#SoriAryl

[soriaryl]

Masks and Master Keys

Yuriena is the Princess, Captain, and Engineer of the Xailogarian empire. When the General of the Xailogary army commits treason by killing the royal family, she runs to the magical Kingdom of Vidia. Renamed and among the lowest caste, she finds Intelligence work in Vidia. When Xailogary attacks Vidia, she must find where her loyalties lie: with the clockwork machines of Xailogary or the magic of Vidia.

[soriaryl]

Copper Cold Steel

After the facial-scarred Lucia's father died, she became Marquess Lucian to inherit the Borderland of Winterstride along with his debt. When her step-sisters are chosen for the Princess Tests, she has to become a guard for another Lady to make ends meet. The Duke of Coppersteel looks at her a little too closely with his prejudice of Borderlanders after he scarred Lucian's face during a duel. Can she keep her identity a secret while helping her sister's win the hearts of the Golden Princes?

[soriaryl]

Jeweler's Muse

After waking up from a one-night stand, Geneva wants to disappear back into anonymity. Yet, when she logs into her favorite game, he's there, questioning how they became friends. As she learns more about GlassOfOJ, she feels a strong connection with him. But when she works a jewelry event for her boss, she finds out there is more to him than his online persona. Who is the man she fell in love with?

[soriaryl]

Arbiter of the Stars

Accompanied by a Werewolf and a Ghost (two former Hunters), a Red Witch must find out what is causing the unnatural death of the forest. 

[soriaryl]

Madam Ruby Part 03

Continued from 11/15/2023

“Are you sure this’s gonna work?” Sapphire paced the room.

“No, but it’s the only chance we got.” I kept my voice low so that we would not be heard. 

“Why can’t we bring John in on this?” Emerald asked.

“Because I still don’t know if we can trust him, and we’re out of time.”

“What if I can find out for sure?” Diamond suggested. “He’s sweet on me, and I think I can flip him.”

I thought about what she said. “Do it. If you can’t, we’ll stick to the original plan.”

“Ruby!” Eli called up from downstairs.

“All right, here goes everything.” I walked out of the room and down the stairs. “The girls are getting changed now.”

He pulled me closer to him and whispered in my ear, “You’re not plannin’ anythin’, are ya?”

“Only planning on showing you that we may have found something.” I wrapped the lie in a truth. “I found some dynamite, and John helped me rig it to open up a tunnel deeper into the mountain. If there’s silver in the hills, it’ll be in there.”

“How did such smarts get into a pretty woman like you?” He nuzzled the side of my neck.

“God’s Grace.” 

My four girls came down the stairs in their mining clothes. “We’re ready,” Sapphire announced.

Eli stood up but kept his arm wrapped around my torso. “Then let’s get going.” John walked with the girls, followed by the rest of the gang. “Remember what I’ll do if you try anything.”

I escaped from his grip. “Trust me, Eli. I never forget what’s at stake.”

“Good.” He pointed to the door. “After you, my dove.”

I pushed through the saloon doors and hopped onto the wagon that John hooked up for the girls and me. Diamond winked and climbed over the low seat back and sat next to him. She grabbed his thick arm and held onto it while she laid her head on his shoulder.

Eli and the rest of his gang followed the wagon up on their horses. When we reached the mine entrance, I jumped out of the wagon and helped Emerald, Topaz, and Sapphire down. John assisted Diamond, and she gave me the barest of nods that we could trust him. 

I prayed to God that it would not be our downfall. Maybe I should pray to Lady Luck instead, since we’re gonna rely on Her power for most of this.

“Follow me,” I said with no emotion in my voice. I lit a few lanterns and handed them to the girls, John, and Eli. They all followed me down the main tunnel into the large cavern. “Now, there’s three different tunnels that we’ve been working with, so we can split up to cover more ground.” The girls handed the lanterns to members of the gang so they could explore the mine.

“What about the dynamite?” Eli asked when he grabbed my hand.

“That’ll come later,” I promised.

Aaron shouted from the central tunnel, “Boss! There’s silver here!”

Marcus’s voice came from the left side tunnel. “Here too!” 

Eli gave me a look like he did not trust me. He pulled me over to where Aaron was standing and held the light up to the rock. He touched it with his fingertips. Only a couple of flakes came off the wall, the rest stayed and sparkled. “How did the miners miss this?” he wondered out loud.

“Maybe they weren’t interested in small amounts like this,” I answered. “When you’re looking for a vein, you’ll skip over the tiny flecks.”

He held his finger closer to the lantern, and a smile grew on his lips. “We’re rich.” He set the lantern on the ground, picked me up, and twirled me in his arms. “We’re rich!” He tried to kiss me, but I pulled away. He dropped me onto the ground, anger radiating from him.

Aaron took a step away from us.

“How dare you deny me?” Eli growled.

I shot back, “I always dare. Especially on days like today.” 

“You still don’t get it, do you? I own you!”

“Nobody owns me. Not even a murdering bastard like you.”

He backhanded me across the face hard enough that I fell back to the ground, and my lip split. He grabbed me by my hair and pulled me back up to my feet. He dragged me out of the mine. “Saddle up, boys! We’ll be back here later. My wife has somethin’ special for us to celebrate with.” He threw me into the wagon, where my girls all gathered with me.

John looked over his shoulder and handed me a handkerchief to wipe the blood that seeped from my lip. “Thank you,” I whispered. The anger that flared through him helped me to see that Diamond was right. John could betray his gang. She just needs to convince him to do so.

He drove the cart down the trail and back into Silver Hills. Eli grabbed me from the wagon and hauled me over his shoulder. Behind the bar was a set of stairs that led down into the cellar under a trapdoor. He tossed me on the ground and threw the hatch open. He lugged me down the steps to where I kept the alcohol.

“Where is it?” he asked with an edge in his voice.

“What’re—”

He slapped me again. “I know you’re hiding somethin’ down here! Where is it?” He tore through the bottles until he found an old, dusty jar sealed with wax in the furthest part of the cellar. 

“Not that one!” I called out to stop him, but he just pushed me back.

He wiped the dust off the label. “Con-grat-u-la-shuns, Marshall and Ruby. Dated 1865.” He looked down at me. “This is what you’re hidin’?”

“Please, Eli, it’s the only thing I got left of him!” I pleaded.

His smile became vicious. “Then I guess it’s time to erase him from your history.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me from the cellar and set the bottle on the bar. “Serve it,” he whispered with more than a hint of malice in his voice. He stood next to me, keeping his arm around my waist.

I cried while I opened the bottle. Part of me wanted to shatter it on the ground rather than serve it, but I had to think of my girls. I divvied the almost-black contents into glasses, having just enough for the gang. 

Topaz served the glasses to each of the men. Aaron slapped her on the ass when she passed by him with the last glass. He tried to pull her into his lap, but she barely made it out of reach when he grabbed for her.

“I propose a toast,” Eli told his gang. 

I leaned against the back of the bar where the alcohol sat on shelves. I wiped away my tears and apologized to Marshall, I’m sorry, love.

Eli held his glass up in the air. “Here’s to the girls who found the silver in the mine—”

A glass shattered, and I looked over at Diamond who “bumped” into John.

Eli glared at her. “Clean it up!”

I tossed her a rag, and she quickly cleaned the spill. “Eli, there’s none left in the bottle,” I explained when he turned to me.

“Sorry, John, but maybe Diamond there can give herself up in exchange for what she broke.” 

“Maybe it’s best that negros don’t have a white man’s drink,” Aaron chuckled to himself, but the rest of the gang heard it and laughed with him. Only Eli and John refused to join in. 

Eli continued his toast, “Here’s to us becomin’ rich!” 

“Here, here!” his gang shouted, and they all knocked back the dark alcohol. 

Eli’s eyes lit up when he looked at me. “What is this?”

“It was my wedding wine.”

He did not say anything for a second. “Come with me.” 

I fought a little, but after he gave me a cold look, I stopped trying to get away. I gave my girls the signal, and they knew what to do next. My job was to keep Eli occupied while the girls went to work.

He slammed the door to our room open and threw me onto the bed. He leapt on top of me and kept trying to catch my lips with his. “Jus’ accept it, Ruby.” He finally moved my face to be nose-to-nose with him. “You belong to me, now and forever.” He was gentle at first, at odds with the man I knew he was. That softness did not last long. He sat up on my hips and ripped my shirt off of me. He struggled with his belt buckle, and that is when I knew I was free.

“You all right?” I asked, even though I already knew what was going on.

He slid off the bed and stumbled a little while he tried to stay upright. “Wha’ di’ ya do?” he slurred.

“I didn’t do anything,” I replied with a sweet smile. I stood up and put my arms around his shoulders. “Except serve you some cactus wine laced with laudanum.” 

“Wha?”

“Tchtchtch,” I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth. “You should know better than to drink on an empty stomach. But it will help you enjoy this.”

“Enjoy wha?” His eyes fluttered a little as he fought with the drink.

I pushed him onto the bed with a thump. “You want me to do my wifely duties, right?” I straddled his hips with my thighs and leaned forward to meet his eyes. 

“Yes,” he breathed. He yanked me down on top of him and stuck his tongue in my mouth. I found the ropes that I hid behind the top of the mattress while he was distracted. I looped them around his wrists but did not pull them tight.

Three knocks on the door, and then silence. I sat back up, tightening the ropes around his wrists. “Looks like your time is up, Eli.”

“Wha’ ya mean?” His eyes tried to focus on me, but the dilution of opium in the wine made it hard.

 “You’ll see.” I smiled and climbed off the bed. 

He tried to sit up and stand, but he might as well have been a turtle on its back. I took off the torn shirt, grabbed another one, and put it on. “Ruby!” he shouted. I blew him a kiss and left the room. “Ruby!” he yelled again.

Sapphire stood by the stairs. 

“How did it go?” I asked her.

She smiled. “See for yourself.”

The gang was asleep and tied up like little presents. “And it ain’t even Christmas.”

Emerald, Diamond, and Topaz sat near a tied-up John. 

“He’s bein’ stubborn,” Topaz mumbled.

I pulled a chair up and sat down in front of him. “Lemme put it to you this way, John. Either you help us, or you die with them. You can become rich from their bounties, or my girls will. You’re not like them, John. You don’t relish in the violence they cause. If you help us get rid of them, I promise that I’ll make sure the rangers don’t look your way.” 

He looked at the gang, then to the girls. “What do you wan’ me to do?” 

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Simple. We need help carrying them to the mine.”

He narrowed his eyes. “That’s what the dynamite was for?”

“Exactly. Or, if you like, we can string them up like they did my husband one year ago. Unless you had something to do with—”

He interrupted me, “I followed the girls out of town. I ain’t have nothin’ to do with that hanging.” 

I looked to my girls. “This true?”

“He’s the one who caught us before we made it to the train station,” Emerald explained.

I stood up from the chair and wiped my hands on my trousers. “So? Which path are you gonna go down? The path to Hell with them? Or the path to redemption?”

“You swear you’ll keep the rangers off my tail?”

“I promise. And there’s the bonus of becoming a rich man.”

He did not take long to make his choice. “I can get them up the hill in the wagon.”

“Ruby!” Eli screamed from upstairs.

“What ‘bout Eli?” he asked as Diamond untied him.

“I’ve got special plans for him.” I put my hand out to him, and he used it to stand up. “You won’t be the one to kill them, if that helps. No need to get blood on your hands where there is none now.”

He gave me an odd look but shrugged. “Let’s get to it, then.” 

We stacked the gang members in the cart. Their feet faced the front and their heads hung over the back end. “We’ll need proof of their deaths for the reward,” Emerald reminded me.

“I think the old preacher had one of them picture takin’ things,” Topaz told her. Topaz, Diamond, and John left to the preacher’s house, then up the mountain to cave-in the mine. Sapphire and Emerald took two horses and headed down to the train station to get a ranger up here.

I went back to the saloon and cleaned it up. I wanted it perfect for when I marched Eli down and outside. Inside my tiny office was a knife that Marshall gave me on our first anniversary. It was made of cherry red wood and had a simple sheath of a cardinal embroidered on it. He had it specially made after I successfully hunted a rabbit on my own. I put the sheath in my boot and covered it with my trousers.

On my desk was a small box. I opened it to show a needle and syringe with a vial laying on its side. I grabbed the needle and syringe, stuck it into the vial and pulled opium into it. It was just enough to sedate him for half an hour, but that would be long enough. 

I also found the lipstick that I wore on my wedding day with Marshall. This is will do the trick. I stuffed the lipstick inside my corset between my breasts. The red was just as bright as my eyes, which is why Marshall bought it for me in the first place.

I found him still struggling against the binds on his arms. He must have worked off the drugs in his system by trying to get free.

“Ruby!” There was rage and fury in his voice, but also something laced underneath. It could have been desire. He licked his lips. “Ruby, I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Trust me, Eli. There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

“Once I get free—”

I laughed. “Oh, darlin’, you ain’t getting out of this one.” I leaned over his face. “But I do want you to see something before you die.”

“Like what?” 

“Like the end of life as you know it.” I stabbed him in the arm with the needle and pressed on the syringe plunger. 

His eyes rolled back as he was filled with the ecstasy that only opium could give. He moaned in pleasure when I lightly touched him with my fingertips. “Please,” he begged.

“Please, what?” I whispered in his ear.

“Please…” he could not finish his thought as another round of euphoria rushed through him. 

I untied his hands and retied them behind his back. I laid him across my shoulders and carefully navigated my way outside. I made sure the rest of the town, whoever was left, watched as I sat him on the ground. I looped the rope around his neck and tied the other end to his horse. I took the lipstick out and meticulously applied it to my lips. 

The sun rose higher over the horizon, and Eli stirred. We had a crowd of the people left in Silver Hills. “Eli Carver!” I yelled more to the crowd than to him.

He looked around and realized where he was. He tried to fight off the noose, but it was too tight to shake off. 

“You are hereby found guilty on counts of train robbery, theft, assault, and murder.” I glanced back at him. “And as punishment for your crimes, you will watch your men killed and then hanged until dead.”

His eyes widened in genuine terror as I sauntered in front of him. “Ruby, don’t do this. I can change.” 

“You lost that chance of redemption when you murdered my husband, kidnapped me, stole my town, and tortured my girls.” I moved to his side, helped him stand, and pointed to the mine on the hill. “Watch.” I took the knife from my boot and flashed the sunlight off of it. 

I received a flash back, and I put the knife away. I held Eli’s head to force him to watch as the hillside exploded. The sound echoed through the town and its valley.

“No…” He tried to shake his head from my grip, so I let him go. He glared at me. “No! You’re not a killer, my dove—”

“I ain’t your dove!” I snapped at him. “I am the wife of the fallen sheriff. I ain’t killing them or you in cold-blood.”

“Then what do you call this?”

I smiled and kissed him on the lips. “Justice.” I moved behind him and guided the horse forward. Eli rose off the ground. This would be the slow death he deserved for everything he did. He kicked his feet and tried to get out of the noose and binds. I used my weight to pull the rope down more and tied it to the anchor in the ground. I let the horse free from its duties, and it ambled back to the front of the saloon.

He hanged there in panic and pain, just like he did to Marshall one year ago. I walked around to the front and just watched. I let the image of him begging, pleading, trying to breathe, and survive burn into my mind. This would bring me the peace I craved. He finally stopped kicking and moving after a while.

I turned back to the crowd. “Eli Carver is dead. But that means nothing after your cowardice killed Marshall. The only reason I don’t string any of you alongside Eli is because Marshall wouldn’t have wanted that. He wanted to build a home here, and I intend to honor him and his memory. If any of you want to leave, go. Those who want to stay, we have work to do to take the stain of Eli and his gang off our town.”

Emerald and Sapphire rode in, just as Topaz, Diamond, and John came back into town. They all stared at Eli hanging there, with the smear of red lipstick on his mouth. They then looked to me, and there was satisfaction in the girls’ eyes. John looked like he was not sure what to think. 

Another horse galloped into the center square and stopped just in front of the gallows. “What’s goin’ on here?”

“Justice,” I answered. “Who are you?”

Sapphire made the introductions. “Madam Ruby, this is Cal Deacon. He’s a ranger.”

His blond hair was cut short to his head, which made his blue eyes pop even more. He looked from Eli to John then to me. He took his hat off his head and bent his head a little. “Ma’am.” It felt like nothing escaped his notice.

“Ranger.” I cut to the chase. “Why’re you here?”

“Heard rumors of Eli Carver’s gang set up a hideaway near here. When these two ladies were trying to send a message to the nearest Rangers’ station, I made my acquaintance.” He gave Eli’s corpse a long look. “But it looks like I’m too late to arrest him. Where’s the rest of his gang?”

John spoke up, “Buried in a mine shaft.”

“And you are?” 

“John. John… Onyx.” He gave himself a last name. “I work for Madam Ruby. She’s the proprietress of the saloon and mayor of Silver Hills.” He looked at the other people left in town and none of them said anything differently.

I raised an eyebrow at the promotion. “Since Eli Carver and his gang are dead, there’s no need for you to stay Ranger Deacon.”

He looked around the small town. “You know, normally, there’s someone here with a shiny badge telling me to get off their turf.” He looked at our faces. “My guess is that Eli killed your sheriff when he first arrived.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Keep talking. You’ll get to the point eventually.” 

“I’m saying that if you’re gonna run a way station town, you need a sheriff. I don’t see anyone else stepping up.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you volunteering?”

“If you’ll have me. Life on the road hunting outlaws gets old after a while. Maybe I can stay here for a while until the wander bug bites me again.” He put his hand out to me. “What say you, Madam Mayor?”

I looked at my girls, then my town. I froze and stopped breathing when I saw what I thought was the ghost of Marshall. He blew me a kiss and bid me farewell. I gathered my wits and exhaled the breath I had been holding. “Welcome to Silver Hills, Sheriff Deacon.” I shook his hand.

[soriaryl]

Madam Ruby Part 02

Continued from 11/08/2023

I dusted my hands on my trousers while I exited the front of the silver mine. The plan was almost ready, then I will have my revenge on Eli and his men. I held my hand over my eyes to see the town of Silver Hills below me in the rising dawn’s light. The gallows had another body hanging from its rope, and I almost did not care who it was this time. It had been a long year and since those bastards did not help me with saving Marshall. 

I was half of a mind to take my girls and leave. I laughed bitterly at the thought. There was no escape. Not for my girls, not for me. Eli would hunt us down and kill them just to make his point. Just a little longer… I promised myself and prayed to whatever God was watching down on us.

“What’re ya doin’ up here?” A drunken member of Eli’s gang, the man one who manhandled Sapphire when the gang first arrived, stumbled up the ridge. 

I lied, “Eli asked me to take a look at the mine, Marcus.” I pointed to the wide entrance into the cooler darkness. 

Marcus narrowed his eyes at me, but I could tell that he was having issues focusing on me. “Eli asked you?”

“Of course. Why else would I be up here?”

He still looked like he did not trust me. “What’d ya find?”

I hesitated. “You can’t tell Eli, not until I know for sure.” I pulled out a small vial of silver from my pocket. “Looks like the miners might have missed some spots.”

He sobered up quite quickly. “There’s silver still in these hills?” He whooped. “We’ll be rich!”

“Sh!” I shushed him. “I don’t want Eli to know until I can make sure it’s a good vein.”

He ripped the vial from my hands. “How’d ya know if it’s good or not?” He held the silver flecks up to the light.

“My husband taught me how to look for silver in stone.”

“Eli did?” His voice raised in pitch.

I glared at him. “Eli ain’t more than my kidnapper.” I yanked the silver back from him. “Now, I have to get back down to Silver Hills to start breakfast.” I looked back to him while he eyed the mine. “Who was hanged?”

“Doctor. He tried to leave last night, and we can’t have that,” he answered, sounding distracted.

I left him there to star at the mine and walked down the paths to town. I reached my saloon and went up the back stairs. 

“Where is she?” Eli shouted from the dining area. A loud slap echoed through the halls. 

Without changing, I ran down the stairs. “What are you doing?”

Eli held Emerald in his hand while his second and third in command watched. A handprint darkened on her cheek and her green eyes were full of pain and terror. He did not let her go when I arrived. “That’s three weeks I’ve woken up to you missin’. Three weeks wonderin’ if my wife was off consortin’ and breakin’ her marriage vows.”

“Don’t take your anger out on my girls.” I stepped into the dining room. “They are innocent, and if you want to hurt someone, then hurt me.”

He held up Emerald’s wrist and arm. “If I hurt you, you won’t learn. But if I hurt your girls…” He slammed her hand onto the table. I tried to run over to her, but John, Eli’s second, grabbed onto my arm. His dark black hand was at odds against my paper white forearm.

Eli kept his eyes on me when pulled the knife from its sheath. I fought against John’s grip, and Aaron, Eli’s third, grabbed onto my other side. “Stop!” I cried out to him. “Leave her alone!”

“But then how will you learn your place?” Eli’s eyes never left mine as he cut her arm.

Emerald screamed and tried to pull away. He held her in place while he sliced her delicate skin again. John’s hand trembled where he held me. From watching his interactions with my girls this past year, he hated when any of them were hurt. It just solidified what I knew before about him. He was a part of the gang but did not take part in most of the violence.

I wanted to kill Eli for murdering Marshall, but as he tortured Emerald, I knew that I needed to drag the bastard to Hell myself. “I was in the hills!” I shouted, hoping it would get him to stop.

“Why?” He held the knife ready to slash Emerald again.

“I heard rumors that the mine was never fully emptied of silver. I was trying to see if there was anything left.”

“What did you find?”

“Check my left pocket,” I told John.

He took no pleasure in touching me, unlike Aaron who would have lingered and groped. John pulled the vial from my pocket and tossed it to Eli. “Looks like she found somethin’.”

Eli let go of Emerald, and she collapsed on the ground. “Let her go.” John immediately dropped my arm, but Aaron was reluctant. With a second look from his leader, Aaron let go of me as well.

I ran over to Emerald and grabbed some towels. “Sapphire! Diamond! Blood kit!” I shouted toward the stairs and pressed the towels on the cuts to stem the bleeding. 

Sapphire raced down with a medical bag in her hands, Diamond following close behind. She had been training as a doctor assistant on the East coast when he was brought out West in hopes to claim her status as a doctor. Instead, she had been forced into the role of a dancing girl. 

I found her when Marshall and I had visited her owner’s saloon. We stopped her from becoming a soiled dove and brought her here with the promise that we would protect her. Not doing well in that area.

Sapphire got to work on Emerald’s arm, and I knew I was in the way. “Get her upstairs.” I helped the three of them stand as a unit to carry Emerald. Diamond’s dark black skin stood out against the almost white dress she would. Her frizzy hair was cut close to her head to help tame it, which just make her dark brown eyes more striking. John came over and picked Emerald up easily. He carried her upstairs with Sapphire and Diamond leading and following, respectively.

I faced Eli. “You swore you wouldn’t touch my girls.” 

“And you gave your word that you would do everythin’ I say,” he replied with no emotion in his voice. He set the vial of silver on the table. “Tell me about this.” He acted like nothing happened. He pulled me down into his lap and wrapped his arms around my waist. “Better start talkin’, or I’ll have John break Emerald’s fingers.”

“I told you already. I heard rumors about the mine and decided to take a look for myself.”

“And?”

“And I think the miners might have missed a some spots of silver.”

“That sheriff must have taught you more than you’re lettin’ on if you could find somethin’ that the minin’ companies didn’t.”

I balled my fists but did not strike him. I needed to buy time. “Marshall taught me many things, including how to read the land. Even if its underground.” 

“Who else knows what you found?”

“Marcus caught me on the ridge, so he knows about it,” I admitted. “I haven’t told anyone else.”

“Good. This is gonna be our little secret, then.” He kissed the side of my neck. “How long until you know for sure if there’s silver in them hills?”

“If I bring my girls up with me, I can get more eyes on it.”

He laughed. “Don’t think you can trick me, my dove.”

“Just have one of your men escort us, then. I’ve got four girls, plus me, so we can spread out further into the mine. My husband—”

He squeezed my body hard. “Who?” he tried to sound sweet, but there was malice laced under his voice.

“Sheriff Marshall—” I corrected, “—taught us what to look for. I’d show your men, but beyond Aaron and John, how much do you trust your band of lowlifes?” 

He thought about it. “I’ll give you one week to find silver that you claim is in that mine.” He grabbed my hair and pulled my head back. “After that, I’ll make sure that you have somethin’ more important to deal with, like my heirs that you’ll be birthin’.”

I stiffened and horror rushed through me. It was bad enough being married to this monster. Now, he expected children? I needed to check the herbs that would keep me barren. I prayed there would be enough to last until i could get more.

“Then I had better get started,” I choked the words out in a desperate attempt to flee from him.

He released me from his lap. “One week, then you’ll return to your wifely duties.” 

I ran upstairs and into my office. I shut the door and slid down the wood to the ground. I bit back the tears and grief. I had always wanted children with Marshall, but it never worked out. The thought of bearing Eli’s children made me sick. One week. I have one week to put the rest of my revenge plan into place.

I gathered my wits, the mining clothes for the girls, and left the office. John stepped out of Emerald’s room. He moved to the side to let me pass. I stopped next to him. “I don’t know how someone like you came to be a part of Eli’s gang, but if you don’t find your way out, you’ll lie dead in a ditch or hanging from the gallows alongside him.”

John did not move for a second, until he swung his arm in front of me to keep me from moving. He looked down at me. “You don’t know nothin’ ‘bout me.”

“You’re right. I only know what I see. Find where you want your soul to reside, John, because if you keep following someone else’s path, its liable to lead you down into Hell.” I ducked under his arm and went into Emerald’s room.

Sapphire finished bandaging Emerald’s arm. Diamond and Topaz, a girl who came up from the southern border, sat on the bed next to each other. I shut the door behind me and leaned on it. “How are you feeling?”

Emerald winced when she moved. “It hurts.”

Sapphire grabbed something from her bag. “Here, chew on this.” She gave Emerald some bark to gnaw on. Sapphire stood up. “I wrapped her arm with cattail to help stop the bleeding and prevent infection. I don’t have any powdered coyote willow but chewing on it will help with pain.”

“Why not give her some opium?” Topaz tilted her head as she thought out loud.

“Because I’ve seen the effects of opium, heroine, laudanum, and morphine. When I was travelling from New York to here, I saw too many men and women dying from lack of it. They would kill themselves trying to find relief when they ran out along the way.” She looked up at me. “Sheriff Marshall gave me a book and told me what plants can help with different things.”

“Anything that could knock these sumbitches out?” Diamond asked her quietly.

I answered, “I have something.” I moved away from the door.

“What’s the plan, Madam?” Diamond sat up straighter. 

I handed them the clothes. “Simple, get dressed in the men’s clothes and we’re going mining.” I winked at them, so they knew there was more to it. I opened the door and almost ran into Aaron. “Get out of my way.”

His leaned on the doorframe and looked down at us. “Anyone ever tell y’all just how beautiful y’all are? I bet you’d look even better undressed.”

I pushed him out of the way, knocking him off balance. He fell back into the wall behind him. “Leave them alone.” I shut the door behind me. 

He scrambled to stand back up. He towered over me, but he did not scare me like Eli did. He raised his hand to smack me. “You bitch—”

“Aaron, what in the Hell do you think you’re doin’?” Eli asked from near my office.

Aaron lowered his arm with a snap back to his side. “Nothin’ boss.”

“That’s what I thought. Get out of here.” 

The taller male ran downstairs with less dignity that the snakes outside. 

I walked over to the stairwell. “The girls are getting dressed, then we’re heading out to the mine.”

He strolled to me and touched my face softly. “John’s goin’ with you ‘til you find the silver. When you do find it, you will report back here to me. If you dally or try anythin’, John’ll kill your girls.” 

“Wouldn’t dream of wasting time,” I muttered.

“Good.” He removed his hand and allowed me to go downstairs. I waited until my four girls came down the stairs in the clothes I found for them. They crowded around me. “Follow me.” 

We left the saloon. Many of the buildings were empty, and I wondered how many would survive when Eli finally left Silver Hills. My only priority were my girls, but there was a sense of guilt in the other women and children who had died because they did something that put them on the wrong side of the gang. 

Maybe Silvers Hill ain’t meant to survive this. Maybe God is trying to send me and my girls down a different path.Except that Silver Hills was my home. It was the town Marshall and I built from the saloon up. He was the one who found people to inhabit it while I worked the numbers. Another annoying benefit from being a part of Eli’s gang before: I learned numbers and letters. 

John stalked behind us as we hiked up the small mountain to the Silver Hills mine. None of us talked. Not even the rattle of a snake broke the silence that held onto us.

We reached the cross timbers of the mine, and I lit the oil lanterns as we walked into the cool darkness. “Madam Ruby?” Topaz whimpered.

I grabbed onto her hand with mine. She was the youngest of the girls, fresh and dewy-eyed. I allowed my girls to pick what they wanted to do. They could be dancing girls, painted ladies, or anything else they wanted. In more economic times, I could have had more girls and been more ruthless of a Madam, but I wanted something better for these girls than I ever had.

After about a hundred feet, the tunnel widened into a large cavern. The lantern’s light flickered off the shining walls where there were flecks of copper. “Wow.” Emerald’s voice echoed. She came with, even if she was not going to do anything. I never left any of the girls alone with Eli’s gang, if I could avoid it.

“Can you hold this?” I asked her. She walked up and held onto it with her good arm.

John stayed at the space between the tunnel and cave. He did not say anything while he watched as I put the girls to work. 

I faced away from him. “In each of the tunnels ahead, there’s these buckets. What I need y’all to do is to—” I motioned throwing the sand from the buckets onto the walls, then patting the silver flecks down, “—scrape the walls to see if there’s anything underneath. We’re looking for large areas of silver to show Eli.”

They four of them nodded. I helped Emerald light more of the lanterns and sent the girls off down the tunnels. “Emerald, stay here. John seems like he’s a gentleman and won’t touch you. Shout if you need help. I’ll be going down each of the tunnels to look for silver.”

She sat on an overturned crate. “I’ll be here.” 

There were three tunnels, plus the entrance one. I went down the one on the left first. I passed by Diamond with her bucket of dirt and silver flakes and continued down into the darker parts of the mine. 

I reached the end of the tunnel with my small lantern and its focused beam of light. Here was what I needed. I dusted off the crates that were labelled “Nobel’s Safety Blasting Powder.”

“Do you even know how to use ‘em?” 

I jumped and whipped around. John was standing there. “I—well—uh—”

He came up next to me. “Las’ time you were in the gang, you wanted nothin’ to do wit’ me.” He picked up one of the sticks of dynamite then set it back down in the box. “Wha’ changed?”

“I did,” I admitted. He looked like he was unsure how to react to that, so I continued, “When I was trapped with Eli the first time, I saw all of you as monsters. Since seeing how you treat my girls? I knew that you’re a better man than any of the rest of them will ever be.”

He took his time to think about wat he wanted to say. “Eli found me when I escaped slavery before the War. He said that if I followed him and did as he said, he’d not turn me in. When the rails were bein’ built after you escaped, I worked them, tryin’ to get a better life. Then the railroad men said I couldn’ have land or a house because I’m a negro…” He clenched his jaw and fists. “I showed Eli where the railroad men keep their money.”

I debated on whether I wanted to tell him my plan. Too late. He already knows about the dynamite. An intrusive thought popped into my head, Maybe I should kill him to keep the secret… I shook my head to clear it. I changed the topic, “To answer your first question, no, I don’t know how to use them.”

“Good thing I do.” A ghost of a smile crossed his lips.

[soriaryl]

Greybriar House

I finished painting the circle on the ground with the slaughtered goat’s blood. My partner wore all black as he painted the symbols on the walls. I asked him, “Do you think this will work?”

“It has to work.” He sounded terrified at the prospect, but I could not be sure if he actually wanted it to work or not. He wanted to see if the rumors were true that there was something beyond ghosts haunting the Greybriar House.

I walked over to him and checked the symbols on the wall against the book lying flat on the ground. “I’m done with the circle. If you’re done with the symbols, we can start reading the inscription and see what comes through.”

He looked down at me, and I saw something pass behind his eyes. He hit me hard enough that I fell to the ground, dizzy as I could taste the blood on my tongue. He picked me up and threw me into the circle I painted. I scraped my arms and legs on the splintered wooden floor. My foot ruined the circle as I slid. I tried to get up, but the pain from the cuts ached through my legs. He grabbed the book from the floor and read the spell.

Fire blazed around me, filling the circle with its heat. The inferno flowed through me, before it moved to where my partner was standing. It enveloped him. There was a loud growl, then the screams echoed into the night. I covered my ears, but I could not get the sound of my partner burning in front of me out of my head. As quickly as the fire began, it disappeared. My partner and the book he had been reading from were gone, only a pile of ashes on the ground where he had been standing.

Silence drifted over me, until a deep sigh and laugh radiated through the Greybriar House. As soon as I could stand, I ran from the building, its land, and the awful memories that forever stained my mind.

[soriaryl]

Final Regrets

The pounding in my head woke me up. I lurched up and looked around. The trees were coming in from all sides, closing in with suffocating greenery and darkness. Even still, random pinpoints of lights stabbed my vision from the moonlight drifting down between the branches and leaves.

“Where am I?” 

I gripped the side of my head where the pain radiated from. Liquid warmth dripped from my palm then down my cheek and chin. I looked at my glowing hand, amazed at the moon lighting up my skin. A wave of dizziness hit me when I saw the dark blood. 

“What happened?” 

I tried to remember something, anything. Nothing came to mind of why I was sitting on the edge of a desolate road. I did a mental check of my aches and pains. Migraine came from my bleeding head. My arms and legs were covered in road rash scrapes. The bright red cocktail dress clung to my body, though it was torn up from the asphalt.

I tried to stand up. My legs  wobbled but held. 

“Hello?” I called out.

There was no answer besides the birds tweeting from the trees and the insects from the ground. 

“Think, Serena, think. What would Scott do?”

Electricity rushed up my body. 

“Scott.” 

His car. We were in his car. We had been drinking when he saved me from my disastrous blind date. He picked me up, and we went to our regular hole-in-the-way. One drink turned into five, then into however many we had. He was my best friend. I have to find him!

“Scott!” I screamed out into the woods.

With a frantic search, I found the sedan in the ravine. I raced down into the gully and pounded on the driver side window. Scott slouched in the driver’s seat. The air bag was deployed, and he may have well been sleeping. There did not seem to be any outward signs that he was not okay. I tried to open the door, but it was locked. 

There must be another way to wake him up. Something red caught my eye. A red dress. My breathing hitched as I saw a body in the passenger seat. My body. 

“But I’m out here…” I held my hand up to my face. It was solid and fleshy. “Am I inside the car, or am I standing here?” The moon hid behind the clouds, but the glow remained. I had to get back into the car, back into the body that I always hated. “I’m too young to die.” 

Scott’s breathing slowed. 

“But he’s more important right now.” I kept believing that I was real, hoping it would keep me from fading. I grabbed a fallen tree branch and whooped when I picked it up. “One, two, three!” I shattered Scott’s window. The moon peered from behind the clouds, relighting the area with its cold glow. I tossed the branch away and opened the door from the inside. It took a bit of finagling, but I unbuckled Scott’s seatbelt. I ripped him from the car and laid him out on the ground. 

His breathing slowed more, his heartbeat barely pumping. “Come on.” I pressed his chest with my palms. “Breathe, damnit, breathe!” Too many chest compressions later, my skin was fading. I was losing the connection to my body. “Scott, if you follow me into Hell, I’ll kick your ass!”

He gasped and woke up. I hugged him tightly, but my arms went through him. I stared at the car. I was dying, or maybe I was already dead. I sat back on my heels. “At least he’s alive.”

“Serena!” He launched up to the car, faster on the intake than I was. He ran to his car, and I followed him. A bright doorway illuminated between the trees. I was not ready to leave. Scott hunched over my body. “Wake up, Serena,” he cried into the dress my body wore. He lightly touched my face with his fingertips. “I never got to tell you…” I leaned in closer to hear his whispers. “I was hoping the drinks would give me the courage to say that I—“

Hands reached from the doorway and dragged me into the light.

[soriaryl]

Never Close Laser Tag Alone

“Attention all Sharp Shooter guests. The time is now midnight, and Sharp Shooters Laser Tag is now closed. We ask that all guests come to the front desk, turn in your phasers and vests. We will be opening again tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. Thank you so much for coming to our Grand Opening!” the cheerful female voice announced over the intercom. 

My coworker hung up the microphone as we waited for the last few patrons to leave the labyrinth of the arena. Soon, we would go into the arena to check for any stragglers, then lock up the arena and the equipment. The flashing lights of the vests and phasers lit up the office we stood in.

“God, I’m soooo glad the day is over.” She looked over to me. “What are your plans for the rest of the night?”

I yawned. “I’m probably just going to go to sleep. I have a test in the morning for psych. Think there’s anyone else in here?”

“Nah.” She pushed back from where she was leaning over the counter. “Boss said that he wants me to count the money as soon as we closed. Will you be alright to do the search and rescue?”

“Yeah.” I stretched as I stood back up straight. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

She looked at me from the corner of her eye. “You don’t know?”

“Know what?” I asked apprehensively. 

“I forgot that you didn’t grow up here. The labyrinth was made from an old house. There was an older woman who owned the place. The townspeople thought she was a witch and lynched her for it. They’re rumors of a haunting ever since. Growing up, this was the house kids would go to in order to scare each other. There have even been kids who have been said to gone missing wandering into her house. Boss bought the land the house was built on for cheap, tore it down, then built the arena, using the wood from the old house.” She smiled, “But I’m sure that the rumor of the ghost is just an urban legend. I mean, it’s not like ghosts are real.”

I pushed her lightly on the shoulder. “You go count the money before Boss gets here.”

She grabbed the tills and walked away, carrying the three cash drawers in her arms. I waited until she was in the safe room before leaving the office. I flicked on the lights inside the labyrinth, washing the dark walls with the white lights. The fog was thick from being on all day. I walked into the labyrinth, starting my sweep to check for people still in the arena.

After a series of pops, the white lights sparked out. I looked up to the black lights, letting my eyes adjust to the new darkness. The walls were painted to look like a forest, with bright and dark red and orange eyes peeking through the painted darkness. The fog grew thicker in the arena, as I tried to make my way to check for people.

“If there’s anyone here, you need to turn in your phasers and vests and come back tomorrow!” I called out.

Something moved ahead of me; a glimpse of a shadow from behind a wall. It pushed further into the maze.

I called out, “I see you! You need to come out of there!”

Footsteps filled the air, but not the steps of shoes on the wooden floors. instead, they were high heeled boots tapping away from me. I reached for the flashlight at my hip; it was not there. It took me a second to remember that I left it on the counter.

I followed the shadow, as it made its way through the maze. I kept thinking I was getting close, but the boots sounds would be just around the corner from me. Whispers brushed up near me. The fog swirled in an intricate dance as I passed through it. I could feel the glowing eyes watching me from the painted forest. I stopped and took a deep breath.

“This is ridiculous!” I growled to myself. “Come out here right now!” I shouted to the shadows that eluded me.

Two kids came out from the shadows, their lighted vest and phasers covered with shirts and jackets.

I pointed back to the front. “Go turn your stuff in and leave, or I will call the cops to escort you out.” I put some bite in my voice to get them to hopefully listen. 

They walked back towards the front of the arena. I waited until they were no longer in sight and turned back to continue my journey.

Someone cried ahead of me, a small child. I wondered who would have forgotten their toddler in here. I tried to find the source of the sound, but it came from everywhere but nowhere. Something pulled me, tiny fingers wrapped around mine. I stared at my hand as the fog thickened near my hand, waist, and legs. I closed my eyes and could feel the fingers more solidly. I opened them and looked down to see a fluff of hair before it vanished into the fog.

I looked up to see scraggly grey hair and deadly yellow eyes staring back at me. The fog whimpered next to me.

I stood my ground. “If you don’t leave, I’m calling the cops!” 

The woman manifested from the fog, a terrifying sight. She looked wild, her hair standing everywhere, her yellow eyes wide. Her neck was broken, her head hanging to the side. She wore a dark grey dress that draped limply from her boney frame. She screamed loudly, her voice reverberating off of the wooden ground and walls. I grabbed my ears, trying to shield them from the sound, but they did nothing to stop the shriek from piercing my mind. She disappeared just as quickly as she appeared.

Something grabbed onto the back of my jeans, holding on for dear life. I looked down to see the bright red fluffy hair on the child’s head.

The child wore a simple white dress, but it was covered in dark red stains. The child looked up at me, her eyes missing, blood streaming down her cheeks. I jumped away from her, but she did not move.

She sobbed softly, “I want my mommy…”

I swallowed hard, unsure of what to say to her. I decided to treat her like I would have a customer.

“Where is your mommy?” I knelt down in front of her, putting my face level with hers.

“Mommy was looking for me… She never found me…” The child cried louder, “Mommy left me and went to the light place!” She sobbed into her hands.

“Why can’t you go to the light place?” I asked gently.

I missed the first part of her wail. “–will not let us leave!”

“Us?” I asked, my voice trembling.

She nodded, as the fog around me lit up with the bodies of other children, all missing their eyes, some missing other parts.

“What’s the witch’s name?” I needed to be strong, these children needed help.

“Her name is Agnes LeGrange.” A taller boy, with mousy brown mop-hair, stepped closer to the crying child. “She stole our eyes because of what we had seen her do. She stole some tongues when some of the children talked about what she had done. She was in charge of the orphanage that used to reside on this land. She was a terrible mistress who did not care about who she hurt. She took pleasure in harming and killing children.” The boy comforted the little girl child. He looked at me or would have if he still had his eyes instead of bleeding holes. “She must be stopped!”

“How?” I asked of the children. “How do I stop her? You will all be set free if she is gone?”

“You can stop her by finding the last part of her that lasted in the house. Once that is destroyed, she will be sent to Hell, and we will be freed from her grasp,” the boy proclaimed. “In the center of this labyrinth is a locket with hair. That hair has to be burned for her to go away.” 

A screech rose from the maze, sending chills down my spine. The children faded, leaving me to my duty to save them. I took a deep breath and raced through the labyrinth, looking for the locket the boy spoke of. I ran into a couple of dead ends, looking for the center of the maze. 

After what felt like hours, I found the center of the labyrinth, a circular room with a circle of mirrors in the absolute center. The mirrors reflect outwards, letting the fog and lasers bound off the smooth glassy surface. I walked towards them, trying to find the locket the boy spoke of. I watched as a shadowy figure pulled away from the mirror and materialize into Agnes. She stepped towards me, each step a piece of stop animation as her awkward movements staccatoed with every motion. She looked like a puppet whose strings were being jerked around. She screamed at me, her sharp voice penetrating deep into my soul.

I saw a nail lying on the ground and grabbed it. I did not know how to destroy a ghost, but the children made it seem like the mirrors were surrounding the locket. I ignored her pleas and hit one of the mirrors with the sharp end of the nail. The mirror shattered around me, as a vortex of energy rushed passed me.

The children laughed, their giggles drowning out the now pleas for mercy from Agnes.

I could now hear her voice among the screams, “What have you done? They are free now!” 

I looked at her, confusion written on my face. “You trapped these children here! They deserve to be free!” 

The madness in her eyes faded, as the children danced around her. Sanity returned to the woman. “These children are demons! Raised by my daughter, who lost her child to the forest and its creatures!” 

Only the girl child stood away from the other children.

She looked at me. “Mommy said not to go into the forest, but there was a bunny. I followed it and fell. Mommy tried to find me, but she could not hear me cry for her. The boy and his friends came, disguised as crows. They took my eyes, then mocked me as mommy went to the light place.”

Agnes called out to the girl, “Cassandra!” She opened her arms and the girl ran into them, but the circle of children closed around them.

Terror filled in Agnes’s eyes, as they were trapped in the whirlwind of spirits. She looked to the mirrors, then back to me, then back to the mirrors. I stared at the reflected surface and saw the woman and child as they were before death. Dancing around them were grotesque creatures, covered in black crow feathers, scaly heads and red button eyes. 

There was a glint of the black lights as they reflected off of something in the center of the mirrors. It was the locket that the leader boy had been trying to get. I waited for my chance, but the boy saw the locket as well.

He looked to me, but I took off and raced towards it. I slid into the ground, as I grabbed the locket from the earth. I slammed into another of the mirrors, shattering it around me.

The creatures shrieked and tried to escape the rain of reflective glass, but they were unable to, just as I was trapped. As the shards hit them, they steamed and burned. I grabbed the nail I had and shattered every mirror over them and myself, not caring about the cuts I was sustaining from breaking them. 

The leader boy attacked me, just as I broke the last mirror over the two of us. The boy screamed as he was enveloped into a fire next to me. The rest of the children were nothing but piles of ash on the ground.

Blood and sweat dripped into my eyes, blurring my vision. I could barely make out the outline of the girl and Agnes as a new, bright-light figure embraced them.

Agnes spoke, “Thank you. We could not leave here without the demons being destroyed. I am sorry for what has happened.” They vanished into the bright light, and my vision flashed to darkness.

[soriaryl]

Cemetery Keeper

I am the Guardian of this Cemetery. Every evening I wake, only to return to sleep at dawn’s light. Among the headstones and the vines that creep, only the drifting sound of the wind whistling through the granite and marble grave markers. The birds tweet their songs of joy and sorrow during the day, but at dusk, there is lonely silence. The winter’s chill has set in the valley. Jack Frost would soon be coming to sprinkle the world in his signature rime. The moon shined from above, though the influx of clouds threatened to drop icy rain.

I stood up and stretched. My muscles were tight from not moving all day. I brushed the grey dust from my cold stone skin. It felt like I grew older every day when I woke up for the night shift. I checked the claws on my fingers and toes. They wore away with the cold snap of wind in the air.

A black creature rose from the soil next to me. It was unsure of its shape, until it settled on becoming a large black dog. I scratched the church grim’s head with my fingertips. It howled. The sound of the grim’s spectral voice echoed through the cemetery. 

“Can’t you keep that mutt silent?” an almost-ninety-year-old man, William, asked. He rose from the oldest part of the graveyard. He was completely white, yet transparent. Dressed in an ill-fitting suit, he leaned heavily on the cane in his hand. He wobbled over to me and the grim. He bent down and petted the ghost dog. “Then again, without his howl, we’d never know it was time to wake up.”

An older woman appeared from the grave next to his. Margarita was dressed in the beautiful tattered gown that she had been buried in. “William, you should not harass the guardian with your non-sense.” Her back was straight and proud as she carefully navigated her way to me. “Deepest apologies, guardian.”

I smiled at her, the stone of my face barely moving. I pointed from the grim to the rest of the graveyard. The dog jumped and bounded toward the other gravesites. Spirits, specters, and ghosts appeared and rose from the headstones. 

“Is it that time already?” one of the newer residents asked. Christoph drowned in the river he was fishing in. His blond hair and bluew eyes faded to the familiar white that matched the older dead.

“It’s not just any night,” a little girl, Camilia, told him. “It’s Hallowtide!” She was a spark of life, long red hair and bright green eyes. She died from illness, though it never seemed to slow her down. The grim ran up to her and licked her face. She laughed brightly.

Christoph looked confused. He had been in the cemetery for less than a year, so it made sense that he would not understand the significance. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

I spread my arms out to either side then set the scythe I carried against one of the mausoleums. The stone cloak around me shifted like heavy velvet. He looked terrified, but that fear dissipated when other ghosts came over to him to offer their cold comfort. 

“Don’t be scared!” Camilia hugged Christoph. “The guardian is here to protect us, not hurt us.”

“Yeah, the only thing it will do is harm graverobbers.” William’s voice rattled.

“Is that a big problem in this cemetery?” Christoph asked the older man.

William waved the younger man off. “Nah.” 

Screams of terror radiated from the dark forest just outside of my cemetery. The spirits, grim, and I all looked to the edge of the woods. A young girl—even younger than Camilia—ran to escape the trees. She could have been five or six, but I was terrible at telling ages of humans.

The church grim growled loudly, then bounded to the boundary of the graveyard. I grabbed the scythe and followed it. The specters parted like the red sea. The grim could not leave the cemetery ground, but I could. The black mass of the church grim rippled. It wanted to change but did not know what form would work best. I put my hand out to it to tell it to stay and guard the graves.

The little girl screamed again. Three burly men chased after the poor creature. I did not hesitate. I rushed to the girl and knocked her to the ground with a wave of my hand. She screeched when she saw me. I must have looked like Death in the growing darkness.

The three men slid to a stop. “What in the Seven Hells is that?” the one in the center asked.

“Looks like a statue to me,” the one on the left replied.

“But how did it get here?” the third’s voice warbled in fear.

I looked down to the child at my feet. I pointed to the graveyard, and she raced off toward the safety of my charges. I turned back to the three men. They were worse than grave robbers, if they were trying to harm a child. I pulled back my hood and laid it down on my shoulders.

The faces of the men paled with horror. The whites of eyes were visible as the moon escaped her prison from behind the clouds. The spirits once told me that skeletal features of my uncovered face made them think of the Reaper who came for them. I wanted to take care of them, so I always gave them whatever comfort in death I could. 

There would be no mercy for these men, though. 

With the giant marble scythe, I swiped at the trio as hard as I could. Bones cracked, and their bodies crumbled to the ground. They looked up at me, fear gathering in their eyes. They would not die by my hand. No, that would be too good for them. I picked them up, one by one, and tossed their broken bodies into the graveyard.

I returned to my place near the old church, where the preacher would arrive in the morning for All Saint’s Day. I set the scythe on the ground and covered my face with the hood once more. I picked the little girl up and sat down with her in my lap. 

She reached up and touched the stone skeleton cheekbone. She traced her thumb along the ridges of carved granite. I allowed her to touch me while the spirits gathered around the men. The grim found the form it wanted. A large creature, a mixture of a wolf’s body, devil’s face, and ram horns, towered over the men. 

They screamed in fright at the grim, but they need not worry about it. William, Margarita, and Camilia licked their lips. Christoph was no longer confused. Camilia’s tiny voice rang out, “It’s Hallowtide, and now, we feast.”

I kept the living girl’s attention on me while the specters ate the bodies and souls of the three men. The grim changed back into its playful dog shape and came over to the girl and me. It put its paws on my thigh and barked its demand for pets. The girl gave him a watery giggle, then complied.

Bones snapped, lips smacked, and blood oozed into the soil. 

The living girl yawned and held onto me. I stroked her back as she fell asleep in my lap. I carefully transplanted her near the church doors, so she would be found in the morning. 

I walked into the small shack behind the church and grabbed the shovel. I dug a small hole in the ground where there were no bodies. The ghosts dropped the cleaned and glistening bones of the men into the hole. Dawn peeked over the horizon while I filled the hole back in with soil.

“That was a good feast. Thank you, guardian!” Camilia smiled, then went back to her grave site. “See you tomorrow!”

“Good night, little one.” Margarita blew the girl a kiss as William escorted her back to their plots. 

“Is this normal for Hallowtide?” Christoph asked me.

I shrugged, not able to give him a good answer. Sometimes they feasted, other times they famined. The ghosts returned to their sleep, and I yawned, ready to follow them into slumber.

The grim wandered back to me. I scratched the large black dog’s ears with my sharpened claws. The sun began its ascent over the horizon. The church grim faded into its rested shadows, while my body froze in place, stone covering my skin. 

I was the cemetery keeper, the gravedigger who buried secrets that must stay hidden from the light of day.

[soriaryl]

So, You've Raised an Ancient Evil

“So.” The military man in the video pulled up a chair and flipped it around. He sat down in it backwards, legs straddled on either side of the seat. He wore fatigues, and his blond hair was shaved close to his head. “You raised an ancient evil. Maybe you said a spell, or sacrificed a soul to the God Below, or maybe you just drank too much and toyed with an Ouija board—”

“Damn it, get to the point already!” I yelled at the small screen. 

Roars and shouts rumbled through the shafts of the bunker. Gun fire ratta-tatta’ed and echoed down the long metallic hallway walls. Screams, squelching, then silence blared all around me.

“Hurry up!” I wanted to scream to the man on the tiny television, but it was no use. He could not hear my pleas. I ran my fingers through my black hair and pulled on the follicles close to my scalp to try to mitigate the migraine that threatened to rip my head apart.

“No matter how you did it, it’s done.” He swung his leg over the chair and stood up. He picked up and tossed the chair to the side. “How could you?” he shrieked at the camera. “Don’t you know what you’ve done?” 

“No, shit, which is why I’m watching this damn video,” I grumbled, hoping he would quickly get to the point.

Claws and chains scraped along the cement ground as the thing came closer. There were no other sounds, no other signs of life from the people who had fought against this creature. There was nothing but the heavy footfalls and the dragging claws. 

“Since you caused this, here’s what you have to do. Think about how you raised the ancient evil being. If you did it through a spell, you find the counter spell. If it was through sacrifice, you have to find a greater one to put it back down. If you opened the portal through the Ouija board, you—”

The screen went black. 

“No.” I smacked the TV, thinking that it would jumpstart the damn thing. “No!” I ripped the disc out of the player and broke it in half.

I only saw my reflection in the dark glass. My yellow eyes glowed in the dying light of the bunker. “It must have gotten to the power supply,” I said to myself. Of course, it was to myself. I was the only one left, the only person still alive.

Something pounded at the vault door. I leapt in fear away from the TV and the door to the hallway. Indentations appeared every time it tried to punch its way into the small room where I was hiding. I shrank away from the creature and looked around to find a way out. Everything in my vision glowed a soft gold, despite the darkness that fell over me and the room.

“All right. No time to panic.” The thing rhythmically knocked on the door. It was almost hypnotizing in its metronome beat. “Spell, counter spell. Sacrifice, bigger sacrifice. Ouija? More Ouija?” It was the only thing I had to go on, so it would have to do. 

I saw the board lying on the ground on the other side of the room. “Time to get to work.” I scrambled to it and sat cross legged with my fingers on the planchette. I stared at the door and waited.

***

Blood…

Meat…

Terror…

Fear…

It wondered why it had been brought to this plane. Its long arms scraped the ground with its knuckles and claws. Its head was almost like a long-toothed cat with slits for eyes. The dark purple scales that covered its tall hulking body glinted in the light. Black spikes trailed down from its hunched shoulders, to its rounded back, then down to its long tail that ended with six poisonous quills.

Where is it?

It sniffed the air, hunting its prey. It could not see, but its sense of smell and hearing overcompensated for the lack of sight. It did not care about the tiny buzzing bees that tried to penetrate its skin. They stung it, but they would never pierce through the metallic scales. 

Finally…

It found the scent trail it had followed to get here. The one who called it from the Abyss of Oblivion. The warm, musky smell that promised it freedom for the right price.

More of the ratta-tatta insects attacked it. Annoyed, it swept a hand with its talon claws to knock over the Kevlar covered creatures. They fell to the ground on either side of it. 

It lumbered toward the object of its hunt. Silence filled the corridor. The annoyances from the bugs finished, and it no longer concerned itself with the things that smelled like piss and horror. It took long, slow steps. Each thump of its feet on the cold hard Earth radiated through the metallic halls. Its clows dragged on the ground, though it wondered how the sound would change if it raised its arms and grazed them against the walls. 

A pair of voices came from the other side of a thick door. Sparks of white fire crackled on the panel next to the vault. It reached out and tore the thin door off the hinges. It slid a long finger along the sparks, ripping away the wires that carried light and electricity into the room behind the vault’s door.

It tried to open the door with the handle, but it was locked from the inside. That did not bother it. It had all of the time in the world to get to its prey. It slammed its hands against the door. Deep dents appeared under its fists. Time passed by, maybe minutes, maybe hours, but it kept pounding.

The vault finally broke. The torn metal holes gave the creature the weakness it needed. Its claw ripped the door off the hinges. It raised its head higher and stood up straighter. The air was potent with the scent of the thing it was tracking. Its face split into a wide needle-toothed smile. “You cannot hide from me,” its horrifically deep voice rumbled through the air. 

It looked over to the woman with black hair and yellow eyes. “You will regret what you have done.” It was fast, despite the size of the creature. In two giant steps, it was within spitting distance. After another one, it reached for her.

***

“Return to Hell,” my voice was strong as its claws stopped less than an inch from my nose. 

Its face contorted in rage and pain. A spiraling black portal opened up under its feet. “No!” it screamed in a strange mixture of high and low pitch. It fell back in the Abyss of Oblivion, and threshold to Hell closed.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I stood up and looked into the mirror. A small smile played on my lips. “Now that I got rid of the Gatekeeper and the video telling people how to get rid of me, I think it’s time to have some fun here on Earth.” 

I watched the woman’s soul try to escape from under my influence. I tched my tongue against my teeth. “Don’t be like that. You thought you were talking with your dead husband, but everyone knows that unless you bless your Ouija board, anything can come through. But you don’t have to worry about a thing, darling. I won’t do anything to harm you.”

I straightened my jacket and shirt, wiped the dust off my skirt, and pulled my hair back into a braid. “After all, you are the one who raised an ancient evil.” I left the vault.

[soriaryl]

He Loves Me; He Loves Me Not Part 04

Continued from 09/20/2023

I do not want to keep going, but I know that I leave now, then they would most likely die. I cannot have that on my conscience. I swim behind them until we reach a sign that warns about going ahead. It was in black text on a white sign with the image of the Grim Reaper and the bodies of SCUBA divers beneath his feet.STOP! PREVENT YOUR DEATH! GO NO FARTHER!

FACT: More than 300 divers, including open water SCUBA instructors, have died in caves like this one

FACT: You needed training to dive. You need cave training and cave equipment to cave dive

FACT: Without cave training and cave equipment, divers can die here

FACT: It CAN happen to YOU!

THERE’S NOTHING IN THIS CAVE WORTH DYING FOR!

DO NOT GO BEYOND THIS POINT!

I know we need to heed this sign, because I had cave diving training, and I knew Alicia and Logan have not. I grab both of their shoulders and pull them back towards the entrance of the cave.

Alicia lashes out at me and grabs my flashlight away from me. She then hands it back when she understands that it is me. I point back to the entrance of the cave. I wait for the two of them to get back in front of me, so they can follow the orange twine guideline. I wrap the orange line around the sign, so that there would be something for the next person who comes down here. I take my dive knife out of its sheath and cut the line at the reel, so I can take my reel home with me.

As we swim back towards the entrance to the cave, my heart is pounding. I stop and look at my dive computer. The pressure gauge still shows that I have full air, which cannot be right. I have been swimming, so I should have used some of the air already. Breathing is becoming harder, and I worry that maybe I did not have my tank filled completely. That cannot be right, either, though, because I went to my normal dive shop to fill my tank.

My flashlight fails, the light dimming then going out. I look ahead and see the barest of a flashlight turning back towards me. I place my arm over my chest, indicating that I was running low on air. The light turns away, and I wonder if they cannot see me through the silt kicked up by their fins. I use the dive camera’s flash to light up my immediate area, hoping to get Logan’s and Alicia’s attentions.

I reach for the orange guideline when I see it from the camera’s flash. I grab onto the line and pull myself using it to get myself out of the cave. I try to lower my breathing to conserve however much air I have left in the tank. I keep pulling on the line until I reach the end of it. I hold the line up close to my face, then snap a photo of it. The line looks like it has been cut. I wrap the line around my wrist, just under the wetsuit’s lip.

I try not to panic, but my body is on survival mode. I kick my fins as hard as I can, as I keep using the flash to light up my surroundings. I see the open ocean in front of me. I just need to make it to there, and I can hold my breath long enough to make it to the surface.

I take a breath from the regulator, but nothing comes out. The tank is empty. I snap a picture of my dive computer and pressure gauge. It still shows that it is full. My blood runs cold as I realize that my gear was sabotaged. My brain hurts as it demands oxygen. I keep trying to get to the ocean. My heart is pounding against my sternum. Darkness is closing in around me.

A flashlight comes back towards me, but whoever it is offers no assistance. My vision is clouding as my body begs for air. The person reaches me, pushes me down onto the cave floor, and releases the rest of the air from my BCD. I fall to the cave floor, my muscles failing me. The flashlight turns back to the entrance of the cave.

I just need to reach the entrance, then I can make it to the surface. I just…need to get…out of this…cave to deploy my…emergency dive flag. I…just…need…to…escape…this…cave…

[soriaryl]

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not Part 03

Continued from 09/13/2023

“I don’t understand what the problem is, Emma,” Logan, pleads as he put on the black and neon blue wetsuit.

“How do you not understand the damned problem?” I growl at him. I stare at him while he pulls the neoprene up to his chest and shoulders. He is large, two hundred pounds and six-feet-tall. His red hair glints in the sunlight and his green eyes sparkle with the ocean’s reflection. I point to his mother, holding my fins in my hands. “You invited your mother on our second honeymoon. After what she pulled at the wedding, she’s lucky that we don’t cut her out of our lives completely. You promised me that she wouldn’t be here.”

He stiffens at my statement. “I can’t cut her out of my life. She’s my mom, and I’m the only person she has left.”

“Logan, you always pick her over me. Hell, I woke up this morning on the pull-out couch, instead of in bed with you. You’re my husband, and I want to spend our second honeymoon together.”

“But I’m here with you now,” he sounds confused.

I sigh, knowing that I am not getting anywhere with him. “Never mind.” I take my fins and walk away from Alicia and him so I can get some of the fresh ocean air in my lungs.

“Everything all right?” the skipper of the dive boat asks me.

I paste on my fake smile. “It’s doing good. Just wish my MIL wasn’t here to ruin my second honeymoon.”

He cringes at my statement. His dark sun-tan skin accents his dark blue eyes and blond hair. He is toned, like a swimmer, and for a brief second, I imagine going diving with him. His lean body kicking the water as we glide under the water’s surface. He smiles at me when Alicia’s shrieking rips my daydream away from me. “I guess you should get back to your disaster waiting to happen.”

I return his smile. “You have no idea. Maybe a shark will eat her.”

His laughter is loud but warm and inviting. “Maybe.” He leans down as I pass in front of him to get back to my husband. “Or maybe you’ll find someone who will treat you better than he does his mother.”

I think about his words as I walk back to Logan and Alicia. My husband was helping Alicia put on her neoprene wetsuit over her ill-fitting bikini. He zips up the back of the suit, and I think that she looks like an over-stuffed sausage in casing. Logan helps me get the buoyancy control device (BCD) on my back. He holds it in place until I get the vest snapped on fully. I put on the weight belt that will allow me to sink into the water. I feel comfortable in my gear, having bought it years ago before I became obsessed with numbers for my job.

“Looooogaaaaan,” Alicia whines. “I need help.”

He looks at me. “Do you mind helping her while I get the rest of my gear on?”

I want to tell him that I would, in fact, mind, but I cannot get the words passed my lips. “I can.” I walk over to Alicia and pick up the BCD. “Put it on like a backpack.”

“I don’t want your help,” she snarls at me.

“I don’t want to help you out, either, but Logan asked me to,” I whisper sharply in reply.

She finally snaps the vest on, and I head to the back of the boat. There are three other groups with us for this dive trip. I put my fins on my feet, place the mask over my face, and step off the boat into the crystal-clear water. I inflate the BCD with the air from my tank to keep me afloat. I flip onto my stomach while the other divers hop into the water. I breathe through the snorkel while looking at the reef below.

The bright coral was muted with the water’s depth. The reds, oranges, and yellows of the fish were still visible from where I floated. I look to the sides to see if Logan and Alicia have come into the water yet. The other divers are already gone, swimming down to the reef’s edges to see the beauty that lies there.

Part of me wants to swim away and into the reef. The other part of me knows better to wait for my husband as my dive partner. I let my mind wander to the boat skipper and my imagination took over. I could see us swimming amongst the coral and fish, going inside an undersea cave, then spending the rest of the night looking up at the stars from his dive boat. I allow myself this daydream, because even though I am an accountant by trade, I am a diver by desire. I wonder if I can give up the life I have to become a dive instructor. Teaching people how to properly care for their equipment, how to navigate in the open water, and how to find themselves when they are lost in a cave.

I shake my head of such thoughts, because they would not pay the bills that I need to afford. That reminds me that Logan and I need to have a talk about his mother and how much he pays her per month. We have discussed having children, and if he continues to pay Alicia, I want to stress that we will not be able to afford both children and his mother.

I know that Logan will never cut his mother off, so I have some tough decisions to make. This trip has opened my eyes in many different ways. He will always put her first. It is like I am the mistress impeding on their lives. It is not just this second honeymoon that she has ruined. She ruined the engagement announcement, the wedding, our first honeymoon, our credit scores, and the ability to buy a home.

They finally jump into the water. Logan helps Alicia with getting her BCD inflated so she would not sink to the bottom of the ocean like the anchor she is. “Ready?” he asks me, and I nod. He tosses me the dive camera. “You forgot this!”

I catch it and attach it to my wrist. I press the button of the BCD to sink under the water. He and Alicia both follow me down. I make my choice to go into the reef, whether they follow or not. I need this time to recenter myself for the fight ahead. I love him, but he will never love me like I need in return. It hits me like a shark flying through the water. I want a divorce.

I glide through the water, using minimal energy to kick, so not to annoy the creatures of the reef. I take my pictures, letting the joy and wonder of the ocean fill me. I add a little bit of air to my BCD to keep me neutrally buoyant, so I neither sink nor float up.

I look around and see Alicia heading into an underwater cave. Logan is chasing after her, yet neither of them have cave diving experience or training. I flick my flippers and race to catch them before they hurt themselves. I reach the cave within half of a minute. I take a picture of the cave for prosperity sake.

I look inside and see their flashlights reflecting off the dark cavern walls. I carefully swim inside. I reach out to find the guideline, but there is none. This is not good. A guideline is used to get people out of caves in case they get lost. I am glad that I always carry my bright orange twine with me. I find a stalagmite and tie the end of the twine to it.

I go into the cave, flicking on my flashlight. I swim towards the other two lights, trying to catch up to them before they get too far out of my sight. I find them quickly and grab onto Logan’s ankle. He kicks me off of him, until he realizes it is me. He points ahead, where Alicia is still going into the cave.

We catch up to her and try to get her to turn back towards the reef. She refuses, shaking the two of us off of her. I look to Logan, who just shrugs. I hold up the twine reel, so he knows that I can find the way back out of the cave. He gives me a single curt nod and follows his mother into the cavern.

Continues 09/27/2023

[soriaryl]

He Loves Me; He Loves Me Not Part 02

Continued from 09/06/2023

Five years later

The hotel room is lavish. Dark violet velvet curtains cover the large French doors that lead to the balcony. Golden wallpaper glitters in the afternoon light. I look into the bathroom, amazed at the white marble that covered the floor and walls. There are both a walk-in clear glass shower and a claw-footed soaking tub. I continue through the suite to see the couch with its pull-out bed in front of the fifty-inch television, that I hope we will not need. Then, in the bedroom part of the hotel suite, the larger than life bed is covered in more of the same violet velvet duvet with gold and white accent pillows. Truly, a wonderful place to spend the week with my husband for our honeymoon.

I set my carry-on suitcase onto the TV stand and lay my dive bag onto the ground out of the way. Then, Alicia’s screeches interrupt my thoughts, “Oh. My. God! It’s perfect!” I wince at the high-pitch squeal. She rushes through the suite and launches herself onto the large bed.

Logan carries his and hers luggage into the room and sits them on the couch. “Mom, that’s our bed. You’re sleeping on the pull-out.”

I look at my husband. “What?”

He tries to look sheepish. “Since she paid for the vacation, we decided that it would be cheaper to get this one room instead of two different ones.”

I gawk, my jaw drops. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“What’s up?” he asks.

I see Alicia perk up. “Alone.” I motion for us to go onto the balcony. He follows me out the French doors, and I shut them behind us. “We never discussed her staying in the room with us. She ruined our honeymoon by refusing to let you come to the hotel on our wedding night. This is our second chance, and I can’t believe you’d allow this.”

He grabs my hands in his. “It’s just for at night. I know you enjoy doing things in the ocean, but she doesn’t. Well still get our time alone and together.”

“I just…” I try to figure out how to explain it to him. Then I think about all of the talks and conversations we had since our wedding. She demanded all of his attention since then, and he allowed it because she was lonely. “Never mind,” I sigh. “Are you sure that she won’t want to come diving with us?”

He smiles, and my heart flutters. He leans in close and brushes his lips on mine. “She won’t.” He kisses me and reminds me why I married him, despite his attachment to Alicia.

Speaking of the devil herself, she knocks on the door and throws it open. “I’m hungry.”

I am too, but not for food. I want to tell her to go to the restaurant downstairs, so I can enjoy some alone time with Logan. He steps away from me. “I’m famished. Why don’t we go have dinner downstairs? Tomorrow, we have lots to do, so we’ll have an early dinner and get some rest.”

I cannot believe it, but this is par for the course. I should have known that she would be joining us for meals. I take a shower to rinse the flight off my skin. I put my hair up and do my makeup to remind him of why we are taking this vacation. I slip into the slightly skin-tight black dress, showing off the curves and the slim-figure I have been working on for months since we decided to take this second honeymoon.

I leave the bathroom to an empty room. Logan sent a text, letting me know that they are already at the restaurant because his mother could not wait any longer. Of course, they already left. I walk out the hotel room door, sans key, since the two of them took both cards.

I enter the restaurant, feeling over-dressed, but good. I walk up to the hostess and ask her about Logan and Alicia. She guides me to where they are sitting and pulls up a third seat to the small two-person table. The waiter rushes over and takes my drink order. “I’ll have a bottle of Moscato,” I tell him, knowing that I would be drinking the entire bottle before the end of the meal.

Alicia orders lobster, Logans gets steak, and I choose to have salmon. My MIL dominates the conversation with talking about what she wants to do over this vacation. She asks Logan, “What are the plans for tomorrow?”

My husband swallows the piece of steak and answers, “Emma wants to go SCUBA diving, so I booked us a boat and a dive group.”

Her face sours, and I felt a bit of elation. “You can probably relax on the beach while we’re in the water.”

“I will find something to do,” she replies easily, and I feel suspicious of her motives.

We finish our dinner, and just as I predicted, I drank the entire bottle of wine. I am not drunk, but blissfully tipsy. Logan helps me stand, and the three of us go back to the suite. I fall asleep on the elevator ride up to the room.

Continues 09/20/2023

[soriaryl]

He Loves Me; He Loves Me Not Part 01

I stare into the mirror. She didn’t. I whip around to face my mother-in-law, Alicia. She is wearing all black, including a wide brimmed hat with a black veil over her face. My sister and mum step between my MIL and me. I race into the other room of the changing area of the wedding chapel. My satin white dress weighs me down, almost like the anger I am feeling is a physical sensation.

My sister, Erica, follows me into the second room. “What a bitch,” she mumbles under her breath. She tries to smile to make me feel better. “Let’s get you finished up for your wedding.”

“Why can’t she just accept me?” I plead to her. Her bright red hair was done up in a simple style with makeup that accented her hazel eyes.

“Because you’re a strong, independent woman who is marrying her son, despite not needing him. You make more money that he does, and you’re so much smarter.” She touches my cheek with her fingertips. “You’re also more beautiful, graceful, and all around a better person.”

She knows exactly what to say to make me feel better. “Thanks, sis.”

She grins at me. “Now, let’s make you more dazzling, so your fiancé’s jaw drops, and his eyes bulge like in the cartoons we used to watch.”

She sits me in a chair and works on fixing my makeup and hair. She applies the eye shadow that would make my pale blue eyes brighten. Then she does my hair into a delicate blonde updo. To finish the look, she hands me a black box.

I open it and see Grandma’s turquoise earrings, bracelet, and necklace. I feel grief well up within me. “I wish she was here.”

Erica helps me get the necklace on. The blue matches the ankle-length, halter-top, bridesmaid’s dress she is wearing. “She is here with us.”

I put the earrings in and slide the bracelet on. My mum comes into the room and gasps in delight. “You look marvelous, darling.” She gives me a tight hug, which becomes a group one when my sister joins in. She pulls away, tucking the greying hair behind her ear. “Your father is ready to walk you down the aisle, Emma.” She is wearing a loose dress in pretty grey that matched the silver of my wedding colors.

Both my mum and sister escort me to the main part of the chapel. My dad is standing there in his silver suit jacket and black slacks, which matches my father-in-law’s attire. The groomsmen, my fiancé’s best friends, are both wearing the same silver for their suits. My sister stands between the two men. She links her arms in theirs. When the music of the four-string quartet plays, she heads down the aisle with them.

“Everything all right, my Rabbit?” He asks, calling me by my childhood nickname.

“Just that Alicia wore all black.” I want to stomp my MIL’s face into the ground with my silver heels, but that thought will have to stay a fantasy.

“Well, that’s because she’s mourning. You are about to be married and to cleave her son away from her talons. It’s only right that the vicious Harpy is made to look like a fool in front of all of your guests.” He smiles down at me as he holds out his arm. “This is your last chance to run away, if you want to.”

I whack him lightly in the chest. “Not a chance, Dad.”

“Oof.” He rubs his sternum. “Thought I’d double check.”

The music plays, filling the chapel with its notes. We turn the corner into the aisle, taking careful, measured steps towards the altar. Alicia wails as we walk to where my fiancé stands, waiting with his groomsmen. I push down the urge to roll my eyes at the dramatics of the woman in black. This was not her moment, and I refuse to allow it to be sullied with her crocodile tears.

My dad steps away from me, giving my hand to Logan. My dad sits down next to my mum, and Logan lifts my veil over my head. The ceremony begins. “What can we say about love?” the preacher  asks. “It is a force that is all around us. It binds us. It completes us. It gives us the comfort of knowing where—”

Alicia’s brawling becomes a high-pitched squeal of anguish. The preacher tries to continue, but it is no use. Every time he tries to say something, her cries become louder. He looks at me, an apology in his eyes. My sister hands the preacher the rings, and he hands one to me. “Do you, Emma, take Logan to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in richer or poorer, until death do you part?”

“I do.” I slip the golden ring on his hand.

“Logan, do you take Emma to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in richer or poorer, until death do you part?” the preacher asks him.

I hold my breath slightly. Alicia’s crying is grating on my nerves, but once that ring is on my finger, Logan is my husband. “I do.” He slips the ring on my finger, and I exhale the breath I was holding.

“Then I pronounce you, husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.” He takes a step back, and Logan leans forward, pressing his lips to mine.

Applause erupts from our families. Everyone claps their hands together and cheers. Except for Alicia. She faints, or at least pretends to. A hush falls over the room as someone near her gasps at her fall. Logan and I pull away from each other, and she sits up. There is a small smile on her lips. The urge to smash my heel into her face intensifies.

Logan grabs onto my arm and escorts me back down the aisle. The attention taken from her, Alicia tries to join in on his other side. My sister steps up to her and blocks my MIL’s attempts. We walk outside and get the pictures taken. She keeps trying to weasel her way into being closer to my husband, then demands that she get multiple mother and son photos. From the way it looks, if she had been wearing white, I swear that she is trying to be the bride.

The reception starts with the cocktail hour and the line of well-wishers. We make it through the line and are starting dinner. The quartet plays in the background, and I make a mental note to tip them well for their lovely performance. “Have you seen my mother?” Logan asks me in a whisper.

I look around, but Alicia is nowhere to be found. I want to leap for joy but know it would be inappropriate. “No, I haven’t. But we can’t keep the rest of our guests waiting for her to eat dinner.” I nod to the caterer, so he would begin passing out the food to the hungry masses.

He looks down at me with sorrow in his eyes. “I wish you would just get along with her.”

I bit back the retort, wanting to keep the peace. “I’ve tried, Logan, but face it. Your mother has hated me since we met. She doesn’t like that I’m an accountant who makes more money than you. She loathes the fact that I wanted us to be married for a bit before having children. You saw how she acted in the Chapel.”

He sighs. “She’s just sad because I’m her only child and she feels like she’s losing me. It doesn’t help that dad divorced her just after you and I got engaged. You just need to be nicer to her.” He looks around the room. “I’m going to go find her.”

“Wait!” I reach out to stop him, but he slips out of my grasp. The guests are looking at me, and I can see the pity on their faces. I try to paint on a smile. “He’s such a good man, making sure his mother is doing all right. Let’s eat!”

I sit at the head table with the empty seat next to me. I try to eat, but I feel everyone staring at me, judging me for being alone on my wedding day. Erica comes up to the head table, grabs my arm and plate of food, and walks me down to the table with our mum and dad. She plops me down into the chair and stomps over to the table with the groomsmen and my FIL.

She speaks in a harsh but low tone, “You go find Logan right now. I don’t care if you have to stake Alicia with iron like the banshee she is.” The three men stand up and rush off to find my husband. My sister sits back down next to me and asks me loudly, “So, how’s the fish?”

I look at her, then burst into laughter. “Erica, it’s chicken.”

She held up a flaky piece of the shredded chicken. “Coulda fooled me.”

The rest of the room mellows, talking amongst themselves. I lean in close to her and whisper, “Thanks, sis.”

“You worry about enjoying yourself; I’ll take care of the rest,” she promises as she grabs my hand in hers and gives it a gentle squeeze.

The groomsmen and my FIL race back into the room and give Erica a thumbs up. Logan follows in behind them. He sits down at the head table, and I stand up and take my seat next to him. He eats quickly, like he is trying to catch us up on wasted time.

The wedding coordinator motions that it is time for the cake cutting and first dance. We stand where we are supposed to, both of us holding the knife. We cut the cake, the photographer’s flash lighting up the room. I do not see Alicia, and I wonder if she decided to go home.

After the cake, Logan escorts me to the wooden dancefloor. The quartet flips the sheets of their music. I place my hand on my husband’s shoulder. He wraps his around my waist. The four-piece strings play “Stolen Dance,” the song Logan and I sang at karaoke when we first met.

I think back to that time. I was on the stage, forced up there by my sister. She chose the song and sat down in the audience. I began to sing. It was terrible, but Logan came up onto the stage from where he had been seated with his now-groomsmen. He grabbed the second microphone, and we sang a duet. I looked up into his eyes, and I knew that he was the one I wanted to spend my life with.

Gasps bring me back to the present. I look around and anger rises in me when I see Alicia. She had changed into a white dress. One that looked almost exactly like the one I wore: white lace, crystal beading, even the petticoats under the dress to make it flare out more.

My sister wastes no time. We do not have red wine at this wedding, because I thought Alicia would spill it on me. Yet, there my sister is, holding a glass filled almost to the brim with a dark red merlot. She steps up to Alicia, who was too busy trying to find a way to get Logan away from me. Erica upends the wine on my MIL’s head. The red liquid spills down the front of the dress, soaking into the white fabric.

Alicia shrieks in rage and humiliation. “How dare yo—”

Erica cuts her ranting off, “How dare I? How dare you? First showing up in all black, like this was a funeral, not a wedding. Then you change into a legit copy of my sister’s wedding dress? I mean, I know you use Logan as an emotional husband, but this is just disgusting.” She says exactly what I have been feeling since the day I met Alicia. I am glad that my sister has the ovaries to speak out like she does.

Alicia screeches and tackles Erica to the ground. My sister, the Amazonian warrior she is, easily gets out from under my MIL. Alicia stands up and tries to continue the fight, but my FIL and the groomsmen grab onto her. She spits on my sister, and my eyes widen in shock.

My mum comes between the two women and backhands Alicia. The room falls silent. “Erica, go back to the table.”

“You assaulted me!” Alicia screams.

My mum gives her a look of absolute disgust. “You spat on my daughter, which escalates your simple battery to assault with a bioterrorism weapon. You ruined my other daughter’s wedding. You are a miserable shrew who will die alone if you don’t learn that you place isn’t by Logan’s side. The Bible reads that the couple are to cleave themselves from their families of birth to create a new one. You need to go to therapy, because this obsession you have with Logan and Emma has gone too far.”

Logan rushes to his mother’s rescue. “That’s enough.” He glares at his groomsmen and father. They let Alicia go, and she collapses into Logan’s arms. He looks back to me, and I read the rage on his face. “I’m taking my mother home. I will meet you at the hotel afterwards.”

He leaves with Alicia, and she throws back a vicious grin. She still has him wrapped around her little finger. The wedding is ruined. I move through the motions, trying to plaster the fake smile on my face to keep myself from falling apart. I thank everyone for being there, and I apologize for the wedding not being my usual perfection. My guests awkwardly offer their congratu-dolences and leave.

My sister, mum, dad, FIL, and groomsmen help me to get everything cleaned up. My FIL pays the caterer, quartet, and venue as an apology. “I’m sorry for what my ex-wife has done to your wedding. Logan will need your help to get out of the enmeshment that he has with her. But you’re a strong woman, and I believe that you are perfect for him.” He hugs me tightly. “I welcome you into my family, Emma.”

The groomsmen and my sister gather up the presents, and a sour look crosses their faces. “What’s wrong now?” my dad asks through gritted teeth.

“Some of the presents and envelopes are missing,” the best man explains.

“Maybe Logan grabbed them on the way out, so we wouldn’t forget any,” I hope and pray.

“Maybe…” my mum does not sound convinced.

The best man and groomsman give me side hugs. “Logan’s a good dude, he’s just a little bit too far up Alicia’s vagina. We’re positive that you’ll be able to coax him out and into the world of marriage.”

“Thanks, guys. I appreciate the vote of confidence.” I mean it too. They leave along with my FIL. “What do I do now?” I ask my mum and dad.

“Well, the marriage certificate is still here, if you decide to walk away now.” Erica holds the paper up. “We can tear it up and you will never have to deal with Alicia ever again.”

I sigh. “Except that I love Logan.”

“I know.” She smiles. “Let’s get you to the hotel, and I’ll catch a ride with mum and dad back home.” I let her drag me to the car and then to the hotel, where I wait for Logan to arrive.

Continues 09/13/2023

[soriaryl]

Houdini's in Exile

WP: Write about a job you had

I wandered down the brightly lit street, the Strip of neon, glass, and metal, no other place felt like home. The constant car horns, flashes of people’s phones as they took pictures, and the laughter of those who were drunk or high was ever present. Inside the casinos, the noise from the slot machines and the bells of winners filled the recycled, oxygenated air. No windows or clocks adorned the walls—nothing to indicate the how much time has passed or even the hour of the day.

Yet, this was not my domain. An hour outside of Las Vegas was Primm, Nevada. For those who worked for Houdini’s Magic Shop, it was Exile, the place where people went to either grow or be left behind. The tiny shop was smaller than a shipping container, maybe fifteen feet by twenty (definitely less than twenty by twenty). Settled under the lift hill of the roller coaster that used to have the largest drop in the world in 1996, large grasshoppers invaded during the summer and fall months. The shop shared a side wall with a pizza place run by illegal Moldovan immigrants.

Magic sold alongside bits and bobs and kitschy souvenirs. A flying card was the attraction of the person standing on the wooden platform, known as the “pitch stand.” In my white tuxedo shirt, black vest, black slacks, and black shoes, only my brightly colored, neon green socks gave any hint of difference in the monochrome outfit.

I stood apart from the pitch stand, never getting on it while I worked. There was nothing there for me but the anxiety that always came with public speaking. That area belonged to My-Name-is-Mike. He always ended his pitch with those words.

I worked the counter magic. I still performed the flying card, the staple of the store, but that was not my favorite trick. While Mike did the standard Rising Card, Scotch and Soda, then the UFO Flying Card, I did magic where I could tell a story. Cups and Balls, Paper to Money, and the Blank Deck were my go-tos and favorites when people came to the counter.

“Step right up,” I told the audience. “Let me tell you a tale of one of the oldest magic tricks in the world.” I showed them three silver cups with three red balls on my black mat. “As one of the easiest tricks in the store, let me show you what the Ancient Egyptians created.” It did not matter if the prattle was true or not. It was just something to make people interested.

I set one of the silver cups onto the mat and held onto the other two.

“Take one ball, place it on the cup.” I did as I said and explained each step in the process. “Place another cup on top, then tap three times with my magic wand—” I always used a yellow pencil for this, “—one, two, three!”

Picking up the bottom silver cup revealed the red ball on the mat. Repeat three times and all three red balls would find themselves under the silver cup.

“Now comes the real magic,” I told them. “Here. You’ll have to imagine something for me. I’m going to hand someone this ball, and I need you all to believe that it exists.”

I handed an invisible ball to someone, usually a child or a drunk.

“Now, toss that ball into the air.”

They would pretend along with me and made a show of throwing it high into the air.

“It goes up, comes back down, does a corkscrew, back flip, flip flop, until it lands on the silver cup! Did anyone see that?” When someone inevitably said they did, I made the same remark every time, “Well, you probably have had enough to drink then.”

I always smiled when heckling, or they would think that I was making fun of them.

I slammed my hand against the top silver cup, then removed each one. “One, two, three!” A fourth ball joined the other three and the invisible became real.

After a round of oohs and aahs, I laid out the trick to be purchased. “Cups and Balls for fourteen dollars and ninety-nine cents. It’s as easy as flipping a cup.”

Next came a faster trick, one that would change in the blink of an eye. I pulled out a series of papers from my pocket. Most used blanks, but I went with handwritten ones.

“Now, there is something to be said about imagination. You see, I have an overactive one.” I showed them the papers with my handwriting on them. “I like to write and tell stories. But along with the stories, I have a dream. I dream of turning these short stories into money. Do you think I can achieve that dream here today?”

People might nod, others would shake their heads.

“Well, if this works, then I can quit my job here and make the big bucks like Stephen King or Brandon Sanderson.” I would stand ready, setting my feet apart and squatted a little to bring their attention closer to the papers in my hands. “Now, wish me luck.”

“Good luck!” Mike yelled from the pitch stand if no one in the audience did.

“Thanks, My-Name-is-Mike!” I shouted back.

With a swish and a flick, the pieces of paper changed into dollar bills. If I had just gotten paid, I used twenties, but usually, I stuck with ones. When people asked to see the trick again, I laughed and told them, “I need this for rent this month.” Then back into my pocket the trick would go. “Paper-to-Money, normally twenty-five dollars, but since I like you all, it’s twenty-four, ninety-nine,” I said and set the kit out next to the Cups and Balls. “Now, who’s ready to use their own imaginations to help me with this last trick?”

By this time, they would be enthralled. I grabbed the deck from the countertop behind me and pulled the cards from it.

“This is a very special deck, one that requires us to wish and believe it’s real.” I fanned the cards out and showed the blank cards. “Someone forgot to print the suits and numbers on these cards. But I have a printing press in front of me called my audience. With your collective thoughts, we will create these cards.”

I cut the deck and revealed a regular card. Then cut again and again, and I named the cards as they appeared.

“Now, think of the deck in its entirety. Close your eyes. Think long and hard about your favorite cards: the six of diamonds, the ace of spades, the two of hearts, and the eight of clubs. Think of the face cards, the jacks, the queens, and the kings. Think of the backs of the cards as well, because there’s no point in only having the fronts. Let the images settle in your minds. Now, open your eyes.”

After they opened their eyes, I flicked through the deck. Both the fronts and backs of cards appeared.

“But there’s a problem with using you all to hold onto the images in your minds. You see, human minds tend to wander and when that happens…” I cut the deck again, the blank cards returning, “we lose them.” I riffled the blank cards and showed the audience that nothing was left but the expanse of white.

After putting the deck back into its box, I placed the buyable version next to the Cups and Balls. “The Blank Deck, only twenty-four, ninety-nine.”

I always smiled and hoped they would buy something so we could get our spiffs. We just needed to beat last year’s sales to earn that five dollars for the day.

“Show us another trick!” someone would predictably ask.

I feigned remorse when I pointed to the camera that watched over the store. “I would love to, but Penny is watching while drinking champagne in her claw-foot tub, and she doesn’t like it when we show more than three. It’s a magic shop, not a magic show. But, if you have any questions, my name is Sarah. Any complaints, my name is Greg.”

The looky-loos would browse the shop. Sometimes people would buy.

Being in Exile, we had to prove our sales were worth keeping the store open. This was not a high traffic store. So, after a year of working there, the owner decided to close it permanently. Greg, the District Manager, handed out the pink slips, and ended my first job as a magician.