3. Hesitation

Aaron has difficulty finding himself, especially as the consequences of Gelert's actions begin to cave in on him. June processes.

                When the movie ended, June was immediately on her feet to switch it out for another. The man on the couch, however, had something else eating at his mind.

                “Why did you call me?” He asked finally.

                She stopped where she was. “If you want to leave, leave.”

                “That’s not what I said.”

                She glanced at him, but pulled her eyes away quickly. Looking at him for too long still made her queasy. “Maybe I don’t know. But who else could I talk to about any of this? You’re the only one who’s seen all that s**t too.”

                He knew she was right. She’d find herself in an asylum if she spoke anything of Gelert or what he had done. “But are you sure you’re okay with me being here?”

                “No, to be honest, I’m still not sure.” She revealed a Glock .45 pistol strapped to her waist with a coy smile. “Just make sure you don’t change my mind. If you f**k with me, I don’t care if you’re you, or a demon, or the goddamned pope’s cousin �" I still enjoy using this.” Aaron couldn’t help but be visibly impressed, which seemed to satisfy her. She sat back down, giving up on the distraction of movie musicals, and sighed. “I had to stop watching the news.”

                He looked away. “Yeah.”

                “Everywhere I go I learn something new about someone I watched die. That 17-year-old kid �" his mom was in the booth behind me at the coffee place yesterday. I heard her talking before you showed up.” She swallowed. “They got the letter just after he went missing that he’d been accepted into Princeton.”

                Aaron could only have described the sensation that followed as his stomach twisting. “Jesus.”

                June awoke sharply, face-down on a cold cement floor with handcuffs pulling her arms in opposite directions, to the sound of a door slamming. She didn’t recall many details about where they were this time, only that it was some sort of cabin-like garage. He came in hauling an unconscious blond young man over his shoulder, and had an all-too-familiar rag sticking out of his pocket.

                “I’ve brought another friend for you, pet.” His voice sent chills from her head to her toe. “This one is going to be fun.” He tossed the fit-looking body off him and turned around, and June got a better look at the face.

                “He’s just a f*****g kid,” she spat, her voice hoarse from dehydration. She heard the teenager groan and saw his eyes crack open. Her impulse was to ask if he was alright, but somehow that seemed redundant. The boy’s eyes focused and fell on June. He tried to speak, but with little success. “How old are you?” She asked him. He indicated seventeen with the fingers of his bound hands, and June’s breath caught in her throat.

                Gelert turned back around with his large combat knife in hand and looked at the teenager, who was having difficulty keeping his head lifted, like a piece of meat. “What do you think, June?” His use of her name made her feel sick. “Where do we start this time?”

                “You’re a piece of s**t,” she retaliated, her blood boiling.

                In less than a second he pulled her up hard by the jaw, blocking her breathing and stretching her neck and throat into searing pain. “You don’t get to talk to me like that, w***e.” He let go quickly and her spine corrected itself abruptly, slamming her face onto the floor with force. For a few seconds, everything was white and all she could hear was a high-pitched ringing. Slowly, frantic screaming faded its way into her hearing, and the last thing she could sense before she lost consciousness again was something warm pooling next to her.

                While both of their minds were elsewhere, there was a knock at the door. Taking a breath to steady herself, June cautiously approached the door and looked through the hole. She turned quickly back around to face Aaron. “Hide.”

                “What?”

                She pulled her collar and sleeves up to hide some of the worst marks. “It’s the police.”

                His heart almost stopped and panic began to set in. “You don’t have to do this.”

                She gestured sternly to the hallway. “I told you to hide. Go.” As Aaron scurried into the first room he reached and slid behind the door, she opened the front door and plastered on her best bullshit smile.

                “Good morning, ma’am,” greeted a lone officer about her height with the voice of a flight attendant giving emergency instructions. His eyes darted around to different bruises on her face and neck, and he seemed to interrupt the flow of script he had planned to ask if she was alright, however keeping the same safely over-friendly tone.

                “Yep, I’m just fine. Just had one of those good old family reunions last week, and you know how those can escalate.” Her falsified casual and uppity tone was well-executed, Aaron noted.

                Probably noticing that none of the bruises looked fresh, the officer nodded and pulled out a sheet of paper. “Well then, ma’am, I just need to ask if you recognize this man, or if you’ve seen anyone like him around.” He handed her a rough sketch of Aaron’s features, earrings and all. The eyes of the sketch were far too close together and the drawn goatee stopped in the middle where it should have continued along his jawline, but it was unmistakably him.

                “No, I don’t recognize him.” June handed the sketch back nonchalantly. “Sorry.”

                “That’s perfectly fine.” He tipped his hat. “You have a great day, and let us know if you see or hear anything suspicious in the area, or if anyone gives you any more trouble-“ he gestured to his own face- “like that.” She thanked him and closed the door, letting out a large breath of relief.

                Aaron emerged and repeated himself. “You didn’t have to do that.”

                She scoffed. “What, like that’s the first time I’ve lied to the cops? Now, you can’t go back to your apartment.”

                He swallowed. “You’re probably right.”

                “And your family, have you spoken to any of them since this happened?”

                He shook his head. “I couldn’t have.”

                “Okay. You need to get rid of that phone and get a new one as soon as you can. Beyond that, I don’t really know yet.”

                “Christ,” Aaron breathed through his teeth, running a hand through his dark brown hair. “My life is pretty much over, isn’t it?”

                “Not really,” she replied honestly. “You look at Cory, that’s a life that’s over. Time and distance can fix this one. You’ve got a chance.”

                “I don’t know that I deserve it,” he mumbled, looking away.

                She sat down cross-legged and closed her eyes. “We can’t generalize responsibility, as people. There’s no one explanation for what is and isn’t someone’s fault. It’s way more complicated than that, and that’s all we can know. Possession, as I’ve begun to see it, probably doesn’t even fall into the category of your own actions. You were a tool. Had you been able to do anything about it, or not been there, he would have just found another tool.”

                He took a moment to process her words. “That’s your answer, then? That’s why you’re so forgiving?”

                June’s expression hardened. “Who said anything about forgiveness? He fucked with you and he fucked with me. You, Aaron, have yet to f**k with me. I’m not so broken that I can’t see that logically.”

                “You still have the right to hate me. For f**k’s sake, you have the right to take out your pistol and kill me right now. The families of all those people have a right to justice and closure.”

                “You’d be a scapegoat.”

                “Would I?”

                “Jesus!” She was almost yelling now. She turned to face him directly and looked him firmly in the eyes, surprising him. “Get him out of your head.” Aaron felt for the first time that she was truly looking at his face and seeing him through the mask that Gelert had worn.

                “June-“

                “No. He’s in your head. Don’t give him what he wanted.” She finally had to avert her eyes.

                “He got everything he wanted,” Aaron seethed. “He took whatever he pleased.”

                “Then don’t let him take anything more from you. He had your mind; don’t give it back.” When he made no reply, she sighed and continued. “Look, I’m not saying I’m not having any trouble with this. Looking at you still makes me sick, and I’m still ridiculously on edge anywhere near you. But you don’t even smell like him, or talk like him. Weird as it might sound, that small s**t really matters. I never want to smell f*****g Camels again.”

                “I know what you mean.”

                “The point is take the chance. Cory’s family is never going to hear from him again. Yours still could.”

                “Alright,” he gave in and stood up. “I should go see about a new phone.”

                She cocked an eyebrow. “The police are running around with a sketch of you and you want to walk into a phone store, where the news will probably be playing somewhere?”

                He sat back down as soon as he had stood up. “S**t.”

                June almost laughed. “I’m going to call Cory. He can get help. We can figure this out.”

                

Author's Note

I write and share this to initiate a dialogue. Please, PLEASE share your thoughts. It makes my day.

Reviews

[DB Heinemann]

Couple mechanical errors involving "
For example:
the goddamned pope’s cousin " I still enjoy using this.”
That 17-year-old kid " his mom was in the booth behind me

Kinda nit picking here but unconscious blond young man would sound better as unconscious young blond man or maybe young unconscious blond man.

I'm curious about what's the deal with Cory. I had assumed he was always a vampire but it's starting to sound like he possibly was turned recently? Also wondering how he met up with June and maybe helped rescue her and Aaron. I've pretty much gathered about everything else. I look forward to this story as it develops.

And I do appreciate the added conflict of the cops looking for Aaron. We're starting to get past the introductions and now are moving towards the middle where the conflict arrives to move the plot forward. I like how you did that while still giving more emotional conflict in the beginning to aid as the hook. This story also stands out to me because it's telling two stories at once. It's tricky to do that without being overly ambiguous and you seemed to have nailed it.

I wonder if there will be flashbacks throughout the book or if all background information will be revealed shortly and start focusing only on the current story. I think either way would be fine but it's definitely something to consider.

Also like how the police sketch doesn't look exactly like Aaron, adds to the realism. It's the little things. Pretty good work. Sorry I couldn't get to it sooner.

[MedicalNightmare]

And you said you weren't a pro, lol
Thanks so much, your interest motivates me a lot. I worry sometimes about giving a reader whiplash with the story coming in bits and pieces from all different points in time, and about throwing too much information around or making it seem unnatural, but I'm definitely riding that feeling of telling multiple stories at once.
I'm glad some of these details aren't going unnoticed. I really appreciate your thoughts

[DB Heinemann]

Ha, oh, I get so proud when people notice the little things in my work, I try to make a point to notice the little things in their's. Gives me something to positive to say, too. But I'm quite glad I could help. Looking forward to more!

[btinge]

I enjoyed the read and am very curious to see where it goes next, whether you'll have entire chapters that explore their history together, or just move forward with events leaving only snippets of their past for us to examine. I really liked the dialogue of your writing, most of it seems very natural and lifelike.

[MedicalNightmare]

Thank you! As I mentioned in reply to another review, it's curious to me that my dialogue seems to be a strong suit, because I struggle with impairments to my verbal communication from bipolar disorder. It seems I can communicate much better through writing.

[angeleapaugh]

A very captivating read! Hold the readers attention well.

[MedicalNightmare]

Thanks so much!

[Rebecca Church]

You did really good with the dialogue in this one, I can feel Aaron's confusion, a mixture of desperation as he realizes he is in trouble if he is not careful, and June's stubbornness on "it wasn't you it was him'. I can't wait to see more!

[MedicalNightmare]

Thanks so much! It's been interesting to learn that dialogue is a strong suit for me, because I really struggle with effective communication in the real world due to bipolar disorder. I've almost started being more frustrated when I stutter, or can't behave socially, or simply can't form a sentence, because I know if I could write it down, I could actually communicate, and communicate well.