by E M G Wixley
“Danger! Danger! Don’t get in the car.” It was the clinical, cruel and emphatic voice of the Programme Operators who resided in the secret part of the supercomputer and who control the whole simulation Game. Dante imagined someone squatting in amongst the trees taking aim. He twisted around to see his wife climbing into the driver’s seat.
The air exploded into shards of sound; a cutting wind full of shrapnel blasted against the reverberating windows. Dante was thrown to the ground and lay pinned by an unknown pressure. He remained unmoving for a while stunned waiting for the nightmare to pass. The bitter taste at the back of his throat and in his nose informed him of the reality. Squinting up he saw a fireball on his drive.
Saving a Life
Chapter Seventeen
The sky was blue, and the sun beamed down. Wrapped in many layers of clothing and a thick coat Felicity noticed sweat trickling down her back as the crisp air cut into her cheeks. She was seated on the wooden bench watching Jonah as he stood at the helm of the small hired boat. He felt her gaze and glanced around made eye contact smiled and quickly turned back searching for any upcoming obstacles. Jonah seemed different since she’d returned with him to his home. He’d remembered everything up until the point he was dragged off the streets of Paris but remained anxious and distracted. He slept with a gun under his pillow providing him with a false sense of security and comfort.
Irvin and Holly were at the stern filming every aspect of their journey. They believed they were on a mission to save a life, to bring home a lost child. In such a beautiful place it was impossible for Felicity to dwell on any of their mortal concerns, especially as she considered all their outlandish theories to be nonsense.
The dwarfed boat bobbed on the swelling vast expanse of water which slid below the craggy cathedral cliffs, with their peaks capped in dark green. Trees ran down the rugged slopes to the water’s edge reminding her of enlarged moss-covered rocks. She twisted around and gazed into the blackish-blue and saw fish jumping. There was so much life beneath the surface.
“Hey, look! Orcas,” Irvin cried.
Felicity jumped up leaned against the bench, clasped the handrail and gawped at the water. A pod of four majestic beasts swam by like devout monks entering a sacred place. Hovering above was a choir of sea birds hunting for the same fish. The whales sprayed the air and rose with their tails down as if to look around and offer a greeting.
“We’re so small – a vague thought in God’s mind,” Felicity muttered.
“You sound like, mother,” Irvin sneered. “I hope you know everything is being recorded.”
“This is all down to natures architect,” she refuted. “There’s nothing virtual here.”
Jonah cut the engine. “This is the Seven Sisters,” he announced.
Felicity swung around to face the cliff. A stunning sight met her eyes. Seven streamers of white water dangled over the precipice, flowing together and spraying over jagged rocks, thickening as it went like the hem of a wedding gown. Silver reflections struck out across the dark waters and halfway down curving horizontally was a rainbow.
“It’s incomplete,” Irvin said glancing towards Felicity.
“Does that matter?” she replied. “The right-hand side melts into that gravel island.”
“I can get you closer to the spit of land,” Jonah said as he restarted the engine.
They pulled up beside the pile of gravel and stones, and Jonah lowered the anchor. Irvin danced over the deck with a little smile playing on his lips and handed Jonah his camera. “You will have to take over the filming,” he said and puffed nervously on his cigarette. He rushed back to Holly leaving a trail of smoke behind. Together they leapt from the side of the boat and waded through the water and up the slope.
Holly clasped her small rucksack in her arms hoping to prevent it being splashed as she planted her feet into the gravel and then moved towards the waterfall. “Tell us when we reach the end of the rainbow,” she called over her shoulder.
“You do know there is no true end?” Jonah shouted.
“You know what I mean.” She huffed and shrugged her shoulders.
“We’ll be fine,” Irvin said. “As long as the sun keeps shining.”
They moved around like pieces on a chess board while Felicity and Jonah directed them to where they thought was the best position. They were standing by a small boulder when Felicity sensed a tingling thrill in the air. “There beneath the rock. I’m sure that’s where it’s meant to be.”
“Your subscribers are in agreement,” Jonah said as he gazed at the scrolling words. “Slow down friends, we can’t keep up with all your comments,” he responded.
Irvin rolled the boulder to one side, and Holly crouched. Carefully she removed the backpack and placed it on the ground.
“Holly give me the dove first, please,” Irvin instructed as his girlfriend rummaged through the carefully sourced charms they’d mostly bought from the internet. “This is the first of the ‘seven gifts of the holy spirit’,” he said holding the small silver bird up for the camera. Irvin dug a hole in the dirt hollow and buried the gift. He repeated the process with the remaining six items, displaying each object before they were pushed into the ground. “The book of knowledge, the scales, the fist of fortitude, the clasped hands of understanding, the candle of piety and the hand over the cross to remind people to fear the Lord.” When they’d finished their task, they rose and stared with steadfast eyes as if expecting something to sprout from the ground. Even the world-wide watchers stopped commenting while they waited for a sign. The intense moment past as eventually people grew impatient, and the chatter started up again. Irvin and Holly stepped back.
“It’s a shame mum would have been so happy to see her again,” Felicity said as boredom set in. “She is as hungry for the truth as we are – I thought she didn’t care, but she does.” Her eyes travelled back to the cascading water and the thicker arch of the rainbow. In front of the cliff face appeared a revolving kaleidoscope of mist and colours. Excitement bubbled in her chest. A confused image was blending into one substance. She saw a seven-year-old girl in pink pyjamas floating and flitting around her were tiny winged people. Time collapsed and the past moved into the present. She remembered how beautiful her sister was with her streaming blonde hair and blue eyes. Glancing over at Jonah she saw he’d pointed the camera towards the mirage. Holly and Irvin were also gawping dumbfounded. She had an urge to pull her further into the real world.
“Elley, it’s Felicity, your younger sister,” she said anxiously as she tried to grip onto the image. “Where have you been? What happened?”
“I was taken. Bad men locked me up.”
Felicity’s flesh crawled as she listened to the child-like voice. She wanted desperately for the girl to materialise at her side. “Tell us where you are, and we will rescue you.” They all waited patiently for an answer, but the girl seemed unable to respond.
“This spirit is tied to the Earth and unable to be reborn,” the tiny people sang in unison as they popped in and out of view. “The seven must be destroyed.”
To Felicity’s horror, the vision started to flicker and lose substance. “Mummy’s waiting for you,” she said desperately automatically reaching out with her hand. “Come home with us,” she pleaded. In the next second the colours were extinguished, and she was left staring into a void of swirling confusion. Felicity turned away allowing tears to drop from her eyes.
“Your mother has gone,” cried the singsong voice of the guardian angels.
“Gone where?” Felicity called.
A Human Mistake
Chapter Eighteen
Jonah reluctantly returned to work as his period of grieving was deemed to be over. The day was edging into the night when Jonah and Baron received the call that two of their known trafficked victims had run from a store after shoplifting. Baron screeched to a halt close to the curb and spotting the two girls ahead they both bolted from the vehicle. They followed at walking pace. Neither att
empted to remain inconspicuous as despite being plainclothes officers they were still recognisable in the East Oslo neighbourhood.
“I hate the way they pretend that in Oslo everything is wonderful,” Baron said under his breath. “The authorities completely ignore the flourishing underbelly of crime.”
“When they clock us, if they split up, I’ll take the one with faded red hair,” Jonah said while his eyes remained locked on their target. “I could have done with a bit of catching up on my first day back.”
“Things have been getting worse while you were out of the loop. Those two locked away for your sister's abduction, have gone so far underground we can’t trace them, and there are many new kids on the block.”
“What do you mean?” Jonah uttered bemused.
“Dwayne and Shaun, they escaped. I told you. Don’t you remember?”
“Sorry no, I expect you did tell me but the months around father’s death and my leave are hazy in places.”
“Well, I hope you’re off the drink now. I need my old partner back.”
The girls in front sensed their approach and sprinted off in separate directions. Jonah heard his portly friend's irregular breathing as he tried to make the chase. “I’ve got this,” he shouted. “You follow in the car and call for back-up.”
Jonah was alone, determinedly pursuing the redhead, weaving his way around the few drunks and workers hurrying home. Usually, he would be nervous until the adrenaline flooded his veins, but not this time, he was unemotional, surgical and running with the greatest of ease.
“If you come near me, I’ll fucking knife you,” the girl turned and screamed.
He was acutely aware of the dangers of splitting-up and would be chastised for his impulsive reactions, but it was recognised that he and Baron had a particular way of working which got results. Since bringing down one of their own, involved in human trafficking they had received special treatment.
In front of his eyes in the towering concrete walls, squares of orange lights blinked on. With his body showing no signs of tiring he sprinted ahead and caught up with the girl just as she darted into an underpass. Jonah breathed in the stink of urine as his eyes alighted on the girl who was crouched against the wall panting. Under the flickering neon and in the cold dampness he slowed his pace. The redhead peered up at him with an expression of shock and horror.
Jonah heard the stampede and the knocks and bangs of metal bars smashing against the concrete. The noise was supposed to make him run. Standing upright he saw they were coming from both ends of the tunnel, shouting in deep menacing voices and brandishing their weapons. Violence was their first and only response to his interference. They bunched around him to constrict his movements. He was pushed and bumped, and fists were thrown. With a surgical calm and the speed and reactions of a world-class sportsman, he gripped the throats of his two nearest assailants and threw them upwards cracking their skulls on the ceiling. Others rushed in and before they could plunge their glinting blades the knives were in Jonah’s hands or clanking onto the concrete. He spun around slicing and thrusting as bodies dropped to the ground. Somewhere inside he knew he was murdering his attackers with single strikes, or by throwing them hard against ungiving surfaces without a thought but it was beyond him to control his powers as they were innate and responding before he had time to think.
The avalanche of chaos ended. Crimson flowed over the ground and into the drainage gutters.
“Take me to where they’re keeping you,” Jonah commanded the girl who was cowering, with her head buried in her arms. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He reached for her arm to help her up, but she flinched away. Eventually sliding out of his range she conceded and rose.
“Follow me,” she said through gritted teeth as she hugged her trembling body. “I’ll be dead meat when they find out what I’ve brought back.”
They walked on in silence, climbing up stinking stairwells littered with needles and other drug paraphernalia. On autopilot, Jonah marched along a balcony. In front of the three end flats, men were lingering, smoking and laughing. They approached the first dwelling. Jonah was about to knock on the door when a beefy man in a beany hat barred his way.
“Do you have an appointment?” He said in a grave voice. “Show me on your phone.”
Overwhelmed with rage Jonah grabbed the man’s coat with both hands and forced him back to the edge of the balcony. He pushed him until his back bent and the top part of his body leaned over the void. “My appointment is way overdue,” he said.
Others rushed towards him with weapons at the ready until he grabbed the man’s legs and heaved. The man screamed as he plunged towards the ground. The rest of the group pushed past and ran to the other end of the walkway where they gathered to throw missiles in Jonah’s direction, broken masonry, gathered stones and anything amongst the garbage they could find. Ducking and keeping low, Jonah charged at the door. It burst open, and when he looked around for the redhead, he saw she fled.
A hideous sight met his eyes. Girls of all ages from ethnic minorities huddled together on dirty mattresses which covered the floor. The living conditions were disgusting, littered with detritus and the debris of drug use and prostitution.
All the inhabitant’s eyes were locked onto him staring up with terrified expressions. Older women with their mouths set hard, their faces gaunt and their eyes questioning, wondered what the new demon had planned. Children, like dead butterflies, frail with the colour and life drained from their faces sat frozen.
“I need backup. Send ambulances Doctors and social workers,” he said into his radio and then taking his identification from the inside pocket of his coat held it up so everyone could see. “I’m a police officer. Nobody move. You’re safe now, and help is on the way.” He followed the same procedure in the other two flats. In the last property, a small child reached out to him begging for some form of comfort. A lump stuck in his throat, and he turned to face the wall.
When Jonah heard the first sirens, he hurried outside and leaned on the rim of the balcony. He vomited and furiously fought back his tears. He was tired, angry and sick of being a witness to unfathomable cruelty.
Jonah felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and was stunned to see his boss, Mikkel Mayen, Chief of Police, a small man against his over six-foot frame. “I don’t think they’ll press charges,” he said “There is a witness who said it was two rival gangs resolving a bitter feud. I doubt there’s enough evidence for us to take the matter further. It would only muddy the waters and detract from the severity of the crimes taken place here.” He patted Jonah’s back, dropped his arm and searched his pocket for a box of cigarettes.
Jonah’s mouth went dry, and he twisted around leaning with his back against the wall. The door in front was open. A woman on a mattress was slipping her foot into her slippers. Another was refusing to move but being urged to do so by a friend speaking in their mother tongue. Another was trying to wriggle from a police woman’s grasp as she offered reassurance that they would be safe. A woman was wailing while social workers spoke softly to the children.
Holding a fag between his lips without lighting it Mikkel continued to speak. “Jonah, I think it’s time for a change. You’ve been through a great deal of stress lately – I know how close you were to your father and how traumatic his death must have been. I’m going to put in a request for you to move to the IT division of police security.”
“A desk job?” Jonah said only half listening.
The chief nodded in the direction of the women and children who had grown calm and were stepping forward and handing themselves over to the police. “This is too much – what with your sister. You’ve done your time, and now it must be over.”
The vulnerable and pathetic figures of the children filed by clasping each other's hands in a chain attached to an adult. It’s true I can’t bear to gaze into those sad eyes, he thought.
“Much of your work can be done at home, just coming into the city for meetings and catch ups.”
>
“Nothing brings relief from pain,” he muttered. “You’re right it’s time for something new.”
Elley Returns
Chapter Nineteen
Dante had left the motorway and the traffic lights flicking from red to green far behind. He crossed the cattle grid and onto the moor. Wind and rain struck the windscreen as he crawled along the shiny black tarmac in the newly purchased campervan, avoiding the sheep lying in the road. Thoughts rolled around his mind of all the things he should have said to Josie and actions he could have taken to avoid such a tragedy. He was a coward, and he hated himself. What fluttering wrong decision had set in motion such a devastating chain of events?
He parked the van high up on the moor with woods to his left and on his right was an undulating landscape flowing down to a valley where a bubbling river flowed far below. The engine was turned off, so all he could hear was the howling wind as it buffeted the vehicle. He swirled his chair around to face a table and dragged the case carrying his laptop from under the bench. Dante took out a pile of research papers and slammed them on the surface, he lifted the lid and tapped in the code which gave him access to the heart of the supercomputer where the Programme Operators could be found. The shadowy shapes appeared on the screen, an endless community of souls.
“I have questions,” he said as his nerves screamed in pain as though someone was pulling out his teeth. There was no verbal response from the shadows. They thickened and lightened to a pulse, a heartbeat. “Why create a game where conscious beings suffer?”
“Eternals don’t want to grow bored,” a multitude of voices echoed.
