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Ugh. It's way too early to be up, I thought as I walked down one of the dark tunnels in the cave system where we lived. If only Doc would stop supporting that disgusting alien, I could move back into my own room, away from my mother's snoring. But no, he just had to insist on spending time with that worm and treating it like a human.
Suddenly, I heard a feeble voice coming from the bathing room. “Somebody, help!” I rushed to it; someone could be in danger! On the way, I quickly grabbed a flashlight.
Once there I saw two figures in the dark. One was huge, while the other was definitely female. Maybe it was Lily! Or Paige! I didn’t hesitate to turn on the flashlight.
I turned the light towards the dark figures, only to get it faintly reflected back at me. My heart stopped a second. It was the thing. She was holding onto a sliding, unconscious Kyle against one of the pillars. A huge hole had formed in the floor and was almost beneath him.
“What the hell are you doing?” I yelled angrily. The thing’s eyes went wide as she saw who I was. What was she doing with Kyle? Kill him? No, she wouldn’t have shouted if that was the case. It didn’t matter, I had to get him out of there, and it wasn’t strong enough to do that.
I got on all fours to disperse my weight and slowly crawled towards them. I'd left the flashlight on the floor near the entrance, pointed towards Kyle to light my way. As soon as I got hold of Kyle, I snapped; “Get away from him!”
She flinched, but didn’t let go. “You can’t pull him out alone,” she whispered. Why did she always have to do that? Because it makes her sound vulnerable, look at what it’s done to Ian! I thought. But as much as I hated it, it was right.
“Fine!” I snapped, “On three, pull!” I instructed with as much venom in my voice as I could muster.
“One, two, THREE!” I yelled. We pulled, and got him out, and at a safe distance from the hole. Both heavily panting, we slid down and sat on the ground. I was trying to stay as far away from her as possible.
I glanced at the dark hole as I grabbed the flashlight, and switched it off. “What have you done!” I yelled. “The whole floor is nearly gone! You filthy alien! All you do is get us more trouble! Why can’t you just leave!” I screamed. That's all I wanted, I just wanted it to leave, preferably while leaving Mel's body and going off to die somewhere.
The alien cringed, scooted as far away from me as possible and made herself small in the darkest corner of the room, her – it’s – eyes huge with fear. Was I really that frightening to her? It? I didn't think I could kill… Not even an alien, not even one who had effectively killed my cousin.
While she was scooting, the alien only used one leg. I started noticing various wounds on Mel’s body. Blood was dripping down it’s face from a head wound, there was obviously something wrong with her leg, countless little cuts and bruises, and a big, ugly gash on it’s cheek.
I wanted to roll my eyes at the thing for acting so miserable and weak, but found myself unable to. Something in its face made me think that she wasn't acting. “You should get Kyle to the infirmary, he’s hurt,” she whispered so softly I barely heard.
I was confused. I had known what Kyle was planning. He went to tell mother and me yesterday evening. Why was she lying, not screaming that he was trying to kill her? Then again, maybe she was just waiting for someone who would be more likely to believe her.
“What happened?” I asked, no longer screaming, but with no less suspicion in my voice.
“The… The floor collapsed, and he… he fell… I think he cracked his skull,” she whispered.
What was going on here? I looked at her in utter confusion, though she couldn’t see, it was too dark.
A few moments passed in silence. She was still staring at me with a frightened expression on her face. It was starting to annoy me.
“I’m going to get some help for Kyle. You” I said, stabbing a finger at her, “don’t move. If I get back here and you’re gone, or Kyle is more hurt, I swear I’ll kill you myself,” I spat.
Without a backwards glance, I stood up and ran away from there. I didn’t understand anymore. It was evil, it had taken my cousin away from me, but it didn’t seem to want to do anyone any harm… What was I thinking!? I couldn’t be warming up to that filthy worm… could I?
The first person I ran across was Ian. He must've been on his way to the bathing room anyway. “Hey Ian! I need your help!”
“Sharon?” he eyed me warily, I guess he didn’t like me being so hostile toward his little worm.
“The bathing room floor collapsed, and Kyle’s unconscious, I think he cracked his head when he fell,” I explained, pushing my disgusted feelings away, I needed his help.
His features softened a little, but only a little. I turned and ran to the bathroom again. I could hear him following me.
When I got there, I was slightly surprised to find the thing in exactly the same position as I left her. Kyle was still untouched.
Ian got there right after me, but didn’t notice the worm because it was too dark.
“What happened to him?” he asked me.
I was about to answer when the softest of sounds came from the thing.
“Ian?”
Ian whirled around, looking for the source of the voice I knew was familiar to him. “Wanda?” he said, before his eyes had even found her.
I could just see the little wires work in his head as he put it all together. He was much too smart… Or he just knew his brother too well.
I tuned out their conversation as I checked on Kyle's wound. He had a bump, but for a head wound, there wasn't too much blood. He probably had a concussion but I doubted it was much worse than that. He'd done far worse to Mel's body.
When I turned back around, I saw Ian picking the alien up, and just as I wanted to protest that Kyle needed the help more (even though that was probably a lie), she spoke again.
“No, Kyle needs it more,” she whispered. I was beginning to wonder if she could speak at a normal volume at all, she never did it around me.
I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I dismissed it as worry for Kyle, mixed with disgust for Wanda – the alien, the worm, the filthy parasite – Why did I keep missing?
It was an it, not a her, it was an alien, not Wanda, as Uncle Jeb had nicknamed her. I still couldn’t believe that he was actually related to me. He was soft to the alien even when she had just arrived. It, dammit!!
Ian groaned. “I can’t carry him all the way, he’s too heavy, and besides, you need Doc as much as he does, maybe even more.”
I had that bad feeling again, though it might have been disgust for Ian this time. How could he care more for some alien than for his own brother? Although he was probably right, she did need it more.
“And why are you protecting him anyway? He was going to throw you in the river, he was going to kill you!” I heard Ian continue. He looked (and sounded) horror struck, like he couldn’t even imagine that happening. Did he really like her that much?
I saw him tightening his arms around her. He really did love her, as uncle Jeb liked to insinuate when Ian wasn't around. Not that it was hard for the rest of us to figure that out, what with him following her around wherever she went.
And then I realized it. The bad feeling I had wasn’t worry or disgust, it was guilt…
“I should roll him right back in there and kick him over the edge myself,” he growled.
Wanda frantically shook her head. “No!”
“Saves time. Jeb made the rules clear. You try to hurt someone here, there are penalties. There’ll be a tribunal.”
“No. You can’t do that, because no one broke the rules. The floor collapsed, that’s all.” She wasn’t whispering anymore. So she was able to speak at a normal volume after all.
I tuned them out. I had to think.
She didn’t seem dangerous, and Jeb and Ian were right, she was a horrible liar. So why did I hate her so much? Sure, I blamed her for taking Melanie away from me, but I also blamed myself… She was looking for me when she was caught… And that was the crux of the matter, wasn't it? Melanie had been captured while looking for me, and I felt guilty as hell because of it. When Jeb started claiming that Melanie was still alive in there... that just made the guilt worse, and turned it into anger. It wasn't my fault, damn it! But if Mel really was alive in there... Was I really doubting myself?
Ian was examining her leg as I cleared my throat. They both seemed to have forgotten me, and both reacted differently. Wanda’s eyes widened again, and she tried to scoot even further from me, but Ian was in the way, causing it to look more like cuddling. Ian tensed up and tried to position himself a little in front of her.
I tried to look relaxed, like I wasn't about to spring up and attack them or something. I mean, really, what were they expecting?
“Do you… Do you want me to get some guys for Kyle? You can’t leave her alone,” I said, directing the last part to Ian. I tried not to sound venomous or angry. I really hope I managed; it wasn't an easy thing to do.
Ian seemed to be deliberating. Finally, seeing nothing wrong, he nodded, and I got up.
I ran to the kitchen and got Wes, Aaron and Andy. I left their company quickly, though, they didn’t need my help to find the bathing room, and I wanted to check on Ian and Wanda, I guess I was curious. I studiously ignored the fact that I'd called the alien 'Wanda' again.
When I had almost caught up to them in the South tunnel, I heard Ian’s voice.
“I’m… very glad that you weren’t hurt, Wanda. Hurt worse, I should say,” Ian said affectionately.
I stopped dead. I didn’t want to hear this. It felt too much like invading their privacy.
What privacy? I argued with myself, this is an alien and a human, what kind of privacy could they possibly want? Though now that I thought about it, it had to be hard on Ian and Jared, not to mention Melanie. It was clear Ian was falling for Wanda, but it was also clear that the alien had some kind of feelings for Jared, who would in turn never love anyone but Melanie. Jeez, when had their lives become a soap opera.
And when had I started empathizing with the weird love triangle - Square? - that the alien had found itself in the middle of? Was I really warming up to that… that thing in my cousin’s neck?
I'd always had trouble believing Uncle Jeb when he claimed that Melanie was alive. Now, I was starting to actually believe it. Wanda had too many of Mel’s quirks to be a coincidence. And there had to be a reason that Jeb, Jamie, Doc, Ian, and even Jared all believed it.
I decided then and there that I would try not to be so hostile. I wasn’t going to suck up to that fake human, but I didn’t want her to be scared of me. Although I would have to be careful how I acted around my mother. That would be difficult to explain.
All the while I had been thinking that, Ian’s footsteps had disappeared. I ran to catch up to them, and reached them just as they were about to enter the hospital. I followed in right behind them but stayed by the wall, as far away from them as possible.
/*/
I had kept to myself the entire time, almost not moving. The only big movement I made was slide down the wall to sit on the ground. The only reactions I had gotten were a few watchful and reproachful glances from Ian and Jared, widened eyes and a confused look from Doc, and a raised eyebrow from Jeb.
As long as I didn’t speak or make big movements, they didn’t comment on my presence.
And I didn’t speak up until Ian and Jared had left and Brandt wanted to tie the soul up. But than she held Walter’s hand when he said “Gladdie”.
Brandt insisted on staying, so I stood up and moved between him and my husband.
“It’s okay, Brandt, I’ll watch the alien. You should get some rest,” I said.
He eyed me warily, probably deciding if I’d do what Doc said if he asked me something. I lifted an eyebrow to say that I’d never help (or let) the alien escape. He must've bought it, because he nodded slowly and walked out of the hospital.
Wanda refused to look at me, focusing all her attention on Walter, while Doc couldn’t look away from me. He had a thoughtful expression on his face.
“We need to talk,” I mumbled. Now he looked merely confused. I love the way he could change his expressions so quickly, and he looks cute when he’s confused. We walked to the entrance of the hospital, out of earshot of the alien.
“What-?” he tried to ask, but I cut him off.
“I miss you. And if getting you back means I’ll have to put up with th- with Wanda, and trying to be nicer to her, I’ll just have to suck it up, and do it,” I said firmly, keeping my eyes on the ground. If I looked him in the eye now, I probably wouldn't have been able to get that all out.
I risked a glance at his face, and he was looking at me with a shocked expression, before scooping me up and twirling me around.
“Stop it, you lunatic!” I mock protested through my laughter. He laughed right along with me.
God, I’d missed that sound.
“Do you really mean it?” he whispered as he put me down and held me close.
“Yes, I love you, and I trust your judgement. So… if you trust her… I can at least be nice to her.”
A huge, goofy grin spread out on his face and he swept me up in his arms again. I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped. I placed my arms around his neck and inhaled his scent. Despite the fact that he smelled a little like liquor, I recognized his own unique scent underneath it, and I couldn’t help but think, God, I missed this, I missed him…
Perhaps life in the caves could go back to a semblance of normalcy. But whatever would happen next, I knew I could face it with Eustace at my side.
FIN