The Path to Eden I - Jamie

Author's note: The number here may be confusing - this is actually the second chapter of the "Eden" series, but it's part of the first act of it, so to speak. I may change this all up later. Link to the first chapter below the story, for all those interested.

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There are days when everything’s going exactly as I want it to. Days I don’t even have to do anything and everything just somehow falls into place. No effort, no stress, no nothing. Just pure, unadulterated bliss. And then there are the bloody days when even your fucking front gate hates your fucking guts. Days like today, I mean.

The bloody thing would just not respond to anything. I could shout at it, pound at it, kick it – nothing. The touch panel was broken. Must’ve been Trish or Susie that did it when they came back from that bloody party yesterday night. Why the fuck do we even have teens?

“Cat!” I shouted at the living room window. “Do you have the keys to this bloody gate? The digital lock’s busted!” Sadly, no answer came. I figured she was just having one of her moods again. After dealing the hellish contraption one final kick, I let out a sigh and threw my briefcase over it. Then I tried to throw my body over it. With much sweat and heaving, I finally managed to wrestle my belly over the gate and found myself on the pavement. I straightened my tie and wiped the sweat off my forehead. Well done, Jimbo. You’ve made it to the other side even though the world hates you today. You’ve earned a bloody medal.

The grey sky reflected off of my car’s freshly waxed surface. With a pleasant bwoop, the vehicle unlocked when I pressed the button on my keycard. I was glad that at least the car was being nice to me. Up until a certain point, at least.

The screen to my left showed me the same screen that greets me every morning. I tapped the same icons as usual, setting the course for my workplace. I put my hands on my face, trying to cleanse myself off all the remaining frustration, awaiting the car to take me away somewhere. That moment took longer than usual. I opened my eyes.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” The screen flashed red with a big “system error” message. As if the day hadn’t been bad enough, I had to drive the car manually to work. Don’t panic. You can do this. It’s just a 20-minute drive.

It was a 20-minute drive when I used the autopilot. Turned out to be quite a bit longer when I had to do the driving myself. I always found the steering wheel to be a clunky device and I was pretty confident that whenever I took control of the car it would end in an accident. On top of that fear, I was growing more and more angry and frustrated over the fact that I was going to be late. Needless to say, my hands were shaking like a bloody Chihuahua.

Almost 30 minutes late, I’d finally arrived at my work’s car park. A glance at the mirror showed me my balding scalp had turned beet red and dripping with sweat. As I parked, the backside of the car gently brushed the wall. Don’t let it be scratched, please. Don’t let it be scratched. I quickly got out of the car and took a look. It did get scratched. I kicked the car’s tire, injuring my big toe in the process.

“Fuck!”

But then it was all okay. I’d straightened my tie again and was taking the lift up to my office. Through its glass walls I saw the magnificent cityscape. Despite the lousy weather, the jagged, glass horizon formed by all the new buildings never ceased to amaze me. Bent into striking shapes and illuminated by faint white lights even in the daytime, the structures were a sight that was for some reason soothing. I took a deep breath, feeling the frustration leave my body, when I heard a soft ding announcing that I had reached my destination.

Without making a sound, the door opened. As I entered, my heart sank. The whole room was empty. All the desks were vacant. The computers were mostly on, however, with several holoscreens flickering. It all seemed as if everyone just left the room to-

“Fuck!” I swore in a whisper that was much too loud. As if the day could not get worse, I remembered there was an important meeting scheduled for that day. The door to the boss’ office flew wide open and a crowd of smartly dressed people came filing out of the room, confirming my fears. I tried to force my way through the stampede and finally found myself face-to-face with Garry Ferguson, my boss. I was heaving and sweating yet again, clutching my knees as I leaned down to catch my breath.

“Nice of you to finally arrive, James,” he said with a grin showcasing his sparkling, perfectly even teeth. Despite their impeccable evenness, Garry had a lisp. That’s why I would always cringe whenever I heard him say my full name.

“I’m really sorry, Garry,” I said as I straightened my tie for what was probably the millionth fucking time that day. “It’s just… Everything’s just… Do you ever have one of those days-“

“You know what, James?” he said with that blasted lisp again. His grin, however, had faded. “I don’t really think this is working out.”

“What do you mean?”

“The meeting we had today was very important. That new Japanese doll system we mentioned some time ago, remember that? Well, that’s what the meeting was about.”

“Okay.” I wasn’t exactly sure if I remembered or not.

“And we’re implementing it next week. What that means is that we need to become even more efficient, more aggressive, more sleek.” I cringed at that last word. I know he did his best at it, but it came out as thleek. “We need to cut corners, is all I mean.”

“Well, that’s one thing I can be sure I’m good at,” I joked. He didn’t seem to get it. “Just ask my wife.”

“Boone,” he said with a stern face. My heart sank. If he addressed you with your last name, you could be sure that was no good. “This isn’t the first time that you’ve  proved inadequate and we can no longer afford to sustain people who lag behind. I want you to pack your things.”

“No, Garry, wait-“

“I want you out by 12.”

Before I knew it, I was out of his office and the wooden door slammed in front of my face. For a moment I was sure all I could hear was faint static at the back of my head. Next thing I knew I was in the lift again. The tall structures grew larger and more imposing the lower I went. I felt as if I was being crushed.

Still faint from all that had happened, I got in the car. Instinctively, my hand reached for the side panel. A red light came up once again. Guess I need to take the wheel again.

The drive home went surprisingly smoothly. Before I knew it, I was parked in front of my house. Maybe it’s all just some crazy dream? I mean, I’m not even angry. It’s all so surreal. The gate was still broken, so I leapt over it once more. This time I forgot to take my briefcase from the car with me, so I had to go over the gate two more times. I then stood in front of the door for a while. I felt so detached from everything, as if the body wasn’t even mine and I couldn’t feel anything. I giggled. The numbness felt funny. I grabbed the doorknob and opened the door, wondering what other interesting things might happen today.

I dropped my briefcase by the entrance and went straight ahead upstairs. At that time, I didn’t even hear anything or notice anything strange. I think I still felt that static. But the instant I opened the bedroom door, I noticed what was wrong.

“Fuck.”

The two bodies in my bed began to spin around in a panic.

“Why the fuck are you here?” my wife Catherine asked as she emerged from under the sheets, her auburn hair tangled and falling on her gaunt face. Her lips were trembling, her face pale as she fixed her gaze on me. And I must have had the dumbest expression on my face.

“Well, you know, I used to sleep in that bed with you. Is it really so surprising that I’m here now? And who’s the lad with you?” As soon as he showed his shaggy head from under the sheets, I recognized him. “Matt,” I gasped. Now that I did not see coming. Matt was a longtime friend of ours, along with his wife, Melissa. My eye twitched. “Now you’ll tell me Melissa’s there with you as well.”

He sent me a nervous grin as he got up from under the sheets and put on some trousers. He was tall and much more fit than I was, despite being roughly the same age. As he turned to me, I noticed the nervousness disappear from his grin. He now stood there in front of me. I think he was trying to intimidate me. I think it worked. The next thing I knew I had him pinned to the floor, my fist prepared to strike his dumb face.

“You can hit me all you want, mate,” he grinned. “But dear Cat here’s made her choices. It’s not my fault she’d rather fuck me than you.”

“Oh yeah? Are you suggesting it’s mine, then!” I shouted, spitting all over his face.

“Stop that, right now!” I could hear Cat shout from the bed. “I will not tolerate this!”

“And what if I am, huh? You’ll hit me? I’d like to see you try,” Matt’s grin became crooked. “You and I both know you won’t do it. You’re too weak.”

“Don’t provoke him!” Cat shouted. “Just let it go.”

Let it go, she says. I felt detached from everything once again. Despite my rage boiling somewhere deep inside, somewhere deeper I somehow did not give a fuck. Everything was messed up anyway. So I got up and turned around. I noticed Cat’s expression change.

“So you’re just going to leave this all like that?”

“You said yourself that you won’t tolerate it. I don’t think I give a fuck anymore at this point.”

“You don’t give a fuck…” I could tell she was fighting back tears. “So this marriage means nothing to you? You won’t fight for anything?”

“Why bother?” as I said this, I left the room. I could hear Cat shout something in the distance, but I didn’t care enough to even try to understand the specific words. On my way downstairs I bumped into Trish as she snuck into the house from the back entrance. “And why the fuck are you not at school?”

“Dad!” she gasped. She was clearly shaken, had deep shadows under her eyes and looked positively exhausted. “I thought you were at work.”

“Well, as you can see, I’m not. Let me guess, neither of you came back from the party for the night.” Her response consisted of looking down at her feet. A part of me was furious, but then it was replaced by something wonderful. I really didn’t have to do anything anymore. I could just leave it all behind and let someone else do the cleaning up. The world hated me as it was anyway. “Well, it’s none of my business anymore anyway, so bye!”

She said nothing as I left. The last time I saw her face, she was absolutely stunned by what I had told her. I hoped Susan was okay. Disregarding that, I approached the car, whose front window was now adorned with a lovely spot of bird shit.

“How lovely!” I shouted with a big grin on my face. My hands shook as I opened the door and entered the car. I didn’t even bother with the autopilot this time around, I just turned the keycard and just rode straight ahead of me. I was sure I was speeding, but that was the point. I wanted to go as far away as I could, as fast as I could.

Then I reached the roundabout.

Roundabouts are safe, they said. Unless some fucking twat decides to enter it when they shouldn’t. Needless to say, my car was hit. Badly. I lost consciousness. I was pretty sure I was dead. But then I found myself in a place that was completely white, almost blindingly so. I was standing in a circle that I formed with ten human-shaped shadows. In the middle of the circle, a naked woman was hovering in midair. The Contact, a featureless voice in my head said. She was quite stunning. She must have been in her late twenties. Her cropped brown hair gave her a bit of an edgy look, but that was evened out by the big brown eyes that seemed to shine with innocence in all this. To top it all off, she had an amazing body. It didn’t seem appropriate to gawk at that, however, so I turned my gaze away.

And then the light appeared. A red ray of light burst out of the girl’s forehead, piercing the sky above us, dispersing the milk-white substance that now looked a bit like clouds. Something descended from there. I couldn’t see it clearly from where I stood, but I believe it had wings made out of fire and a giant, rainbow-colored eye. The sight was pretty shocking, and yet I just stood there, unable to move, trying not to die out of the sheer terror I was feeling. I think it said something to us.

And then I opened my eyes. I was lying on the ground, my eyes gazing into the sky above me, at the numerous spots of light that were visible even despite the thick clouds. That’s them. I sat up on the grass. For some reason, I was in the middle of the roundabout, my car lay mangled next to me, reeking of smoke and oil. And yet there was no scratch on me. The people around me had left their cars, and gazed into the sky, a nervous murmur in the air. Even the police and the medics and the dumbass that crashed his car into mine were looking up with their mouths agape. I reached for my phone in my pocket. Thankfully, it was in perfect condition too. For some reason, I knew exactly what I needed to do now. So I booked a flight.

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The Path to Eden I - Angela (1/2)

The Path to Eden I - Angela (2/2)

A curse

They say there’s a curse on my family. I was starting to believe that.

“Are you certain?” I whispered into the receiver. For a second I heard nothing but faint static. I stood there in almost complete darkness, the only light coming from a lamp on the desk, illuminating a notebook covered in a blot of red ink. I cleared my throat and said, louder “Are you sure it was him?”

“Who else could it be?” the raspy voice on the other end replied. “There’s only so many people with a–“

“D-don’t say it over the phone!” A drop of sweat ran down my forehead. “You never know who might be listening in.” I took a deep breath. I could have sworn I heard him chuckle in the receiver. “So what now? I’m scared.”

“As you should be. That man keeps his promises.”

Promises. With his last breath, the man vowed he would take revenge on my father’s family for what he’d done to him. He cursed us. Could I have done anything to prevent this?

“What am I supposed to do? I can’t conduct the purification ritual by myself.”

“I can help.”

I wasn’t sure of that. Yes, he did call to warn me, but there was something unnerving about his voice. He claimed to be uncle Gerome and yes, his voice sounded familiar, but there was something off about the way he was saying all this.

Then again, I didn’t really have much of a choice.

“Fine. Where?”

"Midnight, on the bridge. Come alone."

Toluca Lake

Days seemed to have passed since they’d arrived in town. For some reason, however, Mike couldn’t recall its name.

“What’s the name of this town again, Dave?” he asked his brother. The frog tattoo on Dave’s right hand shifted in and out of sight as he swung the oars opposite Mike. The fog was incredibly thick. Had he not known his brother was with him in the boat, Mike would have thought he was all alone in the middle of the lake. All he could hear was the creaking of the boat. His brother remained silent. “The pier’s pretty far away now. Where are we going?”

Dave remained silent. The silence was almost deafening. Suddenly, the rowing stopped.

“Dave?” Mike leaned forward to catch a glimpse of his brother’s face. The fog engulfed his face like a cold blanket. He saw the oars abandoned, the seat empty. Dave was gone. Mike’s heart sank. He started frantically looking around the boat, shouting for help. Everything was silent. But then he heard it. Static. It came from the portable radio Dave had brought with him. Mike picked it up and tried to fix the static somehow, but it only got louder.

And then, in an instant, he heard nothing again, as a huge force pushed him out of the boat, head-first into the lake. He could hear a loud pounding coming from within his skull, but did his best to remain lucid. The surface was further and further away. He tried to swim upwards, he couldn’t die in a place like this, but he wasn’t getting any closer to the surface. Something was pulling him down. He looked at his feet, the black abyss of the lake was overwhelming, but he thought he could make out a pale shape around his foot. As his eyes got used to the darkness, the shape became clearer. Mike let out a scream, inaudible in the lake’s cold depths. When the hand around his foot finally let go, his lifeless body sunk lower and lower into the black abyss, passing by the hand with the frog tattoo.

That Studmuffin Neil

Life often takes us into new, unexpected directions. A decision we make may turn out to be inconsequential in the long run, as it gets mitigated by a different course of action taken by someone else. Such was the fate of Neil. Neil was an pleasant fellow; kind to his friends, helpful to strangers, charming, smart, witty and incredibly handsome, Neil was someone you wanted to be around. There was something inherently magnetic about him that attracted all sorts of attention.

Not all such attention was desirable, however. One day, life threw Neil a curveball he never expected. It all began with a letter. It was a nice Saturday morning, beautiful weather – nary a cloud in sight. Neil expected the day to be very pleasant. He’d just eaten some delicious scrambled eggs and was having a nice cup of green tea while opening his mail which had piled up during the week. Neil’s mailbox was always full of letters, the kind written on fancy perfumed stationery, some filled with shy confessions of affection, others expressing more carnal desires. The letters were always a pleasant read to Neil. He did enjoy the attention. He enjoyed it so much that he’d even bought a magnifying glass, so that he could revel in every little letter, every stroke of pen, trace every shallow breath that shook the writer’s hand. This time, however, one particular letter made him feel something else.

I’M GONNA FUCK YOUR BRAINS OUT

The stationery wasn’t either perfumed or fancy. In fact, it looked like a regular post-it. The writing wasn’t even done by hand – it was printed out, cut out and stuck to the paper. Slightly annoyed, Neil put the paper down. He grabbed his keys and made his way to the gym. As he walked, the thought of that one letter would loom over him like a flock of hungry vultures. No, he wasn’t scared. Of course he wasn’t. He was the strongest dude he knew, so if anyone tried to force themselves on him, he would definitely have the upper hand. And yet, the very fact that he had to reassure himself of that  made him realize that he felt threatened. Before he had the time to digest that thought, he’d already reached the gym. Greeted by the familiar reassuring smiles of the coaches and some regulars, he immediately forgot about the letter.

Something was wrong. He knew it the moment he got out of the showers after the workout. The locker room was completely empty, which didn’t seem very likely at this hour. He went up to his locker draped only in a towel, taking the occasional glance behind the shoulder. When he finally reached it, the lights suddenly went out. The room was underground, there were no windows. It was completely dark. Neil grabbed his phone and used it as a flashlight to locate the door. He found it. He pulled on the doorknob. It was locked. Heavy breathing. It wasn’t his. He was about to turn around when he felt a sensation in his left shoulder, as if he’d just been stung by a bee. He placed his hand there – it was a dart of some sort, though in that instant everything became blurry. Neil fell to his knees, his consciousness fading. The last he remembered was a gentle caress on the shoulder, someone lifting him up. Then, his face suddenly collided with the floor. His nose broken, face mutilated, sprayed in a puddle of his own blood, he lay there, unconscious, naked, vulnerable.

Crosswords II (2/2)

“This is some serious bullshit, bro,” Freddie grunted.

“I agree,” Jess added. “Where did you get that disc?”

“It’s part of my job.”

“Yeah, well,” said Freddie, “if what’s on the disc is so secret and important, and we had it, how the hell did you fool them into thinking they got the real thing?”

“The DVD has this chip, or something,” Martin explained. “You saw them scan the disc for it. I just made it seem like that dummy disc had the same thing on it. I also added it to this,” he pulled out another golden disc out of his back pocket. I started to wonder if there were more. “Crosswords. The ones I thought I’d left with you. That way, even if they find us, we can stall them once again with a fake DVD.”

Freddie seemed completely baffled by the response. “How did you do that? Cause I can tell you, bro, that’s not how fucking data encryption works.”

“Well, it does in my line of work.”

“Just what the fuck do you do for a living, Martin?”

“Oh, you know,” Martin smirked. “I just type in those numbers.”

“Just drop it, Freddie,” Mia entered the conversation just when Freddie rolled his hand into a fist. “He never told me, he sure as hell won’t tell you. Still, we’re all in a pretty sticky situation now. They will find out the DVD is just filled with movies and come back. Martin says they’ll know where to look for you, so we only have one option now.”

“We need to run,” I didn’t notice when Brandi came up to us, but there she was, standing right between Jess and Freddie, her cloud of blonde hair shining briliiantly in the sunlight. Ian was just behind her, slightly taller than the others. He was looking much better, even if his hair was still slightly tangled.

“Yes, thank you, Brandi,” said Martin.

“L-like, now?” I asked. My voice was trembling. “Where to?”

“I was instructed to take the disc to a certain small town in New Mexico if a situation like this arose,” Martin’s voice, by contrast, was completely composed, almost monotone. I could never wrap my head around the way he could shift moods so quickly.

“New Mexico?” Ian joined the conversation, fixing up his wide-framed glasses that had gone askew during the stickup. A wide grin appeared on his face, his blue eyes bright with enthusiasm. “That means we’re going on a roadtrip!”

“If that’s what you want to call it, be my guest,” Martin smirked at him. Goddamnit, Martin, nobody’s your guest! This is my house! “We just have to leave now. Go back home and pack as fast as you can. We’re also going to need a bigger car, if we all want to fit in one vehicle. I was thinking–”

“Yeah, sure, we can use our van! Right Freddie?” Ian said.

“We’re just gonna need to fill her up and we’re good to go,” Freddie replied

“No,” I said. I tried to sound as confident as possible. It worked. My voice was low in pitch, stable and strong, almost monotone, just like Martin’s a few seconds ago. Everyone’s eyes turned toward me. “I’m not going anywhere. And I have no idea why you’re all so cool with this.”

“Leo, we really don’t have time for this,” Martin insisted.

“How do you expect me to just believe you like that? Why us? Why can’t you just take your stupid disc to your stupid New Mexico yourself? I mean, we all have jobs, we can’t just go like that!”

“Actually, Leo,” Ian started. “It’s summer, remember? You and I have a break in the summer. That’s kinda what you get for working at a school.”

“And I’m kinda in the middle of changing jobs now anyway, so,” Brandi added.

“And I’m sure Freddie and I can arrange a couple days off with our bosses,” this time it was Jess. I gave her a look that was meant to express betrayal, I was sure she would back me up. She didn’t seem to notice, though. “Right, Freddie?”

“Sure. If that’s what can save us from getting shot down by those two, I’m down with the idea. I think they’ll understand,” Freddie grinned at me. “C’mon, Leo. Martin’s our friend. I mean, I wanna punch his fucking guts out for letting all of this happen, but what’s done is done. I can tell he’s speaking the truth. Hell, even if he’s lying, I don’t wanna take any chances on any of us dying just like that. And you gotta admit, a roadtrip sounds like a shit-ton of fun.”

“As fun as an escape from dudes out to kill us over a fake DVD may be,” I groaned. “Fine. I guess I have no choice now.”

“Martin!” a voice came from the kitchen. It was the black guy that accompanied Martin and Mia. “It’s like you said – they’ve set up explosives all over the foundations. The sooner we ditch this place, the better.”

“But I need to pack!” I exclaimed.

“Don’t you worry about that, bud,” said the handlebar moustache guy. He’d just emerged from the staircase carrying three of my suitcases. “I got ya packed. No need to thank me.”

“What,” I said dryly.

“Right, let’s arrange a meeting spot,” Martin announced. “We all know the wood at the edge of town? That’s where we’ll meet up. You guys get your van and pick up the girls once they’re ready. Mia, Leo and I will be waiting for you there.”

“Right! Come on, Freddie,” Ian was brimming with energy.

“Alright,” Freddie said as he and Ian made their way to the door. “You guys coming along?”

Before leaving together with Brandi, Ian and Freddie, Jess gave me a reassuring tap on the shoulder. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Any of it. Was that another purely platonic touch, or did the sensual encounter the two of us had in my head actually happen? Everything was happening so fast. One minute we’re having a party and then we’re going to New Mexico with some stupid DVD, hoping the MIB won’t kill us along the way. I just… I looked at Martin. He was discussing something with his entourage, his face stern, stoic. Just that look on his face made me lose all composure. I’d had enough of that attitude, and yet I had no choice. Fuck Martin. Like, seriously, what the fuck.

Crosswords II (1/2)

“I got your disc right here,” Martin brushed his blonde bangs off his forehead. He reached down the back pocket of his jeans and held the object up against his face for everyone to see. The golden DVD gleamed  in the sunlight. Funny, the envelope was gone. And I was pretty sure the last person who had it was Jess. I didn’t think asking them about all this would be appropriate in this situation, however. In front of me, the bald man in the sunglasses pointed his gun straight at Jess. The other guy – a big, scary-looking dude – was aiming at Ian. Jess seemed pretty calm about this. She breathed some air up her face, her black bangs billowed in the wind for a split second. If anything, she looked slightly annoyed. Ian wasn’t faring so well. His slouch and his eyes closed shut made him look as if he was paralyzed with immense fear. Freddie was staring daggers at the big suited guy, but he remained silent. I could tell he was ready to rip him apart for all this. His face and ears were red, trembling with rage and helplessness, eyes barely visible underneath thick black eyebrows that came closely together in the fury he was hold back. Brandi seemed completely unfazed by this stickup, however. Sure, she was holding her arms in the air like the rest of us, but other than that she would just roll her head around slowly, as if stretching after a long workout, and that’s when she wasn’t ostentatiously yawning. I was pretty sure she was taunting them. I could hear Martin’s shallow but controlled breath behind me. “Come and get it. Just let them all go.”

I looked back at Martin. He seemed absolutely calm but for the single drop of sweat that trickled down his forehead. The sunlight reflected in his glasses obscured his eyes from view. Mia stood by his side, her black, slanted eyes cold and fixed on the larger of the two oppressors. Her hair, tied in an elegant high ponytail, was orange – this came as a surprise to me, as I didn’t remember her sporting that bright color at the party. But then again, I was completely wasted back then. The two other men that accompanied them were complete strangers to me. One of them was black and lanky with a fierce look on his face, the other was a white-man in his forties or fifties, heavy-set and balding, with a reddish handlebar moustache. Just where did Martin get those two?

“It’s not going to be that simple, you know that,” the bald man in a suit sneered. “I come over to you guys, I’m Swiss cheese. I mean, you’re still gonna lose – my buddies are on their way – but I don’t think I want to throw my life away just yet. Toss it here. Or do you want Bubba here to shoot the fat one in the knee?”

“Over my fucking dead body, you piece of shit!” Freddie growled. Ian let out a soft whimper.

“Chill out, Freddie,” I could hear Brandi whisper to him. “One wrong move and Ian’s toast. You’ll help him more by keeping quiet.” Freddie’s ears didn’t get any less red, however. I glanced at Jess and tried to give her a reassuring smile, but I felt my lips tremble as I did. In the end, it was her subtle smile that reassured me.

“That won’t be necessary,” Martin’s voice was cold and distant. I could barely believe he could control himself so well. If only he kept this cool during our crossword meetings. With an elegant flick of the wrist, he sent the disc flying towards the guys in suits. The bald man caught it between his fingers right in front of his Roman nose. The one he called “Bubba” pulled out something out of his left pocket while still pointing his gun at Ian. He hovered the contraption over the DVD, as if scanning for something. With a soft beep, a green light flashed on its surface.

“Good boy,” the bald guy smirked. “Well, Bubba, looks like our job here is done. Now, if you would kindly let us take our leave.”

“Be my guest,” said Martin. You know what, Martin? Why don’t you have your guests visit your own damn place!

The two men kept pointing guns at us regardless as they made their way to their vehicle. Everything actually went pretty smoothly. They closed the doors to their car, then drove away, just like that. Heck, Bubba even got out the car before they drove off completely, came back, put the sofa back together and left me a check to make up for the losses. Then they finally disappeared out of sight, leaving us all in a stunned silence. One, two, three seconds later, we let out a collective sigh of relief. Freddie rushed towards Ian, almost making Brandi trip in the process. I stood there, relieved to the point of being paralyzed. I couldn’t move an inch. It wasn’t until Jess threw her arms around me that I came to my senses. We both started laughing. It was a moment of pure bliss. It couldn’t last long, though, as Martin made sure he had our absolute attention with that annoying cough he always did. We let go, not looking back at each other’s faces again. My moment was gone, my chance missed, my grumpiness escalating.

“I don’t mean to be a killjoy, but we don’t have much time,” Martin said, as he took off his glasses, rubbing his blue eyes with his fingers. He waved his other hand at the two strangers and they scurried out of sight. They seemed to be looking for something. Mia took that hand into hers and tapped Martin gently on the shoulder, then picked up where he’d left off. “We can’t stay here any longer. We need to go, quick.”

“Wait a minute,” I said. “Why? What’s wrong? You gave them the disc, it’s over, right?”

“Wrong,” I heard Freddie say in a dangerously calm voice from behind me. I turned around – he was slowly walking in Martin’s direction, lean and threatening as a panther. He pulled out a circular, golden object out of his back pocket, and stopped right next to me. “I think we deserve an explanation. Wouldn’t you agree, Leo?”

“I don’t–”

“We really don’t have time for all this,” Martin put his glasses back on. “Yes, I gave them a fake disc and we all need to get out of here. They will pursue each and every one of us until this case is resolved.”

“What case?” Jess asked as she folded her hands. “Seriously, Martin. What the hell is going on?”

“Stop asking your stupid questions and just listen to me for once, okay?!” Martin suddenly shouted. His face went instantly red. He took a few deep breaths. “All I know is that whatever’s on this disc is top secret and those people want it. I can’t let them have it.”

The Path to Eden I - Angela (2/2)

The way he said it made it seem like he knew something I didn’t. Like something bad was going to happen. The entire walk home from the station, I felt like someone was watching me. Thankfully, I reached my apartment building perfectly safe. I opened the door with a small sigh of relief and called out “Hey.” I got a “hey” in return. It came from the kitchen. Ellie was sitting by the table, tablet in one hand, an apple with the other. Her green eyes were moving left and right as she was reading an article of some sort. She’d done her hair in two thick braids today. A new look I think suited her nicely.

“How was school today?” I asked her as I placed my coat on the hanger.

“Fine,” she said with a shrug and took a bite of the apple.

“Is that schoolwork?”

“No,” she said matter-of-factly. “It’s all over the news. The president announced a full global disarmament.”

“So soon?” I asked in a surprised tone, but in truth, I felt nothing. I didn’t feel like that knowledge affected me at all. It seemed like just a formality. The whole world was finally at peace now, anyway. No wars, no poverty, no hunger, no disease. All under one federal government. A disarmament seemed like an afterthought at this point. “You ready to go to bed, though? You done with all your homework?”

“Yup,” she said as she locked her tablet. “I aced a biology quiz today. Is everything okay, Angie? You look pretty shaken?”

“It’s nothing. There was just this creepy guy on the train. I don’t really wanna talk about it.”

“Oh, another admirer?” she said with a grin on her face that she always used if she wanted to annoy me. “When can I expect him? You know, if you want me to print more breakfast you have to tell me beforehand.”

“Funny. And if you keep sassing me, maybe I can give Jeremiah’s mom a call and tell her about what happened at the Friday party you guys had, huh?”

“But nothing happened,”  she pouted.

“Yes, and that guy was just a creeper I met. So let it go,” I said as I made my way to the bathroom. Before I completely took my top off, I stopped in my tracks and turned around to face Ellie. “Oh, right. Josh invited us both for a bike ride this Saturday.”

“O, happy day,” she said as she twirled one of her braids. “What a glorious turn of events.”

“Just try to be nice, okay? He is pretty nice, and I like him.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

I took a quick shower and went straight to bed. I was pretty exhausted. Traces of long lost memories swirled around my head, then some familiar faces. Ellie, Josh… And that guy on the train. In my dream, I was trying to run away from him as he followed me on the station. He kept wishing me a safe journey. All I knew was that I wanted to get away and I didn’t care for any journey.

That’s when I woke up. Or at least, I thought I did. I felt a huge pain in my head. Everything around me was white, though I was still in my room. It was some sort of light. A blinding white light so bright that I felt like I was floating among a huge white nothingness. The pain intensified. I then noticed a red glowing orb float out of my forehead. It looked like a red firefly, though it flew up in a straight path, further and further away from me, until suddenly, there was a rift in the whiteness. Flames protruded into twelve different directions, and in the middle of it all was what seemed to be a rainbow-colored eye. The eye opened wider and wider, the red orb of light heading right in the middle of its pupil. When it finally reached it, it was engulfed by the eye. The pupil became red and burst into a blue flame. The twelve flames started spinning and what seemed like a human silhouette appeared in the middle of the blue flame. Eleven human shadows appeared around me. Then I heard a voice. A completely featureless voice, that was for some reason extremely imposing. I started to tremble.

“The Contact is lucid. Commence operation.”

I woke up gasping for breath, cold sweat trickling down my spine. The sun covered the room in bright stripes as it shone from between the blinds. I’d never felt such relief. Something was off, though. The apartment was quiet – it must have still been pretty early if Ellie still wasn’t up. There seemed to be some sort of commotion outside, however. I approached the window and opened the blinds. A lot of people had come out to the street and pointed at the sky, talking to each other excitedly. I looked up to where they were all pointing. I didn’t need to look hard. The entire sky was dotted with countless white speck of light. Instinctively, I touched my forehead. The point where I’d felt the red light leave it in my dream. That somehow made me feel calmer. It made me feel more at ease with the fact that they’d come. Whatever was coming my way, I knew I could take it.

The Path to Eden I - Angela (1/2)

I could see it. At first it was clear, close. Just like in the pictures I’d seen on the Internet. I could see clouds soaring over masses of green continents and the endlessly navy blue seas, the snow white ice caps, the sunlight reflected on the seemingly calm waters. It was breathtaking. But then, in an instant, the clouds got less distinguishable. Everything was blurry. The whole globe shrunk, becoming a small ball of swirling blueness. Soon enough, it was impossible to tell it apart from all the stars soaring by. The stars themselves came closer and closer together. They’d melded into a single, all-encompassing light. I felt tears run down my cheeks. At least, I thought I did. Why? Ellie was with me, I could feel her hand, its reassuring warmth. There was no need for tears. I was doing the right thing. There was no other way…

Right?

I lost track of time. I don’t even know if it’s been weeks or months since I found out. They say ignorance is bliss – I’m still not sure how I feel about that. Up until that point I’d lived a normal life and now I was leaving all of it behind. Not that there was much to leave behind. My sister was with me. And that was it. There was no one else that would miss me. And now there was no turning back. I no longer had a chance to change that.

That day seemed to be just like any other. I doing my part of closing up the game shop just like I did every day. I had to hurry if I wanted to catch the monorail home. As usual, Josh volunteered to help me so that I can make it in time. He was a really sweet guy. Tall, dark-haired and blue-eyed, he was really good-looking, if a bit awkward. I think I was in love with him. There were days when I would hope that what we had could one day develop into something more. At other times, the same thought would fill me with dread.

“You think you’re gonna be free this Saturday?” he asked me as he placed a large box full of collectible cards on top of a huge shelf. “I was thinking we could grab some coffee or something.”

“Oh, sure!” I exclaimed in a pitch that was way too high. I almost made him lose his balance. “I’d love to. I just hope Ellie doesn’t burn the house down. You know how she is.”

“Well, in that case, how about we take a bike ride out of town?” he hopped down the ladder. “I mean, the three of us. You know Ellie and I get along pretty well.”

“Oh, don’t be fooled,” I grinned. “I’m pretty sure that’s just your opinion.”

“Oh come on…” he said. Even though he kept smiling his cat smile, I could see the disappointment in his eyes. I gave him a peck on the cheek.

“I’ll see what I can do,” I said as I turned around and gave him one last wink. “Last night was pretty amazing, by the way. I hope we can do that again someday. And thanks for taking care of my stuff!”

As the door closed behind me, I heard the sound of boxes falling on the floor. I was just about to check if Josh was okay, but then I heard him swear under his nose. He was fine. I took a look at my phone – time was running out. I ran down the back alley into the main street. The orderly rows of cars rushed by. The sky was orange, lights from the glass buildings making it seem dimmer than it actually was. As I passed a television store, I noticed a broadcast of President Nguyen. She was giving some sort of important speech, but I didn’t have the time to stop and watch. I looked at the skyline behind me – the monorail was already coming my way. I ran all the way to the station.

The hall blinded me with its pristine whiteness. I passed by a couple of people checking the interactive timetables, rows of others waiting patiently for their turn. Squeezing by them was quite a feat, but I finally reached the gate. I flashed my card in front of the sensor and hurried to my platform. Perfect. The monorail had just stopped at the station and the doors opened with a soft swoosh. A couple of people exited the tram, a couple more entered it. The doors would soon close, I picked up the pace. And then everything turned upside down, my knee scratched the surface of the even floor, and I lay sprawled on the cold ground. There was no way I could make it in time. I heard someone run past me, yelling “hey”. I lifted myself up and saw a man holding the door of the monorail for me.

“Come quickly, you can still make it,” he called out to me in a deep voice. His accent seemed funny. I had no time to question it, so I quickly grabbed all my stuff and entered the train.

“Thank you so, so much,” I heaved.

“It was my pleasure,” he said with a slight bow. His accent sounded perfectly British. There was something too perfect about it, though, and something too rough about the “r”s. He must have been a foreigner, though I couldn’t pinpoint where he came from. As he lifted his head, I noticed that he was much older than me. He could have been around sixty or seventy, though the way he’d run past me did not indicate that. He looked at me with piercing, cold blue eyes from behind his delicately framed glasses. Those elegant specs, expensive-looking coat and neatly trimmed, mid-length, graying blonde hair and goatee indicated I was dealing with a man of supreme wealth and taste. “Are you not hurt?”

“I think I just scraped a knee,” I said brushing some of my cropped hair out of my ear, where it had tangled itself so bad it was starting to itch. The man just stared at me, a crooked smile on his face. There was something off about him, though I have to admit, he had a certain allure about him for someone his age. I decided to break the silence and extended a hand towards him. “I’m Angela, by the way.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Angela,” he said as he shook my hand. His grip was firm, but there was a strange gentleness about it. Then, just for an instant, I felt nauseous. The feeling quickly went away, thankfully. “My name is Sergei. I am glad I could be of help. Now, if you could only tell me which monorail I can take to get back to where I was, I would consider the favor returned.”

“You mean you helped me even though you weren’t even taking this train home?” he nodded. I suddenly felt really ashamed of myself. “Well, why did you help me then? You really didn’t have to make the effort.”

“You would be left stranded there at the station, wouldn’t you? The next monorail doesn’t come for another hour at this time of day, correct?”

He was correct. But if he knew the monorail schedule, why did he need me to tell him how to get back? I suddenly felt somehow unnerved by his presence. His narrow eyes and cat grin made me feel as if my soul had been laid bare in front of him. I told him how he could get back and he mercifully got off at the next stop. Still, he felt the need to finish it off with “I am glad we met today, Angela. I wish you a safe journey.”

Crosswords I (3/3)

WARNING! More strong language!

“Is everything OK?” Jess asked. The three people in the kitchen were all looking at me with wide eyes. The doorbell rang once again.

“Someone should get that,” Freddie said.

“No, I think we’d better not,” I said. I could hear my voice tremble a bit. “Martin said we shouldn’t.”

“What,” Freddie asked flatly.

“I dunno. I mean, we’re all seriously hungover, maybe we shouldn’t be talking to strangers in this state. Plus, he did say he mixed up the DVDs and those are definitely not crosswords.”

“So? What does that have to do with anything?” Freddie was getting increasingly irritated.

“Like, seriously, what the hell?” Brandi demanded.

“He said there’s something dangerous on this DVD and we should take it and get out of here. He said he’d meet us later.”

“I really doubt anyone would send the fucking cops to confiscate his blinged-out porn stash,” Freddie sighed. “Fine, let’s just wait for him, then.”

Just then we heard the front door open. We stood there motionless, hearing only bits and pieces of a conversation between a couple of men, one of whom was talking very slowly in his deep voice. It was Ian. After the conversation ended, the door closed and the chubby man approached us, ruffling his wavy brown hair with his hand.

“Hello,” he smiled at us, his beard miraculously clear of any leftover potato chips. “This is quite the welcoming you’ve prepared for me. Would you grace me with some coffee, my dear?”

With a look of complete bafflement, Jess poured him a mug of coffee. He thanked her and swallowed it down in a couple of gulps. Three, to be exact. Our collective gaze followed each and every one of them. Even when he finished, smacked his lips and fixed his blue-eyed gaze at each of us one by one with that silly grin of his, we continued to stare at him in disbelief.

“Um, Ian?” Freddie ultimately approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Who was that?”

“Who was who?”

“You know who.”

“I don’t. Who?”

“You tell me, sweetie,” Freddie rubbed his temples, his voice growing impatient, his face once again became a bit redder.

“You’re not making any sense today,” Ian grumble as he adjusted his glasses.

“He means the people at the door,” Jess said in a calm tone. Ian looked at her in confusion.

“You know, the front door. You opened it, talked to some guys,” Brandi explained.

“I open- Oh, right. Those guys. Hell if I know. They just asked if Martin was here. I told them I had no idea. When they asked if they could come inside, I said I would have to ask Leo first. Oh, right. I forgot.”

“Well, that doesn’t matter anyway, ‘cause Martin said we can’t let them in,” I said. “I just hope they can take a hint and just us alone.”

“So now we wait for Martin to come?” Jess asked me as her fingers ran through the DVD.

“He was gonna call me and-” my sentence was interrupted with a loud bang coming from the living room. We all glanced at each other, frozen in shock for just a moment, and ran over to where we’d heard the sound.

“Well fuck me backwards,” Freddie whispered. That was pretty much the reaction I had in my head. How else do you react to a car crashing through your living room wall and landing on the sofa, cutting it in half in the process?

“Aw shit,” I grunted. “The landlady’s gonna kill me.”

Two men in black suits and sunglasses left the car and pointed guns at us. We all raised our hands, more out of disbelief than anything else.

“I’m sorry I forgot! I sincerely apologize! That was so rude of me!” Ian cried out.

“Just give us the disc and everyone’s free to go,” one of the men said.

“Don’t!” I heard Martin’s shout from behind. He had Mia with him, along with two other guys I didn’t know, all of them pointing guns at the men in black. Considering the cloud of dust surrounding them, I had a bad feeling about this.

“I think there’s a moral in all this, somewhere,” Brandi sighed.

“Drink responsibly?” Jess suggested.

“Keep your promises,” Ian sobbed.

“I need to print out some sort of house etiquette sheet over here, cause damn, you guys just don’t respect the money I have to pay that woman to rent this house.” I said through gritted teeth.

“Martin, your coffee is so disgusting it’s a fucking disgrace,” Freddie summed up.