Sanctity (37 page)

We exited the car and Victor wrapped my arms
around his neck, “Hold tight,” he said and he began scaling the
building; climbing from balcony to balcony until we reached the
roof.

“Here we are,” he spun me around and around
in the rain.

I shook my head laughing, “I’m sorry Victor,
it’s not at all familiar to me.”

“You just need a little help,” he offered me
his wrist and in my eagerness to recall why he had brought me there
I latched on.

“The shower, yes, the meteor shower.  It
was exactly one year later…Our anniversary you called it!”  I
threw my arms around him, “Oh, Victor, how have I forgotten so
much.”

He gave a little chuckle and swept me up off
my feet.  He ran to the corner of the roof and as he cradled
me close leapt off.  It was an incredible thrill and when we
landed my heart was racing and I was gasping for breath.  The
driver was pulling around and I did what I could to recover myself
before sliding into the back of the car with Victor close on my
heels.

I was giddy, beaming from head to toe and
couldn’t wait to see what Victor had in store for us next.  I
carelessly wrung my hair out and apologized to the driver for my
thoughtlessness. 

“It’s quite alright,” he assured me as he
smiled back at me in the mirror.

Victor leaned forward and hissed something
completely inaudible to me but quite clear to the driver.  He
looked nervously back and nodded in understanding; his exuberance
suddenly seeming to fade into fear.  I pretended not to have
seen the exchange and turned my head towards the window.  It
must have been close to midnight by then and as I watched the rain
streaming down the window I noticed that we were pulling onto the
highway.

“Are we going into the city?”

“Yes, for a bit.”

I decided not to press him knowing that I
would see for myself, soon enough, what Victor wanted to show me
next.  He was quiet and subdued during the ride and every time
I tried to engage him Victor gave me a weak smile.  I held his
hand and ran my thumb back and forth across his wrist.

He seemed to relax and sank back into the
seat, “Mmm, that’s nice.” 

As his expression softened I felt a little
memory ripple across my mind.  I pictured myself in a darkened
room somewhere walking towards a man sprawled across massive bed
covered in heavy linens.  As I got closer the man’s features
became more and more distinct and at first I thought it was Victor
but when I reached out to touch the man’s cheek he turned into my
touch and smiled.  Though he looked so very much like Victor,
I knew it wasn’t him.  It was…it was…it was someone else;
someone important to me.  My heart seemed to stop for a
moment.

“Where have you gone off to?” Victor was
violently clutching my hand, his eyes demanding an answer.

I shook the memory away, “I…I was just
wondering what you have planned next,” I stuttered.

“You lie!”

“No, Victor.  I would never lie to you,”
I insisted.  I gave my hand a little shake to let him know he
was hurting me.

The driver cleared his throat
concernedly.

“Drive, idiot.  This doesn’t concern
you.”

“Please Victor,” I sidled up to him and
kissed his neck, “I have loved every moment of tonight, let’s not
spoil it now,” I let my hand wander along his thigh and felt some
of his irritation subside.

“Pull over,” he commanded the driver.

The driver eased us off the highway onto the
shoulder and put the car in park.

“Get out.”

The driver looked unsure but I nodded to him
and told him we just needed a moment.  As soon as he closed
the door Victor was on me.  He shoved my dress up around my
waist and ran his tongue along the inner edge of my thigh.  I
could barely stand the teasing sensuousness of the act and I moaned
out loud.  I felt him pierce the soft flesh several inches
above my knee and bit my lip to keep from screaming as he took a
fierce pull from me.  I watched him swallow then eagerly
lunged for him urging him to take me. 

The world fell away and there was only the
terrible need to feel him over and over again but something else
was happening, too.  I felt that strange little tendril inside
me searching and reaching out for him but I was lost in the ecstasy
of the moment and it couldn’t seem to find him.  Victor seemed
to feel it too but it was already too late as we heaved against one
another.

He held me tightly, “Oh, Lily,” he kissed my
hair and caressed my back.  “I felt it,” he whispered and
moments later, “we were meant to be.”

I suspected he was crying but when I tried to
pull away to see for sure he held me tighter so I whispered
comfortingly to him instead, “Yes Victor, yes, we were".

After we composed ourselves Victor rolled the
window down and let the driver know we were ready for him to
return.  He drove us to a magnificent theater and Victor again
sent him on his way with instructions to return a certain number of
minutes later. 

“It’s closed Victor,” I stated as he led me
around to the back of the building.

“Not for us, love.”

He wrapped his fingers around the handle,
closed his eyes and leaned his head back concentrating. 
Victor gave the handle a meaningful turn and pushed the door open,
“After you,” he bowed.

I smiled and stepped through.

He led me through the backstage area, past
the dressing rooms and onto the stage.  From there we took the
short flight of stairs towards the pit area where the orchestra
would set-up and out beyond the first of the many rows of
seats.  We came to a stairway that led to the upper levels of
the audience chamber and Victor hurried me up the flight and down a
short tier of steps and into the first of the theater boxes.

“Do you remember being here?  Do you
remember what we saw?”

I shook my head, “No wait, maybe,” I paused
as I tried to recall. 

He had me take one of the seats, “You were
sitting right here and I was there, behind you.”

I couldn’t remember.

Victor looked thoughtfully at his watch,
“It’s too soon,” he mumbled, “but we can’t wait, there isn’t much
time,” he took a deep breath and nipped his finger, “just a drop,
no more,” he said firmly. 

It all flashed through my mind, “The
Nutcracker,” I whispered, “I had a fever, we left early.  You
were with someone, she was mean to me…” my eyes filled with fear,
“you…you killed her!” I accused.

“You weren’t supposed to
see that,” he clenched his hands, “but yes, I did.  She hurt
you and I lost control of myself because you wouldn’t answer me,
you wouldn’t 
help
 me.”

It was becoming clearer as he spoke and again
I felt a twinge of wrongness with how the memory was unfolding but
I couldn’t detect specifically why it seemed so imprecise to
me.

“We went home and I fell asleep and when I
woke up, you were gone.  I couldn’t reach you, you left me and
I tried so hard to tell you I was sorry and to please, please come
back,” there was a lump in my throat that I tried to swallow, “and
somehow, somehow I forced you to come to me and you did and we were
always together then.”

“Yes, yes,” Victor sounded
relieved. 

I threw myself around him, “I’m so sorry,
Victor.  I am so, so sorry for everything that happened that
night.  I didn’t realize what I was doing or how much I had
hurt you,” I caressed his face and stood up on my tiptoes and
kissed his temple.

He smiled down at me, “It doesn’t matter
anymore.”

“No, of course not, because it will never be
that way again, not now, not as long as we are together.”

Victor wrapped his arm around my waist and
ushered me back the way we had come, “We’re running out of time and
I still have more I want to show you.”

“It’s OK Victor, we can do more tomorrow if
we need to.”

“No, no, it must be tonight.  I cannot
ris…I cannot wait another day.  I want you too much to have to
wait.”

I smiled and blushed.

“You’re so beautiful,” he turned and faced
me, “and every moment you grow more and more beautiful,” he placed
his palm on my cheek and gave me just the lightest of kisses. 
“Every time I touch your lips I want to take you,” he said and
sighed, “Let’s hurry.”

The rain had finally let up by the time we
were outside which seemed fortunate since when we got to the front
of the Arts Center the driver was not there.  We had to wait
several minutes for him to show up, “Damn it,” Victor cursed with
every passing second.

As he pulled into view Victor yanked the door
open and motioned me inside, “Where were you?  We’ve been
waiting!”

“Sorry sir.  The police came by and told
me I was in a no parking zone and asked me to move.  This is a
one way street and it took me a while to get my bearings and find
my way back.”

“Idiot,” Victor slapped the back of his
head.

I grabbed his arm, “Victor, calm yourself!” I
frowned at him.

He shook his head, “Yes, yes, I’m
sorry.  My apologies,” he leaned over and kissed my
cheek.  “I’ll behave,” he promised, “if you’ll forgive me,
too.”

“I will if you show me you are sincere,” I
stretched my legs out across the seat and tucked my feet onto
Victor’s lap.  He grinned and slipped one shoe off then the
other and softly stroked the bottom of each foot.  I leaned
back and closed my eyes. 

About a half an hour later Victor nudged me,
“You’ve fallen asleep, love.  Stay with me, only one more stop
after this.”

I blinked and rubbed my eyes, “Where are
we?”

“Home,” he simply stated.  “Yours and
mine, or at least it was once.  I lived here when I was a boy
and many years later, not long after the ballet, you did, too.”

I looked puzzled as he told me this.

“My family and I lived here until I was about
17 years old.  Something…unfortunate happened and they all
moved away.”

I thought it odd that he
said 
they
 and not 
we
, “Did you not go with your family
Victor?”

“No but that doesn’t matter.”

It did to me and I tucked the thought aside
so that I could consider it later.

“Years later I bought the
house from the people my family sold it to and I sentimentally held
onto it.  When I met you, you were living in the condominiums
we visited earlier and I thought you deserved better.  I
helped your dad get a promotion and through various
means 
convinced
 your parents to buy it from me.”

Victor helped me from the car and led me up
the driveway.  When we were out of view of the driver Victor
brought his nail across his palm and held it to my lips, “See,” he
whispered, “remember.”

We walked around to the backyard and I
immediately saw and remembered the swing set tucked into the
corner.  I wondered if the flower bed was still there and
whether anything was still growing or if time and neglect had taken
its toll.  I was happy to see that the lilies still blossomed
though their only companions were weeds and wild grasses.

Victor took my shoulders and turned me
towards the back of the house.  There was a little balcony
poking from the side and Victor scooped me up and leapt onto its
little landing.  He wrestled the doors open, they were a
little stiff from years of disuse and had me step through.  He
found the light switch and gave it a flick. 

The room, though covered in cobwebs and dust,
was just as I remembered.  My bed was there, my dresser, my
bookshelf.  I looked all around me before heading to the
closet.  I dusted the top of a long forgotten box and opened
it up.  It was filled with knick-knacks – dried flowers, coins
from all the far corners of the world, an old jar with some sort of
netting that had little bulbs attached to it at random
intervals.

“The fireflies,” I whispered in awe.

Victor was standing over me smiling.

“You gave me these…all of these,” I waved my
hand over the box.

“Yes, love, I did,” he nodded.

There was a loud bang as he said this and I
fearfully jumped to my feet, “What was that?” I looked to Victor
for reassurance.

 “I’m sure it was nothing.  We left
the door open and the wind must have blown it closed.”

Victor took me by the shoulders, “Wait here, I’ll
go see.”

I nodded and Victor kissed my cheek and
cautiously exited the closet.  I stood frozen in place, my
ears straining as the moments ticked by.  It was oddly
quiet.

“Lily,” Victor called.  I felt the
wretched tightness in my chest again as I stepped from the
closet. 

Victor was standing in the center of the
room.  He had Michael pinned against him, one arm holding both
of Michael’s behind his back, the other hand clenching his hair and
straining his head at a vicious angle to the side.

“Elayna,” Michael gasped.  “What have
you done to her?” he tried to fight himself free.

“Nothing she didn’t ask
for; nothing she didn’t 
beg 
for,” Victor
chuckled.

“It’s not too late Elayna!  Whatever
he’s done to you, it’s not too late!”

“He hasn’t done anything to me Michael. 
He’s helped me remember and we’ve been through so much
together.  Victor and I, we were meant to be.”

“No, no!  It wasn’t Victor…he’s lying to
you, he’s…he’s changed your memories,” it felt like Michael was
examining my mind somehow and I couldn’t keep him out. 

“Stop, oh, please stop,” I covered my face
with my hands.

“No Elayna, look, look closely,” Michael
insisted.

As Michael brought the memories Victor
convinced me of to the surface of my mind I felt that odd
impression again that they weren’t quite right.  My lips
trembled as I looked from one to the other, “I..I..it,” I didn’t
know what I was trying to say but suddenly I knew why they were
wrong.  I wasn’t seeing the memories as though I were seeing
them through my own eyes like I should have.  It was as though
I was just an observer, seeing things from a third person’s point
of view rather than actually being a part of them.