Edge of End (7 page)

I liked the idea. Who wants to
die?

But the fact was both of us had had
several flashbacks from our past, which we had relived, and we had
both seen someone who most probably had been the dearest person to
us ever. This might have been their way of torturing the remainder
of our souls forever.

On the subject of time, I
realized at that moment that time had stopped in that
town
.

Although I hated to look
up, I had to have a glimpse of that gray, dingy space that hung
eerily above my head. The sun’s absence meant that there wouldn’t
even be a sunrise or a sunset. The corners of my mouth twitched,
and I smiled to myself realizing that an hour was going to be
forever. At that very moment I understood the true meaning of the
word
forever
.

For a little while we
walked in silence, musing about the suggestions we had both just
put forward. I guessed the word
hell
was stubbornly hovering in her
mind. Regardless of her attempts to avoid the idea about death and
the afterlife in hell, I believed, I might be right.

Also the theory about the experiment
with monsters and the average people like us seemed plausible too.
Yes, it sounded like a Hollywood fantasy movie, but I couldn’t
easily dismiss this idea.

Quiet fell in the street, air stood,
trees were motionless. The weather got hotter; soon I was covered
by sweat and repeatedly wiped my forehead by my arm. The bottom of
my boots seemed to be on fire, the ground got warmer as if lava
streamed a metre beneath it.

“
It’s hot,” Elizabeth
broke the silence.

“
Yeah,” I
agreed.

“
We should’ve been out the
town now,” Elizabeth said.

“
I don’t know how deep I
entered it.”

“
Are you sure we’re going
to the right direction?”

“
There is no any other way
to go,” I looked around and saw a van parked to our right. “Let’s
check it.”

“
What? The
car?”

“
Come on.”

Thick dust on the car covered even its
color. I reached for the door and pulled it open. As I did so, a
cloud of dust engulfed me, and I coughed.

“
It should’ve been here
for ages,” Elizabeth said. “I doubt it’s still usable.”

“
At least we can check,” I
replied and leaped in behind the steering wheel.

While I examined it and looked for the
key the other door opened sending a puff of dusty cloud into the
car and then Elizabeth sat on the next seat.

“
If we bring it to life we
can travel through the desert,” I thought aloud.

“
We don’t even know there
is a gas in the tank.”

I placed my hands below the steering
wheel and pulled the panel. It cracked and gave away intently and
wire rope sheaves hang in mid-air.

“
You know what to do?”
Elizabeth bent forward to have a better look.

“
I guess. It’s in my head.
Maybe I was a car thief back…” I stammered looking for the right
words. “Back at the life I have no memory anymore.”

I cut two different wires and tied
them to each other.

“
And?” Elizabeth looked at
my impatiently.

“
Nothing,” I replied and
got out of the car.

I opened the hood and found as much
dust under it as on the car. This car was useless, I doubted that
anyone could bring it to life ever.

I went back, got into it and leaned
against the back of the driver seat. My hands to my sides I stared
up at the empty spot while Elizabeth was watching me with
interest.

“
You were right,” I
muttered. “This car is a scrap metal.”

“
We can check the next
one,” Elizabeth said.

“
I guess the others are
dead as well,” I lowered my eyes on her. Her cheeks were reddened,
her lips plump and fresh as she ran her tongue over
them.

“
So we walk,” she
said.

“
We walk,” I repeated,
crossed my fingers and leaned my forehead on them. “Let’s go back
to the start. Each of us woke up in the desert and hurried to this
town hoping to find some help. Instead I found you, the only normal
human looking person, then monsters, abnormal dogs with long and
sharp nails, an ugly woman and rag-faced man.”

“
What woman?”

“
There is a café up the
street. Working,” I added with a wan smile. “She runs it. A rude,
plump woman. Maybe we should head to the café?”

Elizabeth glanced back. “We still have
those dogs up the street blocking our way.”

“
I barely forgot about
them,” I murmured and then hit the steering wheel. “Fuck,” I cried
out.

“
Oh,” a surprised voice
escaped her mouth.

“
Sorry.” I looked at her
affectionately.

“
You might be right about
the light,” Elizabeth said abruptly changing the subject. “Maybe
it’s where we have to go.”

“
We must deepen into the
heart of the town, cross it to reach the light. We’ll either become
a meal for those dogs, or a humanoid monster kills us both.” I
glanced down the street. “Let’s just go to the entrance and get out
of here.”

“
There might be hundred
miles to the civilization,” Elizabeth widened her eyes. “We may die
in the desert. Besides, if my supposition about aliens turns right,
we won’t find anything out there.”

“
Get over it, Elizabeth.
Aliens,” I smirked. “We’re rather dead than transferred to another
planet by aliens.”

I pushed the door open and got
out.

“
Are you coming?” I asked
over my shoulder.

She didn’t answer, got out of the car
and started walking at my side.

We were on the road
leading to the beginning of the
town
again. We passed by several
houses when Elizabeth stopped abruptly.

“
Look,” she whispered.
Instinctively I glanced back in awe. “No, there,” she indicated to
the left.

There, at a dim walled house settled
about fifty steps away, I saw a person set on a broken bench, a
hood tossed over its head. It was seemingly an old woman wrapped in
a ragged and splotchy dress.

I took a step towards her, but
Elizabeth reached for my arm.

“
We don’t know what it
is,” she said in a whisper. “It may be something like the monster
in my house.”

I nodded, but I couldn’t ignore and
just pass her either.

“
Let’s take a peek,” I
said.

Elizabeth swallowed, saying nothing in
return. As I picked up my pace, she was next to me.

As we closed in, the woman’s hushed
voice reached me, singing under her breath.

“
Where do bad folks go
when they die?

No heaven awaits them, say
to it goodbye”

She repeated those two phrases over
and over again.

We came to a halt five steps from her.
Narrowing my eyes I tried hard to steal a look of her face, but her
head was tilted.

“
I’m sorry,” that was
Elizabeth, “Could you help us, please?”

“
Off you go,
woman.”

Yes, it was an old woman’s hoarse
voice speaking from under the hood.

“
She can talk,” I said
scornfully.

“
As could that monster,”
Elizabeth remarked. Then she turned to the woman asking, “Where am
I supposed to go?”

“
To your house,” she
replied.

“
I have no house here,” I
said aloud trying to turn her attention on me.

The old woman stopped muttering. I
hoped she would look up, but she remained still.

“
You’re the newbie.” It
sounded as though she smiled under the hood as she said that.
“You’ve taken the wrong way to go, young man.”

“
I want to get out of this
fuckin’ town,” I said. “What is out there in the desert? Is there
any place with normal people nearby?”

“
There is only endless
sand. The one entering the town can’t be released
anymore.”

“
I didn’t see any gate or
high walls around.” I looked at Elizabeth and she shrugged. “We are
not in a prison. What can hold me from leaving this damned
place?”

“
The town itself will,”
she smirked raising her head. Both Elizabeth and I stared at her
wonderingly, now able to see her face.

I guess, we both felt disappointed.
There was a wrinkled old face under the hood with narrow eyes and
large scar on her right cheek, but her lips… They just didn’t
exist–like they had been ripped off her leaving several yellow
teeth to dangle in her mouth.

“
What?” she said. “Want a
fierce kiss, babe?” She laughed. I stared at her, perplexed, until
her mouth relaxed in a smile. To be honest, I couldn’t tell if she
grinned or not, there were no lips to hide her nasty
teeth.

“
No, thank you,” I
regained myself. “I’d rather kiss her,” I said and looked at
Elizabeth and chortled.

“
What did happen to you?”
Elizabeth asked.

“
Chose the wrong man to
kiss, dear,” the old woman said quietly. “That son of a bitch was
cute, really cute, but monster lived behind that beauty, like every
other one in this town.”

“
Are there other
residents? Where?” Elizabeth interrogated.

“
You’re better not to
know,” she tilted her head hiding her ugly face. “Especially you,
newbie.”

“
Why me? What is it about
me?” I found my voice shaking.

“
You are not wanted here.
Homeless people should be off. The others envy you, I guess. You
have what they don’t.”

“
What do I have? What are
you talking about?”

“
I’m just saying–be on
guard, young man,” she muttered remotely. “You’ve got a power, but
you’re still weak. I can feel it. I could put my hand on you, you
wouldn’t fight me off, but, fortunately, my husband is waiting for
me inside.”

“
Husband?” Elizabeth said
surprised her voice low as only I heard. “What kind of man keeps
her around?”

I shrugged, uninterested. As my eyes
tore away from the old woman and traveled over the yard towards the
house, I spotted a man at the window, much younger than the woman,
about my age. As our eyes met, he hit the glass with his elbows
hysterically.

“
Hey you, out there. Help
me,” he cried in his full voice. “Please!”

“
Is that your husband
crying over there?” Elizabeth asked raising her
eyebrows.

“
Yes. He’s a little bit
confused,” the woman rose.

“
I don’t think he can be a
husband to you,” Elizabeth made a step towards her and onto the
yard.

I held her arm curtly. “What the hell
are you doing?” I hissed.

“
That man needs our help,”
she said back in whisper. “We can handle an old woman.”

“
We?” I raised my right
eyebrow. A grim sound hit my chest as a doglike beast stepped out
from behind the house and slowly made its way towards
us.

“
Stop there, bastard,” the
woman ordered, and the animal obeyed, but the way it looked at me
with its green and shining eyes made my heart hammer.

“
I’m sure, you’d handle
this bastard, young man,” she resumed with raspy voice. “And
another time I would be pleased to see you fight, but not now. I
don’t want any attention here. And I don’t want my time with my
husband to be mixed up. I’m nicely asking you to leave. I don’t
care which way you go, just leave.”

I glanced back at the other doglike
beasts up the street which were lessening the distance between us.
I held Elizabeth by her shoulders.

“
Let’s go,” I
muttered.

She stepped back and out of the yard.
Looking at the other animals she nodded. “You’re right,” she said,
fear playing in her voice.

We turned around and started off. As I
peeked back over my shoulder, the old woman had already gone into
the house, but the beast remained by the door guarding
it.

“
Jonathan. What did she
mean mentioning a power?”

“
I don’t know yet,” I said
back.

“
But in my house,
remember, you were inhumanly strong,” she gave me a weak
smile.

I looked about. The quiet and
loneliness had returned to the street. My eyes fell on my palms.
The power was in them, I felt it like feeling the rush of blood in
my veins.

“
Why do you keep staring
at your hands?” Elizabeth asked.

“
Don’t you feel a little
awkward about your palms?” I said looking at her
impatiently.

“
Awkward?” she repeated
chortling. “I feel awkward about everything around, Jonathan. Like
we’ve been moved into another world and time. Maybe we’re
dreaming?” she said a jolt of hope in her voice.