can it hurt?
Easter looked over at me, fat droplets of sweat beginning to form on his forehead. His mouth became a thin line, almost imperceptible as it got lost in his white beard, as he began to speak: “The evil within this boy will relinquish its right upon his being.” 'Have you done this before?' I asked Easter. His forearms rippled from the strain he was feeling.
'This darkness has a strong hold. And I know Talisker told you what I used to do before. I've seen vomit that looked possessed and children that probably had small demons inside them, but I have never before tried to exorcise a demon. I never had much reason to believe in the men of the cloth, although I played one on television.” 'Seriously!?' I asked.
'No, boy!' Easter said sternly. 'Did your momma drop you on your head? Now stop asking me questions while I'm trying to work.” 'I think I actually saw her do it on more than one occasion,” Gary said.
'What?' I mouthed, not wanting to disturb Easter.
'Drop you on your head. I think I saw her do it more than once,” Gary finished.
'Do… you… mind!' Easter said under some heavy duress.
Gary and I both pointed to each other like third graders in trouble but at least neither of us spoke this time.
'Come forth!' Easter shouted, 'so that I may see who I cast aside!'
I was thinking that wasn't such a good idea. Better to just kick her out before she had a chance to realize what was happening.
'Who dares to tinker with my pet?' came out of Justin's mouth but it was not his voice. I had heard the same arrogant tone once before coming out of Durgan's mouth.
The locket hung around my neck. The chain stayed relatively body temperature, but the skin where the locket made contact with my chest began to burn from the cold.
Easter tried to remove his hands from Justin, but in less than the blink of an eye Justin grabbed his forearms in a strength that was being intensified through supernatural means. The room was cool but Easter looked like he was baking under the Sahara sun. Easter pulled for all he was worth to get away. He might as well have been super glued to Justin. Justin was now sitting up and staring intensely at Easter.
'Charlatan! What kind of two-bit magician are you?' Eliza asked Easter.
'Let me go, the power of Christ compels you!” Easter shouted.
'The power of Christ? Your God is a false prophet to whom I will never bow down,” Eliza answered menacingly.
'Then who do you worship?' Easter asked her. I thought that we all knew the answer to that, but Eliza surprised us once again.
'Why myself, of course,” she said slyly. Eliza turned Justin's head to scan the rest of the room. “Michael, so good to see you again. I sense that you possess something that belongs to me, although what it is I cannot determine,” she said with a sneer. “Ah, and who is that with you, he bears a family resemblance, a brother perhaps? Is it not good to be reunited with family?' She asked, obviously sticking a dagger in my already broken heart with the loss of Tommy.
Easter was frozen. A look of sheer terror creased his features. Myself, I was ready to run. Eliza had a way of making me feel like a jack rabbit and she wasn't the sly fox, she was the rabid wolf, so big was the difference in my perception of her.
Gary seemed the least disturbed by the situation. “So that's Eliza?' he asked me. I could barely nod in reply. “Yeah, she's a mean one,” he said solemnly.
'You think?' I gritted out.
'And what of this man, Michael?' Eliza asked as turned back to Easter. “I fear that he means you harm.” 'And that bothers you somehow?' I asked her incredulously, not believing that we were having such a conversation.
'That death befalls you is of a main concern of mine. That it is by my own hand and in my own way is of the utmost importance. What good would it be if I did not first destroy everything that was dear to you, and then crush the broken shell of your existence? And do not be flippant with me again, Michael, I can easily turn Justin against himself. Would you like to watch as I make him tear his own eyes out?'
'Wait Eliza, we will have our confrontation!' I told her, putting my hands up. I hoped she would take heed of my words and not hurt Justin.
'What of this man!” she spat, shaking Easter's still form. “He calls himself a Holy man, but he is a trickster. His wizardry lies in chemistry and staging.” 'How has he reached
'Michael, I grow weary of this encounter,” Eliza said, ignoring Gary 's question. “He will not let you go. I can easily stop his beating heart and be rid of him.” 'We are prisoners, if you kill him, they will kill us,” I told her.
'If only the revenge was not going to be so sweet, I could be rid of you now. What do you propose?' Eliza asked.
This was surreal, I was talking tactics with Eliza. 'Can you make him answer questions?' I asked her.
'All men have a way of answering truthfully when I threaten to rend their genitalia from their body and make them eat it. Only once did I have to completely follow through. He died choking.” She actually let out a small laugh at the remembrance of the event.
'Easter,” I said. “You need to answer me truthfully, do you understand?' He nodded jerkily. “Eliza is not one for idle threats.” He gulped once. I took that as an affirmation of my words. “What is really going on here?'
'God…' he began. Justin/Eliza grabbed Easter's manhood in what I could only imagine was a vise-like grip by the way he reacted. “I was…' he labored to speak. “I am a chemist and … and…' I think Eliza was squeezing harder just for the sheer cruelty of it. “And an electronics hobbyist.” 'But yet you’re a janitor at a middle school?' Gary asked disbelievingly.
'I… I… I got burned out.” He vomited from the pain.
'He lies,” Eliza said coldly. “I would like to crush his reproductive organs now.”
'Wait,” Easter said, trying to yell but not having enough breath to do so.
'Eliza, could you please ease up so that he can talk?”
'I will do so, but for the last time Michael, if he lies again, I will crush what I hold in my hand and you will have to do what you can to honor your promise of our final meeting.” 'Fair enough,” I told her.
Easter bent forward slightly as Eliza let up somewhat.
'This is it Easter, you tell the truth like a man or die as a eunuch,” I cautioned him.
'I like to be around children,” he said. “I'm disgusted with myself. I've never done anything but I wanted to,” he cried.
'So you set something up with the Bowdoin brothers,” I said, linking the pieces.
He looked up at me wondering how I got that information. His head bowed as he answered, “I couldn’t go through with it. And by the time Talisker got there with his men they had gone too far. I did not want them to harm the boy.” 'Why take them alive?' Gary asked, “Didn’t you risk them exposing you?'
'They did not know who they worked for. I had contracted them to do this before the zombies came. It was all set up through chat rooms and dummy email accounts.” 'How long did they have that boy?' I asked with disgust.
'Weeks at least, perhaps as long as two months,” he dispensed.
'Sweet Jesus,” Gary choked, covering his mouth in fear that he might make an involuntary discharge.
'I did not know that they had gone through with it,” Easter said in defense. “Not until right before I sent Talisker to get them.” 'Well that makes you a friggen saint doesn’t it?' I yelled at him.
Talisker pretty much crashed through the door. “What is going on?' he said, drawing his gun. I had a suspicion that he might start firing first and wait for the answers later.
'Tell him to stop, Easter,” I said.
I watched as the squirrelly man started to weigh his chances. Apparently so did Eliza as she redoubled her efforts on his what now must be considered his mushy privates at this point.
'Put the gun down, Talisker,” he wheezed. Talisker did without as much as a beat of hesitation.
'You're going to want a seat for this,” I said as I pushed him the chair I had originally been sitting in.
Easter spent a moment to retell the sordid depraved tale. Talisker looked like he was the one getting nut punched.
