Page 59 of The Vanishing Place

Effie got as close to the door as the chain would allow. Then she waited.

The faint hue of evening light had gone, and the air had darkened with the encroaching night—thick and impenetrable.

And it was cold. The chill locked her joints as she waited, hunched on the floor.

The weight of her limbs and the scent of her unwashed skin were real.

But in the dark, her body was without lines or shape.

She was just sound and smell in a void of shadow.

Eventually, there was a soft scraping on the other side of the door—a chair dragged along the floor, or a box perhaps—then the click of metal. The door eased open. She stood there, silhouetted by a soft glow, with a bowl held in her hands.

“Tia?” Effie whispered.

A squeal escaped the woman’s lips, and the bowl hit the floor with a clang.

“Wait…” Effie reached out an arm.

But the shadowed figure scurried from the room—a frightened mouse—and bolted the door.

“I’m sorry,” Effie panted. “Please. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

Effie waited, the anticipation threatening to rip her open, but there was no reply.

“Please, I just want to talk.”

Still nothing. No sound. But Effie could feel her there, hear her swallowing and breathing.

“Has he hurt you?” asked Effie.

There was a further beat of silence, then Tia spoke. “You were meant to be asleep.”

“I needed to see you.”

“Contact isn’t allowed. No looking. No touching. I’m just to listen.”

“To listen?”

“And slip food in at night.” She paused, the air tarred by a thick quiet. “How do you know my name?”

Effie’s heart stopped.

Then she breathed, “It’s really you?”

There was a shuffling, a chair scraped and floorboards creaked. The sound of her sister moving—leaving.

“Wait.” Effie searched for words, anything to keep Tia there. “Are you in the dark too?”

“Yes. No.” She seemed rattled. “There’s a small candle attached to the stove.”

A shiver ran between Effie’s shoulder blades, an icy realization taking form. “Tia, have you ever seen me?”

“It’s not allowed.”

Effie leaned forward. “Do you know who I am?”

“It’s not for me to know.”

Oh god. “Tia, it’s me. It’s Effie.”

It went quiet—a hushed eternity—then her sister’s voice filled the darkness. “Effie?”

“Yes,” she said. “Yes, it’s me.”

“No,” Tia sobbed, the sound small and helpless. “No. You shouldn’t have come back.”

“Tia…”

“This place will kill you,” she stuttered. “No one ever leaves here…he’s made sure of that.” She paused. “This is the vanishing place.”

Effie pulled against her restraints. “That’s not true. Anya got out—your daughter got out.”

There was a loud thud as Tia slumped on the other side of the door. Effie could feel her, the presence of her sister’s body, as Tia pressed against the wood.

“Anya?” Tia panted. “You’ve seen her? You’ve seen Anya?”

“Yes. Anya’s safe. She’s in Koraha. She’s with June and Lewis.”

“Oh god.” Tia exhaled. “She’s okay?”

“Yes.” Effie smiled through tears. “Your little girl’s okay.”

Tia broke then. She dissolved into sobs and half-uttered words. “He told me he had Anya,” she said. “He said if I ever disappointed him again, he would kill her. That’s why…why I couldn’t…”

Tia stopped and there was a fumbling sound as she stood up. Then there was the clunk of a key turning in the lock and the handle shook.

“I’m sorry,” whispered Tia, her slight figure appearing in the doorway. “I only have a key for the door. I don’t have—”

“You’re alive. You’re really alive.”

Tia sat on the floor next to Effie and reached out and traced the sides of Effie’s face with her fingers. Effie pulled her sister into her. Tia was nothing but bones, her ribs jutting out like the rungs of a ladder, her hair falling down to her tailbone.

“I’ve missed you,” said Tia.

Effie clung to her little sister. “Who’s done this to you?” she spluttered. “Was it Dad?”

Tia pulled away and shook her head. “Dad’s dead, Effie.”

“What?”

“He disappeared, just after you.” Tia sat hunched over and tucked her knees into her chest. “What Dad did…it broke him, and he left. He left us. Just two kids, alone in the bush with a body.”

Guilt stabbed Effie’s chest, and she pressed into it with her fist.

“When Dad eventually returned,” Tia continued, “the others were already here, and I’d…

I’d already started to hate him.” She wiped her eyes.

“They shot at Dad when he turned up, and threatened to kill him if he ever came back.” Her voice softened.

“But he did come back. Every year, on my birthday, he came back and left something for me by the river. But I never took it. I never spoke to him. And then it was too late.” Tia swallowed.

“We were both wrong about him. Dad tried to save me from this, but I didn’t listen. ”

“I don’t understand, Tia. What happened here?”

“For so long, I thought I was in love. I thought I was doing the right thing. Then one day, I woke up and I realized I was a prisoner. And that it was all too late.”

“What was too late?” asked Effie. “Who’s done this to you?”

“To us,” whispered Tia. “There were eight of us.”

“Here?”

“There’s another hut farther up,” she said. “A couple of kilometers, maybe. For the men. And for Dinah.”

Effie inhaled, the core of her suddenly cold. “Dinah?”

“His daughter.”

“Whose daughter?”

“His name is Peter,” said Tia. “The Guardian.” She hesitated. “But there’s something else, Effie. Something that you—”

She stopped abruptly, the sudden quiet robbing the air from Effie’s chest.

“Tia?”

“He’s here.” Tia’s eyes snapped toward the door. “He’s back.”

“It’s okay, we can—”

“Oh god. He’s going to know.” Tia started to shake. “He’s going to know I broke his rules.”

“Tia, listen to—”

“Oh god, he’s going to kill us.” Her voice had faded to nothing. She started to cry. “I can’t…not again…”

“Tia? Tia?” Effie reached out. “You need to stand up now and walk out. Then you need to lock the door behind you. Can you do that?”

“The door?” she spluttered.

“Yes. You need to go—now.”

“Yes, I…” Another sob. “I can…”

“You’re okay.” Effie squeezed her wrist. “You’re going to—”

The pounding of heavy footsteps sounded, mounting steps.

“Oh god.” Fear pulsed through Tia’s voice. “It’s too late. He’s going to find me in here.”

Then there was the squeak of wooden floorboards—he was on the deck.

“Go.” Effie pushed at the air with her hands. “Go.”

Tia stumbled over to the bedroom door, and a breath of light moved through the room as she pushed the door wide. Then, with a thump, it closed again.

Please be okay .

Effie hugged her arms around her body, doing her best to stay quiet, and waited for the murmur of voices.