Handsome & Egret

Chapter 6

Rika didn't literally mean they would put Handsome in a cook pot and bring him to a boil. What she did intend to do was throw him into her swirling wall, which she referred to as a vortex. There he would be trapped, his power slowly drained from him and transferred into Rika. What Egret had witnessed just minutes ago had been the last bit of life forced taken from her last victim.

Which meant she was all out of food. Handsome didn't have long.

It had taken Egret all night and most of the next day to realize what Rika intended to do was wrong. Her own brother's life was at stake and yet she'd been fine with it. This terrified Egret as much as Rika's ill intentions did.

"Handsome," she snuggled up next to him, "she told me I was like her. What I dream can become real. And what's real, I can change to be whatever I want. That's what this house is, it's her dream but we're trapped in it. She said I'm her kind. But I'm not. I don't want to be! Please, we must leave here. I don't want to eat you!"

Handsome hugged his sister closely. He sampled the air, but it remained a ripe mango day. The nuances he could taste—a hint of orange, the heat of turmeric—everything seemed yellow and orange and summery. Everything was fine. It was simply taking his sister a little longer to adjust to their new home, to their new mother. Making up stories was her way of dealing with her fear.

Children really did have the most vivid imaginations.

#

The next day, wishing to find out how his powers had progressed, Rika gave Handsome a test. She sat him on the bench by the wall of candies and had him close his eyes, then flicked her fingers at his face every few minutes, causing the taste on his tongue to replicate a day from Handsome's past. Then she had Handsome follow the day in his mind, telling her how the taste had subtly changed moments before an event occurred.

She did this again and again. Handsome recalled broccoli days, sour milk days, stale cereal days. Ten times over with each one she made him travel the day through.

When it was over, Egret set a baguette with soft cheese, tomato slices, and olive oil on the table and they ate, both children mindful of Rika's silence. Handsome hoped he'd passed her exam. He wanted to please her as well as to show Egret there was nothing to fear from their mother. She wanted what was best for them and what was best for Handsome was that he should grow in his talents. Rika would surely do this same thing for Egret, too.

When she'd had her fill of flakey bread, Rika wiped her mouth on a napkin. "You have learned much in the weeks you've been here, Handsome. You have. Still, you could use more guidance." She stretched her arms out to her sides. Bones cracked as she straightened he limbs. "But I have grown old again. I don't imagine I have the time. I must take you as you are."

Before Handsome had a chance to ask what she meant by grown old again, he found himself raised up by an invisible force. Rika, hand raised to him, directed his body out of the bench and over to the hall.

Perhaps this was what Egret experienced when she hovered. He floated down the hall, Egret walking tensely at his side. Their conversation the night before came flooding back to him. She'd tried to warn him about this.

No. Surely Rika had some reason for paralyzing him and then moving him around her house with magic. Of course, she must. Rika would explain herself soon and then Egret would say she understood now. They'd all have a good laugh and eat gummy worms.

Instead of laughing, Egret whimpered as Rika, one hand still controlling Handsome's body, raised her free hand to the wall. She mumbled incoherent words under her breath while wiggling her fingers.