Protector

by Messenger, Tressa

  “Anna-Marie? Anna-Marie!”

  Her heart melts in her chest like it used to whenever she heard his beautiful voice, loving the sound of her name on his tongue. She turns toward the direction of the voice smiling wide, but she doesn’t see anything.

  “Dylan, where are you? I can’t see you.”

  “Anna-Marie, hurry!”

  Her smile fades when she notices the desperation in his voice. He’s in the woods. Her brain screams.

  “Dylan!” She screams and runs in the direction she thinks he’s calling from.

  She runs as fast as she can. Fallen branches are cutting into her bare feet and limbs from the menacing trees are tearing at her skin. She feels nothing but her heart pounding out of her chest.

  She stops and screams his name, hoping she can hear his voice again so she can figure out if she’s still going in the right direction.

  “Dylan!” She turns in circles with her hands entangled in her matted hair panicking, not knowing where to go. “Dylan, where are you?”

  “Anna-Marie!”

  She quickly turns around to look behind her and there he is, but he isn’t alone. A man has him pinned up against a tree, tearing at his flesh with his teeth like a savage animal.

  She is stunned and frozen as she stares at the assault.

  Dylan opens his beautiful, almost lifeless eyes just barely and she sees tears beginning to run down his cheeks and he weakly reaches his hand out to her.

  Her never-ending tears continue to flow and she starts screaming his name. She lifts her hand as well wanting so badly for the air between them make their hands connect. “Dylan! Please, no! Stop!”

  The monster lifts his head from his feast and turns to look at her with hateful soulless dark eyes, then drops Dylan’s lifeless body to the ground.

  ***

  “No, Dylan!” Anna-Marie wakes up screaming in a hot sweat.

  She puts her hands over her eyes to block out the visions from her dream and notices her eyes are drenched from tears. She blinks rapidly in the dark trying to clear her eyes and looks at the bed side clock.

  “Dammit!” It’s only two in the morning.

  She sits up and hugs her knees, waiting for the tears to stop. The ache in her heart is so big and it hurts so badly. How can it ever heal? She constantly questions if she will ever be normal again.

  “Oh God, please help me!” She cries hysterically to whatever god may be listening. She’s not choosy these days.

  Anna-Marie lies back down and wraps her fuzzy Chanel blanket around her head, hoping it will drown out the screaming in her heart. She is afraid to close her eyes again in fear of the nightmare finding her again and seeing Dylan’s tear-streaked face and the monster that was attacking him. Instead she stares at the walls and listens to the sounds of the night around her. Most of her dreams usually turn into nightmares, but it’s been months since she’s had one this bad.

  “Dammit!” She yells frustrated.

  She angrily throws her blanket aside and gets out of bed and rushes out of her bedroom. She puts on her coat over her pajamas and slips on her shoes.

  As crazy as it may seem, she has to go see Dylan. It’s the only thing that can, or will, help her tonight. It’s only when she’s with him that she feels safe and whole and that’s exactly what she needs right now. Tonight has to be one of those nights. She has to go to him. Her heart leaps in her chest with anticipation of the thought of being close to him.

  It’s a dark humid night out, even at this hour the air is still warm. There’s no escaping the humidity or the heat during the summer in this town. It’s the downside of living on the south East Coast of North Carolina, but the pros make it well worth the inconveniences.

  There’s no one out at this hour since the bars and clubs closed almost an hour ago, so it takes no time at all to reach the cemetery.

  Anna-Marie has always thought they were creepy, especially with fog high in the air like it is tonight. When she was younger you couldn’t force her to walk through one in the night, but not this cemetery. This one is where her love lives. It may all be in her head, but she could swear she feels him all around her and he keeps her safe. She often wonders if all the loved ones of the residents here feel the same way.

  She stands in front of his plot and just looks at his sleeping grave. She is at peace just standing here. She puts down the blanket that she brought with her and lies down beside him. Like the two other times before, she falls asleep into an instant and, thankfully, peaceful dream.

  ***

  Anna-Marie hears his familiar voice calling to her from behind and her heart leaps in her chest, first with excitement then dread. She is afraid to turn around, fearing the same scene from her previous dream. But as she listens to his voice calling her name, she realizes this time he doesn’t sound panicked and afraid, which puts her into an instant state of bliss.

  She slowly turns around and sees his beautiful golden face. His chocolate wavy hair is falling slightly into his brilliant sea-green eyes. They are the same unique eyes she has stared into for the past twenty-five years. He smiles his perfect smile, with his ever so deep dimples. The man is beautiful in so many ways. She can’t imagine any other man ever comparing to him.

  She runs to him and hugs him so deeply. He pulls her away to look at her face and kisses her forehead, then her cheeks, before sealing a kiss to her soft hungry lips. His warm, full lips feel so real; she refuses to believe that she is really asleep. She starts to cry, looking into his eyes. It’s too painful to look at him, so she pulls him close to her once again, desperately trying to cling to him with everything she can.

  “Dylan, I’ve missed you so much.”

  She pulls back slightly to kiss him hungrily again.

  He wraps his massive arms around her and hugs her close, as he whispers soothing words close into her ear of reassurances that she’s longed to hear.

  “Shhh…I’m here now, Anna-Marie. Please don’t cry. I promised you I would always be there and I have kept that promise. I am with you every second of everyday, whether you see me or not.”

  “I feel you, I swear I do, but it kills me to not be able see you or feel your touch.”

  “I know, baby.”

  “Can’t I stay here with you?”

  “Honey, you can stay as long as you need to, but eventually you have to go back.”

  She begins to cry harder and cling to him even tighter. “But, I don’t want to go back. Oh God, Dylan, it hurts so badly. Sometimes I can’t breathe.”

  “Shhh… it’s okay. I’m here now.”

  No other words are spoken, nor are necessary. He just holds her tightly, giving her a break from all the weight on her shoulders that she carries around these days. He strokes her mass of dark wavy hair like he used to, as she falls asleep in his arms, feeling more at peace then she has in months.

  Oh yes, that is enough for her.

  ***

  Anna-Marie opens her eyes to see that she is still lying on her blanket in the cemetery and it is still dark out. Disappointed to still have to deal with the night, she blinks through the dark, trying to get her eyes to adjust.

  “Hmm…I wonder what time it is,” she says to herself.

  She fumbles through her pockets, only to realize she left her phone in the car.

  She sits up and looks around. On the few occasions she’s come out here in the night, she’s never woken up with it still being dark out. It was always right before dawn, when the sun is beginning to awake over the horizon, turning the darkened night sky a dark shade of purple. The air is still warm and humid, but now the fog has settled close to the ground, making her surroundings look exceptionally eerie. Surprisingly, she’s still not afraid.

  That is until she hears a noise not so far away.

  She whips her head around towards the sound and holds her breath as she waits to hear another sound. The night becomes completely still in that instant and even though it is still warm out, a chill runs through her.

&
nbsp; “Hello? Is someone there?” She yells out.

  Still nothing.

  “It must have been an animal,” she says to herself.

  She stands and gathers up her blanket.

  “Okay, Dylan, I’m going back home. Thank you for holding me and letting me sleep. I’ve needed it pretty badly.”

  Anna-Marie bends down and kisses his name like she usually does, when she hears the noise again.

  She jerks her head up towards the area the sound came from. It didn’t sound as far away this time. She hugs her fuzzy blanket close to her chest as if it is a protective shield and starts to walk towards her car. It isn’t too far away, maybe twenty-five feet.

  She hears something behind her this time, and it sounds even closer. She stops and turns around, but the sound is gone again. She is really freaked out now. She turns back in the direction of her car, but instead of a view of the path, there is a man about fifteen feet ahead and he is staring right at her. She stands there frozen, unable to move or even breathe.

  What the hell! Where did he come from? He wasn’t there a second ago, she thinks to herself.

  She is confused about what to do. Does she continue to stand there or does she walk past him to get to her car as fast as she can?

  As if he could hear her thoughts, he smiles at her, which causes a chill to run down her spine again, but then he turns to walk down the path to his left, all the while never taking his eyes off of her.

  She finally breathes for the first time, “That was creepy.”

  Her instincts are screaming for her to run as fast as she can and get the hell out of there. But her legs are stiff from fear so instead she walks at a faster pace hoping she doesn’t draw any attention to herself. Her car is only about twenty feet away now.

  Anna-Marie reaches her car within seconds, although it felt much longer. She sticks her key into the door then feels someone grab her arm and spins her around.

  “What the f-!” Anna-Marie screams in shock, which quickly turns to fear as she meets the eyes of her assailant. She gasps as she finds herself facing the strange man that was on the path in front of her only seconds ago and his big hand is still tightly wrapped around her forearm. The poignant smell radiating from his pores and the dirt ridden clothes clinging to his enormous frame makes her want to gag, and had she not been in utter shock from fear, she would have.

  “What do you want?” Anna-Marie chokes out in a shaky voice. She tries, but fails to sound brave. He doesn’t answer; he just stares at her with cold dark eyes.

  He squeezes her arm harder and tears form in her eyes, “You’re hurting me!”

  To Anna-Marie’s complete and utter disbelief, he suddenly drops her arm.

  She is confused.

  He’s not even looking at her anymore. He seems to be staring in the distance at something past her. He begins to form a dark menacingly mocking grin on his cracked lips. That’s when Anna-Marie notices the teeth. He has jagged pointy yellow teeth with gooey rank saliva beginning to drip off of them like a rabid animal.

  Then he shocks her even further by taking a step back and then another one, all the while he doesn’t take his eyes off of whatever has captured his attention in the distance. Anna-Marie is too afraid to turn to see what it is.

  Instead she takes that chance to get into her car. In a flash she has the doors locked and the engine started. She peels away, never once looking back to see if he were following her.

  It isn’t until she slams her apartment door shut and locks every lock that she finally breaks down.

  “What the hell just happened?” she asks herself through convulsive sobs, using the door frame to hold herself up.

  She can’t make her body stop shaking as her shock sets in. Her legs feel weak as if they are unable to hold her weight any longer. She slides to the floor with her back against the door and hugs her knees close to her chest and cries even harder.

  ***

  The rest of the weekend goes by in a blur. She didn’t leave her apartment once. Both her mom and Peggy called a few times, but she was in no mood to talk to anyone, opting to keep the conversations as short as possible or just not answering the phone all together.

  By Sunday evening Anna drove the two-hour drive from her hometown in Pamlico County to check on her for herself. Anna still has a key from when she stayed with Anna-Marie after Dylan died, so she let herself in. Anna finds Anna-Marie in a ball on the couch, staring blankly at the TV.

  “Anna-Marie, honey, are you okay?” Anna calls from beside the couch.

  Startled, Anna-Marie lifts her head up and looks over the side of the couch, “Mama? What are you doing here?”

  Anna moves from beside the couch to in front of it to get a better look at her only child.

  The shocked look on her mother’s face says it all. “I’m fine, really. I’m just tired. You didn’t have to come all this way just to check on me.”

  Anna walks over and sits beside her.

  “Well, you didn’t sound so fine on the phone yesterday and you sure don’t look fine now.”

  “Mama, I told you, I’m just tired.”

  “You look like it. Are you sleeping?”

  “Yeah, I get some sleep when I can.”

  Anna-Marie loves her mom, but she really does overreact.

  Anna stares at her beautiful daughter, who is now sitting up on the couch in her faded old sweats. The dark circles encase her once glistening green eyes and her matted hair is up in its usual loose ponytail making it obvious of the despair she is in.

  “Okay! Well, since I’m here and it’s too late to plan dinner, why don’t we go out to eat? I’m starved and we can catch up some.”

  “Mama, I really don’t feel like it.”

  “Anna-Marie, I’ve come all this way just to make sure your okay and I know you think you’re fine, but I’ve known you your whole life and know that you are far from it-”

  “Mama, really, I’m fine-”

  “I’m not done yet. I understand that this has been very hard on you. We all loved Dylan, but you cannot go on like this and I have a funny feeling you know it, too. I will respect you and let you to continue to work your way through this on your own because you have always had excellent judgment. But eventually you have to pull yourself out of this. Now that being said, I just drove two hours and I’m hungry. I’d very much like for you to get out of those filthy clothes and out of this sad apartment and go out to dinner with me.”

  If she only knew what I’ve done, I think she would totally change her mind about praising my excellent judgment, Anna-Marie thinks to herself.

  ***

  “Dinner was good, mama. Thanks for making me go out.”

  It would probably hurt her mom’s feelings if she knew how out of place Anna-Marie felt all evening amongst the living.

  “You’re welcome honey. It was my pleasure, even if I almost had to hogtie you to get you to go. You didn’t really eat much though. You kinda just pushed the food around your plate.”

  “I guess I wasn’t that hungry.”

  Anna goes and sits on the couch while Anna-Marie goes to the kitchen for a bottle of wine.

  “Hey, mama, do you want a glass?” She asks her as she shakes the bottle of wine in her direction.

  “Sure, why not. I’m not going anywhere tonight.”

  “I should have known that,” Anna-Marie says under her breath.

  “Here you go,” Anna-Marie says as she hands Anna her glass of white wine and sits beside her on the couch. They sit in silence for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts while sipping their wine.

  “Man, it has been a long time since I went out. I feel like I am totally out of practice.” Anna-Marie says.

  “You’ll get it back, don’t worry, honey. It’ll be like riding a bike.”

  “So, is there anything new in the County?” Anna-Marie asks, referring to the county she grew up in.

  Her mom starts laughing. “Actually, yes, there is. Would you believe, we actually
got a second stop light in Bayboro? It’s in front of the Courthouse. Oh, and the four lane is almost finished. It has been going on for so long I had wondered on many occasions if it was even going to be done during my lifetime.”

  “Wow, really? That kinda sucks. I always liked describing to people how small my county is.”

  Her mother looks at her confused.

  “You know, so small there’s only one stop light in the whole county.”

  This time they both start laughing.

  It makes Anna-Marie sad to think of the county she loves so much growing so quickly. It was one of the few coastal counties left untouched by the big bustling outside world, with many unblemished coastal towns. With new development going on, its apparent outsiders have discovered the tiny piece of heaven.

  “Well, I don’t know how many tickets have been given for running the stupid thing. I got pulled over myself a couple of weeks ago. I just went right on through, completely forgetting about it. Thank the lord it was Edgar that pulled me. Bless his soul! He let me off with a warning. I felt so embarrassed.”

  Anna-Marie looks away when Edgar is mentioned. He was Dylan’s other best friend since they were all in middle school, having bonded through football throughout their middle school and high school years.

  “And how is Edgar?”

  “He’s good. He asked about you. I told him you were getting by.”

  “He hasn’t been down to visit since the funeral.”

  “Well, honey, it has been a hard year on everyone. You know him and Stacy got married a couple months back, don’t you?”

  Anna-Marie shifts her head to look at the fancy white paper stuck to her refrigerator, “Yeah, I got the invitation.”

  “You should come home sometime for a visit. I’m sure Patrice would love to see you.”

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  As much as she misses it, Anna-Marie can’t even fathom going back to that place. There isn’t an inch of that county that doesn’t hold a memory of a time of a different life. As much as it hurts her, being around Dylan’s mom, Patrice, now would be too painful. Patrice is far too much of a reminder of the son that looks so much like her, with the same penetrating sea-green eyes and dark chocolate hair falling into spiral tendrils down her back. It’s the same as the rest of natives of her small Caribbean island that she originated from.