Sarah Came Home

1988

"God damn town is crawling with the fuzz! Evidently we got us a good one!" Tzarinah stomped the snow off her boots as she walked into the cabin. Earlier in the day, she had braved the mountain roads to go into town for some supplies.

It seemed as if a simple kidnapping was a lot more complex than she had originally thought.

While her devotion to the Dark Lord and the occasional game-meat dinner was enough to sustain her, Jarrel was a different story and so was Sarah; and since Tzarinah had absolutely zero desire to spend any time alone with Sarah, she was the one who elected to go.

"They have flyers up all over! I guess this little gal was quite the upstanding little princess!" Tzarinah bared her yellow teeth in menacing grin.

"You weren't worried that someone would notice you coming and going? Nobody uses that road anymore. It might look suspicious." Jarrel asked while pawing through the bag of groceries Tzarinah had just plopped onto the rustic table in the kitchen area. "Did you get any Cheet-os?" He scowled into the bag.

"I got what I got, Moron! And no. I was not worried. The Dark Lord cloaks me in times like this. I am carrying out his work, after all. How could I do that if I was at risk for being seen?" Tzarinah walked over to the bag. "There are your damn, Cheet-os." She grabbed the bag and threw it at him.

"How did you do with our little Mama there, while I was gone?" Tzarinah lit a cigarette and took a big, greedy drag.

"Fine," he ripped open the bright orange bag. "She's not much trouble. She just lays there and cries mostly. She hasn't really eaten or drank enough to have to be taken to the outhouse too often. Honestly, I think she might be getting delirious, or something." He stuffed a handful of the crunchy snacks into his mouth and munched loudly.

"Delirious how?" Tzarinah's voice was serious again.

"I don't know," Jarrel said between crunches. "She sometimes just seems to be talking to something that isn't there. It seems to calm her, so I guess it's okay."

Tzarinah scowled. "Hmm, that could be a couple of different things," she started pacing back and forth. "But it better not be the Dark Lord! He's mine!" She slammed her fist down on the table.

"I don't think it's that, Rinah," Jarrel brushed the orange powder from his hands. "She's mostly singing...Christmas songs. Then she just starts whispering and sometimes she even...giggles." He reached for another handful.

"Giggles"? Tzarinah repeated as if the word was a lethal poison.

"Yeah," Jarrel munched. "That's why I said she's delirious."

"I guess if she's happy, then it will be easier to get her to go along with the plan," Tzarinah was still pacing but seemed calmer.

"Speaking of the plan, are you ready?" Tzarinah's eyes were steely and piercing.

Jarrel stopped chewing and swallowed hard.

"Uh, yeah, sure, I guess."

"What, are you having second thoughts?" Tzarinah wrenched the snack bag away from Jarrel and moved in closer.

"I mean, Rinah, she's..." Jarrel stared at the ground.

"She's what?" Tzarinah's eyes were turning black.

"She's a fucking kid! You know me, I like..." he paused.

"You like what?"

"Older women," he sighed, finally looking up.

This was both the right and wrong answer. Tzarinah's gaze softened for a moment, when she realized that Jarrel meant her; but her face soon contorted yet again. "Since when do you have a type? When you were younger, you'd stick your dick into anything with a pulse!" She glared. "And even that wasn't a hard and fast rule!"

"Hey! We didn't fuck those corpses that we pulled out! We just tried to steal their rings!" He was referring to the time when he was in high school, where he and a few friends dropped acid and broke into the local mausoleum. Their photos had been in the paper and they had to write public apologies, and everything.

Tzarinah laughed. "That was my favorite memory of you back then," she smiled. "I wish you would have told me, I would have helped you."

"You were my step-mother!" Jarrel laughed, blowing Cheet-o crumbs out of his mouth in the process. "You were married to my dad! It was bad enough that he was a Minister!"

"Yes it was," Tzarinah belly laughed. "Yes it was."