Phantoms

It was a soft twilight, the evening birds giving way to the chittering insect night life. The sounds one by one changing from their daytime vibrancy to a quieter, more reserved pace. She sat cross-legged under the deepening shade of a tree on the edge of the forest away from the other dwarfers. She hadn’t meditated in a long time and sat down to focus her frayed nerves into something more constructive.

Slowly she breathed deeply, in and out. In. Then out. Her pulse slowed slightly and she found herself drifting into her quiet safe place. Sat beneath a large oak tree in a wide open field. She began to pull apart her thoughts and separate each one from the others. Ordering them, lining them up, and dealing with them one by one. It was therapy she hadn’t done for too long. She was without fear here, hidden away from the pain of the real world. As they faded one by one, she was slowly able to sleep…


*****


“Jade…” She ignored the voice, preferring to sleep and relax after the unnerving tip to the abandoned city. “Jade!” It sounded masculine, stern, familiar in the darkness of the edge of sleep. “Wake up you miserable whore!” He barked. Jade woke up with a jolt, a small shiver of cold fear running through her body with an instinctive curling into a ball. She waited for the blows to come, but none did.

Slowly, she uncurled, and looked around. She was in the trees on the edge of the city again, a smell of ozone and salt water hung about her clothes.

“I’m sure that I…” She looked around in the now deep darkness of the jungle and quailed in fright. The stars twinkled in the gaps in the canopy. Her limbs ran cold, and sweat broke out on her brow, she crawled into the clearer ruins of the city and fell to her back. “Stars.” She focused on the twinkling lights in the sky and recalled the work that Abbey had put into the fibre optic ceiling so that her room was never truly dark.

“Jade!” The voice echoed around the clearing, feminine, soft, worried. “It’s dark. Jade are you ok?” Hot tears stung at her eyes as she recognised Abbey’s voice.

“No… It can’t be.” She breathed. Getting to her knees and looking around in the gloom. A bright full moon was beginning to breach the tree line, casting eerie dancing shadows across the land. A waft of perfume carried on the faintest of breezes made Jade turn and look behind her, almost losing her balance as she clambered to her feet.

“Jade?” Abbey’s voice carried across the night air like a half heard promise.

“Abbey?!” Jade called out into the darkness. “Is that really you?” She started for the tree line, and the direction of the whispering, distant voice.

“Where are you bitch? You made me late again!” His voice carried through as well, menace lined with venom.

“No! I…” Jade hit the deck again, falling to her knees with her hands over her head protectively as a thousand images of making Him late ran through her mind unchecked. The fear crippling when combined with the darkness that seemed to crawl over her, just like the blindfold had been.

“I see you cowering there. Get up.” The shadows danced around, as the moon rose in the sky, and the wind picked up. A silent visitor making the trees whisper, point and laugh at the trembling frightened woman in their sights.

“Yes Tony…” She crawled to her feet, trembling in the silver tinted darkness and focused intently on the ground as she approached the tree line.

“Mind your manners bitch. You don’t deserve to use my name.” He snarled, knocking her to the ground with an arm as strong as a tree branch. She felt blood pool in her mouth and her jaw ached fiercely, ignoring the pain she scrambled forwards and threw herself at his feet.

“Yes Sir. Sorry Sir.” She gasped, as she lay prostrate. “You’re dead… You’re dead… You can’t be real…” She mumbled to herself, as she clasped her arms around his legs and kissed his boots, her lips grazing on the tough material.

“That’s right. Good girl.” The phantom voice said, imaginary shadows caressing her hair.

“Yes sir.” She whispered. On the periphery of her hearing she heard voices and sounds through the trees.

“Quiet now. You wouldn’t want them to find you like this would you?” He purred, gripping her hair and yanking her upright close to his mouth.

She froze to the spot, barely breathing in the darkness.

“She’s not good with the dark. You know that. She wouldn’t have wandered this far.” Came the grumbling voice of Molly

“How are we supposed to find her or that kid of Artemis’ in this undergrowth. Something that small could hide anywhere!” Herbie complained back to the sound of knife through thick under brush. Jade stiffened as the light from their torches glittered like ghost lights in the undergrowth.

“Stay where you are.” Tony growled, loud enough that they should have heard. “Stay still. Stay quiet. Or I’ll make you regret it so fucking much it’ll make that hospital visit look like a walk in the fucking park.” He cuffed her around the shoulders sending her to the floor, alarming a small flock of creatures that scurried away.

“Shh! What was that!” Molly hissed, as the bushes rustled around them. Oblivious to the shadowy phantom voices in Jade’s mind. Jade’s mind rallied briefly at the sound of her work colleagues, Tony Vittel was dead, 3,000,000 odd years ago, just like everyone else. This was not real, all she needed to do was stand up and…

His boot cracked into the back of her skull, slamming her face into the dirt as one of the creatures made an odd barking chirrup. Leaf litter mixed with soil and blood assaulted her taste buds as he boot pressed her face into the floor. Memories of him pressing her into the carpet drifted past and she shut her eyes and gave up thoughts of getting away, lest she anger him more. He stopped. Every time, he stopped. He would stop this time as well, she just needed to be punished.

“Nothing, just the local wild life.” Herbie said, as several of the fluffy, eye-stalked creatures circled them and skittered away. They passed onwards, unaware of Jade so close by.

“Good. Now follow me whore.” Tony hissed, hauling her to her feet by her neck. She felt the air escaping her lungs, unable to gain new oxygen, she drifted, faded away into her safe place as the darkness set in around her.


*****

“Jesus Christ. There you are!” Jade woke up with a start, slamming her head into the underside of the engine housing of the starbug as she sat up in shock. “Aw, shit sorry.” Cass mumbled, helping a dazed Jade out from under the bug. Jade looked at the slim, dark haired figure in front of her, concerned eyes scanning over her body.

“I saw him Abs. I thought I was safe… He can’t be here…” Jade said, falling into a very confused Cass’ arms and burying her face into her neck and beginning to sob.