Chapter 15
The Journey
Wednesday morning found me waking in bed with a much calmer feeling in my stomach. I would be with my vamp to the very end. I would hold his hand and tell him that he meant everything to me, as the light in his eyes flickered out. I was still horrified at the prospect of watching that…but I was resolved to do it. He wanted this. He needed this. And I would be there for him, in the only way I could be.
Kissing my cheek lightly, whispering that he loved me and he’d see me after work, Teren left me a couple hours before I had to leave myself. I stretched in bed and with a deep, relaxing breath in and out, I mentally prepared myself to have a conversation with Clarice about taking some much needed time off of work.
I dressed in the way that she preferred, hoping to maybe score some points with her - a long, heavy skirt and a frilly, long-sleeved conservative top. I piled my thick locks on top of my head and grabbed a fitted jacket before heading out the door, to make a request that my boss was either going to approve…or she’d lose me.
She happened to be at my desk with a stack of papers when I approached her. My heart started quickening at the anticipation of the conversation. Her pudgy face took in my near carbon copy recreation of her outfit, and a slight tugging at the corners of her lips indicated a smile.
She handed me the stack when I was within arm’s length. “I need these copied and faxed by lunch,” she said brusquely.
“Good morning, Clarice.” I said, grabbing the papers and slapping a forced smile on my face. “I wanted to give you a heads-up, but I’ll be giving you a written notice as well…” I took a deep breath and spoke with my exhale, “I’m taking all the vacation and sick time that I’ve accrued in my time here, two weeks from Friday.”
Clarice looked surprisingly at a loss for words. Finally, she sputtered, “Oh…well…of course.” She looked around the office as she did calculations in her head of how long I’d be gone. “I guess I’ll get the temp agency to get someone out here to replace you…” Her eyes came back to my face and her brows were knitted in concern. “You are coming back…right?”
I smiled, genuinely happy that I was wanted here in my odd little family. “Of course. I just have a…a family situation that needs my attention.”
She smiled widely for the first time I’d ever seen, and then it faded immediately. “Well, I’ll need to see that in writing, as you said, and the dates will need to be clearly specified for your departure and return.”
I smiled inwardly at the return of “professional” Clarice. “Sure…no problem.” Well, the leaving date would be easy – two weeks from Friday is what Teren was giving his work, but the coming back date? I’d just have to pick a date as far out as I could and hope for the best.
Clarice twisted her lips as she regarded me. “You could have given us longer than two weeks to prepare.”
I cringed appropriately. “Sorry…it was sort of an emergency that popped up at the last minute. Thank you for understanding,” I threw in, as she looked about to protest.
She swallowed her complaint and flicking my stack of papers with her finger, she pointedly said, “By noon. I don’t want you slacking off, because you’re leaving soon.”
I stifled a sigh. “No problem, Clarice.”
She waddled back across the aisle to her spacious desk in front of Mr. Peterson’s office, and I turned to set down my stack of urgent papers and my starting-to-get-heavy purse.
I’d barely shoved the purse in my drawer before Tracey’s blonde head popped up over the wall. “You’re leaving?” Her eyes scrunched in a mixture of annoyance and concern.
I sighed softly as I looked over my sad faced friend. When I got back, things would probably be different in our friendship. Not that she and I wouldn’t still talk nearly every day, have lunch every so often, take kickboxing together, and maybe even occasionally take Ash out for a drink…but the double dating aspect of our relationship would change.
What we could all do together as a foursome would change, and how close Tracey and Ben could get to Teren would change. To lessen the risk of exposure for Teren, there would just be a lot more…carefulness when we were all together again. The breezy casualness of our group outings would be gone. I’d miss that.
Smiling softly, I answered her question, “Teren’s Dad is sick and Teren needs to take some time off, to work up at the ranch, until he gets better. I’m going as well…to help out.” Teren and I had talked about what to tell people last night. This was what he was telling his boss and coworkers…it would work for mine as well.
Tracey’s face fell in sympathy. “Oh…is he going to be okay?”
I knew she meant Teren’s Dad, but Teren’s jet-black hair, pale blue eyes and lightly stubbled face leapt into my head, and I had to swallow to force back the sudden tears. “He’ll be fine, Trace.”
She nodded and, accepting my lie, reached out over her wall to pat my shoulder. I tapped her arm back in thanks, and she ducked her head back down to continue on with her day. I got to work on my papers, forcing my mind to completely shut off.
I spent every waking moment that I could with Teren, as we prepared to leave. There were several more conversations that we had to do. The first, and easiest, perhaps, was calling his parents. He waited until Friday evening to do it. At his reluctance to pick up the receiver, I wondered if his stubborn pride would even let him make this phone call. As he stared blankly at the thing, I considered punching in the numbers for him.
Looking at me, and perhaps noticing my expression, he sighed and dialed his family home.
“Hi Dad,” he said when the line picked up. He leaned back against the kitchen counter and folded his arms across his chest. I walked over to him and unfolded one arm to sling it around my waist. He smiled and kissed my head as he listened to his dad talk to him for a few long seconds.
During a break in the conversation he muttered, “Will you tell Mom that I’m coming home…to stay.” He said it very quietly, and I wondered if his dad’s normal human ear even registered the sound.
Teren straightened a bit and his eyes unfocused as he listened to the other end. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Mom…put Dad back on.” He listened, as I smiled at his mom’s enthusiasm. He closed his eyes. “Please stop crying. I’m fine…Emma’s fine…you win.” He opened his eyes and sighed. “I know, Mom…I know it was never a contest.”
He smiled softly and started rubbing circles into my back. I ran a hand up his chest and our eyes locked as he spoke with his mother. “She’s coming too. I want her there.” His tone was final. It clearly said ‘there will be no debate on this’. I smiled and kissed him lightly.
His mom apparently gave no argument, for the next thing he said was, “Wagyu…really? Well…thank you.” His lips lifted to a genuine smile and I wondered what they were talking about.
His hand ran through my hair as he smiled down on me, still listening to his mother talk in his ear. For a moment, I wished I had his uncanny hearing, so I could be privy to the conversation. “I’ll be coming up in two weeks.” He frowned into the phone and stopped stroking my hair. “It was the best I could do, Mom.” He paused as he listened. “I have a job…a life that needed some loose ends tied up…”
He scowled. “Mom…” His tone was getting irritated with her and I cleared my throat, a clear warning to the both of them. Teren paused, smiled and then laughed. “Yes…she does do that.” He grinned crookedly and again, I wondered what they were talking about.
“Okay…I love you too, Mom. Give my best to Dad and the others…bye.” He hung up the phone and slung both arms around my waist. I waited for an explanation on the many pauses, but all I got was a warm set of lips on my neck.
“So…” I began, struggling to remember the bits and pieces I’d heard, while Teren’s soft lips traveled up my skin.
“So…” he repeated huskily in my ear.
I resisted the urge to press my body against his and run my hands up through his hair. I pulled back a little and his eyes danced with playfulness. “What did they say?”
His hands lowered to firmly cup my backside and he pulled me tight against him. “Do you really want to talk about this now?”
I ignored how incredibly nice that felt, and pushed back on his chest again. “Wa…gyu?” I said, stumbling a bit over the odd word.
He laughed and relaxed his hold on me, running a finger through the hair by my ear, tucking it behind it. “A couple months ago, they ordered me some cows, just in case I changed my mind about the ranch.” He laughed again and shook his head. “Kind of an incentive. They’re arriving next week.” Shrugging, he finished with, “It’s actually pretty nice of my parents. Wagyu cattle are the best around.”
My brows came together in confusion. Was I missing something obvious? He laughed as he looked at my bewilderment. Ignoring his amusement, I asked, “Are they raising these Wagyu now? Do they expect you to stay and work there?”
He cocked his head and blinked blankly at me. Then he broke into a wide smile and a laugh. “They’re congratulations cows.” I shook my head, still not getting it. “Emma…” He brought his two fore fingers to his mouth and held them in front of his lips like fangs. “Congratulations…here’s your cow…cheers.”
I shut my eyes and shook my head. Oh…duh, right. I reopened my eyes and looked at him with an eyebrow raised. “You and the girls aren’t going to go hunting or something, for your first day as a dead vampire?”
He shook his head and grimaced. “I hate hunting. Fishing I like, but hunting…” he shook his head again, “no thanks.”
I smiled and shook my head at my very unvampire-like vampire. “You are such a disappointment,” I muttered, as I kissed him softly.
He laughed and grabbed me tight again. I tried not to gasp, but it came out anyway. “I bet I could change your mind,” he nearly growled.
I bet he could. Not giving in to his very clear desire just yet, I pulled back. “Why don’t you like hunting? Isn’t that some instinctual part of being a vampire?”
He cocked an eyebrow at me, as he smiled cockily. “Why don’t you like shoe shopping? Isn’t that an instinctual part of being a woman?”
I smacked him harshly on the shoulder. He was right…about the hating it part. There was nothing that irritated me more, than trying on pair after pair of ‘they just look funny on me’ shoes. I smacked him on the shoulder again and laughing, he continued, “Why would I want to run through the countryside like an idiot, when Bessie will just stand there and let me drain her dry?”
I rolled my eyes as I gazed up at him. “You’re just…you’re a metro-vampire.”
He blinked and looked at me with an odd expression. “I’m what?”
I put on my matter-of-fact face. “You’re a metro-vampire. You drink espresso and drive a hybrid and work for a lifestyle magazine and dress better than any other man I know.” I dug my finger into his chest playfully. “You just don’t want to get your nails dirty, running through the woods after your dinner.”
He gaped at me with his mouth wide open and then he cocked his head to the side. “Wait…why are my nails getting dirty in your little scenario? Am I falling down a lot after the change?”
I started to glare at him and smack his smartass, when his lips were suddenly on mine again. When his tongue slid in my mouth, I stopped my pointless, flirty banter. When his hands quite firmly found my ass again, I stopped stifling the groans I’d wanted to make, and when he zipped me to his bedroom he proved that his manliness, vampiric or otherwise, was never in question.
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After a long couple days of phone calls - shutting off services, holding mail, paying bills in advance, all the mundane stuff you have to do before a long trip, we were back at our Tuesday night dinner with my family, and had to break the news to them. It wasn’t as if I were going all that far away, but there really was no telling when Teren’s change was going to happen, so I wouldn’t be leaving the ranch for any reason. And it wouldn’t be safe for them to visit…not until after.
Teren and I sat down across from my mom and Ashley, and right away I knew Ashley knew something was up. Her brown eyes, that were the exact same light shade as mine, burned with questions that she wanted to ask, but couldn’t in front of Mom. I’d pull her aside later, but for now, she’d have to buy the lie that we were about to spill to my mom.
Mom seemed to notice the tension in the air as well. She tucked some of her chin length hair behind her ears and eyed the two of us speculatively. I looked at Teren, hoping for a way to be honest with my mom, without having to tell her the truth. That just wasn’t possible though.
Her voice broke the silence, “God, you’re pregnant ,aren’t you?”
My eyes flicked back to her, and Teren started laughing nervously beside me. I wanted to laugh, to brush off her concerns, but I wasn’t pregnant yet and I really wished I was, so my eyes started to tear up. Teren stopped laughing when he noticed my eyes. He squeezed my hand and leaned down, as if to casually kiss my cheek. After he did he quickly whispered, “There will be time.”
I nodded imperceptibly, to anyone but him, and forced the ‘don’t be silly’ grin on my face for my mother’s benefit. “No, Mom,” I exaggerated.
She sighed with relief, then her jovial face sparkled with playfulness. “Are you getting married? Do I finally get to plan a big wedding?” Her eyes, the same shade of brown as Ashley’s and mine, glowed with the thought of planning the big day for her daughter. I swallowed and forced back the tears. I wasn’t even sure if that day could happen, not that Teren had asked me yet. But he wouldn’t exactly be the champagne swilling, cake eating groom. How would I explain that to her?
Teren leaned down and kissed my cheek again. He didn’t whisper anything that time and I slumped a little, at him not taking that opportunity to ask me. Was he getting cold feet? The thought that my vamp, who actively tried to knock me up daily, would in a few months actually have cold feet – made me giggle with barely contained hysterics. My mom watched my reaction oddly and then started laughing herself. Teren and Ash joined in and we all had a moment of levity, for no apparent reason.
When the laughs died down, I muttered, “No…not yet, Mom.” Teren squeezed my hand on the word ‘yet’ and looking over at him, I noticed him wink at me. Hmmm…maybe he did want that future for us?
Teren filled in the blanks on our big announcement, while I continued gazing at him. “My father has fallen ill and I need to be with him…to help out on the ranch for a couple months, until he’s better.” My mother’s face fell into a sympathetic one and she looked about to reply. Teren cut her off before she could, “Emma is going to come out with me…to help my step-mother.”
My mom’s face softened into a small smile as she gazed at me approvingly. My sister gasped loudly and her mouth fell open. Tears sprang to her eyes and she looked shocked and horrified, and about to protest quite loudly…in front of Mom.
“But…Emma…?”
My mother looked over to her with thin lips. Teren dropped his mouth and looked about to say something, but I quickly beat him to it. “Ash…I need to go to the restroom, will you come with me?”
Her mouth in a hard line, she nodded her half-haired head and stood stiffly at the side of the table. I rose from the edge and, locking my elbow with hers, quietly walked away from the table.
Ash wasn’t so quiet. “Emma…that’s nuts. You can’t be around him while he changes. That’s…that’s near suicide!” She was whispering, but I shushed her anyway. I looked back at Teren, who was flushing slightly as he tried to assure my mom that nothing was wrong. He’d clearly heard my sister say that and I’m sure he didn’t like the comment.
She didn’t say anything else and we shuffled into the bathroom in a sullen silence. I checked under all the stall doors and when I was positive we were alone, I turned back to her.
“Emma…please,” she started immediately.
I put my hands on her arms. “He asked me to be there when he died, Ashley. How could I possibly say no to that?”
She looked over my face and opened and shut her mouth several times. “But…Emma…?”
I ran a hand down her scarred face as her tears spilled over. “Please don’t worry about me, Ash. His family will keep me safe.” She closed her eyes and started to cry in earnest. I held her close and rubbed her back. “It will be okay, Ash, I promise.” I didn’t mentally overlook the fact that the only assurance I could give her, was a promise, and I knew from experience just how empty those promises can sound.
She held me back and cried a moment longer on my shoulder, before pulling back to look at me. I wiped some tears off her cheeks as she sniffled. “You’ll be careful?” she asked hesitantly, not sounding like she wanted to sound too approving of my plan, but knowing she had no choice – my mind was made up.
I held her face in both hands. “I will be the most careful human around a hungry vampire, that anyone has ever seen…okay?”
She shook her head and then nodded. To ease her mind more, I added, “I won’t be there for the actual change. After his heart stops, his father will drive us safely away, until Teren has had his fill of cattle.”
She looked at me blankly, and then smacked my shoulder roughly. “You couldn’t have led with that! Geeze, Emma…I was picturing them tying you down next to him like some virginal sacrifice.”
I rubbed my shoulder and rolled my eyes at her, as we both started to giggle. “I’m hardly virginal, Ashley.”
She laughed harder and gave me a huge hug…all was forgiven. “I love you, sis.”
I held her back tight and exhaled softly. “I love you too. I’ll be fine…okay.”
“You better be,” she muttered and I thought I heard her add, “I’ll stake his ass, if you’re not.”
Cleaning up our faces, we hugged one last time before exiting the bathroom to rejoin dinner. Teren and my mom were laughing over something as we calmly approached the table. Teren eyed me with a clear question in the slight arch of his brow, and too low for the others to hear, I muttered, “She’s fine…we’re fine.” He nodded once and flicked his eyes to her as she sat down.
Ashley met his gaze calmly and muttered something under her breath. I didn’t hear what she said, but Teren’s eyes saddened as he flicked a quick glance to me. He nodded briefly to her, before picking up his fork and resuming his meal, which had arrived while we’d been in the bathroom, the waitress, Debby, knowing perfectly well what we’d order.
I glanced up at Ashley across from me as she picked up her fork. She gave me a small grin before shifting her focus to her meal. My mother seemed oblivious of the silent conversations going on around her and after wiping her mouth with a napkin, asked me if I was alright. I assured her I was and that everything was great. She eyed me oddly for half a second, and then asked Teren what we’d have to do on the ranch.
I wondered if she suspected something was going on, and was choosing to ignore it. My mom would fight for me like a mother bear if the situation called for it, but Teren and I were happy, and relatively healthy, so whatever was going on, obviously wasn’t dangerous (in her eyes). Sometimes, living in ignorance is the easiest way to get through life…especially when it comes to your loved ones.
After the meal, we hugged goodbye in the parking lot, Teren muttering something in Ashley’s ear again, before helping her in the car. Once we were back in his vehicle, I asked, yet again, what he and my sister were chatting about. With a half-smile, he told me that at the table, she’d threatened to kill him if anything happened to me, and a few seconds ago in the parking lot, he’d told her that he’d let her stake him, if anything happened to me.
I shook my head in disbelief at these people who loved me so fiercely.
The following week and a half were a blur. I’m sure the days happened. They must have, for I’m pretty sure time travel isn’t possible. Of course, just a few months ago I’d felt the same about vampires. But somewhere in the goodbye meals with my family, a final double date with Tracey and Hot Ben (who was anxious for Teren to return for more “guy time”) and arranging for Spike to live with my mom and sister while we were gone (no need to tempt Halina, right), days flew by.
Tracey threw me a little going away party on my last Friday, much to Clarice’s dismay. She brought me a bouquet of wild flowers and enough chocolate cupcakes for the entire staff, which I think finally made Clarice okay with the whole distraction. Handing me my cupcake, with a lit sparkler on the top, we hugged for several long seconds. We both had tears in our eyes as we pulled apart, and I already missed my vivacious friend.
After the mini bon voyage, I went home and Teren was already there in my drive, waiting for me to prepare for our trip. I packed up bags of clothes and supplies for our “vacation that wasn’t a vacation” and we added my stuff to Teren’s few bags, loading up his Prius to near bursting. Teren commented wryly that his parents did have a washing machine and I didn’t need to pack half my closet, and I’d smacked him soundly in the chest. Over packing is a woman’s prerogative. I’d even refused his offer to do it for me again. As good as he was at it, the selecting and folding of clothing, calmed my mind and my nerves. Honestly, I think that’s why I seriously over packed. Stopping had caused my mind to drift to unpleasant things, so I’d purposely avoided doing that.
And so, on a cloudless, blue autumn Saturday morning, after a peaceful night of holding each other until we fell into a deep sleep, my vampire and I headed out to his parents’ ranch, where he was slated to die within six weeks. I cast a final glance back at my house as we pulled out of the driveway. The early morning sunlight glinted in the windows and the house almost looked like it was winking goodbye to me. I smiled at the blue beauty, with the old-fashioned white shutters and flower boxes, and a bright red door. My grandmother’s house, that looked like a half-gallon carton of milk smashed in-between other half-gallon cartons of milk, each holding the other up for support. I silently wished the house well in my absence, and turned back to the road.
We were silent as we drove along, passing by people walking their pets, or older couples, holding hands as they went about their morning. I watched a particularly cute, wrinkled couple and sighed softly. No, that would never be Teren and I, but we would still have a great life together. Once we got through his death, of course.
Hearing me sigh, Teren stretched out his warm hand and placed it over mine on my knee. I turned my palm and laced our fingers together. He exhaled in a long, steady breath, like he was struggling with a nervous stomach. He glanced over at me and tried to smile, but it quickly fell off his face.
Feeling a jittery tension in the air, I tried to lighten the mood. “You know, you never did teach me any Russian.”
He looked over at me with a genuine smile on his lips. Mission accomplished. “I guess I didn’t, did I?”
I raised an eyebrow at him and waited patiently for him to start. He laughed, once he realized I was waiting for my first lesson right now. With a smile still on his lips, he flicked a glance back to the empty stretch of road, leading to a main artery out of the city. Looking back to me, he warmly said, “Ya tebya lyublyu.”
I scrunched my brow and tried to repeat the odd sounding phrase. “Ya tebya…”
“Lyublyu,” he said again, with a warm glow in his eyes to match the one on his lips.
I tried again, saying the words as close as I could to English, so the strange pronunciation made sense to me. “Ya teb-ya lou-blue.” He nodded and smiled wider and feeling more confident, I spouted it out again, trying to match his authentic cadence. He laughed a little and nodded.
His eyes turned back to the road as we hit the highway, leading us away from our homes. “What did I say?” I scanned his face as I asked him that and his eyes twinkled merrily in the morning rays, but he didn’t answer me. I frowned. “Teren…what did you have me say?”
He started laughing softly at my tone, but still refused to answer me. I exhaled dramatically, “Oh god…you made me say something dirty, didn’t you?”
He started laughing in earnest and looked over at me again, adoration clear in his features. Shaking his head, he softly said, “It means ‘I love you’.”
I blushed a little, and then started laughing with him. I squeezed our hands still laced together and looked out the window at San Francisco trailing behind me. Darn romantic vampire. As more and more of the city fell behind me, and romantic Russian syllables danced in my head, I asked Teren something that I’d thought randomly one day, back when he’d first told me what he was.
“Do you ever walk down the street and have a woman pass you and think – hmmm…I’d like a bite of that girl?” I grinned widely over at where he was still chuckling at me.
He shook his head at my odd question and laughed more. “Of course… who doesn’t?” He shrugged and continued laughing, all worry momentarily gone from his features, as I kept the mood in the car light.
I frowned playfully. “I’m serious, Teren.”
He bit his lip to rein in his laughter and looked back over the road. “Well, if I see a pretty girl, who smells appealing, I may wonder for a second if her blood is a particularly good…vintage.” He shrugged again. “But that’s about it.”
I smiled as I thought about my next question. “Did you think that about me?”
He looked back at me with an open, loving, honest face and responded suggestively with, “Why do you think I called you?”
My body flushed all over and his eyes lingered down my skin, before turning back to the road. His grin was that alluring half-smile, that was so darn sexy, and my hand clutching his suddenly wanted to be running through his hair and across his strong shoulders. I may have gotten carried away with my mood relaxing questions.
I stared at him with open interest in my eyes for a long time, while his watched the road, his grin never leaving him. Just as I was about to tell him to pull over somewhere, before we reached his parents’ place of super-hearing mood killers, he did pull the car over.
Confused, and slightly alarmed that he could maybe read minds now, I looked around at where we were. We were quite a ways from the city now, away from the main highway and on a slower, less traveled road. In fact, there weren’t any cars coming or going on this dusty stretch of blacktop, for as far as I could see. But before I could get too excited over that prospect, the reason Teren had pulled over became glaringly obvious.
Pulled over on the side of the road, was a small camper, the kind that looked like a fifth wheel trailer and a pickup truck had given birth to a truck/trailer hybrid. This poor creation was suffering from some sort of vehicular malaise. The engine hood was propped open, and someone was scooted underneath it, examining the underbelly. All we could see were a pair of denims protruding out onto the road, rather dangerously. If this road were busier, he’d probably have gotten his ankles run over by now.
Teren separated our hands and made to open his door. I looked back to him. “What are you going to do?”
He gave me a quick peck. “I’m going to see if I can help. I know a little bit about cars, working on my dad’s jeeps.” He shrugged. “If all else fails, I can call him a tow truck.”
I glanced at his cell phone, sitting in the console, and then back up to him with a raised eyebrow. “Are you just trying to delay us?”
He shook his head and rolled his eyes. “No…I’m trying to help someone.” He cracked his door and nodded his head at the direction of the incapacitated vehicle. “Come with…you can time me.” He grinned and opened his door to step out.
Shaking my head at his clear attempt to set us back a few hours, and, honestly…I’d come up with much better ways to delay us, than him sweating all over a rusty engine block, I opened my door and stepped out into the cool breeze of this fine Californian morning.
Crunching through the dirt along the side of the road, I joined Teren at the front of his car and clasped hands with him. Together, we walked over to where the man was still buried under his vehicle. We walked right up to the man’s shins and Teren bent down a little to talk to him. “Excuse me, sir? Can I help you in any way?” Teren asked politely to the set of legs that still hadn’t moved. “Sir?”
Teren cocked his head and started to look up, like he’d heard something. That was when my feeble human ears heard something. It was a faint metallic “pop”, like something under great pressure had been released. That was the last thing that made sense to me, for a very long while.
A loud, scraping metal noise immediately followed the pop, like a crowbar being dragged behind a car flying down the freeway. Before I could even ascertain where the noise was coming from though, I was being lifted into the air by Teren’s strong arms. Confused at the sudden movement, I clung to him with both hands. Just as I was about to ask him what he was doing, a sickening wet thud filled my ears, and we both started to fall over, me landing heavily on his stomach, Teren screaming in pain.
“Teren…baby…?”
Hopelessly confused, I searched his agonized face while my hands ran over his chest. Scooting off to the side of him, my hands and eyes drifted over his body. I began to worry that I’d really hurt him when I’d fallen on top of him. I also wondered why my never clumsy boyfriend, had seemingly fallen over for no apparent reason.
That was when my hand got to his legs…to what used to be strong, healthy, intact legs. My fingers felt the wetness of his jeans and startled, I pulled those fingers to my face. They were red - the deep, dark red of freshly exposed blood, and his jeans below his knees were quickly becoming saturated with it. His body jerked in pain when I’d inadvertently touched his injuries and he cried out in agony.
I wiped a shaking hand on my jeans and sat back to not cause him anymore pain. Looking up at the vehicle, I saw a steel rod bar protruding out from under the frame of the camper. It was close to the rear tire, at a ninety degree angle to the vehicle. I could see a thick suspension coil attached to it and looking closer at the front tire, I saw the clip where the rod had been secured to the vehicle. That was when my brain started making connections.
The pop I’d heard, was something or someone releasing the bolt that was holding back the rod. With that clip released, the rod had flown back towards the rear tire, kinetic energy giving it strength and speed that no human would be fast enough to get away from. But Teren wasn’t entirely human. He’d heard the pop and calculated what it was, with just enough time to scoop me above where the bar was sweeping around. But he hadn’t had time to scoop and run; the bar had hit his legs full force, midway between his knees and his ankles, smashing his shins into a bloody, fractured mess.
It was in this daze of ‘what the hell just happened?’ that I noticed that the pair of legs we’d approached earlier were gone, and a hole dug under the vehicle would have provided a person more than enough room to hide and wait – wait in their trap. A trap we’d inadvertently sprung. Then a shadow blocked out the morning sun on one side of my face and I instinctively turned to look at it.
A grizzly man, wearing a green army jacket with a knife clipped to his belt, faced me. “Mornin’, sweetheart,” he said calmly, right before he brought his fist around to the side of my brain and knocked me out cold.
Her jaw dropped as she gaped at me. I’d worked here since graduating college and I’d never used any of my paid time off. Up until yesterday, I just hadn’t had any pressing desire to go anywhere or do anything that couldn’t be done in a weekend, or the week the office shut down after tax season- time off that didn’t dip into our vacation time. They considered that our yearly bonus, I considered it perfect. The company allowed you to rollover any unused time, and didn’t have a cap on how much you could roll over. You could even give away your vacation time to someone else, as a group did once for a woman going through chemotherapy a few years ago, before I’d started working here. As it was, I had a decent amount stored up.