Hi all!
So this one has been a long time coming. I would like to formally apologize for the incredibly long wait on this. I started writing this in January of 2017. When the real world got in the way, I had to make a choice to take a break from this to work on my other series, and the delays kept piling on. By the time I sat down to finish it earlier this year, my writing skill and style had evolved quite a bit, so I spent a long time re-reading my own work in the attempt to recapture that original voice to make sure I gave you a quality ending to this series.
And yes, this is the end of Iceman's Wrath, but it is a good one. I appreciate the patience of all of you who not only waited, but were supportive of my efforts from the beginning. I cherish my readers here on Lit, and absolutely refused to leave you with an unfinished story, and definitely didn't want to just 'put something out.'
I could write plenty more here about a lot of things, but you've waited long enough. The characters in this story are all over the age of eighteen. Though their choices may be terrible, they are perfectly legal. I hope you enjoy this, the final chapter of The Iceman's Wrath.
*****
Full Circle
Jason sat on his back porch, his eyes glued to his neighbor's home. The lights in their house had just come back on, but sure enough, they only lasted a minute before going out again. He shook his head and walked back into his well-chilled paradise carrying the steaks he had just pulled off the grill.
Christmas had come and gone, and a chance meeting with a hot sales girl at Home Depot had led to research into solar panels. While not entirely off the grid, he did get one of those expensive battery packs, which meant that when everyone else was dealing with power loss, he was at home enjoying peace and quiet in his climate-controlled paradise.
Well, whenever the girls weren't coming over. Megan and Ling had dropped by during their spring break, and he had been forced to lay in bed for a day after they left, just to recover. The two of them had enrolled in a yoga class, meaning they had far more energy than he did now (and were far more flexible). Maria's break had been shortly after, but Naomi had come home for a brief visit at the same time, which had saved him from the feisty Latina's newfound obsession with anal sex.
After spring break, he heard from them all sporadically. Megan and Ling's parents were taking them on an Alaskan cruise in the summer, and Maria was traveling to South America for a mission where she would be helping a local village rebuild after a devastating flood. Naomi wasn't coming home until late July due to a backpacking trip with a new friend which meant that he was looking at a long, hot summer alone.
Which was why he decided to spend thousands of dollars to make sure his AC was working. If he was going to be alone, he was at least going to be comfortable. He had turned off almost all the lights in his home, the sole illumination coming from a reading lamp next to his couch and the soft glow of Netflix on his smart TV. He had smartly downloaded the series he wanted to watch prior to the blackouts, running it through a system of devices that a buddy had helped him hook up.
Happily thumbing through to the next episode of Stranger Things, he settled in for a comfortable evening with a pair of small ribeyes and a six-pack of Reverend. He briefly considered making something else for dinner but was too lazy to go back to the kitchen. He set his plate down on the side table, narrowly missing Wild Jason and Dad Jason. The two of them were playing cards on a miniature table of their own, identical meals in front of them.
Jason sucked down a can of Reverend, letting out a long belch. He counted nine seconds before breaking off. Not bad, he thought, cutting himself a piece of steak.
Winona Ryder was busy freaking out over christmas lights when the knock came at his door. Puzzled, he opened his phone, checking his calendar. The new rule for the girls was no more surprises—he needed to know when they were dropping by from now on so that he could plan accordingly. He hadn't had any issues yet, but he knew things could get weird very fast if someone showed up while he was entertaining someone else. Or God forbid Naomi came home while he was busy plowing Maria's ass in the shower, or that time Megan and Ling took turns blowing him on the couch while they watched porn together. She clearly had some idea that he was being naughty with her friends, but knowing was definitely different from seeing.
The knock came again, a little faster this time. He stood up, a bit unsteady on his feet, the Reverend kicking in. Slapping his cheeks, the sting was enough to stabilize him. Wild Jason and Dad Jason watched him walk away. Tossing their cards on the table, they followed, jumping down from the table onto the carpet. Wild Jason landed badly, and a bunch of face-cards busted free from his socks, spilling everywhere. He scooped them up quickly, then tucked them in his pockets while running to keep up.
"Hello?" Jason opened the door.
"Hello Mr. Dawes." He didn't recognize her at first. Her mascara had smeared across her face, and her hair was a tangled mess. She wore a thin fabric hoodie that was long enough that she could be naked underneath and nobody would know it. However, it was her legs that sparked the memory, the toned legs of a varsity cheerleader.
"Brianne? Are you okay?" He saw that she was wearing a backpack and carrying a suitcase. "Um, come in?"
"Thank you, Mr. Dawes." She picked up her things and walked through the door. Wild Jason and Dad Jason looked at her, then each other. They both shrugged; neither of them knew who was needed yet.
"Are you hurt? Do I need to call somebody?"
Brianne let out a dry laugh. "There's nobody to call. I only came here because Naomi told me to."
"I thought you two weren't speaking?" He hadn't heard his daughter mention Brianne since she had walked out his front door a year ago.
"We reconnected over spring break. It's a long story, and I haven't showered in a few days. Would it be okay if I used Naomi's room tonight? She said that I could, but I want to make sure it's okay with you."
"Yeah, of course. Do you want me to wait up?"
"No thank you. I'm just going to go to sleep, if that's okay." Her eyes were full of defeat, that rebellious spark from a year ago long gone.
"Look, if you're hungry, I have some steaks I just pulled off the grill."
At the mention of food, Brianne's eyes lifted to his. "I don't want to eat your dinner or anything."
"Gotta be honest, I was making a pig of myself." He patted his rock hard abs. "Was planning to binge some shows and binge some steak, but I always hate myself in the morning for it." He gave her a playful wink. "Seriously, one of them was probably just going to be breakfast tomorrow."
"I... uh..." Indecision was written on her face, but it was clear
"Hey, look. Why don't you go grab a shower and I'll save you one. If you're still hungry, you're welcome to join me, but if you just want to go to bed, shout down at me so that I can put it in the fridge."
"Okay, thank you." She walked past him and up the stairs, her jacket far enough away from her legs that he could see she was, in fact, wearing clothes under her coat. He stood at the bottom of the stairs and listened to her move across the house, Naomi's bedroom door closing.
He walked back to the living room and waited. After several minutes, the shower turned on and he tapped his daughter's name on his phone. It rang a couple times before she answered.
"Hello?"
