mercy ; peter ballard

22. strangers

march 28, 1986

beatrice went back to the trailer park. she saw the crack where the gate tore from eddie's trailer. she knocked on mrs. vee's door.

bea was finally in fresh clothes and looked like a functional member of society. underneath it all, she wasn't doing to hot. she wanted to shout out to the town that they were wrong about eddie and that he selflessly died for them, but she knew they weren't going to believe her.

the door creaked open and an older woman stepped out. "thank god! you're safe!"

mrs. vee engulfed bea into a sudden, tight hug. the door shut behind her. "whoa!"

"i was so worried you weren't coming back for tilly. i thought you might have gotten stuck in the earthquake!" mrs. vee exclaimed, letting the woman out of her grasp.

"i am so sorry, mrs. vee! i didn't mean to cause any worry," beatrice spoke, sweetly. "i had no idea i would be out for that long."

"it's alright, sweetie. next time, just give us a call," mrs. vee replied. she turned to opened the door and tilly ran out, excitedly. mrs. vee grabbed the leash from a side table next to the door as tilly's tail was wagging more than it had ever. she rushed to sniff bea and lick her face.

"tilly!" bea exclaimed, happily accepting tilly's form of affection. bea crouched down to pet tilly. she looked to mrs. vee. "thank you so much."

"oh, you're welcome, hon. i always love having that little rascal over," mrs. vee laughed, handing her the leash. bea quickly clipped the least to tilly's green collar.

"alright, well, we should get going. thank you again, mrs. vee!" beatrice said, standing up. "goodbye!"

"bye, miss bea!" mrs. vee waved.

beatrice led tilly into her trailer. as bea opened the door, tilly ran inside, missing her own bed. the home was still pretty much intact, some things were moved around or knocked over from the rumbling.

tilly's collar jingled as she pranced around the trailer. bea sighed and sat down on the couch. she couldn't figure out what to do. her eyes became heavy as she laid down on her side.

when she opened her eyes, she was in a forest. she took in her surroundings. she followed a trail that led to a smaller wooden house, covered in beautiful greenery. the front door opened, inviting her in.

'this is a weirdly specific dream,' she thought, walking in. a waft of bea's old favorite recipe filled her senses.

"lemon cake," she whispered, taking it all in. she walked further in finding herself in the kitchen where a lemon cake covered in powdered sugar sat on a beautiful white cake stand upon a wooden table.

suddenly, two children and a dog run past her, a little boy and little girl, and a voice scolded them. the children were the perfect mix of their parents. they had green eyes and beautiful brown hair. they were around the ages of four and five.

"elodie, sawyer, what did your mother say about running in the house?" the voice called from the living space.

'maybe, they can't see me," beatrice thought.

the children stopped in their place, too antsy to notice beatrice. "sorry, father."

they quickly walked to the door in the kitchen that led to the backyard. she peered at the window, watching the children collecting different rocks and flowers. the father walked into the kitchen, holding a book in his hand.

he smiled and placed the book on the counter at the sight of his wife. "darling, you're home early."

it was him. this was their dream life. this was everything she wanted. a quiet life in the forest. children. him. no monsters, no tests, no loss.

he walked up behind her, watching the children with her. tears stung her eyes as she witnessed what could've been. his arms snuck around her waist from behind and he rested his chin on the top on her head.

the embrace was warm and felt like home around her aching bones. this was her peter. her husband. the love of her life.

he gently placed a kiss on her forehead. she wanted to sob, but choked it back. he unraveled his arms, opening the back door to the backyard.

"children!" he called, catching their attention. "your mother is home!"

the children began to excitedly run to their mother. he plants a sweet kiss to her lips at the children run in. she felt the warmth of his lips after years of missing him. she never wanted to leave. the children playfully push their father aside, wanting to hug their mother.

"mother!" sawyer said, throwing his arms around her legs.

elodie followed sawyer in wrapping her arms around the other side of her legs.

"alright!" peter laughed. "you're going to make her fall down!"

they freed her legs from their grasps. beatrice smiled as she crouched down to their level. she brought a hand up to each of their rosy cheeks. her right hand held elodie's left cheek and her left hand held sawyer's right cheek.

she looked at them as if they were the most beautiful things in the world, because to her, they were. she gave them a big hug, grasping them like it was the end of the world. her own little family.

peter knew this wasn't real. he knew she needed something good today. he felt pangs of guilt for what she felt but knew it would work out in the end. it was all for her and for those two children. he would risk everything to give them the perfect world to live in.

he watched as she happily sobbed into the embrace. peter went down in his knees and joined his family in their hug.

he couldn't wait to meet them again someday. then beatrice would finally realize the good he is doing for their family, for her. she would understand this was all for her.

beatrice faded from this plain, waking up in the real world. peter watched as the world around him faded as well.

march 29, 1986

the hospital felt cold and dull to bea. beatrice opens the door to lucas reading to max. erica said behind him, just listening.

erica hated to admit it, but she genuinely cared for her brother. seeing him in pain was like a knife to the heart for only she was allowed to cause lucas any pain. she looked up at the door.

his eyes widened as he saw who was behind her.

"oh my god." he stood up, walking to them. "we've been calling you guys like crazy."

mike and will hug lucas. "i know. we came as soon as we heard." mike looked to bea.

lucas' gaze met eleven and he rushed to embrace her. her head was covered by her hood.

bea pulled a chair next to max. she moved back a fallen strand of hair. she was glad she didn't die, but looking at her current state made her want to cry. she looked so helpless and fragile.

"i'm sorry," eleven whispered to lucas.

eleven pulled back her hood and approached max.

"do they know...when she will wake?" eleven asked.

"no...they say she might not," lucas said, sadly, looking to bea. "her heart stopped. for over a minute. she died. i...i mean clinically, but...then she came back. the doctors don't know how. they say it's a miracle."

mike and will look at each other before looking to eleven. eleven sat down next to max on her bed. she held her hand.

"i'm here, max," eleven whispered, softly.

"we're here," bea added, looking at all their friends in the room.

she offered a hand to bea. bea looked at it, reluctantly, before taking it. eleven and bea closed their eyes, focusing intently. their surroundings became dark.