Green Eyes Cry, You Die, page 12
part #2 of Layton Shayne Mystery Series
Both men wore fake flower leis around their necks and round floral crowns on their heads. There were even flowers tucked into their pubic hair.
“Where did you get the floral crowns?” Buck said.
“The fairies gave them out,” Harry said. “They’re all around the trail.”
Link was pulling him forward.
“Sorry, we were on our way to get something to drink,” Link said. “See you guys later.”
“If there’s one thing there’s plenty of out here, it’s fairies,” Alex said. “I think the chances of you getting lei’d are pretty good, Buck.”
We continued walking and saw a glittery green couple making out against a tree. Ahead of us was a guy lying ass up on his towel on top of a picnic table. I turned from looking at him when I heard Buck shout.
“Look!” Buck said, as he pointed straight ahead. “Fairies!”
A group of three naked men wearing sheer green tulle fairy skirts, long green wigs, and holding floral crowns and leis stood in front of us. The heavier and rounder man of the group had a wand in one hand and was tossing green glitter into the air with the other hand. One of the men plucked a flower from his lei and tucked it gently into the ass of the man lying on the table. The other man put a floral crown on Buck’s head.
“Welcome to the festival, sweet princes,” the man said.
Buck grinned from ear to ear, as did Alex when he was crowned. Being the old fogey of our group, I suffered the indignity silently. We then received leis from the other man, and for the final touch—the glitter man threw his glitter over us. The fairies then smiled and walked away. Taking one last look at them, I couldn’t help but smile.
“I see they managed to make even you crack a smile,” Alex said.
“What the hell—it is kind of cool.”
After walking past various occupied tables we found an empty one, where I placed my towel and sat.
“Are we finally gonna hear the plan now,” Buck said.
“The plan is we wait for the zombies to show,” I said.
“Say, what?” Alex said. “Why are we going to wait for some killer monsters to show up or not show up?”
“They’ll show up to get the green-eyed statue,” I said. “The festival will bring them out—I’m sure of it. The person controlling them won’t miss out on a chance to grab the statue.”
“How would they know where the statue is when even Billy doesn’t know?” Buck said. “Unless Billy’s lying.”
“He’s not,” I said. “I’m guessing that the same energy which brings the zombies to life will be able to focus in on where the real statue is on this property.”
“Does that mean they’ll concentrate on the statue and not on killing people?”
“The exact opposite, I would think,” I said. “There are a lot of people here today, who’ll be in the way of anyone or anything trying to get that statue. If I’m correct, the zombies, or their masters, won’t hesitate to kill anyone in their way.”
“We should probably get a look at the fake display statue that Billy said they’ll be showing around the festival,” Buck said.
“That’s why we’re on this trail,” I said. “On the way to the restroom, I heard someone say that the statue would be set up in the center of that cleared off area with the Greek statues that we were in yesterday.”
“Well then, let’s get moving,” Buck said.
By the time we arrived in the area, there was already a small group lying around on the grass. In one corner, a man was applying body paint to a black man with a nice body.
“Next!” the painter said.
“Me!” Alex said.
“I’m next after you,” Buck said.
I watched the painter dip his brush into shimmery green paint, which he applied in a swirl pattern to the side of Alex’s leg, working up toward the side of his waist. I was hypnotized when he moved on to Alex’s stomach, making a pattern around his innie navel before following his treasure trail and the shaft of his flaccid cock. Then something else caught my eye.
A man with bushy black hair and a beard was dancing while making his way to a table in front of the green space. He was naked except for a skirt consisting of sheer strips of fabric in various shades of green. Longer ribbons hanging from wide bands on his arms fluttered in the wind with every move of his arms. In one hand he carried something that everyone was trying to get a look at—the green-eyed lady statue; or at least the stand-in for the real statue. He placed it on the table and the gathered audience rushed to get a look at it.
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Not so Surprise Guests
While I was staring ahead, Alex walked up to me and showed off his body art.
“I wish that paint was edible, so I could follow the lines with my tongue and lick it off you,” I said.
“The painter is talented… don’t you think?” Alex said.
class=WordSection5> “He had a great canvas to work on,” I said, putting my arm around him. Since I couldn’t get a good look at the statue, I turned to see how the body painter was doing with Buck. He was painting a slightly different swirl pattern than he’d done on Alex, onto Buck’s back and ass. Buck looked at us with a big smile and waved. The crowd around the table had cleared, so I nudged Alex, and we went to look at the stand-in statue.
“It doesn’t look like much, does it?” Alex said.
On the table covered by a sheer green fabric, was an eighteen-inch glossy white statue of an Asian woman wearing a multi-layered costume, which added to its girth. The green crystal eyes sparkled in the sunlight.
“Aww, man,” Buck said from behind Alex and me. “That’s just a cheap dollar store statue.”
“If you don’t appreciate it, then move on, buddy,” the dancer and statue’s guardian said. “We’ve got a table off to the side with handmade ‘completely green’ salads.”
“What other color would a salad be, besides green?” Buck said.
“Is this guy for real?” the dancer said, looking at me and Alex.
“Unfortunately, yes,” I said.
Putting one arm around Alex’s arm, and the other around Buck’s arm, I steered them to the salad tables. Several guests were helping themselves to the greens using just their hands.
“It’s a tradition to use only our hands in a show of brotherhood,” someone next to us said in response to how we were looking at the setup.
“We’re saving our appetites for later,” Alex said.
“I prefer leaving the rabbit food to the rabbits,” Buck said. “Being a carnivore myself, I’ll wait for my steak—medium rare.”
“Meat eaters, uugh,” the guy next to us said, before grabbing a handful of greens from a bowl on the table and putting it on his plate.
“Your attention, everyone, please,” the statue’s guardian dancer said. Once he had everyone’s attention, he continued, “Please feel free to continue eating, but in our long honored tradition, we will now begin the orgy.”
I thought it best we left as soon as the orgy had begun.
“What the hell was that all about?” Buck said. “Why would an orgy be included in a festival honoring the green-eyed lady? It’s not like it’s a sex statue.”
I stopped in my tracks, turned, hugged Buck, and kissed his cheek.
“No way,” Alex said. “Do you think he’s right—you can’t be thinking this statue’s power is sex.”
“Why not?” I said. “But what would the third statue’s power be?
“I still think death was a good guess,” Alex said.
“I guess we’ll have to wait until you have another ingenious inspiration, Buck,” I said.
The food tables had been set up by the pool instead of inside as originally planned, and they had food that was more to our liking. There were steaks, ribs, hot dogs, hamburgers, and chips, along with utensils. Once we were seated at a table with our food and drinks, Alex just stared at us and shook his head.
“What?” I said.
He pointed to my plate, then Buck’s plate. Buck had gotten a steak, while I’d opted for some of the ribs. We’d each gotten a cupcake with green frosting, handfuls of green candies, and cookies with green icing and sprinkles.
“I’m beginning to think you two really are brothers,” Alex said.
I noticed that he’d gotten a steak, and one cupcake, but no cookies or candy. Billy walked by our table and placed three masks in front of us, which were decorated with green glitter and green feathers.
“Those are for later tonight,” Billy said. “Don’t you three look cute.”
“We don’t need to dress for tonight, do we?” Alex said.
“You never need to dress around here. See ya tonight, boys.”
After eating what we had on our plates, Buck and I went back for seconds. Even Alex got another cupcake and a cookie. After finishing my seconds, I took a minute to go back to our room, grab my laptop, and head to the clubhouse. When I was on the Internet, I e-mailed Noelle our latest theory about the second statue having a sexual connection. To my surprise, I got a response almost instantly. She thought it was a very valid theory and would pass it on to Miss Lucy. I shut down the laptop, took it back to our room, and headed back outside.
On the way back to Alex and Buck, I passed a couple of guys vomiting. They must’ve had too much of the green punch or green beer that was being served. I noticed someone else throwing up and being watched over by Virgil.
“Don’t eat the salads in the trail clearing,” Virgil said to me. “I don’t think the greens were cleaned well enough, and people are getting sick.”
“Thanks for the information,” I said. The thought occurred to me that with all the hands going into the bowls of leafy greens, it was no wonder people were getting sick. After catching up with Alex and Buck, I passed on the warning about the salads.
Once it started getting dark out, the party got in full swing. When we saw people putting on their masks, we put ours on also. The fairies from earlier and the dancer, holding the statue, led a parade of people into the clubhouse. I held Buck and Alex back a minute.
“You two stick close by me,” I said. “Understood?”
“Yes,” Alex said.
“I hear you, boss,” Buck said.
We followed the flow of people into the clubhouse, which was all decked out. Inside, it was dark with small green spotlights and a disco ball illuminating the space. The green-eyed lady statue was placed on a stand against the back wall. Billy stood in front of it and declared that the festival ball had officially begun. Loud music began to play—guests blew cardboard horns and threw glitter and streamers into the air. Someone behind us even sprayed us with green silly string. I couldn’t help but be taken in by all of it. The music was perfect for dancing, and it seemed like the whole room of people were dancing as one giant group. That was when Clyde ran in waving his hands and yelled.
“Zombies! Coming this way!”
People laughed as if it was all a joke, until a zombie jumped through one of the windows of the clubhouse. There was a loud piercing scream—like a woman’s scream. To my embarrassment, it’d come from Buck. He screamed as the zombie held up the bloody head of one of the guests. Everyone was panicking now and running for the front and back doors. Buck and Alex were running toward the front door. Then I noticed the dancer, who’d been holding the statue. His skin was drained of color and his eyes had a strange green glow emanating from them. Oh my God, he really was a zombie. He was heading toward Billy, who was next to the statue when I heard gunfire and saw blood fly out from the dancer zombie’s leg. That’s when I realized he was trying to get to the statue, not Billy. Two more zombies joined the dancer zombie, and I shouted to Billy.
“Billy, they’re after the statue! Throw it here!”
He did as I said, and as soon as I caught the statue, I pushed my way out the front door. Now what do I do? I’d have to make my way to my gun.
There was a group of zombies heading toward the pool. In a panic, some of the guests jumped into the pool thinking they’d be safe. I thought I had plenty of time to get to my room, but the zombies that were several feet away had moved so quickly they were almost in front of me now.
“Get down, Layton!” Virgil shouted. I threw myself on the ground and looked up to see the zombies flailing about as Virgil and Clyde shot at them. I got up in time to see Buck exit our room and pose with one leg up, his hands raised like the freakin’ Karate Kid. He hadn’t bothered to put on pants, but he did have a headband of some sort on and the sickle in his hand. He did some kind of loud battle cry or yell, then ran toward the zombies and started chopping away. Everyone around, including me, got drenched in the blood that was flying everywhere. I saw Alex outside our room taking pictures of everything. That’s why the two of them had run ahead; one to get his sickle, the other his camera. I ran to our room, went inside and grabbed my gun, along with the machete Clyde had given Buck. When I tried to open the door to get back out, it wouldn’t budge.
“Get flat on the floor, Layton,” I heard Clyde yell.
The sound of rapid gunfire filled the air, along with that crazy battle cry of Buck’s, and I assumed the zombies had come my way. The statue in my hands was heavier than it looked like it should be. Heavy enough to be holding the real green-eyed lady inside, I theorized. I was jarred from my thoughts when a zombie’s hand went through the thin wood wall between our room and the one next door. The front door opened and Alex popped in and yelled orders at me.
“We’ve gotta get out of here, now!”
I got up off the floor and walked out. In front of our room were piles of chopped up body parts still moving, and a blood splattered Buck, Clyde, and Virgil.
“The salads were poisoned, so the bad guys could make more zombies when the partakers died,” Clyde said. “Everyone who dies is becoming a zombie!”
“Aaaugh,” someone said from around the corner of our room while breathing heavily.
Buck ran to the area and lifted his sickle to attack, when Billy appeared with his sickle covered in blood.
“It’s me—Billy!”
“Cool, dude!” Buck said, stopping dead in his tracks. “This sickle worked out great!”
“What’d I tell you?” Billy said.
“We’ve got to get this statue to Noelle,” I told Alex.
Screams filled the air again as we saw Link and Harry running from the side of the clubhouse toward us with panicked looks on their faces.
“They’re after us!” Link yelled.
“They’re killing everybody!” Harry said.
Behind them was a group of at least six zombies. Virgil, Clyde, and I started shooting past Link and Harry at the zombies. It slowed them down, but they’d just get back up.
“No!”
That was Alex’s voice. I turned to see what was going on, and saw a zombie dropping some electrical equipment into the pool. The people hiding in the water were instantly electrocuted; and not seconds later, those same people’s eyes started glowing green as they started getting out of the pool.
“Pull back, guys!” Clyde said.
“Follow me!” I said, once Harry and Link had caught up to us.
I ran toward the nature trail. The entrance to it was blocked by zombies being led by a zombified Jacob and Carl.
“I never did like those two guys,” Billy said, while lifting his sickle in the air. “You boys go on ahead, I’ll handle these two.”
“We’ll back you up,” Clyde said.
Billy was about to turn to Buck, but he’d already run ahead, meeting the zombies head on.
“Woo-hoo!” Buck shouted as he swung at the creatures like a madman.
I continued onward, having to drag Alex, who was taking pictures, away from the scene. We ran down the trail before turning into the swamp.
“This reminds me of our trek through the swamps of Shelby,” Alex said.
Close behind us were Link and Harry. Billy, Clyde, Virgil, and Buck were catching up. I heard more gunfire, but kept running forward pushing tree branches out of the way. Alex stopped again to take pictures.
“Move, Alex—take pictures, but keep moving, babe!” I said.
Thankfully, he followed my orders, and we were soon at the small two-story house where Noelle was staying. When we got to the front yard, Noelle was outside in shorts and a T-shirt holding a rifle.
“I heard gunfire!” she said.
“There are zombies behind us everywhere,” I said. “They’re after this,” I held up the statue.
We ran inside the house, which had only the most basic of furnishings.
“Block every door except the front door,” I said, to Link and Harry.
“There are more guns in the kitchen,” Noelle said.
They went to the kitchen, followed by Alex, and I handed Noelle the statue.
“I don’t understand,” Noelle said, looking at it. “It’s just a cheap statue, isn’t it?” She jumped at the sound of gunfire in the distance.
“The zombies are after it,” I said. “Or at least, something inside it.” I went to the window as the gunfire got closer.
Noelle took the statue and hit it hard against the wall, shattering it into pieces. What looked like green emeralds scattered into the air and on the floor. Inside the large statue was a slender, rust colored statue of a woman with emerald eyes crying emeralds.
“Green eyes cry, you die,” Alex said, as he and the others left the kitchen.
“They’re here, guys; let’s give our boys some help,” I said.
Everyone, except Alex, who was still taking pictures, stood behind a window, opened it and started firing. Noelle ran to look.
In the front yard were Clyde and Virgil shooting zombies, including our once friendly forest fairies now zombified, while Billy and Buck chopped them up.
“May the good Lord bless them,” Noelle said.
“If they get in here, they’ll go straight for that statue,” I said to her.
“Should I smash it?” Noelle said.
“Only as a final measure,” I said, while shooting out the window. “We may need it to help find the other statues. See if you can take it out of commission temporarily.”
