Cry, Wolf, Cry

Ch.4 - What Tomorrow Brings

 "Liam! Anna! I'm home." Theodore called out when he walked into the house they shared. "You're both decent, right?" He teased. He had never caught his friends doing anything worse than cuddling. They were nice enough to not hang all over each other when Theodore was around. They understood it made him uncomfortable. Like a third wheel.

Anna poked her head out from the kitchen and threw a bottle of water to Theodore. "I've got a kettle going for tea, but this will have to do in the mean time. That alright?" She smiled.

He nodded and opened the water. "Thanks, Anna." As he drank the water he thought about just how much their lives had changed since Adam was killed. There was no record of his death outside of the three of them marking the calendar for the next lunar cycle. Adam was gone, but he would never be forgotten. Not since he'd left Liam and Anna with a gift they couldn't get rid of.

"Liam got called in for some emergency fixes."

"Again? That's been every day. You've both been sleeping like crap at night and he's been working these extra long days and emergency calls. He needs a vacation."

"We know. I've been asking him to make sure he's not on call for the nights where we change, and he's already got himself off the schedule. I think he's going to take some time around that off work so he doesn't have to worry. It wouldn't be so bad if the things he was called in for were small and easy fixes, but they're usually those things that get really involved." She sighed.

Theodore nodded. "I've got some vacation time I need to use up. Liam needs a break. You could use some time away from this place too. Why don't we all take a vacation some time? Maybe a small trip to get away from the area?"

Anna shrugged. "I don't know. It's hard to plan vacations and if we get mixed up with the lunar cycle there's no telling what could happen. I rather like the idea of just locking ourselves away for a few days. No answering the door, no phone calls, no e-mails, no anything but the three of us and whatever we want to watch on T.V. or sleep. Sleep sounds great for a vacation, don't you think?"

He laughed and looked at the door as Liam walked in. "Hey there. Didn't think you'd be home so soon." He said with a yawn.

Liam nodded. "You just got off a really long shift and I need to take Anna to work. You ready?"

She nodded and went to grab her bag and do a double-check that she did have everything she needed.

Theodore yawned again and Liam followed suit. "Stop that." He teased. "You're going to cause all three of us to have to go to bed. You and I are fine going back to sleep, but Anna has work to get to."

Theodore laughed, nodding. "True, but you know she'd rather be going back to sleep with you." He teased.

Liam nodded. "I know." He smiled, looking down the hall towards the room Anna was in.

Anna moved her bag onto the table across from the bed and flipped through it, making sure everything she needed was there. She was interviewing an author for the bookstore and scheduling an appointment for a signing. She was hoping to convince the author to talk about what got her into writing in the first place. She had a couple of notebooks, a voice recorder, and in a pinch her phone could act as a notepad. She dug in another part of her bag to make sure she had a charger for her phone that would work no matter where she went with the author. They were going to look at the bookstore, the library, and the community center. All three buildings worked together to get the youth more involved in reading and the arts. Anna had worked with the community center before and had brought books over when the center was having programs on art. The books would span from biographies on artists to techniques to art history and more.

Anna was nervous not only because of the interrupted sleep and worry about Liam, but because the author was one of her favorites who had grown up in the same state she had. Maybe not the same part of the state, but the same state nonetheless.

Liam knocked on the door frame. Anna jumped and looked at him. "Don't sneak up on me like that."

He grinned. "Sorry, love, but are you ready? At this rate you're going to be late for your meeting with Shavor."

She nodded. "I... I think I'm ready." She put her bag on her shoulder and played with the strap. "I'm just... She's one of my favorites, y'know? What if I make a fool of myself? What if I say the wrong thing and offend her? What if she hates me? What if today goes so badly that she cancels everything not just with the bookstore but the center and the library! There's a lot riding on my meeting her."

He hugged her from behind, resting his head on hers. "Breathe, Anna. It's going to be fine. She's not going to hate you. And besides, you've been talking to her via e-mail when you could for some time. If you were going to offend her you would have done it by now. And if you get that nervous go talk to the librarians. Someone there might be able to help you and it's not like you haven't worked with them or the community center before. And if worst comes to it you can always give me a call and I'll come get you. Family emergencies come before work. There's a reason I have some sick days and vacation days."

"You shouldn't use those when it's just me messing things up."

"Even before we were dating, back when we were nothing more than friends, I would have taken as much time as I could to make sure you were okay. If I would have needed to I'd have brought you to work with me. I still will if something happens. I don't care. I love you and I'm not going to leave you alone when you need someone. And even if I can't make it Theodore might still be awake or he might be able to wake up and help you. He's how I met you. And if he ever needs help too I'll be there in a heartbeat. He's been my best friend since I helped out with fixing some stuff for the company he works for."

"I don't think either of you have ever told me the story of how you met." She said, looking up at him.

He kissed her forehead. "And it will still have to wait. If we don't leave right now you're going to be late."

Anna gasped and ran out the door, heading for Liam's truck. Her car had been sitting, doing nothing more than keeping the gravel in the driveway from moving. Something was wrong with it but none of them had had the time to take a close look or take it to a mechanic to get it looked at. They managed with Theodore or Liam giving Anna rides to or from work and when one of them couldn't she walked. If weather was bad she would sit at the community center and read or play games with other people or even by herself if she didn't feel like interacting with others until Liam or Theodore could pick her up. Some nights her boss even offered her a ride home.

Anna had known Janet for more than a few years and she felt safe around the older woman. Janet was great for advice when Anna needed some and the two worked well together. If Janet needed the day off or something came up with her husband, Jack, Janet knew she could rely on Anna to keep the shop from burning to the ground.

Liam took Anna to her meeting with Shavor, and as Liam had told her, everything went well. Shavor did multiple presentations while she was in town and she spent time helping out at the community center helping those she could because the community center where she'd grown up had helped shape her into the person she became.

~Months later~

Night after night, month after month, all Anna and Liam saw in their dreams was each other or themselves being hurt by Adam. All Liam saw whenever he closed his eyes to rest was Adam tearing Anna's clothes off of her and forcing himself upon her as he watched. Liam spent night after night waking up in a cold sweat and searching not only their room, but the whole house and even as much of the yard as he could without leaving the house. Just in case.