Kyle rushed beside him and elbowed him out the way, snatching the cutters from his hands. “Let me. This is my rodeo.”
Travis looked as though he was about to argue, then thought better of it.
Kyle worked greedily away at the fence until he had snipped a segment tall enough and wide enough to peel back the metal and slip through. He assisted Amy, holding out his hand to ease her inside, then waited impatiently for the others to follow.
Travis pushed his way towards the hole when something launched at his face. The force of it knocked his head backwards and he stumbled several steps. He shook his head, hand reaching to his forehead when he spotted the basketball rolling back towards Kyle and Amy.
“Ladies first, dickhead.”
Amy let out a raucous heehaw of amusement. “Yeah. Where are your manners? Come on, Soph.”
Sophie glanced guiltily at Travis, apology buried deep in her eyes as he stepped back and motioned for her to pass on through. When she was safe on the other side, Amy roughly grabbed her arm again and locked it in her own.
Travis tried once again to step through, when another projectile came flying towards his face. This time he was more prepared and ducked out the way before it could hit him. The basketball bounced off the fence and rolled off to the side. Cody and Brandon watched in stunned silence as, this time, Amy shouted at him. “We said ladies first.”
Travis turned over his shoulder to where Cody and Brandon where waiting patiently. He let out a derisive laugh. “You’re kidding? Those two?”
Kyle fixed a steady gaze on Travis. “You heard her, let the ladies through.”
Travis spared a glance back at the pair before lowering his gaze to the floor and stepping back. Even he knew better than to argue with Kyle.
“After you,” Travis mumbled.
Amy clapped her hands together. “We haven’t got all night, girls. Get your asses in gear.”
“You still think this is a good idea?” Brandon muttered before passing through the gate, his protruding belly scraping against the sharp claws of the broken metal before he popped out on the other side.
Cody wasted no time following after, desperately avoiding Travis’ eyes as he waited at the side. After Cody had passed through, Travis silently followed, momentarily catching the mirth in Kyle’s eyes.
Without another word, Kyle turned away and made a beeline for the gymnasium. Still Cody wondered how they were going to get inside, but after seeing Travis’ preparedness, he didn’t doubt that they eventually would. He was not disappointed when they reached the side entrance to the gym and Kyle examined the padlock on the door. Reaching into his pocket, he crouched down by the lock and drew two small lockpicks. He closed his eyes as he inserted the picks inside the mechanism and started slowly teasing and twisting them in either direction.
If he was trying to hear something inside the padlock, Cody had no idea how he would be able to. The wind howled around them, sending up dizzying eddies of fresh powder from the ground. Small white tornadoes kicked into the air, traveling only a few feet before colliding with another and breaking into pieces. The only solace he could draw from the coming storm was that the clouds which had crawled across the sky now covered the hellish red glow of the Aurora. Only a faint pinkish tinge was visible in the places where the clouds were the most thinly veiled, but at least it was out of sight.
Out of sight, out of mind, as his mother used to say.
A sharp pinch of longing struck his stomach and he turned his thoughts away from his mother and father. Instead he thought of his uncle, wondered whether he would still be fast asleep, tucked into the cosy warmth of his bed.
“Got it! Ha!” Kyle’s tongue hung out his mouth as he made the final twist and freed the U-shaped bar from the lock. He tugged it free and discarded the lock to the side of the door.
There was little more warmth inside the empty school gymnasium, but at least they were free from the wind. Brandon was the last one in and when he pulled the door shut, the howling ceased almost instantly.
Their footsteps echoed, the laminated wood flooring and the sheet metal roofs creating an echo chamber of magnificent proportions. They lowered their hoods and took a few explorative steps around the space.
“It’s spooky at night.” Amy huddled closer to Sophie, her eyes darting around the room. “It doesn’t feel like the same place, does it?”
“No,” Sophie agreed, her voice soft and musical. “It doesn’t.”
A resounding echo met the first bouncing of the basketball on the floor. There was a hoop on either side of the gymnasium, fixed to the wall at just below the official ten-foot height, and it was Travis who barrelled towards the hoop now, dribbling the ball with trained elegance as he set up his first layup. He launched the ball and watched it spin a revolution around the bright orange hoop before dropping with satisfaction through the center.
“Game’s on, boys. Who’s got what it takes to beat T-King?”
Kyle spun to face the others and walked backwards onto the court. “Let’s do me, Travis, and Amy versus Cody, Sophie, and fat boy?”
Brandon glared at Kyle. Amy laughed.
Kyle stuck out his tongue. “I mean Brandon, of course.”
Sophie tsked then turned to Cody. “You any good?”
Cody grinned. “I can hold my own.”
“And you?”
Brandon flushed. “I think you know the answer to that.”
They set up on either side of the court, Kyle claiming the initial possession. He dribbled the ball between his legs, scooted it around his midsection and advanced on the hoop. Cody bent his knees and spread his arms, preparing to block a shot or a pass around him.
Kyle rushed him, lowering his shoulder and knocking straight into Cody’s sternum. Cody grimaced but held his ground, slowing down Kyle’s advance as he growled. Kyle searched for Travis, found him on the outer rim of the key and bounce-passed the ball.
Travis waited for the ball to come to him, but that was his mistake. Sophie dashed out from where she was guarding him and claimed the ball, tearing down the center strip and dribbling along the way. Amy, who had lingered back at the halfway line, gave a surprised yelp as Sophie faked to the right and spun back to her left, swinging easily past her.
Travis rushed back, chasing her down and closing the distance. But before he could make it to the paint, Sophie paused a few feet from the net and tossed a graceful two-pointer.
Travis caught up with her, his chest heaving from the sudden exertion. “You can play?”
Sophie gave a playful shrug. “Shouldn’t underestimate your opponents. You should know better than that.”
Cody and Brandon watched from their own half, goofy grins creeping up their faces. Sophie jogged back and high-fived them both. “Come on, boys. Think I can hold the fort down by myself? Get involved.” She laughed and took defensive stance.
Cody looked at Brandon as if to say, ‘Did you have any idea?’
Brandon shook his head.
Kyle scowled and demanded the ball back from Travis. The game resumed, a sudden tone of seriousness falling over Kyle’s cocky face. He unzipped his coat and tossed it to the side, stretching his arms and limbering himself up. “Two-two.”
“I don’t think so,” Cody retorted. “Two-zero.”
“What about Travis’ layup?”
“That doesn’t count,” Brandon said. “We hadn’t picked teams.”
“We started the minute we set foot in the gym.” Kyle bounced the ball against the floor with extra vigour, catching it roughly in his hands a second later. “Now, are you going to argue, or are you going to play ball?” He took two steps forward, standing just outside the key, then took a jump shot. The ball arced through the air and landed in the net, not even kissing the rim. “Five-two.”
Cody’s eyes narrowed. He shrugged off his own jacket and tossed it to the side of the court. The others followed suit, all except Amy and Brandon who had yet to exert themselves in any physical way.
/> “Fine,” Cody said. “Have it your way.”
Without hesitation, he took a sprint up to the halfway line. More prepared this time, Travis stepped in his way to block his advance. Cody dribbled the ball between his legs, throwing a few fakes to confuse Travis and set him off-course, keeping the ball moving.
“Not bad, rookie.”
Cody’s eyes fixed on Travis’. “That’s not what they called me in London.”
He threw another fake, then bounced the ball between Travis’ legs. While Travis had made a name for himself as the MVP of his grade’s basketball team, it had also made him overconfident. Cody hadn’t had the chance to showcase any of his basketball skills to his new classmates, having missed the try-out deadlines a few weeks before he had joined the school, but now he finally had a chance to show Travis and Kyle what he was all about.
Pressing the advantage, Cody strode around Travis and advanced on the net. Somewhere behind him he could hear Brandon huffing, his jacket rustling loudly as he ran. To his left, a blur of movement called his attention to Sophie who had out-sped Amy and was taking the lane down the wing.
Kyle waited for him at the key. Cody sneered, luring Kyle into a false sense of security as Cody closed the distance and drew him in. “See if you can block this,” Cody yelled, stopping a foot away from Kyle. He jumped backwards, looking as though he was about to shoot the fadeaway, when at the last minute he launched the ball to his left and straight into Sophie’s hands. As he came down from his jump, Sophie completed the manoeuvre and sent the ball into the hoop.
Cody landed with a loud clap as his boots touched the ground. His eyes found Sophie’s and they shared a smile, throwing Cody fleetingly back to that moment in the hallway just a few weeks ago, when suddenly a red-hot pain exploded on his face and his vision went black.
Cody was aware of falling. He hit the floor, his head landing with a dull thud. Somewhere around him someone shouted, “Go! Go!” A moment later the unmistakable sound of a ball passing through net.
“What the hell are you doing!?” Sophie’s voice, nearby.
Cody held his nose, realizing that the source of his pain was the throbbing across the center of his face. Something warm slicked his hands and as he peeled open eyes that were clouded with the tears he was holding back, he realized that it was his own blood. Droplets of the stuff blurred against his vision and, for a moment, he saw the Aurora behind his eyelids with striking clarity. He felt its heat, could taste its metallic tang, the white-hot throb of hurt bleeding from the sky.
He sat up and let the blood slip down his face and splatter on the floor.
“What the hell was that!?” Sophie’s voice echoed around the gymnasium.
“Seven–four.” There was a sick satisfaction in Kyle’s voice. Cody looked up to find both Kyle and Sophie standing just a few feet from where he sat on the floor. “Not my fault your man can’t take the pressure.”
“You head-butted him, you freak.” Sophie closed in on Kyle and slapped his face. The amusement instantly melted into a sick shade of venom. “That was totally uncalled for.”
“Leave him alone!” Amy called, running across the gymnasium. “He did no such thing. Cody just got in his way.”
“Got in his way? Cody landed and Kyle went for him. Don’t pretend you didn’t see that.”
She turned to Brandon who stood the farthest from the group, hands buried deep in his jacket pockets. There was a paralyzed expression on his face as he debated the pros and cons of siding with his friend or stepping up against the guy who had just attacked Cody.
Kyle sensed his hesitation and pressed it. “Yeah, you saw it, didn’t you? You really think I attacked Cody in cold blood? If I wanted to hurt him, he’d be knocked out cold by now.”
Cody looked up at Brandon. He understood his plight and gave a gentle shake of the head.
“No,” Brandon said at last, his voice hushed and devoid of emotion. “No, I didn’t see anything.”
“See!” Kyle sneered, wrapping an arm around Amy’s neck and pulling her closer to him. “I told you we shouldn’t have invited your gal pal, babe. One dodgy move from her teammate and she’s already jumping off her leash and attacking me.”
Sophie growled and raised a hand to strike him again. Amy stepped in the way and grabbed her wrist. “Will you calm your shit? Jesus. This is supposed to be fun. A bit of dangerous excitement. What’s with all the hostility?”
Sophie shook her head in disbelief.
Cody dabbed a hand at his nose, pleased to find that the bleeding was slowing. He tentatively pushed himself to his feet and felt the dull throb of a headache behind his eyes. Pinching with the material of his sleeve he wiped away the excess and gently shook his head. He staggered as he took a step.
Sophie rushed out and caught him, holding him steady by the arm. He was so close to her that he could feel the heat from her skin, could smell the faint tracing of yesterday’s perfume. “Are you okay? Do you want to sit somewhere? Call it a day?”
Cody stared into Kyle’s dark eyes, an unspoken threat communicated between them both. Cody had seen that look used on other kids in their grade, but he had hoped that his chaperone would never turn the tables on him.
“No, it’s fine.” Cody dabbed his nose again and blinked away the remainder of his tears. “Seven–four to you guys. Let’s play this to twenty-one.”
Travis clapped loudly. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
Sophie released Cody as he walked past Brandon towards the ball. Brandon followed in step, whispering quietly enough so the others couldn’t hear. “Are you sure about this? I don’t feel good being here.”
“It’s just a game to twenty-one, what’s the worst that could happen—”
“Apart from Kyle knocking you out?”
“—Besides, win or lose, the sooner we get this over with the sooner we can go home.”
He dribbled the ball and tossed it to Brandon, taking his first steps back on court.
Outside the gymnasium the wind cried continued to rage, howling and roaring, the flurries of snow signalling the beginnings of the storm.
6
Tori Asplin
Tori sat at the foot of her bed, basking in the heat of the open fire. The flames cracked, occasional pops exploding as the fire found the knots in the wood and fought to overcome them. Tori had always marvelled at fire. In her world of ice and snow, fire was the yin to the yang. The only force powerful enough to allow people to live this far up north. Fire was the great equalizer, the destroyer of all things. She was almost certain that, over time, fire could eat its way through anything.
Raising a shaking hand to her lips, she tasted the ashen tang of smoke. She drew a deep drag of her cigarette and expelled a grey plume into the air. As the smoke worked its way through her body, she felt a nauseous calm fall over her. A steady beat of belonging mingled with the guilt that her fallout with Karl tonight had drawn her back to her old habits.
Yet another thing to hate him for.
It was easy to hate when you were in the confines of your own mind with no one to break you free or show you another perspective. To Tori, in a matter of moments, Karl had gone from the man of her dreams to the great monster of her fairy-tale. The antagonist who broke her heart, only for her to fall in love later with her true prince.
Good riddance to bad news.
Though, did she truly believe that? Her eyes darted occasionally to the frosted window towards where the clouds had grown dark and the snow whipped across the town with energetic fury. As much as she wanted to hate the man, she hoped that he was okay. She hoped that he arrived home safely. She had been out in storms of this magnitude and the snow had been akin to metal pellets shot from a child’s BB gun. A volley of them striking the skin at once was enough to flush your face pink and cause a numbness that would later hold the possibility of bruising. In her lifetime at Denridge, she had seen some storms, had braved small journeys in hurricanes and blizzards, and even she wouldn’t wish t
hat kind of pain on her worst enemies.
“Let her have him.” Her words barely audible, clamped out as the cigarette met her lips again.
She should have thrown away the pack. She wasn’t sure why she hadn’t, as though at some point she knew she’d need a safety blanket at a time in her life where her heart was in turmoil. She glanced down at her phone—a habit she had yet to realize she had developed—and tapped the screen. The signal was still dead. A hundred notifications teasing her with their serotonin hits. Each message, like, and follow an ego boost designed to keep her afloat on a raft sailing across a lake boredom and misery.
Now there was nothing more than Tori, alone, with a burning fire and her cigarettes.
She supposed that perhaps once the storm had blown over in the morning, she would feel different. The teams would go over to the towers and fix whatever had become blocked or broken and life would resume as normal, but until then she couldn’t shake off this alien feeling that, even in the heat of the flames, caused her body to shiver. A pressing withdrawal that had a name that she couldn’t quite put her finger on…
Loneliness?
With 46,000 followers across a number of social media platforms, Tori had always presumed that she was in good company. How could one ever feel alone, even at the farthest reaches of the inhabited globe, when 46,000 pairs of eyes were looking your way? Commenting and sending love hearts and celebrating the pictures and strange ramblings you posted. She knew that her situation in Denridge made her unique. Occasionally she would post pictures from around the town, granting the world a sample of life in the isolated clutches of Alaska, yet mostly she found that the pictures that performed the best were simply the ones of her in front of a mirror trying on new clothes. Cosy pictures by the fire of bare thighs and socks pulled over her knees. Pictures that her mother—were she still alive today—would have frowned upon and reprimanded her for.
Sex sells, Mum. That’s all there is to it. Besides, for every like and comment she received, she increased her chances of ad revenue and income. It was a great way to make money in Denridge, when the only other alternatives were hunting, manufacturing, shopwork, law, and medicine.
The First Fall Page 6
