Natalie

Chapter 9

"Look I know it's a sensitive sub-"

"No Ashton! I specifically asked you not to bother me with my institutionalised uncle's work, then you do exactly that! And then throw my dead father into the mix! A subject that is uncomfortable in any situation with all of my closest relatives; including my mother!"

Ashton had caught up with me after class to apologise, even as I practically tried running away from him. Hating to discuss what I knew he would love to.

We were on the crowded lawn, my rising volume turning heads.

"Please just let me explain?" he kept his voice down, trying his best not make a scene but I cancelled out his efforts.

"No!" I shouted before storming off. I hoped for Ashton's sake he wouldn't follow.

Ashton's POV

I knew I crossed the line. Sometimes I forget to think before speaking. I knew she hated speaking about him because her mother always said he was the one who convinced her to have a child in the first place, and then was taken away so soon after the news he was going to be a father.

She had once told me she thought of herself as an anti-climax to a bad joke.

She thought so little of herself just from the simple fact that she never knew her father like most girls did.

But I wish she would just listen to me. I found myself walking towards my car with the idea of going back to the Ira house. I still had the key, I doubted Natalie would want it back anytime soon anyway.

...

My stomach grumbled as I sat in the secondary basement, going through the journal of 1993. I decided to take a break from Dr. Ira's writings and buy some food.

I returned with a bottle of vegemite and a loaf of bread. I spread it over the bread with a spoon I found in my car. I couldn't remember why I had a spoon in the car but it looked clean enough.

I chewed through the next few pages of the journal.

8 July 1993

Valentin has completely lost his mind, he's obsessed with finding Sabine. I keep telling him that he has my sister and that she loves him. But sometimes I think he believes Maia isn't good enough for him, she refuses to give him a child and I don't think he can handle it anymore.

I should have seen his obsession when he joined the Marines, but I didn't think he would be crazy enough to plan on going through the Door.

If he keeps up with this insanity, I'll have to stop everything. For my sister's sake.

I turned the page. Had Natalie's father really been that obsessed with this stuff? Did her mother know he believed just as much as Dr. Ira that the Earth was flat? Better yet, that he was obsessed?

9 July 1993

Maia's pregnant.

Was it intentional?

She looked so happy when she told us. So did he... but I can't help but feel... suspicious.

I'd lost my appetite. I kept reading, my theories from journals of 1994 slowly being confirmed.

23 July 1993

I can't believe it. He used her for a child!

A life for a life...

I skipped page after page. The mentioning of Natalie didn't come up again for two months. While I paged I couldn't help but hope that Dr. Ira was as crazy as they all said him to be. That Natalie's father didn't try conceiving her for the sole purpose of a trade.

What did he mean exactly by "A life for a life"?

19 September 1993

He's gone... I don't know what could possibly have changed his mind... or his plan... but he's gone.

I pray I can find another way to Amitabh, because I can't do this alone.

The Door has claimed yet another soul, and he was family.

The Door?

Who was Sabine?

I needed these questions answered. There were too many journals to go through. I could only think of one place to go.

...

"Hi, I'm here to see Dr. Cornelius Ira?" I felt uncomfortable visiting Natalie's uncle without her knowing. The receptionist looked at me suspiciously but smiled.

"And you are?" She asked, looking at me above her glasses.

"Ashton Irwin, a close friend," I said smiling, trying my best not to look guilty in any way even though that's exactly how I felt.

"Hm..." she said, looking down at her desk, then slid a form onto the counter in front of me, "fill this in then Harold will take you through," she said, gesturing to a man in pure white standing at a wall. Looking sturdy and unfriendly with his hands behind his back like a soldier.

I filled in her form and let Harold lead the way. His shoulders were eye level to me.

"Over there," he said in a robotic voice, pointing to a man in the far corner of the room. I barely recognised him as Uncle Cornelius.

I put on my best smile for Harold as I passed him, he returned it with a look that'd scare puppies into their box.

As I got closer to Dr. Ira, he looked less and less like himself. Blue bags under his eyes, cheek bones slightly protruding and a blank look in his eyes. Not the lively man with a new adventure for you every day.

He sat sullenly with a man and woman that looked no better than him.

"Dr. Ira?" I said skeptically. He stared out the window.

"Dr. Ira?" I said a little bit louder.

His head slowly turned towards me, as if moved by an invisible puppeteer. It sent chills down my spine.

It took him a few more seconds to find me even though I was right in front of him. He stared up at me with milky eyes.

My mouth was suddenly dry, my mind emptied of any questions.

"Umm... I..." I struggled for words, "I'm Ashton... Irwin. Natalie's friend," he'd known me for years but I felt the need to remind him. Even with the introduction he seemed lost in his own galaxy.

"I came to see you... about some... to ask you some questions," saying it out loud made me realise the pointlessness of it now.
He was unreachable.

"Amitabh-" he was interrupted by a loud buzzer. The men in white posted against the walls each guided a patient out of the room, signalling end of visiting hours.

"Time's up," it was Harold, gesturing to the door.

I nodded in understanding and made my way to the car.

I didn't get what I wanted, but I got what I needed.

My next question.

Who is Amitabh?