Godslayer: Chapter 2

A Town Called Mexico, A Statue Called Keebles
The town where I live is coincidentally named 'Mexico', and with just short of a thousand people, we aren't notable enough to avoid being confused with the actual country. Our lighthearted residents call the plaza and surrounding market 'Mexico City' as a joke, but the rest of us just refer to it as downtown. It's much easier.

Downtown, I should elaborate, is where most people here live. There is one main street that houses restaraunts and small convenient stores, and above them are little apartment blocks with at most three rooms. The catwalks on the sides of buildings are closed up around this time of year to prevent anyone from sneaking into houses or hurting themselves on the stairs, but some kids still sit out on the main platform to watch the world pass by.

Inside of decorative cages, the small police force keeps flames lit throughout the night acting as streetlamps. Nobody bothers using a car around here, and if you really have to drive, it's generally more acceptable to take a bus. Being from uptown, which is less crowded and even considered a detachment from our fair village, my Aunt was free to take a bus out of town just so she could buy a car and show off.

In the dead center of main street we have a roundabout road that circles a fountain which almost everybody uses to make wishes in tradition. Following the death of Jameson Keebles, a washed out architect whose daughter's disappearance supposedly led him to helping build the town, a statue was placed in the center of the fountain. It was based off of an old picture of Keebles, a man in construction rags with a thickly carved mustache and beady eyes.

At his feet was a mountain of coins, bronze and silver and even some gold, from passerby and visitors the the town alike. My Father used to take me to the fountain as a child, and when he went to work my grandparents would let me use the fountain to wish him luck.

...Come to think of it, I didn't wish him luck during the week that he left and didn't return. Ironically it was the week I decided that I was too old for the wishing fountain.

This would atone for that though, I thought as I rolled up my sleeves. My bare arms immediately covered themselves with goosebumps and I could feel the hair beginning to stand up - which was strange, they didn't usually do that when it was cold.

I submerged my hands into the ice cold water of the fountain, thankful that it wasn't completely iced over and I wouldn't have to break my knuckles trying to reach the bottom of the pool. It reached up to my elbows before I felt the first layer of coins and began pushing them away, leaving an empty space in the center for Father's special coin. Also, just in case this didn't work, it would make it easier tograb the coin and go home afterward.

The wind began to pick up down the street despite the lack of cars, and it was odd that none of the policemen were out this late. Down the road I heard the barking of a dog - Mr. Vijan's Siberian Husky, no doubt. That in itself was strange too, as the only dog downtown he was almost always quiet.

I ignored that strange feeling of uneasiness creeping up on me and finished clearing the way for my coin before standing back up and flicking the water away. The cold forced me to shake and the hair on my arms was being visibly glazed with ice, but I ignored it and retrieved the coin from my pocket, ready to find out exactly what Father was going to tell me.

In the glow of the fire, with the lively wind and the howling of a dog, I flipped the coin into the water.

It caught the light beautifully as it reached splashdown, the profile view of an ancient warrior staring up at me from the cold, artificially lit pond.

"I wish I knew what Dad was trying to tell me." I felt embarrassed that I even had to say that, but it was part of the wishing ritual. The coin reached the bottom of the pool and I looked up to Keebles for some guidance. This was the first time in almost a year that I'd felt like a child.

It wasn't a good feeling.

The dog suddenly stopped barking. A much more powerful wind blasted me in the ear and I instictively pulled my coat closer and tighter against my body. The fire on the street corner blew out and left half of the street in darkness.

Now I was starting to panic. I turned down to the pool and reached in for the coin. My rubber soled boot, previously braced against the fountain foundation, slipped down. My shin clacked painfully against the stone wall and before I could nurse my bruise I fell face first into the water.

The space I cleared worked against me and I smacked my forehead against the bottom, accidentally opening my mouth and forcing water into my mouth and nose. I pushed against the floor to move out of my painfully contorted position, my legs having left the ground after the fall, and only met resistance.

I opened my eyes to the sting of dying LED lights in the water, nd the reflective surfaces of many coins. I realized I had dropped the special coin of my Father's and felt ashamed. I was scared, stuck underwater without air.

My arms stopped thrashing because it was making it hard to breathe and only forced more water into my lungs, and I was trying to accept my death and the fact that I would finally meet my Father again, when I felt a hand on my ankle.

The water pulled my hair into my face as I was suctioned out of the water, the freezing air clashing against my body. I was coughing and hacking, water pouring out of my nose and mouth, feelinglike I was going to throw up. I was shaking and the sudden rush of blood to my head wasn''t helping me stay conscious.

My breathing slowed and the world begin to sway rhythmically. I used the last of my strength to look at who had saved me, and only met the stony gaze of Mr. Keebles.

As my vision faded and my head dropped, I noticed his right arm was not at his side.

Jameson Keebles saved me.