Page 134 of A Foster Fling
“Honestly?” Cae leans up getting serious. “I have nightmares about something I didn’t even witness and it terrifies me because I know that Sayler did.” He smiles sadly. “Thatyoudid.”
“What do you mean?” Waif looks to me again and I try to shake my head to discourage him from asking. “He doesn’t remember?”
“He was having an episode when I found him, I don’t know what happened.” I wave my hands in defeat.
“What happened, is I took a recessive nap and y’all went nuts and pulled a Carrie. It’s fine though. We’re alive and we’re not dwelling on the fucked up shit we’ll never be able to change.”
“I should have just gone to you. This was too much.” Waif has always been sensitive to Cae’s issues. Always handled him softly.
“Waif, look. I know you’ve been on the fringe for the last few years, so I’ll explain something to you. I’m not that little boy anymore. I’ve got my pages still but now I can choose which ones to read. I’ve learned to live better with what I am, and I’m happy.” He reached up to grab Waif’s shoulder, causing him to flinch slightly. “You don’t have to take care of me anymore. This one though, she needs all the help you can offer.” He tugs my ear and thumps back into his seat.
“I can’t really help it at this point. I don’t really have anything else.”
The car is quiet for several moments until Waif adjusts in his seat and nods to a rest stop.
“Lets stop and use the bathrooms, another hour or so and we’ll be there.”
“Finally.” Cae sighs and is the first to get out when we park.
He doesn’t care for car rides, a scar from his past, and the last four hours we’ve spent in this one has had him bouncing in his seat about it. I follow behind with Waif at the rear and I smile at the formation we seem to have kept after all this time. He’ll stand in the hall until we’ve both entered the restrooms before he takes his turn.
I take a few extra moments looking at myself in the mirror. There’s nothing remarkable about me and I don’t mean that in a self-depreciating way. I just have one of those faces that becomes hard to remember the less you look at it. The doctor called it my glamour. Like I was intentionally trying to get people to forget me the second they turned their backs on me.
They seemed to do that alright on their own in some cases.
“Thisiswhat you have to do. It’s what youwant.” I tell my reflection.
My mouse brown hair falls in chaotic waves, dull in color like my sun deprived skin. I look sad, and I suppose I am. I allowed myself to move on and here there were more children suffering.
No more. This time I’m stopping him for good. I’m putting an end to Hell House.
“You alright, Lyst?” There’s a light know on the door and I open to smile at Cae.
“No, but I will be.Wewill be.” I look into Waif’s eyes so he knows that I mean it for him too. “We’re not leaving you again. Never.”
“I know that.” He smirks. “I have a place to put you if you try.”
Without a word, Cae leans in and kisses him softly on the lips. Some may be shocked by it, but I know they’ve been closer with each other than I’ve been with either of them at times. When it came to being physical, they did it first. It warms my fractured heart to see them close like that again.
We all manage to laugh at that and head back out to the car, my fingers entwined with theirs and my back straight. This is how it should be. The three of us together ready to take on anything.
“So, do we have an actual plan when we get there?” Cae asks as we settle back into the car.
“I set up a few cameras before I left the cottage. The doctor hasn’t left and he’s even more secluded now than he was with us. No one will be checking on him. It’s just him and a nurse up there, and the kids.”
“How many?” I ask hoping it’s not as bad as I think.
“Just two and the baby. The boy is twelve, I’m not sure about the girl. The girl and the baby showed up together with the new nurse. Nurse’s name is Toni and I’m kind of shocked she’s involved. Seems like a real Warhammer. Before these three there have been five others. I watched that place for a month, Sayler.” He glances at me. “None of those kids ever left after going inside. These three have been in the yard. Just sitting there, looking into the trees.” He swallows. “It’s like they’re waiting for us.”
“To save them.” I agree and turn to look out the window, dozing off for the rest of the ride.
For once, my sleep is free of nightmares.
Chapter Eleven
ONE CHILD TOO MANY, WHICH SOON BECAME TWO, MISBEHAVE DEARY AND YOU’LL BE TAKEN THERE SOON.
“It looks so peaceful.” Caerus’ voice breaks the silence we’ve been sitting in.