The Man In The Machine Read online

  Erile chuckled, pulling another device from his bag that threw shame to the first one.

  Because this one… It was beautiful.

  "Oh, trust me, Willow Grace. I know you won't forget. You'll become pretty huge in the world after the Auranis. I just truly hope you're prepared for it all. I think you should buy a nice huge house somewhere not too close to a city, maybe not even in Canada, and build a shelter. Because… Well, I won't spoil too much of it."

  He pressed a button, and the machine began to glow.

  "But the apocalypse isn't something many want to face."

  And then, with less than a wisp of smoke… He was gone. Vanished. He just… Disappeared.

  But that was impossible, right?

  Better Promises

  Dinner came and went, and was for the most part uneventful. Willow's parents weren't exactly surprised that her and Nych were together, considering she had spent years trying to rebuild him. Truthfully, they were just glad that their daughter was with anyone other than Marcus, and were beyond ecstatic that the man was now behind bars.

  After finishing dinner, they drove home content. Everything would be okay.

  They put Aisling to bed without incident, Dean and Terry finally returned to their own home, Blake went to sleep on the couch, and all was right with the world. Nych and Willow went to bed not long afterwards, tired after the day's events. It had been rewarding, albeit stressful.

  But at two in the morning, there came a knock at the door, and it slowly squeaked open, with light from the hallway flooding into the dark room. Willow stirred, furrowing her brows and lifting her head from the pillow as she looked towards the door. "… Hello?" She frowned slightly. "… Aisling?"

  There was a sniffle from the door. "I had a nightmare."

  Nych hadn't been sleeping; he'd just been lying awake, thinking thoughts about new inventions. He wanted to start creating again as soon as possible. It was a miracle how far everything had come.

  Now, he sat up, and became painfully aware that Aisling wouldn't understand why he and Willow were sleeping together.

  That didn't matter at that moment, however. He beckoned her over and patted the bed next to him, smiling.

  "It's alright. You wanna talk about it?"

  Aisling sniffled, walking over to the side of the bed and allowing herself to be lifted up onto it by her mother. Willow sighed, gently wiping tears away from her daughter's face and pressing her lips softly to her forehead. "Oh, honey…" She muttered, frowning and looking down at her daughter. "You're okay. Tell us what happened." She brushed her daughter's orange hair away from her face.

  Aisling sniffled, looking down at her lap as she leaned against her mother. "It was about daddy." She murmured. "He hurt you really bad and- and- I was r- really scared and I- I-"

  Willow's face fell, and she wrapped her daughter tightly in her arms. "Oh, Aisling…"

  Nych's heart nearly fractured at the sound of her terrified whimpers. He wanted to do something, anything, but… He didn't know what he could do. Aisling didn't know him as a part of her family; it had always been her and her mom against the world.

  To suddenly have someone else there… It would shock the poor girl.

  But maybe it would be a good kind of shock.

  "He won't be hurting anyone else for a long time, sweetie. I promise." Nych said, rubbing her back kindly.

  "We will never let him hurt you ever again." Willow nodded in agreement, gently caressing her daughter and pressing her lips to the top of her head. "Your dad is not going to come back, Aisling. You don't have to worry anymore, what he did to us was wrong and it will never happen again." She gently rocked her daughter back and forth, and looked up at Nych with a sad expression. She didn't want Aisling to be this scared ever again.

  "… Hey." She looked down at her daughter. "Wanna know something?"

  Aisling sniffled, and looked up at her mother with big purple eyes. "… What?"

  "Nych is going to be staying with us for a long time." Willow smiled. "And he's very strong. And he won't let anything happen to us."

  Nych's breath hitched. This was, apparently, the moment they would tell Aisling that he and Willow were together.

  If that were the case… He didn't want her to think it would be the same as it had been before. He didn't want her to believe that all romantic relationships, no matter the nature, were inherently bad.

  "Yeah. Sweetheart, me and your mom were in love before she met Marcus. Then, something bad happened to me, and I wasn't there for a while. Marcus was a bad, mean man, and… I'm nothing like him."

  Nych held his hand up in the air, feeling a bit silly, as he said, "I promise I will always treat you and your mom wonderfully and amazingly, like you deserve."

  Aisling looked to Nych, and after a moment a wary expression crossed her face.

  "You know how grandpa and grandma are in love?" Willow said after a moment, holding her daughter tightly. "And how Aunt Julie and Uncle Terry are in love too?" Aisling nodded, and Willow took it as her cue to continue. "It's like that, sweetheart. When two people are in love they look after each other and never ever hurt each other." She gently combed her hand through her daughter's hair. "Nych is very nice, and he would never do anything to hurt you or me."

  Aisling was quiet for a moment or two, before she slowly nodded. "… Okay." She relaxed slightly, looking up at Nych. "Promise?"

  Nych looked to the little girl in front of him, the one that he'd been so hurt about when he'd learned of her existence. Now… Now, Nych knew he could never let anything happen to her. He knew she was the thing Willow cared about most, and truthfully…

  Nych cared about her too.

  In the short few days he'd been around, a lot had transpired. One of those things was that he'd grown attached to the young girl who'd grown up in such a tough environment. She deserved more than what her abusive father had given her.

  So Nych picked up her small hand, with it feeling so fragile in his own, and unfurled her pinkie. He then gently wrapped his pinkie around hers, staring deeply into her beautiful purple eyes.

  "I promise." He said. And he meant it.