understanding. None of the other people from the compound were there, just her.
So whoever she is, she issomeone.
This feeling about her place in my world is confirmed when she smiles at me. She can see me.
She’s not looking into a mirror—at least, not an upright one—because she appears to be kneeling down, gazing into something.
A pool of water, I realize. “Who are you?”
Her smile does not break. “I’m Echo. And you’re Syrsee.”
“You were there when Paul took me up to that room so they could all feed on me.”
“Well…” She shrugs and has the decency to feel a little bad about this, because she turns her head for a moment, unable to meet my gaze. “I was present in the general vicinity.” She looks back at me again, expression more stoic now that she has been called out. “But I wasn’t in the room and I had no idea what was happening.”
“Do you know what’s happening now?”
She nods, but it comes with a frown. “He used me, you know.”
“Who? Paul?”
“No. Well, maybe him too. But I’m talking about Josep.”
“Josep.” I sigh. “I don’t even know him. But he fed on me. He was there when the Darkness raped me.”
“Well, that makes sense because heisthe Darkness, Syrsee. He’s pure evil and he’s infected us all.”
“What are you talking about?”
“He’s inside you right now. The baby inside you is the Darkness. You’re going to give birth to a thousand years of evil.”
I scoff. “Well, thanks for the encouragement.”
“But you don’t have to, ya know. It’s a choice.”
“I don’t think that would work. If only it were as easy as a trip to a clinic.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. The baby is… whatever.” She waves a hand in the air. “It’s here. You can’t getridof it.”
“No, I didn’t figure I could.”
“But you don’t have tobirthit.”
There’s an irrational flare of hope inside me because that was one of the things I had decided. This baby cannot be born. But I am cautious enough to reign that hope in and not put it on display. So I squint my eyes at her to show her I’m suspicious. “What? What are you talking about?”
She hesitates for a moment. Kind of turns her head like she’s listening for something.
I get nervous and start looking through the gold mist all around me. “Do you hear something? Is someone coming?”
She turns back to me, shaking her head. “No. I was just thinking about stasis. That’s what it’s called when you don’t birth the baby. You suspend it. Like when people freeze their heads, or whatever, after they die? You keep it inside you forever and never let it out.”
This idea is so repulsive to me, I have to force down a gag. “What?”
“Stasis, Syrsee. We need to get you into stasis. That way, we can fight Josep and there will be no reign of evil.”
