Downfall by S.D. Wasley

  ****

  “Do you think I might transform, like you?” I asked Cain, gazing at his face as he lay beside me in my bed. “Become, you know, incredibly gorgeous and be able to make people feel better just by touching them?”

  “I think you might already have that,” he said.

  I groaned. “Whatever. I’m serious. It would be amazing to be like you. You’re so beautiful.”

  He kissed me to shut me up. “If you got any more beautiful we’d have to put a warning sticker on you.”

  I marveled at our new reality. We could do normal now. He fetched me fresh water and gave me the antibiotic tablets I was supposed to take several times a day. He brought me lunch. It was amazing to be looked after without having to argue, to be loved without any resistance. The liberation was intoxicating. I lay in bed all day cuddled up to Cain, talking and laughing with him. Being normal. None of the others from Gaunt House tried to contact us. They must have known we needed this time together. Even Albion left us alone.

  One morning Albion called me to the front door. I had a visitor: a weathered old man stood on the other side of the security screen. He looked at my face, and then my sling, fidgeting with a battered leather hat.

  “Young lady, I’m George Nesbitt,” he told me in a trembling voice. “You’re the one I accidentally shot. I wanted to tell you to your face that I’m sorry.”

  “Oh!” I felt bad for him, with his quivering hands. “Well ... I know you couldn’t see me in the dark, and they said you’d had trouble with dogs.”

  “The police told you that, did they?” Encouraged by my words, he rushed into an explanation. “I was getting wound up about some kids who drive along my northern fence line, cuttin’ through to the highway from the beach. They been comin’ through after sunset and always stopped on the track to let their dogs out to drink from my water trough. That’d be all right, ’cept the damn dogs chased my sheep an’ spooked ’em, and then the ewes abandoned their lambs. Seven lambs I found dead last week!” His face went wild with anger, momentarily frightening me. Albion, who’d been hovering, stepped a tiny bit closer. “I tried reporting ’em to the cops but they couldn’t do anything because I didn’t know who the kids were. I even tried fencing across the track but they drove straight through it. I was gonna fire a shot to scare ’em ... maybe shoot one o’ their mongrels worrying me sheep.” George stared at his feet. “That’s how the accident happened. I wanted to talk to you, face to face, and explain properly. I drove here to see you today, even though that lawyer fella told me not to.”

  I invited the man inside but he was far too uncomfortable, and simply apologized again and again, repeating his explanation that he had to protect his flock, what with the problems in the industry. I nodded and reassured him but soon grew weary of standing there trying to make him feel better, my shoulder aching. He finally seemed to decide enough had been said and climbed back into his dirty farm truck. George Nesbitt drove off and Albion looked at me, speechless.

  I couldn’t help a laugh. “No, he wasn’t a hired actor. I really did get shot accidentally by a farmer. I told you Alby, it wasn’t gang warfare. Cain’s not dangerous like you think. I hid from him because I believed I was bad for him.” Albion gave me a skeptical look. “Alby. Please. You think I’ve ignored your advice and put myself in danger. But it’s all worked out okay. I can be with Cain. He won’t let any harm come to me if there is a way he can stop it.”

  “I don’t understand any of this,” Albion said, his voice plaintive.

  I held my arm out for a hug and he stepped into it awkwardly, taking care not to hurt my shoulder. He drew back and scanned my face, frowning.

  “I’m going to have to take your word for it, Frankie, if only because the alternative is too frickin’ stressful! I don’t want to be mad at you anymore. And obviously you won’t let me be the one who looks out for you, so I guess it’s better than nothing to know he will ... or you believe he will.”

  “I can actually take care of myself. But Cain’s not going to hurt me, and yeah, he will take care of me if I need him to.” I kissed his cheek. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I got you involved and made you worry about me. I’ve been a loser and you have been the best, most loyal friend and cousin I could ask for.”

  “You have. And I have.” Albion gave me a penetrating gaze that was a mixture of doubt and relief. “You’re a complicated girl, Caravaggio.”

  Amen

  I return to Cain, who is dozing on my bed. He must be utterly drained. At last he has let himself sleep, nearly a week and a half after Land’s End. It reminds me of the first night I saw him. He is just as serene and beautiful. Sexy as hell. I drink in his lean, strong body. The dark shadows around his eyes that tell the tale of his exhaustion. The lips that curve slightly upwards. Seriously ... I never stood a chance. Although his face is pale and shadowed with weariness, it is blissfully happy. I try to remember what it feels like to want him to leave me as I had just days before. I can’t. It’s like those feelings are from a million years ago. Truth is, everything inside my heart wants him here beside me, always. I slip into his arms and he wraps himself around me in his sleep.

  I lie still, thinking. How will Cain go about locating the other people still waiting to be found? He might need to go looking for them. Perhaps I can help. If he can tell me what else he saw around those faces I might be able to use my talent for puzzle-solving to help him identify where they are. A new determination enters my heart. No longer will I be reluctant to help piece together the visions. I want to be involved. No more self-deprecation. I’m good at this and I want to help. I’ll explore Augur’s Well, study its geography and landmarks, learn about seasons, weather, and architecture. I’ll do whatever I can to help our group find the people waiting to be found. I’ll be focused, committed, and diligent.

  Cain stirs and curls tighter around me. His lips beside my ear, he whispers something he’s never said to me before. My pulse races and I twist my head around to kiss his lips.

  Focused, committed, diligent.

  Later.