Persona (30 page)

Thankfully regardless of what they think, Ronny and Julie offer for them to stay as long as they need too. Looks like he packed up the truck to soon, figures, he thinks. He graciously accepts, while Ray and Marty lead, the very upset Daisy and Raven out of the room. When Ronny and Julie lead their children after the others, Liam notices that he no longer picks up on Moira’s apple scent.

When the kitchen is clear of everyone but himself, his fears are confirmed. Moira is no longer in the room. Feeling the hum of his persona again, like a live wire, he wonders where she went off to, because he can’t let her be alone.

Not right now, not after what she just heard.

***

On the brink of tears, Moira sits down on steps of the back porch of the house. She managed to leave the kitchen without anyone noticing thank goodness, or she would have cried in front of them all. That is something she refuses to do, the last time was bad enough.

It’s barely afternoon, and already it’s warmer out than it would be back home. That’s Illinois for you, she thinks, or just possibly the Midwest. Being November, Moira is used to a chill that would normally sink into your bones, not the sun shining down and heating her up. She can only imagine what it’s going to be like once she gets to Montana.

Correction, if she even gets to Montana. And the way her luck is going, she has the feeling she might never actually see what the West is really like. Everyone back in the house is arguing over her life at the moment, like she doesn’t even have a choice in the matter. Honestly, she’s not sure if she does either.

After everything she has been through in her life, she wonders if she has the strength to go through more. Lately, she hasn’t a clue. All she really knows, or feels, is being bone tired. She just wants everything to end and go back to normal, or as normal as her life ever was.

She wonders, if maybe she shouldn’t wait for her new friends to give her up. Maybe she should just suck it up and turn herself in. They would be better off without her anyway, and then they too could go home.

It sounds good in theory, but she has the feeling that this is all just a trap for her. And once Fletcher gets her, who knows what he’ll do to the others. After all, they have all made a fool out of him, and if she knows anything, it’s that he doesn’t like to be made a fool out of. Well, she thinks, might as well sit here and let everyone else decide.

Either way, it’ll be awful no matter who makes the decisions. This is one of those times, where she is off the hook, so to speak. Even sitting out here, she can still hear the others arguing, but then in the background of them, she hears another foreign noise.

To her right near the bottom of the old wooden porch, she hears something crunching onto the hard ground towards her. Instantly alert, she can feel her persona rush into her quickly like earlier. When the crunching is almost on top of her, her vision is clear, her hair has risen, and her nails and teeth are pointed.

She is about to get to her feet, when the intruder comes out of its hiding place of the porch. Abruptly she snorts out a laugh, and plops back onto the steps. The large black dog whines, and bows its furry head as it approaches her slowly now.

Shaking her head at herself, she feels her persona sliding away easily and on it’s on without her having to concentrate.

She does however; feel even more ridiculous for freaking over a dog than she did earlier over Raven and Daisy. This time it’s easier for her to reign in her persona though, and by the time the dog is at her side, she is her own person again.

Head still bowed, the dog clambers up so that it is beside her on the steps. It goes right to nuzzling her hand on her lap, until she starts to rub her hands along the fur on its large head. Her eyes water when it whines again, and rests it’s head on her lap and closes its eyes.

She is just thinking how much easier life would be if she were actually more like a dog, instead of just having the traits, when the screen door opens up behind her with a creak.

The sound of it makes her jump, and in effect the dog, who goes about growling at the intruder. Moira is tempted to start growling herself. She was actually beginning to relax. That’s when the cinnamon smell hits her nose, and she knows that the second intruder is Liam.

The closer he gets to her the stronger the cinnamon gets, and she doesn’t bother to turns around to address him. When he sits down beside her, his scent is so strong, that it makes her persona hum beneath her skin as if it was still upon her and not dormant.

“Hey, Mo.” He says softly.

They sit in silence for a moment, before she realizes she should say something back to him. She is about to say ‘hi’ back, but the dog beats her to it, and picks up a growling bass that sends chills down her spine, even though it’s directed at Liam.

“Easy pup, he’s a friendly.” Moira says as she grasps the dogs face in her hands and gently forces it to face her, and when it does, the growling ceases.

“At least I think he is anyways.”

Rubbing the dog’s fur, she glances at Liam when she says this, and he gives her a slight smirk.

“I am a friendly. Honest.”

She gives him a look, like she doesn’t really believe him, but she doesn’t tell him to get lost either. They fall into an almost comfortable silence, with her messing around with the dog, and him just watching her.

She knows she should tell him what is going through her mind, since it has to be why he is out here with her. She figures he must be worried that she is going to do something rash. This coincidentally is what she was or is planning on doing.

“I think I should turn myself in, before this all gets out of hand.”

She spoke so quietly, that when he doesn’t say anything in response, she wonders if maybe she didn’t speak out loud.

Glancing at him, he has his arms resting on his knees and is just staring straight ahead, lost in thought. So she continues, figuring he needs more to go on?

“They already have my dad you know and might even have your mom. Fletcher clearly isn’t going to rest until he has me back, and I can’t let anyone else get hurt. Or worse.”

He sighs, and then finally looks at her. The look he gives her makes her feel uncomfortable, or maybe a little too comfortable. It’s one her father used to give her, when he would swear he wouldn’t lose her ever again.

“That’s not an option. That is exactly why this is all happening the way it is. To get you back. If you leave now, you’ll just being going along with their plan.”

Moira still her hands that are petting the dog, and just stares at Liam open mouthed. Her father never said thing like this to her, or made her feel the way she does right now. She feels like she would agree to anything he’d ask of her, even if it’s not exactly logical. The dog gets agitated that she stopped paying attention, and she picks up the petting after it nudges her.

Taking her eyes off of Liam and back to the dog, she feels him move closer to her. Ignoring the fact that he has never been this close to her before, she stays still and tries not to seem nervous.

“Moira, listen to me. You need to stay here, with us, me. We can keep you safe. I know it’s hard, I’m afraid of what will happen next too, but I swear there is more we can do if we can just get to my dad. Trust me.”

Moira takes in a deep breath and holds it for a second, before letting it slowly ease out of her shaking lungs. She can feel tears pooling into her eyes, and when she turns to face him, they fall down her cheeks is a slow gentle flow.

“I’m not worth all this trouble Liam, I’m really not. I just don’t understand anything anymore.”

He moves closer to her then, and wraps his arm around her shoulder and pulls her to him.

Hesitantly, she leans into him and lays her head on his shoulder and lets the tears fall out faster in a shaky breath.

“You are worth it, and Fletcher knows it too, or he wouldn’t be trying so hard to get you back.” He places an unsteady hand onto the top of her head and holds her tight to him.

His cinnamon scent wraps around her like his arms, and it makes her feel safe and warm. For the first time since being around him, her persona is asleep inside her. With feeling so safe, she knows she needs to tell him the truth, about why Fletcher really wants her back.

“It’s more than me being worth it or not Liam. I think Fletcher believes that I’m him his, ever since I was at the facility when I was younger.”

“It doesn’t matter why he wants you. The point is he isn’t getting you back. I’d rather die, than see you go back there.”

“Why?” She asks, truly curious to the way he cares so deeply all of a sudden.

“When I saw you at the facility that night, I’ve never seen anyone more hurt and mistreated than the way you were. And I come from a very violent upbringing.”

Moira turns he head up, so that she can look at him, and he is staring down at her. His eyes flash violet, before returning back to their natural grey color.

“He won’t stop. Fletcher will never stop until I’m back. You don’t know him like I do. Growing up, he had this way about him, which made me believe that if he ever found out about me, my life would be over.”

Cinnamon swirls around her senses like a storm, and she can feel his persona rising before he changes. His hair and nails are changed when she feels her persona tingle beneath her skin.

It tries to rush out of her like before, and she can feel it dancing in response to his. Then she can almost see him calming down one second at a time, and his persona fades, taking hers along with it.

“As long as we make it to my dad, we will find a way to get through this. You can’t let Fletcher scare you into letting him be in control. Swear to me, you won’t do anything crazy. Please Moira?”

She prays that he’s right, but has the feeling that she can expect more threats from Fletcher. None the less, she agrees not to do anything rash at the moment, but she can’t say anything for later on.

If things get too bad, she will do what she has to, no matter what it costs herself.

Liam eventually gets her to go back inside with the others, and for the first time since she met him, she is only thinking nice things about him. All the anger she felt for him just days ago, is gone.

***

By the time Liam hears anything from Charles again, it’s already late afternoon. He was just about to go off to help Jonathon with the other boys, to fix one of the many fences around the property. When he gets the call, all thoughts of fixing anything but their problem, flees from his thoughts.

He waves the others on ahead without him as he reaches into his pocket for the phone, but Marty and Ray both pause to wait just in case. As he flips the phone open, he doesn’t bother to tell them to go or stay.

“Charles, talk to me. What do you got?”

“Good news. I have a friend on patrol duty that I was able to convince to let you slip through.”

Liam actually laughs outright, causing the other boys to jump and look around all alarmed. Seeing their shocked faces just makes him laugh even harder, to the point that he’s short of breath. Not so much so, that he can’t give Charles the credit he deserves.

“You have no idea how glad I am to hear that. How long do we got?”

“You’ll have to leave soon I’m afraid, Parker is only on his shift for the next couple of hours. Can you swing that?”

Liam looks to Ray and Marty, who are looking at him like they wish they knew what was being said on the other end of the conversation. He wouldn’t put past them to eaves drop, he would do it to.

Just seeing them so astute, he knows they won’t have a problem getting the minimal stuff they have together.

“Not a problem, Charles. Keep in touch my friend.”

When they hang up, Liam no offense, but really hopes he won’t need assistance on another problem. He relays what Charles told him to the boys, and together they rush back to the house to round up the girls.

They have no problem it turns out leaving so quickly, if anything they are relieved. Saying a quick goodbye to Ronny, Julie, Anna and Jon, they all pack themselves back into now his truck.

***

Being back in the driver’s seat is like almost coming home, and Marty is the one surprisingly to take the seat next to him. Raven, Daisy and Ray are in the middle seat, with Moira alone in the back. She doesn’t seem to mind though, even if he can still pick up on her apple scent, she just leans back and closes her eyes.

The others basically follow suit, and he has the feeling no one really thinks they will just be let through the tolls. If he were to be honest, it kind of worries him too, but he would never admit it out loud. In an uncomfortable silence, they head for the Wisconsin border, and all the while he prays that this will work out.

It takes two hours to get to the border tolls, and no one makes the first move to pick up a conversation. Liam doesn’t really care though; it’s all he can do to just focus on getting them there in one piece. He just wishes he could talk to Moira privately. They might be quiet, but her scent and persona vibrations are not.

He can feel it like it’s his inside trying to break free from its tightly locked prison. His senses are filled with freshly baked apple pie, and all he wants to do is pull over to make sure she is alright. He doesn’t though, if she wasn’t alright, he hopes that she would say something.

Besides, it’s not his place to meddle, even though he kind of has before. He’s putting his trust in her now, to make the right choice, whatever that may be.

By the time they reach the extremely long lines leading to the tolls, Liam can almost taste the tension in the air. The wait to the booth, is excruciatingly long, and he grips the steering wheel so tight his knuckles whiten.

One thing he notices while they wait though is the large amount of guards everywhere. Especially since, most tolls don’t even have guards on duty. He heard once that it was a funding waste to even hire guards, so it makes his nervous seeing them here now.

Fortunately, they are typical guards, and don’t really do anything besides sitting in their armored vehicles.

When it’s his turn to pull up to the booth, he feels like he is driving in slow motion and terrified to make it to the finish line. Bringing the truck to a stop, everyone inside literally holds their breaths, except for Liam of course who has to address the man in the booth.