The Stronghold

Famous Last Words

When I woke up again I was still on the floor of the car and it was night time once more. Salt was driving, needing no sleep, and Trix was crouched on the floor in front of me. I wasn't sure what model of car it was but it was a large, spacey one, with more than enough room for three men and a cat.

I expected Trix to say something but instead I noticed that he was asleep. No, I corrected myself, he was awake. His eyes were open and he was crouched like a demon, knees up by his ears, hands clasped as if protecting his crotch. He wasn't blinking, either.

Frowning, I sat up. I poked Trix's nose and he still didn't blink, didn't even flinch.

"Salt," I said uncertainly, "I think something's happened to Trix."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Salt replied, not taking his eyes off the road.

"I think he might be dead."

"How dead?"

"As in, crouched-like-a-spider-with-glassy-eyes-and-not-flinching dead."

"He might be asleep," Salt suggested.

"Asleep? With eyes wide open?" I said scornfully.

"He's Trix," was all Salt had to say on the subject.

"Trix, are you awake?" I asked loudly. Trix did not reply and so I decided to keep on interrogating him until I got a reply.

Trix jolted upright and his eyes cleared. He grunted and sat back before climbing onto one of the seats and curling up, identical in position to Cat.

"He's very weird," I said to Cat. "Very, very odd."

*

Eventually we pulled into a lay by and went walking. My knee had healed in the weeks I was in hospital but my ribs still pained me every so often. Salt somehow knew this and would give me calming vibes, passing them through the air.

Trix wandered along behind us in a dreamlike state. Every so often his eyes would close but he'd keep on going.

"Something's happened to Trix," I said in a low voice. Salt nodded and glanced back at the psychopath uncertainly.

"He's either possessed or ill," Salt replied. "Possibly both."

"Who would want to get inside Trix's head?" I murmured. "You'd never come out again."

"You know, I think you should go home for a while," Salt said completely out of the blue. I stopped walking, Cat rocking on my shoulder.

"Why?" I asked suspiciously.

"You ought to go back. You've been shutting out everyone even in your brain. You've been too afraid to talk to them, to even go and look through their eyes."

"Since when did you become a damn psychologist?" I snapped, glaring at him. Salt's eyes were cold and his hat was fading from sight, cane swiftly following.

"I'm trying to do a final good thing," he said. "I lied when I said I'm still in purgatory. I'm not. All my deeds that I did when I was alive paid off and sent me down to hell. The fires are burning at my heels, Pepper. They've been searching for me all this time. I wanted to stay just so that I could talk to you one final time, brother." He smiled sadly, a single tear rolling down his cheek. "So please, for me, go home. You have to look after your family."

"Salt, please don't go," I said, voice cracking.

"I have to, brother," Salt said gently. "Oh, and by the way. Trix was one of the demons I took with me for the journey." He grinned. "He's made things bloody interesting, eh?"

"You bastard," I said, half-laughing, half-crying, "he's insane."

"But it lightened things up a little, eh?"

"Is Cat a demon too?"

"No," Salt said, skin beginning to crack and fade. "No, he's real enough. But he just ran away."

"Dammit," I cursed, realising he was right. "He's afraid of you so I now blame you for making me lose my pet."

"You still have Lulu," Salt reminded me.

"She's on the opposite side of the world."

"Not for long," Salt said in a whisper. "Go back to England, Pepper. And if you dare tell Rebecca I had a crush on her I will somehow come back to reality and eat you alive."

"I won't," I promised, laughing through my tears. I reached out with my hand and clasped Salt's one last time. "Goodbye, Salt."

"See you in hell, Pepper," Salt replied. He and Trix both faded away and I was left alone in the middle of a forest in the middle of the night.