Emma's Thrall
Chapter 13 - Who Knows What Evil Lurks in the Hearts of Men
by GlassO
Fair warning - this chapter contains no sex.
So Rex was magnificent at the game. He caught the ball many times and once ran it for a goal (sorry, touchdown). It seemed weird he'd hang with this group. Everyone else is so...nerdy, I guess is what I want to say. And Caroline, she performed at half-time with the marching band. I couldn't really hear her trumpet individually, but I assume she played well. Everyone tells me she's quite good.
After the game we had one last event to attend, Lily's violin recital. Was this going to be my schedule for the rest of Senior year? Going to everyone's sports games, plays, and recitals? On one hand, glad to be included, but it sure seemed like it would keep me busy. This is what being a parent to a lot of kids must feel like. But it's like Emma said, it's important to show our support. God, she loved her friends and I loved her for it.
At the recital Emma sat next to me and we held hands like familiar lovers, trying to reassure me that she wasn't a monster. I'd open my palm and she'd trace little patterns. It was very calming. Almost put me into a trance state. Maybe it did. We still hadn't discussed the whole 'Malice' incident, and I was thinking about what exactly I was going to say, and thinking about what she was going to say. I began to wonder...who else was inside her that I hadn't met?
Lily played beautifully. She had a prominent solo and just hit it perfectly. She blushed when we stood to applaud her. So sweet and shy.
After the concert we all headed back to Emma's in several cars. I wondered what the evening would become. I was pretty exhausted from the day's activities. I don't think I was up for an another orgy. Well apparently, no one else was either as we all pretty much retired to the library for the rest of evening to read comic books by the fire and drink hot chocolate. It was a nice comfortable silence. Like when you come home from the beach and nobody says anything in the car, but it's a perfect quiet. That's what this felt like. Nobody had to say anything because there was no void here that needed to be filled.
One by one the group began to excuse themselves to bed and headed upstairs. I wondered if everyone was going to be naked in our bed when Emma I retired. I can't believe I'm calling it 'our bed' now. How presumptuous of me!
Finally it was just me and Emma in the library. She sat down on the rug by the fire and gestured for me to join her. We sat in silence for a time. Just enjoying the fire, our hot chocolate, and our proximity.
She broke the silence first. “I'm sorry about Malice. I should have told you about her. I didn't think...I had hoped you two would never meet. She doesn't come out often.”
I snuggled close to her, to give her reassurance I was still with her.
“She said she'd met me before.” I said, sipping my hot chocolate. “Does she kind of peek through you? How does that work exactly?”
Emma took a long drag on her hot chocolate.
“Do you remember when I called you on Wednesday?” she asked.
“Vaguely.” I replied. I remembered getting a call from her. But I have no idea what we talked about. I also remembered having an intense sex dream that night.
“I didn't call you,” Emma said casually. “Malice did.”
“Malice? Why? I thought she only came out...at your worst times.” I said, trying to sound relaxed, but inside I was panicking a little.
“I...I was kind of having an anxiety attack.” Emma confessed. “That night...I started to have doubts. About you. About us. About what I was feeling towards you. About whether you were someone I could trust and share my secrets with. I kind of worked myself up over it. That's when Malice came out. And decided to call you. And put you under. Way under. And she did some things. To your mind.”
Okay, so I probably should have been freaking out, right? I mean, this Malice personality...she was pretty fucking frightening. I saw what she wanted to do Heather. I wondeedr what she would do to me if she saw me as a threat. But I had already promised Emma my trust. And I keep my word. I mean, I try to anyway.
“Tell me, Liz.” she continued. “Do you remember the first time you were hypnotized?”
I thought for a moment. Then I remembered.
“I think it was when I was 12, maybe 13.” I said, “I was at a birthday party for a friend when I was living in Maine. She had a magician there who was also a hypnotist. I think her name was Shari. Anyway, she picked me to be her assistant and I was super excited, I mean, I wasn't really friends with the birthday girl, but her dad knew my dad so I got invited. So I went up and she sat me down on a metal folding chair. Then she pulled out a pocket watch...I know, pretty cliché right? And then she started hypnotizing me. I kind of knew what she was doing, I mean, I'd seen enough cartoons, but I thought it was just part of the act, I mean, I didn't think it was real. I thought she was going to do a magic trick or something.”
The memory was getting clearer now.
“But she started swinging the watch and had me stare at it very intently...I don't remember exactly what she was saying, but pretty soon I felt myself feeling limp and relaxed. I remember my head kept drooping down to my chest, and I had to jerk it upward to keep watching the watch. And then she gently guided my head down to my chest and let me close my eyes....and I remember thinking, “Oh wow, I'm hypnotized. That was easy.”
“For the rest of the afternoon I was her obedient assistant. I would hold her hat and cards for her. I'd obediently get her drinks or snacks...whatever she said I had to do. She had me do a bunch of hypnotic tricks, like I forgot my name, forgot the number 7...she made my body stiff and then suspended me between two chairs. Then sillier things, like having me make animal noises whenever one of the other kids yelled out the name of an animal. I suppose I should have been embarrassed, but I really enjoyed it. I felt like the star of the show.”
“When she brought me out of trance I got a big round of applause from everyone and I remember I felt so proud of what a good job I did. Shari told me I was one of the best hypnotic subjects she'd ever met. She said I had real talent for it.”
Emma took a deep breath. And then a long pregnant pause.
“Yeah, so those things never happened. Malice put those memories in you to make you more susceptible to our hypnosis. She also put in a bunch of triggers in you, like when she froze you at the game. I can fix all this...if you want. I mean...and I hate to admit this to you. But I knew about what she did...but I was afraid to tell you.”
I was shocked. I mean, these memories I had of being hypnotized at this party seemed so real to me. I almost didn't believe her. I laid my head on her lap. She stroked my hair.
“You know what,” I said. “It's okay. I think Malice and I need to come to an understanding with each other. We're both part of your life now. I think she needs to know that I trust her too. Does that sound weird? Hey, did you know your eyes change color when you're Malice?”
“Seriously?” she said.
“Yeah, the irises go almost black...like a real deep brown. It was pretty intense.”
“Okay, that's some serious multiple-personality-disorder shit,” Emma said. “I mean there's only one other person in me that could do something like that...that I know of anyway.”
“Do I even want to ask who that is?”
“It's the Shadow.” Emma said, in complete seriousness.
“The Shadow?” I asked. “Like Lamont Cranston? Like, “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?” Shadow?
“Yep.” said Emma. “That's the guy. And he's only come out once, and holy fuck, he does not fuck around.”
Emma took a big sip of hot chocolate.
“So me and Caroline were in Port Orchard over the summer. Just having a girls night, sneaking into bars that didn't card, that kind of thing...and we started getting harassed by these guys. Not military, just local drunk assholes who didn't care much for black folks, and tried stirring up some shit with me and Caroline.”
I should add here, yes, Caroline is black, which is pretty rare in Washington. Her dad's also military. I don't think her family would have lived here by choice. Also, Washington can be surprisingly racist, though it's usually more out in the eastern part of the state.
“So we leave the bar,” Emma continued. “And these guys start following us. There were four of them. And we're walking, and we're a little drunk, and then they start gaining on us, so we start walking faster, but they start walking faster, and then a bottle sails over our heads. I mean just missed Caroline by an inch....And that's when the Shadow showed up.”
Emma took a sip.
“It was such a strange sensation. One moment I was terrified, thinking about the beating we were probably going to get, maybe even get raped..and then...this overwhelming sense of calm....Like time stood still and I was no longer in charge of my body. Someone else was. I was the passenger now. And this person...he knew exactly what to do.”
“The first thing he did was to turn around and face these men. And then he let out a blood-curdling laugh. I mean, just maniacal. Like he was glad he got to face these men and deliver them some justice. Everything was in slow motion now. I could see everything so clearly. It felt like I had all the time in the world. My body moved slow, but so did theirs. I ran towards them, laughing all the way. Now they were horrified, I mean, wouldn't you be? There was an old Buick parked on the street there. I snapped off the antenna as I closed the distance. Now they were starting to back up. But I didn't stop. I went right up to the first one and smacked him across the face with the antenna...but that was just to stun him. Immediately I got low and smacked the heel of my palm right into his jaw uppercut style. I saw him rise in the air before he went down, completely knocked out cold. Stepping over him, I snap kicked into the knee of the next man, as he started to go down on that leg, I swiveled my hips and my boot made contact with the side of his face, like Billy Jack, crescent kick, and bam down he went.”
“The first thing he did was to turn around and face these men. And then he let out a blood-curdling laugh. I mean, just maniacal. Like he was glad he got to face these men and deliver them some justice. Everything was in slow motion now. I could see everything so clearly. It felt like I had all the time in the world. My body moved slow, but so did theirs. I ran towards them, laughing all the way. Now they were horrified, I mean, wouldn't you be? There was an old Buick parked on the street there. I snapped off the antenna as I closed the distance. Now they were starting to back up. But I didn't stop. I went right up to the first one and smacked him across the face with the antenna...but that was just to stun him. Immediately I got low and smacked the heel of my palm right into his jaw uppercut style. I saw him rise in the air before he went down, completely knocked out cold. Stepping over him, I snap kicked into the knee of the next man, as he started to go down on that leg, I swiveled my hips and my boot made contact with the side of his face, like Billy Jack, crescent kick, and bam down he went.”
“And while this is going on, I'm just laughing, uncontrollably laughing. The third one takes a swing at me, and it felt like it was moving in slow motion. I could see exactly where it was going and what do about it. I deflected it upward with my left arm and then just pummeled him a couple times with my right hand, right into his kidney, like a boxer. And he slumped down to the ground. The fourth one just ran. And I just laughed at him. Like a crazy person. I called out to him in this unearthly voice, “Run coward! You can hide from me, but you can't hide from your shadow!” Followed by more laughter.”
“I walked back to Caroline, who was just standing there with her mouth hanging open. I mean, we'd been intimate before, she knew I had some quirks, I'd hypnotized her several times, but she didn't know I was capable of this. I walked up to her, and held her arms. Then I said in the same voice, “The weed of racism bears bitter fruit!” And I removed this ring I was wearing, and I placed it on her finger. “You are in my debt, dear Caroline! Together we shall fight evil wherever it should encroach on the light!” And then I laughed again. And I kissed her. Poor Caroline. Then I collapsed into her, just exhausted. ”
“Jesus Christ,” I said. “How did Caroline take this?”
“Surprisingly well. She was mostly just relieved we got out of there intact. She thought I was just acting crazy to get the advantage, and she knew I read Shadow books so I don't think she thought I had actually become the Shadow. She still wears that ring. I got another one to match it. “
Emma held up her index finger and showed me the red ruby ring she wore there.
“I think that's why she wants to go into law enforcement.” Emma continued. “To pay back that debt. Related question: Do you know what a tulpa is?”
“Uhhh...is it some sort of fish? Wait, is it something they have at Taco Bell?” I asked, having no idea what she was talking about.
“A tulpa,” she explained, “is a supernatural being that's brought into existence by mental or spiritual will. The author of the Shadow, Walter Gibson...he wrote 238 Shadow books over 2 years. It's rumored the Shadow was willed into existence at the house where he wrote them. Sometimes I wonder if I willed the Shadow into me, having read all those books.”
I reached up and stroked Emma's face. To reassure her.
“So this is your way of telling me you're even more fucked up then I might have previously thought.” I said.
“Yes.” She said, quietly. “I know you've said you're committed to me...but you shouldn't have. Not until you've seen all of me. The worst parts. The scary parts.”
I moved my head from her lap, and repositioned myself on her. Sitting on her lap, facing her. I put my hands on either side of her head.
“Emma,” I said, looking here directly in the eye. “Even the worst and scariest parts of you are there to protect you and protect the ones you love. I accept them. I accept you. I accept all of you...even the ones I haven't met yet. Stop doubting yourself. Just let me love you.”
And I kissed her as deeply and as truly as I could.