Out of the Darkness

Chapter Nine

I woke up at ten o’clock that morning, in the same position, Errol’s arm still around me. I stirred slightly and opened my eyes groggily as I felt him move his hand gently through my hair and caress my forehead. It felt amazing.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he said quietly.

I ran my hand over my face to try and wake up a little more, and leaned up to meet his gaze. He looked relaxed, his dazzling eyes twinkling at me. “Good morning,” I said. “How long have you been lying there, awake?”

Errol smiled. “Just a little while.”

“What have you been doing?” I said with a giggle. “Just watching me sleep?”

“Yeah, there’s a lot to watch,” he said with humor in his voice. He adjusted his body to face me more directly. “First you gave this dreamy little smile, and then brushed some hair off your face…it was very cute.”

I smiled and rested my head against his shoulder again. “That was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in weeks.”

“Even though I woke you up? Again?”

I nodded. “Yes. And I told you I didn’t mind. I’m no good at hiding how I feel, so if it annoyed me, believe me, you’d know.” I chuckled and looked up at him. “Did you wake up at all again throughout the night?”

“No. Not at all. So I guess that means we’re making progress then?” He leaned in and kissed my cheek.

“Definitely,” I said. “You’re stronger than you think. We can work through a few nightmares, Errol.”

He sighed, staring at me. “You’re the strong one here.”

I quirked my eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

He scoffed. “Look at everything you’ve done the past couple days. You trusted me and took me into your home right away, and cared for me. That could’ve put you in real danger, but you didn’t care. You chose to help me. No one forced you, you chose to do that.”

I rubbed my hand up and down his chest. “I don’t regret it for a minute, Errol. I’m enjoying the growing closeness between us.”

“Me too,” Errol said. “I feel like I’ve known you for years.” He paused. “Thank you for being there for me.”

In an instant, I leaned in and kissed him passionately, pulling him closer. He joined in, his hands moving up and down my whole body, making me shiver – in a good way. Soon, I was moving myself on top of him, letting him push my bed-head hair out of my face as he continued the kiss. My hands moved down his muscular chest to his thighs, where they met the hem of his shirt. I snuck my hands under it and started to slowly push it up.

He stopped abruptly. “No, Catherine.”

I huffed in mild frustration and straightened myself up, still on top of him. “No?”

“Neither of us are ready for that, and you know it,” he ran his thumb along my cheek. “And I value and respect you too much to move this along too fast. And, we still have work to do here, like you said.”

I dropped my head in a dramatic fashion. “Uugghh, did you really have to say the most perfect words right there? You could’ve at least waited until later to be virtuous!”

Errol wrapped his arms around my waist and gently moved me to his right again.

“But wouldn’t waiting make it even more perfect when we finally do?”

I sighed, but smiled. “Fine, but keep this in mind, handsome. It says a lot about you that I was the one trying with you, and not the other way around. Normally, even sleeping in the same bed fully clothed is out of the question for me when it’s only a couple days into…whatever it is. But like I said before, you’re a special case.”

Errol looked touched. “That means a lot,” he said with a smile. “Come on, we should get up.”

“Okay,” I said with a pout. “It’s gonna take me a while to fix this bed-head, anyway.” My hair was always a mess of waves and tangled curls in the morning, especially when I went to bed with it wet.

Errol got out of the bed, walked to the other side, and took my hands in his. He stood me up and placed his hands on my waist. “You are so beautiful, Catherine. I mean that.”

I blushed and shyly averted my eyes with a chuckle.

“But yeah, do something about the bed-head,” he added quickly in a snarky tone and a cute smile.

I scoffed in mock outrage, and laughed when he locked his lips with mine before I could respond with a quip of my own.


About two hours later, Errol and I were fully dressed and ready for the day (Errol looked quite good in the new jeans and black t-shirt I had bought him), and were getting ready to have something for lunch, since it was too late for breakfast.

I had put on a pot of coffee and was now looking through the cooler for something we could eat. “I could make us a couple BLTs,” I said with a shrug. “What do you think?”

Errol chuckled and gave my shoulders a squeeze. “What is it with you and bacon?”

“Errol, bacon makes the world go round. This is a well-known fact and only a fool would think otherwise.” I grinned.

He put his hands up in mock surrender. “You didn’t hear me say ‘no’, did you?”

“Yay,” I said. I unwrapped the bacon from the packaging and laid it out on a pan that was already in the oven. For a motel, the kitchen area was surprisingly clean. “Um, do me a favor? Throw those rolls in the toaster?” I gestured to the bread rolls I had taken out and left on the counter.

While Errol did that and poured us each a cup of coffee, I put the bacon in the oven and prepared the lettuce and tomato, all the while consumed with the worrying thought that lingered in the back of my mind – yes, we were still all right, Ultra had not found us yet. But…that didn't mean they weren’t looking. How long would it be before we were found? I would never forgive myself if anything happened to him. Even only a couple days into…whatever this was…I knew that he was the most important thing in my life, outside of my family. If I got stupid and messed this up in any way…

“Catherine,” I heard Errol say from the table.

“Huh?” I said, snapping back to reality.

“The rolls and bacon are done,” he said with a smile.

“Oh okay, sorry,” I said. I took the bacon out of the oven, then the rolls out of the toaster, and finished making the sandwiches.

“And…” Errol continued.

I looked at him.

His eyes were bright and twinkling at me. “Calm down that worried mind of yours. It’s giving me a headache.”

I laughed. “Right…I forgot. Sorry,” I said as I brought our sandwiches over to the table. “I’m just a little worried. Can’t help it.”

Errol wrapped his arm around my shoulders again. “It’s okay.” He started eating.

“No more stalling, though,” I said as I took a bite. “We have work to do today.”

Errol paused and nodded sadly.

“Hey,” I said as I took his hand. “I won’t lie, it’s probably gonna be hard for you. And I’m sorry about that. But—”

“—It has to be done,” he finished for me. “I know.”

“And then maybe tonight we can go for a walk, or something,” I suggested.

Errol looked at me questioningly.

“You’ve been cooped up for too long, one way or another,” I said. “It’ll be good for you. We won’t venture far from here, okay? We’ll stay close.”

Errol looked in my eyes and must have seen that I wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer. “All right,” he said. “But at the first sign of anything out of the ordinary, I’m grabbing you and teleporting. I won’t risk anything happening to you.”

“Understood, sir,” I said with a smile.

Errol and I continued eating until we were done our sandwiches and coffee.


After the sandwiches were done and everything was cleaned up, I brought the laptop over to the table and opened it up. “You ready?” I asked.

“No,” said Errol. “But better now than later.”

I looked at him. “I’m not gonna let you go through this alone. This is the first step to getting you and every other Citadel inmate justice. We can’t change what happened, but we can ensure that what needs to happen does.”

He squeezed my hand, and I could feel his shaking a little. “Okay.”

I nodded and smiled. “Okay. First things first. You said that you never knew where you were being housed, right?”

Errol nodded.

“But did you see anything? Were there windows you could see out of?”

“No. The truck was more like a tank. And there were no windows in the Citadel either.”

I shuddered at the thought of that kind of coldness and isolation. “What about when you were leaving the…tank…and being taken into the building? Did you get anything? Even get a glimpse?”

Errol said nothing. He looked terrified.
I moved closer to him, reached out, and turned his face to meet mine. “Hey. Look at me. I know I’m asking a lot here. I know this is hard…I can’t imagine how hard. But stay with me, all right?”

His face got redder and started breathing heavily. But he regained his composure and nodded. “All right.”

I smiled at him. “Good. Now…tell me, did you see anything?”

“I don’t know, Catherine,” Errol looked hopeless. “It was a long time ago, and…I may have blocked a lot of it out.”

“Think, Errol,” I said, maybe a little more harshly than I had intended. “I need you to think hard. Come on…you can do this. I’m right here.”

Errol nodded and exhaled. He leaned down, elbows on his knees, head in his hands. I knew he was thinking hard, and it broke my heart to watch. I hated myself for putting him through this, but I knew that in the long run, it would be worth it.

I ran my hand up and down his back. I could feel him shaking still. “Take your time, it’s okay.”

A few moments later, Errol looked up slowly. “I do remember something,” he whispered.

My eyes lit up. I grabbed my laptop and pulled up the search engine. “Great! What is it?”

“An apple orchard,” said Errol.

My smile faded. That didn’t narrow it down much; there were plenty of apple orchards in that area. But, it was a starting point. “Okay, an apple orchard. We’ll start there. There are a lot of those around there, though, so we’re gonna have to narrow it down. Um…” I thought for a second. “Okay…where was your garage? The location?”

“Why?”

“That was where you were taken from, right? So, we need to narrow down our search bubble here. Where exactly was your garage, and about how long of a drive was it to where you saw this apple orchard?”

“My garage was off of Old Country Road, down the road from the dead end that takes you into the smaller part of town.”

“I know right where that is,” I said. “I’ve passed by that abandoned garage about a hundred times.”

“And…if I had to guess, I’d have to say that it was about a twenty-minute drive before we got there.”

I didn’t want to get too excited too soon, but I could feel a sense of cautious optimism rising in me. “This is great stuff, Errol. We’re getting closer!” I pulled up a map of the area on my computer.

“And what exactly is your plan once we find the place?”

“One step at a time,” I said, studying the laptop screen. “Is there anything else you can tell me? Maybe about the building itself?”

“I’d be willing to bet that it used to be a warehouse that was converted into what it is now,” Errol said quietly. “That’s the only thing that makes sense to me.”

“Okay, warehouse,” I replied. “Yeah, that does make sense. I’ll keep an eye out for that too…” all of a sudden, I stopped dead, my hands frozen on the laptop keyboard and my eyes wide. “Warehouse…” I repeated in a whisper.

“What?” Errol said, concern in his voice. “Catherine, what is it?”

I looked at him. “You know how I said before that the Citadel can’t be too far from the trail where we met?”

He nodded.

“Well, I think I may be right,” I said. “Do you remember seeing a stream of some kind, maybe running alongside or through the apple orchard when you were being taken in?”

“Catherine—”

“Errol, please,” I cut him off. “Please, I think I’m on to something here! Was there a stream, any kind of body of water?” I was beginning to sound desperate.

Errol closed his eyes again, evidently thinking hard. He appeared to be struggling greatly with this and to be in great pain.

I took both his hands in mine. “Come on, Errol, stay with me. We’re getting closer, come on.”

Suddenly, his eyes popped open, surprising me. He was deeply distressed.

“Did you see it?” I asked in a higher-than-normal voice.

Errol nodded shakily, looking beyond horrified. “Yes. There’s a stream. But…no more. I can’t do anymore…”

I was elated, but would not show that to him right then. “It’s okay, you did great,” I said. “It’s okay.” I wrapped my arms around him to try to comfort him. “I think I have everything I need now. I don’t wanna speak too soon, but I may know where the Citadel is.”

Errol hugged me back, tightly. I could hear him sobbing quietly.

“I know that was difficult,” I said, pulling away to look at him properly. “I’m sorry. But we’re really on good track here.”
Errol held onto me with a sense of desperate need that I had not felt from him yet, but that I completely understood.

“Why did you wanna know if there was a stream nearby?” He asked after finally settling down a little.

I took a breath. “Because there’s a stream that runs alongside that trail – you just can’t see it much where we met because there were more trees blocking view of it. But at one point when I had started my walk, way back closer to the beginning of the trail, I stopped to rest a little bit by the water. And in the distance, way across the water, is an old abandoned factory. I’ve seen it about a thousand times, but obviously never gave it any thought. So…apple orchard, body of water…either we’re looking at one hell of a coincidence, or…”

“That’s it,” Errol breathed. “That’s where it is.” He had this look on his face like he was in shock; like his brain couldn’t properly register what was happening in that moment.

“I think so too,” I said. I gave a nervous little chuckle. “Who knew you were that close to me the whole time, huh?” My eyes were glistening as I leaned to my left and dropped my head on his shoulder.

Errol didn’t say anything. He appeared to be in a mild state of shock.

“Hey,” I said, glancing up at him. “We’re one step closer, okay? And this was one big step. Next, we’ll need to narrow it down to the exact location – with any luck, there will be an address – and then we can start researching the history of the building.”

“And then?” Errol whispered.

“One step at a time,” I repeated. “But we’ve made some real headway here. I know I had to put you through more hell to get this far, though, and I’m sor—”

Errol cut me off with a very sudden and heavy kiss. I welcomed it without hesitation. Since meeting two days ago, Errol and I had kissed a lot already. This one felt different. While there was still no hint of lust, I sensed more desperation. More of a feeling like he literally had no idea what else to do with his emotions. Whatever the reason, I certainly enjoyed it.

“Don’t say you’re sorry,” Errol said when he broke the kiss. His striking blue eyes were sparkling again. “Not about this. I don’t know where I’d be right now without you, Catherine.”

I smiled. “I have loved being with you and helping you work through this, Errol. But, let’s not start celebrating too soon, shall we? We’re not done yet!”