Something From The Nightside (17 page)

Epilogue

T
he rain had mostly died away. I was shaking just a little, probably not from the cold. At least the night sky was still packed with stars and a huge white moon, and I tried to take some comfort from that. I sat on the pavement, hunched inside my filthy trench coat, watching Walker's people on the other side of the road as they swarmed all over the vacant lot where the house had been. They didn't seem to be having much luck, but every now and again they'd get all excited over some mess of decaying tissue, and make a big deal about sealing it into a snap-lock plastic bag. For evidence, or later analysis, perhaps.

Or maybe Walker just fancied his chances of growing himself a new house. Walker was always on the look-out for some new dirty trick he could spring on whoever happened to be his enemy that week. He was currently ordering his people about from a very safe distance, careful as always not to get his own hands dirty.

He turned up with a small army of his people not long after I'd brought Suzie and Cathy out of the dead house. He and they had been standing by, observing, just in case I screwed up after all. Apparently Walker had heard the house scream as it died. I had no trouble believing that. I'd always thought Walker would make a really good vulture.

Cathy sat beside me, still wrapped in the long grubby coat she refused to give up, leaning compan-ionably against me. Walker had conjured up a large mug of beef tea for her from somewhere, and she .sipped at it now and again, when she remembered. Her body had been so reduced by the house it had even forgotten how to be hungry. Suzie stood guard over us with her shotgun in her hands, giving Walker the hard look if he even looked like drifting too close to us. Even Walker knew better than to cross Suzie Shooter unnecessarily.

The memory of Joanna still haunted me, though her ghost had disappeared along with the house. I couldn't believe she'd fooled me for so long ... but she'd seemed so real. I had to wonder whether I'd be-

lieved in her for the same reasons that Cathy had believed the house's promises, because we were told just what we wanted to hear. That I'd loved Joanna because she'd been created specifically by my enemies to be my perfect love. Hard, but vulnerable. Strong, but desperate. A lot like me, in fact. Someone had done their homework very well, the bastards. But I still think that in the end Joanna believed in herself because I believed in her, that she became, if only briefly, a real person through an effort of will. Her own will. Dreams can come true, in the Nightside. Everyone knows that.

But they still vanish when you wake up.

Suzie looked down at me, frowning, correctly divining my thoughts. "You always were too soft for your own good, Taylor. You'll get over her. Hey, you still got me."

"Lucky me," I said. She meant well, in her own way.

"And we kicked that house's arse, didn't we?"

"Yes," I said. "We did that."

Suzie looked across at the vacant lot, unimpressed by Walker's people and their efforts. "How many people did that thing eat, do you think, before we shut it down?"

I shrugged. "How many lost souls and losers are there, in the Nightside? And how many of them would have to go missing, before anyone noticed? Or

cared? Walker only got involved after a few movers and shakers accidentally got sucked in."

Walker picked up on his name, and strolled casually over to join us, keeping a wary eye on Suzie. She turned her gun on him, smiling unpleasantly, but I gestured for her to let him approach. There were things I needed to know, now I was feeling a little stronger. He tipped his bowler hat to us politely.

"You knew," I said.

"I suspected," said Walker.

"If you'd been sure," I said slowly, "would you still have let me go in there, not knowing?"

"Probably. You're not one of my people, Taylor. I don't owe you anything."

"Not even the truth?"

"Oh, especially not that."

Suzie frowned. "Are you two talking about the house, or Joanna?"

"It doesn't matter," I said. "Walker has always been very jealous of the secrets he guards. Tell me this, Walker. Is my mother really coming back?"

"I don't know," he said, holding my gaze calmly. His manner was open and sincere, but then, it always was. "There are rumours ... but there are always rumours, aren't there? Perhaps ... you should stick around, just in case." He looked across at the vacant lot, so he wouldn't have to look at me. "I could always put a little work your way, now and again. Un-

officially, of course. Since it seems you haven't lost your touch, after all."

"You've got some nerve," said Suzie.

He smiled at her, every inch the polite and demure civil servant. "Comes with the job, my dear."

"I am not your dear, Walker."

"And don't think I'm not grateful."

I intervened, before things started getting out of hand. "Walker, can you look after Cathy for me? See that she gets back to the real world, and her mother? Her real mother?"

"Of course," said Walker.

"You can forget that shit," Cathy said sharply. "I'm not going back. I'm not ever going back. I'm staying here, in the Nightside."

I gave her my best harsh glare. "Are you crazy? After everything you've been through?"

She smiled at me over her mug of beef tea, and there wasn't a trace of humour in that smile. "There's more than one kind of nightmare. Trust me; bad as this place can be, it's still nothing compared to what I ran away from. I thought I'd stay with you, John. Could you use a secretary? Every private eye has to have a smart-mouthed secretary who knows a thing or two. I think it's in the rule book."

Suzie started to laugh, and then turned it into an unconvincing coughing fit when I glared at her. Walker became very interested in the vacant lot again. I glowered at Cathy.

"I just saved your life; I haven't adopted you!" "We'll sort something out," Cathy said confidently. She looked across the road too. "What was it, do you think, really?"

"Just another predator," I said. "A little less obvious than most. Just... something from the Night-side."

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