Page 34 of Grotesque

T he cool touch of the mirror against my forehead grounded me as I leaned over the sink in the single stall bathroom. It stank of piss and cheap perfume. Of spilt beer and fried cheeseballs. None of those things sobered me up enough to dampen the heat that still coursed through my body.

Corban had made me come in a bar full of people. And I had let him.

I took a deep breath as I leaned back to look at myself. My skin was flushed, sweat dotted my hairline and my lips were red and full from where I must have been biting them.

“I’m going to Hell,” I muttered. Or Underland rather, if Corban had his way.

I ran a hand through my hair. I needed to get a hold of myself. Corban had far too much power over me and had set us both on a collision course. We needed to get out of here, I needed to get him to Under, and then Glamis would be all mine.

The final thought sent a nervous tingle through my chest. Did I want Glamis without him?

Two raps on the door broke me out of my thoughts. “Just a minute!” I called. I brushed my hands through my hair again and down my dress as if I could wipe away the freshly fucked look that still glazed my eyes.

I opened the door and stopped dead. Quint threw a quick look over his shoulder before pushing me inside, forcing me back.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I tried to dart around him but he was faster and slammed the door shut, throwing his back against it.

“Sorcha, I need you to listen to me.” He grabbed hold of my shoulders.

“Ow! Quint, that hurts. Let go of me.” I tried to raise my arms to push him away but couldn’t from this angle.

He gave me another hard squeeze that made me wince before letting me go. He threw up his palm. “Just. Listen. Ok?”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Yeah, outside. Now!”

His eyes snapped to mine. They had a wild look to them that reminded me of an animal caught in a snare. An animal that would bite just to save itself. “I don’t think you’re crazy. I never thought you were. That story I told you about seeing a monster with your grandmother was real.”

“Oh my gosh, Quint. Are you fucking serious right now?” I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried to move past him, only for him to block me again.

I pointed my finger sharply in his face.

“ Stop trying to win me over. You think I’m crazy.

You don’t think I’m crazy. I don’t really care anymore.

What I do care about is that you have me trapped in a bathroom right now. ”

“It’s him!” He reached for me again then curled his hand into a fist, drawing it back to his side. “That dude you’re with,” he pointed over his shoulder, “that’s who I saw.”

Shit, I’d actually forgotten the story he’d told me. About the man with long horns who had kissed the top of Grandma Macky’s head. Ok, well, I knew Corban was real – obviously. I should have put two and two together earlier.

My heart hammered as I reassessed the crazed look of Quint’s eyes again. He wasn’t just an animal that would bite, he was one that would chew off its own leg, hurt everyone around it, just to get away. I could smell it on him. Beneath all the alcohol was the sweet scent of fear and desperation.

Dread filled the space between us. Corban was going to come looking for me if I didn’t get out of here soon and there was no way he was going to let Quint off a third time.

“Quint,” I said slowly. “I need you to listen to me very carefully, ok? True or not, I need you to let me out of this bathroom right now.”

He flung his head back in exasperation. “Are you even hearing what I’m telling you?

” He gestured wildly back at the door. “That is not a man out there. That is a monster. This isn’t a game I’m trying to play with you.

Rob recognized him too; he’s one of the guys that was there with me that day.

We don’t talk about it because how could that have been real, right? But it’s him.”

The dread wound tighter, stalked toward us. I looked around the small space. Were the shadows getting darker?

“Quint,” I warned. I pursed my lips and moved to the side as I slowly inched my way to the door he was still pressed against. If I could get him to turn his attention with me, turn his body with mine, then maybe I could duck out.

His eyes narrowed, stopping me in my tracks, and he looked at me.

Really looked at me. His gaze dropped down to my legs that were now bare and blemish free.

But they hadn’t been. I’d shown him the bruises.

“Holy fuck. You know. Is he what hurt you– holy fuck you saw him! It was him you saw that night. That broke in.”

I would have to try a different angle. “We can talk about this later when you don’t have me trapped. Corban is going to come looking for me and I’d very much like to leave before that happens.”

“What has he been doing? Is he holding you hostage?” He took hold of my arm again and looked over his shoulder, then to the vent and to the mirror. His eyes darting around like he could find another exit. “I can get you out of here. Get you away from him.”

“Let go, Quint.” I jerked my arm against his grip, but it just tightened.

“No, it’s okay. I’ll get you away.” Those fingers curled tighter, tighter until I could feel the bruises expanding across my skin. “I’ll get you away and it’ll be fine. We’ll get rid of him.”

“Quint!”

The door crashed open, sending Quint flying past me into the wire rack of bathroom supplies. I caught hold of the railing beside the toilet the moment Corban rushed in, the door banging shut behind him.

The shadows that had been gathering at the corners of the stall exploded.

Black tendrils writhed like snakes, striking and snapping like they could jump free, and latch hold to something for real.

I pressed myself against the railing, my nails chipping away the cheap paint on the wall behind it as I cast about for something, anything that would help me get us all out of this situation.

Corban twisted his fingers around Quint’s neck and in a single graceful movement lofted him into the air. “Remember me now?” he snarled. “You were just a boy, sticking your nose in places it didn’t belong. Clearly, not much has changed since then.”

Quint gurgled as he kicked. His feet made solid impact against Corban, but the grotesque didn’t so much as flinch.

“So many times I could have killed you. So many times I’ve spared you.”

“Corban,” I whispered because it was all I could manage, terror closing my own throat. Quint’s face was turning purple, his eyes bloodshot where they should have been white.

“I meant to let you live tonight, but then you went and touched her.” Corban gave Quint a good shake for emphasis. Quint clawed at the hand around his throat, his kicks becoming twitches.

The smell of piss was stronger now and, oh– Quint had pissed himself. The denim of his pants darkened between his thighs.

Corban’s eyes blazed bloodthirsty red, with all consuming hate. He was going to kill him.

I reached out a shaking hand, my eyes locked on the vicious set of his face as the glamour he held over his appearance flickered. “Corban,” I said, louder this time. “Corban, look at me please.”

His nostrils flared before he flicked his glowing gaze down to me.

I could only see one of his eyes, as his focus still almost entirely on Quint, a deadly attention fierce enough to burn a hole through his head.

I would have stumbled back were I not already pressed against the wall.

His eyes –their pupils were slitted, vertical like a vipers’.

“I’m fine. He didn’t hurt me. Corban, please let him go.” I rested my hand on his muscled arm.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t snap his neck.” At the widening of Quint’s eyes Corban’s sneer deepened.

He truly was a sight to behold. There was such unbridled fury roiling from him that I should have been running in the other direction.

Instead, all I could do was stand there in awe.

I had the good sense to still be terrified of him, but something was clearly cracked inside my brain that held me there completely captivated.

“It would make me happy if you did.” I conceded, tilting my chin down when his nostrils flared again and he turned in my direction.

“It would make me happy if you didn’t kill anyone tonight.

If you came home with me instead.” I had no real feelings for Quint, but I didn’t need Corban thinking I might.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Hey! You can’t be doing that in there!”

I jumped as another series of bangs shook the door. I looked from it to Corban. Quint’s eyes were rolling back in his head, his tongue slightly poking out between his swollen lips.

I slid my hand up over Corban’s where it gripped Quint’s neck and pushed down, slowly lowering it until Quint’s feet touched the ground.

“I’m going to need you all to step out or we are going to drag you out. This is a place of business, and we can’t have you in there doing… whatever it is you’re doing.”

I might have laughed at the situation if Quint hadn’t fallen like a sack of potatoes out of Corban’s grip. He hit the ground with a solid thud. They thought we were in here screwing. My gosh, they had no idea someone was almost murdered.

I kept a firm grip on Corban’s hand as he came back to himself, his eyes flitting over Quint. He ran his tongue over his teeth, the split ends curling over his upper lip.

“I’m not going anywhere. I was never going to,” I said.

“Dammit! Open this door right fucking now!”

“We’ll be right out!” I called.

“Now!” The man shouted back.

How were we going to just walk out when Quint was unconscious between us? I looked down at him sharply and stared until I saw the shallow rise and fall of his chest. Oh thank God, he was breathing.

“Do you trust me?” Corban asked.

I looked back at him, at those eyes that remained blood-thirsty red. Not even a little bit, and yet I nodded that I did.