Part 20 (1/2)

”They're perfectly fine,” the man said, ”at the moment. That could change.”

”Let them go,” Steven said.

”That depends on you,” the man said. ”Sit.”

Steven walked to the chair and sat down. A small fire erupted on the ground between them, illuminating them both.

”I'm seated,” Steven said, wondering how he could get the man over to the mirrors. ”What now?”

”Don't be worried about the mirrors,” the man said. ”They're already smashed.”

Steven looked at the man. He had thin blondish brown hair and a faint goatee. He was dressed in a jacket and slacks, with his legs crossed. Steven could see some type of expensive Italian shoes on his feet.

”The mirrors are smashed?” Steven asked. ”I don't know what you mean.”

”Yes, you do,” the man said, the edges of his mouth curling up into a small smile. ”Don't pretend.”

”You killed Robbie,” Steven said.

”I did indeed,” the man said. ”You were there when I did it, outside.”

”Robbie was just a child,” Steven said.

”You're all just children,” the man said, ”to me.”

”Let my friends go,” Steven said. ”They're not part of this.”

”The basis of a good friends.h.i.+p is trust,” the man said. ”You need to trust me when I tell you that I'm not as stupid as you think.”

”I have no desire to be friends with you,” Steven said.

”Then at least be smart,” the man said, irritation creeping into his voice. ”It'll help keep your options open.”

”I know you have enemies,” Steven said. ”You should watch your back and leave me and my friends out of this.”

”Vohuman?” the man said. ”He's one of many. Popping up to steal Robbie gave him a whiff of me that he desperately wanted. He thinks he's chasing me. He's half right.”

Steven's mind was swirling. He could see Roy and Eliza, floating in the distance. He didn't know if what the man said about the mirrors was true or not. He didn't know what to do next.

”Do you see all these bodies?” the man asked, waving his hand towards the forest. The blue haze returned, and hundreds of bodies appeared in the trees, hanging, swinging slightly.

Steven looked out at them. ”I see them,” he said.

”Do you know why they're there?” the man asked.

”No idea,” Steven said, not wanting to entertain the man any more than necessary.

”If we're to become friends,” the man said, ”you really must step it up a notch. Use your brain. I can't abide imbeciles.”

”I told you I'm not interested in being your friend,” Steven said.

”You will be,” the man said, laughing a little as he said it. ”Do you know why they're there?” he asked again. ”The bodies?”

”I told you, no,” Steven said.

”Because they came here,” the man said. ”That's the main reason. They might have lived, but they came here. Once they arrived, we took over. If they had any doubts, we erased them. They finished themselves off.”

”You're responsible for their deaths,” Steven said.

”Yes,” the man replied, ”but not just me, alone. I'm just a visitor here. There's hundreds of my kind here, with varying degrees of strength. When someone's halfway to suicide, it's easy to make that someone think their family would be better off without them. Most of the creatures who inhabit this forest can do that with little effort. What's really challenging is to make someone who's in a normal state of mind think they need to tie a rope around their neck and swing from a tree.”

”That's you,” Steven said.

”That's right,” the man said. ”That's me.”

”You tried to get me to stab myself,” Steven said, ”back at my home.”

”Just to scare you a little,” the man said. ”I need you a little scared.”

”I'm not afraid of you,” Steven said.

”You should be,” the man said, smiling again. In the distance, he heard Eliza scream. Steven looked out over the clearing. Eliza was now suspended upright at the edge of the clearing. Steven could see something forming over her head, the same kind of twisting movement he'd seen above him in the dark in his bedroom. The twisting slowly stopped as it straightened out into a rope and wrapped itself around Eliza's neck, forming a noose. He's going to hang them, Steven thought. They'll just be two more suicides out here. All of Steven's muscles tensed, and he felt as though a cold hand ran up his spine. ”Alright,” he said.

”I wasn't interested in seeing you stab yourself, Steven,” the man said. ”I was hoping you'd hold the knife to your chest, give yourself a good scare. That's all. If I wanted you dead, your friends would already be swinging from the trees. I'd make you think you needed to take some rope and do yourself, too. It'd be easy.”

”We drank protection,” Steven said.

”It wore off,” the man said.

”What do you want?” Steven asked, angry.

”I want us to be friends,” the man said. ”That's the only way out. If we're not friends, I'll suspend those two from the trees right now, and we'll part enemies.”

Steven swallowed hard and thought for a moment. He needed to play this a different way.

”Usually a friends.h.i.+p is something mutual,” Steven said. ”You're forcing me into it. Hardly a friends.h.i.+p.”

”I'm willing to forgive the initiation,” the man said, ”in light of the end result.”

”Alright,” Steven said. ”Let's say we're friends. What then? You take my hands?”

The man furrowed his brow and squinted one of his eyes. ”You think I want your hands?”

”Like Robbie?” Steven said. ”I'm marked.”

”I don't want your hands,” the man said, shaking his head with repugnance. ”You've turned. No demon wants you now.”

”But you wanted Robbie,” Steven said, a little confused.

”He was a morsel set out by Vohuman to tempt me,” the man said. ”Any marked gifted boy at p.u.b.erty is a prize. Vohuman knows I have a taste for them, that's why he set it up. But after that age, you're the opposite of tasty. You've probably noticed that most demons won't come near you.”