The Shattered Genesis (Eternity) (97 page)

             
“I know. I suppose what I am trying to say is that I am thankful for you. I am thankful that I have you here with me. I am thankful that I have bee
n able to get past whatever you want to call my issues and that I am able to admit that I love you. I don't know how I was able to feel so strongly for you so quickly but I do.”

             
“I know you do and believe me, I love you the same way. I'm baffled by it, to
o. I don't know how it's possible to feel this way about someone I only met a few months ago. At my age, you don't subscribe to the idea of love at first sight or even strong love at all, really. But something about you changed that in me. I know it's very
real. It's very strong. Call me crazy, but I think it can last, Brynn.”

             
I smiled and nodded.

             
“So do I.”

             
We laid down side by side, grasping hands. I looked up at him, still smiling.

             
“It’s a free day tomorrow. What do you want to do?”

             
Don gave us all
one day off from work a week.

             
“We can take Penny down to the lake. That will get her mind off of things.”

             
“It will,” I beamed, “She loves to swim down there. As long as you go in the water with her because you know that I will not.”

             
“Yeah, I know. You a
nd your fear of natural water. It was only a gargantuan water monster with huge teeth and strangling tentacles, Brynna. Seriously, you’ve got to move on.”

             
I laughed again.

             
“Yeah, well,” I shrugged, “we all have our little phobias, don’t we? Some people a
re afraid of spiders. Some people are afraid of prehistoric water beasts.”

             
“Some people are afraid of cucumbers. It happens, right?”

             
“It happens.” He was leaning towards me to kiss me again and I closed the space between our mouths. When we laid down, I
nestled my head against his chest and closed my eyes.

             
“Oh! We forgot to blow out the candles and turn the fire down!” I jumped up to go do both, silently chiding myself for forgetting such an important action. We could have burnt the house down with all o
f its idiotic party-goers inside. How very tragic that would be…

             
“No. You stay here. It’s cold. I’ll do it.” He kissed my forehead as he stood up.

             
“You are sweet.”

             
“I try but only for you, baby. I have to make up for when I’m a dog.”

             
I giggled and cove
red my mouth as I always did to stifle the sound. When he returned, I held up the animal fur blanket so he could crawl underneath of it. Our joint heat perfectly fought off the chill of the evening. Now that the fire was turned down, we had only the blanke
t and each other to keep warm.

             
“You’re not a dog, James.” I told him as I closed my eyes.

             
“No?”

             
“No way.”

             
After a few minutes of quiet, I spoke again.

             
“Do you think they will bury that man? Don said that they will but I just cannot believe that someon
e would want to memorialize such a despicable person.”

             
“Well, unfortunately, Don is that someone. He's probably the only person on this planet that wants to have a funeral for that piece of shit. People are pissed about what he did. Out of all the people
that died, four were suicides and two were murders. People are even more pissed about the fact that the murderer was sober when he did what he did. But yeah, as soon as he dies, we'll all be expected to turn out in droves to put him to rest. Maybe he'll ev
en expect us to cry which I'm sure is going to be quite difficult for you, despite your affinity for act...”

             
I sat up suddenly after my eyes jerked open. James sat up, too, his eyes white. He assumed that my sudden motion was the result of a foreboding fe
eling warning me of danger in the house.

             
“He's still alive?” I asked in a voice that was beginning to tremble.

             
“You didn't know that.” James realized before rubbing his eyes with both hands. “Oh, shit...”
             
“How is he alive? She inflicted great damage on
him. He was bleeding out of his eyes when they carried him from the room. I assumed he would be dead in minutes and you are telling me now that he has been alive for a day and a half?”
             
“No. I was lying,” He told me quickly, “I was mistaken.”
             
I blinked at
him for several uncomfortable seconds.

             
“I was!” He insisted, “I must have heard it wrong.”
             
“You know what I'm going to say.” I growled at him with my eyes narrowed slightly.

             
“Yeah, and I will. I'm shutting up.” He laid back down and pulled me towards h
im. “Baby, even if he lives, he won't be able to do that again. He won't be physically able to hurt anyone again, least of all Penny. I'm sure he'll never go toe-to-toe with her again. Look what she did to him!”
             
“If he can find the strength in his mutilat
ed body to harm her, he certainly will.” I whispered back as I laid my head on his chest. “He will most certainly want revenge for what she did to him. I cannot afford to take that chance.”

             
He turned sideways so that I was lying beside him and he could lo
ok into my eyes as he spoke.

             
“If he comes after Penny, we will deal with him together. Until then, just leave him alone. Don't do anything stupid, Brynn. Acting recklessly right now is stupid. You and I both know you're anything but that, don't we?”
             
I no
dded and kissed him gently.

             
“Yes,” I replied convincingly, “You're right. For once.”

             
“I was bound to get a win on the board sometime, wasn't I?”

             
I smiled again.

             
“Yes. I suppose so. I will see you in the morning, my dear.”

             
Being overly intelligent made
lying quite easy. I could correctly gauge which lies were believable and which were not. I could easily decide which details should be spoken and which would
give away the ruse. Body language and eye contact were key to pulling off a lie, either big or sm
all. As I smiled up at James, keeping my eyes locked on his, I knew that he believed me. Inside, my smile grew.

***

             
After he had fallen asleep, I carefully got up so as not to wake him. I crept out of our bedroom and closed the door behind me without a
sound. My destination was set: In the basement, the doctors in our camp kept a makeshift office. They would have taken Donovan there.

             
The party was still in full swing, even as the second moon began its final descent towards the horizon. The bright beams
cast from that white orb in the sky lit my way for me. It was not until I had silently opened the basement door that I was plunged into total darkness.

             
“Change over.” I whispered to myself and at the command, my eyes were able to see. I walked easily down
each steep stone step. Once I reached the landing, I moved through the corridor, my feet lightly touching the concrete floor and not making even the quietest patter.

             
Two doors down from the beginning of the corridor and I would find my target, lying immo
bile on a bed made from logs and animal fur. His breaths would rasp in my ears as he struggled to say his piece. He would surely apologize and swear never to harm one hair on Penny's head. Perhaps he would even cry in repentance and beg for my forgiveness.

             
In response to all of those possible scenarios, I would simply pull the pillow from under his head and smother him. I would look up to the sky and smile as I felt his body struggling beneath me. When he moved no more, I would place the pillow back under
his head and saunter away. His pleas for mercy and his tears of apology would have meant nothing. They would have only proved further that he was not a man.

             
Pulling my hoodie sleeve down over my hand, I turned the brass doorknob. The room was empty. The o
nly light came from a tiny flame still burning inside of a lantern beside his bed. Sure enough, his breathing was labored and his wounds, in the state of repair that they were in, were beginning to crust over while still oozing repulsively. I walked closer
to him to observe the plants that were cut up or minced completely and separated into piles on his nightstand. I knew one of them was called Elixir, and it was said to cure the most terrible of diseases and injuries. Several of our number had been  afflic
ted with various cancers and found themselves cured upon ingesting that plant. In fact, they felt healthy again and ready to face their immortal lives with joy. If Donovan were to be given Elixir, his injuries would be healed completely. He would be strong
once again.

             
As the thought grasped me, I pulled the pillow from under his head, thinking of Penny. As the fear assuaged, that rage I was becoming so comfortable with took its place. As I placed the pillow over his face, I wondered only briefly if I was t
ruly capable of murdering a defenseless man.

             
The short answer: Yes, for I had to protect Penny. If Don would not punish the man for what he had done, I certainly would. I would enact the most final, resolute punishment imaginable: I would end his life.

             
B
eside me, the lantern's flame flickered to full life. I was aware of someone standing in the room with me. I did not have to guess for very long because he spoke immediately; his voice was as unwelcome as a hard blow to my head.

             
“What do you want?” I aske
d in a fury before whipping around to find Adam leaning against the door-frame with his huge arms crossed over his muscular chest. In his tight, black t-shirt, he almost looked like an overage version of a ridiculous moron on that New Jersey-based “reality
” show. However, I must admit, his physical attractiveness was not unnoticed by me. I ripped those thoughts about his physique and handsome face from my mind as though they were my own form of cancer. I glanced at the Elixir, wondering if it could rid me o
f such disgusting thoughts of Adam.

             
“I want you to think what you are doing through very carefully. I want you to be sure that you have fully prepared for the consequences of such a violent action.”

             
“I have. Thank you so much.” I replied curtly and my fi
ngers tightened around the soft plush pillow I still held in my hands. I raised it above my head and took a deep breath.

             
Donovan's thoughts screamed that he was sorry. He was not aware that I was standing there beside him, ready to end his life. He was no
t apologizing because he had suffered such extensive injuries. His cries of sorrow were genuine. His plea for his life was driven by his desire to “get better.” Perhaps, he wondered, there was a drug on the planet that could erase his sickest, most deprave
d urges.

             
Sickness
. Was he sick?

             
“I want you to leave.” I told Adam quietly. “I told you to stay away. I was very clear in my orders. Yet here you are.”
             
“I was enjoying your leader's party when I saw you slink down the stairs. Curiosity got the better of
me, I am afraid.” He replied as though I had asked for an explanation.

             
“If Penny had not been able to defend herself, he would have killed her.” I told Adam quickly. We were in a pattern of conversation where we ignored whatever the other had said.

             
“If
I don't kill him now, he will kill her. All of his internal cries for forgiveness do not erase the rage he feels in his heart for what she has done to him.”

             
“Are you quite certain of that?” Adam asked.

             
“Yes.”