She thought she should tell him it was unnecessary, that they didn't need to vacation somewhere exotic to be happy, but she knew it would crush him if she said that. Undermining his hard work and good intentions by chiding him hardly seemed proper, especially if he was willing to go to such lengths to please her. "Thank you," she said. "You deserve a vacation, too. You've been working hard."
He let out a sigh of relief. "I've got today and tomorrow off. Want to go shopping for a tropical wardrobe? Maybe a sexy bathing suit?"
She laughed. "That's why you want to go, isn't it? To see me in a bathing suit? Maybe I'll get a one piece to spite you, how about that?"
"One piece is fine." He winked. "I think they've got topless beaches."
She rolled her eyes. "Pervert."
...
Gaige pulled on her arm, tugging her through the woods like a child wanting to show off an exciting find. She stumbled while trying to keep up with him and her shirt kept catching on low tree branches and fallen leaves and mud mucked up her shoes. It was dark, but Gaige had a flashlight. This helped her see in front of him, but did nothing to illuminated the space around her. She felt like a vagabond walking through a train tunnel and seeing the headlights of an oncoming train thundering towards her from the opposite direction.
A clearing opened up ahead of them. He showed her to a shack built in the middle, isolated from the rest of the world. He came here with friends, he said. No one knew who built the place, but it was abandoned when they found it so they claimed it. It seemed men, no matter their age, were fond of secret hideouts.
No one was here now but them. Dust and grime coated the windows. Gaige fetched a lighter from his pocket and lit a pair of kerosene lanterns, hanging them on hooks in the walls. Offering her a rickety chair beside a beaten down table, he helped her sit.
"We could live here, baby," he said. "We could farm out back and grow food. Build a barn for cows and chickens for eggs and milk and meat. It's got everything."
Except electricity, heat, a telephone, internet, or any of the other basic commodities they were both used to. She laughed. "I don't think that's a good idea."
"We could do it, though," he said. "Wouldn't that be nice?"
She thought about it for his sake. "It could be nice. Nathan would have lots of woods to explore when he's older. I bet he'd like that."
"Yeah. See? It'd be great."
That was curious, she thought. Gaige never cared for Nathan, brushed her son off and wanted to leave as soon as he came to pick her up. This annoyed her, or had annoyed her until Gaige stopped calling as often. The only reason she'd answered his call and agreed to spend time with him tonight was because of loneliness. She didn't feel bad about it, though; she suspected this was the same reason he'd called her.
Another bonus to the real estate, in Gaige's mind, was the stockpile of drugs and alcohol he kept stored beneath the floorboards. He brought out a box and smiled, offering her whatever she wanted. She declined. To make up for her lack of interest, he took double for himself.
He drank, too. She listened to him ramble about malformed ideas in his intoxicated state. She yawned, tired, but doubted they could leave tonight. She didn't want to sleep on dirt covered floors, but she mistrusted Gaige's ability to direct them back to his car, let alone his ability to drive it.
"Hey, baby?"
She opened her sleep-heavy eyes. "What?"
"You heard of that new stuff? You give someone your life, that thing?"
"Yes." She nodded, barely able to keep her eyes open. She hadn't told him, but Dalton was paying her a week of his time every month as child support. Her parents said she should sell it when she had enough to move out on her own. She didn't want to, though. She was only twenty three, but she felt and looked younger now, almost like she had when she was eighteen. Not much difference, not really, but to her it was noticeable.
Gaige rummaged through his drug cache, snatching out a rectangular box that looked like a briefcase. He undid the latches and lifted the lid, turning it to show her. Inside, the same as the machine at Dalton's dad's office, was the senescence device used to transfer life from one person to another.
He grinned. "The ultimate high," he said. "Me and the guys are trying it. We transfer a couple years back and forth. Feels like crap if you're losing some, but man does it feel great if you're gaining. We don't lose anything in the end, just give it all back so it evens out." He pulled out the cords and showed her. "You want to try it?"
Unsure about the procedure the first time she'd done it with Dalton, soon it became routine. Perfectly safe, his father told her. If Gaige wanted to partake in something less dangerous than his usual habits, she could agree with that. "I'll try it," she said.
"Great!" He clipped their fingers. "I'll give to you, then we'll switch." He punched numbers into the machine and started it. "Takes awhile to warm up. It's an older model."
By the time the machine warmed up, they'd fallen asleep. She woke in the morning with the clip attached to her finger and Gaige snoring, slumped over the table. He looked years older. She felt incredible, invigorated, and awake. Tidying up while he slept, she packed the machine and latched it into its box, leaving it on the table. When Gaige woke up, he complained of a headache and said he felt awful, but blew it off as a hangover.
...
Robert was dead. He died in an accident. A car speeding through a red light hit his passenger door and sent him crashing into a street pole.
When she first met Robert, she had looked like she was in her early twenties and he in his mid thirties. Twelve years later, she looked the same and he looked like he was closer to the age of retirement. Now she didn't know what he looked like; the coroner warned her, saying it might be best if she remembered how he last looked instead of seeing him after the accident.
She wandered their house, confused. If she slept in late during his usual work days, it was like pretending he'd left and would be home later. She took long showers around the time he would have returned, but whenever she came out he wasn't there.
One time, before the wake, she went to their favorite Thai restaurant. The concierge recognized her and mentioned Robert hadn't called in a reservation. She apologized and was about to correct the man, to tell him what happened, but he smiled and said they had a table if she would wait one moment. She waited.
Sitting at the table for two, she ordered water, two glasses, and an appetizer.
"Is this expensive?" she asked, pointing to a price. Twenty dollars for a single appetizer?
The waiter eyed her quizzically. "The prices haven't changed since you last visited, ma'am."
She checked her watch every once in awhile, acting as if it made any difference what time it was, and nibbled on her gyoza. She watched the fish, swimming back and forth. If they had new ones, she didn't recognize them.
The day of the wake came and she dreaded it. She wore a simple black dress and arrived early, claiming a chair in the corner. People arrived and some apologized for her loss, but others glared, angry. She knew what they thought, even if they didn't voice it. If she hadn't accepted Robert's gifts, portions of his life, he might still be alive. It didn't matter to them that none of that mattered; he could have offered nothing and a man still would have crashed into him. That's what a medical aid told her at the hospital after they pronounced Robert dead.
What if he was wrong, though? She tried not to think about it, didn't want to think about it. Robert's mother's glare stuck in her mind and she needed to take sedatives that her doctor prescribed in order to fall asleep.
The funeral was the next day. Cemeteries scared her, but she went anyways. No one said anything to her at the church or the cemetery, which suited her well enough. She didn't know what to say if someone came to her, to console her or accuse her or anything else. The funeral ended, Robert was put into the ground, and she waited. Everyone left, but she thought she should stay.
She walked through the cemetery; her own way of remembrance. She
remembered lots of things. Gaige had died, too, so long ago. In his search for a high, he overextended himself and gave away all of the remainder of his life to another druggy. They intended a give, then take, but only one large give transferred through. Doctors who studied such incidents later coined the phrase chronopenia to describe it.
Dalton died a few years after. During the early years of life transference a glitch in the process existed. Someone recognized it eventually, but by then it was too late for many; and for Dalton. When he meant to give her a week, sometimes he ended up giving multiple times that. His father never blamed her, but whenever she saw him afterwards she felt guilty.
There had been another man, also. She loved him, though not the same as Robert. They married a few months after meeting. A few months after that he learned he had cancer. Instead of prolonging his life in hopes for a cure, he brought her on one final, extravagant vacation before committing assisted suicide by transferring the rest of whatever life he would have had to her. His name was Bridge.
Wandering the cemetery with no concept of direction or intention at first, she thought of something and gained purpose. She wanted to see it. How long had it been now? A lifetime ago, at least. The spot was nowhere near Robert's grave, but she found it easily.
A tree from over the cemetery fence shaded a row of gravestones. She scanned them until she found the one she wanted. She didn't know why she wanted to be here, but she did. Reading the inscription to herself, she mouthed the name of the grave's owner: Nathan Rayner.
Her son had lived a happy life. He never seemed bothered that she looked the same when he was eighty six as she had when he was ten. It hurt when he died, but he was frail by then and ready for it. He told her so himself, he'd said he thought death wouldn't be too bad. A relief, maybe.
To comfort her, to make her smile, he asked a nurse to bring in one of the nursing home's portable senescence machines. Under the nurse's supervision, he feebly clipped one end to himself, and the other to her, then transferred her one minute—it was the first time he'd ever used one of the machines.
"Now you'll always have a part of me with you," Nathan had said. It made her laugh and cry, it was silly and too sentimental. She loved him so much for it, though. The thought, his idea, always made her happy.
Death still scared her, though, seeing people wither away into nothingness until they breathed out but never in again. For Nathan's sake, for his beliefs, she hoped it was a relief for him, though.
And now she had a part of Robert, too. Bridge, Gaige, and Dalton, also. She remembered them easily, the good and the bad. She loved them all. If she had to keep living and they had to die, she would make sure that little part of them inside of her was happy. She would be happy for them, make every single moment they'd given her worthwhile.
She looked at the gravestone once more before starting her return walk to the cemetery gates. The sky darkened and a cool breeze blew through the graveyard. How long had she stood here? I'll come back, she thought, another time. I'm just a little frightened right now.
A Note from the Editor
Hello! I'm Cerys and I've been hired by Landseer Publishing to assist Jessika Fevrier with the production of this story...
Or, not actually. I am Cerys, but Jessika Fevrier is the name of a fictional character that I wrote in one of my story series (which is currently available as a full-length novel). I thought it'd be interesting to write a story as that character, for a number of reasons.
What are the reasons? Well, if I tell you, I'd ruin that story. If you do want to know, you can check the series/novel out, and find out from that. I thought the idea was interesting, though, and it gives me a little freedom from standardly accepted literary devices and all of that, you know?
As a warning, or a note, or whatnot, I typically write things that are a little more steamy, romantically. In a way, Jessika wouldn't really write that, though. So while this is more of a classic romance, with some paranormal, advanced society aspects, it's a little different from my standard fare of writing.
I love this story, though. Actually, for anyone curious, I submitted it to many magazines before deciding to self-publish it. I got a lot of good responses and feedback, but unfortunately it's one of those stories that doesn't quite fit anywhere, you know? Science fiction magazines prefer something with quite a bit less romance, and there aren't any real short story romance magazines to speak of.
It was a great experience, though, and I got to talk with a lot of editors from places that offered me some insight into the publishing world. And, well, here I am today.
Anyways!
If you're interested in how Jessika Fevrier came about publishing a story, and what -her- story is, then you should definitely check out The Billionaire's Ultimatum series. This series is available by separate parts or as a full-length novel, so you can try it out first, or buy the whole thing at once. Each part is relatively standalone, so if one in particular strikes your interest, you can grab just one, too. The overall story is large and connects together in a really interesting way, though.
If you like romance that's a little more paranormal, I'd highly suggest my Soulless series. For something quick, Dominant Dreams is a nice romance with a bit of spice and some BDSM added in, too. In addition to that, I have The Monster Within, which is more medieval fantasy-ish, but cute and sweet at a lot of parts like this story is. Or maybe you're interested in something a lot more erotic? Princess Miri (the series or the novel) is -really- steamy, but it's also got some humor and a nice coming of age styled plot like this has at some parts. Hunted by the Beast is darker at some parts, reminiscent of the Gaige moments in this story, and also has some paranormal/erotic fairytale re-imagining moments that fits somewhat similarly to how this story is.
I'll link you some starter stories that you might like in a moment.
If you liked this story, I'd love if you rated and reviewed it. It helps me out a lot, and I love reading everyone's comments. I appreciate the time that people put into that, and I know sometimes it's not easy to do. If you do have the time and you want to rate and review something, I'll definitely read it and if you have any questions I'll try to answer them as best I can. You're also more than welcome to email me any time!
And, here are those links (a lot of them are only $0.99):
His Absolute Conditions
The Billionaire's Ultimatum: His Absolute Need (The Complete Series)
Soulless
Dominant Dreams
Spark of Hope: The Monster Within
Princess Miri
Princess Miri: An Erotic Coming of Age Monster Romance (The Complete Series)
Hunted by the Beast
Other Writing by Cerys du Lys
*The Billionaire's Ultimatum*
His Absolute Conditions (*Only $0.99!)
His Absolute Requirements
His Absolute Instructions
His Absolute Orders
His Absolute Desires
His Absolute Indulgence
His Absolute Impulse
His Absolute Passion
His Absolute Devotion
*The Billionaire's Paradigm*
His Absolute Obsession (*Only $0.99)
His Absolute Attraction
His Absolute Compulsion
His Absolute Temptation
His Absolute Domination
His Absolute Seduction
His Absolute Intensity
*Soulless*
Soulless (*Only $0.99)
Heartless
Hopeless
*Princess Miri*
Princess Miri (*Only $0.99!)
Princess Miri's Wet Sticky Mess
Princess Miri's Naughty Notion
Princess Miri - Allysin's Sexy Side Story
Princess Miri's Indecent Desires
Princess Miri's Deviant Display
Princess Miri's Reluctant Confession
Princess Miri - Fleur's Erotic Epilogue
*The Monster Within*
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br /> Spark of Hope: The Monster Within (*Only $0.99)
Bolt of Trust: The Monster Within
Breath of Bliss: The Monster Within
Drop of Doubt: The Monster Within
*Roland and Elizabeth*
The Prince's Pet
The Prince's Contract
*Hunted by the Beast*
Hunted by the Beast
Claimed by the Beast
Taken by the Beast
Used by the Beast
*Secrets*
Moonlight Secret
Midnight Secret
*Vanima's Initiation*
Vanima's Messy Mix Up
Vanima's Dirty Dilemma
*Singles*
Phantom Summoners - Intensely Eager Imp
Bargain with the Wolf
Dominant Dreams
Tart
Caitlyn St. Cyr
Burning Need
Sex Kitten
*Prices differ depending on currency used. Prices are based on current US price points.
Price-Saving Bundles:
Princess Miri's Carnal Collection Bundle
Hunted and Claimed Erotica Bundle
Holly's Secret Erotica Bundle
*Full-length Novels*
Princess Miri: An Erotic Coming of Age Monster Romance (The Complete Series)
The Billionaire's Ultimatum: His Absolute Need (The Complete Series)
About the Author
Cerys has charted on numerous best sellers and hot new release lists internationally with multiple books.
She lives in the Greater Boston area in a small town in New Hampshire. She spends her days writing, reading, learning, and working. And maybe sometimes she flirts with the mailman. Some of her most favorite activities involve understanding and learning about emotions and relationships.
She adores pondering sexuality and sensualness. Most of her writing delves into this in some way, exploring reactions and relationships between different people. While she enjoys writing erotica and erotic romance, her goal is to also keep a certain literary appeal to the writing instead of something purely pornographic. Every story she writes has a delightful plot along with the more devious and delicious scenes we all want to read.
Eternal Love Page 2
