Creature in the Grass

"Well, this is definitely what I'd call a one-horse town. It's practically deserted." Esmerelda claimed as she slammed the door of her Mercedes shut. She crossed her arms over her bosom and tapped a foot impatiently. Beau, her boyfriend, climbed out of the passenger seat, his blue eyes surveying the seemingly deserted town with a touch of unease.

"It's too quiet," he murmured as he crossed over to join her, "Are you sure this is where we were supposed to go?"

"the man on the phone said Greenville. I even got directions from MapQuest. This is the place."

"So, where are the people?" Esmerelda cut her eyes at Beau and searched for words to say but before she could even open her mouth, an elderly woman poked her head out from a door in the building they'd parked in front of and interjected,

"We're all here, sweetie." the wrinkles around her sagging jowls lifted like theatrical curtains to permit her grim smile, her eerie smile.

"Come in." one of her gnarly hands beckoned as she slipped back inside. Esmerelda began to follow, but Beau hung back in ambivalence. Esmerelda turned impatiently back to him, sighing exasperatedly.

"I'll just wait in the car for a while, I'll be in soon." Esmerelda shrugged as if to say 'suit yourself' and followed the old woman inside what looked like a dilapidating diner.

* *

The bar stools lining the raised platform of the bar were slightly ajar. A man in a huge black overcoat sat silently on one end, the barstool beneath him creaked as he absentmindedly swung from one side to the other. He never looked up to see who she was, he merely swung, his head lowered as if contemplating. The old woman that had greeted her waited cheerily behind the counter. Her hair, a mass of silver, was pulled back tightly in a bun. She wore a black floral dress, the tiny flowers on it were a deep purple.

"Visiting?" the old woman crooned. Esmerelda nodded as she took her seat on the farthest end, opposite the hunching man in the overcoat.

"I figured so. You smell like outsider." the old woman snorted raucous laughter and revealed her rotting teeth. Esmerelda raised an eyebrow, not knowing exactly what to say to that, and beginning to ponder if coming here had been the right move.

* *

Beau rarely had bad feelings about places, rarely had 'wrong' feelings about anything. His most common feelings were of comfort or disgust. Compared to what he felt at that moment, disgust would have suited him just fine. The minute they'd crossed over into Greenville town limits, an unsettling weight began to sink in his stomach and his heart hurried. He'd murmured,

"Something’s wrong with this place." but Esmerelda hadn't heard or had chosen to ignore him. the longer they stayed, the more he became sure that something, indeed, was quite strange about this place, something was wrong. Of course, he wouldn't ever be completely sure of the wrongness he felt unless he had some sort of proof, some type of hard-core evidence...

"Well, howdy stranger." someone greeting in a faux-southern accent. However, despite the accent, the voice sounded oddly familiar, yet different. Beau turned around to face the owner of the voice and found all the evidence he needed.

* *

"So, you've come to drink the water?" the old woman queried, her strange gold eyes watched Esmerelda inquisitively but with a touch of humor. Esmerelda nodded, seemingly having lost her gift for words.

"I'd say you need it. I read your last book." the old woman burst into that same disquieting snorting laughter and placed her hand on her slightly protruding stomach. Esmerelda grimaced at this remark but tried to contain the sharp lashing her tongue desired to give. She bit it and calmed herself, knowing that she was desperate.

Her first book had, in fact, been a disaster. Kinsley had been practically at her throat after the reviews and the poor books sales. The old woman tisked as if she'd read her mind and smiled sympathetically.

"I'm sorry, dear, if I offended you in any way. It just humors me so to read such literary garbage like your book. Your plot was lacking, your characters weren't believable, the dialogue was hackneyed-"

"Please!" Esmerelda interjected, "you're not helping me. If anything, you're making me angry." The old woman eyed her slyly, a wry grin plastered across her face.

"I mean you no harm to your pride, I only wanted you to know what you're doing wrong so the water can help correct it." In truth, that was a lie, but Esmerelda would never know it. Esmerelda's face lit up at the mention of the miracle water and she exclaimed,

"There you go! That's what I came here for."

"I know why you came, the same reason all the others came." The old woman's face became a horrendous grimace of anger.

"Desperation." she slammed her hands on the counter, causing a sharp report. Esmerelda noted that the man in the overcoat didn't even flinch.

"I don't mind, no, we don't mind desperation as long as the initial talent is exceptional, but you...you irk me so."

"Look lady-"

"Call me Ella."

"Ella. I don't understand why you're freaking out. I'm going out on a limb here. I need help, and I'm asking for you to help me. I didn't come here to be insulted." Ella relinquished her angry snarl and grinned.

"I never meant to insult you. We started off on the wrong foot. Why don't you join me and my friends out by the fields and then we'll get you the help that you need."

"You mean the water?" Ella nodded and Esmerelda sighed in relief, muttering under her breath,

"This is pathetic. I'm so desperate I'm going out of my way to drink some mythical water. This is stupid." She looked up suddenly into Ella's face and saw a look of murderous hate, her queer gold eyes glared lightning bolts. At Esmerelda's look, the expression melted away into a welcoming grin, but one that never quite met her eyes.

* *

"Logan?" Beau queried, a little bemused. The fact that it was Logan wasn't the thing that confused him. It was, in fact, Logan. Her hair, though a great deal longer, was still auburn and frazzled. Her skin was still slightly tanned. She hadn't changed all that much in physique. Though, none of those things confused him. It was the way she was smiling at him and her eyes. He'd stared into her eyes many times in the past to know that they should be a slightly jaded green, though a bit darker around the irises. But now they were a muddy gold, eerie and strange, and her smile...

"The one and only," Logan moved closer to him, "what brings you here to Greenville?"

"Eh-eh-eh..." Beau hadn't stuttered since his childhood but the utter peculiarity of meeting Logan here after almost five years of being apart had rattled his cage.

"Esmerelda?" her eyes flashed for a moment but her facial expression remained the same. She continued to grin.

"Yeah."

"I see. So why are you standing out here when she's in there?"

"How'd you know she's in-"

"I was watching from over there." She pointed to a dense area of shrubbery, and of course, grinning as she did. Beau frowned a little at that, wondering how or why she'd hide and spy on them. However, he kept that thought to himself thinking it wise.

"You should be with your woman." Logan grasped his hand in hers and pulled him in the direction of the little store 'his woman' had followed Ella into. Beau jerked his hand away from hers and Logan's eerie golden eyes returned to his face.

"I don't need you to hold my hand." Beau murmured, not knowing why he said it. Logan simply nodded and said,

"You never did."

* *

Esmerelda turned toward the door, listening to what sounded like Beau and someone else, someone familiar. As the voices drew ever closer to the door, she figured out who the familiar voice belonged to.

"Logan." she muttered just as Beau and Logan entered the practically empty diner. The man in the overcoat grunted a little but he never turned to see who entered. Perhaps he already knew. Logan, never faltering in her eerie grin even in speech, grinned wider at the sight of Esmerelda.

"I didn't know you were here." Esmerelda greeted though her troublesome anger had begun to bubble forth.

"I live here." She left Beau's side and took a seat next to the mysterious man in the overcoat.

"It suits you."

"Oh does it?" Logan lifted an eyebrow. Those strange golden eyes seemed to burn holes in Esmerelda's face. Beau crossed the room to stand beside Esmerelda, eyeing Logan uneasily.

"My aren't we feisty today?" Ella smirked. The man in the overcoat burst into crazed giggles. Esmerelda rolled her eyes and scoffed half-heartedly. In truth, she was a bit bemused. She didn't quite understand why she was the one that harbored resentment toward Logan. If anything, it should've been vice versa. She was, in fact, the one Beau had cheated with and then left Logan for. Yet, despite the circumstances of the past and Esmerelda's snippy remarks, Logan remained calm and seemed quite jovial. Esmerelda gritted her teeth.

"It seems there's a bit of turbulent history amidst the lot of you." Ella said as she sauntered over to stand across from Logan. The man in the overcoat chuckled at this and turned so that he faced Esmerelda and Beau, but Logan's body blocked his face.

"You could call it history, bad history." Logan beamed. Esmerelda wondered if the muscles on Logan's face would ever start to fatigue. That incessant smile was starting to get to her.

"I see. Then, this must be THAT Beau and Esmerelda. Beau," Ella's eerie eyes landed on Beau and at the mention of his name, his eyes locked with hers, "what a horrid way to treat such a famous novelist like Logan. What a foolish choice you made. Obviously, you lack common sense."

"Oh don't be brash, Ella. Her paycheck and mine are almost the same. Except, of course, for a few extra zeros." Together, Ella, Logan, and the man in the overcoat laughed simultaneously, their heads upturned, chests heaving. Beau and Esmerelda realized, as goosebumps sprouted across their arms and legs, that their laughter was the same. Same tone, same cadence, same pauses for breath. Not only that, but there was a certain edge to that laughter. One that didn't sound the least bit human. No, not human at all.

* *

"Maybe coming here was a bad idea." Esmerelda whispered as she and Beau followed Ella and Logan through the thick woods. Tree limbs snatched at her hair and clothes, almost like actual human hands. Esmerelda shrugged away from them as best as she could.

"It was probably your worst idea." Beau answered, keeping his voice low. His eyes were fixated on the back of Logan's head. Though she looked relatively the same, she'd changed so much. It almost seemed like she was a different Logan, one that sent warnings ringing in his head. It had been a long while since he'd seen her, almost five years to be exact, therefore he expected some things to be different about her. But she felt too different, wrong even. Even then, despite his unease toward her, he felt a dismaying pang of strong attraction. The stirring in his groin clarified that fact.

"How was I supposed to know these people were total freaks?" Beau grinned, still spunky despite the ever worsening feeling of fear.

"You couldn't have."

"Exactly. And you know what?"

"What?"

"Now that I'm here the whole water thing seems like a load of bull."

"Well, you were desperate at the time."

"I still am. But this just feels too 'out there'. Desperation just doesn't completely explain why I was so determined to come here. It's weird."

"Everything here is weird...including Logan."

"Well, she was weird to begin with but I know what you mean. She's changed so much."

"Too much."

"She kept smiling at me and seemed happy but I couldn't shake the feeling that she wanted to kill me."

"I know what you mean. She feels dangerous now."

"I don't like the fact that she's here. And you know what?" Esmerelda slowed and looked up at him, worried.

"What?" He slowed to meet her pace and met her gaze.

"She scares me." Her eyes watered a little and her lips quivered slightly. This wasn't like the Esmerelda he'd fallen in lust with. The Esmerelda that held control over any situation. The Esmerelda that feared nothing. His lover had become rattled simply from an encounter with his past love. Yet, as simple as it sounded when put to words, the elements made everything clear. This Logan was not the same Logan from before. And though at first he meant to say the following words as comfort to Esmerelda, he came to realize that he meant them,

"She scares me, too." He brought his hands up and cradled her face ever so tenderly. Without thinking, he kissed her and embraced her. Hoping that she'd feel stronger with his arms wrapped around her. Neither of them saw that both Ella and Logan had halted to watch their progress. Neither of them saw Logan's lips curl in a soundless snarl of hate. But even if they had seen, there was nothing they could do about it now. Their arrival in Greenville had already sealed their fate. All they could do now was go along with its plan.

* *

"So how did the two of you meet?" Logan asked after they'd arrived at a small cabin situated next to a vast field of golden grass. There was no animosity in her strange golden eyes this time nor in her ubiquitive smile, but Beau was reluctant to answer the question nevertheless.

"We met at the mall. He was buying a present for you. I helped him pick it out," a cruel grin creeped across Esmerelda's face, "looks like you're wearing it now." It was true. Around Logan's delicate neck was a thin silver necklace. On its end hung a pendant shaped like a heart with a moderate diamond in its center. Logan brought her hands up to her neck subconsciously. Her grin faltered just a little and Ella immediately focused her sharp golden eyes on her. But the grin returned quickly, almost as if it had never left.

"It's pretty. I'd never throw away good jewelry even though I can afford to." Surreptitiously, Logan's hands flew to the back of her neck and unlatched the necklace's clasp. She held it out to Esmerelda.

"Do you want it? I'm sure you'll get a pretty penny out of it if you pawn it." Esmerelda grimaced at the remark and swatted at the necklace, missing it by a lot. Beau wrapped his arm around her shoulders and Esmerelda gave him a look of gratitude. Logan slipped the delicate necklace in a pocket in her faded jeans.

"Despite what you think, her book still made a bit of money." Logan's eyes flashed again and Beau sunk a little in his seat. Logan noted, and it did quite please her, a slight bulge in the crotch of his jeans.

"Your book made as much money as it did solely because everyone here purchased a copy. We read it when we need something to laugh about."

"Oh wow, three people. You guys really need lives." Esmerelda remarked, though her pride was wounded. Both Ella and Logan's golden eyes flashed at the same time, their smiles grew eerier.

Simultaneously they said,

"There are more of us here than you would ever suspect." And suddenly Esmerelda could feel them, thousands of eyes all focused on her, their owners laughing at her. If there was one thing Esmerelda hated more than being berated, it was being laughed at.

"I change my mind," she proclaimed, "I don't want to drink your stupid miracle water. I don't need it. I've got Beau, I've got talent, and now I've got some inspiration. As far as I'm concerned you can all go to hell. We're going home." She stood up quickly, joined by Beau. Ella stared at them, her gaze patient, her expression serene. But the words she said next were contrary to how she appeared.

"Fools," she spat, "talentless fools. Your words mean nothing to me, to us. You think that just because you've changed your mind you can leave? Many, including Logan here, have learned that it's quite the contrary." Esmerelda's eyes widened with surprise. Ella continued, her voice taking on a more matter-of-fact tone.

"I could let you go back to your car, but why waste your time and more importantly, ours. You'll find your tires, every single one including the spare in the trunk, slashed. Your windows, broken. And for a bit of fun, we've poured sugar into your gas tank, so much that I seriously doubt your car will even start."

"Why?" Beau asked, his mouth hung open with a mixture of shock and horror.

"Why?" Ella guffawed, "Because this is the way of Greenville. When you came here, you unknowingly signed a contract without reading the fine print."

"Fine print?" Beau and Esmerelda said in unison. Logan clarified it for them.

"You can never leave once you've entered. That's how it's always been." Beau and Esmerelda exchanged a look of horror and Logan snickered,

"You two are like double mint twins or something."

"Sit down." Ella commanded and Beau and Esmerelda obliged.

"How rude of you to want to leave without first meeting my sister." At the mention of her, Elli appeared in the doorway of the cabin. She and Ella were identical except Elli's hair was let down and pooled around her shoulders, a mass of silver gossamer. She and Ella switched identical glances, ones filled with a mysterious message that even Logan couldn't decipher.

"Hello Beau and Esmerelda." Elli spoke carefully, almost drowsily, but the sharp awareness in her eyes (also gold, of course) erased any assumption that she was mentally sluggish. Beau and Esmerelda remained as statues. Elli quickly turned to Ella and Logan and began to speak a language so strange Beau and Esmerelda were sure it was spoken no where else but where they were, in Greenville. It sounded too evil. Which, of course, fit Greenville perfectly.

* *

"We are going against the ways." Elli rasped in the strange language.

"How so?" Ella replied.

"We don't usually let in to Greenville's little secret until it's time for the process to start."

"She brought another."

"I can see that."

"Then you must sense that she is not suitable for Greenville. Her talents are mediocre, her nature is too rambunctious and bumptious. The process would never take hold. You remember 'the voice'."

"I remember her perfectly, how could I forget?"

"Esmerelda is just like her."

"But she may have something we need. It is too early to kill her." Ella rose from her seat, her eyes glaring embers.

"I have listened to you before. With 'the voice' and Logan. You were dead wrong about 'the voice'. So far you are right about Logan but she's beginning to show disturbing signs. This Esmerelda is not worth the risk. She will be like 'the voice' if not worse. I will not listen to you this time." Elli pursed her lips, wanting to protest but recognizing that Ella was right. They didn't need another woman like 'the voice' around. She would ruin everything.

"Then, sister, what do we do?"

"We take her to the lake, as promised. She will be allowed to drink and we will push her in. But instead of changing her, The Master's power will pull her down and drown her. It's been done before. It's what I'd wanted to do with Logan but I, too, sensed that she has something we need."

"We will do it now, then?"

"Yes, I wish to be rid of her as soon as possible."

"Then who shall take her?"

"I will." Logan spoke up, surprising Elli and Ella. They'd been under the impression that she wouldn't learn The Master's language for another year, but then again, Logan was full of surprises.

"You have learned the language of The Master." Elli raised her wispy eyebrows at Logan.

"Don't act too surprised. I'm not fluent yet."

"Yes, but the very fact that you know some of it is commendable." Elli gently applauded. Ella rolled her eyes, exasperated.

"You have volunteered to take her, then."

"I have."

"Then, by all means, do so. I want her gone as soon as possible." Logan nodded, grinning, and turned to face Esmerelda. At Logan's glance, she flinched and inched closer to Beau.

"Esmerelda," Elli spoke, once again in English, "Logan will take you to the lake where you will then drink." Of course, she left out the rest of the plan. No need to rile her up anymore than she already was. Logan stood beside Esmerelda, extending a hand out to her. Esmerelda stared at it, a look of disgust on her face.

"And if I refuse?" her question was directed toward Elli but her eyes remained on Logan's outstretched hand.

"I believe even your imagination could conjure up images of what we would do to you should you refuse." Elli's grin was unbelievably gruesome, almost to the point of being a snarl.

"If you're smart, you'll come with me." Esmerelda sighed, took Logan's hand, and was instantaneously lifted from her seat. For a second they were face to face and, even though Logan was smiling, her eyes were full of hate and a lust for revenge. Esmerelda turned away quickly, toward the open doorway of the cabin and was a bit taken aback when she saw the man from the diner standing there watching her with cool contemplation. He sported a raucous beard littered with silver hairs. One of his eyes was the same gold as Elli's, Ella's, and Logan's eyes, the other was milky white with cataract. He laughed at Esmerelda's shock.

"Need you not be wary of me," he let out another chuckle and continued, "the one you need be wary most is of the one whose hand encompasses your own." Elli and Ella both shot him twin glances of annoyance, but it didn't seem to phase him at all. He continued with his speech,

"Death awaits you in the golden fields in the distance. He watches you with golden eyes just like ours." Ella laughed harshly and shot him a reproachful glance. Before she could say anything further, Logan lead Esmerelda down the steps of the porch and toward the golden fields in the distance where golden eyes did, indeed, watch their approach.

* *

"What's with the sudden need for poetic prophesy, Ed?" Ella asked as soon as Logan and Esmerelda were out of hearing range. Ed grinned and sat down next to Beau who quickly squirmed away from him, not liking how it felt to be so close to him.

"The lake is not the way she's going, you have forgotten. She's gone in the opposite direction. See, already she's entered the fields." He pointed in that direction and, indeed, they'd entered the vast field of golden grass. The grass was quite high, only the tops of their heads could be seen. Elli gasped a little. She covered her mouth with one of her gnarly hands.

"She's taking her straight to The Master."

"Bingo." Ed smirked.

"Single-minded thinking. This is not good."

"I warned you, Elli. Logan's anger has not fully allowed the process to change her." Ella growled, her golden eyes were furious.

"She has not disobeyed us. She is disposing of Esmerelda as we've discussed." Elli replied. Beau gasped at that but they all ignored him.

"But not in the way that we discussed."

"She's going to kill Esmerelda???" Beau asked, disbelief coated his words.

"She's going to do worse than kill her, my dear Beau," Ed grinned savagely, "She's going to let The Master kill her."

* *

Esmerelda hadn't needed to hear the discussion between Ed, Elli, and Ella to know that Logan planned to kill her. The look that Logan had given her when they were momentarily face to face had said everything, the poetic prophesy of the old man with the cataract had solidified it, and the fact that they were up to their heads in golden grass gave her the feeling that death was very near. She wasn’t wrong about that. The grasses they weaved through felt so wrong to Esmerelda, she tried to avoid touching them as much as possible but of course, being that it was a field of grasses, she couldn’t do much to avoid. But what was worse, the grass seemed to be becoming more golden in color as they progressed. Logan stopped after a while and turned toward Esmerelda, her smile gone, replaced by a scowl so fierce, Esmerelda began to miss the smile.

“There have been things that I’ve wanted to say to you from the beginning, but could not for Ella was there. And there are things that I’ve wanted to do to you from the beginning, but could not for Ella was there. But she is not here.” Logan’s golden eyes flashed momentarily with anger, but Esmerelda saw that they were becoming slightly greenish.

“If you’re going to kill me, kill me.” Esmerelda snapped. Logan chuckled.

“I’m not going to kill you, Esmerelda, I just want to talk. Our time is growing short. He knows we’re here.”

“He?”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Logan turned her back on Esmerelda and bowed her head, “for five years, I stewed over what you and Beau did to me. To others, it might not have bothered them as much, in fact, in five years they might have forgotten. But I’m not them. I’m not going to ask you how you could do that to me, nor will I ask Beau when I return. For the record, Esmerelda, I hate you.” Esmerelda nodded and started to say that the feeling was mutual, but began to realize that it wasn’t. She had no reason to hate Logan. She simply disliked her.

“I hate how you made me feel, the loss you caused me. I hate you for taking Beau away from me. But most of all, I hate you because you made it almost impossible for me to change.” She turned around and Esmerelda was shocked to see that her eyes had returned to their normal color, those same eyes, jaded green that darkened around the irises. Surprisingly, this scared Esmerelda worse than when her eyes were golden. She gasped and took a step back.

“It was Ed that called you. He calls everyone that’s suffering creatively and to make sure they come, to make sure that they’re obsessed with the idea of ‘miracle water’, he casts a spell. That was a gift to him from The Master. I heard you speaking with Beau on our way to the cabin. I just thought I’d tell you why you wanted to come here so badly.”

“So there’s no ‘miracle water’?” Esmerelda asked, despite the circumstances, her anger was starting to rise. She hated being deceived.

“Oh there is. I’ve had a drink from it, just as everyone that lives here has, just as Ed, Elli, and Ella have before me. The water does more than give you creativity. Everyone thinks that that’s its main purpose, it is merely a side effect. The water is for transforming.”

“Transforming into what?”

“Golden eyes, eerie grins, enhanced mobility. We are quite surreptitious, we hide everywhere. Which is why it’s hard for people to believe that thousands upon thousands inhabit Greenville. We are a community of sociopaths. We lack most emotions and have no consciences. If The Master desires that we kill, we’ll kill with no second thought. We are at The Master’s bidding and in returned, he has lengthened our life spans. Ed, Elli, and Ella have been alive for thousands of years. All in preparation.”

“Preparation for what?”

“When The Master sees that it‘s time, he will lift our chains from Greenville and all its people will go throughout the earth, changing those that The Master sees fit, killing those that aren’t. This world will soon belong to Him.” Esmerelda scoffed in disbelief.

“Who is this ‘Master’?” Logan ignored the question and continued,

“I have not been able to change completely because of the anger retained from Beau’s infidelity, but all that is about to change. I will have my revenge.” A low growl rumbled through the grasses and they vibrated with the sound. Large golden eyes appeared behind Logan, the rest of whatever the creature was had been masked by the grasses, but only for a little while. Logan grinned and Esmerelda saw that her eyes had begun to change back into that eerie golden they’d been before. The creature roared and flocks of birds rose into the sky and took off in a frenzy, their frightened squawks masked by the reverberating roar. Logan laughed and grasped Esmerelda’s shoulders with her hands.

“That, Esmerelda, is The Master.”

* *

At the sound of the roar, Elli, Ella, and Beau looked up, surprised. Ed merely laughed.

"He's hungry." Flocks of birds rose into the sky, however their frightened calls were masked by The Master's roar. Beau shuddered, his skin seemed to want to peel itself from his body. Elli and Ella exchanged odd glances, and continued to look out toward the field, their eyes glued to one specific spot.

"Can't you stop this? Why are you doing this?" Elli and Ella ignored him, too transfixed with whatever was occuring in the tall grasses. Ed gently touched Beau's shoulder, and despite the fact that he didn't like how it felt to be touched by this man, Beau let him.

"There is nothing more we can do for your woman. You best be thinking about yourself now." Beau brought his hands up to his face and began to cry.

* *

Esmerelda's eyes seemed to want to eat up the rest of her face, they were so wide. She tried to back away, but Logan held her there.

"He won't harm you as long as I'm here, because I'm one of His children and He'd never harm His own. Especially not me." The Master growled a little as if to support the fact, the golden eyes never faltered, they stared fixatedly at Esmerelda. Hunger swam deep within those golden pools, ravenous hunger. Tears began to seep from Esmerelda's eyes.

"The minute I'm far enough away, The Master will have you. I wish I could say it won't hurt, but your death will be very slow and very painful. Is there anything you want to say to me before I go, before you die?" Logan was grinning from ear to ear. She was expecting to hear a sharp remark from Esmerelda, something like "I hope you burn in hell" or "I hate you" or maybe she'd spit in her face, but instead, Esmerelda did something Logan hadn't been expecting, had never expected. She hugged Logan and murmured into her ear,

"I'm sorry." Immediately the smile diminished from Logan's face and momentarily, her eyes returned to that jaded green. One tear escaped from them, but that was all that mattered. Esmerelda smiled sincerely, finding that despite the fact that this woman had plotted her demise, she didn't dislike her anymore. In fact, she almost liked her. Logan opened her mouth to say something but was interjected by another booming roar. The Master glared at her, warning her: Go now! Logan could only place a hand on Esmerelda's shoulder and return the smile previously given. And with no further word, she turned her back to Esmerelda and made her way back to the cabin, back to Elli and Ella, back to Beau. And her eyes had returned to their eerie gold, perhaps permanently this time.

* *

For a few moments, Esmerelda was alone, although not entirely. Still those large golden eyes watched her hungrily, but The Master had yet to reveal himself to her. She'd wanted to take those last few precious moments to reflect on the good points of her life, but fear had its hold on her and all she could think about was the fact that her life would soon end...painfully. The Master growled again and she whimpered, knowing that her few moments had dwindled down into seconds and soon The Master would appear. Her last thought was 'What will he look like'. The Master roared again and she soon found out.

* *

When Logan emerged from the golden field of grass, she heard The Master roar one final time and new that end had come for Esmerelda. She winced a little. She could feel all of their eyes on her, not just Elli, Ella, and Ed, but everyone, everyone in Greenville. Ed was the first to say something.

"You hesitated, why?" Logan looked up at him, the one tear she'd shed had already dried on her cheek.

"She hugged me and apologized. I wasn't expecting it."

"Oh?" Ed chuckled. He'd always been so annoyingly good natured. Elli and Ella exchanged annoyed glances.

"Did you see Him?" Ella queried, her eyes searched Logan's face for any sign that she'd been near Him. She saw nothing but strands of golden grass in her frazzled hair.

"Only his eyes."

"I see." Ella pursed her lips together. Silence enveloped them all. They listened to it and another sound. It was quite faint. The sound of a wild animal feeding on an animal that had yet to die. There were no screams of agony, just barely audible mewls of pain. They all knew the source of these sounds. Beau sobbed harder, perhaps trying to drown them out in his sorrow. Logan looked at him, analyzing him.

"Beau." she said so softly it was almost a whisper. At the mention of his name, Beau's head rose from his hands and he turned to look at her.

"Would you care to join her?" she asked. It was a harsh question, considering the occasion, but one she had to ask. However he answered, it would help her decide what to do with him. He shook his head quickly, no. A slight smile touched the corners of Logan's lips. Good.

"I don't understand." Elli broke through Logan's moment.

"What don't you understand, sister." Ed lilted.

"Why would The Master instruct you to bring her here if she was such a hazard to what he's trying to create?"

"He didn't instruct me to bring her...I did it on my own."

Ella and Elli gasped, but Logan only smiled.

"I was aware of how Esmerelda's continued survival encumbered the process in Logan. Therefore, I spoke with Logan about it and we came up with this. To bring her here so that Logan could have her revenge and the process would be complete."

Storm clouds brewed on Ella's brow.

"You are never to summon someone without The Master's instruction. You know the rules. I'm surprised The Master let you keep your talent."

"I had spoken to The Master before I summoned her," Ed explained, "He, too, had noted the strangeness in Logan. She harbored so much anger. If she wasn't so important, The Master would have simply instructed that we kill her."

"Important?" Ella and Elli queried in unison. Ed chose to ignore them.

"But she is important and therefore I summoned Esmerelda. She just happened to bring her man with her. Now what do we do with him?"

"You said Logan is important, how do you mean?" Ella persisted. Ed simply laughed and said,

"Every King must have his Queen, my sister." he winked. Elli gasped, Ella's mouth hung open in surprise. Logan found this comical and stifled a barrage of giggles.

"Her?" Elli said in disbelief.

"He's chosen her?" Ella shook her head, incredulous.

"Who did you think he'd choose, you?" Ed laughed hard at this. The way their faces flushed, the answer was obviously yes. Suddenly Ed grew serious. He turned to Logan and then looked at Beau. He began to speak in The Master's tongue.

"We must dispose of him, Logan, you know that." His eyes, for once, were dead serious.

"I know." Logan nodded solemnly.

"If there were no emotional attachment, The Master might have considered letting him become one of us...but it's in your eyes. You still care for this man and in some ways, he still cares for you. When you become His Queen, there must be no other but Him. Do you understand me?"

"Yes."

"Then take him and do what you please with him, but he must be gone by sunset or The Master will take care of him Himself."

Logan nodded and turned to Beau. His head was again cradled in his hands.

"Beau." she called his name and obsequiously his head rose, his eyes found her.

"Come." she extended a hand to him and he stood, came to her, and took it. She looked off toward the grasses and saw two pairs of golden eyes watching her. She wouldn't take Beau to Him. She felt that Beau deserved a different death, but a Greenville death all the same.

"Where are we going?" he whispered, perhaps afraid to speak aloud. Logan looked into his eyes, smiled, and answered,

"We're going for a swim, my dear, a little swim. Don't worry, the water's fine. It's always fine." Behind them, Ed laughed raucously, as was his nature and Elli and Ella sighed, disgruntled. In the grasses, off in the distance, two golden eyes watched Logan lead Beau to the lake, the owner growled low and menacing. And not too far from them, the cadaver formerly known as Esmerelda was already attracting flies.