"You think?" I gritted out.
"And what of this man, Michael?" Eliza asked as turned back to Easter. “I fear that he means you harm.” "And that bothers you somehow?" I asked her incredulously, not believing that we were having such a conversation.
"That death befalls you is of a main concern of mine. That it is by my own hand and in my own way is of the utmost importance. What good would it be if I did not first destroy everything that was dear to you, and then crush the broken shell of your existence? And do not be flippant with me again, Michael, I can easily turn Justin against himself. Would you like to watch as I make him tear his own eyes out?"
"Wait Eliza, we will have our confrontation!" I told her, putting my hands up. I hoped she would take heed of my words and not hurt Justin.
"What of this man!” she spat, shaking Easter's still form. “He calls himself a Holy man, but he is a trickster. His wizardry lies in chemistry and staging.” "How has he reached you then?" Gary asked.
"Michael, I grow weary of this encounter,” Eliza said, ignoring Gary 's question. “He will not let you go. I can easily stop his beating heart and be rid of him.” "We are prisoners, if you kill him, they will kill us,” I told her.
"If only the revenge was not going to be so sweet, I could be rid of you now. What do you propose?" Eliza asked.
This was surreal, I was talking tactics with Eliza. "Can you make him answer questions?" I asked her.
"All men have a way of answering truthfully when I threaten to rend their genitalia from their body and make them eat it. Only once did I have to completely follow through. He died choking.” She actually let out a small laugh at the remembrance of the event.
"Easter,” I said. “You need to answer me truthfully, do you understand?" He nodded jerkily. “Eliza is not one for idle threats.” He gulped once. I took that as an affirmation of my words. “What is really going on here?"
"God…" he began. Justin/Eliza grabbed Easter's manhood in what I could only imagine was a vise-like grip by the way he reacted. “I was…" he labored to speak. “I am a chemist and … and…" I think Eliza was squeezing harder just for the sheer cruelty of it. “And an electronics hobbyist.” "But yet you’re a janitor at a middle school?" Gary asked disbelievingly.
"I… I… I got burned out.” He vomited from the pain.
"He lies,” Eliza said coldly. “I would like to crush his reproductive organs now.”
"Wait,” Easter said, trying to yell but not having enough breath to do so.
"Eliza, could you please ease up so that he can talk?”
"I will do so, but for the last time Michael, if he lies again, I will crush what I hold in my hand and you will have to do what you can to honor your promise of our final meeting.” "Fair enough,” I told her.
Easter bent forward slightly as Eliza let up somewhat.
"This is it Easter, you tell the truth like a man or die as a eunuch,” I cautioned him.
"I like to be around children,” he said. “I'm disgusted with myself. I've never done anything but I wanted to,” he cried.
"So you set something up with the Bowdoin brothers,” I said, linking the pieces.
He looked up at me wondering how I got that information. His head bowed as he answered, “I couldn’t go through with it. And by the time Talisker got there with his men they had gone too far. I did not want them to harm the boy.” "Why take them alive?" Gary asked, “Didn’t you risk them exposing you?"
"They did not know who they worked for. I had contracted them to do this before the zombies came. It was all set up through chat rooms and dummy email accounts.” "How long did they have that boy?" I asked with disgust.
"Weeks at least, perhaps as long as two months,” he dispensed.
"Sweet Jesus,” Gary choked, covering his mouth in fear that he might make an involuntary discharge.
"I did not know that they had gone through with it,” Easter said in defense. “Not until right before I sent Talisker to get them.” "Well that makes you a friggen saint doesn’t it?" I yelled at him.
Talisker pretty much crashed through the door. “What is going on?" he said, drawing his gun. I had a suspicion that he might start firing first and wait for the answers later.
"Tell him to stop, Easter,” I said.
I watched as the squirrelly man started to weigh his chances. Apparently so did Eliza as she redoubled her efforts on his what now must be considered his mushy privates at this point.
"Put the gun down, Talisker,” he wheezed. Talisker did without as much as a beat of hesitation.
"You're going to want a seat for this,” I said as I pushed him the chair I had originally been sitting in.
Easter spent a moment to retell the sordid depraved tale. Talisker looked like he was the one getting nut punched.
"But what of the trial, the bleeding eyes, the visions of God?" Talisker asked, not believing that the savior that walked among them was a devil dressed in black.
"Hallucinogens, the power of suggestion and Anistreplase,” Easter said breathlessly.
"The pious tests?" Talisker asked, grasping for straws.
"Taser leads in my gloves. Please make her stop,” Easter begged me.
"What of the zombies not attacking you? There has to be some truth in there somewhere?"
"Certain sound oscillations seem to have an effect on the undead. I discovered it quite by accident.” "Now that's some information we could use,” I said excitedly.
The screaming that pierced the room next was inhuman, maybe even inhumane if it wasn't being uttered by the creature known as Easter. Eliza had crushed his testicles. It would be hours, maybe days before he was in a state of mind that could help us with the sound machine he had mentioned .
I will never know how Easter said what he said as he writhed in agony. But the words or at least the vast majority of the message is transcribed below.
"Is animus has haud inherent macula salvifico unus vos have largior super is, ut libri of revelations civitas, vos have haud vindicatum in is animus quod mos relinquish totus vox prurigo."
Talisker stood up and placed the barrel of his pistol against Easter's head and blew his brains across the room.
"He was in misery. He was speaking jibberish,” Talisker said. “And he betrayed me, he betrayed the entire community.” He wiped his free hand across his eyes. “And no one else needs to know.” I had my hands halfway raised, fearful he would turn the gun on the rest of us.
"You are all free to go,” Talisker said as he approached the door.
"Wait,” I said. "Can we look for this machine that he says can repel the zombies?"
"You will leave now,” he said, not leaving any room for doubt that we had no other options in the matter. I heard his melancholy footfalls as they faded down the hallway, and then what had to be Travis' as they rapidly approached.
"Well that was entertaining,” Eliza laughed. “You have your other son with you I see,” Eliza commented as Travis ran in the doorway.
"Dad?" Travis asked.
I held up a hand to hold off any further questioning.
"It amazes me how malleable the human mind can be to the power of suggestion.”
"Eliza, what did you do?"
She laughed. “I have given you your way out and maybe rid the world of a small piece of evil, or a small piece of light.” "I will kill you, Eliza.”
"Perhaps Michael, only the great enemy of mortality will tell. Since I have been banished from this host, the next time we talk will be face to face.” With those last words she released Justin.
"Holy crap,” Justin said as he looked at the slumped over body that was Easter Evans. “What happened?"
"We either took part in a great good or a great evil,” Gary explained briefly. “Let's get out of here before we figure it out.” Talisker was true to his word. Our truck and all of our belongings were waiting outside of the school building. Nobody was in sight as we got in and drove off. We were ten miles out and the whole scene just kept playing over and over in my head like a movie on auto rewind.