Double Dose (Part 9)

A Glimpse Inside

Mizery remained in the crawl space for the remainder of the night. I was in the kitchen making waffles when she entered fresh from a shower. "Good morning. Hungry?"

" Starving". She replied grabbing a banana and siiting at the table.

Within a few minutes I served the waffles. "Feeling better?" I asked.

Mizery shrugged. "It comes and goes but my meds control most of it".

I nodded my understanding but chose not to press her. When she's ready to talk she will. After we ate, I watched her take one of her pills. "So what's on the agenda today? Do we just sit here staring at each other or what?" She asked .

Grinning I replied. "There's plenty to do here just depends what your down for. We have a boat we can take out on the lake, indoor pool and outside hot tub. There's plenty of trails in the woods to explore or we could fish. At night the sky is wonderful as there's no city lights hendering it. We have an excellent telescope on the roof for star gazing. We could go sking to. Whatever your up for".

" All of that sounds great. Living in New York there's not much opportunity to enjoy the wilderness. "

"Growing up between here and the desert I enjoyed it quite a bit. Why don't we start with a boat ride first? I'll pack a lunch to take along. I know a perfect spot where we can picnic".

Mizery nodded and went to put on something more outdoorsy while I packed the cooler. She came back wearing her usual attire... Leggings, oversized sweatshirt and her bulky combat boots. Something was different this time though. Instead of her normal ponytail or wild mane she had her hair tied back in a neat braid. Within a few minutes we were in the boat and skimming over the water. I floated slowly by a few places that had a beautiful scene or a story to tell. Mizery just lounged back and seemed to be relaxed.

Around noon, I pulled up close to the shoreline in a hidden cove. The view was spectacular. Snowcap mountains glimmered off of the tranquil blue water as tall pine trees cocooned us in. Lifting Mizery by the waist I sat her on dry land then turned to grab the cooler and a blanket. Once we settled down I unpacked the chicken salad sandwiches, grapes, pickles and cheese. We looked out over the lake as we ate in silence. "Its nice here" . Mizery offered.

"I guess. I'm so use to coming here I guess I take it for granted."

" We always went to Italy or some other busy place. We never slowed down. The only country setting we ever visited was my grandparents country home or my grandmother's farm in Alabama".

"Farm?" I asked surprised . "Never heard of any mafia living on a farm".

" Well grandmother wasn't born into this life like we were. She was innocent until she met my grandfather. The rest is history".

I had heard many stories about her grandparents but I'm not sure how many were fact or fiction. Before I could as Mizery changed the subject in me. "You know my Pape isn't a bad man. He's never hit me before. He was just worried over my brief disappearance. In fact we are very close. He's like me you know. I inherited the condition from him". She didn't say anymore about it, instead she stood up and pried her boots and socks off.

She started walking toward the water but looked back over her shoulder at me. "Aiden promise me that if my Pape finds us you will run. You must run".

Not giving me a chance to answer, Mizery turned back toward the water. I assumed that she thought her father could take me but one thing is certain, I'm not afraid and I will fight for Mizery. I watched as she stood at the water's edge gazing out at the view. I took this opportunity to snap a few photos unbeknownst to her. After a few minutes she dipped her toes into the icy liquid and jumped back releasing a girly squeal. "It's freezing" .  She laughed as she ran back to our blanket.