Kay listened to this thoughtfully. Georgi seemed to have too many excuses for why they couldn’t leave. Perhaps Barden didn’t want to go back…
‘It’s so nice to talk to you, Kay,’ Georgi said, interrupting Kay’s train of thought. ‘You don’t know how frustrated I get. Sometimes I feel like Barden is happy as he is, living like this day after day, and I’m the only one struggling. I think it’s because you’re a woman, you understand. Sometimes men just don’t get it… ’
‘Yes, it must be difficult for you. You have lost a lot. And you must be wondering where to go from here.’
Georgi suddenly burst into tears. A little awkwardly, Kay put one arm around her, a slightly unwilling comforter. Georgi seemed to take this as encouragement for a full-blown embrace and wrapped her arms around Kay, her shoulders shuddering with emotion.
‘I just can’t take this life anymore! Living out in the open! Sleeping on this horrible hard ground, waking up cold every morning, no proper running water, nothing to wash in, no money… God, I never thought I would miss money so much! What have we done? I shouldn’t have come here, should I?’
‘You weren’t to know it wasn’t going to work out.’ It had been a long time since Kay had been in such close contact with another person, and it felt unfamiliar and strange.
‘They… did things to me, Kay.’
‘At the colony?’
‘Yes,’ she whispered.
Kay could guess well enough what she meant and didn’t press her for more information.
‘You’ll be alright. Barden will look after you. You will find a way.’
‘What way? We have nothing!’
‘You’ve got to have hope, Georgi. Things can only get better, right?’
‘You’re right.’ She sniffed, finally pulling away, much to Kay’s relief. ‘Sorry. I have to pull myself together.’ She wiped her face.
‘You will be okay,’ Kay reassured her. Their eyes locked for a moment, a little too long.
‘Miss me?’ said a familiar voice behind them.
Kay and Georgi turned to see Ripper walking nonchalantly toward them, as if he was merely returning from a stroll before breakfast.
‘Ripper! We were worried about you!’ Georgi laughed, hugging him in greeting. Kay noticed the embrace with a little annoyance. It seemed that Georgi, being a desperate-to-please sort of person, was tactile with everyone. What Kay had perceived to be specific friendliness towards her was in fact the same treatment that everyone got, and it irked her for reasons she did not want to allow herself to consider.
Don’t start all that again, she thought to herself. Human emotions were fickle, changing from moment to moment.
‘Ripper! Good to have you home,’ Barden approached from the direction of the water tank. He seemed to have noticed the hug as well and eyeballed Ripper, just a little. ‘What kept you?’
‘Well, I might have been home quicker if you all hadn’t left me for dead back in town!’ His face went very serious. ‘Kay? Did you get everything you needed? While I created a distraction for you? Fill your pockets enough?’ He glared at her for a split second, then a smile broke out across his face. ‘Got you!’ His laughter was a little too loud. The rest of them joined in awkwardly.
‘So where were you this time?’
‘Cop shop of course. Kept me locked up while they tried to pin something on me. Of course, I came out clean. As usual.’
‘Good old Ripper. They can’t hold you down, can they?’ said Barden, shaking Ripper’s hand enthusiastically.
While the others were still talking, Kay noticed something that caused her gut to wrench. A brochure was sticking out of Ripper’s pocket. The top read: “Legend Island Resort”.
CHAPTER SEVEN
In that moment, Kay was transported to a memory of a man she had seen in dead time, a man possessed by a demon. His cruel face was forever imprinted on her memory. And a vision of happy revellers travelling to that island, unaware of the danger their souls were in, unaware that they would never return…
She had seen him, in that cold grey desert where only immortals, those outside of time, could exist. Where there was nothing but the sky full of tiny twinkling lights; the lives of mortals frittering by. She had seen the face of a young man, an entrepreneur with a big idea. The next big thing. He was going to create the ultimate leisure experience. So caught up in his own brilliance that he was oblivious to the evil that lurked just over his shoulder, waiting for the right moment to take hold, malevolent and without form…
Kay was back in the room. The moment had passed, but the guilt remained at that sharp reminder that she had abandoned her cause. By now, the demon must surely have manifested and have already taken hold…
‘We have to check out this place! Just think of the opportunities!’ Ripper was now waving the offending brochure in their faces. ‘Kay, think of it, all the free booze you could drink! Barden, Georgi, think of all the free food! It’s paradise!’
‘Why would I want to go to that over-commercial, wasteful place? They must throw out ten tons of food a week!’ said Georgi.
‘Exactly! Think of all the pickings! Think of all the bins you could raid!’
‘I wouldn’t want to be a part of such a consumerist place, Ripper. It’s the complete opposite of what we believe in.’
‘But think of all that food, not being eaten!’
‘There is more to us than bin raiding, Ripper,’ said Barden, sounding a little offended.
‘Out there, you wouldn’t have to raid any bins,’ continued Ripper. ‘You could sit at a table, eating from a plate! Can you imagine!’ His smile turned to a frown momentarily. ‘I didn’t mean to offend. I just think it’s crazy for us to stay out here in the desert, when we could be living the life on Legend Island. That’s all.’
‘And what’s in it for you?’
‘What do you think?’ He winked. ‘Drunk people with full bellies might need my help carrying their handbags and things.’
‘And wallets, am I right?’ said Barden.
‘What’s all your noise for?!’ a gurgling voice muttered from behind them.
‘Bottle! Glad you could join! Look at this.’ Ripper shoved the brochure under his nose. ‘What would you say to a lifetime’s supply of alcohol, all day every day, for free?’
‘Hmm.’ Bottle studied the brochure.
‘Sounds like a wonderful place, right? Just think of it! What about you, Kay? You would fit in there! You could be as drunk as you like, no one would care!’
Kay remained silent, watching the faces of the others anxiously. Please, she thought, don’t agree to go there. Unconsciously, she scratched her shoulder scars.
‘Ripper, that place promotes overconsumption, overeating, drinking way too much… It’s over the top and wasteful. People are starving on the other side of the world, and over here they are throwing it away!’
‘Exactly! So we should go there and turn it to our advantage! It wouldn’t be going to waste if you were there eating it, would it?’
‘Even if we wanted to go, we don’t even know how to get there! And who is going to pay for the tickets?’
‘Well, maybe we could sneak there somehow.’
‘Sneak? That place will be crawling with security guards! They don’t just let anyone go there you know. We could never get past the docks!’
‘Garbage boat,’ muttered Bottle.
‘Huh?’
‘The rubbish. Garbage. It comes back to mainland on a boat. I’ve seen it.’
‘You’ve SEEN it?’
‘I’ve been there.’
*
Melody kneeled on the hard wood floor, her eyes clenched shut. When she opened them, all she could see were hands; they rested on her shoulders, her head, her face, everywhere, they blotted out the light. She was surrounded. Ringing in her ears was soft, repetitive piano music and the low humming of several voices.
Everyone had wanted to pray for her and the other disciples before they set off for that he
llish place, the so-called “Legend Island”. Herself and nineteen others were going. The government only allowed twenty on each rally. So each of the chosen disciples were invited individually to the front of the church to kneel in front of Pastor Jack, and all the congregation gathered round, laying hands on them, their prayers blended together until all that could be heard was a murmur. Every so often Pastor Jack would say something and the congregation would murmur louder in agreement.
This was not the first time Melody had been prayed for in this way, so she did not find it strange, though everyone was really close and it felt a bit suffocating. Their hands were heavy on her shoulders and head. Better if she just kept her eyes closed, she decided.
‘Oh Lord, guide our sister Melody, your lamb that goes amongst wolves. Bless her. Guide her. Watch over her and her brothers and sisters in Christ. Let the heathens see the truth in her words and the error of their ways… ’ The prayer seemed to have been going on for hours, but it must have only been a few minutes. Still she found herself wishing it was over, then hating herself for having such wishes. How could she feel negative about doing the work of the Lord!?
She thought of the task ahead. The plan was to picket the area of the docks where the boat for Legend Island docked. Hundreds of people would be gathered there; it was the perfect place to turn some heathens back to Christ. Pastor Jack was also among the twenty who would be going. Together they would wave their signs and placards in protest.
She hated the eyes of the heathens when they stood and watched. Like they were judging her. They were the sinners! They were the ones damned to Hell if they didn’t give up their sinful ways! Didn't they know that their Lord and saviour could be coming at any moment? Didn't they know that the rapture of the whole world might begin any day? Did they not care that they were answerable for their transgressions on the day of the second coming? For all the heathens knew, Christ incarnate could be walking among them.
*
Over the course of the day, Ripper and Bottle discussed all possible ways they could get to the island. They were determined to go there and nothing could deter them.
Kay could not believe that they were actually contemplating it. But then again, everyone would be drawn there eventually. It was the lure of the demon. Somehow, despite their better judgment, the humans still believed there could be over-indulgence without consequences.
By the evening, Ripper and Bottle still had not dropped the subject and sat around the fire, letting the others get the food ready while they formed their plan obliviously.
‘So how many of these garbage boats are there? And do they go back and forth all day?’
‘Just one. Goes out early in the morning and comes back late at night.’
‘So, if we hide in trash cans on the boat deck, maybe… ’
‘No trash cans. The deck is empty. The trash cans are on the island. They empty them into big containers.’
‘What about the containers?’
‘We shouldn’t try and hide in the garbage. Do you want to get crushed by ten tons of garbage? Too risky.’
‘The hold then. We must be able to get into the hold somehow. How many men are on board?’
‘Don’t remember.’
‘We will have to spy it out when we get there.’
‘Hey, do you guys want some soup? Or you just going to talk all night?’ said Georgi, stirring yesterday’s soup in the one dented pot they owned.
‘Hell yeah, we need one last hot meal before we go,’ said Ripper.
‘You’re leaving tomorrow?’ said Barden, who had just returned from the water tank.
‘Of course! What’s the point of waiting around when we could be chowing on prime steak in a few days! Think of that, Barden!’
Barden did not rise to the comment, but a look passed over Georgi’s face.
‘You are really going?’ she asked Ripper, imploringly.
‘You bet.’
‘Really? How are you going to get there?’
‘We need to take a bus from town to the coast, then work our way along.’
‘And you’re really just going to hide on a boat? That’s your big plan?’
‘We’ve got to try.’
‘Why though? Is it really so bad here?’
‘Yes! Yes it is bad! What is the point in staying in this two-bit town when we could be living it up on the island?’
‘It’s just you are leaving us so suddenly!’
‘Well come with us then.’
‘We told you, we can’t go to a place like that.’
‘Why not, really? Think about it.’
‘We can’t.’
Ripper sighed.
‘You need to forget all this “save the world” crap and think of your stomachs for once!’
‘It’s not crap!’ Georgi’s face flushed with colour.
‘You know what I mean. How can you be so concerned with conserving the world when no one cares about conserving you?’
‘Shut up, Ripper.’
‘No, seriously. Think about it. Who actually cares about you? Do the animals thank you for not eating them? Do the vegetables thank you for not throwing them away because they are out of date? Does the Earth say “thank you, Barden and Georgi! We really appreciate you!”’
‘Enough, Ripper! You’re upsetting Georgi,’ Barden cut in.
‘Sorry, guys. But you have to see my point.’
Georgi was sobbing again into Barden’s shoulder. There was an awkward silence. Then Bottle decided to speak up.
‘Listen,’ he slurred. ‘I’m a bum. A tramp. What have I got to wait around for? No home to go to. No family coming. What is keeping me here? In this dump? Nothing. And there is nothing here for you two either. What is keeping you here? What are you waiting for?’
Georgi stopped crying, and she and Barden gazed at Ripper and Bottle thoughtfully.
Kay could not believe what she was seeing and hearing. Georgi and Barden, the two sworn activists against consumerism, looked like they were actually considering going on this hare-brained journey. Could they really be contemplating it?
‘So, Kay, what about you? Are you coming?’
CHAPTER EIGHT
It was mid-morning. Khaos sat alone at the top of the hill, leaning against the sturdy billboard support. The name Kay was redundant now that her temporary friends had left her. There was no one to pretend to anymore, not even herself. The face of her enemy grinned down at her from the billboard above, her smile gleeful, as if happy that Khaos was alone and miserable.
She surveyed the town below, where she had last seen her friends. They had disappeared from sight some hours ago, talking amongst themselves of which bus they needed to catch or some such thing. The happy little idyll Khaos had found so briefly had come to an end. Despite her protests, they had left her behind, Legend Resort on their minds; the prospect of free booze, free food, and drunken pockets to empty too good an opportunity to miss. She couldn’t blame them really. They were desperate, hopeless people, who truly had no other options.
She, on the other hand, had options. Like it or not, she always had a choice. She was choosing not to fulfil her destiny, choosing to forget her mission, forget the demons…
Instead, you choose to be idle. The Spirit Voice read her thoughts. You choose to hide away from your true purpose, like a worm, burrowing into the earth. That is what you have become. A pathetic worm, letting the world pass you by…
‘Enough. I don’t have to listen to you.’ But her retort was half-hearted. Who did she have now to listen to, if not the Spirit Voice? She was all alone again.
No. It is time to listen now. You have avoided me for long enough.
‘No, I won’t! You are not me! I don’t have to do what you say! You don’t control this body!’
I will never leave you alone until you obey. Don’t you see? You must fulfil the prophecy. The demons must be slain, every single one. Until the deed is done, we will be bonded together forever.
‘Great, so I
am stuck with you. I get it. Now leave me alone.’
Do you think I want to be trapped in here? In this pathetic human flesh? Listening to your tedious thoughts all day long? I am the all-powerful force! The power of the Alpha and the Omega! Life and Death!
‘Yes I know. I’ve heard this a thousand times already.’
And you use the power to play around with water! To grow trees!
‘I didn’t mean to do anything to the tree, it just happened!’
That’s not the point. It doesn’t matter what you did. It’s what you are not doing that is the problem.
Khaos stayed silent, hoping the voice would not continue. Don’t mention that place, please…
You know that the demon has already manifested. You even know where it is. Already it feasts on the souls of all pliable mortals within its reach.
‘No more. Please.’ Khaos buried her head in her hands.
You know why people are not returning from Legend Resort.
‘Yes! Okay! I know, all right!’ Khaos snapped. ‘I know. Adam Zaphira. That’s his name. The mortal who the demon has taken over. Legend Resort is his creation.’
That is why you cannot bear to hear its name.
‘Alright! Yes. I know. I know what lies there. I know the demon’s name.’
Gluttony.
‘Gluttony,’ Khaos said, out loud. ‘That’s why the humans, so stupid and easily led, like sheep – are so attracted to Legend Resort. Free food, free drink. Party all night long. It’s too good to miss. God knows what is happening out there.’
Mortals will always be attracted to the things they shouldn’t have, things that will hurt them. Like flies around filth. They can’t help themselves.
‘Why can’t they? Why must I intervene? Why must I put my neck on the line for them?’
Because you are the only one who can.
‘Ha! And what thanks do I get? They don’t even want to be saved. I get no gratitude.’ She thought, painfully, of Carmen, though she had tried to push her out of her mind. ‘They mourn for the demon. They don’t understand what I have to do. They don’t even know they’ve been saved!’
Resort Page 4
