The Follower

by Nicholas Bowling

  “That’s convenient. When you see him?”

  “I don’t know. Three nights ago. Maybe four. Can’t remember.” She genuinely couldn’t.

  “She can’t remember. Been here less than a week and thinks she’s seeing Ascended Masters already. You got some nerve, Vivian.” She suddenly stuck her tongue out and smacked her lips like she could taste something rancid. “What is that?”

  “What’s what?”

  “Something in the air. It ain’t right. Why you in here by yourself, anyways?”

  “I just needed the bathroom.” She paused. “My energy’s all shaken up by what happened with that woman. That’s probably what you’re feeling.”

  Forrest squinted.

  “Aura looks fine to me,” she said. There was no fooling these people at their own game.

  “I don’t know what you want me to say,” said Vivian.

  A few tense seconds passed. Forrest jerked her head around like a bird, as if listening for something.

  “You seemed awful friendly with Shelley,” she said at last.

  “Oh please, I barely know her.”

  “What did you tell her?”

  “I didn’t tell her anything. I just made sure she was okay, and got her son to come and get her.”

  “Made sure she was okay?” Forrest was smiling incredulously. “Well, good for you. That won’t last long.”

  “Forrest, I’m sorry if I’ve offended you in some way. I really am. But—” She stopped. “What do you mean, it won’t last long?”

  “You think Shelley’s going to get away with a verbal warning?”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Why you want to know? You want to tell Glenn you came up with the idea? I told you, Vivian, you don’t have to butter him up none.”

  “What’s the idea?”

  Forrest mimed sealing her lips. Vivian remembered something.

  “Wait,” she said. “That other school. In the old church. The one that burned down. Was that you?”

  Forrest gave a gleeful shrug.

  “That’s awful. You can’t do that, Forrest. You could have killed someone.”

  “You got a problem with it, you better come out and make yourself heard.” She turned to go and then turned back again. “And if you don’t tell Glenn about your little ruse back there, then so help me God I will.”

  As if summoned by her, Glenn himself came hobbling past the bathroom door, supported by Carl. Forrest tried to get his attention.

  “Glenn, sir, I’m sorry, but I think Vivian would like to say something.”

  Carl waved her away.

  “Go help clean up,” he said. “Glenn needs a rest.”

  Forrest looked put out.

  “Yes sir. Only—”

  “Later, Forrest.”

  “Yes sir. Shelley won’t get away with this. All shall be well! In Telos’s name!”

  She gave Vivian a final bitter glance and went through to the main room. Glenn limped back to his office at the rear of the Sanctuary and didn’t say a word.

  Vivian decided she should go out and be with the others for a while, at least until Forrest’s suspicions were abated. There wasn’t much left to do upstairs. The floor had been swept clean and someone had hung a large black tarpaulin over the broken window. It snapped and rippled in the wind and the noise of the traffic from the 55 was loud. The Sanctuary felt cold and sad and very different.

  She busied herself tidying up the lobby and the gift shop. She tried to fix the totem pole. The other initiates were keen to talk to her about her vision of the violet man, but after what Forrest had said she only threw more doubt on it. Besides, it was probably in her interest to deny it now, since Glenn hadn’t seemed at all happy with the idea of her going up the mountain in the first place.

  In the evening she came up the stairs to find a small group of initiates sat around the dining table. Forrest was at the centre of things again. She glanced up at Vivian and went on talking very quickly.

  “You can see it from the bus route,” she said. “Those big round things. We can just take a pickup and jump the fence.”

  “Can we though?” said one of the other girls.

  “Sure we can.”

  “Isn’t there security?”

  “Can’t be that much. Why would anyone want to steal from it?”

  “You want to steal from it.”

  They laughed. Vivian went to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

  “Has Glenn come out yet?” she asked.

  The others shook their heads sadly. Forrest ignored her.

  “And the cops never come up that stretch,” she continued. “Ya’ll know that.”

  “What are you talking about?” said Vivian. “Is this about Shelley?”

  There was a brief pause while it seemed everyone was weighing up whether to tell her or not. In the end it was the man called Peace or Pete who answered.

  “We just want to restore the balance,” he said.

  “The balance?” Vivian looked around at their faces. “I think Shelley’s already had a hard enough time. I don’t think she needs punishing.”

  “You seen the window?” Forrest cried. “You know what kind of crystals she was throwing in here?”

  “No. A bad kind, I imagine.”

  “The worst kind, Vivian. Malachite! Do you have any idea what that would have done to the alignment of the Sanctuary? After all Glenn has done for us?”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Sewage works on the 55.”

  “Sewage works?”

  “She wants to throw her shit in here? We’ll throw it right back.”

  “You mean real, actual sewage?”

  “She’s got to learn.”

  “Aren’t you a Catholic or something?”

  “Methodist. And no! And who cares anyway?”

  “She’s a single mother, Forrest. It’s not exactly Christian. Anyway, Glenn wouldn’t want you to do it.”

  “You sure about that?”

  “Pretty sure.”

  “Shows how much you understand about Glenn. Thought you two were in each other’s pockets?” She folded her arms as if this had conclusively won the argument. “This is exactly what he would want. Whose idea do you think it was to burn down the Telurian Mission?”

  “Glenn told you to do that?”

  “He didn’t need to.”

  “But did he?”

  Forrest left the question hanging. Glenn, an arsonist? She couldn’t square it with the glasses and the wrinkled nose and the grandfatherly chuckling. Then again, he was the one who’d told Carl to put Shelley out of business in the first place.

  “I need to speak to him,” she said.

  “Oh no,” said Forrest, wagging her finger. “No you don’t. You are not spoiling the surprise.”

  “The surprise?”

  “He’ll love it!”

  Vivian got up and made for the stairs.

  “Where’s she going now?” said Forrest, to no one in particular. “Vivian, you come back here!”

  Vivian didn’t stop. She went through the lobby and out of the door and started off into town. When she was halfway to the 55, Forrest unpinned the tarpaulin that covered the broken window and screamed at her.

  “The lowest circle of Hell is reserved for traitors, Vivian!”

  15

  AS SOON as she was out of sight of the Sanctuary, Vivian tried to call Troy to warn him. He wasn’t picking up. He’d mentioned his mother was on shift that night, so she went through Shelley’s texts to try and decipher where she might have started working, but this turned up no clues – they were mostly from Troy, asking what was for dinner, or where his bandana was, or if she’d seen his phone charger. Vivian went to their house on Vista Street and then the motel, but found them both dark and empty. She spent the next hour or so wandering around town, peering into shops and bars to see if she could find Shelley at work. It got dark.

  In an alley that ran parallel to the main hi
ghway she saw a woman struggling with two large black garbage bags. She was wearing shapeless overalls and dragging the bags over the concrete and one of the bags had split, leaving a trail of something that looked like chicken carcasses behind it. Vivian crossed the road to pass her by. Only when the woman moved under a cone of orange street light did Vivian recognise her.

  “Shelley?”

  Shelley hefted one of the bags into a dumpster that was chained to the street light. She tried to lift the other one and its split widened and the entirety of its contents fell onto the pavement and her shoes.

  “Ah shit…” she muttered.

  “Shelley?” said Vivian again, and crossed back over the street. “It’s me. It’s Vivian.”

  Shelley shook the chicken bones from her feet and trousers and looked at her.

  “Hey,” she said. And then, very quietly, almost embarrassed, “Blessings.”

  “Where are you working?” she asked. She looked along the alley and saw the dusty back entrances to the shops that lined the 55. Fire escapes and air conditioning units and piles of garbage.

  “The Chinese place.”

  “Wing’s?”

  “Said I could start straight away. So here I am.”

  “Listen, Shelley…”

  “I’m sorry about earlier,” said Shelley.

  “It’s about that. I need to tell you something.”

  There was a yell from the back of the restaurant.

  “I’m busy, Vivian.”

  “It’s important.”

  “Tell me while I work. I don’t want to start and lose a job in the same evening.”

  Shelley looked despondently at the mess she’d made of the pavement, then clutched at a gemstone that was hanging around her neck, whispered something, and turned to go back up the alley. Vivian followed her.

  In the kitchen of Wing’s, the owner was trying to monitor three different pans at once while the microwave’s alarm went on and on. Something was definitely burning. There was a wailing sound, too, almost the same timbre as the microwave. Vivian pursued Shelley to the pot-wash area and found Chason, the child, attached to the sink by a kind of leash. He’d pulled the rope tight and Vivian nearly tripped over it and swore.

  “Sorry,” said Shelley. She began scrubbing at the dishes. “I couldn’t leave him at home by himself.”

  Vivian looked down at the miserable creature. He blubbed at her under a thick fringe of black hair. She undid the harness on him and picked him up. She was surprised by how heavy he was.

  “Where’s Troy? I couldn’t get through to him.”

  “Smoking in his bedroom, I think.”

  “Oh.” She let the child tug at her hood. “I have your phone by the way.”

  “You do?” said Shelley, and she brightened slightly. “Oh, bless you. I thought I’d dropped it somewhere.”

  Vivian fished for it with one hand and put it on the counter. “You know,” said Shelley, “you really shouldn’t have that. The radiation. It’s the wrong frequency. It disrupts the Violet Waves.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Chason pulled on the hood so strongly it nearly choked her, and she had to prise his little hands from it.

  “Wait, how come you have a phone?” said Vivian. “If, you know, the frequency is so bad for your energy?”

  Shelley stared at her with her mouth half open. She was spared having to reply by the owner, who was now plating up the contents of the various pans with great dexterity.

  “Take these out,” he said. “Couple at table four.”

  “Me?” said Shelley.

  “You work here, don’t you?”

  “But look at me.”

  She gestured down at her grubby overalls.

  “Just take it. I’ve got to start cooking the next order. And who’s this?” He nodded at Vivian. “Weren’t you here the other day?” His face made a series of grotesque contortions. “Wait: do you want a table? Are you here to eat? I don’t… I don’t get it.”

  “I’m just here to see Shelley.”

  He frowned. The microwave beeped again, sounding like a fire alarm. He whirled around.

  “I don’t need this,” he muttered.

  Vivian spoke to Shelley quickly.

  “I should go, but I thought you should know: some of the people from the Sanctuary are planning on doing something to your house. To pay you back for breaking the window.”

  “Planning on doing what?”

  The owner shouted again.

  “Shelley, take that out.”

  “I’ll be back in a sec,” said Shelley. “Watch Chason, would you?” She ruffled the boy’s hair. “Mommy will only be gone a little while, angel.”

  Shelley dried her hands on her filthy apron and picked up a tray of meat and vegetables so red and glossy they looked like they had been lacquered. She disappeared around the corner of the kitchen while the owner continued to count on his fingers and mutter to himself. Chason looked at Vivian with his huge, wet eyes. Vivian felt suddenly awkward to be holding a baby and have nothing to say to it.

  Shelley came back into the kitchen almost immediately, still holding the tray of dishes.

  “What is it?” said the owner. “I told you, table four. Two of them. Man and a woman.”

  “I can’t,” said Shelley. She put the tray down on the side.

  “What do you mean you can’t?”

  “I can’t go out there.”

  “Why?”

  Shelley looked at Vivian, as though she should already know the answer.

  “It’s Shiv,” she said.

  “Shiv?” said Vivian.

  “And his wife.”

  “Who the hell is Shiv?” said the owner.

  “He runs the whole show!” said Shelley, as though both of them should know what that meant. “He’s the one who cast me from the Violet Path!”

  “Hey,” said the owner, suddenly very serious. He stabbed a finger at her. “You told me you weren’t into all that. This isn’t one of your Telos places, you hear me? Never has been.”

  “Is he from up the mountain?” asked Vivian.

  Shelley nodded. “He’s the one who looks after all the schools. Glenn reported me to him. Oh, it’s too much, I don’t want to see him again, not like this…”

  “Can someone just take him his goddamn food?”

  “I’ll take it,” said Vivian.

  “You?” said Shelley.

  “I want to talk to him.”

  She handed Chason to his mother and picked up the tray and went out into the red and gold décor of the restaurant.

  Shiv and Judy were sitting in the exact spot where Vivian had met with Jerome and his wife. They weren’t talking. Shiv had his head down and was typing on a laptop. Judy had her back to Vivian, and was looking around the restaurant as though her eyes were following the path of a fly. Her globe of bronze-coloured hair quivered. She had changed out of her fuchsia trouser suit and was in a cardigan of the same colour.

  Vivian watched them both for a moment, wondering whether it was a good idea to confront them or not. But her blood was up, after the talk with her mother, and her talk with Forrest, and her suspicions about Glenn.

  Judy started speaking.

  “I don’t like this place,” she said. “You know I don’t like it. My chakras are all over the place, Shiv, and you don’t care one bit.”

  He didn’t reply.

  “Why couldn’t we have gone to the teahouse? With everything that’s happened we could at least have gone somewhere to calm you down. Look at you. You’re on that thing twenty-four hours a day.”

  “Another three sightings last night,” said Shiv, not looking up. “We’re going to have to go back up there. Charter a helicopter or something.”

  “Again? Oh Shiv, please, can’t you just let him be.”

  “Let him be?” said Shiv.

  He looked up at his wife, then noticed Vivian. He stared at her.

  “Shiv?” said Judy. “Honey?”

  She tur
ned in her seat.

  “Oh my stars!” she said, and placed her fingers over her heart.

  Vivian came forward with the tray and unloaded the dishes onto the table one by one. Husband and wife looked at her, and each other, in astonishment. Both of their mouths were slightly open.

  “Hi,” said Vivian.

  Neither said a word.

  “Was that everything you ordered?”

  Still nothing. A slight frown was creeping over Shiv’s forehead.

  “I want to talk to you about Telos.”

  “Excuse me?” said Shiv. He looked like he’d been confronted with a ghost.

  “You’re a high-ranking Telurian. Right?”

  Shiv looked at his wife again, then back at Vivian. Judy was playing nervously with her necklace, a string of pearls as big as cocktail onions.

  “Who are you?” Shiv said.

  “I’m Vivian Owens.”

  “What are you doing here? In Mount Hookey, I mean?”

  “I’m looking for my brother. Jesse. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

  A tiny pause.

  “I don’t know any Jesse,” he said.

  “That’s what your wife said.” Vivian turned to Judy. “Why didn’t you tell me he’d stayed in the motel?”

  Judy tugged on her necklace so hard that it broke, and the pearls flew onto the floor, and into the rice and the sticky red sauce.

  “You two have met?” said Shiv, and he gave his wife a look that was unequivocally murderous.

  Judy disappeared under the table to retrieve her lost pearls.

  “Do you know Glenn?” Vivian asked. Shiv turned back to her but didn’t reply. “He told me that Jesse had gone up the mountain. He said he’d gone to Telos. But no one wants to tell me what or where Telos is. I’m not here to cause any trouble. I just want answers, and I don’t want to have to do your bullshit wellness course. Not anymore. You nearly got me. Nearly. But I think I’ll pass. Tell me where to find my brother.”

  Shiv looked at her a while longer, seeming to weigh up what to say. He ran a hand through his silver hair. His wife still hadn’t emerged from under the table.

  “You’re at the Sanctuary, are you?” said Shiv. “With Glenn?”

  “That’s right.”

  “And he knows you’re Jesse’s sister?”

  “Of course he does.”