Dark Creations: Dark Ending (Part 6) (29 page)

Chapter 24

Melissa’s eyes teared and her throat tightened around the lump that had formed there when she saw Alexandra, Daniella, Ryan and Jack, safe and unscathed, amid the fallen ranks of Lord Terzini’s members.  Several breaths snagged in her chest before sobs racked her body.  She did not fight them.  They were tears of release, of joy, tears she never imagined she would be crying, for the odds had been stacked out of their favor for so long.  One hand covered her heart instinctively as she watched and waved to her friends.  She only turned from them when she felt eyes on her and looked behind her.  A sapphire gaze greeted her, a sapphire gaze glassy with emotion.  Gabriel smiled warmly at her and made her breath catch in an entirely different way.  She smiled at him through her tears, love and gratitude pouring from her as freely as the tears that streamed down her cheeks. 

She was about to reach out and hug him around the bulky contraption he gripped in both hands, the same contraption that had saved their lives, when a voice from the fr
ont seat jolted her.

“Alex!” Yoshi shouted
.

Melissa turned and watched as Yoshi
jumped from the driver’s seat of the Jeep.  He raced to Alexandra, sidestepping gore and dead bodies.  Alexandra covered the lower half of her face with both hands when she heard Yoshi’s voice.  As soon as she saw him rushing toward her, her hands fell to her sides and she smiled a smile so broad and filled with delight, Melissa couldn’t help but smile as well.

But when Yoshi reached Alexandra
, instead of hugging her right away, he did something that made Melissa’s tears stream more forcefully.  He cupped Alexandra’s face in his hands, brushing his thumbs along her high cheekbones affectionately, and said something Melissa could not hear. What he said to her she would never know, but it made her best friend since elementary school weep, an occurrence she’d only seen a handful of times during the course of their long friendship.  Yoshi hugged Alexandra tightly and they stood there, in a sea of gruesome remains, holding each other.

“Come on,” Gabriel said to her gently
and tugged her attention from them.  “Let’s go see our friends.”

He set Terzini’s device on the rear seat of the
Wrangler then leaped to the asphalt below.  He held out his hand for her.  She took it and felt the comfort of his long fingers wrapping around her hand before giving it a tender squeeze.  His touch sent a warm current racing up her arm that did not stop until it encircled her heart fully.  She smiled as she climbed out and swiped the tears from her face with her fingertips.

O
nce on the ground, she was able to survey the magnitude of the situation.  While her friends had survived, they had been lucky.  Many of the townspeople of Eldon had not shared the same fate and lay dead in the street, courageous men and women who had fought for their lives and for the lives of their children.  Gabriel followed her eyes and hooked his finger under her chin.  He tipped her chin and turned her face so that she looked at him.

“Hey,” he said.  “We’re alive and so are our friends
, and many of the people of Eldon are too.”

“But so many lost their lives,” she said and her voice faltered.
  She bowed her head and fought a fresh wave of emotion.

“Gabriel!  Melissa!
  Yoshi!” Jack’s gruff voice boomed.  Melissa’s head snapped up just in time to see his impressive form approaching.  His posture was unmistakable, impeccable, with his shoulders squared and his head held high.  He walked with the pride and distinction deserving of one who’d served his country bravely.

“Jack!” she said as he wrapped both arms around her shoulder
s.  He stepped back from her and she could see that his eyes were moist.  “Gabriel!” he said and pumped Gabriel’s hand vigorously.

“Come on, Jack, really?” Gabriel said as he yanked Jack’s hand and hugged him with one arm.  Jack clapped his hand on Gabriel’s back
.  When they parted, both of them were smiling.

“Well, well, well, looks like there’s a lot of man lovin’ going on over here,” Alexandra said
.  Melissa spun and looked at her friend.  Her hand was on her hip and a sly smile curved her mouth, but the softness in her eyes betrayed her trademark snarky stance. 

“Alex!” Melissa squealed.  “Oh you’re a sight for sore eyes,” she breathed and began crying again. 

“All right, no need to slobber,” Alexandra replied, but held Melissa with ferocity that contradicted her words.  “I’m so happy to see you,” she whispered hoarsely. 

“Good, ‘cause I’m going to keep slobbering,” Melissa laughed
and cried simultaneously.

“Gabriel!  Melissa!” Daniella said from behind Alexandra.  “
Oh my God!  You’re here!  You’re really here!”

Melissa turned and felt Alexandra’s reluctance when she released her from her embrace.  “Daniella!  Ryan!” she said as she enveloped them both. 

“Are you okay, sweetie?” Daniella said in her ear. 

Melissa flinched involuntarily at the very recent memories.  She did not want to relive them now, not where they were.  Now was a time to celebrate.

Daniella dropped her arms and stepped back.  She looked at Melissa; saw the marks and bruises on her face.  For a moment, her blue eyes that usually sparkled as brightly as the sky on a clear day clouded over and became leaden, tempestuous.  “Oh my God, look at you!  Who did this to you?”

“Terzini.  Terzini did this,
” Melissa replied.

Daniella’s jaw set and her face was a mask of fury.  Melissa had never witnessed Daniella as angry as she was in that moment.

“It’s okay,” she said and patted Daniella’s arm.  “I’m okay now, okay?”

Daniella nodded slowly.  “That monster,” she said through clenched teeth.

“That monster is dead,” Melissa said with finality.

“Good, I hope he suffered,” Daniella surprised her by saying. 

“Oh damn!  This coming from the girl who swerves to avoid clipping a squirrel in the road,” Alexandra sidled up next to them and lightly elbowed Daniella in the ribs.  “The more crap we go through, the more I like you, you know that Dani?”

“Please don’t ever call me Dani,” Daniella said firmly.  “Unless you
want me to start calling you Al,” she added with a wicked smile.

“See,” Alexandra shook her head and pointed to Daniella.  “It only too
k what, like, two decades, but I finally rubbed off on her.”  Alexandra dabbed pretend tears from beneath her eyes.  “My baby is all grown up now.”

“You’re such an idiot,” Daniella rolled her eyes.

“But you love me,” Alexandra smirked and got the final word. 

Melissa had never been happier hearing her friends bicker playfully.  Their voices were the sound of happiness, of her past and present, of her future, of home.  Thoughts of home made her eager to return there, to see her father. 
So much had happened since she last saw him, so many people had died.  She scanned Main Street and her friends’ gazes followed hers.  The banter ended abruptly and their expression became solemn.

She turned and looked
at Gabriel who was talking to Jack.  Their tones were somber and their faces grave.  “How did you do it?” she heard Jack ask Gabriel.  “What did you do?” he folded his arms across his broad chest. 

“That thing I was holding, the thing that looks like a laptop in the back of the Jeep
, is what Amber told me about,” Gabriel answered and Jack nodded thoughtfully.  She had no idea what role Amber had played in Gabriel getting his hands on the device that had killed Terzini’s members, but decided to move closer and find out.  “Speaking of Amber,” Gabriel said and took several steps away from her and Jack.  She watched him confusedly as he crouched beside a dead member and reached his hand into the front pants pocket of the corpse.  A roll of nausea made her stomach churn as air passed from the lifeless form at the slight motion.  Gabriel grimaced and pulled a phone from it and immediately stepped back before he touched the display screen.  He slid his finger up the screen causing it to glide to a list of contacts. 

“Come on Amber,” he said more to himself than her.  He looked up and noticed that she watched him.  He lowered the phone and placed it in speaker mode.  She heard two rings sound before a female voice answered breathlessly.

“Hello?” the voice said.

“Amber, is that you?” Gabriel asked.

“Yes, it’s me,” she replied and a rustling sound followed. 

“I’m here, too,” a male voice said.  “It’s Kyle.  I’m holding the phone for her while she drives, or speeds,
I should say,” he mumbled. 

“I heard that,” she heard Amber say quietly before adding.  “Yeah, I’m driving Arnold’s van
, which is technically stolen, I guess.  The last thing I want is to get pulled over for talking on my cell phone while driving.”

“Arnold’s van?” Gabriel questioned.  “Does that mean,” he started to ask, but Amber interrupted.

“Arnold is dead and the virus is dead in the Hudson River.”

Melissa looked at Gabriel and raised her eyebrows.  She mouthed the word
virus
and knitted her brows, but she doubted he even noticed.  He was too busy celebrating.  Hooting and high-fiving erupted among Jack and Gabriel and the rest of her friends. 

“That is fantastic, Amber!” Gabriel said and his voice
was shaky with relief.

“They did it!  They killed Arnold and destroyed the virus!” everyone around her shouted. 

“Amber, are you still there,” she barely heard Gabriel ask over the roar of the crowd around her.

“I’m here,” Amber answered.

“We killed Terzini!” he shouted.  “
Melissa
killed Terzini after we were able to get the device from him!  All of the members are dead!  We did it, Amber!  We really did it!”

Alexandra, Daniella, Jack and Ryan
swarmed Gabriel immediately.

“Holy shit!  Why the hell didn’t you lead off with that?  That crazy psychopath is finally dead?” Alexandra asked and her eyes grew round.

“Who the hell cares about when he chose to tell us?” Jack saved him then clapped him on the back.  “He’s gone!  That’s all that matters!”

A ripple of cheers broke out again and
Melissa decided to take the phone from Gabriel’s hand.

“Hello?”  S
he transferred the call away from speaker mode and spoke into the receiver.  “Amber, are you there?  It’s Melissa.”

“Melissa!” Amber said and sounded happy and surprised at the same time.  “You’re alive!”

“I am,” Melissa confirmed.  “What is this virus everyone is talking about and who is Arnold?”

“Lord Terzini had designed a virus, a plague really, that he would release in a busy city.  Arnold was the member he’d designated to bring it to Manhattan.”

“What?” Melissa asked and felt herself lose her balance for a moment.  “A plague?”

“It’s over now, Melissa.  I wouldn’t e
ven bother worrying about it,” Amber said then paused. 

Melissa’s breathing snagged at the thought of some mysterious epidemic befalling humankind, an epidemic the deranged mind of the late Lord Terzini had conjured. 
“And you and Kyle, you guys were able to stop this plague from being released?  You guys were able save humanity,” she whispered the second sentence.

“Yes, but now every police department on the East Coast is probably looking for us for shooting Arnold in broad daylight
in front of the American Museum of Natural History and for dumping a stainless-steel vat into the Hudson River.”

“Murder, illegal dumping and polluting a major waterway, wow, sounds
as if you’ve had a busy afternoon,” Melissa comment drily and heard rich laughter on the other end.

“Yes, yes I did,” Amber said then added more seriously, “And I imagine you had a busy, hellish night, my friend.”

“Yes, I did,” Melissa whispered.  In a stronger voice, she said, “But I am here now, and my friends are safe, the world is safe.  Thank you, Amber.”

“I’ll see you soon, Melissa,” Amber said and ended their call.

“Melissa,” Gabriel asked as she stood staring at the phone she held in her hand.  “I want you to meet Sheriff Baker.  Jack just introduced us.  He is the sheriff of Eldon.  Sheriff Baker, this is my fiancée, Melissa Martin.”

“Hello, Sheriff,” she said and extended her hand.
  “I am so sorry for what happened here.”

Sheriff Baker held up his hands to stop her
from continuing to offer condolences.  “It is very nice to meet you, Miss Martin,” he said and hugged her.  “I think you and your friends and the people of Eldon are long past handshakes,” he chuckled.  When he let her go and stepped back, his eyes were glazed with tears.  He sniffed and inhaled.  “Oh jeez,” he said and blinked feverishly.  “Listen, you guys might want to think about getting out of here.  I don’t even know how you knew about what was coming and I don’t care. All I do know is that once I make the call I need to make, the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security and the National Guard will be out here trying to figure out what happened.” He rubbed his chin broodingly then continued.  “There’s going to be no way to explain your involvement, how you knew what was going to happen, without them thinking you had something to do with it.”