Salvation

Chapter 20: Reunion

Darci can't believe her eyes. Looking at Marc one more time, she sees him gently urge her towards the van. Barely conscious of what she's doing, Darci feels herself slowly walking towards the van. The closer she gets, the faster she seems to move. Before she's halfway there, Darci is at a full run, throwing her arms around the neck if the man standing there.

Shocked and speechless, all Derrick can do is wrap his arms around her and hold her close to him. The tears that he kept hidden away these past three years finally spilling over. The twins hold each other as if they would never see each other again.

After a few minutes, Darci pulls away from Derrick and wipes his tears away. "It's okay Derrick, I'm really here." Darci manages through her own tears, barely managing to hold back a sob. Turning around, Darci motions Marc over to them, then turns back to her brother. "Marc found me." She explains quickly and simply, answering the unspoken question on Derrick's face.

Holding out his hand, Derrick waits for Marc to take it, not expecting Marc to ignore it and pull him into a brotherly hug. Releasing each other, Marc then turns sideways towards the lady standing beside Derrick.

"Hey sugar." Marc says as he hugs her quickly. "Thanks for getting him out here. Wouldn't have been nearly as surprising as this if we met at the house." Chuckling he steps back over to Darci and wraps his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side.

Stepping forward with Marc, Darci then turns to the woman beside Derrick. "Sharyn!" She exclaims, "Is that you?"

Nodding her head, Sharyn steps forward and wraps Darci into a hug. "I can't believe that you're finally home. We knew all along that you'd come back to us, we just weren't sure when." Backing up, Sharyn steps back against Derrick and lets him wrap her into his arms. Darci does the same with Marc.

Facing each other, the two pairs excitedly talk amongst each other. After a few minutes, Sharyn jumps out of Derrick's arms. "I almost forgot! I made us a picnic lunch, since we're all here we may as well eat it now."

Marc tilts his head questioningly. "Do you have enough for all of us?" He asks.

Laughing, Sharyn turns to their van and starts unloading the back. "Of course I did! I knew you had something hidden from us, and I always try to think positively. Besides, even with her I made more than enough food. I know how you two eat." Chuckling, she grabs the basket from the van. Before she can even get it out of the van, Derrick has grabbed it from her and started following Marc who had grabbed the rest of the items that Sharyn had pulled out.

When Sharyn goes to complain, Darci loops her arm through Sharyn's and drags her along behind the guys. "Don't bother fighting them on this, they're too stubborn to listen." Darci grins over at Sharyn. Laughing, the women follow the men to where they decided to set the blanket down for the picnic.

With everyone sitting down, Sharyn and Derrick quickly empty the basket, setting everything down on the blanket in the middle of the group.

"Dig in you guys." Sharyn says once the basket is empty. Spread in front of them is three piles of sandwiches. "There's three different kinds, egg salad, meat with cheese, and BLT's." She says, pointing to each small pile.

All at once, they reach for sandwiches. As they eat, they talk and start to catch up on everything that's been happening. Finally, Darci asks the one question that's been on her mind through the whole conversation. "So, what happened? The wedding, I mean, how was it?"

Sharyn and Derrick look at each other and share a smile. Looking back at Darci, Sharyn explains. "Non-existent. When you weren't there, our family was incomplete, and we had made a promise to each other that all of our family be there."

Gasping, Darci covers her mouth with her hand, not expecting that answer. "So, then that means it was cancelled. I'm so sorry." Darci's eyes start tearing, "It's my fault."

"Darci!" Derrick and Marc scold at the same time. "It's not your fault. You had no choice in the matter, with or without Derrick walking you home, they still would have taken you." Marc continues explaining.

Unable to stop her tears, Darci fans her face with her hands. "Maybe, maybe not. Either way, they destroyed the lives of too many people. It still makes me sorry for you two that the wedding was cancelled." Soon enough, Darci's tears dry up and she lowers her hands.

"What is that?" Sharyn asks, picking up Darci's left hand. Looking at the ring, Sharyn smiles at Darci before leaning in for a hug. "When did this happen? How? Come on, I need the details!" Sharyn starts excitedly.

"Just this week actually. Um, how do I explain this." She hesitates.

Suddenly Marc grabs her hand and kisses it. Setting her hand down, Marc explains everything from the beginning when he found her at the auction up until now. 

***

Sitting back a bit, Derrick takes in what Marc told them. Reaching a hand forward he and Marc shake hands. "Well, I'm glad that you found her Marc. I don't know how much longer she would've survived if you didn't save her when you did."

"Hey! I survived so far, haven't I?" Darci asks, feigning hurt. After seeing Derrick's shocked and apologetic face, she chuckles. "Relax, I was kidding. Though I am surprised myself that I managed it. I'm so thankful that Marc got me out when he did." Sighing, she runs her hands through her hair. "I never told you this Marc, but now that everyone's here, I might as well say it to all of you at once."

Taking a deep breath to relax herself, Darci starts. "Right before I was to go on the stage, I overheard two of the lackeys there saying that if I didn't sell here, they would no longer be keeping me. The more they talked, the more it sounded like they were going to kill me, or worse, send me back to the only person that had wanted me beaten into submission; Rick.  I thought that if I fought and escaped before they got me on the stage I could find my own way home, but by then it was already my turn to go up. You know everything that happened after that."

Marc reaches over and wipes his thumb over Darci's cheek and pulls her into his side. Darci had been unaware that she was crying until Marc had pulled her into a side hug.

"Darci, why didn't you tell me this?" Marc says, hurt in his voice as he holds her close to him.

"I couldn't. I was too ashamed and frightened. I wasn't sure how you'd react to it." She answers honestly. Faintly, she feels Sharyn's hand on hers comforting her, then Derrick's on top of them. All at once, they comfort Darci, letting her know that she's not along anymore.

"Thank you." Darci says to all of them. "I'm sorry for the past three years, but I'm glad I'm back home safe with the people I trust most." Letting out a deep breath, Darci relaxes back against Marc, at least until Sharyn pulls her closer to talk.

As Sharyn and Darci sit side-by-side on one side of the blanket, Marc and Derrick sit on the other side. Each pair is deep in conversation; the guys talking about sports and the women talking about the future.

"So now that you're back, and engaged to boot, how do you feel about me and Derrick continuing our plan to get married?" Sharyn asks Darci quietly, not wanting the men to overhear her worry.

"Definitely, I was actually going to ask when you wanted to finally tie the knot." Darci jokes back at her, causing Sharyn to chuckle.

"Ya, I guess that makes sense." Pausing slightly, Sharyn takes a minute to think something over, then excitedly she turns to Darci. "I just had the best idea!"

"What is it?"