Mike led the charge down the hallway, moving with a stealthy gait. Demi right behind him, providing cover in case there were multiple intruders. When Mike got to the end of the hallway where it let out into the living room, the moonlight in the window allowed him to see a silhouette of three men in the living room.
Mike crouched down, looking at the three men who were raiding the kitchen from around the corner of the hallway.
Mike turned to Demi, and whispered while he held up three fingers, “Intruders."
Demi nodded. As if she understood what he meant.
"Cover me," Mike whispered as he rose from his crouched position and took it and aimed his gun at one man.
"Hands up!" Mike shouted in the living room.
“Jeff! Get the gun. We woke them,” shouted one of the men. Mike heard a chambering of ammunition, and he shot a warning shot in the air. Right after the reverberations echoed throughout the house, a rustling came from his parents' room. The three men held up their hands, as Demi pointed her gun from behind Mike and another intruder, the one who held the gun.
"What's going on?" John shouted as he moved down the hallway fixing his robe as he ran. John looked frightened as he stared blankly at what he witnessed in the living room. It became clear to Mike that John was utterly startled. It was the first time he'd ever seen his father appeared frightened as he turned a ghostly pale white from fright.
"Keep your hands up." Mike barked. "What do you three doing in here?" John bowled over, struggling to breathe. Helene, who was right behind him, tying her robe calmed her husband.
The man who stood closest to the kitchen with his hands raised in the air replied, “We saw you through the window. We saw that you had food. We have been starved for days, we need food."
“Get out now, before I start shooting.” Mike passed when he saw no one was moving. “You three get out here! Go on, scram!" barked Mike. “You’re outnumbered—” Before Mike finished his last sentence, the three men bolted and ran through the open door.
While Helene calmed John, she shouted, “What in the world is going on?"
John, between gasps, turned to Helene, “It appears we had some intruders. From the sound of it, they've been watching us through our windows." John’s breathing turned back to normal as he was able to speak.
Demi spoke up, and Mike knew that this was coming ever since the conversation from dinner. She said, "This will only get worse. Please come with me and live in the Homestead with David. It's the only way that you'll be safe."
John asked Demi while they all stood in the hallway, “Your offer still stands?” Demi nodded. John then said, “Good. We’ll leave with you guys in the morning. This is just the beginning of things like this. It will only get worse.”
Chapter Four
Demi Thicke
“I’m going to help my parents pack," announced Mike as he rose from his bed. Demi didn't sleep much later that night after the intrusion, and she had a feeling that Mike didn't sleep much either since he was up before sunlight. He was usually one to sleep in, especially with their tour schedule, late shows, and then, of course, the after-parties.
"Good, we're gonna need several weeks' worth of food if we have it, water, warm clothes since we will be traveling through the mountains," suggested Demi as she thought of items that they would need both for their journey to Idaho and then ultimately to Montana. "I hope we don’t have to waste too much time looking for Lacey. I hope she stayed put.”
"Yeah, I know," Mike said to Demi.
"I think I hear my parents in the garage," said Mike as he headed for the door. Demi took this time to gather her things and to pack noting her inventory. She saw she was low on granola bars, so she was hoping that the Cromwell's had more of a supply that they could all share through the journey. Lonnie was generous, but what he gave was growing thin.
Once Demi finished packing her things, and saw that Mike was all packed up, she headed out the front door. Demi met Mike, Helene, and John in the garage. They had the garage door opened, as they were preparing the bicycles.
"We do have a baby bike seat," said John as he affixed the child's bike seat to the back of one of the bikes. He used a screwdriver, and the wrench to get it to stay on. He then jiggled it to check the sturdiness, “That should do it,” he muttered. Demi had always been surprised that Mike and John were from the same gene pool. Mike would not even know where to begin with attaching a bike seat to a bike, and John did it without the right tools or parts.
The sun was just coming up over the horizon, and Demi knew that the Cromwell's must have been shaken to their core with the intruders if they were willing to leave their home. It was for the best. In a way Demi was happy those intruders showed up, it was a safe way of letting the Cromwell's know the dangers that lurked around every corner.
Then she thought back to the training her father gave her, and if something like this had ever happened, expect to be dangerous everywhere and trust no one.
"What can I help with?" Demi asked to no one in particular since everyone seemed to be working on their own project.
Helene answered, “You can check the tires of all the bikes. If any of them are flat, I have a bike pump that you can use and fill them up."
Demi inspected the tires of the bike, noting that the front tire of Tom's bike was a little flat. She asked, “Where's the bike pump?"
"It's hanging on the wall," John responded while he checked the gears on his bike. Helene had gone inside to prepare the food. Demi wished she was with her to make sure that she was bringing the right food. The type of food that would keep for several days and provide nutrients and energy. She waved it off, realizing she could check the inventory before they all departed.
As Demi was filling up the tires in the garage, she saw a familiar face walking his dog. “Chris! I didn't expect to see you!" Demi shouted running to the end of the driveway. In the wake of this entire disaster, Demi was excited to see a familiar face.
"Demi! I thought that was you. I saw someone who looked just like you show up with Mike late last night. I was out walking my dog when I saw you two ride your bikes up to the Cromwell’s.” Chris paused for a moment, looking down at his dog. “It's so good to see you.” Chris lifted his head to meet Demi’s gaze.
“Yeah, it's good to see you too." Demi held the bike pump in her hand awkwardly while she spoke to Chris. She’d been in between bikes when Chris caught her eye and she did not have the wherewithal to set the pump down.
This reunion was bittersweet, as Chris had been her boyfriend for several years just before Demi made a big. They broke up when she was on the road and he did not want to risk everything to make the band work. Demi, hurt by Chris’ reluctance and lack of belief in her ultimately broke them up. She knew they were close to getting engaged. She thought he might pop the question at any moment, just as she was chasing down her dream. His lack of support drove a wedge between them, and Demi could not stand to be with someone who did not believe in her with everything they had.
“Where were you when all of this happened?” Chris asked.
“Vegas,” responded Demi. One word, one syllable. Over the last five years, after the relationship dissolved, Demi found it easy to push Chris out of her mind. He was not willing to leave his life in Salt Lake City to come with her for her big break. Demi was convinced that Chris did not believe in her. When she went out to Hollywood to addition, she suspected he didn't believe it would amount to anything like several of the other times it didn’t. When she and the band got the record contract, he wasn't willing to uproot himself for that. She was under the impression that Chris was certain the contract was a one-time deal and they would be stranded in Los Angeles when the bottom fell out.
“Wow! And you and Mike made it here? On bikes?” Chris said sounding astonished.
“We hitched a few rides and a nice man supplied us the bikes, but yeah. We made it,” answered Demi. She recounted the days she used to live with Chris and when the relationship began to
go sideways. She remembered how she saw this lack of faith, this unwilling to put in any effort into her career as he did not believe in her. That hurt. That hurt so much that Demi couldn’t even look him in the eye for years after that. When she moved out, she did it while he was at work and left him a note on the counter, ending things. His lack of faith in her hurt her so much that she could not even think about him for years after they split.
“That’s insane!” Chris commended, his piercing blue eyes widened. “So glad you guys made it out of there. This has just been chaos since the power went out. And now, I’m not sure what I’m going to do,” said Chris as he lowered his eyes, looking at his dog. Demi stared at Chris’ golden blonde hair with brown undertones as it glistened in the morning sun. He seemed to become only more attractive with age. His muscular build and tall frame where the features that she missed about him, especially when she had a hard time reaching things from the top shelf, however, she had assistants for that now.
“Yeah, I can’t wait for things to get back to normal. But I’m sure that won’t happen for a while,” replied Demi. As she looked at his face, he appeared older. She remembered that Chris was an issue that she was not able to get passed. She needed to have those around her to believe in her. So she had to be Chris with few regrets. If he could not support her dreams and allowed her to pursue them and chase them down, what good was he to her.
After all, taking a risk and leaving a tight-knit community was a small price to pay to help someone achieve their dream. This hurt so bad that Demi only surrounded herself with those who believed in her ever since she left him. Demi was careful when she picked her manager and assistant. They had to support her with every decision, right or wrong. She hired Trevor, her manager, and Susie, her assistant because of their unwavering faith in her abilities. She credited that decision to her success. Going against Demi was difficult, as the band had disagreements, constantly. As long as Demi had Mike, Trevor, and Susie in her corner, she knew she could weather any storm. Those three made up for what Chris could not give her.
While Demi and Chris talked, feelings stirred in Demi. Emotions that she hadn’t felt in close to five years. Despite his perceived lack of support, in the back of her mind, Demi could not help but wonder if Chris was just being conservative and level-headed. When they were together, she often leaned on him, because he had a strong foundation being from a prominent family in Salt Lake City, and she could see that he was trying to build a strong future. That future did not include uprooting one's life every several weeks to chase down the next hottest music manager.
Demi was certain that she didn't love Chris anymore, standing right there toe to toe with him. However, all of a sudden the feelings came rushing back. They had been there for a long time, for five years. As time passed, Demi wrote a song about their relationship. She was never sure if Chris knew it was about him, but the words to that song came rushing back to her as she stood, looking into his eyes. Faithless, that was one Shards of Glass’ number one single after their debut album. The ballad she sang to open the second act of the show. The song she sang when the power went out.
Demi and Chris both looked at each other in silence. Being in his presence made her recount when they first met. Demi had met Chris shortly after she moved to Salt Lake City from David's homestead in Montana. Chris was Demi’s first love, and at one point in her life, she was certain that she would spend her entire life with him. After they broke up and during the past five years while she built her career, she could stop thinking about Chris. To perform and to be at the top of her game, she buried those thoughts and feelings whenever he entered her mind. This sort of thing was easy for her to do. It was like a flip of a switch, she was able to push him out of her mind and continue with her track of pursuing her dream. Seeing Chris for the first time in five years brought back to feeling and emotions for Demi, and she had butterflies buzzing around in her stomach.
"What are you guys doing?" Chris asked as he looked at the assembly of bicycles, backpacks, and food stores. That occurred in the garage, as Tom, John, and Mike all were packing up items to take.
"We are headed first to Idaho, to pick up Lacey and then headed to Montana where David lives. You remember him?"
"Yeah, yeah I do. That was the little awkward, but" answered Chris. Demi thought back to that instance when Chris and Demi went back to Montana for the holidays. It was against Demi's better judgment, but Chris wanted to meet Demi's parents. Being that Demi's mom was dead, she wanted to spend Christmas with her sister Lacey. Lacey was headed back to Montana to spend it with David. Against Demi's better judgment, she took Chris back to Montana to mainly be with Lacey and knowing that she had to put up with David.
"Right. Wasn't the best time," Demi said to brush it off.
"How's Lacey?" Chris asked.
"I actually don't know, which scares me. We are headed to Idaho State University to get her and bring her to safety up to Montana. Once I do that I'm not sure where I'm gonna go but at least I know she'll be safe. The Cromwell’s offered for me to stay with them once I got Lacey to safety, but we had an invasion last night, and we all thought it would be best for Cromwells’ and the Morris’ to stay with David up in Montana until things return to normal.”
“An invasion? Gees, that must have been scary. Are you all right?” Chris asked.
“Yeah, a little shook, but nothing too bad. What are your plans?” Demi asked.
Chris responded, “Well, do you guys have room for one more?" Demi was shocked to hear those words.
"Well, sure. You have to bring your own supplies," replied Demi. She was not sure what to think of Chris deciding to come on their journey.
"Why do you want to come?" Demi asked.
"I want to make sure you find Lacey and make sure she is all right I've always loved her," answered Chris. “Plus, there's not much going on here. I'm sure you remember, both my parents are dead and it's just me. Thankfully I've had enough to get me this far, and I want to make sure that you find Lacey. I know how much she means to you. Gosh, can’t believe she’s in college. Wow! Time flies,” said Chris, lowering his eyes.
"Well, sure you can come. I could use the company." Just like she has done before, over the five years, Demi questioned her feelings for Chris.
"Well,” Chris paused and looked at his dog. He then said, “I’ll be right back, it won't take me but a few minutes to get things together. I have to pack up Rufus.”
Demi looked at the dog, and she said, "I didn't know you had a dog?"
"Yeah, I got him a few years ago. I was just getting so lonely being by myself. It was good." Chris patted the dog on his head, a Rottweiler stocky and large, and to Demi, it looked as though it was well behaved. Which was a good sign.
"How are you going to transport him?” Demi asked.
"I have a trailer for him, that attaches to a bike. When I go biking on the trails, I like to take him along with me. But I go for so long that he can't run that far, so when he gets tired, I put him in the trailer. He loves to run for part of the way through.”
"Well, great. We will probably be taking off in just under an hour, so I'll see you soon." Chris left and Demi resumed her job about making sure the tires were all inflated properly.
An hour later, all the bikes were ready to go. Helene had brought her food stores out from the kitchen, and she evenly disputed among the riders. Thankfully, John and Helene had made sure that bicycling was one of the family's hobbies. Every member had a bike. Mike had told Demi that John saw it was that it was an activity that everyone can do together, it was their bonding activity, similar to hiking when Sophie and Mike were young. Mike had told Demi that John had said that the family should be taking advantage of living in Salt Lake City, they lived among some of the finest biking trails in the United States.
Sophie rode on the bicycle with Lily behind her. Tom had his mountain bike, Helene and John had theirs. Demi and Mike had the beach cruisers that Lonnie gave them. As everyone sat on their bike, J
ohn locked up the house, closing the garage door and locking it on the side. John got on his bike and asked, “Are we ready?"
Demi quickly interjected, “We're waiting for someone."
“Who?" Sophie asked.
Demi, reluctant to answer, lowered her eyes and said, "Chris."
"Chris?" Mike shouted. "I thought you were done with him?"
"I am!" Demi retorted. "He wants to come, he wants to make sure we find Lacey all right. And that we get her safely up to Montana. After that, I'm not sure what he's gonna do." She then whispered to Mike, “We were like family."
"I know, I know. You guys used to live together. I totally understand." Mike said.
Right then, Chris rode down the street with his Rottweiler, Rufus in the bike trailer behind him.
"You're quite the dog dad,” said Demi laughing to herself. It was such a sight to see Chris he was 6’0”, muscular chest and arms, attractively cut blondish-brown hair pulling behind him a fierce animal in a bike trailer.
"So we’re ready?" John asked.
"We are all here, we're ready," Demi responded. Glancing over at Chris.
The group, headed by John made their way out of the neighborhood, riding down the mountainside, passing through the burned areas where the fire torched the foothill neighborhoods. It was a sad sight to see, blackened walls, completely flatten homes places where children used to run and play, and families were safe, neither of those was true now.
“Let's head out of the neighborhood,” John shouted while he waved his arm toward the right. The group headed on a bicycle down Main Street toward East Broadway. They made a left onto South Temple and continued onto the 200 West. Once they were on N. Temple Street, they went onto the Jordan River Parkway Trail.
Lights Out (Book 2): Power Trip Page 5
