Black Blood (13 page)

Ruby helped her
dry and dress in fresh clothes. As per usual, she tried for a
little makeup, but Gemma managed to pull her brain together enough
to refuse the gesture. She did allow Ruby to brush her hair and it
was during the relaxing experience that she finally found her
voice.

“I don’t know
how to survive this. It hurts too much.” She opened her eyes and
looked in the mirror.

Ruby’s hands
stilled in her hair. Her eyes were filled with sympathy. “I’ve
heard time heals everything.”

“Time.” The
word tasted like rotted meat. “I hate time.”

Ruby placed the
brush on her dresser and wrapped her slender arms around Gemma’s
shoulders. “Oh Gem, what they did was wrong. I wish I could bring
him back for you, but we can’t do that. You’re going to have to
find a way to live without him. I’m so sorry.”

Ruby had no
idea what she was expecting her to do.

Live without
him?

The idea didn’t
even compute.

Hopeless sorrow
engulfed her. Clutching her stomach, she bent over and rested her
forehead on Ruby’s dresser. Her sister’s gentle hand rubbing
circles on her back did nothing to soothe the pain. All she wanted
to do was crawl back into bed.

Chapter Eighteen

Ponte Vedra Beach,
Florida – 2011 AD

Sunlight
streamed through the window announcing a new day with a cheer Gemma
was far from feeling. It had now been two weeks since Harrison was
stripped from her life. Only fourteen days and it felt like a
century of blank nothingness. She was breathing, she was
swallowing, but her insides were numb. Her stomach could barely
contain the food being forced into it and her nights were a jumble
of dreamy confusion. In the morning her sheets were wrapped around
her body in a sweaty tangle and her mind would be waking with the
dull ache that announced her soul mate no longer existed.

Thanks to her
very persistent siblings she had been unable to wallow in solitude.
They had barely let her out of their sight since resurrecting her.
Her week had been filled with painful trips to the mall with Ruby,
various movie marathons and surfing trips with Dom. She had barely
seen her parents. Any time she sensed a whiff of them approaching
she disappeared into a lockable room. She couldn’t decide whether
to be bothered or not by the fact her parents had made no attempts
to make amends with her. She had settled on the theory that they
were just giving her time.

In a small show
of mercy, they hadn’t called them across the line once since Canon
City, but she knew it was only a matter of time. She wondered how
she would cope when it happened. The thought of her body being torn
apart for their service was too revolting to entertain. She had
placed it in a box in the farthest reaches of her mind and was
happy to leave it there until the last possible moment. There was
no way she wanted to assist them with anything after what they had
done, but who was she kidding. The shackles she thought she might
one day shed, tightened around her wrists with vehemence.

The cavity in
her chest ached with a bruising pain and time was doing nothing to
ease it. So far the only thing time had gifted her was the ability
to get up each morning, shower, eat and get bossed around by the
twins. As she pulled on her clothes that morning she decided enough
was enough. She was out of bed, her hair was brushed, and she
didn’t really feel like curling into another ball of despair, so
they could just leave her alone today. She didn’t want to go
shopping, she didn’t need anymore screen time and she didn’t feel
like surfing. In that moment her only desire was to go for a
ride.

The family were
eating breakfast together when she popped down the stairs. Seeing
her parents around the kitchen counter with Dom and Ruby gave her a
jolt. She dropped her gaze to the floor and made sure she gave them
a wide berth as she made her way to the pantry in search of a
granola bar. Shoving it in her back pocket, she pulled out her keys
with the other hand and mumbled her intentions.

“Where?” Her
mother’s question stopped her.

The sound of
her sticky sweet voice seared Gemma’s insides.

“I don’t know!
I just want to go for a ride.”

She didn’t wait
for any further questions or arguments and forced her legs to keep
moving towards the garage when she heard her father’s smug
voice.

“Well, looks
like she’s on the mend. See Pen, I knew she’d get over him. Nothing
to worry about.”

Her inner
cauldron bubbled as she tore out of the driveway, but as the power
of her bike whisked her down the highway she found her nerves begin
to settle. Weaving in and out of traffic she cruised the sunny
Florida roads all the way to Palm Bay. She stopped for a quick bite
to eat before jumping back on her bike and reluctantly heading
north.

The loneliness
she had been riding away from caught up with her and wrapped itself
around her body. The physical pain stole her concentration. She
decided to pull off the main road and take a moment to gather
herself before returning home. Slowing her bike down a side street,
she drew to a stop just before she hit the sand. She pulled her
helmet off with a sigh and leaned against her metal stallion. She
wasn’t sure which beach she was up to along the coastline, but it
was sparsely populated. She watched a few experienced surfers play
with the waves ahead of her and noted the topless brown raisin turn
onto her front for some tummy time. Gemma wrinkled her nose and
looked towards the pier.

The old wooden
structure jutted into the ocean like an arthritic finger. The
weather beaten posts still stood strong and were covered with all
manner of sea organisms. She sniffed the salty air. A smile
fluttered over her lips, but it quickly disintegrated.

“Harrison,” she
whispered. “I don’t know what to do. I feel weak without you. My
entire future was based around us together and now you’re gone and
I’m terrified. Everything feels so hopeless.”

Her recent
habit of talking to her non-existent boyfriend brought both comfort
and unrest. Every time she said his name he felt closer, but the
silence that always followed just made his absence all the more
painful.

She tried to
throw off her futile feelings as she pushed herself away from the
bike and headed towards the pier. Stopping in the soft sand, she
removed her shoes and felt her toes begin to toast in the
sun-drenched granules.

It was then the
feeling struck her.

GO AWAY!

The fuzzy
tingling spread through her digits and up towards her ankles.

I don’t want
to go anywhere with you people! LEAVE ME ALONE!

As she stood in
the sand, loathing her life, she fought the imminent departure.

You can’t keep
doing this to me! After what you did, you just expect me to jump
back in time and help you? Forget it!

Her mind
resisted her departure with more power than she had ever exerted
before. The tingling weakened. It was still moving up her body, but
at a much slower pace. The surprise made her jerk and the tingling
accelerated up to her hips. She fought it again. The tingling
slowed as it wove through her stomach and tried to reach her
ribs.

She had never
experienced anything like it. Knowing she had no control, she had
always just given into the feeling and rushed for cover. Now as she
stood resisting it with every fibre of her being she could feel the
battle of wills raging. She could picture her father on the other
side; sweat beading his brow as he did whatever he could to bring
his child across the line. The image made her laugh. The tingling
spurted up to her shoulders.

I guess it’s a
done deal now.

Traipsing with
a huff towards the pier, she let herself vanish, but not the idea
that with a little practice she might just be able to stay where
she was.

* * * *

Mesa Vedre, Colorado –
1803 AD

Gemma appeared
with a wince. Opening her eyes, the first thing she spotted was her
irate father marching towards her. He looked tired yet feisty.
Before she could utter a word, she felt her head whipping to the
side as the result of his sharp palm on her cheek.

The sting of
his fingerprints lingered on her flesh. She felt her eyes liquefy,
but blinked to dry them.

“Don’t you ever
fight me like that again, you understand me?”

Gemma turned
back towards him. Raising stony eyes, she met his gaze and was
surprised to feel no fear, just an utter lack of respect.

“
You’re
my
daughter and
you’ll do as I say. Don’t go forgetting that now.”

She felt her
insides recoil as he placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a
light squeeze. He added a smile to the gesture, which made her face
twist with disgust. He quickly dropped the charade.

“Now hurry up,
you’ve already made us late!” He threw the order over his shoulder
as he descended the rocky cliff face.

“No clothes?”
Gemma’s hopes were dashed with a shake of her sister’s head. She
couldn’t help spotting the slight look of wonder that twinkled in
the back of Ruby’s eyes as she studied her. She was about to say
she didn’t know how she did it either, but was cut off by a swift
command from her father to get moving.

They descended
a treacherous cliff, finding their footing in the small imprints
made for them on the rock face.

“Hey I know
this place,” Gemma murmured.

“Where?” Ruby
whispered.

“Mesa Verde,”
she called down. “It’s a National Park in Colorado… well, it will
be anyway.”

Jumping from
the last rock, she landed next to the remains of the 800-year-old
city. The structure was like no other she had seen. An ancient city
made from clay, its layers of housing creeping back into the depths
of the large opening.

The silence in
the rocky cave dwelling was a little eerie. Gemma had always wanted
to come here, but she had been hoping her father would bring them
along when it was inhabited. She would have loved to see the city
buzzing with people going about their daily chores. She could
picture the women on their knees grinding grain, the half naked
children scuttling through the various openings in the walls and
the old men sitting in the kivas. She bent down and ran her hand
through the dust beneath her, wondering how many feet had trodden
over the golden soil.

“This must be
before it was discovered in 1888,” Gemma kept her quiet commentary
going as Ruby shuffled up beside her.

“We’re looking
for an arrow necklace.”

Alistair’s
statement put Gemma on high alert as she stood tall.

“Another
one?”

“Ruby!” Her
father’s warning went unsaid, his sharp voice and glowering stare
enough to stump any argument.

“I’m not
arguing.” She raised her hands. “I’m just wondering why we’re
looking for another one, that’s all.”

“Don’t feel the
need to question everything I do,” he snapped, “but if you must
know, these artifacts are very important and we can’t have them
falling into the wrong hands. I’ve found a secure spot we can hide
it. I’m due in Colorado next week and will make sure it gets put
into the hands of the right archaeologist. I don’t want these
numbskulls from 1888 digging it up and thinking it belongs with
these people.”

Gemma felt the
flakiness of his argument, but after the slap and his sharp
response to Ruby, she didn’t feel game enough to fight him. She
sullenly followed him through a narrow doorway and into the heart
of the city. A silent grappling match began within her as she
pitted her resistance to the task against her passion for history.
She took in the tawny clay structure around her, awed by the human
strength and ingenuity it must have taken to make this work.

Harrison, you
would love this!

Her smile of
wonder disintegrated. Picking through some earthenware she
continued to search her designated area while trying to keep the
artifacts as untouched as possible.

This is going
to take forever. Do you know how many people used to live in this
cave, Dad?

“I found it!”
Her mother’s voice rang with excitement.

Gemma stood
from her spot, glad she could go back and at least put some clothes
on. She followed her family back up the cliff and waited while her
father traipsed through the forest to his new hiding spot. Her
mother’s face glowed with triumph, Dom remained unreadable as he
leaned against a tree and Ruby looked bored as she sat on the
ground playing with her hair. Gemma studied the trio and the
detachment she was feeling grew a little stronger.

Did she know
them really? Dom was pretty unchangeable, but Ruby had been giving
her the silent treatment only a few months ago. What’s to say she
wouldn’t do it again? And then there were her parents. That was the
biggest killer. Her parents. As she watched her mother wait with a
smirk on her face she loathed herself for ever fighting with
Harrison over this. The last time she’d seen him they had been
arguing. They would never have a last time again and the thought of
its ugliness was devastating.

As her body
began to tear away, she tried to remember what they had even been
fighting about. She wished she could somehow take it back and just
do what Harrison had been asking, anything to change their
fractious departure.

* * * *

Beverly Beach, Florida
– 2011 AD

She rested her
hand against the pillar of the pier as she grabbed her clothes. The
salt water had reached her shirt and she pulled on the wet cotton
with a frown. Wringing out the corner of her tank top, she pulled
her phone out on autopilot and text a quick check in. She trudged
up the beach to reclaim her shoes. Making her way out of the sand,
she leaned on her bike and tied the laces, her mind awash with her
final encounter with Harrison.