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An itch on my shoulder pulled me from a sound sleep. I reached back, and my fingers skimmed over plastic. My eyes popped open, and I glanced around, momentarily disoriented and reaching for Alex.
The empty bed met my hand. The dream of being with him seemed so real. Aching loss gripped my chest, and I closed my eyes, wishing for the dream instead of this vast emptiness in my soul.
Getting my bearings, I sat up and looked at the dresser across the room. My backpack sat unopened since I packed the wedding album and my cash into it outside of the hotel last night. For some reason that seemed more pragmatic than leaving it in the car like I had done down in Phoenix.
The tattoo kit sat on top of the backpack just waiting for me to open it. My overnight bag was less compact. It sat open with my clothing in a chaotic jumble. I had done nothing to neaten it since I showered last night. My gaze landed on the last gallon jug of seawater. I bit my lip. The skin cracked, and I licked blood from the split wondering just what the hell I was going to do when I ran out of seawater.
My deterioration without the elixir seemed to be on overdrive, and I only had the big cooler of saltwater left in the back seat of my car.
A shiver skipped up my spine, and I trembled with the force of it. Kicking off the sheets, I avoided the mirrors and chose to focus on a hot shower and taking care of my tattoo before I embarked on absorbing the gallon of seawater in the room.
Once I finished doing as the instructions stated, I toweled off and jammed the plug into the drain. Instead of pouring the gallon over my head like I had done the previous night, I drizzled it down the front of my body, careful to avoid my tattooed shoulder. I wasn’t sure how the tattoo would react to the salt, and I didn’t want to ruin my illusion of safety.
The salt water never even hit the floor of the tub. It absorbed on contact, and the effects were immediate. I swore I could feel my cells expand, hydrated and happy. My stomach growled and I sighed. I needed to get on the road, but all I craved were those damned eggs Benedict, which was not a quick drive-through meal.
I rubbed my belly. Today, you’ll just have to settle for an egg on a muffin or something because we need to get to the ocean. An ungodly rumble was my jilted stomach’s answer, but I had to get moving if I had a prayer of reaching Missouri by nightfall.
I grabbed a quick breakfast and topped my car off at a roadside gas and donut shop. The roads wound higher into the hills, and mountains surrounded the road, daunting at times and offering wide vistas at other times. It was grand and beautiful in the same way the Painted Desert had been.
I was so consumed with the scenery and focusing on staying on the winding roads that I hadn’t touched either the snacks or drinks piled around my backpack on the front seat. Entering Vale was like entering something out of a fairy tale with the amounts of green surrounding me. The river that paralleled the highway drew my attention and I sighed. I wish fresh water had the same effect on me that the ocean did. I could gladly get lost in this lush land.
As soon as I passed through Denver, my ears popped as the elevation changed as dramatically as the landscape. The flat lands lay before me. I ended up stopping in Watkins to fill up and grab a bite to eat. My lips were already dry, and one glance at my reflection was enough for me to scoop a cupful of water from the cooler in the back seat and stick my finger in it.
The water disappeared almost as fast as it had this morning. I glanced in the mirror, and the creases around my eyes filled in with plump and hydrated skin.
With my appearance more normal, I stepped out of the car and headed into the little diner for my lunch. As I sat down, I scanned the restaurant out of habit. My gaze landed on a familiar face and I shivered. The teen who had been staring at me in Grand Junction sat at the counter. His eyes were on my reflection in the mirror behind the counter.
I went to stand, and the world tilted. I sat back down, hard. My stomach cramped, and I nearly doubled over from the muscle spasm. The child inside me demanded food, so whether the kid was following me or not, I couldn’t leave without following the demands of my body.
“Are you okay?”
I glanced up at the young waitress staring down at me, and I forced myself to straighten. I nodded and pointed to the menu item.
“Eggs Benedict?” she asked.
I confirmed with a nod and the sign for yes then tapped orange juice on the menu.
“Orange juice,” she said. “Can I get you any coffee?”
I shook my head. I didn’t need caffeine. Not at this point anyway. I still had five hours or so before I got to see the big ball of twine and then another three or four hours after that to cross over the state line into Missouri.
The waitress smiled and turned, her blonde ponytail whipping around with her.
The teenager was no longer at the counter. My gaze darted around and then out at the parking lot. There was no sign of the stranger. However, the feeling of being watched still clung to me. Unease filtered into my bones right beside the gnawing hunger in my belly.
Watching the parking lot, I let my mind wander, trying to pinpoint the moment I got pregnant. It couldn’t have been in Las Vegas. That would have been way too soon.
I think it was the night on the beach.
Alex’s voice filled my head. I smiled at the memory. It had been late, and we had been out watching the sunset, drinking wine. Lots of wine. The night was a blur of discarded clothing and laughter as we dared to make love out in the open, wondering if someone was going to stumble upon us. We had moved from the beach to the shower and then to the bed until we exhausted ourselves.
My smile faded, and the pang of loss squeezed my heart.
I will miss that, too, Alex whispered.
He didn’t know the half of it. He was the only man who I gave everything to. Sure, I had been married and thought I had been in love before, but all the other relationships I attempted paled in comparison to the connection I had with Alex. I tried to ignore it for years, but every time he came and sat down next to me on the beach, it was as if the other piece of my soul had arrived. I’m not sure he understood how frightening that was for me and how much of a loss his death was.
I know. I am part of you now, so I exist inside your pain.
“Here you go,” the waitress said, startling me out of my thoughts. She placed both my meal and my orange juice on the table. “If you need anything else, just give me a shout.”
I gave her a tight smile, and she bounced away to take the next table’s order. I forced the food down my throat despite the complete lack of appetite that missing Alex brought on. If I skipped the meal, I would pay dearly for it later, and I couldn’t stop every five minutes to throw up, although I wasn’t sure food was the answer to that dilemma.
I waved for the check as I downed the last of the orange juice. I covered my meal and a decent tip and headed to the car, hyperaware of my surroundings. Despite the lingering feeling of being watched, I focused on my tattoo maintenance, rubbing the lotion into the back of my shoulder before I continued my cross-country trek.
I pulled out on I-70 eastbound and scanned the radio stations, settling on one that boasted current country hits. God bless him, Alex sang along in my head, his endearing off-tune timbre tickled me enough so I wanted to join him. But I knew better, even on this nearly empty straightaway. My siren voice could create a toxic poison, so I settled for just tapping my foot in rhythm.
When I pulled off I-70 and headed towards Cawker City, Alex chuckled.
What?
Really? You are going to see the biggest ball of twine?
I smiled and glanced in the rearview mirror, meeting my own gaze. The one Alex shared with me. It had been his joke, and I thought it would please him to follow through on it now that I’d subjected myself to a long, landlocked trip.
His laughter filled my ears. It was filled with the same type joy found in a child, and it sent a thrill through me. While I could never cuddle in his arms again, still being able to hear his laughter helped ease my pain.
He was the only damned soul that communicated directly with me. All of the others faded to nothing when they died. Sure I felt their energy, but it joined with mine, making me stronger and more resilient. Alex was different. I had lured him with my siren to save him from the bicorn. It was the only way, and it killed a part of me. If the bicorn hadn’t killed him, I would have had to do it. Maybe not initially, but eventually as the madness overtook him.
I followed the signs and finally pulled up in front of the building announcing the biggest ball of twine. Alex giggled again, and I couldn’t help but join him as I walked into the little store to buy my ticket and use the restroom.
Minutes later, I stood in the covered gazebo and stared at the ten-foot ball of twine. I pressed my lips together against a smile and turned to leave.
A shiver gripped me as I thought I caught a glimpse of the same face I had seen earlier. Alex quieted down in my mind, too. My intuition prickled, and I scanned the horizon as I picked up my pace to a slow jog.
My heart pounded in my chest. I caught the camera on the side of the welcome center out of the corner of my eye and a cold chill layered on my skin. There was only one person trying to track me down. As I turned the corner, I bumped smack into the teenager I had seen at the coffee shop.
He stumbled backwards, both eyebrows rising in surprise as he stared at me. His shock quickly turned, and his eyes narrowed as he fumbled with his pockets.
My hands clenched. As did my jaw. This close up, I could see under the facade. He wasn’t human, but I had no idea what kind of beast he was. I just knew he was tracking me. Before he could free his hands from his pockets, I struck out, punching him in the throat hard enough to do significant damage.
I wasn’t sure how much intelligence Fate had on me, but I was just as deadly with my hands as I was with any manner of weapons.
He dropped to his knees and clasped his throat. I skirted around him, jumped in my car, and peeled out before Fate and her minions arrived.
I didn’t look back. Instead, I floored the gas, until my needle was buried beyond a hundred miles per hour. The car shook with the speed. I had open road in front of me, and a quick glance in the mirror showed me there was no tail following me.
Idiot, I scolded myself. I should have been more cautious and diligent after lunch. Seeing the same face in two different locations was a problem. It meant Fate knew the path I was taking across the country. I glanced at the map on my passenger seat wondering if her lackey had a chance to take a look at where I was headed. It was there in black and white had he bothered to look in the window.
My heart raced. I tried to get hold of the jitters accosting me. I glanced back at the road and my eyes nearly jumped out of my skull. I swerved to avoid hitting Leviathan, a monster the size of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, who was blocking the road.
I hadn’t seen Leviathan since I snuck out of the gates of hell with my brother. The shock of seeing him in his natural form and not a glamour sucked all the moisture from my mouth. If he was here, then Fate and Death weren’t far behind.
I slammed on my brakes to make the narrow space between his legs. Everything in my car shifted, including the cooler in the back seat. Water rushed across my feet. I silently cursed. If I made it out of here alive, my means of rejuvenating while away from the ocean had just been drastically drained. Damn it all to hell.
By some miracle, I cleared Leviathan’s legs and continued careening down the highway, unsure of whether to head north or continue to I-70. The faster I got to a shoreline, any shoreline, the better. I turned off the main road, jostling the remaining seawater in the cooler and on the floor.
Find a more populated road.
I couldn’t have agreed more with Alex’s suggestion because Leviathan wouldn’t be caught dead in his native form with other people around. I gunned it, praying that the direction I was heading would be worth it, but with nothing but flat plains surrounding me, my faith floundered.