Meet You at the End of the World

by Natasha West

  ‘There’s a clean room on the third floor, room 228’ he told Emma and she was off like a shot.

  I looked around unsure what to do next. I’d lost control of my family, losing them to feminine wiles and clean bedding.

  ‘Hey’, Mason said to me casually, ‘Maybe you’d like a look at our library?’

  ‘Library?’ I repeated, my mouth a little dry.

  ‘That might be too grand a word for it but it’s a decent selection. If you’re a reader.’

  I’m ashamed to admit, he’d found my weakness. I hadn’t read a new book in years, having run through my entire collection a while back. I’d heard of a running library a few towns away where people traded old books for new. But with one thing or another, I’d never made it there. It was a few miles away and it was risky to go for such a luxury item. And I had maybe a hundred paperbacks at the farm, some mine, some left by other family who’d stayed here. There was some good stuff in there, real classics mixed in with easy reads, but eventually, they were all read, once, twice, three times. I longed for something fresh.

  ‘Maybe I could just take a quick look’ I told Mason.

  He leaned in to my ear and said quietly, ‘Tell you what, I shouldn’t do this, but if you find something you like, you can take it with you.’

  Mason showed me to the room on the second floor, a small room filled with DIY shelves that he explained had been filled with the collective novels of everyone who stayed there over the years. All told, it was around four hundred books. I’d read a lot of them, but there were plenty I hadn’t. And I was allowed to pick one to take with me!

  I was starting to warm to this place. What was really wrong with it, after all? They’d given us food and a bed for the night and I was complaining? Wasn’t this what I always said, that people were decent when you gave them a chance? I’d spent too long around Emma, who was suspicious of everyone, and she’d dropped her guard so why wasn’t I?

  Mason left me to it, saying, ‘Pop down when you feel like it and I’ll show you to your bed’ and then he left me to the small book-filled room and its easy chair. All I was missing was a cup of coffee and it could have been the old days.

  I poured over the shelves, picking out things I knew, things I didn’t, reading blurb after blurb, making a pile of maybes. After a time, I glanced out of the window and saw that the sun was lower in the sky. I’d been in the library for at least an hour!

  It was with a heavy heart that I decided I should leave, I’d come back later to get my selection. And I wanted to check in with Emma and Jude. The library would still be here in the morning.

  I jogged down the hall, trying to remember which way the stairs were. And then I heard it. A raised voice, angry. I began to walk in its direction, but I walked past empty room after empty room. I began to realise that the voice was coming from beneath me and I ran the other way, finally finding the stairs, taking them two at a time. I can’t explain how I knew that shouting had anything to do with me and my family. But somehow, I did.

  I rushed through the door to the second floor just in time to see Jude running out of a room with his shirt off, his skinny little body flying my way.

  ‘Jude! What’s going on?’ I demanded as he ran to me, looking relieved. But before I could get an explanation out of him, Mason came out of the room, his face red, ‘Oi! Where do you think you’re going?’

  I stepped past Jude, putting myself between him and Mason. ‘Hey, what the hell’s all this?’ I asked.

  ‘Your boy is going back on a deal, that’s what!’ Mason told me angrily.

  ‘What deal?’ I asked, baffled. And then I saw Rose pop her head out of the same room, wearing a robe. What the hell was going on?

  ‘You know what deal’ he answered angrily, and the charming Mason I’d been shown was clearly gone. This was what I’d been smelling all day. This angry bastard, hiding underneath a smile. ‘You lot get food and board and your nephew gives my daughter a baby.’

  I looked to Jude and he looked like I felt. The word surprise doesn’t begin to cover it. ‘What?’ I asked, quietly.

  ‘That’s what this place is, you knew that! We’re a family and what a family does is keep going. And that takes young men and women. We’re all past it but Rose’s best years are still ahead of her so she’ll carry on the line’

  I looked past Mason, to Rose. I wanted to know how she felt about this. But she looked as angry as Mason. ‘He was going to pop his cherry, so I don’t know what his problem was. I get a baby and he gets to have a girl like me. Hardly shabby for a runt like him’ she spat.

  ‘Are you people insane?’ I asked them.

  ‘You’re telling me you didn’t know the deal?’ Mason asked with a sneer. ‘That’s what the band is for. It’s a contract. He puts the red band on, he’s up for it. Red means go.’

  I looked to Jude, interest lost in Mason and Rose. ‘Are you alright?’

  He nodded.

  ‘They didn’t… They didn’t touch you, did they?’

  He shook his head. ‘No, we were… We were just kissing and then she said she wanted to…’ he stopped there, embarrassed. I nodded at him so that he didn’t have to say it and he went on. ‘And I said… I said no, that I wasn’t ready’ he admitted awkwardly. ‘And then she started shouting at me about babies and then her dad ran in’ he explained.

  Emma’s head suddenly shot around a corner, and for the first time in my life, I was glad to see her. ‘What’s all the shouting?’ she asked, half asleep. And then she spotted Jude, bare chested. Her eyes went wide with confusion. ‘Jude, what are you doing with your shirt off?’ she asked, stepping into the now crowded hallway.

  ‘What’s going on here…’, Mason told her, ‘…Is that we gave you food and beds and books’ he said with a pointed look at me. ‘And now you’re going back on it.’

  ‘I never took any book and we’ll leave right now’ I told him, taking off my cardigan and wrapping it round Jude’s shoulders. He took it gratefully, desperate to cover his semi-nude state. I started to shuffle him and Emma - who still didn’t know what was happening, but for once knew enough not to argue – down the hall.

  ‘No’ Mason said firmly. ‘You owe a debt. Your nephew was happy to go along with it before and then he decided to back out. That doesn’t fly here. On top of that, he rejected my daughter and I don’t take too kindly to that.’

  I turned to Mason and Rose. ‘Look, whatever you people have got going on here, we didn’t know about it and we don’t want to’ I told Mason, suddenly more scared. Before, there’d been confusion and anger. But now, there was threat. It was heavy in the air. ‘So I don’t know what you expect to us to do-’

  ‘I expect him to fulfil his end of the bargain’ Mason told me. I realised he was quite insane. And the madness had apparently infected his daughter.

  ‘Well, that’s off the table’ I told him, trying to sound calm. Things had gotten way out of hand, but I believed I could still turn it around, reason my way through. ‘If Jude doesn’t want to do that with your daughter, there’s nothing more to be said.’

  ‘I told you, you owe us’ Mason said, taking a step towards us. I involuntarily stepped back, placing a hand on Jude’s arm. I heard footsteps behind me and I turned to see several of the hotel’s residents appear, including Dean the Bookkeeper, ‘What’s all this?’ he asked around us.

  ‘They’re defaulting’ Rose told him.

  Dean turned to us. ‘OK. Then pay for what you took.’

  ‘We didn’t take anything.’

  ‘You took our food, our wine, our hospitality. You think it’s free?’

  ‘No. But if you wanted something for that, you had to tell us first.’

  ‘We don’t have to tell you anything. You walked into a hotel. You remember how that used to work, yeah? You pay for your stay. One way or the other. So, give us your money. Or pay another way.’

  I looked to Emma but she stared back at me and I knew she didn’t have anything. I didn’t bother to ask J
ude. We were broke.

  I turned to see Dean shake his head. ‘Right. Get ‘em downstairs.’

  We were taken into the back garden, a large green place, filled with vegetable patches and surrounded by a high wall. All the Randall’s had gathered, muttering to one another. I wondered how this place worked, whether everyone was happy for Mason to drag young boys in here to knock up the only fertile resident. But as I looked at their faces, I didn’t see surprise. I saw mirth, I saw anticipation. Whatever was happening next, they were excited.

  Rose was at the front of the pack. She watched as Mason, Dean and a couple of other large men pushed us into the centre of a circle. ‘Alright, let’s make this simple’ Mason said, Rose stepped forward. Mason took her by the shoulders and pushed her toward Jude. ‘Boy, you could have done this the nice way but you’ve lost that option. Now do as your told and we’ll get this over nice and quick.’

  Jude looked at me for help but I didn’t know what I could do. We were outnumbered and trapped. I looked at Emma but she just stared back at me in horror, looking as useless as I felt.

  ‘Get on with it’ Mason said.

  ‘Or what?’ Jude asked nervously.

  Mason slipped a box cutter out of his pocket and slid out the blade. ‘Or you don’t get to leave. Not happy, anyway. One man took us up on that, I think he thought it was an idle threat. I took his thumbs.’

  ‘Jesus!’ I heard myself scream. ‘What the hell is wrong with you people! You can’t breed a family with one person anyway!’

  Mason looked at me. ‘Not with that attitude, no. But eventually, Rose will fall pregnant and we’ll know our line is guaranteed. Until then, every young man who comes in here must take his turn or pay up. You want to leave, get your nephew to do his work. Just one go, that’s all we ask.’

  He was serious, that was clear. And I was not going to be able to get us out of this. I was going to have to stand here and watch my nephew forced to… God. It was too horrifying a thought to complete. But it was going to happen. And I couldn’t do a thing to stop it.

  I saw Jude’s shoulders slump and then he said sorrowfully, ‘It’s alright, Auntie Alice.’ He turned to Rose, who nodded at him. ‘Good boy’ she said, as though he were a dog doing a trick.

  I turned away.

  ‘There’s nothing good about this’ said a voice, and I turned to the back of the garden to find the source of it. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was Rachel. She’d mounted the wall and dropped in unseen in all the chaos. And she was holding our gun. I’ve never been so grateful to see anyone in my whole life.

  Mason turned with the rest of the family, amazed to see Rachel. ‘Who the fuck are you?’

  ‘The cavalry, apparently’ she said. ‘I don’t know what the hell you people think you’re doing but I’m not having it.’ She looked to me, Jude and Emma, ‘Come on, you lot. Get behind me.’

  Jude practically ran to Rachel. Emma and I weren’t far behind. Now we were in the back of the garden, facing the Randall’s, who weren’t looking at anything but Rachel’s gun. We were safe for the moment, but the steel back gate was completely blocked off. If we wanted to get out, we’d all have to find a way to clamber back over while we held them off. It didn’t seem like a sound plan.

  ‘This isn’t your business’ Mason said to Rachel, taking a step toward us, holding out his box cutter. ‘We’ll let you leave but you go alone. And you have to go now.’

  ‘You’re not really in a position to be making threats’ Rachel told him.

  ‘You’ve got one gun and there’s a load of us. Do you really think you’ll be able to kill the lot of us before we rush you?’ Mason replied.

  Rachel took a moment to assess the crowd. ‘Nope. But I could probably get a couple of you. Are you willing to risk that to win? I mean, what if I get Grandad over there’ she said, nodding to Adam.

  Adam raised an eyebrow and looked at Mason. ‘Mason, she’s got a point. I’m not scared to die but maybe this isn’t worth it. That little runt probably couldn’t manage the job anyway.’ I glared at Adam and he looked right back, cold as ice.

  Bess stepped in next to her husband. ‘Let’s just let this one go, shall we?’ she said calmly. I thought we were home free at that point.

  But then Rose spoke. ‘Dad, are you just gonna let them walk out? It’s one gun and it’s probably not even loaded!’ she said bolshily.

  I looked to Rachel, worried. Rose had nailed us, the gun wasn’t loaded. And if Rachel gave that away, these people would tear us to pieces.

  But Rachel didn’t blink. She gave Rose a little smile instead. ‘Wanna come and find out how many bullets I’ve got? Come on, come over here. Take the gun from me.’

  Rose looked uncertainly at Rachel. She didn’t move.

  Mason shook his head. ‘Right. I’ve had enough of this. I want you lot out.’

  I heard Emma give a light moan of relief. But we weren’t out yet.

  ‘Take us to the front door’ I said to Mason. ‘Everyone else stays out here.’

  He bit his cheek and then gave an angry little nod, turning to the rest of the Randall’s. ‘Stay here’ he said firmly. No one looked like arguing with him.

  We all walked sideways past the family, sliding along the side wall while they eyed us with hatred. Rachel kept her gun low, her eyes darting, looking for anyone who might decide to push their luck. But they all stayed still while Mason led us back into the building.

  Once we were inside, Rachel turned to the back door, spotting a dead bolt at the top. ‘Emma, lock that, would you?’ Emma did as asked while Rachel kept the gun on Mason. ‘Keep going’ she ordered him and he began to walk backwards down the hall, facing us, his knife still in his hand. ‘You don’t need to do that’ Rachel told him. ‘We only want to get out.’

  ‘Wouldn’t trust you lot as far as I could throw you’ Mason growled, still walking backwards.

  That went on for a few minutes, us shuffling forward, following Mason’s angry moonwalk, traveling down the musty halls. My heart felt like it was going to beat its way out of my chest, I was so scared.

  Eventually, we reached the large wooden door at the front entrance. ‘Open it’ Rachel told him.

  ‘Oh, didn’t I say? It has to be done on the second floor. That’s where the pulley is’ Mason said smugly.

  Rachel gritted her teeth. ‘Fine.’ She looked at me. ‘You all wait here. I’ll go upstairs with him. When the door opens, get out and wait for me on the road.

  I shook my head vehemently. ‘No, we’ll all go together.’

  Rachel gave me a small smile. ‘I’ll be right behind you, don’t worry. Look after your nephew, I think he needs it.’

  I glanced at Jude, shaken and small. When I turned back, Rachel was already walking away, following Mason to the stairs. Once she was out of sight, I turned to Emma and Jude. ‘You heard her. The door goes up, you walk out and we’ll be right behind you.’

  Emma looked at me in anger. ‘No. You stay with us.’

  ‘Like I’m gonna let her go up there with him alone? She came back for us, Emma’ I told my sister-in-law resolutely. ‘Just get Jude out, alright?’ I turned from them and headed for the stairway.

  I ran up the stairs, hoping to catch up to Rachel and Mason, the faster the better. I didn’t want to leave her alone with that lunatic. I reached the landing of the second floor and I dashed into the hall, but I couldn’t see them. They must have been in the room with the pulley already. I didn’t know which room it was and I went sprinting down the hall, checking every door. They were all locked. I kept going, feeling fear blossom in my chest.

  I was almost at the end of the hall when I saw a door that was wide open and I headed right for it. I was almost there when I heard the sound of glass smashing and a scream.

  Seventeen

  Rachel

  After I’d found a way over that high wall and after I’d found myself in the middle of whatever messed up goings on occurred at that hotel, I did something I wasn’t really p
lanning on. I was supposed to creep in and scope it out, find out if there was a problem, be ready to get people out if needed. But the plan was to do it quietly. Instead, I found myself standing in the middle of all those creeps, waving a gun around and threatening to shoot people.

  At first I thought I’d gone way too far. But one look at Alice’s face and I knew I’d made the right choice. Alice was scared to death of these people, as were Jude and Emma. From the other side of the wall, I hadn’t quite been able to make out what was going on. I was trying to find a good foothold to scale it but I was still working out my route. If I got halfway up and fell off, I could break something and then I was no good to anyone, so I was taking a moment to examine the wall.

  And then I heard Alice’s voice, panicked and frightened. I found myself throwing caution to the wind, scrabbling up the wall, my hands and feet somehow finding purchase until I was at the top, my fingers holding on for dear life to the tip of the wall. My feet dangled, looking for a place to hook on and then my left foot found a loose brick. One last boost and I went over, finding some luck on the other side.

  Ivy climbed the inside wall and I was down quickly and safely, landing a hundred yards from what looked, even from this distance, serious. The big guy I’d seen earlier, he was looming over the Quinn’s. Alice was trying to be brave, but she looked like she knew she was beaten.

  Then Jude said, ‘It’s alright, Auntie Alice’ and a young woman started to advance on him, calling him a ‘Good boy.’ Now, I didn’t really understand what was going on but I was starting to get an inkling and I knew it was some nasty shit that was about to go down. But it was Alice’s sad face as she closed her eyes, that was what pushed me over the edge. And then I was like some ridiculous action hero from a bad movie, waving the gun around that Alice had given me back at the house, making threats, getting the Quinn’s behind me.