by Diana Ryan
Today the sky was a brilliant blue backdrop to the fluffy white clouds. A gentle breeze with a tiny bite of cold Wisconsin air blew the hair from my shoulders. It was a beautiful fall day by anyone’s standards. The trees’ leaves were just beginning to display their gorgeous colors, and I could faintly hear a tour boat chugging its way down the Wisconsin River off in the distance.
As we crossed the train tracks, I could feel Nolan’s hand begin to shake in mine. He was the one who stabbed me, but it was a warranted part of a desperate plan to save my life from a sinister man who thought I was a hardened criminal. Messed up? Yes, I knew. But even so, last summer was a chapter of my life that I wouldn’t change for anything. It was one that helped me find the love of my life. I wanted nothing more than to be with Nolan Hill for the rest of my days, and I was pretty sure he felt the exact same way.
The thick, green screen of trees and bushes that hid the entrance to Make Out Rock in the summer was now lying in heaps of red and yellow leaves at the foot of bare branches, leaving the entrance exposed and open. We easily found the deep-cut pathway and scaled our way down to the top of the towering rock ledge.
Partway down I stopped dead in my tracks as my mind quickly flashed back to that dark night. Nolan felt me draw back, and stopped his momentum to wrap his arms around my body. My knees began to shake and my stomach turned over, but at the same time I knew this was a mental hurdle I’d have to jump over.
Nolan began to rub the side of my arms and kissed my forehead sweetly. “Maybe I was wrong. Let’s get out of here. We can visit in a few months.”
I looked up through the tears forming in my eyes. How was I lucky enough to love someone who loved me even more in return? I wanted him to understand. “No, Nolan. I want to do this.” I looked down at the ground, gravity pulling a tiny tear out of my eye. “Although that was the worst night of my life, I need to be here with you now. To prove to myself that I can move on.” The daggers were still dancing in my stomach.
Nolan’s blue eyes glittered in the autumn sunlight. He placed his fingers on my jawline, stroking my chin with his thumb. I felt like melting right into his hand. He opened his mouth to speak a few times but said nothing.
Finally he said, “I would feel humbled and gracious if you could find it within yourself to someday forgive me and trust me once more. I know it will take time, but I am willing to wait as long as it takes.”
Then before I could answer, he slowly pulled me in and held his lips half an inch from mine. His warm breath lingered on my mouth, and I wanted so much for him to go the rest of the distance, but he held his position, teasing me carefully. Right as I was ready to go in for the touchdown myself, he sensed my impatience, and kissed me with a lot of emotion.
I led Nolan by the hand to the middle of the rock ledge, and we both sat down. The familiar beauty of the Dells had calmed my breathing, and I could feel the daggers backing off. A deep, cleansing breath of the natural air refreshed my lungs. I watched the gentle, swirling brown water flow down river and my mind was flooded with memories of a summer filled with adventures with Nolan. Falling in love with him had been easy and natural.
Nolan looked upriver toward the docks. “I realized that night that you were the most important person in my life. I knew I needed to do whatever I could in order to protect you, even if that meant harming you in the process.”
Did he know I felt the same way?
“That day,” I began, “when I knew something was wrong and I was sure you were going to break up with me, I felt like my life was over. I had been through heartbreak before, but nothing compared to the pain I went through that night. That’s when I knew, I had given you my heart.”
I leaned my head onto his shoulder and we continued to look around, taking in the beauty of the environment around us. I looked down toward the end of the rock ledge and couldn’t help but imagine the exact position I was in when I lay here waiting for death to take me away that night. Then I noticed a dark stain on the rock where I had lain.
My blood.
Of course, my blood had stained the rock. All of a sudden I flashed back to that moment when I truly thought my life had ended. When someone I loved and trusted purposely shoved a knife into my belly.
I stood up, shaking. “Let’s get going. I think I’ve had enough for one day.”
“Absolutely.” Nolan rose and turned to leave. “Are you alri—” He stopped abruptly, made a weird face, and scanned the area around us.
“What’s wrong?”
He put two fingers over my lips to silence me and whispered, eyes on heightened alert. “Shh…Listen.”
I heard it, too— a very faint beeping noise. Its high-pitched warning tone was rapidly getting faster and faster.
“Run!” he screamed, and pulled my arm toward the railroad tracks. I begged my feet to go faster but I couldn’t seem to make them keep up with Nolan’s. A wild scream escaped my lips as he leaped over the tracks and dove into the ditch behind them. I followed his lead and right as I landed, Nolan rolled over my body and an ear-splitting BOOM echoed out over the river and through the baseball fields. My hands instinctively covered my ears and I screamed again.
Nolan waited a few seconds and then rolled off of me. We sat up on our elbows and looked toward the rock. The whole cliff top had been blown away. Thick, angry smoke took over the air, and fire began to eat the bottom of the trees. My jaw was stuck in the open position.
My Dells! My beautiful Dells blown away!
Nolan stood up. “Are you okay?”
My ears were ringing but I could still hear Nolan. I took a quick inventory of the rest of my body, running my hands up and down my legs, torso, and arms. All parts were accounted for and I could see no blood. “Yeah. I think I’m fine.” My head stayed focused on the scene before me.
“We have to get out of here!”
Nolan held out his hand to help me up, but I was still in awe of what had happened. My shock prevented me from realizing that Nolan was right: We had to get away from there immediately.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the scene at hand. “We have to call 911.”
Nolan began yelling, “They won’t be far away! We have to go now!”
“Who won’t be far away?”
Nolan yanked me onto my feet and pulled me in the opposite direction of his car, toward a grassy pathway parallel with the train tracks. I kept looking over my shoulder, causing my body to twist and my legs to flail, not being able to keep up with my top half.
Nolan stopped and grabbed my face in his hands. He looked deep into my eyes and said with great authority, “Ava Gardner. You have to trust me. We need to run down this path as fast as we can. Now!”
I stared with disbelief. Was I dreaming? It wasn’t until I heard the police sirens behind us that I snapped out of my trance and began to run.
Nolan led the way, sprinting through the forest. My heart was beating out of my chest, and I didn’t think I could go much farther. We must have been running at full speed for at least five minutes. I was not used to such nonsense.
Finally he stopped and surveyed the scene. “This will do,” he said.
I bent over with my hands on my knees, breathing like I had just given birth right there on the forest floor. He told me to climb halfway up the tree and sit on a sturdy limb.
“No! Not until…you tell me…what’s going…on!” I could barely get the words out between my heavy breathing. I was beyond frustration.
Nolan quickly walked over to me. He pulled me up from my crouched position and stared deeply into my eyes. “My sweet Ava. Please. I know this must be hard, but you have to trust me. Do as I say and this will all be over in a few minutes.” Then he kissed me passionately but quickly. “Please.”
I wanted to protest, but instead I surrendered to those damn baby blues. I was helpless against their power.
I turned around and climbed the tree up to the third limb. I was lucky my sister and I had had trees to climb in our backyard as kids. Who kn
ew that skill would come in handy as an adult? I looked down. I was probably about forty feet up the tree and glad that heights didn’t bother me.
Nolan nervously paced the forest floor under my hideout tree. He took out his cell and dialed a number. Then he turned his back away from me. Normally I would be able to hear what he was saying, but my ears were still ringing from the blast. My stomach had turned inside out again. I was nervous and anxious and sure of one thing—I would never go near that rock again.
I could see the smoke rising from the site a few hundred yards down the pathway. There was a fire truck there now, with men pointing long hoses at the fire.
Nolan’s voice grew louder. “Dammit! I need a reconnaissance team in here now!” He began to pace quicker. “What do you mean my field rating is unsatisfactory?” He paused and I could tell he was angry. “A civilian’s life is at risk!”
Nolan suddenly slammed a finger at the phone’s screen to hang up the call, letting out a grunt of frustration. He quickly and intensely scanned the tree line. Had he heard something I didn’t? Then out of nowhere the crack of a gunshot echoed through the woods, and Nolan dropped to the ground with a groan.
I gasped. No…no…no…no! My mouth opened to let out a scream but nothing came out.
Nolan rolled over to his side, looked up at me, and said in a raspy voice, “Greeeeeeeeen. Trust green.”
I whispered back through my tears, “What? Sweetheart…?”
I was about to jump down from the tree when I heard footsteps. I looked out into the forest and saw three men in dark suits carrying guns. They ran towards the unmoving Nolan. I held completely still. They hadn’t seen me up in the tree yet.
One of the men pressed something in his ear. “We got him. No sign of the girl.”
They knew I had been with Nolan. Chills sped down my spine. Another man picked up Nolan and threw him over his shoulder, and then they all ran out of the forest the same way they entered.
Uncontrollable tears began to fall from my eyes. What just happened? This couldn’t be real! A nightmare, this had to be a nightmare.
Wake up, Ava!
I slapped myself in the face, but lost my balance on the tree limb and fell backwards, narrowly missing all the branches on the way down. My body landed with a thud on the grass and weeds below, and I let out a groan as I rolled to my left. My right arm radiated intense pain.
Oh no! I probably broke it.
I knew I had to get out of there before someone else came. But should I run after Nolan’s captors or toward my parents’ house? I wasn’t prepared for any kind of fight, so I painfully set off in the direction of Capital Street. I scrambled about four steps forward before I heard a loud crack and felt a sting in my back, sending me instantly to the ground.
I’d been shot, too. What kind of evil world would bring us together only to rip us apart time and time again?
Well, at least I could join Nolan in heaven.
Chapter Two
Sunlight streamed onto my face, gently coaxing my eyelids to lift. My eyebrows wrinkled as I slowly looked around the room. An unfamiliar fog flooded my brain—where was I? My fingers rubbed my eyes and when I opened them, the fog had lifted somewhat. I was in bed at my college apartment on the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Stevens Point.
Was I late for class?
The clock on the bedside table read 9:30 and there was noise down the hall—sure signs it was the weekend. I knew I should get up and see what my roommates were doing out in the living room, but the warm blanket cocoon was too nice to part with.
My college friends and I had formed great friendships our freshman year, and it was weird not seeing them for three months last summer. Kasie had barely any money saved up for tuition, so she spent her summer working double shifts lifeguarding at the local pool and waitressing at a supper club at night.
Elaina and her family always spent the summer months staying cool by the lake at their northern Wisconsin cabin—no obligations and no cell phone service.
Sharon had a chemist uncle who needed an assistant to help promote his product overseas for the summer. She spent ninety days whirling through the countries of Europe peddling Zit-B-Gone to red-faced teenagers.
Clara was a Natural Resources major and she and her boyfriend much preferred to spend their summers camping deep in the forests of northern Wisconsin studying animal tracks and constructing beaver traps out of all-natural materials.
Last semester we decided to rent a house for our sophomore year. We settled on a basement apartment right across the street from the Student Center on campus. That way we could drag our butts out of bed last minute and stagger our way into class when we needed to. We tended to stay up too late talking, laughing, and doing dumb things like riding large pieces of cardboard like sleds down the stairs.
The basement seemed fine when we toured the house, and the price was right, but as I was lying in bed I realized it was a mistake. I could hear what could only be described as elephants walking in the apartment above me and it was beginning to make my head hurt.
I shoved the blankets off me and sat up onto my elbows, but a pain shot up my left arm. I took the weight off and rubbed it with my other hand. Upon inspection, I noticed oversized yellow and brown areas.
Old bruises. Curious.
I didn’t remember banging up my arm. I inspected it again and noticed an unexplainable scar over the bone. Strange. I’d never had arm surgery. I looked closer; maybe the lighting was in the basement bedroom was poor. It did feel pretty tender; I must have injured it somehow.
Slight panic began to set in as I racked my brain and could not remember one detail about the day before. Had I been drinking the night before? That didn’t seem like a likely scenario, although I couldn’t remember what we had been up to.
“Wake up, Ava,” I said outloud.
I got out of bed still rubbing my arm, and gave a stretch before waking my computer up. No new messages. I grabbed for my phone which was sitting on the ledge of the small window above my bed. Another reason the basement apartment was possibly not the best idea we’ve ever had—this was the only place my phone could get any reception. No new messages on my phone either.
Disappointing. No clues to the previous night’s events.
I threw on a bra and left the room in my pajamas. Kasie’s door was closed—she was still sleeping. Kasie was an adorable, petite blonde sorority girl who became one of my best friends last year. She was a hardworking Dietetics major who dreamed of being a personal trainer and dietician to the stars. She was always reading US Weekly and People Magazine to stay on top of the A-List. I knew that dream was a bit out of her reach. We were three thousand miles from LA! How could a little Midwestern Dietetics major find her way out west and “make it” in the craziness of Los Angeles? I never had the heart to tell her I thought so, of course.
The next bedroom down the hall belonged to my freshman year dorm roommate, Elaina. The door was open, so I assumed she was out in the living room. Last year we were randomly paired up and we got along great. Well, except for the time when Elaina had decided to hit a house party, returned home drunk as a skunk and puked inside my backpack. I had been less than enthused the next morning when I was greeted by an offensive smell and ruined homework. Elaina was truly embarrassed and apologized profusely. The next day she bought me a new backpack, and swore she wouldn’t go to any more house parties.
Elaina was a French major. At first I found that rather strange, but she was very good at speaking French and really enjoyed learning about foreign cultures. As I got to know her more, I found out she had dreams of becoming an international spy one day, and when she had Googled it, she learned that being fluent in a foreign language is an expected quality in the world of espionage.
The last bedroom was Sharon and Clara’s. They were roommates in the dorms freshman year and had volunteered to share a bedroom again. We let them have the biggest bedroom as a consolation prize.
Sharon and I bonded ov
er education. She was studying to be a Special Education teacher, and although we had no classes in common, we could discuss politics and methodology. Well, only when a serious mood struck us, of course, which wasn’t very often.
Sharon pledged Delta Nu during the second semester of freshman year, and so she and Kasie were always together. Sharon was usually the instigator of all the crazy stuff we did and we loved how she could make us laugh until our stomachs hurt.
She invented Exercise Ball Rodeo, a game in which you try to wrangle one of those oversized workout balls through various obstacles. The game was really challenging, and although it was hilarious, someone usually got hurt in the process. Nothing major, until Clara broke her foot rolling into a wall-mounted fire extinguisher, and then the game was dead.
Clara was a sweet, petite girl who truly loved being one with nature. She was an avid hunter and spent most of her time out of the house and in the woods somewhere. We really didn’t see her too much.
Their door was open too, and I could hear Sharon’s boisterous voice in the living room, which was open to the kitchen. Sharon was frying eggs at the stove and Elaina was reading her French textbook.
“Mornin’ Lady! Long time no see!”
“What do you mean?” I looked to Elaina for an answer.
Elaina seemed concerned. “You must have got in really late last night!”
“Oh, right…yeah…got in late.” I rubbed my head. What was going on? A tiny radiating headache was starting behind my right eye. Why couldn’t I remember last night?
“How was your long weekend?” Sharon asked. There was some type of inflection in her voice I couldn’t quite read. It was like she was suggesting I did something special.
“My long weekend?” I had no idea what she was talking about. “What did we do last night?”
Elaina looked over at Sharon as if neither knew what to say. Finally Sharon broke the silence.
