by Willow Rose
Tina peeked out, the wind catching her blonde hair. "Are you coming or not?"
Anna swallowed hard, then grabbed her backpack from the asphalt and walked to the door. She got in and closed the door. The truck roared and took off.
Anna felt her heart race in her chest as she looked at Tina. Her friend grinned. "See. I told you it would be easy."
Anna nodded and relaxed slightly, then fell back in the seat. As she did, her eyes met those of the man driving in the rearview mirror.
She couldn’t breathe.
Tina looked at her. "What's wrong, Anna? You look sick."
Anna couldn't speak. Her eyes were locked with the man's, the same eyes she remembered from her grandmother's backyard, the ones that had felt like they tried to get into her mind five years ago. On the seat next to him was the umbrella, folded down, placed with its pointy side on the floor, the handle leaning on the back of the seat. Anna gasped for air.
"Hello, Anna," his raspy voice said. A smile appeared across his blistered face. "Long time no see."
"Wait. You know this guy? Anna?"
Anna grabbed the handle to open the door, but it was locked. Outside her window was nothing but water on both sides of the car.
"He locked the doors," she whimpered. "Open the doors. I want out."
"Of course the doors are locked," Tina said. "They lock automatically, have you never been inside of a car before? What's going on with you? Would you just relax? We're fine."
Anna shook her head in small rapid terrified movements. "No. We're not fine. This guy…" She stopped, not knowing how to explain it to Tina. "This guy is the reason my grandmother is so overprotective."
"What Anna is trying to say," the man said, looking at Tina in the rearview mirror, "is that I have been looking for her for many, many years." He sped up the car as he spoke and the girls fell backward in their seats, screaming.
That made Tina scared.
"What do you want from us?" she screamed.
The man laughed. "I don't want anything from you. You, I could do without, to be frank." He hit the brakes all of a sudden. The girls were slung forward. Both were screaming. Anna hurt her head on the seat in front of her.
Before they could get back up, the man was out of his seat and the door to the passenger seat was opened. He grabbed Tina by the arm and dragged her out of the car.
"NO!" Anna screamed and tried to grab her other arm, but it was already too late. Tina landed on the asphalt, screaming, while the door was slammed shut. Anna jiggled the handle, but it was locked. The man was quickly back behind the wheel, accelerator floored. Seconds later, Anna saw her friend crying helplessly, reaching out her hand towards them as they flew past her and down the road, Anna hammering on the window, screaming for help.
CHAPTER 64
FLORIDA KEYS, APRIL 2016
"HEEELP ME! PLEASE. SOMEONE!"
The car drove on. Anna was knocking on the window. She was crying and screaming before she turned to pleading for him to let her go, but it didn't help. She slung her fist and tried to hit him from behind, but he just turned around and slapped her across her face so hard she saw stars.
The drive wasn't long before he hit the brakes once again and the car came to a sudden halt at a small rest area out on the water. The place was empty. Not a car in sight. The man jumped out and walked around the car, while Anna panted and cried, trying to get out. The door was opened and Anna was grabbed by the hair and dragged outside, kicking and screaming.
The man threw her on the rough gravel, grabbed his umbrella, then swung it through the air and hit her with it, over and over again.
Anna screamed and covered her head with her arms as the blows fell on her small body.
"Please stop, please stop," she cried, but the man didn't.
He hit her again and again with the umbrella until she lay almost still, not having any strength left to move. The man grunted and growled as he lifted the umbrella again and again and let it fall on her body, her arms, her legs, her back, her stomach. Anna stopped fighting it and simply let it rain on her, hoping, praying, pleading that it would stop soon.
Finally, the man ran out of breath too. He panted and bent over her, sweat dripping from his face onto hers beneath him. Anna blinked her eyes and tried to look up through the blood running from her forehead. The sun was burning in her face, and the man felt it too. He opened the umbrella to cover his head, then looked into her face, putting his close to hers, forcing her to look into his eyes. The pressure on her head was unbearable. Weak from the beating, she found it hard to keep him out.
That's it. Don't resist it, little girl.
Her voice was weak but still powerful enough. "Get…out…"
Just let go. You know I will succeed eventually. Stop fighting it.
Her head felt like it would explode. Anna cried in pain, she closed her eyes and turned her head away, while crying:
"Stop it. You bastard. Stop it!"
That's it. There’s plenty of room for me. Just let me. There is nothing you can do to stop me. You're weak. I am strong.
"You're hurting me, please stop. It hurts!"
It only hurts because you're resisting me, damn it!
Anna screamed loudly in pain, rolled from side to side, her hands on her temples, her face strained in pain. She screamed, focusing all of her brainpower on speaking to him in her own mind.
Get. OUT!!
The umbrella man flew backward, holding a hand to his head. "You bitch! That hurt."
Weak from the beating, Anna could hardly move, but she could muster a smile that slowly turned into a grin, as she spoke out loud:
"You'll never get in. I will never let you!"
That was when the man lost it. His face strained in furor, he hurried towards her and grabbed her by the hair, dropping the umbrella in the process, and then he pulled out something from his pocket.
"You bitch!" he repeated in the second the blade of the knife reflected the sunlight.
It was the last thing she ever saw.
CHAPTER 65
HOLLYWOOD RESERVATION, APRIL 2016
I t was still there. Right where he had left it in the cabinet. And now it was staring back at him again. Andrew felt his heart rate go up while he looked at the bottle on the shelf. The clock on the wall said four a.m., but he couldn't sleep. Just like so many nights before, since Julia's death, he couldn't find rest.
Just one sip will probably knock you right out. You'll sleep like a baby. You won't think of Julia or Anna or what you have lost. Just one sip.
"One sip can't hurt, can it? It is, after all, just one small sip."
Andrew grabbed the bottle and took it out, like he had done so many times before, not daring to pop the lid open.
You might as well do it. Why fight it?
Andrew sighed and sat down in the kitchen, bottle tightly squeezed in his hand. His hand was shaking as he grabbed the lid and was about to turn it when he stopped himself.
He looked at his reflection in the window and thought for a moment it was his father looking back at him.
So what? You ended up just like him? You knew you would at some point, right? You knew it all along. You might as well go all the way. Pop the lid. Pop the lid. Just do it. Just do it.
Andrew grabbed the lid with a lot more determination than before, turned it, and lifted the bottle to his lips. The smell of alcohol was very strong and stung his eyes and nostrils. He closed his eyes and, as the burning liquid hit his lips, he heard Anna scream out.
It was no ordinary scream and Andrew immediately dropped the bottle. It fell to the floor and shattered, while Andrew sprang to his feet and stormed down the hallway to Anna's room. He slammed the door open and ran inside.
Anna was covered in blood. Her blanket, her sheets, her pillow, and her nightgown. Andrew shrieked.
"Anna? Anna? Wake up! What's going on? Where is all this blood coming from? Where is it coming from?" he screamed.
And that was when he realized it
was coming from her eyes. Anna was crying as if her heart would break. The crying was monotonous, maddening, terrifying. Was she awake? Was she still dreaming?
"Anna?"
"Dad?"
"Anna. Are you awake?"
"Yes, Dad, oh God, oh dear God. I can't see anything, Dad, I can't see ANYTHING!!"
Oh, my God, what's happening? Why can't she see? Why are her eyes bleeding?
"Dad? Are you there, DAAAD? I can't SEE you? Where are you!"
"Yes, yes, sweetie. I’m here. I’m right here. Here, feel my hand," he said and put his hand in hers. She felt it, grabbed it, and clasped herself around it.
"Oh, my God, Dad, he took my eyes. He took them, he…he…he…"
Andrew grabbed her phone from the nightstand and dialed. His heart was racing in his chest as he tried to comfort her.
"I’m calling for help now, baby. Don't worry. Don't worry. It'll all be fine. It'll all be fine, baby. It was just a bad dream; it was just a dream."
But he didn’t believe that anymore.
Anna held onto his arm so tight, he could hardly move, still while screaming at the top of her lungs.
"I can't see, Daddy, I can't SEE!"
CHAPTER 66
FLORIDA KEYS, APRIL 2016
"Where is the girl?"
Gubba heard her as he walked inside, threw the knife in the sink, and started washing his face.
"Why are you all covered in blood, Gubba? Talk to me," E.T. yelled impatiently. "Where is she?"
Gubba didn't want to answer. His heart was still racing rapidly. He had left her at the rest area, hoping the bitch would bleed to death. He was still agitated and furious because she had resisted him like that.
E.T. hit him on the shoulder with her fist. "Talk to me. Where is she?"
He grabbed a towel and wiped his face. The blood had stained his shirt and he took it off. "It didn't work out. We have to find someone else."
"Didn't work out? What are you talking about, boy? You messed up, didn't you? It was such a simple task and still, you messed it up. All you had to do was to follow her on that bus and snatch her before school and bring her to me. It was that easy."
"Well, if you must know, then, I had her. I had her in my car."
E.T. gasped, her old eyes turning big and wide. "You hurt her, didn't you? You fool. You hurt her." She looked at the blood on his shirt that he was holding in his hand. She grabbed it from him and looked at it. "Is that her blood? Answer me, boy!"
"She refused me," he said, pulling the shirt back from between her hands. "Wouldn't let me in."
"You tried to get in her mind without me?" E.T.'s voice was getting squeaky. Gubba didn't care for that. "You were supposed to let me go first, you fool. You big fool. What did you do to her, huh? What did you do?"
Gubba turned and looked her in the eyes. He could tell she was afraid of him. He was a lot bigger than her and he was tired of her whining. "I took her eyes. Blinded her so she couldn't see."
"You did WHAT?"
"Relax. She'll only be blind in this world. She'll wake up thinking it was just a dream."
E.T. slapped him across his face. "You big fool. You big ugly fool."
"What's the big deal?"
"What's the big deal? What's the big deal? I'll tell you what it is. You blinded her in all of the worlds. Now we can't use her."
Gubba stared at E.T. "But how's that possible? You told me I could only hurt her in this world." He paused while the pieces fell into place. A wave of anger rushed in over his face.
"Did you lie to me?"
E.T. saw the anger in his eyes and stepped backward. "No…well, maybe…a little."
"Let me get this straight. So, you're telling me that the people I hurt are actually hurt in other worlds as well? So, when I hurt my mother I am actually hurting her in her world too?"
"Well…yes. As long as your own body is still alive in her world, you are. You're in a coma, but you're still there physically. Therefore, you can cross over between the worlds. If you die there, you won't be able to cross over anymore; then you'll need someone else."
"So, that means I didn't even need the girl. All this time we have run after this stupid little girl thinking…wait a minute. It was all for you, wasn't it? You were the one who needed her. Not me. Because you're dead in that world and want to go back for some reason. So you used me to get to her, didn't you?"
E.T. was squirming. "Well, Gubba, you must…think of all I have taught you, think of how strong you have become…I took you in when you had nothing…I taught you how to find people in the worlds they visit when they sleep, I taught you how to bend matter, how to create nightmares for them. I taught you how to…"
"DIDN'T YOU?"
E.T. swallowed hard, her shoulders slumping. "All right! Yes! Yes, I did. I needed her. I needed her to get back. When I first met you, I thought I could use you, but…well, you're not very mobile in that place. When I found the girl, I thought I had finally found a way, but now that's ruined too."
CHAPTER 67
HOLLYWOOD RESERVATION, APRIL 2016
T wo days had passed for Anna and still, she couldn't see. Big George, the reservation's medicine man had taken care of her. Big George used old Indian medicine along with the Western medicine he had learned going to med school when he was younger. She had begged her dad to not take her to the hospital on the night when she woke up blind. She was afraid of the questions, and of her father being accused of hurting her somehow. There was no way she could explain the truth to them so that they would believe her. No way.
"But they might be able to save your eyes," he had argued. "The hospitals have great doctors who can…"
She had stopped him there. "It's too late, Dad," she said.
She had finally convinced him and, instead, her dad had called the tribal police and asked what to do. They had brought Big George and Aunt Cora along with them. Big George had given her some herbal medicine for the pain and it had made her calm down. He had looked at her eyes, or what was left of them, then told her they were destroyed. The knife had cut the optic nerve in both eyes. There was nothing left to save.
Inside, she had been panicking and she still was every time she thought about how she was trapped inside of her own mind, but she kept it together the best she could. Shocked as she might be, she had to learn how to live with this.
Anna had told Cora and Big George everything about the Umbrella Man and how he had wanted to enter her mind, to use her for bad and how she had resisted him, painful as it was, and how it had angered him so much he had finally decided to take her eyes. She had told the story, knowing her dad was listening too, wanting him to know. It was vital for her that he believed her and she had a feeling he finally did.
Now she was lying in her bed, late in the evening, unable to sleep. She was afraid to. Still, she missed her grandmother and Lucas so much it was unbearable. She had tried the night before to go back, but with no luck. Her sleep had been short, interrupted, and dreamless. For the first time in her life, she hadn't gone anywhere, and now she was afraid it was going to happen again.
Her dad had gone to bed in the next room, but she had a feeling he wasn’t sleeping either. He was worried about her and whether anything bad could happen to her once again if she fell asleep.
She shared his fear.
Anna tried to recall pictures inside of her mind, pictures of her childhood, of her mother, and of her baby brother. Igoshi had taught her all about how to navigate the worlds at night. She had always told her it was like a big house with many doors to enter. Each door took you to a different world. If you could remember which one you used last and push it open, you would get back. That was how Anna had been able to get back every night. Through the bright yellow door. But Anna couldn’t see any doors, only that darkness that kept her a prisoner.
Anna reached out, found a doorknob and turned it, but she never walked through. She didn’t dare to, not knowing what she would find on the other side, if this were the rig
ht door to go through.
Anna woke up with a shiver and realized she was freezing. She pulled the covers up over her shoulders and turned to the side. Her eyes were still hurting, but the pain was getting better from day to day, helped along by Big George's herbs and drinks he made her.
Anna tried once again to fall sleep and soon she was back in front of the doors. She felt it, but couldn't see it. She reached out to see if she could get a hand on a doorknob and finally she did, but again she realized she had no idea where this one led.
Even back when she could see, it was hard to find the right door. There were hundreds of thousands of doors to choose from, maybe even more. They had all been in different colors and patterns and that was how she could tell them apart, but now she couldn't.
"Oh, Grandma, I miss you so much," she sobbed as she held the doorknob. She wanted to turn it, but then realized she was too scared to.
What will I meet on the other end? Umbrella Man? Someone else who wants to hurt me?
In despair, Anna let go of the knob and let herself slide down to her knees, sobbing. She woke up with a gasp, crying out for her grandmother. She leaned back on the pillow and felt the warm tears roll across her cheeks.
Even though Anna couldn't use her eyes to see, she could still cry.
CHAPTER 68
MIAMI, APRIL 2016
Her hand was twitching in her sleep. Igoshi looked at her granddaughter, her heart overwhelmed with anticipation of hearing her voice, but Anna didn't wake up. The doctor had said this would happen from time to time. The twitching. It didn't mean she was waking up. Still, Igoshi hoped. Oh, how she hoped.
It had been days since she was found at some rest area by a couple of tourists, bleeding from her eyes, unconscious. No one knew how it happened. The police had questioned her friend Tina, who had explained they had hitchhiked to get to Key West, but this strange man with a blistered face and purple eyes had thrown her out of the car and driven away with Anna. Yes, he knew her from somewhere, she had said.
