I do not own any American Gothic characters, this is a work of fan fiction. This story is a continuation of my previous stories Emotion, Old Friends, Family, Difficult Decisions, Reflection, Spirit, Acceptance, Whole Again, Homecoming, Oh Father, Birthday Surprises, Misguided Feelings, New Year, Picture Perfect, Kinship, Big River, Sunday Morning Coming Down, To Beat The Devil, Best Of All Possible Worlds and Little Girl Lost.
It was a calm late Septembers night in Trinity SC, the dark sky above was clear and the stars shone bright for all to see. The chirping sound of the night crickets could be heard all around the deserted town, giving it an eerie feel and the majority of the townspeople were tucked away in doors with their families.
Lucas Buck sat on the edge of Johnson's Bridge picking petals from a flower and throwing them into the water, he enjoyed the peacefulness at this time of night as it allowed him time to be alone with his thoughts. Usually Lucas would be at home by now, winding down after a long day at work; however, the spirits within his property had become unusually restless since Gail's betrayal and he was beginning to lose his patience.
When Gail had sped off in her blood red Mustang three months earlier he had thought it was all part of the game they were playing, he would never have believed she would actually leave. The anger he had felt when the realization of her actions had sunk in reminding him of how he felt when he had lost his mother and his rage lashed out on a number of Juniper House staff that had irritated him previously. He had not cared about the consequences as nobody in his town would stand against him, especially when he was in a mood like this.
This dark mood of his had continued throughout the months that had passed, to the point where Ben had retreated back to us old scared self and the rest of his staff would not speak until they were spoken to. He found it was the little things that bothered him the most, Gail not being present for his sons birthday, her obtaining the deed for Judith's old place of work and giving it to Merlyn, her giving her parental responsibilities to Harvard etc. All these things fed into his rage and he was starting to resent her.
He had expected his boy to turn against her, considering she had abandoned him and this would have helped his mood; however, Caleb had accepted her actions as she had fed him some cock and bull story about needing to sort out some things in Charleston. The boy was under the impression that Gail was coming back to him and they would be a family again, so Caleb was being on his best behavior until that day came.
Lucas knew better and had no doubt Gail was aware of the seriousness of this betrayal. She would not dare come back even if she wanted to as his punishment would be colossal and she had come to understand his nature enough to know that there would be no avoiding his punishment. She had been smart enough not to stop at Charleston for long, knowing this would be the first place he would check, she had even left her Mustang there with her friend Christie and disappeared. He had sources along the way and none of them could give him her location, which indicated she had well and truly fled. No, she was not stupid enough to come back to this town and it was time to fully accept that.
The sound of laughter interrupted his train of thought and he glanced to the right to see two drunken men staggering across the bridge. An evil grin came across his lips and he closed his eyes for a moment, when he opened them again he spotted a murder of crows high in the night sky.
The crows circled the sky above the pair of drunken men, then flew down in a swift movement and began pecking at their exposed skin. Each man screamed in agony as skin from their arms and faces were ripped off, then they stumbled over the bridge rail whilst trying to flee from the attacks and two loud splashes confirmed their entry into the river. The crows cawed for a few moments while the men tried to swim to the surface of the water, then their movements ceased and they were taken away with the current.
Lucas watched in fascination as the crows flew away and the sound of the night crickets came back to his ears. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, then picked up another flower and began pulling off the petals like he had with many flowers before.
Merlyn sat on the front porch of Gail's house with Rocky at her feet, staring into the street. It had been a strange few months for her with her cousin gone; however, she was in constant contact with her and kept her filled in on what was going on.
It had been hard to speak to Gail when she first left, as Lucas was watching her like a hawk; however, with the guidance of her cousins strange dog Gideon, she was able to establish that the cabin Gail visited was still hidden and Lucas could not sense her there. This meant she could call her cousin without being disturbed and Lucas remained unaware of what she was doing.
Matt popped his head around the door and smiled at how peaceful she looked. 'I hate to interrupt your contemplation, but it's getting late and I need some help getting Caleb to bed' he smiled.
Merlyn got up from her comfortable position and signaled for Rocky to follow her indoors, Matt insisted on staying with them ever since Gail had gone; however, he had no control over Caleb and could never make him do what he needed to. She was still very fond of Matt but her cousin had warned her against acting on her feelings and Merlyn sensed there would be dire consequences if anything were to happen, so she remained pleasant and just acted like a 16 year old would.
When she entered the living room area, she rolled her eyes at Caleb playing on a video game. 'Come on Caleb, it's 10:30pm and you got school tomorrow' she said sternly.
'Just 5 more minutes, I wanna get to a good save point' Caleb said and did not take his eyes off the television.
'Whatever that means' she sighed and headed to the kitchen to get a drink.
Matt watched them both and shook his head, this was not an ideal situation but he was trying to do the best he could here. 'Now Caleb' he said calmly and took a step back when Caleb turned towards him with a strange glint in his eyes.
Caleb hit pause on his game and focused his attention on Matt, he was getting sick of being told what to do and felt a hostile sensation stir within him. He was about to let go and see what happened, when he heard a growl come from the side of the couch. He turned towards the sound to find Gideon hunched low and watching him with yellow eyes. He stared defiantly at the dog for a moment, then backed off when Gideon moved a few steps closer to him.
'Are you finished now?' Merlyn asked smugly, with a glass of water in her hand.
Caleb stared at Gideon, then faced the television and turned his game off. 'I'm goin', keep your knickers on' he said, getting up and taking the glass of water from his sisters hand.
Merlyn regarded Gideon suspiciously, then smiled as the dogs features softened and he curled up comfortably on the floor.
'Did you let that dog in?' Matt asked, trying to shake off his feeling of unease.
Merlyn shrugged and walked past Matt to get to the stairs. 'He's Gail's dog, I guess he's livin' here now'
Caleb woke up when he felt pressure on his ankles, then opened his eyes slightly to find Gideon asleep on his feet. Caleb rubbed his eyes and waited for his vision to become clear, before leaning down and stroking the dog carefully. He was a strange animal and more often than not he was hostile towards him; however, Gideon was Gail's dog and he reminded him of her.
Caleb missed his cousin dearly, he did not know what caused her to leave so suddenly; however, she had written to him a lot to reassure him that she just had some things she needed to take care of. He was aware that she had dropped everything initially to come to Trinity and take care of him, she had then chose to remain here with him and lost her job in Charleston because of that. He could not begrudge her a few months to sort through some things and he trusted that she would come back to him.
Gideon sensed he was awake, then jumped off the bed and stretched. Caleb smiled at the dog and got out of bed himself to find some suitable clothes for school, the last thing he wanted was Gail coming back to bad reports for him; therefore, he was trying his best to behave in school and get good grades. He did not want his cousin to have any reason to be mad at him, so he had also been helping out Abe at the antique store after school and seeing Lucas less than he did previously.
Caleb found that he missed spending time with his father; however, Lucas appeared to be in a constant bad mood and Caleb did not want to be around if he did something questionable. He liked Lucas and he knew he would never intentionally get him in trouble, but Caleb knew Gail would be disappointed if he got involved in anything bad and he did not want to run that risk.
Caleb heard his sister call his name and bent down to give Gideon another affectionate stroke, then rushed out of the room to get his breakfast and head to school.
Selena got out of the kingsize bed and stretched, then picked up a navy silk robe, wrapped it around her body and slowly walked out of the room. This was the first time in over a year that she had been in the Buck Mansion and it felt like being home. Lucas had called her late last night and she headed over here while Billy was working the night shift. She was fond of Billy; however, she could never refuse her true love and she was thankful that he had finally come to his senses with her nemesis being gone.
When she arrived she had expected to have a wild night of erotic sex like they used to and was hoping he would show her what he used to get up to with the lovely Miss Emory; however, he was not interested in entering her at all. She performed oral sex on him and that was all, she could feel no connection between them and it left her feeling cold and dirty.
Lucas had gotten out of bed 10 minutes earlier and just told her to leave, she was determined to rekindle their fire; therefore, she remained in bed naked waiting to seduce him. When he did not return she chose to get up and take the action to him, so here she was in what she believed was Gail's robe walking towards the bathroom.
She heard the sound of the shower and quietly opened the door, the thick steam hit her and caused her breath to become strained. She knew he liked things hot but the temperature of the water must be scolding to cause this much steam. She approached the shower and moved the shower curtain to one side, then opened the robe to show her naked body to him invitingly.
Lucas stood with his hands on the wall and his head under the scolding hot water, he was disappointed with himself for allowing his present company to come here; however, he wanted to be with someone and could not help himself. He had resisted the urge to touch or enter her, it did not feel right yet as a part of him still yearned for his love no matter how angry he was. Instead he had allowed her to take him in her mouth and pleasure herself, he did not get much pleasure out of it but he supposed it was better than another night angry and alone.
He turned his head when the curtain opened and saw Selena wearing Gail's favorite robe, the sight of it on another woman caused his rage to flare up and he could not push down his anger. 'What are you doin' in that Selena?' he asked as he stepped out of the shower, trying to hide his anger.
'I just grabbed the first old thing I could find and...'
'Is that so?' he interrupted and watched as she backed up when he walked towards her.
Selena caught the devilish look in his eyes and felt an alarm pierce through her brain. She had seen him like this before and knew she had somehow angered him. 'Lucas, what did I do?' she asked concerned and backed out of the bathroom.
Lucas continued to move forward until his body was on hers and she was pressed against the wooden rail above his lobby. He could sense the fear in her and it only fed his rage. 'Shush Darlin'...' he said stroking her cheek gently, '...You don't need to worry about a thing'
Selena had seen this before and did not know what to do. 'Lucas please, I...' she started.
Lucas disregarded her pleads, picked her up effortlessly and pushed her over the rail. Her screams echoed throughout the house and he stared down at her lifeless body when it hit the floor with a loud thud.
Gail sat on a bench not far from her Nashville apartment, admiring the calmness of the Cumberland River. She loved it here and was taken by the pleasantness this city had to offer, she had always wanted to settle down here in the home of country music and this place made her feel at ease.
After leaving Trinity and heading to Charleston, Gail decided she needed a change and this was as good a place as any to start over. She hoped she could bring Caleb and Merlyn here someday; however, for the time being she would have to settle with being here alone.
A message alert tone on her mobile telephone interrupted her chain of thought and she rummaged in her bag to find out the cause of the interruption. When she read the message she felt nauseous and instantly turned the phone off then placed it back into her bag. She inhaled deeply to calm her heart rate and felt her body begin to shake, she could not believe what she had just read and she could feel the darkness within her trying to rise. Her darkness had not shown itself since she left Trinity; however, news from Matt that Selena Coombs had taken a serious tumble in Lucas Buck's mansion had clearly shaken the hornets nest.
Gail picked up her bag and headed back towards her apartment, she needed to figure out what her next move was and she sensed her time in her paradise was over.
-To be continued-