The Complex

by Michael Walters

  ‘Have you seen Fleur?’ Stefan asked.

  ‘She came through.’

  ‘Was she okay?’

  ‘I don’t know. She was heading somewhere. Did you sleep okay?’

  ‘Not really.’

  ‘Listen, Stefan, I’m sorry about yesterday. I haven’t been myself.’

  He looked at his father more closely. He hadn’t shaved, but something about the tone of his voice made Stefan feel better. ‘It’s okay. It’s been a weird week.’

  His father gave him an odd smile. ‘It really has.’

  Stefan got himself a glass of water and looked out at the garden. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The sculptures’ stones had all turned black overnight.

  ‘Have you seen this, Dad?’

  ‘Yup.’

  ‘What the hell happened to them?’ He could hear the astonishment in his own voice.

  ‘It’s yet another mystery in a week of the buggers.’

  ‘Has Mum—’

  ‘We’re going to leave today. She’s been packing your stuff for you.’

  Stefan blushed. She would know he hadn’t slept in his bed last night. ‘Right. Which way did Fleur go?’

  His father gestured at the basement steps. ‘Down.’

  The basement had lost its faded-glamour vibe and now just felt deserted. It was another sign things were ending. When he stepped into the corridor it was dead cold and the cables, which had been oily, black and hot, were now grey and lifeless. The strip lights were on at least. He ran to Art’s door to warm himself up. Inside, the bed was just the same, though there was more mess on the floor because a stack of boxes had fallen over.

  ‘Fleur?’

  She was in the next room, sitting with her back against a wall. He entered cautiously. After the drama of last night, it was noticeably drab and empty – no shimmering, no hallucinations, but there was a hole in the floor near the far wall. Had that been there? Fleur had her eyes closed. He knew she had heard him. He went to the hole, glancing at Fleur as he went. Her cheeks were damp. He peered in. It looked deep.

  ‘Was this here last night?’

  ‘Yes. But it was covered with a blue sheet.’

  ‘We should get help,’ he said.

  ‘Yeah.’ She wiped her eyes with her knuckles.

  ‘Come on.’ He held both his hands out to her.

  She didn’t move. ‘I feel so sad, Stefan.’ Fresh tears welled up as she spoke. ‘He’s okay, isn’t he?’

  He didn’t know what to say. He knew what she was thinking, but there were lots of places he could be. He put his hands out and she let herself be pulled up.

  ‘Let’s see where the corridor goes,’ he said.

  They walked side by side further into the mountain. There was nothing to walk towards, just a point of light that didn’t get any closer. Neither of them spoke. Fleur kept wiping at her eyes.

  Just as Stefan spotted it, Fleur touched his arm.

  ‘Facial scanner,’ she said, pointing at the black box. It seemed to float in the air. It was embedded in a pane of glass that blocked any further progress. The grey cables disappeared into the ceiling and didn’t reappear the other side.

  ‘Look at the logo,’ Fleur said.

  Stefan checked the scanner. It had the Fisher Industries logo on its side.

  Fleur hammered the glass with her fist. ‘Hey! Open up!’

  Stefan looked for a security camera but couldn’t see one.

  Fleur put her face into the scanner. ‘This thing isn’t even on.’ She stepped back, then gave the glass a final kick. She cursed and started walking back.

  Stefan waited. He thought he saw something move in the far distance, but it was nothing. He half-expected, hoped even, to see staff come running, but no one came. It occurred to him that Fisher Industries could be doing anything down here and perhaps he didn’t want to be picked up by a security team.

  He hurried after Fleur. She wasn’t slowing for him. He stayed back to give her some space. She went straight past her father’s office without stopping.

  In the kitchen, his mother was adding her suitcase to the pile of their things next to the sofa. She paused when she saw them come up the basement steps. He thought he saw a fleeting look of panic.

  ‘Dad’s missing,’ Fleur said. ‘We have to get help.’

  ‘I’ve looked for him too,’ his mother said. ‘I wanted to tell him we are leaving.’

  Fleur looked at Stefan, then back to Gabrielle. ‘Aren’t you worried about him?’

  ‘He’s probably walking in the grounds somewhere. Is his rifle gone?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘There’s every chance he’s looking for deer.’

  Fleur clenched her fists. ‘He was ill. He’s not hunting deer. I wanted him to go to the hospital, but he wouldn’t. There’s a hole—’ She started to cry and stopped herself. ‘There’s a hole in that room of his. I’m afraid he’s fallen into it. Either that or he’s out in the woods and in some sort of trouble. You didn’t see him last night. His breathing—’

  ‘Pack your things and come with us,’ his mother said. ‘It’s two hours across the mountains. We might get grid back after an hour or so. We can call the police.’

  ‘I’m staying here,’ Fleur said.

  His mother seemed flustered at that. ‘I don’t know if I can—’

  ‘This is my father’s house. I’m staying. He might come back.’

  His mother went to get a glass of water. Sipping it, she looked at Fleur. ‘Leo will stay with you.’

  Stefan said, ‘And I want to—’

  ‘You need to come with me,’ his mother said. ‘If anything happens, at least we’re in pairs.’

  His father came out of the bedroom corridor carrying a case. ‘That’s the last one.’

  ‘Leo,’ his mother said, and motioned his father away from them. She put her hand on his arm as she talked quietly to him, out of earshot.

  ‘It looks like I’m leaving,’ Stefan said to Fleur. ‘Can I have your number?’

  ‘Sure.’

  He found his phone in the front pocket of his bag. Fleur recited her number and he messaged her.

  ‘You’ll get it as soon as we’re both on grid,’ he said.

  ‘I don’t think we’re going to find him.’ She sounded forlorn and radiated sadness.

  Stefan opened his arms tentatively and she put her head on his shoulder. He held her gently. Her hair smelt faintly of sandalwood.

  ‘Okay,’ his mother said. ‘Let’s load the car.’

  Fleur pulled away from him. ‘I don’t like goodbyes,’ she said.

  Stefan and his father took the bags out. His mother didn’t linger, and she started the car before Stefan had closed the boot.

  His father ruffled his hair. ‘See you on the other side,’ he said.

  ‘Where’s Fleur?’

  ‘You’ve got to go.’

  Stefan got in the passenger seat and looked for Fleur as his mother reversed the car. She was watching from the front door and they were past her before he could lift his hand to wave. They accelerated along the drive, his mother’s knuckles white on the steering wheel. Stefan looked back as they got to the ridge. The house’s windows were already catching the morning sun and were impenetrable. He hadn’t even had breakfast. His mother said there were biscuits in a bag behind the driver’s seat. He dug them out as they drove down to the gatehouse.

  ‘We’ll see them both soon enough,’ his mother said.

  ‘What’s the plan?’

  ‘We drive. Phone the police when we get grid back. Go home and wait for your father to join us. The police will bring him. They might even fly him if there’s a helicopter.’

  They both ate a biscuit as his mother drove them back and forth along the hill, ever higher towards the forest. It was
odd to be sitting in the front seat, knowing his father was still with Fleur.

  ‘Look at the trees,’ his mother said. ‘Up here, they’ve still got their leaves.’

  ‘Art said there was something in the ground that was killing everything.’

  ‘He said that?’

  ‘Can we stop when we reach the deer we hit? I’d like to move it.’

  ‘We haven’t got time.’

  ‘It’ll take two minutes. Please.’

  His mother chewed on the inside of her cheek. ‘Okay. But we’ll have to make it quick.’

  The road entered the forest.

  Maya said, ‘Cannot connect to grid.’

  ‘Is Dad okay?’

  ‘Your father’s fine. I’m fine. You really like Fleur, don’t you?’

  ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen now.’

  ‘Concentrate on your Finals. Don’t get distracted.’

  He recognised the bend in the track. ‘This is it.’

  His mother stopped the car and Stefan got out first, bounding up the slope. He wanted to check something that had been bothering him. His mother’s door slammed behind him. The deer was in the same position as they had left it, one leg awkwardly in the air. Its guts and blood were dried but still visible where they had dragged the body under the car. It didn’t seem as shocking now.

  The trees were still, and he had that feeling again of being an intruder. He went on one knee and examined the body.

  ‘Let’s not mess around,’ his mother said, watching from a couple of metres away.

  ‘There’s no bullet hole,’ he said. ‘Look.’

  His mother came closer. He examined the deer’s eyeball. It was glazed and black. There was perhaps the faintest grid of grey, but the light was dim, and he had no desire to go and get a torch. There was a definite smell to the body, much stronger than the stag. He stood up.

  ‘I made a mistake,’ she said. There was a hint of confusion in her voice. ‘I’ll take the front legs.’

  She lifted her end quickly, so the head lolled onto the track. Stefan hurried to pick up the back legs so the body wouldn’t get any more damaged. It wasn’t heavy. A youngster. They took it to the slope and dropped it as gently as they could. It slipped about a metre down and stopped at the base of a big fir. Stefan climbed down carefully. His mother joined him.

  ‘Now what?’ his mother said, looking anxiously back at the car.

  Stefan picked a couple of ferns. It was all there was. They were still damp with dew. He gave one to his mother and put the other on the deer’s exposed side.

  His mother sighed. ‘What a week.’ She put her fern next to Stefan’s.

  They both looked at the deer.

  ‘Do you think they’ll find him?’ Stefan asked.

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘I feel responsible somehow. I don’t know why.’

  ‘None of this is your fault,’ his mother said. ‘None of it.’ She nodded at the buck’s body. ‘And you were right. This was a good idea. Now let’s go. I want to get as far away from this place as possible.’

  They got back in the car. His mother accelerated up the mountain track, headlights on full beam.

  Maya said, ‘Cannot connect to grid.’

  They broke out of the woods at the summit. Stefan deliberately didn’t look at the view. He spotted another deer on the right, this one with a small set of antlers. The car was jumping around on the rough track, so it was hard to see, but he guessed the deer was only a little older than the one they had just moved from the road. It seemed unfazed, chewing on a mouthful of grass as they passed. Then they were back in the murkiness of the fir trees.

  The track was shallow for a while, then became steeper. His mother drove with more confidence than his father and he wondered why she hadn’t driven them there in the first place. If they hadn’t hit the deer, perhaps the whole week would have turned out differently. He studied his mother’s profile more closely and thought about the girl she had shot. Killed. An accident. It explained a lot. He supposed she would never talk about it. Part of him didn’t want to know anyway. He noticed she was wearing an identical pair of earrings to the ones he had noticed on the drive in, except these were black crystal set in silver instead of white.

  She must have sensed his stare, because she broke into a smile. ‘What?’

  ‘Gothic,’ Stefan said, batting an earring gently with his finger. ‘It suits you.’

  She grabbed his hand and squeezed it hard.

  ‘I’m going to miss you,’ she said. ‘When you go. You know that, right?’

  ‘Yeah. I know.’

  She looked across at him, her eyes shining.

  Maya said: ‘Grid connected.’

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you to my priceless editor, Nicholas Royle, and to Chris Hamilton-Emery, Jen Hamilton-Emery and Emma Dowson at Salt Publishing, who made this book real and sent it out into the world.

  To my supportive early readers, thank you Lucie McKnight Hardy, Justine Bothwick, James Hodgson and Aki Gibbons.

  Special thanks to Dr Kate Page, who helped me, amongst many other things, through writer’s block, and Laura London, whose friendship and daily quotes on Carl Jung have been a constant companion as The Complex slowly constellated.

  To my mother, father and sister – love always. Mam would have been so proud. And of course Gill, Luc and Seren – words cannot express my full gratitude and love for you all being in my life.