She felt them behind her. They were trying to be stealthy, but she had grown accustomed to the sensation of guards following her. People around her were whispering, eyeing her cautiously. Some quickly left the scene, most likely to avoid being caught themselves. The marketplace was busy. Rain clattered against the tin roof above the stalls.
Malsath was a strange country in that sense. It would rain profusely for hours on end, then, in a matter of minutes, the sun would be shining again. It made it quite difficult for Celine to pack lightly each day.
The scene around her became increasingly auspicious. A path had cleared so she could hear the clicking of guard shoes closing in as she walked at the same steady pace. Such a contradiction. Their shiny new black shoes stomping along the same surface on which someone had probably slept the night before. They were closing in, so she stopped to admire a browning apple on the corner of three intersecting aisles.
She felt a hand touch her shoulder, cold and clammy against her skin that sizzled with sweat. The khaki coloured sleeve of a jacket brushed her sunburned neck. Taking a deep breath, she put on her best unsuspecting face as she turned around to stare directly into the stoic officer’s eyes.
“Celine Burvudoir?” he asked, his tiny mouth turning up in snake-like smirk. She knew it well, it was the yes! Another runaway being sent to the soul-sucker smirk. She’d seen it countless times before.
Bowing her head, she delicately placed the bruised apple back in its place, taking time to assess her most effective exit route.
She took a step towards the guard, giving the impression she would come quietly. But before he could forcibly remove her from the apple stand she wrenched her knee into his groin. As he crouched over in pain, it was Celine’s turn to smirk before leaping away and taking off down the left aisle.
Market goers stared at her as she sprinted past the stalls. She heard whistles blowing in the distance, a sign that more guards would soon be after her. Good, she thought, she could use a challenge.
Luckily, she had purveyed all the routes available countless times before. Running at full speed she prepared to turn left at the bread stand where she grabbed a loaf of rye. Tony, the owner, gave her a disapproving look but she saw him smile when she yelled that she would pay him back later.
She took another right, turning into the rain-ridden streets. The guards would have a hard time running on this with their fancy shiny shoes.
She could see the bar in the distance. A bright neon light beaming The Red Ribbon from atop the old black building. The footsteps could still be heard in the distance, but they had become noticeably vaguer.
Still, to be a good houseguest Celine ran around the back where they wouldn’t see her enter Marge’s humble and very law-compliant abode.
Slipping in through the kitchen door, Celine could see the dim lighting of Marge’s bar counter. She heard the kitchen staff laughing and chopping up food for the evening’s guests. One of them boasted of his escapades with a woman named Sofia as the other men jeered him on. She rolled her eyes.
The hallway was positioned so that she could see through the front windows, but it was dark enough so that those outside could not see her.
She could see a heard of olive green uniforms running towards the bar. Marge, a middle-aged, stringy woman, tensed up from her stool at the till, but they marched right past The Red Ribbon and into the alleyway where Celine had seemingly disappeared. She smirked again and walked towards Marge at the bar, tapping her on the shoulder. Marge jumped and whirled around in her chair so quickly that she dropped her book.
Her eyes widened and she let out a gust of air when she saw Celine.
“Celine!” she whispered angrily as her hand dramatically clutched her chest. “Child, what did I tell you? You have to be more careful. If you keep cutting it that close we’ll all be found out and you’ll go straight to the soul-suckers. I can’t have that Celine, I just can’t.”
Celine smiled warmly at Marge’s familiar antics.
“I bought you a loaf of bread”, Marge raised an eyebrow.
“Bought or brought?” she asked sceptically.
“I said I’d pay him back.”
Marge rolled her eyes, but opened the trap door beneath the bar none-the-less. Just as Celine went to climb down the ladder after giving Marge the bread, she spoke again.
“Oh, by the way, there’s a boy waiting for you down there.”
Looking up quizzically, Celine opened her mouth to argue but Marge only shrugged in response. How in the world, she thought, are we supposed to stay hidden from the soul-suckers if Marge lets every potentially available boy in because she “just thinks it would be quite nice if you had a boyfriend dear”. Honestly, the woman was ridiculous. Brilliant, but ridiculous.
Celine climbed down the ladder and into the den. She jumped with a thud to the bottom and immediately made her way over to the checked quilt and dusty old mattress in the corner. It was placed haphazardly next to a thin bookshelf, stocked with frayed pages that had clearly been well-read.
However, before she could move anywhere, she sensed another presence in the room. The air was heavier and she heard scuffling, then a voice.
It was a man’s voice. This must be the person Marge had mentioned.
Turning around, Celine found herself face to face with a young man who she assumed was only a few years older than her. He looked pale, even in such dim lighting. His hair was wispy and extremely light in colour. The candle light made it look orange. More distinctly though, she saw a flicker, a tiny sparkle, and a glint of a smile in his eye.
“Yes”, she responded. She could trust him. He smiled, though she did not.
“Hugo”, he held out his hand, and she shook it hesitantly, looking him straight in the eye.
“What do you want?” she asked. He chuckled.
“They told me you’d be cranky.”
“Who told you?” She narrowed her eyes. Perhaps she had judged him too quickly. Maybe he was a soul-sucker.
There was a pregnant silence as the world seemed to render itself stagnant and Celine concluded that this intruder was, most certainly, a soul-sucker.
“My parents aren’t alive anymore”, she snapped. “Get out.”
“I’m not leaving. Listen, Celine –“
“Get out!” She said, this time with an alarming amount of force.
Hugo took a step backwards, but didn’t leave.
“What are you even doing here?” She asked, voice now beginning to tremble. “Just take me and get on with it if that’s what you’re here for.”
“Well that’s why you’re here isn’t it? You’ve only mentioned my parents to make me more vulnerable.”
“Ok you’ve lost me.” She scoffed.
“Honestly! You soul-suckers get stupider every day.”
His eyes widened and he stepped back towards Celine.
“I’m not a soul-sucker”, he said desperately with the same sparkle in his eye.
“Well then what are you?”
She let out a bitter laugh. “Then I’m going to sleep.”
“I trust you can show yourself out.”
She turned back towards her musty old mattress and flicked the light switch off. Reaching for the curtain that would provide a final barrier between her and the strange boy, she heard him sigh.
“I’m from the Orb Sustainability Alliance.”
Another pregnant pause, this time full of meaning. She continued staring straight ahead, but didn’t close the curtain just yet. He took this as a sign to continue.
“You were right. Your parents are gone. I spoke with them some years ago now. I’ve been looking for you ever since.”
“Why?” She demanded. She could just about feel his desperation.
She considered it for a moment. Five years. Five years on the run. Five years reading and looking for answers. Five years since she had even heard from her parents. Maybe this boy was worth a chance.
“You can sleep on the couch,” she conceded. “I’m tired. We can talk in the morning.”
“Ok” he responded, letting out a gusty breath. She turned slightly so she could see him out of the corner of her eye. He looked at the ground and nodded his head. He smiled and repeated, “Ok”.
She closed the curtain, unknowingly leaving it slightly ajar. Just enough so that, as he prepared to sleep himself, Hugo saw Celine’s body collapse onto the mattress. No wonder she has so many bruises, he thought.
Above her body, a glistening blue orb floated. He marvelled at how brightly she shone. He hadn’t seen souls that bright in a long time. Not since he’d lived in Saraya, and certainly not in Malsath.
That must be why they were after her.
Most people would never have lasted five years on the run, let alone a teenage girl. That takes a bright soul, he figured.
He wondered if she could see him. She probably could, he thought. It didn’t matter though, she wouldn’t remember it in the morning. Bodies were for memories. Souls were for living.
“Goodnight Celine”, whispered Hugo, before he too felt his body become lifeless. He felt himself drifting, disconnected, in the now pitch black room where he could sense everything. Where it all floated until morning.
Celine awoke to an empty room.
Hugo’s mattress looked seemingly untouched, but the corners weren’t tucked. Marge would never have left the corners untucked.
She sighed and began climbing up the ladder, knocking three times at the top for Marge to open the trap door. Shielding her eyes from the onslaught of light now streaming into her eyes, Celine emerged in the bar where it smelled distinctly of stale beer and cigarettes.
“Good morning sunshine” said a deep voice on her right. She wasn’t very well adjusted to mornings as it was, and Hugo’s presence only made it more difficult.
“I made you a coffee”, he said before handing it to her tentatively. If this was a peace offering it was working. She took it from him tentatively, eyeing his strangely jovial smile and taking a wary sip.
Suddenly, the sound of clanging pots and incoherent swearing came from the kitchen, after which Marge stumbled into the hallway and then to the bar, yelling profuse apologies to the kitchen. After a few more fumblings she spotted Celine and Hugo.
“What are you two still doing here?” she whispered angrily. Celine was beginning to think this was now just her natural tone of voice. “If the soul-suckers see you through the window we’re all done young lady! Both of you, out now! Hurry up!”
In the process of ushering them out the door Marge managed to wink very unsubtly at Celine while jerking her head in Hugo’s direction. Celine rolled her eyes. This woman, honestly.
It was a sunny day. She could hear the bustling of the market some metres away from the bar. The expanse of pavement and dead grass ahead of her had taken on a yellow hue in the sunlight.
“C’mon” said Celine, grabbing Hugo’s arm and pulling him roughly in the other direction. “There’s a park down here that’s full of trees and flowers. The soul-suckers never go there.”
They walked in silence the entire way, something Celine was grateful for. When they reached the park the only other people there were two children, a girl and a boy.
Celine planted herself on one of the rocks under a tree that was likely the biggest in Malsath.
“Ok”, she sighed, “What do you want?”
“Like I said last night”, he began, “I want you to help.”
Hugo laughed conspiratorially and smiled.
Celine rolled her eyes, exasperated.
“Well that just clears everything up doesn’t it! How am I supposed to help with ‘the future’? I’m a runaway. I didn’t even finish school.”
“Because the soul-suckers were after me”, she responded simply. If he had really been looking for her for the past five years shouldn’t he have known this already?
“Why”, he probed further, eyes wide and frustrated. Celine sighed, she always felt ridiculous talking about this part.
“Because they think I have the soul of Alannah Minsky. She’s a –“
“A revolutionary poet”, Hugo interrupted with a sense of perplexing exaltation. “A key figure in the history of the Malsath people. One of the founding members of the Orb Sustainability Alliance and a strong critic of the President’s father.”
Celine was flabbergasted. All of Alannah Minsky’s work had been destroyed by President Altana when he came into power. Hugo did that thing again, when he looked at his feet and smiled.
“I’ve read all her work”, he said.
“How?” she breathed. “Why?”
“I was assigned to your case by the OSA about three months after you went on the run. I was only an intern, but they thought a seventeen year old might be better at understanding a teenage girl’s actions than anyone else in there. So, I started talking to your parents and your friends and your teachers. We weren’t looking for you at first. We don’t have the resources to look for most people on the Protection List.
But then I read some of Minsky’s work. They started hunting you because you wrote something reminiscent of her in an essay, correct?”
“And you’d never heard of her before?” He clarified.
“How could I have? All her work was destroyed.”
“Exactly. So, I kept reading and I thought that if the thoughts swimming through your head were even remotely similar to Alannah Minsky’s then you have a lot you could offer the world.”
He paused, pursing his lips in a way that suggested he was choosing his next words carefully. Celine, naturally, interrupted him before he could begin speaking again.
“You know it’s all bullshit though right? My soul didn’t belong to Alannah Minsky.”
“You don’t know that”, said Hugo. His tone was so earnest she had to turn away.
“Oh please”, she scoffed, “the soul-suckers think anyone who has a soul is a threat. If it were up to them we’d all go to sleep and stay in our bodies like those miserable bastards do. They’d suck our souls out and use our bodies as robots. Look at the world now – they’re already doing it!”
“It won’t work though” Hugo responded calmly.
“Because”, he said, sitting down on the rock next to Celine. Usually, she would have been affronted by such uninvited closeness. But in that moment, though she’d never let him know, she was secretly glad to have him there.
Clasping his hands, Hugo slid down to the ground and rested his head against the rock. Tilting his head upwards and squinting into the sunlight, he motioned for Celine to join. After a moment of hesitation, she sighed loudly and landed with a thud on the ground. She’d never had much of a knack for gracefulness. They sat there for a moment, looking up at the clear blue sky adorned with whimsical clouds.
“When our bodies die”, Hugo began, “Our souls go up into the sky. The shiny blue orbs become the stars. Then, one day, when they’re ready, they come back down to find a new body. They’re never the same though. Bodies are for memories, souls are for –“
“For living.” Celine smiled. “The Rebellion of Living by Alannah Minsky.”
“I told you I read it” he smirked. “The same thing still happens when the soul-suckers take your soul. A body is left behind, true. And they can utilise that body however they like, also true. But the stars always come back eventually.” He reached his hand towards hers. She hadn’t realised she’d been crying, but immediately pulled her hand away from Hugo’s to wipe the tears away. They both seemed to ignore the exchange, as Hugo continued talking softly.
“That’s why they won’t win. It’s why they’ve never won.”
Celine pulled away, uncomfortable with how vulnerable she felt under his sincere gaze. Standing up, she composed herself again.
“So, what do you want me to do then? Why does the OSA need my help?”
“There’s a study being conducted”, he began, “that suggests people can exist without a body. That by manipulating the psyche one can exist in spirit.”
“And you think I can help you?”
“I think you’re the perfect individual to test this theory.”
“No!” he sighed. “You’re smart Celine. One of the smartest people I’ve ever met actually, and your soul is brighter than any I’ve seen in Malsath.”
She whipped her head up to look at him.
“Watching me sleep were you?” She had meant to sound angry. After all, that was a serious invasion of her privacy. Unfortunately, the teasing tone of her voice betrayed her.
His eyes widened in a manner Celine found decidedly comical.
“N-no!” he stammered. “That’s not what I meant, I –“ he stopped he saw her fling her head backwards with laughter. She couldn’t help it, and it had been a while since somebody had made her laugh like that. All the while, Hugo merely stared at her, mouth slightly agape at her odd behaviour.
“It’s my job”, he said stiffly, jutting out his chin in indignation.
“Oh, ok sure” she said wickedly, patting him on the shoulder as she walked past him to the enormous tree shading the park. He turned around to face her.
“So”, she said, “When do we start?”
“You’ll do it?” he asked, practically bouncing.
“Well it’s not like I have anything better to do. Plus, I could use a friend other than Marge. I love her but the woman’s mad.”
“So we’re friends now?” he asked, swaying towards her awkwardly.
“If that’s what you want”, she responded coyly. “You’ve been stalking me for almost five years, I figure you’d want to be my friend.”
Not waiting for Hugo’s response, Celine started towards a field situated next to the park. Marching ahead, she heard a brief and exasperated whisper from behind her.
“Research, not stalking.”
She smiled at Hugo’s antics.
Hugo and Celine spent the entire day training in the field, only taking a short break for lunch. Not a single soul-sucker interrupted them all day. She suspected the abundance of foliage warded them off.
The theory was easy enough to pick up. Tether yourself to something on earth, something you already have a strong connection with. Meditate, meditate, meditate until eventually your soul separates itself from its body. Simple.
Neither could Hugo, which she found quite ironic. Even when he left her alone for a few hours, nothing happened. Despite this, Hugo was simply giddy on the walk home. She had no idea why. They hadn’t achieved anything.
He, however, kept insisting that Celine was making “amazing progress” and that she was “the best he’d seen yet.”
She wondered aloud how desperate they must have been when selecting candidates if she was the best.
Hugo grabbed her hand and looked her in the eye.
“Hey” he said with such sincerity that Celine became immediately uncomfortable. “You’re the best I’ve ever seen. Your technique is flawless. Your theory just… needs some work.”
She scoffed and raised an eyebrow at him.
“Some work? It’s not just my theory either! The entire theory needs work. Maybe the logic’s flawed, did you ever think about that?”
They walked in silence again, and suddenly the weight of her hand in his became extremely heavy. She pulled away too quickly as Hugo coughed awkwardly.
By the time they arrived back at The Red Ribbon, Marge was already peaking anxiously out of the window. They hadn’t even noticed the impending sunset.
As Marge beckoned them both hastily inside Celine shot Hugo a furtive glance. If she didn’t know herself better she might think she was actually beginning to like him.
“So”, said Marge sounding far too enthusiastic for Celine’s liking. “How did she go?”
“She was great!” Hugo gushed as Celine could only look on in confusion. “We’ve still got a little bit of work to do but after today I think we should make quick progress.”
“Excellent! See,” she had no turned towards Celine, “I told you something would happen one day dear. I’m proud of you for doing this.”
Taking a deep breath, Celine smiled. Marge had been there for her since the day she spotted her stealing bread from the market. Day in and day out in this dingy old bar at the edge of the world. She had nothing to gain, yet she had taken Celine in when she was just a scared, moody teenager with not a hope in the world. Marge had never asked anything of her. She wasn’t even asking for this, yet Celine felt an unwarranted sense of responsibility.
She took a deep breath and nodded, confirming more to herself than the other two people in the room that she’d continue the training.
“Well”, said Marge after patting Celine sloppily on the cheek. Her voice wavered slightly, as if she might be crying. “You two can’t stay up here for too long. I’ve left some food downstairs for you so you can eat down there okay. I’ll see you in the morning.”
They both nodded, climbing quietly down the ladder to the bar’s basement. Celine noticed quickly that Marge had remade Hugo’s bed with the corners now tucked adequately while hers remained crumpled pile of sheets and pillows.
A plate of sandwiches sat on the small coffee table in the middle of the room. Hugo quickly walked past Celine towards the table and began devouring the sandwiches. Celine, feeling lethargic from the draining day that had passed, stood in the doorway until Hugo looked up and beckoned her over with a smile. She smiled back, and joined him at the table. They didn’t talk much. They didn’t have to. Celine appreciated that. She’d never met someone she was comfortable being silent with.
When she woke up the next morning, Celine found herself being dragged along the ground of the basement, men shouting all around her. She identified Hugo’s voice immediately.
“Stop it! Stop dragging her, she had nothing to do with it. It’s my research it’s all mine!”
“Shut him up will you?” One of the men dragging her said. Celine blearily opened her eyes to see stiff, green coloured uniforms filling the room. She’d know the soul-suckers anywhere.
“Don’t worry, we’re taking you in as well”, said the man who Celine could now see had Hugo’s hands trapped behind his back so he couldn’t move.
“Hugo”, she mustered groggily. As soon as she spoke she realised one of them must have hit her, because there was an unmistakable taste of blood in her mouth.
“Celine!” she heard him say desperately. “They’re taking you to the soul-sucker. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I don’t know how they found out – someone from the park must have reported us I’m sorry – “
“Oh will you shut up” she heard one of the soul suckers say. Her vision had become clearer, and she could see one of the men swiftly punch Hugo in his stomach as he doubled over in pain. Celine cried out, reaching for Hugo. But soon enough, she felt something strike her head, the room swirled for a moment before her world faded into blackness again.
When she regained consciousness, Celine felt herself strapped into a chair-like contraption. The room around her was white, sterile, and smelt of cigarette smoke and metal. She heard a man laugh, deep and guttural, from across the room.
“Miss Burvudoir. Good to see you’re awake.”
She opened her eyes to see a single man sitting opposite her, his khaki uniform just barely able to fit over his stocky frame. He smoked a cigar, blowing the nauseating smoke directly in Celine’s face. His smile was toothy and wicked. Celine could only scowl at him.
“We’ve been looking for you for a long time” he said, standing and walking closer to Celine. “You’ve been doing some very illegal things” he said. The soul-sucker crouched down in front of Celine, his yellow-stained teeth clenched in a victorious smile. Celine looked around, helpless. Nobody was there to save her. Her time had run out. She couldn’t run anywhere now. The khaki-clad soul-sucker yelled at some men outside to start the machine. She heard the soul-sucking machine rumble to life behind her, and she knew she had only once choice if she were to make it out of this alive.
Celine closed her eyes and surrendered her body to the earth. She remembered everything Hugo had told her, everything Marge had been telling her for years. Her body had taken her through many an obstacle on its journey. Her eyes had seen cruelty that even the brightest of souls would be forgiven for not withstanding. All the while, her soul only shone brighter. She shouldn’t have believed in love, but as she closed her eyes for the final time she felt an unmistakable thudding sound in her heart.
That sound took her to the stars, where she felt her mother and father envelop her as if she was still an infant. It took her to The Red Ribbon where Marge sat in the dimly lit bar. It was empty, and the blinds were all closed. Marge sat on the floor, a bottle of wine with only a quarter of the alcohol remaining sitting next to her as her tear-stained face stared helplessly at the door. The sound of her heart took her down the hall, to a similarly sterile room where Hugo sat alone in waiting. His face was a canvas for tears as well, only his eventually mixed with the dried blood he hadn’t been bothered to clean from his nose.
The sound of her heart quickened, as did the growling of the soul-sucker. Celine listened, and saw all those around her that allowed her to believe in love. Then, slowly, as if sliding out of grasp, the sound of her heartbeat became slippery. And as it faded away she whispered four word that she had first read in a school classroom six years ago.
The noise stopped, but she saw the soul-suckers look up, baffled as the world became silent. She saw Marge and Hugo do the same. They smiled, and light seemed to engulf her world. She swam through the air towards Hugo and reached out to touch his face. She knew all he could see was an orb, but something in his eyes looked like he understood and he reached out to touch her.
“You did it” he whispered. “You beat them.”
germansingergirl
kianamaiart
snowghoul
turnnoffyourmind
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
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