The Beast That Was Max (41 page)

Max curled into a ball as he lay on the bed, protecting his belly with legs and arms. By the light of the gun flashes, he knew Kueur and Alioune had seized two nine-millimeter automatics each from some of Mr. Tung's fallen guards and were returning fire coming from the bedroom doorway. He was grateful the twins' fire was keeping incoming to occasional blind shots.

"Cover!" Alioune shouted to Max over the deafening roar of the fire fight. Double clicks and metallic slides signaled her reloading while Kueur kept up her fire.

Bullets whined past Max's ear like angry hornets. Grazed his right hip, punched through thigh meat, stung nerves. He grunted, cursed his stupidity in trying to protect the baby while forgetting the most basic principle of survival: duck for cover. He crawled off the bed as Alioiune leapt over him, guns blazing. Once on the floor, he found Mr. Tung's ceramic knife, grabbed it, went under the bed wishing for a gun. The twins closed in on the doorway from both sides of the room, firing until their guns were empty. Standing at the bedroom entrance, they looked out at the rest of the loft. No one shot at them. They dropped their weapons and rushed to Max.

In the sudden quiet, Max counted the seconds he had lost to dream, the moments the gun battle had taken. The twins helped him out, tried to get him to stand. But he fell back onto the bed soaked with blood and fire extinguishing spray, betrayed again by a body responding not to his will but to the needs of his child. He looked to the ruined surveillance equipment above the doorway and wondered what the observers on the other end had made of what had happened. He threw the knife at the remains of the pod. It clattered uselessly against a lens housing and fell to the floor. Then the accumulated seconds and moments crashed over him and he gave up his concerns to the twins as dream claimed him.

~*~

In this dream, the infant was human. It was hot, and though it suckled at his breast Max felt the heat of its body against his thigh. It gnawed at his teat, sucked the milk of life from him. Drained him, left him a shell of brittle skin. Dragged his soul down, down to the sea, the raging sea . . .

~*~

Floating in the water, rolling up and down with the steady swell of waves, salt taste in his mouth, Max suddenly panicked, flailed and splashed, sank, blubbering and choking, crying out for the Beast, reaching for the rock island of rationality that had somehow slipped away, until Alioune said, "Stop struggling. We have enough to contend with."

He came out of the dream spitting blood, his wounded thigh throbbing under the field dressing. Kueur and Alioune were carrying him, by the knees and shoulders, out of the ruined bedroom to the wreckage of living room. His belly lay like a mountain across his body. Tremors passed through the baby it sheltered, and in the aftershock blades of pain carved his spine into slivers of agony. He cried out. His voice sounded small and frail in the silence.

The twins brought him out to the couch, laid him out on the cushions, threw blankets over him. Glass crunched underfoot as they walked back and forth, dragging bodies, tossing guns into a pile, clearing broken furniture. He dragged himself up to look out the window. The world was dark beyond the glass, and he wondered how much time had passed since he learned of his pregnancy—a day, a week, a month? Disoriented, he started to ask the twins. Then the darkness flooded through the window and engulfed him.

~*~

Storm winds whipped him, walls of water pummeled him, as the storm continued unabated in the world of dream. He turned to the shadow figure and asked, "How long?"

Muscles he never knew existed squeezed, pinched, contracted in his lower abdomen and groin. Soon water seemed to hiss as it shot through gaps and crevices in the rock.

~*~

“… the hell happened—"

"If we needed a critic, we would've called the
Times
, Dr. Plummer."

"I'm surprised the neighbors didn't call in a SWAT team, judging by these bullet holes."

"Our neighbors are discreet. They have done worse. Just check him, Doctor."

"No artery hit, some muscle tissue loss. Good field dressing—Who was it, you or Alioune? Nice job. Although he won't be running anytime ..."

"The baby?"

“Fine, as far as I can tell. Due, judging by the timing of his moans. Listen ...

"There are arrangements to make...."

"And your wounds?"

"We will handle them ourselves."

"I suppose you expect me to deliver—"

"Do not worry, Doctor. Others are coming for that. Just make sure he's stable."

"And who's going to stabilize his surroundings?”

“Not you, Dr. Plummer...."

"The girl? These dead men? The hospital equipment? This is New York City. Don't you think questions are going to be—"

"Let us handle the questions, Dr. Plummer. Vans are on the way to cart out the bodies. There is a... market for such things. The mambo knew the risks, and reparations will be made to her people. As for the equipment, you're going to have to bring in whatever's necessary for our Tonton's survival."

"But that's outrageous...."

"No, Doctor. But what we will do to you if you do not cooperate will be."

~*~

The air smelled of cordite and burnt plastic and ozone and opened guts and sweat and perfume. Max opened his eyes. Daylight filled the room, though the long shadows told him it was dusk again. He tried to remember the last dawn he had seen, and could not. He tried to recall why his thigh was bandaged, and did not want to.

The shadows moved. Low voices, heavy breathing, the grunts of heavy labor followed the shadows, which in turn lay at the feet of men in coveralls with a moving company's logo and name—Absolute Transport—on their back. A thin, bald man with glasses and an electronic clip-board stood by the loft's entry alcove speaking with Alioune.

"Our blood of killers is honored to perform this service, mistress."

"Did you check the walk-in freezer and pantry?”

“Of course, mis—"

Alioune slapped him, knocking his glasses off and sending him staggering backward a step.

The man fumbled with the clipboard, picked up his glasses, went back to Alioune, got down on his knees, and bowed his head. The movers glanced hungrily in their direction as they wheeled out plastic wardrobe boxes marked "Couture" and bins filled with a jumble of electronics parts and furniture.

A contraction seized Max, and he cried out, putting his hands over his belly in a protective gesture. The baby within kicked. The Beast, still hanging on to the island that was its shared reality with Max, barked a faint protest, then returned its attention to the tableau of Alioune standing over the moving man with her hands on her hips, one brown leg protruding from the slitted white silk and red embroidered dress she wore. IV tubes and wires connecting Max to a new set of monitors stacked beside the couch swung and rattled as he shifted on the couch trying to make himself more comfortable.

"Tonton," Kueur said, descending on the couch, brushing her hand across Max's forehead. "It's almost over. Mrs. Chan and the others are on their way. Dex is ready in the Box. We have him on the brink of releasing his soul, which we've purified and distilled. Hang on, Tonton B`eb`ete. We've worked so hard for you, for the baby. Just a little while longer."

Alioune glanced at Max and her stern expression softened. To Max, they both looked as if they had not rested since his ordeal started. Their wounds were bound with bandages stained by old blood.

"Those look like bad hits," he said, gazing pointedly at their dressings.

"If we were mortal," said Kueur. "They'll heal themselves, though the process will take a little time, and our strength."

"I didn't realize .. ."

Alioune's stern expression returned. "What did you expect? We were taking fire in an armored room. We might as well have been in a tank with a live grenade. Maybe next time you had better rethink your security precautions."

"Thank you, my loves," he said, shame, worry, and joy mixing with an equal measure of anger over their injuries. He traced a line from the corner of Kueur's eye, over her cheek, to her lips, with his thick forefinger while looking to Alioune and smiling. He hoped the touch and the smile were both gentle, and harbored none of the pain or savage rage he was holding inside himself.

"Be careful how you address me," Alioune said, returning her attention to the man kneeling before her.

He whimpered, put his face to the floor, and kissed the brocade on her white satin slippers. "Forgive me, mistress. I was intoxicated by your presence, and the killings, and the honor of performing a service for you and your sister. I forgot myself. Please, on behalf of the blood, I place myself at your mercy."

A pair of movers carrying plastic trash bags paused behind Alioune, tongues rapidly darting over lips, eyes squinting as if to filter out extraneous stimuli and allow only particular details to penetrate and fertilize their imaginations.

"Some other time," Alioune said, crossing her arms. “Be done quickly. We have other matters to attend to."

"Your pleasure," the man said and scrambled away, hissing and snapping at the movers, who flinched and gritted their teeth and picked up their pace with quiet, manic efficiency.

"The angel," Max said, trying to hold on to Kueur's arm as she stood and went to the walk-in closet near the entry alcove. Her cool, soft skin slid against his bloated fingers.

"We know," said Alioune, replacing Kueur by Max's side. "Enoch. We heard the mambo on the Box's surveillance feed."

"The name of Cain's son, the first murderer's child," Kueur said over her shoulder. She laughed. "Do you remember the missionary and the Bible he was so eager to teach to lost little children, sister?"

"The first half of the book; the end of his dying. They were much the same."

"What can we do?" Max asked, waving aside their memories, the irony in his hunter's name. "How do you exorcise an angel?"

"We don't know," said Kueur from inside the closet. She was going through his equipment containers, tossing out weapons and ammo clips, makeup kits and wigs, uniforms, timers, detonators, surveillance equipment, alarm-killing and lock-penetration devices, medical supplies, plastic packets of documentation and identification. "But maybe something else can be done to get rid of it."

"The loa warned me. It's going for the child so it can possess it and kill me," said Max, staring at his belly. "Like it possessed Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Tung. It couldn't enter any of the spirit-walkers and healers, but men with weak souls succumb to its will. A child with no soul is a perfect vehicle."

Alioune put a hand on Max's stomach. "It should have possessed the child by now, if that was its intent."

"That would've given us time to counter its move before birth. And it would have had to fight me, and the Beast, while inside me. No, it will come to the child when I'm most vulnerable. When I'm delivering. It can complicate the procedure, assassinate me as it climbs out of my womb." He winced at the next contraction.

"There'll be help if it tries that," said Kueur. "Healers are on their way. Those with the blood bonds to you, or to us. You're due."

"I can tell. By the way, you won't find anything of any help in there. Those are just the standard kits I keep at every safe house. No magical implements, no tomes. We'd have to go break into the Vatican library to find out the kind of information we need to rid ourselves of this seraphim. And those electronics are useless. Mr. Tung's machines couldn't harness or even detect it. Standard tools of the trade, unless you've changed your mind and decided to gut the baby as it comes out.

Alioune gave him a horrified look. Kueur stepped out of the closet, frowning, shook her finger at him. "How can you talk like that!?"

Max closed his eyes. Exhausted, he sank back into drowsy reverie. "Fine."

Two contractions later, the sharp clang of metal on metal brought him up. The traffic of killer movers had thinned. Alioune, sitting with him, looked to the closet as Kueur carried out several pressure bottles and a remote trigger, dumped them on the floor.

"Do you know what you are doing?" she asked. "I'm no chemist, but I think I can arrange this.”

“Without blowing us up?"

"Perhaps we should ask Tonton."

Alioune glanced at Max, who relaxed into the waiting numbness of hanging on to rock, weathering the storm, bracing for the next contraction.

"He has his own problems."

"Then it's up to us. You there, leave that planter where it is."

Gas hissed. A contraction came. The twins dismissed the blood of killers. Another contraction came, sooner than he anticipated. He wanted to ask someone—the twins, the shadow Beast on the rock next to him, Legba, the baby-- what exactly was contracting if his plumbing was wrong for the task to come. It felt like new muscle, right behind his genitals and in his belly, rippling with spasms. But another contraction came, and the question fled before the pain.

Then Mrs. Chan came in, hefting her cane as if preparing to defend herself while the mover with the clipboard bowed to her and left. The four Navajo healers followed, flashing turquoise rings and silver buckles, along with the shuwwafat, unveiled but still mysterious, wearing loose, flowing pants and a blouse; the oknirabata in his old suit and a new pair of Air Jordan sneakers; and the sadhu with a freshly trimmed beard and a large, loose white shirt made from an ethereal weave of cotton. They all carried travel bags packed with what Max assumed was sand and stone and herbs, and whatever else was going to be needed in the hours to come. Dr. Pullman buzzed, and through the intercom announced he was bringing up his equipment through the service elevator.