Shed some Light

by Amber Naralim

  Ellie made a face. “How, exactly?” Her insatiable curiosity got the better of her. She narrowed her eyes at him. Susan Bennet was a rather touchy subject for Ellie.

  Vincent’s head came around in a slow arc. She saw some emotion slither through his beautiful eyes. One she couldn't read. He looked at her for a long moment. Those heavy brows coming down in a deep V shape over them. Vincent rolled his lips under, trying hard to force his face neutral.

  “In eighty...” he paused. Vincent did not want Ellie to know what had gone on between him and Susan. It was bad enough she knew they were close once upon a time. “In eighty-one they brought in a girl. I refused to do anything. So then she,” Vincent paused again, this time searching for the right words. His face scrunched up. “Took samples.” Was the best he could come up with. “All of them failed. Something about the virus,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. He looked at Edward. “You cut it pretty close.”

  Charlie remembered something in Bennet's notes, but she could have sworn in started in eighty. Oh well eighty, eighty-one didn't really matter she supposed. Compared to the other tortures they put Vincent through, it was kind of mild. They failed, so at the time she hadn't paid much attention. Charlie frowned through the pang of sorrow for Vincent. It made sense, especially if they were trying to replicate it. Charlie was sort of glad the experiments failed. So was Ellie. That was just one more indignity they put him through. On the other hand, Charlie knew the pain of wanting children and not being able to have them.

  Vincent's lips pulled up at one corner. The smile didn’t quite reach his sad eyes. “Congratulations. I would have loved to have children,” he said, sparing a glance at Ellie.

  Ellie frowned, blinking her eyes. She didn't quite know what to file away first. She looked at Reese and saw the sad realization cross his face. Vincent had time to deal with that knowledge. It hit Reese in the gut. They were the last of their line. The Hale name would not go on. Ellie’s eyes flicked from Vincent to Reese, and back again.

  “Are you guys okay?” she asked. Her voice was gentle. Ellie knew when they were trying to pretend they weren't feeling the sting of something. And both of them were certainly showing the signs.

  Vincent gave her a smile that had a lilt of sadness to it. “I suppose for me it's better than them doing God knows what with my children,” he told her. Suddenly, words Vincent said months ago slapped her in the face. I want it all, the white picket fence, our fat babies running around in the yard, but, I can't give you that. Ellie crossed the floor. She threw her arms around Vincent, hugging him tight.

  “I'm sorry,” she breathed, looking up at him.

  Vincent lay a gentle kiss between her eyes. Reaching up, he slid a swath of her hair behind her ear. It was a sensation she adored. “I'm sorry, El. Sorry, I could never give you that,” he breathed.

  Ellie sighed. She wasn't ready for that anyway. Ellie didn't really think she ever would be. This bit of knowledge hurt him a hell of a lot more than it did her. She flashed him a smile. “We’re good, Vincent.”

  “You're sure?” Reese asked, not wanting to believe it. He bit his bottom lip, caught it between his teeth. Vincent turned to him with a nodding shrug.

  Vincent plastered a happy smile on his face. He looked at Edward. “Congratulations,” he told him in all sincerity.

  Edward looked at Anna. He was more than a little shocked. Vincent telling him he was lucky made Edward second-guess every negative thought about it. A smile spread slowly across his face. He nodded his head. “Thanks,” Edward said.

  Edward took in a deep breath. He closed his eyes to steady himself. He blew his breath out slow and reached for Anna's hand. Edward touched Anna tentatively. When he was sure that he wouldn't rip her apart. He closed his hand over hers, lacing their fingers. “Lucky,” he breathed. Anna gave him wide, dead eyes.

  “Yeah, lucky,” she repeated. Though, her tone held none of the hope or frightened elation that Edward's had.

  Ellie laughed. “That's what you should call him,” she said. “Or, her,” she added lamely.

  Charlie crossed the floor. She took Anna's other hand. “Come on, sugar, let's go check this out,” Charlie said. She smiled at Ellie. “Lucky, I kind of like it.”

  Ellie made a face and shook herself. That was one of those moments she really had no clue how to react to. Charlie spared a glance at Vetler that was not lost on Ellie. Ellie puffed up her cheeks and blew all of the air out of her lungs. “We seriously need to kill this guy now,” she said. “There is two of ‘em who need the protection.” Ellie laid her mouth against Vincent's in a soft brush of chaste lips. “Come on, love. What do you say we go watch you paint? You coming, Reese?”

  “Yeah,” he said giving a slow nod. Reese took in a deep breath just to blow it back out again.

  Vincent followed her toward the stairs. He passed Vetler, who reached out and patted him on the back.

  Vincent stopped. That was the first time Vetler touched him. “Sorry, man,” Shane said.

  Vincent gave him a sad smile. “C’est la vie.”

  Both of the boys were quiet as they came into her bedroom. Ellie flopped down on her bed. She’d never felt this emotion come from either of them before. They were both so dejected. Ellie didn't understand it. Four amazing eyes stared at her. She bit at the corner of her bottom lip. Reese flopped down on the other side of the bed, leaning back against her mountain of pillows. Vincent hesitated in the doorway for a moment. In the end, he decided he needed to be close to Ellie. He crossed the floor. His passing made some of the drawings dance on the wall. Vincent sank to his knees in front of her.

  Ellie touched the side of his face. “I love you,” Ellie said sparing a glance at Reese. “Both of you. I'm sorry. I am. But you have superhuman speed, unearthly grace, immortality. Not to mention, you're both smoking hot. You can't have it all,” she said. That drew a laugh from Reese. He rolled his eyes and shook his head at her.

  “You're not upset?” Vincent asked. His eyes roved her pretty face.

  “No. Frankly, I'll be lucky if I survive the next ten minutes.” She looked at Vincent and worked hard to put all the compassion she had for him in her eyes. “If it comes to this in the future. We'll burn that bridge when we come to it. Right now.” She smiled. “I have you and we have him,” she said, jerking her thumb at Reese. “That's all I need.” Vincent smiled at her. She could still read the melancholy in it, though. Ellie kissed him, a lingering, wet kiss full of passion. It made Reese so jealous he had to look away.

  Ellie looked up when she saw Edward pass by her bedroom door. He was in a bit of a haze. She couldn't blame him, becoming a full-fledged monster and a dad on the same day would throw anyone. Ellie swallowed. Her head fell to one side. She touched the side of Vincent's smooth cheek with one hand and took Reese's hand with the other.

  “I mean it, I love you both.”

  Vincent cuddled into the palm of her hand. Reese lifted her hand to his lips and laid a kiss on the back of her palm. “And we love ya, little Ellie.”

  Chapter 31

  “Is he right?” Anna asked leaning forward in the chair. Charlie blinked wide eyes at her. She had never known Vincent to be wrong before.

  “We'll find out in two minutes.” Charlie was with Vincent on this one. This was a blessing. Charlie had always wanted children. Shane had a look in his eyes that had Charlie on the verge of tears. “Lucky. That's a good name,” she told Anna.

  “Lucky? Really?” Anna cried. She had tried calm. Now, she was skirting the edge of hysterics. “He was dying and couldn't tell me. He’s a monster. Don't get me wrong, Reese, Vincent, they are sweet enough. But even Vetler is scared to death of them. There could be one of those things hunting me down right now. She is going to kill me!” The fear in her voice was palpable. “Mercenaries. We're outlaws. I've already lost so much to this.”

  “Anna,” Charlie said. Then she stopped. She looked up into the unearthly eyes of Edward. He had come down the steps. Edward stood on the la
st one. Not a one of them heard him come down. With both hands, he smoothed his wet hair back from his forehead. Edward stepped forward.

  Edward had taken a shower. He’d slipped into those black, silk pajama bottoms he was so fond of, his chest bare. His long hair hung from his head in wet, honey colored strings. Water dripped from his broad shoulders. The hunting helped some. He wasn't staring at her with the hunger he had in his eyes earlier that morning. It was still there. Edward could just hide it better now.

  “We've all lost something, every one of us,” Edward breathed, padding barefoot toward her. “Everything good goes away. Not once has there ever been something wonderful without some awful price. The sad thing is it took my baby sister to teach me that. Ellie taught me that you have to be willing to pay it, to deserve it. I never realized how scared I was until this morning. Dying, that was nothing. Living. That is what scares me. I'm pretty damn sure it scares you too,” Edward said.

  “You're asking me to start all over with the prospect that at any moment, it will all be ripped away again,” Anna said shooting to her feet. This was the most emotion he had ever seen from her. “You're sister is right. I can't even protect myself. How the hell am I supposed to protect a helpless baby?” Anna cried, tears springing to her eyes.

  “Ellie will teach you,” Edward said simply. “And when you can't, the rest of us will. You heard them today. Every one of them is ecstatic for us. Those horrific monsters would rip their own arms off to protect this child. I didn't get it either, I'll be honest. I was scared to death of them too. But now, I know Vincent. I trust him. I trust Ellie.” Edward sighed. “You won't have to do this alone, Anna. We won't have to do this alone.”

  Charlie walked across the floor. She reached out for Vetler's hand. He took it, pulling her to him. He wrapped his arms around her. Charlie turned in his embrace to watch them with tears in her eyes. Shane leaned forward, laying his chin on her shoulder. A small smile played across his lips. He understood Anna’s fear. That loss is something no parent can think about. It is the most heart-wrenching emotion. To have to face that fear every day, even the strongest person would be torn apart by it eventually. Shane also knew that being able to hold that child in your arms, to be there as he grows, and learns. To guide that child, help him find his way through life made it worth it.

  “I'll show you how to use the gun,” Shane told her.

  Anna turned in his vague direction. “It's not enough,” she cried, shaking her head. “How am I supposed to raise this baby with everything that is circling around us?”

  “Faith,” Shane said. That one word even surprised him. “You stack the deck the best you can in your favor, but the rest of it. It comes down to faith,” Shane told her.

  Charlie smiled. It was a warm and lovely turn of lips. “Morning always comes,” she said.

  Charlie and Vetler shared a look that Edward didn't understand. “Anna, you're right. We are surrounded by some of the most frightening things. Fears most people don't even know exist. But at least you know they are there. It's the ones you never expect that tear you apart,” Shane told her. “We may have scary shit threatening us at every moment. But we also have protectors. As frightening as the things that threaten us are. We have much scarier things to save us. And the scariest stands about five foot tall,” he said gesturing Ellie’s height with his hand. “She has blond hair and green eyes, and attitude coming out her ears.” He laughed and so did the rest of them, even Anna.

  Edward took in a deep breath, his eyes fluttering back inside his head. He reached out tentatively, taking Anna’s hand in his. “Not a one of us would have chosen this life. Who would? It's bloody and gritty, and scary as hell. But we're here, and there is no going back,” Edward told her. “You can do this,” Edward said, his voice was warm, rich, and soft.

  Edward had time to think while he was in the shower. The one thing he craved since that day they ripped him from his home was Ellie. Not even her specifically. He craved what she gave him. She gave him a purpose. A reason. She made him want to live; want to show up for work every day. She made him want to go on. Vincent had taken that from him, and Edward hated him for it. This was his chance to get it back. That baby was his purpose. It was the one thing he was sure would bring his life back into focus. He needed it.

  “Because we're lucky, right?” The tone of Anna’s voice said she didn't really believe them.

  Edward smiled, nodding. “That's right because we're lucky.”

  Anna took in a deep breath, let it out slow. She squared her shoulders. That meek voice of hers disappeared. She looked over his shoulder. “No more secrets. No more protecting me. I'm part of this. You're going to treat me that way,” Anna told him. Edward plastered his lips together and nodded. Then remembered she couldn't see it.

  “Okay,” he said.

  “They are going to show me how to use the gun, and teach me how to fight,” Anna added.

  “Okay,” he repeated. Edward would tell her anything she wanted to hear.

  “And if that bitch makes it through the Wonder Twins, and Ellie,” she began. Shane smiled at his nickname for Reese and Vincent.

  “She'll have to get through me. She won't,” Edward assured her. “Ellie has enough firepower in that backpack to take out half the world. I'm even relatively sure she knows how to use some of it,” he said with a smile.

  “Then we do this together,” Anna said. Edward pulled her hand to his mouth. He hesitated but laid a kiss across her knuckle. God, she smelled good. “I don't want to be a victim anymore,” Anna said, chewing on her bottom lip.

  Edward's smile widened. “Yeah. Neither do I.”

  The egg timer went off. The buzz drew all of their attention. Charlie took in a deep breath walking over to it. She pulled the little stick out and smiled. Vincent was rarely wrong. “Congratulations,” Charlie told them.

  Edward gave her a smile that had just a hint of fear to it. In that moment, Edward was glad that Anna couldn't see him. Anna gave a half turn toward where Shane's voice had been. “I want to learn how to use the gun.” She turned back to where the heat was the strongest. “I want you to tell me who you are. I don't know you.”

  Edward nodded his head, reaching up to smooth the hair away from her face. “All right.” he agreed. He would have agreed to anything to have that baby.

  “Go throw some clothes on,” Shane told her. “Dress warm. I'll show you some of the basics now. Don't think you're going to hit anything right away.”

  Anna nodded, giving him a tight-lipped smile. She pulled away from Edward and felt her way toward the stairs, counting steps as she went. Shane gave Charlie one more kiss before he headed up the stairs behind her. “Stay away from the windows,” he said with a grin.

  Charlie gave Edward a smile. “So, dad.” She laughed at him.

  “That's not nice,” he said, only half joking. “You told Vincent,” he said. His voice held no accusation. It was more an observation.

  “You attacked him. You nearly killed Ellie,” Charlie defended.

  He winced as if she’d hit him. “I don't know what happened,” he admitted.

  “Vincent tried to stop you. He tried not to hurt you,” she said, shaking her head.

  Edward flopped down into the chair that Anna had been sitting in. “Charlie, I'm not mad at him. He should have killed me before I went after her.” Edward sighed, hanging his head. “I just don't know why he,” he said looking at his hands. “Why he gave me this?” Edward shrugged.

  “Ellie,” was all she said. It was all she had to say. That one word explained it all for him.

  “Are we going to be all right?” Edward asked, looking up at her.

  “Why does everybody ask me these things?” Charlie asked, blowing her hair out her eyes. “Believe it or not, I'm flying just as blind as everyone else around here.”

  “We ask you because you're mom,” he told her as if she didn't already know that. A small smile crossed his lips.

  “I still think we should k
eep a close eye on you, and the baby,” Charlie told him, crossing her arms over her ample chest.

  “Good point,” he said. “Try to keep it quiet. I don't want to scare her any more than she already is.”

  “I won't keep any more secrets.”

  “I'm not asking you to,” Edward assured her.

  Her face melted. Charlie eyed him. “How are you feeling?”

  “Amazing,” Edward said with a chuckle. “I've never felt this good in my life,” he told her. “That anger is there, the hunger.” He huffed out a breath. “I don't know how Vincent does this. How he holds Ellie, kisses her without fear?”

  “He loves her. They both do,” Charlie said, cleaning up her station.

  “Yeah,” he said, blinking at that prospect. “I guess they do.” Edward climbed to his feet. He headed upstairs.

  Edward wandered the house. He could hear the gunshots. Reese had gone out to help Shane give Anna a crash course in guns 101. Vincent was upstairs lost in his paints. Ellie didn't even think he heard her when she told him she was going downstairs. Ellie found her brother standing by the back sliding glass door watching them. She took in a deep breath.

  “We really should leave.”

  Edward turned to her with a frown. “We can't.”

  “Eddy,” she began. He stopped her before she got any further than that.

  “We're not like you, little Lottey. We need something that is close to normal. We can't live on the road. She can't live on the road. And I have to take care of her... them.” Edward told her. “This is as crazy as we can handle.”

  “Edward. I can't. I can't do this anymore.” Ellie’s voice broke under the weight of her admission. Tears sparkled in her stony eyes. Her eyebrows dragged inward. She took in a sharp breath that made her chest hitch.

  “What do you mean, Ellie?”

  “I'm suffocating here. It's my responsibility to keep you safe. Protect you! And I can't do it. I don't protect people. I kill them,” she breathed. Her hands shook. “I can't breathe for the fear that something is going to come through those doors that I can't stop.”