The Hollow Root - Chapter 45
I haven’t had time to do the full table of contents… but if you haven’t read any of this at this point… go back to the beginning:
Fasaani watched Ted and Kavin shape the coyote pyre, her mind like waves eroding the shore of who she’d been. She wondered if she wanted to be in the ocean or on the beach as she ran her hand down her smooth face. Power lived in this new form - not the crone anymore, but something original. “Was this who Caitlyn was?” she wondered, maybe she should paint her face again. Kavin’s worried expression annoyed her. He would try to disrupt this somehow. Why couldn’t he see what Silas had taught her? His kind didn’t belong - they came and took everything, then whined about how hard it was to own everything. She, Amy, and Kavin were original. Even Vaino couldn’t compare. She thought about the horror she felt putting the knife into Vaino, the horror that twisted ever so slightly with delight. She wasn’t prepared then. Vaino’s death no longer felt like a mistake. The memory of Silas twitching on her blade made her smile. Her knife vibrated in response. But then another image flashed - a burning figure from some distant past, a human shape outlined in flame. When had she seen that before? The vision felt like deja vu familiar but uncanny just the same before she could concentrate more it slipped away like smoke.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” Ted screamed jarring Fasaani back to the present.
As her mind wandered the fog she had charmed Ted with seemed to dissipate. He was now holding a branch like it was a weapon and squared off with Kavin screaming like a wild creature unsure of its surroundings.
“Ted, you’re back. Put the stick down, don’t ruin this for everyone. This is a celebration,” Fasaani said looking into his eyes.
Ted stopped and his eyes fogged over slightly. He dropped the stick and walked over to Kavin who looked confused and unsure of what might happen next. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” Ted said before returning to his tasks.
Kavin twisted another branch into place, forming the coyote’s shoulder. “Silas seemed like a real coward. Hiding from you like some scared child.” He paused, focusing on the binding. “Makes me think of those soldiers - remember that burning hotel? You had them all hiding and crying before you set the whole thing up in flame.” He risked a glance at her face. “I remember that was when I started to really like ya. After the fire died down...” He trailed off, letting the memory hang between them while his hands kept working. “We were so different then. Almost feels like it was someone else,” he said to the wooden structure, not looking at her directly. “Fuck, this coyote’s starting to look more like a fox.”
“I had forgotten about that. Those men deserved every lick the flames gave them. After what they did. What about it?” Fasaani’s tone shifted to sounding sinister.
“You changed after that. That’s where we became friends. I don’t remember what changed you though. Do you?” Kavin said pushing his voice to sound as comforting as his fear would allow.
“Kavin, what are you getting at?” Fasaani’s tone had shifted again sounding tired. She moved closer to him and he could even hear the slightest vibrating noise from the knife in her pocket.
“Nothing Faz. We’ve had long lives, and maybe you are right. Maybe we don’t take what should be ours. I guess I just get caught up in that I don’t know where we started,” Kavin replied quietly.
“Fuck it, this is a celebration right? Tell me about killing Silas,” he added, steering back to safer ground. “Did you figure out why ‘My Humps’ put us in a trance, like what the fuck was that?”
“Kav, watching his face as I slid my knife in. Watching him desperately plead and beg to tell me of his master plan... it was glorious. He thought he could just cook up a potion, take our powers and we would just marvel at how powerful he was. His little grudge bleeding out through the hole I put in him. It was delicious Kavin,” Fasaani said opening her arms wide again.
“Magic tricks are fun Faz. I like magic tricks. Don’t you miss convincing some idiot to buy some cure you know is just rooibos, sage and some bark to make it bitter?” Kavin said, pausing his work on the Coyote that now featured two legs and part of a torso.
“Kav don’t be small like them. We did that for too long. I played the witch in the woods card and sold snake oil, but what did I achieve? Look at me now Kav... even you are afraid of me,” Fasaani said her eyes forming a sharp point to emphasize her revelation.
Amy approached the house with the lone light. She took a deep breath and caught the scents: cloves, dusty books and a hint of syrup... an older couple, empty nest, loneliness masked by contentment. She knocked gently and was greeted by a booming yell “We don’t want whatever you’re selling,” came a voice through the cracked door. “Oh I’m not selling anything. My friends and I are camping and forgot matches. I saw your light and hoped...” Amy let the story build naturally as an older man’s kind face appeared. “I’m sure I have matches or a lighter but what’s a woman... your age... doing out here asking for matches? Where are you camping?” His voice was stern and inquisitive. “Just off the road. We’re doing a nostalgic road trip - silly really. Hey this is really goofy but since the store’s closed, do you have any alcohol you could spare?” “What? Oh I guess it’s not camping without a little white lightning. My wife and I have some fancy whiskey our daughter brought that we never drink. Need the cupboard space and a good enough cause and all.” He disappeared briefly and returned with a bottle and matches. “Here you go. Hope it helps.” He closed the door forcefully and Amy could hear him mumble to his wife “It was some lady camping with her friends, they forgot matches and I gave them that stuff Meg brought back... yeah I didn’t like it either.”
The easy manipulation left Amy unsettled. How naturally deception came to her, just like the old days. The old days... the thought triggered an image of Fasaani glowing with rage in that burning hotel, bodies scattered like broken dolls.
Amy forced herself to remember. What had they done to stop her? She’d walked straight up to Fasaani, she was worried their cover would be blown if she continued... She tried to shake her. “Fasaani, enough! Not all of them deserved this” she’d shouted over the screaming flames.
Then the world had gone white with pain. Amy’s hand moved instinctively to her side where the scar could still be seen in just the right light. Fasaani had looked her straight in the eyes and driven the knife home without hesitation. No recognition, no mercy. Amy had crumpled, blood pooling beneath her as consciousness faded.
Did she stop because she hurt me? The thought swelled in Amy’s mind as she walked slowly back towards the woods. Whatever stopped her had happened after Amy lost consciousness, did Kavin do something? She pushed her pace, whatever it was it would be easier if they were together.
Ted’s hands moved with surprising precision, weaving branches into what might become a snout. The fog in his mind was thick, but underneath it something stirred - muscle memory from high school shop class, weekend projects with his dad. His fingers knew how to shape wood even when his thoughts didn’t belong to him. When the fog thinned for brief moments, terror crashed over him like cold water. Then the woman’s eyes would find him and like a brisk wind send the fog back in. His thoughts only of the project at hand. Make the face symmetrical, get the proportions right. He caught himself humming - some tune from childhood - and the sound made him flinch. Was that him or the fog? Did it matter anymore? His hands kept working, creating what he knew was needed, and what he knew on some level would be his last creation.
Kavin swallowed his need to push the issue. He needed to wait for Amy and had already danced a little too close to Fasaani’s flames. “I hope Amy is back soon, I need a drink,” Fasaani mentioned moving her gaze back to Ted who was now attempting to form an ear. “Hey, you ever think for one minute how did we get here?” Kavin asked, still focused on the wooden structure. Fasaani moved close to Kavin and gently petted his hair like a mother with a worried child. “Kavin, when has how ever mattered? We’re here and once Amy shows up we can fucking celebrate. I’m growing tired of the navel gazing. Now please hurry up or I’m afraid dear Ted will have built the head of a red panda for your coyote.” Kavin nodded and returned to his work, but his eyes kept darting toward the tree line. In the distance, he could hear footsteps approaching through the underbrush. Amy was coming back, and he really hoped she had a plan.