The Reverence of One: Book Three of the Shadow Series (17 page)

Cliff took Marcy’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, winking playfully and bowing his head.

“Is there somewhere you can go?” asked Lauren. “Just for a while until we get all of this taken care of?”

Marcy glanced back and forth between Lauren and Cliff. “I don’t know—I think so. I don’t know what vacation Mark has. Hell, I’m not sure what
I’ve
got.”

“Doesn’t matter,” said Cliff in a fatherly manner. “You can’t stay here. If you can’t go with us, promise me that you’ll leave town for a
t least a
couple of weeks.” He stared at her blank face for a moment, and when she didn’t reply, he leaned down to her and spoke forcefully. “Promise me, Marcy.”

“Okay,” she replied, her body now trembling slightly. “I promise.”

The room fell silent once more. With the topic of the conversation seemingly at a resolution, Lauren hesitantly spoke.

“Cliff, I’m sorry, but we’d probably better get going. We’ve got a long trip ahead of us.”

Cliff turned his head. “I know.” He stepped back from Marcy’s desk and shoved his hands in his front pockets. “We need to get going.”

Marcy stood from her chair slowly and opened her mouth as if she were about to speak, but the words disappeared before they could escape.

“What’s on your mind, sweetheart?” asked Cliff.

“
So Nicole is down there
?” asked Marcy.

Cliff exchanged a painful glance with Lauren and then nodded. “Yes, she is, but…
.
”

“I’d like to see her,” said Marcy.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea. She’s not in…
,
” began Cliff.

“I don’t care. She’s my friend, and I
need
to see her,” she replied, cutting the old man off once again.

“I understand that,” said Cliff, “but honestly, I don’t even know if she’s awake or not.”

Marcy folded her arms across her chest and, with pouted lips, shot
him
a sad stare.

Cliff glanced to Lauren who shrugged her shoulders.

“What’s it going to hurt?” asked Lauren.

Certain that Lauren would have backed him up, Cliff let
out a dejected sigh
and then
replied. “Fine, but we have to be quick, ya he
ar
?”

A smile graced Marcy’s face. “Thank you.”

Lauren turned toward the door, letting the energy fade as she gripped the door knob. She turned back to the others and, as the old man fade
d
quickly from view, saw the initial look of shock on Marcy’s face.

“I suppose this is all a bit overwhelming for you, huh?” asked Lauren.

Marcy looked Lauren in the eyes. “Not as much as you’d think. Unfortunately I’ve had experience with strangeness.”

Lauren grinned at Marcy and felt an overwhelming sense of compassion for the girl. She’d found herself feeling less hardened more and more as of late, and it was something that she found to her liking. With a nod, she replied. “I suppose so. You ready?”

Marcy bit her bottom lip and replied nervously. “I think so.”

The two women walked quickly out of the office and to the elevator. The ride down to the first flo
or
was swift and silent
,
neither of them knowing quite what to say to the other.

The dark of early evening had taken hold of the parking lot, and the bright lights situated throughout splayed ominous streams of light that created random shadows on the ground. Lauren walked confidently to Thad’s car and Marcy
stayed close behind, her emotions running
high
. She was excited to see her dear friend, but frightened to see what she’d become.

As they came up to the rear of the car, the only person visible was Thad sitting behind the steering wheel. It wasn’t until they stepped to the side, that Nicole’s frail body was visible as she lay in the back seat.

Covering her mouth with her hand, Marcy gasped as she
saw
Nicole’s pale white skin covered with red blotches. She could see the bones in her arms and
noticed
how the skin seemed to be stretched tightly over them.

“Oh, Nicole,” she whispered breathily.

She reached for the door handle and tried to open it quietly. The hinges creaked as she opened the door, but there was no reaction from Nicole’s lifeless body.

“Has she been out this whole time?” asked Lauren of Thad as she stood at the opened driver’s window.

“Yeah, pretty much,” replied Thad. “She’s mumbled some stuff a couple of times, but I can’t understand what she’s saying.”

Marcy knelt down, placing a knee on the blacktop, and brushed the hair from Nicole’s face.

“Nicole?” she called quietly, as if calling to someone from a distance. “Nicole? It’s Marcy.” A single tear fell down her cheek. “I’m so sorry. I wish I could have been there for you.” Her voice began to crack with emotion. “I wish you would’ve called me—I could’ve helped you.”

With no response from Nicole, Marcy continued to stroke her hair with her palm, and after several moments of silence, gently kissed her forehead. She stood, her palm remaining on Nicole’s head until she backed away to close the door.

Lauren stood breathless. It was agonizing for her to watch Marcy’s pain. For so long her life had revolved around the sorrow of others. Now everything was different. She could nearly feel Marcy’s pain as she closed the door. As Marcy turned, Lauren held out her arms and took Marcy into a gentle embrace. Tears began to fill her eyes as Marcy broke down
in her arms, and she did as best she could to comfort her.

After several moments had passed, Lauren pulled away and held Marcy by her shoulders. “You promise you’re going to go away for a while, right?” she asked.

Wiping away the tears, Marcy replied through fits of exaggerated breath. “I promise.”

Lauren turned to the driver’s window and pointed to Thad. “This is Thad, Cliff’s grandson. I want you to call him just as soon as you know where you are going. Can you do that?”

Marcy nodded her head in agreement.

“Good,” replied Lauren, pulling Marcy back into her embrace. “We’ll take care of Nicole, okay. You don’t worry. You just take care of you and your husband.”

The two released each other once again.

“Do you have your phone with you?” asked Lauren.

“Yeah,” replied Marcy as she pulled her phone from her back pocket.

Lauren to
ok
it from her and handed it to Thad. “Put your number in her phone and then hers in yours.”

Thad glanced up to her with a blank stare.

“Please?” asked Lauren with a soft, yet demanding tone.

Thad quickly did as he was asked and then handed the phone back to Lauren.

Placing the phone in Marcy’s hand, Lauren took a step around her toward the rear of the car, turning Marcy with her as she passed.

“Now, if you need anything,” said Lauren, “if you get spooked or whatever, you call and I can be there faster than you can imagine.”

With a genuine smile, Marcy replied. “Okay. Thank you.” She paused for a moment, looking carefully at the Shadow standing before her. She opened her mouth twice, but the words failed to come out. Finally, on the third attempt, she was able to speak what was on her mind. “You know, thirty minutes ago I thought you were a bitch.” Thad’s laughter could be heard from inside the car.
Marcy watched as Lauren grinned and rolled her eyes. “I was wrong.”

With a mild flush of embarrassment covering her cheeks, Lauren replied in a soft, genuine tone. “Thanks. Too bad things weren’t different. I think we could be friends.”

Marcy looked down to Nicole in the back seat and sighed as she looked back to Lauren. “Maybe there’s still a chance? After all of this is over, we could make that happen.”

Lauren wanted to acknowledge Marcy’s proposal, but the fact that she knew their situation had a small chance at complete resolution prevented her from doing so. Instead, she gave Marcy one last hug and then opened the rear driver’s side door.

Marcy watched as Lauren held out her right hand, a faint blue light coming from beneath her palm, and took Nicole into her invisible grasp, gently lifting her head and torso into the air. Lauren slid into the seat and the allowed Nicole’s head to rest on her lap.

As she closed the door, Marcy placed an open hand on the window, and without
a word, turned and walked away towards the hospital entrance.

Lauren felt her heart
sink
as Marcy removed her hand from the window
. She looked
down to Nicole as she rested on her lap. She suddenly saw the young girl differently. No longer did she see her as a worthless addict, as a waste of her time. She now realized that this was someone’s daughter—someone’s friend. Instead of resentment, she felt pity.

Thad turned the key in the ignition and, as the car came to life, the ethereal bodies of Maggie and Cliff materialized
,
Maggie
in the passenger seat next to Thad, and Cliff in the back seat behind her.

Lauren looked to Cliff and saw him sitting on the seat. With neither his
,
nor Maggie’s
,
from being solid, Nicole’s legs protruded through the old man’s body. Lauren couldn’t help but giggle.

“What’s funny?” asked Cliff, the seriousness of the moment etched firmly in his scowl.

Lauren lifted her eyes from his, realizing the inappropriateness of her reaction. “Nothing,” she replied
,
trying not to make eye contact with him. “I’m sorry.”

Thad put the car into gear and began to weave his way through the parking lot. Eyeing the gas station across the street, he applied the brakes and looked over his shoulder. “We’re going to have to get some gas,” he said calmly. “That
,
and I’m hungry.”

Cliff simply nodded and as Thad accelerated quickly across the intersection, Maggie spoke.

“How did that go?
Is Marcy okay?
” she asked hesitantly, sensing Cliff’s frustration.

With no response from Cliff, Lauren answered respectfully. “It went about as well as could be expected.”

Lauren’s softened expression and sad eyes did nothing to bolster the mood in the vehicle.

Thad pulled up to a gas pump, but before he turned off the ignition, he asked, “Does anyone need anything?”

“I’ll come in with you,” replied Lauren. “I could use something to eat. We should probably try to get Nicole to eat and drink something, too.”

From the back seat, Cliff spoke in a distant and groveled voice. “Get me a cigar, will ya? The biggest one they got.”

Thad turned in his seat and looked at his grandfather with a furrowed brow.

“Don’t look at me that way, boy. Just do what I ask,” barked the old man.

Lauren carefully exited the car, taking care to rest Nicole’s torso on the seat
as she stepped out
. Thad killed the ignition, causing Maggie and Cliff to instantly disappear. Thad hesitated for a moment.

“Huh, sure as hell hope no one was looking at us. That’d have to be a pretty strange sight to most people.”

With Lauren now standing at the front of the car, Thad got out and began to pump gas. He leaned on the car, patiently watching the digits roll by and found a comfort in the cool evening breeze that was presenting itself.

“You doing okay?”

Lauren’s voice caught him by surprise. He snapped his head to see her standing by the driver’s door.

“Yeah,” he replied suspiciously. “I guess so, considering.”

Lauren shoved her hands into her front pockets, kicking at pieces of chipped concrete that were at her feet.

“It’s probably kind of tough for you. I can relate you know.”

Thad
lifted his chin and stared into her eyes. Something was different about her. Though he’d only know
n
her for hours, from what he’d gathered in that short time frame was that she was anything but soft.

“Is that right?” he replied, unsure of exactly how to respond. Realizing that his tone was slightly brash, he cleared his throat and corrected himself. “What I meant to say was—yes, it’s been tough. But by the looks of it,” he motioned to Nicole’s body in the car, “it could be a lot worse.”

A bright and genuine smile fell upon Lauren’s face. “Thank you,” she said softly.

Thad’s guard dropped. Suddenly it was as if he was looking at a different person. He
saw her youthful face exude sincerity
, and watched as she pulled a hand from her pocket
, tucking a few strands of hair that blew lightly in the wind behind her ears.

“Thad,” asked Lauren playfully.

Awakened from his daze
, he
smiled back to her. Just as he was about to speak, he
heard the gas nozzle click
, signifying the tank was full
. He pulled the nozzle, replaced the cap, and then returned the nozzle to the pump
. Finding himself suddenly
at a loss for words, he tried to reply with the sincerity that she had shown
.