Catfish and Diamonds
an excerpt

An icy hand wrapped around James, crushing his bones and pressing his lungs from drawing breath. Melody’s face told him the same story; a lance of fear had stricken the both of them. The doorman, Major and Gregory all bored their eyes into Emerelda, whom held her face in hands that trembled. “No,” the major cried. “Oh god no,” he grasped her in a bear hug. “She couldn’t be—“

“Bulthier,” she said. “I knew I wasn’t feeling well. It’s true, isn’t it? I’m going to die.” James cast a sideways glance for the door leading out into the dark night. Punching his teeth onto his tongue he slid his foot over the frilly carpet. It wasn’t much, but it was one step closer to escape. Emerelda’s icy stare set on James. “You,” she said. Her supple lips parted ever so slightly. Her teeth were clamped together between them. She drew her head back and lashed a finger in his direction. “You’re the one who served me the wine. You poured so much it overflowed.” Another sweat dripped from her moist hairline. “That is no coincidence!”

“No,” James revved back, toppling onto the mantle. His head bashed against the window behind it. “I—I was new to, uh, pouring.”

She opened her mouth to repute. No words came. Her eyes lost the glint it had seconds before. Then her pupils rolled back and nested behind her eyelids. James’ heart raced, the silence that filled the room grating on his nerve. Emerelda’s body fell limp, slipping from the Major’s hold and crashing onto the floor.

The Major’s scream shot across the lobby. It was an inhuman wail unlike James had ever heard. James retreated onto the mantle. He embraced his shins and clinched onto the cloth of his pants. The Major’s voice quivered and popped, his scream turning into a crackling steam of guttural sounds. The man collapsed to his knees, casting off his right glove. He dug under Emerelda’s neck and squeezed. “Gregory,” he said in a whisper. “Kill all kitchen staff that attended today’s ceremony. Start with these two.”

Melody hopped back, slapping her palms on the door behind her. “Wait,” she scrunched her face, “She said it was that guy. Think this through!” The bald guardsmen unsheathed a small, shining pistol.

Gregory shot her a look. “Who is to say you weren’t in collaboration with him?”

Melody looked James directly in the eye. She wrinkled her nose and squinted, “I don’t know this man.” James darted his head away and squeezed his arms tight.

*****************************************

“Shit,” Niche cried, “A train is coming the opposite way. I- I can’t pull up.”

Sure enough the howling of a train closed toward them. James heaved back with all his might but instead slipped, crashing forward. A pair of hands seized his shoulders and kept him from toppling completely off. He felt Melody's frantic breaths hit the back of his neck. Niche’s head was well over the second train track line. The man tried to pull away from James' saving hold. “I didn’t want to actually do it,” Niche screamed. “Let go, I’ll jump past the train and I might live!”

James only heard half of Niche's plea, the ringing from the gunshot and the harshness of the wind still consuming his hearing. His racing heartbeat filled his head. “Seed,” he said at the top of his lunges. “Help us.” It was too late. The domed front of the train passed his sights with its giant hoisted headlights and a tainted window that wrapped around the front. Perhaps it was Niche’s loss of weight, or the force of the train hitting his upper half, but the three revved back and rolled into the train car. Blood spewed from the Setoland’s decapitated body, raining onto the seats and padded walls like a can of spray paint.