Her Voice: Chapter Four
A Rendezvous at The End of the World
For Sarah. May your voice always guide me home.
Table of Contents:
Day 387
I was back on the road at dawn. My back was sore from sleeping in the backseat of that car, but none of that mattered. In the distance, I saw the steel antennae of a broadcast tower reaching toward the clouds.
It was the only place I had seen capable of sending a radio signal like the one she broadcasted every night. She had to be there.
I walked down the empty streets strewn with garbage and rusted cars until the station was in sight. My heart stopped when it came into view.
Countless Hushed surrounded the radio station. There must have been hundreds of them, all standing perfectly still and staring up at the antennae like it was some kind of metallic god.
I ducked behind the wall of a nearby building as the loudspeakers started to broadcast a recording.
"Hey there world, it's me, Summer."
The broadcast continued as she read one of her poems. I had recognized it as one she had broadcasted a few weeks ago.
The Hushed didn't move in response to the sound.
Are they hypnotized?
I could barely believe my own eyes.
I moved closer, knowing full well that I wouldn't be able to escape if something broke them from their trance. I couldn't stop now, though. Not when I was so close.
I instinctively held my breath as I slid between two groups.
My heart pounded against my ribcage as I approached the station’s front doors. I stopped just short of it and pulled on the handle. A lock and chain swung against the glass inside.
I knew it wouldn't be that easy. I turned around to check on the massive crowd of Hushed, but none of them had moved an inch. I started surveying the building for another entrance when a loud crack filled the air.
Everything went black.
When I opened my eyes again, I felt a red-hot streak of pain in the back of my head. I tried to rub it with my hand, only to discover that I was tied up. Both my hands were restrained by frayed ropes tied to a towel rack on the bathroom wall.
My solar-powered radio and headphones were just out of reach.
"Hey! What's going on here? Someone untie me!"
I immediately regretted yelling for help.
A woman threw open the bathroom door. Her eyes were wide as she ran toward me, her curly blonde hair flowing behind her. She pressed a soft hand over my mouth and glared at me through piercing eyes.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Were you born yesterday?" she asked.
I tried to throw up my hands in surrender but only managed to pull on the ropes around my wrists.
"I'm going to take my hand off your mouth, and you're going to talk at a normal volume, or I swear I'll cut out your vocal cords. Understood?"
I nodded, and she lifted her hand.
"Who the hell are you, and why are you here?"
"Summer, right? I’m Elijah."
She raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. How do you know my name?"
I tried to muster a coy smirk.
"I'm a fan of your work."
Her cheeks immediately went red. At that moment, she lost all of her threatening aura. She knew it, too, because she backed away from view.
"You had to know someone was going to hear those broadcasts of yours," I said.
"Shut up!"
"Come on, I'm not here to hurt you. I haven't seen another human being in so long; just let me look at you," I said.
Summer sheepishly came back into view. I could feel her eyes sizing me up.
"So, what, then? You just expected to come barging into my station?"
"How else was I supposed to meet you? Social media isn’t a thing anymore if you couldn't tell. Though, let’s be honest, anything is better than dating apps.”
Summer stifled a laugh, still trying to keep up her stoic persona.
"What do you want?" she asked.
“I’m here for you. I’ve been listening to your voice for the last year. You’re the only thing that’s kept me going.”
I saw a flicker of interest in her eyes.
“That’s sweet, but I’m not exactly looking to date.”
“I just want someone broken like me,” I said.
Her eyes went wide again.
“Someone who will be careful with my heart,” I continued.
She came closer. Her hands pressed into my thighs.
“A lonely soul, the kind who can see…”
“That salvation lies in a fresh start,” she replied.
We stared into each other’s eyes for what felt like an eternity. We had just met, but I saw an entire world looking back at me.
Before I knew it, our lips collided. Our breaths came in short, furious bursts as I felt her hands exploring my tired and worn body. Her fingertips sent sparks across my skin. I had never felt more alive.
“Hey, untie me,” I said.
“Not yet,” she replied with a wink.
It was like she was wired into my mind. Everything about that moment felt comfortable and familiar. She eventually untied me and took me to a makeshift bedroom in an office beside the broadcast studio.
Our time together was passionate. It was healing, but most of all, it was real. Afterward, as we lay together beneath a tattered blanket, I traced my hands across the curves of her body.
I could see the scars that time and trauma had left behind, but I didn’t see flaws. Instead, I saw triumphs. Signs that she had lived.
Not only lived. She thrived, in spite of all that adversity.
“Does all of this feel familiar to you? Like it was meant to be?”
Summer kissed my chest and burrowed beneath my arm.
“Yeah, it does.”
“I can’t believe I’ve been listening to you for over a year, and now we finally got to meet. I feel like I’ve known you forever.”
Summer wrapped her arms around me and gripped me tight.
“I’m glad we met. Thank you for coming all this way.”
“Of course. The first time I heard you on the radio, I just knew. I had to meet that girl.”
I smiled as a thought crossed my mind.
“Hey, do you have any new poems? Something you haven’t broadcasted yet? I’d love an exclusive reading.”
Summer leaped out of bed, walking over to a stack of papers on her dresser, which looked to be a filing cabinet originally.
She picked up a few papers and returned, nestling herself into my arms as she scanned one of the pages.
“Okay. Here’s one. It’s not done yet, though.”
“That’s fine.”
“Alright then. This one’s called Pathways.”
Pathways
This path I’m on
It’s not
The one I expected
But maybe,
It’s the one I need,
To feel
Like there’s hope
In life,
And for the future.
There’s a fork in
The road,
A choice before me.
I’m scared,
But—
“Hey, hold on for a second,” I said.
Summer looked up from her papers. “What is it?”
I reached down and picked up a photograph that had slipped out from between the pages.
“Oh, I didn’t realize that was in there,” she said.
The photo showed a younger Summer posing with a tall man. He had jet-black hair and soft, tender eyes. Of course, that’s not how I remembered him.
When I saw him, his eyes were red. Glowing.
“Who is this? In the photo with you,” I asked.
Summer snatched it out of my hand and tucked it beneath the papers.
“No one, I don’t know why it was in there.”
He was human once. All Ascended were human once.
“He’s your father, isn’t he?”
Summer stood up. She walked over to her dresser and pulled one of the drawers open. She threw the papers and photo inside, slamming it shut.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said.
“I understand, Summer, but you need to know something: I’ve met him before. After he ascended.”
She spun around, her eyes wide. “What are you talking about?”
“My friend Jarrod and I. We got captured. Happened a few months ago. I made it out. He didn’t. Your father was the one who captured us.”
Summer sighed. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what to say.”
“Are you in contact with him?”
“No! Of course not.”
“But he knows you’re here?”
“Sure, but he’s always left me alone.”
I climbed out of the bed, pulling on my clothes.
“What are you doing?” Summer asked.
“We have to get out of here.”
“Are you insane? My broadcasts are the only thing keeping us safe, and you want to leave?”
I shook my head. “I noticed the effect your broadcasts have, but it’s not the Hushed I’m worried about. The Ascended are bad news. You, of all people, should know that.”
Summer pressed her hand against my chest as I tried to leave the room.
“Stop. Listen, I get it, but we need to be smart about this. Can we just talk about it in the morning? You know how dangerous it is to travel at night.”
She’s right.
“Okay, fine, but tomorrow morning I’m leaving. I want you to come with me, but I won’t force you,” I said.
Summer nodded. “Let me think about it. Okay?”
I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves.
“Yeah, sure, of course.”
She kissed me slowly, and I felt my tension dissipate.
That worked a little too well.
“Let’s get some sleep,” she whispered.
We laid back down, and she fell asleep in my arms. I should have been happy. This was what I wanted, after all. I was happy. I just…
I couldn’t stop thinking about her father and his glowing red eyes.
I’ll save the finale for tomorrow, but this has been a fantastic read. Thanks so much for sharing
you always know just the right moments to break, which is something i have never been good at so major major props there!!
i am so involved in this! the end is probably gonna rip my heart out! i’m so excited!
also this: “I could see the scars that time and trauma had left behind, but I didn’t see flaws. Instead, I saw triumphs. Signs that she had lived.
Not only lived. She thrived, in spite of all that adversity.” is diabolical 😭😭