Chapter 3

There was no thought of sleep among the four. Bill and Betty, almost in a daze, walked back into the kitchen, Ai and Cindi following. Bill turned the gas burner on under the tea kettle, while Betty opened a cupboard.

"Do you like marshmallows, Cindi?"

"Um ... no."

"Good. Neither does Bill. More for me." She got down a box of hot chocolate packets and an unopened bag of mini marshmallows. Bill had three cups ready, and began opening the packets of brown powder.

Ai sat on the counter next to the refrigerator, watching. She wished she could eat, and drink, food. It wasn't so much the desire to taste, as she more than enjoyed the taste of Bill and Julie, but instead a fascination with the ritual of eating. There was custom, and a certain way each type of food was prepared, served, and eaten. It brought the family together, or helped make them happy when things were sad. Ai had tried some things, but they made her feel horrible. Only the product of love suited her.

Ai wondered if some could be saved, so she could eat with others at times like this...

The kettle whistle signaled it was time, and soon the three humans were sitting at the kitchen table with Ai staying on the counter. Julie, in her normal seat, was closest to the wall phone. Now and then she'd glance up at it, willing a ring. Finally, Ai broke the silence.

"Will Mom and Dad be OK?"

Bill closed his eyes. So much for NOT talking about that. He turned in his chair and looked over at Ai.

"They should be OK. We just have to wait until Mom calls. There's nothing else we can do."

"You're so lucky," Cindi said, looking down at her hot chocolate. She was wearing a pink robe of Betty's, having been sleeping in only her underwear. "Your parents love you so much..."

Betty and Bill exchanged glances. They wanted to ask, but the manners they had been raised with prevented such prying into someone's private life. Luckily, Ai had no such filter.

"Why is your family broken?" Ai slid onto her feet, walking up beside Cindy and dropping down to sit on the floor next to her. Cindi looked down at her, eyes wide. With a shudder she closed them.

"You don't have to tell us," Bill said, tentatively reaching over and touching her hand. She shook her head violently.

"I want to..."

Her parents hadn't wanted kids.

Well ... that wasn't exactly true. They didn't want the reality of children. The problems, the effort, the waste of time and money. The idealized IDEA of children, though ... that appealed to the couple. Both had been only children of well off professional parents. Well behaved, reasonably happy, and no burden on their busy Mothers. Any child they had would naturally be the same, so with the same mindset that some buy a pet with, they had a daughter.

For a while, all was well. Cindi's mom treated her like a large, living doll, to be dressed up and fussed over, shown off to friends, and spoiled. Cindi was happy. Oh, there was probably a bit too much time spent in daycare, and Dad didn't play with her that much, but there were "girls nights out", shopping trips, and toys. Life was good.

It started in 1st grade. Young Cindi started seeing ... colors. Blues, greens, oranges ... splotches of color floating around her world. When she told her Mommy about them, Mom laughed, rubbed Cindi's head, and said she had a wonderful imagination. In art, she'd draw pictures of the colors, and the teachers said she had wonderful artistic skill and vision, which made her parents even more proud. Her paintings were hung up on the classroom walls. No one else could see the colors, but that was OK. She learned not to talk about them too much, and all was well.

The horrors started in 3rd Grade.

She had been sleeping that night with her left arm under her body. The weight, naturally, cut off some of the blood flow, causing it to tingle. Her arm was "asleep", which in turn woke her up. Groaning, Cindi turned her head towards that side of her body, lifted her chest, and pulled her arm out where she could see it.

Orange monsters with thousands of teeth were eating her arm.

Cindi shot up, screaming. Shaking her arm frantically, she looked around. There were other creatures. Small blue ones, on her dresser. An orange girl with horrible purple eyes standing by the door. She screamed again, her parents finally bursting into the room expecting a fire, or a rapist. Instead ... they saw their nine year old daughter waving her left arm, yelling about monsters eating her.

The trips to the psychologists started the next week.

Her parents sent her to therapy. They filled her with drugs. They checked her eyes. They did everything ... but believe.

At first, Mom tried to comfort her, tried to help ease Cindi's mind and body. But, as time went on, both parents began to see it less as a case of an illness their daughter could be cured of, and more ... that she was broken. Defective. You can not do to a broken child what you can with a defective pet, though. It must stay in your home, be fed, clothed. However ... you don't have to love it.

They stopped coming when she called. Cindi stopped calling. She withdrew, putting up what defenses she could against the horrors. She thought of death, but feared the thought of one of the red creatures coming for her. Cindi would SEE death, look it in the eye ... no, she had to live...

"But ... your mom and dad must love you!" Betty was in tears. Never had she heard anything so sad!

"But that would be WORSE!" Cindi cried, looking at the girl. "If they love me, then WHY?!? Why do this to me?!? Better they hate me, so there's a reason!"

Bill didn't know what to do. Reaching over, he grabbed her hand. It was cold. Gripping it tightly, he drew her eyes to his.

"You have us now, Cindi. We'll love you." He could see she wanted to believe that. WANTED, with all her heart, to be talked into thinking she was loved. The horrible part was it didn't even have to be true. She just wanted ... to believe.

Ai rose to her feet, putting her cold hands on Cindi's cheeks and swinging her head around to face her. The girl shuddered at the touch. Their eyes locked. Remembering something, Ai looked over at Bill.

"Friend, or sister?"

The temptation was there. Bill was horny teen enough to want a harem. But ... he loved Julie, and Ai. He needed no one else.

"Sister."

Ai nodded, smiling, and looked down at the confused girl in her hands. Leaning down, she kissed Cindi gently on the forehead.

"You are my sister. I love you. I will always love you."

Any reply Cindi might have had was interrupted by the phone ringing.

Betty was on her feet in an instant, grabbing the handset.

"Hello!"

The three watched her face, waiting for the look of horror that would tell them the bad news. Instead, she held the phone out towards Bill.

"She wants to talk to you."

That could be good or bad.

"Hi Mom."

"Bill." He could hear the stress in her voice. "Sorry I didn't call sooner. It's horrible out there..."

"How's Dad?"

"He's in surgery. I talked to the paramedics. It was a bad crash, the car is totaled. They think he went off the road and hit a tree, then another car slid into him. But ... he should be OK."

Bill let out a deep, relieved sigh, turned and gave his sister the thumbs up sign. Betty raised her arms in celebration, then grabbed Ai and hugged her. Their Mom kept talking.

"He got a nasty crack to the head, and his right arm is broken, and there were some internal injuries. I'm going to spend the night here. He should be out of surgery in an hour or so. Go to bed, I won't wake you unless something comes up."

"OK. Love you, Mom."

"Love you, Billy."

He hung up. Sleep ... how could they sleep?

Bill lay in bed, looking up at the ceiling. There were no lights tonight. Due to the curve of the street outside, he was used to seeing headlights of cars shining on his ceiling, doing a back and forth dance before sliding away from his window. The road outside was empty, though. Even the tracks of his mom had been filled in by the wind.

Ai, as always, lay next to him, nude on top of the covers as he lay nude under them. He so wished they could lie together, but their body temperatures were too different. He could only hold her for short periods of time. Maybe, as the years went on, she'd become warmer...

"Sleep, Bill," she muttered, hand running over his covered form. "You need sleep."

"Trying," he said. Maybe if he just closed his eyes, and tried not to think...

There was a sound down stairs, like a door closing. Had they left the den door partly open, and it had blown shut? No, it opened inwards, it would blow open ... there was a rustling sound now, close to the front door. Was Mom home? No ... now someone was coming upstairs. Bill started to raise himself up onto his elbows, keeping the warm covers over him as much as possible, when the bedroom door opened.

Standing there, wearing hastily donned snow pants and winter jacket over a faded Smurfs nightgown, was Julie. Her feet were bare on the wood floor.

"Julie!"

Behind her, he could see Betty's door open a crack to see what was going on, then close again. Julie dropped her jacket to the floor, closing the door behind her as her hands came free, undid her snow pants and pulled the gown over her head.

"Your mom called," she said, standing there nude in the dim light from the street. "I thought you could use help sleeping."

Bill moved back to the middle of the bed as Julie walked forward, feeling Ai's weight shift behind him as she made room. Julie slipped under the covers, pulling them up over her, moving up till she lie touching him. They faced each other, hands going up to caress soft cheeks.

"I know what it's like," she said, body pressing up against his. "My sister couldn't sleep alone for a week after Dad..."

Bill silenced her with a kiss, which turned into more. Hands began running over warm, hidden flesh. Mouths kissed necks, ears, breasts. Julie rolled Bill on his back, straddling him. Her eyes shining in the dark, she turned to Ai who was lying next to them.

"May I eat?"

She heard Bill catch his breath as Ai nodded, smiling.

"Taste his love."

Julie moved backwards, sliding over Bill's trembling body till she vanished under the covers. The movement stopped, only to be replaced by Bill's groan as he was engulfed by her warm, wet mouth.

He trembled. She took her time, marking the reaction to each caress of her tongue, coming back again and again to what pleased. He was hers this time, to do with as she will. And she willed...

The first burst flooded her small mouth. She savored the taste. Not incredible, no, but the fact that it was her Bill's made it the sweetest nectar. She swallowed as he shot again, and again. Julie imagined the same pulses of energy and life flowing through her, as they did through Ai. Imagined her lover's seed making her whole.

When she came back up, Bill's eyes looked at her with all the love she could ever want. That, she thought, must be the real path to a man's heart. He kissed her so tenderly Julie thought her heart would break, then cuddled her small form against his tired body.

Ai watched as the two lovers fell asleep. She adjusted the covers over them, making sure they would be warm all night. Her job done, Ai walked to the window behind Bill's desk and looked out at the road. Two of her family were out there. They should all be here, with her. She had to protect them, just as they protect her. Somehow...

They found her still standing there in the morning.

Cindi lie awake in Betty's sleeping bag, looking at the morning sun drift through the bedroom windows. She couldn't see a clock from where she was on the floor, but given her internal clock it was maybe 6:30. Despite the cold floor, the unfamiliar room, and Betty tossing the turning throughout the night ... Cindi had slept like a baby. Life ... was good to her. It may not last, and tomorrow may be the start of new horrors and loneliness, but ... she would look back on last night forever. However long that might be.

Maybe it was the dog.

Shifting in the bag, a soft bell could be heard near her ear. Cindi reached around and pulled the stuffed dog out, holding it above her head. Blue Bell, Betty had said, was his name, and very appropriate that was. The soft cuddly dog, worn with over a decade of love, had a small round bell in the end of one of its big floppy ears. Cindy pulled him into a tight hug. Another friend to add to her growing collection.