Thesis ~ The Strangest of All Attractors || Ch. 3, Pages 85-89
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The secondary flashback scenes that end Chapter 3. The title of this chapter is Together.
The church came into view. After all this walking, Ashlin and Duckett eventually arrived at a statue of an angel, watching over the ocean.
"We should look inside the church first," said Ashlin.
"What makes you think she's in there?"
"A hunch," answered Ashlin as she walked past the statue. They continued on, entering an old graveyard occupying the fields to the northwestern side of the church. Up ahead, the path was split in two. The path to the left lead straight up to the front doors. Ashlin walked in that direction and tried to open them. She found that the doors were locked.
"I don't think this is the way in," Duckett stated. "This might be a separate building."
"We can't get in through here, anyway," muttered Ashlin. The two traveled back to the cross way. After some more wandering around, they found themselves on a pathway, leading off through a short, tunnel-like archway. The pathway that went through this short tunnel lead down past the back part of one of these buildings.
Ashlin was silent as she studied the windows of this ancient structure. She wondered if this was the cathedral. Her suspicions were confirmed when she squinted though the colored glass and saw a row of pews inside. She turned back over to Duckett and saw him trying to open a nearby door, but with no luck.
"I'll see if I can find an unlocked door," Ashlin said as she started forward, into the tunnel structure before her. There was a strange whistling sound in here. It was caused by the wind. On the ceiling and walls were paintings of black birds and etched Old English writings.
Ashlin's eyes were drawn to a set of sturdy wooden doors off to her left. She stepped up and pushed on them. Surprisingly, they were unlocked, but there was a weight to them.
She pushed the door open and crept into the cathedral. Everything in here was dusty. The organ was nearby. It's many tall, gigantic pipes were the dustiest objects in the room. It was positioned behind the pews, in the far back of this cathedral.
Ashlin glanced over to the front, her eyes skimming the rows. At first, she didn't see anyone. Right as she was about to head back to find Duckett, Ashlin thought she heard the sound of sniffling. She turned back around and saw a head hiding behind one of the rows.
The doors opened. Duckett popped in. Ashlin ran up and put her hands over his mouth.
"I think I found her," she whispered, pointing to the front.
"Right. Okay. So, what's the game plan?"
"I wanna talk with her. Alone. Me and her."
"How come? Not that I feel left out or anything. I'm just wondering."
"Cause I just do! Get out! Go!"
She shoved him back outside. After closing the doors on his face, Ashlin took a breath and started for the front. As she approached, Ashlin was soon bombarded by the prevalent stench of tobacco in the air. The smell took over the dusty smell of the cathedral.
Ashlin stepped up to the row and stared down at the lowly girl that sat before her. Her flaming red-orange hair covered her face. She wore her usual black and white clothing.
"Oh. It's you," the girl said. Her face was partially covered by her hair.
"What? You expecting Anthony?"
"What do you want?"
"I just wanna talk-"
"No! I'm done! It's over! I'm not going back! I'd be fine with it if I was dead. I don't wanna live anymore."
"Why?"
"None of your business! I'm not talking! Just leave me alone!"
"Michelle," sighed Ashlin. "I'm not leaving you alone... but I'll be the one to talk – if not for your sanity, then for mine."
Ashlin seated herself next to her. Michelle was still refusing to look back at her, but Ashlin could now see her puffy, red eyes. Her mouth was twisted in an angry frown. She kept her eyes down as she curled herself up into a ball with her back against the stone wall.
Ashin caught a glimpse of a photo, resting on the seat in front of Michelle. There were the faces of a happy couple along with Michelle Auzolle, who had to had been around five when the photo was taken.
After some time carefully thinking it over, Ashlin spoke. "My family is outside the sanctuary zones. We were homeless up until I was eight. We found this old house in the middle of nowhere, with nobody else around for miles! I know it's not gonna last. Wish it could.
"I hear the zones are not as bad as they used to be, with those level one 'distancing measures.' They were putting out other killer diseases some thirty years ago, when that shit first came around. Many zones are off level one now. It's just the getting in part that sucks. Decontamination and all that. Hell of a process that is. Or so I hear."
"All rubbish," Michelle huffed.
"Yeah. I know. I hate what's been done to this planet. Thing is, Michelle – unlike most people, I do think there is something that can be done about it, but it's gonna take more than you and me. The real change to Earth has to start in Niamaterian. That much I know."
"What could they do? Do they even want change?"
"Not everybody is a larper, Michelle. I'm not. Duckett isn't either. There are others out there who aren't living in some stupid fantasy land they made up in their heads. They know what's up."
Michelle was silent, but she did seem calmer than before.
"What do I do?" she asked Ashlin. "What use am I?"
There was a part of Ashlin that wanted to give an overblown, emotional response to Michelle's question, but Ashlin was holding herself back. Being overly emotional didn't seem proper. Instead, Ashlin laid back in her seat and tried to come up with the best answer possible.
"We're not sheep," she said thoughtfully. "We can think for ourselves. Just seems that it takes a lot for some of us to get to that state, but we all can do it once certain things 'inconvenience' us. Best way to put it, I guess. You already know that the so-called 'Children of Niamaterian' don't give two shits. Ignorance can play both ways, ya see. Taviset disease was pushed on Niamaterian when it first came out, but nobody listened. If there was a pandemic going on in Nia, we'd all be dead due to the fact that no one would hear about it, unless it had something to do with food, sleep, or some famous, rich, older girl's giant, humongous, fake titties."
Michelle scoffed to herself. "You seem to know a lot," she mumbled quietly.
"I've been learning a lot. Athena has been drillin' shit into my head ever since I started living with her! Maybe you should too. Be a different change of pace – as opposed to all this GEDR stuff, ya know."
Michelle sniffed loudly and pulled her hair back. She took in a heavy breath as she kept shaking her head to herself. Michelle wanted to say something but whatever it was, she was having trouble with it.
"Look. You don't have to tell me what the deal is if you don't want to," said Ashlin. "All I know is that I wouldn't be fine with it if you were dead, and I mean that, Michelle! I do. They'll be others that wouldn't be fine with it if they ever get a chance to know you."
"What? You think you know me?" Michelle rasped.
"No, I don't know you, Michelle, but I don't think half of us know ourselves half as much as we think we do! I could be full of shit! But I think there's some amazing potential for us to make lives better for others. I have nothing to back up that belief. But without that, we'd all be stuck in the same loops. Not the way I'm gonna live! No. Not the way you wanna live either."
The two girls sat in silence for what felt like the longest time. The sound in the cathedral was dead quiet, save for the winds outside.
Michelle didn't move or speak. All she did was stare off into a darkened void at the end of the cathedral. Eventually, there did come a break in the silence. Michelle was the one to break it.
"Okay."
Ashlin perked up and glanced back at Michelle. "What was that?"
"You win. I don't know what to say. I just... yeah."
"Yeah. Alright," Ashlin mumbled, nodding her head. "So, what now? If you wanna stay here, you can. I'll let ya do whatever."
"No. I'm fine, but, um... Anthony isn't gonna be happy with me."
"Oh, to hell with him," Ashlin scoffed. "I'll take you back to Athena's Island. You’ll like it there. We'll have fun. You and me."
"Okay. I can do that," mumbled Michelle. She slid off the pew with her eyes and red, rosy cheeks still facing downwards.
"You don't mind? You know Athena, right? She can be intimidating."
"No. It's alright. I'll go."
Ashlin leaned down to hug Michelle. "Okay. That's good." said Ashlin. "Guess that means we'll be taking a second chance with Nia."
Ashlin stood back up and began to lead the way back outside. Michelle took her photo and followed along. She hid behind Ashlin as if she was protecting herself from some invisible threat. Looking back, Ashlin was struck with amusement and perplexity at the sight of this. It was as if Ashlin had turned into a mother goose!
Michelle Auzolle was a young girl who had fallen into a state that was a peg or two away from juvenile delinquency – yet there was some innocence in her. Even now. It was curious to think about. It was like Ashlin was looking back at Christopher.
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