Chapter Five
Innocence Cries Blood
The first snow storm of the season carried fire on its gallant white wings. It soared over the glittering tree tops and aimed its fears beak squarely on Petunia. It injected its marvelous venom, and sent her swirling into great waves of love-sickness. She longed to rush into Neo's arms, and let the whole world pass her by. She was tired of, again, being treated like a parasite, and ached to hear her name called as if she were Aphrodite.
Neo was more then willing to ride to her on his black Stalin and polished armor. The Stalin to carry his will across the country. The armor to protect him against the dragon's of despair, also known as Mr. and Mrs. Sanderus. Mommy and Daddy were more then a little rude to him. They eyed his motorcycle like it was the Black Plague. They pulled back when Neo went to shake their hand. And they continually watched him like a hawk, as if he were going to steal their most precious possession, and that possession most certainly was not Petunia.
Petunia wasted no time in rushing him out of the house. She had been in the bath when Neo came, and it was quite amusing to watch her steam up and down the room with nothing on but a towel. She impaled herself on the dresser next to the door, pinched her finger as she closed the zipper on her duffel bag, and halfway through getting dressed, (while fighting with the clasp on her bra) she noticed a twelve year old boy spying on her through his window. I knew he was watching, but I just couldn't reset the opportunity to see Petunia's face go that red! I laughed until my sides hurt, and Petunia gave me a very nasty look.
Petunia's hair was still wet when she ran out of the house and onto the back of Neo's bike. As soon as she put her helmet on Neo took off at top speed. They barreled down the street like a comet and faded out of sight.
The cold steadily became thicker as they headed further north. Neo's ear's and nose were a bright, almost florescent pink by the time they reached the forest surrounding the retreat. Snow capped hills sat, majestic and wise in the distance. Tree's that glittered like broken glass obscured it's serene face. A silence so profound you could eat it with a spoon, filled this virgin land. It capped the estate like a warm, heavy comforter, broken only by the purr of Neo's motorcycle.
Petunia held on tight with her hands underneath Neo's coat. She ran her thumb up and down Neo's warm, defined muscles; silently worshipping the body she would recognize by any other name. They twisted and turned their way up the pale dirt road so hard that Petunia feared she would fall off. She had the nagging felling that Neo was doing it just to make her hold on to him tighter.
The sky mirrored the Earth perfectly. It was ashen and vast like a frozen lake. Petunia was certain that if she reached up she could touch its icy skin. The smell of wet dirt and pine carried her off into distant lands of evil green witches and emerald cities.
Neo, who had more facades then Madonna, took off his helmet and let his now short hair wave in the wind like the tongues of a hundred snakes. He also had a very thick beard now, which came very much in handy given the cold climate. He was her king, this land her castle, and the motorcycle that had massaged her butt numb, was her steed. And more then anything else in the world, she prayed that this ride would never end. She deserved for it to never end.
But wishes aren't finite, unlike some things... like love for instance. Far too quickly for Petunia's tastes they arrived at the retreat. It was a beautiful three story house. A blue milk painted covered swing sat on the patio. A quaint white picket fence served as a support for the many rose bushes that intertwined themselves around the perimeter of the yard. Dirt trails lead off in every direction, serving as guides to more secluded (and much more expensive) cabins. A fountain stood to the right of the highly architectural garden. And a wind chime playing softly in the breeze rounded out the picture.
Neo stowed the motorcycle in a large muraled shed, and they walked up to the front door. It was very warm inside, and they stood there only a few seconds before a smiling lady came up to them.
"Good Afternoon," she told them, "and welcome to The Ménage of Amour. If you don't like the name my husband came up with it, if you do like it, it was me."
"Thank you," Petunia and Neo said together.
"And I love the name," Neo added.
"Good. Breakfast is at 7:00, lunch is at 1:00, dinner is at 8:00, and you may use the kitchen and dinning rooms at any time you wish. May I show you around?"
Thankfully Neo said, "No that you. It's been a long trip and I think we would like to rest before dinner."
"Very well. I'll show you to your room." They went up a flight of stairs and the women opened the first door on the right.
A cozy fire crackled merrily in the hearth to the left. Candles of varying length and width stood on the banister, along with several black and white photos in gold and tarnished silver frames. A large four poster draped in white and tan velvet lay at an angle in the corner. A tea table posed in front of a stained glass window, which was covered in a thin layer of frost. Nick-nakes of every manner filled the rest of the room giving it a nice lived-in feel.
"If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask," she slowly backed out of the room but then stopped just as she was about to close the door. "Oh, before I forget. It is my husband's 40th birthday and we're having a celebration down in the basement. Every one is welcome to join. It's sure to be a blast."
Neo looked at Petunia and raised his eyebrows. Petunia shrugged her shoulders in a silent might be fun.
"All right then. What time?"
"Wednesday, 7:00pm until someone drops from alcohol poisoning," she said with a wicked smile on her face.
"Oh, I don't know," Neo said constrainedly. "It's not that we wouldn't be pleased to join. It's just that we're scheduled to leave on Thursday."
Petunia looked at him with an expression remarkably like the one mother wears when scolding us. "Honestly, Neo, are we here on vacation or not?"
"Well, we are but I don't think it's very s-"
"I don't believe I'm hearing this. Napoleon McArgea the third. King of all parties, bacchanals, and pubs backing down from an innocuous birthday?" she smiled slightly and said the words she knew would crawl under his skin, "Are you getting old?"
Neo blushed and swelled up like a bullfrog. He swiftly turned to the owner and said, "We'll be there."
She bowed and closed the door.
Neo turned back to Petunia and walked slowly toward her, forcing her against the wall. "How dare you," he said playfully with his finger in her face.
"Awe, did I hurt the poor baby's feelings? Did his pretty little world shatter before him? Let's see if we can't pick up the pieces."
They didn't make it to dinner that night, and sufficed to say the bed got a considerable amount of use through those four days.
Wednesday dawned quiet on the naked couple. They lay fast asleep under extra thick blankets. Their bodies intertwined and dry seat coated skin too thin to hold their spirits in any longer. They had long since become see through in alchemy, one core, one mind, each unable to breathe with out the other.
The golden rays of the new day draped over Neo first, gently shaking him awake. He turned to his love and breathed deeply. 'Could this possibly be true?' he asked himself, 'She looks so much more beautiful then before. She's not a women, she's an angel."
Sensing Neo's intense, hungry gaze, Petunia woke up and smiled. "Hello there," she said. She noticed his stony eyes and said, "What?"
Neo shook his head slowly and said, "I just can't believe you're actually mine." He thought that sounded a lot better then saying she was glowing with some formerly unrealized praise for him.
"Promise me something," Petunia said.
"I've already promised you my life, there's not much more I can give you."
"Promise you'll never leave me."
"'Till death do us part," he whispered.
"And what of after death? What then? Will you find someone else?"
"I shall come back as a butterfly, and swing on the stars above your head as you sleep. And you had better do the same," he added threateningly.
"Well I don't know about swinging on stars," Neo shot her a very betrayed look. Petunia giggled and said, "But I will willingly do every thing else." She buried her face in the pillow and said, "Today's our last day isn't it?"
"Yeah," Neo said, sitting up. "And we have that party to go to. I have reputation at stake after all."
The day was very slow, and well cherished. Neither of them were willing to let go of the surreal dream that encompassed them. They casually walked through the many gardens and philosophized as they rocked back and forth in the swing, watching the sun dip behind the trees. It dyed the sky bright orange and panted Petunia's skin so that she luminesced like a fire fly. She had fallen asleep on Neo's lap by 6:30 and had to be roused with a kiss before she would do much more then squirm like a baby.
As promised, the entire town seemed to be crammed in the home owner's basement. Head's bobbed up and down as the guests danced to the blaring music. Laser lights flashed and smog filled the room. Waitresses in skimpy costumes carried drinks on black trays. And for the life of them they couldn't find the owners in this chaos. This was a forty year old man's idea of a birthday party?
Off to one corner was what one could only consider to be a small makeshift diner. Neo gently poked Petunia in the side and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Why don't we go and sit down."
"What?" Petunia screamed back, unable to hear a single word of what he'd just said.
"I said maybe we should sit down!"
"What?"
Neo opened his mouth to repeat his sentence yet again, but changed his mind and simply pointed.
Petunia caught sight of the tables on the raised platform, "Oh," she said, "Okay!"
The music was a lot quieter hear because of the distance from the speakers and they could actually hear each other. They had no sooner reached an empty table then a saucy looking lady approached them with a tray full of assorted drinks. "What will it be?"
"Just some tea."
"Only what ya see, Hun."
Neo eyed the tray with apprehension. Everything on the tray was alcoholic and he didn't feel much like driving a motorcycle with a hang over. "Nothing, then."
"Nothing?!" Petunia shook her head at him in a patronizing manner. "What kind of a man am I marrying? Is my idi-bidi baby afraid of a little buzz?"
"I fear nothing," he said definitively.
"Prove it."
Neo looked at her, sizing up his competition. He could easily drink more then she could. He turned to the lady and pulled two Long Island Ice Tea's off the tray. "Prepare to meet your doom," he said pushing the glass towards her.
The hours slowly passed and as the clock ticked away so did the silver essence of mind, body, and spirit. The universe converged the way it dose when a star goes super nova. Time dissolved in great waves of tipple. The basement slowly emptied around them as they drank themselves stupid in a silly contest of wits. Demons wait outside the door for those who don't have enough sense to walk around them.
They were so far gone by the time morning came that all they could do was sit and laugh at each other with empty glasses perched on their heads like hats.
"Great party isn't it?" came a distant, happy-go-lucky sort of voice. "Hey, weren't you two suppose to be gone by now?"
"Gone?" Neo asked, unable to wrap the gray goop that was formally his brain around her question.
"Yeah. As in out of hear. Going home. On the road," she said, looking faintly confused.
A lightning bolt flashed and illuminated the fogy din inside his head. "Oh shit!" he said, jumping up at once. He grabbed Petunia by the arm and raced toward the exit as fast as his wobbly legs could carry him. They ran upstairs, crashed through their door, gathered their things, (a little half hazardously) and within ten minutes they were out the door.
As luck would have it Neo's trusty motorcycle had chosen now to misbehave. He desperately turned the handle again and again, and when the motor finally turned it woke Petunia up like a blast from a cannon. They were off, recklessly streaking up the crisp dirt road.
The ride was uneventful for a long time. They were a quarter of a mile from home before exhaustion and the creeping hangover took their toll. Neo began to, unknowingly, swerve in and out of the opposing lane. The street was deserted for the most part, so it didn't make much of a difference. A police car was parked at the intersection, its occupant asleep on duty. Neo's vision blurred as he fought to stay awake. Again he veered into the opposite lane. The shadows around him collated and combined for the last time, he was asleep.
An unsuspecting semi came over a small hill, the grate over its engine cracked. The man, instead of paying attention to the road, was playing with the radio. He looked up just in time to see Neo and Petunia asleep on the motorcycle. He abruptly turned the wheal, but it was too late. The semi rammed the tiny motorcycle, sending the bike flying into the air, and both it's passengers in different directions. Petunia was impaled by the cracked grate. And Neo... Neo lay some twenty feet from the scene, his head severed from his body. Flesh, bones, and veins protruded from his neck like worms. His eyes were closed, the face in an expression of blissful ignorance.
Innocence Cries Blood
The first snow storm of the season carried fire on its gallant white wings. It soared over the glittering tree tops and aimed its fears beak squarely on Petunia. It injected its marvelous venom, and sent her swirling into great waves of love-sickness. She longed to rush into Neo's arms, and let the whole world pass her by. She was tired of, again, being treated like a parasite, and ached to hear her name called as if she were Aphrodite.
Neo was more then willing to ride to her on his black Stalin and polished armor. The Stalin to carry his will across the country. The armor to protect him against the dragon's of despair, also known as Mr. and Mrs. Sanderus. Mommy and Daddy were more then a little rude to him. They eyed his motorcycle like it was the Black Plague. They pulled back when Neo went to shake their hand. And they continually watched him like a hawk, as if he were going to steal their most precious possession, and that possession most certainly was not Petunia.
Petunia wasted no time in rushing him out of the house. She had been in the bath when Neo came, and it was quite amusing to watch her steam up and down the room with nothing on but a towel. She impaled herself on the dresser next to the door, pinched her finger as she closed the zipper on her duffel bag, and halfway through getting dressed, (while fighting with the clasp on her bra) she noticed a twelve year old boy spying on her through his window. I knew he was watching, but I just couldn't reset the opportunity to see Petunia's face go that red! I laughed until my sides hurt, and Petunia gave me a very nasty look.
Petunia's hair was still wet when she ran out of the house and onto the back of Neo's bike. As soon as she put her helmet on Neo took off at top speed. They barreled down the street like a comet and faded out of sight.
The cold steadily became thicker as they headed further north. Neo's ear's and nose were a bright, almost florescent pink by the time they reached the forest surrounding the retreat. Snow capped hills sat, majestic and wise in the distance. Tree's that glittered like broken glass obscured it's serene face. A silence so profound you could eat it with a spoon, filled this virgin land. It capped the estate like a warm, heavy comforter, broken only by the purr of Neo's motorcycle.
Petunia held on tight with her hands underneath Neo's coat. She ran her thumb up and down Neo's warm, defined muscles; silently worshipping the body she would recognize by any other name. They twisted and turned their way up the pale dirt road so hard that Petunia feared she would fall off. She had the nagging felling that Neo was doing it just to make her hold on to him tighter.
The sky mirrored the Earth perfectly. It was ashen and vast like a frozen lake. Petunia was certain that if she reached up she could touch its icy skin. The smell of wet dirt and pine carried her off into distant lands of evil green witches and emerald cities.
Neo, who had more facades then Madonna, took off his helmet and let his now short hair wave in the wind like the tongues of a hundred snakes. He also had a very thick beard now, which came very much in handy given the cold climate. He was her king, this land her castle, and the motorcycle that had massaged her butt numb, was her steed. And more then anything else in the world, she prayed that this ride would never end. She deserved for it to never end.
But wishes aren't finite, unlike some things... like love for instance. Far too quickly for Petunia's tastes they arrived at the retreat. It was a beautiful three story house. A blue milk painted covered swing sat on the patio. A quaint white picket fence served as a support for the many rose bushes that intertwined themselves around the perimeter of the yard. Dirt trails lead off in every direction, serving as guides to more secluded (and much more expensive) cabins. A fountain stood to the right of the highly architectural garden. And a wind chime playing softly in the breeze rounded out the picture.
Neo stowed the motorcycle in a large muraled shed, and they walked up to the front door. It was very warm inside, and they stood there only a few seconds before a smiling lady came up to them.
"Good Afternoon," she told them, "and welcome to The Ménage of Amour. If you don't like the name my husband came up with it, if you do like it, it was me."
"Thank you," Petunia and Neo said together.
"And I love the name," Neo added.
"Good. Breakfast is at 7:00, lunch is at 1:00, dinner is at 8:00, and you may use the kitchen and dinning rooms at any time you wish. May I show you around?"
Thankfully Neo said, "No that you. It's been a long trip and I think we would like to rest before dinner."
"Very well. I'll show you to your room." They went up a flight of stairs and the women opened the first door on the right.
A cozy fire crackled merrily in the hearth to the left. Candles of varying length and width stood on the banister, along with several black and white photos in gold and tarnished silver frames. A large four poster draped in white and tan velvet lay at an angle in the corner. A tea table posed in front of a stained glass window, which was covered in a thin layer of frost. Nick-nakes of every manner filled the rest of the room giving it a nice lived-in feel.
"If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask," she slowly backed out of the room but then stopped just as she was about to close the door. "Oh, before I forget. It is my husband's 40th birthday and we're having a celebration down in the basement. Every one is welcome to join. It's sure to be a blast."
Neo looked at Petunia and raised his eyebrows. Petunia shrugged her shoulders in a silent might be fun.
"All right then. What time?"
"Wednesday, 7:00pm until someone drops from alcohol poisoning," she said with a wicked smile on her face.
"Oh, I don't know," Neo said constrainedly. "It's not that we wouldn't be pleased to join. It's just that we're scheduled to leave on Thursday."
Petunia looked at him with an expression remarkably like the one mother wears when scolding us. "Honestly, Neo, are we here on vacation or not?"
"Well, we are but I don't think it's very s-"
"I don't believe I'm hearing this. Napoleon McArgea the third. King of all parties, bacchanals, and pubs backing down from an innocuous birthday?" she smiled slightly and said the words she knew would crawl under his skin, "Are you getting old?"
Neo blushed and swelled up like a bullfrog. He swiftly turned to the owner and said, "We'll be there."
She bowed and closed the door.
Neo turned back to Petunia and walked slowly toward her, forcing her against the wall. "How dare you," he said playfully with his finger in her face.
"Awe, did I hurt the poor baby's feelings? Did his pretty little world shatter before him? Let's see if we can't pick up the pieces."
They didn't make it to dinner that night, and sufficed to say the bed got a considerable amount of use through those four days.
Wednesday dawned quiet on the naked couple. They lay fast asleep under extra thick blankets. Their bodies intertwined and dry seat coated skin too thin to hold their spirits in any longer. They had long since become see through in alchemy, one core, one mind, each unable to breathe with out the other.
The golden rays of the new day draped over Neo first, gently shaking him awake. He turned to his love and breathed deeply. 'Could this possibly be true?' he asked himself, 'She looks so much more beautiful then before. She's not a women, she's an angel."
Sensing Neo's intense, hungry gaze, Petunia woke up and smiled. "Hello there," she said. She noticed his stony eyes and said, "What?"
Neo shook his head slowly and said, "I just can't believe you're actually mine." He thought that sounded a lot better then saying she was glowing with some formerly unrealized praise for him.
"Promise me something," Petunia said.
"I've already promised you my life, there's not much more I can give you."
"Promise you'll never leave me."
"'Till death do us part," he whispered.
"And what of after death? What then? Will you find someone else?"
"I shall come back as a butterfly, and swing on the stars above your head as you sleep. And you had better do the same," he added threateningly.
"Well I don't know about swinging on stars," Neo shot her a very betrayed look. Petunia giggled and said, "But I will willingly do every thing else." She buried her face in the pillow and said, "Today's our last day isn't it?"
"Yeah," Neo said, sitting up. "And we have that party to go to. I have reputation at stake after all."
The day was very slow, and well cherished. Neither of them were willing to let go of the surreal dream that encompassed them. They casually walked through the many gardens and philosophized as they rocked back and forth in the swing, watching the sun dip behind the trees. It dyed the sky bright orange and panted Petunia's skin so that she luminesced like a fire fly. She had fallen asleep on Neo's lap by 6:30 and had to be roused with a kiss before she would do much more then squirm like a baby.
As promised, the entire town seemed to be crammed in the home owner's basement. Head's bobbed up and down as the guests danced to the blaring music. Laser lights flashed and smog filled the room. Waitresses in skimpy costumes carried drinks on black trays. And for the life of them they couldn't find the owners in this chaos. This was a forty year old man's idea of a birthday party?
Off to one corner was what one could only consider to be a small makeshift diner. Neo gently poked Petunia in the side and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Why don't we go and sit down."
"What?" Petunia screamed back, unable to hear a single word of what he'd just said.
"I said maybe we should sit down!"
"What?"
Neo opened his mouth to repeat his sentence yet again, but changed his mind and simply pointed.
Petunia caught sight of the tables on the raised platform, "Oh," she said, "Okay!"
The music was a lot quieter hear because of the distance from the speakers and they could actually hear each other. They had no sooner reached an empty table then a saucy looking lady approached them with a tray full of assorted drinks. "What will it be?"
"Just some tea."
"Only what ya see, Hun."
Neo eyed the tray with apprehension. Everything on the tray was alcoholic and he didn't feel much like driving a motorcycle with a hang over. "Nothing, then."
"Nothing?!" Petunia shook her head at him in a patronizing manner. "What kind of a man am I marrying? Is my idi-bidi baby afraid of a little buzz?"
"I fear nothing," he said definitively.
"Prove it."
Neo looked at her, sizing up his competition. He could easily drink more then she could. He turned to the lady and pulled two Long Island Ice Tea's off the tray. "Prepare to meet your doom," he said pushing the glass towards her.
The hours slowly passed and as the clock ticked away so did the silver essence of mind, body, and spirit. The universe converged the way it dose when a star goes super nova. Time dissolved in great waves of tipple. The basement slowly emptied around them as they drank themselves stupid in a silly contest of wits. Demons wait outside the door for those who don't have enough sense to walk around them.
They were so far gone by the time morning came that all they could do was sit and laugh at each other with empty glasses perched on their heads like hats.
"Great party isn't it?" came a distant, happy-go-lucky sort of voice. "Hey, weren't you two suppose to be gone by now?"
"Gone?" Neo asked, unable to wrap the gray goop that was formally his brain around her question.
"Yeah. As in out of hear. Going home. On the road," she said, looking faintly confused.
A lightning bolt flashed and illuminated the fogy din inside his head. "Oh shit!" he said, jumping up at once. He grabbed Petunia by the arm and raced toward the exit as fast as his wobbly legs could carry him. They ran upstairs, crashed through their door, gathered their things, (a little half hazardously) and within ten minutes they were out the door.
As luck would have it Neo's trusty motorcycle had chosen now to misbehave. He desperately turned the handle again and again, and when the motor finally turned it woke Petunia up like a blast from a cannon. They were off, recklessly streaking up the crisp dirt road.
The ride was uneventful for a long time. They were a quarter of a mile from home before exhaustion and the creeping hangover took their toll. Neo began to, unknowingly, swerve in and out of the opposing lane. The street was deserted for the most part, so it didn't make much of a difference. A police car was parked at the intersection, its occupant asleep on duty. Neo's vision blurred as he fought to stay awake. Again he veered into the opposite lane. The shadows around him collated and combined for the last time, he was asleep.
An unsuspecting semi came over a small hill, the grate over its engine cracked. The man, instead of paying attention to the road, was playing with the radio. He looked up just in time to see Neo and Petunia asleep on the motorcycle. He abruptly turned the wheal, but it was too late. The semi rammed the tiny motorcycle, sending the bike flying into the air, and both it's passengers in different directions. Petunia was impaled by the cracked grate. And Neo... Neo lay some twenty feet from the scene, his head severed from his body. Flesh, bones, and veins protruded from his neck like worms. His eyes were closed, the face in an expression of blissful ignorance.
