by J. E. Taylor
Chris offered her a sad smile. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, his eyes reflecting the pain he carried with him for all his less than human acts.
“I would have never met Tom.” She shrugged. “I have to go, we’re heading out soon.”
“Any signs of psycho?” He didn’t want to go yet.
“Knock on wood.” She smiled and shook her head.
“Call me if he shows up,” Chris replied.
“I will.”
He hesitated; he wanted to tell her he loved her but couldn’t. “Bye.” The image faded.
Chapter 40
Tom stood when Jessica came into the living room. She wore a white dress that flared at the skirt hem with delicate white sandals. It reminded him of the dress Marilyn Monroe wore in the famous picture of her standing on an air grate.
Jessica’s hair flowed freely over her shoulders, creating a dark backdrop for the dress. She was a vision. A slow smile graced his lips accompanied by the realization of how lucky he was that she was his wife.
“Ready?” Jessica walked up to Tom, giving him a peck on the cheek.
“You look great,” he said giving her the once over with a grin.
They corralled the kids into the car and Tom swung into the security office at the studio with Jessica and the kids to get passes for the following day. Once they were all signed in and passes handed out, Tom showed them the various Metropolis sets including the inside of the Daily Planet.
Eric walked around in awe, looking up at the lights and the large cameras that the viewer never sees. Emily, a little less intrigued, was still impressed with the set. Her eyes lit up when they walked into the wardrobe and she saw the racks of dresses fit for Lois Lane. She pulled out a red hot number and held it up, smiling at her image in the mirror.
Tom leaned over and whispered in Jessica’s ear, “I want one of my own.”
Jessica’s eyebrows creased.
“A child, with you.”
She went to say something but closed her mouth and looked away.
“You don’t?”
“I didn’t say that,” she said. “I just...” she trailed off.
He shrugged at her. “Just what?”
Eric stopped his exploration and stared at them.
“We never talked about that,” she said. “And now isn’t really the time.” She smiled and tilted her head toward Eric.
Tom glanced in Eric’s direction offering a smile to put him at ease. “We’ll talk later,” he said to her. “Kids, we need to get going.”
* * * *
Later that evening, Tom closed the door of their bedroom.
“Why not?” he asked.
She stopped and turned, the turmoil dragging the edges of her lips into a frown. “My tubes are tied.”
Shock filtered through him followed by an odd sense of loss.
“We never talked about it before. Didn’t you think it was strange that we never used any type of birth control?”
“I never thought about it.”
“Besides I’m getting a little old.”
“No you’re not.”
“I’ll be forty-seven this year, Tom.”
“You still look like you’re thirty. You look younger than I do,” he said and glanced in the mirror.
“Thanks, but that’s neither here nor there. I can’t get pregnant.”
Tom peeled his clothes off. “Can it be reversed?”
Jessica shook her head. “They removed a section of each tube, so it’s irreversible. I never planned on having any more.” She looked down at her hands. “I never imagined I’d be with anyone else.”
Tom slid into bed and leaned on his elbow, looking down at her. “Could we try something else?”
Jessica hesitated. “These days, anything is possible. But you have to know, I had two very difficult pregnancies, that’s the reason Danny and I decided not to have any more.”
“How difficult?”
“Neither one was life threatening. I was very sick for the first half with Emily and for the entire nine months with Eric.” She shrugged. “I was in the hospital a lot for dehydration with both but I developed gestational diabetes with Eric.”
Tom closed his eyes. He had heard of gestational diabetes, but didn’t know enough to know what that meant.
“I only had gestational with Eric, but they said that if I had more children, I’d be at risk for type 1.” She paused. “You know how afraid of needles I am, so the choice at the time was easy.”
Tom slowly rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling; the disappointment ebbed into every fiber of his being. “If we go forward with this, is there a chance I could lose you?” he asked without looking at her.
“There is always that chance, even if I didn’t have the history of complications. Age alone is a deterrent. But we can talk to a doctor if you’d like and see what could be done.” She rolled on her stomach and propped herself on her elbows, looking down at him. “We can see?”
He looked into her eyes and put his hand on her cheek. “You would do that for me?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
Tom pulled her toward him and kissed her gently, wrapping his arms around her. “I love you.”
Jessica smiled and laid her head on his chest, closing her eyes. “I love you too,” she whispered and drifted off in his arms.
Tom watched her sleep, gently combing his fingers through her hair. She had no idea how much she meant to him or how afraid of losing her he was. He kissed her forehead and closed his eyes, drifting into a restless sleep.
He woke with a start several hours later and couldn’t breathe. Invisible hands were wrapped around his windpipe and the room was cold enough so he could see fragments of what little exhales he was able to produce.
The blankets were thrown off the bed and Jessica was nowhere in sight. Panic bit at his nerves and invisible hands yanked him from the bed and threw him into a chair where he had full view of the mirrored closet. Frank let go of his throat in the image and Tom sucked in a gasping breath before the tape covered his mouth.
Jessica lay on the floor and she wasn’t moving.
Tom struggled and the imaginary tape wrapped around his wrists, tying him to the chair. He kicked out and Frank hit him in the temple, temporarily knocking him into darkness.
Chapter 41
Emily drifted off on the couch but woke up to the ruckus. Her heart leaped into her throat and she ran down the hall to her mother’s bedroom, throwing the door open. Tom was unconscious in the chair and her mother was unconscious on the floor by the bed. Frank was standing over her smiling, the blade of the knife shimmered in the light of the hallway.
“Don’t,” Emily whispered.
“Then you’d better get your ass in your room.”
“Okay, just don’t hurt them,” she pleaded backing out of the room.
Frank looked at her and a slow evil smile spread across his face. “You’d better make it worth my while.”
Emily nodded and watched Frank put them both back in their bed, pulling the covers over them.
“I will be waiting.” He disappeared.
Emily looked at her mother and stepfather. Her hand flew to her mouth to stifle a sob. She closed the door behind her and walked to her room in dread.
“Next time you don’t do as I say, I will kill your mother.” His black eyes bore into her wide scared brown eyes. He was stretched out on the bed with his hands behind his head waiting for her. “Now close the door and show me what you can do.”
Emily closed the door and bit back the tears as she walked toward the bed.
“Take off your clothes.”
Despair wrapped around her heart, shaking her hands and running waves of goose flesh over her skin. Emily hesitated.
“I can gut your little brother like a fish. Would you like to see that?” Frank produced a knife out of thin air and started to get up.
“No,” Emily said.
The knife disappeared and Frank settled back down putt
ing his hands behind his head again.
Emily obeyed his every command, her skin crawling and her stomach clenching in burning knots for the duration of his assault. She silently sobbed and shivered while he tormented her every way possible for what seemed like hours and when he finished with her, he smiled at her pain. “I’ll be back again tomorrow night. If you’re not here, I’ll do this with your brother and then I’ll carve him up while you watch.” He disappeared, leaving her broken and sobbing on the bed.
Chapter 42
Jessica rolled over and groaned, hearing her name in the distance. Her head felt like someone planted an axe in it, much worse than any migraine she could remember. “Tom?”
Tom didn’t respond.
Jessica opened her eyes and gasped. A bruised handprint stood out on his throat and the skin surrounding his temple discolored, even in the darkness of the bedroom.
“No,” she whispered and put her head on his chest, closing her eyes in relief as the steady beat of his heart resounded in her ear.
She leaned over and kissed his temple, sending a little healing power into him, the bruises faded and his eyes fluttered open.
They stared at each other for a moment and then swiveled their gaze to the mirror.
“What happened?”
Jessica shook her head. “I don’t know. I just woke up and you were unconscious with bruises on your throat and face.”
Tom sat up and looked at his reflection. There were no bruises, he looked back at her.
“I fixed them.”
His eyebrows fused together. “Frank was here.” He looked at the bed and around the room. “We weren’t in the bed.”
“I went to sleep in your arms and I woke up next to you. What do you mean we weren’t in bed?”
“You were unconscious on the floor and he put me in that chair...” he trailed off and looked at his reflection again. “Maybe it was just a nightmare.”
“My head certainly feels like I was hit. Wish I could make the headache go away.” She closed her eyes.
Tom glanced around the room again. The clock blinked 4:17 back at him. He flopped back down, staring at the ceiling. Had it been real?
Chapter 43
Chris woke up with a horrible headache. He looked over at the clock and it read 7:00. “Jesus.” He held his head and stumbled into the bathroom. He threw open the medicine cabinet and fumbled through until he found the Excedrin. He popped open the top and downed three, following it with a handful of water. He looked at the reflection as he closed the cabinet and his eyes widened a little.
Frank smiled back at him. “I wonder what Tom would do if he knew she slept with you. Twice, isn’t that right, little brother?”
Chris stepped back. “You’re not my brother. You never were.”
Frank chuckled. “We share the blood of so many innocent lives. That makes us brothers.”
“I will send you straight back to hell if you so much as touch her. Understand?” Chris snarled, his hands clenching into fists.
“You’re a fool if you think you can stop me. Hell is waiting for you, little brother, and so am I.” He faded away.
Chris panicked. “Jessie!” He yelled and concentrated. He saw their dark bathroom, but nothing else.
“Shit.” He tried again. Nothing but the bathroom appeared. He couldn’t home in on her whereabouts like he usually could. Three possibilities flashed through his mind. She’s in deep sleep, she is unconscious, and the third possibility sent renewed waves of panic through him. She can’t be dead, he thought frantically.
“Eric,” he said, feeling his heart pounding too hard in his chest. He closed his eyes and sent out the signal, searching until he felt the connection. “Eric,” he said louder and opened his eyes to Eric’s bed, he glanced around the room a moment taking it in. It was a little cold and sterile with chrome and white furnishings, which was not like Jessica at all. “Eric,” he said again and reached down, touching the sleeping boy’s shoulder.
Eric’s eyes flew open and he jumped away from Chris until recognition set in. “What is it?”
Chris shook his head. “I don’t know. I just have a bad feeling.” He looked around again. “Can you check on your mom for me?”
Eric nodded and slipped out of bed, looking at Chris curiously as he walked out of his room. A few minutes later he returned. “They’re sleeping.”
“You sure?” The feeling that things were not right escalated.
“Tom is snoring,” Eric said. “And Mom rolled over when I opened the door.”
Chris sat down on the edge of the bed as a small dose of relief slowed his heart rate to normal. He still had the nagging feeling that something wasn’t right. “Check on your sister.” His internal alarms got louder.
Eric raised his eyebrows. “Okay.” He snuck out of the room again.
Eric came barreling back into the room, out of breath like he ran up a flight of stairs. “Ty, she’s not answering.” He looked frantically at Chris.
“I don’t know how to get to her.”
Eric grabbed his hand and pulled him down the hallway, much to Chris’s surprise. Again he was struck by the lack of Jessica’s touch in the house as he got a glimpse of the living space. Eric pointed to her door as they stopped in front of it. Chris closed his eyes and said. “Unlock.” He opened his eyes and he was back in his bathroom.
“Shit,” he barked in frustration and tried to get back but couldn’t. He would just have to wait until Eric called him or he could reach Jessica.
Chapter 44
Eric heard Chris say unlock just before he disappeared. The door popped open in front of him and Eric stepped into Emily’s room. “Emmy?” She was under the sheets, sleeping.
Her eyes flew open at the noise and she jumped back in the bed and gasped.
“Emmy?”
She closed her eyes and let out a long breath. “Squirt.” She opened her eyes back up.
“Your door was locked.”
Emily looked at the door and back to him. “Then how did you get in?”
“Ty.”
Emily shivered and her face went pale.
“Ty isn’t the bad guy,” Eric said, reading her face. “He’s the one that protects us.” He sounded much like he did five years ago when they thought their mother was dead.
“How?”
Eric turned and looked at the mirror. “Ty?”
Chris stared at the two of them and then closed his eyes in relief. “Thank God,” he said and looked back up. He glanced from Eric to Emily and offered an awkward smile to her slack jaw and raised eyebrows.
Emily looked into the eyes of the man who had changed her life, recognizing his face. “I’ve seen you before, on television.” She tilted her head in thought. “But your name isn’t Ty.”
“It’s Chris.”
“Ty was your brother,” she gasped.
Chris glanced at Eric and then back to her and nodded.
“So why did you answer to Ty?” Emily asked after a moment of thought and her eyes narrowed.
“I don’t know. It just seems to work that way.”
Emily crossed her arms, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
He took a deep breath. “Ty always protected me. He was my brother and I loved him, even though he did those awful things.” He paused. He saw the conviction in Emily waning. “And he loved your mother, so I think he would want me to protect your family.”
“How do you know he loved her?” Emily asked, her voice softening.
Chris glanced at Eric again and then back to her. “I saw the videos, Emily. He died for her.”
Emily dropped her gaze and bit her lip before she glanced at Eric for confirmation.
“He loved her,” Eric confirmed, looking directly at Chris. He still does.
Chris nodded slightly at Eric.
“Okay, so what are you protecting us from?” Emily asked, her eyes sparkling with hope.
Chris looked down at Eric. “Someone who wants to hurt your mother.” He looke
d back at her. “But I’m not about to let that happen.”
“What about us?”
“I’ll protect you too,” Chris swore. “If you are ever in danger, just call out my name and I’ll do my best to get to you. Unfortunately, I’m kind of stuck getting to you through a mirror.” He shrugged and looked at Eric.
“Actually, you need to call out the name Ty, not Chris,” Eric corrected.
Chris shrugged and nodded when she looked back at him.
“All I have to do is say ‘Ty’ and you show up?”
He nodded.
“What if someone is hurting us? How do you stop them?” she pressed.
* * * *
He was very quiet as he studied her. There were more questions swirling around her head but he couldn’t read her beyond the desperation in her eyes. “It depends,” he finally said.
She looked at Eric and then back at Chris. “What if it isn’t a person?”
His mouth went dry and the color drained from his face. A cold certainty bit at his backbone and he turned his gaze to Eric. “Can I talk to your sister alone?”
Eric and Emily exchanged a glance and she gave a nod. The moment Eric stepped out of the room, Emily’s teary gaze met his.
“He’s been there,” Chris said, the anger flashed and his jaw tightened.
“Who?” Emily asked as the tears brimmed, rolling slowly down her cheeks.
“Frank’s ghost,” Chris said and the reaction in Emily’s eyes was enough of an answer. But her nod solidified it. “Sweet Jesus, you’re still in high school,” he gasped and closed his eyes. “This is going to kill your mother.”
“You can’t tell her. He said he’d kill all of us.”
Chris looked at her, understanding the mind game Frank was playing. Chris had played the same one on his victims not so long ago when his name actually was Ty. He gripped the sink and hung his head. When he looked back up at her, she took a step back in fear. “I am going to kill that son of a bitch,” he seethed.
“Thank you.”
“Just call.”
* * * *
Emily nodded and sat back on the bed as he disappeared. It took her a few minutes to recover from the shock, but the swirl or questions continued and she needed answers. She wiped her eyes and headed into Eric’s room. He was sitting in bed waiting for her and gave her a big hug when she sat next to him.
