Those Hollow Lies

Ghosts of the Past

Russell 5/29/09 

Another late night in the library. I had a few assignments left to do and the longer I spent in here the more work I was bound to do. Back at the house I was always so easily coerced into watching movies with Bethany or snuggling in bed with her. I loved her and I enjoyed spending time with her, but she seemed to forget about the stress and the dedication that college brought with it. She had graduated two years ago now; a year before I should have. It was kind of embarrassing to say that she supported me whilst I was studying, but she refused to let me get a part time job to help with things. She reminded me of Roz in the sense that she was highly independent and wouldn’t let anyone help her out at times.

She worked as an analyst for a government department that dealt with the handling of threats and attacks towards politicians and the president. She graduated top of her class and was instantly picked out for the job, meaning that she spent a lot of time taking trips to Washington to attend meeting and deal with problems that had arose. I was proud of my girl and happy that she had a job she loved.

My dad liked to joke that I had a thing for government girls.

I hadn’t told him about my confusing relationship with Rosaline, but being my dad, he seemed to know that there was something between us. He had known about the Quarter almost as long as I had, but had be sworn to secrecy and with my dad adoring the government and everything they did, he kept mum and felt proud that he knew about such a large secret.

He practically probed me for information when I returned home, but my reluctance to speak about it led him to figure out that something bad had happened and, somehow, he knew it involved ‘that girl’.

I shook thoughts of her from my mind and moved around the towers of books, searching for the one that I needed. It took me a bit of time to locate it, but when I returned to the seating area I noticed something was amiss. My belongings were still scattered over the table just like I had left them, but resting on the top of my laptop keyboard was a hat that I’d completely forgotten about after so long.

"He spotted me." She hissed, grabbing the black baseball cap from my head and shoving it over her own hair.

I looked down at her with a raised eyebrow but even though she had a firm grip on my left arm, she still didn't acknowledge my existence.

"No can do Joe, his little minions are swarming the streets." She moved closer to me but still didn't even glance at me!

I looked around, wondering what the hell this small, seemingly psychotic girl was talking about.

"Roger that, on my way." She suddenly let go of me and vanished down a dark alleyway leaving me to stand on the sidewalk in confusion and left me wondering if I'd ever see that cap again...

I felt the colour drain from my face and with shaking hands I picked the cap up, looking at it, checking that it was the same one.

It was.

But the cap...I’d never seen it in three years so how the hell did it get on the table here?

There was the sound of a motorbike outside and I jumped over the table and raced to the door, shoving it open as fast as I could to try and catch the rider, but it was too late. I just managed to catch the bike racing around the corner.

It was the same bike from the coffee shop though, that, I was sure of.

And that night was just the beginning.

For weeks after, I kept seeing the bike everywhere I went, but I could never catch up with it. My car was never nearby and I couldn’t outrun a bike. In fact, since leaving the Quarter, my fitness levels had decreased something unbelievable.

Even Bethany was noticing that there was something wrong with me. I kept jumping every time she walked into a room, or even when she spoke to me after a period of silence. I was edgy, peeking out of windows and double checking all of the doors.

I was sure it was someone messing with me. The whole thing didn’t seem like something Rosaline would do, that’s to say, if it even was her on the bike. Another point that often came up in my mind was that Roz wasn’t the type of person to play with someone for no particular reason. She was blunt, to the point and had no regard for the feelings of others.

Part of me was hoping that it wasn’t her anyway. For the majority of my time at the Quarter I had longed for my life back and for the chance to be normal once more. I had all of that now and I was just getting used to it again. I didn’t want to get dragged back into the spying and the missions anymore, not when I’d been given a chance at freedom again.

However, I still found myself longing to see her face again. Her rosy cheeks and dark eyes were all that filled my dreams ever since the bike first appeared.

I was so confused.

6/9/09

One day, I had simply had enough of all of it and waited until Bethany had left for work before I climbed into the attic and found the old shoebox that I kept hidden up there. The contents I had kept a secret from my girlfriend and my dad, but I still came and looked at it from time to time.

I shoved it in a bag and moved outside to my car, looking around to make sure that no one noticed me acting weird.

The last thing I needed was the neighbours telling Bethany that I was probably cheating on her or something.

There was one place I came to a lot when I needed to think. It was always quiet here and even though it was a lie, I couldn’t help but find myself relaxing there.

It was the grave where we had buried ‘Roz’.

I sat on the overgrown grass and looked at the black marble before opening the shoebox in my hands and pulling out the contents one by one.

I’d shoved the magically appearing hat in there previously and pulled that out first, running my fingers over it as I remembered the day she had snatched it from my head, before placing it safely in the discarded lid next to me.

Next, came the old photograph Joe had given me when I’d been given the mission to melt her heart. I remembered vividly the days when her eyes were filled with hatred and she terrified me to my very core. She still looked beautiful in it though.

The box was filled with small souvenirs of my time at the Quarter and my time with her. Bullets, the trademark red tie and one of Roz’s bobbles were just a few of the things in there.

I looked at the grave and shook my head. “You died to give me my freedom, yet I’m sat here, still living in the past. I guess your plan failed.”

“But I didn’t let you down.”

I spun around quickly, spilling the contents of the box over the grave but not bothering to collect them as I jumped to my feet, spying the blacked out figure hiding behind some nearby trees.

The bike was parked up in the distance and she broke out in a run towards it. This time I was ready though and I leaped across graves, mumbling apologies as I did so, trying desperately to catch her. She hoped on her bike and pulled a helmet over her head but I moved into the stretch of road in front of her and stopped, breathless.

“Look, only one girl I know can ride a bike like that and only that same girl can outrun me. Now, I want some answers and if you’re not her, I want to know why you’ve been following me.” I paused and then shrugged. “Actually, even if you are her, I want to know why you’re following me.”

She seemed tempted to drive away, but her tensed up muscles relaxed and she climbed off her bike, slowly removing her helmet before shaking the dark waves of hair clear from her face and finally looking at me. As soon as those dark eyes met mine, I felt my knees begin to buckle and I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

“Hey Russell. Good to see you still remember a few Underground skills.”

It was her.