The Nightmare Game (64 page)

The view around us began to blur out of focus and
we were surrounded by a gray mist. Arrosha lowered herself until she was at
ground level again. The mist gradually departed and we were in the room with no
walls again, the sunset shining in once more, as if no time whatsoever had
passed since I first arrived here.

“Now that you’ve seen my story for yourself, you
can understand that I am, indeed, the one, true Goddess.”

Needless to say, despite her elaborate
show-and-tell, my opinion of her had not changed.

“If you’re a goddess,” I questioned her, curious,
hoping she would not fly into another rage, “Why is it that I’ve never heard of
you before?”

“Ah, but you
have
heard of me before. I’ve traveled through this world under many different
names.”

“Such as?” I asked in a tone that I hoped would
not incur her wrath.

“Ishtar, Isis, Hathor, to name just a few. My
followers at the mansion know me as Arrosha, my real name. I never before
wanted to give any single civilization the knowledge of my real name, but once
I get that amulet you wear, I will rule this mass-media world with my rightful
name to honor my dear, long-gone Illeaocea. I want the entire world to know
they once existed.”

“If you are a goddess, why would you ever step
down from that position?” I asked her. Her thought patterns certainly weren’t
very goddess-like.

“My beloved Illeaoceans were faithful and true,
the only people perfect enough for me to make a home amongst. But the people of
this new world, so brutish, less civilized even than the apes, kept breaking my
heart. No matter how many times I tried, it was always the same story.
Everything would be fine for awhile, but within only a few of their
generations, they lost all interest in being faithful to me and began instead
to lust after other gods, gods of their own invention, deaf, dumb and blind
gods that they carved with their own hands. Worse than that, they began to
think that blood and burnt flesh would make me happy instead of sacrifices of
fresh life-force. This I found to be an abomination, so I turned my back on
them and left them to their own devices and to their home-made false gods and
goddesses of stone, clay and wood. With no one to look after them, their entire
societies eventually fell.

“Then, as time progressed, this world dealt my
heart a death-blow, as it began to gravitate more and more toward a handful of
major religions, so I completely gave up on the human race for the time being
and was happy to slip into the relatively anonymous and carefree life of an
aristocrat. It was a wonderful lifestyle, no worries, no real responsibilities.
It was the best of all worlds at that time, for while no demands were made upon
me, nothing was denied me, either. I fed off my enemies and rivals when
necessary, but my main sustenance was from the massive underclass smorgasbord,
from which I fed freely as I liked. Back then, you see, if a person was not
nobility, he was considered inherently unimportant and therefore, immanently
expendable. No one cared if peasants lived or died. They were merely valuable
as a mass to do the work necessary to support our lavish lifestyles. My
favorite meals were always farm boys, fresh from the country, so strong, so
succulent, so satisfying. For centuries, I lived this way, traveling from
kingdom to kingdom. Lavish living for the aristocracy was the order of the day.

“Life, while not ideal without my beloved
Illeaoceans, was at least bearable now. At least it was until the early 1800’s,
when I decided to take a quick trip to the New World because I was bored and
needed something different to do. I’ve regretted that decision ever since,
because, just as I was preparing to leave and return to Europe after a
three-decade stay in New Orleans, that annoying little man Edmond stepped into
my life.

“I was introduced to him at a party. At first I
liked Edmond, so much so that I wanted him to replace my lover at the time,
Jean, and take him back to Europe with me when I left. By our second meeting,
however, he had changed so much that I could not stand to be close to him.”

“Don’t you mean you couldn’t stand close to him?”

“If you must split hairs, yes, I suppose that
would be more accurate. He had the second amulet, the headpiece to his cane,
the one he showed you before you ever came to New Orleans.

“Because of this new development, I was forced to
give up all hope of taking him on as a lover. As if that weren’t bad enough, he
took to stalking me. Since I couldn’t kill him, much as I would have liked, I
imprisoned him instead.

“So in all of these years since, he’s had me so
busy looking over my shoulder, dealing with his ‘champions’, as he likes to
call them, who are all out to kill me, instead of being able to live my life
freely! I’ve had to baby-sit him instead of being able to attend the modern
world’s best parties. Paris in the 1890’s, Berlin in the 1920’s, San Francisco
in the 1960’s, I’ve missed them all! Worst of all, I, who have been Goddess to
entire civilizations, who have consorted with, lain with and fed off Caesars,
kings and czars, have been demoted to a common estate agent! Do you have any
idea what that feels like? Of course not, how could you? How could any puny
mortal?

“But it’s all just a moot point, now, Ashley,
because it’s just a matter of time before I kill you. In all honesty, Ashley, I
don’t really want to kill you. I just want that amulet, that necklace you wear.

“Now, Ashley, I’ve shown you exactly who I am and
why I lay claim to that talisman. It rightfully belongs to Illeaocea and I am
all that is left of Illeaocea. My children who adored me, who built me this
beautiful temple,” she looked around and gestured to the room, “made it so many
eons ago.

“It’s just a matter of time before someone gives
me that amulet, Ashley. It might as well be you. I have all the time in the
world, you see. I’m immortal. I can wait forever, but as I’ve already explained,
I don’t want to. Your time, however, is limited, Ashley. Very, very limited.
You’ll be dead soon if you don’t give it to me and it won’t be a pretty death,
either. And there’ll be no afterlife in a paradise waiting for you on the other
side of that death. You’ll get stuck in the same dimensional trap as Marcus,
Virginia and Zachary, forever forced to stay half in this world, half in the
next, not belonging to either, caught in this game eternally as its servant.
Does that sound good to you? Is it appealing?

“Of course, if you just take off the necklace,
willingly, well, let’s just say that I remember my friends and I’m very, very
generous to them. And I could do so much for you, for by handing it over, you
would be helping me as no other person has ever helped me. Not only will I let
you live, but I’ll restore your friends as well. They’re crying out for death
now, even as we speak. At least they would be, if they could say anything
besides ‘help me’. Plus, I’ll make sure that you never have to go back to the
living death which that grind of a job of yours back home has become.”

She began circling me again. “And that’s just the
beginning. After all, what kind of a reward would that be for such an enormous
favor? Not much of one, surely. No, indeed, Ashley, I’ve always done right by
my friends. I’ve conquered lands for them, given them kingdoms, made them
rulers. How would you like to be a queen, Ashley, rule your own country? Have
absolute power over it? But no, no. That’s not you, is it? You’re not that
ambitious are you? You’ve never been ambitious at all, have you? That’s why
you’ve been stuck in that little coffin of an office for so long, isn’t it?
Well, no matter. I know what you would like. Enough money to be free, so you
could do your art and work on your pet projects on your own terms. That’s
really all you want, isn’t it? But I don’t think that’s enough of a reward for
you. It’s far too modest, far too small for me. How about wealth, Ashley, real
wealth and privilege? How does that sound? Hobnobbing with celebrities and the
moneyed crowd, the rich and the famous. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Partying with
socialites, being one of the beautiful people? You’d be close enough to them to
be invited to their celebrity weddings and closer still to console them during
their celebrity divorces. You’d live a life of luxury and ease, be the darling
of the leisure set, have chauffeurs drive you around in limousines, sipping
champagne and eating caviar while you ride. And I’ll make you forever young and
beautiful as well. You’ll be thin, too, with a metabolism that will let you eat
anything you want and never gain a pound. I can do that, you know. You can see
already how much younger, thinner and prettier you are from partaking just once
of the essence.”

“I’ll never take the essence again. Never! Not now
that I know what it is.” The nausea that came with my guilt and shame
resurfaced again.

“Fair enough. It doesn’t matter, because you won’t
have to. Once you have that necklace off of you, I can do it easily without the
essence. Think about it, Ashley. A life only a chosen few can ever have. You’ll
be young forever, beautiful, wealthy beyond your imagination. Men will be at
your heels, dying to do your every bidding. Your lovers will be famous,
handsome, intelligent, accomplished, anyone and anything you want them to be.
Any man can be yours anytime you want him. You see, I can also give you power
over men and I will.

“Before you answer, I have to tell you that this
is more than just a simple bribe. The amulet won’t stand for that, so let me
add this one thing into the mix. If you help me, you can be there with me to
ensure that I treat the people of this world well. Just think of all the good
you could do at my right hand. You could stamp out hunger and disease, eliminate
poverty and suffering. I’m impressed with your sense of compassion and your
principals. I need you with me, Ashley. I need you with me as my conscience.

“All you have to do in return is one tiny, easy
thing. Give me the necklace, now, and collect your reward for returning that
which is rightfully mine.”

Again, I asked her, “And how exactly would you get
it, seeing that you can’t even come close to it?”

Now finished with her diatribe, she now answered
me. “Simple, my dear.” She waved her hand and next to her, out of nowhere, a
figure emerged. It was Geoffrey.

He fell to his knees before her. “Arrosha, my
precious Goddess. What may I do for you?”

“Get up, Geoffrey.” She said, slightly irritated.
“Groveling doesn’t suit you.”

“Yes, Arrosha,” he said, rising to his feet.

“Geoffrey, you remember your little friend Ashley
here, don’t you?”

Geoffrey smiled at me snidely, not bothering to
conceal his contempt for me. “Oh, indeed I do, my Queen,” he said in his
oiliest voice.

“You see, Ashley,” Arrosha continued, “All you
have to do is take off the amulet necklace and hand it to Geoffrey. It’s that
simple and I will keep my promise of a life of luxury for you and the power to
ensure fairness in my treatment of the world.”

“Yeah, right. Look, it’s like I said before, if it
was really yours, you could just take it. If it really belonged to you, you
wouldn’t need your goon. You could just come over here and get it yourself.” My
anger at Geoffrey was making me braver.

“Of course, if you don’t, well, I’ve already told
you what will happen then as well. I always keep my promises, Ashley. It’s up
to you as to which promise I will keep.”

“I know which choice I’d like her to make,
Arrosha. I think we’d have so much fun ‘playing’ with her, wouldn’t we, my
Goddess?”

“Shut up, you fool!” her voice made the floor
shake again as her anger swelled at him. “Do you think this is some kind of a
joke? You have no idea how serious this matter is!”

Geoffrey seemed to shrink before my very eyes,
becoming submissive and fearful. “No, I didn’t know. I’m sorry, my Goddess
Queen. Forgive me, please forgive me!”

Arrosha’s manner was now one of extreme irritation
at him. “Oh, be quiet, Geoffrey! You annoy me.” To me she said, “So Ashley,
make up your mind. Give me the necklace.”

“No.” I said meekly, my adrenaline bravery now
gone again, inwardly cringing at the thought of what constituted my future with
that answer. If it hadn’t been for the power which I knew was coming from the
amulet, I might not have had the strength to stand up to her at all.

“No?” she said, coldly, icily, emotionlessly.
“Maybe I didn’t make myself clear enough. I thought this choice was pretty much
of a, what do they call it these days, Geoffrey?”

“A no-brainer, my Queen.” His confidence and cockiness
were returning quickly.

“Yes.” she said, pacing in front of me coolly, the
same icy tone in her voice. “A no-brainer. So tell me Ashley, does your answer
prove once and for all that you have no brain?”

“I, I made a promise not to give you the necklace.”
Despite my best efforts, my voice was cracking. I was terrified.

“A promise? To whom?” she said, toying with me.

“You know to whom,” I managed to squeeze out.

“Ah, yes. Edmond and his merry little band of
thieves. You made a promise to the very group of people that pulled you out of
your comfortable little rut and put your life into such jeopardy. Why should
you chose them over me?”

“I’ve seen your work.” I said, my voice once again
lacking the bravado of my words.

“So your answer is no?”

I stood silent, afraid she might twist whatever
answer I gave to suit her.

“I see.” she said. “Perhaps the reward I offered
you wasn’t sweet enough. A life of wealth alone does have its drawbacks. You
need someone who knew you before all the wealth and fame, someone who’s been
though the trenches with you and understands how special your circumstances
are, who likes you for who you are and not just your money, a real friend. And
I happen to know just that person.” She waved her hand again. Once again, a
figure appeared. It was Ben. However, instead of materializing him firmly on
the floor, as she had Geoffrey, she had materialized him about a foot above the
ground, causing him to fall as soon as she had released her hold.

“Oops!” said Geoffrey, snidely as he and Arrosha
exchanged a reptilian grins.

Ben gathered himself up off the ground, unhurt.
He’d materialized midway between us, his back facing Arrosha.

“Geoffrey, Ashley!” he cried with relief and
happiness in his voice and ran up to us. I had feared the worst for him and was
so thankful that he was still alive. As I was nearest him, he hugged me quickly
first and then ran over to Geoffrey, hugging him much longer, planting quick
kisses all over his face and neck. Geoffrey neither hugged nor kissed him back;
instead he stood coldly stiff.

“Uuhm,” Geoffrey cleared his throat. Ben let go of
him and Geoff pointed to Arrosha. As soon as Ben saw her, he ran over to her,
kneeling before her. While Geoffrey had knelt before her in the overblown style
of a bad actor in a costume drama, Ben did so reverently.

“Arrosha, my Goddess, thank you for saving me from
the most horrible fate imaginable.”

“She didn’t save you, Ben,” Geoffrey said, mock
wearily. “I mean, really, when I met you, I thought you were the most gullible
person I’d ever met and here you are, so many years later, still the same. I
mean, have you learned nothing in all that time?”

Ben stood up slowly, a hurt and confused look on
his face. “I’m sorry,” he said, his eyes traveling from Arrosha’s to Geoffrey’s
and finally to mine. I could say nothing, only shake my head slowly. “Am I
missing something? I don’t understand. What do you mean, Geoff? What are you
talking about?”

Geoffrey walked up to Arrosha and asked, “Can I,
Arrosha? Can I be the one to tell him? It would mean so much to me.”

“Go ahead,” she said emotionlessly.

“Tell me what?” Ben asked, his confusion growing.

Geoffrey walked up to Ben and put one arm around
Ben’s shoulder. “Ben, dearest, what’s the last thing you remember?”

“Being in that horrible old shack. You remember,
you were there. Those of us that hadn’t been turned into, I don’t know,
whatever those grotesque things were, those of us that were – intact, ran into
that foggy tunnel or whatever it was, and then I just wound up here.”

“So you missed the freak show altogether, then,
huh.” It was more a statement than a question, for Geoffrey already knew the
answer. “You missed the best part.”

“Freak show? What freak show? What’s going on?
Ashley, do you know what he’s talking about?”

I nodded. “I wish I didn’t,” I said sadly, “but I
do.”

“Will somebody please tell me?” Ben’s voice was
becoming anxious.

“Oh, Ben, I’m so sorry you missed it!” Geoff
explained with far too much relish. “It was great, man. Everybody wound up in
exhibition pens, displaying their new physiques. You know that thing that the
Sisters turned into? Well, it’s now impaled on a hatpin and swimming pickled in
a jar of formaldehyde.”

“They’re dead? The Sisters are dead?”

“It was a mercy killing, Ben. They were biters.
They had to go. Trust me, it was for the best.”

“Illea! Where’s Illea? Has anything happened to
her?”

“Oh, yeah, quite a lot I’d say. She’s all eyes
these days, isn’t she, Arrosha?” he giggled as he said this.

“What do you mean? Is she okay, Geoffrey?”

“Okay is such a relative term, isn’t it Ben?”

“Dammit, Geoffrey, tell me!”

“Hey, hold on, hold on. Let me tell my story here,
Ben. Anyway, there was this great old run-down carnival and I got to be the
Master of Ceremonies and…”

“Get to the point Geoffrey! Now!” Arrosha interrupted
him in the scolding tone she had used with me at her office as Rochere.

“Yes, ma’am,” Geoffrey straightened up and took
his hand off of Ben’s shoulder. Ben looked at them both with the worried and
confused look of a man expecting the worst.

“Okay, Ben, it’s like this. Arrosha got pissed off
at the group and destroyed it.”

“Are you serious, Geoffrey?”

“As an aneurysm, man. Yep, the group pissed her
off bad and the ones that aren’t dead sure wish they were.”

“Arrosha,” Ben pleaded, “Is this true?”

Arrosha said nothing, had no reaction. She just
stood there, silent and immobile.

“Illea? Even Illea?”

“Now, I didn’t actually see Illea die.” Geoffrey
giggled again. “But if she didn’t, I’m sure that right about now she was
wishin’ that she had.”

“What do you mean? Why?” he turned again to his
unforgiving goddess. “Why Arrosha, what did we do?”

Again, there was no response from her.

“You see, Ben ol’ boy,” Geoffrey continued, “the
group betrayed her. Took in and to their bosoms, so to speak, this nasty little
piece of trash, Ashley.”

“You have to be kidding, Geoff. What’s wrong with
Ashley?”

“Well, looks like our little trailer monkey here
stole an amulet from Arrosha. Ashley then disguised it, hiding it from us by
turning it into that elaborate tattoo you liked so much. We screwed up by not
taking it from her, but Arrosha needs her necklace back now and Ben, you’re the
one that’s going to talk her into returning it. You see, our fatal mistake was
that we helped her, nursed her back to health, gave her sanctuary at the
mansion, let her have our water, let her partake of the essence. All without
bothering to retrieve Arrosha’s necklace. Oh, and Ben, by the way, speaking of
the essence, seems that all these years, we’ve all been feeding off of other
people’s life forces.”

“What?” Ben exclaimed. Shock had been added to his
confusion.

“Yep. People, Ben, people. Essence is people.”
Geoffrey giggled to himself and then added, far too casually. “You know all
those great parties we used to have? Well, there’s a reason that nobody ever
showed up twice. It seems we quite literally had them over for dinner! Sorry to
break the news to you this way, but you really are a cannibal, old boy. But
anyway, back to the point. Because of this little thief here, Arrosha got mad at
everybody in the group, except for me, of course. You see, she tipped me off in
the beginning.

 “By the way, Bensy, the ghouls you saw at the
tomb and at the shack also happened to be at our front door when the day that
little tobacco road here fell in. Maybe now you’ll believe me when I tell you
that ol’ Ash was the one that led them to us. That’s why Arrosha was so pissed
at the group. Except for me, of course, cause I knew from the very beginning
that Ash was bad news.

“At first, Arrosha just wanted me to monitor the
situation, but I said to myself, ‘Geoffrey, old man, you are gonna do right by
our Queen. You are gonna go that extra step for her, go above and beyond the
call of duty. You are gonna expose this little thief to the group for what she
is and make sure she gets what’s comin’ to her.’ And I did, too, didn’t I,
Arrosha?”

“Oh, yes, Geoffrey,” she responded flatly.
“Indeed, that’s exactly what you did.”

“So you see, my darling, darling Ben,” Geoffrey
continued, “you guys all screwed up. Big Time. Fraternizing with the enemy,
giving her aid and comfort.” He clucked his tongue against the roof of his
mouth. “Bad boy, Ben. Bad, bad boy.”

“I don’t understand. If that’s true, why am I
still alive, Arrosha? I helped her more than anyone else. Why take it out on
the others when I’m the most to blame?”

“Because,” continued Geoffrey, convinced once
again that this was his show, “You are some kind of bargaining chip. It seems,
after all, my dear little sweetie, that your absolutely worthless ass has some value
after all.”

“Geoffrey, how can you say something like that? I
thought you’d changed, I thought you loved me.”

Geoffrey said nothing. He just sneered at Ben and
shrugged his shoulders carelessly.

“Arrosha,” said Ben. “I’m sorry that we couldn’t
get the necklace off of her. We didn’t even know it was a necklace because it
seemed to have grown into her flesh. But you are the almighty Goddess herself.
Surely you can just remove it. Why don’t you just take it away from her?”

“Because she can’t, Blanche, because she can’t.”
Geoffrey interjected again. “She wouldn’t need us if she could.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Some big metaphysical reason. Too long to go into
here. Don’t even understand it all myself. Now, Benny boy,” Geoffrey added,
brushing imaginary dandruff of Ben’s shoulder, “it is your turn to go into
action. Go over to Ashley, tell her that you’ll be her faithful sidekick Sparky
if she will just make the right choice and play nice and give Arrosha her
necklace back. Oh, and since you missed out on Act 1, these are her choices:
Door #1 – She hands over the necklace, which gives her, and you alongside her
as her trusty steed, big money, love, influence, luxury, a house that makes the
mansion look like a storage shed, and a life of fun, fun, fun. On the other
hand, if she chooses Door #2 and doesn’t hand over the necklace, then she – and
I’m assuming you, too, although Arrosha didn’t go into detail with me on that
one – wins the all-expense-paid gruesome death. It’s your job to make sure that
she makes the right choice. For both of you.” He bodily turned the stunned Ben
toward my direction, then gave him a push. “Go get’er, boy. Make Daddy proud.”

Ben walked up to me, distressed and confused.
“Ashley, is this all true? Is everybody really almost dead?”

“Except the Sisters. Don’t forget, they’re
completely dead.” Geoffrey answered for me. “So sorry, old boy.”

“Illea, too?” he asked again, not trusting
Geoffrey’s answer.

I didn’t know how to answer him. “She was alive
when I saw her last, but she had been deformed, Ben. Horribly.”

“You mean like Timothy and Robert and the
sisters?”

I nodded my head sadly. “Yes. In a different way,
but yes.”

Tears welled up in his eyes. “But why, Ashley? Why
would anybody want to hurt Illea? She’s such a good person, such a sweet
person. She’s never hurt a soul in her entire life.”

I pointed to the winged dragon at my neck. “It’s
all about this, Ben. She” I said, shifting my gaze to Arrosha, “wants it and
she’ll hurt anybody that gets caught in the middle, whether they’ve done anything
to deserve it or not.”

“Is it true that you stole it from her?”

“No, Ben, I didn’t steal it. Somebody gave it to
me.”

“You should know, Ben,” Arrosha interjected
firmly. “that the people who ‘gave’ her the amulet were those that stole it
from me in the first place.”

“Then you should give it back, Ashley. After all,
if it rightfully belongs to Arrosha, that’s the only decent thing to do.”

“It doesn’t rightfully belong to her, Ben. She
wants it because it’s the only thing that threatens her immortality. It’s not
hers at all. Why do you think that she’s standing all the way over there? Why
do you think that I’m still alive and haven’t been turned into a monstrosity
like the rest of your group? It’s because she can’t hurt me while I’m wearing
it. She can’t even come near me while I have it on. It never belonged to her
and she mustn’t ever be allowed to have it, Ben, because it’s the only thing
that keeps her in check, the only thing that can destroy her.”

“I still don’t understand,” he said. “Why would
anyone want to destroy a goddess?”