The tarot shop fell silent, the crashed table's wreckage
strewn like broken promises. Maryanne stumbled out, her hand throbbing. Guy's
dazed form leaned on her shoulder. The Penance Engine's hum lingered, a
vibration that sank into the pavement, carried by the damp air toward the
river. Its gyroscopic rings—unseen now—pulsed with the memory of a helpless cry
echoing from the depths.
The Crowned-Deep's pressure coiled around Maryanne's
chest, a whisper of pride's price. The river's black waters swelled,
alive with sin. Maryanne paused at the road's edge, the night air thick with
unease. The hum lingered beneath her feet; it tugged at her core, pulling her
gaze toward the river's distant shimmer.
Guy rubbed his temple, muttering, "What the hell was
that, Mary?" His voice cracked, still raw from The Crowned-Deep's
temptation.
She gripped his arm, her cross warm against her skin.
"It's not done with us," she whispered, nodding toward the sound.
"We follow it. We have to know."
They moved through the empty streets, the hum of the
Penance Engine guiding them like a heartbeat. Streetlights flickered,
casting long shadows that twisted with the rhythm, as if the town itself
breathed the Engine's will.
The river drew closer, its black surface rippling
unnaturally, waves turned bloody, lapping at the banks. Maryanne's hand brushed
her belly, a protective instinct flaring. Guy stumbled, his leather jacket
catching on a rusted fence.
"This is insane," he rasped, but his feet kept
moving, drawn by the same force.
Suddenly, the hum felt like a heartbeat in the earth, and
the world shifted. Maryanne froze, her vision fracturing as the street
dissolved into a blur of gray. Time stopped around her, trapping her outside
its flow—Guy's voice faded, the town vanished, and she stood alone on the
riverbank, the water churning with The Crowned-Deep's presence.
"Its voice slithered through the air, a crushing
whisper: 'Pride brought you here, Maryanne. See what it birthed.'"
Visions flashed of the future: Minnie's hands trembling as
she drowned a homeless man. Roman's tear-streaked face watching in horror. Then
another glimpse—her daughters, Marietta and Anne Faith, dangling in cages over
a blood-soaked mire, their cries piercing the air.
The Crowned-Deep laughed, its pressure squeezing her
lungs."Your child is the key, the final offering. Run, and
they drown."
The time loop broke. She gasped and stumbled backward—back
on the bridge with Guy, who was staring at her, confused.
"Mary? You zoned out."
She shook her head, the visions searing her mind, and
pressed on.
The hum led them past abandoned storefronts, where water
seeped from cracked foundations, pooling with an oily substance. A stray dog
barked, then fled, its eyes reflecting sorrow. The hum grew louder, tugging her
toward the river's edge, where a tattered scrap of black robe dissolved into
the current.
The trail veered, threading through narrow alleys where
forgotten drains gurgled with sewer runoff. Maryanne's head throbbed in time
with the rhythm, her hand trembling as she clutched Guy's sleeve.
"It's alive," she murmured, sensing the Engine's
hunger reaching for her unborn child.
Guy nodded, pale. 'I felt it too. It wanted something from
me… but it made me feel like I belonged.
Maryanne's grip tightened on the cross. She didn't answer.
Part of her hoped he wasn't confessing—he was remembering.
His admission hung heavy, a confession of the pact he'd
nearly sealed.
They emerged near Hope's Anchor Elementary, the school's
silhouette looming against the moonless sky. The hum intensified, a deep
resonance that rattled the chain-link fence. The basement windows glowed
faintly, a sickly amber light seeping through grime.
Maryanne pressed her hand to the glass, feeling the
vibration in her bones, and saw her child's handprint—small, perfect, trembling
as if alive. The hum swelled from within, a boil that chilled her blood.
Guy gripped her shoulder, his voice low. "This is where
it's been hiding. Waiting."
The air thickened with The Crowned-Deep's pressure,
its taunt echoing in her mind as reality bent.Maryanne whispered a
prayer, her cross flaring briefly against the dark.
The hum pulsed one last time, settling into the concrete
below—its hunger for the next generation stirring, drawn by Guy's pact. The
Crowned-Deep's patience deepened.
They stood frozen, the school's shadow swallowing them, as
the night held its breath.
Maryanne and Guy headed home. The car ride was
silent; both thought this was too much to handle.