CHAPTER 47

"Oh. That." Lily-Mike stepped out of the door and walked slowly down the steps. She wore a crimson doublet and bright white pants. The outfit was outlandish, and Beth couldn't help but notice that it included a giant codpiece. "What do you think it was, Murray?"

"I think it's trouble for you," Murray said, his resolve wavering. "You agreed to keep it down."

"Did I?" Lily shook her head. "Last time I checked, there weren't any laws about making noise in the middle of the day."

"Listen here, weirdo, there may not be laws about noise during the day, but this woman is clearly in distress. Now I don't know what you all are doing over here, but I'm sure the police would be very interested to hear about it."

"I'm willing to bet that you have already contacted them." Lily grinned devilishly, which looked especially ominous with Mike's features. "And they didn't give a flying fuck. Am I right?"

"Mike," Beth cautioned, and put a hand on Lily's arm.

"And if you must know, the noise was from this one right here." Lily slapped Beth on the ass, causing her to jump. "She was getting fucked so hard, she saw stars. It doesn't surprise me that you've never heard the sounds of a woman being pleasured—"

Murray's face turned bright red and he pointed at them. "Enough! You may think you're funny, Mr. Radley, but I'll have you know that you don't know who you're dealing with!"

"I know exactly who I'm dealing with," Lily replied. "You're the kind of man who sits in silent rage as he tries to fall asleep. Fantasizing about how the world has yet to recognize your greatness. You work hard for someone who takes advantage of you, then come home and pound your meat to VHS p**n because you're afraid the government is watching your internet, am I right?"

Murray's mouth was opening and closing like a fish, and he had gone white. It was like the oxygen had been sucked out of him. His left eyelid fluttered.

"And that's not all," Lily continued. "Because you fall asleep and dream about them, don't you? All those young women, straight out of college, looking for internships and—"

Beth pinched Lily's arm. "That's quite enough, Mike."

Murray looked like he was going to be sick.

"Maybe Murray here should worry less about what we do in the safety and comfort of our own home and worry more about that suitcase full of women's lingerie in his closet." Lily sneered. "It's totally fine to wear what makes you happy, you insipid little shit, but if you think you're gonna come over here and threaten us with the cops in anything less than your best body stocking—"

"MIKE!" Beth clamped her hand over Lily's mouth as Murray's glasses fell off his face and clattered to the ground. The man's eyes had rolled up into his head, leaving only the whites of his eyes.

In the silence that followed, Beth realized that the yard had gone still. The few centaurs who were out working the yard had paused to watch.

"Murray?" Beth didn't dare touch the man. His breathing had become ragged, and every few breaths he let out a high-pitched whine.

"Stay back," Lily said as she stepped in front of Beth. "If this fucker blows his load, I'm going to—"

Murray opened his mouth and a sound like high-pitched static came out of him. It was disorienting, causing Beth to topple over backward and land on her butt.

Lily punched Murray in the face. At the moment of contact, a cylinder of white light surrounded him and blasted her backward onto the porch. The centaurs threw their spears, but they just shattered on the wall of light. The Jabberwock moved to attack, but let out a cry of frustration when it was pushed away.

"Shit, shit, shit," Beth muttered, but still couldn't stand. Waves of nausea rolled through her body, and she covered her mouth with one hand when she felt her gorge rising.

A mist rose up from the ground and drifted out into the street. The centaurs were now grouping up and launching a volley of arrows, but these did no good either. A few of the centaurs toppled over, and were helped to their feet as they fled through the doorway to their village.

Kisa and Cecilia were suddenly there. They grabbed Beth by the hands and dragged her up the stairs. The eerie sound followed them into the house, but vanished as soon as the door was shut.

A few seconds later, the door opened again and Lily stumbled in, now in her regular form. Beth was horrified to see that all the flesh on Lily's arm had been burnt away.

"What in the unholy fuck is that?" Lily demanded as she plopped down and inspected her arm. When she moved her fingers, Beth could see the exposed muscle slide over itself. "Ow, shit! This really fucking hurts!"

Eulalie stumbled in from the backyard, her hands over her ears. She was dragging long lines of webbing behind her, as if it was leaking from her body. Panic was written on her face as she slumped onto the floor.

Sofia stood by the front window, her sword in hand. She scowled at Murray as he continued to shriek.

"At least that sound can't get in here," she said, then looked around. "Is everyone okay?"

"Naia came inside," Eulalie muttered. "Amymone is hiding underground. I feel like I'm going to be sick."

"Tink have idea." The goblin had her face pressed to the glass. "Maybe start fire?"

"No fires." Sofia looked at Beth. "Who is this man?"

"He's the neighbor, he came to complain about the noise." She remembered what Mike had told her about him the other day. "He was acting weird a couple of days ago. Mike said he seemed possessed. We figured it was the society."

"What the hell is happening out there?" Kisa had joined Tink at the window. "Where are the lions?"

Beth rushed to the window and saw that the front yard had been gobbled up by fog. The outer walls of the property had gone missing. Were they just hard to see because of the fog? "He isn't actually attacking anybody, so maybe the lions don't see him as a threat?"