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I lost all track of time as I struggled to stop the battle raging on inside of me. It could have been minutes, hours, days. I had no idea how long I fought against the dark, and doing everything I could to protect the baby inside of me at the same time. I tossed and turned, thrashing and fighting. Someone would pull me close as I cried out over and over. Then I would push them away as if their touch burned me. Only to cry out again for help.
When I finally felt myself begin to fail from exhaustion, I wrapped my spirit around the child in my womb, curling around to protect it, refusing to let the darkness penetrate through me. I would not let this child suffer or die because of me. The darkness, as if finally understanding my determination and will, stopped its torment.
I have no idea if it left, or simply went dormant but suddenly everything went quiet... peaceful.
Sunlight streaming across my face woke me. The brightness made me wonder if I was trapped in heaven.
I slowly opened my eyes against the glare and realized it was the sun coming through the windows of the cabin, directly on my face. I closed my eyes and then quickly opened them again.
I was alive!
My hands went instinctively around my belly and I swore I felt a flutter of butterflies inside. The baby had survived as well! Had it just been a dream? I knew it hadn’t. Something had changed inside of me. I just didn’t understand what—yet.
I breathed in deeply and rolled onto my back to stretch my aching body. My eyes closed as my mouth yawned.
Hot breath brushed against my face and I sensed someone close beside me.
I opened my eyes.
Rob.
Maybe an inch from my face. His face scrunched as he stared closely at me.
I swatted him away. “What the hell, Rob?”
“You alive? Is it you?”
I sat up as he stayed on his knees leaning away from me slightly. “Of course it’s me!”
He squinted. “Your eyes are blue.”
I rolled them, but smiled despite myself. “What color were you hoping for? Rainbow? You sound disappointed.”
He raised his hands defensively. “Rainbow would have been cool,” he joked and then suddenly lurched forward and wrapped me in a tight hug. “You’re alive.”
I hugged him back and managed to turn my head away from being buried in his muscular chest. “For now. You might kill me.”
“Oops! Yeah, sorry.” He let me go.
I sat back, rolling my tired shoulders slowly. "I need something to drink. My throat's dry."
He got up and walked to the door. "Want something to eat too?"
"No, not yet." He started to go, but I stopped him. "Rob?"
"Yeah?" He turned around and leaned against the doorframe lazily.
"Is Michael okay?”
“Right as rain, sister. Right as rain.” He grinned and disappeared to go to the kitchen.
I moved to the edge of the bed and tugged my t-shirt up, wanting to check again on the baby.
"Morning, little guy." I rubbed softly, surprised at how much I was showing. It hadn't been but a month or so and yet my stomach was swollen enough to tell. Nothing too exciting, but a subtle shift from the flattened surface I was used to. "You okay in there?"
A knock at the door caught me by surprise and I yanked my shirt down and turned to face Michael as he moved into the room. I stood gingerly, testing my legs, and was relieved to see I was okay. Tired, but alive. I slid into his arms as he wrapped me in a tight hug. He pressed his face to the side of my neck and breathed in deeply.
"You scared the shit out of me." He kissed the soft skin below my ear.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't realize what would happen when I walked back up there. I felt something calling out to me, but honestly..." I pulled back and looked up into his handsome face. "I didn't control anything that happened. It was like something deep down inside of me took over and everything unraveled without my help."
"Crazy. I cannot imagine some of the things you've seen. Some of the things you've been through." He reached up and brushed his fingers through my hair. "I love you. I'm so glad you're okay. I was scared all night."
"Did you stay with me?" I rubbed his sides, trying to offer him comfort. “How long was I... uh, out?”
"One hell of a rough night."
As if on cue, he yawned and I couldn't help but smile. Michael didn’t get tired. He’d have fought that battle with one of his arms tied behind his back and not been winded. I slid my fingers through his and squeezed. Even if the darkness lived inside of me now, I had found peace for the moment. Being with Michael would always center me. He helped remind me that I didn't have to worry about what was coming up next, because after it was all said and done, he would be mine and I would be his for the rest of our lives.
I moved back and pulled my hand up between us, staring at my ring and smiling like a kid at Christmas.
"It's too simple, but when we get through all of this—"
I lifted my gaze to him and gave him a warning glare. "I love it and unless it turns my finger green, I'll be wearing it for the rest of my life."
He chuckled. “It's real, just a simple gold band. I’d have liked to get you a big diamond.” He shrugged, a goofy boyish grin on his face. “Not many options at the pawnshop."
“It’s perfect. I don’t need, or want, anything else.” I inhaled deeply, about to yawn when I thought I smelled something. I sniffed again. "I smell bacon. Someone cooking?"
"Yeah. Sarah." He dropped to the bed and moved to lie on his back, watching me intently as I stripped out of my clothes and got dressed for the day.
"Like what you see?" I teased him and turned in a slow circle after getting my bra and panties on.
"Are you kidding me? You're the most beautiful woman in the world. Why you're with me, I'll never understand."
"Because we both like graveyards?" I finished getting dressed as he chuckled. Our first meeting was awkward and off the beaten path to say the least. Remembering the early days helped to simplify things often for me.
"You're okay, right?" His voice was soft as concern swept across his face. “Rob came racing out and said you were. I just... I need...” His words trailed off, unsure of how to finish.
"I think I’m okay. I feel good if it's any consolation." I moved to the door and opened it. “I’m hungry. Me and this baby need grub.”
He laughed. “I’m going to shower. I stink. Sweat and worry don’t make a sexy man.”
“You always smell good to me.”
“Grace wouldn’t agree with you.”
I laughed. The feeling felt amazing inside of me. “You shower. Me eat.”
Michael raised an eyebrow. “You Tarzan? Me Jane?”
“Something like that.” I liked his role reversal joke. "Go shower then, I'll save you a plate." I closed the door and slipped out into the hallway.
Rob and Grace were joking when I walked into the kitchen. The sound of them getting along caused my heart to lighten. A better day was coming. I just needed to cling to the promises of it arriving soon.
"Hey. There’s the star of the show." Rob smiled and turned to face me.
"Oh Rouge. I was so worried." Grace crossed the room and pulled me into a tight hug.
Sarah turned from the stove and gave me a smile. "We're so proud of you. You were beyond brave to do what you did."
"Thank you." I returned the smile and hoped our painful past could somehow just be buried along with the promise of a normal life. "Where's Caleb?"
"He's outside chopping wood." She rolled her eyes and turned back to the stove. "Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes."
"Chopping wood?" I mouthed to Grace and turned, walking to the back door and slipping out. I didn't have much to say to him, but I knew he would have questions for me.
The axe sat in a large log, but Caleb wasn't working to split anything from what I could tell. A glimpse of red caught my attention and I spotted him at the edge of the forest, walking around in a circle as if pacing.
I took my time walking up to greet him in hopes of him seeing me and not being surprised by my approach. He wasn't too fond of me, which was his loss, but me making matters worse by spooking him wasn't a desire I had.
"Rouge. You're up." He stopped and slipped his hands into his jean's pockets. "We were worried."
"I'm good." I walked into the forest and moved past him to inspect the beautiful black statue of Malaz. "Incredible."
"I must say that I completely agree." He moved up beside me and glanced down at me. "Thank you."
"For?" I left all emotion out of my voice, deciding it was time to start acting like the woman I was and not the child I wanted to be.
"For taking this dangerous step and proving to all of us... proving to me... that you're on the side of good." He reached out and touched Malaz's arm, brushing his finger over a rosary that ran down the side of his sleeve. "He was once a good man. My brother actually."
"What?" I turned to pin Caleb with a hard stare. "Why didn't you tell us that?"
"Because he died a long time ago when he turned his back on all that was good and harbored darkness." Caleb crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes on Malaz with a sadness in them that I understood.
"And if I wouldn't have killed him, then you would have?" I knew the answer, but I had to ask the question.
"Yes. There is no greater power than love, Rouge, but it's often used as a weapon. I used Michael's love for me and Sarah to get him to come home because I knew he would deliver you and Rob." He let out a painful sigh. "I'm not sorry I did it, but the way in which I went about it left me feeling no better than my brother here. Fighting for the light can lead you into dark places."
I didn't speak because I was truly unsure of what to say. He hadn't apologized, but confirmed his decision to bring harm to me and Rob. It seemed as if nothing had changed.
"And in my desire to destroy you because you felt too powerful, too different from what I believed to be right, true and good... I almost destroyed the only weapon capable of saving us all." He turned to face me. "I'm a product of what I was created to do. I'm laser focused on serving the light and bringing an end to the Grollics. I think by holding tight to that calling, I could ignore the greater one, which was letting my brother move across the earth and spill his disease and pestilence. You've released me from that burden, and for that I can't thank you enough."
I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. A truth that I needed him to know before we moved forward in the fight we were headed toward.
"I'm not killing Bentos until I understand how to do so without killing the innocent Grollics." I lifted my hand as he started to butt in. "Just as there are dark angels, there are innocent, good Grollics. They exist and my brother Rob is one of them. He's been fighting for me diligently, though he has to know that the end is near and will be at my command."
Caleb nodded. "I see your point, though I'm not sure I entirely agree."
"I want your pledge here and now that no matter what happens in this next battle, if I bring Bentos to destruction, that you will leave me be. That you'll never bring death to my door again and my life will become as precious as your own in terms of preservation. Me, Michael, my son, Grace and Rob, should he survive."
Caleb nodded. "I can do that."
"Swear it on Sarah's life that you'll not harm any of us once this is over." I extended my hand.
"I swear it on Sarah's life." He shook my hand.
I turned and walked back to the house without another word. I would take on the mantle of the Grollics because to do so would mean that no one could ever wipe them out in one fatal swipe. My life was protected from that day forth and for that freedom, I would extend it to my father's people and repay them for the death and darkness that he'd so generously spread since his creation.
Rob opened the back door as I moved toward him.
"Everything okay?" He looked past me, narrowing his eyes.
"Yeah. Couldn't be better." I moved into the living room and made my way to the kitchen.
Sarah handed me a plate and reached over, rubbing my back softly. "Breakfast’s ready."
"Looks great." I moved up and took a helping and a half of everything. Something told me it was time to get my strength up and food was my number one choice for doing so.
"Is Caleb still out there?" she asked as she lifted a coffee mug to her lips.
"Yeah. We had a short conversation, but it was a good one."
"Can you ever forgive us?" She pursed her lips as if waiting for me to attack her.
"I'm not sure, but I want to try to." I moved to the table and sat down.
She slid into the chair across from me and set her cup down. "I understand that."
"Good." I took a bite of my eggs and groaned. "These are so good."
She chuckled. "They keep me around for a reason. I think it's my eggs."
I looked up to pinpoint where Rob and Grace were, but didn't see them anywhere.
Sarah reached across the table and touched the ring on my finger. "Michael proposed?"
"Yes, and I accepted." I kept my eyes on my plate, not trusting the woman across the table enough to really share with her.
"I'm glad. You're going to make a strong family." She let out a short sigh. "When Michael and Grace lost their family, I took them in. Then I met Caleb and we exchanged Sioghras. We spent hours together trying to decide how to build a home with them. I wanted so badly to turn their heartbreak into love and our motley crew into a true family."
I glanced up, not able to keep my emotions on lock down. "And you did."
"Yes. We worked hard at it though." Her eyes filled with tears as she watched me. "It’s funny how thinking you know best can quickly turn against you. I never would have hurt either of them in a million years."
"Everyone makes mistakes, Sarah." I pressed my hand to my throat and brushed my fingers over my chest, making sure my Sioghra was still in place. It was, but for some odd reason it was heavier than usual.
"I know, but we've made a grave one. I'm praying we can resurrect what we destroyed." She reached up and wiped her tears away before forcing a smile. "I've realized one thing that I think will stay with me forever."
"What's that?" I leaned back, forcing myself to focus on the beautiful woman across from me.
"Evil is bred, not born." She sniffled and turned as the back door opened.
Caleb walked in and stopped behind her, sliding his hands onto her shoulders and leaning over to kiss the top of her head. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah... it will be," I responded and picked up a piece of bacon. "I didn't realize you guys were holding out on us. Sarah's a great cook."
"Yep. I had to have some reason to keep her around." Caleb winked at me and for the first time since meeting him, I felt as if there might be room for a relationship between the two of us. Not a close one, but something other than the two of us being at each other's throats with pitchforks.
"See... I told you it was my cooking." She laughed and I smiled, grateful that I didn't have to force it.
The day was young and there was a lot of planning left to do. Michael needed to rest and then I would drag him with me into the backyard. We could plan out where everyone was going to be and what their involvement would look like when I called my father from wherever he was.
Knowing him, he wasn't far at all.
The thought alone scared me to the center of my soul. Malaz hadn't been a hard defeat at all until his essence mixed with mine, then the battle began. Bentos would be a different story altogether. He was already part of me, so there would be no joining. The battle was set to be external, his strength and power against mine.
I needed to figure out how to unlock the strength of three and fast. The journal said that having Malaz defeated and indwelt inside of me would trigger the greatest weapon of all time. I just needed to unlock what the weapon was and how to wield it.
