Epilogue - Half-Time
Samantha struggled with her bag as she dragged it up the stairs, silently
cursing its bulk. Did I really need all this crap, she wondered, gently
chastising herself. She mentally went through the bag, trying to distract
herself from what she had to do. Trying hard to be honest, she guessed she could
have survived in comfort without half its contents. The family Trig had
recommended across the road had been more than generous, although she had been
slightly surprised by the amount of clothes in her size that they had had just
"lying around".
Steeling herself, she dragged the bag the rest of the way up the stairs to the
landing, and then pulled out her key. She sighed in relief as the door opened
before her; she had quietly dreaded finding he had changed the locks.
Crouching down, she unzipped her bag and pulled out what she needed. Without a
pause to think, she walked in and a few steps later she was standing in the
doorway of the kitchen.
He was sitting at the table, just as she had hoped. He was always very
methodical, and had breakfast at exactly the same time every day. She had
wondered if he would give it all up because she had left, and was slightly
put-out that he hadn't fallen apart with regret.
When he looked up from the bowl in front of him, she took it all back; he looked
terrible.
"Evan...?" she queried, a little shocked. He stared at her for a long time.
"Hello Samantha," he muttered, not taking his eyes from her.
Samantha swallowed nervously, reaching up to the zip on her jacket. Taking a
deep breath, she pulled the zip down and slid the jacket off. She was naked
underneath, her breasts hanging freely.
Blushing with shame she pulled off her shoes and pants. Standing in only a
g-string, she quivered, and took that off too.
Now totally naked in the kitchen, she picked up the collar from her bag in one
hand and the g-string in the other. Keeping her gaze low, she walked over to
Evan and knelt beside him.
Raising the items to him, she stared at her knees, her entire body red with
shame. There was no guarantee he would accept her back, and it terrified her.
What would she do if he rejected her?
She watched him turn his chair around, and shifted her position to keep her
offerings in front of him.
She could feel his gaze on her, and wished he would do something, say something,
anything, in fact, except make her wait!
When he remained silent, she slowly raised her head to look. She caught his
sudden look of displeasure, and quickly lowered her head again.
"Sorry, sir," she said nervously.
He took the silk g-string from her hand first. She kept her hand raised though,
and listened as he sniffed loudly. She blushed harder at the sound. She didn't
know whether he had sniffed the intimate garment, but the thought was bad
enough.
His touch on the collar almost made her sigh in relief. It was an effort to keep
her hands raised and continue to look at the floor.
"Raise your head, girl," Evan said firmly. Samantha swallowed, and lifted her
head to expose her neck. She still didn't look at him though, keeping her eyes
averted.
She almost collapsed when he bent down and closed the collar around her neck. As
soon as she heard the click, she stood up and embraced him. She didn't care that
she could be punished for it, she was so happy.
"Do you have the keys for the collar?" Evan asked after a minute of hugging her
tightly.
Samantha stiffened, and pulled away to look at him.
"I err... I lost them."
Evan glanced at the collar around her neck. He knew that the lock could be
picked. But it was the thought that counted.
Through the front view-screen, Moira watched the Space-Station glitter amidst
the dirty brown rocks slowly circling the soft, blue gas giant below. She knew
that by surviving to get this close, she would be allowed to dock. She had been
a little nervous about piloting the stolen Council ship here, but they appeared
to have accepted her transmission.
Despite that, she also knew that amidst the slowly turning rocks, hundreds of
high-powered weapons would be trained upon her hull, ready to cut her to shreds
at the first sign of anything out of the ordinary.
"Hurry up, you piece of junk," Moira raged at the ship, venting her nervousness.
Even though the Council ship was faster than the average military craft, it made
her feel calmer.
She was still dressed in the rubber suit she had been forced to spend the last
few days in. The guards she had captured were both owned, and she had been
unable to feed properly from them until now. At the moment they were both
downstairs in their tubes, their minds slowly disappearing. Moira had had to
make do with what was on the ship, and it was taking a lot longer than she had
hoped to retrain the girls.
She looked out the view-screen again. Nothing to do but wait, now...
Inside the station, one man hurried down the steel corridors deep within its
bowels. He looked stressed, and sweat was pouring from his forehead, stinging
his eyes. His approach caused the large doors at the end of the corridor to open
and he ran through into a brightly lit room. Instantly he lowered his gaze from
the figure seated at the other end, and halted inside the entrance.
"My Lord, Moira has arrived!" he announced.
"Oh?" said the figure, sitting up straighter. "What does she want?"
"She says... she says she found the girl; the experiment."
"I see," said the figure, his voice suddenly cold. She shouldn't know about
that...
"She says... she has a blood sample."
"Oh, does she now?" the figure replied, sounding interested. So that's how she
worked out my involvement... "And what of the key, does she have that?"
"No, sir," the man said, and cringed. A long silence ensued.
"When she docks, bring the sample to me immediately."
"And where should I take Moira?" the man asked nervously.
"She knows more than is permissible.... Once the sample is in my possession,
kill her without delay."
"Yes, my Lord."
"No failures," the figure added dangerously. "I do not want this to turn out
like the Kelly woman. Killing her cost us years... I won't tolerate any more
mistakes."
"Y...Yes, my Lord."
Julie swallowed nervously as she got out of the car. The house that lay just
beyond the pavement was tall and silent. She glanced back at Trig and Simeon,
who were sitting in the front of the car. From the passenger seat, Simeon made
an encouraging motion, smiling up at her.
Julie was struck for a moment by how much better his skin looked now. They were
both uncertain whether the change was permanent, and they knew the only way to
check was to stop sleeping together. Julie secretly hoped that he wouldn't try
to find out, and Simeon had no intention of avoiding any bed she was in. They
were silently content in blissful ignorance.
Simeon frowned at her slightly vacant look, breaking her thoughts. She gave him
a sharp glance to hide her reluctance and turned back to look at the house. He
had told her that someone had been paying to maintain the exterior, but he had
no idea about the interior. The snow which had fallen on the weekend was
beginning to melt now, and the front garden had turned into a muddy quagmire.
"You can do it, Julie," she told herself, taking a deep breath.
Trying to act the dominant that Nyssa was teaching her to be, she strode up the
path to the front door. She almost knocked, before realising that no-one would
be home. How long had it been since anyone actually lived there?
She wasn't surprised that the door was unlocked. She stepped through, and into
the living room of the small house. The couch was where she remembered, although
it was looking slightly dilapidated and the chair and table were missing. Even
the wallpaper was the same tacky pattern. She smiled to herself; he hasn't
redecorated.
The marks on the floor and walls were gone though. She could tell where they had
been replaced, the carpet looked cleaner, and the tacky wallpaper didn't quite
match. Other than that, it was exactly the same house she had seen in the video.
Trying not to shake, she walked around the room, taking in the little details.
The different locations of the light-switches, the slightly cleaner patches of
wall where there had once been curtains, everywhere she looked there was
something to make her smile.
Simeon hadn't given any word on whether she could have the house. Technically it
was hers, but a combination of time and a deliberate attempt by someone, most
likely her father, to fudge the paperwork was making it difficult.
She eventually worked up the courage to make her way down the hall. As she
walked, she noticed that the hole in the wall had also been fixed, with another
telltale patch of not-quite-right wallpaper.
She paused in the doorway to the bedroom, her heart pounding. She knew that the
orphanage had lied to her now; she hadn't been found after her mother died
giving birth to her, she had been found cradled protectively in her mothers'
arms.
The bed was covered in a blotchy white sheet, its surface slightly wrinkled. The
only other objects were the bedside table, and the picture sitting on the top of
it.
It took Julie a moment to work up the courage to enter the room. She walked
slowly to the picture, and picked it up, the small stand clanging against the
table as it fell over. She swallowed hard as she looked at it, taking in the
people in the photo.
"Hi, Julie," Seth said gently from the doorway. Julie had been half-expecting
him to appear, so his voice didn't shock her.
"I'm so sorry for leaving you like I did. I know I can't make it up to you, no
matter what I give you."
"You're not staying, are you," Julie said as if it was a statement. She glanced
sideways at him to catch the slight shake of his head.
"It's dangerous enough for me to even visit you... there are those who would
kill to find where you are, which was why I had to leave you in the first
place."
"Who killed her?" Julie asked, still looking into the picture.
"The project which culminated in... you... was funded by an anonymous man. He
was an odd character, and certain events made me curious as to his identity." He
sighed regretfully. "I did eventually find him, and that was when things went
bad. He tried to kill all of us, to keep his little secret. We tried to keep it
under wraps, but your old friend Shadow took advantage of the internal chaos and
attacked."
He stepped into the room, and ran his fingers across the fabric of the bed.
"We used it as an excuse to flee. Some of us spread across the planet. Others
like K... Kelly and I came here to Earth." He paused for a short time. "She was
the only one who could use the necklace... despite its power it was only a
security measure, and a dangerous one at that. She gave her life to keep your
location a secret."
Julie continued looking into the picture. Seth and Kelly were side-by-side like
the one she had found in the ship. Only this time, they were holding a child in
their arms, wrapped in blankets. Whilst she wasn't looking at the camera, Julie
could recognise her own violet eyes.
"I love you, Julie," Seth said gently, stepping back to the doorway.
"Me too," Julie said, her eyes filled with tears. She looked up from the
picture. "Dad"
But he was gone.
--
Well, I hope everyone enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.
Obviously, it's not all over just yet. There's still more, but this particular
"book" comes to a close here.
Apologies for the delay, I've been busy writing the next one, and there was some
storyline I had to clarify before I could submit it.
Big thanks go out to redEva, slavelucy and albear for their proof-reading and
support, I couldn't have done this without them.
Until next time,
LD
--
