Darker Shade of Pale - HER FREEDOM

by Serra, Mandi Rei

  "Don't you dare yell at me!" Aisha echoed his tone in perfect pitch.

  Christos started stalking toward Tyb—er, Brian, and me, with Aisha following behind. I tried swallowing the knot growing in my throat. Tyb reached over and grasped my hand, interlocking his fingers between mine. "He cannot hurt you, Misha."

  I grumbled under my breath, "You tell him that." Shifted my weight and watched Christos plowing through the meadow filled with waist-high spelt. Dawn started breaking, filling the forest with a soft light. "I so totally do not want to be here right now."

  "If he needs reminding, I will do so. Repeatedly, until he understands no one lays a hand on you in anger. Take a deep breath. Remember, you are empowered. You are strong, you are armed. Remember what I said about guns and incapacitation?"

  His words spoken months ago filled my mind. Gut shot, head shot. "Yeah. But it won't apply to them… they don't feel pain."

  "Exactly. Aim for the head, especially in close quarters."

  "If the saliva is infectious, could mean his blood is too. If we get sprayed by splatter…" my words drifted into silence. Oh shit, I wish I had asked Zamara about that possibility.

  Tyb drew a deep breath. "Shit. I'm not comfortable trusting Aisha, especially with her history with him, but I don't see any other option. Fuckin' A, I hope we're not screwed."

  "Fuck a B, it has two holes." I quieted as two sets of glowing green eyes looked up at Tyb and I from a dozen yards away.

  Aisha did another great leap and landed near Tyb. Christos tried leaping, but couldn't get nearly the distance Aisha could. It was interesting to see him fail at something like that. Took four jumps for him to join us, and only one moment before I thought I was going to have a heart attack from being near Christos. But he gave no indication of noticing me. He appraised Tyb only, and noticed the guns we held with barrels to the sky, leaning against our shoulders; guns that look like they fell off the back of a military surplus truck.

  Aisha spoke, "Christ, this is my cousin, Brian O'Mara, and his wife, Misha."

  She kept calling him Christ and it made me think of when I asked him why I couldn't call him Chris. Because he was twice as Christ-like as anyone, he said. Shudder.

  "You already told me that, Aisha." He addressed Tyb in a very rude manner, "Why you have guns? Always greet your cousin this way?"

  "Regular twenty-one gun salute, for long-lost cousin Aisha. Actually, we're waiting for dawn to hit. Deer will be out to graze. Venison is about as close I can get to heaven up in the mountains. Backstrap is a truly splendid thing. Ever had it? Want to try it?"

  It blew me away how congenial Tyb seemed to be toward Christos. Aisha's and my own eyes met in a silent look that conveyed both our expectation that the other boot would drop soon.

  "Never ate deer. Seems barbaric."

  Tyb cleared his throat and asked, "Vegan?"

  "No. Just not a savage who must kill woodland creatures." Christos looked around, very not impressed with the cement behemoth he stood upon.

  And since when did Christos give a fuck about animals?

  "Kinder to hunt than let starvation and disease kill them during winter."

  "True, I suppose…"

  "Well, Christos. Let's get going. Got a long hike back down to the road." Aisha put her arm through his and tried leading him away.

  "You know, Aisha my sweet," It curdled my blood to hear him call her that. Just creepy with his tone which seemed to hint toward dark intentions. "I am rather hungry, but we're on that special diet..."

  She put a hand on his forearm. "Then let's go somewhere else to eat. It'll be too much of a hassle to bother Brian, especially since we interrupted their hunting."

  "We will stay, Aisha." His voice became that domineering tone which used to cow me. Now I was just getting pissed.

  Evidently his tone pissed Aisha off. A look crossed her face and settled into a stern case of cold bitch. "We will not. Let's go now."

  He shook her arm off and I stepped closer to Tyb. Christos spat, "Do not talk to me, bitch."

  Clear as the dawn sky, Aisha spoke, "Mulier est hominis crudelius."

  Woman is crueler than man.

  Christos fell to his knees, a look of wonder on his face, a look that bespoke an apostle looking upon his savior. Then he remembered himself. Downcast his eyes, and prostrated himself before Aisha. "My queen, what is your pleasure?"

  She kicked him in the side. "You will apologize for imposing on my beloved family. That was not well done, peon."

  I looked at Aisha and when I had her gaze, I mouthed, How? How can four words have my ex abuser on the ground, accepting a woman's domination? Blew my mind.

  Aisha mouthed, MaryAnne. That talk… must have been about Christos's training.

  Still on his knees, Christos turned around, head down, and said, "Forgive me, I was rude."

  "Aisha, you can let him up now." I could tell by the amused look trying to hide on Tyb's face that he was as blown away as I.

  "Do you hear that, peon? You have pleased the master of this land. You may arise. I will reward you for behaving."

  Christos arose and kept his head down. "Thank you, my queen."

  "Brian, can I take Christos up to the house and scrounge around? It's been a long hike."

  Tyb hesitated a minute. "Sure."

  Aisha took a mighty leap, covering at least 100 feet. She yelled, "Mulier…..!"

  In a heartbeat, Christos scrambled to clear the faux-tree battlements and join his mistress. She waited while he bounded about 15 leaps to catch up to Aisha's position. He cocked an arm, which she took, and they ambled at a sedate pace toward the house.

  "What the fuck just happened?" I asked to no one in particular.

  "I…fuck, I got not idea."

  "Christos was groomed as a kid by his pedophile next door neighbor. She abused him for years. I think Aisha got some lessons from MaryAnne on how to bring him to heel."

  Tyb nodded, and I noticed how the golden light highlighted his dark hair. "My sister scares me."

  Well, yeah. She scares me too. "If they are going to the house, think the passports and stuff should be moved here from the panic room? Especially if there's going to be an explosive sex toy involved?"

  "That's a good idea. Let's go inside, lock up. You'll stay here while I run and get some stuff. I won't be long, maybe 15 minutes, especially at the pace their going."

  With that, we rushed inside, no telling how long we really have before things get all adventurous and stuff. We walked back to the room with the table and sink. I sat down at the table and Tyb opened the door to the tunnel and began jogging.

  I waited in the most painful silence when his footfalls quieted. If Aisha was going to do as she said, then… what? Tyb's house will be gone. His sister. She's willing to sacrifice herself to keep Christos from doing further harm. Isolated up on the mountain, we're far away from the reality of the terror in the bay area. Tyb told me that the Round Valley area we were in was actually a naturally-formed fallout shelter secreted by the government. Fuck, and being so close to Christos and him not realizing it was me... was on the verge of freaking out. Lost in thought, Tyb was setting stuff on the table when I got jerked back to reality. I looked up and noticed he'd already shut the door.

  "I locked the gun safe, got the passports and other stuff here, and this," Tyb began removing a belt I didn't notice. I looked around him and noted the belt was attached to a large, misshapen sack by a stout length of rope.

  "What's that?" Curiosity soaked through me.

  He grinned. "My pirate's booty."

  "You have a big booty."

  "Thanks for noticing."

  He bent down and unzipped the sack. My jaw dropped when I saw a fortune in gold nuggets. "Holy fucking cow. Gold panning?"

  "Yep. Kept two pounds for every year I went. So that's twenty pounds and something like over half a mil. Some of it is yours. I didn't get to take you panning, and I want to make sure you're not lacking once you get back to civilizat
ion.

  Tyb stood up and joined me at the table. "I, uh, just want you to know, Izzy, that I wish you could stay up here. I've enjoyed your company very much." His warm amber eyes looked into mine and I was about to speak when he continued. "You're a very special lady. Never forget it."

  With the tone he used, oh, I won't forget it. "You're an incredibly awesome guy, Tyb. I envy the woman who finally tames you."

  My statement was punctuated by a huge boom which rocked the earth and shattered our world.

  Chapter Twenty Three

  Fire engulfed the hill where Tyb's home once stood. The sound of everything cracking as it burnt filled the sky like smoke. We stood in the meadow so we could see the house off in the distance. Our guns, slung over our shoulders. We stood in awe of repeated blasts rocked the forest, the shockwave for each rapport trembling the earth.

  "Fuuuuuuck. I forgot about the dynamite." Arms were at his side, his face impassive.

  "What?" We stood outside, watching flames swallow and shatter and smoke.

  "Left over from building… there were some huge boulders I had to remove to lay foundation. They…well, if the C-4 didn't do him in…" His voice trailed off and I bet he was thinking of his little sister. I know I was.

  My suspicions were confirmed when Tyb fell to his knees and his eyes brimmed with tears. The firelight glistened with the yet-unshed emotion. The man who has always seemed so strong to me, so assured and competent, now reduced to a man shattered by tragedy. He wanted nothing more than to save his sister from Christos Haytham. Now she died with Christos Haytham. She died because she felt bad for Selesta, me. Dammit. This isn't how life is supposed to be. Happy endings, how passé are they nowadays? I felt nothing for Christos other than relief. "Dammit, Tyb. I am so sorry."

  I sat down beside him and wrapped him in my arms. Felt him shaking and shuddering with emotion.

  "She ran away once, she ran away twice. But now she'll never come back." Tyb's voice was more steady that my own.

  "She loved you. She protected you from him. She is so very brave." The bravest person I know.

  "I should have protected her. Science could have saved her…"

  "Or she could have attacked us when her implant completely fails. That was a possibility. Nothing will make you feel better, Tyb, except for time. I wish I could say something that would make everything make sense. I don't have that super power."

  He drew a deep breath, and with a focus I envied, seemed to center himself and find his calm. "We survived the zompires apocalypse. Want to know the dream?"

  Distraction from his pain. I could respect that. "Please."

  "I dreamed the house was in flames. It's why I put the IDs in the panic room. Fire and death. I didn't know it was going to be Aisha. I thought it was going to be me… Never Aisha. Not until she put that chunk of C-4 in my hand." Tyb turned his face to mine and my heart crumbled with the anguish evident, etched deep in his eyes. "You're free, Izzy. You can leave Selesta to rest in peace, or you can resurrect her. Could cash in on whatever is left of Haytham's estate, live a very comfortable life. Do whatever you want."

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I really don't want to leave the mountain, not if it means I never see you again. I agree, my family needs to see me and know I'm fine… but I…" I didn't know how to continue without revealing too much of myself and face rejection. "I hope our paths cross again, Tyb. Soon."

  Tyb reached out and covered my hand with his own, then gave a gentle squeeze. "The future is not writ in stone. And if it were, time would erase it away." He leaned over and kissed me on the forehead with cool lips.

  I couldn't hold the tears in anymore. Everything crashed around me, the sense of aimlessly adrift in life. And death. Goddamn, the death.

  "I love you Tyb."

  "Not as much as I love you. I love you enough that I know I need to let you go." He stood up and began walking back to the treehouse.

  I sat in the meadow, now awash with morning sunlight streaming through copious smoke, weeping. It shouldn't be a surprise, he told me time and again not to love him, not to care. He never led me on. The hurt I feel in regards to the prospect I nurtured of Tyb and I together, it'd pass, eventually. He taught me a great many things I needed to know.

  I heard sounds of scratching from the far side of the treehouse. I got up to investigate, lifting my teeshirt hem up to blot my eyes. As I walked around the other side of the cement fortress, I saw something horrible. A naked body, most of the flesh burnt off, one arm and a part of the chest cavity missing. Gore hung like old lace. His back faced me, and I could see him convulsing, revealing what was left of his face and what was causing the jerking.

  Christos. Missing his lower jaw.

  He had Tyb in a chokehold with his one arm, while Tyb tried throwing him off balance.

  Christos spoke, but it sounded "Sthand sthill, dan you! Thith will only thake a moment."

  Tyb fought, but it seemed that Christos never tired of the wrestling. With his attention focused on Tyb, he didn't notice me creeping up behind him, my rifle at the ready, finger caressing the trigger. Oh, if he fucking hurts Tyb…

  My barrel was six inches away from the back of Christos's skull when Tyb played dead weight and was dropped. As soon as Tyb's head was out of the way, I fired. When Tyb heard the first shot, he rolled out of the way.

  Semi-Automatic. Every time I pulled the trigger, another round made its way to visit the wonderland of Christos's Synapses. I emptied my clip into my undead ex-husband, until there was nothing left of his head but a bloody stump.

  His carcass fell to the ground.

  I dropped the rifle and plopped onto my knees. Fuck. I just kill, er, rekilled someone. Head shot, just like Tyb said.

  "You okay, Izzy?" His arms wrapped around me and I buried my face in the crook of his neck. This man is my happy place.

  "Yeah. I think I am."

  The sound of quads filled the mountain air. At the lead, Mara. Everyone parked in the middle of the meadow and I couldn't help thinking, there goes the harvest this year.

  "What happened?" She vaulted off the quad and bounded toward us. She stopped short when she saw what was left of Haytham. Her eyes widened and took in Tyb and I. Peeling myself away from him, I asked, "Is blood as contagious as the saliva?" I needed to know, now that I was covered in Christos's A positive.

  "No, just the saliva. The enzymes which break up carbs is what triggers the whole chain reaction."

  I breathed a massive sigh of relief.

  Mara's comrades surrounded us and she spoke. "We need to get you guys out of here for decontamination and debriefing." Two officers lead Tyb and I in different directions, asking questions regarding what happened.

  It was the last time I saw Tyb.

  Epilogue

  Mara said my contact would meet me at the bar on Mill Avenue.

  Tempe is not my first choice when it comes to selecting a place for relocation. But monsoon season was upon us, and that helped make the Arizona heat a bit more bearable.

  The bar was fairly non-descript. A couple bull's-eyes for darts hung on a well-perforated wall. Smoke from cigarettes hung in the air while I nursed a rum and coke.

  Mara. She called one day, out of the blue. Asked if I had time to help her with a project. With life being boring at the moment, her offer was the spice I needed. My contact would be a male going by the name of Iain St. Cloud.

  This wasn't the first time I helped her. Been three years since I left the mountain. About six months after my relocation, Mara asked if I could pick up a package for her from a locker. No prob. I also listened to an offer made by another contact and relayed it back to her. I placed bugs in restaurants known to be frequented by Russian mafia. Shits and giggles.

  I love working for the University of Arizona's library. Not head librarian, but I'm damn good at research. But research amidst books can be dull after a while.

  Selesta stayed dead. I visited my parents and let them know the whole story—well, not
all the Tyb parts. I am Izabeau D'Beafort, now. Single as the day is long. My cat and I share an apartment. I named her Aisha.

  I sat in a back booth, positioned so I could see who comes through the bar's door. He's supposed to be here by eight-thirty. If not by nine, I'm supposed to leave. Can do. Listen to his offer and report back. In the meanwhile, enjoy my time with Captain Morgan.

  At eight-forty-five, a tall man carrying a briefcase strode through the glass door and looked around. Couldn't see his face under the cowboy hat—and Arizona has a lot of cowboy hat-wearing folks. His head turned my way, and he walked over. Jeans and a black tee-shirt covered his frame.

  "Izabeau?"

  I nodded my head.

  His voice was deep, tingle-inducing. "A Ms. Malone is an acquaintance of yours, correct?"

  "That is correct." The dim bar made it hard to make out the contours of the man's face. "Will you join me?"

  "Don't mind if I do." He laid the briefcase on the table and sat opposite me. Didn't take off the hat, just kept it tilted down, shielding his face.

  "Ms. Malone said you had an offer to make…?"

  "Yes. This offer is for you."

  "Me?" This isn't how it's supposed to work. He makes offer, I relay message. That is all.

  "Yes, you."

  "May I see your face? I like to know who I'm talking to."

  "Certainly." He doffed his hat and my jaw dropped.

  "Tyb?"

  He smiled at me. "Hi you."

  "Why the act?"

  "Didn't know how you felt about me."

  I still fucking love him. Lay awake at night and relive the memories of being alone with him, secluded from the world in a paradise of his own creation.

  "I don't have any negative feelings, if that's what you're asking." But now I'm way confused.

  "Are… are you seeing anyone?"

  I smiled, blown away by this strange quirk of life. "Nope."

  "Me either."

  "So did you really have an offer, or was this an elaborate set up just to have drinks and catch up?"

  "There's an offer I wanted to make you."

  He opened up the briefcase and showed me the contents. "You forgot this when you left."