Catalyst (11 page)
Authors: Shelly Crane
Celeste turned her back on Margo as the gibberish returned and she let Danny fold her in his arms.
Marissa collapsed into Jeff’s arms just as she let go of Margo’s arm. I knelt down beside them.
“It was a lot, but you did it didn’t you,” Jeff told her with clear fascination and awe and then looked up to me. “Did you see that? That was incredible.”
“I saw and I agree. Marissa, that was genius. I’ve never seen anything break that kind of compulsion before.”
“Thanks,” Marissa whispered, she grimaced. “Jeff, I think I’m gonna be sick,” she groaned.
He scooped her up and carried her out of the room with her head lolling to the side. It lo
oked like she passed out. She would be ok, but using that kind of power always took
all the energy out of you. Like when Marissa
put the Muse’s wrath on Sherry,
Sherry wasn’t normal again for a few days.
“Celeste? Do you want to be here for this?” I asked her, telling Danny in his mind that I really didn’t think she should be, maybe he should persuade her to go, but it wasn’t needed.
“
No
.” She knelt down beside her mother
who continu
ed to mumble and whisper. “Bye, M
o
m
m
a
. I love you, too.”
Impatient Patient
Chapter 5 - Sherry
It was daytime and hot, which was surprising. The sun was bright and casting long dark shadows on the ground and landscape before me. The buildings looked too shiny, too new and unused. The trees were too green and the sky was bluer than ever. Not a cloud in th
e sky and no birds. There were no noises, no horns, n
o traffic.
It was eerie and unsettling. I don’t like the quiet. The power lines above me were swinging in the wind, lulling me into a false sense of normalcy. But things were far from normal.
Where were my parents
,
for one? I hadn’t seen them in weeks. Usually, I mosey
ed
on over every couple weeks and suffer
ed
through a tofu dinner with them
,
but they hadn’t answered the door in a while
, or the phone.
And Danny, h
e was still a loafer, but I hadn’t seen him either. And Matt, no. I’m not dating him anymore. He’s mean.
I
pull from the ridge. I wondered about it because
I never go there in the daytime. I don’t understand why I went there this time. I decide to see if Danny is working. Maybe I can get him to help me find our parents.
I get
in the drive-through and wait, a
nd wait. The guy in front of me is just sitting there. After an insane amount of time, I tap my horn, which I hate to do. He still sits there.
I get out to
see if he’s ok
,
but the car is empty. What? What is going on here? I get back in my Rabbit and reverse it to the parking lot, where I pull in to a spot near the exit. I go up to the window for walk-ups but there’s no one inside. I ring the little bell but no one comes so I pull out my cell phone to text Danny. No signal. What?
I get back in my car. M
y lunch break is over by now. I drive down North Lake Shore Drive, hanging a left at Wacker Drive, headed for the office. Ugh. I hate this part of town. The Trump Tower looms over me ominously as the Rabbit sputters and spits in lunch hour traffic.
I’d kill for air conditioning. Kill for it. I grab my emergency hair band out of the glove box and shake my hair back, attempting to tame
the beast of curls. At a stand
still in traffic I decide to check my phone again. Still no signal, but I’ve got a message. I click on the little envelope and read the words so clearly meant for me.
‘
Meet me at the ridge’
What? I was
just there. Who sent that to me?
No one knows I go up there but Danny. I close my phone and look up. All the traffic is gone. My car sits alone in the middle of the street. Absolutely every person is gone. No cars on any streets or parking spaces. No
people walking the sidewalks, nothing. What is going on?
I decide the only logical thing to do is go to the ri
dge and find out. I make my way
quickly with the clear streets. I park
and get out, leaning on my hood
overl
ooking the city.
I hear someone’s steps crunching in the
gravel behind me. I turn to see Merrick, m
y one and only. Surely he’ll know what’s going on.
“Hey, baby,” I say sweetly, happy to see him.
“H
oney
,” he crooned softly.
“
Have a good day at work?”
“No, not really. Something very strange is going on today.”
“Yes. Very strange.”
“But I’m glad you’re here.” I wrap my arms around him and smell his shirt. He smells clean and mountainy. “I missed you,” I crooned and he laughed.
“You just saw me three hours ago.”
“I know. It’s been too long. You didn’t miss me?”
“You know I did.”
I tried to pull him down to kiss me but he wouldn’t budge.
“Are you ok?”
I asked.
“Yes, but we can’t do that here.”
“Why not?”
“Because this isn’t real.”
I thought about what he was saying.
“Wait. How did you text me? You don’t have a cell?”
“I didn’t. She did.” He pointed behind me
,
but before I could turn he grabbed my arms and looked into me. “I’m sorry things aren’t as they should be.”
“What do you mean?”
“Listen to them. They miss you.”
“Who?” I turned and saw a group of people standing behind the Rabbit. My parents. Mrs. Trudy. Aaron. Phillip. Mitchell. Margo. Matt.
Matt? Whoa, weird. I look between the two of them. Both have the same dark m
ess of hair, t
he same build. The same face but so very different. One
,
so
obviously adoring and honest, t
he other so inhere
ntly self-
absorbed and controlling.
How had I ever mixed up t
he two even once?
The one with b
rown eyes watches me
too
. I look at him and see a large spot of blood on his un
dershirt, under his button up o
ver his heart. So that’s how h
e died, a
n injury to t
he heart…a
lmost fitting.
He takes a step towards me but stops.
“Sherry, you didn’t let me in.” I try to think what he means. Oh, the night he was drunk
and he was banging on my door, t
he day before he died. Does he blame me for his death? “Things would be different if you had. I don’t know where I am.”
“Oh shush. She didn’t come all this way to hear you cry like a baby,” Mrs. Trudy said and pushed him aside to come hug me tightly. “Hey
,
sugar, you pretty thing. You still keeping Merrick in line?
“Yes ma’am.”
“Good. How’s that Lily?”
I grinned.
“She called me mommy.”
“Awww. What a sweet girl. She has just what you need you know.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just what I said. Lily is the key. She’s everything you need, Sherry.”
“Yes, she’s very precious.”
“More than you know. Give my love to the family.”
“Ok, I will.”
For some reason, none of this seemed strange to me. I remembered everything from my previous life. I remembered everything from the present, too. They both melded together and for some reason, i
n my mind, this seemed normal, s
eemed to fit.
Mom and D
ad came forward, not touching each other,
and
looking very m
uch rebuffed and noncommittal, l
ike they were made to be here.
“Dad, Mom, w
hat are you doing here?”
“Seeing you it would seem,” Mom said. “Ho
w’s your brother?”
Typical.
“He’s fine. He met a girl.”
“I expected nothing less. He’s a handsome boy.”
“I got married. And
I
adopted a little girl.”
“Did you get her from China?”
“Uh, no. We found her here.”
“Well, there are way more females waiting to be adopted in China than here. You should have gone there and set a good example.”
“I said I’m married, M
om, did you hear me?”
“I heard you. How old is he?”
“Twenty four.”
“Hmm. A little old for you. W
hat does he do?”
“That’s all you have to say? Dad?”
“Your mother’s right. It’s a huge age differen
ce. Hey,” he said and smiled, “y
ou’re still wearing my necklace.”
“Of course I am, D
addy. Why wouldn’t I?
”
“Waste of metal if you ask me,” M
om mumbled.
“Where did you go?” I asked.
“It doesn’t matter now. You’re safe, for now.
That’s all that matters,” D
ad said and put a hand on my shoulder. “Tell Danny we love him.”
“Sure,” I said exasperatingly, having no idea what the meaning of all this is.
They walked away and Merrick put his arm around my waist from behind just as Phillip stepped forward smirking.
“I got nothing to say, sweetness. No cute anecdotes. Sorry.”
“It’s time to go,” Merrick said and waved his hand in front of us.
Everything started to shake and bleed away, just like all the dreams I’d had before. All the colors bled in to the ones below it and faded away until only we were left. So, this is a dream. Makes sense now.
“But I haven’t
learned anything. Why am I here?
” I asked him.
“To remember," he said steadily.
"
To remember all
the things that have happened and a
ll the people you knew.
To remember
past mistakes, yours and theirs.
We must learn from history or it is doomed to repeat itself.”
“Oh, don’t you talk riddles to me, too,” I pouted.
He laughed.
“My Sherry, s
o eager to learn. You’ll know all you need to know when you need to know it.”
“That doesn’t make any sense at all, Merrick. You know that right?”
“One day, it will. In the mean time...” He pressed his lips to my ear, giving me shivers of pleasure. “Wake up.”
I woke with a start. I was lying on my back, alone in our room. My body felt heavy but I wasn’t quite as achy as before. I remembered every detail of the dream like it was a memory. It was a strange dream for sure.
I stretched my body slowly, testing myself. Feeling my muscles groan and complain and my joints pop. Yesterday had been good. Today, my third day home since my rescue
,
looked to be even better.
Yesterday I was bed ridden and slept most of the day away. I only
got out of bed once- correction -
I was only
allowed
out of bed once to go to the bathroom and I was carried there and back.
Danny had poked his head in once
,
but didn’t stay. I was a little surprised by that but chalked it up to him believing I was fine.
Merric
k fed me, sponge bathed me, rested with me and talked for hours. H
e even cooked lunch for everyone since it was supposed to be my day to.
He br
ought Lily to me that afternoon
after her nap. Oh, that was a sweet, sweet reunion. I’ve never felt so loved and needed. She chattered on endlessly about everything she could think of. About how uncle Danny had read her a bedtime story about an old woman who lived in a shoe and had lots of cats with a mole on the end of her nose and hated pie. She also had a pet wolf name Marco.
Merrick and I laughed so hard we cried at her explaining it to us. I made a mental note to teach Danny a real bedtime story.
She
told us
that Aunt Rissa and U
ncle Jeff
-
the ki
d had a lot of aunts and uncles
-
h
ad done a puzzle with her. And Uncle Cain and A
unt L had played hide and go seek with her in the dark second room with flashlights.
I wondered where in the world she got the idea to call Lillian L from.
Lots of people came to visit me, like I was in the hospital
or something
, faces so sullen and uncomfortable. I laughed at them and told everyone to stop acting like I had an incurable disease.
But today, I was
getting out of this bed. People walk
ed
around wit
h concussions and besides, I fe
l
t like I was
about to get muscle atrophy.
I go
t up and eased on some clean clothes, jeans and a loose low hanging green top. Merrick had scrubbed me with a sponge bath yesterday morning and ni
ght. He was so thorough I doubt I’d
ever been so clean. To be honest, I think he enjoyed it more than I did. He kept smiling and trying to hide it. He watched me with a look of fascination, to see if I’d
like what he was doing
or not. I did like it
,
b
ut he wasn’t about to do anything about me liking it so it was a moot point.
I brushed my hair out with my fingers and twisted it to the side to hang over my shoulder. I creaked open my door. I had no idea what my face looked like. Merrick had assured me the bruises weren’t that bad, but he was prone to s
tretch the truth for my benefit which made
it hard t
o tell if he wa
s lying or not.
So I just lifted my chin. W
hy did I care? I wa
sn’t vain, I just didn’t want pe
ople to see me really good in the light and put on the sympathy face. I was tired of the sympathy face.
Marissa saw me coming and pulled away from Jeff to meet me at the mouth of the hall. She grabbed my hands and pulled them out to my sides to look at me.
“Oh my goodness! You look so great.”
“I can tell when you’re lying, Marissa,” I teased.
“Then you’ll know that I’m not,” she said and winked at me. And I could tell. She did think I looked great which helped my fears about my facial issues. “Come on. Jeff has been worried sick about you.”
Marissa h
owever did not look great. Mean,
I know, but this was like she was sick or something. He eyes were very dark with big rings underneath and she was so pale, almost yellow. Maybe she hadn’t been sleeping well.
Jeff jumped off the couch and pulled me into a bear hug. I hugged him back with enthusiasm. He held me for a long minute, patting my back.
“Thank
you guys for coming to get me, a
nd taking care of Lily. She loves you guys.”
“She loves you. S
he’s been worrying like a pro. She must have picked that up from someone else I know.” He smiled. “And don’t thank me. We weren’t about to just let you get away from us.”
I made sure to find Ryan and Miguel as well and
thank them for my rescue
. They were both equally embarrassed by my hugging and praising and willing to throw the heroism on someone else. The girl who we brought had still not stop
ped
following and clinging to
Ryan. I basically had to pry him
away so I could get my own hug. But Ryan didn’t seem bothered by it. In
fact, I think he liked it. He l
iked
to feel human and ha
ve someone want comfort from him
.
But then I saw Polly coming my way. I made a scampery move to get away, but wasn't fast enough.
"Sherry, wait." She looked at my face for a second before saying, "Is there something I'm supposed to be doing?"
"Uh…no?" I said in confusion.
"Nothing you need help with?"
"Nope. I think I'm good."
She nodded and walked away. I shook it off as
bizarre and
tried to help in the kitchen a little
,
but not too m
uch. I still felt not quite tip-
top
,
but needed to at least act normal.
I made some hot tea and waited for it to steep in the kitchen at the counter. I felt Merrick put his arms around me from behind.
“Sneaking I see.”
“You can’t keep me locked up forever, warden.”
He chuckled slowly and squeezed me.
“Do y
ou feel ok?”
“Yeah,
I feel pretty good.” I turned
to face him and rub his scruffy chin with the back of my fingers. “Really. Please stop worrying about me. I p
romise not to overdo it today, b
ut I’m fine.”
“Ok. I won’t say a word.” He looked me over, head to toe slowly. “Except you look...hot.”
I laughed and felt it all the way in my stomach.
“Cain and Danny have got to stop teaching you lingo.”
“What? You don’t want me to think you’re hot?”
“Oh, I do. It’s just strange to hear you say it.”
“How about gorgeous. Does that work for you?”
“Yes. Perfectly acceptable,” I answered amusingly.
“Good. As long as you’re happy.” His smile was huge. “So, what’s on your agenda for today, gorgeous?”
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
“Even better.”
“What’s on yours?”
“Well, we’ve bumped up the training sessions for everyone. Two hours of training instead of one, three days a week. I’m sure you can understand why. You, of course, don’t get to practice yet
, but in a week or so
you need to start again.”
“That’s a good idea
. And I’m looking forward to training actually. I did get to use a move that Miguel taught me at the facility.”
“Did you?” he said but looked none to
o
happy about it.
“Ye
s. I thought that was the point, t
o teach us to defend ourselves. Why are you upset?”
“It’s different pretending in practice. When it’s real, I don’t want to think about you actually having to fight someone.”
I sighed but knew enough to leave it alone.
“So,
are you going to
tell me what happened?” he asked meaningfully.
He was talking about the facility. He had waited and not asked me any questions about it, until now.
“Nope,” I said firmly.
“I can handle it,” he assured me,
his hands on my waist flexing.
“Uh, no
,
you can’t. You can’t even hand
le me telling you I fought back
,
once. I’m not about to tell you what they did.”
“I think it would be useful for us to know.”
“Ask Billings. You can speculate as to what actually happened and what didn’t. I’m not telling you anything specific.”
His look said I was being stubborn and he was not pleased about it. I stood my ground.
“How did you hurt your head? It was something hard enough to cause a concussion. Do you remember what happened?”
“I remember the Lighter elbowed me into the window in the backseat of the car on the way to the facility. Then I woke up in the room.”
“And then what?”
“I sat there, waiting and trying to block my thoughts. I sang 80’s ballads.”
He nodded but didn’t smile like I’d wanted.
“Nobody came to talk to you?”
“Not for a long while. Then Daniel came in and gave me some water and a granola bar. He told me he’d help me all he could and that I should keep blanking my mind or singing. He blocked my thoughts for me while he was in the room for me.”
“He did? How did you know he wasn’t just saying he was?”
“When they came to talk to me way lat
er, the other Lighter was mad. He s
aid all the rebels they’d taken were blank and not taking the compulsion. He wanted to know why.”
“Hmm.” He stretched his neck to the side and I felt bad for putting him through so much lately. “Then what?”
“Nuhuh.”
“Honey, I need to know-”
“You’re just like Danny. You just want to know so you can be bitter a
nd
even more angry than you already are. I don’t want to be the cause for someone else’s hate.”
