Blanks and broken hearts

Ariadne's Thunder

Cassandra and Elizabeth Lee, two newlyweds, like many people, have things they don't really want publicised. And with their livelihoods, it's not necessarily easy to keep things quiet. Honestly, they want to escape. So they do, almost straight after the wedding, to the quiet mountain town of Fulgur Pines. But they may just learn that not everything is what it seems.

What is Fear? That is the only thing that springs to mind when I think of my first week in Fulgur Pines, and not just because of the prospect of having to meet some of my greatest friends all over again. No, Fear is still something I try to define on a daily basis. I try to rationalise the idea of it in my head, reconcile it with all of the other emotions running through my brain.

Perhaps Fear is the inability, or the refusal to adjust to a new situation. When I first ripped in between the mountains that guard Fulgur Pines on my beat-up Harley, I will admit to feeling familiar twinges of unease in my stomach. Not quite the tsunami that is Fear, but a choppy day on the coast, perhaps.

I had always been a city girl at heart, with a childhood of running through the streets of Italy, my mother running after me as I waved to my friends and raced to the panetteria with her hot on my heels. I grew up eventually, moving to Paris in my early teens to pursue my father's job, and, when I had kickstarted a career of my own, moving to New York, where I met Liz, the love of my life, and so on and so forth. I got married at twenty seven, and maybe that was where my problems began. As a journalist slash author of a fairly high degree, it was definitely difficult to keep my private life away from the public. So I decided to jack it all in and move somewhere I couldn't be followed. Luckily enough, Liz was facing much the same issue in her line of work, especially with the increased use of the Internet, and we moved together.

Fulgur Pines is a difficult place to even reach, considering the mountains that close it off from the rest of the continent, and the ocean on the other side. There is only one road leading to it, and the port is well sealed off. It would be reasonably awkward to evacuate if the time ever came, but fortunately it never has. Aside from the location, you also have to be able to make it through the gates that surround the town, which requires the ownership of a key, and, if you forget your key, a code, which changes unexpectedly. Even once you have made it through the gates, the experience you face next could be compared to that of torture. Everyone in this town knows each other. Literally everyone talks to each other. They know most of the little details about each other, hardly anyone leaves for any reason, and integrating yourself into that kind of society is the seventh circle of hell. And unfortunately for me, I had to drive through it on my first day, to get to our new house - on the complete opposite side of town to the road in.

As I reached the gates for the first time, I subconsciously put a hand up to my hair to push it back - or tried to, before being met by the barrier that was my motorcycle helmet. Instead I bit my lip and leaned over the handlebars to tap in the code, as my key was stuck somewhere in my backpack and awkwardly out of reach. The gates swung open to a view of the town from a slightly higher vantage point. It seemed to be built around an ancient clock tower and branched out in a series of intertwining streets with both traditional and modern styles of building sprawling along them. Through the thick forest surrounding the main town were glints of lakes, all seemingly fed by the multiple lightning strike waterfalls cascading down cliffs. Tucked into a nook between two mountains was a sunken part of the forest, and even a crater that looked to be bare. I took a deep breath and started to drive into town.

The first road was long and straight, with only one breach off to the left, which led up to an enormous mansion. As I reached the town centre I began to see more and more people walking around, especially in the main square. I pulled up beside a bike stand and locked it up before pulling off my helmet. First thing to do was find a shop. I stopped in front of a couple in maybe Victorian era clothes who were huddled together under a parasol. They seemed polite, so I wagered it was worth a shot.

"Hi, I'm sorry but I've only just got here, could you point me towards the general store?"

"Only just got here? Then you must be... I want to say... Claire?"

"Cassandra. Close enough, and you are?" I pulled off one of my gloves and held out my hand for him to shake.

He shook it gingerly before replying. "Cypelus Leichmann. This is my wife, Helena, and if you just follow Hemlock Avenue, that road there," he pointed to a road leading off the opposite side of the square, "you should find the store about one hundred metres on. Nice to meet you, Ms Lee,"

I smiled tightly. "And you. I look forward to getting to know you better." I slung my helmet back on to my head and got back on my bike, shooting a quick text to Liz on the way. Outside the square the streets got smaller and more complicated and I thanked my lucky stars the store was so close. Just as I reached the front to park up I had to slam on the brakes before I ran over a kid sat outside on the pavement. I swore into my helmet.

"Kid what on earth d'ya think you're doing? I could've killed you. Christ alive," I paused; it probably wasn't such a good idea to start talking like that to a kid on my first goddamn day in town. "Ahh, I'm sorry kid, my anger gets the best of me sometimes. Y'all alright?"

She fidgeted nervously - on bare feet, I noticed - and pulled on her hair. "Yeah I'm fine. I'm really sorry though. I should be more careful, but everyone in town just sort of knows automatically by now that I'm here every week. I wait here at the same time, you see, because I help Midas out with his shop. Speaking of which, you got the time? Like, precisely?"

A little odd, but hey, I had almost run her over. I could check the time, precisely. "It is three thirteen pm and...fifty-seven seconds exactly. Can I ask why?"

"Because Midas usually shows up at exactly fourteen past and this means that he is late and that is unusual."

"Should I be worried about this guy I've never met or not? And if I am worried about him, do I have to do anything about it, such as stay with you or text his next of kin or something?"

"No, I am absolutely sure that he is fine. In fact, can I hear...yeah, he's coming. You don't need to worry."

I strained my ears but could hear nothing to even remotely suggest that what the kid was saying was true, yet sure enough, just over a minute later, an old pickup truck came roaring round the corner. I grinned down at her and resigned myself to waiting outside just a few seconds later, no matter how cold I was getting. Sadly, it was obvious the guy driving the pickup truck was used to no one being there and he only just managed to slam on the brakes in time to avoid smashing my baby into a few thousand pieces. I crossed my arms. What the hell did the kid see in this guy? A hand stuck out of the window in greeting and I heard the engine die down.

"Hey kid, hey, sorry I'm late but the meeting ran long and Minos was stressing out because Chris and Miya have been skipping school again and I really shouldn't be making up excuses, so sorry. How's life?"

"It's alright I guess. This lady here almost ran me over and you were late, but other than that today was basically the same as any other day. Speaking of," she turned to me, squinting into my face, "I haven't even asked for your name."

I flushed and ran a hand through my hair. "Um...Cassandra. Cassandra Lee. Nice to meet you."

Jesus Christ, no one wants to read this 'cause it sucks, but imma publish it as like a true ending to my life on Wattpad, as I don't want to write here anymore, and have barely even opened the app since last year. This sucks and I have a better "version" of it somewhere, as in, I have a story based around the same town and the same basic concept. Still like the "What is Fear?" idea and might try it more later on, but I doubt if anyone here will ever see it, and definitely not on this platform.

Enjoy your lives, guys, gals and nb pals - Cranberry
Sunday, 25th June, 2017