Searching for the Monster's Child :.Book 3 in the Delfunie Trilogy.:

Chapter 6

No, no, no, no, NO! Not Jefferson, anyone but Jefferson. This can't be happening. Jefferson, Lucian and Ragnar's younger brother, was one of the main reasons I still don't have my son right now. He helped Lucian the entire time after we ran away from the house. Now, here he was outside the car, just waiting to find us.

"What are you doing here, Alex? Where are your friends?" Jefferson asked again.

"Just looking for somewhere new to raise my daughter, Jefferson. That's it. They aren't still back in Ohio watching her." I heard Alex answer. I hope to the heavens that Jefferson believes him and lets us go. It was a long shot but I still hoped.

"Papers. I still need your papers." I heard shuffling as Alex grabbed his papers to hand to him. There was a long silence while Jefferson read them.

"Why the name change Alex? Seems a little fishy to me."

"It was to avoid this. I knew that he is looking for us, why else would you be at a checkpoint? I just want to get on with my life, Jefferson. I'm just looking for a place to live away from everything that happened. That's why I changed my last name."

"Search the vehicle." I heard as my heart stopped. He was going to find Richard which meant he was going to know that we're after them. Then they're going to find Ragnar and me. This was it. This is where it all ends.

I heard the door open next to my compartment and then the one next to Ragnar's. The jumped in the car and started looking around, it was only a matter of time before they find the compartment. The trunk then opened and I squeezed my eyes shut, placing my hand over my mouth to keep from crying out in fear. They found Richard, it was only a matter of time before they found us.

"This car is clear. He's alone." I heard a Delfunie yell. I opened my eyes wide in surprise and almost laughed before stopping myself. That would be our luck, getting let loose just to have them hear me. I just smiled as we drove off and I waited a long time before Alex finally stopped to let us all out.

That night was like every other, nightmares all night to the point that I decided not to go back to sleep. I couldn't take it anymore. I needed sleep but every time I close my eyes, I see that teenage version of Jax and the murderous look in his eyes as he stands up and comes after me with that knife. I need to find him and soon. I want my son back.

"Mavis?" I turned to see a groggy looking Richard looking back at me. I was sitting in my seat with my knees pulled up, looking out the window. It was raining, which seemed appropriate. "Why are you still awake?"

"Can't sleep." I answered with a small smile.

"You know we're going to find him right? One little setback is nothing. I am still in the loop with Ross. He always calls with updates and things. He told me that he's headed to Tennessee. Which is a lot closer than South Carolina." Richard was always so crass before. He was cold and mean during all of our sessions at ISSG. He was always distant but now he actually seemed human.

"I know I asked before and you gave me an answer but why are you really doing this?" I asked quietly. He smiled, seeming like he was suddenly somewhere else. He was thinking of some other place, at some other time.

"Lets just say that I know what its like to lose a child. I wouldn't wish that on anyone." With that, he turned around and went back to sleep. I looked over at Ragnar, asleep in his chair, and smiled. If we were lucky, we'd get to go home to all of our children. All five of them.

When the sun finally came up, I had just fallen asleep. Ragnar knows about my sleep patterns so he lets me sleep as long as I need to. I started to wake up but I didn't open my eyes right away, I wanted to go back to sleep when I heard Ragnar and Richard talking.

"She hardly sleeps, Ragnar. That's not good for her, especially with everything we may have to go through to get Jax back." I heard Richard comment. I decided not to let them know I was awake just yet, I wanted to hear this.

"I know, trust me I know. She just keeps having these nightmares. It used to be every night but it slowly dwindled down to only a few times a week. I think they're back nightly though. I don't really know the last time she got a good night sleep." Ragnar replied. I didn't realize that he paid that much attention to my habits.

"How long has she been having these nightmares?"

"Since the night Jax was taken. That was the first one. She even popped her stitches once after that night, she was so freaked. She jumped out of bed and all the sudden, she was bleeding. Luckily, I was able to fix it but it wasn't easy. She keeps dreaming that Jax is a teenager and that Lucian has trained him to kill us. Her, me, and Alex. It really had her freaked. I just don't know what to do other than getting Jax back." I could feel the fear coming off of my husband now. He was so scared that something was going to happen to me. And I knew that I wasn't handling anything very well but I was doing the best I could. Ragnar knows that.

"Well, that's why I'm here. I'm here to help you get him back. I've known her for over a year now, she's lost enough. I...I'm just glad she's found you. You can give her more than David ever could." That one hurt. I'm not sure why but it did. I knew that it wasn't meant to be bad but it felt like a slap in the face to David. Yeah, our marriage was over long before the invasion but I knew he loved me, it was just that love wasn't enough.

"I don't know about that Richard, but I am going to make sure we get Jax back. If its the last damn thing I do, I'm going to get him back."

"Hey, we're going to need to stop for gas soon. Besides, i'm sure when she wakes up, she's going to be hungry." I heard Alex say as I felt the car change lanes.

"Alright, we'll stop for a few minutes. We need to figure out where we're at anyway."

I waited until we reached the gas station to actually wake up. Ragnar smiled at me as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. I moved up on the seat and started stretching. I was a little stiff from sleeping in the seat. Ragnar just looked at me and smiled as he waited for me to get out of the car. He held out his hand and I took it, stepping out into the sun.

"The bathroom is around the side of the building and we're getting breakfast and regrouping. We're going to be a little while." I nodded and started walking around the building and found the restroom. I went in and locked the door. I looked in the mirror and saw that I was a mess. My hair was a rat's nest, a mess of blonde curls, my face was pale and sunken from lack of sleep, the bags under my eyes were so pronounced that I was actually scared of myself.

There was a knock on the door and I yelled for them to let them know that I was in here. I hurried with my business and washed my hands. I heard the knocking again and quickly dried my hands. I went to open the door but when I stepped out, no one was there. I assumed that whoever was knocking had obviously gave up and walked away. I closed the door and started walking to the car.

I was walking back when I felt someone hit the back of my head and before I could cry out for one of the guys, my mouth was covered. My vision began fade as I went into total blackness as I passed out.