Chapter 39
Frankenstein, we call them Frankie, puts on their little boots and their little jacket. We go outside and the trees are too green for October. A gust up high makes the top of the trees dance hypnotically.
Joselyn is still here but she is different now. She looks off in the distance and stares more often than she did before Frankie was born.
Chapter 38
I went back to the cabin. As I approached it in the transference toward the evening when the sky was split blue and pink, I recognized it’s importance. Why no roads lead to this place.
One must be chosen. One must be led.
There are few sanctuaries left on Earth. Few solitudes. Ones that will endure forever, and those who take refuge in them survive through the ages of terror and excitement.
Chapter 37
Hans wasn’t the same after the funeral. He’d died too in some deep hidden place.
The past week I was gaining so much instruction on our walks but every morning he looked a little paler, a little weaker.
Hans drank wine every night and didn’t touch his food.
Chapter 36
All black tents and black chairs.
Rain.
While the list of attendees was large in size and scope, it was a complete secret to anyone not invited. There was no media coverage whatsoever. The founders of every major publishing platform on the planet came in droves in total silence. The forest surrounding the estate was ghostlike, veiled in a hissing mist.
Chapter 35
Joselyn told me to return to the East Estate and explain all that had just happened to Butler in great detail and to not spare anything. It seems he is the caretaker of the Arto family in every aspect, not just their living quarters and leisure.
Chapter 34
The failed blood sibling episode was one of the first videos we ever took down.
It fell within our criteria of obscene. Although, it is a public discourtesy to obscure any information, so we had to do a shitload of covering our tracks to avoid any public outrage.
Only on special occasions and this was a very special occasion.
Chapter 33
Streaming is genius because you get paid to share something the customer never owns.
Joselyn does market research and chooses who we promote on the front page. Morgen assists. It’s very clear Joselyn now has the Arto empire more than Morgen ever did. I’ll go with the last woman standing. Just don’t make me come out of retirement.
Chapter 32
Morgen hands a copy to everybody.
We get letters from mothers and grandmothers and spouses from all over threatening to sue us over their sons and daughters losing their sense of reality after watching videos which they describe as “circus art” and “demonic athletic performances”.