Dead Days [Season 11]

by Casey, Ryan

  Well.

  She was still here today.

  Everyone around her was still here.

  It might be lying dormant somewhere.

  It might be waiting to wake up, once more.

  It could be hiding in a lab in the middle of nowhere, just waiting to break out, waiting to fix, all over again.

  That was why everyone had to be vigilant.

  That’s why they had to be ready.

  That’s why they could never take a thing for granted.

  She took a deep breath, pushed open the door, and saw him.

  He was sitting in his chair over by the window. Staring out at the daffodils outside.

  He was skinny. Grey. Bearded.

  But he had a smile on his face.

  A smile that had been there for as long as Kesha could remember.

  “Hello, Dad,” she said.

  He looked around at her. Didn’t say anything back, as she sat opposite him. Just smiled.

  She put the notes to one side. “How’re you doing? Keeping fit?”

  He just smiled back at her. Nodded.

  She felt sad when she saw him, sometimes. Because this was just a fragment of the man he used to be. It was sad, seeing age kick in. See people losing their dignity. Losing their memories.

  But Kesha was going to make damned sure his memories weren’t forgotten.

  She was going to make damned sure they were documented, one way or another.

  She just wanted one final thing from him.

  “So I’ve finished the book,” she said. “Your book.”

  He nodded again. Smiled.

  She opened her mouth. Went to say something. Stopped. Because she knew this was a pointless exercise. He hadn’t said a word for three months. The last thing he’d told her was how things ended with Alison.

  After that… she’d filled in the blanks.

  But she wouldn’t be honouring him if she didn’t give it a shot.

  She would be betraying him if she didn’t at least try.

  “So I wanted you to have a say on the title. On what you think it should be called. The publishers… they kind of need a title. Crazy, I know. They could just read it. Figure it out for themselves. But anyway. It’s… it’s your story, Dad. I wanted to give you the chance.”

  He looked at her. Smiled. Nodded.

  Didn’t say a word.

  Kesha sighed. She smiled back at him. Put a hand on his. Leaned over, kissed him. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t bring this here. Not anymore. I… I should let it go. I just wanted to give you the chance. I just…”

  She felt his hand tighten.

  She felt him move himself towards her ear.

  She felt his breath on the side of her face.

  Smelled the oily skin that took her back to those many, horrific days in the basement.

  She remembered the way he’d held her.

  The way he’d held her in the sea when he thought he’d lost her.

  The way he’d lifted her up when he found her again.

  She remembered everything between them in their life that had passed.

  The good.

  The bad.

  Everything in between.

  She felt his hand tighten some more around hers, and then he moved his mouth closer to her ear.

  He told her the title.

  The last words he ever said.

  Two words.

  And then he leaned back, smiled, and looked out at the daffodils.

  “Okay,” she said, wiping her eyes. “Okay, Dad. I can do that. I can call it that.”

  She stood up. Walked out of the room.

  Looked back, one final time.

  Dad looked back at her.

  Smile on his face.

  Life in his eyes.

  His story was complete.

  Daffodils in the summer were always such a tragic sight.

  But today, they looked different.

  Riley realised something as he lay there against these yellow flowers. His face where he’d just been hit by the crowbar. There was no pain.

  The blood he expected to taste. That was gone, too.

  And the sun shining down on him felt brighter. Warmer.

  He looked around and then he saw them.

  First, Jordanna. Standing there. Waving at him. Smiling.

  Chloë was by her side.

  And when he saw them, there was no sadness this time. There was no bitterness; a bitterness that followed whenever he was reminded of them.

  There was only happiness.

  There was only joy.

  There was only a sense that his life had built to this moment, all this time.

  He saw more people beside them, then. Anna. Alison. Ted. People stretching on to his left, to his right.

  And as he stood there in the summer warmth, he knew what this was now.

  This vision that he had lived within for months. For years.

  This was where it ended for him.

  This was the end of the road.

  He looked down at his hands. Saw they were young again. And they weren’t rotten. They weren’t grey.

  They were bright.

  Burning with a warm, bright light.

  The same bright light that surrounded his family.

  Surrounded his friends.

  “Riley?”

  When Riley heard the voice, he looked up right away. He recognised it. A relic from a long time ago. A voice he hadn’t heard for an eternity.

  But it was her.

  It was definitely her.

  When he looked up, he saw Grandma standing opposite.

  She looked just as Riley remembered her. Short white hair. Slim. And that beaming smile that used to fill him with joy. That used to comfort him. That made him feel so loved, even when he was at his lowest.

  She reached out a hand to him. Smile beaming across her face.

  “It’s time now, Riley. It’s time.”

  He looked at Grandma, into her eyes, and he felt a tear roll down his cheek. He didn’t know why because he felt so happy. Happier than he’d felt in a long time.

  He looked over his shoulder. Back across the fields. He saw the outline of the nursing home. The chairs. The place he’d spent the last… oh, he didn’t know how long he’d been there.

  Just that he’d been comfortable there.

  He’d been happy there.

  But he was ready for the next adventure.

  He turned back to Grandma. Saw she was standing with the rest of his people, now. The rest of his family. His friends.

  He saw them all standing there, smiling at him. Hands raised. So happy. So filled with joy.

  “Come on, Riley,” Grandma said. “It’s time to come home.”

  He took a deep breath as he stood there, the light creeping towards him.

  And then he realised there was one person missing from this crowd.

  Kesha.

  His daughter.

  He hesitated. Just for a moment, he hesitated. Because to the end, he wanted to keep her safe. He wanted what was right for her.

  But then he saw her life flash before his eyes, too. Saw her growing up. Saw them playing together. Saw himself teaching her how to swim. How to ride a bike.

  Watching her grow up into a beautiful young woman.

  And then…

  The memory.

  The final memory.

  Sitting opposite him.

  Hands in his.

  Leaning towards her ear.

  “Dead Days,” he’d said. “Call it… call it Dead Days.”

  He remembered watching her walk away.

  Watching her leave.

  And then, through the light, he saw her again.

  He was lying in bed. A hospital bed.

  Only this time he wasn’t in pain.

  This time, he wasn’t alone.

  And this time, he knew it was real.

  Kesha tightened her grip on his hand. “It’s okay, Dad. It’s okay.”

 
He looked up at her. Looked into her eyes.

  And then he smiled.

  “You can let go now,” she said. “You don’t have to fight anymore. I’m here. I’m right here.”

  He took a deep breath, tears building.

  “I kept you safe,” he said. “And you… you kept me safe. My love.”

  He closed his eyes.

  Stared into the light.

  Stared at everyone he cared about.

  Stared at Grandma’s outstretched hand.

  He took a deep breath.

  Reached out.

  Grabbed her hand.

  And then he felt the light surround her, as he walked away into the yellow daffodils, into the bright sun, into a new world.

  Daffodils in the summer were such a beautiful sight.

  Riley smiled.

  Thank you for reading Dead Days!

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  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any reference to real locations is only for atmospheric effect, and in no way truly represents those locations.

  Copyright © 2019 by Ryan Casey

  Cover design by Cormar Creative

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Published by Higher Bank Books