Damaged Ch. 08

"Alan," she sobbed quietly, her voice lost in the patter of the rain around her.

Drowning in her thoughts, she stumbled forward through the rain, drawn to the dark road ahead.

**********

Alan drove up from the trail and turned down the road, his windshield wipers sliding side to side. He leaned close to the wheel, looking intently down the road. She couldn't have gone very far.

He had no idea what to say to her. He wasn't even sure if she would get into the truck with him. Yet he had to do something.

Within a few minutes, his headlights caught sight of a solitary traveller walking on the road ahead. He felt the relief in his heart. It immediately gave way to sudden dread.

It was more of a sixth sense that drew his attention to the dark outline of a large SUV barrelling towards the distracted woman, its headlights dimmed. Everything came together so quickly in his head. Reacting without thought, he blasted his horn and slammed down on the accelerator.

Teri had been staring at the road as she walked slowly along, not bothering to wipe the rain that fell over her eyes. Though it was actually mere micro-seconds, everything seemed to register so slowly from the moment she saw the white light envelope her from behind, to the sound of a horn, to her spinning around to face an oncoming truck. She threw herself off to the side, realizing in that split second that the truck had swerved to avoid her. Even before her body hit the wet ground, she heard the brutal crash.

Two vehicles, a large SUV and the pickup truck, collided head on with an agonizingly twisting, rending cacophony of metal carnage. They tore into each other, melded into one another, glass and steel shredding through the air in the violent confrontation, neither vehicle giving an inch to the other.

Teri remained curled up for a moment in the cool grass, her arms covering her head. Her heart could barely find a steady beat. Finally, slowly, she opened her eyes, blinking as the rain bounced off her cheeks. After the instance of chaotic destruction, it was suddenly, eerily quiet except for the rain and some hissing sounds coming from the dying vehicles. Her eyes widened when she saw the carnage. It was like two pop cans crushed together -- impossible to tell where the first one ended and the next one began.

Teri stumbled closer, her head and vision clearing. Then she felt her heart sink down into her gut. She recognized the pickup truck.

"Alan!" she screamed.

Teri ran to the driver's side of the truck, it's front end crushed in more than halfway to the cab. The door had popped open, hanging off its hinges. Alan's chest was wrapped over the wheel, his head hanging listlessly.

"Oh my God! Alan!" Teri whimpered as she pulled at his wrecked body. She looked over to the driver of the SUV. Sophia Locke's head and upper body had gone through the windshield, resting on the crumpled front ends of the two vehicles. Her blonde, long hair and face were matted with dark ooze trickling from her scalp, nose and mouth. Her sharp features were battered and puffy. And her green eyes, open but doused of their spiteful flame, seemed to stare at Teri, asking her a silent question she had no answer for.

Teri continued to pull at Alan. She heard him gurgle a moan as blood spilled from the sides of his mouth. Teri screamed through clenched teeth as she tugged his body out of the truck and the two of them tumbled back onto the wet roadside. Pulling herself to her knees, she lifted Alan's head onto her lap. She cradled him, wiping the blood off of his face with her hands even as more seeped out and mingled with the rain falling on him.

"Oh God, Alan. No. No," she called to him, "Please, God! Just...please...help will be here. Don't leave me!"

Alan's blue eyes opened slightly, wearily. He felt a chill creeping up through his body, moving from his feet to his legs and upward. He was so tired. He needed to sleep.

"Alan," a gentle voice echoed through his head.

He thought of Ms.Jennings, of how much passion and confusion she had instilled in him. He wished he had been old enough to understand the feelings she had made him experience.

He thought of Sophia, of how they both had their freedom now, the twisted cord that bound them together was severed. There was no longer any need for planning or making dark, secretive deals. He wondered where he would run into her in hell.

He thought of Dean, his quirky but gentle-hearted kid. He would be fine. He had family that would take care of him and would love him. Dean was a good son.

Alan felt the coolness claw its way up past his belly and chest. Before it reached his arms, he raised one hand and brushed the cheek of the woman looking down at him. He swept away the damp hair that stuck to her face. She held his hand against her face. It was night, it was dark, but she glowed with a soothing radiance. Through the rain, he could still taste the salty tears that fell from her eyes onto his face. They felt warm.

"Teri," he rasped. The rest of his thoughts were sent to her through the fading gaze of his eyes.

I'm sorry to you for having hurt you so much. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you everything. I'm sorry for myself that I couldn't have been by your side longer. I wish I could touch you, hold you, make love to you again. You made me feel...normal.

"Alan." Her voice swirled in his head as the numbness made its way past his neck. He held onto her voice as long as he could, then he carried her away with him as his last thought.

"Alan!" Teri cried, her voice piercing through the patter of the rain. The tears flowed freely now as she shook him. She pressed her face against his as she rocked back and forth on her knees.

The chill from the rain and autumn air had settled in for good.

***********

8 weeks later

Ms.Yao raised her hands up to gain the attention of her grade 5 class. Once they settled down, she spoke, "We have someone special who has come by for a quick visit, a friend and former classmate."

She beckoned towards the door. A boy with a roundish face, blue eyes and curly hair walked in quietly and stood beside Teri at the front of the room.

"Would you like to say anything to the class, Dean?" she asked.

Dean blinked then said softly, "Good-bye."

There were some quiet snickers amongst the students but a few others smiled and said "good-bye" back. That was pretty much what Teri had expected.

"Before I forget," she said as she walked over to the Teri Medal board. She removed one and came back to Dean. "Would you like to take this with you?"

Dean read it to himself: "Dean Rosetti: For Being A Good Son".

Teri led the class in light applause.

She walked with Dean out of the room and along the corridors of the school.

"Do you like living with your great aunt, Dean?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Maybe she could teach you how to make those amazing meatballs," she said.

Teri smiled. It felt good to do so....for now anyway. She still didn't have enough pieces of the puzzle to figure out the past and she knew she faced some tough problems with the school and personal challenges in the coming months ahead. So she had to live for the present and be satisfied with that.

She didn't know why Alan had refused to tell her everything. There was an ominous darkness surrounding him that she could never shed light upon. Yet, something at the back of her mind told her that she felt, in some intangible way, protected by him. She may never know the entire truth but she was able to take comfort with that thought.

Teri led Dean to the exit. They stood by the door as a light snowfall dusted the playground with a fresh white powder. She knelt down and gave him a hug, feeling his gentle arms wrap around the back of her neck in return.

"Hold onto the good, forget about the bad," she said as she looked thoughtfully over his shoulder.

As they parted, he took one last look at the locket-pendant around her neck, smiling as he thought of the picture of his father inside. Then he ran out into the schoolyard up to an elderly, kind-looking woman who looked back at Teri and waved to her.

The young school teacher smiled and waved back. She watched them walk away.

"You're a good son, Dean," she said softly as she caressed her hand on her belly, "And one day soon, you'll be a good brother."

It was the same promise she had made two weeks before to Alan as she stood in front of the old shack in the middle of the woods where secrets were made, for good or bad, and never forgotten.

~End~

Author's note: Thanks very much to those of you who read all or parts of "Damaged". I realize the story is quite different from what I have written before and that's maybe a good thing or a bad thing for those who have read my other stories posted here. However, this was a very enjoyable experience and challenge for me and the feedback has been most helpful as I hope to continue to grow as a writer. A special thanks again to cafejunkie: I think the best part of writing this story is that I gained a new friend. Thanks everybody. -Truenorth1969