Categories > Celebrities > My Chemical Romance > R.I.P.
Chapter 14
11 ReviewsIn the end…lives really ARE at stake…
I've come back to add a note on all my stories to any new readers who may come along, or to anyone who may come back to read again. Smooshy and I have created our own MCR fanfiction site where we've posted all of our stories and we're deliciously writing new dark ones!! We appreciate all the love and support you all have offered us over the years so much and we want to continue sharing with you and having you share with us. We hope you'll come and check out our new site. It's free to join and has all kinds of fun pictures and themes for you to enjoy as well as new stories!! We hope to see you there to carry on this relationship we've built together through being fans of My Chem and Creative Writing. Thank you from the bottom of our little black hearts and we hope to see you soon! www.fanficfanatics.com xo Harley
Chapter 14
This is it friends! The final chapter and I hope it’s a good one. I’m really happy with it and I hope you will be too. Thank you for coming along this strange journey with me and for all the support you’ve offered along the way. I hope I’ve given you back something too. And now…the end is here…
“It…it’s positive,” she said tearfully, staring down at the confirmation she could hardly believe.
Gerard shook his head. “Those tests aren’t always right. There are things called false positives right, Ray?” he asked hopefully.
Callie sighed. “There were two in the box, Gee. I took them both.”
“But still…” Gerard said, pleading with Ray.
Ray shrugged. “There are false positives. Not usually two though,” he added gently.
Gerard stood up and took the bag from Callie’s hands, looking inside and seeing the results for himself. He set the bag aside and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to his chest as she cried. “It’s gonna be okay, baby. I promise.” He hoped he could convince her. He was going to need someone to convince him too.
Callie cried softly against him. “I’m not ready for this,” she whimpered. “I want to be a teenager, not a mother. I’m just learning how to be responsible for myself. Now I’m going to be responsible for another life? What if I can’t do this?”
“You’re not doing anything alone,” Gerard reminded her. “It’s you and me, remember? We’re in it together. No one’s alone here anymore.”
Callie shook her head. “No, I mean what if I really can’t do this? What if this disease…what if it’s hereditary? What if I inherit it from my mom and I hurt our baby?” she gasped in horror.
“You would never do that!” Gerard said firmly. “Never, Callie. I don’t need to know your mother. I know you, baby. And you’re not like her. You’re thoughtful and caring and you would never hurt anyone on purpose. We’re not like them, Callie. We’re better.”
Ray had something of importance to add. “There’s something else you don’t know. About me,” he said, distracting them, if only temporarily, from their shock. “You know that my mother has Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. What you don’t know is that I have a child of my own.”
Mikey almost fell off Frank’s lap in his shock. “What? Where?” he asked, looking around as though he might find him.
“I don’t know,” Ray said sadly. “I send my child support checks to an address on the East Coast. My ex-wife’s sister gets them and forwards them on to her. She always liked the idea of California,” he smiled softly to himself. “I like to think they’re there.”
“Why aren’t they with you?” Mikey asked as Frank swatted him. “Ow! What?” he asked, rubbing his arm.
Ray chuckled lightly. “It’s okay, Frankie. I’m an open book to you now. Better late than never.” He took a deep breath. “I fell in love young,” he smiled. “Jumped into marriage toward the end of medical school just as I was diving into the project.” Ray thought back on that hard and stressful time. “I was elated to find out I was going to be a father,” he smiled at Gerard. “But the more I read about the disease, the more suspicious I became. I had a real hard time trusting anyone after the one person in my life had secretly destroyed me,” he sighed. Ray shook his head. “I watched Sally every second of her pregnancy. I judged her mood swings like a jury, wondering if I had all the facts.” He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees as he raked his fingers through his curly mop in distress. “I just couldn’t bring myself to trust her. Once our baby boy was born…he was so perfect,” he smiled with nostalgic bliss. “So innocent and I couldn’t imagine anyone on this earth ever wanting to hurt something so small.” Ray sat up again and faced them. “But it happens. And I wasn’t about to let it happen again. Even if there were no signs of the disease in my wife,” he shrugged. “I kept him with me every second. I never left her alone with him and he was never farther than I could see him at all times. I obsessed over him…and her. I smothered Sally with my own fears and I never even told her why. I didn’t want to give her any clues that I knew about the disease so she wouldn’t be suspicious; just in case. The more I pulled my son towards me to protect him though, the more I pushed her away,” he said regretfully. “Once I started rounds at the hospital, I couldn’t be there every second anymore. I was gone hours at a time, calling every five minutes to see what was going on. Nothing ever was. I kept calling anyway,” Ray frowned. “One night I came home from a long shift…to an empty house,” he said, closing his eyes. “My wife was gone. Our son was gone. And all of their stuff was gone with them. There was a letter,” he nodded softly. “An apology and an address where I could send the child support but not find them.” Ray winced. “Sally was afraid of me. And she wanted to protect our son. The ironic thing is,” he smiled sadly, “that was all I wanted too.”
Callie moved across the room and held Ray’s hand. “That must have been terrible for you,” she said softly.
“Still is,” he nodded. “But I brought it on myself.” He looked at her and then back at Gerard. “You can’t make the same mistakes I did. You won’t make the same ones they did,” he assured them. “If ever there were two parents who will protect their child…it’s you,” he said with hope and promise. “You’re so young,” Ray nodded. “But you’ve got a lifetime to learn and grow up with your baby,” he smiled.
Callie looked back at Gerard. She could see the hope in his eyes of a future together with a baby they had created from the nothing they thought they had. The couple had each other though. And now they had a baby who would be born from them. She returned to Gerard’s side and leaned into him. “Do you want this?” she asked.
Gerard took a deep breath. Whether he wanted a baby or not, one was on its way. “Abortion is out of the question,” he shook his head. “I won’t kill my child,” he said firmly.
“We’re not them,” she nodded back.
Gerard looked to his brother as though the boy might have sort of answer. He did not find one there. “I don’t want to give it up for adoption either. I don’t trust anyone out there in that world to care for our baby,” he told Callie as she agreed. “So that leaves it with us.” He could not believe this was an actual conversation they had to have. He was going to be a father. Gerard buried his head in his hands. “I don’t know how to be a father. That role model walked out a long time ago,” he whimpered.
Callie nodded. “The role model I had was not one I’ll ever follow,” she said surely.
He held her hand, bringing her down to his lap to hold her. “How will we ever do this?”
Mikey smiled, seeing his brother make the decision before he even said it. “With help,” he smiled. “Frankie and I will be here with you every step of the way. I can feed it and Frank will change its diapers…I’ll-“
Frank cut him off, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’ll feed it and you can change the diapers.”
Mikey grimaced fearfully. “Not the stinky ones!”
Frank shrugged. “You can wear one of my masks.”
“No I can’t,” he shook his head. “Cause you’ll be wearing it while you change the baby.”
Frank frowned, “Now wait a minute…”
Gerard and Callie laughed. He smiled, “Would you look at that? The Uncles are already fighting over the baby.”
Callie squeezed his hand. “The baby we’re going to have?”
He looked away as he thought about the responsibility they were going to take on. Finally he turned back to her with an apprehensive smile. “I guess we are.”
Callie threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. “We can do anything if we’re together, right?”
“Yeah,” he nodded, kissing her sweetly. “I think we can.”
Ray smiled, holding back his happy tears for the young couple. “Um, I hate to ruin this moment but…there’s one more thing you don’t know.”
Gerard groaned. “Is it the last one, Ray? Cause I don’t think we can take any more information.”
“It’s the last,” he nodded. “But it’s the hardest.”
Frank held Mikey closer, bracing himself. “Say it then, Ray. Whatever it is…we can all handle it together.”
Ray took his thousandth deep breath of the night. There was no way to prepare them for the last truth any more than there was for anything that came before it. “It’s about your parents,” he practically whispered.
“What else could there possibly be that we don’t already know?” Mikey asked curiously.
Ray bit his lip as it trembled before the words. “They…they didn’t just die. There were no accidents,” he said as gently as he could, shaking his head. “Dr. Bishop had Bob…make them look like accidents,” he said clearly. The teenager’s eyes widened with shock and gasps they could not speak beyond. “He couldn’t bring you here to study you if they were still in the picture. Their obsession with you as their only source of attention would never allow them to give you up. So he…took you,” Ray cringed.
There were nearly two hours of absolute shock and quarreling over how they were supposed to deal with that information. On the one hand, their parents had done horrible things to them and nearly killed every one of them. On the other, they were the only mothers the children had ever known and love laid no blame toward the people who had cared for them. It was a struggle they all shared and there were no finite conclusions to draw from it. In the end, they could not hate their mothers for what they had done now that they were gone. There was still someone who could take the blame though.
“Dr. Bishop won’t stop his experiments just because you’re no longer participating; if that’s even what you ever did,” Ray sighed. “That’s why you have to get out now. If they find out about the baby, they’ll keep you here to see how you are with it. It’s not a hereditary disease but they’ll want proof. They’ll never leave you or your baby alone. They’re already looking for new subjects and they’ll get rid of you and raise your baby for the ultimate experiment from scratch,” he said, shuddering at the very thought of it, but knowing they were more than capable. Ray pled with them. “You have to leave. Before it’s too late.”
“And go where?” Callie cried. “We have nothing of our own but this baby!”
Ray nodded. “I’ve been saving up money to help you all along. I have a cabin over a hundred miles from here. I got it after my wife left with our son. It’s a pretty place where you’ll be left alone but close to a town in case you need anything. I’ll send you money out of my own paycheck every two weeks to keep you going,” he nodded. “It’s the very least I can do after helping to bring you here.” He shrugged. “It’s only two bedrooms but there’s a little den that would make a fine nursery with the right touches,” he offered. “I’m sure you all could make a nice home,” Ray nodded.
Mikey looked worriedly at Ray. “And what will happen to Dr. Bishop and the others?”
Ray looked away. “They’ll keep doing what they know. What they think is best,” he sighed. “Unless…” He did not finish.
Gerard prodded Ray. “Unless what?”
Ray reached into the table’s drawer and took out another bag. He placed it on the table between them all and stared at the bag without ever opening it. “Unless you really want to take life into your own hands,” he whispered.
Frank gulped loudly. He took a deep breath and asked, “What’s in the bag, Ray?”
He just kept staring at it. “See for yourself.”
Gerard eased Callie off his lap and let her take his seat. He moved over to the table and knelt down beside it. He looked inside the open end and closed his eyes. Gerard sighed and reached in, taking out the gun and placing it on top of the bag on the table where everyone leaned in to stare at it.
“What’s the gun for, Ray?” he asked darkly.
Ray looked away towards the open floor and avoided their innocent eyes. “Someone could to stop him,” he whispered.
Mikey jumped up uneasily, pacing around the room. “That someone better be you, Ray! It’s not me! I don’t do that!” he squealed nervously.
Gerard stopped Mikey in his tracks. “No, Mikey. It’s not you. You’re not a killer.”
He looked at his brother with sad wonder. “Are you?”
Gerard looked at him and then back at the gun. He looked at Callie whose hand rested protectively over her stomach. He really was the man of his family and it was up to him to keep them all safe. He looked to Frank who stared in terror at the gun. With all of Frank’s love of horror movies, he did not have the heart of a villain. But Gerard did not think he could do it himself either.
Turning to Ray, he asked, “Why don’t you?”
Ray finally faced him with sad eyes. “I took an oath a long time ago as a doctor to harm none. I haven’t done my best with it but I’m sworn to it now. I can’t,” he sighed, looking away again.
“What makes you think any of us can?” Callie asked.
Ray never looked at the gun but he turned to each face in the room. “You’ve been close to death. So close,” he sighed. “You’ve balanced that line between life and death so many times you probably still walk it in your sleep.” He watched them and knew they understood. “People who’ve been marked by Death, never lose the connection to it.” Ray shook his head, getting up from his chair and walking towards the door before turning back to them. “My car will pull away from Fox Hall at sunrise. I’m not coming back here ever again.” His eyes pleaded with them. “I hope you’ll come with me.”
Gerard held Callie’s hand. “And the gun? What do you hope we’ll do with that?” he asked softly.
Ray cocked his shoulder. “Whatever you believe is right.” He left the room and closed the door behind him, leaving the teenagers to the last choice he could give them.
They sat around their small circle surrounding the table and the weapon it held. The option was there for them to take or leave. Either way, they knew they would all be gone tomorrow. They were all getting into that car together and no one was ever looking back. They had to wonder if they would be looking over their shoulders for the rest of their lives though. In the end, without a word, the four teenagers slipped away from the den in the dark of night and returned to their rooms to pack by themselves.
Frank put the last of his masks away in his suitcases and stared at the empty walls. He had seen so much horror in his life; even lived through more than his share. It was different to embrace the horror though. Frank did not know if he could become a part of it. In the movies the bad guy always came back. In real life, unless someone stopped him, he might come after them again. But Frank just did not know if he could be the one to stop him.
Mikey lay on his bed with his hands resting behind his head. He stared at the ceiling and wondered what kind of diabolical plans were being made, up on the third floor above him. The ghosts he had once feared to be roaming the halls of the big house were no match for the evil man that actually haunted them. Mikey’s greatest fear now was that Dr. Bishop would stalk them for the rest of their lives. If he took the opportunity that still sat on the table downstairs in the den though, it would haunt him anyway. Mikey was not sure he had it in him to make such an adult decision though.
Gerard secured the last of his Art supplies, leaving behind the ones Dr. Bishop had given him. He wanted nothing to do with that horrible man. Once they left, they would start their lives over, fresh and new. They would have no ties to Fox Hall or anyone in it ever again. He zipped closed his duffle bag and sat down on the bed, looking around the empty room. Gerard wondered if he would ever be able to give Callie a beautiful old house to raise their child in together. He wanted to give her the world. They had given each other a reason to live and even created life between them. He wanted to protect their family but Gerard did not know if the answer was the one that had been presented to them. This new life had many choices but he could not be sure which one was right; or if he was capable of choosing.
Callie tucked her comb into the side pocket of her suitcase. She sat down on her bed with a smile, remembering that night when she and Gerard had first kissed. He had combed her wet hair and shared himself with her. They had opened up to one another and let each other in. It was the place they had first made love and now they had a lifetime ahead of firsts to share with each other and the baby growing inside her; a baby that was half of each of them making a whole beautiful soul. When Callie thought of anyone harming their baby, she nearly lost her mind. That baby would be the most loved and protected child to ever be born into the world. She wondered if she could actually take someone out of the world in order to protect it though. Callie was a teenager. She was a girl growing into a woman. She was the love of someone’s life. She was going to be a mother and maybe even a wife. But she was not a killer. Was she?
The hours passed slowly as the teenagers sat in their rooms thinking over what the world beyond the front door might hold for them. It was a big world and its possibilities were limitless. Whatever they faced though, it would be together. Ray’s cabin the woods sounded like a safe haven for the four young people the world could not understand any more than they could figure it out themselves. They would create their own world until they found it was time to join it once again; assuming that time ever came. Mikey had been homeschooled his whole life and had plenty to teach as he grew into a man. Callie could learn to cook and Gerard and Frank would provide hours of endless fun for the child. No matter what, it would be their world and they would not allow anything detrimental to any of them inside it. The lives they had would be theirs to live together as they saw fit. The four teenagers would walk away from Fox Hall and run towards their future. The present was still in progress though and one of them was about to change it.
Slow quiet steps stalked the dark hallway early that morning before the sun had woken for the day. The moon was lapsing into a comatose slumber as it slipped down in the sky. Every step higher toward the third floor was an absolutely silent one, just as each had been when retrieving the gun from the den. With a stealthy hand, the door opened so slowly, not even the old creak in it awakened. There were fifteen steps from the door to the foot of Dr. Bishop’s bed and the distance was closed in slow motion. With steady precision the gun was raised and aimed at the head of the sleeping man who tossed and turned in the throes of a nightmare he seemed intuitively aware he would not wake from. But Dr. Bishop did stir and awake to the point of the gun across his darkened room.
He sat up with a fright, holding his chest, still shaking off the nightmare and waking to a real one. He took a deep breath and released it in a sigh, knowing it would be one of his last. Dr. Bishop nodded at the young assassin in his room; the very fate he let in through his own front door those months ago. He was not a God now. He was as mortal as the children had always been. He stared, wide-eyed at the barrel of the gun that did not tremble or sway with fear or indecision. The decision had already been made. Dr. Bishop’s time had come.
His lip trembled as he gave his last smile with a whisper. “I knew it would be you who came for me in the end. Just remember…what you do here tonight will be an immortal act that you will live with for the rest of your very…long…life.”
BANG!
Three teenagers shot up in their beds and listened as the still of the night wrapped thickly around the echo of the gunshot. As three teenagers raised their heads in attention, Ray lowered his in relief. He understood, though it still broke his heart in some way. He was proud of whichever one of them had risen up to take life into their own hands but devastated that they would now have to live with that decision forever. One head turned away from the scene of the crime and treaded quietly back down the stairs. The gun was replaced on the table in the den and the bedroom door was closed upon returning to the second floor.
As the sun crested over the peaks of the old house, the four teenagers rose from their beds. They lifted their suitcases and took one last look around their room and the life they once had. It was not a long look of nostalgia, but one of closure for the place that had given them back their lives. It was goodbye…but it was not a sad one.
The four bedroom doors opened as each teenager stepped out into the hallway. There were no greetings or words exchanged between them; just the grateful glances from one to another that it was all over and they had nothing left to fear of the man who had masterminded the fate he could not control. It was theirs now and one of them had given it back. There were no thanks necessary though as their savior did not want the credit. It was enough that it had been done and they could all move on from it together.
They packed their bags into Ray’s black sedan as Thor hopped inside and they stood in the first rays of light as the sun broke from behind Fox Hall’s grandiose stature. Ray stood beside them, ready to lead them away from the horrible place he had once brought them to. He looked up at the big old house and stood tall before it with poise and hope. “The stars shall fade away, the sun himself grow dim with age, and nature sink in years; But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth, Unhurt amidst the wars of elements; the wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds.” The teenagers turned to him as he smiled. “It’s from Joseph Addison’s ‘Cato’. There will be no crushing of worlds for you ever again,” he nodded. “You’re free now to make your own choices and live your own lives.” He gave them each a smile of their own. “From the ashes of this world…you’re going to rise and create anew.” The teenagers appreciated the sentiment greatly.
“Goodbye lions,” Mikey waved softly to the stone carvings over the pillars by the door. “We’re taking your courage with us,” he smiled as Frank took his hand.
The two couples left the past behind as they moved forward together. Gerard proposed a month after they settled into the cabin. They were married two months later in a small ceremony at home, vowing to love, honor and cherish one another and sharing a secret smile in the phrase “til death do us part.” Frank and Mikey made their own ceremony at home as well and built a life together with their new family as it grew. Gerard and Callie’s baby was a girl. They appropriately named her Hope. Ray checked in on them often, becoming a part of their family and lending all the help he could.
They all speculated as to what became of Bob and Carrie. There were no definitive answers of confirmation but Ray told them of rumors of their transfer to another hospital together. They all knew enough of what happened to Dr. Bishop. They often wondered if Bob and Carrie had buried the old Grandfather at sea and taken over Fox Hall to resume his life’s work themselves. Did their rooms remain empty or was new life breathed into them only to study its stifling snuff when they deemed its time to end? It was best not think about. They all had far too much to look forward to together.
Ray sat at the desk in the office of his home with a satisfied smile as he stared at the monitor. The remote assistance of his cameras was holding up nicely from the town to the woods as he watched the teenagers in the home he had constructed for them. The money he sent them was a small price to pay for the research he was getting from them. He stared down at his thesis. “Are kids who have experienced death easily conditioned to kill?” It was going to make him millions and he could not wait to cash in.
“Daddy?” came the small voice from his doorway.
Ray smiled. “Hey kiddo. C’mere,” he chuckled, patting his knee as his son hopped up on his lap.
“Who are they, Daddy?” the little boy asked, pointing to the monitor.
Ray grinned, “The future, son.”
A pretty, young woman leaned in the door. “Still at it, huh?” she smiled.
He shrugged modestly. “My work is never done, Sally. After ten years of marriage you should know that by now,” he smiled.
“You work too hard,” she laughed.
Again, he smiled at her. “It hardly feels like work when I enjoy it so much.”
She laughed, “You need a vacation.”
He nodded. “I agree. Maybe the three of us could go up to the cabin this summer. I’ll go on ahead and get it all cleaned up and you two can come up and meet me,” he offered.
“That sounds like a great idea,” she smiled. “Now, are you working all night again or are you coming for dinner?”
“I’m coming baby.” He lowered his son off his lap and sent him into his mother’s arms. “Just give me a few and I’ll be right there, Sal.” She nodded and left him to his work.
Ray sat back in his chair and thought about how smoothly his plan had played out. He had a beautiful wife, a healthy son and enough data to fill his book and send his boy to college. He hoped the child would be a doctor. Ray would teach him everything he knew. Ray thought about the deadline he had just made for himself. He could do it though. The cabin would just have to be emptied by then; he would see to that. Ray worked well under pressure. He turned off the monitor, letting the tapes run, and joined his family as the big world he had given the teenagers got smaller by the minute. They had no idea how quickly their time really was running out.
The End! Did you like it? Ray’s not so good after all. I wanted him to be good. I love Ray’s character but this is a thriller and it just wouldn’t be right to wrap it all up so neatly. Forgive me for not revealing who the shooter was in the end. I don’t believe who it was that pulled the trigger is nearly as important as the fact that trigger was pulled. I’ll leave it to you to speculate if you wish but I will not confirm or deny who I chose in my mind it had to be. That one is my little secret and I’m keeping it for myself. I had another story in mind for after this one but so many of you have asked me to return to the unfinished projects I abandoned so long ago. So I’ll be rekindling Revelation next and finishing up A Sorrow of Crows sometime soon as well. The revised fourth chapter of Revelation is up and I hope you will embrace it as you have this story. Thank you, as always. You are why I continue to share my twisted little mind here instead of keeping it locked away for myself. Thank you. Xoxo Harley
Chapter 14
This is it friends! The final chapter and I hope it’s a good one. I’m really happy with it and I hope you will be too. Thank you for coming along this strange journey with me and for all the support you’ve offered along the way. I hope I’ve given you back something too. And now…the end is here…
“It…it’s positive,” she said tearfully, staring down at the confirmation she could hardly believe.
Gerard shook his head. “Those tests aren’t always right. There are things called false positives right, Ray?” he asked hopefully.
Callie sighed. “There were two in the box, Gee. I took them both.”
“But still…” Gerard said, pleading with Ray.
Ray shrugged. “There are false positives. Not usually two though,” he added gently.
Gerard stood up and took the bag from Callie’s hands, looking inside and seeing the results for himself. He set the bag aside and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to his chest as she cried. “It’s gonna be okay, baby. I promise.” He hoped he could convince her. He was going to need someone to convince him too.
Callie cried softly against him. “I’m not ready for this,” she whimpered. “I want to be a teenager, not a mother. I’m just learning how to be responsible for myself. Now I’m going to be responsible for another life? What if I can’t do this?”
“You’re not doing anything alone,” Gerard reminded her. “It’s you and me, remember? We’re in it together. No one’s alone here anymore.”
Callie shook her head. “No, I mean what if I really can’t do this? What if this disease…what if it’s hereditary? What if I inherit it from my mom and I hurt our baby?” she gasped in horror.
“You would never do that!” Gerard said firmly. “Never, Callie. I don’t need to know your mother. I know you, baby. And you’re not like her. You’re thoughtful and caring and you would never hurt anyone on purpose. We’re not like them, Callie. We’re better.”
Ray had something of importance to add. “There’s something else you don’t know. About me,” he said, distracting them, if only temporarily, from their shock. “You know that my mother has Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. What you don’t know is that I have a child of my own.”
Mikey almost fell off Frank’s lap in his shock. “What? Where?” he asked, looking around as though he might find him.
“I don’t know,” Ray said sadly. “I send my child support checks to an address on the East Coast. My ex-wife’s sister gets them and forwards them on to her. She always liked the idea of California,” he smiled softly to himself. “I like to think they’re there.”
“Why aren’t they with you?” Mikey asked as Frank swatted him. “Ow! What?” he asked, rubbing his arm.
Ray chuckled lightly. “It’s okay, Frankie. I’m an open book to you now. Better late than never.” He took a deep breath. “I fell in love young,” he smiled. “Jumped into marriage toward the end of medical school just as I was diving into the project.” Ray thought back on that hard and stressful time. “I was elated to find out I was going to be a father,” he smiled at Gerard. “But the more I read about the disease, the more suspicious I became. I had a real hard time trusting anyone after the one person in my life had secretly destroyed me,” he sighed. Ray shook his head. “I watched Sally every second of her pregnancy. I judged her mood swings like a jury, wondering if I had all the facts.” He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees as he raked his fingers through his curly mop in distress. “I just couldn’t bring myself to trust her. Once our baby boy was born…he was so perfect,” he smiled with nostalgic bliss. “So innocent and I couldn’t imagine anyone on this earth ever wanting to hurt something so small.” Ray sat up again and faced them. “But it happens. And I wasn’t about to let it happen again. Even if there were no signs of the disease in my wife,” he shrugged. “I kept him with me every second. I never left her alone with him and he was never farther than I could see him at all times. I obsessed over him…and her. I smothered Sally with my own fears and I never even told her why. I didn’t want to give her any clues that I knew about the disease so she wouldn’t be suspicious; just in case. The more I pulled my son towards me to protect him though, the more I pushed her away,” he said regretfully. “Once I started rounds at the hospital, I couldn’t be there every second anymore. I was gone hours at a time, calling every five minutes to see what was going on. Nothing ever was. I kept calling anyway,” Ray frowned. “One night I came home from a long shift…to an empty house,” he said, closing his eyes. “My wife was gone. Our son was gone. And all of their stuff was gone with them. There was a letter,” he nodded softly. “An apology and an address where I could send the child support but not find them.” Ray winced. “Sally was afraid of me. And she wanted to protect our son. The ironic thing is,” he smiled sadly, “that was all I wanted too.”
Callie moved across the room and held Ray’s hand. “That must have been terrible for you,” she said softly.
“Still is,” he nodded. “But I brought it on myself.” He looked at her and then back at Gerard. “You can’t make the same mistakes I did. You won’t make the same ones they did,” he assured them. “If ever there were two parents who will protect their child…it’s you,” he said with hope and promise. “You’re so young,” Ray nodded. “But you’ve got a lifetime to learn and grow up with your baby,” he smiled.
Callie looked back at Gerard. She could see the hope in his eyes of a future together with a baby they had created from the nothing they thought they had. The couple had each other though. And now they had a baby who would be born from them. She returned to Gerard’s side and leaned into him. “Do you want this?” she asked.
Gerard took a deep breath. Whether he wanted a baby or not, one was on its way. “Abortion is out of the question,” he shook his head. “I won’t kill my child,” he said firmly.
“We’re not them,” she nodded back.
Gerard looked to his brother as though the boy might have sort of answer. He did not find one there. “I don’t want to give it up for adoption either. I don’t trust anyone out there in that world to care for our baby,” he told Callie as she agreed. “So that leaves it with us.” He could not believe this was an actual conversation they had to have. He was going to be a father. Gerard buried his head in his hands. “I don’t know how to be a father. That role model walked out a long time ago,” he whimpered.
Callie nodded. “The role model I had was not one I’ll ever follow,” she said surely.
He held her hand, bringing her down to his lap to hold her. “How will we ever do this?”
Mikey smiled, seeing his brother make the decision before he even said it. “With help,” he smiled. “Frankie and I will be here with you every step of the way. I can feed it and Frank will change its diapers…I’ll-“
Frank cut him off, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’ll feed it and you can change the diapers.”
Mikey grimaced fearfully. “Not the stinky ones!”
Frank shrugged. “You can wear one of my masks.”
“No I can’t,” he shook his head. “Cause you’ll be wearing it while you change the baby.”
Frank frowned, “Now wait a minute…”
Gerard and Callie laughed. He smiled, “Would you look at that? The Uncles are already fighting over the baby.”
Callie squeezed his hand. “The baby we’re going to have?”
He looked away as he thought about the responsibility they were going to take on. Finally he turned back to her with an apprehensive smile. “I guess we are.”
Callie threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. “We can do anything if we’re together, right?”
“Yeah,” he nodded, kissing her sweetly. “I think we can.”
Ray smiled, holding back his happy tears for the young couple. “Um, I hate to ruin this moment but…there’s one more thing you don’t know.”
Gerard groaned. “Is it the last one, Ray? Cause I don’t think we can take any more information.”
“It’s the last,” he nodded. “But it’s the hardest.”
Frank held Mikey closer, bracing himself. “Say it then, Ray. Whatever it is…we can all handle it together.”
Ray took his thousandth deep breath of the night. There was no way to prepare them for the last truth any more than there was for anything that came before it. “It’s about your parents,” he practically whispered.
“What else could there possibly be that we don’t already know?” Mikey asked curiously.
Ray bit his lip as it trembled before the words. “They…they didn’t just die. There were no accidents,” he said as gently as he could, shaking his head. “Dr. Bishop had Bob…make them look like accidents,” he said clearly. The teenager’s eyes widened with shock and gasps they could not speak beyond. “He couldn’t bring you here to study you if they were still in the picture. Their obsession with you as their only source of attention would never allow them to give you up. So he…took you,” Ray cringed.
There were nearly two hours of absolute shock and quarreling over how they were supposed to deal with that information. On the one hand, their parents had done horrible things to them and nearly killed every one of them. On the other, they were the only mothers the children had ever known and love laid no blame toward the people who had cared for them. It was a struggle they all shared and there were no finite conclusions to draw from it. In the end, they could not hate their mothers for what they had done now that they were gone. There was still someone who could take the blame though.
“Dr. Bishop won’t stop his experiments just because you’re no longer participating; if that’s even what you ever did,” Ray sighed. “That’s why you have to get out now. If they find out about the baby, they’ll keep you here to see how you are with it. It’s not a hereditary disease but they’ll want proof. They’ll never leave you or your baby alone. They’re already looking for new subjects and they’ll get rid of you and raise your baby for the ultimate experiment from scratch,” he said, shuddering at the very thought of it, but knowing they were more than capable. Ray pled with them. “You have to leave. Before it’s too late.”
“And go where?” Callie cried. “We have nothing of our own but this baby!”
Ray nodded. “I’ve been saving up money to help you all along. I have a cabin over a hundred miles from here. I got it after my wife left with our son. It’s a pretty place where you’ll be left alone but close to a town in case you need anything. I’ll send you money out of my own paycheck every two weeks to keep you going,” he nodded. “It’s the very least I can do after helping to bring you here.” He shrugged. “It’s only two bedrooms but there’s a little den that would make a fine nursery with the right touches,” he offered. “I’m sure you all could make a nice home,” Ray nodded.
Mikey looked worriedly at Ray. “And what will happen to Dr. Bishop and the others?”
Ray looked away. “They’ll keep doing what they know. What they think is best,” he sighed. “Unless…” He did not finish.
Gerard prodded Ray. “Unless what?”
Ray reached into the table’s drawer and took out another bag. He placed it on the table between them all and stared at the bag without ever opening it. “Unless you really want to take life into your own hands,” he whispered.
Frank gulped loudly. He took a deep breath and asked, “What’s in the bag, Ray?”
He just kept staring at it. “See for yourself.”
Gerard eased Callie off his lap and let her take his seat. He moved over to the table and knelt down beside it. He looked inside the open end and closed his eyes. Gerard sighed and reached in, taking out the gun and placing it on top of the bag on the table where everyone leaned in to stare at it.
“What’s the gun for, Ray?” he asked darkly.
Ray looked away towards the open floor and avoided their innocent eyes. “Someone could to stop him,” he whispered.
Mikey jumped up uneasily, pacing around the room. “That someone better be you, Ray! It’s not me! I don’t do that!” he squealed nervously.
Gerard stopped Mikey in his tracks. “No, Mikey. It’s not you. You’re not a killer.”
He looked at his brother with sad wonder. “Are you?”
Gerard looked at him and then back at the gun. He looked at Callie whose hand rested protectively over her stomach. He really was the man of his family and it was up to him to keep them all safe. He looked to Frank who stared in terror at the gun. With all of Frank’s love of horror movies, he did not have the heart of a villain. But Gerard did not think he could do it himself either.
Turning to Ray, he asked, “Why don’t you?”
Ray finally faced him with sad eyes. “I took an oath a long time ago as a doctor to harm none. I haven’t done my best with it but I’m sworn to it now. I can’t,” he sighed, looking away again.
“What makes you think any of us can?” Callie asked.
Ray never looked at the gun but he turned to each face in the room. “You’ve been close to death. So close,” he sighed. “You’ve balanced that line between life and death so many times you probably still walk it in your sleep.” He watched them and knew they understood. “People who’ve been marked by Death, never lose the connection to it.” Ray shook his head, getting up from his chair and walking towards the door before turning back to them. “My car will pull away from Fox Hall at sunrise. I’m not coming back here ever again.” His eyes pleaded with them. “I hope you’ll come with me.”
Gerard held Callie’s hand. “And the gun? What do you hope we’ll do with that?” he asked softly.
Ray cocked his shoulder. “Whatever you believe is right.” He left the room and closed the door behind him, leaving the teenagers to the last choice he could give them.
They sat around their small circle surrounding the table and the weapon it held. The option was there for them to take or leave. Either way, they knew they would all be gone tomorrow. They were all getting into that car together and no one was ever looking back. They had to wonder if they would be looking over their shoulders for the rest of their lives though. In the end, without a word, the four teenagers slipped away from the den in the dark of night and returned to their rooms to pack by themselves.
Frank put the last of his masks away in his suitcases and stared at the empty walls. He had seen so much horror in his life; even lived through more than his share. It was different to embrace the horror though. Frank did not know if he could become a part of it. In the movies the bad guy always came back. In real life, unless someone stopped him, he might come after them again. But Frank just did not know if he could be the one to stop him.
Mikey lay on his bed with his hands resting behind his head. He stared at the ceiling and wondered what kind of diabolical plans were being made, up on the third floor above him. The ghosts he had once feared to be roaming the halls of the big house were no match for the evil man that actually haunted them. Mikey’s greatest fear now was that Dr. Bishop would stalk them for the rest of their lives. If he took the opportunity that still sat on the table downstairs in the den though, it would haunt him anyway. Mikey was not sure he had it in him to make such an adult decision though.
Gerard secured the last of his Art supplies, leaving behind the ones Dr. Bishop had given him. He wanted nothing to do with that horrible man. Once they left, they would start their lives over, fresh and new. They would have no ties to Fox Hall or anyone in it ever again. He zipped closed his duffle bag and sat down on the bed, looking around the empty room. Gerard wondered if he would ever be able to give Callie a beautiful old house to raise their child in together. He wanted to give her the world. They had given each other a reason to live and even created life between them. He wanted to protect their family but Gerard did not know if the answer was the one that had been presented to them. This new life had many choices but he could not be sure which one was right; or if he was capable of choosing.
Callie tucked her comb into the side pocket of her suitcase. She sat down on her bed with a smile, remembering that night when she and Gerard had first kissed. He had combed her wet hair and shared himself with her. They had opened up to one another and let each other in. It was the place they had first made love and now they had a lifetime ahead of firsts to share with each other and the baby growing inside her; a baby that was half of each of them making a whole beautiful soul. When Callie thought of anyone harming their baby, she nearly lost her mind. That baby would be the most loved and protected child to ever be born into the world. She wondered if she could actually take someone out of the world in order to protect it though. Callie was a teenager. She was a girl growing into a woman. She was the love of someone’s life. She was going to be a mother and maybe even a wife. But she was not a killer. Was she?
The hours passed slowly as the teenagers sat in their rooms thinking over what the world beyond the front door might hold for them. It was a big world and its possibilities were limitless. Whatever they faced though, it would be together. Ray’s cabin the woods sounded like a safe haven for the four young people the world could not understand any more than they could figure it out themselves. They would create their own world until they found it was time to join it once again; assuming that time ever came. Mikey had been homeschooled his whole life and had plenty to teach as he grew into a man. Callie could learn to cook and Gerard and Frank would provide hours of endless fun for the child. No matter what, it would be their world and they would not allow anything detrimental to any of them inside it. The lives they had would be theirs to live together as they saw fit. The four teenagers would walk away from Fox Hall and run towards their future. The present was still in progress though and one of them was about to change it.
Slow quiet steps stalked the dark hallway early that morning before the sun had woken for the day. The moon was lapsing into a comatose slumber as it slipped down in the sky. Every step higher toward the third floor was an absolutely silent one, just as each had been when retrieving the gun from the den. With a stealthy hand, the door opened so slowly, not even the old creak in it awakened. There were fifteen steps from the door to the foot of Dr. Bishop’s bed and the distance was closed in slow motion. With steady precision the gun was raised and aimed at the head of the sleeping man who tossed and turned in the throes of a nightmare he seemed intuitively aware he would not wake from. But Dr. Bishop did stir and awake to the point of the gun across his darkened room.
He sat up with a fright, holding his chest, still shaking off the nightmare and waking to a real one. He took a deep breath and released it in a sigh, knowing it would be one of his last. Dr. Bishop nodded at the young assassin in his room; the very fate he let in through his own front door those months ago. He was not a God now. He was as mortal as the children had always been. He stared, wide-eyed at the barrel of the gun that did not tremble or sway with fear or indecision. The decision had already been made. Dr. Bishop’s time had come.
His lip trembled as he gave his last smile with a whisper. “I knew it would be you who came for me in the end. Just remember…what you do here tonight will be an immortal act that you will live with for the rest of your very…long…life.”
BANG!
Three teenagers shot up in their beds and listened as the still of the night wrapped thickly around the echo of the gunshot. As three teenagers raised their heads in attention, Ray lowered his in relief. He understood, though it still broke his heart in some way. He was proud of whichever one of them had risen up to take life into their own hands but devastated that they would now have to live with that decision forever. One head turned away from the scene of the crime and treaded quietly back down the stairs. The gun was replaced on the table in the den and the bedroom door was closed upon returning to the second floor.
As the sun crested over the peaks of the old house, the four teenagers rose from their beds. They lifted their suitcases and took one last look around their room and the life they once had. It was not a long look of nostalgia, but one of closure for the place that had given them back their lives. It was goodbye…but it was not a sad one.
The four bedroom doors opened as each teenager stepped out into the hallway. There were no greetings or words exchanged between them; just the grateful glances from one to another that it was all over and they had nothing left to fear of the man who had masterminded the fate he could not control. It was theirs now and one of them had given it back. There were no thanks necessary though as their savior did not want the credit. It was enough that it had been done and they could all move on from it together.
They packed their bags into Ray’s black sedan as Thor hopped inside and they stood in the first rays of light as the sun broke from behind Fox Hall’s grandiose stature. Ray stood beside them, ready to lead them away from the horrible place he had once brought them to. He looked up at the big old house and stood tall before it with poise and hope. “The stars shall fade away, the sun himself grow dim with age, and nature sink in years; But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth, Unhurt amidst the wars of elements; the wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds.” The teenagers turned to him as he smiled. “It’s from Joseph Addison’s ‘Cato’. There will be no crushing of worlds for you ever again,” he nodded. “You’re free now to make your own choices and live your own lives.” He gave them each a smile of their own. “From the ashes of this world…you’re going to rise and create anew.” The teenagers appreciated the sentiment greatly.
“Goodbye lions,” Mikey waved softly to the stone carvings over the pillars by the door. “We’re taking your courage with us,” he smiled as Frank took his hand.
The two couples left the past behind as they moved forward together. Gerard proposed a month after they settled into the cabin. They were married two months later in a small ceremony at home, vowing to love, honor and cherish one another and sharing a secret smile in the phrase “til death do us part.” Frank and Mikey made their own ceremony at home as well and built a life together with their new family as it grew. Gerard and Callie’s baby was a girl. They appropriately named her Hope. Ray checked in on them often, becoming a part of their family and lending all the help he could.
They all speculated as to what became of Bob and Carrie. There were no definitive answers of confirmation but Ray told them of rumors of their transfer to another hospital together. They all knew enough of what happened to Dr. Bishop. They often wondered if Bob and Carrie had buried the old Grandfather at sea and taken over Fox Hall to resume his life’s work themselves. Did their rooms remain empty or was new life breathed into them only to study its stifling snuff when they deemed its time to end? It was best not think about. They all had far too much to look forward to together.
Ray sat at the desk in the office of his home with a satisfied smile as he stared at the monitor. The remote assistance of his cameras was holding up nicely from the town to the woods as he watched the teenagers in the home he had constructed for them. The money he sent them was a small price to pay for the research he was getting from them. He stared down at his thesis. “Are kids who have experienced death easily conditioned to kill?” It was going to make him millions and he could not wait to cash in.
“Daddy?” came the small voice from his doorway.
Ray smiled. “Hey kiddo. C’mere,” he chuckled, patting his knee as his son hopped up on his lap.
“Who are they, Daddy?” the little boy asked, pointing to the monitor.
Ray grinned, “The future, son.”
A pretty, young woman leaned in the door. “Still at it, huh?” she smiled.
He shrugged modestly. “My work is never done, Sally. After ten years of marriage you should know that by now,” he smiled.
“You work too hard,” she laughed.
Again, he smiled at her. “It hardly feels like work when I enjoy it so much.”
She laughed, “You need a vacation.”
He nodded. “I agree. Maybe the three of us could go up to the cabin this summer. I’ll go on ahead and get it all cleaned up and you two can come up and meet me,” he offered.
“That sounds like a great idea,” she smiled. “Now, are you working all night again or are you coming for dinner?”
“I’m coming baby.” He lowered his son off his lap and sent him into his mother’s arms. “Just give me a few and I’ll be right there, Sal.” She nodded and left him to his work.
Ray sat back in his chair and thought about how smoothly his plan had played out. He had a beautiful wife, a healthy son and enough data to fill his book and send his boy to college. He hoped the child would be a doctor. Ray would teach him everything he knew. Ray thought about the deadline he had just made for himself. He could do it though. The cabin would just have to be emptied by then; he would see to that. Ray worked well under pressure. He turned off the monitor, letting the tapes run, and joined his family as the big world he had given the teenagers got smaller by the minute. They had no idea how quickly their time really was running out.
The End! Did you like it? Ray’s not so good after all. I wanted him to be good. I love Ray’s character but this is a thriller and it just wouldn’t be right to wrap it all up so neatly. Forgive me for not revealing who the shooter was in the end. I don’t believe who it was that pulled the trigger is nearly as important as the fact that trigger was pulled. I’ll leave it to you to speculate if you wish but I will not confirm or deny who I chose in my mind it had to be. That one is my little secret and I’m keeping it for myself. I had another story in mind for after this one but so many of you have asked me to return to the unfinished projects I abandoned so long ago. So I’ll be rekindling Revelation next and finishing up A Sorrow of Crows sometime soon as well. The revised fourth chapter of Revelation is up and I hope you will embrace it as you have this story. Thank you, as always. You are why I continue to share my twisted little mind here instead of keeping it locked away for myself. Thank you. Xoxo Harley
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