Délon City: Book Two of the Oz Chronicles (8 page)

We rode for a half mile without saying a word. I had never seen Tullahoma from the back of a horse. The view was somehow different. It was purer, more utopian than it was from the window of a fast moving automobile. It smelled of pine and late fall. Taking in the sites of the small southern hamlet from the saddle made me feel whole. I didn’t know why, and quite frankly, I didn’t question it. I just enjoyed it.

Roy broke the silence. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

I didn’t answer right away. I wasn’t sure beautiful was the right word. I wasn’t sure it was a big enough word. “A little more than that,” I said.

He smiled. “I know what you mean.”

“This is why you don’t travel by car?”

He nodded. “You can’t feel the land from a car. They’re necessary. That’s the only reason we allow them, but they’re not for Délons.”

I turned to him. His face twitched some more. It looked as if it would hop from his skull at any moment. “This is a trick, isn’t it?”

“Huh?” He touched his face. “Oh, this. I just thought this face would please you more.” I thought back to the Georgia Dome when Pepper’s man, Shaw, had morphed into a Délon right before our eyes. “Personally, it disgusts me. If you wish, I could return to my true self.”

“No,” I said. “I prefer this.”

“As you wish,” he answered.

We rode in silence a few minutes longer. I strained to observe him out of the corner of my eye without him noticing. At one point, I saw a spider leg emerge from his wind blown brown hair. It was more disturbing than seeing countless dozens of them dancing on top of his head.

He broke the silence again. “You can’t go home.”

I looked over my shoulder towards my house and then back at him. “Why? What’s going on at my house...?”

“That’s not what I mean,” he said. “You can’t go back to the way it was. I know you think you can, but you can’t.”

I swallowed hard and mulled over what he was telling me. “Why exactly am I supposed to believe you?”

“You are trying to change the nature of things...”

“The nature of things,” I laughed. “There is nothing natural about this place. It’s all a twisted fantasy of some poor mentally handicapped guy in New Jersey because jerks like me wouldn’t let him have a moment’s peace and live with some dignity.”

This time he laughed. “Cruelty is the heartbeat of nature.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“To be cruel is to be true to nature. A lion does not tenderly tear a zebra’s belly open and feed. It stalks it and chases it and sinks its teeth into the zebra’s neck until it chokes the life out of it. The strong feed on the weak. That is the way of nature.”

I snickered. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a zebra.”

“No,” he smiled. “You’re a lion. You fed on Stevie Dayton, ripped the hope and self-worth from him as efficiently as any carnivore has ripped the entrails from its prey.”

His words stung me like a hive of angry wasps. I wanted to deny it, to scream at him, to demand that he take it back, but I couldn’t. As much as I hated to hear it, it was the truth. He was right. I knew it. I had even admitted it to myself over and over again, but hearing it out loud, spoken with such clarity and admiration made me sick to my stomach. I was a Délon before Délons even existed.

“You spend too much time denying your true nature,” Roy said. “You are not just one of us.” He chuckled. “You are the reason for us.

“Is this why you asked me to ride with you, to make me feel like crap for what I’ve done?”

“On the contrary. I’m trying to make you feel proud.”

I dug my heels into Chubby’s ribs and whistled. “Get up, boy.” Chubby went into a trot and we pulled away from Roy and Mr. Mobley. I didn’t want to hear any more.

Roy put Mr. Mobley into a trot and it wasn’t long before the horses were matching each other stride for stride. “I’ve upset you,” Roy said.

“Go away.”

“I’m leaving for Délon City this afternoon.”

“Good for you.”

“Tomorrow, you will do the same. You will have a horse and supplies for the trip.” His left eye turned white as he spoke.

“Alone?”

“Not quite. Devlin will travel with you.”

I kicked Chubby again. His stride turned into a gallop. Again, Mr. Mobley quickly matched our pace. “And Lou?”

“She will go with us...”

“She goes with me,” I said.

His hair was replaced with the spider legs. He wanted to deny me my request, but he didn’t. “Fine, and I suppose the curly haired one will be joining you...”

“Gordy? Yeah why not.” With that I gave Chubby another kick in the ribs and he bounded into a full out sprint. Mr. Mobley quickly chased after his equestrian counterpart, and we were racing neck and neck. I glanced over at Roy. His humanity had completely disappeared. He was General Roy again. Apparently, disguising oneself as a human took a lot of energy and concentration. He couldn’t sustain it for very long.

Much as I tried not to, I was enjoying myself. Riding Chubby, racing Roy and Mr. Mobley felt liberating. I was in a miserable place with miserable freaks that sucked on humans for blood and turned the rest of humanity into freaks like them, yet all I could think about was how much fun I was having on the back of that damn horse. I was deathly afraid of horses not long ago (or was it long ago, it was hard to keep up with the missing time), but there I was not wanting to ever have to dismount.

“You ride like a king,” General Roy shouted.

Upon hearing those words, I pulled back on the reigns, and quickly brought Chubby to a stop. General Roy rode a few feet farther and then did the same. He circled Mr. Mobley around and walked him toward me.

“We’re not friends,” I said.

“Kings have no friends,” he answered. “Just servants.”

“I’m not your king.” I turned Chubby around and trotted back toward Lou and Gordy. “I’m your enemy.” This time Roy did not follow. I could feel his dead eyes staring at me as I rode away. His anger burned. I could hear it crackling in my head. He meant to kill me, some time, somewhere. I wasn’t sure if even he knew it, but the desire was deep inside him. Eventually it would be too much for him to ignore.

***

Gordy and Lou were waiting for me at the back door to my house. I jumped off Chubby’s back feeling invigorated from the ride.

“Didn’t know you could ride,” Gordy said.

“Hope you can,” I said.

“Me, why?”

“We’re going to Délon City tomorrow.”

“We? Dude, on a horse?” Gordy was so nervous he was almost shaking.

“Me, too?” Lou asked.

“Yeah
Devlin will be joining us...” As soon as the words came out of my mouth Délon Devlin stepped out the back door.

“That’s right. I’ve got to babysit you twerps all the way to Délon City. One wrong move from any of you and you’re skinner food. You comprehend me?” He shoved Gordy in the back and stepped onto the bricked walkway.

“Gotcha’, cuz,” Gordy said. “No wrong moves here.”

“Were you always this spineless or do I bring out the best in you?” Devlin asked Gordy.

“It’s all you, big guy,” Gordy answered. “All you.”

Devlin grabbed Lou by the face and pulled her close. “How ‘bout you, female, do you fear me?”

Without thinking, I ran and kicked Devlin in the back of the knees as hard as I could. He fell hard to the ground. “Hands off, Devlin.”

Hearing him groan in pain and watching him struggle to stand back up, I suddenly became very afraid. I had hurt him. No good could come from that. As far as the Délons were concerned, I was their future king, but they didn’t have much in the way of self-control. If I got them mad enough, any one of them would rip me apart without a second thought.

Devlin huffed and growled like a tiger. The insect mandibles shot from his mouth and snapped wildly. His hands balled into fists. I feared this was the end for me. He stepped toward me and stopped. His spider leg hairdo reached for me, but quickly retracted. In a remarkable show of restraint, he backed away.

“You shouldn’t push me,” he said.

“Looks like we both have rules.” My voice began to crack. “You follow mine, I’ll follow yours. Deal?”

“No deal,” he hissed. “You follow mine, you live. You don’t...” He threw a fist into the brick exterior of the house and punched a hole in it. “That clear?” he said extracting his hand from the side of my house.

“Clear,” I said.

“Good.” He turned and headed for the street. “Your pig of a mother has eaten all the screamers. I have to feed before I lose all my strength.” He disappeared around the corner.

“You’re nuts,” Gordy cried. “Super nuts!”

“I wasn’t thinking,” I said. “You okay, Lou?”

“I can take care of myself,” she said.

“I know. I just... I don’t know what came over me.”

“You’re in love,” Gordy said. “That’s what came over you.”

I was stunned by the accusation. “In love? I am not.”

“He is not in love with me,” Lou insisted. “Take that back.”

“I saw what I saw,” Gordy said.

“Take it back,” I said stepping toward him.

“Okay, whatever. You’re not in love. Geesh, chill out. I was just saying...”

“Well, don’t just say, got it?”

“Got it.”

I walked up the steps to the back door and went in the house. Gordy let Lou pass with his hands in the air and then followed her through the door.

“Ma,” I yelled. I stopped when I noticed her solifipod looked different. A reddish slime oozed from the top and dripped to the floor.

“I hate those things,” Lou said. “They give me the willies.”

“You and me both,” I said.

“The shunter’s been out,” Gordy said.

“How do you know?” I asked.

“I can tell,” he answered. “I’ve seen enough of those things to suit me for a hundred lifetimes.”

“What is a shunter?” I asked.

“Dude, you don’t want to know,” he said.

“He’s right,” Lou added. “Consider yourself lucky you don’t know.”

“But...” before I could say another word, my mom rounded the corner. She was in an almost zombie like state dressed in her pajamas, the same reddish substance on the solifipod covered her clothes and neck. Dozens of puncture wounds outlined her face.

“Mom?”

She looked at me, or through me is more like it. “I’m hungry.” Her voice was thick and unsteady. “Do you have something I can eat?”

“No... maybe there’s something in the kitchen.” I moved past her and headed for the refrigerator.

“Everything in there is dead,” she protested.

I turned to her, my eyes struggling to take the site of her in, my ears throbbing from hearing what she’d just said.

“I need to feel it squirming in my mouth. Crying in pain. I need to feel it die.”

“Mom...”

“Forget it, dude,” Gordy said. “Your mom’s had her brain punctured. She’s gone.”

Mom zeroed in on Gordy’s voice. “Do you taste good, human?”

Gordy stepped back. “Me? No way. I’m sour as all get out. I eat nothing but... you know, sour stuff.”

“I like sour,” Mom said.

“Dude, your mom is really starting to creep me out.” Gordy backed away.

“I just want a little taste.”

Pop came rushing in from the bedroom wearing his robe. The purple rash that had been limited to a spot on his wrist and neck had grown to cover about sixty percent of his body. “Sorry, sorry,” he said. “She got away from me.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “Come along, Sharon. We need to get you dressed.”

“What’s wrong with her?” I asked.

“Nothing,” Pop said. “I just need to get her to transformation therapy. The first night with the shunter is always draining. The little buggers don’t know when to stop. The therapist will have her feeling right as rain in no time.”

“Feed me the living!” she screamed.

“Later, dear,” Pop said. He rushed her out of the living room and into the hallway toward the bedroom.

There was a long period of awkward silence between Lou, Gordy, and me as we all tried to decipher my mom’s bizarre behavior.

Gordy finally broke the silence. “Dude, crazy much?”

Lou slapped his arm. “That was rude.”

“What? His mom has stepped way out on the loony limb. That’s all I’m saying. I mean I’ve seen the shunted before and they were never that...”

“Wacko,” I said.

“Exactly.”

Lou stomped her foot and put her left hand on her hip. “Trust me, I have seen way worse. I’ve been the guest of momma and poppa Délon for a while now, and they have shown me some wild and wacky stuff. Do you know I actually saw a shunter crush the skull of a human host...”

She stopped when she realized what she was saying. The expression on my face must have terrified her because she turned a brilliant shade of white. She had been exposed to the ways of the Délons for so long that witnessing the brutal death of another human meant nothing to her. It was scary to see the apathy in her eyes. “What am I saying? Your mom is going to be fine. God, I hate this world. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it.”

“That’s all right,” I said.

“No, it’s not,” she answered. “That was stupid of me.” She flopped down on the couch. “You should know. The shunter that crushed the guy’s skull was a black market shunter. It wasn’t matched to the host through the normal process. Some people are just so anxious to be Délons they try to take shortcuts. They have no idea what they’re dealing with.”

“I don’t get why anyone would want to be a Délon,” I said sitting in my Pop’s recliner.

“Power, prestige,” Gordy said staring out the window. “Same as it’s always been. Only now you gotta be purple to be a player.”

“Are people really that desperate?” I asked.

“In a word,” Gordy laughed, “Absolutely.”

“It’s more than that,” Lou said. “People are scared. Think about it, we were at the top of the food chain for a long time. We called the shots for almost every living thing on the planet. We were in control. That all changed in the blink of an eye. People are so desperate to reclaim their superiority they’re willing to stop being people.”

Gordy sat on the other end of the couch. “Like I said you gotta be purple to be a player.” He closed his eyes. I could feel the heaviness of sleep starting to smother him.