Take My Breath Away

by Lari Smythe

  Chapter 2

  I wrapped up in the sleeping bag to stay warm since we were now driving without a passengers door not to mention the hole in the side curtain where Izzy had been ejected. We hadn't gone far when Izzy pulled into the parking lot of a secluded hotel. I tried to get her to keep going, but she insisted we get the door fixed. As luck would have it, there was a four wheelin' shop across the street from the hotel. Of course it was the middle of the night, so the place was closed.

  I checked into the hotel as a single to avoid any unnecessary scrutiny. That was the last thing we needed. Even so, the night clerk looked wary as he handed me the keys—guess it was my age. I pulled around to the far end of the building and climbed the rickety stairs to our room on the second floor. Naturally, Izzy was waiting for me. We quickly slipped inside and I closed the drapes before turning on the light.

  "Problem?" Izzy asked.

  "Nah, clerk seemed a little nosey that's all." I tossed my backpack on the bed.

  "I'm sorry about what happened back there with your father but—"

  "It's not like you had any choice. It just sucks—after all this time, it was hard to see him like that—never in a million years—"

  "Would the shark have been any better?"

  "Yeah, I think so."

  "Why?" Her voice held apprehension.

  "At least he wouldn't have killed anyone. He did kill people, right?"

  She just shrugged.

  "The fact that he probably killed someone's mother, or father, or even some kid makes it worse."

  "You should get cleaned up," Izzy said, obviously trying to change the subject. "You're filthy."

  "Great, real picker upper there," I pouted. Before I could blink, Izzy was standing in front of me, leaning into me, her forehead pressed against my chest.

  "I wasn't complaining, I just thought you'd sleep better if you showered." She pulled my shirttails out of my pants and then slowly slid her hands up my sides under the shirt. One by one, the buttons popped, bounced off the mirror and clattered across the floor. "What?" she cooed at my panting breath.

  I locked her in my arms and kissed her.

  After a time, she forced me back to arms length. "Guess you should make that a cold shower." She laughed.

  "Yeah, thanks for that—you're such a tease." I headed for the bathroom, but stopped when I heard the front door open.

  "I'll be back," she comforted.

  "I thought you didn't need to hunt for awhile?"

  "I don't, I was just going to 'clean up' a little."

  I glanced back at the bathroom. "Shower's big enough for two."

  Izzy faked alarm. "Oh, my, what would Elizabeth think, me carrying on like some kind of whore?"

  "Okay. I get it. Not impressed so much by the measly human."

  "That's not it at all," she said, returning to my side. She couldn't blush, but she really looked embarrassed. "I, uh, just need some fresh air." She pursed her lips.

  "Your version of a cold shower?"

  She gave me a quick peck on the lips and was gone. I panicked for a second, afraid she wasn't coming back, but it was just my stupid human anxiety—I mean after all, no way I deserved her.

  Sure enough, Izzy was back when I came out of the bathroom. She fended off my advances—hey, I'm only human—and finally agreed to lie next to me if I would go to sleep. I agreed although no way I was getting any sleep. Izzy looked totally hot and well, to say I was aroused would be an understatement.

  We talked for awhile, not about anything important, school, what was going through the rumor mill about our mid-term disappearing act, and what we were going to do when we got home. The next thing I know, I'm in Never-Never Land.

  I should have been fantasizing about Izzy, but I couldn't get the image of my dad killing people out of my head. Izzy pretended she didn't know, but from what I knew about her hunting ritual I figured Dad must have killed quite a few people. The fact that Izzy avoided the subject probably meant it was even worse than I imagined. The sad thing—I could see my dad like that—he had a mean streak. He kept it under control, but every once in a while it would surface. There was this one hunting trip. He missed the shot—oh he hit the dear, but not the clean, through the heart dead before it hit the ground kill shot. He was so angry he unloaded the entire clip into the animal. Funny thing about that dear, it was the biggest buck he ever bagged, but he didn't have it mounted. Heck, he didn't even keep the antlers. He just couldn't deal with imperfection.

  As consciousness began to creep back in, I suddenly realized I was alone and bolted up in bed.

  "Bad dream?" Izzy asked, in her smooth as silk, melodic voice.

  "Something like that."

  "Jason, we have to get something straight. You can't freak out every time I'm not with you."

  "I know, it's just—"

  "I left you, I know. I had a different agenda then, things are different now."

  "So what's your new agenda?"

  "Honestly, I don't know."

  My shoulders drooped.

  "Whatever it is, I'm certain you're part of it. The one thing I'm sure about is that in both my lives, you are the best thing that ever happened to me."

  "I don't know what to say, there's no way I can live up to—"

  "Stop right there mister. You are sweeter, more masculine than I could have ever imagined, so don't let that silly I'm only human thing make you feel any less of a man. Make no mistake, I'm totally in love with you."

  Just then, the fan on the heater unit kicked on causing the drapes to billow out into the room. When they parted and fell back toward the wall, a beam of morning sunlight lit Izzy's face. The room was suddenly filled with a kaleidoscope of colored lights.

  "Oh my God."

  "I guess you've never seen that."

  "No, but it explains a few things."

  "Really, like what?"

  "Like maybe that time in school, in the hallway, when you wouldn't go out the front door. I was such an as—wait a minute, I've seen you in the sunlight and you never—shimmered."

  "Makeup—well, spray paint actually."

  "You paint yourself?"

  "Kind of my version of a spray tan, but just when I might be in the sun, and only the exposed skin—it's really quite annoying."

  I shook my head in amazement as the curtain billowed out again and Izzy was bathed in another beam of sunlight. The spectacle was cut short when Izzy flipped off the fan.

  "Enough gawking at the freak."

  "That wasn't gawking," I corrected. "That was awe."

  "Whatever," she huffed. "We should get ready."

  "Uh, hello, the sun?"

  Izzy nodded toward the dresser. "Sweatshirt, gloves, sunglasses and a scarf. That ought to cover it." She smiled amused at her cleverness.

  "What about the Jeep?"

  "See for yourself." Izzy said, pulling back the drapes, but staying out of the sunlight.

  Sure enough, the door had been replaced and the side curtain repaired. "A little midnight requisition?" I teased.

  "I didn't steal anything, I just used their tools."

  "So you're a mechanic, now?"

  "Tink taught me a little."

  "Is there anything you can't do?"

  "Live."

  That caught me off guard. To say she was beautiful didn't do her justice, to say she was my whole world didn't come close to describing how I felt about her, but she had a point, she wasn't alive in the normal since of the word. There was nothing I could say to change that and my hesitation probably spoke volumes, but it didn't matter to me, it truly didn't matter.

  "Well," I started, "the only way I know to fix that is to make me like you."

  She shook her head, her expression somewhere between anger and disappointment. "You want to be dead?"

  "No! You're not dead—okay we don't have a word to describe your existence, but that isn't important. What's important is us. I want to be with you—like you—forever."

  "You have no idea
what you're saying."

  "I'm saying I love you—that I want to be with you forever."

  "How about we just start with getting you home?"

  "Us—getting us home."