Author’s Notes: Hyde and Seri
get some lots of air-time. Whoo!
shat·ter
(shăt’Ər)
“…a bridge by a fountain, where rocking
horse people eat marshmallow pieeees. Everyone smiles as you drift past the
flowers. A girl so in-cre-di-bly hiiiiiiiiigh…”
Seri had recognized the tune when her male
companion had been humming, but hadn’t been able to identify it until the words
slipped from his lips. Glancing over at
him, she asked, “The Beatles? I didn’t
know you were a fan.”
He ignored her. For her own good. “...appear on the shore, waiting to take you awaaaaaay. Climb in
the back with your head in the clouds and you’re gone…”
“That’s ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,’
isn’t it? God, I haven’t heard that in
so long.”
“You’re not playing the part.”
She looked at him, confused. “What?”
He sighed and turned to her with an air of
frustration. “You’re not playing the
part. You’re supposed to have
kaleidoscope eyes too. That way they
don’t give you any drugs because you’re already on them.” And with that, he went back to humming and
drawing imaginary pictures on the floor.
*****
Seri sat on the cot in her room when there
was a click and the door to her cell slid open.
Standing in the door was a rather bedraggled Hyde. “What the hell?”
“I swallowed a paperclip,” he replied, as
if that explained anything. “Let’s
go. We’ve got four minutes and about
seventeen seconds before they realize we’ve left our block.” Turning away, he sprinted down the hall.
Jumping to her feet, Seri bolted after
him. “You swallowed a paperclip?!”
*****
The flight out of the building was
significantly easier than Seri had first thought. It was the escaping-the-grounds bit that
proved to be difficult.
“There’s a hole in the wall by the
corner. It’s behind a rose bush.” Seri nodded and followed her guide who was
pumping his legs as fast as he could.
“If we get there and beyond, then we have to worry about their cars. If we can get to the subway station, we’ll be
okay.”
Seri thought he was insane. There was no way they could get that far on
foot. As they neared the wall, she
thought she heard the baying of dogs some distance behind them. Hyde pumped his legs harder and she thought
she heard him mutter something about a meat grinder. She didn’t ask him to repeat.
Hyde grabbed Seri’s wrist and dove head
first into the rose bush, dragging her with him. Slithering on his stomach, he crawled through
the hole, followed closely behind by the woman – with some extra wiggling
because of her hips. Standing she moved
to bolt straight down the slope that lead to civilization. Grabbing her wrist once again, however, Hyde
pulled her back towards the gate.
“What are you doing?” she hissed.
“They look in front. Not behind.
Not to the side. They’ll be a
time where they’re going slow enough to jump on their truck before they speed
down the hill. We’ll get on either side
of the gate, run beside truck, and then using the ribbing under the canvas on
the back of the truck, we’ll swing up into the space in between the cabin and
the guys riding behind it.”
He was
insane.
Releasing her arm, he continued to the
other side of the gate and they waited.
When the cabin passed in by them in the darkness, she threw caution to
the winds and did as she had been instructed.
Sensing the truck picking up speed, she reached up and gripped one of
the metal poles running along the side of the truck. I can’t
do it. Tears brimming in her eyes,
she struggled to lift herself off the ground.
Just as her fingers began to slip, she felt
a hand close over her arm and drag her into the space behind the cabin. Against her cheek, Hyde whispered, “Good
job.”
They sat in silence for a bit. When the lights of the asylum grew dim, he
leaned towards her again and whispered, “This is the information persons’ truck
– they tell all the little people we’re not in our beds. We can ride it down the hill. When they pass by the ravine, we’ll hop off
and roll off the road. Without street
lights, they won’t see us.” Seri nodded,
still in shock that up to this point, his plan was succeeding. “We’ll get into suburbia through the
woods. Find an empty house. Get clothes.
We’ll continue on in the morning.”
She nodded again and sat back, waiting for
the night to unfold.
*****
They had been walking for God knew how
long, diving into the brush beside the road whenever they thought a car was
coming. They had two false alarms – as
sound carried significantly far when there were no skyscrapers to stop its
movement – one close call, and several not-so-false alarms. Seri had a rough idea where they were going,
as Takuro had made sure she knew the route before he
disappeared, but it was still pretty difficult when there was no map laid out
in front of you. Following lines was
easy; following winding roads, not so much so.
With a sidelong glance to her traveling
buddy, Seri concluded that Hyde didn’t really give a damn as to where they were
going. So long as his feet were moving
underneath him, and that doll he had stolen from the house they had stayed at
was tucked safely in his arms, he would go.
They continued on in silence for a time.
Looking up, Seri remembered something from
their grueling experience in the “hospital.”
“Hyde?”
“Hm?” His voice was too singsong for her comfort, but she pressed on with a shiver.
“Non-Union members are expected to grow
their hair out. But in the…hospital,
they cut it all really short.” Her
fingers went up to her scalp instinctively, running her fingers through the
hacked strands. “Why?”
“Because she
killed herself.”
“What?”
Seri stopped mid-step and looked at him.
Glancing back at her, Hyde reprimanded, “It’s bad safety habits to stop in the middle of the road,”
which got her feet moving again. Once
she had caught up, he continued, for he knew that was what she expected. “There was a girl. She had long hair. Pretty hair. Went past her hips. When they brought us back, she swallowed
it. Choked and died.” He paused.
“It was sad.” He pressed a kiss
to the doll’s head, stroking its dark hair.
“Brought you back?” Something clicked. “She…you and she tried to get out, didn’t
you?”
“And she died.” He looked up.
“But now, if they bring us back, you can’t die. You’ve got no hair to swallow.”
*****
Seri stood in shock. It couldn’t be true. It just couldn’t be.
“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds…”
Takuro’s safe haven, the
place he had told her to meet him…was burned to the ground.
The entire town had been burnt to the
ground.
“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds…”
Collapsing, he buried her face in her
hands. It was all gone. All of it. They were alone, lost, with no where to
turn. Looking up through the tears in
her eyes, she watched Hyde skip through the wreckage, doll in hand. She wanted to curse at him. She wanted to run up and hit him over and
over again.
“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds…”
And he wouldn’t stop singing that blasted
song! Covering her ears with her hands
she collapsed further in on herself and cried harder.
“Seri! Come look!”
With a start, she looked up. “What is
it Hyde?”
The man didn’t notice the poison in her
voice. Tucking the doll in the collar of
his t-shirt, he hefted a small chest into his arms. Bringing it over to her, he set it on the ground,
but as she went to open it, he threw himself on top of the lid. “What’s the magic word?”
Sniffling, she said, “Please?”
“Nope!”
…What? “Then…then what’s the magic word, Hyde?”
“Chocolate-covered-cocoanut-pocky,” he said.
“Er…chocolate-covered-cocoanut-pocky?”
“Yep!”
Sliding off the chest sideways, he landed
with a muted thud on the ground and showed no intention to sit up. Opening the chest, Seri found pinned to a
smoke-damaged pile of sweaters a note written in familiar handwriting. Tearing the note from its place in the chest,
she stood on shaking legs. “Hyde!”
“Mm?” He was busy stroking the doll’s hair again.
“We have to go north.”
*****
“Hyde?”
Seri was concerned. The man had
run off suddenly, leaving her in the middle of the deserted road. Following the footprints left in the mud, she
tracked him down to a battered bridge which arched over a creek. Stepping underneath it, she found him curled
up in a ball, clutching the doll to his chest.
She watched for a moment in silence as he caressed its matted hair and
whispered endearments before pressing a gentle kiss to its forehead.
The sight broke her heart just a bit
more. Walking over, she sat down beside
him. When she touched his shoulder, he
gave a little start and looked up at her.
He blinked a few times before reaching out to touch her cheek. Seri suddenly had the sinking suspicion he
wasn’t seeing her.
“Mei?” That confirmed it. She was about to crush his hopes when he
whispered, “I’m sorry.” Taken slightly
aback, Seri waited to see what would happen.
“I…I couldn’t stop them…” Tears
slid down Hyde’s face, and he collapsed forward, resting his face against her
chest. “I…couldn’t stop them…I…Reiko…I…I
didn’t want…I’m sorry…Mei…God…” His tears began to soak through her
shirt. His hands came up and touched her
arm, stroking the bare skin at her shoulder with his fingertips. “Mei…don’t go…don’t
go this time…I don’t…I can’t…I don’t want to be alone…Please…please stay…please
stay with me…”
Seri felt her own tears slide down her
face. She wrapped her arms around the
man and held him to her, one of her hands going to his hair to comb through the
grimy strands. Bending down, she
whispered against the top of his head, “I won’t leave you…I’ll stay.”
Hyde clung to her and cried himself to
sleep.
*****
They stopped sleeping for too long about
three days ago. So when they wandered
into the remote fishing village, they looked only slightly better than the dead
fish in the nets. With shuffling steps,
Seri walked up to an older man. Tugging
at his shirt she asked him, “Do you know where I can find
He grunted and replied, “Why would you
want to know? Beggar.” He went back to his business.
“We’re missing,” Hyde piped up from Seri’s
elbow.
The old man turned slowly back to
them. His eyes rolled over their faces,
but told them nothing of his intentions.
“Oh?” Without saying anymore, he
stepped into his cabin.
“Well, shit,” Hyde stated before looking
down at the doll in hand. “That was very
bad manners. Don’t you do that…and don’t
swear either. That’s very bad of Daddy.”
Seri sighed and knocked on the door to the
cabin. “Sir, please. I’m trying to find someone.”
“There is no
At the familiar voice, Seri whipped
around. “You…”
“But I know who you’re looking for. Come on,” smiled a rather haggard, and rather
short, man.
Grinning, Hyde waved to the other even
though he was only a few steps away. “Hi, Tetsu!”
*****
Hyde shut the door softly
behind him, so as to not disturb the newly-reunited couple. The new hiding spot of the leader’s of Takuro’s resistance was a dilapidated, but surprisingly
homey fishing cottage. Space heaters and
candles abounded as there were no electric lights in the house. And a fire in the fireplace was right out –
too big a signal.
Taking a few swift strides
across the room, he plopped onto the cot and took the doll from the bedside
table. He sat down,
his legs folded underneath him, and stroked the doll’s matted hair. The paint on her angelic plastic face was
fading and pealing, giving the toy an ancient appearance. The appearance of innocence lost.
He brought the doll to his
chest and caressed her hair as he began to sing. “Towa ni irodoru shiki wo
shinjiteita ashita wo, kono me ni
ha nido to utsuse ha shinai kara, itsunohi
mo inotteiru…”
He stopped short, words choked in his throat as a tear rolled down his
cheek, and he looked up. Tetsu stood at the door, face uncharacteristically
expressionless. “I’m off-key,” Hyde muttered, voice barely strong enough to carry across the
room. “She wants me to sing to her. She always wants me to sing. She won’t sleep if I don’t. So I have to, but…” Tears fell while the
muscles in his jaw and throat clenched and unclenched. “But I don’t remember all the words…”
Tetsu bit the inside of his cheek to keep quiet as his
friend spoke of the doll he clasped to his chest, of the daughter who was
stolen from him. Walking inside the
room, he took a seat beside the other man.
“Will you help me sing?”
Such an
innocent request. Tetsu looked at
Hyde and for the first time in a long time saw his friend, who fought for
control over his grief and madness even still.
“I’ll help you sing,” came the whispered reply.
It was then that Hyde let the
agony of the past four years come crashing down and he fell into his friend’s
awaiting arms and bawled.
Tetsu ran his fingers through the other man’s hair and
murmured the familiar lullaby as Hyde’s breathing slowed in sleep, still
clutching the doll to his chest.
“No matter how far away you
are, I'll be there, high up on the moon…” [1]
[1] Lyrics from “Shining Over
You,” by Hyde