The Cure To All Disease

Chapter 10: Resonance

My hands have never trembled like this before, my hands are sweating enough to form a puddle in our car. My mind can't stay focused on one thing, it's rapidly darting in all directions. The image of the city that can be seen from the window it's nothing but a blur of colors. The deepest part of my stomach feels as though someone is mixing it around, well, more like violently churning it. I have heard of this feeling many times before, on the bridge of excitement and fear.

"So Ambrose, are you excited for your first day of school?" Nika turns around from the passenger's seat to ask me, which startles me because I wasn't prepared for someone to talk to me. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, since you looked so nervous I thought it'd be best for you to talk it off." Of course he can tell how nerve-wracking this is for me.

"I guess, I don't really know exactly what to expect so I think I might also be excited, because I finally don't know what to expect. It's like how I imagine traveling the world to be." I clutch tighter onto my knees with the portentous feeling that this is the beginning of something transforming. I have no idea why though.

"Is that so? Well it's actually pretty normal to become confused with your feelings when you're experiencing something new." Troy adds even though she can't look back right now keeping her eyes on the road. I haven't really thought about what is normal in fact, but for some reason it scares me.

"Thanks Troy." Even though it scared me, the word normal was semi-comforting to hear.

"Mama, why is Amby in the car with us again?" Melokuhle is sitting next to me, something that I nearly forgot about until he chimes in on our conversation making his presence known. Though after quickly assessing his contribution I could conclude that he was not paying attention at all.

"Because this is his first day of school, and remember you're supposed to ask Daddy questions instead whenever Mama is driving." Nika ends up answering in Troy's stead. At this point I'm tired of hearing that, I've been hearing it all morning. Along with a strange and very distinct periodic chime that was followed by a vibration, but no one else seems to hear it.

"Oh yeah, sorry Mama." Melokukle shrinks back a little bit every single time someone talks to him, ever since his birthday party at least. It's strange.

"Am I supposed to pull in this way or that way or that little weird road over there? Gosh, why don't these stupid school parking lots ever make sense? Nika!" Troy cries the moment we encroach upon this building that I have only been in once despite encountering it on my many city walks. I can understand her confusion, it looks more like a messy jumble of cars than an organized parking lot.

"I used the left one when we came down here before." Nika spoke, remaining calm as he always had whenever Troy had thrown the front of the car up into some sort of Euroclydon. He continues to guide her through all the clearly unnecessary and almost comical turns within the complex parking lot.

Now that I think about it again this peculiar noise that seems to invade my near entire headspace and become all I can think about resembles someone. I can't quite grasp exactly how the noise was linked to the image of a familiar face, but the noise reminds me almost of a radar in most aspects. It seems as though this familiar individual is waiting for me at the other end. It was also remnants of the strange device I had discovered on our moving day. Were they somehow connected.

When our car had landed in front of the school I was almost too deep in thought to realize, I imagine that Troy and Nika were both awkwardly awaiting my response before Nika spoke. "Ambrose, your backpack is in the trunk." I was startled as I was pulled out of the morass of thought that I had unintentionally dug myself into.

Now that I have returned to the present and reality (only partially) I find myself barely lugging my body onward, it feels especially heavy right and the echo resonating in my ears has only intensified. "Oh thank you for reminding me." I press the button on the side of my seat and the door slides open. I suppose this was it, the weeks leading up to this moment, it now looks very anticlimactic. Yet it seems that my inner conflict was not properly conveyed by my outside appearance.

"Good luck Ambrose, remember what I told you, and make yourself a nice day!" Troy shouts at me as I walk to the back of the car. Even though whether or not she intended it to, sounded like more of a demand than an actual wish of luck or support.

"Now you'll finally understand why I'm so tired whenever I come home!"Melokuhle added.

"O-okay, bye." For some reason it was so difficult for me to formulate my words. All I can understand is that walking away from my family, despite the immense number of times I've done it before. Feels extremely painful, emotion that can't be swallowed and so my voice is trembling. In fact it's more than just my voice. I realize that as I am attaching my backpack.

"We love you!" Troy adds, sounding more like a demand to accept her love than the reassuring embrace from a family member. At this particular moment I am finding myself wanting to run back to the car, but I'm fighting back the urge as I walk away.

"Love you too." I send those words with a smile back to my entire family. They wave off to me and as I return this gesture, slowly they disappear. I know that in a way I asked for this but I didn't want them to disappear like that. Oh well, there was nothing I could do now.

I somewhat rush towards the door now surrounded by a sea of completely unfamiliar faces. Though I don't know any of them, they drag me along as though I was just another one of them. It's like waking through the city streets that I've grown accustomed to. I've become accustomed to passing by hundreds of people and assuming that their life had meaning and that they thought the same about me. After all there's nothing actually remotely interesting about my life, I'm sure everyone else's was far more vigorous than my effete one.

Being tossed around by the wave of strangers somehow made the recurring noise amplified, Again, and again and again, as I came closer to the door, I somehow wanted to actually pass through it now. It was completely contrary to what I had felt before, but it's real, so palpable. The moment I pass through it's not in a school as I had expected to be, rather a forest with trees that branched out across the sky completely obscuring my view of the sky. Only a crack of light shining through the morass of green.

The sound is now coming from the ominous deep of the uncharted forest, it changed it's tune to a rather alluring sentiment as I want to grasp it between my fingers. Soon enough it all dissipates as another voice mentions my name. He's not a complete stranger as the green melts away. I recognize the face before me, the tour guide but he's smiling.

"Ambrose I'm happy to see you followed through with your parents plans. I don't think I properly introduced myself either." I can't help but to be set aback hoping that he wouldn't touch my neck. "I'm one of the escorts for new students." Yes, this is it, this is the beginning of my story. It's time for me to find out who Ambrose Hernan Lyle actually is.