Desire & Blood - The Thorne Siblings

18. Jogging

Thierry's face was pale and bloodless, composed of levels of gray, eyes more steel than blue. He opened his mouth to say something when his head morphed into a woman's, with the same dark hair, but longer, and with the same steely eyes. Theresa.

Then the face changed back again, and forth, and back.

Trapped and helpless under the siblings' bland stares, I lashed out against them, intent to slash their uncaring faces, to see red blood on gray skin.

Pain struck my hand, and I opened my eyes to the murky morning light of my bedroom.

A dream.

And I had smashed my hand against the wall beside my bed.

Rubbing my hurting fingers, I read the alarm clock. 6:15. A quarter past six—my usual time to get up.

But today, I could just stay in bed—no one would care.

Don't get up until noon. My mother loved that. More often than not, she spent whole mornings in her bedroom, drowsing, eating, and watching TV.

But I wasn't her. I would never be her.

I got up and prepared breakfast—muesli and yogurt. Eating, I kept checking the clock on the wall, like every morning, yet now the progress of its hands lacked meaning. I didn't have to catch a bus.

Later, I paced the two rooms of my apartment—the living room with its kitchen and the small bedroom, folding up laundry in one of them and stowing it away in the other. When that was done, I settled on my sofa, and I brought up the newspaper on my laptop.

The news on the screen vied for my attention. Another government scandal involving a government official and a pretty, young party member. The national debt was higher than ever, closing in on 20 trillion dollars. A deaf black man had been shot by the police because he wouldn't listen. A blond actress was thrilled to be expecting her first child.

Nothing of this had the power to keep my mind from the job I had lost.

The forecast predicted clouds and rainy spells in the afternoon. I'd get wet on my way to the job center.

The joke of the day: 70% of our planet is covered by water. The rest is covered by idiots. I was one of them.

The riddle of the day: What kind of room has no windows and no doors but might make you hallucinate? My bedroom if I kicked down the door, smashed the windows, and took a nap to dream of slashing the Thornes' faces.

I huffed. I should be in TCorp's pool now, swimming. Then I should go to the office. I had no business sitting on this sofa at 8 a.m. reading stupid jokes and unanswerable riddles.

But then, I had no business at all. I was out of work. Useless.

I decided to go jogging.

~~~

The beachside was almost deserted at this time of the day, the only other people joggers, like me. Were they all unemployed?

Unemployed. What a word. It reeked of poverty, ruin, and uselessness. It reminded me of home, of my mom.

At least, I wouldn't run into her. She liked the beach, but it was too early for her to be up and out.

A cool breeze came in from the sea, making me run faster. My feet hit the wooden boards of the beach walk, drumming a regular beat. The restaurants, bars, and food stalls I passed were closed, shuttered up. They wouldn't open until noon.

Had the Thorne siblings tricked me? Set up a trap for me? Was amateurish Theresa nothing but an agent to make me spill company secrets?

Was Thomas Thorne involved, too? No, the father was the only one of them who seemed genuine, trustworthy.