The Haret (The Haret Series)

by Denise Daisy

  Felicitas gave way to her tears. She did not want to be alone. Why did her mother insist on running after her father? She needed her now more than he did but that’s how it always was, why did she expect anything different? She looked around the sterile room and felt as if she were stuck in a terrible dream.

  She was glad when her nurse came in. At least she wouldn’t be totally alone. She watched the nurse pick up a black sharpie and write her name on the white board.

  “I’m Lisa; I’m your nurse for the night. Lisa placed the sharpie in her pocket and faced her.

  “I read about you in the papers. You really don’t know where you were for a whole week?”

  Felicitas sighed. How many times was she going to be asked the same question?

  “No. I can’t remember anything.”

  “Do you know who the president is?”

  “Barak Obama.”

  “Good. Are you hungry? Thirsty?”

  “Just thirsty.”

  Lisa smiled a bit mischievously bringing instant comfort.

  “There’s a girl outside that is dying to get in here. She’s been hiding around the corner from your family. Says her name’s Esther and that she’s your best friend. Do you want to see her?”

  Felicitas raised up excited.

  “Yes! Please.”

  Lisa smiled again. “I’ll do that and be back with your drink in a minute. If you need anything just push the call button. I’ll come running.”

  Felicitas smiled relieved and wiped the tears from her cheeks. She wouldn’t be alone after all and to top it off she couldn’t think of any one she’d rather have staying with her than Esther. Now she was glad her mother had gone home.

  Within seconds Esther ran into the room pouncing on Felicitas bed.

  “Finally! I thought they would never leave. I brought my stuff to stay the night. The nurse said I could that is if it’s okay with you. “

  “Are you kidding? I don’t want to be alone tonight. I feel really weird. Of course my mother couldn’t stay she had to go coddle my dad.”

  “He’s been really upset, especially about you being pregnant.”

  “You know too?”

  “Everyone knows Taz.”

  Felicitas groaned and laid her head back against the bed. Miss Purity the virgin of Stones River High, pregnant. She would never hear the end of it.

  Esther gave an encouraging smile.

  “Everyone loves you Taz. We were all so worried. No one was making fun of you.”

  “So I guess Ian knows too.”

  Esther squirmed a bit.

  “Uh huh.”

  Felicitas groaned.

  Esther grabbed her hand and held on tight. “He’s pretty hurt and a tad angry but he’s really worried about you too.”

  “Does he know that I‘ve been found, that I’m back from where ever I was?”

  Esther nodded.

  “I called him. He wanted to know if you were okay and what you were saying happened. I told him you had amnesia… So Taz, you want to tell me about it?”

  Of course she wanted to tell Esther. She had wanted to tell her from the moment she took her first pregnancy test. Esther was the only person she could confide a story of this caliber. She realized she would eventually have to disclose the information to her parents and the authorities no matter how bizarre it seemed. She could tell the detective was suspicious of her anyway. She would run it by Esther and see how she responded to it.

  “Esther do you remember back during the summer of our freshman year, the night we had the camp out at the Reddick estate?

  “If you mean the night you walked in your sleep and nearly scared me to death, then yes.”

  “Did I ever tell you about the dream I had that night?”

  “Kind of. You said it was weird sort of like an out of body experience or something.”

  Lisa entered the room with two cans of soda and two plastic cups. Felicitas waited for her to open the coke and pour it over the crushed ice. She did the same for Esther and then left the room again. Felicitas took a sip trying to decide the best way to begin.

  “It’s happened a lot more since then.”

  “You mean you’ve had more out of body experiences?”

  She took another sip. The cold burning of the soda was heavenly.

  “I’m not sure if that’s what they are, I think they are dreams but they’re different. I had the first one on the night of the camp out, I dreamed I was running through the woods and I was being chased by these horrible creatures. They were kind of reptilian, like half man and half dragon but they were beautiful. They had the face and body of a man, but they had wings like a dragon, and they breathed fire from their mouths. In my dream they began closing in on me and I was terrified. Then while I was running someone grabbed me and pulled me up to safety. He said his name was Raine Zadock and he was the most gorgeous guy I have ever seen. He had long sandy brown hair, and azure eyes. The moment I saw him I wanted to burst into tears, it was like I had known him forever.

  Esther took a drink and crunched her ice.

  “Now why can’t I have dreams like that?”

  “In my dream we were sitting high in the trees and were watching the creatures. Raine told me they were the very essence of evil and were looking for me and I had to stay away from them. He said their leader was the most devious of all and would try and deceive me so I must always be very careful. I asked him who they were and he called them Drakes and told me to beware of the one who called himself Savas because he wanted to destroy my purity. I asked him who he was and why he was telling me all of this. He didn’t answer he just kissed me and said I should return to my friends but to remember everything he told me. That’s when I woke up sleep walking.”

  Felicitas paused a moment trying to read Esther and wondering if she should continue. Even listening to herself tell it sounded preposterous and Esther had never looked more serious. She sat staring across the room either absorbed by the story or lost in her thoughts of how insane her friend had become. Felicitas couldn’t tell which one it was. She knew Esther was the most sensible practical person of her age and had planned to go to law school after college. She could only imagine what she must be thinking. Esther took advantage of the pause.

  “Do you think it was a vision, like a sign from God to keep your purity?”

  Relief flooded over her. At least Esther had not dismissed her story completely.

  “Maybe…I mean it could have been, but I think it was much more than that, because like I said, I kept having the same type of dreams and Raine was always in them. It’s always hard to remember them afterwards so I started keeping a journal and as soon as I would wake I would write everything down. It made so much sense then but the next morning it was all just gibberish.”

  Esther’s eyes lit up in relief.

  “So the nocturnal journal is a dream documentary?”

  Felicitas nodded slowly suspicion showing in her eyes.

  “Yes…how do you know about the journal?”

  “Ian and I found it during our investigation, trying to find what happened to you. We both thought it was about a real person.”

  Felicitas moaned and closed her eyes.

  “Did you read the entry where we had sex?”

  The question took Esther’s eyes off Felicitas and placed them shamefully on the floor. She grimaced.

  “Yes…sorry. Had I known what was in there I would have never read it in front of Ian.”

  Felicitas blushed.

  “How did he react?”

  Esther gave an awkward smile.

  “He was visibly shaken….hurt….angrier than I‘ve ever seen him. It’s a good thing this Raine guy is in your dreams cause if he was real I think Ian would kill him.

  But of course Ian thinks he’s real. We all did. That’s why your dad is so mad.

  Felicitas groaned and leaned her head against the back of the bed again.

  “Esther…. it has to be real because I am pregnant and
that dream was the only time I have ever experienced sex. I woke up that night and knew something had really happened. I could still smell his scent on my skin. I know it sounds weird but I honestly believe I got pregnant in that dream.”

  This time Esther grabbed her drink and took a sip swallowing hard.

  “Taz,” she said sitting the plastic cup back on the table. “I’m going to throw a question out there and after you answer it I will never ask it again.”

  Felicitas nodded, she owed her that.

  “Do you think someone could be sneaking into your room and drugging you? Taking advantage somehow?”

  Felicitas shook her head.

  “Our house is alarmed; my dad has security cameras everywhere, it’s impossible. There is no way anyone could sneak into my room without being caught on film or tripping the system. They’re dreams Esther….just dreams.”

  Esther shook her head convinced. “Okay then. You’re having some kind of super natural experience. I could happen; after all, we have all heard of the Virgin Mary and believe that one without question.”

  Felicitas pulled Esther close and held on tight. “I love you. You’re the best.”

  After several emotional moments and tearful confessions Felicitas finished her story right up to the part where she saw Raine in the woods and jumped off the trailer.

  Esther shivered as she sat riveted to the bed hanging on to Taz’s every word.

  “No wonder you said My God it’s him. So do you remember anything at all while you were looking for him?”

  Felicitas shifted, uncomfortable at the vague memory and began to tremble.

  “Only that I was so afraid. Something in there terrified me and for the life of me I can’t remember what it was but I know it was horrible. I have never felt such fear. I remember running and that’s all.”

  “Wow,” was all Esther could say.

  “It sounds so crazy when I hear myself telling it. I’m afraid you are the only person who’ll actually believe me.”

  Esther gave a sly smile. “I don’t know….I’m pretty sure Reed will.”

  Felicitas took another long drink of the cola allowing it to burn at her throat. She wiped the dribble from her chin.

  “About that. What’s up with you two? I noticed chemistry while we were waiting for the ambulance.”

  For the next few minutes Esther spilled out the entire saga to Felicitas of their search for her the night she disappeared, up to Reed’s text and their adventure in the woods. She told her of the legend of the disappearing man; the mysterious cabin and the unshaven man with the raspy voice who Esther was certain might be the two hundred year old recluse. Despite the fact that Reed asked her not to tell anyone about the spot, she told Felicitas about the old well and how Reed thought it was a gateway to the afterlife and although Felicitas couldn’t understand why the mention of the well unnerved her causing a chill to sweep over her. Esther ended the epic tale right up to the part when they found Felicitas stumbling through the woods confused and disoriented.

  The girls sat up for some time discussing Reed, Ian and Catlin‘s ill behavior. By three-thirty in the morning they agreed it might be best to try and get some rest. Esther promised she wouldn’t leave Felicitas side and would be her support while she told her story to her parents and the police. She even offered to be present when she told Ian. The mention of his name was only a reminder that he had not come to the hospital to see her neither had he called. Felicitas felt sad but she couldn’t blame him. She wondered if he would want to break up with her and the thought brought a stabbing pain to her heart. She turned off the light and pulled the thin blanket close. She knew detective Russell would be back to question her and hoped some of her memory would return while she was sleeping. Esther made a bed on the guest cot and in no time they both fell into a deep peaceful sleep.

  Across the street in a parked car an unshaven man sat starring at the hospital. He took the last draw from his cigarette and then tossed it out the window. He wouldn’t approach her now, it would be too soon. He’d wait until she told her story to the authorities and her parents, then he would make his move because that’s when the craziness would begin and he knew she would need him. He started his car and drove off into the night.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Felicitas was released the next morning after being monitored all night and although no one knew where she had spent the past week, the attending doctor agreed she had been well taken care of. Esther woke early planning to spend the day with Felicitas and accompany her home but Melvin and Sharon showed up and politely excused her. Felicitas was disappointed. She needed her friend’s support.

  Ian still had not called or showed at the hospital. She didn’t blame him knowing she hadn’t contacted him either, still his absence stung.

  Sharon brought Felicitas a change of clothes and some of her personal belongings. Melvin remained unusually silent during the release procedure but finally spoke while they were in route to the police station. He didn’t speak to Felicitas directly but prayed aloud to God on her behalf as he did many times at home and in the pulpit of his church. Felicitas felt he often used prayer as a shield to say whatever he wanted. He asked God to give his daughter the courage to admit her mistakes and to speak the truth knowing that God’s love would cover over a multitude of her sins.

  Felicitas tried to ignore him, blocking out his patronizing prayer. She looked out of her window wishing she was anywhere but in the back seat of her parent’s car. She had not slept very well being hooked up to monitors all night. She had no dreams; her memory still void of her whereabouts last week.

  Detective Russell arrived half an hour late for their meeting; poured himself a cup of coffee and began the questioning.

  “Did you rest well last night Miss Rebold?”

  Felicitas sighed and braced herself for the inevitable. She crossed her legs swinging one of them nervously. She decided she didn’t like him very much.

  “No, not really and I’d feel better if you call me Felicitas. It’s not as intimidating.”

  “All right Felicitas, has your memory improved from last night?”

  “No Sir it hasn‘t.”

  Detective Russell sipped his coffee and stared at her over the rim of his cup. He savored the flavor enjoying the steaming liquid before setting the mug back on his desk.

  “Felicitas do you want to tell me who the father of your baby is?”

  He had asked her the same question last night and she had refused to answer but last night she and Esther agreed it would be best to simply tell the truth no matter how bizarre it seemed.

  “I think I might have an idea.”

  Detective Russell took another drink of his coffee.

  “What do you mean you think? Have you had sex with more than one person?”

  Melvin Rebold shifted in his seat and Felicitas watched as her mother placed her hand over his.

  “No. Actually I have never had sex at all. I am a virgin.”

  Detective Russell covered his mouth with his finger and rubbed the bottom of his chin.

  “I read your private journal Felicitas. You mentioned having intercourse with a fellow by the name of Raine Zadock. That’s a strange name. What nationality is he?”

  “I don‘t know.”

  Detective Russell scribbled in his notebook.

  “Where did you meet Raine?”

  Felicitas took in a deep breath. There was no holding back; the entire story was soon to unravel.

  “I met him in a dream one night.”

  Detective Russell stopped writing and eyed Felicitas.

  “Are you making a game of this Miss Rebold?”

  “No I’m not. You asked me to tell you the truth and I am. I dreamed of him three years ago while camping out in the same woods where I disappeared. The dream seemed very real and I have never forgotten it. I have been dreaming of him for three years now. Last month I dreamed we had sex. I guess I got pregnant then.”

  Detective Russell dropped his
pen and leaned back in his chair folding his arms in front of him. The chair groaned and creaked in protest, the noise deafening in contrast to the utter silence in the room.

  Felicitas broke the quiet. “You don’t believe me?”

  “Do you actually expect me too?”

  “No, not really and I don’t blame you. It sounds crazy I know; but it’s the truth.”

  “Miss Rebold aren’t you the president and founder of the purity club at your high school?”

  “Yes”

  “Are you ashamed to go back to school and face the members in the club now that everyone knows you are pregnant?”

  Felicitas did dread going to school and trying to explain all of this, but she felt no shame, she only hoped her friends would believe her.

  “No, I have nothing to be ashamed of because I haven’t done anything wrong.”

  “That’s enough Felicitas!” Melvin’s angry outburst startled everyone in the room. “Enough of your lies. I am appalled at your lack of respect for Detective Russell not to mention your mother and myself. You have been raised much better than your actions are showing. Do you know how much your mother cried last week, how many nights I lost sleep? How many prayers were offered up on your behalf? How many man hours went into searching for you not to mention tax dollars? And you sit here defiantly and make a mockery of it all. If you have gotten yourself into trouble at least admit it. God will forgive even the vilest of sinners that is if you’re truly sorry for your actions rather than sorry you got caught.”

  Felicitas heart pounded against her chest in anger at her dad. He was a man who encouraged blind faith. Taught it from the platform of his church, asked his family and congregation to believe in what they couldn’t see yet she never saw that kind of faith in him.

  She was prepared to defend herself. There had always been questions she wanted to ask her dad, things she wanted to say to him, yet at every attempt he would interrupt her, raise his voice and launch into another sermon. Today she would make him listen. They would all listen.

  “I am telling the truth daddy. Why won’t you believe me? Have I ever lied to you before? I have been the model daughter, walked your straight and narrow path, honored you and momma, and obeyed every rule you set for us so what is it that causes you to accuse me of lying?”