HUMAN-LESS

Chapter 14: How to Hurt your own Feelings

Ten days earlier

"This is neither a yes nor a no." Aliza says dramatically while holding a hand to her heart.

I had not thought of that possibility. It is a funny situation. It's kind of like owning multiple fake plants and having them die because you didn't remember to pretend to water them.

"It should end with us. Your devotees surely can clean the mess left behind."

This is a scheme monstrous enough in itself. "A past that will not stay buried must be put in the ground for once." She looks horrified for a moment, obviously unhappy she'd yet to make the offer herself. The doubt and fear on her face gave way to anger.

My eyes settle on a picture of me from when I was about five. In every picture with me, Cerise looked utterly exasperated as if ready to die, or as if she had spent the last hour before the picture was taken fighting with me. But then again, she probably had. I rarely did as I was told.

Nodding, I get up and walk across the room and light a candle. I truly hate kitchen table issues.

"Keep an open mind, and things seem less strange." Aliza advises me.

This house doesn't feel open and spacious. It's a baronial brick-built carbuncle, more like a dank derelict.

"Do you feel guilty?" She asks smiling like a parole officer with kurumba breathing.

I'd rather be spitting blood or disinfect my face with the condemned carpet that has her daughter's blood all over it.

"You are a fate worse than death." She and her team provide a unique and very much illegal service, relocating certain individuals across the ball with brand new identities and lives. Her death will trigger a chain of events with devastating consequences.

"Take the mask off when you speak with me."

Aliza opens the door and stares out at the empty front porch. Halfway down the stairs she hears the rumble of a vehicle.

"Meet me there in 72 hours." Aliza whispers before leaving. She clearly does not have much respect for those devotees or something to lose.

Aliza cries a few tears, for the good times, and then got on with it. I might have questioned that statement too.

There are no sounds at this early hour of the day, apart from the soft rustle of the leaves in the moving air. I sit silent for a moment looking in the mirror, as I take the pins from my hair. Tragedy has a way of finding people. It's like finding out you've been poisoned.