by Nicole Thorn
I did that. Strange. I didn’t know that I could do something that she would have a positive reaction to.
“I don’t wanna go.”
“You can sleep in the car.”
“Carry me.” I didn’t know if she was still asleep.
“You’re in a revealing nightie, Anna. You might want to change.”
Last night, when she picked one of my choices even though she had her own clothes back, I had a pleasant feeling.
Blood red silk—all of the pajamas I bought her were silk—dropped almost to her knees, but the top hung so low that I couldn’t believe she would dare wear it.
Maybe it hadn’t been kindness. Maybe she wanted to torture me.
Anna shifted again, and one of her straps fell down. It came very close to revealing yet another part of her I was dying to put my mouth on. I wanted the taste of her on my tongue.
She groaned again, but sat up this time. She ran her fingers through her hair, and the strap threatened to expose more of her.
I caught it before that happened.
“Oh.” She looked down. “Thanks.”
Dammit.
“Yes, I’m quite the gentleman,” I sighed. “Get ready to leave.”
She did.
Anna picked out shorts and one of her t-shirts to wear. I was disappointed she didn’t go with a dress, but I would’ve been a fool to expect her to.
“Do I have time to eat?” Anna asked as she walked over to the kitchen.
“Not much.”
“I’ll eat in the car.” She grabbed one of the donuts that I’d gotten for us, and brought her shoes over to the bed.
She put the donut in her mouth as she laced her shoes. I lifted her up, putting my hands on her ass to keep her stable.
“Ezra!”
“What?” I started walking. “You asked me to carry you.”
“When?”
“While you were sleeping.”
“Doesn’t count. You can’t just grope me whenever you feel like it.”
I shrugged. “Apparently that’s not the case.”
The bickering went on until we got to the car. She smiled when she saw it.
“Really?”
“Really.” I nodded and tried to make peace with the fact that I had to put her down.
When I did, Anna opened the car door and marveled at it.
I chose a black and blue Corvette convertible— top down of course.
“It’s so pretty,” Anna said as her hands went over the dash.
I got in on the driver’s side, and started the car. I had never been one to care for automobiles, but this one looked quite pretty. Anna seemed to agree.
She stayed quiet for a while, just looking at the street passing around her. It seems that whenever I expect her to be a thorn in my side, she surprised me.
A few hours into the drive, she spotted a billboard for Disneyland and about had a heart attack.
“Oh my God!” She turned to me. “We’re gonna be right next to Disneyland. Can we go?”
I glanced at her. Ugh. She looked so excited.
“I have a job to do. I can’t just take a day off.”
Any more than I have for you.
Her expression sank. She didn’t even fight me, but slumped back into her seat. I waited for Anna to speak again, but she didn’t.
She didn’t pout—pouting I could brush off. She just looked heartbroken.
When I saw another billboard that said Disneyland was at the next exit, I took it. Anna had fallen asleep, and I left her that way until we got to the hotel.
I shut the car off, and woke her.
“We’re here.”
She blinked a few times and unbuckled her seatbelt. Her eyes stayed on the ground when we got out and the second she lifted her head, she lit up.
The hotel stood right in front of us, impossible to miss. Anna jumped on me. I caught her in my arms as she wrapped herself around me.
“Thank you!”
“You’re welcome, Pet.”
Her nose crinkled at the name, but she didn’t tell me not to use it.
I put her back down, and Anna dragged me to the check in counter.
“Hello and welcome to the Disneyland Hotel,” the cheerful redhead chirped at us. “How can I help you?”
“Do you have any rooms available?”
The chances seemed slim. It was Christmas Eve, and I knew that humans tended to flock to places like this during the holidays.
She tapped on her keyboard for a few seconds before saying, “Looks like we have one room available. It’s our Fairy Tale Signature Suite.” It truly must have been black magic that made this at all possible, but I didn’t stop to think on it too much.
Anna gasped and grabbed at me. She buried her nose in my sleeve and looked up at me. “Ezra, that’s the room that’s got a buncha Disney Princess stuff in it.”
I pulled out my credit card, and handed it to the lady. “We’ll take it.” The price was ungodly, but Anna seemed too excited to say no. Plus, Lucifer would pay for this. Work expense.
“Do you have any of those special buttons?” Anna asked the lady behind the counter.
“We do.” She smiled and put a handful on the counter. They said everything from happy birthday to congratulations graduate. Anna took one birthday one and two just married ones. I eyed her, but didn’t ask.
I bought the tickets into the park at the counter, and when we finished, Anna took my hand and brought me to the elevators. She stopped to put a “Happy birthday” and “Just Married” button on me.
“What are you doing?” I asked her.
“If you’re wearing the birthday one, every employee has to say happy birthday to you. The Just Married ones will most likely score us those special line jumper Fast Passes. Just shut up and go with it.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I smiled.
“Thank you,” she said. Then she did something I didn’t expect. She put her hands on my shoulders and got up on her tiptoes to kiss me on the cheek.
We got into the elevator, and she nervously paced until it stopped. When the doors opened, she took off to our door. Anna ran inside and started squealing with pure joy. I stood next to the entrance, staring at the little Tinker Bell flying around the castle in the wall.
“Oh my god! Ezra!” Anna called to me from the master bedroom. I followed her voice.
I set our bags down by the bed, and she turned around. “There’s a TV in side of the dresser! And it comes out!” She demonstrated for me, and proceeded to jump up and down while doing it.
Then she put the TV away, ran to the bed, and jumped face first onto it. “Our bed is sooo soft,” she sighed.
Without warning, she ran from the bed to the bathroom. I heard her yell, “It’s amazing!”
I followed her again, and found Anna touching every surface in the large room. There was a bathtub at the back wall, and a counter with a chair at the side wall. Was it supposed to encourage people to sit with their friends while they bathe? Maybe I can get Anna to try it…
“Why would a bathroom so big have a shower so small?” I asked myself as I examined it.
“I’m stealing all of the shampoo and a pillow.”
I turned, and Anna perched atop the counter, letting her legs swing off of the side. She looked at her feet, but when her head tilted up, a wide grin spread across her lips.
I let myself pretend it happened because of me.
Her behavior in the last five minutes was nothing less than endearing. Watching her actually be alive made me glad we came here.
I tried not to notice that the counter was the perfect height for some shenanigans if one wanted to try…
When Anna finished falling in love when every inch of the room, we went into the park.
We showed up at the main entrance, and Anna asked the ticket checker if the park was busy.
“Actually, not so much. There’s a special event at California Adventure, and most people are going there today.”
Anna lifted herself up on her toes. “It’s a Christmas miracle!” When we walked through the stone wall under the train tracks, she said, “California Adventure sucks anyway. The only good stuff is the Ferris wheel and the Little Mermaid ride.”
I didn’t really understand what she said, but I nodded.
“Space Mountain first, then the Buzz ride,” Anna rambled on as we walked through Main Street.
Anna stopped dead when she caught sight of all of the Christmas lights. Wreaths connected the buildings on either side of the street. Each had lights and ornaments and the whole street smelled like gingerbread cookies.
“I’ve never been here for Christmas,” Anna said quietly as she took in everything. “It’s so pretty.”
I looked over at her while she looked ahead. “It is.”
I was startled for a second when I felt her lace her fingers with mine. I didn’t get a chance to comment before she started pulling me away to some ride.
Walking around, I heard so many kids screaming with joy as they directed their parents where to go. It caused a twinge in my chest, but I wanted to pretend it didn’t matter to me. I’d long since accepted that I couldn’t have the sort of life that I’d wanted when I was a boy. I wouldn’t be a father, righting the wrongs of my own as I tried to be something better for my kids. The want never fully went away though, so I had to look away when it got to be too much. At least I had Anna to distract me today.
When we got off of Space Mountain, it exited at a photo store where you could buy a picture they took of you on the ride. I thought found it creepy, but the line of people buying them didn’t agree.
“Do you want ours?” I asked Anna.
She frowned for the first time since we got here. “N-no.”
Something felt off. “Why?”
Anna looked at her feet. “Well, if you plan on killing me, then I won’t be needing it. I doubt you’d want a picture with me in it.”
I didn’t know what to say. She was right. I would kill her soon. I didn’t need a picture of her around to haunt me, and it would haunt me. How could it not after I’d seen this in her?
I’d been trying not to think of the day when I’d finally have to do it. I’d need to stock up on whiskey.
Anna brought me to a water ride next. The singing animals disturbed me, but she seemed to love it. Thankfully we didn’t get too wet. I had on my leather jacket, and it would’ve been a shame if a singing rabbit ruined it.
It turned out that she had been right about the stupid buttons. When we got to the Small World line, they brought us to the front and gave us our own boat. I just wished I’d known beforehand that I would experience the most upsetting thing I had seen in all of my three hundred years.
“Anna.” I leaned over to her. “What the fuck is this?”
She laughed. “It’s supposed to show people that the whole world is connected and it’s a wonderful place.”
“I’ve traveled the world a hundred times over. I’ve never seen ugly little robot children singing at me.”
“To you.”
“It’s ridiculous.”
“It’s cute.”
“Terrifying.”
She laughed again. “Good to know your opinion. Next time you’re mean to me, I can sing this song to you while we’re in bed.”
“Congratulations on figuring out the most upsetting thing you can do to me in a bed.”
She turned her face in my direction the same time I did. Her eyes went to my lips as she slowly leaned in. I didn’t stop her. Our lips just barely grazed each other’s, so little contact that I couldn’t even be sure it happened.
I moved my hand farther up her leg, but the damn girl wore denim shorts. Of course, the one day I really needed her in a dress she didn’t wear one. My hand traveled up the front of her shorts until my fingers found the button on the top. I unsnapped it, and went for her zipper. Our lips still threatened to touch, but neither of us moved.
The overhead speaker blared, “We’d like to remind you that for your safety all hands, arms, feet, and legs are to remain in the boat and to yourselves at all times. Thank you for your cooperation and have a magical day.” The song came back in and Anna slid as far away from me as she could, fixing her shorts.
“Anna,” I started.
“Didn’t happen. Okay?”
No. “Yes.” I said it, because I knew better.
When we got off of the ride, it exited into a store. I asked Anna if she wanted to look around, but she said no. As we walked out I caught her staring at a massive Donald Duck stuffed animal.
We stopped for lunch. Anna insisted that they sold whole turkey legs, and she dragged me around the park until we found the place that had them. We sat at a bench and passed it back and forth between bites.
“Reminds me a little of when I was young,” I said.
“No plates or forks when you were a kid?” Anna asked as I passed her the leg.
“There were. I’m not thousands of years old. I was privileged, so we had all luxuries that money could buy.”
“Really?” She smiled. “Rich boy?”
I nodded.
“But then you died?”
“I did.”
“And the Devil chose you to become a hellion.”
“He did.”
“Why?”
I looked into her blue eyes and decided that I wasn’t ready for her to know that.
“What ride are we going on next?” I stood up, and offered her a hand. Anna took it, and threw the remains of our lunch out. She didn’t push the subject of my death again. I’d shut her down twice. Maybe that would keep her from asking again.
“You can pick.” She pulled a map out of her back pocket and opened it. “Point and we’ll go.”
I looked over her map and pointed to a little house.
“Ah, the Haunted Mansion. Good choice.” She put the map away and off we went.
***
The evening went on and the sun dipped over the horizon, leaving the air chilly.
“Can we watch the Fantasmic show?” Anna asked as we walked through New Orleans Square.
“If you’d like,” I told her.
The people had already started gathering at the large river that separated us from Tom Sawyer’s Island.
“It’s got little floats that go across the water and terrible songs about love and stuff,” she said as we found a good spot to watch the show.
We sat on a stone wall.
Anna shivered when a cold wind blew at us. Her teeth chattered, and she wrapped her arms around herself.
I took my jacket off to put it around her. She looked at me with something I couldn’t place.
“What about you?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I’ll be all right. What kind of man would I be if I didn’t take care of my own wife?”
The corner of her mouth went up, and she put her arms through the sleeves. It looked better on her anyway.
The show started, and it was just as lame as I thought it would be. Anna loved it. I didn’t know if it was because of some childhood memory or what, but I let her watch without mocking.
Some people filled the area in front of us and blocked Anna’s view. She moved around, trying to see and failing. Instead of killing the people in front of us, I pulled Anna onto my lap to give her some height.
“Thank you,” she said.
“You’re welcome.” I rested my arm across her stomach and held on to her by her hip.
When the show ended, I noticed that Anna’s eyes started to droop.
“Back to the hotel now?”
“No,” she slurred with her eyes closed. “This place is open till midnight and we’re staying till midnight.” She pointed to nothing as she swayed on her feet.
“All right, hop on.” I pointed to my back.
Anna blinked and smiled. “You’re gonna give me a piggy back ride?”
“Yes. You can hardly stand, and I figured this would get less strange looks than if I cradled you.”
She stepped onto the stone wall, and wrapped her arms around my neck. I held her legs at my sides. “Where to next, Pet?”
She sighed, and put her lips to my back. “Haunted Mansion again.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Chapter Eleven: The Spider and The Fly
Anastasia
I woke up alone. I was upset not to have Ezra there. It had to be because he had been so nice to me yesterday. He gave me a great day for no reason.
I sat up and opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was Ezra, and I tried to ignore how my heart jumped. He sat in the corner, writing in that gray notebook.
I wished I knew what he wrote. More of him saying how easy it would be to get me in bed? More of how hard he fought not do it? I hated how it made me feel, knowing what he really thought of me. That I would be easy, and all I was to him was a body and a job.
“Morning,” he said, not looking up from his notebook. “Sleep well?”
“Yeah.” My voice sounded husky. “I’m—I’m gonna shower now.” I stumbled out of bed and gathered my things.
When I walked into the bathroom, I saw a giant Donald Duck plushie sitting on the counter.
“Oh my God!”
I turned my head to find Ezra leaning on the doorframe. “You like him?”
I ran at Ezra, and almost knocked him over when I hugged him. “I love him! When did you buy it?” I dropped down to my feet, and went to cuddle my new best friend.
“This morning. I went to that shop near the park entrance, and they had it.”
I didn’t quite know how to feel. Or how to decipher what I felt. I knew it was good. Warmth, directed at Ezra. Sometimes he did things that made me forget that he wanted to kill me. And sometimes I thought that he didn’t want to at all.
I looked at the toy and wondered what he would do with it when I was gone. Would he keep it or burn it? Would he welcome thoughts of me after I died again? Would it upset him?
“So,” he said, adjusting the hat on my toy. “Why Donald? I’d think you would go for Minnie or that girl duck.”
“Daisy,” I laughed. “I like Donald because he has a temper.”
“Is that all?”
I scrunched my nose in light embarrassment. “Kinda…”
I put Donald on our bed, and went to take a shower. Ezra had been right; it was small. The stall back in the loft was twice the size. I left my clothes on the counter as the water warmed up.
