Free Dark Creations: Hell on Earth (Part 5) by Jennifer Martucci, Christopher Martucci

stairs two at a time. He waited until everyone that loafed in the doorway had cleared before he spoke.
    “Are you okay?” he asked her and took both her hands in his.
    “Are you ?”
    “I’m fine, why?”
    “Let’s see, I don’t know, you just got into it with Ace the tobacco-chewing redneck who seems a few beers shy of a six-pack.  Why wouldn’t you be fine?”
    Gabriel smiled.  “Come on, after all we’ve been through you think that hick can bother us?”
    “I guess not.”
    “Besides, we’re here to find out what the hell is going on.”
    “I don’t want this, any of this,” she interrupted him.  His expression quickly shifted.  He looked as though he’d been slapped.
    “ I’m sorry,” he said and dropped his gaze.
    “No , no.  You don’t have to apologize.”
    “ Yes I do,” he said and looked crushed.  “If it weren’t for me, you’d never be in this situation, any of the awful situations I’ve put you in.  You’d be better off.
    “No I wouldn’t! I don’t regret a single moment we’ve shared, even the awful ones.  Sure, I could’ve done without them, but I want you, Gabriel.  You’re the only person in this world I want.  I’m not going to lie, though,” she said and swept her arm to her side, toward the farmhouse.  “This whole thing with Jack terrifies me.  I thought this was over, that we were going to have a normal life together, a wedding, an apartment, a future.  I thought we’d ended the nightmare.  And now, now it’s back.  The nightmare is back, and worse than before.”
    “We don’t know that.  Let’s listen to what they have to say.  After seeing these guys , I am starting to really doubt there’s anything happening here.”
    Melissa hoped he meant what he was saying.  He did not speak with the conviction she’d hoped for and doubted he believed a word of what he’d said.  But she appreciated his intentions.  He wanted to protect her, to give her hope.  In the back of her mind, she knew Terzini was back.  And while the likes of both Ed O’Malley and Ace did little to support Jack’s case, something had rattled them.  Now, they needed to hear what that something was. 
    “Ugh, spending time here feels like cruel and unusual punishment,” Melissa said trying to lighten Gabriel’s mood.
    “You sound like Alex when you say that,” he teased.
    “You take that back, Gabriel James,” she feigned insult. 
    “And if I don’t?” he looked at her mischievously.
    “Then I’ll have to come up with some way to punish you,” she tried to flirt, but felt utterly ridiculous.  Her cheeks blazed.
    “Well then,” Gabriel fumbled and looked as uncomfortable as she felt.  “ I’ll have to be sure to, uh, watch my, uh,” he continued to stammer before giving up, frustrated.  “Dammit!  I suck at this.”
    Melissa giggled and wrapped both arms around his waist.  “I love you,” she said against his hard chest.
    “Wow, I should sound like a moron more often,” he said then kissed the top of her head.  “If it gets me this kind of response, I’ll be sure to blabber incoherently at least a dozen times a day.”
    Melissa’s heart swelled, filled with so much love for Gabriel, it felt as if it would burst.  She squeezed him tighter.  “Wh at did I ever do to deserve you?” she muttered.
    “Obviously something very bad,” Gabriel joked and tightened his arms around her. 
    “You guys are nauseating!” Alexandra squawked from the top of the staircase. 
    Melissa looked up and narrowed her eyes at her friend.  Alexandra winked and smiled.  “C’mon, Colonel CrazyAss is about to get started with some kind of presentation.  Better come in,” she said before disappearing.
    Reluctantly, Melissa let go of Gabriel.  As she stepped back, he cupped her chin in both hands and tipped it up to face him.  He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers gently.  For a moment, she forgot about why she’d come to Minnesota, forgot where