The Return

by D. C. Gambel

  “Who’s your friend, Gaby?” I heard no accusation in her voice, but I did hear it wavier for a moment. It was hard not to feel flustered around someone so unearthly.

  “Sebastian,” he stepped forward shaking Mrs. Alexander’s hand. “And you are?”

  “Josephine Alexander.”

  “Alexander? You must be Grayson’s sister?”

  I rolled my eyes at his horrible flirting, but she bought it. Her cheeks flamed before she spoke. “No,” she laughed. “I’m his mother.”

  “Now that’s not possible,” he said with a devilish smile.

  “Are you working on our son’s case?” Mr. Alexander appeared looking annoyed, his eyes bouncing back and forth between Sebastian and his wife, who was giggling like a school girl until the mention of Grayson’s case which was sobering.

  “No, I’m just a friend stopping by to see if there was anything you all needed.”

  “We’re fine,” Mr. Alexander said pulling his wife to him.

  I smiled to myself over Mr. Alexander’s possessiveness. Alexander men didn’t like Sebastian, with good reason. The smile faded from my face as I remembered Grayson.

  Sebastian nodded to Mr. Alexander before turning to me. “Call me or Damien if you need anything.” He lifted his hand like he was going to touch me, but as my eyes widened he lowered it and gave me a tight lipped smile instead before heading to the elevators.

  That afternoon, Officer Brown and Detective Jacobson showed up to the apartment and asked Mr. and Mrs. Alexander the same questions they had asked me. But, as I sat in the next room, Detective Jacobson was unaware that I could still hear them and asked some questions he hadn’t asked me.

  “Do you think, perhaps, your son has just gone off on his own? Maybe a new woman caught his eye?”

  My fingernails dug into my hand until they began drawing blood. Shawn glared at me when the scent hit the air, then he worked on calming me.

  “Of course not. Our son isn’t a womanizer or a philanderer, if that’s what you’re implying. He loves that girl in there. It is as clear as day to anyone that’s been around them,” Mr. Alexander said.

  “What about her? Do you think she might have hurt him? Maybe for his money?”

  This time it was Mrs. Alexander that spoke. “Now that’s just shotty police work. If you were actually doing your job, you’d know that they aren’t married, so if something happens to him, she doesn’t get his money, not that she’d want it. So unless you have some questions that might help find our son, you can see yourself out.”

  I stood and made my way to the doorway so as the detective passed he’d see me and know that I heard him. It was petty, but I was grieving and I didn’t care.

  I stood in my bedroom that night just staring at the bed. The duvet and sheets were still thrown back from the last roll around that Grayson and I had shared. His parents had decided to stay with me, so staying at Shawn’s wasn’t an option. How could I tell them that they either had to stay by themselves in their son’s apartment or a hotel because I was staying somewhere else? If they hadn’t known about Shawn’s sexual preference, they did when Clive showed up to check on me. So it wasn’t like they would have thought anything funny was going on, but they had come out for me and I knew it would have been rude to not stay.

  The memories started swimming in my head from our last time together and then the realization that I would never have that with him again. I’d never feel his lips on mine, or his hands gliding across my skin, the weight of his body on mine. “Gaby?” I jumped practically hearing his voice whisper my name.

  I felt something tickling my face and wiped away the tears that I didn’t even know I was shedding. I can’t do this, I told myself. Climbing into the bed that we shared, having his scent surround me, seemed like an impossible task and I couldn’t bring myself to replace the bedding when it still held those final memories.

  Turning, I headed down the hall to one of the spare bedrooms and knocked softly on the door. Shawn opened it. Without even looking to see who it was, he stepped back silently inviting me in. He hadn’t wanted to leave me, no matter how much I told him that I’d be fine. He knew me too well and knew I wasn’t fine even if I hadn’t admitted it out loud. I walked in and he soundlessly shut the door before climbing into the bed, throwing back the covers on the opposite side of the bed for me. I climbed in and Shawn wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to his chest. Neither of us said a word. The only sound was my gentle sobs as I cried myself to sleep.

  It was hard being around Grayson’s parents, watching them cling to the hope that he’d come home. The police called after a week had passed. They asked questions, wanting to know if we heard anything, which of course, we hadn’t. When the officers called again at the end of the next week and the answer was still the same, Mrs. Alexander pulled me into the kitchen to talk. With Mr. Alexander only working at his convenience, they didn’t have to hurry home for work. I knew sitting around the apartment with me all day wasn’t entertaining. Mrs. Alexander told me that they’d stay as long as I needed, but I was ready for them to leave so I could stop the illusion I was presenting on their behalf.

  “You should get home. If anything happens or there’s any information I’ll let you know.”

  “Are you sure? We really don’t mind.”

  “I’m sure, but I do appreciate you both being here for me.” And I did, but living this lie for two weeks was hard and I was ready to be done with it.

  They left two days later.

  I sat on the couch in my apartment completely alone. Shawn had been at work when the Alexanders left. He had offered to stay, but I knew he had already missed some time because of me. I felt like I was going to go out of my mind sitting in the place I had shared with Grayson. I thought being there had been hard when I was surrounded by people, but being there alone was even worse.

  Abruptly I stood, grabbed my phone and keys then headed to the door. When I opened it, I almost slammed into someone. Sebastian stood just over the threshold with his fist raised like he’d just been about to knock.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked a little harsher than I meant. I hadn’t felt him and it baffled me.

  “I just wanted to check on you and see how you were doing.” I bit my lip nervously, unsure what to say. “Where are you off to in such a hurry?” I didn’t answer. I honestly didn’t know where I was going only that I couldn’t stay in that apartment with all those memories haunting me. When I didn’t speak, Sebastian sighed, “Look Gaby, if you don’t want to tell me than that’s fine.” He turned, heading towards the elevator.

  “That’s not it.” I didn’t know why I stopped him. I could have just let him leave, but instead I explained my situation. “I just can’t be here, right now. Shawn’s at work, Grayson’s parents left. I’m sitting here, alone, with my mind getting the better of me. I just want to go somewhere where there are no ghosts haunting me.” I was ranting, but it felt good to say what I had been feeling out loud. I then realized that I had said all this to Sebastian and looked at him from under my lashes nervously.

  “You want to go somewhere that has no memories for you?” he asked. I nodded. Sebastian held out his hand. I eyed it suspiciously for a moment before hesitantly placing my palm against his. He pulled me to him and we dissipated.

  When we reemerged, we were standing on the side of a building. There was a scent to the air that was musky and foul, like standing water. I looked behind me and saw a river. There were buildings lining either side of it. Several small bridges crossed over it so people were able to get to the other side with ease. The river itself wasn’t notably wide, but crossing it without using the bridges wouldn’t be an option, there was no telling how deep it was.

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  “San Antonio,” he replied with ease.

  “San Antonio? As in Texas?” I looked up at Sebastian, gaping at him as he nodded with the slightest smirk.

  “I’m assuming that you’ve never been before,
” I hadn’t, “and you wanted somewhere with no ghosts,” I had. “So here we are.” He gestured around us. “Although they do have a great ghost tour, I hope that’s not a deal breaker.” He grinned smugly when I glared at him with one eyebrow raised. He was right, but Texas? He saw the hesitation on my face. “Oh come on, Gaby. Texas is pretty amazing. Let’s go.” Sebastian grabbed my arm and pulled me into the opening. “We’re going to take a ride down the river.”

  I was still hesitant, but I let him drag me along, mainly because I was distracted with the tingling sensation running across my skin from where he was touching me. I knew it was just his angelic blood calling to mine, but if he felt it too, he showed no sign of it.

  When we got to the boarding area for the Rio Taxi, the boat had just left, so we were forced to wait for another to come around again. Sebastian held our tickets and I couldn’t help but smile as I remember seeing the price list.

  “Why didn’t you mention to the lady that you’re a senior citizen and deserved your discount? I mean, you’re over sixty. What are you two thousand, three thousand years old?” I poked.

  “Funny,” he said sarcastically with a quick raise of his brow. I couldn’t help but smile.

  Finally, the boat arrived and we waited patiently for the previous attendants to depart before we were allowed on. We were ushered aboard and made our way to the front of the boat. Sebastian took a seat at the very front of the boat on the left side so we would have a better view than sitting in the middle. I made a move to sit next to him, but was shoved from behind by a lady trying to wrangle three boys and I fell into Sebastian’s lap. He caught me and steadied me, but I felt my cheeks flame at our closeness. I bit my lip, looking away quickly.

  “Here,” Sebastian scooted over to where I was planning on sitting and let me take his spot instead. “It’s a better spot. You can see as we make our way up the river along with a better view of the sides.” He was right, but I was sure he was switching spots so I wasn’t jostled again by someone who was too distracted to even apologize, not that I held it against her. Boys in general had to be hard, and she had three. Poor woman, I thought.

  The boat was full, which surprised me since it was early on a Friday. There were close to thirty people and I felt like I was shoved into a can of sardines. The claustrophobia wasn’t the only thing bothering me; Sebastian was pressed right up against me, which my body was completely aware of. I did my best to control my breathing and show no signs of being flustered, after all, I had been working on controlling this angelic blood tie between us since I first found out about it, so it should be easier, right?

  The tour director gave a good history lesson as we glided up the river. I enjoyed myself as we went under the bridges and passed people mingling or eating lunch along the river. We even came across a couple getting married under a tree on the side of the river. I felt my grief start to rear its head until I heard someone from our boat shout, “Don’t do it! Jump on. We’ll save you,” then I died laughing.

  Once we finished our tour and we disembarked the boat, Sebastian tugged me along once more. I exhaled the breath I had been holding then I smiled as I trailed behind him seeing how carefree he was. It wasn’t a sight that I got to see regularly. I watched as the sunlight made his blond hair shine or when he stopped how the water reflected light back on him which danced across his features. He led me to a restaurant that rested alongside the river, like most in the area did. We were led out to the patio and given menus before the hostess made her exit. A waiter appeared a moment later. He set two waters down and a basket of bread before announcing that he’d give us a few minutes to look over the menu.

  “You have to try the steak or the bacon cheeseburger here. You wouldn’t expect it, but it’s wonderful.”

  I looked at him curiously. “How do you know all this?” I had been wondering, but finally said out loud. “Did you plan this?” I had to ask. I didn’t trust Sebastian’s motives sometimes.

  “Of course I didn’t plan this. It was just a happy coincidence that you were on your way out when I showed up.” He took a sip of his water. “I used to live here.”

  My brow furrowed. “I thought you lived in Seattle.”

  Sebastian’s mouth pulled into a half grin while his eyes looked at me like I was innocent. “I did, but I haven’t always been there; just the past few years.”

  “Where else have you lived?” I asked genuinely interested. I had just assumed that he had been with Damien all these years, but now that I thought about it that was a long time to assume that he never had his own life.

  “Let’s see, before Seattle was San Antonio, but before Katrina I was in New Orleans.”

  “Really? So Mardi Gras, the French Quarter?”

  “Over rated. I actually would leave town during Mardi Gras. It would get ridiculously crazy and overcrowded. You can’t drive through the quarter or really even walk for that matter.”

  “So you never experienced?”

  “I didn’t say that.” He had a twinkle in his eye. “I did it one year. Never again.”

  The waiter came and we placed our order.

  “Where else?”

  “Gaby, I’ve been all over the world. I lived in Italy for a little while around the renaissance. I was in New Delhi when Gandhi was killed, but I never did get to meet him. I’ve been to Germany, England; I lived in Russia for a while. There are not many places I haven’t been. For some, I was there for important things, others not so much.”

  “Wow!” I was really amazed. I had only ever been in New York.

  “You can do it too, one day. You’re immortal, Gaby. Just because you’re so young doesn’t mean that one day you won’t be around the world.”

  We finished lunch before Sebastian took me to the Alamo.

  “It’s crazy, isn’t it?” he asked.

  “What is?”

  “That the men that fought here knew that they were going to die, but they did it anyways with full knowledge that they wouldn’t be around to see their dream of an independent Texas fulfilled.”

  “It was brave of them. I’m not sure that I could do something like that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean sacrifice myself not knowing if my death would even accomplish what I was trying to achieve.”

  “Yeah, I know, but it’s about having faith.”

  I stopped walking and faced Sebastian. “Even after being cast down,” I whispered, “you still have faith?”

  “Of course I do,” he said, like it was the most obvious thing ever.

  Afterwards, Sebastian took me to see some of the old missions. Looking at these old churches, it was hard for me to see how Sebastian had so much faith. They were supposed to be holy grounds, just like the Alamo, yet people had died there.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” he said as I read the plaque attached to the wall explaining the history of the mission.

  “What?”

  “He doesn’t interfere with man’s choices.”

  My brow knitted. “But these people…”

  “I know, but it was man’s choice that brought all the sadness you read about.”

  The sun was setting as Sebastian took me back to the River Walk.

  “You need to see it at night. It’s a different experience.” And it was. The area was lit up and looked like Van Gogh’s Café Terrace at night.

  “Wow,” I mumbled, completely in awe.

  “Told you,” he whispered from behind me. I hadn’t even been aware of his nearness, but now that I was, my eyes fluttered shut and I just let the sensation it caused take over before inhaling deeply and moving away. “Dinner?” he asked. I nodded.

  We walked along the river until he took me to a place called Whataburger. “A fast food place?” I asked flabbergasted.

  “Don’t sound so appalled. Water burger is great. It’s part of the Texas experience.”

  “I thought it was pronounced what a burger?”

  Sebastian shook his head. “No one
says it like that. Watch.” He walked up to the employee behind the register. “Hi, can you tell my friend where she’s at?”

  The kid looked suspicious before he hesitantly answered. “Water burger.” Sebastian gave me a look that said it all.

  “Can I get a number one with no onions,” I ordered.

  “Do you want it water sized?” the kid asked.

  I looked at Sebastian unsure. “Yes, you want it water sized. You’ll need the extra fries for the ketchup.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  When I arrived back home, Shawn was pacing the floors. It was already after midnight and I kicked myself for forgetting there was a time change.

  “Where the hell have you been?”

  “Texas,” I stated simply.

  “What?”

  I raised my brow and nodded that he had, in fact, heard me correctly. “What the hell were you doing there? Did you fly? Is that why no one has been able to get a hold of you?”

  I pulled my phone out and saw that it was still turned off. I hadn’t wanted to risk anyone calling me to get an update about Grayson, which was a regular occurrence. Powering my phone back on I saw ten voicemails and over twice that in texts. “I’m sorry. I guess my phone was off all day.” I tossed it on the counter before heading to the spare room I had been sharing with Shawn.

  “That’s it? That’s all you’re going to give me is an ‘I’m sorry?’”

  “What do you want me to say, Shawn? My phone was off. That’s the only explanation I have.”

  “Nah uh, how did you get to Texas?”

  I groaned knowing he wasn’t going to drop it. “Sebastian took me. We spent the day being tourists in San Antonio.”

  Shawn stopped his ranting and his face relaxed. “Anything else?”

  “What do you mean?” I was confused.

  “I mean is there anything else that happened besides touring the city? You know I’d never judge you.”