The Talents of the Fallen - 4. Part Four: The Passing of the Madness

Chapter Four: The Passing of the Madness

Mary sat on her rocker her eyes on the TV while her fingers busied themselves knitting. Since the tragedy in New Brunswick she had not been able to change the channel from CBC-NEWS. “So many children… so many deaths.”

What had first been reported as a tragic fire that had consumed a private boys’ school the authorities were now reporting to be the main compound of a death cult. Though it had been a week since the fire the military was still digging out bodies by the dozens from the underground levels of the complex. There was still no word on how many boys had been at the ‘school’. The authorities had yet to identify a single body.

If Mary were the Prime Minister she would have the police look into the possibility of mass kidnappings. Of course Mary Mays would think that given her son had disappeared fourteen years ago. If her son were one of those boys it would at least give her some sense of closure.

“Tom get in here… the general is coming on.” Tom was the son she had after Hal had disappeared. She also had a daughter who had been born before the kidnapping. As for her husband, the stupid lout had been a member of the Royal Constabulary but after he botched up the investigation of their son’s disappearance he became a deep sea fisherman if just to avoid his wife’s accusing glare.

“What is it mum?” Tom asked. He was a dark haired youth not much older than eleven.

“The general is on.”

“Oh not that again. I thought it was something important.”

“This is important.”

“Maybe to you but I could care less.”

“But what about your brother!”

“You mean the brother I never knew or the brother you had me to make up for.”

“I meant no such thing.” The words stung more because they were partly true. With more pictures of Hal then Tom hanging about how could Tom not feel second best? There was no helping it. It was impossible for Tom to prove your better than your older brother when that brother is assumed dead.

As Tom said the general said nothing new. “I better get dinner ready.” With great force of will she went to the kitchen to find her daughter Amber already busy stirring a pot. “You didn’t have to…”

“Oh yes I did mum. For the last week you’ve had us living off frozen pizza and cold cuts.”

“So what are you making?”

“Chowder…”

“That’s nice? You know who loved my chowder?”

“If you say Hal I’ll beat you black and blue with this ladle. Just see if I don’t.”

“I was going to say your father.”

“Liar.”

“How dare you. I’m still your mum… and a doctor…”

“And the mayor, yea we know. You’re the most important person in Bay Bulls.”

“I wouldn’t say that but I’m defiantly up there.”

“How about you go back to your knitting and let me take care of your real family.”

“Hal is still part of the family.”

“Look mum… we all know how much you loved Hal but you shouldn’t forget we need you to love us too. At least we’re around to appreciate it.”

“He might come back.”

“Yeah… and in five seconds the Prime Minster will knock on our door.”

“He might…” There was a knocking on the door. “Look, it’s the Prime Minister.”

“Yeah right.”

The door was knocked a second time, only this time it was louder. “Better see who it is.”

“If its Richard… tell him to get lost. I don’t want anything to do with him.”

“And if it’s James Bond?”

“Daniel Craig or the Scottish one?”

“Does it matter?” Mary opened the door. Standing there were a pair of ragged looking youth. Both looked like shit and smelled like it too. “May I help you?”

The man shoved the child inside. “Please… protect him.” The two stared at each other. During that pause a part of what had been controlling Hal was passed on to his mother. Once that was done there was nothing left to keep Hal from falling into madness.

The man grabbed both sides of his head and pulled on his ears. He ripped first one than the other off. “There’s nothing… nothing left…nothing!” Falling to his knees, Hal took out a gun aimed it at his head and fired.

Mary was still screaming when her children joined her at the door.

While Amber watched over her mother Tom called the police. The child sat on the ground and cried with her.

When the coroner arrived in the examination room he was not surprised to find Dr. Mays there waiting for him. “Dr. Mays?”

“I want a complete work up. I want to know who he is and why he shot himself. I want Blood, DNA, something, anything to tell me if he’s my boy.”

“Dr. Mays, I can appreciate the shock you’ve suffered but you being here won’t help with the investigation.”

“Be as it may I’m not leaving.”

“Dr. Mays, DNA and toxicology reports take time. We don’t have the facilities here to do them ourselves. We will have to send the samples to Quebec and wait for them to send back the results.”

“Damn the Frenchies! I want answers now.”

“Do I need to call for a constable?”

“Eh? Go ahead. My Frank worked for the constabulary and we still have plenty of friends among them.”

“Dr. Mays… Mary. If it is quick answers you are looking for I think you have someone closer to home you can ask.”

“You mean the boy? No one has been able to get a single word out of him.”

“Yet from what I understand you’ve already petitioned child welfare to let you keep him at least until his family is found. Don’t you think it would help convince social services to leave him with you if they were to see you actually taking care of him?”

“Are you criticizing me as a mother?” She threw daggers in his direction.

He stepped back and held out his palms as if to shield himself from her damning eyes. “I would not dream of it. Still…” He left it hanging.

“Very well… the boy seems to have gone through hell so I guess some TLC wouldn’t hurt. Eh?”

Amber and Tom stared at the strange pale little boy. “I think he’s a vampire.” Tom grabbed a fist of popcorn and stuffed it in his mouth.

“There’s no such thing as vampires.”

“But look at him… Since he’s arrived he hasn’t taken off those dark goggles. You couldn’t even convince him to remove them when you tried sticking him under the shower. I bet if you take them off he’s eyes will be red with blood.”

“Vampires drink blood, right. Look at the letter it says he is not to eat anything but fish, fruit and vegetables.”

“If it’s fish he’s looking for he landed in the right place. Even the water smells of fish. Anyway that’s silly. See I’ll show you.” Tom went to the kitchen and came back with a baloney sandwich.

Amber saw what her brother was doing and didn’t like it. “Don’t do it Tom.”

“Come on it’s just a sandwich.” He held the plate out to the child.

The child took the plate and sniffed at it. Whatever he smelled freaked him out. He threw the plate back at Tom and ran from the room.

“Told you so.” Amber slapped her brother upside the head and went hurrying after the child. She found him cowering under the bed. As it was dark she knelt to get closer.

The boy was mumbling something. “Don’t eat me. Don’t eat me.” He cried.

“I won’t eat you and neither will Tom. I don’t know where you come from but we don’t eat people here.”

“Don’t eat me?” There was more of a question to it this time.

“I won’t eat you.” She offered a hand to him. The boy took it. She could now see that he had taken off his goggles. Her brother had been wrong. His eyes were not red but bright silver. “You’re not all that bad looking.”

It was all going so well until her brother came barging in. “Why are you two sitting in the dark? He flipped the light switch.” The flash of light caused the boy to scream. He dashed back under the bed and put his goggles back on.

“Turn the light off you idiot. Didn’t you read the letter? He can’t stand bright lights.”

“Jeeze, I was coming to tell you mum’s back.”

“Thanks doofus. I’m sure mum is happy she came home to him screaming.”

“Your mother is disappointed in you both otherwise but fine.” Mary now stood in the doorway. “Tom I want you to read that letter and copy it word for word a dozen times.”

“What?”

“Do you want me to make it two dozen?”

“This isn’t fair.” Tom moaned. He made sure to pound his feet as he left.

Their mother looked under the bed and held out her hand to the boy. “Come out child. Let me get a good look at you.” The boy shook his head and crawled further away.

“Mum, the light.”

“Oh yes… sorry.” When the lights were off she went back to the bed. The child looked back at him with a wary look. “I’m sorry. I won’t let that lout near you.”

“Don’t eat me.”

Mary looked to her daughter in shock. “When did he start speaking?”

“Only now.”

“What else has he said?”

“All he says is ‘don’t eat me’, over and over. That’s all.”

“Why would he think we’d eat him?”

“Mum… are you sure you want to take the boy in. He’s not what I’d call a normal child.”

“What I’m certain of is this boy has been through hell knows what and is in desperate need of a good family taking care of him.”

“What about his real family?”

“If they come we’ll give him up but I don’t think they will.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t think they’re still alive.” She snapped.

“Mum, is this about what’s been on TV?”

“I have something to show you.”

Amber didn’t want to leave the child alone in the dark but she was curious as to what her mother had to show. Just out in the hall her mother handed over her phone. It showed the dead arm of the man who had shot himself. “This is sick.”

“It is indeed.”

“No mom… I mean you’re sick. You’re now taking pictures of dead bodies?”

“See that mark on the bicep.” She pointed to a spot on the upper arm. It was marked by a black triangular tower shield. At each corner was a skull with each with a word in Latin tattooed to the foreheads. Osseous, Cruor, Corpus.

“What’s does that mean?

“From what I remember from medical Latin; bone, blood and flesh.”

“I don’t understand.”

I didn’t until the boy asked that we not eat him.”

“You mean the person who killed himself was a cannibal?”

“I don’t know…”

“You don’t know yet you are willing to suggest it.”

“I do know. I…” Tears welled in her eyes. “I just don’t want to believe that my son was a…”

Her mother must believe the man was had to be her son or else she would not have trouble admitting it. “I see.”

“Look, I called in a few favors with your dad’s old pals. They told me stuff the government is not ready to make public. The members of that cult in New Brunswick all had that mark.”

“Congratulations mum you were right. All that time you were watching CBC instead of taking care of us was soooo worth it.”

“Don’t get sassy with me. This is important. Whatever that cult was into they were practicing cannibalism. According to your father’s friends the army has found mass graves of charred and crack human bones, clear signs they were eaten. If that was not enough they’ve found human flesh in their digestive track which shows that they were still eating each other right up until the end.”

“The boy keeps on say ‘don’t eat me’.” Amber felt the blood drain from her cheeks. You don’t think?” She squeezed her eyes and shuddered.

“The boy was probably their next meal.”

Amber pointed to the phone. “But he doesn’t have any mark like that on him.”

“Maybe they don’t give them to those they eat.”

“That doesn’t explain why that man shot himself at our door?”

“Guilt, shame, something to do with him being brainwashed. I don’t know nor do I think the authorities do.”

“But when the coroner finds the mark…”

“What mark?” Mary tried to come off as unconcerned.

“What mark?” Amber went pale. “Oh mother… you didn’t.”

“Don’t you think the boy has been through enough?”

“Mother… did you cut the mark out?” Amber knew her mother had to and that it didn’t have anything to do with the boy. If it became public knowledge that her son had turned cannibal no one would look at her the same way. She would go from being a respected doctor to that mother of a child eater.

“Does it really matter? Let’s say he found the mark… the police would descend on the boy like a swarm of mayflies. Is that what you want? Do you think that’s what the boy wants? I have another reason for what I did. Did it ever occur to you that other cultist survived?”

“Are you saying they might want to get him back?”

“And eat him.”

“This is insane. You need to give the boy to the authorities.”

“No.”

“Eh? I know what this is about. It’s about Hal, isn’t it? You’ve convinced yourself that the man who brought him here was your son.”

“I do.”

“Then you admit your son was a cannibal?”

“If he was it was not by his own choice. Your brother wouldn’t have brought that terrified child here if he didn’t think we could help him.”

“If you won’t listen to me I’m going to have to call dad.”

“You go do that.”

Her daughter put on her coat and left for the harbor station. It had the only satellite radio that could reach her father’s ship.

Mary had known her daughter wouldn’t listen to reason which meant neither would her husband. She had convinced herself that the boy was her son’s child so she would do anything to protect him. Little did she know the true source of her motivation had been passed on to her like an infectious fever.

Going back to the bedroom she found the boy sleeping among the pillows. When she lifted him into her arms she was afraid he would protest. Instead he wrapped his hands around her neck. “Time for us to take a little trip.”

With her son’s rap music blasting from the attic no one noticed she and the boy were gone until dawn the next morning.