Chasing the Moon (24 page)

Fixing the boiler would fix the future. She didn’t know how to fix a boiler, but she might be able to figure it out if she didn’t have to contend with the beetle in the room too. Her only weapon was an old claw hammer. Unless it was magical, it wasn’t going to do much against the creature.

She tightened her grip. It didn’t feel magical.

The fly on her shoulder made a loud buzz. The beetle swiveled in her direction.

Diana stepped out of the shadows. She didn’t know why. The best justification she could arrive at was that if she was going to die anyway, she might as well go down swinging. If there was a Valhalla, she’d be dining with the Vikings tonight with one hell of a story to tell.

She remained calm. Where once a giant bug would’ve shocked her, now it was just another oddity that wanted to eat her. Her heart beat faster. Her muscles tensed. She tapped into a part of herself that could view this from a distance, as if she were playing a survival horror video game in which she had only one shot at this level.

The creature didn’t advance. It just stood there, studying her. She wondered if it was impressed by her bravado or confused by her stupidity. She didn’t look it in the eyes. It had so many that that would’ve been impossible. She watched its legs, its body language, trying to be ready for when it tried something.

Diana took one step to her left. The beetle pivoted. Its raspy wheeze quickened.

Speaking softly, she held the hammer in both hands and leveled it at her opponent. “Make your move, big guy.”

But the monster just stood there.

“What are you waiting for?” she growled through clenched teeth. “Come on, you stupid bug. Come on!”

The beetle took a step back, and its wheezing ceased. She’d scared it.

It was ludicrous, but just for a moment she’d managed to intimidate the damn thing.

Maybe it was only surprised. When you were as big as a car you probably weren’t used to being yelled at by little women with littler hammers.

The beetle moved toward her. She shouted. It backed away with a startled shriek.

Diana drew in a deep breath, then unleashed the loudest roar she could muster. It echoed through the chamber, and even she was surprised by it. The beetle turned and dashed away, slamming into a wall with enough force to stagger itself. She stamped her feet, jumping up and down, shrieking. The creature regained its senses and bolted down a tunnel.

She smiled at the fly still perched on her shoulder. “What a wimp.”

She checked the boiler.

“Now how the hell do we fix this thing?”

The fly hopped off her shoulder and walked in small circles on the rusted boiler.

She raised her hammer. “When in doubt…”

She struck the boiler, sounding a peculiar gong that literally rattled the nest. The quake shook dust off the walls. She wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing, but it was something.

She hit it again with the same results. This time the noisy buzzing warbles of alien crickets also sounded. Several drones entered the chamber. They didn’t do anything other than watch her and make clicking noises to each other. She took this as a positive sign.

“Sorry, fellas. It’s nothing personal.”

Diana struck the boiler several more times. Each blow sent shock waves through the nest and drew the attention of more and more of the Hive. Three of the giant beetles arrived too, but none made a move to stop her. She kept her guard up, expecting a rush any moment. It never came. And after a few minutes of smacking the boiler, everything went back to normal.

It was a bit anticlimactic, actually. She wasn’t even sure when the change happened. She just looked up and noticed that the nest and all the bugs were gone, that she was back in the ordinary basement.

The part of her that had seen too many horror movies knew that this was the fake-out, the false moment of triumph. When the monster jumped from the shadows, she’d deal with it. Diana climbed the stairs out of the basement. There was no bug behind the door. And when she checked the world beyond the front door, everything was normal. As normal as she could expect.

“Good job, Number Five.”

She turned. West stood in the doorway of his apartment, eating a hamburger. She was unsurprised to see him alive.

“Thought you’d gotten eaten,” she said. “I saw your arm, your toolbox.”

“Lot of arms out there. Lot of toolboxes,” he replied. “But if you didn’t see me get eaten, you didn’t really see anything, didja?”

“No, I guess I didn’t.”

West offered a crisp salute before retreating to his apartment, and Diana, accustomed to such things, didn’t give the incident another thought. Except to be glad that the world outside her building wasn’t a hellish landscape of mutant insects. Just the one she knew, with a healthy dose of cosmic monsters and indescribable horrors sprinkled here and there.

It wasn’t much, but she’d take what she could get.

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Diana met Sharon at a sushi restaurant. The thought of sushi used to make Diana queasy, but that was before the transference with Vom. Now she could eat anything. She limited herself to conventional edibles, though this wasn’t always easy. Every so often she’d spot a succulent pigeon or smell a halfeaten burger in the trash. But years of living as a human had given her enough self-control to avoid surrendering to her less discriminating urges.

She glanced through the menu. Everything looked delicious.

“So I have to say I’m surprised you called,” said Sharon. “I thought you were a bit freaked by how our last encounter ended.”

“The four-armed monster werewolf thing?” said Diana. “Yeah, I’ll admit that threw me for a loop at first.”

“So why did you call?”

“I don’t know. Guess I just needed someone to talk to who could understand it from my perspective. I have friends, but…”

“But they’re from the old life,” said Sharon. “Even if they were willing to listen, they’d just think you were crazy.”

“Why shouldn’t they? I’m still not sure I’m not.”

“I’ve been there. Except I was lucky enough to choose my fate, not just fall into it. I can’t imagine what that must be like. I’m just glad you felt comfortable enough to call me.”

“I hope it’s not an imposition,” Diana said.

“Don’t even worry about it. It’s nice to have a friend outside the church.”

“You go to church?”

Sharon smiled. “Nondenominational. Primal force worship.”

“Like Wicca?”

“Not at all.”

Sharon offered nothing more, and Diana didn’t feel comfortable enough to pry.

“So you actually chose to live like this,” she said. “That just seems…” She trailed off, unwilling to finish the thought.

“Crazy?” asked Sharon in a flat tone.

“Oh God. I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to offend you. Not after you were nice enough to—”

Sharon cracked a grin. “I was just messing with you.”

Diana chuckled uncomfortably.

“Sorry. Couldn’t resist,” Sharon said. “I don’t know. I guess it is kind of crazy to want to touch something beyond yourself,
something greater than you can ever truly comprehend. But isn’t that human nature? This universe is far stranger and more beautiful than most of us will ever know, than most of us will be givenance to know. When the opportunity came, how could I not take it?”

Her gaze focused on some distant point and an expression of hushed wonder crossed her face. It was almost an intimate moment.

“I suppose I hadn’t really thought about it,” said Diana softly.

Sharon didn’t reply. She stared off into space for a few more seconds before shaking off her silent delirium. She glanced around the restaurant as if seeing this world for the first time.

“Sorry. That’s happening more often lately.”

“No problem.”

While waiting for their food, they chatted. It was all small talk. Nothing about monsters from beyond or otherdimensional weirdness. It wasn’t that they were avoiding the subject. It just seemed irrelevant. It was nice to talk to someone like a normal human being. Strangely, Diana found it hard to engage in harmless conversation with normal people. She just kept wanting to explain how little they knew. But Sharon knew just as much as Diana, and this freed them to talk about nothing important.

“So are you seeing anyone?” asked Sharon.

“There’s this guy,” replied Diana. “But I’m not really sure about it.”

“Is he cute?”

Diana nodded. “Yes, he’s cool. But he’s like us.”

“And that’s a problem?”

“I don’t know. I just get a weird vibe off of him sometimes.”

“Bad vibe can be a dealbreaker,” agreed Sharon.

“But I’m not sure I can trust my vibe-sensing powers anymore. He seems like a good guy and it’s not like I have a lot of options. Don’t see how I could date a normal person the way my life is now.”

“I hear you.”

“What about you? Anyone special?”

“Sort of. It’s complicated.”

Diana waited for Sharon to elaborate. She didn’t.

“Sorry,” said Diana. “Didn’t mean to pry.”

“No, it’s all right. I asked you, didn’t I? Seems only fair. I’m in a relationship now. I guess that’s what you could call it. It’s more of a professional capacity, but it takes up most of my time. Makes it hard to meet anyone else. Although I’m not sure I’m interested in anyone else.”

“Crush on the boss? That can be trouble.”

“You have no idea. Especially since he doesn’t see me that way.”

“How do you know?” asked Diana.

“Because he can’t. I know he cares for me, but he doesn’t have the capacity for anything more than we have. Anyway, he’s leaving. I knew he would be one day. I just didn’t expect it so soon. But it’s probably for the best. I know it’s the best for him at least.”

Sharon stirred the ice in her drink and studied the cubes as if they held the answer to unasked questions.

Diana chuckled to try to lighten the mood. “As if dating wasn’t complicated enough before this.”

Sharon smiled. “I won’t miss it.”

“You shouldn’t give up so easily. I’m sure there’s a guy out there.”

“When things change, it won’t much matter.”

“What’s going to change?”

“Oh, nothing important. Nothing worth worrying about.”

Diana considered pressing, but their food arrived. Her appetite demanded her full attention. She forced herself to eat one piece of sushi at a time, to chew each piece twenty times, and to wait at least fifteen seconds between bites. It took most of her concentration, and the conversation returned to inane small talk, which was just fine with her.

Sharon spotted someone entering the restaurant and lowered her head. Diana glanced toward the entrance.

“Who is that?”

The tanned and immaculately groomed man saw Sharon. Waving, he called her name and made a beeline toward the table.

“Well, hello.” He smiled, and the whiteness of his teeth nearly blinded Diana. “Didn’t know you came here, Sharon.”

“First time,” she replied.

“Mind if I sit with you for a moment? My party has yet to arrive.” He sat without waiting for permission. “Promising new disciples. We haven’t much time left. We have to save as many as we can.”

“Mmmm,” replied Sharon while chewing on a spicy tuna roll.

“I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.” He held out a hand to Diana. “My name’s Greg.”

His grip was surprisingly strong, even a bit aggressive. She squeezed back. They stared into each other’s eyes. She sensed the challenge inherent in his gaze. He dared her to look away. She didn’t.

Greg smiled through clenched teeth and a tight jaw. “And who might you be?”

“Diana.”

She was aware of a challenge of her own buried in the reply. She didn’t like this guy. She couldn’t say why, but she trusted her instinct.

At some point the handshake become awkward and the aggression between them noticeable to the nearby patrons. They released at the same time and dopped their stares simultaneously. It was the only way to end the battle of wills in a civilized manner, since resorting to a fistfight would have been frowned upon by the establishment and Diana still had half a plate of spider rolls to finish off.