Creatures

They sat there for some time, Karen tucked up close to Talon’s warm body. She did not have to do anything to show him that she was there for him, she just needed to be there.

Talon breathed in her fragrance. “Thank you.”

“There is no need to thank me. I did not do anything.”

“You did more then you will ever know.” He insisted. “You have given me a home and a family and you have done what no one else has ever done. You have accepted all parts of me. I will forever be in your debt.”

Karen’s heart twisted at his last words. Could he not see that the others did as well and as much as she was glad that he was able to see what he had, she did not want him to feel that way to her. She did not know what she wanted from him, but it was not to be indebted to her.

They laid there as the sun fell further in the sky, neither one speaking.

“What was your childhood like?” Talon asked after some time had passed.

“Why?”

“I do not know anything about you before you came here.”

Karen was silent. She did not want to talk about her past, but he had given her his so she should do likewise.

“I grew up in a home with parents that loved me in their own way, but I never felt that I was truly wanted.” He had been honest with his past, now she must be honest with hers.

“Explain.”

Karen took a deep breath. “I was adopted.”

Talon tensed. Not because she was adopted, but how she said that word. “Adopted”. It did not bode well.

Karen spoke quickly, methodically and without emotion as she explained her childhood.

“I was pulled from my mother’s abusive boyfriend and put in foster care with a little brother only to be removed when it was shown that they were taking the money and abusing us more. My parents were asked to take both of us, but they only wanted a little boy. In the end, they fell in love with him and agreed to take both of us in.”

“That sounds like a good thing.”

Karen nodded, “It was, but they already had a daughter. I do not think that they really wanted me, but they wanted my brother enough that they were willing to take me as well.”

“Buy one, get one free?”

“You could say that. Anyway, I never really fit in with the family. I was too quiet and shy and into reading and music and not dances and boys.”

“I can see that.” Talon smiled.

“Mmm,” Karen did not smile back. The memories coming back quickly. The good, the bad and the ugly. “Anyway... I left and went to college and found that I had a much better relationship with them when I was further way. So that’s how I stayed. I got my teaching degree and moved away, calling every so often and going back occasionally. Nothing more.”

“Then you came here?”

“Yes.”

“There was a pause in your voice. What are you not telling.” He could feel an uneasy feeling coming from her.

“Nothing. It’s just that. I... how do I explain this one.”

“Just tell me.”

“I found a man that I thought I loved,” Karen spoke quietly, continuing with the part of the story she would rather forget. “He was flashy and smart and funny and very handsome and my parents adored him. I could not believe that he loved me since I am so dull and plain. I was so happy that I had found him. Then...”

Karen went back to the memories that she had locked away for a moment before continuing.

“I agreed to go on a trip with him, with the understanding that we had separate rooms.” She could not come out and tell Talon that she had believed in marriage before sex at that point. He would just laugh at her stupidity.

“Once there, I found out that there was only one room, but two beds and I decided I could live with that. That was my mistake.” She had a hard time speaking the next sentence. “That night he took advantage of me.”

“Did you tell someone?”

“No.”

“Why did you not tell or leave him?” Talon asked, not wanting to interrupt her story, but needing to understand her logic.

“He did not use protection and used that to keep me quiet.” She explained before continuing.

“His personality changed after that. He became controlling, never leaving me alone for fear that I would do something ‘rash’. I did not know what to do and was stupid enough to believe that he had a hold over me. He continued to ‘educate’ me in the bedroom on how a proper lady behaves towards and with her man.”

Karen tried to pull away from Talon and crawl into her shell, but he refused to let her go. She needed him more then he could imagine, but her story did explain her closed off behavior with everyone.

“One night I heard him tell a couple of his friends that he had won the bet. I was his now his slave, mentally and physically and he had the proof on tape. I was already on the verge of breaking and that was the last straw. I did not know what to do and there was no place I could go as he did not allow me to have contact with others.”

Talon stroked her hair, feeling the tension in her body still.

“I finally was able to save myself thanks to a friend that refused to allow him to push her out of my life. She helped me to escape, but I was not able to do anything legally against him.”

“Good for you.”

“But not for her... He beat her to death two days later.” Karen explained quietly. Still remembering the visit the cops had paid her to tell her the news. She had been the only family her friend had had and she had been the cause of her death. She would live with the guilt for the rest of her life.

“Did they charge him?” Talon asked.

“Yes, but he got out on bail the next day. A week later he was shot.” Karen replied emotionless. “It seems that he was an ex-con and one of his jail pals came after him and killed him and the prostitute that was with him.”

She fell silent and Talon just continued to hold her.

“I moved away. Got a good job and slowly started to make contact with my family again. I had been with him for less then a year, but it was long enough for him to cut me off from my family completely. Not that that took a whole lot of work.” Karen spoke sarcastically. “When I was pulled into the trail, my family decided that they wanted nothing to do with it or me. Just after the trail, Mr. Lee found me and brought me here. I have not spoken to them since.”

She fell silent again and Talon could feel the emotions running through her. What had she gone through?

Karen laid there... Should she tell him the last bit? Did she have the courage to tell him the last bit? Would he still accept her after everything else? She took a deep breath. He would find out someday and now would be the best time to tell him.

“There is a bit more.” She spoke softly.

“I am listening.” Talon could hear the hesitation in her voice.

“I got pregnant,” Karen whispered, tears coming to her eyes.

“What happen?”

“He beat me so badly that I miscarried. Then he did what he could to make sure that I would never carry another child. He did not want children.” Karen held her breath, waiting for the rejection. It always came.

“The only thing that matters to me is that you are here now and in my arms,” Talon told her quietly before falling silent. They would need to discuss this later but now was not the time.

They laid there until the sun had almost disappeared. “We should head to the house. Supper will be done soon and I have things that must be done for tomorrow.”

Talon stood. “I know. Shall I cook or you? My week is officially up.” He gave her a smile and helped her to her feet.

Talon finally felt at peace and Karen felt that a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Her friend is the only other person she had ever told that story to. Talon had not questioned it, he had accepted it and did not judge her for it. She gave him a smile and kept a hold of his hand as they headed for the door.

“Come on, we will cook supper together.”

Talon followed her, coming up with a plan to get her to fall in love with him. He now knew why she did not trust others and kept herself isolated. She had felt unwanted all her life and to have that bastard do something like that to her was unacceptable. It was a good thing he was dead or else Talon would have done it himself.

“What are you thinking?” Karen asked as they headed towards the house.

“Nothing. Why?”

“I am getting a murderous vibe from you. Who are you going to kill now?” Talon started. He had forgotten that she could feel his emotions now. He would have to hide them better.

“No one... okay... maybe that jerk.” He admitted as she sent him a glare.

“So when are you moving the piano?” Emerald blurted out as soon as they entered the kitchen. Lily had already prepared supper and the others were gathered around waiting for them to appear.

“Emerald!′ Evan sent her a glare.

“I am sorry. Were you waiting for us? I guess it is later then we thought.” Karen ignored Emerald’s comment, sending Talon her own glare.

“We are just glad that you made it back safely.”

“Karen...”

Karen sighed and turned to Emerald. “I am not. It would be disruptive to others.”

She sat down and the others followed suit.

“No, it would not.” Emerald insisted.

“Would you say that when I woke you up at two in the morning, because I decided to practice because I could not sleep?”

“You wouldn’t do that.”

“I would and I have. It is better where it is at. I will not disturb your sleep.”

“What if we put a second one in your room so you could practice either place.” Evan spoke up.

“Not you too.” Karen shook her head. “I am not a fan of others listening. I do not play, I practice. It can get ugly. Sometimes I play the same two notes over and over for an hour.”

Carrie waved Karen’s excuses away. “We do not care about that. If it something that is important to you then it shall be done. I have already spoken to The President and the piano is on its way. There will be no more excuses. You do not have to play it, but it will be there for your convenience, not ours.”

Karen paused, she had not expected them to be so for it. She figured they would have appreciated her thoughtfulness, instead, they were upset that she had kept it from them. She thought about it for a moment and decided it was all right for them to put one in her room, after all, she did not have to use it.

“I know what you are thinking.” Carrie looked at her. “We will make sure that you practice on the one in your room.”

Karen dropped her eyes and would not look at her. Damn, she figured it out. Karen shook her head and gave them a grin.

“We will see just how long you will be insisting on that before you beg me to please take it somewhere else.”

“Why would we do that? We want to hear you play.”

“No, you do not.”

“How can you say that?” Emerald asked outraged.

Karen shrugged her shoulders. “Everyone does it in the end.”

She went back to eating.

Talon watched the interaction between them with a deep sense of rightness. It was good to see that Karen was loved by everyone. Now it was his turn to show her what she had and work hard to be accepted as well.

“Are you going to eat or are you going back to refusing to dine with us?” Eric asked Talon. Talon realized that everyone had turned to look at him where he was still standing at the counter. He shrugged and took a step towards the table.

“Why would I eat alone?” He asked innocently. “When I can sit here and put up with a beating from all of you?”

“What!” Emerald exclaimed, “We do not beat up on you. Playfully hit, yes, beat up, no. I cannot imagine anyone being able to beat you up.”

Talon pointed to Karen. “She can.”

Emerald rolled her eyes. “Besides her. We all know that she can put you in your place. Duh.”

Talon smiled. It was good to be with family.

Later that night Talon laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He rolled to his side and punched his pillow, trying to get comfortable as he wondered if Karen was still awake.

Karen tried to get comfortable, but it was no use. She wondered if it was because of last night and everything that had happened today. Her mind drifted back to Talon and supper and how relaxed he had been. It was like that morning had never happened. She let out a sigh. She needed to sleep, she had work tomorrow. It was a while before sleep finally found her.

“Good morning.” Lily met Karen in the kitchen.

“Good morning.”

“Ready for your first day of work?”

“Sure... I think?” Karen started in on breakfast as the others filed in. She was not sure how she would get there and back, but she was sure that something was already set up for her.

“So... Talon.” Michael spoke from behind his paper as Talon entered the room.

“Yes...?” Talon could tell something was up with Michael this morning. It was in his voice.

“Are you ready for Karen to be working with you?”

“Why would it bother me?”

Karen stopped for a second over her breakfast. The nerve of the man. Dismissing her like that.

Talon could feel her hackles come up and he did not care. He was tired this morning. Every time he had tried to fall asleep, she had appeared in his dreams. He was in no mood to play nice today.

“I was just curious about how you felt about working with your partner. Most of us would love to be in your situation, getting to ride to work together, eating lunch together, come home together, etc.”

“Not happening.” Came the quick response.

Everyone stopped their activities and looked at Talon.

“What?” Carrie finally asked.

“We will not be doing any of those things together. As far as anyone at school will ever know is that we work in the same place. There will be nothing between us.”

So that was how it was, Karen thought to herself. Seemed she knew where she stood on his proirity list. What had she been thinking yesterday, telling him those things and thinking that he might care for her? She obviously didn’t learn quick enough.

“But Talon...”

“Do not worry about it.” Karen interrupted Lily’s outburst. “Leave him be. If that is what he wants then we should do what we can to accommodate him.” She stood and put her dishes in the sink and headed for the door.

“Have a good day.”

Talon watched her leave, feeling a bit guilty for his conduct. He knew he was being rude, but yesterday... He needed more time to assimilate everything that had happened and he could not do that with her with him all the time. Surely she would understand that? Right?

“You dick.” Carrie spat at him as she went by.

The rest went about their business and bid him good day, but he could sense their displeasure at his comment. What was he supposed to do? He had not figured how he was going to make her fall in love with him so he needed time and space, was that such a bad thing?

The following week went by in a blur for Karen as she started her new job and tried to figure out what going on between her and Talon. Add in her training and practicing and by the end of the week, she was tired and ready for the weekend. She locked up her classroom and headed for her car. Talon had absolutely refused to go to work with her or be associated with her in any way shape or form once they left the house in the morning until they returned in the evening.

“Have a good weekend!” One of her new students called as he waved.

“You too. Be careful.”

“You bet!” Came the reply.

Karen made it all the way to the parking lot before she remembered. That morning when she had shown up for breakfast Lily had stopped her.

“Your car is in the shop today for maintenance. You will need to catch a ride with Talon today.”

“No.” Talon appeared before them.

“Talon. It is no big deal.” Lily sighed.

After the weekend they had had, you would have thought that there had been a change in their relationship. But If anything it seemed that the two of them were even further apart then before. They did not speak to each other unless it was necessary so everyone had decided, after watching this for four days, to make sure that they had to spend time together today.

“I already told you. I am not associating with her at work.”

“You do not have to associate with her, just get her to and from school. What is the big deal?” Lily put her hands on her hips.

The big deal is that if I spend too much time with her right now, I might do something stupid like kiss her again, was Talon’s thought, and if I did that, I will scare her away completely. He had avoided her as much as possible this week, trying to find the right approach, but every time she was around him, his body started to react and he struggled to keep his emotions from coming across to her. This week had been brutual on him. If he had to go to school with her...

“It is alright Lily. I will catch a ride with Evan and Emerald.”

“Nonsense. It would not do to have a teacher with students that are not their own. Talon will take you and he will get over it.”

Karen sighed. Talon had been avoiding her all week and when they were together he kept his distance and only spoke when he needed to. It seemed that once he had given it some thought, her past really did bother him. She already knew that he did not want her around and this just cemented it. What could she do other than make sure she stayed out of his way at this point?

Karen looked at the cars in the parking lot and then at the science building of the school and let out a sigh. She would have to go find him. She rubbed her eyes and let out a yawn. Maybe she should just wait here? She hoped he would not be too long, she had not been sleeping well. The dreams had returned this week, probably because of their talk, and she had not been able to keep them away. She did not know what she would do if they did not subside soon. She needed rest, her concentration was failing and Talon was starting to notice.

She could not stay here waiting though, someone might notice. She found the science room after stopping for directions and knocked on the door before entering. “Excuse me?”

Talon and a half a dozen students were gathered around one of the tables doing something with beakers and liquid. Talon kept up his instructions until the student finished the experiment successfully.

He was good, she thought to herself. She would of loved to have him for a teacher.

He glanced up. What was she doing here? She had no right. What if someone found out that they lived together? His body started to heat up at the sight of her though and that made him even angrier.

“What do you want?” He asked gruffly.

Karen started to speak and then stopped. She could not say that in front of students and it looked like he would be a while.

“Ummm, yes. I was told to come and speak to you about a student. Could we step in the hall for a moment?” Karen thought quickly and hoped that it was a plausible excuse.

Talon nodded and followed her out into the hall.

“What do you need?” Talon growled. “I thought I made it clear that we were not to associate at work.” He spoke harshly, but his heartbeat had picked up and what he really wanted to do was push her up against the wall and plunder that mouth of hers. He could clearly remember their kisses and it made his body ache for another one.

“How long will you be?”

“Why?”

Karen sighed, realizing that Talon had forgotten.

“Because you brought me here. I need to know when you are leaving so that I can find something to do.” She snapped back.

Talon stepped back. Damn, she was right. He had forgotten that she had had to ride with him today. What an inconvenience. He thought back, that had almost been a disaster. When they had arrived, Talon had dropped her off a few blocks from the school and made her walk the rest of the way and it was a good thing he had or a couple of the teachers would have seen her exit his car.

“Another hour, maybe a bit more.”

“Call my room when you are done and I will meet you at the car.” She turned and walked away.

Great, She thought as she headed back to her room. Guess I won’t be going home early tonight. She re-entered her room and closed the door. Stupid man.