Subj: What Could Have Been Part 14
Date: 2/13/00 1:37:07 AM Central Standard Time
From: KimD
Vicki tried to stand, but the pain in her leg was so great that she had difficulty with that. She looked up and saw that if she didn’t move more of the flaming rubble would fall on top of her. So, with the help of the wall she was able to stand up and hobble through a doorway into a tunnel.
“Is their another way to the staircase?” Barnabas demanded.
At first she refused to say anything. Then he gave her arm a hard squeeze. “Alright! You can also get to it through the front door. But it won’t matter anyway. You’ll never find her, or you’re way back out. This house was build over a hide out that was used in the revolutionary war. There are tunnels down there that go for miles. Enough to hide men and supplies.
“Yes, but you know you’re way around don’t you?” he said as he pulled her out the door and around to the front of the house despite her protests and attempts to pull free of his grasp.
Barnabas propelled Mary back into the house through the front door. The hallway had started to catch fire. The carefully made there way to the door underneath the stairs, and suffered little damage. They went down a narrow flight of stairs to a small empty room with a concrete floor and stone walls. Barnabas calls to Vicki but received no answer. He turned to Mary and asked, “How do we find her?”
“Through here.” She led him through a doorway to there left and into a long hallway that stretched out on either side of them. Mary then turned left down the hall past other rooms similar to the one they left. She then led him into another room just like all the other they had passed.
“This is where she should be.” She said looking around at a room that was empty except for a pile of charred rubble in the center of the room. “See that hole up there?” She pointed to the floor above them, which is now on fire. “That’s where she came through.”
“Vicki” Barnabas called.
“I’m over here.” He heard her call from a doorway across the room. He let go of Mary and waked across the room. As he made it to the doorway he saw Vicki sitting on the floor, against the floor.
As Mary crossed the room to where they were a loud crash sounded. Barnabas and Vicki quickly turned to find that the kitchen floor had collapsed, and Mary was trapped beneath the still burning timbers. Mary seemed different from what she was a few moments ago. Her expression was one of confusion, and then anxiety as she seemed to realize what had happened to her. “Please help me," she begged. Barnabas rushed to where she laid. He took off his coat and rapped it around one of his hands, in order to remove the hot, smoldering beams.
“What happened to me?” she asked.
“What’s the last think you remember?” Vicki asked with a cough from the smoke that now filled the air.
“I’ve been having black outs lately. So I was at a Psychiatrist’s office getting help for them. That was Wednesday.” It was now Thursday. Barnabas grabbed another of the timbers, but it was too late. Mary was dead.
He paused for a solemn moment to reflect. As the sound of feminine laughter seemed to echo through the room he realized who was responsible for all of this.
He returned to Vicki. They were standing at the end of another long corridor. “It looks like we’ll have to find our own way out,” he said indicating the pile of rubble, which now blocked the other doorway. “Do you feel like walking?”
“No, I can’t. My leg hurts terribly. I barely managed to make it over here.”
“We can’t stay here. I’ll have to carry you.” He proceeded to lift her up in his arms and walked down the hall.
It felt so good to be held by him. He made her feel safe, as if she were protected from the whole world. She laid her head on his shoulder and felt the heat radiate from his body, and feet warmed by it. She looked up at that handsome face, which she has come to love. He looked down at her with a look of such tenderness. Surely that look had always been there. Why had she not realized before how special it was? She longed to confess how she felt, but for one of the few times in her live, she didn’t know the right words to express herself. Instead she asked, “How did you get out of jail?”
“It’s all due to you. That piece of cloth you found freed me. Sheriff Patterson had it analyzed. Along with a little information that my lawyer was able to find, it contained enough evidence to free me. Sheriff Patterson may have been convinced of my guilty before, but he’s still a fair man. He even apologized for arresting me. I owe you my freedom and my life,” he said with an emotion filled voice. “I won’t forget that.”
“How did you know where I was? I didn’t tell anyone I came here.”
“Immediately after I was released I went to Collinwood to find you, and tell you the good news. But you weren’t there and no one seemed to know where you went. I was so afraid that something happened to you. Then David spoke up. He was reluctant to say anything. He was afraid that he would get into trouble. He said that he accidentally overheard you phone conversation yesterday. He told me all about it. You risked you’re life by coming here. Why did you do it?” He asked hoping that she had come to feel about him the way that he had felt for her for so long.
“Because I care for you. You would have done no different for me. You’ve always seemed to be there for me when I needed someone.”
“Vicki, I’ll always be there for you.” The look in her eyes was one that she had never showed him before. It was one of great tenderness, and complete trust. She wrapped her arms around his neck. The feel of her in his arms and the way she pressed against him when she put her arms around his neck felt so sweet. As she looked up at him he couldn’t resist bending his head down to hers and kissing her. It was soft and light at first. Then he felt her response and willingness. He deepened the kiss, releasing all the passions that he had to hold inside before. It was a long moment before they broke apart. “I apologized for doing that once before,” he said, “but not this time. I’m not sorry.”
“I wouldn’t want you to be sorry. I love you.”
It seemed so incredible to him that she should say that. “Do you really mean that?”
“Yes I mean it. I’ve been so worried for you that I didn’t realize that my feeling had changed. But I do love you.”
They went down the corridor, and then down another one before they were able to find an exit. He carried her outside, into the cool night air. They had found each other. What has passed between them gave them the chance to grow together. Their lives had been empty before, but now they had hope for a future.