THIEVES DO NOT STEAL FROM EMPTY HOUSES_ Chapter Sixteen_ THE GIRL WITH SILVER EYES

 

"Oh, my son, traveling across indifferent space, past aloof stars, you are a unique sojourner. And our arrogant sun is offended that you ignore her.

You see, that selfsame sun birthed the human race. Out of all that indifferent arrogance ... out of all that aloofness arose our capacity for feeling, for poetry, for understanding the cosmos.

We two-leggeds are woven from the molten threads of stars.

And you are a marked soul because of your lack of gratitude." 

- Amaia

M&M waved lazily at the blonde.

"Relax. Ingrid. I ain't no Nazi. Just because I was ordered to kill him don't mean I'll do it without knowing why."

Lt. Durtz frowned at Lucas. "Why would the Major-General order such a thing?"

Lucas nodded at the mock movie poster on the wall.  "The general ordered Henderson to fetch the girl with silver eyes, holding that strange book."

Lucas made a face as if biting into a live snail. "He didn't want that girl but the cursed book she was holding."

Lucas sighed, "Donovan wanted me dead after I got him the book. I just proved too slow."

M&M grunted, "I don't believe in any such things as cursed books or demon girls."

"I do," murmured Lt. Durtz. "My schooling across Nazi Europe has shown me the occult is all too real."

The blonde removed her friend's beret and gently placed it beside the discarded drink. "And my psychotic sister killed all those who grew close to me."

The blonde locked eyes with Lucas. "How is the book cursed?"

"Ever read 'The Monkey's Paw' ?"

Lt. Durtz husked, "Fan i helvete!"

M&M frowned, "What's so bad about the monkey's paw?"

The blonde whispered hoarsely. "It grants three wishes with the last one always being for death no matter what the other two were for."

"Like I said: I don't believe in cursed books."

Lucas snorted, "Bully for you, M&M. But this book is worse than the Monkey's Paw."

Lt. Durtz swallowed hard. "How worse?"

"It is sentient."

M&M frowned, "What?"

"Self-aware, Sergeant."

Lucas sighed, "It has existed before the birth of language, trapped to be stationary unless carried by a human."

Lucas ironed his face with his right palm. "Now, it has become aware of me and my own curse, and It wants my curse for itself."

The blonde scowled. "What curse?"

"Some are born colorblind, some psychic, some clairvoyant. I was born with the ability to move from Point A to Point B if I have been to B before."

"I don't believe it," scoffed M&M."

"I don't care."

Ingrid shook her head. "Why would it want your curse?"

"Why would it not, Lieutenant? For untold ages it could do so many things ... except move on its own volition. 

Perhaps that explains the vindictiveness of its wish fulfilments ... to punish the greedy humans who possessed the one thing of which it dreamed."

Lucas grimaced. "It could do wonders for others but nothing for itself ... until me."

Ingrid's brows furrowed. "Would you let it take this power from you?"

Lucas shook his head. 

"To be rid of this curse is tempting ... but given mobility, this book would become a plague on this world even more than it has been."

M&M snorted, "Well, you ain't got to worry about that just yet. That damn book isn't here."

Lucas nodded to the movie poster on the wall from which an eerie face was emerging.

"Oh, but it is. I didn't take that poster with me to here. The Book Who Drives Insane hitched a ride with me."