The Hazing Tower

by Leland Roys

  “Want to race?” he challenged her.

  “Hell, yes!” She felt like nothing she could describe. The rush she felt was beyond any drug she had ever tried. She ran faster now, impossibly fast. The grass was a blur. The sky was a blur of white moon and stars.

  She reached the top of a hill and spun around, “I win!” she screamed out. Alex ran up close to her and laughed.

  She looked back to the windmill. It was a dot. A tiny dot.

  “How did I get this far?”

  She hugged him and felt herself blush.

  “Thank you, Alex.”

  “Any time. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a running buddy.”

  She sat down and tugged on his arm this time. He sat next to her. She looked up at the sky. “I used to love watching the stars when I was a kid. I would wait a long time sometimes, waiting for a shooting star.”

  “Did you see many?”

  She laughed. “Not really, I got cold and ran back inside every time.” She playfully pushed his arm.

  Suddenly, she was aware of how close they were. Her hair was touching his arm. Her whole body felt so alive.

  She felt that unmistakable electricity that runs through you just before it happens – that kiss you’ve longed for, that you’ve been waiting for your entire life. Nikki turned to look at him.

  He kissed her. It seemed like time slowed down, the same feeling she felt when she first looked into his eyes that day on the ledge. Those eyes, kind and strong, mysterious.

  Her mind stopped racing. She saw only him now; she felt only his kiss. It was perfect, like sunshine and warm beaches. She begged that it never end.

  He softly held her. “Nikki, I will explain everything. It’s not fair, what you are going through.”

  She didn’t hear a word he said. She pulled her hand through his thick hair. They were touching ever so slightly. She felt her lips brush against his, and this time she kissed him. Time seemed to stop completely.

  A daze. That’s how she felt as they walked hand in hand back to the windmill. She could feel the energy, like nothing she had ever felt before. As they reached the door, she realized her hands were shaking again.

  “Alex. I—”

  They went crashing through the door and almost broke the table. She had never felt any feeling so urgent and powerful; it seemed like a thousand years had passed since he had last kissed her. They stumbled into his bedroom and both ended up on the floor. She looked up. “Hey! Your bed is bigger than mine!” He laughed and picked her up. It was like he was holding a feather.

  “Don’t drop me.” She threw her hands around his neck as he swung her around. She started to giggle like a kid.

  She ended up tumbling down with him onto the bed. “And it’s softer!” She laughed.

  “You’re soft,” he smiled, “and beautiful.”

  She pulled him close. They were one now. Her memories had come full circle, almost as if they all had led to this moment. To this kiss. She finally knew what love felt like. It was better than she had imagined.

  • • •

  The Key

  The morning sun started to touch the bed. She hadn’t slept this well in ages, it seemed. She looked at him. Was he really sleeping? He looked even better without clothes, if that was even possible. She pulled herself back under the covers and tried to force herself back to sleep. She had finally seen his tattoo, and, well, everything else. It was him. It was the man on the ledge with her. She knew it was him, of course.

  “Good morning.”

  “I’m asleep.” She could feel herself smile. She had to hold in the laugh.

  “OK, then you won’t notice this.” She jumped up as he started to tickle her. “You are insane!” She sat on him and felt serious suddenly.

  “Alex. I’m not like this, I mean the clingy type of girl. I mean I didn’t used to be.”

  He just kept staring at her.

  “I don’t want to sleep in my bed again. I don’t want to be apart from you. I know I must sound crazy.”

  “You’re not crazy. And you forget, I kidnapped you, so officially you are my prisoner.”

  “Yeah, about that. I don’t think I will press charges after all.” She kissed him hard and they both laughed.

  “Probably not the best idea though, kidnapping a police officer.” She smiled again.

  He nodded, “Duly noted.” His eyes were driving her wild.

  “I guess I like travel more than I thought. You know I have always wanted to go to Paris,” she smiled. “Maybe we could squeeze that into your busy schedule.”

  He froze. It hit him like a tidal wave. It had been in front of him the whole time.

  He had never been to Paris with Rebecca. The cafe. She touched his hand, how could he be so stupid? The machine, he had to get to the machine.

  Nikki saw his face freeze. She had never seen him look this way before. His eyes drifted away.

  “What’s wrong? Alex, you all right? I was just joking, we don’t need to go anywhere.”

  “No, it’s not you. It’s something I just remembered. I’m not sure. I need to make a call to Godfried.”

  He pulled his sat phone from the luggage and grabbed a pen and paper. His heart was racing.

  Nikki sat next to him, wondering. What had she said? She had a very bad feeling about this.

  “Godfried, yes, it’s me. It’s important. Remember my old code machine, the one I received as a gift? Can you please get it; we need to try something.”

  “Of course, but sir, something first. I’ve been trying to reach you. The estate, it’s been broken into.”

  “What?”

  “Yes, and someone shot up the place, the entire kitchen in destroyed. Should I call the police?”

  “No, don’t call the police. Let me think about this. First let’s check out this code, or what might be a code.”

  He started to write it down from his memory. Paris. She had mentioned Paris twice. It had to mean something. She would never make a mistake like that. It had to be intentional.

  Do you remember Paris in the springtime?

  Making love under the full moon.

  The spring air like dancing flowers.

  Everywhere. Paris. Rome. The world.

  I was even a teacher for some time.

  I suppose you have been here the last 70 years. You waste it you know. This gift.

  “I am ready, sir.” Godfried said.

  He could hear the old machine working; it was like a manual typewriter but for code. Old codes. Rebecca used to be obsessed with code and secrets; she had modified this specific machine herself. She had given it to him as a gift, such a long time ago, it seemed.

  “Sir, this is bizarre. It can’t be.”

  “What does it say, Godfried? Please read it to me.”

  “Teacher everything forgive me Nikkiiski. Does it makes sense to you, sir?”

  He spelled it out as he knew she would write it; they played with codes for years.

  Teach her everything. Forgive me.

  Nikki is the key.

  Nikki gasped out loud and stood up.

  “Thank you, Godfried, I need to go now. Can you please reset the machine and hide it somewhere safe. And Godfried, one more thing. Take a well-deserved vacation; the estate is not safe anymore. Go be with your family now. And don’t worry, you will still get your full pay. No need to call the police. I will deal with this.”

  Alex closed the sat phone and touched Nikki’s arm.

  “It’s time for you to know everything. I have been selfish to keep it from you, Nikki.”

  She nodded, “I understand.”

  Nikki could feel herself start to tremble. Her heart sank. It wasn’t like she hadn’t known he had made love to Rebecca, but seeing him write it down like that, it crushed her. And now, it was clear that Rebecca had a plan the whole time. She wasn’t the bad guy after all; she was trying to help somehow. Did this mean Alex would go back to her? He probably still loved her, she felt sure of that.
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  She had to hide the emotions; it would be so obvious on her face. She had to push this deep down. Clearly this was important to Alex. It must be something bigger than she could even imagine. The steps that Rebecca must have gone to for this plan to be in place. She tried hard to fake a smile.

  “It sounds like we’d better start then,” she encouraged. Her hands were shaking.

  He softly touched her face and looked at her. “Nikki, I didn’t mean for you to see that. You have to understand, that was a long time ago. It’s different now. I met you. Everything has changed.”

  She nodded.

  There really wasn’t anything to say. For the first time, she wasn’t sure if she believed him. She had always trusted him after she remembered he saved her; but this was different, this was love. She knew deep inside he still had feelings for Rebecca. She thought back to her ex-fiancé. For so long she still loved him, even after he had treated her like dirt. She was well aware how love worked; you couldn’t just turn it off like a light switch.

  She longed to ask more about Rebecca, she wanted to know everything. It wasn’t the right time. He probably wouldn’t tell her much anyway. She could feel her emotions running wild; she felt jealous and sad at the same time. It felt like she was on fire. She almost lost control and directly asked him if he was still in love with Rebecca. She stopped herself. He most likely was, and, in any case, he wouldn’t tell her.

  • • •

  Teacher

  Nikki woke up early. She sat outside and waited. They didn’t make love last night. She felt different after everything that had happened. She had known about his past, some of it, but, well, it was just different now. As she watched the sun rise, she felt like a schoolgirl waiting for her tutor.

  What was he going to teach her? It clearly was important. It seemed as though Rebecca had planned this for ages. Nikki didn’t even know what she was now. Was she even human anymore? Maybe she was a monster. She felt that darkness seeping back in. She had felt so happy, so free. She guessed it was just a matter of time before this happened. She was dead, and she had forgotten that important fact.

  Alex looked worried again as he walked up to her on the bench.

  “You’re usually not a morning person,” he greeted her. He tried to smile, but it was clear he was in pain.

  “We should get started, right,” she responded, trying not to look directly at him.

  He looked away as well. “Yes, right, we should. Let’s go for a drive, somewhere remote.”

  The scenery was breathtaking as they drove along the winding roads; for some reason, she didn’t care this time. Usually she would be laughing and pointing out every animal, every new tree.

  It was a long drive and they didn’t really talk at all. Was she losing him? If so it was her fault. She was the one acting this way. She knew it, but for some reason couldn’t snap out of it. She knew why actually. It was something he hadn’t said. Had she really become this kind of person? She always considered herself a tomboy, not a romantic. Why did she care if he had not said those words, those seemingly so special words. She had never felt emotions this strong before, not about a man at least.

  “Here we are, as remote as possible on the island.”

  It was green fields for as far as she could see. Weird actually considering how small the island seemed to be.

  “What now?” she asked. She walked around aimlessly, kicking some rocks like a kid would do, her head down.

  He pulled out a foam ball. “Let’s start with this, OK?”

  She laughed; at least she laughed. “You’re kidding, right? A baby toy?”

  He smiled. “Just trust me on this one. You will see why.”

  “So I just stand here?” She rolled her eyes.

  “I’m going to throw this at you. When I do, try to focus on the ball and calm down, like relax.”

  “Oh, wow — so a ball is coming at me and I’m supposed to relax.” She was getting annoyed.

  “Ready?”

  She shrugged her shoulders.

  “Ouch!” It didn’t hurt, of course, but, as she expected, the ball hit her right in the face.

  “I’m supposed to be some kind of key to all this? Nothing happened.” She could feel herself tearing up. God, why did she cry so much now? She never used to cry, never. What is wrong with me? she thought to herself.

  “Again, let’s try this. When you see the ball, think about its movement. Watch it get larger as it gets closer. When I say relax, let your mind clear itself of other thoughts.”

  She looked down. She was thinking about him, of course. What he hadn’t said to her. Rebecca. All of it.

  “You all right?” he asked, walking to where she stood.

  Nikki was stronger than this; she knew that. Clearly there were bigger problems here than her love life. Like the fact that she was dead, and she was the key to something extraordinary. She had to do this. She could do this.

  “I’m ready now,” she assured Alex. “I just needed a minute.”

  He looked confused and walked back to prepare again.

  She closed her eyes.

  “OK. Ready, set, go!”

  As she opened her eyes, she locked in on the foam ball. Something bizarre happened — she knew at that instant she would never be the same. The ball slowed to almost a complete stop in mid air. Colors radiated out of the ball like a rainbow. It was magical, incredibly beautiful. She had never seen colors so vivid. She relaxed herself even more and noticed the ball slowed even more. Could she move? She slowly walked toward the ball; colors flashed as she walked. The grass caught her eye; it was red instead of green. She looked at Alex; he looked frozen, his arm still in the throwing position.

  She walked up to the side of the ball and touched it. It felt electric, like nothing she had ever experienced before. She pushed back on it and could feel the electricity was even stronger. It moved! It moved in the other direction, like she was pushing it through water.

  She heard herself laughing, giggling actually. It was like hearing herself on a video; it was the most bizarre feeling she had ever had.

  Nikki watched the ball now moving backwards toward Alex. She spun around and looked at everything. The sky, the grass, the trees — everything was alive with color and energy.

  She wasn’t afraid for some reason. She felt relaxed and happy. It was like she was in her own private world, where all the normal rules did not apply.

  Nikki closed her eyes and felt a rush of air.

  “Nikki! Are you OK? Nikki, can you hear me?”

  He looked so scared. He was almost on top of her. She guessed she had fallen down.

  “I am fine, that was fun! Let’s do it again!”

  He looked terrified.

  “What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?”

  “No, you didn’t hurt me. Do you know how much time passed?”

  “You mean playing with the ball? It was like one minute,” she guessed.

  “It was almost 10 minutes for me, more like 15,” Alex replied.

  “What?” Nikki said, dumbfoundedly.

  “I have never seen anyone that could do that,” Alex said. “I can’t, Rebecca can’t. You actually reversed the direction of the ball, Nikki. And also, the amount of time you spent in there. It was fascinating.”

  She felt a bit scared now. “So that means I really am like you?”

  He nodded his head. He looked shaken. She had never seen him look like this.

  “Rebecca was right. You are the key,” Alex said, trying to fathom the moment.

  Nikki felt the jealousy again. “A key, huh —”

  “I didn’t mean it that way. You are much more than that. It’s just — I didn’t expect this. I thought maybe Rebecca was wrong.

  “Nikki, I think we should try something. And I totally understand if you say no, OK? Don’t feel bad if you don’t want to do this.”

  She had never felt so energized, so alive again. She was different now. It didn’t matter anymore if she was dead; she didn
’t care.

  “Try what?”

  She watched as Alex pulled out a handgun from his leather jacket.

  “You’re going to shoot me?” I am, or was, a cop, you know!”

  “No, no, of course not. I would never shoot you. I’m going to shoot away from you, toward the ocean out there, way in the distance. I don’t think anything will happen, but I think after what you just did, we should try.”

  She nodded her head.

  “OK, let me close my eyes like last time. Can I count down this time?”

  “Of course,” Alex agreed.

  She closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind. “Three, two, one...”

  CRACK!

  Her eyes opened to a world of bright red. She saw it! The bullet! She could see it, moving fast. She took off running as fast as she could. The ground felt more like ice than grass but she still picked up speed. She was gaining on it! It was still moving too fast. She closed her eyes again and calmed herself.

  When she opened them she felt her heart stop for a second. She saw it. The bullet. It had stopped completely. She ran up to it and stood there staring. It radiated a glowing light of pure red. It looked like it was shaking. She reached out and touched it.

  “Ow!” It was burning hot. She had to try; this was beyond cool. She found the closest rock and picked it up.

  Moving right up to the bullet she pushed on it hard with the rock. She knew right away something was wrong. The bullet faced downward, but at the same time the earth felt like it was shaking, like an earthquake. The colors everywhere changed and started to become even a darker red. She started to feel scared this time.

  “Stop it, Nikki — stop it.” She closed her eyes and talked to herself. She opened her eyes, nothing changed. The vibrations under her feet were increasing.

  She closed her eyes again and tried to calm herself as much as she could, which was getting real hard as her fear increased. “Nikki, slow down, just slow down.”