Dreams and Memories
His voice grew harsh, “Tell me about him,” he demanded, “Who was he?”
She turned her face to the broken man laying on the hospital bed as he continued to question her.
“Why do you show him such devotion, yet question if he has not earned this suffering?”
Because she loved him. There was no real other answer. He saved her life more than once and he was family, like a brother. The beast was harsh, the human was kind.
“Stifle you pain and rage. I am after memories and knowledge, nothing more. If I am to do this, I will know the man before I do.”
There was no anger in her at that moment. There was no pain she knew this is what he needed, what he’d want. She walked over to his bed and smoothed out his hair. She looked down at him, a sad smile on her lips. She told him what she had to that night, “Jasper Roberts or Calico as his friends know him is my dead lover’s older brother. When we ran away together when we were only 12, it was Calico that found us and had us initiated into my old thieving gang. He looked out for us, protected us. He was like the brother I never had. And for all of that, among other near misses, I owe him my life. I'm sure you can imagine the horrors two young people can find on the streets, especially little girls. But Jasper taught me to be strong, not to show fear, "She pauses as if considering something, "He is a good man. A cunning man," she smiles proudly, "One of the best. He could get into any building or house and steal practically anything. He was generous too. If me or his brother didn't make our cut for the month he'd always help us out," she shakes her head, "Don’t get me wrong he has plenty of faults too. Always the uh, lady’s man and never did settle down as far as I can tell. Also a user in the 80s and most likely now. When I first visited him he said he was dying of hepatitis. It was a cruel thought but part of me believed he sort of deserved that. Course the gun wounds weren't his fault. Cal never carried a gun, didn't believe in that sort of thing."
She turned away from him then, realizing she wasn’t quite alone, “Do you need to know anything else?”
At that moment, pain scared his face and Jasper whispered a name, "...ky.. le.."
Her voice turned desperate and pained as she turned back to Jasper, "Kyle, what about him? Tell me, please"
She awoke with a start that evening. Dreams. Memories. She had been beyond obsessed. She pulled the cloak closer around her. It hadn’t been that long ago, but so much had changed. Meer months felt like decades. She closed her eyes; wanting to sleep longer, much longer but the beast wouldn’t let her. The beast still yearned.