Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 89023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
There. I said it.
What he does with this outburst is his business. He might torture me. Or leave me here. Or… something worse. Because it can always get worse. But I don’t care. I said what I said and I mean it.
So I say it again. “I hate you.” And then I just let it all spill out. “I will never love you. I will never love this baby. I’m going to trick you into… I dunno. I’m gonna kill you, I think. And this baby. And then myself. Because… you’re… you’re… inhuman! And I’m going to blame you for everything that has ever gone wrong in my life and I’m gonna feel pretty fucking good about that. I’m gonna absolve myself of all responsibility and—”
He’s laughing.
And I’m fuming. “What’s so fuckin’ funny? There’s nothing funny happening here! I am literally pregnant with a demon’s offspring, I live on blood and sex, and I’m standing in the dark pit of Hell itself. There is nothing funny happening here!”
But instead of answering me, he hugs me. His arms wrap around me, and he pulls me close, and I can feel him, so we’re real now. I can feel his body against mine and it’s… nice.
It’s really nice. This hug, it’s a genius move on his part. Like 5D chess move, or whatever. Because it works. I like it. And I never want him to let me go. Because no one has ever loved me. Ever. And even though he’s a demon, and he’s evil, and he’s not even human, even though he’s given me demon blood and put a demon baby inside me… I don’t care right now.
I want this hug. I need this hug. And if I could make it last forever, I would.
“Open your eyes, Little Baby.”
“Why? There’s nothing to see but Darkness.”
“Open them.”
So I do. And I’m wrong, of course. Because I’m never right about anything. We’re still in the Darkness, but there’s a purple mist now. Not a thick one, but it’s enough to give meaning to the endless eternal infinity of emptiness.
“Where would you like to go, Little Baby? On Earth, I mean.”
“A real place?”
“A real place.”
“Like… Machu Picchu?”
“Machu Picchu?” He chuckles and this makes his chest vibrate.
And since he’s hugging me, this vibration resonates. Like it actually enters me, and calms me, and so I sigh. “I’ve always wanted to go there and see those ruins. It’s dumb, but you asked.”
“Well, if that’s where you want to go, let’s go. Take me there. Let’s explore it together.”
“Take you there, how?”
“In the purple. The Tree of Time, remember? Imagine it, and then take a step forward. Keep hold of my hand and I’ll come with you. Let go of it, and you’ll leave me behind.”
Is he giving me a choice? To bring him along or go alone? “Why bother leaving you behind? You’ll just follow me.”
“No. I won’t. You have to come back to me. You need blood and sex, remember? So why should I chase you if you want to be alone? I’m not insecure. Do you want to see Machu Picchu alone?”
“Why would anyone go anywhere alone? It’s only fun to do exciting things if you can share it with someone.”
“And that’s why I want to be with you. So we can share. Because I’m alone too, Echo.”
Again, he uses my real name. And this is his way of letting me know that he sees me. I am his Little Baby, his pet. And he’s serious about that. But he’s not delusional. He knows I’m something else too.
“I do not have to force you to do anything. You will come to me whether you want to or not because you need blood and sex. But don’t you want more than blood or sex? Because I do.”
I close my eyes and let out a deep breath. Then I press my face into his chest, listening to his heart beat. Which is stupid. Because we’re not even here. We’re not even real.
“It keeps time,” Josep says. “That’s how it works.”
I look up at him now. At his beautiful face. “How what works?”
“Everything. The heart, it keeps time. And all you need to make a place real is time, Little Baby Echo. Something to tick it off. So listen to my heart and make something real. Let’s go to Machu Picchu and look at all the ruins. Take me there.”
But I don’t want to go there. Not now. I’m too tired. I’m exhausted. And I’m… sad. I just want to go to bed. But I don’t want to go to bed alone and I don’t want to leave this hug, so instead of imaging the mountains of Peru, I picture a bedroom. Not the hotel room we were at, but something all brand new.
My own bedroom. A dream bedroom.