by A. Giacomi
As I sit in Alex’s car, I close my eyes and count to ten, trying to calm all the fears running around in my head, and for a second it works, until I hear the ambulance behind us. Alex pulls over to let it by. Just a few houses ahead is my parents’ house. I pray the ambulance passes it, but my luck ran out a long time ago. The ambulance parks partially on the driveway and partially on the grass, showing urgency. The medics rush inside the house. I keep trying to count, but my fear takes hold, and the numbers mean nothing. Soon they are wheeling my mother out on a gurney. No blankets cover her face. She is alive, for now at least. My father trails behind her, looking like he hasn’t slept in years. I can’t look anymore and ask Alex to drive to the hospital. We will have to meet them there, and somehow I will have to sneak in. I am not going to let her die before I have the chance to speak to her one last time.
Alex hits the gas pedal, and we fly off towards the hospital. When we arrive, we park in guest parking and await the ambulance’s arrival. While we wait, Alex tries to comfort me, but every word jumbles. I can’t focus. All I know is that she cares, and that is all that really matters right now. I thank her and hold her hand.
“Alex, do you remember when you came to sleepover at my house for the first time? It must have been grade nine. I remember asking if you wanted to watch my favourite chic flick…”
“Only You, yeah I remember. Robert Downey Jr. and Marisa Tomei,” she recounts with a slight giggle. “Great film!”
I smile and agree. “Remember how my mom braided our hair after that? We looked like Renaissance princesses. God, we were such nerds!” We both laugh through our tears as I try to continue to the point of this little story. “After you went home the next day, my mom said she just knew that you and I were going to be best friends forever. She actually wishes you were my sister since we got along so well, and she said she was sorry she never gave me a sister…you know what I said to that?”
Alex shakes her head.
“Well, Al, I told her I already had a sister, and that was you. You were the only sister I was ever going to need.”
We’re both crying like idiots now and laughing at our completely emotional state, but when you have very little time to tell people what they mean to you, then you have to be sure that every moment matters.
The ambulance pulls up, and we attempt to compose ourselves. I tell Alex to follow them. If they accidentally bump into her, she can tell them that she heard the news from their neighbours and rushed on over. Once she knows where my mother is, I can find an opportunity to sneak in.
Alex kisses my cheek at then runs off in pursuit of my parents. It is hard to believe that she is still rooting for me after all that I’ve done, although she doesn’t know the half of it. Apparently, I have been helping CSIS with a rather ambiguous plan all along. It breaks my heart to know that I left Alex behind to clean up my mess, and what hurts more is that she did it graciously, without complaint or resentment. I do not deserve her; I do not deserve any of them.
A couple of hours later, Alex returns to the car with a set of scrubs. “Here, put these on. She’s on the third floor, room 317. She’s stable, and your dad’s going to grab some food in the cafeteria, told him I’d join him shortly, so go…”
I hold the scrubs tightly to my chest. “Thanks, Alex. You have no idea how much I appreciate this.”
She nods. “I know. Now get going,” she says.
I quickly throw the scrubs over my clothes and head into the hospital, grabbing the first elevator available. The third floor is not very busy, and I find room 317 easily. I peer through the small window. My mother is laying there looking out the window. Her body is small, her hands are stick-like, and everything about her tells me that the time is near. I should be running inside and savoring every moment with her, but I panic and find myself unable to enter the room. She has not seen me in two years. I lied to her, I kept things from her, and worst of all, I abandoned her when she needed me most.
I can’t seem to find my courage, but then she turns her head towards the window and sees me. Her face is confused but then brightens like a beam of sunlight through the clouds. She must think me an angel the way she beckons to me. I am far from being one of those.
When I enter the room, my mother reaches out to me and begs me to hurry over. I waste no time in meeting her demands and embracing her. The small body in my arms makes it seem as though I am holding a doll. I don’t want to crack her. I want to sway her gently and comfort her. She hums as she holds me, like she wishes to sing a baby a lullaby. My tears come quickly, and I don’t want her to leave me. I want her to live.
Finally, she speaks. “Eve, honey, I’ve missed you so much,” she says through glossy eyes. “I knew you would be the first one I’d see on the other side. Isn’t it wonderful? We can be together now. You don’t have to be alone.”
She truly does think she is dead and that I am this magnificent glimpse into her afterlife. Who am I to tell her it is a lie? I decide to play along. I only wish to speak to her and be with her. If this is how she wants it, then so be it. I will indulge her one final time.
“Yeah, Mom, I’ve been waiting a long time for you too. I missed you every day since I was gone. I’m so sorry you got sick again and I wasn’t there to help you. I’m sorry this isn’t right.”
My mother brushes my hair behind my ears and shushes me. “Honey, there is absolutely nothing to be sorry about. We all have to go sometime. I’m just glad I had the life I did, you know? That’s all that really matters. I lived life as I wanted, no regrets, so I leave satisfied. My only regret I guess is not having more time with you and your father. Selfish, I guess, but you two have been the biggest accomplishments of my life. My beautiful family. I love you.”
I tell her I love her over and over again until my mother goes silent in my arms. When I look to the monitor by her bedside, I see the flatline, and the sound of death rings through the room. Nurses will be here shortly. That is my cue to leave. I place my mother down onto the bed gently. She looks peaceful now, perhaps happier. I kiss her forehead and run out the door. I sprint through the hallways past the other nurses who head towards my mother’s room. They all stare at me now because they don’t recognize me, but luckily they do not have time to stop and question me.
When I get outside of the hospital, I just keep running. I don’t want to be near anyone. I don’t want comfort; I don’t want anything but my mother back. My legs lead me to the cemetery in Little Lake where my mother will most likely be buried. Cam’s parents are here too. Maybe someday I will join them.
When I find Mr. and Mrs. Jackson’s graves, I slump down next to them and let myself feel every ounce of grief fully. I have to allow it or I won’t be able to go on. As I sit there, I think of my father back at the hospital and his reaction to the news. He has no daughter, no wife, a house too big for one man alone, and a funeral to plan. I debate with myself over and over again if I should reveal myself to him and simply stay and take care of him. Part of me wants to give up the battle that CSIS started. What if I just let them win? Perhaps then they will leave me to care for my father until the end of his days, but somehow I know that it can never be that easy, that every day I remain free is just another day they’ll spend hunting me down. Agent Williams said they need my blood, but what if they need more? I can’t trust them.
I lie in the cool grass and try to clear my head. It is becoming too much for me. I let myself drift off to sleep.
***
A hand grabs my shoulder, and I instinctively grab the arm, ready to snap it in two. Luckily, the arm belongs to Cam, and luckily I decide to look before I snap or else we will need another visit to the hospital tonight.
I throw his hand away from me. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?” I ask in an annoyed tone. Not that he deserves it. It has just already been a bad night, and I don’t exactly have any confidence that Cam can be of some co
mfort to me. He hates me.
He lets out a heavy sigh. “Alex called. I’m so sorry, Eve. She said you disappeared, and I could only think you’d be here. I guess this is where I would go, so it seemed like a good place to start. The graveyard is a great place to hide from the living. They ask too many questions, and when my mom died, I came here a lot. To hide from my dad, to hide from you and Alex, to hide from the world.”
Strangely enough, I find Cam’s story comforting. For someone as different as I have become, it is nice to know that someone shares something in common with me. I thank him for his words, and he shrugs it off as no big deal and sits with me in silence until I decide to break it.
“Cam, I don’t know how you do it. I mean, I just lost my mother, but you’ve suffered so much more. How do you make it all go away?”
Cam shrugs. “I don’t have the answers. I’ve tried the wrong way. Drugs and alcohol were a poor choice, and now my best friends think I’m unstable.” He winks at me before continuing. “I’ve tried running away. I’ve tried facing it head on…but nothing really seems to make it go away. I guess we just live with these scars the best we can. We’re all just a bunch of people in a room called earth trying to hold it together. It’s a tough gig.”
I smile at him. He is completely right. How can you ever truly move on from losing loved ones? You simply have to try.
“Thanks, Cam. I needed to hear that. Look, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I’m sorry I left you. I want to be your friend, I need you, and you know that.”
Cam smiles shyly. “You have me, Eve. Even when I’m mad, you always have me. I tried to fight it, tried to pretend that I don’t love you or care what happens to you, but it’s a lie, and my heart knows it. I guess I’m as stuck with you as you are with me.”
He comes in to hug me, and his warmth makes me feel alive for a brief moment. “I can’t go to the funeral, Cam. I think that’s what bothers me most. I know they’ll be waiting for me to show up, and they’ll take me away. Once they have me…they’ve won.”
Cam lifts me to my feet. “Then I guess we better not let them have you,” he says with a smirk. “Shall we go home?”
“Home?” I ask. “I don’t have one of those anymore.”
“Yes you do, Eve. Your father is waiting back at the house. I think if there was ever a time he needed a miracle, it would be now. You could be there for him. It might be time to come clean. Might do you both some good.”
The thought of greeting my father after all these years terrifies me. Especially now that Mom is gone. I suppose he will be grieving too heavily to be angry with me. I agree to go with Cam, but I need a snack first.
“A snack, sure! Hitchhiker? Badass Biker? Fashionista? Mr. Grumpy Carlton from up the street? What suits your fancy?” Cam asks sarcastically.
My stomach grumbles as I reply, “If I’m being honest, Cam…I want them all!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
AGENT WILLIAMS
“Sir, Agent Brenner has escaped. None of the other agents have been able to locate her yet. It seems as though she lured the zombies into the local cookie factory, where she incinerated them.”
Vallincourt is burning holes through me with his eyes as he begins to speak. “Firstly, she is no longer Agent Brenner. Please do not address her as such. She is a traitor and a fugitive. What about the stone, Agent Williams? Were you able to retrieve it?”
“Yes, sir. We found it amongst some teeth in the factory’s oven.”
I place the final rock on his desk, and he stares at it with delight. Finally, the Eye of Ra will be complete, and we can continue on with our plans. Vallincourt picks up the rock and takes it over to the safe that he hid behind his bookshelf. When he unlocks the safe, red light fills the room. The Eye of Ra gleams like bright hot coals. Vallincourt carefully retrieves the rock and places it on his desk. He then holds the small stone over the final gap in the Eye. Finally, we will witness the Ra’s true power.
The small rock shakes violently in Vallincourt’s hand and then latches onto the bigger rock as if a magnet pulls it into place.
We both stare in amazement as the rock floods the room with light. The beams seem to be calling to me, asking me to join them. “Join what?” I say out loud as Vallincourt stares at me like I’m crazy.
“Are you alright, son? Is there a problem?” Vallincourt asks.
I shake my head, trying to clear it, but the voices get louder and louder. I scream as my skull feels like it is about to split open. Vallincourt looks on with a terrified expression. He is speaking to me, but his lips move without sound.
The stone’s power has no effect on him, but it is speaking to me, telling me that I have to do its bidding. The only problem is that what it is asking of me is considered treason. My head fills with madness as the stone tells me, “Kill Vallincourt before he kills you.” The stone is painting him as the enemy.
I fight the voices in my head and try to tell myself over and over again that none of it is true. But soon I begin to understand its meaning.
Once I deliver Eve to Vallincourt, he will no longer have a need for me. I can’t let that happen. The stone is showing me the future; it is saving me from annihilation.
“You’re going to kill me?” I say out loud to Vallincourt.
Vallincourt fully denies the accusations, waving his hands into the air, declaring his innocence over and over again.
“You lie,” I say, spitting at him. “The rock is showing me how you lie. The damn thing works, and it’s decided to share its knowledge with me, NOT YOU!” I scream, startling Vallincourt so much so that he falls back into his seat.
“Agent Williams, have you quite lost your mind?” he says with panic in his voice.
I can see him reaching for the pistol under his desk. Does he really think his best agent won’t know where he keeps his guns?
I caress the large stone on his desk. “No, Vallincourt. I haven’t lost anything…”
Without another word and before Vallincourt can react, I grab the large red rock, raise it into the air, and then crash it down onto his forehead violently. The impact stuns him, and his eyes turn inward, rendering him cross-eyed. This is not good enough. The Eye of Ra demands blood just as much as I crave flesh.
I bring the rock into the air again and bash his head in again, leaving a great dent. I bash it again and again as blood sprays the desk, the rock, the windows behind us. The glowing red rock seems to glow more and more with each hit, cheering me on and begging the violence to continue.
The Eye of Ra is only satisfied when I have left a stump where a head used to rest. Vallincourt’s throat lies open and unprotected. The rest of his skull is scattered about the room in pieces. Bits of brain lie on the floor, and I rush to eat it with delicious satisfaction. Each piece I eat leaves me feeling invincible, and I truly am. I now have the Eye, and I was Vallincourt’s second in command. This is now my lab and my operation.
My next act as Special Agent Williams will be to retrieve Eve and begin Phase Three of the plan. Soon, everything would be in place. Soon, Eve would be all mine.
TO BE CONTINUED…
A Note of Gratitude from the Author
I am eternally grateful to CHBB Publishing for making this series possible. Their hard work and constant encouragement made Eve and I feel right at home. It’s an honour to work with them and be published alongside so many authors I admire and respect, many of them bestsellers. I still geek out that they even talk to me, let alone that I get to be amongst them.
A special thank you must go to SDB, a wonderful woman who runs the show at CHBB but is much too modest to admit that. Countless times she’ll tell us that we’re a team, that we build each other up and that it never takes one person it takes a family to build a brand. She tells her authors that they make her a better publisher, but really with her guidance she’s made
me a better author. She’s believed in me and that’s meant the world.
I want to thank my family and friends for having the patience to listen to my constant ramblings, spewing of ideas and random thoughts. Thank you for loving me through so many zombie discussions and debates that I’m sure you never want to hear about zombies again. Thank you for pushing me to pursue my dreams and supporting me all the way. I couldn’t do this without your love and laughter. You guys complete me (yep cheesy, but that’s part of who I am and you all know it).
Finally, I would like to thank my readers. I appreciate you joining me on this journey. Every kind word, every review, every encouragement will not be forgotten; it means everything to a writer that you decided to pick up the book and give it a chance! Thanks for picking up that first book and thanks for picking up this book and hopefully you’ll pick up the next two. If you’re anything like me, you love to explore new fictitious worlds and I promise you the next two books will leave you breathless, stunned, and hungry for more! Stay hungry my friends I will feed your imaginations until I can no longer type.
