Zone Zero: Redemption (Book 2 of 3)

Prologue

I stare intently out the window waiting for dinner to be over. I don't want to excuse myself too early and come across as rude but I have somewhere to be.

I look across the table and glance over at the other guests that grace my brothers house for the evening. Samson, the elected leader of this island sanctuary and his family crowd around, bumping shoulders with my brother Logan and his pregnant wife Jade.

I watch them as they bask in each other and realise that I have never seen Logan this happy in my entire life. He is in his element with Jade and I couldn't be prouder of the father to be and what he has accomplished in his time here.

Logan is halfway through telling the table about a funny fishing story that Jade and I have both heard over a hundred times, but from the look of Jade's smile, you would never have guessed. Every word that Logan says, Jade looks as though it were coming from God himself. You can tell by her body language alone that she whole heartedly loves my brother and for that, I thank her. She can give him the love and affection that he so needs in these dark times of impending war and solitude.

Coming to this place was the best thing that could have possibly happened to Logan. Me, not so much.

As everyone finishes their meals, I clear the plates and begin to wash up for Jade. I can't let a woman who is six months pregnant with my niece or nephew do dishes while the rest of her guests laugh and drink.

She watches me as I collect the dirty dishes with a smile of admiration beaming across her face. She mouths the words 'thank you' to me and I smile back to her warmly and head for the kitchen.

I am concentrating so hard on washing the dishes as quickly as possibly that I don't even realise that I have an audience.

"Would you like help?" The thick Maltese accent of Samson's only surviving child fills the air as I turn to face him.

Franco stands tall in the doorway with a shy smile filling his face as he waits for my answer.  His jet black hair has been brushed back softly and he is clean shaven instead of his usual scruffy beard adorning his face. In another life, i would have found his sun kissed skin and chocolate eyes mouth watering but when i look at him, all i see is blue. Blue eyes as they stare back at me.

I smirk politely and hand him a tea towel and he sets to work on drying.

From my time here I have come to know that Franco does not speak a great deal to most people but for some reason has chosen me to confide in on a lot of matters.

We work in silence for a few moments until Franco chooses to break the quiet.

"You in rush to go somewhere?" He watches me hurriedly wash each dish as he speaks and I know that I have given myself away.

No one else besides Logan and Jade have ever noticed that I disappear every night, but somehow Franco manages to guess my true motives just by watching me do a simple task.

I stare at my soapy hands for the longest of times and find myself biting my lower lip.

"I was hoping to go for a walk before it gets too dark." I lie through my teeth and can't even bring myself to look at the always honest Franco.

"Would you like company? I come with you?" his accent fails him in some sentences but truly does benefit him in others.

"I was only going to go for a very quick walk." I try to brush him off but he sees straight through me.

"To the rocks near the dock, yes? This is where you go?"

I stop what I am doing suddenly and turn to face him.

"How did you know that?"

In the months that I have been here not one single soul has figured out where it is that I go of a night. How did Franco know?

"I see you. From my bedroom. You look so sad when you come home."

I look down at the bubbles and pray that this information does not travel past this room.  I don't want the rest of the island to know my private business or my suffering.

"I not tell anyone. Only I know." His words soothe my worrying instantly. "So why you go there?"

"I like looking at the water. It helps me sleep." Half-truth.

"You wait the vampiro?"

The mention of him brings pain to my chest and the all too familiar question sounds in my head; what if he never comes back?

"Yes. I wait for him." A tear leaves my eye and drops into the soapy water.

"How long you wait for?" Such a simple question comes from Franco's lips and I find myself having to concentrate just to stop myself from crying.

"I will wait my entire life if I have to."

"You no want family?"

Another tear rolls freely down my cheek as I bring myself to look at his bronzed face.

"Yes, but I love him."

"What if he no come back?"

Six simple words that push me to breaking point. I am on the brink of an overload of tears. What if Franco is right? What if he never comes back?

I can't bring myself to respond to his question as I use my shoulder to wipe tears from my cheeks.

"I can be family. You and me. You can love me. One day."

Franco gently folds his tea towel and sets it down before stepping closer to me and kissing me softly on the forehead and making his way back into the dining area.

His kindness for my situation overwhelms me as I try with all my might to hold back the wall of tears that stand ready to be shown on the brink of my eyelids.

I don't want to think about a future without him, but it is clear that he may never return. It has already been months of torture without him by my side.

But what will I do if he doesn't return? I can't sit on the rocks each night waiting to see a boat in the distance and pray that it is him.

Maybe Franco is right. Maybe I can love him one day and we can have a family. He is so kind and patient that I am sure he would not only make a good father but a fantastic husband.

But I don't want to be without him. He is the only reason I am still alive and I want to spend the rest of my life with him even if it means that I will age and he will not.

Without warning light footsteps make their presence known as I try to cover up my tears and hold back anymore from shedding. I turn to see Jade as she holds one last plate.

She takes one look at me and her honest smile changes to a look of worry and anxiety. The same look that Logan gives me when he knows that I am upset.

"Are you ok?" her concern filled words send me over the edge.

"I have to go." Tears stream down my face as I run for the door, grabbing my leather jacket on the way and heading to the one place that feels real to me. The one place that I know Alex will find me when he comes back. If he comes back.