“Good Lord…” Alan muttered, his eyes wide and stunned at the boy’s appearance. “Where are you taking him, he needs a hospital.”
“He’ll be all right, Mr. Strong, just believe me,” Caleb said in a worn voice, gesturing with his head towards the stairs. “We need to get him upstairs.”
Evelyn looked beyond her son and Mr. Sims towards where Tyler and Reid followed with stoic looks on their faces. They seemed to be in shell-shock, especially Reid, whose face appeared chapped and burned in areas.
Without a word, she walked over to the boys, touching Reid’s face lightly to inspect the blotchy marks on his cheeks and neck. As soon as she made eye contact with the boy, she had a feeling she knew what happened.
“Mr. Parry…”
Evelyn closed her eyes for a few moments, gathering her tumultuous emotions up and storing them in a safe place for the time being. In front of all of these people, it was not a good time to break down. She just nodded, guiding the boys towards the staircase, where Alan had taken over for Caleb in supporting Pogue and moving him upstairs with Glenn.
Caleb watched the men ascend the stairs with troubled eyes.
“I’ve failed, Mother.”
“Don’t say that.”
He turned to look at her, his face a mask of barely-suppressed agony. “I should have been there to stop him…to help him.”
Evelyn put her hands on the sides of his face, gazing intently into her son’s eyes. “You did what Wayne would have wanted you to do. Save his son. There are some people that can’t be saved…that was something Wayne said today that was correct. I was blind to it before, but it *is* true. Your father didn’t accept help, Caleb, and because of that he perished alone. Wayne was acting out of sheer grief for his son. He was always so…volatile. In that respect Pogue is just like his father.”
“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Caleb said in a hoarse voice, shaking his head slightly. “We’re supposed to face Stoughton, not Mr. Sims or Mr. Parry. I don’t know what’s going to happen next, who I need to protect now.”
Evelyn’s eyes grew tenderer as she nodded briefly. “You know, Caleb. Deep down, you know who you need to protect. You’re more of a protector than your father ever was. Embrace that. Don’t cling to the battles you can’t win. Hold on tightly to who you *need* to survive. Hopefully you get *that* from my side.”
Caleb leaned forward and brushed a light kiss against his mother’s cheek. “I have to go upstairs.”
She nodded once more and put her arms silently around Caleb and just held her son. He returned her embrace with weakened arms. Deep down inside, both Evelyn and Caleb knew that the sacrifices were just beginning.
--------------------------
Reid sat at the edge of Amelia’s bed, staring at the still sleeping girl with eyes lacking emotion. His emotions felt dulled- deadened, like he had drunk so much alcohol that he no longer felt the sting of the world’s harsh happenings. He hated the world right then.
Mrs. Strong and Samantha had agreed to give him a few minutes alone with the one calming factor in his life- Amelia. He reached forward and touched her soft cheek, her skin warm but his own holding an even hotter temperature from the blazing heat that had come from the lightning bolt that had struck Mr. Parry square in the chest. Reid knew he’d never get the visual of Mr. Parry laying there, eyes staring lifelessly at the sky and his chest a burnt cavity, for as long as he lived. However, trying to make sense of everything, and why it happened the way it did, was just too much to contemplate right then. Stoughton was a vindictive bastard- simple.
Amelia awoke at his touch, her blue eyes meeting his. He tried to muster at least a faint smile but couldn’t even manage that as she quickly sat up- her eyes never leaving his face.
“What…?”
“Pogue’s in the next room,” Reid simply told her, realizing that was all that needed to be said at that moment. Amelia’s fiancée was back, which left the other boys back out in the cold. That was a reality that he was ready to accept- but not enjoy- now that they had gotten their friend back. That was more important than anything else. Well, maybe not….
Amelia began to move off of the bed, before pausing and looking back at Reid, silently trying to read his face a few moments. Without the use of her empathy, she had no luck. Something had happened. He looked like he had been in a fight with…someone, or something. What, she didn’t know, but she felt instinctively like asking right then was a bad idea.
“You’re all okay? He’s okay…?” she asked him in a quiet voice, even though deep down she knew the answer.
“We’re fine. He will be. We got to him in time.”
Amelia leaned over long enough to give Reid a quick kiss and squeeze his hand. “Thank you,” she told him, before hurrying out of the room.
Tyler stood against the outside wall with his father, and both males looked at Amelia as she came out into the hallway.
“Amelia.”
Mr. Sims took the opportunity to head downstairs, leaving the teens to talk. He had a situation to deal with downstairs, after all.
Amelia’s eyes flickered towards Tyler, who came forward and put his arms around her, crushing her body against his and leaning his head beside hers. She returned his hug, letting her eyes close and relief fill her every pore at the fact that she had seen both Reid and Tyler with her own eyes and they appeared mostly unscathed and uninjured. While she had just heard that Pogue was all right, she still needed to see it to believe it. But where was Caleb?
“Where’s Caleb?” she asked against shoulder, not even pulling back to ask.
“He’s treating Pogue, but the guy needs to get some rest himself. He overdid himself out there.” Tyler pulled back enough to look at her, his eyes roaming over her head, her face, her upper body. “You feeling better?”
“I’m fine, I just feel like I slept for about twenty hours. I want to see him, can I?”
Tyler nodded. “Yeah, just let me double check with Caleb before I let you right in. Give me just a minute, I know it’s hard to wait, but I’ll hurry.” Tyler squeezed her shoulder before he reached over and opened the closed door next to Amelia’s own room and slid inside, closing it behind him quietly.
Caleb was just pulling up the bedsheet over Pogue’s bare abdomen when Tyler cracked the door open. Caleb and Mrs. Danvers had cleaned the areas around Pogue’s injuries and as much of his hair as they could. Pogue’s skin looked pale- but no longer gray- against the white of the bed linens, but he was getting some color in his cheeks and in his lips. It was a remarkable improvement to how he had looked when they had brought him out of his underground torture chamber.
Caleb looked away from his sleeping friend over to the door, expecting to see Amelia when he heard the ‘click’ of the latch.
“Hey, Caleb, Amelia wants to see Pogue. I assumed that was cool?”
Caleb let out a long breath and nodded, wearily leaving his friend’s side and walking over towards the door. His fatigue was evident on his face and in the way he walked. He looked as if he could collapse at any minute.
“Go clean yourself up and lay down,” Tyler told him in a firm voice. “This is not open for debate. I’ll bet your mother said the same thing and you’re already going against her orders.”
The older boy acted like he didn’t hear his friend’s words. “Other than some superficial cuts and abrasions, he’s pretty much restored to almost full health. He’ll still be aching and hurting while his body adjusts to being healed, but…he’s out of the woods completely. So as long as we keep him out of Stoughton’s reach, he’ll just get better.” Caleb paused, looking straight at Tyler. “None of us leave this house, not yet, anyway.”
Tyler just nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets. “My dad is going to call the police now about Mr. Parry. Caleb…I think Stoughton did this on purpose. Leaving Pogue just barely alive so that we’d find him, killing Mr. Parry when he went to seek out revenge for his son’s trauma…he’s trying to prove to us that we’re no match for him, whether we’re ascended or not. That he can take any of us down at any time, whenever he feels like it.”
Caleb just nodded his head towards the door, guiding his friend towards it and away from the bed where Pogue lay motionless. “We’ll talk about it later…after I’ve had a chance to recuperate a little, okay? We have a lot to discuss.”
“There won’t be much chance to relax for a little while,” Tyler told him, “not with the cops here asking questions.”
“Mr. Parry’s death is about as self-explanatory as you can make it,” Caleb noted dryly, his eyes flickering with rage for a second before calming once more. “I doubt they’ll have too many questions. Unfortunately, the Ipswich police will probably just leap to conclusions about his passing from the type of guy he made himself out to be. He’s had a few run-ins with them in the past, you know.”
“Yeah…but my dad said he’d handle all of it, and as far as Dr. and Mr. Strong know, he was killed by lightning. At least Stoughton didn’t leave us with a situation we’d have to struggle to explain to the authorities *and* our parents that are in the know.”
“Does Amelia know?”
Tyler frowned a little. “I don’t know, I don’t think so. Reid was in the room when she woke up, but I don’t know if he told her. We can ask him.”
Caleb put his finger to his lips to signal that they stop talking about it as he opened the door. Amelia pacing a little only a foot in front of the large oak door. She paused and looked at the boys, her eyes almost immediately flickering past them into the room and towards the bed that contained her boyfriend.
Caleb spoke first, a faint smile on his lips as he pulled her into a hug she readily accepted. “He’s still asleep. I won’t lie to you, he was in really bad shape. All of his serious injuries are healed, he just has some minor tissue damage, bruising and lacerations to heal up.”
“Thanks to you. God, Caleb, thank you for finding him in time, *thank* you…” Amelia almost choked on the words as she held him tighter. She noticed he was bloodied, but she didn’t care. She owed these young men her life- especially Caleb Danvers.
“We were lucky.” Caleb kissed her head and released her. “Go spend some time with Pogue. If he wakes up, he’ll be disoriented and confused. As soon as he does, please come get one of us. Tyler and Reid will be downstairs and I’ll be in my room for a little bit and then head downstairs.”
The Covenant leader paused as he looked at the girl’s hopeful and grateful face. “Amelia…I don’t know what he’ll exactly be like when he wakes up, so please…be careful. He’s been tortured unbelievably by this guy for almost a whole week, and we don’t know exactly *how* beyond the physical. He might be…different.”
She quirked a brow at his hesitant statement. “Different, how?”
“Well…he could be just disoriented, like I said, but he might also be…violent. He might wake up thinking he’s still down there and react. I don’t want him hurting you, so just…be cautious and get one of us when he wakes up. I’ll be back to check on him in a half hour or so.”
Amelia slowly nodded in agreement, walking past the boys and into the room. Tyler watched her go inside, and after exchanging a glance with Caleb, he pulled the door closed to give her privacy.
“You really think Pogue would hurt her?”
Caleb looked disturbed at the thought as well as he let out a sigh. “No, but we can’t be too careful. Stoughton has manipulated hundreds of students’ minds into being poisoned against us, what’s to stop him from implanting harmful thoughts into Pogue’s?”
Tyler just nodded, understanding his logic. He then raised an arm up and pointed across the hall towards Caleb’s own room. “Go. You reek and need to change in the worst way.”
Caleb walked past the teen towards his bedroom door, going inside and closing it behind him before he slid down the door to the floor. He buried his face in his hands as his body shook all over from releasing the sheer stress of the afternoon. They had almost lost Pogue. They had lost Pogue’s dad, and would have to tell his son that news after he woke up. And honestly- Caleb wasn’t sure what how that news would effect the recovering teenager.
-----------------
Amelia stood just inside the room, her eyes glued on the form that was half concealed by the bedspread. Her heart hammered and her eyes grew moist- she could barely believe he was actually *here*. It felt like months since she last saw him in front of her and considering how much she ached for his safe return, she surprised herself by her hesitation to approach the bed. Pogue was sleeping, and Caleb told her he had mostly healed him, but…pause still hung heavy in the air. She should be right next to him now, touching him to further prove to herself that he was back. She should be kissing him, counting the minutes until he would wake up and hold her in those strong arms.
So why was she so afraid?
She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself and focus on the ache she felt deep inside to touch his skin and rest her head against his. She recalled how he had last left her- upset over a realization that Caleb was more important to her than just a friend. He had taken off on his bike, with Amelia fully expecting him to return a few hours later with everything smoothed over. Then Stoughton had decided to begin exercising his ministrations on the group. His target had been Pogue, and look at how that turned out. She knew that Caleb was keeping a lot of detail away from her, and she was actually grateful for that. She didn’t want to know the gritty details of how they had found Pogue. Just knowing that he had been helpless and hurt was enough for her. Those facts caused enough pain inside of her.
“Mommy?”
A soft gasp left Amelia’s throat at the unexpected voice that rose in her mind. Her heart leapt at the welcome voice. If she could embrace a word, she would.
“Anna?”
“Daddy’s going to be okay. Uncle Caleb did well.”
“Yes, he did. It’s just one more thing I’m grateful to him for. I’m so happy to hear your voice.”
“I had to stay with Daddy. He became so fragile. But your face never left his mind, Mommy.” There was a pause before she continued. “Why won’t you go to him?”
“I don’t know. I’m scared.”
“You have right to be. It’s not over. One battle has been fought, but not the war. That’s coming soon- sooner than you’re probably ready for. And I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what, Anna?”
“The pain. The suffering. You can’t fight evil without sacrifices. There’s already been one. More are to come. Daddy will need you.”
Fear clutched at her heart. Just what did her daughter mean by that?
“Anna…”
“I can’t say anything more about it, Mommy, They won’t let me.”
As she listened to her daughter, Amelia allowed herself to slowly approach the bed, taking in more of Pogue’s exposed, battered body the closer she got to him.
“Are you in danger?”
“Not really. The worst they can do is restrict me right now, but I wanted to talk to you, I’ve missed you. Daddy missed you. He told me that the first thing he would do when he saw you again would be to touch your face and memorize every millimeter of it with his touch. I thought that was very sweet.”
“It is very sweet,” Amelia admitted, feeling even more warmth invade her heart at the sentiment. She stopped next to the side of his bed, so that his head was resting on the pillow only a couple of feet away from her. Biting her lip in brief indecision, she brushed it aside quickly before climbing up slowly onto the bed and resting on her side right next to him. She let herself be memorized by watching the steady rise and fall of his chest, the soft breaths coming from his mouth succeeding in proving that this was no dream of wishful thought. He was here.
“It’s not a dream, Mommy. I know that it’s hard to tell the difference sometimes, but take my word on this.”
Amelia smiled a bit at that, reaching up and brushing a stray strand of his hair away from his left cheek with the lightest of touches. “I believe you, sweetheart.” She paused, her eyes taking in every aspect of him that she may have taken for granted before. Her hand moved back up towards his forehead where she pushed more hair from his face. After close scrutiny, she discovered a small scar about three centimeters in length running from his hairline down towards the middle of his forehead. She had never seen it before. Probably because he always wore his hair down and wild. Oh, how she loved that about him. She’d run her fingers through his hair as he held her close and kissed her, her fingertips moving down the back of his neck to the smooth skin of his shoulder blades.
Amelia let her eyes close as the visual and memories filled her mind. He would kiss her senseless, leaving her wanting more and breathless at the same time. His gentle hands, despite the heat in his eyes, would gently remove her clothing to leave no barriers between them. He craved the skin-to-skin contact with her as much as she did. His hard muscles against her tender flesh felt exquisite to both parties as they’d continue to explore something new in each other each and every time they found themselves intimate. In the last month, since she realized her true feelings for Pogue, she recognized the fact that both of them had used their mouths and fingers to familiarize themselves with every single inch of each other’s bodies. There was no where Pogue hadn’t touched, and Amelia had savored every moment of it. Considering the reactions she often got from the man she would discover by her own means, he felt the exact same way. Then after achieving passion at its ultimate pinnacle, they’d continue to lie as close to each other as they possibly could, just relishing the presence each other had in their heart and soul.
Despite how lust would often get them carried away, it was never about sheer physical pleasure. There was always something deeper. She knew it was there, Pogue knew it was there. Because of that, they knew they belonged together. Because of that, Pogue wanted only her to spend the rest of his life with as her husband.
Because of that, they had created Anna, and the extremes of their emotions for each other resounded in the utter Power their daughter apparently possessed. It was strange how those two things mirrored one another. Just one more piece of the puzzle that fit…a huge piece that Amelia had felt absent from her heart until now.
“Mommy, I don’t mean to be nosy in your thoughts and all, but how did you and Daddy get into *that* position back at your room at the dorms? Didn’t it hurt?”
Amelia’s cheeks flushed with heat as she snapped herself out of the intimately profound thoughts she had been reveling in. She had almost forgotten about her daughter’s company.
“You’re way too young to ask about things like that Anna, as well as visualize. Please don’t do it ever again.”
“Okay, Mommy. I couldn’t help it; it was right in the front of your mind…”
“It’s all right…how are your brothers and sister?” Amelia inquired, wanting to change the subject as quickly as possible. She hoped that Anna would allow her to do that.
“They’re fine. They’re nestled safe and sound in here. I know that my brother talked to you for me. I know it raised more questions in your mind.”
“Yes, it did. Who was it? Was that Caleb’s son or Reid’s…?”
“Uncle Caleb’s…the one without a name. Justus’ mind is too closed off right now, so is my sister’s. I thought you’d like to hear from one of your sons.”
“Thank you, Anna,” Amelia simply replied in gratitude, her eyes not leaving Pogue’s face as she ran her fingers gently down the side of Pogue’s face and down his neck, past a nasty looking scar that ran about an inch long in the middle of his throat. She fingered it with a feather’s touch, a frown on her face as she could only speculate what had caused it.
“Mommy…there is something I need to tell you. Then I have to leave you and Daddy for a little while.”
“What is it?” Amelia’s stomach shrank back in slight dread as she waited for her daughter to continue. By talking to her, she was constantly afraid of hearing something bad that was about to come…and Anna had already said there would be more sacrifices. She hated the sound of that enough as it was.
“Well, firstly, thank you for the vitamins and minerals you’re giving us…they’re helping us grow. You should know that you are not going to have a normal pregnancy with us.”
Amelia raised a brow slightly at that. “What do you mean?”
“Well…you won’t carry us to term.”
“You mean…I’ll have you prematurely?”
“Yes. That’s the only way I can answer that question. Don’t worry, I’m monitoring things here, and we won’t come out until we’re good and ready, I promise. Just don’t expect our birthdays to be in August.”
After a moment’s pause, she hesitantly asked her next question, her hand resting on Pogue’s chest. “When can I expect your birthdays? How soon do I need to start shopping?”
“That I can’t say. I don’t actually know exactly *when* right now, I just know we’ll be early. I’ll give you as much warning as I can when I know, I promise. They’re going to try and stop it from happening too soon, but frankly, it’s not their call. It’s yours. Now I have to go. You need some alone time with Daddy, he’ll be waking up soon anyway.”
Amelia let out a sigh, feeling sadness at the thought of Anna disappearing back into her mind without knowing when she’d talk to her again. She knew better than to ask her, too.
“Okay, Anna. I love you. Thank you for being there for your father when I couldn’t be.”
“You’re welcome, Mommy. I love you too. Give him a kiss for me, okay? Just not the kind where you put your tongue into his mouth and he nibbles at it. That’s kinda gross.”
Amelia stifled a laugh at that, shoving the need to be embarrassed away from her. She didn’t care at this point. “Okay…and never do that when you get older.”
She heard Anna giggle in response before the soft, melodic sound faded away so that the only sound she heard was Pogue’s slow breathing.
Looking back at the man beside her, she reached out and carefully took his left hand in hers. She squeezed it gently and rested her head on the pillow next to his and waited. After four and a half days of waiting, this part seemed like a walk in the park in comparison.
-------------------
“We’ll be in touch if we have any further questions,” Officer Daniels told Evelyn Danvers as he touched the brim of his hat out of respect for her. “Again, you have my condolences. Good night, ma’am.”
“Good night,” Evelyn responded automatically, slowly closing the door as the officer walked away. She turned and faced Marlene Sims, who stood in the foyer holding herself. The woman’s skin was wan and she looked exhausted, but her daughter appeared the complete opposite next to her, standing there like a pillar of strength for her mother with her arm around her back.
“Well, the worst is over.”
Marlene simply looked at her with a bland expression. “The worst is *not* over, Evelyn. Is Wayne’s death not even sinking in to you at all?”
Samantha turned towards her mother, taking her cool hand in her own warm grip. “C’mon, Mom. Let’s go home. Charlie’s out front waiting for us.”
“I’m not leaving without your father,” Mrs. Sims told her daughter, looking at her briefly before turning her head to look towards the closed door of the study. “We need to go home as a family.”
“He needs to figure things out here first. Don’t worry, Ty is with him. But you need to get home and take your medication and go to sleep…Dad’s orders.” Samantha began to pull on her mother slightly as she grabbed their coats with her free hand. “Come on, don’t make me put your own coat on you like you’re a five-year-old.”
A few seconds later, Marlene let out a sigh, sagging slightly as she took the coat, putting it on with slow, deliberate motions. “I still don’t think it’s right.”
“I know, that’s what you have me for. I’m the enforcer when Dad and Ty are otherwise occupied. It’s going to be okay, you’ll feel a lot better in the morning.”
“Yes, Marlene, go home and get some rest. Leave this to them, this is the men’s fight.”
Marlene looked back at Evelyn as she buttoned her coat underneath her chin, pulling on her black gloves with more jerky movements. “Evidently that can’t be said any longer. The Covenant has gone co-ed.”
“Mom…door, car, bed…in that order. Let’s go.” Samantha practically pushed her mother in the direction of the front door, reaching beyond her to open it and usher Mrs. Sims out onto the front step, where their chauffeur patiently waited. She turned to give Mrs. Danvers a final look. “We’ll call when we get home, as requested.”
Evelyn just nodded in appreciation as Sam turned and followed her mother.
The last police car was driving away from the Danvers mansion as Evelyn closed the door once more on half of the Sims’ family, before she turned and headed towards the stairs. She felt more exhausted than she looked, and she wanted nothing more than to climb into her bed and perhaps not come back out of the covers until the world seemed to make sense again. However, that wasn’t a possibility.
First her husband, now her husband’s best friend. Wayne Parry was gone, death by electrocution. She hadn’t seen the body herself, but had overheard the coroner and one of the attendants talking about it. Both fear and loss stabbed at her heart, but she didn’t dare let the emotions run the entire gamut of her body. If she let those feelings take over, she would more than likely turn to the bottle, and she could *not* let that happen. Not in Wayne’s memory…not after how the last five years of his life had been spent, and not after the things she said to him.
Evelyn slowly walked up the staircase, each step she took feeling like a trial. By the time she came to the landing which opened to the hallway where her room and three guest bedrooms were located, she felt winded- like she could collapse. She took a deep, even breath before starting down the hallway. However, before she turned to go into her room, she heard a footstep behind her.
“Evelyn, I wanted to thank you again for offering for us to stay here overnight.”
Evelyn slowly turned to face Elizabeth Strong, who remained a picture of composure. ‘She’s only composed because she’s oblivious to reality,’ Evelyn told herself.
‘Perhaps oblivion is paradise in this situation.’
She just nodded, her hand resting on the doorknob, although she fought from gripping it tightly as use as support right then. She mustn’t appear weak.
“Of course. We have so much room. I hope you have a pleasant night.” Evelyn turned to escape to her room but was stopped once more by Amelia’s mother’s words.
“You’ve suffered a great loss today. I wish there was something we could do.”
Evelyn gave a tight-lipped smile in response, still not facing Dr. Strong. “You are not the only one that wishes that, Dr. Strong.”
“Elizabeth, please.”
“Elizabeth. However, we cannot undo tragedy, can we? If we could, the world would be far too perfect.”
That statement caused Elizabeth’s brow to rise on her pretty face. “Is there such a thing as too perfect a world?”
Evelyn finally turned her head back around to regard the younger woman before her. She waited a few moments before speaking. “I realize not that many years separate us, Elizabeth, but I have…seen things that would age an innocent newborn. The world is far from perfect, and it will never be so. So we must make do with what we have and survive.”
“Perhaps if you thought less about just surviving in this world you could actually *live* in it.” Elizabeth gave the woman a tentative smile before turning and heading back to the room she and her husband were to spend the night in. “Good night.”
Evelyn just stared at the woman as she closed the door behind her with a soft click. Tears sprang to her eyes as she finally made it inside her own room, where she immediately walked over to her private bathroom and turned on the light, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She braced herself against the sink with her hands and trembled as she looked intently at the dark-haired, aging woman before her.
“James…I am so sorry. Just as it was with you, my last words to your best friend were spoken in sarcastic ridicule. I-I hope Wayne is with you and that you two are wreaking complete havoc wherever you are. Take care of each other.”
She reached her hand up and touched the cool glass of the mirror. Her eyes closed a moment before she opened them once more. This time it wasn’t her reflection in the mirror. A man with cruel, severe features stared back at her with a look of malice.
“Evelyn Danvers…I sincerely hope you’ll allow me to take care of you.”
------------------
“Dad, it was not your fault.”
Glenn Sims sat hunched over in the lounge chair in the study, his dress shirt loosened by three buttons and his tie now just draped across his neck. His gray eyes studied the flames in the fireplace across from him as he held the half-empty tumbler of brandy in his hand.
“I wish I could agree with you, son. I could have done more. I should have stopped Wayne before he even left the shed. I heard the winds gaining momentum outside, I should have known something was happening.” He finally tore his eyes away from the flickering colors to look at his only son. His pride and joy. His only heir.
Tyler just stood behind the sofa, his hands resting on the back of the wooden frame. He just shook his head…he wasn’t used to seeing his father like this. But what did he expect, Glenn Sims just lost another one of his best friends, and although the two had been estranged for the last ten years or so, that didn’t make the wound hurt any less.
“Despite what information we gave you about our run-ins with Stoughton, he’s nothing if not unpredictable. You couldn’t have known something was happening unless you were a Visionary or an Elemental. Which Mr. Parry was. He knew it was dangerous going out there, he didn’t care. He couldn’t see past the red blinding him.”
“It’s true, Mr. Sims,” Reid spoke up from where he was leaning back against the wooden panels of the wall a few feet behind Tyler. His own tone echoed the hollow quality that he felt deep down inside. The visual of Mr. Parry’s death was still seared into his mind. It replayed over and over like a broken record. He’d kill the son-of-a-bitch for that curse alone.
“I was the closest to him and I couldn’t even get to him. I still don’t know if the wall between us was Stoughton’s doing or his. The way he saw it, it was his fight to win. He never thought once about the possibility of losing.” Reid shifted the weight of his body from one foot to the other, twisting his neck slightly to the side so that it cracked.
Tyler let his head drop slightly as he stared down the back of the sofa to the floor. Everything that had happened that day was settling in so slow for him. He wondered if he was processing it at all, or if he had let it sink in already and this was the only reaction he was going to feel. It worried him a little.
Glenn brought the glass to his lips and finished the rest of the tan liquid in one swallow. He set it down next to him on the small table adjacent to the chair and cleared his throat. “Since Wayne didn’t have any other family than his son, Marlene and I will make the funeral arrangements. I don’t think that Evelyn would be willing to do that, especially with her history with Wayne, and I don’t intend on asking her. I’ll get in contact with Joseph and tell him.” He stopped that line of thought and looked towards the boys with a more melancholy look in his eyes. “When are you going to tell Nicolas?”
Reid shrugged, wondering that himself. “I don’t know…I think we should let Caleb take the lead on that one.”
Glenn slowly stood up, and at that moment he looked twenty years older. Watching two friends die when you were helpless to stop it frequently did that to a person. Whether or not it made them stronger was another matter entirely.
“This isn’t just your fight now, boys. James and Wayne may be gone, and Joseph may or may not be too busy with his businesses to partake, but I’m not going to be left out on this. Understand?”
Tyler sighed, his eyes meeting his father’s. “Dad…it is *our* fight. Besides that, you’ve already lost two members of your Covenant, and you have Mom and Sam to think about. You can’t risk hurting them and they can’t lose you. Please, let us take care of this. The five of us…we can do this. We have to.”
“I’m your father, too. You’re just as important to me, Tyler.”
A moment of understanding passed between Mr. Sims and his son then. He walked over to Tyler and pulled him into a tight hug, resting his chin on his son’s head. He hadn’t held Tyler like that since he was a young boy. Now, he couldn’t let go of his flesh and blood.
“Have I told you lately how damn proud of you I am?”
Tyler just smiled a little, pulling his head back to look at his dad. “You haven’t needed to, Dad. I always kind of thought I knew. At times I wondered if you were set on torturing me when you brought Samantha into the family, but now I know it was to better me.”
Reid snorted from his place in the room but remained appropriately mum. However, watching Tyler and his dad bond like this made him miss his own father. Even though the two of them never really bonded. Reid wondered what it felt like, to have a father say that he was proud of you and not mind pulling you into a fatherly hug. His eyes moved away from the two males towards the fireplace, his jaw clenching at the thoughts of everything he had missed out on with his roaming, philandering excuse for an old man.
The moment was interrupted by the arrival of Caleb, who walked into the study showered and dressed in clean clothing. He still looked tired, but not nearly as terrible as he nodded at them in greeting.
“Thank you for helping mother handle the authorities, Mr. Sims.”
Glenn finally released his son and took a step back to face Caleb. “It was too much for one person. I was telling Tyler and Reid that I will personally see to the funeral arrangements. If after you tell Nicolas he wants to contribute anything- anything at all- you know I’ll gladly honor that.” He held his hand out towards Caleb, who took it and shook it firmly.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Sims,” Caleb couldn’t help but tell the man. “I’ll admit my memories of Mr. Parry weren’t exactly that fond, but I know most of the memories of him that you hold probably were.”
A sad smile touched Glenn’s lips at that comment. “We were as thick as thieves in our day, as close as brothers. Much like all of you. I won’t lie, I miss it greatly. I was so pleased that you four fell right into place with each other as we did at your age. It just proved it was all meant to be.”
‘Meant to be…’ That phrase echoed in Caleb’s mind and made him think about Amelia briefly. Destiny, fate…it was all becoming such a common idea to believe in. Or maybe at that point in time, they had no choice but to cling to the hope that it existed and would make everything turn out right in the end.
“I think it was, Mr. Sims.” Caleb paused, glancing at both Reid and Tyler and their exhausted faces before looking back at Tyler’s father. “Everything’s calming down here for the night, you should go home to your family and get some rest. We all need it.”
Reid snorted in response. “I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight if you sewed my eyelids closed.”
“Then we might have to resort to chloroform,” Tyler wryly suggested. “Caleb’s right we *all* need sleep tonight. We don’t know when we’re going to have to face the S.O.B., because it sounds like he’ll be bringing the fight to us.”
“That’s not what he did,” Reid said with a snarl. “He killed Mr. Parry in front of Mr. Sims and me to prove a fuckin’ point, Tyler. Mr. P challenged him and he had *fun* burning him to a crisp. He let Pogue hang on by a thread until we got there on *purpose*, don’t you see that? He’s toying with us like a deranged kid with a favorite toy. He thinks he’s unstoppable, and he wanted to show us that in a first-rate demonstration *today*, of all days, goddamn Thanksgiving!”
“For starters, leave God out of this,” Mr. Sims told the boy in a reprimanding tone. “Reid Joseph Garwin, that creature does not stand for God at *all*.”
“You know what I mean, Mr. Sims! This is supposed to be a day of thanks, the holiday existed back in Stoughton’s time, but he obviously doesn’t celebrate it anymore.”
“Reid…” Caleb calmly interjected, but Reid continued, harshly overshadowing Caleb’s attempt at appeasement.
“He almost succeeded in taking Pogue, and he actually did succeed in taking Pogue’s dad, and although their relationship was far from perfect, it’s still his *dad*! Would you like to be the one to tell him, because I know none of us want to! What do we say? ‘Hey, Pogue, I’m glad you’re all right, we missed you, buddy. Oh, by the way, you know your Dad, the guy you could never stand who liked to use you for a boxing buddy? Well, he was fried out on Caleb’s front lawn while we were saving you. Tough break!’”
“Reid, *stop*,” Tyler said in a firmer tone, reaching out and grabbing his friend by the arm. “Now’s not the time for this, reacting like this is what Stoughton wants.”
Reid jerked his arm away from Tyler’s grip. “You know what I want? I want the girl that’s upstairs with my best friend right now! *I* want to marry her! I also want my Dad to stick around longer than three days every three months. I want Stoughton to go to Hell in a fuckin’ handbasket right *now* so we don’t have to jump at our own shadows anymore! I want life to be like it was three months ago when the worst thing we had to face was Aaron Abbot! That’s what *I* want, but what we want does not matter anymore with this asshole running the show!”
“It matters, Reid,” Caleb began to appease the younger boy, but Reid just stalked out of the room without another word. His exit was as stormy as his tirade. The older boy just sighed and ran his hand down his face.
“This is getting to all of us.”
“I think Reid feels partly responsible for Mr. Parry being gone,” Tyler told his friend and father in a low voice. “None of you will believe me when I say it was none of our faults.”
“Odds are, we’ll all be blaming ourselves for many years to come,” Mr. Sims acknowledged in a somber tone. “You two should take your own advice and go get some rest, as well. It’s been an… agonizing day. As soon as Charlie returns, I’ll head on home. Are you going to stay here tonight?”
Tyler just exchanged a brief look with Caleb before nodding at his father. “I think I should. We’re all kind of on edge until Pogue wakes up.”
“He was still asleep ten minutes ago when I checked on him and Amelia before coming down here,” Caleb told Tyler as he leaned over and clicked off the chairside lamp. “For some reason…tonight this room seems a whole lot more depressing to me. Let’s get out of here.”
Following Caleb out of the room, Tyler decided to wait with his father by the front door for Charlie, agreeing to lock up behind him once Mr. Sims left. Caleb headed towards the kitchen for a drink of water. He needed some time to think by himself, and the kitchen was a safe and neutral area.
The white walls and clean, sanitized environment still had the scent of that afternoon’s meal drifting through it. It made Caleb’s stomach cramp at the memory of the carefree conversation and good company…before Mr. Parry barged in, demanding to know where his son was. From there…everything curved out of control. Now Stoughton was tipping their world even more off kilter than before and the boys could barely hold on.
Caleb filled a glass with water from the pitcher in the refrigerator, sitting down at the counter with the glass between his hands and staring at the stove he and his mother had busily been preparing food at only twelve hours ago. He sighed and shook his head, trying to shove the numbing thoughts out of his mind. With how tired he was, if he let the negative consequences of Stoughton’s cruel actions dig too far deeply into his mind, he would go crazy.
And that was a battle they simply could not deal with on top of all of the others currently.
-------------------------
Amelia’s eyes drifted closed as she felt herself start to doze off from listening so intently to Pogue’s perpetual breathing. Her head still rested next to his, her right hand touching the other side of his face and her left hand resting lightly on the most uninjured area of his torso that she could find. She hadn’t been able to believe just how many cuts, contusions and fresh scars littered his upper body…and that had only been what she had been able to see outside of the bedcovers! Her Pogue’s beautiful body was so badly marred by Stoughton’s hand that it only succeeded in her wishing the spirit the worst possible demise possible. However, that was a given already…she was rather sure it was mutually felt throughout the entire Covenant, and Pogue himself. Then a completely different thought struck her. Where was Pogue’s father? She was rather surprised he wasn’t here to wait for his son to wake up…
As she was deliberating that curiosity, she felt a subtle movement against her body. Her eyes snapped open and she half lifted her head off of the pillow to get a better look at Pogue’s face. His eyes were still closed, but she noticed his left hand flexing ever so slightly against his side. It curled into a fist slowly before relaxing, his hand lifting and moving to his face. Then all movement stopped in a short second. She saw his eyelids flutter and open. He blinked and then winced away from the dull light the lamp next to the bed was giving off- not used to any source of light at all.
Amelia held her breath as she propped herself up on her elbow. She made sure to make her movements slow, but the simple movement out of the corner of his eye caused Pogue to react. His hand reached over in the blink of an eye and gripped her wrist in an iron grasp. She let out a gasp of surprise, her eyes widening at the hold he had on her. Amelia didn’t dare move as Pogue turned his head and looked at her.
Pogue’s disoriented eyes seemed to first focus slowly on her and then narrowed in suspicion. His face contorted into a mask of loathing as he stared at her, his grip on her wrist not letting up in the slightest. Amelia was beginning to go numb in her hand, but her words were caught in her throat out of sheer shock at the situation. She didn’t know what he was going to do next, she’d never seen him look like that before- let alone look at *her* like that.
“Pogue…” she managed to get out in a gasped whisper. “It’s me…you’re safe. Y-You’re at Caleb’s and you’re safe.”
Pogue eyes didn’t lessen in intensity as his stare seemed to bore right through her like she wasn’t even there and she hadn’t even spoken. Amelia let out a whimper as his grip tightened briefly before he slowly released her wrist, his eyes finally breaking away from her to stare at his hand. Amelia swallowed hard, sitting up now and looking at him more pensively. Maybe she should get one of the guys…
Pogue frowned at the sight of his hand, before his other rose up into his line of sight. He just watched them as if they were foreign objects for a few moments before turning his head to look back at her. His gaze had softened from hard distrust to mild confusion. His arms were free…he could move them. Pogue slowly tried moving his legs as well, and when he realized they were no longer tied down, the reality of what was going on seemed to crash down on him. He moved to sit up abruptly, but the pain that spread through his abdomen stopped his attempt as he hissed in pain. Amelia put her hands on his shoulders to keep him from exerting himself further, guiding him back down to the bed.
“You had so many injuries, you need to rest. Caleb can only heal so much at one time.”
Amelia’s voice sunk into Pogue’s mind and his heart skipped a beat at the clear, welcome sound of it. She was there. With him. They weren’t sharing a dream, this had to be real. His eyes started to scan around him as he took the room that he had slept in quite often growing up. Everything was the same, the same warm wood interior with matching chest-of-drawers and desk, the vanity over against the far wall, right next to the double pane French windows. The dark red curtains were drawn over the glass currently, giving the room a more claustrophobic feeling. But being in this room didn’t make him felt the slightest bit isolated. Nothing could match the sensation of dark constriction like where he had been before. This seemed like Heaven compared to that. It had to be, his own personal angel was sitting right there with him, a hesitant, worried look etched on her beautiful features. Pogue reached up and touched the side of her face to further prove her presence, and when he felt her warm skin beneath his palm, he crumbled.
“Amelia…”
Tremors began to wrack his body as the extreme change in his situation hit home. The haunting visuals, the horrid promises, the agonizing pain that made him contemplate death being a blessing…it was all a memory now. It had to be, he couldn’t relive that again. He’d rather cut his own throat.
Amelia leaned down, resting her head against his as her body lightly covered his chest, warming him throughout. “Sshh…it’s going to be okay. I promise. You’re back and you’re safe. We can get through anything now. I love you so much.”
Pogue felt tears sting his eyes as he opened them, his arms encircling Amelia’s back and holding her close. He ignored the brief pain that went through his chest as he clutched her even tighter to him. The pain was worth it. He buried his face against her soft hair and let her comforting essence just wash over him. She didn’t even have to use her Instrument to be all that he needed to heal right then. Her being there with him, seemingly safe and sound was enough for him.
“I love you,” he whispered in a gruff voice against her hair, his hand rising from her lower back to the back of her head to stroke her hair. “Being away from you was torture.”
She tensed slightly at his use of words, turning her head so that her face was now buried against the skin of his neck. She breathed in deeply and slowly…he smelled exactly as she remembered. He had a scent that was so uniquely Pogue, so much that at that moment she felt intoxicated by it.
Amelia placed a tender kiss against the vicious mark on his neck, causing his body to shudder at the sensation. He almost didn’t feel what she did, but instinctively he knew. He used his hands to lift her head up so that he could look into those angelic blue eyes of hers that had captured him from moment one, and proceeded to kiss her soundly, not holding back in the slightest. The kiss deepened almost immediately as his tongue began to search the crevices of her lips and the soft texture of her tongue. She moaned softly against the kiss, returning it with as much emotion as he was delivering it.
His thumbs ran down her jawline on each side of her face as his lips moved from hers to continue their loving attention to the rest of her skin. Goosebumps developed up and down her entire body as she felt the familiar- yet different- caress of his mouth against her flesh. How she had missed it.
As Pogue made his way down the side of her neck, Amelia smiled, her hand covering his as she opened her eyes and tried to get his attention on something else. “As much as I’m loving this, perhaps we should wait before we get into intimacy *too* soon. Earlier today you were dying, Pogue, I think you need to heal more first and hear about what’s been going before you, um…” she groaned as she felt his tongue slide along her voice box, “get too carried away.”
Pogue ran his fingers back into the soft thickness of her hair, tangling them in her tresses. He pulled his mouth away from her neck only long enough for his eyes to flicker downwards so that he could take a peek through the crack in her blouse that showed off her light blue bra. He actually smiled at the sight before kissing the tender area right underneath her chin.
“Baby, you have no idea how much I thought about this while I was tied up. I even tried to imagine what you’d do to me tied up, but considering the wicked fucker’s tricks, that went south really fast.”
Amelia’s eyes opened at the mention of Stoughton. She gently extracted herself from him enough to look at him. His eyes stared back at her with both a lustful and haunted look shining in them. It was an interesting combination.
“I don’t want to rush you into talking about what happened down there, but…maybe you’ll feel better if you talk about it. What did he do to you, Pogue?”
Pogue blinked, and the desire in his eyes was extinguished. He pulled away from her and shifted in the bed slightly, wincing a little at the movements and how they affected his weak and sore body. “If it’s something that will haunt my dreams the rest of my life, there’s no way I’m telling you to affect yours, too. Some things you shouldn’t know to protect yourself, Amelia.”
“My dreams can’t get any worse,” she countered, shaking her head. “And you need to get it all out; you were essentially alone for five days.”
“Five days? That was all? It felt like months,” he muttered, staring at his lap as he rested his arms on his covered legs. “I’ll talk about it…when I’m ready, but not to you. I think Caleb is probably the best one to process all of it.”
She couldn’t hide the hurt in her eyes at the indication that he wouldn’t confide in her. While a part of her understood and appreciated his wanting to protect her from horrible revelations of his trauma, she still wanted to be in the know of what had happened…to better understand.
“By not telling me, that means that there are secrets between us. Is that a good way to start our lives together?”
“I almost didn’t have a life, Amelia! You said so yourself. I’m sorry I can’t confide in you right now, I just…” Pogue was starting to look agitated and cornered, which immediately made Amelia feel like a complete and utter bitch. She had no right to be angry at him for anything. She just got him back; she needed to focus on that. Besides, bringing up what he went through was probably not the best idea so soon anyway.
“I’m sorry, Pogue. I shouldn’t be pushing. If you feel like telling me later, you know I’ll be here. But you take your time…right now let’s just celebrate the fact that you’re here and you’re alive.” She reached up to touch his unmarked bicep. “I’m so sorry,” she apologized again.
Pogue just shook his head, gathering her into his arms and pulling her close to him again. He just held her silently against him, afraid to let go. If he did, he might lose her again. A part of him was still not completely convinced this wasn’t another of Stoughton’s tricks or a wishful dream. But if it was a dream, it was wicked believable. He just needed to keep her with him. If he did that, than everything would be okay…
-------------------
Tyler and Caleb slowly climbed the staircase to go to their respective rooms and finally get some sleep. It was almost midnight, and the day had taken its toll on everyone in that house. Caleb paused on the landing that lead to his mother’s room and gestured to the second flight of stairs.
“Go on up, I’m going to say goodnight to my mother.”
Tyler just nodded. “You going to check in on Pogue again before you crash, or do you want me to do it?”
“I’ll probably stick my head in to make sure they’re both okay, but feel free if you want. Maybe Pogue’s awake by now. Tell Amelia I’ll be in, in a little bit.”
“No problem. I’ll probably check on Reid, too…make sure he’s not being too broody. Good night, man.” Tyler gave him a brief, spontaneous hug before taking the rest of the stairs three at a time to get to the second landing where the teenagers were sleeping.
Caleb scratched at the back of his neck as he went over to his mother’s door and lightly knocked twice. “Mother?” There was no answer, which made Caleb think she was either asleep or in the bathroom.
He carefully turned the doorknob and opened the door a crack so that he couldn’t see anything he shouldn’t just in case his mother wasn’t decent.
“Mother?”
When he still got no response, he stuck his head into the room and looked towards her bed. It was empty. The covers and bedspread hadn’t even been pulled down yet. He frowned. That was strange. Then again, maybe she was soaking in a bath. She used to love doing that and would occupy herself for two hours sometimes just laying in a scented bath with candles lit. But that was before his father’s accident, and since then she had only taken the occasional bath and primarily stuck to showers.
The door to the bathroom was closed. Caleb crossed the distance between her bedroom door and the door to her private bath and knocked again.
“Mother, it’s Caleb. I wanted to say goodnight before I went up to bed.”
He expected to either hear his mother say ‘Come in’ or ‘Goodnight’, but he heard neither of those things. It was eerily silent, and it wasn’t long before the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. The familiar, unwelcome sensation of that snaking, dreaded feeling curled up in his stomach, making him feel briefly nauseous.
“Mother?” he said again, this time out of reflex than actually expecting a response. He turned the handle on the door and pushed the door open, but it didn’t open far. It stopped with only about six inches between the doorframe and where the door was jammed against something. Caleb clenched his jaw and got closer to the opening. He saw his mother’s arm on the floor…unmoving.
Sheer panic flooded Caleb as he pushed at the door even harder, and it budged open just enough that he could slide through the gap it made. He twisted around and crouched on the ground, slamming the door back closed.
Evelyn Danvers lay on the bathroom floor in front of the sink, her skin paler than normal and her body still immobile. Caleb’s hand trembled violently as he reached out and felt for a pulse on her neck. Seconds passed into minutes, Caleb’s fingertips still resting against his mother’s slowly cooling skin. His hand slowly fell away from his mother and to the floor.
He stared at the wall opposite him, where an original of Monet’s Water Lilies hung from the ivory surface. Such a serene and beautiful image. How the shades of green mixed with the light yellow hues. It felt like you were standing there firsthand. He never noticed it in such detail before.
Caleb slowly looked down at his mother’s face. Her eyes were closed and her lips were slightly parted, but she didn’t look like she was in any pain. Her expression was the complete opposite of Mr. Parry’s when Caleb had seen him. He looked angered, even in death. She looked peaceful, if not serene.
He finally let his eyes close as his legs lost what muscle tension was keeping him upright. He fell backwards against the dark cherry door, his body sagging against it. His mother’s head was only a few inches from his knee, and the fingers of his left hand came to rest on the silken material of her dark pink robe. He started to repeat the same word over and over again, each time it left his lips he waited for a response, but there was none. His tone became more and more distant with each reiteration.
“Mother…Mother…Mother…Mom…”
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