Page 75 of Unruly
“You’re open to it?”
“I’d be a fool not to be. I’m many things, Borja, but a fool isn’t one of them.”
I wrap my arms around him and pull him close for a kiss. He seems to melt into me, his hands gripping my shoulders. I could get real used to this, and maybe, somehow, we can make it work.
After all, stranger things have happened.
Farnsworth opens the box containing the hummingbird brooch while I sit back on the couch watching nervously. Everything is set.
“Are you ready to do this last piece?” he asks, holding the small ruby that completes the brooch. “Once I put this in place, something might happen.”
I nod, bracing myself, though I feel slightly nauseated. “I’m ready. Let’s do this.”
“Here goes.” Farnsworth fiddles with it, getting the ruby in place and then setting the item down next to the book, the pocket watch, and the locket.
Nothing happens, and for a moment, I’m almost disappointed. “Are we still missing something? Do we need to go back out and investigate more? What if?—”
Before I can continue that thought, the items on the table begin to rattle.
Farnsworth looks at me and nods. “I can feel it,” he says. “It’s here.”
“The Horror?”
“Yes, the Horror. Brace yourself. The energy is bad.”
The items keep rattling as the room becomes so cold that a shiver moves through me. Farnsworth seems unaffected, but he’s probably used to this sort of thing.
The locket is sitting closest to me, and it moves sharply across the table, almost falling off but stopping just at the edge. And then, right before my eyes, a man, for lack of a better word, appears.
He looks like any flesh and blood man, not at all how I expected a spirit to look. Outside of being dressed like a figure from a Renaissance painting, if I passed by him in the street, I might not look at him twice.
“Hello, Farnsworth,” the Horror says, his voice strangely soft while still being hoarse. “I always knew you’d find me again, but I expected it to take you a little longer, I admit.”
“You don’t belong here, Horror,” Farnsworth says.
“Perhaps, but I’m here anyway, and there’s nothing you can do about it. I’ve made sure of it this time.”
“I wouldn’t be here if there was nothing I could do about it. Obviously I found you. What’s to stop me from banishing you a second time? By the way, you really aren’t gonna like what happens to you this time.”
The Horror chuckles, seemingly unafraid of any retribution for his escape. “Oh, please. You think I didn’t think this through before I did it? I made this plan long before you even knew of my existence.”
“What does that mean?”
“What it means is I have help. Help that ensures I’ll always stay attached to this world, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.” The Horror chuckles. “Dear, dear Farnsworth, you’re outmatched.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“Yes, we will.” The Horror’s eyes flicker to me, causing an uneasy reaction in my gut. “Well, well, well, look at this.”
“I’m not done talking to you yet,” Farnsworth says.
“But I’m done talking to you. In fact, if you want to see me, you’ll know just where to find me.”
“What are you talking about?”
Then it happens. The cold swirls around me, enveloping me in a fog. I can only faintly hear Farnsworth’s voice calling to me, but I can’t answer.
What’s happening? Why can’t I talk? Why does everything sound so far away?
