“I’ve been waitin’ on you to get here,” Steele’s voice said from behind me. I couldn’t hold the smile back. I missed hearing him.
Without turning around I replied, “I like to keep you waitin’, it keeps you on your toes.” I heard his footsteps come up behind me, and I waited anxiously for his touch, a touch that I needed so desperately.
“It isn’t time for you to meet me, you’re too early. I’d love for you to stay with me, but you can’t.” I wanted to protest but was cut short as something warm hit the tip of my nose. I reached up to touch it when I felt several more drops hitting me. I pulled my hand away and looked down to see it streaked in bright red blood.
“Steele!” I screamed, turning around. He was nowhere to be found. Instead, the immaculate oak tree started to blacken and flake away into pieces of ash. The sun was covered by dark clouds that practically made it look like nightfall was approaching fast. A huge gust of wind rushed past me completely tearing the tree away from the earth. The ash went out in front of me and stopped in midair. It morphed into a hideous face and smiled at me. The face I recognized because I had dreamed about him so much and I wished I had never laid eyes on him. I was staring at Dermetheus. Before I could take another breath, the face shot forward toward me, surrounding me, and I was jolted out of my peaceful sleep.
I opened my eyes, covered with blood, in the familiar white room. I heard terrifying, horrific screams. As I focused, I knew they were coming from the me on the outside in the hospital. The light switched on, and several nurses rushed into the room with worried faces. I saw my arms flinging around as they all attempted to hold me down, but I was making them work for it.
“We have got to get her under control! She’s ripping her face up with her nails!” one of them yelled. A male nurse ran into the room with a needle in one hand and a white strait jacket in the other. The needle tore a hole as the medicine rushed into my veins. I glanced down at my blood soaked hands making my last vision a haunting red blur.
The next morning, I was greeted by a loving voice. As my vision came into focus I saw Fuzz sitting in a chair in front of me. “You know, you were startin’ to worry me. I was beginning to think you really had went all bat shit crazy, and you weren’t comin’ back. I’ve been waitin’ for too long for a sign that you were still in there, and you gave it to me last night, didn’t you?” He started chuckling to himself, probably thinking about the brutal time the nurses had getting me under control. “Your doctor called me last night and told me what happened, so I got over here as fast as I could with what I needed to give you and tell you because I know your listening now, Reese.” How did he know I was here? My body on the outside still sat unmoving, no doubt bound by something so I couldn’t spaz out again like I did the night before.
He reached down into a bag sitting against his chair on the floor. He placed a small piece of paper on the table in between us with numbers scribbled across it. “On Steele’s last mission to Thailand, he found what we’ve been searchin’ for. There’s a tribe there you’ll need to go to in order to train you to control what you’re about to undergo and to do the training that you requested I teach you, but never got the opportunity to do so. You’ll change both physically and mentally. I’m not gonna lie to you, it’ll be hard as hell to go through it, but with what you’ve been through these past several months, it should make it much easier to handle. I know you’ve been through more than any person should ever have to go through, that’s why I have no doubt that you can conquer this too. These are the coordinates to the location of the tribe; you’ll need to make that your priority as soon as you leave this hospital. There’s a cell phone with our numbers programmed in it and also a change of clothes for you in this bag. I asked Shayla to gather some things she thought you would wanna wear, even though she thought I was crazy when I asked her to do it considering there has been no activity from you in almost a year. The next few things I have to give you hold more of a sentimental value that I know you’d wanna keep with you.”
He placed a small photo of Ollie and me down. I could remember every detail of the night it was taken. I had been cleaning my bedroom closet out in my apartment and found a Tinkerbell camera stuck in a box I had when I was younger. Of course, he made fun of me for still having it. That night he found it on the nightstand where I had put it and discovered it still had film in it, so he started taking random shots of us lying in the bed. In this particular photo, he laid shirtless with his hair in a blond mess. One arm was draped around me as my head lay on his shoulder. His lips were slightly curled into smile as he kissed my forehead, making me laugh. It was one of those moments in time you want to remember forever. I never knew he had the film roll developed until this moment.
The next thing Fuzz put on the table was a small jewelry box. “I found this sittin’ in his room. I’m sure he was planning on askin’ you somethin’ that he never got a chance to,” he said solemnly as he opened the box to show me a large diamond ring. It caught the light, making it sparkle in a breathtaking way. That was exactly what it did, took my breath away. Marrying Steele would have been a dream come true for me.
“I have one more thing to give you but before I do, I want you to know how proud I am of you, Reese. It amazes me how strong such a young girl can be. I know that she is proud of you too. Please tell her that I miss her every day when you meet her as I’m sure you soon will. Now for your last thing …” he let out a deep sigh as his hand hesitated slightly before he reached into the bag again. I didn’t know if I wanted to see the last thing he put on the table, but I knew it was something I couldn’t hide from any more, almost like it was something I already knew. His hand placed the object down. When it moved I saw Steele’s silver dog tags and in one corner was a dark bloodstain about as big as a pencil eraser. “He would want you to have them, I felt as if I lost a son that night.” I heard him say as I backed away feeling like I wasn’t able to breathe. I shook my head as visions slowly started to take over.
I fell to my knees feeling weak and dizzy. Suddenly I was there, seeing this night everyone kept referring to and that I had fought so hard to block. The reason my mind trapped me here … in this place. It didn’t want to remember. I watched as Derek cut down the man I loved with every fiber of my being like he was absolutely nothing, and there was nothing I could do to stop it or change it. I ran to his side and wrapped him in my arms rocking back and forth, my body getting soaked in his blood. Hearing his last words to me and watching him take his last breath was unbearable. I let his lifeless body fall from my arms, and I sat staring at my bloody hands not knowing what to do next. Then I felt the cold blade at my throat, and I found him staring at me. Only he didn’t do it himself. He said I wasn’t worth his time and effort to kill so, he had one of his followers do it. I didn’t die like he thought. I lived probably because of the hatred I felt. It brought me back to life. He ended my world with one shift movement of his sword, and I wanted nothing more than to repay that favor. He would taste my pain and feel the hatred I had for him before I took my last breath in this world. I would not give him the pleasure of thinking he could get away from what he done that easily. My friends were of no match for him, this was my job, my mission, and I would complete it. The blackness was pulsating under my skin and a familiar burning sensation had lit my insides on fire as my breathing became more rapid. Everything in me was waking up, and I could feel it coursing over my entire body.
“Yessss, accept this darkness and be stronger than your enemies! Cut them down with your pure strength!” the raspy voice exclaimed excitedly from the mirror imagine. I slowly raised my head and stared straight ahead at the window I watched out of for the last however many months. I jumped up with lightning speed and grabbed the old metal chair. I swung it with a power behind it that it felt humanly impossible and shattered my view to the outside world. I was greeted with pitch-black nothingness, and instantly I could tell I wasn’t alone. Preparing to kill whatever came at me, I tensed.
“I
’m so glad I finally get to meet you, Reese,” a warm sweet voice said. It was the sweetest voice in the world, one that made me feel loved. I turned to find myself staring face to face with the woman I had dreamed about and had heard speaking to me on several different occasions … Nabea.
“HOW MANY TIMES are you gonna take apart and put that gun back together?” Savannah asked across the table from me.
“Practice makes perfect, and it increases my speed doin’ this in case I need to get a gun together to blast the hell out of somethin’!” I almost shouted at her. I didn’t mean to say it so harshly, but the truth was this helped calm my nerves and occupy my thoughts from all the things that had happened in the past year. Now I could understand how Jace and all the other guys had let this job consume them and not have an outside life. It was all I had left now.
“Where’s Fuzz? I haven’t seen him all day.” Savannah asked, clearly choosing to ignore my snappy comeback at her. I was grateful that at least she was still here with me, putting up with my unnecessary assholeness.
“He said he was gonna get some rest and for no one to interrupt him. I think he stayed up last night after he got back from Seattle thinkin’ that by some weird miracle Reese was gonna wake up. I don’t know how he got that from her body flippin’ out and practically mauling herself to death as a sign that she was gonna wake up. He had me get together some clothes and shit to take over there.”
“Maybe he knows somethin’ we don’t. You know Fuzz always has an insight to things that no one else seems to. It’s pretty creepy sometimes,” she replied, looking around to see if anyone was listening. I don’t know who she thought she was going to see lurking in the shadows. This place was practically empty since the guys left for their stupid mission. Everyone else only showed up for some training every now and then and any missions we needed to do. I was stuck here with Fuzz, Savannah, and her boy toy Lance.
The thought of him still being here pissed me off. Mainly due to the fact that I wanted Jace to be here with me, but he chose a different path that didn’t involve me. He was such an asshole! Thinking of him made my mind go back to the last night I saw him, the night that changed all of our lives. I could see the way his face looked when he saw Ollie lying there as if he was right in front of me. It was so blank and pale like he was lost inside. I tried to scream at him to help me get Reese out of that place because her breathing was so faint, but he just stood there staring. Thankfully, Payne knew we needed to hurry if we were going to save her, and if we wouldn’t have gotten there when we did, she would have died along with Steele.
Knowing how things turned out, I’m really not sure if we did right by getting her help. Maybe she would have much rather have died that night with Ollie, some true Romeo and Juliet shit. Jace never made it to the hospital. When Fuzz got there, he told me Jace was packing his stuff and heading out that night for a mission. I tore out of there, taking one of the SUVs to the training camp to try to catch him before he left. But I didn’t make it in time. He didn’t even leave me a note, just an empty room to greet me. As if I hadn’t already been through enough in one night. My best friend was struggling to hold onto the little bit of life she had left, and he leaves me. Payne left the next morning after him. I knew there was no talking him out of going; Jace was all he had now. I wanted to find Derek, to kill him for what he had done to everyone that was important to me, but all of the missions we had been working were pointless jobs that led us nowhere near him. We had literally hit a wall and didn’t know where else to look for him.
“I just hope he isn’t that disappointed when nothin’ happens,” I replied after my long silence. I began taking apart my gun again when Fuzz’s phone started to ring from a nearby table.
“Should we answer it?” Savannah asked, looking around to see if Fuzz was going to appear and answer it himself. I stood up and walked over to it.
“He said to answer any phone call he had,” I replied, hitting the button to answer it. “Hello?”
“Hello? Yes, I’m calling to speak with Fuzz,” a female voice on the other end said.
“I’m sorry, but he’s unavailable to talk at the moment. Can I take a message?”
“Ummm … may I ask whom I am speaking with?”
“You’re speakin’ with Shayla Axe, but I don’t see that as bein’ any of your business,” I replied, being slightly bitchy.
“The reason I ask is because I was given specific instructions on who I could provide this information to, and your name is one of those people. I was told that if I couldn’t reach Fuzz to contact one of the other names that he gave me. Seeing that I am speaking with Ms. Axe, I am calling from the hospital in Seattle that Ms. Salt has been placed. This morning the nurse went in to start her daily routine, however there was a problem.” My heart sank. Derek must have figured out she was there and done something to her. We had gone to extreme precautions to ensure her safety, taking measures that were hurtful to a lot of people. It was hard telling everyone that wasn’t in our circle Reese had died that night; even her parents, but we didn’t want them in harm’s way. The fake funeral that was held was devastating, but one day they would all understand why we had to do it that way. We should have had someone stay there with her! She was helpless, and we just let her sit over there with no type of defense.
“Is she dead?” I choked out. I heard Savannah gasp from behind me.
“We don’t know, Ms. Axe …”
“What do you mean you don’t know? She would’ve been there in the bed for you to see!”
“Normally that would have been the case, but she isn’t in her bed. She was strapped to her bed railing with leather bounds last night when the last nurse checked on her, but she’s disappeared.” I could barely mange to think clearly.
“Was there any sign of a struggle, like someone took her?”
“No, the straps appeared to be burned through. We have searched the entire hospital grounds and haven’t been successful. We just reviewed the security footage to see if we might find something regarding how she left and …”
“And what?” I asked frustrated.
“The video footage shows her walking out on her own.”
I was born and raised in the small town of Jackson, AL, which was chosen as the back drop for my story. Growing up with very little recreational activities I had to do something to help the time pass and make things in my life sound more exciting than what they actually were. That's when it all started....a scrapbook that held a countless number of photos of my friends and me. Of course these were normal photos, but I would take these photos and create an array of different stories that lead into one blossoming fictional world.
I have been married for nine years to a wonderful and very supporting man and have been blessed with two spunky, prissy girls. However, our family wouldn't be complete without our whizzy, gassy Pug. I graduated from Troy University with an undergraduate degree in Psychology and a master's degree in Business Administration.
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