by Eden Darry
* * *
Loveday heard him call out. She didn’t dare peek around the corner. It was gloomy enough and she had a chance of taking him by surprise.
“Hello? Anyone here? Where are you, you bitches?”
She stayed quiet. Felt a tickle in her throat, and she desperately tried not to cough. She wiped her hands on her knees, raised herself into a crouch behind the door, and ignored the pounding in her head. She felt like shit but would feel even worse if Terry got hold of her, she was sure.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” he crooned, getting closer.
She heard sloshing and wondered what he was doing. Drinking? No, it was too loud to be from one of his bottles.
“Room service,” he screamed.
Then a bang. He must have kicked a door open. Bang. Slosh. Bang.
What was he doing? Then she smelled it. Petrol. Her legs twitched. She wanted to run and keep running and get away from here. She wouldn’t. She couldn’t. For once, she would stay and fight. Whatever happened, she wouldn’t be a coward again.
Bang. Slosh. Bang. “Where are you?” He was right outside. “Ah. What have we got here?”
She saw his shadow in the doorway. The smell of petrol burned her nostrils and lodged in the back of her throat.
Loveday waited, the knife heavy in her hand. She gripped it tighter, squeezed her eyes shut, and prayed for the courage to do what she had to next.
Terry stepped into the room, and Loveday lunged at him.
* * *
Terry caught her, dropped the jerrycan, and spun her around and into the door.
A blinding pain in his side and he looked down. Saw where her knife stuck out of him.
“Bitch,” he said and slammed her into the door.
He glanced over his shoulder where petrol was leaking all over the floor. Oh, well. Terry used one arm to hold Loveday against the door by her throat. He took his lighter out of his pocket, flicked it, and held it up in front of her.
“Where is she?” he asked.
“Fuck off.”
Terry smiled, shoved her hard against the door. “I’m going to kill you, but it’s up to you how quick I do it. Where is she?”
“She’s gone. I told her to run and she’s gone.”
“Liar. I would have seen her. Probably about the time I finished killing your little mate.”
Terry felt her sag against the door. Her head dropped slightly. “No,” she whispered.
“Tell me where Dani is, or I swear to God, I’ll burn you alive.” The lighter was getting hot in his hand.
She looked up, met his eyes, and nodded. “Okay,” she said and leaned her head in close to his.
Then the bitch headbutted him.
His nose crunched, burst, and the pain was excruciating. Terry fell to his knees clutching at his face. Oh, the pain. Then she kicked him. Right in the ribs. Bitch. He rolled over. The flame from his lighter burned his hand, and he dropped it. Right by the jerrycan.
The whole place went up. Flames rushed up his arm where he’d spilt petrol on it. They licked over his body in a wave of heat and pain. He tried to scream, but they leapt into his mouth and nose, and then he was consumed by fire.
* * *
Loveday ran to the bathroom and grabbed the pets. With one tucked under each arm, she dashed past Terry, who was writhing on the floor, and out of the room. The fire was already spreading, chasing a path into the corridor. She had to get out. She had to find Dani. She could not think about Ellery.
“Dani!” she shouted. “Dani!” Again.
Loveday ran to the stairwell. “Dani!”
Shit. What should she do? She glanced behind her to see the fire engulfing most of the first floor. She couldn’t leave Dani here. Claude was starting to wriggle in her arms. He’d starfish any minute, and she’d lose hold of him.
Loveday looked down the stairs. Then back up. “Dani!” She tried one more time.
Then, feet pounding on the stairs. Thank God.
“What’s happening. Is he gone?” Dani bolted down the stairs and skidded to a stop in front of her.
“Yes, he’s gone.” Loveday glanced behind her. “We have to get out of here—he’s set the place on fire.”
They hurried down the stairs and outside into the rain. They found a car unlocked and put the pets inside.
“Where’s Ellery?” Dani asked.
The look in her eyes told Loveday she had guessed already. “I don’t know. He said…he said he killed her.” Loveday forced the words out. She couldn’t believe them.
“The services,” Dani said. “That’s where she’ll be.”
They jogged across the car park. Somewhere in the hotel a window shattered.
Ellery was lying in the entrance to the services. It looked like she had tried to crawl outside, probably to warn them, a trail of blood marking her progress. She’d managed to crawl ten feet before she died.
Loveday dropped to her knees. She reached out and touched Ellery. She had been such a fool. Such a fool. And now Ellery was dead, and she could never tell her.
Someone wailed. Oh God, it was her. She gripped Ellery, held on to her. Buried her face in her hair, sticky with blood, but Loveday didn’t care. Ellery was gone, and now she could never tell her what a fool she’d been.
Dani knelt beside her. She was crying. “We have to go. The fire might jump, and we have to go.”
“I can’t leave her.” The knowledge hit Loveday like a brick. “I can’t. I just can’t.”
Dani tugged on her arm. “We have to go now.”
“No. You do something.” Loveday sat up, grabbed the front of Dani’s shirt. “You’re the saviour of mankind—you do something.” Now she was shouting, screaming in Dani’s face. “Do something. What’s the point of you if you won’t do something.”
Dani’s arms came around her and held her. She whispered that it would be all right into Loveday’s hair, but it wouldn’t. How could it ever be all right? She’d just realized she loved Ellery, and now she could never tell her.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Rosemary sat in the chair on her boat. She was calm.
“One of them is dead,” the voice behind her said.
“There’s been a lot of killing lately,” she replied.
“Yes, but all in the name of God, so hardly a sin.” A creak as He sat down.
“In your name, you mean?” Rosemary said. She looked out the window. The seas were grey and choppy.
“Yes, yes.” He drummed his fingers. “The man I sent to bring her to you is also dead. A setback but not a calamity. They will still come.”
“And the search party? Are they near?” Rosemary asked.
“They are closing in. It’s possible they might miss each other, but even if that’s so, they are heading straight towards you. I made sure.”
Rosemary felt the sway of the boat as it rode the choppy sea. “So we are set. It’s almost over.”
“Almost. The beginning will start soon.”
* * *
Rosemary opened her eyes. She sat up in her bed. She was well-rested and the sense of urgency was gone. The stress was gone. She had trusted in God, and He had delivered, and now a new world was beginning. She would have the girl and kill the girl and anyone else who got in the way.
She had an idea. She would take a group with her and set out to meet the girl. Maybe only a few miles, but she wanted to see her face when she realized she had lost and Rosemary had won.
* * *
They wrapped Ellery in blankets and dragged her body with them, back to the motorway. Loveday didn’t want to leave her there, in that place. They would bury her somewhere nice, somewhere she would have liked.
Fresh tears streamed down her face but were lost in the rain that battered them. Together they heaved her into the back of a lorry they found unlocked and climbed in after her.
“I’ll go back to the services soon. Find us some food and blankets.” Dani said.
Loveday nodded. She was
numb and didn’t really care. She knew she was cold, and she knew she was sick, but she couldn’t feel it. Couldn’t feel anything except numbness, like she’d been anaesthetized.
Dani shrugged off her jumper. “You should take yours off too. It’s soaked and your teeth are chattering.”
Loveday pulled her knees up to her chest and closed her eyes.
Sometime later, the doors to the lorry opened. It was Dani. Loveday must have fallen asleep.
“Here.” She draped a blanket over Loveday. “I got some clothes too. Only fleeces, but they’re dry.”
Loveday closed her eyes again.
“Loveday, please. Ellery wouldn’t want to see you like this.”
Loveday bolted up. “How do you know? You barely knew her at all.”
Dani recoiled like she’d slapped her. Loveday felt bad. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”
“It’s okay,” Dani said. She shuffled back towards the lorry doors.
“No, it isn’t. It’s not okay. I’m sorry.” Loveday pulled off her wet things and put on the dry fleece.
“I brought some medicine too. Cold stuff. Are you hungry?” Dani shuffled closer.
“Sure,” Loveday said. She wasn’t, but Dani was right. Ellery wouldn’t want to see her like this. She’d been determined to help Dani. Right from the start but especially after the dream, Ellery wanted to save her. To get her to safety. Even when she was dying—and she would have known she was dying—she’d tried to get to them, to warn them.
They ate in the semi-darkness, cold ravioli from a can and custard for afters. Loveday took more cold medicine and tried to sleep. Rocky and Claude curled up with her, and she was grateful for that at least, but she missed Ellery so much the force of it threatened to pull her under and drown her.
* * *
Sometime later the door to the lorry opened. At first Loveday thought it was Dani, then realized she was lying beside her. A torch shone its light inside, and the lorry swayed as someone climbed in.
Loveday sat up and tried her best to shield Dani. “Who are you?”
“Don’t be afraid.” The voice sounded strange. Deep, with a foreign tinge. It was without inflection.
“Who are you?” she repeated. Dani shifted behind her, and she put her hand on her and squeezed. It was dark. Maybe he wouldn’t see her if she kept quiet and kept still.
“In your language I would be called a Keeper of the Balance.”
Great, a random nutter had found his way inside the lorry. Why couldn’t they catch a break?
“Okay, then.” Loveday had got the better of Terry, and he was much bigger than this guy, so she wasn’t worried. It was dark in the lorry, but she got the sense of someone thin and frail. There was something familiar about him.
“Loveday, I’m not here to hurt you,” he said and moved closer still.
How did he know her name?
“He’s telling the truth,” Dani said and moved out from behind her. “I’ve seen him in my dreams.”
Loveday looked from one to the other. “I’m really not in the mood for all this. I’m sick. Ellery is dead. I’ve just fought off a total psychopath and escaped a fire. Can I not just have one night that’s drama free?”
“I’m afraid not.” She couldn’t see his face but she felt the smile in his words. “I’m sorry about the…drama? And I’m sorry about your friend.”
“What exactly does a Keeper of the Balance do, then?” she asked. Loveday rubbed her eyes and coughed. “Are you the one who’s been making us have all these dreams? Who caused the white light?”
“Yes.”
Loveday laughed but not because it was funny. “You drove Ellery mad. She’s so—was so—logical, and she just hated all the cryptic crap. She would have really wanted to talk to you.” A sob escaped her, and she was mortified. She didn’t want to cry in front of him.
“You may ask me anything you want,” he said.
“Was it you? Back in town? In Libby Lee’s bedroom? In Ellery’s garden?”
“I was in Ellery’s garden. There is another. The Bringer of Chaos. He was there too. His agenda is different from ours. His kind want to see the end of humanity. He wants you all dead.”
“Ours? There’s more of you?” Dani asked.
Loveday had forgotten she was there. She was consumed with the conflicting desires to find out what was going on and to strangle him. He was the reason Ellery was dead. He had started all this in the first place.
“We have existed since before. At different points, when it became clear that your kind would destroy the world, we were forced to step in.”
“Kill us all, you mean?” Loveday said.
“Not all of you but most, yes.”
“That’s despicable,” Loveday said.
“Hey, was it you that started the Dark Ages?” Dani asked.
“Yes. But each time we make sure there are enough of you to start again, to continue your species. And there is always one who will lead you in the right direction. Show you a way to live that is…good. Most of the time you kill them.”
“Why bother with us? It sounds like we’re beyond redemption if you have to keep sorting us out.” Bitterness welled up inside Loveday, and she struggled to swallow it back down. How dare he cull human beings like deer?
“Your species is capable of the most beautiful things. Your art is something we could never achieve.” He looked at Ellery’s body. “The sacrifices you make for each other out of love. We prefer you alive. Except now. This time you have taken things to the brink. This is your last chance, and so it is imperative Dani survives. This time, there will be no more beginnings. We are hoping your love for each other will be enough.”
“Love?” Loveday sneered. “What do you know about love? What does anyone? Ellery did. Ellery knew about love, and look what happened,” Loveday shouted. “Look what she got for her trouble.”
“Loveday…” Dani said.
“No.” Loveday stood, fisted her hands at her sides. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “She didn’t deserve this. She was good and she was kind and she didn’t deserve this.”
“So bring her back,” he said. Loveday realized he was looking at Dani. “Bring her back.”
“What do you mean?” Dani asked.
“You know.”
“I don’t.”
“Yes. You do.”
Dani shook her head. Loveday looked at her, and even in the dark she could tell Dani knew something.
“Dani,” he said. Not unkindly.
“I’m scared.”
“What exactly can she do?” Loveday asked.
“Great things. She can lead you to the light. But she must be brave.”
“What…how do I bring her back?” Dani had drawn up her knees. She was so young. She looked between them.
“You know,” he said again.
Loveday went to her. “Please, Dani. If there’s something you can do.”
Dani nodded. “I’ll try.” She stood up and went to Ellery’s body. Knelt down and moved the blanket away from her face. She let out a sob. She held her hands out over Ellery, palms flat and fingers stretched.
Then her hands began to glow. They lit up the interior of the lorry. And then Ellery began to glow. The light from Dani’s hands spread out and filled the lorry. It settled over Loveday like a warm blanket, and she pulled it around her, breathed it in. For the first time in years she felt happy. Truly happy.
“Oh,” she said. “The light is love.”
Over in the corner, Ellery sat up.
Chapter Fifty
Ellery looked around. It was bright in here, and both Loveday and Dani were looking at her in wonder. To her right sat a tall thin pale man. No, he looked like a man, but that wasn’t what he was.
Then she was hit full force by Rocky, Loveday, and Dani. Even Claude rubbed up against her. She fell backward but they didn’t let up.
“What’s going on? Hey, let me up.” She laughed. She felt happy, light. They moved off her but di
dn’t let go. “Why are you crying? Loveday? What’s wrong?”
Loveday reached out and stroked her face. It was like she couldn’t believe Ellery was really there. Then she kissed her full on the mouth. Ellery remembered. She had died. She remembered the feeling of failure which swamped her when she realized she wouldn’t be able to save them. The way she gripped Terry’s ankle as she lay dying, the material of his trousers rough against her fingers. He shook her off and walked away.
Ellery clung to Loveday, broke the kiss, and rested her forehead against hers. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know—”
Loveday kissed her again. Beside them, Dani cleared her throat. “It’s getting a bit awkward now.”
Ellery laughed, pulled away from Loveday, and pulled Dani to her. She kissed the top of her head and ruffled her hair. “I have no idea what you did, but thank you.”
Dani leaned back and shrugged. “You’re welcome. I would have done it sooner if I’d known.”
“We still have things to talk about,” the strange man who wasn’t really a man said.
Loveday huffed. “Can you not just give us one minute of happiness? Haven’t we earned it?”
“It’s not about what you’ve earned. It’s about what you must do now,” he said.
“We already know. Head north, save Dani,” Loveday mimicked.
“She’s waiting for you up there. And she will kill you.” He ignored her.
Ellery stroked her hand down Dani’s back when she shivered. “How do we make sure that doesn’t happen?” she asked.
* * *
Loveday kicked away twigs and loose rocks. She started putting the tent up. Dani was helping Ellery take the cast off Rocky’s leg. She’d already put her tent up.
They’d walked all of yesterday into a town. All their possessions had been lost in the fire. Rocky and Claude seemed to enjoy their new upgraded pram.
