Stream of Consciousness Pt 2
When Billy awoke, her first thought was that there was no painting of The Scream in her room. The realization was depressing.
She went to sit up, but was stopped short by the sensation that someone had jabbed a red-hot pike between her sixth and seventh ribs. She sank back into a prone position, making strangled moaning sounds from deep within her throat.
“I did it,” Billy said, hovering her right hand over the bandaged wound. She could feel heat radiating from it. “I really did it this time.”
“You did do it. And we’re all very grateful.”
With some effort, Billy turned her head to see who was sitting next to her on the bed. Even though the voice was a woman’s, Billy had expected to see Hannah there, if only because Hannah is a girl’s name.
In reality, however, the person sitting there was the Rhapsody’s Poem. Her original name was Janet Lynn Farchas, but Hannah had changed it to the Rhapsody’s Poem after she had been inducted into the Inner Circle. Every member of the Inner Circle was named the Rhapsody’s Something-or-Other. Hannah said it was a vital part of sealing the member’s connection with the Rhapsody. There was the Rhapsody’s Bird, the Rhapsody’s Wine, the Rhapsody’s Echo, the Rhapsody’s Student, the Rhapsody’s Nebula, the Rhapsody’s Yeast, and those were the only ones that Billy could remember off the top of her head. Her name-to-face association was poor, but she could remember everyone’s original names without any problems. Real names are easier to remember than random nouns. Hannah didn’t have a problem, though. Billy suspected that was because he came up with the names and used some kind of mnemonic device when he did it.
The Rhapsody’s Poem was twenty-eight and had been just two months shy of finishing medical school with a 3.1 GPA when she joined the Rhapsody. During confessions she said she joined the Rhapsody because she wanted to be a writer and hated anatomy so much that it made her sick. Indeed, she threw up after confessions, but that could’ve been the drugs. After pledging all her remaining tuition and living expenses to the Rhapsody, Hannah made the decision to adopt her into the Inner Circle. She was rewarded with her new name, a pen and notebook from the Dollar Store, and made head of the Rhapsody’s local medical division. The Rhapsody's Poem threw up then too, but she hadn't had any drugs that time.
“Good morning Poem,” Billy said. “How are you?”
“Happy to be alive, all thanks to you,” Janet said. She smiled and her eyes crinkled up. Billy noticed that she had developed crow’s feet. Of course, that’s to mean wrinkles resembling crow’s feet in the corners of her eyes. Billy was no longer hallucinating people having animal body parts.
After five years being the face of the Rhapsody, Billy had taken to smiling serenely whenever she got confused. It was a good trick because it made her look omniscient and drove Hannah absolutely wild whenever he saw her do it. Best sex she ever had with him was when he pounded her from behind and commanded her to prophesize.
“Giant land squids will one day rule the world.”
Billy smiled serenely at Janet and said, “Why all thanks to me?”
Janet’s smile wavered and she took Billy’s wrist between her fingers and began taking her pulse. Billy had a sneaking suspicion that this was a nervous habit.
“It’s thanks to you that we are safe from the projectors,” Janet said, looking at her watch while she held Billy’s wrist. Billy could feel the blood pumping when Janet held it like that. “You repelled another horde and got injured in the process. We owe you our souls.”
Billy resisted the urge to roll her eyes, but sank back into her pillows. The movement made her side sting. The projectors were yet another one of Hannah’s inspired lies to cover up Billy’s “moments of wavering faith.” The projectors were amorphous creatures that could be anything, anywhere. They could be people, paper clips, laundry, the sky, music, your pet cat, or dangling participles. The only place one could be safe from the projectors was inside a Rhapsody stronghold. They could also be repelled by cubic zirconia, although the projectors often disguised themselves as cubic zirconia as a defense mechanism. There were basements under each tower housing dozens of people who were constantly taking reports from members who thought they’d seen a projector. The date, time, and location of the sighting were detailed on a 14-page form, copied in triplicate, then sent down a chute into a giant paper shredder.
When Billy got upset about this, Hannah made sure the paper got properly recycled.
Hannah didn’t understand anything but how to control people.
The door opened and Janet squeezed Billy’s wrist hard, then dropped it and jumped up off the bed. Hannah walked in, leaving the door wide open. Billy realized why she had hallucinated him as The Scream now. He was pale and bald and wearing long, black robes with his hands tucked into his sleeves. His blue eyes seemed misplaced among all the morbid black and waxy paleness. Of course, he did it on purpose. Everything he did was calculated. Billy often wondered what would’ve become of the Rhapsody if Hannah had brown eyes and a tan. Would he wear a pink robe? Fake a limp? Pierce his septum?
If Billy asked, Hannah would have an answer.
“You’re awake!” Hannah said, gliding over to the bed. “I was a bit worried, to be honest. That pack was particularly vicious.”
Billy smiled serenely, which she also did when she was upset. “No need to worry about me. I can’t die.”
Janet beamed and Hannah pushed his smile wider, which he did when he felt he was being condescended in public or when he thought Billy had said something stupid. In this case, Billy couldn’t tell which.
“How much longer until her mortal shell is fully recovered?” Hannah said.
“Probably a few weeks at least,” Janet said. “The wound isn’t deep, but it got really close to her lungs. I’d feel better if she stays in bed at least a week, then a wheelchair for the next week or two and crutches after that.”
“She’ll be up and out of bed in three days,” Hannah said, smiling so hard he bared his teeth. “You wait and see.”
Billy’s stomach acid flared up. She was being punished.
When Billy was nine, one of her adoptive mothers (Billy secretly nicknamed the two of them Top and Bottom. This was Top) caught her in the courtyard fountain with a net. Billy had wanted to net up all the fish in the fountain and take them out into the ocean where they could be free. Top explained that the fish in the fountain were freshwater fish and taking them to the ocean would kill them. So Billy rounded up the fish and threw them into the Olympic-sized swimming pool out back.
The chlorine in the water chemically fried the fish alive within hours. Top made Billy clean all the dead fish out of the pool. Bottom helped her and said, "Sometimes every action you make will cause only misery. Sometimes, fish are better off living in a fountain."
Billy often thought of that when she thought about the members of the Rhapsody. Lately, though, she felt more and more like the quote applied to herself.
Sometimes she could feel gills on her neck. But when she put her hands there, no gills. If she turned into a fish, she'd go swimming in a pool. Hannah wouldn't know it was deadly until it was too late.
To be continued if I feel like it...
She went to sit up, but was stopped short by the sensation that someone had jabbed a red-hot pike between her sixth and seventh ribs. She sank back into a prone position, making strangled moaning sounds from deep within her throat.
“I did it,” Billy said, hovering her right hand over the bandaged wound. She could feel heat radiating from it. “I really did it this time.”
“You did do it. And we’re all very grateful.”
With some effort, Billy turned her head to see who was sitting next to her on the bed. Even though the voice was a woman’s, Billy had expected to see Hannah there, if only because Hannah is a girl’s name.
In reality, however, the person sitting there was the Rhapsody’s Poem. Her original name was Janet Lynn Farchas, but Hannah had changed it to the Rhapsody’s Poem after she had been inducted into the Inner Circle. Every member of the Inner Circle was named the Rhapsody’s Something-or-Other. Hannah said it was a vital part of sealing the member’s connection with the Rhapsody. There was the Rhapsody’s Bird, the Rhapsody’s Wine, the Rhapsody’s Echo, the Rhapsody’s Student, the Rhapsody’s Nebula, the Rhapsody’s Yeast, and those were the only ones that Billy could remember off the top of her head. Her name-to-face association was poor, but she could remember everyone’s original names without any problems. Real names are easier to remember than random nouns. Hannah didn’t have a problem, though. Billy suspected that was because he came up with the names and used some kind of mnemonic device when he did it.
The Rhapsody’s Poem was twenty-eight and had been just two months shy of finishing medical school with a 3.1 GPA when she joined the Rhapsody. During confessions she said she joined the Rhapsody because she wanted to be a writer and hated anatomy so much that it made her sick. Indeed, she threw up after confessions, but that could’ve been the drugs. After pledging all her remaining tuition and living expenses to the Rhapsody, Hannah made the decision to adopt her into the Inner Circle. She was rewarded with her new name, a pen and notebook from the Dollar Store, and made head of the Rhapsody’s local medical division. The Rhapsody's Poem threw up then too, but she hadn't had any drugs that time.
“Good morning Poem,” Billy said. “How are you?”
“Happy to be alive, all thanks to you,” Janet said. She smiled and her eyes crinkled up. Billy noticed that she had developed crow’s feet. Of course, that’s to mean wrinkles resembling crow’s feet in the corners of her eyes. Billy was no longer hallucinating people having animal body parts.
After five years being the face of the Rhapsody, Billy had taken to smiling serenely whenever she got confused. It was a good trick because it made her look omniscient and drove Hannah absolutely wild whenever he saw her do it. Best sex she ever had with him was when he pounded her from behind and commanded her to prophesize.
“Giant land squids will one day rule the world.”
Billy smiled serenely at Janet and said, “Why all thanks to me?”
Janet’s smile wavered and she took Billy’s wrist between her fingers and began taking her pulse. Billy had a sneaking suspicion that this was a nervous habit.
“It’s thanks to you that we are safe from the projectors,” Janet said, looking at her watch while she held Billy’s wrist. Billy could feel the blood pumping when Janet held it like that. “You repelled another horde and got injured in the process. We owe you our souls.”
Billy resisted the urge to roll her eyes, but sank back into her pillows. The movement made her side sting. The projectors were yet another one of Hannah’s inspired lies to cover up Billy’s “moments of wavering faith.” The projectors were amorphous creatures that could be anything, anywhere. They could be people, paper clips, laundry, the sky, music, your pet cat, or dangling participles. The only place one could be safe from the projectors was inside a Rhapsody stronghold. They could also be repelled by cubic zirconia, although the projectors often disguised themselves as cubic zirconia as a defense mechanism. There were basements under each tower housing dozens of people who were constantly taking reports from members who thought they’d seen a projector. The date, time, and location of the sighting were detailed on a 14-page form, copied in triplicate, then sent down a chute into a giant paper shredder.
When Billy got upset about this, Hannah made sure the paper got properly recycled.
Hannah didn’t understand anything but how to control people.
The door opened and Janet squeezed Billy’s wrist hard, then dropped it and jumped up off the bed. Hannah walked in, leaving the door wide open. Billy realized why she had hallucinated him as The Scream now. He was pale and bald and wearing long, black robes with his hands tucked into his sleeves. His blue eyes seemed misplaced among all the morbid black and waxy paleness. Of course, he did it on purpose. Everything he did was calculated. Billy often wondered what would’ve become of the Rhapsody if Hannah had brown eyes and a tan. Would he wear a pink robe? Fake a limp? Pierce his septum?
If Billy asked, Hannah would have an answer.
“You’re awake!” Hannah said, gliding over to the bed. “I was a bit worried, to be honest. That pack was particularly vicious.”
Billy smiled serenely, which she also did when she was upset. “No need to worry about me. I can’t die.”
Janet beamed and Hannah pushed his smile wider, which he did when he felt he was being condescended in public or when he thought Billy had said something stupid. In this case, Billy couldn’t tell which.
“How much longer until her mortal shell is fully recovered?” Hannah said.
“Probably a few weeks at least,” Janet said. “The wound isn’t deep, but it got really close to her lungs. I’d feel better if she stays in bed at least a week, then a wheelchair for the next week or two and crutches after that.”
“She’ll be up and out of bed in three days,” Hannah said, smiling so hard he bared his teeth. “You wait and see.”
Billy’s stomach acid flared up. She was being punished.
When Billy was nine, one of her adoptive mothers (Billy secretly nicknamed the two of them Top and Bottom. This was Top) caught her in the courtyard fountain with a net. Billy had wanted to net up all the fish in the fountain and take them out into the ocean where they could be free. Top explained that the fish in the fountain were freshwater fish and taking them to the ocean would kill them. So Billy rounded up the fish and threw them into the Olympic-sized swimming pool out back.
The chlorine in the water chemically fried the fish alive within hours. Top made Billy clean all the dead fish out of the pool. Bottom helped her and said, "Sometimes every action you make will cause only misery. Sometimes, fish are better off living in a fountain."
Billy often thought of that when she thought about the members of the Rhapsody. Lately, though, she felt more and more like the quote applied to herself.
Sometimes she could feel gills on her neck. But when she put her hands there, no gills. If she turned into a fish, she'd go swimming in a pool. Hannah wouldn't know it was deadly until it was too late.
To be continued if I feel like it...