Inspiration Point

by M. A Casey

  “No worries Professor, Emin gave me the key already, I’ll take care of everything,” he told him.

  “And if anyone asks you about us?”

  “All I know is you went on an extended holiday, and you would call me when you are all coming home,” Zeke confirmed.

  My mother put her arm around his shoulders. “Please take care Zeke, they could start watching you too you know.”

  “I’ll be fine Evelyn, you just make sure you all get where you’re going safely.”

  “As soon as we can we will be in contact with you okay,” she said putting her hand on his face to reassure him.

  He nodded as Emin moved towards him knowing I would want my farewell in private. They stalled for a minute neither of them saying anything, then without words they just embraced. At the end of the day, they were brothers, who until now have never really been separated.

  “Take care of them,” Zeke said solemnly.

  “You know I will,” he confirmed. “Could you do me a favor though?”

  “Of course,” Zeke said sounding a little intrigued.

  “Call on Tasma for me, I couldn’t get hold of her to explain, and I don’t want her to think I just skipped out,” he said a little self-consciously.

  “Sure, we can’t have you coming home single can we,” Zeke teased.

  “Well it’s only fair – you take care of my girl, and I will take care of yours.”

  They both laughed and patted each other on the back. They all looked at me then before my mother saved the day again.

  “We will be in the car Hayln,” she said as she gestured for them to leave.

  From the corner of my eye, I could see them leaving the room, but my focus was on Zeke. How was I going to do this?

  “You look….. breathtaking,” he whispered as he moved forward to hold both my hands.

  “You were the inspiration actually,” I said pulling him closer. “The color reminded me of your eyes.”

  “It’s not just the dress Hayln, it’s you. You are beautiful, I can’t believe it took me so long to see it.”

  “I’m just glad you did.”

  “Me too,” he said smiling softly. “I have something for you.”

  I watched him as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a photo and something silver.

  “This was taken a few months ago,” he said as he gave me the photo.

  It was a picture of him and Emin in the garage at Emin’s house, they looked happy.

  “It’s perfect, thank you.”

  “There’s one more thing, it’s something I’ve had for a while, but I’d like you to have it now.”

  He placed a silver chain into my palm, it had a medallion on it.

  “It’s my St Christopher’s medal, it’s meant to bring you safe travel. And since I want you back here safely, as soon as possible, I thought it was appropriate.”

  My hand touched his face, gently tracing his smile.

  “I had the back engraved,” he said.

  I turned the medallion over to see the inscription on the back.

  Sweet Dreams Hayln

  I Love You

  Zeke

  “I love it,” I said as I fought back tears. I reached around to put it on, but he held my hand.

  “You don’t have to wear it tonight if you don’t want to, it probably doesn’t go with your dress.”

  “I'm not taking this off until I come home to you,” I said as I lifted my hair and turned so he could put the necklace on himself. He secured the clasp and kissed me on the shoulder as I turned around to face him.

  “I have something for you too,” I said as I grabbed my clutch. I hadn’t thought of this when I took it earlier, but I knew now it would be perfect. I held the shiny little brass key in my hand.

  “It’s the key to my jewelry box, I got it when I was three. Since then I have kept anything I have ever loved in there. When I looked inside it this afternoon to see if there was anything I should take with me, I realized, what I truly love can’t be put in a box anymore.” I placed the key in his hand and looked into his emerald eyes, not knowing how long it would be before I would see them again. “This belongs to you now Zeke, because I love you.”

  I couldn’t stop the tears now as he held me close to his chest.

  “Don’t cry Hayl’s, we will make this work. Whatever happens now you’ll have me with you.” He pulled back, his eyes looked alive, as if they were glowing. “It might sound crazy, but I feel like to am tied to you now, like even though we won’t be together we won’t be apart either. Does that make sense?”

  I nodded wiping the tears from my eyes. His hands reached up brushing my hair back in place and then traced them across my bare shoulders and down my arms.

  We reached for each other at the same time, my hands twisted through his hair while his slid on the satin of my dress to the small of my back. Our lips were urgent, knowing how little time we had left. But as our kiss slowed I could see the tears on his face.

  “I will be thinking of you every day,” I promised him.

  “No, think about how to come back to me,” he insisted.

  “I will.”

  I heard the car’s horn beep and knew I had to go.

  “I love you Zeke”

  “I love you too Hayln, I still can’t truly believe how much I love you. Please stay safe okay, and listen to Emin.”

  I nodded and took a deep breath - I had to leave. He held my hand in both of his and walked me to the car. He opened my door, and I got in. He leaned in and kissed me softly on the cheek.

  “Good luck,” he said to all of us. “I will talk to you soon.”

  He closed the door, and we pulled away from the house. I couldn’t look away from him until the houses had completed obscured my view and I suddenly felt lost, like I had left part of me with Zeke and I wouldn’t feel complete until I was with him again. My hand reached for his medallion, and I read the inscription again and felt a little better.

  The trip to the University was a blur, and we were parked before I realized.

  “Are you okay Hayln?” Emin asked. “We have to pull it together now.”

  “I’m fine,” I said. “Let’s go.”

  I wiggled out of the car finding it a little difficult in my dress but caught up with the others, who were a few paces away. Just as I reached my family, I felt something hard press into my back, and a low, firm voice told me stop.

  I froze, and my family turned and saw what I already knew. I had a gun held at my back - it was too late they had found us.

  Trapped

  “Everyone stay calm and no-one will get hurt,” another voice whispered sternly from my left.

  I peered over my shoulder into the shadows, and saw the man who had pushed my father out of the car on Monday. He also held a gun pointed toward my family. He was a tall, burly man in his mid-thirty’s I guessed, his hair was cut short and there was no expression on his face at all.

  I looked to my father and Emin but neither where giving anything away.

  “Good,” the man confirmed, happy not to get any trouble from us. “Now let’s all get back in the car, and we will go from there.”

  He signaled for us to move and we did as instructed. Mum, Emin and myself got in the back, while the man nodded, indicating for Dad to drive. He got into the passenger seat with the gun still pointed at the three of us on the back seat. The other man got into a van parked a few spots away and waited for us.

  “What’s going on Davis? You said I had until tomorrow before we had to leave, and my son and wife weren’t to be involved,” my father said desperately.

  “That’s true Knox, but when we found out your little plan to try to escape during the benefit, we decided all bets were off.” He waited for one of us to say something, maybe even deny our plan, but we didn't.

  "Now, head back to your house.”

  “Why my house?” Dad questioned him.

  “We’re going to wait there for Spencer, and he will decide what we a
re going to do with all of you – now drive.” He was starting to lose his patience.

  Dad started the car and drove back home. I watched the van follow behind us, and caught a glimpse of the other man inside. He seemed to be dressed the same as Davis, in dark clothing. His hair was cut short like Davis too, and although it was hard to tell because he was driving, I thought he looked a little shorter and stockier.

  We got home, and the house was dark. We were made walk back into the lounge, carrying our bags with us. With their guns still pointed at us, we sat down, huddled together all on one lounge.

  “You might want to make yourself a bit more comfortable, because no-one is moving until Spencer arrives, and that probably won’t be until morning.”

  “Can’t we get changed at least?” My mother asked.

  “No Mrs Knox, my instructions were to bring you here and make sure no-one moves from this room until Spencer arrives. You have a bag of clothes there in front of you, you can change here if you want to,” he said pointing is gun at our bags.

  “Now Knox, you better contact someone at the University and let them know your family won’t be attending tonight – and make it believable, for all your sakes.” He tossed a mobile at him, and Dad dialed.

  While Dad spoke to someone on the phone, Davis instructed us to stand while he searched us, and our bags for our mobiles and anything else he thought might cause trouble.

  He spoke to the other man, calling him Ian, and told him to go over the rest of the house and disconnect the phone and internet lines, whilst also looking for weapons. This surprised me, did he seriously think we looked like a family that had a stash of weapons.

  Dad finished on the phone and handed it back to Davis, who quickly dialed a number and starting talking.

  “Spencer it’s me, I have all four of them back at Knox’s house,” he reported.

  “Already done, what time can I expect you?”

  “I’ll see you then,” and he hung up. “Settle in people, he won’t be here until the morning.”

  “Can I go to the bathroom?” Emin asked.

  “Not until Ian comes back – so hold it.” Davis responded sternly.

  Ian came back a few minutes later with an arm full of so called weapons. It looked like our cooking knives and the fire poker. He told Davis that he had to go upstairs yet, Davis nodded for him to continue.

  We were all watching each other quietly when we heard what sounded like fighting. Davis steadied himself at the base of the stairs and called out to Ian.

  “Everything okay up there?”

  “Yeah,” Ian said puffing. “I just found a stowaway.”

  We all looked at each other not knowing what to make of it and then we saw Ian pushing Zeke down the stairs pinning his arms behind his back.

  “Let him go,” I stood up and yelled. A shot of panic went through me seeing Zeke being restrained by them, but at the same time, I couldn’t help feel a little happy he was here.

  “He was hiding in a bedroom – hers I think,” Ian commented nodding in my direction.

  “What’s this about?” Davis said prodding him with his gun.

  “Leave him alone,” I yelled again as Emin tried to hold me with him.

  “They didn’t know I was still here,” Zeke said calmly to Davis. “I saw the cars pull up, and I hid upstairs – I wasn’t sure what was happening.”

  “Well you just put yourself in a whole lot of trouble kid,” Davis said giving Ian the signal to let him go. Davis then pushed Zeke towards us, “get over there with them.”

  I pulled him to my side and looked over him. “Did they hurt you?”

  “I’m fine Hayl’s. What’s happening?” He looked concerned and confused, but I could tell he was happy to be by my side again too.

  “We didn’t even get out of the carpark, they were waiting for us,” I explained. “We have to wait here until Spencer arrives in the morning, he won’t let us leave the room.”

  I sat down on the opposite lounge to my parents helping Zeke to sit beside me. We noticed Ian returning to the room with a couple more phones, a letter opener and all the razor blades.

  “Are we going to shave ourselves to death?” Emin snapped at them.

  Davis glared at him, “did you want to go to the toilet or not?”

  Emin nodded and stood walking towards the men. Ian raised his gun to Emin’s shoulder and followed him to the bathroom. He returned without much delay, which made me think this was more a test than anything else. He sat down in an armchair leaving my parents alone on the other lounge.

  “Is there anything to eat here?” Ian said, walking to the kitchen while Davis sat watching our movements.

  I could hear him going through our cupboards, and I knew there wasn’t much there.

  “Slim pickings,” he commented as he returned with some biscuits, chips and a box of cereal.

  “Well they weren’t planning on returning, where you Knox,” Davis snarled.

  They kept the chips and cereal and threw us a box of crackers which we assumed was to get us through to at least tomorrow. Ian left the room again and came back with some bottles of water for him and Davis and one for us to share. They were talking amongst themselves now, so we decided to do the same, but we kept it to a whisper.

  “How did they find out?” Zeke questioned.

  “No idea, maybe this place is bugged or something. But we didn’t get ten feet from the car,” Emin answered him.

  “I know, I was there,” Zeke said, looking over his shoulder to see if the men were listening.

  “What?” Emin said sounding confused.

  “I thought you were still here?” I asked.

  “No, I followed you. I wanted to know as much about where you were going as possible, in case I needed to find you. I had only just gotten to the carpark when I saw henchman number two put a gun to your back.”

  “So how did you end up back here?” My mother asked.

  “I followed again, after seeing the way they had you headed I guessed they were bringing you back here. I took the short cut on Whiley’s Road and parked in the street behind, so they wouldn’t see my car. Then I jumped a few fences and climbed up the tree to Hayln’s window. I didn’t know what to do when he came into the room, so I jumped him. I was doing okay until he pulled the gun on me.”

  “Did he take your phone?” My father questioned.

  “Yeah,” he said sounding deflated.

  “I know it’s not terribly fair, but I’m glad you’re here,” I said squeezing his hand between mine.

  “Me too,” he said, putting his arm around me.

  We all picked at a few crackers and shared the drink around. We knew we had nothing to do now but wait until the morning and see what Spencer said. My parents sat at either end of their lounge spreading their legs out to get comfortable. He handed her his tux jacket, and she put it over her shoulders.

  Emin kicked off his shoes and made himself as comfortable as he could in his armchair, but he was much too long for it. Zeke pulled me closer to him so we could spread out too, but I knew I wouldn’t sleep.

  “I don’t think I'll be able to sleep,” I whispered to him.

  “I know what you mean. I’d love some of that warm milk right now,” he whispered back, I could hear the smile in his voice.

  “Somehow I don’t think that’s on the menu tonight,” I joked with him.

  “It’s nice to have you back in my arms,” he said softly. “I felt sick watching you leave.”

  “I felt the same.” I leant my head on his chest and thought of how happy I felt to be in his arms again.

  “Well one good thing came out of tonight,” he said.

  I turned my head to face him, wondering what he could possibly find positive about our situation.

  “It’s incredibly easy to climb into your bedroom window,” he smiled playfully.

  “Well let’s hope we get through this so it becomes useful,” I said.

  “We will figure something out Hayl’s.
Now try and get some rest if you can.”

  “What about you?” I questioned.

  He leaned his face right up to mine so I could feel his lips on my ear and whispered. “I am going to enjoy spending our first night together, although it’s not exactly how I pictured it.”

  I couldn’t help but smile thinking about what he said, and I pulled his arms around me and snuggled into his chest. Apart from the men with guns watching us there is no other place I would rather be.

  I relaxed in Zeke’s arms watching my family. My parents both seemed to be asleep, and Emin was dozing in and out, obviously uncomfortable in his chair. I threw him a cushion off the lounge, and he tucked it behind his head.

  After another hour or so, I was still awake, Zeke was to. He was tracing little patterns up and down my arms trying to get me to relax. I watched Davis and Ian as they took turns in watching over us, never putting their guns down. I yawned, and Zeke could see how close I was to closing my eyes. He kissed me on my neck gently.

  “Sweet Dreams Hayln, I love you.”

  Happiness washed over me and I fell asleep in the warmth of his arms.

  I was the last to wake in the morning, the rest of my family were sitting where they slept, still in their formal clothes. I sat up and stretched my neck while Zeke did the same. With me resting on him all night he must have gotten less sleep than I did. I watched him reach his arm behind his head to stretch his muscles and noticed he was wearing a chain around his neck with my brass key hanging from it. I reached out and held it in my hand, I had to admit I liked seeing him wear it.

  “I didn’t see you wearing this last night.”

  “I put it on as soon as you left, I felt better wearing it.”

  My hand immediately reached for his medallion, “I know what you mean.” As I looked in his beautiful eyes, I couldn’t believe how much I loved him. In only a matter of days, he had become the most important person in the world to me. I wanted to be in his arms again when I remembered I probably didn’t look or smell the best after spending the night on the lounge.

  “I think I better go to the bathroom, and get changed if that’s allowed,” I said loud enough for Davis to hear me.

  “Grab your things and Ian will take you,” he grunted back.