The Beasts: A Winter's Tale

“Sunny!” Levy whispered. “Sunny!”

“Actually it wasn’t much of a whisper, and the blond Drinker turned around and said, “What’s up, Levy?”

“I could go for that burger now.”

“I asked you earlier.”

“And I wasn’t hungry earlier, but now that’s sort of changed, And I didn’t want to interrupt you from listening to the last song.”

“So you decided to interrupt me from this one?”

“Well, the nature of bands seems to be they keep singing,” Levy noted.

“Do you know,” Sunny said, “there are people who have been in mortal terror of me?”

“I feel like half of Kruinh’s house is in mortal terror of you, but I’m hungry and I can’t go out there and order for myself, so there isn’t anything else for it but to tell you I want a burger and fries.”

Sunny could not argue with this logic, sighed and said, “Whaddo you want?”

“A double cheeseburger with onions and fries and a beer. Preferably something light and fizzy.”

“And when you say beer you mean a Sprite.”

“I actually meant—”

“A Sprite. Great.”

The serious looking surfer boy in jeans and pullover said, “I’ll be right back.”

While Sunny was gone, from backstage, Levy heard the people clapping and then Myron saying, “Thanks. Thank you all. We’re going to switch gears a little bit,” he was putting down his guitar and picking up a, holy shit, that was a violin.

“We’ve rocked you tonight, and now we’re going to get a little bluegrassy.”

Levy stood up to peek behind the curtain just a little and saw that Dan had exchanged his guitar for a banjo and the awkward guy called Ted now had an acoustic guitar. Their fingers began trilling on the strings and Levy wanted to run out and sing and knew he better not as the three men came to the microphone together and sang fiercely:

“I had a friend named Ramblin Bob
He used to steal gamble and rob
He thought he was the smartest guy around
Well I found out last Monday
That Bob got locked up Sunday
They’ve got him in the jailhouse way downtown!”

By the time Sunny came back, Levy was tapping his foot.

Sunny said, “It’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

“That’s great. This is great. I’m surprised.”

“Surprised by what?”

“That they can actually sing. Lot’s of people who think they can can’t.”

“He’s in the jailhouse now
He’s in the jailhouse now
Well, I told him once or twice to
stop playin cards and shootin dice
He’s in the jailhouse now.”

By the time Sunny got up and came back with the burger, which Levy almost ignored but then decided to appreciate, tell Sunny how grateful he was for it, how good it looked, offer to split it, people liked stuff like that, even vampires, and manners counted, Myron was saying, “We’ve got one last song for you tonight, folks. It was old when the country was young. I hope you enjoy… Barbara Allen.”

Myron’s voice had taken on a faint twang but more than that, Levy noticed as he began to sing, that he really could sing, that his voice was pure and clear, and Dan and Tom did not play instruments. It was all acapella.

In London town where I was born
There lived a fair maid dwellin’
Made every youth cry well away
And her name was Barbara Allen

While Dan and Ted sang along, Levy was conscious that he was not only happier than he could remember, not in this moment, but throughout this whole strange and extraordinary couple of days. Life had gone, suddenly, from a sustained misery to being what he was in right now.

“I sent a servant to your town
Where Barbara she was dwellin’
My master sent and he sent for you
If your name is Barbara Allen

T’was in the merry month of May
When all the flowers were a-bloomin’
A young man on his death bed lay
For the love of Barbara Allen.”

Ted was first to leave, and Dan said, “We’ve gotta get the kid home.”

“But the kid’s not even tired,” Levy said. “I could stay up all night.”

“Well, it’s still winter vacation, right?” Mykon said, “Far be it from me to stop a kid from having a good time. Say, my place is right at the end of the street. Wanna hang out for a while?”

Sunny looked like he was about to say no, But Dan shrugged and said, “Cool, what could happen?”

“So, like, this Kruinh guy. He’s your foster father or something?”

“Something,” Sunny said while Dan was in the refrigerator rummaging for beer and food.

“That’s awesome. I wish I had a fosterdad. No, you know what,here’s the thing. I kind of did, and now he’s gone.”

“Nathan?” Dan said.

“Yeah,” Myron said. “He was… he was fucking awesome. I mean, he loved his kids, my cousins, but he loved us all. He was just that kind of guy.”

Dan came back with three beers and Levy said, “Where’s mine?”

“There’s an extra one in the fridge,” Myron said.

“Are you crazy?:” Dan said.

“What’s the harm?” Levy asked.

“What’s the harm?” Myron echoed, popping popcorn into his mouth.

“The answer is no,” Sunny said

The red lipped Myron shrugged, and said, “Damn, my cigarette,” as it fell from behind his ear.

He swept it up quickly and stuffed it in his breast pocket.

“That was a joint,” Levy said.

“It was not!” Myron protested a little too loudly.

“I don’t mind,” Levy said. “My mom and her boyfriend used to get high all the time.”

“Well, this isn’t that kind of place,” Myron said, almost pompously, gesturing around his loft. “I’m… going to put this away with my…other cigarettes.”

As Myron walked away, Levy said, “That was totally a joint, right?”

“Anyway,” Sunny said, standing up, “I forgot how huge the windows were in this place. The light must be great.”

“You know, you guys are kind of funny,” Levy said as Myron came back down the hall whistling, “because even with everything that’s happened, you think I need protecting, and I’ve seen a lot of life. My mom never tried to protect me from anything.”

Sunny realized that even though they had never explicitly sat down and told Levy not to mention to Myron anything about vampires or whatever else he had seen, the boy just knew not to do it, but what he said was, “I don’t know your mom, but that was wrong of her, and I don’t know you that well, either, Levy, I really don’t. But I know you’re still a kid. And kids do deserve to be protected from some things.

“You got kids?” Levy asked Myron.

“I have four. My oldest is about your age. How old are you?”

“Twelve.”

“My oldest is exactly your age,” Myron smiled.

“Wow,” Levy said, “I did not picture you with kids.”

“I don’t think my ex wife did, either.

“By the way,” Myron said, loudly, “in my family the kids do get to drink a little liquor now and again. I wasn’t going to give you a whole beer. That’s crazy—”

“Myre was totally about to give you a whole beer,” Dan said. “You look out that window over there,” he gestured, “and you see those stacks to the southeast. Those are the old beer factories. His family ran one of them. They used to give their kids beer for breakfast.”

“That,” Myron said, shaking his finger, “is a total exaggeration. Well,” he tipped his head, “a semi exaggeration.”

“Guys!” Sunny called, turning from the window, but just then, the other window overlooking the beer factory imploded, and in jumped a dark faced, grim man who made for Myron before Sunny jumped in front of him. He was followed by a woman with white gold hair who leapt, blade out at Dan, and Sunny barked, “Myron, take Levy.”

Myron asked no questions, but pulled the boy back with surprising strength, and the last thing Levy saw was two men on Sunny, one pulling at his throat. Myron put a finger to his lips and gestured for Levy to go into his bedroom, and he was slowly closing the door when Levy shouted, “Myron!”

Myron turned around just in time to see the guy coming for him, and growled, taking the attacker’s throat in a vice grip before crushing his windpipe. As the guy died in Myron’s hands, blood bubbling from his mouth, Myron Keller blinked in surprise at his own strength and then, still looking comic, told Levy, “Stay right here.”

When we come back we will begin "penultima", the next to the last chapter of The the beasts