The Hollow Root - Chapter 19
First time? Here’s the table of contents:
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8
Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18
Amy rose to her feet capturing a glimpse of Mitsy in the corner of her eye. She flipped into autopilot. She walked confidently towards the horrified Mitsy and projected her voice with the confidence of a theatre major getting their first leading role.
“MITSY it’s not what you think. We’re reenacting a fight from our youth. A morbid scene for sure but nothing but a play,” Amy said.
“NO... NO... YOU... YOU... He.... he’s dead... she... that bitch killed him,” Mitsy said with her voice wavering between anger and deep sadness.
“Hey Mitsy... Mitsy... let’s calm down he’s fine. Can you just come here and we can talk about it. I know it seems...” Amy was cut off by Mitsy uncharacteristically slapping her on the cheek and thrusting her index finger directly in front of her face.
“NO. YOU LISTEN. I know blood when I see it. He... Vaino... Vaino is dead. That bitch killed him and you’re trying to cover it up. I’m calling the cops,” Mitsy said rippling with emotion.
Amy felt her cheek beginning to swell from the strike. She had thought Mitsy was some pushover who could be bullied into submission. Mitsy pulled her finger down and leaned towards Amy getting close to her face. Her eyes welling with tears as rage caused the veins in her eyes and forehead to swell. Her face was flushing red and her eye was twitching rhythmically.
“I do not know who or what you people are. I do not want to know. He said you were his friends and now he is dead. You are not my friends. I’m calling the cops in 10 minutes. GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE,” Mitsy said in a cold mechanical tone.
“Yes, understood. Thank you,” Amy said, not knowing how else to respond.
Amy turned away from Mitsy and jogged back to Fasaani who was still on top of a lifeless Vaino. She held the knife in her hand, the blood dripping down her hands and splattered across her face.
“Faz. Faz I need you,” Amy said, forcing all the calm she could in her voice.
“I... Amy... I... it’s blood. There’s blood everywhere. I didn’t I thought...,” Fasaani stammered as she looked helplessly at Amy.
“Faz. I need you to get the car, can you do that?” Amy said, pointing towards the parking lot in the distance.
“Car? He’s... I... I kill...” Fasaani started to say.
“Faz. The car, go get it,” Amy said calmly.
Fasaani got up and folded the knife slowly. She looked at Amy and nodded. She took off towards the lockers to grab the keys as well as any other belongings she could carry with her.
Amy walked over and looked down at Vaino. His face was eerily peaceful as it stared upwards towards the sky. Amy knelt down and pulled his eyelids shut. She let her hand rest on his forehead and said, “Return to the earth that birthed you. Rest now, the journey is over.”
As Amy looked towards Kavin she realized that while she had once held many abilities, strength was not among them. They needed to get him in the Camry but Amy wouldn’t be capable of carrying the deadweight of the man. She pressed her finger into his shoulder as a test. He was rigid, seemingly every muscle fiber had contracted as much as it could. It was here that she noticed the man who had brought Kavin over, Jed (though Amy couldn’t remember his name) fixing a light fixture in the distance. Would he help? She thought. They had no other option.
“SIR! Hello SIR!” Amy shouted while waving at Jed in the distance.
Jed turned and waved back pretending that this was a normal request. As Amy continued to yell in his direction he removed an airpod from his ear and shouted back after several agonizing seconds.
“Yes Ma’am. How can I help you?” Jed shouted, climbing down from his step ladder and wearily walking over towards her.
“My friend is locked up and I need help moving him to our car,” Amy said, realizing the absurdity of her request given this man appeared to have no idea what he was about to walk over and find.
As Jed approached he noticed his boss covered in what appeared to be blood and the man he had just led around locked in an unnatural position on the ground. He looked at Amy with an expression that wanted to ask questions but was unsure if there would be consequences.
“Sir, I’m sure you have questions and I know everything here looks confusing. Honestly, I don’t know how to explain this. I do need help carrying this man to our car so we can leave,” Amy said, trying to sound confident.
“Uh... is Mr. Bearspirit dead?” Jed said, staring at his boss’s body.
“Jed, we both know he is dead. There will be plenty of time for you to think about that. I need help moving my very alive, but locked up friend here. Can you do that?” Amy said sternly.
“Okay, uh... Ma’am... I have a daughter, please don’t...” Amy cut Jed off at his hint she might harm him.
“Sir, I will not harm a hair on that pretty head of yours if you just help me move my friend,” Amy said.
“Yeah sure... I... didn’t mean to imply... shit... this is fucking weird... I mean the guy sucks but why...” Jed muttered as he moved towards Kavin’s body, trying to figure out the best way to pick it up.
Amy walked over and began to help by propping Kavin in a way that allowed the angle of his body to sit on Jed’s shoulder. She then helped Jed stand to carry the man like a large sack on one shoulder. Jed knelt down next to Kavin’s body and started pulling at his hips. He was rigid and difficult to move.
“Uh... how do I pick him up, he is stiff?” Jed said, attempting to sound normal in a situation that was very confusing.
“Let’s try and rest his waist on the back of your neck. You can wear him like a yoke,” Amy said as though this was a perfectly normal statement.
Jed leaned in and Amy helped to stabilize Kavin on his back. Jed groaned at the dead weight pressing onto his shoulders and Kavin’s body didn’t give an inch, remaining stiff and immoveable.
“Can I ask... No... sorry I don’t want to,” Jed said, trying to shift the weight and find a center.
“Thank you. I’ll try and keep him stable while you walk,” Amy said calmly.
The two of them walked slowly towards the parking lot. As they neared the main building several onlookers peered through windows with confused looks. One of them even started to point as their mouth opened. Amy without missing a beat smiled and waved at them in some strange demonstration that she hoped would prove there was nothing to see there.
When they arrived at the lot Fasaani was sitting in the driver’s seat of the Camry waiting for them, her face covered in blood that she had pushed into a striped design on her forehead and cheeks. She was still wearing the robe but with Vaino gone it had no effect other than warmth. Jed began looking more and more nervous. His mind was playing a game of Tetris with Kavin’s body and the back seat of the Camry. Amy rushed to open the door but Kavin wasn’t exactly tiny and probably didn’t fit comfortably even when he was conscious and trying. Jed was also running into the issue that his body was starting to give out. While mentally Jed knew he had to push this man in the car so that he could hopefully live to see another day and not meet the same fate as his former boss, Jed’s body had put in 7 hours of manual labor and was now tasked with carrying a full sized man some 300 meters to a car. His knees felt as though they were losing power and his back was starting to ache. He needed to put Kavin down but how? Jed knelt down to try and at least begin the process. Amy jumped to his aid grabbing Kavin’s body and trying to brace it against the car door’s frame allowing Jed to exit.
“I... Amy... I... it’s not like when I’ve killed before... I... I didn’t. Who am... why did...” Fasaani said, looking at her hands with the Camry’s engine purring.
“Faz. Not now. We need your help. I need your help. Come pull from the other side,” Amy said calmly and sternly.
Fasaani looked into the rearview mirror and took note of the war paint striping she had instinctively brushed onto her own face in the throes of grief. Her focus narrowed again and she stepped out of the driver’s seat and opened the back door of the Camry. She leaned into the back seat and motioned her hand to Jed and Amy that they angle Kavin head first towards her. Amy and Jed jointly rotated Kavin’s body but his shoulder caught the back of the passenger seat and seemed to stick.
“Jed can you hold him? I’m going to move the seat forward,” Amy said.
“Yeah... sure...” Jed said, straining to hold the man up while every inch of his body commanded he crumple to the floor and give up.
As the seat freed itself and Amy pulled it forward Fasaani grabbed Kavin’s shirt and pulled him with a force Jed wasn’t prepared for. Jed lurched forward and there was a loud pop as Kavin’s body surged into the back seat. The angle of his body adjusted to something more obtuse and now his feet were hanging out the side of the door towards Jed who was recovering on the ground.
“Amy he’s too fucking long,” Fasaani said with a determined look.
In the distance they could hear a police siren whirring. It was far away but not far enough for their liking. Amy rushed to Kavin’s feet and stared at them. With no time to spare, she realized there was only one hope she had to get his knee to bend.
“Hey, push up on his feet with me. We don’t have time,” Amy said, motioning towards Jed.
Jed rolled to his knees and used whatever energy he had left to push up on Kavin’s leg. It popped loudly and bent at the knee. He quickly moved to help Amy with his left knee. Once it was clear the door would close Amy slammed it shut and patted Jed on the cheek as a thank you before she jumped into the passenger seat.
Jed looked at the Camry, confusion washing over him and replacing the fear that had been pushing him forward. Without saying anything he sheepishly waved and backed slowly away.
“Faz, you need to drive,” Amy said sternly.
Fasaani sat, her hands firmly wrapped around the wheel. Her eyes narrowed with a focus coming from somewhere deep in her body. This was not a time for mourning, or even reflection. This was a time for action, she thought. She put the Camry into drive and pulled out of the parking lot.
“Faz drive faster, I can see the lights flashing through the trees,” Amy said, tamping down the panic in her voice.
“No, they will suspect us. We’re just leaving normally,” Fasaani said coldly.
As they hit the end of the parking lot she turned directly towards the police sirens that were flying towards her. Amy pushed into her seat but remained silent. They drove slowly towards the police and then pulled into the shoulder and let them pass.
“Faz, how did you know to do that?” Amy said, looking slightly shocked that something so simple worked.
“Amy it’s not my first time running from cops,” Fasaani said, smirking.
Amy relaxed into her seat and looked at Fasaani. They had known each other for so long that Amy had forgotten just how clever Fasaani can be when left to her own devices. Sure she was impulsive and often driven by her emotion but she was clever. Amy looked back at Kavin in the back seat. He looked ridiculous lying flat across the seat with his legs bent and resting against the window. Amy let out a laugh.
“I don’t think he will feel good if we get him back,” Amy said, wiping a tear from her eye.
“He’s going to be fucking pissed. I don’t blame him. Amy, this is the only time I’ll say it. Don’t mention Vaino to me for a while. I can’t,” Fasaani said.
“Sure. Faz... can I just ask one thing first?” Amy said gently.
“Is it why I painted my face this way with his blood?” Fasaani said.
“Yeah,” Amy replied.
“I guess it’s my way of surviving. I don’t really know I just did it,” Fasaani replied.
“Oh... you’ve never really looked more like yourself,” Amy said.