Chapter 10 Part 3

   Once Skye was settled, Cyrus patted Kona in between the ears and walked backwards out of the room. He didn’t close her door all of the way but left it open a crack and went back downstairs. When he reached the front door not particularly conscience of what he was doing, he locked the door. To the left he looked into the dining room and to the right the living room. Everything was turned off except the steady glow of the wall lights above a few paintings that flanked either side of the wall mounted TV his father loved to watch Hockey on.

   Now he thought about his father…tried to remember things about him. He had noticed that as time went by some of the memories became blurry. Those little things that were taken advantage of at the time were fading. He could remember the important moments and they seemed like they were running in slow motion and at some points his father face would appear foggy in his mind. Cyrus shook this off and made his way to the kitchen to shut everything down. As he came in and cleaned off the table, put the dishes in the dishwasher and wiped everything down he noticed that Angel was still sitting by the back door facing him. She sat alert and at attention, her eyes never leaving his in that way when you can’t tell if she is going to snap or not until he asked the question she always answered the right way to.

  “Angel want a cookie?” he asked lovingly and she cocked her head to the right and her tail started to swish across the floor. Cyrus felt his body relax as he took the lid off of the dog cookie jar on the counter, reached in and pulled out a pink one. Angel stood up at once and began marching in place with only her front paws as her back ones stayed planted firmly. As smile crossed Cyrus’ lips and he patted his left thigh, a command that told the pit bull to come to him. With excitement she was trying to control she half pranced over to him and she looked like she was smiling. When she reached him she sat down  in a pristine way in front of him on her best behaviour and he held out his left hand then asked for her paw. Right away the dogs right paw was in his hand and he gave her the cookie she was staring at in his right.

   He felt normal in this moment, like nothing had changed and felt good. The words of his uncle came swimming back into his head and the dark feeling that was gone only a few seconds ago returned. The feeling of dread resurfaced and at the same time he felt different and a little bit excited and the thought of something unknown and new actually made him feel surprisingly good underneath all of the shock that he had tonight.

   As his thoughts turned in circles he felt tired suddenly and Angel knew and took the lead, walking past him down the hall and to the stairs where she waited for him to catch up. Usually Angel didn’t sleep with him or anybody, she was always on guard but it seems that tonight she was willing to do it.

   He was OK with that

Chapter 10 Part 2 - Revised

Cyrus

   They hadn’t talked much about the important things that Cyrus wanted to hear about but rather kept asking about a leather covered journal that had belonged to Deacon. Skye and Cyrus had both told Dom that they had never seen a journal like that or even knew that Deacon had one. “You have seen it before Skye” Dom said calmly “You have seen it many times before, you just don’t remember.” that had made Skye's anger start to surge but being drunk made her the feeling fizzle out before she had a chance to get vocally confrontational.

   Skye and Maury were pleasantly drunk and bickering like siblings by the time Dom decided they should leave. Just after 1am Cyrus stood up and figured that he should be the one to walk his mother carefully up to her room and put her to bed so she could sleep it off.  As he pushed his chair in Dominic reached over and picked up the box. “I’ll take care of this for a few days,” he said. Without a sound in the room Skye replied with conviction. “No.” There was no anger in her voice, she sounded stone cold sober, only her eyes showed how serious she was.

   This didn’t have any effect on the men in the room except Cyrus who felt the tension like an elastic band stretched to its limits and ready to snap.

   Dom held the box, looked Skye square in the eyes and seemed to grow taller. “Nothing will happen to it, and if anything it will make its way back to you anyway now that the connection between you has been made.” He took a deep breath and let out a long sigh and continued. “If it stays here Skye… she will take over and if she does there will be nothing we can do.” With his last words he attempted to make sure she understood the gravity of the situation yet knowing that her intoxication would hinder it. “If she takes over now, your children... will have... no mother…”

   That struck her like a hand across the face and she gave in reluctantly. “Fine…” she said as she teetered on her feet. “Take it, shove it up your ass and get out of my house!” she wheeled around too quickly only to stumble and fall against Chase, face first into his broad chest. Somehow he came up behind her without her knowledge while Dominic rolled his eyes  and stayed calm.

   As Chase held Skye up with his pecs and her elbow she laughed at her own clumsiness and Maury laughed with her as he resumed his mindless banter with her. Dominic took Cyrus aside. “Look kid, I have always liked you and after your father died it was ok for you to have a fuck it all attitude…” he paused and looked at Skye. “But now you need to be the man here, you need to step up and take care of your family.”

   Hearing this Skye piped up “I do just FINE!” she screamed and then shrunk back once she heard how loud she was reverberate in her own ears, “I do just fine.” She said this time in barely a whisper. Dominic pulled Cyrus further away. “You need to find that Journal,” he continued “I can tell you everything but without it you and you mother won’t understand how important or how far back all of this goes.” Cyrus was exhausted and confused but couldn’t help wanting to know more. “So…” he said “what happens when we fine this journal?” Dominic said simply “It will explain the past, but the future…well that’s a new one.”

   Dominic turned around to see Skye leaning heavily on Chase with her head still on his chest, eyes slowly closing as she no doubt listened to his heartbeat slow and steady. With a deep sigh Dom turned his attention back to Cyrus, “Put her to bed Cy and we’ll talk about this tomorrow.” Dominic himself sounded tired now and eager to get out of there with the white oak box held carefully in his hands. With a nod to Chase, Dominic moved towards the door and Chase gently turned Skye towards her son. Once he was confident that Cy had a good hold of her he turned to follow his boss. With her eyes still closed Skye stopped Chase as he tried to pass by and put her hand on his chest. He stopped immediately but said nothing as her hand slid down and dropped limply back to her side. 

   In a flash, Maury kissed the top of her head and staggered out the front door. On his way past Dominic he didn’t notice the tug as Dom snagged the car keys that were partially hanging out of his back pocket in one quick motion. Cyrus snapped out of his daze, put his arm around Skye and watched the tall, broad strawberry blonde man saunter to the front door and take the keys from his boss’s hand. It struck Cyrus then that he never realized how big Chase was.

With a slight bow Dominic left last and quietly closed the door.

   There were so many things going on in his mind at that point that he didn’t know where to begin…or end. Sky moaned softly and her weight shifted, losing her balance as she started to drift deeper. That got Cyrus moving, he walked her to the staircase and then step by step it must have taken almost 10 minutes to get her up to the top landing but he did it and shuffled her down to her bedroom.

   Once through her bedroom door he sat his mother on the bed gently. Skye was practically sleeping through the whole thing, only semi awake enough to not fall over and make him carry her. Cyrus balanced Skye with his left arm while he used his right to pull back the covers on the bed. To make things harder Kona jumped onto the bed and pinned the blankets down so he couldn't pull them back all of the way. Instead of fighting the large dog he pulled the blanket back as far as he could and slowly laid Skye down. He thought about putting her into her pajamas and then decided that things were awkward enough already.

   Skye was out as soon as her head hit the pillow and soft snores came from her in no time at all. Kona put his large head on Skye’s thigh and closed his eyes leaving Cyrus standing in the dimly lit room watching his mother like a parent would watch their child sleeping. With some certainty he knew that a shift had happened and somehow knew that he was going to have to be the parent now and had no idea how he was going to handle that.

Chapter 10 Part 1 - Revised

         In a house so run down it looked abandoned the old woman paced back and forth working an obvious path in her 70’s style orange shag carpeting as she flattened the pile. The walls were covered in paisley wallpaper and 2 china cabinets full of knick knacks gleamed and shook as she stomped by. Instead of pictures of Jesus or Elvis on her walls there were framed photos of wood nymphs and trees, of oceans and mountains.

   Each time she changed direction she would shake out her fingers and there would be an audible pop as her knuckles snapped. She paid it no mind and continued to pace relentlessly as her thoughts felt unsettled and she had never had a feeling of dread so deep inside of herself before.

   “Something’s wrong…” she mumbled to herself even as Jack the Blue Hyacinth Macaw sat on his perch preening himself and could have provided an audience. “This isn’t right…” continuing as she walked a solid track across the floor and couldn’t shake the feeling that she needed to do something, that something unexpected was about to happen. As the long-time Caretaker of the goddess in the stone, for what was going on for centuries now, she watched over the vessel that housed her Mistress.  As the long time protector she knew when her Mistress had been released to live her next cycle and also knew that this time things felt drastically different than they have in the previous ones.

    Just as she protected her charge, Gertie also knew that what she herself called a pack of thugs watched over living vessel in much the same manner except that when her Mistress was released then the her job was over.

   This time she worried, although she didn’t exactly know what she was worried about, she just felt that something was not quite right. She felt the energy shift when Skye made contact but by now she should be able to feel the living essence of the Goddess and she couldn’t feel anything past a hum of vibration.

   So often she would hear the goddess in her head, talking to her and keeping her company in her solitary world, the two of them alone and yet still having each other. Gertie knew that when Georgia took hold she was out of control, causing trouble while she was free, making the ‘Thugs’ jump and skitter to clean up her messes before she drew too much attention but for her it was a simple duty and she missed it whenever her time was over.  For so long she would see Skye and each time she had a different name but always the same face and always the same contented sense of self.

   Sometimes she would meet Skye face to face just like at the flea market and pass on the white oak box, other times the box found its way to its vessel all on its own.

   Gertie had always felt that it was safe... not this time though…this time she felt strange and knew she had to find the box with her mistress within it. Gertie knew but she had to make sure he Mistress was alright because her job was to keep her charge safe until she was in the right hands or body such as is was again. To lose that job meant that she would lose the magic that kept her alive all of this time.

 “Changing of the guard!” the Macaw’s shrill voice had startled Gertie out of her trace. As she turned exasperated and glowered at him… he chattered again “Changing of the guard!” the old witch couldn’t help smiling as she watched him while he had a cobalt blue feather stuck in his beak that he was trying to shake free. She shuffled her withered legs towards him, put her arm in front of his perch and held it there until he stepped forward. His claws pinched her skin lightly while he got a better grip on her and she liked the feeling.

    Gertie reached up and plucked the feather out of his beak, tossed it aside and stroked his head. He pushed into her dry boney thumb. “What do we do Jack?” she spoke softly nuzzling him with her knuckle. “Without her…we die…” As if understanding her sudden sadness Jack tilted his head and looked at her with one small yellow rimmed eye, extended his wings, proceeded to wrap his wings around her head and pecked her hard on the bridge of the nose before he quickly jumped back to his perch.

  

At first she was angry, but it subsided quickly as her mind continued to worry and the air around her vibrated slightly. She knew at that moment what she had to do. The old woman had never had to go on a long trip before and yet she knew that at this moment she needed to pack and leave…for how long…she didn’t know…all she knew was that she had to leave right away.                                                             

Chapter 9 Part 3 - Revised

   Skye shuddered and wondered why it felt so easy and natural for her to believe a story still yet unfinished and that normally she would consider complete bullshit and at the same time fight her logical side not to believe it at all. It felt like a patient mother waiting for her child’s screaming temper tantrum to stop as she had done on more than one occasion and also feel all wrapped up inside of her like a tornado completely destroying what she felt like she had always known and never had to question.

   She could feel the pull towards the box so strongly that she could barely keep her eyes off of it. She would sneak side long glances at it while Dom and Maury conversed beside her, and like she had an extra heartbeat that was pulsating from deep within her, she could feel calling, the urge…to touch it…to open it and place her hands upon the smooth stone. The thought that it was working so hard to get free didn’t occur to her until now and maybe because only now she had some knowledge of what it really was.

    The bank, the house, looking back on everything in the day from when she came in contact with it at the flea market up until now played in her mind over and over again. She realized that she had heard it before at some point but again, somehow in the back of her mind fought it for control over her thoughts. She knew without the warning from Dominic that if she gave into the feeling and touched it whether it was the right way or the wrong one, she really didn’t think it would matter how and that it would take her away from everything she knew and loved. At the same time she was curious to see if she would just be a voice inside this other’s beings head or cease to exist all together.

    “Oh my god, what am I thinking?” she said out loud and all the men turned to look at her. Chase was the only one who had been watching her already as he was reclined as much as possible in the wooden chair with his long legs out stretched and his arms crossed over his broad chest trying to gauge where her thoughts were. Skye paid no attention to it seeing as she was off in her own world trying to make heads or tails of what had been dumped in her lap.

   The other was almost forgotten, surprising because Skye was so deep in thought mostly about her and feeling and like it knew what was going on. Almost as soon as the though crossed her mind, the voice spoke up again. “Call me Georgia…not the Other.” it said softly. Skye must have made a face because the men in the room had gone silent and were all staring at her with concern. None of them looked shocked by it though and simply waited for more as Skye thought back at it “That’s an odd name for a Goddess, isn’t it?”

   “I like it…” Georgia mused “it seems so much more…me…my real name is so…long and unnecessary.” Skye stifled a small burst of hysterical laughter.  Even though they were all watching her Chase’s attention became more focused, he looked at her curiously and noticed a small change in her eyes that flashed like someone walking in front of a projector. He said nothing and instead made a note of it in his head before he turned his attention to Dominic. He could see on Dominic’s face that he had seen the same thing in her eyes that he had and knew they didn’t have much time.

   Skye began to feel lightheaded again and this time sick to her stomach. She felt disoriented and wavered slightly in her chair as she thought “What exactly are you?”

   Chase was still watching her and trying to assess the situation when he leaned into Dominic’s ear and whispered something. Dom acknowledged with a nod just as Maury decided it was time to pour something into those glasses. When he saw Skye face he stopped dead with the bottle hovered over her glass. They knew Skye was conversing with their trapped Goddess, her lack of attention to her surroundings and knew that they would lose Skye soon unless they prepared her. While Maury’s face showed worry and Chase was guarded only Dom looked somewhat relaxed and leaned forward onto the box with his forearms and smiled.

   A smile crossed Skye’s lips but she was paying no attention to what was going on around her being that she was so deep inside her own head. Maury looked at Dom and he motioned for Maury to pour bourbon into her glass while she stayed withdrawn. He didn’t say a word, just looked at the woman in front of him as her face changed from the beautiful young mother he knew to something for just a second that was beautiful and yet threatening. As he lifted the glass and took a sip he slid the box over to Chase a little harder than necessary.

   The movement of the box snapped Skye out of it because Georgia felt like she had left her suddenly and she had control of herself again. Her hand moved to her temple and rubbed absently. Just as she was about to ask Dominic exactly who or what Georgia was,  Cyrus shuffled in head and shoulders down and his hands stuffed in his pockets scuffing the floor with a booted foot as he made his way towards his mother. He didn’t look at anyone in the room until he reached her.

    Extending his arm, arm he rested his hand on her shoulder briefly as if to reassure Skye that he was there for her but said nothing. He was still upset about being run out of the room and couldn’t stand to sit and wait any longer. He pulled a stool over from the center island until it was right behind her. Then he took a seat.

   He sat back on the stool and leaned over to rest his forearms on his thighs and still be able to touch his mother, he looked hard at Dominic but spoke respectfully. “I know that you all think I’m too young for this because I’m only 15 and maybe I am too young but want to know how my dad fits into everything.” His voice was shaky but he managed calm tone, “I need to know and if we can then I want to know how we stop this from happening so my sisters and I don’t lose our mom… we’ve already lost our dad.”

   Dominic was still smiling and Chase merely shrugged. “Well Cyrus…you’re more like your dad than I thought.” He reached in front of Chase and pulled the box back over in front of him. Cyrus whose temper had seemed more easily ramped up these days began to get defensive feeling like he wasn’t being taken seriously. Dom lifted his nose to the boy and inhaled sharply, “Sit down pup…I think things will be different this time around.”

Chapter 9 Part 2 - Revised

  Skye listened to the rest of Dominic’s story with an expressionless face. Elbows on the table, hands clasped in front of her with her forehead resting on her knuckles as she fought the voice in her head. The mocking laughter that echoed inside of her skull made her feel like she was slowly going crazy. Even though she found it so hard to believe any of what she had been told, she couldn’t deny the feeling of not being alone inside. She didn’t even realize when Dominic had stopped talking because she was so caught up inside of herself. It wasn’t until Chase squatted down in front of her, placed both hands on either side of her chair and turned it so that she was facing towards him that she had even noticed that all conversation had stopped.

    His aqua blue eyes were solid on hers as he searched her face. “How long have you known me?” he asked her softly but his voice still held the rough edge she associated with him even although he barely spoke.

   She blinked… and looked down into those blue/green eyes, the colour of tropical sea that is waiting for someone to swim lazily through it.

    “Is this a trick question?” she replied and thought for a moment, “because… I think I’ve known you what almost 20yrs? Unfortunately I’m being told I’ve known you a lot longer than that and I’m sorry if my memory is shot on the subject.” The frustration in her voice was so hard to hide that she wasn’t actively trying to hide it at all. “Not that I would be able to remember anything from before then from what you are all saying.” She tried repeatedly to reach back to the memories of exactly when she met him and couldn’t recall that they had even been introduced.

   Chase tilted his head slightly and stole a glance at Maury who was standing behind Skye rummaging through the cupboards looking for glasses although he had no need to even open the cupboard doors as the cupboards were white with glass inlays. He could see right through them but Chase figured his nerves had him not thinking quite clearly at the moment. After a minute of sliding this and moving that, he finally came away with a bottle of red wine. Annoyed at the noise Skye snapped, “Is there something you need in there Maury?” and he stiffened. Immediately she felt bad, he had never been anything other than respectful to her despite what he had told her. Then she noticed the bottle that Maury was holding was one that Deacon had bought for them to celebrate their first year of being successful business owners. She felt the sting but recovered quickly.

    Maury stopped in his tracks and froze confused about his next move he looked from left to right trying to find his words. “Um…yes I was just looking for glasses… I think you need a drink.” Under his breath he mumbled “I know I do…” as soon as the words were out of his mouth he could feel Chases gaze hot on him making the fine hairs stand on end.

                         

   Skye stood up oblivious to the exchange, unapologetically she bumped Chase out of her way with her hip, strode over and took the wine bottle out of Maury’s hand and put it back in the wine rack. She whispered softly to herself. “I must have been transferred to a parallel universe when I woke up.” Dominic quickly replied, “No Sweetheart, you weren’t. This…is…real and so is what I’m saying.” She didn’t turn around she continued to shuffled sideways a few steps and pulled a bottle of Bourbon down off of the top shelf that held all the hard liquor and handed it to Maury instead. Seeing this as an even better choice he took 4 tumbler glasses from the cupboard he had finally found with the glasses and with an equal amount of excitement and placed one glass in front of each of the chairs on the table.

   Chase hadn’t yet moved from his position of squatting in front of Skye’s chair but as he saw that she was returning to the table he rose and stood aside for her to sit back down.

   “Maury…” he said in that soft, rough voice of his but with authority and the smaller man immediately slumped his shoulders at and looked at him while Chase continued. “Go outside and tell the guys they can go and we’ll fill them in later, before you drink that.” Maury felt lifted at the thought of being the one to issue an order. He thought at first that he was going to be banished from the rest of the conversation.  With his head held high he strode to back door, slipped out and relayed the message.

   Skye put the bottle down in the middle of the table. “We’ll let’s see…I passed out, woke up to find out that apparently I’m not who I think I am, was told I was never supposed to have children,” she paused as her heart filled with sadness from the latter and continued. “You say I’m supposed to be some ancient Goddess but that she is trapped in that box right there, I have to share my body and mind with…that...” She pointed to the white oak box still situated in front of Dominic. “Is that straight so far?” Dominic nodded so she kept going.

   “My husband…the love of my life you are also saying, was sent to find be and bring me back to you and that all of you” she waved to the men dispersing outside, “Are here to protect me…and/or kill me. Am I right?” This time Chase responded with a nod.

   She felt pretty calm despite the sense of overwhelming fear that flowed over her. “Ok…so what is it your protecting me from and why?” suddenly she thought of a better question. “Wait!” she exclaimed, “You said that you have been protecting me for centuries!” As the words came out of her mouth she felt foolish. What the fuck am I doing? She thought to herself and that odd voice replied. You’re hearing the truth… it echoed…

Chapter 9 Part 1 - Revised

   As Skye felt her heart sink at the thought of not having her children, Cyrus sat on the stairs listening. His hands were in tight fists as he listened to the murmurs coming from the kitchen and even though they spoke softly he heard every word. His gaze was fixed on the front door but his ears tuned to what was going on in the other room. He didn’t understand how any of it was possible but knew that it was impossible for him to believe that he had heard Maury right about his mother having no reproductive organs. It didn’t take a genius to put that together, yet his curiosity was getting the better of him and all he wanted was to know more.

   He fought every urge to storm back in and tell them all that he had a right to be there as the man of the house or to leave and never come back but there was a that part of him that wanted to know more…a lot more and that part wouldn’t let him do it. He took a silent breath, scared to be noticed somehow and loosened his fists trying to relax even though he couldn’t wrap his brain around everything turning in his head. For the first time in what seemed like forever, he wished his father was there. One of his big questions was that if those men were protecting his mom then what were they?

   As if reading his thoughts he felt a small hand on his shoulder and turned to see Kyra sitting behind him on the step, the look in her eyes seemed to be wishing for the very same answers that he wanted. The pain in her eyes confirmed that she wished their father was there too.

   Cyrus gently patted her hand and gave her an awkward smile to which she smiled back at him. To see her that way warmed him. “What do we do?” he said softly to her. All she did was shrug and then from behind him wrapped her arms around her big brothers neck.

   Cyrus stood up then; made sure he had a good grip on Kyra and piggybacked his sister back up the stairs to her room. While taking 2 steps at a time he made a mental note that the hallway seemed darker than usual as he walked towards Kyra’s door. Like the lights had dimmed or a bulb had blown out in the hallway fixture. When he passed Savannah’s door he saw her playing with her dolls humming softly as she did when she was creating her make-believe worlds in pinks and blues with unicorns an dragons.

   With his hands holding Kyra close he leaned forward, pretended to charge like a bull using his head to push open her bedroom door. Running to the bed he spun around and tossed her down onto the soft mattress. At the same time he saw that her sketchbook was open on the desk.  “What are you drawing now Shortstop?” He asked as he moved towards it to look Kyra bolted off of the bed in a heartbeat and raced her brother to the desk. She picked up the sketchbook and in one smooth motion, threw it in the open drawer and slammed it shut with a speed Cyrus admired and yet found odd. The pictures on her walls fluttered with the force of the breeze she created.

   Cyrus told himself that everything Kyra did these days was odd though and thus normal for her.

   He stopped abruptly raised his hands in the air and said, “OK, OK I’ll leave it alone!” Kyra stood firm holding the drawer shut behind her with a look on her face that said only ‘I’m Sorry’ but Cyrus didn’t even notice as he turned and retreated from the room to return to his post for some more eavesdropping on the conversation in the kitchen.

  

   Once he closed the door and his footsteps faded away. Kyra stepped away from the desk and went over to curl up on her bed. No sooner than she did, the drawer she had put her sketchbook in slid open slowly on its own. From inside of it the book appeared and tumbled end over end out onto the floor where it sat vibrating slightly and then stopped moving altogether.

   Inside Kyra was terrified enough to scream but couldn’t find the voice for it. She ran the rest of the way across the room and jumped on her bed, pulled her knees up to her chin and remained there as she watched the book turn over and over until it reached the bottom of the bed and continue the movements until it sat on the end of the bed.

The book then opened itself, shuffled pages rapidly until it came to a fresh blank page and she felt the shadows circling around her; she felt the anxiousness in the wake of their movements urging her to pick up her pencil. Telling her a story but a story she didn’t want to know… without even realizing it the book was in her lap and a pencil in her hand.

She knew what it wanted…

She knew she had to do it…

Draw…

  

    

Chapter 8 Part 3 - Revised

   Cyrus reacted before Skye did. “What the fuck does that mean!” Skye recoiled like she had been slapped and looked at her son shocked to the core. He moved towards Dominic quickly, but even faster than him were Chase and Maury. In a flash they were standing right in front of him blocking his way. Chase with an arm outstretched preventing Cyrus from going any further and Maury blocking him in on the right side between himself, Chase and the table. Cyrus tried to bat his arm away but stayed where he was, looking from Chase to Maury with loathing and more anger than he thought possible. Skye was taken aback to say the least that Cyrus had acted that way and was also surprised at her lack of feeling about Dom’s last statement. When she opened her mouth to say something she had the feeling that there was nothing to say…just to listen.

   Dominic was about to begin again and this time before he spoke, Skye put up one finger to stop him for a moment. She turned to Cyrus and said as only a mother could “Cyrus, please take your sisters upstairs. I need a moment alone with your Uncle.” Her tone was flat and held no edge but the intention was clear that this was not a choice but an order that he had no other option but to leave. Kyra stood up quickly with no hesitation like she didn’t want to be there anymore anyway and reached across the table to take her little sisters’ hand.

    She didn’t want to hear any more anyway but Cyrus stood stock still looking at his mother with his mouth open. “Wh… what?” he stammered. Skye saw the look of hurt pride and disapproval in his eyes and although she felt bad but this she didn’t think this was something that they should hear about until she could piece together the validity of the apparently facts she was being told. Not until she got the whole story anyway and figured out why Dom was telling her this now and what it all meant for what’s left of her family.

   “Please Cyrus; I’ll fill you in later… I promise but the girls are scared enough already and I don’t want them to hear any more of this after Uncle’s clear insensitivity on the subject he just mentioned.” She saw the flash of frustration in his eyes and then the quick change to disappointment and sadness and as much as she felt horrible about it, she knew that he was still too young for this even if he didn’t think so. “Please Cyrus…now” Right then he looked like the 6 year old boy she remembered on the verge of a temper tantrum, about to stomp his feet and yell and scream but he was bigger now and as if he knew where her mind was he straightened, lifted his head, squared his shoulders and marched out of the room without looking back. The girls trailed behind him walking hand in hand.

    The silence that filled the room was loud.

   Skye sighed as she laid her head in her hands and mental steeled herself to hear more. Surprisingly calm, she lifted and turned her attention back to Dominic just as a feeling of distrust bubbled up within her, so small but there none the less. “Would you care to explain what you mean by that Dominic?” she said steadily as she stared at her hands flipping them over repeatedly looking for some kind of a difference in them. He smiled at her then and she felt the ping of anger.

    “You would not technically be the one we killed Skye,” as he tapped the box. “It’s the one in here that we would have to get rid of and have done so on more than one occasion.” As much as Skye had trouble and didn’t want to believe any of this, she felt deep down that something was familiar about what he was saying. She still trusted the man in front of her because Deacon had. He had unwavering trust in Dominic and there had to be something to what he was saying and yet, at the same time inside her, there was a conflict going on.

   He continued… “The being… inside of the statue… in this box has no regard for anyone other than herself. She was cursed because of that disregard after she killed the coven of Witches that were her followers. She left one alive to provide for her and to keep worshipping her but the witch tricked her and trapped her in here.” He tapped the box once more.

   “Lies.” The voice hissed.

   A slight inclination of Skye’s head did not go unnoticed by Dominic. “You…can hear her right now can’t you? Inside of your head?” He asked. Skye’s quick flare of confusion told him he was right. “You’ve never heard her before have you.” More of a statement of fact as opposed to a question, he continued. “You hear her now because you have the statue here with you and you have physically touched it.” His fingers travelled across the top of the box. “No matter where we take her, she always finds a way back to you. Sometimes sooner than later but this time around it took a very long time.”

   Skye was very wary and knew there was a whole lot more to be said but only had one question despite everything she had heard so far.

   “Why did he say ‘there were never kids before’?” At that it was Dominic turn to look a bit uncomfortable as she could see the wheels turning in his head. He looked at Chase before he continued and up until now Maury hadn’t said anything. “May I boss?” Maury asked and Dom hesitated before he waved a hand for him to proceed. Maury took a deep breath and let it out in a heavy sigh. “Skye…we’ve know each other for a very long time and we’ve always had kind of a…” he paused and to another breath. “Brother and sister type of relationship. So I’m going to be as honest as I can with you.”

    Skye must have shown confusion yet again because the raised eyebrows in the room implied that they could see in her face that she did not believe that at all, but Maury continued. “You couldn’t have children, you had no reproductive organs. Having kids should have been impossible and we all knew it.”

    Inside her head a distant insane laughter tickled the back of her mind...

Chapter 8 Part 2 - Revised

   Skye could only sit, stare and barely blink at Dominic. There were silent conversations going on all around her but the thoughts swirling in her head were the only ones she heard. “What, you don’t believe him?” asked an unfamiliar voice, yet it felt familiar and almost warm. The memories were rising and falling like breathing in her head, one would come to the surface as another one faded “Oh come now Skye…as they call you now” the voice teased “You have always felt I was here and I always will be…” It paused and whispered to her softly “set me free…”

  Skye could feel the words taunting her, feeling them swirl inside of her but was more concerned with the memories she couldn’t latch on to and dismissed it as nerves. As she tried and tried to pull up something of her past before Deacon or her childhood and parents Skye felt like something was there and she couldn’t quite grasp it. More things came and went in a faded haze that didn’t make sense. Clothing that wasn’t right, a landscape slightly changed and she could feel herself starting to get agitated again and then little noises from the room started seeping in like a TV being turned up. She looked around and suddenly wanted everyone to go away, she needed time so she could understand what she was being told. Wanting to scream and rip her hair out but doing neither she let her eyes had settle on the white milky box in front of Dominic, the sounds quickly evaporated and was then replaced by another sound.

   Thump-thump she heard and her body began to replace the tension filling her muscles with soft vibration and she felt more serene.  Thump-thump she heard again and then somehow felt this one deep within her like a pulse. The box appeared to rise and fall again like it had before and this time she was more aware of it, more aware of how it didn’t seem to move like wood should and briefly wondered if anyone else saw what was happening. How it looked soft and wanting to be touched and caressed. Skye leaned forward with her hand outstretched wanting to do just that.

Just then there was a loud smack on the table and she jumped.

   Skye was no idea that she had been holding her breath until she tried to gasp and coughed out the stale air. Inside for a moment she felt lost and disoriented as well as unsettled in her skin. She chalked up the thumping to being her own heart pounding in her ears. Too much was going on and she wanted it all to stop but more than ever she wished the love of her life was here to make her feel safe.

  “It’s not your heart…” whispered the voice inside her head and she barely resisted the urge to shiver.

                                                                  ***

   Dominic had heard enough of the racket going on around him, it was growing louder and louder after she startled Skye out of the trance he knew she had fallen under. Cyrus was yelling at everyone to get out but the men stood their ground and disregarded him. Chase was trying to calm Kyra while she was reacting to the tension in the room and sitting with her knees pulled up under her chin on the chair rocking back and forth. He could feel that something was off with her but not spending much time with her made him hesitated because he didn’t know if this was normal for her since Deacon was gone. He had no idea that she was feeling the Shadow coming and there was almost a shimmer in the air around her mother that she could see and thus scaring her more.

    Chase had approached her quietly and rested a hand gently on her shoulder as he squatted down to meet her eyes, he could see tears beginning to form. He took a finger, placed it under her chin and then turned her to face him. “It’s ok,” he said softly. “It will be quiet soon.” Kyra took a slow shaky breath and although she felt like she had no reason at all to trust him… soon found she had no reason not to either.

   Dominic sighed heavily stood up and barked at the crowd of men that had spread out in in the small space creating even less of it. “Chase, Maury you stay here, the rest of you go wait out back until we’re done with this.” No one argued and a few even seemed relieved. One by one they moved out the back door as they grumbled to each other but were otherwise grateful for the extra room and to be out of the tense kitchen.

   After a moment Kyra slowly stopped rocking and lowered her feet to the floor, Cyrus had stopped yelling but continued to pace behind his mother mumbling under his breath that she couldn’t hear and Savannah as she still sat on her mother’s lap held Skye’s hands in hers patting them lightly and hummed.

   Skye removed her hands from Savannah’s and leaned forward on her elbows as they were around either side of her daughter. “Ok, I don’t understand. What you’ve said it sounds crazy!” frustrated she added “You’re cryptic and shady Dominic so just tell me the truth…Please…or are you just trying to rattle me.” The exhaustion was coming back and Dominic knew he would just have to spit it out. He let out another heavy sigh and felt another 100 years older. “Like I said…you are a vessel trapped in this form and cursed to live and die over and over again. In the statue you are so eager to touch it the spirit of the goddess that will take you over and causing you to no longer exist on this plane and she has control of your body and mind while she lives.” He paused and motioned for Chase to get him a glass of water.

   “You never age,” he continued “You never change. When you die you come back on the first full moon afterwards and usually we have someone there to meet you.” Chase returned and handed the glass to Dom. He took a big gulp of water. “The statue in this box houses the soul of essentially both souls at separate times because you cannot inhabit your body and mind at the same time.”

   Skye shook her head slowly, disbelievingly and at the same time felt like there was a stitch of truth in his words and that absolutely terrified her. “How do you know this and why should I believe any of it?” He took a quick look across the faces around him and replied soflty, “Because we’ve been looking after you for a long time Skye, we were sent to protect you in this form…and if necessary kill you in the next.”

Chapter 8 Part 1 - Revised

      Skye felt the sudden shock, and confusion ripple through her. Why would Deacon have been looking for her and why would Dom want him to look for her? She tilted her head is such a way as to say that she didn’t understand what he was saying at the same time trying to shake the cobwebs from the memory of that night. She remembered being wet and cold, ducking into the club to use the bathroom and get warm but the images were still not quite there and she couldn’t quite make things out.

   “I don’t understand…” she began slowly “how were you looking for me when I didn’t even know you?” Cyrus lightly put his hand on his mother’s shoulder. She didn’t understand anything that was happening at all but she could see that he didn’t either and yet he wanted to be her rock for this situation and protect her.

   Dom let out a deep sigh. “I know you, because we have been through this before.” He paused and ran a big hand through his dark hair “we have been doing this for a very long time Skye.” He said as he held her gaze and yet had sympathy in his eyes. Skye opened her mouth to say again that she didn’t understand but Chase held up a hand to stop her and she shut it. Dom sighed and reached across the table to take her hand but Skye pulled away afraid of everything suddenly, especially him.

   “Dominic, please just tell me what’s going on!” she begged wringing her hands together, still too tired and drained to move but she could feel her energy level rising and her temperature in her cheeks as well but not wanting to lash out with all of the strangers in her house. “Okay calm down,” Dominic raised his hands in submission.  “You would figure that with as many times as we’ve had this conversation it would be easier by now.” He sighed. From behind him a nameless man with scruffy blonde hair answered “This is different this time… there were never kids before boss.”

   Skye’s angry stare would have bore a hole straight through that man if he had said one more word so she turned her anger back towards the man with the story and Mr. More Confusion shut up and stepped back.

    “Dominic, please just spit it out…” She was exasperated already and he put both hands flat on the table in front of him so he could look her in the square in the eye. “Fine but I’m ripping off the Band-Aid off here…There will be no pussy-footing around it even though the children are here.” He grumbled as Cy did the same mumbling, “I’m not a child.” under his breath. “You my sweet niece-in-law, the reason I was looking for you is because… you are not really who you think you are.”

Skye laughed and shook her head. “Ya sure Dom, who am I then exactly?” It felt good for her to laugh after this past few days in crazyville. “Come on Dom can we be serious here please?” She stared at him hard and as he stayed serious you could hear a pin drop in the room and she started to worry as fear began to crawl up her spine. Sensing her fear Dominic continued. “Simply put you are the vessel for a goddess that we…” he gestured to the men behind him then continued “are sworn to protect. For hundreds of years we have guided and protected you while your goddess spirit slept” He tapped his fingers on the box but said nothing more while he tried to gauge Skye’s reaction.

  Skye’s rage had hit the roof and boiled over. “This is ridiculous! Are you all crazy?” She screamed, “Get out of my house unless you’re going to tell me the truth!” she ordered and with a sideways glance at Chase, the twelve men standing in the kitchen dropped down to one knee and dropped their heads from hers to the floor. Dominic stayed where he was and cocked and eyebrow in a way that said SEE?

   The children said nothing. Savannah didn’t understand and clapped her hands at the display. Kyra sat wide eyed and looked around the room as Cyrus shook his head slowly from side to side. “She’s right you’re crazy all of you!” he said boldly to Dominic. “How could you come in here and tell my mom all that bullshit!” Skye could feel Cyrus getting very tense and when he began to stand up she gently placed her hand on his arm and silently urged him to sit back down. After her initial outburst she felt like something Dom was saying rung true even though she didn’t really believe what he was saying.

   As she looked into his eyes, the same deep serious eyes that Deacon had she gathered her emotions and nodded for him to continue his story.

   “You never remember where you were or what you did or who you were when you come back but, you always know to trust us when we find you.” He shifted a little in his seat and motioned for the men to rise. “That particular time you were a bit more lost than usual and Deacon had to really convince you that you just had too much to drink and he would take you somewhere to sleep it off.” He paused and let out a heavy sigh, “He was not supposed to fall in love with you…Usually he would find you and bring you back into the fold whether it was give you a job or be your friend or even watch you have other relationships with other men. I guess he couldn’t take that anymore.”

Chapter 7 Part 3 - Revised

          The paramedics were leaving just as car after car began to pull up to the house. Maury was leaning up against the front door frame shaking each man’s hand as they approached but not letting them enter the house until Dom gave the OK. Dominic hadn't prepared Skye and the family for what was coming yet, so he made them wait.

    Inside Skye was sitting at the kitchen table now, still looking very pale but the confusion that was at the forefront of her mind now was why Chase and Dom made the kids sit at the table with her to get settled in to listen to some story. She didn’t have much to do with the man, that was Deacon’s territory but she figured that she understood why he was here now with the way she had collapsed and all. Couldn’t blame him for that, he had already lost his nephew.

    As they were seating themselves, Cyrus was strong on Skye’s right, Kyra on the left and Savannah right on her lap with her head resting gently on Skye’s chest. Dom surveyed the faces in front of him, looking at each one of them with a degree of concern what Skye thought was love. He tried to lighten them up with humour “Damn what a good looking bunch!” he boasted and that was the truth. With Skye’s looks and Deacon’s eyes Cyrus was classically handsome while Kyra had her father’s blonde hair and blue eyes and looked just like him. Little Savannah had dark hair and green eyes just like her mother but her father’s regal nose and full lips. Looking at Dominic now Skye could see where the nose came from and now that she was looking at them Chase had the same nose too.

   Skye looked tired but smiled as she gathered her scattered thoughts together and because Dom could always make her laugh no matter how big and scary he was trying to be. Even though they were not close like he and Deacon were the effort still made the smile that she showed him genuine.

    Dominic sensed that things needed to move quickly as he didn't want to keep Skye from resting but he knew that without the information he had to give her, there was someone else that wouldn’t be resting much longer either and that was going to be put off as long as possible. At the same time he felt that after she heard what was happening to her she might not rest again anyway. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and looked at the white oak box that still sat ominously on the table in front of him and with a slight nod at Chase he went and stood with his back against the island right behind Skye and Savannah.

     A golden twinkle caught the corner of Chase’s eye, he lowered and tilted his head towards the glint. When he saw where it came from he rolled his eyes but kept his composure and shifted a look over to Dom in silent conversation. Dom leaned down and the statue was sitting pristinely underneath it. When he looked under the table again all the eyes at the table followed suit and he knew that this particular statue was moving towards its host bit by bit. He cursed and looked back at Chase.

    “Savannah honey?” Dom said softly. “Can you pick that up for me please and bring it here?” Eager to help Sav hopped down off of her mother’s lap and crawled under the table. Skye bent sideways and held her hands out. “Give it to me sweetie and I’ll give it to Uncle.” At the same time Dominic and Chase yelled “NO!”

    Successfully scaring the shit out of everyone at the table, Skye jacked up and glared at Dom. “What the fuck!” she yelled. Sadly she was ignored at the moment as Chase placed the box on the table directly in front of Dominic and he opened the lid. “Good Girl Sav, can you put it in the box for me?” the little girl did as she was told without hesitation. Skye’s frustration was about to shoot through the roof when she saw Chase pick up his cell phone and hit the speed dial. With both hands spread before her on the kitchen table, fingers splayed she took a deep breath. “Dominic…you better tell me what the hell is going on…right NOW!” Her heart was like a jackrabbit in her chest and she wanted answers as well of some kind of a normal day.

    Outside, without needing a full ring Maury answered his cell because he already knew who it was. “Ready?” Maury asked.  Chase glanced at the family at the table and replied “Ya we’re good to go now.” As he hung up the phone the front door opened and a gust of fresh air spilled into the house. Skye’s first thought was that of course, Maury was coming in and then she heard footsteps…lots of them and took another deep breath and put her forehead on the table lightly banging it on the wood. In the back of her mind she thought all this breathing was bullshit but the fresh air did succeed in making her feel much more steady and despite the trail of men entering her house she felt surprisingly calm.

   One after another they kept coming until 13 of them stood in her kitchen making it seem so much smaller, their size sucking up the space. Skye raised her head and looked at Dom with raised eyebrows. “Do you mind telling me now why you have a bunch of strange men in my kitchen?” Skye recognized a few of them as they had been around for what seemed like forever but she had never really spoken to any of them except for Dominic, Chase and Maury. Carl and Max were brothers that had helped Deacon renovate the space for the antique shop and that was as much as she knew about them.

   The rest of them she didn’t know and didn’t seem to care to know right now about who they were as much as why they were there. Dominic tapped the top of the box and took a breath before he spoke. “Skye…do you remember when you met Deacon?”

    She was somewhat thrown by the question not knowing what this had to do with her late husband so she spoke carefully “Yes, I met him on the Island in that bar with the big purple neon sign.” She was vague on purpose and paused in thought for a moment before continuing. “The Shades...I think that’s what it was called. Why?”

   He tensed slightly but Skye caught it but he asked anyway without pause “Do you know why he was there that night?”  Thinking of Deacon wasn’t helping her, Skye was getting more agitated and didn’t like the feelings she was having along with the over abundance of testosterone in her house, not to mention the topic of her meeting Deacon at all. She did know however that if Dom was asking these questions then there was a reason for it. 

   One of the men at the back of the room started to fidget with one of the kitchen drawers. She inclined her head just a fraction and shot him an annoyed glare and started tapping her fingers on the table just to keep herself moving. He stopped immediately. Thoughts began to run through her head of that night. Images circled but stayed just outside of her periphery in her mind and she couldn't seem to pull them in.

   “Skye!” Dominic’s voice interrupted her train of thought and was loud enough to make everyone at the table jump. “Do you remember?” He repeated and she forced herself to take hold of the memory. It hurt but she tried put the faded edges together.

    “He was looking for someone...” she said with some uncertainty. “He was there because you sent him to find someone… I think." The memory of it hurt but she felt confident in that reason but unsure of why it was so hard to remember it. “It was funny though, I don’t think he ever found them.” Her eyes began to well up and a lump was forming in her throat but she looked at Dominic and the force of the sadness in her gaze made him sigh. "Yes Skye..." he began.  "He was looking for someone for me, he was looking for you." 

Chapter 7 Part 2 - Revised

   

   Dominic came up behind Kyra so quietly that she jumped when his hand touched her shoulder and she dropped the piece of paper.

   “Oops! I’m sorry kiddo, didn’t mean to scare you.”  He said as he was reached out for the crumpled paper that she dropped. She bent quickly to grab it before him but then got distracted by movement from Skye. Her mother was calling her and that was more important so Dom got to it first. Reluctantly she gave up for the moment thinking he wouldn’t understand it either or he just wouldn’t look at it and move on. Kyra went to her mother who was still on the floor but sitting up now and drinking a glass of water as one of the paramedics removed the blood pressure gauge from her arm.

   Dominic wasn’t going to unfold the paper that Kyra dropped at first. He was just going to toss it on the table until he caught something out of the corner peeking out from the crumpled edges. There was a slight hesitation in his hands before he opened it as if he knew what it was going to be. The feeling of familiarity settled over him like a blanket and once he decided that he was going to invade his niece’s privacy he did so with a sad heart if this turned out to be what he thought it was. As he unfolded the edges he did his best to keep the look of dread from his face. Once he unravelled the single white piece of paper and saw what was written upon it his thoughts took a more serious survey of what had happened this morning.

   His eyes moved from Skye across the faces of all of the children standing protectively near her.  Cyrus being the man of the house and nodding in the places where the EMT’s told him he had to watch for things, Savannah trying to get the EMT to take her blood pressure and Kyra wrapped in her mother’s arms and was the only one watching him. She had seen him open the crumpled mess of paper. He was pretty sure she had no idea what it meant but he could tell in her face that she knew it was important. He all but confirmed that for her now by his stone cold reaction to what he held in his hands. Dom gave her a slight nod and turned quickly to head out the glass door to the backyard and see Chase.

   He was moving so quickly that he stumbled over a loose board that was kicked up in the deck but he recovered quickly without losing a step. The noise startled Angel who was concentrating so intently on the pepperoni ends that were coming her way and Kona briefly registered that someone was behind him shown only by how he tilted his head and scented the air before returning his attention to the human with salty goodness as he sat patiently in front of Chase waiting for more pepperoni to make an appearance.

   Chase smiled at the sudden clumsiness of his boss and pushed himself off from the railing to stand his full height of 6’ 2’’ in respect of this same boss he learned to pick out his tells so that he was on the same page with Dom’s emotions. It didn’t take long to see that as Dom got closer he seemed more than agitated and that was never a good thing.

“Is Skye ok? Did something else happen?” he asked quickly.  Dom stopped, turned towards the door with a look of momentary confusion almost forgetting why they were there in the first place and turned back to Chase.

  “Um…No, she’s fine.” He glanced at the door again and this time when he turned back to Chase he held out the crumpled paper to him. “She’s fine, for now anyway.” He walked over to one of the deck chairs and sat down across from Chase in one of them, put his elbows on his knees and head in his hands.

   Chase opened up the mangled page and saw the three symbols staring at him. His head came up quickly and his eyes also glanced towards the door. His head tilted back looking up at the sky made him feel helpless and small in the universe. Chase now understood the look in Dom eyes and knew that things were going to change again. They will lose another member of the family and have three kids to raise on top of it. “When?” he asked, “How long has she had this?” He paused again “How long has she had HER?” his voice was rising, getting more agitated.

   “Shhhh…” Dom said seemingly calmer and more controlled than when he had first come outside. “Kyra had this and dropped it but,” He looked around the yard and continued, “I don’t think she knows what she has yet.” He took a deep breath and sat up straighter.

   Chase finished his last thought for him out loud. “That’s why this happened.” And Dominic shrugged and said matter-of-factly, “Maybe, although we have seen this way too many times to think it’s a random occurrence and NOT know what this is.” Dom turned his gaze back to the family in the kitchen that were now saying goodbye to the EMT’s. He assumed that Skye flat out refused to go to the hospital against the recommendation of the professionals.

  Both men pulled themselves together and got over their initial shock rather quickly and settled into a damage control mode. “Where is she?” Chase asked carefully. “I can get rid of her before it’s too late.” This time when Dominic looked at the door Kyra was standing there right up close staring at them. I quick thought raced through his head ‘That’s kind of creepy.’ He promptly squashed it.

   He sighed and shook his head before he replied, “I think it’s too late for that son. I think Skye has already engaged without even knowing it and that door is open now.”  His eyes locked back onto Kyra and thought of Deacon. They needed him for this.

   Kyra opened the door and the two men watched her carefully but she felt like she needed to be there…with them…she could feel that they knew something and she wanted to know too. It wasn’t just morbid curiosity that had her wondering what was going on. She could feel in every muscle and see it in every twitch that something big was happening…she just couldn’t ask. She stepped slowly and cautiously towards them almost shyly until Dominic waved her over and patted the chair beside him.

   She picked up her pace and sat down quickly before they could change their minds about her being there. Chase held out the symbols to her. “Do you know what these are?” He asked her. Kyra shook her head and turned to Dominic as he spoke next. “Do you know where it came from?” Again she shook her head but then she stood up, walked over to the glass door once again and pointed inside. Dom, Chase and the two dogs in tow followed her and followed the direction she was pointing in. Once they saw her pointing at the White Oak Box sitting on the table they knew they were too late.

   “Fuck,” Dom cursed and gave an apologetic shrug to Kyra. He ran a massive hand through his dark hair. “It’s time to call a family meeting.” He said to Chase without taking his eyes off of the white box. “Get Maury to make the calls and let them know they’re all back on duty…vacation time is over.” Kyra didn’t understand why the stress level was ramped up after her mom was ok and that piece of paper seemed to make them even more stressed out but she watched Chase immediately go through the house and did what Dominic wanted.

   After Chase disappeared through the door Dom looked down at the beautiful little girl in front of him and put his hand on Kyra’s shoulder. “Do you want to hear a story kiddo?” He asked and she nodded emphatically.