by Len du Randt
‘Tell me more,’ Jared said finally.
Rebecca frowned. ‘More? About…?’
‘Tell me more about Simon.’
* - - - *
Skyscrapers of paper. Justin stood at the foot of the columns constructed entirely from manuscripts and almost lost his balance. The reams of paper reached beyond the clouds. He walked around one of the paper pillars, examining the reams more closely.
‘So many to choose from,’ Justin said and lightly ran his fingers over the edges of the manuscripts. The columns of paper extended in every direction as far as the eye could see; each breaking through the clouds high above.
From a small pile at his feet, Justin picked up a thick manuscript. He flipped through it, and when he closed it, gasped when he saw the name printed with thick, black toner. ‘The Reaper & Mr. Smith.’ He breathed the words and rubbed his fingers over the lettering. ‘By Justin Greene.’
Seeing his own name on the manuscript made his heart thump hard and his mouth feel dry. He re-read the title and his name. This was it. The full manuscript. Someone wanted it. Someone would soon pay him good money for it. Justin clutched the manuscript to his chest. Soon, the whole world would be able to read his words. Soon, people would approach him for his autograph.
Justin didn’t feel the burning sensation at first, but when he smelled the smoke, he looked down in time to see the flames. His reaction to the flames that engulfed the document was pure instinct. He threw the burning pile of papers through the air and it crashed into one of the manuscript pillars. The flames climbed the buckling tower at a rapid pace, swallowing the tower of novels in smooth stride. The fluttering sound made him look up, just in time to see piles of heavy manuscripts rain down on him.
Justin woke up screaming. He wiped the perspiration from his head and inhaled deeply as he familiarized himself with his surroundings. It only took a few seconds to recognize the living room. He checked his watch. Midnight.
The burning building on the television caught his attention only for a moment. He had seen this movie before. Justin pressed a button on the remote and the image disappeared. He went to the kitchen and took some apple juice from the fridge as he tried to piece together the fragments he could remember of the dream. He could remember seeing his manuscript. He could remember hundreds and thousands of manuscripts piled on top of one another. A cold chill crept down his spine as he remembered the fire and the books tumbling down on top of him.
‘You’ll be a smashing success,’ he said and chuckled at his own joke. ‘Book sales will be on fire.’
Justin’s smile vanished as he placed the rim of the glass to his mouth. He placed the glass down on the table in front of him and brought his face next to it for closer inspection. He smelled the content and gagged. The liquid in the glass wasn’t apple juice. Not again, he thought as he dipped the tip of his fore finger in the glass and rubbed his thumb over the crimson content on his finger. Justin closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. ‘This isn’t real,’ he said. ‘It’s just apple juice.’ When he opened his eyes again, the result was the same. There was no mistake about it. The liquid in the glass was blood.
* - - - *
It was almost noon when Justin woke up. He opened the curtains and squinted as the light flooded the room. The house was unnervingly quiet. Monique must have left already, he thought as he entered the kitchen. What day was it?
On the counter stood a glass filled with apple juice. He remembered the previous evening. He had left the blood on the counter for closer inspection the next day, but now it was nothing more than pure juice again.
‘You’re losing it, Justin Greene,’ he said and chuckled softly to himself. He took the glass and emptied the contents in the basin where it quickly ran down into the drain. He left the glass in the basin but as he turned to leave, a stain on his index finger caught his attention. He studied it, rubbing it with his thumb.
Dried blood.
‘What...?’
He took the glass. It was clean. Justin replaced the glass and washed the blood from his finger. Something was wrong. He could feel it. Stuff like this didn’t happen unless it was to tell him something; to warn him against imminent danger. The question that now remained was what it was that he was being warned about, and exactly what did he have to do with it?
* - - - *
Two weeks felt like two agonizing years to Jared. The walking exercises were the most painful. Although extremely relieved that he could see again, he was still bothered by something. What bothered Jared wasn’t the physical pain of the rehabilitation. It wasn’t the awkwardness of losing an entire month of his life. What bothered Jared the most was the creatures that he saw. The hideously deformed people that, for some reason, only he could see. They came and went at will, disappearing into thin air. They entered his room at night and towered over his bed. They walked through walls.
And he could see them.
And no one else could.
‘I thought this day would never come,’ Jared said as he signed the release forms at the main reception. ‘How long has it been?’
‘About a month and a half,’ Rebecca said. She waited patiently until all the forms were signed and then gently took Jared’s elbow as support.
Jared pulled his arm away and with the use of his walking cane limped over to his luggage. ‘Well, it’s been a month and a half too long,’ he said and motioned for the nurse to follow them with the trolley that carried his suitcases.
‘This way,’ Rebecca said and led Jared to where she had parked the car.
‘Tanya lent you her car?’ Jared asked. He assisted the nurse with loading the luggage into the trunk and thanked her. ‘You guys must be better friends than I thought. She wouldn’t just give her car to anyone, including me.’
‘We’ve all seen the way you drive,’ Rebecca said and chuckled. ‘I wouldn’t let you get behind the wheel of my car either.’
Jared laughed for the first time since the accident. The feeling was awkward, almost as if it was the first time in his life that he had laughed.
‘Buckle up,’ Rebecca said. She started the engine and slowly drove out of the hospital parking lot. Soon, a month and a half of Jared’s life disappeared in the distance behind them.
The rest of the drive was spent in silence. Jared stared out the window in absentminded thought. Clothing and convenient stores passed by at a lazy pace and to Jared they looked like monsters pretending to be asleep, ready to gulp up an unwary pedestrian. The thought of a sleeping monster triggered an image in Jared’s mind; a blown-out store, a burnt-out car. Then, just as quickly as it appeared, the image was gone. Rebecca said something about lunch, but Jared missed it. His attention was focused on rooftops of the various buildings sailing by. On the roof of each building stood a row of men, all dressed in white and all powerfully built. What intrigued him about the men was the fact that they were all looking directly at him, following him with their eyes.
‘Who are they?’ Jared asked and pointed at a building not too far off. ‘Who are those men on the roof?’
Rebecca leaned forward, straining to see who or what he was talking about. ‘What men?’ she asked. ‘Where?’
‘Can’t you see them?’
Rebecca looked again. ‘I don’t think so, no...’
Jared closed his eyes and opened them again. The men were still there, looking at him. Rebecca stopped the car at a red traffic light and craned her neck again, trying to see who Jared was talking about. A sudden face in the window next to Jared made him jump. The person’s face was mostly covered by a black hood, but what parts of the face Jared could see appeared burned and scarred. Jared blinked. The figure was still there. The disfigured man grinned at Jared, exposing rotten and missing teeth while a forked tongue slithered in and out. Jared looked away and clutched at his safety belt. Go away! his mind screamed. Leave me alone!
‘What’s going on, Jared?’ Rebecca asked as the car pulled away. ‘What’s bothering you?’
‘Not
hing.’ He clenched his eyes like a frightened little boy. ‘I’m tired, that’s all.’
‘We’re almost there,’ Rebecca said and placed her hand gently on his. ‘Get some rest. I’ll wake you when we get there.’ Jared merely nodded without opening his eyes again.
It was just over five minutes before Rebecca brought the car to a stop and cut the engine. She lightly touched Jared’s shoulder and waited until he slowly opened his eyes. ‘We’re here,’ she said.
Jared unclipped the seat belt and looked around. ‘Where are we?’ he asked when he realised that he didn’t recognize any of his surroundings.
‘I’ve rented an apartment for you,’ she said. ‘Just for the next week or two until we leave Kelwick.’
‘You didn’t have to do that...’
She merely smiled, ignoring his feeble protest. ‘There’s a rented car in the basement parking lot. The key is on top of the microwave.’
For a long moment Jared didn’t say anything. When he did speak again, his voice was soft and coarse. ‘Where did you get the money for all this?’
‘It’s not much,’ she said. ‘I managed to save most of what you sent us.’
‘That wasn’t the idea,’ Jared said. ‘You were supposed to spend it on yourselves.’
Rebecca leaned over and kissed her son on the forehead. ‘It’s not much,’ she repeated. She rummaged through the glove compartment and took out a pair of keys and handed it to him. ‘This is to get into the apartment,’ she said. ‘There should be enough food in the fridge to keep you going until the weekend. We’ll go buy some more groceries then.’
Jared merely stared at the keys without saying a word.
‘I didn’t sit around doing nothing for over a month, you know?’ she said. ‘Now let’s get you upstairs and in bed so that you can rest your weary bones.’
Jared got out of the car and unloaded only one of the suitcases. He walked to her window and waited until it was fully opened. ‘I only need the clothes for now,’ he said. ‘You can keep the other case in the car until later.’
Rebecca frowned. ‘It’ll be no problem to help carry your luggage.’
‘No thanks.’ Jared shook his head. ‘You’ve done more than enough for me already.’
‘Nonsense,’ Rebecca said and got out of the car. ‘You’ll never manage that suitcase in your condition. Here, let me help.’
Jared merely shrugged and stood aside, allowing his mother the space she needed.
‘Now,’ she said. ‘Let’s get you upstairs.’
As they approached the building, Jared scanned his eyes across the rooftops, making sure that whoever was watching him earlier was now gone. So far, so good.
After what felt like forever to Jared, the old elevator reached ground floor. The doors opened slowly, like a huge dinosaur lazily opening its mouth. Rebecca pulled the gate aside and the two entered the mouth of the beast.
‘What floor?’ Jared asked as Rebecca closed the gate again.
‘Second,’ she said. ‘You’re staying in number two-oh-six.’
Jared nodded and held in the button until the doors were firmly shut. ‘Two-oh-six,’ he breathed softly as the metallic dinosaur transported them in its mouth. They reached the second floor with a jerk and the doors slid open with a high pitched screech. After opening and closing the metal gate, the two stood in the hallway, facing a door numbered 202. To the left of them the hallway ended in 201. Without saying a word, Jared and his mother made their way to the very far end of the hallway until they stood in front of apartment 206.
‘This is it,’ Rebecca said and unlocked the door. She followed Jared inside and closed the door behind them.
The apartment was even smaller than he had anticipated. It consisted of one bedroom that acted as a living room. The kitchen was as small as the guest toilet in his previous house, and had it not been for the counter, might have been part of the living room. The smell of stale beer lingered throughout the apartment. It came from everywhere as if it was part of the place. Right next to the kitchen was the bathroom that consisted of a shower and a basin. From the living room, he could look into the kitchen and the bathroom at the same time. The entire apartment would fit snugly into his old bedroom. Jared shook his head. Was this what his life had been reduced to? He shivered at the thought.
‘I know it’s not much,’ Rebecca said as she placed the suitcase next to what was supposed to be both a couch and his bed. It was merely a brick extension of the wall with a mattress on it. ‘But it’s not like we’re going to be in Kelwick much longer, anyway.’
Jared merely nodded and ran his eyes across the apartment again. He walked over to the cupboards in the kitchen and opened them. The contents were basic, but enough to keep him going until the weekend. ‘Can I get you something to drink?’ he asked.
‘Oh no,’ she said. ‘I have to get going. But get some rest and I’ll see you soon, okay?’
‘Sure,’ he said. ‘Where will you be staying?’
‘Still at Tanya’s. She’s been very hospitable to me since I got here.’
The two of them headed down to the parking lot and after a hug and kiss, Rebecca started the car. ‘I’ll see you soon,’ she said. ‘Let me know if you need anything.’
‘I will,’ he said. ‘Drive safe.’ Jared stepped back and waved as she drove off. He waited until the car disappeared around a corner before turning to face the building. He didn’t soak in much of the detail the first time, but now that he was alone and vulnerable, the building appeared almost predatory, as if it wanted to consume him and spit out the bones. It was a rustic place where peeled off plaster revealed cracked bricks. He could picture the tiny rooms and the lights that flickered on and off in the hallway. ‘Oh well,’ he sighed and shrugged. ‘Guess it’s better than nothing.’
Slowly, with each limp and click of the cane, the building drew nearer, growing more ominous with each passing moment until it towered over him. Jared looked up and squinted at the early afternoon sun. On the rooftop of the building, he could make out four silhouettes. People were leaning over the edge, looking at him.
Oh, give me a break, Jared thought and quickened his pace. He half-limped, half-ran for the security gate. Pain stabbed up his leg with each step he took and twice did he almost lose his balance and fall. At the elevator, he jerked open the gate and once inside, slammed it shut. He pressed the button for the second floor repeatedly as the door lazily shut him inside the box. Through the thin sheet of glass in the elevator door, he could see silhouettes of hands and arms, running up and down the glass as if there were many people trying to get in. Only once the doors were closed and the elevator started moving did he exhale deeply. You’re losing your mind, Jared Greene, he thought and wiped the perspiration from his forehead. You’re nuts!
The soft ding of the elevator interrupted his train of thought. The cart stopped with an abrupt jerk and the doors slid open. Jared needed no invitation. He opened the gate and without closing it again, limped to his apartment. He fumbled with the keys and after what felt forever, managed to unlock the door. Only when the door slammed shut and the bolt was locked did he allow himself to relax. He sat down on the bed and gave it a little bounce. Once satisfied, he lay down upon it and exhaled slowly. ‘Not good,’ Jared thought. He sighed and closed his eyes. Images of people watching him flashed through his mind. Blown-out buildings and burnt-out cars crept uninvited into his thoughts. Jared sat up straight and raked his fingers through his hair. Trying to sleep now would be futile, so instead, he limped over to the microwave and took the car keys from on top of it. Have to get out of here, he thought as he left the room. Got to clear my mind before I lose it completely!
* - - - *
After his legs finally adjusted to the rhythm of working the pedals, Jared pulled the car from the parking lot into the street. The Chevrolet Metro was no comparison to the Vanquish, but at least he had transport. He made a mental note to get his mother something nice for all her hard work—and most importantly—patie
nce.
Jared had no specific destination in mind. He briefly considered going to see Natasha, but decided against it. He wasn’t ready for seeing her yet, and so he found himself driving aimlessly around through the back streets of Kelwick, soaking in the sunlight as people around him went about their everyday business. In Ridge street, he felt a sudden urge to pull over. He got out of the car and with the use of his cane, limped to the window of the nearest store.
Jared lightly touched the glass with his fingers.
The image of a blown-up hardware store flashed through his mind.
Jared stepped back. He looked down the street and took a deep breath. ‘Dejavú,’ he said softly and closed his eyes as he probed his memory, trying to figure out why everything felt so familiar to him.
‘Can you spare me a dollar?’ a voice croaked from behind him and Jared spun around. He saw the dirty hands with the torn gloves before he saw the unshaven, soot-covered face with the toothless grin. Jared instinctively shook his head and took a step away from the man. ‘Jus’ a dollar, sir,’ the man said.
Jared stuck his hand in his trouser pocket and pulled out a few wrinkled notes. ‘Here,’ he said and held his hand out to the beggar. ‘Take this and leave me in peace, please.’
‘Thank you, mister,’ the man said and held his hands out, expecting the cash to fall into his cupped palms.
Nothing came.
‘Sir...?’
Jared looked at the homeless man and then shifted his focus back to the store window behind the man. He looked around and then back at the window.
‘What’s wrong, sir?’
‘That man,’ Jared said and pointed at the window. ‘Can you see him?’
The beggar looked at the window and then back at Jared. ‘What man, sir?’
Jared pointed. ‘That man. The one with the black robe looking right at us. How can you not see him?’