Deathway

By Tomo Umer

Joey Arlington moved to a quiet coastal town for a great work opportunity and fresh start. From the get go, there's something strange about her new home. Not believing in anything supernatural, as time goes by, she tries to uncover the mystery while starting to question her own sanity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tomo Umer
• Release date: Sep 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223172819

Tomo Umer

There are two aspects of my life that consistently go hand in hand: science and fiction. I was born in Koper, Slovenia and studied Particle Physics in Trieste, Italy. Meeting the love of my life, Claire, on Reddit took me on a journey over the Atlantic Ocean. I ended up working in behavioral health in mid Tennessee untill a Data Science bootcamp with the Nashville Software School opened the doors for me to continue applying my love for data and science. Parallel to all that, I've also explored countless fantastical (and real) worlds. From Asterix and Obelix, through Age of Empires and Civilization, all the way to Elden Ring and Oppenheimer. If there's a good story, I'm there for it!

Book preview

Introduction

My second novel! I am incredibly excited - and kind of in disbelief - that this is the second book I've written! I formulated the idea for Deathway on February 11th, 2021. The setting was inspired (vaguely, but still) by certain parts of my lovely hometown of Koper (Capodistria in Italian), Slovenia. By June 8th, the first draft was complete! In other words, it took me about 4 months for the first draft, as opposed to the 4 years for my previous book, Lambda.

For anyone wondering why then is it now 2 years later as I’m preparing the final edits for publication; one word: beagles. When our bloodhound Sirius passed away, me and my wife stupidly thought that getting a smaller hound was a great idea. And it just so happened that there were two left in the litter. Suffice it to say, mistakes were made. Don’t get me wrong; love the two little demonic shits, but trying to keep them from killing themselves by eating what they are not supposed to took a great deal of my time over the past 2 years.

At any rate, writing speed is not necessarily a measure of anything in particular; there was however a major change in how I approached the writing of my second novel.

For my first novel Lambda, I decided on the setting and some ideas, but overall, I wasn’t sure where the story was going to take me. As I kept writing I realized that was hardly a plan, let alone a good one. At least for me personally, that approach only worked for writing short stories. Penning a lengthier novel I realized that without a more clear understanding of what I wanted to write, I was getting lost at times. So for me at least, the idea of being a gardener writer, meaning to create the characters and let them loose in the world(s) didn’t work.

For Deathway, I took a bit more of the architect aspect of writing. Outlining the general sense of what would be going on and amending it as I wrote. I think that overall, having some kind of structure helped me tremendously and I believe that has made for a more cohesive and interesting storytelling this time round.

I also decided right away that this second book needs to be much more limited in scope. A smaller setting and only one protagonist, in order for me to focus more on the small details.

With that said, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!

Prologue

An ordinary coastal town, existing since ancient times while surviving countless power struggles, wars and diseases, was at long last at peace. The calmness of the city could be felt in the air with sea breeze frequently sweeping through the streets. The human makeup of the town consisted mostly of a strange blend of elderly people and students. The other demographics preferred to move out to the surrounding villages and away from the old city center. That changed significantly during the summer season with tourists filling up the place to the brim.

In such an idyllic yet lethargic setting, there were no serious crimes to speak of, or any other drastic events. The wildest thing that happened with some frequency was the occasional stumbling drunk person or group making a scene - and that too was soon swallowed by the overarching stillness.

On July 16th however, in broad daylight and in the heat of the full-blown summer, there was quite an unusual commotion happening within said city. Specifically, in a courtyard that was delineated by seven houses and an archway entrance, resembling an octagonal shape as seen from above. The courtyard had a decaying well smack in the middle of it, a few trees and recently renovated benches around.

An elderly frail looking lady with grey messy hair was being dragged out of her home and towards the archway, with an ambulance awaiting just outside. She was screaming hysterically as two stone-cold faced professionals handled both of her arms and patiently moved her. There were some curious faces to be seen observing the scene from inside of the surrounding houses, but nobody came out to protest or ask questions.

Noooo! You can't do this, I can't leave! screamed the person, while simultaneously trying to wiggle her way out of her captors arms.

There there Ms. Linguise, it’s alright, we’re going to take good care of you, stated one of the two first responders with a genuinely sympathetic voice, contrasting his unrelenting stare. Forcefully dragging people to a mental health hospital was the single least favorite part of his job.

You don’t understand! I can’t go! It is not safe! I will not survive!

Her voice grew more panicked and terrified which resulted in her tone raising to the point of shrieking and one sentence eating the other. She continued to kick with her feet and move her torso in an attempt to wrangle herself free. The two men responded by gently lifting her off the stone-paved ground and continued their advance without saying another word.

Passing under the archway, the old lady turned quiet, much to the relief of the two medics.

Joey Arlington arrived at the scene just in time to be surprised by the unfolding drama. Of many things she’s heard about the city, eventful was not in the vocabulary that people used to describe it. She observed the whole situation awestruck, with a bag over her shoulder and a suitcase behind her. She was standing so close to the ambulance that one of the two medics had to politely ask her to move out of the way, which snapped her back to reality.

She hesitated some more, not sure what to make out of it and awaited for the ambulance to depart before venturing towards her new home. Entering the courtyard she felt a strange feeling pass over her. Something was not right and almost made her turn in her tracks. She just brushed it aside as being the unease and uncertainty of a big life change, gripped the suitcase harder and continued towards her apartment inside Valor’s Circle number three.

chapter 1 - A New Home

Thursday, July 16 . Joey noticed the onlookers from the surrounding houses with unease, so she just scurried towards her new apartment with renewed vigor. She unlocked the door on the first try - much to her relief - and closed it behind her, breathing in some relief, at last in her new home. She was supposed to be sharing the house with another person, but she was informed that they changed their mind at the last moment and she was going to be the only tenant for the time being.

The front room she closed herself in was dark, so Joey quickly found the light switch. The illumination revealed a small entrance space, with just enough room for shoe shelves, a plain wall mirror on one side and some coat hangers on the other. The decor was minimal and matching, likely bought at the same store. She proceeded to put her black tennis shoes with orange stripes on the vacant wooden shelf, somehow complementing it in color. She took out some dark green slippers from her suitcase and already felt like she claimed the whole house. Standing up she took a moment to observe her own reflection in the mirror.

Her black sleek hair were like a waterfall onto her shoulders, despite the brisk walk who’d previously disturbed them. She also sported some orderly bangs covering her forehead down to her eyebrows. The rest of her facial features were telling entirely different story. Her gleaming blue eyes were adjusting to the light. Her cheeks were ever so slightly blushed completing her expression to match that of a startled child. To top it off, her small silver nose ring stood defiantly as ever. As if this was the first time ever Joey Arlington was able to see herself, she smiled nervously and blinked which only added to the discombobulated appearance.

Due to the warm weather she was wearing a black polo shirt that essentially rendered her chest flat, down to the top part of her dark gray flannel pants. The badly lit small space was a stark difference from the bright sun outside and she could barely tell the difference in color between her shirt and her pants.

Hello, me, welcome home, she thought as she cast one final glance at herself and ventured through the wooden doors to the interior of the house, Valor’s Circle #3.

Compared to the small space she found herself in at first, the next room she entered was ampler and batter lit. On her immediate right a marble kitchen counter was separating the cooking area from the living room. She quickly glanced into the kitchen to spot a stove, dishwasher, microwave, refrigerator and a nice clean deep sink. Satisfied that there were no nasty surprises that she couldn’t have seen on the pictures online she turned her attention to the living room.

There was a comfortable looking couch in front of her of a similar shade to her pants that in her estimate could sit at least four people. Right above it, a small window covered by curtains and presumably facing the alley outside of Valor’s Circle. Sitting down and testing the comfort level which turned to be above expectations, she continued observing the room. On the opposite wall, now in front of her,  the one facing the courtyard - there was a much bigger window with blinds open enough to let plenty of daylight in. Joey entertained the idea to look out for a moment and realized that was probably exactly how the neighborly onlooking starts.

Her vision was then drawn to the big flat TV screen, nested in the corner between the window and the entrance hall she just came from. She guessed a good 50 inches, decent brand. Besides that, the living room had laminate flooring and two chairs that appeared somewhat lost in there. Whoever rented the house previously must have either been extremely clean, OCD levels of clean, popped in her mind. Alternatively, the landlord has entirely thoroughly cleansed or renovated it. In fact, upon closer inspection of the floors it looked like they were brand with no traces of scratches, scars or general use. Like the chairs and couch were just carefully popped in, like delicate icing on a cake.

That perked up her curiosity. Was there a reason to all this cleanliness? Were the previous tenants able to mess it up so badly that the house number 3 needed a makeover? It was just odd, almost unnatural. Standing up and dragging her luggage through the room she could smell the faint remnants of cleaning supplies.

Opposite to the kitchen area, to the right of the couch she just left, there was a plain metallic staircase leading to the sleeping quarters, as well as the secondary bathroom. Opening the door to peek in, she saw a beautiful pattern of swirly light blue lines on deep blue tiles which reminded her of a turbulent sea. It contained a toilet, a sink with a cabinet underneath and a moderately sized mirror on top. At least for the bathroom Joey was 100% content with the sterile like cleanliness. Stealing one last glance at it, she noticed her face and expression were more of her usual self.

Shutting the door to the bathroom, she picked up her suitcase and proceeded upstairs. The steps were quite steep, packed close together and in a spiral in order to minimize the space they were occupying. Carefully advancing, she arrived on the upper floor, where she was met with the same level of tidiness. There was a corridor leading from the staircase to the balcony, splitting the floor plan in two parts. The balcony exit was a door with a white frame - distinctly different from the all other wooden doors - and blinds semi-open. Even what light was coming in pointed to the summer heat outside.

Placed in the same corner as the floor below, there was a much larger bathroom, while on the other side of the corridor there were two bedrooms (positioned above the entrance, kitchen and part of the living area below). The room in front of her had an empty red tag on it, while the one closer to the balcony had a Joey Arlington printed on golden letters that she could read upon approaching.

Out of curiosity she inspected the bathroom on this floor as well. It was more or less same in design than the one below it, except it also contained a washing machine on the outer wall to her left and also a quite spacious bath tub on her right. Impeccable in its presentation as its smaller counterpart.

Despite Joey being a quite well organized person she was getting the impression that somebody was trying too hard here. As if everything was built from scratch and ready to be placed in a magazine or at an exposition. Eventually she did turn around, out of the bathroom and into her sleeping quarters almost directly opposite.

Never in her life had she seen such a sterile room.

There was nothing to even compare it her memory. Even some really nice hotels that she’d been to in her life weren’t like this. Impeccable drywall, three sides painted white and the one in front of her just ever so slightly orange. And an absolutely flawlessly made bed in front of it. The sheets on the bed had vertical red and orange lines and they appeared unnaturally straight. There was a night stand on one side of the bed, with a single elegant lamp on it.

Upon entering, on her left she could see the side of a wooden wardrobe whose orange coat matched the one wall. On her right there was a window similar to the one in the living room, with blinds semi-open. A room straight out of a catalogue - quite beautiful, Joey noted, but at the same time off putting? Unnerving perhaps? Was that a good way to phrase it? Either way, she vowed to herself to quickly make it her own. Transform it into something belonging to an actual human being. She would need to bring in much more stuff than what her simple luggage allowed.

In order to immediately ruin that picture-perfect room, she left her suitcase in the middle of the floor, threw her bag on the bed and jumped on it herself. She bounced slightly and was quickly satisfied with how it felt underneath. Specifically, it wasn’t too soft, which was always her worry with a new mattress. She rolled around to her back and with it, she felt her transition to the new home was complete. But as her mind got adjusted to the new place and the excitement started to wear off, her past came rushing back. Her thoughts of recent life changes hit hard.

About a month ago, when Joey got offered a very well paying position as a back end developer for a local bank, named Union's First Bank, she had no real intentions of accepting. She was perfectly fine with where she was, dozens of kilometers away, enjoying her quiet life with her boyfriend of several years. Six years and seven months to be precise, she reminded herself. Their life together wasn’t glamorous, but it was enjoyable and she was content. After finishing her masters degree in IT she settled with her partner in his family owned house, which the two of them got all for themselves. He would continue his father and grandfather’s car shop, while she would work for the local government, take care of their servers, secure backup and such. She could’ve easily been more ambitious but at the end of the day, she was doing work she enjoyed and knew her help was much appreciated and needed.

Not everything was perfect however.

As soon as they met all those years ago, Joey was weary of the difference in education between her and her partner at the time, now only referred to as that possessive asshole. When their relationship was starting to take off, he assured her he was absolutely fine with her ambitions and strong independent thinking and would support her no matter what, but over the years that statement was put to the test. What finally sealed the deal for her was when he discovered the job offering from Union’s First Bank and lost his mind. He was yelling, insulting her and flailing his arms at her in an accusatory manner.

Joey didn’t even bother explaining that she was planning to turn the offer down. She didn’t try to reason with him or calm him down. That one incident crystalized all of her past doubts and told her all that she needed to know. She packed her bags and went to live with her parents for a while, accepting the job offer and looking for a place to live.

Thinking back, analyzing and second guessing her choices, she began to doubt if it truly was her own decision to not pursue her ambitions more. Had she not met that possessive asshole, would she have settled in a small town somewhere? Were there other decisions she made while being unknowingly influenced by his controlling behavior?

Since the end of that relationship she remembered numerous instances where her partner’s reactions were problematic. But he never yelled at her or threatened her in any way, so she didn’t really see it clearly as it was happening. Piece by piece however, parts of her transformed into a person that she struggled to recognize today. She felt incredibly lucky with the sequence of events that broke that stalemate and led her here.

This of course wasn’t her first time dealing with lots of past baggage, so Joey knew exactly what to do. She sat up to grab her laptop and charger, plug it in and quickly bring up her playlist of mostly alternative rock music. Positioning the device on the drawer she accidentally pushed the lamp off of it, but then caught it at the last second. Ramping up the volume she laid on her back again, letting song lyrics fill her mind instead of heavy thoughts and doubts. Yeah fuck him, were the last thoughts she dedicated to her recent past.

Enjoying the melodies she was tapping her fingers on the bed, nodding and humming, with the occasional singing along with the chorus. Several songs into her playlist, her movements became less animated and she slowly drifted asleep.

Joey awoke abruptly to sweat and slight body tremors. Checking the watch on her wrist she saw it marked 17:12. How long was she asleep for? She remembered arriving at Valor’s Circle close to 3 in the afternoon, but that was as accurate as her memory allowed her to be. Her playlist was done and over with, so it must have been less than two hours of her laying in bed or sleeping, so that checked out. Feeling her increased heart rate she tried to remember what startled her so much.

Vague images of her disturbing dreams were lurking just below her awareness. Most of it was just out of reach, but the one thing that remained vivid in her brain was the sense of being latched onto something. Kind of like being tied with an elastic rope a tree and walking in the opposite direction. Close enough as analogies go, though the pull in her dream was invisible, kind of like gravity. And the object wasn’t a tree. Maybe a building? Feeling like she was getting closer to remembering, she continued intentionally slowing her breathing and laying down. She found dreams to be a fascinating glimpse into one’s brain. In which case, what was that dream about? Without anything else to go by, she assumed it might have been her mind processing the pull her ex had on her, that she now finally broke.

Seemingly at a dead end, Joey opened her suitcase to draw out a beige bath towel, as well as a few bottles of shampoo hair conditioner and body wash and made her way out of the room. The hallway was still well lit with the afternoon sun rays peeking through the blinds at just the right angle to making her squint a little. She entered the bathroom and closing the door was very glad there were no windows present. Compared to her previous living experience, she wasn’t used to the sun this late in the afternoon.

While she got undressed in the bathroom, she briefly considered taking a bath but opted for just a shower instead. Adjusting the water temperature to hot, she eagerly stepped in. Despite having just confirmed the temperature being to her liking, once the rest of her body got in contact with it, she shivered. The difference between expected and experienced made her jump out of her skin and scurry away from the water to the opposite edge of the tub, where she uttered in disbelief, What the hell?

She observed the water like she had just been betrayed by her best friend. After more hesitation and incredulousness, the water filled part of the tub and her feet felt the pleasant temperature she set. To confirm, she slowly extended her arm to the shower and again, it was perfect. So what just happened? After retreating her arm and then feeling the stream again with both arms and legs alike, she finally gave it another try and her body relaxed.

At this point she started to doubt her sanity, or perhaps the insane stress levels she felt. First that strange sensation while entering Valor’s Circle, then her dreams, and now the water. Surely this wasn’t a sign of her developing bipolar disorder and moving towards a psychotic break? That fear was a constant part of her life as both her mother and grandfather seemed to have been afflicted by it - with her mum at least having been medicated and gone to counseling. In both cases, the worst outburst appeared to have been triggered by a particularly stressful period of their respective lives.

So far Joey pushed a potential genetic mental health issue to the side as she seemed to be perfectly healthy and sane. At the same time, she knew the risk was always there. Asking her phone to set a reminder for her to re-check some signs of bipolar disorder and a psychotic break later on, she then sprayed water everywhere by shaking her head and thoughts all at once. Due to what happened, she forgot to draw the curtain beforehand and so her actions lead to a watery mess on the small bathmat, as well as the tiled floor around it.

Turning off the water, she used the towel to absorb some excess liquid from her hair and then dried the rest of her body off. She moved the bathmat around with her feet to somewhat clean up the floor and then wrapped herself up in the towel. Picking up her clothes she returned to her bedroom where she carelessly dumped them in the middle of it all. Hello chaos, she told herself smiling. She then spent the next half an hour or so sitting cross-legged on the bed and letting her body dry up by itself. While waiting, she was fumbling through her phone and alternating between some mindless fun stuff and looking up signs of a psychotic break. What she found reassured her at least somewhat. It was more likely she was just exhausted and apprehensive in the new environment. By tomorrow she might be laughing at it all.

And then the words Possessive Asshole popped up on the screen as the calls began. She patiently ignored it until the voicemail picked it up and seconds later, another call was coming in. And another. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of rejecting the call and letting him know that she’s seeing it. For a downside, she wasn’t really able to use her phone as he obviously wasn’t leaving any voice messages and continuously calling.

After the fifth consecutive call she gave up,  to hell with it, and got dressed. She pulled her favorite pair of comfortable black underwear and a matching bra from her suitcase. For the rest she decided to re-wear the clothes from earlier. Arranging her still damp hair in a ponytail and double-checking that the calls were still coming in - they were - she tucked her phone in one of her pockets, retraced her steps from earlier, and she was out of the house #3. Locking the door behind her Joey had a good look around.

Valor’s Circle was all around her, made up of seven houses looking similar yet not exactly the same. The one outlier was house #1 whose exterior was completely falling apart, almost as if collapsing in real time, making her wonder how bad the inside was. Houses #2, #5 and #7 were old as well, but kept in a much better shape. Before moving here she learned that the city center had to conform to certain standards, one of them being that the older buildings had to retain the same outside look even if renovated. As a result, despite her new home #3, as well as #4 and #6 being bought by the same leasing company, they just had a fresh coat of paint applied but still fitting very much with the rest.

All of the houses in Valor’s Circle were built out of stones with varying degrees of aging showing on the front. Some of the older houses had begun to sprout moss or other vegetation in the crevasses, while the three new ones instead looked completely untouched by nature in comparison. Joey glanced over the windows overlooking the courtyard and to her relief there didn’t seem to be any nosy neighbors there anymore. She didn’t have a problem with curious people, but at the same time she didn’t feel like being the new attraction of the neighborhood.

With the sun slowly moving towards the horizon, the decreasing temperature of the air felt good on her moist skin. For a brief moment in time, she paused and just took it all in. My new home, I could get used to this pretty quickly, she thought and proceeded for a leisurely walk around the courtyard. Joey didn’t want to move too close to any of the houses to not spike any unwarranted attention, but she was still very fascinated by this small ecosystem she found herself in. Except for the archway, there was no other entrance to this place, so it could have easily been sealed off into almost a detached unit from the rest of the city. Was that the case in the past? Did the inhabitants here ever have the need to isolate themselves?

Strolling around aimlessly over the stone-paved ground she began to notice that most of the courtyard was an entirely new addition or more likely, recent remodeling. The stone slabs on the ground were in a much better shape than the stones in