The Sands of Borrowed Time (22 page)

Bright Eyes

“What is that?  It's flipping creeping me out!”  Rhoswen exclaimed anxiously, listening to the deep, eerie drone that was reverberating through the desert basin.

“It's coming from over there, up in those hills,” Riana said, looking across at their dark peaks in the distance, their towering, rocky slopes blending into the black pit sky.

The night was moonless, the nova just below the horizon, its presence known only by its colourful glow, a vibrancy of subtle colours reaching gently upwards into the starry night sky.

Riana felt a flutter; a wisp of bitterly cold air drifted through her hair, across her face and down inside her jumper, causing her to shiver.  Rhoswen tightened her coat around her body as if in agreement with her sister’s shudder.

They looked across at each other and then back towards the hills as the drone came again, this time its presence more pronounced and louder.

“Sky sounds.  It has to be,” Riana uttered through her chattering teeth.

“What?” Rhoswen asked as their warm breaths condensed into streams of rising mist in the cold, motionless air.

“You know, sky sounds.”

“No, what frigging sky sounds?”

“You do know!  People began hearing them just before the star went supernova, strange unknown sounds in the sky, like trumpets, like now, this sound.”

“Really, what caused them?” 

Riana looked across at Rhoswen and raised her arms in the air looking perplexed, “I don’t know.”

“Well, that’s helpful, that doesn’t stop me shitting my pants,” Rhoswen remarked.

The drone got louder, a deafening crescendo, ending suddenly in a raspy punch, it's remnants echoing across the wide valley basin, the girls looking at each other with their startled eyes.  Then it came again, the drone drowning out the previous echoes until its own filled the wide expanse.

“That is no fucking sky sounds,” Rhoswen said worriedly. “That sounds like someone blowing a horn. There’s some fucker out there in front of us.”

“Horns?” Riana said, looking across at Riana, seeing her worried, shivering face.

“For fucks sake!” Rhoswen exclaimed as again the sound rose through the basin, its raspy edge resonating through their chests.  “What is that?  Who are they?  Can you see anything, anybody?”

“No, but they sound close, don’t you think so,” Riana replied in a weak, trembling voice, her body shaking from cold and terror.

“We should go back, back to the bikes,” Rhoswen said, searching her sister’s face for agreement.

“Let’s wait a bit, to see if we can see anything,” Riana insisted, grabbing her sister firmly by the arm, “the bikes aren’t so far.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Maybe Aveline is with them, they’re searching for us, making their presence known.”

“Presence known!  Let’s go back.  I don’t think Aveline would be with any trumpet playing freaks, no way, come on,” Rhoswen insisted, turning, pulling on her sister's arm.  Riana stayed put, staring out into the distance, into the dark recess of the basin and hills, searching for any signs of where the sound was coming from.

“Just darkness and shadows,” she said quietly. “Wait... there… look, over there, out over there by the hills.”  Rhoswen followed Riana’s stare, then her finger as she pointed out towards the hills, to a small flickering flame that danced in the darkness.  The sound groaned out towards them again, louder still.

“This is nuts; they’re coming towards us!” Rhoswen protested, grabbing her sister’s arm again, trying to tug her back towards their bikes.

“Wait,” Riana commanded as she broke away from Rhoswen’s grip, looking intently towards the flame.

“Look, I see them, don’t you see them?” Riana said, her heart beginning to race.

“I don’t want to see them, let’s go,” Rhoswen said as she too saw the figures coming into their view, walking towards them in the distance, her lungs feeling the sharp, cold air as her breathing intensified.  There was a stirring of the air again as the horns wailed a lonely, empty sound through its bleakness, a thin layer of sand scuttling across the desert floor.  The girls watched awestruck as a group of figures walked towards them, each carrying a torch of fire high above them on a pole. Some were blowing on curved, white horns, resembling bone, attached to a wooden frame on the side of a large animal, it's woollen coat unkempt and matted.  The animal was slow and clumsy looking due to its size, twisting its head every so often as a saddled rider on its back pulled tightly on its reigns.

“Look how bright and blue their eyes are,” Rhoswen remarked.

“Not right, can’t be right, that’s not natural,” Riana replied, shaking her head, glancing across to Rhoswen horrified, her sister’s mouth ajar with amazement as she watched their eyes, burning like hot, blue coals, piercing and hypnotic on their hold over her.

“Such sullen faces.  They look so sad,” Rhoswen finally said as she watched their blue eyes blaze within deep sockets above their protruding cheekbones. Their bones were prominent through a thin layer of aged leather skin, aged well beyond their years, their ragged clothes hanging on their emaciated torsos.

“It reminds me of that time in the dead forest, remember?”  Riana said.  “That weird guy, hiding amongst the trees, watching us.”

“Yes!”  Rhoswen replied.  “Dad was right, there are strange folk roaming these parts.”

“Come, they must have seen us, quick, behind this tree,” Riana eagerly whispered, pulling on her sister's jumper, Rhoswen yielding to her sister's demands, this time, following her to a fallen dead tree trunk.  They peered above the trunk and watched as the group slowly came their way, the sounds of the horns now deafening, instilling a feeling of fear and confusion in the girls.  The huge curved horns were pitted with patterns resembling stars and galaxies that were enamelled in a variety of colours, the bone polished to a high grade, reflecting the orange flickering glow of the torches.  Rhoswen held her hand to her nose as the stench from the animal, and the figures became unbearable.

“Reeks like a dead fucking dog,” she whispered.

“Like a rancid fart from a sick person,” Riana whispered back.  Rhoswen couldn’t help but snigger through her fear at Riana’s comment, both continuing to watch them pass by with baited breath.  Their bare feet and hands looked charred, their clothes, old and worn.  They walked by without expression, neither saying or looking at any of the others, marching onwards like zombies through the darkness, the only signs of life, their frail rib cages rising and falling with their sickening watery breaths like their lungs were filled with mucous.

“Not my type,” Rhoswen quietly remarked, “you can have the lot and do what you like with them.”

“Thanks sister for being so generous, but I’ll pass on that one.”

“Their eyes, look at their fucking eyes, Riana, how fucking weird are they?”  Rhoswen whispered alarmed.  Riana peeked nervously again above the trunk as the last one passed by, trying to get a glimpse of those piercing blue eyes.

The last one suddenly stopped, turning his head quickly towards Riana, staring intently into her eyes as a hiss of breath streamed from his chapped, dark red lips.  Riana felt locked and overwhelmed as the figure continued to stare at her, his blue eyes as bright as day, sparkling with vitality and power.  She was frozen, unable to move and petrified, not knowing what it would do next.  Rhoswen looked on in horror, trying to shake Riana out of his hold over her, crying for her to look away as the rest stopped to look back at what was going on.  There was a brief moment of silence before one waved his hand, calling the last one to re-join them.  Finally, with a blasting drone of the horns, the straggler looked away from Riana and returned to the group, all resuming their journey onwards to the North, seemingly unconcerned.

Riana fell exhausted to the ground, “What the fuck in hell was that all about,” she said between deep breaths, looking up at her sister's concerned face.

“Don’t know, I really don’t know,” Rhoswen replied, taking her sister's hand and holding it between her palms, gently rubbing it.

“It was like I was somewhere else, and with him, that thing,” Riana said between bursts of tears.  “I feel like my mind has been broken into, searched and ransacked, like it stole something from me, that’s the best way I can explain it,” Riana said, before finally breaking down into a full stream of fitful tears.

“It felt horrible, like I was being violated, like there’s an emptiness left,” she continued, sobbing.

“Ok, ok, they're gone now,” Rhoswen softly replied as she watched them
disappear from view.  “The freak show is over, and they’re leaving town.”  Riana gave a laugh between her sobs as Rhoswen pulled her back to her feet, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“We should be grateful that Aveline wasn’t with us, you know how she likes to chat to strangers,” Rhoswen remarked, looking back north again.

“Come on, let's get back to the bikes and see if we can find her,” she continued, smiling at Riana.

Boy at the Roadside

Skylar stirred sleepily on the desert floor as a bright flash darted through her right eye, a white brilliant streak exploding on the retina of her closed eye.  It was the concluding journey of a cosmic ray that had travelled for eons through the galaxy, through the damaged Earth’s atmosphere to wake Skylar from her uncomfortable slumber.  She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at the morning sky.  There was no blue today.  Instead, to greet her day were swirling colours of green, purple, and red; an intense aurora lighting up the dawn atmosphere.  Skylar felt a shiver of awe as she lay below the captivating light show, her worries temporary fading away.

From now on it’s off road for you,
Skylar thought. 
No more encounters with strange men on bikes
!  Her mind was agitated, and she was finding it difficult to sleep.  She stared upwards into the Aurora, wondering what to do; continue north, or bum around the desert waiting for something good to happen, a miracle perhaps.   She had to go north she thought. 
If I go north, I die trying.  If I stay, I die anyway.  Better to die trying!
   A strange, deep wail disturbed Skylar’s thoughts.  She thought she heard it earlier, but this time, it was more distinct, a long drone echoing across the plains.  It sounded familiar, perhaps a horn, but it was so haunting, like the spectre of death himself.  It came from over the horizon and despite its ominous overtones, it had an enchanting lure to it.  Then it stopped, the echoes getting fainter and fainter, leaving an uncomfortable feeling of emptiness; the void of silence.  The deep wail troubled her.  She had never heard anything like it before. The bandits had their parties with relentless, hypnotic drumming and their troubled screams, but this, the horns with their haunting drones was something different.  She had never heard such sounds before and was sure they couldn't have been made by the bandits.

“There’s life out there, but not as we know it,” she giggled to herself.

She watched the Sun as it rose, it’s heat feeling good after the cold night air.  Her muddled mind quickly awoke in its warming rays, despite her troubled night, and she felt ready to drive north again on her faithful steel horse.  It was still early, the air only beginning to stir, the Sun rising on her left and the supernova setting to her right.  Above was the colourful aurora.  Behind her was death and ahead of her was life.

Even to be alive for a moment, especially like this one,
she thought,
was a blessing
.  She rose up, wiping the sand from her dress and scratched legs.  She took a sip of water and ate some tinned ham as the dawn rays battled to shine through the dazzling light display.  She could see the snowy hills in the distance, rippling with hues of red, purple, and green from the pulsating glows above.  She felt the pull of the hills on her spirit. 

No time to lose,
she thought, and kick-started her V-Rod into life, its deafening growl breaking the dawn silence as she slid back onto the road northbound.  The air was clear to the north but in her mirrors, towards the south, she could see the dust and sand begin to rise, swallowing up the road and everything in its path.  An approaching valley opened up as she cut through the clear cold morning air, the green of the grassy slopes becoming richer as the fast melting snow trickled between its blades.  The air in her lungs felt alive, vibrant, and invigorating.  The scene before her was intoxicating; her dulled senses coming alive again, hope returning to her withered soul. 

Was that a face?
she thought.
Was that a face flashing past in the corner of my eyes, by the side of the road; a tired, tormented face?
  She slowed the bike, searching dumbfounded in her mirrors. 
Is that a hunched figure, sitting by the side of the road?
  She braked heavily, almost to a stop, turning the bike around, cautiously approaching the small huddled figure.  It was a boy, a small boy sitting there motionlessly, staring out with wide-open eyes.  He seemed not to notice Skylar slowly approaching.  She stopped by his side and looked down at him.  His face flicked into focus as he saw her radiant, green eyes shining down on him. 

“Are you an angel?” he asked, looking disorientated.  Skylar smiled.  “Am I dead?  This doesn’t feel real,” the boy continued, looking agitated.  “Where are Callee and Laren, have they gone on ahead?  Are you taking me there, to show me the way?  I got lost, separated.  I didn’t mean to leave them; will that go against me?  There was nothing I could do.  I tried by best, really I did.  I was so tired.”  Skylar got off her bike.

“You think angels have V-Rods instead of wings?”  Skylar said with a smile.

“Guess not, but who knows, you have to keep up with the times, the technology, blend in and all that, even in heaven, be a force to be reckoned with.”

“I’m sure the forces of heaven transcend technology,” Skylar said, gently rubbing the boys head.

“Maybe,” the boy simply said, staring ahead, his eyes looking glazed and distant. “I don’t feel anything anymore, you know, my body, like its numb, unfeeling,” the boy continued, his sullen eyes brightening a little.  “You’re not on the other team, are you?  I don’t understand why I left them there.  I really can’t say.”

“On the other team
?”
  Skylar asked, knowing what he meant.  “I thought the devil wore Prada,” she resumed, giving the boy some water.  “These are just glad rags, the devil in me can wait another day.”   He gladly drank hurriedly, his arms trembling until every last drop was gone.

“That’s cool then.  Just checking, I meant kidding; thought I was dreaming, you know, you just appeared, came from nowhere, like a bolt from the blue.  It’s your eyes; they seem too alive, too real, everyone else looking so dull, so lifeless, so void of humanity.”  Skylar appreciated the compliment, thinking the boy sweet, if a little demented, who wasn’t anymore?  The boy continued speaking, slowly and quietly.  “I saw it in her eyes; those eyes, those tired, lifeless eyes, like death had taken her, like she was dead before she was actually, really gone.  She gave up.  She died because she gave up.  She had no hope left.  Her body was alive, but the mind had long gone.”  Skylar looked on sadly as the boy spoke until he finished with his last doomed, unfulfilled wish.  “We only needed one more day, one more day, and we would all have hoped again. Laren and Callee would have had life back in their eyes, so they would sparkle again, like yours.”  The boy closed his eyes for a few seconds, mentally exhausted before looking up again at Skylar, seeing her sadness for him.

“You’re alone?” the boy asked.  “You have lost to?”

“Alone, yes,” she replied, “I lost my parents, my sisters, lost my friends and long before they lost hope.”

“Really?” the boy asked curiously.  “What do you mean?”

“Well, they were taken quickly by the supernova or by bandits.  Unpleasant surprises if you like.”  The boy looked down towards the ground.

“Aren’t we the lucky ones then to shoulder the burden.”

“Because we are the strong ones, to carry life onwards to a new era,” Skylar said, lifting up the boy’s chin so that she could see into his eyes.  She smiled.  He smiled back.

“Yes, I really hope so,” the boy replied.  “I’m Jeff by the way.  So, where are you going?”

“Skylar,” she said.  They shook hands.  “Good question.  I have absolutely no idea,” she continued, looking north towards the snowy hills.

“I wouldn’t go there,” Jeff suddenly said, looking alarmed.  “I just came from there!”

“Why?” she asked surprised.  Jeff looked at her as if he was too embarrassed to say.  He didn’t know how to explain it without sounding like a crank, but there was no other way, he thought. 

May as well just come out with it.

“Well, and I don't blame you for thinking me strange,” he began.  “There are people in those hills, hiding from us, locked away from sight behind big, steel doors.”

“What?” Skylar replied.  She frowned with surprise.

“In the hills, there are caves with strange unearthly birds that watch and follow you and big doors that they all hide behind.”

“Ethereal birds?  Who's hiding?”  Jeff looked to the floor, his face flustered. 

He shrugged, “I don't know, but they took Tawny and Dawlis, my friends.  They can't be nice.”  Skylar looked to the hills for a while, contemplating what the boy had just said.  He’s just a boy, she thought, who’s been through a lot. 

Girls dying in the desert and now these other two.  Maybe he’s delirious?
She put her hand on his forehead, feeling it's warmth, beads of sweat dampening her skin.

“Like I said, I don't blame you for not believing me, who would, but that's what happened.”

“Maybe we can go there, and you can show me?”

“No, you can go if you like, but I will take my chances elsewhere.”  Jeff stood up as if to walk away.  Skylar put her hand on his chest.

“Wait,” Skylar said, “I believe you.  Hang around for a bit and tell me more.” 

Jeff shrugged, “There’s no more to tell, and I’m not making it up, or some washed up nut.  There's something going on in those hills.  What, I don't know, or want to know?”  A shadow crossed their paths, and they both looked up as dark, rolling clouds blocked out the Sun’s rays.  A breeze buffeted across their faces cooling their sweat.

“It looks like it's going to be a vicious one,” Skylar said.  Jeff nodded as if he was past caring.

Andy, what did Andy know about the north that he wasn’t willing to tell her?

“
And the bird wasn't real,” Jeff suddenly said.  “It was like a ghost!” 

Skylar put her hands on his shoulders, bending down to look him in the eye, “I believe you,” she said in a soft voice. 
Maybe he's right, those creepy drones earlier, they didn't sound real.

A flash of lightning flickered brightly across the sky, followed by a thunderous explosion that boomed across the desert.

“I think that's our cue to move on,” Skylar said.  “Come!” she beckoned.  “Jump on,” she continued as she got on her bike.  Jeff followed as a keen southerly wind began to brew, urging them north.  Jeff got on the bike, resting his chin on her shoulders.

North is the only way to go,
he thought.