by Kari Chaplin
I found Myra. She was tiny compared to everyone else. She didn’t have wings, of course. But she could jump and run like I’d never seen before. She was wearing a super short jean skirt with a glittery tank top and red six-inch heels. I really couldn’t fathom how she did anything in heels, but she once said that to her, heels were like tennis shoes to me. I very seriously doubted that.
The creatures surrounded her. She jumped up to the top of the closest tree, running in midair. She seemed to have just stepped out of one those cheesy Kung-Fu movies. While in midair, she pulled out a huge samurai sword. I was in awe watching her. On her way down, she swung the sword taking out of ten or more of the mysterious, ugly creatures in one swing. She beheaded them. I stopped breathing. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I looked around and noticed the angels were beheading these creatures with their hands, which were glowing bright white.
The creatures were disgusting almost giant-wasp-looking things with skinny legs, like something you would see in science fiction shows. They all appeared exactly the same, tall and anorexic thin. They were an ashy color and had long claws on their fingers and toes. Their noses and mouths were more of a snout. The creatures had wings that were only about a fourth of the size of their gross bodies. I doubted they could even fly. They were truly disgusting to look at.
My attention was drawn back to Myra. She was surrounded. I couldn’t see her. She wasn’t jumping up like before. I started to panic. Where was Demien? I heard Myra scream out. I started to go to her.
“Do not move.” Demien’s voice rudely interrupted my thought process. “I’ve got her. Just stay where you are. Stay out of sight.”
I slid back behind the tree.
Demien was cutting through creatures trying to reach Myra. I could see heads fly from all sides of the circle of creatures. My heart was racing. I felt useless. Demien and his friends were cutting through the creatures so fast and quietly, the creatures had no time to react. After what seemed to be hours, Demien came out of the middle with a limp Myra. She was bloody from head to her toes. Her clothes were shredded.
“Stay there. I’m coming for you.” Then, Demien lifted off the ground and flew high over the trees. I saw them pass over my head, then nothing.
The fight was still going on in the battlefield. No one seemed to notice that Demien and Myra had left. I could still feel him, but I had no idea where he went. He just vanished. Then a breeze passed me, lifting me off the ground. It was Demien with Myra on his back, now me in his arms.
“Is she okay?” I asked Demien.
“She’s breathing, if that’s what you are asking,” he replied. He was not happy. His eyes were pitch black; his tone was angry. I’m taking you back to the cabin where I expect you to stay. I’m taking Myra somewhere she can heal.
“But I’m at the cabin sleeping, aren’t I? I mean, I fell asleep and ended up here, therefore, I must be dreaming,” I insisted.
He audibly sighed. “First of all, your dreams are never just dreams. Ask me what that means later, not now. And secondly, no, you are here in the flesh.”
“How can that be?” I challenged.
“You are advancing much quicker than I expected. You have the ability to displace yourself. Apparently, you have figured that out.” His tone did not sound entertained at all.
“What? Displace… what?” I repeated, confused.
“You transported yourself to the battlefield. You think about where you want to be. You physically make yourself disappear from where you were and reappear where you want to be. A more familiar phrase is teleportation.” He did not look entertained while explaining this to me. I had the feeling that he didn’t want to have a reason to explain that to me.
“Whoa, like a witch?” I asked, astonished.
“No, not like a witch, like an angel… like my Angel…” He trailed off the last part of his sentence. “Well, here we are.” I looked over and saw the cabin come into view. I half expected him to take me to the door, but he stopped on the balcony outside of my second-floor bedroom. That’s when I noticed a door. I guess I hadn’t really explored all the amenities the room had to offer. He gently landed on the patio, keeping Myra tightly in place.
“Listen, I don’t have very much time. Please do not leave this cabin. Myra is in extremely bad condition. My concentration needs to be focused on healing her. I can’t worry about you and heal her at the same time. Well, I can, but I would rather not. Understood?” He wasn’t asking if I understood his request. He was demanding that I follow it.
“I got it,” I retorted. I hated being treated like a child, but I guess I did ask for it. Myra looked terrible. I was terribly concerned for my best friend. I just wanted her back to normal. Everything else seemed pale in comparison.
He kissed me passionately, slipping something into my hand. He left without a word. I stood in the dark, watching him fly Myra far in the horizon until they disappeared. I wondered where he would take her, since a hospital was apparently out of the question. The night air was pleasant with a light breeze, so I didn’t bother moving inside. As I stood on the balance, pondering the entire day, I could feel the humidity in the atmosphere beginning to rise and thicken.
I opened my hand to see an envelope. Slowly opening it, I noticed a key, a note and money. I slipped the key out and unlocked the French doors that led back into my room. Now that I finally saw it clearly for the first time, it was more of a suite. I found Shannon, cleaning my things up. Slipping the envelope into my back pocket, I went inside and closed the door behind me.
Twenty-Six
“Where have you been?” she asked, angrily.
“With Demien and Myra,” I replied.
“I was scared. I had no clue where you were or even where to start lookin’. You know, I still have no idea what is going on or why we are here, for that matter, where we are.” She wouldn’t make eye contact, which has always been a bad sign. It meant things were getting too much for her. She would be gone by morning.
“Me neither. I’m sorry for all of this. I don’t know what this is either. I don’t know where I was or how I got there. I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was with them. I have no idea how it happened.”
Shannon didn’t believe me. I knew her thoughts by her body language. I knew her well.
“I swear, Shannon.”
Someone knocked on the bedroom door. “Knock, knock, are you decent?” we heard Adam ask.
“Come on in,” I replied.
“How is she?” he asked.
“Pretty bad. Demien took her to heal. I have no idea where,” I said, hoping he would explain.
He nodded his head. “Come with me. We have a lot to talk about, including the rules.”
Shannon and I followed Adam downstairs and into the kitchen.
“Grab something to eat and a drink. I’m sure you must be starving. Then meet me in the dining room,” he said, as he headed to the game room.
Shannon and I did as he asked without saying a word. We felt like kids who were about to get a lecture for sneaking out. I grabbed a sandwich out of the fridge and handed Shannon one, too. She started laughing hysterically.
“What?” I asked, half smiling.
“Don’t you find this a bit funny? I mean we have no idea about our physical location or why we’re here in the first place. We are about to be scolded by a man-child. Face it; he doesn’t look a day past sixteen. I feel like I’m sixteen again.”
I saw her logic. It was funny. I started laughing along with her. After we calmed down and grabbed a bag of chips and a soda, we headed through an opening into the dining room. As we took our seats at the table, Adam came in.
“Let’s talk about the rules,” he began. We began eating, not taking him too seriously. This all felt way too familiar. He continued, pacing the length of the rectangular table. “Don’t go looking for Demien or Myra. It will get you killed. They are trying to keep you alive. Stay inside the cabin. Last, but not least, have some fun. This house is a vacationer’
s dream. Come, Shannon, I’ll challenge you to a game of pool.” He didn’t provide us room for questions, comments or concerns. The strict manner of his tone told us to obey without question.
“You got it.” Shannon stood and headed out of the dining room.
“Vessi, stay here. There is someone who would like to speak with you.”
“Okay,” I replied. I finished my food and turned toward the kitchen to throw away the trash from the table.
“Where are you going?” a familiar voice asked.
“Noah? What are you doing here?” I asked in disbelief.
I saw a figure move behind Noah. Arching my neck to see around him, I fell over. My cheeks blushed so deep I felt the heat. I managed to pick myself off the ground before he could get across the room to help.
“Should we?” Noah asked with his body half-turned to look at the person behind him.
“Quit playing with me. Who is behind you?” I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms in front of my chest. I wasn’t in the mood for games.
“Ves, you are no fun.” I heard a too familiar voice coming from behind Noah.
“Brad? No, it can’t be,” I replied in disbelief.
He came out of hiding. “Why can’t it be?” Brad challenged. He looked over to Noah and asked, “Ready?”
“No, no, hold on,” Noah said, laughing uncontrollably. “This is too much fun.”
“What is going on?” I demanded.
“Cranky,” Brad accused me, holding up his hands in defeat. “Okay, Noah, on three.”
“Okay, three,” Noah said, through laughter.
In a chorus, they sang, “Hi, mom.”
I stood there, staring at them for several minutes with a dropped jaw.
Brad fidgeted and Noah stood motionless with his left hand nervously rubbing his lips. They were clearly trying to gauge my reaction.
“This gets more nerve racking every time,” Noah whispered through his teeth, clearly not wanting me to hear.
Finally, I said, “Dumbasses! I’m out of here.”
“Oh, come on, Vessi,” Brad yelled after me.
I didn’t even turn around. I headed out the front door. I was not in the mood to be messed with.
Epilogue
I ran as fast as I could, trying to get as far away as possible. The humidity and atmospheric pressure rose to the point of chest crushing upon movement.
I continued to run into the dark forest. What was going on? Why would they play with me like that? Didn’t they know how hard my day had been? I just wanted to go to bed, or rather, to my own bed. I kept running into the night. I didn’t know where I would end up, but I ran the wooded path along the trees, not caring if I found myself lost in the thickness of the trees. I ran until I struggled to breathe. I knew I needed to turn back soon. I still had my sister to worry about. I needed to be there with her.
Finally, Mother Nature released her pressure. The weight lifted off my chest, and breathing was easy again. I took it as a sign to turn around. The sky and earth became bright, almost glowing. I was able to feel a tornado on the horizon. Lightning lit up the sky for a few brief seconds. Thunder drowned out the enraged thoughts running through my head. Rain began to pour down by the buckets.
“Timber, where is it? Tell me where it is.” His screams echo off the trees. Someone else must have been out there. I could be imaging someone else’s voice filling the night air. I had been questioning my sanity lately.
As quietly as I could, I slid behind a cluster of trees. I wasn’t willing to take that chance. The voice didn’t sound very kind. I reached in my back pocket for my cell phone just to realize I didn’t have my phone.
“Damn it,” I whispered to myself. This didn’t sound like anything I wanted to get wrapped up in.
“Timber, don’t hide from me. If you would just give it back, then you wouldn’t have to see me ever again. Timber, Timber, don’t make me find you.”
I stood as still and quiet as I could. I definitely didn’t want to get caught up in this mess.
“Okay, if hide and seek is what you want to play, let’s play,” he said, his voice still echoing in between cracks of thunder. “Oh, Timber, where are you Timber?”
I jumped at his sudden touch. “I’m not Timber,” I said, before turning around.
“Don’t play games with me.”
“Jake?” He looked like Jake, but different. His eyes were red, and his left eye was sagging. His mouth was distorted. His skin was darker and his hair was thinner.
His hand came up and touched the back of my head. It all happened too fast. My head hit something. Everything went black.
