Sam Sisavath - The Isles of Elysium

“Isn’t that dangerous?” he asked, because he didn’t know what else to say.

“You would think so, but I guess not.” She pursed her lips. “I’m glad you’re alive, Keo. I spent a lot of restless nights worrying about you. When I saw you yesterday on the boat, you looked so different. I’m not talking about the scars. Everyone has scars. I wasn’t sure then, but seeing you again, here, I was right. You’ve changed.”

“For the better?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

She was watching him closely and Keo found it difficult to meet her stare, so he stood up and walked around the living room to get away from it.

The walls were almost entirely barren. There were no pictures or signs of the previous owners. He guessed that was on purpose. Out with the old, in with the new…

“It’s kind of plain, huh?” Gillian said, as if reading his mind. “I’m just glad I have a room with a carpet and a bed and honest to goodness pillows. They gave me the house because I’m pregnant. We all get one. Otherwise, they put you in one of the other subdivisions.”

“Steve told me there were five in all.”

“Steve?”

“Steve Miller. The guy who runs this place.”

“You’re on a first-name basis with him already?” she asked, sounding slightly amused.

“I make very good first impressions,” he said, managing to smile convincingly back at her that time.

“I remember,” she smiled back.

Keo found himself next to an empty bookcase. He absently ran his hand over the thick layer of dust on one of the shelves, then had to wipe it off on his pant leg.

“Aren’t you going to ask me?” Gillian said behind him.

“Ask what?”

“Who the father is.”

Christ, do I have to?

“I assumed he’s out there working somewhere,” he said.

“He’s one of the doctors.” She paused, maybe waiting for him to say something in reply, and when he didn’t, she added, “He’s a good man, Keo. I didn’t…really plan it. It just kind of happened.”

Keo walked across the living room and sat down on a stool next to the kitchen counter. The tabletop was spotless unlike the bookcase, and he rested his elbows on it and ran his fingers through his hair. It was dirty, and he needed a shower in the worst way.

“His name’s Jay,” she said behind him.

She was probably looking at him, but he didn’t feel like turning around to make sure. Instead, he stared across the kitchen at his reflection in a silver refrigerator, at the scar along his left cheek that looked freakishly out of proportion for some reason. He wondered why they still had the refrigerator since there was no electricity to run it. Maybe they were using it as an extra storage container. He could have thought of better uses for it, like storing Jay’s body. A good man or not, Keo bet he could fit the fucker in there just fine, even if he had to chop him up into little chunks to do it.

“Keo,” she said. “Say something.”

“That’s why you didn’t leave with Jordan,” he said.

“I wanted to, until I found out I was pregnant.”

Four months ago. What was he doing four months ago? He wished he could remember…

“She’s alive?” Gillian asked. “Jordan?”

“Yes.”

“Thank God. I’ve been so worried about her.” She paused, then, “Did she tell you what happened to the others? Mark, Rachel, and Christine?”

He nodded.

“That didn’t have to happen,” she said. “They didn’t have to die, but they did because we made bad choices.”

Keo stood up and walked to the back door, peering out at the backyard and the thick tree line in the background.

He didn’t know why he was moving around. Maybe he was hoping to find a way out of the house and away from her, from her belly. Of course, if he really wanted to do that, he could. None of the doors were locked, and the windows were all open…

There was a wooden fence out behind the house, about six feet high, separating the subdivision from the woods out back. Six feet. He could hop that easily and be in the woods before Steve even knew he was gone. Despite the presence of darkening clouds, there was still enough light out there. A few hours’ worth, at least. He could find Jordan, hiding somewhere out there, and go…someplace far from here.

So what was stopping him?

“You can leave anytime?” he asked.

“Anytime,” she said.

“And they won’t try to stop you?”

“No.”

“How do you know?” He looked back at her. “How can you be sure?”

“Keo, what do you see out there?”

“Trees.”

“Right. Trees. If you want to leave, go ahead. They’re not going to stop you. Why should they? That’s why all this fighting is so unnecessary. People are dying out there for no reason. It’s not perfect in here, but it’s worse out there.”

“They brought you here against your will, Gillian. They killed Mark and Rachel and her daughter in the process, remember?”

“I know that. Don’t you think I know that?” She looked visibly frustrated, maybe even angry with him. “I’ll never forget what happened to them. But I can’t change the past, or dwell on it. I can’t afford to.” She put her hands over her belly again. “I have to think about the future.”

And where do I fit into that future?

He knew the answer without having to ask it, without having to hear her say it. He could see it in the way she caressed her stomach, as clear as day. Gillian couldn’t afford to dwell on the past, and that was exactly what he was-the past.

“Keo,” she said.

He met her eyes and watched her get up and walk over to him.

“I’m really glad you’re alive,” she said, and he wanted desperately to believe her. “Seeing you here, safe and sound, is a miracle. I didn’t think I would ever see you again, get to touch you again…”

She placed her hand against his cheek, over the ugly scar that Pollard had left behind. Her skin felt warm and welcoming, and he couldn’t help himself and closed his eyes and leaned into her palm.

“Keo,” she whispered, and he had never heard such a wonderful sound coming out of another human being as his name from her lips.

When he opened his eyes, she was crying, but not making any sounds.

“Keo,” she whispered again.

He kissed her.

He expected her to push him away, to tell him there was only (fucking) Jay now, but she didn’t. Instead, she kissed him back and pressed forward until Keo felt her growing belly, filled with another man’s child, rubbing against him. He should have been disgusted, even angry, but he wasn’t.

He wanted her. Desperately.

Maybe it was all the months alone, with only Norris’s complaining for company. Then, later, almost dying on Song Island. Though, he thought it was more than that. It was a primitive longing for her, for this woman he had been searching for, for so long now, never really sure she was even still alive.

And to finally find her again…

She began pulling away, and even though he didn’t want to let her go, he had no choice, and did.

She was gasping for breath as she stepped back. “Keo…”

The way she said his name drove him crazy and he reached for her again, but she pushed him away and took another step back. She wiped at her tear-streaked cheeks and smiled at him, but he could tell it took her a lot of effort just to do that much.

“Jay’s a good man,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

She turned and walked away, and he watched her go up the stairs until there was just the sound of her footsteps.

Then, seconds later, a door opening and closing softly.

“Shit,” Keo said to the empty room.

*

Five houses.

Then ten.