Mayhem by Michael MolisanI

Author:Michael MolisanI [MolisanI, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780578450704
Published: 2019-04-18T16:00:00+00:00

9:05pm March 8th, 39 Veilfall

Fish Rock, California

When Margaret woke up, she could see Erin at the corner of her room drawing down the wick in an oil-burning lamp, casting a flickering yellow glow. As it slowly faded, she was reminded of the creature from Crosstown, watching from total darkness.

“No, leave it on.” Margaret’s voice was hoarse when she spoke, a crack and fissure in her syllables. A bottle of bourbon had provided some comfort when the surgeon sawed her arm off, but not as much as it would have taken to silence her screams or alleviate wakefulness.

Erin mumbled something, then returned to Margaret’s bedside, in dull light.

“I need you to speak louder. I can’t hear the way I did when I was your age.”

Margaret offered a smile, but it just looked sad. The Maul surgeon who’d removed her arm had also spoken to her of fish skin grafting, which now covered her ruined chest and shoulder. She’d been too drunk to ask questions. For now, the handprint on her face was covered in a silky black and silver crosshatch that caught lamp light, turning Margaret’s cheek and lips a shade of gold.

“Because of the ghost?” Erin repeated herself, louder.

Margaret blinked slow, tired, “It wasn’t a ghost. Listen to your intuition next time, don’t make me correct you when you already know the right answer.”

Erin sat down on a metal stool next to Margaret’s bed, the legs scratching loudly across tile as it shuffled to one side under the girl’s weight.

Margaret glanced at the layers of linen that were pinned up to her right shoulder, needles holding the bandages in place. The wound ached in a way that Margaret had never experienced, it was an empty, tugging sensation. She itched in places where a limb no longer existed.

I should ask the surgeon to boil the flesh off my bones, save them for me. A blacksmith could make me a prosthetic out of them.

It could never function the same way of course, but a good prosthetic could hold a pose, and with proper adjustment, she’d still be able to wear gowns and dresses without alteration. No one would believe her arm was real, but a prosthetic made from metal and bone would certainly remind them of what she was.

“Talk to me, Corporal Abid. Tell me anything.”

Erin looked around the room, wheels and gears of her mind at work across her face. She had such delicate features, wearing her hair like a boy, elegantly androgynous.

“Um, well. I like the Maul.”

“So, do I,” Margaret gave her a slow nod. Unable to focus her mind she studied the girl with great attention. She was tired of this pain. It blurred much more than just her inclinations, it blurred her sanity. For a moment, a very strange moment, she felt as if she herself was Maggi Lopez, looking at a teenage Mayy, wondering what the future held for her, or what she would accomplish in her life.

“Did you ever care, mother?” Margaret let her lips loose without full control over what she would say.

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