by Ruth Watson
Her body had been in this fluid for so long it had gone white and wrinkled like people do when they sit in a bath for too long. The rancid vinegar smell was really potent, Laryssa wanted to wretch.
She began to pull on the large tube that was attached to a pump it was moving up and down in rhythm.
“Laryssa, please! Stop… There is nothing you can do for me now except flick that switch.” Her one open eye looked over at the wall. There was a small orange light and a red switch under it.
“What, what will that do?” Laryssa asked.
“Cut off the oxygen that is being fed to me and I will be able to leave this place” Phoebe said.
“No, no Phoebes, no I can’t…” Laryssa begged.
“You must, I will not survive even if I am taken out of here, I will be experimented on and he could find his way to you and to others through me. So please, flick the switch, set me free to move on to the next life phase.” Phoebe begged.
Laryssa wanted to harm this man badly at the moment; she had never felt so disgusted or angry and sad for her dear friend.
“Look at me,” Laryssa said tears rolling down her eyes “I will avenge you, do you understand!”
“Get out of here quickly. Look behind you there is a small air-vent, escape through that it will lead you down and out of this place, it comes out in the laundry room just one floor above your apartment, it’ll be tight but you can do this!” Phoebe said.
Laryssa walked back to the large tank, she put her hand on it and looked inside one more time, her friend had been there for some time her skin was covered in sores, her eye had been gouged out and then sown back in badly. She must have been through some torture already, Laryssa took a deep breath.
“I love you Phoebes. I will meet you in our next life!”
Phoebe nodded and smiled, Laryssa could sense her tears, even though she couldn’t see them.
Laryssa walked to the switch.
“Goodbye dear one may your journey be swift and true.”
She flicked it and for a second watched as her friend’s body began to convulse.
An alarm began to sound, Laryssa knew it would bring Niam running. The alarm was to warn of power shortage.
She couldn’t bring herself to stay any longer so without looking back, she made her way down and out through the air-vent that she had been shown.
Texting Niam, she crawled through the other side and then quickly leaving the laundry room she made her way home.
I AM HOME!
Niam was still drinking the very large whisky that Jaydan had poured him, still in shock, but hiding it.
“That’s the little woman,” Niam said, relieved as his phone went back into his pocket.
Jaydan spotted a blue alarm light flashing. “Sorry mate, I have to go!”
“Are we okay?” Jaydan asked, grabbing his friend’s shoulder.
Niam laughed “You know we are mate, you say that like your vault is the weirdest thing you’ve shown me!”
Jaydan smiled. “Besties?”
“Yeah, mate of course!” Niam said, putting on the old charm. “It aint my style, but it isn’t about me is it?”
Jaydan patted his friend keeping an eye on the blue light and the two parted as the lift pinged and Niam stepped inside.
Niam buzzed a little with bitter excitement, but mainly he was revolted by what he had seen. As he stepped out the lift, he was unsure of Jaydan’s look it was as if they had actually got away with this.
His friend gone Jaydan made a run for the vault.
*
Time moved forward, Niam had told Laryssa to stop investigating Jay; he knew that the vault was full of dodgy stuff that you just didn’t ask his long-time friend where it had come from. But make Jay suspicious at your own peril!
He was right Jaydan discovering the break-in the corpse of phoebe in the jar; He knew that someone had been there, the turned off switch to the machine kind of gave the game away. He didn’t care how Laryssa had done this, she was texting from Niam’s apartment, or was she? Jaydan had pulled in a team of security experts to search the place, every nook. It couldn’t be that the life support had flicked itself off, unfortunately two fingerprints had been discovered one under the desk, the other on the switch, he was just waiting for the results to ID who they belonged to.
The girl had been one of his most important discoveries and when he identified who had killed her, he would have no choice but to seek his revenge.
Thirteen
Niam had let a few days lapse, he had managed to get Laryssa to be quiet just for a short time anyway.
The two of them had left to go to a restaurant in the high side of town, they were celebrating their third-year anniversary. Marriage had become an old fashioned thing and an expense that no one really bothered with, so this was their way of showing they were still in love with one another.
The company was amazing it was just the two of them. They held hands and talked about their lives before this one and the present one as well, anyone who listened in would have thought them both crazy, this added an element of excitement and laughter to the night.
The rain began to pour so Niam opened an umbrella as they stepped outside the restaurant, their car only a few steps away on the other side of the road.
“Come on, quickly, let’s get inside the car!” Laryssa said, walking faster as her feet got wet in her shoes.
A voice called “Niam!” so just for a split second he turned.
Niam let go of Laryssa’s hand as time suddenly seemed to slow down.
It was the waiter from the restaurant; Niam had left his wallet behind.
Luckily he and Laryssa were regular customers and had been on first name terms with most of the staff here. Niam chatted away with the waiter for a while, he enjoyed friendly banter.
The sound of tyres screeching on the road made Niam turn back the other way as the waiter gripped the wallet tight in his hand.
There came a haunting ‘Thud!’ sound.
Niam dropped the umbrella.
LARYSSA:
As she hit the front of the car her mind began to slip backwards in time, flashing back to her old life, one last time.
EARTH 2018 AD
She had been called to the bedside of a dying man…
He lay on the crisp white sheets of his hospital bed, a tear rolled down his eye; he hadn’t seen the woman he loved for many years only in small encounters, hiding behind the dark glass of his car window.
“I’m sorry.” He said
“For what, Niam? I forgave your behaviour a long time ago. I just wish…”
Pain hit his face as he clutched his stomach.
Laryssa took his hand.
“Did you ever love me?” he asked her.
“Always… so much!” she said, tears filled her eyes as she gently stroked his (now) white hair.
She looked at his familiar face, he had grown much older for his years, she lay next to him on the hospital bed glimpsing into his blue eyes, gently stroking his hair she could see his soul fading from this life, it would soon be moving on to another.
“You have always been my one true love Niam.” She said.
His eyes closed.
All went dark…
NIAM (Present):
He watched in horror as Laryssa’s body hit the hood of the car, Niam heard the first cracking sound as her hip bone splintered and then another crack as her wrist came down and she began to cascade over the car.
Her body slid up and over the bonnet and her head smashed hard into the windscreen, the screen shattered. Another ‘thud’ and a crack as her elbow and arm hit the top of the roof, breaking and splintering on the outside of her flesh, her legs buckling into the bonnet and breaking. Her knee joint broke and buckled, she just seemed to fly over the rest of the car.
Survivable?
Niam heard a loud ‘click’, as her neck cracked and broke on the boot and she landed on the road, behind the car.
The car sped away.
No one could quite believe it.
Niam hadn’t heard himself screaming, but he had been.
“NO! OH MY GOD PLEASE!!!!” he could hear himself now as the world around him sped back up.
He was frozen, just for a few seconds as the world ran its course, screams and echoes of others who had begun running to the accident scene.
He seemed to snap out of it and began to run to his girlfriend’s aid.
“She’ll be okay!” he kept repeating to himself.
He knelt beside her, picking her head up, the rain still pouring.
“SOMEONE PLEASE CALL AN AMBULANCE!” he heard himself shout, it was all so surreal.
He removed his hand for a second it was covered in her blood, he looked down at the blood-soaked road.
He could hear others talk about how the car hadn’t even tried to stop! He felt a presence, that of a higher power.
Gaia appeared.
Niam knew why…
“I am begging you please Gaia with all my heart, we have waited eternities to be together, please don’t take her away from me now!” Niam begged.
“Child, I am one of hundreds of Gods this is not my decision, I am not here to bring death just to take care of one of my own empath spirits.” she said, with sympathy on her face and in her voice.
“Take me instead I can take her place, just please, don’t take her and leave me here without her!” He begged.
Niam watched as Laryssa’s body filled with light, the light faded and then for just a few moments he saw her, she stood next to Gaia.
“Remember me… Look for the light, you will find me there…” Laryssa’s voice said as she faded into the night.
Niam now screamed to those around him “Please, I’m begging you… please don’t, don’t take her away from me!”
People stood in silence not knowing what they could do to give this man comfort.
His heart twisted with pain, his life had gone from happy to broken in only minutes.
Numbness began to set in as he followed the motions. The ambulance and resuscitation, (that he already knew was in vain).
Next thing, he was sitting on a chair in the hospital waiting room alone. His heart began to ache, the pain was immense, too much, he felt like his heart was going to burst with sadness, everything ached inside, as his devastation poured deep within his soul.
He cried, sobbed so hard. He had never felt this kind of loss before.
He didn’t know what he would do in this world, without her.
What he did know was, he would find the bastard who had done this and when he did, he would make him pay.
He would kill him!
Fourteen
Police interviews were short and sweet in the hospital, just to see if he saw the driver or if he had been aware of anyone who would want to callously kill his girlfriend. He did, but didn’t say. By the time he had left the hospital he was absolutely convinced that this could only be one person.
He was tired, exhausted.
Walking into his apartment building he was greeted by George the reception area guy (that was what she had always called him). Niam put his hand up before George spoke, indicating that he just wanted to get in the lift and go.
“No calls and lock my door once I am through it, no interruptions, or disturbances of any kind, from no-one. Do you understand?”
George nodded.
Niam was holding his jacket across his arm. George noticed that the guy’s shirt, trousers and hands were covered in dry blood and could only feel concern as Laryssa had not been with him.
“Sir?” George began.
“No-one!” Niam reminded him as the lift door closed.
Niam stepped into his apartment and immediately the two dogs ran over in greeting. When they got to him the smell of blood made them curious, their ears went back and they retreated back to their baskets in the corner of the lounge.
He couldn’t say it, not even to them. He couldn’t bring himself to tell their pets that their mistress wasn’t coming home. He didn’t want to believe it himself!
He walked through to the bathroom and stripped off his blood-soaked clothes. He placed them into a red incinerator bag, even his shoes.
He turned on the shower and just watched for a minute as the water cascaded down. Laryssa had taken care of her body in this life, he pictured her in there with him.
He began to sob.
Stepping into the water he watched as the dry blood from his hands disappeared down the drain as he washed what was to him the last of her that he would ever touch again.
The tears just didn’t stop flowing.
He stayed in there just standing wishing he had died and she had been there instead. She had done that in many other lives before, he now knew why she fought so hard in this life to show him his power and to give him three wonderful years.
She was his world. He would never feel loss like this in this life again; he had lost a part of his very soul.
He had knowledge that this was not the end but it didn’t make a difference to the grief, convincing himself that in his next life with her they would die together.
He turned off the shower, picked up a white towel and wrapped it around his waist. He walked out of the bathroom and headed into their bedroom.
THEIR bedroom, not anymore now it was only his, he was alone. His German Shepherd had come in, she put her head on his lap as he sat on the bed, Laryssa’s side.
“Hey girl, you feeling sad?” he asked her.
Leesi just looked up at him with her big brown eyes.
“Come on get on here with me, I could do with some warmth.” He said patting the bed.
Leesi did as she was told, but stayed on his side of the bed cuddling into his side for a while. His wolfhound lay at his feet on the floor.
They knew. His powers could sense that. He understood that animals even though they do not talk, have a sense and knew that he was sad.
As he sat on the crisp white linen he had the urge to pick up the pillow on her side of the bed, he put his feet up and moved his knees to his chest. As the pillow got close to his face, he sniffed it.
“Oh God” he whispered.
It smelled of her, she had been there only hours before and the smell of her favourite perfume lingered on the material, it was cold, sad and he felt hopeless.
He pulled the pillow into his face holding it like it was her, gently stroking it; he began to sob out loudly losing control now as his dogs just looked on at him. Nothing would give him comfort, only her and she had gone from this world.
Niam cried long and hard, he felt like he was never going to stop.
Sorrow seeped through to his very core, no matter who walked through his life he would always feel alone, like some part of him was missing.
He could never touch her or kiss her in this life; Niam knew he would never feel like he was whole again…
*
The funeral was very soon after. The police had released her body and amongst the mourners was her father who had never given a care when Laryssa was alive, giving his speech about how he shouldn’t have to outlive his child and that he was so proud of his daughter’s accomplishments in life.
Niam found himself letting out a sarcastic snicker.
But he kept his cool, giving himself time to get over the fact that her father was a drunk who spent more time being a selfish, sad little man who couldn’t cope with the world and therefore ignoring his kids.
They all did well without him.
*
Niam was bitter about everything right now; he just wanted to find out who had done this. His life was so different, her father had no idea what love was otherwise he would have been trying to help uncover the bastard who had killed his daughter but he never gave a shit at all!
Jaydan had vanished. He hadn’t set eyes on him since the day he found him in the vault. He had been his friend for many years Laryssa was right about him; he really was screwed in the head. How could you get pleasure out of k
eeping weird body parts? Thank God he never told him about his powers!
News had become public, it was official the police had called her death ‘murder’.
George the caretaker and supervisor of the apartments had got hold of a friend who ran the CCTV observation in the main city; he asked him a favour, so Niam was given twenty-four hours to run through the camera footage from that night.
George had explained that Niam had believed his partners death was not an accident that he really would be grateful for any help if the guy could averted his eyes for twenty-four hours, or even help them with their enquiries anything that would help with his own private investigation.
They had planned to get to the main station at ten thirty and George’s friend would help them find the right area footage and they would see what happened.
Hopefully there would be a photograph of this monster’s face so Niam could smash it in!
*
The funeral had ended. There had been an argument between Niam and Laryssa’s father about her ashes, but in truth he didn’t care much, she wasn’t there anymore. It was her wish to be taken and scattered with her loyal companion of many years ago, a black German Shepherd she had owned.
He was going to do that for her; at least it was some compensation for not being there to save her life. It should have been him who died, if he had been standing with her, he could have pushed her out of the way and taken the impact instead.
Niam’s world was just angry and sad. He had got back into the same routine of walking his dogs, keeping the apartment clean. For the moment her clothes were still in the wardrobe like she had just slipped out. Her belongings and photos had remained all over the place. He was afraid that if he put them away, she would think he had forgotten her.
Silly really, her life would be different now; she would be something or someone new.
The wake came immediately after Laryssa’s funeral was at a local pub, people he had never seen before sat weeping comforting one another, they must have been unimportant as he had never met them. Her family had been absent throughout her life, it had made no difference as she grew up; she made it anyway, without them!