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Month: October 2016

Chapter 4 – You’re Not A Very Good Liar

One Year Before Impact Day

When I woke up again the next morning, there was someone else in my bed with me. I didn’t even need to roll over to figure out who it was, and I knew I could blame Aidan for letting her in without waking me up. I could probably also blame him for her presence in the first place, since he’d almost certainly messaged her about what had happened.

“What are you doing in my bed?” I asked, not really needing an answer.

“Stealing your body heat,” she said, smiling gently.

I’d met Liz on my first day of high school, and grew to like her almost immediately. She gave off the impression of being antisocial almost to an extreme, though it wasn’t antagonistic. She just didn’t seem interested in anything that the people around her were doing. I felt like we were kindred spirits. She must have seen something similar in me, because I became the first and last friend she ever made. With the exception of Aidan, I suppose, but that was more a matter of convenience than anything else, since he was always around me.

In the years that followed, Liz’s detached coolness actually drew more people to her, though she never really seemed to notice. She was one of the school’s top sports stars, a high academic achiever and incredibly attractive by just about everyone’s standards. Her Eurasian features could have led to a future as a model, and she had the most captivating bright green eyes, silky black hair and the sort of athletic build that might have been intimidating, if not for her heart-melting smile. She literally had a fan club, and she couldn’t have cared less.

Probably about half the people in our school would have killed to wake up with her in their bed. In my case, it was nice, but I also knew it was going to come with a drawn out conversation about the night before, and that was something I definitely did not want to deal with.

Meanwhile, Aidan was reclined on my couch, lazily reading a book. Sadie was sitting behind him, reading over his shoulder. That was more or less the only way she could read, since she couldn’t pick up the books herself.

“So, do I need to ask what you’re doing here?” I asked.

“What, I can’t cuddle up with a friend in bed on a Saturday morning?” Liz complained, dodging the question.

“Alright, well, I’m gonna go for a run,” I said, hoping to escape before she had a chance to start interrogating me.

“That’s a good idea! I’ll come with you,” she said, effortlessly dashing those hopes.

“I’ll be here,” Aidan added, not looking up from his book.

“You can get out while I change, though,” I told him. He blushed, then recovered by rolling his eyes and closing the book, much to Sadie’s disappointment.

“What, you’re actually going?” he complained.

“Well, yeah. I could do with some exercise, anyway.”

“And some fresh air?” he asked snidely, parroting my excuse from the night before. I glared at him, and he sprung up from the couch. “Fine, I’m getting out. I’ll go amuse myself somewhere else.”

Sadie followed him out, presumably hoping he would continue his book. Liz and I got changed, her borrowing my spare athletic gear. We left together, jogging towards the park I’d lied about being at the night before.

I tried to set a pace that would be too hard for Liz to maintain and still be able to talk, but she was probably in better shape than I was. We picked up the pace a little more, running in silence for a while, but she started talking before I could get too comfortable.

“So what happened last night?” she asked, all pretences of subtlety dropped.

I sighed. “What did Aidan tell you?”

“That you were evasive,” she said. “So I’m asking you directly.”

“It’s really not a big deal,” I insisted, jumping over a crack that Liz didn’t even seem to notice.

“Maybe not to you.”

“No, seriously. I was restless, so I decided to go for a walk. It was dark, and I fell down a hill. I got a bit dirty, but that’s all.”

It wasn’t that I wanted to lie to her. I just didn’t want to upset her, and if she knew the real reason I was out, she would have freaked out. Plus, if I told her the truth about what I was doing, I would also need to explain why I was fine, and there was no way I was going to tell anybody about that. Not yet.

“You’re not a very good liar, Charlie.”

“Liz, look at me,” I said. “I’m running. You saw me before; I’m unharmed. Shouldn’t that be enough to tell you that everything is fine?”

“Just because your body is fine, doesn’t mean you are,” she said. “I’m worried about why you were out in the first place.”

We came to a stop in one of the more isolated areas of the park. Neither of us were out of breath, but it was obvious she wanted to focus on talking, not running. There was no easy way out of it.

For a brief moment, I did consider telling her, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Not yet.

“I just needed some space,” I lied. “It’s been eleven years, and sometimes I still don’t feel like I belong in that house. Sometimes, I just feel like I need to get out.”

“Charlie, you know they both love you, right? You’re as much a part of their family as they are, and you know they’d say the same.”

Liz wrapped her arms around me, hugging me gently. I hugged her back, trying not to feel guilty for manipulating her. It was for her own good, I told myself. I didn’t need to burden anyone else with my problems.

“I’m hungry,” I said, after enough time had passed to safely change the subject.

“Me too,” she said. “Let’s go back and bully Aidan into making us breakfast.”

“Just bat your eyelashes at him,” I told him. “He’ll grumble, but I guarantee he’ll do it.”

“Is that what you do?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Nah, bullying him is more fun,” I said. “And I’m not really the eyelash-batting type.”

“And you think I am?”

“You’re pretty enough to be,” I said. She blushed a little, and turned away.

“Let’s just go back,” she said, and started to jog back the way we came. I smiled, and took off after her.

Bullet dodged, I congratulated myself.

It didn’t feel like a victory, though. It just made me feel more lonely.

 

Six Months Before Impact Day

“I’m not sure I understand the relevance,” he complained.

“You mean you’re not interested in heart-warming stories about my friends?” I asked sarcastically, fidgeting in my bonds. They weren’t exactly comfortable.

“I warned you about wasting my time.”

“Fine, spoil the surprise,” I said, sighing. “Are you familiar with the Effe family?”

“They’re assassins,” he said. “Contract killers. Some of the best in the country.”

Of course he knew them. I’d expected as much.

“At least,” I confirmed. “Liz was one of them. Well, in training. She was only seventeen, after all.”

He raised an eyebrow at that. “One of your best friends was part of the most respected family of killers in the country. That seems awfully convenient.”

“Like I said, you don’t know the half of it.”

“Well, that’s why you’re telling me your story,” he said. “Now, is it safe to assume that this Aidan will also be important at some point?”

“You could say that,” I said, shrugging.

“How?”

“I’m getting there,” I snapped. “Trust me, it’s all important.”

“It had better be,” he said. “You can tell me more next time. Right now, I need to make some calls. Your friend, Liz… you referred to her in the past tense. Is she still alive?”

“I don’t know,” I said darkly.

 

Next Week: You Could Make A Difference Too

Chapter 3 – That Doesn’t Make You Invincible

Six Months Before Impact Day

I didn’t see him again for what I’m pretty sure was a week. It was hard to know for sure, given the lack of daylight or any timekeeping device, but it felt like a week. I only slept twice, but that wasn’t unusual for me. Part of the immortality deal seemed to be not needing a lot of it.

I spent most of that week being subjected to a battery of tests. They took vial after vial of blood, cut samples of my hair and fingernails, scrapings of my skin, saliva… other things I’d sooner not think about. I got crammed into every x-ray type machine I could think of, which worried me at first, but when they didn’t start ringing any alarm bells, I figured they somehow hadn’t noticed. Guess I lost that bet.

I was almost excited to talk to whatever-his-name-was again when he finally opened my door. Not because I had any sort of misplaced affection for him, but just because talking was a lot more fun than being poked and prodded.

“I was beginning to think you’d forgotten about me,” I said to him as he led me to the same interrogation room.

“I’m a busy man,” he replied. “I have a lot of damage to undo, thanks to you.”

I was beaming with pride, but I did my best to make sure he didn’t see it. By the time I’d taken my seat opposite him, my face was completely blank.

“So, what do you want to hear about today? My sixteenth birthday? I played laser tag. I won, but I think that’s because Liz let me win.”

He held up a hand to silence me. I considered ignoring it, but remembered I was supposed to be playing nice.

“Six months ago, you tried to kill yourself. I want you to tell me how you went from that to trying to single-handedly dismantle the largest criminal network in the city.”

“It wasn’t single-handed,” I said, enjoying the shock on his face. “I had help.”

“More like you?” he asked, his eyes lit up with a combination of hope and fear. He would not have made a good poker player.

“There’s no-one like me. But they were special.”

“Special how?”

“I’m guessing you want another story?” I asked.

“I want answers. If a story is how I get them, I will listen. But if you waste my time…”

“Point taken,” I said. “Okay, let’s go back to the night I tried to kill myself.”

 

One Year Before Impact Day

Half an hour later, I was crawling in through the window to the basement, which also happened to be my bedroom. The second my feet touched the floor, the light turned on, in the most clichéd reveal I’d ever been a part of it. I had to smile at that. Aidan was leaning against the wall, a concerned look on his face.

Like his father, Aidan was thin in that bony sort of way that made him kind of look both like a stick figure, and also taller than he actually was. The blonde hair and fair skin added a somewhat spectral element to his appearance, though I wouldn’t have described him as unattractive. His grey eyes rarely settled in one place, but when they did, they stared with an intense focus that was almost unsettling, which was exactly what was happening.

It didn’t surprise me that Aidan was waiting up for me. I was even grateful that it was him and not Mark, my adoptive father, but mostly I was just irritated. I wasn’t exactly in the mood for conversation, and there was no way he was going to leave without a long one.

“Oh my God, what happened to you?” he asked, his expression mortified.

It hadn’t actually occurred to me that I looked like I’d been in an accident. Obviously I was fine, but whatever had kept me alive hadn’t done the same for my clothes. They were pretty badly torn up and covered in dirt and dried blood.

“Huh? Nothing,” I said, knowing he wouldn’t accept it but unable to think of a convincing lie in time.

“You look like Hell,” he said.

Rude,” I told him, even though I knew he was right.

“Not like that,” he said. “Your clothes are all torn, your hair’s a mess, and you’re filthy.”

“Oh,” I said, as if I’d only just realised. “Yeah, I took a bit of a tumble.”

“A tumble.”

“In the park. It’s dark, and I fell down a hill. I’m fine though, really.” At least that part is true?

“What were you doing in a park in the middle of the night?” he asked, still sounding unconvinced.

“Just taking a walk,” I said, still lying through my teeth. “I just needed some air.”

“Charlie, it’s not safe,” he said, and I knew he wouldn’t ask me any more questions after that. He was too protective, and once those instincts were triggered, that was all he would focus on.

“Oh, please,” I said, rolling my eyes. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

I had to keep myself from smirking as I watched him bristle. When you’ve known someone for the vast majority of their life, you tend to figure out exactly how to push their buttons. Aidan had been my adoptive brother since the accident, and we were best friends even before then. I knew everything about him.

“Do I really need to say it?”

“Aidan, I can take care of myself,” I insisted. “I have like, three black belts.”

Mark had signed me up for aikido classes years ago in a vain attempt to give me an outlet for all of the aggression I was feeling. It didn’t work, but I enjoyed it so much that I also took up jujitsu and karate. I’d never actually been in a real fight, but I still felt pretty confident I could take care of myself.

“That doesn’t make you invincible,” he said, and I struggled to keep a straight face. “If anything, the overconfidence only makes it worse.”

“You are such a worrier. Trust me, I’m fine.”

“Try telling me that when you haven’t just come home looking like you were hit by a car,” he said, and for a moment, I hesitated. That was a little too close to the truth. There was no way he could actually know what had happened, right?

“God, you’re such a nag,” I teased.

“And proud of it,” he said. “Alright, go and have a shower. I’ll make you some food. Custard?”

If there was one thing Aidan was good at, it was taking care of people. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t get much of an outlet for that, living with Mark and me. We much preferred to take care of ourselves. That said, I wasn’t about to turn down custard.

“That’s cheating. You know I can’t say no to custard.”

“I’m just looking out for you,” he replied, smiling innocently.

I grabbed a clean t-shirt and underwear from my closet, then pushed him up the stairs so I could get to the shower. As he made his way to the kitchen, Sadie followed me into the bathroom. I started the water running so that we could talk without anyone overhearing me, and began peeling off my ruined clothes.

“Are you going to tell him?” she asked, perching on the side of the bath.

“I’m not going to tell anyone,” I said, wincing as I realised how badly my clothes stank.

“You can’t keep everything to yourself, Charlie,” scolded me, as I stepped into the shower. The hot water felt amazing, and almost immediately I could feel all of my muscles beginning to relax. After only a few minutes, I felt like myself again.

“Just watch me,” I told her.

“Aidan’s worried about you, too. Don’t you think it’s unfair to lie to him like this? If you can’t trust him, who can you trust?”

I wanted to say nobody, but there was one person I felt like I could actually trust. I wasn’t ready to talk just yet, but when I was… I felt pretty sure I knew who I was going to talk to.

I turned off the water, ignoring Sadie’s question. She stared at me as I began to towel myself off, and it was obvious she was checking for any sign of injury. I just kept ignoring her, pulled on the baggy t-shirt and fresh underwear, and threw the ruined clothes in a plastic bag. They were going right in the bin.

The smell of custard lured me back into my room, where Aidan was waiting for me, bowl in hand. He offered it to me and I snatched it out of his hands, suddenly very hungry.

“Okay, yes, this is delicious,” I told him, my mouth full of hot custard.

“Feeling better, then?”

“I told you, I’m fine,” I insisted. “Look, not even any scratches.” I pulled up the t-shirt to show him, smirking as he turned red.

“I see that,” he said awkwardly.

“Oi. Eyes up front, pervert.”

“Put some damn pants on, then,” he snapped, looking away.

“Shouldn’t have to,” I retorted.

“No, I didn’t mean-”

“Relax, I’m kidding,” I assured him, enjoying his embarrassment. It felt harmless and natural, which was just what I needed. I also needed sleep, though. I was going to get precious little of it as it was. “Thanks for the custard. Mind if I sleep now?”

“Yeah, I’ll leave you in peace,” he said, collecting the bowl from me. “Just take care of yourself, okay?”

I stuck my tongue out at him as he left the room. It was nice to feel loved. It was nice to be able to recognise it. Even a few hours ago, I hadn’t felt that way at all.

 

Next Week: You’re Not A Very Good Liar

Chapter 2 – Don’t You Know What This Means?

One Year Before Impact Day

I lay on my back, staring up at the sky, stars twinkling peacefully above me. There was grass beneath me, cool and a little wet. A weak breeze ruffled my hair. My body felt weak, and far away.

I remembered jumping, and then… nothing. I jumped, then I was just lying on the ground, looking up. My head ached.

Complaining loudly as I pulled myself into a sitting position, I started when I saw Sadie sitting beside me, her expression completely unreadable. We were on the side of the road, not far from the bridge I’d jumped from. I knew that something had happened, because most of the lanes were blocked off, and the flashing lights were blinding.

“Why am I on the side of the road?” I asked Sadie, holding my head though I was already starting to feel better.

“You were unconscious,” she said, her tone icy. “I dragged you here.”

She dragged me? She’d never been able to do that before…

“How?”

Not that that was the biggest question on my mind, but I had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to answer the one I really wanted to ask. I wasn’t entirely sure I’d be able to cope with the answer.

“I don’t know.”

“I feel fine,” I said. “Why do I feel fine?”

It shouldn’t have been possible. The height that I jumped from, even without the cars, should have seriously injured me at the very least. I patted myself down, but as far as I could tell, there wasn’t a single injury on my body.

“You must have gotten really lucky,” Sadie said, not making eye contact.

“There’s no way,” I insisted.

“Well, how else do you explain it?”

“I don’t know,” I said, as hazy memories began to return. “I remember falling, I remember getting hit, knocked around. I remember the pain. I was hurt. I should have died.” So why didn’t I?

“But you didn’t. Shouldn’t that be enough?” Sadie asked, almost pleadingly.

“This has happened before,” I realised, my entire body suddenly feeling cold and very heavy.

“What?”

“The accident,” I said. “When you died.”

“Charlie, don’t-”

“No, I remember,” I said. “Not everything, but there are pieces that are definitely true. We were all in the car. You, me, Mum and Dad, and there was no way any of us could have survived. The car was hit by a train going at full speed.”

Sadie cringed. “Can we please not talk about this?” she begged, but I ignored her. I needed to say it out loud.

“I was dying. I was in so much pain, and then, all of a sudden, I wasn’t. They pulled me out of that wreckage, and they couldn’t believe I was alive, let alone unscathed.”

“Charlie, please…”

More pieces were falling into place. Something was different about me. There was no other explanation.

“No, Sadie, don’t you know what this means?” I said, my fingers digging into the grass beneath me.

“That the world is completely unfair?” she said, disappointed and a little irate.

I sighed, beginning to calm down again.

“You. You’re right. I’m sorry,” I said, feeling a little bad.

“It’s fine,” she said sharply. “Just, please, don’t talk about it anymore. Any of it.”

“Yeah, okay,” I said. “Let’s just go home, okay?”

I tried to stand, but she placed her hand on my arm, stopping me.

“Wait,” she said, her expression severe.

“What for?”

“I want you to look at the road,” she said, delivering it almost like an order.

“I thought you didn’t want-”

“Just look!” she snapped.

“Okay.”

My eyes adjusted to the bright, flashing lights, and for the first time I could actually see what had happened. Several cars were strewn about the blocked-off section, all at odd angles. One of them was even upside down. There were multiple ambulances, police cars and fire trucks, and overhead, I could even hear a helicopter. News crews crowded around the edges of the barricades, filming everything.

“Thirteen people died because one person threw herself off a bridge,” Sadie said. “Just because you get to walk away, doesn’t mean any of them do.”

I couldn’t look away. All of that was my fault? I hadn’t even considered the impact that my jumping would have. At least, not the physical impact. I’d killed thirteen people, and for what? I hadn’t achieved a damn thing, except to make the world an even darker place.

“I-”

“No. Don’t say anything,” Sadie said. “Even if you had died, even if you’d gotten what you wanted, it wouldn’t change the fact that they all died too.”

“Sadie, I-”

“Charlie, I get it, I do,” she said, shaking her head. “Life is hard even at the best of times, and yours has never been easy. I know. I was there, remember? And if you really wanted to walk away from that, well, that was your decision. But those people who died? Their families? Friends? Your family and friends? None of them made that decision. So if you ever, ever try something like that again, whether you live or die, just remember that you’re not the only one it affects.”

I didn’t know what to say to her. I felt ashamed of myself, but at the same time, I felt angry. What right did she have to lecture me? She never had to think about whether her actions affected anybody else. She never had to worry about anything at all.

Where did that anger come from?

“I’m not going to do anything like that again,” I said weakly, painfully aware of just how pathetic a response it was.

“Alright, well, we really should get moving,” she said. “We’re not directly visible here, but they will start spreading out soon, and it would be pretty difficult to explain what you’re doing here.”

As I got to my feet, I thought I saw someone watching me, sitting atop the bridge, completely ignoring everything else. She had bright blue hair, and a long black coat. Then, a second later, she was gone, leaving me wondering if I’d really seen anything at all.

Six Months Before Impact Day

“Wait, that’s it?” he asked, frowning at me from across the table. “Who was the girl with the blue hair?”

“No idea,” I lied.

“Then why mention it at all?”

“It’s my story, isn’t it?” I said irritably.

“Fine, fine. So that’s it, then? You jumped off a bridge and realised you had magic healing powers?”

“How else did you expect the story to end?” I asked him.

“I didn’t expect that to be the end. How did you go from that to… where you ended up?”

I laughed. “Oh, you want the whole story. You should have said so.”

He shook his head, pushing his seat away from the table. He got up, and knocked on the door.

“We’ll continue this again next time,” he said. “Right now, I have some tests I want to run on you.”

“Can’t wait.”

 

Next Week: That Doesn’t Make You Invincible

Bonus – How Do You Do It?

Sabrina

One Year Before Impact Day

Sometimes I wonder if Charlie notices how often I stare at her. If she does, she certainly doesn’t say anything. I don’t think she really knows, though. She doesn’t seem to care that much about school, or what happens there.

I’m not really even sure if she considers me a friend. She’s friendly, but always distant. Elizabeth and Aidan are a lot closer to her, but something about them always feels off to me. Whenever Charlie isn’t around, they seem… different. I can’t quite put my finger on how.

Most people don’t like her, and I entirely understand why. When she’s not withdrawn, she’s irritable, abrasive, even standoffish. She barely engages with those around her, and when she does, it’s always for the minimum possible length of time.

She’s not really pretty, though I think most of that is deliberate. She keeps her hair short and messy, doesn’t wear much makeup, has an ill-fitting uniform, and scowls a lot. I think she wants to seem unapproachable, though I don’t really know why.

She’s got a weird mixture of being both athletic and a little chubby, intelligent but not expressive, empathic without any apparent compassion. None of which would be noticeable if I didn’t spend so much time watching her.

I wish I could explain my bizarre fascination with her. She’s magnetic in a way I don’t understand, and don’t know how to express.

Veronica thinks it’s a crush, and teases me about it constantly. I can’t say I blame her. It sure looks a lot like a crush, even if it isn’t. It isn’t anything. I’m just captivated.

I remember one time I was hanging out with Veronica and her younger sister, Ashley. Veronica decided to give me shit about it, and it was the first Ashley had heard of it.

“So when are you gonna tell Charlie you like her?” Veronica teased, which causes Ashley’s ears to perk up.

“Ohmygod, do you have a crush?” Ashley asked, her mouth forming an O to go with her giant round eyes.

“It’s not a crush,” I muttered, glaring at Veronica. “And I don’t like her. I’m just… curious.”

“Who is it? Who’s Charlie?” Ashley demanded.

“Just a girl we go to school with,” I said.

“What’s so special about her?”

“Nothing,” Veronica said. “She’s just grumpy all the time.”

“Sounds boring,” Ashley said.

“This whole conversation is boring,” I insisted. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“Not a chance,” Veronica said. “I wanna know why you’re always staring at her.”

“I don’t know!”

“You don’t know why you stare at her?” Ashley asked, tilting her head like a dog might. “Isn’t that a little creepy?”

“Oh it’s so creepy,” Veronica said.

“Shut up,” I snapped at her. “Look, I really don’t know, okay? It’s just something I find myself doing.”

“Sure sounds like a crush to me,” Ashley said.

“It’s not a crush,” I repeated, frustrated.

“What else could it possibly be?” Veronica asked.

“It’s like…” I sighed, and stared up at the ceiling, trying to find the right words. “Gravity, I guess?”

“You’re in loooooove,” Veronica teased.

“Yeah, that’s pretty gay,” Ashley agreed.

“Ashley! What have I told you about using that word?” Veronica snapped.

“What? Seth basically counts as a girl,” Ashley said defensively. “So if he likes a girl, that makes him gay.”

“There are so many things wrong with that sentence, I don’t even know where to begin,” Veronica muttered, but I noticed her very distinctly avoiding my eye.

I’m so not ready to have this discussion, I thought anxiously.

“Sue me,” Ashley said. “I’m twelve, I can’t be held accountable for what I say.”

“Oh you’re so very wrong about that,” Veronica growled.

“Fine, fine, I’m sorry,” Ashley said. “Can we go back to talking about Seth’s crush now?”

“It’s not a crush!”

“Explain ‘gravity’ then,” Veronica challenged me.

“I can’t!”

“Try?” Ashleigh asked.

“Ugh, you’re so annoying,” I complained. “But fine, okay. It’s like… It’s like she’s the centre of the universe, and we’re all just orbiting her.”

“Um,” Ashley said.

“Dude,” Veronica said.

“What?”

“You so have a thing for her,” Veronica said.

“You so do,” Ashley added.

“I don’t know why I bother talking to either of you,” I complained.

The conversation more or less ended there, but that idea stuck with me. Not that I thought that Charlie was the literal centre of the universe, but I couldn’t shake the idea that she was significant, somehow. Maybe not to everyone, but definitely to me.

Maybe it was a karmic thing? Maybe I was drawn to her because one day, in the future, our destiny was intertwined? Maybe we knew each other in a past life?

Whatever it was, I decided that there was only one way to find out. So one day, I decided to approach her. I waited until she was alone, and walked up to her during lunch. She looked up at me with a sort of casual disinterest, then smiled.

“Hey,” she said. “I was wondering when you’d actually come talk to me.”

“You noticed, then.”

“You’re not exactly subtle.”

“Sorry,” I mumbled.

“Don’t be,” she said. “You weren’t creepy about it.”

“It’s not, uh…”

“I know. Don’t worry,” she assured me. “Wanna sit?”

“Sure.”

I sat down beside her, and she smiled again. It was bittersweet, and at the same time as I felt my heart flutter, my stomach twisted around.

Why does she make me feel like this?

“I’m glad you decided to talk to me,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if we’d get the chance.”

“What?”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, but I couldn’t dismiss the turning of my stomach, or the growing sense of anxiety and dread.

Ask her, a voice shouted at me in my head.

“Are you okay?” I asked, not sure what else I could do.

“No,” she said, more pain in that one word than I’d ever heard in my life. A second later, she smiled, all traces of pain gone. “Sorry. Just one of those days, you know?”

“I have some idea,” I agreed, though I wasn’t entirely sure what I was agreeing to.

“How do you do it?” she asked, and without her needing to clarify, I knew exactly what she meant. “How do you deal with… everything?”

How does she know?

“I don’t know,” I said.

“I wish I was as strong as you,” she said, and I wanted to cry.

With that, the bell rang, and people began shuffling back to classrooms. She gave me a look, a sad, grateful, melancholic smile, and it broke my heart.

“Goodbye,” she said.

Chapter 1 – You Truly Are Insufferable

Impact Day, Volume 2: Dead Girls Don’t Cry

Part 1 – It Runs In The Family

Charlie

Six Months Before Impact Day

I woke up with a splitting headache, completely disoriented. My throat felt parched, and every bone and muscle in my body ached. I couldn’t for the life of me remember what had happened, or how I’d ended up here.

Groaning, I forced myself upright, and took in my surroundings. A heavy pair of handcuffs around my wrists, and a chain connecting my ankles made that a little tricker than expected. That did not bode well.

Alright, Charlie. Time to take stock of your situation.

I was in a small room that seemed to be made entirely of plain concrete walls, with no windows. It smelled like a construction site, which was probably not the worst odour one could expect from a small concrete room.

I was perched on a raised steel slab that was bolted firmly into the wall. It was the only furniture in the room, assuming your definition of furniture was generous enough to consider it in the first place. A large crack ran down the wall beside me, the only sign of age in what otherwise appeared to be a recently constructed room.

There was a door in the opposite wall, also solid metal, with no openings and no handle. A security camera was perched in the top corner above the door. Evidently, I was in a prison cell of some kind. Fucking fantastic. What I was doing there still eluded me, and I doubted there was going to be a reassuring explanation.

Something is missing. My head was still throbbing, my thoughts were a mess, but I knew there was something that was supposed to be here. Something that wasn’t. Panic began to settle in. It was wrong.

Sadie.

Sadie was nowhere to be seen. That’s what was wrong. Sadie was always with me. She wasn’t now. That terrified me. It wasn’t as though anything could happen to her, but still…

No, she was fine. Of course she was fine. It was literally impossible for anything to have happened to her. Wasn’t it?

I slowed my breathing and closed my eyes, trying to calm my mind. She was out there somewhere, I just needed to…

There. I felt fear, almost on the verge of panic, mixed in with love and concern. That was Sadie, alright. She was fine. Relief flooded over me, relief that was very quickly dashed as the cold, hard bench I was sitting on reminded me of my present situation.

Outside the door, I heard footsteps echoing. I focussed on the sound, holding my breath when they stopped outside the room. Whoever it was, they were almost certainly here for me. Well, at least I’d probably learn something.

I pressed myself against the wall beside the door, hoping to get the drop on whoever opened it. Moving with my wrists and ankles cuffed was difficult, but nothing I couldn’t handle. In fact, I was kind of itching for a fight. That was good, because I was willing to bet whoever was on the other side of that door was not going to be friendly.

There was the tinny sound of someone clearing their throat, played through a speaker. A voice filled the room. I didn’t recognise it, but it spoke with a contemptuous familiarity that grated at my nerves.

“Miss Farrow? Would you move away from the door, please?”

So they knew who I was. That wasn’t good. They weren’t giving me any room to surprise them, either. I was at a disadvantage. Still, no sense in giving up just yet. There would be plenty of opportunities.

I walked over to the opposite wall and turned around, leaning against the wall. I adopted the most nonchalant pose possible, giving my bindings. The last thing I was going to give them was the satisfaction of seeing me subservient.

The door made a heavy clanking sound and swung open slowly. A middle-aged white man walked into the room, dressed in an expensive suit and wearing an openly curious expression. He was looking at me like some kind of exhibit at a zoo. Seeing his face, I was a little more certain how I’d ended up here, and it sent a chill down my spine.

“I’m glad you’re finally awake,” he said, speaking with the slightest trace of an accent I couldn’t quite place. “I’ve been waiting for the chance to speak to you. Please, would you follow me?”

I didn’t move as he gestured to the door. He didn’t seem at all surprised. Instead, he just pulled out a handgun, pointing it at my head. I didn’t even flinch.

Rolling my eyes, I decided it would be easier to just do what he wanted. For now, at least. Following him seemed slightly less painful than being shot, and it was the best chance I had at figuring out what was going on.

He led me out into the corridor, gun never pointed anywhere but my head. We walked, slowly, through more dull grey concrete and passed countless metal doors. The whole place felt lifeless and just a little suffocating, probably by design. No windows anywhere, and only a minimum of lighting.

I followed him into another room, slightly larger than my cell, with a table in the centre, and a chair on either side of it. He gestured for me to sit down, and I begrudgingly did so.

“Well, I have to admit, you’re not quite what I expected,” he said, sitting down opposite me. I noticed that he still held onto the gun, but at least it wasn’t pointed at me anymore. The table seemed to satisfy the same need, keeping me at a safe distance.

Did he realise he wasn’t safe, there? Did he know the gun wouldn’t stop me?

“You thought I’d be taller, didn’t you?” I asked. “I get that a lot.”

He smiled, though there was no humour in it. He reminded me a little of a shark. I wonder, if I knocked his teeth out, would they grow back?

“I’m glad you can still maintain your sense of humour. But no, I was referring to the fact that you’re, well, a teenage girl. A scrawny one, at that.”

Scrawny? Why you miserable, condescending-

His tone was dismissive, and I couldn’t help but to take it personally. He was surprised that someone like me could do what I did? That I was capable of challenging him? Fuck him.

“Now you know why everyone is scared of teenage girls,” I said, smirking. He didn’t seem amused at that. That was just fine. Neither was I.

“Indeed. Now, I do hope you’ll forgive me, but I’m afraid I’m going to need to see it for myself.”

My eyes flicked down to the pistol again, resigned to my fate. If it was going to happen, there was more painful ways. My heart thudded once, wanting to panic, but I forced myself to remain calm. My lack of visible fear seemed to be eating at him, which was a nice bonus.

“Sorry, I’m not that kind of girl.”

“I’ll give you the choice,” he said, ignoring my quip and pointing the gun at my chest. “Where would you like the first one?”

“In your head?”

He sneered. “You are truly insufferable, you know that?”

“I might feel worse about that if you weren’t threatening to shoot me,” I said dryly.

“So in the head, then?”

“Just get it over with,” I said.

“As you wish,” he replied, and pulled the trigger.

I didn’t hear the gunshot. There was the briefest of flashes before the bullet ripped through me, and then everything went black. I felt my body go limp and slump backwards, somehow managing to stay seated as all the life left my muscles.

Then, what felt like seconds later, my eyes fluttered open again, my headache considerably more pronounced than before. I had no idea how much time had passed, but I knew from experience it was longer than it felt.

He was still sitting opposite me, a marvelled look on his face. I hated having given him even the slightest bit of pleasure, but there wasn’t a whole lot I could do about it. Coming back from the dead wasn’t something I ever chose to do. It just happened.

“Uuuugh, my head,” I complained. I couldn’t wait until I got the chance to kill him.

Patience, Charlie.

“Incredible,” he said.

I glowered at him. “So glad I impressed you. Can I go now?”

“Not until you’ve answered some questions,” he said. Right. Questions. Like I believed that.

“And then you’ll let me go?”

“No,” he said. “But I can make your stay here more comfortable. Or less. It’s up to you.”

I actually considered my options. Outright defiance would feel better, but would also probably end up being a lot more painful for me in the long run. I had a lot of time to kill, and if playing his game got me a more comfortable bed and fewer bullets in me, I could wait it out. I just had to be very careful about what I told him.

“Fine, fine. What do you want to know?”

“Huh. I was expecting more resistance,” he said.

“I’m only going to tell you because I know you won’t believe me.”

He leaned over the table towards me, and I had to fight the urge to punch him. Patience, Charlie. You’ll have your chance.

“I just shot you in the head, and the only thing you have to show for it is dried blood. You may consider me open minded,” he said.

“Whatever you say.”

“So, how did you discover this… power of yours?” he asked.

I hesitated, not sure if I should answer honestly or not. It didn’t really matter, but I really hated to talk about it. Still, it would make for a better story if I told the truth, and a better story would buy me more time.

“I tried to kill myself,” I said. The memory felt distant, almost like it had been someone else. So much had happened since then.

He scoffed, and my rage intensified.

“You? A middle class white girl in an expensive school? What could possibly have been so bad?” His condescension was expected, but it still pissed me off.

It bothered me that he knew so much about me, though. Even if I obfuscated major details, I was worried he’d be able to figure things out. Maybe not everything, but enough to put people at risk I really didn’t want in the line of fire.

I shrugged, playing up a nonchalance I didn’t really feel.

“The world was a mess. It’s still a mess, but back then, I couldn’t see a way to change it,” I told him. Not entirely true, but not a lie, either.

“What, and you felt like it was your responsibility to change the world?”

“Am I telling a story, or is this therapy?” I snapped, not wanting to tell him that the answer to that question was a resounding yes.

“Fine. You hated the world and wanted to leave it. Could it also have been, and I’m taking a wild guess here,” he added sarcastically, “heartbreak over some boy?”

Condescension aside, it was the first real emotional engagement he’d shown. A sign of weakness. I logged it away for future use.

“A girl, actually,” I said.

“Oh. Should have guessed,” he said insincerely, and I felt my lips curl into a snarl.

“My sister, you idiot.”

“Your sister broke your heart?”

“More than ten years ago,” I said.

“What happened?”

“She died,” I told him. “So did my parents, but I’ve made peace with that.”

I could remember the accident so vividly, even now. The four of us in the car, stopped at a level crossing. A drunk driver behind us, colliding with our car, pushing us forward, into the path of the oncoming train. The horrifying, dizzying sensation of the car being thrown sideways.

The others had been killed instantly. The paramedics had told me they wouldn’t have experienced any pain. They also told me I was incredible lucky to be alive. There was no reason I shouldn’t have suffered the same fate. At the time, I hadn’t understood why I’d survived, but even then, I knew better than to feel lucky.

There was nothing lucky about it.

“You made peace with your parents’ deaths, but not your sister. How was that different?” he asked.

“Why do you care?”

“You never know which details will be relevant,” he said.

“Alright then.”

“So, your sister. You couldn’t move on. Why?”

“Because I can still see her,” I told him. “I can talk to her. I can feel her. And nobody else can.”

I remembered seeing her standing there, surrounded by the chaos of the car wreck, terrified and confused, and everybody was ignoring her. I’d tried to get her help, but nobody could see her, nobody believed me. To them, I was just a traumatised kid.

“You’re saying you can see ghosts?”

I muffled my laugh. Given what he’d already seen me do, it probably wasn’t that unreasonable an assumption, but thankfully, it was also inaccurate.

“Ghost. Singular, and I don’t even know if that’s what she is,” I said. “But for the sake of simplicity, yes. I can see my dead sister’s ghost.”

“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?”

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it,” I said threateningly.

“Not yet. Why don’t you tell me about the time you tried to kill yourself?”

I sighed. It was going to be a long night. Or day. I actually had no idea what time it was, but I supposed it didn’t really matter.

I leant back in the chair, resting my feet on the table. He looked amused, and just a bit annoyed. It was a good start.

“If I must.”

 

Next Week: Don’t You Know What This Means?

Step 5 – What Death Fears

Melbourne, 2003 – 12 Years Before Impact Day

Roxie and Felix sat on the branches of a tall tree, watching the accident unfold. She’d seen dozens of deaths now, carried as many souls to whatever was waiting for them. She still felt the loss of each and every one.

“Does it ever stop feeling so tragic?” she asked, as a car pulled to a stop in front of a level crossing, waiting for the train to pass.

“Knowing what comes after helps,” Felix replied.

“The people they’re leaving behind don’t know,” Roxie pointed out.

A car was hurtling down the road, swerving slightly, showing no signs of slowing down.

“Loss is a part of the human experience,” Felix said.

The train was growing closer.

“Still, a family of four, all dead?” she asked.

“I’ll take the kids,” he said.

“Thanks.”

The swerving car collided with the back of the stopped vehicle, sending it lurching forwards, crashing through the barricade and onto the train tracks. The train’s horn blared, but it was far too late for it to stop.

The force of the collision sent the car flying forward, rolling and bouncing until it landed in a crumpled, smoking heap beside the tracks. The train was screeching to a stop, but there was nothing that could be done.

Roxie and Felix dropped from the tree, landing lightly on their feet, and approached the vehicle. Three spirits shimmered into existence around it. One must still be clinging to life, Roxie realised. Won’t be long now, though.

She approached the parents, a moderately attractive heterosexual Caucasian couple, with fair skin and brown hair. They acknowledged her approach with a mixture of confusion and relief. Carol and Jason Farrow.

“What happened?” Jason asked, his arm wrapped around the shoulder of his wife.

“Are we… dead?” Carol added, glancing back at the wreckage.

“Yes,” Roxie told them, her voice gentle and soft. “I’m sorry.”

“And the girls?” Jason asked, his voice pained.

“I’m so sorry. There was no-”

“STAY AWAY!” a child’s voice screeched, cutting her off. It sent a chill down her spine, and she looked over to Felix, who had already drawn his rapier.

Two girls, looking maybe six and four, were backed up against the car. The older one was standing in front of her sister, defiant and fierce.

“What the…” Roxie muttered.

“Charlotte, I’m sorry,” Felix said calmly. “It has to be this way.”

“No…” Jason said, staring at his daughters.

“Uh, maybe we should wrap this up,” Roxie said, feeling a sudden spike of anxiety.

“But our girls,” Carol said, hesitantly.

“We’ll take care of them,” Roxie assured her. “I promise.”

“What’s going to happen to them?” Jason asked.

“Same thing that’s gonna happen to you. We’re going to take you somewhere safe, and everything will be fine.”

I mean, it’s mostly true.

“Heaven?” Carol asked.

“Yes,” Roxie lied.

Well, it wasn’t technically a lie. Hell basically served the same functions that people attributed to Heaven. The only reason it was called Hell was because… Actually, she didn’t know why it was called Hell. She knew it had about a dozen other names, but none of them were Heaven. There probably was a reason for that, but it didn’t seem important, or pertinent.

“Okay,” Jason said, squeezing Carol’s shoulder. She leaned into him, smiling.

Roxie summoned her scythe, collecting both of them in a single swipe. She could feel their sparks inside of her, and it was a comforting feeling. Every time she collected a soul, she felt connected to them, to the lives they’d once had, to her place in the universe.

“YOU. CAN’T. HAVE. HER.” the older child was screaming, and Roxie turned in time to see Felix actually take a step back. The girl scared him that much? Why?

“What’s going on?” Roxie asked, rushing to his side. As she got closer, she realised there was something different about the girl, though she couldn’t put her finger on exactly what.

“She’s… not dead,” Felix said, eyeing the girl warily.

“What? Then how can she-”

“I don’t know,” he said nervously.

“GO AWAY!” the girl shouted. There was weight behind her words, a force that even Roxie had to admit was a little frightening.

“There’s something wrong here,” Felix said. “She’s not human.”

“Her name is Charlotte, right?”

“Yes.”

Roxie approached the girl, letting go of her scythe. It vanished back into her, and Charlotte relaxed a little, but still stood protectively in front of her sister. Sadie.

“Charlotte, listen. It’s gonna be okay. We’re taking her somewhere safe. She’ll be looked after.”

“She’s staying with me,” Charlotte insisted.

“She can’t,” Felix insisted. “She’s dead. We can’t undo that.”

Charlotte folded her arms and shook her head. Her mannerisms were very much those of a child, but there was something else to them, something unnatural.

“I can still see her. I can still talk to her. She’s staying with me.”

“If she stays, she’ll get worse,” Felix told her. “She won’t be happy. She won’t be herself.”

“I’ll make her happy,” Charlotte insisted.

“It won’t be good for her, Charlotte,” Roxie said gently.

“You can’t take her,” Charlotte repeated, widening her stance. Roxie’s skin was crawling. Something was very, very off about this girl.

“Distract her,” Felix whispered, beginning to circle around her.

Bad idea, her instincts screamed, but she obliged. She had no choice.

“Charlotte, talk to me. Are you afraid to lose her?” she asked.

“I’m not losing her.”

“You have to say goodbye, Charlotte,” Roxie said, her heart breaking a little. “I’m sorry.”

“No,” Charlie said.

Felix stood behind Sadie, on the other side to Charlie. He moved quickly, thrusting his blade into the girl’s chest. It was faster than Roxie had ever seen him move. Did fear motivate him that much?

It didn’t matter. However fast he was, the girl was fast. Charlotte whirled, grabbing his blade before it could touch her sister, stopping it. Fear burst forth onto Felix’s face, no longer concealed.

“What the-” he began, but she cut him off.

“MINE!” she shouted, the words booming out into the night.

With a single, savage movement, Charlotte grabbed the sword with her other hand, and snapped it in half. Roxie watched as Felix convulsed, as if his spine had been shattered, and he collapsed to the ground.

“Run,” he whispered.

Charlotte stood over him, cuts appeared all across her body. Blood flowed out of the wounds, circling around her, a gruesome aura that effectively doubled her size. Roxie could feel fury emanating from her in waves, and she was barely able to move.

Helpless, she watched as Charlotte picked up Felix, holding him in the air before snapping his neck and tearing him in half. She flung the two halves away from her, though they disintegrated in the air before getting very far.

Felix is dead. This girl, this thing, just killed a Reaper.

In that moment, she realized it wasn’t Charlotte she was looking at. There was something inside of her, something very dangerous, and very powerful, and very angry. Something Felix had just pissed off. If she wasn’t careful, it would kill her, too.

“What are you?” she asked it.

“DESTROYER,” it replied.

“Why are you protecting her?” Roxie asked, gesturing towards the other girl, tiny and terrified. “You’re not human. She’s not your sister.”

“CHARLOTTE LOVES HER,” it said.

“I need to-” Roxie began, but she was interrupted by the appearance of another young girl. Fair skin, lilac hair, deep purple eyes.

The girl from the hotel? Before I died?

“Don’t,” the girl said.

“Who are you?” Roxie asked, certain it couldn’t be the same person.

“The Child. You collected my soul,” the girl said.

“No, I didn’t”

“You will.”

“How?” Roxie asked, still staring at Charlotte, or the Destroyer, or whatever that thing was. It seemed content to simply stand over Sadie, protecting her.

“Time is weird for your kind,” the Child said. “And mine.”

“Your kind?” What are you?”

“Guardian,” the Child said.

“Which means…?”

“I outrank you. So listen to me, and run.”

“I can’t leave a soul here,” Roxie said, summoning her scythe. If she had to fight both of them, she would. Even if it meant ending up like Felix.

“You don’t have a choice,” the Child said.

“I can-” Roxie began, but the Child interrupted her.

“No, you can’t.”

“What are you doing here?” she asked, one of a thousand questions racing through her mind.

“Protecting an investment,” the Child replied.

Roxie tried to move, but the Child was faster. Her movements were graceful, fluid, and completely inhuman. All it took was a single finger, placed on Roxie’s forehead, and everything around her faded to nothing. A blink of her eyes, and she realized she was back in the clearing, now in the midst of winter.

The souls of Jason and Carol Farrow had left her. Felix was gone. She lay there, staring up at the black and purple sky, snowflakes landing gently on her skin.

Who was Charlotte Farrow, really? What was she? And who was that girl?

If she was lucky, it would be a very long time before she had to see either of them again.

 

Next Week: Dead Girls Don’t Cry (Impact Day, Volume 2 begins!)

 

RoxieSo there you go! That’s the end of our 5 week hiatus, and the bonus story that filled the space. I hope you enjoyed it! It’s a bit weird, but it’s all important in the end.

Anyway, if you’ve enjoyed the story so far, consider supporting me on on Patreon, so I can afford to keep writing it. Additionally, you can buy the complete collection of Impact Day on Gumroad. It features a bonus chapter that I’m not releasing online! Also, you can get Roxie as a standalone purchase.

Next Week, Dead Girls Don’t Cry begins! It’s basically like Impact Day, only set earlier, and more full of personal drama and angst. I hope you enjoy it!