Otherworld: Station One. - 5. Winter 5

I had never really believed in God, Satan, or Angels. The idea that someone was watching me, judging me ; whether or not I was fit enough for someone else’s idea of paradise. I’d rather burn in hell than have to live up to that expectation.

But here was some nut-job telling me that he was an Angel.

“You’re an angel.” Alex barked out. He started to laugh and tried to walk away.

“Don’t leave!” Hamon cried out. Something in his urgency made me snatch the back of Alex’s shirt and pull him back.

“What the, let me go man!” Alex slapped my hand away but stayed put. “Why can’t I leave?”

“You’ll enter the convergence point.” Hamon said. He sighed when he saw our puzzled expressions. “It’s the point where time flies and never ends, where things are born and where they go to die.

“There is a certain point, where every time your town changes, access to the convergence point becomes possible. You’ve been there before.” He directed the last part at Mel and myself.

Apparently she realized it before me, “You mean that oasis?” He nodded. “Why is it bad?

“It’s where things go to die, so if you’re living while you are there, you will slowly die.” He sat down on the grass and started picking at it. An oddly human habit I thought. “I have to go soon, I put everything I know onto that USB, keep it with you at all times.”

Then I remembered something, “Hamon, why do I lose my hearing?” Hamon didn’t meet my eyes and I began to get suspicious. “What is it? Tell me!” I grabbed his shoulder but he didn’t respond.

“I don’t know why-”

“Bullshit!” I said forcefully. Mel placed a hand on my shoulder.

“We have to go.” She said. I didn’t want to hear it, something made me feel uneasy, the way he was dodging the question when he clearly knew something, but, did he know something? I didn’t want to think about it anymore.

“Fine,” I huffed shrugging off her hand.

“Wait!” Hamon cried out, I stopped. “I need it back…” I stared at him incredulously.

“You need what back?” He pointed to my bag and I glanced down, still just as blank as before. “Get to the point, what do you want?"

“That feather,” he came over and opened the bag. His hand disappeared for a second but the triumphant look on his face was gone in a moment “it’s not in here.” He murmured.

“I know. I don’t have a feather.” I lied; I hoped that angels couldn’t read minds because in my minds eye I could see it sitting on my desk, waiting to be pinned up.

Hamon grimaced, “Sorry,” he apologized. “I guess I wanted it to be easy.” I was about to ask when I felt a surging wind, it was like a hurricane and I struggled to stay on my feet, I could imagine flying away like an umbrella.

“What’s happening?” Alex yelled, cupping his hand to his mouth, trying to get the megaphone effect. It didn’t work. He didn’t even look scared, more angry with a little dash of startled.

Hamon tried to say something over the roar but his voice died. Then he was gone. I watched Melanie try to run back to the gate but the gale was forcing us back to the center of the field. That same vortex of white, rising up into the sky was there.

Whilst conversing with Hamon I had failed to notice that the mist had slowly broken through the invisible barrier that had been there earlier. Why hadn’t I noticed? I felt responsible for it now, and I don’t even know why.

Alex lost his footing first, it looked like he was being picked up like a puppy would, from the scruff of his neck, and he was hurled into the spinning white. I didn’t even think twice as I jumped into the air and let it carry me after him.

It was my fault he was in this too, so I had to do something right? Mel screamed out my name but like there was anything that could help me now.

The last thing I remembered seeing was Mel still struggling to get away. And then that familiar veil of blackness latched onto my vision and I sank into the welcoming warmth.

***

An ocean, water and sand.

I could hear waves and I moaned.

I was probably imagining things but trying to open my eyelids was hard, they felt like someone had stapled them together and then run a line of superglue across them.

When they wrenched open I felt an ocean breeze flow across my bare chest and shivered slightly. The smell of the sea filled my nostrils and, a little sand. I sneezed and rubbed my nose. That was when I noticed someone was lying next to me.

Alex was out again. There was a tiny line of drool from his bottom lip leaking onto the sand. I grinned and rolled away before any could get on me. I sat up and stretched my arms, feeling like every muscle in my body had been on hiatus for a year.

I stood up and glanced around, trying to see if anything was new. And it was. The palm trees and lush grass were just behind us, and the ocean out in front. The sand was the same gold but this time there was a wooden pier and a little dingy one the oceans edge. I couldn’t help but remember a memory from when I was young.

It was seven years ago, when I was ten. I was on a boat, it was a rickety thing, painted white at some point during its life but not anymore, the colour had drained out and peeled. But I felt a surge of pride for some reason, then I saw myself, sitting in the boat with a fish flapping about between my legs and… a man?

Well it certainly wasn’t Mum. This, man… had a fishing pole between his legs and was looking down at me with a huge grin. I couldn’t remember him at all. I searched through all of my memories, at least the ones that were accessible to me.

This memory had always been one where I was alone, happily alone. Not with another person. I tried to focus, to understand why, but every time I tried to think about it, the image became more and more blurry until eventually it was just me again.

“You’re Eli, right?” Came Alex’s voice. I turned and he was sitting up scratching his chin where I noticed there was a fine dusting of black stubble.

“Yeah, um..." I paused, at a loss for the right words. "Sorry about this.” I apologized. Even to my ears it sounded ludicrous, a pathetic apology. “You didn’t need to be dragged into this.”

“You’re damn right!” He growled standing up. His board shorts were the same style as mine I realized, except his oddly showed a little more thigh. I almost grinned, but then the guilt came back full force. “I don’t even know what the fuck is going on.”

“Yeah because I’m so schooled on the topic.” I shot back. He looked even more pissed off and stalked over to me. I thought he might knock me out and I immediately cowered as little spider web strands of that rumor came floating back to me. “Are you the boxing champ...?” I asked meekly eyeing off his clenching and unclenching fists.

He glanced at his hands and when he looked up at me, he was acting strange, at least strange for a supposedly pissed off guy. Then he laughed. He fucking laughed, and his breath stank but he was laughing at me. “Yeah I am” he said mid cackle.

“No need to be an ass.” I muttered turning away. I walked over out onto on the pier and felt that odd sensation as I stepped on it. That feeling of bare skin on dry and old wood. It’s hard to explain unless you have felt it before.

Then I finally noticed… My head spun around trying to spot her, she should have been here, it didn’t feel right without her. “Mel!” I shouted feeling panic flood my blood. Alex stopped laughing and looked dazed for a second, then he too started calling out her name.

We searched for what felt like ages, if we went too far into the woods we wound up back at the pier no matter what. “Maybe she didn’t come through..” Alex suggested

I nodded feverishly, trying to rationalize it. “Yeah… yeah that has to be it, she’s safe on the other side waiting for us.”

Alex came up beside me and patted me on the back. His fingers were rough and calloused, I didn’t have time to focus on that however “Where are we?” he asked.

“You know how Hamon told us about that convergence point?” I asked. Alex nodded in my peripheral. “Well, this is that place.” I explained.

“Oh, so we should get out of here?” he assumed, I nodded my assent and pointed into the deep blue at the end of the pier.

“Down there, we have to dive.” I said. Alex frowned, then shrugged and dove in headfirst. I didn’t have time to tell him to pin-drop in. I sighed and followed dropping in the same way I had done a million times at the town pool.

***

“You could have told me!” Alex roared. Always the quick one to anger, he was rubbing his head softly the same way I imagined I was when it happened to me. I had landed quite happily on two feet. Turns out a pin-drop dive was the way to go.

“I tried but you just dove straight in, showcasing your limitless intelligence” I said. Alex glared at me and stood up. I pretended I hadn’t said anything and turned away. The gnawing feeling in my gut reminded me of what I had noticed before, Mel wasn’t here either.

Alex noticed too and voiced my thoughts word for word “Where the hell has she gone?”

I chewed my bottom lip and forced back the instinct to say something sarcastic. “I don’t know. But we won’t find her standing here.” I marched off towards her home, hoping she had gone there. It was late, time had unfrozen itself again and I hoped Mum didn’t check in on me at home.

“Everything’s back to normal…” Alex commented, the same way Mel had when we had gotten out of the Convergence Point.

“Yeah, I think it has something to do with the convergence point.” I thought out loud. Alex nodded and then stopped.

“Shit, I’m s’posed to be at home!” He said checking his watch. That reminded me, technology was working. I whipped out my phone and dialed Mel’s number.

“I can take care of this if you want to go Alex.” I said. He almost looked offended and crossed his arms.

“Uh, I don’t think so. I’d like to make sure she’s okay if you don’t mind.” He said. I shrugged and waited for someone to pick up.

“Eli!” Mel’s voice burst onto the other line, “Where are you!” Her voice was fading in and out.

“Chill Mel, we’re fine, we just got out of the Convergence Point..” I said, a little smile playing on my lips, she was always far too worried.

“Then why isn’t the mist gone!”

“What?” I frowned, I was looking around and it was dark, sure but there was no mist, just orange lamplight and wet grass. “It is gone, where are you?”

“At the football field, Eli that thing is back!” I almost dropped the phone. She was still in the Otherworld. Alex was watching me trying to figure out what was happening.

“Mel, we aren’t in Otherworld anymore,” I said. I heard her cry out in pain. “Mel!” I barked frantically. I wanted to dive through the phone, there had to be something we could do.

“Eli, What do I do, It’s coming.. ELI!” She screamed. The line went dead and my entire body felt numb.

“What’s going on, what’s the matter!” Alex yelled. “I heard her scream man, what’s the matter?”

“She’s still there, in the Otherworld.” Alex’s face paled. “Something’s attacking her.” He grabbed my arm and started pulling me.

“C’mon we have to help her!” He shouted.

“Alex!” I wrenched my arm out his grip, “Where are you going…?” He wheeled around and glared at me.

“I don’t know but we gotta do something.”

“Great, so your rash and quick to temper, We can’t just go running in some unknown direction, we have to think, why didn’t she come back, and how do we get her out.”

“We don’t have time to sit and wonder!” Alex exclaimed. His voice was getting louder than I had ever heard a voice go. “We have to do something.”

I started pacing, figuring it might actually do something. All it did was irritate me more as I couldn’t figure it out. I stopped and dropped to my haunches running a hand through my hair. “We have to go back.” I said.

Alex rolled his eyes. “Well duh, I know that, but how.” That I couldn’t answer. My phone started buzzing, I answered and heard Hamon’s voice.

“You people are useless.” He growled.

“I didn’t think angels could get angry,” I argued back. “Are you going to help us or what?” He didn’t answer, “Hamon!” I yelled.

“Don’t scream it’s annoying.” His voice was right behind us and both Alex and I jumped. “Here take this.” He held out one of his feathers, this one was short and black.

“This is like a quick portal to the Otherworld.” He explained, I snatched it out of his hands. “It’s good for one use, please don’t waste it.” He said. “I’m going home, I shouldn’t even be here.” He said the last part angrily staring away from us.

“Thanks man.” Alex said, he stole the feather out of my hand and studied it.

“Good luck.” And he was gone, it wasn’t even a flash of white light, it was just an invisible pop. For an angel I could probably teach him a few things about grand entrances.

Alex turned the feather in his fingers and then stared at me clueless, “How do we use it?” I grimaced and again, took it from his fingers. Then realized just how inept I was at angelic abilities involving black feathers and the like.

“This seems fruitless…” I muttered, Alex almost smiled before frowning.

“You really are a superstar.” Alex groaned. I felt like slapping him, hard.

“”Ok, then what would you do, it’s not like I can just say ‘Otherworld!’ and get taken there.” I hissed. “How on earth did Hamon expect us to know how to use thi- What Alex?” I growled, he was tapping me on the shoulder and I followed his eyes.

We were in Otherworld.

“Oh.” Alex slapped his head, in I think was his attempt to be comical in a serious situation.

We were back at the school, how we ended up there was a mystery to both of us. The streets were empty, which wasn’t unusual at this time of night around the streets near the school, the mist was thickening at a rapid pace and the ringing in my ears grew until I had the bare minimum of sound recognition. I turned to see the school and I saw burn marks on the black gates.

“Oh crap.” I mean I knew it was out, she had told us that, but still, I didn’t know it could BURN shit. Alex saw what I saw.

“What did that” he said, reaching out to touch it. I grabbed his hand and jerked it backwards.

“Don’t. Touch. The. Acid-y. Stuff.” I muttered. Alex just shrugged

“Whatever, where are we going?”

“The field, c’mon I’m not waiting around for her to get killed.” I started at a sprint and heard Alex swear behind me, he had to run to catch up. We made it to the field and she was nowhere to be seen.

There was a set of changing rooms towards the back of the field. It was comprised of a few dirty, short, grimy windows towards the top, two easily breakable doors and walls which were all dirty brown bricks, ones that aired well to let athletes’ air out after a game.

I felt a surge of something pull me towards it. As we got closer the pounding in my ears gradually lulled into a stillness. With Alex just behind me I pushed the door open with a resounding creak.

We stopped for a second, listening. With a crash one of the shower doors flung open and Mel tumbled out knocking me down into Alex, we both fell as Mel regained her footing.

“Ow… this ground is really hard..” I moaned.

“Uh..” Alex whispered. I looked up. I was lying on top of him. You see, I hadn’t actually landed on the ground. “That’s mildly uncomfortable.”

I grinned sheepishly, forgetting where I actually was. “It’s coming!” Mel screamed, wrenching me back to reality. I pushed up from Alex’s chest and he grunted. I reached down and helped him up and just in time.

The feline creature was back. It stalked around the corner and we froze, Alex stared at it, horrified.

It turned to face us head on, the barbs along its back quivering. Without warning it fired one, the barb whistling through the air and missing my face by inches.

I didn’t think. I ran, I could hear the footsteps of Alex and Mel behind me. We sped across the field and down the streets back to the school, the only place I could think to go. I didn’t check to see if it was still following us although Alex’s cries of fear did allude to that fact. I shoved the gates open and tumbled through catching myself before I fell.

“Library!’ I breathed out panting. We ran past the courts and the portable classrooms once more and slid along the dark mess on the grounds that I could barely see.

I turned onto the library and saw Hamon. He pointed to his left and I ran behind him skidding to a stop, Alex came next, his face sweating amidst the cool moisture of the air. He came to a stop behind me and gripped my shoulder tight.

Mel brought up the rear, clutching her shoulder her face scrunched in pain. She collapsed in front of us and didn’t move. I made to go to her side but Hamon stopped me. The creature appeared and crouched low, unmoving, its body quivering.

Hamon didn’t even seem fazed, he lazily pulled out something from the folds of the brown leather jacket he was wearing. It was round, the shape of an oversized Frisbee and metal. I knew it was sharp and recoiled from the sight.

Hamon pulled back his arm and flung it with incredible strength. The creature reared up and leapt forward, straight into the blade. It hit with a wet thunk and the creature fell landing heavily and then was still.

I felt Alex’s grip loosening, and Hamon once more fell to the ground to check on Mel. I cautiously moved next to the creature and bent over it trying to study it. The smell of its blood stank like bile and something poisonous.

“Damn it!” Hamon cursed. I turned back and Alex was standing a little ways behind, seemingly disconnected from everything. Hamon glanced over at me. “Where’s the fucking feather!” He growled.

“I…don’t have it…on me..” I whispered. He glared at me.

“She’s been hit!” He growled. I nodded, I knew that. “P-o-i-s-o-n-e-d!” he spelt out. I felt my eyes widen. “You have to get that feather so I can administer the antidote!” He said.

“Otherwise?” Alex asked.

Hamon smiled bitterly. “She’ll die..”