Sanctity (38 page)

Michael closed his eyes and concentrated,
“Turn around, take the stairs and leave with the driver.”

“Yes,” my eyes went wide and I tried to
follow Michael’s instructions.  I shook my head, “No, not
without Victor, we belong together.”

Michael tried again and for a split second I
felt a brief uncoiling inside me, some ghostly part of myself
unwinding and making its way towards Michael...or was it
Victor?  I turned and started for the door.

“Lily.”

“Yes, Victor?”

“Stay with me.”

“I will never leave you,” I turned around and
waited.

Victor smiled triumphantly, “That’s right,”
he gloated.  I watched as he put his lips against Michael’s
neck and whispered, “It’s too late.  She knows, Michael, I’m
in her blood and her blood knows, she belongs with me.”

Victor made a little prick in Michael’s neck
and motioned me closer.  The tiny drops dazzled me just as
Victor’s had and I put my mouth over the little wound. 
Michael tried to pull away but Victor held him still.  I gave
a little suck with lips and my tongue and held Michael’s blood in
my mouth.  I turned my face to Victor’s and placed my lips
over his and shared the savory indulgence with him.

“NO!” Michael’s voice boomed and somehow he
struggled free.  He flung Victor across the room and I fell
dazed to the floor as they fought against one another. 

Everything was happening so fast and I
couldn’t focus or follow them as they knocked one another around
the room.  Things were crashing and breaking all around me and
I tried desperately to avoid getting hit by either the debris or
Michael or Victor.  I scrambled towards the closet and when I
was about to crawl in I stole a glance over my shoulder and saw the
two of them with their hands on each other’s throats crashing
through the bedroom door and out into the hallway.

I braced myself against the threshold and
pulled myself up as I heard them tumble down the stairs.  I
chased after them, my heart crying out for each and in my haste I
tripped after a handful of steps.  I couldn’t catch myself
before I hit the foyer.  My head struck the tile just hard
enough to daze me and it did something else, too. 

Suddenly everything was clear to me.  I
knew it all from beginning to end.  I knew who Michael was, I
knew who Victor was, I knew who I was and I knew everything that
had happened and had gotten us all to that moment.  There were
so many good and happy memories with Michael but overshadowing it
all was death.  So much death – my mother, my father,
Kaley...Brenda, all of Victor’s and Michael’s innocent victims.

I could hear glasses breaking, they were in
the kitchen.  I had to stop them, I couldn’t live with any
more death.  As I came into the dining room I could see
through the short passage into the kitchen.  Michael had
Victor bent over the island with a knife poised ready to make a
strike through his heart.  Something moved slowly from behind
them. 

“Charlie?”  I couldn't imagine where he
had come from and how he had gotten there.  For the moment I
couldn't let that matter.

He didn’t see me.  He was raising
something.  A gun?  He was going to shoot them.

“No!” I screamed and ran into the kitchen
placing myself in the path of Charlie's gun shielding
both Michael and Victor.  I wasn’t sure who I was more
determined to save but I couldn’t let Charlie kill either of
them.  He didn’t see me in time; his finger flexed and he
pulled the trigger.

I felt a blinding heat pierce my chest as the
flare erupted from the gun and I plummeted to the floor at
Michael’s and Victor’s feet.  Michael dropped beside me;
Victor seized Charlie and savagely embraced him.

“Please...please don't,” my voice barely
escaping me.  Somehow Victor heard it and it managed to corral
him.  He released his hold on Charlie who fell to the floor in
a heap.

Michael was cradling me, rocking back and
forth, tears streaming down his face.  Victor stood behind him
sobbing and shaking.

“What have I done?” Victor surveyed the
damage to my chest and fell to his knees screaming in anguish.

It was leaving me, that strange part of me
that had kept me bound to Michael nearly all my life. But it
wasn’t going to Michael, or to Victor – just away.  I gave a
weak smile first to one then the other of them. 

“No, no, NO!”  Victor shouted.
 Then urgently "It’s not too late, Michael, we can save
her.  You can save her.  You MUST save her!”

Michael was shaking his head, “I can’t, you
know what it would mean.  You know I can’t do that to her, I
love her too much!”

“And that is why you must.  She has
never had a chance to love you the way you have loved her. 
Don’t let her go, Michael.  There’s no other way, you don’t
deserve to lose her and she doesn’t deserve to die, not like
this.”  Victor was shaking his head.  He looked
thoughtful, peaceful and determined.  He started opening his
wrist and Victor held his arm out to Michael, “I know what she's
done for you.  I took her to hurt you but more than that,
Michael, I was hoping…hoping she would be able to do the
same for me.  I...I can’t live this way anymore,” Victor
motioned to havoc they had created. 

"Maybe she already has then,” Michael
whispered.

Victor grinned, pleased with the
thought, “Use me, use me to bring her back, I won’t fight
you.  It’s the only way, Michael.”

Michael shook his
head 
no
 but took Victor’s arm anyway and looked up into his
brother’s eyes as he drained the life from him.  With each of
Michael’s pulls Victor grew weaker and weaker and he sank down to
the floor. 

“That’s enough, Michael.  Now
Elayna.”

Slowly, hesitantly and with great sorrow
Michael lifted my head into his lap.  He made a hasty incision
on his wrist and held it to my mouth.  The seconds ticked by;
a minute, two minutes passed.  My heart stuttered and gave a
tremendous heave.  Again and again my heart beat, my chest
expanded, I filled my lungs with air.

“Elayna?”

I couldn’t reply.

“Elayna?” His voice was soft and melodious,
the sweetest sound I had ever heard.

I looked up and timidly smiled into his
eyes.  “I love you,” I whispered.

Michael’s lips trembled into a smile.  I
could see him clearly, the joy, the relief, the adoration in his
eyes.  I turned and there was Charlie unconscious on the floor
and Victor his back toward us, unable to look our way. 
“There’s not much time, Michael.  Help Elayna outside, I’ll
get Charlie.”

My skin felt like it was crawling with
gooseflesh.  It rippled from the top of my head to the tips of
my toes.  Michael helped me to my feet and led me out the back
door.  Victor was just behind us carrying Charlie.  He
smoothed over Charlie’s punctures and as Charlie started to come to
Victor placed his hands one on each side of his face. 

I knew what he was doing and watched in
wonder as Charlie took one last glance towards me and Michael
closed his eyes and he slipped from consciousness.

“He won’t remember a thing,” Victor assured
us.  “Just get him to the car and have the driver take him to
a hotel.  Our friend has had a bit too much to drink,” he
suggested and grinned mournfully.

“Thank you Victor,” Michael held his hand out
to him.

They shook and Victor turned and began to
walk back towards the house, “Wait I called,” and ran after
him.  “What are you doing?”

He took my face in his
hands and kissed me one last time, “Thank you Lil…Elayna. 
Thank you for…thank you for…for…for 
helping
 me.”

He turned and resumed making his way into the
house.  Michael came and stood behind me as I stared after
Victor.  We watched for several moments before there
was a bright flash that seemed to spread from room to room as it
grew into a steady glow then blossomed into a roaring blaze. 
Soon the whole house was consumed and it was impossible to
watch. 

Michael gathered Charlie
and hurried down the driveway and tucked him into the waiting
car.  Michael 
convinced
 the driver of what
happened and sent them on their way.

“We need to hurry,” he suddenly seemed
alarmed and grasped my hand and nearly dragged me away from the
house. 

“What is it, Michael?” he tossed me over his
shoulder.

For some reason I couldn’t breathe any more.
All of a sudden I couldn’t feel my heart beating, I couldn’t make
my chest expand and fill my lungs with air.  I started to
panic and tried to get Michael’s attention.  He ran into the
woods that surrounded the backyard utterly determined.  The
world was becoming intensely bright and the light seemed laser
hot.  I was desperate to get away from it but there was
nowhere to go. 

We raced up to the porch of the first home we
came to.  It looked familiar for some reason but there was no
time to consider why as my skin started to blister and sizzle
wherever the light touched it.  I had my eyes clenched closed
and had grown completely senseless of anything but the pain that
was coursing over my flesh.

“Oh, no, no,” Michael stumbled as he burst
through the front door into the foyer.  He raced to the back
of the house to a hallway that led off to the left.  There was
a light switch at the end of the hall.  He pulled the panel
off the switch and pushed a button that was concealed
underneath.  A hidden door sprung open and he ducked low
enough so that he would not strike his head and carefully stepped
through.  He kicked the door closed behind us and the searing
pain blissfully evaporated. 

Shortly after the door swung shut my mind
closed down and my body settled into a state of torpor. 
Michael arranged me on a shelf-like bed that was fastened to the
wall on one side of the room.  He was lifting my arm and
running his fingers along it to see if there were any blisters or
welts.  He nipped his fingertip whenever he found a flaw and
gently rubbed a drop or two into the wound.  When he finished
with one arm he repeated the process on the other and inspected the
rest of my body and face as well.

“I’m so sorry I forgot, Elayna,” he whispered
into my hair and kissed my forehead while I rested.  He drew a
nearby chair to where I was lying and curled his arm around
mine.  He put his head down and closed his eyes.

The first thing I saw was Michael standing in
the corner facing the opposite wall. 

He glanced over, “Ah, there you are,” he
smiled and took a step towards me.  I sat up, stretched and
welcomed his arms as he swept me off the bed.

“Where are we?” I studied the room.

He put me down, “Home, my home, well,
sometimes anyway.”

The memories of the previous night were
coming back to me.  Michael could see the expressions slipping
across my face as I wondered about all that had happened. 
Tears of shame and sorrow for all that I had done welled in my
eyes.  

Michael took my hand, “You can’t let yourself
take the blame for everything that has happened, Elayna, we’ve all
played our parts” he kissed my tears away, “Come, we don’t need to
stay here anymore.”

I was somewhat surprised to find that it was
completely dark outside.  We must have spent the whole day in,
“it’s a panic room, or at least it was once,” he explained. 
“I had it modified years ago, when I moved here to be close to
you.”

I shook my head, “Where exactly are we?”

“Near your house, the one you and your family
moved to just before your 9th birthday.”

“Oh, Victor, he told me…but that was you,
then.  You sold the house to my parents.  I never
knew.  Did my parents?”

“No.  I kept it from them.  I
wanted you to have a good life; I wanted to make you happy.  I
listed it as a foreclosure, well below its value and made sure the
agent knew that it was not to be sold to anyone else under any
circumstances.”

“And you lived in the same neighborhood?”

“Not right away but yes, when this house came
on the market I bought it so I could be near, so I could watch over
you and your family.”

“There’s so much you’ve kept from me,” I
shook my head wonderingly.

“I wanted to keep you safe, Elayna, you’ve
always meant the world to me.  I never wanted this life for
you.  In my heart I had always hoped we would be together, at
least for a little while or that I would find a way other than
this.  I’m so sorry for what I have done to you…you must
be…disappointed.”

Michael took me to the living room and after
I sat down he settled himself beside me.  He took my legs and
tucked them over his, turning me sideways so that I was looking at
him while we spoke. 

“I am disappointed Michael,” I knew it would
take a very long time to reconcile myself to what I had
become.  I also knew that I would have given up much more, so
much more to be with Michael, “yes, I am, disappointed but not at
all in the way you would imagine.  Michael, the best moments
of my life were the moments I spent with you and all I have ever
wanted was to share my life with you.  I’m scared, terrified,
but, oh, so very happy that we can finally be together.  I
have always loved you.” 

“I’ll take care of you, teach you everything
that I’ve learned, it will never be for you the way it was for
me.  You...we…we have nothing to be afraid of
anymore.” 

I kissed him and for a split second I could
see that he was wondering about Charlie and the life we shared
together.  “I loved him, too,” I said, “but it
was...different.  I loved him because I needed someone,
something to hold onto.  I thought you were gone, that there
was nothing left for me.  I lost you; I thought I had lost you
forever.  I felt broken and Charlie, somehow he put me back
together, held me together.  I loved him for that.”