Chapter 8

Months pass and Aub and Maurice have been hanging out almost every single night. Bri is happy that she has such a wonderful friend. Things have been working out for Bri as well. He and his ex-wife have made arrangements to go out for the evening. Aubriana was invited to come with them but she already had made arrangements to head out with Maurice.

"Dad, you know I love mom, but Maurice is taking me out tonight. he wanted it to be a surprise I couldn't possibly turn him down."

"It's alright dear, you can hang out with Maurice. I'll just tell your mother that you had plans with a friend of yours," Brian answers.

Wrapping her arms around her father she kisses him on the cheek, "thanks dad."

He smiles warmly at her and she rushes up the stairs to her room. As Aubriana enters her room she heads to her closet, now what am I going to wear tonight she thinks. Throwing the doors open she stares and then begins to search her closet for the perfect outfit.

Back downstairs Brian walks into the kitchen and opens the fridge, there is only a few hours before he has to get ready. He admires Aub's mother for her strengths but knows that they will never remarry. They are better off as just friends. he sighs to himself and walks towards his office. Sitting down he turns on the monitor and begins cleaning out his junk mail folders. After words he plays a game on it to kill some time. Hours tick by as he is wrapped into his game, looking up he notices that he has one hour to dress and pick up his dates for the night.

Leaving his office he heads to his room and dresses into a decent suit leaving his tie on the bed he puts on his shoes and heads downstairs. "Aub, I'm out to see your mom and sister, you behave and I'll see you later."

Sticking her head out the door she calls down to him, "ok dad send my love and thanks again."

He feels so lucky to have such a wonderful child living with him. He smiles walks out the door and gets into the car and drives off to see his ex-wife.

Back upstairs Aub just finishes getting dressed as the sun sinks below the horizon. She leans against the wall as she waits for Maurice to make his appearance. Without much of a delay Maurice pops up from under the bed, with a few strides he is next to Aub. Grinning at her he says, "hey babe, where's Bri at, he's usually here to see you off?"

"He had a date with my mom tonight."

"Really?" Pulling her into his arms he kisses her softly on the lips. He deepens the kiss and she wraps her arms around his neck. They just hold each other for a couple of minutes as they continue kissing. Finally he breaks the kiss and steps back. "I'll never wanna forget how your lips feel on mine babe," he teases.

She blushes slightly "well then maybe Maurice you should tell my dad how we feel about each other."

He pulls her back into his arms and just holds her, kissing the side of her neck as he looks out the window. "Alright babe, we can tell him tonight when he gets home."

She turns to face him and hugs him, he smiles at her rand pulls her tighter against his chest. They kiss once more before Maurice scoops her up and jumps under the bed with her in his arms.

Back in the car Bri has just picked up his ex-wife and daughter. They begin their drive heading to the city where he had promised to take them out for dinner. The roads are still bad from the snowstorm they had recently but not horrible. They talk about how things are and what they plan on doing in the future.

As they turn a corner a car rushes into them. It slams into them and pushes their car to the edge of the mountain. The car is barely on the road and hangs dangerously over the edge. Brian slowly unbuckled his belt and they all carefully edge toward the passenger side doors.

"Careful, guys move slowly we can get through this," Brian says in a low whisper.

Just as the women place their hands on the door handles to open the door another car comes around the corner and crashes into the first. The one that hit them pushes them further over the edge. Time seems to slow as the car goes over the edge. Brian wraps his arms around his ex-wife and his daughter. Tears fall from his eyes as he sees his life flash before his eyes. All the joys and sadness crashes into him at once. At that moment he knows that Maurice loves Aub, he just wishes he could have told her he approved.

Without a second thought he crys out "Maurice take care of Aub for me!" Time seems to speed back up and the car flips several times, then as it flips one last time it bursts into flames. Brian, his exwife and daughter die, before the car ignites.

A man at the top of the mountain crys into his hands. He never should have gotten behind the wheel of the car in his condition. His phone falls from his hands still recording everything that happened so that he can show the police what he had caused. His feet give out and he collapses on the ground. The other driver comes up to him and wraps his arms around him, his wife is on the phone talking with a dispatcher. Within minutes police, firemen, and an ambulance show up.

The man's phone is retrieved and the image is replayed. they are surprised to hear a man call out as the car topples over the edge. They are determined to find the girl that the man wanted Maurice to take care of. First they had to find out who the people in the car are.

Back in the monster world Maurice topples over in pain. Something bad has happened and he can feel it. he looks around and trys to figure out what would cause so much pain and then as if in answers he hears a whisper brush against his mind. "Maurice take care of Aub for me!" His feet give out and he pulls Aub to the ground with him.

Tears start to fall from his eyes as he looks into hers. "Babe, we gotta go back now, something happened and I'm not sure what but we gotta go now."

Without asking she takes his hand, he scoops her up and running as fast as he possibly can he rushes for Bri's staircase. Taking the stairs two at a time they come up out from under the bed. He walks back and forth looking out the window. Never had he felt a need and so much pain come from Bri before. His mouth drops as he sees a police car pull in front of the house and an officer walk toward the door.

"Aub get the door someone is here to speak with you," he says in a low voice.