Kayla always knew Dwayne would find her. While she never wanted to admit it to herself, deep down she knew he would… someday. She had buried the feeling down deep within herself, had hidden it away when she realized that she was happy again. She had done it on the day she had first kissed Ariana.
But that didn’t stop the feeling from popping up and nagging her every once in a while, like it did a week after Ariana’s birthday party. It was New Year’s Eve and Ariana was overly excited for the first day of 2014. It would be the beginning of a brand new year, the very first that they would spend together. Ariana had considered taking her grandfather’s private jet to New York City for the night, but Kayla had wanted to stay home and ring in the new year more intimately.
Kayla had been having a strange feeling for several days and she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched everywhere she went. She even thought a car had followed her back from Coop’s bookstore the day before. Ariana, of course, thought nothing of it. She said Kayla was just being paranoid. No one was following her. Everything was fine.
But it wasn’t fine, not to Kayla. Something just felt… off. Of course, she had thought that something felt wrong about the apartment fire people too, and they had been nothing but kind since they had arrived. Unfortunately, Kayla still couldn’t see the strings that linked all these events. She didn’t see the connections. If she could, she would understand why she had felt so concerned about the apartment fire people coming to live at the warehouse.
Their walk in the snow that night had taken them to the apartment, which had brought the families to live at the warehouse. That, in turn, had attracted the attention of Tina Tanaka and Action 16 News… and what they attracted just might doom them all.
Ariana, however, was too happy about the holiday to worry about Kayla's bad feeling. She flitted about the apartment, singing and trying to figure out what the words to Auld Lang Syne meant. Kayla did her best to seem interested, but the nagging feeling that something terrible was about to happen would simply not leave her.
As the sun began to set, Kayla and Ariana sat out on the fire escape watching the last light of 2013 fade into history. Kayla was still worried, but with Ariana lying in her arms, with her warmth calming her, she found that she was beginning to relax. The night was quiet and peaceful and Ariana was incredibly cuddly. Kayla slowly let her guard down.
“Are we feeling better?” Ariana asked as Kayla let out a contented sigh.
“A little,” said Kayla, tightening the grip she had with both arms around Ariana’s waist. “I’m sorry I’m ruining the holiday.”
“You’re not ruining anything,” said Ariana sweetly. “You’re worried. That’s what you do. You protect me. You always protect me.”
“Sometimes I think I look for things to worry about,” said Kayla. “That I see threats where there aren’t any.”
“Better that than not seeing a threat when there is one,” Ariana commented. Kayla completely agreed.
“Still, not tonight,” said Kayla. “No, tonight is about us. It’s about new beginnings. I want next year to be different… I want to stop looking over my shoulder all the time.”
“Then do it, Kay-Kay,” said Ariana. “You’re safe here. Dwayne isn’t going to find you. If he was, he would have by now.”
“You can’t know that, Ari,” said Kayla. “Besides, he’s not the only bad guy out there.”
“I know,” said Ariana quietly. “But he’s the only one that’s looking for you.”
“You’re right, you’re right, I… I’m just so tired of it all, Ari,” Ariana nuzzled her head under Kayla’s chin.
“Then let it go,” she whispered. “There’s nothing you can do anyway. If he finds you, he finds you. Worrying about it all the time isn’t going to stop it from happening.”
“You do realize that you have a tendency to be annoyingly correct, don’t you?” Kayla asked.
“Yeah, I think you’ve mentioned it before,” said Ariana lightly. The sun had fully set by then and the air turned even colder than it had been. The promised snowfall had come as expected, dropping nearly a foot of snow upon Detroit. Ariana had been thrilled. Kayla had not.
The girls went back inside and down to the library where many of the apartment fire people had gathered for a New Year’s Eve party. Kayla got herself a cup of punch and soon found herself roped into a game of poker by Cooper, Mike, and a handful of others. She was hardly an expert card player, but she didn’t do too terribly and by the time midnight came around, she had managed to make a little cash.
“How’d you do?” Ariana asked blearily when she came over to sit at the table next to her.
“Pretty good,” said Kayla. She arched her eyebrows at the redhead, who was swaying blissfully in her seat to music that wasn’t playing.
“Ari… are you drunk?” she asked, a smile drawn to her lips. Ariana held her thumb and forefinger about a centimeter apart.
“Just a little bit…” she said thickly. She leaned toward Kayla, looking as though she were about to tell her the most important secret ever. "Actually, a lot..."
"Ari, how much did you drink." Ariana shook her head slowly, appearing to be very deep in thought.
"I don't know... Some of the guys kept pouring me drinks." she slurred. "Kay-Kay... what's tequila?"
"Something you're going to regret in the morning," said Kayla, grinning. "C'mon, you need to be in bed."
"No!" said Ariana, looking quite angry indeed. "No, I... I want to see the... the explodey things. The... uh... the boom things. The sparkly booms in the sky..."
"Fireworks?" Kayla asked. Ariana's eyes went wide and she bopped Kayla on the tip of her nose with her forefinger.
"I love fireworks!" She shouted. She leapt from her chair and began tugging at the brunette, trying to urge her to get up. "Kayla, there's a ton of them over in a warehouse down the street! We should go and get them and go up on the roof and set them off! All. At. Once."
"Okay, first of all. No," said Kayla. "We're not setting off very old fireworks. I really don’t want to start off the new year by blowing myself up. Secondly, if you want to watch the fireworks that the professionals are setting off downtown then we can watch them from the fire escape. But then, you're going to bed. Trust me; you're going to thank me for it. Meanwhile, I’m going to find the person or persons responsible for supplying my not-of-legal-drinking-age girlfriend with alcohol and explain a thing or two to them.”
"You're boring," said Ariana dryly.
"I'm sober," Kayla replied. "Alright, come on sweetie. It's almost midnight." Ariana leapt to her feet and started toward the door only to fall flat on her face. Kayla burst out laughing.
"Yeah, I saw that coming," she said. She stood and helped Ariana to her feet.
"I fell down," Ariana said blearily. "It was awesome!"
"Dear God, you're gonna be so happy in the morning, babe," said Kayla, guiding her up through the apartment and out on the fire escape.
"I'm always happy," said Ariana, poking Kayla curiously on her cheek.
"Yes..." said Kayla, gently taking Ariana's hand and holding it down at her side. Beneath them, the others had gathered outside to watch the fireworks themselves. Someone started a countdown at ten seconds to midnight.
"Ten!" the group shouted. "Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One!" Downtown Detroit lit up instantly with a shower of brilliant explosions in the sky. Blasts of color illuminated the sky high above their heads. Kayla and Ariana shared a brief kiss atop the fire escape while the others whooped and shouted below them.
“Happy New Year, Ari,” said Kayla, brushing her fingers through the other girl’s hair.
“I want a pony,” said Ariana blissfully. Kayla shook her head.
“Yep… that’s my girl.”
-.-
“Uuuugh…” Ariana groaned as she stumbled out of the bedroom and into the apartment where Kayla sat at the table eating a bowl of cereal and reading the front page of the morning paper.
“Morning, sunshine!” Kayla said brightly as Ariana held a hand over her eyes to block out the light and wandered toward the refrigerator. She retrieved a juice box and sank miserably into the chair across from Kayla.
“I think I’m gonna throw up…” she whimpered.
“Welcome to your first ever hangover,” said Kayla proudly. “This is the time you spend regretting all the choices you made the night before.”
“Did… did we strap old fireworks to a pony and set them off somewhere?” Ariana asked, holding her hands to her head.
“Nope,” said Kayla, shaking her head. “We did watch some fireworks, though… and made a few ourselves afterwards,” she added with a grin. “I gotta say, I like drunk Ariana… particularly in bed.”
“Well, you’re never seeing her again,” Ariana groaned. “I think I’m dying.”
“You’re not dying,” said Kayla firmly. She stood up and went to the refrigerator. She retrieved a glass filled with thick brown liquid and placed it on the table in front of the redhead.
“What is that?” Ariana asked, swallowing quite visibly.
“It’ll help you feel better, trust me,” Kayla replied. “Believe me, I know from experience.”
“What’s in it?” asked Ariana, reaching tentatively for the glass.
“You don’t want to know,” she said firmly. “In fact… don’t look at it, don’t smell it, just down it in one.” Ariana lifted the glass and drank. Kayla was certain the redhead was going to gag, but she got it down. Even so, she still looked miserable.
“Give it a few minutes,” said Kayla warmly. “You’ll feel better.”
“Why would people want to do this to themselves… ever?” Ariana asked, laying her head on the table.
“For the high,” Kayla replied. “The way you felt last night… just, well… you do have to deal with this side of the coin too.”
“I don’t like this side,” said Ariana dryly. “And the other side wasn’t good enough to make me experience this side again.” Kayla smiled.
“Well, good,” she said happily. “I don’t have to worry about you becoming an alcoholic then,”
“No, you don’t,” said Ariana. “My mouth tastes like feet,” Kayla arched her eyebrows.
“I can’t honestly say I know what feet taste like,” she replied. “I’m guessing there’s a story there?”
“Not talking about it,” Ariana muttered. She stood up from the table. “I’m… I’m gonna go… die… in there.” She gestured toward their bedroom. Kayla smiled and nodded.
“Have fun,” she called after her.
Kayla spent much of the morning cleaning up the mess left over from the party the previous night. She hadn’t realized just how big a mess forty-two people could make in the space of one evening. Luckily, most of the mess was confined to the library which given its tiled floors was easier to clean than the apartment upstairs.
Ariana emerged from hibernation by noon and joined Kayla for lunch at a small café a few blocks away from the warehouse. The high temperature that day was a cozy eighteen degrees, so the girls spent as little time as possible moving between the car and the warmth of the restaurant. They spent the afternoon with Sophia, who had asked to come to the mall with them.
After a long day of shopping, the girls let Sophia play in a toy store while they sat in plastic seats near the front of the store.
“Have you ever thought about having kids?” Ariana asked suddenly. Kayla looked up at her. She was watching Sophia intently, with an almost wistful look in her eyes.
“I…” In truth, Kayla had never really given the matter any thought whatsoever. Before her life as a fugitive, she had just been living. She hadn’t thought too much about the future except for college and even then she hadn’t settled on a major. Kids, though, that was simply too far in the future for her to worry about.
Kids were a big responsibility and Kayla had trouble taking care of herself and Ariana, much less bringing a child into their world. No, Kayla came to realize as she sat there, that she didn’t really want to have children… but one look into Ariana’s blue eyes and Kayla knew that the redhead most certain did want to have children.
“I… I haven’t really thought about it before,” said Kayla quietly. “What about you? Do you… want kids?”
“Yeah…” Ariana said in a distant voice. “I mean, I… I think so. It’s just that I’ve… I read some books once and… well, they said that people that were abused as children sometimes do the same things to their own kids and I… I’m afraid that…”
“Okay, stop right there,” Kayla interrupted. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. “Ari, you… you haven’t got a mean bone in your body. You cried for three hours after you saw the ending of Marley and Me. You couldn’t hurt a fly, baby, much less a child.”
“I… I just…” Ariana looked tearful. “Sometimes I… I’m their daughter, Kayla. Whatever made them do what they did to me is in me too.”
“’It doesn’t matter what someone is born, but what they grow to be,’” said Kayla. She smiled. “It’s from a book I read once… Look, just because your parents abused you doesn’t mean you would ever do the same thing. You wouldn’t… and whatever made them do what they did to you is most certainly not in you. You are everything your parents never were, Ari."
"They're still part of me," Ariana said sadly. Kayla reached out and took her hand.
"Hey," she said, squeezing the redhead's hand reassuringly. "I've seen you with Sophie. You're amazing with her. That little girl lights up when she's around you. She loves you, Ari. You will be a great mother, Ariana Elizabeth Laine. I know it."
"Well, since you used my full name it must be true," said Ariana, smiling slightly. "I think you'll be great too." Kayla choked and shook her head.
"Yeah, right!" she exclaimed. "Me, a mom? Well, as long as you're there we'd do fine. You know, when I was younger my dad bought me a hamster. I named him Mr. Nibbles."
"And you laughed at Fluffers," Ariana quipped.
"Anyway," said Kayla briskly. "My parents would only let me have him if I promised to take care of him. I swore I would, but I only remember feeding him once."
"You didn't feed him?!" Ariana exclaimed. "Did... did Mr. Nibbles die?" Kayla smiled and shook her head.
"No, my mom fed him for me. She knew I'd forget, so she did it. But my point is, I couldn't even take care of a little furry rodent and you want me to be responsible for a little baby?!"
"You wouldn't forget to feed our baby," said Ariana kindly. Kayla shrugged.
"Maybe not, but I could leave the poor thing on top of the car, or in the shopping cart..."
"You wouldn't," said Ariana firmly. "You're always so overprotective. You protect me and you'd protect our baby too."
"Well, I suppose it's something for us to think about, anyway," said Kayla. Ariana nodded her agreement. She looked up at the brunette slowly, appearing to come to some sort of conclusion.
"Kayla, there... there's something I've never told you," the redhead said slowly. The look in her eyes said she was about to drop the equivalent of a hydrogen bomb on the brunette. "I have a da..."
"Ari! Kayla! Come look at this!" Sophia shouted, rushing over to the them and seizing Ariana's hand. She pulled them over to show them some new toy that Ariana agreed to buy for her. Kayla was immensely curious to learn what it was that Ariana wanted to tell her. The redhead, however, seemed as though she had no interest in resuming that particular conversation, so Kayla didn't bring it back up.
After Ariana paid for Sophia's toy, the girls returned to the warehouse. If Kayla had still been on her guard, she would have felt that something was off... she would have noticed. She would have recognized that same feeling that had plagued her for a week was in the air again as they arrived at the warehouse.
She would have noticed that the cargo doors opened far too quickly and that Ariana wouldn't have had enough time to get down to the floor after climbing up the fire escape to open them. She would have seen that the warehouse was darker than normal, with most of its lights extinguished. She didn't notice anything odd until she parked the Mclaren and started to get out.
Tent City was empty. There were absolutely no signs of life around the field of tents that were spread out across a wide section of the warehouse floor. The warehouse was eerily quiet and Ariana was nowhere to be seen. Kayla reached for her gun, her heart suddenly dropping into her stomach.
"Ariana!" she screamed as loudly as she could. As if on queue, the redhead yelped and stumbled down the stairs, landing hard in a heap on the cold warehouse floor. Without warning, the warehouse lights flicked on. The apartment fire people were corralled fifty feet from the base of the stairs. They were all on their knees, being watched by three men with large, powerful rifles.
"Been lookin' for you a long time," said a deep voice from the staircase. Kayla's heart skipped a beat and her blood ran cold. She turned slowly toward the voice, realizing with a bolt of terror that it was over... that the day she always feared had at long last arrived.
Dwayne Washington descended the stairs with a handgun pointed at Ariana's head. Ariana was cowering on the floor, whimpering. One side of her head was cut and bleeding from where it had struck the hard floor. Dwayne looked down briefly at Ariana and then up at Kayla.
"Now, sweetheart, I believe we got a score to settle."600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuAfiVIU0GL
