by L K Walker
“Why don’t you track him?” Ari complained.
“Don’t be difficult. He’s already well out of my range, and you bloody know it.”
Concern affected his voice. He didn't seem to fear Nate alone, but a group of them was apparently a threat. Perhaps, it was something she could use against him, to get back to Nate. Ari tried to put Nate’s wounded eyes out of her mind, hoping the expression on his face wouldn’t be the last of his she’d see.
******
The following day progressed like every other 'training day'. The seether dragged her to a cemetery, a different one this time. He said he wanted to mix it up a bit, but more likely it was to put some distance between himself and Nate. To Ari, it didn’t matter which cemetery it was because all she wanted to do was climb into a hole and disappear from the world.
She hoped no mourners would come. Her own grief was enough. The fresh grave, covered in flowers, should have alerted her she was in for disappointment. The seether was merciless. Within hours, three people fell victim to his insidious whispering. He could force his emotions onto people and they stuck there, something to do with the manipulation of brain waves. Ari didn't fully understand how it worked, only that it did. At first, she had tried to fight him, to stop him, but his threats of harm to Nevaeh kept her compliant.
Three people’s lives were ruined because she didn’t do enough to stop the seether. The damage she had caused them. She rubbed her temples, her conscience gave her a headache. Their anger would be taken out on others, their friends and family. They would decimate their lives. Ari hoped the anger could be taken from them as easily as it had been bestowed. Perhaps, one day she could save them. An empty hope, but one she clung to with both hands, to ease her conscience.
It was almost dusk when the taxi pulled up outside the hotel. She sensed Nate nearby, still in the same area she had told Nevaeh. His presence eased her pain, giving her some courage. What she needed now was to be convincing, but she had used her quota of acting skills the day before. Whereas, yesterday, Nate’s life had been at stake, this time, she’d have to really work at making her lies believable. With a deep breath, she turned in Nate’s direction.
“He's not there.” She opened her eyes as wide as they’d go, hoping to look startled.
“Are you sure?” the seether asked, intently focused on Ari.
With a shake of her head and a touch of panic she repeated, “He's not there. He wouldn't go and tell the others would he? Not if they’d kill me. He wouldn't do that?” She paused and looked at the seether. “Would he?”
“Who knows? Whatever he's up to, it might be time to change locations.” His voice was even, but his movements betrayed him. He was anxious. Turning sharply on his heel, he stormed off into the lobby. Ari hoped Nate would keep his distance. The game would be up if the seether felt his presence. She took a deep breath and followed him in.
As soon as the hotel door closed behind them, the seether started barking orders at Michelle. “Get on the phone to the airline and organise flights and accommodation. We need to get out of here as soon as possible.”
“Where too?” she asked.
“I don't know—Thailand.” He waved a hand over his shoulder. Both Ari and Nevaeh could see the irony in his choice.
“Thailand is a big place, care to be more specific,” Michelle said.
“Fine—Bangkok.”
“So we’re travelling again. I need to get out of this stinking hotel room before we go anywhere. For Christ sake, we are in Melbourne, and I haven’t even had a taste of the nightlife.”
“Suck it up,” he snapped, not using the loving voice he usually reserved for her.
“Oh come on. I’ll be back before we have to go to the airport.” She sidled up to him and sat on his lap, twiddling her fingers in his hair.
Ari quietly hoped the seether would say yes, so they didn't have to hear her whine anymore.
“Have you booked the tickets yet?” he asked.
“I'll do it now.” She pecked him on the end of his nose.
Everyone sat quietly as Michelle booked the flights. When she finally got off the phone, she spat out the bad news.
“Sorry babe, no seats left until late tomorrow night. Now can we get back to me?”
“Whatever,” he sighed.
“So can I go out?”
“Be back before 3:00 am. I need you to sleep, so you can watch Nevaeh for the day.”
Michelle was, as she proclaimed loudly, ‘amped about getting out of this hell-hole’, so much so that she shook her arse all around the hotel room to music that only she could hear. Nevaeh rolled her eyes
The seether ignored it. “While we are out tomorrow, you and the loud mouth here can pack all the gear up and meet us at the airport.”
“Yes, alright,” Michelle droned back at him, “You’re being such a buzz kill.”
The seether turned on the TV, flicking channels before settling on the news. The top headline was another dress malfunction at an awards show. It reassured Ari there was so little in the way of real news, which the world hadn’t gone to hell quite yet.
Ari and Nevaeh settled in for the night. Ari's days were becoming noticeably repetitive, and she hated every moment. She had no idea how Nevaeh was able to cope, given that she didn't even have the opportunity to go outside. When Ari thought about it, she realised Nevaeh had become significantly more fidgety in the last few days. Perhaps, she was only holding it together for Ari’s sake.
Michelle left the hotel room at 8:53 pm. Ari had been watching the clock intently, willing her to leave. During the final five minutes she’d been forced to endure the sounds of a make-out session between Michelle and the seether on the neighbouring bed.
“Oh, this might be the most disgusting moment of my life,” Ari whispered to Nevaeh.
“If I vomit, do you think they’ll stop.” Nevaeh asked. “Because it’s a distinct possibility.”
“Stop.” Michelle said, sounding perturbed. “I can hear them whispering. I’m not having sex in front of them. Those creeps would enjoy watching.”
Thank goodness it had ended.
*****
Michelle stumbled back into the room in the early hours of the morning, waking everyone up. Her head appeared too heavy for her body to hold up. The smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke, ingrained in her hair and clothes, wafted over to Ari.
“Hey there, sexy.” Michelle put both her hands on the seether’s chest and leaned in for a kiss.
He quickly swayed back, narrowly missing contact with Michelle’s lips. “I am not kissing an ethanol-flavoured ash tray. Just go to bed. It's going to be a long day tomorrow.”
Michelle flopped onto the empty bed and was snoring before her head hit the pillow.
A few hours later, the seether woke Michelle and reminded her of her duties for the day.
“Keep your voice down,” Michelle moaned. “Let me have another hour’s sleep and I’ll be ready.”
“Up. Now.” The seether threw back her covers. Michelle sat up with a face like thunder.
“I’m up. Leave me alone,” she trudged off to the bathroom. The sound of vomiting came clearly through the walls. The seether hustled Ari out the door. She glanced at Nevaeh over her shoulder, wishing she didn’t have to leave her on her own with the grumpy cow.
New day, new cemetery it seemed. This one was further from the hotel, engulfed in the suburbs but still on the same side of town so, at least, they had some familiarity with their surroundings. Nearly two hours had gone by, then the seether pushed away from the tree he’d been leaning on.
“Let's go somewhere a bit more interesting.”
Without a further word, he strolled off down the path. Ari jogged to catch up with him. He turned left when he reached the road and walked briskly along the footpath, ignoring Ari’s question as to where they were going. When she saw a mass of people standing outside a stone church, she knew they’d reached their destination. The funeral service over, the congregation ga
thered outside, watching as the hearse took their loved one away. Mourners trailed past Ari, many with eyes so desolate she feared that looking into them would suck her into a void. These were the faces of people trying to detach themselves from memories, from loss, from pain.
Captivated by the sadness, Ari hadn't noticed she’d followed the seether right into the midst of the sad souls. She’d left herself open, and now she shared their heartache. Letting their emptiness fill her, she gave herself up to the swirling emotions.
The incessant ring of the seether's cell phone pulled her from her despondency. The grieving crowd glared at him. Oblivious, he answered the phone.
“What is it?” the seether barked.
For a long time he stood in silence, listening to whoever was on the other end of the line. His brow furrowed and a deep foreboding expression spread over his features. The longer the call lasted, the more anxious Ari became.
“You’d better tell me what happened. It’d better bloody well be good” he shouted, his face twisted in rage.
The mourners became edgy, and Ari could feel outrage beginning to outweigh sadness as the seether started intermittently swearing into the phone. Muttering issued from the crowd, with words such as ‘rude’ and ‘inconsiderate’ audible among their complaints. The seether looked up, stared at the throng, then moved away, lowering his voice to talk.
Serious and polite were not the seether's usual traits. Ari had seen his face, panic pulling at his eyebrows. She stood silently, waiting for him to re-join her. When he ended the call, he signalled for her to join him. Rubbing his jawline, he remarked, “Well, it seems that your friend tried to escape today. But Michelle is a little handier than I’d expected.”
“Is Nevaeh okay? What happened?” Ari demanded to know.
“Don't worry she didn't use the knife if that's what you're worried about. That was my first thought too.”
“So Nevaeh’s okay then?”
“No, she's dead. I only meant Michelle didn't use the knife. That would have made for one hell of a clean-up.”
twenty-four
Ari’s mind went blank. Shock stormed her body. No words formed. She stared vacantly at the seether’s lips as he kept talking, her ears taking it all in, even though her eyes saw nothing.
“Imagine trying to explain the blood stains when we check out. Luckily, Michelle thought ahead for a change. She used the kettle cord to strangle her. It’s inventive and, I must say, I'm a little proud of her. That kettle really has come in handy.”
The words struck her again. Nevaeh. Dead. She stumbled back a few paces. A rush of tears choked her throat. She cried out, “No.” The sound reverberated off the stone walls. Tears overflowed, wetting her face. Her fists balled up. Then, in the middle of the churchyard, with its sombre occupants all talking in muted tones, Ari let her rage fly.
Screaming abuse, she lunged at the seether and took a swing at his smirking face. To her utter frustration, he caught her hand, crushing it in his powerful grip. Eyes turned on them both in astonishment.
“You're making a scene, Arianna.”
His words did nothing to abate her hostility. She was so enraged she didn’t notice the shift in the seether’s attention. He was transfixed by the crowd behind her. He spun her around like a spinning top, her back landing hard against his body. His other arm came across her chest, pinning her in place. She had expected to see a multitude of faces, staring in bewilderment or condemnation. A few were, but not at her. The majority of them argued now too, pushing and shoving each other. A minute ago, this crowd had seemed tense, but not violent. Now, some were engaged in an all-out brawl. Her anger had bled out of her, tainting these people. All the practice over the past days had unleashed something new in her.
“That’s not possible.”
Ari's rage immediately receded and, as if they were emulating her, the crowd's anger calmed with hers.
“Most of these people—in a matter of moments, you’ve made them all receptive to me. It would have taken me days...weeks.” The seether was like a kid being offered candy for the first time. “I wonder if those prissy Serrathans know this is what you’re capable of.” He shook his head in amazement. “They can’t know. No way. Otherwise, you’d have a swarm of them hanging around.”
He stared at her, his eyes wide and intense.
“I’ve been stuck playing the same game on this tedious planet for far too long—but you’re going to change all of that. I thought you would hunt the susceptible down one by one, but no, you’re going to be the one that preps them for change. In their masses. Indiscriminately.” The seether paused. “We can tip the balance, and we can do it quickly. Finally. This changes everything. We need to get you back to the hotel and out of the city. Turns out, that little pain-in-the-arse friend of yours had a use after all.”
He dragged Ari off towards the road. In defiance, she dug her heels in and pinned her feet to the ground. Without Nevaeh, what was left for her to save? As the seether pulled at her, trying again to make her move, she shifted her weight back.
“No,” she threw the word at him.
“You are weak, don't ever forget that.”
“No,” she repeated, this time more forcefully.
“We may not have Nevaeh anymore, but I would be more than happy to go and collect your parents if you need a reminder of why you have to behave. Actually, I imagine your parents care enough about you that if I told them you were sick in hospital they would be on the next flight. Save me the bother.”
Panic flooded her mind, and her body responded by shaking uncontrollably. Nevaeh was dead. Her parents would be next. Again, air deserted her lungs, and her breathing became choked and wheezy. It was too much. Resentment smouldered. Then, in a corner of her mind, she heard the clamour from the crowd behind her steadily rising. With a concentrated effort, she drew her emotions under control. The noise began to recede. She would not allow the seether to use her grief.
While she denied him what he wanted, they would all be in danger. Her family, her friends. She couldn’t stand idly by as he hurt or destroyed innocent people. One way or another, this had to end. Right at this moment, he had no one he could directly threaten her with. Now was her best chance to try something. Without a plan, it would be a wasted opportunity, but her mind was in such a precarious state she couldn’t think straight.
“I need a few hours’ quiet time to deal with all of this. Can we go to a park and sit for a while?”
“Nope. We keep moving.”
“Please, I need this.”
“But I like your instability. It’s very beneficial to the cause.”
“Look, if you give me a couple of hours to get my head around everything, then I’ll be subservient. No arguments. I’ll go to Thailand with you. I know what you’re capable of, and I don't want anything to happen to my family.”
The word subservient seemed to draw the seether’s attention. He stopped, a frown between his eyes.
“There is no way I am doing that again today.” She pointed to the church. “Our flight isn’t until late tonight, so we can either sit in a park for a couple of hours, away from where the sentinels would expect to find me, or we can go back to the hotel room and spend those hours with Michelle and what's left of …”
She couldn't bring herself to say Nevaeh’s name. Mental images of her lifeless body played through Ari's head. Even thinking the name nearly made Ari lose the little control she had.
“I gave Michelle a few tips about getting rid of the body, so that won't be a problem, but you're right, I think I’d prefer to keep out of the Serrathans’ range. Anyway, it might be fun for your first encounter with Michelle to be in a big crowded airport.” Ari's lungs lurched again, but she held onto her control.
They found a vacant playground nearby. Ari dropped all pretences as she sat on the swing and let her grief take over. She clutched her chest as if someone tried to physically rip her heart out. Time became lost, and when she next glanced down at her watch, she sa
w it was nearing 5:00 pm and, for most people, that was the end of the work day. She stood up, wiped the tears from her eyes and took a steading breath. “Okay, let’s go.”
“Great. I'm bored with this melodrama,” the seether replied.
He hailed a taxi, advising the driver to take them to the airport.
“Can we drive by the hotel on the way? I want to check if the other sentinels have shown up yet, you know, just curious to know whether he ratted me out.”
The seether fixed her with a probing stare. She held his eye. She so needed him to believe her excuse. He smiled a self-satisfied smile and issued a new directive to the driver, his tone more condescending and arrogant than ever.
As they closed in on the city centre, the top of the hotel bobbed in and out of sight. Ari concentrated her thoughts. She focussed on what Michelle had done. Anger took a grip of her body again, the heat of it travelling to her every extremity. This time, she paid attention to the physical sensation. Knowing it was there and being able to define it gave her some control over it, and she released a little out into the world, then a bit more, just enough to make the taxi driver argumentative. She felt a growing satisfaction as the driver’s frustrations found the most deserving target in the car. Within a couple of minutes, the driver and the seether were at each other’s throats. The seether seemed to be enjoying himself too much to consider why the driver had randomly started a verbal attack on him.
Rush hour traffic congested the streets. As they closed in on Princes Bridge, it worsened considerably, and they inched their way forward, then came to a halt in the middle of the bridge.
