The Destroyer of Worlds: A Return to Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff

Author:Matt Ruff [Ruff, Matt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Horror, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Historical, Adult
ISBN: 9780063256897
Google: GmQuzwEACAAJ
Amazon: B0B2578RCL
Goodreads: 61190257
Publisher: Harper
Published: 2023-02-21T06:00:00+00:00

The Woman in the Basement

I never pictured Snow White as a redhead,” Marvin said.

They were in the basement, standing before a glass coffin. Equal parts casket and cold case, it rested atop a gray metal pedestal whose exposed piping was coated with ice; fingers of frost extended up the metal latticework of the coffin, but the glass panels remained free of condensation and offered a clear view of the woman inside. She lay with her eyes closed, head on a red satin pillow, red satin sheets drawn up over her body, leaving only her right arm exposed.

“Her name’s Delilah,” said Ruby. “She worked for the Braithwhites, in Ardham.”

“How’d she end up in this?”

“Mr. Braithwhite said she got hit in the head. He didn’t say how, but I think it must have happened when Letitia and the others were trying to escape.”

“So is this like her punishment? For messing up?”

“He said he did it to save her. She was in a coma, slipping away, and he didn’t know the right spells to heal her. So he put her on ice.”

“Well, if she looks this good after three years in a box, I guess he did something right.” Marvin glanced at the thick cable that snaked from the pedestal to a junction box on the wall. “Might be another reason he kept the power on.” He turned his attention to the silver cuff around Delilah’s right forearm; a coiling glass tube with a red thread at its center connected it to a spigot on the side of the coffin. “Is that . . .”

“Her blood.” Ruby nodded, and a look of disgust crossed her face.

“Is that an ingredient? In the potion?”

“That’s what he said. I try not to think about it.”

“And you really turn into her?”

“You don’t believe it.”

“I trust you,” Marvin said. “But if you weren’t keeping a white lady in your basement, I’d be a little skeptical. And I’d still like to see it for myself.”

“I’ll show you,” Ruby promised. “But not tonight. I got to conserve.” She went over to an industrial refrigerator in another corner of the basement and opened the door. The space inside was mostly empty, but towards the bottom were a few glass shelves holding small vials of red elixir. “This was full, when Braithwhite went away. I had more than a thousand doses. Down to just a hundred forty-seven, now. I should still have closer to four hundred, but . . .” She nodded at the empty space.

“What happened?”

“It was maybe a month ago. I’d just come down and got my daily dose, and I don’t know if I slammed the door too hard, or what, but one of the empty shelves up top came loose. It knocked loose the one under it, which knocked loose the one under that, and then it was like, elevator going down. Full shelves near the bottom broke the fall, but I lost more than half my supply.” She shook her head, grimacing. “Neighbors a block away must have heard me screaming.

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