The Number 8 (12 page)

“Did you see…” Asmir gulped.

“Yes and we’re doing it.”

“Hell yeah we are.” They high-fived to seal the deal.

Ten minutes later they were strapped into their bizarre three-man cocoon and were being slowly hoisted upwards.

“I almost instantly regret this decision,” said Annie who had decided to be the third member of their unhappy little altitude slumber party.

“Just don’t look down,” Asmir spluttered.

“Kind of hard since we’re basically facing the ground,” she replied.

“Yeah mate, I think the whole idea is to keep staring downwards. There isn’t really anywhere else to look,” Dante added.

“I disagree,” Asmir said.

Dante and Annie both turned their heads as far as they could physically go to see what he was talking about. Asmir had insisted on going in the center with Dante on the left and Annie right. Both of them sighed deeply when they saw what he meant. He had his eyes tightly shut.

“Not really any point doing this if you’re not going to look,” Annie argued.

“I’m pretty sure my body is going to feel the full effects of the ride. I don’t need the couple of seconds where I’m convinced we’re about to hit the ground.”

“We won’t hit the ground,” Dante chimed in.

“Tell that to your body in a few seconds. Fight or flight, baby.” Asmir opened one eye just so he could wink at Dante. He was right though because seconds later they were dropped and Dante had no control. As they fell, his whole body was telling him to pull out his arms and shield his face from the inevitable crash that was about to happen. He forced himself to keep his eyes open against all his instincts. His stomach had lurched so suddenly that for a split second he was convinced it was gone. That it had just evacuated his body in a bid to avoid the next few seconds. He was wrong of course because ten feet from the ground the cable caught and began to swing them all in a wide arc upwards.

The rush of air made it difficult to hear but he knew both Asmir and Annie were screaming. More accurately, Asmir was squealing like a ten-year-old girl who had just seen one of those
Twilight
kids in the flesh. They rode the arc well and at the top there was a brief moment of normalcy where he could hear and see clearly and even his stomach was behaving. But that weightlessness lasted less than a second and they was careering back down. After a couple more of these arcs, they slowed and were lowered back to earth. Blustered, deaf but beaming with joy.

They had completed it and it was an awesome feeling. They all went for high-fives but quickly realized that their arms were strapped down by their sides. Probably for the very reaction Dante had had as they were falling. But as their bodies were lowered onto solid ground they cheered. Dante hadn’t even screamed. That was not a choice he had made though, he just hadn’t found the air in his lungs to go through with it.

“That was awesome!” Asmir shouted, his eyes now wide open.

“Really?” Annie smiled. “Because it sounded like you were being strangled up there.”

“Yeah,” Dante joined in, “I have never heard a man scream that high. I’m impressed. We just found your first talent.”

“You’re both bastards. But I forgive you because that ride was insane.”

They were unstrapped and got to their feet. Dante’s legs were a bit shaky but he tried not to show that to the others. A large group of the passengers were watching them from the sidelines. It seemed no one else had the guts or the money to take this swing on. Surprisingly, only a few people had gone zorbing. Asmir joined them quickly after telling Dante that he would meet him for food after.

He and Annie walked and talked again for another few minutes. This time he was consciously trying to ask her more personal questions but it seemed that she was an expert at getting round them. Then, when he thought he was breaking through, Becki appeared and took Annie away to go look at some of the animals. Dante would’ve gone if they had asked but he was content to buy a drink and go and watch the zorbing with the rest of the bus.

A giant inflatable ball tumbling down a grassy hill at top speed sounded like fun, but it also looked pretty nuts. Especially those who had decided to have water in theirs. Activities like these and the giant swing he had just been on worked on the premise of fear and adrenaline production. People loved to be scared in a controlled and safe manner. But when the fear was of something real, it was a very different story. Such a fine line. But people had been jumping over those lines for years. People were always looking for the next “Most Dangerous Activity.” The more dangerous, the more people paid. Paying money to someone whose goal is to scare you half to death had always seemed a crazy notion to Dante. But then again, he had just paid to do that swing.

It was Asmir’s turn and he had chosen the water to be thrown inside with him in the giant ball as Dante knew he would. The light at the top went from red to green and the instructor stepped out and pushed Asmir off. At first the ball struggled to go, but slowly it picked up speed slithering and sliding its own path down the hill. Inside Asmir was being thrown around but he didn’t seem to mind one bit. The ball picked up speed in the middle of the course and flew over a small bump in the track. At one point Asmir was entirely on his back floundering like a turtle who couldn’t right himself. The see-through ball came to an abrupt stop as it hit the padded section of wall at the bottom. A cheer went up and Asmir climbed out of the ball head first against instruction. He was breathing heavily but had a content look on his face. He saw Dante and hobbled over to him trying to say something.

“I swallowed half the water in there. It’s so cold.”

“Looked fun though,” Dante conceded.

“It was, man. Sure you don’t want a try? It’s on me.”

“Nah, mate. We have work to do.”

“I’m pretty sure that there isn’t.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. We have lunch with the girls and we are going to find out exactly what they know.”

Chapter 23

“Where are they? I told them to meet us right here.”

“They’ve probably been and gone,” Asmir pointed out.

“Mmm,” Dante agreed.

They sat with the group and ate. The food wasn’t great, but it was edible, so they filled themselves up before heading back to the bus. It was time to move on. Dante was especially pleased. He had made a point of researching Rotorua. It seemed an interesting place with a great deal of history. But he was keen to experience it.

This time it was Annie and Becki that were last to appear. Well, them and Ben who had taken his time finishing his food.

“Right. Time to go!” Mel bellowed just as they strolled onto the bus.

No one had decided to sit next to James. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all. Dante didn’t blame him. He knew how James felt. His Uncle had also been his friend but there was one big difference. Dante hadn’t had to stay on a trip meant for both of them by himself. Constantly receiving sympathy and looks of pity, while all the while having to continue on a trip that was meant to be fun. Dante could only imagine. He would make a point of talking to James in Rotorua. Not about Viktor. He just wanted to make the guy feel normal again. Have a normal conversation with him, without mention of the traumatic events of the past few days. He also wanted to try to understand his and Viktor’s relationship, because Dante thought there was more to them than the over-the-top bravado and tattoos. After all, all this grief could just be an act. He had been in the second group in the caves. He could have been the killer.

“All right, we’re here,” Mel said about thirty minutes later. “We’ll drop off your bags at the hostel and then you have the afternoon free. Those who want to go on the Maori trip this evening we will be meeting at the bus at six pm. Please, do not be late. We
will
leave without you.”

The passengers piled out frantically. They wanted to get to the hostel desk and get the best rooms. Dante didn’t have to worry about that since Asmir had booked the rooms all the way through the trip. That would definitely be a weight off his mind this trip.

“So, we’re going on that trip?” Dante asked.

“Oh for sure. You’re pumped about it aren’t you?”

“Yeah, apart from bungy jumping this is the one I’m most excited about, Az.”

“Maoris, the haka, native food cooked underground, what’s not to love?” Asmir smiled.

They let everyone pile out first while they hung back. Then, to make a point Asmir jumped into the seats in front and lay out full stretch.

“Ah this is nice,” Asmir said.

“Don’t be a bastard,” Dante said slapping his feet off the arm rests. Dante got up and joined the back of the queue.

“Spoilsport!” Asmir yelled after him.

All the passengers were queuing just inside the doors of the hostel. Dante wasn’t really sure what to do. He stood at the back as each person got a key and went to find their rooms. But then Asmir came striding through the crowd towards him.

“What are you doing?” he said, confused.

“Waiting, like a normal person.”

“That’s where you went wrong,” he said rounding the queue and speaking to the shocked lady at the counter. She looked at her desk, nodded and gave him a key. He looked back at Dante and gestured at him to follow suit. So apologetically he made his way through the crowd. With his lateness earlier and now this, he could tell that he wasn’t making many friends.

“You aren’t helping us by doing stuff like that,” Dante said just as he got to Asmir.

“Oh, relax. Let’s go see our suite for tonight,” he said jingling the keys.

Their room was just round the corner. Once again they had lucked out when it came to position. They had a corner room, which was much needed when there were three large bags on the floor. It was the same style as the last hostel but without a balcony. But on the upside there was a hot tub heated by the geysers that littered Rotorua.

“Open a window, Az. It’s hot in here.”

Asmir did as he was asked. He stuck his head out and took in a large lungful of air. He instantly regretted it.

Coughing and spluttering he said, “That is disgusting. What is that? It smells like a stale fart.”

“It’s sulphur. Didn’t you smell it on the way in?”

“No I didn’t. Why is there sulphur just hanging around in the air?”

“It’s from the hot springs. That’s why they call this place Sulphur City.”

“I think I’m gonna pass out.”

“Stop being so dramatic. You’ll get used to it pretty quickly,” Dante said unpacking a couple of outfits, one for the evening and one for the morning.

“I’m just glad we’re only here for one night.”

“Barely even that. We’re gonna be spending all evening in the Maori village so just unpack what you need to and let’s hit the hot tub.”

Asmir wagged his finger at Dante. “Very good idea.”

Five minutes later they were neck-deep in the hot tub. The smell was just as strong but the bikini-clad girls had sufficiently distracted Asmir. But Dante had his eye on a different beast. James was alone just inside. He was reading something or at least pretending to. Dante had hoped that their first meeting wouldn’t be when he was half naked and soaking wet, but he may not get another chance this good. So he jumped out of the hot tub and dried himself off before making his way inside.

Just as Dante got near James looked up at him and said, “Just don’t.”

“Don’t what?” Dante asked, confused.

“Come over here and tell me how sorry you are about Viktor and if there’s anything you can do. There’s nothing any of you can do.”

“Um, well actually I was just going to ask you if you want to join us?”

James looked up at him, shocked, but also slightly relieved.

“Look man, for what it’s worth I know just what you’re going through and I know that the last thing you need is for someone to come over and remind you that you’ve lost your best friend in the world. I know that you just want to be alone with your thoughts. But I’ve done that and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nowhere good anyway. So here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to treat you like a normal human being and invite you to join us. No sympathy, no pity, just some conversation. What do you say?”

James thought about it and against his better judgement, he accepted. Dante had no intention of telling James that he thought Viktor may have been murdered. That would not help the situation. Dante knew that if he found out he would go immediately to the police, there would be an investigation, the bus would be stopped and they would be questioned rigorously. What he did want to do was to get James talking about Viktor which he thought would be difficult, but it quickly became clear that that was all James wanted to talk about. It helped that James was already incredibly drunk. Over the next hour they were treated to stories about Viktor which barely seemed real. He had done some very illegal stuff which Asmir enjoyed hugely. Another startling revelation was that James was actually two years younger than Viktor. But somehow that was not the most shocking news of the afternoon. In his inebriated state James told them that Viktor had to leave his first foster family because of an incident involving a friend at primary school, who had been found face down in a nearby lake. Viktor had been blamed.

Chapter 24

“Viktor always said it was an accident, but he never liked to talk about it. There was something weird about that case that had him scared,” James said.

“Case?” Dante asked.

“Yeah, it went to court. The kid’s family wanted him locked up but there was never enough evidence.”

Asmir caught Dante’s eye. Dante knew what he was thinking. This could have been the reason he was killed.

“So what else you know?” Asmir asked.

“Not much. Like I said, he never talked about it. All I know is he moved far, far away from the area. I don’t even know where it happened. Something really had him freaked out.”

“What?” Dante asked.

“Enough of the questions. It’s nearly time to go to this village. You going?” James asked.

“Yeah,” Dante replied.

“For sure,” Asmir chimed in.

“I’m going to take a shower. See you guys on the bus,” James said as he climbed out of the hot tub. “Oh, and thanks for…this,” he said without turning around. Dante got the feeling he wasn’t very good at emotional sentiment, so they let him leave without another word. Asmir looked around at the others then at Dante. He tilted his head towards the door and opened his eyes wide. Dante got the message.