Bats in the Belfry Read online

  “You were such a beautiful little girl.”

  “Are you saying I’m not beautiful now, dad?” she asked playfully.

  He smiled knowingly. “Of course not. You’re even more so. You look just like your mother the day I met her, except for the hair of course.”

  “Under the tree,” Lane said.

  “Wearing a yellow sun dress,” he continued sadly fidgeting with the pages.

  “And it was love at first sight,” she whispered the ending. He had told her the story of how they met six times in the past, and this was probably the only time she remembered the ending. Maybe it was because she was thinking of a certain someone, and his words not to long ago, but they were there, hanging in her head like a song she couldn’t get rid of.

  She listened as he continued the tale of when he was nineteen and she was twenty-one, and even though it was love for him, she hated him every time they crossed paths. She actually hated him for six months before they started dating, but he left that part out to make it more romantic. He always said that a man knew who his heart belonged to even when the woman didn't. He always knew they were meant to be. “You remember this one?”

  Lane looked over at his smiling face and laughed, a genuine side twisting laugh because she understood now. “Yeah, dad... I remember.”

  ***

  “I thought I was going to have to come after you,” Cole said when she walked through the balcony door an hour later. She was having so much fun laughing with her father that she almost forgot why she came today. Cole, who had his back against the discolored railing with his arms crossed over his chest directly in front of the door, knowing she was going to walk through it at any minute, stepped forward. There were no other patients outside which seemed odd until she glanced at the sky. Lane watched as lightning broke the clouds near the waters edge less than a mile away, and grey clouds muddled the sky. The rain hadn't yet begun, but it was near. She could smell it in the air, feel it in the breeze.

  “I had to make sure my dad was okay and besides; I know you weren’t going to leave your life of luxury to come after some girl.”

  “Not just some girl. You’d be surprised what I’d do for just you,” he said leaning forward to touch the strands of hair that had fallen into her eyes. She had purposely left it down today because she knew he liked it, and she liked how he looked at her when it was. No one ever looked at her like she was important enough to care about. “Come on, let’s go before the rain comes,” he said taking her hand and moving toward the stairs.

  “Wait…where exactly are we going because I know there aren’t many options?”

  “Not far, just over to the beach.”

  “I’m… I…I’m not sure I heard you correctly. Did you say the beach?” She stopped mid stride in the middle of the garden as a gust of wind sent hair flying all over her face. With panic settling into her gut, she knew Cole was maybe crazy, but she didn't think he was that crazy.

  He stood in front of her, using his fingers to move her hair behind her ears, before gently taking her hands. “I did and it’s not that far as you can see.”

  “Yeah, but you’re not allowed off the compound and we could get in trouble,” she recited adamantly with bulging eyes glancing around the area.

  He smirked. “We could, but we won’t. I’ve done this a hundred times before and I’ve never been caught.”

  “Yeah, well… this might be the hundredth and one time that you do get caught, and I'm with you which means I'll get caught, and I don't want to get in trouble.”

  Closer his head moved forward while he tilted her chin up so she would look at him. His beautiful eyes were downcast on hers as they searched, wondering if the girl he once knew was still in there. Lane had always been this way, but there were times with a bit of a push she would do things out of her comfort zone. This was one of those times she needed a push. “Do you trust me, Lanie? ”

  She groaned. “I don’t see what trust has to do with this.”

  He smiled. “Do you trust that I’m a good friend and that I’ll take care of you and I’ll protect you and that I can take you to the beach that’s just over that fence and we won’t get caught because I won’t let you take the fall even if we do.”

  She didn’t know why, but she felt like she could, even if there was a possibility it could bite her in the ass. He was genuine about it, and she could tell he would stick to his word. “Ye…yes I guess I trust you.”

  His smile deepened and not too soon was he leaning in, pressing his lips gently against hers. It was quick and over as soon as it begun because it wasn’t meant to pull her in, but to draw her out. Lane stood shocked still, feeling the tingle against her lips before blinking repeatedly at him. “Come on then. Run away with me, Lane.” She sighed knowing the kiss helped.

  They made it through the garden to the north corner of the back fence that was blocked off by a bunch of over grown shrubs. Kneeling, Cole pushed one of them aside, revealing part of the chain link fence that was dug up from the ground. Pulling with enough force it soon opened up into a hole big enough for any adult to fit through. “See, my own personal escape route.” His eyes sparkled with mischief.

  “Did you do this?” she asked skeptically still glancing around, to be sure no one could see them.

  “Yeah, three months after I got here. It was supposed to be my way out, but… I had a change of heart. I’ll go through first then I’ll hold it open for you.” She watched as he turned on his back pushing the sharp edges of the wire out toward the beach, and skillfully slid through without getting caught. Once he was on the other side, he pulled the wire toward himself, making the space big enough for her. “Your turn.”

  She contemplated for a while. Swallowed hard, and looked back toward the building scared that someone could be seeing them right now, and be on their way to stop them, but then she looked back at him waiting for her to take a leap, to be reckless, and selfish for once in her life. To trust him.

  With a sigh, she dropped her bag and pulled up the sleeves of her sweater before she got down on all fours and crawled through. Feeling triumphant once on the other side, Cole pulled her bag through then placed the fence back in its original position. Standing he took her hand, and they started running to the other side of the beach that couldn’t be seen from the facility. Once in the perfect spot she fell on the sand pulling her feet up to her chin while taking slow breaths to calm the pounding heart about to burst out of her chest.

  The sky was completely gray by then, which reflected on the water as it crashed against the shore inches from their feet. Cole sat quietly beside her and looked out at the water almost preoccupied by something she couldn’t see. “Are you okay,” she finally asked a bit concerned by his sudden change.

  He didn’t look at her right away, and when he did, he didn’t smile the way he usually did. His eyes looked slightly haunted and even his jaw ticked. “I’ve been on this beach forty-two times since I’ve been here. Every time I was alone trying to figure out where I wanted to go. For months this was the only place that bought me any kind of sanity from all the jumbled mess inside my head.”

  “What is it exactly that you think about?” she asked.

  “Lots of things, mostly things a healthy person shouldn’t be thinking about.”

  She wanted to know so badly what had him stuck in this place, because to her he wasn’t like any of the other patients she’d seen. He seemed like the sanest person she'd ever met, but yet he was stuck like the rest of them. “Why are you here, Cole?”

  “Because I tried to kill myself,” he said turning away the minute he said it. He didn't want to see the possible disappointment in her eyes once she realized the truth.

  She stared at his beautiful face not wondering why he did it, but why he would even think that that was the only way out of whatever he was going through. “Why.”

  “Mainly because I was sick, but before I found out I was sick I just thought it was this weird adrenaline rush that kept going and
going until I did something to hurt myself in some way. Hurting myself felt good. I wanted to see if I could feel the pain, if the pain made everything else I was feeling go away.”

  “And did it?”

  “No. if anything it just made everything worse.”

  “Before you tell me anymore of that side of yourself. I want to know you, about you, anything about you that one should know about a person. Before I know the bad things, I want to know the good things…about you.” She swallowed nervously.

  His eyes flickered with excitement before moving his hand across her cheek. “You want to know me?”

  “Yes. You said that you knew me. That you loved me strangely enough.” He chuckled. “And for me to feel anything for you I have to know you too. I want to know you.”

  Surprised he said, “do you, feel anything for me?”

  Because of his current situation she didn't want to admit it, but talking with Cole had been a bright spot in her life that was hard to ignore. “Maybe, but I won’t admit anything until you agree to my terms.”

  “Oh, I agree to your terms. I’m just shocked that you Lane Bennett openly admit that there is a possibility that you could deeply care about me, notice I didn’t say love, even though you don’t believe in deeply caring about someone at first sight and you hardly know me,” he said in a-matter-of-fact tone while grinning.

  She rolled her eyes shaking her head, and laughing at his words. “I’m saying… that maybe there is some truth to your theory and that I could care about you…a lot more than I let on. So, can you just tell me about yourself already?”

  He chuckled and kissed the side of her head before moving back to his spot. “Okay, what exactly do you want to know?”

  “The basic stuff I guess."

  “I’m twenty-five… today and believe it or not—”

  She gaped, cutting him off. “Do you really think I didn’t catch that?”

  He gave her a coy look. “What?”

  “Today’s your birthday?”

  He shrugged. “Yeah, so?”

  “So, it’s your birthday, you could have told me and I would have at least brought you a cupcake or something.” He wanted to tell her yesterday, but he still held on to the possibility that she’d remember him and the day she once called his special day. But he guessed he really had changed a lot over the years. Sure, he was bald now, and didn’t wear his glasses and maybe even lost a bit of muscle mass, but he’d like to think he was the same guy.

  “Well, you could bring me a cupcake next week if you want?”

  “It’s not the same.” She frowned.

  “It’s completely the same, it’ll just be a week late. Consider it a pass, since you didn’t know.”

  She frowned. “Fine, happy birthday. Now I kinda feel bad for coming empty handed. Is that why you wanted to come here today?” she asked.

  His expression softened. “It’s why I wanted to come here with you. Add a little sunshine to a dull day.”

  “Even though it’s about to rain.”

  “Even better.”

  She grinned. “I’m glad I came then.”

  “I hoped you would.” They both looked up at that moment as thunder rumbled through the air and lightning soon touched the water. Thunder storms were beautiful, but not very safe when there was no shelter nearby.

  “We’re sitting on a beach and there’s about to be a thunder storm. How safe is this?”

  “Not safe at all, but won’t it be fun.” He wiggled his brows.

  “I’m beginning to think the crazy thing is pretty accurate,” she mumbled with him rolling his eyes.

  “So, you want to know about me, hmmm. Well, I was a swimmer in high school, captain of the swim team actually. I played baseball and believe it or not I was a jock with a brain.”

  “You don’t say.”

  “I certainly do, I actually liked to read too.”

  Surprised she blurted. “Really? What’s your favorite book then?”

  “Well, I have many, but if I had to choose, I’d say Lord of the Flies by—”

  “William Golding”

  “You’ve read it?”

  “A—friend give it to me after he read it like a million times. Said I would like it once I got into it and I guess you can say I didn’t want to admit it then, but I loved it and read it over six times. It’s actually become one of my favorites.”

  He gave her a knowing smile, she, having no idea why though. “Well it seems we do have something in common then.”

  “It would seem.” She smiled blissfully. Lightning shot across the sky causing her to grab his hand for comfort. Lightning had never frightened her, but for whatever reason she felt like she should hold his hand. He didn’t say anything about it, but held on tighter while they both watched the sky light up.

  After a bit of silence his solemn voice brought her eyes to him. “I was your average guy, outgoing, had a lot of friends who didn’t mind a good time, did a bunch of crazy shit that usually got me in trouble or hurt… Sometimes I felt on top of the world and other times I felt like the world was about to swallow me whole. The first time it happened, I was on a hiking trip with some friends up to Marlins Cave. I was twelve and my mom didn’t want me to go because she saw a difference in me that no one else did. She saw how my moods would suddenly change within a blink of an eye and how sometimes it was like someone else had taken over my body. I must have blacked out somewhere in between because I woke up to some people I had never met before telling me that I tried to jump off the cliff.

  "The next time it happened I tried to jump off the hospital roof. By then my mom had, had enough and decided I should see a psychologist who later diagnosed me with bipolar disorder. They give me a bunch of meds that was supposed to suppress my compulsive urges and regulate my feelings, but instead they suppressed everything and I was like a walking shell. I couldn’t feel anything, happy, sad, anger I wasn’t me anymore. All I felt was empty.” Cole hated that his brain was sick. That was what the doctor would say every time he had a session. That his body wasn’t sick, but his brain was, and it needed healing, and just like a body it needed medicine to get better. The doctor would force him to take the little red pills, and when he did, his mind would slowly drift into a box as he sat on the ugly gray couch in her office, and explained to her in monotone how he was feeling. Once he took the pill the answer was always the same. I feel numb.

  “What happened next?” she whispered while his head snapped in her direction, blinking as if he was only realizing she was there.

  “I—” Just then both heads turned to the sky as droplets of rain fell slowly around them. One after the other, harder and harder, the droplets began turning the sand around them into mud. They both sat there staring up at the sky like it was a shower washing away their sins making them clean. Lane was the first to move, thinking about running for shelter, but she was already wet and there was actually nowhere to go from there.

  Thunder rolled, and lightning struck as the waves crashed to the shore harder with every rain drop, causing water to splash them. He was still sitting staring up at her, wondering what her next move was going to be. She watched as the white t-shirt clung to his skin, and water slid down his face. She wanted him badly, and wasn't shy about it.

  Grabbing his hand and pulling him up, she slowly started moving her hands down his chest, stopping at the drawstring waste line of his pants. “I’m sure you never imagined standing in the rain on your birthday,” she whispered making him smile.

  Shaking his head, sending water flying all over the place she closed her eyes and laughed, loving his playfulness. When he gripped her waist, and his eyes fell on her lips she stopped, taking a deep breath when he started leaning in. “I’ve imagined some things, always waking up at this moment right here,” he whispered. “But I’m glad it’s not a dream so I can finally do this.” Lane’s surprised laughter overpowered the loud rain when he started spinning her.

  She watched the world as she knew it slowly fas
t forward getting faster and faster, taking her on a world wind ride. Tears sprung from her eyes as the laughter she couldn’t contain echoed over the pounding rain, and when he let go, they both fell back into the mud, eyes closed, side by side, happy in euphoric bliss.

  When she finally opened her eyes to his sweet loving eyes gazing down at her, Lane sighed blinking at his lips before whispering, “kiss me.”

  Bringing her hand to the back of his neck and pulling him close enough, he closed his eyes before brushing his nose against hers, and inhaling deeply the scent of rain and melon before blinking them open. “Don't have to tell me twice, but thanks for the permission.” His head dipped, and everything faded when his lips met hers.

  Nine

  Monday, Lane sat happily at her desk listening to the twenty something messages left throughout the weekend. After hitting play for about the twelfth time, her thoughts faded into thoughts of Cole. He had somehow penetrated the one part of her she thought no one could, and he had done so with nothing but his sheer adoration for her. It was crazy she thought, but somehow, she found herself thinking of the possibility that she may love him back too.

  Was it truly possible to love someone so quickly, someone she'd just met, someone she hardly knew who barely knew her?

  Yesterday was unworldly. His body was amazing, hard and warm even though they were both soaking wet and covered in mud, but the kiss. Though it started out soft and testing, they both found that connection that pulled them together, and it soon became this hungry cry that devoured them completely. She revved when she felt his hand sliding up under her shirt, and over her breast, heating up her body and pushing her for more of his. She wanted him as badly as he'd wanted her, but making love on a muddy beach during a rain storm was not a good idea, especially with lightning threatening to crack the sky open. He pulled away not long after, and when it was over, they laid next to each other watching as the tears fell from heaven.

  Yes, it was magical and when she watched him crawl through the fence, his body disappearing from her line of sight, she sighed, feeling his lost and wanting nothing more than to crawl in after him. Instead, she walked along the empty beach, soaking wet until she found the entrance, and made her way toward her car which was parked outside the facility gates.