by S. M. Bowles
“My family and I lived here until I was about 17 years old. Something…unfortunate happened and they all moved away.”
I thought it odd that he said they and not we, “Did you not go with your family Victor?”
“No but that doesn’t matter.”
It did to me and I tucked the thought aside so that I could consider it later.
“Years later I bought the house from the people my family sold it to and I sentimentally held onto it. When I met you, you were living in the condominiums we visited earlier and I thought you deserved better. I helped your dad get a promotion and through various means convinced your parents to buy it from me.”
Victor helped me from the car and led me up the driveway. When we were out of view of the driver Victor brought his nail across his palm and held it to my lips, “See,” he whispered, “remember.”
We walked around to the backyard and I immediately saw and remembered the swing set tucked into the corner. I wondered if the flower bed was still there and whether anything was still growing or if time and neglect had taken its toll. I was happy to see that the lilies still blossomed though their only companions were weeds and wild grasses.
Victor took my shoulders and turned me towards the back of the house. There was a little balcony poking from the side and Victor scooped me up and leapt onto its little landing. He wrestled the doors open, they were a little stiff from years of disuse and had me step through. He found the light switch and gave it a flick.
The room, though covered in cobwebs and dust, was just as I remembered. My bed was there, my dresser, my bookshelf. I looked all around me before heading to the closet. I dusted the top of a long forgotten box and opened it up. It was filled with knick-knacks – dried flowers, coins from all the far corners of the world, an old jar with some sort of netting that had little bulbs attached to it at random intervals.
“The fireflies,” I whispered in awe.
Victor was standing over me smiling.
“You gave me these…all of these,” I waved my hand over the box.
“Yes, love, I did,” he nodded.
There was a loud bang as he said this and I fearfully jumped to my feet, “What was that?” I looked to Victor for reassurance.
“I’m sure it was nothing. We left the door open and the wind must have blown it closed.”
Chapter 23
Victor took me by the shoulders, “Wait here, I’ll go see.”
I nodded and Victor kissed my cheek and cautiously exited the closet. I stood frozen in place, my ears straining as the moments ticked by. It was oddly quiet.
“Lily,” Victor called. I felt the wretched tightness in my chest again as I stepped from the closet.
Victor was standing in the center of the room. He had Michael pinned against him, one arm holding both of Michael’s behind his back, the other hand clenching his hair and straining his head at a vicious angle to the side.
“Elayna,” Michael gasped. “What have you done to her?” he tried to fight himself free.
“Nothing she didn’t ask for; nothing she didn’t beg for,” Victor chuckled.
“It’s not too late Elayna! Whatever he’s done to you, it’s not too late!”
“He hasn’t done anything to me Michael. He’s helped me remember and we’ve been through so much together. Victor and I, we were meant to be.”
“No, no! It wasn’t Victor…he’s lying to you, he’s…he’s changed your memories,” it felt like Michael was examining my mind somehow and I couldn’t keep him out.
“Stop, oh, please stop,” I covered my face with my hands.
“No Elayna, look, look closely,” Michael insisted.
As Michael brought the memories Victor convinced me of to the surface of my mind I felt that odd impression again that they weren’t quite right. My lips trembled as I looked from one to the other, “I..I..it,” I didn’t know what I was trying to say but suddenly I knew why they were wrong. I wasn’t seeing the memories as though I were seeing them through my own eyes like I should have. It was as though I was just an observer, seeing things from a third person’s point of view rather than actually being a part of them.
Michael closed his eyes and concentrated, “Turn around, take the stairs and leave with the driver.”
“Yes,” my eyes went wide and I tried to follow Michael’s instructions. I shook my head, “No, not without Victor, we belong together.”
Michael tried again and for a split second I felt a brief uncoiling inside me, some ghostly part of myself unwinding and making its way towards Michael...or was it Victor? I turned and started for the door.
“Lily.”
“Yes, Victor?”
“Stay with me.”
“I will never leave you,” I turned around and waited.
Victor smiled triumphantly, “That’s right,” he gloated. I watched as he put his lips against Michael’s neck and whispered, “It’s too late. She knows, Michael, I’m in her blood and her blood knows, she belongs with me.”
Victor made a little prick in Michael’s neck and motioned me closer. The tiny drops dazzled me just as Victor’s had and I put my mouth over the little wound. Michael tried to pull away but Victor held him still. I gave a little suck with lips and my tongue and held Michael’s blood in my mouth. I turned my face to Victor’s and placed my lips over his and shared the savory indulgence with him.
“NO!” Michael’s voice boomed and somehow he struggled free. He flung Victor across the room and I fell dazed to the floor as they fought against one another.
Everything was happening so fast and I couldn’t focus or follow them as they knocked one another around the room. Things were crashing and breaking all around me and I tried desperately to avoid getting hit by either the debris or Michael or Victor. I scrambled towards the closet and when I was about to crawl in I stole a glance over my shoulder and saw the two of them with their hands on each other’s throats crashing through the bedroom door and out into the hallway.
I braced myself against the threshold and pulled myself up as I heard them tumble down the stairs. I chased after them, my heart crying out for each and in my haste I tripped after a handful of steps. I couldn’t catch myself before I hit the foyer. My head struck the tile just hard enough to daze me and it did something else, too.
Suddenly everything was clear to me. I knew it all from beginning to end. I knew who Michael was, I knew who Victor was, I knew who I was and I knew everything that had happened and had gotten us all to that moment. There were so many good and happy memories with Michael but overshadowing it all was death. So much death – my mother, my father, Kaley...Brenda, all of Victor’s and Michael’s innocent victims.
I could hear glasses breaking, they were in the kitchen. I had to stop them, I couldn’t live with any more death. As I came into the dining room I could see through the short passage into the kitchen. Michael had Victor bent over the island with a knife poised ready to make a strike through his heart. Something moved slowly from behind them.
“Charlie?” I couldn't imagine where he had come from and how he had gotten there. For the moment I couldn't let that matter.
He didn’t see me. He was raising something. A gun? He was going to shoot them.
“No!” I screamed and ran into the kitchen placing myself in the path of Charlie's gun shielding both Michael and Victor. I wasn’t sure who I was more determined to save but I couldn’t let Charlie kill either of them. He didn’t see me in time; his finger flexed and he pulled the trigger.
I felt a blinding heat pierce my chest as the flare erupted from the gun and I plummeted to the floor at Michael’s and Victor’s feet. Michael dropped beside me; Victor seized Charlie and savagely embraced him.
“Please...please don't,” my voice barely escaping me. Somehow Victor heard it and it managed to corral him. He released his hold on Charlie who fell to the floor in a heap.
Michael was cradling me, rocking back and forth, tears streaming down his face. Victor stood behind
him sobbing and shaking.
“What have I done?” Victor surveyed the damage to my chest and fell to his knees screaming in anguish.
It was leaving me, that strange part of me that had kept me bound to Michael nearly all my life. But it wasn’t going to Michael, or to Victor – just away. I gave a weak smile first to one then the other of them.
“No, no, NO!” Victor shouted. Then urgently "It’s not too late, Michael, we can save her. You can save her. You MUST save her!”
Michael was shaking his head, “I can’t, you know what it would mean. You know I can’t do that to her, I love her too much!”
“And that is why you must. She has never had a chance to love you the way you have loved her. Don’t let her go, Michael. There’s no other way, you don’t deserve to lose her and she doesn’t deserve to die, not like this.” Victor was shaking his head. He looked thoughtful, peaceful and determined. He started opening his wrist and Victor held his arm out to Michael, “I know what she's done for you. I took her to hurt you but more than that, Michael, I was hoping…hoping she would be able to do the same for me. I...I can’t live this way anymore,” Victor motioned to havoc they had created.
"Maybe she already has then,” Michael whispered.
Victor grinned, pleased with the thought, “Use me, use me to bring her back, I won’t fight you. It’s the only way, Michael.”
Michael shook his head no but took Victor’s arm anyway and looked up into his brother’s eyes as he drained the life from him. With each of Michael’s pulls Victor grew weaker and weaker and he sank down to the floor.
“That’s enough, Michael. Now Elayna.”
Slowly, hesitantly and with great sorrow Michael lifted my head into his lap. He made a hasty incision on his wrist and held it to my mouth. The seconds ticked by; a minute, two minutes passed. My heart stuttered and gave a tremendous heave. Again and again my heart beat, my chest expanded, I filled my lungs with air.
“Elayna?”
I couldn’t reply.
“Elayna?” His voice was soft and melodious, the sweetest sound I had ever heard.
I looked up and timidly smiled into his eyes. “I love you,” I whispered.
Michael’s lips trembled into a smile. I could see him clearly, the joy, the relief, the adoration in his eyes. I turned and there was Charlie unconscious on the floor and Victor his back toward us, unable to look our way. “There’s not much time, Michael. Help Elayna outside, I’ll get Charlie.”
My skin felt like it was crawling with gooseflesh. It rippled from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. Michael helped me to my feet and led me out the back door. Victor was just behind us carrying Charlie. He smoothed over Charlie’s punctures and as Charlie started to come to Victor placed his hands one on each side of his face.
I knew what he was doing and watched in wonder as Charlie took one last glance towards me and Michael closed his eyes and he slipped from consciousness.
“He won’t remember a thing,” Victor assured us. “Just get him to the car and have the driver take him to a hotel. Our friend has had a bit too much to drink,” he suggested and grinned mournfully.
“Thank you Victor,” Michael held his hand out to him.
They shook and Victor turned and began to walk back towards the house, “Wait I called,” and ran after him. “What are you doing?”
He took my face in his hands and kissed me one last time, “Thank you Lil…Elayna. Thank you for…thank you for…for…for helping me.”
He turned and resumed making his way into the house. Michael came and stood behind me as I stared after Victor. We watched for several moments before there was a bright flash that seemed to spread from room to room as it grew into a steady glow then blossomed into a roaring blaze. Soon the whole house was consumed and it was impossible to watch.
Michael gathered Charlie and hurried down the driveway and tucked him into the waiting car. Michael convinced the driver of what happened and sent them on their way.
“We need to hurry,” he suddenly seemed alarmed and grasped my hand and nearly dragged me away from the house.
“What is it, Michael?” he tossed me over his shoulder.
For some reason I couldn’t breathe any more. All of a sudden I couldn’t feel my heart beating, I couldn’t make my chest expand and fill my lungs with air. I started to panic and tried to get Michael’s attention. He ran into the woods that surrounded the backyard utterly determined. The world was becoming intensely bright and the light seemed laser hot. I was desperate to get away from it but there was nowhere to go.
We raced up to the porch of the first home we came to. It looked familiar for some reason but there was no time to consider why as my skin started to blister and sizzle wherever the light touched it. I had my eyes clenched closed and had grown completely senseless of anything but the pain that was coursing over my flesh.
“Oh, no, no,” Michael stumbled as he burst through the front door into the foyer. He raced to the back of the house to a hallway that led off to the left. There was a light switch at the end of the hall. He pulled the panel off the switch and pushed a button that was concealed underneath. A hidden door sprung open and he ducked low enough so that he would not strike his head and carefully stepped through. He kicked the door closed behind us and the searing pain blissfully evaporated.
Shortly after the door swung shut my mind closed down and my body settled into a state of torpor. Michael arranged me on a shelf-like bed that was fastened to the wall on one side of the room. He was lifting my arm and running his fingers along it to see if there were any blisters or welts. He nipped his fingertip whenever he found a flaw and gently rubbed a drop or two into the wound. When he finished with one arm he repeated the process on the other and inspected the rest of my body and face as well.
“I’m so sorry I forgot, Elayna,” he whispered into my hair and kissed my forehead while I rested. He drew a nearby chair to where I was lying and curled his arm around mine. He put his head down and closed his eyes.
Chapter 24
The first thing I saw was Michael standing in the corner facing the opposite wall.
He glanced over, “Ah, there you are,” he smiled and took a step towards me. I sat up, stretched and welcomed his arms as he swept me off the bed.
“Where are we?” I studied the room.
He put me down, “Home, my home, well, sometimes anyway.”
The memories of the previous night were coming back to me. Michael could see the expressions slipping across my face as I wondered about all that had happened. Tears of shame and sorrow for all that I had done welled in my eyes.
Michael took my hand, “You can’t let yourself take the blame for everything that has happened, Elayna, we’ve all played our parts” he kissed my tears away, “Come, we don’t need to stay here anymore.”
I was somewhat surprised to find that it was completely dark outside. We must have spent the whole day in, “it’s a panic room, or at least it was once,” he explained. “I had it modified years ago, when I moved here to be close to you.”
I shook my head, “Where exactly are we?”
“Near your house, the one you and your family moved to just before your 9th birthday.”
“Oh, Victor, he told me…but that was you, then. You sold the house to my parents. I never knew. Did my parents?”
“No. I kept it from them. I wanted you to have a good life; I wanted to make you happy. I listed it as a foreclosure, well below its value and made sure the agent knew that it was not to be sold to anyone else under any circumstances.”
“And you lived in the same neighborhood?”
“Not right away but yes, when this house came on the market I bought it so I could be near, so I could watch over you and your family.”
“There’s so much you’ve kept from me,” I shook my head wonderingly.
“I wanted to keep you safe, Elayna, you’ve always meant the world to me. I never wanted this life for you. In my heart I had always hope
d we would be together, at least for a little while or that I would find a way other than this. I’m so sorry for what I have done to you…you must be…disappointed.”
Michael took me to the living room and after I sat down he settled himself beside me. He took my legs and tucked them over his, turning me sideways so that I was looking at him while we spoke.
“I am disappointed Michael,” I knew it would take a very long time to reconcile myself to what I had become. I also knew that I would have given up much more, so much more to be with Michael, “yes, I am, disappointed but not at all in the way you would imagine. Michael, the best moments of my life were the moments I spent with you and all I have ever wanted was to share my life with you. I’m scared, terrified, but, oh, so very happy that we can finally be together. I have always loved you.”
“I’ll take care of you, teach you everything that I’ve learned, it will never be for you the way it was for me. You...we…we have nothing to be afraid of anymore.”
I kissed him and for a split second I could see that he was wondering about Charlie and the life we shared together. “I loved him, too,” I said, “but it was...different. I loved him because I needed someone, something to hold onto. I thought you were gone, that there was nothing left for me. I lost you; I thought I had lost you forever. I felt broken and Charlie, somehow he put me back together, held me together. I loved him for that.”
Michael seemed to be reflecting on what I said.
“Why was Charlie here anyway and how did you find me?”
“I brought him, he was supposed to stay here and wait for me, for us. I was worried because the night Victor brought you to Margaret’s you didn’t remember me. I didn’t think you would come with me if I could get you away from Victor but I thought you might go with Charlie.”
“He found Victor’s card in your shop the other night and when Charlie realized that was who you were catering desserts for he knew you were in trouble. He came straight to me and it wasn’t too hard to figure out Victor’s intentions. After Victor took you from Margaret's I looked everywhere for you; it was nearly morning and I knew he couldn’t have taken you far. You and I, though, we had been apart for so long, it just wasn’t as easy as it used to be. When I finally felt you, you and Victor were on your way to the airport. I couldn’t get there in time but I saw where the pilot intended to take you. I called Charlie and we took the first flight we could get. After we landed we came straight here to make our plans. I had no idea what Victor was up to and it was just luck that he brought you there when we were already here.”
