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All the things that Merrick has done for me. He was everything I ever thought I’d wanted in a guy but didn’t know to look for it. I was so in like with him but another thought hit me. A painful thought.

I sat up to face him in the darkness on my knees. He sat up too, wordlessly, sensing my distress.

“Sherry?”

“What happens, Merrick? What happens when Danny’s task is done. When the Lighters leave and everything’s normal again.”

“If that happens, we...would go home.”

I reached up with my good arm to touch his face and he covered my hand with his. I let out a strained sigh. I told Jeff that I wouldn’t ask Merrick to stay, but that was a lie. I wanted nothing more and that was precisely what I was going to do.

“You are home. I don’t want you to go,” I breathed against his cheek as I leaned in and wrapped my good arm around his neck.

He pulled his arms around my waist.

“I don’t want to go. And none of us will until we’re done here.”

“Please...don’t. I don’t want to fall-” I was gonna say ‘fall in love and then have you leave me’ but that seemed a bit too soon and crazy. “Don’t leave,” I whispered into his neck.

He lifted one hand up to my chin and tilted my face up with his thumb though I couldn’t see him, he could see me, then he took that thumb and ran it over my bottom lip. I could practically feel his anticipation, his hesitancy but also his wonder.

We hovered there for a few seconds, feeling the heat of each others lips so close but not touching. My heart rate couldn’t have been more erratic.

“I’m not going anywhere, Sherry. No matter what happens. I can’t leave now.” He took a deep breath and then repeated firmly, “I can’t.”

Then I could take no more. Weeks had built up to this and I knew after that whole decisions speech yesterday he’d never make the first move. So I made the choice.

I closed the distance and pressed my lips to his warm ones. I felt him let out a breath of pent up longing against mine. I ran my hand through his short dark hair. His hand on my chin moved up to hold my jaw and cheek. I felt his grip on my waist tighten but my sore body didn’t protest this time. He was very careful of my shoulder and as we kissed, there was nothing but electricity. My skin tingled everywhere he touched me and everywhere he doesn’t.

His lips were hesitant and shy at first but soon relaxed and explored, parting with mine at my urging. It didn’t take him very long to get the hang of it and he began to urge me on instead. I could taste mint, toothpaste. I felt his thumb grazing the bare skin of my waist just under the hem of my shirt. If I had opened my eyes there would have been no doubt that there were static sparks in the air.

It was like something in us collided.

Then his fingers dug into the flesh of my waist deliciously and desperately and when his tongue brushed mine...

I forgot that this is all new to him. For someone who had never done it, he was awfully good at following my direction. He was awfully good at this kissing thing. I was no expert, having only ever kissed a few frogs but never like this. The few boys I’d kissed had never made me feel this way. So precious and looked after, so wanted. It felt like so much more than just kissing.

This was exquisite.

I tried not to be too aggressive, taking it easy on him, but I couldn’t help myself as his lips were rubbing mine, my mind stopped and my body took over. When I caught his lower lip between mine he groaned and pulled away slightly, both gasping loudly.

“Sherry,” he could barely breath, let alone speak. “You’re making this very difficult for me.”

At first I was horrified but then he laughed roughly so I laughed too, getting his meaning.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry for that.” He laughed breathlessly and then moved both hands up to my face. “I am so glad you’re ok enough to do that.”

“Merrick. I-” He stopped me with a thumb on my lips, and the electricity started again, I felt my eyelids flutter with passion.

“Let’s get some sleep,” he said gruffly and I could tell it was just as hard for him to stop as it is for me. “We can talk all day long tomorrow, I promise but I want you to rest if you still feel like you can. You’re a long way from recovered.”

“Ok,” I conceded but I pulled him back by his shirt collar to my lips for the lightest touch of his lips, shocking myself at my boldness.

Short and sweet.

We laid back down, him settling his arms around me, cradling me from behind. I could feel the rise and fall of his chest, his wonderfully warm breath on my neck.

“Goodnight,” I said, trying to tell my body to calm down and find the closing of my eyes, sleep was calling me again.

“Goodnight, Sherry.”

He wrapped his arms around me tighter, knowing the warmth would end the struggle with my eyelids. In no time, I was out like a light.

I awoke to something warm on my face. I blinked and realized, Merrick was still right here with me and I had turned toward him sometime in my sleep. He kissed the very tip of my forehead lightly. I couldn’t help the huge grin spreading across my face.

“Did you sleep comfortably enough?” he asked, a grateful grin on his face.

Looked like he almost thought I wouldn’t be happy to see him there with me.

“Yes! I slept great.” My eyebrows tightened just a bit at my embarrassing enthusiasm, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“Feeling any better today?”

“I feel ok. Not quite as achy and stiff.”

“Hungry?”

“Mmmhuh,” I mumbled and nodded but I didn’t move from his chest.

Too comfortable and warm, he’d have to pry me off, and soon he did. Picking me up effortlessly and setting me on the floor, he checked under my shoulder bandage, carefully unwrapping and rewrapping.

He then turned my face to see my cheek and eye. I watched his face as he worked. I’d never met anyone so genuinely concerned for me before.

“Looks a lot better. I don’t even think this one will scar,” he said as he brushes my cheek with his finger making me shiver.

“That’d be nice.” I smiled and stretched slowly, feeling the muscles complain but it was a good hurt. “What’s there to eat in this joint?”

He grabbed my hand and lead me down the hall and through the front office to the small kitchen, packed already with my new little family. Everyone greeted us warmly, but no attack hugs this time and Danny already had my cup of coffee for me - with creamer.

“I heard you coming, shorty,” Danny said smiling.

“See, brat, this is why I love you.”

I gratefully took the cup from him, and the peck on my good cheek, and as I smelled the aroma, I think that it had been too long. Coffee and I should get together more often.

Merrick directed me to a seat on the end and since the table was full he stood behind me. Coffee and a blueberry cereal bar. As far as I was concerned, this was heaven, and then I felt Merrick’s hand on my neck, massaging gently.

No. Now
this
was heaven.

Merrick kept his promise and he let me ask a hundred questions without getting impatient with me, though I wasn’t exactly sure what questions
to
ask. Jeff even joined in along with a few others to ask and listen and answer.

We sat out by the pool. Well the waterless hole where the pool water should be, under the shade of huge palm trees. Still unseasonably cool, Merrick had grabbed the blanket off my bed for me, knowing my proneness to the cold. He sat partially under the blanket as well, on the same large Adirondack lounger as me and held my hand underneath, his heat spreading through me, doing far more to warm me than the blanket did. I couldn’t have been more comfortable but serious questions were beginning to come up and everyone needed to know the answers. Everyone needed to be prepared.

“Will the moon come back?” someone asked.
“Not unless they all decide to go home, which isn’t likely,” Merrick answered.

“What made them this way?”

“Everyone has a choice, just like you. People, aliens, angels, all creatures. Everyone has a choice in their own evilness or their goodness.”

“What do you look like?”

“Like you but...pale.”

A few chuckles erupted.

“What’s the purpose for trying to get us to turn on each other? What will that accomplish?”

“They want your world, your land, your homes, your bodies. If you turn on each other, and hunt each other, you’ll eventually die out and they will get what they want that much faster. We don’t look at time the same as you, because we’re immortal, until we take these bodies. They’ll wait. As long as they have to.”

“Can they be killed?”

“Only by running them through completely, markers and Lighters, that and burning them. That’s the only way to kill them.”

“Why can you only take bodies of the dead?”

“It wouldn’t be right to take lives to come here and if we come here not in human form, we can’t stay as long and we don’t look exactly like you. You would tell something was off.”

“What’s your favorite color?”

That was definitely Calvin, my favorite 10 year old.

“Mud brown,” Merrick said looking at me smiling, knowing our inside joke about how I described myself, as he must have heard me say that a thousand times.

“Blue. Sky blue,” Jeff answered laughing.

“Hmm. Never thought about it before. What’s yours Calvin?” Ryan asked.

“Yellow.”

“Ok. Mine’s yellow too,” Ryan said smiling, still trying to make an effort with his charge.

“Will more of those things come? Those beast that attacked Sherry?” Margo asked, getting everyone back on track.

I flinched at the memory and Merrick squeezed my hand. Jeff answered this time.

“The Markers, we don’t know. We thought there weren’t anymore of them so...it’s possible there could be, yes, but don’t worry. They only come out at night, for camouflage, and we’ll make sure to always be in by then.”

“What happened to you when you touched it, Merrick?”

I froze. What did they mean what happened? Then I remembered Merrick’s writhing body on the ground, his face twisted in pain after he jumped on it to keep it from taking me away. I looked over at him but he just stared down at the empty pool. Jeff answered for him.

“We can’t touch their skin, and they can’t touch ours. A lot of the times we black out if we do but if nothing else, it leaves a mark on us, kind of like a burn, that’s permanent. It is excruciatingly...painful for us.”

Jeff looked over, suddenly realizing why Merrick had been so quiet about explaining it. My face at the memory of it felt tight and pulled together. I reached under the blanket, pulling his arm out and pushing up his short sleeve. I ran my finger over the huge red mark, taking up almost his whole arm.

“This is from the Marker? When you jumped on it...for me.” I nodded in understanding and also, not understanding. I had no idea the things Merrick would do for me. “Does it hurt?” I asked, my voice breaking, tears threatening.

“Not anymore,” Merrick muttered under his breath, like it didn’t matter.

“It doesn’t hurt for very long after, but the mark where our skin touched theirs will always be there and they’ll have a matching one,” Jeff said, looking at me, trying to soothe my fear of Merrick being in pain because of me.

Merrick glanced down at me. I caught his gaze and he flashed me a weak smile. He reached and slid his fingertips down my cheek.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me,” he whispered.

I saw everyone watching us out of the corner of my eye but I asked anyway and pretended that I didn’t see them.

“You knew it would be like that for you, you knew it would hurt like that, and you still did it.”

He pressed his forehead to mine.

Anything. I would do anything to keep you safe.

My breath caught in my throat. It was true. I found comfort and upset in that thought. I continued to run my fingers over his red arm and bent down to put my head on his shoulder as he rubbed my leg, right above me knee, to comfort me.

“How long can we stay here?” The questions started again and I was grateful for it.

“Well,” Jeff answered, “we all need to make sure our curtains are always pulled to at night. We won’t attract any attention, see how long that gets us.”

I wasn’t the only one not wanting to be alone. Calvin had been shadowing me all night. I felt sorry for Calvin’s mother, not being able to speak to anyone except him. None of us knew any sign language but me. I knew the alphabet but finishing a sentence took longer than just writing it down.

Most everyone has gone to bed. Merrick, Danny, Celeste and I were up lounging in the large purple high back chairs in the sitting room, talking. It was late.

Danny found an old radio in the corner of the office and plugged it up to the intercom system. He was nifty like that. Right then, The Strokes ‘What Ever Happened’ played in the background from the ceiling speakers from the local radio station.

“So anyway,” Celeste continued on her story about how Kay found her. “I was just walking out of school from cheer practice and she walks right up to me and says ‘Come with me if you want to live.’ I laughed so hard at her I almost peed my pants. I mean who says that? It was pretty clear she wasn’t from this planet. Everyone knows who the Terminator is.”

“So you were a cheerleader?” Danny asked and leaned on his elbows closer to her from his seat.

“Yep. And dance squad and gymnastics.” I saw Danny’s eyes bug at the word gymnastics. “I only got a couple years into it though so I wasn’t very good at it, but I can still do a full split.”

I heard Danny make a choked noise and decided to save him the embarrassment of making a fool of himself with any further comments.

“Calvin, come on out.” I could see his silhouette behind the fake palm by the entrance way. He comes and jumps in my lap. I winced just a bit at the jolt in my shoulder. “What’s the matter, little man?” But he was anything but little. He was almost as tall as I was.

“Scared,” he admitted softly.

“You don’t have to be, ya know. There’s lots of people here. Nothing’s gonna happen to you. Want me to come tuck you in?”