Life is Stranger

The Hard Way

"I can tell by your faces that I really struck a nerve there. Now can we please stop playing games with each other? You may have plenty of time, Chloe, but I do not, and I shouldn't waste what little I have left. I know who you are, Chloe. I also know what you are. And what you can do."

"How? How do you know?"

"Haven't you figured that out yet?"

"Does it fucking sound like I have to you? No, I haven't. So quit screwing around and just spit it out."

"You do have such an eloquent way of putting things, Chloe."

"Whatever. Tell me. Now."

"Your father showed me."

"My dad is dead."

"Is he? Is he indeed? How can you possibly be so sure about that?"

"You fucking what you sick bastard!"

"I'm sorry, Chloe. That was pretty tactless of me. I sincerely apologise. I never meant to offend you. But I do find that it is best to keep an open mind regarding such matters. I muse about lots of things, both the mundane and...the unusual. And this subject is something that I find my mind increasingly drawn to of late. What is the difference between being alive and being dead? Who is truly alive? Who is really dead? What if life and death are merely two sides of the same coin? Are you alive or dead, Chloe? Are you one state or the other...or both? Hasn't it been said that the cat is simultaneously both alive and dead right up until the moment the box is opened?"

"Listen up, Mr-fucking-Schrödinger, you claim to know heaps about me, but I know absolutely nothing about you. Who the hell are you? Name or we walk."

"Very well. My name is Ed. Ed Bell. I would ask if that rings any bells but...dreadful pun."

"Ha-fucking-ha. Somebody get me to the ER, I'm fucking dying here..."

"I hardly think so. How can you possibly die if..."

"Shut up. I hadn't finished. Look, Mr Ed, I still don't know who you are, so..."

Max gently patted her girlfriend's arm. "Chloe..."

"What?"

"I can remember him. He's telling the truth, Chloe. We did meet him once."

"When? Where?"

"At your...our house. That first Christmas after we met. You gave me Captain and I got you the butterfly globe. He ate dinner with us. He came with Mr Berry. Remember?"

"Nope. Not a damn thing. How come you can and I can't?"

"Because...it doesn't want you to, I think."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Why do you think? Because he must actually be trying to help us, Chloe. And it doesn't want that. It doesn't want anyone helping us. Think Chloe. Really think. Push. Push hard. You've done it before. You can do it again."

"Are you sure, Max? Even if we have met him before, that doesn't mean that he's on our side, does it? Maybe he was just casing us out or something? Who knows what for? I don't know who to trust any more, Max. You haven't seen what I've seen."

"You can trust me, Chloe."

"I know that, Max - you're one of the very few people I totally trust, but him? He could be..."

"What? He could be what?"

"Nothing. Alright. I trust you. I'll try. For you."

"No. Not for me. For us."

"Okay. Sure. For us. Here goes...this is gonna hurt again, isn't it?"

"Probably. But I reckon it's gonna hurt a lot more if you don't. We have to fight, Chloe. Right?"

"Damn right we do. I believe you, Max."

"Good. You'd better, Price." Max gestured toward the nearby tree stump. "You wanna sit down?"

"Yeah. I guess."

Chloe seated herself upon the truncated corpse of the tree and her forehead wrinkled as her eyes defocused. Max sat down beside her fiancée and wrapped a slender arm around her. "It'll be okay, Chloe. I'm right here."

"Thanks Maxo."

Chloe closed her eyes for a while, emitting occasional stifled sibilations of pain. Max comforted her girlfriend, kissing the blue tresses tenderly. "Don't give up, Chloe. Keep going. It'll stop soon."

A small trickle of blood trailed down from one nostril. "S'okay, Chloe. I got it." Max pulled out a tissue and wiped the scarlet liquid away. "There. All gone."

"Thanks Max."

"Well? Did you get anything?"

"Yeah. I remember now. I remember everything."

"No you do not, Chloe. Not yet. But you will." said a voice. Kate was slowly walking towards the trio at the centre of the clearing. "Chloe, where have you been? Who have you been talking to?"

Chloe instantly jolted up from her sitting position and swiftly took a pistol out from under the waistband of her denims and levelled it straight at the newcomer.

"Stop. On your damn knees. Right fucking now."

"No." replied Kate in a low, matter-of-fact tone.

Max's eyes opened wide with alarm. "Chloe, what the hell! Please, put it away. This isn't you. This isn't us."

"It is now. Max, I'm sorry. I know this must look bad, but you know what we're up against. I'm taking no chances. Especially with her. She's dangerous."

"Indeed I am. Very, very dangerous. But no more dangerous than you are, Chloe."

"Really? I don't want to hurt anyone. Or kill anyone. I'm not a murderer. But you are. You killed Vanessa. And my dad. Didn't you?"

"In a way I suppose I could be held partly responsible. That I cannot deny."

"Why?"

"Because that is how it has to be."

"No. No it's not. I thought I told you to kneel. Down. Now."

"And I refused. I will never kneel before you. And what exactly do you think that would accomplish, Chloe? Do you really think that you can hurt me with that weapon? If I did intend to harm you, do you not think that I would have done so already?"

"I'm not going to give you any opportunity. We're leaving. Right now."

"To do what, exactly?" asked Kate.

"Not that it's any of your damn business, but we're going to save Vanessa. You are not going to stop me."

"Fine. I won't. Learn the hard way. I'll be waiting here for you when you need me."

"You'll wait a long fucking time."

"That won't be a problem. I, like you, have all the time in the world."