Kiss Good-Bye
So much happened to Darry and Antares after their parting. They kept close contact, e-mailing and IMing each other every day. However, as time went on and Darry graduated college and started searching for a career and Antares entered college, they had less and less time to talk to each other, though they wrote each other often. Seven years passed, and for the last year they had had no contact at all, save for their letters, and even those came with less frequency. Darry entered into entertainment business, and soon became a pretty big-name record dealer. Antares captured the hearts of many with her voice, doing small gigs here and there but with no real career, as she was just out of college. They were each thrilled for the other's success, and even more so when Darry heard that Antares was set up to meet with a record dealer/producer who could make her a star.
"You're doing it," he told her. "You're living your dream."
Meanwhile, Darry had a new fresh face coming in to see him soon, a young woman who sang with a voice that put the angels to shame he was told. The day she was supposed to meet with him, he received a good-sized, rather squishy package. Curious, he opened it at his desk and found…his yellow Bannon T-shirt, cleaned and repaired to look brand-new, the hole in the stomach sewn up, the torn sleeve reattached, the filth and grim washed away.
"Oh my God," he whispered, holding the lost relic. His head snapped up when he heard the door open, and a beautiful woman with a thick braid of moon-white hair down to the small of her back walked in. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw him.
"Darry?" she croaked, her eyes wide with joy and disbelief. "A'maelamin? Is it you?"
"Ana…" Darry whispered back, unable to blink for fear that she would disappear if he closed his eyes even for an instant. He reached for the talisman he always wore around his neck, the one Antares had given him that long-ago summer to protect him. "My sweet Ana, my savior, my full moon…it's you!" With cries holding all the joy the world had ever known, the two leaped into each others arms, laughing and kissing ecstatically, babbling on and on about nothing of any importance.
The rest went like a modern faerie-tale: Darry made Antares a superstar celebrity singer before marrying her. They traveled all around the world for Antares's concerts and tours, but lived when they could in North Carolina, in the house on the beach. They had two children, Erik, the elder, and Aidan, the younger. Born a year apart, the two boys were very fond of each other and dearly loved their parents, who dearly loved them in return. The boys never knew just how their parents had met, or what had bonded them so close together. All they cared about was that their parents loved each other more than they thought was possible, and loved their sons the same.
22 years, 2 months, 20 days later…
"Going somewhere?"
Antares smiled grimly to herself but didn't turn when she heard her husband's voice. "It's time, Darry. Time to do what I swore that I would do. It's our anniversary, Darry, and I don't mean our wedding."
Darry nodded. "I know. You're going to destroy it. I'm going with you." Antares looked at him now, curious.
"But what about the children?" she asked.
"Erik's fourteen now," said Darry, "and Aidan's thirteen. They're mature enough to take care of themselves. Besides, Trish and Rigel can watch them. You know how much our boys love their aunt and uncle, and their cousins." Antares smiled. Rigel and Trish had married several years before she and Darry had, and they were very happy together.
"You're right," she said. "And you have as much of a right to do this as I do. All right. Give 'em a call."
"Already did," said Darry with his old impish grin that he had never lost. "Yesterday. They'll be here any minute now."
Antares laughed. "You think of everything, don't you?" She turned back to the family chopper, making sure there was enough fuel for a round-trip flight to Ohio. She and Darry had kept contact with Jack Jr. as well, and Antares knew where he and his father were with the Creeper now. "That should just about do it," she said, stepping back. She looked at Darry. "I'm ready whenever our siblings arrive." She gazed out over the water and out of the corner of her eye noticed a car pull up in the driveway. "That must be them." Taking Darry's hand, the two walked downstairs to greet their siblings and bid farewell to their sons. There were warm, loving welcomes made all around when Trish and Rigel entered, smiling. They knew what Antares and Darry planned to do, and were in full support of them.
"No horror stories for the boys, OK?" Darry whispered to them as they embraced. Rigel and Trish, understanding perfectly what he meant, nodded their agreement. "It's great to see you again," he said in a normal tone.
"So where are you going, Mom?" Erik asked Antares.
"To visit a rather old friend whom we haven't seen in a long time," replied Antares. "Maybe you'll meet him someday, if I can convince him to come up here for a visit." Erik smiled.
"Oh, we thought it was another performance or something," said Aidan.
"Oh honey, you know we always take you guys with us for those," said Antares with a light little laugh. She smiled with pride as she gazed at her beautiful boys. They both had her emerald eyes that twinkled with laughter and sparkled with mischievousness, and her porcelain skin as well. But they had their father's soft, dark brown hair. Erik wore his long, like his father. Aidan cut it shorter. Their smiles were a mix of their father's and mother's with an added element that was all their own. It warmed Antares's heart to look at her boys, her family. Her life was nearly perfect with one tiny flaw in it, like a hairline crack in a Ming vase. Well, that crack was about to be sealed.
Two and a half hours later, Darry and Antares were on the infamous East 9 highway, driving down to find their old friends. It took them about an hour, but they finally came upon the old farm Jack Sr. and his son ran, the farm where the monster's carcass now hung on display for all to see. Five dollars for a picture, if you don't mind. Well, Antares and Darry were not interested in pictures. They had seen enough of the Creeper to last them a lifetime. They were going there for something very different.
They parked their rented car and headed up to the man standing at the top of the driveway. He was prepared to give his rehearsed speech about the creature, when he saw who his visitors were. All words dried up in his throat.
"Darry?" he asked. "Darry Jenner and Antares Starr?" The two smiled at him.
"Actually, it's Mrs. Antares Jenner," Antares corrected him. She hugged him warmly, and he and Darry shook hands. "It's been a long time, Jack. I trust you and your father have everything in order still?"
"Of course," said Jack. "It's in the barn. This way." The friends shared their lives with each other as they walked until they reached the barn where Jack Sr. sat beside a harpoon gun with a shotgun in his lap facing the body of the Creeper, which hung on the wall. He didn't turn when he heard their footsteps approaching.
"We have visitors, Dad," said Jack Jr.
"Come to hear the story of the Creeper, doubtless," replied Jack Sr., "and how I killed it?"
"Please, we know that tale better than you do," said Antares. Jack Sr. straightened in his chair.
"I know that voice," he said. "If I live forever, I'll never forget that voice." He turned in his chair now to face the trio. "Antares. Darry." He smiled. "So you've come back at last. It's nice to see you two well."
"It's nice to see you too," said Darry. Jack noticed the gleam of their wedding bands on their fingers and smiled more broadly.
"So you two got married after all," he said. "I always hoped you would. Minxie – the girl from the school bus – married Jackie here." Jack Jr. smiled. "I take it you've come with a purpose?"
"Didn't I swear I would?" replied Antares. "I never go back on my oaths. That you can trust me for."
"Well, I've made a pretty penny off displaying that thing's sorry carcass in my barn the last twenty-three years," said Jack Sr. "I've been saving it for you. Take it down, Jackie. Have at it, Ana." Antares smiled.
"Thank you, Jack," she said as Jack Jr. took down the body of the Creeper, laying it out on the floor for Antares. "May I borrow that?" she asked, pointing to a large axe leaning against the wall.
"By all means," said Jack Jr. handing it to her.
"Much obliged," Antares replied, taking the weapon and advancing on the monster. A look of pure hatred passed over her face as she remembered all the horror and pain that monster had put her and those she loved through, not to mention countless others. She had never forgotten Billy or Jason. Arms trembling with fury, she raised the axe.
"Take that, thou winged spawn of Satan!" she roared, bringing the axe down to cleft the beast in half. "Die, devil-bird!" She hacked its body to pieces: hands, feet, arms, legs…limbs were falling down all over. There was no blood, however, only a sandy, grainy substance rustled out instead. Antares chopped the body into as many pieces as she could, but she saved the head for last, slicing it clean off and leaving it whole. She held it up by its stringy white hair, triumphant, grinning. "Now let's see you prey on innocent people! Now let's see you eat! Not this spring, you don't, not this spring! Wait another twenty-three years; maybe then!" She cackled with insane glee, and Darry began to worry that she had gone too far. But Antares composed herself and dropped the head irreverently on the ground as she walked back to Darry, embracing him tightly.
"No more nightmares now, Darry," she said softly. "Now at last we can sleep in peace."
"Yes," said Darry, holding her. Both father and son Jack let them have their moment before Jack Sr. ventured to speak:
"If you want, we'll put what's left in the incinerator and burn it to ashes."
Antares nodded. "But not the head. That I want to bury myself." Jack Jr. nodded and gathered up the pieces to be burned. Once that was done Jack Sr. offered the couple some lemonade, which they accepted. The four spent a good amount of time reminiscing, talking about what had happened in their lives, and such. No one mentioned the Creeper in any reference. After a few hours, Darry and Antares had to leave. Jack Jr. promised to burn up the mutilated body and throw the ashes to the wind. Antares embraced him and his father warmly, and the four parted as friends.
"Stop here," said Antares when they passed the burned-out remains of the old church, where everything had started. Darry did as she asked, and Antares climbed out of the car with the severed head. She dropped down into the pit that had once been the basement…the Creeper's "House of Pain". With her bare pianist's hands, Antares dug into the charred and ashy earth, digging a grave for the monster. When she had done, she dropped the beast's head into the hole and buried it, cursing the tiny grave for all time. Finished, her mind and heart finally at peace, she returned to Darry's side. He held her close and they kissed deeply. When they broke apart, they smiled into each other's eyes.
"Come on," said Darry. "Let's go home to our kids."
"Mmm, I love hearing those word," Antares purred. " 'Our kids'. I always wanted kids of my own. You've given me so much: my freedom, my strength, my courage, your love, your strength…and now our kids. A gift we can share."
"Along with our hearts," said Darry, fingering the talisman he still wore. "How I love you." They kissed again and returned to the police station where they had landed their chopper again. They were eager to return home again and bask in the knowledge that there was nothing out there that could hurt them or those they loved now.
And so ends the saga of Darry and Antares's trials and tribulations. Now I, the humble narrator, can also find rest. But what of the monstrous Creeper? Well…that's a tale for another time. Good night to all, and remember: every twenty-third spring, for twenty-three days…well, you know the rest.
- FIN -