“What help?” Max muttered as he paced. Michael and Maria were also on edge because now there were two of them in the lion’s den up north, and if Max and Elizabeth had smoked out Khivar with those papers than they were in danger.
“She wanted a makeover,” Kylie Valenti muttered as she knew at the time that it had been suspicious but her cousin had instructed her not to ask too many questions because it would allow her to have plausible deniability, and of course, now that she knew what Grace was up to, well, it scared her to think she aided in a rouse to draw out a mad man because while she and her siblings had never been players in this drama as they had been blissfully ignored by Nicholas and Khivar. Still they were in the same family so they couldn’t help but be impacted consequences that had come from the terror that had been inflicted on Elizabeth and in lesser amounts but still enough to last a lifetime on their cousin Grace, so, yes, now it scared her as she dealt with the looks that her parents and Uncle were giving her as she didn’t know what to say but the truth “What can I say, she knew I had friends because of my connections and so I dropped her off at the salon and went my own way…”
“Why would she need a makeover?” Isabel asked her daughter as she did not know how the take the change in circumstances and twist in the story.
“I don’t know because she didn’t tell me,” Kylie said honestly. “I promise Mom if I had known what she was planning than of course than I would have gone to someone. I don’t know why she would have done what she did” she sighed even though they all did, because it was plain and simple and still extremely dangerous.
“She probably overheard me and Michael talking,” Max muttered solemnly as he remembered a conversation he had with his best friend over his friend’s daughter’s predicament, and he remembered how Grace had been in the proximity, and she might have overheard what he and Michael had been saying there that night
“Would she?” Michael asked.
“Given this is my daughter we’re speaking of, yes, it is very likely,” Max muttered. “She’s always been talented at eavesdropping” he conceded as he looked down at the floor and down at the floor. “I should have known she might think of something like that given how regretful she is of the events of seven years ago.”
“What do you mean?” Beth asked even though she had a good sense of what her husband was referring to.
“Michael wanted to put a plant in the hospital to protect Elizabeth given that Elizabeth hasn’t been able to rise to her fullest in terms of her powers and gifts, and I told him no…” Max answered. “It was a reasonable suggestion, but it was simply too dangerous, and I told him so, because we all know Elizabeth has not been around to be able to test her limits unlike the rest of our children” he murmured. “Which would make it all so much of a wildcard?”
“You did?” Maria asked as she glanced over at her husband who only nodded because he did remember his wish to arm his daughter in that hospital with backup, but he never imagined that his daughter-in-law would take up that arms in protection of his daughter although they probably should have given they all knew of Grace’s burden back in the day.
“Yes,” Michael muttered. “But as soon as I voiced that wish, well, Max reminded me that if Salazar is as vicious as Ava claims than he probably has a dossier of every employee, so the put someone so suddenly would raise questions. So, Grace was at least trying to distinguish herself in some hope of helping our daughter as she probably though she needed to disguise herself as Khivar probably knows what our families look like…”
“God, does she not know it was dangerous?” Beth asked fearful for her eldest daughter as she patted her stomach as she thought of her unborn child and all her children and at least she knew Carrie was safe in Maryland with Justin, but still there was so much unknown out there in the real world and now for Grace to make this drastic move made it all the more real. “She had to know that being in there, she would be a sitting duck along with Elizabeth?” she asked as they always believed they had needed about Grace, but now they had to, and it scared her…
“She believes that she is looking out for her friend,” Max said simply. “Because no matter how many times we tell her that she doesn’t deserve the burden still she regrets not be able to help, and not being the one taken seven years ago” Max murmured as he looked at Jake who nodded and looked around because as much as he loved that he and Grace had gotten together still they did to this day feel guilty that they hadn’t been with his sister and Finn that night, and allowed for the circumstances that took Elizabeth from them. “She knows that it would likely not made a difference if we had been there,” he sighed as it had taken him a long time to come to terms and he still knew he hadn’t really, and the same could be said for his wife. “I only wish she had come to me, or any of us, because we could have told her that it was dangerous.”
“Which is why she probably didn’t come to any of us,” Beth muttered because she knew her daughter. “She’s too stubborn sometimes for her own good,” she sighed because she had known that stubbornness many times during the years, she knew her daughter before she and Jake would get married. She had not always been the easiest teenager, Beth reflected but I will take any of that rebellion any day than this uncertainty because I do not know if she will come home at the end of this. “She didn’t want to be talked out of it, or be seen as rebelling on any of us, if we had said no, and she has her own mind…”
“God,” came a chorus of the room who were muttering to themselves.
“I only wish I had known because then I would have allowed Elizabeth to make the scene she just made which made it obvious she’s open to being influenced,” Max muttered as he thought of the scene that he had witnessed up at the hospital. “Given the scope of the scene that Elizabeth made, if Salazar is there, then he won’t be able to resist…”
“What did you do Dad?” Alexandra asked as she was truly afraid for her sister because they all knew that Khivar was dangerous, and for Salazar to have grown to be such a monster, than he must be also, and now she had to factor her sister in there…
“I made the conditions for Elizabeth to flip out,” Max admitted. “It was actually pretty impressive and put any performance she gave as a teenager to shame,” he allowed because he knew there had been genuine fear in the performance. Sometimes when you are agitated, you allow your true feelings to come out even when you know it is an act. Max thought. It was for Liz when he remembered during their Bonnie and Clyde times when things had become too serious, and they had undertaken actions had had seriously messed with their futures. Liz still tense from the Tess debacle let out her true feelings when they were playing James Bond and stealing a diamond before Max discovered it was all false, and the baby was not going to be an issue. It had been an outlet for Liz, but she did have a lot more resentment that would take months to come out, but she had played the truth through her acting. So, Max knew Salazar would be foolish to ignore it and he probably wouldn’t “I saw Grace at the tale end so now because of the scene Elizabeth made, I am going to be worried that we opened the hornet’s nest, and an attack is imminent.”
“You used the kids?” Maria asked as she knew what Max had been planning and knew how much it would have hurt her daughter if she thought she and Michael had lost faith in her and was trying to take the kids from her. “If you did, then she went over the cliff, didn’t she?”
“Yeah, it was nuclear Elizabeth,” Max admitted. “Full meltdown.”
“Just what Khivar will want to see?” Isabel asked.
“I hope so but knowing Grace is there means we can’t go up there and bust her mission otherwise we put both of them in danger,” Max conceded as they took stock of the latest developments as they allowed it to settle in as none of them were happy about it.
*
“You can sit up now,” Grace murmured as she stepped away after releasing the bonds, and Elizabeth immediately felt freed, as she sat up, as the grogginess she felt was disappearing because of whatever healing her friend had done. “I know it’s not the same as what my father can do?”
“It’s something,” Elizabeth said as felt the surrealness of the situation as she felt hand bounds disappear as she still couldn’t understand the situation and how her childhood best friend had suddenly appeared in the room and brought her back to consciousness. “But you… you shouldn’t be here,” she asked as she sat up and stared into the face of her best friend. “You look different” she asked as she accessed the change in her friend’s clothes, and hair.
“Courtesy of my dear cousin Kylie,” Grace smiled as she looked down at the long blonde hair instead of her dark brunette locks, and the clothes and padded bra that made her more of a knockout then she had been before, “Her modeling connections worked wonders in this disguise” she assured her friend as she looked down and looked down at the very different wardrobe. “It might not work for the long term, but it’s enough for the short-term.”
“Whether it’s a disguise or a dye job, you should not be here Grace” Elizabeth said as she was feeling surer of herself as she tried to sit up in bed and glanced around her room and saw the door that was locked from the inside so no one could come in, as fear coursed through her because knew this changed everything, it’s not supposed to like this, she mused to herself. It is only supposed to me, and not two against everyone? “I can handle this myself…” as the fear coursed through. “I can’t have it on my conscious if something happens to you because you are in here to protect me?”
“I know you can, but I needed to know for sure that you were okay…” Grace muttered as she stood up as she felt better now that her friend wasn’t so drugged into submission This place knew of Elizabeth’s issues with substances and they still drug her until her she was a zombie she muttered to herself as she now had to question how much Khivar had control of the place. “I wasn’t able to protect you seven years ago, and I will never forgive myself, so this is a little something.”
“Grace, you have Jake and Eva waiting at home for you,” Elizabeth asked. “You have a life anyone would dream of, and you’re risking it” she murmured as she thought of her brother and her niece. She would never forgive herself if she prevented her brother from having the life he deserved, and she was not going to allow him to lose the love of his life, or for her niece to be without her mother. “I am nothing. This is my mission, and you should not get burned because of this. As I told you, it would have been worse if it was you all those years ago, and I can’t have on my conscious if you get hurt now.”
“You’re not nothing Elizabeth,” Grace said softly. “You mean the world to the family and two young boys waiting at home for you to come home. If being here helps than I am willing to pay any price,” she sighed. “Jake will understand.”
“Will he?” Elizabeth asked as she was not too sure if her brother would understand. “This is my punishment, and my lot in life to deal with…”
“Jake wouldn’t want you without backup, and he doesn’t want to lose you,” Grace sighed.
“I am only his sister; you are his wife” Elizabeth murmured. “I may be blood, but you guys took vows which I missed. He loves you, and therefore you matter more to him, and you have a daughter who wants her mother in her life. You saw what it was like to be without your mother when you were that age. So, why would want you to risk it for your own daughter?”
“She will understand when she’s old enough to understand that I fought for what is right,” Grace murmured as she the sling of that dart about her own past found it’s target in her heart because she knew how her life had been affected by not having her mother in her life, and she had known how much of a miracle she and her father had gotten hen they had gotten her mother back. Not everyone was that fortunate, but she also knew she wasn’t about to let them lose Elizabeth without a fight, and she still had her abilities and gifts, and she was determined to make it a fight so that they could save Elizabeth the pain. Images of her husband and daughter were always with her, but she knew this was about what was right, and she would never forgive herself if she had not done something in the battle against evil. “And plus, it’s not forever, and she won’t even remember if I am gone for a few days or not…”
“You’re risking too much,” Elizabeth asked as they tried to keep their talk lowkey as to not get through the thin walls “A few days could end up being forever, and you won’t get the miracle that your mother got.”
“Let me risk it,” Grace asked.
“How do you get in here anyways,” Elizabeth asked as she knew it was too much of a risk for her friend, but she wasn’t going to succeed in getting her to change her mind so she was curious about how it was accomplished. “I don’t see how you could get in here with this place vetting their patients, and you’re much more sane than I am, and as much as I hate, I am in need of this place once I am finished vanquishing Khivar, to be able to become strong for my boys, but you’re saint compared to me?”
Grace only shook her head to those words, “I am not a saint, no where close to one, and you are not too far away from being able to go home. You are stronger than you know,” she sighed at she knew while her friend needed the help. Being home for those two weeks did a lot more than any shrink will be able to do. In the long run, Elizabeth needed her family, not the medical system. “I am not here under my own name, because I am not that stupid. To everyone here, I am Abigail Henderson” Grace admitted “In for postpartum depression that was so severe that I was experiencing delusions” she asked. “For the protection of my husband; Frank and made up son; Dustin, I am seeking help for a little while to get counselling…”
“How are you handling that?” Elizabeth asked as her mind tried to contemplate how complex her friend had made her cover identity. “The fake ID?”
“A friend helped me set it up,” Grace smiled. “In the course of my years, I have made some great friends who know the trick of the trades to make the hospital believe something that won’t get back to my daily life when I go home” she assured her friend. “Jake and Eva are protected. Everyone at home are…”
“I hope so,” Elizabeth asked as she was not convinced that her friend could sell it long-term.
“Trust me,” Grace assured her friend.
“I still have to draw out youknowwho and you’re now right here in the line of fire. And given how successful your father was in provoking me to an eruption, the fire might be starting anytime now?”
“Then it will be over sooner?” Grace chuckled as she got up as she checked out the door “You know the security around this place is very dubious,” she muttered out loud as it had been too easy for her to get from the room that had been assigned to her to Elizabeth locked room, as she worked to make sure that the coast was clear, as she turned back to face her friend. “Something tells me Salazar has more pull around here then we were believing” and she quickly departed and snuck back to her room…Stevens was an idiot for picking this place Grace muttered to herself. Money talks…
Elizabeth wanted it now to be over because she feared for her friend. She did not want to face her brother when this went against them Two against the system is not the answer. It should have just been me
Because she knew they were not going to be lucky. So, she prayed Grace left quickly.
But in the meantime, hours later Elizabeth sat in the community room and watched some television as once Grace had left and she played drugged out, which she knew she had a talent for albeit from when she was actually stoned out of her mind and it wasn’t an act, but this time after Grace’s healing abilities, Elizabeth felt freer and yet played compliant so that she was let out of her room and back into the general public so that she could see if the ploy worked and they would maneuver Salazar out of his hiding spot.
She and Grace’s hospital persona were keeping apart so not attract attention, and Elizabeth had fears that this would all be a disaster and someone was getting to get hurt in all this, as she tried to watch the crap cooking show that was on television. Fluff television and her mind was not for fluff but it is not like she had a choice and so she had to grin and bear it.
“You okay?” came a voice as Elizabeth twisted to see who was talking to her because besides her unexpected visitor in Grace, no one had talked to her except the professionals who she was due to meet with until that afternoon. “You made quite the scene yesterday,” she said a man who was almost as young as her it looked like, but then she should be wary of anyone talking to her given Nicholas was very baby faced still at his age, which was very close to what her parents would have been when her nightmare started.
“Yeah,” Elizabeth said carefully.
“Saw you arrive,” the man asked. “I hear you have quite the reputation from back home?”
“Murder will do that to a person,” Elizabeth replied as she tried to ignore the stare of this individual, but it was not that easy because despite his young looks, he had a commanding presence. “You get quite the reputation that way… especially when it’s the second time around with the crime?”
“Really?” the man asked. “That’s rough…”
“Rougher for the other guys,” Elizabeth snarked. “Because I more than fine with it…” she sighed. “I am sitting on easy street compared to either of my targets”
“So, no remorse, huh?” the man asked with a sly smile that indicated that he thought the notion was quite sexy?
“Not one iota,” Elizabeth smirked. “My only regret is that I did not do it seven years ago, otherwise you will not be hearing me regret it,” she sighed. “I guess my only one is that I wish parents didn’t have to live with the fallout?” she sighed. “But then given what they did, and how little faith they have in me, maybe I should not care about them…” she asked as she knew she had to keep her rouse up on betrayed she was, at her parents for their actions.
“So, what did the unlucky do to get on your bad side?” as the man asked.
“Made my life a living nightmare,” Elizabeth admitted as flashes rang through her mind of the torture, and the pain that she had gone through as she squirmed and tried to ignore it. “It’s still raw so I don’t want to talk about it, because I have lived too long with it as it is, just know that he deserved it…”
“So, why aren’t you prison?” the man asked. “If you admit you are a killer, twice over, and are guilty and you don’t show any remorse for what you have done…”
“Not one bit,” Elizabeth confirmed with a smirk.
“Then why not prison?” the man asked.
“Because they were shown the light” Elizabeth murmured as she continued to look at the television as they watched the movie that came on after the cooking show. “They felt this fine place is enough torture for me for the time being.”
“That is a good deal?”
“You won’t hear me bitching about it,” Elizabeth smiled. “As I said it’s easy street,” she sighed as her mystery companion continued to watch television as other eyes watched her starring at the television and making casual talk with the person next to her…
“Guerin is creating quite the reputation here at that place,” came a voice as the eyes turned away from his prey and focused on his partner. “The doctors don’t like her. Apparently, she mouths off in group session. She also does not show any remorse for her crimes and yesterday, she caused quite the racket, so she knows how to fight and she quite the rap sheet. “And get this, this is her second death?”
“It is, is it?” came the smile from the man watching Elizabeth Yeah, quite the rap sheet you have there Ms. Guerin, and maybe we can use some of that aggression for our cause
“No wonder Boss seems intrigued by her…”
“He does, doesn’t he?” came the voice as his eyes settled on Elizabeth as he did assessment to know whether she was legitimate with her behavior. “Of course, he has history with the family she comes from, and she was put through an experience seven years ago, at the hands of one of his flunkies. Nicholas never wanted to let her out of his grasp, and she eventually got herself loose in a way that makes Boss thinks it is time for her to come into his organization.
“Did Boss order it?”
“Nicholas did his own thing but it’s clear the Boss didn’t seem to mind....” said the voice as he has a serious hate for her family. “He felt it was fitting…’ he admitted. “Because he has the feeling, she can deliver the final comeuppance?”
“What is the Boss up to?”
“He’s keeping it under wraps” as they turned around and walked away from the viewing room and away from the crowds. “He is looking for payback”
*
Grace was in her room, where she had crept back to while everyone was at lunch. She didn’t try to get close to Elizabeth for fear of making it too obvious something was up as she had to stay close to the ground before she was able to get out of this place and good back to her room. She knew she had some time before her fake session with doctors who tried to reassure that she would be back home with her husband and son before she knew it.
She knew someone with her symptoms would not be going home that quickly, so she abides by her time. Knowing she had time, so she sat down on her bed, and took the phone she stored out of mattress, and she did some dialing through Skype.
“Hello?” she asked a little hauntingly.
“Oh my god Grace,” came Jake voice as the video popped up on the screen. “Where the hell are you?”
“I am sure my father has already told you,” Grace murmured as she didn’t relish the concern and pain on her husband’s face as she didn’t engage in the preamble that she knew would be coming “How’s Eva?”
“She’s perfect, but she would be more perfect if her mother was here and wasn’t playing Nancy Drew/?” Jake asked as his eyes settled on the screen as he could not believe how different his wife looked. “My god, what are you wearing?”
“I had to make it somewhat believable,” Grace murmured as she looked down at her wardrobe and knew it had to be a shock to Jake because it was such a change from her normal look “I have made up a different identity so they don’t know my real name, or my real-life story so you don’t have to worry about me or that this will be affecting you back home or at work.”
“The hell with my work Grace or our real life,” Jake asked as he batted off the concern as he could only stare in shock at his wife. “What I care about is my wife. Our marriage, that you are going to be alive to come home to me, and our daughter. God Grace, what you’re doing is dangerous?” he murmured. “Do you know what you’re potentially risking” he muttered. “My god, you look like a ghost?” as he could not believe how pale she was, and how this was not his dream girl.
“Well,” Grace sighed because she did know that it must be a sight for her husband to looking at “I did have to make believable, and as far as possible from our real life,” Grace asked as she glanced around the room so she could know that she could continue their conversation. “I did know that I would be taking too many chances if I kept it close my usual…”
“At least you are sane enough to know that,” Jake muttered as could not believe how different his wife was looking, and how she was looking like someone who was not the love of his life. Flashes washed over him of how much he loved her, from when they were teenagers and how it had been because of how normal and simple she was, despite her gifts, and how she hadn’t been flashy “I want my wife back?”
“You will get her back, just…” Grace sighed because she could see the hurt and disappointment in her husband’s face as she knew she had to be hurting Jake with her actions, and while she wished she hadn’t had to do it, but still, if it did help the situation. And best of all, if it kept his sister alive longer… than she was all for it.
“Just what?” Jake muttered “When are you coming home?”
“I don’t know,” Grace admitted. “This place feels different Jake and because I am getting this vibe from it. It means I can’t leave it yet.”
“How different, it’s a mental hospital Grace. It’s supposed to feel different?”
“Yeah,” Grace admitted. “I know my hospitals Jake. I was in enough of them during those scary months, years ago, and then in my studies but this one feels off. It’s like it’s about to erupt?” she sighed. “You could say that I have a hospital radar”
“What does your radar say about this one?” Jake asked as if he did not believe her…
“It says it’s about to erupt,” Grace admitted. “It’s scary even more than you would think of a mental hospital. The doctors do not seem to be helping. They don’t care about the people here, and some of the people on the other hand seem like the lowest…”
“Well youknowwho is supposed to be there,” Jake muttered as he was not willing to speak the monster’s name, especially on a tenuous connection. “He’s not the sanest of individuals.”
“I haven’t seen him yet,” Grace admitted. “And maybe because of who he is, he’s taken hold of this place. But Jake, I can’t leave yet because I need to know your sister is okay that she’ll be okay…” she sighed. “This place doesn’t feel safe enough to leave her alone…”
“Grace, if this is about the past?” Jake asked.
“No,” Grace shook her head as she knew it was easy to say it was, but it wasn’t although she knew people didn’t believe her, and maybe she didn’t believe herself either as she said it “I know the past is the past…”
“Do you?” Jake asked. “It seems me that you’re hung up on it, when you should be home with me, and our daughter?”
“I will be home, just not right now…” Grace murmured.
“So, when?” Jake asked.
“Jake, maybe you’re right, maybe I should have left the past in the past and should never have come here but I am here now, and therefore I have seen the place and I need to understand more of the situation, and I need to know Elizabeth will be able to handle it.” she sighed. “I do want to come home to you and Eva. Don’t think I don’t, but I can’t come home now when this place feels like it will burn down at anytime.”
“I don’t want you to go down in flames, if it does erupt” Jake murmured as fear coursed through him. He might be normal, and had no powers but his intuition knew this wasn’t going to be good and that his wife was just asking for trouble but he also knew if he forced her to come home or if he went up there himself than he was only asking for trouble. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Grace smiled. “You are the best thing… and we made something incredible together with our daughter.”
“Who will be waiting for you to come home with me,” Jake murmured. “Just come home okay?”
“I promise…”
“Don’t promise,” Jake said worried by the word. “Just do not give us more to worry about, okay? Because when you think about what you are leaving behind, think about your parents will you? You do not know how upset your father was when he demanded to know why I did not know what was going on, and your mother is scared. She already has enough on her plate, and she doesn’t need to worry about you, okay, because before we only had to worry about Elizabeth, and now you’re giving us more, and we already have more than we can handle.”
“I am sorry,” Grace sighed because she didn’t think about her parents, and how upset they would be with what she had done, or her siblings, and little brother and knew she was doing it for them so they could move on, and know they can be happy with the future, whatever it may be. “They will understand in the end…”
“You better hope you come home otherwise we might never get over it…” Jake murmured as he looked at the time. “I know you have to go, but before you do go, how is my sister?”
“Trying hard to alienate everyone,” Grace murmured with a laugh and Jake did have to laugh at that because it was so much like his sister that it hurt to know that he had missed so much of that in her, and knew both she and Grace were now in danger. “Which is why I worry about leaving her in this place. This does not feel right, and she has been doing her routine well, but this place does not take her attitude well, and they are not even trying to help her. They drug them to make them submissive. Which is what the did about her eruption Jake, which I am sure my dad told you about.”
“He did?” Jake confirmed. “Drugged?”
“Yeah,” Grace confirmed. “If I wasn’t here then I don’t even want to think what they would have done to her…” she sighed. “They know her past, and that she has issues with substances and still they drugged her into basically a coma. If I wasn’t here…”
“Yeah,” Jake nodded as he did not want to think about it. “Just make it through and come home me and Eva, okay?”
“Okay,” Grace sighed as she disconnected and looked around the room and knew this was far from a spa vacation that she was taking away from her marriage or being a mother because she loved her little family and wanted to be with them more than anything as she envisioned her little girl, growing up to be such a picture perfect copy of the best and worst of her parents as she had the stubborn gene already engrained in her, and she missed her little girl and missed her husband but looking around the room, she shuddered at the vibe she was getting of the place.
It scared her.
*
Dropping the phone, Jake who was at their house and missing his wife walked upstairs to check on his daughter and assured the little that her mother would be home soon, “She just has to do this for a little while, but she loves you” Jake assured the sleeping little girl who didn’t care that her mother was off doing a dangerous stunt that could harm her in the end. He knew it was not to reassure the one year old, but to reassure him.
Walking downstairs, he heard the doorbell. Rushing to get to it in time, he opened the door, and was surprised to see his guest. “Why are you here?” as the last thing he wanted to deal with was more drama as he was currently brimming with it…
“Wow that is something a sister wants to hear from her big brother,” Belle Guerin asked as the thirteen-year-old looked up at her older brother “Can I come in?”
“Do Mom and Dad know you are here?” Jake asked as he checked the time.
“Yeah they do,” Belle agreed as she walked into the house past her big brother who could only look at his little sister with wariness as if he had seen this before and it was getting old “I had to get out of the house,” she muttered. “It was getting a little too much, and too intense if you know what I mean. You shouldn’t worry because I told them I was coming over here…”
“And they allowed you?” Jake asked unsure.
“The last thing they care about is me at the moment, as they are still too worried about her” Belle murmured. “They are consumed with worry and it’s making the atmosphere depressing, and I have had my fill, so I needed a breather, and so I thought, why not come over here?”
“She has a name you know Belle,” Jake sighed. “And it’s definitely not her fault you know…”
“Still things were better before she came home…” Belle asked. “Why did she have to mess things up.” muttered as she fell onto the couch and looked up at her stern looking older brother. “Come off it, it’s not the end of the world that I am here is it?”
“I don’t need this Belle because I have too much on my plate,” Jake muttered.
“It’s just you and Eva, right?” Belle asked of her niece, as it still weirded her out to think that she was only thirteen years old and she had a niece and that she now had two married brothers, and life that was very different from those of her friends as she wasn’t the average newly minted teenager “Grace is in New York with her friends. When by the way, is she coming home?”
“You didn’t hear the latest? Jake asked annoyed.
“You meant there is more intrigue?” Belle muttered. “What else is new in this family. When has there ever been a time when something isn’t ruining our lives?”
“You’re jaded?” Jake asked.
“Wouldn’t you be if you had to live this life?” Belle muttered as her deepest wish was to transport back to a time where there wasn’t pain and suffering or to look into the eyes of her parents and know that they had seen the worst that life could offer and while they were still together, it wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t carefree.
“I guess it hasn’t been easy for you?” Jake muttered as they had long realized that Belle had seen the worst off it. As he had been able to get out early as he had unofficially lived with Grace once she and her family moved back to Roswell, and before those days, well, he had been always been visiting Las Cruces when he wasn’t working during that year in the immediate aftermath of everything and so he had been away from the darkness that had taken hold of the house and their parent’s marriage for a significant chunk of time, while meant that unfortunately for her Belle had grown up in a house that had her older sister self destructing because of the madness of someone who hated their family, and most of all their father.
“I tried to be better for it, but it’s not easy” Belle admitted as she knew despite her appearance as a jaded thirteen year old who had experienced too much still she had developed a genuine love of life with her friends and school mostly had been an cocoon. Unfortunately for her, her homelife was not one that could be considered carefree. Instead it was a movie-of-the week or mini-series every single day until Elizabeth vanished, and even then, it was not easy house to live in. “Living up to the shadows of the failures and pain in our family?”
“I am sorry for that, and I am sorry if you felt that I wasn’t there for you” Jake muttered as he did feel guilt that he had coped with his own pain by being absent more than he was present at their family home.
“You had to get through the day,” Belle muttered. “I know it, but it’s hard you know, because I have the sense that you and Elizabeth had a vastly different family than me or even Emily have been able to experience. Because as you know, everything is different?”
“Yeah it is,” Jake admitted. “We’re trying you know…”
“I know,” Belle acknowledged. “I know I shouldn’t take it out on our sister because I know she can’t help it, but I want it simple, and I know it is not simple…”
“No, it is not” Jake allowed.
“So, where is Grace?” Belle muttered as she prepared to hear whatever she was going to hear to signify that their lives were not so over it.
“Playing backup for our sister up at that mental hospital?” Jake muttered. “So, yeah, she’s not in New York…”
“Holy Shit,” Belle shouted as the words struck as her jaw dropped as it sunk in. “What the hell…”