88 comments/ 67833 views/ 56 favorites Limbo Ch. 01 By: LaRascasse Hi folks, After reading several great stories in this category (FrancisMacomber and angiquesophie being particular favourites), I thought I'd try my hand at one myself. It's a departure from my usual style, so let's see where the words take me. Feedback is most welcome. An immense vote of thanks to my diligent editor, Bramblethorn, who has the often onerous task of wrangling my error riddled drafts into a somewhat readable end product. "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." - Dr. Seuss Limbo Ch. 01 All of it was a lie, a warped, twisted, cruel joke played on him by the universe... and no one had the decency to laugh. How long he pumped into her, he couldn't tell. Finally, his hard member unloaded ropes of cum inside her before he staggered back. Zoe leaned against the wall, her eyes closed and a dreamy expression plastered across her face. "Dammit. Now I'll have to take even more overtime if you'll welcome me back like this." Overtime. That lie. Ethan left through the front door. He clenched his fist and punched the wall. Pain roared through his forearm. He grimaced and saw a trickle of blood. Ethan bled even more in places deep inside. Limbo Ch. 01 When she reached the head, she used one hand to hold it in place while her tongue swept across it repeatedly. She pressed her lips around it and sucked hard, making Ethan groan with pleasure. He felt a churning within his bowels before he emptied his balls into her willing mouth. She looked up at him with a smile on her face, her lips coated with his discharge. With some help from her fingers, Ethan was ready in record time. She swung one leg over his abdomen, straddling him. Her lower lips hung between her legs, barely brushing the engorged tip of Ethan's cock. With a sultry smile, she sank down on him, pushing his entire length into her. A rush of pleasure engulfed them both. Sophie moved her hips up and down on him, impaling herself on him. Ethan was content to lay back and watch her breasts jiggle for him. He pushed upwards with the same rhythm, thrusting into her languidly. Soon, she felt the delicious rush of orgasm beckoned to her. Her vision fluttered around the edges before finally giving in. Ethan too felt his balls drain themselves for the second time that night. A mixture of liquids rushed out and coated his thighs. Sophie collapsed on top of him. Their sweaty skin stuck together. He wiped a patch on her forehead and kissed her gently. "Zoe was lucky to have you." "I don't know," he sighed. "Well, I'd better get going then," said Sophie, getting off the bed and looking for her clothes. "I'll see you at work tomorrow. Remember, not a word of this to anyone. I don't want a meeting with HR on workplace relationships." "You got it. This never happened." "That's the spirit," said Sophie, buttoning her jeans. "For the first time in your life, you have a chance to explore your options. You've had a rough time. Now have some fun." She put on the rest of her clothes and lit up a Camel by the window. "What happened to your diamond thief?" "Hanged himself in prison. His suicide note said it hurt too much to go on." She gave him a funny look. "Should I be worried about you?" she asked pointedly. "Don't sweat it. I'm not in prison." The two-faced custom pendant in his drawer begged to differ. He was in a prison of a different kind. Limbo Ch. 01 "What the hell! I'm just trying to be nice." "I really should leave now..." All of a sudden, two of the more sober members grabbed his arm and flattened it against the bed. Ethan tried to move, but was soon immobilised by two others. He looked at them with shock, which immediately turned to dread when he saw Linda holding a syringe with a manic smile on her face. "Shh..." she cooed against his face. "Don't fight it. Don't fight the need. We've suffered enough. All of us. Everyone here is dying on the inside. When I heard your story earlier, I knew I had to help you too. It's all going to be okay." Ethan's eyes went wide with fear. She raked the tip of the needle over the skin of his still forearm. The needle came to rest on top of a clearly defined vein. "Say goodbye to your pain," she said gleefully, pushing the tip in. Limbo Ch. 02 This is the concluding part of my LW debut. I hope you enjoy it. Votes, comments and private feedback are most welcome for this effort. A shout out to my excellent editor, Bramblethorn, for all her efforts. "No matter how much suffering you went through, you never wanted to let go of those memories." ― Haruki Murakami Limbo Ch. 02 Lana clapped and squealed with joy. Sam lowered her mouth and kissed her all over her face once more. "Sam's very close to her brother," her mother confided in Ethan. "They were inseparable as kids. There wasn't a secret that one of them had that the other didn't know." "Why don't we show him the tape?" her father said. Thalia nodded and fetched a CD. "This is from four years ago." The flatscreen flickered to life. The first scene was of Sam's parents whispering between themselves. The video moved to the yard where a large neighbourhood party was in progress. Thalia, visibly pregnant, was pouring out some punch and chatting with her friends. The jerky camera panned to Sam trying to focus her zoom onto a nearby squirrel. The video moved back to Sam's parents as they gesticulated in her direction. The video returned to her with her camera. All of a sudden, a large, hulking man came into the scene out of nowhere and lifted her clean off her feet with a hug. Sam was whirled around and put down before she returned the hug with interest and a squeal which could have shattered glass. All the guests at the party gasped, none louder than Thalia. She rushed over and joined the hug. There were cheers and claps all around. Captain James Penderghast had returned early from his tour of duty. The camera zoomed in on his face sandwiched between identical smiles by Sam and Thalia. "And cut," said Sam. They exchanged more banter for some more hours. Ethan felt as if he had known Sam's parents forever. Thalia was the perfect hostess, never letting him spend more than ten minutes without a tray of edibles within reach. Sam clung onto Lana throughout. "Aunt Sam, do you want to see my new dress?" "Why I'd love to?" she said. "Maybe I'll even take a picture of you in it." Lana led Sam by her hand upstairs. Her family watched them all the way to her room. "I'm glad Sam has started making friends again," remarked her father. "She looks so happy, almost like her old self before..." began Thalia, quickly gauging that Ethan didn't know what was being talked about. She stopped awkwardly and clapped her palm over her mouth. Ethan stared around the living room taking in the mortified expressions. The wheels turned furiously in his head before he spoke up. "Whatever happened, you don't have to share it with me if you're not comfortable." The other three people present looked at each other for a few long moments. "Sam trusts you," said her mother quietly. "That's enough reason for me." Ethan grew increasingly more curious. He took a bite of a cookie and listened. "I just want you to know that..." began her mother, wiping the beginnings of a few tears. "Sam may look carefree and spirited, but she's hurting deep down inside. She's been through hell and we know it. Remember that, always, when you're with her. Even if she doesn't talk about it, she relives it every night." "She really likes you, you know?" added Thalia. "We thought she'd never trust a man again, but she's pushing down all her fears so that she can be your friend. Treat her right, okay?" "What happened to her?" Thalia looked from Sam's mother to her father and then back at Ethan with pursed lips. Finally, she spoke up. "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that. She'd never forgive me if I did. In time, maybe she'll tell you herself." There was an awkward pause for a few minutes before Samantha reappeared with her niece in tow and a whole array of photographs. They bid their farewells and Ethan led her outside. He looked at her by his side, placidly hiding the immense weight of whatever her family kept from him. In a sudden rush of emotions, he hugged her tightly for no apparent reason. She drew her head back and shot him a funny look. "How much wine did you have while I was gone?" He simply smiled and helped her into the car. They drove back to the city. Ethan got off at his apartment. He climbed to the roof and gazed at the starry skies unfurled above him. His phone started ringing. He lifted it to his eyes to see the familiar number he didn't want to speak to. But, he felt a tug at his heartstrings. The day had been about the importance of family, and it left a warm aftermath. Surely, he could blame it on the wine later. He picked up the call. "You finally picked up." "Hi, Val," he said. "Beautiful night, isn't it?" "Yes it is. You're a hard man to get a hold of, Ethan. For the last ten years I get one tedious phone call on my birthday and Christmas and that's it. You can imagine how surprised I was to get your call that day." "It was a moment of weakness, Val. I had just seen so many people die from drug overdose. That was when it really hit me that I had to move on." "I need a moment of weakness to get a phone call from my own brother? That's really sad, you know. Do you know how many times I've tried calling you since?" "I know, but I'm sorry. I couldn't bring myself to answer." Valerie was silent for a few seconds. "Why?" she asked earnestly. "What have I done to deserve losing you?" "You know what," he sighed heavily. "... and you know I'd rather not talk about it." "NO!" said the voice on the other end of the call with emphasis. "This cold war between us has gone on for too long. It ends tonight. Whatever you want to say, you're going to say it to me and we're going to begin mending our relationship." "Not now, Val. I'm not up for it." "No time like the present. You're mad at me, I get it. Yell, scream and get it all out of your system. I'm not dropping this call until you do." "Please, Val," he said in a tremulous tone. "Please don't do this." "I want my little brother back; the brother who was my best friend once, and I'll be damned if I don't do whatever it takes." Ethan didn't say anything. The bitterness in his throat was evident. "Everything you ever wanted to tell me, now's your chance. Don't hold any of it back." He scoured his mind for the right words to express the multitude of emotions he felt. There was a brief pause before he began, slowly but with intensity. "Valerie Cole, you don't have a brother. Not anymore. Do you remember all those times when Dad came home drunk and was going to beat you? I got in his way until you had locked yourself in your room and he only beat me instead. Do you remember all those times I stood up for you? I do. Do you remember how I fought for you when you came out to Mom and Dad? I do." He paused to take a breath. A few stray tears had crept past his defences. Ten years of suppressed up rage and frustration had finally reached a tipping point. It was all coming out, whether he liked it or not. "The one time I wanted you to stand up for me, the one time I needed your support, you weren't there. Dad told me not to marry Zoe and you took his side. You said it was because we were too young, but it was really because you didn't want to stand up to Dad." His voice was cracking up now, but he was determined to go on. "Mom wasn't there to protect me any more and I needed my elder sister. I begged and cried for my elder sister to be there for me, but she wasn't." He cried bitterly into the phone. Fat tear drops rolled down his cheeks onto the concrete floor. His vision was too blurry to see the individual stars any more. "Are you done?" asked Valerie softly. He shut the phone and trudged back down to his apartment. He wouldn't admit it, but he felt lighter than he had in ages. Limbo Ch. 02 "Who else do I have? Is it you?" "No. It's not me and it will never be me. I won't take you back, not after what you did. Every time I see you, all I can think of is you and Milos in that damn hotel room. Nothing will ever change that." "I miss you so much, Ethan, it hurts." He felt a craving for her love well up within him. Old feelings he had worked so hard to bury raised their heads in unison, all wanting nothing more than to hold her and kiss her and feel the warmth of her touch again. ... And then the image of that restaurant floated in his mind. It was almost a year ago, but every detail was rendered perfectly -- the rain, the drinks, the designer dress, the laughter and that fateful kiss, all of it rushed back to him like a suckerpunch back to reality. Quietly, he finished his coffee. "Stop lying to yourself, Zoe. You miss the exotic vacations and sports cars. You don't miss me." The rest of her coffee spilt onto the table as she did a poor job of stifling a sob. She was halfway to the door within the next second, trying to hold back her tears. Ethan caught a glimpse of her scampering past the glass front of the café, tears flowing down her face. Limbo Ch. 02 Zoe sat in the waiting room. Her eyes were fixed to the clock. Seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours. Each instant of time that ticked by with the maddening uncertainty of her husband's fate was torture. People went in and out of the waiting room, each footfall making her look up with hope. It was past 2 AM when the doors of the OR opened. Ethan came out, still in his scrubs. His hands and the front of his gown had a few ugly splashes of blood. He looked too tired to walk upright, drained by the effort of the surgery. He stopped to lean against the wall of the casualty ward. Zoe walked up to him softly and placed a palm on his shoulder. He turned his bleary gaze towards her and shook his head slowly. "I'm so sorry. We tried our best. His ribs had broken completely and shards of bone punctured his lungs, kidneys, liver and heart. He also took a heavy blow to the head and was almost brain dead by the time he got here. There was nothing we could do." There was a thud. Zoe's eyes closed and her knees buckled. She collapsed onto the floor. Ethan immediately got on his knees and cradled her head in his hands. Doctors and nurses converged on them. Limbo Ch. 02 Sam and Ethan settled into the main bedroom. He had a hot shower and shaved himself. There was a party of sorts at his sister's place later on. Half the town was coming, if for nothing else than to see the return of the prodigal son. There was a knock on the door. Valerie stood with a basket of muffins in her hand. "Just like old times, eh Ethan?" "True," he admitted. "Dad sends me to bed without dinner and Mom smuggles something upstairs through you once he's too drunk to notice." "They're from Andie's Bakery down the street. You remember, right? Your favourite blueberry muffins." "Sam, you have got to try these," Ethan said, hurriedly wolfing one down. "Exactly like I remember it." "They're complimentary. My guests get special treatment in this town. My brother, well, you can imagine. You can basically get anything you want for free while you're here." "I'd like to visit Andie's Bakery later." "They get orders from all over the state now. Big orders, like for weddings and conventions." "You're kidding me, right? That small little patisserie." "It's much bigger now," Val laughed. "I'm a silent partner, after all." "I'm special ordering a bunch of these to New York city," piped up Samantha. "I have a party coming up soon. Could you get me their card?" "Speaking of parties, we're getting late for one. Come on, hurry up." Within half an hour, Sam and Ethan stood wide-eyed in the midst of a throng of eager faces. He smiled and pretended to recognise everyone who shook hands with him. All of his classmates who were in town showed up, dismayed he didn't remember every last detail of their school lives. Ethan had taken great pains to cut himself completely off from his past and it showed. He made his excuses to the latest few people who were aghast he didn't remember them and went off in search of Valerie or Samantha. He spotted his sister mobbed by a group of pre-pubescent kids. Smiling, he walked to the table to get a better look at the game of three-card monte in progress. "See if you can find the Queen," she said, swapping three face-down cards with great speed. The kids watched her hands with awe while trying to keep track of where their card was. Val finally finished and looked up. "Which one is the Queen?" There was a buzz among the children as they compared their guesses. Ethan chuckled before he spoke. "None of them. The Queen is in your pocket." "Hey!" she looked up with mock anger written on her face. "You weren't playing." "It's hardly a game if no one can win." "There isn't any money at play here. I'm doing it for kicks." "Back in high school, you made quite a lot of money peddling this trick to gullible city slickers." "We all have to start somewhere," she laughed. "C'mon, I'll introduce you to my friends." He took a glance backwards to see Samantha absorbed in conversation with a group of college-aged girls. She had her camera out and was showing them the finer workings of it. After an hour of being paraded by his sister, Ethan grabbed a can of chilled Budweiser and headed for the front porch. Arthur sat in his rocking chair with the baby in his lap and a glass in his hand. "Before you ask, it's fruit beer. No alcohol." "Cheers," said Ethan and sat down beside him. They surveyed the milling crowd of chattering people in front of them. "Beautiful, isn't he?" Arthur said, lifting the sleeping baby. Ethan softly caressed his nephew's pale scalp and nodded. "You've still not made up your mind whether or not to accept my apology, have you, son?" Ethan didn't answer. He took a sip of beer instead. "It's okay. All I can hope for is that you will in time. It's my greatest regret that your mother never got to see this side of me. She died knowing me only as the monster I was." "I'm glad you turned your life around. I really am." "It took me so much therapy to understand such a simple truth. That I was hurting my own family, the people I should care for the most." "You're a pacifist now?" "Let's just say I don't even allow your sister to put a bug zapper in the yard." Ethan laughed and drank some more beer. "Don't think I've forgotten how to hurt people, Ethan. If someone dares lay a finger on you, your sister, Sarah or even little Colin here, I swear on your mother's grave I will bring down the wrath of God on them. You hurt for your family, you don't hurt them." The noise made little Colin stir. He cried softly. Arthur rocked him gently until he was asleep again. "Tell me about Sam. Does she make you happy?" "She does. She really does." "That's enough for me then. I'm not going to make the same mistake I made with you and Zoe. The two of you have my blessing." The party dwindled to a close. Samantha had made quite an impression among the townies. Everybody who passed shook hands with her and Ethan and invited them for dinner. They smiled until their jaws ached. Finally, Valerie had her chauffeur drop them off at the Woodford Inn. Too tired to eat any more, they went to sleep. "Wake up." Sam scrunched her face without opening her eyes. Ethan shook her again. "It isn't even morning," she groaned, pulling the duvet over her face. Undeterred, he yanked it back down and shook her awake. "What do you have against sleep?" she grumbled. "There's something I want you to see," he said. "It used to be my favourite thing about this place." Samantha jolted out of her semi-sleepy trance to see Ethan holding the window open. He stepped out of it onto a lower section of the roof and stuck his hand back in to help her. "Careful now. Some of these tiles are loose." After some effort, both of them sat side by side staring at the horizon. There was the faintest flicker of red where the rising sun would make an appearance. Their view was unhindered and lovingly framed by two hills. "You're about to see the most beautiful thing in this town." He turned to see Samantha climbing back inside through the window. She reappeared a few minutes later clutching her camera. "Ethan, have you ever taken a selfie using a DSLR? Well, we're about to take the most high resolution selfie ever." They waited until part of the sun had risen. The glowing semi-circle in the distance was shrouded in clouds. Shafts of light perforated the wisps and lit up the sky. The redness smeared over the horizon melded seamlessly into the ephemeral mauve hue separating night and day. Sam took a few seconds to admire the kaleidoscope of colours before taking a photo. She turned away from the sun and held out the camera with the lens facing her. "Come here, Ethan." Before he could react, her lips planted a wet kiss on his cheek and the camera clicked. Her estimation was perfect. The light from the rising sun painted their faces. Even the sliver of a gap between them glowed with sunlight. "This is not going on Instagram," she said happily. "This is only for us." Ethan felt his cheek where her lips had just been. His fingers felt the residual wetness. When her lips had been in contact with him, the sunrise suddenly seemed so utterly banal. "Ethan, hello? I said, do you want to get it framed?" He didn't answer her question. His hand around her shoulder drew her closer and he locked his lips onto hers. He kissed her deeply and lovingly, exploring her mouth and savouring the intimacy. Samantha seemed too stunned to react to his oral assault. When he detached his lips, she looked dazed and her eyes were glassy. "I'm sorry, Sam," Ethan said. "I don't know what came over me. I shouldn't have." "Fuck that," she replied and mashed her lips into his. Her tongue was aggressive, frothing and churning the inside of his mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into the kiss. Their eyes were closed. Her tongue danced with his, then sparred in his mouth. Their lips detached and their eyes stared deep into each other, trying to find the meaning of what transpired. "Not now," Sam whispered. He slung his hand over her shoulder and went back to admiring the sunrise. Limbo Ch. 02 That was it. The anchor of hate around his neck was finally off. He took his phone out and pressed a speed dial number. "Sam. I'm ready. I'm coming over tonight."