by Shelly Crane
“That’d be nice.” I smiled and stretched slowly, feeling the muscles complain but it was a good hurt. “What’s there to eat in this joint?”
He grabbed my hand and lead me down the hall and through the front office to the small kitchen, packed already with my new little family. Everyone greeted us warmly, but no attack hugs this time and Danny already had my cup of coffee for me - with creamer.
“I heard you coming, shorty,” Danny said smiling.
“See, brat, this is why I love you.”
I gratefully took the cup from him, and the peck on my good cheek, and as I smelled the aroma, I think that it had been too long. Coffee and I should get together more often.
Merrick directed me to a seat on the end and since the table was full he stood behind me. Coffee and a blueberry cereal bar. As far as I was concerned, this was heaven, and then I felt Merrick’s hand on my neck, massaging gently.
No. Now this was heaven.
Merrick kept his promise and he let me ask a hundred questions without getting impatient with me, though I wasn’t exactly sure what questions to ask. Jeff even joined in along with a few others to ask and listen and answer.
We sat out by the pool. Well the waterless hole where the pool water should be, under the shade of huge palm trees. Still unseasonably cool, Merrick had grabbed the blanket off my bed for me, knowing my proneness to the cold. He sat partially under the blanket as well, on the same large Adirondack lounger as me and held my hand underneath, his heat spreading through me, doing far more to warm me than the blanket did. I couldn’t have been more comfortable but serious questions were beginning to come up and everyone needed to know the answers. Everyone needed to be prepared.
“Will the moon come back?” someone asked.
“Not unless they all decide to go home, which isn’t likely,” Merrick answered.
“What made them this way?”
“Everyone has a choice, just like you. People, aliens, angels, all creatures. Everyone has a choice in their own evilness or their goodness.”
“What do you look like?”
“Like you but...pale.”
A few chuckles erupted.
“What’s the purpose for trying to get us to turn on each other? What will that accomplish?”
“They want your world, your land, your homes, your bodies. If you turn on each other, and hunt each other, you’ll eventually die out and they will get what they want that much faster. We don’t look at time the same as you, because we’re immortal, until we take these bodies. They’ll wait. As long as they have to.”
“Can they be killed?”
“Only by running them through completely, markers and Lighters, that and burning them. That’s the only way to kill them.”
“Why can you only take bodies of the dead?”
“It wouldn’t be right to take lives to come here and if we come here not in human form, we can’t stay as long and we don’t look exactly like you. You would tell something was off.”
“What’s your favorite color?”
That was definitely Calvin, my favorite 10 year old.
“Mud brown,” Merrick said looking at me smiling, knowing our inside joke about how I described myself, as he must have heard me say that a thousand times.
“Blue. Sky blue,” Jeff answered laughing.
“Hmm. Never thought about it before. What’s yours Calvin?” Ryan asked.
“Yellow.”
“Ok. Mine’s yellow too,” Ryan said smiling, still trying to make an effort with his charge.
“Will more of those things come? Those beast that attacked Sherry?” Margo asked, getting everyone back on track.
I flinched at the memory and Merrick squeezed my hand. Jeff answered this time.
“The Markers, we don’t know. We thought there weren’t anymore of them so...it’s possible there could be, yes, but don’t worry. They only come out at night, for camouflage, and we’ll make sure to always be in by then.”
“What happened to you when you touched it, Merrick?”
I froze. What did they mean what happened? Then I remembered Merrick’s writhing body on the ground, his face twisted in pain after he jumped on it to keep it from taking me away. I looked over at him but he just stared down at the empty pool. Jeff answered for him.
“We can’t touch their skin, and they can’t touch ours. A lot of the times we black out if we do but if nothing else, it leaves a mark on us, kind of like a burn, that’s permanent. It is excruciatingly...painful for us.”
Jeff looked over, suddenly realizing why Merrick had been so quiet about explaining it. My face at the memory of it felt tight and pulled together. I reached under the blanket, pulling his arm out and pushing up his short sleeve. I ran my finger over the huge red mark, taking up almost his whole arm.
“This is from the Marker? When you jumped on it...for me.” I nodded in understanding and also, not understanding. I had no idea the things Merrick would do for me. “Does it hurt?” I asked, my voice breaking, tears threatening.
“Not anymore,” Merrick muttered under his breath, like it didn’t matter.
“It doesn’t hurt for very long after, but the mark where our skin touched theirs will always be there and they’ll have a matching one,” Jeff said, looking at me, trying to soothe my fear of Merrick being in pain because of me.
Merrick glanced down at me. I caught his gaze and he flashed me a weak smile. He reached and slid his fingertips down my cheek.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me,” he whispered.
I saw everyone watching us out of the corner of my eye but I asked anyway and pretended that I didn’t see them.
“You knew it would be like that for you, you knew it would hurt like that, and you still did it.”
He pressed his forehead to mine.
Anything. I would do anything to keep you safe.
My breath caught in my throat. It was true. I found comfort and upset in that thought. I continued to run my fingers over his red arm and bent down to put my head on his shoulder as he rubbed my leg, right above me knee, to comfort me.
“How long can we stay here?” The questions started again and I was grateful for it.
“Well,” Jeff answered, “we all need to make sure our curtains are always pulled to at night. We won’t attract any attention, see how long that gets us.”
I wasn’t the only one not wanting to be alone. Calvin had been shadowing me all night. I felt sorry for Calvin’s mother, not being able to speak to anyone except him. None of us knew any sign language but me. I knew the alphabet but finishing a sentence took longer than just writing it down.
Most everyone has gone to bed. Merrick, Danny, Celeste and I were up lounging in the large purple high back chairs in the sitting room, talking. It was late.
Danny found an old radio in the corner of the office and plugged it up to the intercom system. He was nifty like that. Right then, The Strokes ‘What Ever Happened’ played in the background from the ceiling speakers from the local radio station.
“So anyway,” Celeste continued on her story about how Kay found her. “I was just walking out of school from cheer practice and she walks right up to me and says ‘Come with me if you want to live.’ I laughed so hard at her I almost peed my pants. I mean who says that? It was pretty clear she wasn’t from this planet. Everyone knows who the Terminator is.”
“So you were a cheerleader?” Danny asked and leaned on his elbows closer to her from his seat.
“Yep. And dance squad and gymnastics.” I saw Danny’s eyes bug at the word gymnastics. “I only got a couple years into it though so I wasn’t very good at it, but I can still do a full split.”
I heard Danny make a choked noise and decided to save him the embarrassment of making a fool of himself with any further comments.
“Calvin, come on out.” I could see his silhouette behind the fake palm by the entrance way. He comes and jumps in my lap. I winced just a bit at the jolt in my shoulder. “What’s the mat
ter, little man?” But he was anything but little. He was almost as tall as I was.
“Scared,” he admitted softly.
“You don’t have to be, ya know. There’s lots of people here. Nothing’s gonna happen to you. Want me to come tuck you in?”
He nodded his head up and down and took my hand as I walked him down to his room. I casted one glance over my shoulder to Merrick to see if he was watching and of course he was. I smiled and he smiled too before I turned the corner into Calvin’s room. His mother was sound asleep, thinking he was too.
“You sing to me again, Sherry?”
“Mmmm...” I considered when I really wanted to say no.
“Pleeeeease.”
Oh that pleading face!
“Ok. What do you want to hear?”
“I don’t know anything. I never listened to songs before.”
“What? Really? Ok. Hmm, I think a little Carpenters is in order.”
As he settled in under his blanket and I turned out the lamp, I began to sing softly, probably more like whisper singing, still a twig of self-consciousness there but I pulled through it. For Calvin.
Why do birds suddenly appear
Every time, you are near
Just like me, they long to be
Close to you
Why do stars fall down from the sky
Every time you walk by
Just like me, they long to be
Close to you
On the day that you were born
the angels got together
and decide to create a dream come true.
So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair
and golden starlight in your eyes of blue.
Calvin wasn’t a snorer but I could tell he was out by his soft slow breathing. Poor guy. I couldn’t have imagined seeing a Marker when I was his age and being able to sleep at night. Afterwards, I tucked him in, dragging his legs back onto the bed and easing them under the blanket.
I crept out slowly and pulled the door to. I glanced up and saw that Merrick was waiting for me in the hall, leaning against the wall with his hands in his jean pockets. Smiling and looking every bit of gorgeous and protective...and sneaky.
“That’s nice, what you’re doing for the kid. I really miss hearing you sing,” he said coming to hug me gently around my ribs, clasping his hands together behind my back.
“Well, I’m sure you’ve heard me sing over the years to Danny many times so it doesn’t matter if you heard that or not.” I grinned at him with a mock scowl, thinking what a hypocrite I was because I had gotten so mad at Bobby for doing the same thing, but then sobered. “Calvin is so scared, of the Markers, of all of it. It’d be hard not to be at that age. I’m pretty scared too, actually.”
“You don’t have to be. I’m not gonna let anything else happen to you.”
“I hate to admit that I’m scared, it’s just strange knowing how much everything has changed. There are things out there I never even knew existed. That’s why I don’t want to be alone.”
I tried to keep his gaze while I confessed my silly fears but he got the strangest look on his face.
“So, does that mean that I’m invited to stay with you again tonight?” he asked, so shyly, like he didn’t already know the answer.
Then I realized, maybe he didn’t.
“Every night,” I said as I grabbed his arm.
His look of relief was present as I towed him to my- our room. I didn’t wait for him to make the next move, I knew he was being cautious with me so I reached up on my toes for a kiss. He reacted immediately, hugging me closely to him while he closed the door behind us easily with his foot.
Get Down Tonight
Chapter 13
Merrick and I were taking things slow, that was ok, great even. I’d only really ever been in one real relationship and it didn’t turn out so well. Funny, that relationship was with this same body. It was strange that I wasn’t confused at all, I guess I should’ve been but not once did I want to say Matt instead of Merrick except for the first time, not even from habit. Merrick was so entirely different that to me, this body was someone completely different altogether.
Over the next two weeks, Merrick stayed with me every night. We kissed some and cuddled lots and talked like crazy but that was the extent of it. I was just so content and slept better than I ever had in his overly warm arms.
Under normal circumstances, I would never had allowed such a thing, sleeping with a man, even with nothing else going on but this wasn’t a man. And these circumstances were far from normal.
I think being attacked by a Marker should give me some slack on my rules of conduct, especially since Merrick and I both felt like he was my protector, though I didn’t want to admit it.
He wasn’t supposed to be mine but I let him take the role anyway, never feeling safer than now, knowing I was completely taken care of. He didn’t follow me but kind of shadowed me everywhere I went, hard to explain, it was sweet. Not like a stalker, it was just a complete need to see me safe with his own eyes. After all, he had watched me everyday for years. Old habits die hard. I could understand that.
Sometimes I didn’t even realize he was there, but he couldn’t let me out of his sight for very long. If I didn’t let him stay with me at night, he’d probably wind up sleeping on the floor outside my door. Worrying himself into a tizzy.
I thought about the future too, a lot. Could things ever go back to the way they were? Could we defeat the Lighters and send them packing, get our moon back and start our lives again? Would I go back to the paper? Would Danny, the Special, having done his task go back to being a barista at the Coffee Place?
What about Merrick? What about us? Could I actually ask him to stay if I knew that would mean his eventual death as a human?
Walking through one night on my way from the kitchen I noticed there was a beaten old black piano in the foyer, right near the chairs. I guessed maybe someone used to play for the guest back when this was a motel. I sat down on the bench and tapped a few chords out. The thing had clearly not been used in forever and sounded terribly out of tune and uncared for. I blew on the keys. Dust flew up into my face making me blink to clear my eyes and then I sneezed.
“Bless you.”
I turned to see Merrick leaning against the wall.
“Thanks.”
I turned back to the piano and played the first Ben Folds Five song that came to my head, ‘Narcolepsy’. I saw from the corner of my eye as Merrick sat down on the bench beside me. He watched my fingers with fascination, his eyes dancing from my fingers to my face.
“You’ve always been good at that,” he finally said.
“Have you ever seen anyone else play?”
“No.”
“Then I’m sorry to ruin it for you, but I’m not really that good.” I laughed. “I’m too out of practice. I haven’t played in years. I couldn’t afford a piano at my place and mom made me quit lessons when I was sixteen to get a job.”
“I know. But you’re still the best thing I’ve ever seen.”
I smiled at him and nodded in acknowledgment.
“You wanna try?” I asked him.
“Nah, I just like watching you.”
“Come on,” I said with a mixture of whiny and seductive.
I felt that bold bone more than ever lately. I’d never been bold, I’d never been blunt, but with Merrick... I don’t know if it was because he wasn’t from here or if it was just because I felt so comfortable with him but whatever it was, I felt like a completely different girl around him.
I want to flirt, I want to tease, I want to giggle and be silly. It was like I almost wanted to shock him.
“Here.” I stood up in front of the bench and motioned for him to come. “You can sit behind me and I’ll show you.”
He didn’t put up much of a fight after that and I had to stifle a giggle. He scooted over behind me and I sat in between his legs on the very edge of the front of the bench.
“Do you have
enough room?” he asked, his voice deep.
“Mmhmm,” I answered and felt his hands tentative on my hips as he blew out a long breath into my hair. “Now. Bring your arms over mine and place your fingers on top of mine on the keys.”
He pulled my hair away from my shoulder, over to one side. He placed a small kiss on the back of my neck making me shiver then he put his chin on my shoulder. I turned to look at him and his nose brushed my cheek. He slid his hands up my arms until his hands rested on mine. I turned back to the piano , breathless, and again played ‘Narcolepsy’, but slower.
I pushed the keys and his fingers followed the motion of mine. We sat there like that until the words would come. I hummed them. I knew he’d heard me sing but I just felt weird doing it then.
So there we sat, him pressed against my back, me feeling every contour of him, his arms around me, me sitting between his legs and breathing with him, our chests rising and falling together. Then the song ended.
He didn’t move, neither did I.
“So,” I said after a few seconds that felt like loaded minutes. “How was that? Did you like it?”
His hands left mine to caress up and down my arms. I turned to look at him over my shoulder. He didn’t say anything and his heart beat franticly against my back. One of his hands came up to my cheek. His eyes were full of passion and love, so loud he may as well have been screaming it. He searched my face for something, resistance maybe, but he clearly didn’t find any as his green eyes flashed with something I couldn’t decipher, then he licked his lips and leaned in, closing the scant inch between us.
He took my mouth with his gently but I heard a small grunt escape him and he immediately began pressing harder, insisting on it. His thumb swept across my cheekbone sweetly as his other hand found it’s way back to my hip and squeezed affectionately.
I understood the significance of this. This was his first time to take the lead. Every other time we’ve kissed or done anything really, even ate dinner, it had been at my insistence or prompt. This was all him and he was showing me with his lips and hands that he wanted me and could take the reins to show me and I let him. It was amazing to be lead by someone because they loved you and wanted to show you instead of wanting to dominate you.
