The Blood: A Denouement

“Warg?” Kris Strauss said.

“Yes,” Augustus said.

When Kris blinked and looked at Marabeth, it was Seth who said, “Actually, it’s a wonderful idea.”

“Thank you,” Augustus inclined his head to Seth who thought that his uncle wasn’t being entirely sarcastic.

“But how…?” Kris began, “ I mean, I’m not sure it’s an entirely good idea.”

“I don’t think there is such a thing as an entirely good idea,” Merebeth said. “Not now, and not for us. I think there’s just doing what we have to do.”

“What is it anyway?” Kris turned to Augustus, “Exactly?”

“It is when you place yourself inside of another animal, so you can see through its eyes. In time you could even become the other animal. You may be lost in them, or you may ask their permission to take them over, Use them as your vehicle.”

“Like…” Kris frowned, “a witch’s familiar.”

“It is the very same thing as a witch’s familiar,” Augustus said.

They were all sitting around the dinner table, the remains of toothsome pork chops and apples baked in a skillet with butter and sugar and cinnamon until their skins carmelized, spicy stuffing, sweet pork roast for those who didn’t want chops or just wanted more pork, buttered rolls, macaroni glossy and golden with three cheeses, sweet, sweet, sweet potato pudding loaded with spices. Lewis was half asleep in a chair, drinking coffee and offering no advice.

“Is there…. An animal we could try this with?” Jim Strauss began.

“None in this house,” Augustus said, .“but the whole world is full of animals. It would be best if you let Seth help you.”

“When should we try this?”

“Somewhere between the pork roast and pecan pie,” Lewis said.

They turned to him as, beside Chris Ashby, he took a toothpick and picked his teeth. It was Levy who translated, smiling broadly,

“No time like the present.”

Lewis nodded.

They sat on the porch and Marabeth was feeling a little foolish.

“We just have to wait for an animal,” Seth was saying. But soon he looked up and said, “Ah, there they are.”

“What?” Kris began.

“Up there.”

“But those are birds.

Seth looked at him.

“Were you waiting for a wolf?”

Kris realized he had been.

“For this bit:” Seth began, “you might want to try us all holding hands. I know it sounds silly and all, but—”

Jim immediately caught Seth’s hand, and Marabeth caught Jim’s and Kris took hers.

“Now just close your eyes and see if you can follow me.”

Seth’s eyes were on the crows flying into the trees and he followed one in particular. As he followed it, the bird became bigger and bigger. No. He was coming closer and closer to it. Now Kris almost shouted, for the crow was diving directly at him and then, just like that, it was as if he was on the crow’s back. And then, he no longer saw the crow. He saw the trees beneath, and one tree approaching, and he looked across to see another crow and realized that he was in the the first crow, looking from behind its eyes.

The black eye of the crow beside him, winked, and without knowing how he knew, he understood that, whatever Seth had done, Kris had found his own crow, and the crow standing beside him was… Marabeth. Was inhabited by her. They could not speak to each other, but they recognized each other in their minds. Up the tree pattered two brown squirrels and the first, running up the limb to Kris, its long tail out, said, “You’ve done it!”

“Jim?” Kris’s mind came from the crow.

“Yes,” the squirrel nodded and turned to the second squirrel, who was sitting on two legs, preening its paws and ears. “And this is Seth.”

That brown squirrel winked at him.

“But how?”

“We leapt from the birds and into the squirrels We asked if they minded us… borrowing them. They didn’t, but we can’t stay for long because I’ve never asked where a squirrel goes when I’m inhabiting its body, but I have the feeling that the answer might just be… my body.”

Seth laughed. “We could get back and find our human bodies trying to climb trees and store nuts. We should go.”

“But… you did this so fast, So naturally.”

“Jim is a natural,” was all Seth said. “He is practically a witch.”

Kris looked to Marabeth and said, “Are you ready?’

But she was no longer in that crow. A starling sat ahead of him, and it leapt up and Kris thought, “I’m the last to get this.”

“But you got it,” the Starling said. “Seth is right. It’s time for us to go.”

She could barely get into the bath. After she had flown behind Seth, darting into the crow, into the squirrel, into a starling, swirling across the warm air and back into her body, Marabeth wanted to tell everyone in the house about the joy she’d experienced. Her body thrilled with joy and she thought, “This is why I have never felt like anyone else. This is what I am, where I belong.”

She was wide awake now, sitting up in bed, and she did not want to turn back to her father’s journal but she thought, here, right now, the way I am, this could be the best way to read.

Before she could settle down there was a knock on her door, and Marabeth wrapped her housecoat tighter about her and then opened the door, surprised to see Jim, and more surprised to see the great box he held.

“It’s from Augustus,” Jim said, apologetically, his golden hair falling over his eye. “He thinks it’s… It is for me. And for you. He thought I should give it to you.”

Marabeth remembered Augustus saying he had something else for her and as she guided Jim to set the box on the bed and open it, he showed her the letter, spoke again of his doubts as he laid out the pelts, one of a blondish wolf, the other of a wolf black and grey, their eyeless faces looking up at the cousins.

Marabeth wanted to look away, but a part of her wanted to keep looking on them until they pulled her in. She did look away from the pelts, at last, to read the missive that came with them, smelling of Pamela’s old perfume on that crinkly old paper.

Wie am Anfang, so am Ende, an die Königin und ihren goldhaarigen Bruder, den König.

Oma

“I wish Myron was here,” Marabeth murmured.

But Jim quoted: “As in the beginning, so in the end, to the Queen and her golden haired brother, the King.”

Jim added, “We all know the Queen is you, but Augustus seems to think I am the King.”

“I agree,” Marabeth said.

“Jim, I am reading Father’s journal.”

“Another journal?”

“Yes. He left it here, but when I’m done you have to read it too. I’m afraid of what I’ll find. Uh… and there are other things too, the whole family all the way back to the beginning.”

Jim’s mouth was open and he kept nodding, but at last he said:

“Mara, we have to try on the pelts.”

“You’re right,” his cousin agreed.

Her face was strange and fey now, half a smile, half terrorized.

“What about at midnight? What can be better than the witching hour?”

“Until then,” Jim said, “you should find out what Uncle Nate has to say.”

Marabeth nodded.

She went to the bureau and gave Jim the large folder of names and dates.

“And you should acquaint yourself with these.”

All the blood.

All the Blood.

Jesus help me.

Help me Jesus!

So much blood.

Going to hell.

I am a demon.

I’m going to hell. If there is any justice, I have to go to hell. All of those people are gone because of me. I thought I was safe, but it doesn’t matter. When I woke up, so much blood. So much blood. The bodies weren’t even a mile away. No one deserved that. No one. I killed those people. If I’d taken the medicine it never would have happened. Before I thought I’d be a coward for not killing myself, now I know I’d be a coward if I did. I’ve got to live with this. I’ve just got to live with it.

I WANT TO DIE I WANT TO DIE I WANT TO DIE I WANT TO DIE I WANT TO DIE I WANT TO DIE I WANT TO DIE I WANT TO DIE I WANT TO DIE I WANT TO DIE I WANT TO DIE I WANT TO DIE I WANT TO DIE I WANT TO DIE I WAN

Two couples, both in their thirties… six kids, mauled to death. No one can trace it to me, of course, It was done by a wild animal, a confusion cause wild animals like that aren’t in Ohio.

I can’t help thinking my family must know.

I went to Dr. Stengler. I told him I needed as much of the medicine as possible. He asked why and I said I was leaving. He told me that from now on life would be better because the medicine was now pills, no bad taste, no drinking whole shot glasses of gross shit. But does the feeling go away and does what I am go away? I was so happy when I wasn’t taking it or, if not happy, alive. But the price those people paid.

Anyway, I told him I’m going to Florida, going to get some sun and live in a place with color, a place that’s far away from Lassador and everything I’ve known.