Thomas E. Sniegoski - The Fallen 3: End of Days

THOMAS E. SNIEGOSKI is the author of more than two dozen novels for adults, teens, and children. His books for teens include Legacy, Sleeper Code, Sleeper Agenda, and Force Majeure, as well as the series The Brimstone Network.

As a comic book writer, Sniegoskis work includes Stupid, Stupid Rat-Tails, a prequel miniseries to the international hit Bone. Sniegoski collaborated with Bone creator Jeff Smith on the project, making him the only writer Smith has ever asked to work on those characters.

Sniegoski was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his wife, LeeAnne, and their French bulldog, Kirby. Visit him on the Web at www.sniegoski.com .

Dont miss Kelly Keatons

Beneath every beauty, evil stirs.

UNDER THE CAFETERIA TABLE, MY RIGHT KNEE BOUNCED LIKE A jackhammer possessed. Adrenaline snaked through my limbs, urging me to bolt, to hightail it out of Rocquemore House and never look back.

Deep breaths.

If I didnt get my act together and calm down, Id start hyperventilating and embarrass the shit out of myself. Not a good thing, especially when I was sitting in an insane asylum with rooms to spare.

Are you sure you want to do this, Miss Selkirk?

Its Ari. And, yes, Dr. Giroux. I gave the man seated across from me an encouraging nod. I didnt come all this way to give up now. I want to know. What I wanted was to get this over with and do something, anything, with my hands, but instead I laid them flat on the tabletop. Very still. Very calm.

A reluctant breath blew through the doctors thin, sun-cracked lips as he fixed me with an Im sorry, sweetheart, you asked for it look. He opened the file in his hand, clearing his throat. I wasnt working here at the time, but lets see. He flipped through a few pages. After your mother gave you up to social services, she spent the remainder of her life here at Rocquemore. His fingers fidgeted with the file. Self-admitted, he went on. Was here six months and eighteen days. Committed suicide on the eve of her twenty-first birthday.

An inhale lodged in my throat.

Oh hell. I hadnt expected that.

The news left my mind numb. It completely shredded the mental list of questions Id practiced and prepared for.

Over the years, Id thought of every possible reason why my mother had given me up. I even explored the idea that she mightve passed away sometime during the last thirteen years. But suicide? Yeah, dumbass, you didnt think of that one. A long string of curses flew through my mind, and I wanted to bang my forehead against the tablemaybe it would help drive home the news.

Id been given to the state of Louisiana just after my fourth birthday, and six months later, my mother was dead. All those years thinking of her, wondering what she looked like, what she was doing, wondering if she thought of the little girl she left behind, when all this time she was six feet under and not doing or thinking a goddamn thing.

My chest expanded with a scream I couldnt voice. I stared hard at my hands, my short fingernails like shiny black beetles against the white composite surface of the table. I resisted the urge to curl them under and dig into the laminate, to feel the skin pull away from the nails, to feel something other than the grief squeezing and burning my chest.

Okay, I said, regrouping. So, what exactly was wrong with her? The question was like tar on my tongue and made my face hot. I removed my hands and placed them under the table on my thighs, rubbing my sweaty palms against my jeans.

Schizophrenia. Delusionswell, delusion.

Just one?

He opened the file and pretended to scan the page. The guy seemed nervous as hell to tell me, and I couldnt blame him. Whod want to tell a teenage girl that her mom was so whacked-out that shed killed herself?

Pink dots bloomed on his cheeks. Says herehis throat worked with a hard swallowit was snakes claimed snakes were trying to poke through her head, that she could feel them growing and moving under her scalp. On several occasions, she scratched her head bloody. Tried to dig them out with a butter knife stolen from the cafeteria. Nothing the doctors did or gave her could convince her it was all in her mind.

The image coiled around my spine and sent a shiver straight to the back of my neck. I hated snakes.

Dr. Giroux closed the file, hurrying to offer whatever comfort he could. Its important to remember, back then a lot of folks went through post-traumatic stress. You were too young to remember, but

I remember some. How could I forget? Fleeing with hundreds of thousands of people as two Category Four hurricanes, one after another, destroyed New Orleans and the entire southern half of the state. No one was prepared. And no one went back. Even now, thirteen years later, no one in their right mind ventured past The Rim.

Dr. Giroux gave me a sad smile. Then I dont need to tell you why your mother came here.

No.

There were so many cases, he went on sadly, eyes unfocused, and I wondered if he was even talking to me now. Psychosis, fear of drowning, watching loved ones die. And the snakes, the snakes that were pushed out of the swamps and inland with the floodwaters Your mother probably experienced some horrible real-life event that led to her delusion.

Images of the hurricanes and their aftermath clicked through my mind like a slide projector, images I hardly thought of anymore. I shot to my feet, needing air, needing to get the hell out of this creepy place surrounded by swamps, moss, and gnarly, weeping trees. I wanted to shake my body like a maniac, to throw off the images crawling all over my skin. But instead, I forced myself to remain still, drew in a deep breath, and then tugged the end of my black T-shirt down, clearing my throat. Thank you, Dr. Giroux, for speaking with me so late. I should probably get going.

I pivoted slowly and made for the door, not knowing where I was going or what Id do next, only knowing that in order to leave I had to put one foot in front of the other.

Dont you want her things? Dr. Giroux asked. My foot paused midstride. Technically theyre yours now. My stomach did a sickening wave as I turned. I believe theres a box in the storage room. Ill go get it. Pleasehe gestured to the benchitll just take a second.

Bench. Sit. Good idea. I slumped on the edge of the bench, rested my elbows on my knees, and turned in my toes, staring at the V between my feet until Dr. Giroux hurried back with a faded brown shoe box.

I expected it to be heavier and was surprised, and a little disappointed, by its lightness. Thanks. Oh, one more thing Was my mother buried around here?

No. She was buried in Greece.

I did a double take. Like small-town-in-America Greece, or ?

Dr. Giroux smiled, shoved his hands into his pockets, and rocked back on his heels. Nope. The real thing. Some family came and claimed the body. Like I said, I wasnt working here at the time, but perhaps you could track information through the coroners office; who signed for her, that sort of thing.

Family.

That word was so alien, so unreal, that I wasnt even sure Id heard him right. Family. Hope stirred in the center of my chest, light and airy and ready to break into a Disney song complete with adorable bluebirds and singing squirrels.

No. Its too soon for that. One thing at a time