Ash Return of the Beast

CHAPTER 55



Ravenwood sucked in a deep breath.

In a desperate effort to force herself over this initial hump and take the plunge into a world from which she might not return––except in the form of a mindless shell––she conjured up a vision in her mind. She imagined herself as one of the last remaining contestants on her favorite reality show, Survivor. This was her final challenge. The fate of the entire world was in her hands. If she failed, she’d be voted off the island, everyone would die, and she wasn’t about to let that happen.

The fantasy seemed like a reasonable motivator at the moment. Then she realized she couldn’t fool herself. Reality TV was more fantasy than reality. What she was about to do was real reality. No script. No lights. No cameras. No first-aid crew waiting on the sidelines. The real motivation was a madman in a hospital bed, thousands of miles away, and the threat of a global Armageddon well beyond the horrors of the apocalyptic visions of St. John.

She raised the cup, tilted her head back, closed her eyes, opened wide and let the horrid sludge slide down her quivering gullet. She gagged as she struggled to gulp it down. The putrid smell of the stuff was nothing compared to the taste, something between spoiled yogurt and fermented prunes.

The bitter assault on her senses caused her to shudder. She dropped the cup, grabbed the bucket and leaned into it, coughing and gagging in a rapid series of dry heaves. “Oh…Jee...sus…god.” The words sputtered out through bubbles of saliva oozing from the corners of her mouth. She tried to spit but it dribbled down her chin. Everything started spinning. Her eyes rolled up into her head and she teetered backward.

Tocho quickly moved behind her and broke her fall. He eased her down onto her back.

Tlacatecolotl dipped a cloth into a bowl of cool water and handed it to Tocho. Tocho gently wiped it across Ravenwood’s forehead and cleaned her face. “Are you okay? Hey, Ro? You still with us?”

She gave a nod. “I… think so.” Her voice was weak. Her head was reeling. For a moment she saw two Tochos but eventually they merged back into one. She struggled to sit up but she felt like a rag doll filled with a thousand pounds of sand.

Tocho eased her back down again. He took the blanket he’d had wrapped around himself, rolled it up and gently slipped it under her head. He shot a worried glance at Tlacatecolotl.

The Owl Man was looking on with approval. “This is good,” he said. “A raven with the heart of a warrior. Where she’s going, she’ll need it.”

***

Twenty minutes passed. Ravenwood remained on her back. The initial rush of nausea diminished to almost nothing. But something was wrong. She looked up at Tlacatecolotl. “Nothing’s happening,” she muttered with a confused look. “How long before it… Oh... Oh… Something’s… happening… Oh-h-h… Jesus…” An anxiety reflex rolled through her like an arctic wave causing her to shiver violently. A moment later, her body temperature rose as if she were in a sauna. Beads of sweat began to form on her brow. The thatched ceiling of the hut was turning clockwise, slowly at first, gradually gathering momentum like the carousel at Monkeyshine’s. She heard a woman’s voice… singing… softly… somewhere in the distance. Hush little baby, don’t say a word…Papa’s gonna buy you a mocking… “Momma?”

Tlacatecolotl produced a ceremonial rattle and began shaking it in a way that it made a continuous, hypnotic, hissing sound. He chanted softly in a high-pitched drone, invoking the spirits of the sacred ayahuasca. The ancient words filled the air, asking the spirits to guide the raven warrior on her journey, at least as far as they were able to go. He knew there would be a point beyond which they could not continue to travel with her and then she would be on her own.

Ravenwood’s glassy eyes glistened in the firelight as she stared at the spinning carousel ceiling.

The Owl Man leaned over and touched two fingers to her forehead. He traced out an invisible sign of protection upon her brow and when he withdrew his hand, her eyes were closed. She was set adrift into a sea of darkness.