WnW 2.2

I followed Aaron back inside the house. He paused with a hand on the kitchen door. “Go wash up, dinner will be ready in a moment.” He went inside and I heard him speaking to someone in low tones.

I found the washroom at the back of the hallway, right next to the room I’d woken up in. I turned on the sink and ran water over my hands as I thought about the best way to ask Aaron to drive me back to Sillwood. My face felt itchy from my beard growing in. I tried to ignore the discomfort.

Drying my hands and turning off the faucet, I went to check out the living room. The walls here were painted a dark green and with the fireplace I imagined it would be quite cozy. I ran my hand along the stone bricks of the fireplace, faintly smelling of wood smoke. There were a few picture frames on top. One showed Aaron and the woman I’d seen before standing together. They both looked younger and Aaron wasn’t scowling in the picture. He wasn’t smiling either, but he looked relaxed, maybe enjoying himself. Individual portraits stood on either side of that one. I saw Gail, the kid who I had first woken up to. The other picture was a boy, a little older than Gail, probably a young teen. He was scowling fiercely. Takes after his father.

“Hey mister,” a high-pitched voice said.

I turned and looked down. Gail stood next to me, looking up.

“Wanna sit next to me?” She pointed at the large table at the other end of the living room. It had curved polished wooden legs. The places were already set with plates and cutlery.

“Sure,” I said.

Gail grabbed my hand and led me to a chair. “You sit here,” she said.

I sat down too quickly, rocking the chair onto two legs and nearly tipping over. Gail laughed and sat next to me. Guess I’m hungrier than I thought.

“Gail, what day is it?” I asked.

“Monday.”

So I’d only been out for a day.

A woman, the one I’d seen next to Aaron in the pictures, came into the room holding a tray of corn on the cob and slices of cooked ham. She set it down and the smell made my stomach rumble. She smiled at me. “Pleased to meet you, Nick. I’m Beth. I see you’ve met Gail already.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said. “I really appreciate what you’ve done for a stranger. I’ll hopefully be out of your hair soon.”

“It’s no problem at all, Nick.” Beth picked up a pitcher of water and moved around the table, filling all the glasses. She had long brown hair that ran down her back in a braid. “You can stay as long as you like.”

“Well, that’s the thing. My family is probably looking for me. I should-”

“Gail,” Beth turned away from me. “Have you seen Jason?”

Gail shook her head, playing with her fork.

Aaron entered the room, carrying the baby in one arm and a basket of dinner rolls in the other. He placed the basket down with a dark expression. “He’s probably off in one of his hidin’ spots. No use wastin’ time lookin’ for ‘im.” Aaron curiously spoke with a much more ‘country’ accent than the rest of the family.

I realized that the baby was staring at me. Even as Aaron moved it from his arms to a high chair, its head tracked me unerringly. I gave it a little wave. It didn’t react, it just kept staring, mouth open.

“We don’t get many visitors. She’s curious about you,” Beth said.

Aaron clasped his hands and Beth and Gail did the same, bowing their heads. I copied them and lowered my head.

Aaron spoke reverently, “We’re thankful for your generous gifts to us and for the bountiful harvest you will provide in the coming days. We thank you for the opportunity to serve you and we are blessed by your connection to us. The soil drinks in our sweat and rewards our effort. With deeper sacrifice comes deeper reward. Let us remember this and eat.”

His voice resonated across the room. Then it was quiet for a moment, until I heard the clink of a utensil against a plate. I raised my head and saw that Beth was serving out the food. I picked up my glass of water and gulped it down. Cool and refreshing, it felt like a coat of dust had been washed out of my throat. I coughed a little as some water went down the wrong pipe.

“More water, dear?” Beth asked me.

I nodded and handed her my cup. “Thank you.”

She poured me another glass. “Aaron told me about the accident he found you in. So awful. Thank God you’re unharmed.”

“Uhuh…” I eyed Aaron. Had he not told her what he had found? He didn’t look up from eating his corn. I tried to eat slowly, even though each bite tasted amazing. I didn’t want to seem rude, but I was waiting for a good time to ask to leave.

Beth smiled at me. “So where are you from?”

I swallowed. “Sillwood.”

“Oh that’s wonderful. We used to live in Sillwood,” Beth fed the baby spoonfuls of mushy peas as she talked, “but we found the busyness of the city to be too much. We wanted somewhere quieter to start a family.”

“Do you see lots of movie stars?” Gail asked excitedly.

I raised an eyebrow. “Uh, I don’t think so.”

Gail looked disappointed and I looked apologetically at Beth. She laughed. “Gail is a little obsessed with Jess Jance from ‘High Rule School’. But we know she doesn’t live in Sillwood, right Gail?”

Gail nodded, still looking dejected. 

Beth patted her head. “We go to the theatres in Sillwood occasionally for special occasions. Gail loves the movies.”

I shifted in my seat. “How far away from Sillwood are we?”

“About four hours,” Aaron responded gruffly.

I paused, then asked, “Could I get a ride there?”

“Not until the end of the week,” Aaron answered.

A whole week? “My family is probably worried sick, can I-”

Aaron scowled at me. “I can’t drive you. I’m busy with the farm. And Beth doesn’t have a license.”

“I have a license,” I said.

“You’re not takin’ our car. I found you in a wreck. I ain’t keen on givin’ you another chance at that.”

I started to panic internally. “Could I call my parents? Or like, the cops? They’ll be searching for me.”

“No phones,” Aaron growled.

My heart was beating faster. “What? Not even for emergencies? What if there was a fire, or a flood? That doesn’t make sense. What about my phone? Did you-”

Aaron slammed the table with an open palm. Gail jumped in her seat. The room grew very quiet. The sun was setting and the dimming light gave Aaron’s expression a sinister bent. “I don’t appreciate your tone, boy,” Aaron said quietly.

I looked down, shrinking inside. 

“You’ll stay ‘til Saturday. That’s the end of it.”

I nodded mutely, clenching my fists under the table. The clinking of cutlery resumed. Gail began to talk about her favorite actresses. I noticed with a start that the baby was still staring at me. Its round, pale blue eyes weren’t looking at my face, I realized. They were settled on my chest, where my heartbeat gradually slowed after Aaron’s outburst.

After the meal, I helped wash the dishes as I silently tried to plan what my next course of action should be. I could leave on foot, taking my chances with finding a main road and hitchhiking back to Sillwood. My mom was probably so terribly worried about me. Mac too, and Claire, and my father…

I felt some bile rise up my throat. That nightmare last night had dredged up some memories I hadn’t lingered on in a while. Better to keep it that way, there were more pressing matters. It didn’t seem like Aaron was trying to harm me, but why was he being so secretive and controlling? I was truly grateful that Aaron had arrived when he did. He might have saved my life. But my wounds disappearing… And that creepy baby… I rubbed my chest. It felt strange, not painful per se, but like something was a little out of place.

My thoughts kept running around in circles, unsure if I should leave or not. Eventually I decided to just sleep on it, wait until morning and see if I felt differently. 

Beth handed me a towel to use after my shower. I was about to shut the door when she spoke, “Nick. If you don’t mind, could you stay inside your room at night? We’re trying to enforce a curfew for our kids. It would be helpful, I think, if they could see a role model doing the same. Gail has really taken a liking to you.”

I nodded, unsure what to make of that.

After showering and drying my hair, I lay down, wondering what had happened to Chase. Was he dead? It didn’t seem possible. And what had he done to me? It was as if he had casted a spell. My eyelids grew heavy and these questions whirled around behind them until my thoughts grew sluggish.

I heard the door open. My eyes clenched tight against the brightness of the daylight coming through the window. A familiar voice coaxed me out of sleep. “Hey, Nick. Get up. We’re going on another trip.”

I rolled away from the voice, shielding myself under my warm blanket. “C’mon kiddo. Don’t make Daddy late for work.” He nudged me and I snuggled deeper into the bed. “What’s the matter, Nick? Don’t you want to help Daddy out? We can get ice cream after.”

My feelings felt tight, like a knot in my shoelaces I could never undo. I wanted to help. I wanted to… It shouldn’t be a hard choice to make. I rolled out of bed and followed Dad to the door.

On the other side was the room with silver shelves full of white bottles. Dad turned to face me. He was wearing his white coat again, that smelled like pennies. He said something and it sounded muffled and far away, like he was deep within a cave. A pill rested in his hand, waiting for me to take it. This one was yellow, with specks of bright red. Dad waited expectantly. I kept my head down. His gaze weighed down on me as I took the pill and placed it in my mouth.

This time it didn’t taste like anything. I kept it pressed to the top of my mouth with my tongue. Dad took my hand and led me back out of the room. We went through the huge room with its glass windows. The glass was clean, invisible, and yet whatever was on the other side was obscured, censored like things on TV were sometimes. There was a shape, its outline blurry, but somehow I could feel it watching me. I stared at it, rolling the pill around in my mouth as I did so.

We approached the barricade with the strange machine that Dad had to stand in. A guard greeted us. Dad stepped into the machine and the guard crouched down and smiled at me. I realized that I should smile back. I pressed the pill to the roof of my mouth and bared my teeth. The guard chuckled and hoisted me up over the barricade.

Dad was still in the machine. The guard’s arms weren’t long enough to let me down on the other side. He dropped me, about a foot off the ground. I wasn’t ready, opening my mouth in surprise. The pill floated and then fell into the back of my throat. I tried to cough, but it was too late, the pill went down my throat. A wave of shame washed over me as Dad stepped out of the machine and led me to the car.

I kept my head down as Dad fastened my seatbelt and started the car. I didn’t want to tell him. What if he was disappointed? I watched the city signs through the window as we drove by. I craned my neck to see the top of the skyscrapers. They were so high and far away that sometimes I could imagine them swaying in the wind. The motion of the car made it look like the skyscrapers were indeed moving like kelp, moving with the current. The buildings were especially lively today, they squirmed and wriggled. I laughed, feeling giddy at the sight. Wrong wrong wrong. Dad tousled my hair. The previous feelings of shame had washed away. How could anything be bad about today? The city looked like it was dancing. Signposts and pedestrians swayed and tilted in amusing directions. The sky seemed to ripple like it was a pond I’d thrown a stone into.

Dad bought me ice cream. It was maple flavoured. The light brown of the ice cream crept down into my hand, making me maple flavoured too! I giggled as I watched the colours bleed from the cards around me and climb into the car and into my skin. This isn’t me.

“Son?” Dad asked with a concerned tone. I was licking my hand, trying to get the colours off. His voice seemed distant now. This isn’t me. I watched as the colours crept up my arms, up my neck, up my face. The world swayed and the colours started to spin into fantastical shapes in my sight. The kaleidoscope drowned out the noise of the car, my laughter, and the concerned voice of my father.

I hate this.