The Edge

Tola: Part Nine

There was more graffiti around the neighborhood the next morning.

Tola saw it when she stepped outside for fresh air. More of the houses had been painted black, as high as you could effectively reach with a ladder, with white eyes scattered across the void. She stepped back inside as quickly as possible and didn't talk about it. She tried not to think about it, either, but that was a lot harder than not talking.

Roland was awake again, but a bit less alert. Carrie moved him into the living room at some point, just to get a change of scenery. "Can we at least go outside?" he said to Carrie at one point. "Just for a little while."

"I don't think I can carry you down the stairs," Carrie said gently. "I don't want to drop you."

"I'm not that heavy."

"It's not that. I'm not as strong as you think I am."

Tola couldn't help wondering if her unwillingness to go outside had to do with her inability to carry Roland or concern about whatever had caused the screaming, lights, and graffiti. She also wondered about Edward, who still vanished during the day. He'd come home the day before covered in grime and visibly exhausted. When Tola asked him where he'd been, he said there was still some mining ongoing. He and a crew were trying to scrape whatever they could out of the tunnels. She had no reason to distrust him, and he was always home before the strange events started, but a part of her wondered if he knew more than he was letting on.

She didn't pressure him, though. He was under enough stress as it was. It must have been difficult to work for such little gain, and doubly so if there was something else going on that might be making his job more difficult.

Roland's injury was healing slowly; any improvements were made in increments so small she worried she was only seeing them because she wanted to. It was better than things getting noticeably worse, but did little to make her feel confident about things. On top of that, Nathan still wouldn't talk to her. It wasn't like talking to Gideon when he went quiet and closed-off; at least those times, she got the feeling that Gideon could hear her. If he didn't reply, it was because he wasn't up to speaking. It was like holding hands in the dark, knowing the other person was there even if you couldn't see them.

With Nathan, it was like talking to a brick wall, or speaking into the dark to someone you only thought was there. She didn't know why, either. Her first instinct in a situation like his would've been to reach out to anyone willing to listen, if not her family. Then again, she was very community-minded, more so than some people. Between her original upbringing and her second family, her first instinct was to surround herself with others. Maybe that wasn't Nathan's first instinct.

That was such a sad thought. She couldn't imagine living like that.

Nothing strange happened that night, or during the first half of the next day. After lunch, Tola had an uneasy feeling, though she wasn't sure why. The feeling increased when Gideon spoke to her privately. "I know what I said earlier, but...do you think you can try talking to Edward about what's going on around here after all?" he asked her in a low voice.

"I can try, but what changed your mind?"

"I don't know. This place just doesn't feel safe."

Not she felt worse. Gideon knew better than any of them what safe and not safe felt like, so if he said it didn't feel safe... "How unsafe?" Tola asked nervously.

"Not like a war zone, but something is definitely happening here. I don't know what. Remember the lights from the other night? I would've brushed off the screaming, but that and the lights is too much."