by Jana Janeway
Craddock was set to answer, but as he opened his mouth to do so, Marcy cut him off.
“It’s a stress reliever, and he’s obviously stressed.” She then handed the two packets over to Craddock with a wink.
Ashamed, Craddock took them and dropped his hand. ‘I don’t have to take it.’
‘You don’t have to, but you can. Ignore Shea. He’s just being nosey.’
‘You don’t mind?’
‘No. I know how you feel about it. I know how careful you are with it. If you feel you need it, then you must really need it.’
‘I don’t need it so much as want it.’
Carefully, with effort, Jessica pushed out of her chair, standing, then touched Craddock’s chin lightly. Able to do so without words or thoughts, she released him from his guilt with just a meaningful look as their eyes met. Grateful for her understanding, he brushed the back of his fingers across her cheek.
After allowing his hand to fall away, he turned to face Jeramey, silently pushing the note Jessica had written earlier towards him.
“Consider it taken care of,” Jeramey said with an upnod; Craddock returned the gesture, then flanked Jessica to help her back to their room.
Once there, after helping her onto the bed, he climbed in and produced the two saccharin packets from his pocket. Pinching the edges, he shook them both to settle the contents, then ripped the corner off one and handed it over to Jessica. When he only stared down at his own, she waited to take hers.
‘Craddock? What’s wrong?’
‘I hate myself for wanting this.’
‘Don’t. Over the past year, the Registry has offered it to us how many times? Who was it who always said no?’
‘And here I go running to it now.’
When he sighed heavily, Jessica snagged the unopened packet from his hand and passed him hers. ‘Take it. You deserve a few hours of calm, too. If a little of this will help with that…’
‘But how many times do I do this and rationalize it?’
‘Take it,’ she repeated. Ripping the corner off of hers, she dumped the contents onto her tongue.
He closed his eyes, in shame and frustration, and followed her lead. As soon as the deed was done, he crumpled the small pink paper and threw it to the floor, then shifted and gathered Jessica into his arms.
‘Why was it suddenly okay a while ago, and now it’s not again? What’s making you flip-flop now, after all this time?’
‘I don’t know.' That half truth was as confusing to him as it was to her.
‘I don’t think that’s true,’ she countered, though she seemed uncertain. There didn’t appear to be a wall, but for some reason, she couldn’t latch on to his feelings about this specific subject. Like when a physical object is just out of reach… she could put a finger on it, but couldn’t grip it.
‘Please don’t ask me to explain things right now,’ he asked of her. ‘I can’t wrap my brain around it, and in about ten minutes, I won’t be able to wrap it around anything.’
‘You were going to explain things before,’ she reminded him.
‘I need time to get my thoughts together. You can’t read them, can you?’
‘About this? No. Why is that?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe because I don’t fully understand it?’
‘What’s to understand? You’re feeling guilt-ridden about wanting it because of what happened to your father.’
His temper surged. ‘I know what it can do, yet here I am, taking it and giving it to my pregnant wife!’
‘It won’t hurt him,’ she assured him. ‘The only thing we need to be cautious about, really, is becoming addicted. Kinda hard to do, when we barely take it once a year.’
‘This is the last time we do it,’ he told her firmly. ‘I promised you a year ago I would stop, and I’m not okay with breaking that promise.’
‘Is that part of why you’re so upset? You feel like you’re breaking your promise to me?’
‘I don’t know.’ He shrugged as he pulled her tighter to him. ‘Maybe.’
‘I think it is. But you’re not; breaking your promise to me, I mean. I told you to take it.’
‘You wouldn’t have, if I hadn’t asked for it.’
‘I didn’t know you wanted it. Now I do.’
He huffed dramatically. ‘I shouldn’t want it. It’s evil. It destroys lives. If I ask for it again, tell me no.’
‘Are you going to tell me no if I ask for it again?’
‘Yes. We can’t escape from our problems this way. My dad escaped from his homosexuality this way – from his unfulfilling life – and it killed him. I can’t see that happen again. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy, let alone someone I love more than anything or anyone else on this planet. I won’t leave you to pick up the pieces, because I’ve killed myself doing something so stupid and so avoidable.’
That was the root of the problem, Jessica decided. The fog that shrouded his thoughts on the issue had finally cleared, allowing her to fully read him again. For that to have happened, he must have realized it, too.
‘Thank you for opening up to me. I know it was hard for you to.’
‘It’s not hard to share with you. It was just hard to figure out my own head.’
‘Now that you have, rest it. Rocks need rest, too.’
The saccharin was starting to take effect. His slight smirk turned into a full-blown smile.
Chapter Nineteen
A somewhat panicked voice in her ear caused Jessica to startle awake. The abrupt action of leaving his arms to sit up brought Craddock with her a moment later.
“Hurry,” was all Bibi said as she waved for them to follow her.
Still sluggish from sleepiness, and from the saccharin they had taken hours before, Craddock helped Jessica to stand, assisting her as they made their way to the kitchen as quickly as they could, with Bibi leading the way.
“I’m not sure! I think so, but I’m just… I’m not sure!”
Jessica heard Shea’s frustrated words before she even entered the room. “What’s going on?”
As Craddock shook his head, Bibi explained, “We got the picture mail, but your brother can’t be sure it’s them.”
Heart pounding, knees growing weak, Jessica struggled to keep standing. If not for Craddock, who tightened his grip around her when he felt her legs start to buckle, she would have collapsed to the floor.
‘It’s not them! Shea would recognize them!’
‘Jess, it’s been a year since you’ve seen them. People change over time.’
As they stepped through the swinging door behind Bibi, the group that was huddled around Shea turned to face them. They all looked worried, and Shea seemed absolutely unhinged.
“Jess!” He nearly leapt towards his sister. “I can’t— I don’t know if it’s them!” He started to give her the phone but stopped short, now seemingly hesitant. “Brace yourself. This won’t be easy to see.”
Finding a place of inner strength, though her outer strength was still shaky, she nodded her readiness and held out her hand.
‘Hold me. Don’t let me fall.’
With his arm still snaked around her waist, Craddock pulled her tighter against him. ‘I have you.’
Steeling her nerves the best she could, Jessica took in a deep breath, held it, and then she brought the phone up into her line of vision. The people pictured on the small screen were pale and gaunt, and seemed scared to death, but they were definitely her parents.
An answer was needed, but as the tears welled in Jessica’s eyes, and then fell to her cheeks, no one felt comfortable enough to press for one. Finally, Marcy breached the silence.
“Is it them?”
Realizing that she was unable to do so, Craddock answered for her, as he carefully removed the phone from her trembling hand. “It’s them.”
Elsa plucked her cell from Craddock’s possession when he extended it towards her. “How sure is she?” she asked delicately.
The crying came hard
er then, which prompted Craddock to gather Jessica into his arms. “She’s sure,” he insisted.
Emotions geared higher as Shea and Stacy joined Craddock and Jessica, who were then followed by Bibi and Josiah. The six-person group hug that formed was as much for the giving of comfort as for receiving, since they were all coping and grieving at different levels.
Jessica and Shea were distressed for obvious reasons. Their parents looked like they were close to death. Craddock and Stacy were mostly concerned about their spouses, though they were both deeply empathetic to the hell the Mitchell parents had clearly endured. Never having known Zack and Jill Mitchell personally, Bibi and Josiah cared simply because of their compassionate nature.
They all ignored the familiar beeping sounds as Elsa composed the responding text message.
“They looked so…” Jessica’s whimpered words trailed off, unable to complete the sentence.
“Frail,” Shea said, finishing it for her, “and like they haven’t slept in a year.”
Inwardly, Craddock was irritated by Shea’s observation, especially when Jessica started sobbing, but he held his tongue. Shea was going through the same emotional hell Jessica was, and likely spoke without thinking.
Negative comments were a bad way to go, what with tensions being at the extreme, so Craddock decided to steer the conversation away from that and focus on the positive.
“At least they didn’t try to pass off decoys. That makes all this much easier.”
‘Maybe I should make them something to eat… for when they get here.’
‘You’re in no condition to cook. You shouldn’t even be standing.’
Gasping suddenly, Jessica pushed away from the others and sought out Marcy. “Did Jeramey give the note to my parents?”
With the group no longer connected and entwined, Craddock took that opportunity to slowly move and direct Jessica into a chair at the table.
“There was no confirmation of that,” Marcy answered, “but he checked three times to be sure he had it before he left. He won’t forget to give it to them.”
Jessica would later learn that Marcy was right; Jeramey had given the note she’d written to her parents, but after the picture had been taken. Before then, as the wait dragged on into what seemed like an eternity, the conversation remained sparse.
Nobody brought up the painfully obvious, since doing so would likely send Jessica into another crying jag. Wanting to avoid that, and with everyone essentially on pins and needles anyway, only inane things were discussed, like the weather, and how Jeramey had complained that the ski masks were itchy.
That voiced complaint was what alerted those in the kitchen to the fact that the five men had finally returned with the rescued.
“I swear they put itching powder in mine!”
Upon hearing Jeramey’s humor-filled tone, everyone startled and, at various speeds, made their way into the living room. Jessica and Craddock were last, though she moved as quickly as she could with her injury, with Craddock’s help.
Jeramey and Wade were the first ones into the house, leading the way. They seemed to be in good spirits, even bantering with each other like two guys back from a baseball game. The last three in were Brett, Gaige, and Ike. They seemed okay, but were certainly more somber than Jeramey and Wade. In the middle of the five men were the Mitchell parents.
The reunion was an emotional one, as they all knew it would be. Those not directly involved stayed quiet and out of the way, though Craddock did remain at the ready to help Jessica if need be.
It was a hard scene to watch. The siblings clung to their parents, Jessica to their mother, Shea to their father, and then they switched, both children offering apologies for not having rescued them sooner.
“We found out only days ago,” Shea whispered remorsefully.
“They told us you were dead,” Jessica added, also in a whisper.
“We know, princess.” Zack’s voice was soft; forgiving and consoling.
Shock registered on Jessica’s face as she pulled away from her father’s embrace. “You know?” Zack nodded, looking drained and way beyond his fifty-one years. “How? How do you know?”
“The girl delivering our food for a while, she slipped us a note.” He sounded distant. Weak.
“Who was she? Did you catch a name? What did the note say?”
Craddock didn’t really know the person asking the questions, but even if he had, he would have responded in the same way. “We should wait before bombarding them with questions. They need time to rest and recover.”
In full agreement, Shea ushered his parents towards the couch.
As they all settled in, Jessica doing so with Craddock’s assistance – he then knelt beside her on the floor – she asked, “Maybe they have questions for us?”
In her line of thinking, it would make the inevitable explaining of things that much easier to approach. She wasn’t even sure of where to begin.
Her mother seemed to have the same thought. “I don’t know what to ask first.”
“We were able to piece together some of it, through the months,” Zack said, “but most of it made no sense.”
“What did you piece together?” Craddock asked, knowing Jessica was ready to pose the same question.
“We figured it was some kind of mob deal,” Zack replied.
“It felt like we were in protective custody or something.” Jill looked to her daughter to confirm and fill in the blanks.
“Not exactly.” Jessica’s gaze shifted over to Craddock. ‘How do I explain this?’
‘Do you want me to try?’
Hesitating, Jessica eventually nodded.
“They’re not a mob, though I guess that’s a pretty close comparison. What they are is an organization with a great deal of power. Power they like to throw around to further their own agendas.”
“They wanted you out of the way,” Wade interjected, attempting to be a little more straightforward.
A deeper level of confusion altered Zack’s expression. “Out of the way of what?”
“They were orchestrating the disappearance of your kids, and didn’t want you interfering with that.”
“Why did you need to disappear?” Jill asked her daughter directly.
“We didn’t need to,” Jessica answered, “they just wanted us to.”
“Why?” Zack asked. “Were you in some kind of trouble?”
Jessica sighed before replying. “Not exactly.”
Craddock could sense her frustration elevating. To take the pressure off of her, he placed his hand on her knee, indicating he would answer. “She wasn’t in trouble, but we didn’t know that at the time. They lied to us. Made us believe we were being chased, and in danger.”
“What did they do that for?” Jill asked.
“And who’s they?” Zack added.
“The Registry,” Wade answered. “And they did it because they wanted them – Jessica specifically – to depend on them.” Knowing what the next question would be before it was even posed, he added, “Because Jessica is… valuable. To them.”
Jill’s eyebrows arched. “Why? Why valuable?”
“This is where it gets complicated,” Shea said, looking to his sister. How he responded when first hearing about Mengliads still bothered him. It seemed totally absurd, so of course he didn’t believe Jessica when she had told him about it.
Assuming she had been brainwashed by her new friends, Shea had instantly gone into angry, skeptical, big brother mode. That, in turn, earned him the reputation of being difficult, and a hothead, which was something he was striving to fix. Maybe if he helped his parents understand and cope with what was about to be shared, it would assist him as well.
Jessica seemed willing to let him try. Her eyes, as well as her slight nod, expressed that.
“She’s valuable to them,” Shea began, “because something happened to her a year ago. Something that is… rare.”
“Did she witness a crime or something?” Jill was obviously confuse
d, and struggling to follow.
“No, Mom.” Frustrated, deciding there was no easy way to broach it, Shea opted for a more direct approach. “Do you ever remember Nonny, or Aunt Penny, using the term ‘Mengliad’?”
Jill stared back at her son, eyes widening. She clearly knew the word, or had at least heard it before. “When we were kids, Penny told me she was Mengliad. She teased me about it, like she was better than me, because I was just Human. When I told your Nonny what she said, she was grounded. She never brought it up again after that. How do you know the word?”
Shea glanced around the room before answering. “Except for Stacy, and you and Dad, everyone in this room is Mengliad. Jess and I converted a year ago. For Jess, it was an accident. I did it on purpose, after she told me what had happened to her.”
“Sounds like a cult.” Zack’s expression was expectant, like he was just waiting for Shea to confirm.
“We’re not a cult,” Craddock said. “We’re just people, like you.”
“It’s not a religion,” Shea continued, “or a spiritual viewpoint. Mengliads are beings, like Humans, though there are several differences. Trust me,” he added, “I know how crazy this sounds. I didn’t believe it, either, when Jess first told me.”
“Oh, no, this doesn’t sound crazy at all,” Jill said, but with a sarcastic tone. Then she asked similarly, “Did your Aunt Penny put you up to this?”
Shea sighed deeply. “No, Mom. I haven’t heard from Aunt Penny in years! Even if we had managed to get a hold of her again, which we haven’t, why would I go along with any kind of weird scheme she might have? What would I have to gain by it?”
“I don’t think that’s what’s going on here.” Zack’s gaze was fixed on Jessica. “What does the Mengliad thing have to do with us being locked in that house for the last year?”
“Accidental conversion is rare,” she explained; her father was definitely more apt to listen. “There were only nine proven reported cases of it… until me. I’m number ten.”
“Because it is so rare,” Wade chimed in, “the Registry has taken an almost aggressive stance with it. They essentially imprisoned Jessica, too, like they did you. She appeared to have some freedom, but in truth, that wasn’t entirely true. Same with Shea.”
