Anomaly

by Caitlin Lynagh

  Time jumped again and she finally saw the races crossing the seas and interacting for the first time. They didn’t understand one another at first, but there were no wars, no violence or hatred. Ahrl’s species was the first to make it into space; they started to mine their moons and travel to their neighbouring planets. She saw the different professions; teachers who had to travel their world and study for decades before being allowed to teach students, doctors who were equal to their patients and staff and chosen for their compassion. However, as much as some things were different to Earth, there were similarities too.

  Their technology exceeded Earth’s but only just. Their world grew and their population did too. One of their kind tried to warn them; he had gifts and predicted the downfall of their world but everyone ignored him. They pumped their waste into the oceans and burnt fuels; slowly but surely the oceans became even more toxic and started to erode the land at alarming rates. The rainfall turned acidic and huge droughts dried up the freshwater lakes. Continents shrank, and the different races began to perish one by one. Wars broke out then. They fought out of desperation and survival; Alice saw more and more of their species using Negative energy and she saw their souls blacken like tar.

  As their world descended into chaos, only two continents remained with any life forms. She saw Ahrl and others from The Thirteen. A woman with pale lilac hair and deep purple eyes brought all of The Thirteen together in life. Alice saw so many starve to death, she saw so many killed and so much Negative. Their world was almost completely saturated with the destructive energy, and the remaining races clung to life like barnacles to rocks. The last straw was not dealt by themselves but by nature and the universe. A planet’s orbit was knocked out of line by a large asteroid and it passed too closely to their dying world. It created a great gust of wind, almost like a vacuum with wind speeds exceeding thousands of miles per hour. This wind ripped huge gorges through their world and killed the last living souls.

  The fountain let her go and Alice gasped as she staggered backwards. Her legs crumpled and she sat down on the ground. She realised she was crying. Ahrl came over to her and crouched down. There was sadness in his eyes too but he had better control over his emotions; he had had millions of years to come to terms with his planet’s demise.

  ‘We were foolish and ignorant,’ he said slowly. ‘We lost everything. If the races had worked together we could have stopped the violence; no one would have starved, we could have escaped and thrived in space. We may even have still been alive today.’

  ‘Earth?’ Alice said as she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes.

  ‘Humanity is heading for a similar fate, different maybe, but it will have the same results in the end.’

  ‘But the afterlife…’

  ‘The forces will endure like they always have, but our souls will probably perish. It is a hard thing to watch the destruction of your world. So many are consumed by despair; their souls turn Negative and then they slowly cease to exist. Once your soul becomes that dark, there is no going back.’

  ‘Kyle…’ Alice’s voice trembled.

  ‘It is important that he makes the right decisions for himself. You can’t ask more of a soul than to be at peace with oneself, and if you are not, then you must change.’ Alice stood up on shaky legs and looked Ahrl squarely in the eye.

  ‘Kyle’s happiness is all that matters to me,’ she said.

  ‘Then I think it is time you returned.’

  Thirty One

  The evening was slow. There were long pauses between the clusters of students Kyle had to serve where he could let his mind wander. He enjoyed these moments of freedom and his eyes scanned lazily through the thin crowds. The continual dull ache that reigned over his mind was back but he often felt a pleasant, warm, buzz tingling up the backs of his calves. He felt sleepy as he leant against the back of the bar and folded his arms. As much as Dani had pointed out he was laughing more, nightmares still battled for his sleep.

  He hadn’t spoken to Cameron yet. The atmosphere in the flat had been tense since their little argument. Kyle didn’t know what to say or do, he was still hurt by Cameron but he felt guilty about it. Cameron had been his childhood friend; he had been there through it all. He had also been friends with Alice, and when times had been tough he had supported both Kyle and Alice. Kyle leant on the bar and stared off through the thin crowds. His head was throbbing in time with the bass and he scrunched his eyes shut. His head continued to throb and every throb felt like searing hot blood was being forced through the vessels in his brain. He groaned and pushed his right palm against his forehead.

  He opened his eyes slowly; the spotlights were pulsing behind the bodies in different pastel hues, pink, purple and blue. The odd splurge of orange, brown and green seemed to erupt randomly here and there, and he straightened his spine suddenly and blinked repeatedly. Orange? Brown? Green? He gazed back at the bodies as their shadowy outlines were highlighted again with pink, purple and blue. A green dot appeared on one of the bodies, right at the center of their torso. He squinted and watched as the green dot seemed to twist and wriggle as it swelled like a balloon. He realised that it was always hugging that person’s body, a woman who seemed to have paused and was staring in the direction of a couple. A brown splurge erupted somewhere to the left and his eyes honed in on this strange light; he saw the outline of a body which seemed to be staggering unevenly and not really dancing. All of a sudden they bent over with their hands on their knees and seemed to be taking deep breaths. An orange flash sparked up to the right and he saw a person gesturing obscenely at someone else. The colours faded from his vision but he realised that different colours seemed to be erupting from the torso of every person in the room, like their own personal ghostly cloud.

  ‘Err… are you serving or are you just staring weirdly?’ a voice said and Kyle almost jumped out of his skin as his eyes settled on a small woman who held a note in her hand. She was watching him with one dark, raised, skinny eyebrow and her lips slightly pursed. He glanced back up quickly at the crowd but the colours were gone and then he flashed an uneasy smile at the young woman.

  ‘What can I get you?’ he asked as he wiped his sweaty hands on the bottom of his t-shirt.

  ‘Just a mixed fruit cider please,’ she said, her eyes darting to the fridges behind him. Kyle nodded and whisked out a green glass bottle from one of the fridges. He popped off its lid and poured it into a plastic pint glass before handing it over to her. She paid for her drink, gave him one last strange look and then headed back off to the dance floor. He watched her go and his eyes searched through the wildly moving bodies but he saw nothing more of the strange coloured clouds. Had he been hallucinating again?

  He searched through the crowds and then a flash of gold erupted behind the bodies, near the stage. Kyle stared at the dance floor, the music washed straight over him. He saw a pale arm, glowing, and then it was gone again. He squinted and leant forwards on the bar, trying desperately to see through the gaps in the dancing bodies. He caught a glimpse of a pale dress and leg, and the back of a woman with long brown hair. He blinked and she seemed to disappear completely for a moment and then she reappeared again, but closer. She turned, her body flickering like a dying flame, and then her eyes met his. His throat went dry, the edge of the bar dug into his hips as he leant forwards, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. It was a trick, it had to be. His mind was playing a cruel trick. Alice stared back at him; her body seemed unable to stay solid for more than a couple of seconds. A ghost? A hallucination? Kyle wasn’t sure anymore. She smiled and then she turned away and headed towards the stairs.

  Kyle was stunned for a moment, and then he jumped over the bar and ran onto the dance floor. He accidently knocked a couple of students as he squeezed through the crowds. He saw Alice descending the stairs and he chased after her. The cool night air hit him as he barrelled through the door; he took the gridded stairs t
wo at a time as his eyes darted around the quiet beer garden. A handful of students were smoking, the rest of the garden was empty and there was no sign of Alice. He stopped when he reached the bottom of the stairs then turned in loose circles as he searched for her.

  His eyes welled with frustration, and then a cold numbness hit him. He paused, his chest rising and falling heavily, he could see where the artificial lights cast shadows across the ground, but the shadows appeared to be moving, rippling and bulging out of form. He glanced around and saw more shadows, moving like liquid over the dim background and distorting the night sky. He felt a sting on his arm, like an insect bite but cold, and saw what looked like black smoke, prodding at his skin and seeping into his veins. He let out a startled yelp and rubbed his arm in panic. He stepped back quickly, eyeing the shadows nervously. They felt and looked wrong.

  Three students were huddled under a lamp, staring at him blankly as they smoked. Black dots erupted from their torsos and formed little spheres, and he could see the shadows dipping into these spheres, but the students seemed oblvious to all of it. Kyle stepped away from the strange shadows and darted back up the stairs. I’m losing it, he thought as he took up his position behind the bar. He rubbed his eyes. Dani stared at him.

  ‘I’m OK,’ he said, before she could question him. Dani slung a cloth over one shoulder and raised her eyebrows, still staring. ‘Honestly, I’m fine,’ he said, faking a smile as he checked the dance floor again. Thankfully she changed the subject.

  ‘How long are you and Cameron going to ignore each other? You’re acting like a couple of children.’

  ‘I’m not ignoring him, he’s ignoring me.’ Dani rolled her eyes.

  ‘Just talk to him Kyle; Cameron isn’t as bad as you think he is.’ Kyle didn’t reply. ‘Who do you think stopped everyone from making a big fuss about your twenty-first birthday?’

  ‘Cameron?’ Kyle said. Dani nodded.

  ‘He might be a pain most of the time but he knows when he’s pushed it too far. He’s probably feeling guilty about this all now too.’

  ‘I guess,’ Kyle said awkwardly. ‘But I’m telling the truth, he really is ignoring me. He’s avoiding me.’ He sighed. Cameron hadn’t walked with them to any lectures recently and he hadn’t attended any of the guest presentations in the physics building either. Even Sophia had noted his absence.

  ‘Maybe go out somewhere. Go and do some guy things like you used to do. You live in the same city after all, it’s stupid,’ she said.

  ‘I guess you’re right,’ Kyle said. He ran his fingers through his hair; his thoughts were all over the place.

  ‘It won’t be difficult; you’ve been friends for a long time,’ she said. She smiled and winked at him before returning to her position at the other end of the bar.

  Eventually the slow evening came to an end and Kyle and Dani completed their chores before heading back to their flat. He said goodnight to Dani in the hallway and once inside his bedroom he quickly stripped down to his boxers and donned another t-shirt before jumping into bed. He flicked off the lamp on his nightstand and gazed upwards at his ceiling. His head ached and his mind was struggling to make sense of the night. Had he seen Alice? Or was his mind really playing tricks on him? A strangled chuckle escaped him, of course it wasn’t Alice he told himself, ghosts aren’t real. Science had taught him enough to be sceptical about anything that would be considered supernatural, but still, he felt his face tighen. It seemed so real, even the strange shadows had seemed real.

  He sighed and turned on to his side and his thoughts trailed to Cameron, Sophia and Dani. He thought about what they had each said but their words just added noise into his already crowded mind. He knew his life was wrong but he couldn’t see a way out; he didn’t know which path he should take. ‘Whats’, ‘ifs’ and countless other doubts were creeping around his mind. What if he ran his father’s business into the ground? What if he got trapped in Elbridge for the rest of his days? What if he switched to physics and then failed his degree? What if he did physics but then couldn’t get a research position? What if his sister became a writer and failed so much that he had to look after her? What if dad never accepted his choices? What if he couldn’t make him proud and happy? What if Cameron was right? What if he was wrong? Kyle groaned and turned over. What would Alice think? he asked himself as his eyelids became heavy. And where is that third page?

  Thirty-Two

  Hailey shrieked in excitement as she pocketed her phone. Miss Wells had just called and Hailey now had a job. Hah! she thought. That’ll show them! I’ll show all of them. She jumped up from her bed, picked up a book and her bag and then practically skipped down to the park.

  She slowed down as she walked along the pavement above the skate park. She could see Tank on the grass below; he shouted out instructions and blew on a whistle a couple of times as the kids dribbled balls around cones. Spring was warmer now and April was just around the corner. She made her way down the concrete steps and then sat down on her favourite bench and began to read. Every few minutes her eyes flicked back up to Tank and then back down to her book. A good book, she thought, but could be better. Practise finished only a few minutes later and Tank jogged over to her with a smile on his face. Her heart fluttered in her chest and she was glad that only she could feel or hear it.

  ‘Hey Hailey.’

  ‘Hi Tank.’ She smiled at him, ‘I got a job,’ she said, her smile stretching wider.

  ‘Really? Well, congratulations then.’

  ‘Yup. I’m now an assistant at the book shop. Hopefully I can start saving up now and become a proper writer.’

  ‘You’re already a writer,’ Tank replied. ‘You mean an author.’

  ‘Yes.’ She blushed.

  ‘That’s great news. Hopefully now you’ll get to do what you’ve always wanted to do.’

  ‘Yeah, if only my dad would see it that way.’ She rolled her eyes.

  ‘Ah, you can’t keep living the life your parents want, or what anybody else wants for that matter. You’ll always regret it.’

  ‘I know,’ she said and they fell silent for a few moments. A soft breeze rippled across the lake and swept over them. She could see the trees on the other side and behind that, acres of farmland. She felt an overwhelming peace here, and maybe a little bit of nostalgia, but she liked it.

  ‘You know, it was Alice who told me to keep playing football after my accident.’

  ‘She did?’ Hailey was surprised and a little envious; she wished she had been the person to encourage Tank.

  ‘Yup. I think she had a mini obsession with encouraging people to follow their dreams.’ He laughed. ‘Or maybe she just saw more of a person than anybody else. She just seemed to know. I’m sure she was the person who encouraged you to read and write, wasn’t she?’ He was right.

  ‘I… I’ve never really thought about it,’ Hailey said, thinking of Alice’s penny jar, the one thing that even Kyle could cope with. She missed Alice too; it was an injustice that she had been taken so soon. Her brother had found someone special who deserved to be remembered, and she felt sad that Kyle had locked that away when so many people gained so much from her memory.

  ‘I think she wanted people to be happy, and one way to be happy is to do something you love doing.’

  ‘Kyle doesn’t do that, not anymore,’ Hailey said.

  ‘He used to when Alice was around. Now he spends too much of his energy trying to run away from it all.’ Tank stood up and stretched. ‘She would be happy for you Hailey. I’m sure everything will work out ok.’

  ‘I love how you’re so optimistic all the time.’

  ‘I’m not, but I choose my moments,’ he said. He glanced down at her book. ‘I’m guessing that book isn’t as good as the other one, you’ve not stopped staring at me this time.’ The air rushed out of Hailey’s lungs and she felt heat rush up her neck. H
e knew? How did he know! Tank laughed again. ‘We should go for a coffee some time,’ he said. His dark eyes sparkled with amusement. Hailey nodded slowly.

  Thirty-Three

  ‘I’m heading out,’ Kyle yelled as he walked out of the house with his skateboard tucked under one arm. He hadn’t skateboarded in years, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to, but Dani was right, and he needed an excuse to call on Cameron. The end of the semester had flown by and Kyle hadn’t spoken to Cameron at all. Kyle had attended every guest presentation held in the physics department for a second year in a row now. There had been recent talks on the Chaos Theory and Quantum Tunnelling but Cameron had avoided every one. Guilt forced Kyle up and out of the house. Cameron hadn’t taken a year out like Kyle had, his final year was coming to an end so he would probably leave Red Oak and set up roots elsewhere after their exams. Kyle didn’t want their last conversation to be left on an argument.

  Kyle arrived at Cameron’s little terraced house; it was several streets away and en route to the park. He knocked on the door and Jess, Cameron’s younger sister answered. She took one look at Kyle and then yelled for Cameron. He appeared moments later in a slightly bedraggled state; he was still in his pyjamas and had bed hair.