8

Nick had dropped Marith off at the parking lot that accompanied a recreational lunch area just outside town on his way to visit Gene in the clinic. She had bumped into Jonathan who had arrived mere moments before she had. He helped her with her bags.

“Oh, I can’t wait to abandon the store to travel for over three hours to do stuff that we can easily do right here in Sweet Lake,” Jonathan grunted as they sauntered over to the rest of the group.

Marith snickered at his European logic.

“I mean, what is so different about that cabin?”

“It’s at the shore, is all I know.”

“Great! More water!” He gestured at the lake behind them.

The woods, the village, the lake, they hadn’t calmed or welcomed Marith in the way she had hoped when she had returned to Sweet Lake two weeks prior. The darkness that fell each night was treacherous and filled with a menacing evil.

At this point Marith didn’t know what to do about it, except to stay inside as much as possible, stare out the windows of Nick’s stately mansion into the shadows, looking for sharp and unnatural shapes, worry about everything that was or wasn’t happening and eventually get out her cello.

She had told herself that joining on the trip to the cabin wouldn’t just be to practice her social skills or to bond with the group, but also to get away from Sweet Lake and experience some of the freedoms she had lost.

Under a darkening grey sky, unfolding above them like a blanket, they trotted towards the cars with their baggage.

“Maybe the weather is better at the coast.”

“Yeah, right,” Jonathan snorted, “as if.”

Ignoring the massive banner that announced the upcoming party that was being organized to celebrate the celestial event that had shaped Sweet Lake, Spectre Lake and Sound Lake a very long time ago Marith spotted a member of the group she hadn’t formerly met yet.

Lisa was the most serene human being she had ever laid eyes on. Her fair skin, blonde hair with pastel pink tips and light eyes seemed to glitter and shine even in absent sunshine. She was her own source of light and William looked at her as if she was the only star he ever needed.

Jonathan and Marith came within hearing range and the group seemed to be discussing the technicalities of travelling as a Runner.

“How can it make you travel faster than a satellite, so to speak,” she added hastily after doing some basic math in her head, “and keep you intact at the same time?” Lisa’s melodious and clear voice rang.

“We are physically sturdier than the Mages and the Prophets combined. Also, our first five senses are highly advanced,” Juliette explained, “which makes the reflexes we have developed inhumanly fast.”

“So your clockwork can create a loophole to accelerate you, even beyond superhuman limits,” William stated, “but can it safely speed up a car or any other vehicle?” He wondered.

“Yes, it can,” Juliette answered elated.

“How do you manage to keep it on the road and not make any victims?” Will frowned.

“The reflex arcs in our neural pathways act on impulses before those impulses reach our brain.”

“Every human has those reflex arcs,” Marith interrupted, immediately hoping she wouldn’t come off as a know-it-all as soon as the words had left her lips.

“Theirs are way faster,” Kyle joined the conversation. “They can anticipate on things that are about to happen. In that way their abilities are similar to ours,” he said, referring to the Prophets, “but they can only see the very near future, so their predictions are limited and often only apply to their personal path.”

“We are designed to travel fast and safe in a defensive way. We anticipate on the things that are about to happen on the road we are taking, so we run the information of the Web across in the most efficient mode.”

“Impressive,” Marith had to admit.

“We are travelling with a party of nine spread over two cars. The clockwork is useless today,” Vanessa cut their deliberations off.

“Let’s go, people!” Brad was impatiently hanging out of the driver’s side of a deep blue four-by-four and slapped the side of his truck as he said it. Amber had already taken the passenger’s seat beside him.

The other vehicle, an older black van, was waiting with opened doors further behind Brad’s car. It belonged to Kyle’s mother and he was allowed to drive it if he used it to bring himself and his younger sisters to and from school. After appropriate begging and making promises about filling up the tank again and paying for any damages done – on the interior or exterior - she let him use it for the weekend as well.

After properly introducing themselves to Lisa Jonathan and Marith divided their luggage over the cars and split up. Juliette and Jonathan joined Brad and Amber in the blue wagon and Marith, Vanessa, Lisa and William got in with Kyle.

Marith noticed how Lisa and William caressed each other’s hands and exchanged a brief kiss, before they folded themselves in the back of the van to create a safe space to share their love during the upcoming drive.

Marith experienced a pinch of jealousy that felt like a punch in the stomach as she witnessed the couple. Years of loneliness had moulded her brokenness into a work of art and she was oblivious to the avalanche of change that was about to hit her.

Her depression and low self-esteem were seething and festering like an open wound. The monster in her mind had awakened and she didn’t want the others to know. Being cheerful and miserable at the same time was confusing, but necessary.

Of course Marith had experienced fleeting moments of happiness in her life, but they had lasted too short and had never brought a permanent state of relief. She had struggled form one month to the other, rolled from one sleep deprived night into the next. She had never understood how the joys of life came so easy to some people and not at all to others.

Fooling herself into happiness was one of the hardest things she ever had to do, but she had been doing it for so long it had become an ordinary trick of the mind.

“I burned some road trip music on a CD,” Kyle shared as they left the parking place.

“You burned music on a CD?” Vanessa burst out in laughter.

“Hey! This van only has an old fashioned CD player. No fancy blue tooth or USB connections. I didn’t hear anyone else offer to sacrifice a vehicle for this trip, so deal with it.”

“Okay, true,” Vanessa admitted, attempting to contain more snickering, “but still.”

“Let’s hear it, Kyle,” Lisa encouraged.

“I could install a new car radio when we get back,” Will offered.

“Thank you, Will! You see, Vanessa, that’s actually constructive. Instead of mocking this loyal steel steed he is helping me improve it.”

Vanessa played the CD to shut her young Prophet up. It started off with “Road Trippin’” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

“Seriously?” Vanessa moaned. “Where is the eject button? It has to be here, somewhere. Please!” She was playfully sweeping the dash board and the inside of the door next to her with her hands.

Marith saw Kyle roll his eyes and suppressed laughter at their odd relationship. She actually enjoyed the song and leaned back to stare at the trees, floating by the windows of the car.

Kyle and Vanessa were sitting up front and Lisa and William were sharing the back seat. The chair next to Marith was occupied by a cooler, hooked to a power outlet.

She listened to the conversations the others had and she found some degree of peace. At least she was part of a group that didn’t demand active participation.

They were listening to classics like “Spirit in the Sky” by Norman Greenbaum, “Walk of Life” by Dire Straits and “I am alive” by Don Fardon.

As they accessed the highway an old, familiar song started. It was the kind of music her father would put on when he was doing paper work on rainy Sundays, while Lieke and herself were doing homework or fighting over whatever game they were playing.

And if you don’t love me now

You will never love me again

I can still hear you saying

You would never break the Chain

Kyle proudly glanced over his shoulder. “Do you like it?”

It was ‘the Chain’ from Fleetwood Mac. Marith smiled and had to admit it was pretty clever. She was pleasantly surprised at Kyle’s adult taste in music.

Chains keep us together

Running in the shadows

She wondered if anyone else in the car noticed the relevance of the music Kyle had selected, but she didn’t feel like getting into that conversation.

For about three hours they drove through thick forests and insignificant little towns over mountain roads and sections of highways until the scenery got more level and darkness fell.

Just when the playlist came to an end, with “Otherside” from the same band the trip had started with, the cars slowed down in the darkness as their headlights illuminated a wooden structure. They had reached the coast, with the blue truck in their wake.

Marith had dozed off almost completely, but woke up when Lisa reached over her to press the button to open the sliding door on her side of the van. The other door was already opened and Kyle unstrapped the cooler to carry it inside.

“Had a good nap?”

“She is still returning to this dimension,” Will joked.

Marith sat drowsily staring at the lodge for a minute or so, while Jonathan and Juliette were unloading some luggage from Brad’s car and placing it on the steps of the front door. With a slight shock she realized Nick had given her the keys when he dropped her off at the assembly point earlier that day and they couldn’t enter the cabin without her.

With the help of Lisa and Vanessa she stumbled out of the car and hunted through her pockets for the keys. She eventually found them in her backpack. As she stiffly staggered to the front doors she realized it wasn’t so much a cabin at the shore, but more a castle looking out over the sea. She should have known by now that the Pine family didn’t do anything half way.

It was dark outside and the only things that gave their location away were the salty smell and the sounds of the waves. Standing under the entrance, fumbling with the bundle to figure out which key would fit on each lock, automatic lights jumped on, both above the front doors and in the house.

Amber stumbled back from the main entrance, cocked her neck and gaped at the building.

“It’s massive…”

Some of the others did the same thing.

“Wow, this is no cabin.”

Brad had taken matters into his own hands and was now in charge of the bunch of keys, so Marith joined the Chain members in their amazement.

She had probably triggered some response system by trying to get access to the house. The entire mansion was now illuminated by lights that protruded from the outside walls.

The property was crafted from natural construction materials and there was no doubt the wooden components had been supplied by Pine Industries. Standing outside the house seemed to be mostly build with granite and rock, simply framed by gigantic wooden logs.

From the inside the lodge predominantly consisted of wooden beams, harmonized by massive fireplaces and large deep red rugs. They placed all their baggage at the foot of the wooden staircase and dragged the cooler boxes into the kitchen, that was on the other side of the open stairs.

The first floor largely consisted of one massive open space with high ceilings, leather couches and two big fireplaces. One accompanied the dining table and the other one the seating area.

“Nice crib,” Jonathan admired.

“Awesome,” Brad whispered to the antlers adorning the walls.

“Okay, people,” Vanessa started, “this is a five bedroom, six bathroom house.

After examining the first floor they had gathered around the pile of luggage in a crescent.

“I’ll share a room with Lisa,” Will announced hastily and superfluous, to which some chuckles followed.

“Obviously,” Juliette retorted, “that is not the issue here.”

“More of us need to cohabit for the weekend…”

Everybody eyed each other anxiously. Marith hated these kind of situations. Picking partners for teams during gym class or birthday parties or sleepovers often knew only losers and very few winners. It reminded her of why she had avoided trips like this in high school by skipping them altogether.

Amber broke the silence in her own tactful way. “Brad and I could share a room as well. I mean, we are Prophet and Mage after all, just like Lisa and Will.”

Juliette crossed her muscled arms. Marith glanced at Brad who was visibly uncomfortable with Amber’s proposal.

“Let’s find some wood and fire these babies up. It’s cold in here.” Brad slapped Will on the shoulder.

“Nick explained the thermostat to me,” Marith started.

“But we want to build a fire,” Brad answered with a boyish smirk, before dragging Will outside.

“We can pair the four remaining women up and then there are two more rooms to divide over three of the men.”

“Ahem,” Amber started wide eyed, “what about my proposal?”

“Seriously, Amber? Stop trying so hard! Keep it decent, okay?”

“No, not okay,” Amber countered, as she quickly looked in the direction of the front doors to assure the men were outside, out of earshot. “There is nothing wrong with the division I suggested.”

“Except that everything is wrong with what you suggested,” Vanessa replied sharply, followed by an intent stare.

Amber returned the stare in a heartbeat. She was one of those girls that could go from perfect little angel to sarcastic, raging lunatic within 15 seconds.

“Fine, I’ll go unpack the foods and drinks. You guys find a solution.”

Vanessa made a defeated gesture with her arms and headed towards the kitchen.

Marith followed her diffidently.

“Lord have mercy on the poor soul that will one day marry her,” Vanessa said amused when they walked away from the discussion.

“What’s their dynamic?” Marith whispered at Vanessa.

Vanessa rolled her eyes heavenward. “An illegal dynamic. Amber has the hots for Brad,” she whispered back.

“Clearly, but why are they not together? Doesn’t Brad like her?”

“Brad is almost eight years her senior and she’s seventeen. He likes to keep their Mage-Prophet relationship as professional as possible. That’s why he uses Juliette so often. Amber’s feelings will probably blow over in a while. She is still young.”

Vanessa started to move fresh fruits and vegetables, a gallon of milk, chunks of packaged fish and cans of soda from the cooler boxes into the refrigerator. Brad had brought some bottles of beer that she attempted to fit into the smaller wine fridge. Marith tried to help without getting in the way.

“Are we going to cook?”

“I planned for risotto with warm vegetables, feta cheese and salmon, but it is past eight. Let’s just order pizza and leave this for tomorrow night,” she said as she put the last produce away.

Vanessa started to rumble through kitchen drawers in search for some take out menu’s while simultaneously shrugging off her heavy coat.

“What do you want?” She asked, holding up the pizza pamphlet, while Marith helped her out of her coat.

She tossed both their coats over a barstool and let her eyes fly over the piece of paper. Reading all the options she realized she was actually quite hungry.

“Eh, I want the vegetarian one, with all the vegetables and mozzarella. Is that okay?”

“Sure!” Vanessa said, dialling the number.

“Don’t you want to know what the others would like to eat?”

“Not really,” she sniggered, “I am just going to order a few different ones.”

“Vanessa?!” Amber exclaimed, stomping into the kitchen for back up. “Did you hear this?”

Vanessa brushed some voluminous locks of hair from her face and pointed to the phone at her ear. Amber was followed by Juliette, Lisa, Jonathan and Kyle. They patiently waited for Vanessa to order their dinner, only to detonate into a dissonance of grievances again as soon as she hung up.

Marith decided to apply the same tactic she had used during the divorce of her parents and withdrew herself from the situation. She wandered from the kitchen to the living area again, walking by the other side of the open staircase.

That side of the house had grand windows, that allowed a vista over the ocean, but the view was pitch black, apart from the stars, high in the sky, and faint lights send off by ships at open sea. She felt cold air coming from the high walls of glass and shuddered. As she sauntered past the soft leather couches she could still hear the debate going on behind her.

“Amber, stop trying to make decisions for other people, Marith is new and she is not sharing a room with a guy she just met!”

Marith didn’t know if it was Juliette or Vanessa who had said it, since they had both quite deep voices, but hearing her name was enough for her to flee outside.

One of the large wooden entrance doors was still slightly ajar and she slipped through it, away from the noise, away from the unresolved childhood issues. Every time she heard one of the young women quarrel she could hear her obnoxiously dominant mother screech and yell at her father over issues that just weren’t worth it.

She aimlessly strolled towards the parked cars until she heard crunching gravel and a repetitive squeaky sound behind her.

“Found what you were looking for?” Marith asked the two dark figures walking towards her. One of them seemed to be pushing a wheelbarrow.

“There’s an open storage with firewood back there,” Will pointed to a dimly lit path around the house with his one free hand. Under his other arm he carried some chopped wood.

“I think we have enough,” Brad shared, nodding at the wheelbarrow.

Now that they were closer and were illuminated by the lights of the house again Marith could see it was indeed filled up with dry chunks of wood.

“Well, don’t set the house on fire,” she answered with feigned brightness in her voice.

The men laughed and disappeared inside again, leaving one of the front doors cracked open. Sounds of arguing and bickering wafted towards her again.

Marith sighed and turned her back to the lodge. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply to titillate her senses. The ocean was on her right and the tall forest on her left. She had always been astonished by the magic of the Oregon coast. The trees stood incredibly close to the salt water, the beach consisted of pebbles, rocks and driftwood, alternated by patches of sand, and at night the milky way sang a symphony of brightness and freedom.

In the Netherlands the shore was created by sandy beaches and dunes. The country was mostly flat and ancient forests, like in the Pacific North-West, no longer existed. The night sky only showed its brightest stars, since the others stood no chance against the light pollution.

This particular night the light from the stars seemed to undulate in a rather extraordinary fashion. She stared at the cloudless heavens. Her body was overwhelmed by a scintillating sensation that filled her veins with a peculiar rush.

Something was heading their way. No, it was heading her way. It had little to do with the others. How was that possible? She had never been to the Pine family’s beach house before. Who would come for her here? She tore her eyes away from the stars and closed them again and faced the direction from which it was headed.

“Are you coming?” The question came from Brad who hauled the last pieces of wood from the wheelbarrow.

Marith jumped so high she almost created a gap in the air after being ripped apart from her meandering mind like that.

“Yes, I’ll be right there,” she answered shakily, glancing over her shoulder, until Brad disappeared again.

She intently gazed past the two parked cars, along the gravel filled lane that started at the backroad they had come from and snaked towards the property through the forest. The waves that were flowing towards her didn’t carry hostility or violence. The vibrations didn’t fill her mind with fear, but with curiosity… and, surprisingly, with hope.

Behind her the surround sound system was now being put to a test and Marith took that as an encouragement to wander away from the house, along the driveway.

She felt as if she was connected to something, with tiny elastic bands that now tightened tensely, pulling at her core. She felt good, she felt excited, she felt expectant.

The waves that created the expectations now pulled her to the road the group had arrived by earlier that night. Assuming black bears and mountain lions wouldn’t take an interest in her as a late night snack she let her fixation on this rarity guide her.

Soon she stood at the side of the open road with her arms crossed, wearing nothing but a simple, baby blue sweater, a flimsy, silk scarf and goose bumps. Dampness was getting through to her shoes and her hair. It wasn’t bad enough to make her return to the house, that was by now either being gradually warmed by the lit ingles or completely set on fire.

She could still make out obtuse waves of music, so she told herself the mansion was still intact, while she waited for this thing, that the Web was telling her about, to come to her. The sound of a roaring engine and the headlights of a big vehicle made her take a defensive step back into the berm.

Nates breath stalled and his heart skipped a beat, or two at the sight of the young woman at the bank of the woods. Her skin was so pale she appeared to be translucent in the headlights of his truck.

He had seen this beautiful, innocent, angelic creature before. Visions of her had come to him at the most unexpected times recently and he hadn’t been able to curb his curiosity, or his longings.

Earlier that week he had reserved a spot at a close by National Park. When the decision of the Chain had become clear last Wednesday he had spent several days swiping every sign of his presence from his family’s second home. Usually he spend his winters in the lodge and his summers in the Airstream, but now he had been forced into the unforgiving elements of nature.

He hadn’t been able to reach the camping, before his spirited curiosity, his loneliness and his hunger for a companion had taken over. Now he slowed down his truck and dimmed the headlights not to blind his prophecy.

Leaving the keys in the ignition and the engine running he popped open the door on the driver’s side inducing the car to beep. He ignored it and lowered himself from the vehicle, briefly hesitating when his feet met with the asphalt. Then he took a few slow, but deliberate, steps forward.

Marith froze. Everything stood still, even her heart refused to beat for a glorious, painful second. She realized the atoms in the stardust that made their souls had met before. Their energy had been together, entangled, when the Universe was created and had been scattered as it cooled down and planets and solar systems were formed. They had been ripped apart and now they finally met again.

She too took a few steps forward, onto the road, directly into the dimmed rays of light coming from the car. The man that had just jumped out of his pick up remained in the shadows, next to the vehicle.

There seemed to be a dense cloud of particles between them. Withholding them both from implementing whatever stupid, rash plan either of them had formed in their head.

They stood there staring at each other for what felt like a pretty long time, until the distant music was dimmed and Marith heard voices and rumblings behind her in the greenery.

Something unexplainable and unique quietly passed between them. The dark, male figure clambered back into his vehicle, hastily slammed the door, forced his four-by-four and the polished trailer into a nearly impossible U-turn and disappeared.

“Who was that?” Jonathan inquired, trotting towards her.

“Oh, eh… someone on his way to a campground. He asked for directions. I couldn’t really help him.” Marith tried very hard to sound convincingly sheepish.

“Okay, well, you’ll be happy to know that there is a consensus on the sleeping arrangements.”

“Good,” Marith panted. For unclear reasons she was out of breath.

“They send me to collect you… and hoped I would intercept the pizza delivery guy, as well.”

“Do you mind if I go inside again?” Marith asked, with clattering teeth, hugging herself.

“Of course not. You must be freezing!” Jonathan had been thorough enough to put on a coat, before stepping outside.

She nodded, still confused about the encounter she had just had, and hurried back to the lodge. As she neared the entrance doors the peace seemed to have been restored. She could hear Led Zeppelin inside. When she stepped over the threshold she was introduced to a haphazard pile of matrasses in the middle of the house with Brad, Kyle and William playing air guitar on top of it.

Her eyes wandered over the organized chaos. The couches were covered in the pillows and bedsheets that, no doubt, belonged on the beds upstairs. She cautiously shuffled inside and was grateful to be hugged by the warmth coming from the fireplaces.

“We are all sleeping downstairs!” Juliette exclaimed elated.

“I can see that,” Marith answered with big eyes. “You do realize all this has to go upstairs again on Sunday morning?”

Several pairs of eyes flew in her direction.

“Yeah, I am not doing that,” Vanessa objected.

“Me neither,” Amber answered, arms crossed.

“Fine! We’ll do it,” Juliette sighed, gesturing to herself and the male members of the Chain.

“Let’s stop yapping and start eating!” Jonathan stood in the doorway with a pile of pizza boxes.

AC/DC started and Amber and Juliette recklessly joined the guys on top of the beds. Meanwhile Marith and Vanessa took care of drinks and napkins, while Jonathan spread out and opened the boxes on the dinner table.

To change into dry clothes Marith quickly disappeared into the downstairs bathroom with her backpack, before the rest was done dancing and dinner would be officially given a try. She quickly washed up and figured it was past nine, so she put on her pyjama’s and fervently pulled a jumper over her head for an extra layer of warmth.

Unfortunately, she didn’t possess any proper nightwear and the circumstances had forced her to pack a cotton house suit with musical notes on it. She could only hope she would be spared and to distract the others from her outfit she fished a Dutch pack of liquorice, which was custom to eat after dinner in some families, out of her bag and walked into the living area again.

They were all waiting to take the first bite.

“Sorry, it took so long! I was very cold,” she apologized.

“Look!” Brad started, raising an opened bottle of beer. “Marith has the right ideas about comfortable clothing. Now, let’s eat!”

Relieved, she took place at the dinner table. She grabbed a napkin and a slice of the vegetarian pizza and they finally enjoyed their delayed dinner. They ate quickly and quietly. The fatigue of the road trip was starting to take its toll.

After dinner they moved the furniture out of the way and placed the mattresses neatly together in front of the other fireplace. They made one massive bed by equally distributing the sheets and pillows, so that they all slept with their heads towards each other.

They took turns in the bathrooms and all changed into their pyjama’s. Most of them wore mismatched pants and shirts, like Marith usually did as well.

“What are we going to do tomorrow?” She asked when everybody was more or less ready to go to bed.

“There is not much to do out here, except for hiking. We could walk to the nearest town and have lunch.” Kyle was looking at satellite images on his phone as he talked.

The rest nodded as they disappeared under the blankets. Lisa and William took the outer end of the bed, sharing a mattress. Brad had taken place opposite them and Vanessa had swiftly claimed the spot next to him, so Amber couldn’t wriggle or scheme to reach her enticing goals after all.

Marith and Juliette shared a muffled, little laugh when they saw the look on Amber’s face when she came down the stairs. They were opposite each other as well, on the other side of the berth. The rest took random places in the middle.

“There are several forest trails,” Kyle continued, his face illuminated by the screen, since the lights inside the house were turned off, “but if the weather allows I suggest we have a walk over the beach.”

“The sea is what we came for.” Juliette yawned. “So it better be.”

“I brought something…” Marith started, “all the way from the Netherlands.” She opened the candy mix and passed it around. “We call it ‘dropjes’.”

“What’s a slumber party without a midnight sugar rush, after having brushed your teeth?” Amber giggled.

The group hesitantly picked pieces of liquorice out of the bag and thoroughly inspected it, before tasting.

“It’s… pretty good,” Jonathan lied, chewing through the viscous resistance of the candy.

“It’s quite tough… and sugary, but not that sweet.”

“I remember similar candy from a trip to London, ages ago.”

“It looks like American candy... that already made a trip through someone’s digestive system,” Kyle concluded, plunging into deep thought, examining a half-eaten piece of liquorice.

Marith inhaled abruptly and loudly. “How dare you!” She started playfully.

“It honestly looks like bunny droppings,” Brad joked.

“Stop attackonizing the refined eating habits of my ancient culture!” Marith bellowed theatrically.