Disclaimer: Lucy Christopher is the sole owner of Stolen
The Place Between Us
They let you out early. It's only been five years.
There are reporters with camera's outside the building. It is cloudy and raining and there are a lot of people shouting at you. You would be thirty now.
"You don't have to be here, Gem. We can go whenever you want to." Anna tells me, squeezing my hand. But I wanted, no I had to see you – and here you are. I dare not say your name. I'm not strong enough for that.
Two policeman escort you out of the facility. There is a cold, twisted, metal fence that divides your world from mine. It doesn't make me feel safe, though. It just reminds me of how weak I was.
Then I began to feel it. Australia. The place between us. It was growing alive again.
My body becomes stiff, my mind numb. I had long since come to terms with everything that had happened between us. The raw emotions and sharp memories of our time together in Australia had been drawn out and polished down until it was just the past. I had therapy to thank for that.
I search your face intently, trying to remember all those days out in the Seperates. You wanted me to love you then, but I couldn't. You stole me away and cut me off from everything. There was the sun and the sand. You painted and caught a camel. I got bit by a snake and you gave me a ring...
"Gemma, are you alright?" Anna whispers anxiously beside me. Licking my lips, I nod, trying to remember who I was back then. The girl who was so lost and helpless. The one you thought you could save. Would you know me now if you saw me?
I am different now.
But you don't look at me. Your chin is down cast, your face is grimaced in some sort of silent pain. Your hair is longer, and more faded. Your rough, dark skin is washed out. Your eyes?
The stirring starts and for a moment I can remember exactly how your eyes looked. I felt the way I did when you had looked at me long ago. Your intensity and blue eyes were so icy. I felt the pull of the universe and the hurl of a black hole in them. You frightened me.
Hissing I draw away from the feeling.
Anna notices this and frowns.
"Come on. If your folks know I brought you hear, they would kill me." She says. There is anxiety in her voice and when she tugs on my hand I can feel the urgency. But I don't want to leave just yet.
I watch, captivated as you move your arms up, towards the guard who is holding some keys. The flash of a camera goes off and reflects the light onto your hand cuffs. Your thick biceps flex and I know that they have not taken away any of your strength.
My nose wrinkles automatically as an onslaught of images fly through my brain. I remember being held by you. You were wild and insane and gentle and good. You were so wrong then. Have they fixed you? My throat tightens and I wonder if I am not the only one who has changed.
Did they break you?
My heart beat speeds up and suddenly I remember everything.
I feared you.
I ran from you.
I fought you.
I cared for you.
I hated you.
I loved you.
But all of those things were then and this not then. This is now. My breath comes out ragged and suddenly I feel very alive and confined.
The place between us is so very far away.
"Come on, Anna. I'm done here. Let's go." I tell her in a whisper.
My mind shuts off, willing the past to fade. Instinct takes over and then I am glad that you have not seen me yet. I don't want you to come back. I don't want to be found. My body turns away and Anna is all but excited to go. Eagerly, she pushes her way through the crowd.
But my eyes will not leave your face and then you look up.
The air freezes in my lungs as your blue eyes find mine. They pierce through me. I can still see your insanity. You have not changed.
Oh Ty.
There is a heavy burning in my gut. It builds up slowly and it takes me a minute to recognize the familiar feeling. Hatred. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, like hot sand. The smell of eucalyptus blast into my face. Perhaps I have not changed either.
I let Anna lead me away from you and back into the car. Your face is muddled through the rain dropped window. You never look away. I am reminded of the pain I felt when you left me the first time at the hospital. Anna starts the car. A deep sad and empty feeling overcomes me but it is too late to change anything. I put away the ring you gave me years ago; but there is still some part of me that loves you and probably always will.
As we speed down the street I watch as your figure becomes smaller and smaller until you disappear.