Dead Twin Sister Read online

  Inside the booth, the girls set up their viewing area with plenty of buffer space between us. While D’Queen settled in, Dizzy popped the Spectral on a stand, and gave me a rousing thumbs-up. I turned to the window and nodded to Tony.

  Go time.

  Drew’s usual perfection rolled out of my headphones, begging me come play.

  I complied.

  “Baby you’re a hard nut to crack; I got a hammer so people stand back. I know you come with tears and germs like every other can of worms. Fall in, fall out…”

  There was a freedom in my voice I hadn’t felt in a while—a sensation that reminded me how important my own mental health was. In the thinking, I realized I was in serious need of Thessia. If anyone could guide me in and out of consciousness and through and in between the void … it was she. The woman had talked me down from countless situations—this would be no different. Unfortunately, she was lost in The Seduction, which meant I had no way of reaching her.

  At the moment.

  As my powers grew, so too would my chances of saving Thessia.

  The song was perfect so far. I continued singing, feeling the notes and connection to the deeper meaning within my soul. “One day you’ll see I’m human too; would that be a shock to you? Maybe so but I don’t care, Elvis Presley dyed his hair. There’s no such thing as ‘uncomplicated,’ every heart has a wall with a gate in it. Can’t work you out, standing on the outside; two plus two equals five.”

  As the last notes of the song faded to silence, I stole a glance from the members of D’Queen and offered up a wink. With a lyrical giggle, the girls hopped up from their seats and approached me for a round of hugs.

  “You are fierce,” the smallest bandmate sang out.

  This was one of those moments to never be forgotten—where the next generation of musicians get to remind their elder statesman the why of this rock and roll world. We are the transformers of the soul, the healers of the heart, and the inspiration and muse for the artistic. Nothing could take that from me—no studio exec, no reviewer, no demon from another plane of existence.

  The click of Tony’s mic interrupted the moment. “That was fuuu—” The engineer stopped himself short of dropping the f-bomb in front of the young girls. “Funtastic, Grog. Your sound is perfect.”

  I stole a glance at Dizzy, who immediately offered a reply by way of a single nod.

  “We have time to record one more, Tony?”

  “Hell, yeah we do. You good for ‘Skeleton Suit’?”

  My hands instinctively rocketed into devil horns. The girls of D’Queen mirrored my gesture and stance—a sight that filled my heart with hope for the future. “Cue that baby up.”

  Everyone settled back into place; I strapped in, drank down a swallow of lukewarm water to lube the cords, and breathed deep the air of life. Drew’s tracks filled my ears with his wondrously familiar sound. I sang. “Baby, you’re so heavy, you lean so hard you’ll crush my heart. Baby, you don’t have to save me, but you gotta keep that cloud away from me. Your negativity may have once appealed to me, but it’s not sexy; it’s a cry to be set free.”

  From deep beneath meat and bone, I could feel something stir, some deadly thread of energy worming its way from bowel to throat. Wrapped within the shift was a boiling rage that had only recently been returned to the big nothing.

  It was her, climbing back from The Shallow.

  Instead of fighting the lich, I focused every ounce of my energy into the song, hoping beyond hope it would do the trick and send the bitch packing back to the hell where she belonged.

  “As above so below, it’s time you let the old act go. You can whine or take control of what you draw toward your soul. In the dark I’ve seen you glow and I don’t mean your skeleton suit bones.”

  I could feel the song beating the beast back into submission.

  “Your negativity-don’t get it confused with mystery. You bleed misery, but there’s untapped gold beneath. You know your secret’s safe with with me; oh it weighs so heavy. You know your secret’s safe with me.”

  As the song ended, I could feel my dead twin sister retracting back into the shadows. This moment served as a perfect confirmation that my powers reached well beyond the mudras. Music was the original weapon against hatred, ignorance, corruption, and apathy. It was now painfully clear that Die So Fluid would serve as a weapon against evil. My superpower was my voice. Strap my bass on and there’d be nothing I couldn’t stop.

  At least in my own personal fantasy world.

  Or maybe this was reality. After all, I’d beheld many a strange and wicked thing within the span of two years. Nothing was beyond the realm of the possible—or impossible—at this point.

  Before I could dive too deep into my funktastic reverie, I was surrounded by D’Queen; their innocent, radiant eyes had the added effect of pushing the beast even further away.

  “Oh my God, you have got to sing something on our album,” one of the girls suggested—an idea that was immediately followed by shrieks of joy from the others.

  “I’d be honored.” How could I resist such a request? It wasn’t like ego would ever factor into this particular equation. When a group of young, impressionable girls looks for a positive role model, you step up or step away. I think I could be that for them.

  So long as it was me in the catsuit.

  I glanced over to Dizzy, who had the slightest hint of concern etched across his face. I excused myself from the girls and approached the crew. “What did you see, Dizz?”

  In reply, Dizzy turned the camera monitor to me. On the tiny screen, I sang—everything seemed perfectly normal, until the moment when it wasn’t. The image of me did a slight exorcist twist, Gaussian blur, just enough to be noticeable … if you knew what you were looking for. The few seconds of bodily smear coincided precisely with when I felt the lich rising.

  The camera did not lie.

  I turned to Dizzy and Bella. “I have this under control.”

  “Do you?” Dizzy’s voice was full-on challenge.

  I nodded in reply.

  “For a second there, it didn’t look like you had anything under control,” Dizzy snapped as quietly as he could.

  In a whisper, I replied. “Yes, the twin attempted to make her way out. With a Herculean effort—thank you very much—I managed to force her back down.”

  “But for how long, Grog?” Bella asked, more concern than accusation.

  “I’m not going to let her escape a second time.”

  Dizzy pointed back to the display. “You can’t know that, Grog.”

  “I can and I do.”

  Bella grabbed my hand and squeezed, the gesture purest sympathy. “How?”

  “I’m going back to The Seduction and returning with a friend.”

  ELEVEN

  History. Repeating in a cage; twisting every page

  To pervert the narrative from love to rage

  Drew paced, chewing on the thumb of his left hand and roughing up his Mohawk with his right. “You can’t be serious, Grog. We’ve been down this road once before and nearly didn’t make the return trip from that particular hell.”

  I waited for silence to drift over the moment. Drew stopped his mincing back and forth and took me in, locking his brotherly gaze upon me. When I finally did speak, it was with a measure of calm and certainty. “My powers weren’t nearly what they are now. You’ve seen them mature. We both know I can find my way back to The Seduction. Once there, all I have to do is locate Thessia and return with her in tow.”

  “Aha.” Drew leapt over the coffee table, planted himself beside me on the couch, and entwined his fingers with mine. “It’s what happens between points A and B that we’re not sure about. You have no idea what is waiting on the other side of the veil—or if Vau-eal survived and whether his powers have grown as exponentially as yours.”

  “And what if I don’t retrieve Thessia and can’t stop the lich from returning and sucking me dry?”

  To that, Drew had no response
.

  “You have to trust me, Drew. I wouldn’t be entertaining this idea if I didn’t think it was warranted.”

  A tight hiss of air escaped Drew’s lips. “Are you certain this isn’t just a search and rescue mission to appease some misplaced guilt?” Drew instantly tensed, anticipating I might drop the hammer down for his accusation. I refrained.

  “I understand why you might think that. Thessia was my mentor and friend. However, unless I can get some help with this situation, my dead twin sister is going to do everything in her darkened power to take down everyone who matters to me.”

  “But why?” Drew asked the one question I’d consistently avoided.

  “I wish I knew.” My lame answer did not satisfy anyone involved.

  “Is it possible,” Bella broke her silence, “this sister might be a manifestation of anger or guilt over something?”

  Both Drew and I turned our attention to Bella. Not a word was spoken—we simply stared. I wanted to give some credence to the idea that the shadow creature from The Shallow could be nothing more than a guilt-fueled, self-fulfilling prophesy; but I’d seen way too much to discount the idea that she could be a demon from another realm, whose only intention was to reach The Planar Mortalis and wreak a very special flavor of havoc.

  “I wish that were the case, Bella. Unfortunately, this is real … and dangerous.”

  Dizzy finally pulled his attention away from the camera. “What if someone went with you? Is that even possible?”

  Reluctantly, I nodded. “Yes. Why?”

  “This might sound super crazy, but maybe I could accompany you on this suicide mission with the Spectral. With me looking through this lens, I could help alert you to anything out of the ordinary.”

  I leaned back into the overstuffed couch. “Doll face, everything in The Dark Seduction is out of the ordinary.”

  “No shit,“ Drew added. “It is the very definition of what the fuck?”

  “So it sounds like you need me all the more.”

  Dizzy made a good case for himself. I looked to Drew, who immediately picked up on my acceptance of the idea. He nodded; I turned back to Dizz. “Okay, fine. You and the Spectral will go with me. Understand that what you’re going to see could very well fuck you in the frontal lobes so hard, you won’t think straight for weeks.”

  “I’ve smoked weed with that same effect.”

  Drew’s ears perked up. “No shit? Can you hook me up?”

  Dizzy grinned. “I think maybe, yeah.”

  “Okay, boys, keep your bongs in your pants.” I instantly regretted the awkward statement—having only the faintest idea what it meant. In the end, it incited a much-needed round of laughter … so who gave a fuck about the meaning.

  Drew reluctantly capitulated. “Hell,” he groaned, “when do we do this do?”

  “The sooner the better,” I answered, standing from the couch and turning to face Dizzy. “You certain about this?”

  Without a sound, Dizzy nodded.

  “Then grab your camera and let’s punch a hole in the space time continuum.”

  I turned to leave the room but not before Drew could stop me. “Grog.” A hint of sorrow threaded its way through Drew’s voice. “The second anything goes awry, you come back. I cannot lose both of my dearest friends in a year’s time … not without admitting myself to the nearest asylum.”

  Before speaking a word, I pulled Drew into a gripping embrace. “I swear to you, my dear, I’ll be back.”

  Dizzy scooped up his camera. “How do we do this? Is there some kind of magic spell or a wand to wave?”

  “It’s more like I burn some incense and we drink some blood—the usual Wiccan ritual.” I finished with a wink.

  Dizzy released a nervous sigh. “You had me going there for a moment.”

  “Unfortunately, that was all true—minus the usual Wiccan ritual bit. There is nothing usual about what we’re going to undertake.”

  “You mean,” Dizzy paused, his face drawing into a tight scrunch. “I have to go full-on Vamp?”

  I shrugged. “That’s one way of thinking about it.”

  “Whose blood will we be drinking?” Dizzy’s voice grew thin. “Never mind. I don’t wanna know.”

  “Then know you shall not.” I patted Dizzy on the back and led him into the kitchen.

  “Oh shit, why here? Because there are knives? Are we drinking our own blood? You have to cut me? I don’t feel so good.”

  Dizzy nearly fainted. I slid a chair under his ass before he went down and then reassured the kid. “We’re in here in case any of the blood spills. You know how hard that shit is to get out of carpets?”

  “Thankfully, no, I don’t. And I’m fairly certain I could have gone my entire life without knowing that particular fact and your knowledge of it. Speaking of which, why do you know so much about blood? Can I trust you?” Dizzy shot up from the chair. “Are you a vampire? Is that what this is all about?”

  “You’re panicking, Dizzy. That’s totally understandable.” I gently patted the young man’s shoulder and eased him back to sitting. “I promise you this, Dizzy, nothing will get to you without having to go through me first.”

  Dizzy nodded nervously. “I want that to be comforting, I really do. If I’m being honest, I cannot say for certain I feel any better with that promise.”

  “Well, mate, it’ll have to do. I don’t have time to spend trying to sway your fears from the ledge. If you want to go, stick with me. if you’re feeling a bit cowardly, I would totally understand you bailing.”

  “No.” Dizzy shook his head vigorously—clearly doing his best to convince himself. “I’m good. Let’s do this.”

  I busied myself preparing for the ritual. It took me a while to complete the circle of salt and prepare the chalice for the draining rite. Once the preparation was complete, I sliced my right palm open and held it over the metal cup. It took longer than I’d expected to get enough of the warm liquid for the ritual.

  With the chalice half full, I eased Dizzy to the floor and onto his back. I lifted his head and leaned the cup to his lips. The moment the coppery tang of blood reached Dizzy’s nostrils, he was overcome with dry heaves. I had to wait for the visceral reaction to subside before a second attempt at pouring the blood into Dizzy’s open mouth.

  After three tries, Dizzy finally took in a mouthful and swallowed. I was certain Dizz would vomit the liquid back up and into his lap. Fortunately, he held his gag reflex in check.

  I drank my share, laid back onto the ground, next to Dizzy, grabbed his hand, and began the incantation. “Accerso alius sententia ut mihi, phasmatis of interregnum ego dico, solvo meus mens mei, ego dico phasmatis audite meus placitum meus mens quod iacio, The Dark Seduction.”

  Gravity took a holiday. Dizzy and I floated slowly upward; as we rose, the sound of rending metal and screeching banshees tore at the fabric of my sanity. From above, a tiny, velvet-black spot formed and instantly spread across the ceiling of the room until the stucco tiles had been replaced by a black hole.

  And then the absolute darkness stretched down to envelop us. Within seconds everything had vanished—sound and vision replaced by an all-encompassing emptiness. I attempted to cry out to Dizzy, but my voice was lost, even to me.

  The only comfort to be found was in the familiarity of the dark and twisty show before us—it was exactly as I remembered when I first crossed the boundary between realms. Any second now…

  The world opened up to reveal what lay behind the most heinous and shadowy curtain.

  “The Dark Seduction,” I whispered, my voice registering with my ears.

  “Holy hell, this place is…” Dizzy fell silent.

  “Disturbing?”

  “I was going to say, fucked up, but yours works just as well, Grog.”

  The surrounding area consisted of blackened trees in every direction. The air was perfectly still; not a single ebony leaf was blown from its perch. In fact, the environment was at a complete standstill.

 
“How do we find Thessia, Grog?”

  “We listen,” I answered, unsure of what I’d had to say.

  “To what?” Dizzy raised his hands in doubt. “There’s no goddamn sound. And I know I haven’t lost my hearing, because I hear you. So what is going on, Grog?”

  “We’re in The Seduction and you must be quiet. There are some seriously mad bastards in this little area. Trust me when I say we do not want to throw down with the inhabitants of this homicidal hideaway.”

  “Or maybe we do?” Dizzy encouraged.

  With a lightning-quick scolding, I reprimanded Dizzy. “You would not stand a chance in Hell against these…”

  “These what, Grog?”

  “Never mind. I really didn’t want to conjure up the images of the beasts I’d played with during my last Seduction outing. That time would be better spent searching for Thessia.”

  Once again, Dizzy challenged me. “And how do we manage that? Do you happen to have a map of this—what is this place?

  “I’ve already told you—The Dark—”

  Dizzy cut me off short. “Blah, blah, blah—I already know the name, Grog. What I want to know is what makes the Dark Seduction so … special.”

  “Can’t you feel it?”

  “Feel what?”

  “Evil.” I answered simply.

  “Oh, come on, Grog, don’t tell me you believe in that binary, man-made construct of good vs. evil?”

  What Dizzy didn’t know was that I believed in just about everything these days. Why? After you’ve seen as much as I…

  A spiderweb of purple lightning laced the sky above us, immediately followed by a chorus of voices shouting in unison, “Boom!”

  “Okay, that was beyond messed up,” Dizzy mumbled. “Does everything happen here with a Greek chorus working the sound effects?”

  The flashes of sky-bound royalty continued to light up the horizon as the chorus narrated each clap of thunder. One particular flash, that ventured lower to the ground, illuminated an outline of shapes—monstrous and varied.