The Blood That Bonds (38 page)

“
What is it?” Rhes was
sitting with Sarah and Molly on a bench, a few feet away. Tori was
looking into the display window of a jewelry store.

Two lit a cigarette, dragged at it, rolled
her eyes. “The good news is: I found him. The bad news? He thought
it was a prank phone call.”

Rhes sighed. “She’s been gone for over a
decade, Two. I’d think it was a joke, too.”

“
Is it a funny joke?” Tori
asked, rejoining the group.

“
I suppose it might be, to
someone else. Not to me.” Two sat down on the curb, smoked, stared
at the traffic.

Sarah stirred, stretched, then leaned
against Rhes. “So, what do we do now?”

“
I buy two plane tickets, I
guess. I could keep calling until I wore him down, but what’s it
matter? We have to go there. We have to take her home.”

“
Are we going home
already?” Tori asked, misunderstanding.

“
No, Tori. I meant that
we’re going to go see your Mom and Dad.”

Tori took in air to protest this, and Two
held up her hand.

“
It’s okay. I’m coming with
you. I promised you I wouldn’t make you go away, by yourself,
unless you wanted to. Right?”

Tori considered this. Acquiesced. “Okay,
Two. I miss my Mom and Dad.”

Two and Rhes exchanged glances. Two turned
back to Tori. “Good, sweetheart. I’m sure they miss you too.”

“
When are we gonna go see
them?”

“
As soon as I can order us
some plane tickets.”

Molly spoke up. “Are you really going to fly
to Ohio, Two?”

“
Someone has to, kiddo. I
could drive, but what’s the point? For once in my life, money’s not
a problem.”

“
How are you going to get
from the airport to Lima, Two?” Sarah questioned. “You could take a
cab, I guess, if any run that far …”

“
I figured I’d rent a
car.”

“
Two, you’re nineteen, and
you have no license. Most places don’t let you rent until at least
twenty-one, even if you’re legal to drive.”

“
I’ll be twenty in April.
Also … hang on a second.”

Two pulled out her wallet, dug through it,
laughed. She held up a fake license, expertly crafted. “Here we go.
This one says I’m twenty-two.”

Sarah shook her head, smiling. “Jesus, Two.
I’m not sure you should hang around Molly. I think maybe you’re a
bad influence.”

Molly giggled. Two grinned at her. “I think
of all the people Molly’s met in her life, I’m one of the ones you
need to worry about the least.”

Rhes stood up. “Okay. Let’s go do this. I’ve
got to be at work in a few hours. Fridays are busy. I know a travel
agent down in the village.”

He started down the street. Sarah held his
hand in one of her own, Jake’s harness in the other. Two, Molly and
Tori followed.

* * *

Two purchased a round-trip ticket for
herself and, after some deliberation, a one-way ticket for Tori. It
was hard for her; she had honestly enjoyed Tori’s companionship,
and the two had formed a strong bond. Few, if any, had gone through
trials like they had, and Two considered Tori her sister, in blood
and spirit. Still, she knew that Tori needed time to become
reacquainted with her parents. Two expected to spend only a short
time in Ohio, and she expected to return alone.

She had allowed two weeks of time before the
flight, as a chance for both of them to get used to idea. Thirteen
days had passed since they ordered the tickets, and in that time
great pieces of Tori’s mind had returned. She was now in possession
of the larger part of her memories from before her conversion at
Abraham’s hands, and was anxious to see her parents.

Tonight they were packing. Tomorrow would
bring them to the airport via cab, to fly first-class to Ohio.
Their flight left at four in the afternoon, changed over in
Detroit, landed at eight-thirty. Two supposed they would spend the
night in a motel, and find Tori’s parents the next morning. Tori
was clearly excited.

“
I can’t wait to see them
again!” She was sitting on the bed, folding clothes.

Two laughed. “It should definitely be an
experience.”

She wondered what it would be like,
presenting the Perraults with a daughter that hadn’t aged in the
twelve years she’d been gone. Two hoped they didn’t think Tori was
some sort of imposter. She found it unlikely; parents were capable
of telling the difference between identical twins. Two had little
doubt that Jim and Mona would recognize Tori for who she was.

Tori was looking over the plane tickets. As
her memory had returned, so her ability to read had improved
drastically. She was now in most ways a fully-functioning young
woman. The only abnormalities now were not mental weaknesses, but
rather physical strengths. She was unbelievably strong, and very
fast. These traits did not seem to be disappearing, and Two had
begun to doubt they ever would. Whatever changes Tori’s years of
vampirism had wrought on her body, not all of them could be
undone.

“
Two …” Tori’s voice was
hesitant.

“
Yeah?” Two was stuffing
clothes into suitcases, not worried about folding them, just
wanting to be done and ready to go.

“
One of these tickets is
one-way …”

Two sighed. “Yes. You know why.”

“
What if I don’t want to
stay with them?”

“
I think you will, Tori. At
least for a while. I think you need to stay there without me, and
get used to being normal again.”

“
Are you sure? You can stay
there for as long as you want. My parents will think you’re some
kind of angel, trust me. They’ll be happy to have you.”

Two grinned. “No thanks, hon. New York or
nothing, for me.”

“
And why should I be any
different?”

“
Oh, come on. You might
want to move back someday, sure … but right now? You’re dying to
see them. You know it, I know it. It’s been twelve years, and now
you remember them and you miss them. This is your opportunity to
make up for all that lost time. You’re not going to want to leave,
Tori. Not for a while.”

Two liked being able to hold a normal
conversation with Tori. While she missed some of the wide-eyed
innocence that the girl had possessed during her slow return to
humanity, overall she was very happy that Tori had regained her
mental capabilities. More than that, she was glad to find that even
as an adult, Tori was someone she liked very much.

Tori sighed, smiled, nodded her head. “Okay,
yes, I’m dying to see them. I miss them so much.”

“
Then stop worrying about
what’s going to happen in the future, and worry about what’s
happening now.”

“
Which is?”

Two laughed. “Which is: you’re wasting time.
Keep packing.”

* * *

They arrived in Akron ahead
of schedule, just past eight o’clock. Two’s fake ID held up under
the scrutiny of the young woman at the rental-car counter. “You
don’t look twenty-two at
all
.”

Two gave her most winning smile.
“Thanks!”

The car was a sedan, well equipped,
comfortable. They drove it a few miles from the airport, found a
motel, and once settled spent most of the night talking. Tori was
scared and excited, unable to sleep. Two was nervous as well, and
had didn’t mind staying up to chat. She wanted this to go well for
Tori. After everything the two had been through together, it would
be a nice change of pace to have something go smoothly.

They woke early the next morning, showered,
and left the motel. An hour and a half into the drive, Tori began
to recognize landmarks, but an hour later was forced to admit that
her memory was still not flawless. They were lost. A quick stop at
a gas station put them on the right track, and it was only twenty
minutes later that they entered the Lima town limits.

“
Turn right, over there.”
Tori seemed confident in her memories of the town. Two thought
about checking the map, decided she could trust Tori, and took the
turn.

“
Now left. Okay. We’re
going to drive up this road for about ten minutes, and there’ll be
a right. Tower Street. Turn there.”

They drove, and there was Tower Street. Two
guided the car onto it.

“
Take your next right, and
then the first left, and then we’re there.” Tori looked vaguely
ill.

“
You all right?”

“
I don’t know. I feel kinda
sick. Probably just nerves.”

Two nodded. She wondered what it would be
like to be reunited with her own parents. It was, of course, not
possible with her mother. The concept of returning to her father
was laughable at best. Two hadn’t liked him as a child, and by her
teens she’d despised him.

“
Blue house on the left. Oh
God.” Tori was fidgeting with her seatbelt, had been doing so every
time Two had glanced at her in the past twenty minutes.

“
Thank Christ,” Two
laughed.

“
Why are
you
so
relieved?”

“
Because if I was forced to
watch you twist that stupid seatbelt around for another five
minutes, I’d have lost my mind.”

Tori laughed, gave Two the finger, let the
seatbelt fall from her hands. They were there.

It was eleven o’clock, a Saturday morning in
February, cold and clear and grey with tiny snowflakes dancing in
the air. The house was light blue with darker blue shutters, a
ranch, sitting squat on a patch of dead grass. Small piles of snow
had collected in the shaded areas. The scene was far from idyllic,
yet there was a sense of comfort and welcome about the place.
Inside, Two, thought, it would be warm, and there would be the
smell of something good cooking. Apple pie, maybe, or fresh
bread.

Tori took a deep breath, left the car, stood
staring at the house. Two walked around the car, adjusting her coat
against the cold, and Tori embraced her suddenly. “Thank you so
much, Two.”

“
What are friends for? Go
ring that fucking doorbell, Tori. The suspense is killing
me.”

Tori laughed.
“Killing
you?!
”

As Tori moved toward the door, Two leaned up
against a large tree growing in the front yard, lighting a
cigarette. This was not her moment, and she was comfortable
remaining in the background. Tori pressed the doorbell, waited,
shifting from one foot to another.

“
Just a minute!” A woman’s
voice called from inside the house. Two saw Tori’s breath
catch.

The door opened, and a pleasant-looking
woman in perhaps her mid-fifties looked out. She was carrying a
plate and a towel. There was a long moment of silence as she looked
at Tori.

“
Hi, mom.” Tori’s voice was
soft, and shaky, almost scared. Two watched, waited,
hoped.

The dish fell from the woman’s hands,
forgotten, to shatter on the doorstep. Neither Tori nor her mother
seemed to notice. Mona swayed a little, and Tori reached a hand out
to steady her. The moment Tori’s hand touched her mother’s
shoulder, Mona’s paralysis broke.

“
Oh my God my baby!” she
cried, and flung her arms around Tori, who put her head on her
mother’s shoulder and wept. Mona stood there, repeating those
words, “My baby. My baby,” and rocking Tori, arms locked around her
daughter. Two felt a painful, wonderful wrenching in her heart, saw
a flicker-flash pass by her vision: Theroen, smiling. Here again
was a reminder of what it was like to be loved.

Two felt tears at her eyes and was
unsurprised. Tears of joy for Tori, tears of pain for Theroen,
tears of relief for herself. Descent and rebirth. Tori was home,
and Two stood now on the very lip of some new life. She had passed
through the nightmare and come through to the other side.

“
Can I see Dad?” Tori asked
finally, managing to calm herself at least well enough to
speak.

Mona laughed, clapped her hands, called for
Jim, nearly jumping up and down in joy and excitement. “Come here!
Jim! Come now! She’s back, oh, she’s back! Come see!”

A man at the door, now. “What the hell’s
going on out …” Jim stopped in mid-sentence, the sight of his
daughter slapping the words from his mouth. Two laughed at his
expression, watching it warm from shock, to awe, to joy.

“
Sweetheart?” His voice was
low. Shaky.

“
Daddy!” Tori was grinning,
laughing, crying. She flung her arms around him, and Jim began to
weep as well, holding his daughter in a tight embrace. Mona
encircled them both with her arms, husband and daughter, and the
three of them stood there on the doorstep, clinging to each other
and crying.

* * *

Later there were introductions,
explanations, excuses. Tori the victim of a cruel abduction. She
remembered being forced to take some sort of drug, and then
nothing. Amnesia. No understanding of what had happened or why she
hadn’t aged. Two fed out the tale as she and Tori had devised it,
sitting in the motel room in Akron. She had found Tori wandering
the streets of Manhattan, and had helped Tori to slowly regain her
memories from before the event.

It was spotty at best, transparent at worst,
but Tori’s parents bought it completely. It didn’t matter to them.
Tori was home with them at last, and that was more than enough.

Invitations were offered to Two without
hesitation. Room, board, as long as she might want to stay. Two
accepted with thanks, knowing that it would not be long before she
felt the desire to return to New York. For now, though, it was
enough to be with Tori and her parents, and to be a part of the
amazement, and laughter, and love.