Please Stand By

Chapter 15

Jade sat on the couch shaking. Cain had still not come home yet. It was getting late and she kept blaming herself, saying that she should have said something sooner. If she did that... maybe Trevor would still be alive. Eventually, DeShawn came over to her and kneeled in front of her shaking body, putting a gentle hand on her hands that were clasped together and bouncing up and down on top of her legs. 

"You need to stop blaming Trevor's death and Cain running away on you." DeShawn began, speaking gently. "I know that Trevor threatened you to keep you quiet. You were scared so I understand why you didn't tell us. Do I think you should have? Yes. Am I mad that you didn't? No."
"B-But he's your twin!" Jade exclaimed. "How can you dismiss the fact that he's gone...?"
"I'm not dismissing it. I never said that I was. It's just that... he wasn't human anymore. That most likely means that who we were talking to wasn't my brother. At least... not the same man who called himself my brother. He became one of them and hurt you. That isn't something the real Trevor would have ever done."
"Cain is one of them and killed Trevor! Are you going to treat him like this when he comes home?"
"No... Cain will have learned his lesson if he is still the same man I know." Trevor stood up. "When he became a monster, Trevor's mind seemed to change with his body. Normally he wouldn't threaten people or attack them the way he did today. He may have bargained with people or had a little scuffle with Cain every now and then, but that was it. I discovered that when you become one of these... creatures... your mind becomes dead set on doing everything it can to satisfy your deepest desire. Now, before you ask, I think Trevor's deepest desire was to get anything he wanted from people. Like I said, he liked to bargain or make deals. When his mind became focused on seeing his boyfriend, he became dead set on seeing him no matter what. That is most likely why he bargained and eventually manipulated and threatened you."
"So... what you're saying is, he wanted to get as much as he could out of everyone. He wanted to drain them of whatever substance they had."
"Exactly! Before the change, he would have been only upset or frustrated if he didn't get his way. After his change, however, he would do anything, even so far as manipulating and hurting those who actually cared about him. He wasn't the same man, Jade. It reminds me a lot of Satan in the garden. He manipulated Eve into eating the apple that God told her and Adam not to eat. Trevor manipulated you into letting him see his boyfriend without the rest of the family knowing."
"Wait a minute," Trisha started. "What happens when they achieved their desires?"
"It depends on what their desires are." DeShawn said. "I've read multiple witness stories and stories of those who have satisfied their desires. When some of them satisfy their desires, they die almost instantly, like when a bee stings a human. Some of them continue their lives as a peaceful creature that won't harm anyone. Others get a new desire." He looked at Jade. She was looking at the floor while still tapping her foot. She was deep in thought. "I'm gonna take my laptop and go outside. I'll wait for Cain."
Jade stood up. "I'll come out with you."
"For a little bit. It's late and you need as much rest as you can get." DeShawn said, looking at her belly.
"He's right, Jade." Harmony said. "You can wait out there for a little while then you can come stay with mom and I." 

As much as Jade wanted to disagree, as much as she wanted to argue and say that she would be fine out there until Cain returned, she was tired, and she knew they were right. She walked out to the patio with DeShawn, sitting on a rocking chair, holding her tummy, and kept her eyes on the woods, waiting to see her fiancé come out from the thick curtain of trees. 

After a while of waiting, Jade's eyes began to droop, her head nodding up and down. Trevor put a gentle hand on her shoulder. She looked away from him, not wanting to go inside. He wrapped an arm around her and helped her to the couch anyway. He lay her on the couch and Trisha draped a blanket over her. Jade hid her face under the blanket as tears rolled down her eyes and she sobbed under the blanket. Trisha and Harmony wrapped their arms around her, trying to comfort her. DeShawn went back out to the patio and waited.

                                                                                         ***

It was one in the morning as DeShawn continued to wait for Cain, starting to feel tired. He got up and stretched, walking around the patio, letting his joints get the movement they needed, like a car getting oiled. After a little bit of walking around, he heard footsteps approaching the patio. He looked out to the woods and saw his brother not quite running to the house, despite him moving fast. He waited for Cain to approach the house. Cain paused at the edge of the patio stairs as DeShawn noticed that he looked like a human. 

"You don't look like a demon anymore." DeShawn said.
"I found out that when my emotions are more ramped up like they were earlier, I stay in that form. When I'm calm, it's easier for me to revert back to... this." Cain said, gesturing to his now human body.
"I haven't heard of anyone who could do that, and I do research every day. Well... I'm just glad you're home and human."
"What do you think made me... do what I did?" Cain asked, looking away from his older brother. DeShawn always seemed like he had the answers to every problem since he and Cain were kids.
"You mean what do I think your desire is?" DeShawn corrected. "Come up here and we can talk about that."
Cain jumped up onto the edge of the patio, staying behind the wooden railing that separated him from his brother.
"Each monster has its own special desire. I thought about what Trevor and you could have desired. I realized that Trevor desired to drain everyone around them of whatever substance, physical or psychological, he could get from them. When I thought about your desire, it was a little more obvious, protecting Jade and your kid."
"So... that's why I did what I did when Trevor hurt and manipulated Jade."
"Exactly, he hurt her, and you saw red."
"I... I didn't want to hurt him."
"I know, but I don't think that was the real you."
"What do you mean?"
"I think when you saw that Trevor had hurt Jade... a sort of parasite took over and made you attack Trevor. The easiest way for me to explain it is Jeckel and Hyde."
"Is Jade... Is Jade alright?"
"She's sleeping on the couch. She blamed herself all day for what happened."
"But it's not her fault!" Cain exclaimed.
"I know, Cain. I tried to tell her that, but I think she still blames herself despite us telling her otherwise."
"Can I... can I come inside? I don't want to get anyone infected, but I want to come inside."
"I was doing research before you got here." DeShawn gestured to his laptop. The infection rate of creature to human is 90%. The infection rate of a human who got infected by another source, monster or human, so someone like me or Jade being infected by you, since you were infected by Trevor, is only 2%. In other words, because you were infected by another human who hadn't fully turned into a monster, you have an extremely low chance of infecting us. I went inside and told this to the girls, and everyone agreed that you can come inside. None of us want to hurt Jade and will help you protect her. Let's get inside and tell them your home."

Cain nodded, smiling with the joy of knowing that he may not have infected his family. He hoped over the railing and hugged his brother, Trevor hugging him back. The two brothers went inside, walking into the warm living room. It felt nice compared to the cold forest. Harmony was scrolling through channels. Trisha was watching the tv channels pass by while holding a sleeping Jade that lay on her shoulder. Trisha shook Jade gently awake, Jade rubbing her eyes and looking to the entryway of the kitchen. Her eyes widened as she sat up and walked over to Cain, who met her halfway and hugged her. She buried her head in his chest despite her belly interfering. 

"It's alright babe, I'm home." He gently rubbed her back as he said more comforting words. After a moment, they sat down. Cain sighed a breath of relief. He felt like he could finally rest and as though a weight of not infecting his family had been lifted from his chest. Trevor, however, still left a physical toll on him, as if Trevor was doing so from beyond the grave.