Omega Point

Macey Neveu couldn’t breathe.

She dropped the glass she was holding; it fell to the floor with a clatter. Clutching her abdomen, she staggered over to the sink and bent down, pushing her head under the cool water that filled it almost to the brim. A stream of bubbles escaped her mouth and popped on the surface; she wrenched her head out and took in several deep breaths.

The water in her dark hair dropped onto the linoleum floor with gentle thuds. She clutched tightly to the folds of her scarlet dress, the water like tears running down her arms.

‘Mama?’ the sweet, innocent voice of Sofia Neveu floated to Macey’s ears, and immediately the older woman’s shoulders slouched. Her chocolate brown eyes softened and her face relaxed into a calm smile. ‘Mama, I’m hungry.’

‘I know, chérie,’ Macey’s accented voice shook slightly as she spoke. ‘Mama will make you something.’ Macey’s eyes dropped to the floor, which was covered in water and shards of glass. ‘But first Mama needs to clean up this mess,’

She walked slowly over to the corner of the room while the little girl with her mother’s eyes stood, terrified, in the doorway. Mama was acting strangely, and Sofia was scared.

‘There, chérie, I’m finished. What would you like to eat?’ Macey shivered as a gust of cool air blew from the vents, blowing her hair around her face.

‘Mama, I’m afraid,’ Sofia said timidly.

Macey crouched down and Sofia walked unsurely towards her. Macey pulled the girl into her arms as if her life depended on it. ‘Don’t be afraid, Sofia Neveu. Never be afraid. We’re going to be alright. What did I tell you?’

Sofia looked up at her mother, who was staring somewhere in the distance, or in the past. ‘Nobody can hurt those who don’t … who don’t mourn for their losses, Mama.’

Macey’s lips hovered uncertainly around a smile. ‘Good girl,’ she whispered. ‘Papa would have been proud.’

*

‘Mama, what’s happening?’

Macey frowned, putting down the book she had been reading and looking over to her daughter. ‘What do you mean, chérie?’

‘Down there, Mama. What’s happening?’ the girl pressed.

Sofia’s index finger was pointing out of the window. Macey walked over to the wide panel of glass and stared outside. There was a body on the floor, surrounded by a pool of red liquid. Macey closed her eyes and looked away. ‘That’s our present, and your future, Sofia,’ she said in barely more than a whisper. ‘That man isn’t alive anymore. Like Papa.’

‘Why isn’t that man alive?’

Macey parted her perfect lips to tell her daughter the truth, but somehow the words just wouldn’t come out of her mouth. She sighed. ‘Because he was a bad man, Sofia.’

‘Bad men should be punished, not killed,’ Sofia said staunchly.

‘I know, chérie, but people don’t think about that these days.’

A pause.

‘Mama, was Papa a bad man?’

Macey’s breath caught in her throat. She shook her head mutely. ‘No. Papa was a good man.’

‘But you said—’

‘Sofia, what you must understand is that some people die because they are bad, and others die because people mistake them for bad people. People are a disease, Sofia. You’d do best to remember that.’

Sofia was silent for a while. ‘Mama, why are you crying?’ she asked eventually.

Macey sunk down onto her knees as the tears spilled down her perfect cheeks. ‘Because I miss your Papa.’

‘But Mama … Nobody can hurt those who don’t mourn for their losses.’

Macey smiled and pulled her daughter into her arms. ‘I know, chérie,’ she whispered. ‘I know. Now, it’s getting late. You should be going to bed now.’

‘But Mama!’ Sofia protested. ‘We haven’t finished that story!’

‘We’ll finish it tomorrow,’ Macey gently pushed Sofia forwards, still smiling.

‘Mama! Mama, I don’t want to go!’ Sofia said loudly.

Macey’s smile dipped slightly. ‘Sofia. Please, just go to bed.’

‘I’m not going.’ Sofia said, folding her arms and staring up at her mother with narrowed eyes. ‘And you can’t make me.’

‘Yes, I can. I’m your mother, and you’ll do as I say.’ Macey’s smile was all but gone now.

‘I won’t!’ Sofia screamed, stamping her foot on the floor. ‘I won’t, I won’t, I won’t!

‘Sofia,’ Macey’s voice stayed calm. ‘Please.’

‘No!’

Macey couldn’t take it anymore. Bending down, she picked up the girl and carried her upstairs.

All the while, Sofia kicked and screamed and cried, and every word was a stake in Macey’s heart.

*

Macey couldn’t quite comprehend why she was afraid. She lay awake, unwilling to administer the Synthestane. She stared at the window above her daughter’s sleeping form and sighed as she mulled over what had happened during the day. It was the fifth time in the past month that she’d had trouble breathing, and she couldn’t get her head around it. Maybe she was ill…?

Macey shook her head rigidly and grabbed the Synthestane needle, maybe a little too harshly. It cracked and the liquid spilled all over the floor. She sighed, unwilling to get up and clean it. She looked down at the floor, her hair falling around her perfect features in waves as she contemplated the Synthestane. She could pick out the wisps of dark brown as her hair, and her long, thin, tapered eyebrows, and her eyes—

‘NO!’

She jumped back, breathing hard. She glanced quickly at Sofia, who was still in a deep and untroubled sleep. Of course she was. Macey’s hands were shaking as she brought them to her own face, cupping her soft skin and trying to steady her head.

She shuffled towards the wardrobe at the bottom of the room, rifling through the drawer that only she held the key to, and brought out another needle. She stared at it for a long time, before deciding against it and walking back to her bed, this time avoiding the mess on the floor.

She lay down, closed her eyes and tried to sleep.