Breaking Their Hold

Chapter Forty-Three: Tougher Than Most

With Pierre and Mel

Mel had never seen something as comfortable and as luxurious as the sight that was in front of her as she and Pierre stepped into a bedroom that she had been told was hers for the night. She knew that in the morning, they would be leaving for Haverly Hospital on an actual airplane instead of just the helicopter that had flown them from Minnesota and into Canada, but for tonight, at least, she would be able to rest in a comfortable room. The sheets were made of silk, and there was a large, expensive comforter covering the bed as well. She saw a TV on one wall, but decided not to watch it since there was a chance she’d see something about Zack, Matt, or Jimmy or something else Schlagger had done.

Mel couldn’t deny the fact that she was more nervous than she had ever been. She would be meeting the Canadian President, Robert McKenzie, tomorrow morning. She’d never met someone like him before. Every person in power that she’d ever known had been nothing but evil, and yet McKenzie was only trying to help her and the rest of the people in the United States. He was so drastically different from Schlagger that it was like a difference of night and day.

“Mel?”

She looked up and saw Pierre giving her a small smile before he walked over to her, patting her shoulder. “I know that you’re probably not going to sleep much tonight. But try, okay? Tomorrow is going to be a long day and you’ll need your rest if you’re going to be able to withstand Zack and everybody else’s hugs.”

Mel smiled, knowing that Pierre truly believed that everyone was safe. He wouldn’t let her believe otherwise if it wasn’t true, which was a reason she respected Pierre so much. She couldn’t even remember why she’d doubted him in the beginning.

“I’ll try,” she murmured softly.

Pierre nodded and didn’t say another word as he walked out of the bedroom, leaving Mel alone to herself for the first time since she could remember since childhood. Even in Haverly if she’d been alone in a room, there had constantly been cameras monitoring her and everyone else. She had always known she wasn’t truly alone there. So for her to know that she was alone right now, in this moment with no one watching her or keeping an eye on her felt somewhat scary.

She looked at the alarm clock that was sitting on the nightstand by the bed and sighed when she saw that it was only a little past ten o’clock at night. She didn’t want to go to sleep right now, but she knew that she should. Pierre was right, like he always was. Tomorrow was going to be a big day and she needed to be completely ready and prepared. She found a pair of pajamas lying underneath one of the pillows on her bed and decided that she might as well change into them since she had nothing else to wear, and then decided to take a shower as well when she realized that she probably didn’t smell good at the moment.

While she was sleeping, she had horrible nightmares that involved Zack, Jimmy, and Matt dying while a crowd of Government officials stood by, laughing at their victims’ misery. She saw all the blood and heard the cries of pain from her brother and friends; saw the look of terror in their eyes as the bullets ripped through their flesh.

It was all so realistic that it couldn’t just be a nightmare, she thought to herself as she sat up straight as a bolt some hours later. Her body was drenched in sheen of cold sweat as she looked over at the alarm clock to see that only about four hours had passed by. It was only two thirty, and the plane for Haverly Hospital wasn’t leaving until seven o’clock in the morning.

After her nightmare, Mel found it impossible to fall asleep again and opted instead to lay in her bed thinking about everything that had happened in the last year. So much had changed.

She had become a lot stronger than the girl she’d been this time last year, she realized. She was no longer a scared little girl who would do whatever she was told just to avoid a little pain. She didn’t let the Government have control over her anymore, and she would never have believed she was capable of pulling herself out of something like that.

She had also found a love in Jimmy that was deeper than anything she could have imagined. Of course, she had always known that she loved him. She had harbored feelings for him even when they’d been younger and hadn’t been in Haverly.

But those feelings were nothing compared to what she felt now. Now, Mel didn’t know how she could survive if Jimmy didn’t pull through this and get to the end with her. She loved him so much and she knew that he was her other half. He was really the only thing she had left in the world beside her brother, Matt, and Pierre. She couldn’t lose any of them or she would go insane, and she especially couldn’t lose Jimmy.

The hours passed by steadily for her as she lay in the large bed, thinking things through. Where was Jimmy now, she wondered? And was Matt still with him? What about Maya and the others in that village? She knew that they were strong, but were they strong enough to get through something as difficult as these times were becoming?

When sunrise finally came, Mel knew that they were going to be leaving soon. It was a relief to her, knowing that soon, she would be on her way to Haverly. She would finally know for certain whether or not Jimmy, Matt, and her brother were alright, or if she was too late like she had been with the rest of her family. Pain tore through her heart when she thought of Gavin and Gianna and how she’d already let them and their parents down. She had no doubt that her parents and second oldest brother, Matt, were dead by now, too.

There would never be any erasing the pain she felt that she couldn’t have helped them, she knew, but by doing this and helping the Canadian government and INTERPOL take down Schlagger and his regime, she would be able to make sure their deaths hadn’t been in vain. She could only hope that she wasn’t too late to save the others that she loved and cared about.

She had just gotten out of bed and remade the bed when she heard the bedroom door open. She turned around to see that it was Pierre who was standing there, a small smile on his face as he looked over at her. She could see the relief on his face as well. For him, this was the end of a journey he’d been on for longer than she knew. This meant his freedom from putting himself in harm’s way for people he didn’t know.

“Within the next couple of hours, everything will be solved, Mel. INTERPOL is meeting us there when we break through into Haverly. I bet everyone’s going to be shocked to see you,” he grinned at her with a small smile.

“I just hope that they’re all okay, and that we’re not too late, Pierre.”

The sadness was evident in her voice and Pierre could tell that she was still worried about everything. Of course, she had every reason to be worried and nervous. Her entire family and the love of her life was riding on this. She had no idea if they were even alive anymore, and for her, that had to be a huge stress.

“They’re fine, Mel. I’m sure of it. Those guys are tougher than most. They won’t let somebody like Schlagger take them down. You know that,” Pierre tried to reassure her before he turned to walk out of the bedroom again. “Why don’t you get ready? We’re going to be leaving soon and we don’t want to be late, do we?”

Mel shook her head and then smiled before she turned to walk towards the bathroom. She wanted to make sure she didn’t look like she’d just gotten done walking cross country for a few months, even if that was what she’d done. She wanted Schlagger to know that he’d fucked with the wrong family when he’d chosen the Bakers, and she couldn’t think of a better way to do that than making sure she looked presentable.