Andras: Beyond Good and Evil by S L Zammit

Author:S L Zammit [Zammit, S L]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2016-10-05T23:00:00+00:00

PART THREE

AURORA

Chapter 14

The Man in the Tunnel

1

Jan 1st 2000

The tunnel opens into a damp, mossy crypt. She covers her nose and mouth with her hand to block out the overpowering mustiness. The moaning is amplified in the enclosed space.

“Who goes there?” says the voice, tremulous and pained. “Can you hear me?”

“It’s me,” says Aurora, shivering as the cold penetrates beneath her clothes and stings her skin. “It’s so chilly down here. Of course I can hear your caterwauling. You’re causing quite a disturbance!”

“Who are you? Why are you here?” asks the voice through grinding teeth.

“I’m Aurora,” says the girl indignantly, “and this is my hiding place. What are you doing here?”

“A feisty little girl,” says the man managing a chuckle through his moans. “And what’s a feisty little girl hiding from?”

“Answer my question first,” demands Aurora.

“I really don’t know little girl,” says the voice. “I’ve been spending time pondering and trying to recollect who I am or who I used to be. Now that I have a vague idea, I’m still not sure about what I’m doing here. I’m surprised you can see and hear me. Where am I anyway?”

“You’re under my house on Charity Street in Victoria on the island of Gozo silly. I can hear you all right! But it’s so dark in here,” says Aurora, “I can’t see a thing.”

“I can see just fine, I can see in near darkness like a cat. You don’t need to see me,” says the voice sadly. “I’m all dusty and covered in maggots. A little girl would be scared. Move this way so I can have a better look at you.”

“I’m not a little girl,” says Aurora, moving towards the voice, standing tall and puffing her chest. “I’m ten. How old are you?”

“I’m as old as time itself,” he says with a desolate expression. “So tell me Aurora, why does a big girl like you need a hiding place?”

“I come down here to get away from my father,” says the girl hesitantly, after a long silence. “He gets mad and scary when he’s drunk, and he’s drunk most of the time.”

“And where’s your mother Aurora?” asks the man softly.

“She left,” says the girl with sadness in her voice. She quickly clears her throat and the quivering is gone.

She continues firmly, “She’s gone. She came crying into my room one night and told me she couldn’t stay. I pretended to be asleep. I didn’t want it to be true, I thought she’d get over it, but the next morning all her things were gone. She never came back.”

Being by nature a reserved and guarded child, Aurora suddenly realizes that she’s divulging more information about herself than ever before, and to make matters worse, to a complete stranger. She gasps, but feels strangely relieved and serene.

“I’m sorry that you lost your mother,” says the voice, sounding sincere. “Don’t you have any relatives?”

“No,” says the girl. “I’m all alone in the world except for my father, if you can call him that.”

“You are indeed, I can see that,” says the voice, now pensive, sounding a bit surprised.

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