Strangers (Fighting the Darkness series)

Ashes to Ashes

“So where are we going?” I asked as I sat in the front seat of my auntie’s car.

I recently started school again after my six week summer holiday and, once again, boring lessons are now part of my everyday life and my friends couldn’t agree more. Only a few fun lessons like advanced English and art and design were my entertainment to try and settle me back into my routine lifestyle and prepare me for the exams of my final year, which were soon to sneak up on me. And after my first week of ‘leisure’ at school had passed I couldn’t have been more exhausted. Even more that I could hardly sleep at night. This had happened before; if I was concerned or anxious about something, I could hardly sleep – which I guess is the same for other people. It was like my body was impatient for something to be done. But I needed sleep to figure out the answer - and the question.

“Ooh, I miss sleeping in late on a morning.” I complained to my mum and dad as Saturday rolled around. “I just have to be in my last year of high school, learning useless stuff for another six months, which keeps me awake at night.” I mumbled the last part so only I knew what I was saying.

“Reed, don’t complain. You’ve only just gone back to school…” my dad said. My dad was a great man. He used to be in the army until he had an accident, where he was discharged because the injuries were to his legs and head. He was one of the best and most accomplished snipers in the entirety of the British army. He could shoot ten bullets through the same five millimetre hole four kilometres away, even though he was blind in one eye. He’s also travelled half the globe and has seen amazing creatures only I can see at the zoo through a pane of glass three inches thick , but now he just sits at home playing Call of Duty and reminiscing in the good old days. But still, I admire him all the same, even with his badger coloured beard. “You should get out more and do something.” As if God had heard him, the front door opened and a gleeful shout of ‘hello’ echoed throughout the house.

“Auntie Alex? What are you doing here?” I asked, shocked to see my aunt burst through the front door with a very big grin on her face.

“Why, you ask? I’ve come to take you out shopping, Reed. I know that it’s a Saturday, but your mum said it’d be okay. You can even stay the night, if that’s alright with you Lily?” she suggested.

“That’s fine with us” replied my mum, only too happy to get my miserable ass out of the house. So, I ran upstairs and grabbed a backpack from my closet. I grabbed a handful of clothes, stuffed it into my pack and was back down stairs in less than a minute. I said my goodbyes and left with Alex, her grin not about to fade anytime soon. She never did like formalities anyway.

That’s how I ended up moaning in the car. Anyways, we were slowly entering into the town centre through The Corner District under a bridge, looking for a place to park. But as the vibration of the car and the sound of the engine entranced me, I never noticed that the sky had turned from a fragrant, gold autumn day to a dull white mist of clouds, speckled with greys, even though it was the middle of September. After finding a space to park in, I noticed that there were hardly any people around, though the car park was jammed full. Strange I thought to myself as Alex set the hand break and turned off the engine.

As I stepped out of the car, there was a dead silence. A gut wrenching feeling told me that something was up. It felt like my stomach was being ripped out and nausea swept over me. I grabbed the top of the car door to stop me from doubling over as the hairs on the back of my neck started to dance and stand on end. Thankfully, there were some people in the shops I saw in the gap in the wall and my foreboding slowed to a lulling throb in the back of my head. I was quite relieved to know that I might have been exaggerating a little, so I decided not to think about it and try to enjoy the rest of my day with my auntie.