OK, the usual disclaimer…I do not own any of the characters appearing in this story. 'Nuff said.
The silence is deafening.
Although Janet had heard the expression before, she'd never truly understood it. She understood it now, though. As she and Brad sat in the back of Dr. Scott's specially equipped van, each leaning against the door to their sides to avoid making any inadvertent physical contact, the air seemed to scream with all the words that weren't being said, all the accusations that weren't being hurled, all the apologies that weren't being made. The effort of holding back those words was almost choking her; by the same token, she didn't think she had the strength to utter them tonight. Too much had happened. Too much had changed. Too much for her to even begin to comprehend, much less deal with.
The chill between Brad and her was mirrored by the chill in the air, and Janet shivered. Brad saw her involuntary shudder and instinctively reached out to her, but quickly pulled back. Janet saw the gesture, and tears filled her eyes. However, she made no move to close the gap between them. It was so much more vast than the width of a car seat; it was as wide and as impossible to bridge as the distance between the person she had been only that morning and the person she now was.
Not that she yet knew that person, mind you.
At long last, yet somehow much too soon, Dr. Scott pulled into the driveway of Brad's small house. When the van stopped, Brad unbuckled his seat belt, opened the door and said quietly, "Thanks for the ride, Dr. Scott."
"You are welcome, Brad. Are you certain you and Janet do not require any medical attention?"
Brad climbed out of the van and shook his head. "No, we're fine. Physically, anyway."
Janet closed her door behind her and walked over to stand next to Brad, hugging herself in a vain attempt to ward off the icy, damp wind blowing right through her scantily clad body. Echoing Brad, she said, "We'll be all right. What about you? Are you sure you don't want to come in for a while?"
Her offer was not altogether altruistic. Although she certainly wanted to provide Dr. Scott with comfort and support if he wanted it, a more compelling motivation was to delay that inescapable moment when she and Brad found themselves alone together.
Unfortunately for the uncomfortable twosome, Dr. Scott preferred to battle his demons in private. "No, thank you, Janet. I believe I need to be alone for a while."
Brad and Janet nodded reluctantly. Brad said, "Okay, we understand. But please call if you need anything. Anything at all."
Dr. Scott sighed. "I will. Goodnight, Brad. Goodnight, Janet."
As one, they replied. "Goodnight, Dr. Scott." Brad closed the van door, and he and Janet watched Dr. Scott back carefully down the driveway and drive out of sight.
Janet had left her car at Brad's but, unfortunately for her, she had left her purse – and the car keys within it – at the castle. When the realization came to her, she blurted out, "Dammit!"
Brad was startled; he'd never heard her curse before. "What is it?"
"The car keys are in my purse, which is on its way to Transylvania even as we speak."
Brad closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead wearily. "Now what will you do?"
Janet looked at the car, rather than at Brad, as she answered. "I can get a set of keys from my parents, but it's too late to call them now." Gazing down at her torn corset and fishnet stockings, she added in a hopeless tone of voice, "I couldn't let them see me like this, anyway."
At her words, Brad looked down at his own floorshow attire, then jerked his eyes away as a wave of shame washed over him. Forcing himself to look at Janet, he replied, "No, I guess you can't." He was silent a moment before issuing the inevitable, if reluctant, invitation. "You can stay at my place tonight, if you want."
Janet smiled slightly as she voiced the thought going through both their heads. "I guess I don't have much choice, do I?"
Brad's smile was as faint as Janet's. "No, I guess you don't."
As they walked up to the door, Brad said, "You can sleep in my bed. I'll stay on the sofa."
By the time he finished his sentence, he'd opened the door, and he and Janet stepped into the living room. As the welcome warmth permeated Janet's body, she worked up the courage to look at her fiancé – he was still her fiancé, wasn't he? – and said softly, "You don't have to sleep on the sofa. I don't take up much room. We can share the bed."
Brad was suddenly intrigued by the various shades of brown in his shag carpeting. Finally he answered, in a voice barely above a whisper, but still awash in pain. "No…we can't."
Janet was stricken. However, before she could muster a reply, he added, "I'll just take a quick shower, then the bedroom will be yours. I'll be out in a couple of minutes." Without another word, he quickly walked into the bedroom and shut the door behind him.
In a daze, Janet wandered over to the sofa and sank down. She stared at her engagement ring, placed on her hand by Brad just that afternoon, and the sparkle of the diamond began to blur as tears filled her eyes and began running down her face. It had been love at first sight when she and Brad had seen each other in Dr. Scott's chemistry class, although neither had been assertive enough to approach the other. It took Dr. Scott to bring them together. He'd noticed the longing looks between the two shy teenagers, and paired them up as lab partners in his class…and the rest, as they say, was history. They were so often in each other's company that, for their friends, they almost ceased to be individuals…they were BradandJanet, one never referred to without the other.
And now…what were they now? Her tears began to give way to anger. It was Frank's fault. He'd taken everything that was fine, and good, and pure, and tainted it, sullied it, blemished it beyond recognition. God, she'd give anything to turn back the hands of time, to go back to where they'd taken that wrong fork in the road and make things right.
Or would she?
Suddenly her mind was overrun with new images…no, more like new feelings. For all the times she and Brad had "made out," had snuck off to the back row of a movie theatre or a secluded corner of a high school party and kissed until their lips were swollen, she'd never felt anything like the sensations that had gone through her body when she'd been with Frank. Even before he'd actually deflowered her, she'd been powerless to resist him. It wasn't so much that she still wanted Frank; she'd seen his self-obsession and casual cruelty, and it chilled her. What she wanted was for Brad to make her feel the way Frank had. But as the tears dripped heedlessly off her cheeks, she realized what she wanted most of all was for Brad to still love her, despite everything that had happened that night.
Wrapped in a cocoon of her own confusion and pain, she didn't even hear Brad emerge from the bedroom. "Okay, Janet, I'm finished."
It was only the last word of his sentence that registered with her. Finished? Was he breaking up with her? "Brad, what are you saying?"
He cocked his head and looked at her strangely. "Uh, I'm finished in the shower. The bedroom is all yours."
Oh. "Okay, Brad. Thanks." With an effort, she got up from the sofa and made her way toward the bedroom. Stopping at the door, she turned around to say…something. What could she possibly say to erase everything they'd done and seen that night, and make everything right between them again?
Brad was looking at her expectantly. Come on, Janet, say something. He's waiting for you to say something! "Uh…sleep well."
Great…that was just great. You should be a speechwriter, you know that? As Janet saw Brad's face fall, it felt like a dagger had just been plunged through her heart.
She watched as Brad pasted the world's phoniest smile on his face. "Thanks, Janet. You sleep well, too."
Fat chance…
However, not for the first time that night, Janet's body was at odds with her brain. Suddenly, despite the dizzying whirlwind of thoughts and emotions racing within her mind, she found herself completely unable to keep her eyes open. Too tired to even undress, she collapsed onto the bed and almost immediately fell into a deep sleep.
She had no idea how long she'd been sleeping when, without warning, her eyes opened wide. To her astonishment, she realized she was no longer in bed…but where she was, she had no idea. She was surrounded by fog, so thick she couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face. I've never gone sleepwalking before. What's going on? And where on earth am I?
Even more alarming than those perplexing questions was a third question that popped into her consciousness, without warning and seemingly without provocation. She had a sudden, inexplicable impression that she was…not alone. Oh, God, who's there?
Who indeed…