Shed some Light

by Amber Naralim

This was the Edward that Anna loved. The man who saved her. She wanted desperately to love this man. Reese's words rang loud in her ears. She did not want to fear Edward. The truth was she did. And now she didn't just have herself to worry about. Anna had this baby to think about. She might not be jumping for joy about motherhood, but Anna did want to protect him. The thought that kept screaming at her was the only way to do that was to get him as far away from Edward as she could.

  Anna had always been able to read people. See through the masks that people wore. And deep down, she knew what Edward was becoming. He liked the infection too much. Everything he knew was slipping through Edward’s fingers, so he tightened them. He needed control. He wanted to control Ellie. She refused to let him. So he controlled Anna. He would try to control this baby.

  But this. Anna wanted this so much. She wanted this Edward. Wanted it so much she melted in the face of his pretty words. Anna was surprised she would fight so hard for a relationship she knew was crumbling. Anna knew she should run. But she didn't want to leave. Anna didn't want to give up on him. Anna wanted him to be like Reese, like Vincent. She wanted Edward to want to be a man, not a monster.

  Edward laid his lips on hers. She touched her hands to his feverishly warm arms. Anna let him hold her for the first time in weeks. She laid her face against his chest. Edward closed his eyes, listening to the rhythm of their hearts. “I love you,” Edward whispered against her. He felt a stirring, a gentle tap against his stomach.

  Edward’s eyes fluttered open. Words couldn't describe the wonder he felt. The sensation was feather light. The smile that spread across his face was breathtaking. This is what Vincent was talking about. This was what made it worth it. Made the constant worry and dread, a price anyone would gladly pay a thousand times to experience. This tiny sensation was why they were lucky.

  Edward slipped his arm behind her legs, behind her back. He carried her over to the couch and laid her down. Anna laughed at him as he fell to his knees at her side, laying his ear over her stomach. Edward listened to the amazing thumping sound that held him spellbound. He could feel the tiny thing moving against the side of his face. It was incredible. Edward loved this pint-sized thing. He had never seen it, or touched it, and yet he loved it beyond compare. Edward lay there with his eyes closed, concentrating on the minute sensations. A tiny bird flying in its own sky.

  Vincent stood in the shadows of the hall, watching them. Edward's smile was contagious. Anna reached up tentatively and ran her hand through Edward’s long hair. All the fear and dread Vincent had been awash in the last several days, began to melt away. For the first time, he began to hope that Ellie was right. That all of them were going to be okay.

  Life was stronger than the grip that death had upon them. He was happy for Edward. Could that child be enough to save Edward? Could it be enough to save all of them? Vincent hoped beyond everything else that it would. He slipped out the back door, not wanting to disturb that precious moment.

  Reese dropped his head to the side when he saw him. The loud rat-a-tat-tat sound of her gun echoed off the trees. Reese stepped away from her. Ellie dropped the gun a few inches. She smiled brightly when Vincent grabbed her, pulling her into his embrace. Ellie flipped the safety on, handing it grip first to Reese. It needed to be reloaded anyway.

  “Hello, gorgeous,” she said. Ellie loved the look Vincent gave her. She ran her spread fingertips over his face. “Spill.”

  His eyes danced over her. “I'm sorry that I keep underestimating you,” Vincent said, leaning in for a kiss.

  “You're forgiven,” Ellie said with a smile. “Wanna play with my new toy?”

  Vincent gave her his most elegant shrug. Reese slapped the bottom of the newly filled clip in and pulled back on the slide. He handed the Glock to Vincent. Ellie walked around to his back, pressed herself against him. Her arms were too short to mirror his. So instead, she rested them on his hips.

  “Your brother says you can't aim,” Ellie tattled.

  “Does he?” Vincent asked her, but his eyes were all for Reese. Vincent raised the Glock in one hand. Pulling down on the trigger, he emptied the clip into the tree.

  “Okay, seventy years is a long time to get better,” Reese admitted when the dust settled. There was maybe a quarter's width spread between the bullet holes.

  Vincent smiled, shaking his head. “Nah, she's just my good luck charm.” He dropped the gun to his side. “Something about a pretty girl that centers my chi.”

  Ellie walked over to the tree. Her hand out, she let her fingertips glide over the mangled front. “Is there anything you can't do?” she asked, turning to him with a smile.

  “I'm a horrible cook,” Vincent told her in all honesty.

  “Why don't you like guns?” Ellie asked.

  Vincent shrugged. “I like the feel of my claws tearing through flesh better,” he said, looking at the ground.

  “Well, ya have certainly gotten better with them,” Reese said. Taking the Glock back, he gave Vincent a look. “You're faster, stronger, something tells me ya didn't practice much in your cell.”

  “No. Mostly I read. Sometimes Susan would let me paint. I read a lot,” he explained. Ellie slid her arms around him from behind, laying a kiss between his shoulder blades.

  “I've been thinking about what you were saying the other night, Reese,” Ellie said. “I think it's time we started looking into the crazies, hunting them down.” Both of the boys turned to look at her.

  “Are ya sure?” Reese asked.

  Ellie nodded. “We're going to have to find them first,” she said. “Am I allowed to look at Bennet's notes for that, at least?” She gave Vincent a challenging look. “It worries me that you can't track them by scent.” Ellie collected her things from the built-in bench on the deck.

  The tips that Anna gave her worked. Ellie had a few ideas of where to start. She didn't know which fear gripped her heart more, leaving and letting something happen to the others or Vincent and Reese killing Edward. Ellie felt trapped between titanium and razor sharp teeth. Either way, she turned something awful was going to happen to the people she loved.

  Vincent opened the door for her. Ellie walked past him into the house beyond. A small smile crossed her lips when she saw Edward and Anna sitting together on the couch. She looked back at Vincent. He was much more relaxed than he had been this past week. Ellie hated herself for not being able to put the tiny voice that was screaming at her from the back of her head in its place.

  Chapter 46

  Shane laid his mouth against Charlie’s. It was a gentle kiss. “I love you,” he breathed.

  Those words made Charlie smile. She blinked wide eyes up at him. Her hands worked at folding the blankets. Just the look on Shane’s face told her that he wanted to say more. She kept her eyes on his face, a small smile on her mouth. He would break eventually. Shane took in a deep breath.

  “I heard the Wonder Twins and Ellie talking,” he said keeping it conversational.

  “Really?” she asked folding a shirt and laying it down on the counter top Shane had installed over the washer and dryer.

  “They were talking about leaving. Heading out to hunt down the other escapees.”

  She stayed quiet. Charlie had a feeling she knew where this conversation was heading. Even she had been thinking a lot about Edward lately. It wasn't hard to sense that something about him was changing. It was the way he stared at them. It wasn't a hunger. It was something else. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on. But it was bad.

  “I don't want to be here if they aren't here to protect you from him, Charlie. I've seen that look. A lot of the people I put away had that look in their eyes.”

  “Shane, what about Anna? I have to be here for her.”

  Shane sighed. He didn't figure this conversation would get him anywhere. It was hard to hide his annoyance about this. Shane was afraid. He thought he was afraid before. That was nothing compared to this. He took one look at the information that Ellie had been compil
ing. She wasn't just following possible Crazies. She was following the killings around here. He was sure it was Edward.

  After seeing the bloody swath that Vincent cut across the country, Shane knew the earmarks. It wasn't Vincent. And to hear Reese talk about the one that attacked him Shane was pretty sure it wasn't him either. Hell, Reese was sure it wasn't him. He and Shane talked as they worked to fix the damage to the house over the past several months.

  “Just tell me you'll think about it?”

  Charlie took in a deep breath just to let it right back out again. “I'll think about it.”

  “Thank you,” Shane said. He laid another kiss on her mouth and headed out the door. Off to his shed where he could think.

  Charlie blinked at the tears that stung her eyes. She loved it here. She thought of all of them as her family. Charlie loved them all. She understood Shane's fear. She knew why Ellie had to leave. The life they had just begun to build was crumbling all around her. She took in a deep breath, just to blow it back out.

  She heard the tap of Anna's cane on the steps. “Charlie?”

  “Yeah, honey, I'm here.”

  She watched Anna make her way down the basement steps counting beneath her breath the whole way until she stood a few feet in front of Charlie. Her hair was a wild tangle of waves that fell down over the tops of her shoulders. Her stomach protruded beautifully. Anna’s breathing was just a touch labored. She lifted her cane off the floor and clutched it close to her chest.

  “There's no one else here, right?” Anna asked.

  Charlie gave her a confused look, then scanned the steps, and the back deck through the French doors that led up to it. All of them were empty as far as she could tell. Charlie pulled a pair of torn up jeans out of the basket. They were so riddled with holes they should have been thrown away ages ago. She tried that once. Ellie had thrown a fit and fished them out of the garbage. Charlie shook her head at the memory and began folding them.

  “It's just us, sugar. What's on your mind?”

  “I heard you.” Anna blurted out. “Are they really leaving?”

  “Anna, Ellie made you a promise. She will make sure you're safe before she leaves. That girl always keeps her promises.”

  “If they leave are you going to leave too?”

  “Anna,” she began. Charlie paused. The answer was, probably.

  Anna took in a heaving breath, her eyebrows dragging inward. “If you go I want to come with you.”

  “What?”

  “I can't stay here. If they’re gone, I don't want to be alone with him. I love him, Charlie. But he is not like Reese and Vincent. Reese told me about awful things he did, and Reese is still not like that. I can feel it, Charlie. He's changed, and I'm scared of him.”

  “Honey, Edward is going through something very difficult,” she was saying. But Anna interrupted her.

  “I know. I know it's difficult. But it is something that a baby shouldn't be around.” She took in a ragged breath. “At first I was afraid that a security team would come for us. I had a hundred other fears. But now the only fear I have is Edward. I don't want him near my son, Charlie.”

  “Anna,” Charlie said.

  “Please?” She swallowed. “I've been thinking a lot about this, Charlie. I won't stay with you long. I made a call to my old boss John. I told him that I had gotten in trouble on the story. I didn't tell him everything, just that the Foundation was after me. He will take care of me.”

  “You shouldn't have done that, Anna.”

  “I had to do something.”

  Charlie took in a breath full of dread. “I thought you loved Edward?”

  “I did. I loved the man that Vincent killed. He is not that man anymore, Charlie. He tries to pretend. He's not, and you know it.”

  Edward was spinning, and all of them were afraid of him, even Ellie. She hid it better than the rest. Charlie took Anna's hand in hers. A breath fell out of her. Vincent would never let anything happen to them, but if they were gone she knew Anna was right. Charlie had to protect that baby.

  It broke her heart. Charlie loved Lucky. She wanted nothing more than to help Anna take care of him, to watch as he grew. Taking care of that boy was the only thing that gave Charlie a little bit of hope that everything would work out. That they would all be fine. Charlie swallowed past the tightness in her throat.

  “Alright, if that is what you really want. I will talk to Vincent. They will take you to John, is it?”

  “You can't tell him. If Ellie knew-”

  “Sugar, Ellie understands. She out of all of us knows what they are capable of. She will do what's right by you.”

  “You're that sure?”

  “Yes, sweetie, I'm that sure. Ellie promised to protect you. She will protect you.”

  Anna took in a breath through her nose. Her hand lay on her belly. She could feel him squirming, and kicking at her. He was moving so frantically. Anna could not kill the worry that something was wrong with this baby. She was sure he was too strong. Charlie kept assuring her that he was fine, but it did nothing to allay those fears.

  Anna hated the fact that she was afraid of his father. She knew this would happen. She knew that everything would crumble around them. That the ground they stood on would shift again. Anna couldn't live like this anymore. She wasn't strong enough to live this life. Tears sprang to her dead eyes. Suddenly she was worried that Ellie would hate her.

  Anna winced in pain. Charlie saw the look on her face. “Honey, what's wrong?”

  “He's kicking so hard. It hurts,” Anna said through another wince of pain. “You're sure that he's okay?”

  “Anna, all of the tests I’ve run, his ultrasounds. You have a healthy baby boy. He's just fine,” Charlie assured her.

  Ann nodded her head. She puffed up her cheeks and blew the air back out again, chewing on the corner of her mouth. She had been so jumpy lately. Her nerves unbelievably frayed. She wanted to believe that everything was going to be all right. Charlie gave her hand a squeeze.

  “When will you talk to Vincent?”

  “Tonight, after dinner.”

  “All right. I'm going to go upstairs and try to lay down for a while. Try to get him to calm down.” Anna said rubbing her hand over her bulging belly.

  Charlie watched Anna turn and head toward the steps, tears dripping from her eyes. She felt a pang of guilt and sympathy for Edward. He had been through so much. She couldn't blame Anna for her fears, though. She couldn't blame anyone for them. Edward had changed. She truly hoped they could work this out. Charlie had watched them drift apart over these past months. It wasn't something she thought she could fix. Just when they were about to break, Edward would say the right thing, do the right thing. But it never lasted long. Edward had changed. Anna was never satisfied. Sometimes relationships break.

  Anna tapped her cane over the hardwood, counting the steps under her breath. Edward moved silent as death across the floor. The only way she knew he was there was his heat, so he moved carefully away. He didn't want Anna to know that he knew of her malicious little plot. He waited for her to head into their bedroom down the hall and he slipped out the door. Edward took off toward the tree line, slaughtering anything in his sight. That tiny spark kept screaming that all was not lost. He would talk her out of leaving. First, he needed to cool that raging temper before he even considered looking at her.

  His wrath threatened to erupt like a volcano. His sorrow was a deep ocean that almost smothered it. He lost Ellie. He was losing Anna, and she was going to take his son from him. He wouldn't let her. That tiny spark that was still him begged him to relax, to smother that anger. All he had to do was talk to her. Convince her that he had it under control. He did. He had the Beast under control. That's why he killed them. So he could control it, for Anna. She hadn't seen his bad side yet. Everything thing he did, he did for her. And that bitch betrayed him.

  How dare she try to bring his baby sister in on her machinations? Thinking Ellie would take her side over his. They we
re family. Blood. Nothing could destroy their bond. Lucky belonged to him. That was his son. Anna wasn't going to run away, steal his child away from him. Ellie would never help her do that to him. Edward swore he could feel the dagger in his back.

  He couldn't breathe. Edward thought it was going good. It was going great. She’d smiled at him. Let him kiss her. Let him love her. And all the while she had been weaving her wicked little plans. Edward’s guilt about the lies he’d told her vanished. None of them compared to Anna’s schemes. He was blinded by her love. The entire time Edward had known her he was on his knees, supplicating to her. And she would do this!

  The idea that he lost her hit him in the gut. It left him reeling. It left him broken. Left him alone. Without her, he was nothing. Without her, he was lost. He was left spinning in a world he didn’t recognize. Without her, he was drowning in a dark ocean. In the beginning, she was something to strive for. Glittering normal. She was everything he’d lost. She was his way home. He’d finally gotten his bearings. His grip loosened and she slipped away. You can’t live with a foot in two worlds. Ellie tried to tell him.

  All the shame, the revulsion he felt was for Anna. Everything was for her. Edward loved her when she wanted him too. He protected her from that thing. He bled for her, died for her. How could she do this to him? Edward didn't get it. How come Vincent got his happy ever after? Huh? Vincent was just as much a monster as him. Did awful things and yet Ellie forgave him. Ellie accepted him. Ellie loved him despite it. Why couldn't Anna see what he had done for her?

  He had to get her back. Edward wanted her so much. He loved her, couldn't be without her. He would tell her anything, any lie just to get her to stay. Promise her anything, anything at all, if she would only stay with him. Fear makes you say things, do things you don't mean. He was sure that was what happened. Edward would take all the blame, make all the apologies Anna needed to hear.

  The longer he ran. The more bones he shattered. Edward came to the sad realization that his love for her had turned to hate. The fire she lit inside him was slowly eating all his thoughts of love for her. Tearing the flesh away from the lies Edward had been telling himself. Opening his eyes to the tapestry he had woven to let himself feel normal. It was all unraveling before his eyes, and he was left holding only one tenuous thread. That baby was his tether to this world.