Black Blood (12 page)

He never
did.

She sat all
afternoon and he never did.

Before
heading home she drove past the garage and down Ninth Street one
more time, but it was a hopeless endeavor. Helen and Harrison
Granger no longer existed.

Gemma drove
home. The house was quiet and serene as she pulled into the garage,
but the calmness did nothing to steady her frayed nerves. As she
had sped up the highway the thought of facing her parents had
started building in the back of her mind. The rage and disbelief of
what they had done escalated within her and a cauldron of boiling
emotion bubbled in her belly. She strode through the doorway and
into the kitchen.

The room was
empty except for the tantalizing smell of her mother’s lasagne. The
strains of Strauss lingered through the air blending appropriately
with the elegant touch of silver to china and the quiet murmur of
mealtime conversation.

Gemma turned
the corner and took in the charming scene. The white table cloth,
the wine glasses, the tall, unnecessary candles gracing the table.
Her mother and father sat at one end, while Ruby and Dom faced each
other down the side. Her ears were buzzing too loudly to take in
the conversation. She could see her usual place at the end was set
and waiting for her… just a normal night in the Hart home. The
cauldron within her spat hot spray over the walls of her
stomach.

She entered the
room in silence and grasped the back of her chair. Her knuckles
turned white.

“Good evening,
Gemma.” Her mother’s voice was calm and genteel. Placing a forkful
of food on her tongue, she chewed the morsel and swallowed before
sending her a reproachful look. “You didn’t check in today… or
reply to my text. You know you must always do so when you return
from a trip. We’ve had to postpone our debrief until after dinner.”
She frowned. “Don’t let it happen again, sweetie.” She took a sip
of wine and scooped another mouthful of lasagne onto her fork.

Gemma fought
the boiling bubbles inside her, but couldn’t keep her voice from
shaking.

“He wasn’t on
the beach waiting for me. He wasn’t at the garage. He wasn’t at
home. In fact, the garage and the home don’t belong to his family
anymore, because Bryan didn’t marry Helen. She doesn’t exist
anymore, how could he?” Gemma’s voice was starting to crack. “So
that means Bryan and his kids had no reason to move to St
Augustine. They’re all gone. Harrison’s gone.” She shook her head
and willed the tears away. “How could you do this to me? Do you not
love me at all?”

Finally her
parents looked up from their plates. Pinching the napkin off her
knee, Gemma’s mother wiped the corners of her mouth while her
father placed his knife on the edge of his plate.

“Not everything
in this world is about you, Gemma. We went back for the gold.”

“BULLSHIT!” She
felt the cauldron explode as her hand threw her plate of waiting
food against the wall. Bright red meat sauce smeared the cream
wallpaper and dripped towards the carpet like blood. She saw her
mother flinch before flashing her a dark look.

“This had
nothing to do with the gold!” Gemma’s voice was so deep and
malignant she barely recognized it.

Obviously
using every ounce of will power to remain calm, Penelope reached
for her wine glass and took a slow sip. Placing it on the table,
she looked at her daughter with dispassionate eyes. “Well, it just
goes to show we
can
do something
about your relationship with Harrison.”

“I guess you
won’t be together forever after all,” Alistair added making Gemma
want to leap across the table and pummel his face until her
knuckles bled.

“Now if you’re
done making a scene.” Penelope cleared her throat. “There should be
enough lasagne left over for you in the kitchen. Although, I’d like
you to clean up that mess before joining us, please.”

Gemma could
think of nothing to say. She suddenly knew she was staring at two
complete strangers. The thought of being near them for a second
longer was repulsive. Without another word she made a beeline for
her bedroom.

No one chased
her. No one called her back. The only remnants of the dining room
fiasco she picked up before walking out of hearing was Ruby’s shaky
comment.

“Well what else
did you expect? She was in love with him.”

Closing
the door behind her, she leaned against the wood and fought for
air. She felt like someone had punched through her middle and
pulled out a huge chunk of flesh. All that remained now was a
jagged hole. Bending over with a cry, she slumped to the floor and
crawled towards her bed. Slithering under the covers she buried
herself in the dark cocoon and embraced the hollow ache, not even
caring if she survived it.

Harrison was
gone.

His family line
was broken and so was she.

Chapter Seventeen

Ponte Vedra Beach,
Florida – 2011 AD

Sleep captured
Gemma some time in the evening, but it didn’t last. She woke
throughout the night forgetting what had happened. A smile would
cross her face as she imagined seeing Harrison the next day and
then the realization would hit. It was a force so strong her
breaths were reduced to short, rapid puffs of air. Her muscles
shook and she would curl into a ball trying to counter the ache
screaming through her system.

“Harrison.”

She didn’t want
to believe it. She couldn’t.

Reaching under
her pillow she scrambled for the comfort he had gifted her. They
had joked about it. She remembered pulling out the old shirt he’d
tucked into his waistband and cuddling it against her. He’d rolled
his eyes and told her she couldn’t possibly be one of those sappy
girls who needed to sleep with her boyfriend’s shirt beneath her
pillow. She had held it to her nose and drawn in his scent. “Say
goodbye to your shirt, baby.”

Her fingers
scratched over the empty sheet. Ripping the pillow away, she
scrounged around in the dark only to have reality reconfirmed.

He was gone. He
had never been here. That shirt had never lived under her pillow.
Curling into another ball, she pulled the covers over her head. She
wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. But her insides were numb.
Instead she closed her eyes and begged for the unconscious bliss of
sleep.

Time passed.

There was a
knock on her door. Gemma’s eyes popped open. Her muscles
tensed.

“Gemma? It’s
Ruby. I brought you some breakfast. Can I come in?”

Still
nestled within the safety of her cocoon, Gemma remained silent. She
noticed the lightness above her and realized she must accept a new
day, but the thought was too painful. Shuffling further down the
bed, she held the covers tight over her head.

Ruby knocked a
few more times then eventually gave in.

“I’ll… I’ll
just leave it outside your door.”

Time passed.

She woke in a
stuffy daze. Flinging back the covers, she sniffed the fresh air
and then remembered. Her breaths grew short as panic radiated
through her system.

“Gemma?” Ruby’s
voice was behind the door again. “Sweetie, you really need to eat
something. Can I come in?”

Gemma flung the
covers back over her head and curled into a ball.

Time passed.

“
Gem,
come on. Unlock the door. I just want to talk to you.”

Ruby again.

Gemma pulled
the covers away from her face and spotted sunlight. She winced and
shook her head.

Time passed.

It was
dark again when she woke. The house was still and silent. She
shuffled within her cocoon. Her muscles were aching and stiff.
Crawling from beneath the covers, she sat on the edge of the bed
and looked at the shadows of her room. She could picture Harrison
leaning against her desk. The image made her smile until she
realized it had never actually happened.

She wanted to
lie back down and forget she existed, but her body would not let
her. Forcing herself to stand, she crept across the floor on
shaking limbs and unlocked her door. She crept through her closet.
Not wanting to face a soul, she didn’t bother flushing the toilet
after going and rushed back to her room, locking the adjoining door
behind her.

She paused
before getting into bed. Her stomach growled. There was no way in
hell she was risking a trip to the kitchen. Nibbling her cheek, she
crept to her door, wincing as the lock clicked. Waiting on the
floor was a tray. Beneath the cover was an array of her favorite
foods. Gemma nodded her head. That was Ruby.

Pulling the
tray inside, she locked the door behind her. Plucking a strawberry
from the plate, she sucked on the sweetness then forced herself to
chew and swallow.

She ate in numb
silence, trying not to feel. She managed to get through half her
plate of fruit, before bending over and grabbing her belly.

“Harrison. I
can’t do this.”

Her lungs
squeezed tight and she suddenly wanted to hurl her food all over
the carpet. Pressing her lips together, she crawled back to her bed
and pulled the covers over her head. Clutching her stomach, she
remained motionless with her eyes squeezed tight.

Time passed.

“Gemma!” This
time Ruby was pounding on the door. “Gemma! This is getting
ridiculous. I’m glad you took my food, but I want to see you. You
can’t hide in there forever!”

Yes, I
can.

Gemma
closed her eyes and tried to recapture the image of Harrison that
had been floating through her brain. She was worried she would
forget the details of his face. Having no photos to obsess over,
she was using her memories. The idea of them fading was abhorrent
so she was spending her hours forcing his different expressions
through her mind.

Ruby’s knocking
faded to obscurity and Gemma brought forward another memory,
picturing every detail of her boyfriend until he appeared before
her.

“Stay with me,”
she whispered.

Time passed.

Gemma wasn’t
sure what time it was when she stirred. She had no idea how long
she had been living this way, but she didn’t care. Reality hit
again and she forgot to breathe. Holding her stomach she curled
into a ball.

Ruby was at her
door again. This time her voice was soft.

“Okay Gem, I’m
sorry I yelled at you yesterday, but I’m worried. Mom and Dad
aren’t home. You don’t need to see them. I just want to talk to
you, that’s all.”

Gemma remained
still. Talk. How was she supposed to talk? She could barely breathe
knowing that outside this bed there was a world where Harrison did
not exist. How was she supposed to face that?

Just go Ruby.
Let me die in peace.

Time passed.

It had been a
week. Gemma looked at the date on her watch before throwing it back
onto her nightstand. Why did she even care what the date was, it
didn’t change anything.

A week. She
chewed her cheek. Only a week? It felt like forever.

The hollow ache
thudded within her and she was disheartened to find it wasn’t
killing her. The dreams were becoming harder to find and made the
process of waking even more painful than before. She didn’t care.
It was the only thing keeping her alive and since she wasn’t dying,
she may as well spend her time in a dozing state of delusion.

Lying safely
wrapped in her cocoon, she scrolled through her memory banks again.
If she concentrated hard enough she could almost feel his fingers
gliding through her hair and hear his soft chuckle as his lips
tickled her ear lobe.

I miss
you.

The ache
intensified. She dove into the murky pool of misery and let her
hair float in its bleakness. The shroud of darkness she strove for
began to curl around her brain until an explosion of light seared
through it.

Before she had
time to react, two strong arms gathered her up and marched her out
of the room. She realized how frail and light-headed she was as her
urge to fight back was outweighed by flaccid muscles.

She kept her
eyes closed against the bright glare and gasped with shock as she
was lowered into a cold shower box. She let out a wail when the
freezing cold spray hit her.

“Okay stop.
Stop!” She rubbed the water from her eyes and slicked back her
dripping hair. The clothes she had been stewing in for the last
seven days were now saturated and wreaked of stale, damp sweat. She
cracked open her eyes and took in her shaking body. Turning her
weak head, she eyed the arms of her brother. Traveling up his
crouching form, she found his face. The urge to cry rose then
faded.

Dominic gazed
at her with a worried frown, but he really didn’t get it. No one
did. Her parents probably felt justified and although Dom and Ruby
no doubt felt sorry for her, they probably thought it was for the
best.

“Gemma, you
can’t spend the rest of your life hiding in your room. It’s time to
come out and face this.” He ran a gentle finger down her cheek.

She sat in the
shower box, cold and motionless with Dom crouching beside her,
hoping for a response. She refused to give him one.

You picked my
lock and busted me out of bed. I’m not giving you anything.

One long
sigh later, a towel was wrapped around her. Dom picked her up once
more and carried her down the hallway, this time placing her on
Ruby’s bed and into the arms of her fussing sister.