(2014) Deep Inside

by Jack Parker

  It was like the slides that Jack used to go on when they were kids. The ones that she had always avoided because of her paranoia of heights. Now she wished that she had gone on then, it would have given her some practice.

  She opened her eyes as she felt herself slow down and a fresh onslaught of mud rub into her legs.

  She had landed on her arse in a pool of mud as Cal sat beside her, his legs outstretched, his eyes scouring the sky. He looked like he was thinking about something, but what? He looked her way and grinned. She hadn't screamed that loudly, had she?

  She got up and brushed herself off, then stepped forward, but her foot got stuck in the mud and she slipped once again, falling into it for the second time. She could feel her face heat up as Cal grinned. But there was something different about his grin. It wasn't the usual evil smirk, but a genuine grin. Cal grinning nicely and not evilly? That was something that she had never expected to see. But it was gone as quickly as it came.

  He got up, followed by Lia. He retained his composure and brushed himself off, ignoring the mud stains splayed over the back of his clothes.

  She smiled. "It looks like you just shitted yourself and used your trousers as toilet roll."

  "It's not like you look any better, Miss Piss."

  Were they actually joking with each other? It was amazing what lack of sleep could do to a person. Lia began to brush off the mud. She wiped her feet against the grass to clean her shoes.

  "How are we meant to go into town looking like this?"

  Cal wiped his hands on his trousers, then ran a hand through his hair.

  "We can just say that we fell over."

  Lia really wanted to roll her eyes at this point. Fell over? How pathetic. But her imagination –she blamed lack of sleep- did not serve in helping her come up with anything better, so fell over it was.

  "Come on. Get moving. We don't have much time." Cal put his hand into his pockets once again and made his way up the path they had landed beside.

  There were a few houses further up the path. They would go and ask them if they could borrow their phone, then they would have Leigh pick them up. Lia ran forward to catch up with Cal. Upon reaching his side, she slowed down.

  They looked like tramps, she noticed. Their clothes were completely drenched in mud. It would be best to change for the mission –they couldn't go in looking like they had just walked out of a hole. At least, Lia had to change. Cal didn't really have to, since he wasn't going to go in.

  "What do you suggest we do?" Was Cal actually asking her a question? He really was trying to act civil. She wondered what brought on the sudden mood change.

  "The only solution I can see is to knock on someone's door and ask to borrow their phone."

  Cal nodded. "Go on, then."

  She frowned. "Why me?"

  "It was your idea."

  He was being an arsehole again. Though, it was the best he would get, so she had to be grateful. She couldn't voice her thoughts out loud this time either, because it would just start an argument, which he would undoubtedly win. She preferred to stay neutral with him. It was safer. Cal may have been an arsehole, but he was an evil arsehole and she knew that she could never hold out in a cussing match against him. He would win. She may not have admitted it out loud, but that didn't mean that she didn't know it was true.

  "Ugh."

  She stomped toward the nearest house and rang the bell. Just because she wasn't going to say anything, it didn't mean that she wasn't going to act immature, and annoyed, and frustrated about it.

  Cal leaned against the fence and watched, his arms folded over his torso.

  The door was slowly opened and the porch flooded with a rich, amber light coming from the corridor within. A ten year old Elonsican dressed in his pyjamas stood in the doorway.

  "Hi," Lia began. She smiled and the boy looked at her oddly. She continued. "Me and my friend here need to use the phone and we were wondering if you could he-"

  The boy was suddenly pulled back by a tall woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties. Before Lia could finish her sentence, the door was slammed in her face accompanied by some shouting.

  "What have I told you about opening the door to drunk Cadlians? Do you want to get yourself killed?"

  Lia frowned. She could hear Cal laughing in the background. She turned around and began to walk away from the door, back up to the path.

  "Shut-up."

  Cal smirked. "Tsk, tsk. You can't blame her for thinking you were drunk with a temper like that. Let me handle the next one."

  She glared. "Go right ahead."

  Cal made his way to the next door and rang the doorbell. Now it was Lia's turn to lean against the wall and watch. He waited on the porch, expectantly, his hands dug casually in his pockets. After a minute or so, the door was flung open by a tall, skinny Elonsican.

  "Yeah?" she asked.

  "Hi. Sorry to bother you, but could I please borrow your phone?"

  Wow. That was the first time she has actually heard Cal act polite. It sounded really weird. Especially the word "please," it sounded unnatural on his lips.

  She frowned. "Why?"

  "My car just broke down so I need to telephone my friend to pick me up."

  The girl inclined her head toward Lia. "What about her?"

  This girl was nosy. Couldn't she just give them the goddamn phone already and be done with it?

  "Oh, her. She's just someone I had to pick up in my car. Favor for a friend. Anyway, you know how Cadlians are like, always hitching free rides."

  Lia could feel her face heat up as the girl began to giggle, then make her way inside to pick up her phone. She hadn't expected it to, but that had stung. No matter how many times they were said and no matter who said them, comments like that always stung.

  The girl was sure trusting. For all she knew, Cal could just take the phone and run away and there was nothing that she could do about it. Elonsicans were so thick sometimes.

  He hurriedly dialled the number and asked Leigh to pick them up. He gave the girl back her phone and said thanks. They waited silently against the side of the road, anticipating the arrival of Leigh's car.

  Around fifteen minutes later, they heard a horn beeping in the distance. Two headlights blinded their vision, their luminous light like a pair of eyes carved into the face of the sun. Lia squinted and brought her hand before her eyes, then removed it once again once the car had stopped. The wait had felt like forever, even though it had been extremely short.

  Leigh stepped out from the driver's seat. He ran a hand through his mat of blond hair and bit his bottom lip.

  "Get in quickly and show us where the others are. We have to be there by midnight and we don't have much time left."

  They both nodded and entered the car. Cal sat in the back with Emilie whilst Lia sat next to Leigh in the front seat.

  "Oh my god, Lia. What the hell happened to your clothes?" asked Emilie.

  It was so obvious she was looking for an opening. Stupid bitch. The best option would be to ignore her. Anyway, why didn't she ask Cal? Those two made a cute couple. It was a funny thought even as it crossed Lia's mind and she couldn't help but grin.

  "What the hell are you grinning at, Lia? What's so funny?"

  All she had to do was ignore her and watch the trees blur past her window. Maybe if she tried really hard she could manage to count them. One…two…three…four, no, they were going past way too fast.

  Emilie had given up, finally, and instead she took to talking to Cal. Lia could hear their laughter muffled in the background along with Leigh's constant questioning about where the car was. She felt so out of place. She was the only Cadlian in a car full of Elonsicans. She had never been in this position before, and it was weird. She couldn't wait to get back to the others.

  It didn't take that long to reach them, not as long as it took to walk the way, anyway.

  Jude was leaning against his car, waiting. Lacey and Carmon were sat on the grass beneath a tree, talking anim
atedly as Lacey absently coiled her fingers over the thick blades of grass, tore some out, dropped them, then coiled her fingers again.

  As soon as their car entered the clearing, they stopped talking and got up.

  "Took you long enough!" exclaimed Carmon.

  Lia rolled her eyes and exited the car.

  "It looks like Carmon wasn't the only one who needed to go to the bathroom." Lacey grinned.

  Lia glared as Leigh, Cal, and Emilie exited the car.

  "Shall we leave it for now and come back for it after we're done?" asked Leigh, referring to the car.

  "Yeah, it seems like we don't have any other choice. It's nearly midnight so we need to hurry."

  Leigh nodded in affirmation and made his way back to the car. Everyone followed. It was as if they were two separate cliques and Jude and Leigh were the leaders.

  The car was basked in silence throughout the ride. Lia could feel it rumbling beneath her as it moved across the road. Every vibration seemed magnified, like an echo rebounding off of the walls in a hollow cave, beating against its side and returning with an extra bout of force. The car ride went by in a blur, a blurred numbness where her ears were acute to every sound, every movement, yet they passed over her in an unruly haze.

  They all got out of the car, one by one, and Lia hurriedly went with Lacey behind a tree to get changed. She couldn't go in drenched in mud, it could become possible evidence.

  By the time she was done, everyone was gone and only Jude remained, leaning against a nearby tree.

  "Take your position, it's nearly midnight."

  Lia nodded and pulled a black hat over her hair, firmly tucking in all of the loose strands. It was times like these that she wished that she had just cut it.

  "Good luck," he added.

  She smiled lightly. "You too."

  They began to walk away in opposite directions. It was nearly time; only a few more minutes until midnight. She had to get into position, and fast, otherwise it would spoil the plan and confuse the timings. The air surrounding her felt tense, her every movement like a knife cutting into the core of an apple, emerging from the other end, ripping through with a blade coated in rich juice only to fall once again in miniscule droplets against the earth's harsh exterior, dampening the dry mud and coating the grass.

  Her movements were slow, stealthy. Her hearing was acute to her surroundings: she could hear an owl hooting in the distance and every crunch of the grass beneath her feet echoed within her ears.

  She was entering the more dangerous area now –the places where she would be seen if she was not careful. Carmon would already be on the roof waiting for her. She had to hurry.

  She finally reached the correct wall, the one beside the oak tree that would serve in concealing her as well as serving as an aid to help her up. She wrapped her arms around its trunk –it would be easier to get to the top if she just slid onto the roof from one of its branches. As she reached its midpoint, it occurred to her on how she found herself climbing an awful lot of trees within her profession. Lia shrugged off the thought and, upon reaching the top, she slid off of one of the branches and onto the roof where Carmon was waiting, expectantly.

  He sighed with relief upon her arrival. "I was worried you wouldn't make it."

  "I always make it."

  This was a tradition; there was a tradition for everything with Carmon. It was their way of being in control; their way of having a say in what happened in their life. It was their way of knowing what was coming next from the others' mouth so that they would be prepared for what happened next instead of having to wait and watch it all play out before them, watch the tapestry weave and reach for the needle but always be one step too far away.

  Carmon pulled off his backpack and took out a long coil of black rope. He secured it on one of the many beams of wood criss-crossing over the building's vast roof, then held out his hand.

  "Ready?"

  "More ready than I'll ever be."

  More tradition. It was as if they were acting out a play when they didn't know the plot and by saying the lines they knew it would secure the ending.

  Lia looked up as a single firework marred the clear night sky.

  Carmon followed suit. He grinned. "It's midnight."

  She nodded. "Happy New Year."

  * * *

  Jack slipped out of the car, the chilly night air lashing against his skin and sending goose pimples creeping over his flesh. The sky was a dark cavern clustered with a few stars, its surface lit occasionally by a spurt of color stretching out from a firework just released.

  It was still New Years Eve, so why were they celebrating? He knew that when he had fireworks he always made sure to let off the first one exactly on the stroke of midnight, any time before would just destroy the moment.

  He could hear Damien get out of the car behind him. The chinking of some money, an argument with the driver, an agreement and the slamming of a door. This was Damien; he could never make anything simple.

  A puddle stretched beside the path before where Jack was stood. Contrary to public belief, however, he could not see his reflection amongst its depths; only a few blurred, foggy outlines. It reminded him on how his mind felt at the moment: blurred, foggy, distorted. An engine rumbled behind him, then the sound of old tyres screeching against the tarmac.

  "It's up the path behind all those trees, though, I'm warning you: Prepare to be amazed."

  Jack nodded absently and kicked a pebble into the puddle. He watched it ripple and the small spurts of water, omit from its depths as the pebble fractured the puddle's flawless surface, ripping through its flesh and breaking the inside; letting the center topple and the walls surrounding it crumble.

  The wind had gotten lighter now, a soft whistle and a gentle beat barely audible beneath his thick jacket. He sauntered down the path, his legs like mounds of lead secured to a rusty body: a tin man left in the deepest corners of the cupboard, untouched, un-oiled. He couldn't bother to check whether Damien was following.

  He could remember New Years Eve in Cadlia. His parents used to always let him and Lia stay over at any of their friends' houses because they were always invited to a party and were obligated to attend. Not that he had minded back then, though. It was much more fun to hang out with your friends on New Years Eve than your parents.

  Last time, they had snuck out –him and Aaron- and followed Aaron's older brother as he had gotten drunk and made out with a random girl in the park. They had recorded all of it on Aaron's mobile and threatened to show it to his girlfriend if he did not meet up to their demands.

  Jack kicked a random pebble and watched it scuttle across the path.

  I wonder what Aaron's doing right now…

  He sighed, his eyes downcast as he continued to walk absent-mindedly across the path.

  "Jack, stop. We're there."

  Jack looked up and stopped abruptly, his eyes widening with awe. He was stood before a massive pair of open iron gates. A long, thick white path led to one of the biggest houses he had ever seen in his life. He wasn't even sure that he could call it a house, so brilliant was its calibre. On either side of the path was a massive green field and, within each field, there was a single, pristine white fountain gushing with thick torrents of water. He could hear the heavy beat of music blaring from the house, even from his standing point, and shouting in the distance.

  "Sweet, isn't it?" stated Damien.

  Jack nodded. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind living in a place like this."

  "It's usually Rory's place, which is the same size as Joe's, only, this year, Joe wanted to host it 'cause his parents are out of town and he wants to see them pissed when they come back."

  Jack nodded in response and allowed Damien to lead him up the path. The music was getting louder as they approached.

  A clenching feeling resided in the pit of his stomach, as if an unseen hand was pulling it from the inside. He hadn't actually met anyone apart from Damien from the sector yet –not including Rory, Lottie,
and "the girl"- he had been far too busy sorting out paperwork. Daniel Clifford had sure left behind many loose ends before he had died and it was up to Jack to sort them out seeing as he was, after all, the new head of the Sector. For all the glamour the job had promised, it sure was not living up to his expectations. He was getting bored of it. He wanted to do something exciting; get involved with the government and slip his own views into the puzzle. He wanted to make a difference but now that he had climbed the ladder; he could see nothing on the landing.