27. Asher
twenty-seven
Asher
I lifted Maya up and out of the tub and wrapped her in a large towel before walking her over to the bed. My clothes sat in a soaking heap by the side of the tub, and water had found its way out of the bathroom and into the apartment. As she sat on the bed drying her hair, I grabbed some towels and cleaned up the mess, doing my best to push the water back into the bathroom.
"Does it hurt?" Maya suddenly asks from behind me.
"Does what hurt, princess?" I ask her. I continue to mop up the bath water.
"Tattoos. Do they hurt really badly?" I turned to look at her, and she continued to dry her hair. She looks at her feet, and they softly swing off the edge of the bed. I walk over to her and crouch in front of her, gripping her ankles to catch her attention.
"They hurt a little bit, honey." I can't bring myself to lie to her. Maya bites her lip, and I clear my throat, composing myself.
"Can you make it not as painful?" She looks at me with big, innocent eyes, and I melt.
"I'm sure I have some numbing spray in there." I smile at her and rub my thumbs over her ankles. Now that I think about it, I haven't gone through my case since I've been here. I can't remember what I have and don't have in there.
"Thank you," she says gently.
"Of course. Don't be nervous, baby. I'll do everything I can not to make it hurt, but it's gonna sting a little bit. Okay?" I plant a soft kiss on her knee, and she smiles.
"I know."
"I'll tell you what, let's get you to bed, and if you're feeling better in the morning, then we can do it then. I don't wanna give you a tattoo, especially with how active you've been this evening. I reach a hand up to her forehead, and she still has a bit of a temperature; I grimace to myself, second-guessing if I should've fucked her tonight or not. With my hand still on her forehead, she leans into me and smiles warmly, her eyes closed.
"Tomorrow morning?" Her voice is sweet but laced with a bit of anxiety.
"Tomorrow morning," I confirm.
I stood up and reached into my bag, pulling out two shirts and a pair of sweats for myself. I had been so busy the past few weeks that I barely had any time to actually dress comfortably. Now that my best pair of pants sat soaking wet in the bathroom, I finally had no other choice but to dress comfortably.
I hold up the two shirts in front of Maya. One shirt is solid white and made of soft cotton, and the other is the same gray as my sweats. Maya looks between both shirts for a moment before pointing to the gray one, and I look at her, confused.
"You want the gray one? The white one is softer," I say to her. She shakes her head and points to the gray one again.
"We can match if I wear the gray one." She swings her feet and waits patiently for me to slide the shirt over her head, and I do exactly that.
Her words make my heart yearn for her, and my breathing catches in my throat. I immediately close the distance between us. She raises her arms above her head, and I slide the shirt over her head and pull her hair out for her. She looks down at herself, pleased, and smiles, and I feel my face begin to heat up. Heat travels down my still-naked body and lands on my cock. As soon as she saw me looking at her, she snapped her away and continued drying her hair with the towel. I chuckled to myself and pulled the pants up before sliding the white T-shirt over my head. The apartment was mostly dry. All that was left of the damage was past the bathroom threshold, where a large pile of soaking towels and clothes now sat.
"Asher," Maya says.
"Yes, my dear?" I walk over to her, grab the towel, and begin drying her feet.
"I want to discover what's happening with the town and my grandmother." I stopped suddenly and looked up at her concern.
"Maya, I can do that. You don't have to have any part of this."
"I want to live my life happily here in this bakery with you. And I can't do that as long as whatever this is keeps happening. I need to know Asher. I know I can't remember my parents' faces. I don't even remember seeing a photograph of them around the bakery; that's not normal."
My mind travels back to Emmett, who said that he had asked the sisters at the orphanage about the strange woman. Suddenly, it dawns on me.
"Where are all the records of the town being held?"
"The church, why?"
"Tomorrow, I'm gonna pay a visit to the church. Can you make me a promise?"
"Yes," she says without hesitation. Her trusting nature in me makes me want to pull her in and kiss her deeply.
"Stay here at the bakery tomorrow. I will stop by the church to see if I can look through any records and figure out even a bit of what's going on. There's a very real possibility that your grandmother is tied into this somehow. If I find something-"
Maya cuts me off with a raised hand.
" If you find something out about my grandmother or my parents, I want to know."
"Are you sure?" I press the towel lightly over her leg, holding her foot with my hand.
"Yes," she confirms. "We deserve a good life. You deserve a good life, Asher. I don't know what you are. I know that things are happening, and I feel safer with you by my side. I won't ask you about your past unless you want me to know and tell me about it. That day in the apartment, when Damien was here, I chose not to open my eyes because I trust you, and I trust you now just as much. If you find something about my family, please let me know. I'm trusting you to tell me."
I look at her momentarily, searching her eyes, and I see nothing but bravery and determination.
"I promise." I sit behind Maya on the bed, braiding her hair into a low braid.
She sat patiently in front of me between my legs on the bed, humming an unknown song to me. It's sweet and sounds like it was composed by angels. I find myself purposefully braiding her hair slowly to avoid interrupting her.
"Asher, have you seen Nicholas?" Maya begins looking around the apartment for her cat, only to see nothing. "I still haven't fed him for the night, and I know he's going to be upset with me."
"He's a cat."
"He has feelings. He gets hungry for dinner just like we do," I finish, braiding her hair and tying the end with a small white ribbon. She jumps up and begins heading downstairs to the bakery.
I get up and follow closely behind her. She makes it downstairs but doesn't turn on any lights and begins softly calling for her cat. As we walk around the first floor of the bakery, a soft glow begins to build in the distance, catching our attention.
"I wonder what's going on," Maya says. She peeks out the window, being careful not to show herself to the outside world. She pulls the oversized shirt down a little further to cover herself, and I can't help but smile.
"Is it a bonfire?" I am now genuinely interested.
"No, they always do the bonfire the night of the festival. They've never done it the night after or before." Suddenly, Maya begins looking closer, and just then, six men rush past, screaming at the top of their lungs, holding pails of water and a heavy hose.
Maya's face suddenly went pale, and she rushed past me, grabbing the coat that I had gotten her and throwing it on. She swings open the door, slamming it against the wall and sending a crack through the glass.
"Maya!" I called her. I ran after her, and she was running full speed. As we came up to the large fire, she dropped to her knees and screamed out in shock.
In front of us, the orphanage stood completely engulfed in flames. No children or sisters had made it out yet.
Suddenly, a townsman grabs Maya, pushing her back.
"You can't stand too close. It's dangerous." He screams at her. His voice is barely audible over the roar of the fire, and Maya fights against him, punching him in the chest. I grab the back of her coat to pull her back, and she slips out of it, running full force into the building and disappearing into the smoke.
Everything inside of me seemed to mourn all at once like I had lost a life that I hadn't even fully had yet.
I drop her coat on the ground and follow her. I shove my shoulder into the main doors, bursting through with ease. The ceiling was collapsing, and everything was being eaten by fire. I looked around frantically, but there was no sign of Maya anywhere. Smoke and fire burned my eyes heavily, and I covered my eyes with my arm to shield myself.
"Maya!" I called again. No answer. Smoke enters my lungs and burns my throat, making me explode into a coughing fit. I kick open a nearby door and find no one, just flames and charred desks. Papers whip around the air wildly with the fire, almost instantly incinerating from the heat.
"Maya!" I raced down the hallway and kicked open each door. I find nothing and no one each and every time. My heart begins to race as anxiety grips me and threatens to steal my life.
I begin to panic, and I feel myself losing control. Air begins to spiral and snap around me, but it only fuels the flames more. I compose myself and calm the curse. I open another door and see a small group of children and nuns huddled in the back corner, slowly being surrounded and overtaken by the flames. They see me and immediately begin calling out to me for help.
I hesitate and look around, hoping to see Maya, and then look back to the children. I scream in frustration and rush to the terrified children, scooping them up in my arms and grabbing the sisters by their hands. I race them back out the doors and shove them through
the door and into the snow before racing back inside.
"Maya!" My voice breaks from fear.
I kick down the next door. No one.
Then the next.
And the next.
My breathing is ragged, and I'm on the verge of letting go and allowing the curse to take control.
"Look in the last door to the left at the end of this hall," a voice rings through the air like a bell, and my body immediately goes on guard. I turn around to see Nicolas standing in the middle of the flames, untouched by the chaos. His hair is loose and hanging past him in silver ribbons. He isn't affected by the heat or smoke, and the ash and soot don't touch him.
"Where is she?" It felt as if I had lost control. The Christmas spirit of punishment was slowly seeping out of me, begging to be released.
"I haven't touched her," he smiles at me. His hands are clasped in front of him. "She's alive for now. But you must hurry if you want her to remain that way."
I'm surprised by his remark and don't move, not knowing whether I should trust him.
"My dear brother, she will die if you do not follow my warning." And just as suddenly as he appeared, he disappeared into a silver whisper of smoke. I take off to the end of the hallway and kick the door open to the room just as he said to. And sure enough, Maya sat with 4 children. The children hugged her, and the sisters were crying. As soon as Maya saw me, relief coupled tightly with regret washed over her face.
I race towards her and grab her, holding her close. She's dirty, covered in ash and soot, and coughing between words. I can't even hear her speaking over the roar of the flames.
I scoop her up in my arms and try to race out of the room. I don't even get two steps near the door before Maya slaps me hard across the face. I'm stunned and freeze in my tracks, and finally, I can hear her. She holds my face in both her hands and screams at me.
"Get the children out!"
In my relief to see her, I had completely forgotten about the four kids and the three nuns who sat terrified in the corner. I looked at her worried, and she softened, pressing her forehead against mine. She jumped out of my arms and picked up two of the kids.
I pick up the other children and give confirmation to the nuns, and we begin taking off out of the front door. Ceiling beams fall around us at every step, and the fire snaps at our skin angrily. The black rolling smoke is nearly blinding now, and the children cough and scream as it burns their eyes and throats. We cleared the hallway in a matter of seconds, and I burst through the door with my shoulder, falling into the snow with the children. I immediately release them and look for Maya around me, and she lays in the snow, coughing, still just in my shirt.
I crawl over her, coughing and with my eyes blurry, and pull her into her lap, wrapping my arms around her possessively. Her skin is scorching hot, and her calf is burned. Her hair is frizzy, and her face is smeared with soot, but otherwise, she's okay, and I breathe a sigh of relief.
Maya immediately stands up, pushes herself out of my arms, and runs to the nuns to begin helping them count the children. The children line up to the best of their ability, and everyone is accounted for except for two.
I watch Maya's face pale as Emmett and Emery fail to answer their names. Maya counts again, repeatedly calling out to them, but there is no answer. Some of the sisters fall to the ground and begin sobbing.
Maya suddenly attempts to race back to the burning building, but the roof collapses, and I catch her around her waist, holding her back. She curses at me and cries, screaming, kicking, and punching me, but I hold onto her. I sat holding her outside the building for almost an hour as it slowly collapsed into a pile of soot and debris. Maya cried softly now in my arms and shook, but I held onto her all the same.
The children and the sisters slept in the church that night, and the town dispersed, letting the building slowly burn as there was nothing else they could do. They put out the fire with hoses and buckets of water to the best of their ability, but no one could search the rubble for the missing children due to the hot coals.
The town doctor treated the children, the nuns, and Maya for burn. The worst of their injuries were only minor burns or a temporary cough from the smoke.
When I returned Maya to the bakery, I immediately put her to bed and crawled behind her. I hugged her close to my chest and comforted her with each sob that rocked out of her body. She didn't say much the rest of the night—except for one thing.
"Asher," she says quietly, turning around to face me. She was naked, and my now scorched shirt sat on the floor by the bed. I attempted to clean her up to the best of my abilities, but soot still stained her cheeks in streaks.
She looks at my face momentarily and winces, and tears spring to her eyes. I placed my hand on her cheek, doing my best to comfort her, but the longer she looked at my face, the more anguished she became.
"I'm so sorry," her voice was rough from the fire's smoke.
"For what, my dear?"
"I slapped you," as the words left her mouth, a fresh sob racked through her chest.
Her words caused me to pause for a moment and think. Was I angry at her for slapping me? No. I don't imagine that I could be angry at her for anything. The question of anger and forgiveness didn't even cross my mind. When she had done it to me, all I had truly cared about at the moment was that she was alive.
I processed her words momentarily before finally pulling her close to me. I held my hand behind her head as she cried into my chest.
"Maya, every touch from you is a blessing. You did nothing wrong." My words seemed to soothe her, and after a little bit longer, she finally fell asleep.