The Mantis Synchronicity - Book Five - 3. Chapter 3 - The Queens

Auntie Peg came running up to Dotty Marbles, who was standing at the front doors to the Shifton Youth Outreach Center. She was staring at the chunks of indistinguishable body parts and shards of bone, which glistened in the light of the rising moon. Dotty Marbles looked like she was about to vomit.

The two attackers, who had made the error of entering the center, were now twisted and mangled corpses at the bottom of the front steps, and Auntie Peg stepped over them as Dotty Marbles asked weakly, “Peggy, where’s Ninyani?”

Auntie Peg took her beloved’s hands. “I followed him back to our old house. Dozi and Tchama are with him. How are the kids inside?”

“This all happened so fast,” Dotty Marbles replied in a quavering voice and looking down at the street. “None of us inside even knew anything was happening. All the children are asleep. Harakin and Sumi are in their rooms, but they didn’t come out.”

“Dot,” Auntie Peg said, focusing on the task at hand, “I know it’s late, but we have to deal with this mess. We need the gurls. Rally all the queens you can. I don’t want the kids to see this.” She glanced around.

“Peggy, why did these soldiers come here?”

Auntie Peg took a closer look at the crumpled bodies of the two men who were not in pieces. “Oh, they’re Demifae. So then, they were after the kids.”

Dotty Marbles gasped. “Hunters?! I thought this city was cleaned up and safer now. The Messiahs are gone, but I haven’t thought much about the Demifae. What is wrong with some people?!”

“As far as I’m concerned,” Auntie Peg stated, “these idiots were on a suicide mission. The children in our care are some of the most powerful beings on the planet.”

Both queens turned and looked toward the center’s entrance and the kids.

“Dot, go get the gurls. Tell them we need them, and to dress for cleaning.”

“Should we get Harakin and Sumi?”

Auntie Peg sighed. “Those two have suffered enough. I’d love it if none of them inside sees this mess. I’ll stand guard until you get back.”

Dotty Marbles nodded and headed off in one direction, and it was not long until several queens showed up to start cleaning the hideous mess.

Auntie Peg grabbed the two folded bodies by the waistbands of their pants again and said, “Thank you, gals. Be right back.” She made her way to the Gray Shallows and dumped the contorted corpses in the calm waters beneath the pale moon. A few minutes later, she was back, and several more queens had arrived and joined in with the gruesome task. “I see you’ve brought some cleaning stuff,” Auntie Peg stated. “I’ll grab more from inside.” She entered the center, turned down one of the halls, and opened a closet full of supplies.

“Peggy?” cooed the sleepy voice of little Fennah.

The queen spun around and stepped between the child and the center’s entrance. “Hi, hunny. Are you okay?”

“I heard noises downstairs,” Fennah mumbled.

“Sorry ’bout that. Let’s get you back to bed,” Auntie Peg urged. There was blood on her hands, and she did her best not to touch anything as she brought Fennah to her room.

She returned to the first floor, grabbed the cleaning gear, and went back out in the street. Dotty Marbles had returned, and there was a gaggle of queens already dealing with the diced bodies. They were having a difficult time being quiet.

“Gurls!” Auntie Peg hissed through her teeth. “Stop shrieking every time you pick up something gross! The kids are sleeping, and we brought you here so they wouldn’t have their attention brought to this mess. Let’s just get it done. We owe you all big-time for this!”

It took them until well past midnight, and the queens were covered in filth by the end of it, but they managed to clear away the worst of the gore. The exhausted friends hugged and said their goodbyes, and the other queens stumbled their ways home. It had been a rough night for all of them.

“Should we go get Ninyani?” Dotty Marbles asked Auntie Peg before they went back inside the center.

“I don’t know. I don’t think so,” Auntie Peg replied. “It’s so late; since he didn’t come back, I figure Dozi and Tchama probably already put him to bed. And besides, we need to clean ourselves. We can’t go walking through the streets covered in blood, even at this hour.” She took a breath and looked toward the city at large. “Those men picked the wrong place to attack.”

Dotty Marbles then said with some confusion, “I feel like I should feel bad for them.”

Auntie Peg tutted. “Those men came here to kill the kids, to kill our kids. I would break every one of them in half again if they weren’t already dead. I will always protect our kids, no matter what. I don’t feel bad for those villains, not one bit. Look, Dot, you know my story. You know when I was young, I tried to fit in with the Lovegood cult where I was born.” Auntie Peg’s voice grew quieter. “You know I’ll spend the rest of my life making up for the fact that I was directly involved in the deaths of three Shifts.”

Dotty Marbles took Auntie Peg’s hand. “Peggy, that was a long time ago, and you are such a good person. You helped so many people who were sick with the blood corruption disease, and now you’re basically the mother of a bunch of young Shifts. You’re giving them the chance to have a real childhood. You’re preventing them from falling into the hands of groups like where you came from.” Dotty Marbles brought a hand to Auntie Peg’s chin. “Peggy, you don’t need to feel that pain and guilt and shame anymore. You have more than made up for your past.”

Tears began to trickle from Auntie Peg’s eyes, and she whispered, “Thank you, Dot.” She let out a little laugh. “Great, now I’ve ruined my makeup!”★