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Everything seemed to be in order. And there was the fallen mop, and the box shoved away from the wall, just as she’d said. He
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moved stealthily past his work tools toward the smaller room in the back, where the appliances loomed out of the darkness, gleaming like towering teeth in the shadows.

There was a strong smell of urine here. But it had been two days. That was to be expected.

Russell placed the flashlight on its end in the middle of the floor and crouched beside it, peering into the corners. Waiting for the latest barrage of thunder to complete its roll, he pursed his lips and emitted a soft, nearly silent whistle.

The scattered sound of small claws sounded in the corner. And then there was silence.

“It’s alright,” he whispered encouragingly. “It’s safe. Come on out now. Come on.”

He opened his arms in welcome to the small, hesitant figure which virtually slithered across the floor, pausing every few inches as if afraid. As it finally reached him, it cowered at his knees, shivering in anticipation.

“Nothing to be afraid of,” Russ soothed, comforting the quivering mass until its breathing slowed and it seemed to relax. “It’s almost over now. I know, I know,” he murmured. “Hasn’t been easy
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for you, has it? I haven’t fulfilled my obligations to you very well, have I? But that’s about to change.”

He paused to listen again. The thunder, although still intimidatingly loud, had a more muffled edge to it, and the explosions were coming farther apart each time. “The storm is moving away.

We won’t be able to keep this secret much longer.”

Russ removed a moist, gooey wad of food from his pocket and placed it on the floor. “Sneaked upstairs to eat the leftover Chinese stuff, didn’t ya? Well, it won’t be necessary to hide much longer. I’ll prepare the way. I promised to see that you were taken care of, and I keep my promises.”

He stood and carefully made his way back to the stairs, smiling slightly at the sound of the creature gorging himself. “She’ll accept what is to come. First I have to clear the way for myself—then you.

She won’t be able to resist. I’ll see to it. And I’ll be back. And this time I’ll bring her with me. It’s time. It’s time that the two of you met.”

*

*

*

She’d been out of his sight for half an hour. It was half an hour too long.

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Having just left the basement, he knew she wasn’t down there, and that was the important thing. And he wasn’t so far gone that he couldn’t bear to be away from her. But he couldn’t have her wandering around the house either. She might stumble upon something he wasn’t quite ready for her to see.

Some sixth sense led him to the attic of the old house. And there she was, in the short, squat room that was little more than thin floorboards, rafters, and walls, sitting in a quiet corner.

Reading.

She didn’t look up as he emerged through the narrow trapdoor, or when he carefully approached, despite the floorboards creaking painfully beneath him. She had a stack of old comic books on one side and a single candle on the other. And she seemed totally absorbed in what she was reading.

“Hey lady. New game? Are we playing hide and seek?

Whatcha doin’ up here? Alone? In the dark?”

She barely spared him a glance before returning her attention to the comic. “For some strange reason, I felt the need for space. And a little privacy.”

“Want me to go?”

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“No. It’s alright.” She looked absolutely breathtaking, he thought, curled up in the corner, her body in half-light, half-shadow, her eyes wide and vulnerable. “You really love your sci-fi stuff, don’t you? You must have a couple of hundred comic books up here.”

He shrugged, slightly embarrassed. “They’re old. One or two of

‘em might actually be worth something. Just my way of escaping. We all have our ways, don’t we?”

“You’ve saved so much stuff from when you were a kid!” she marveled. “All your school pictures, Halloween costumes, masks, science experiments, report cards—everthing!”

“Is that so unusual? Don’t you have any of your old dolls, toys—

”

“No.” Her voice was clipped and sharp. “Personally, I couldn’t wait to grow up.”

She had crawled into her shell in this little forgotten area of the house. He took another step forward, ready to be comforting, and the floor bowed beneath his foot with a warning whine. “Babe, this isn’t a good place to be. Some of these floorboards are probably rotten.”

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“See? There’s a perfect example of why I was glad to grow up.

Nobody bossing you around, trying to tell you what to do. You make your own mistakes, and there’s nobody else to blame.”

“You are a brat. C’mere.” He grabbed her by her arm and hoisted her to her feet, scattering the comic books. “Let me show you something.”

Russell rarely came up here, had never much cared if the attic remained unfinished or if bits of it were slowly decaying. He’d been busy making a living, and it was only used for storage anyway. Now he rather regretted it. His childhood memories, bits and pieces of his father’s futile dreams, carvings left unfinished by his grandfather, and some of the finest wood planks and boards Russ had collected over many years were here, neglected and abandoned.

But right now he was looking for one thing, one very special piece of himself to share with her.

He dragged her to a small, dusty cabinet on the opposite side of the room and proceeded to remove several old photo albums from its belly, tossing them carelessly to the floor in small explosions of cobwebbed dust. “It’s in here somewhere. I know it’s been a few years, but…ah!”

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The photo album was black, embossed with gold trim that had long since faded to coppery flakes. He opened it with infinite care, and she had to edge closer to see through the yellowed vinyl that protected the ghostly pictures on the pages. “I should probably put these in a safer place,” he whispered confidingly. “They’re the only pictures I have that are really important to me. See that? That’s my grandpa.”

He watched a gentle smile creep across her face at the sight of the old gentleman in oversized dungarees. Grasping a shovel in one large hand, his grandfather stood proud, if stoop-shouldered, and stared straight at the camera. The picture had faded with time, but the face was still high-cheeked and strong, the eyes heavy-lidded and tired. “Aint’ he somethin’?” Russ beamed, patting the page affectionately. “Dirt poor most of his life. Barely had a bucket to spit in. Could hardly read and write, didn’t care much for people, and spent most of his life right here in this house. I adored him.”

“You don’t look much like him,” she mused. “You’re taller, a little fairer, and your face isn’t nearly as narrow. But you stand like he does, just like that, with most of your weight on one hip, kinda cocky, like you dare anybody to try to move you.”

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“Here. Look at this.” He turned the page, and there was a dapper, mustached seaman, posing in his navy blues with a stylishly dressed young lady wearing a big smile and a saucy beret. “That was Jean. They were married as soon as he got out of the service. He used to say, ‘boy, was I crazy about that gal. She was so scrumptious, I would’ve licked her up off the floor.’ Said she was the only woman in the world for him, and that marriage was gonna last forever.”

Iris laughed, caressing the borders of the cracked photo. “He must’ve loved her very much.” She turned the page, looking for more pictures of the couple. “Russ? Is that…that is your grandpa, isn’t it?

But that doesn’t look like the same—”

“Woman?” He grinned. “That’s because it isn’t. That’s Pearl, his second wife. And this,” he pointed triumphantly, “is Lily. She was my grandmother. They never even bothered to get married, I hear.

Just lived in sin for forty years or so. How great is that? Buried side-by-side in the cemetery a few miles south of town.”

“Hmmph. So much for love and marriages lasting forever.” She turned up her nose. “I guess men aren’t made for monogamous relationships, are they?”

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“You,” he sighed, “are making an assumption. Grandpa was always faithful to his women. Jean died in childbirth, and Pearl ran out on him.”

“Oh.” She had the good grace to be embarrassed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. I just assumed…”

“That men cheat? That men leave? Nothing in this world lasts forever, Iris. I’m sure Grandpa and Jean felt like they’d be young and in love always, as they are in this picture. And I’m sure he loved Pearl with all his heart, even after she left him. In the end, he and Lily were so inseparable that they died within three days of each other. But he lived a full life, long enough to see the world change around him. And despite all of his bad experiences, he never gave up on love.”

She turned deliberately away from him, her eyes scanning the attic. “It’s a little amazing to me that you’ve made this house so much a home, that you have such a sense of belonging. I know you didn’t really have much in the way of family.”

“Grandpa and Lily did alright by me. They were old, of course, but they did their best. My father just didn’t know what to do after my mother divorced him. Solved the problem by drinking himself to death.” He regretted bringing up the subject as he caught the twinge
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of pain in her expression. She was right. Some people bled more than others. “And I had your mother to take me under her wing, and the closest thing to siblings with you and Tommy.”

She nodded, casually choosing another comic book to leaf through. “You two were so close. Is that why?”

“Why what?”

“Why you never tried to get me into bed before?”

Russell sighed, slipping the cherished photo album beneath his arm. “That was a big part of it—yes. I would’ve felt disloyal, like I was going behind his back if I’d tried to get with you. He asked me to look after you, to take care of you. I did. I never planned to fall…”

Her body snapped to attention, her eyes glinting in the shadows. “To fall—what?”

He hurriedly continued, ignoring her question. “And it wouldn’t have been right. You needed to grow up, to make your own decisions. When you’re inexperienced, it’s easy to mistake one kind of love for another. I couldn’t take advantage of that.”

“My God,” she whispered. He held his breath as she drew closer, her eyes searching his for truth. “You wanted me before?

Before Gary and I became lovers?”

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“Gary was never your ‘lover’.” His best effort could not keep the contempt out of his voice. “He wouldn’t know the definition of the word. Any man who would walk out on a woman because she wouldn’t have sex with him just hours after someone dear to her died doesn’t deserve to be called that. He didn’t deserve you, Iris.”

Her lips parted slightly, and she spoke so quietly he could barely hear her. “No?”

“No. And maybe that’s why you chose him. Maybe that’s what you think of men—that they get fed up and leave. And maybe that stubborn little competitive subconscious of yours is so determined to be right that you chose such a man so you could say, ‘see? I knew it all along.’”

“Are you saying I deliberately chose a man I thought would hurt me?”

It was hard, this. Trying to make her see was like striking out at her. “Metaphysics. It’s a tricky mix of karma and free will, this is.”

“But Gary was nothing like my father. He—”

“Left you.” Russ shifted uneasily at the sound of the thunder, so overwhelming from this high point of the house. “He was constantly unfaithful to your mother, and he left all of you. He walked to the
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store to get a little air and a pack of cigarettes, and never came back.

Gary told you that your refusal to have sex with him right after Bluto died proved that the dog meant more to you than he did. So he left.

We did agree that one pathetic excuse was as good as another.

Remember?”

“I remember.” He searched for some sign of tears in her eyes.

There were none. “I remember a lot of things.”

He wanted to hug her. He wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her, and kiss her, make love to her until all thoughts of anything else vanished. “I’m sorry, babe. But it is a little something you might want to think about.”

“Oh. Yes. I’m thinking.” She raised one dangerous brow. “I’m thinking, all right. I’m wondering how you knew.”

“Knew? Knew what?”

“How did you know that Gary used Bluto’s death as an excuse to leave?” She tilted her head, frowning. “I never told you it was because I didn’t feel like having sex with him. I never told you what his excuse was. Never. I just told you he left right after the dog died.”

Oh shit, and dammit all to hell. Boy, he’d messed up on this one. “I…ummm…”

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“You. You sneaky, conniving bastard!” She pointedly jabbed her forefinger into his chest as he sheepishly back away from her.

“You had something to do with this, didn’t you? The only way you’d know that was if he told you. You made him leave me! How? What’d you say? You threatened him, didn’t you?”

Russell eased two more steps back. “Well…I wouldn’t exactly call it a threat…”

“And I thought you were honest! I thought you were my friend!

I thought you were decent and honorable!!” Her voice bounced from rafter to rafter. “You threatened a man, to make him leave a woman just so you could have her all to yourself. How low can you get?”