Sanctity (42 page)

It was getting too bright and my sight was
blurring.  My skin started to rise like gooseflesh as it began
to blister and blemish.  I tumbled through an open doorway
when I unwittingly came to a break in the wall.   

“Oh, oh, oh my,” I whispered.  

I had found it but it was not at all what I
expected.  It was a bedroom just like any other and very
contemporary in design with all the furnishings in contrasting
shades of black and white.  The most significant piece was the
bed.  It was steel-framed and tented with what looked like a
heavy tarp.  I lovingly ran my fingers over the folds of the
tapestry.  It was cold and solid, “Lead,” I whispered. 
Whoever had made it must have been a master craftsman; it was so
intricate and finely woven.  I crawled through the opening and
draped it closed.

I think I smiled as I laid my head against
the pillow and fell into my daytime languor.

I lay completely still when I woke though I
wasn’t sure I could have moved even if I had wanted to. 
Michael was sound asleep and wrapped around me.  We were a
tangle of arms and legs pretzeled together in the darkness.  I
smiled thinking that this was the first time I had seen Michael
rest.  His face was always the last thing I saw before I fell
asleep and the first thing I saw when I woke.

He looked impossibly beautiful as I studied
his features one by one.

“I’m not asleep,” he nibbled my ear
teasingly, startling me out of my reverie.

“Do you ever sleep?”

“Sometimes, not like you, though.  You
look carved from stone when you rest; you look…eternal.”

I tried to sit up, “Where’s Margaret? 
Can I see her?”

“Whoa,” Michael said and tugged me back
down.  “Yes, we can go visit her but not right now.
 She’s home and quite alright I assure you.”

“I need to see for myself,” I tried to escape
again.

“Elayna, you can’t.  Not yet
anyway.  The police think you are out of town.  I told
them you were visiting family up North and that I haven’t been able
to reach you just yet.  I had to have them believe that you
weren’t aware of anything that happened; that you weren’t involved
in any way.  It has to be this way.  Charlie was
arrested; you know what that means don’t you?  He may have to
have a trial and you…you can’t testify during the day.”

I buried my face in my hands, “Oh, this is
awful.  Michael, you have to tell me everything that
happened.”

“There’s not much to tell, Elayna.  The
police came and took Charlie away.  Margaret went to the
hospital she was treated and released.  We gave our statements
and that was the end of it.  I brought Margaret home and came
straight here.  This is magnificent, by the way,” he ran his
fingers over the leaden drapes, “Victor…”

“You’re keeping something from me.”

Michael sighed, “Elayna,” he shook his
head.  There was a long drawn out pause, “It was for the
best.”

“What Michael?!”  I demanded.

He closed his eyes, “I…I didn’t make him
forget.  I didn’t even try.”

“You what?”

“He knows…he knows everything.”

“Oh, no!!  Has he said anything? 
What will people do when they find out about us?”

“No one is going to find out.  Charlie
is…Charlie is…he’s not together.”

“He’s crazy?!”

Michael was shaking his head, “It was for the
best, Elayna.  Everything that happened last night, it was for
the best.”

My eyes went wide with understanding, “It was
planned!  You planned it!  You knew everything that would
happen and you let it?!  Good God, Michael, how could you do
that?  You let Charlie shoot Margaret and… oh, oh, if you
hadn’t stopped me I would have killed Charlie for hurting her.”

“No, I didn’t plan
anything, Elayna, how could I?  I suspected the way things
would turn out, yes and given the choices between killing Charlie,
putting him in jail for a few years so he could do this all over
again and putting him somewhere safe for the rest of his life; I
think I made the right choice!  Victor tried to make
him 
forget
 and we all know how that turned out.  What if I
couldn’t do it or it wore off?”

All my anger suddenly dwindled into
insignificance as I came to the realization that Michael was
right.  What he had done was the safest alternative for
everyone involved.

“Oh, Michael,” I threw myself around
him.  “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.  I know it must have been
a difficult choice and you did what was best for me and for
Margaret.”  I started to cry, “We have ruined so many
lives.”

“We have made some bad choices; me
especially.  I should never have encouraged Charlie to love
you but he did it willfully and that was his choice.  You
can’t blame yourself for that.  He knew there were no
guarantees; it could have been like any other relationship running
its course.”

I sniffled, “And Margaret?”

“My mother loves you like a daughter,
Elayna.  She would have eagerly made the same mistakes over
and over again if it meant having you in her life.”

“And Victor?”

“Victor made his choices,
too.  He thought…he thought you would help him; the way you
helped me when you were a little girl.  He was very,” Michael
flexed his hand, “confused.  Whatever happened you were only
partially, 
very
 partially, to blame.  He influenced you more than
you know.”  Michael wandered off into his own thoughts for a
moment then softly spoke, “I think you may have influenced him,
too.  In the end he knew and he regretted all that he had done
and understood that there was no way to make up for it all. 
He sacrificed himself for you.”

“For us, Michael.  For us.”  I
thought it over for a moment then my mind suddenly changed course
and I remembered what I had done to Michael and wondered out loud,
“What happened to you?  What happened to you last night?”

“I’m not sure, Elayna.  I really don’t
know,” I could see him searching his mind trying to recall.

“You’re different now, though, aren’t
you?”

“Yes, I think I am.  I don’t think I
need to…I don’t feel like I need to…”

I understood what he was
trying to say, “You let me take so much from you and you were so
weak but when you found us in the darkroom it was like it never
happened.  You must have…” I shook my head, “it must
have...yes…” the thought slowly dawned on me, “like when you are
hurt and you heal.  It must have replenished itself somehow;
it’s like your blood
fixed
itself.”

Michael raised his brows, “Maybe,” he said,
“that’s an interesting idea.”

I shook my head, “I wonder why I don’t feel
any different. You said Gavin and Victor; they changed you and made
you stronger. Why didn’t it work for me? It wore off so
quickly?”

“I think it’s just too soon, Elayna. Maybe
it’s because you are still changing and your body has other needs
and demands that have to be met before it can adapt any
further.”

Several minutes of quiet reflection passed on
both our sides.  I reached out and touched his cheek.  He
looked so sad, so defeated; sorry, perhaps, that our lives had been
woven together with such a tragic tapestry of events.  I
silently prayed that we had seen the last of misfortune for a
while.  “What else could it do but get better from there,” I
thought to myself.

“Come,” he peeled my hand from his cheek and
pressed it to his lips, “let’s go somewhere.  Let’s not think
about these things any more tonight.”

I smiled, “I’d like that.”

We climbed from the bed and I made my way to
the bedroom Victor had locked me in just a few short nights
ago.  I sorted through the clothes he had bought for me and
found something to change into.  Michael located the fire
escape while I readied myself and we hurried down to the parking
garage.  He drove us to the highway and once we were on he
headed east.  I knew he was taking us towards the coast and
that it would be an hour or two before we got there.

“Ah,” I sighed, as I nestled into the
passenger’s seat and pushed all our troubles to the back of my
mind.  “I love you,” I breathed as he took my hand and brought
it to his lips.

“I love you,” he whispered into my
fingertips.

I hardly noticed the ride passing, I was so
absorbed in thinking about our future together and how much I would
cherish every peaceful, loving moment I hoped we would soon get to
share.  

Once we arrived Michael parked near one of
the beach access points and helped me from the car.  We walked
in silence for nearly an hour enjoying the soft sounds of the ocean
at night and the closeness of one another before we turned and
began our walk back.  There were only a handful of people out
at that time of night and there was only a sliver of a moon so when
Michael turned to me and bit his lip bringing a drop or two for me
to taste I didn’t hesitate.

No one noticed us as we fell onto the shore
and lavished our affection on each other.  It was so magical,
so cathartic; a precursor of things to come.

As we lay breathless in the sand Michael
twirled my ring around finger while we looked up into the night
sky, “From now until forever,” I sighed contentedly.

“I promise,” Michael leaned over and kissed
me.

I could taste the sea on his lips, “Mmm,
salty,” I giggled.

“Here,” he helped me to standing. 
“Let’s have some fun,” suddenly I was swept up and he was running
with me in his arms towards the water.

I protested heartily, though I laughed as
well, the entire way.  The water was surprisingly warm as
Michael waded us further and further out.  When we were nearly
up to his neck he spun me around and around in a circle before
letting me go.  The waves crashed over us time and time again
as we frolicked and floated.  He dove under more than once and
stayed under an impossibly long time before popping up behind me
causing me to scream in joyful surprise.  Each time he did
this I vengefully tried to dunk him, which he graciously allowed,
then I smothered him with heartfelt kisses of apology.

“We’d better get out and dry off a little
bit.  It will be time to head home soon.”

“Aww,” I protested, hesitant to give in to
the inevitable.  I tried to draw him back into the water with
me but he wouldn’t have it.

“Nope, come along or I’ll toss you over my
shoulder and bring you back kicking and screaming.”

I didn’t dare tempt him and instead splashed
him one last time, full in the face, before trotting up to the
shoreline with him fast on my heels.  His fingers caught mine
and whirled me about so I fell hard against his chest.  He
tucked me under his chin, “I love you, Elayna; you are my whole
world.  I will do whatever it takes to get us through this as
quickly and painlessly as possible so we can start our lives
together.”

“I know you will Michael, I know.”

Michael took me back to Victor’s insisting
that I would be more comfortable there than in the darkroom after
what had happened.  He settled me in for the day and promised,
“Tonight I will take you to see Margaret.”

“You’re not staying?”

 “I can stay until you fall asleep,” he
rested his lips against my forehead, “but I have some things I need
to do.”

He sat on the edge of the bed and stroked my
hair, brushing it back from my temples, “I love you,” I yawned.

He chuckled, “I love you.”

Michael was not there when I woke.  I
felt a little pang of panic with each minute that passed and tried
to busy myself by getting ready to visit Margaret.  I nearly
tackled him when he finally stepped from the elevator into Victor’s
apartment.

“Thank goodness,” I covered him with kisses
as he laughingly tried to pry me from his neck.

“I’ve missed you, too but please, Elayna,
save some for later,” and when he couldn’t free himself he picked
me and playfully crushed me back.  When he put me down he took
my face in his hands, “Now then, are you ready to go?” he gave me a
quick peck.

“Yes, I’ve been ready,” I tapped my foot.

“I’m sorry, Elayna but I’ve been working with
our attorneys; trying to sort things out.  It doesn’t look
like Charlie is going to have to go to trial.  He’s had a
psychiatric evaluation and will probably be declared incompetent,”
Michael took a deep breath.  “I know that is probably hard to
hear but after what he’s done…”

“I know, Michael, I know it is for the
best.”

“We’ll take care of him.  We’ll find a
nice place, make sure he has all the comforts and amenities and the
best of care.” 

“Thank you Michael that means a lot.”

When we got to Margaret’s I burst in anxious
for the security of seeing her and knowing that she was
alright.  She had her arm in a sling, “Just to keep it still,
so the wound won’t open and it has a chance to heal,” Michael
assured me.

I carefully hugged her and kissed her cheeks,
“Margaret, I am so sorry for all of this.  I could never have
imagined…”

“It’s fine dear,” she took my hand and led me
to the family room, “You and Michael are everything to me, as long
as you are happy and well, I am too,” she smiled.

Margaret took her favorite chair and I curled
up in a corner of the couch.  Michael went to the kitchen and
made his mother a cup of tea while we caught up.  Once he was
back he sat beside me and took command of the conversation so we
wouldn’t spend the entire visit talking about Charlie and all the
things we wanted to put behind us.

He told us that he had been by my apartment
and salvaged everything that he could and gotten rid of the
rest.  He had contractors there that were restoring the walls
and floors and that once the work was done he would talk to the
landlord about paying off my lease and closing that chapter of my
life.  Michael said the shop was in a similar state and that
he had people working there as well.