"I may have saved her from the monsters that crawl through the dark, but she saved me from the worst monster of all. She rescued me from who I would have become without her, the monster that would have easily conquered my body."
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Reese Chambler...
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WHILE GROWING UP, I only had one good friend. I never really branched out beyond my one friend because I didn't need anyone else. Keeping to yourself has its upsides, though. A quiet girl like me never has many friends, but she also never has many enemies, either.
That has changed though, because I think, right now, I am making an enemy out of the man that stands before me.
The rusty gears in my head are turning too fast for me to pick out one of the thousands of thoughts churning out of them. They squeak and squeal, ringing in my ears. My heart beats in time with the fast pace of my brain, but still my body remains rigid, unmoving.
"How did.. Where?" Mr. Grimes' words come out hushed as he strokes Meghan's head over and over.
I want so badly to take Meghan away, but the hard door pressing against my back reminds me that I am trapped. My lungs repeatedly inhale and exhale small gasps of air. I can hardly breathe normally.
"Dad? Who..." A voice cracks from somewhere else in the room.
I tighten my hold on Meghan, my fingers curling around her small body, but there are suddenly four hands reaching toward my baby. I try to resist, but Meghan is ripped from my grip. I watch in horror as my baby is enveloped by two bodies. My arms twitch to reach for her, but my spinning mind stops them. She starts to cry without me.
Two faces turn to me, expressions of shock and awe written all over them. Rick shakes his head at me, completely struck.
"How?" The other person speaks for him.
I just shake my head, not knowing how to respond. I try to say something, maybe demand Meghan back, but my broken voice doesn't escape my throat. Rick hugs Meghan tightly as he sinks to a crouching position. She cries harder.
A sharp metallic sound fills the the room as a gun is suddenly drawn and pointed right at my face.
"How?" The other person, a boy, asks again, this time shouting as a tear escapes his eye.
Ignoring my own well-being, I look back down at what is happening to my baby. Mr. Grimes cries as he brings one of his hands to pinch the bridge of his nose. Meghan screams again, her pink face wet with tears.
"How?" I am howled at again. My head is pounding when my senses finally snap. I howl back.
"Give her to me!" I say as I dive to the floor.
I take Meghan back into my arms and stand fast enough to darken my vision for a few seconds. I swivel so that I am facing the door. I hug Meghan and quietly sing with my eyes closed tight, trying to imagine for us a different setting. The safety of the trees, just the two of us.
It only takes a few moments until the room is filled with an unsettling silence once again.
"Please." Mr. Grimes' voice sounds desperate. I slowly turn around again, this time with a new determination. Meghan will not be taken from me again.
"Please. How?"
A coherent answer was difficult for me to come up with. I don't know how this happened, it just did. I was put in the right place and the right time to save Meghan, and I did what I had to do, what I was meant to do. She was alone, and I know what it feels like to be alone.
"I did what I had to," I finally whisper, "I saved her."
The next thing that happened catches me totally by surprise. Mr. Grimes leans forward, and before I have any time to react, I am pulled into a hug.
"Thank you," He breathes into my ear, "For saving my girl."
My blood freezes. Meghan is my girl.
My eyes focus to the other person in the room, and for the first time, I fully take in his appearance. It takes a moment, but finally my muggy and frustrated mind clicks.
The hat. I've only ever seen one other person so bold. He is the cowboy-looking prick, the one that almost killed me that the prison.
The skin between my eyebrows finally relaxes as my eyes grow wide. These are the people that stood on the other side of the fence the day the life I had finally gotten used to ended. My enemies.
"Judith," The boy cracks the first smile.
At the mention of the name, Rick whimpers again. I can feel his tears soaking the collar of my shirt. I yank myself from his grip and defensively hold Meghan away from them.
"Her name is Meghan," I say in a small voice.
"No, it's not. It's-"
"Judith," Mr. Grimes cuts off the boy, "Please, let me hold my daughter."
My heart skins into the already hollowed out cave of my chest as I slowly pass him my baby. Meghan turns her head to face me, and makes a frowning face. I keep my hand holding hers has Rick presses his forehead against her temple. My body tenses painfully again as Rick starts to walk away and Meghan's fingers slip through mine. I quickly trail behind him as he sits on the couch that I was sitting on just minutes ago. The boy slides on the couch next to him, and I am left standing in the middle of the room as I nervously watch the two people hug my baby. I begrudgingly sink into the chair opposite of them, never once taking my eyes off Meghan.
They ask me to explain again, and I don't know what to say. If they know that I am their enemy, they will surely kill me. Instead of the truth, I tell them that I found her on the road all alone and that I took care of her for months.
Mr. Grimes seems so elated that he doesn't doubt a word I say just yet. I am just worried that if I live to see tomorrow, he will have more questions for me.
Questions that I won't have any answers for.
~~~
Double update because it is Sunday my dudes.
Votes and comments: never expected, always appreciated.
