'Til Death Do Us Part - Part 40

The gravel under Aura's shoes crunched softly as she approached the white, mud specked SUV. A steady sprinkle of mist pelted the side of the vehicle, coalescing into large droplets which carved out thin estuaries through the mud caked door. Her eyes darted from one end of the vehicle to the other, looking for any sign of the driver and passenger, but she saw neither. She crept up to the side of the vehicle and peered through the rain spattered window. A crystal charm gently swung back and forth from the rear view mirror as though it was a metronome keeping its own version of time. Sarah and Roger could not be far away.

Aura turned her attention to the multi-colored flashes of light emanating from the nearby building's window. She glided up to the house and peered inside. There she saw four figures sitting on couches and chairs, two of whom were Sarah and Roger. She could hear the faint murmurs of their voices intermingled with the television as she watched them, but could not discern any of their words. She would need to find a way into the house.

She scanned the front yard. Her eyes fell upon a wooden sandbox, painted red. On the side of the box, written in bold, white letters was the name 'Rachel.' She walked over to the box and peered inside. An assortment of colorful toys were littered across the golden grains. Aura reached down and scooped up a handful of sand. The rain from earlier turned the grains into a shapable, cohesive mass. Using her left index finger, she drew something that looked like a tuning fork with a dot in the middle of the sand and closed her fingers around the mass.

Aura took a deep breath. “Aedificare pupa,” she said, breathing out the words at a near whisper. As she spoke, she waved her left hand over her closed right hand. A deep indigo light emanated from her fist for a moment and quickly faded into darkness. She opened her hand once more and in the place of the sand was a tiny doll with straight black hair.

She smiled to herself. Not bad. Now to find the little girl.

'Til Death Do Us Part - Part 39

Buck felt his heart thunder in his chest like the time he and his brother had been caught by the sheriff smoking weed in the woods. The logical part of his mind knew that it was probably just Roger walking through the door, but the irrational part of his mind, the part that jumped at shadows in the dark, envisioned Emma's stocky figure bursting through her bedroom door, yelling at him and Shirley Sue for sharing the couch past midnight. He felt his pulse slowly dial back when he looked in the direction of the noise and saw no sign of Emma's writhing bathrobe nor her wild, sleep twisted hair.

Buck realized that he was watching the adjacent room with the intensity of an owl tracking its prey. He heard the front door creak shut, followed by the clomping of shoes working their way down the wooden floor of the mudroom. Shortly thereafter, Roger passed into the arch which connected the living room and mudroom, with Sarah on his heels. Under his eyes were bags of exhaustion, illuminated by the dim light generated by the flashing cathode-ray tube across the room. Roger and Sarah's movements were stiff and mechanical as they walked as though they had spent the last hour doing squats or running on the treadmill. Buck wasn't sure if it was just the light, but he though they both looked a little pale.

“Hey Roger. Hey Sarah,” Buck said in a voice that hovered above a whisper. “Welcome back.” Buck studied his brother's face. Behind Roger's eyes he caught a glimpse of something. Fear. His pupils were dilated and his face was indeed pallid. “Somethin' the matter?”

“We ran into our old friend Aura,” Roger said. “And she tried to kill us.”

Sarah and Roger walked into the room. Sarah sat down in Emma's recliner, and Roger plopped down on the loveseat on the other side of the living room.

Roger and Sarah launched into their alleyway encounter. Buck sat rapt, eyes wide with disbelief.

'Til Death Do Us Part - Part 38

Buck was starting to regret coming on this vacation. Nothing was working out like he had hoped. First the hotel, then the truck, and now Shirley Sue wasn't talking to him. His earlier attempt to reconcile with her had been met with a cold stony silence, but maybe now he would have better luck.

Buck gripped the wooden rail as he walked down the stairs. He froze as one of the steps creaked under his weight. The sound dragged out for what seemed minutes, drowning out the faint babble of the television. Why did even the slightest noise seem to become amplified to an ear popping volume in the darkness? He lifted his foot from stair and it creaked once again. Just what he needed, a landmine in every step. It's a wonder anyone could move up or down these stairs without waking the entire house. He carefully crept the remainder of the distance. As he went, he tested each step with only a fraction of his weight and avoided any stair which threatened to cry out.

A deep sigh left his lips as his heel connected with the hardwood floor of the mud room. To his left, bright flashes of colored light reflected off the white walls from the living room. He peered around the doorway to the living room. The gray upholstered couch created a barrier between him and the television. The space behind it provided a path to the empty dining room. The nearby windowpane rattled as a gust of wind tried to gain entry. The sound of gunfire playing from the television drew his eyes back to the couch. A pair of feet poked out over one arm of the couch, pointing toward the unadorned ceiling.

Go on Buck, tell her what happened. She can't stay mad at you forever. Buck shook his head. He knew it wouldn't be that easy. What was he supposed to say to her? Sorry about talking with Aura and not telling you about it? No, that would certainly not get him out of the dog house. She would glower at him with those baby blue eyes and he would shrink away from her gaze, like a leaf caught in bonfire.

Buck's heart raced as the chime of the grandfather clock sitting in the back corner reverberated through the living room. He counted along in his head as the chimes signaled the time: nine, ten, eleven, twelve. The sound of the clock reminded Buck that the night was wearing on and that he would have to say something to her eventually. He wished for some kind of inspiration to strike, but instead was cornered by nagging voices telling him that anything he said would be wrong and that there was no way to fix what was broken. After what seemed like forever, but couldn't have been more than three minutes, he took a deep breath. He felt words vibrating his vocal cords as they left his mouth. “Can we talk for a minute?” He listened to the voice. It sounded strange, like he had a bubble in his throat which distorted his voice.

The feet withdrew from the arm of the couch. A moment later a head popped up over the back of the couch. He tried to find something in her eyes that would reassure him in his mission, but all he saw was a dim reflection of light. The darkness smoothed out her face and masked her expression. For all he knew, there could be a look of bloodlust in those eyes and he would never be able to see it. The television light blazed behind her head like a halo, simultaneously illuminating her hair and masking her face. Little stray hairs at the top of her head danced in the light, waving back and forth as though they were unaware of the tense air which filled the room.

Buck was on the verge of breaking the silence which hung between them when Shirley Sue spoke. “What do you want to talk about?” she said. The cold edge which had attached itself to her words earlier had evaporated, leaving soft, but tired tones.

“I know I should have told you about Aura. I'm really sorry you found out that way,” Buck said. “It was just that, well, after what happened at breakfast I was worried that you'd get jealous or hurt. I talked with her long enough to find out her name and got away from her as quick as possible.”

“A part of me wants to stay mad at you. I feel betrayed. The worst case came to my mind, that you really did know her when we were at the diner, that you'd been hiding something with her all along. I hope I'm not making a mistake by trusting you.”

A few notes to an old song popped into Buck's head as he stood there staring at Shirley Sue. “I only have eyes for you, Shirley Sue.” It sounded cheesy to him, and he wasn't exactly sure what had motivated him to say it.

“Come on you goofball,” she said. “A few more cheesy lines like that and you might just win me back over.”

Shirley Sue motioned for him to sit down beside him. Her expression broke and he could see her white teeth reflecting what little light they caught. He took a seat next to her. Shirley Sue leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. Buck felt the warmth of her body seeping into his. A sigh of contentment escaped his lungs as he huddled closely to his partner.

Shirley Sue yawned. “Just promise me you'll try and be more open with me in the future, Buck,” she said.

“I promise.”

“Seal it with a kiss?”

Buck leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the lips. “That good?” he said.

“Maybe you should try another just to make sure.”

Buck smiled. “I think I can do that,” he said. He leaned down more slowly this time. The moments stretched out as he drew closer to her. He could feel the heat of her breaths as his lips drew nearer to hers. There was a feeling on his lips, like electricity was radiating out from her mouth.

The front door creaked open and Buck and Shirley Sue jerked apart.