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The body I bury beneath the stream It is a favorite place ofwater I hear theas station, maybe two black and whites They have a shoot-out with the boys in the lih speed They are clever I believe they will get away
Yet if I want them, I will have the I decide to exit the forest the back way I jog through the trees, setting cross-country records Six as station on a deserted road There is a phone booth I think of calling Seyht I would do better to keep running till I find a busier road, a few parked cars I can hot-wire any car in less than a h with blood It would be ht&039;s dirty business He ht tell his uy I don&039;t knohy
Inforivesand sounds alert "Seymour," I say "This is your new friend"
"Lara" He is pleased "What are you doing? It&039;s four in the "
"I have a little problen "I aas station on Pinecone Ave I am six miles inland from Seaside, etfor me: pants and a sweatshirt YouAre your parents awake?"
"No"
"What are you doing awake?"
"How did you knoake?"
"I&039; a dreao"
"You can tell me about it later Will you co about Is it a Shell station? It&039;s the only one on that road"
"Yes Good boy Hurry Don&039;t let your parents hear you leave"
"Why do you need the change of clothes?"
"You&039;ll understand when you see me"
Seymour arrives a little over an hour later He is shocked at my appearance, as well he should be My hair is the color of a volcano at sunset He stops the car and jumps out
"What happened to you?" he asks
"A few people tried to rough ot away I don&039;t want to say any more than that Where are the clothes?"
"Wow" He doesn&039;t take his eyes off ht me blue jeans and a white T-shirt and two different sweaters: one green, the other black I ear the black one I begin to strip right in front of him The boy has driven far and deserves a thrill "Lara," he says, sile them down "Do you have a towel or some kind of old cloth in the car?"
"Yes You want to wipe off soives me a stained dish towel Now I a off faint whiffs of steaht air I clean my hair as best I can and wipe the blood froht
"Are you sure you don&039;t want to call the police?" he asks
"I am sure" I pull the T-shirt on first
Seymour chuckles "You ht up with you"
"I was ar ether "Wait here a second I have to get rid of these"
I bury the clothes in the trees, but before I do so I remove my car keys and Slim&039;s wallet from my pants pocket I am back with Seyine on, the heater up high In his frail condition he et cold easily I climb in beside him
"My car is in Seaside, not far from the pier," I say "Can you take ear We head north "What hs "You kneas the only one in toouldn&039;t immediately report you to the authorities"
"I a this private"
"Oh, I will"
I s "I know you will Besides your sexy mind, I called you because I know you don&039;t object to a little stroll on the wild side frolasses "You may be a little wild even forabout what happened?"
"You would have trouble believing the truth"
He shakes his head "Not after this drea"
"Tell me about it"
"I dreamed you were on a battlefield and a whole ar you from every direction They had all kinds of weapons: axes and swords and ha loudly, anxious to rip you to shreds Where you were standing was a bit above the rest of the field, on a grassy knoll But the rest of the field was a reddish dust color, as if it were a plain on Mars The sky was filled with sainst thousands It looked hopeless But you were not afraid You were dressed like an exotic goddess Your chest was covered with silver ht hand, eold that chimed as you slowly surveyed the army around you A peacock feather stood in your braided hair, and you wore tall boots made of fresh hide They dripped with blood You smiled as the front rank of the demons went to strike you You raised your sword Then you stuck out your tongue"
"My tongue?"
"Yeah This was the scary part Your tongue was real long It was purple, bloody--it looked as if you had taken a bite or two out of it When you stuck it out, all the demons froze and acted afraid Then you made this sound at the back of your throat It&039;s hard to
describe It was a loud sound, nasal It echoed across the whole battlefield, and as it reached the ear of each demon, he toppled over dead"
"Wow," I say The part about the tongue naturally reminds me of the yakshini There is now no question in my mind Seymour is supernaturally sensitive to emotional states More than that he seems to have linked up with me somehow, formed an intuitive bond with ically understand reat affection for him It is not the same as my love for Ray, my passion for the son of Riley For er brother, a son even In five thousand years I have never had a child except for Lalita I would like to play with this young ht not want to hear this part It&039;s pretty gross"
"I do not gross out easily"
"After seeing you tonight, I ian to stride about the battlefield Sometimes you would step on a demon&039;s head and it would be crushed and the brains inside would ooze out Sometimes you would stop and cut off the head of a de a necklace out of them Other times you would find a derab by the throat and raise up to your mouth" He pauses for