Chapter Thirty-Three – Ryder

 

I tossed the radio back on the dash. For a moment there, it had felt like Stephanie had been on the verge of saying something. Maybe it had been something about her voice? Like a tinge of regret had been hanging from the edges?

Could there be a chance for us? Or was I just hearing things, and attaching meaning to something when there was really none?

“Not much longer,” Esther said, snapping me back to reality. “Should be there pretty soon.”

I gritted my teeth, tried to bring myself back to the moment. There was a mission to handle, and I needed to remember what was important here. It wasn’t about my feelings for Stephanie, or the memory of her smell that just wouldn’t leave my nose.

No, those kinds of things could wait. I needed to focus on getting through this.

“Doing okay?” Esther asked. When I didn’t answer, she continued. “You’re still distracted by her, aren’t you? By Stephanie?”

“No, I’m focused. I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Women will do that to a man, no matter what they are, shifter, witch, or not.”

The trees whipped past as we got down into the valley, and the highway began to flatten. Without speaking, I turned left at the split intersection, following Esther’s directions around to the event’s entrance. We drove past the beginnings of the heavy salt ring, which disappeared down the other way, and kept going.

I could hear the music of Maneki Neko playing from the concert, could nearly feel the bass at this distance. “That her?” I asked as a woman in the band began to sing, as her voice lifted up above the guitars and drums.

Esther closed her eyes, nodding. She shifted in her seat, almost like she was twisting her legs up below her. “She has a beautiful voice, doesn’t she?”

I nodded gravely. “Like a Siren’s.”

She smiled a little. “I’ve always appreciated Greek mythology, all the stories of the heroes, of men being foolish enough to try and reach for the heavens, only to be struck down. Marguerite liked them, too, of course, but never quite as much as I did. She was always more interested in Japanese myths and folklore, for whatever reason. My favorite was never any of the heroes, though.”

“Oh?”

“No, my favorite was Circe.”

I thought back through the stories, of Perseus and Theseus and Achilles. It had been years since I’d read through any of them. I shook my head after a moment, unable to remember exactly which character she was, or the story she was from.

“Circe,” Esther said, her voice perfect and even, “was the witch in the Odyssey. The one who tempted Odysseus’ crew, and turned them all into pigs.”

I nodded. “Right. I think I remember that one.”

“You see, you give people what they want, even the truth they want, and they’ll do whatever you say.” She paused for a moment, her lips moving silently.

I chewed over what she’d just said. On the surface, it didn’t seem to make any sense. Give people what they want? I scratched my head.

“You mentioned you tried dating a human once,” I said as we rolled down the old road, eyes peeled for any sign of interference.

“Did I?” she replied after a moment.

“Yeah, I think so,” I replied as I glanced over at her. “You implied it, at least.”

She didn’t respond at first, just seemed to be whispering to herself, mouthing the words without even giving them life with an ounce of breath. “Oh. Yes. Well, it wasn’t me, exactly. It was my sister who did that.”

“Oh?” I asked. That must have been an interesting story.

She nodded but didn’t respond, her lips still mouthing those words to herself. Like she was singing a song just for her ears only, a song only she could hear the music to.

I looked back to the road, careful of the turn as we rounded the property of Anderson’s Farm. A tall chain link fence with heavy mesh netting, a combination of blues and greens, had been installed around the place. Behind it, I could see shapes moving and writhing to the music. Music that seemed to fill the car now, to vibrate in the bones of my feet and hands right alongside the shaking and rumbling of the Charger.

As I continued to follow the curve of the road in silence, shifting uncomfortably in my seat as Esther mouthed her silent words, a strange queasiness began to take root in the pit of my stomach. Saliva flooded my mouth, like I was about to throw my guts up. I swallowed hard, trying to keep the bare contents of my stomach in place.

“Esther?” I asked again as a cold sweat broke out on my forehead. What was happening to me? “Everything okay?”

She paused with her silent mouthing and smiled grimly. “Oh yes, Ryder. Everything’s just fine.”

At the sound of her words, at the careful enunciation of every letter, a calm seemed to fall over me. My breath lightened, my heartbeat began to return to normal, and the sickly feeling in the pit of my stomach faded away. I couldn’t even get restless about the fact that we were driving straight into a magical shit storm, a place where every single person or creature I encountered would be out for my blood. Even Stephanie, and what she’d said to me, didn’t really register. The pain I’d felt from what she’d said, telling me she never wanted to see me again, seemed distant and far away. Like nothing more than a bad dream, or a memory from long ago.

“What is that you’re saying?” I asked, glancing towards Esther, my hands loosening on the wheel. “Or singing?”

Finally, I saw the entrance ahead on our right. A wide break in the fence where the road turned in, gave way to gravel and dirt and sand. I pressed the brakes, slowing the Charger as I came up to the entrance.

“Oh, nothing in particular,” she replied as I spun the wheel and guided us in, the car jolting and rocking as we went over a small bump.

I didn’t even give her words a second thought. If she said it was nothing in particular, then it was most definitely nothing in particular. I could trust Esther, after all. She was a good witch. The good witch, as far as I was concerned.

The lot was in less disarray than I would have imagined, with the cars seeming to be normally parked in row after row, going back for acres and acres. The music of Maneki Neko blared in the background, almost unearthly in its notes and harmonies. And, sure, there were dead security guards spread out over the trampled and rundown grass, their blood dyeing the long yellowing stalks. But none of it seemed completely out of place. It just seemed normal, somehow. Average.

“And here we are,” Esther said, her voice nearly a purr. “We should walk from here. It’ll be easier than trying to get this hot rod through the lot.”

“Good idea,” I said, stopping the car where it was, and throwing it into park. I killed the engine and grabbed the keys from the ignition as I opened the car door, allowing the smell of fresh, hot blood to wash over the interior of the car. Cloying along with it, as just an undercurrent of smell, was that of the giant cats I’d encountered earlier, their stench hanging heavy in the air.

“Ready?” I asked.

“Of course,” Esther said, disconnecting her seat belt and going to exit the Charger.

Just before I climbed out, I realized I’d nearly forgotten the walkie, and I leaned over to grab it from the dash.

“No need,” Esther said as my hand closed on the little radio.

“You sure?” I asked, giving her a look.

She gave me a little smile, slight enough that it turned up just the corners of her mouth. There was something sweet, like she was really enjoying herself at the moment. Like she hadn’t enjoyed herself like this in decades.

“Positive. Stephanie and Jeff will be dead soon, anyways, Ryder.”

I shrugged, the words barely registering. All I knew was that Esther said I didn’t need it, so why bother with questioning it any further?

After all, she was the good witch.