Page 7 of The Boys
For a time, Mother stirred and added a few more things as we waited. Then finally she looked at another brother, and he left for a moment before returning with our bowls. Each was massive and carved of stone. We did as we always did and lined up for her to give us our share. The human did not matter anymore, he never had, all that mattered was that we ate.
I hurried over to the side of the cave that was my area for as long as I could remember and sat while eating the most delicious foodI’d ever had. It was always the same. Each human was different, but those that had done evil deeds tasted the sweetest to us, and we were more than happy to search them out throughout the year.
“Do you know who will feed us tomorrow?” Mother asked.
“Yes, Mother, and for every night of Yule. There are some staying here that are innocents, but no one will notice when the others are gone,” Saus said. He had the gift of sight and was able to guide us to find those who were the perfect victims. Some years there were only a few but this year we would feast.
“My lads, you’ve all done so well,” Mother said as she picked up an arm from the cauldron and ate it, bones and all. “This year we won’t be hungry.” Mother never left the cave, but we all knew it was our duty to bring food to her and if we didn’t, we’d become the meal—eventually. We were all the children of ogres or trolls, but none of us were brave enough to go against Mother. What she wanted she got, or someone died.
We finished eating and as soon as we were done our bowls were all cleaned and stacked neatly as they were before. They’d be needed again for tomorrow. I cleaned my bowl and stacked it then without another word walked back toward the hotel. As soon as I crossed the area where the cave ended and the brick and mortar began, I was once again in my human form.
One of my brothers had just walked through the door to the hotel before me and as soon as I opened it there stood Syd.
Eight
Syd
“Icouldn’t sleep, Iwas hoping we could spend a little more time together,” I said, and wondered where that door led to. It wasn’t a normal door. It was made of heavy wooden beams and looked like it was reinforced but I wasn’t sure why, what could it hide? I had wandered down to the lobby only to find it deserted. None of the hotel employees were anywhere in sight and apparently all the guests were asleep too.
I noticed the door and was about to open it when one of Caleb’s brothers walked through followed close behind by Caleb. He looked surprised to see me, but I didn’t care. “Of course. Whydon’t we go to the lounge, and we can sit on the couch and watch a movie,” he suggested.
“I’d like that,” I said, and followed him to another area of the hotel I hadn’t been to yet. It was a large room with a few sofas set up throughout. Some were set up with a chair or two, to offer a quiet place to chat or perhaps play one of the many board games they had stacked nearby or even a quiet corner to read. He led us to a sofa in front of the large flat screen mounted on the wall and turned it on.
“What are you in the mood for?” he asked as he started scrolling through all the choices.
“You choose,” I said as I sat next to him. He was warm, and I was drawn to him for reasons I didn’t want to think about. So, I didn’t, and once he relaxed on the sofa, I leaned into him when he draped his arm around me. His nerves rolled off him, and I could very nearly hear his heartbeat as he tried to act like everything was normal, but I knew it wasn’t.
I’d wanted to sleep but something kept me from relaxing enough to even get settled in bed. I changed into some comfortable clothes and walked back down the long hall, to the main hotel. It was strange that no one was around, when only a short while before it had been busy with both guests and employees. I glanced at Caleb and was surprised to see sweat beading on his forehead. “Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, sorry. I was so surprised to see you. I thought for sure you’d be asleep by now.”
“Did you need to get to bed?” I asked and started to stand.
“No, I’m enjoying myself. Let’s watch this,” he said and started a movie I didn’t recognize. He grabbed a folded blanket from the other end of the sofa and draped it over me.
“That’s nice, thanks,” I said, and promptly fell asleep. The dream started like all of them did. I was searching, but this time it was in a land covered with snow and ice. I was in the storm, but in the way dreams are, I wasn’t cold as I pushed through the storm to a destination I didn’t know. The snow and wind made it hard for me to see, but just like always, I knew where I was going. Ahead of me in the distance I could just make out a door.
Caleb appeared, opened the door, and walked inside as easily as walking through any door. “Caleb, wait,” I shouted, but my voice was lost in the wind as he closed the door behind him. As soon as I reached it, I tried the handle . . . and it turned.
The door was made of thick metal set in place with heavy rivets on the outside, and heavy timber on the inside. There was a tunnel made of crude brick that looked very old, and as I walked deeper into the tunnel it turned into stone. I wasn’t sure if it was man-made or if it had formed naturally as the country was being formed. Torches lit the way, which seemed strange to me since this tunnel had to be just below the hotel and the door was definitely the one inside the hotel. This was how my mind worked in dreams. I was acutely aware of what was reality and what was dream. The glow of a light and a low rumble of voices in the distance caught my attention.
The tunnel curved slightly, and I stayed close to the wall as I inched nearer to the sound. There were voices, but they spoke in no language I’d ever heard. Deep grunts and roars echoed through the tunnel and even though I knew this was only a dream and they couldn’t see me, I was still afraid to reveal myself.
Slowly, I moved away from the wall to where I was able to see several large shapes. They weren’t human. All were enormous with large misshapen bodies and disproportionate hands and feet. Each had long hair and beards of varying color and length, their clothes were made for the cold of winter as they all stood around a large boiling pot. A larger creature stood there stirring and adding items to whatever was cooking. Each of the smaller ones held a large bowl that the bigger creature scooped whatever was in the cauldron into.
As they were served, each walked off to a space on their own before sitting and eating. One of them lumbered over to where I stood, and I would have sworn his eyes met mine. I knew those eyes.No, it can’t be.I watched the creature eat what I was pretty sure was once a human, and I thought I must be wrong because I would have sworn that creature was Caleb.
I woke with a start and a gasp I couldn’t hold back to find the same eyes I’d seen in my dream looking at me filled with worry. “Syd? You fell asleep.”
My eyes widened as I tried to make sense of what was real and what was dream, but I knew for a fact Caleb was more than he wanted me to believe. “I saw you,” I whispered.
“What do you mean?” he asked as his brows pinched in confusion.
I swallowed hard and grimaced before speaking. Hopefully my intuition was correct, and he didn’t want to hurt me. “I saw you and your family in the cave . . . and I know what you were doing.” I met his eyes and watched as realization dawned on him. “I’ve always been able to see in my dreams; nothing can stay hidden from me. That’s how I found out what Michael was doing. I knew it well before I caught him.”
Caleb sat for a moment without moving or speaking, before finally he met my eyes again and cupped my cheek. I should have been afraid of him, or at the very least repulsed, but he hadn’t tried to hurt me, and I knew he had no intention of it. “We mean you no harm,” he whispered.
Nine
