Residents of World's End had little need of telephones.
Simple messages passed among the populations as effectively as line-of-sight
smiles, although etiquette dictated that messages more fleeting than a veritable
smile be communicated in a more convenient fashion. World's End had
hard-wired telephones, answering machines, and Cora kept her ringer on day or
night to respond to rare medical emergencies, largely psychological
complications suffered by visitors of the ordinary world. When the phone rang as she
passed in the hall of her home, she snatched it from its cradle and murmured
acknowledgement into the mouthpiece.
"Have you had a chance to question the doctor, Cora."
The distraught tone of Carlotta Rebus' voice startled her. "Carlotta? Is there
something wrong? You sound terrible."
"I can't hear myself think! Cora, that parasite, whatever
it is, will destroy us all!"
"Carlotta, I provided medication..."
"No! I am the elder of the Council! I will not
disable myself with your medication!"
Cora sighed heavily. Of what use would a keeper of
tradition be to the Council in a time of crisis? "I only meant..."
"Did you question
the doctor? Do you have any idea of the nature of this horrid intrusion, or
what we can do about it?"
Cora closed her eyes, reminding herself that despite Carlotta's
reasonable level of intelligence and keeper of Coven tradition, the woman was as
unreasonably impatient as she was self-centered. "The doctor
has been having debilitating nightmares. He's infected and heavily sedated. Carlotta, the man
is dying. I doubt if he has the presence of mind to answer further
questions."
"You must try! We have no other source of information!"
Cora sighed. "Too late. Years too late. I doubt if he
ever had useful
information."
The woman went from a raging harridan to a whimpering child. "What are we going to do to stop this?"
With shaking hands, Cora cradled the handset and disconnected
the cord from the base. Tension wracked her body with physical pain.
Uncontrollable emotion tore at her, hatred from one direction, wanton lust from
another, constantly shifting. Whenever she felt a piece of herself succumb to
the madness, the blackness lashed out and snatched it from her very soul.
Piecemeal, she was being consumed. Equally defenseless, all of World's End
would die.
She entered Doctor Vladimir Corellian's darkened room. In
the physical world, silence dominated, broken only by the raspy breathing of
lungs fighting for one more breath, and then another, if at all possible.
His eyes were open, and when she moved into view, they settled upon her,
focusing and unfocusing moment by moment. "Don't be afraid," she murmured.
"The nightmares are not yours. They'll end soon, and you'll know peace.
Where you go, they cannot hope to follow. None of this is your doing,
Doctor. You gave us as much forewarning as we could possibly use."
His hand twitched. Deep within himself, his mind was still
sharp and focused. She placed hers to cover it, judged its
coolness as the onset of death, and when he closed his eyes, she sense he would
not reopen them again, not in this world. And with that certainty, she
left the room, closed the door behind her, and went in search of the partial
shielding the powerful minds of young Miriam Vanders and the others would
provide.
Walking the deserted streets of World's End, the sheer beauty of
the golden evening overpowered the physical senses. Nothing untoward
lurked in this lovely realm. Neither could the fragility of human emotion be faulted for
the assault in progress. Emotion was value placed upon the things and events of the world by experience. The
emotional chaos her had nothing to do with her or anyone's instability.
Thoughts and feelings not her own intruded, and she had no way
of separating them from thoughts and feelings native to her own mind. They sandblasted the rational
structure of her thought patterns. An as yet undefined, unidentified monster fed
upon the psychic detritus that fell away.
The restless wandered the lawns of the town meeting hall where
the Council congregated from time to time. Like the old Coven, they were
the unifying factor of the population of World's End, although that unity had
never been achieved to serve any known function. Most thought it
self-defensive in nature, but Cora sensed something more at work than an
arrangement as simple as a collection of special women and a random, senseless
attack from beyond the human psychic environment. World's End existed for
a purpose and the destruction of the old Coven hinted of that purpose.
The wanderers had duly medicated themselves with a psychotropic
that contained the town madness. The Coven of the previous generation had fled World's End and taken refuge
in Oak Grove where many had succumbed to violence. Events would take a
different course now, although why the Coven had behaved the way it had or how
it had managed to defeat the infestation would always remain a mystery.
Inside the modest building, Cora found Elizabeth Mannhardt
pacing in front of the podium. Miriam Vandegarde turned to identify the
newcomer, a strikingly beautiful, dark beauty of about thirty who appeared
unfazed by the assault in progress. Carlotta Rebus shook her head in
disdain for having her phone call cut short and turned away. Lora Fields,
monitor of the ordinary world, sat in the shadows talking with Sheryl Watson,
World's End social organizer currently on the verge of hysteria. Wendy
Treman, security, last of the seven members, stood guard in the ordinary world
at the gateway.
"Doctor Corellian will be dead by daybreak," Cora announced.
"He was not coherent from the moment the infestation began. He could not
have helped with this."
Carlotta Rebus stood with her back to her, shaking violently.
"I apologize for my behavior," Cora said gently.
"It's not that. I saw a man in the forest and nobody
believes me."
Carlotta Rebus stood just
over five feet in height, a slight woman in her fifties, a woman who had been
alive during the attack upon the Coven, but not within World's End at the time,
nor close enough to Oak Grove to suffer more than the disorientation of the
infestation. Miriam was the one elected member of the Council. She had appointed Carlotta
to fill the traditional post of historian knowing her memory of World's End
prior to the Coven to be unreliable and sketchy at best. Carlotta had
always been a difficult woman, but one who had come to serve an unpleasant, but
unnecessary function. She freely expressed the darkest fears of the
population of World's End. She had always dreaded this moment, as had they
all.
"A man," Miriam said, allowing Carlotta to consider the
improbability of her claim.
"A naked man. A dark man."
"Of African descent?"
"A red man."
"An Indian?"
Carlotta glanced around to ensure she was not being mocked.
"Burgundy. Massive. Heavily muscled. Human, but not of any
race that lives in the ordinary world. A man native to the forests beyond
World's End."
"Or an intruder from a gateway," Miriam suggested. Despite
the internal assault roaring within her, Cora could feel Miriam testing
possibilities before dismissing Carlotta's claim outright.
Carlotta shrugged. And stood shaking.
Miriam turned to Elizabeth Mannhardt without missing a beat.
"Send out a call if you can. Bring Sarah back to us. It would be
useful to us if she could persuade..."
"Heavens, no," Beth murmured. "The police and their guns
cannot defend us. Even under the best of conditions, it's difficult to
control the emotional upset of visitors. The police are typically
personalities of dominance and independence. Stressed, they will become
dictatorial and sadistic, and they will be stressed under current circumstances,
especially on this side of the gate in an unfamiliar world. If there are
natives to the forests, we should be able to sense their presence and intent if
they approach too closely."
"If their psychic make-up is similar to our own, perhaps. Carlotta,
did you sense the presence of this individual?"
Carlotta paused and then nodded. "Vaguely. He was
confused and upset and he ran away. But I am so frightened by all that is
happening."
"The Coven fled World's End," Miriam said. "We've always
wondered why. The assault upon us is intelligently directed. It
preys upon our individual weaknesses. If it has a potential weapon on this
side of the gateway, it will employ it against us and drive us from our
sanctuary."
"We could use guns ourselves," Beth Mannhardt suggested.
Miriam considered and shook her head. "Your initial
evaluation of my suggestion was valid. Weapons would be double edged swords,
especially hazardous in the hands of the inexperienced."
"We haven't the slightest idea of how to defend ourselves,"
Carlotta said breathlessly. "We haven't the slightest idea of what is
happening."
Miriam sighed. "We'd be helpless if we stood alone.
Do we stand alone?"
Beth Mannhardt met Miriam's steady gaze. "Sarah and her
fairies? The phenomena is not the cause of this."
"Then bring her back alone. She may have insights that have
escaped us. And Rebecca. How is Rebecca holding up?"
Beth offered a grim smile. "Impervious, but passive.
She knows what is happening, but not why, or how to stop it. She says to
hold fast and wait for further development. She says we will be reactive
in this matter, not proactive."
"Our rogue talents are proving useful," Miriam said cautiously.
"Rebecca. Sarah, and perhaps..."
Carlotta swung around, her face drained of color. "Dare
you say her name," she cried, "and I'll never speak to you again, Miriam Vanders! Don't you
even dare!"
