Authors: Mark Fuson
Tags: #Wolf Asylum, #9781629291758, #Mark Fuson, #Damnation Books, #Fuson, #lycanthrope, #wolf, #lycan, #werewolf, #change, #transform, #transformation, #moon, #full moon, #addiction, #addicts, #The Power of One, #silver dagger, #Hell, #other side, #other world, #witch, #demon, #demons, #demonic, #Succubus, #gay, #homosexual, #same-sex relationship, #sex, #silver, #silver blood, #blood, #fetus, #mental hospital, #mental patients, #drugs, #murder, #serial killer, #bones, #pyramid of skulls, #forest, #woods, #imp, #essence of imp, #tattoo, #ear, #morgue, #Hadamar, #Riverview, #souls, #soul, #bully, #bullied, #high school bully, #homophobia, #anti-gay, #teen, #teenage, #teenager, #revenge, #pay back, #incest, #torture, #mutilation, #mutilate, #amputate, #gate, #key, #portal, #Darwin Foster, #Darwin, #Darwinism, #Steve Cardwen, #Marta, #womb, #pregnant, #D.K. Slade, #Slade, #Se Venire, #Bermuda Triangle, #The Cyclops, #Cyclops, #Battle of Waterloo, #Napoleon, #Monster, #Lucifer, #the devil, #Satan, #insanity, #sanity, #stab, #stabbing, #rape, #sister, #menstruation, #death camp, #concentration camp, #abortion, #abortion clinic, #thief, #criminal, #evil, #good vs. evil
“Theodore Holmes!” she shrieked throughout the hospital.
He entered the hallway and knew she was near. He limped his way along and could hear her heals tapping on the hollow floors. She was near.
She rounded the corner at the deserted nurses' station and found Teddy stumbling along. The good doctor looked at him in displeasure, as if she knew he had been up to no good.
“Yes, ma'am!” he huffed. “My legsâI can feel my legs!”
“Why have you been wandering around? I told you to rest up!” she scolded.
“Sorryâ¦Evita. I fell asleep and had a nightmare. I changed. I broke into your lab and ate more fetus. I'm very sorry.” Teddy told his half-truth, hoping to God it would be enough.
“Is that all?” she asked.
“I found a mess in one of the rooms in the east wing. The smell brought me to it. What is it?”
“That was someone who got very sick,” she said bluntly.
“Would you like me to clean it up?” he asked, trying to be overly helpful.
“No. That is a very generous offer but you should continue to work on your rehabilitation. I will get some slaves from the mine to clean it up.” The doctor looked him over. “Now, after you changed, did you regenerate any?”
“Oh, yes!” Quite a bit really,” he said excitedly.
“Change for me now. I want to watch.”
Without giving it any thought Teddy threw his mind back to what it felt like to change. He could feel his heart rate instantly increase and soon he could feel his claws elongating from his new hands. Teddy gave himself over as his hospital garbs again began to shred at the seams until they fell to the floor like a pile of rags.
Teddy was a monster again and this time he had a new feeling inside of him. He wanted to kill.
Finding the witch that Shawn had told them about was no easy task. She had been in the underworld only as a human who embraced the dark arts on Earth. In the underworld she did not age; the afterlife had no hold over her since she was not actually deadâ¦yet she still had to be cunning if she was to keep hidden from the overseers for the centuries.
Steve only knew part of the legend which would make finding the witch all the more challenging. Shawn had said that there was no way to access her home; at least no easy way.
Finding the one called Lynda Aspen had become a priority. The woman had expertise in the underworld that could help in resistance against it. She might also be able to increase the odds of success in traveling back to Earth. In other words, she had knowledge they couldn't pass up.
Shawn had been lucky. Lynda had found him shortly after he had taken his own life in the real world. She helped him early on to create strategies that would assist his survival. She passed on her knowledge of the underworld creatures and herbal remedies that had extra powers to either aid or hinder existence.
Shawn had never been to her home. He only knew that to find it, you had to travel underwater-so to speak. Her domain was in a cave that was under a shelf in a body of blood. That was key Shawn said. There was no water or large bodies of fluid anywhere in the area that he was aware of and none locally that were made from blood.
It was Lynda that said she was, “a bloody mess every time she came out for supplies.”
Shawn knew Lynda to be clever in her words, especially when speaking of her home. Lynda had never said outright she lived in a cave but he had concluded that in her subtle hints that:
if he should must find her, he should look for blood, and under the blood you would find her
.
Darwin and Steve traveled surreptitiously, being mindful of the surroundings. Steve had fully reverted and they were making a point not to engage in any form of affection, as that might set Steve down the road to becoming an apostle of Hell. The conversation during their journey was light as both were afraid that any topic may aid in Steve's deterioration. He was back to perfect, and both wanted him to stay that way.
Steve suggested they travel to where Shawn had entered the underworld. It was there that Lynda found Shawn and it made sense that she might live in the area.
Shawn came to the same way that he had died. He walked into a church and burst into flames. There was nothing romantic about it. The hallowed ground legend was true, especially for demons which was the category Shawn fell under. He had enough humanity left to want it to end and after attempting a few other methods unsuccessfully, he walked into a cathedral looking for solace. Instead, he found release from the world and took the house of worship with him.
When he arrived in death, he burnt into existence in reverse. Starting as ash he became more and more whole. The fire gave birth to him. After several hours the flames were out and Shawn had become a member of the afterlife.
The pain was so intense, he immediately passed out.
Steve entered the afterlife, with the exception of his genitalsâwhich followed him after the fire was out.
Steve remarked, “Shawn said when he came to, he was inside the hollowed remains of a stone building. It was six hours from where he lived and in the direction of the shadows.”
“North?”
Steve shook his head. “Not here. North. South. None of that exists. If you notice, the shadows change direction periodically. So, we have to keep an eye on them and continue moving with them. For all I know, we could be walking in a fucking circle. I remember Shawn saying to follow the shadows from his place.”
“Okay, six hours it is. No watch but I'm a pretty good gauge of time,” he joked.
“Darâ¦I don't want to sound un-fucking-grateful, but the longer this takes, the longer we are togetherâ¦the more I slip. Let me send you back and be done with this fucking idea,” Steve said, stopping mid-trail.
Darwin scowled and lit a fire under his heart. It pained him to do it, but it was the only way he could help Steve without letting the infection get a new hold on him.
“Listen you selfish cunt! You have a world up there that needs you. I can live without you, but do you have any idea how many people came to your funeral? You had no idea how many people loved you! How many people you touched! Yeah, we had a raw deal in life. Yeah, it felt like people wanted you dead! The truth was you were pure and after you diedâ¦you were missed!”
“You can live without me?” Steve asked, as though nothing else had stuck.
Darwin froze unsure of what to do. At the last second he did the only thing that came to his mind.
In a decisive moment, Darwin swung his open palm full tilt and collided with Steve's temple and eye. Steve flew backwards falling to the ground. Darwin immediately wanted to run to his side and apologize, but the front had to continue.
“
What the fuck?
” he screamed in fury.
Darwin lied, slitting his own wrists, “I'm only doing this for Teddy! He's the one who loves you, not me! Why the fuck do you think I didn't come to you when I knew what I was? If I loved you, don't you think I would have been there?”
“Teddy?” Steve asked with his veins bulging on his temple.
“Yeah! I got to know him. I hated him but I found him amusing. He finally confided in me that he had feelings for you. I didn't lie to you when I said he'd changed! I thought maybe if I brought you back and gave you to Teddy, I would be able to close the book on that part of my life! So, suck it upâbecause you must have infected him with fag-spunk that day in the shower! He's your one true love, not me! He's in the real world waiting for you!”
“But the other night?” Steve asked, nearly in tears as his eye began to puff up.
“
I did it because I could!
” he shouted, beginning to believe his own lies. “You really think I'd be caught dead with a prissy little faggot like you?”
Steve choked and struggled for a breath. “You fucking bastard! Your blood; I know the truth!”
“What the fuck do you know? You're just white trash! If you knew anything about the gift, you'd know that blood lies!
It shows you what you want to see!
” Darwin screamed, bringing his own veins to the surface. “I've wanted you dead since we were thirteen. I don't know why I didn't kill you! If you hadn't been there, my life would have turned out perfect!”
“You're lying! The cemetery, your eulogy!” Steve said, collapsing under his own emotional weight.
“I used you to get what I want,” Darwin said coldly. “Sympathy is a powerful tool!”
Steve turned and ran as fast as he could, disappearing into the afterlife. Darwin stood in place feeling the emotions he had expressed. After a moment of silence, his heart burst. His performance had been too perfect and he knew for a time he had believed what he was saying.
Darwin's stomach turned and suddenly he found himself in dry heaves on the ground. He had slashed Steve's throat. It was the hardest thing he had ever done. If knowing Darwin wasn't the one; that there was someone else, he still had hope Steve would still be willing to go back to New Haven.
Alone in the gray forest, Darwin had no idea what to do. He was in uncharted territory with no assurance that Steve would ever come back. Worse yet, the horrible things Darwin had said could have the opposite effect and make Steve change faster. There was no way of knowing.
In retrospect, Darwin began to feel like he had erred. There was no one in life he wanted to protect moreâ¦and he would do anything to keep Steve safe. He had done the only thing he could and now he wanted to die.
Darwin had said things that reminded him of the abuse from high school. Wishing Steve was dead, doing things only to hurt him, using him, physical and verbal assaults; it all came so easily. It was like a drug and the more he hurt, the better it felt.
How can I live with myself? How can I ever get him to believe that what I said was a lie?
“
Whoo,
” the owl chirped from a branch high above the trail that Darwin was blindly stumbling down.
“Did you see what I did, Hootie? I was just trying to create some distance, to protect him. Instead, I ran away with my anger and said a bunch of things I didn't mean.” Darwin collapsed to the ground breaking down.
The owl said nothing more, only rotated his head three hundred and sixty degrees. When his head returned to him, the eyes were glowing crimson.
Even through his tears Darwin had seen the owl. “Go ahead! Kill me!” he shouted at the underworld emissary.
Darwin sat up on his knees and began panting heavily forgetting about his tree top voyeur. He clutched his sides and screamed, “
why does it hurt? Oh, fuckâit hurts so much!
”
“Shhhh!” The earthy woman blew into his ear. “You want to wake them?”
“Help me please!” Darwin beseeched, barely able to make out her appearance.
She looked at him now. “The pain of love lost; no pain compares. It's special, it hurts more than physical damage and it's everywhere. Worst of all, there's only one cure.”
“I'll do anything to make it stop.”
“Time,” she said assuredly. “In time the pain will subside. Mind you, it is possible to rekindle the love and that too, can end your pain. However, I heard how you treated himâ¦you'll be lucky if he ever speaks to you again!” She chuckled.
“I had to save him. It's because of me he was changing intoâ¦a demon I guess,” Darwin defended.
“Oh, child!” She laughed. “Steve was never going to become a demon. No, he was just a plain old werewolf. He would have changed and been forever stuck in that skin. His humanity would be gone and he would have served his underworld mastersâhe still will.”
Darwin jumped off the ground and wiped his eyes clear to get a look at the short woman. She wore layer upon layer of tattered rags; her teeth were yellow and green, and she smelt of urine and other delightful oddities. After one good look at her, he knew that the woman before him was the one he had been seeking.
“Lynda Aspen?”
“The one and only!” She smirked now, exposing gaps behind the corn and pea colored teeth.
“Shawn told me to find you. I need your help,” Darwin said calmly, trying to keep his pain from resurfacing.
“Is it Steve or Marta you need help with?” she answered, showing her reach of knowledge .
Stunned, Darwin shook his head in confusion. She knew about Marta, what else could she know? If she already knew, then why ask?
“Everything,” Darwin replied, resigned.
She took a step back and her big eyes drooped. “Keeping it simple, I like that. Okay, come on sunshine let's see what we can do.”
Lynda began walking off trail through the thicket of branches and twigs. She stopped before disappearing and looked back only to see if Darwin was following.
“What about Steve?” Darwin asked.
“We've wasted too much time as it is. If it's meant to be⦔ She continued walking and mumbling but most of what she said couldn't be understood. Lynda turned one final time and made a statement, “two men in loveâ¦they would have burned you at the stake in my day.”
For the first time, Darwin found that uncomfortable feeling absent.