Helios Awakened (The Helios Chronicles #1)

by Tawa M. Witko

  “Who’s winning?” Madison asked.

  “The Dodgers!” Her grandmother said and wagged her finger at Madison when she rolled her eyes.

  Madison laughed. “I’m going to make some biscuits and then we can eat, okay?”

  “SLIDE!” Her grandmother shouted at the television. “SAFE!”

  Madison shook her head and walked into the kitchen. For as long as Madison could remember, her grandmother loved baseball. Madison’s grandfather had proposed to her outside of Dodger stadium back in the day, her grandmother had said that they had even taken her mom to games when she was little. Madison suspected that she always watched the games as a way to stay close to her grandfather who had passed away a long time ago. Madison smiled, thinking that was the kind of love she had for Andrew. Madison sighed happily as she started pulling out the ingredients for her biscuits.

  “Oh, Maddie, your mom called and asked you to call her.”

  “Do I have to?” Madison glanced at her grandmother who was giving her a disapproving look.

  “Fine.” Madison sighed as she pulled out her phone and dialed her mother.

  “Hello?” Jacqueline answered.

  “Hey Mom, Grans said you called.”

  “Yes. Your grans sounds like she is doing better. How long are you planning on staying out there?” Jacqueline asked.

  “I don’t know, why?”

  “Well, I have a good commission coming through and thought maybe we could look into getting that nurse we talked about before, then you could come back sooner and not use up all of your savings,” Jacqueline said enthusiastically.

  “I don’t want to hire a nurse. I like taking care of Grans. Besides, I don’t want to leave just yet,” Madison said quickly with a slight edge to her voice that her mother picked up on immediately.

  “Madison Nicole Ellis. Have you hooked up with one of those trailer trash, not going anywhere with their life, losers out there?” Jacqueline asked with bite. “You have, haven’t you? You can really pick ‘em, can’t you?” Jacqueline said, not masking her disappointment.

  Madison was silent for a long moment. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mom,” she finally said.

  “Madison, trust me, no man is worth throwing your life away for.”

  “Bye, Mom,” Madison said as she hung up.

  Madison muttered a few expletives under her breath. When her phone started ringing again, she glanced at it and saw that it was her mother’s cell number. She ignored it, and, after the third time, it finally stopped ringing. She caught her grandmother looking over at her several times but she didn’t say anything. Her grandmother had learned a long time ago to stay out of any conflicts between her daughter and granddaughter as it was never worth it. Madison glanced at the clock with a sigh and shoved her biscuits in the oven.

  ~*~

  Once her grandmother had gone to bed, Madison had immediately pulled Andrew into her bedroom where they had made love. Madison got lost in their kiss as she always did. After several minutes, she rolled off of him and grinned as they assumed their typical sleeping positions. His strong arms pulled her back against his chest while his other hand wrapped in her hair. Andrew’s mouth nuzzled into her neck, pressing soft kisses wherever he could reach. She entwined her hand with his and ran her other along the fine hair on his arms. She loved feeling him so close to her, she loved everything about him.

  “I had a great time today. Did you, baby?” Andrew whispered.

  “I did. Callie and Jayden are great. But...” Madison trailed off wondering if now would be the time to tell him about the bookstore.

  Andrew tensed slightly. “But what?”

  “I ran into Jimmy at the bookstore,” Madison said, feeling Andrew’s body stiffen behind her.

  “Did he say anything to you?” Andrew asked, trying his best not to sound angry.

  “Yes,” Madison replied hesitantly.

  “What?” Andrew asked through clenched teeth.

  Madison didn’t say anything right away. This was not turning out very well. Madison heard the anger in his voice and could feel the fury seeping through his pores. This was exactly what Jimmy had wanted. This was also why she had held off telling him when it happened initially.

  “Damn it, Madison, tell me what the fuck he said,” Andrew asked, harsher than he intended.

  Madison jumped slightly in his arms. She had seen him lose control with Jimmy at the lake but she had never heard his anger directed at her, it frightened her.

  “Madison, you need to tell me what he said. NOW!”

  Andrew could sense that she was afraid, and that wasn’t his intention, but he also felt that she needed to be honest with him so that he would know what he needed to do about the situation.

  “He just alluded to the fact that because I am with you that I must like it rough and...” Madison was hesitant about telling him the next part if he was already angry.

  “AND WHAT!?” Andrew asked loudly as he abruptly turned her around so that he could look at her.

  “He said I must like to be taken and that he could take me as well.”

  Andrew’s eyes widened and his nostrils flared. He was enraged, ready to kill Jimmy for what he said, what he implied. He got out of the bed and quickly pulled his jeans on as he paced the room like a caged animal ready to pounce.

  “He threatened you. That’s what you’re saying, right?” Andrew fumed.

  “I don’t know, I guess,” Madison replied timidly.

  “That sounded like a threat to me. I’m going to fucking kill him,” Andrew said as he went to hit the wall but pulled back and instead his hands tore into his hair.

  “No! No, you’re not!” Madison said with tears in her eyes.

  Andrew was shaking his head, torn between finding Jimmy and comforting Madison. But in all honesty, he was a little angry at her for not telling him right away when he could have searched him out, confronted him. He didn’t even know where to begin. Where did Jimmy live? He wondered as he grabbed his shirt from the floor and slipped it on.

  “Wait! What are you doing? Are you leaving?” Madison asked as she slipped out of the bed and reached for her clothes.

  Andrew took a deep breath. “Madison, I need a cigarette. I need to calm down,” he said and started for the door. As he opened it he turned to her. “You should have told me earlier.”

  Madison closed her eyes and nodded. “I’m sorry,” she said as the door shut behind him.

  Andrew made his way outside and quickly lit up. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do about this. The vengeful and animalistic side of him wanted to hunt down Jimmy and tear him from limb to limb. Madison may have believed that Jimmy was a harmless threat but Andrew knew otherwise and he would be damned if he let anyone hurt her. He couldn’t bear the thought of Jimmy touching her, taking her as he had said he would do. Andrew was on his fourth cigarette when he heard the door open and felt a hand on his lower back. He dropped his cigarette and turned around sharply, grabbing Madison and lifting her into his arms.

  “I won’t let anything happen to you,” Andrew said fiercely.

  “I know that but I’m more afraid that he will hurt you.”

  “The only way he could hurt me is if he did something to you.” Andrew lowered her to the ground and wiped her tear soaked cheeks.

  Madison shook her head. “If you go after him and you get sent to prison, I...” Madison closed her eyes and tapped his chest lightly with her balled fist. “I couldn’t handle that.”

  Andrew closed his eyes, fighting back the tears that were forming in lieu of the anger he was unable to express. He took several deep breaths, trying to calm down. When he finally looked at her, he had an intense and almost hostile expression on his face.

  “Don’t keep things like that from me, Madison. I can’t protect you after the fact,” he said with his voice tight.

  “I’m sorry, baby. It won’t happen again, I promise.” Madison tapped her forehead against his chest before mumbling,
“Can we go inside now?”

  He smirked slightly and kissed her lightly on the forehead before tossing her over his shoulder and carrying her in the house. As they undressed and laid with each other, they both had lingering thoughts of what Jimmy had said and the implications of it. Madison was less concerned with her own safety, focusing more on Andrew’s well-being, while Andrew’s primary concern was protecting Madison from anything Jimmy may decide to do. Both found sleep difficult yet did not discuss the matter any further.

  21 A PART OF ME

  Andrew had been sitting on his bed, sketching, for several hours. He was trying his best to settle himself down after what Madison had revealed the night before. He was no longer angry at her but his hatred for Jimmy was escalating with every passing minute. He didn’t know why Jimmy had such a vendetta against him. He barely knew him, but now things had gone too far. He was targeting Madison and that was not acceptable. Andrew glanced up when he heard a knock at the front door and then heard his aunt welcoming someone in. Andrew returned to his drawing, secretly glad that his aunt had a visitor because he didn’t think he could avoid the inevitable talk she was desperate to have with him much longer. He knew she meant well but he was not accustomed to discussing his thoughts and feelings all the time.

  “Madison, it’s good to see you again,” Olivia said, opening the door for her.

  Madison smiled and stepped inside. “Hi, Olivia. Is Andrew here?” Madison asked, nervously moving from one foot to the other.

  “Yes, he’s in his room.”

  Madison drew her bottom lip into her mouth. When Andrew left that morning, he had done it before she had woken up. She had been antsy all morning, worried about him to the point where her grandmother told her to go over and check on him. She felt silly but she didn’t really know him well enough to know what his tells were and whether she should be concerned.

  “Is everything alright, dear?”

  “Umm, yes, I just wanted to visit with him.”

  “His door is the first one on the right.”

  “Thanks, Olivia and, umm, thanks so much for volunteering to take care of my grans this weekend so Andrew and I could go to the concert.”

  “It’s not a problem, dear. I love your grandmother so I am sure we will enjoy each other’s company.”

  “Well, just make sure to study up on your jeopardy answers,” Madison said with a laugh. “I’m going to go back there, if that's alright?”

  “Of course,” Olivia replied as she went into the kitchen.

  Madison walked down the hall and tentatively knocked on the door. Hearing Andrew say come in, she cracked it open and stepped inside, seeing him with his back against the headboard and a book in his hand. He didn’t look up right away and when he did he smiled from ear to ear.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked, getting up quickly and walking over to her.

  “I wanted to see you.”

  His head swooped down and he kissed her gently. “I’m glad you did.”

  Madison smiled and started looking around his room. It was a small space with just a double bed and a dresser that had a stack of sketch pads on it, along with a coffee cup filled with pencils of various sizes. She noticed that everything was neat and in its place. She casually walked to the bed and sat down. She was desperate to look at his sketches but didn’t want to invade his privacy. Andrew set his current sketch pad on top of the pile on his dresser before sitting down next to her.

  “What were you working on?” she asked, eyeing the book.

  “Just some stuff I had in my head from yesterday.”

  “Can I see?” she asked, giving him her best pouty look.

  He stared at her for a long time before standing and reaching for his current sketch pad. He handed it to her and watched as she opened it to where the pencil was marking the page. Madison gasped when she saw the detail of his sketches. He was drawing the Piute Mountains and what she assumed was the trail he and Jayden had been on. She flipped the pages and was in awe at his obvious talent. As she continued to back track in the book, she felt slightly embarrassed by the many pictures he had drawn of her. One page was filled with various depictions of her eyes while another was her mouth, many biting her lip. There were also several of her legs and a few of her behind. She smiled as she went through the pages and then gasped at the drawing he did from their first time together. It was a very sensual picture of her lying naked on his Harley, her head was tilted slightly to the side with her eyes barely closed, her bottom lip was in her mouth and she had a look of complete ecstasy on her face. Madison’s body flushed at the memory of that event. She looked up at Andrew who seemed to be a little worried.

  “I see something in my head until I can actually put it down on paper.” He looked down for a moment. “Is it okay? I meant no disrespect to you or anything.” His brows furrowed in concern.

  “Andrew, my God! It’s beautiful. They all are. You really have talent, baby.”

  Andrew smiled, pleased that she wasn’t angry and that she liked what he had done. Madison looked around at the stack of books.

  “Are all of those recent?”

  He shook his head. “No, most of those are from the time I was in prison.”

  Madison glanced at them but didn’t want to impose. If he showed her, she wanted it to be his choice. Andrew was conflicted. Some of the pictures depicted things that were sort of bad but then again she seemed to really like what she had seen so far. He hesitantly stood up and brought the pile over to her.

  “Baby, sit with me, okay? Let’s look at them together,” Madison said, cupping his cheek.

  He exhaled a loud breath and nodded as he sat on the bed and motioned for her to come to him. Madison scooted next to him as he put his arm around her shoulder. He used his other hand to push a couple of books out of the way and grabbed the oldest book. He smiled hesitantly as he opened it to the first page.

  “These are really dark,” Madison said softly when they were midway through the book.

  Andrew turned to her and nodded. “I wasn’t in the best place back then. That was my first book.”

  Madison nodded and continued to look at the drawings, feeling as if the happiness in the room was slowly being sucked out. There were a few people in the drawings which generally looked menacing but mostly it was scenery that should be light and joyful but was drawn dark and evil. Churches, homes, motels, she even recognized Hollywood Blvd but it didn’t look like it did when they were there. It was drawn dirty and dangerous and she noticed there were pictures of needles scattered throughout the drawing in places they had no reason to be, such as the bricks of a building or embedded in a manhole cover. But what had caught her eye was a man, very small and almost unnoticeable. He was hidden within the complexity of the picture, sitting against the wall with his legs drawn up. His head was between his knees with his arms over his head so Madison couldn't make out his face but she knew instinctively who it was. She traced her finger along the known street and then over the man in the picture with a look of sadness on her face.

  “This is you?” she whispered, not taking her eyes away from the desolate man against the wall.

  He sighed. “Yes.”

  Madison looked up at his miserable and forlorn face and touched his cheek lovingly before setting the book down and picking up the next one. The second book was not as dark as the first one and she wondered if anything had happened during this time or if he was just expressing his feelings at the moment. There were a lot of images that she didn’t recognize as anything in particular as they were very abstract in nature yet she found that if she stared at them long enough the shapes of people or things began to take form. This was definitely a different style but still very good. As she got closer to the end of the book, the pictures became more distinct. She smirked when she saw the picture of a man and woman kissing on what looked like a Harley. She glanced at him and smiled.

  “This looks familiar,” she said with a wink.

  He grinned as sh
e looked back at the drawing. It was strange for him to see all these pictures again. He didn’t routinely go through these books. It was his habit to finish one and start another. He would sometimes go months without sketching anything and some days he couldn’t set it down. While he was in prison, he was limited to the amount of sketching he was actually able to do. He usually only got a few books a year so he learned to make the most out of everything. Madison seemed to really enjoy his drawings and as he watched her he found himself drifting away. Memories of his time in prison floated to the surface and took him to a time that seemed so long ago.

  “You have or had a bit of a crush here, Mr. Harrison.”

  Andrew shook his head as he came out of his thoughts. He glanced down at the book and could see that she was at the part with his sketches of Skylar Chase, the well-known actress and wife of the only guard at county that he had liked. He had done about ten different drawings of her. Guard Reeves picked a really nice portrait of her. When Andrew had seen Reeves after his anniversary he had told Andrew that his Sky had absolutely loved the gift and the following day Andrew had found a top of the line drawing kit on his bed.

  “I did those for someone else,” Andrew said, clearing his throat.

  “This is Skylar Chase, right?”

  Andrew smiled. “Yes.” He tapped the picture that Reeves had selected. “He picked that one for her so I drew it on an artist board and he framed it. Apparently she really liked it.”

  “That’s very cool, baby.”

  Madison turned back to the book. The drawing was exquisite to say the least. It was romantic and beautiful, set in some garden. The expression on Ms. Chase’s face was that of someone deeply in love and the hand... There was something so alluring about it, a lover calling his love to him. She assumed the hand belonged to Ms. Chase’s husband and briefly wondered who that may be. She had heard that Ms. Chase was very private and Madison had never seen a husband in any picture of her. She couldn’t figure out how Andrew would know him.