The Shattered Genesis (Eternity) (88 page)

             
“Do not start that right now.” James growled furiously, “Do not underestimate this situation and try to distract me from telling you exactly how deep in shit we are!”

             
“Oh, God or Gods, you are so dramatic!” I exclaimed as
I covered my face in irritation. “This is not a matter of me ignoring the level of danger. This is a matter of you and I disagreeing on how high that level is.”

             
“He’s aligned with Adam, so it's pretty fucking high, Brynna!”

             
Once again, I was scowling. O
h, I how I
loathed
profanity...

             
“You and I both know that Adam would like to see
all of us
dead! He doesn't just want the Bachums gone! He wants
all of us
gone!”

             
“Well, he'll never get
all of us
gone.” I mimicked him, which only added to his fury. “James
, I don’t find his alliance with Adam to be admirable or even wise. I certainly don’t trust Adam but…”

             
“There is something very bad brewing here, Brynna.”

             
His voice was lower and more civil. If he could not convince me with his brash fury, then he would
try to beseech my understanding with calm. But I could see that he was still livid at my “naivety.” His body was shaking, sending sprays of blood from his busted knuckles flying wildly. His brown eyes were still swirled with flecks of red. Seeing the physi
cal evidence of his out-of-proportion and horribly misguided anger only irritated me.

             
“I know you feel it as well as I do.” He continued, “It’s not only here in this house, it’s the whole damn planet. We fell right into the middle of a war between the cit
y-people and the cave-people. Now, Adam is using us as pawns in the game. You’re going to have to forgive me for not wanting to fight a war that I care nothing about! Earlier, you said that you hated being a pawn in the political game. This is just like th
at.”

             
“James...” I said in a furious whisper, “Do not take what I said earlier and use it to your advantage. Do not try to use something that I confided in you as manipulation.”

             
“If that's what it will take to make you see this, then I will use it, Brynna
!”

             
“Then you run the risk of infuriating me. If you want to take that risk, then go ahead!” I stopped, took a deep breath and tried to regain some of my composure. “James, I know that these are not the
most desirable circumstances…”

             
“Yeah, no shit, baby.
..”

             
“Will you stop interrupting me for half a second so I can say what I want to say?!” I snapped at him. Now my irritation had made the high jump back to anger.

             
“Fine, go on. I'm sure this will be riveting.”

             
“Oh my God, just shut up!” I exclaimed but
after a deep breath, I resumed talking at a mild volume. “Adam has said that it will be either Don’s group or the Bachums’ group that will be able to live here free of any threat. We have no choice but to fight if we want to live here. It does not matter i
f we believe in what he believes. We need to live here safely, do you understand?”

             
“Of course I understand! This just isn’t the way to go about it! I really thought you were smarter than this, Brynna.”
             
I stood up, completely livid now.

             
“Do not suggest f
or even a moment that your intelligence rises above or is even on par with mine! I can feel things before they happen! I can read into people’s hearts and minds! Not to mention, on Earth, I probably could have dismantled an atomic bomb while playing a game
of chess, and…”

             
“You are so arrogant! It drives me
insane
, Brynna!”

             
“Really? Well, you are ungrateful and proud!”

             
“As if you’re not proud! I don’t know why I’m taking any lectures from you about being polite, the way you tear your own sister and brothe
r down all the time!”

             
“That is none of your business! And just for the record, I do that…”

             
“To feel superior, because you’re arrogant! It’s easier for you to be a bitch to them than to actually be their sister. And just so you know, let me clarify this f
or you: Refusing to feel anything is more of a sign of weakness than feeling whatever it is that you feel. Not to mention that while you’re projecting all of your anger onto them, you’re destroying them! You have a complex and half, I’m telling you!”

             
“Oh,
thank you, Dr. Maxwell!” I exclaimed as I clapped my hands, “I do not know what would have happened to me if I had not received your astute psychological analysis! Please, say whatever you need to say! Say what you are feeling because I will not! All of t
his is in response to Don and Adam?!”
             

             
“It’s in response to you walking around like you know everything and then you going and exhibiting such
astounding
stupidity! That’s what this is about, Brynna! I want you to get your head on straight!”
             

             
“No, you wa
nt me to acknowledge some vast character flaws you feel I possess.” I was not yelling anymore. I could see our fight for what it really was and the reality made me very, very sad. “You want to knock me down a few pegs.”

             
“I want you to see things for what
they are.” He reiterated firmly. “But I also want you to see just how ridiculous you calling me out for being rude is. Yes, I want you to realize that being a coldhearted, hypocritical bitch is going to destroy those girls the same way your mother and Maur
a being cold-hearted, hypocritical bitches destroyed you.”

             
“Wow, apparently it is the day for the men in my life to hurl overly personal insults at me. I am going to bed so that hopefully tomorrow, it will be the day when those men either apologize or fal
l off of a cliff!”

             
“Yes, because that was so mature, Brynna.”

             
“Perhaps it was not but I will not be debating that with you. Please, for your own sake, find somewhere else to sleep tonight.”

             
I turned away, stung by all that had been shouted or venomously
spat. What Elijah had said earlier received a new breath of life in my mind; it bounced back to the forefront to intermingle gladly with James’s cruel words. I was amazed that our fight had descended into such hostility. I understood that he was angry at
me for not seeing things his way. I understood that he was frustrated because in his opinion, I was allowing myself to embrace naivety in place of a true grasp on the dangerous situation
we were in.

             
After returning to our bedroom and closing the door, I l
aid down on the bed. It was more like a gigantic pillow than a mattress, I decided. Thousands of feathers filled the two pieces of fabric that had been sewn together all around the ends. Under my head were regular pillows, fashioned the same way. The anima
l skin blanket was soft on both sides, keeping me warm despite the chill in my heart.

             
Maura was in my mind, shaking her head at me.
I warned you,
she seemed to be saying.
You allowed yourself to fall victim to his charms.

             
She was right, but I still snapp
ed at her to go away using disgusting obscenities that I had  never uttered, even mentally.

             
The door opened and closed quietly about an hour later. I heard his footsteps approach the bed. I had my eyes closed and was pretending to be asleep. As I wondered
if he was going to attempt to wake me in order to apologize, he shed his shirt and pants and crawled into bed beside me. I waited, feeling his eyes on me. I did not know if I would accept his apology even if he offered one. We had been fighting and cruel
things were always said in the scorching heat of a fight. They were things that were not meant. They were simply intended to weaken the defenses of the other person, for reasons that neither party truly understood. We only hurt the ones we love, after all.
That expression is an apt way to determine the causality of fights between people but it certainly does not determine a sure reason
why
we feel the need to tear down the ones we care for.

             
I felt a fresh surge of anger roar to life in his heart as he turn
ed away from me.

             
I fell asleep.

XXX

             
I could not be sure that what occurred the following morning was just a dream. I assumed that it must have been the ideas of the hidden-away little girl that did exist somewhere inside of me. She was projecting her id
ealistic view of how a fight should resolve into my dreams.

             
I felt James’s lips moving slowly up my arm to my neck and then to my cheek.

             
“I’m sorry.” He whispered in my ear.

             
And then, profoundly shocking both the cynical shrew and that wide-eyed, empty-
headed little girl inside of me, he whispered:

             
“I love you.”

             
It was a dream. I awoke with the familiar longing to fall back into the sea of sleep where those beautifully poignant moments occurred. If there was one feeling that I loathed profoundly, it
was awaking from the soothing alternate universe that existed only in sleep to find a harsh, hostile reality gnashing its teeth at me. I had been experiencing that literal wake-up call for much of my life. It never lost its potent, pitiless edge.

             
“You loo
k tired.” Alice informed me gently when I exited my room for my first day of work. She was attempting to make nice with me by displaying concern for my well-being. I was in no mood to hold a grudge. I nodded in response.

             
“Are you alright?”

             
“I am peachy,
dear.” I lied effortlessly, “All is right with the world now that we are here.”

             
“It is amazing, isn’t it?” She beamed brightly and began to pull her long, blonde hair into a messy bun on top of her head. “I really feel like we’re going to be okay from her
e on out. It will be easy to forget that there’s a fight going on.”

             
“Indeed.” My insides soured upon hearing such blind optimism spoken out loud so freely. Was I spewing that same nonsense the night before? Was that what had angered James? Alice’s belief
that all was perfectly well could be forgiven, for she had never displayed my same intelligent distrust. I had pulled the wool over my eyes, however briefly. James’s final words would not be excused until he had apologized properly. But I admitted bitterly
that he was right in all the other things he had said.

             
“Where’s James?”

             
“He joined security detail. They need some muscle, I suppose.”

             
“Quinn got that job, too!” Alice was clearly enthused by the common link between us. Both of our men were out fightin
g for our continued survival. We were bonded together by the sisterhood of brave women left behind by braver men. I suppressed a gag and several very self-righteous thoughts.

             
“Did he offer you that job?” I asked her, and my mind cleared of all intelligenc
e when she spoke again.

             
“No. He said that you, Penny and Violet would be working in the kitchen and that I would be put there. Why? Did he offer that job to you?”

             
“He did. I should have taken it. I do not know how I am going to fare doing something that
requires no adrenaline or fangs.”

             
“I know, right?” Alice said and I rolled my eyes, “After what we’ve been through these past couple of days, it’s going to be weird not to be constantly looking over our shoulders, isn’t it?”

             
“Indeed. Alice,” I looked at
her, prepared to shock myself by asking such a candid question of an intellectual inferior. “You and Quinn were experiencing some difficulties in your relationship before. Though his reasoning behind his anger was flawed and he knew that, he did not let it
go.”