Silent all these years

Chapter 6: This too shall pass

30

Shannon was in bed with her laptop at a hotel a town over. Solitaire was kicking her butt this round and she was just about to give up when her cell phone rang. Hego was calling her, texting her and just annoying her altogether. 

Many Home sites were open, Realtor, Zillow, Trulia, Rent, and a few in Europe. Running away again sounded like a great option. First she needed the necklace back. How in the world could she get it without Kimmie seeing her? Would Kim put it in a drawer or wear it?

Avoid her at all possible costs . . . she thought. 

Shannon read her text message. It said that Hego was thinking about telling Kim she was alive and well. She mumbled something to herself and made an irritated sound. 

"Focus on the future." She said to herself. "Get over her. Let these feelings go. This too shall pass and I pray this love I have for her to remove itself from my body." Shannon was seriously considering throwing some Tylenol into her mouth, but knew ending her life wasn't the answer.

The phone went off again and her frustration lead her to answering, "Leave me alone!" She yelled into the phone then hung up. 

Hego sat with his mouth open in disgust and shock. "Okay, sister, if you're gonna be like this I'm about to expose you." 

31

The Wego twins were talking on speaker together at once. Hego had to hold his phone away from his ear. "How dare Shannon and you keep this from us!" 

Hego scratched an itch on his chin. "She begged me and I caved like always. I'm done hiding her. I might even tell those magazine publishers the truth." Most of the truth anyway. He would not tell them about her being in love with Kim. That was a whole other story. He did love his sister, but enough was enough. 

The last four years had been hell for him. He knew he had at least slipped up once to Killigan. Killigan though hadn't realized at the time that Hego mentioned she was alive. He had spoken over Hego about a golf resort in Mexico. 

"Guys, I gotta go. I promised Aviarius I'd come over and play Poker with him and some of his weird winged friends." 

The twins complained, but hung up first. Hego had lied a little. The game had been a few days ago. It was surprising how old foes could become good friends. 

Hego messaged Shannon again. 'You've got five days to get it together or I'm telling people that you're still breathing, sis.' 

32

"Gahhhh'd." Shannon yelled out. Five days? She gritted her teeth and huffed, pushing the laptop off of her. "This is now a nightmare." 

The next morning Shannon checked out of the hotel and went somewhere she hadn't been in a very long time. She vented to the headstones in front of her. "What am I gonna do? Tell Kim that I have feelings for her? Not tell her how I feel? I wish you were here so I could talk to you in person." 

Her parents were side by side in this old cemetery. The radiation from the rainbow comet that given Shannon and her brothers their powers had given their parents poisioning. None of them knew that their parents would be gone a few years later. She cursed that comet on a daily basis from then on. Why had the comet given them powers and not kill them too? Sadly she would never get that answer. 

Shannon would give up everything just to have them back. She sat down and cried. 

"I knew you'd come here." Mego said, not wanting to scare her. "I come here and talk to them a lot too." He sat down beside her. "Why keep running when your home is here?" 

Shannon cleared her throat and wiped her face. "I guess it just doesn't feel like it. I know I have you and the guys. I just feel like something is missing. Pieces of me are scattered and I don't know where to look to find them." 

33

"Is one of those pieces a red-haired cutie that's been looking for you for years?" Mego asked, looking into her green eyes. He saw her blush and he nudged her. "Yep, Me is right! Honestly, Shan, I think she's the main piece missing from your life." 

"Mego, she doesn't have feelings for me like that. She likes men not women." 

Mego shrugged. "You never really know until you talk to her." 

Shannon rolled her eyes. "Since I've known her she has liked men only." 

"How well do you think you know Kim Possible? What's her favorite song or food?" Mego said and checked his watch for the time. 

"Chickfila and  A whole new world from Aladdin." Shannon said smiling. "We watched that movie like six times in a row and ate chocolate and popcorn. Those were the good days. Then Ron asked her to marry him and I left. I thought there was something between us and I was so wrong." 

Shannon continued, "Hego threatened me. He said he'd give me five days to get my crap together or he's going to tell the world that I'm alive."

34

Mego was impressed that Hego had even had the guts to say that to Shannon. "If it comes to that what are you gonna do? Are you gonna go back into hiding or what?"

"Maybe I should stage a come back. Imprison myself somewhere and have an old frenemy take the fall for holding me hostage or some shh . . . like that." Shannon let a sly smile come to her face. 

"Or you could just come clean and tell the truth." Mego said and got up. "Do what you want, Shan, but the person you're hurting the most is yourself." He left her with that in mind. 

Shannon went back to her car and sat there for a while. The one thing that kept repeating in her mind was, 'Either tell Kimmie how I feel or get over her and move on.' 

                                                                                             ***

Friday is supposed to be a fun day not manic like a Monday. Kim threw her crime novel at the wall and it hit the wall hard before falling onto the floor. She was beyond anger and frustration. All she wanted was closure and some peace. Instead the news had her on edge. The newscaster had said something about a body in the river two towns away. The body was of a woman, but that's all they knew for now. 

Kim prayed that it wasn't Shannon. She cried in fear and was spooked when someone knocked on her door. 

35

Kim cleaned herself up as best as she could. 

"Kim!" Ron's voice screeched out. "Open up!" 

The door swung open, "Ron, what's wrong?" 

Ron held out a letter. "Mego came to me and said to give this to you." 

"Why on earth would Mego come to you? I mean it seems so strange. Sorry if I'm hurting your feelings." Kim said as she took the letter. 

"It's okay. No feelings are too hurt." He smiled slightly and came inside. 

Kim looked at the hand writing. It was Shannon's. "Have you read it?" 

Ron nodded. "I know it's meant for your eyes only, but I just had to know. Sorry for invading that privacy." He then said, "You need to sit down first. It's gonna turn your world upside down." 

Kim went to the living room and sat on the couch with Ron. She heard a slight snoring sound. "Is Rufio in your pocket?" 

Ron laughed. "Yeah little dude is sleeping, " talking about the third mole-rat he'd owned since Rufus. 

Kim pulled out the letter and took a deep breath before reading it.