"Put him on," I say.
There is a moment of rumbling. It sounds as if my daughter has momentarily covered the phone with her hand. Then the line is clear. Eric does not sound well.
"Hello?"
"Eric, it's me. Are you all right?"
He is breathing heavily, scared. "I don't know. She ... This person says you have to tell her something or something bad will happen to me."
"Put her back on the line. Do it now!"
Another confused moment passes. But Eric remains on the line. "She doesn't want to talk to you. She says you have to tell me which hospital you're in. She says if you lie she will know it, and then something really bad will happen to me." Eric chokes withfear. "Could you tell her the name of the hospital?Please? This girl She's so strong. She picked me upwith one hand and carried me out here."
"Eric," I say, "try to convince her that I need to talk to her directly."
I hear Eric speaking to Kalika. But Eric is forced to stay on the line. I imagine his arms and legs still bound, Kalika holding the phone up to his ear. The tears in his eyesI can see them in my mind, and I hear the many vows I swore to him.
"But I can promise you you're not going to die. I swear this to you, Eric, and I keep my word."
"You have to help me!" he cries. "She has long nails, and she says she's going to open the veins in my neck unless you tell her what hospital it is. Ouch! She's touching me!"
"Tell her the hospital is called St. Judes!"
"It's St. Judes!" He screams. Another soul-shattering pause. "She says you're lying! Oh God! Her nails!"
Sweat pours off my head. My heart is a jackhammer vibrating.
"Kalika!" I yell into the phone. "Talk to me!"
"She keeps shaking her head!" Eric weeps. "She's scratching my neck! Jesus help me!"
I fight to stay calm, and lose the fight. "Eric, shove the phone in her face!"
"Oh God, I'm bleeding! She's cut my neck! The blood is gushing out! Help me!"
"Eric, tell her I'll tell her the name of the hospital! Tell her!"
He begins to choke. "This can't be happening to me! I can't die! I don't want to die!"
Those are the last intelligible words he speaks. The restit goes on another two minutesis slobbering sounds and pitiful weeping. It trails off into strangled gasps, then I must assume his heart has stopped beating. I sag against the wall of the hospital next to the place where the phone is attached. People stare at me from down the hall but I ignore them. Kalika lets me enjoy the silence. Another minute goes by before she returns to the phone.
"Then he should never have been born," she says calmly. "Is that what you wanted to tell him, Mother? Your famous quote."
I am in shock. "You," I whisper.
"I want to see the baby, Mother," she repeats.
"No."
"What is the name of the hospital? Where is it located?"
"I would never tell you!" I cry. "You're a monster!"
It is as if she smiles. I hear her unspoken mirth, somehow. Yet her voice remains flat. "And what are you? What did Krishna say to you about vampires in Kali Yuga?"
I can only assume Ray explained my dialogue with Krishna to Kalika. It doesn't matterI am not in the mood for philosophical discussions. There is an aching void inside me that I had always believed a daughter would fill. Well, the irony is bitter, for the real Kali has always been described as the abyss, and now the void inside me feels as if it stretches forever. Eric's death screams continue to reverberate inside my skull.
"I am human now," I whisper. "I don't kill unless I have to."
"The same with me. This babyyou don't understand how I feel about it."
"How you feel about it? You have no feelings, Daughter."
"I will not argue. I will not repeat my questions. Answer now or you will regret it."
"I will never answer to you again."
Kalika doesn't hesitate. "There is someone else here I want you to speak with. He also sits on the couch beside me. But I have gagged him. Just a moment and I will remove his gag."
Oh no, I cringe. My demon child.
Seymour comes on the line. He strains to sound upbeat.
"Sita. What's happening?"
My voice is filled with agony. "What are you doing there?"
"Your daughter called me six hours ago. She said she needed to speak to me. I think Ray gave her my number. You remember Ray and I used to be friends when we were both normal high school kids? I caught the first plane down. Your daughter met me at the airport." He hesitates and probably glances at Eric's body. "She seemed really friendly at first."
"I told you not to come. I told you it was dangerous."
"Yeah, but I was worried about you."
"I understand. Is Ray there?"
"I haven't seen him." Seymour coughs and I hear his fear. There is talking in the background. "Your daughter says you're to tell me the name of the hospital where you are."
"Or something bad will happen to you?"
"She didn't say that exactly, but I think it would be safe to bet that will be the case." He pauses. "She seems to know when you're lying."
"She knows an awful lot." Yet Kalika is unable to "tune into" where I am. I find that curious, what with her incredible psychic abilities. "Tell her I want to talk to her."
I catch snatches of more mumbled conversation. Seymour remains on the line. "She says you are to tell me the name and location of the hospital." Seymour stops, and a note of desperation enters his voice. "What she did to Ericyou'd have to have been here. She made the old you look like a Girl Scout."
"I can imagine." I think frantically. "Tell herI'llmake her a counter proposal. I'll bring the child to her in exactly twenty-four hours. At the end of the Santa Monica Pier at ten tomorrow night. Tell her if she so much as scratches you, she'll never see this baby, if she searches the entire globe."
Seymour relays my offer. Kalika appears to listen patiently. Then the phone is covered and I imagine my daughter is talking to Seymour. A minute goes by. Finally Seymour returns.
"She wants to know why you need twenty-four hours?"