Ander - Part 5: Subchapter 51
51
It was the scream of his daughter that awoke James from a terrible nightmare of bleeding roses, pulling him back into a world far, far worse than anything his tired mind could dream up, because in this world, all the horrors were frightfully real.
Banno was holding his baby girl tightly against his body, her feet dangling just above his knees, his bulky arm wrapped around her middle like a vice, but that wasn't the worst of it. He was holding the fireplace poker across her throat, the backwards curved spike hovering just above her jugular. It wasn't very sharp, but Banno was strong. If he pulled back, he would rip her neck wide open.
"Daddy..." Valery whispered, tears silently leaking from her bloodshot eyes. "Daddy... please..."
There was already blood dripping from four puncture wounds in her neck, staining her collar dark brown.
"Banno." His throat was burning and his heart was exploding in his chest with every beat, but he spoke calmly and slowly. "Put my daughter down."
"Hmm." Banno bit his bottom lip and tilted his head, as if giving his request great thought. "Nope, I don't think I can do that. Sorry, James."
"What _are_you doing?"
Banno smiled, and the dying light from the fireplace illuminated each of his teeth with a hellish sheen. For some reason he was absolutely covered in burns. There were patches where his fur had been completely burnt away, leaving only raw, pink flesh behind, oozing blood. And then there was his eye. It was blood red all around, with not a speck of white left. It made him look like a creature straight out of hell.
"What am I doing?" he said. "Allow me to answer that with a question of my own. Tell me, James, you love your daughter very, very much, don't you?"
"With all my heart."
"Of course you do, you're her father. So you'd only want what's best for her, right? You'd want her to be happy?"
James didn't know what this maniac was getting at, but seeing his daughter bleeding and crying like that was more than he could stand. "Let my daughter go."
"No, see, this is where the problem comes in. You say you love her, and yet you want me to let her go? That's not doing her any favours, James. Don't you want her to be as happy as she could possibly be?"
"That's why I'm asking you to let her go, Banno. Can't you see you're hurting her? She's terrified! Just- Just please, let her go."
"Whaaat? No, Valery and I are having a grand time. Aren't we, Valery?" He gave her a bit of a bounce, making the curved spike rub dangerously against her neck.
"N- N- noo..." she whimpered, her bottom lip trembling. That sound filled James's heart with unbearable misery and an almost uncontrollable rage. He had to use every shred of willpower not to charge in screaming.
"Aww, don't worry, girl," Banno crooned into her ear, speaking softly, like he was _comforting_her. "We'll finish what we started just as soon as your daddy goes back upstairs."
James curled his shaking hands into fists, his rage on the verge of boiling over. "Just what were you doing with my daughter?"
"Why, James..." he said, that single red eye of his staring right through him. "I was making her real, of course."
What the hell did he mean by that? Was it some sort of metaphor, or did he genuinely believe Valery wasn't real? Had Banno gone insane, or has he been insane from the very start? And if so, where's he been hiding it all this time!? "Banno," James said, his voice barely rising above a whisper. "I think you're terribly confused. Valery is already real."
"Yes, exactly!" Banno said, bouncing up and down, making Valery scream. James wanted nothing more than to rush in there and rip her out of Banno's demented grasp, but he didn't dare go any closer, not while he still had that spike pressed against her throat. "She's certainly more real than you or your sons, I can tell you that. Just look at her! She's so real she's practically exploding with it! But don't you want her to be even more real than she already is?"
"I don't understand what you're saying! There are no 'degrees' for being real! You can't say one thing is more real than another! It either is, or it isn't, and Valery is real, so you better let her go right now, or gods help me..."
"Dad? What's going on? We heard screaming."
That voice froze James's heart mid-beat.
No, please no. Not now... NOT NOW!
He turned his head as far as it would go without losing sight of his baby girl. Luke and Tim were slowly coming down the stairs, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. This would only end in disaster.
"Stop right there, boys. Go back to your rooms, right now. And... and lock your doors. Don't come out until I get you, okay?"
They both froze dead in their tracks. Tim just looked confused, but Luke got his wind up immediately. "What happened?"
"Luke, just go back upstairs and take your brother with you."
"What happened!?"
"Now!"
Please, Luke, for once in your life, just do as I ask...
Luke took one look at his father's pleading eyes, then bolted down the remaining stairs two at a time.
"Luke, no!"
He ducked underneath James's outstretched arm and the full force of the horror unfolding inside their living room hit him all at once. James could see it clearly in the way his eyes first widened, then brimmed with tears.
"Oh hi there, you lil' rat bastard," Banno said. "Did we wake you? Terribly sorry about that. How about you listen to your daddy and toddle off back to bed? The grownups are trying to have a conversation here."
Valery, clinging to Banno's arm, too scared to move, whispered: "Luke... I... I'm sorry. I should have listened. I'm so sorry..."
Luke's eyes changed in an instant. Gone was the shock, the fear, the worry, all replaced by pure, undiluted rage. His brow furrowed, his lips peeled back into a snarl, and he let loose a furious scream: "You get your hands off my sister, you -"
James slapped his son across the face, hard enough to make his palm sting. The boy looked up at him, full of hurt, a silent question hanging from his lips and a single tear running from his eye.
"Be quiet. Don't shout. Don't make it worse."
Luke's eyes shifted towards his sister, then back at James. He nodded, and that was all there was to it. The boy understood. As for Tim...
He was standing in the corner, not moving a muscle, his mouth slightly open, staring straight ahead. He was like a living ghost.
Oh gods... He's exactly like when I told him Emily passed away...
James knew it would be useless to tell them to go back upstairs now. He'd just have to deal with everything at once. He turned back to Banno. "Okay, big guy, let's all just calm down and have a nice, quiet, civil little conversation. Are you agreeable to that?"
"Oh, goody!" Banno flashed his massive teeth. "I do so adore our little talks, James. So much so that I've fantasized about ripping out your voice box on more than one occasion. But this time is going to be different, because I'm going to be the one doing all the talking, and you're going to stand there and listen. Are you _agreeable_to that?"
"I'll agree to anything as long as you don't hurt my children," James said, looking more at Valery than Banno. "Don't worry, sunshine, I'll get you out of this. You just sit tight and stay calm, okay?"
"Daddy!"
Banno shook his head. "James, James, James, you've got it all wrong. I'm not going to harm her. Exactly the opposite! You just don't understand because you're not like us. You're not... real enough."
"I -"
"Shut up and let me talk, otherwise I might accidentally rip off your little sunshine's ears. Got that?"
Valery shut her eyes tight, but she stayed quiet. She was such a brave little girl. Luke was having a harder time of it, fidgeting and shaking all over the place, opening and closing his fists, but he was somehow maintaining his composure. Tim was showing no change at all, but James wasn't sure if that was good or bad.
Why... why is this happening?
James nodded without a word, and Banno continued his explanation, speaking words that didn't make any sense at all.
"Valery is not like you, James. And she's not like her brothers either. She doesn't belong in this world - this cold... dead... fake world. I'd call it a dream, but that's not right. Dreams are more real than this thin world. Well, at least mine are. I don't know if creatures such as you are capable of dreaming. I'd hate to know what that must be like - a shadow of a shadow in a shadow. Shadows aren't real either, by the way. Light is. Fire is. Heat is. Cold isn't. I hate the cold... I hate it so much..." His eye went glassy and unfocused, staring off at nothing. "It's always trying to get inside, to make everything it touches fake and lifeless. But I won't let it get me, and I won't let it get Valery. Don't you see? If she stays outside, then she'll become just another part of this fake world. She'll eventually die and wither away and that will be the end of it. Her light will be gone. That's why we found each other, like two torches in the dark. Together, our light will shine brighter than ever before."
"But Banno..." James spoke very slowly and very softly so as not to make him angry. "We are not outside. We're inside. It's nice and warm in here. We've got a fire going, we can make some tea if you want. You don't need to worry, the cold's not going to get inside anyone, and nobody's going to freeze to death. So just -"
"I'm not talking about the house, you moron!" Banno roared, making them all jump. "I'm talking about me! I can't leave her all alone outside of me!"
This was ludicrous. "And how do you plan on getting her inside you!?" James roared back. "Are you gonna swallow her!? Huh!? Is that it!?"
Banno smiled and a blister at the corner of his mouth popped open, sending blood flowing down his chin. "That's actually not so far from the truth, James. Except, I don't need to swallow her body. All I need to do is swallow the important part, the part that makes her her."
"And what part is that?"
"Her life, James. I need to swallow her life. Only then can I taste her death, and only then can she be a part of me... forever."
Banno began to chuckle, and it was in that moment, watching him buck and heave in the firelight, that James realized this Wolf wasn't confused, and neither was he delirious.
He was insane. Banno was completely and utterly insane. There would be no reasoning with such a creature. No rational argument would reach it. No amount of pleading or begging would sway it.
There was only one option left now.
"Luke?" he said, trying his very best to keep his voice calm and even.
"Yes, Dad?"
"Go to the kitchen and bring me the big knife in the top drawer. Quickly."
If you enjoy my story, please help keep my face un-mauled by irritable ostriches by dropping me a donation.
Thank you! ^_^
Paypal:[email protected]
Donation Progress $100 / $300 (Unlock Sunday update)
How and Why: The Story behind "Ander" (Journal): https://www.sofurry.com/view/517234
Special thanks go out to the following furs for helping me keep this project afloat with their generous donations. I couldn't do it without your support.
- Mystery fur
- PyrePup
- KmlRock
- Faan
- Sunny-Fox
- Mystery fur #2
- Sky Star
- Claybrook
Thank you! You guys are the best! ^_^