by Ophelia Keys
Chapter 8. END
Dylan
I woke up with bright sun on my face and the sick feeling she’d gone. I threw on my clothes and went straight up to the kitchen. I found her alone, apparently with no intention of running away.
‘Morning.’ She wasn’t quite looking me in the eye, and there was something edgy in the way she was fidgeting, tapping the table with her toe.
‘Coffee?’ I asked. She shook her head.
Ani was out, doing an early shift at the café so there was no porridge, just toast and the dregs of some marmalade I found at the back of the fridge. It all tasted so much better than usual. Even the thought of how much easier it would have been, had I just come out and told her everything straight off, was not going to ruin my mood. But I had a brief thought of all the nights we could have been wrapped up together instead of miserably separate.
Indigo finished her toast in a few bites and jumped up to do the dishes.
‘I’ve got an idea,’ she said, briskly. ‘I dreamt about it. Ani and I were sitting here. And she was eating bowl after bowl of porridge. And she said, you know, all that guilt and shame, it’s like his food.’
‘I suppose we already knew that. So you just need to move on.’
She gave me a look, and I sensed the old Indigo was returning.
‘That’s right Dylan, I’ll just find love and be instantly healed. Because that’s exactly how life works.’
‘It does happen you know,’ I said, but I was secretly pleased to see her so energetic. ‘So what’s your plan?’
She turned her back to me. She paused awhile, then said, ‘I called my landlord this morning.’
I stood up without really knowing what I was doing. All the fear and tension was returning in something like a tsunami. She kept washing, scrubbing hard at the plate although it had only had toast crumbs on it. I could see the side of her face, expressionless.
‘Why?’ I asked.
‘I’ve been hearing this sound downstairs. Like there’s a cat in there or something.’ She actually laughed. ‘Well, if it’s stuck down there, it’s going to make a big mess.’
‘That’s funny because I haven’t heard anything.’
She was holding the plate in one hand and I noticed it was shaking. The detergent foam was drifting down to the floor.
‘What’s going to happen?’ I asked. I was moving toward her.
She turned her back on me firmly, emptied the sink and quickly ran clean water over the saucers. ‘Well, he was pretty keen to take a look. He said he’d be over at eleven.’ She dried her hands.
‘He’s coming to the house?’
‘We’ve got an hour.’ She was finally looking at me, almost challengingly. Ready to fight me, I suppose. I still wasn’t certain what she was going to do, but I made a guess.
‘I don’t want you to call it here.’ I said, aware that I sounded like a jealous boyfriend. ‘You don’t know what it will do.’
‘It’s okay. It’s not for me this time. It’s for him.’
‘But you can’t be sure it won’t take you.’
‘It was you who said I wasn’t special to it. It’s just hungry for what I have.’
I considered for a while. ‘But do you think it will follow him? It’s so fixed on you.’
‘I’m sure it will. It’s like that woman at the start of all this. Maybe she had a secret of her own, but like you said, it just dropped her straight away when it saw me.’ She was leaning back against the sink – exactly where I had seen her disappear. It seemed like years ago. I don’t believe in omens, but it was still unsettling.
‘My landlord, he must feel even worse than me. I’m sure if I can just bring them close … If it doesn’t seem to be working – just having him here with the follower – I’ll tell him I know about Lily. He’s got to feel bad. He killed her with his hands.’
She put her hand up to her throat as she said this, and I was starting to get a clearer idea of what had happened to her that day under the stairs. But I was more concerned with what was happening right now and the uncomfortable feeling that I might be responsible somehow for her stupidest plan ever.
‘Indigo, if it’s not working it may be because he’s some kind of psycho who doesn’t actually have a conscience. In which case bringing it up and cornering him would be the worst thing you could do.’ She seemed to be considering this. I pressed the point. ‘And then you’re stuck between a supernatural stalker and a cornered murderer.’
She frowned. ‘I hadn’t really thought about that.’
‘Well, you’ve got a whole hour to think about it.’
She narrowed her eyes. She was clearly feeling better. ‘It’s the only thing that might possibly work. Go or stay. It’s up to you.’
The funny thing was, she made it sound like I had a choice.
Indigo
My landlord is called Mr. Theophanes. I say ‘is’ because he’s still my landlord. If you’re picturing some sort of supernatural event – ground opening up, follower dragging him down to hell, or wherever, that’s not how it happens. It was a bit messier than that actually. Anyway, I was talking about Mr. Theophanes. He’s a pretty unnoticeable kind of guy. He’s in his fifties and maybe he used to be athletic, but now he looks kind of soft around the edges. He’s always been nice to talk to. Good at small talk. And even though a dark suspicion had been blooming about him for a while, I still felt guilty about what I was going to do.
But there was not enough time to be sentimental. He said he’d come at eleven, but he had a habit of showing up well before you expected him. (A classic landlord trick to catch you with that forbidden pet dog or the mess of last night’s party). But if you happened to mention there was a problem with the plumbing or anything, he’d be upstairs in a flash, half-wedged under the sink before you even had a chance to catch up. And if you asked him about his car, his face would light up. He had the junkiest old Maserati – covered in dust in summer, blooming lichen round the edges in the spring. He neglected it but he loved it. I don’t know why I’m saying all this. It’s like I want to say – well, he was alright really. He seemed alright.
The main problem was that he wasn’t supernatural, wasn’t going to vanish when I said his name. Wasn’t a spirit of pure malevolence. He was a person. It was messy and my stomach was in knots. But it was the first part of my plan that had me literally vibrating with fear. I was more scared about it than confronting Mr. Theophanes. But I wasn’t sure if it was the follower that scared me, or what I was capable of feeling. And what I might ask it when it came for me. What was that word Dylan had used? Annihilation. It seemed so much more real now. Now that I had something good in my life. But I still didn’t quite trust myself. We stood outside, Dylan and I. Out in the narrow garden.
‘Indigo …’ he said, and I instantly wished I’d told him not to say my name. We needed rules and boundaries here. This was my whole heart and soul.
He went on. ‘I’ve been feeling kind of sorry for you and I wanted to make you feel better. But we both know it was your fault. The little boy.’
I hadn’t really prepared for this. I guess there was no way to prepare. It seemed like the breath was getting forced out of me and I felt my eyes shamefully filling with tears. Dylan didn’t say anything and I wondered if he was wavering. I know he hated my idea anyway. But we couldn’t stop now. I spoke all in a rush.
‘Lily was so tied to the house. If they’d stayed away, Grace and the boy, I’m sure he would have been safe. But I had to take them back so close. To the park. Where Lily could reach him.’
‘Yes,’ he said, and I knew he really meant it. His eyes were unwavering. ‘You’re right. She couldn’t have gone far from the house, couldn’t have followed far.’
‘But I brought him back close. And that’s when she took him.’
He was frowning at me now, and it kind of pained me that he was feeling sorry for me. Made me feel more guilty. Which was good in one way. But it also hurt in my chest. I looked behind hi
m, into the shadows. Nothing. Then he started speaking again and, with his instinct for these things, said the worst thing he could possibly say.
‘That little boy was inside the house. Under your feet and you never heard him.’
I swallowed but my throat was all dried up. ‘How long do you think it took before …’ I had to clear my throat but it still came out in a whisper. ‘Before he actually died?’
Dylan didn’t speak. There was nothing more for him to say. But I wasn’t looking at Dylan now. I was looking at the shadows up at the end of the garden. The narrow lane. The black square of the window. Because even in the glare of the sunlight I could see a darker shadow there.
‘It must have taken a little while.’ I said, eyes fixed on my follower. ‘And maybe I even heard him crying. I would have thought it was next door or someone passing on the street and forgotten about it … I don’t blame her – Lily. She forgot he needed to drink, to move, to see the sun. She was just a ghost. Not a person anymore. But I could have helped him. I was right here the whole time.’
‘It wouldn’t have taken long …’ said Dylan, quietly, but I wasn’t really listening, because there was the follower right behind him, half in the sun now and real. Real as Dylan. Eyes fully open to the hot glare. Looking at me. Waiting for me to speak. For a moment I even wondered again if nothingness was better than this tearing feeling. The knowing what I should have done and what I shouldn’t have done and how it could all have been prevented.
‘What is it?’ asked Dylan, following my gaze and turning. I don’t know if he saw anything because right at that moment there was the unmistakable roar and sputter of the Maserati and the metal gate noisily scraped open.
Ani was braced against the heavy gate, as if to hurl it shut. ‘It’s him,’ she said. ‘What’s he doing here?’
The engine clicked off. The car door slammed.
‘Come over here,’ said Dylan. ‘It’s okay. Indigo called him,’
Ani hurried to stand behind Dylan. ‘I don’t want him to come in,’ she whispered.
Dylan kept his eyes on the gate. ‘It’s too late now.’
My landlord strode through the door. ‘Hey there! Vermin problems?’ he was pretty much rubbing his hands together. Ani and I didn’t say anything.
‘Hi,’ said Dylan.
‘I’d better take a look. It’s happened before you know. Found a cat down there. Stank the whole place out.’ He had stopped in front of us, but it slowly seemed to be dawning on him that something was wrong. ‘So how are you? Don’t think we’ve met.’
I turned around, saw that Ani looked horrified. There was nothing I could really say to cover it up. She was staring at him in open-mouthed terror.
‘Oh, that’s Ani,’ said Dylan. ‘Don’t worry about her.’
Mr. Theophanes was already starting up the stairs.
‘I know about Lily,’ I said. I’d meant to be subtle, to work around to it like some kind of literary detective in the big reveal scene. But it just came out.
‘What was that?’
I’d spoken so quietly he really hadn’t heard me. I said, ‘I know about Lily. What you did to her.’
He came back down to the ground kind of heavily and there were weird red and white blotches showing on his face. But he sounded calm. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Lily. Under the stairs.’
He walked right up to me. He didn’t seem angry. I was suddenly afraid he might be having a heart attack or something. His face was dark red.
‘Why don’t you just …’ Dylan began, but as he put his hand on Mr. Theophanes’ shoulder he whirled around fast and hit him. Dylan crashed back against the flower box and the bricks. He tried to get up, but just slumped back. I didn’t have time to help him. Mr. Theophanes was already advancing on me. I looked around. I couldn’t see the follower anywhere.
‘You’ve got no idea what you’re talking about,’ he grabbed me by the shoulder. ‘Who told you her name?’
‘George!’ Ani said, suddenly.
He whirled around, kind of unsteady. Ani was standing there, opening and closing her hand, her shoulders kind of slumped over so she looked smaller than usual and her face all twisted up as if she was about to cry.
‘Just leave her alone, George. She hasn’t done anything wrong.’
‘Who the hell are you?’
‘I’ve been trying to forgive you,’ Ani said. ‘But I just can’t.’
‘What is going on?’ he shouted at her.
She flinched back and put both hands up around her neck. Even from behind I could see all the colour draining out of his face and suddenly his whole body was starting to shake like a big force was about to burst out of him.
‘Ani! Stop it!’ I said. But how could she? She wasn’t really there. I was sure he was going to hit her too. But he didn’t. He whirled around and gave me a weird, disbelieving look and then he ran.
Of course, I ran straight after him. It was stupid, but I had to see. Had to know for sure if we’d failed. He jumped straight into the car. Started it with a sputter and a roar. Reversed hard, looking into his rear-vision mirror with no expression on his face. So he didn’t see it, because it was right behind him, leaning forward close to his window, as if it might be going to speak right into his ear. At the end of the lane the car backed into the traffic and roared off. It took me awhile to realize Ani was beside me.
‘Did you see it?’ I asked. I looked at her, trying to tell if she was really with me. She nodded but didn’t speak.
‘Are you okay?’
She nodded again, but there were tears streaming down her face.
Dylan
There was an incredible light, dazzling even with my eyes shut. A red light through my lids. And it was very hot on my face. I was wrapped in someone’s arms. Warm limbs entangled with mine, arms around me and close to my face the stir of breathing. Even then I didn’t open my eyes. I was still half in an empty darkness. It was the pain in my face that woke me. And the choking smell of earth nearby. And then I remembered. I sat up fast. Indigo’s arms were tight around me and her dark head pressed into my chest. She didn’t release me or look up. Ani was sitting on my other side, washed out in the sunlight, blinking and shivering. I couldn’t really remember how we came to be there. Beside me was the long flower box, half-demolished and spilling out onto the bricks, the white roots of the plants showing like veins. My brain was still sluggish, but I was piecing it all together.
‘Has he gone?’ A terrible pain shot through my jaw as I spoke and I grabbed it with both hands. I felt Indigo nod.
‘Was I out long?’ I was trying to move my mouth as little as possible.
‘A minute maybe,’ Indigo’s voice was muffled against me, she was holding on too tight to look up.
I was suffering from light saturation. The colours were too much. Ani’s eyes too blue, the spilling greenery behind her so green it kind of ached. Even the sky (because I was lying down now, head-spinning). Much too blue. And the sun a white blaze at the edge of it, about to tip behind the wall. Even lying down, everything was starting to tilt. I shut my eyes tight. When I opened them Indigo was looking down at me.
‘Dylan,’ she said, kind of half whispering with excitement. ‘It’s gone. I saw it go with him!’
I crushed her against me again, so tight she made a sound of semi-protest.
‘What happened?’ I asked.
‘Ani scared the hell out of him and he ran away.’
It was hard to believe. Ani looked like she was in some sort of shock, eyes round and vacant as a kewpie doll. Indigo followed my gaze then crawled over to her.
‘They’re both gone,’ she said. ‘Don’t worry.’
Ani blinked. ‘And Lily?’ she asked.
‘You tell me,’ said Indigo, in classic Indigo fashion. Then she seemed to soften a bit and put her hand on Ani’s arm. ‘I’m sure there’s no more reason for her to come back.’
As much as I was aching I was pretty blis
sed out now. But Indigo always knows how to spoil these moments.
‘Well, now we know how to get rid of them,’ she said. I turned and shaded my face to see her better. She and Ani were lost in a kind of bright haze, but she was definitely smiling. I guess she was a little high from the relief. ‘It will be easier next time.’
Words kind of failed me for a bit. ‘You plan on picking up another one?’
‘No! When we help other people. I mean, it’s bound to come up again at some stage. Now we know what to do.’
‘Oh!’ Ani was brightening too. ‘Dylan, that reminds me, I have something to go in your book. You’re going to love it.’
I pressed my eyes into the darkness of the crook of my elbow and took a deep, cleansing breath. The smell of sun-warmed bricks really was good. ‘Let’s just enjoy the moment, shall we? I’ll be happy if I never see anything like that again.’
‘Although,’ began Indigo. There was a silence and I looked over to see Indigo’s face shadowed for a moment. ‘I feel kind of bad for anyone who’s followed.’
‘Forget about him,’ I said. ‘He should be rotting away in jail.’
Ani was looking alertly at me. ‘You’ve broken your jaw,’ she said.
‘Yes,’ I wanted to add ‘well spotted’, but it just wasn’t worth the pain.
‘Oh,’ said Indigo, suddenly hushed. She scrambled up and offered me her hand. ‘Well, we’d better go to emergency again.’
We walked slowly, almost leisurely, because although my face was swelling at an alarming rate and I could no longer really talk, it still felt like the actual emergency was over. The park was a bright blur to my aching head, but I noticed when we passed the pool. It looked peaceful.
‘I feel like it’s finished,’ said Indigo, stopping for a moment.
‘Nothing’s ever finished,’ said Ani, instantly.
‘No. This is finished,’ I said, with conviction. My eyes watered with the pain of speaking, but it was worth it.
END
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[author page]
About the author:
I’m based in Victoria, Australia and I write paranormal / gothic fiction. Indigo is my first novel available online. It was written as a serial fiction, week by week. You can read about the experience of writing this way on my blog. I don’t think it’s for the faint hearted! Indigo is set in Carlton, an old suburb of Melbourne where I used to live. The creepy house she lives in is a real house that I lived in for a while. The rest is entirely made up. Thank you for sharing my imaginary worlds…
Connect with me online:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/@opheliakeys
Blog: https://opheliasfiction.wordpress.com/
