Ch. 42 Flesh and Blood
They sat at a small table in the diner, the little boy hungrily sucking down his chocolate sundae; getting as much on his face as he did in his mouth. To Courtney's surprise, she wasn't having that bad of a time. She couldn't help but be affected by the boy's energy. He was telling a story about one of his soccer games; letting words fly from his mouth at a mile a minute in between ice cream scoops.
She even found herself smiling on a few occasions. At one point, Michael had been sent to the bathroom to clean up and Courtney found it the opportunity to ask the question that had been bothering her.
"Who's that?" she asked, indicating the man that'd been standing outside the door since they got there. Carly saw who she meant and sighed, not sure how to answer the question.
"He's…he's Marco." she said, not satisfying Courtney with the answer she gave.
"Ok. Who's Marco, and why does he keep watching us?" she asked looking in his direction again.
"It's his job." she answered. "He's a guard, one of many. Whether you see them or not, most likely, they're always nearby."
"Why would we need a guard?"
"Sonny and Jason think it's necessary. They don't want anyone to get hurt because of their business." she tried to explain, but knew she wasn't doing that great of a job.
"What do they do?"
It's complicated." she replied.
"What-" she began to ask, but was interrupted by the red head's return.
"Mommy!" he shouted.
"Yes, sweetie?"
"Let's go to the park. He demanded. "Please, please, please."
"I don't know, honey." she said. So her son followed the child rule as old as time itself. When one adult says no, ask the other one.
"Come on Aunt Courtney. You want to go the park, don't you?"
Courtney was taken aback by the question. The park. There was something about it. Something bad. She wasn't sure if she wanted to go back and face it yet. But on the other hand, she found it difficult to deny the boy's request. Maybe nothing would happen.
"Ok." she told him. The boy smiled and looked to his mother.
"I guess we're going to the park then. Maybe you'll work off all that sugar you just inhaled." Carly said.
They arrived at the park entrance and Michael ran excitedly down the path.
"Michael, don't run!" Carly called after him. "I swear that boy, always on the go."
She laughed, but stopped when she turned to Courtney. There was something wrong, she could tell. Her friend was staring off into space, and it looked as if she had paled a bit in the face. Actually she looked like she was ready to throw up.
"Courtney?" she asked repeatedly until she finally got her attention. "What's wrong? Are you ok?"
"Yeah." she replied. "Fine."
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. I'll get Michael and we'll go home." she suggested.
"Michael wants to play in the park."
"If you're not up to it-"
"I said," she interrupted sharply. "I'm fine."
Courtney tried to shake of the irritation of Carly's constant caution. She did not want to be mad at her. But she didn't need to deal with people treating her like a China doll that would break so easily.
They walked through the park to Michael, all the while Courtney couldn't shake the eerie feeling that plagued the place. But luckily, so far that's all it had been. A bad feeling.
Carly spoke a few words to Michael as he went towards the swing set before she sat down on a nearby park bench. Courtney saw the bench and stepped back. Something wasn't right about that place. The exact spot. The swings, the bench, everything.
There was a voice. She could hear it, but it was too soft to distinguish what was being said. She looked around, but the only people she saw were Carly and Michael. Where was the voice coming from? What was it saying? She felt something. Like someone was touching her arm. Courtney flinched and turned around, trying to catch a glimpse of who it was that grabbed her. But no one was there.
"What?" she asked softly to no one in particular.
"Courtney? What is it?" Carly asked, seeing her friends behavior.
"Did you…I thought…" she said, not finishing either sentence as she tried to figure out what was going on. There was the damn voice again. What the hell was it saying? "Do you hear it?"
"Hear what?" Carly asked, concerned for her friend. She didn't answer her, just looked around as if searching for something. It was unsettling. "Courtney. Courtney, honey, talk to me. You're scaring me."
She didn't appear to hear her, so Carly reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. The contact felt like a searing iron to Courtney. She quickly pulled away from her touch and backed away from the woman.
"Don't-Don't touch me."