Eyes Ever to the Sky (A Sci Fi Romance) (The Sky Trilogy) (17 page)

“It’s like a ghost town around here,” Hugh said, his eyes tracing up and down the four lane road. A few cars zipped past, going way over the posted speed limit. Everyone wanted to get where they were going and lock themselves in. Cece thought of Mama and walked a little faster.

They passed a coffee shop, nearly empty but for a few employees and a closed ladies’ retail store. Cece shook her head. “What’s it going to take for them to catch this maniac?”

Hugh swallowed. “It won’t be easy.”

Cece looked up at Hugh, a shiver running over her arms. There was something in his voice. “Do you think you should be on the street like this?” She lowered her voice and leaned closer to him. “You know, because of that cop thinking it was you.”
It wasn't him, right?
She looked up at his kind face.
No, couldn't be.

Hugh nodded. “Maybe we should get off the main road.”

They walked through a weedy parking lot and down an embankment that stank of animal waste and sour liquor. The dry two-foot high grass lashed at their legs. They dodged faded beer cans, broken bottles and candy bar wrappers fluttering in the breeze. From here they could see her trailer park, saggy rectangles in a multitude of stained colors, off in the distance. She hoped Mama would be safe and sound when she got home. But then, how would she get more time with Hugh?

As they entered the trailer park, the air hung hot and heavy. The empty playground swings moaned in the breeze. No one trusted their children out today. They were cramped inside on musty carpets while their mother’s watched
Judge Judy
.

They stopped in front of her trailer. Cece took the bike from Hugh and locked it to the stoop. No way to tell if Mama was home from the driveway. Cece thought of the night before. She wanted time alone with Hugh again, but she wanted Mama safe, too.

“Wait here, please,” she said to Hugh, who tucked his large frame into a folding chair between two stacks of boxes. She opened the front door and stepped inside.

The smell of cleaning chemicals had abated and the powerful aroma of decaying synthetic material and stale air was back. From the entryway she could see new shopping bags resting next to the ones from yesterday. Garage sale finds by the look of it. More flip flops, CDs, cheese graters and knick-knacks strewn about. Where was Mama? Cece walked in and peered over the couch. Empty. A look to the kitchen showed it unoccupied. She walked down to the bathroom and pushed that door open. Mama must’ve washed some of her clothes in the bathtub—wet socks, t-shirts, shorts and bras were slung over every available surface to dry.

She left the bathroom. The only place left to look was her room. A sick feeling of dread piled on her as she pushed into her bedroom.

Mama was splayed across her bed, still in her clothes. One high heel lay on the ground discarded. The other dangled from Mama’s foot extending off the edge of the bed. Her black and gray curls tumbled over her head like untrimmed shrubs. Lipstick was smeared Cece's pillowcase. Her room was a mess. A flare of anger filled her, but she squashed it. Mama was home safe. And judging by the way she was snoring, she’d be out for a while. She probably hadn’t slept in at least twenty-four hours.

Cece found Hugh sitting with his hands in his lap right where she'd left him. His eyes met hers as she stood over him. The only time he ever had to look up at her.

“
Is she there?” he asked.

“
She’s asleep. Probably will be all night.”

Hugh got up and gestured to the folding chair, offering it to her. She shook her head. They still had a good three hours of daylight. She didn’t want to spend it sitting in her mouse-infested carport. “You wanna go for a walk?” she asked.

“What about the killer?”

Cece flicked her eyes down the street. She should be careful. She should lock herself in the house with Mama and wait for the cops to catch that maniac. But, then there was this boy standing there, gorgeous and, for the moment, all hers. How could a girl think straight?

“We won't go far and I've got you to keep me safe.” She smiled.

“
Where are we going?”

“
The lake.”

“
The lake?” he asked.

She nodded. “You'll see.”

CHAPTER TWENT
Y-THREE — HUGH

Thursday 6:38 p.m.

When the trees pulled back and he spotted the lake, Hugh blew out a deep breath. Magnificent. The lake stretched across his periphery, hedged with trees all the way around. Across the way, two white swans floated regally across the rippling surface. To his left a killdeer scuttled across the brown sand. It keened a mournful note and its mate answered. Despite the heat, there were no bathers. One leathery old man lay face up, his radio broadcasting a baseball game in his ear. Cece and Hugh moved off to the right where the water lapped quietly into the sand. Hugh felt a shiver of pleasure run through him. To be in this place of splendid beauty with an even more beautiful girl at his side. Well, this was paradise.

“
You come here a lot?” he asked, his eyes on a swan that was circling the deep water.

“
Uh huh.” Cece’s eyes followed the swan too, but Hugh could tell her mind floated elsewhere. “Mama used to bring me here as a kid. Before she got sick.”

Hugh scooped up a handful of sand and let it sift through his fingers. “How long has she been like this?”

Cece shrugged. “Hard to say. It was a gradual decline, not a sharp drop. I remember her being in bed a lot when I was in fifth grade. By high school our trailer was pretty trashed. Oh, and there was that time she was gone for a week without calling. I was pretty scared.” She squeezed her hands together and blew out a tense breath. “One time she picked me up from school, plopped me in the car and started driving to Disney. We ran out of gas in Tennessee. Never made it to Disney, but we got a tour of Nashville from the guy who drove us to the gas station.”

Hugh smiled. “That's amazing.”

“You mean weird.” She shook her head, smiling wryly.

“
What about the rest of your family? What do they think about your mom?”

Cece took a breath. “There isn't anyone, really. I've been trying to get a hold of my grandfather in Bolivia, but I can't find a working number.” Cece shook her head, lifting a smile onto her face. “But, we’ve all got our problems.” she said, letting her eyes trace his face. “You can’t even remember who you are. I don’t have it bad compared to you.”

His cheeks flushed and he dropped his eyes to the sand flecks clinging to his fingers. “Maybe it’s better I don’t remember my family. I mean, if they cared about me so much, wouldn’t they have come looking for me?”

Cece drew her name in the sand with her finger and then smoothed it out with her palm. “They’re looking. Maybe we need to ask around. Where was the last place you remember?”
              “The bark park,” he said, and regretted it. Would she put two and two together?

Her lips pursed as her mind worked this over. “The park that they closed down? The one with those comet craters?”

He nodded.

“
Did you see the craters?”

Hugh swallowed and nodded. “One of them, anyway.”

Should he tell her? He’d already lied once. He felt his secret resting uncomfortably just above his breast bone. It would feel so good to get it out, like coughing hard enough to dislodge a kernel stuck in his throat.

“
So, maybe something from the meteor knocked you unconscious or whatever,” she said, splaying her fingers through the sand. “Did your head hurt?”

He rubbed at hand over the back of his head. “Yeah, a little.”

“Okay.” She stared off into the weeds. “Then, how do we figure out who you are? In movies they always go back to the last place they remember, but the park’s off limits. We’ll have to come up with something else.”

Hugh picked up a strand of dried seaweed and twisted it. He thought of the silo from his vision. Should he ask her? “There is this one thing.”

Cece squinted into the sun as she met his gaze. “What?”

“
I keep picturing this big, cement silo. Like a grain silo maybe, or something like that. Is there a farm with one of those around here?”

Cece scrunched up her face, thinking. Finally she shook her head. “I don't think so. That's the only memory you have?”

Hugh nodded. “There's nothing else.”

Cece leaned in a little. “Close your eyes.”

He looked at her. “Why?”

She shrugged, offering a small smile. “Something I saw on
Guiding Light
. They’re always losing their memory and trying to get it back. We don’t have to.” She sank back in the sand. “It's stupid.”

“
No, let’s do it.”

“
You sure?” She perked up.

“
Yeah.” He settled back and closed his eyes. “It can’t hurt, right?”

With his vision gone, the rest of his senses picked up the slack. He was suddenly aware of the sound of water lapping at the shore, the
ribbets of frogs in the cattails to his right, the shrill cicada’s buzz. He heard Cece lean closer in the sand. Her knee brushed against the fabric at his thigh as she shifted. Over the smells of lake water and earthy forest, he found the scent of her strawberry shampoo. If she'd stay this close to him, he'd do any memory exercise in the world.

“
Okay,” her voice said above him. “I want you to clear your mind.”

“
Isn’t that the problem?” he said, smirking.

“
No, silly, I mean clear it of all the thoughts of the day, the worries, the fears. Just try to make your mind blank.” She shifted and again he felt her knee brush his thigh. How could he clear his mind when she kept touching him?

“
I’ll try,” he said, blowing out a breath. “For you.”

Hugh settled himself and pressed the thoughts out of his mind. Many came swirling back, the anxieties of the day buzzed around like pesky flies, but he fought back, chasing them down and swatting them out. When Cece spoke next, it was as if her voice came from farther away.

“I want you to go deep, deep inside your mind. Deep into the places where you’ve hidden your memories. As I count to ten, you’re going to go deeper. At ten you’ll be so deep you’ll find those memories you’re looking for. Okay, one...two...three...”

This is never going to work
, Hugh thought, but he cleared that thought away and listened to the soft vibration of Cece’s voice. With his eyes closed, he was actually feeling pretty drowsy. By the count of six, he felt his head dip. By ten the lake, the sand and even Cece were gone.

***

Darkness. Then sparklers of light at the backs of his eyes. Suddenly there was a flash and the sharp smell of something burning. Then the feel of moist dirt on his bare skin.

Another flash. His head spun. Then he was hurdling downward in a black void. Stars whipped past in streaks of light. He was in some sort of vehicle, a small ship. He could see buttons and controls at his fingertips, a screen with someone talking to him. The face on the screen was awful: a monster with a large, knotted skull and sharp fangs. He shrank from it and yet the voice that spoke was familiar. He wanted to hear more, but the image bled and shifted.

An image flashed before him like a neon sign on a black backdrop. The silo from his first memory, but this time he was farther back and he could see the whole thing. It was taller, more bulbous at the top. Some type of tower? Then it too fizzled and died.

Deeper, further. He needed more. He pushed inside himself, digging at memories through a membrane of foggy confusion. Just as he was about to break through the fog, a searing pain hit him like a fire poker wedged through the two halves of his cranium. His head would split apart. He cried out.

Darkness.

***

He woke gasping.

He cradled his throbbing head in his hands and moaned. He couldn’t open his eyes. They would rupture and leak out of his head if he tried.

“Hugh? Oh God, Hugh. I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

He turned toward the voice. “Cece?” he mumbled. God, his head. It felt like someone had dropped one of those train cars on it.

“Hugh? What did I do to you?” A hand closed over his and a thumb moved in gentle circles over the back of his wrist. He concentrated on the sensation of her fingers on his skin and the headache abated slowly. He opened his eyes.

A jab of pain, but then it backed off until he could focus on her face hovering over his. Her dark brows furrowed. Her hair fell over her shoulder and tumbled down to where it lay pooled on his chest like a silk curtain. Her tank top spilled forward revealing two mounds of soft flesh. Suddenly his headache mattered little.

She shook her head. “I can’t believe I did that. God, I’m sorry, Hugh.” She continued to rub his hand. “That never happens on
Guiding Light
.”