Exsanguination and Other Love Stories

XII. A Letter from the River

Florian says once we open one, we can't close it again, and they sometimes have a nasty habit, according to Cordelia, of sucking you through as soon as you open them.

Florian wants the one on the far left, the one with the big spangle on it. I 'm dubious. The last thing he ate was a salad of glittery rushes from the banks of the river, and I think it's made him even more reckless than usual.

"Well obviously," he said of the one I prefer, on the far right, "That's going to take us right back to the werewolves and their weird little magic forest they have tacked onto your world. No thank you. Boooring."

"Why not?" I said. "I could go back home from there if I wanted to, right, and at least the laws of physics will be the same!"

"Oh, please! Physics is overrated. Stop being so logical."

"Well, the one in the middle has an unfamiliar monster on it! At least we know how werewolves work. Anyway, Omri seemed like a nice person..."

Florian looked unconvinced.

"Omri's one of the werewolves," I provided helpfully. "He left the Blue Room before you came in. Not on purpose, another werewolf took him out. But anyway, if they're in the forest I'm sure they'd help us out if we told them what happened. I mean, we did sort of get rid of Mr. Blue for them. Well, you did. By bringing Cordelia in. I'm sure they'd be glad to hear that..."

Florian's eyes narrowed."Wait a minute."

"What?"

"You've got a crush on that whippersnapper of a werewolf, haven't you? That's why you want to go through that door! "

"No!" I snapped back, blushing furiously.

But that was probably the worst thing I could have said. I'd done it. Florian was outraged. Not because it was plausible that I had any great personal attachment to Omri, who I barely knew, or because Florian had any great attachment to me – but because of the principle of the thing. Florian is very much for principles when his sense of his personal attractiveness is involved. The problem is that his personal assessment of his personal attractiveness at any given time seems to be the entire barometer for his well-being.

I'd just kicked the barometer.

"With me right here with you!" he exclaimed, quite whiter than usual. "After all I've done for you!  A werewolf!"

"Witches are allergic to werewolves!" I tried desperately to salvage the situation. "If we can ally with them, they can help us keep Cordelia at bay. And Blue killed one of their pack, so they won't ever side with him if he – finds a way to come back."

"He won't," snapped Florian, scooping up and hurling a sparkly rock into the river. It failed to sink, and instead skipped on the current and floated unevenly up off into the air as we watched. He kicked the ground and made a trench in the grey grass three inches deep. I took a step back.

"Blue needs a witch to bring him back again," he said tersely, after a long silence."He can't leave the River without help. The Fourth World's where he came from."

I stared wide-eyed, fascinated."Some kind of – limbo shark? And she made him into a man? He never mentioned that to me."

"Why would he? It doesn't make for a great story, does it? Maybe he forgot when Cordelia brought him over. Maybe she made him forget. She never was one for asking permission. He was just the last in a long string of replacements for me, you know. After she stopped appreciating my charms, back in the twenties. Women are all the same. Go away, Bill. You've made my heart bleed, and I just might start feeling hungry."

And he snarled at me.

So now Florian Werther Bathory Byron's in a mood, and skulking down by the river shore, and I'm sitting by the doors, still unable to make up my mind. I could just leave, I guess, but Cordelia's not here yet, not that I can sense, and he did save my life very recently.

I guess I'd feel bad just leaving without him, or saying goodbye.

Let me know what you think, however you can. The way things work here, your words just may reach us.

Image Credits

Door Icon by Zlatko Najdenovski, Werewolf Icon by Lisa Krymova, Ouroboros by Straw Dog Design, Star Icon By Christelle Mozzati, River Icon by Nick Novell, all of the Noun Project. (http://www.thenounproject.com)