Enchanted Revenge

by Theresa M. Jones

  “That was your power returning!” After another loud sigh from me, he apologized and I continued again.

  “So, I felt like that… power came out of me somehow and went over to him. It was strong. I felt like I could beat him for once. Then I thought I woke up but I still felt that same power stuff. It was so overwhelming it started to hurt me. Actually, it hurt a lot. So I got out of bed and ran outside,” I paused then, not sure if I wanted to continue. But Rick seemed like he believed me and it felt so good to actually say it all out loud, so I did. “That’s when I screamed. Just once, but really loud. Looking back on it, I can’t believe I didn’t wake anyone up. Anyways, when I screamed, it looked like… umm…” I tried to think of how to word it. “Well, it looked like some kind of wind or something came out of me and moved the clouds or something.” Oddly enough, despite how strange the words were, it felt right when I said it out loud.

  Waiting for a reaction, I looked up and he simply said, “I suppose you think that you running outside and moving the clouds was part of the dream?”

  “Well, yeah! Of course! Nobody can actually move the clouds with purple wind coming out of their hands,” I said incredulously.

  Drenched with sarcasm, he said, “But of course.” Then shook his head slightly and continued. “Listen, to make a long story short, until you have full control of your power, when you get upset in any way it will keep overloading you like that. Though I must say, I am impressed that you managed to release it without doing damage to anything. Large outbursts of power like that are easy to trace though, and with good usually comes evil. You have already seen Damien in your dreams, which means he knows about you. Now that you have your power back, and released it in such an obvious way, he will be tracking you. You need to come with me now so that I can keep you safe…” he paused briefly, presumably to assess my reaction. “What?”

  “Go with you? Are you completely nuts? I have had enough of this. Rick, I don’t know what happened to you, but there is no such thing as ‘power’ not the way you mean it anyways. I will not go anywhere with you. And I can take care of myself. Like I said earlier, it was all just a strange dream. How you found out about it, I have no idea. I came here thinking I would get some answers, but really, I got nothing. Now, if you will kindly leave, I would appreciate it. I would go, but like I said earlier, I am meeting someone else here.”

  As I stood and walked away from him, toward the spot where Alex and I usually met, I heard him almost shout back at me, “Please be careful, darling! You are not safe like this and neither is your family.”

  I stopped and faced him one last time, “Don’t ever threaten my family again or I will call the police on you! Stay away from us!”

  I walked toward the smallest gazebo, fuming at the way I had been sucked into Rick’s story. The wood was old and looked darker than usual now that the sun was dropping in the sky. It was maybe ten feet across, but was shaded completely by several trees which cast eerie shadows across the floor.

  This had been my favorite place to come almost my entire life. I always felt so at peace in this park. It was the place that Alex proposed to me when I was only six months pregnant, where we used to sneak away to cuddle and talk about our futures. That wasn’t going to happen now though. How could any of this be happening? What had happened to him? To us? Just then my little, bright blue phone started vibrating in my pocket, perfectly timed.

  “Hi, babe,” I said into the phone.

  “I’m on my way to the park now. Meet me there,” he said.

  As always. No hello or anything, just demands. Sighing I said, “Fine.”

  Sitting on the middle bench, I waited for Alex to get there. Obviously something had happened to Rick to make him change so much. There could not be any way the things he was telling me were actually true. My life used to be so normal. And other than last night, it still was. I mean the wars going on were crazy, but what did that have to do with me? I sighed again and laid back on the bench.

  I tried to push all the crazy thoughts away and prepare myself for Alex. I couldn’t help but think of the good stuff, our first kiss, how soft and sweet he had been. He was older than me, which was admittedly a huge turn on back then and I remembered when I first had Sam, how he looked at her with complete love and admiration. But then, over the years, he kept pulling away, distancing himself from us. Was it fear? Was it work? I couldn’t guess what was going on inside his head.

  Alex came walking up the path to the gazebo; he always looked so angry nowadays. Noticing me, he veered off the paved walking trail and headed straight for me. I only wished that we were still as close as we used to be.

  “Hello, Alex, how was work?” I figured asking a nice question, showing that I still cared, might distract from the situation.

  “Fine, thanks. Listen, I need to know what is really going on with you, Allison. The way you have been acting lately is not just cops and dreams. Tell me what is going on in that head of yours.” Yeah, like I would actually be able to distract him. He was always so mean now, no more mister nice guy these days.

  Trying to gain some composure, I replied, “Alex, I don’t know why you always think that I am lying to you, but that is exactly it. These dreams have been more than an ordinary nightmare. I am really scared. I have had this same dream over and over again and now this guy we used to know from church when I was like five or something came back and has gone completely insane and says he knows about my dreams and shit. I don’t know what the hell is going on anymore. He was talking about the wars and stuff and he just didn’t make any sense at all.” Obviously any composure I thought I had gained was gone, and I was rambling. I paused for a breath and looked up at him. “What? You don’t believe me?”

  “So this is all about another guy?” It was almost as if he was looking for things to fight about. If I didn’t give him a reason to be upset, he would find one. I swear he had this urge to be the unhappiest person in the world. He had never been one of those happy-go-lucky people, but at least at one time he had been content.

  “Damn it, Alex! Do you listen to anything I say? It is about my dreams. How would some old guy that I haven’t seen in 15 years know anything about them? I don’t need a fight now, I need you. Please, just be here for me!” I pleaded.

  “You need me, now? Obviously you don’t, not if your problems are regarding another man. I so knew it, Allison! I knew there was someone else.”

  Were all men as self-centered and inconsiderate as the one I got stuck with? Heartbroken, I lost the small control I still had. “How can you even think that? I am always trying to be there for you, always trying to see you, trying to be close to you – like we used to be. You are always running away from me. Running to work, or home… anywhere as long as I am not there, right?”

  I was fuming now. When I really needed him, he was trying to turn the situation into some wrong doing on my part. We were both standing now, right up in each other’s faces, shouting. My eyes were starting to tear up, which angered me even more than the things he was saying. I hated showing any weakness in front of him.

  But the watering wouldn’t stop, making me angrier and making them water even more. What a repulsive endless cycle. My head was starting to hurt, right along with the ache in my heart. “Alex, please help me make sense of this!” Choking up, I added, “I need you right now.”

  I didn’t really believe that though. At times I felt like I needed him, but it wasn’t really him that I needed. I wasn’t even sure why we were still trying at this. Or maybe that was the real problem, we both had stopped trying a long time ago.

  “Whatever, Allison, I am not the one who has been running away. Everyone knows how you feel about me now. You don’t even love me anymore. You haven’t in years. I just can’t figure out why. What did I not do for you? I have been here for you and Sam. I have helped support you both. We got engaged just like you wanted. What more do you…”

  He stopped with the abrupt change in my facial expression, from sorrow
to complete horror. It was at that exact moment I smelled it again. No, I smelled him again! Him – the bloodcurdling, petrifying man Rick called Damien. This could not be a dream now. All of today had definitely happened. He was really coming. Coming for me! “Oh shit!” I let out under my breath, not really meaning to.

  “What is it, Allison? What?” Finally he seemed truly concerned about my feelings, though now it may be too late.

  “You don’t smell that… that nasty smell?” Scared, I started looking around frantically. “We have to get out of here, now!” I cried, already running toward my car.

  I did not even stop to look behind me to see if Alex was following me. This was my dream coming true, I was running through trees away from him, and I was terrified. No, saying that I was terrified was an understatement. I feared not only for my life, but the anguish that he inflicted on me every time I saw him.

  Then there he was, standing right in front of me with his perfectly white teeth gleaming through his evil smile. I was sure that I would never feel that agony again, yet here it was. My knees buckled under me and I fell on my knees to the ground. How could this be happening, I mean really happening? This could not be possible. Everything around me went black. Just like my dream, my sight was gone. My sense of touch went next. I no longer felt the ground beneath me despite knowing that it was there. I was filled with despair and defeat. Tears streamed down my face. I was more than ready to give up, until I heard my name called twice, once from the husky voice I had just been talking to and once from the older, deeper voice that I knew to be Rick’s.

  Slowly, I felt a calming, hopeful feeling wash over me, like warm water filling up around you in a bathtub. It was different than my dream though. This time it was not coming from my core, or from me at all, it was coming from behind me, and it felt wonderful and safe.

  I vaguely heard voices around me, though I could not make out what they were saying. I knew that one was Rick, and one was deeper, which was odd because Rick had a very deep voice. This new voice was more like a growl and it was saying something about, “…they die so easily anyway...” And then from Rick, “…leave him out…has no power...” then something else.

  I tried to focus, to clear my mind. The calming hope that surrounded me offered some much needed relief. I used it as an anchor for my wandering consciousness and was finally able to open my eyes, only to wish I hadn’t.

  I saw Damien push forward a pitch black wind, like the purple haze I had seen leave my hands last night. It moved to cover Alex who was laying on the ground writhing in pain, his whole body convulsing in agony.

  I heard someone scream, only to realize later that scream was my own. I was up off the ground now, running to Alex’s side, feeling more like I was watching it happen than making it happen. I felt the strength of my power surge up through my every limb and out to Alex. I had to try to save him – if only I knew how.

  I heard myself screeching, “Stop! Please!” I heard a half chuckle-half snarl come from my right, where, as far as I was concerned, the devil himself stood. The pain from my own power started to grow. It was almost as bad as Damien’s, the anguish it inflicted on me was indescribable. I reached out protectively towards Alex and threw my other hand defensively between him and Damien.

  “God, please help him!” I pleaded, throwing my head up to the sky as everything around me went black again. No sight. No smell. Nothing to hear, taste, or feel. Just black.