The dream continues...
For awhile he sat listening to the girls dreams. They were watching themselves. He couldn’t hear anything that was being said. Just watch as each one was playing out mundane things. Watching television, working, walking down the road, and dancing. Awareness began to gnaw at him. The feelings began to swell in them, as a familiar scene now played. He closed his eyes and silently prayed, “Please. No.”
The darkness seemed to press onto the other as they wandered. Each one calling out the others name. Mariah was walking down a concrete hallway that seemed to go forever. She shuddered and clutched her arms as a cool breeze wafted through. Then out of the darkness they found each other. Mariah and Amber both hugged and relief permeated the darkness now. The looked up at the full moon.
“The moon was full that night too,” Mariah said.
“Which night,” Amber asked tying a knot in the side of the shirt. Mariah looked back down at Amber.
“The one where we almost lost him again.”
They both looked back up at the moon and walked into the dining room. Laughter poured around the corner with as everyone was eating telling old stories. The kids were chatting amongst themselves eating messily. Out in the corner drinking out of a coffee mug Chris stood off to the side. Amber waved a hand in front of his face as he lifted the mug concealing a smile.
“Where are we,” she turned and asked.
“His memory,” Mariah said. Closing her eyes a tear fell. “Can’t you hear that,” She said. Amber closed her eyes and the conversation mixed with the sounds of everyone’s thoughts overlapped. After a few moments she could hear everything.
Allen was a mixture of the story he was telling and the ecstatic boyish glee that Elva was paying rapt attention to him. Becky was trying to remember the last time she had been able to sleep an entire night through, as Andy pecked her on the cheek. He was silently thanking God that her nightmares had finally ceased. Looking over at Chris he began pondering on the vampire’s role in that. Becky gave his hand a squeeze and they both began paying attention to Allen again.
Mariah’s mind was wandering. Mixed images of Robert the last time he was alive. Grabbing Rachelle. Dragging her towards a SUV as men dressed in fatigues were shooting automatic weapons out of it windows. She had been behind their minivan, but still couldn’t remember how she had gotten there. Pain aching from her shoulder. She had looked up at the roof of the vehicle. The man dressed in black put one foot on the top and was gone. She looked back at Robert who was now putting their daughter in the car. Gunfire muting her screams. Amber had finished with her meal. Smoking a cigarette, her thoughts were a diatribe. “I hope Chris isn’t mad. Just go for it Amber. Mariah is so beautiful,” she thought. Suddenly the two dreamers looked at each other as Amber turned pale. “I completely forgot about that,” she said as Mariah smiled wickedly and held her hand for a moment when, the two at the table caught each others eyes and Mariah thought, “Maybe it will be ok. No one is going to get anywhere with Chris. She looked over at him in the corner again. “I haven’t seen anyone so locked off. He won’t give anything away. I used to be able to read him like a book. Now it’s like I am looking at a different person. Like he doesn’t exist.” Her attention turned back to Amber who was stretching in the chair and thought, “Fuck it. I want her.” The color returned to Ambers face in a wave. When each of them we suddenly outside.
“Oh no,” Mariah said as they both looking at their backyard. Darkness crept out from the edge of the woods as the growling began to grow.
“You’re not welcome here,” the voice said behind them. As each one felt a chill run up and down their spines. Amber turned to see Chris standing barefoot on the grass, as Mariah’s eyes was locked onto the mass of fur and rage that walked out into the moonlight.
“Wow,” escaped each girl’s lips as Chris stepped between them. One was a towering juggernaut of a beast that looked as though it could swallow them whole. Chris stood several feet from the creature and looked as though made of steel. Two titans squaring off.
The werewolf growled something as if it were trying to speak. Chris just held up his hand and said, “I can hear your thoughts young one. You have nothing to prove. I know that you are scared and angry right now, He said.
Amber and Mariah stood there watching as the rage boiled over them. He had struck a nerve. The beast growl became throaty and low. Then three their heads whipped behind them as the scent of blood hit them. Shiva was walking through the kitchen. Her shirt was covered in blood as she held out the coffee mug. Then pain. Amber and Mariah both clutched their chests and their hearts pounding in unison filled their ears. Chris’s shirt was now peeling off of him in tatters as the werewolf’s claws slid through the rest of his chest. He grabbed one of the arms of the beast. They felt the pop of the shoulder being pulled out of socket. In the next moment his fist was wrapped around its tongue and lower jaw. The ivory teeth digging into his wrist and hand. He pulled the beast closer and whispered into its ear. “Take a closer look at the girl.”
It looked more intently at the girl. The waves of anger began to billow as its shoulders relaxed and Chris released his grip. “I apologize for your arm. It should be better in a few minutes. However I had to make sure that she didn’t see us,” Chris said as the beast grabbed its arm and the girls heard it pop back into place. It bowed its head towards Chris, and he did the same. Never taking his eyes off the creature. “What is your name,” he asked.
Mariah and Amber both noticed the blood flowing down his leg. The droplets hitting his foot. They just looked at each other as the name Jennifer entered their minds. “Jennifer, your pack is about five miles north. My suggestion would be to go to them before you try and visit anyone else. You will be able to smell them when you are close” With that a females voice quietly thanked him and the werewolf entered the tree line. Chris just stood there for a moment and looked down at his wounds. The girls moved up to get a better look themselves. Tissue was beginning to stitch back together. The wave of pain hit them simultaneously. And they watched as Chris fell to the earth.
“He just stood there and took it,” Mariah said. She kneeled next to him and just looked over at Amber. “Why did he do that? Then he just let it go?”
“Her go,” Amber corrected sitting next to Mariah hugging her hard. “He has done harder things.”
“But she could have killed him,” Mariah squeaked failing to hold back the tears as she squeezed Amber even harder.
“I know. But that is who he is,” Amber said stroking Mariah’s hair. They both looked down at him. Still as stone, but the contented smile on his face.
The next moment that smile stretched into a variety of images all flipping into the space between boxes of other pictures, sounds, emotions. Pictures of friends they both knew. Corresponding sounds and the entirety of a human being observed and pieced together over and over again. Making shapes that had no meaning. They began sorting through boxes.
“I think I found your box Amber,” Mariah said. Amber rushed over and each began to pick up handfuls of images. “This one looks like the time we were all at my apartment hanging out,” she said holding up a picture of Aaron, Mariah, and Amber all sitting on the couch laughing.
“It looks like puzzle pieces, Amber said looking up at Mariah. They both looked at each other smiled and dumped the contents onto the floor. “he always did say he liked people puzzles,” she said sorting through the pile.
“Interesting,” Mariah said holding up a picture of Amber standing in a towel. The picture began to wrap around her hand. It changed colors for a moment to a translucent version of itself and threw itself back into the pile. “What the hell,” She said as the pile began to fold into itself and became an amorphous mass of laughter, talking and images. Suddenly the pile flashed and the two of them were standing in front of a patchwork construct of Amber.
“No shit,” Amber said. She reached out and touched herself and saw the interior of 4b’s. She was sitting next to herself laughing as Allen was telling a story. A familiar arm draped across her shoulder. Amber pulled her hand away looked over at Mariah and said, “It’s like watching a movie through his eyes. You can hear what he was thinking and feel him.” She put her hand back onto the construct and was transported back into his eyes.
He was watching her now. Still the scene at 4b’s. Allen had finished his story and made everyone laugh again. She looked over at Chris and grinned as she pulled his arm around. In his voice she heard, “Maybe I should go for it. I haven’t felt this calm in long time,” he said. He smiled back and the heart beat in his head began to increase its pace. “I wonder if that means she is happy. The scene began to fast forward to the end of the night.
Amber held out her hand or a moment and Mariah took it. They both watched as they walked into Amber’s apartment. Chris was taking notice of several things out of place in the living room. The remote control, a magazine, some socks that were balled up and thrown into the corner.
“Don’t worry. My roommates aren’t home. They told me something interesting today though,” the memory said as his attention turned towards her. They both felt the tug in his stomach. “They don’t like you. You’re scary. Nyla and Joe said that you weren’t allowed to be here when they were here.”
“Interesting” his voice said and they both watched as his head tilted to the side. Her back was still to him. He watched her walking into the room. Each pull of muscle and fold of fabric transfixing him to place. Following her he sat on the bed and watched as she pulled off her shoes and socks. Stuffed them into each shoe and grabbed some things out of a dresser. “I will be right back,” she said and put her glasses on the table. They watched as he took off his shoes and lit a cigarette. A minute later she came walking back in wearing shorts and a tank top. She crawled over Chris and got under the covers.
The voices began to fade as Amber pulled her hand away.
“What did you do that for,” Mariah asked. “What happened next?”
“We sat up until dawn talking. I remember that I wanted to sleep, but I didn’t want him to go. These are his thoughts on us. It’s how he sees us.”
Amber put her hand back onto herself and held hers out to Mariah again. “I want to show you something,” she said as several scenes splayed out in front of them. The first was of Amber in the shower. The overall feeling was that of contentment. The next was Amber getting dressed in front of him. Smiling laughing and poking fun at him. After that it was a myriad of wanderings through her old job at the gas station, and another few where they were laying in bed.
“What do you notice Mariah,” she said concentrating.
She saw one in particular slow down to real time. Amber was undressing and climbing into bed. This time he was also lying underneath the covers. She snuggled up close to him and they were watching television. He kissed her forehead and Amber let the construct go. “What isn’t he doing Mariah,” Amber said. For a moment Mariah was silent. She ran it over in her mind again and again.
“He isn’t even considering how to have sex with you. That just doesn’t make sense. You’re giving him ample opportunity,” She said getting angry.
“That’s because it hasn’t occurred to him,” she said as the construct flashed again, and a bolt of light hit the next box in the column. Again the pieces arranged themselves into the form of a person. This time it was Mariah.
“Shall we see,” Amber said reaching out. Mariah walked around herself and looked at all the tiny images of her time spent with him. Then noticed that pieces were missing. Parts of the face were hollow and the skin wasn’t fully formed. Looking at her own chest she saw half of a heart beating slowly. Tentatively reached to where her heart would be and her hand went into the human puzzle. Here eyes went wide as every moment and thought hit her all at once. Then Mariah’s voice filled the room. Amber looked at the t-shirt clad version and noticed that she wasn’t the one talking. Her words coming out in as Chris’s thoughts.
“The only one who ever got through all the traps clean on the other side. And I never even knew,” the voice said as Mariah’s body began to sob uncontrollably.
She collapsed to the floor. Tears streaming down her face. Amber just looked up at the construct as a piece filtered into the area where her hand had been. It was her on the floor. Wearing the same t-shirt crying. Talking over a tear streamed face. Then screaming. Amber looked down at Mariah who began to finally calm down enough to speak.
“I understood. I knew. I don’t know how. I just walked right by the wall like it wasn’t even there. He really had no clue. He pays attention to everything else. Why couldn’t he see? Why couldn’t he see what I really wanted? He just decided that it was the best thing to do and there was no turning back. It nearly killed him,” She said rocking back and forth.
“What nearly killed him,” Amber said as a hand gently lay onto her shoulder. She looked back and the memories that was studying her face now. Its head was slightly tilted to the left. The one eye blinked looked down at Mariah and said, “We take what we can get, and do our best with what we have.”
Mariah’s face went red and she stood up screaming at the incomplete version or herself. “It’s not fair! I didn’t know.” It reached out and touched her gently on the face. Moving errant locks of hair. Amber was struck by how much the construct resembled her muse’s mannerisms. It cradled her face with one hand and her face looked pained.
“We can show you what you came to see,” Ambers construct said walking over and slowly grabbed Mariah’s quaking hand.
“Fine,” Mariah said through her teeth.
The two held hands with their counterparts as they began to lead them to a steel door. They both looked up at its immense size and wondered how anyone could even open anything that big.
“What’s in here,” Amber said.
Mariah looked at the door and said, “his heart.”
The incomplete construct then looked down at her inspiration and said, “You know how to get through.” Mariah took a deep breath and squeezed its hand harder.
“Follow me girls,” she said and plunged through the door. Amber saw the sheer thickness of the door. When on the other side they noticed a flat expanse and in the middle their home. A moon was overhead lighting everything in pal blues. They continued along the path. Amber looked ahead and saw that Mariah was still crying. Looking down she noticed all the traps physical and metaphorical that they passed through.
When they finally reached the house Mariah stopped cold at the door.
“I don’t know how to get inside,” she said. Her construct laughed in a pleasant tone and grabbed Mariah by the shoulders.
“Ask,” it said and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Mariah then reached up and knocked on the door. When it opened there was the smell of someone’s cooking. A familiar voice came from the living room as all four came through the door.
The constructs wandered over to the back of the couch and stood.
“That’s my old couch,” Mariah said as she walked into the living room.
“I know, but it was a true nap couch,” Amber said closing the door behind her.
“That’s why its here,” Chris’s voice said as two feet adjusted themselves on its arm. They walked over and around the couch. He was laid out eyes closed. Wearing the signature black t-shirt and jeans. Mariah looked down at her shirt and chuckled. They were identical. The couch was facing a huge glass door that sunlight was pouring into. Curtains whipping playfully in the wind. He sat up looked over them both and said, “Want to sit down?” They looked at ach other, grinned to each other, and then pounced. One on either side of him as they lay down on the couch. A feeling of comfort filling each of them as they became a mass of legs and arms. The constructs then sat down on the opposite couch doing the same.
“I missed this,” He said a huge sigh escaping his frame as he settled even further into the couch. Amber noticed his arm had a slight white scar on it. She looked over more of his exposed skin and noticed the patchwork of fading lines.
“What’s this,” she said pointing to another.
“Just a reminder,” he said kissing her forehead.
“A reminder of what,” Mariah said hugging his chest harder. She was fighting the feeling of warmth, and safety that began to overtake her body. He turned to her and waited till her eyes looked into his and said, “That you have no choice, but to fight for the people you love. No matter the consequences” She squirmed into his side further when a hand touched her forehead. She looked up and he was smiling. She noticed the line that bisected under his left eye and traveled down his face.
Amber put her hand under his shirt and began feeling the network that traveled all over his chest. When she reached his heart there was just a large thick callous of skin.
“Damn,” she said sitting up tugging at his shirt. He tilted his head to the side and allowed her to remove it. Underneath was even worse than it felt. The scars seemed to be layered. One on top of the other as if someone had let the wound heal and then reopened it. Every square inch was covered in scar tissue.
“Fuck,” Mariah gasped. “Doesn’t that hurt?”
“Not especially,” He said as Amber settled back into his arm. She put her hand on the large callous and traced it with her fingers. “You two are responsible for that one,” he said. The two constructs began to chuckle to themselves.
“How,” Mariah said not even attempting to conceal the accusation.
The darkness seemed to press onto the other as they wandered. Each one calling out the others name. Mariah was walking down a concrete hallway that seemed to go forever. She shuddered and clutched her arms as a cool breeze wafted through. Then out of the darkness they found each other. Mariah and Amber both hugged and relief permeated the darkness now. The looked up at the full moon.
“The moon was full that night too,” Mariah said.
“Which night,” Amber asked tying a knot in the side of the shirt. Mariah looked back down at Amber.
“The one where we almost lost him again.”
They both looked back up at the moon and walked into the dining room. Laughter poured around the corner with as everyone was eating telling old stories. The kids were chatting amongst themselves eating messily. Out in the corner drinking out of a coffee mug Chris stood off to the side. Amber waved a hand in front of his face as he lifted the mug concealing a smile.
“Where are we,” she turned and asked.
“His memory,” Mariah said. Closing her eyes a tear fell. “Can’t you hear that,” She said. Amber closed her eyes and the conversation mixed with the sounds of everyone’s thoughts overlapped. After a few moments she could hear everything.
Allen was a mixture of the story he was telling and the ecstatic boyish glee that Elva was paying rapt attention to him. Becky was trying to remember the last time she had been able to sleep an entire night through, as Andy pecked her on the cheek. He was silently thanking God that her nightmares had finally ceased. Looking over at Chris he began pondering on the vampire’s role in that. Becky gave his hand a squeeze and they both began paying attention to Allen again.
Mariah’s mind was wandering. Mixed images of Robert the last time he was alive. Grabbing Rachelle. Dragging her towards a SUV as men dressed in fatigues were shooting automatic weapons out of it windows. She had been behind their minivan, but still couldn’t remember how she had gotten there. Pain aching from her shoulder. She had looked up at the roof of the vehicle. The man dressed in black put one foot on the top and was gone. She looked back at Robert who was now putting their daughter in the car. Gunfire muting her screams. Amber had finished with her meal. Smoking a cigarette, her thoughts were a diatribe. “I hope Chris isn’t mad. Just go for it Amber. Mariah is so beautiful,” she thought. Suddenly the two dreamers looked at each other as Amber turned pale. “I completely forgot about that,” she said as Mariah smiled wickedly and held her hand for a moment when, the two at the table caught each others eyes and Mariah thought, “Maybe it will be ok. No one is going to get anywhere with Chris. She looked over at him in the corner again. “I haven’t seen anyone so locked off. He won’t give anything away. I used to be able to read him like a book. Now it’s like I am looking at a different person. Like he doesn’t exist.” Her attention turned back to Amber who was stretching in the chair and thought, “Fuck it. I want her.” The color returned to Ambers face in a wave. When each of them we suddenly outside.
“Oh no,” Mariah said as they both looking at their backyard. Darkness crept out from the edge of the woods as the growling began to grow.
“You’re not welcome here,” the voice said behind them. As each one felt a chill run up and down their spines. Amber turned to see Chris standing barefoot on the grass, as Mariah’s eyes was locked onto the mass of fur and rage that walked out into the moonlight.
“Wow,” escaped each girl’s lips as Chris stepped between them. One was a towering juggernaut of a beast that looked as though it could swallow them whole. Chris stood several feet from the creature and looked as though made of steel. Two titans squaring off.
The werewolf growled something as if it were trying to speak. Chris just held up his hand and said, “I can hear your thoughts young one. You have nothing to prove. I know that you are scared and angry right now, He said.
Amber and Mariah stood there watching as the rage boiled over them. He had struck a nerve. The beast growl became throaty and low. Then three their heads whipped behind them as the scent of blood hit them. Shiva was walking through the kitchen. Her shirt was covered in blood as she held out the coffee mug. Then pain. Amber and Mariah both clutched their chests and their hearts pounding in unison filled their ears. Chris’s shirt was now peeling off of him in tatters as the werewolf’s claws slid through the rest of his chest. He grabbed one of the arms of the beast. They felt the pop of the shoulder being pulled out of socket. In the next moment his fist was wrapped around its tongue and lower jaw. The ivory teeth digging into his wrist and hand. He pulled the beast closer and whispered into its ear. “Take a closer look at the girl.”
It looked more intently at the girl. The waves of anger began to billow as its shoulders relaxed and Chris released his grip. “I apologize for your arm. It should be better in a few minutes. However I had to make sure that she didn’t see us,” Chris said as the beast grabbed its arm and the girls heard it pop back into place. It bowed its head towards Chris, and he did the same. Never taking his eyes off the creature. “What is your name,” he asked.
Mariah and Amber both noticed the blood flowing down his leg. The droplets hitting his foot. They just looked at each other as the name Jennifer entered their minds. “Jennifer, your pack is about five miles north. My suggestion would be to go to them before you try and visit anyone else. You will be able to smell them when you are close” With that a females voice quietly thanked him and the werewolf entered the tree line. Chris just stood there for a moment and looked down at his wounds. The girls moved up to get a better look themselves. Tissue was beginning to stitch back together. The wave of pain hit them simultaneously. And they watched as Chris fell to the earth.
“He just stood there and took it,” Mariah said. She kneeled next to him and just looked over at Amber. “Why did he do that? Then he just let it go?”
“Her go,” Amber corrected sitting next to Mariah hugging her hard. “He has done harder things.”
“But she could have killed him,” Mariah squeaked failing to hold back the tears as she squeezed Amber even harder.
“I know. But that is who he is,” Amber said stroking Mariah’s hair. They both looked down at him. Still as stone, but the contented smile on his face.
The next moment that smile stretched into a variety of images all flipping into the space between boxes of other pictures, sounds, emotions. Pictures of friends they both knew. Corresponding sounds and the entirety of a human being observed and pieced together over and over again. Making shapes that had no meaning. They began sorting through boxes.
“I think I found your box Amber,” Mariah said. Amber rushed over and each began to pick up handfuls of images. “This one looks like the time we were all at my apartment hanging out,” she said holding up a picture of Aaron, Mariah, and Amber all sitting on the couch laughing.
“It looks like puzzle pieces, Amber said looking up at Mariah. They both looked at each other smiled and dumped the contents onto the floor. “he always did say he liked people puzzles,” she said sorting through the pile.
“Interesting,” Mariah said holding up a picture of Amber standing in a towel. The picture began to wrap around her hand. It changed colors for a moment to a translucent version of itself and threw itself back into the pile. “What the hell,” She said as the pile began to fold into itself and became an amorphous mass of laughter, talking and images. Suddenly the pile flashed and the two of them were standing in front of a patchwork construct of Amber.
“No shit,” Amber said. She reached out and touched herself and saw the interior of 4b’s. She was sitting next to herself laughing as Allen was telling a story. A familiar arm draped across her shoulder. Amber pulled her hand away looked over at Mariah and said, “It’s like watching a movie through his eyes. You can hear what he was thinking and feel him.” She put her hand back onto the construct and was transported back into his eyes.
He was watching her now. Still the scene at 4b’s. Allen had finished his story and made everyone laugh again. She looked over at Chris and grinned as she pulled his arm around. In his voice she heard, “Maybe I should go for it. I haven’t felt this calm in long time,” he said. He smiled back and the heart beat in his head began to increase its pace. “I wonder if that means she is happy. The scene began to fast forward to the end of the night.
Amber held out her hand or a moment and Mariah took it. They both watched as they walked into Amber’s apartment. Chris was taking notice of several things out of place in the living room. The remote control, a magazine, some socks that were balled up and thrown into the corner.
“Don’t worry. My roommates aren’t home. They told me something interesting today though,” the memory said as his attention turned towards her. They both felt the tug in his stomach. “They don’t like you. You’re scary. Nyla and Joe said that you weren’t allowed to be here when they were here.”
“Interesting” his voice said and they both watched as his head tilted to the side. Her back was still to him. He watched her walking into the room. Each pull of muscle and fold of fabric transfixing him to place. Following her he sat on the bed and watched as she pulled off her shoes and socks. Stuffed them into each shoe and grabbed some things out of a dresser. “I will be right back,” she said and put her glasses on the table. They watched as he took off his shoes and lit a cigarette. A minute later she came walking back in wearing shorts and a tank top. She crawled over Chris and got under the covers.
The voices began to fade as Amber pulled her hand away.
“What did you do that for,” Mariah asked. “What happened next?”
“We sat up until dawn talking. I remember that I wanted to sleep, but I didn’t want him to go. These are his thoughts on us. It’s how he sees us.”
Amber put her hand back onto herself and held hers out to Mariah again. “I want to show you something,” she said as several scenes splayed out in front of them. The first was of Amber in the shower. The overall feeling was that of contentment. The next was Amber getting dressed in front of him. Smiling laughing and poking fun at him. After that it was a myriad of wanderings through her old job at the gas station, and another few where they were laying in bed.
“What do you notice Mariah,” she said concentrating.
She saw one in particular slow down to real time. Amber was undressing and climbing into bed. This time he was also lying underneath the covers. She snuggled up close to him and they were watching television. He kissed her forehead and Amber let the construct go. “What isn’t he doing Mariah,” Amber said. For a moment Mariah was silent. She ran it over in her mind again and again.
“He isn’t even considering how to have sex with you. That just doesn’t make sense. You’re giving him ample opportunity,” She said getting angry.
“That’s because it hasn’t occurred to him,” she said as the construct flashed again, and a bolt of light hit the next box in the column. Again the pieces arranged themselves into the form of a person. This time it was Mariah.
“Shall we see,” Amber said reaching out. Mariah walked around herself and looked at all the tiny images of her time spent with him. Then noticed that pieces were missing. Parts of the face were hollow and the skin wasn’t fully formed. Looking at her own chest she saw half of a heart beating slowly. Tentatively reached to where her heart would be and her hand went into the human puzzle. Here eyes went wide as every moment and thought hit her all at once. Then Mariah’s voice filled the room. Amber looked at the t-shirt clad version and noticed that she wasn’t the one talking. Her words coming out in as Chris’s thoughts.
“The only one who ever got through all the traps clean on the other side. And I never even knew,” the voice said as Mariah’s body began to sob uncontrollably.
She collapsed to the floor. Tears streaming down her face. Amber just looked up at the construct as a piece filtered into the area where her hand had been. It was her on the floor. Wearing the same t-shirt crying. Talking over a tear streamed face. Then screaming. Amber looked down at Mariah who began to finally calm down enough to speak.
“I understood. I knew. I don’t know how. I just walked right by the wall like it wasn’t even there. He really had no clue. He pays attention to everything else. Why couldn’t he see? Why couldn’t he see what I really wanted? He just decided that it was the best thing to do and there was no turning back. It nearly killed him,” She said rocking back and forth.
“What nearly killed him,” Amber said as a hand gently lay onto her shoulder. She looked back and the memories that was studying her face now. Its head was slightly tilted to the left. The one eye blinked looked down at Mariah and said, “We take what we can get, and do our best with what we have.”
Mariah’s face went red and she stood up screaming at the incomplete version or herself. “It’s not fair! I didn’t know.” It reached out and touched her gently on the face. Moving errant locks of hair. Amber was struck by how much the construct resembled her muse’s mannerisms. It cradled her face with one hand and her face looked pained.
“We can show you what you came to see,” Ambers construct said walking over and slowly grabbed Mariah’s quaking hand.
“Fine,” Mariah said through her teeth.
The two held hands with their counterparts as they began to lead them to a steel door. They both looked up at its immense size and wondered how anyone could even open anything that big.
“What’s in here,” Amber said.
Mariah looked at the door and said, “his heart.”
The incomplete construct then looked down at her inspiration and said, “You know how to get through.” Mariah took a deep breath and squeezed its hand harder.
“Follow me girls,” she said and plunged through the door. Amber saw the sheer thickness of the door. When on the other side they noticed a flat expanse and in the middle their home. A moon was overhead lighting everything in pal blues. They continued along the path. Amber looked ahead and saw that Mariah was still crying. Looking down she noticed all the traps physical and metaphorical that they passed through.
When they finally reached the house Mariah stopped cold at the door.
“I don’t know how to get inside,” she said. Her construct laughed in a pleasant tone and grabbed Mariah by the shoulders.
“Ask,” it said and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Mariah then reached up and knocked on the door. When it opened there was the smell of someone’s cooking. A familiar voice came from the living room as all four came through the door.
The constructs wandered over to the back of the couch and stood.
“That’s my old couch,” Mariah said as she walked into the living room.
“I know, but it was a true nap couch,” Amber said closing the door behind her.
“That’s why its here,” Chris’s voice said as two feet adjusted themselves on its arm. They walked over and around the couch. He was laid out eyes closed. Wearing the signature black t-shirt and jeans. Mariah looked down at her shirt and chuckled. They were identical. The couch was facing a huge glass door that sunlight was pouring into. Curtains whipping playfully in the wind. He sat up looked over them both and said, “Want to sit down?” They looked at ach other, grinned to each other, and then pounced. One on either side of him as they lay down on the couch. A feeling of comfort filling each of them as they became a mass of legs and arms. The constructs then sat down on the opposite couch doing the same.
“I missed this,” He said a huge sigh escaping his frame as he settled even further into the couch. Amber noticed his arm had a slight white scar on it. She looked over more of his exposed skin and noticed the patchwork of fading lines.
“What’s this,” she said pointing to another.
“Just a reminder,” he said kissing her forehead.
“A reminder of what,” Mariah said hugging his chest harder. She was fighting the feeling of warmth, and safety that began to overtake her body. He turned to her and waited till her eyes looked into his and said, “That you have no choice, but to fight for the people you love. No matter the consequences” She squirmed into his side further when a hand touched her forehead. She looked up and he was smiling. She noticed the line that bisected under his left eye and traveled down his face.
Amber put her hand under his shirt and began feeling the network that traveled all over his chest. When she reached his heart there was just a large thick callous of skin.
“Damn,” she said sitting up tugging at his shirt. He tilted his head to the side and allowed her to remove it. Underneath was even worse than it felt. The scars seemed to be layered. One on top of the other as if someone had let the wound heal and then reopened it. Every square inch was covered in scar tissue.
“Fuck,” Mariah gasped. “Doesn’t that hurt?”
“Not especially,” He said as Amber settled back into his arm. She put her hand on the large callous and traced it with her fingers. “You two are responsible for that one,” he said. The two constructs began to chuckle to themselves.
“How,” Mariah said not even attempting to conceal the accusation.