Edge of End Read Free Page B

are, do you? I suggest that you don’t
even try to bring your memories back. You won’t get anything good
from them, believe me. I was like you when I found myself in this
goddamn town.”
    “ Which town?” I quickly
asked. “I saw a sign at the town’s entrance. It was…uh,”
Squint-eyed, I forced myself to remember the name. “Mors… Morski…
Morsfinis, isn’t it? I have never heard of it before.”
    “ And you have never been
to it before,” Malcolm added.
    Placing my drink in front of me, the
woman interrupted what he was saying. I looked down at my drink in
wonder, expecting to see what I’d seen in Malcolm’s glass, but mine
was clear and calm like water.
    “ What is this?” I asked,
still staring down.
    “ It’ll cool you down,” the
man said. “Tastes like shit, but it’ll help.”
    He said it as if he had actually
tasted shit before. But why was I so surprised? He might
have.
    I placed my fingers around the glass
with uncertainty. “You said you were like me. Have you succeeded in
recovering your memories?”
    “ Some of them, kind of,”
Malcolm replied.
    “ What did you do? Where
did you go? I haven’t seen any living soul on the streets or in the
houses. Are we alone in this town?”
    “ Too many questions, but
you haven’t asked the right one yet.”
    “ Which one is the right
one then?” I asked impatiently.
    “ The time hasn’t come yet.
You’ll get it soon. I’m just worried that you’ll be disappointed,”
he sighed.
    “ Why? What is it out
there? Just tell me straight,” I grumbled. “You’re talking in
riddles.”
    “ Drink it,” he ordered
pointing to the glass in my hand. “Then I’ll tell you everything
you want to know.”
    Why did he want me to drink it? One
drink couldn’t make things worse, could it? Besides I needed
answers, even if they were going to come from a man who didn’t
appear to be completely sane.
    Ever so slowly I brought the glass to
my mouth and with one big swig, I skulled the whole drink. With
great difficulty, I forced myself to swallow. Malcolm’s face lit up
clearly pleased. As soon as I’d downed it, I got his meaning about
the taste.
    I tossed the glass onto the table,
looking down at it with disgust. The man was laughing.
    “ What the fuck?” I
exploded.
    “ And that shit is his
favorite drink, can you believe that?” It was the woman’s turn to
speak from behind the bar.
    “ Cigarette?” Malcolm held
out a gray pack, one without labels.
    “ You promised me answers,”
I reminded him, the nasty taste still sitting in my throat like
glue and no matter how many times I gulped, it didn’t want to be
washed away.
    “ Yeah, sure. It’s going to
be a long talk, I suppose. We can share my cigarettes.”
    I had no idea if I had ever smoked
before, but my body seemed to think I had. At that moment I felt a
great desire to fill my lungs with smoke, so obediently I stretched
out my hand to accept his offer. Malcolm readily lit it up for me.
I inhaled deeply and then breathed out again filling the air with
white puffs of cloud. Malcolm’s laugh washed over me coming from
far away.
    My body froze. My eyes remained
fixated on the foggy clouds soaring above me and as hard as I tried
I couldn’t move my head.
    Time had stopped. I stared in awe at
the smoke hanging stationary before my eyes. Malcolm’s laugh faded
into nothingness, and the silence of the street crawled into the
bar.
    For a split second the light
disappeared, and darkness surrounded me.
    Several pictures flashed before my
eyes like a scene from a movie.
    I spotted a man running in front of
me, out of breath. We were in a dark, narrow alley. I was right
behind him, following him. Then the picture was vacuumed up out my
sight and before I knew what was happening, I found myself in the
café again where I clearly heard the sound of a gunshot.
    I blinked. My body began to obey my
head again.
    Startled, I jumped back up onto my
feet and scanned the café. The woman and