(1)
“Pull over, Helen seriously pull over I’m gonna be sick”
Sighing, I do as she says. Fog enveloped our car, vision blurry and road slippery, this wasn’t the sort of journey I wanted to make any longer.
It’s pitch black and the sky is empty, almost as if any stars that had once shone bright had been extinguished since our journey began. Me, my girlfriend and my brother – God, it had been a hellish six hour drive, but our grandmother was dying and this would be my only chance to say goodbye. It was a miracle she lived this long, she’d been riddled with cancers for the past three decades but had still clung on making it to her current age of 102, even outliving our parents.
She moved away from the city around fifteen years ago to an incredibly small town miles away, she couldn’t bear to live in a place that reminded her so much of all the people she had lost. With her increasing age, illnesses and overall poor mental health, it wasn’t a surprise that over the years she had changed, for a long time she begged us not to visit; told us the town was dangerous and whatnot. Over the last few months she started seem a little better and asked us to come see her, Kal (my brother) theorised she wanted to see us before she died but my girlfriend, Xiang, was extremely uncomfortable visiting. Something about the air being ‘wrong’? I’m not sure. All I know is that as I took a long, deep breathe of the cool autumn air – I felt a weight lift off of me, almost as if I didn’t need to be fully in control anymore, fully present. It was okay to relax. It was encouraged to take a break. I know Kal and Xiang felt it too, even if neither of them said anything.
“Shit!” Kal exclaimed, tapping my shoulder and snapping me out of my daydream “Helen, she’s been like really sick man, vomit everywhere”
“Did any get in the car?” I asked, the last thing I wanted to do was try and get vomit out of my car, God forbid the smell last.
“No, Helen” he replied, furrowing his brow “It’s on the pavement, I gave her some water and a blanket – we should be good to go”
About time, without a word I climbed back into the driver seat of my car and turned on the ignition. Kai climbed into the passenger seat a moment later, looking back at Xiang, worried. About ten minutes later we were greeted with an ancient welcome sign, faded and covered in graffiti. The name of the town had long faded away, either that or no one had bothered to write the name. The place was practically unknown anyway, there was such a small population. Xiang and I had even joked before that the place probably didn’t even have a name. Honestly, none of us knew what it was called, we barely found the place and only managed thanks to an old, water damaged map our grandmother had given us before she moved, couldn’t find directions online either so we almost gave up.
A few small rows of spaced out houses, a flat block of around three floors, a market and a park. That was all. With no driveway, we pulled up outside a house with a big 13 on the door. This was it, grandmothers place. I knocked the door three times and waited patiently. Distant shuffling and what almost sounded like scratching got clearer. Scraping against a wooden surface. A bright white light switches on, visible through the distorted window on the rotting wooden door.
It creaks open, light flooding out. A small, fragile woman peers out cautiously – our grandmother. She smiles weakly and pushes the door open completely, a small, hairless cat rubs its self against my calves, purring deeply.
“Bagpuss, he’s a little devil but he seems to like you” she said, pulling myself and Kal into a deep hug
“Come inside, my loves” she carried on, warmly “Helen, is your lady friend not joining us this evening? I had the guest bedroom made up for you both ready… my weekend won’t be nearly as fulfilled without all of you here”
I look back to see Xiang still in the car, asleep and make my way over to her whilst yawning. Honestly it had been quite the journey and we all just wanted to rest. The sofa had been set up for Kal and the guest room seemed so inviting. Grandmother made us all a cup of chamomile tea and took a seat, humming quietly to herself, watching Kal intensely as he lay there eyes closed and head propped up against the hard armrest.
“Sleep, loves, you all look exhausted” my grandmother gestured over to the door “There’s plenty of time for chit chat in the morning”
It seemed odd to be rushed to bed but I won’t lie, I appreciated it. As soon as my head hit the pillow I was out, I didn’t even get the chance to kiss my girlfriend goodnight, I suppose she fell asleep just as quickly as I did.
The next morning I woke up to the sounds of screaming. Kal, screaming. Bagpuss had been sleeping soundly next to me but jumped up and ran away, out of sight as I jolted out of bed to see what had happened.
There, wincing in pain sat Kal, cradling his arm and rocking back and forth slightly. His arm. Covered in thick, dark blood it was difficult to understand what had happened but looking closer, saw it. Claw marks, his forearm was coated in them. Long, jagged and gaping, the scratches were deep enough to see yellow fat bubbling angrily. Shit. What the fuck could have done this? There were no signs of a break in and the front door was locked, grandmother was still asleep so at least there was hope of fixing everything before she got up, that would be a heart attack waiting to happen. Xiang was still asleep too, of course.
I’ll admit, i’m as scared as I am confused but we’re here to see our grandmother so I refuse to go home until we are scheduled to, some animal bite will not ruin this trip.