These Hills Called Home | ONC 2024

[9] Another Story

    Life carried on inside the pub. Through the cracks in its walls, spirit and motion crept back into the room, returning spirit and motion to the frozen scene Gemma had left. People floated between tables, keeping their conversations slower and quieter than they had been during the rush's peak. Iris surveyed Gemma's downcast march to the stairs, yet made no effort to halt her progress. They both knew her mind was too far elsewhere to focus on pub work.

    Behind its protesting front door, the flat lay dormant, unaffected by the energy that bloomed below. A lone lamp stood lit by the entrance, its shallow spring of light splashing in vain against the thick gloom that filled the rooms. Scattered and abandoned, the contents of a green first aid bag spilled across the coffee table, interspersed with scrunched tissues doused with fresh blood. The flowers on the sofa's cushions wilted in the darkness.

    "Nate? Vee?" Gemma called as she walked through the flat, and the ensuing silence cracked against her chest harder than any cannoned insult. With her pulse thumping in her ears, she set foot on the old stairs near the entrance and stopped at the wood's first lamenting snap. Nobody, whether foster parent, friend, or sibling, had ever wanted to see her after her outbursts. Avery and Nathan had no reason to buck that trend. Gemma knew that, and yet she could not stop her legs carrying her upwards.

    While the rooftop lacked cover beyond a small gazebo, its low walls and ample decorations crafted a cosy, calming atmosphere. Vivid green plants flourished in the moon's growing light, their broad leaves unfurling to reveal pockets of sweet perfume from the colourful flowers around them. Stood on a chipped flagstone flanked by two chairs, a round aluminium table held a pair of tall glasses half-filled with rich red liquid. At the far edge of the space, her friends leaned over the wall to survey the town's winding streets.

    "How's it look?" Nathan asked, lifting an ice pack from his wounded eye. "Is my cut still bleeding?"

    "Dude, will you chill out? It stopped ages ago." With an exaggerated groan, Avery swatted her friend's arm and pushed off the wall. "You're gonna have one badass bruise, though. We're so getting a pic together later."

    Nathan let his head hang low. "We're so not," he droned as he slowly shook his head. "I'll hear more than enough from the guys at the farm, thanks."

    The moonlight dazzled across the surface of Avery's wagging phone. "Because it's worth remembering, duh," she said, a teasing note sounding at the end of her voice. "This is baby's first black eye! I could choke up, I'm so proud."

    "And you wonder why I never go to concerts with you."

    An amused sigh fled from Gemma's nostrils, and the pair turned to see her stood in the stairwell doorway. "Hi," she murmured as the door clicked shut behind her. The dry breeze cleaved against her hot face, yet it was the speechless gazes from her friends that pained her most. "Sorry. I'm probably the last person you want to see. I'll go back down."

    "Wait, Gem." Hurrying to the door, Nathan left his ice pack on the table. Dark streams of blood ran rings around his left eye. "You disappeared back there. Are you okay?"

    "I feel like I should be asking you that," Gemma said, her vacant stare refusing to settle on her friend's injury. "It's my fault you have to deal with that big bruise. You were just trying to help."

    With a nervous laugh, Nathan ran his hand over the back of his neck. "I didn't see it coming, that's for sure," he replied. He stepped closer to Gemma and, after a spell of caution, placed his hand on her shoulder. "We were worried about you. Vee was ready to stay out all night hunting if you didn't show up."

    The touch stung Gemma as it had done before, only now the pain wracked her knuckles as well as her heart. She fell forward into his chest, and her legs gave way to signal the collapse of her eyes' floodgates. "I'm so sorry, Nate. You deserve better – you both do," she wept into his shirt, wondering when she last let herself break down like this. "I just...I'm a total mess, that's all."