The Forevers

by Chris Whitaker

Mae held her breath.

  ‘I thought I was so blessed. I didn’t even see the fatal flaw, or maybe I did but I looked past it. Is that what we do, is that how we absolve ourselves? We look but we don’t see. I see girls around my father, even Lexi, they get all … tits up, arse out. I fucking coined that move.’

  ‘The necklace, I didn’t steal it. Your father gave it to Abi. She sold it to get the money for the abortion.’

  The slightest flinch. ‘She calmed the second his name left her lips, like she’d been holding it too tight. She wanted to tell someone, her parents. Me. Theodore, someone. But you see, Mae, that day she’d already told Counsellor Jane.’

  ‘What did you do, Hunter?’

  ‘I did nothing. I stood beside her. And we held out our arms like we could fly. I don’t even know if she jumped, or if she slipped.’

  Mae closed her eyes, and when she opened them she saw a flash of sadness, a single crack in Hunter Silver’s immaculate face. Hunter caught it quick, smoothed it away like it’d never been.

  ‘You need to make it right,’ Mae said.

  ‘There is no right. No wrong.’

  ‘There has to be.’

  ‘I used to think you were bad, Mae, now I just think you’re just naive.’

  Mae stepped closer to her. ‘You can still take your Forever back.’

  ‘I never had it to begin with.’

  She danced with Sail for a long time.

  ‘Are you brilliant?’ he said.

  Mae thought of Abi Manton, of everything they had been through. ‘I am.’

  She thought they were done with the drama, and then she heard the noise.

  A space cleared as the crowd parted.

  He wore a fitted tux. His lips were painted dusky pink, his eyes smoky, his lashes long.

  There were murmurs. Liam looked at Hugo like it was some kind of prank he wasn’t in on. Hugo stood tall as he stepped beneath the spotlight.

  And then people laughed.

  They laughed and pointed and Hugo flashed a practised smile at all of them.

  ‘You look ridiculous,’ Liam said.

  ‘He looks hot.’

  They turned towards the voice. Hunter stood there, sparkling in gold, and she extended a hand.

  Hugo walked through them. ‘Dance?’ he said.

  ‘First I have to do something.’

  They watched her climb onto the stage. The music died as she took hold of the microphone.

  She thanked them for coming. ‘You look fierce, Hugo. And I love you.’

  He mouthed it back.

  And then she pointed to her father. ‘I just want to say a thank you to my dad, who’s always been there for me.’

  Mr Silver smiled.

  ‘I mean, always.’ Hunter stopped smiling. Mae could see the microphone shaking in her hands. ‘Except for those nights when he said he was working late.’

  Heavy silence fell.

  ‘I thought I was lucky, you know? I have a father that works hard so we can have all this …’ She took off her diamond earrings and tossed them to the floor. ‘But I know. Gemma. And now Abi.’

  Mae glanced at Mr Silver, who stood there frozen, his eyes locked on his daughter as she bared her soul.

  ‘I know everyone looks at me … girls dress like me, cut their hair like mine. They copy the things I say and do because they think it’ll make them better. It won’t. Abi did all that. And my father got her pregnant.’

  There were gasps.

  ‘And Abi jumped from that cliff because she felt like she had no one. I know that feeling. I know what it’s like to have everyone look at you and nobody see you. Tonight someone told me I could take back my Forever. I don’t think that’s true. But fuck it, I’m going to try.’

  46

  ‘Shit, it effing stings,’ Hunter said, as Mae worked on her wrist.

  They were sat on a bench at the bottom of the driveway.

  They’d all marched through West like an army in black tie and ballgowns.

  The party was at the Prince house.

  Spotlights shone into the sky as a heavy bassline thumped.

  ‘Are you okay?’ Mae said.

  ‘Now, yeah. I’m drunk. But when I get home, and I see my mother …’

  Mae and Hunter watched Hugo as he tussled with Liam, just playing, Liam joked Hugo was too worried about losing a nail to get into it properly.

  ‘Your boyfriend likes to wear make-up.’

  ‘I’ve always known, Mae. Always. I caught him with my lipstick when he thought I was asleep.’

  ‘It doesn’t bother you?’

  ‘Hugo’s a good guy, he just hides it well.’

  ‘Under a thick layer of foundation.’

  ‘He learned from the master.’

  They stood.

  ‘Something I forgot to ask – what did you do with the other tapes?’ Mae said.

  ‘Please, that wasn’t me. You really think I wanted Abi Manton coming back from the dead?’

  The house had been transformed. Lights were strung from every tree, a butler stood by the door and handed out champagne while Final banners were draped from the windows.

  Dry ice smoked from machines by the garage block and drifted like fog across the driveway And behind that was the hole, the reminder that nothing about their night was normal, no matter how they pretended otherwise.

  Hugo stood in the shadows. Mae could see his hands shaking.

  ‘You don’t have to do this,’ Hunter said.

  ‘You stand up to your father, I’ll stand up to mine. That was what we agreed.’

  Maybe Hunter would’ve done it anyway. Mae looked at her, in that perfect gold dress, and she wondered just how little she knew about her.

  Hunter kissed him, then fixed both of their lipstick. Hugo took a deep breath, grabbed Hunter’s hand and they began to walk up the driveway.

  Inside the music was deafening.

  People spilled from every room.

  In the kitchen kids played beer pong. Mae watched a boy run past clutching his mouth, looking for somewhere to puke.

  ‘We need a room,’ Candice said to Hugo.

  She grasped Felix’s hand. He made eyes at Mae, who leaned close so she could hear him.

  ‘I’m scared,’ he said.

  Hunter pointed to the stairs. ‘Take your pick.’

  Felix leaned closer to Mae. ‘Those pills I’ve been taking to keep me up, they don’t keep all of me up. In fact they kind of do the opposite.’

  ‘Jesus.’

  ‘Yeah, he still hasn’t helped either.’

  Candice dragged him towards the stairs.

  Felix looked close to tears as he followed her up, his fingers crossed behind him, like he was hoping for a miracle.

  And then the music died.

  Sergeant Walters walked into the room, clutching his hat, his mouth tight. Mae thought of his life, working on the last night, his commitment to keeping order.

  He walked up to Sally Sweeny and asked her to step outside.

  Mae moved in front of her.

  ‘I need to talk to Sally alone.’

  ‘No,’ Mae said. ‘It’s the last night, she’s at a party. She needs this.’

  Sergeant Walters seemed to weigh things, then looked directly at Sally. ‘Is there anything you need to talk to me about, Sally?’

  Sally looked at Mae.

  Sergeant Walters continued to watch her. ‘Mitch Travers was out fishing today. On his way back in he saw something by the cove. White as a ghost when he told me.’

  ‘What did he see?’ Sally said, so quiet Mae could hear her own breathing.

  ‘Two of them. Only people I’ve got missing from this town since I closed the road in.’

  Sally closed her eyes.

  ‘Thought he saw,’ Mae cut in. She felt every eye on her, on Sally and Sail and Sergeant Walters.

  ‘The tide, it goes out at sunrise. I’ll be able to get to them. But I think I have a good idea what I’ll find. It’ll be easier if you just t
ell me. You need to come now, Sally.’

  ‘And then what happens?’ Sally said.

  Sergeant Walters smiled at her, the kind of sorry smile that almost broke Mae. ‘I do my job. I keep you all safe and I uphold the law. And it doesn’t matter if Selena comes, or if she doesn’t. I’ll die protecting this town and the values that built it. I have to take you in, Sally.’

  Sally went to step forward but Mae stayed in place.

  ‘Don’t make this harder,’ he said.

  ‘Sally was at the concert last night,’ Mae said.

  ‘And after that?’

  ‘She was at the beach with me,’ Matilda said.

  ‘I saw her at eleven,’ Betty said.

  ‘I saw her at midnight,’ Sail said.

  ‘I was there till dawn. Right beside her,’ Hunter said.

  Sergeant Walters looked at each of them in turn. ‘And before the concert?’

  There was silence for a while.

  ‘She was with me. We rehearsed all day.’ They all turned to see Theodore, beyond reproach.

  Sergeant Walters looked down at Theodore’s wrist, then shook his head sadly, like he was disappointed in every one of them. ‘Your house, Sally. That feeling I got. All that bleach I could smell. I understand, believe me I do. You should have come to me. You have a duty to report it.’

  ‘To report it?’ Mae said.

  He faced her.

  ‘How’s your father, Sergeant Walters?’

  Time froze between them.

  And then he looked around, at all the faces watching him, and he made his decision, because he knew Mae, he knew she wouldn’t back down.

  ‘At dawn I’ll find out. And this just got a whole lot worse for all of you.’

  They watched him leave.

  For a while nobody spoke, and then Mae followed Sally out to the pool as the music started up again.

  They watched the blue of the water.

  ‘I’ll tell him what I did. I’ll say I did it alone and –’

  There was a moment when Jon Prince saw his son. The make-up on his face.

  And that moment seemed to stretch for so long that Mae stood close to Sail and felt his body tense.

  The hatred he felt for his all-star son was plain to see.

  Mae spotted a couple of Forevers, and they didn’t turn away, just silently moved towards Hugo, till they stood beside him.

  And then others from the house came out, maybe twenty of them, and they joined the line.

  Jon Prince started to laugh. ‘Out here in the open now? I didn’t beat it out of you?’

  Hugo watched his father.

  Jon Prince kept the sneer in place, though the laughter died.

  Hunter kept hold of Hugo’s hand.

  Jon Prince took a step towards his son.

  But so did Liam.

  And Sail.

  And a dozen other Forevers.

  ‘You’ve got your gang together now,’ Jon Prince said, sneering. ‘I tried with you, Hugo. I always did my best, but you were too much like your mother. Shit, you’re even starting to look like her.’

  And then the tirade began. Maybe he was drunk, or frighteningly sober, but he swore at Hugo. He told him he was a freak, that he was weak, that he wasn’t a Prince.

  Mae watched Hugo. He said nothing back but she could see the hurt and the strength there.

  ‘Maybe I didn’t hit you hard enough,’ Jon Prince said.

  ‘Like you hit Mum hard enough?’

  ‘You watch your mouth.’

  ‘Why? I thought we were telling each other how we really feel. We confess all our sins before the morning comes.’

  ‘You shut your mouth, Hugo.’

  ‘The night you started digging was the night Mum left us. Only she didn’t really leave, did she?’

  ‘I’m warning you.’

  Hugo took a step forward, alone. ‘You didn’t mean it, that’s what you told me. She hit her head when she fell. The Wright girl next door, she was looking out, always watching the sky. And she saw you digging. So you told everyone you were digging a bunker.’

  Jon Prince watched his son with hatred burning in his eyes.

  ‘That’s why you don’t let building control in here. Why you’ve done all the work yourself. Why the town keeps shaking the way it does. Because you’re wrecking it. Because you know what they’ll find.’

  Jon Prince took a deep breath, and then he smiled. ‘You could’ve had it all, Hugo. But now you’ll rot, just like your mother. And your freak friends.’

  ‘We’re not freaks,’ Hugo said.

  ‘We’re creeps,’ Hunter said.

  ‘And weirdos,’ Mae said.

  Jon Prince looked at them like they were crazy. And then he took a step back, and they watched him as the lift began to descend.

  ‘There’s no room for you in here,’ he said to Hugo, as he took a last look at his son, and then he disappeared below.

  They heard the heavy, steel door begin to close for the first time. It groaned and moved and dislodged itself from its place.

  No one spoke for a long time.

  Hunter cuddled close to Hugo.

  He didn’t look sad, that was what Mae thought, there was something different about him, like he’d finally found his Forever.

  47

  The party raged till the sky lightened.

  And then the Forevers gathered on Ocean Drive. Together they walked down to the beach, Sally at the heart of them. Maybe the shock was beginning to wear off, because when Mae looked at her she saw tears falling from Sally’s eyes.

  At the bay they saw Sergeant Walters, his head down as he trudged along the sand like a man condemned to his calling.

  They walked a little way behind him.

  ‘We could skip town,’ Mae said.

  Sally shook her head. ‘I think I’m done being afraid.’

  ‘I won’t let him take you.’

  ‘None of us will,’ Matilda said.

  Sally stopped then, right in front of them, and she hugged them each in turn. ‘You’ve had my back. Now it’s time for me to have yours. I’ve got this.’

  They watched her walk across the sand, trailing Sergeant Walters as the water began to creep from the rocks. They knew what he’d find, they knew Sally would confess. She would die alone.

  ‘Are we going to let her do this?’ Mae said.

  ‘Hell no,’ Betty said.

  They caught up with Sally and walked beside her. Five Forevers in perfect step with each other.

  The moon pulled the tide.

  ‘All right,’ Sergeant Walters said, as his pathway cleared.

  They were about to move with him when they heard it.

  That familiar rumble.

  This time it came from above them.

  And it was louder, so loud they each took a step back into the water.

  Sail was the first to notice the crack.

  ‘Jesus …’ Mae said.

  The crack in the cliff edge was joined by another.

  Betty pointed high ahead of them.

  ‘It’s the Prince house,’ Sergeant Walters said.

  The lines snaked from the steel bunker buried deep in the earth. The bunker Jon Prince hadn’t got permission to build. The bunker that rumbled the town of West.

  They watched the cliff begin to crumble. And then large chunks of rock rained down. They stood frozen as the steel of the Prince bunker was bared.

  And West was silent again.

  Mae was the only one to look ahead to the cove, her breath held as she saw two shapes almost uncovered.

  Sergeant Walters was about to turn when the second rumble hit.

  This time it was savage, so deep and loud Mae saw dozens running towards them, motioning them back.

  A scream as another crack opened.

  It raced along the white face of the cliff and twisted its way up till it met the graveyard high above them.

  Time slowed.

  The church that had stood there two hundred years began
to lean towards them.

  ‘Run,’ Sergeant Walters shouted.

  They turned and ran along the water edge. Sail helped Sally.

  Only when they heard the final rumble did they stop, breathless as they turned and watched the church tear from its foundations and crash to the rocks below.

  The dust cloud rose high.

  In the distance Mae saw dozens run from it, then take their place at the edge of the road to watch the spectacle.

  She heard screams, saw people gather and cry.

  They stood there stunned, the cove gone, replaced with rubble that continued to rain down. Sergeant Walters left them and ran towards the bay, to try to seal off the area above to keep people away.

  ‘Jesus,’ Felix greeted them, as they arrived back at the crowd.

  ‘We’ve already covered that,’ Mae said.

  ‘The church,’ Hunter said. She stood barefoot on the sand, carrying her heels.

  They were joined by others, still wearing their suits, their dresses.

  ‘As last nights go,’ Hugo said.

  ‘Yeah,’ Sail said.

  They all looked up to the top of the cliff, to the gap where their faith used to be, where they spent a million Sundays asking why and pleading for more.

  ‘It fell on the cove?’ Sail said. ‘I’ll be damned.’

  ‘No, you won’t. None of us will.’

  The waves lapped.

  The sun rose higher.

  ‘We lived,’ Hugo said.

  Mae didn’t notice the boy behind them.

  For the second time that morning time slowed, sounds muffled, birds circled above them.

  The surprised look on Hunter’s face.

  The way Candice’s scream floated high above them all.

  At first Hugo didn’t move, just looked at Mae and Hunter, confusion in his eyes. He smiled again as the colour drained from his face, and he dropped to his knees.

  Sail tried to catch him.

  And then they saw it.

  The blood.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Jeet Patel said, as he let the knife fall to the sand.

  48

  Whatever was left of them died that morning on the beach. Died as they watched Hunter Silver, the newest Forever, cradle the love of her life.

  Sail tried to stop the blood but there was just too much.

  Sergeant Walters knelt beside them.

  ‘Hell,’ he said. ‘Hell.’