"You know." John directed partly at Samuel, but more towards himself. "Maybe if I had been a little faster." He thought aloud. "Maybe if I had paid more attention."
Meredith suddenly pulled her hands away from Aerin's chest. She stood quickly and made her way around the side of the car before stopping in front of John.
"Stop talking about her like she's a lost cause!" She demanded.
Looking up, John could see what he had done. His words had struck Meredith in a way he hadn’t intended. Despite her best efforts to suppress them, Meredith was on the verge of tears. As they welled up and ran down her cheeks, John realized the terrible mistake he had made.
"Meredith, I didn't..." He tried to fix what he had done. "I didn't mean to-"
His words were cut off as Meredith slapped him across the face suddenly. She turned and stormed back over to where Aerin was before she dropped to her knees and slammed her hands against the floor. A white bubble rose up and surrounded them both. With only John and Samuel left, the room fell silent once more. John slid back further against the Charger as he groaned again. He felt small, incredibly small. Making a girl cry was a terrible thing, even for Meredith. Especially Meredith.
"Don't worry about her." Samuel had stood from his chair and made his way over to John. He leaned against the Charger and slowly slid down until he came to rest on the floor. "She'll be fine." He paused for a moment as he searched for the right words. "She's just very... passionate about Aerin."
"I..." John tried to speak. "I just-"
"Listen, John." Samuel cut him off. "You're a good man, and a great Slayer." He praised before his tone shifted. "Believe me when I say this, Irileth is on a completely different level. I'm not sure I would've seen it coming myself." He assured.
"You could have blocked it." John refuted. "If... If I wasn't so broken." He looked down at his hands. "If I could use magic like you then-"
"Stop that line of thinking right now." Samuel ordered. "You cannot dwell on what could have been. If we only focus on the could haves and should haves, we’ll never move forward."
"I know, it’s just… I guess you're right." John let his head fall back against the side of the Charger as he sighed. “I just wish I could have done something.”
"I know." Samuel closed his eyes and leaned back against the Charger as well. “And I am right.” He stated with confidence. "I had to learn the same lesson when I was your age."
"My age?" John repeated. He winced as he turned toward Samuel. "You know, you don't really look that much older than me."
"Slayers don't exactly age normally." Samuel stated with a smile. "Now cheer up." He said as he patted John lightly with his good hand. "Meredith will be out in no time and she'll-"
Samuel cut himself short as the barrier collapsed beside them. Meredith stood and dusted her dress off before walking over and stopping before John and Samuel. There were no signs of tears on her face anymore, no puffy cheeks or reddened eyes, in fact her disposition had changed dramatically from moments before; Samuel had been right about her. She held a hand out towards John before speaking.
"Your turn."
"My turn?" John echoed her words.
"You still have a hole in your belly." Meredith observed with a bit of a sarcastic smile. "You don't want to bleed out, do you?"
"No." John answered. "No I do not."
Samuel did his best to help John to his feet. Sitting forward put a terrible strain on his stomach that burned in all the wrong places. He forced himself to his feet and hobbled behind Meredith over to where Aerin was laying on the floor. She was still, and from what John could see, her breathing was soft. She didn't appear to be in any pain, but then again she looked to be asleep. Meredith instructed him to lie down beside her and he did so slowly. The concrete floor felt harder laying down on it than it had when he was sitting. His back popped many times as he lay back before he finally relaxed. Meredith kneeled down beside him and pulled up his shirt, revealing his blood-stained stomach.
"This may sting a bit." She warned as her hands hovered just above his skin.
A soft pulse emanated from her palms as she began her work. John could feel bits of flesh tear as Meredith reopened the wound. He gritted his teeth and furrowed his brow at the sharp pain spreading throughout his stomach. A strange invasive feeling filled him as she closed the hole. It was similar to the same way when Meredith would scan him before, but much more painful. Finally, after an agonizing few minutes, the feeling subsided. John glanced forward to see the hole in his stomach had been completely shut and fresh skin had grown in its place.
"Is that it?" He asked sitting forward, surprised at the lack of pain as he moved.
"Yep, all done." Meredith answered with a smile. "You're lucky you're taller than her." She glanced over to Aerin. "The ice didn't hit anything important for you."
"How is she?" John asked.
"Well..." Meredith slid over closer to Aerin. "She's stable..." She stated as she ran her fingers through Aerin's hair. "But..."
"But what?"
"She fell into a mental shock." Meredith said with a worried look. "The ice did something to her heart and now she's stuck."
"What do you mean?" John didn't quite follow.
"She's locked away inside, somewhere in here." Meredith pointed to Aerin's head. “It’s one of Irileth’s tricks…”
"When will she wake up?" John asked. A sinking feeling was beginning to fill his chest as he gazed down to his partner.
"Depends on how badly she wants to." Meredith said with a sigh. "Could be a few minutes, or a day, or a few weeks." She paused as she thought. "Maybe even longer."
"You... You're kidding right?" John asked in desperation. "There's nothing you can do?"
"There is a way." Meredith quickly assured. "But I'm going to need your help."
"I'll do anything." John stated, eliciting a smile from the small girl beside him.
"Okay then, just lay back down and close your eyes." She instructed before turning towards Samuel. "Be back in a minute, Sammy."
"I'll be here." Samuel said with a wave.
John lowered himself back down onto the concrete; the effort was much easier without a hole in his stomach. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. Meredith placed her hands on the ground and a white bubble rose up to surround them, the same kind that she had used earlier. John felt a sense of vertigo envelop him as he entered the barrier and he felt like he was falling in multiple directions at the same time. Finally, he opened his eyes to see a white abyss that surrounded them. Dozens of clocks of all shapes and sizes held suspended in the white sky above. John couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia at the sight.
"I've seen this before." He said. His mind went back to a time that felt ages old. Back when he first met the girl that changed his life.
"This? It's a time barrier." Meredith stated. "In here, we can take as long as we need. Now take her hand."
John did as instructed. He reached over and took hold of Aerin's hand. It was soft to the touch, and slightly cold. He gripped it firmly as he felt Meredith's small fingers tracing something on his forehead. Suddenly, as she pressed her thumb down between his eyebrows, he felt as though his consciousness was ripped from his body. His senses disappeared; sight, sound, touch, smell, taste, they were all gone. He felt his physical body fade away as he became something else. It was a wild ride, like he was sailing down rapids without a paddle, completely at the mercy of the flow.
Then, all was still. Opening his eyes, he found himself in another white room. He was standing, which struck him as odd as he had just been on the floor. Looking up, he could see that something was different; no clocks adorned the ceiling of this dimension. He was in a new realm.
"Hello?" John called out, but there was no response. His voice seemed to echo into the distance forever. "Hello?!" He shouted. Once again his voice echoed away from him. "Meredith!"
"You don't have to shout."
Meredith's voice came from behind Jo
hn suddenly and made his heart nearly jump out of his chest. He spun around quickly to see the small girl standing behind him in a place he had just looked.
"God." He brought his hand up to his chest. "Where are we?"
"Aerin's mind." Meredith answered.
"Her mind?"
"Her memories to be exact." She clarified. "I traced her here."
"Memories." John repeated. He glanced around the white abyss once more, but it was still just that, a white abyss. "But there's nothing here." He said.
"You just aren't looking hard enough." Meredith said with a smile.
John raised an eyebrow at her words. He thought for a moment and turned to look again. He was standing face to face with a large bookcase that hadn't been there a moment ago. It was about six feet tall and stretched out as far as he could see. He instinctively took a step back from the sudden appearance as his heart raced in his chest.
"Woah." He managed to say, much to Meredith's delight. "These… are her memories?"
"Yep." Meredith said as she walked up to the shelf and retrieved a dusty old book. She quickly thumbed through the pages with a laugh before returning it to its place. "Everything is here since before she can remember, given a physical form that we can interact with."
"There's..." John paused as his gaze wandered down the shelves. "So many."
"There are." Meredith said in agreement. "She has lived quite a life." She said with a sigh. "In comparison..."
Meredith motioned beside her. John looked over to see that another, much smaller, bookshelf had appeared. He walked over to it and knelt down before it. Running his fingers across the covers of the books, he was filled with an odd sense of familiarity. Each book looked to be in relatively good condition, compared to the ones he had seen on Aerin's shelf.
"Is this...?" He asked.
"It is." Meredith confirmed his suspicion. "These are yours."
"Wow." John said in near disbelief. There were only about 20 or so books lining his small shelf, compared to the thousands he had just seen. Finally, he felt he had an answer to a suspicion he had always had, but never voiced. "Either I haven't lived at all... or she's really lived a lot."
"It's the latter." Meredith answered. "How much do you know about Aerin?"
"Honestly?" John said as he stood back up. "Any time she came up in conversation, she'd change the subject."
"I see." Meredith turned toward the bookshelf and made a swiping motion with her hand. The shelves began to rapidly move toward the left at high speeds as the end came into view. The shelf slowed to a stop, putting the second to last case directly in front of Meredith. She reached forward and pulled a very dusty book from the shelf. "I guess we should start at the beginning." She said as she blew the dust from the worn cover.
"The beginning?" John repeated.
"Where it all started."
Meredith handed the book to John. He took hold of it and was once again filled with a sense of familiarity. He couldn't explain it, but the book felt like Aerin. It was soft to the touch, despite the many wears and flaws that marred its cover, and was slightly cold yet strangely warm at the same time. He opened the book, and as he did it came to life. The pages began to turn incredibly fast before him, painting a scene. He felt his senses begin to fade again as his mind wandered. It was plucked from his body and he felt like he was moving very fast. Finally, it all came to a stop.
Chapter Sixteen
The rooster’s loud crowing pulled Aerin away from any more sleep she’d hoped for. She’d been lying in bed awake for the last hour or so, hoping to drift away again, but that wouldn’t be the case. She raised forward and stretched, letting out a long sleepy yawn as the straw bed shifted beneath her weight. Beams of early morning sunlight rolled in on a cool breeze through the many cracks in the wall beside her. The chilly air brushed against her, easily passing through her nightgown, sending shivers down her back as she covered herself in the thick quilt. She felt good. The days prior she had been laid up in bed, sick as a dog. But the sickness had finally passed, and with that came an able body and an able body meant work. Aerin sighed at the thought, she hated working around the house, but as she was still unmarried, it was what was expected of her. She glanced out the crack in the board beside her bed and saw that the sun was barely above the horizon. Perhaps, if she was sneaky enough, she could avoid her chores for a while. After all, since she had been sick, it had been a few days since she saw him last. Slowly a plan began to form in that little head of hers.
Quickly she jumped from her bed and traded her nightgown for a dress folded neatly on the table beside her. It was a simple white dress with a tattered blue apron that her mother had made her when she was younger. She looked it over and smiled before putting it on and tying it tight. Carefully she crept to her door and opened it as quietly as she could, and as she did a pleasant feeling of warmth enveloped her. Rolling in like a blanket that wrapped round her, she felt her eyelids grow heavy, but she pressed on. She could see her mother over by the fire, her back to Aerin as she stirred away at a large pot that hung from the mantle. If Aerin was quiet, she could just sneak past and make it out the door before her mother could catch her. As she took her first step, a terribly loud creak filled the room as the floorboard outside of her door gave her away.
“Aerin?” Her mother spoke as she turned round. Abandoning the large pot, she rushed over to greet the younger girl. “Are you alright? How are you feeling?” She pressed her hand to Aerin’s forehead. “Your fever’s gone. Are you feeling okay enough to walk?”
“I’m fine, Ma.” Aerin assured with a forced smile. She glanced down at the floorboard and cursed its existence. “Really, I’m alright. I’m all better now…”
“Thank goodness…” Her mother sighed with relief. “You gave us quite the scare! You feel up to some chores then?”
Aerin didn't particularly feel up to them, in fact she never did, but she did need to carry her own weight. And her mother and father had already been shouldering her portions for the last few days.
"Yeah, I think so." She answered.
"Then head outside and fetch a bucket of milk." Her mother said. "Do that and we can have breakfast, I'm making stew." Her mother smiled knowing how much Aerin enjoyed her cooking.
"Okay!" Despite the fact that her plan had been ruined, the prospect of her favorite meal made things all better.
"Oh, Aerin!" Her mother called out, stopping her before she could make it out the door. "Watch out, cow's in a bit of a mood today."
"Isn't she always?" Aerin said with a smile as she headed outside.
The cold morning air, now unfiltered by the warmth of the house, sent chills down Aerin's back. Goosebumps ran the length of her arms as she stretched into a loud yawn. The sun that sat high on the horizon was terribly bright and so Aerin had to shield her eyes in order to see where she was going. The pathway led down the hill towards the barn. Aerin had to walk carefully as the stone path was still slick from the rain that had fallen the day before. Her eyes adjusted to the light and she lowered her hand before taking in her surroundings. The sky was blue, nary a cloud to be seen over the fields in the distance. She carefully made her way around the side of the house towards the barn.
Up ahead, an elderly man nearing his forties stood hunched over a table beside the barn. With hammer in hand, he drove a nail into a large saddle that sat on the table. He worked diligently, unaware of his surroundings as Aerin approached.
"Mornin', Pa!"
She threw her arms around him from behind and hugged the man tight. The action caught him by surprise, and he nearly slammed the hammer down on his thumb. Had it been anyone else, he would’ve gone into a rage, but Aerin was special. He sat the hammer down and turned to hug the smaller girl.
"Mornin', dear.” He said embracing her. “You're lookin' well. Glad to see you on your feet again.” He smiled, relieved. Aerin hadn’t realized how worried they had been for her. "How's about some milk?" Her father quickly turned and retrieved a
wooden bucket from beneath the table, quick to change the subject.
"That's what I'm here for." Aerin smiled as she took the bucket from him. "What are you working on?" She asked.
"These darn saddles again." Her father stated as he turned back to face his work. "Straps keep breaking."
"Good luck with that!" Aerin shouted from down the path.
She had already rushed off before he could say anything else, something he had become quite accustomed to. It didn’t bother him though, he was just glad to have his daughter back.
The path to the cow wound down around the backside of the barn to one of the lower fields. Aerin passed between an opening in a large stone fence before jumping over another wooden fence that kept the cow in place. She grabbed hold of a small stool that had been lying on the ground and made her way over toward the temperamental creature. The cow was too busy grazing to notice Aerin approach; and when she sat the stool down next to it, the animal jumped slightly. It turned and made a loud grunt in Aerin's direction before it turned and began to walk away. Quickly Aerin followed the beast and brought her hand up and ran it through the soft fur. The action seemed to calm the creature and Aerin hushed it as she sat the stool down once more. As the cow returned its attention to the grass, Aerin sat down and placed the bucket beneath the cow's udders. She stroked the cow's side once more as she began milking. The cow grunted every so often at the feeling beneath it. Streams of fresh white milk shot down into the bucket below. It splashed around as the bucket was slowly filled.
When she was done, Aerin stood and patted the cow on the side, thanking it for the milk. The cow simply grunted in her direction before turning and heading off further into the field. The bucket was rather heavy now, and Aerin was forced to use both hands to carry it up the hill where she had come from. As she passed the barn, she could see her father struggling to tighten a belt on a saddle. He mumbled something incoherent as he fought against the leather seat.
Aerin followed the path over toward the house. She briefly set the bucket down on the ground in order to open the door before proceeding inside. The interior was just as warm as she had left it. A sweet smell filled the place, much sweeter than it had smelled before, and Aerin licked her lips as she followed the scent to its source.
Slayer: A Demon Hunter's Tale Page 34
