15 Sam I Am
“Who are you calling?” Serita asked as she tried to get comfortable on the tattered, canvas bench seat of Beast.
“Brody Carmichal,” Ophelia said.
“Why?”
“Who else is qualified to come get us if this goes south?”
Serita shook her head. “Bad idea.”
“Got a better one?”
“Almost anyone else.”
“No time.” She put the phone to her ear. It rang twice and Brody answered.
“Ophelia?”
“Yeah, it’s me. Listen, I have to take Serita to see Samuel.”
“What?”
“We are going after Big Tony.”
“Absolutely not.”
“No time to argue and we are halfway there.”
“Ophelia, you can not go without me.”
“I have to go without you because you are the only one who can come get us if we can’t get out.”
“In what world does that make any kind of sense?”
“4 a.m., Brody. Give us until 4 a.m. and if I don’t call, you come running.”
“Unacceptable, Ophelia,” Brody growled. “Turn around, right now.”
“4 a.m., Brody,” Ophelia said and ended the call and set the phone ringer to silent.
“He’ll be mad for months,” Serita commented.
“He’s always mad. Now help me look for the turnoff.”
They almost missed it anyway, a rough overgrown dirt road that broke off to the left and led to public lands. The Beast was a bit tall for some of the low hanging branches but she scraped under and plowed on through pits and ruts along the road that was more of a suggestion of a road than an actual road. Bouncing along, they began to climb and Ophilia kept it in the lower range, leaning forward to look through the tangle of pines and overgrowth.
“This is so dangerous,” Ophilia muttered.
“Everything is dangerous,” Serita replied. “And I’m tired of being afraid.”
Ophelia glanced at her. The green dashboard lights underlit Serita’s dour expression as she stared ahead into the darkness. “I should never be afraid,” she said. “Everything should be afraid of me.”
“That’s a bit intense there, cupcake,” Ophelia said.
“Am I wrong?”
“No, in principle, you are correct. But once you play that card, it’s hard to dial it back. If someone is afraid of you, that’s all they can feel for you. They see you, they think about you and they are scared. Nothing else.” Ophelia downshifted to creep across a crater in the road. “And everyone that fears you is automatically your enemy.”
Serita’s shoulders slumped slightly. “I don’t want that,” she said and thought for a moment. “But then I don’t know what I want. Or if I’m even allowed to ‘want’.” She pushed back into the worn canvas seats. “I’m just a factor in Mother’s equations playing my part.”
“Aren’t we all?”
Serita frowned and thought for a moment. Then she slowly folded her arms across her chest.
“I’m not sure I’m ok with that,” she muttered. Ophelia laughed as she let the truck coast to a stop.
“Welcome to my world,” she said, killing the engine and setting the brake with a raucous hiss. The road ahead devolved into an actual footpath. The Beast could go no further.
“We walk from here,” Ophelia said. She swung out of the cab and pulled her pump action shotgun from behind the seat but looking it over, she had doubts.
“Shotgun or not?” she asked Serita.
“Not,” Serita answered dryly. “I don’t like guns.”
“Fine.” The shotgun returned to its place behind the seat. Not being well armed went against her instincts but her gut told her to leave it behind. The possible contradiction was not lost on her but they did not have time to sort it out although she could admit that her instincts often failed her but her gut was usually right.
Serita scrambled down and met her at the front of the truck. Ophilia looked to the night sky with its bright swath of stars and the barest sliver of a waning moon. “We need to let our eyes adjust.”
“No flashlights?”
Ophelia shook her head as she scanned the shadows. “Artificial light will actually hide what we are looking for.”
“And you know what we are looking for?”
“Sort of,” she said with a half shrug. “About a mile up there should be a thorn arch that only shows under the light of the moon. Past the arch is Samuel’s hunting lodge. Or it might not be. It just really depends if Samuel is in the mood to talk. Or if something else is going on in the Other Place. You just never know.”
“Why so complicated?”
“Elves make everything complicated. Although I’m not sure it’s on purpose. Should we discuss tactics?”
Serita frowned up at her. “Why?”
“Elves negotiate. Everything is a deal or a balance. They won’t let Big Tony go for free.”
Serita thought for a moment “Are these the same elves from the other world?”
Ophelia sighed. She had hoped that Serita’s sudden growth spurt had included outgrowing the idea of another world. But apparently not.
“Maybe you should ask them.”
Serita bit her lip and nodded. “If these are the elves of the other world then I can educate them on the true meaning of ‘balance’.”
“There you go again,” Ophelia said. “Little miss spooky pants. How can you be so ‘I’m the big, bad Serita’ one minute and a frightened little girl the next.”
“I can be both. Half of me is asleep right now in a very different world where they at least have the decency to speak a variation of the first language. I am remembering more and more but the best parts of me exist in another place and time.”
“Oh, bullshit,” Ophelia scoffed. “I know you are my sister and I understand what you mean when you talk about Mother. You have power and I have,” she held up her arms to show the circuit board-like trails of archanites along her arms that shone silver in the slight moonlight, “whatever this is but that’s it. We are just a couple of weirdos in a weird world who happen to be related.”
“Oh, really,” Serita asked. “So you can remember your childhood? Or anything past a few years ago?”
The black veil fell over Ophilia’s memories. She turned away and looked to the stars as anxiety erupted like bloody flowers in her stomach.
“What happened before the vault?” Serita asked.
Ophelia sucked in a ragged breath and turned to the footpath. “Let’s go,” she said.
“Have you considered the possibility that I’m remembering what you can’t?”
She almost slid to a halt, the path before her dark and tunnel like. Remembering or getting close to remembering provoked a panic attack. So why should she remember anything? Everything was fine. Her people were safe and sheltered and there was a future ahead. Why did the past matter at all?
She couldn’t remember who she truly was but that was fine. She needed to be who she was now for the sake of everyone who mattered.
“I can’t be who I was, Serita,” Ophilia said. She became very aware of a tear trailing down her cheek. “I need to be who I am right now. The past can just be the past for now.”
She swiped the tear away and noticed that the archanites glowed with her stress, deep somber blue pricks of light that rode the lines of her arms and face. That was a development. The archanites seemed to glow with a color that matched her emotions although not as brightly as they once did. She closed her eyes and took slow breaths until the anxiety faded and the lights dimmed.
“I agree,” Serita said after a moment. “We need you. And the old you was kind of a bitch.”
Ophelia snorted a short laugh. “I can probably imagine.” She ran her fingers under her eyes to stem off more tears.
“Enough of this,” Serita said as she stepped around her and into the darkness of the trail. “We should get going.”
Ophelia shook her head and followed.
A mile later, past scraping branches, the occasional stumble and one face plant, and some casual bickering, Ophelia found the clearing she remembered.
“This is it,” she said and looked to the moon. Thin wispy clouds filtered the simple light. “This could get tricky. Keep in mind the lodge won’t be there if Samuel doesn’t want to talk.”
“How do you move through this stuff so easily,” Serita asked as she stumbled forward, pulling pine needles from her hair and brushing leaves and twigs from her clothes.
“Brody and I spent a year or so training and hunting this area, looking for his . . . well, nevermind that. Plus, I have a werewolf that chases me through a national park once or twice a month.”
“I don’t think I needed to know that.”
“There,” Ophelia said and pointed to the far side of the clearing as the thin clouds in front of the moon evaporated. In the bare light, an arch of thorns and brambles seemed to coalesce from mist and moonlight. “Come on.” She grabbed Serita’s hand and they ran to the portal. “Don’t let go.” she warned and stepped through and into another forest. Or the same forest. But the trees looked bigger, stronger, the bushes more green and full and the starlight seemed to pierce even the darkest shadow. This forest felt like the high-def version of the one they left.
Serita flexed her hands in the strange light. “This feels wrong. Like we are on the edge of one place but not in another.”
“So, could you get us out if we needed to run?”
“I don’t know.” She closed her eyes and her brow furrowed with concentration. “The energy is remarkably stable. Flat even.” She shook her head and looked around. “It’s hard to explain but I can’t tell directions through the fields. So don’t count on me getting us out.”
Ophelia nodded, “Good to know,” and began kicking at the pine needles and leaves on the ground, creating a bare spot.
“What are you doing?” Serita asked.
“Marking the portal with something other than spray paint since I forgot the spray paint,” Ophelia replied. She quickly gathered some twigs and made two pylons to denote the limits of the gate. Serita did a slow spin, her eyes sparkling.
“So where is this place and why do you know so much about it?”
“The elves call it the Other Place. It’s some place in-between,” Ophelia said, brushing off her hands. “And I helped Brody hunt when we could find a portal. And I did some work for Samuel. He’s the one that put the concealing ward on the truck.”
Serita lifted an eyebrow. “So you have history?”
“A little.”
“And you having someone with whom you have a history always works out so well.”
“History. As in past tense, smart ass. All deals are done and finished,” she said, brushing the last bits of dirt and pine needles from her hands as she did a quick scan of the shadows. “ There,” she said, pointing at a dim yellow light in the distance. “Let’s go. We still need to get out before four.”
They walked forward and within minutes the hunting lodge manifested from the mist, tucked into its own clearing. It appeared to be an old world cabin crafted from carved timbers and frosted panes of glass that glowed with an orange, inviting warmth.
“Let me lead and come in behind me. I’m curious about his reaction to you.” Ophelia’s voice trailed off as she recalled her first date with Adam Trajan. Several points clicked in her head all at once. “That son of a bitch.”
Serita frowned. “What?”
“Adam Trajan took me along to intimidate Frank on our first date. He said that Frank was terrified of me. How would he know Frank was scared of me unless-”
“-unless he has been watching you for a while or he knows more about you than you would normally allow.”
“That fucker,” she snarled.
“You know I am just a child-”
“Oh, bite me!”
Serita’s hands went to her hips. “Oh, really? This is where you want to do this?”
“No! No, Just forget it. I’ll deal with him later.” Ophilia took a deep breath and shook her hands. “Gotta calm down.”
“Yeah, no shit.”
Ophilia dropped her hands. “Were you not just getting on to me about my language?”
Serita threw up her hands and then pointed at her non-existent watch.
“Ok, fine,” Ophelia fumed. “Original plan. Follow me in.”
The door had an elegantly carved handle and opened easily when she pushed. A layer of warmth fell over them as they entered, fed by a roaring fire in a massive stone fireplace on the far side of a spacious room that felt larger than the exterior portrayed. Everything seemed carved or sorted by nature without the sharp edge of metal or the need of a nail or screw. Ancient books lined the walls in ornate shelves and a heavy table with an assortment of breads, cheeses and nuts sat to the side. Two wide, cushioned chairs face the fire at comfortable angles. The room reminded her of the entrance hall of the Asylum. Which, of course, it should.
Samuel leaned against the mantle on the right side of the fireplace gazing down at the flames, the harsh light giving him a cruel beauty. His blond hair swept back into a coiffure and riding clothes, a red jacket over tan pants and black knee high boots, fit his lean frame very well. He looked ready for a fox hunt or perhaps, just returned from one.
“Ophelia Goodfellow,” he drawled as he looked up. His eyes had a bit of cat-shine in the shadows. “So good to see you.”
“You as well, Samuel. How have you been?”
He drummed his fingers on the wood of the mantle. “Busy, of course. Your wolves have moved from Antigone to the valley. Raising all kinds of ruckus with their hunts.”
That was a trap. If she didn’t set the record straight, then anything the wolves did to offend him would be on her.
“Not my wolves. You know that, don’t you?”
“You have connections, do you not?”
“I fuck one of them, that’s it.”
“Eww,” Serita said and Samuels rising smirk fell to wide eyes. “Who-?”
Ophilia stepped aside. Serita stood with a hand on her cocked hip. Ophilia was pretty sure she mimicked Honi when Honi had her lipstick on and meant business.
“Oh dear Blessed Mother,” Samuel stammered as he took several, stuttering steps towards them and then dropped to one knee, head bowed low. “Forgive me. She did not announce you.”
“That’s what I thought,” Serita whispered, her expression somewhat smug.
Ophilia crossed her arms. She had also expected a reaction and hoped for some possible clues to the nature and extent of Serita’s power but this was a bit much. Elves and their fey kin could see, touch and smell power. However, Samuel wasn’t reacting to her power. He was reacting to her.
“So you know who I am?” Serita said.
“You are such a little diva,” Ophilia commented which earned her a stern side eye.
“Yes, of course,” Samuel said to the floor. “You are the Continuum. The Eye of Time. The Watcher and Witness-”
Ophilia felt her eyebrows go up.
“Enough,” Serita commanded. “Know this: the Shattering has split my attentions between this world and my mother’s dream. Tell me where your root resides.”
“Within the dream of Tinara Shae,” Samuel said without hesitation and Ophilia flinched at the name.
“But can you communicate with the Dream?”
Samuel held up his hands as if to say “whoa”.
“It’s not simple at all.”
“Can you travel there?”
Samuel shook his head nervously. “Only if a thousand stars align correctly and then there are dangers.” He dared to glance up. “I am a scout, my Lady. Moreover, I was sent to look for you.”
“Well, you found me.”
“I have, my Lady,” Samuel sniffed. “May I weep with joy and some abject trepidation in your presence?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Of course.” He did his best to stifle another sniffle.
Ophelia snapped her fingers to get Serita’s attention. “Is he staying down like that because he wants to?”
Serita looked up at her. “It’s called respect.”
“Remember that little conversation we had in the truck about everyone being afraid of you? Samuel, get up!”
Samuel didn’t move except for another glance up.
“Rise, please, Samuel,” Serita intoned.
“Thank you, my Lady.”
“You need to cut this deva shit right now or I’m leaving,” Ophelia said.
“He needs to understand what is at stake here,” Serita replied, her voice lower, then she returned her attention to Samuel. “Do you accept my authority?”
“Of course,” he said. He looked from Serita, to Ophelia and back again. “The resemblance,” he said. “But without the energy. But that would make you-” his finger slowly rose to point at Ophelia.
“Say it,” Serita snapped as she took an aggressive step forward. “and I will blot you from existence,”
Samuel withdrew the finger slowly but the fascination in his eyes was obvious. Ophilia chose to ignore it, ignore the very idea of it. Samuel knew who she was but she couldn’t remember and stay sane and she had to stay sane. For now. Not to mention the fact that she couldn’t trust Samuel. He could use her interest to manipulate her.
“Samuel,” Serita began. “You may continue your mission. You may even communicate that you have found this aspect of me. But I want no interference and you will not let anyone in my mother’s dream spread rumors outside of the elven houses.”
Samuel gave a nervous, skittering laugh. “Of course not. To be honest, communication is almost as complicated as travel. The opportunity will not arise again for quite some time.”
“Good,” Serita said. “Now on to other matters.”
“And, quite frankly, I rather enjoy this version of whomever’s dream this is. I’ve met people. I’ve done things. I’ve contributed.”
“I don’t care.”
“That’s rude, Serita,” Ophelia snapped.
“It’s not all been grand,” Samuel continued wistfully. “But-”
The door burst open and Brody Carmichal strode in wearing full tactical gear and an assault rifle at low ready. His black crew cut with graying temples and a craggy, lined face made him a mountain of martial intimidation.
“Samantha!” he bellowed and Samuel collapsed, convulsed and then shifted into another person. His beautiful features bloomed into a radiance as his hair billowed out into soft blond waves. The woman on the floor slapped the carpet twice before looking up with a sneer twisting her perfect features.
“Brody Carmichal,” she snarled. “I see your perception still bears some weight.” Samantha rose to her feet, effortlessly, straightened her jacket by pulling at the hem while she rolled her head to crack her neck.
“You are my wife,” Brody said, with little love. “I can not see you any other way.”
“Brody!” Ophelia shouted. “We actually had this under control!”
Serita turned to her. “What just happened?”
“It’s complicated,” Ophelia said, looking from Brody to Samantha and back again. Serita practically growled in frustration.
“There is no such thing as under control,” he snapped. “Not with her. There is always a trick. There is always chaos with her.”
“That is insulting,” Samantha answered, her hands moving to her hips. “You had a part to play in any chaos generated along with your unreasonable demands.”
“Unreasonable demands? Like what, Samantha? Like asking to see my kids?”
Samantha held up a hand towards Brody but looked at Ophelia and Serita. “You see? I’ve explained it a thousand times and he is just too stupid to get it!”
“Too stupid?” Brody shot back. “Maybe use smaller words or maybe tell me something that makes some goddamn sense!”
Brody had released his grip on the weapon and let it dangle by the strap, much to Ophelia’s relief. He couldn’t talk without his hands.
“Your children are fulfilling the roles they were born to,” Samantha said, evenly and with emphasis. “You should be proud.”
Brody threw up his hands in frustration. “And what does that even mean?”
Ophelia glanced down at Serita. Her face was a mask of tension and irritation.
“Hey guys,” Ophelia began. “One question and then we can just get out of your way.”
“Where are the children, Samantha?”
“They are not here, Brody,” she shouted back. “They are given to their purpose!”
Brody pulled his weapon up and racked the charging handle. “Did you sacrifice my children to your dark gods?”
“Whoa, Brody, that is crossing a line,” Ophelia called out as Samantha cried, “Are you insane?”
“Insane?” Brody trembled, his eyes bulged slightly. “You stole my life, Samantha. You left us. Not that you were ever really there. And then when you did come back, you took the only thing I had to live for.” He took steps forward. “I’ve left you alone because of your promises and lies but I lay awake at night wondering what you’ll take next. What do you want, huh? My friends?” He gestured towards Ophelia. “My life?”
Samantha’s jaw was set. “I left you with the children. I told you I had obligations.”
“And you took the children!”
“They came of age! They have their place,” Samantha screamed, “they know their place!”
“This is not why we came here,” Serita said.
Brody blinked and slowly turned his head to look at her. “Serita?” he said. “When did you get taller?”
Ophilia snapped her fingers twice to get his attention. “Brody? We just need Big Tony. And then we will leave you two alone.”
“Big Tony?” Samantha said. “He gave himself to the Menagerie.”
Brody frowned. “What’s the Menagerie?”
Samantha looked at him with disdain. “It’s the Menagerie. The stuff of the shadows and the darkness. The things that go bump in the night.”
“And you’re in charge of it?”.
“I told you I have obligations.”
“Did you give our children to this Menagerie?”
Samantha held up her hands and ducked her head slightly. “Just . . . That’s not really how it works.”
Brody arched one eyebrow. “Oh really, then let’s see how this works.” He pulled a device from his belt, flicked a switch and gripped it tightly. A small red light began to blink next to his thumb.
“This is a dead man’s switch. It’s connected to the claymore mines I set around the building before I came in. I let go and we are atoms.”
“Ok, Brody,” Ophelia said. “This is a bit dramatic.”
“Have you met him,” Samantha pointed at Brody with her hand. “Besides, he’s bluffing.” She lifted a hand and the cabin dissolved into moonlight, leaving them standing in a starlit clearing surrounded by four claymore mines with blinking red lights, close enough that Ophilia could read the “Face this side towards enemy” text on the front of one of them.
“Well, maybe he’s not,” Samantha said.
“Can you get us out of here?” Ophelia whispered to Serita.
“Not without Big Tony,” she said.
“Give her Big Tony,” Brody said. Samantha offered a cruel smile.
“Brody,” Ophelia started, but then looked at Samantha and then back to Brody. She wasn’t sure who to reason with. “You know where we are. There is a very good chance that electronics won’t work here.”
He returned Samantha’s wicked smile. “We can find out. No more games. No more tricks.”
“Hey, Phi.” Tony said behind her. Ophilia closed her eyes and slowly turned. Tony stood behind them, an eight foot tall sasquatch lurking just in the shadows. He waved awkwardly. “What’s going on?”
Serita dodged around her and sprinted into Big Tony’s arms.
“Wow,” he said. “Whatcha doing here, kitten?” he said. “This place ain’t really safe.”
“We came to get you,” Serita said into his fur.
“Aw, that’s real nice and all but there’s no place for me in the city.”
Serita pulled back and looked up at him. “I made us a place. Maggie wants us to stay with her.”
Tony shook his head, somberly. “I don’t know about that, kitten.” He shifted Serita around to straddle his hip. “Hey Phi, those look like claymores but they are facing the wrong direction.”
Ophelia smiled and nodded. “Brody and Samantha are fighting.”
“With claymores?” Tony said, incredulously. “That’s pretty metal.”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“Let’s get you out of here,” he said to Serita. “This isn’t very safe.”
“Tony Torrelles,” Samatha purred. “You were accepted into the Menagerie.”
At the mention of his name, Tony turned and walked to the space between Samantha and Brody. Ophelia could see that he was compelled and was not happy about it.
“So I can’t help my friends if I’m in your Menagerie?”
“I have not released you,” she said, her eyes locked with Brody’s.
“You think I won’t do it,” Brody said. There was a tremor in his hand.
“Killing us is one thing,” Samantha said. “I’m sure killing everyone is something else.”
Brody’s eyes were manic, bloodshot. “You think I won’t. I’ve done worse, Samantha.” His voice fell to a harsh whisper. “I’ve done so much worse.”
Samantha’s eyes narrowed. “Have you, darling? I guarantee you’ve never done anything like this.” Her smile stretched, impossibly cruel.
“Even better,” he growled.
“Fuck, Samantha, really?” Ophelia shouted.
Tony lowered Serita to the ground. “I’m gonna need you to run, kitten.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Do it, Brody Carmichal,” Samantha seethed. “We may be the explosion that creates a whole new universe even. Another big bang that starts right here and now when you release that switch.” She pointed at Serita. “If she dies, you will destroy not just me but entire universes.”
Brody leaned forward, thrusting the trembling hand towards her.
“Worth it,” he said through grinding teeth and Samantha’s eyes went wide.
The impossibility of the situation left Ophilia frozen. The way the mines would detonate left no room, no safe space to be. She couldn’t even grab Serita and try to run. She couldn’t take out Brody in time and taking out Samantha would accomplish nothing. Not a single avenue of escape was open. But she had to try. The archanites already ran riot through her body and they knew she would have to be fast. She would rush Brody and grab his fist and then go from there. Problem being, Brody lived and breathed close quarter combat and his muscle memory would kick in and then what? What would his next move be especially if all he had to do was let go?
Time slowed or at least her perception of it. She lurched forward only to feel a wind rise around her, around the clearing. Then she saw it. A centaurian creature, a large stag with the upper torso of a human and a massive rack of antlers arcing from its head. It leapt from mine to mine, pulling the detonators as fast as she was moving. By the time she had crossed the distance to Brody, the creature was on the last one. She wrapped her body around Brody’s hand and fell to the ground becoming dead weight that he would have to lift if he wanted to release the switch.
Time started again and Brody screamed in rage. She had his hand locked against her and he began to pull her from the ground as the archanites adjusted her strength. Brody’s muscle bulged and his face was red and she could sense that he was ready to roll into ground fighting. Even with her boosted strength, she wasn’t sure she could take him. Every trick she knew, she had learned from him.
But then he stopped. Something fell into the dirt next to her head. She turned to look and saw a pile of detonators with red blinking lights.
The centaur stood over them, its strange black eyes swirling with licks of blue flame.
“I’m sorry, Father,” it said. “But I can’t let you do this.”
“Harry?” Brody said quietly. “Is that you?”
Brody tried to stand but Ophilia had his hand. She found the safety switch and flipped it before releasing him. Brody let the device fall from his hand.
“It is, Father.”
Brody held out his arms, taking in the vision of his son.”Look at you.”
Harry stood at least two heads taller than his father, not counting the rack of antlers which added a truly imposing presence. His face seemed mostly human with a flat nose and large eyes and his human torso rippled with tight muscles.
“You look amazing, so strong,” Brody said, in awe.
“Thank you, Father. It is good to see you,” Harry said and extended his hand.
Brody smiled. He wanted a hug, it was obvious. But he shook the offered hand vigorously. “You could have come to see me anytime.”
“We were scared, Daddy.” The voice was small and light. The soft light of the night coalesced into a slim figure in flowing white gown. Her eyes glowed softly like moonlight and wisps of stars and nebula trailed around her as she moved.
“Kaley?”
“We were afraid you wouldn’t want us,” she said as Brody pulled her into a crushing hug. Ophilea heard Kaley sobbed softly into Brody’s chest.
“People wonder why I have trust issues,” Serita said to Samantha.
“He wasn’t going to do it, my Lady,” she said. “Or I thought he wasn’t.”
Ophelia rolled to her feet, “Should you release Tony, Samantha?” It was not a request or a command. It was an inquiry.
“Of course,” she said, obviously shaken. “Tony Torrelles, I release you from the Menagerie.”
Big Tony nodded and took Serita’s hand. “Let’s get out of here.”
Brody and his children shared a laugh. Ophelia noticed that Samatha’s features softened at the sound.
“You could have explained it better,” Ophilia said.
“To him,” Samantha said, eyebrows raised. “Explain to Brody Carmichal that his daughter had taken her place as the perfect-light-reflected-on-a-clear night? Or that his son was now the-sound-you-hear-behind-you-in-the-darkest-shadow? The man is an idiot. A great big gorgeous idiot but an idiot nonetheless.”
“And you called him,” Serita said to Ophilia.
“You called him?” Samantha asked.
“We needed backup,” Ophelia said. “He is one of the very few that can find their way into the Other Place.”
“So you don’t trust me?” Samantha appeared genuinely offended. Her features sharpened and her hair folded back into a masculine style until Samuel stood before them again.
“Why would I trust you or anything about the Other Place? Every time Brody and I came looking for the children, we were led on a wild goose chase. I am suddenly realizing that you had everything to do with that and more, didn’t you?”
Samuel crossed her arms across her chest. “I was protecting my children.”
“With lies,” Ophelia snapped.
“At their behest!” Samuel retorted.
“Enough!” Serita ordered. “This was way more complicated than it had to be and I am done with it.”
“Of course, my Lady,” Sameul said softly.
“Oh, you can just fu-” Ophelia started.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Tony interjected. “Do we need to go there?”
“And you,” Ophilia said, her rage now directed at Tony. “Don’t think we are anywhere close to good. You killed my friends.”
Tony shook his shaggy head violently. “It was an accident,” he growled.
“You were working for Frank! You did it on purpose!”
“I didn’t know anyone was in there,” he sobbed, head still slowly shaking. “I don’t hurt kids. I don’t hurt kids!” He squatted and wrapped his arms around his knees and slowly rocked back and forth. “I don’t hurt kids. I don’t hurt kids. I don’t hurt kids.”
Serita moved to comfort him, speaking in low soft tones and stroking his head while giving Ophilia a cutting look.
“Happy?” Samuel said smugly. “You made sasquatch cry.”
Ophelia turned to him. “You know, I bet I could slap you back to your own world.”
They squared up just as Brody approached, flanked by his children.
“Samantha?” he said.
Samantha snapped back into existence before Ophelia. “Fuck!” she screamed, her clenched fists pounding the air in front of her.
“Samantha,” Brody began again. “I can admit that I did not fully grasp the situation.”
Samantha blinked. She turned away from Ophelia and dared to smile. “Oh, my,” she said. “Did I underestimate you?”
“Probably not. But the kids explained things and I understand better than I did,” he said. “But I still want a divorce.”
Samantha’s face fell. “And I have explained a thousand times that you can't have a divorce. It's just not how things are done.”
“It is in my world.”
“This isn’t your world.”
“Mother, it would be for the best,” Harry said, even as he nervously pawed the ground.
“You would take his side?” Samantha asked, looking up at her son. “After all I’ve done for you.”
“We can not take a side, Mother,” Kaley said. A small galaxy spun silently above her head. “But we could hope that all involved would make decisions that could benefit everyone.”
Ophelia was impressed. The children were well versed in communicating with a crazy elf.
“This is impossible,” Samantha emphasized.
“Why?” Brody asked. “The marriage was done in my world. What bearing does it have on this one?”
“Agreements were made,” Samantha said.
“And a divorce is simply another agreement.”
“And why would I trust the laws of your land? Look at us! Explain our children. Address the need of beings who are not even close to human. How? How would you do it?”
Brody sighed. “Well first off, we live in a no-fault state. The judge just needs to see a reasonable agreement between us to sign off on it.”
Samantha’s eyes narrowed. “And exactly how would we get to the point of a reasonable agreement?”
Brody shrugged. “Arbitration.”
“And who will arbitrate? Who can come close to understanding the intricacies of our situation?”
“I don’t know, Samantha,” Brody said. “But this can’t go on. I can’t do this anymore.”
“You may have to,” Samantha said coldly. “Find someone that can find the common ground between us and I’ll give you your divorce. But until then . . .”
Ophelia looked at Serita, who lifted an eyebrow.
“Well,” Ophilia said. “I might know a guy.”
