UNHEEDED: Undone Realms Book 2

Ch. 23 - Stationary

Avie spends as much time as she can in the water. She tells Marcella it's because it eases her aching back, but of course they both know this is a lie. Her pain, her true pain, is the kind that can never be eased, but the pool was Oliver's favorite place at the hotel. In the water, she feels held by him.

It has been nearly four months. She scoops her arm around her swollen belly and leans against the pool's edge recalling for the millionth time the night Oliver left...

When Avie discovered his empty room, her world tilted sideways.  Running to the balcony as soon as the rush of anxiety passed, she called out to him, not caring who heard her.  After her desperate search proved fruitless, Marcella ordered a hysterical Avie back upstairs to wait for Oliver. 

Hours and hours passed.  Marcella came upstairs to give her stepdaughter the terrible news—she found Avie curled up in Oliver's bed, a crumpled piece of paper clutched to her heart.

Through tears, Marcella told Avie that the authorities had approached her just as she was leaving the hotel in order to search nearby businesses for Oliver.  Marching her back to her office, they reported that one of her employees was a Dual Realm contaminant.  Marcella feigned ignorance, of course, and though she felt she was convincing, her acting skills didn't spare her an interrogation that stretched into the night.  During the course of the interrogation, more facts emerged about Oliver's fate.  According to the commanding office, a young man they had now identified as Oliver Teide had entered the nearby Atomic Bowling Alley earlier that evening.  He had begun speaking in nonsensical sentences and, after repeatedly ignoring their commands, had picked up a bowling ball and charged towards the officers. 

The authorities were within their rights to use lethal force because of his erratic behavior and the fact that his other realm contaminant levels were sky high.

Such was the clinical way Marcella described Oliver's final moments.  She paused while Avie took in this news, but unfortunately, she could not pause for the days, and the months, and the years that Avie would need in order to recover from this.  The authorities were waiting to question her.  She had little time to compose herself.

"I'm sorry Avie.  I'm so sorry to tell all of this to you, but you need to know as much as possible before the authorities begin questioning you.  You must be strong."  She placed her hand briefly on Avie's belly, then drew it away and used it to cover her own eyes.  After a moment, she continued.

Someone at the bowling alley had recognized Oliver as the boy that worked at the hotel—this was the only bread crumb they needed to lead them to Marcella's door.  Her response, and one she would be forced to repeat many times, was quite simple: Oliver had come asking for work months ago.  She needed the help and he'd seemed nice enough, so she gave him a job. 

Marcella's tentative impression was that they believed her.  They planned on searching Oliver's room for evidence, and Avie would need to be questioned because it was known to them that the two had had a romantic relationship.  As long as Avie could convince them that she had no idea Oliver wasn't from their realm, she would be free to return to her life.

Marcella threw a bulky sweatshirt at her.  "I'll tell them they can come in.  Wear this.  You've got to hide that belly."

Avie played her part.  Oliver may have been dead but his child was not.  She would say nothing to jeopardize her baby's life. 

No, she had absolutely no idea Oliver was from another realm.  No, she didn't know how he could have possibly come here.  No, after hearing what he really was, she's not sorry to see him gone.  Dead.

Their tests detected the residual energy one would expect when an other realm person had lived here for so long.  Avie cringed, thinking that their baby had been checked off as nothing more than residual contamination, but at least they had not been able to distinguish it from the other energy within the room.  No mention was made by them of any other realm work, so apparently, Marcella's pocket realm was as protected from their scans as she claimed it to be. 

After searching Oliver's room, they left the hotel, happy with the publicity they'd receive at having taken down a dangerous criminal.  Marcella was fined for employing someone without correct documentation, but neither she nor Avie were charged.   They would be watched, though, and rest assured, the authorities would return at some point. 

Avie climbed the stairs.  Oliver's room was cordoned off with sticky yellow tape.  Her nails dug into it, tearing it down.  Back inside, she lowered herself onto the bed and took out the piece of stationary from where she'd placed it in the drawer of the bedside table.  Before long, Marcella joined her.  "It's from him, isn't it?"

Avie handed Marcella the paper.  "He named our daughter," she said, and then the floodgates burst.  "He wants me to call her Clara."

A/N: The previous chapter was an emotional one, to say the least.  Today, we learn of Oliver's shooting from the very dispassionate perspective of the officers involved—this is the way the facts were related to Avie.  Does it make it any easier for her to hear of what happened in such a detached manner?  Or would she take comfort if she herself could have read the last chapter and had therefore known the selfless decision Oliver made in his attempt to save her?

As we near the end of Unheeded (only 3 more updates!), I want to once again thank everyone for your continued support.  No read, vote, or comment goes unnoticed!

On to today's dedication...  @AndreaGStewart is an awesome writer with several prestigious awards under her belt, including Writers of the Future.  She has several fabulous stories up on Wattpad.  I read and LOVED The Butchers, the Menders.  This story was also a runner-up to the Breathtaking: A Fantasy and Science FIction Novel Writing Competition.  AND, her story Songweaver's Awakening is a Featured story here on Wattpad!  I absolutely recommend her work.  I think you'll love it!