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For the first couple of days after she'd awoken from her coma she thought she was going insane. The accident itself was mostly gone from her mind. She could remember the sound of the car exploding and the sensation of her brother pulling her through the window. Aside from that she couldn't remember most of that day.
The doctors had assured her that was a fairly common response to trauma, and not something she needed to be concerned about. So she'd set her fears aside and let them tell her what was and wasn't a problem during her hospital stay.
CPS had arrived and spoken with them. Her brother was technically staying with a foster family that lived a block or two from the hospital. However he was at her side through all visiting hours, while she'd only gotten to see their foster parents once or twice. Until the swelling of her brain went fully down the doctors were unlikely to release her from the long term care word.
It was CPS who’d told them the news. A family friend of their parents, a doctor named Lucius, had been granted custody of them. He was away when the accident happened, and wouldn't get back into the country for another week. Still, he had known their parents, and was happy to take them in. CPS was happy to get two more kids off the roster.
Caleb even remembered Dr Lucius. He spoke of him in that fond tone one used for interesting adults they hadn't expected to see again. Apparently the good doctor had housed her family for a week during a vacation once. She'd been a little more than a toddler, and couldn't remember it. Her brother spoke of the doctor's large library and encouragement of his interest in Aerospace Technologies.
Caleb picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. “It doesn't matter because we'll still be side by side. I'll look after you, I promise!” He vowed.
She nodded, but didn't say anything further. What else could she possible say? CPS didn’t care what she thought. Besides, she was still tired and needed to sleep.
It was that summer when things really came to a head. Dr Lucius, it turned out, had met her parents when he was a co-worker of her grandmother. Normally that would have made visiting her grandmother for the summer easier. However Grandma Josephine and Dr Lucius had left their project due to bitter differences. Dr Lucius could barely stand to speak of her grandmother, and hadn't allowed them any contact with her either.
When she'd asked if they should start packing for their annual trip to their grandmother's cottage Lucius had laughed at her. “You won't be seeing that wretched woman while you live under my roof.” Was all he had to say on the matter.
She’d begged and pleaded, explained that it was the place she felt happiest, and had spoken of a friend she only got to see in the summers. None of it had changed the man's mind. He told her that instead of spending her summers in leisure at the beach she should be focusing on catching up more in school. Then he shooed her out of his office.
For the first summer since she was seven years old she wasn't going to be around the cottage. That meant that she wasn't going to be around Rafayel.
The girl found herself pacing around her bedroom, chewing on her nails, and trying to calm her frantic thoughts. Would he be all right without her? Would he think she had abandoned him or betrayed him? Rafayel was more sensitive about such things than he liked to show. She'd been late by a day or two before, and he'd been absolutely terrified. When he'd found her out on the beach after her late arrival the Lemurian had been frantic. He'd wrenched her into the water and pulled her clothes while babbling about how he’d thought she had died.
How much worse would it be for him when she didn't show up all summer?
Oh it drove her mad! Here she was, seventeen and nearly an adult, but she wasn't going to be allowed to see her grandmother because two old folks couldn't get over their own egos. It wasn't fair that her and Rafayel had to suffer because of them.
Luckily there was still one other way to make it to the cottage. A tourist bus that ran through the town at the beginning of summer. She could just buy a ticket and get off at that stop. Her grandmother wouldn't be pleased, but she'd give her shelter for at least the night. She could explain things to Rafayel while she waited for whoever Lucius sent to pick her up to arrive.
She didn't have a credit card, so she couldn't buy the ticket online in advance. However she always remembered the bus being relatively empty the first time it stopped in town. She was relatively certain she could get a ticket at the bus terminal.
Since it was an early morning bus she decided to sneak out the night before. That way she wouldn’t risk sleeping in and missing it.
She waited until 2 o'clock in the morning, when everybody else had the good sense to be asleep, and then slung her duffel bag out the window. While her bedroom in Lucius’s mansion was on the second floor, she was confident that she could still safely stick a landing if she dangled herself out the window.
The teenager cautiously lowered herself down until she was hanging. Then she allowed herself to drop. There was a pretty hefty thump when she landed, so she rolled behind a bush and laid there waiting. There was no sound at all and none of the lights in the house turned on. After a couple of minutes she decided she was in the clear and rolled out from behind the bush.
Her shoulder collided against a hard shin. She’d rolled right into somebody's legs!
They swore and stumbled back.
She scrambled to stand up, panicked. Who would be out in the yard this time of night? A burglar?
The person in question wrenched her upright by her arm. They hauled her up in one smooth swing, then steadied her as she got her bearings. Their grip on her was firm and tight.
She opened her mouth and bit down. They were wearing a canvas jacket, but she bit down with all her strength. She could feel flesh dimpling beneath the pressure of her jaws. The jacket might protect them a little, but she could still make it hurt!
“Fuck!” A familiar voice hissed.
She bit down a little harder in punishment.
Caleb shook his arm until he successfully got her to detach. “What is with you and biting?” He grumbled.
“What are you doing out in the yard at 2 o’clock in the morning?” She hissed back.
Her brother scoffed. “Investigating why I just saw someone drop out the damn window.”
She knew Caleb's bedroom was directly beneath hers, but she's been hoping he was asleep at this time of night. The man left for a run every morning at 5:00 a.m, common sense says he should still be asleep.
“What are you doing up?” She grumbled. Then she bent down and grabbed her duffel bag. It seemed she was caught, but she was confident she could convince him to let her go.
Her brother rolled his eyes, not that she could see it very well in the dark. “Bathroom break. Why are you sneaking out with a duffel bag? Are you going to a boy's house?”
Her brother had that dangerous tone back in his voice. It caused a shiver to creep down her spine. After a moment she glanced over at him and winced at the thunderous look upon his face. She could see his hand clenching by his side.
“I'm going to see Grandma,” she told him coldly. “and you can't stop me!”
Caleb scratched his head and tilted it to the side. “Are you stupid or suicidal? How do you expect to make it all the way to grandma's house safely? Hitchhiking?”
“No!” She bit out. Stupid Caleb was always jumping to conclusions! “I'm taking the bus. Get out of my way!” She shoved him.
He snatched the duffle bag from her grasp and slung it over his shoulder. For a moment she thought he was going to offer to escort her to the bus stop. He'd always been overprotective, and wouldn't like the idea of her wandering downtown in the dark.
Instead he snatched her up and flung her over his shoulder. She'd always been shorter than him. On top of that Caleb had worked out specifically to be able to pick up and carry her ever since the accident. He’d wanted to be prepared if anything like it ever happened again. It was nothing for him to pick her up and carry her away.
“Caleb!” She beat at his back, no longer worrying about staying quiet. “Let me go, you can't stop me!” She writhed and kicked, but nothing she did got her brother to loosen his iron grip.
Caleb carted her back into that house and all the way back upstairs to her bedroom. She saw Professor Lucius glance out his room and stare at them before closing the door. Clearly he trusted Caleb to contain her.
The thought made her lean down and bite him on the shoulder. That traitor!
Her brother dumped her on her own bed, and then settled down beside her. His warm form caged hers between him and the wall. Blocking her in so that she couldn't run.
“You can't go see grandma, the professor said no.” Caleb told her gently. “You'll get both yourself and her in trouble if you do.”
She crossed her arms and glanced away from him. “I don't see why grandma would get in trouble for my decision to run away?”
“Lucius would have her hauled up on kidnapping charges the moment he realized where you were.” Caleb warned her. “There's a reason why, despite the fact that I'm over eighteen, I haven't gone to visit.”
She stared at the wall. “Because you're a traitor who likes Lucius better than our grandma.” She bit out.
“Because right now Lucius has legal control over you, and I don't want to lose access.” Caleb tucked two fingers under her chin and used them to tilt her head until she could meet his eyes. They were a soft violet that was full of sadness. “Can't you just wait until you're eighteen?” He asked somberly.
She couldn't help it, everything was just too much! She could feel the tears beginning to leak from her eyes. In an attempt to hide she curled up like a little shrimp. “I can't! I have to see him again!” She sobbed out. “He'll think I abandoned him!”
“Who?” Caleb pulled her curled up body close and began to gently pet her hair. “I can give them a call for you, if you have their phone number?” He offered in an attempt to soothe her.
She shook her head. “He doesn't have a phone. We always see each other when we meet at Grandma's house.”
“I've never seen you with anyone.” Caleb said hesitantly. His eyes flickered to the side, clearly attempting to remember if he'd seen her with a group of friends more than once. It wasn’t uncommon for her to pick up a tourist friend in the summer, especially the ones who were staying in town long-term. However she very rarely kept the same group one year after the other.
She wiped her nose and curled up tighter. “He lives with Alfred in the summer. I didn't tell you about him ‘cuz he was the first friend I made on my own. I didn't want to share him with you.”
“Oh,” Caleb said. He looked a little poleaxed, like he couldn't picture his baby sister lying to him. Little did he know but she’d been doing so for years.
Rafayel wasn't biologically related to Alfred. However, Alfred had once had a Lemurian lover. She'd wound up kidnapped and murdered by some human scientists, something Rafayel didn't like to talk about, and Alfred had remained in their beach house ever since. He'd given up his opera career in grief. She knew that Alfred was aware of the lemarans and considered all the young ones of the Pod his nieces and nephews.
It had terrified her once when she'd been playing with Rafayel. Suddenly a human man had just come around the bend of the beach and called for the Lemurian by name. It had taken Rafayel a while to assure her that the stranger was a family friend, and not a threat to him.
Alfred had simply laughed it off, saying her concern was the mark of a good friend. He'd winked at them and then sent Rafayel swimming back to his mother.
If Caleb called Alfred's house asking for his nephew on her behalf, Alfred would know what that meant.
Caleb cradled her close, shushing her gently. She continued to sob even as he began to rock her slowly. This was something he hadn't done for her since their parents had died.
“I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He whispered to her. “Lucius won't let us go, he'll consider that a loss to Josephine. Can't you just wait until next summer when you're an adult?” He pleaded.
She sobbed and sobbed, and couldn't bring herself to answer him. Would Rafayel forgive her for missing a year? Would he still be waiting for her if she returned next year? Or was Dr Lucius stealing away her closest friend without even knowing it?
“I promise I will take you the first day of summer next year.” Caleb whispered. “We’ll both be grown and there'll be nobody to stop us. Promise.”
She knew then that this offer would be the best she'd be getting. Lucius had seen her brother carry her back in the house. By now he probably rearmed the security alarms. There'd be no sneaking out this summer.
She hoped Rafayel could forgive her.
It felt like eons until the summer after her eighteenth birthday.
She tried to keep herself distracted. It was a full year of watching the calendar while dreaming of her fishie. Even when she was going out with friends or celebrating holidays she couldn’t help but think about how she was going to tell Rafayel about this later. He haunted her every thought.
Luckily between graduation stuff and university prep she and her friends were very busy.
She’d taken to writing more often to soothe her worried heart. Now she had notebooks after notebooks full of writing. She tried not to think about how many of them were romantic stories of lovers finding each other after long separations. She didn't even know if Rafayel would still be there when she got there, much less if he still considered her his wife.
Caleb hosted her graduation party at his apartment. He shared it with a classmate of his named Gideon, and the two had set up a lovely party for her. All of her friends from school had shown up, and they took turns passing around small gifts.
“It's not every day we can say we’re graduating!” Tara said with a laugh. “Why don't you let me read the cards for you? We can see what's in your future.”
She laughed and nodded. “Student loans, for one thing!” The two of them had gotten into the same University together. Tara was going into teaching, and she was going into creative writing. They would do their first year general courses together.
The party went well, and she enjoyed herself, but there was an unsteady energy racing through her. By the end of it she couldn't help but longingly glance at the clock.
A warm arm wrapped around her and pulled her into a familiar chest. “Tomorrow morning.” Caleb promised her. “I'll wake you up at 5:00 a.m, and you can sleep in the car.”
“Thank you!” She bounced up on her tippy toes and planted a soft kiss on his cheek.
He ruffled her hair and hugged her again. “I'm just saying that this guy better be worth it.” He grumbled. “He hasn't even bothered to call.”
The drive that morning was long. Caleb had been cheerful and chatty through most of it, when she wasn't snoozing. It wasn't until they got into the mountains that he felt quiet.
While she didn't remember the accident, she knew which bend in the road it had happened on when her brother slowed the car to a crawl. He hugged the shoulder of his lane and kept as far away from the other lane as possible until they were around in the bend. Only then did he speed it back up and continue on his way down to the valley and the beach.
She looked all over as they went, but couldn't see any markers or reminders of her parents. For some reason she thought she'd see something left over from the accident. Despite it having been two years. Perhaps she was expecting scorch marks from the car fire still visible on the road? Or damage to the barricades? That was foolish. The area had been repaved and the barricades replaced in the weeks after the accident.
Even if there had been flowers or crosses left for her parents, Josephine was too old to comfortably make the trip up to count them. There was nothing there now.
The two of them were silent for the rest of the drive down the mountain.
Josephine was thrilled to see them. Of course Caleb had warned her that they were coming down a full month in advance, but she was still excited to see them nonetheless.
The cottage hadn't changed either. It needed some roof work done, but Josephine had already promised them that she’d had a contractor agree to come up and do it in a couple of weeks. Overall though it still looked and smelled the same. Josephine welcomed them in with open arms and led them over to the bedrooms.
“You two finish unpacking, and I'll go check up on supper.” She told them. “I'm just so glad to see you both.”
Supper was okay. Josephine had never been the best cook, but everything she made was edible. Catching up like this was nice. It was pleasant to chat about the things they had missed, and to show their grandmother photos of the things they'd been up to.
She couldn't help but relax into this feeling of family. Dr Lucius would only ever be Dr Lucius or the professor to her. She’d never considered him family. Honestly sometimes she thought he was only keeping custody of them to stick it to Josephine.
Regardless of how Lucius felt Josephine was always going to be their grandma. Her warm smiles and wavy white hair pulled back in a familiar bun, and her easy laugh. All of it felt so much like coming home, she hadn't realized how much she missed it.
It was only after Josephine had taken her usual medication and wandered off to bed that Caleb twisted around to stare at her. “So how are you going to find this friend?” He asked.
“We always met up at the same spot on the beach.” She told him. “I'll wait there for him tonight, and see if he stops by. If not I'll go see if Alfred is in tomorrow morning. He should have a way of contacting Rafayel.”
Caleb didn't seem pleased by her response, but he didn't try to stop her. The beach that Josephine and Alfred shared ownership of was a safe place. He knew it would be all right for her to spend the night out there. So long as she didn't go swimming anyways.
The beach was much the same as it always had been. The sand was still soft, and the smell of salt in the air still stung her lungs. She followed the familiar winding path down to the rock they'd hidden behind and played with.
Once there she laid out a blanket and settled down on top of it. She'd wait here and see if he came for her. She'd wait all night if she had to, until the sun rose, just for a chance to see him again. Part of her wanted to dive in and go looking for him, but he’d once made her promise to never do that. The ocean was an unsafe place to go splashing around in at night, and she knew Rafayel would never forgive her if she drowned looking for him.
Instead she settled down to watch the surf and wait.
It was a long wait.
She watched the surf batter the sand, coming up and retreating, and leaving behind trails of shells. She gazed upwards and watched the stars drift overhead. They rotated above like uncaring gods. Deaf to a mournful girl’s pleas.
She listened to the calls of the seagulls and other wildlife that hadn't quite gone to bed yet. The sounds of wildlife quieted throughout the night. The crickets slowed down and fell silent. The birds pattered off as the sun set. Then the owl in the woods woke up and announced itself before going hunting.
The temperature dropped. She shivered, and pulled her sweater closed. Still she remained on the blanket, curled up and watching.
Waiting for the love of her life.
She fell into a kind of haze. Her eyes blinked open and closed as she dozed, awaiting a familiar voice or perhaps a clawed hand resting upon her legs. Eventually she nodded off.
It was the rising sun that woke her. It's rays stabbed into her eyes until she rolled over and attempted to protect them by burying her face in the blanket beneath her. She felt chilled and shook slightly. Her hair and clothes were damp due to morning dew and possibly the spray of the surf.
Still there was no Lemurian to be found.
She bit the side of her cheek and did her best not to cry. She could feel pressure on her chest like it was about to cave in. Perhaps he had gotten sick of waiting for her after all?
the sound of footsteps across the sand rang out behind her. She wiped her eyes and curled back up into the fetal position. Of course Caleb had decided to come out and check on her this early in the morning. It was a bit earlier than his usual run, but it didn't shock her that he hadn't waited.
What was she supposed to say to him? How was she supposed to explain the hollow void in her heart, the lack of her Lemurian love?
She couldn't have stopped the sobs if she'd wanted to.
Her body shook with them, great wrenching sobs and bitten off wails of grief. The footsteps faltered and then sped up. She couldn't bring it in her to look up and show her brother her grief.
Warm hands settled on her shoulders. They stroked gently back and forth. She could feel long elegant fingers trailing up and down her back as they attempted to soothe her.
Those weren't her brother's hands.
The scent that engulfed her wasn't her brother’s scent either. A warm body settled behind her, pulling her close, and rocking her gently. The scent was more reminiscent of musk and lilies, then her brother’s familiar engine grease and apple blossoms. Something in that scent was soothing. She felt herself unrolling from her little ball of grief and slumping into the warmth behind her.
“Shhh,” he crooned to her. The voice was deeper and more masculine than she was used to, but familiar none the less.
Her breath hitched in her chest.
“That's it sweet girl, let it all out." He whispered. A soft kiss was brushed against her scalp.
She twisted around and threw herself into his arms. He let out a faint grunt as she tackled him into the sand. “Rafayel!”
There he was. Her Lemurian was missing his tail. Instead he was wearing soft black slacks and a loose white blouse. His violet hair was as tousled and wavy as ever, but it looks a little bit shorter than she remembered. His dichromatic eyes were as bright as ever. The brilliant blushing pink bleeding into a soft sky blue.
He was different than she remembered, but so was she.
She didn't think, simply pulled him down and slammed her mouth over his. She missed him so much!
He let her ravage him. Instead of struggling he just made a startled noise, and then relaxed into her kisses. Slowly he let her devour him, sliding his mouth open so that she could dip her tongue inside. They continued to share a messy kiss for several minutes, before she eventually pulled away, chest heaving.
“There's my adorable little bride." He reached up and brushed her hair out of her face. “I've been waiting for you cutie,” he added.
She blinked away more tears and smiled at him. “I'm so sorry. They wouldn't let me come before now.”
“It's okay." He shushed her. “I'd wait for you for however long I had to.” He lent down and kissed her again.
They remain tangled like that for several minutes. The sun continued to rise, and began to bake the dew out of her clothing. She couldn't help but shiver at the sensation.
Realizing she was cold, Rafayel scooped her up and began to carry her away.
“Rafayel! Where are we going?” She gasped.
Her Lemurian laughed softly. “Back to my place." He told her. “I think a certain human needs a better sleep than she got last night. Did you have plans for today?”
“Okay.” She clenched her fingers around his shirt and pulled him close. She didn't really care where he was taking her. “No, I was just going to wait for you.”
He gave a pleased hum and nuzzled into her. “Well, the wait is done now. You can come back to my place and stay there. Since you don’t have plans there’s no need for you to leave anytime soon, right?”
“I’m never going to leave you,” she promised. So long as they were together she knew everything would be okay.
Rafayel shot her a sly smile. “You’ll never get the chance to again.” He said. His eyes glowed a deep blue as he said it, and the waves beside them roared with a sudden strength. Then they were on his front porch and approaching his door.
She reached over to open it so he wouldn’t have to let him go.
The door to Alfred’s cottage shut behind them with a resounding thud. The lights were all off, and the air was oddly heavy inside. Still Rafayel carried her to his bedroom with unerring precision, a reminder of his deep sea origins. The darkness of a closed house had nothing on the crushing void of the deep ocean.
He lay her on the sheets and crawled on top of her, caging her in.
She breathed out a pleased sigh at the warm weight of him and pulled him closer. This was how everything was supposed to be. She never wanted to leave.
“This is our home now.” Rafayel warned her, his eyes still glowing. “This is where you belong.”
She smiled and snuggled into him. Yes, right by his side was where she belonged. She was so happy to be home.