I do not own any American Gothic characters, this is a work of fan fiction. This story is a continuation of my previous stories and follows on from My Best Friend.
It was a cool, calm evening in Trinity South Carolina. The air was still and there was an eerie atmosphere, as though some unknown entity was in waiting for something to transpire.
Merlyn Temple sat on the edge of Johnson's Bridge, waiting for her companion to join her. This area was always quiet at night, due to the amount of unexpected deaths that appeared to take place here and it gave it a haunting feeling.
The last 'accident' she remembered was of a man who wanted to challenge Lucas Buck, she was disappointed in herself for not remembering his name and was beginning to wonder whether her new life had caused her to abandon her previous morals. The sound of footsteps coming towards her took Merlyn out of her thoughts and she gave herself a mental shake, she turned towards the sound of footsteps and smiled when she spotted her companion.
Matt smiled warmly at the young woman in front of him and felt a strange feeling flow through him. Seeing her always made him forget about the long hours he worked, or the things that irritated him the most and she was like a ray of sunshine in his otherwise empty existence.
'I hope it wasn't too much trouble for you to get here' Merlyn smiled, as he sat down beside her carefully and dangled his legs over the edge with hers.
'It wasn't too bad, there's always someone willing to give the friendly neighborhood Doctor a ride' Matt joked and stared out into the still water.
Merlyn watched him carefully, then turned her attention towards the water below. She knew some people would disapprove of their close relationship; however, he was the one constant in this town that did not let her down. She loved her family dearly and she was grateful that their strangeness had allowed her a second chance at life, she just could not find a common ground with them anymore and she did not like how accepting she was of certain things these days.
Matt was different, he could not be corrupted. He remained loyal to Gail, which was commendable considering who she had aligned herself with and Merlyn envied his ability to always remain positive about her cousin, even when it was becoming more evident that her priorities were leading her down a dark road. Merlyn found herself drawn to Matt's goodness and felt like he was the way back from all the darkness that surrounded her, in this town it was important to hold on to the light to ensure she was not engulfed by the darkness.
Matt glanced at his companion and brushed a stray of hair out of her eyes, when she remained silent for a few minutes. 'If you're worried about causing me inconvenience for coming here, disregard that right now...I'd come wherever you wanted me to' he said honestly.
Merlyn laughed and shook her head. 'And if I wanted to meet in the center of town in the middle of the day, would you do that too?' she asked.
'There's no law against friends meeting in public' Matt shrugged, not knowing where this was going.
Merlyn reached over and gently took his hand in hers. 'There may be a law against this' she smiled nervously, then brought his hand to her lips and kissed it softly.
Matt inhaled deeply and shook his head at what he was allowing. The girl was 17 years old and this was not right; however, he let her control his hand and did not pull away. 'You know, I don't even know when your birthday is' he forced a laugh and turned back towards the water.
Merlyn felt a wave of uncertainty flow through her. Matt had been very understanding about her not wanting to discuss her past, his ability to allow her to start afresh and get to know her without digging into her past drama was one of the things she admired most about him. If she was to tell him the actual date of her birthday, she knew he would make the connection with who she really was and she was not willing to allow that to happen.
Merlyn let go of his hand and stood up, then started to walk slowly towards the road at the far side of the bridge. 'I'm starvin', wanna grab somethin' to eat?' she asked in an attempt to change the subject, then smiled when he got up and rushed to join her.
'I've not long finished a 10 hour shift, I could kill for a large cheese burger right now' he smiled, sensing her discomfort.
Merlyn laughed and shook her head. 'Alright, what the Doctor wants the Doctor gets. Just don't shun me if I gain weight' she joked and reached in her bag for her mobile telephone, to see if Ben would be kind enough to pick them up.
Caleb sat in the Public Library, watching Poppy as she wrote some notes. He did not understand why she had dragged him here, as she had no reason to have to study; however, he enjoyed spending time with her wherever they were and would have to deal with her choice of venue.
He had been spending more time with Poppy lately, despite his cousins objections and he had began to feel a constant stream of confidence flowing through him. He knew this was his Buck side and it made him feel good; however, he was still cautious of the thing that currently lay dormant inside of him and he was remaining cautious when he felt it attempting to rise within him a lot more recently.
Caleb was not stupid, he fully understood what he had done to Gail and her unborn child. He did not want to lose control like that again and would not allow himself to hurt anybody; however, the thought of a mysterious part of himself that he had not fully explored excited him and he would not push down something that was a part of him.
A sudden burst of pain surged through his mind and he turned quickly to Poppy, unsure of what was happening. Poppy remained quiet writing her notes and shot him a playful wink when she spotted him looking at her.
'I'm sorry for draggin' you here...' she whispered, '...We'll go somewhere fun soon, I promise'
Caleb smiled back at her and waved off her comment, to indicate he was fine and then stood up and began walking down the large aisle. There were rows of bookshelves, all labelled with specific categories and something made him stop at the row labelled History. Caleb started suspiciously down the row and spotted Christie at the end, with her head in a book. He was about to wave to get her attention; however, the darkness inside of him awoke and caused him to halt.
Caleb did not like the feeling of being controlled in such a way; however, he quietly moved to the row beside History and started walking slowly to the end. He stopped when he sensed Christie was on the other side and just waited.
When he heard her place the book she had been reading back on the shelf and leave, he quickly rushed to the History section and picked up the book she had replaced. It appeared to be a book detailing the happenings in Trinity from the year 1980 to 1990. As he turned to pages quickly, the darkness within stopped him on the chapter surrounding 1986. The year rang a bell with him; however, he was unsure why, then it hit him that 1986 was when Gail's parents died in the fire.
Caleb thought for a moment, wondering why this would interest Christie. They had been friends for years and from what he had gathered, he thought Christie knew about Gail's history. This was all very strange and he did not like it; therefore, he took the book and returned to Poppy.
'I wondered where you'd gotten too...' she smiled, '...You found a book?'
Caleb nodded and handed it to her. 'Can you get this out for me?' he asked, not wanting it to be associated to him if anyone checked.
Poppy reviewed the book and glanced at Caleb. 'They don't usually let you take the history books out without a good reason, not after Bobby Ray torched one in protest of his history grade'
'Why would he think that would do anythin'?' Caleb asked confused.
'Beats me...' Poppy shrugged, then got up from her seated position. '...You wait here, I'll see if I can play on the Mayor's wife's friendship with your cousin to get this'
Caleb watched Poppy head towards the Librarian's station and glanced around for Christie, unable to locate the woman. He did not know what she was up to; however, the mysterious part of him clearly wanted him to keep an eye on her.
Lucas returned home after allowing Ben to finish early, to enable him to pick up Merlyn. Ben tried to hide his reasoning for needing to leave in such a hurry; however, Lucas was fully aware of what was going on in his town. Merlyn was no bother to him while she was distracted with Harvard and it meant he could slip out early himself.
He stood for a moment after hanging up his jacket, trying to establish where his family where situated and smiled when he heard the faint sound of Johnny Cash coming from down the hall. Lucas knew instantly that Gail was in the Library trying to look into his old texts and truly he did not mind, as he wanted her to accept this place as her home and he did not keep anything of any real importance out in the open anyway; however, he hoped she was not back on her witch hunt to dig up his past.
When he reached the Library and discreetly glanced around the partly open door, he smiled when he saw her wrapped loosely in a blanket with Luke held to her chest and rocking him gently, while her attention was fixed on the book she was reading. He sneaked into the room quietly, careful not to alert her to his presence, then leaned down slowly and placed a soft kiss on her bare shoulder, which was not covered by the blanket.
Gail gave a slight jump, then relaxed when she realised who had interrupted her alone time with Luke in here. She shook her head at her own failure to notice Lucas had returned home and let out an irritated sigh. 'You should be more careful, what if I would've jumped and dropped him?' she scolded.
Lucas laughed and shook his head. 'Darlin' if you really thought you were in danger, I believe that dark part of you would've reared her nasty little self' he mocked.
Gail stared up at him unimpressed, then turned her attention back to the book. 'Where's Caleb? He wasn't at school when I went to get him'
'With Poppy Bowen I suspect...that girl really has him under her spell' he smiled and took a seat beside her.
Gail inhaled deeply, in an attempt to control her anger. 'Are you really not concerned about that at all?' she asked in disbelief.
'He's a growin' boy love...' Lucas shrugged, '...You can't shield him from experiencin' life'
'It may not be him I'm trying to shield, considering his last reaction when he felt like he was being challenged in that girls presence'
Lucas let out a long sigh and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. 'We've discussed this, I'll show him the way and everythin' will be fine...Now, do I really have to point out that we have a rare instance of havin' an empty house to ourselves?' he smiled mischievously, then reached under the blanket and gently cupped her breast. Lucas had noticed Gail's attention had been elsewhere recently, which meant she was more accepting of his advances and did not resist as much as she used to.
Gail glanced down at his hand, then stared deep into his eyes and licked her lips teasingly. 'Do I have to point out that we're never truly alone' she whispered, then smiled at Luke who had tangled his small fingers in her hair.
'Has that ever stopped me before Miss Emory?' Lucas smiled, then leaned closer to her ear and whispered his desired instructions in German.
Gail listened carefully, then took a deep breath. It had been a long time since he had displayed his lingual dexterity and this educated side of him always inrtigued her. 'Well, if you're going to put it like that...' she started, then leaning in and kissed him passionately.
Lucas savoured the taste of her tongue in his mouth and began kissing her more forcefully, until he heard a quiet whine from Luke. Lucas pulled away irritated, then let out a long sigh and took his boy in his arms. 'Alright Miss Emory, you have your orders. What's say we put this one down and get too it, before we're rudely interrupted by my eldest?' he suggested, as he headed towards the back passages which led to his bedroom.
Gail shook her head, then stood up and began to follow slowly behind him. She was concerned about Caleb and the fact that he was with Poppy at such a late time in the evening on a school night; however, the activities her lover was offering could only help calm her and she was grateful for the distraction.
-To be continued-
