by Shelly Crane
I pulled her down with me and figured we'd pick up our bedding stuff to bring with us tomorrow. This was it. It was sad that my whole life fit into one duffel bag, and the sad little beat-up guitar next to it.
"Are we going to be ok?"
I wanted to just say Yes, I was just too tired to not be honest. "I don't know."
"This is it, isn't it? This is the beginning of the end. Everything that happens from now on is going to be life or death, stay or go, win or lose."
"Uhuh," I answered and rubbed my chin on her head. "It looks that way."
"So…this is our last night of peace? And privacy?" she said with a funny tone.
I frowned. "Yeah, guess so."
She lifted up to lean over me. She bit her lip and gave me this fluttery eyelid look and…holy… I gulped as the meaning of her actions hit me. I didn't gulp with fear, but with finally!
"Well, you are my wife now," I said, my smirk ear to ear.
"I am," she agreed and kissed my chin. "Make me forget that the world's ending, Cain."
My heart ached a bit at that, but I complied with a willing mind and body and even grinned as I said, "Anything you want, L."
I wasted no time yanking - yes yanking - her shirt over her head. It was at that moment that I realized just how long it had been since I'd been in this…position. With everything going on in our lives, it was like my body just forgot to care about sex, but with her under me and wanting me, it cooked me like a brush fire. I feverishly finished disposing of the clothes that hindered me and when my rib cage touched her sweet belly, a loud, embarrassing growl reverberated through me. It didn't matter that I could feel her ribs because she'd gotten so thin, as had we all. It was still her.
She giggled and rubbed her cheek against mine; scruff against softness. "I'm already yours, you Neanderthal. No need to stake a claim."
"Sorry," I said sheepishly, which pissed me off, in fact.
"Don't be sorry," she said and then took my lip ring between her teeth. I panted. "It's very cute."
"I don't want to be cute right now," I insisted and buried my face in her neck. She laughed again, but it was a breathy laugh of surrender. "I just want to make the world disappear, except for this little, tiny room."
"Please," she begged, her cool fingers pressing on my back.
And so I did, finally, slowly, fiercely and happily.
Oh, Happy Day.
Chapter 7
Sherry
“I’ll keep watch tonight,” Miguel announced. “Everyone else go to bed. Tomorrow, we're outta here.”
No one put up any fight. We all drifted up and away. I saw Riley from the corner of my eye as she went to stand beside Miguel with Jethro. She was keeping watch, too.
I peeked over to see Lily had conked out on the sofa end. Danny reached down and picked her up gently. “I’ve got her. Go to bed.” He glanced between us. “You need it more than any of us. Glad you’re back to the land of the living.”
I fought to not roll my eyes. “The death jokes are too soon,” I snapped.
He nodded and smiled small indicating that he knew that. He and Celeste took Lily, and Merrick lifted me up in his arms. He carried me to our room and as soon as the door shut, it was like giving my body permission to freak.
I immediately started to shake and heave. He took us to the floor and wrapped his arms around me as I cried all over his shirt. He pressed me and squeezed in that reassuring way of his, up and down my body in waves. I lifted my face and slammed my mouth to his out of necessity. He let me know that this was what he needed, too, by gripping my legs and pulling me over him. With deft hands he pulled my shirt over my head and pressed me against him. The sigh that escaped his lips was full of relief as his hands wandered me as if he was checking to see if I was still really there in his palms.
I knew this ordeal had shaken him, too, not just me. I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for him to go through that. I’d ask him about it, but for now…
His face, from not shaving for days, maybe even a week, was coarse, but it just added to my pleasure. It grated the skin of my neck and the tickly sting ignited me.
He let his hand run up my ribs and I sucked in a breath. He spoke against my temple. “When I think about never touching your skin again…about never feeling your breaths against my neck…never seeing your pout face again.” I chuckled sadly and accepted his kiss on the corner of my mouth. “I can’t think about it. It hurts too much.”
“Then don’t think about it, Merrick,” I coaxed and pulled his shirt over his head, too. “Just don’t think at all.”
He took my mouth deliciously before rolling us and placing me under him so I could feel his weight, the heaviness that I never thought I'd feel again.
This wasn’t sex. This wasn’t just making love either. This was about being as close as humanly possible. Not only was he careful and slow as if we had all day and night, but he was hungry yet sated in a way that I’d never seen before. One second he was a gentle starving man, the next he was a happy and serene guy with touches more gentle than I thought possible to still feel them.
After some hours - hours! - and lips tender from kisses, we lay akimbo on the mat, both breathing deeply and soundly. We listened to each other’s breathing for a long time, switching positions and repositioning. Both of our sighs were telling of the inability to sleep for some reason. It wasn't that I wasn't comfortable or happy or…sated. I just couldn't turn my brain off. Eventually, after I’d rested on Merrick’s chest for a while and neither of us had gone to sleep yet, Merrick sat up with us. “Put your clothes on, honey,” he urged.
I looked at him blankly in the dark and he helped me put my shirt and jeans on. Then he took my hand and led me into the dimly lit hall. It only took a second to realize where he was going. When he slipped into Lily’s door I smiled at the big sap.
He pulled me down with Lily in the middle of us and we both wrapped our arms around her. She stirred. "Daddy?"
"Right here, Lily bug."
“Daddy, you’re hogging the blanket.”
We chuckled, but I soon heard Merrick’s sigh as Lily wrapped her little arms around my neck. I pressed as close as I could get, Merrick’s arm squeezing my waist gently as I was encumbered with warmth and love.
Finally. We all slept as a family. One big, happy, glorious, special, unconventional, beautiful family.
"Oatmeal, bug. We don't know when we'll eat again. It might be a while until we get there," I urged her. I was packing up food in the kitchen and had Calvin and Franklin getting the food from the one pantry with food in it. I looked around the room. Mrs. Trudy's handmade apron that I still wore sometimes was hanging there by the fridge. My engraved wooden spoon that Danny made for me, that table that held good and bad memories.
Phillip being flipped over the top by Jeff, Merrick and my morning after breakfast, getting to know Marissa, Lily eating her noodles… So many dinners and discussions. So many things that would be so hard to forget.
I shook my head and turned my necklace charm in my fingers. It was warm to the touch as if telling me something, a signal maybe. That everything would be ok and that everything happened for a reason.
I took the two canvas bags I had and placed them by the stairs. Everyone was bustling about through the commons room and hallway. I watched Max as he perused the bookshelf. He looked sad on a whole new level. I understood. Trudy had been his charge and now we were leaving the only thing he had left of her. He made his way to the old record player and ran his finger down the length of it.
I went to his side and picked up the Etta James album we’d played over and over again. I put it on the turntable and let her loud croon distract me for a few seconds. Everyone else stopped, too, bracing themselves on the walls and stairs. We just listened and it seemed that though our lives were splitting at the seams, there was hope on the horizon.
I laid my head on Max's shoulder and felt a loud sigh go through him as At Last played.
I found a dream that I could speak to
A dream that I can call my own
I found a thrill to rest my cheek to
A thrill that I have never known
And you smile, you smile
Oh, and then the spell was cast
And here we are in heaven
For you are mine at last.
"I miss her, too," I told him. "I miss her a lot."
"But once we leave this place, she'll be gone for good," he mused and looked around. "At least here, I was surrounded by her things. When we leave this place, it's like my failure of keeping her safe will be unbearable."
"Max, what was her task?"
"I…I don't know," he stuttered. "Why?"
"How do you know her task wasn't to stab and distract the Taker?"
"I would have felt…" His brow bunched. "I mean my conscience was buzzing, but that was because she was in danger."
"Maybe," I mused back. "Either way, you and I both know that you didn't stop Mrs. Trudy from doing anything that she wanted to do."
His lips twisted. "I know. I just wish things would have been different."
"Don't. We. All." I gave him an awkward sideways hug as Witchy Woman by The Eagles began to blare out of the speakers. I looked over to see Danny wink and give a cheesy thumbs-up. I sighed and pushed his arm with annoyance playfully.
I went to finish up the packing, but stopped with a thought. "What are we going to do about Piper?"
Everyone stopped once again like my voice had some siren qualities. Max just looked straight ahead and eventually said, "Doesn’t matter. We leave her here."
"Ok," I answered carefully. Everyone got back to work and in my book that was as good as agreeing. I had beef with Piper, but the Keepers had major drama. They were the ones who needed to decide whether Psycho Barbie got a get outta jail free card.
"Psycho Barbie?" Max asked with brow raised.
"Did I say that out loud?" He nodded and a ghost of a smile sat on his lips. "Daggumit! I have got to stop doing that."
I heard him chuckle in confusion as I walked away. Merrick came back with a couple of bags from the pantry. "That's all of it."
I winced. "All of it?"
He hesitated, as if that hesitation would spare me the heartache of his answer. "All of it."
I sighed and felt my body sag in defeat. Even my feet and toes seemed to not give a flip anymore and refused to hold me up any longer. I collapsed, all dramatic like into the chair and covered my face with my hands. Merrick came to stand behind me and rubbed my shoulders in a soothing motion. "Everything will be all right."
"Saying it doesn't make it true," I mumbled through my fingers.
"Actually, you're supposed to speak only good things. Never speak out loud the things you wish to not happen. You give those words power that way."
I peeked up at him, impressed. "Where did you hear that?"
"Well…God said it. I paid attention in Sunday School sometimes." He grinned.
"Who did you watch that went to Sunday School?" He ticked his head to the side and I guessed. "Orville."
"The one and only."
"It comes back to him a lot doesn’t it. Maybe you should have married him."
"Maybe," he mused and leaned down to let his lips touch my ear. "But then I wouldn’t be stuck on the run with my wife who makes me happy just to be alive." His fingers brushed my neck with the intention of soothing. "Everything I've ever gone through was worth it to be here with you right now. Nowhere else I'd rather be."
I gulped. I was already an emotional wreck and then Mr. Sap had to go and say something like that? I sniffed to try to stop the tears. "All right, you. Stop or I'll cry."
He pulled me up and held my chin so I had to look at him. "Where's my optimistic girl at this morning?"
"She hasn't had her coffee yet," I joked.
His face cracked with a gorgeous smile. "Well, we better remedy that."
He set out to make a pot coffee and for once, I just let him. It felt nice to have someone take care of me for a minute. The years of always looking out for everyone else and being the happy go lucky gal were catching up to me. I only hoped that when this was all over, there was a piece of my former self left to salvage.
A little bit later, I slipped away to have one final look at the Keeper who had it out for me from day one. She may not have needed or wanted closure, but I sure did. I needed to look at her human face and know that the Keeper inside was misguided and unhappy. That she wasn't evil, just the most unhappy and angry that one could get to drive them over the line of sanity.
I had to believe she was insane and not just someone not only capable of such acts, but plotting and enjoying them.
I stopped in front of her locked door. Crap, I'd forgotten. So I wouldn't be able to see her, but I could hear her. And she could hear me. I had one very important thing to say.
"You horrible witch."
I heard movement on the other side of the door. "Well, Sherry, Sherry quite contrary came to see me in the flesh. Not going to just leave like the other cowards, huh?"
I leaned on the opposite wall with my back. "I had something to say to you. The others didn't. That simple."
"Is Merrick all right?"
"Don’t ask me if he's all right. It's your fault he was hurt in the first place."
"He's fine," she said and I almost heard her sigh. "If he wasn't you wouldn't be so calm about it. What did you have to say to me?"
"That I feel sorry for you." I heard a sound that sounded like scoffing. "No, really, I do. To be so pathetic and go to the lengths you went to ruin lives…it must be dark and bitter inside your head."
"I didn't ruin anyone's life. You all ruined mine!"
"No, we didn't. We can't help it that you were born a Keeper, that you had responsibilities that none of us can imagine. It wasn't my fault that Merrick fell in love with me either."
"Don't talk about him," she muttered. "I never want to hear that traitor's name again."
"Said the pot to the kettle."
"I betrayed humans, he betrayed our kind. It's different. Something you will never understand."
"You're right. For the life of me I can't understand why you'd betray humans when those other Keepers out there," I pointed in anger though she couldn't see me, "have charges that are human still. Your charge was human."
"My charge was stupid."
I took a deep breath and sighed. "Ok, we're done."
"That's it? You came down here for that?"
"I told you what I wanted to say. No matter what you did, no matter who you hurt, no matter all the damage you caused, we're still here, Piper. Still fighting for our lives, still together as a family. Your little stunts didn't stop anything, especially not Merrick and I."
"I still have faith that one day he'll come around."
"Useless wishes of a useless Keeper." I shook my head. "Goodbye, Piper."
"You're leaving?"
"We're leaving."
I heard her slam against the door. "I thought you were just bluffing a response out of me. You're really going to leave me here?"
"You killed Polly, Piper! You got Merrick stabbed and put everyone in jeopardy."
"Please don't do this to me!"
"Is that what Polly said when you fed her to the Lighters?"
Silence.
Good.
I walked away from the woman who tried with everything in her to destroy my life, and never once looked back.
Wherever The Road Goes
Chapter 8
Merrick
The snow was long gone by the time we started to load the vans. The mush and sludge of the sandy mud was making the trip back and forth from the door interesting. We had a little assembly line going and things were getting done quickly. Miguel and Jeff were both standing guard with rifles in hand and eyes to the sky. Whatever that thing had been, that Graphter, it wasn't something I wanted to meet again.
Miguel interrupted my thoughts. "Oi, I've got
a bad feeling, mate."
"About what? This whole thing?" I guessed and he kind of nodded. "We've all got a bad feeling, Miguel."
"But this one's in my guts," he justified and tapped his belly. "I got a feeling like…like this might be the turning point. Like the last wave of the war is headed our way and it's make it or break it time."
"I think you're right about that." I stopped loading bags and boxes for a second, using the end of my shirt to wipe the sweat from my face. "I think that whatever happens next will determine everything."
"Straight from the Keeper's mouth, eh?" he mused and chuckled, his accent extra thick when he laughed. "So, hey, uh….I'm glad you're not dead and all that."'
"Thanks," I said wryly. "That just means the world, Miguel."
"Look, don't have a piff. I'm just saying is all. Things would be less… interesting without you around. Cain and Danny wouldn't have anyone to pickle with."
"That's true." I glanced at him sideways. "They do like to…pickle me."
"You know what I gettin' at. Come off it!" he feigned anger and punched my arm. "I'm not about to cry on your shoulder, mate, I'm just saying…glad you're not dead."
"Well, I'm glad I'm not dead, too. Thanks." I hoisted another box and asked, "So, that Rylee is a hellcat, huh?"
"Hellcat?" he scoffed. "Pfft. She's a pussycat, that one. All meow and no bite."
"Her teeth looked pretty sharp to me," I ventured and peeked at him to see his look of pondering.
"Well, I guess she's all right. She's prickly, but aren’t all gingers that way?"
"Never met a redhead except for Kay before. I have no idea."
"Well, I've met loads of them and it's all in the genes. Like I said, she's harmless-" Miguel "oomphed" when a box slammed into his chest.
"Standing around doing nothing, Aussie? Wow." Rylee clapped. "I won the bet. Chivalry is dead. Hey, Jethro!" she yelled, cupping her mouth with her hands. "You owe me five bucks!"