Persephone’s Curse

by Sandra Bats

  But his self-confidence unsettlingly bordered on arrogance. I had seen guys like him, strutting into downtown bars, behaving as if the world were up for grabs. People seemed to enjoy such attitudes, especially if the person behind the cockiness was handsome. As if handsomeness equaled goodness. I knew better. I didn’t blindly follow without questioning. Who was to say Jayden was qualified to make better decisions for me than I could? Who was to say that this place, despite its amenities and safety, might not hold other dangers for me? I kept the exits in plain sight. I wouldn't succumb to an illusion of perfect safety.

  Jayden led me to Jane’s room. It was larger than the few bedrooms I had seen up to that point. There was a bed in the far corner and a small desk. There was no physical separation but the front of the room was clearly designated as a doctor’s office. While the whole area had an ordered and almost sterile look, it was the medical office part that had me shrinking back towards the door.

  I wasn’t fond of doctors, and so I was only able to nod when Jane asked whether I’d stay. She hadn’t looked up from her work when we entered and only did so once she realized my answer wouldn’t be verbalized.

  Eventually she got up from her desk. She was slender, a bit taller than me; her olive skin — indicating a native origin somewhere in her bloodline — contrasted the white surroundings of her office. Her smile lacked Kathy’s happiness and Jayden’s charm, but she seemed friendly enough, despite her dark brown eyes never meeting mine as she talked. Her long black hair was swept back in a practical braid and I almost relaxed a bit until she announced that she was going to run some tests on me.

  I backed away. “Why?” Sudden panic triggered by past nightmares rushed through me.

  “Oh yeah, that’s real hospitable of you, Jane. She just got here. How about a little explanation?” Jayden said, sounding amused as he turned towards me to explain. “She needs to do some minor blood work to ensure you don’t have any contagious diseases. So you don’t cause an epidemic or something.”

  My breath picked up, my heart raced and my hands grew sweaty. I stuffed them into my pockets to hide their shaking, turned towards the door and stuttered an incoherent excuse as to why I had to leave. Jayden called after me, but I barely heard him over my heart hammering in my chest and my feet slapping against the floor.

  “Elin, what’s wrong?” Jayden asked, not really reaching out to hold me back, but he was catching up and moving in front of me.

  “It’s nothing … I just can’t stay here.”

  “Why? Because of the blood test? We just want to make sure you’re not contagiously sick. What’s so wrong with that?”

  I looked up at him while my cheeks turned scarlet. “I’ve had bad experiences with doctors.”

  Jayden watched me for a moment, biting his lower lip. “Ok. I can understand that. But Jane is nice. She lacks social skills sometimes, but she’d never harm you. Don’t you think you could try?”

  I wanted to curl up in shame. Tears burned my eyes, but I squeezed them shut to keep them in. I was terrified of needles, terrified of doctors; of anything that included somebody taking control of my life and body, but as a cold gust of wind wafted through a window I thought of the alternative of living on the streets again, not sure if there would be a tomorrow.

  Jayden waited for me to decide and when I did, he led me back to Jane’s room, his hand resting lightly on my elbow. The close contact was strange, the most recent contact I’d had with humans had been people trying to force themselves on me. I flinched from Jayden’s touch, because my body knew threats, but it had never known gentleness.

  I was vaguely aware of Jayden explaining to Jane that I’d had bad experiences with doctors. I was grateful I didn’t have to explain it myself; grateful that Jane didn’t ask too many questions.

  Jayden nudged me towards the exam table. He chatted with Jane as she prepared to draw my blood. I couldn’t keep my breaths from coming in fearful, small pants, or flinching away from the cold disinfectant. I tried to focus on the fact that I had a place to stay. That I had food. Warmth. Having a bit of blood drawn surely was a price I could afford to pay for that.

  Afterwards, Jayden led me to a room he called his office, a place that seemed to hold any information one could have wanted about the school. There were lists covering the walls and a blackboard that Jayden explained people needed to sign out on if they left the building. That way they knew if someone had left and knew when to worry about them.

  Sheepishly, he fumbled with some papers then glanced up at me. “Right, so I actually might’ve promised too much. We don’t have any more beds available. I do, however, have a couch in my room that I can crash on and you can take my bed until we get around to building you a bed and scavenging a matrass.” I must have stared at him for a bit too long because he blew out a long breath. “Or if it makes you uncomfortable to share a room with me, I might be able to crash at Jane’s for some time. Later we can move some things around and you can bunk with one of the other girls.”

  Sharing a room with a guy was, well, new, but at least I had started to get a feeling for how Jayden seemed to tick. I much preferred bunking with him for a bit to having to make arrangements with another new person. I didn’t like the thought of owing him anything though.

  “I’ll take your couch. You don’t need to give up your bed for me. Thanks for the offer, though.” He was about to speak when I added, “And before you get any ideas, you make any move on me and I won’t hesitate to take your head off.”

  The corners of his mouth lifted as if he were fighting a grin, but his eyes stayed on me and he didn’t say anything. I couldn’t take the silence any longer. I needed some time to myself, a few minutes during which I didn’t feel like I had to keep it together. The showers I had heard about earlier seemed like the perfect excuse and I committed their location to memory as Jayden led me to the locker room.

  ◆◆◆

  The locker room was tiled and cold, but the water quickly heated enough to be enjoyable. I hadn’t had a real shower in months and I wanted to scrub myself clean of the layers of filth on my gritty skin. I used the tiny stub of soap I’d found to scrub myself until my body was pink.

  For the first time that day, I let my guard down. For the first time, no one was watching. It could be so draining to have people around, noticing your existence. In the busy streets of the city it was easy to be overlooked and to blend in, but there, I was new, and the residents seemed to be watching my every step. All I wanted was some alone time — where I wasn’t being judged or deciding whom to trust.

  When I turned the water off I reached for the towel I’d hung outside the shower stall, but found only an empty hook. I poked my head out — maybe the towel had fallen to the floor — but spotted a young man leaning against the wall across from me. He was about as tall as Jayden, though his hair was darker, more of a light brown, and flopped into his face.

  “Looking for this?” My towel dangled from his finger, just out of my reach.

  His voice was the kind that I instantly hated; it sounded like the voice of every sleazy guy who had ever tried to force himself on me.

  I didn’t show any fear, steadying my voice as I told him to give me my towel back.

  “Is that any way to greet new friends? I only wanted to introduce myself to the stranger everybody’s talking about.”

  He inched closer to the shower and I contemplated grabbing the towel from his hand, though that would’ve meant I’d have to release the shower curtain.

  “Give me my towel!”

  “How about you come and get it?”

  I was about to say something, not willing to let him get to me, when all of a sudden Jayden’s voice rang out, sharp enough to cut through ice.

  “Alex! Give her the towel!”

  “I was just introducing myself to her,” Alex declared.

  “By stealing her towel?”

  Alex held the towel out for me so I could barely reach it with my fingertips. I snatched it from h
is hand, retreating behind the curtain.

  “I see you want her all to yourself. You should’ve said that,” Alex said.

  There was what sounded like a scuffle, somebody being pushed against the wall and Jayden barking at Alex to leave the room. Only when I heard the door close did I peek out of the shower to look at Jayden, who stood with his back turned to me and his hands clenched. Despite his anger, his voice was apologetic and soft.

  “I’m sorry about that. Alex is a jerk.”

  I chuckled humorlessly, retreating behind the shower curtain. “Yeah, I noticed. I’m ok though. Why did you come back in here?”

  “I brought you some fresh clothes. I’ll leave them on the bench.” The door clicked as he closed it behind him and I closed my eyes, inhaling for a second. Then I dried myself off and slipped the clothes on that Jayden had left for me. He’d even brought me some new shoes and a jacket. I’d worn the same clothes for so long that the cottony smell and softness of the clean clothes was a personal miracle to me.

  Three

  Jayden

  I’d left Elin to her own devices. I needed to talk to Cam. That day wasn’t the first time Alex had acted out and we needed to discuss it. For months we’d watched with dread as he changed.

  I was beyond pissed at him. The whole point of us all living together was so that we could feel safe. So we didn’t need to watch our backs. So girls like Elin could go about their lives without feeling threatened.

  I knew she’d been scared earlier. Still, she had this air of resolute strength surrounding her. As if she were determined to not let life bring her down. It was something I could relate to very well and it set her apart from most women I’d met.

  Women often liked to lean on me. They enjoyed acting weaker than they were and I was used to picking them up with ease. Elin seemed very reluctant to trust and while that was a novelty for me, it was something I could respect.

  I closed the office door and Cam looked up.

  “We need to keep an eye out for Alex,” I said.

  Cam put down the paper he held, examining me. He exhaled. “What happened?”

  “I found him in the locker room, holding Elin’s towel hostage. He didn’t let up till I got there.”

  “Last week Kathy, this week Elin. Not to mention the fight he tried to start with me two days ago. He’s spinning out of control.” Cam sounded worried.

  I leaned back in my chair. I didn’t want to kick Alex out. He was going through a rough time. If his misdemeanors progresssed, however, I’d need to think about the greater good.

  “Maybe he’ll lose interest. Maybe he just wanted to push your buttons. Because Elin is new, you know? Perhaps he was just trying to rile you up,” Cam said.

  I raised an eyebrow. “Why’d he think he’d rile me up if he confronted Elin?”

  Cam lifted his shoulders, then chuckled. “Well, she’s a girl who’s here because you offered her help. The idea that you might be interested in her isn’t far fetched.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Oh come on. It’s not like I never bring people back here. Half of the ones living here are here because I offered them help at some point in time. Just cause she’s a woman Alex thinks I’m trying to get in her pants?”

  “You gotta admit it wouldn’t be unlike you.”

  “Man, she’s not even my type,” I muttered.

  “Dude, your type is female and not hideous. I think Elin checks both of those boxes,” Cam joked. He sighed and his face grew anxious again. “Look, I’m just saying maybe Alex thought you were interested in more than just helping her. Doesn’t matter if you’re not. It’s not like Alex is exactly in his right mind. The question is what we’re going to do about his behavior.”

  I rubbed a hand over my neck, glancing around the room for a moment before facing Cam again. “I don’t want to have to send him away. He’s lost so much already. Besides, I worry about the repercussions if he’s out there. He knows so much, that if he told the military any of it, they’d come to get rid of us.”

  “I can try and talk to him. Maybe it’ll help. I think he feels less threatened by me than you, yeah?” Cam hadn’t always lived in The Port, he’d only moved there when his aunt had died giving birth to his cousin Nigel, and that was when Cam was eighteen. Since then, he’d devoted his life to taking care of his cousins Nigel and Josh, who’d been ten when his mother had passed. Seven years later, the only indication that he wasn’t originally from around our parts was the “yeah” he tagged on to his sentences.

  “Let’s hope it’ll work. If not …” I couldn’t stomach finishing that sentence. I got up from my chair. “Anyway, I got patrol duty in a few minutes. Let me know when you’ve talked to him.”

  ◆◆◆

  I’d actually forgotten about Elin being in my room when I went to grab my jacket and gun. She’d obviously fallen asleep without intending to, slumped towards the side of the couch she sat on. I hurried to catch the door before it fell shut and woke her. She probably needed the sleep. Living on the streets couldn’t be very conducive to a decent rest.

  I shrugged my jacket on and grabbed my gun from the closet, ready to head outside when I heard whimpers from the couch. My glance shifted to Elin who was still asleep but looked distressed. Nightmares — we all had them.

  I waited for a moment, but she kept twitching and tossing. I decided that I would’ve wanted someone to wake me if I were the one having a nightmare.

  I carefully tapped her shoulder and called her name. She woke with a start. Sat up so fast I barely had time to leap back before our heads collided. A scream, full of agony, tore from her throat.

  “What happened?” she asked, fully awake. She ran her trembling fingers through her hair.

  “Think you had a nightmare,” I explained. “I woke you up.” I hesitated another second, watching as she seemed to compose herself. “You ok? Do you need to talk about it? They say it helps.”

  She declined. I wasn’t going to judge her. I’d never really talked about my nightmares with anyone either. I was already at the door when she called my name.

  “Thanks for waking me up.” The words seemed to take effort on her part. I concealed my grin. So what if she was mistrusting? Hers wasn’t the worst strategy in this world.

  ◆◆◆

  Guard duty was boring. Not that boring was something to complain about. Boring meant everything was safe. Boring meant not using ammunition. That day, I didn’t have a patrol partner, so there was nobody to chat with. Instead, I listened to the snow crunch under my heavy boots. I walked along the side of the building, ensuring nobody could approach us unnoticed. Made a mental note of a broken rain gutter on the ground. The weight of the snow had probably broken it. I’d need to have someone check if the roof had been damaged.

  The school building was old and had been abandoned long before Jane and I had hidden out here. It constantly needed repairs and even with repairs there were rooms — especially on the second floor — that weren’t inhabitable due to roof damage and broken windows.

  Despite things constantly breaking, this was home and so even if it was boring, protecting it was a good thing. Didn’t mean I wasn’t happy when my shift ended and I returned inside.

  I ran into Cam who was walking out of Jane’s room, stretching his arms behind his back.

  “Everything all right?” I asked.

  He hadn’t noticed me until I spoke, then he looked up with his brows drawn together; a look of complete loss on his face. “Nigel has the flu. He’s running a fever and Jane wants to keep an eye on him, so he’s staying in her office.”

  The flu wasn’t a thing to be taken lightly, considering how few resources we had to keep the fevers down. I could barely imagine what such news did to Cam.

  “Man, I’m truly sorry,” I uttered, clapping a hand over his shoulder. “How can I help?”

  Cam grimaced, wringing his hands. “He needs meds. Jane says she needs antipyretics. She’s trying to lower his fever with wet cloths and to kick-start his
immune system. It’s buying us time but it might not be enough.”

  “Of course.” My mind was already racing, trying to find a solution. “I’ll talk to Elin about the ammo factory. Once we got our hands on some boxes, we can trade them for meds.”

  “Sounds good,” Cam said, except he was distant and distracted — his response was instinct alone. He looked around, seeming lost, and his voice broke when he said, “You need to hurry. I can’t lose Nigel!”

  “You won’t. The little guy’s tough; he’ll pull through,” I said, placing my hand on Cam’s shoulder, which he shrugged away from.

  Cam left and I stood petrified in the hallway for a moment. At the rate we were going, we only had enough supplies to keep us comfortable for a few more days. After that, the flu wouldn’t be an issue. We’d slowly starve to death.

  ◆◆◆

  When I told Elin about Nigel and how his sickness had fast-tracked our timeline, she agreed to show me around the ammunition factory right away. As much as we were in a hurry, we couldn’t attempt a break-in without the proper information, so the night’s stakeout would need to be as thorough as possible. It needed to be the basis on which we constructed a plan.

  I checked the gas on one of the motorcycles stored behind the school. It was going to be faster than walking into town, despite the motorcycle being old and beat-up. Elin climbed onto the seat behind me and awkwardly tried to hold onto the bike for safety. I grinned and reached behind me to grab her wrists.

  “I don’t bite,” I told her, wrapping her arms around my waist. I couldn’t see her face, but I felt the tension in her body. I’d rather have her be uncomfortable than fall off during the ride.

  While Cam had been right about me not being very picky when it came to women I could hook up with, I already realized Elin wouldn’t be game for that. Fine by me. I hadn’t offered to help her because I wanted to get in her pants. It usually wasn’t difficult for me to find women in town who were more agreeable in that respect. I could be charming when I flirted. I was good-looking and admittedly knew how to use that to my advantage. Elin’s breath on my neck shouldn’t have been a distraction.