Sombre

by S. B. Norton

  “Ha! Relax Hope. All is well, girl! Too well, actually…” Jessica proceeded to pull the wire-tapes from Hope’s skin.

  Hope rubbed her chest after Jessica unfastened the diagnostic box. “What do you mean, ‘too well’? What happened?”

  “A whole lot of not much,” the technician shrugged. “You slept like a baby, Hope. The data that I will give to Dr. Marin will show lots of good average sleep patterns, oxygen levels and near perfect brain activity. You slept better than most people do, actually.”

  “Wow … awesome I guess,” Hope said cagily, not knowing exactly how to feel about it all. How could the dream she just had not have affected her brainwaves and things? Dreaming in Sombre was always chaos, bed rolling; waking exhausted and sore. The Isolate was what? Nothing at all? She felt like she just had a good night sleep as well - odd.

  Jessica yawned again. “It’s been wonderful to meet you, Hope Kelly. I have called your mother and she’s on her way. Best get your shoes on.”

  The technician gave her a warm smile and left the room.

  Feeling numb, Hope slipped her trainers on and grabbed her glasses. On her way out, she stopped and looked back at the bed.

  She was mystified.

  CHAPTER 25

  On Jerry’s Return

  “Well it looks like I just blew three and a half thousand dollars,” Evelyn Kelly said as she pulled up at Centurion High’s drop off. She let out a short and bitter laugh, “Shame our insurance didn’t cover it.”

  “How much?” Kate said looking up from her phone on the passenger side. “Shit! Who spends that much on me?”

  “Mind your mouth, Kate, please. Besides, you have braces coming up. That’ll be at least three thousand, and that’s with insurance.” Her mother stared straight ahead, hand on the wheel. She sighed. “Oh well, Hope. You had your one shot on that ride. If you still have problems with your sleep, we’ll get you some sleeping pills.”

  “Drug her up,” Kate chuckled.

  “Okay,” Hope muttered. She had no idea the therapy cost that much. She was still dumbfounded by the results.

  “She doesn’t sound that grateful,” Kate said.

  “Jesus! Shut up, Kate!” Hope yelled and pushed on the door. “Sorry, okay! Shit! It’s not like I could do anything about it!” Suddenly desperate to get out, her bag got hooked on the seatbelt denying her the fast, dramatic exit she wanted. Her glasses slipped down her nose as she wrenched the bag out. “Uggghhh!” She pretty much fell out of the Jeep onto the footpath. She half-shut the door. Her sister giggled at her.

  Her mother rolled her window down a few inches and stated coolly. “Please shut it properly, Hope.”

  Hope shoved the door closed. The Jeep pulled away.

  Gathering herself, Hope walked through the gate and had the presence of mind to pull her phone from her bag. There were three messages, all from Parker, all sent within an hour - ‘Heya, let me no x!’ ‘WTF? – giv me something!’ ‘usuck! x’

  A new one flashed onto the screen - ‘I can see u!’

  Hope looked up, Parker stood leaning against the cream coloured, bricked archway of the main entrance. “Are you some sort of stalker, or what?” There was no humour in her delivery – she regretted it straight away.

  Parker raised her eyebrows, gave her a mock smile then a frown. “So, it didn’t go well, then?”

  Hope stopped and looked her friend in the eyes. “I went to The Isolate. I saw Ether.”

  “Oh, shit! That’s some serious shit … shit! I can’t stop saying shit! What happened?” Parker licked her lips hungrily.

  The first bell rang for class.

  “That’s the bell,” Hope said.

  Parker waved it away as if shooing a fly, “Fuck the bell. This is more important, what happened? What’s there?”

  “Just Ether. And The Isolate is just like Lucretia said to Halliday. It’s cold and wet and white – not much else. But I can tell you one thing. Ether didn’t want me to be there at all. It said it was where all world’s end.”

  “Wonder what that means?” Parker searched Hope’s face as if it could hold the answer. Realizing it didn’t she then looked her straight in the eyes. “What did he look like in The Isolate, the same?”

  “No. There’s no he, it’s just a thing. At first it was just a mouth speaking to me through mist. Then it became whole and it was as if I was staring into a mirror; but my face was all broken and my eyes were bleeding. I had blood in my mouth, a big hole in my chest.”

  “A hole in your chest, you say? I’ll bet you that’s meant to signify something.”

  The second bell rang. Parker hoisted her heavy looking bag up high on her shoulder. “Best get going, eh?” She grinned. “So, did you smash up the room? Have a conniption?”

  “No. I slept like a baby apparently – completely normal.”

  “Wow! Really? You couldn’t have!”

  “I did,” Hope nodded looking down at the ground. “Mum’s pissed off. It cost her thousands.”

  Parker actually clapped and laughed. “Oh, that’s funny!”

  “No, it isn’t, she’s hating on me pretty bad.”

  “She’ll get over it. You’re family seems to be going okay for a dollar. I’ll see you at lunch. We have to stalk Jerry.” Parker paced off.

  “He’s back?” Hope called out after her friend. Parker had made her feel a hundred times better.

  Pulling her hair over her left shoulder, the older girl chimed spookily as she walked off. “He’s backkkkk!!!!”

  S

  Hope’s lunch consisted of a Health & Co carob and muesli cake, a fat slab of dried nutrition that boasted no nuts, eight kinds of seeds and as many fruits. Her mother had forgotten to pack her anything else. It turned out to be a bit of a blessing as she wasn’t sitting down to eat, she was on the move.

  “That bar looks cumbersome. Is it any good?” Parker said as she crunched an apple.

  “Filling,” Hope concurred.

  “’Where-o-where are you Jerry.’” Parker sang to herself as the two girls strolled the grounds.

  The day was overcast, a cool change looked on the cards, a break from the heat Southern California had been enduring for over a week now.

  Parker dipped her sunglasses and cased the bleachers. “I actually haven’t seen him today – but I know he’s here.”

  “Ah, why wouldn’t he be catching up with the rest of the guys from the football team?” Hope asked wondering if that was indeed who Jerry Cowle actually hung out with. Apparently, it was.

  “I would have thought so as well.” Parker stopped and nodded toward the bike racks in front of the library. She hissed triumphantly, “There! Got him!”

  Cutting a lonesome looking figure Jerry stood in shorts and a loose t-shirt, leaning against the side wall of the single-story building. Hope could see his colour; looking like he was made of aged newspaper, his entire body was covered from head to foot in the pale sickly yellow.

  “My god, he’s covered in Sombre. He might be dreaming like us, Parker!” Hope said excitedly through a mouth choked with muesli cake.

  “Wonder if he’s got a face-full of zits like us as well?” Parker observed.

  “What do we do?”

  Parker walked her mostly-eaten apple over to a nearby bin. “Well, I wasn’t expecting him to be alone. Chuck the rest of that birdseed bar and let’s go see him.”

  “Should we though?” Hope said dumping her lunch and brushing her hands clean. She was as desperate to see Jerry as Parker was. But everything was going to the next level – fast.

  “Of course, we should!” Parker licked her lips. “He looks weak. This is when we pounce.”

  “That’s nasty.”

  “Yes, it is. C’mon.”

  Hope kept behind Parker as they paced toward Jerry Cowle. He stood hunched, peering down at his phone.

  Partially under her breath, Parker commented on his form to Hope. “Wow, he’s lost a lot of his bulk in hospital. He’d probably struggle as
a Running Back right now.” She blurted, “Hey! Jerry. How’re you doin’?”

  Clearly not expecting company, a startled Jerry looked up. “What? Parker?” He pocketed his phone.

  With all the subtlety of a freight train ramming a broken-down car, Parker lined up her target. “Were you looking at porn just then, Jerry? Um-Ah, Jerry Cowle! You know that’s not allowed!”

  “I wasn’t looking at porn! What do you want, Parker?” Jerry moaned. Clearing his throat, he folded his arms and looked off to his side.

  “A word. That’s all,” Parker said taking a fierce stance.

  Hope instantly felt for the guy. A verbal load from Parker was the last thing he needed. He was so pale. The bruising around his mouth reminded her of a three-year old’s hot chocolate mouth halo. His eyes were bloodshot and rimmed with shadow. The pale Sombre-yellow of his skin was making her feel a little sick to her stomach.

  He gestured toward Hope. “Who’s she?” He dabbed his mouth with the back of his hand.

  “The girl you ran into that day,” Parker said. “You hurt her Jerry.”

  “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know what was happening.”

  Hope just nodded. Parker was being pretty rough.

  “How’s the mouth?” Parker said screwing up her face. “Saw you dribble a bit.”

  “P-Piss off, Parker! I don’t need your sh-shit okay!” Jerry stammered and gestured around. “Do you see me hanging out with anybody else? I just want to be alone!”

  Hope put a hand on her friends arm and hissed. “Don’t push it! We need this!”

  She was probably overstepping, but she took over,

  “Jerry, you don’t know me. My name is Hope Kelley. Sorry, I can see you don’t feel up to it. We were just hoping you could help us out. Do you know who attacked you that day?”

  “Like I’ve told everyone, I can’t remember – wait. How in the hell would it help you two out? Did you get attacked as well?” His eyes darted left and right.

  “No.” Hope said shaking her head.

  “Well, what does it matter to you then?” Jerry said putting his hands in his pockets.

  “Do you really not remember? Can you see our skin, Jerry? It’s the same colour as yours. Does he make your chest hurt, like your about to have a heart attack?” Hope prodded surprising herself with how even she sounded.

  Parker took over as bad cop, “We reckon you do remember, Jerry. You’re just too chickenshit to own up to it! We need you to man up!”

  What was Parker trying to achieve! Hope desperately wanted to tell her to quit it. What was stopping this guy walking away from them? Parker Wright had a way she spoke to her peers, and an image to portray - and with anyone else on any given day, it probably worked - but not with Jerry Cowle, he seemed far too broken. The guy was obviously overcome with anxiety.

  Ether had gotten to him, was probably still doing so.

  She shot Parker a look. She had a few scathing words poised on the tip of her tongue. Instead, she breathed, pushed her glasses up on her nose and changed tact,

  “Look, Jerry, we’ll leave you alone. Can you just answer two questions for us?” Hope didn’t wait for a yes or no. She could see he just wanted to get away.

  “Where do you go when you dream?” She realized as soon as she said it how strange it sounded out loud.

  “What? What sort of question is that?”

  She lowered her eyes. “Do you know someone called Ether?”

  Jerry didn’t answer. He coughed like an old man. With a shaking hand he dabbed at his mouth again.

  “My god!” Hope blurted under her breath stunned. She pressed her hand to her lips so she wouldn’t say another word. She realized that the guy was actually stone cold. He was freezing. On a ninety-degree day; Jerry Cowle was shaking like newly born foal in winter. He stared Hope in the eyes. His glare said what his mouth wasn’t about to say. Was too scared to say. Clearing his throat, he muttered an almost inaudible. “No. I gotta go.”

  Head down, he walked.

  Hope looked to Parker. “He knows! What do we do?”

  Parker lowered her eyes and huffed, “Nup. This is bullshit.” She followed and called out after him, “Why, Jerry? Where are you going to go?”

  “Leave it, Parker!” Hope tried grabbing her arm.

  Parker shrugged her off. “You know him, Jerry Cowle! Fucking tick-tick, Jerry! You need to talk to us! We can help your stubborn ass!” Her voice echoed throughout the grounds. Jerry only walked faster.

  Parker was drawing attention. The ex-cheerleader and Hope the geek – causing a ruckus. Hope caught up and stood in Parker’s path. “Dude, stop it! Leave it alone. We’ll have another go tomorrow.”

  Watching Jerry until he disappeared, Parker shook her head. “He’s being a dick.”

  “He’s frightened! Who knows what Ether has said to him?” Hope added, “He won’t know what’s good for him. We just need to take it slower.”

  Parker smiled. “Since when do you use the word ‘dude’?”

  “I was under pressure. It slipped out.”

  “I’m influential aren’t I,” She raised her eyebrows playfully and grinned. “I’ll warp you for the better, Hope Kelley. Watch. You’ll be speakin’ your mind and droppin’ cusses with your big sister, Parker, in no time!” She raised her arms in the air and sang to the skies. “Come, come down to the gutter with me, Hope Kelley! The air’s surprisingly clear, the headspace is fucking righteous!” She turned round and round as they walked.

  Eyes were on Parker and her younger friend as they walked to class. Parker reveled.

  Hope could only shake her head and laugh.

  They were freaks.

  CHAPTER 26

  The First Real Sign of Trouble

  That night, Hope lay in bed, mind racing as it travelled down her increasingly complex, cerebellum highway of human emotion and bizarre circumstance. She tossed and turned as she wondered at the sheer scope of it all.

  She pictured the bruised and broken Jerry Cowle and his Sombre-sick, yellowed skin, not just his face – everywhere. His hands that had shook from a chill, as if suffering from a bout of pneumonia. Her thoughts skipped to Parker Wright. A new, completely unexpected, enigma in her existence. She was her easy-to-trigger, almost completely uninhibited, foul-mouthed companion of Sombre and Centurion High. The girl shocked her and made her laugh when she probably shouldn’t. She giggled as she recalled some of Parker’s greatest verbal hits.

  She thought of Ether; the new ticking, maniacal presence who made her heart feel as heavy as a medicine ball. Who filled her head with pain so unbearable she could hardly stand. Who seemed a threat to everything and everyone, everywhere – on earth and in Sombre. She pictured the disembodied ghoul standing in the cold of The Isolate. She shuddered as she remembered his chill filling her to her core, like frozen, deathly electricity.

  Thinking of Ether led her to an even darker place – a place where she couldn’t rule out the whole thing killing her – it actually seemed more likely now. Halliday’s Beating Clock? That had to mean something more, surely. Was she herself living on borrowed time? Halliday to use up her twelve strokes and - bang! Hope Kelley to perish right along with her?

  Did The Isolate mean her demise?

  Everything seemed destined to collide at some kind of terminal intersection. But who knew when?

  It should have had her gasping for breath in a fit of anxiety. Instead, a disturbing part of her psyche seemed to want to embrace it all – have it all for herself.

  She drifted off this way.

  A mess.

  S

  Bird shit. Her corpse had been shat on almost as much as it had been pecked and pulled at.

  The macabre wedding party stood flanking the wooden door that had been lowered down into the hastily made hole – eight foot by four – and six feet deep. All looked down on Hope, eyes judging. There was no word strong enough that could begin to describe the hatred. As pitiful as she now was, a vile mess of splat on the door, the
re was no condolence, no words of regret. In fact, no one spoke at all, until her sister Kate piped up with, “My phones dead. Can we get back to the car now? Need a USB port. This bitch can rot.”

  Using all his skill as a leader in business and in life, Hope’s father proceeded to take care of things. Shoulders up, chest out, he announced with a warm smile,

  “Family and esteemed guests, children, Uncle Eustis … thank you for all your help with the disposal of our eldest daughter, Hope. I know the circumstances have been less than ideal.”

  He clapped his hands together and flashed his pearly whites, in an unreal Cheshire cat-style,

  “From the bottom of our hearts, can I just say that we - Evelyn, Kate and myself - love you all and appreciate you coming to wish good riddance to our bad rubbish. May she forever taint the dirt.”

  With a guiding hand he gestured to the congregated. “Now, can I have you all move to one side, please.”

  A bobcat’s motor grumbled, and a bucket of dirt was tipped onto Hope’s corpse.

  S

  “I know its cold comfort, my nag, but you are low in your strokes still. And you did die in the right place at least … very fortunate.”

  Halliday sat atop her newly rebuilt machanihorse as she reflected on the last visit to The Office of The Menders. The two travelled The Common Ground. Halliday’s mood was light. The Common Ground felt comforting to her, its earthen, canyon-like path of fallen stone and rock wall seemed to safely embrace her and Wilder.

  “It was quite the shemozzle, I know this. The excursion to Battallion was a taxing one, for sure. Em was well and truly busted and broken. And to have you just burst open like that? All over the floor? My goodness! It was quite the eye-opener - cogs and gears and meat and muscle …” she shook her head in bewilderment. “You’re such a complicated thing, you are. Fizzing steam keeps you hydrated and oil feeds to your bits and pieces through these thin lines that reminds one of black spaghetti. You know there’s a buckety looking thing in your gut, Wilder? I learnt so much about you from Hamish. He is a know-it-all and a bossy-bore, but the man knows his business, that is for certain.”