low.
Cassidy
raises her eyebrows. “I didn’t know the plan, only that
there was one; and I knew I couldn’t stop Madeline from
kidnapping Raven, so I simply refused to be left behind.”
“ Witch,”
Jones pronounces his words with slow articulation, “I’m
only going to say this once: I know that you are pregnant, so you
better be far away from me when I get untied.”
“ I’m
with Jones,” Linnie says. Then she picks up her bowl of bean
mush and flings the contents at the back of Madeline’s head.
“If you didn’t already wave the unborn-baby-flag, I’d
yank out your scraggily hair!” The hatred in my sister’s
voice makes me flinch. “And what the hell does calling in a
life debt mean?”
Madeline
rolls her eyes not bothering to wipe away the mush that’s
dripping onto her shoulders. “You can yell all you want, but
the thing is done. She doesn’t have a choice but go, and the
more time you waste, the less prepared she’ll be. Period. So
stop wasting her time and mine, the message was clear: send Raven in,
or Stephen dies.”
“ Actually,
I didn’t find the message clear, at all!” Linnie shouts.
I’m
glad she said it so I didn’t have to.
Madeline
raises her chin as she says, “The message is clear enough: men
will be devoured and the inconsequential ensnared. The consequential
will break through. The bird to the nest or the friend will die.”
“ Yeah…”
I say, “But you’re just looking at the words, the
surface; each of the quotes has a meaning behind them, a message.
And… also it could be significant the way he changed the
quotes, what words he chose to delete. Or, the situations the quotes
were said in. Or even who said the quotes, and in what situation.
Sure, all but the last of the quotes are about spiders, but there
could be many layers, many ways to analyze…” I trail
off, trying to remember the exact wording.
All
three of the girls, Linnie, Madeline, and Cassidy stare at me, their
brows slowly furrowing. Obviously, this didn’t occur to any of
them.
Go
team!
Madeline’s
brow unfurrows first. She says, “That could take hours; and, we
definitely don’t have time for that. And even if we did, I
don’t think the message needs to go any deeper. I need to
prepare you and the others. I lost track of each group I sent in
within two hours of them landin’. The third team had not even
left the airport for their hotel. I was on the phone with my friend,
and then it just cut out.”
“ Well,
if the messages mean that Raven is the only one able to survive this
demon nest trap…” Cassidy says dryly, “…I’m
rather glad you kidnapped Jones. As much as I detest the wanker, I’d
like someone’s hand to hold when you send me in for this rather
nasty torture and death.” She picks up a cup of what looks like
tea but hesitates with it at her lips to say, “What I want to
know is if you really think Stephen will forgive you, after you do
all this?” She takes a sip of her tea.
“ That’s
a chance I’ll have to take,” Madeline says; then quietly
as if to herself she whispers, “We can get past anything, if
he’s alive.”
“ What
a sweet love story,” Cassidy says almost sounding delighted,
“Don’t you think so, Linnie?”
Tears
course down Linnie’s face; her arms cross tightly over her
chest. She says, “Sickly.”
“ Enough!
Enough! You’re wasting time we don’t have,”
Madeline says. “If we do this right, there will be nothin’
to forgive.”
Cassidy
shrugs, “Except the twelve lives you already sacrificed,
kidnapping—”
“ I
will tie up and gag all of you, if I need to,” Madeline
practically spits at Cassidy.
I
take a deep breath, and say, “Okay, do what you have to do.”
Linnie
stands up and shouts out an unintelligible word, then stomps to what
I’m pretty sure is the lavatory and shuts herself inside.
“ I’m
goin’ to do a number of natural-magic transformations on you,”
Madeline explains, “But I don’t have
Cassidy
raises her eyebrows. “I didn’t know the plan, only that
there was one; and I knew I couldn’t stop Madeline from
kidnapping Raven, so I simply refused to be left behind.”
“ Witch,”
Jones pronounces his words with slow articulation, “I’m
only going to say this once: I know that you are pregnant, so you
better be far away from me when I get untied.”
“ I’m
with Jones,” Linnie says. Then she picks up her bowl of bean
mush and flings the contents at the back of Madeline’s head.
“If you didn’t already wave the unborn-baby-flag, I’d
yank out your scraggily hair!” The hatred in my sister’s
voice makes me flinch. “And what the hell does calling in a
life debt mean?”
Madeline
rolls her eyes not bothering to wipe away the mush that’s
dripping onto her shoulders. “You can yell all you want, but
the thing is done. She doesn’t have a choice but go, and the
more time you waste, the less prepared she’ll be. Period. So
stop wasting her time and mine, the message was clear: send Raven in,
or Stephen dies.”
“ Actually,
I didn’t find the message clear, at all!” Linnie shouts.
I’m
glad she said it so I didn’t have to.
Madeline
raises her chin as she says, “The message is clear enough: men
will be devoured and the inconsequential ensnared. The consequential
will break through. The bird to the nest or the friend will die.”
“ Yeah…”
I say, “But you’re just looking at the words, the
surface; each of the quotes has a meaning behind them, a message.
And… also it could be significant the way he changed the
quotes, what words he chose to delete. Or, the situations the quotes
were said in. Or even who said the quotes, and in what situation.
Sure, all but the last of the quotes are about spiders, but there
could be many layers, many ways to analyze…” I trail
off, trying to remember the exact wording.
All
three of the girls, Linnie, Madeline, and Cassidy stare at me, their
brows slowly furrowing. Obviously, this didn’t occur to any of
them.
Go
team!
Madeline’s
brow unfurrows first. She says, “That could take hours; and, we
definitely don’t have time for that. And even if we did, I
don’t think the message needs to go any deeper. I need to
prepare you and the others. I lost track of each group I sent in
within two hours of them landin’. The third team had not even
left the airport for their hotel. I was on the phone with my friend,
and then it just cut out.”
“ Well,
if the messages mean that Raven is the only one able to survive this
demon nest trap…” Cassidy says dryly, “…I’m
rather glad you kidnapped Jones. As much as I detest the wanker, I’d
like someone’s hand to hold when you send me in for this rather
nasty torture and death.” She picks up a cup of what looks like
tea but hesitates with it at her lips to say, “What I want to
know is if you really think Stephen will forgive you, after you do
all this?” She takes a sip of her tea.
“ That’s
a chance I’ll have to take,” Madeline says; then quietly
as if to herself she whispers, “We can get past anything, if
he’s alive.”
“ What
a sweet love story,” Cassidy says almost sounding delighted,
“Don’t you think so, Linnie?”
Tears
course down Linnie’s face; her arms cross tightly over her
chest. She says, “Sickly.”
“ Enough!
Enough! You’re wasting time we don’t have,”
Madeline says. “If we do this right, there will be nothin’
to forgive.”
Cassidy
shrugs, “Except the twelve lives you already sacrificed,
kidnapping—”
“ I
will tie up and gag all of you, if I need to,” Madeline
practically spits at Cassidy.
I
take a deep breath, and say, “Okay, do what you have to do.”
Linnie
stands up and shouts out an unintelligible word, then stomps to what
I’m pretty sure is the lavatory and shuts herself inside.
“ I’m
goin’ to do a number of natural-magic transformations on you,”
Madeline explains, “But I don’t have
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