Part 67

She looked down at his hands.

Her son's hands.

Small, bloody fingers clutched the golden weapons, holding them steady as her body fell backward. Her flesh slid off of the knives, unleashing two jets of blood that she felt rather than saw. Warm dampness soaked her robe.

He looked up at her with motionless eyes.

Which one was he? Eric? David?

...it didn't matter. She'd failed them both. The whole town had, but they weren't the whole town's sons. They were hers.

And she'd failed them both.

Pain and realization radiated outward from the twin wounds. Her legs abandoned her. She fell, knees shattering on the hard stone as she tried to catch herself. She found herself looking into her son's eyes once again.

"...I..." she began. But there was nothing more to say.

She barely saw him move. Her thoughts lagged a second behind... and by the time his motion registered, the boy had swept one of the blades up and back in an arc so fluid that she thought he was still preparing to strike...

...even after the fountain of blood erupted from her severed throat. Sensations rushed through her as she collapsed. Warm, weak, dizzy... cold... dark... and finally, nothing.

Lowell Vern saw his wife fall at his son's feet. She'd stood in the way and now there would be no new Covenant. Not for him or anyone else. He'd probably been moments away from killing her himself... but he HADN'T.

Now she was dead.

Now he was alone... in a room full of corpses and leftovers who would be dead soon enough.

And the boy.

David looked down at the motionless body of his mother, then turned slowly toward Lowell.

"Look at you," said Lowell. "She saved you, you know." He took a step back... then to the right.... positioning himself... The exit was on the side of the room, and the boy was quick... "Killed everyone else, but saved YOU!" Lowell spat. "Saved YOU! And what do you do? How do you thank her? You KILL HER!"

The boy watched him. He made no move to follow, but he didn't put those knives down either. And he didn't stop watching....

"You know why? Eh? Because that's all you CAN do! That's all you are... a killer. All you'll ever be... all you'll ever do."

Lowell took another step to the side.... and another.

"He was right, you know. Wherever you went... wherever you came back from... you brought it with you. You brought HIM with you. He's in you. You're not my son any more; you're whatever he made you! So what are you gonna do now? Kill me? Then what? THEN what, eh? I'll TELL you what, boy... you'll do the only thing you CAN do... the only thing you got left.... you'll just keep going and going and-"

"Shut Up."

Lowell froze.

"I am..." The effort it took to form words out of so much rage must have been tremendous. Lowell could see the pain of it on David's face. "...what you ALL made me! My name is Eric..." He flicked the excess blood from his blades with a well-practiced flip of his wrists. "...and you WILL... remember... me."