For your reading and critical pleasure - part of a random chapter of the story I'm working on in The Crow genre
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Chapter #
We are a circle, within a circle, with no beginning, and never ending
Jason slide the sword deep between the mattress and box spring – there was no way he was letting Casey get her hands on it and he knew she would come and try. He was frightened and excited at the same time; not quite sure how she had come to be alive (and not sure how long she’d stay) but that didn’t matter – he had to see her, talk to her. His heart ached from missing her and the rest of him…well, that was a bit too weird to think about at the moment.
Wearing just a pair of flannel lounge pants, Jason clicked off the bedside lamp and slid into bed. He relaxed and listened to the sounds of house, the occasional rustling in the trees outside his windows, the night itself. Although he tried to stay awake, sleep quickly claimed him, drawing him into peace.
* * *
Casey had been watching the house and had noted when the housekeeper left for the evening. When she saw the lights go off in Jason’s room she knew it was time to move. Creeping stealthily across the yard, the crow perched on her shoulder, she leaped over the stone balustrade surrounding the patio outside the ritual room; the door was unlocked. Good. She walked in and was shocked to find that the third sword was missing. Casey filled with rage – she wanted that sword, needed that sword! It was the means of vetting the judgment demanded by the sacred Mothers. Casey felt herself grow blind with anger, ready to tear the room apart, but suddenly calmed herself. ‘No’ she thought ‘Jason had to have stashed it in the house some where, all I need to do is think as he does and I’ll find it.’ She paused for a moment to ground herself and to think. Her eyes snapped open – she knew right where it was and even though it would be tricky to extract, she would have it. “Stay here” she whispered to the bird and resolutely, left the ritual room and headed toward the stairs.
* * *
Jason’s eyes snapped open; someone was in the house. Forcing himself to look as relaxed as possible, he closed his eyes and opened his ears. Sure enough, he heard soft footsteps upon the stairs; it had to be her. He heard a person enter his room and quietly open closet doors, drawers…he rolled over, still pretending to be asleep. She froze in the dark; it was all Jason could do not to burst out laughing, but this was no laughing matter. She resumed her search, slowly making her way over to his bed. At long last, she knelt on the floor to peer under the dust ruffle. He could almost hear her gritting her teeth in frustration.
As she stood up, he grabbed her arm and yanked her onto the bed, rolling on top of her and pinning her to the mattress. She angrily squirmed and tried to shake him loose.
‘Let me go Jason’ her voice was angry and cold.
‘Looking for something?’ he kept his voice cool.
‘Give me the sword’ she spoke through clenched teeth.
‘Why?’ his quiet reply.
‘It’s mine and I want it!’ she sounded like a child.
Jason found it hard to think pressed against her still lush curves, breathing in her scent; all he wanted to do was kiss her…
‘Get off me Jason!’ Casey was sounding down right bitchy at this point.
‘It’s my sword, Casey, and I won’t let you desecrate it in the manner you desecrated your own’ Jason’s voice was firm, his tone even.
‘The Mother’s demand it’ she sounded crazy.
Jason looked into her eyes, glittering dangerously in the dark. He sighed deeply. This was not his Casey. This was not the woman he had loved for so long, the woman he lost. He realized that perhaps he had been wishing she had been returned to him, but in that moment, he realized that she had come only for vengeance. He released her hands, kissed her softly on the cheek and rolling away from her body, got up out of bed and walked to the window.
‘Get out Casey’ he said facing the window. He was surprised he actually said that! He continued ‘I’m not giving you the sword, not just because I don’t appreciate your use of a religious object, but I don’t like being implicated in the murders you seem intent on causing. Find yourself another method of vengeance and someone else for a scapegoat.’
* * *
Casey was furious. Jason had that sword and she wanted it and now he was throwing her out? What was this? When had he gotten a backbone when it came to her? Thinking that she felt a twinge and knew that if she could have felt guilty for that, she would have. She scrambled off the bed and attacked.
‘I thought you loved me’ she said ‘I thought you’d do anything for me!’
Jason turned to face her.
‘I would Casey, but you are implicating me in murder! The cops believe I’m committing these murders – if I give you that sword, I’m dead for sure! Then realizing what he said, he murmured ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to…’ his voice trailed off.
‘ITS YOUR FAULT THIS HAPPENED TO ME!’ she screamed at him.
The room fell deathly quiet.
‘I’m sorry, Casey, you don’t know how sorry I am’ Jason’s voice was quiet.
Casey felt as if she had been a huge balloon that had been stabbed with a very large pin. ‘Jas..’ she started to move towards him, but he threw up his hand and moved away from her.
‘Get out’ he said wearily ‘please, just go. I loved Casey so much; I don’t think she ever knew how much. You are not her. I don’t know you. Just go. Please’ Jason hung his head.
Casey was drowning in a swirl of emotions. She realized that since she had left that crypt, she’d been in a rage and consumed with vengeance. She’d been one solid nerve ending, pounding in a haze of pain where nothing but relief mattered. But there was something in the sound of Jason’s voice that suddenly made her feel clear and almost numb, peaceful. She took a deep breath and felt calm settle within. She felt her heart beat; she felt tears in her eyes. She looked up at Jason and the look of defeat and pain surrounding him hurt inside her. Without thinking, she stepped toward him and reached up touching his hair…
And was snapped into a vortex of images and sensations – she could see what Jason had seen, heard what he had heard, felt what he had felt. His pain was worse then her own. She watched as he was forced to identify her broken body, to tell her parents, to sit at Tess’s bedside while their baby died… to comfort her mother, to pull the plug. In a heartbeat, she lived his every moment of the last year. Casey screamed and jerking her hands away from his body, fell to the floor in sobs.
* * *
Jason wasn’t quite sure what had just happened, but somehow he knew that she had just seen everything that happened thru his eyes and was feeling his pain. He shook his head to clear himself and sank to the floor next to her and started to take her into his arms.
‘Don’t touch me’ she screamed ‘it…’ her voice trailed off as she felt only his comfort and not the pain she just experienced.
He held her while she sobbed; stroking her back and murmuring quiet nothings until she leaned into him and fell silent. Time seemed to stop and the night blanketed them in silence and peace. After a time, Jason lifted Casey’s face and wiped the hair from her eyes and cheeks, gently stroking away the tears. He cupped her cheeks with his hands and they stared into each other’s eyes. A split second later, they were grabbing at each other, their lips passionately pressed together, hands buried in each other’s hair, holding onto one another as if they’d never let go.
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pleased
tired