Found Out
Nothing belongs to me except the plot & the girls. And Ryan. And Tormentor. But other than that, it's all Covenant. Props to Winnie the Pooh, Converse, Disney/Dumbo, and GI Joe.
CHAPTER 38:
"Bets. Bets. Wake up." Corrie shook her friend gently, receiving no response. "Bets! BETS!" Finally giving the other a girl a hard shove, Betsy moved, rolling away from Corrie and closer to the sleeping body beside her, muttering something that sounded like "That's enough for tonight, Ty."
"Elizabeth Rose Swann! You get your butt out of this bed this instant!" Corrie hissed, pushing harder. Betsy fell from the bed with an "oomph!" and landed in a pile of sheets, blinking owlishly.
"WHAT!" She hissed back, glancing at the sleeping Tyler. He shifted but didn't wake, though his eyes moved rapidly below his lids, lost in a dream. At Corrie's look all anger disappeared from her face. "Oh Jesus, what happened? Oh God, who died?" Her eyes filled with tears. Betsy knew the look on Corrie's face. It was the look her parents had when the news had come about her grandmother's death, her dogs' deaths, her neighbor's death. It was a universal look followed inevitably by the worst possibly news.
"Can you take us back to the dorms? Pogue might be getting back with Kate." Corrie explained shortly, bitterly, wiping away tears.
"WHAT? Why?" Betsy hissed back, scrabbling to her feet and pulling on her Chuck Taylors from the end of the bed.
"I don't want to talk about it." Corrie dismissed it, sinking onto the bed next to the amazingly still asleep Tyler. She jumped when he sat up, gasping, covered in cold sweat, his eyes searching desperately around him.
"You are so beautiful." Tyler whispered, running a hand through her wet hair.
"You're not too hard on the eyes, either." Betsy pointed out with a grin and a glance down at his physique, looking ghastly pale in the light of the swimming pool before leaning in for another kiss. The chlorinated water lapped gently against the couple as they embraced, Betsy standing on tip toes in the deep water of the Spenser Academy swimming pool. The New England rain pitter-pattered against the stone roof of the building, creating a romantic and secluded feel, perfect for the couple's late night swim.
"I love you so much." Betsy confessed, eyes closed, still savoring his kisses.
"God, I love you." He kissed her again, wrapping his arms as tightly around her exposed skin and tugging gently on her swim suit. She smiled into his mouth.
"Are we ready for this?" He asked.
"Yes. I'm so ready. As long as it's you. I love you so much. I want to spend the rest of my–" She cut off, her head dipping below the water. Tyler chuckled and moved to pull her up, assuming it was one of her jokes, but then she wasn't in his arms. She was in the deep end, arms flailing, screaming his name. He could feel her panic, feel the water seeping into her lungs, choking her.
Without a thought he took off, swimming to her as quickly as possible without taking his eyes off her. Her screams had stopped, muffled by the water enveloping her.
He redoubled his efforts. He watched as her arms slowed their flailing. He called her name, choked on the water himself in his effort to swim faster, called for help. He Used. Then her arms stopped completely, and he was no nearer to her. He watched as she sank below the surface, eyes open, staring at him, mouth open, screaming his name.
A cruel laugh echoed through the cavernous room.
"Rain, rain, go away. We must drown a witch today..."
"Ty? Are you okay?" Betsy asked, one shoe on, standing on one foot. For a second he just stared at her with uncomprehending horror, then he was out of the bed and enveloping her in a hug that almost knocked her down. "Tyler, what's wrong. Sweetie, what's wrong?" Betsy asked soothingly, pulling back from his arms to look into those blue, blue eyes. "What did you dream about?"
"N-nothing. I just… I just missed you." His eyes said otherwise. That he was terrified, that he was scared she would be gone when he woke up. Seeing his expression, Corrie felt even worse. Tyler would never get a girl pregnant then find out about it after sleeping with Bets.
"Are you going somewhere?" Tyler asked into Betsy's hair. "Why are you out of bed? And why is Corrie in our room?"
"She needs me. Pogue's making some decisions about Kate just now and Cor just needs to get away for a bit." She explained quietly, touching his face gently.
"Why don't you just go to a different room?" Tyler asked, obviously hoping they would choose that option. Betsy didn't stop to even consult with Corrie before responding.
"If she stays here she'll go see him, and he needs to sort things out with Kate right now. It wouldn't be fair to either of them if that happened." She kissed him. "Are you going to be okay? Do you want me to come back?"
"I always want you to come back." He gave her a look that made Corrie shift uncomfortably. It was The Look, the one Betsy had been so jealous of weeks ago. The one that said, as clear as day "I love you. I'll do anything for you. I'll die for you." Corrie blinked hard, suddenly a little overwhelmed by everything. Obviously the other girl had been mistaken about the meaning of that look, at least when it came from Pogue. Tyler continued, oblivious of Corrie's near-tears. "Go. I'll see you in the morning for breakfast."
"I love you." Betsy pressed another kiss to his lips, then extricated herself gently from his arms and pulled on her other shoe, hearing him echo her words. Corrie looked away, surreptitiously scrubbing the tears from her face with her sweater before wrapping it more securely around her, self-conscious of the still-damp material clinging to her chest.
"I'll see you in a few hours, okay?" She confirmed, standing up. He kissed her, an answer in itself.
"Bye." Betsy said her farewells to Ty, then she and Corrie were in the hallway, headed to the room Reid had been carrying Becks towards the night before, Bets wrapping a comforting arm around her heartbroken friend.
What they saw upon opening the door to the bedroom was something that put all thoughts of their own boys from their minds, instead filling their entire consciousness with complete and utter shock.
There was Becky, tangled up in damp silk sheets, half her body lying on Reid's naked chest, sleeping peacefully. Condom wrappers lay discarded on the floor around them, and Becky's glasses rested neatly on her nightstand. Betsy's mouth dropped open audibly at the sight of Becky's naked form curled around Reid's, his arm wrapped securely around her, his hand resting on her hip.
"HOLY. FUCKING. JESUS." She whispered, eyes wide as saucers. "So this is what Oprah was for."
"And the sex toys under her bed."
"And the always sneaking around."
"And the mystery guy."
"And why she wanted to come to their meet."
"And the handcuffs I noticed around her computer chair last week."
"And the condoms and lube I found in her nightstand." Corrie shot Betsy an incredulous look.
"And you didn't think something like THIS might be going on?!"
"Of course not! It's BECKS! And REID! And LUBE! AND FUCKING FLAVORED CONDOMS!" Betsy whisper-shrieked. "HOW COULD I HAVE POSSIBLY IN A MILLION YEARS SEEN THIS COMING?!"
"I have no idea." Corrie admitted, turning once again to face the portal into bizzarro world.
"Do you think we should, uh, leave them?" Betsy asked nervously, eyeing Reid's physique. "They look plenty comfortable to me."
"WOULD YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP?" Becky's voice startled them, seeing as she remained frozen in the same position. "This isn't what it looks like."
"Really? It looks like you and Reid were going at it like fucking bunnies!" Betsy pointed out, torn between gleeful and for some reason outraged. Perhaps because Becks was getting some, perhaps because it was 3:30 in the morning and she was tired and away from Tyler, perhaps because Corrie hurting was like she herself was hurting, or perhaps some variety therein.
"Look, we are in a stable, committed relationship. There's nothing wrong with making love when it is making love, not just fucking." Becky explained, blushing as she sat up, covering herself with the sheets. She placed her glasses back on her face, looking completely out of place with them on in the room that smelled of sweat and sex. Corrie glared, biting her lip to keep those stupid tears from falling even more.
"Becks, Pogue and Cor are breaking up. Get in the car, we're going home to comfort her." Betsy commanded, suddenly drained by the day's festivities. Corrie tasted blood, but kept biting down. I'm pregnant, I'm pregnant. I'm pregnant.
"We have a rule that we're both awake when one of us leaves. It's a trust thing." Becky explained defensively, pulling on clothes under her sheet.
"Too bad. We are NOT going to be around for that goodbye. We," Betsy gestured to the three of them, "are leaving NOW."
"Don't you want to get Sarah to comfort you? I can wake Reid up to say goodbye, you can get Sarah, and we can all go back together." Becky proposed, not meeting Corrie's eye.
Betsy shot Corrie a look. Seeing how close her friend was to crumbling, she hurried to get things moving. "Okay. Yeah, whatever. We'll go do… that." Betsy wrinkled her nose in disgust. "But for the love of God, if there is another condom wrapper on this floor I will personally… do something bad to the both of you."
She turned and stalked out, her arm linked with Corrie's
"So are we going to go get Sarah?" Betsy asked, trying to regain a casual air, an effort somewhat ruined by her eyebrows hiding somewhere near her hairline, raised in disbelief and concern.
"Uh, I guess. Yeah, she knew them both really well. Maybe she can, I dunno, explain them or something. I just…" Corrie trailed off, the words "I'm pregnant" repeating through her head like pink elephants in that cracked out Disney movie.
"Okay. It's gonna be okay, Cor. I have a fireplace poker in my car for situations such as this." She reassured her, trying to remember where Caleb's room was. Cor, knowing her friend's navigating face, took the lead, heading away from the guest rooms.
"And what kind of situation is this, pray tell?" She asked. I'm pregnant, I'm pregnant, I'm pregnant…
"Situations where I have to kill someone." Betsy responded seriously, white hot anger coloring her voice. Corrie said nothing and bit her lip.
"Here we are." She broke the silence a few minutes later, coming up upon a closed door. They cautiously pushed open the door, having learned their lesson last time. Instead, they found Caleb and Sarah already awake and clothed in PJ's, Caleb with his head resting innocently in Sarah's lap and her crooning reassurances in a soothing whisper.
"Is everything alright?" Corrie asked, pushing further into the room. Sarah and Caleb jumped, pulling away from each other. Betsy and Corrie were both taken aback by the tears in his eyes.
"Yeah, everything's fine. Just had a nightmare's all." Caleb responded gruffly, his mind replaying the dream like a movie.
"Sarah." Caleb murmured, his thumb tracing circles on her flushed cheeks. She smiled and kissed him again.
"Why can't you stay tonight? I have that dorm room all to myself." She tempted, coaxing him with kisses.
"I have practice tomorrow. I wouldn't want to wake you." He explained, enjoying her efforts.
"But you'll be even closer to the pool tomorrow morning. And you'll get to stay with me." She pointed out between kisses.
"Mmm... you've convinced me." He grinned, pressing his lips to hers again before lithely exiting the car and circling to open her door for her. But she was already out, laughing and running toward the woods that separated the parking lot from the dorms.
Caleb chuckled at the dancing blonde, reveling in her glowing cheeks and fluttering skirt, her blue eyes luminous in the moon light.
"Catch me if you can!" She tempted and was gone, flitting through the trees with ethereal grace. He took off after her, agile and powerful, keeping watch over her elfin form. The moonlight glowed in her hair, and for a moment he wondered if she wasn't an angel. But the moment was gone, and suddenly her light was lost, plunging the forest into blackness.
"Sarah?" He called, immediately on guard. Something felt off. Something in the air... the hint of something familiar... a whisper on the wind...
Caleb spun around frantically, trying to find its source. His eyes widened and his heart dropped as the first tendril of smoke crept above the trees. He took off at a sprint toward the hazy golden light blossoming in the direction Sarah had been headed.
The crackles and pops of wet wood reached him first, then as he broke through the trees into a clearing he felt the waves of heat, throwing his arms to shield himself. Peering around his arms, eyes watering from the smoke, he saw her. Sarah – his Sarah –floating just above the flames at the very heart of the inferno. Her flowing skirt was ripped and starting to smoke, and ash and burns marred her milky skin. Blood flowed freely from some of the worst burns yet no sound escaped her. Her eyes were closed serenely, reminding Caleb sharply of the fire in the Putnam's barn
Then suddenly, her eyes snapped open, frantically begged Caleb to save her, to help her, to do anything. Her screams filled the air, undimmed by the thick black smoke. They were beyond fear or pain; they were sheer agony. Caleb doubled over with the sheer pain of hearing it. From his knees, he fixed his watering gaze on her burning form, his eyes glazed over black, willing the flames down. Instead, they grew higher, enveloping her completely, licking her terrified face and making her wails rise in pitch. She choked on the ashes and heat, and in that moment their eyes met and Caleb realized that her mindless shrieks hadn't been mindless at all. They had been his name.
Sarah's screams scorched his ears and the smell of her burning flesh cauterized his heart as he watched, helpless, Sarah's eyes trained on him until they popped, the vitreous fluid making the fire crackle hungrily. Caleb watched, tears streaming down his face, as she burned.
All the fight he had ever had in him had left when he heard the familiar voice and felt the hand clamp down on his shoulder.
"Ashes, ashes, we all fall down..."
"Caleb?" Betsy asked, pulling him back to the present. "Tyler just had a nightmare, too." She looked as if she were putting some puzzle together in her head, her brow furrowed in concentration.
"He did?" Caleb asked sharply.
"Yeah, and Pogue did, too." Corrie added, seeing where they were going with this. "He woke up when Kate called. She's p-pregnant."
The three other pairs of eyes in the room froze on her, each bugging out in disbelief.
"WHAT?! YOU DIDN'T TELL ME THAT PART!" Betsy shrilled, her mind rapidly wrapping around the idea, her anger from before nothing in comparison. No wonder Cor was so upset.
"Oh no. This is bad. So bad." Caleb muttered, the cogs in his head turning overtime. "Is he still here?"
"He was when I left." Corrie shrugged delicately, once again blinking back tears. Somehow saying out loud made it worse, like having a water balloon hovering over your head then, with just the slightest provocation, it falling and soaking you with ice water that soaked through your skin directly to your heart, freezing it.
"Cor, it's gonna be okay." Betsy went to her, hugging her, her softness a relief to her aching friend.
"I have to go check on him. Stay together." Caleb commanded, somehow still in charge despite Winnie the Pooh pajama pants (which, incidentally matched Sarah's).
"We're going back to the dorms. Corrie can't stay here with him." Betsy spit the word as if it were the most vile of curses. "Should Sarah come with us?"
"Yeah, yeah." Caleb blinked rapidly, trying to see the big picture. "Go back to the dorms but stay together. Reid and Tyler will be over as soon as I wake him up."
"Uh, Reid should be awake by now. We went to grab Becky before this." Betsy blushed, and Caleb gave her an uncomprehending look.
"What?"
"They're sleeping together. You didn't know either?" Caleb's eyebrows shot up, but other than that he looked unsurprised.
"It happens." Was all he said before pressing a kiss to Sarah's lips, asked her to be careful, and left, sure whatever Reid and Becky had been up to wasn't anything he hadn't seen before.
"Alright, girls, let's go wait in the car, because I am not going back to Reid's room." Betsy took charge, ushering the silent Sarah and the crying Corrie out of the manor to her Escape, muttering about how the world was going to hell in a handbasket.
"Ty?" Caleb asked before knocking on Tyler's door, entering when he received no answer. Tyler glared at him from inside the room, pulling on holsters and sheaths to ancient weapons over his all-black outfit.
"'Nothing's going to threaten them,' huh? 'He doesn't want them, so let's do nothing.'" He thrust a wicked looking knife into the sheath on his belt forcefully. "He's after them. I saw it."
"I know." Caleb admitted. "I just sent them to the dorms."
"With Reid?" Tyler asked,
"No. You and Reid need to head over there now. I didn't want to worry them so I gave them a head start, but I expect you and Reid to be in charge of them ASAP." Caleb commanded. "I'm going to check on Pogue. Apparently Kate's… pregnant." Caleb winced at the word.
"What? I thought he and Cor were just breaking up… I bet he already left for New York."
"That's what I thought. I called him on the way over here from my room and he didn't answer. I'm going after him." Caleb explained, his cell still in his hand. "Grab Reid and take care of the girls, just in case? It can't be coincidence, the nightmares."
"Yeah, of course we'll head over. I agree." Tyler nodded, reaching for his keys as he stuffed a final knife into his outfit.
"What's with the GI Joe look?" Caleb asked.
"These knives were blessed by the Pope. I sent away for them after last time. I was going to go after Chase myself, but the girls are more important." Tyler admitted without shame.
"No going after Chase solo." Caleb admonished lightly, too tired and stressed to give a proper lecture. "Go. Get Reid."
"On my way. Caleb, be careful. Pogue's going to be messed."
"Yeah. I know."