Gabrielle Demonico (36 page)

Tanner held her close for a moment and then released her. He looked at Armin and said, “
Did
you
…?”

“
Yes…” Armin replied. “I had no choice but to shift. I would have been outnumbered without my tiger.”

Tanner grimaced for a moment. “
Anabelle, I’m sorry things had to happen this way.” He said.

“
Why are you sorry, Tanner?” She turned towards Armin and said, “His tiger was…
magnificent
… just like him…and you as well, Tanner. I’m so sorry I ran off like that. Can you please forgive me?” she asked.

“
Yes, of course. I’m just glad you’re okay.” He then walked over to Armin hugged him and said, “Thanks, man. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to fully thank you enough.”

Armin shook his head and replied, “
Hey bro, you would’ve done the same thing. I’m no hero. The important thing is that she’s all right. I’ll tell you all about it later but for now let’s just get back to the hotel.”

Tanner nodded and a few seconds later
, they climbed into the car.

As soon as they got into the limousine, Anabelle noticed that Cassie was nowhere to be seen. Curious, she asked, “
Where’s Cassie? She has all of my things.”

“
She’s back at the hotel waiting for us.” Tanner said. “I sent her there just in case you found your way back somehow.”

“
Okay…”

The limousine had traveled along the highway for about ten minutes when it came to a sudden stop.

“What the hell?” Armin said.

The privacy glass behind the driver opened. “
Accident up ahead… Would you like me to look for an alternate route?” The driver asked.

“
No, no…” Tanner replied. “At this point, there’s really no sense in rushing. If it looks like it’s going to take a really long time then maybe but if it’s only going to be ten or fifteen minutes, it’s just not that big of a deal.”

“
Very well sir.” The driver responded. “I’ll keep an eye on things and let you know if the situation doesn’t improve.”

“
Thanks man.” Tanner said as the privacy glass closed.

For a few moments, no one had much of anything to say. It had been an exhausting and emotional evening all the way around.

Finally, Armin spoke up and said, “Anabelle… If I’ve learned anything from tonight it’s that you should never be afraid to say that which is important.”

Anabelle turned to face him and asked, “
What do you mean?”

He exhaled deeply and said, “
Just this… We’re not just trying to ‘hook up’ with you or ‘use you’. There’s much more at stake for us… and you.”

She paused before responding. Noth
ing was making much sense any longer. Why should this? “Me? What are you talking about?” She asked.

Armin continued, “
Anabelle, you’ve never felt as if you belonged anywhere, have you? Isn’t that the way you feel deep down? Tell me the truth.”

Anabelle ref
lected quietly for a moment. She knew what he was getting at. Those emotions ran deep. The problem was that they weren’t good emotions and they certainly didn’t bring back any fond memories.

She said, “
Armin, I’m not sure what you want me to say. I was an orphan and yes, you’re right, I’ve never felt as if I truly belonged. Maybe I never will but that’s my burden to bear. I don’t understand why you would feel the need to bring that up right now.”

He paused. He then leaned forward and said, “
I’m not bringing it up to reopen old wounds or to make you feel bad about yourself.” He said.

“
Then, why?”

Tanner spoke up, “
Because
we know
that same pain all too well.”

“
I don’t understand… What would you know about it?” she asked.

He continued, “
It’s simple, Anabelle. We’re orphans too, just like you and that’s the reason we owed Professor Wilkinson a favor. He fostered us when we were younger. We lived with him and his wife until our freshman year in college.”

Anabelle was dumbfounded. Nowhere, in any of the research t
hat she had done about them beforehand was any mention of that made. On the other hand, at least the mystery behind why Professor Wilkinson had gotten the interview so easily was at last cleared up.

Armin said, “
It was when he still lived in Oregon. We were teens when he took us in to his home. It’s a long story but we lost our family quite suddenly when we were young, just like you. It was only through the kindness of strangers that we wound up at the orphanage in Stayton. And also like yourself, we were sent from one foster home to the next until we finally arrived at his. Fortunately for us, we were never split up in those early years.”

“
Damn…” she replied. “That’s… incredible. I wasn’t that far away when I was in the orphanage… Lebanon, actually.”

“
Yes, we know. The Professor told us.” Tanner said.

“
Huh?” she replied. Then it dawned upon her that she’d told him about that. It must have slipped her mind somehow. She wondered what else she’d said to him that the brothers weren’t divulging just yet.

Armin wi
nced a little and said, “You aren’t upset with him are you?”

“
Yes. I mean… no. Oh hell, I don’t know what to think right now, Armin.” She said.

Armin went on, “
Look, Anabelle… We know that tonight has been, well, crazy.…”

She interrupted, “
Yes… Totally, totally fucking nuts is more like it. Let’s see, I was nearly raped and then I find out that the both of you are some kind of orphaned semi-human tiger cubs! I’ll say it was
crazy
alright…”

Tanner looked at Armin. “
What is she talking about? Almost
raped
?”

A
rmin nodded. “Yes. I was going to tell you all about it later. I didn’t want to upset her.”

Tanner leaned over and hugged her. “
Anabelle, God, I’m so sorry.”

For a moment, the emotion of the event resurfaced but his embrace soothed her. “
Thank you. I’ll be okay. Fortunately, nothing
truly awful
happened.”

He brushed away a lock of hair from her eyes, pulled it behind her right ear and kissed her softly on the forehead. He turned towards Armin and said, “
We can’t wait any longer, man. What if something had happened to her?”

Armin shook his head in reluctant agreement, “
I know…” he said.

“
You can’t wait any longer for what?” Anabelle said as she suddenly pulled away from Tanner.

“
Anabelle, tomorrow afternoon, we are doing a benefit concert for all of the orphanages in the area. We’d like you to come, of course. And, afterwards, we can spend the rest of the day together. Everything will make sense to you at that point, we promise.” Armin said.

She responded, “
I mean… of course I’ll come. But please don’t keep anything from me any longer. It’s late and I’m tired so for now, it’s okay, but you have to swear to me that there won’t be any more secrets.”

Armin looked at his brother and no
dded slowly. He turned back towards her and said, “Anabelle, you have our word – no more secrets…”

Just then, the limousine started to move.

“Thank
God…
” Anabelle said as she sank into her seat. “I’ve never been so exhausted in my entire life. I can’t wait to just…
sleep
.”

***

Within about fifteen minutes, they arrived back at the hotel. Fortunately, it was far too late for groupies to be hanging around and so the three of them slipped inside the front door rather easily.

As they walked to the elevator, Tan
ner turned to Anabelle and said, “Cassie told us that she left your room key in our suite. We’ll have to stop by and pick it up for you, along with your things.”

“
Okay…” she said sleepily.

A few minutes later, they had made their way to the brothers
’ suite. Anabelle’s things were stacked neatly in place, just near the entrance.

“
Do you want some help with that?” Armin asked.

“
No, I’m fine. I can manage. Thank you.” She replied.

He continued, “
Okay, then. Well, goodnight Anabelle. We’ll see you later this afternoon.”

“
Jesus… That’s right, isn’t it? It’s already tomorrow…” she said with a half-smile.

“
Yeah, it is.” Armin replied. “Welcome to life on the road.”

Anabelle smiled and turned to leave. As she opened the door, she looked back and said, “
I’m not sure what to say so I’ll just say ‘goodnight’.”

Both brothers stood in the doorway, filling it with their imposing frames. Tanner smiled and said, “
Goodnight works for me…”

“
Goodnight, Anabelle…” Armin said.

She began to walk down the hall towards her room. Her
exhaustion had reached a state where she
almost
felt buzzed. But in spite of her delirious mental state, she couldn’t shake a feeling she had that suddenly overcome her.

She stopped dead in her tracks and realized that there was one thing that she certain
of – she did not want to be alone tonight. Anabelle did a quick about face and hurried back towards their suite. Maybe she would sleep on the couch, or the on the floor – whatever… there was no way she was going to be by herself.

She knocked on the door.
Moments later, Tanner opened it. Confused, he said, “Anabelle… Did you forget something?”

“
Yeah…” she replied.

“
What?”

“
I forgot that I don’t want to sleep alone…” she said sheepishly.

“
Oh… I see. Well, okay then, please… come in.” he said as he stepped to one side.

As she did, Armin appeared from the bathroom and asked, “
Hey you… Everything okay?”

“
She’s uhhmm, staying here… She said she doesn’t want to be alone.” Tanner interjected.

Anabelle smiled and said, “
Yes, I hope that’s alright?”

“
Of course. We’ve got a couple of kings in the bedrooms. You are welcome to one of them.” Armin replied.

“
No, no… I can sleep on the couch, really. I didn’t want to impose.” She said.

“
It’s no problem at all.” He said. “Tanner and I will flip a coin to see who gets the other one.”

“
No I insist.” She said. “You guys have a show in a few hours and you need your rest, please. I honestly don’t mind at all.”

Armin exhaled. “
Alright, well, I suppose there’s no changing your mind.”

“
Nope.” She replied.

“
Okay then…” Armin replied.

“
I’ll grab her a pillow and a blanket from my room.” Tanner said.

As he walked away, Armin said, “
Last chance Anabelle. You sure?”

She smiled. “
Yes. I’m sure. Thank you.”

“
Okay…” he replied.

Tanner returned with the pillow and blan
ket. He walked over to Anabelle, handed them to her and said, “Here you go. I hope you are able to at least get a little sleep.”

“
Thank you, Tanner. I’m sure that I will be fine now. I feel much better just not being alone…” she said.

Tanner stepped back a
nd said, “Well, good night Anabelle…”

“
Yes, good night…” Armin added.

“
Good night Armin, good night Tanner…” she replied as the brothers turned and headed into their respective bedrooms.

Anabelle did her best to make the couch as comfortable as possible. S
he collapsed into it and pressed her head into the pillow. As she lie there, a myriad of thoughts filled her mind and it was proving difficult to sort through them all.

Anabelle had never been a big believer in fate. Maybe it existed in a good way for othe
rs but it never had for her so she’d long ago found that she couldn’t rely on it. Instead, she’d decided that she had to choose her own destiny. However, as she reflected on everything that had occurred in the span of only a few days, she couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, this was all part of something bigger.

Even in its own strange way, the horrible experience she
’d had in the apartment a few hours earlier seemed less so when viewed through the prism of some kind of universal grand plan. In fact, the thought that dominated her mind most about what had happened there was not what those bastards had tried to do but rather of her first glimpse of Armin’s tiger.