Edmund stops by Linus\u2019 room. Linus is rocking back and forth on his bed, staring at a mural of a fireplace \u2014 with a burnt-down fire \u2014 scrawled at the other end.<\/p>\n
Edmund looks him up and down. He sighs.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome on,\u201d Edmund says. \u201cLet\u2019s get a drink.\u201d<\/p>\n
Linus looks up.<\/p>\n
He smiles at Edmund. Then his smile fades. Then he smiles again. He stands up, creakily. He hasn\u2019t left his room in a little while. He rubs his nose. He washes his hair with a puff of antichrist magic. It doesn\u2019t make him smell better, but it does make him smell less unwashed.<\/p>\n
Then he gets his coat.<\/p>\n
Neither of them bother mentioning that the other looks practically the worst they\u2019ve ever seen them. It\u2019s not because they\u2019re awkward talking about stuff like that, although they are. It\u2019s just \u2014<\/p>\n
They don\u2019t want to face the idea that other people are hurting as badly as themselves, and they don\u2019t want to deny it either, not in dear friends.<\/p>\n
So they just walk, in their pale hats.<\/p>\n
After a while they start stealthing, instead, moving like shadows in the night. They reach the bar. They stand hidden, lurking, opposite the doorway of the Lethal Magnet School for Wayward Youth school bar.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you want to play this?\u201d Linus asks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to be carded,\u201d says Edmund. \u201cI don\u2019t want to go to any trouble. I just want to sit with you and have a drink.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight,\u201d says Linus.<\/p>\n
His white dog appears. It flows off around the corner. They follow it. They walk forbidden paths. They are cold paths. They lead through icy lands. The two of them emerge at a table where two drinks and a bottle are already set.<\/p>\n
The white dog pants.<\/p>\n
The glasses clink, and it is gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo enemies,\u201d says Linus.<\/p>\n
Edmund looks at him. He shakes his head. \u201cTo friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAw,\u201d says Linus.<\/p>\n
They sit there for a while. They drink. Edmund finally says, \u201cI ate a guy. And . . . some other guys. And some corpses.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHa,\u201d says Linus.<\/p>\n
\u201cHa?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI hear you,\u201d Linus says.<\/p>\n
He looks at his reflection in his booze. I don\u2019t know what kind it is. I\u2019m not really very good with alcohol. It\u2019s some kind of amber-colored Lethal Magnet booze that they should absolutely under no circumstances ever sell to the children, but are nevertheless obligated to stock.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
Have you ever slipped up, Linus? And killed and eaten someone?<\/em><\/p>\n Linus shakes his head.<\/p>\n \u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI always see Tom,\u201d he says. \u201cLike, he\u2019s grabbing me, and he\u2019s shaking me, and he\u2019s saying, \u2018You never. You don\u2019t ever<\/em>, you little snot.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh,\u201d says Edmund.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I don\u2019t eat them. Because I don\u2019t have to. Only,\u201d says Linus, who will become Mr. Enemy, \u201ceventually, I suppose I will. Or the Devil\u2019ll get me. Or I\u2019ll do my own bad things. That has to happen, you know, because we\u2019re living in a world.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah,\u201d says Edmund.<\/p>\n \u201cI shouldn\u2019t have left,\u201d Linus says.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI shouldn\u2019t have left. I should have found him. I should have fought him then.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c. . . the cleaning man?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTom was dying, man.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI should have stayed, and found him, and we could have fought.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTom was dying.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI could have \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019d swiffed the ophidian DNA off of Tom\u2019s genome<\/em>, Linus,\u201d Edmund says. \u201cHe was dying.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI get it!\u201d Linus says.<\/p>\n They\u2019re quiet for a bit.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not strong enough,\u201d says Edmund, \u201canyway. You\u2019re just Linus. You need to, you know, grow up and stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI got a B- in Hand Weapons,\u201d says Linus. \u201cThat\u2019s passing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWell,\u201d says Edmund. \u201cYou weren\u2019t<\/em> strong enough, anyway. You\u2019d have just wound up in some kind of institution for antichrists.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know,\u201d says Linus.<\/p>\n They\u2019re quiet for a while. Edmund gives him an apologetic look. Linus swirls his drink.<\/p>\n \u201cThat place is fucking lonely,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cI heard that Ce\u2014\u201d Edmund starts, about to refer to the rumor about antichrist Cecilia, but;<\/p>\n \u201cYou heard wrong,\u201d says Linus. \u201cShe\u2019s not the antichrist. She\u2019s just rich and kind of spoiled. They had to let her go.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHeh,\u201d says Linus. \u201cAnd you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to break Fenris out,\u201d says Edmund. \u201cI\u2019m going to break him out. And then, I\u2019m going to throw myself down in front of him. And he\u2019s going to eat me. And he\u2019ll eat me, and it\u2019ll all be just and fair and good.\u201d<\/p>\n Linus closes his eyes.<\/p>\n He inhales. He exhales.<\/p>\n \u201cIs that how it works?\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s what\u2019s going to happen,\u201d says Edmund.<\/p>\n He swallows.<\/p>\n Then he looks at Linus. \u201cWhat would you do,\u201d he says, softly, \u201cif I could free you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFrom?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe House of Hunger,\u201d says Edmund. \u201cThe white hat. If you could just be Linus again. If I could eat the hat out of you. If I could eat the pale white and leave you as you were before.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m learning how,\u201d says Edmund. \u201cI can do it. I can rip it out of you. I can free you. From me<\/em>. I don\u2019t want you hatted into my story, Linus. You don\u2019t have to be part of this. You can just be . . . Linus<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUntil the Devil rips out my heart and soul and lives in my body,\u201d Linus points out.<\/p>\n \u201cThat might not ever happen,\u201d says Edmund. \u201cI mean, what if it never actually happens? <\/em>Or what if it\u2019s not for a while?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Linus\u2019 dog appears. It pants.<\/p>\n It drops a grenade into Linus\u2019 hand. Linus pulls the pin. Linus swallows the hand grenade.<\/p>\n A waitress blinks and the dog disappears.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can live your life,\u201d says Edmund, who is not paying that much attention. \u201cAn ordinary life, you know? Until it happens. A real<\/em> life, until it happens. I want that. I want \u2014 I don\u2019t want to take you down with me into the pale dark.\u201d<\/p>\n Linus considers.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat would I do,\u201d he asks, \u201cif you could do that? You asked?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d fill a grenade with holy water,\u201d Linus says. \u201cAnd then I\u2019d swallow it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n Edmund retroactively parses recent visual information. Linus\u2019 hand is blistered. Oh God<\/em>, thinks Edmund, the bomb \u2014<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI figure,\u201d says Linus, \u201cif I lose the wolf-hunger; the wolf-throat and the wolf-gut \u2014 then it\u2019ll go off. And it\u2019ll kill me. Makes sense, right? If you unwind me from you, rip off my hat, and exile me from the House of Hunger.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then I can be free of you,\u201d Linus says, \u201cAnd cut out from your story, and also, dead.\u201d<\/p>\n Edmund stares at him.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can kick out Bernard,\u201d says Linus casually. \u201cYou can kick out Lucy. You can kick out all of them, Edmund. But not me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut you \u2014 but we \u2014\u201d<\/p>\n Edmund stares at Linus.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat am I feeling?\u201d he asks Linus, helplessly. \u201cI can\u2019t tell. My heart is wrapped in stone.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHeh,\u201d says Linus.<\/p>\n He leans back. He stares at the ceiling.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom the moment I put the hat on,\u201d Linus says, \u201cI knew you\u2019d been right. From the beginning, that you\u2019d been right. They shouldn\u2019t have pent up that wolf like that. That was bad. What the svart-elves did to that wolf of yours, they\u2019re bad.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a world-eating wolf,\u201d Edmund says, reflexively taking the role of Devil\u2019s advocate.<\/p>\n \u201cI dunno,\u201d Linus agrees.<\/p>\n He shrugs.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been a lot of things,\u201d Linus says. \u201cYou know? But I\u2019m really only one thing now. I am just your friend.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAre you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the cleaning man\u2019s enemy,\u201d concedes Linus. \u201cI\u2019m your friend and I\u2019m his enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHis enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd Tom\u2019s brother,\u201d says Linus, who will be Mr. Enemy someday. \u201cAnd maybe the antichrist. I think I might still be the antichrist. I\u2019m trying to still be the antichrist. It\u2019s so goddamn hard.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s four things,\u201d says Edmund.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd Jane\u2019s friend,\u201d says Linus. \u201cWhatever happened to her?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFive things,\u201d says Edmund.<\/p>\n \u201cFive hypostases,\u201d concedes Linus, \u201cbut only one genus of ousia.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have no idea what you just said,\u201d says Edmund.<\/p>\n \u201cGet drunker,\u201d the antichrist suggests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Edmund stops by Linus\u2019 room. Linus is rocking back and forth on his bed, staring at a mural of a fireplace \u2014 with a burnt-down fire \u2014 scrawled at the other end. Edmund looks him up and down. He sighs. \u201cCome on,\u201d Edmund says. \u201cLet\u2019s get a drink.\u201d Linus looks up. He smiles at Edmund. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"series":[50],"class_list":["post-5784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vidars-boot-chapter-10","series-vidars-boot"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Hat_4_nobg.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5784"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5784\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6032,"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5784\/revisions\/6032"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5784"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/books.hitherby.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fseries&post=5784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}