The Lovers of Life

CHAPTER XV - THE LOVER AND THE LIAR

"I think God is moving it's tongue
There's no crowds in the streets, and no Sun
In my own summer
The shade, is a tool
A device, a saviour
See I try, and look up
To the sky, but my eyes burn"

My Own Summer – Around the Fur - Deftones

I stared at the thin summer clouds as they moved at a remarkable speed across the sky. Stars made shining holes in the canopy. I smiled up at them, but felt my heart harden all the same. It had been so long since last I had seen the sun. My head was aching; my eyes throbbed. I must feed. It wasn't night yet on the world of the living and I couldn't travel there in daylight. Oh, I would greatly like to see the sun just once more, but it would cost me way more than I was willing to pay.

Lusaka wasn't there. I got up and walked out on the balcony where I found him seated at a small table with Azym. They were bending over maps and papers. Azym looked up as I walked out into the fresh air and got up. He came over, kissed my cheeks and offered me his chair. I sat down obligingly as Lusaka lazily clicked his fingers for a third chair to appear for Azym.

"What's this?" I asked looking at the maps.

"The different floors of Hell," answered Lusaka as he fluttered through sheets of the yellowish paper.

"Oh, that's cheerful," I said sarcastically. "Why are you observing maps of Hell's layers?"

"I want to know how Kayeh escaped," said Lusaka without looking up.

"Kayeh escaped?" I asked my mouth dry. "How?"

"That's exactly what I'm trying to figure out," said Lusaka pulling hair out in anger.

"He must have had outside aid," said Azym reasonably, "he can't possibly have done it on his own."

"But who would help him?" asked Lusaka, "it was a powerful one who got him out of the grave we threw him in."

"Isn't Kayeh strong enough on his own?" I asked.

Lusaka looked up at me for the first time, his hands on both sides of his face. He seemed frantic. He threw me a dirty look: how dared I doubt the acuity of his statement?

"You are hungry," he said, "you need to feed," he added before looking back down his map and ignoring me.

I knew Lusaka didn't like being contradicted, but oh, what an ass!

Fine then!

I got up angrily, spun on the spot and immediately found myself down by the side of the river. I snapped my fingers angrily and the ferryman came into sight and sailed quickly towards me. I embarked the rowboat, paid my journey across the Styx and sat down.

Green and slimy water was leaking in the boat. Well, the water wasn't really green. The boat was, and the water that leaked in the boat became green and slimy. I was so angry that I didn't mind standing in the horrid thing. No, all in all, what disturbed me was that Lusaka had refused to listen to me. And that made me angry. Why had he made me, if he didn't even want to listen to my ideas and take my advice? What was it he wanted from me in the end?

The rowboat thumped gently on the shore and I jumped off and wandered away in the forest. I knew a small village of souls doomed from the wide world was nearby and I intended to feed there tonight. I did it swiftly and quietly. I waited outside the gates and called the helpless outside to me. Out came a teenage girl. I won't deny that it pained me to take the life of one my daughter's age, but there it was and now she would awaken to the eternal life promised by Will. Forever she would be beautiful. Maybe she'd be a wraith, but she'd be a pretty one at least.