Vindicated (6 page)

“It’s not too late,” I said as I glanced over at Alex and raised my eyebrows at him.

He chuckled.
 
“Okay, I got the hint.
 
We’ll do it together, Rod.
 
He won’t be able to shoot the both of us.
 
I’m pretty sure I’m faster than you so you can be my shield when he pulls out the gun.”

“Thanks, man.
 
You’re a great friend.”
 
The cab broke out into laughter.
 
It felt good to finally laugh.

The sun started to set behind the trees as we drove south on I-5, casting the sky in a summer orange.

“I was thinking we could go dress shopping with Mom, maybe,” Amber said quietly.
 
“What do you think, Jess?”

“You’re serious?” I asked, turning in my seat to look at her.
 
I saw from her face that she was.

“Moving on, remember?” Alex said so quietly only my ears could pick up on his words.

I didn’t say anything for a moment, looking at Amber’s face blankly.
 
“We’ll see how things go.”

“I’m thinking a big ball gown,” Amber start to rattle on.
 
I gave a few nods and
uh-huh’s
to let her know I was half-listening as she continued to ramble.
 
She was talking but I wasn’t hearing her.
 
All I could think about was the tone of my mother’s voice as she told me over and over that the nightmares weren’t real, that I needed to get over this phase.
 

My insides felt hollow.

As we neared one in the morning, Amber laid her head in Rod’s lap, who had crashed not long after she started talking about wedding stuff, and fell asleep herself.
 
I sighed as the truck became quiet, scooting to sit closer to Alex, and leaned my head on his shoulder.

“How you doing?” he asked quietly, placing his hand on my knee and giving it a squeeze.
 

“I’m kind of freaking out, but okay, I guess,” I said.
 

“I’m really proud of you for doing this, you know.
 
I know this isn’t easy for you.”

“It’s not.
 
She said some really terrible things to me.
 
I wanted her to believe me but she didn’t.”

“Did…” he trailed off for a moment as he formed his thoughts.
 
“Did she ever see your scars?”

I shook my head.
 
“I don’t think so.
 
I was really young when it all started but I was obsessive about keeping them covered up.”

“Maybe you should have shown them to her.”

“Maybe,” I whispered.

I barely saw the glint of the headlights on its eye before it jumped in front of the truck.
 
A doe bounded across the road, pausing right in front of us.
 
Alex slammed on the breaks, the truck skidding to a stop as the deer jumped into the brush on the other side of the freeway and into the open country.

As I watched it prance away, I saw him, long blond hair blowing as he stared back at me with dark eyes.
 
Watching me from the side of the road.

“Alex,” I whispered.
 
As I blinked, he was gone.

“I saw him,” Alex said in a low voice, his eyes staring at the place the man had been standing.

“He’s…” I trailed off.
 
Somehow Amber and Rod were both still asleep.

“One of us,” Alex said quietly as he started the truck forward again.

I fought back the shaking that started in my hands.
 
Cole’s words flooded back to me.

They are watching you.

“Alex, I have something to tell you,” I barely whispered.

“What?”

“You remember a few days ago, when I had the nightmare about Cole?”
 
He nodded.
 
“Cole was talking to me.
 
I don’t think it was just some dream.
 
He said ‘they are watching you’.”

“Who’s ‘they’?”

“I think… I think it might be the council,” I said with a shaky voice.

“Why you?
 
What would they want from you?”

“I don’t know,” I lied.
 
Cole’s other words came back to me.
 
They know something’s wrong.
 
Four times now they should have had you before them and yet they haven’t.

They were realizing their mistake.

“Is this about Cole?” Alex asked, his voice suddenly terrified sounding.

I shook my head.
 
“I don’t think so.
 
They have Cole back.”

I felt Alex’s form relax slightly, a breath crossing his lips.
 
“Maybe I can try and talk to him, see what he wants.”

“Somehow I don’t think that would be a good idea,” I breathed.
 
“They’re already trying to take you back.
 
Don’t get any closer to them than you have to.”

“I won’t let them take me before the wedding, I promise,” he said as he laced his fingers with mine and pressed a kiss to the back of my hand.
 
“And I won’t let them do anything to you either.”

“I know,” I said quietly.
 
But something in me sensed that it was
me
who was going to have to start protecting
him
.
 

Sometime around three in the morning I finally fell asleep, slumped against Alex’s side.
 
By the time I woke up at seven, I found we were at a gas station and Alex said we were only just over an hour away.
 
I also found a text from my dad, asking when we were going to be getting in.

Not long
, I texted him back.
 
Please make sure you’re home when we get there.

I already am
, he replied.
 
Relax.
 
Things will be okay.

Then why did I have the sickening feeling in my gut that they weren’t?

Rod and Amber came back out of the store, gas station food piling out of a plastic bag.
 
We all loaded back into the truck and got back on the highway.

“I got some Twinkies just for you, Alex,” Rod said with a proud smile as he handed a handful up to Alex.
 
I tried to hide the smile that cracked on my face as I suppressed a chuckle.

“Thanks for looking out for me,” Alex said as he grabbed them.

“What about you, Jess?” Amber said as she peered into the contents of the bag.
 
“We got doughnuts, soda, Twizzlers, and some Pop Tarts.”

“We’re eating healthy today!” I proclaimed, a slightly too fake sounding laugh bubbling out.
 
“I guess I’ll take some Dr. Pepper if you’ve got any.”

Amber chuckled.
 
“How did I guess that’s what you’d want?” she said as she handed it up.
 
“Hey, are you feeling okay?
 
You’re looking kinda’ pasty.
 
Well, pastier than usual.”

“I’m fine,” I lied as I swallowed hard.
 
I didn’t miss the way Alex’s eyes flickered to my face.
 
He knew better.
 
He could probably hear the way my heart was racing.

As the miles flew by, my palms started sweating and I felt slightly light headed.
 
“Breathe,” Alex whispered.
 
“Do you need me to pull over for a bit?”

I shook my head.
 
It started spinning as the small towns started becoming familiar.
 
I fought back bile as we passed the trucking yard, thought I might pass out as the familiar fields came into view.
 
I was fighting a fully-fledged panic attack as we turned at the one convenience store in town and passed what was my grandmother’s house before she passed away.

And then there it was, the female voice from the GPS announcing that we had arrived at our destination.
 

The same red brick walls greeted me, my mother’s familiar flower beds bursting with color.
 
The same lopsided apple tree stood in the corner of the yard, permanently injured by my soccer ball at the age of six.
 
Everything about my childhood home looked exactly the same.
 

The front door opened as we came to a stop.
 
Alex stepped out of the truck at the same time my dad came down the step.
 
My hands shook so violently I couldn’t get the door open at first.

“It’s going to be okay, Jessica,” Amber said quietly from the back, placing a hand on my shoulder.
 
I just shook my head.
 
My ears were ringing.

Alex walked around the front of the truck and opened the door for me, saving me from my fumbling.
 
His gray eyes met mine and I tried to draw courage from them as I looked at him.
 
My hands shook all the more as I slid my engagement ring off and tucked it into my pocket.

“Just until we talk to them,” I said quietly.
 
Alex just nodded and offered me his hand, and helped me down.

Then I finally saw her, my mother, standing on the small porch.

There was no moment of perfect reunion, of the two of us running into each other’s arms and hugging, tears running down our faces.
 
Instead, there was a long awkward moment of our eyes locking on each other, neither of us saying anything.

Dad crossed the yard, a bright smile on his face.
 
He pulled me into his arms, giving me a tight squeeze.

“I’ve missed you, kid,” he said.
 
“She’s probably just as nervous about this as you are,” he added quietly.

“I doubt that,” I let out a quivering breath.

“Alex,” my dad said as he took a step away from me.
 
He went to hold out his hand to shake Alex’s, then seemed to change his mind and pulled him into a hug instead.
 
“Good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too, Dennis,” Alex said as he met my eyes over Dad’s shoulder.
 
He gave me a small smile, bolstering my courage.

While Amber started the awkward introductions of my dad and Rod, my eyes found my mom again.
 
She stared in much the same way everyone else did, like they couldn’t quite comprehend the unnatural look of me.
 
She finally gave me a small smile, took a step down off the porch, and started across the lawn.

My mom had always been a beautiful woman.
 
Her hair was the same deep brown as mine but her curls were always perfectly tamed.
 
Her eyes were wide and hazel like mine as well.
 
But she had the perfectly shaped nose, perfect lips.
 
I knew Amber would age gracefully over time for the fact that she could be my mother’s clone.

“Jessica,” she said in a soft voice as she stopped just a few paces away from me.
 
She looked slightly bewildered as she took my face in, now that she was closer.

“Mom,” I answered.
 
I attempted a small half smile and gathering my courage, closed the space between us and wrapped my arms around her.
 
I must have caught her off guard, considering the awkward way she put her arms around me.
 
I tried not to shudder as her hands came to rest on my raised wings.

“It’s good to see you.”

I swallowed hard, fighting back my racing heart.
 
“Yeah, it’s… it’s good to see you too.”

She stepped away from me, giving a small smile, and turned to Alex who hung hesitantly back.

“You must be Alex,” she said, hesitating for a moment as she took Alex’s glorious being in, and finally holding out her hand.

“And you must be Claire,” Alex said with his signature smile.
 
He accepted my mother’s hand.

My mind started fading out then, knowing I didn’t have to pay attention to all the introductions.
 
I’d survived the initial reunion, despite my doubts.
 
Maybe I could handle the rest of the weekend.