Peak by L. C. Barlow

Author:L. C. Barlow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rare Bird Books
Published: 2021-07-01T15:01:22+00:00

Chapter 17:

Gemelus

Jack

I woke on snow. It spread out beneath me, freezing to the touch. Above, flakes drifted in a dark gray sky, collecting on my face and hands and quickly melting.

I sat up. Accumulated snow slid off my clothes.

Alex’s body lay nearby, his empty white eyes staring up at me. The white gramophone goo remained attached to his legs, but it no longer moved, and the gramophone was nowhere to be seen. Alex’s chest was still, as was his face.

A frisson ran through me. I rose to my feet.

I leaned to look over the edge of the Beretrum, but the black pit had closed in, leaving only white rock. I searched around the area for some clue to what had happened.

The Builder’s scream reverberated in my mind, and a pressure deep inside me released.

Something had happened—something had changed.

I stared at the body beside me and nudged Alex’s leg with my foot. He didn’t move. The white goo that coated him slid off into the snow, becoming indistinguishable.

I swallowed and exhaled deeply, watching a vapor cloud bloom from my mouth like smoke.

I grabbed Alex’s cold hand and pulled him away from the goo. Closing my eyes, I urged myself to return to our old home. The rock and snow and mountain colors swirled, until the hues disappeared, replaced by green and blue and brown. When the world righted, I was squatting outside Cyrus’s mansion, Alex at my feet. My mind reeled. So many things had happened at once. So many disparate realities. But, most importantly, Alex was dead.

He was dead.

My shoulders released, and I nearly collapsed. The bastard was gone. He should have been gone months before.

“Roland,” I whispered. I stood and dragged Alex toward the front of the house.

The front door swung back, and Roland appeared. As soon as he saw me, he cried, “I heard you call, from inside my head!” He paused at the top step. His eyes traveled down to Alex’s body.

“Is that—?”

“Yes, but he’s dead. And we need to make sure he stays that way.”

Roland paused, his hand momentarily hovering just above his chest. He dropped it and came and clasped Alex’s legs. We lifted my brother’s body and walked him into the house.

“Where do you want him?” Roland asked.

I took a deep breath. “The furnace.”

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