Page 114 of (Sur)real
I nodded and turned to Jim.
JIM…
My heart ached as Olivia looked at me. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye. Not yet. Not ever.
“I can’t pay alone,” she said.
The pale hand she held out trembled. Finally, I understood my purpose and why the Lady had chosen me. Because, I’d always had the courage to do what needed to be done.
“Good,” I said. “I wasn’t ready to let go of you.”
I touched my hand to hers. The grey things that floated around her moved toward me.
CHARLENE…
“No!” I wailed as the grey things reached out toward Jim. At the same time I yelled, I grabbed my son’s will.
His abrupt stop surprised Olivia. She turned toward him, obviously confused. But only for a moment.
“Charlene,” she said, looking my direction. “Don’t do this. If we don’t fulfill our end of the agreement, the Judgement can’t take place.”
I looked at my baby boy. Then at Emmitt and Michelle and the rest of the people I loved.
“I understand. Just, not Jim.” I exhaled slowly. “And, not you, either.”
Thomas gave my shoulder a squeeze.
I am with you,he sent me. Always.
I knew he was. He always had been and always would be.
“Olivia, take care of our boy,” I said.
“Mom, no,” Jim managed to gasp out, a testament to his strength of will.
“Jim, honey, every Mom wants to stay and see their babies have babies. But, sometimes, we just can’t. I have to go. I love you. I love all of you. This started with me; it should end with me.”
Before either of them could protest, Thomas scooped me up in his arms and ran. Just like we did our first summer together. The memory held me as we sped into the void.
Through Olivia, I reached out and found the one will that had driven the werewolves to near extinction. As the void closed around us, I shattered Blake’s will and Thomas kissed me hard.
OLIVIA…
The Others swarmed around Thomas and Charlene and took their first payment. Jim yelled and rushed toward the void just as the veil sealed itself. A blast of something rippled outward and knocked all of us onto our backs.
Breathless and stunned, I stared up at the cloudless blue sky. Only a few wisps of grey floated there.
I blinked, and the grey disappeared. I blinked again as my skin prickled. Color. I could see color. How?
I sat up and looked around. Really looked. People. Their dust coated and bloody faces. Their expressions.
A man fell to his knees near me. His big, memorable shoulders shook. Not far from him, a girl rolled to her side then scrambled to a white-haired man lying next to her. The way she moved was familiar, too.
“Sam!” she yelled, shaking the man. “Sam!”
I knew that voice. Gabby. Further away, someone wailed, a keening sound the made the hair on the back of my neck stand up straight. A woman with white hair released two small boys and ran toward the fallen man. The way she moved. The power and control. I knew her.
Winifred cried so uncontrollably, I had to look away. In that glance, I saw the rest of the group I’d come to know in just a few short days.
