The Ancient World

Chapter Three – Insanity

InsanityAfter a good half-hour in the back room, Ehrien had finally picked herself up and walked back to the bar. Now she, Kai, and Laura sat at the corner booth.

“Come, my young friend. We have lingered too long and now must hurry. Though you tried to ruin them,” Laura placed a hand over her chest in fake misfortune, “there is still time to accomplish my plans.”

Ehrien nodded silently and Laura glanced worriedly at Kai. He, too, said nothing and looked away. Ehrien forced a smile. “Sounds good. I needed to buy a book.”

“Another?” Laura rolled her eyes. “The purpose today was shopping, for clothes.”

“You know dressing rooms aren’t my cup of tea…”

“But I am.” Ehrien sighed in conformity and Laura smiled with more cheerfulness than she situation deserved, getting up. Ehrien followed, avoiding eye contact with Kai. She felt too ashamed; she couldn’t face him.

Laura waited outside while Ehrien got her bag. Kai approached her silently and grabbed her hand. She looked at him, and for a second, it was like he was going to say something more. But then he shook his head. “Have fun.”

Laura hopped around Ehrien as they chatted down Davies Street. Ehrien wasn’t at her fullest, but there was no point in dwelling on her problems, and she should at least act as if she were fine, for the sake of those around her. Ehrien laughed at all the right times and answered sarcastically when she knew it would annoy Laura, all the things that would let her know she was alright. And that might, with enough will, make her so.

The sun was gone, and the night was lit by thousands of flickering lights and neon signs. The moist air was exploding with the sound of voices and life, and the environment was as addictive as the first time Ehrien had experienced it, all those years before. Even in as horrible a mood as she was, Ehrien couldn’t help but feel soothed. How she loved that city.

Laura dragged Ehrien in and out of stores until her feet could hardly be called feet any longer, but even though she was exhausted, Ehrien couldn’t stop the foolish smile that insisted on returning to her face. Laura was a balm to her soul.

Laura went inside some shop to ask the price of something on display and as she waited, Ehrien scouted the street. A group of boys and girls, probably her age or her brothers’, turned to the street screaming, howling, and laughing.

At first, Ehrien was intrigued, fascinated. She had never seen anything quite like that. Then she was scared. She was the only one who saw them. It was so obvious. No one tried to avoid them, no one was bothered with their noise, no one so much as looked at them. And that seemed to amuse them terribly.

One of the boys, mid-laugh, turned away from the group, his eyes finding Ehrien. He seemed surprised that she could see him. But then again, they always were, even though they were part of her imagination. Then he smiled and bowed. He looked at Ehrien one more time before he walked to the edge of the sidewalk and let himself fall to the road, just as a car passed by.

Ehrien jumped forward, wanting to help him, but he was too far away. She screamed as he fell and covered her mouth with her hands when she knew there was nothing she could do. But when the horrible sound of flesh against metal should have exploded, his body was no longer there.

The girl looked around, expecting an explanation, but the incident had been witnessed by her alone and there was no one to answer her. Those who had stopped and acknowledged her existence had done so solely over her scream, but their interest had been short.

Ehrien turned to the street again and jumped back, startled. The boy was standing in front of her, inches from her face, hands behind his back, giant eyes studying her. His smile was crooked and somewhat endearing.

“Did you enjoy our show?” Behind him, on the other side of the street, the rest of his group reappeared and watched them curiously.

“I-hum...I…” The boy sighed, annoyed with something. He raised an eyebrow and took a step back, eyes still on her, just as Laura stepped in front of her, disappointment all across her face. She hadn’t seen him. Of course, she hadn’t. And he had been annoyed she had interrupted them. “It’s too expensive... come on, get me out of here, please, before I cry my eyes out.”

“Wait, Laura! Did you see—” She stopped talking and her hand flew to her friend’s arm. For a second, they faced each other silently. The boy’s face popped out next to Laura’s shoulder, and he put a finger in front of his lips, his smile of amusement changing his features from sweet to devilish. “They are having a sale in a couple weeks.” The boy nodded approvingly. Ehrien was far too good a liar for her own good.

Laura moved so once again the boy was gone. “Really?” she asked, ecstatic, and when she turned to the store, the boy and the whole group had disappeared. Laura grabbed her by the hand and dragged her inside before Ehrien could even think about what had just happened.

“Well, I’m in a better mood now.” Laura stretched her arms over her head, surrounded by her shopping bags. They were sitting in a café, resting calmly.

“Yes, I can tell.” Ehrien laughed.

“Shopping always improves it.” Laura shrugged. “You know that already, Gordon. And now I have a brand-new dress to wear to the fair you are taking me to.” No, Laura hadn’t resisted the purchase, but instead, had waltzed back into the store, as though the knowledge of upcoming sales meant the price had already lowered.

“You are the consumerist society in one person, do you know that?” Laura placed her elbows on the table and studied her with pleased and marvelled eyes. Ehrien rolled hers, already knowing what was coming. “What?”

“I just love to hear you say consumerist,” Laura said, wiggling her eyebrows and making an adorable face that reminded her of Anita. A shield to protect her from Ehrien, since only looking like her baby sister protected Laura from getting her ass kicked over her constant drooling over Ehrien’s accent. Her whole family’s accent, actually.

Ehrien didn’t know if it was because they had lived in Portugal for ten years, if it was because that had been their official first language even if both their parents’ was English, or if it had been the Russian from her mother’s side in between, but her family had a strange accent. One entirely their own. It wasn’t anything that could be pinpointed; it was something completely impossible to associate with any particular language. And Laura loved to remind her of it.

Ehrien was about to make a joke when a sound eclipsed all others.

“EHRIEN!”

It was the same scream she had heard in her hallucination— the same despair, the same pain, the same heart throbbing loneliness. Ehrien jumped to her feet and looked around, searching for its origin. It was real, it had to be.

“You heard it, didn’t you? Please tell me you heard it…”

“Heard what?” Laura got up, moving slowly, as if she didn’t want to scare her. “Ehrien, what are you talking about?” Ehrien felt tears forming in her eyes and not because the scream had come again, but because she was still hearing it, in that exact moment, and Laura obviously wasn’t.

“EHRIEN!” Ehrien turned to the door and ran outside, looking all around, looking everywhere. She kept running until she came out into Oxford Street. The street was packed, but Ehrien could still hear the scream over all other sounds. She turned on herself; she looked everywhere. But there was nothing to be found.

Ehrien ran until her lungs felt burned and then finally gave up, falling to her knees right there in the middle of the street. Laura eventually showed up next to her, out of breath and unstable due to the weight of the bags she carried. After seeing Ehrien, Laura stopped, and disregarding any and all stares, kneeled down in front of her.

“I think I’m going crazy, Laura…”

“Ehrien…”

“I am. I have to be.” Ehrien nodded as if to confirm her own words. “This isn’t normal… I can’t – I can’t keep doing this…”

“Ehrien.” Laura grabbed her hands. There were thousands of things Laura wished to say then; it was in her eyes. But she didn’t say a single one. Instead, she held Ehrien in her arms hard enough to put her back together.

Kai was behind the bar, cleaning the inside of an already clean glass. He had been doing it for the past fifteen minutes but wasn’t planning on stopping anytime soon.

But then he did. Kai placed the glass on the bar and his hands by its side. “Ehrien…” He sighed. You’re not going crazy, he wished he had said it. But it wasn’t his place to make those decisions, especially when his information was limited.

A loud laugh woke Kai from his daydreaming. He looked up and saw Rupert heading to him. “A guy over there just ordered a shot of bourbon with honey.” He shrugged “You do it. I don’t even know what the hell kind of a mixture that is.”

Kai smiled, as Rupert expected, and looked over his head at the man waiting for the drink. He was sitting alone, leaning back as far as he could without falling, one foot resting over his knee, one arm on the back of the chair while the other rested peacefully over the table. His dark clothes were far more discreet than Kai knew him to be, but the ridiculous amount of rings on his fingers and earrings in his ear showed just a smidge of the extravagance that Kai knew rested underneath.

His head was down and the golden hair he chose when in public covered his eyes, making it so Kai could only see his mouth. He sent waves of power and greatness to everyone around him. Even still he feared.

After preparing the drink and handing it over to Rupert, Kai waited until it was delivered. He restarted cleaning the already spotless glass as he watched Rupert return to his other customers. Only then did he react, his face losing all emotion. Kai’s voice was no more than a loud whisper, but there was no need to raise it or get closer. They could hear each other perfectly. “You always did like your sweets.”

“A man has his weaknesses.” A corner of the man’s lips rose as he took the drink in one gulp.

“I didn’t notice you there.” Kai’s tone was accusing.

The man shrugged lightly, and the smile came out in full. “I come and go as I wish. You know this, Kai.”

“Did you come for any particular reason? Did something happen?”

“No. I just like keeping an eye on you. Both of you.”

“Apparently not a very good eye. Do you know who has been coming around?”

“Yes…” The smile disappeared and his voice sounded tired. “What did you expect anyways? We couldn’t hold him off forever; seventeen years was already very good—much, much longer than I ever thought possible. But I have always been on the sceptical side of life.”

“Did you tell Jonathan?”

“No. It would only create problems, wouldn’t it?” He turned his face to Kai, though his eyes were still hidden. Kai felt relieved with his answer. There was no point in starting a new war when an old one was already happening.

“Since you’re not here on assignment, let me give you one.” Kai’s hands turned to fists on the surface of the bar. “This has gotten out of control. She thinks she’s going crazy, Obi; Ehrien thinks she’s losing her mind. She has been seeing things, very real things from her past and there is no rational way for her to justify them, is there? This has to stop. And if you don’t stop it, I will.”

“Kai…” Oberon’s voice was guarded and measured. “You cannot.”

“Something went wrong. Tell them, Obi. This has gone on long enough. Tell them it’s time.”

Oberon rose to his feet. His hands were in his pockets, and his head was still down. Many people around him had stopped their conversations to look at him, as if watching some miraculous performance.

After dropping some money onto the table to pay for the drink, Oberon headed to the exit, walking with elegance and poise. He stopped at the door and looked over his shoulder, showing Kai the first glimpse of his eyes, the eyes they shared, that unbelievable green colour.

“So I will.”

Chapter Four