TRVTHS

by Mr. David R. Dorrycott

Kristi, Monica & Thomas copyright Mr. Brian Kennison

Their flight down had been uneventful, Merry had spent all the time looking out the planes small window at the sea so far below. Poor Kristi could have no idea the woman beside her was wondering what it'd feel like to hit the water from this altitude. To end it all. Her pain, her humiliation, the memories. Merry hadn't told anyone yet that she could remember now what had happened to her. That dark night when the bus had stopped in a small town. When she'd walked into the darkness towards a soft drink machine. The night her life had ended.

She'd walked with Kristi quietly, not wanting people to notice her. Her bright clothing bothered her, it might bring attention. Might bring THEM back. She knew she couldn't survive another night like that. Her life had changed that dark night, now she just wished it would end. Even a painful end would be better than this. Alone, not knowing when another dart would strike. Not knowing.... If only she could just stop breathing and let the pain go away. As the taxi pulled up to their bungalow a tear fell from her eyes, striking her tops muted colours. Colors still too bright. She stepped out, holding her head down so she wouldn't seem to proud. Pride had caused her pain. Beauty had caused her suffering. Success had brought her destruction. She shivered slightly as Kristi took her hand. The skunk mistakenly thinking the touch had brought pain. Her hand. Mutilated, she'd never have full use of it again. It'd never stop hurting. Nothing would.

She followed Kristi quietly. On the plane she'd resolved not to destroy Kristi too. There was a lot of water out there. She could just... vanish. A few weeks and even Kristi would forget her. She'd been a fool to come to Florida. Why hadn't she stayed on that train. Dropped off somewhere in Mississippi where the Purity Brigade would have ended her suffering in cleansing fire. What had brought her here, where she was a danger to her last two friends in the world.

"Soup?" Kristi asked. Merry looked up. Hours had passed while she wallowed in her own pain. It was afternoon.

"Thank you" she husked, taking the offered bowl. Sitting it down in front of her she made the effort to eat.

"What's bothering you Merry?" Kristi asked quietly.

Merry never looked up. "Nothin, just thinkin."

"BULLSHIT" Kristi cursed loudly, catching Merry by surprise. "Your thinking your dangerous to me. Your thinking about what happened. Well tell me then, if you can remember anything. What did happen."

Merry sat her spoon down, her soup barely touched. "I... I don't think I should tell you" she whispered. The pain in Merry's voice was so heavy it nearly smothered the skunk with its weight. She reached over the table, grasping Merry's chin and lifting her head.

Her dark eyes locked into those soulless pools of Merry's and she shivered. That was what Merry was missing. She was just a husk, moving until something stopped her. Her soul was chained away in some deep dark dungeon. Thomas had been right, there was a festering darkness someone had to lance or Merry would never recover. She might not even live very long in this condition. "Tell me" she hissed, putting all the power she could into those two words. Trying to form a lance of emotion that would break through Merry's ebony dark walls.

The chipmunk shivered, tried to pull away, then seemed to collapse. "Alright. But I warned you...." She took a deep breath, rubbed her face with her good hand and looked up. "I'd never even whispered I'd found you beautiful Kristi. Much less I was attracted to you. It'd have killed my career. I think they just got lucky, whoever wrote that letter I mean. Okay, fine...." She picked up the glass of juice, taking a long drink before setting it down. "Remember girl. I warned you... My bus stopped in a small town. It was around midnight and snowing. Our driver said something about a ten minute break and I decided to stretch my legs. It was then I saw the soda machines, a little ways away from the rest but maybe they worked. Most times they don't you know. So I walked over and was just about to make a selection when something hit me in my back. I managed to jerk it out, it was a dart. The kind they use to sedate animals. That's all I am you know. A stupid animal that knows a few tricks so she seems intelligent. Not even purebred, just a mongrel. Half chipmunk, half squirrel. But looking at that dart is the last thing I remember until I woke up. I was naked, stretched out so far it felt like my joints were about to pop free. And there were men, they'd been.. They..." She whimpered. "I'd never been raped. They must have been at me a long time cause I was bleeding. Everywhere. Even my mouth, I could taste it. I could smell it. I guess they must have been following the bus. Just waiting for me to screw up. Well I did and they got me good."

She lifted her hand. "When they saw I was awake they just laughed, the bus had gone. They waited until I'd screamed enough to know no one was coming. Then one of them got into a car. He backed it up, carefully. Until he crushed my hand. Then he got out a bunch-a barbed wire on a stick. Oh God Kristi. He hit me and hit me and hit me until I thought I couldn't hurt anymore, and he'd hit me again. Then one of them opened the trunk and brought out a wooden baseball bat." She closed her eyes, tears falling like rain. "And he used it on me. I fainted, a lot of times but they were still there when I woke up. Still doing things. I remember one with a long ice pick, and a pain in my belly a few minutes later. One shot me, laughing when he shoved his gun in me an pulled tha trigger. Why ahm alive ah don know. Ah wish ahd died. Before they left he shoved that blood covered bat into my mouth and left it there. When they drove off they drove over my hand again, just for fun." She whimpered again, took a deep breath and almost screamed, but she managed to hold it back. Kristi couldn't know it was only because she was afraid of drawing attention.

"A group of bums found me a few hours later. After they satisfied themselves they cut the cords, gave me an old blanket and wandered off. I... I've been running every since. They said they had orders to leave me alive. As a message to anyone else who thought about killing one of their agents. Kriss... They think I killed that vampire. If they ever find out who really did...." She suddenly collapsed, crying. "I can't let them do that to you or Monica. I can't. I... I LIKE Monica, she's pretty, she's smart... She even tastes good... and dammit I fell in love with you. That's not right. Your not like that and I won't let you even try to be like that." She finally lost it, collapsing into herself. Great heavy sobs coming from her.

Kristi stood, carefully lifting the broken woman from her chair, guiding her to the bedroom. There she laid her down and with no better idea, laid down beside her. Holding her as the hot tears flowed like rain on a summer night. She'd lanced that dark place, that was obvious. But how dark it'd been had come as a shock. She lay there, feeling Merry slip into sleep after a while, holding her tightly. Fur against fur. Merry's rich scent reached her, relaxing her. 'Half chipmunk, half squirrel' she thought. "Explains things. Her height, face, tail...." Then she too fell asleep, slipping into her own dreams. Dark dreams no law officer should ever dream.