23. MARAIS

There's a character I did not create in this chapter. That's all

I'm going to say...

Marais took a sip of the brownish water. When he was sure no one

was watching,he spat it into the vase on the table; in the vase was

a cluster of white lilies. He had been trying to remember what they

were supposed to mean. Roses were for love,he knew that much. He

had never liked roses. Poison had been right; every rose really

DID have its thorn and Marais usually wound up puncturing his

flesh with them every time he touched one.

"That's a Billy Joel song," he said to himself. "And every

taaaiiime I've haaaaald a rooooo-hooooose..."

He had been sitting in The Gilded Truffle for the longest time. The

waitress was somewhere in the back; for all he knew,she was giving

the cook a massage. But no,here,she was coming out of the back.

"Excuse me," Marais said. He extended an arm to stop her; she

glanced at the black skull tattoo on his forearm. "Yes?" she asked.

"I am ready to...how do you say it...I am ready to be ordering,

ma'am."

"Are you from France?" she asked.

"France,yes,I am. France." Marais smiled,then spat out nervous

laughter. "Francais,mon cherie."

"Long way from home,huh?"

"I would like a...haaaam. A burger with the ham."

"We don't get many hamburgers here,but I'll see what I can do."

She walked away.

Marais thought about what she'd said. What were the others eating?

There was a quiet couple near the window; baked potatoes and steak

for them. A lone man near the entrance was eating little cubes of

blackened meat.

Then,a woman filled the entranceway. She was at least seven feet

tall,as wide as the doorway,and the most distressing thing about

her was that she...well,if she were on fire,these flames were the

strangest Marais had ever seen. They were blue,black at the edges.

Despite the fire,he could see her wide,staring eyes,and they were

more terrifying than Lord Voldemort's. It wasn't the color that

made him want to scream because he couldn't identify the color,it

was that as soon as they made eye contact,he felt as if she were

inside of him. Worms crawled in and out of her head,spilling at her

feet.

She floated further into the room. Couldn't anyone else SEE this

woman? Everyone just kept eating and laughing, She glided past the

other tables and no one paid the least bit of attention to her.

She saw him.

He tried to move. His legs didn't work.

She raised her left arm and pointed at him,speaking words in a

language he didn't recognize-

*"Du willst bei das Wasser loschen,Mutter Shabubu gesehen..."

Her finger moved to his left hand,which closed around the glass of

water; his jaw convulsed,and before he knew it he was tilting the

glass towards his lips. The water tasted absolutely awful,but he

couldn't break her hold on him.

Then,inside his throat,he felt the liquid...hardening.

In seconds,he was gasping for breath. He staggered to his

feet and danced around the restaurant,clutching at his throat.

He could feel his face turning blue-why weren't they helping him?

Wh-

The patrons saw the tall blonde man collapse to the floor. By the

time someone got to him,he had suffocated,his esophagus blocked

off by a chunk of ice.