Among the Fallen: Resurrection (3 page)

Her sister Sarah was the apple of her eye and although only her adopted sister, she never loved her any less, and she acted more of a mother to Sarah as her father had very little time for either of them. Sarah was adopted by the Beaumont family after she was found as a baby by Collette. There was a wide and extensive appeal to find Sarah’s mother at the time which eventually came to a dead end, so subsequently, after a lot of legal red tape, the Beaumont family successfully adopted her a year later with the emphasis on
family
loosely. Her father really wasn’t interested and Alex found she was begging for the adoption like Sarah was nothing more than a puppy found in the street. Her father buckled in the end just to get Alex off his back after she in protest, chained herself to his study door. After greasing a few wheels and a few palms, the adoption went through without a hitch and the red tape, as Alex suspected, was just her father being the stubborn old bastard.

The mystery behind who Sarah’s real mother was and where she vanished to has always puzzled Alex. When she was found just outside the gates of Beaumont’s mansion six years ago, the island security was in full force due to the development of Beaumont Research and the Bio-Chemicals wing of Beaumont Pharmaceuticals. It was basically physically impossible to get on and off the island without being questioned by the BSCS Elite Security Force or being recorded by the CCTV that monitored every square foot of the island, so it always perplexed Alex how the enigmatic mother moved about the island without trace. Rumours went round that Sarah was actually bought or even the secret love child of Mayor Beaumont, but she was found that fateful day, and Alex always stuck her feet into the ground when she heard anything like that. She most definitely wasn’t sticking up for father, that much was true, but she fought for Sarah all the time and rumours like that were messing with her sister’s good name, something Alex never ever put up with.

As far as intelligence went Alex was probably about average, she wasn’t retarded, stupid or even intelligent; she knew what she needed to know and learnt as and when. The strange thing is, when you have a bank account with millions already in it, the abilities of the brain are not really needed because the only thing you need to know is how to spend it, and being a typical twenty-one-year-old girl it almost came naturally. Alex had most stuff and did pretty much most things; Platinum gym memberships, the Chess Café, water skiing, Martial Arts, clubbing and everything else Blackwater had to offer and being without the need of a job or any other normal way of living she got extremely bored very easily.

Aside from the friends at Beaumont Towers as she called it, she had her elite band of brainless teenage friends, social net-workers and pointless status hounds; plenty of male friends she used to use as boredom killers, attention thrills or just to screw now and then. For Alex, friends came and went like the wind, but she had a lot of older friends too. She liked to doss about at the Chess Café on the High Street, and her Chess playing skills were far beyond that of average. The old guys there frequently joked that she was an extremely tactful and cunning player and eventually beat all those that stepped up to challenge her.

Alex hated Blackwater with passion and boasted regularly that if she ever ran out of things to buy, she would leave town and take Sarah with her. It wasn’t because Blackwater was a dump, full of hoodies and prostitutes, okay so it had its
special areas
, but deep down, it was because of the father she hated and what he represented; he was nicknamed
Mr Blackwater
, and he pretty much owned everyone in it through business, social outlets and employment. When a man has that much power over so many people, there will always be someone who consistently wants to break away, and Alex had the money, the reason and means to do it; yet sadly, she had a very good reason to stay; Sarah.

As a child, Alex always questioned her father’s occupation as all children do, but her father owns the Beaumont Corporation, and she heard the rumours of Chemical weapons, three-headed lipstick wearing Monkeys and time machines. It obviously made her all the more curious and question him on numerous occasions; however, having the rather dysfunctional relationship they had, to get a straight answer let alone a full one was often impossible.

What did Alex believe?

Alex was always on the fence when it came to her father, it wasn’t because she defended him; God forbid; but more in the
don’t know to do don’t care
area of deluded reasoning. So even if her father did create two-headed dogs that could run ten miles on a single tin of food, it was something she didn’t know to have to worry about; as long as he didn’t involve her or Sarah in it, she didn’t care, not in a passing glance. In all honesty, there was no way she was going to stumble on the truth even by accident. If her father or his company were up to that sort of thing, then chances are it would be one of the most guarded secrets in Blackwater.

Alex merely lived day by day, hour by hour, amusing her simple brain, hanging with friends and just doing what normal twenty-one year olds do. Clubbing, drinking, shopping and that were as complicated as her life got. She certainly didn’t need to work so most of her waking hours were spent having fun wherever she found it. Being a hybrid mother and sister figure for Sarah, being a good role-model was Alex’s main priority, and despite being far from perfect and making the odd mistake every now and then; she had the wealth of a nation and the support and help from the staff around her to do a better job than most. Sarah was Alex’s world, and Alex vowed to be everything her father wasn’t and everything her mother never had the chance to be; and she was deeply respected by all those who worked at Beaumont Estates; as both a loving sister and a devoted mother.

Chapter Three: No Tomorrow

As the sun glared over the mountains pouring light into Blackwater, the city suddenly awoke and the people rushed about their everyday business as they did every single day. Cars drove around the streets and shops opened as their workers hurried inside, the children strolled through the avenues in packs, laughing and playing on their way to school as the adults struggled to make a living. The sun gleamed from the skyscrapers, and all the phones around the city started to ring as businesses went into a full swing. All the way through from Challis Hill right down to Blackwater Bay, the city was alive and crawling with life. Even the Lake was a hustle with surfers, fisherman and boats; the Sea-Life Centre was being fed, and the lake glistened magically. Bails of string bound newspapers hit the pavements and early-morning alarms cried out in bedrooms; the sleepy inhabitants of Blackwater all opening their eyes and stumbling into their routines without question. As the populous heaved into motion, the birds soared over the skies and the sun’s infinite glare scorched over the rooftops as it did every day of the year. The island too was awake; the shopping malls opened their doors; the prison guards at the correctional facility ushered the prisoners around, and the industrial estates started their turbines and production belts; the city was officially and evidently alive. As eyes opened all over the city, the bright blue skies soared with gulls; the population greeted by the scorching morning rays and the blind smiles of the local radio stations.

“Good morning, Blackwater City. You’re listening to Blackwater Radio Gold, it’s already seven-thirty
here in the city, and the temperature has reached a sweltering ninety-five degrees as the record
spring heat-wave continues all over Blackwater City! Clear blue skies today, with a slight wind
coming from the South over the lake, with a Pollen count of one-five for you poor hay fever sufferers
out there. As always, if you are affected by the pollen, you can grab Sinus-Seven free of charge,
generously supplied by the Beaumont Corporation at your local Pharmacy. In other news,
Philadelphia airport was closed for three hours yesterday, after an inbound flight from Thailand was
reported to have had an outbreak of Swine-flu amongst its passengers. Mayor Beaumont has
insisted that the outbreak bares no threat to Blackwater at all, saying…”

Alex leant over and switched off the radio, groaning as the joyous newsreader poured his irritating smiles into her bedroom. A grumbling and tired young woman opened her eyes as the sun beamed through her giant majestic windows and forced her from her sleep cruelly. She got up and despite being tired and sick as a dog; she sat and watched a bit of television and that was as complicated as the day got.

Alex that day, spent most of her time in her pyjamas, walking around her mansion looking for something to occupy her mind, which in all honesty, was pretty much the same as any day in the Beaumont household, slow and often mind numbing. She was suffering the worst hangover in history after turning twenty-one just the day before, and the surprise Birthday Ball made it all worth it. She lay on her bed for a while with her ice pack, snatching at partial memories and flashbacks the best she could, wondering if her father was going soft in his old age. As much as she enjoyed the night before, she couldn’t help but wonder why her father was suddenly throwing her parties, the first in her entire life that was not arranged by a friend or even herself.

Was it a publicity stunt? Was it an apology for all those years of neglect?

She sat flicking through the channels on the television, mumbling and groaning to herself as she normally did. As the stations jumped from one mediocre show to the next, she sighed and rubbed her aching head, grumbling dramatically as if death were just around the corner. Alex listened with amusement as the staff crept past her room, today being a hangover day, the workforce knew only too well that she was to be avoided and they generally steered well clear. But today was different, little did they know that she was in fact ecstatically happy; her father’s efforts the night before, hangover or not, brought a smile to her face she would remember for the rest of her life.

It was commonly awkward for the staff to understand the relationship between her and her father; when they kicked off; silence within the staff often followed and left them feeling understandably uncomfortable as an immovable force was hit by an unstoppable force. Alex had invariably longed for the father and daughter relationship, but her father had different ideas and that just built up resentment; that fine line between love and hate was often stepped over, until last night, when hope suddenly appeared.

She threw on a dressing gown and walked over to the window and gazed over the lake inland.

Blackwater Bay was as lively as ever, the lights flashed, the fairground was alive and screaming, and all the shops were chucking their tat out as fast as they could. People sunbathed on the beach, and the seals and sea lions from the Sea-Life Centre hollered in the distance as they did every hour of the day. She watched the sun sparkling on the lake, almost hypnotized by the colossal reflections of the city’s concrete giants as they trembled and warped on the surface. People strolled along the bay front walking their dogs, cycling and some just stared out over the lake and island as she watched without a thought. The brilliant blue cloudless sky sat over the city, scarred only with trails of long gone planes, the breeze gently blowing the ivy around her window. The city had been awake for a while, long before she even contemplated leaving her bed, millions of people going about their business, each one the centre of their own little universe.

Her swollen eyes blinked now and then as she simply took in the stunning view, her make-up from the night before smeared and worn as she stood as still as stone. She turned and looked over towards her father’s wing on the other side of the courtyard and saw his unmistakable shadow leave his window. Frowning to herself, she sighed as the shadow quickly vanished; suddenly realizing the things between her and her father were as morbidly warped as normal. Alex turned and gazed upon her room that was pretty much like an apartment of its own, everything was there she needed to live a happy and somewhat normal life.

She strolled over the room and slumped down into her couch and put her feet on her glass table, checking her phone religiously for messages as she often did. Boredom was setting in fast and with the crazy world moving outside clearly quicker than her own, she decided there and then this hangover wasn’t going to beat her in the slightest. Alex grabbed the remote and flicked through the channels one more time, eventually throwing it across the room in frustration. She inspected her empty phone again and then scowled to herself. She gazed over her room at a photo collection of her and Collette, sighing as she rolled her phone in her hand for a few moments. Suddenly, she started to type a message.

SMS Text to Collette Walker

“Hey Colls, where u hidin? Aint heard from ya in ages. Kinda getting worried now. U got a new
bloke or something’? U missed a killer party last nite, Dad threw a big ball weird huh lol hope ur ok,
miss ya lots! Xxx get back to me asap ya bitch! Lol”

Alex smiled a big row of expensive white teeth and decided to try and survive in some daylight, not something she would normally try on a hanging-day, but today was a special hanging-day after all, the sooner she got out, the sooner she wouldn’t notice it had gone.

Alex got dressed and left her room, venturing down the vast corridors and into the main hall which led to the ball-room. She peered around the door and saw the room was alive with maids and staff cleaning and tidying up the mess. She stood simply gazing at the expensive twenty-one banners that hung silently; in her mind, she was already planning little Sarah’s eighteenth and twenty-first, and to say she was looking forward to it would be an understatement.

“Alex?!” A voice asked quietly from behind. Alex turned and smiled at what should be a Butler.

However, he never did Butler’s stuff; he just oversaw daily routines of the other staff. Gerard McGently his name was, lower class with her an upper class when in front of her father, priceless.