Halcyon

Chapter 4

Do you know why it's easier if humans scream?

With the box I can kill people in two ways. Sound and sight.

***

The warm sun bounced across the field making the corn look sentient, living. Next to me sat Jade.

Jade made the world feel brand new, a world I was hidden away from the whole time I was growing up. Always a stream that a dared not jump across because I could see the mud and brambles on the other side, but I knew that in the back of my head that a lush green field sat waiting, a better life sat waiting for me to just blindly leap.

I reached out and tucked a loose hair back behind her ear. Her attention turned to me and I felt a flood of warmth envelop me, a safety rope that held the pieces of me that are falling apart back together. I'm a piece of shattered glass, shot down so many times I get altitude sickness if I try standing up for myself. She is a cure, she fixes the pain and smooths it over, making the evil seem non existent.

Both our heads spin round as a motion comes from the the tall grass behind us. He stands there mockingly, knowing that for this moment in time he has unraveled our little secret and now has the power to manipulate the situation to fit his agenda.

But this time round I can protect Jade.

Time seems to slow as Alex begins to speak, a blue dot appears at his feet and I will for the dots to connect.
I can no longer hear what he's saying but I've heard it all before, I hear it every night in my dreams and every night my hate for the words grow.
But, in every sentence there are words. In every word there are letters. And in each of those letters you make a vibration in which another person can decipher.

This time I'm listening to the vibrations. Reaching out for the feeling of being connected.
I look at Alex, our eyes meet, and so the blue line is created.

Savouring the moment I reach down and run the string through my fingers. Lifting it off the floor slightly, he stumbles forward and coughs.

I take the string in both my hands and hold it. A snap sounds through the field and the life drains out of Alex. Suddenly everything comes alive, plants fight to absorb the spirit, trying to grab the energy that just escaped the body. They know that just that tiny bit of height that they might gain may put them taller than the rest, increasing their survival rate.

***

I coax Jade to stand, tell her to ignore Alex, telling her everything would be ok. We edge forward, painfully taking each step and the shock of what just happened homes in.
"Esme, I want to go home"
Hearing her say my name makes me realise what I've just done, I've never got this far before. Jade has always ended up dead, it's always been my fault. But she's alive and she's stumbling next to me, I'm now telling myself everything is going to be ok.

A scream pierces the air and knowing someone has found Alex too soon I quickly drop to one knee, I place my palm on the soil and feel for the vibration. Grabbing it, I pull up and produce the strings from the ground, I grab the girls' string and snap it.

***

Do you know why it's easier if humans scream?

You don't see the life drain from their faces.