Out of the Darkness

Chapter Twelve

“It’s okay, all we wanna do is help you. Come on, you know your being out and about is not safe for you or the public,” the voice said.

I wanted to keep packing, but Errol wrapped me in his arms and pushed me behind him.

“Stay behind me,” he said.

“Errol, what are you doing?” I asked, shocked. “Let’s just teleport!”

“This has to end somewhere, Catherine. No matter where we go or what we do, Ultra will find us. At least until your friend does what he said he’ll do. And remember, you have a job and a family to get back to.”

“But—”

“It’s time I face them head on. I held them off for a couple days, with your help. Just in case, I want you to know that these have been the best days of my life – being with you. What they did to me in that place was terrible, but I would go through it all again in an instant, if it meant keeping you safe. I’m the one they want, not you.”

My eyes started filling up. “Why are you talking like this?” I whimpered.

“Errol, I’m not leaving,” the voice taunted. “I don’t wanna disturb the other guests, but I’ve got all night.”

“I love you,” Errol said to me. “Whatever happens, please remember that.”

Before I could respond, he telekinetically opened the motel room door, shoving me more behind him.

Polo-shirt guy walked inside, smiling sadistically. His tranquilizer gun was in his right hand, down at his side, his finger on the trigger. “Hey, Errol!”

Errol glared at him.

“Oh, come on. Is that any way to be? After all the fun we had over the years?” He looked behind Errol, right at me. “Nice to see you again, Miss Baxter. I’m sorry you’ve been through all this. Errol here is quite dangerous and unstable, but don’t worry. He won’t be bothering you anymore.”

“Go to hell,” I retorted. I didn’t bother asking how he knew my name. Covert government operations were covert for a reason.

“Ouch!” The agent said sarcastically. “Jeez, Errol, what did you do to this girl? Talk about Stockholm Syndrome!”

Errol still said nothing, just continued to glare at the agent, who lifted the tranq gun and pointed it at him. Errol found my hand and held on.

“Time to go back now, buddy. And…sorry, but…you really shouldn’t have involved her in this. She knows way too much.”

I hadn’t even noticed how shaky I was getting until I felt Errol squeeze my hand reassuringly. “I’m not gonna let you hurt her,” he snarled.

The agent laughed. “Oh, you do remember how to speak! That’s good. What’s this I see? You care for her, Errol? Can’t really blame you, bud…she’s pretty hot. What’s she like in the bed?”

In spite of how terrified I was, I actually rolled my eyes. I had heard better insults from a high-schooler.

Errol, however, was not amused. He moved his hand so fast that I could barely see it. The agent went flying into the wall, hard, knocking one of the framed paintings off the wall.

“See?” The agent grunted as he stood back up and staggered to his feet. “This is exactly why Errol belongs back in our care.” He took a few deep breaths and regained his footing.

I couldn’t stay quiet anymore. “‘Care’?!”I said in a raised voice. “Do you actually think I’m deluded enough to believe that being captured, tortured, experimented on, and having your death staged is a form of caring?”

“Catherine!” Errol snapped. “Stop. Let me handle this.”

The agent smirked. “Tortured? Well, my goodness, you found yourself one fiery chick, Errol,” the agent sneered. “No wonder she fell for these lies.” He bent down and picked up his tranq gun.

Errol looked at it and it flew from his hands, clattering to the floor on the other side of the room.

“You can try to gaslight me all you want, asshole,” I said to the agent. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, I guess. But that crap won’t work on me. I know what the truth is.”

“Catherine, please be quiet,” Errol looked at me pleadingly. “I won’t allow you to get yourself hurt, or worse.”

“I have other agents watching you, everywhere you go, Errol,” said the agent. “Do you really think we’re limited to just the Citadel? We’re a lot bigger than you think. It doesn’t matter where you end up…we’ll find you eventually. It’s either going back, where you can no longer be a harm to society, or death. Those are your two options. You put yourself in that position.” He pulled out a pair of weird-looking handcuffs, which seemed to visibly frighten Errol.

That last statement made my stomach turn.

“And what happens to Catherine, then?” Errol snarled.

“Well, like I said, she knows too much,” the agent said with a sickening smile. “Something would have to be done. There’s something new we’re working on in the lab – a memory wipe. Your little girlfriend could be the perfect guinea pig for that.”

I immediately felt all the blood leave my face. Errol, how are we gonna make it out of this?

Errol, who I assumed heard that thought, turned around and looked at me earnestly. He gave me a reassuring nod. Turning back to the agent, he snarled again. “You people took everything from me. You won’t do it to her too. I won’t let you. You’re not gonna touch her.”

When Errol had had his back turned, the agent scrambled over to where his tranq gun was, picked it up, and aimed it at us and smiled evilly. “Time to go, Errol. You’ve done enough damage as it is.” And without further warning, he fired a shot.

I gave a small scream, but right before my eyes, I saw Errol stare at the dart, which turned around in midair, and lodged itself into the agent’s shoulder. He gave a grunt of pain and surprise, and then crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

I exhaled for the first time in what felt like a long time. I sagged and almost fell forward onto the floor, but ended up in Errol’s arms instead.

“Are you okay?” He asked as he pressed me close to him and kissed the top of my head.

I let out a sob. “Yeah, I’m okay,” I pulled back a little and looked at him. “Thank you.”

He brushed my hair out of my eyes and cradled my face in his hands. “My love, you’ve been protecting me since we met. It’s my turn now.”

I glanced at the unconscious agent on the floor. “Do you think he was telling the truth? Think there are others watching us?”

Errol sighed. “Probably. That’s why we need to leave. Other agents will be here shortly to get him and clean this place up enough to cover their tracks.”

“And where are we gonna go? Not back to my place…?”

“No, there are probably one or two agents in your place right now, ready to ambush us. I know a place we can go. Just until we hear back from your Representative friend.”

“Where is it?”

He sighed again. “You won’t like it, but…it’s a remote cabin up in the mountains. My dad and I used to go hunting up there sometimes.”

“If it’s just for a couple days, I’m fine with that,” I said. “But, will I be able to get cell reception? George is gonna need to be in contact with me.”

“There are solar panels, so it should be okay,” Errol said. “Are you sure?”

“What choice do we have?” I asked. “If it means keeping you out of that snake pit, then yes. I’m sure.”

Errol cupped my cheek in his hand. “Let’s finish packing up.”

“What about him?” I asked, gesturing to the agent’s unconscious body on the floor.

Errol just looked at me.

“Yep, thought so,” I said with a small smile.


After we had packed up everything, Errol grabbed me and we teleported. Next thing I knew, we were inside a very small and rustic, but very nice cabin in what looked like the middle of nowhere. It had two small bedrooms, a shower area, a camp stove, and a seating area. I checked my phone and saw that I was still getting a signal. Not a perfect one, but enough to make and receive phone calls, at least.

“This is actually really nice,” I said. “Kinda chilly, though.”

Errol looked at me. “I actually hadn’t thought of that.” He opened his suitcase and pulled out the jacket I had bought him from Marshall’s, what seemed like forever ago now. “Here.” He wrapped it around me and ran his hands up and down my arms.

“Aren’t you cold too?” I asked him. “It is the mountains, after all.”

He shook his head. “I’m fine, Catherine. I can handle a little cold.” He wrapped his arms around me and we kissed again. “I’m just so sorry.”

I quirked an eyebrow. “What for this time?”

“You know what I’m talking about, Catherine. A few days ago, your life was completely normal. Now…look where you are. Stuck in the middle of nowhere with a reportedly dead man, waiting on a phone call from a politician.”

“Errol, I signed up for this. I knew what the risks were when I took you home with me a few days ago. Come on, give me some credit!”

“Where do you get your strength from?”

I shrugged. “Taking the risk of embarrassing myself when I play my flute on stage?” I chuckled and cocked my head to the side. “Maybe it builds character!”

Errol laughed, but then sighed and looked deep in my eyes. “You know, you’re right. It is a little cold here. I think I know of another way we can warm up.”

I raised my eyebrows, knowing exactly what he was talking about. “Are you sure?”

He bent down and let his lips brush mine. “Absolutely,” he whispered. He pushed at the jacket that was around my shoulders until it fell to the ground, and picked me up bridal style.
“I’m ready,” I said.

“Okay, then,” Errol replied as he walked us to the bigger bedroom.

Once we were back there, he gently placed me on the bed. My heart was pounding in anticipation of what was coming next. He buried his hands in my hair and our lips met yet again, and he pulled me onto his lap. He pulled me so close to him that I had to wrap my legs around his back. We moved in such perfect sync with each other, like we were literally made for each other. Hands and lips explored what eyes couldn’t see in the dark room. As we continued along, I wasn’t even sure who was removing what, only that all semblance of clothing needed to be gone.

“Anytime you get uncomfortable, or wanna stop…” he panted, “…just say the word. I don’t wanna hurt you.”

“No,” I said. “You won’t. I just want you, Errol. I love you. Go on, sweetheart, it’s okay.”

And he did. I could safely say that that was the single best night of my thirty-three-year-old life. It was everything I wanted.
He was everything I ever wanted. And more.


The next time I woke up, sunlight was shining through the small cabin windows. It took me a minute to remember the events of the previous day, but I had no trouble remembering the handsome, still-sleeping man next to me, and what we did right before we went to sleep. We were a tangled mess of limbs and blankets. The incident with the Ultra agent the night before seemed like a distant memory.

However, as happy as I was, I knew that more danger lurked just around the corner. I knew that George would live up to his promise and call me in two days, but I hoped and prayed constantly that he would be calling me with good news. But…one question did remain: even if he did, and Ultra was destroyed and the Citadel was exposed and shut down, and AzCorp exposed for the corrupt organization they really were, what did that mean for Errol? On paper, he was deceased. How would he have a life again? That would be something else for George to help us sort out.

I sat up and stretched. Looking over at Errol and seeing how peaceful he finally looked, I decided to let him sleep. He didn’t wake up once throughout the night. It seemed to me that he finally had a night of peace after so long of untold horror being done to him.
Smiling at that, I got up and put on Errol’s shirt – which was pretty big on me – adjusted the comforter more comfortably over him, and walked down the hall to where the camp stove was.
I had left my phone on the table there. Checking it, I saw that I had a few missed texts from Mom and Drew – benign, regular “How are you?” texts. I answered them, telling them I was fine, just swamped, and that I’d talk to them when things settle down. I also had a message from Kristen, asking me how I was feeling. Keeping up with the lie I had told her, I responded, saying I still felt like total crap, but that I would probably be well enough to get back on the clock on Monday. Other than that, nothing – no missed calls from George (not that I had expected any just yet), or anyone else.

Checking the time, I saw it was just after nine-thirty. I checked the cooler to see what I could make us for breakfast. There was a little bacon left, but I decided to go with the frozen waffles instead. There was no toaster, but there was a pan on the stove. So, I would have to get creative.

After scrubbing the pan clean and heating up the stove, I threw some butter in, followed by the waffles. Once they were (hopefully) done, I tossed them onto a couple plates. I then started brewing some coffee. I knew it wouldn’t be as good this way versus a coffee maker, but…desperate times.
When that was just about done, I saw Errol walk in, wearing one of the other shirts I had gotten him.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he said as he came over to me and cradled my face. He pulled me in for a kiss. He then looked me up and down. “I like that shirt much better on you than me.”

“Morning, handsome,” I replied with a grin.

“You know, one of these days, you’re gonna wake up to find me making you breakfast.”

I nodded and laughed. “Oh yeah, sweetheart. Tomorrow, you’re on pancake duty!”

We sat down and enjoyed our breakfast, like any normal couple would.

Well, aside from the “being in hiding because a secret covert government operation was looking for us” part.