Redemption (6 page)

Rebecca’s voice
didn’t seem to want to work.  “Was that...?”

Isaac let out a
tired sigh, and nodded.  “Yeah, succubus I think… or incubus maybe?”

They walked
quickly away from the glade.  Once they were well within the forest, Rebecca
spoke.  “I…I’m sorry.”

Isaac shrugged. 
“About what?  I fell for it too.”

She glanced at
him and away, thoroughly embarrassed.  “But even after I knew… even after I
saw…I still…disgusting,” she muttered, walking faster so he wouldn’t see her
flaming face. 

Isaac laughed. 
“Well, I won’t say that wasn’t the kinkiest shit I’ve seen in a long time, but
hey, I’m not exactly one to judge other people.”

Rebecca
snorted.  She slowed down, but still couldn’t look at him.  “But why me?  You
realized what was going on and just got up and walked away.  Why couldn’t I do
that?”

He was quiet for
a minute, but when he spoke, it was rushed, as if he couldn’t believe he was
saying what he was saying.  “I think maybe…I’ve got more experience with these
sorts of things.”

Rebecca glanced
at him in surprise.  “With succubi?”

He laughed, a
rich, infectious thing that was snuffed out too soon by his next statement. 
“No.  I mean with women-sex.”  He shrugged and looked at the ground again in
that self-deprecating way he had.  “I learned pretty early, you see.  Women…
well I’m attractive,” he said, looking at her defiantly as if he expected her
to chide him for being so conceited. 

But Rebecca said
nothing, and he went on.  “And, well, I told you I’d do almost anything for
drugs.  So…”

She sighed.  “So
you had sex for drugs?”

He refused to
look at her.  “One woman’s the same as the next after a while.”  He shrugged. 
“I’m just saying…maybe I’ve got a bit more resistance to those sorts of
tricks?”

Rebecca ran a
hand thorough her hair, then stumbled over a stick in the path, not watching
where she was going.  Isaac automatically reached out and steadied her, then
dropped his hand as if he’d been burned.  Maybe her reaction
had
freaked
him out after all.

“For the most
part, I’ve only ever been with one guy,” she said, surprised at how easy it was
getting to tell her secrets an absolute stranger.  “We started dating senior
year of high school, and got married not long after.”  She looked up at the
dappled patches of sky visible between the tree leaves.  “I devoted my entire
life to him, you know.  Stopped going to college when I got pregnant.  I was
really happy just to be his wife.  But…”  She dropped her gaze and studied the
distant path.  “It wasn’t enough, I guess.”

Forcing a smile,
she glanced at Isaac.  “So, I guess you must be right.  You’ve got a lot more
resistance.  I’m kind of susceptible to being used.”  The half-truth grated
against her conscience.

Isaac’s bright
blue eyes bored into hers, and he looked like he was at a loss.  She doubted he
was buying the smiling act.  Rebecca averted her eyes, unable to face that
penetrating look.

“Ah, well,
whatever,” Isaac said, after a pause.  “We got past it.  Don’t beat yourself up
for being a better person.  Besides, I’m pretty motivated to get out of here.”

She stared at
him.  “That’s right.  What did you mean, saying that you were going to die? 
You were just trying to get me out of there, right?”

He pursed his
lips as if considering what to say.  “The hooded guy said it.  If we don’t find
the key and get out of here, someone’s gonna die.  Well…it’s just this feeling
I have.  I think it’s me.”  He shrugged, at a loss.

“Maybe,” he
looked at the ground.  “Maybe helping you out of this nightmare is like, my last
good deed or something.  God knows I have a lot of shit to atone for.”

~~~~~

Rebecca
and Isaac paused in their trek.  Rebecca perched on a big rock and rubbed
a knot in her aching calf.  Isaac sank down to sit with his back propped
against her rock, his head back and eyes closed. 
 

"It’s
strange, isn't it," he said, not looking at her.  "That we can
feel pain in a dream."

Rebecca
nodded, then realizing his eyes were still closed.  "Yeah."
 
She watched the sun glinting on his glossy black hair,
and enjoyed the opportunity to study him without his noticing.  Attractive
didn’t even begin to describe his dark good looks.  "I'm still convinced
that I'll just wake up any minute and be cuddled up in my bed back home,"
she said absently.

Isaac
snorted.  "Who knows where I'll be when I wake up.  I don't even
remember where I was last time I was awake..."

Rebecca
frowned, but she let it go.  "How long do you think we've been
sleeping?  I mean, we can't have been out for a whole day and a half,
right?"

Isaac
finally lifted his head and opened his eyes, and Rebecca had to find somewhere
else to look besides his wide mouth.  "Honestly," he said,
staring off into the distance, where the trail could be seen wending its way on
into infinity.  "Nothing would surprise me at this point."

Rebecca
sighed.  "If we really have been sleeping for days, then I'm probably
going to get fired."  The thought was only mildly disturbing. 
"I mean, it's not like I love my job, but I have bills to pay." 
She put her head in her hands tiredly.  "I think I have a student
loan payment due this week."  It seemed silly that things like bills could
still exist after everything she’d seen.

Isaac
was watching her curiously.  "You said earlier that you quit
school.  What were you going for?"

She
felt her cheeks growing hot, but refused to let the embarrassment show in her
voice.  "I wanted to be a lawyer."

He
blinked at her in surprise.  "Really?"

She
narrowed her eyes at him, offended by his tone.  "What?  You
don't think I could have been?"  She stopped massaging her foot and
glared.  "I'm not an idiot," she said hotly.  Everyone
always assumed that because she was blonde and had big boobs, she couldn’t
possibly be gifted with a brain.  "I always got perfect grades.  I
was top of my class in high school, and in the first term of college!"

Isaac
held up his hands as if to ward off her anger.  A slight smile tugged at
the corner of his lips, but he suppressed it and made an attempt to keep the
laughter out of his voice.  "Of course you were.  I never
doubted it."  He finally let himself grin.  "I was just
picturing you in a fancy suit and heels."  He waggled his eyebrows
comically.  "Maybe stilettos?" 

There
was a hint of honest flirtation in his words that she didn’t know what to do
with.  She kicked at him, feeling self-conscious in her tattered jeans and
dirty t-shirt.  But he dodged her feeble kick and kept right on going, his
eyes roving over her, then taking on a dreamy look. 

"Your
hair all up in a bun...you don't have glasses, do you?  Glasses would
really top it off."

Shaking
her head, Rebecca stood and put out a hand to pull him to his feet. 
"You're an idiot," she said calmly.

He
nodded.  "So I've been told."  But he was still smiling,
and she thought the expression was one she’d like to see more of.

They
started off again, Isaac still occasionally giving her fashion advice that
seemed better suited for an issue of Playboy than a courtroom.

"So,"
she said, hoping to re-direct his mind.  And hers.  "What do you do
for a living?"

Isaac's
laughter fizzled out.  He tried to smile, but it was weak.  "I
don't really have a job," he admitted, looking at the ground.  He
shrugged defiantly.  "I do work here and there, but I can't get
anything decent anymore because I don't have a good track record.  Besides,
selling drugs was always way more lucrative than running a cash register."

She
was quiet for a minute while she digested this.  It made sense.  It
was what you would expect of a guy with his background.  But she had a
hard time fitting Isaac into the harsh picture he painted of himself.  It
just seemed like there should be so much more to him. 

The
person walking beside her was smart, good-looking, thoughtful, and had a sort
of easy-going nature that drew you in and made you feel comfortable.  And
there was this light in him, though it was often subdued.  There was more to
him than he let on, she was sure of it.

"If
you could do anything, what would it be?"

He
glanced at her in surprise.  Maybe he’d been expecting her to lecture him or
change the subject.  His blue eyes were unnerving, as if he could see
right through her to what she was thinking, and wasn't entirely sure he liked
it.  He looked away, out over the vast landscape before them, and she was
able to breathe again. 

"An
artist," he said softly.  "If I could do anything, I'd
paint.  I could do that all the time and never be bored.  When I
paint I feel...like I'm leaving behind something worthwhile."
 Rebecca smiled.  Now
 
that
 
suited him.  "I bet
your art is beautiful."

He
met her eyes, and his soft smile mirrored the one she knew he saw on her own
face.  "Yeah, well, I'd be good at it if I could stay clean for more
than a few days at a time."

Rebecca’s
smile faltered, and anger took its place.  "Why do you do that?"

Isaac
glanced at her, a line appearing between his dark brows.  "Do
what?"

She
glared at him, her pace quickening.  "You try to make yourself sound
bad," she said firmly.  "You did that on purpose just now.  You
wanted to remind me about the drugs.  Are you trying to make me think you're
worthless?  Or do you really believe it yourself?"

He
stared at her for a moment, speechless.  "I..."  He looked
away for a few minutes.  Finally, he met her eyes and tried again.  "I
know what you're trying to do," he said patiently.  "but I'm not
this nice guy you're trying to make me out to be.  This is a dream, but
I'm not...I'm not some knight in shining armor, here to save you from the
hydras and demons." 

He
gestured angrily at himself.  "This is me on a
good
day. 
Do you even realize that this isn't real?  Right now you're probably
snuggled up in your soft, warm bed somewhere, while I'm most likely passed out
in a stranger's bed or a nasty alley."

He
strode on ahead of her, leaving Rebecca to stare after him with her mouth
hanging open.  She'd pushed him too far.  She wanted to argue with
him, but she couldn't deny that she'd been doing exactly what he said. 
This was a dream.  He was her hero- even if he was an unlikely one. 
She hadn't stopped to imagine him in the real world.

"I'm
sorry," he said after a few minutes.  It seemed an effort to face her
again.  "I shouldn't have yelled at you."  He ran a hand through
his dark hair, leaving it all ruffled.  "It's just... well, you're so
 sweet and…
good. 
There's
no way I can live up to that."

Rebecca
sighed.  "Now
you're
the one who's being
delusional."  It felt like a wall had sprung up between them and she
hated it.  She took his hand and he didn't resist. 

 "Does
it matter?"  She glanced up at him, to see him looking completely
confused.  "The only you I know is the you that's right in front of
me.  So…does all of that other stuff really matter?"  She really
hoped it didn't.  Because she wasn't as good as he thought she was. 
In fact, she was probably the weakest, most pathetic thing on the planet.

Isaac
stared down at her for a minute, then one corner of his full mouth lifted in a
half-smile and he shrugged.  "I guess not," he said in a
resigned voice.  "But I'm not getting on a horse."  He
grinned.  "So don't get your hopes up."

R
ebecca struggled
out of the bushes and undergrowth lining the side of the questionable trail. 
When she reached the path, she stretched and brushed leaves and twigs off her
clothes and hair.  Isaac had gone off along the opposite side of the path to
look for water.  They had caught glimpses of a small stream through the trees
as they walked, and had finally decided to risk drinking from it.  It was
strange, Rebecca thought as she made her way under the pine trees on the other
side of the path.  She was obviously dreaming, and yet she still seemed to have
basic needs that you wouldn’t usually think about in a dream, things like
fatigue or thirst. 

A soft sound
pulled her from her thoughts.  It was quite out of place in the middle of the woods. 
Careful to be quiet, Rebecca made her way toward the unmistakable sound of
crying.

The trees
thinned somewhat, and she broke free of the undergrowth to find herself on the
bank of the stream.  Cattails swayed in the breeze as she cast about for the
sound she had heard.  There, perched on a big rock at the water’s edge, was a
little boy.  Rebecca froze and looked around, hoping to see Isaac.  This had to
be another challenge.

Isaac was
nowhere to be seen.  The little boy hiccupped and wiped his face on his
shirtsleeve.  His black hair glinted in the sun as he bent his head to his
folded knees, looking miserable.  
God
, why did it have to be a kid?