The Blood Gardener (The Dark River Book 2) Read online

  “She died…giving birth?”

  Now it was Derick’s turn to grasp Kera’s hands. “Yes,” he replied. “She had a child, and died as it was born.” He decided to spare her the ugly details. He could see tears forming in her eyes.

  She looked at him. “She has a child, in the Dark River?”

  “Yes.”

  Kera looked confused, wracked with pain and unsure of what to ask next.

  “It’s not a boy or a girl,” Derick continued. “Sex in the Dark River results in a monochild. I think of the kid as a boy, but that’s just because I don’t know of any other way to think of things. He’s really sexless.”

  “A child…” she said, drifting off. “You didn’t think her family should know about that?”

  “It’s not the kind of child you’re thinking of,” he replied. “It’s a monochild. No hair. No ears or nose. It grew incredibly fast. Anna was pregnant only for hours before it was born. And they don’t live long. It was supposed to have died by now.”

  “Supposed to? It’s alive?”

  “Yes.”

  “What’s the child’s name?”

  “A.”

  “A? Just A?”

  “Yeah, like the letter.”

  “A for Anna,” she said.

  “That’s right,” he answered, deciding to skip the part about Edward carving the letter into the child’s back.

  “He’s supposed to be dead by now?”

  “Apparently. I have no experience with monochildren myself. This kid has outlived the lifespan, seems to be going strong.”

  “You see him? A? When you go to the Dark River?”

  “I do. I kinda took him under my wing. Monochildren aren’t treated very well in the Dark River, and I couldn’t leave Anna’s child to fate. God knows what they would have done to him. He’s staying with an associate of mine.”

  “But in the Dark River, not out here?”

  “Right, in the Dark River. He wouldn’t survive out here. He’s a creature of that place.”

  She let go of his hand. “This is mind boggling, really. I…I don’t know what to think.”

  “Naturally I wouldn’t share these details with anyone who wasn’t gifted,” Derick said.

  “No, of course not,” she replied, still lost in the strangeness of the story, trying to fit her sister into it. “The River is weird enough to a lay person, but the Dark River is even more bizarre. Normal people wouldn’t understand it. I hardly do.”

  “The person who A is staying with in the Dark River,” Derick continued, “thinks A’s longevity is due to Anna.”

  He watched her reaction; a slow smile spread across her face.

  “What?” he asked. “Was Anna different?”

  “You mean not just a normal gifted?” Kera asked, still smiling.

  “Yes.”

  “I guess that all depends on what normal means. Growing up, we thought we were normal. In retrospect, I supposed we weren’t.”

  “In what way?”

  “In a way that was complimentary to me,” she replied. “My father used to say that we were the yin and yang. Some skills I didn’t possess, she had, and vice-versa. She and I used to work together, years ago.”

  Derick had studied gifteds during his years with the Achernar Group, and knew that siblings who inherited the gift often combined forces. The subject fascinated him. “She could do things you couldn’t?”

  “It seemed so. I remember one time, we were asked to help a couple. The man’s brother had died in his home, which was now vacant. The alarm system kept tripping, motion sensors saying someone was there, even though the house was empty. I was able to get the alarms to stop tripping, but it was Anna who ultimately solved it by contacting the man, and connecting his death to a neighbor. The deceased loved to talk to Anna. Not so much me.”

  “I can relate,” Derick replied. “I’m not gifted at all.”

  She looked at him with surprise. “Then how do you…?”

  “There were a lot of strange things I saw during my years on the force,” he replied. “After I retired, I decided to look into them. I think I was looking for closure, too.”

  “Please don’t tell me you’re with the Achernar Group?”

  “No, I’m not. But I did go to them. Got a lot of information from them.”

  “They’re the worst.”

  “You’re preaching to the choir.”

  “So how do you reach the Dark River if you can’t drop?”

  “I got lucky,” he replied, smiling. “I stumbled upon an object that lets me enter the River. I doubt I would have known how to use it if it weren’t for the Achernar Group, so I am thankful to them for that.”

  “Finding a way for a normal person to enter the River has been one of their holy grails for years. I bet those assholes would kill for your object!”

  He stopped to study her face for a moment. All of the cold, steely exterior had vanished, and she was now smiling and engaged with him. It was nice to find someone who knew about parts of his life that others would never know or understand, like the Achernar Group. Not only did she know of them, she had a healthy dislike of them. He was enjoying talking with her.

  “They wanted to buy it from me,” he answered. “I turned them down. I like the River. Don’t plan on giving it up.”

  “But…” she started, then a wave of repugnance washed over her face. “The Dark River? Why there?”

  “Luck, I guess.”

  She scoffed. “Not a lucky thing.”

  “I mean luck, in that the access point is so close to here, to where I live. I wasn’t raised to be fearful of it. The Achernar people seemed to think of it in the same vein as anything else in the River, so they didn’t instill in me any dislike of the place, like so many gifted parents seem to do to their children. To me, the Dark River is fascinating, not something to be avoided. When I found a way to force people out of it, I decided to make a few bucks. There were plenty of people who wanted a loved one removed from the place.”

  “How do you do that, exactly?”

  “Another object.”

  “Well, aren’t you the museum!” She flashed him another smile.

  He paused. Things are going well. All of the coldness is gone, and we seem to be getting along. Might as well ask.

  “Do you think you could give me something with Anna’s DNA?”

  She pulled her head back, a little surprised at the question. “Why?”

  “A friend of mine in the Dark River, the person Anna’s child is staying with, has been doing some research into why A has lived so long. He thought he could piece things together if I could get him a DNA sample.”

  Kera seemed to be thinking. “Well,” she said, “we’ve already gone through all of her things. Donated most of it to Goodwill. There might be…” She paused. “Wait, yes, there is something! The baby book my mother kept on each of us. I remember seeing it at my mother’s, just after Anna’s death. There’s a lock of hair in it.” She looked up at Derick sternly. “I’ll give some of it to you, on one condition.”

  “OK, name it.”

  “You take me in,” she replied. “I want to meet A.”

  He was surprised. “I thought the Dark River was verboten.”

  “That was before I learned Anna had a child there. The kid is technically my nephew.”

  “Listen, I don’t have any problem taking you there,” he replied. “I just don’t want you to have high expectations. Monochildren don’t talk. For some reason, A can talk to me, telepathically. I don’t know if he’ll talk to you. And like I said, he doesn’t look or act like a human child.”

  “I don’t care,” she said. “He’s family. You take me to him, let me meet him, and I’ll give you some of that lock of Anna’s hair. Deal?”

  “As long as you’re OK with going there, sure, I’m on board,” he said, reaching for his coffee, which had gone cold.

  - - -

  “Even with that spray, they’re still landing on me!” she said,
her hand slapping at her skin, flattening a mosquito into a small bloody patch. “Eew.”

  “The faster we move, the better,” he said, pulling her by the hand through the thinning trees, the trailer now visible in the distance. “They must like your blood better than mine.”

  When they got within thirty feet of the trailer, Derick remembered the legend shelf, and wondered how it would handle Kera. He decided not to say anything and see what happened.

  After three more steps, she froze.

  “I can’t move!” she said, trying to raise her leg. She stepped back, able to reverse, but when she attempted to move forward again, he knee wouldn’t lift.

  “What’s going on?” she asked Derick, worried.

  “It’s my legend shelf,” he replied. “Stay here; I’ll go inside and turn it off.”

  “Hurry!” she replied, swinging her hands at the mosquitoes swirling around her. “There won’t be much of me left!”

  Derick sprinted the rest of the way to the trailer and quickly dealt with numerous locks on the door. Once inside he ran to the back room, observing the legend shelf, its lines pulsing red. At least I know it works! he thought, running his hand along the right edge of it, feeling for the switch that would turn it off. He found it and pressed it down. The lines faded.

  He ran back to the door as Kera arrived, still slapping at the insects buzzing around her. She stepped up into the trailer and Derick pulled the door closed.

  “Whew!” she said, as through she’d just run through a downpour.

  “Sorry about that,” Derick replied. “The guy who configured it for me said it would stop any breach that was even remotely River-related. Now I know that it works.”

  “Cozy,” she said, observing the tiny space.

  He picked up some clothes that were lying on the floor. “Wasn’t expecting anyone, sorry,” he said as he walked them to the back bedroom and threw them inside, then he returned to the legend shelf and turned it back on. “Would you like something to drink before we get started?”

  “No, thanks,” she replied. “I’d just as soon get it over with before I lose my nerve.”

  He walked back to the padded seat along one side of a short table, and pointed to it. “Why don’t you lie down here. This is where I normally do it. I’ll go to the bed in the back. Give me about a minute, then drop into the River and wait for me. I’ll lead you to the access point.”

  “Alright,” she said, lying down.

  He watched her try to situate herself on the padded bench. “Wow, it looks incredibly uncomfortable,” he said.

  “I’m sure when you lie here you don’t much care how it looks,” she said, her feet hanging over the edge of the cushion.

  He turned and walked back to the bedroom. Although there was a bed, it was covered with boxes. It was going to take him a few moments to clear a space.

  “Give me a couple more minutes, would you?” he called down the trailer, lifting boxes onto the floor. There wasn’t much space available there, either, and he started to form precarious stacks, worried that they might topple onto the bed while he was out. Once he’d carved a spot big enough to hold his body, he laid down and reached into this pocket, feeling for the ivory carving, waking the black threads within that would emerge and transport him to the River.

  He felt himself rising from his body, through the roof of the trailer. It took him longer to gain control than those with the natural ability, and he always felt a few moments of panic as he continued to rise but was unable to stop. As the threads buried themselves in the flesh of his hand and continued up into his arm, he felt able to right himself, and could see Kera waiting on the ground below, looking up at him. He sped down to her, embarrassed at how he must have appeared.

  Never seen that before, she said as he neared.

  It’s not the same for me as for you, he replied.

  This is actually a nice place when the mosquitoes can’t get to you, she said, looking around.

  Come on, he replied. It’s this way.

  He sped over the ground, covering the distance to the abandoned house within seconds. She was right behind him. He came to a stop and pointed across the river.

  The Riverview Motel, he said. The back side of it, at least.

  For all we know, there are gifteds inside that motel right now, who’ve gone to the same place we’re going now? she asked.

  There probably are, he replied. I suspect gifteds keep that place in business.

  He moved behind the house, to the boarded-over well. We’re going down there; briefly through water and into an underground chamber.

  Lead on, she replied.

  He passed through the wooden cap of the well and down, moving silently through the water, turning to rise into the chamber. He stopped at the barrels of glasslights, taking one and handing another to Kera. Pin this on, he advised. You’ll need it.

  She applied the glasslight to her blouse and followed him to the seven tunnel entrances that led to the Dark River.

  Each portal passes through to a different place, he said.

  Anna used these tunnels to fuse the spirt to her?

  So she said, he replied. Some of these lead to fairly populated areas, the place where gifted tourists like to go. That one, he said, pointing to the one on the far right, leads to Portsmouth, where I expect most of the gifteds now resting in the Riverview Motel are probably at, rushing.

  Rushing?

  He cringed. You’ll see in a moment. We’re going to a much quieter place, this tunnel. He selected the second one from the left. You’ll feel yourself pulled. Just go with it, don’t resist.

  He watched as she entered and quickly disappeared.

  Here we go, he thought, and joined her.

  Chapter Five

  “Be careful, they’re alive, and they move fast,” Derick said, watching as Monkey inverted the Haas Box, ready to slide it open and let the contents fall into a glass tube. “At least, they were alive when I put them in there. The others died quickly, and dissolved.”

  “Oh, look at that!” Monkey said as the ten-legged creatures scuttled around the bottom of the tube, trying to climb up the glass sides. “Very unusual!” He handed the empty Haas Box back to Derick, who pocketed it. Monkey capped the tube and walked it to his machine, dropping it into a chute and waiting for it to process. “They disappeared?”

  “Swarmed out of a woman’s ear, and into her nose and throat,” Derick replied. “Once she suffocated, they were gone. Except for these I happened to scoop into the Haas Box.”

  “Quick thinking!” Monkey said, raising a finger to his temple. “Your Haas Box must have protected them. Let’s see if we can figure out where they came from!”

  The machine behind Monkey began to alarm. A series of lights turned red, and a high-pitched squeal emerged from a speaker.

  “Oh shit,” Monkey said, pulling the viewfinder to his face. He stared for a moment into the glass, then quickly pushed a large button on the machine, holding it down. Smoke began to emerge from the opening where he’d inserted the tube.

  “What?” Derick asked. “What’s wrong?”

  “Had to incinerate it,” Monkey said, still looking into the viewfinder. “But I’m capturing some of the smoke.”

  “You incinerated the spiders?” Derick asked, concerned. “Monkey!”

  “Couldn’t be helped,” Monkey replied. “Don’t bother me for a moment. I’ve only got a couple of seconds to analyze this.”

  Derick sighed and took a step back, allowing Monkey to do his work.

  “Ah, fuck!” Monkey cried into the viewfinder. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

  “What?”

  Monkey pushed the glass away from his face, and it swung back on its articulated arm. “Mazlo.”

  “Mazlo?”

  “They’re his. The machine is set to alarm with ancient stuff from certain manufacturers. That’s why I had to burn it. With Mazlo you never know.”

  “Who is Mazlo?”

  “They call him The
Blood Gardener. An old resident of the Belly. He might be the oldest, for all I know.”

  “Older than Eva?”

  “I’d never heard of Eva until you told me about her, but Mazlo’s got a reputation. He’s been making evil shit for so long, there’s no trial and error with him. He’s an expert. He’s ancient. You don’t mess with the things he makes.”

  “Is that why you burned the spiders?”

  “This machine has a lot of safeguards against viruses and that sort of thing,” Monkey replied. “But with ancient stuff, it’s best to just burn it, and quick. You never know how complex it might be.”

  “But the smoke told you it was Mazlo?”

  “There’s a signature in the smoke, yes. It’s him. The Blood Gardener.” Derick saw Monkey physically shake with the willies.

  “Seems to have you spooked.”

  “It has only alarmed like that twice in all the years I’ve owned it. Too close for comfort if you ask me.”

  “So I could find this guy if I go to The Mouth?” Derick asked.

  “Ohhhh,” Monkey said, twisting his head to the side. “No. You don’t want to do that.”

  “I’ve been to the Belly before, Monkey. I know how to handle myself.”

  “Because you survived Eva?” Monkey asked. “I don’t think you understand.”

  “Well, educate me, then,” Derick replied.

  “The Belly is where the worst of the worst reside,” Monkey started.

  “Already knew that.”

  “The Dark River is generally conducive to their objectives, but the Belly even more so. That’s why they stay down there, so they can work.”

  “Work?”

  “Yes, work! Like I work here.” He began picking up objects from tables and dramatically slamming them back down again, trying to make a point. “Work! Making stuff. Designing new things.”

  “Eva had me take a few things to the real world, in exchange for the knowledge of how to change my face,” Derick replied. “That was stuff she designed?”

  “Yes,” Monkey answered. “Taking it topside helped her test it. God knows what you released. The Blood Gardener is like that, but much, much older and potent. It’s like buying your jewelry from Tiffany’s versus some kiosk in a mall.”