Photo by Alexander Krivitskiy on Unsplash "Ashamed" She tried to keep her mind blank and her walls up until she got to the bathroom, where she locked herself inside and cut on the water to the shower. Rune then stood in front of the long bathroom mirror, staring at the body that she was given. It wasn’t perfect and it wasn’t pretty, but it was hers. Yet she harbored shame in regards to the mark she bore, something her grandmother told her was a birthmark—but Rune had never seen a birthmark grow like this one did.
Rune removed her shirt, the dark raised lines on her skin peeking out from the straps over her right shoulder. She started peeling off the bras, one by one, till she stood bare from the waist up in front of the mirror. The layers made things hurt less, binding and securing that part of her body where the birthmark was. It started at her sternum and stretched across her right breast and the top of her chest; the weight from her chest causing the mark to burn and throb if everything wasn’t secured properly. She never mentioned this part to her grandmother and instead decided to keep it to herself, even though something could have possibly been done to help her. But she knew better now after reading that letter; nothing probably could have helped her. The fact that the mark had darkened and grown, now stretching partially down her right arm and over her ribs, proved that it was anything but a birthmark. This was just one more thing that added to her feelings of unworthiness; flawed both physically and mentally. She tortured herself with how critical she was of her person and struggled with loving herself and who she was. Now, that had a whole new meaning since she didn’t even know what she was at this point. And how could another person love that? Love her? Her past relationships proved that. The other party thought she was what they wanted until they really got to see her, really got to know her. She would make them hate her—she would destroy them without even trying. She didn’t want that to happen with Ronan. She didn’t want him to hate her. But if she slipped up and gave him even the slightest opportunity to develop deeper feelings, there would eventually be nothing left of the two. She’d push them apart one way or another, dooming them both to a life of complete and utter loneliness. “No kissing. I had two rules and that was one of them.” Rune griped as she finally took off her underwear and stepped into the shower. And then she lost it. The warm water hitting her face caused her resilience to finally break, the rollercoaster of the past few weeks coming to a sudden and violent halt. She sobbed into her hands, dropping to the tile floor of the shower as she huddled in on herself. Rune couldn’t tell if the way she was feeling, the motions she was going through, was because she was off of her medication or because of the circumstances she was in—possibly both. She knew how to cope, to positively talk to herself and work through her mental issues, but things had gotten so weird and so out of control in a short while that she didn’t even have time to psych herself up for what was to come. And now she felt like she had invited an innocent stranger into her life, into this chaos, and then so stupidly let him in…she let him know her in a way she never really let anyone. When she had, the outcome had always been bad. She had promised herself to stay closed off, to keep to herself, to not let anyone get too close. Maybe it was because of fears her gran held, fears that Rune never quite understood, that gave her the sensation that she needed to hide who she was. But now it all made sense. Rune fell from the sky, from outer space, probably around the age that she “woke up” from her coma. Where had she come from? Who was she? The idea of this all being one giant hallucination was really starting to make sense, but she tried not to let herself sink into that mentality without more solid evidence to back it up. “If I can even find evidence to prove I’m not hallucinating.” Rune scoffed at herself, swallowing a sob as she finally stood from the floor of the shower and started to wash up. She made sure to scrub every inch of her body, focusing a little too long on the mark before she washed her hair and cut the water. Rune took her time drying off before she dug through the plastic drawers that held her clothes and got dressed. She dried her hair and washed her face, trying to stall for time in hopes that her puffy eyes might return to somewhat normal before she had to face Ronan again, though she hoped that he had already fallen asleep. When she had done all that she could do, she left the bathroom and returned to the living room to find—no one. Ronan wasn’t in the living room. She checked the kitchen, but found nothing. She called his name, walking the length of the bunker, but there was no reply. When she returned to the living room she caught sight of the large, metal double doors that led from the bunker; they were open. Rune’s mind started to race. He had left. She had upset him and he left. Either that or he got what he wanted and that was that. He was gone now and she was probably back to where she had been a couple months ago. But could he have gotten far? Should she run after him instead of asking herself all these “what-ifs”? She was always assuming the worst without logically thinking about things and if she wanted to prove to herself that this wasn’t a hallucination and that shit had just gotten really damn weird, she needed to use a little bit of logic. Logic told her that she needed to go after him, to at least see where he went. Maybe he hadn’t gotten far and she could stop him, try to talk to him, be honest with him and herself. Rune ran from the bunker and down the hall to the basement of her house, finding the secret door propped open too. She hurried up the stairs to the main floor of the house, the door to the basement also open, and went straight for the front door. She was ready to run on through and down the steps of the front porch, but she halted abruptly when she was met with Ronan sitting on the stoop, smoking a cigarette. He turned over his shoulder at the sound of the door opening and scooted over on the top step so that she could sit down. “I just decided to wash up in the kitchen sink and came out for a smoke.” Ronan spoke to her, but he didn’t look her way. “You happen to have a spare?” Rune asked, trying to ease herself into what she wanted to say. Ronan pulled a soft pack from the front pocket of his jacket and shook it, a singular cigarette springing up for Rune to take. He handed her a metal lighter, she lit it, and took a long drag before she tried to speak. “I’m sorry that I reacted the way that I did. I could have gone about that a better way.” Rune swallowed hard before taking another hit of her cigarette. Ronan dropped the hand holding his cigarette and exhaled a plume of smoke before he spoke, “I’m not mad at you, Rune, if that’s what you think. You set ground rules and I broke one of ‘em. I broke your trust and you have every right to be pissed the fuck off. I’m not going to sit here and excuse my actions; I got caught up in the moment and I didn’t think. I let my cock do the thinking for me and I deserved to be yelled at and possibly have my ass kicked. Just don’t hit me in the face; it’s me money-maker.” Rune had been completely wrong about where Ronan had gone, about how he felt. She had even considered that he used her and now she felt utterly awful for the assumption without even considering how he could have possibly felt; she only assumed the worst. Why did she always do this to herself? “I’m such an idiot,” Rune laughed at herself, “I came out of the shower and you were gone. I thought I had run you off or that maybe you had gotten what you were looking for and decided that that’s enough of this crazy bitch. And then I open the front door and there you were. It’s like I want to be alone for the rest of my life.” She was mostly talking to herself, but it was useless to hide what went on in her head at this point. “You apologize to me as if you had done something wrong when I was the one that messed up. You do that a lot?” Ronan asked a loaded question. Rune thought for a moment, but she really had no need to. She knew that’s exactly how she was; taking the blame for things that she hadn’t done to quell the inevitable fight that would ensue if she pressed the issue. That’s how she pushed them all away, the ones that she let in, because she wouldn’t just take the loss and diffuse the situation. If she perceived something as not right, as a violation of her trust or autonomy, she spoke up, but she always regretted it. Whether in a romantic relationship or otherwise, it was as if people lived to gaslight her and it was something she had never really acknowledged until now. “Yeah. I do.” She admitted out loud. Ronan finally turned to face her, “Well, you don’t have to do that with me. You have every right to be fucking mad and feel violated or betrayed or however you may feel. I try to live my life in such a way that I don’t cross people’s boundaries until they invite me. I respect them and hope they will do the same with me. I try to be honest and communicate, but sometimes I mess up and that’s what happened back there. You said no kissing and you were completely honest about why and I agreed, but then I was so wrapped up in you and the way you smelled, the way you felt, that all of my good intentions and logic went out the window and I crossed that line. I’m sorry, Rune. I’m not going to ask for you to forgive me, but I can promise I won’t do something like that again.” There was so much to unpack in what he said, but his honesty and the fact that he communicated with her so eloquently made her feel like she had to be more upfront with him. Clearly, he was a good person, more mature than she was, and he had a wisdom about him that had proved to be a saving grace. “Can I hug you?” Rune blurted, almost in tears again. Ronan sighed with relief and opened his arms. Rune threw her own arms around him with such force that it backed him against the railing of the porch and she clung to him, just wanting to be close. “There’s really nothing to forgive. It wasn’t so much a boundary of mine as it is a wall. Casual sex isn’t usually my thing, but I had a moment like you did where your smell and touch had me a little—well, you saw. In the past all the sex I had involved kissing; it felt like romance to me. I’d think I was in love and then those relationships spiraled out in a blaze of glory. I felt like if I disconnected myself from that side of the things, the romance of the kiss, that it would just be a mutual enjoyment of sexual activity for the purpose of stress relief.” Rune took all the beauty of the act and sucked it dry with her words, whittling it down to some sort of means to an end. “Well, how did that go?” Ronan spoke down at her, his arms still draped around her waist. “I’ve discovered that I can’t fully disconnect myself that way. I can’t separate the act from my emotions. I let you kiss me; I didn’t stop you. I got just as wrapped up in the moment like you did and—it fucking scared me. What’s done is done; we just can’t do it again.” Rune felt exposed once more and that meant it was time to disengage. She let go of Ronan and gently pushed herself up to a standing position, hovering by the stairs. “I’m exhausted. Will you make sure all the doors are locked when you come in?” Rune asked before she walked inside, not giving Ronan a chance to reply. He sat there for a few minutes, thinking about her words and what she said, before he finally let himself back inside and set about shutting every door behind him on his way back down into the bunker. When he entered the living room, he saw that Rune was already asleep in her own bed and a pillow and fresh blankets had been laid on the sofa. Ina and Liza was playing softly on the television and the lights had already been cut off, just a strand of Christmas lights above Rune’s bed and the TV provided any light. Ronan wondered if Rune was actually asleep or not, but he thought it better if he stayed quiet the rest of the night and just went to sleep. The day felt like it lasted forever, with one high energy event after the other, and it was time that the two of them disconnected from the reality they were in and tackled the next thing in the morning.
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Photo by Micah Boswell on Unsplash"Revelations"
“That’s a pretty decent sized bank for a small town.” Ronan commented as the truck pulled up in front of the old building. “It’s got to be; it’s the only one around for thirty miles.” Rune was already getting out of the vehicle before Ronan had even cut it off. He climbed out right behind her and reached into the bed for the box. The whole time he had been around it, he hadn’t heard a peep from the thing. Regardless, he believed that it was affecting Rune; she hadn’t acted this way until she came into contact with the object. But since their tense interaction back at Erik’s house, she seemed to be doing better, although he wasn’t going to chance it; they had to lock the box up. “Makes sense. Fancy.” Ronan caught up with Rune as she checked to see if the door was locked. “Old. It has been remodeled a few times, but this building was one of the first in the town. The people that held accounts here were grandfathered in by their family and generally had their parent’s accounts bequeathed to them and then integrated into one to keep the name.” Rune pulled the handle, but the door didn’t budge; locked tight. “How very royal family of them. We gonna have to break the glass?” Ronan asked, holding up the blanket covered box. “I have a better idea because I’d rather leave that extra barrier between me and the box. This bank is old and everyone knows everyone, so they never really bothered with any fancy security, just a guard or two. I’m pretty sure I can pick the lock without any trouble.” Rune held her finger up for Ronan to wait and dashed back to the truck. She climbed inside the cab and popped the glove compartment, fishing around for anything that she could use to jimmy the lock. Her hand eventually fell upon a little leather pouch and she pulled it out to reveal—an actual lock picking kit. “You know this was in there?” Rune strolled back, holding up the kit. Ronan cocked his head to the side with a look of amusement as he replied, “I sure did because it’s mine.” “You could’ve said something.” Rune breezed past him and crouched down in front of the door to have a better look at the lock. “I could have, but it was cute watching you get all excited on the hunt for something to pick a lock.” Ronan chuckled, leaning up against the opposite door. Rune felt herself blush red-hot and tried to hide her face by pretending to be deeper into what she was doing than was necessary. She was right about the lock, however, and quickly had it picked. It clicked once the pins were moved and she pulled it open for Ronan to go first. “And they say chivalry is dead.” He scoffed jokingly as he walked past her and she followed up behind. They stopped in the lobby and looked around for a moment. Everything looked just like it should have because the bank was most likely closed already when the meteor shower appeared. It did seem like there may have been an employee or two still there after hours, but they left little evidence behind. “Where to?” Ronan asked, cradling the balled up blanket in his arms. “Back here. We may need to see if there is a vault key somewhere in the office because we are going to need that first. Then it’s through that door.” Rune pointed at a closed, most certainly locked, vault behind some open metal doors. Rune took off into the office and rummaged around in drawers till she found a set of keys that let her open up a lock box on the wall—there was the big key to the vault. “Got it!” She hollered, coming out of the office triumphantly with key in hand. I know you can hear me. Do not let him put me in that vault! You have to listen to me! He is the enemy! You can’t overcome if you don’t listen to me. There’s still time…kill him! KILL HIM! The voice hit Rune like a freight train. She felt her knees go weak and her head start to swim, but before she hit the ground, she felt warm, calloused hands catch her and she was able to keep herself from blacking out. “Rune. Rune,” Ronan brushed stray hairs away from her face, “Are you ok? Did you hear it again?” Rune winced, exhaling loudly before she pushed herself away from Ronan and steadied herself up against the teller counter. She stood upright, blinked a few times, and then finally spoke, “Let’s just get that thing put away before I lock myself in the vault just so I don’t have to hear its shit.” Ronan nodded, thinking it better to not push her, and followed as she unlocked the vault. Between the two of them, they were able to get it open and were met with stacks and stacks of currency as well as one whole wall that was nothing but safety deposit boxes from top to bottom. “What number?” Ronan asked, setting the blanketed box onto a table that stood in the middle of the room. “Nine. Her family was one of the firsts even though she wasn’t born here.” Rune pointed to a drawer on the other side of the room. It was a rather large one, one of the biggest, and seemed to house plenty of space for their new ‘friend’. Rune handed the key to Ronan and he went to unlock the drawer, leaving Rune too close to the black metal box. Do it now. His back is turned. Do what you are supposed to do so you can get out of this! You’re just prolonging the inevitable, prolonging your own demise—and his. If you care about him, you’ll kill him. It just wouldn’t stop and Rune was trying so hard to ignore its words, even when they were muffled. She was too close now and she could feel her head start to cloud, her mind twisting at the words of the little black metal box. But there was something deep down inside of her that was stronger than the influence of that box and Rune felt herself snatch the blanket, box and all, and sling it across the room to the adjacent wall. It exploded with loose bills, raining down like autumn leaves all around the room while Ronan yelped, startled at her sudden outburst. When he turned to see what had happened, he found Rune, chest heaving with fists clenched, her eyes wide and unreadable. “Was that your way of telling it to shut the fuck up?” Ronan asked cautiously, not sure what had happened. Rune said nothing; she just closed her eyes and slowly sank to the floor, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes. “Yup, that’s it! No more box.” Ronan rattled, stomping across the room before he picked up the now bare box. He carried it over to the safety deposit box that was awaiting him, open. Before he could dump it in and lock the box, he noticed that there was a rather thick accordion file and another black box, similar to the one in his hand except it was smaller and had no light on the top. Ronan wondered if he should just leave it in there, but now he was intrigued by the similarities. He pulled the file folder and smaller box out, gently set them on the ground, and then dumped the first black box into the deep vault. Don’t let him put me away! You need to listen to me! STOP HIM! “NO!” Rune suddenly blurted, coming to her feet. She marched over to Ronan, took the keys from his hand, pushed him aside and slammed the drawer shut before she locked it and stuffed the keys into the front pocket of Ronan’s jacket. “Can we go now?” She asked rather aggressively. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.” Ronan nodded, scooping up the file folder and small metal box as he followed Rune out of the vault, through the bank, and to the truck. The two didn’t say more than a few words on the ride back to Rune’s house. She was still trying to shake the effects of the box as she put distance between them, while Ronan was trying to fully understand what was going on. As if it wasn’t weird enough that the whole world just up and vanished, now his friend was being psychologically tortured by a little black box they had to lock up in the bank. It was all very strange, but there had to be some sort of explanation for it…he just didn’t know what. When they got to the house, Rune immediately got out of the car, but Ronan stayed put. He had come here out of fear and worry to check on her, but not necessarily stay. She was fine, at least for now, and he knew how she felt about them meeting in person, and in a way, he felt like he violated that. She was safe, she was home, he could go. “Ronan, are you coming?” Rune had stopped in the front lawn and turned herself halfway round to call to him. Ronan finally had a moment where they weren’t wrapped up in total chaos for him to really see who he had befriended, to put a face to the voice he had talked to for over a month. Rune was much shorter than he had gleaned from the way she spoke over the radio; she had to be at least two heads shorter than him. She was solid from head to toe: thick legs, broad shoulders, and full hips. Her hair was wild and wavy, dyed a mossy green at one point before her auburn hair had grown out at the root. She had kept the hood up on her jacket from the moment he met her, but she now took it down as she approached the truck. “Earth to Ronan. Come in.” Rune reached through the open window and poked Ronan in the shoulder. “I heard you.” Ronan stared at her blankly, noticing the wide, stormy sage colored eyes that looked back at him behind freckled cheeks, “You sure you want me to come in?” “If you were going to kill me, I would assume you’d have done it by now. It’s late; almost six. Plus, it looks like it’s going to rain again and you shouldn’t drive these roads around here when it’s raining.” Rune gripped the windowsill with her hands as she spoke. “I don’t know. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” Ronan protested, but Rune wasn’t having it. “Ronan,” She placed her hand on his arm and his skin instantly prickled with the sensation, “I have been worried sick about you for the past few weeks. I have plenty of space here, plenty of food and supplies; why don’t you just stay?” Ronan was surprised. She was inviting him to stay—but for how long? He didn’t want to intrude on her space or take her supplies, but he didn’t want to go back to his flat even more. He had nothing there; not much food, no hot water, a small gas grill that barely cooked his food. On top of the fact that he was so utterly alone and just having her next to him, her touch, made him never want to leave. “Ro-o-nan—” Rune whined, a grin on her face as she gently shook his arm, “Please, give me an answer. I’m hungry and I really have to pee. Come inside and watch Ina and Liza with me and I’ll make us something to eat.” How could he resist when she asked so sweetly? Ronan started to laugh, “Fine, fine. I’ll come in for a bit.” He grabbed his bag from behind the seat and stuffed the accordion file and small box into it before he climbed out of the truck and followed Rune on her usual route to the bunker. Ronan didn’t really have the time to check everything out earlier, but he was amazed at the size of the bunker and how cozy Rune had made it with her own touch. He noticed that her bed was in one corner of the living room, opposite the couch, just like she said. She really didn’t want to spread herself too thin through the vast space because it made her anxious and now he understood why. “You can turn the TV on if you want. I’m too tired to cook anything fancy, but I’ve got pre-made meals in the deep freezer.” Rune pointed at the television as she breezed past into the kitchen. Ronan didn’t move. He knew that he could just relax and be himself, but the events of the day had really done a number on his brain and he was still trying to process it all. Meanwhile, Rune seemed just fine even though she incurred the brunt of everything. Ronan watched as she walked around in the kitchen, going to a deep freezer next to the fridge before she pulled out a large reusable zipper bag and set it on the counter, all the while humming softly. There was a large pot already on the stove and Rune went and retrieved a collapsible water container to fill it before she turned on the eye. All of her movements were methodical, though, almost robotic as she followed a routine that she could do in her sleep. Something she could control. She was not fine. “You need help in there?” Ronan called out from the living room as Rune bustled about, now rummaging through the fridge. Rune didn’t even pause in her ritual as she responded, “No, but thank you. I’m just going to get this water boiling and then simmer the bag till it thaws. Should be done in about half an hour.” Ronan wasn’t going to push her; he didn’t know how she processed things and he was having a hard time himself, so he could only imagine. Instead, he decided to put on their show and settle his bag close to the couch where he took a seat and stared blankly at the screen, listening to Rune cook. “You doing ok out here?” Rune startled Ronan when she appeared at the kitchen door and came out into the living area. “Right as rain.” Ronan nodded, crossing and uncrossing his legs. Rune gave him a strange look before she sat down on the couch a few feet from him and mimicked his actions. She was quiet, stealing glances at Ronan every so often. Their initial meeting had been so abrupt and hectic, forcing them to work together to fix a problem, but now that the danger had worn off, Ronan seemed awkward and uncomfortable. Rune wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that she sort of tried to kill him. She wanted to say something, but she didn’t know what. Instead, she continued to sit there, willing time to go by faster so she could keep herself busy in the kitchen. “You gonna say something, or should I?” Ronan’s voice interrupted Rune’s racing thoughts and she turned towards him. “You already did.” Rune shrugged lightly. Ronan heaved a heavy sigh, “We gonna talk about what happened then?” “What is there to talk about?” Rune adjusted herself on the sofa uncomfortably. Ronan stared at her, slack jawed, before he responded, “Oh, I dunno. The fact that you just spent over a week under the influence of a demonic metal box that had you convinced that your whole existence wasn’t real? Or maybe how it tried to get you to kill me?” Rune made a pained sound in the back of her throat, her brow furrowed; she couldn’t hide the agony those words caused her. “That came out all wrong. I’m not upset with you over that; you know that, right?” Ronan gestured at her, scooting closer on the sofa. Rune hesitated before she spoke, “How could you not be? I could have killed you—” “But you didn’t.” “But I could have,” Rune argued, “I could have because I am not well in the head and sometimes can’t tell fact from fiction. And instead of just acknowledging it, I try to avoid it by pretending that everything is ok. Then, maybe, I can just ignore it enough to function like a semi-normal human being.” Ronan took a moment to gather his thoughts before he spoke, “It took advantage of you, Rune. Of your illness. But the fact that you continued to question it and deny what it wanted, shows how strong you are. I don’t know what is going on with everything, but I do know that two heads are better than one when it comes to figuring shite out. I’d be shooting meself in the foot if I let a little attempted murder incident get in the way of making a valuable friendship in a world where it might possibly just be the two of us.” The lighthearted, joking way that Ronan put it made Rune smile a little as she thought about everything that happened in a logical way, now that she was actually able to. She was being too hard on herself and should give herself more credit for the strength that Ronan seemed to notice. Rune had been holding it all together for too long; trying to be strong and she was just so very tired at this point. So, so tired of keeping it all in. The alarm that Rune set for dinner went off just as the dam was about to break and she excused herself hastily, dabbing discreetly at her eyes before she disappeared into the kitchen again. She returned a few minutes later, balancing two metal bowls on one arm and a box of crackers in the other. Ronan stood to help her, but she waved him off as she dipped into the kitchen one more time and returned with two glasses and a bottle of whiskey. “I don’t know if you drink, but I figured it was well earned.” Rune held up the bottle and Ronan just nodded with a smile. She poured them each a glass and handed Ronan a bowl of what appeared to be stew before she took her own and sat back down on the couch, just a little bit closer this time. “It’s lamb stew; pretty fresh. I didn’t kill it, but Erik had the bag labeled.” Rune gestured with her bowl before she blew on her spoon full of stew and took a bite. Ronan attempted a mouthful of his own and nodded in approval; it was the first really good, hot meal he had had in a while. The two watched Ina and Liza for a bit, finishing up their stew and crackers before they moved on to the whiskey. In about an hour, half the bottle was gone and the two had turned down the TV so it was just a low hum in the background as they chatted about their youth and indulged in stories full of nostalgia and their love for similar things. “Favorite band?” Ronan asked, lounged back on the arm of the sofa with his glass in hand. “I prefer the classics; Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie. I could go on.” Rune was laying upside down with her head where her feet should have been and her legs thrown over the back of the couch. “Top five, but my favorite is Iron Maiden.” Ronan compared, finishing off his glass. “Ah, I love Run to the Hills. Favorite book?” It was rune’s turn to ask a question. “Hmm…you ever read American Gods by Neil Gaiman?” Ronan asked, sitting up slowly so his head didn’t spin. “Neil is one of my top five and yes I have. I love old Sherlock Holmes stories, but Stephen King novels are also a favorite of mine.” Rune replied, setting her glass on the table while still upside down before she slowly let her legs fall to the cushions, careful not to kick Ronan as she did so. Ronan stared at Rune with blurry eyes as he watched her settle in to the sofa upright with just a little bit more whiskey in her glass. She was about as drunk as he was, just enough that neither of them were worried about anything, only enjoying the company of one another. But in his drunken state, he remembered the file folder and the black box he had taken from the vault and felt like right then was a good time to tell her about it; he didn’t want to keep any secrets from her. “Rune,” He blurted, “I found something in your gran’s safety deposit box. I should have said something sooner, but we were in such a rush to get out of there, I forgot.” Ronan picked his backpack up off the ground and unzipped it, pulling out the file folder and the small black box. Rune watched as he did so, her eyes widening momentarily when she saw the similar, smaller box in his hand. “I—I don’t think it is like the other. There’s no light or switches or anything. And this was in there with it.” Ronan handed her the file folder, but kept a hold on the box. Rune’s hand shook as she took the folder and clumsily unwound the cord that held the flap of the folder down. She hesitated before pulling out a stack of various papers and other material. Before she could catch it, a slip of paper fell from the pile and landed between her and Ronan. It was a newspaper clipping from twenty years ago with a very familiar headline. “Aurora Meteor Shower Wreaks Havoc on Small Town of Imellom,” Ronan read the headline aloud while Rune started to flip through the stack of papers, “ The Aurora Meteor Shower that lights up the sky in October like clockwork every twenty years, came a little too close for comfort for one small Scandinavian town. Fragments from the shower somehow made it through Earth’s atmosphere intact and violently crashed down into the town causing electrical outages, property damage, and even a fire at a farm on the outskirts of the town. Some of the rock fragments were recovered by local townspeople, but none made it into the hands of scientific officials.” Rune was listening as she thumbed through the papers. There were things that she expected to be in there: a copy of the deed to the house and her gran’s will, Rune’s diagnosis papers for her illness, paperwork from doctors she had seen after waking from her coma. But there were things that should have been there that weren’t: Rune’s birth certificate (her gran’s and granpa’s were in there), her mother’s birth certificate or death certificate, literally nothing from when she was a child and not a trace of her mother. “I didn’t know that meteor showers could make it down to Earth like that. But then again, I didn’t know that they could abduct people either.” Ronan handed the newspaper clipping back to Rune, but she didn’t take it, instead choosing to stare intently at a sheet of worn, lined paper in her hand. All the color had drained from her face, her eyes glassy, lips drawn away from her teeth. In her lap was a photo that Ronan couldn’t see clearly, but she must have looked at it already. Her hands were shaking, but she wasn’t making a sound. “Rune, what is it?” Ronan asked cautiously, not sure what she had discovered. She didn’t say anything, but her eyes lifted to his as she extended her hand with the paper towards him. He took it from her and began to read: Dearest Nora, I think it best if we communicate this way until all the chaos dies down; we don’t want anyone to know about our little secret just yet. We have to figure out a plan to integrate her into our lives and the town. I have a friend who may be able to draw up some papers for you so that you can make an adoption look legitimate, or maybe we can claim that she is your granddaughter since no one has heard from Elisabeth in years and they don’t know about what happened; they don’t have to know all of the details. Then we have to decide what to do when she wakes up because we don’t know anything about her or what she might remember. Can we help her find her way back? If she stays, will she be able to adjust? We don’t know anything about her kind, so we must be careful. And then what shall we do about the pod? I went back to find it in the daylight, but I couldn’t remember exactly where we were. I want to study it, study the meteor fragments and maybe discover where she came from, or at least where she’s been. Either way, I know you care for her already and I will do my damnedest to make sure that she, and you, are safe. But we have to be prepared for anything when she wakes up. Burn this after you read it; we can’t have anyone else finding out. ~Erik The words confused Ronan. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was reading, but he assumed that it was a letter from Rune’s neighbor to her grandmother. They were talking about someone related to the meteor shower as if—as if the shower brought this person down from space. It was cryptic, but there were just enough context clues for Ronan to understand why Rune was seemingly in shock. “That’s about me, isn’t it?” Rune finally spoke, her voice cool and flat. “I can’t really say either way.” Ronan didn’t want to feed into something that may have been nothing. “The letter mentioned Elisabeth. That was the name my gran gave me for my mother. He spoke about faking an adoption because they found someone out there after that destructive meteor shower,” Rune pointed towards the wall, “That letter is talking about me.” Rune’s eyes were wide and fixed; her cheeks flushed, and mouth slightly agape. She was breathing hard, her chest heaving up and down rapidly as her breath came in quick, ragged gasps. She was starting to have a panic attack. Ronan instinctually sprang into action, moving closer to Rune before he slipped his hands into hers and spoke softly, “Rune, listen to my voice. Deep breath in, hold, and out. You hear me?” Rune couldn’t think straight. It was as if a very important wall inside her head had crumbled and everything she knew was a farce. She hadn’t been in some coma, there was no horse riding accident, her mother didn’t die while she was recovering…the only thing she knew that was real was from the age of fifteen on, and even then, her mental illness made that a little fuzzy. She could hear Ronan talking to her, but she was practically sitting beside herself and couldn’t be bothered with reality. “Rune, can you hear me?” Ronan asked again. Her body had begun to shake, but she was still unresponsive. “Breathe, love. I need you to breathe.” Ronan spoke in a soothing tone, but she still didn’t seem to hear him. Her body had gone rigid as she gave into the panic and she could no longer hold herself up as she pitched to the side. Ronan had to catch her for the second time in twenty-four hours before she smacked her head on the coffee table. This was unlike any panic attack she had ever had before, but luckily Ronan seemed to know what to do. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back up onto the sofa. He didn’t let go, however, but instead held on to her, cradling her head to his chest as he stroked her hair and whispered to her. “It’s alright; I’m here. I just need you to breathe deep for me. Please, love.” Ronan whispered softly into her ear. Rune could hear him now. His voice was faint at first; but the tone, the accent, comforted her. It had become a constant in her life, if even for just a short while, but it was the realest thing she had now. He wasn’t a lie; he was real. He was right there; touching her, holding her. No matter what she did or what happened, he wouldn’t run. Ronan wasn’t afraid of her; his feelings towards her were real. Here he was, embracing her, trying to talk her down instead of making an exit and never looking back. She didn’t want to worry him like she was; it wasn’t fair… So, she took a deep breath. Steady in and gently out. She took another and another, her hands softening at her side before she lifted them slowly to Ronan’s face. He jumped a little when her fingers met the sides of his face, but immediately relaxed when he realized that she was coming down from her attack. Ronan wrapped his arms tighter around her as she encircled her arms around his neck. “What am I?” Rune whispered into Ronan’s chest, vibrating his skin. “Real. But does it matter what exactly, at least right now? You’ll drive yourself crazy if you focus on this tonight.” Ronan replied, resting his chin on the top of her head. “You’re probably right about that.” Rune returned. She was actually more focused on Ronan than anything at that moment. Rune wasn’t usually interested in others sexually, it wasn’t something she had ever had a real interest in, but in that moment something was different. Ronan’s strong arms wrapped protectively around her, his soothing voice speaking to her in such a calm way, the way his body felt against hers. He still smelled like leather, cigarettes, and wood smoke, but there was a hint of something else that aroused her, something wild and feral. A primal, instinctual scent…or maybe she was just so wound up from everything that she was imaging how she was feeling. “You alright? You’re breathing weird again.” Ronan’s voice cut into Rune’s musings. Her breath caught in her throat and she pushed herself away from Ronan, climbing off the couch to walk it off. It wasn’t like she had never had sex before and this idea was a novel one, it was just that it had never been an idea she really had on her own. But then again, she had never met someone that she connected with like she did Ronan. It was all so foreign to her. “What’s going on? You need to take it easy or you’re going to have another panic attack.” Ronan had gotten up off the sofa himself, and had followed Rune as she walked around the living room aimlessly. “I’m fine. I’m not going to have another panic attack.” Rune lied. She felt like she was about to at any moment. She felt silly that she was acting this way, but just the thought of being tangled up in Ronan seemed like such a good way to release all the pent up stress that had built inside of her for months. But she felt guilty because the two were just friends. All Ronan wanted was a friend and here Rune was, having inappropriate thoughts about the poor man. It was all out of character for her. Ronan trailed her around the room for a few minutes before he reached for her hand and spun her around to face him, “Hey! What’s going on? You’re going to burn a hole in the floor if you keep pacing like that.” She might as well just tell him, “I—I had a moment back there when we were holding each other and it made me feel things that I don’t usually feel and now I’m conflicted, so—” Rune shrugged, pulling her hand from his as she went to turn and walk away, but Ronan grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer to him. “What do you mean?” Ronan had a slight smirk on his face, eyebrow raised in question. Rune sighed loudly, “Oh, come on. You really gonna make me say it? It’s weird enough as it is.” Ronan started to laugh, “Yeah, because I’m not going to assume anything in this situation. What are you trying to say?” It was pointless to be embarrassed over this. She was only human, sort of, and Ronan probably understood what she was feeling. If he didn’t, she hoped that he would at least forget what she was about to say and let her down easy. “I—I kinda want to… you know. I’m not good at this sort of thing.” The words that came out of her mouth didn’t give any more detail, but she had said it and couldn’t take it back now. She just wanted to run far, far away and bury her head in the dirt. A sly smile crept across Ronan’s face, his brow knit as he looked down at Rune. “Yeah. And that’s weird, why?” He asked, pulling Rune close enough that his hips were pressed lightly against her. “Because I don’t normally feel that way about people; just not interested. Then again, most of the people I’ve been involved with turned out to be real pricks, so maybe it has something to do with the fact that we’re close and I feel safe with you—and apparently I’m turned on by that. I don’t know.” Rune was thoroughly embarrassed, but Ronan felt so warm and solid up against her. His hand that had been on her waist had made its way to her hip, and she felt her heartbeat quicken. Ronan didn’t say anything. He just continued to look at her with that slight smirk on his face; an inquisitive look in his eyes. “Well, say something!” Rune finally blurted, feeling like she was going to explode from the embarrassment. “Is it going to be weird between us?” He finally asked. Rune wasn’t sure what he meant, “Is what going to be weird?” “If we do this.” Ronan’s tone was deep. He slipped his hand behind Rune’s head and gently pushed the hair away from her neck before he pressed his body fully against her and grazed her neck with his lips. Rune let out a rough gasp as she gripped the front of his shirt with both hands. “Are we doing this?” Rune’s words were punctuated by heady breaths as Ronan continued to kiss down her neck to her collar bone. “You can stop me any time.” He paused in his movements to reply. But Rune didn’t want him to stop. She let her instincts take over as her hands ran the length of Ronan’s torso before tugging at his belt. He continued to kiss her neck, working his lips over the exposed bits of her collar bone. Rune had finally freed him of his belt and was deftly working at the button and zipper on his trousers as he released his grip on her and pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it to the floor. He was covered from neck to waist, and shoulder to wrist in tattoos that Rune hadn’t been able to see before, and this sight seemed to raise the stakes in her attraction towards him. “Dear God.” She breathed and Ronan blushed, exhaling as he narrowed his eyes at her. He threw his arm around her waist again and hoisted her up, cutting the light off in the living room, before he laid her down on the couch and knelt over her. “You still on board with this?” He checked with her again, making sure that this is what she really wanted to do. She nodded, suddenly feeling self-conscious, but this is exactly what she wanted right now. Ronan smoothly began to unbutton the flannel that Rune had on, gently peeling it away from her skin to expose her bare midriff and full breasts bound by several sports bras that were clearly too tight. Her skin felt like velvet under his fingertips as he trailed them over her chest and down her stomach. Rune shivered at this sensation, her eyes closed as she breathed softly. Rune needed no help in taking off her leggings, at least not until they got to her feet and the two were left laughing as Ronan tried to untangle them from her ankles. The two were now fairly equal in their state of undress. Ronan gently parted Runes legs and positioned himself between them before he reached down and brushed the hair from her eyes; he wanted to see her face. He had felt exactly what she had when the two were so close; the scent of her hair and skin stirring something inside of him that was different from anything else he had felt. There was some sort of connection there and he wondered if she felt it too. “Do we need to set ground rules before we start?” Rune asked quietly, reaching out to run her fingers over Ronan’s stomach, causing him to shudder. “If you want. I’m probably a bit rusty, but I think I remember where to put everything.” Ronan joked, and it made Rune feel more comfortable about the thing that she was going to do that she never did. “Well, it’s just sex, yeah? I don’t want to ruin our friendship, so maybe no kissing? Kissing just makes people fall in love even when they’re not. It’s gotten me in trouble a few times.” Rune replied, her tongue in her cheek. Ronan hadn’t expected that, but she did have a point, sort of. He didn’t want them to fall into a different dynamic and then have their friendship crumble to the point they hated each other in the end. This was just about sex—sex between friends as a way to let off some steam after so many crazy months. “Ok, no kissing. Are we allowed position changes?” Ronan arched an eyebrow at her and it caused her to roll her eyes with a laugh. “I think that should be fine. Oh, but the bras and the shirt stay on; that’s the only other rule I have. Don’t ask why; I don’t want to get into it.” Rune was firm on that last rule, her arms crossing over her chest as she spoke about it. “Right. No kissing, bra and shirt stays on.” Ronan nodded, but his eyes were fixed on Rune. “Yup.” Rune replied, but neither of them budged. Finally, Ronan made a move, “Right. Let’s do this.” Rune laughed again at the awkward way they were going about things, but that laugh was cut short when Ronan’s mouth found her neck again, his hand tangled in her hair as he explored her skin with his lips. Warmth radiated from his body as he pressed against her, still propping himself up with one long leg so he didn’t put his full weight on her. But Rune wanted him closer. She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him down to her level, burying her face in the crook of his neck where she nibbled along his collar bone. Ronan elicited a throaty moan, this action from her causing him to reach up under her backside with his free hand as he rocked his hips against her. Rune cried out in surprise, but this move only made her grip him harder, raking her nails heavily down Ronan’s back. That’s all it took. Ronan had her underwear off so quickly that Rune didn’t even have time to think before he was pressed up against her, his own boxer briefs dangling from the foot closest to the edge of the sofa. Their eyes locked and for a split second Rune felt bare and exposed, but Ronan put her unease to rest when he began to gently kiss her neck again as he gripped her hips and slowly pushed inside her. The sensation that rippled through Rune’s body caused her to grip Ronan’s back with her nails. This action seemed to spur him on and his movements became deeper, rhythmic, as he held her close. Rune matched his movements, burying her face in the crook of his neck as she held on, not wanting him to get too far away from her. The act was gentle, but deliberate, the two easily falling into a pattern of movements in sync with one another as if they had done this many times before. The two were quiet at first, as if they had to hide what they were doing before it dawned on them that they were possibly the only two people alive on the planet and they could be as loud and energetic as they liked. Finally, Ronan spoke, pausing in the act, “You did say something about position changes, yeah?” Rune scoffed, but nodded and Ronan took this as the go ahead to flip her upright and switch positions so that she was on top. She yelped at the sudden movement, a sound that resulted in the two of them laughing before Ronan took hold of her hips and rocked them forward, causing Rune to let out a gruff moan as she tossed her head back and gripped Ronan’s chest with her nails. He repeated the move, again and again and again, until they both were breathless and shaking, close to that stress-relief they were looking for. Ronan could tell that Rune was close by the way her body vibrated on top of him and he responded to this by sitting up on the couch, propped back on the pillows so that he was angled just right. Rune went limp for a second, her head cocked to the side with a look of complete pleasure on her face; he had definitely read her body correctly. He began his rocking movements again, gathering Runes legs around him so that he was deep inside her as he slowly bucked his hips, causing her to cry out in delight. She soon matched the movements again and Ronan could feel her begin to vibrate once more, the sensation of her body’s rhythmic movements causing him to throb, close to release. Caught up in their blissful act, the two hadn’t realized that they had leaned into one another, their foreheads pressed together as Ronan held Rune’s face in his hands as she took over. Her movements were hypnotizing, the smell of her skin intoxicating, and in that moment Ronan forgot the number one rule and wondered what she tasted like. He shouldn’t have, it was a bad idea, but something deep within his soul took over and he just couldn’t help himself. Her lips were so close to his, he could feel her breath on his skin—he didn’t think. Ronan brushed his lips against Rune’s and heard her breath catch at the sensation, her body seizing for a moment, tightening around him. She didn’t stop moving, however, and Ronan’s little taste of her lips had caused both of their bodies to react in an electrifying way. Her face was still pressed against his, her hand now behind his head as she rotated her hips in a circular motion, a move that set Ronan’s body on fire. There was no light brush of the lips this time, but a hungry kiss that Rune returned just as eagerly, holding to Ronan so tightly that he thought the two might meld into one. And then he felt it, that familiar quiver deep within his belly. Rune could feel the buildup too, her whole body beginning to shiver from the base of her spine all the way up to her neck. Their lips never parted as the two reached the threshold together, both crying out in sheer ecstasy at the release as they quivered in each other’s arms. They lay there for a moment, arms still wrapped around one another, when Rune suddenly pushed herself away and stood from the sofa, scrambling for her underwear before clumsily putting them on; she looked angry. “You promised,” She pointed her finger at a very naked Ronan, “You promised no kissing!” Ronan was afraid to get up because even with her size, he was convinced that Rune could beat the shit out of him and he had absolutely crossed a line. “I—I know and I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking, or I was and in that moment—” Ronan fumbled for the words to apologize, but he was falling short. Rune was breathing heavy, clearly trying to calm herself down, but she couldn’t find the right words to say herself. Instead, she thought it best for her to walk away from the situation and clear her head. “I’m going to take a shower. When I’m done; you can have one if you want.” She spoke flatly to Ronan before she walked past him in her underwear and disappeared down a hall. "Realizations" Rune was completely lost in her thoughts as she walked down the middle of the street, reveling in the fact that she could actually hear herself think again. But her inner monologue was quickly disrupted with the sound of a heavy engine and all the logic that she had regained, went out the window. She took off at a sprint since she was already closing in on the library, and made her way to the front steps, moving behind a column as she heard the vehicle turn down her street. Rune couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
She could see it now, a bright red truck, as it puttered slowly up the street and stopped right in front of the library. The windows were so tinted that Rune couldn’t see in, but she waited with her breath held for them to step out of the vehicle. The door eventually popped open and a man got out, tall and thin with wildly curly hair cropped tight at the sides, and tattoos covering the exposed skin of his arms. He had sunglasses on, a thick black hooded sweatshirt under a leather jacket and fitted trousers of the same color tucked into laced leather boots. He smudged out a cigarette on the bottom of his shoe and tossed it into the bed of the truck before he started to walk with long strides towards the library. He was out of place and it made Rune nervous, especially since this was the first person she’d seen with her own eyes in so many months. Eventually, he was going to see her, and she would rather surprise this stranger first and have a fighting chance, just in case. She didn’t know why she was afraid to see another person, finally, but where the hell had they been all this time and why hadn’t she seen them before? Something wasn’t right and given her current state, she wasn’t going to let anyone get the drop on her. Rune jumped out from behind the column, brandishing the cheap knife and crowed, “Stop right where you are; don’t come any closer.” The stranger halted in his steps, arms at his side, before he slowly lifted one hand and took his sunglasses off to show stormy grey eyes, ringed in red as if he had recently been crying. He almost looked shocked to see her, but of course he would be; everyone had been gone for some time. “Who are you?” Rune blurted, still holding the knife out in front of her in case he rushed her, but based on his posture, he didn’t seem to have any fight in him. “Rune?” He finally spoke with an accent that made her stomach flip. A breath caught in her throat before she found the words to speak. “Ronan?” His name left her lips shakily and she reflexively dropped the knife. “Jaysus Christ, you scared the shit out of me.” Ronan breathed a sigh of relief and rushed the stairs, scooping Rune up in his arms, holding her closely. He smelled like cigarettes, worn leather, and wood smoke mingled with what she could only assume was Ronan, and even though she wasn’t usually an overly affectionate person, in that moment she didn’t want to let go. “How did you find me?” She finally pulled away long enough to look at his face; sure enough, he had been crying. “I told you I knew how to get here. The only thing I could think of was to come to the library; maybe you had run off to a place that comforts you. You literally had me worried sick,” Ronan took Rune’s face in his hands, “Now, do you believe I’m real?” Rune studied his face: the dark stubble on his cheeks and chin, the unique curve of his lips, the almost sad shape to his eyes. Just the sight of him made her breath catch; there was no way she could have created someone so perfectly. She just nodded before he pulled her into another hug and asked, “Where’s the box? Back at your house?” “Yes, I threw a book at it.” She admitted sheepishly. “Good; I think it deserved at least that much.” Ronan chuckled, finally releasing Rune from his grasp, “But what are we going to do about it?” Rune was surprised by his words again as she asked, “We?” “Yes, we. You not want my help?” Ronan raised an eyebrow at her. “Oh, no I do. I just—I wasn’t expecting this. I didn’t think you would go out of your way to find me.” Rune admitted, still totally dumbfounded that this was happening. “Really? I thought we were friends. You’ve been worrying me; you’ve worried me from the minute I heard your voice. Not that that’s a bad thing, but—I can’t even begin to deduce what is going on in your head. Like I said, I recognized that pain in your voice; I’ve been there. I—I really care about you, Rune. I wasn’t about to just sit around and let something happen to you if I could possibly stop it.” Ronan’s words were heartfelt and the notion hit Rune like a ton of bricks. She never thought about what she must have sounded like: so desperate, alone, and…suicidal. She was right there, right at the edge, but he found her before she did something stupid. He gave her hope. But despite all of that, she let some disembodied voice convince her that he wasn’t real, that she had made him up, when in reality she had never met a single living person like Ronan before, aside from her gran and Erik. And now she knew he was real. She could see him, she could smell him, she could touch him. That voice was a goddamn liar. “Thank you.” That was all she could find to say. She felt so vulnerable in that moment and was still a bit touched from her recent experience. She just wanted that part to be over. “Thank me once we get that box far away from here. What to you propose we do?” Ronan asked, gently nudging Rune down the stairs of the library. “Um, I don’t know. One of us is going to have to go get it and then we’re going to have to take it somewhere and dispose of it, but—” Ronan interjected, “But what?” “But I don’t think we should destroy it. I can’t explain it, but the note that was with it and the fact that Erik kept it like he did, it has to be important somehow.” Rune elucidated. Ronan thought about it for a moment before he spoke, “Ok, then what the hell do we do with it? You clearly can’t leave it in the house, so it’s going to have to go somewhere.” Rune may have had an idea; a way to keep the box safe, but get it away from her. “My gran’s safety deposit box. She has one of the bigger ones at the bank; maybe we can take it there and lock it up. It’s on the other side of town, so it’s far away from me.” “Good. Show me where you live and I’ll get it out of there.” Ronan instructed her as he helped Rune get in the truck and climbed into the driver seat. Rune gave him simple directions back to her house, but otherwise stayed quiet. She was afraid to get too close and wondered what the radius was for the voice’s influence. What would happen when they started to get nearer her house? “Tell me exactly where the box is. When we get there, you stay in the car, I’ll go in and grab it and then I want you to go in once I’m out, and find the keys for the lock box. You can toss them down to me from the stairs and I’ll go take it to the bank and lock it up.” Ronan instructed her as they turned onto her road. “No, I’m going with you. I don’t want you to get lost or anything.” Rune insisted that she go too and not stay behind. “How is that going to work? You can’t be around it and you know that. What do you think you are going to do stuck inside the cab of a truck in close quarters with that thing?” Ronan turned to her as she silently pointed out the house and he stopped. “I know; I just don’t want you to go alone. What if it affects you too?” Rune stared out the windshield at the front of her house. “Maybe it will, but you’ve been exposed to it longer and are more vulnerable. Just do what I tell you to, please? I don’t want to order you around, but I need you to be safe. Now, how do I get down to the bunker?” Ronan cut the truck off and turned to face Rune as he spoke. “Through the front door, down the hall to the kitchen, the door to the basement is on the right. Go down there, and to the corner under the stairs; there’s a door. Go through that door, follow the hallway down till the room opens up and there is a set of large, metal double doors. You’ll need my key.” Rune detailed the way there and then handed Ronan a key card that she pulled from her shirt. “Not to complain, but is there a quicker way out of there? If this thing does affect me like it did you, I want to be alone with it as little as possible.” Ronan was concerned with the length of the route. “I assume there is, but I haven’t found it. I mean, I haven’t really looked, but it was Erik’s bunker and I never saw him come in my house and go down to the basement, let alone get all this shit in there. I haven’t even tried to go into Erik’s house; I just stayed put in the bunker.” Rune confessed. “How big is it down there?” Ronan wondered the size and how long it would take him to find the room where the box was if he went in from a different direction. “Big. I haven’t searched the whole place because it sort of freaks me out, but I’m sure there is a door in there somewhere that leads into Erik’s house.” Rune assured him that there had to be another route in and out. “Ok. Stay out here; I’m going to go in through your house and try to find the doorway out through Erik’s house. Once I do, I can grab the box and come out that way. When you see me coming, go into your house and grab the keys for your gran’s safety deposit box.” Ronan formulated a new plan. Rune nodded and stayed put as Ronan got out of the car and sprinted towards her house, up the stairs, and disappeared inside. Now, she just had to wait, but fear was starting to eat her up. She could feel the voice not far away, whispering across the distance to her. It knew she was here and even though she wasn’t in the same space as it was, the voice echoed through the ground and straight into Rune’s mind. What are you doing? You just keep lying to him! Just because you’ve seen him, doesn’t make him real. The voice grew louder the more she tried to block it out and she began to feel trapped as it admonished her. She hastily popped the truck door open and scrambled out of the cab into the yard in a failed attempt to run away from the voice, but this only made it louder. Listen to me! If you can’t make him believe that you created him and end this, you’ll have to destroy him another way. Kill him. Go into Erik’s house and meet him inside. Find something to end him; he can’t continue to exist. You need to grow up and stop creating fairy tales! Rune was entranced, not able to resist the voice in that moment and all the confidence she had gained, that glimmer of hope, was dashed as her fear pushed her aside and took over. Just because she could see him, didn’t make Ronan real. She had experienced hallucinations before; she knew that. She was only hurting herself by continuing to perpetuate this fairy tale, as the voice put it. The only thing keeping her in here was her creation of Ronan and if he was out of the picture, she could wake up and go back to a normal life… Go. Go now. He’ll find the way out soon enough and you need to stop him before he gets any further. As if she was in some sort of trance, Rune obeyed, carrying herself to Erik’s front door where she found it unlocked. She let herself in to the smell of musty furniture and stale air. It was dim in there, the sun starting to settle on the horizon, but there was still enough light to cast an orange glow through the front of the house. She knew where Erik’s kitchen was, she also knew that he kept a gun in there on the wall. Rune didn’t like guns, but what a fitting way to kill her own creation with a weapon that she despised; it would truly mean permanence. That’s it. Take it. Take it and meet him in the front room. He’ll come out right there. Hurry! Rune took the gun off the wall and robotically checked to see if it was loaded before she cocked it and slowly walked to the living room. He would be there soon; she could tell because the voice was getting louder. It was only a short walk to the living room and she made it there before he did, standing in the open doorway with gun pointed into the room. The voice hadn’t told her where he would come out, but she could see everything from this point. He’s almost there. Don’t hesitate. End him. Erase him from this story so that you can close the book and wake up. Rune could hear footsteps now from somewhere below. It wasn’t long before a panel in the wall near the fireplace opened up and Ronan stepped out with her blanket balled up in his arms. He hadn’t seen her; she could just do it right now and he probably wouldn’t know it was coming. It would be so much easier according to the voice that continued to talk in such a volume that Rune thought her eardrums might burst. But she couldn’t. Ronan looked up in that moment and saw her standing there, a blank look on her face and a gun in her hand. It was vaguely pointed in his direction, but her finger wasn’t on the trigger. “Rune, what are you doing?” He asked cautiously, not moving a muscle. Light came back into her eyes momentarily as she responded, “It told me to kill you. To grow up and stop creating fairy tales. That I can’t keep carrying on with this lie anymore. But I can’t. I can’t do it.” Rune’s hand with the gun started to shake, but she still held it up like she was ready to fire any moment. “Goddamn it. I never should have brought you here; I should have left you back at the library.” Ronan exhaled hard, mad at himself for not thinking this through better. He saw the state she was in earlier; he should have left her behind and gone back for her when it was all taken care of. Of course he would say that. It’s harder to erase something that’s outside your reach. “Shut up.” Rune growled under her breath, the gun lowering in her hand. “Rune, you have to fight this. I know you’re stronger than whatever this is.” Ronan began to plead with her. Don’t let your own mind manipulate you! Shoot him! Shoot him now before he stops you! “It wants me to shoot you, Ronan. It keeps yelling at me to shoot you, shoot you before you stop me.” Rune started, her voice quivering as she spoke. Don’t be weak. What do you think you are doing? No! That’s not how you get out of this! That won’t work! Rune raised the gun again and Ronan recoiled a bit, but the gun didn’t stop at him and instead lifted all the way to Rune’s temple. “I can’t kill you. Even if you aren’t real—besides Gran, you’ve been the realest thing that I have ever had in my life. But this won’t stop and I won’t ever be happy if it doesn’t and since I can’t kill you, I have to kill—” Rune took a deep breath and held it as she closed her eyes. “No! Rune! Fight it! I am real; all of this is real! This box is fucking with your mind!” Ronan screamed, pain clearly evident in his words. “Of course you would say that.” Rune echoed the words of the voice as she shakily held the gun close to her head. “Please, please just put the gun down and let’s get out of here. Let’s get rid of the box and you’ll see. You said you believed I was real.” Ronan tossed the balled up blanket containing the box onto the sofa and slowly began to walk towards Rune. SHOOT HIM! The voice was so loud that it caused Rune to jerk, the gun going off, firing a bullet into the ceiling. Ronan flinched, ducking before he realized that it was an accident and Rune looked just as scared as he was. He crept closer to her, all the while pleading, “Rune, please. How can I prove to you that this isn’t a hallucination? There has to be a way.” You’re letting your own mind manipulate you. You’re weak. You’re weak and crazy. The voice hissed in Rune’s head, the words burrowing deep under her skin. She might be crazy, but she most certainly was not weak. Why would her not taking orders barked from a formless voice make her weak? Why would not killing someone she cared about, even if she did create him, make her weak? She was willing to take her own, very real, life so that she didn’t have to harm this potential figment, someone that she deeply cared for. So, what did that say about her mind? No hallucination she ever had was this real to the point where she couldn’t discern reality from fiction, even when she went without her meds, so why would it be different now? If anything Ronan was real, and the voice was Rune’s sick way of self-sabotage. But then there was the box and the fact that she vaguely remembered feeling some other way not too long ago when she had left the bunker… “Rune.” Ronan’s voice snapped her from her fog for the moment, “What do I need to do to prove to you that I’m real.” Touch. Touch always did it. When she would have her worst episodes, her gran would hold her close or lay Rune’s head in her lap and tell her that she was going to be ok, that this wasn’t real and even though Rune didn’t always know she was there, she could still feel the warmth and love from her grandmother, her physical touch coaxing Rune back to reality. Rune dropped the gun to her side, fixing her eyes on Ronan. She reached out her free hand to him and uttered two words, “Touch me.” Ronan’s brow knit in confusion, but he reached his hand out and briefly skimmed her fingers with his. Quickly, he gripped her hand and yanked her towards him, plucking the gun from her grasp before he tossed it onto the sofa. Rune instantly broke down in tears as Ronan held her up against his body, his long arms wrapped tightly around her. “See? I’m here. I’m very real, love.” Ronan whispered down at her. Rune sobbed, fingernails clinging to Ronan’s leather jacket as she tried to calm herself. The voice was still yelling at her, but it seemed so far away, even if the box was sitting right on the sofa. Ronan pulled her away from his body and wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumb before he sternly spoke, “Now, I want you to go get that key and let me take care of this.” “I’ll get the key, but I’m going with you. We’ll put that son of a bitch in the bed of the truck and we’ll go together.” Rune insisted. “Rune, not to sound like a dick, but you almost killed yourself just now because of that box; you’re not going with me and that’s final.” Ronan turned to grab the box from where he had tossed it, but Rune caught him by the hand and pulled him back to her. “No disrespect, but you can get fucked. If you’re going; I’m going. I can still hear it, but I’m ok. I can’t run from this; you have to let me bury it again, so to speak.” Rune was firm in her response. Ronan glared at her for a moment before his face softened and he heaved a heavy sigh, “Stubborn. Of course you’d be just as stubborn as me.” He grabbed the balled up blanket with the box inside and motioned with his head for Rune to follow him through the living room and out the open front door. The two walked to the truck, Ronan tossed the blanket with the box in the bed, and then the two climbed inside the cab. “Lead the way, Captain Stubborn.” Ronan turned the ignition and waited for Rune to direct him. “Funny,” She frowned at him, “Go the way you came back into town, but we will pass the turn for the library and keep going. That road literally dead ends into the bank.” Rune crossed her arms and waited while Ronan backed out of the driveway and headed in the direction of the bank. "The voices say you're not real" But they weren’t. Rune woke up the next day in the same place, the same bed, with the little black box still sitting undercover on her table. Did that mean this was all real? Or that she wasn’t strong enough to break this hallucination? She couldn’t talk to Ronan today, not like this, and she made sure that the radio stayed off, just in case he tried to call through. But then again, if none of this was real, what did it matter?
He isn’t real. You know that. So worried about him being a psychopath, but you created him. Pathetic. The voice started immediately as Rune got out of bed. “Yeah? Maybe I did. Maybe I’m bad at character development.” Rune fell right into the same routine when the voice started to talk to her. At least you’re honest about it. The voice replied, Are you going to tell him? Are you going to tell him that he isn’t real? Rune still wasn’t sure. She knew that the voices weren’t real, but she also knew what the hallucinations did to her. It made her question everything, wondering what was real and what was just a fabrication of her mind. They had medicated her for a while, and she kept up with it, but now there was no way for her to get her meds and she knew that she would eventually devolve into madness like she had before. “Maybe I won’t tell him because he is real. You’re the one that’s not real.” Rune spat, walking up to the box and tearing the blanket from it. Childish with the name calling. We’ll see. You’ll see. The voice seemed like it was coming from the box, but Rune was sure that was just her paranoia. She tried to put it all out of her mind again and went about cleaning up the place after she turned her show back on; she needed the sound of other voices that weren’t the one in her head. Rune cleaned the kitchen, picked up the living room, fed the two horses in the pasture next door and the chickens in the side-yard, and then came back down to the bunker to take inventory of her food. But all the while, the voice continued to talk at her. The only time that it was fairly quiet was when she went out back to tend to the horses, but she couldn’t understand why. You want to call him, don’t you? Do it. Call him and confess that he isn’t real, that you made him up. The voice nagged as Rune stood in the kitchen, painting. “Will you please just shut the hell up!?” Rune barked into the living room angrily, knocking over her cup of paint water. It splattered all over the concrete floor and she cursed, dropping to her hands and knees to mop up the mess with her jacket that was hanging on the back of a chair. She wasn’t even thinking when she grabbed the jacket, but the voice had been incessant for over twelve hours. Rune just wanted to sleep, but there was no sleeping because the damn voice wouldn’t stop talking. Every time she walked past the box, the voice would start up again. If she was too close, it would begin a practically one-sided conversation with her till she was ready to scream. She even tried to put it back in its hole in the closet, but that didn’t stop anything. Was it her or was it the box?… Call him, Rune. Tell him about me. Tell him about the voices that make you doubt your very existence. The voice hissed as Rune finished cleaning up her mess. “Fuck you. I’m going to bed and you can keep on jabbering, but I’m going to take enough cold medicine to knock a bear out, so good luck.” Rune snapped, throwing her paintbrush in the sink. She marched to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, and instead of going to her bed that she set up in the living area, she went down the hall in the opposite direction to an actual bedroom. She never used it, it must have been Erik’s personal space, but she wanted to be as far away from this box as possible if she was going to get any sleep. Rune took a double dose of cough medicine, put on her headphones, and climbed into the bed. She hoped that she could just drown out the voice and finally sleep… But her old friend had a different idea. (*) It had been almost a week. One week since the alarm had gone off. Six days and counting since the voice came back and three days since she had slept. Sleep came in short bursts before the voice was screaming in her face about how she was a coward and couldn’t face her own creation with the lies she had told. Rune wanted to escape, but she was exhausted…just so tired. Tired of fighting what it was saying. She needed to call Ronan and get it over with, admit why she had been avoiding him, confess that he was just a figment of her imagination. Do it. Call him. Stop being a coward. Confront your creation and admit that this is all in your head. You’re locked in here with me again; I’m all you’ll ever need. Rune felt like a zombie as she loped over to the desk and sat down. She took the mic in her hands, the cold metal making her joints ache as she held it to her mouth and turned on the radio. Immediately, Ronan’s voice met her ears, frantic and scared. “I’m trying again, love. Not going to stop until you answer me. I don’t know what’s going on, but please…say something.” “Ronan,” Rune croaked, her voice hoarse from yelling at herself. “Rune? RUNE! Holy fuck, where the hell have you been? Are you alright? I’ve been freaking out for almost a week and—” “I’m fine, Ronan.” Rune cut him off. That was a lie. A bold-faced lie. She was anything but fine. She was on the edge again and the conversation about to be had would determine where she went from here. “You’re lying; you don’t sound fine. What’s going on?” Ronan’s voice flipped to stern. Rune hesitated. Go on, tell him. Tell him that he isn’t real and that you made him up. “I’m sick, Ronan. I didn’t want to tell you, but at this point it’s moot.” Rune began. “Sick? What do you mean by sick?” Ronan asked. Rune swallowed tears as she went on, “I hear voices, Ronan. I experience hallucinations and can’t always tell reality from fiction. I was on medication for it before all of this, but I don’t remember if I stopped taking it before or after. Everything is coming to the surface and I—I—” “What? What is it, Rune?” Ronan’s voice was riddled with fear. “I don’t think you’re real, Ronan. I’m starting to think that none of this is…at least that’s what it keeps telling me.” She confessed, wiping red-hot tears from her eyes. “I, uh—what? Rune…” Ronan started to stutter, “Wait, who keeps telling you this? The voices?” Rune didn’t expect him to question her, at least not this question in particular. “Not voices, just one voice. I was worried about it coming back, but I think it was here all along, under the floor.” Rune was practically whispering as she spoke, her eyes fixed on the metal box still sitting on the coffee table. Ronan was taken aback for a minute, trying to understand what she was saying. Was she talking about the box? “Rune, is the box speaking to you?” Ronan hesitantly asked. “No, not really. I mean, in this hallucination it’s manifesting as the box, but I don’t know what happened. I don’t know when I turned the corner and went off my meds. Think about it—none of this makes sense, right? It isn’t possible. But what does make sense is that this is some weird world my mentally-ill brain created while I am in some sort of catatonic state. I was alone for so long, reaching out towards nothing because this is all in my head...so, I made you. I made you because I was lonely and scared and I needed something to hold on to, but then the voice came back and it’s torturing me with the truth, the truth that I made everything up.” Rune was now crying freely, not even caring how she sounded. She had no reason to be embarrassed in front of herself. “No. No, Rune. You didn’t make this up: people actually disappeared, the meteor shower may have caused it, and I am as real as you are. That voice is a liar; don’t listen to it. You hear me? Don’t let it convince you that I’m not real.” Ronan came back with compassion unlike anything Rune had ever experienced. But of course he would if she made him up. He’s too perfect to not be something that she created. Pathetic. You can’t even confront yourself with the truth without trying to convince yourself otherwise. There it was again, gas-lighting her. It made her angry. She was fed up. What did it matter what she said to Ronan? She made him up, right? She could do and say whatever she wanted in her world, without real consequence. “It says I’m pathetic. That I can’t even confront myself with the truth without trying to convince myself otherwise.” Rune blurted out. Ronan grunted, “And you’re going to let that bully dictate to you what’s real and what isn’t? Have your hallucinations ever felt this real before? Do you really believe that you made me up?” She didn’t, not at first. Not until the box was brought out and the voice started again… Maybe it really was the box. But wouldn’t that be less plausible than her mental illness? There were too many what-ifs, too many possible realities and the one she was experiencing was highly improbable at best. “I want you to be real so badly. I was fine, sort of; as fine as I could be unmedicated. I thought I felt it coming, but I had been teetering on the line for months and then—then I found the box. The whole experience rattled me, but after I got off the call with you, I heard it. The voice spoke to me that night, once I was alone. But isn’t that how this illness works?” Rune divulged, hoping that maybe she could work things out with herself if this really was just a fabrication. Ronan wondered, as implausible as it was, if this wasn’t Rune’s mental illness at all—what if it was the box? “What if it is the box, Rune? Weirder things have happened, so what if this box has something inside it that is affecting you mentally? It’s a stretch, I know, but maybe that’s it.” Ronan postulated. Look at you. Making your creation try to convince you that this is actually real—what a work-around. But it isn’t going to work. I’m not going to go away. I’m here to stay. We’re connected; no matter where you go, I’ll be there. You can’t escape me… The voice was growing louder, drowning out Ronan as he tried to talk some sense into her. She couldn’t take it anymore. She had let herself be stuck inside for too long and she had to get away…she had to run. “I’m sorry, Ronan. I have to go.” She breathed into the mic. “Rune, wait. Where are you going? Rune!?” Ronan panicked, but Rune had already cut her mic. “I’m not going to sit here and let you abuse me.” Rune picked up a book off the desk and chucked it at the box. It knocked it off the table and sent it crashing into the wall. Rune had had enough and just—ran. She ran straight out of the bunker, not bothering to lock the doors, and took off down the hall, through her basement, up into the house, and out the front door. But she didn’t stop there; she kept running. She ran down her front walk, through the gate, and into the road. She ran and ran, not bothering to slow down, as she barreled down the ancient paved road, heading for town. There had been an echo of the voice as she ran from the house, but she resisted long enough to make it out. Now, she was far enough away that there was no voice, no incessant, demeaning chatter. Her head felt clearer the further she distanced herself and she didn’t start to slow till she got into town and closed in on the library. “What the hell is going on?” Rune finally felt like she could think for herself again. It was the box; it had to be. She was still unsure of some things because of the constant state she had been in over the last week, but now she felt completely stupid for all she had said, especially if Ronan was an actual person and not just some random character that lived inside her brain. Rune was completely out of breath and, despite the cooler weather, she was drenched in sweat. She stopped in at her favorite corner shop and grabbed a couple bottles of water and a cheap butterfly knife, just in case, before she made her way across the street to the library. She had decided to stay in town for the day, possibly spend the night out there, and then figure out what to do in the morning. There was no way that she had the strength to go home and face the voice in that box. "Not alone"Rune tried to forget that Ronan had ever called. It had been three days since they made contact and he hadn’t tried to contact her again. Granted, she hadn’t tried to reach out to him either, but she had done enough of that anyway and didn’t want to seem desperate. She just went about her day as usual, deliberately avoiding her desk with the radio by spending the majority of her time in town, shopping. She decided to cheer herself up by picking up some frivolous items that she didn’t actually need: an oversized fluffy blanket covered in gold stars, some bolts of wool fabric for a winter sewing project, a few mugs for tea, a couple of fluffy pillows, another small tent (just in case), a few new movies and a couple box sets, a bag full of books and comics, and almost a trolley full of clothing. She pushed the whole thing home, having walked into town, and bumped the trolley up the stairs and in to her house, rolling the rugs in the hall as she came to a stop at the basement door. Rune didn’t live in her own basement, it was the route she took to get to her ‘survival shelter’. Rune had spent the first few weeks after the exodus in her own house, alone. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been living alone already, as her grandmother had passed in the beginning of the year, but it was different when she was literally the only one left, at least that’s how it felt. The big old house had started to leave her feeling paranoid in her solidarity, so she found herself in the musty basement, wondering if she could create her own little flat down there where things felt—safer—and it didn’t hold the memories that the rest of the house did . But as she was clearing off old canning shelves in one of the mustier corners, she knocked down a canvas drop cloth that had been covering a section of the wall to reveal a door, a door she had never laid eyes on before. It took her a few days of going back to the door before she got the courage to open it, but when she did, she discovered something that she could have never imagined. There was a hallway, wide enough to carry a queen size mattress through, that wound its way even further underground until it opened up into an atrium of sorts where Rune was surrounded by thick walls of concrete and steel paneling. There was a set of double doors in front of her, a ceiling light bobbing overhead, and an electrical box on one wall. Instinct told her that she should probably check the electrical box, but all she found was a single handle in the “off” position. There was hesitation at first before she flipped the switch and a roaring sound erupted, startling Rune so badly that she screamed. It turned out to just be a generator, causing a chain reaction of lights to come on down the darkened hallway that she had entered. There was a whir and a click as the double doors unlocked and Rune found the courage again to open another foreign door. What she found on the other side was an entire bunker with a fully stocked pantry, an open kitchen, large living area, several bedrooms, plenty of storage, and supplies to last her years. It was an entire underground home below her own, or at least somewhere between her home and her neighbor Erik’s house. She had no idea that it was there and wondered if her grandmother had been aware of it or not. Obviously, someone had been maintaining it and based on some of the items she found in the bunker, it seemed like Erik had been the one taking care of the space. Erik had always been such a sweet man, one that Rune’s grandmother had adored, and in that moment, Rune was so very thankful for the friendship that the three had shared. He had unknowingly left Rune a space that was separate from what she had known, but still close and safe; a space that she could make her own, a cozier setting that would hopefully make her forget about what had happened… Rune carefully bumped the shopping trolley down the basement stairs and over to the secret door that she had kept hidden behind the drop-cloth. After strolling down the surprisingly well-lit hallway, she came to her “front door” and let herself in, pushing the trolley along the whole way. “Honey, I’m home!” She called out as she rolled through the door and locked it behind her. No one was actually there to greet her, but she went on talking to herself anyway as she began unloading her treasures on the sofa and coffee table. “Shopping was lovely, Liza. Look at all these absolutely gorgeous jumpers.” Rune pantomimed a conversation with an invisible person as she sorted out her new things, “And this blanket? So soft. These decadent chocolates, though! They’re better than sex!” “What’s better than sex?” An abrupt, audible voice responded to her charade and she froze in place, suddenly unsure if she had heard what she heard or not. She was starting to question that a lot lately. “Ehm, hello?” Rune called out in confusion, not really expecting a response. “Hello? I really wanna know what’s better than sex.” The voice replied to her query. Rune spun around from the sofa to face her desk; the radio was on and the mic was hot. She crept over to her station and pulled the chair out, taking a seat, “Ronan?” The mic was gripped tightly in her hand as she spoke. There was no delay in response this time, “Yes, love. Who were you talking to?” Rune felt her face flush hot before she went to answer, “No one. Just myself. I—I roleplay when I get bored, act out shows or movies, just to keep my sanity,” She admitted reluctantly “So, what was Ina telling Liza was better than sex?” Ronan chuckled. Rune felt herself get warm in the face all over again, “How long were you listening to me?” “Uh, since ‘Honey, I’m home.’ Wasn’t meaning to eavesdrop, but I turned the radio on to give you a call and you were already broadcasting on our channel, so I just listened in for a minute. That was wrong of me; I apologize.” Ronan admitted. Rune wasn’t mad, just a little embarrassed. She was just happy that he had called because she really believed that she wasn’t going to hear from him again. “It’s alright; I’m just glad to hear your voice.” Rune wasn’t sure if she sounded too eager; she didn’t want to sound too attached to someone she had hardly spoken with. Ronan let out a small sigh, “Honestly, it’s good to hear yours too. I would have called you sooner, but I had a nasty bout of gut poisoning due to what I can only assume is contaminated water here in the house.” “That’s not good; you doing alright now?” Rune asked, worried slightly over what he told her. Ronan coughed, “Yeah, I’m ok. I don’t know what’s causing the issue, but boiling it didn’t really seem to help. I got me some bottled water from the grocery store, but I’m sure that won’t last forever; gonna have to find another source.” He sounded stressed, worried, and still unwell. Was he really going to be alright or was he just saying that so she didn’t worry herself? Was he lying to her about being sick? If he was, why? Maybe he was playing some game, hoping that she’d invite him over where she had clean water and then… “Rune? You there?” Ronan’s voice cut through her anxious thoughts. Rune shook the thoughts from her head and responded, “Oh, yeah, I’m here.” “You doing ok? I—I’ve been kind of worried about you.” Rune hadn’t expected that. He was worried about her? “I’m ok. Just—taking it one day at a time.” Rune tried to sound sincere, but she was the one that was actually lying. She wasn’t ok. She hadn’t been in a while, but she wasn’t about to reveal what went on in her head at any given moment or the fact that she was so close to just—giving up in the worst way possible. Ronan didn’t believe her. The words she spoke gave him no reassurance because he could hear the pain behind them. He felt like maybe he had found her at the right time, that he was supposed to be stealing that truck at the same moment that she was making one of her broadcasts. The pain in her voice, the fear, the frustration, the loneliness…he was actually scared for those few days that he couldn’t open his mouth without vomiting, to call her. He didn’t know if he would hear her voice again. The two sat in silence for a moment again before Rune chimed in, “Got any plans for the day? I know it’s on the later side, but besides it getting dark, what does time really matter at this point?” “Not really. My plans currently involve trying not to dry heave long enough to eat something and a nice shower eventually. I’m still not in tip-top condition.” Ronan coughed again before gagging. “What do you have as far as food? Any broth? Peanut butter? Rice? All of that might be good for your stomach. Shower would probably make you feel better too.” Rune tried to be helpful. “I got rice and some bouillon cubes. Maybe I’ll make some of that and take a cold ass shower.” Ronan sighed. He didn’t have hot water, but Rune did thanks to the amenities that were unintentionally left to her. She felt guilty, but what could she do? Her safety over someone else’s health and comfort? It was a decision she wasn’t sure she could make and she didn’t want to panic and blindly suggest something she could possibly regret later. So, she did the next best thing she could think of. “You got a stove or hot plate?” She asked. “Oh, yeah. I have stuff I can cook on just fine; got a propane range, thankfully, for when I camp.” Ronan confirmed. “You have a tub or just a shower?” Rune asked, not wanting to make a suggestion that wasn’t doable. “Both. There’s a tub-shower combo in the hall toilet. Where you going with this?” Ronan chuckled. “Instead of taking a cold shower, why don’t you boil a few pots of water and take a warm bath? After that, if you want, we could…make soup together and watch Ina and Liza? I mean, I know you can’t see it, but you mentioned something about putting it on where you could at least hear it.” Rune was trying. She was making an attempt to not be so cold and distant now that she got what she had been asking for. Ronan thought for a moment before he responded, “You know, that’s a good idea. I think I’m going to do that and then I’ll call you back?” He went for it. Rune didn’t know if he would accept or not and suddenly she felt this slight twinge of happiness blossoming in her stomach. If he actually called her back after his bath, maybe she would finally accept the fact that he clearly wanted to be her friend. “Perfect. I’ll talk to you in a bit.” She spoke through a smile. The two said their goodbyes and Rune had a sudden burst of energy and the urge to clean like she had actual company coming over. She spent the next hour tidying up her living space and cleaning the dirty dishes in the sink, all the while listening to Ina and Liza in the background. When everything felt like it was back in place, she lit a couple scented candles that she had picked up from her shopping spree and began to gather the ingredients for soup. Rune had plenty of fresh produce from the garden out back, chopped and frozen in her deep freezer for just a time as this. The weather was starting to cool down, so it was the perfect time for some comfort food. Rune was in the kitchen, heating up stock, when she heard a crackle in her living area and Ronan’s voice hollering from the other room, “Rune? Ya’ there?” “Hold on just a second.” She called out from the kitchen, drying her hands off on a tea towel as she went to her desk to answer the call, “Hey, Ronan. You feel better after a bath?” “Actually, much. I haven’t had hot water in a while and I didn’t even think about doing it that way. You’re brilliant, love.” He thanked her. A slight smile crept across Rune’s face as she returned, “It’s nothing. We went for a bit without a water heater and had to adapt, but I guess it was a good lesson in preparedness, all things considered.” “I would have to agree…so, you started dinner yet?” Ronan couldn’t figure out a more efficient way to carry on the conversation. He wanted to get to know her better because he felt like there was some cosmic reason that he happened to catch her broadcast. What were the odds, really? It was kismet, serendipity, fate…something. Especially, because he hadn’t been able to find anyone else either and maybe, just maybe, they really were the only two left—at least on their side of things. “Broth should be good and hot, getting ready to add some partially thawed vegetables. How about you?” Rune asked, switching over to her hand-held radio so she could take it to the kitchen with her. “Well, I just got the grill going and I managed to find a pot…this really wasn’t the place to be when this all happened, living with a bunch of thirty-something bachelors who subsist off of alcohol and cigarettes. I’m surprised we even had a pot to piss in half the time.” Ronan returned, clanging some sort of metal together as he spoke. “What are you eating if you’re not cooking?” Rune queried as she dumped her partially thawed and sliced vegetables into her simmering broth. “Oh, I’m cooking, but it’s a lot of grilling mostly, and I’m getting low on fuel so I’m going to have to hit the wilderness shop in town soon or find some more firewood. I actually hunt quite a bit for meat and we had a good amount of canned goods thanks to me, plus I have free reign of all the local stores and since our town is fairly large; I’ve got the supplies, just nothing very fresh.” Ronan explained as he poured water from a reusable jug into his pot, the fire already hot underneath. “At least you’re eating. Been kinda worried about you since you mentioned the water poisoning and then the lack of hot water…” Rune started, feeling the urge to invite him over so that he didn’t have to struggle. “Rune, you don’t have to ask me over because you feel bad. Maybe I’m reading it wrong, but I can hear the guilt in your voice. I’m fine, promise.” Ronan cut in before she had a chance to finish her sentence. Rune let out a huge sigh, “Was it that obvious?” “Mm. You’re a bleeding heart, I can tell. Like I said, could hear it in your voice. But I can also tell that you’re cautious, and that’s good. I—I want to be your friend, so I’m not going to push anything that would make you uncomfortable. If it makes you feel better, if things do get really bad on my end, I promise to let you know.” Ronan’s words were sincere, yet they surprised Rune. What were the odds that this man was a psychopath? What about the odds in favor of him being a genuinely good person? He could be playing the long game in an attempt to get at her eventually, or he could really be telling her the truth…he wanted to be her friend. Rune felt herself start to smile again, “It would make me feel better. I can’t stand seeing other people struggle, even if I can’t actually see you.” “I get it. You’re not the only one who worries,” Ronan dumped his bouillon cubes into the boiling water and began to stir while he spoke, “But let’s discuss Ina and Liza. Are we starting from the pilot episode or wherever you are in your umpteenth re-watch?” This elicited a laugh from Rune, making her forget her worries in favor for something the two had in common. “From the beginning; you deserve it.” She came back and it was Ronan’s turn to laugh. The two spent the evening dining on their respective soups while Rune watched Ina ad Liza and Ronan listened from miles away. When it was well into the late hours of the evening and the two retired to bed, Rune made sure to leave the radio on with the show still going in the background so that Ronan had something that made him feel like he wasn’t completely by himself. It went on like this for weeks; the two checking on one another throughout the day and having dinner together every night. They talked about a lot of things, from musical interests, to favorite movies, religion and political views, outer space and the meaning of life. The two had all the time in the world to get to know one another, but in just a few short weeks, Rune and Ronan were practically inseparable. Ronan had even managed to find a portable radio so that the two could talk in ease no matter where they were. It was almost as if they were actually together, living as roommates in their own sitcom, just like Ina and Liza. Rune wasn’t afraid anymore; there were no more ‘what-ifs’. Ronan was good people, really good people, and Rune hoped that she could get up the courage to eventually invite him out so they could actually meet…but she wasn’t ready yet. “So, we’ve been friends for a while now,” Ronan started. “Yeah, a whole month, I think.” Rune agreed, albeit jokingly. The two were having one of their nightly conversations; Rune lay on her bed with their show going in the background while Ronan lay out under the stars in the yard out back of his house. “You think maybe it’s time for a big share?” Ronan asked inquisitively. Rune wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that, “Big share? What are we sharing?” “We’ve talked a lot about ourselves now, but what about how we got here? What’s your story? Where were you born, what about your family, where’d you go to school, who was your first kiss, stuff like that. You know?” Ronan elaborated as he adjusted himself in the hammock he had hung. Rune had been waiting for this. When you make friends, they always want to know these things. Of course they did, but Rune was never comfortable talking about it. Her ‘childhood’ was something that she didn’t like to recall, mostly because she hardly remembered it. “Alright, who wants to go first, then?” Rune gave in. If she wanted her friend, she had to be honest and she wasn’t the type to lie anyway. “Since you sound a bit nervous, I can go first. I, uh, I had a pretty shitty upbringing actually. My parents didn’t want me, ended up in the foster system, bouncing between abusive homes for years until I was finally adopted out when I was around fifteen or so. It got better after that, but I wasn’t around long before I was old enough to be out on my own, so I left. I dropped out of school and decided to become a bard of sorts. I played guitar at bus stops and inside the tube for money, telling stories and singing songs. Eventually, I got a few solo gigs in seedy bars before the boys found me. They were on tour at the time and their guitarist had just quit over creative differences; they heard me playing one night, approached me, and the rest is history. I didn’t know at the time that they weren’t local, though the accents should have been a dead give-away, but they invited me on tour and after it was all over with, I moved here. I love it here and I loved the band, but before this shit happened, I was ready to move on. I had saved up money and was going to buy a van and travel for a while, live off the land, write stories about what I saw, turn them into songs, do my own thing. But I waited too long.” Ronan told his story, punctuated by just a hint of sadness at the end, Rune thought. “Doesn’t mean you can’t do it now. What’s stopping you? You should do it while the petrol is still good; I mean, all you have is time now.” Rune assured him. There was silence from Ronan for a moment before he spoke, “I could, yeah. But…I don’t want to now. Not alone anyway. If I went off like that, I’d be leaving you behind. If I could even find a van, I’d have to try and hunt down something that had a radio in it because—because I don’t think I could go that long without talking to you.” Rune wasn’t expecting that. She wasn’t expecting someone to say something so—heartfelt. No one had ever said anything like that to her before. She hadn’t had many friends growing up, at least not ones that she could remember. This was a foreign feeling to her and one that she felt she didn’t deserve. She couldn’t be the reason that someone didn’t follow their dreams, especially not now. It was her turn to tell her story and she wondered if that would convince Ronan otherwise… “Well, maybe you should hear my story first,” She started, taking a deep steady breath, “I don’t remember anything before I was fifteen.” “Wait, what?” Ronan interjected, but Rune held him off. “Let me finish. I don’t have any memories before that age because I was involved in a horse-riding accident, as stupid as it sounds. I guess, I loved to ride and I was out one day at a local farm, riding my favorite horse when he got spooked and threw me. I probably would have been ok, had he not continued to panic and trample me. I was in a coma for almost a year before I woke up. I came out of it with not a single idea of who I was or what my life had been like before the accident, but I found out that my father up and left when I was really young, and my mother had actually died due to complications from surgery while I was in my coma. The only thing I had left was my grandmother.” Rune finished. Silence from Ronan again, but Rune could hear his breath quicken. “Jaysus, Rune. I am so sorry.” He finally spoke. But Rune wasn’t done, “Don’t be. Like, I said, I don’t remember anything, so there isn’t much for me to miss. The real issue came after I recovered because I had a severe head injury that caused not only amnesia but other neurological issues. I was the weirdo around town and I couldn’t make friends because of it, but maybe that was my fault. I tried to make it through school, but I was depressed and tired of the same shit day in and day out, so I quit and got a job at the book store in town. I had been working there for seventeen years, off and on, when everyone vanished. I took breaks in between to work the farm for my gran and my neighbor Erik and when my mental health got a bit too much to handle. But I kept to myself and I sort of liked it that way. People were mean, so I thought, and I avoided them because of it. I had a few boyfriends, the last one was awful. After that I gave up and decided to devote myself to saving money so I could travel and immerse myself in nature, see what it’s like to live like our ancestors; I wanted to be self-sustainable. There’s such a rich pagan history here and I wanted to explore it, live in it. But gran got real sick last December and died of pneumonia this January. She left me everything and I felt like it was my duty to stay here, keep working at the bookstore, and maintain her house. I just expected to become an old spinster with a few animals or something, but those plans were ruined too.” Rune told her story, albeit with a few details left out, mainly her illness. “Fuck, Rune. I don’t know what to say.” Ronan responded immediately, waiting on baited breath for her to finish so he could do so. “You don’t have to say anything. It is what it is and there’s nothing that can be done about it now. I’m stuck here; I have to stay with the house, but you don’t have to stay where you are. Go travel. See the countryside or something. I’m sure I’ll be here when you get back.” Rune encouraged him to go. She knew he’d be happier if he just left and didn’t look back. “Would you?” Ronan started, “What do you think caused everyone to disappear? What if that happened to one of us while I was gone?” Rune thought she knew what happened. She hadn’t mentioned it yet to Ronan because it hadn’t come up, but Erik had apparently been preparing for something and she had discovered what on his laptop she found in one of the back rooms, though it seemed that he had no idea that everyone was just going to blink out of existence. “Neither of us is going to disappear; if that were the case, we would already be gone. Erik was a bit of a conspiracy nut and hardcore prepper, as you know. I found his laptop in one of the rooms down here and out of curiosity, I booted it up to see if maybe he had any games…but that’s not what I found. There was all this research about something called the Aurora Meteor Shower. Apparently this is something that occurs every twenty years around late October when it is peak viewing season for the Aurora Borealis, but I remember there being another shower; it happened the night before everyone disappeared.” Rune informed of the knowledge she had discovered; he deserved to know just as much as she did. “Wait, I—I remember that too. Everyone was shite-faced and we were having a party, but I wasn’t feeling it. I went out back to drink my beer and have a smoke when the sky started to light up with so, so many falling stars. I ended up staying out there that night watching it; I fell asleep and when I woke up, I discovered that everyone was gone. Do you think the meteor shower had something to do with this? How is that possible?” Ronan sounded confused and panicked. “How did all of humanity just up and vanish in the blink of an eye? Is that any more plausible?” Rune shot back, not meaning to come off so aggressive. Ronan heaved a heavy sigh, “No, you’re absolutely right. But how? And when exactly was that meteor shower supposed to happen?” “How, I don’t know. But the shower was supposed to peak tonight at midnight, which is only a few minutes away. From the research I could gather, accompanied with what Erik had, its pattern never wavered more than a few hours difference from shower to shower…but this was six months early. None of it makes scientific sense and there was a whistle blown from an anonymous amateur astronomer that the shower was coming early, or a shower was coming, but everyone in the community thought he just didn’t know what he was doing, that he saw it wrong; there wasn’t supposed to be any meteor showers at that time. But I think he was right, I just don’t know how it was possible and if it correlates to the disappearances, but it has to.” Rune had been pretty deep in the subject for some time, but didn’t want to scare Ronan away with the revelation just yet. But now seemed like a good a time as any. Ronan went to respond when an alarm started to sound inside Rune’s bunker. It was a sharp staccato chirp that hurt her ears, but it was a sound she had never heard before in her whole time in that place. “Rune, what is that? Is everything ok?” The panic was now clearly evident in Ronan’s voice. Rune set her radio down and covered her ears as she tried to form the words over the sound, “I don’t know.” She left the radio on the bed and started to stumble around the room, the sound disorienting her so she couldn’t properly detect where it was coming from. Ronan was still hollering at her from the bed, but she couldn’t think straight with that sound and needed to find what was causing it so she could turn it off and discern what the problem was. “Rune, you’re really startin’ to scare me, love. Please, let me know you’re alright.” Ronan’s voice somehow made it through the ruckus of the alarm, but Rune had to stay focused. It seemed like the sound got louder the closer she got to a closet on the other side of the room. It was hard to tell since the chirp almost had a Doppler effect, but she knew that the sound was growing the closer she stepped towards the closet. She reached for the doorknob, twisted it, and then opened the door; the sound was absolutely louder now. But the closet was empty, save for a couple jackets hung and a flashlight attached to the wall. It was dark in there, so Rune grabbed the flashlight and clicked it on, scanning the inside of the closet while she covered one of her ears with her free hand. It looked like there was a split in the carpeting on the bare floor, an area where it looked like someone was trying to cut out a square section of carpet, but only finished three sides. Was the noise coming from underneath that area? Rune put the flashlight in her mouth and got down on her hands and knees, fingers desperately trying to pull up the carpet that was clearly attached to some sort of door. She was finally able to get her fingers between the gaps, snapping a few nails as she did so, before she tried to wrench it up again, but still to no avail. She sensed around the carpeting with her fingers till she felt a depression, so she tore back the padding to reveal what appeared to be a circular lock. It looked like she needed a key, but she had no key, at least not one that she could find quickly so she could stop the sound. “Where’s the key?” Rune mumbled around the flashlight in her mouth. Then it struck her. The base of the flashlight seemed like it was the same diameter as the lock… She took the flashlight out of her mouth and flipped it over, placing the base in the depression before she turned it like a key would. The hatch made a hissing sound and clicked several times before the lid sprang open to reveal a black metallic box ensconced in the hiding space, a red light on the top blinking in time with the earsplitting chirp. She couldn’t see any sign of an off switch in its current position occupying the hole, but she was able to heft it out of there and into the main room, where she plopped it down on the couch, still screaming. “Rune, please don’t make me drive all the way to Imellom when I don’t know where the fuck you actually live.” Ronan continued to fret from the radio; he had probably been talking to her this whole time. “Hold on! I’m trying to figure out how to turn it off!” Rune bellowed over the alarm as she surveyed the box. It had only one switch and a note on yellow legal paper, Don’t open until the alarm sounds. Remember to tell…but the last word was smudged out by a water mark; go figure. The switch was labeled ALARM with a toggle for on and off, but the box seemed virtually seamless and strange; it appeared to be metallic, but made a strange hollow sound when Rune tapped her nails against it. The single switch was the only thing that mattered at this point and she held her breath as she flipped it, hoping that it wouldn’t fail on her. Like it should, the alarm stopped and the silence left in the room was almost deafening in itself. “What in the ever loving hell was that?” Ronan’s voice crackled from across the room. Rune left the box and came over to the bed, picking up the radio as she spoke, “An alarm for…something. It was part of some box I found in a secret hole in the closet floor. Man, that sounds really fucking weird coming out of my mouth.” “Uh, yeah. What’s in the box?” Ronan chuckled a little as he asked the question. “God, I hope it isn’t a bloody head, but I don’t know. The box has no cracks, no seams, no apparent opening, but there was a note that instructed not to open the box till the alarm sounded. I think it was a reminder from Erik to himself and it had a bit about remembering to tell someone something, but that part had been smudged out. But there is only one switch labeled ‘alarm’ and no way to open the damn thing. Even if I could, I don’t know if I’m ready to find out what’s inside.” Rune was actually a little shaken by it all, especially because she had just glanced at the clock and noticed that it was a little after midnight—on the night when the actual meteor shower was supposed to happen. “Where are you right now?” Rune asked frantically. “Out back in me hammock…why?” Ronan replied. “Look up. Do you see a meteor shower at all?” She had this sinking feeling that he would see nothing. Ronan made a sound as if he was gently clearing his throat, “Huh, actually yes. There’s only a few, but it seems like they are picking up.” What? Rune hadn’t expected that answer. She grabbed her hand-held radio and scrambled for the bunker door, flying up the stairs and through her house before she burst through the front door. She had a clear shot of the sky here and as she looked up, she could see dozens of streaking green and blue lights cascading over the darkened sky. The Aurora Meteor Shower arrived on cue, but if that was the case…what was the shower they experienced six months ago? “Rune,” Ronan’s voice startled her as the radio rumbled, “Do you think that alarm has something to do with this shower? I know that sounds crazy, but—” He didn’t have to say anything else; it didn’t sound crazy to her. “I think so, but really, what’s in the damn box?” Rune replied, her face still upturned toward the sky. “I don’t know. And what was the meteor shower that took everyone? I don’t know if you saw it, but it didn’t look like this.” Ronan was clearly spooked as he spoke. “I did. The ones we saw before were almost red; I had never seen any sort of phenomena like that. Had I known it was coming, I would have gotten the telescope out to take a better look, but it caught me off guard. I had just gotten home from work and went out back to visit the horses on the next property over when it started. I could see it clearly and it lit up the sky here like it was daylight. It wasn’t—normal.” Rune found herself breathing heavily as she responded, taking a seat on the top step of the porch stairs. “No, it was definitely not normal. This is getting really weird and I don’t even know where to start.” Ronan huffed. The two sat in silence for a moment, each mulling over the possibilities of what they just discovered. It didn’t make sense, but here it was. They didn’t understand it, but just the notion of something so strange happening had the two of them on edge, even if they wouldn’t completely admit it to one another. “I think I’m going to go to bed, Ronan. That alarm gave me such a headache.” Rune was finally the first to speak. “I hear ya’. I think I need some rest myself. Call me tomorrow and let me know how you feel?” Ronan posed a question. “Of course. Night, Ronan.” “Night.” Rune turned off the radio and got up from the stairs before slowly making her way back down to the bunker. The black box was sitting on the coffee table where she had set it after turning off the alarm. She felt like the red light on top, which was now fixed, was staring at her. None of it made sense; it was all wrong. The two meteor showers only months apart, one of which should have never happened, the screaming box hidden under the floorboards, the fact that everyone was just…gone. “None of this is real, is it?” Rune whispered to herself as she closed in on the box. Do you think it’s real? There it was. She knew it was just biding its time, working her into a frenzy till she finally snapped: the voices that had haunted and traumatized her for years after her accident. “I want to think it is.” Rune replied out loud. But is it? Is this actually happening? Think about it, if you can, think about what you just discovered. Does that make sense in the real world? Space particles sweeping up all of humanity, that little black box screaming under the floor, the fact that you so conveniently found this place and now you’ve made contact with the last man on earth? Don’t you see this is just some fantasy that you created? The voice scolded her. “Maybe. But if it is, this is a shitty fantasy.” Rune growled, throwing a blanket from the sofa over the box. She didn’t want to think about it now; she just wanted to go to sleep. Maybe she would wake up tomorrow and things would be…different. "Disappeared" “It’s 5:36 PM and this is Rune Vass attempting to make contact with anyone in the immediate area of Imellom. Last broadcast was yesterday at around 5:45. No contact has been made.” Rune let go of the button on the radio and sighed out of exasperation before depressing the button again, “Please, respond if you can hear me. I can be contacted on CB channel 9, twenty-four hours a day; you just have to yell loud enough. I’m at the public library in Imellom on Wednesdays pretty much all day. But I’m armed. Gotta be safe.” Rune let go of the button again and got up from the desk where she had been sitting for hours. She needed to stretch her legs and get something to drink; she had lost track of time. Even though she knew the time when she made the call, it was only then that it hit her—she had been making radio calls for over eight hours. It was becoming an obsession of sorts, but what else did she have to do? There were no recreational activities, no cable TV, no open restaurants, grocery stores, clothing shops…nothing. Everything was closed because there was no one left in town but Rune herself. For all she knew, there was no one anywhere. She still hadn’t made contact with somebody. It had been over six months and she still hadn’t found another living soul within a ten mile radius—and she was afraid to travel any further. It had been six months, give or take a week and a few days, since she noticed that the whole town had evacuated itself without informing her. Rune had gotten up one morning in May, went through her usual routine, and was off to work. She noticed that there were no other cars on the road, no people on the sidewalks, and not a sound from anything other than a few ravens kraa-ing. When she finally got to the bookstore for her shift, it was still locked, seemingly, from the night before when she had closed. Rune had been permanently second shift since the beginning of the year, so she knew that she hadn’t accidentally slept through her shift, but no one had bothered to call her and let her know that they couldn’t come in and she’d have to be the one to open the store instead. But she did it anyway, just like she had done hundreds of times before, and waited for the customers to pour in. Rune cleaned up the store while she waited, still never hearing from her colleague, but didn’t bother to call them because she had it handled. She continued to work her shift, but not one single person came into the store. The more she sat and waited, the more she noticed that things were off. She could see the streets of downtown from her spot behind the register, but not one person walked by. Not one car made its appearance on the road. Not one phone call came through from anyone, least of all her colleague. It was as if everyone was still in bed, but it was now late in the afternoon and that just wasn’t plausible. Rune figured that she was wasting the rest of her day, and clearly no one was coming in, so she went through her closing routine a few hours early and left off for home. She would come to find out within a few days of her first strange trek into town, that everyone was gone, but not a trace of them could be found. After surveying the outside of businesses and finding that some of them were unlocked, she made the decision to investigate inside, finding not a single person, but eerie scenes of flat top burners still sizzling inside restaurants (Terrifyingly dangerous, she thought), purses and outer garments left in booths, cars still parked in front of the one and only pub they had, the inside left just like it would have looked had everyone gotten up at once and left, but never came back. The local police station had locked cells where people had clearly been, but not a body was to be seen. Computers were still on and up with half-completed tasks and unanswered emergency calls; all buttons on the phone lit red as if there had been some dire crisis that was never tended to. Even the local movie theatre, which had once been a theatre for live shows, had its doors unlocked, popcorn machines whirring, and a movie playing on the one screen in a continuous loop with the appropriate breaks in between as if the theatre was still open and all the seats were filled for the showing. Rune spent several weeks trying to wrap her head around what was happening, or had happened, before she ventured out of town and to the next one several miles over, but she never went further than that. She found no one there, almost a mirror image to her own town, and had this sudden feeling of dread wash over her. She refused to go any further out from this town as the next was hours out and she wanted to conserve what gas she had left for the time being. Eventually, Rune realized that no one was coming back. They hadn’t all packed their things and made a mass exodus from the town; they had just simply vanished from thin air. She had a moment of spiritual crisis at first, thinking that the biblical rapture had come and she was the only naughty heathen in her area that had been left behind to suffer. Rune went through stages of denial, panic, and acceptance in regards to what had happened, but logically she knew that there had to be at least one other person out there and in no way was she the only one. That’s when she found the radio equipment. She had been broadcasting religiously for months now, but there had been no payout. Nothing. No response from anyone. Maybe she was really all alone… Rune waited a few days till her next broadcast. She was becoming discouraged and felt like the futile attempts were only going to anger her more if she didn’t give herself a break. She passed the desk with the radio receiver and all its components at least a dozen times that day while she did other things and finally gave in around late afternoon. She situated herself in front of the microphone, clicked on the light, and started her broadcast. “Rune again... almost 6 PM. If there was actually anyone listening, you know where I’ll be. Tomorrow is Wednesday, but I don’t feel like going out unless I know someone will be there. But you won’t. Because there aren’t any of you left. No one is home. No one, but me. I’ll leave the radio on in a sad attempt at holding on to just a glimmer of hope, but I’m really just holding my breath. If you can hear me, good night.” Rune let go of the button and didn’t linger at the desk. Instead, she went to the bathroom and freshened up before she made herself a cup of tea and sat down on her couch in front of the television. There was no cable broadcasting anymore, no people to run it, no electricity either, but she had her generator and was able to watch television, as long as she had movies to watch on it. She had made daily trips to the local video and department store on the hunt for good movies to build up her collection and keep her entertained. She did the same with the bookstore and the local library, stocking up on anything and everything that would make her feel like people still existed. She hadn’t gone through everything, but there was a few she had watched so many times that made her feel like she wasn’t living alone in an underground bunker next door to the house she had grown up in. Rune popped in disc one of her favorite British sitcom and set to sipping her tea. She probably should have made herself something to eat, but she just wasn’t hungry. Food was boring. Life was boring. She was fighting her own mental demons as of late and it was becoming increasingly difficult to fend it off; she just wanted to be done with it all. “Aw, Liza. Aren’t you just a tart! What did Robert say?” The actress on the television hollered as “Liza” responded and the laugh track startled Rune from an unintentional nap. “Ah, good old Liza.” Rune chuckled to herself, getting comfortable on the sofa. She had taken to sleeping there, not bothering to get herself in bed at all. She checked the clock on the wall and noted that it was barely eight and she had maybe only been asleep an hour. Did she want to go to bed this early? Did it really matter? Time was meaningless at this point. She could sleep whenever she damn well wanted to. Rune was just starting to nod off again when there was a crackle from her radio. She thought that she had maybe imagined it in her half-awake stupor, so she ignored it and tried to nod back off. “Liza! How cheeky. I can’t believe that Robert reacted that way. I’m one jealous bird.” The actress on the television went on with her life as Rune closed her eyes. “Hello?” Rune heard a voice that stood out from Liza and her scene companion, a voice that she had never heard in that part of the show, a show she had seen more times than she could count. But she was in that weird state between sleep and wakefulness; it could have just been her mind playing tricks on her. Either that or her illness was rearing its ugly head at the most inopportune time. “Rune? Hello?” There was the voice again, but this time it had said her name. Rune sat straight up on the sofa, her eyes snapping immediately to her CB radio. Had a voice come from there? Was this even real, or was she just dreaming? “Rune. RUNE!” The voice hollered loudly from the radio, “Dunno if you’re asleep, but you said to yell.” Rune blinked a few times, rubbed her eyes, and stood up. Her mouth slightly agape, she loped over to the desk, her whole body shaking as she sat down and gripped the mic with both hands. She had this sudden swathe of deep fear, fear that she was imagining all of this and when she responded to the disembodied voice, she would never hear it again. “Hello? This is Rune. Who am I speaking with?” She finally spoke, curling up in her chair in anticipation. Rune gave it a minute. There was dead air. No response. She could feel a lump in her throat forming and tears welling in her eyes at the silence that met her. She took a deep breath to calm herself and set the microphone back on the desk, dangerously close to devolving into tears. “R—Rrr,” The radio crackled. Rune grabbed the microphone again and stared at the receiver, willing it to say something else. “Ronan. Damn this thing, Ronan. My name’s Ronan.” There it was. A response. A response from an actual voice and one that she didn’t think she had ever heard before. “Is this actually happening?” Rune asked herself, unaware of her finger on the button. “You know, I was just asking meself the same thing. I been trying to get my hands on one of these radios for weeks and then I had to figure out how it worked and the whole channel thing, but here we are.” Ronan replied. Rune stared blankly at the radio. That was a whole sentence, clear as day, from a stranger that must have heard her broadcast. She didn’t know what to say at first, but finally found the words. “How—how did you hear my broadcast if you didn’t have a receiver?” Rune finally asked, curiously. That feeling of doubt started to creep into her mind, that doubt that came along with her mental illness. Was this real? “You know, that’s what’s weird. I was stealing a truck, I guess you could call it stealing, and when it cut on, their CB radio was going. I happened to catch you broadcasting from there, but before I had a chance to take it all in and respond, the battery died. It was bad, the battery, and I spent a while trying to find another one to match, but I had no idea how to take it out of the rig and where the hell you find a battery like that? Made myself at home in the cab while I hunted, Eventually, I came across another radio in a store a few towns over while out picking, brought it back, and put it together. Took me a few days to get the courage to use it, though.” Ronan responded. The story was convoluted and almost implausible, but stranger things had happened… Rune sighed, a smile creeping across her face as she responded, “But I’m glad you did.” “Yeah, me too. I don’t really know what to say, though. You’re the first person I’ve spoken to that wasn’t meself in over six months.” Ronan’s voice was much clearer now than it had been when it first came through. Rune sat there for a moment with her hand over her mouth, not really sure what to say herself. She had gotten her wish, someone else was alive out there, but now that she had them, she was drawing a blank at even casual conversation. “Rune?” “I’m here.” She finally spoke, trying to find the right words to use, “Same. I was really starting to think that no one was left. Where are you located, if you don’t mind me asking?” “Ah, Vanaheim. It was formerly something else, but the tourists won over the little fishing town and here we are. I dunno what it was called because that was before I got here and, for some reason, I never bothered to ask me bandmates.” Ronan spoke back, casual in his tone. “You were in a band?” Rune asked curiously, possibly seeing an in to a comfortable conversation. “Yeah, nothing fancy. We had a little cult following thanks to our lead singer. He was from here and our drummer and bassist were from—somewhere that I can’t remember. But they found me over the interwebs, I joined the band, and moved here myself. Sigur was somewhat of a celebrity around town as it was, so it was an easy transition. We were all living together when they just disappeared into thin air. I went to bed one night, they were all blackout drunk, woke up and there was no one. And I mean no one…anywhere.” Ronan had a twinge of sadness in his voice that Rune recognized; it was loneliness. “I went to work like I always did. Was up for half the day before I went in. Worked almost my whole shift before I decided that things were just way too weird and then I went home. I hoped that if I went to bed and woke up that everything would be fine, that maybe I was dreaming—but that wasn’t the case. I was just utterly and completely alone.” Rune hadn’t meant for her last words to come out sounding so pitiful, but she was a little rusty on the human interaction front. “And you’re in Imellom? I’ve actually been there a few times; we had friends that lived in town.” Ronan didn’t even seem to notice her self-pitying comment and went on. “Oh, so you know how to get here?” Rune suddenly felt that lump in her chest that signaled her anxiety. What if Ronan wasn’t a good person? What if the only other person left alive besides herself was actually some psychopath? She couldn’t tell him where she lived and she wasn’t even sure if she wanted to meet up with him at her spot in front of the library. “I could probably remember, but there are also signs to easily follow out here. Are—are you wanting to meet up or something?” Ronan asked a loaded question that Rune wasn’t ready for. “Uh, I—I—maybe at some point. I know I wanted to make contact, but I don’t know if I’m ready to meet up in person. Actually, I’m—I’m not ready.” Rune was quick to nip that idea in the bud. “No, I get it. Really, I do. We don’t have to meet up at all if you don’t want; we can just be radio friends.” Rune could hear the smile in Ronan’s voice. Maybe he wasn’t a psychopath…but she wasn’t going to chance it. “How about we just take it one day at a time? See how things develop organically. I know it sounds weird, but I’m not the greatest at making friends and I like to be alone, but I also don’t want to be the only one that’s—alone. You know?” Rune rattled off, regretting rambling so much. There was dead air on Ronan’s side before his voice responded, “I know. I took silence and solitude for granted when I had the ability to just be while the world went on without me, but now that I have it, I don’t think I like it. There’s no one to play music for, no one to chat with about my day, not a single person to talk about movies with. Nothin'.” “You like movies?” Rune’s ears perked at the word. "Oh, yeah. Besides music, movies are my escape. I like books too, but you can’t put a book on in the background when you sleep; movie makes it feel like someone else is there with you.” Ronan’s tone sounded almost embarrassed. “Oh, I do the same thing. The TV is constantly going unless I leave the house, then I take my phone with me for music. I don’t like silence; it—bothers me.” Rune felt oddly comfortable with the stranger, but she tried not to get too carried away. “So, we both like movies and music, books too, I’m assuming; that’s good. Common ground is good. Ehm, what are you watching now? And how?” Ronan was trying so hard to keep Rune’s attention from his end. He had heard the distress in her voice with the initial broadcast he had intercepted, and he knew that sound all too well. She was teetering on the edge of a very dangerous cliff, one that he had stood on before. “Oh,” Rune tittered, “Uh, it’s kinda dumb. My gran was originally from England and there was this show from the 70’s that she loved called Ina and Liza. Well, I fell in love with it too and managed to find the seasons that I didn’t have between our little department store and the rental store. I’m honestly surprised I even found the complete set. And I’m able to do all of this because of this lovely generator that I have.” Rune felt a little silly because of her love for that show, but if she was going to make friends, she might as well be transparent. “You know Ina and Liza? It’s a guilty pleasure of mine. My adoptive parents got me hooked on it and I’ve actually been huntin’ for the last series. Not that I can watch it or anything—I’ve got a generator, but it’s real small and I ran out of petrol a long time ago.” Ronan returned with a laugh that quickly quieted towards the end of his statement. “Too bad we don’t have a way to video chat; I’d let you watch it with me.” Rune was trying to keep herself from sounding too nice, too desperate, in case things went sideways eventually, but she couldn’t help herself. Ronan laughed, “Hell, you could just turn the volume up and that would be enough for me. I’ve seen that show so many times I can just play it in my head.” Rune laughed along with him for the moment before the laughter eventually died down and she replied, “I don’t think I would have lasted this long without it.” The two sat in silence along the airways again. They both had more to say, but neither knew where to begin. Only six months without another living being and the two had almost forgotten how to relate. “Hey, Rune, it’s getting late. I think I may sign off here and get some sleep.” Ronan finally broke the silence with an unfortunate sentence. Rune hadn’t noticed that hours had actually gone by and it was indeed late. She had no right to protest, so she just had to give in. “I didn’t even realize what time it was. I should probably get some sleep too.” She replied. Silence again. Had he already signed off before she even had a chance to speak? “Sleep well, Rune. I’ll talk to you later.” Ronan’s voice came through crisply. Rune closed her eyes, savoring the words. She knew he wouldn’t call back. At least that’s what her illness was telling her. Ronan wasn’t going to talk to her later. Something had put him off for him to abruptly decide to end the call… “You too, Ronan. Talk to you later.” Rune quickly cut off the radio. She was going to go to bed and forget that this ever happened because dwelling on the likely possibility that she would never hear from Ronan again and would have to start all over trying to discover if anyone else existed, would just weigh on her till there was no possibility of sleep. |
E.M. MoonStories from the World Wide Weird Archives
December 2021
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