Persona (18 page)

“It won’t be long before they find out who broke in back there. We can’t stay in NY.” Liam rushes out.

“What can we do about that, we’re not exactly experience in this sort of thing.” Marty says.

“We have to do something. They won’t stop until they have Moira. They made that pretty clear, with the guns and all.” Liam responds.

“It’s not like we have options to go anywhere, man. The surrounding states are just as bad, I’m sure.” Ray says.

“I thought we might go to Montana, my dad lives there. It’s a safe place.” Liam whispers.

Moira shifts a little so that she can see Liam’s profile. The sun is cresting on the horizon, so she can see everything a little better, and he looks very nervous about something. It’s not what just happened at the base either, it’s something else.

“Dude no offence, but if Moira’s dad didn’t even get away. Then how can your dad make sure we’re all safe enough, to not get caught?” Marty asks, as he leans into the middle of the seats to face Liam.

Taking a deep breath, Liam says, “Because, my dad is Marshall Black.”

No one says anything for a whole minute, and then Ray squeaks out, “As in MBS, Marshall Black? Seriously? I thought he was dead.”

“That would be him, but he’s very much alive. He’s made it his lives work to perfect in staying hidden. That’s why I think we should go to his place.”

“He’s not crazy right? I mean sorry, but I assumed he was a mad man that escaped a hospital. No offense.” Raven whispers.

“It’s all right Raven, it’s not your fault. Obviously the officials tried to cover up what really happened. He was kept the same place we were just at with Moira.” Liam shares a look with Raven, trying to assure her he’s not mad and she nods in surprise.

When he looks back to the road his gaze lands on Moira for a brief second and she doesn’t know what he’s even thinking about. He looks away before she can read his face. She however, is feeling like she’s falling down a high roller coaster. Liam’s father is Marshall Black! He is the man that infected her mother, and made her what she is today. She can feel her insides shaking, and has the feeling she might pass out. One thing is clear to her though, if Liam knew about her mother, he wouldn’t have just blurted that out. But then again, she doesn’t really know his as well as she thought, so maybe he did already know. Everything and happening to fast and Moira feels like she can’t catch up.

“Daisy’s not looking so good you guys, I think she might need a hospital.” Marty stammers.

“We’d get caught, dumbass. We can’t exactly walk right up with a gunshot wound.” Ray admonishes him.

Liam digs into his jeans pocket and pulls out a cell phone. As he punches in buttons, he says, “Don’t worry, I have someone that can help.”

Moira doesn’t find out who though, the darkness in the back of her mind that she kept at bay, finally catches up to her. She falls down into the recesses of her mind, and her body goes thankfully numb.

***

Moira wakes up when the car comes to a stop, and has to blink her eyes against the full daylight that is out. The first thing she notices is that she is lying on Raven’s lap while she’s asleep leaning on the window above her. Her legs are draped across Liam’s. He was looking out the window, and maybe sensed her being awake, because his gaze shifts down to her. He seems surprised that she’s awake, and suddenly she smells the spicy sweet cinnamon smell that usually follows him around. Yawning, she wraps the scent around her like a winter blanket to keep warm with. His eyes go wide, and he looks away. She doesn’t have time to figure out what is wrong, because another car can be heard coming up behind them.

Moira, fully awake now, sits up between Raven and Liam. That’s when she notices that they are no longer on the road. In fact, they are parked on the yard of an old looking farm house. There is nothing else on either side of it, for what looks like miles. Raven had jumped awake when Moira sat up, and she is looking around everywhere surprised they are stopped too. Now that Moira is sitting, she can feel all the aches and soreness of her body again, and wishes she were still asleep. But she pushes the pain aside, when she sees a red SUV pulling up beside them. Liam doesn’t even hesitate before he throws open his door and jumps out. Leaving the door open behind him, they can hear him calling out to someone inside the SUV.

Moira leans around the seat to get a better look, as Liam opens up the door for the person driving. When he steps back, an older woman with pinned up brown hair wearing a dark suit steps out. She can’t see her face, but she can see Liam’s, and he looks relieved to see this woman. He steps up to her with a smile, and she wraps him in a tight hug.

When they release one another, the woman turns to face the car, and can see that she is beautiful and has wide grey eyes. It’s not at all surprising when Liam says, “Mom, I want you to meet my friends.”

The others in the car are surprised though, and Moira remembers that Marty, Ray and Daisy are all in the back. She doesn’t look back to them though, her eyes are all for the woman beside Liam. She gives them a bright smile and rushes slightly over to the open door and pears in at them.

“Hi there, I’m Paula. I heard some of you were hurt, I can help you with that.” She says with a twang similar to Liam’s.

When no one says anything, she turns to back to face him.

“We need to get them inside. The front door should be unlocked. If you could grab my supplies and bring them in please.”

Liam nods his head and takes off toward her truck and immediately unloads duffle bags and carts them to the front door of the house. Paula turns back to them, and fixes Moira with a look, that says you can trust me. But, Moira has an unsettling feeling there is something wrong about this woman. Then she thinks back to a couple days ago, or maybe it was weeks now, when her father was talking to Fletcher at her house. They mentioned a woman that was head of a group that are fighting to push the new rights bill sooner. She never had the chance to ask Liam about her, everything happened so quickly. She’s the head of the inter-species sector, whatever that is, and should be one of the good guys. But she doesn’t know who to trust right now. Maybe it’s the numbness talking, she doesn’t know.

“You must be Moira. My son told me all about you. Are you alright?” Paula asks.

Clearing her throat, Moira says, “I’ve been better actually. But if you can help anyone, it should be Daisy. She’s been shot.”

Her statement seems to wake up everyone else in the car, and Ray suddenly opens the door to his right, and slides out. He goes over to the other door and opens it up for Marty, and gently lifts a still unconscious Daisy up into his arms. Marty helps support her, until she is safe in Ray’s arms, and then he turns to Moira. She doesn’t know what his expression says, but if feels like he’s asking her if they can trust Paula. She wants to think that they can though, so she tries to give him a reassuring smile. This calms him somewhat and he guides Ray off towards the house, hovering in case he were to by chance drop Daisy.

Leaving her and Raven alone, they stare hesitantly at Paula. She seems patient though, and leans back into a standing position with ease. Moira sighs, and glances at Raven. The other girl looks so nervous, and Moira can’t remember ever seeing her this way. She always seems so hard and tough, but now she’s almost relying on Moira for strength. This seems rather funny to her, since she is the one they just rescued last night. She doesn’t know if she can be anyone’s rock anymore.

“We should make sure Daisy is alright.” Moira says softly to Raven.

She nods her head in agreement, and with a shaky glance towards Paula still near the open door, Raven opens her own door and slides out. Moira doesn’t wait to feel the stiffness in her body, she just pushes herself over the seat and quickly stands up next to Raven. She instantly regrets it though, as her knees wobble and almost give out on her, but Raven is close by and reaches for her arms to steady her. Gratefully, she leans into her and lets her hold some of her weight until she can support herself. Closing her eyes for a moment, she tries to make herself stronger than she is, but all she wants to do is curl into a ball and ignore everything.

Paula clears her throat, and the girls glance at her. The woman nods her head toward the direction of the house, before walking away towards it, and leaves them to themselves. Moira almost sighs in relief, she thought for a minute Paula was going to help her or something. She doesn’t want to appear weak for some reason though, like she expects more of her for some reason. She wonders what Liam said about her.

Moira’s legs feel a little sturdier and she leans back from Raven a little bit. The other girl gives her a small smile, and Moira leans all the way back, to see if she can fully walk on her own. To her surprise she can. They start a slow steady pace to the front door of the farm house, and every step sends a jolt of pain in her side, but she tries to overcome it.

When they reach the landing, the door is pushed inward.

Chapter Eleven

Upon stepping inside, Moira quickly scans her new surroundings. The main room is rather large, as if it was a living and dining room that was combined and is wide open. To the left back wall, is a hallway and she can see a few door’s going down it before she loses sight of it. Straight back ahead, is another hallway and she can see half a counter and guess it might lead to the kitchen maybe. To the left, along the wall is a rickety staircase going up to the second floor that she doesn’t think is in good condition. Everyone is in the main room area, and to her surprise it’s completely furnished, if not a little dusty. Like the occupant’s haven’t been here in a while.

In the open space is a dark sofa, a matching loveseat, and a recliner. They all surround a heavy set coffee table, and face an antique looking fireplace along the left side wall. Daisy is laid out on the sofa, with her head resting in Ray’s lap. She’s awake now and moaning in pain, and he tries his best to calm her, while gently rubbing her temples. Marty is pacing along the back of the sofa and is ringing his hands, not sure what to do with himself. Paula is kneeling beside Daisy at the sofa, and is saying something to softly for Moira to hear. Liam walks into the room then, from the area she assumes is the kitchen.

He’s carrying some clean looking towels and a bowl of liquid, she thinks might be water. He looks up at her as he comes into the room, but he glances away quickly as he goes to his mother’s side. Raven startles her when she walks over to stand over Daisy’s head by the couch, and she looks so frightened for her. Marty stops pacing when Raven moved and now he turns and stares at Moira. Her breath catches, and she’s not sure what to do with herself. So she stays where she is, rooted by the door, her body feels numb all of a sudden and she can’t move.

Marty comes over to her then, noticing something wrong with her. He looks less fidgety to her as he places his arms around her and walks her slowly over to the love seat. Relieved, she lets him guide her to a seated position, and the movement sends waves of pain through her side again. Her stomach rolls from the pain, and she swiftly leans into the cushions and closes her eyes. Right before she did, she saw Liam watching her in alarm as he placed the items in his hands on the coffee table. With Marty’s comforting presence beside her, she listens to the movements of the others around her.

“Alright Daisy, I’m going to need you to hold very still. Can you do that for me?” Paula asks, as Moira hears her shift a little on her knees.

“What are you going to do?” Daisy asks in a breathy quiet voice.

“Here’s the wet rag you asked for mom.” Liam says softly in the background.

Moira hears Liam move a bit, and a splash of water and the sound of him maybe ringing out the towel he called a rag.

“Yes thank you.” Paula replies, and Moira hears her reach and grab onto the wet towel, before she continues. “Well, that wound can’t completely heal unless we remove the bullet. We can’t have you healing over it, so I’m going to take it out for you.”

“Are you serious, that can’t be safe?” Raven rushes out in alarm.

“Not a hundred percent no. But it’s worse to leave it inside her. It could lead to a blood infection.”

Moira hears more shifting around from the others, and grumbles of worry and behind it all she hears the clang of something lightly metal be picked up. Opening her eyes, she looks up to see Liam pick up a wrench off the table and hand it to his mother. With a sick feeling, she knows they are going to use that to take out the bullet in Daisy’s stomach.

“Liam I need you to come around and help Ray hold her down for me please. This won’t be too pleasant, but I need you to be still alright Daisy?” Paula says as she leans over the other girl.

Paula pulls up Daisy’s shirt and reveals a very severe looking wound. Moira’s stomach rolls when she sees all the blood that is still flowing out of the hole, and she hears Raven and Marty both gasp in surprise of it. Moira shifts a little so that she is closer to Marty, and he easily puts his arms around her seeking comfort as well. Raven takes Marty’s previous spot behind the couch, and is now the one to pace and wring her hands together, while looking at Daisy with wide eyes.

With the boys holding her down, Daisy squeezes her eyes shut, and Moira can see her tense right before Paula’s hands touch her. The woman wipes away the blood first, and then digs around in the wound as if trying to determine the location of the bullet, and Daisy moans in pain as she does. Expertly, Paula grips the wrench I her hands after Moira realizes she felt the bullet. As the wrench is pushed into Daisy’s stomach digging, she cries out a gut retching scream. The boys hold her down tighter, as she starts to move around. Paula’s body tenses as she quickly pulls out something dark and small from inside Daisy and sits back on her heals with a sigh. Daisy stops screaming then, and goes still.

“Is she all right? Why isn’t she moving?” Raven calls out.

Moira watches as Liam releases Daisy and quickly picks up a clean towel and pushes it tightly to Daisy’s bleeding stomach.