Acrylic Bones

The sky burned deep red, the edges lightly touched by burnt orange and glowing yellow. The clouds were the colour of ash as they floated across the sky. It was a stunning view, and Sean stopped just outside of the LCBO to admire it. He stepped aside as someone pushed open the door and walked out onto the street, giving him a questioning glance as they passed.

Breathing in slowly, Sean enjoyed the way the air burned the insides of his lungs. Then he shook himself slightly, and raised one hand to push open the heavy wooden door. The store inside was nothing like the bookshop a few doors down. It was brightly lit, with a friendly, bustling atmosphere. A half dozen people wandered the isles aimlessly, bending every once and a while to inspect a tag or read a label. There were two desks at the front, and two young girls leaned against them, chatting. Both of them wore a white-and-green uniform, with their hair tied up above their heads. Employees, Sean guessed.

Walking through the second door, this one made of glass, he entered the store proper. An electric chime sounded as he did so, and both young ladies turned towards him. They didn't say anything, simply watching him as he raised his hand in a self-depreciating wave and ducked down the nearest isle.

He walked around the store for a few moments, stopping now and again to pick up and bottle and replace it on the shelf. Finally, he settled on a bottle of aged Rum. The glass bottle was rectangular shaped, with a silver cork in the top. A black label, decorated with a wooden barrel and a panther, announced it as 'Jägerkuss'. Hunter's Kiss, Sean thought. His knowledge of German was limited, but he had picked up some small pieces living with his grandfather. Hesitating at the back of the store, he reaches down and picks up a case of red wine in second thought.

"May as well." he mumbles to himself, shrugging slightly.

Laying the grey bottle on top of the case of beer, he lifts both and walks to the front counter. As he approaches, he catches the eyes of the nearest store-girl. She has almond-shaped eyes and dark brown hair with falls almost to her waist. Her pink-painted lips curl up in a small smile which had been distinctively absent before as she sees him. He places the box and bottle on the desk beside her and brings his wallet out of his jacket pocket.

"That'll be $62.50." the young woman says, her voice light and friendly. "Will it be cash or credit?"

"Cash, please." he replies, handing over the money.

"And are you a loyalty member?" her dark eyes rise to meet his own. She almost seems to be weighing him.

"No and no." he said, shaking his head slightly. A small smile crossed the girl's lips as she reached beneath the counter, pulling forth a blue ballpoint pen. With a smooth motion, she uncapped it and leaned down to scribble something onto the back of the Rum label.

"You're approved." she said. "Alarms won't go off, now."

"Ah," Sean breathed, nodding. "So that's what that is."

"No." the girl's smile spread, and a roguish glint appeared in her dark eyes. "That's my phone number."

"And here I thought you said no alarms would go off." Sean said. "It's a pleasure to meet you..." his eyes darted to the nametag on her left breast, "... Sophie."

"And you." she said, turning back to her computer.

Sean wrapped his fingers under the wine case and hoisted it with a small grunt under one arm. Walking past the end of the counter, he took a left and pushed his way through the glass door. In the reflection, he could see Sophie watching him as he left. Then he shoved open the large wooden door, and the reflection vanished into sunlight. Though, it was more moonlight than anything, now. The skyline was tinged a deep burgundy, the sky like an enormous bruise. Purples and blues crossed the deep black. The clouds had melted into the sky; a deep, smoky gray.

"Beautiful." Sean murmured, letting the heavy wooden door slip from his foot and bang closed. Then, turning down the sidewalk, he found his car where he had parked it in front of the grocery store. Dropping the case of wine and his grey bottle beside on another in the back seat, he hopped into the front and started the engine. The night air, so calm, was suddenly filled with noise. Backing up slowly, Sean turned onto the road out of town and stepped on the gas.

The night are whistled by like cold laughter. It kissed his cheeks with frozen lips, and breathed a frosty breath down his shirt front. His left arm lounged out the side of the car, his right wrapped firmly around the steering wheel. It didn't take long to pass out of town, the buildings melting into the landscape behind him. In the rearview mirror, he could still see a few solitary curls of smoke rising from house chimneys, disappearing into the darker grey of the clouds. Turning his eyes back to the road in front of him, something caught his eye. Red and blue lights alternated, flashing through the trees. For a moment, he thought a police officer might be behind him, but another glance at his mirror show him this was not the case. He could hear no sirens, either.

Frowning, he rounded a bend in the road and slowed his car to a stop, pulling over to the shoulder. He could see the police vehicle in front of him, lights flashing and spinning above it. He looked harder, and he realized there was more than one. Three, in fact. They were parked in a line, making it hard to distinguish one from the other. The boy fought down an immediate panic in his chest at his first thought - mother. Anything, he prayed silently. Anyone or anything but her.

Climbing out of the car, he shrugged his jacket more tightly around his shoulders and approached the closest police cruiser. Glancing in the window, he found it empty.

"Freeze!" a voice said, high and commanding. "Don't move - hands where I can see them!"

Sean stood tall, turning in the direction of the voice. His eyes were narrowed slightly. Not threatening, but certainly not cowed. He kept his hands firmly in the pocket of his jacket.

"Evening, officer." he said loudly.

"I said hands where I can see them!" the officer barked. He was a short man, with curly orange hair and a wispy mustache. His brown eyes were slightly too wide for his pinched face, giving him a startled look. But it was what he held that immediately caught the young man's attention. The silver revolver seemed to sparkle, alternating between blue and red in the flashing cruiser lights.

"Technically," Sean said, raising his hands to the height of his shoulders, "your first order was not to move."

"Don't get smart with me, boy!" the officer threatened, his hands tightening slightly around the handle of his pistol.

"Why thank-you." Sean let a small smile cross his lips. "My mother's always telling me what a dumb ass I am. It's a nice change to be thought so highly of."

"I'm warning you." the officer's voice was angry, and his brow darkened as he furrowed it. "Don't get lippy. On your knees, now!"

Sean took a deep breath, and met the officer's eyes evenly.

"No."

"Do as I say, boy!" the officer ordered, and Sean heard the hammer of the gun click backwards. Whatever he was here for, something had the man's nerves on razors edge. "I won't ask again!"

"Good, because you'd get the same response." Sean said, holding his ground.

The officer swallowed, as if unsure how to handle this turn of events. Finally, he sighed deeply and lowered the gun. His eyes rose to meet Sean's, and he stepped forwards. "What's your name, boy?"

"Sean Penbeaurogh." he says, smiling at the man in front of him.

"Well, Sean Penbeaurogh." the officer said quickly. "I've never seen you around here. What brings you to these parts?"

"My mother and I are living in the cabin in the woods, just a few minutes that way." Sean turned down the road and pointed. "I saw the lights and got interested. Sorry, I ... didn't mean to interrupt."

"Kind of suspicious," the officer said, his voice low. "The evening you get into town, a girl's body is discovered not five minutes from your home. Kind of suspicious that you just happened to stumble across us as we were finishing the autopsy. Kind of suspicious that you were 'in town' when the murder was committed. What do you think I should think, Sean Penbeaurogh?"

"Well, officer." Sean said, shrugging slightly and pursing his lips. "Sorry to hear about the girl. It wasn't me."

"Good alibi." the officer said, grabbing one of Sean's arms and shoving him against the door of the police car. The angle of his arm didn't allow Sean to move, and he simply lay his cheek against the cold metal, letting go a small breath of exasperation. "Anyone who can confirm your whereabouts this evening, mister Penbeaurogh?"

"Robin ... something." Sean mumbled. His cheek was pressed flat against the door of the police cruiser, making it hard to pronounce words properly. Making it hard to even speak.

"Heh." the officer chuckled, "It would be fuckin' Albrick, wouldn't it. He's the only one in this God forsaken town I trust less than you right now, boy. Anyone else you want to use to convict yourself?"

Sean hesitated. "Sophie." he said, spitting out the name.

"Sophie May?" the officer asked. For the first time, his voice caught slightly in hesitation.

"Sophie may be." Sean mumbled, not stopping even for a moment to enjoy the wit. "Didn't get a last name, I'm afraid. Worked in the LCBO."

The officer sighed, and then released his grip on Sean's arm. His boots crunched on the gravel as he stepped backwards, the gun clicking as it pointed at Sean's head. For a moment, Sean thought the man might shoot him right there.

"Get back in your car." the officer said, motioning with the barrel of the pistol. "Don't speak, don't look around. Get back in the vehicle, and drive back to wherever fucking dump you crawled out of. Next time I find you alone at night, Penbeaurogh ... I pull the trigger first. Got it?"

Sean straightened, rolling his aching arm and turning towards the officer. "Of course, sir. Anything else I can help you with tonight, officer?"

"No." the man said flatly. Then he gestured towards Sean's car again and grunted. "Get going before I change my mind and decide to do the right thing."

Sean turned and made his way back to his vehicle. Just as his fingers closed around the handle, he froze. The smell cloaked road; dark and intoxicating. It smelled like old death, like rot or decay. The way a stump smells after a year of rainfall. It smelled like a swamp - wet and stagnant. Sean almost choked on the bile that spilled out of his throat, gagging as he attempted not to empty his stomach onto the road.

"In the car, boy!" the officer calls behind him, his voice high. Like a child who was trying to be threatening.

Wrenching open the door, Sean falls into the drivers seat and grips the steering well in both hands to steady his trembling. He can taste the fetid evil on the air. Feel it, like an itch just below his skin that he can't quite scratch. Starting the engine, he pulls onto the road and begins to accelerate. The police officer and the flashing lights disappear behind him, and his foot presses harder against the gasp. The trees around him turn to green blurs, and the wind prickles his skin like knives.

"Lord, help me in these days and these hard times to come." he breathes, his voice lost in the wind. "Lord, forgive my faults and take these evils from my shoulders. Lord - what the hell is going on?"

Suddenly, he hears his grandather's voice. The sandpaper chuckle breaks through his cluttered thoughts and fearful prayer. It sounds like rain, or parchment paper. A dry rustle; white noise.

'Listen to me, young one." his grandfather's voice says, hushed and gentle. 'You are a good boy. So listen now as you have never before - for this is the most important thing I will ever teach you. There are things in this world ... better left untouched. Things that will look like you, speak like you, breathe like you ... but they are nothing like you or I, young one. They are hell's darkest creations. You can see the darkness in them ... it is so powerful it shines. Like a cancer, it eats their mind. Drives them insane. Destroys them. Stay away from these people, young one. You cannot help them. You can only watch as they walk their own path, and you walk away on yours. If you try to help them ... you will only dig your own grave beside theirs. No matter how badly you might want to, young one...
You cannot change the world.'