I am not an expert on human emotions. However, I find it highly unlikely, in the space of one month, Luke would go from willing to propose marriage to not caring.
“Don’t use your machine logic on me,” I say with a smile. He’s right of course. Luke may be mad at me, but he isn’t going to hate me or anything. This was so much easier when we just ate pizza and stayed in my lab all the time. Part of me wished I could go back there.
“You can never go home again, I guess. I never understood what that meant until now, not really.”
There is a measure of regret in your voice. Are you rethinking your decision to rekindle your relationship with Luke? If so I highly recommend against it.
“No… just… things used to be a lot simpler.” I take another pass before looking for a suitable place to land. I don’t want to scare his cattle or anything. I don’t know how any of this stuff works. Do cattle scare? Or would they just keep eating and ignore me?
The main house is a small, one story with an L shape. I can make out the barn and the parking area. The driveway from the road is paved, but everything else is dirt and scrub brush, not exactly wheelchair-friendly.
The driveway it is. I drop down behind the barn and hover next to his truck before setting the suit on the pavement.
“Epic, call Luke.” My faithful AI promptly calls my former beau. When the phone passes three rings, I think he isn’t going to answer.
Then he does.
“Yes?”
“Hi, Luke. It’s uh, it’s Amelia.” Idiot! Of course, he knows who you are. Caller ID and the sound of your voice. Why is this so hard?
“Yeah,” he chuckles, “I can tell. Congratulations, by the by.”
“Thanks, we’re not out yet, though.”
“I hope you didn’t call me to ask me back. I think I’m done with that part of my life.” Sheer terror grips me and I seriously consider blasting off into space right then and there. “I was never much good at being a superhero. I treated it like being a Marine but it just… it never felt right. The only part that ever did… was you.”
My throat swells and I choke on it for a second. “Luke I… I’m sorry.”
“Me too.”
Dammit, he’s not making this easy. I walk toward the barn, keeping the building between us. “I know I panicked. I panicked and I took it out on you. I don’t know how not to, though. It just seemed simpler to not do anything, than to do something. Hiding in my lab, where I’m the most comfortable anyway, well that was an easy choice to make. So easy in fact, I didn’t make it.” Pythia’s words come back to me. Often people make the decisions that affect their lives the most when they aren’t even paying attention.
“I wasn’t paying attention, Luke. Just operating on autopilot. I’m sorry. Truly.” He’s silent for a moment. I can hear him breathing on the other end. I decide to take a chance and put it all on the line. “I’m ready to choose differently, if it…” Here it goes, brace, Amelia. “If it still matters?”
I can see him now, on his horse, not a hundred feet away. He doesn’t see me yet. I walk toward him, armored feet crunching the ground.
“I don’t know. I don’t want you to change just for me, Amelia. I like you the way you are. I’m not going to be the man who forces you to be afraid. I won’t do it.”
“You’re not forcing me to do anything. I’m choosing to live my life, not hide from it.”
“I don’t think you’ve ever hidden from anything.” His voice perks up.
“Yes, I have. I hide behind my lab, my suit, even behind Epic. I hide because I feel vulnerable all the time. I don’t want to feel that way anymore.”
“Amelia, you don’t—” He sees me. I wait for him to smile, please God let him smile. “You came here, huh? Now I feel silly talking to you on the phone. Wait right there and I’ll come over.” He hangs up the phone and with an aw-shucks grin, rides his horse over to me. Hopping down, he tethers it to a bush before coming to stand before me. I still have to look up, even in the armor.
“I’m sorry.”
“You said that already,” he replies.
Here goes nothing. One… two… three… “Epic, initiate.” The first thing that happens is my helmet splits apart, flipping behind me. Then, the front of the suit pops forward and shifts up, before wrapping around. Within a few seconds, I’m sitting in my wheelchair. Except it has no wheels. In order to make the suit something I could take on and off, I had to ditch a few things. The Emdrive stays active, pulsating beneath me. It isn’t the most comfortable chair that ever was, but it will do.
He stares at me, a slow grin spreading on his chiseled five o’clock shadow covered chin.
“You wore a dress,” he states. I never wear dresses, I hate them. Kate made me. It’s a blue frilly thing with sequin butterflies over my right side. I didn’t even wear my synthsuit, relying on Epic to run most of the functions. It would have spoiled the look. She curled my hair too, but I’m pretty sure the helmet ruined it.
“Surprise. You like it?”
“I do,” he says, kneeling in the dirt next to me. “You came all this way just to say you’re sorry?”
“Yes and—”
“And what?” He’s grinning now, trying to extract more from me than I’m giving.
“Jerk,” I mutter.
“That’s an apology?”
“No, this is.” I reach out and pull him to me, kissing his lips and running my hands through his hair. I don’t know how long we stay embraced, but long enough to leave me breathing heavy. When we break, I hold my forehead against his.
“Well then,” he says, “What next?”
“I was hoping we could go inside and—” Luke vanishes, everything vanishes.
Quantum nausea, the effect I get when I’ve been teleported, rolls over me and I want to puke. It felt exactly the same every time I traveled in the damn elevator under the Diamondback HQ.
I appear in a room with gray walls and no visible lighting. I fall backward and land on my rump. Not that I really feel it. I’m on the floor, which means no chair, no suit, no Epic.
I scramble back as a portion of the wall slides up. I don’t have to go far to get to the wall behind. The effort leaves me panting. Kate! Kate! I scream her name over and over in my head… nothing happens. Fear hits like a wave. My gut clenches and I desperately try to get a handle on my breathing.
Light fills the room, so brilliant I have to hold my hand up to see the figure walk in.
Oh shi—
Not The End!
Inescapable was totally a labor of love. I ended up re-writing it a couple of times because I felt like I strayed from the story too far. I have this idea (probably stupid) that my books need to be longer. But every time I try, I end up with a meandering story. Which, of course, is no good. I continue to live and learn, honing my craft and I am so thrilled to have you, dear reader, along for the journey. Never fear, True Believer, Ameilia will return!
In the meantime, follow me on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Jeffery-H.-Haskell/e/B01I2W55SO/) this way you will never miss a new release.
You can also sign up for my mailing list, http://eepurl.com/da0TOb I like to do giveaways when I can, usually books but I want to do more in the future. I also have a (really) short story about Carlos and Amelia available to read for signing up. Not to mention my blog goes out to my email list automagically.
One more way to stay in touch (please, please, please talk to me!) is Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/jefferyhhaskell/ or email me at [email protected]
Other books by Jeffery!
https://www.amazon.com/Arsenal-Full-Metal-Superhero-Book-ebook/dp/B072JDLPKW
https://www.amazon.com/Unstoppable-Arsenal-Full-Metal-Superhero-ebook/dp/B075W3XXTV
https://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Empire-Kindle-Novella-Against-ebook/dp/B06ZYSVZZ6
Award-winning Journalist and USA Today bestselling author Jeffery H. Haskell thinks he should always be himself… unless he can be Spider-Man. Then, he should be S
pidey. He’s a lifelong lover of comic books and science fiction, and he owns his geek status by quoting Aliens and Star Trek at every given opportunity. When he realized he could make a living writing about his obsessions, he jumped at the chance. With the incredible support of his amazing wife and spectacular children, Jeffery lives the dream of bringing his imagination to the page and on occasion, he writes about love and marriage.
Inescapable Arsenal Page 14