"Welcome to the Middle Ages." I trembled in fear as he said these words. "You certainly have been a very naughty little girl, Carmen," he drawled. "Running away from us was not a very good idea, dear." Marcus shook his head and clucked his tongue. "And look what's come of it." HIs gaze landed on my now flat stomach. Pain and anger curled through me. "You're no longer pregnant. How hard that must've been for you, losing your child. I'm sure you and Austin were just devastated."
I watched suspiciously as he paced in front of me. "You could have prevented it, you know. It's your fault that you lost that baby. If you hadn't left then this would've never happened. That baby would still be alive." My stomach clenched as I realized the truth of his words. It was my fault. All my fault.
"But it's too late now. The baby is gone. Let's now dwell on the past. I'm going to give you a choice," Marcus said, stopping his pacing and coming to stand in front of me. "If you marry and me and have my child then I might not kill you. But, if you refuse, then you die. And I'll bring Austin here to watch everything we do to you. And trust me, dear. It will be... very... painful," he said.
This can't be happening! Can I EVER be happy?! Every time it starts to look like I can actually be happy with Austin or that things will start getting better, in walks Marcus to ruin it all. I hate him with every fiber of my being! I know Austin probably wouldn't be happy with this, but there was no way in hell that I was going to have this man's child or marry him.
"I would rather die than marry you," I spat at him. His triumphant expression turned to rage at my words and I cowered back as his expression grew darker and darker. The guard was still holding me so I couldn't get away.
"Then die you will," Marcus hissed menacingly, whirling on the spot. He disappeared from view a few seconds later.
The guard's hands suddenly tightened around my arms and I was dragged over to the wall where was I chained up. I looked around the room to see it entirely vacant. Other than those corpuses. I waited, but nobody came. Hours passed it seemed before somebody finally entered the room. It was Marcus. I was shocked to see two guards walk in behind him carrying a very beaten up Austin.
"Austin!" I called to him, wanting to run and wrap my arms around his waist. I looked at his wounds in horror. How dare they do this to the man I loved! At the sound of my voice Austin's head raised to look at me. His eyes were swollen and he looked miserable. At the sight of me Austin snarled.
"Let her go, Marcus!" Austin roared, struggling against the guards.
"Marcus? What happened to father?"
"You are no father to me," Austin said in a deadly tone, glaring at Marcus with his fangs jutting out of his mouth.
Marcus glared back evilly at his son and then hissed at one of the guards, "Do it."
I watched in fear as the redheaded guard walked over to the different torture devises that seemed to all have come from the Middle Ages. And they probably did. Horror flashed through me as he grabbed a spiked flail (description: It has a wooden handle with a long chain attached. On the end of a chain is a sliver balls with several spikes covering it."
Holy crap! I thought those were used to break through armor. Why the hell would he choose to use that one on me?! The guard held up his weapon and looked at Marcus. He nodded his approval and the guard turned back to me, smirking.
"You've turned my son against me. Now you're going to pay!" Marcus sneered.
I braced myself as the guard raised the weapon to his side and the flicked it towards me. I screamed as the spiky ball hit me square in the chest. It stuck there and the guard yanked it down, ripping my torso open. I could barely hear Austin's agonized cry over my own. I couldn't believe they were doing this to me. What did I do to deserve this? What did I do to be born?!
"Stop it! Let. Her. GO!" came Austin's furious yell as I screamed and sobbed. Blood poured down my body. My shredded shirt hung limply from my body. I had three deep, long gashes running from the top of my neck down to below my bellybutton. I had never felt so much pain before! I wanted to die so badly. I couldn't stand this. I wanted the pain to end. It had to end. It had to.
I was startled to feel a sudden tingling in my stomach. It felt like my entire stomach was heating up. It felt good! I looked down to see that my stomach was glowing. Whoa! How is that happening? It glowed a bright blue with white flecks in it, like orbs. There was a flash and then suddenly my wounds sealed together, leaving behind only a faint ache. I stared at where the cuts had been just seconds before, amazed. What just happened? How is that possible? What does this mean?
Whatever it was, I was extremely grateful for. The pain was almost completely gone now. It looks like I finally got something I asked for. My pain had ended. But how? I looked up to see that everyone was staring at me. Austin looked perplexed and awed at the same time, Marcus looked outraged, the guards looked simply dumbfounded.
"What did you do? How did that happen?!" Marcus roared, echoing my thoughts. I stared at him and shrugged the best I could in the chains without saying anything. I honestly didn't know. I don't even think I did that. Last I checked, I didn't have the ability to heal myself. I had absolutely no idea how this was even possible.
Marcus came over and examined my stomach. I tried not to cringe from the proximity. I did flinch when he touched where my wounds had been before. His skin was cold and hard. It repulsed me.
Marcus looked up at me when I thought this and his eyes flashed red. Snarling he backed away from me.
"No matter," he said. "You can heal your wounds all you want. It'll still be fun to create them. Guards, get me a weapon!" The guards scurried off to do his bidding and Marcus came to whisper in my ear. "This time, I'll cut you so deep there will be nothing left to heal. You shouldn't have done that, stupid girl. I'm done being merciful to you. You've crossed the line," he snarled. I cringed away and he lifted his head, taking the weapon the guard was handing him now.
I don't know what I did to make him so mad. I had never done anything wrong. I always seem to be punished for other people's mistakes. It was Austin's idea to leave, not that I blamed him for anything. It was my mom who died and I payed for it. It wasn't fair. Of course, I didn't wish harm for either Austin or my mom, but I wish that harm wouldn't come to me for what wasn't my fault. Life was so cruel to me.
Austin was snarling again, growling as his father raised his weapon. It was a spear with a jagged end. I closed my eyes when he raised it over his head, aiming straight for my stomach. There was no way I was going to survive this. Realizing this, I quickly opened my eyes and met Austin's. He was staring at me with an agonized expression, fear and rage written all over his face. I tried to tell him everything with his eyes. I tried to tell him that I loved him and that I was sorry and that I was going to die. I tried to tell him that he had to let me go. That he had to move on after my life was over. I wasn't worth him being in pain. He should just forget about me. I hoped that he did. I hope that everyone just forgot about my miserable life here. I hope they act like I never even existed. That would be easiest for everyone.
Austin seemed to have gotten everything that I was trying to express to him and his struggling became even fiercer. He was shaking his head with tears in his eyes. He stared at me with a pleading expression, begging me not to leave him. I will hate myself forever for hurting him, but there was nothing I could do. Marcus was about to kill me. He would throw that dagger at me and I will barely even have time to register the pain before it takes me under. I know I will never resurface.
'I love you,' I mouthed to him. My last words. My last sight. I would keep my eyes on Austin. He would be the last thing I saw before I died. And I would die happy.
"Carmen!" he screamed. It was filled with so much pain and despair that everyone turned to look at him for a second, even Marcus. He shook his head ruefully and tsked in disapproval then turned right back around and aimed his spear again. I took one last glance at Austin and then closed my eyes, keeping his image at the front of my brain.
I head the whoosh of air as Marcus threw the spear and Austin's agonized scream. This was it, this was it, I thought. Suddenly, my whole body heated up again and then a shock jolted through me. It seemed to come from my stomach. I heard a loud clatter and then silence. Nothing. I waited for a few seconds, but it was still silent.
I opened one eye and then another to see that everyone was staring at my stomach. I looked down, confused, and gasped. My stomach had a small blue bubble protruding from it. It seemed to be glowing, pulsing with energy. The spear lay at my feet, a few inches from my body. What happened now?
Looking up again I saw that everyone was now staring at me. Austin's confused look soon turned to one of immense relief. Marcus was going more enraged by the second.
"WHAT IS THIS!" he roared. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
"Nothing, I swear!" I said, looking down at the bubble surrounding my stomach. It grew heated at my touch and turned a faint pick. I stared at it in wonder. Then when I looked up at Austin again, who met my gaze with much the same expression, the bubble grew cold. I looked to see that it was blue again.
"Make it go away or I'll kill your beloved Austin," Marcus roared, taking a dagger that was lying in the shadows, and holding it to Austin's throat. Austin grew taught and angled his head away from the knife, his throat straining away.
I panicked, afraid for the love of my life, and suddenly my stomach felt like it was practically on fire. I yelped and looked down to see that it was slowly turning a bright red. It got hotter and hotter and I squirmed uncomfortable. It wasn't exactly causing me pain, but it didn't feel good either. Any hotter and it would probably scald my skin. Flames suddenly burst from the red bubble, shooting across the room and catching Marcus's black cloak on fire.
He screamed and tried to shrug out of his cloak, but he couldn't get it off. The flames spread startlingly fast, covering his entire body, catching his hair on fire. It spread and spread, burning his face, his clothes turning to ashes. Marcus screamed in agony, causing my ears to ache.
"Help me, you fools!" he shouted to the guards holding Austin. They made the mistake of releasing him and walking over to Marcus, trying to remove the cloak through the flames that were engulfing him. Austin crouched and prepared to launch at them, but suddenly both of the guards cried out in pain as the fire easily spread to them, covering their entire bodies in less than a second. Wow, I've never seen fire spread so quickly. The other two guards in the room just stood there and watched, panicked.
"Jethrow, get me some water, you fucking idiot!" Marcus managed to yell from behind his wall of flames. One of the two guards that were not burning- the really ugly blonde one- darted out of the room. He came back about two seconds later with a full pan of water and dumped it on Marcus. It did absolutely nothing to put out the flames.
"WHAT KIND OF FIRE IS THIS?!" Marcus roared while Jethrow looked perplexed.
Suddenly, Marcus exploded. He turned into a red and black ball of flames and then completely went out, leaving behind only black scorch marks on the walls. Austin was frozen in his half-crouch, looking at the spot where his father had burst into flames with an unreadable expression. I didn't have time to ponder his emotions, because at that moment the two guard's agonized screams grew louder and louder until the walls practically shook and then they, too, burst into a ball of flames before completely disappearing. The stones on the walls glowed faintly from where the the flames had melted them, catching some of them on fire, too. It was too cold in here to last, though. The fire on the walls immediately went out, leaving melted rocks behind.
All was quiet for a second while everyone stood frozen, shocked by what just happened. When Jethrow dropped the pot that had held water previously, everyone seemed to thaw out. Austin immediately went into action, attacking Jethrow. They had a good brawl, rolling around on the floor and practically beating each other's brains out. I started to get scared. Austin seemed almost puny next to Jethrow. He could get hurt.
There was a loud crash and I looked to see that Austin had slammed Jethrow up against the wall. His expression was one like I had never seen before. He was so furious he looked practically possessed, evil. Austin dug is fangs into Jethrow's neck viciously and started to suck down the blood. A moment later, Jethrow dropped to the floor, dead. Austin turned on the last guard next, his fangs out and his eyes red. The guard, sensing the danger, tried to run, but Austin was too fast. He had him down on the floor in a second, sucking the life out of him. When he was dead Austin leaned back on his haunches. He didn't move for a few seconds. He just sat there, with his back to me. I couldn't see his expression, but I was sure it was murderous.
My heart ached for him. It must have been so hard to watch his father die like that. Sure, his father was vile and cruel and tried to kill him, but it was still his father. The man who raised him. I know that, no matter what my own father did to me, it would kill me to watch him die right before my eyes. Austin must be in agony. And I was the one who killed him. I may not have done it intentionally, but whatever I had going on with my stomach killed his father. He must hate me.
I looked down at my stomach to see that the protective bubble was now purple. It seemed to be growing smaller. I watched it as it slowly disappeared, dissolving into me until it just left a slight purple glow on my skin. I wonder what it is. Do I have a power of something? How is that even possible? And why would I be getting it now, when I could've gotten it so many other times? Like the time when Austin's father whipped me, or the many times that my father beat me. Why now?
I pondered over this for a few minutes, but came up with no solution. I looked up to see that Austin still hadn't moved. He wasn't looking at me, just staring off into the distance. I was getting really uncomfortable and cold though so I decided that it was time to interrupt his thought process. I would give him time and space later. I knew he would need it. I would leave him alone for how ever long it took for him to recover. I would even understand if he never wanted to see me again. I killed his only family. Well, at least I think I did. He never spoke of his mother and I had never seen her. Maybe she died. He's all alone now. I'm the only one he's got left. And he might not even want me now. He was the only one that I have left, too. I could never go back to my father's house. My mom and sister were dead. Who did that leave me with? No body. No body but him.
"Austin," I called timidly. I was afraid that at the sound of my voice he would fly into a rage or something. But all he did was jump a little, like he had forgotten I was here and I had frightened him. Slowly he got off the ground and turned to look at me. His expression was blank so I couldn't tell if he hated me or not. We both just stood there for a minute, staring at each other. I barely even dared to breathe. There was a long silence and then he suddenly rushed towards, breaking me free from my chains in less than a second.
Austin crushed me in his arms, knocking the breath out of me as he held me tightly to him. If he didn't let go of me soon he was seriously going to break a rib. I felt a tiny little warm feeling in my stomach and then a jolt of power run through me and suddenly Austin let go of me.
"Why did you push me away?" he asked when I stared at his dumbfounded, hurt expression.
"I didn't," I said. "You let go of me."
"No, I didn't. You-" he suddenly cut off and looked at my stomach with wide eyes. What was it doing now? I looked down to see that it the bubble had grown out again, not so big this time. It was blue again. I wonder why it changes colors. It immediately retracted at our stares. That was really odd.
"What is that thing?" Austin whispered, still staring at my half exposed stomach. The cuts may have healed, but my shirt sure hadn't.
"I don't know," I answered back with just as much awe and wonder in my voice. "Look, Austin, I-I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"Don't worry about. Come one, we'll talk about it later. We have to get out of here," Austin said, coming over to scoop me up. I still wondered if he was mad at me or not. At Austin's advance my stomach glowed again, but the bubble didn't pop out. It just seemed to be on it's guard.
"I won't hurt you," Austin said. "You don't need to put that thing up."
"I can't control it. It just does that on its own," I said, rubbing my stomach. It grew pink at much touch. I wonder why I'm able to touch it.
"It won't hurt me or anything will it?" Austin asked, pausing with his arms half extended before picking me up.
"I honestly don't know. I don't think it will, though," I said. As if to back me up the glowing grew even fainter, almost disappearing, but not quite. "I think it's safe."
Austin cradled me in his arms and then everything went black. A moment later, Austin's room at his own house came into view. First the beige walls, then the wooden bed with matching white and beige sheets, messed up from last nights activities. I blushed as I thought of those. Then there was a rush of cold air and we were standing on the carpet of his bedroom.
Austin walked over to his bed and set me down. I climbed in and got settled, but Austin didn't join me. I looked up at him and worry returned. His expression was completely blank.
"Are you mad at me?" I asked him in a quiet voice.
"Mad at you?!" Austin said, his voice astounded and confused. "Why would I be mad at you?"
"I killed your father," I whispered, looking away. There was silence for a second and then Austin climbed into the bed next to me, taking me into his arms.
"It's alright. You had to do it. He was going to kill me. And he almost killed you. Beside, it wasn't really you, it was that bubble thing. Not that I blame it. It saved both of our lives."
I smiled and my stomach suddenly glowed again. It was a bright purple, brighter than before in the dungeons, with pink mixed into it. Hmmm. What could that mean? I stroked it and it grew bigger and hotter, warm against my sweaty skin. Suddenly, Austin froze and I looked up to see his expression. He was staring at the bubble with a mixture of fear and anxiety. The fear faded after a few seconds, turning to a tiny joy, but the anxiety was still there. And getting stronger. He was actually starting to look panicked.
"Austin?" I asked, reaching up to stroke his face. "What is it?"
"Carmen, I think we should go get that pregnancy test now," he said, never taking his eyes off of my swirling, colorful stomach.
"Why? You don't think that I'm-" I never finished that sentence. I cut my words off, looking down at my stomach. The colors seemed to be swirling around in the small bubble, playing. It pulsed and throbbed with energy, but I barely felt it. Oh no. Oh no, no, no. This can't be happening again! I can't be pregnant again! I can't take failing again!
Tears welled up in my eyes and poured down my cheeks. Austin, upon seeing them, wiped them away with frantic fingers and pulled my face up to look at him.
"What is it? Why are you crying?" he asked me.
"I can't do it, Austin. I can't be pregnant again. I can't take losing another baby. I just can't!" I wailed, sobbing into his chest. His hands rubbed my back soothingly, trying to calm me down. He shushed me and rocked me, but my grief didn't ebb. I hadn't had time to deal with losing my first baby. Now, all of a sudden, I have to take care of another one. What if I lose it again? I wouldn't be able to handle that. It would destroy me.
"It's okay. You might not be pregnant. And if you are then we'll go back to the castle so that the nurses can take care of you and the baby properly. My father won't be there and neither will Jethrow, so you won't get hurt. It'll all be okay. I promise."
That made me feel slightly better, but the tears kept coming. I was too young for this. I couldn't do it. I had no idea how to be a mother. I was still just a kid myself.
"And I'll be King now, so I can make sure that everyone has orders not to touch you and that you get the finest nurses in the entire world. And when the baby is born we'll the get the best babysitters there are. We'll be able to handle this. Trust me," Austin said, still trying to comfort me. I froze when he reminded me of him becoming King.
"I'm sorry, Austin. Not only did I kill your father, but I made you become King. I know that's not what you want. I'm so, so sorry," I said, my voice breaking. What if he doesn't forgive me? And now I might be pregnant. I would have nowhere to go if he didn't want me anymore.
"It's okay, Carmen. I don't mind. This is a good thing, really. I have the power to make sure that we are completely safe now. I'll just have a few more responsibilities. It's time I grew up and learned to handle them."
I sighed and shook my head, but chose not to argue with him. Right now I was more interested in finding out if I was pregnant or not.
"Alright. If you say so. And I'll help you in any way possible." He smiled at me and I smiled back, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Can I ask you a favor?" I asked.
"Anything," he said.
"Can we go buy a pregnancy test. I want to be sure about this. I would hate to assume and then just have my hopes crushed when I find out that this is just some freaky magic crap or something."
Austin chuckled and nodded. "Sure, let's go." He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the bed. "Get dressed first, though. You'll scare the living daylights out of someone if they saw you looking like that," he said, his eyes raking over my body. I looked down to see that my shirt was ripped and bloody and my I had no pants on, but my legs and panties were covered in blood.
"You're right," I said, going over to my bag and retrieving a pair of clean jeans and a black shirt with random blue swirls over all over it. "I'm going to go take a shower and clean up."
"Okay, I'll be waiting," Austin said, pulling on his own clean clothes. I looked at him and noticed that his face was slightly swollen from being hit so many times, but he seemed to already be healing. His shirt, too, was ripped and bloodied. I watched as he took it off and gasped at what I saw underneath. There were cuts and bruises covering it, some still open and bleeding, others already starting to heal. Austin heard my gasp and turned to look at me.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Your chest. It's so-" I was at a loss for words. It really did look horrible. Austin smiled shyly and pulled a new shirt on quickly.
"It's alright. Vampires heal fast. By the end of the day I'll be back to normal." I shook my head at his nonchalance. "Really, I'm fine. Now go take a shower so we can go," he said in a demanding voice.
"Hmph. I can tell you're going to make a great King," I said in a disgruntled voice, but obeyed his command. I heard him chuckle as I walked out of his room and into the bathroom that was right down the hall.
I closed the door behind me and turned to look in the mirror. My hair was tangled and messed up. My face was dirty and slightly bruised, but other than that it was fine. I had large circles under my eyes and my skin looked pale and fragile. My hair was dry and brittle. I really needed to start eating more. I stripped off my ruined clothes and jumped into the warm shower. It felt so good against my dirty, sweaty skin. There was already shampoo and conditioner in here. That was good, because I didn't bring any with me. I was in the middle of scrubbing the shampoo in my hair with my eyes closed against the soothing feeling, when I heard a voice.
"Hey."
I jumped and gave a startled scream, opening my eyes. Austin stood there in front of my, completely naked, with an amused look on his face. The bubble on my stomach grew a little, turning a dark blue.
"Watch it! It's just me," Austin said, holding up his hands. I put a hand over my racing heart and took deep breaths to calm myself. The bubble slowly started to grow smaller and then disappeared completely. Austin smiled as he saw this and took a step forward to wrap his arms around me.
"What are you doing in here?" I hissed at him.
"I needed a shower, too."
"So why didn't you just wait until I got out?" I asked him, though at the same time I cuddled into his chest.
"Well, you know what they say about wasting water. I was just trying to help the planet out a bit."
"Oh," I said, faking disappointment. "And here I thought you had gotten in here to see me. I guess that planet is more important to you, though. I understand."
"No! Of course I got in here to see you. I was just joking. I-" I chuckled and raised up on my tiptoes to kiss him, cutting off his babble.
"I was kidding, Austin," I said, smiling against his lips. He sighed and pressed me roughly into his chest, kissing me fiercely. I smiled into his anxious kiss and pulled away.
"No," Austin growled, trying to pull my lips back to his, but I held him off.
"There's is plenty of time for that later. Right now I want to get through with this shower so that I can find out if I'm pregnant or not," I said, turning to find the conditioner.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Austin sighed, looking disappointed. I grinned and started to reach around him for the conditioner, but he grabbed it before I could and poured it into his hand.
"What are you doing?" I asked as he started to scrub it into my hair.
"Washing your hair," he said in a duh sort of tone.
"I'm perfectly capable of washing my own hair," I said, but made no move to stop him. The way his fingers were messaging my scalp felt so good.
"Just be quiet and enjoy it," he said, continuing to move his hands expertly over my head. I giggled and rested my head on his chest, wrapping my arms around his waist until he was finished. He moved his hands from my hair to the side of his face, getting soap all over it, and angled my face up so that he could kiss my lips.
"Okay, you can wash it out now." I moved under the water and rinsed all of the conditioner out while Austin lather up his own hair. He rinsed out the shampoo from his dark locks and I grabbed a bar of soap and started to scrub my body with it. We both finished the rest of our shower quickly, suddenly in a hurry to get out. I was beginning to get a little anxious and I could tell that Austin was nervous, too. He switched the water off and picked me up in his arms, stepping out into the steamy bathroom. He dried my body off slowly with a towel and then wrapped his own body in one. I quickly towel dried my hair and slipped my clothes on, following Austin into the bedroom while he got dressed.
About twenty minutes later we were both finished and ready to go. Austin came over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling my back to his chest. Then he transported us out of the house. When the store started to come into view I looked up at Austin. He had transported twice today. He must be exhausted. But when I glanced at his face he didn't seem tired at all.
"You're getting better at this," I noted.
"Better at what?" he asked.
"At transporting. You usually seem so tired when you do that. You don't look tired at all and you've transported twice today."
He cocked his head, seeming to think my words through and then smiled. "Hmm, I guess I have. How observant of you," he said. He seemed to be happy that he had gotten better at something. I don't blame him. So much bad has happened. It was about time something good came of it.
I looked around to see that we had transported in the woods, right outside the store. We were behind a tree now. Austin took my hand and led me forward, strolling into the parking lot casually. Like walking through the woods to get to places was normal. People stared at us, walking hand in hand, emerging from the trees. I noticed some women staring at honest and heat bubbled up inside me. I noticed my stomach start to turn red a little and I quickly covered it with my hands, hiding behind Austin before anyone could see.
"What's wrong?" he asked me.
"Nothing. My stomach is just acting up a little bit. It was turning red."
"Do you think anyone saw?"
"No, I covered it up before they could. It's going away now," I said.
"Good. Just stay behind me while we're in here, okay?"
"Alright." Austin led me inside the store, still holding my hand in front of him. It was kind of awkward walking like this and I had to work on not stepping on his heels, but we eventually made it to the pharmacy section. Austin bent down and started looking at through the shelves. My stomach had stopped glowing now, but I was still cautious. I made sure not to look around and see if any women were staring at him.
"Here," Austin said, handing me a box that had a picture of a women holding a baby and smiling. The baby in her arms was so cute. Warmth curled through my stomach and I smiled at the picture.
"That's a nice picture," I said, still staring at the woman and her baby. I suddenly really hoped I was pregnant. I longed to be like that, holding my baby in my arms and smiling a small that was as big and happy as hers. I'm sure that if I had a baby I would be truly happy for once.
"It is. That'll be you, someday real soon," Austin said, putting an arm around my shoulder and one on my waist while looking at the picture with me. We both just stood there for a second before I started to get really impatient.
"Alright, let's go already," I said, breaking free of Austin's grip and practically flying towards the front desk. Austin chuckled and followed after me.
I was surprised to see Austin come up behind me, holding chips, crackers, a few bottles of medicine, and some other various items. I looked at him, puzzled. What was all that for?
"If your pregnant, you're going to be craving a lot of food. I'm just preparing," he said. I quirked an eyebrow, but didn't comment. I looked at the medicine suspiciously, but he didn't explain about that.
We payed for everything and left. I dragged Austin across the parking lot and into the trees, not caring what other people thought. I was so nervous I could barely stand still. Austin wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly to his chest, and transported us back home. He had brought us straight into the bathroom.
"I'll go put this stuff in the kitchen. You read the directions on how to work this thing," Austin said, tossing the box to me. I nodded and tore it open while he walked out quickly.
I started reading the directions on the back. It seemed like all I had to do was pee on it. And then wait five minutes. Just five minutes. That's all. I took the pregnancy test out of the cardboard and kicked off my pants quickly, sitting down on the toilet. I didn't necessarily have to pee, but I forced some out. I peed on the end of the little stick and then set it on the counter. I had just pulled my pants up when Austin walked in.
"Well? Did you do it yet?" he asked, looking nearly as impatient as I felt.
"You have to wait five minutes for it to work," I said. He groaned and I laughed.
"It won't be that bad," I said, taking his hands and pulling him out of the bathroom. "Let's see, it's already been about one minute since I peed on the little stick thing so really we only have to wait four minutes. Let's got get something to eat. I'm starving," I said.
Austin nodded and took me to the kitchen. It was small and homey. The perfect kitchen for a family. It had an island in the middle with a basket full of fruit and bar stools surrounding it. The counters were a beige colored wood and the cabinets were stained the same color. There was a small, two sided sink and no dishwasher. There was a wine cabinet in one corner and wine glasses hung from under one of the cabinets. There was a large refrigerator that was built into the walls. I went ran over and flung open the door, immediately pulling out turkey, cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, and chocolate syrup.
I spotted the bread box and yanked it open, pulling the white bread out of it. I was suddenly ravenous for some reason. I undid the twisty tie with some difficulty and then yanked out two pieces of bread. I went through all of the drawers like a wild animal until I finally found the silverware. I took a knife and unscrewed the cap on the mayonnaise, dropping a big glop of it onto the bread and spreading it around. The I squeezed a whole crap load of mustard onto the other piece and took the cheese out of the wrapper, placing it on top of the mustard. The turkey went onto the mayonnaise. Then I opened the chocolate syrup and doused my sandwich with it. Mmmmm. That looked so good!
I took a bite of it and chewed slowly. It wasn't until after I had swallowed and was about to take another bite that I noticed Austin staring at me with an odd look on his face. He scrunched his nose up at the sandwich.
"What?" I asked.
"Well, if you're not pregnant, then we definitely need to take you to the doctor," Austin commented.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Chocolate syrup on a turkey sandwich? That is so gross."
"Hey! It's good and I like it! Stop being mean to my sandwich!" I yelled at him, tears coming into my eyes. How could he insult my sandwich that way. It tasted so good. And he insulted me! That bastard.
"Carmen, don't cry. I'm sorry, okay. I didn't mean to insult your sandwich. I'm sure it tastes very good," Austin said, coming over to pull me into his arms. For some reason I started sobbing into his chest.
"I'm s-s-sorry," I said. "I don't know what's gotten into me," I said, trying to stop my tears.
"I do," Austin said.
"What?" I asked, surprised.
"I think a baby is what got into you. Come on, it's been five minutes. Let's go see the results to that pregnancy test."
I nodded and took his hand, darting up trough the halls. Austin kept up with me easily as I ran into the bathroom. I snatched the stick up from the counter and stared at it.
"What does it say?" Austin asked me.
I didn't answer him. I don't think I could. I couldn't move. I just stood there, frozen, staring at the test.
"Carmen? Are you alright? What does it say?" The worry in his voice was evident, but I still couldn't move to reassure him that everything was alright. Because I wasn't sure if everything was. Everything could be completely wrong. My hand dropped to my stomach, the pregnancy test falling out of my hands. Tears welled up into my eyes again and fell silently down my cheeks. All I could see was that one word on that tiny stick.
It was positive.