Disclaimer:
Everything Tomorrow People belongs to Roger Damon Price, Thames, whoever has the legal clout to whack me if I don't disclaim this. I don't have permission, and that's okay because this is non-profit. The character of Tana is mine.
This is the last Tana/Adam flashback I'm writing, and the end of my little R-trilogy. It takes place before "Reunion" and "Reflections," and clears up one last question before I move on to other pastures. I've had it on hold for a while, and just felt like there was something wrong with it. What, exactly, I couldn't figure out, so I decided to go ahead and post. Thanks go out to Selma for the beta read, and Shaun for giving me the idea in the first place.
It was too dark outside.
Pulling the covers off of her head, Tana blew her hair from her face. She turned her head and pressed her face into the soft pillow, then rolled over onto her back, staring dully up at the ceiling.
She'd been squirming all night. There was no possibility and no reason to sleep. For the past few weeks, each evening had been the same. Sleepless and restless. The itch that had started in the back of her head since Seth had brought home that backpack had spread to her stomach. It was an inside itch, one that couldn't be scratched, that was driving her crazy.
In the corner sat his backpack, which she'd claimed for herself after the police had finished with it. No one had argued, since no one had noticed. Mum had spent too much time staring out the window and sobbing over the phone to Aunt Beth in the States to bother. Dad had spent all his free time running. Tana didn't know where, and didn't really care right now.
At least there were no more tears. She was done crying, and the stabbing pain in her gut it caused was only a dull ache. She didn't think that she was so sad anymore; just confused. Nothing made sense.
Why did they ever go sailing in May? Everyone had been enjoying the sudden warm spell, but no one was dumb enough to go sailing. Adam was smarter than that. He was always smarter.
And now he was gone.
Tana didn't understand it at all. She couldn't cry anymore. No matter how much his friends and her family sobbed, tears wouldn't come to her eyes. She had to push at her stomach to make them come out.
Maybe that was due to the quiet. With her brother had gone her father's yelling and arguing. Her parents hadn't spoken much at all.
Or maybe that was because Adam was still alive. It wasn't like Adam to just leave her. He'd promised that he never would.
Looking out her window at the dark sky, she watched the map of stars shining above. One looked brighter than the others surrounding it. It looked like the magic star in all those old picture books she had before primary school. How did that do again? "When you wish upon a star...."
Tana wished.
Nothing happened, and she bit her lip. She really hadn't expected it to, anyway.
An odd sound caught her attention, an electric crackle-snap. Faint though it was, it echoed in the silence of the house. Scrambling out of bed, she hurried softly from her room. Her bare feet padded softly on the rug as the sounds continued from an open door down the hall.
As she neared the door, she slowed her pace, edging carefully towards it. A strange feeling struck her, a sense that she was invading someone else's privacy. With deliberate caution, she leaned around the threshold to see a hunched-over figure, hastily snatching up her brother's things and stuffing them in a travel bag. Enraged, she involuntarily stepped into the room. What sort of creep would do such a horrid thing? Tana opened her mouth to let out a scream that would wake up the entire block.
Then the creep turned, and the scream died in her throat.
Adam was instantly beside her, hands on her shoulders, his eyes full of fear. "It's me! Shhh! I'll explain, but I don't want Dad to find me."
A thousand words bubbled from her brain and clogged up her throat in their rush to make it to her mouth. She couldn't believe it--no, she could believe it. He'd come back for her. Everything, finally, made sense.
She threw herself into his arms.
And suddenly found that she could cry again.
--end