Aphter: Fifteen

ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT NINE TEN ELEVEN TWELVE THIRTEEN FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

"Here, put these on," she said, handing me a pair of wire-rimmed shades. "The Family Registry is back toward the Center."

I took them and put them on as we walked through the door. The sidewalk outside led toward Welcome Park, and I could see various people, all with their backs to the Center, talking with counselors and ministers and various service people, learning the ropes. The Sister didn't talk as she walked to the nearest crossing sidewalk and turned directly toward the Center.

The light from the Lightstone was not so invasive as sunlight. It was softer, more white, and it wasn't hot. It would overwhelm your eyes if you weren't wearing protection, but it left no negative blurs after you turned away. It was like no light in the living world, and I glanced over my shades into it for a second just to get the sensation. It wasn't unpleasant, but it was so bright as to make it impossible to register anything else. When I tilted the shades back over my eyes, I could look at it and see the perfect, smooth roundness of it. It was about as tall as a flagpole, a perfect sphere of light, probably half a mile away from where we walked, sitting atop a small hill so that you could see it over the tops of the buildings. The ground here was flat, but it started to slope up slowly and gently toward the Lightstone just ahead.

"Let's move quickly," said the Sister. "Don't talk to anyone. If someone else recognizes that you're..." she glanced over at me.

"Alive?"

"Yes, I suppose. Well, I don't know how I would explain it."

"I understand," I said. "I'm too tired to talk to anyone anyway. I just want to find out and get out of here."

We walked in silence for a few minutes, coming up to a large, ornate, white building that looked like a library. "So, how many people in Waiting know that you can visit like this?" she asked.

"That I can specifically?"

"No, you know. How many people know that the living can visit here?"

"Well," I said, "the Sheriff didn't seem too surprised when I arrived. And the former Sheriff, Wayne, he was a friend of ours. We have a few other friends, Dad especially."

"Well, I wonder if the church knows," she said.

"Oh, I think someone in the church must know," I said. "I'm not sure who that would be or how they would explain it, mind you, but it's not so secret that the entire church would be in the dark."

She didn't say anything else about it, but I knew she was struggling with how - and if - she should explain this to her superiors. We got to the library building and she led me in. "This is the Family Registry," she said loudly, as though I were a client. "We can check here to see if you have family waiting to be notified upon your arrival. You can also look up the location of your family members, if they've listed you, even if they haven't requested notification services."

"Oh, that's fascinating," I said, trying to sound convincing.

We walked past the main desk and she led us directly toward the records for Darla Montagne. I wasn't too worried about being recognized, but I tried to be as nonchalant as possible. Aphter wasn't a militant place, generally, and little bendings of the rules were overlooked as long as no one started trouble. The building was huge, much larger than I'd thought, and it was seemingly packed to capacity with records. It took a long time to reach the right area.

When we got to the spot, the Sister went to work with great efficiency looking for the records. There were, apparently, more Darla Montagnes than you would think, and it took a while to narrow it down through location and date and such to exactly the right Darla Montage, Darla Renée Montagne.

"Well, she's not here," said the Sister.

"Can you put Dad down to be notified if she arrives?" I asked.

"Simon, I don't know about that," she said. "That's a lot to ask."

"Well, what about you, then. Can you request an administrative notification and then notify Dad yourself?"

She sighed and played at seeming reluctant, but she knew this was what I wanted when she agreed to bring me here. "I'll put down myself," she said, and she made some notes on the record with a nearby pen attached to the shelves with a chain.

"One other thing," I said. She gave me a look that said I had better not push too far, but she didn't protest. "Is there anyone waiting for her?" I asked.

"Simon." She sighed again, but she flipped through the pages of the small record. "Both parents," she said, scanning the page. "Husband."

"What's his name?" I asked.

"Louis. Louis Carlo Montagne."

I jotted it down on a piece of scratch paper from a little stack nearby. "Thanks," I said.

"And a cousin, Romeo di Marti."

"A cousin?" I asked, jotting down the name. "Is that common?"

"I'm not sure, Simon," she said' closing the record. "But, in case it helps you, it's a recent request. Just a few days ago."

"Whoa," I said. "It might be nothing, but that's good to know."

"Okay," she said, filing the record away. "Now let's go."

"Is there anything you can tell me about Romeo di Marti?" I asked.

"No." She was already walking away quickly, so I followed her because I knew I'd never find my way out of this maze. She didn't slow down until we were outside again, heading away from the Center back toward the Welcome Center building. We got about halfway there, and she stopped, back to the Center, and, taking off her shades, looked over at me. "I should get back to work," she said.

"Okay," I said. I took off my shades and handed them back to her.

"Thank you," she said.

"No, thank you. Hopefully this information will help me help Amy."

"I pray it does, Simon. I will pray for you, both of you."

"Thanks," I said. "I guess I'll be going."

She held out her hand politely, and I stared down at it for a little too long, making things awkward. She pulled it back and looked down at the ground. "It was good to see you, Simon."

Then, without thinking too much about it, I turned to her and hugged her lightly around her shoulders. She was startled, and her arms were stiff by her side at first, but then she reached up with one hand and patted me on the shoulder. "It was good to see you too," I said quietly, letting go of her and walking away quickly.

I was already a burden of guilt to her, something I never wanted to be for anyone. I didn't know how to make everything alright between us, to let her know that I was okay, but I was pretty sure that seeing me cry wouldn't get the job done, so I didn't turn around. I just kept walking.

"I'm just tired," I explained to myself.

SIXTEEN

Comments

[J]

Man, I totally love this stuff.