Two Souls

Katrina Anza

Fort Wayne wasn't the smallest town in Indiana, but it wasn't the biggest either. Personally, I liked that middle-ground. I loved the open wilderness, but there wasn't any work there - even for someone like myself. Though some professional and successful authors could sit up in a cottage home on their own land, they were more successful than me. I was far from those poor people who had damn good ideas nobody would publish, but I wasn't winning any awards or buying estates any time soon.

The house, like the town, wasn't huge and extravagant. It was a single bedroom, single floor home with one bathroom. The kitchen was nice, as was the dining room, though the living room a little small for my tastes. The bedroom made up for it; it was large enough to put my computer, queen-size bed and dresser in with space to spare. I'd put my bookshelf in there instead of the living room, which only had a couch, chair, dog bed and the stand for the TV and PS3.

I popped a tape into the VCR recorder hooked up to my home security system. The alarm was set. With my Akita, Ryu, lying down gnawing happily on a bone after patrolling the entire property, I put in a microwave meal of rice and veggies in. I'd just sat down with supper in hand and Beyond Two Souls started on my PS3 when I spotted a young woman walking toward my door with something wrapped in tin foil in her hands.

Appearing to be in her early twenties, the young woman had long, wavy platinum blonde hair. With Ryu sitting perfectly still, I opened the door on her first knock. Her ice blue eyes in her beautiful, round face had me intake a sharp breath.

She's gorgeous.

"Hello." She sounded a little surprised. Giving Ryu a dismissive glance, she held out her package. "I'm Serenity Macy. We live across the street and I decided to say hi. It's a little silly, but I brought over some baked catfish. I thought maybe you were too busy to cook."

By the time she'd finished I'd somehow regained some sense of reality and heard half of what she said. Inwardly kicking myself in the ass for staring, I cleared my throat. "I'm Katrina Anza. That's very kind-"

"Katrina Anza? The author?" Her eyes lit up, making my heart flutter.

What are the chances?

"Yes. I take it you're a fan?"

"Hell yeah! I

love

your books! Though, you could stop hurting your main characters so much!"

"They have to get hurt. If they don't, they won't be strong enough."

"Strength doesn't just come from pain."

"No. Their real strength always comes from the love. But the pain makes them prepared for the world I cast them into, and helps them find the people they love."

Her eyes sparkled in a way I'd only seen from my fans. "You're SO awesome! Your biography was so small, I didn't know - I mean, I couldn't even

guess

what you were like!" She gushed.

She's so damn sexy, even gushing like a school girl.

"Why don't you come in and have a drink?" I hesitated. "Um, that is, if you're old enough."

Her face went bright red and the gushing became irritation. "I'm twenty-five!"

I couldn't help but laugh. "You'll appreciate looking young when you're my age."

"You can't be much older than me!" She fumed.

"I'm five years older." I assured her. "Come on in for a drink. I didn't mean to offend you."

Cooling a little, she glanced toward the white house across the street. "I don't know. Sonya will be home from school soon..."

Oh. She has kids...she did say we. She's probably married.

"That's fine. Thanks for the catfish. I'm tired of TV dinners."

"TV dinners? You can't survive on that stuff!" She shook her head.

"I think I'll have to actually shop sometime soon." I agreed with a chuckle. "If I can ever find my way around, that is."

"I can show you around if you'd like." She thought a moment. "I'm off work Saturday, and Sonya will be at her friend's all weekend. I'll show you around town, and then I'll come over for a drink."

As she handed me the fish, I glanced at her ring finger. My heart leapt into my throat to see no ring.

Is she divorced? Was she ever married? How young is Sonya? Obviously old enough to stay with a friend. Five, six years old then?

"I'll see you then." I replied happily. Either way, she was taking up my offer.

She lingered a moment before leaving. I watched her ass. When she turned around, she gave a soft smile. Knowing I'd been caught staring, I waved and shut the door.

Serenity Macy

I shut the door tightly behind me, trying to hide the smile on my face. Going into the kitchen, I saw my boyfriend pouring himself a glass of scotch, and the smile disappeared.

"Nate, Sonya will be home soon. I really would appreciate if you didn't start drinking." I complained awkwardly.

"It's just one drink." He grumbled as he put the bottle away.

Damn it. That alcohol will counter his medication. I can't have Sonya around him if he flips out.

Memory of the video camera I'd seen at Katrina's made me wish I'd accepted her offer to come over.

I'm not drinking around Sonya though. She gets scared because of Nate.

"So I met the new neighbor."

"Really? Is she nice?"

"Yeah. She's the author of my favorite books."

"She tell you that while looking you up?" He growled, grabbing me by my waist to jerk me against him.

I swallowed hard. "Even if she

did

like women, she's not going to openly stare at a mother's ass." I told him quietly.

"Does she know you're mine?"

"We talked about fish, not relationships." I replied firmly, trying to pull away.

He jerked me closer, holding me harder. "You sure as hell better make sure you let her know you're not a free woman, bitch." Forcefully kissing me, he released me roughly. "Make that brat supper."

"She's our daughter,

not a brat."

I finally snapped.

He whipped around to slap me across the face

hard

, sending me back several steps as it split my lip. Holding my jaw and spitting blood, I apologized quietly and started to cook. Knowing the scotch would make him too sick to eat, I started macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. Maybe it'd cheer Sonya up; since it was clear our neighbor didn't have kids.

She was hoping they wouldn't bully her like the others.

Recalling the dog, I briefly wondered if it would play with her.

Big dogs have really big teeth, and it didn't act too friendly. No jumping, barking, and tail wagging.

Then again, the dog had seemed alert, but not aggressive. Maybe it was just well-trained. Just as dinner was hitting the table, there was a honk outside. I came out to see the bus pulling to a stop. Sonya was allowed out. Squealing, the seven year old took a flying leap into my arms. I stumbled back, but still managed to catch her well enough to spin her and lower her to the ground.

"How was your day, sweetie?"

"We learned subtraction! It was fun!"

"You like subtraction?" I asked with a laugh.

"Yeah! It's even more fun than addition! If you gave me three cookies, and I eat two, there's only one left!"

"So if I give you five dollars, and daddy gives you three, how much money do you have?"

She thought a moment. I was impressed that she didn't use her hands. "Eight!"

"Very good! You're really smart, Sonya! Are you hungry? We're having mac and cheese with hot dogs."

The door opened across from us, and out came Katrina. She was in jogging slacks, a T-shirt and a headband. I blinked in surprise to see her dog wasn't leashed, but took off jogging at her heel without glancing at us.

"Doggie!"

"Sonya, don't bother the doggie. He's running with his owner."

"But he's so fluffy!"

"Sonya, you can

ask

to pet the doggie when it's on a leash. You don't know if he bites." Shivers traveled down my spine at the idea of that large of animal sinking his teeth into her, I took her hand before she could disobey.

"Okay mommy. But I wanna pet him later."

"You have to

ask.

And he has to be inside, on a chain or on a leash. Do you understand, Sonya?" I asked firmly, meeting her eyes. "The dog is very big and can hurt you if he bites."

"Okay mommy. I'll ask when he's on a leash, on a chain or inside."

"That's my good little butterfly. Let's go eat, and I'll help you with your homework. Just be quiet; daddy's medicine isn't working."

I glanced back and got a damn good view of her ass.

She's so god-damn sexy.

No wonder; from the way she was jogging, it was a regular thing for her. She probably was one to hit the gym a few times a week.

Now I need a shower!

Instead I took my daughter inside for supper and homework, hoping my boyfriend's mood was going to stay brooding. She didn't say a word during supper, did her homework quietly and when she went to play in her room, we didn't hear her play.

Katrina Anza

It was eight o'clock when Ryu growled at the door. Sighing, I hopped out of the shower. Was it another neighbor welcoming me to the neighborhood with animal flesh?

Maybe somebody will bring me a dead pig next.

When I opened it, however, with Ryu at a sit, I blinked in surprise to see Serenity at my door in the rain. She held a small child's hand. The kid wasn't even wearing shoes - in fact, neither of them were.

"Are you crazy? She's soaked! Ryu, a la cucha!" Ryu headed straight for his cage, allowing me to lock him up. "Get in here before she gets sick!"

"Thank you, Miss Anza." As she came inside, I noticed her lip was split and there was an oddly shaped bruise on her arm.

What the hell happened to her? Was she robbed?

"It's Kat, please." I shut the door, rushing to get a towel for them both. "Get those wet clothes off. I have a shirt that will fit like a nightgown on her, and some clothes in my room that should fit you alright. I'll throw those in the dryer."

"Why's your doggie in the cage?"

"In case one of you was afraid of him. He's a big dog who protects me." I told her calmly. "Have you eaten?"

"Yeah."

I showed them my room. While they were changing I put away all my porn DVD's and anything a child shouldn't watch. It just so happened that I didn't have any children's movies. Or anything safe for kids to watch.

So what do we do?

They came out. Serenity looked awkward as her daughter went to look at Ryu through the cage. "Who's a good doggie? Can you sit doggie?"

"Ryu, sentado!"

The dog sat, making the girl giggle. "That's a funny word."

"Bien. Sentado is Spanish for sit. Bien means good."

Serenity watched with nervous surprise. "Don't reach into his cage, sweetie."

"He won't bite. He's a good dog." I promised. "So why did you drag such a young kid out in the rain without shoes and a coat?"

She bit her lip anxiously. "W-well, I didn't want her home, that's all."

Is something not safe about home?

"Can you let the doggie out?"

I glanced at Serenity. "I'll think about it if your mom calms down. Why don't we watch some TV?"

"Can I watch Pokémon on your phone mommy?"

"Sure honey." She looked beyond relieved as she handed the girl her phone. Of course the child could navigate it, and soon Pokémon's theme song sang from the device. She coiled up on the couch.

Her mother hesitantly followed. "If you want, we could leave..."

"Not at all. She isn't even dressed, and I don't mind the company."

And you didn't have bruises and a split lip a few hours ago.

I replied quickly. "Were you robbed? I can call the police."

"Oh, no, no, I - I'm accident prone." She replied a little hastily without meeting my eyes.

That was

totally

convincing.

While she was watching Pokémon, I put in the most child-safe movie I had; Vanhelsing. Serenity gave me a

seriously

look, glancing at her kid.

"Look, if you saw my movie selection you would thank me."

She raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"I live alone." I reiterated.

"What about family?"

"I was an only child, never married or had kids and the only family I'd speak to live in Madrid."

"Madrid?"

"Spain."

"Oh. You're from Spain?"

"Yes."

"I knew you were Hispanic, but I thought you were from here."

"I've been here for fifteen years, so I only remember things a kid would remember. Well, other than the language. It took me about five years to learn English well enough to properly communicate, especially since there's so much Spanish in America. We were very relieved to be able to do professional things before we had the chance to learn it."

"You didn't learn in Spain?"

"We're taught, but we don't really use it. So after the class it's kind of just forgotten." I offered her a seat, which she hesitantly took. "So where are you from?"

"A tiny town in the southeast part of the state. We moved here when Sonya turned three. There's better education and more jobs in the city."

"We?"

"My boyfriend and I." She said very, very quietly, once again looking away from me.

"O-oh." It was like a slap to the face as I deflated. "Y-you're - you have a boyfriend?"

"Yes. Nate's her father." There was a strange tone to her voice - one I couldn't quite place. "I - I can...leave, if you'd prefer."

"There's no need to leave, Serenity. I welcomed you two into my house because there's clearly some kind of trouble back home. I won't ask what it is, but I'd prefer whatever happened that you remain where you're safe."

"T-thank you..."

We drifted into an uneasy silence until I said "She's beautiful."

"She is. She's really smart too, and apparently loves math a lot more than she likes literature."

"Maybe nobody's read her the right books." I got up and went to the boxes with my books. Shuffling through until I pulled out Aesop's Fables and Grimm's Fairy Tales. "They're not as good as the original stories, but they're gentler." I offered the book to Serenity.

She hesitantly took them. "Isn't she a little young for things like this?"

"I was read one every night for as long as I can remember."

She opened them and laughed. "They're in Spanish."

"Oh, shit. I forgot." I sat down. "What's her name?"

To my surprise, it was the girl who answered. "I'm Sonya. What's your name?"

"Kat."

"Like the kitty?"

"Sure, but it's with a k instead of a c."

"Kitty is spelled with a k, isn't it?"

"But the word

cat

is spelled with a

c

. My name is spelled with a k. I want to tell you a story."

She crossed her arms. "It's not bedtime!"

"Of course not. I can't tell you a story if you're going to fall asleep, so you have to keep your eyes wide open!"

"What if I

want

to go to sleep?"

"Well, you can't. You don't have a pillow or blanket, and if you do, I can't finish my story."

"Mommy, I want my blankie."

"It's at home."

"Is Daddy still mad?"

Oh.

Oh

, I see.

Dios mio, I hoped I was wrong.

"I don't know, but why don't you listen to the story? We'll stay until the rain stops." She glanced over at me warily.

I forced my mouth to stay shut. If she'd moved all the way here with him, she wasn't going to listen to a stranger telling her to leave.

"Okay."

She curled up in her mother's lap. I got a pillow and blanket from my closet and laid it on the couch. "I'm not sleepy!"

"

I

want it." Serenity lay on the pillow and covered up. It just so happened she was laying on my lap.

Malidito infierno. Why is she doing this?! She's taken, knows I like her and

lies on my damn lap!

I didn't even need the book to tell the stories from the book, and translating it into English with exact wording would be a headache. So I told one of my favorites, one that I'd had my mother read to me over and over again, and always went back to when I was upset as a teenager.

"There once was a mermaid who was the princess of Trident, the God of the Sea,"

"Ariel?"

"The story doesn't say her name, but Ariel the Mermaid was created from this story, I think."

"Okay."

"Well, she was a very curious mermaid. She loved to play up by the shore and collect human things. But she didn't know anything about humans, because Trident didn't let them talk to them. He said humans were dangerous, and would kill her. One day, while playing on the surface of the water, she spotted a sinking boat in a storm. A man was thrown from the boat by the wild waves. The mermaid princess swam as fast as she could. Finally, she got the man, and brought him ashore. There, she pumped the water from his lungs and dove back into the sea."

"This is like the movie!" Sonya's eyelids were drooping a little. The story was working.

"A little, yes. She does fall in love with the handsome man. She tries to forget about him, but she can't. He won't get out of her head. She finds she can't eat or sleep, and spends hours watching him - where he can't see her - walk the beach." Yawning, Sonya curled up in her mother's arms, wiggling and making her grunt and groan in pain until the child settled down and covered up. "Finally, she can't take it anymore. She goes to a sea witch and begs for help. The witch says she can help, but when the mermaid can't ever come back to the sea, and every day she'll live in agonizing pain. The mermaid agrees. Anything to be with her love.

When she wakes, she's human. The man finds her injured on the beach, and rushes to help her."

Sonya's eyes had drooped shut.

She's easy to put to sleep.

"Keep going..." The child whispered sleepily.

I was about to go on when she let out a little snore. I realized she was too far gone to really hear the story, so turned down the TV. Serenity began to hum a tune that sounded slightly familiar.

It must be a lullaby.

When Sonya was fast asleep in her mother's arms, I smiled softly. "She's easy to put to sleep."

"She takes sleeping medicine. I gave it to her and was going to put her to bed before..." She trailed off, looking uneasy.

"Nate?"

She nibbled at her lip, like she wasn't sure she should say anything. "He - he isn't always like this." She said quietly. "When he takes his medicine right and doesn't drink...well, he's kind of sweet."

I had to literally bite my tongue to not say anything.

"I know what you're thinking - and you're right. It

isn't

right to keep Sonya around him. I

know

that. But - I, well, Katrina, I just can't. I've tried, and he followed me here." Her voice became almost a whimper. "I don't even know how he found me. I'm just so scared - I'm just so afraid."

"What about Sonya?"

She shook her head, tears gathering in her eyes. "The last time he nearly killed me. I can't leave again; he'd get Sonya, and..."

I met her misty eyes. "If you ever need a place to stay, I'm right here. Ryu won't hurt you or Sonya, I swear. He's a good dog, and as you saw, he's great with kids. I have wonderful cameras that record everything and every single door in this house locks. There's an alarm system."

"What if you're not home?"

"I can get you a spare key, and give you the alarm code."

"What about Ryu?"

"If you're not breaking in and he knows you, you're fine. Just in case, say his name and tell him

Ryu

,

detende!

It means

stop,

and he'll listen immediately. After that he should just leave you alone...or maybe lick Sonya all over. He loves kids when they don't pull tails. I don't see her doing that."

"I think I'll make sure she doesn't." Serenity replied with a half-nervous smile. "He's just so...big."

"I couldn't get a small dog to protect me, now could I?"