Third Month of the Awoken Age

  Leaving the sinking city behind him the broad daylight of west Eurosea bringing a humidity to the landscape, its touch a caress to his flayed skin and a righteousness to his step as his aim was put towards a purpose. The city of Elysian in Anglesea would be a triumph for the Occultists, if Canalis was them purging their past of the countless atrocities that happened to their people there then Elysian was to be taken as the driving spear towards the future.

  The ack of eyes tired and burnt from the Limerence and the Bilateral Visiting that it allowed may have driven a deep tiredness into his bones, but it was all worth it. The future that he glimpsed in his sleep, the prescient humanity of old resorted. Those are the things that drove him, those are the promises that the Occult brought to the world.

  Even if Ninth Earth wanted to remain in the muck they would be led out of this primordial state by leash and chain.

  His mind was a blank canvass, the liminal space between consciousness where reality did not exist was a truly great place for Ayer. For the most part this was the only place that offered him respite especially in that time months ago when the ghost of Adrian haunted his every step, yet as time went on he’d come to realize more and more that the deprecating notions that preoccupied his thoughts were not true sorrow, if they were he would have admitted a long time ago what he had done.

  It was a weird knowledge that he could kill someone and slowly but surely move on. Like waves in the ocean those feelings of guilt would subside even if they might never leave, that was a notion that he could come to terms with.

  What else could be expected, he was his father’s child after all, someone who fought on the shores and in the jungles of Kiriba to subdue the island with the many atrocities that followed. The Bradshaw in him ran strong, and in this subdued state of being as his breath rose and fell, as his conception of the outside world numbed, even at the core of his being he felt that quality of him.

  Bats squawked overhead as the lightless night cast the landscape in ominous shadows. The cul-de-sac bare from signs of inhabitancy other than one single home with a flatbed truck and van sitting out the front. To either side Braden caught veiled movements, the plan already being set as now everything was on his mark. Everything was in play now no matter what as people were at the Radiant-Tree and people had been sent to get Maya so she could have the joy of watching this as well.

  ‘For Adrian!’ He spoke, nothing more needed at this time of the midmorning.

  Sparking the lighter in hand, its minor illumination encountered a torch made from alcohol-soaked fabric and a wooden stool-leg lighting up immediately. More down the line followed and soon the twenty men were given form in this absent darkness, behind them the creeping police van came alight as well following them as far as it could go.

  The group springing into action as they marched up the incline pooling around the door as Braden released that tension that had invigorated his muscles since the confirmation, a readiness to see justice done as his foot battered down the door with one hefty bash calling for Ayer’s blood.

  Roughed out of sleep Kailey came alive, a deep harsh breath as her eyes opened to Indra sitting atop her fully dressed, dread covering her face with her aquiline skin gaunt unlike ever before. Chanting all the while. ‘Kae… Kailey… Kailey. Wake Up!’

  An indescribable knowledge had overcome her, if it was any other time she would have gone right back to sleep but even her dreams this night had been haunting. And now an upset Indra pointed to something. ‘Indra! What?’

  ‘We need to go downtown, something is happening! Viking and some of the others were here and took Maya, they were acting weird, came barging in to our room and told her to get dressed while telling me and Vic to go back to bed. They stonewalled us and didn’t let us leave and only took Vic when she said that she was going.’ Indra panicked unlike anything Kailey had ever seen her sister endure.

  ‘What the fuck… Shit!’ Kailey spurted, tangled in her own sheets nearly tripping her over.

  Once on her feet she was quick to put on a pair of old crusty jeans and slip into runners as she slipped into a windbreaker, unable to concentrate on what she would need to bring or take or do. The entire time Indra repeating “I don’t’ know what is happening Kae’s… I don’t know what is happening!” terror sewn into her words that permeated everything that was happening, grabbing her car keys the two marched out as now the entire building was ablaze of activity.

  Archie coming out of his room followed by an odor asking in an unphased but curious tone. ‘What is happening?’

  ‘We don’t know what is happening but come with us encase we need people!’ Kailey demanded seeing Archie falling in behind his cousins as they descended the staircase racing out the door and to the family car. Asking as they got in. ‘Where are we going Indra?’

  ‘I don’t know. I watched the car head down main street. That is all I know.’ Being the best piece of information, they had to go on, and with that the car roared to life peeling out with a puff of tire tread then flying off down the main street as people poured out of the School Complex feeling the anxiety of this midmorning fiasco.

  Ripped out of sleep Ayer shot into a panic, unsure what was happening but feeling the racing of his heart as his senses came alive with the ransacking of his house. Incoherent shouting followed by some commotion as crunches and smacks were traded no doubt being Juries confronting whatever was happening, instinctively moving for the door with only underwear on some of those incoherent shouts finally formulated into a word he could understand.

  -Mums kukri-

  ‘AYER!’ Several voices called, petrifying his movements as he reached for the doorknob instead of the weapon hiding under his bed.

  To no avail though, his door burst open with a troll darkening its ingress as torchlight shone behind it. He hoped to say that he put up a fight but, in the moment, they’d found him calls were already being raised, and that giant of a person raced in knocking Ayer onto his ass following it up by pining him to the ground fists laying into him disorientating the natural flow of space and time. Recognition of Warwick Karl embedded right into Ayer’s brain a moment before the much bigger man collided with him.

  A moment passed where pain wasn’t the only thing he felt but that was snubbed out as the sharp points of shoes and steel-caps of boots launched into his body. Survivability kicked in as the only option now forced him to curl as more people seemingly had their go of him, throwing whatever hatred they could muster his way.

  ‘Bring Him!’ Someone shouted through a thick sheen of incomprehension that clouded everything.

  The attacks stopped, but even worse the crowd picked him up raising Ayer to his broken and bruised feet before pushing and pulling along the way. Down the hallway he was sent racketing, smashing between both walls crashing down into the lowered dining room where through blood-soaked eyes he saw the path of destruction that had been endured here as into the kitchen four people had Juries locked tight to the ground and a rifle aimed at his head.

  -Juries… No-

  The two locked eyes, both battered and barely recognizable. Retching up about to call to his older brother the presence of someone behind him became apparent as something was placed over his head and wrapped around his neck. Before a word could be spoken a sharp heave sent Ayer flying backwards away from his brother with his hands reaching out for Juries like a baby. His back colliding with the staircase leading up towards the front door causing a spasm from his spinal cord.

  The haul continued dragging Ayer put the carpeted stairs and across the laminate flooring as he clutched at the rope around his neck, every desperate moment that primitive ape in his amygdala shouting that he needed to breath forcing him to try and loop in a finger for respite. Before he could his body slid out of the house and onto the veranda where the pressure around his throat stopped.

  He drew in ragged-deep breaths, his internals aflame whilst his skin was a litany of stones that smashed against each other with every small movement. Looking down to the street he saw torchlight illuminating more ghouls barely visible against the darkness and his broken skull, in that dimness of thought hands came back upon him, hoisting Ayer into the air before launching him across brick walls and down the overgrown garden bed until he skittered across the pavement feeling that rough concrete tearing his side up.

  ‘Get him in the Van. Now!’ Somone called. To whom they were talking about Ayer couldn’t say, he hadn’t even noticed a van. A hope that maybe they were talking about someone else and would leave him be.

  Some tore him off the ground, throwing him onto a metallic surface as the rope was being pulled to make sure he came where these attackers wanted him to go. Whoever was holding the rope doing their damnedest to suffocate him, his eyes bulging was able to see that he was in the aforementioned van as a dozen people piled in and the door shutting with a solid funk before the roar of the engine reaching speeds that would be dangerous for such streets hit them, sending everyone in the back flying around.

  Everyone that was except for Braden Cali who crept up to Ayer, his face leering over like a bestial malformation threatening to annihilate him with a predatory snarl. The brief moments of fear Ayer had felt for the tiny man now coming full circle as he felt a terrifying menace behind this abuser, whose screams deafened Ayer’s hearing over the screeching of the vehicle with promises.

  ‘WE FUCKING KNOW AYER! We Fucking Know What You Did to Adrian! You Will Pay!’ He repeated like a prayer into Ayer’s ear setting his brain on fire. ‘You’re Going to DIE!’

  Consciousness was fleeting due to oxygen deprivation and a heart that beat to the tune of a race car sent him in and out of reality skipping the worst of the rantings and ravings. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing his brain couldn’t even decide, but it all came at him in bits and spurts. Until the flying jolt of the vehicle awoke him back into reality to see everyone else just as surprised and frazzled followed by the sliding stop of the van.

  The doors swung open with the assailants leaving, giving Ayer a moment to see beyond where he was meet with the sight of the Town Hall that had been converted into the Hospice. Historically he knew where he was but spatially, he had no idea, two divergent congruent thoughts that refused to speak with each other even as he was dragged out of the vehicle by the rope again, falling onto the soft packed earth onto already wounded body.

  Wheels spinning sent pieces of earth covering his near-nude body and sticking there because of the blood. More indignations that his brain could not even process from the grogginess of the beatings and barely being awake, it was like his entire mental scape was incontiguous.

  Sitting up he had an out of body experience seeing himself like a flabby baby, limbs sagging and floppy whilst his eyes were far from this reality. In front of him, traumatized and fearful a crowd had gathered as dawn broke over the landscape reveal many faces he knew.

  He saw Eerden and Ross and Willis all of them visibly terrified as they made eye contact with Ayer, their schoolyard friendships not doing enough for them to act in any way for someone they’d known for nearly half a decade or more. He saw Sarika Mews-Gimbutas pale faced and puffy-eyed. To the side he saw Dahl holding Nerissa whose silent pleading had two beefy figures standing in front of them. To the other side stunned faces of children barely out of preschool watched in horror as behind them Alicent Tres Hood stood with an unfamiliar cohort, all of them considering what kind of life they’d chosen looked just like those terrified children. Fallen to her knees deep in what should have been a loud prayer Lysander Don Dean had gone prostrate as if she was a priest begging the Cosmic Soul for this retched sinner.

  Out in front of the crowd, skirted by Viking and Warwick, her pale hands cupped over her mouth as a stream of tears fell from her perfect doe eyes Maya was collapsed on the ground in the same kneeling prostrate position Lysander found herself in, encircled in a hug that friend of theirs who always seemed to be looked with that facial structure that was so familiar but so foreign as this time her eyes were welded shut, tears falling out of her own eyes further confusing Ayer.

  Then that heave came again dragging him bareback across the grass with dirt entering the open wounds especially the scrape of gravel at his side. A respite allowed one more gulp of fresh air, looking up he saw the beautiful blue glow of the moss of the Radiant-Tree bringing a smile to his tainted being until he saw the rope slung over a thick branch which just as quickly resumed tension, in that second before the pressure resumed around his throat Ayer’s hand snuck under the rope but were crushed as he climbed up into the air.

  Rising high, his body spasming the peripheries of his vision faded, anything beyond this moment was a faraway dream with the world taking black and red hues to everything as air become a commodity in his own body. Fighting against this kind of death was useless he knew it, but he could not control his natural survival instinct which just left him flailing about midair.

  The only thought that came with any type of coherence being the realization or the challenge.

  -Do I deserve this-

  The crowd was a giveaway, the several sources of light from the dawning of the sun to the dimming radiance of the tree to those torches all calling to Kailey as the car skidded to a stop in the middle of the road. Bounding out of the car as someone swung from a branch sending an electric shock through her system causing an urgency to her speed, coming around the group only to be meet by a tower ogre that she sidestepped easily sending him spiraling as she came before the group.

  ‘STOP THIS NOW!’

  Heat pumped throughout her body, aggression unlike anything she’d known at the sheer bestiality of what she was witnessing sent adrenaline through every red blood cell of her being.

  ‘NO!’ Braden raged in return, the short man looking as if he hadn’t slept for days whilst a fiendish guise had corrupted his eyes. Her mirror-neurons feeling how dangerous he was at this very moment.

  The rumble of an engine racketed across the main street stealing all attention as a van sped up mounting the curb racing towards the group holding taut the rope. With the vehicle bearing down upon them the group fled letting the rope go causing the hangman to fall with a crunch onto the ground, a chorus of people demanding for this to end followed.

  Out of the now defunct vehicle Juries sprang, only wearing jeans and bloodied with that same feral tinge to his glare. One of Braden’s police moved to intercede, but Juries was quicker, laying the man out with a series of concentric jabs to the face, the next person came at him with a bat that he caught before using it against the man breaking it upon the guy’s torso.

  ‘LET HIM GO FUCKER!’ Juries demanded with violence.

  ‘Braden. End This NOW!’ Kailey added, that fear that spiked her at Braden’s approach easing now that Juries stampeded over with the furies of the Angelyn on his side.

  ‘NO! I’m not ending this!’ Braden blocked, meeting Juries glare as the two shaped up to each other. That was until Braden’s people backed him up and several guns were levelled at Juries. ‘I’m getting justice on a killer!’

  ‘What the hells are you talking about! A killer?’ Seeing the way of things that fear spiked again. She now queried why was Juries here, he generally wasn’t the type to stop a type of barbarism.

  Looking at the person sprawled upon the ground nearly nude, blood-soaked and covered in earth she realized who it was. -Ayer- As that knowledge turned her stomach in knots, but none of it still made any sense. Now that the police force were distracted Dahl and Nerissa had rushed over to him, which brought some relief that they could do something.

  ‘Ayer Bradshaw Killed Adrian!’ Braden sneered, his lips peeled showing teeth casting everything he done in a menacing light before shouting it to the high heavens as the knowledge spread through the crowd and the shock of it set in. ‘Ayer Bradshaw killed my friend, killed all our friend. He deserves to be brought to justice for what he did, for the life he took. For the person who we would have been better off having instead of this fat sack of shit!’

  ‘I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!’ Juries raged, before he was a pace the butt of a gun smacking into his face sending him sprawling.

  She felt the pressure cooker that she was in for everyone involved, the knowledge that letting them kill Ayer would alleviate their anger but that thought was untenable, they weren’t savages. She didn’t have a counterforce to hold against them and even if she did this group was armed, as the only thing she could think of was to slow all of this down so that even those under Braden could let their cooler heads prevail. ‘What proof do you have! What case do you have! Or are you doing this on a hunch?’

  That realization seemed to hit a few of them, Viking most of all whose puppy-doglike mannerisms recoiled at the realization that he’d been following the string of action without evidence. A few of the group relented a little, a limp shoulder here, a gun that was now holstered there. All good signs.

  ‘If you have nothing then you are hanging an innocent and have lost all credibility!’ Kailey further pushed.

  ‘He is the furthest thing from innocent!’ Braden slandered. ‘I have evidence. That DNA I had Dahl run showed two sets that I took from a crime scene in Ayer Bradshaw’s household where I found blood and markings as if there had been a fight. Those results showed an undeniable link that Adrian was there, and his blood was spilt as was Ayer’s… Hence why he walked around with a shiner for the first month.’

  -Damnit that is good evidence-

  The reassurance seemed to bolster his forces again. Not what she wanted, the only way to cease any of this was to extend this out as much as possible.

  ‘That doesn’t tell us anything about a timeline or a reasoning. There are a thousand ways to justify what you’ve said, and if you’re thinking that everybody here will take your word for it without someone else going through the evidence then you are mistaken.’ Kailey postulated.

  ‘You calling me a liar!’ He snapped back.

  Looking at those who encircled her and then the crowd beyond she went for a Hail-Mary. ‘What happens when someone bring such charges to any of you. What happens when we take this person at their word and don’t investigate too closely. What happens when people aren’t given a trial where truth can be revealed. Can you all imagine what would happen in such a system, the witch-trials and kangaroo courts… How easy it will be for pettiness to see someone die!’

  ‘TRIAL… Give Him a Trial!’ The crowd called as Braden now saw his own people relenting agreeing with Kailey entirely. Weapons were holstered and the police force started to backdown.

  ‘NO! He needs-’ Before he could say anything more his friends restrained him, three of the much bigger men leaning into to whisper sense into that thick skull of his taking a dozen minutes for him to finally relent even if he didn’t agree with it, responding with. ‘-Fine. We do a trial. I have the evidence and for it he will HANG!’

  Braden pulled away taking his followers with him as they marched up the street towards the police station halfway between the Hospice and the Convention Centre, now a foreboding notion as they would always have eyes on them. Looking back, she saw Dahl along with Nerissa at Ayer, Juries rushing in unphased by the fresh wound on his head.

  Taking a deep breath as the adrenaline that still raced in her system refused to leave, Kailey steadied herself before reviewing the crowd seeing the awaiting masses who wanted some form of leadership. ‘It’s okay everyone. Return home, we will deal with this. Just wait for the Council to give you an update.’

  Back to the group hoovering over Ayer she met with Dahl. ‘He is stable. But we obviously need to clean out his wounds and stitch up whatever needs it.’

  ‘Okay. Let’s take him into the Hospice then… And Dahl. We will be talking about this, the DNA you brought in to Nerissa was obvious what Braden gave you and I was there last night when you told us what it was.’ She agreed watching as Juries picked up his little brother taking him solitarily towards the building while Nerissa and Dahl followed, Indra and Archie coming up to Kailey. ‘We need to organize a trial and sort through this mess… Which means I need to look into the Bradshaw house.’

  ‘Shit. What a fucking situation this is.’ Indra raptured. These were the people she had practically grown up with after all as Kailey realized how much this would be hitting her, Maya and Vic still bowed on the grass bawling their eyes out.

  ‘Indra, go and comfort your friend. But I need you to do something after that is massively important.’ She waited allowing Indra to nod her head. ‘Take the car and go out to the farm, tell the driver that I have cleared the use of fuel and whatever is used we will resupply. But I need you to speak with Cutter Thrall Bry to get his best Thralls and bring them into town, we need to use them as protection for this entire thing.’

  -Everything was happening so fast and desperately she just wanted to keep up-

  Wailing against the punching bag, his muscles somewhere between the tightened density of concrete and fluidity of water allowing his fist to thump the leather casing. His breath was steady as much as his body was tired, days of barely getting any sleep knowing that Ayer was safely in the Hospice being tended to, no doubt playing the victim expertly.

  ‘Fucken Ayer!’ He raged another bout of adrenaline storming through his veins as he rearmed his attack against the bag viciously brutalizing the inanimate object to the point a rip formed.

  The thunk of the gym door opened and closed, after his bout he turned to see Viking, even the figure of the dopey-mut made Braden angry not to mention slightly suspicious as he had ties with Ayer from before. And friendship was a hard thing to break, which left Viking to the outskirts of the police force.

  ‘What!’ Braden prompted, grabbing his water bottle and downing a swig.

  ‘The Council has put out the word. They are going to start the trial in the next few days.’ Viking informed. A slight hesitation and fear in it which put joy into Braden.

  ‘Good… Won’t be long until we can hang that fucker then!’

  The comment seemingly sent Viking silent as intended, yet he stuck around awkwardly until finally working up the balls to ask. ‘Have you figured out a motive yet?’

  -That fucking question again- That was the question that had kept him awake. He knew the outcome but the events leading up to he could not quantify. Why Adrian was at that shitty Bradshaw house to begin with was out of his understanding.

  ‘No!’ He responded plainly. Turning back to the punching bag, ready for an aggressive fifth round.

  ‘Well. I have been thinking on it and… I think I might have something.’ Viking awkwardly released, but it done the job of getting Braden’s attention making him turn around after only a few jabs. ‘… So, as you know me and Ayer were mates back before the Arrhenius and everything. We had a few classes together and whatnot. One of those classes we had was Advanced World History for two years… And we done that class with Maya who Ayer was keen on.’

  -Fucking Viking… But this makes so much sense… So Maya was key to this, but he already could see what had happened and why everything happened the way it did-

  ‘Ayer told you?’ He put to the much taller man, not that that scared him, nothing scared Braden as he learnt from a young age that being his height everybody would pull one over on him if he let them.

  ‘He didn’t but he’s as transparent as the sun is hot.’ The response was perfect, but it just made sense.

  That meant he had to speak with Maya which would be hard, she’d held herself up in the School Complex only speaking with her friends and refusing to engage with anyone else. When he went there yesterday to comfort her and let her know that they’d get justice for Adrian the bitch Indra sent him off, no doubt because Maya was shocked about the revelations and was still processing them.

  ‘Which one of the girls are you still fucking?’ Braden questioned that brief smile on Viking’s face as if Braden really wanted to know smacked away when he saw how serious the other man was.

  ‘Ah… I’ve seen Karesha Don Lee a few times. Why?’

  ‘Set up a meeting. We can use her to get to Maya.’

  Laid up with a thousand agonies across his body, the drugs doing their part to ease the worst of the pains. From what Dahl told him there was little scarification as the graze on his side was the worst but would heal within a few weeks, the bruising had peaked, with the worst damage being to his ribcage explaining why breathing alone felt like he was inhaling the flames of a hell’s domain.

  The physical pains were bad, the pain that kept him silently sulking was the revelation of the truth. His dirty laundry laid out for the entire town to speak about, for all of them to know that he’d killed someone like a psychopath.

  And now the Hospice was crawling with Thralls, the group having all the subtly of a nuclear bomb. Their conversations foreboding as even they were made uncomfortable by such a thing, or the fact that Dahl and the others barely spent any time in here coming for quick observations before speeding on elsewhere. He’d even heard that Juries guarded the front door putting a stake on those steps, yet had never come in.

  -I guess this is what I deserve isn’t it. I killed someone that everybody liked and now that it has gotten out of the bag people will be drawing lines in the sand… Probably in my blood-

  ‘All I’m saying is that the evidence does not look good. We went there; we saw exactly what Braden said. Signs of a fight, broken walls, furniture etc. The blood we found we had to go searching for because the carpets and flooring had been ripped up whilst the walls had been wiped down…’ Kailey remarked, nauseous at the reminder of being in a place where someone had been murdered. ‘Someone… Ayer… Tried to cover up the evidence.’

  ‘Again, we still don’t know jack-shit around anything else. We can’t say who it was until we know a motive and hopefully what happened to the body.’ Vicraera argued back. This girl continuing to surprise Kailey as the events had made her vigorously disagreeable. But what should she have expected from someone who was woken up in the middle of the night, squirreled away to watch someone hang.

  ‘On a cursory glance it doesn’t look good Vic. This is our first murder. This isn’t the spade of suicides or the sicknesses and illness and accidents that have taken lives, but something else entirely and we need to be precise with this situation. Otherwise, our actions in this case could damage so much of what we are trying to do here.’ Indra warned direly.

  ‘Damage to people’s lives as well. If we fuck this up, we could be sentencing an innocent man to death.’ Vic threatened, the ominous nature of her words lingering throughout the crowded room.

  The Councilors shutting down with the hard question. The younger children who were representatives more than actual powerbrokers had been silent throughout this entire meeting; a murder was something beyond their years and against the brashness of youth they seemed to understand the calamity of this decision. Watching the four of them, Kailey was stunted at how their usual verbosity was curtailed and had been since they’d been called in.

  ‘No matter what we need to get things underway.’ Kailey bulled through. ‘How is he looking Dahl?’

  ‘Beaten and bruised… Very withdrawn. His mental health is obviously in the dumps as can be understood from anyone who was almost hung. But he will be healthy enough to go to trial.’ The admission was a grave one.

  ‘So, we push through it. We listen to both sides and everyone in this room will make their decision.’ Kailey reinforced, knowing full well none of them were ready for this.

  ‘What about a lawyer or someone to argue on behalf of Ayer!’ Vic pushed with unhinged aggression.

  ‘He should be able to argue for himself. We also don’t have anyone who could do that, I can only think of two people who went off to university to become a lawyer and as far as I’m aware they are in the capital and far away from here.’ Kailey threw out. ‘If he wants to avoid death all he’ll need to do is be honest and tell us what happened.’

  ‘That’s Not Good Enough!’ Vic raged sending a shock throughout the room. A prolific silence sent the room reeling, those next to her made physical distance as if they were contorting around the woman.

  ‘VIC… I know that this is a shitty situation, but this is the best any of us can do.’ Indra pleaded. ‘It’s immoral but considering what happened none of us can see a way through it.’

  ‘Ayer was lynched by an angry mob and hung from the friggin Radiant Tree. He was accused of a crime by Braden Cali who didn’t even put forward any evidence, he didn’t bring it to us or tell anyone, instead he just riled up the troops and sent them on their way.’ Vicraera pushed, vehement in her conviction to her argue alone.

  ‘Why are you pushing this Vicraera? Everyone here agrees to this but you, and you’re fighting it as if you know Ayer personally!’ Kailey levelled watching as the woman’s usually tan face became pale to the statement, flinching at the new scrutiny that was brought upon her by the rest of the Council.

  Kailey had no clue if she was acute or not but that wasn’t the intention. Challenging the woman would end this being the most immediate, but finding out something like a torrid affair between the two could be useful as well, or maybe she was just infatuated with the man… For whatever reason Kailey could not understand but straights were weird like that.

  ‘Everyone Out!’ Vic finally demanded, looking to everyone who wasn’t Indra or Kailey. Repeating herself twice more and shepherding the rest out of the room locking the door then coming back to her chair. ‘What I’m about to say doesn’t leave this room!’

  -SHIT. Was I right-

  The sisters both agreed. This allowed Vicraera to continue. ‘I’m related to Ayer.’

  ‘WHAT!’’ Both espoused. Kailey even more confused as she didn’t realize that of course the Bradshaw’s would have exterior family. To Kailey though she always viewed them as an isolated grouping so to think that they had more sent a shiver up her spin.

  ‘Why have you never said you were cousins with Ayer!’ Indra spiked, deep pain in her voice by this betrayal of omission.

  ‘So, you’re cousin too Juries and Sil as well then?’ Kailey queried as Vic’s original wording seemed off not that she could easily put her finger on it. Yet the thought of this woman who Kailey had come to view favorably was now tarnished under the new light, being attached to that family, the things that seemed innate to them now rearing inside of Vic grasped Kailey’s heart in a vice.

  Vicraera went quiet.

  ‘I am directly related to them…’ She finally announced mysteriously.

  Kailey saw her sister become even more confused, simply because the original announcement pushed her off kilter. But she saw it with Vic’s behavior of shutting down, a point of great agony and discretion as if this was the first time she’d even vocalized this to anyone. This was something beyond interesting though, that Vicraera was a Bradshaw by one of the parents, a child out of wedlock and by all mannerisms a bastard who was never acknowledge.

  ‘What the-’ Indra tried to push.

  ‘-Indra enough. Thank you, Vic. You have made great points throughout all of this, and your defence of Ayer is noble. But we are in an immoral situation trying to do our best here. We will give Ayer the best chances to make his case, to defend himself against Braden and by dragging this into the light we can get to the truth.’ Kailey over-spoke, being the best, she could offer the woman.

  Not that it evidently meant much, Vic herself looked as if she’d been drained from the admission, tiredness and guilt flooding into her molecular structure. Kailey could almost visualize the domino effect of chemical reactions, emotional developments and psychological thoughts at play in the youth.

  ‘We are done here. In two days, we will get this thing started.’

  *

  Alone at last with a headache that was unquenchable. Sitting on a concrete bench outside surrounded by shadows with the only pinprick of light being the spark of her cigarette, with a drag she was thankful to finally have a moment of stillness yet even that was constantly interrupted by her own mind.

  -I’ve been able to avoid Ayer for the longest time. But I guess no matter what I must see and speak to him now-

  That wasn’t a thought that brought any peace. A piece of her history she actively jumped over whenever she could back from her time as a stupid girl. The blank space she tried to cultivate from that time of her life coming to the realization that she was lesbian, knowing it entirely but being so unsure, knowing who she wanted to be but being easily led astray.

  -Fuck… No matter what this is happening-

  ‘It’s okay Maya. We don’t need to go anywhere you don’t want to.’ Karesha Don Lee reinforced, the Caucasian slip of a woman whose golden hair had been pinned up into a bun whilst her heart shaped head always wore a half-smile that never faltered which originally had been a point of contention for Maya who found it distrusting but had come around on the woman over her time.

  Especially in the past week as she’d been by her side the entire time, supportive and readily eager to push Maya to leave her room for some of the Tyrsea summer sun. The two taking back roads through now emptied suburbia to stay away from the milling masses, their active wear lightly tinged with sweat from the hours they’d spent together in their movements.

  -It’s something. And conversations that pull me away from what I saw. From see Ayer hanging from a tree for something she couldn’t even fathom- Starting to slip she mentally stepped away from that rickety staircase otherwise she’d fall to her thoughts and would start crying again.

  ‘Hey isn’t your house up ahead?’ Maya pointedly remarked to a place up ahead. Trying to initiate a conversation that she could pretend to care about.

  ‘Yeah, your right. I haven’t been there in so long.’ Karesha yearned. ‘Would you mind if we stopped in there? Just for old times sakes?’

  The two meandered they’re way towards the woman’s house, the pale brick structure with its red tiled roof being a familiar space Maya recognized instantly. A place where the group had skipped school at, a place where many parties had been held, following Karesha through the tin-gate at the side of the house being a pleasant reminder. She could almost remember the afternoon tinge where the heat of the day hadn’t quite relented but already music would be playing and the suggestion of a party was on the horizon.

  Continuing the two walked into the house through an already opened door without concern.

  ‘Maya. It’s good to see you.’ A shadow voice called as her entire body immediately went alert.

  She was ready to run out the door her whole body in a state of awareness as all neurons were on fire but lucid enough to propel her into movement as the darkened innards of the household held many shadows and very little light. In that din figures came to form, and she watched in horror as Braden and Viking had been lounging as if this had been preordained.

  Shocked she looked to Karesha who remained with that half-smile now given ominous meaning.

  ‘Braden. Viking. What the hell are you two doing here!’ Maya basically pleaded. Internally she was casting a prayer to the Angelyn hoping that the Cosmic Soul would reveal themselves and pull her away from this situation.

  ‘We wanted to see you Maya and make sure that your doing alright. I’ve been trying to talk to you since-’ Braden started but Maya couldn’t listen any more knowing that he was about to reference that hanging.

  ‘-Yeah, I know.’ She intercut.

  Braden was taken aback by her attitude; she was thankful that he was always considerate with her which was far from his baseline norm with almost everyone else. ‘Look. I get it. Now looking back, I can see how me sending Viking and the guys to get you in the middle of the night and pulling you downtown and all that… No explanation, no forewarning… Well, that was my bad, I got carried away.’

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Maya could not physically respond to his words, his calm almost centered words that spoke as if he saw no issue with what he done. His very words taking her back, she relived being in that cold morning dew watching as a van sped along to see Ayer dragged out of it like a mistreated pup before they hoisted him off a branch of the Radiant Tree.

  Seeing that she wasn’t going to say anything Braden continued. ‘I just wanted justice for Adrian.’

  And there it was the name that once concerned her but now brought a tremor to her core. The chant the group had been reciting that entire time as Ayer swung from the tree branch, no concern that most of them had known him their entire time in school, or that some like Viking had been friends with him. How these boys that she’d been close friends with had become bloodthirsty changing how she viewed all of them, unable to look at any of them in the same light of their now dead youth.

  -Why is this happening. How is this happening- She pleaded internally, desperate to away from these demons.

  That was until she saw how Karesha looked too Viking has his attention was on her, seeing how the woman gave him that semi-smile even though she was completely ignored. The realization that her friend -I thought she was my friend- had sold her out pining for a boy who gave no care for her, feeling like a chess piece on a board and completely disposable yet somehow had empathy for the woman who desperately wanted to be loved by someone who was incapable of such a thing.

  ‘Ayer did it Maya… And I have conclusive proof. DNA evidence, blood from his crap-shack of a house which is Adrians.’ Braden’s words were haunting, but that was nothing to say of himself. A bestial presence presided over him now, she could almost swear that the outline of his being was a maelstrom of rapacious reds hungry for blood.

  ‘DNA isn’t full proof!’ She rasped out in protest, her eyes already rupturing with tears that she’d been trying to keep back.

  He didn’t even seem to be hurt or concerned that she’d just disagreed with him and therefore argued for Ayer, instead his face turned soft, but that ravenous red mist did not move. ‘It is when it’s a complete match. Further helped by being inside a house sealed away from the elements so completely untarnished by outside forces.’

  ‘This makes no sense!’ Karesha inquired, done with making googly eyes at Viking for the moment. ‘How did you figure out that it was him?’

  ‘Easy. He had bruises for the first month that were unexplainable. He made up some shitty story about going ape-shit and wrecking his home. But knowing Ayer for being a fat shit I know that was complete bullshit. He cried whenever he had a sports class trying to get out of them all the time. He’s too much of a bitch too exert that much energy unless he’s forced too.’ Braden’s mockery struck Maya, it wasn’t even about her yet she felt every strand of that hatred.

  At this point he reached up for Maya, either not seeing or ignoring her wincing. ‘But now I need to understand why. Why would this happen. Why would Adrian who didn’t have beef with anyone, have something worth death over with Ayer… And it was here that Viking made a really, really, good point… You’ve had a history class with Ayer and Viking for the better part of two years.’

  She lost her breath, stolen from inside her lungs and every part of her wanted to collapse. It had been the endpoint she was wilfully ignoring, fearing that someone would conclude. Oddly making sense that it was Viking since he was there next to them almost every day, seeing her and Ayer growing closer, seeing the flirtation between the two.

  -I never thought anything like this would happen because of it. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen-

  ‘I know Maya.’ Braden stated as if he’d been there with them. Breaking her entirely. ‘I know that he was always sweet on you. Fuck even I could see that, but Viking explain how relentless he was. The only thing that makes sense then-’

  She waited with tear blurry eyes for the next words to come out of Braden’s mouth, for the rage, for the fury that he often left for others. She’d never felt a fear like this before, feeling as if she was guaranteed to die in this next moment.

  ‘-The only thing that makes sense then.’ Braden repeated as if to emphasize a point. ‘Is that… he got bold… He made a move on you, didn’t he? Did he force himself on you?’

  His voice had sunken to such empathetical depths that she never knew he was capable of. His hands on her weren’t iron grips like she’d felt before from Adrian but were loving as if they were a siblings or parents who wanted full attention. Physically there was nothing menacing about him, but there was something completely wrong about all of this as that red hue only got worse engulfing him.

  She could see how in danger she was if she told the truth. If she admitted that she harboured a little crush on Ayer for reasons she couldn’t even articulate Braden would turn into a feral beast, her death would be assured. Fear captured her. Fear crushed her.

  ‘…Yes…’ Maya agreed, breaking in that very moment wailing. Braden thinking it was because he was right, but she knew this admission was a death sentence for Ayer.

  She was so afraid.

  They watched them leave, the midday Tyrsea sun at its zenith leaving no shadow to hide in, a notion that was very applicable Braden mused feeling as if he had uncovered a deep secret. The relief flooding his system although not quenching the blood he wanted from Ayer.

  ‘Jeez. You think you know a guy and then shit like this comes out… Makes you question nearly everything.’ Viking mused absently as usual.

  -Of course you didn’t see it you fucking idiot. And of course, now you’re trying your hardest to put distance between yourself and Ayer, in a few weeks you’ll probably deny being close to him and then after a shit tone of time pretend that you never knew him when his name is brought up and his crimes are remembered… I will make sure they are fucking remembered-

  ‘Do something for me.’ Braden sparked getting a jolt from Viking who looked to the far shorter man yet completely subservient to him.

  ‘Ayer’s brother Juries would still be on the steps of the Hospice. Go and tell him what Maya revealed today, what his brother done to that poor woman and the price someone else had to pay.’ Braden smirked at the image of that fucker Juries breaking under that knowledge.

  Had he ever felt fear like this before. Sitting on the end of the gurney vaguely dressed well enough as everything still hurt beyond comprehension, yet this was his day to go before a hundred people and plead for his life. Vibrations racketed his top-layer of skin, an odd frozen tundra internally, and a mind that was vacant unable to focus on what he desperately needed to.

  Runners against marble sounded alerting Ayer to someone entering, watching as Dahl came in. The short-spindly man trying hard to force a smile to a face that wanted to avoid him, he wanted to give reassurance and empathy towards someone who might have been a killer.

  -I am a killer though-

  He looked over Ayer asking a few questions about the pain levels and other cerebral questions to see if his brain was functioning. Unfortunately, that ship had long since sailed, his brain probably hadn’t been working since his birth, otherwise why would he be in this situation.

  About to leave, Dahl halted at the entrance of the cubical of curtained walls then peered back. ‘Are you sure that your ready for this?’

  Ayer knew nothing about this man, he was of an age with his older siblings, but he could feel the fear emanating off him. A fear for his patient’s life, a fear of what the truth might reveal. A fear that this was a sign of things to come.

  ‘Not really up to me. Is it?’ Was the best Ayer could come up with. Sounding like a spoilt brat, he watched Dahl leave berating himself the entire time for being so weak in all aspects.

  -There is no getting out of this. The best I can do is just be honest, not a Bradshaw trait but something about doing the opposite of what everyone in my cursed fucking family would do gives me pleasure… Even if it leads to my death- He realized on a deep exhale believing that was the only way to redeem himself in any way, believing that was the only strength he could show throughout his entire lifetime.

  And then the realization hit him. -If I admit to the truth what does that do to Maya. She’ll be looped into this, she’ll become an implicit other even though no one could have guessed what Adrian was going to do for fuck sakes… She definitely hates me but she doesn’t deserve to be dragged through the mud like that-

  That prohibition upon his mind was lifted at that point. His life might be forfeit but at least this way he could protect her in someone way, he’d go down for the death solely and she would avoid social scrutiny from this pack of wolves. Ayer figured the best way to do that was to avoid her all together, if she was brought up he’d deny, but that also meant he’d have to invent a reason why Adrian would want him dead.

  *

  Under heavy guard by the Thralls who were eager to prod him forward Ayer was swept off the bed and led out of the Hospice, outside where he expected to find Juries instead nobody sat. On the road a van was parked idling ready and open as more Thralls had secured the perimeter with a massive crowd come to stare vacantly at him, none of them angry or excitable, none of them showing anything other than cold hardened apathy. A part of that crowd being Leyland and Sadia who no doubt had a field day with that rumour mill.

  For his part Ayer stared forward as his broken body pushed forward entering the van. The drive was a quick stop but to Ayer it felt like an elongated eternity with his heart caught between pounding like a thunderclap and being squeezed in a fist until they pulled up to the Convention Centre.

  -Surprising. I thought for sure they would do it at the courts attached to the police station. Although that right there might explain why they didn’t want to do it there-

  The Thralls continued their quickened pace as they came to the incredibly new structure. The light spilling in from the glass fronted wall teaming with gawkers and onlookers who had a perfect vantage point to see the trial as the stage was littered with the judges of his fate, the Council who had taken government in those ensuing days now would be the ones who decide if he’ll hang again.

  Just as oddly he saw cameras filming this. Something for the history books he assumed.

  -That doesn’t give me hope-

  As if rehearsed the Thralls came to a specific point in front of the stage standing himself still as a sickly pale man with gaunt skin and a litany of scars held his attention, a reeking of bad odor and substances mixing to make Ayer almost gag. Until the clasps of something around his legs sounded and he felt pressure on his ankles, looking down he saw padded chains linked to the floor as the Thralls locked his arms into a set as well all linked.

  -Fuck… They think I belong in an insane asylum even before they’ve heard me speak-

  Behind him a group came putting a padded chair for him to recline with one of them putting bottles of water at his side before retreating as if he was a wild beast, one of them reluctantly coming in to fix a microphone to the suit-shirt and pants Nerissa had found for him. Indra alone seemed to be skittish as if there was a possibility that he’d turn feral, taking hold of his gaze where she pointed to the water from a safe distance before moving off.

  In a clamor the doors opened and in swept Braden Cali followed by a fleet of his buddies all of whom glared daggers at Ayer. Blood had touched their lips, and they were hungry for more, revenge for Adrian no matter what the story was. Amongst their lot Viking who tried to wear that same menacing look but was caught somewhere else, somewhere neither could really understand.

  Reflecting on that Ayer felt a deep admiration for Adrian’s ability to inspire such loyalty and friendship that these people would do his bidding even from beyond the grave. He wondered if given time, could he have had friendships like this, friendships where people were willing to risk tooth and nail for himself. His own group had basically abandoned him the moment shit went sidesway and then they watched as he was being hung and didn’t move to do anything.

  -It doesn’t really matter does it. I’m probably dead already. Braden will enjoy watching me hang and hells Adrian will be looking down from his place in the firmament eagerly awaiting Ayer… in the black of infinity who knew, maybe they would continue their fight through the stars-

  The honorifics had been done, the role-call, the amendments, the explanation of the case for the specific one hundred people who the Council had allowed to act as a type of jury sitting in a semi-circle behind the space where a solitary Ayer sat lonesome whilst with a leer at the other end prowled Braden.

  The sight was heartbreaking, seeing Ayer alone with no one in his corner whilst Braden had a small army. This boy child who Kailey had known for some time, that Kailey had a history with but who represented someone she abjectly hated. What made it worse was Juries refusal to be by his younger brothers’ side.

  -I could not imagine. If Indra was going through this there isn’t any reason that I wouldn’t be down, there along with her. But the Bradshaw’s are their own thing entirely-

  All eyes fell upon her, she who sat in the center of the eight other Councilors, her ninth spot giving her the fulcrum of deciding power just as she’d wanted, otherwise she would be fear of what could sway the others and prompted her construction of this court.

  ‘Let’s begin then. We all know what has brought us here now the recap is done and if you somehow missed the very public hanging from the Radiant Tree then consider yourself blessed that you didn’t have to see such barbarity.’ Kailey spat, the dig finding little purchase on Braden however as his lackeys were the ones to recoil more than he did. ‘Since you’re the accuser in this situation Braden Cali you can make your statement.’

  The short-stocky man strode forward, again his movements like a predator animal eyeing its prey in Ayer. A bloodthirsty cast to his face announcing his intentions on this day. He turned those eyes on the Council taking everything inside of Kailey not to shrink back against that threatening tension that emanated off the man.

  ‘Councilors. All of you know that everything I have done has been in the best interest of protecting Durrahan, of seeing to the safety of everyone here. So, what happens, when a fox is hiding in the hen house. When there is a snake in the grass or a wolf in the woods. I’ll do what I must to such a creature to make sure our people are safe!’

  ‘And hanging someone without providing evidence is protecting us!’ Kailey scathed back locking eyes with the fiend.

  ‘Ayer Bradshaw Killed Adrian. I have the evidence to show everyone here.’ Like announcer those of his cohort produced folders which they passed around.

  Flipping through her folder Kailey witnessed the scene of the supposed crime seeing walls that looked wrecked and pulled up carpet with specific areas circled to show blood splatter whether on a piece of hanging wall that had been overlooked or that had seeped through the carpet. This was damning as even the Council had noticed this when they investigated, these were minor spills of blood and could have been explained as Ayer hurting himself but given the accusations it did cast a bad light on everything.

  ‘The first few pages are pictures I took throughout the Bradshaw crapshack. I’ve circled areas of interest and photographic evidence of blood there but due to Ayer trying to get away with murder we will never really know the full weight of how much blood there was.’ Braden announced reckless as usual throwing around accusations and insults. ‘Now if you flip through you will also see a comparison of DNA.’

  The group reticently done as prodded coming to the page where two DNA structures were graphed being identical as far as she could understand although she wasn’t a medical major. The information clearly labelling which and what the sequences were.

  ‘As you can all tell both those DNA samples are identical. Dahl can back me up on that one no?’ Braden queried making all attention fall upon Dahl.

  He was slow to move with shaking extremities until he finally lifted off. ‘Yes… Um… Yes. From our research we have concluded that both DNA sequences are from the same source.’

  ‘And if you read below, I explain where both samples came from. One came from Adrians’s bedroom where you’d expect his DNA to be found. The other is from Ayer Bradshaw’s home. Not the place you’d expect to find anything of Adrian’s let alone a blood sample.’ Braden continued to boil.

  ‘None of which explains why he would be there or give a motive Braden. For all we know they could have been in a secretly gay relationship!’ Kailey pushed back. Even the through of Adrian being gay evidently cause a chorus of uproar amongst Braden and his lackeys where spent minutes before they came back under control.

  The tension had grown in his body, Braden was a coiled snake with fangs bared and ready to strike. His eyes may have been squarely upon Councilors but with one foot always facing Ayer he showed where his real interest was laid, in any heartbeat he could have rushed over there to kill the battered and bruised version that was chained before all of them.

  ‘But I do. I know the truth and I can prove it.’ Braden’s words menaced hitting deep vibrational frequencies that sent a shiver up her spin. ‘Maya. Please come out here!’

  Shocked silence erupted. Through the throng of guys, the short stature and now frighteningly fragile figure that was Maya Wainwright timidly staggered until she was standing next to Braden.

  Arctic-particles overcame Kailey’s sensory system, her body went numb as her mind dulled into deprivation. Watching this scene, she was stumped, when her mind came online it rushed through the possibilities of what could be happening, but Kailey ran into the problem she always did when it came to Maya, that everything around her, every situation she was in, every reaction she had made no conceivable sense showing just how little they knew her. With eyes upon her she appeared fainthearted with a readiness to falter at any moment and a visible shake to her entire body as her large doe eyes were red-raw from the days of tears she’d been leaking.

  In this moment she appeared just as upset as down the line both Vic and Indra verbally asked what she was doing. The question seemed to stump her as Maya had to clear her throat twice more before speaking and breaking whatever civility they had pretended to cultivate.

  ‘The reason why… The reason why Adrian went to Ayers. The reason that led to his death.’ She whispered through fearful breaths. ‘Is because the day of the Arrhenius Ayer forced himself upon me, he tried to kiss me but I managed to get away from him and then… I… I told Adrian… What happened.’

  By the end she was in tears, broken as she slumped to the ground with Braden quick to try and assist her kneel over her. The lid was blown off as those one hundred people became visibly disgusted as the verbiage stuck, as even Kailey had to parse through the words to understand what Maya just said, Braden’s lackeys immediately jumping in with the chant of “Guilty” on repeat.

  And there Ayer was, alone and chained looking stunned. His bruised features contorted in incredulity as if this was news to him just as it was news to everyone else and a want to argue, with Kailey struggling to comprehend everything. Finally parsing out that Maya admitted that Ayer tried to kiss her or at least that is the part she emphasized after saying that he forced himself on her, but still a monstrous act that worsened the situation before them.

  -Would he. His family is seven degrees of fucked up, I have my own reservations about Ayer… but that isn’t his sin, but that of his sisters… But could he do such a thing, there are so many ways to read this… But something, some feeling doesn’t match with this- A familiar feeling crept across Kailey, the one she felt whenever she was around Ayer, the one that made her want to avoid him for fear of her trauma that he shared in, but this seemed to bring it all out into the open now didn’t it.

  Looking downward she linked eyes with Indra and Vic both of whom were just as shocked at the accusation. Kailey mouthed “WHEN” as if that might clarify anything to them, but both shook their heads unsure until Indra finally gave something that might be useful.

  ‘When we sent her to inform people. She was adamant that she wanted to speak with Ayer even though it was Karesha’s route. Maybe it happened when they were at his house?’ Her words were tinged with haste and heartache at the very idea that they could have facilitated one of their friends being assaulted.

  -Why doesn’t this feel right then. It treks but something just feels wrong here-

  But her sister was right. Thinking to that conversation Kailey remembered how much Maya fought to see him, more than anyone else forgoing her own boyfriend’s company as well making sure that he was elsewhere. She said they were friends so she would be able to get him to go to the Convention Centre where anyone else would have been ignored, which was unsurprising for a Bradshaw. When she returned, she was different, there was no denying that.

  -Why does it feel wrong-

  Kailey looked back to Maya, that empathy showing itself to be dangerous as she wanted to sweep the girl up in a hug to try and help through the pain. But then there was Braden over her, and something off spiked, how he had her. How he even now patriarchally controlled her.

  Kailey’s eyes went to Ayer whose defeated posture had sunk deep he looked as if he wanted to protest but the damage done to his trachea, larynx and throat was so extensive that bare single words could come out. His face now broken but rock solid as if torn between two trains of thought.

  -What if Braden is forcing her to do this. Maya is smart, she knows what such an allegation would mean for Ayer, but she also wouldn’t do it unless it was real… Or unless someone made her afraid enough to say it-

  ‘ENOUGH!’ Kailey boomed standing up from her seat. ‘Before we continue, I want to speak with Maya alone!’

  ‘NO.’ Her rebellious police force erupted. ‘He’s Guilty!’

  ‘Like hells will she be going alone with you!’ Braden threatened with a meaty finger pointed at her. ‘You’re going to try and talk her out of it or turn her words against her.’

  ‘Braden I will go with them and make sure that nothing happens.’ Indra pleaded to deaf ears.

  Arguing continued as Maya remained there sobbing desperately into her hands, in one of those moments looking up when all attention was off her and looking over to Ayer with the softest guilt-ridden eyes that flowed with tears. One looked at Ayer’s defeated-deflated body releasing the dam of sobbing once again.

  ‘Viking and Indra will come in with me!’ Kailey announced settling the debate as Braden continued to argue but eventually agreed to the terms.

  He was frozen. His body collapsed onto the flooring with an intense focus into the nothingness that sprouted beyond him, his future was no more, his past misdeeds caught up with him. Maybe this was always the eventuality of his life.

  An hour had passed since Kailey, Indra, Viking and Maya had disappeared. But the time didn’t matter, the statement was made to an audience. Outside of his periphery and understanding the news had been passed to those outside whose fence-sitting had completely changed as now they called for a “Guilty” verdict.

  -Isn’t this what I wanted though. At the endpoint of it all was to come clean and admit that I killed Adrian. I didn’t want Maya wrapped up in any of this but can I tank this hate, this misinformation so I can be hung and she can move on… Don’t I owe her that much-

  He did owe her that at the very least. But somewhere in that frozen tundra that consumed his body a cinder of hatred boiled. He was okay to die for his actions, he would standby that, but the disservice of a dying falsity laid directly at his feet. That bruised worse than the actual bruises he sustained.

  That hit something Ayer didn’t even realize he had.

  The arguing had picked up near instantly from the moment they claimed one of these backrooms as Indra and Viking viciously attacked each other, more like rabid dogs than human beings. Kailey took a seat right in front of Maya, their knees touching for physical contact as she held the woman’s hand.

  ‘Maya. I need you to be honest now-’ Kailey repeated for the fifth time, asking it roughly every fifteen minutes now allowing the woman a new train of answer or stay with her original statement. That was meant to be the idea at least, but Maya barely even answered making this even worse.

  ‘-You’ve already asked this on repeat for fuck sakes!’ Viking protested with Indra quick on the intercept using verbiage she didn’t realize her sister had inside of her.

  ‘Shut up Viking you unnaturally lanky fuck. She’s obviously giving Maya the room to answer and make sure the story is consistent you dumb piece of shit!’ All whilst flipping him off.

  It worked though so Kailey might be surprised and would speak to her sister about this later, but for right now she was okay to utilize the space of silence it created.

  ‘It’s time Maya. This is someone’s life in the balance.’ Kailey reinforced. ‘You said he forced himself on you?’

  ‘He… he…’ This was the main problem. Every time she tried to speak, she would barely be able too or she’d start to cry. With Kailey being surprised how much water this tiny woman could produce. ‘He just kissed me. He didn’t do anything else.’

  As she spoke her eyes glanced up, as if she was afraid of Viking or more likely Braden.

  ‘And there was no chance that he could have mistaken something you said beforehand as an sign or anything.’ Kailey felt dirty and wrong asking it but felt that it needed to be asked.

  ‘Kailey!’ Indra was quick to rush in making her feel even worse for asking.

  ‘I know. I hate to ask but it want complete clarity. No matter what I will believe you Maya.’ She admitted, this was the best time for Maya to be honest as Viking wouldn’t do anything and unless she was afraid of Braden taking spirit form this was it. ‘You are safe Maya. We have an army with the Thralls. That is why we asked them to come and help here.’

  ‘You are safe Maya. From anyone!’ Indra added casting a dark look at Viking who shrunk under that glare.

  -My girl-

  She took a long moment, a pause that went into eternity before composing himself releasing the last sniffles and clearing her throat so she could speak clearly. But her face didn’t change, she still looked down at the ground unable to make eye contact as if she was defeated.

  ‘No there was nothing. There was no reason he could have believed I wanted him to kiss me. We just realized what was happening in that first hour after we all woke up. He grabbed me and started kissing me even when I told him to stop.’ Her eyes fixed on the ground; her legs were energized as if she wanted to go for a run whilst her hands covered much of her face with tissues wiping away the still falling tears. ‘I got away from him and then I told Adrian later on.’

  -FUCK-

  There it was at least. The question asked repeatedly, and it had remained the same every time. She had to believe her; Kailey could not think of any other way to go at it. Everything fell into place this way, explaining everything perfectly. And if the show of force from the Thralls and the reassurance of her friends didn’t ease Maya then nothing could. Something may have felt off to Kailey, but she would take Maya’s word as gospel.

  Only Ayer now could do something to save himself.

  The concourse of things seemed to happen so quickly; they’d come back out after a solid hour with the admission that the Council believed Maya was telling the truth. The only amendment being that Ayer forced a kiss but nothing else or that it led to nothing else. An uproar of aggression towards Ayer erupted with the Thralls spooked a moment as they peered around waiting for someone to attack.

  He’d been quiet when one of theirs tried to defend Ayer. Prodding him with questions which he didn’t have the answers to or ways that he could swing this his way, nor the want to. At least he kept telling himself he wanted this, he wanted his last act to protect Maya. Looking up he saw her at the stage, far from the reach of Braden and his lackeys.

  -That is something at least… Kind of-

  The little cinder inside of him sparked, angry that Maya was saying that he assaulted her.

  ‘Okay… Without anything else… Closing statements.’ Kailey announced from a standing position orating the close of this no doubt fully ready to call for his execution. ‘Braden.’

  -I hope she knows that I understand. I’ve been useless in my own defense, and they have all the proof to send me to the gallows. She might be the one who declares it but this was decide by everyone else just as much-

  The cocky midget strode forward with all the readiness of a cannibal who’d been sizing up their prey. ‘I’ve given all the evidence possible for a slam dunk in the old legal system. Everything that I’ve collated and his inability to defend himself are all clear signs that he is guilty.’

  Braden eyed Ayer with a cold mirth continuing. ‘He forced himself on Maya, but she got away. Ayer then kills Adrian and tried to cover up the evidence so in time he can get her in some sort of twisted logic! I wouldn’t be surprised if that whole incident in Kirigunya was made up or greatly exaggerated so he could pretend to be a hero. But all you need to do is look and ask where is Juries Bradshaw? Nowhere, because he knew exactly what Ayer is… A Killer!’

  The cinder enraged massively at the assertion that he’d attacked Adrian. That petrification he’d felt for so long thawing and threatening to become an erupting volcano with rage unabated. The roar of the jury in agreement with him only adding further fuel to that fire as even some of the Thralls openly agreed. The dig at the one situation he felt he’d dealt with bravely turning that flame into a bonfire. And the mere mention of the noticeable absent of Juries becoming an unstoppable wildfire that threatened to consume Ayer’s soul.

  ‘Ayer. This is your final chance to say anything to defend yourself.’ Kailey basically pleaded, empathetic eyes on him begging him to say something against the expected revulsion.

  -DON’T. Let this wash over you for Maya’s sake-

  His mind uncharacteristically fluttering with all the hatred that had been unjustifiably slapped against his name, because of his family, because of his siblings, because he spoke to someone out of term or stood up to someone who deserved it but everyone else loved. Why was it his lot to carry this burden for other people.

  -Don’t-

  Looking at Maya with her face in her hands he got angry. Looking at Viking his one-time friend now calling for his death to fit in with a group he bad-mouthed to Ayer multiple times and tried to sleep with their girlfriends behind their backs. Looking to the jury he saw Willis and Eerden who looked with disgust towards Ayer. No Juries to be seen as he’d expected, knowing for the longest time all of his talk about “Family being One and Only” falling apart at the first sign of real trouble that could affect him. Even Boulder was there with an unreadably impassive face probably judging the friend he’d made a bit too quickly.

  -FUCK THEM ALL-

  His bruised muscles became energetic unaffected by the pains that berated him at every moment. He shot up stopping all of the shouting for his death and like a demon possessed he hissed through the microphone they’d attached to him fighting against the strain it put on his trachea.

  ‘FUCK ALL OF YOU!’ He spat, literally feel blood start to creep out of his mouth as he turned to the stage. ‘I never assaulted Maya!’

  Nobody said anything, no one dared argue with the last words of a dead man.

  ‘I Killed Adrian.’ He continued after a long pause. Slightly for dramatic effect but also because his throat was on fire now that he chose to speak. ‘I killed him out of self-defense because that sociopath was waiting for me in the dark at my house. I fought and killed him because he was going to kill me first!’

  He aimed that at Braden whose nostrils were enflamed as aggression flared in every fiber of his being.

  ‘I dumped his corpse and all the other evidence you will need in the Old Quarry in that sinkhole!’ Now the iron-bite of blood engulfed his tastebuds feeling a dribble leaking out of his mouth. The crowd finally erupted to that in shock and awe. ‘I did it not for some stupid reason as this dwarf says but because in reality, I was trying to avoid this very scenario like an actual person would be afraid of!’

  ‘-Go there and see for yourself that your friend is now one of those plants that created monsters out of children!’ Braden took a running start at Ayer but was stopped by his own people who held him back as he squealed and hollered like a pig in protest.

  He turned his attention now towards the jury. ‘You’re going to make an example of me anyway! I’m dead no matter what! Your decision was made the moment I was strung up on that tree but at least this way you know the fucking truth… Adrian tried to kill me and died in that pursuit and of that I feel no remorse!’

  Oddly he saw people flinch from that demonic gaze of his bringing Ayer no small amount of joy.

  With blood now leaking like a faucet he turned to the Council with those last bits of burning rage now worn out pushed to their limits in their current form. ‘Make your proclamation! Sign my death warrant!’

  None were left affected, the Thralls cringed back from him as if he was something truly abhorrent. But in that Ayer now felt some sort of power. The police force regained their single braincell between the lot of them and started chanting for his death with the jury following suit soon after. The Councilors were left stunned, Kailey and Indra both with mouths gapping stunned at the display neither envisioned he could make.

  But the only person he really cared about in all of this was left off in a worse state than before as she’d raced away to cry somewhere away from his malicious words. He may have called some of her statements into question, but he was just happy to be meeting death having spoken the truth.

  Looking through binoculars from the edge of the unsafe ground she saw exactly what Ayer had promised as vines reaching up from the gullet of the sinkhole like the ones, she saw on Torrand’s body creating a further threat that she had to worry about.

  Looking besides she saw the other as Braden stood rigid looking down at the resting place of his best friend. An unceremonious place with only that gross sickening flora to commemorate the person who laid there. Kailey may have had many choice words for Braden right now, but she also had empathy for him.

  ‘I am truly sorry Braden.’ She grieved with the man. ‘This should not have been his grave.’

  He swallowed hard seeing the person they’d lowered down coming back up to them and affirming that a body was there caught somewhere in decomposition altered by that strange plant.

  ‘FUCKING HELL!’ He broke, tearing taking him.

  ‘He didn’t deserve this.’ Kailey admitted. She avoided pointing out that this was his doing by attacking Ayer but then again so much about all of this confounded her, but the path forward was completely clear.

  After a while he had himself composed coming back to Kailey. ‘We have absolutely everything now. Including an admission by Ayer. When does he face justice!’

  ‘The Council has agreed that tomorrow he will be executed. That are deciding by what means right now.’ That was a discussion she had no interest in being a part of, the fact that they were killing Ayer still hurt her deeply rather than finding a solution elsewhere, but almost unanimously all wanted his head.

  Thinking of Vic the feelings only continued to break. Kailey was sure that Ayer didn’t even know they were related and now they would never get the chance to have a relationship as it was now also something she was going to have to keep under wraps otherwise risk unforeseeable backlashes that no doubt will hit Juries.

  -That is a whole different story. That fucker nowhere to be seen probably drinking away his sorrows when his family needed him the most-

  ‘Good! The Police Force will help keep him under guard until then.’ He said for reassurance, whether for himself or her Kailey didn’t know considering that Ayer was now in a jail cell in the Police Station with both the Thralls and the police surrounding him.

  ‘You think he needs that much protection?’ She inquired. ‘He seemed pretty ready to die.’

  ‘You can never be too sure. He will get cold feet about facing the music and probably make a run for it however he can.’ Braden said with complete surety.

  Kailey did not have the same opinion.

  *

  The din of night was falling across the landscape, a Durrahan that waited with bated breath just as still as the coming night with not a soul to be seen milling about the main strip. Striding into the police station she released a pent-up huff steeling herself for what would be the most difficult conversation up until this point of her life.

  She moved through the Police Station with a vague awareness finally running into Viking who milled around at the quieter corners of the building away from the others. ‘Hey Kailey Caldera. What brings you here?’

  His aloofness which most would have found endearing rubbed Kailey the wrong way considering everything she knew about this man and his extremely shifting loyalties.

  ‘Take me to Ayer I’m here to talk to him.’ She putdown with iron.

  That mouthy grin he tried to give her broke under her tone and glare. ‘Um. We are under order to-’

  ‘You’re under orders from me you dumbass!’ She spat feeling a little like Indra from earlier, but the emotions of the overwhelming her. ‘Braden is your boss and who is his boss! And next time you see me call me First Councilor!’

  He whimpered but done exactly as she demanded, taking her down into the jailhouse before telling him to leave. Down further she came to an interesting set, one being from the police force whilst the other was an obvious Thrall neither of whom spoke a lick to each other.

  ‘We are under-’ The Police was about to say before she levelled her eyes at him.

  ‘I just had this same conversation with Viking. I’m not doing this again simply for me to pull rank on you! Instead, you will do as instructed and fuck off down the hallway so I can talk to the prison about tomorrow.’ Her commands were adhered to even if there was groveling with the jailor opening the cell before locking her in there with an Ayer who lounged on the naked metallic bedframe as obviously, they were going to let him freeze for his last night alive.

  -FUCKING HELLS. People are so cruel. At the very least he can have one final comfort before he dies- Although seeing him, the boy she had been avoiding whenever there was a possibility of their paths crossing accompanied by that near crippling anxiety that spiked.

  ‘Ayer.’ She said with his eyes already on her. Seeing him though she could not help but feel for him, being hung and battered as even now the bruises were still in their prime. ‘I am so sorry. About all of this.’

  He took a moment considering his words. Or maybe just as anxious as she was. ‘Shit happens.’

  ‘It would be better if “Shit” didn’t happen though… Can I sit?’ He was quick to gesture letting her relax down next to him, taking a moment to consider her next words and continue. ‘Has Juries come by?’

  He shook his head. ‘You’d have more luck asking if Sil dropped by.’

  That name made her clench tight. After a moment she tried to forget it but that was a hard name to forget.

  ‘I have come to talk about… Your execution.’ Kailey admitted, her eyes staring forward so she wouldn’t have to see his broken features, instead he was silent with no response. Looking she saw he was not even concerned as his face was placid to the point of serenity.

  ‘It’s okay Kailey. For a week I’ve been expecting to die now, there was not a force on Ninth Earth that can stop it.’ Ayer replied as calm as a monk in meditation, far from what her own response in this very situation would be.

  -And far from the child he was growing up-

  She released a flowing breath from the depth of her diaphragm releasing the pain with it. Not that it done much, doing hot yoga to impress a chick and she didn’t even learn anything. ‘It’ll be tomorrow. We were looking into a medical injection type scenario, but we also can’t part with any medicine considering how much is being used every day… So instead, we agreed, the fastest and next “humane way” if you could even call it that, is by a bullet.’

  ‘No that makes sense. Either to the heart or head is basically instant death. I’m cool with that.’ He shrugged, his serenity now getting on Kailey’s nerves, but everyone faced death in their own way. She only hoped to be half a poised in her final moments. ‘Thank you for letting me know.’

  She looked at the bruised mess besides her, unable to see the man he’d become with a stilted image of his teenage features. He wasn’t really a man, he was only eighteen, he still had a hundred plus years of life but that was forfeit because of whatever was happening around them. She then thought of her brewing hatred for Juries for leaving Ayer to face this for himself, then thought of Vic who’d been there the entire time watching but forced to be silent as part of their agreement and fully unable to tell Ayer that she is his sister, completely unable to develop their relationship. A tear raced down her cheek at this entire situation.

  ‘You know I don’t blame you or hate you for any of this right?’ He said cutting through the silence. ‘You had your arm twisted in several different places forcing you to do this. and well. I am a murderer after all, they told me they found the body in the quarry. And nobody wants to have a killer amongst them. You’re doing the right thing even if you are being forced to.’

  That let loose another tear that she tried to keep dammed up. She thought about telling him about Vicaera but fell silent, that seemed like a torturous thing to say to a dead man, that he has family he didn’t even know about, family he could never know.

  -Why not go for gold then. If we are here, why not clear the air. It is the last time we will ever get I guess-

  ‘What happened-’ She couldn’t finish speaking but immediately felt him tense up.

  ‘You’re talking about-’ He tried to add. Just as awkwardly.

  ‘Yep. I just want to clear the air about… Well all of it.’ Kailey’s skin felt as if bugs were crawling underneath, it but she had to continue, she just didn’t know how to explain it or even talk about such a fucked-up scenario of events that should have never been put into motion. ‘We had sex when you were really young. You were thirteen and I was seventeen.’

  ‘Yes.’ Is all he could add unsurprisingly.

  ‘And since then, I have always been incredibly anxious whenever you’ve been around, or your name is mentioned.’ The admission felt like a weight was starting to lift. ‘It wasn’t anything you did just to clarify as well. I feel that way because of everything that led up to it.’

  ‘I did notice. Whenever you’d come around with Sil after that you always acted weird, you would go straight to her room and outright refuse to speak. I done something wrong though, I’m sure.’ Ayer explained showing how little he knew of what was happening at that time as well.

  ‘Definitely not. You were just a dumb kid who only recently discovered masturbation. It was nothing to do with you and more to do with everything around you.’ Think about it hurt, she pushed through omitting anything that was directly linked to it however. ‘I felt bad about sleeping with you because at that time I was questioning if I was straight, I knew I wasn’t but Sil always had a way of bending people to her will so she made me consider differently so many times, and one night she tells me I should seduce you so I can know for sure… So, me knowing that I was gay seduced an underage kid because someone else told me to do it.’

  Now it felt as if a weight had been lifted off her.

  ‘The fucking Bradshaw’s!’ Ayer cursed seemingly having a mental link to her mind. ‘Sil tends to bend people to whatever she wants. A favorite saying of theirs was Sil is the brains, Juries is the brawn.’

  ‘A well-known fact around the area as well. And for whatever thing follows them around I am sorry that you have been hit by it now as well. Out of all of them you didn’t deserve this.’ Kailey fought hard to keep any more tears from falling.

  *

  She stuck around for thirty minutes of silence once their conversation died, some form of company on his last night. And now driving back towards the school something he said caught on her mind as he ominously warned about that red plant saying that there was something wrong with it, pointing to the “childings” as he called them and a suggestion that it might be able to more.

  Parking in a free space she produced a cigarette, smoking whilst leaning on the car trying to get the baggage from the day to leave her system, her eyes lifting heaven-ward to see the stars far beyond, yet closer to home seeing the shattered debris field that had been their original moon.

  ‘When does this shit end!’ She asked of the Angelyn, the Don’s believed they were aspects of the Cosmic Soul who directly delivered the wisdom of the universe but painfully they were silent towards her. ‘Fuck you then, I’ll deal with this shit myself!’

  For obvious reasons he couldn’t sleep. Laying there with a single pillow a linen that Kailey demanded for him Ayer was left petrified, eagerly awaiting his death but also scared of it as the contradiction puzzled his mind. The sharp breeze through the stimy cellblocks another contradiction.

  Further exacerbating the issue was the dullard police officer Warwick Karl, one of Braden and Adrians friends who remained drowsily alert refusing to turn the lights off even when the Thrall tried to turn them off. Not that it stopped him as he was curled up in a nook near the entrance snoring as the jock sat at Ayer’s cage.

  With an exasperated sigh he could at least agree that he was okay with death. At least he done what he could and above all that he aired the truth.

  The dullard didn’t seem to enjoy it though as he smashed the bars aggressively. ‘Keep it down halfie!’

  Surprised Ayer opened his eyes to quizzically look over the jock who himself was half Native by the metallic of his skin with a tinge of Polar-Kin pales. The thickened figure that was perfect for brute-force sports which he only indulged in being made for one specific purpose and perfectly excited for it. Yet for Warwick to call him a “Halfie” derogatorily when he himself was one was a new level of cognitive dissonance that Ayer could not comprehend.

  A squeal of the entrance echoed leading the dumb jock to ask. ‘Wheeler you’re an hour early. Your meant to take over at three in the morning.’

  No response was given until the Thrall guard spoke, his voice surprised and panicked. ‘-What-’

  Followed by a loud thunk which lead to further noises as the obvious falling of a chair and the accompanying person on the chair smashing into the ground. Now the jock was fully alert, his shoulders squared and the bat in hand came to a ready pose as he glared at the obscured entrance way. Ayer himself came up in the bed unsure if Braden was making a move now for an early execution and probably the way he originally wanted it with Ayer hanging from the Radiant Tree.

  Rushing out a figure blurred forward, hunched with a low centre of gravity and colliding with the dumb jock smacking him into the iron bars and racketing the man with multiple punches aimed directly at the head in such a quick succession that few people would have been able to block in time, Warwick swallowing those blows one after another until he was finally down. The pale-ginger figure of Boulder revealed himself.

  ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ Ayer queried even more surprised by the turn of events unsure what was happening.

  He was quick to action rushing to the jock and checking his pockets as if he was a practised hand at it. ‘What does it look like. I’m here to free you.’

  ‘What?’ The notion confused him, and the mechanism was even more curious. ‘Why Boulder? Don’t risk it.’

  ‘I’m already risking it, and I don’t intend to let them kill you for something that’s not your fault. You defended yourself against someone who wished to subjugate you, that is something every True Thrall should be able to see and should hate.’ Boulder pointed remarked, committed in his belief as he produced the cell keys.

  -Isn’t death what I deserve though. What I did to Adrian-

  ‘Don’t man. You are safe here. If you let me go, I have to run and they will start to ask questions which puts you in danger. There is nothing you can gain from this!’ Ayer debated, trying to talk the man out of saving him.

  ‘I’m not looking to gain anything. Ayer, I like you, you’re a good person… Sometimes. And all this shit is wrong. So, fuck them and fuck you trying to talk me out of freeing you. I don’t plan to free you and send you on your way, we are getting out of here together.’ Boulder said producing a set of older car keys. ‘I’ve got a manual car that I know you can drive and slashed the tires of the rest so they can’t pursue straight away.’

  ‘But… Fuck…’ He wanted to cry. This was more than he would have ever expected anyone to do for him, this was more than even his own family, his own brother done for him. ‘Where the fuck will we go?’

  ‘I’m a lot more focused on getting out of here first. I snuck in but these two will be found so we need to be gone now!’ Boulder pointed out.

  ‘Your right.’ The door opened with a clamour leaving them both hoping that nobody beyond heard, as his body refused to move and the deep thought of where the best destination to go would be as Braden would scour the Hollis Basin for his head.

  ‘What the fuck are you doing Ayer. Let’s get moving.’ Boulder demanded, urgency influencing every one of his actions as he frantically wanted to get moving. ‘This isn’t something to debate for fuck sakes. You made your speech about being okay with death and all that shit yes… But when the Cosmic Soul presents a situation to escape death you fucking take it! Especially in this case!’

  This was a moment of synchronicity that many of the Enlightenment Paths spoke about, he’d done what was needed and now this was his gift, nodding his head and ascending and waddling out of the jailcell ready to embrace a new life with the mass of pains racketing all parts of his body.

  Leaving, the two snuck through the stark features of the police station, the cold brick walls and laminate flooring vocalizing every possible sound it could making their escape slow especially as the dull silence from the rest of building only added to their terror, finally reaching the doors where they had to sneak past two sleeping guards and out into the chilly winds announcing the change into a whole new season.

  Breaking into a running gallop Ayer keep pace with Boulder so he could finally say. ‘I have a direction to go that they won’t be able to follow! But first we need to stop by Juries. I need to get something that is mine.’