Ghasts and Ghouls
“I really don't like it when my calls get ignored.” Carolyn draped an arm over my shoulder as I joined her on the couch. It had taken me longer to dry off than she had, though it was still a marked improvement from the original fur design. At least I didn’t need to blow dry anymore.
“I didn't have any say in the matter.”
“I’m supposed to believe your phone conveniently succumbed to water damage?”
“No, it in-conveniently succumbed to Deyha damage. You need to find her some safe toys to break because I was hoping to transfer my settings and files to the new phone when it arrives.”
She looked up past me and lowered her voice. “And what, pray tell, kind of toy do you think you are? Pet.”
“Delicate, for starters.”
Carolyn rolled her eyes. “Emotionally, maybe.”
“Hey!”
“Am I wrong?”
“No… but I’ve risked too much of my hide to tolerate further shots.”
“Granted, I suppose.” The begrudging tone dropped from her voice as she looked up, “Mazer! So glad you could make it, welcome! I’d stand to shake your hand but I'm a little pinned down at the moment.”
I frowned at Carolyn but she showed no sign of caring.
“Thank you, Doctor Davis.” He unbuttoned his suit as he sat down across from us, immediately crossing one knee over the other. “You wear some interesting jewelry this evening.”
Carolyn held up an arm, turning her wrist so that the gold sequin-like runes caught the light. “Lovely aren't they? Functional too.”
“I can imagine. Deyha indicated that you’ve filled the first of the crystals?”
I looked from Mazer to Carolyn, something about the subject simply being brought up seemed significant. I wouldn’t have expected him to even mention it otherwise.
“I… have many things to confess actually,” Carolyn gave my shoulder a squeeze as she produced a purple crystal from her coat pocket. “I have regrettably damaged your property, and I need to see that you are made whole.”
“Regrettable.” Mazer echoed as he leaned forward to accept the crystal. It vanished from his hand a moment later as though it were as easy to palm as a coin. “Well. I do endeavor to be fair in my dealings. I take it that the damaged property in question is unrecoverable?”
“I would take it as a kindness if you didn't try.”
Mazer clicked his tongue and shook his head. “My dear Carolyn, what have you done now?”
I struggled to place his tone. Was first name treatment a step down in respect? A step up in familiarity? Was the question weighted down by disappointment? Or was it amusement?”
“Its probably simplest to just let you take a look.” She eased her arm out from behind me and leaned forward to sit on the edge of the cushion, holding her hands out palm-up as Mazer uncrossed his legs to lean forward.
“Interesting.” He reached out to touch and then stopped short. “May I?”
“I assumed you would ‘look’ with your hands, yes.”
He held her wrist, pinching her palm in multiple places before continuing up her forearm.
Carolyn flinched as he reached her elbow, “It’s just the forearm down, for the moment.”
“Where on earth did you learn this method?”
Carolyn tilted her head side to side. “To a large degree I invented it. But certain old English texts reference skeletons with crystal painstakingly set into bone. My method is both more and less invasive. Are you familiar with the practice?”
“I… am. To say it is taboo is the understatement of the century, but you happen to have confessed this transgression directly to one of the few individuals who could indict you for it.”
“So I am in trouble.” Carolyn only sounded mildly chagrined.
“No…” Mazer spoke slowly, and folded his hands under his chin for a moment. “What is it you hope to accomplish from this?”
“Certainly not world domination, but… I could do so much more if I wasn’t confined to runes to manipulate mana.”
“Oh, I dare say that confinement is broken. Your track record speaks to your values, but, this is a departure in one particular regard. To just what degree are you considering Madeline your possession?”
“What?” Carolyn, in a rare display of weakness, was as stunned by the subject change as me.
“Or perhaps I’m asking the wrong person. Madeline?”
“I… I’m hers. I've offered myself to her to a degree that she expressed discomfort in, but… my commitment remains the same.”
“It sure looks like she’s gotten past that discomfort.” Mazer turned to Carolyn. “To what extent did Madeline consent to this?”
“I… what? It’s my body?”
“You are either incredibly depraved, or incredibly lucky.” There was no venom in Mazer’s voice but Carolyn recoiled as if slapped anyway. Unbothered, Mazer pressed on, “Those crystals, each of the five I used for Madeline, were nearly indelibly linked to her life force. Had they all remained intact, repurposing the mana without harming Madeline would have been trivial for me. What you have done, evidently without knowing it, is bind Madeline’s life to your bones.”
“No.”
“Yes.” Mazer sat back in his chair and rubbed his brow. “Well, I must say I’m relieved to find you are lucky, if a little bit foolish.”
“No-no-no, fuck.” Carolyn was looking at her own hands with horror now. “That’s… people did that? Willfully? Fuck. Of course they did. Why am I even surprised? No, there has to be some way to reverse this.”
“Uh. If I can chime in.” I held up a hand.
“By all means, please do.” Mazer waved me on.
“What exactly does that mean? Because if I'm bound to her as you say then I certainly haven't noticed any changes. Hell, I wasn't even aware of the first time she implanted a crystal." Something in Mazer's expression hardened. "—Which is fine! I think I'm fine with this? I trust Carolyn and I've assumed for a long time now that I’m not likely to grow old— from an aging standpoint. Like, with gene modding, we’re effectively immortal right? Like you?”
Mazer shook his head. “I, like you, can still die, but there is no imminent danger.”
"Is there an after life? Does this mean after death I'm just a bunch of bone-shaped rocks?”
“Yes there is an afterlife— spoiler alert as they say, and no, you aren't going to be rocks. However, mortal harm to Carolyn would be mortal harm to you, not vice versa.”
“Oh… Well, try not to die, babe.”
“You are not taking this seriously.” Carolyn muttered.
“Should I be? Should I hate you? Do you want that?” I folded my arms.
“You should…” her voice was almost frail now.
“Well you can get over that.” I turned back to Mazer. "Can we reuse some of the crystals to pay my debt? I’m sorry that Carolyn broke a couple, but at this point… I mean, we could break a few more for science.”
“No!” Carolyn objected but Mazer chuckled.
“Very lucky indeed. Well, It's not like there was a real consequence for breaking the contract, and the repayment always relied on reusing them as you put it.”
“Soooo what, you have two more besides the one we just returned? That's plenty of spares, I’d say.” I shook Carolyn’s shoulder gently. “Isn't this great? You can keep flapping those wax wings!”
“You’re mocking me.”
“Oh, I absolutely am.” I turned to Mazer, “You know, just a few minutes ago she was talking about how this was only the beginning of her grand ascension.”
“Im going to hell.” Carolyn moaned.
I said “Oh, you’re already here, baby” at the exact same time as Mazer said “not if I can help it.”
“Mazer…” Carolyn sounded pathetic as she looked up from her hands, it was actually a little touching to see tear stains. “How do I control this? I thought I understood the process inside and out, yet every source glossed over the most important detail. How can I go on after this? How can I in good conscience—”
"Forgive yourself? As Madeline clearly has? That's your cross to bear. But I won't shy away from the task of guiding you through your next steps. I should have realized how tantalizing a mana battery would be in your hands."
"I… could really use the oversight. Would you be amenable to spending more time at the clinic?"
Mazer chuckled. “Well, I suppose that's similar to the goal of the grand conspiracy. In a way.”
“You knew?” I ignored the scowl from Carolyn as I addressed Mazer. “When did you find out?”
“Hmm, I’d like to think it was very early on. Mikah and Crystal were suddenly very interested in coming back to tour, curious about schools in the area… They weren’t subtle. Still, I have conditions. Deyha should sit in for negotiations.”
“She’s going to fucking kill me.” Carolyn muttered. “I’m so fucking dead."
“Well, my phone isn’t working right now so you’ll have to call her.”
Carolyn just pressed her phone into my hands.
It took me a moment to navigate the unfamiliar layout but before long it was ringing.
"What." Deyha's tone was heavy with frustration.
"Mazer wants to negotiate moving arrangements, we need your input."
"Maddie? Okay, well… cool. I'll be in in just a moment."
The line went dead and I handed Carolyn back her phone.
"Well babe, what do you want to do with your last few seconds of life before your wife throttles you?"
"What am I supposed to say? That I want to go to Disney world?"
"That would be a terrible fucking answer. You can do better."
"I want to undo this… What would you have done if this was willful?" Carolyn looked up at Mazer.
He blew out a breath and looked up and past us. "If Madeline consented with full knowledge… nothing. Anything less…" Mazer shrugged. "Best not to think about that."
"Is there a turbo prison for demons?"
"No, but, if I can be candid, I would probably see to it that you spent life in prison without arms."
"Holy shit, maybe too candid." I sat back. "Wouldn't that be lethal?"
"No, with the proper method a relatively simple amputation could recover the crystals with no loss of life."
"Geeze." Deyha eased herself down onto the chair next to Mazer. "I take it you're no more of a fan of her latest bones than I am."
"Maddie mentioned an earlier procedure. How long ago was that?"
"Her finger bones were a few weeks back— and I apologize for my part in that. The radius and… the other one were today."
"Your part?" Mazer's confused and concerned expression passed from Deyha to Carolyn.
"She had nothing to do with it." Carolyn spoke quickly.
"Enough with the lying, Carolyn." Deyha groaned. "If she's really so obsessed with taking the blame then I'd accept the label of 'accessory'. She opened up her hands, I welded in the crystal. When she didn't get the results she was hoping for, I told her no more. As you can see, she went behind my back."
"I think I need to take a walk." I stood up. Much as I felt it was my duty to mediate on these things, Carolyn's theatrics had burned down my fuse substantially, and Deyha's attitude was like a blow torch to what remained.
"Maddie?"
"You can figure out farm arrangements without my input, just… Don't let them kill each other." I addressed the last bit to Mazer and he nodded amicably, much to Deyha's confusion.
"On second thought," I paused at the edge of the little carpet ring, "You three should take this conversation to Carolyn's lab."
"Maddie…" it was Carolyn's turn to object, but I shook my head.
"Don't make a scene."
"I won't~" Deyha rolled her eyes.
"Respectfully, you can't promise that. Go. I insist." I pointed to the clinic, and at the very least, Mazer seemed to have no reservations about complying. Carolyn and Deyha followed shortly after.
Ellen. I had to find Ellen. I cast my gaze around the lobby. Without the glow of the skylights, most of the lighting was coming from open bedrooms and small reading lamps next to the chairs. Perhaps the glow would have been some sort of welcoming in a different context, but the only word I could attribute to it now was "haunting."
I found her at the bar, inspecting bottles and taking tentative sniffs as if she was searching for the one with the right flavor.
"Fix me a drink." I pleaded as I leaned heavily on the edge.
"Okay— wait. No? Absolutely not? What the fuck Maddie?"
"What? I've had a rough evening."
"You're pregnant."
"It's early on~" I whined. "Please?"
"No. Stop asking." There was a hard edge to her tone now and I met her gaze.
"Okay… ginger ale then I guess."
"That I can do." she popped the top of a can and placed it in front of me. "So what brings you to my fine establishment?”
“Oh the usual,” I looked around for some sort of stool, but none of the available seats nearby had the vibe I needed. “Can we go to my stall? I need to vent.”
“Sus.” Ellen chuckled, but she settled on a bottle and poured herself a drink. “Lead the way then.”
I chose a rather circuitous path, dodging all possible social encounters before slipping into the dark quiet of my own space.
“Carolyn did a thing.” I stared at the top of my can. Unsure of how to explain without getting a Deyha-style reaction. “It turns out the mana batteries we use for my doll have other uses, and Carolyn found some crazy old book detailing how to uh… implant them within one-self.”
“That can’t be good for you.”
“It's not. She did it.”
“Is she okay? Are you okay?”
I rested my head on the back of the couch, automatically reading the sign I’d taped to the ceiling on a whim. ‘Gullible’… I guess it was right.
“I’m not sure. It's just a lot. It still feels like yesterday Carolyn was freaking out about me getting left behind at a convention, and now Rose might have seizures, Mazer is going to be around more, Carolyn is going to be a lot more magical, and Deyha is… she might be approaching her limit. This is stupid right? I hardly even have a job but I desperately need a vacation. Rest is about to be the scarcest commodity in the universe.”
“You… won't be doing all the childcare alone.”
“And I appreciate that, but…”
“Stop thinking about future restlessness. Appreciate that you are at rest right now.”
I huffed a bitter laugh. “I am not at rest. We are in the middle of hosting a party and my partners are off arguing— what are you doing?”
Ellen’s hand slid across my belly, and she scooted closer on the couch.
“Nothing~”
“That is not nothing.” I squirmed and leaned away from her as she slipped an arm up under my shirt along my back and coaxed me to lean against the armrest.
“No idea what you’re talking about.” She murmured.
“Really great plan, just gaslight me while I'm down.”
“Okay, Madeline.” Ellen grumbled. “If you want to be like that, then yes, I am up to something. I have a very proven method to take your mind off stress—“ she reached past me, hitting the controls to recline the couch so that it lifted my legs up as well.
“This room isn't soundproof—“
“And this isn't sex~” she cut me off as she planted a kiss on my neck. The heat in my core was sudden and electric. I was powerless to resist as she pressed her thigh between my legs and lay against me, kissing me in a way that I would never allow in public.
I gasped as her thigh began to buzz, pressing so perfectly through my shorts against my clit and she chuckled as she leaned into it. "Someone's calling. What a happy little accident~"
"Ellen!" I gasped.
"Mhmm?" she pressed harder. I wanted to shove her off but all I could do was wrap my arms around her.
"Answer your phone!" I whined and finally she eased her hips off of me. I struggled to catch my breath.
She sat up and took her time readjusting to straddle my hips. Finally, she brought the phone up to her ear.
It was quiet enough that I could distinctly hear Carolyn's voice through the small speaker and even discern the frustration in her tone. "Whatever you are doing to Maddie, would you kindly stop?"
"I'm sure I have no idea what you mean." Ellen elected to act coy.
"Maddie can explain it. Just stop whatever it is you are doing."
"Oh, Maddie did explain your transgression, and I am delighted to hear you've graduated to your 'finding out' phase."
"No."
"I have so many ideas…"
"There will be retaliation." Carolyn growled, but I could hear Deyha even further in the background saying 'No there fucking wont.'
"That sounds like an endorsement to me." Ellen handed the phone to me and crawled off the couch.
"Hi Carolyn…"
"Maddie~ please, I'm begging you. I'm trying to make this right but I can't concentrate—"
"I… really have no say over what Ellen does to me." I saw Ellen's grin widen and I rolled my eyes. "Surely Mazer can help, right?"
"He is helping. We are working on a safeguard for you as we speak but—"
"Then there's no problem. Good luck!" I ended the call, feeling a little sadistic glee at having caused yet another irritating disconnect for her. “Change of plans, let’s head upstairs.”
“Hell fucking yeah, Maddie.”