Richard Kadrey - Dead Set

“Emmett sent me,” Zoe said. “With this old machine. An Animagraph.”

Valentine kicked a few more almonds down onto the snakes. “Did Emmett ask you for anything?”

She didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to be yelled at twice in one night, and she especially didn’t want to be yelled at by Valentine. Why couldn’t someone just be happy for her?

“You said before that he didn’t ask for anything, but I don’t know if you were telling me the truth. People like Emmett, they always ask for something.”

“How do you know?”

“I see a lot up here.” Valentine nodded to the telescope propped against the tree.

Zoe looked out at the spinning carousel. “I gave him a tooth.”

Valentine whirled around. “You gave him one of your teeth?” Valentine said, fear or anger edging into his voice.

“No!” said Zoe. “I gave him a tooth. Not my tooth.” It felt like everyone was after her tonight.

Very quietly, Valentine said, “What do you think he wanted with one of your teeth?”

“I don’t know. He’s a lonely old weirdo who bribes girls for souvenirs. He probably beats off to them when he goes home.”

“I wouldn’t be so worried if that’s all it was.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean there’s only one reason someone like Emmett would want a tooth from someone like you. That’s to gain power over you.”

“What kind of power?”

“I don’t know exactly,” said Valentine. He crossed his arms and frowned. “The point is that anyone who asks you for something like that isn’t your friend. Emmett is dangerous and he wants a lot more from you than a tooth.”

“But he sent me to see Dad. He’s going to let me take Dad’s spirit home tomorrow.”

“And what does he want for that?”

Zoe bit the inside of her cheek. It hurt immediately, so she stopped. She wanted to yell at Valentine the same way she’d yelled at her mother. She’d come here to share something wonderful with him and he was spoiling it by being more scared of a silly old creep than she was of snakes. And snakes were real and could really hurt you. Zoe wasn’t scared of Emmett. She’d handled jocks trying to cop feels in the hallways at school and her friends’ stepfathers when they got too touchy-feely. Zoe knew she could take care of herself, but knew Valentine wouldn’t believe her. It was still Valentine, though, and she didn’t want to lie to him again.

“Some of my blood,” she said.

“Blood,” said Valentine flatly. He shook his head. “You can’t see him again. No matter what he promised you.”

“Look, if he’s as bad as you say, then I can’t leave Dad with him.”

“Father can take care of himself. He wouldn’t want you putting yourself in danger.”

“I don’t believe this,” said Zoe. All the frustration and anger she’d felt earlier with her mother was coming back. “What do you mean control me? For what? You think he wants to rape me or something?”

“Maybe,” said Valentine evenly. “But there are some things even worse.”

“Like what?”

Valentine shook his head and walked to the far end of the platform.

“I’m only going back one more time,” said Zoe. “Then I’m never going to see him again.”

“You’re in danger already.”

“You know what? I don’t care,” Zoe shouted. “I’ve seen a lot of stuff in the last few days and I’m willing to sacrifice a little of my safety for Dad because I know he’d do it for me.”

Valentine picked up the telescope and walked around to the far side of the tree without saying a word. When Zoe came around the tree, he was holding the telescope up and was looking at the mountain.

“Want to hear something funny?” Zoe asked.

“Always.”

“A girl told me she wanted to kiss me.”

Valentine slid the telescope sections in and out, focusing it. “I can see that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you’re pretty. Why wouldn’t she want to kiss you?”

Zoe looked away, embarrassed by the compliment.

“Is she cute?” Valentine asked.

“Yeah. You’d like her.”

“You’ll have to introduce me sometime.”

Zoe grinned and leaned back against the tree. “Anyway, I just wanted to tell someone.”

Valentine came over and hugged her. “Thanks,” he said. Zoe nodded. She reached up, grabbed a low branch, and lifted up her feet. She hung there until her arms got tired and she had to put her feet down again.

“Come here,” Valentine said from over by the railing. He pulled a book of matches from his back pocket. As Zoe came up next to him, he struck a match and let it drop. The match became a microscopic meteor streaking to the ground. But before it could hit, a half-dozen snakes struck at it. He lit another match and dropped it. The snakes struck at that one, too. He handed the matches to Zoe and let her toss a few. Each time she tossed a burning match toward them, the snakes attacked. She remembered Mr. Danvers saying that snakes had lousy eyes, but could sense the heat their prey gave off.

“See? They’re easy to fool,” said Valentine.

When Zoe got bored teasing the snakes, she gave the matches back to Valentine and looked over the field to the rides. “It’s too bad we can’t go over there.”

“That’s okay,” Valentine said. He was back looking through the telescope. “It’d be kind of weird with whatever’s on the mountain.” He handed the telescope to Zoe and pointed to the mountain, at a spot near the peak. Zoe put her eye to the lens and peered through.

The mountain was still swallowed by mist. It raged in brutal gusts, forming a slow whirlwind like a procession of angry ghosts. Through the mist, Zoe could just make out a shape that looked like a man hunkered down in the snow. There was a glint of something shiny nearby. The mist cleared for a second and Zoe got a better look at him. The man’s face was covered, but she saw that he, too, had a telescope. And he was looking right at her and Valentine. She remembered something Emmett said: “I watch people.” But she knew it couldn’t be him in her dream, so she pushed the thought out of her head.

“I don’t want you to go see that Emmett guy again,” Valentine said. “But I know you will, so you need to be careful.”

Zoe looked at him. “I still have Dad’s razor.”

“Keep it with you for a while. Don’t let it out of your sight.”

Zoe got up early and went straight to her closet. At the bottom of the box where she’d retrieved her baby teeth, she found her father’s shaving kit. She’d found it in the trash when they were packing up the old house, which had really pissed her off. Her mother had been on a rampage to get rid of sharp objects, and maybe there was good reason for her attitude at the time. Zoe had been a little crazy during the weeks between the funeral and the sale of the house. But so was her mother, she thought, which maybe explains why she thought it was a good idea to throw away the whole kit. Good thing that Zoe had made a point of sifting through the trash cans during the night, looking for lost treasures.

She took the straight razor from the shaving kit and went to hide it under the T-shirts in her dresser. When she opened the drawer she could tell that the T-shirts had been moved. She always stacked the East Coast and West Coast punk bands in different piles. Now they were mixed together, which meant that her mother was looking for contraband in her room yesterday. Good, she thought. She’s already checked the drawer, so it’s the perfect place to hide something. When she’d slid the kit under the shirts, Zoe tucked the straight razor into her back pocket and put on one of her father’s old Fear T-shirts, one that hung low and loose over her hips. She checked herself in the mirror and nodded, satisfied that the shirt covered the outline of the razor.