Birth of Jaiden (12 page)

His adrenaline was pumping
from the rush of a fresh meal and the anger he felt for the scum
who dared rape a young girl. The pounding echoed into his mind. It
sounded like an ocean, like when it is ever so quiet and you can
hear the air itself as it rushes past your ears.

It was stupid of him to
make kills in such a vulnerable spot, even more stupid to leave the
bodies. But, he had to do it; he could not have let those men get
away with what they had done just so they could do it again to
another girl.

When he let himself into
the trailer, he saw one of the girls sitting on the old couch,
which was worn and full of holes. She held Jaiden while Isabella,
who had helped Charlotte into some clothes, sat in one of the two
kitchen chairs beside Charlotte. Charlotte sat with her legs
together, mouth slightly open, and her eyes glassed over. Alex
thought she looked catatonic.

Alex saw that they had
listened to him. Four suit cases sat next to the door. He could
tell Isabella sensed something different about him but said nothing
until they were outside putting suitcases into the
trunk.

“
Isabella,” he said, “come
help me put this in the car.”

She nodded.

“
I’ll be right back,” she
told her sister.

They hauled the suitcases
out.

“
Are you ok?” Isabella
asked him

“
They won’t ever hurt her
again.”

It was then that Isabella
looked down as she lifted a suitcase into the trunk. She pulled up
a bloody rag.

“
I see.”

She tossed the rag back
into the trunk and turned to him after he had slammed it
shut.

Embarrassed, Alex could
not bring himself to look her in the eye and turned away from her.
Soon, he felt her move around him until she stood facing him. She
reached out, grasped his hand, and placed it to her
chest.

“
It’s ok, Alex. I am proud
of what you did.” She glanced out into the night. “I would have
done the same thing if I was capable.”

“
No, it’s not
ok.”

He gently pulled his hand
from hers and started toward the trailer. Isabella stood in the
dark, a bit hurt, and realized Alex cared too much about people to
be a real monster.

Alex opened the door and
hollered loudly, “Let’s go, kids!”

They put Jaiden in the car
seat and the rest of them squeezed into the car as comfortably as
they could.

“
Are we taking them to
your house?” Isabella asked.

“
No. As much as they are
welcome at my house, it’s too dangerous.” He glanced at her out of
the corner of his eye to see if she understood.

She did understand. Alex’s
house was far from a normal environment for the kids.

He continued, “I was going
to surprise you but now this is more of a necessity than a
surprise. I own a house within walking distance of the school the
kids go to. I usually rent it out but it’s empty now. I am giving
it to you.”

“
What?” Isabella looked
shocked and he could hear the gasps of the children as well, except
Charlotte who continued her catatonic state.

“
I am giving you a house.
You
will still have to
live with me but they will have a place to live which has four
bedrooms and a security system.”

“
Alex.” Isabella said his
name firmly. “Now that I am working for you, I can afford to pay
rent.”

He already knew her well
enough to know she wouldn’t take a handout that easy; she had too
much pride. “Don’t even try to turn it down; it’s already in your
name.”

“
I couldn’t
possibly…”

“
Yes, you can. Look what
just happened to your sister. I can’t stand that happening to
anyone. But, she is your sister and that means a bit more to me
than a stranger. They need to be safe. Which reminds me.” He felt
around in his coat pocket. “Here.” He threw a cell phone into her
lap.

“
What’s this?”

“
It’s a cell phone for the
kids. There is a house phone, but if Charlotte had had a cell
phone, she probably wouldn’t be in this position. Here is the
number.” He handed her a piece of paper. “I had it all arranged
last night.”

“
Alex, I couldn’t possibly
take so much from you.”

Alex laughed despite his
mood. “Well, you have plenty of time to repay me.”

Isabella remained silent
simply because she was unable to find a decent reply.

“
This is it,” Alex
announced when they pulled up into a driveway of a house in one of
the neighborhoods Isabella had always dreamed of living
in.

Isabella quickly opened
the door and all of the children piled out. Alex helped Charlotte
out of the car. She couldn’t stand on her own so he carried her.
With Jaiden in Isabella’s arms, they headed toward the
door.

Alex glanced at Jaiden.
She was so calm. He thought it must be nice to be a baby and not
have a care in the world except eating and sleeping, to have
everyone provide for you. Jaiden seemed completely oblivious to
anything that had happened around her all night.

He gave the key to Danny,
the oldest boy. When Danny opened the door, they all stood in the
entryway and stared at the house without saying word.

Then, like bees from a
hive, they took off. They screamed and ran around
excitedly.

“
Is it really
ours?”

“
Look, a pool! Oh my
goodness, the refrigerator is full, look at the beds!”

“
A TV! We have a
TV!“

The loudest of the shouts
came from the office/dining room. “Crap, wow, a
computer!”

While the kids explored
the house, Alex took Charlotte to the master bedroom that Charlotte
would have all to herself for the first time ever and lay her down
onto the bed.

He went back to the
kitchen where Isabella was holding Jaiden and examining the
refrigerator which he had stocked the night before.

She turned to him. “You
turned one of the worst nights of their life into a miracle. I am
not going to turn all this down, but if there is anything I can
do…”

“
You don’t owe me a
thing,” he told her as he reached out for Jaiden.

13

The night before, after they
had left the kids alone again, slumber had called to Alex just
before dawn, as it always did. He had reluctantly given in. What a
difference from a few nights ago when he did not even want to wake
up. Now, he felt
alive
.

When he entered his
bedroom, he saw his cell phone blinking. He checked it to find that
Jeremiah needed to see him immediately.

He dressed for the night
in more casual clothing of black Jeans and a fitting white tee
shirt. When he brushed out his hair, he spontaneously decided it
was time for a change and cut it. Then he used hair gel to style it
into a more punk kind of look.

As soon as he was done
dressing, he called Jeremiah.

“
Hello, Jeremiah. What’s
so important?”

“
Are you ready to try it?”
Jeremiah always sounded like he was growling when he
spoke.

Surprised, Alex answered.
“Yes! Yeah, I’m ready!”

“
Good. Come to my house
right away. Don’t bother knocking, just come right down to the
lab.”

Alex agreed. “I have to
make a stop first and then I will be on my way.”

“
I’ll be waiting.”
Jeremiah hung up the phone.

Alex clicked off his phone
and wandered the house in search of Isabella and Jaiden. He could
not find them anywhere on the ground floor so he went to explore
upstairs. The door to Isabella’s room was open.

When he looked in, he saw
her lying under a puddle of champagne silk, with only her face
showing. Her blond hair was spread across the pillows and to Alex
it appeared much silkier than the fabric which surrounded
her.

Jaiden slept soundly in
her bassinet, which Isabella had shoved as close to the bed as it
would go so that she could reach out and touch her. Alex thought it
poor manners to just walk in so he rapped lightly on the door. He
watched as Isabella opened her beautiful green eyes and focused on
him.

“
Hi,” she
whispered.

“
Hi, I’m sorry...the door
was open.”

“
It’s all right. I left it
open so you would know where we were.” She did not move to get up.
“Are you going somewhere?” she asked.

“
Yes, I just wanted to let
you know that I have some business to take care of and I don’t know
when I’ll be back.”

“
Ok…you look
nice.”

Surprised at the
compliment, Alex nodded. “Thank you.”

She sighed. “Well, have a
good time, I’m going back to sleep.”

“
All right, well…have nice
dreams.”

“
I will.” With that, she
shut her eyes and rolled over.

She must be
exhausted
,
he thought, and felt oddly guilty for being the cause of her
exhaustion.

He did not want to think
about it at that moment because he wanted to think about what might
be about to happen. Excitement hurried him to his mustang and off
to the church. He was not about to go into something like that
without praying first.

He rolled down the windows
as he traveled the busy highway. The night was clear and warm but
the stars slowly disappeared as the Reno lights took over the
sky.

Alex entered the church
slowly instead of rushing in as he usually did. He walked up the
aisle and ran his fingers along the tops of the pews until he
arrived at the altar where he knelt and bowed his head.

“
Lord, I need to know if
this situation with Isabella and Jaiden is truly what you want of
me. If not, it needs to stop now, before I get attached to Jaiden.
I have already started to have feelings for Isabella and now I have
committed to her family too.

No matter what, I know I
did the right thing by helping those kids. They deserve it after so
much hardship.

Is that part of the plan
too? I will do whatever you want of me, but sometimes it is just so
hard to tell exactly what you want. Jaiden is a beautiful,
wonderful baby, but I have no idea how to raise her.

I suppose it was easier
with my own children who were bound to me by blood. Even that was
so long ago that I have forgotten how.

If this plan of Jeremiah’s
is what you want to happen, then I know it will work. But there is
the possibility that it won’t; if it doesn’t work, then I will
never be able to raise Jaiden. No matter how much time a human
spends living at night, it is her nature to be awake in the
daytime.

I would not be right to
make her sacrifice the daylight for me. I know how much I miss it
and I will never put her in that situation. Lord, please give me
strength and guidance to make the right decisions. Show me the
paths that I need to take in order to do the right
things.

Also, if Stewart is not a
traitor, then please give him strength and guidance too; if he is a
traitor, help us to do what needs to be done. Lord, my excitement
is making me at a loss for words now; I am sorry for such a brief
prayer; please forgive me and thank you so much for the blessings
that you have given me.

Amen.”

Jeremiah lived in a large
two story home on Lake Tahoe. His house had a full basement which
he used as his lab. One of his concoctions sold to some big
company, Alex couldn’t remember which one. Jeremiah made millions
from it, which was why he was able to afford such a nice place on
the Lake.

When Alex pulled into the
driveway, all the lights were off except for a single bulb burning
above the front door. As he had been instructed, he entered without
knocking and went straight down the stairs to the lab.

“
Hello,” he called as he
descended the basement stairs.

“
Come down,” Jeremiah
called out to him.

Once in the lab, he felt
strange. He always did when he was there. The whole place was a bit
eerie; a few lights were on above tables that held beakers and
tubes full of colorful liquids. Jeremiah sat in front of a computer
at a table in the shadows and pounded away at the keys.

When he didn’t stop
typing, Alex asked, “What are you doing?”

“
Putting all of my
information into my journal,” Jeremiah answered.

“
So, everything you have
ever done is in there?” Alex pointed at the computer.

“
Yes.”

“
Aren’t you afraid someone
will steal it?”

“
No.” Jeremiahs eyes never
moved from the screen.

“
O…k then. Well, I’m
here.”

Jeremiah rolled his chair
away from the computer and stood. He hobbled over to one of the
tables and picked up a syringe. He held it up. “This is
it.”