Winter's Fury - Volume Two of The Saga of the Twelves (72 page)

Will I still know that I
love Sophie…?

Every time he replayed
himself asking that question, Joaquin’s reply rang in his ears
anew. He was certain that would be the time his heart would
physically come free of his chest. Like what he had seen in the
Temple of Doom. Indiana Jones had watched in horror as the High
Priest of Kali had driven his fingers into the chest of a man. He
had brought forth that very blood-churning muscle, still beating
and alive. The way he felt right then, it might as well be him,
instead of some Indian peasant in a loincloth.

He was coming to terms
with the obvious now. Though he walked the Melded World, he was
already dead.

It just seemed so unfair.
After so many years of waiting for the girl who would sweep him off
his feet, he had found one who had taken genuine notice of him. She
made him feel special. Now that he had finally found her, it was
quite possible he would forget she had ever existed in the first
place.
What kind of sick joke is
that?

Sure, he’d had his share
of girls. He had gone out on dates. He hung out, went to the
movies. He had made out with a few, engaged in mild petting. But,
he had yet to meet the one that made him want to alter his
schedule. He had not met the girl who got under his skin and made
him think about her on a consistent basis.

All the others, well, they
had just been fleeting, casual to him at best. They had been good
for the moment, but not interesting or intriguing enough to want to
go out of his way and pursue.

Online gaming had been
more fulfilling.

There had even been one
who had dropped sexual hints at him with ever other sentence. She
had flirted with every part of her body, trying to entice him into
something he did not feel was right to do with her.

He was no choirboy. He was
not above having thoughts of desire or carnal intentions about
girls. For him, it just had to be the right girl. He wanted a girl
who sparked his mind as well as the physical parts of himself. He
wanted the intellect and the atrraction at the same time, in
concert. He had waited a long time for
that
girl.

Now, he had found her. In
the guise of Sophie Reed, he had found his mystery lady. There was
no one else he could be with other than her. She had swept into his
life, under the worse possible circumstances. And yet, she had
found a way into that place he has always guarded, fortified
against the wiles of the female form. With the ease of a master
locksmith, she had picked through the layers of him and had
touched
him. She had
moved him where no other woman had been able to do. He found that a
fact he could not deny. He wanted her in his arms naked and
willing.

Yet, he could not deny he
loved her enough to make certain it would never happen unless the
circumstances were perfect. Their intentions would have to be right
and there was nothing between them left unsaid. He did not want
anything to sour the act over time. She was too precious to him. He
would make certain he did his upmost to take care of
her.

Until, I forgot who she is
and became something more, something unknown and
indescribable.

This was a sick joke. When
everything was said and done, the only option left to him was he
had to die. If there was one shred of hope left, then he would have
to swim down to the bottomless depths of a pool. He would have to
die in search of a talisman that had never been more than a legend,
a myth of a bygone age, no more than a rumor, even way back
then.

I love you, Sophie! I hope
you never forget that, even if I do.

He continued to stare out
at the blizzard, gazing through the blackened grayness beyond the
confines of the store. He was not quite sure if he should cry or
just fall onto the floor in an exhausted heap and give
up.

Why did this have to
happen to me? I don’t want to be the Kring-Hël. I don’t want to be
the one to have save everyone. All I want is to live and love and
be the best father I know I can grow up to be. Why is that so hard
to give to me? Haven’t I earned it, haven’t I? I’ve been good for
the most part. I have always been respectful to my parents. I did
all that they asked of me.

Why am I being punished?
When I have found the one I have been waiting for, why am I denied
her? I was never promiscuous or a man-whore like so many other
guys. I never knocked anyone up. Shit, I never even hurt the girls
I dated. I was always truthful. I was always up front. Why does it
have to be me? Why was I chosen? Out of the millions of other teens
on Earth, why does it have to be me?

I don’t want to
die.

I don’t want to
forget.

I love her, god dammit! I
don’t want to lose her now!

“
Tony-boy, why are you out
here in the freezing cold?” came a deep, guttural voice off to his
left that made his yelp with fright.

“
Jesus fucking Christ,
Garfield! You scared the living shit out of me!” he exclaimed
exasperated, dazed and bewildered he had not heard the huge cat
come forth. This was despite the fact he stood four and a half feet
at the shoulder and weighed seven hundred pounds.

“
My apologies, son. It was
not my intention to frighten you. I was curious. Why you are out
here looking upon this impenetrable storm, when you should be snug
and warm, cuddling with your mate,” ventured the cat. His large
eyes were somehow capable of capturing the miniscule amount of
light within and reflect it back.

Wait a minute… my mate? Oh
my god, did you honestly just call her that?

“
I couldn’t sleep,” he
replied, instead of voicing what he was thinking.

“
It is a symptom of nerves
quite familiar to us felines,” quirked Garfield. He displayed a wry
twist of his lips that Anthony could see through the near darkness.
Then, after a time: “What is on your mind, my old friend?” It was
the kindest, most gentle voice Anthony had ever heard from his
one-time pet.

Anthony savored the
feeling for a few minutes. “It just seems with every passing hour
things are getting more and more difficult. Decisions, choices, and
other things have to happen… It gets kinda overwhelming at
times.”

Garfield listened with a
sniff, making his snout rumble as though he snored. He tossed his
head from side to side, and then stopped to look at him.

Anthony could see his huge
orbs, their pupils wide and dark.

“
You have a heavy burden
to bear, Tony-Boy. A burden that none of us understand. In that, I
am not jealous in the least. But, it does not have to be borne
alone and in secret, especially not out here in the cold of this
unforgiving tempest.”

“
I know.
I don’t want you to think I am out here wallowing, feeling sorry
for myself or anything. I just couldn’t sleep. I didn’t want to
wake-up Sophie, so I sort of squirmed my way over here to think a
bit. Maybe clear my head enough so that I might be able to go back
and rest.” He glanced from the great cat to look out into the
store. The terrible itch of inaction and lassitude bubbled up
through his mind once again.
Yeah,
dumbass, and with every step you take toward doing something about
it, it takes you a step closer to your death!
He closed his eyes against the thought, rubbing his temples
with the thumb and middle finger of his right
hand.

“
Think or no think,
Anthony, it will not change whatever is lying before you,” began
Garfield. He too peered out into the roiling snow and clouds and
wind. “From the moment you were born, your fate was no longer your
own. Your tale had already spun its' course." He paused to swallow.
"What you do with that fate will determine your lineage. There is
no hiding from that truth. No matter how much thought or
consideration, or planning or scheming, it will always be before
you. There may be a delay or it might go ignored, but it will wait.
Fate has all the time in the world.” He chuckled, disdainful of
things he could not control. “Don’t waste your time fretting over
things that cannot change, that you have no power to mandate. It
only serves to muddle your thoughts, cloud your vision. That can be
dangerous. It can cause you to lose the clarity you might need when
you need it most.”

“
You’re right. I know
that, Garfield.” He’d been sarcastic. “It’s just my so-called fate
is pretty damned scary, you know?” he divulged, not embarrassed to
reveal his innermost thoughts to the feline he had loved for so
long.

“
So what,” was the other’s
quick retort. “So it’s frightening. Will that aspect change over
time? Ever?

Anthony stammered. “I-I
don’t think so…”

“
Again, you are
contemplating that which you cannot change. Again, you waste your
energy, energy you will need later.” Then to Anthony’s shock, the
huge cat rumbled with a short laugh – a real one, devoid of
sarcasm. “You should be in those coverings with that sweet little
morsel of yours and not out here wasting your time here with
me.”

“
Garfield!” hissed Anthony
in mock outrage.

Garfield turned to look at
him again, his brow had risen. “Oh, are you telling me you would
much rather be out here freezing off your haunches than be in the
arms of the pale beauty who loves you more than life
itself?”

It was Anthony’s turn to
chuckle. “Well, no, but -.”

“
There are no ‘buts’ about
it, Tony-Boy. Go back and crawl into bed with your mate, whisper
sweet things to her that having meaning and are worth saying. That
is what you should be doing. That is definitely not a waste of
time. It would be time well spent indeed,” concluded the great cat
with a smug cast.

Who the hell was this
standing here next to me? No way, not Garfield, that’s for
sure.

Anthony stared at Garfield
with a frown. “Since when did you become all soft and mushy
inside?”

Garfield’s returning stare
had changed completely - flat and emotionless. “I don’t like to
waste time. I thought you’d have figured that out be
now.”

Anthony was about to
answer when…

“
Babe, is that
you?”

Sophie!

He spun on his heel and
peered back into the darker recesses of the store where the rest of
the group was sleeping. He saw the tall, athletic form he was on
the verge of memorizing, walking toward him, weaving as if still
half asleep.

It was her. She walked
forward on the tips of her toes. Her arms she had crossed at her
chest, her hands rubbed with vigor at her biceps underneath her
nightgown.

She’s cold!

He took a few steps toward
her, meeting her halfway and took her in his arms in one fell
swoop. He could tell immediately, she was freezing.

“
Jeez, girlie, what the
hell are you doing out here without a jacket?” he admonished,
unzipping his and pulling her into warmer confines, encircling her
with his arms.

“
I woke up. I thought I
heard someone shout something, then I heard voices. You weren’t
there, so I got scared. I came to look for you,” she said in a tiny
voice, still slurring, as if sleep was loath to leave
her.

“
It was just me and
Garfield talking,” he replied, turning to show her the feline, but
the cat was nowhere to be seen.

Freakin’ punk
cat!

He turned back to her and
hugged her to him.

She let herself conform to
his body.

“
Anyhow, you should be out
here without the right clothes on, ok?”

“
Okay, Baby, just come
back to bed with me and hold me. Ok?”

“
Sure.”

“
Will you hold me all
night long?”

“
Of course.”

She breathed with longing
into his chest, muttering, “Yummy.”

They both turned and made
their way back to the air mattresses and the soothing warmth of
their sleeping bags. He held onto her beneath the folds of his
jacket, one arm about her shoulders, while she held onto him about
the waist.

Don’t waste your time.
Love her with every ounce of your being, for as long as you
can…

“
I love you,
Sophie.”

“
I love you, too,
baby.”

He smiled when she
squeezed him tighter.

I will savor every ounce
of my love for you with every last second I have. I promise,
Sophie. I promise.

~~~~~~~<<<
ᴥ
>>>~~~~~~~

~ 41 ~

Conspiracy

Sunday, November
28
^th
,
11:53 pm…

There was little doubt
now. Every time Marissa Avalon thought about it she knew this was
all a conspiracy and she was smack-dab in the freakin’ middle of
it.

Hindsight being
twenty-twenty, she should have guessed this was something bigger
than just child abductions. Seeing the man-with-the-melting-face
bring in Alicia earlier that day should have been clue enough. But
she had been so preoccupied with eating and then caring for her
long-time friend. She had not taken the time to put everything
together.