The Portal ~ Large Print (18 page)

A
menacing fog rolled
over the choppy ocean as Vivian sped across the Bay Bridge. For the last three hours, Cody had remained quiet, except to give directions. With each passing second, the silence grew more terrible.

She had to get that monster out of her son. Did he need a priest? No, Cody Town existed somewhere in his own mind. A psychiatrist?

Yeah, she could see the interaction now. Your son is perfectly fine, Vivian. Don’t believe us? Time for some nice Thorazine for your stay in the Cuckoo’s nest. What, still not with the program? Here’s a quaint Mohawk with matching lobotomy scars.

No thank you.

Still, she couldn’t quiet that nagging voice that told her that Mister Vincent wasn’t a demon or a ghost. That he existed in some bitter wasteland beyond the reach of modern science. Not that it mattered. It wasn’t as though she worked for NASA.

At least the clergy were trained to consider things beyond our understanding, weren’t they? Back in Cody Town, Mister Vincent seemed old. If that were true, the Roman Catholic Church must’ve come into contact with him, or something like him before.

So a priest was her best shot, but she couldn’t exactly take Cody to a cathedral while he watched her every move. For now, she had to play along and wait for her break. Ahead, San Francisco’s skyline disappeared into the fog.

“We’re in the city now,” she said. “Which exit should I take?”

He didn’t respond. She looked over and found him leaned against the door, sound asleep. Finally. Her chance. Could Mister Vincent see her now? No, or else he would’ve awakened to direct her.

More than ever, she was convinced. Cody wasn’t just a gateway for Mister Vincent. He was also a prison. The bastard was trapped inside a four-year-old. That’s why he didn’t want to use
someone so young
. Why she wasn’t dead yet. He needed her to protect him.

Where was the closest cathedral? St. Patrick’s Church, she knew, off Mission Street. Calmly, she drove, until they reached the Fourth Street exit. She slowed onto the off ramp.

“What are you doing?” He sat up in his seat.

This wasn’t going to work. Cody had always been a light sleeper. How could she get him to stay out long enough to talk to a priest?

“I asked you a question,” he said.

The sleeping pills that the nurse had given her. They were still in her pocket. He wouldn’t just take them though. She’d have to hide them with food.

“I’m starving,” she told him. “We have to eat.”

“Get back on the highway.”

“I have to stretch my legs.” She spotted the Bay Street Diner and pulled into the parking lot. “We won’t be that long.”

“You must like to hurt your son.”

“Dammit.” She slammed on the brakes and held him against the seat. “I need coffee and food. If I fall asleep at the wheel, we’ll crash.”

An elderly couple stopped crossing the parking lot and stared. Her window was rolled down.

“Sorry,” she told him. If she was going to save her baby, she couldn’t afford to lose control. “I’m hungry and I haven’t slept. I need coffee to stay awake.”

He seemed to consider it. Finally, he said, “We’ll eat.”

“Thank you.”

“You should know.” He unclicked his seatbelt. “I’ve built pyramids and murdered kings. Nothing you’re considering is going to work.”

Jesus, did he know that she was planning to drug him? No, or else he would’ve taken the pills from her. They got out of the car. Cody walked around to her.

“Fix yourself up,” he said.

She looked down. Great. The last thing they needed was to draw attention. Her sweater was ripped, and she was bandaged to all hell. At least the dried blood on her jeans looked like paint stains. She opened the Honda’s door, pulled Torres’s puffy Dodgers jacket from the backseat, and put it on. Cody nodded and held out his hand. She took it.

As they walked inside, the scent of spattered grease and onions filled the room. A young waitress turned from the grill.

“Seat yourselves anywhere,” she said.

With Cody walking in front, Vivian took two pills from her pocket and palmed them. They sat in a window booth.

The waitress walked up, pulled a pen from behind her ear, and looked down at Cody.

“Hey cutie pie. Aren’t you just the sweetest thing?”

“Hamburger,” he said. “Bloody rare.”

“Okay.” She laughed nervously. “And what to drink?”

“Black coffee.”

That was how Vivian could slip him the pills. The heat would dissolve them. How many though? Given his size and lack of sleep, one should be more than enough.

The server gave her a look, and she realized how crazy his food order sounded from a four-year old.

“He has a condition,” Vivian told her. “The caffeine helps.”

“Oh.”

“The same for me,” she told her. “But well done.”

The waitress dotted her notepad and seemed relieved to walk away.

“Get the check when she comes back,” he said. “I don’t want to be late.”

“What are we doing here?” she asked. He just stared at her. “We’re in San Francisco already. I’m going to know soon enough.”

“Last time I checked, Charlotte Carmichael had reservations at a spa retreat.” An evil smile crossed his face. “I’ve owed her a visit for many years now.”

“Are you nuts? Stromsky works for the family. They’ll kill us on sight.”

“Don’t you worry. I’ve got something special planned for Mr. Kevin Stromsky.”

All morning, she’d wondered why Mister Vincent hadn’t unleashed whatever hell he had planned. Everything made sense now. He had enemies that knew at least part of his secret, and he couldn’t begin until he dealt with them. The minute they were out of the picture, it would start. Vivian had to stop that meeting.

“You’re going to get my son killed,” she whispered.

“You just do your part, and I’ll give him back in one piece.”

“I want to talk to him,” she said.

“You’ll see him when our work is finished.”

“Either let me talk to my son, or—”

“You’ll do what?” He moved his silverware to the side, took his napkin from the table, and placed it in his lap. “I’d hate to have to punish the boy for your actions.”

“Just tell me where he is.” Her voice choked up. “Is he safe?”

“He’s fine. Playing with others like himself as we speak.”

“In Cody Town?” She quieted her voice. “With those diseased kids?”

“Believe me.” He smiled. “They’ll take good care of him in my absence.”

The server walked up with their drinks, and he stopped talking.

“Careful, honey.” She set down the mugs and also two waters. “It’s hot.”

Vivian reached for her cup and deliberately knocked over a water glass.

“Dammit,” she said.

“It’s no big deal. I’ll grab a towel.” The waitress walked away.

Ice water began dripping into his lap, but he just stared at her with those cold eyes. Did he suspect something?

“Are you just going to sit there?” she asked.

The doorbell chimed and two cops walked in. Here was her distraction.

“The police are here,” she said quietly.

He turned around, and she dropped the pill into his coffee.

“They’re just here to eat.” Cody turned back to her. “Don’t make a scene.”

The cops walked in the opposite direction and sat down. The server returned with the towel and dried the table.

Cody blew on the mug and swallowed it down. What if the pills didn’t dissolve? God, what if he noticed the taste? They sat in silence until the food arrived. As they ate, he drank more, and his eyes seemed to get heavier. It was working.

“Is there anything else I can get for you two?” The server asked.

“Just the check,” Vivian said.

In her peripheral view, she saw him slump over, and fall asleep in the seat.

“Oh how cute.” The server set the bill on the table. “He’s zonked out.”

“He’s had a long day.”

Vivian’s stomach turned as she paid the bill. How long would those pills last? At least three hours. It wasn’t much. And when he woke, he’d know what she’d done. She carried Cody out to the car. Three hours to find out what Mister Vincent was. Three hours to save her baby.

***

E
verything in Cody
Town was covered in mud now, even here inside his Lego House. Cody scrunched into a ball behind the bookcase. Every night when they were hiding from Daddy at the cabin, he came here when he went to sleep. Now he couldn’t stop crying. Nothing was the same. Not since Mister Vincent got mad at him. Now it was dark and wet. Bear and his toys were dead. He wanted to leave, but he didn’t know how to wake up anymore.

Sometimes, Mommy called his name from far away, but when he tried to go to her, the bigger kids stopped him. Maybe if he hid long enough, they would forget about him. Then he would run away and never come back.

“Cody.” Little Girl walked inside. Her yellow Alice-in-Wonderland dress still looked brand new from the store. “Come outside, silly.”

“Go away,” he said, but he really didn’t mind her.

Even though she forgot her name like the other kids, Little Girl was the nicest one. At least she moved her lips when she talked.

“Why do you stay in here?” she asked. “There’s not even a roof anymore.”

“I don’t care.” Most of the walls of his house were gone too, but he still felt safer inside.

“Come play with us.”

“No.” He looked up at the sky. A million-billion wings buzzed. Giant bugs flew everywhere. They looked like moving thunderclouds.

“What’s the matter?” she asked. “Frightened of the bone pinchers?”

“I’m not scared,” he told her.

One of the bugs landed on top of the crooked wall and chewed off another piece of his plastic house.

“Get out.” Cody threw a Matchbox car at it. The bug flapped its wings at him and chomped its teeth. The see-through skin on its chest began clicking and its insides lit up.

“They’re beautiful.” Little Girl grabbed his hand and shoved it down. “They never harm us if we behave.”

“Make it go away.”

“If you promise to play with us.”

He nodded.

“
Bone pincher, bone pincher,”
she sang
. “Go find your home, feed on the others, and leave us alone
.”

The bug’s belly calmed down. It tilted its head and rubbed its front arms over its mouth. Finally, it flew away.

“Just remember the song.” She sat Indian-style next to him. “It’s the only thing that calms them.”

He hugged her. From here, the black bump on the side of her neck looked bigger. It had freckles, too.

“Does it hurt?” He touched it, super gentle.

“Not anymore, silly.” She giggled. “When you stay here long enough, nothing hurts anymore.”

He didn’t know why, but he really missed Mommy right then. And Auntie Erika. And Daddy, but only when he wasn’t bad.

“Now come outside,” she said. “We’re playing your favorite game. Bloody Shoe.”

“I don’t want to.”

“You promised us.” She looked meaner. “Do you know what happens when you break promises here?”

“I don’t care.” He moved farther into the corner. “Leave me alone.”

Little Girl stayed quiet for a second. Then she looked down at her dress and picked a lint ball from it.

“Cody, if I tell you something about your mom, can you promise to keep it secret?”

“Did you see her?” He leaned closer.

“Maybe.”

“Where?”

“Criss-cross, promise not to tell.” She made an X over her chest, so he did, too. “I met her when she came to Cody Town before. We laughed and laughed. Horsey was there, too.” She reached out and held his hand. “She told me that you were such a bad boy that she didn’t love you anymore.”

“You’re lying,” he shouted.

“Shhh.” Little Girl peeked through the broken window at the other kids. “You don’t want to anger them. They do things sometimes.”

“She loves me.” He tried not to cry.

“Cody, once you get used to it here, you’ll be so happy. We can be your family now. Forever and ever.”

“Mommy loves me. She’s coming to get me.”

“Where is she?” Little Girl looked around the room. “I don’t see her.”

“She doesn’t know how to get here. I’ll tell her.”

“You don’t even know where she is.”

“Yes, huh.” He pointed where he heard her voice sometimes. Far away, toward the big dead tree. It looked darker down there. And colder.

“You really are a bad boy.” She stood up.

“Cody, Cody.” The twin boys, whose tummies were stuck together, crawled inside the house. They had no legs, so they always walked like a backwards spider. The rest of the kids followed behind. Cody hid behind Little Girl.

“Where are you going, Cody?” they asked. Their lips and faces didn’t move.

“Cody wants to leave us.” Little Girl pushed him away. “He wants to go past the Dead Tree.”

“I’m going home,” he shouted at them.

“No, no, no.” They sounded mad.

“They’re right,” Little Girl said. “Who’s going to play with us?”

“Play with us,” the other kids chanted. “Play with us.”

“I tried to warn you.” Little Girl smiled at him. Two bone pinchers landed on his broken bookshelf with their stomachs lit up. Then three.

“Play with us. Play with us.”

He didn’t know what to do. They would never let him leave. Then he remembered that time underneath the cantaloupes in the grocery store, when Mommy yelled at him because she had to get the manager to find him.

“I hate Bloody Shoe,” he told them. “Let’s play Hide-and-seek.”

“Perfect.” Little Girl laughed. “Cody should be it. You are the best.”

“No,” he said. “You all count to ten and I hide.”

“You’re so clever,” Little Girl said. “All of us are it.”

“No peeking.”

They turned away from him. Even Little Girl covered her eyes.

“One,” she said. “Two.”

Cody ran outside to the front gate, opened it quietly, and stared at the Dead Tree in the distance. All kinds of bugs crawled from cracks in the road. The sky was filled with bone pinchers, but Mommy loved him and missed him. He knew she did. He had to find her.