The Chain That Refused to Break

Christmas, 2000 Gabriel sat on the couch, the light from the fireplace dancing across his pale face. The reflection from his glasses was a mirrored image of the flames. Camille as across from him in her rocking chair, hoping that he hadn’t caught her staring at him instead of her own book that lay in her lap. Although they had been best friends throughout their childhood, it was moments like this that she seemed to find herself awestruck by her husband. His long brown hair was pulled back tightly, bringing attention to his strong facial features. His reading glasses sat almost directly on his high cheek bones, drawing attention to his chestnut colored eyes. Although his appearance hadn’t changed in at least two years, Camille was certain that he grew more handsome every day.  Watching him turn a page her thoughts shifted to the baby that slept upstairs. It was hard to imagine that their little girl was already six months old. She had determined that it was not a myth that children grew too fast. It seemed like just the day before she had brought their beautiful daughter into the world. Now they were just mere hours away from celebrating their first yule with her.  Her thoughts were interrupted by Gabriel lifting his head from his book. At first, she thought he had caught her staring at him through his peripheral vision. Then she noticed the look of concern on face. No, concern wasn’t a strong enough word. Something had triggered his senses to be on the defense. Before Camille could inquire as to what was wrong, her body tensed. Both were out of their places and on their feet before the sound of the window shattering hit their ears. Wood smoke has a distinct smell. The smoke smell that hit Camille’s nostrils was that of a house catching on fire. It hit her before she ever saw the flames rising in the kitchen. Gabriel, with grace and speed, grabbed her by the hand and began dragging her towards the door. Sweeping her jacket from the coat rack in the entry way, he continued past the stairs that she instinctively wanted to go up. Her eyes blazed with confusion and horror as her husband continued to drag her into the study.  “Get the passage open!” He growled as he let go of her in the study entrance. “I’ll grab the baby.”  Camile moved to the third bookshelf in the study as Gabriel ran back towards the stairwell in the entry way. She had always thought him crazy for wanting to put a secret passage in their house, but he insisted when he built the place that they build a tunnel from one end of the property to the other. In fact, it was why he bought such a big property.  Never in a million years did she think that they’d actually have to use it. For God’s sake, this was Northern Idaho, not France! They weren’t supposed to ever fear for their lives here.  Her eyes scanned the books. She finally found the one that she was looking for and pulled on it as though she was grabbing it to read. As the book stopped about half way out of the shelf, the mechanisms in the door began to grind and Camille knew that she had remembered the right one. She noticed that Gabriel’s footsteps upstairs were now being drowned out by the roar of the fire. She turned around to look through the door of the study and instantly regretted her curiosity. The light from the living room was bright enough to blind someone if they were looking directly at it. She felt the horror spread across her face as she realized that the room where she just sat moments prior watching her husband, was now engulfed in flames.  Before the panic could set in, Gabriel slid through the doorway of the study, a little bundle of pink in his arms. He moved quickly over to his desk, grabbing a flashlight and a piece of paper from his top desk drawer, before nodding towards the now open passage. As they moved into the tunnel, Camille could hear the cracking and breaking of windows as the heat became too much for them to bear. As the tunnel door closed behind them, Gabriel handed her a flashlight and they began their march to the other side of their property.    *** Camille was certain that the events of the evening would haunt her for the rest of her life.  Where she sat now, hidden behind the cover of a fresh blanket of snow and a juniper bush, was like heaven compared to what she had just endured earlier. She watched as the snow continued to silently fall, piling up on the 8 inches that had already accumulated since noon. Houses all down the street had begun to go quiet as lights were finally being extinguished, which told Camille that children were now in bed and parents were finally finished staging the house to look as though Kris Kringle had snuck his way into the house while everyone slept. She imagined, for just a moment, the excitement on the children’s faces as they ran downstairs to find presents under the tree and cookies that they had left for Santa gone. Oh how she wished she could be one of those children on Christmas morning, fully unaware of the unseen dangers that lurked around every corner.  An owl calling in the distance brought her attention back to the street. She sighed as she pulled her jacket tighter around her shaking body. She wasn’t sure if she was cold or still in shock, but either way, she was thankful that Gabriel had scooped it up for her before their house was taken by the fire that tore through it.  As she looked up at the Victorian lamp that lit the street, she couldn’t help but drift back into her own thoughts. She thought about Gabriel and how he had looked moments before the attack. She remembered that she had a job to do. She had to focus. She looked forward at the house in front of her. There was still one light on downstairs, which meant that someone was still awake.  “They all have to be asleep.” Gabriel had said to her, handing her the piece of paper he had grabbed from his desk. “This will not work if either of us are seen. Do you understand me?” He had been so intense with is words that it almost frightened her.  All she could do was nod as he continued. “Take the baby and go. Call for me when the coast is clear.”  It was the last thing he had said to her before they got in separate cars and drove away from the garage in two separate directions. As Camille passed a fire truck on the highway, heading in the direction of their house, she knew that she would never see her home again. In fact, she wondered if she would ever see her beloved Gabriel again.  Her baby moved in the blankets that Camille cradled in her arms, bringing her back to the present. She felt the warmth of wet tears slide down her cheek. As she pulled her baby closer to her chest, she fought back a sob. The folded piece of paper that Gabriel gave to her contained a Lewiston address. At first, she didn’t understand why she was meeting him there, of all places. They didn’t know anyone in Lewiston, let alone know anyone at a specific address. As she got closer to the city lights, confusion gave way to pain and understanding. They had been found and she knew it. Whatever was at this address was a back-up plan that Gabriel had come up with. Following his instructions on secrecy, she had parked two blocks down at a local hospital before walking the rest of the way to her destination, her child sleeping comfortably in her arms. Three hours later, her footprints leading into the juniper bush where she now hid were covered under a fresh blanket of snow, and no one was the wiser of her presence.  The change in light coming across the yard caught her attention. That was it. The last light in the house had gone dark.   *** Gabriel leaned against the old brick of the civic theatre, waiting for Camille to call out to him. He couldn’t help but admire her courage. He recalled the look of confusion on her face as he handed the address of a place she had never been to and gave her the instruction to stay as hidden as possible. She obeyed his command without ever questioning for a second what he was talking about. She trusted his judgement and trusted that he would never put her or their child in harm’s way. He had been driving to Damien’s when he felt her confusion turn to understanding. She may not have known exactly what his plan was, but she knew that this address was part of his emergency plan.    “Gabriel,” he heard Camille’s soft voice call out in the darkness, “all of the lights are out. What next?”    “Stay where you are. I’m coming.” He thought, pushing himself away from the building.   It was times like this that he was thankful that they had the connection that they did. Even in their family it was rare for partners to share a bond so deep that thoughts and emotions could be felt and heard by the other from even miles away.  It was what made his and Camille’s relationship so unique. He could even feel her pain if he really wanted to. He had first felt it when they were young children. By the time that Camille figured out that they could feel one another Gabriel had already perfected it to a point of blocking her out if he needed to. He had never used this, but there were just certain times in which he didn’t need her experiencing his pain and fear. This was his way of protecting her from himself.    It was only a few blocks from where he had been waiting to where Camille hid in a bush waiting for him with their daughter. Her straight black hair was covered in snow, camouflaging her even more. He crouched down into the bush with her and looked over her shoulder at the house in front of them. Damien had said it would be the easiest house on the block to find. It was the only house that stood two stories tall and its grey paint with white trim stood out from the brick houses that lined the rest of the street.  The wrap around porch reminded him of a house that Camille had pointed out to him once during one of their leisurely drives around the countryside. He had always meant to add one to their home in the mountains, but now he would never get the chance.   “Gabriel, what are we doing here?” Camille asked, not turning to acknowledge his arrival. “Where were you?”   “I had to go see Damien.” He responded. “He had some things for me.” He could feel the pain hit her soul. Even though he had blocked her out from seeing his thoughts, she knew that if he had gone to Damien that the plan was to run again. Gabriel was thankful that she could not see the full plan, because he knew the pain that she would feel would be enough to make him change his mind. She couldn’t know until it was time.   “You shouldn’t have to grow up like this little one.” She thought softly, looking down at their daughter, still sound asleep in her arms. “I’m so sorry.”    Although the thought was not directed towards him, nor was it meant to receive a response, Gabriel knew it was now or never. “She’s not going to grow up like this.” Camille looked at him and Gabriel felt the realization hit her like a ton of bricks as it dawned on his beautiful wife what they were doing in front of this house. Her blue eyes blazed, filling with tears that he could tell she was fighting back.   “You can’t be serious.” She croaked, fighting back a sob. “This is our baby!” She clutched the bundle of blankets to her chest, and he heard her think momentarily about running for it.  “Camille, they’ve found us. For them to come after you or I is one thing, but we have a chance to make sure that our child grows up as normal as possible. We can at least give her that.”   “How do we know these people will take care of her? How do we know that they’re not going to just drop her off at the closest orphanage first thing tomorrow?” She asked, looking for an excuse not to go through with what they were about to do.  “She’ll be fine. Damien did some digging and found this family through an adoption agency here. They can’t have children and have been trying to adopt for over a year now.”  “So why have they not been able to?” She asked, smug satisfaction in her voice. “If they haven’t been able to adopt there must be something wrong with their credentials.”  Gabriel shook his head. He knew she was going to put up a fight. “Because of what they’re looking for. They are looking for a baby that they can adopt. They want a child whose only memories will be the ones they make with it. They are looking for a child that looks like them so that they can pass the child off as their own. They want their own child. They want their own daughter.”  Camille looked down at the sleeping child in her arms and Gabriel knew by the change in her emotions and her thoughts that she was starting to see this was the only way. “And they live here?” “No. They live in a different state. The wife’s parents live here. It just so happens that they were up for Christmas. Lucky for us, otherwise we would have had to travel farther.”  If looks could have killed Gabriel would have been dead, buried, resurrected, and then dead again with the look Camille shot him. “We were forced out of our home, the people we moved here to escape from have found us, and now you’re asking me to trust complete strangers with our daughter. This is not luck. This is a nightmare.”  “I know, but she’ll be safe here. If there is any amount of luck on our side, this is where it lies.” Gabriel looked back up at the house. They were running out of time. The longer they stayed here the more risk they ran of being found.  “My darling, we haven’t much time. She will be safe here. I promise.”  Camille looked up at him, her eyes burning deep into his soul. It was bad enough that he could feel her sorrow, looking into her eyes made the agony almost unbearable. He had to stand strong though. For his wife to make this sacrifice, he had to remain strong. Finally, she nodded, and Gabriel knew he would have to be the one to do it.  He slid his hands under the blankets and pulled the babe away from her mother. As soon as she left Camille’s touch, Gabriel could feel his wife’s heart shatter. He only had to make sure that his didn’t do the same for at least five more minutes. He left Camille in the safety of the bush that had become her blind over the last few hours and began to walk towards the front door that belonged to his daughter’s new family.  The snow felt wet and heavy beneath his boots and he swore that with every step he took his legs were turning to stone. As he walked up the steps to the porch that he’d been admiring when he first arrived, he noticed a wicker basket by the front door, just as Damien said there would be. He pulled it onto the welcome mat and knelt in front of it.  For the first time since he had grabbed her out of her crib as their house was engulfed in flames he looked down at his beautiful child. He took one last moment to take all her in. Her skin was so white that it seemed to be glowing as bright as the snow. The hair that she did have was covered by her pink cap that Camille had knitted for her, and she grasped onto her blanket with her little fingers. Gabriel kissed her forehead and knew that she would be alright. She had been out here for a few hours with her mother and was still radiating heat. Camille had done a good job making the quilt that she was now wrapped in. Little did Camille know when she made it that it would be the only thing her only child would have of her.  Quickly, before he changed his mind, Gabriel placed the baby in the wicker basket along with an envelope with everything this family would need. He had to give Damien credit. He had truly done his homework with this one. Enclosed in the envelope, her new parents would find a letter explaining why they were finding this little bundle of joy on their front porch on Christmas morning. As much as he would like to be considered an angel, he was far from it and he wanted them to be sure that this was not a gift from God. They would also find a birth certificate outlining the birth of their daughter. Damien had even gone so far as to find out what hospital she would have been born at had her new mother carried her.  Gabriel gave the basket one last look as he stood up. “I love you my child. You’ll never remember me, but I will always remember you and I will always love you.”  He quickly turned and walked back to his wife who was still hiding in the bushes, sobbing uncontrollably. Without saying a word, he grabbed her by the arm for the second time that night, and quickly guided her away.  *** They had walked all the way back to Camille’s car before Gabriel finally let go of her arm. The snow was falling harder than it had been when she first started spying on what would be their daughter’s new family. Any doubt she had of someone following their footprints in the snow in the morning was long gone. She looked up at Gabriel. “Are you at least going to tell me their names?” She demanded.  Gabriel looked at the hill leading out of the valley as he answered. “No. If they ever catch you, I want you to be able to answer honestly. You know nothing of her whereabouts or who she is with. All you know is that I left her on someone’s porch this evening.”  Suddenly it all made the sense. The secrecy wasn’t because he knew she would have protested; it was to keep her safe. “So where do we go now?”  Gabriel took his gaze away from the hillside. Something was off. He always looked her in the eyes when he was speaking to her. Finally, he sighed before pulling an envelope out of his inside coat pocket. “You’re going to New York. There’s a new ID, birth certificate, social security card, and some cash. Everything you could possibly need to start over. Your flight leaves in an hour.”   He extended the envelope to her as she asked “What do you mean ‘I’ will be going to New York? You aren’t possibly thinking about staying here.”  He shook his head and turned to her. In all the years she had known him, this was the first time that she’d ever seen him cry. The tears were silently rolling down his face like a waterfall created by melting patches of snow. She instinctively moved to wipe his tears but before her hand could touch his cheek, he had ahold of both of her wrists. He’d never grabbed her like this before. She tried desperately to search his mind, but she had never been good at it. If he wanted her to see his thoughts she could; if he didn’t want her to, she never would.   “Gabriel, you’re scaring me.” She finally squeaked out, his hands still tightly clutching both of her wrists.   Gabriel swallowed hard as though his words were getting caught in his throat. “I’m sorry love. It’s the only way. So long as we are together, they’ll never stop, and tonight was too close.”   “No.” She gasped. She knew where this was going. The way that he was avoiding her gaze. The way that he was acting as though someone had just stabbed him in the heart. It all made sense. He wasn’t planning on coming with her. “Gabriel, please no. I can’t lose both my husband and my daughter in the same day.”  “Camille, you have to go. Please just trust me.” “Trust you? I’ve trusted you for years.  With my life. With our child’s life. I’ve trusted you with my heart and right now you’re breaking it. I don’t understand why you’re doing this to me.” Gabriel had had enough of her panicking. He quickly grabbed her by the shoulders and in a calm, cool voice he began to explain to her how dire the situation was. “Camille, I understand that this is a lot for you to take in, but you must listen to me and you must trust me. When we’re together we might as well be a light house for them to follow. We can run where ever we want, but if we are together, they’ll find us.” “You think they won’t find us if we’re on our own?” “They might, but the chances are slim. They’ll also never see it coming. They wouldn’t ever suspect that we separated and went different directions.” “I’d rather them find me and kill me than be separated from you.” Cried Camille, her body quaking from trying to contain the sobs. “I will die without you.” “Camille, please. If they find us together, they won’t just kill you. They’ll make a game of it. I can’t lose you. Not that way. I’d much rather let you go, knowing that you’re safe, than keep you for myself knowing that it will be your demise.”  Camille realized that no matter what she said, he would not be coming to New York with her, nor would he be meeting her there. Gabriel pulled her close to him, cupped the back of her neck with one of his hands and kissed her. He had never kissed her so passionately before. The fire that destroyed their house was no match for the fire that now burned inside her very being. Gabriel pulled away from her lips and she couldn’t help but keep her eyes closed as he framed her face with his gloved hands and kissed her forehead.    “I love you,” he whispered. She felt his hand let go of her face and she opened her eyes. She wasn’t surprised to see that Gabriel was no longer standing there. His footprints had disappeared as though he had never existed. As Camille stood alone in the darkness, her new identity in her hands, she knew that that was the last time she would ever see Gabriel Beaufront.