Salvation

Salvation #14

A cool breeze breaks through the hot Australian heat. The cicadas have hushed and listen to the morbid murmur of human life.

People crowd the jagged, worn edges of the road were the tarmac is broken by thick stalks of long grass. Gum trees stretch their branches over them, shading them from the harsh sunlight.

Golden rays manage to break through. They pool on the ground and ooze over Nate's olive skin. Cars have parked badly along the side of the forest.

Gradually people shuffle forward. They huddle at the edge of the bushland. A thick silence ebbs around them. It curls around their bodies and leaks into their ears.

Strangers brush past Nate. Cooper sniffs the ground where the soles of their shoes have slapped against it. Anxiety tightens inside Nate's chest, pressing against his heart.

He watches people spread white lilies over the earth near the rough edge of the bush. Most of them are unfamiliar but some have vague imprints left in Nate's mind.

The thick floral scent swirls around his head, buzzing inside his skull. "Hi," the voice tugs at Nate's memory. He glances over his shoulder at the dark haired girl.

Her feline green eyes are coated in a filmy layer of tears. Red, spidery blood vessels reach for the dark rings of colour. The salty tears have smudged her mascara across her flushed cheeks.

"Hi," Nate mumbles. The girl smoothes her palms over her tattered shorts. The frayed pockets cling to her skin. "We never got an introduction," the girl says, flipping her chocolate brown hair over her shoulder. "I'm Jacquie."

"Nate." They shake hands, making Nate cringe beneath the weight of the burden. The weight of that dark secret concealed in the basement.

"This is more like a memorial," Nate mutters.

"It might as well be. She's probably dead," Jacquie's voice wavers slightly.

"You don't know that," Nate says tightly.

"It's been a week. If the bastard's smart he would of gotten it over and done with already," a poisonous tone seeps into Jacquie's words.

Nate folds his arms across his chest and shifts uncomfortably. He stares out over the crowd. Rick lingers beside a couple, weak with emotion. The man wears a heavy mask of composure while the woman sobs into his shoulder.

Nate recognizes them as Ella's distraught parents. His gaze is cautious as it falters over them.

"I feel sorry for them," Jacquie sniffs, smearing a tear away with the back of her hand. Nate nods, "It's hard."

"It's worse knowing that the son of a bitch is still out there."

A shudder ripples through Nate's body. Cooper whines and shifts his weight from one paw to the other. Guilt sickens Nate and fills his skull, polluting his mind.

"She could still be alive," Nate mumbles. He nudges a jagged clump of tarmac with the side of his foot. The rocks forced to the surface poke through the sole of his sneakers.

"You sound so hopeful," Jacqui sighs. Nate shrugs and watches two strangers light seventeen waxy, white candles. They set them down gently on the edge of the road.

Cooper lies down beside Nate. He rests his head across his feet and stares at the crowd with glassy brown eyes.

Nate draws in a deep breath, "Well you were sounding pretty negative so I thought I should even it out."

"Thanks," Jacquie's words are wrapped in a bitter tone.

Nate's gaze flashes over the small flames glowing even through the blinding daylight. They snap violently in the breeze before dying away. Dark smoke twirls and tangles in the air.