The Brand Ch. 13

With that, the signal was cut.

Victria was parked by a fast flowing river just inside the Massachusetts border. She stepped out of her Forester. Closing the door behind her, she walked to the guardrail, withdrew the track phone from her breast pocket, and then lobbed it into the rushing water below. Once back inside the vehicle, she regarded Spanky, who was asleep on the floor at Melody's feet. She suddenly felt that it was she herself that didn't need to be in the equation.

The pang of pain stung in her gut, quick and hard. She shut her eyes tight. She didn't want Glory to be right, though somehow, in the muddy black recesses of her mind, Victria couldn't deny it. No, she thought, turning to face Melody's vacant stare. I've been given a second chance. Second nothing. It's my third, maybe even my- There it was again: that feeling of jammis vue. I know I've been here before, but it feels like the first time anyway. What did I tell you Mel? I've got at least five more lives to give you.

Victria smiled to herself. You're hilarious God, seriously fucking hilarious. No Glory, she thought. I'm believing it's going to work, and that's it. Victria took a deep breath and put her vehicle back into drive. As she looked for an opening in the traffic, she laid her right hand onto her center glove box. Locked inside it was her new revolver, loaded but for one cylinder. With confidence and certainty, she reached the right hand down to Melody's, held it gently, and then pulled back onto the highway.