ONUS: the Eve of Sin

By JC Francis

A petty thief, a loner, and a troublemaker, Ellie needs to grow up fast. When her mother dies, and when her father finds a new love, she is left to fend for herself. She is soon drawn into a strange new existence, pushed towards a world of Godly proportions, evil doers, and mythical oddities, some of which are all too happy, determined to play games with her already dodgy sanity. An unasked for future awaits. Or could it be her demise? Either way, Ellie needs to survive what will ultimately be thrown at her, if she is to fulfil her duty to an out of control God. Or else pay the ultimate price - SOUL-DEATH. Heaven awaits. Hell is on the doorstep.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ukiyoto
• Release date: Sep 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005464011

Book preview

Chapter 1

The man moved slowly along the aisle, square shouldered and taller than most of the factory workers on the bus. The top of his head near rubbed the ceiling. He had upon his head a tilted, dirty baseball cap, and when he removed it a full head of black, wavy, shoulder length hair fell and covered his face from view. He also wore a pair of torn at the knees, grey jeans, and a tight black t-shirt. The attire showed off his toned physique, which finished off the spectacle.

The bus continued its bumpy way along the widening streets of outer suburbia.

Ellie jerked her eyes away from the man when he sat across the aisle from her. His presence unsettled her more than she could ever had thought possible. Again, she focused her attention beyond the window, on the scenery of dilapidated houses and dried landscape.

Annoyingly though, her curiosity wanted answers to who the man was and why he sat there. It burned out of control. She hated when it did that. It was strange, at this time of day, to see anyone new on the bus. She had to scrutinise the annoyance now, if only to quench the flames, to discover if he was going to be a possible threat to her, or not.

Ellie cursed under her breath. She turned away from the window to face the back of the seat ahead of her. She side-eyed the man. And the thing she noticed about him this time was, he sat rigid, alien-like, compared to the factory workers on the bus who never stopped moving about and talking incoherent nonsense to each other. He wasn’t moving, not a twitch, or even a scratch. To be honest, she seriously wondered if he was breathing.

Hopefully, not being too obvious a curious cat, Ellie turned her head and studied him further. She couldn’t help but admire his chest muscles, which pushed enthusiastically against the t-shirt. Then, as if on cue, her mind raced - What if he notices me staring at him. How will I deal with that? Then … stop looking at him, Ellie.

And before she had a chance to move her eyes away from him, the man turned his head, pushed his hair away from his face, and stared at her intently.

An involuntary squeak pushed out from between Ellie’s lips. She had seen and interacted with her quota of nutcases during her short life already but had never seen anyone with eyes resembling oil pools before. They were so dark, in-fact, it would be difficult on a human level at least for anyone to classify them as normal.

The man spoke to her using a calm tone, ‘Hello … Eleanor Ryan.’

Ellie’s voice shook when she asked, ‘How do you know my name …?’

The man turned his body to face her properly, with his legs blocking the aisle. He leant across to invade her private space. He said, a touch faster and louder this time, ‘I need to tell you something important—'

Ellie instinctively raised her hands with palms out. ‘Whatever you want …’ she said, ‘you’re not getting it!’

The man shook his head, ‘No … No … You need to hear—'

‘Get away from me!’ she snapped, ‘Are you deaf? Are you stupid? Go away! Stop talking to me! Sit somewhere else!’

The man ignored her verbal barrage. When he spoke again, he harshened his tone somewhat, ‘You have no middle name. You prefer to be called Ellie … not Eleanor.’ He continued talking before she could interrupt him again. ‘You’re seventeen years old. Your mother died from a heart attack in the kitchen of the house you still live in, and the place you still call home, though you hate living there.’

‘How do you know that?’ Ellie eyed the driver of the bus. But the driver’s eyes remained focused on the road, oblivious to her plight. She could muster help from the workers onboard, couldn’t she? If things got too physical for her to handle, surely, they would intervene. They would take him down easily. Because they had already heard everything said between them, hadn’t they? Yet not one of them had reacted or even looked in their general direction.

The man spoke to her again with his voice calmer now, ‘You must listen to me.’

‘I’m warning you!’ she raised her voice more, ‘I mean it!’

The driver of the bus eyed them in the rear-view mirror. He then looked away quickly to concentrate on the road. The workmen continued to remain oblivious to what was taking place around them.

‘Your father …’ the man said to Ellie, ‘left you the house after he moved in with his long-time mistress. Now you’re alone with the bad memories, and with your past floating about inside your head. You have no one who can help you understand your pain or tell you where your life is meant to take you.’

Ellie went to speak again, but when the man raised his hand, then clicked his fingers, she remained silent - lips tight. She touched her lips, widened her eyes, then went to stand. Again, the man raised his hand and clicked his fingers. She remained seated, unable to move a muscle.

‘The authorities …’ the man continued, ‘have no idea you live alone. And they never will know. That’s a given from a higher source than you, or I. It has been told to me that your father has fallen from grace. He’ll learn about his bad choice when the time comes. Your mother’s death saddened you, yet … you’re growing stronger and wiser as each day passes.’ He again raised his hand and clicked his fingers. He then added, ‘You can speak and move now.’

Ellie’s mouth opened, ‘How do you know my name and all that other stuff?’ She pushed her back against the window. ‘What’s going on here? Why couldn’t I speak? Why couldn’t I move? Get away from me … now!’

‘I’ll leave you alone when I’ve finished saying what I need to say to you,’ he told her.

Feeling like cornered prey, Ellie asked him, ‘How do you know my father? And how do you know that other stuff about my mother? Who are you? What do you want?’

This time when the man spoke the other passengers chatter and the noises of the bus faded out of existence. ‘I’ve never met your father,’ he said. ‘Preferably … I don’t want to, either. I’ve only been told of his exploits. Your mother, on the other hand—'

Ellie cut him off again, ‘What’s happening?’ She cocked her ear to how quiet it was inside the bus. The silence was deafening. No rattling. No groaning from the motor. No chatter from the workmen. She squeezed her eyes shut and poked her finger inside her ear. Now she could only hear her heart beating - fast.

Ellie couldn’t afford to lose control. She hated losing control. And she didn’t want to look at the man’s penetrating oil pools anymore. They were making her melt. She couldn’t handle the feeling. Not today. Not now. Not ever.

When Ellie heard chatter return from her fellow passengers and the usual bus noises, she opened her eyes, then gasped. She noticed the man wasn’t seated there anymore. She instantly searched the interior of the bus for him. He was nowhere to be seen.

‘How …?’ Ellie shook her head to try and clear it of confusion. It didn’t help. Nothing made sense. When she stood, her legs wobbled as the bus slowed and stopped alongside the station at Hackney Hill.

Her stop.

Her personal Hell.

Chapter 2

Ellie stepped off the bus to stand under the long shelter and its bitterness. She noticed how the area lay covered in a soft mist. Combined with the faint rays of sunshine, it gave off a magical ambience to the normally bleak surroundings she encountered each day. Oddly, the scene brightened her mood a little. She noticed there were still a few workmen from the bus standing around talking and laughing at each other’s silly jokes. Nothing unusual there. On any other given day, they were never in a hurry to move along.

Ellie looked away from the workers and gathered her frail senses the best she could. She then walked over to the curb and checked the street for traffic, which normally had none, but she preferred to be careful. She worked her way across to the other side the road.

The building she headed for resembled a skeletal monster with broken windows and exposed metal beams, which enveloped its exterior. Once an old foundry building where they melted metal used for the construction of the factory precinct, it now stood neglected, long out of business, currently used by the homeless who were known and ignored by the authorities this far out from the city.

The building was also Ellie’s place of punishment. She had to be inside between the hours of 10a.m and 2p.m - four days a week, to help care for the homeless. There was no-where they could go, where they felt needed or wanted anyway. She despised entering the warehouse if she had to be honest. She could be home instead, hiding under her blankets, wasting her life, living the bum dream, and not only on her third week of punishment already.

Eleven weeks remained.

Ellie stared at the warehouses heavy, tall, graffiti covered wooden door. She inhaled deeply. Then she reached for the doorhandle. But today, she hesitated. She turned away from the door and scanned the scenery behind her to see if the man from the bus, with the oil pools, was watching her every move. Thankfully, he was nowhere to be seen, that she could tell anyway.

Where the hell is he?

Was any of that real?

Ellie took a deep breath, then shook her head and faced the door again. She pushed down on the rusted handle. And with painstaking effort, she dragged the heavy door open.

The familiar stench of decay emanated from the interior of the building and slapped her hard. She grumbled and adjusted her jeans to resemble a futile sense of comfort. And that’s when a distant chest rattle of a cough floated out of the gloom. She grumbled again. The whole idea of having to walk about in this place made her skin crawl. She would never get used to it.

Ellie reluctantly stepped inside the warehouse and closed the door behind her. She then worked her way through the expansiveness of its interior. Faint light filtered in through the broken windows. She moved around and under old wiring and climbed over a collapsed metal beam, which everyday happened to be the exact place she remembered to concentrate on the task at hand, where she analysed every shadow trying to reach out for her.

Inhale.

Exhale.

When Ellie arrived at the top of the narrow stairs at the rear of the warehouse, she walked down them and found seated at the bottom, George, who was always the first homeless she ran into.

‘Hello again,’ George raised his wrinkled hand to greet her.

Though, she hated having to, Ellie had to play the continuous game of nicety. Her boss, Marcus, told her from day one she had to oblige, or else be reprimanded, especially if she had any chance of getting through this inconvenience with her sanity intact, which would be unlikely. She needed to pay attention to every word spoken. Which, for her, was never going to be easy from the beginning. The homeless needed to grow a liking to her, Marcus, her boss, also told her. And some already had. Thankfully, she quickly discovered they weren’t as annoying as first thought.

They were tolerable, at least.

Ellie placed her hand in George’s and once again grimaced at the thickness of his scratchy fingers and palm. Again, she almost gagged at his unwashed rankness but tried not to come across as rude by placing her hand over her mouth to show how disgusted she felt. ‘How are you?’ she asked him.

‘Still old and as poor and as hungry as the last time you saw me,’ George answered. ‘Yesterday … wasn’t it?’

Ellie nodded, ‘Same-same then …?’

George asked, ‘You’re still hanging in there?’

‘Yeah, but … as you know … I don’t want to be here,’ she told him.

‘We’re always glad you joined our little club,’ he smiled and exposed his raw gums and lack of teeth.

Ellie felt her stomach churn. She said, ‘I still can’t understand how you, or anyone else, for that matter, would have a reason to be glad about that.’

‘It matters you’re here …’ George ran his thumb across the back of hers, ‘more than you understand.’

Again, the sensation of his rough skin gave Ellie the creeps. ‘I didn’t join this little club …’ she said, ‘as you put it. You know I was given to you by the corrupt system. We’ve been through this before, George. Too many times … remember?’

‘We all know you were caught stealing …’ he said, ‘and you ended up in this place to look after the crowd of despair.’

‘Good …’ she said, ‘so … we don’t need to go over it again?’

George rolled his eyes, ‘You’re a worry.’

Ellie shrugged, ‘And you go on about that every day.’

‘I do …’ he said.

‘Well … I have a hard time dealing with any of this …’ Ellie told him, ‘and you know it.’

George thinned his cracked lips. He said, ‘Maybe you shouldn’t break the law, if you don’t like being punished for it … or being asked about it.’ He raised his bushy eyebrows, and added, ‘But have it your way … little Miss Not-So-Nice.’ He let go of her hand. ‘Go and play with the others now. Off with you!’

Ellie shook her head, ‘See you next time.’ She happily turned away from him and walked over to the far wall. There she found Marcus squatted next to a scruffy clothed young boy who was trying to push gaining fingers away from his arm, with minimal success.

‘What excuse do you have for being late this time?’ Marcus asked Ellie now that she stood beside him. He expertly wrapped the bandage he held around the lower part of the boy’s arm, whilst he was distracted, before he even knew what had happened.

The boy widened his eyes and stared at the bandage, ‘Hey!’

‘Something did happen, Marcus …’ Ellie said as he brushed the boy’s hair, ‘if you’d care to hear about it … that is.’

Marcus groaned, ‘Not really. But … go ahead.’

Ellie did, ‘I’m not even sure what it was that happened, but it’s left me feeling confused, and scared I might be stalked, or attacked before I reach home tonight.’

Marcus looked up at her, ‘Well … I don’t know what to do. There are a lot of weirdo’s out here, and more so at night. Call the police, did you? I still can’t understand they gave you a punishment this far out from the city, to be honest.’

‘As if calling the police would help,’ Ellie moaned.

‘Well …’ he said, ‘what’s the alternative?’

‘I’ll think about it,’ she said.

‘No …’ he smiled, ‘you won’t.’

Ellie wanted the subject changed, and asked about the boy, ‘What happened to him?’ She scanned the boy’s pale face, then his freshly bandaged arm.

‘He got knocked out …’ Marcus told her. ‘Near the fish factory, which should have been closed down by now.’ He added, a little off topic, ‘Government laziness, that is. There’s a gang who runs the place. Criminals!’

He talked about the boy again, ‘He said he was minding his own business, when a group of bigger boys ran at him from behind the building. He turned to run away, but they jumped him before he could take a step.’

‘Are you sure he wasn’t playing up? Taunting the bigger ones?’ Ellie asked him, ‘He looks the type.’

The boy poked his tongue out at her.

‘Those bullies have no right hitting someone this young, either way …’ Marcus told her, ‘even if he was playing up.’ His attention wavered back to the boy’s arm. He checked the bandage for proper tightness.

Ellie said, ‘I bet most of these young idiots who hang about out here are most likely the cause of the troubles they get into. Farm boys, they are, I bet. Bored. I’ve seen them harass some of the workers who still have jobs out here, for money, and when they don’t get any, they hit the person, then run off laughing and swearing.’

‘Duh …’ Marcus said, ‘I know that much.’

Exasperated, Ellie took a deep breath. She asked, ‘So, where do I start my day with another test of my patience?’

‘Feed Kate,’ Marcus told her. ‘She’s been on my case about how hungry she is already.’

‘Why didn’t you feed her then?’ she asked.

‘She prefers you …’ he said, ‘over me. And you know that. Always her words … not mine. And you know that, too.’ He shook his head. ‘Plus, I may be stupid sometimes … but I’m not suicidal enough to approach her when she’s in one of her moods.’

Ellie fake laughed, ‘The debate’s still running on whether you’re stupid, or not.’

‘I gather it is,’ Marcus stood and stretched his back. ‘I have more important things to deal with. They’re not you … or her.’

‘Giving up so soon?’ she asked him but gladly accepted the win. She gave Marcus a pat on the back and left him and the boy to do whatever they were going to do next. She walked over to the near wall where the garbage bags were kept, which were always full of the usual daily supply of food and drink. She opened the nearest bag and took out a package of food and a bottle of water.

Ellie perused the gloomy atmosphere for her target, Kate, who always moved about the place. The girl either sat at that end of the room, or at that end, but for some unknown reason she would never be found in the middle, where it would be easier to find her under the brighter lights dangling from the exposed beams.

To Ellie, Kate Milling felt like the younger sister she had always wanted. Yes, sometimes the girl was out there obnoxious and too smart for her own good and balanced on the brink of being chummy with Hannibal Lecter crazy, but she was rather friendly when she wanted to be.

Ellie spotted Kate at the far right of the room. The girl had her legs curled up to her chest and rocked slightly. She headed over to her. ‘Hey,’ she said to the scrawny girl when she approached her.

‘About time you got here!’ Kate said and only looked up when she had been handed the anticipated package of food and bottle of water.

‘Hello to you …’ Ellie said, ‘Miss Grumpy.’

‘What’s in the package today?’ Kate asked her as she felt its weight.

‘No idea,’ she answered. ‘I haven’t looked—'

Kate couldn’t wait for her to finish the sentence. ‘I bet it’s horrible,’ she said, then tore open the package and prodded its contents with one of her long fingers.

‘Not doubting it’s bad,’ Ellie agreed with her. ‘So … tell me what’s up with you today, young lady?’

‘Nothing,’ Kate grumbled, and continued to prod the bags contents.

‘Come on, Kate …’ Ellie pushed, ‘tell me what’s wrong. There’s always something detrimental going on in that brain of yours.’

‘Doesn’t matter,’ she told her.

‘Categorically …?’ Ellie asked.

‘Stop using big words,’ Kate said.

‘Sorry,’ Ellie apologised to whoever was present inside the girl’s head at this moment. ‘It wasn’t intentional. Sometimes my brain just does it without me thinking.’

‘You know I hate when you do that,’ Kate said.

Ellie nodded, ‘I keep forgetting to try and stop it,’ then touched Kate’s hand to assure her she had honestly forgotten. ‘I’ll try harder next time … okay?’

‘Do that!’ Kate told her.

Ellie snapped, ‘That’s enough with the tone!’

Kate shrugged, ‘Whatever!’

Ellie handed the girl a spoon and did her best to ignore the rudeness flowing from her. She said, ‘I know you better than you think, Kate. You don’t rock like that unless you’re annoyed by someone, or angry about something.’

‘Doesn’t matter!’ Kate repeated.

‘Sad-sap,’ Ellie said.

Kate smiled, ‘Hello!’ and again went back to her sad-sap expression.

Ellie rolled her eyes, ‘Not funny!’

‘It is,’ Kate told her and smiled again.

‘Don’t try your mind-games on me,’ Ellie warned her.

‘I’m not even trying!’ she said.

Ellie screwed her nose up at the girl’s stench. She sat her hand on top of Kate’s head and felt the familiar sensation of oiliness beneath her fingers. ‘You’re silly,’ she said. ‘And … you need a wash.’

Kate’s face was small and round with a pointed nose at its centre. Her eyes were like two, tiny sapphires - the cutest things ever. The girl was lovable, but extremely difficult to deal with when she chose to be upset or was simply annoyed by the air she breathed. ‘I’m not!’ she protested, ‘I don’t need a wash! Not today ... or ever!’

‘Tell me what’s wrong …’ Ellie pushed again, ‘come on!’

Kate dug her spoon inside the bag and found food. She said, ‘Not telling!’ She shoved a lump of fried rice inside her mouth, then chewed, swallowed, and burped loud.

‘Charming,’ Ellie said.

‘Why can’t I have chips?’ Kate said before she started chewing on another mouthful of rice.

Ellie frowned, ‘Changing the subject, are we?’

Kate stopped chewing for a moment to answer, ‘I hate being in here with them … okay?’ She looked over at two women, sprawled out, snoring loudly, a short distance away from her.

‘I know you do …’ Ellie also eyed the women, ‘but you know you have nowhere else to—'

‘Don’t say it!’ Kate snapped and rice flew out of her mouth.

‘I’m going to …’ Ellie warned her, ‘whether you like it or not.’

‘It’s not my fault no one likes me,’ Kate grumbled.

‘You shouldn’t hide from the authorities if you don’t like being in here with them,’ Ellie said and pointed to the snoring women.

‘Hiding …?’ Kate asked her, ‘I’m not hiding!’

‘Here we go again,’ Ellie said, and for the ‘nth time tried to explain the situation to her. ‘The authorities will look after you and find a nice family for you to live with if you need one … which you do, so—'

‘I told you not to say it!’ Kate dropped the spoon on the floor and crossed her arms.

Ellie frowned, ‘Too bad … young lady!’

‘They won’t help me! They’re all mean!’ Kate told her harshly, then softened her tone when the snoring women almost stirred awake. ‘They’ve tried three times already. I hated them all. They weren’t like my mum and dad, so … I ran away.’

‘As I’ve told you before, no one can replace your parents,’ Ellie reminded her of recent talks about the subject. ‘Believe me. I know it’s sad they died, but …'

Kate nodded, ‘True that.’

‘You’re sick in there,’ Ellie rubbed the top Kate’s head, then pointed to the girl’s chest area, ‘and there. You need help from a doctor. You’re only eleven years old. You don’t understand real life yet, or—'

Kate interjected, ‘I like chips … a lot!’ She coughed.

‘Stop trying to change the subject,’ Ellie warned her again. ‘I’ll tell Marcus to let the authorities know where you are this time. He will, too … if you get him concerned enough. You know that he knows you should be in a better place. He knows you’re sick. You can barely take a breath without it hurting some days. There will be no more niceness heading your way if he does do something about you.’

‘You won’t tell him I’m sick …’ Kate said knowingly, ‘and he won’t do anything if you did talk about it.’

Ellie stared at her, ‘And you know that, how? You won’t be able to stay here. He won’t allow it. He’ll get in trouble if you die on him.’

Kate fiddled with a piece of carrot she placed between her thumb and index fingers. She said, ‘Marcus doesn’t care what happens to me … that’s why.’

‘Yeah …’ Ellie said and felt defeated again, ‘of course he doesn’t. Stupid of me for saying, or thinking such a thing, eh?’

‘True that,’ Kate said.

‘Anyways …’ Ellie said, because she wanted and needed to push forward with her day, though she knew it would be completely useless talking more, ‘you know I won’t tell him you’re sick …’ And she wouldn’t unless Kate turned bad enough to warrant it. She had hidden it well, so far.

Kate suffered with chest infections, including her mental health problem. The conversation about the girl’s living arrangements and health started not long after Ellie’s first day. The girl had confided in Ellie, instantly. Since then, Kate had turned everything into a never-ending annoyance.

‘You better not tell Marcus anything!’ Kate warned, ‘I’m not that sick anymore … okay? I don’t need medicine … okay?’ She coughed.

Ellie tilted her head and looked deeper into Kate’s eyes. She told her, ‘Marcus could get concerned enough to do something about you … with or without me saying anything to him. Even you couldn’t change his mind once he acted upon something. We do talk, you know, about how bad it must be for you in here.’ She touched Kate’s hand again. ‘He’s not as stupid, as you … me … or anyone else likes to think he is … really.’

Kate frowned, ‘He’s silly.’

Though, at regular intervals she felt the same way about Marcus, Ellie ignored the comment. ‘You need to be safe and warm in a loving household …’ she said, ‘not fading away in here, inside this hole of a place.’

‘You told me yesterday you were going to change the colour of your hair,’ Kate said, ignoring Ellie’s pleas. ‘Why didn’t you? I love the way you look. Don’t change it! Keep your hair short. It’s cuter like that.’

Ellie groaned, ‘I hate it when your brain acts all intelligent.’ She added, ‘I don’t like seeing you like this, Kate.’ She turned away from the girl and fiddled with her left ear before she turned to look once more at her. She wanted to try the family subject again before she moved on to feed someone else. ‘You need a family,’ she said.

Kate smiled, ‘You’re silly.’

‘You need a loving home!’ Ellie added, then composed herself before continuing with, ‘You need someone who wants you for who you are, with no strings attached. Somewhere warm and safe.’

‘I