INK: Red (INK Trilogy Book 1) (11 page)

But I can give it, can't I? Give Aiden what he definitely needs. Maybe I do too.

Deep murmurs came from Aiden as he fidgeted in his sleep, the flickering fire highlighting frowns as the boy worked out whatever was happening in his dreams. He kicked out with his legs, moaning about Martha it sounded like, clutching in the cold air for his lost companion.

Comes to something when your only company is a chicken.

Sleep evaded Edsel as the night slowly crept toward morning. He'd gone so far past mere exhaustion that unless he actually blacked out he couldn't just let go of his thoughts and drift into sleep. The pain was a constant now, a part of him, but the frigid air had helped, if not to ease it, then at least partially numb him to it.

Must be the boy. Gotta watch over him; keep him safe.

Shifting carefully, Edsel got a little more comfortable and lay down, curling in tight to try to keep the boy as warm as he could. In the morning they would have to wash in the lake — already Edsel could feel the tiny pieces of gravel from where he'd fallen into the road bring up even more sores and scabs on his already ravaged back. He would have to soak, try to get them out somehow, although he didn't know how.

As the night slowly wore on there was an easing of some of the pain; the poison called The Fire had obviously peaked so now would hopefully recede rapidly. Not that he didn't ache, burn, itch and feel like just stepping clear out of his skin — he did, and the constant hurt felt like it was now his companion for life.

How long has it been now? Three days? Four?

It was difficult to think straight, hard to remember just how long he'd been out of their clutches.

Think Edsel, think. What's that sound? Jeez, it's my bloody teeth chattering.

The darkness continued to do what it did to all that found sleep elusive — it sent his thoughts reeling fast and randomly, everything becoming extreme, jumbled and prone to lead to bad decision making. It was easy to get lost in a mire of self-pity. This was no time for wallowing in misery though, he had to think about what to do now. This child, how long had he known him? It was only a day. That's right. He'd gone to the boy's house the evening before, collapsed and then woken up that morning and then they were chased, and chased, and chased some more.

The result? He'd introduced the child to the killing of another human being, and the worst thing was that Aiden didn't seem all that concerned about what he'd done.

Should he? Should he feel remorse? That wasn't the point though — sure, The Eventuals would have killed them, but he was a child and boys of twelve should be terrified at having committed such a crime.

Things are different now. Kids grow up fast. They have to. Yet they are also more innocent than we were.

Edsel thought back to what he was like at twelve. Damn, he would have peed his pants if a grown man started chasing him, let alone one tattooed red from head to toe.

Maybe it was because Aiden was partially Awoken? Maybe that made things different somehow, like he understood more of the world than ordinary people? Could peel back the layers and look into the true hearts of men. Edsel didn't think that would be a pretty sight.

The news had talked about such people being the beginning of a new species, or advanced humans anyway. Nobody really understood it, but one thing was for sure: they weren't normal. They could enter the minds of animals, control people, talk to the trees and understand the way the world really worked.

It was scary stuff.

And The Commorancy, the tales of Marcus Wolfe and his building of the most insane complex of structures, all designed to allow those lucky enough to enter to reach their full potential. A safe haven.

It turned to myth and legend in the dying days of the media, but there were hints and clues spread through books, magazines, and the tatters of the Web still active if you were lucky enough to have access to a power source. Edsel had tried to find a way in, more out of curiosity than anything else, half not believing it was real, but he gave up, mostly as he knew they wouldn't ever accept both him and Kathy together — that was one of The Rules.

Edsel wondered what was going on inside Aiden. Awoken were supposedly capable of halting the aging process, changing the way their bodies worked from the inside, and so much more. He wondered how much the boy could already do and what he would be capable of in the future.

Hopefully we'll live long enough to maybe find out. Maybe.

But what was he to do with him now? Should he try to get him back home? Take him far away then come back to try to get his revenge? He simply didn't know what was best. Would the boy be alright on his own? Well, he had been so far, but one chance encounter with the wrong kind of person and it could all be over. Sure, the streets weren't exactly crowded, but humanity wasn't totally extinct, not yet.

On and on the confusion of thoughts went, going around and around in his head, leading nowhere, no decisions made.

The only thing Edsel was absolutely sure of was that he really needed a sweater and Aiden needed a coat. They would have to deal with that and many more things come morning, but he had to make a decision about the boy.

GONE

Damn, where is he?

Edsel looked around frantically, expecting a red devil to grab him and slit his throat at any second.

"Aiden. Aiden?" whispered Edsel, scanning the area nervously, getting a really bad feeling.

They've got him, taken him. I must have finally nodded off.

Edsel wandered over to the car — no sign of him. But then, no sign of anyone else either.

Get it together dude. If they were here they would have killed you, not just taken the boy.

Slowly, he calmed himself; he was just overreacting. Aiden had probably gone off for a pee or something.

"Hi," said Aiden, proudly holding two fresh trout high in the air. "I thought I'd have a go; it's easy. Although the worm bit is kinda gross. Bleh." Aiden poked his tongue out but still held his prize catch proudly in the air.

"Phew. You had me worried for a minute there. Nice job my man. But listen, let's stick close together okay? I don't want to lose you or anything. You are kind of my responsibility now. Do you understand that?"

"Sure. Sorry. And thanks."

"What for?"

"For, you know... caring."

"Come here you."

Aiden walked over to Edsel cautiously, looking like he was expecting a scolding. Edsel put his arms around the boy and hugged him tight.

"You're getting fish all over you," laughed Aiden, returning the hug best he could while holding onto his catch.

"Some things are more important than fish," said Edsel.

Much more important. I think I need this more than he does. Feels good.

"Doesn't it hurt though? Hurt your skin."

"Like you wouldn't believe buddy, like you wouldn't believe. Some things are more important than that too." Edsel held the young fisherman at arms length and got serious. "Just be careful okay? And we need to talk. A proper talk, after breakfast. But first, I'm afraid it's time for a wash and to brush our teeth. I don't know about you but my mouth feels like a cat's bum has been rubbing over my tongue then someone stuffed moldy bread in and left it there overnight. And added in some worms just for good measure."

"Ugh, that's gross."

"Tell me about it," said Edsel, smiling. "Now, where is your bag with all the gear from Boots in it?"

Aiden ran off to grab it while Edsel got the carton out of his bag that he'd filled with water what felt like a lifetime ago. He undid the cap and sniffed.

Ugh, still smells like gone-off milk. It'll do to brush our teeth though.

After some rather hesitant scrubbing of teeth and foul-tasting rinsing, Edsel reluctantly stripped off and lowered himself slowly, and very carefully into the lake, gritting his teeth and asking for the soap. He told Aiden not to watch, but it seemed they were both past caring about modesty or getting freaked out by the abomination that was now Edsel's skin — it had got even worse through the night. He moved his tongue over his teeth.

Feels good, clean. Bet they dazzle.

"How's the water?" asked Aiden.

"Not too bad actually, once you get in. Refreshing."

After a doubtful look, Aiden slowly stripped down to his underwear and lowered his legs into the water. "Ooh ooh ooh. It's freezing!"

"Yeah, well, it might be a little on the fresh side. Good for the soul though. Teaches you... um, how to be cold and wet."

Aiden splashed at Edsel accusingly, smiling despite the freezing water.

"Gee, thanks for that, very profound."

"I do try my best." Edsel smiled back, secretly thankful for the freezing water — if his body was numb then at least it wasn't in pain. The kid needed to be clean too, and this would wake them both up properly, make them alert and ready for what was going to be a long, and if it went the way he hoped, then bloody day too. He just needed to chat with Aiden about a few things first.

In less than a minute Aiden pronounced himself thoroughly clean and climbed out, his pale skin covered in goosebumps. He poked at the fire, dropping wood on and shouting back that they were both stupid for not getting it going better before they jumped into the water.

He's smarter than me; I need to get my act together.

While Aiden prepared the fish and got them cooking, Edsel slowly took stock of his body and tried to clean himself up. The aloe was gone now, so he needed to look after his skin the best he could. With a little lather from the soap he sat on the side of the lake and cleaned his body. His skin felt gross, like some kind of animal hide. Most of it was now rough with scabs, but they were beginning to heal a little.

I'm like a bloody rhino, just a red one.

The worst seemed to be over; he could see that the thick scabs were beginning to grow translucent in places and flake off naturally, but it was obvious that it would leave him with incredibly patchy and weird looking flesh.

Better than being dead, and at least they didn't get my face. God, they would have done my eyelids, my ears, even my lips. Ugh!

The worst bits were the soles of his feet, between his toes, his groin, the backs of his knees — what were they called? Knee-pits? — and under his arms. Anywhere that chafed or got naturally sweaty was the worst affected. But it was where The Ink had been applied to the boniest parts of his body that actually ached in a way that felt like they must have penetrated right down to the marrow. The thin skin covering his ankles, knees, elbows and who knew how many other parts of his body as it all blurred into one deep ache, felt so sensitive that he could imagine the skin peeling away revealing bone that was no longer white but as red as the rest of him. Blood red inside and out, that's what he must be.

I'm the stained man. I'm marked for life. But I'm still alive and I am a man.

"Breakfast's ready," shouted Aiden.

"Coming."

~~~

After breakfast, and with the fire roaring higher than it safely should be so they could dry off fast, Edsel had approached the subject of what Aiden really wanted to do.

He tried his best to not make it seem like he wanted to abandon the young boy — which he didn't. Much as he was still reeling from the death of Kathy, and if he thought about it too much he knew he'd be no good to anybody, especially himself, he knew that Kathy and Aiden would have gotten on so well. She would have loved the cheeky little chappy, so he felt a responsibility partly because no twelve year old should be alone, and partly because he knew that Kathy would have loved Aiden.

We could have been like a proper little family. Even kept Martha too.

The best thing he could think of to do was simply to be honest. So they sat by the fire and talked.

It didn't really come as much of a surprise that Aiden absolutely didn't want to go back to his home, or be taken anywhere else where he would be alone for that matter. He wanted to stay with Edsel, even if he was red. Edsel had to smile at that, his Ink was about the only constant there was at the moment. He was red, would always be red, and there was not a damn thing he could do about it.

Apart from have my revenge.

Slowly through the night a tentative plan of sorts had formed, but if he was honest with himself it wasn't much of one — the chances of him coming out of it alive were not really very optimistic. He was a young man that had no experience fighting, kept to himself most of the time, out of necessity really all through his last few teenage years and beyond, and didn't really know what he was doing half the time — just your average guy that found himself living through the Apocalypse, albeit a rather subdued one.

But he had to try. He simply had to at least attempt to have his revenge, whatever the cost to himself personally.

But Aiden? What about Aiden?

All of this was explained — he held nothing back. Friendships were based on honesty, and if he had to be the adult then he needed to say things to Aiden like he was too — the kid was old beyond his years anyway, that was more than obvious.

"Watch," said Aiden, part way through their conversation. He pointed at the fire.

Edsel scampered backward quickly as the fire roared higher for a second, then returned to its normal intensity.

"I'm not just a normal twelve year old."

"Well, um, yeah, I can see that. How'd you do it?"

"It's hard to explain. I can kind of see the fire. Not see it — 'see' it. Not just in the normal way; I can see that it feeds off oxygen and that the more oxygen there is the hotter it will burn, so I can sort of... I can kind of send it sort of energy through The Noise, but it's my energy. Ugh, it's hard to explain. I don't really know, but I can release what's in the wood maybe, or give it more oxygen, I'm not exactly sure, but I can influence some things. Sometimes. But it's tiring, and it makes me incredibly hungry, so I don't do it much."