RfH Ch. 08: Infidelity

I knew she was right. This was not only the safest option, but the right one. Melissa had to die, or at least be stopped. She didn't suspect a thing, and had never viewed me as a real threat. Even when she killed my wife, she hadn't even taken a moment to remember my face before casting me to sleep and forgetting about me entirely. She'd underestimated me once, but this time I was a Warlock, and would not be stopped so easily.

A Warlock. For some reason, the memory of the moment she realized that I was a Warlock had popped back into my mind. I remembered that fear, I remembered that shock. I even remembered perhaps, betrayal? Melissa put on a brave face most of the time, but was she really an irredeemable monster? Was there really no part of her untainted by cruelty and evil? Was there no part of her that cared about me?

Even so, she had killed the love of my life. She was going to have to answer for that one way or another, but it was going to be on my terms. I didn't want to kill her, but if she had to die, it was going to be for what she did to Cindy, and what she took from me. Not just as one of many fatalities of yet another power grab in the inter-political machinations of these spell-casting monsters.

"No." I stated.

"No what?" Samantha requested pleasantly, with an undercurrent of threat.

"No I will not help you kill Melissa." I told her blatantly.

"Such a shame, and here I thought we were going to be friends." She relented in disappointment as she drew her crystal dagger from her suede sheath.

I lifted my hands non-threateningly to attempt to deescalate the situation, but she was already swinging, and I barely avoided her first slash. Turning to run back inside and get help, she merely grabbed her broom and used it to tug her along the rooftop, swooping in front of the door and blocking my only means of escape.

Continuing to back pedal in the other direction now, she flew with wicked velocity, cutting me off at every turn and boxing me into the corner.

"It was a nice chat David. I wish things could have gone better for you." She apologized, lifting the knife above her head for the final jab. With nowhere to run, I lifted my arms helplessly.

Expecting that blade to painfully pierce through me at any moment, I found myself standing there trembling as nothing happened.

Hesitantly dropping my arms to view my attacker, I saw that she looked just as confused as I was. Tugging her arm in frustration, it became suddenly clear that something was restraining her.

The gravel at our feet clacked and clattered as something tuberous and slimy rose from underneath.

"No! She was here the whole time! Your helpless boyfriend was just the bait!" Samantha screamed, desperately severing the tentacle that had latched onto her arm, but it was too late as the many tendrils of that thing in the corner began to grip onto her legs, preventing her from escaping. "Dammit Melissa you bitch! You tricked me! Come on out!"

"She's not coming." I told her.

"What, is she too scared to face me herself? Does she have to order her helpless boyfriend to do her dirty work?" She accused hypocritically.

"You really should stop calling me that." I warned her.

"What, boyfriend?" She asked.

"Helpless." I retorted, lifting my arm into a halting gesture. The vines and tendrils that had been crawling their way up Samantha's thighs suddenly stopped in response to my direction.

Her eyes widened in terror as the truth dawned on her. This was the second time I'd gotten that look from a witch who'd had the misfortune of underestimating the full nature of my abilities, but this time I was all too happy to disappoint.

"Hank, Sick her." I commanded, and the roof erupted into a mass of sinewy, powerful tendrils, all converging upon the shrieking helpless woman in the center as she was mercilessly constricted.

"Please David, you don't have to do this!" She pleaded, helpless, desperate, and despite all she had done, human. I remembered all too well last time this had happened, last time I'd had a life in my hands like this, but this time I didn't have Melissa to make my decision for me, and no one else to take the blame for what was about to happen.

"Hold on Hank." I reluctantly told my tendrilous friend. He paused, cautiously maintaining his unbreakable grip upon his prey, just holding back from crushing her bones and tearing her limbs from that frail, defenseless body.

Both women were irrevocably intent on killing each other, and more than willing to kill me if I refused to help them in their murder. It was clear that to chose a side was to agree to kill, and to remain neutral was tantamount to betrayal. Indeed, I found myself in the unenviable position of being stuck between loyalties, wrapped up in the homicidal politics of the supernatural. But to whom was I loyal?

This woman had tried to kill Melissa and I on multiple occasions. If I let her go, it was just a matter of time before she tried again. Specifically, they had agreed to meet in just a few days from now to settle it, and there was the distinct possibility that Melissa would meet her end there. Indeed, this was an opportunity that would not repeat itself. If I did not put and end to the witch Samantha Flenecwalt right now, it could very well result in the death of my roommate.

The same roommate who had probably murdered the love of my life. I couldn't bring myself to turn on her completely, not yet anyways, but neither was I truly loyal to her cause. Not anymore. I may have been passively complicit in more than a few deaths in my life, but I was not willing to become a murderer. Not for her. I'd already lost enough in this, and I was done being a pawn in the power struggles of witches.

"Let her go Hank." I relented. The creature hesitated, afraid of allowing me to be hurt by someone who still blatantly posed a threat. "It's okay boy." I told him confidently as I leaned down to take Samantha's Athame out of her hand. Reassuring him that I wasn't letting my guard down around her again, I dropped the dagger off the roof into a dumpster below. It wasn't completely unreachable, but it would certainly take some time to recover.

The creature slowly released his captive, and she massaged her arms and legs sorely before sitting up.

"Why?" Was all she could ask from the ground where she sat.

"Because I'm not like you and Melissa." I spat back. "But I am not afraid to let Hank rip you to pieces if you try anything again, so don't test me. Now get the hell out of here." I threatened. My oozing ally's capable tentacles bristled menacingly, and she trembled as she wiped the tears from her running mascara.

Still shaking, she retrieved her broom and mounted it eagerly. Taking off in a hurry, she hesitantly turned back once she felt she was at a safe distance.

"Listen David, I didn't mean for things to get so out of hand, if you change your mind about switching sides..." She began.

"Fuck off Samantha." I interrupted.

"Well, food for thought." She added in conclusion before flying away into the night sky.

I stood there watching her leave, considering what I'd just seen, and contemplating the ramifications of what I'd just done.

The moon came up as I lingered there, shining brightly onto the rooftop. My mind was taken away from my ruminations as the slimy creature splayed its tuberous vines across the rooftop. The ocular growths it normally used to see, split themselves open in a glistening bloom, spreading open to absorb the moonlight. Indeed, I had suspected that the thing in the corner of our living room had spread itself throughout the apartment, but upon seeing the scope of its reach tonight, it was clear that it had permeated the entire building, embodying the structure as one massive organism, of which only components could be viewed from any given viewpoint.

If the mass in the living room was the trunk, or even the roots, what I was viewing now must have been the canopy. I almost regretting giving Hank a such a boyish name, because as his flowers began to glow in phosphorescent splendor, and I began to comprehend the creature more fully. I realized that he was truly a beautiful organism. For once I was glad that I was never alone here.

I'm not sure who to side with, what to believe, or what to do about it. But for now at least, I'm not going anywhere.