Dissonance - Book One

forty

"Great, we survived the tsunami to be murdered in the middle of the desert," Lex says in a snarky tone.

I ignore her and scan the area, looking for what, I'm unsure. We exit the car and the stench is unbearable. Lex retracts in disgust when we see that there are several dead animals strewn across the front lawn, that is if you can even call it a lawn. It's more of a sandy dirt covering with brush strewn across it. The smell of death permeates the air. Flies circle the carcasses and wormy bugs crawl over the animal guts that have spilled out onto the ground. Lex makes a retching sound.

"I'm going to be sick," she says, hunching over.

I pull my hoodie up over my nose and mouth as I approach one of the animals. It's hard to make out what it once was. It's too small to be a wolf, perhaps a fox or a coyote.

"What are you doing Ever?" Wyler shouts. "Get away from that thing!"

But I don't heed his warning and instead I'm drawn closer. There's something unnatural looking about this animal's death. There appear to be lesions on its neck and legs that are oozing puss. I'm about to reach out and touch it when Wyler grabs my arm.

"Are you crazy? It looks like it has some kind of disease!" He's protective of me. He always has been. I used to think it was in a "you're like my little sister" kind of way, but maybe I was wrong. It seems different now. We seem different now.

Come on," he shakes his head at my stupidity. "Let's go find your aunt and uncle."

I lead them up the steps and pull open the screen door that's barely hanging on by one hinge. I rap my knuckles on the door, but no one answers. I knock again, louder this time. We see a face peek out quickly from behind the window curtain, but I can't make out who it is. The door opens just a crack. There's a gold chain in place, blocking our entry, as if someone would want to break into this dump.

"What do you want?" a man says from behind the door. His voice is angry and stern.

Lex pushes me forward.

"I, uh, we're, what I mean is..." I'm unable to find the right words. All that time in the car and somehow, I didn't think of what to say once we arrived.

"Is Mabel here?"

"What do you want with Mabel?" the man replies, his voice rising in anger.

"I'm her, well, I'm her niece."

It's silent for a minute and then the door slams shut. I feel like such a fool. I convinced Lex and Wyler to come all this way for nothing. Now we are stuck in the middle of nowhere with very little food, water or gas and a man who seems less than enthused to see us. Lex is right, we are probably going to die out here in the desert.

As we turn to leave, I hear the chain rattle and the door opens. A tall man with a bushy beard pokes his head out and looks around suspiciously. I find myself following his lead, checking from side to side, unsure of what or who he's looking for. He motions for us to come in. Lex, Wyler and I glance at one another, unsure if entering is safe, but at this point, we don't have much of a choice, so we follow the stranger and enter the beat-up trailer.

Once inside, the bearded man immediately shuts the door, turning several locks and replacing the chain. He's scared of something, and just when I've convinced myself I'm about to meet my demise, he turns and throws his arms around me.

"Ever!" he says, pulling me into his arms. "I thought it was you, well I hoped, but I wasn't sure. You made it! I can't believe you made it! Thank God."

I awkwardly wrap my arms around this man I don't know. It seems rude not to return his affection and frankly, it feels good to have someone comforting me, even if he does feel like a stranger.