Waiting by Erin Dennington ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 73 Bill was intensely aware of Stella's hand clasped in his own. It was almost as if it were an extension of his own; he felt like it was a part of him. He found himself acutely glad of that fact. Glancing at Stella out of the corner of his eye, he felt an immediate and heady rush that lit his senses with a fire that could not be quenched. She was so beautiful that his soul ached. He could almost forget the urgency of their situation in the wonders of his newfound feelings for this girl who was as beautiful on the outside as she was on the inside. He was amazed that it had only been a few hours since they had met; he felt like it had been years since he had known Stella. He imagined that she was a celestial being come to complete his life; she seemed both old and young at the same time. He decided that it was the way in which she carried herself that had captured his heart so completely and fully. Stella was, to put it simply, the best thing that had ever happened to Bill. In a hushed, yet strangely reverential voice, Bill said to Stella, "I think that I am falling in love with you. And it's an absolutely amazing feeling." As he said the words, Bill realized that they were as true as the words he read in church every week. It was a centuries old feeling which he felt, a feeling so wondrous that his heart felt ready to burst. She smiled, her face aglow with an unspoken emotion. "I think I am falling for you, too, Bill," she said. Bringing his hand up to her lips, she gently kissed it, and then, with a voice as old as time, said, "It's your soul that is calling out to me. And I must answer it, but not right now. We have something that we must do first. There will be plenty of time later. I promise." She reluctantly let go of Bill's hand and even though she did not visibly turn away from him, it was as if she had. Bill felt an aching sense of loss at the broken contact and felt as if he were going to die if he did not feel it again. Trying to make some conversation in order to find that level of contact again, he asked her how old she was and was not surprised that she hesitated to tell him. "It does not matter to me how old you are," he said. "I would feel the same for you if you were 25 as if you were 17." "I'm a few months away from 18," she finally answered, and Bill could tell that she was curious as to his age but did not feel it was right to ask. "I'm 23," he said. Seeing the shocked expression on her face, he answered the inevitable question before she could even think to ask it. "Yes, I graduated from college at an early age. I was always ahead in school and I've been out on my own for 3 years now, working as a cameraman and freelance journalist. I've been biding my time, gaining experience, hoping to move on to what I've always wanted to do -- be a journalist." Laughing somewhat ruefully he added, "This story with Davis was to be my break. I guess it won't be now." "On the contrary, I would say that you're onto something much bigger," Stella said. She jokingly punched his arm and then moved closer to Davis, who had paused next to a metal door. It was only then that Bill realized how much Stella had so occupied his train of thought and emotion. He had not realized just how far down the hallway they had come until they almost ran into Davis. Davis had stopped in front of them and was looking at a door that forbade all from entering unless they were employees. "Is this where we are supposed to go?" Davis asked, not even looking at Stella. He appeared to be studying the door rather intently. There was no keyhole, but even so, the door forbade them to enter, as they were not employees. It was a rather cold and forbidding looking door; the metal was so dark gray that it starkly stood out from the rest of the hallway and proclaimed to one and all that this was the end of the line. Stella let go of Bill's hand and strode over to the door, pressing her hand against it. After a minute she nodded her head and then said, "Yes, this is where we have to go." It was as if Stella had some sort of internal compass that directed them where and what they should do. The rest of them accepted it, unquestioningly, probably because they all had seen what Stella could do. Bill knew that he, and most likely the others, were cynical people, not prone to supernatural beliefs, and time and again Stella had come through for them. So, after she stepped back from the door, Davis turned the knob and gently eased the door open a few inches. After making sure that no alarm had been triggered, he swung the door all the way open and motioned for them to proceed ahead of him. Bill was the last one through the door and when he tried to tug the door shut behind them, he found that it refused to budge. "Hey, Marty," he called out, "can you come back here and lend me a hand?" Marty hurried back to his side and, with Bill's help, managed to pull the door closed behind them. Bill was surprised at the willingness that Marty displayed, but decided to not say a word about it. It appeared to be a change that had not failed to come with its own unique set of consequences. Bill noticed that Marty appeared subdued, almost downhearted, and he figured that now would not be the time to tease him. The fate of the world was not resting on a few good digs at another person. It was the time for them all to grow up and take a step up to the plate, so to speak. Once the door shut behind them, the air in the hallway felt stifling, for the temperature had risen several degrees. Bill felt a drop of sweat roll down his back, which was quickly followed by another. The drops coalesced and seemed to melt his skin. He felt so clammy that all he wanted to do was turn around and leave. It was hard to breathe and his head had immediately started pounding as soon as the door shut. He stopped, feeling so nauseated from the pain that he didn't think he could go on. "It's ok," Stella said, appearing out of the dimness. She pressed a cool hand to his forehead and told him that, once he started walking, he would begin to feel better. "They have to keep the atmosphere out here relatively warm and humid so that the experiments they do can thrive." "You sure know what you're talking about," Bill said, admiringly. "I couldn't even begin to understand all of this science mumbo jumbo stuff when that guy was talking. Science has never been my thing." Stella frowned, thoughtfully. "You know," she said, "it's never been mine, either. It's my worst subject at school, actually." "Then how come you know so much now?" Bill asked, starting to walk again. Once again, when Stella touched him, he had felt everything that was bothering him melt away. "I don't know," she replied. "I'm just a dancer." "Must be that creative energy they are always talking about," Marty said, joining them. He was breathing hard and rapidly, and Bill could detect a faint sound of wheezing coming from him. "Do you have asthma?" Bill asked, sharply. "Yeah, but my inhaler is back in Davis' office with the equipment," Marty said. "I didn't think I was going to need it, so it never crossed my mind to bring it with me on our little mission." Without a word, Stella left Bill's side and, standing on her tiptoes, pressed her lips to Marty's. Bill supposed that he should feel a stab of jealousy at what most would perceive as a kiss, but he found, to his amazement, that he felt only relief that Stella was helping Marty. Within seconds, Marty's chest had stopped its struggled labor and his breathing sounded much more stable and clear. "Wow, that was some kiss," he said, smiling down at Stella. "Well it's nice to see that you're back to your old self again," Bill said. "Oh yeah," Marty said. "You should see how it feels on my end, dude." "I bet." "Yeah, I feel so friggin' good that I am gonna go rescue Christina and save the world from mass destruction." "And how are you going to do that?" "Well, I'll let Stella tell me. She's our personal good luck charm." Marty ducked and, realizing that Bill wasn't going to smack him, straightened back up. Swaggering a bit, he said, "I guess you don't like the new and improved me very much. I think I'll go spend some time with Davis." Davis laughed and said, "Only if you figure out what we're going to do next." Using his head, he motioned down the hallway, where they could see that it dead-ended in a branching corridor. "Aw man," Marty said, "why can't it all just be easy? Don't they believe in giving directions in this place?" No one even bothered to reply to Marty's question. They all automatically turned to Stella, who shrugged and said, "Why must I always make the decisions, eh? Either way, doesn't matter which way. They'll both get us to our location sooner or later, I think, because this building all belongs to Kramer Institutes. It all just depends on what we want to do before we get there, because sooner or later we are going to have to face Matthew. At that point we will have to find a way to stop the damage that he's causing and had already caused." "True that," Marty said. "I pick the right; going to the right is always supposed to be the desired path in life." Bill clenched his fist in a mock punch and Marty added, "Ok, ok, I'm open to suggestions. Take it easy, man." But from the smile upon his face, you knew that Marty never took offense to Bill's way of retaining control over the situation. They all voted and decided that, for lack of anything to really guide them, they would head down to the right. "I feel like we should be singing that song from 'Snow White,'" Marty said, "where the dwarves were all working in the mines." Laughing, he set off down the hallway slightly ahead of the rest of the gang. Bill leaned over and whispered into Stella's ear, "Thanks for giving us the same old Marty back." Stella laughed. "Oh, you're welcome, but I think that you will find that he's not so bad a guy after all." "Oh, I know," Bill said. "It's just that he's so much better to be around when I know what he's up to." "I heard you!" Marty sang out. "You two love birds need to stop dillydallying and catch up to the rest of us! No more gossiping! It's time to save Christina and time to save the world!" "You are such a dork," Bill said. "Why, thank you," Marty replied. "I do so aim to please." "Now lead on and find us the laboratory," Davis said, silencing them both from making any other statement with a sharp look. 22:17 - 11.25.02 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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