Catalyst (9 page)

             
“Squeaky,” Danny said smiling.

             
“So, she really is a saint. But you didn’t answer my question, Merrick.”

             
I sighed, hoping she woul
d let that one pass. It wasn’t som
ething I was exactly proud of; w
atching Sherry when I wasn’t supposed to.

             
“It’s normal for me to know everything. It’s all I’ve ever done was watch people. But, I have to say, Danny and Sherry were by far my favorite. And I’m not just saying that because one of them is listening,” Danny laughed, “and because I was crazy for Sherry. T
hey were just so...I don’t know, t
he opposite product of their environment. It was fascinating. They are so grounded and easygoing where as their parents were very over reactive, uptight, and against the flow.”

             
“That’s putting it mildly,” Danny muttered
darkly
.

             
“I mean there’s not
hing wrong with being different, n
othing wrong with being proactive, but they didn’t have any balance of the causes and their own children. And they didn’t have any other family so,
Danny and Sherry just were kind of
on their own.”

             
“What did Sherry think when she found out you were a Keeper?
That you’d watched their lives?
I remember Michael was kinda f
urious at first, but he was guy, so t
hat’s different I guess.”

             
“I thought she’d be angry, but she surprised me. She was upset with herself, for not showing a better example.”

             
I laughed remembering her turning the situation in on herself.

             
“That’s Sherry. Our
little martyr,” Danny said loudly. “I’m talking about you! I’m gonna tell everyone about the time your bikini top fell off at the beach. No one knows what you had to do but Merrick and me,” he said in a sing-song voice, trying to rouse her.

             
I chuckled and felt myself turning a little red. Ha! I was blushing! I wondered if
anyone else could tell. I thought
Lillian could. She was smiling at me, knowingly.

             
“Danny Patterson. Sherry will kill you,” I said trying to stifle a laugh.

             
“Yeah
right. I can take her.”

             
“I can hear you, brat,” Sherry said suddenly, her voice raspy her eyes still closed.

             
Then she smiled but winced and grabbed her cheek.

             
Danny and I both jumped and knelt beside her and everyone else crowded around the back of the couch.

             
“Hey, baby. How long
have
you been eavesdropping, huh?” I joked, pushing her hair back from her face.

             
“That depends. How long
have
you been talking about me like I’m not here?” She tried to smile again. “What are you all doing?” She cleared her throat.

             
I grabbed her
water glass with a straw and offered it to her. She drank eagerly.
             

             
“Waiting for you,” Celeste said happily. “Duh.”

             
“How long have I been out?”

             
“Not long enough,” I said with a tone so she’d know I disapproved.

             
“Help me si
t up?” she asked and I shook my
head about to protest but she stopp
ed me. “Please. I can’t sit here like this
anymore
right now. I’ve been l
ying down for...”

             
I t
hink we all knew what she meant;
l
ying down on the concrete alone for hours and hours.

             
“Ok. Don’t overdo it. If you feel like you need to sleep or whatever, you tell us to shut up and leave. Got it?”

             
“Got it.”

             
She smiled again
,
let
ting
me lift her and set her up at the end. She tucked her legs under her and pulled me down next to her. I went easily, trying not to jostle her and she snuggled right up against my chest. I pulled my arm around her and kissed her forehead. She felt just right in my arms. I tried not to think about how she was almost taken away from me, again.

             
“Cain.” She looked up to him and smiled again. “Thank you
, guys. Lillian,
I can’t believe you did that.” S
he held out her hand and Cain took it as she pulled him down to squat in front of her, then she hugged him. Any lingering weird feel
ings of jealousy I had about tho
se two, forced by Piper and her
compulsion
plot to make us doubt each other, were completely gone. I’d seen the way Ca
in looked at Lillian. And I
no longer had doubts of Sherry’s feelings
either
. “You shouldn’t have come and got me. You had no idea what you were getting yourselves into.”

             
“Are you kidding? We stick together, shorty,” Cain said and winked.

             
“I promise to try really hard to stop being the trouble maker of the group.” Everyone laughed, more for her bene
fit than her being funny I thought
. “I’m sorry. Maybe I should’ve tried to...do something, but I thought if I didn’t go with them, they would find you guys and I couldn’t have that. Thank you for saving me.”

             
Cain looked down at the floor again, looking...guilty?

             
“Hey,” Sherry said softly and when he looked up, she leaned forward and whispered something in his ear.

             
It took about a full minute before she pulled back and he nodded and smiled sadly. I w
ondered what it was about as I was
sure Danny did too, given by the look of intense curiosity, but we stayed quiet.

             
She released his hand and waved Lillian to her for a hug. Then Danny came over and hugged her so hard she winced and he apologized but looked really peeved. Celeste hugged her too before resuming her spot on Danny’s lap in the chair. There was an uncomfortable silence and Sherry sighed loudly.

             
“Will everyone please just
sit down and relax? I’m fine, r
eally.”

             
“Yeah, that’s why you can barely see out of your left eye and I can’t even hug you without hurting you,” Danny said angrily.

             
“Danny,” I said to stop him and he sighed and nodded.

             
“I’m sorry. You’re fine, Sherry, I just can’t believe what they did to you.”
             

             
“W
ell, I’m not talking about it, e
ver. The last thing you need is one more reason to be angry. So, what were we talking about?”

             
I watched her. She looked pretty normal. Except for the bruises and trauma to the skin on her face, neck and arms. But she looked normal. She didn’t look trauma
tized, didn’t look upset. This was how Sherry did it; f
reak out, cry, move on. Just like I said before. She was a rare breed.

             
“You,” Celeste said matter-of-factly. “Danny was just about to tell us a story about a bikini top.”

             
Sherry gasped and looked at Danny in disbelief.

             
“No
,
you are not!”

             
Everyone laughed
and hung on every word she said with w
atchful, fearful, careful
eyes
. Everyone was worried but let her talk and laugh and add her own anecdotes for Danny’s stories for a
while until she fell back sleep after an hour or so
on my shoulder during a story Danny was telling about a camping trip of theirs.

             
“Ok,” I whispe
red, “t
hat’s it for her.” I guess she wasn’t too bad off because she moved by herself before. So I decide
d
to take her to our room. “I’m taking her to bed so you can still talk.”

             
I picked her up and she lay
there in my arms, loose and exhausted but trying s
o hard to not induce sympathy, t
rying to be strong. At least look strong.

             
Our ro
om was a little chilly so I lay
down with her under the blanket for a while, just watching, making sure she was comfortable. She w
as dreaming. It must’ve been a
good dream. She kept smiling and then wincing because of her cheek. She whispered my name a couple times as she snuggled closer
, making my human heart jump in exhilaration
.

             
I smoothed her hair, rubbed her arms,
fiddled with her necklace charm that made it through her debacle intact somehow. Anything to let her know I was still there.

             
After a while, she still slept soun
dly so I crept out. It was late. I wanted to check on Lily and m
ake sure she got to bed. I knew someone had taken care of her, that’s how it always was. Everyone loved to do things for her, but I wanted to make sure she wasn’t up somewhere fretting for Sherry.

             
I found her
asleep in her room. Joy, her doll,
was
tucked under her arm and her pajama shirt
was
on backwards. Danny. I knew
it right then that
Danny had put her to bed.

             
I chuckled and backed out.

             
I decided we’d all waited long enough for a certain situation. Celeste had been studiously avoiding the topic and even walking aro
und smiling and acting normal, b
ut we all knew what had to be done. Margo had to be dealt with and there was only one way. And I so didn’t want to be the one to start the execution.

             
I called the Keepers in my mind. It was kinda late but not too late. Most people would still be awake and it might even be better for people to sleep t
hrough it. Except Celeste. She
had to know.

             
Brothers, sisters? I’m sorry, I know it’s late but you know there’s one more matter to deal with.

             
I felt them agree. They were coming to meet me in the commons room. I called Danny in his mind and told him to bring Celeste. I also told him to prepare for a bad time.

             
I saw them coming down the hall. Celeste was smiling and oblivious. I w
ondered how in the worlds
she
could
be so unconcerned with the situation with her mother.

             
“Danny, d
id you tell her?” I asked
curiously
.

             
He leaned in close as Celeste walked over to Kay.

             
“No, not yet. I did something you may not agree with
,
but we were leaving and she was freaking out. I didn’t want to leave her here so messed up over her mom and Sherry and me leaving so...I used compulsion to make her not worry.”

             
“Danny,
” I breathed angrily,
“I can’t believe you did that. Just because we gave Marissa permission that once wasn’t a license for everyone to start compelling everyone they cross
ed
paths with.”

             
“I didn’t. Merrick, you didn’t see her. She was out
of her mind, c
ompletely
in hysterics. I couldn’t get her to go to sleep at all that night. She cried and begged me not to go with you, begged me not to let you kill Margo. I had to do it so she would be ok while I was gone and could get a grip before she hurt herself.”

             
“I understand, ok? I see why you did it, but Celeste isn’t going to like that you did that to her. And the others aren’t going to like that you used your gift on her without her knowledge or consent.”

             
“I know. I’ll take the consequences.”