Курок Дуглас Пенелопа

The girls laughed and led the way through the panel in the wall where Banks and I grew up shimmying down beams of wood to get around the house in secret, either for fun or for pranks.

Rika and Alex went first, then Winter and then me. We made our way down between the walls, vaguely hearing voices on the other side as we descended floors, and now I kind of understood why the girls were sent. This was a lot tighter space now that I was grown. We went slowly and quietly, since everyone whom we didn’t want to find us was only a piece of wood and a layer of wallpaper away.

Landing at the bottom, I stepped through the hole in the rocks which made up the walls of the cellar and summoned every muscle and ounce of determination I had to get Winter out of here, so I could push forward and make it to the car.

I heard a phone vibrate, and Rika’s face lit up as she looked at a text.

“Okay, now,” she said, glancing at us.

What?

I didn’t have time to ask, though, because she ran up the steps and pushed through the cellar doors, Alex, Winter, and I quickly following.

She jumped into the passenger seat of a black SUV parked right there for us, while Alex opened the rear door and dove in, Winter and I doing the same.

Alex sat in a seat, while Winter and I fell into the rear bench seat way in the back.

I didn’t have time to see who was driving, but I crashed down, falling back into Winter as she slumped back, too, wrapping her arms around me.

“Go, go, go,” I heard Rika tell whoever. “I’ll text Banks and tell them to get out of there.”

Whoever was driving shot backward instead of forward toward the gate, and I held on as the car bounced over the ground and veered left to right, probably to avoid trees. We must be going out the back way.

Winter’s chest rose and fell behind me, but she held me tightly, like she wouldn’t let anything hurt me.

I closed my eyes, listening to the terrain under us, hearing what she was hearing to know when it was finally safe.

The car rocked over the bumpy land, leaves kicked up under the tires, but I didn’t hear any other engines following, shouts, or alarms. So far, we’d gotten out undetected.

I didn’t know what Banks was doing or agreeing to in order to distract my father, but I wanted her out of there now.

And Winter should never have come, either. It was insane to think we were going to get out of this alive.

Why did she even come?

She was pissing me off. Screaming at me one minute, all over me the next, running away this morning, and now she was here. Was she going to decide she needed more space tomorrow?

We pulled onto a paved road, swinging around, and driving forward, and I started to breathe a little easier as the car grew quiet and the engine hummed.

“You left me,” I said, her chin tucked on my shoulder as she held me from behind. “Everyone is always doing that.”

“I needed to think.”

“Think,” I repeated, shaking my head. “Fuck you, baby. It was perfect last night. There were no problems.”

I reached behind, ruffling her hair.

“You’re going to do it again,” I said, dropping my hand. “You should’ve just left me there. Why didn’t you?”

She was quiet, nudging her cheek into mine as she found her words. “Because I was afraid of life without the hope of you to look forward to.”

I fell silent, understanding instantly what she meant. Looking back, I’d always felt the same way. Whether or not we were together, I wanted her, and I’d always want her.

“We can’t hide forever, though, Damon,” she said. “Not in our mazes, our fountains, our treehouses… We live in the world with other people, and I want to respect myself. I just…I needed to think.”

“You want them to respect you,” I retorted.

This was about what people were going to say about us. She thought they weren’t going to trust her now that she was in love with the same guy she sent to jail.

“People think because I’m blind that I’m dumb,” she told me. “They treat me like a child. I want to prove I’m capable. That I’m someone.”

“You should’ve been strong,” I replied, my fingers freezing now all of a sudden. “If anyone knew what a vile cunt this world could be, it was us. But all I needed was you, and all you should’ve needed was me, and fuck all the rest. We would’ve done it. We would’ve won.”

“I came back,” she said again. “I was barely gone fifteen minutes. I came right back.” She kissed my temple. “And we will win. We will.”

Sure. Maybe.

“Okay, there’s Banks and the guys,” I heard Rika say and noticed the headlights coming through the rear window. “We have about three more seconds before Gabriel figures it out.”

My eyes grew heavy again, and my heart was pounding in my ears. I didn’t feel so good.

I swallowed. “I sometimes wonder what I’d be like if I grew up in Michael’s house. Or Kai’s.”

She laughed a little. “You wouldn’t be like them.”

“Probably not,” I agreed. “People are a blend of external and internal influences, not all controlled variables. Sometimes, just sometimes, we are who we are. Even in the sea, a snake is a snake.”

“A lion, a lion,” she added with a smile in her voice.

Blood from the wound dripped from my skin under the shirt.

“I should’ve taken you to St. Killian’s,” I told her. “There’s a room down in the catacombs.”

I paused to make sure she was listening.

“You turn left at the bottom of the stairs and keep going,” I instructed, knowing she was mapping it out in her head. “When you feel a draft from your left, you’ve hit a hallway, and you turn right. Drag your hand along the right wall until you feel the fourth doorway, and then enter it. Water from the snowmelt on the hills above the church seeps through the ground and spills down the walls like a tiny waterfall.” My arms started to fall, unable to hold her anymore. “You can smell the wet rock, and there’s a little pool where the water sits before it drains into a well. In the pool, there’s something you can have. Something of yours I saved. Something you forgot about.”

She waited a moment, probably thinking.

“I’m not missing anything,” she informed me. “There’s nothing I’m forgetting, Damon.”

I closed my eyes. “There is so much you’re forgetting, baby.”

She moved her hand and then sucked in a short breath. “What is this?” She panted, fear filling her throat. “Damon, what happened? Are you injured?”

She lifted my shirt, touching my wound. I grunted. Jesus, it felt on fucking fire now.

She started gasping. “Will, go to the hospital! He’s been hurt!”

“What?” Will shouted.

He must be who was driving.

“Get the flashlight on your phone,” Rika told someone. “Look at it.”

I kept my eyes closed but winced when a bright light shined on me.

“Oh, my God,” Alex cursed. “He’s soaked. Damon, how long have you been bleeding?”

I just grunted, their voices fading.

“Will, just go,” I heard Rika bark. “Speed. Hurry up.”

“Fucking Miles Anderson,” I growled under my breath. “We gotta kill that motherfucker.”

This was really going to ruin my day.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Winter cried in my ear.

“It’s fine.” I relaxed into her, her arms still around me. “I could die happily right here.”

“You’re not dying,” Winter argued. “You haven’t even told me you love me yet.”

Oh, that.

“Someday,” I teased.

“Damon, wake up.” She jostled me. “Come on, we’re doing this, right? We’re in love. We’re doing this.”

Their voices trailed off as if I were listening and not really here, and for the first time in my life, my entire body was relaxed. So completely relaxed.

“Is he gonna be okay?” I heard Winter cry. “Please, Will, hurry! Please, just get there.”

“I’m calling the ER to let them know we’re almost there,” Rika said.

Winter’s body shook under me, but fuck if I didn’t ever want to move from this spot. I let my body give in—falling, falling, falling—and soaking it up as long as I could, because who knew how long it would last. If I didn’t die from Anderson’s embarrassing little finger knife wound, she was gonna run off on me again to get more space, no doubt.

I needed to think, she’d said.

My dick was inside you four times last night. Now you needed to think? Really?

 

 

 

Winter

 

Present

 

I stood there, the speakers at the nurses’ station going off with calls, shoes squeaking against the linoleum floors, and the T.V. broadcasting a news channel as I leaned into the wall, rubbing my hands together and feeling his dried blood now grainy on my skin.

There’s so much you’re forgetting.

What was I forgetting?

What did he want me to have?

He’d said it as if he were leaving me something. Like he wouldn’t be back for it.

Needles pricked my throat, but I swallowed them down.

He was just going to bleed out? Because he couldn’t choke down his pride and ask for help?

I couldn’t believe him. He was insane.

And—in the back of my mind where I would admit it to myself—he was going to leave me. He was just going to let go.

I steeled my jaw, refusing to cry another damn tear for him.

Banks and Rika wandered about, offering me coffee or to find some scrubs, so I could get out of my bloody clothes, but I was rooted to this spot, waiting for the doctor or a nurse to come and let us know what was going on with him.

Kai and Will had also shown up, and it occurred to me to call my sister to let her know he was in the ER, but that fleeting thought left as quickly as it came. He wouldn’t want her here, and all she’d be worried about was if she still got her settlement if he died.

I heard doors swing open and closed and felt people surround me suddenly.

“Well, he lost a lot of blood,” a woman told us. “Right now, the doctor is working to close the wound, but Mr. Torrance does need blood. We’ve gone through our supply of B-negative, but it’s one of the rarer blood types, and he can only have a transfusion from other B or O-negatives.”

I was O-positive, so I was out.

“We’ve had to request more from a hospital in Meridian City,” she told us. “It’ll hopefully be here soon.”

“Banks?” Will spoke up. “You’re O-negative, right? We all did that blood drive last summer. He can get blood from you.”

Oh, good. I started to breathe a little easier, but she didn’t say anything for a moment, and I starting worrying again.

“Um…yeah,” she finally stuttered, “but I, uh…I can’t donate blood, I don’t think.”

“Why?” Will prodded.

She laughed nervously under her breath. “I’m, um… I’m pregnant.”

Everyone fell silent, but I couldn’t help but smile a little at the irony.

Uncle Damon. That would be fun.

“I was trying to find a way to tell you,” she said to her husband, I assumed. “Something special. Sorry it happened like this.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Will added, clearing his throat and realizing the sudden announcement was sort of his fault.

There was movement, some kissing, and a few whispered words I couldn’t make out.

“Okay, well…” the nurse chimed in again. “We’ll get the blood we need. Don’t worry.”

“I’m B-negative,” someone spoke up, and I realized it was Rika.

Her tone sounded like mine did when I had to agree to something I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to do.

“Oh, wonderful,” the nurse chirped. “Come with me, then.”

“Thanks, Rika,” Banks called out as they left.

I drew in a deep breath, relaxing a little, but still not moving from my spot.

“I’m sorry,” I heard Banks say.

“Why are you apologizing?” Kai asked, a smile in his voice. “This is the best surprise. My parents will be ecstatic.”

“I didn’t want you to find out like this,” she explained.

“Well, are you okay with it? Are you ready?”

“I didn’t think I would be,” she replied. “I wasn’t sure I wanted kids, but since I found out on Monday, I’m just…”

She giggled, and then I heard jumping and a barely audible little squeal.

“No wonder you’ve been smiling so much,” Kai commented. “And I thought it was because of me.”

“Well, technically it is.”

He snorted. “We’ve got a lot to look forward to.”

“Let’s go sit,” she whispered.

I rubbed my eyes, forgetting my hands were covered in blood. Shit. I needed to go wash up.

I started to move, but then I heard Kai’s voice.

“What are you doing?” he asked, and I stopped, thinking he was talking to me.

But it was Will who answered, “She said B-negative was a rare blood type. It’s actually the second rarest in the country, according to this website. Only 2% of the population has it.”

He must be looking at the stats on his phone.

“So?” Kai said.

“So isn’t it a little convenient that Damon and Rika both share the same, exact, rare blood type?”

My eyes rounded.

Oh, geez.

But I just made my way down the wall, reading the braille signs to find the restroom Banks told me was a couple doors down from here.

It was one thing after another with this group, and for now, I was just fine without any more drama than I had on my own plate to deal with.

They could have that one.

 

 

 

Damon

 

Present

 

“Winter?” I mumbled, feeling her and smelling her everywhere as I searched in the black.

I couldn’t see anything, and I couldn’t open my eyes as I shifted on the bed under me.

Jesus. Everything was so fucking heavy.

“Shhh…” a voice said. “You’re going to be okay. Just close your eyes and rest. You’re safe.”

Hands touched my face and forehead, like checking my temperature, and the warmth of her skin was like a dream. It felt like being in the shower with Winter the first time. Peaceful.

“Your hands are warm,” I said, so weak I couldn’t even swallow as I put my hand over hers, keeping it on my face. “I’m really fucking lightheaded. Don’t move, okay? Just stay.” I breathed shallow. “Just stay.”

A kiss touched my forehead. “I’ve always been here,” she whispered.

When I woke up again, it took several minutes, but I got my eyes open, the drowsiness taking forever to wear off.

Was that a dream? Where was Winter?

I put hands under me and scooted up in bed, using every ounce of strength I had and feeling a sharp pain in my side.

Ah, fuck. I coughed, touching the bandages on the side of my torso, noticing my hospital gown was down around my waist. An IV stuck in my hand, and two heart monitors were attached to my chest.

My neck ached, my head hurt, and I was groggy as fuck. What the hell did they give me?

I saw someone shift out of the corner of my eye and looked up, noticing everyone was in the room, either passed out on chairs or waking up.

Will rose from his seat, heading over to me, while Kai was passed out on a recliner with Banks curled up on top of him, and Michael and Rika were asleep on the couch.

“How long have I been out?” I asked him, looking for a clock.

He poured me a cup of water, and I downed the whole thing, handing it back for more.

“A few hours,” he said. “You never sleep long.”

“I want to leave.”

The other started to stir, Banks rubbing her eyes and sitting up, while Rika stretched on the couch.

“Yeah, it’s not happening.” Will handed me another water. “You need to stay put.”

“Fuck that.” I ignored the cup he held out and tried to remove the sheet on top of me.

But then Michael was on the other side of me; he and Will both pushing me back down.

“Lie down or we’ll lie you down,” Michael threatened.

“Aw, you care?”

“With you bed-ridden, you can’t cause trouble,” he pointed out. “It’s nice.”

Whatever. I wasn’t fucking staying. I’d rather pierce my eyeballs than lie here, resting.

I’d rather chug a gallon of piss warm milk than stay in bed, doing nothing.

I’d rather get a third degree burn on my dick.

Or develop a peanut allergy.

“Where’s Winter?” I demanded, taking the water and downing it.

Both of them remained silent but exchanged looks.

What? My heart began to hammer.

Will cleared his throat. “Okay, I don’t want you to freak out,” he started. “We will all handle this. But you need to stay calm, okay?”

Stay calm? She was in the fucking car on the way to the hospital. What happened?

“What?” I barked, noticing Kai jump awake to my left.

Rika and Banks approached the bed, too.

“She’s, um…” Will paused, struggling for words.

What the fuck?

And then he broke out in a smile, pulling back the curtain that hid the other bed in the room.

“Right here,” he teased.

I looked over, seeing Winter curled up on top of the made bed, still wearing jeans and sneakers, but with Will’s sweatshirt on now, it looked like.

“Want me to wake her up?” he asked.

I shook my head, seeing her mouth twitch a little. “No, leave her.”

I sighed as everyone surrounded my bed, and I wished they’d all go away. This felt so pathetic, and I wanted to leave now. Why were they even still here? Banks, I could understand, but the rest of them?

Reaching down, I peeled away the surgical tape and gauze on the right side of my abdomen, trying to gauge how bad the injury was.

Peering under the bandage, I spotted a small incision, examining it.

“Three stitches?” I said out loud.

Three?

“Don’t worry, there’s more on the inside,” Banks informed me. “Ten whole stitches. Super manly.”

I let my head fall back on the pillows, tightening my abs a few times to gauge the pain.

“The injury wasn’t that serious,” Will said, folding his arms over his chest. “But ignoring it was. You lost a lot of blood.”

“Luckily Rika had the same blood type,” Michael stated.

“Yeah, luckily,” Kai mumbled.

I almost laughed. Rika gave me blood? Like really?

I shot my eyes over to her, dropping my gaze to the Band-Aid on her arm where they’d drawn the blood.

Interesting.

“You going to say ‘thank you’?” Michael prodded.

“Someday.”

Rika let out a snort. “Well, now that he’s fine, I need to go lock up the dojo.”