Godtrust ~ Chp.3

Cian was in two neatly placed pieces. Around him, the trees danced frantically, the clouds kept moving, and the grass swung side to side. The world had failed to notice this loss of a life, this immense tragedy that had befallen the nameless club.

Alice stayed still. She was still on her knees, with her back hunched, but now she stared at the pieces of the boy- the friend- she once called Cian. Her heart was beating in time with the trees and the grass, as if the island had it’s own pulse and her body was learning to mimic it.

The smell of the freshly dead beast was the first to hit her. She pushed herself off the ground with the heels of her hands. She became lightheaded the second she stood upright. The blood rushing to her head kept her heart beating fast, kept her breathing heavy, kept the adrenaline in her veins, but to her this was good, She’d need to confidence.

The bark had peeled from the branches on impact. The beast was slowly sliding down pale-gold spears, leaving black trails in it’s wake. Alice took it upon herself to investigate the corpse. Anything to keep her mind of her massacred friend, and the dark feeling in the back of her mind, on the tip of her tongue, that was saying it was her fault.

She soon became frustrated with her investigation. The beast was heavy and she couldn't summon the strength to slide it back up the branches. After much effort, she found that she couldn't pull the branches out of the ground either.

She collapsed, frustrated and confused. How did the branches get there? she asked herself silently.. She was pondering all the possibilities- how Cian could have thrown the branches, how they could have fallen from a tree at the right time- when she felt a tickling up her back. Certain that it was a bug, she smacked at her lower back until she was sure that it was dead. But then she felt it recoil.

She leaped to her feet immediately. She scanned over the area where she was sitting, hoping to find a snake or something rational, but saw nothing. Just the field of green where she had been sitting. The tide had come up farther since she had last bothered to check on it, and she was ankle deep in sea water.

She pranced out of the water and cursed softly under her breath. The tide kept coming and going, coming and going. Alice was hypnotized by the waves, and daydreamed until the water hit her shoes again. “Ohh fuck off!” she shouted at the water, kicking up a storm with her feet.

The ground underneath her feet rippled. Grass began to shoot up. It formed a wall, and slowly rippled, carrying away the oncoming tide.

****

Cian was alone. He couldn't feel half his body. There was a metallic taste in his mouth, and his ears were ringing non-stop. He opened his eyes, but could see nothing but complete darkness, with two hovering orbs of green light floating overhead.

He couldn't remember where he was, or what he was supposed to be doing.

After a time, he could hear a voice to his left. He turned his head to see who it was, and was suddenly reminded that he was in almost complete darkness. The voice was switching between an assertive and a breathless voice. Cian hated that. He hated people who couldn't keep a handle on themselves.

***

Cian looked so peaceful. His eyes were shut like curtains, and were free from the clenching and releasing that dreaming brings. His lips were a pale pink, and slightly parted. A whispering position. “What’s your secret, Cian?” Alice choked out through harsh breaths. She was sitting with her legs crossed, and cradling his head in her arms. “C’mon. You can tell me. Best friends don’t keep secrets. That’s right. You’re my best friend, Cian. We’re best friends, so you can’t be mad at me, okay?” Little droplets were hitting his face. Alice checked to see if it was raining before she realised she was crying.

She had put him back together rather crudely. Alice had to keep his back between her knees to keep him from falling apart again. The jagged edges of his body said that he had been torn, not sliced. One part of his body was much larger than the other, with one only consisting of a leg and a chunk of his lower body.

“Do you want to hear my secret, Cian.” she choked on her own words. “It’s my fault you died.” she began to cry stronger, but calmed herself so she could add “But we’re best friends, so you you can’t be mad, okay? You remember that promise, right?”

****

Cian had made no such promise. He was still floating in the dark space. Alice’s voice had become clearer over time. He heard her tears, and her blubbering and her promises. but he couldn't find it in him to care. He had searched deep into his roots- into the pit of his stomach but her emotional distress failed to move him. He didn't really feel anything anymore.

“Hello.” a high voice said. The sound seemed to come from nowhere, and everywhere. Cian opened his eyes to see another boy floating over him. “Hello.” he said again.

“Hullo.” Cian responded. He hadn't realised he could talk.

“Do you know where you are?” the boy’s eyes were locked on to his.

“No. I don’t.” the boy said nothing. “Do you know where I am?” Cian said after a while.

“No. I’m not sure where your place is. But it’s close to mine, so I was sent to welcome you.”

“Welcome me to where?”

“You can call it whatever you wish. Heaven, Hell, Jahannam, whatever. Just know that it is a place we go after death.”

Cian sat up and crossed his legs. The boy mimicked his movements, so they were sitting across from each other. “Is God here?” Cian asked. The boy laughed.

“No. There are many Gods, and yes, there is a God that reigns over this world, but God is not here. His job is much different than what most people think he does. I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you anything more about God.” the boy looked to his feet.

“Says who?” Cian looked the boy in the eyes. He was dead, and he knew it. He wanted some answers. He wanted to feel a fire in his stomach, but couldn't.

“God. Well the god of this place. The God of this world, anyway. You’re the God of this place.” the boy gestured around the black space, then pointed up. “See that orb of light up there? That’s my place. I am God there. I control what happens. There is a small, neutral space between my place and yours. Do you understand?”

“Yes. Kind of. So I can do anything I want here?”

“Yes, in theory. But you have to leave soon, so I wouldn't start anything.”

“Why do I have to leave?”

“I’m not allowed say. Living beings aren't allowed know. You’re still alive, Cian. I can’t tell you why, but you no longer breath, and your heart does not beat anymore, but you mind is on the material plane, so you cannot know why. There was an” he paused for a moment “Incident last time. Something to do with a cult. Human emotions can’t handle this kind of stuff.” Cian flinched.

“About that.” he began “Why don’t I feel anything in here? I mean, I want to be sad and angry that I’m dead. I want to be shocked and surprised at all this new information, but I can’t. It’s like someone switched me off with the light-switch. Will it always be like this?”

“No.” the boy responded with a bank face. “Emotions do not exist here, but they can. This is your place. You are a God here. This place is devoid of everything. It is not dark, there is just no light. There is nothing here. Including you. At the moment you are nothing. A force. A concept. It’s your job to create this world from scratch, and do with it as you please. This is how worlds are created, Cian.”

“But I have to go soon?”

“Yes. I have to go, too. I’m the only reason you're still here. Once I leave, you’ll go back to your body. It’ll hurt- be prepared.

“I will.” they both stood up. “What’s your name?” Cian asked.

“They call me Lucy.” the boy said.

“I thought you were a boy?” Cian said, still not able to experience shock.

“I am neither. I am a force, like you.” Lucy disappeared after that. In his place, a little orb of light appeared. It grew and grew until it sucked Cian in whole. He was moving fast through a tunnel, with a small light at the end. It grew and grew until he was spat out into the world. The first thing he saw was the face of a friend named Alice.

***

Hannah had been pulling Poppy along for ten minutes. She was happy that they were on grass, as most of Poppy’s body was being dragged across the ground. Stray sticks and stones were still cutting her, but at least they weren't on a gravel road.

Hannah’s arms were wrapped around one of Poppy’s legs in an awkward way the resembled a pretzel. She had to be careful not to touch her with her hands.

She was still aware of the person. He was following them so softly, so patiently, He would wait until they were away, or Hannah had to stop to move something. He’d then jump from branch to branch anytime she made a noise. If Hannah sighed, there’d be a rustle. If a bird sang, a rustle. But she was always aware.

On the mainland, Hannah’s parents had suffered a massive break in. The things that go bump in the night went bump in the living room, and her mother had gone to check. They were nice enough to call an ambulance, after they were miles away, of course. Unfortunately she could not be saved. ‘There’s nothing we can do.’ the ambulance man had said. From then on, her and her father had to adapt to a panicked life. Nights of worry had made them light sleepers. Fear had taught them to analyze every creak the old house made and decide if it was footsteps or not; Fear had taught her to take every sound that flew by her ear, no matter how small, and risk assess, find patterns. Two creeks in the hall could be foot steps. Ten minutes of branches shaking meant company.

Hannah was getting pissed. She’d passed fear by a long time ago- when the trees that they moved passed started repeating. But she trudged on. Not for her own sake, but for Poppy’s. Every thought that came into Hannah’s mind, every chance of escape, every perfect hiding place was always lost in the haze of sympathy in her mind. She’s just a girl! she thought. She’s been passed out the entire time. I’d have a hope of getting back, but not her. She doesn't know the turns we took. Every step was for Poppy.

But the steps were getting slower. Hannah knew it, the pursuer knew it. So she did the only sensible thing she could think of. She stopped, and took a big yawn. She heard a rustle, a small distance away. Another yawn, another rustle, this time closer. Their chaser had become cocky, and Hannah planned to use that to any advantage she could think of. This time, she looked into the sky, half closed her eyes, and fake-coughed. Branches shook overhead.

Not losing a moment, Hannah ran to the trunk of the tree. She slapped her hands on the sides of it and watched.

After a moment, the bark under her fingers changed color. It became darker and softer. The color spread through the trunk within moments. The trunk collapsed loudly. The only sound was branches shaking overhead, then the branches of the next tree shaking, then a loud thud on the other side of it.