Anastasia's Grail

by Mary Pearson

of the day she had still not touched base with him. When Emily asked her if they would be seeing Darius later that night, Stacy just looked down, but not before she saw her mother and grandmother exchange knowing glances.

  “What was that look supposed to mean?” Stacy snapped at them.

  Her mother sighed. “Your grandmother and I can’t help noticing that you spend a lot of evenings by yourself. For someone who is thinking about marriage, well… “

  “It isn’t a good sign,” her grandmother said flatly.

  “I don’t think it’s any of your business,” Stacy returned, her cheeks flaming. She punched down a blob of dough rather harder than was necessary.

  “Your happiness is our business,” her mother reminded her, “because we love you.”

  “Well, maybe I don’t want your controlling kind of love.” Stacy flung the beaten dough into a pan and looked up at them. “I think I know what will make me happy better than you people.” The look on her face challenged them to disagree, but no one said anything. They knew better than to confront her when she was in this mood.

  The rest of the shift was spent in an uncomfortable silence.

  I’ll show them. Her family thought they knew everything about her situation. Well, they didn’t know that she had repeatedly been invited by Darius to stay at his place. Even though she had been holding out for a wedding, maybe if she lived with him things would fall into place more smoothly. Stacy knew Darius would be more than happy to hang out with her, as long as it was away from her fuddy duddy family. Maybe she would only stay for the weekend, just long enough to show them that he did want to spend time with her, just not with them. Tomorrow morning she would surprise him by appearing on his doorstep. She started to thrust a couple of day’s worth of clothes into an overnight bag. She hesitated before selecting sensible cotton underthings over the revealing lacy ones she had bought during more adventuresome shopping sprees. After all, she wasn’t planning to do anything bad with him. She would probably come back home Sunday night. She really only intended this to be a kind of warning shot to show her family that she and Darius would be inseparable, except that the necessity of being married kept them from fully bonding. She went to sleep feeling tense and frightened. It came as no surprise when she had another nightmare.

  She was running through a forest with the sky lit once again red-orange. In addition to loud explosions in the distance she could hear the growling and panting of enormous beasts which were chasing her. She could feel the skin on the back of her head prickling. At any moment she expected to be overtaken by these hideous sentient monsters. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she could taste blood from the exertion which had forced open the capillaries in her lungs. I’m gonna be devoured, she thought, and when one of the beasts tackled her, pulling her to the ground, she braced herself. The creature sat back on its haunches and paused for a second and, in that fraction of an instant before he plunged his dagger-like jaws into her throat, she heard a Voice. It was a female Voice, like a bell, but possessing great authority. There is no need to be afraid, the Voice spoke. You belong to me now…

  When Stacy snapped awake her heart was no longer pounding and she was able to fall into a peaceful sleep.

  Stacy could remember this dream vividly when she awoke—more vividly than any she had ever had. She could still hear the haunting voice echoing in her memory. It was early—not even eight o’clock. But her plans had not changed in spite of the dream. She hastily grabbed the bag she had packed. She had showered the previous night and was ready to hit the road. She grabbed her coat and purse and walked a few blocks to a less conspicuous bus stop. Darius and his brother lived on a main drag so it would be little trouble to get there by bus. Her ride came within ten minutes. Stacy paid her fare and settled in. During the ride she imagined her family’s reaction when they found the note she had left for them. It explained where she was going and why. She supposed they would regret being so judgmental of her and Darius. Even though she reassured them that she would be to work at the bread store for her scheduled shifts, she knew they would be distressed that she had done this. Stacy didn’t like to picture her mother and grandmother being upset, so she put it out of her mind and focused on how great it would be to hang out with Darius in total freedom. She sighed and imagined herself sitting in his arms, just watching TV and such. Before she knew it she could see the building where he lived looming. She signaled the driver to stop and gathered her things.

  Stacy paused in the hallway, briefly considering buzzing his room to let him know she was there. She decided in favor of surprising him and headed for the staircase at the end of the hall. His apartment was on the fourth floor and she really didn’t trust the ancient elevator in this place any more than the one at her grandmother’s shop. Four flights with an overnight bag wasn’t so much. She made the ascent. Just as she rounded the corner into the hallway she thought she saw a little blond who looked a lot like Junie, entering the apartment she judged to be his. Maybe this was a mistake after all, she thought. Momentarily she considered fleeing, but her curiosity got the better of her. She knew the doors and walls were thin in this building. Maybe Junie was here for some totally innocent reason. Now was her chance to find out. She crept down the hallway, careful to be as quiet as possible. Feeling slightly ashamed of the sneakiness of eavesdropping, she leaned her head against the door, trying to make out the conversation within.

  As it turned out, this was much easier than she would have thought. She instantly knew that the girl was sobbing, and she could hear a somewhat uncaring Darius demanding that she spit it out, whatever was bothering her.

  “Darius, “ her voice became squeaky and small, but Stacy could still make out the words, “I’m pregnant.”

  “You’re WHAT..?” Now he was practically shouting. “Well, are you sure it’s mine?” To this Stacy could hear no response, but after a pause he swore under his breath. “Is it too late for the morning after pill?”

  The girl sniffled and sobbed. “You know it is.”

  “Then it’s gonna cost more,” she heard him say this briskly. “But I’ll come up with the money for it.” He spoke under his breath, as if he were talking to himself. “I think I know where I can get some… if I phrase it right.”

  “But, Darius,” Junie sobbed. “I want to keep it.”

  “That’s completely out of the question.” Darius’ words were business-like. “It would ruin me.”

  “But I love you and you told me you loved me when you gave me the ruby necklace.”

  “I told you not to let anyone see that!” Darius snapped.

  “I didn’t.” She started to whimper again. “See…? I keep it right here, hidden in my shirt, like you said. It’s our secret.”

  “Give it back,” Stacy heard him say. “I can see I can’t trust you if you’d do something like this, so I’ll have to hang on to it for you. You can wear it when you’re here.” There was a pause before Stacy heard him speak again. “I’ll set up the appointment for you. If you need a ride, I’ll get someone to go with you.”

  “Why can’t you come with me?” She spoke in a very small voice.

  “You know that wouldn’t look good.” His words were matter-of-fact. “Now come here.” His voice had become softer. “I’m sure you can see this is the only way.”

  But Stacy knew better. She pushed the door open so hard that it banged against the wall inside. Darius was hugging Junie and they both looked up at her. There was a look of undisguised fear in Darius’ eyes. “Stacy,” he said, trying to collect himself. “What are you doing here?”

  “You invited me,” she gave him a look of disgust, “remember?”

  “How long have you been… “ His voice trailed off.

  “Long enough.” Stacy turned to Junie and extended her hand. “We’ve never met,” she said. “I’m Stacy,” she forced a half-smile, “Darius’ other girl friend. I just wanted you to know you can keep your baby. I can help.”

  Darius looked like he want
ed to strangle Stacy. “I’m sure Stacy means well, but, in addition to this being none of her business,” He viciously directed these words at Stacy, “she isn’t really thinking clearly about what’s best for everyone involved. Junie,” his words were cajoling now, “you are far too young to bring a child into this world. Surely you can see how impractical you’re being.”

  Junie looked from one to the other with confusion.

  “As far as I can see,” Stacy spoke precisely, “a child has been brought into the world. The only question is whether or not this baby will be murdered.”

  Junie seemed horrified. “I would never murder anybody.”

  Darius shot Stacy a nasty look. “Of course you wouldn’t. What you’re doing is perfectly legal. People do it every day. Stacy has no right to interfere with your choice.”

  “But it’s not my choice,” Junie murmured.

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” Darius shook his head. “Just look at you Junie. What kind of mother do you think you would make.”

  “How about we show him.” Stacy extended her hand to Junie and hesitantly Junie took it. “We’re leaving, Darius. But I’ll take my grandmother’s necklace!” She snatched it from his hand and firmly ushered the younger girl out the door. When they got to the street she made a call from the nearest phone booth, asking