Life at the End of the Road

by Rey S Morfin

  ‘I’ll try!’ I responded, already planning to do nothing of the sort.

  My investigation was proceeding swiftly, and I was determined to see it through. I knew exactly where this mansion was (it was hard to miss!), and I headed straight for it.

  The mansion was fronted by a high cast iron gate - the kind that you needed to be buzzed through. I pressed the button, and waiting for an answer. There was none. I pressed again and noticed a camera situated at the top of the security pad. I wasn’t exactly looking like I had business being there.

  I pressed the button again, and spoke into the device, ‘Please! I need to speak with you!’

  Either they had heard or my insistence with the buzzing had paid off, as the gate started to open in front of me. I stormed up the gravel driveway, and when I arrived at the door, it opened for me.

  Out the front door stepped an old man, perhaps eighty, ninety years old, who rested on a cane. He mumbled something unintelligible at me, expecting an answer.

  ‘I’m Laura, I was hoping to speak with you. About some land you’ve bought recently.’

  The man shook his head and mumbled aggressively at me.

  ‘Sorry, can you repeat that?’ I asked. I paid close attention to his answer, making out only the odd word: ‘annoyed’, ‘new’, ‘many’, ‘homes’.

  ‘Homes?’ I asked, ‘No, not any homes. I’m asking about the land in the woods. In the valley?’

  The man stopped mumbling, and hobbled back inside the house, using his cane to traverse the slightly-raised threshold of the house. He shouted, equally unintelligibly, up the stairs, before hobbling off to other areas of the house.

  There was movement from elsewhere in the house a younger man made his way down the stairs. He was well-built, well-groomed, and moved with god-like confidence.

  The young smiled at me and held out his hand. ‘Steve.’

  I shook his hand, looking into his eyes. There was an intensity to them, a redness - as though he hadn’t slept in days.

  ‘Laura. I was hoping to speak with your father about some land you own.’

  Steve became defensive. ‘The new houses built up on Albany? We-’

  ‘No,’ I interrupted, ‘Land in the woods.’

  Steve’s whole demeanor change, and suddenly he was relaxed. ‘Ah. I see! Well, that’s very different!’

  ‘I was wondering if I could get into it.’

  Steve laughed. ‘Yes, I thought you might. Are you the one who’s been stealing it?’

  ‘No, I’ve only just arrived in town. Wasn’t me, I’m nice, I’m asking first, see?’

  He smiled again. ‘Just to clarify, why do you want it?’

  ‘“It”?’ I asked, rhetorically.

  ‘Yes, “it”.’

  ‘I… I don’t know. I just want to know more, I guess. I grew up here, and I never really understood.’

  ‘I’d be happy to tell you. God, if anything, I’ve been itching to! There’s nobody in this fucking town who wants to know who doesn’t know already. Most of them, they’re in denial. Come, come, I’ll show you.’

  Steve took me out the house and we walked towards the woods. As we walked, we passed my father’s house. I looked through the windows for my father, but couldn’t see him, only his cat, which observed me from the front garden. I thought back to the vision I’d seen - of him and Anna. It couldn’t have been real, I knew better than that.

  As we walked up the Hiker’s Path, Steve began to enthusiastically explain the situation.

  ‘So, right. My Ma and Pa, they moved here a few years ago. Used to be in the city, made their millions, etc etc - this bit isn’t interesting or relevant. So they move to this town, and I think: oh god, this must be the most boring place on Earth…’

  Steve turned to look at me, reading my face.

  ‘No offence,’ he added, then continued, ‘And it was. Boring. For a while. Not that I had to be here very often, only as much as necessary to keep the parents sweet.’

  He rubbed his fingers together in the universal signal for “money”.’

  ‘So me and my sister, we’re coming back and forth up here, keeping the parents happy, and one time I’m up here, I stumble on something: this plant that grows around these parts. This brilliant little plant which creates a high unlike anything else I’d experienced before. So, this product-’

  ‘Product? What do you mean by that?’ I asked.

  He waved that question aside. ‘I’ll get to that in a moment. So, this root, I think, is absolutely brilliant. I bring it to my friends, and they concur. Brilliant. Five stars all around. Can they have more? And I think…’

  Steve points to me.

  ‘You think you can monetise it?’ I asked.

  ‘Ding ding ding! Exactly. Exactly! You have an entrepreneurial spirit, I see. My business plan, then, is: start local, get an idea for demand and volume, working out any kinks in the product, distribution, etc, while its in a small market. Then, before we expand, we know exactly how to proceed in larger markets. But then, as we’re cultivating it, we start to find that people are stealing it… still not sure who… and that we need to fence it-’

  ‘But what does it do?’ I pressed him on it.

  Steve raised an eyebrow at me. ‘What do you mean? It creates a…’

  ‘No. It’s not like any other drug, though, is it? You know what I’m talking about.’

  ‘Ahhh,’ Steve replied, his tone changing, ‘So you have had that kind of reaction to it, too. You must have had a lot.’

  ‘I don’t know, it didn’t seem like much.’

  ‘Oh, it was. Look, I can try to explain, but that is no substitute for showing you.’

  We continued onwards, taking a right off the path into the depths of the woods. After a while, we came upon a small clearing, in which sat a farm of sorts. Purple flowers sprouted from the earth.

  ‘Here,’ Steve announced, ‘is where we produce it. And…’

  Steve yanked a plant out of the ground.

  ‘This… is what all the fuss is about.’

  ‘You said you’d show me,’ I prodded, ‘That you’d show me what it does.’

  ‘And show you I will!’ he replied ecstatically.

  Steve removed from his pocket a small device, and used it to crush the plant’s root into smaller chunks. He pushed these pieces into a small, finely-crafted, wooden pipe, which he lit with a match and started puffing from.

  Steve immediately sunk to the ground as though the life had drained from his body.

  I rushed closer to the body, to check for signs of life, when a shadowy figure stepped out to block me.

  This wasn’t just a shadowy figure, though, but a being composed entirely of shadow, floating menacingly in front of me. Of course, I screamed, the yell ringing out amongst the trees.

  The Shadow put its finger to its mouth, and “shh”ed me. I recognised its shape, and the curvature of its face, as Steve.

  The real Steve - the human Steve - sat up, grinning, eyes glowing a deep shade of crimson. The Shadow man raised his arms to the trees, and they began to tremble, twisting and turning - much like they had in my vision of Rey at the campsite.

  Steve looked to smile at me. ‘You wanted to know what it does? Look at it. Look at what it means I can do!’

  The Shadow lowered his arms, stopping, exhausted. Steve raised his arm to it, and it’s form changed. It wasn’t a man anymore, but only a cloud of smoke, which billowed back into Steve’s raised arm.

  ‘Now,’ Steve commanded, ‘You try.’

  ‘No, no, I don’t think I want thi-’

  Steve raised his arm once more, conjuring flame from his body, using it to light the remainder of the Root. The smoke from the Root darted towards me, and I ran.

  I bolted out of the clearing, headed for the trees, but the smoke was faster. It darted out in front of me, twisting and turning as if toying with its prey. I turned to run back, but the smoke circled around me, encompassing me, and then forced itself into my screaming lu
ngs.

  With the smoking rushing inside of me, I scrambled, coughed, but it just kept coming - until it had finished.

  Steve stood over me, smiling. ‘Can you feel it? Can you feel all the-’

  I passed out.

  And then I was in a school. Rey is there, looking fretful. I scream at him. I tell him not to let me go. I tell him to find me. I scream at him to help me. But he’s confused, he doesn’t fully understand what I’m saying.

  I was back in the woods. I staggered onwards, Steve’s voice calling out behind me, ‘Laura? Where have you got to? Laura? I’m just trying to show you! Don’t run! You can come back!’

  I stumbled onwards, rushing for freedom from the man who’d poisoned me, running from the darkness of the trees.

  And then I was back in my father’s house. It was the same scene again - the same as I’d scene before. I was at the top of the stairs. Down below was my friend and my father. He gripped her by the waist and leant towards her. I screamed at him from the top of the stairs, but was unable to make any sound. I shouted and I shouted, but they couldn’t hear me, they couldn’t see me. I turned to run down the stairs, but there was a shape on the ground in front of me. It was the cat - it was Ruby. She watched the scene unfold downstairs, also fixated, eyes wide. As I moved towards her, she turned, and looked straight into my eyes.

  I was back in my body. It had carried on running, despite my mind being elsewhere. Steve’s voice was more distant now, barely audible. I was escaping him. I was near the edge of the woods. I was nearly free.

  And then I was back at the campsite again, seeing the same vision, watching Rey howl. The trees twisted and turned, but there was no wind, they moved on their own accord. Rey staggered away from the tent, clutching for balance on a tree. He sobbed between screams.

  I was in the trees again. I couldn’t hear Steve any more. I was nearly free. I was nearly back at that campsite, my safe haven. I ran for it, my mind fading with every step. Soon, I could see it in the distance, spurring me on. I charged for it, and hid from Steve in the old, rotting tent.

  And then I was Max. I was my old friend. I missed him, but here he was - alive. I stumbled around my mother’s house and into the back garden. With the Root gripping my mind, I was barely able to think, barely able to stay conscious. My vision turned red and, suddenly, I saw with more clarity than ever before. I could truly see - I could see the birds in the trees over a hundred metres away, I could see pollution in the wind, I could see the concern on my mother’s face - and my mind couldn’t take it. My head roared with pain, with an intense, horrifying pain, and I howled.

  Then my mind gave up.

  17

  Run

  I awoke from my visions of Laura’s last few days to find Stephen and Anna standing over me - the former with a massive grin on his face. I scrambled to my feet, recoiling from Stephen as Sam had recoiled from me just hours earlier. I pointed a finger at Laura’s killer.

  ‘It’s him, Anna! He’s the one!’ I shouted.

  Anna rushed to my side as Stephen’s chuckling became louder.

  ‘The one who…,’ Anna trailed off, beginning to understand.

  ‘The offer still stands, Rey. I can be your guide,’ Stephen announced.

  I recoiled away, grabbed Anna by the arm and pulled her backwards away from him. Stephen took this as an answer.

  ‘If that’s your choice, Rey, then we can always resolve this situation differently. Of course, I can’t have you running around, knowing what you know.’

  ‘You mean…’ Anna began to ask, still catching up with the situation.

  ‘Yes, Anna. That’s exactly what I mean. You won’t be the first, nor will you be the last. It’s not personal, it’s just what the Shadow wants - what it needs to survive.’

  I looked within myself for the powers that the Root afforded me, attempting to summon the flames from inside of me. My arms began to smoulder slightly, but then - nothing.

  ‘Having trouble concentrating, Rey?’ Stephen mocked me. ‘What a shame.’

  I roared, trying to focus on the fire that I knew stirred within me - but all I could think of was Laura.

  ‘Go on, then,’ Stephen instructed us, ‘Run. We all know that’s where this is headed.’

  Anna tugged at my arm, beckoning me to flee. As we made for the exit, Stephen released a Shadow - a menacing monster composed of smoke, which strode towards us. We ran through the house, not looking back to see if it was following. From my point of view, I knew from my encounters with Elizabeth how dangerous such a situation could be - especially when it involves someone who seemed to have no qualms about killing. For Anna, she’d only previously seen the Shadow possessing me, who - I hoped - she thought she could trust. However, now that a stranger was releasing this power upon us, she also sensed the urgency to scarper.

  We bolted out the front door of the house, gravel sent flying as we sprinted down the driveway. At the end, having reached the road, Anna spared a moment to look back. Her expression didn’t soften.

  ‘Don’t stop, it’s right there!’ she shouted, pushing me to continue running.

  I kept moving, making for the north side of town, hoping to find sanctuary in one of the many overgrown gardens.

  I looked back. Anna wasn’t behind me any more. I stopped, looking around for her, but only saw Stephen’s Shadow, marching onwards towards me. There wasn’t time to look for Anna. I could only hope she’d gotten away - and if Stephen was still marching after me, then there was a good chance that she had.

  I continued sprinting to the North, down the main road, past the communal gardens.

  I heard a second step of rapid footsteps behind me - someone else was running too. I didn’t stop to check who it was.

  I made it to the end of Joyce’s road before stopping to take a breath, hands on knees. The second step of footsteps caught up with me.

  ‘Rey!’ Sarah called, ‘I was calling your name, didn’t you hear me?’

  ‘No,’ I replied through heavy breaths, ‘Sorry.’ I looked behind her. I could see nothing - yet.

  ‘What are you running from?’ Sarah asked.

  ‘I… I can’t explain right now, Sarah,’ I replied, ‘We need to get out of here.’

  Sarah saw the look of panic that was plastered across my face and her own became stern.

  ‘Ok, Rey. Follow me.’

  We ran up the road to Joyce’s house, then swung left just before the door, taking us through the side gate to the back garden. Sarah pulled a part of the back fence open, putting us at another house’s rear.

  ‘Meet me out the front,’ Sarah instructed me, before hopping the fence next to us.

  I did as was told, running out the front of the house before hiding behind a car that was park outside. I took a moment to look around me. There was still no monster in sight - but I didn’t fancy my chances if I hanged around much longer.

  Within a minute, Sarah rushed out the front of a house, car keys in hand. She raised them above her head, pressing a button, and the car I was hiding against beeped into life.

  Sarah chucked the keys to me.

  ‘Let’s go, then,’ Sarah said, and opened the driver’s door for me, pushing me inside.

  ‘Sarah… I can’t drive,’ I replied.

  ‘What do you mean, you “can’t drive”? You’re old, aren’t you?’ she responded with disbelief.

  ‘I’m from London, we just kinda… use public transport.’

  Sarah rolled her eyes. ‘Ok, Jesus. Get out, then.’

  ‘What? You’re not driving, Sarah.’

  ‘I thought we were being chased? Do you have any other choice here?’

  ‘Fine,’ I gave in. I scrambled out of the seat to let this thirteen year old girl take the wheel. As I shut the door behind her, I looked up to see Stephen - or rather, his Shadow - storming up the street behind us. Suddenly I was less worried about letting Sarah drive.

  I jumped into the back seat of the car behind Sarah.

  ‘He
’s here! Go! Drive!’ I shouted at her.

  ‘Who’s here? Where?!’ Sarah yelled back at me, but started the car anyway, driving off away from Stephen’s Shadow.

  Sarah sped confidently around the town, driving aggressively over the speed-limit, but still successfully avoiding any and every obstacle.

  ‘What’s going on, Rey? Who’s following us?’

  I watched, paranoid, the back window of the car, looking for signs that Stephen was still chasing after me.

  ‘Monsters, Sarah, monsters!’

  Sarah turned to look at me incredulously. ‘“Monsters?” Are you high?’

  Sarah turned to quickly look at my eyes.

  ‘Eyes on the road!’ I berated her.

  ‘Oh, god, you are, aren’t you? You’re high,’ she moaned. ‘You’re high and I shouldn’t be listening to you.’

  ‘No! I’m not. Well… a little, but that has nothing to do with this, I promise!’

  Sarah shook her head - but kept driving anyway.

  ‘Where are we going, Rey?’

  ‘I don’t know, next town over? We can hide there.’ I didn’t want to risk Sarah’s driving any longer than I absolutely had to - although, to her credit, her driving was better than any thirteen year old’s had any right to be.

  ‘Highford. Ok. I can do that.’

  I screamed when Laura’s father appeared on the seat next to me.

  ‘I didn’t kill her, Rey!’ he shouted at me, grabbing me by the shirt.

  ‘What’s going on back there, Rey?’ Sarah called over her shoulder.

  ‘I know, Robert! I was wrong!’

  Robert didn’t release my shirt, and Sarah looked at me, dumbfounded.

  ‘Are you talking to me?’ Sarah asked.

  ‘Why did you do it Rey? I didn’t deserve it! I didn’t deserve any of it! I was a changed man!’

  I clutched my hands to my face, hiding myself from the vision of the man I’d killed.

  ‘No! You were still a monster! You still deserved it!’

  ‘Who are you talking to, Rey? What are you saying?’ Sarah glanced round at me, eyes wide.