by Kim Cormack
Kevin stammered, “Okay seriously, which one of you hit me? Was that really necessary?”
The three women crouched over him as Lily piped up, “I slapped you; it was me. You were out for a long time.”
Kayn added, “You were out for a while.”
Kevin sat up looked at his grandmother and said, “Are you sure that Triad doesn’t know about our family?”
Kayn felt like cheering, it had worked. Kevin did appear to have his grandfather’s ability. He had gifts of his own. Maybe they had a chance.
“I honestly don’t know for sure. It is possible that Triad’s psychics have picked it up by now. They were also in my house. I have pictures of you boys. Kevin, as I said before, once Tiberius sees Clay, he will know.”
Lily looked at the two of them as they had their coded conversation and said, “What about your brother Clay?”
Granny Winnie looked into Kevin’s eyes giving her silent approval and then said, “You may as well tell her now.”
“Clay looks just like our grandfather,” Kevin stated.
“Okay, so why is that relevant to me?” Lily said sarcastically.
Kevin replied, “Our grandfather is Tiberius the leader of Triad.”
Chapter 26
I Would Beat You to Death with My Tiara
A hush fell over the room. It was as though everyone had lost the ability to speak for a second.
“Shit,” Lily cursed and abruptly stood up. She began to pace nervously. “Oh, shit,” she cursed again, “shit, shit, shit.” Lily paced back and forth in the kitchen looking as though she was about to have a mental breakdown.
“You okay?” Kayn said cautiously, getting up and standing in front of her, blocking her path mid-pace.
“Nope … I am definitely not okay. We are in some seriously deep shit. If he knows about you, he will be hauling out the big guns,” Lily said under her breath. “We don’t have enough time to get you ready for that.”
Kevin replied, “We can’t really do anything at all except get the hell out of town, and away from our families, so nobody else gets killed.”
Lily threw her arms up in the air and with an exasperated sigh, she huffed, “No, I don’t think you get the full picture here. The fighting has already begun.”
Winnie looked at Lily and said, “He was in my house. There are a few photos of the boys in my bedroom. If any of his men saw those pictures, he knows.”
Lily said, “Okay, full disclosure time. I need to be straight with you, here while we are with Winnie. She is a psychic maybe she can help. This situation just keeps getting more and more complicated with every passing second. Kayn, your brother Matt is Sam’s reincarnation. I just want you to know that I stayed away from him completely this time around.”
“What in the hell are you talking about?” Kayn said.
From behind them Grey added in sarcastic jest, “Tell me if I’m following along. Tiberius was allowed to procreate. He has spawn, and she is Kevin’s mother. Kevin has a brother that looks exactly like Tiberius, and Kayn’s brother is Lily’s great love Sam reincarnated? I couldn’t have thought this shit up. It’s diabolically brilliant shit. Fate just never ceases to amaze me. ”
Kayn began to giggle after hearing Grey’s summation of the messed up circumstances. She was going to lose them all. The writing was on the wall. Her brother was going to die, and Jenkins. Kayn laughed harder and harder.
Kevin clasped her shoulder tenderly and said, “Are you going to be okay?”
Kayn was still smiling as she said, “They are all going to die. All of them are.” She began to howl again. She knew, if she didn’t keep laughing, she was going to start bawling. Nobody spoke up. None of them said the words she needed to hear. She needed to hear. No, Kayn, you are wrong. They will all be just fine. We will find a way to save them all. Kayn kept searching from face to face and nothing.
Grandma Winnie said, “I already told you that death is not a permanent state of being.”
Kayn stood up and walked over to the fridge and began to search for food.
Lily commented, “That’s not going to fix anything.”
Kayn grabbed a Fudgsicle out of the freezer, and said, “I run miles every day for fun. If I want to, I can suck back a damn Fudgsicle every single time I get upset. I don’t need well meaning commentary from the peanut gallery.” Kayn lifted up her dress and showed off her toned abdomen.
Lily grinned and said, “Point taken, and, just so you know for next time, you’re not wearing any underwear. It’s a sarong.”
Kayn instantly turned a lovely shade of burgundy. She attempted to cover up her embarrassment by biting her Fudgsicle in half like she didn't even care. She attempted to swallow the bite whole. She clutched her head and doubled over with brain freeze and the giggles began.
Lily smiled and suggested, “Rub the roof of your mouth with your tongue and it will go away.”
Kayn began to rub the roof of her mouth with her tongue and the pain vanished completely. She asked, “Who taught you that trick?”
Lily explained, “Believe it or not, it was a five year old.”
Grey whispered in Kayn’s ear,” Brilliant, I can binge eat any time I want to speech.” He smacked his own abs and whispered, “I think yours are actually way better than mine are. By the way … you have a nice everything else to.”
Kayn turned an even deeper shade of red.
Kevin shook his head at her and teased, “I’m so glad I got to see that for the first time at the same time as Grey, Lily, and my Grandmother.”
Kayn glanced up at Granny Winnie, and she was grinning so wide it made Kayn shake her own head at herself. She smiled back.
Granny Winnie walked towards her and put her arm around her and whispered, “I always get a charge out of you my dear. You will never need to worry about being a bore. Sit down at the table for a nice cup of tea, and do try to keep your clothes on.”
Kayn sat down and took the cup that was passed to her without saying anything back to the do try to keep your clothes on comment. She smiled as she realized that flashing everyone accidentally had taken her mind off of her mental breakdown. Now that was ironic.
Granny Winnie began to pore everyone else a hot cup of tea, and she passed them around.
Grey glanced across the table at Kevin. He took a sip of tea and very casually said, “Are you planning to call that satanic nut-bar, Grandpa?”
Kevin took a sip of his tea and replied, “You know what, princess, I found out about this shit less than five minutes ago. Can you give me a break? I have never met the guy, nor do I want to after spending a few minutes in my grandmother’s memory.”
“Don’t call me princess … that is completely uncalled for,” Grey said. He took another sip of tea and grinned at Kevin’s rare show of testosterone. They were all caught up in the moment and being a little ridiculous.
Grey added with a smile, “It’s a good thing I like you, Kevin, or I would beat you to death with my tiara.” He took a sip of tea and raised his pinky for effect.
They all burst out laughing.
Kayn did find it strange that they were sitting at a table with Kevin’s recently deceased Grandmother having tea while the shit was hitting the fan back home. She understood that the things they must understand were emotional as well as physical. Granny Winnie was the perfect teacher. They already loved her, and they trusted her. She also knew that Chloe had loose ends of her own to tie up. She had a feeling they were giving Chloe the time alone with Frost she needed. Kevin was in an all things clan, catch up course, courtesy of Grandma Winnie’s memories.
Kayn leaned over and whispered to Lily, “Can’t we at least try to bring my brother and Jenkins to safety?
“I wish there was something we could do. Everything has already been set in motion. I know how unfair this is, believe me. I have lived it over and over for longer than I care to admit.”
Grey threw in a quick well-timed barb, “I have lived through a thousand karmic lobotomies
in my time, but this one is rather evil and ingenious.”
“There’s no way he survives, is there? Everyone keeps dodging around the cold hard reality of it all. Give it to me straight?” Kayn said.
Lily answered her, “You have to know that the very next place Triad went after Kevin’s grandmother’s house was to your house. Maybe Matt doesn’t come home tonight? Maybe he stays at school tonight? They could miss him, and maybe that nice old guy Jenkins works tonight, and he doesn’t come home either?”
“He always comes home now on the weekend,” Kayn said under her breath, letting the impending, inevitable loss of her last family member sink in.
There was a lengthy time of absolute silence. Kayn ran her fingertip around the rim of her cup of tea. She gazed at it and counted the number of times her forefinger circled the cup, in her mind. She realized what she was doing. She was going for a run on the track in her imagination. She felt her racing anxiety ridden pulse start to decrease, and her breathing begin to calm and level out.
Granny spoke, touching Lily’s hand gently across the table, “Someday you will change the outcome of this painful circle you are caught in. All you need to do is open your heart to change, and it will come.”
Grey looked straight into Lily’s eyes and said, “Maybe if you spent less time looking for love in the past.”
Granny Winnie looked directly at Grey and said, “Maybe you should take your own advice?”
He hopped up from the table and said, “I am going to have to love you and leave you all for now. Great talk Winnie, I will take it under advisement.” Grey abruptly left the kitchen.
Granny Winnie reached out and grabbed Kayn’s hand, “Kevin was there that night. You were brutally violated and barely alive. I dreamed of it and was dying to stop it, but couldn’t do anything. I know who you really are, and I have seen what you are destined to become. All heroes are born out of the embers that linger from the fire of great tragedy.”
This made sense to Kayn now. Kayn had been reborn that horrible night almost a year ago, but so had Kevin. She could remember every single horrifying moment. The searing fire of the blade as it sliced through her flesh. She had held fast to the thought that it would never happen again. She would have to let that go. She had signed up for a second chance at life, as a sacrificial lamb for the greater good. She was on her way to the slaughter.
Over the next few weeks, they were going to be taught to take it. Their job was not to survive physically. Their duty was to learn how to die well. They were here to learn how to survive death mentally. She finally understood. Kayn looked into Granny Winnie’s eyes and then at the others. She found herself beginning to let go of the anger. As it slipped away, in its place was something else. It began to soften her demeanor.
It was faith. The faith that they would be doing acts of heroism and whatever happened, they would be victorious as long as their job was completed. She could see it in everyone who stood before her. Kayn felt the tears building behind her blank stare as she chose to be human for one minute longer and allow herself to cry. Kevin rose from his seat and rushed to her side. He sat down beside her and she buried her face in his chest. Kayn kept her face hidden until every last tear had been spent.
Kevin grinned at her and raised her face to his lips and kissed her tenderly. He whispered, “I bet it felt good to let that out.”
She smiled at him, “I’m lucky to have you for a friend.”
Kayn peered up at Lily and attempted to break the tension by saying, “So there was no way for you to come out of the gate and say: Nice to meet you, you are one of us now. You have to leave your family before they get killed.”
Lily smiled back and said, “Someday you will be sitting where I am, wishing it was that easy.”
Granny smiled sweetly and said, “Everything is in a giant circle, Kayn. For every action, the universe has a reaction. This time Sam became your brother. Lily was forced to step away from a self-destructive path because of your relationship to Sam or Matt as we know him. You will give Matt or Sam a chance to save someone that he loves before his death as he failed to in his past lives. It has to all play out just like this in order to heal everybody involved. Jenkins couldn’t save his daughter, but he can try to protect you. We are all bound together in a circle of souls.”
Lily had been staring at Winnie for a while, and it was as though she had something that she really wanted to ask, but she was afraid to get it wrong.
“Do you remember me like this?” Granny Winnie whispered, and as she spoke the sentence, her voice became smoother, more youthful. Her skin began to tighten and freckle, a healthy blush appeared on her cheeks. Her hair began to thicken and gleam, and her teeth whitened to a pearly white hue. The skin on her arms tightened and the darkened age spots disappeared revealing a beautiful sixteen-year-old girl.
Kayn looked at Winnie. She was almost the same age as Kayn was right now. She had been a pretty, innocent looking girl. She took Kevin’s hand again as she noticed him trying to control the urge to burst into tears.
Kevin set himself free, sobbing and gasping. Granny Winnie had become the young girl that she’d been before the darkness had entered her life.
Winnie smiled with such soft, gentle beauty that they all rose to their feet out of respect. They watched as Lily’s lips parted in shock. Winnie full on bear hugged a mortified Lily. Lily did not seem like a cuddly person. In this instant, she positively glowed from the warmth of Winnie’s embrace.
Winnie said, “You said nothing about my baby when you came to see me in the sanitarium. You told no one because of what happened to your baby, you allowed mine to live. I thought that you were the most beautiful girl that I had ever seen in real life. You turned out to be beautiful inside. I named my daughter, Lillian, after you.”
Tears began to swell in Lily’s eyes. Granny Winnie had obviously touched a nerve.
Lily said, “Nobody has ever said those words to me. Nobody has ever told me I am beautiful on the inside.”
Kayn felt her heart lurch in her chest. Nobody should have lived that long without one person telling them that they were a good person on the inside. Kayn embraced Lily and said, “Somebody should have said those words to you a long time ago."
Kayn had often wondered what it would be like to be a Lily or a Chloe. She may have been a bit clumsy and dorky, but Kayn had always known that she was worth something on the inside. She had always been told that. How is it that Lily the most beautiful creature she had ever seen did not seem to know her inner worth?
Kevin walked up to Lily and hugged her. “Thank you. I know I’m only here now because you went against the rules and did what was right by keeping your mouth shut.
Lily began to tear up again. They were happy tears, not sad tears. She touched one as it trickled a path down her cheek.
Kayn wondered if she should mention that Lily’s name was actually Lilarah, and not Lillian. She smiled and chose to remain silent. Winnie would figure it out somewhere down the road. Kayn was utterly amazed, for no matter how many times it had been explained to her before, she hadn’t understood until this second that all their souls had been connected long before they’d met. She looked at her hand and the mark on her skin. She hoped they would all stay together. and she would see her brother again one day, and Jenkins would have fulfilled his goal of saving someone he loved and would be at peace.
Chapter 27
I Will Light Your Asses on Fire if Either of You Tells a Soul
They sat together, talking and plotting their strategies for training in the weeks that stood before them in the In Between. There was a sense of acceptance that filled the small kitchen of Winnie’s quaint little home. Kevin’s grandmother, now his age, was a little freaky, but somehow it felt right. It felt as though this were who she was really supposed to be.
Kayn left the room abruptly and walked toward the cellar door. She twisted the handle thinking in utter amazement; it even makes a squeak here as you twist the handle. She walked
gingerly down the stairs into the concrete room which still contained Kevin’s red tricycle. She sat on the bottom step and looked around the room. Visions of their childhood played through her memory. She could clearly see the two of them getting caught playing doctor, in the corner under the stairs, by a mortified Granny Winnie.
They had hidden their special treasures all over the basement. She wondered if anything was still here. Kayn crawled under the stairs brushing away the dust bunnies and thick cobwebs in her path to find a quarter that they’d hidden behind a loose board. Kayn crawled back out with the quarter in her hand. She sat back down on the stairs and brushed dust off of her legs. She held the quarter in her palm and stared at it. They had spent hours giving each other pretend tickets for speeding on that very tricycle that still sat in the same place that they’d left it. Kevin had wanted to be a police officer since they were in first grade. Kayn hadn’t really known what she wanted to be when she grew up. She would never get the chance to choose for herself now. Maybe that’s why she never had made an attempt to look too far ahead. Kayn attempted to wipe the dust off of the quarter by rubbing it between two of her fingers.
Kevin had followed her downstairs. He sat behind her quietly as she took her trip down memory lane. “Do you want me to call someone who cares?” Kevin whispered as she stared at the quarter between her digits.
Kayn looked back at him and said, “Call someone?”
“With the quarter that’s in your hand, you turkey.” Kevin chuckled. He was making a reference to an old country song that they had heard over and over at his grandmother’s house.
Kayn grinned without looking back at him. She answered wistfully, “I bet it is one hell of a long distance charge from here. It would cost way more than this quarter.”
“Probably,” Kevin said as he rubbed Kayn’s shoulders for a second.
Kayn turned around and smiled at her best friend. She said, “This whole day sure went to hell quickly didn’t it? I guess there’s no point in attempting to use this quarter to call for help.”