Broken Dreams (40 page)

“Should we check upstairs?”
Strike two,
Thomas thought. One more and he’d be lunch. He was sweating it out.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, let’s go.” They walked out through the kitchen and dining room, and made their way upstairs, clearing every room.

***

The house was clear of any undeads. They went back outside to bring everyone in. Sophie was sitting next to a slightly perkier Henry, trying to make plans of some kind. Nick walked past both of them, and right to his mother. “How is she?” he asked Claire.

“It’s not looking good, but I’m trying to be hopeful.” She looked over at Elaina. He followed her gaze.

Elaina had her hands over her face, trying to shield her eyes from the world that was spiraling into a black hole of nothingness at a rapid rate.

“Okay. I’m going to get Mom into the house, then I’ll come back and get Elaina. Thank you, Claire.” He pushed a thick strand of wavy ginger hair off of her face.

With a hiss, Nick bent over and picked his frail mother off the ground. Thanks to Henry, his arm was still hurting. “Thomas, stay here. I’ll be right back.” He wanted a moment with his mother by himself. Thomas wasn’t going to disobey by any means, fearing a third strike would mean he would be Nick’s next meal.

Nick clambered off toward the house, and took his mother upstairs to her bedroom. After laying her down on the bed as gentle as he could, he covered her up with the throw blanket that was always neatly folded at the end of the bed. He kissed her forehead and kneeled down on the floor beside the bed. He held his mother’s icy hand with his own.

“Mom, we saved you from him. It’s okay now. You will be okay. He can no longer hurt you.” He swallowed hard. His throat started to swell while he was trying to hold back his emotions. “Elaina’s here, as well. We love you, and want you to get better. We’ll do everything we can to make that happen.” He paused while he choked back his tears. “But if you want to go be with Dad, then we’ll be okay with your choice. I will take care of Elaina. I promise you.” A sob slipped out of his throat. “I love you.” Nick rested his forehead on the edge of the bed and broke down.

After a good solid cry, lasting several minutes, he felt his mother gently squeeze his hand. He looked up, but she still looked like she was sleeping.

“Mom? Are you in there?” No response. He sighed and wiped his face dry. “I have to go for a minute. I need to get Elaina in the house. She isn’t feeling well. I wish you were awake. I need to talk to you about Claire. I need help...some advice.”

He didn’t want to let on about his or Henry’s condition, or really anything to do with the misfit group he was traveling with. He stood up and leaned over to kiss her forehead. “I’ll be back in a little bit. I’m sure Elaina will come see you. I love you, Mom.” She was still unresponsive. He started wondering if her squeezing his hand was just her body taking over.

***

Just as Nick made it back outside, Kellan woke up. He wasn’t moving too much, just grumbling.

“Is he turning?” I still wanted to shoot the fucker, but I was too dizzy to even open my eyes. It was probably not a good idea to try to shoot someone in that condition. With my luck, I’d end up shooting myself.

“No,” Sophie growled. “I wish he would so I could kill the bastard.” Sounded to me that we thought alike at times.

“Tell us how you really feel,” mumbled Nick.

“Believe me, you wouldn’t want to hear all of that. I’m relatively sure it would scare the shit out of you if you knew the thoughts that swirled around in my mind.”

“Yeah. Well, can you keep an eye on him,” he nodded at Kellan, “while I get Elaina inside? Wait a sec…” Kellan had started moving around more.

Nick pulled out his Sig and grabbed it by the barrel. “Hey, asshole.” Kellan opened his eyes. “I have a nice gift for you.” Nick smashed the Sig into the side of Kellan’s head. Out he went again. “Yeah. Enjoy that. Hope it was great.” He came over to me. “I think he’s having a nice rest at the moment so he shouldn’t be too much of a hassle.” Nick winked at Claire and she smiled, warmly.

“All right. Ready, Elaina?” Nick knelt down to me. I was so fucking annoyed that everyone was treating me like glass.

“I’m not a fucking fragile porcelain doll.” I still had my face in my hands.

“Right.” Nick started picking me up, and I heard him growl in pain.

“Nick, just leave me for now, and you can rest.”

“Nope. You need to get inside and in bed. Arg! Damn it.” Nick struggled with me in his arms.

“I’m not that heavy. Geez, give a girl a complex.”

“How do you do it?” He adjusted my weight in his arms so there would be less on his injured one.

“Do what?”

“That.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Still covering my eyes, I wasn’t ready to see the world yet.

“Your sense of humor. How can you make a joke in this fucked up situation? I mean, look around us.”

“I’m not opening my eyes. I’ll puke.”

“Right. Where do you find it in you?”

“My stomach.”

“Oh, my god, Elaina…”

“Sorry. It’s the only way I can get through things sometimes. I don’t want to feel anything, and if I push it away with a joke or some solid sarcasm then, in my mind, I will be okay.”

“Elaina, you
have
to feel all of this. It’s so fucked up.” Nick started up the stairs. I ignored his statement. It was fucked up. Completely and utterly fucked up, but how else was I supposed to deal with it? I was sick of crying.

“How’s Mom?”

“Not good. I’m going to check on her once I get you into your bed.”

“Let me know.”

“I will.” I slowly opened my right eye when Nick set me down in my old bed and headed out. I was still dizzy, but the world felt a little calmer than it did when I was outside. I tried opening my left eye, but it took a moment to build up the courage.

Finally, I grew a pair of balls and popped them both open. I was afraid of what I would see. It was nice to be able to hide behind my eyelids, but I needed to face my reality again.

My room was pretty much how I left it when I moved out. Pale yellow walls with white trim, white and pink floral quilt. Thankfully, the bed was full sized because I was going to have Henry stay with me. I couldn’t bear to be without him after what I had just witnessed. I looked over at my white vanity with my old pictures around the mirror. It made me smile to see all of it again.

“Nick!” He popped his head in the door. “Can you bring Henry up in here with me?”

“Are you sure?” I felt tremendously guilty because of how I had been treating him. I could have lost him to that giant fucking gorilla of a man out there. It was a major dose of reality.
My
Henry had died, but he was clawing his way back from the black abyss of his past one foot at a time.

“Yes. I want to be there for him as much as I can.” He nodded. “Mom?”

“She’s still hanging on. She’s a fighter. I wonder where you got it from.” He winked at me and went back downstairs.

It seemed like hours later before I heard Nick finally coming up the stairs, helping Henry every step of the way. They paused in the doorway so Henry could catch his breath and swallow his cries of pain. I was pissed when I saw what was happening.

“Why didn’t you carry him?!”

Nick laughed at me. “Me? Carry him? I think he would rather do it this way,” he motioned his free hand and arm like Vanna White, “than accept my assistance.” Then Nick’s face went dark. “Not that I’m really fond of him right now.” Henry held onto the wall, and slowly made his way to the bed. “I’m heading back out to help them with Kellan. Any special requests, Mr. Bossman?”

“Tie him up downstairs. I’ll come down and see him when I’m able. I have a few questions that I need to ask him.” As Henry lay back onto the bed, he said every cuss word that I knew, plus others I had no idea existed. When he finally did make it, he breathed a great sigh, then cringed. “Motherfucker…ugh. Shit.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Peachy. And you, love?”

“Fabulous.”

“Brilliant.”

“Yup.” My curiosity was burning. I needed to know about Kellan. “Well?”

“Well what?”

“Don’t play stupid. Tell me about Kellan.” Henry’s breath stopped for a moment, while he shifted his body. He was quiet, trying to put his words together. I laid there, fighting the urge to kiss him, make love to him, beat the ever loving shit out of him, cry over him, sleep, and throw up all at the same time.

“Well, obviously, he’s one of Roger’s head-fucks. One of the VP’s of the program, I suppose. Let’s just call him ‘Vice Arseface’.” I tried not to laugh because it would probably have made me throw up. “He was one of the pricks who used to hand out the beatings, like a fast food chain hands out food laced with heart disease. He always knew exactly where to get me first.” He stopped. I rolled over to look at him while he was trying to explain.

His eyes were swollen, and he could barely open them. His nose was even more crooked than before. His bottom lip was cracked open in the same place that held a scar. He had dried blood all over him. The bruises that I could see were already dark purple, and getter darker by the minute.

I wanted to cry at the sight of him. He was a mess. I wanted to make all his pain go away. I wanted to take care of him. I wanted to fix him, but I couldn’t. The only thing I could do at that moment was be there for him emotionally so, as gentle as I could, I took his hand and rubbed it with my thumb.

“I’m here for you. Please, Henry, please talk to me. You almost fucking died out there. I need you not to do that again. It scared the shit out of me. I almost lost you forever.”

“I heard you.” I looked at him, confused. Then he whispered, “I heard you screaming and crying for me. That’s what made me fight to push through the blackness that was sucking me in.”

“Oh, god.” My jaw trembled, and my eyes began swimming with tears.

“I’ll do my best not to scare you like that again.” He squeezed my hand. “I should’ve killed him when I had the chance, but I had this overwhelming need to control him, like he did with me for so many years. I’m so pissed at myself about this. I had my chance, but then I… Fuck me.” He closed his eyes and hissed.

“How did he know where you were? I mean, you could have been anywhere by now.”

“I could have. He would still have been able to find me, no matter where I was.”

“How?”

Henry slowly lifted his arm, hissing the whole time. “This.”

“This what?”

“You see this scar? I have a tracking device implanted.” Um, excuse me? Come again? I always thought it was just a scar. I never even questioned him about it.

“Seriously?”

“Do you think I would be fucking joking about that?!” he yelled at me, even though it hurt. His temper was short enough, but the pain of his past and present were really doing a number on him.

I tried being patient. “I’m sorry. Please tell me.”

“Once they decided I was a fit for the program, the grim reaper out there implanted this chip in me so I could never run. So, obviously, they have been following my movements since I’ve been in the States. Also, without a doubt, they have been investigating everyone I knew and every place I went. They knew that I would keep you alive so, more than likely because I’m such a bloody softie, I would bring you here at some point. They must have had everything set up from the get go. I almost wonder if he was in the area before the release, just waiting for the right moment. How else would he have gotten here?”

I had a brilliant idea. “So, let’s cut the damn thing out.”

Henry tried not to laugh. It pained him too much. “Yeah. That’s precisely what I need. More pain right now. I’m seconds from vomiting as it is.”

“Why didn’t you cut it out before?”

He tried to look at me through his swollen eyes. “To be honest, I didn’t even think about it until I saw Kellan in the cellar.”

“How could you forget something as significant as this?” I was so flustered.

“I don’t know, Elaina. Maybe I’ve been too busy trying to keep you, Claire, and Nick alive.” And then he mumbled, “Too busy trying to get you back. Too busy trying to drink away my mental anguish. Bloody hell!” He was angry with himself.

I knew he wanted to punch something. He thought that our situation was his fault. My heart ached so much that it felt like I was stabbed in the chest. I put all of us in danger because of my asinine behavior.

“I was so scared you weren’t going to come back to me.” My voice shook.

“I’m sorry to scare you like that.” He squeezed my hand again.

“I love you.”

“Love you, too,” he breathed out.

We heard a lot of foot traffic and doors slamming downstairs. I heard Kellan yelling, but it was muffled. I assume Nick had gagged him. Henry’s body went stiffer than it already was. I could feel the fear radiating off of him. He was absolutely terrified of Kellan. Next to nearly losing me, that was the only time I had seen him rigid with fear.

“Shut up! Shut up now, or I will blow your fucking brains out!” I assumed Sophie was screaming at Kellan. I heard him grumble. “Do
not
tempt me. I have a lot of pent up anger at the moment. I’m going to ungag you, and if you yell once, I’ll do it.” I decided to try to get up, but Henry refused to let go of my hand.

“It’s okay. I’m just going to stand at the top of the stairs. I want to hear what’s going on.” He sighed and let go of my hand.

I lied. I stood at the top of the stairs for moment before I walked down part way.

***

I saw Sophie standing in front of Kellan. He was sitting, now ungagged, in a dining room chair. His hands were bound behind him, and his legs were bound to the chair legs. There were chains wrapped around him, secured with locks. Nick had tied him up like a boss.

Nick must have raided the garage. Dad always had a wide variety of items for that “just in case” situation. I suppose this situation would fit in that category.

“Do what you want, you whore. Roger knows where all of us are, even now. Did you two forget about those?” Kellan motioned his head to Sophie’s forearm.

“Forget about what?” Nick asked. Sophie stood still. “Sophie! Forget about what?!”