Helping Unpack (Emily & the House Crew) - Darius and Crew

He reached out to pet her cheek gently.

"You did wonderful, Elizabeth."

She relaxed.

"Is she important?"

He nodded.

"I think so, yes."

She nodded.

"Then I will keep up the act when she is around."

He smiled.

"Thank you, Elizabeth."

She moved to rest her head against his chest.

"Is very hard to appear normal."

His arms went around her and gently caressed her back.

"I know. But I'm so proud of you, so glad when you do it for me."

She breathed deep.

"Can you read me a story?"

He nodded.

"I can go you one better. I can tell you a story, a true one."

She smiled and nodded.

"Yes."

He smiled.

"Let's get you to bed, then, hmm?"

She nodded and started to move away from him to walk to her bedroom.

He nodded and started to follow her. Though this time, he stopped to pour himself a glass of wine before carrying it into her bedroom.

She was curled up in her bed, naked, head on her pillow. She kept the house warm, so her blanket was only a light one. She smiled and scooted over so he would have room to join her on the bed.

Join her, he did. He sat down next to her on the bed, though he moved her so that her head wasn't on a pillow. It was on his lap, so he could play with her hair.

That was perfect, and her eyes closed as she sighed contentedly. But she was still awake, waiting for her story.

He smiled and his fingers gently started to toy with her hair.

"Once, a very long time ago, a young man was waiting by a roadside. He had grown up on a farm and had spent all day in the sun. His shoulders burned, they ached, but he knew he had to wait. There was a girl, you see, and she could sometimes sneak away so that they could spend time together. Her father didn't approve. She was noble and he was just a poor farmboy."

She purred and looked up at him. Entirely attentive.

He smiled and continued.

"But the young man would not be seeing the girl that evening. They had to hide their love, but it meant that it made the young man vulnerable sometimes. So as he waited, his attention on nothing but the road in front of him, waiting for her to join him, he was ambushed. Something came from behind and knocked the young man unconscious."

She frowned, eyes growing concerned.

"When the young man awoke, he was gripped with a hunger. It clawed at him, his stomach felt like it was full of a mouthful of sharp fangs. Gnawing. A hunger he had never felt before. A hunger like nothing at all that he had experienced. It was dark, as well. So dark and pitch black that the young man couldn't see. He couldn't even hear anything. He found that most disturbing; he couldn't hear anything. But he could smell. And the smell of rot and decay filled him, making him gag and retch -- but there was nothing in his stomach to vomit. His hand, when he moved to try and stand, slipped in something cold and wet. And then he felt it...

... there was a heartbeat under his left hand."

She curled closer to him, her eyes gleaming.

"Such a lonely way to wake."

He smiled at her.

"Yes, it is. The young man brought his hand up, grasping for the body that housed that heart. And he realized that there was no body. There was no flesh. It was just the heart, that beating thing, hiding under the grime and muck. How it continued to beat, he had no idea. But beat it did. Without thinking, the young man brought the heart to his mouth and bit down, feeling the blood as it washed over his tongue. Felt it sliding down his throat -- sating his hunger and offering him the first glimpse of salvation that he had ever seen."

"The young man felt death approach him. He welcomed it, with open arms and a smile on his face."

Her eyes were wide, and she was catching his every word. Painting the picture in her head.

He smiled.

"The young man died that night. When he woke, he was confused. So very confused. He was dead, wasn't he? Why could he hear the buzzing of the insects so clearly, feel the grime and the muck under him so easily? How could he feel if he was dead? He realized that he had no heartbeat. He realized that he was both dead and not dead. He looked around in the darkness and by the light of the moon, slowly began to drag himself up the sides of the wall toward the moon, that beacon that seemed to shine directly down upon him."

"He emerged from that pit to see six others standing over him. He recognized one of the women as his young lover's sister. The other five, he didn't know. They were watching him closely. As he pulled himself out of the hole and rose to his feet, the six there applauded him. He even saw them, these strangers that watched his agonizing transformation, smiling."