Embers & Ice

Chapter Three

The dancing streaks of blue light through the water had drawn Hunter into a trance. She lost track of time sitting on the damp wooden stool in front of the giant glass tank, watching the dolphins circle each other and listening to their clicking sounds. A door not far behind swung open and Tom, the manager of the aquarium, limped up to her and sat down, his fingers clamped around a dirty mop.

“I’m sorry Lass, I’m gonna have to ask you to leave,” he grumbled in a thick Scottish accent.

Hunter didn’t respond at first. She was rubbing her fingers together, her mind still deep in a place she couldn’t escape from. Watching the sea animals twirl together in the water was just about the only place Hunter could find peace and almost forget…

“Hunter?” Tom nudged her and she sucked in a gasp.

“Sorry, Tom, I wasn’t… I’ll go.”

Tom readjusted his knit cap and pursed his lips. “You can use the back door, I’ve already shut up the garage. And we’re closed tomorrow for the holiday, so...” He walked off to fetch a bucket.

Shoving her hands deep into her pockets, Hunter smiled once more at Rose and Halle. Hunter spent a lot of time wishing she could swap lives with Rose, so that the only person she needed was her mother, always by her side. She would give anything to have a mother, even just to tell her that everything would be okay. That she wasn’t alone.

Hunter headed out into the warm, summer weather and felt nothing but a slight breeze as she walked to the subway. New York was beginning to darken, telling Hunter it must be later than she thought. The subway was crowded with men and women returning home from work, with their faces pressed into books or their eyes wandering. Hunter sat beside a woman chewing gum as though she were trying to exercise every muscle in her jaw. It didn’t bother Hunter though. Nothing did.

A strong, sticky blast of wind picked up when Hunter left the station and hurried down Collins Street to the fourth apartment building. She was far south in Manhattan, a neighborhood she was only familiar with because of the Chinese restaurant she no longer worked at.

After punching in the code and jogging up the flight of stairs onto the first floor, Hunter fished out her key and unlocked the apartment. Inside, she could smell fried chicken. The television was playing an early episode of 90210.

“Hey!” called someone from the kitchen and Alex Dempsey peered around the corner, her mouth stuffed with carrot and her blond hair tied up at the nape of her neck like a stumpy tuft of grass. “Did you pick up milk Hunter? And also, we’re out of smokes.”

Hunter dumped her bag by the door and collapsed on the beat-up sofa. “So?”

Alex threw down her spatula and leaned over the bench separating the kitchen from the living room. Hunter rolled her head to the side and met the same frowning face that had been staring at her for weeks now.

“It’s your responsibility to get the cigs, Hunter, since that’s all you consume these days. And milk. I told you this morning.”

“Yeah. I forgot.”

“Babe,” Alex began in a soft tone that always alerted Hunter to another one of her friend’s ‘I think it’s time you picked yourself up’ speeches. “I know you’re hurting, but-”

“Please don’t lecture me for the billionth time. I’ve had a rough day.”

“Oh please, you had a rough day?” Alex started. Hunter rolled her eyes and walked to her bedroom, but Alex followed her anyway. “Kin screamed at me more times than humanly possible and I had to work an extra hour because Ash went home sick. Then, I coughed up rent for the month because you were out watching fishes swim around in their tanks and not making a living. Hunter-” She threw out her arm against the door frame and stopped Hunter from running back into the living room. “I know what it’s like to lose someone. I don’t have parents either and I broke up with Michelle a few months ago. Now I’m on my own. I’ve been there too.”