Me Without You (35 page)

"Good night!" Xavier simply told her
and went back to the car where Hugh was waiting.

Jonah carefully looked at the ground
and took her steps towards the house. Setting one uncertain foot
after another was a laborious calculation of how far the ground was
since it appeared nearer than it really was. When she finally
reached the door without stumbling, she realized that Hugh's car
had not left at all. The two boys were probably observing her
progress. So, she raised her hand in a wave to reassure them she
was fine and went inside.

Instead of going to her room, Jonah
heard Aunt Judith's voice in the kitchen and headed in that
direction. Aunt Judith was there with Jane.

"So, we've finally found her," Aunt
Judith was telling Jane excitedly.

Jonah saw the white mass that was Jane
turning around in her direction when she reached the
kitchen.

"Jane—" Jonah said pleasantly. "You're
out!"

"Oh, I let myself out," Jane uttered.
"I don't want to miss the party." She turned towards the cupboard
and took out an almost ten-inch knife. Without warning, she stabbed
Aunt Judith directly, hitting the old woman at the left side of her
stomach.

"Jane! What are you doing?" Jonah
screamed out loud. She could see Aunt Judith's form falling to the
floor. And when Jane raised the knife, the outline was misshapen.
What looked like the blade was bended into a curve.

Jane threw the knife into the sink and
went to the cupboard to take another one. She hissed towards Jonah,
"Don't make so much noise, Jonah! It wouldn't do us any good. I
have plans of keeping this as painless as possible for
you."

Jonah started backing off with Jane
scathing towards her. With trembling voice, Jonah said, "What is
this, Jane? Why are you doing this?"

"Don't you get it, Jonah? It has always
been me!" Jane said. "I sabotaged Jemmah's car. I told the healers
to take Jervais. Unfortunately, she was not available. But Jenssen
was."

"Healers?" Jonah asked, still inching
her way backwards. It would not have made a difference if she were
looking at where she was going. Movement in any direction on her
part proved to be difficult either way.

"Oh, they're a stupid bunch of old
people who drink a healer's blood and eat her flesh to continue
their lineage. Fr. Ulysses had been supporting them," Jane
said.

"The black car and the woman who looked
like your mother—" Jonah replied.

"That's them," Jane said. "They also
trashed my room to make it appear they were looking for the belly
chain and got it. But the old hag beat me to it even before the
healers came, she already took it."

"So, there are no hunters?" Jonah
said.

"I don't know, Jonah. I am not privy to
the people who want you dead. I am on my own now. When Damian tried
to save himself from going to prison by telling you guys where they
took Jenssen, the healers gave a fit. They wanted Damian dead. Of
course, how can I allow that? Damian is the only person who will
stand by me no matter what. He is more than family to me. But your
mother deemed him unsuitable for me," Jane said. She pointed the
knife with shaking hand towards Jonah and started raising her
voice, "The old witch! I've served her. I've given my life to her!
And all I ever asked was to teach me how to become a healer and she
just scoffed at me. It was always Jemmah."

"Jane, please calm down!" Jonah said,
trying to soothe Jane. Her fear had increased a notch higher with
Jane losing her temper and the sad memories rushing in. She was on
dangerous ground and she did not have any idea what to
do.

"I am calm now, Jonah!" Jane said
matter-of-factly. "I have been peaceful with myself all these
years. So, let's get on with this. I have the remaining poison
which I mixed with my own wine up in my room. You can take it until
you lose your consciousness, that way you won't be aware when I use
this on you—" she indicated the knife.

"Jane, please don't do this! I am your
sister! I love you!" Jonah said. Tears streamed down her
cheeks.

"Love me, Jonah? Drinking that poisoned
wine— I was hoping one of you will eventually surface and seal it
through me but nobody came forward. Not even you. It just shows how
dysfunctional this family is. I have Brice's laptop to prove it and
you can see how miserable he was because of this family. Just like
your mother, Brice killed himself, Jonah!"

At that moment, Jonah broke into a run
blindly. With her sight only seeing colors instead of things in
their real shapes and forms, she had stumbled all the way. She
tried to reach the door as quickly as possible.

But Jane was faster. She yanked Jonah
by the hair and shoved her to the floor. With such a menacing tone,
she commanded Jonah once again, "Go to my room, Jonah or I will
have to do it here and now."

When Jonah did not move towards the
stairs, Jane struck at her with the knife which barely missed
hitting her arm. Jonah immediately stood up and ran for the stairs
and went up with Jane closely on her heels.

Meanwhile, Xavier was feeling restless
about not telling Jonah how he truly felt for her. He had the sense
of a foreboding horror that lurked somewhere. It tasted something
like death in a corner. And if he were to die the next day, he
wouldn't want to go without telling Jonah that he loved her. So, he
urged Hugh to wait longer as he marched towards the Blood's front
porch. Before ringing the bell, he first took a peek in the window
to see if the lights were still on. Although, a lacy curtain had
block him from having a clear view of the inside of the house, he
was still shocked to get a hazy glimpse of Jonah running clumsily
and stumbling towards the stairs with Jane following her, knife in
one hand.

Without hesitation, Xavier took a rock
and hurled it against the window and breaking it. He opened it and
climbed through as quickly as possible, scratching himself on his
arms on the way in.

Hugh got out the car and was calling
out to Xavier, "X, what's going on?"

Seeing what Xavier had done, Hugh
followed after him. When he was able to squeeze himself through the
window, he could see Xavier was already running towards the stairs.
He also ran after Xavier.

By the time Hugh reached the top of the
stairs, he saw Jane attacking Xavier with the knife in her hand.
Attempting to evade the attack, Xavier shifted to one side and lost
his footing, unbalancing him.

Watching Jane still going after Xavier,
Hugh lunged forward grabbing her hand which held on to the knife
tightly.

"X!" Jonah screamed at the top of her
lungs, her voice echoing throughout the surroundings.

Hugh paused for a while and caught a
momentary glimpse of Xavier falling off the Mahogany-clad
staircase. But his attention went back to Jane as she tackled him
with brute force.

Jane was screaming and kicking and
forcing her hands to be freed from his. Using her fingernails with
her free hand, she dug through his skin and Hugh almost felt he was
being peeled off in one piece. He caught both hands and tried to
shake off the knife from her.

But Jane was strong and the more she
screamed, the stronger she became. Both Hugh and Jane ended up
rolling on the floor, each trying to wrestle the other. Then, in
one quick movement, Hugh stood up dragging with him Jane. Holding
both her arms, he twirled her around until she hit and slumped
through a wall hitting her head. She collapsed on the floor with
the knife rolling out of her grasp.

Hugh did not bother with Jane anymore
as he took the stairs two steps at a time, heading towards Jonah
and Xavier. When he made it to the front porch, he saw Jonah crying
and touching Xavier's head while staring at his chest.

"Don't touch him!" Hugh
said.

"Hugh!" Jonah cried out. Hugh could see
how relieved Jonah was. He, too, could not describe the joy he felt
seeing her safe.

Hugh hurriedly ran to Xavier's side. He
placed his jacket carefully underneath Xavier's head. He tilted
Xavier's head a little and examined his breathing, which was coming
in weakly. "Call 911!" he told Jonah urgently.

Hugh saw the Lively's car pulling up
the driveway and Dr. Christopher Lively, together with Helen and
Gilda Byrne came running out.

"Where's X?" Helen was already
hysterical when she reached the porch. But when she saw Xavier's
motionless body, she hesitated and backed away. "Xavier? No! God,
Hugh, what happened here?"

"He fell off the stairs," It was Jonah
who answered in a small voice.

Hugh was barely able to hear what Helen
had to say towards Jonah with Dr. Lively joining him at Xavier's
side checking his pulse.

Gilda had taken Helen by the arm and
was speaking to her in a hushed tone. After a while, Helen was
speaking on the phone.

Hugh's attention was momentarily
directed to Gilda as she told him to stay away from Xavier. He went
on to ignore Gilda and saw Xavier opening his eyes. Xavier was
trying to clear his throat while he tugged on Hugh's arm
weakly.

"You promised, Hugh!" Xavier whispered
in Hugh's ear. "You promised!"

For a brief moment, Hugh looked towards
where Jonah was standing.

What seemed to be a period when the
world stopped just as Xavier gained consciousness was fleeting.
Xavier started racing after his breath and he collapsed again. And
the world became frantic.

Pressing both hands through Xavier's
chest, Dr. Lively administered a CPR while Hugh assisted nervously.
After repeating the process a few times, Dr. Lively was already
exhausted and dejected.

"We've lost him!" Dr. Lively said. He
had stopped pumping at Xavier's chest. He was consistently running
his fingers through his eyes with the tears rolling down his
cheeks, "He's gone!"

"No, Dad—don't stop!" Hugh slumped back
dejectedly. His face was a mask of bland expression. He noticed
Jonah was already at Xavier's side.

Helen was already screaming, "No,
X—no!" while her husband immediately rushed to her side, grabbing
her in his arms as they fell to the ground, both weeping from their
loss.

Jonah knelt beside Xavier. She breathed
in long and hard. Then, she placed both her hands just a few inches
above his chest. Then, she pressed down and pushed a
little.

Hugh stepped in and roughly pushed
Jonah aside. He pressed on Xavier's chest and let both of his hands
rest on it. He was feeling a hot current coming from Xavier's body
and his own hands. He gave a little weight and pushed. The friction
became hotter.

Hugh pushed some more…and a little bit
more.

Just when Hugh thought he could not
bear the pain in his hands anymore, Xavier began to breath again
with his heart pounding against his chest. The rhythmic rising and
falling of his chest was evident once more.

"Dad! X is breathing—" Hugh called out
urgently.

Now is Forever

The ambulance wheeled off Xavier with
Dr. Lively and Helen. Xavier was unconscious. He may not remember
everything that had happened to him but he will live to tell the
tale.

Gilda insisted Aunt Judith spend the
night at the Lively mansion, where they can heal her wound which
was not really that deep. Aunt Judith had graciously accepted the
offer rather than be brought to the hospital which she offhandedly
refused from the very beginning. She also considered it a good
opportunity to share a night cap with her sister.

Even Jonah spent the night at Xavier's
place. Although, Aunt Judith had reassured her that it will take a
while before the healers will make another attempt in her life, and
by then, she will be as prepared as Rebecca Blood ever was, it was
Hugh who nearly dragged her away from the Blood mansion.

Hugh and Jonah were both sitting in a
couch at the family room in the second landing. Hugh was examining
Jonah's arms for the cuts she had acquired while fighting off Jane
and stumbling along the way. At the same time, he was also showing
his own share of bruises which he got.

"Gosh, this one really hurt the most,"
Hugh said, revealing the deep cut where Jane had dug her nails into
his skin. "How come the little ones hurt more than the bigger
ones?"

Jonah laughed. "You're like a child
complaining about a little cut," she told him.

"Well, I could use some tender loving
care," Hugh said.

"Nobody says that anymore! What a
feeble way to put it! Corny, Hugh!" Jonah said shoving him a
little, away from her.

"Nobody says corny anymore! But yeah, I
am beginning to feel horny!" Hugh said.

"Eww! That's a dirty old man's humor—"
Jonah said. She couldn't help groaning and chuckling at him at the
same time.

When Hugh just stared at Jonah without
any expression on his face, she figured he did not really know.
That he was in fact not using a dirty-old-man's line on her but
really telling the truth.

"You need to do something with this
cut," Hugh said, running a finger through a cut in Jonah's arm. His
soft touch sent out tingling sensations all over her body that
Jonah wasn't quite sure if it was the healer's touch in him or the
horny man equally turning on a woman. He kissed the bruised skin
lightly and the thrilling sensation heightened.