Prologue
Compass Series Book 1 - North
By RA. Donovan
Prologue
North Compa raced across the quad that was still littered with a few lingering students, and held his art work portfolio under his arm as he cursed the Boston transit system for making him late. It was always the same. The one time you needed everything to work out perfectly, nothing worked out at all. All he had to do was make it to Professor Durkin’s office in time to submit his work and he would not get a failing grade. That was all that mattered.
He hit the door with his shoulder and held his portfolio against his chest as he pushed through into the main art building. Finals were almost over, so very few students were still on campus which meant he was able to race through the corridors and up the stairs without any obstacles.
He was metres away from where he needed to be when he heard someone calling out to him. He couldn’t be distracted right now though so he ignored it and kept running.
“North! North, wait!”
“What?” he yelled back over his shoulder without slowing down.
He cursed the name his parents bestowed upon him whenever anyone called out to him because it just sounded like they were giving directions. His father’s name was Atlas and he somehow convinced his mother to give each of the four children directional names to go with their surname Compass.
This time though he recognised the voice was from his best friend Gordon, but he didn’t have time to see what he needed, and knowing his best friend like he did, he figured it was just to piss him off and make him even more late.
“Dude! Wait!” Gordon continued to call after him.
“I can’t,” North yelled back without slowing down. “I gotta get to Durkin’s office!”
He heard footsteps racing up behind him and then a hand yanked on his shoulder to pull him back. North whipped his head around and tried to shrug the hand off then noticed the look on Gordon’s face wasn’t the crooked smile he expected but instead he looked pale and sweaty, his eyes wide with worry.
“What’s going on? Dude I gotta get to Durkin’s now.”
“Wait, North, it’s your folks.”
“What?” North looked over Gordon’s shoulder as if he expected to see his parents approaching. “What are you talking about?”
“Dean Harris got a call. He sent for you at the dorm but you had just left and he-”
“Spit it out! I have to get to Durkin’s, what the hell are you talking about?”
“Your folks…they’re…they’re dead.”
“What?”
North felt his blood drain to his feet and his head was spinning. He couldn’t have heard what he thought he heard. His folks were alive and well in Boulder. He just spoke to them last night as they made plans about his summer job at the family business. They couldn’t be dead, there was obviously some sort of mistake.
“This is not one of your best jokes, Gordo,” he said as he tried to pull his arm out of his friend’s grasp, but Gordon tightened his grip and slowly shook his head.
“It’s not a joke, man.”
A strange buzzing started to ring in his head and the edge of his vision was getting blurry. He pulled his arm out of Gordon’s grasp as he backed away and shook his head. He couldn’t deal with whatever this was. He had to get his portfolio submitted or he wouldn’t pass the year and it all would be for nothing.
“North, hey!” Gordon called out but North kept backing away.
“I gotta go.”
“Dude! We gotta get to the airport. We have to get you home!”
“No!” North said and shook his head again until Gordon caught up with him. He grabbed North’s shoulders and shoved him against the wall to get him focused and make sure he understood what was happening.
“We’re going to the airport right now,” Gordon said. “There is a flight at noon. We can get to your home by six and we’ll figure this out.”
“They’re dead?” North whispered as he felt his world caving in.
Gordon nodded his head slowly.
“What happened?”
“Car accident.”
“Fuck! What about-” he asked, suddenly filled with panic.
“Everyone else is ok. No one else was in the car.”
North felt his legs go limp and he slid against the wall until his ass hit the floor. Gordon sank with him and North struggled to hold everything in as his life fell apart.
“We gotta go,” Gordon said softly and he squeezed North’s shoulders and pulled him to his feet.
North dropped his portfolio, no longer caring about anything other than getting home. He didn’t fully understand what was happening, and it would take time to process, but he knew he needed to just get home to his brothers and sister.
The next few hours were a blur and if it wasn’t for Gordon, North wasn’t sure he would ever have found his way home. He was a constant steering presence that took care of all the details while North just let himself be led. He knew he needed to get his shit together before he got home because there were going to be questions he had no idea how to answer.
The drive from the airport in Denver was equally too long as it was too short, but when they turned onto the family estate just outside of Boulder, he looked up at the arching gateway displaying the Compass name on a wrought iron arch that his father made when they bought the plot of land.
It was janky and crooked and the letters were misshapen, and different sizes, but his father loved it so they never changed it. He felt tears welling up behind his eyes when he remembered how they would tease his dad about the sign, and realised they would never get to do that again.
“Hey North,” Gordon said as he moved the car up the drive and parked in front of the house. “Are you ready?”
“No. I’ve no idea what I’m going to do.”
There were a number of cars parked outside the house and North readied himself for the barrage of questions he was about to be asked. He climbed out and Gordon met him at the front of the car and he paused for a moment to look up at the house. It was a large house with a wrap-around porch and a detached garage that was filled to the brim with equipment for the family business which was focused on adventure tours, hiking, kayaking, horse riding, they operated locally.
He felt Gordon’s hand on his shoulder and took the strength his friend offered before he turned back to the house and walked towards the front door. But before he made it to the porch, the door flung open and his little sister, South, came running out. Even from this distance he could see her face swollen with emotion, puffy eyes and red cheeks and he didn’t hesitate in crouching low enough to open his arms and catch her when she threw herself at him.
He held her close and cupped the back of her head as she burrowed into him and started crying again. He looked up when he heard more footsteps and saw his two brothers, East and West appear. They didn’t quite fling themselves at him but they did approach and put hands on his shoulders. It turned into a mini family huddle and Gordon stepped back to give them some room.
North closed his eyes and pushed back the emotion he could feel starting to overwhelm him. He held South tighter and rocked her a little then, with Gordon’s guidance, ushered everyone back into the house. At the door he saw a local cop holding his hat in his hands, a woman in a skirt and blouse he guessed she was from children’s services, and a priest.
When they got into the living room North sat in the centre of the couch and held South in his lap, while East and West sat either side of him, and Gordon hovered by the door. The cop walked across the room and stood by the armchair, where the priest sat, a bible cradled in his hands.
“I’m Officer Peter Wilson. I was on scene at the accident, and I’m very sorry to have to share the news with you,” he said softly and North looked up with a frown.
“What happened?” Since Gordon caught up with him it had been a flurry of chaos and getting to the airport, so there was no way to call and check in other than to confirm he was on his way home.
“Rock slide on Canyon road caught them unawares. Knocked the car into the canyon.”
“Jesus,” North cursed and he felt South curl her arms around him even tighter.
“We can discuss it later,” Officer Wilson said and gestured at the kids that surrounded North.
“I wanna know,” East said and he sat forward. “I’m not a kid.”
“East, calm down,” North said softly.
“I”m not a kid anymore, North. You have to-”
“East, we’ll talk about it later.” North was trying to use his oldest-brother voice but he didn’t feel the power course through him and he knew he just sounded like a petulant teenager. Then he realised he was still a teenager.
He was nineteen. Was he supposed to look after everyone now? East was fourteen, West was twelve but South was only six. If he didn’t quit school to look after them what would happen? Would they be fostered? Would they be separated? All these thoughts flew through his brain in the time it took to blink and he was getting dizzy trying to keep them from spilling out of his mouth in a stream of barely conscious words.
“How about I take South into the kitchen for a snack,” the woman said and North tightened his grip on his sister.
“Who are you?”
“Oh, sorry, my name is Nora Smith. I’m South’s teacher in school.”
“Oh, right, okay.” North loosened his hold and pushed South back a little but she whimpered and tried to hold onto him. “You go into the kitchen with Ms. Smith and help find some cookies, yeah?”
“I wanna stay here with you!” South said, her voice cracking with emotion.
“I’ll be right in after I talk to Officer Wilson, okay?”
South nodded her head and North helped her slide off his lap, then guided her with a hand on her shoulder to walk towards her teacher, who crouched down, and picked the girl up easily.
“You too, West,” North said and he turned to his youngest brother and put a hand on his back.
“No, I-” West started to protest and crossed his arms over his chest as he furrowed his brow as deep as it would go, but North didn’t have time to argue.
“West, I need you to go in and look after your sister.”
“I want to hear-”
“West, please,” North said and he squeezed the back of West’s neck.
“Okay,” West grumbled and he pushed up off the couch and took Ms Smith’s outstretched hand.
North watched them leave and then turned back to East, who was sitting back with his arms folded across his chest, as he almost dared North to try and kick him out of the room too. The truth was North wanted him here with him, because he wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to handle this conversation alone.
Gordon moved from behind the couch and took the cushion West had just vacated. He leaned close to North and rested his shoulder against his friend to offer him some strength as North looked up at the cop who just closed the door to offer them some privacy.
“Items like your parents’ wills and accounts can be sorted out later,” the cop said but all North could see was the way his hands moved round the rim of his police hat, “but the matter of your guardianship of the children is something we need to sort out immediately.”
“Guardianship?” North whispered.
“If you are unable…or unwilling to take on this guardianship then we need to get CDHS involved so suitable homes can be found for everyone.”
“I’m not going into a home!” East declared, and sat forward with an accusatory glare at the cop.
“Calm down, East” North muttered and he put a hand on his brother’s shoulder.
“You can’t put us in a home,” East implored but this time his voice wasn’t full of defiance, it was the fear that was making his voice quiver.
“I won’t, buddy, I won’t,” North said and he wrapped an arm around his brother. He turned his attention back to the cop and looked up with raised eyebrows. “I’m staying home, I’m taking guardianship, or whatever it is. They are staying here with me.”
The cop nodded, his head rocked back and forth slowly and his lips disappeared into thin lines.
“I’ll set up the interview with CDHS and get you all the paperwork you need to keep your family together.”
“Thanks,” North muttered.
“Your parents made their funeral arrangements very clear,” the priest said when the cop stepped away and took a phone out of his pocket.
“They did?”
“The nature of the business they ran meant there was a higher possibility of injury or…other circumstances, so they made their wishes very clear.”
“Ok,” North said and wondered how his parents who loved life, loved their family, loved their business could go from paragliding, white water rafting, bungee jumping, mountain climbing and everything in between, only to be killed by something as mundane as a car wreck.
The priest was still talking about the funeral and what had already been arranged and North felt his head nod though he wasn’t sure how much of it he actually took in. It felt like a fog had descended on his brain and he moved through it slowly like a whiteout.
His whole life seemed to be moving through a fog and he had no idea what he was going to be greeted with on the other side. In the days leading up to the funeral he was focused on those details and kept busy signing what felt like every single piece of paper in the world, but all too soon he found himself standing over a double grave as the funeral directors lowered two coffins into the ground while their favourite song “A rainy night in Soho″ played on a tinny speaker.
The gathered crowds swayed back and forth in time with the slow ballad and North stared at the disappearing view of his parent’s coffins. This was not what was supposed to be happening. He was supposed to be enjoying his summer before becoming a sophomore. He was supposed to be carefree with just enough responsibility to not be a slacker. He wasn’t supposed to be the new patriarch of a family that was grieving the loss of loved ones.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and didn’t have to look over to know it was Gordon, who had rarely strayed from his side this whole time. His best friend had truly shown his worth as he helped out with everything that was needed. When he saw South pick up a rose from the bunch the funeral director put out, he took her hand and led her over to the edge of the grave where she could drop it in.
She cried softly and North crouched low to pull her into his arms. West gripped his waist and Gordon moved aside to let East rest a hand on North’s back as the final strands of the song played. Slowly the crowd started to dissipate but the Compass family remained huddled and close, as the world around them changed their lives forever.
