I see the bad moon rising.
I see trouble on the way.
I see earthquakes and lightning.
I see bad times today
Bad Moon Rising—Mourning Ritual
The afternoon of their third day in the village is slightly different than the other two. Julianne sits in the living room with her book as a light drizzle starts up outside, the apartment darker than usual without the natural light. She reads by candlelight, the flame casting shadows across the walls and drawing her eye.
The weather makes her sleep and she almost doesn't notice as Meggie comes in with a squirming something in her arms. It looks like drowned rat from Julianne's vantage point, but the soft mewing coming from the bedroom tells her it's a stray cat. She smiles, watching as her sister moves into the kitchen to grab a saucer and the last of the milk out of the fridge. Meggie's so kind most of the time, a true animal lover like her mom.
Was Mom a cat or dog person? Did she like animals at all? She doesn't remember Mo ever talking about having pets with anyone except Resa. They had a horse back then and Resa would help Julianne feed carrots to Hasulfel. She shakes the thoughts away and focuses back on her sister as Meggie takes the little saucer back into the bedroom.
She's got one of Mo's sweaters on, much too big for her but warming her up from the rain. Julianne can't blame her; she's dressed in sweats and long-sleeved Monsters University sweater and she's not even leaving the apartment. She leans her head back as a knock sounds at the front door, knowing whoever it is has come to visit Meggie.
"Who is it," Meggie calls from the bedroom.
"Meggie," a voice calls back, small and a little shrill. One of the kids, then, coming to drag Meggie out to play one of their little games. Julianne can hear Meggie moving through the apartment, but she never comes into Julianne's line of sight.
"Meggie can't go out and play in the rain," Julianne says loudly, taking the pressure off her sister. "She's not coming down with a cold on my watch, sorry!"
"Please, Julianne!" Meggie moves into the living room, looking as exasperated as a kid her age can look. It's obvious the kids are beginning to get on her nerves at this point and she's ready to go home. Julianne shrugs, patting her shoulder as she moves to the door. Maybe if she tells the kid that Meggie is bedbound with the sniffles, he'll run home for fear of contamination.
She pulls the door open, an apologetic smile already in place when her eyes land where a child's head should be only to find the buckle of a belt. Slowly, her eyes trail up to the dress shirt and suit jacket, the flower in the lapel and a slim face she'll never get out of her head.
"Isn't this a sight for sore eyes," Basta asks in a deceptively soft tone. The fingers of his left hand are curled into the back of Pippo's shirt, his other hand pushing Julianne further back into the room. She can hear Meggie scampering back into the bedroom and thanks God her sister has common sense. Basta enters the apartment, not loosening his hold on Pippo with Flatnose coming in after, his shoulders nearly taking up the entire doorway.
"Let the kid go, he's done nothing wrong by you or your master."
"Is that a fact? No, he's done nothing wrong by me, but he is the one that showed me where you were hiding out." Despite the brave front she's trying desperately to present, she can't help but take a step back when he shoves Pippo over to Flatnose and move towards her. "Do you know how long we spent in that hovel before we were found?" The smell of peppermint hits her when he snarls, Basta catching the front of her sweater and yanking her closer to him. "A very long time!" He forces Julianne backwards, nearly making her trip over The Complete Tales & Poems of Edgar Allan Poe as he herds her into the bedroom where Meggie is hiding.
"Where's the little witch," Flatnose demands to know. She stays quiet, staring straight ahead at Basta lest she gives away her sister's favorite hiding place. The closet's not exactly original, but it does its job when the people looking for you are dumber than a box of rocks.
"Where's the rest of your family, Juli? The little brat said your father had gone out, but we know Meggie is here somewhere. Where's your father gone off to?"
"The market, looking for a collector's edition of Phantom of the Opera," she answers a mite too quickly. "Meggie must have climbed through the window when she heard you speaking. She's a smart girl and knows when to run." That one they might believe since the bedroom window is open, letting some rain in. "H-how did you—"
"Dustfinger, of course." He smiles, pushing Julianne again just hard enough to send her toppling backwards onto one of the beds. "It's not hard to find a man that juggles with fire around these parts. Old men tend to remember those things and are eager to point the way to go after a little…. Persuasion. Where is the old fire-eater? Is he in the market too?" So Dustfinger didn't give them up after all.
"He left a few days ago, I haven't seen him since then." Julianne scoots backwards until her back is pressed against the headboard, her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them to present a smaller target should Basta feel the need to start throwing punches.
"Oh yes? Well, don't worry, we'll find him again and show him what happens to deserters. On to more pressing business. The lad here has said some very interesting things about his grandfather." Pippo, nearly ashen from fear, stares down at his shoes shamefully. "He said that the old man writes books that your father took a keen interest in."
"H-he— He's not…." The words have dried up on her tongue, refusing to come out. Basta grins, looking every inch the predator closing in on fresh prey. He sets a knee on the very edge of the bed with the fingers of one hand wrapped tightly around her ankle. "No!" He yanks hard, making her cry out when she's forcibly straightened with Basta straddling her stomach and her legs dangling from the bed.
"Perhaps this will loosen your tongue." Meggie flies out of the closet like a yellow blur, the pure force of her taking Basta down without any warning. "Little witch!" Basta roughly grabs ahold of Meggie, his free hand going for his knife as Julianne leaps off the bed and onto him, forcing him to let go of Meggie. "Grab her!" Meggie doesn't stand a chance against the much larger man, Flatnose easily holding her and Pippo in place while the other two struggle to gain control over the other.
"Leave us alone! We've got nothing you want here, and Capricorn's already stolen the book you're thinking of!" Julianne's still on top, but it's obvious that Basta can change that easily if he wants to. She may be chubby, but she couldn't fight her way out of a paper bag. With a grunt, Basta backhands her across the face hard enough to send her to the floor, dazed and understanding why cartoon characters see little stars dancing around their heads.
"I guess we should make sure of that for ourselves, Juli." Basta hauls her up in his arms and starts out of the apartment into the rain. Pippo and Meggie cling to each other out in the cold, but Julianne refuses to snuggle close to Basta, resolving to shiver until they get somewhere warm again. The rain has driven people into their homes, no one out on the streets to see pleading looks or miserable children. Basta is cursing the rain, his voice nearly drowned out from the boom of thunder.
Julianne can make out Fenoglio's house, blinking water out of her eyes with no real success. Basta sets her back on her feet, him and Flatnose taking positions on either side of the door so that Fenoglio won't notice them immediately. Julianne doesn't knock, just standing in the cold and glaring at Basta. Go ahead and do something to draw attention to us, you bastard. There's an old lady down the street that will come out at the first sound of trouble and Julianne's pretty sure she could take on Basta and Flatnose with that walker of hers.
Flatnose raps on the door before going back to his place. For a moment, just a second, Julianne has the fleeting hope of Fenoglio being gone, but then the old man pulls the door open and stares down at them.
"What on earth do you three think you're doing, running around in weather like this," he asks angrily. "I was just about to go looking for you, now get in here and warm up. Really, Julianne, I expected better of someone your age." She opens her mouth, a warning just on the tip of her tongue when Basta steps out of hiding and closes his hand around her nape.
"Can we come in, too?"
"I don't know," Julianne remarks sardonically," can you?" He jerks her head back, making her cry out in pain.
"Who are these people," Fenoglio demands, looking at Meggie like it's her fault that two strange men are at his door. "Friends of your father's?"
"You know them better than I do," Meggie responds crossly," you created them." It takes a moment, Fenoglio's eyes narrowed in confusion until they suddenly widen with awareness. The dark hair and skinny frame of Basta is familiar to him, the feature of Flatnose's face that gives him his name helping with processing. Little Paula appears in the doorway, peering out beyond her grandfather's leg moments after Pippo runs inside, apparently he's crying.
"Go back to him and I'll be there in a moment." His eyes never leave Basta's face, not admiring the way he looks at Dustfinger but with a good amount of fear and dread.
"How much longer must we stand out here," Flatnose grumbles. The words sound nasally, the same way most people sound when they pinch their nose and try to speak.
"Basta!" Fenoglio is still in a state of shock, standing in the doorway as the rain continues to fall down on them. It's cold and Julianne's fuzzy socks are no longer keeping her warm like they had back in the apartment.
"That's my name, old man," Basta responds with a smile. His eyes narrow when he smiles just like a cat when it's being petted. "We've heard you have something that interests us a great deal, a book." There's no hint of recognition in Basta's face, no fear or hate like Dustfinger had. He doesn't know that this is the one who gave him life, his creator and the only reason he's alive right now.
"Enough talking," Flatnose growls. "The rain's running in my ears." He leads the way inside the house, shoving Fenoglio out of his way like one would do to an annoying sibling when in a bad mood. Basta pushes Meggie ahead of him with his free hand, his other hand still around Julianne's throat and making walking awkward. They move through the house into the kitchen where Pippo is crying in a cupboard and Paula is speaking to him through the wood. She looks at Flatnose nervously when they walk in, not letting her eyes leave the scary man's face. Fenoglio gestures Paula over to him as he sits at the table, holding his granddaughter tightly to him.
"Where is it?" Basta is looking around the room, but Fenoglio doesn't answer, just watching Basta with some awe.
"It's not here," Julianne repeats, tugging at Basta's wrist, trying to get him to release her. He tightens his hold briefly, making her wince and redouble her efforts. "Let me go!"
"Look for it!" Flatnose obeys begrudgingly, storming out of the kitchen to look around the rest of the house. Basta's gaze lands on Meggie, the blonde not flinching away from it like Julianne would have. God, she's so brave for someone so young. "How did your father find the old man, little witch?" The look Meggie sends Fenoglio is one of warning, but the old man isn't paying her any attention, his eyes are still riveted on Basta.
"How did they find me," the old man asks with indignation. "I wrote the book!" He looks as though he expects Basta to worship him as a god, but Julianne would bet her right shoe that Basta is looking at him with pity.
"Oh, yes, of course you did." She can feel Basta's free hand move partly behind her to reach his knife, slipping it out and beginning to make notches in the old kitchen table.
"He really did," Meggie affirms. She's desperately searching Basta's face for something but looking away in disappointment when she doesn't find it.
"Your sister has quite an imagination, Julianne, but I wonder who came up with that lie first. Stories are all old, their authors dead and buried long ago." He jabs the knife into the table, pulls it out, and continues the process while waiting on Flatnose to finish stomping around upstairs.
"If that little theory was right, then I'd already have The Winds of Winter in my hands to read," Julianne mutters in response. She catches sight of Fenoglio's amused expression seconds before Basta forces her into a chair in front of him with his free hand gripping her shoulder hard enough to make her collarbone ache.
"Do you find something funny about what I just said, old man?"
"You always wear long sleeves, don't you," Fenoglio asks curiously. "Would you like me to tell you why?"
"Damn it all, why is it taking that idiot so long to find a book?" He's avoiding the answer, not wanting the old man to tell everyone in the room.
"He's taking so long because he can't read. You can't either unless you've been taught since you came into this world. None of Capricorn's men can read. Capricorn himself can't even read." Basta stabs the table again, this time so hard he has some trouble pulling the knife back out again.
"Of course Capricorn can read. What are you even talking about?" He leans over the table, stomach brushing Julianne's shoulder as he stares threateningly down at Fenoglio. "I don't like how you speak, old man. Why shouldn't I carve a few more wrinkles into your face?" Fenoglio just smiles up at him, as though he knows something Basta himself doesn't. Shaking, Julianne places a hand on Basta's wrist, applying gentle pressure until the man lowers his knife a little.
"You wear long sleeves because your master likes to play with fire." Fenoglio speaks slowly, like he's explaining complicated math to a fifth grader. "You burned both of your arms right up to the shoulder when you set fire to a man's house who refused to give Capricorn his daughter. Ever since that night, someone else played with the fire while you content yourself to playing with knives." Basta moves so fast, that Paula hides under the table in fear and Julianne jumps, feeling him leaning farther over her.
"You like to make yourself seem clever, don't you?" His words are growled out, his knife fully raised and resting under Fenoglio's chin. "All you've done is read that damned book, isn't that right?" Fenoglio isn't afraid in the slightest, boldly meeting Basta's gaze head on without so much as a tremor.
"I know all about you, Basta. You'd give up your life for Capricorn, always hungry for his praise like a starving dog begging for scraps. You were younger than Meggie when you were recruited and you've looked up to him ever since, but can I tell you something? Capricorn thinks you're ignorant and he hates you for it. He hates all of his devoted sons, even though it's his own fault that you're all so oblivious. He wouldn't hesitate to do away with the lot of you if it would work in his favor. Do you understand that?"
"Hold your filthy tongue!" Julianne squeezes her eyes closed when Basta's knife comes alarmingly close to Fenoglio's face. Would he actually carve up the old man's face like he did Dustfinger's? The answer is undoubtedly yes, he'll do whatever pleases him as long as the consequences don't fall at Capricorn's feet. "You know nothing about Capricorn, just what you read in that cursed book. I think I should cut your throat—"
"No," Julianne shouts. She turns in her seat and pushes at him with enough force to make him stumble backwards a couple of feet. He turns his dark eyes on her, bile raising in her throat as she realizes how angry he is and that it's now directed her. She might as well have handed him a loaded gun and told him to aim for her head. She swallows hard, dangerously close to tears as he moves to tower over her.
"You mind your own business!" He backhands her again, sending her crashing to the floor and hitting her head on the table on the way down. The room seems to spin around her, thoughts jumbled in her confusion. Julianne's only dimly aware of being picked up, the peppermint smell telling her who's holding her.
I just wanna go home….