by Annie Berdel
Lord. It was now a low murmur deep within her throat. She was so tired. Exhaustion begged her to just quit. To lie down and give up. The battle was over and she had lost.
The breeze tormented her as it spread its fingers along her cheek, brushing it ever so lightly.
Tommy?
He used to caress her face as she was falling asleep, such a peaceful feeling. Reaching up, she could almost feel his hand beneath hers, locking fingers as they had done so many times before.
Her head jerked up as yet again the demons danced against the darkness of the night. Placing her hands on either side of her, she lowered her head and raised herself to her feet. Standing, her mind began to spin. Perspiration broke out across her forehead as she fought to stay upright. Raising her chin, the determination she was unaware of moved first one leg and then the other. Her weakness triumphant as she collapsed back to the cold, hard ground.
“EMMA!”
Her eyes widened. He was alive! She could hear the faintest cooing, calling her to him.
“EMMA!”
She heard his voice again! But from where? Her chest heaved as she used every ounce of strength she had left. Pushing up, she slowly got to her haunches. With both hands still on the ground to steady herself, she paused, her head so dizzy it made her close her eyes.
Come on girly girl, you can do this, she moaned inward.
With every ounce of strength she had left, she pushed off the ground and stood up straight. Her chin jutting outward in sheer determination, she kept her eyes closed as she gave her full attention to balancing on her limp legs.
“EMMA!’
He was behind her! Her eyes snapped open as her body had already begun to turn in his direction. Excitement driving the pivot, she was spinning entirely too fast. Her face now a phantom white, her eyes were failing her as the outer edges of her vision started to dim. Her knees were giving way from the weight of her body as she finally realized she was going down and needed whatever help she could find.
Tommy, she mumbled.
Reaching up to her temple, she tried to get her eyes to focus like there was a magic button on the side of her head. Emma felt herself fall against his chest. Nausea starting to creep up into her throat. Every ounce of bile from her stomach was inching up her esophagus, looking for an escape. Clinging to him like a moth being ravaged by a summer night’s thunderstorm, she felt his arms encircle her just as her sight went totally dark. She shivered. Her weary body succumbed to the bowels of hell as the demons enveloped her soul. She collapsed into the murkiness, not caring anymore.
5
I’m glad I bought these boots before all hell broke loose, Mike thought to himself as he stepped over a fallen tree branch. He had always been picky about his footwear. If there was one thing he took away from his military service it was to always keep your feet dry. He had seen guys march for miles in wet footwear just to find the skin of their feet still ensnared in their socks after they removed their boots. Once that image is burned into your brain, it’s hard to forget it.
A twig broke beneath his foot giving him pause.
I must have lost my touch, Mike thought to himself.
Chuckling, he decided it was time to hone his skills. Riding a motorcycle across the country to rescue a damsel in distress didn’t exactly afford him the luxury of flexing his ninja skills but now that he was back at the farm he intended to take full advantage of the down time. Heck, maybe a couple of his nephews would enjoy some maneuvers. Stopping dead in his tracks, Emma popped into his head. Emma with that look she had when she didn’t agree with what you just did or said. He had better include the nieces too or Emma’s eyebrow would rise ever so slightly but he figured out long ago what it meant; that the gates of Hades was about to open if something didn’t change right quick.
Stopping at the edge of the clearing, he paused. Something was wrong. Crouching to his haunches, he slowly backed up allowing the edge of the field to envelope him. His eyes small slits now, he scanned back and forth looking for an anomaly. He could feel it in his gut; he just couldn’t see it yet. Slowing his breath, he inhaled deeply through his nose and released it through his mouth until his pulse quieted. Closing his eyes, he listened.
A low, plaintive, broken sound was coming from the direction of Emma’s house. Waiting, he tried to dissect the whimpering. That big white dog? Chickens don’t sound like that. It almost sounded human.
Zoning in on the area toward the house, he skimmed over the landscape. Damn it! Why couldn’t he see anything! Back and forth his eyes darted as his pulse quickened.
Two things he was sure of, something was wrong and he wasn’t going across the field with no cover. Slowly he crept farther back into the woods. He would circumvent the pasture and come out on the other side where the tall pines were. There was enough underbrush there to keep his cover in case, well… in case something was wrong. Thinking that something was wrong at the house hit him hard in the gut. Emma was his only family. And family you defended with your life.
All muscle memory and instinct kicked in and Mike was back in survival mode. He quickly found himself flat down on the other side of the clearing with his face in the pine needles. All of his senses were on high alert as he reassessed the situation.
Scanning the area, he noticed a decrease in noise that had enveloped the house earlier when they had arrived. Generators had been set up to power much of the equipment the military had brought in, huge lights were being used around the encampment so the dozen or more people could work late into the night. The hum of radio communication along with an occasional command, quickly followed by a “Yes Sir” was absent. Could they all be bedded down for the night? It would be a first since they had arrived, if they were. Now? Now it was eerily quiet. It was abnormal, and he was trained to notice the anomalous.
He heard her before his eyes found her. His ears locked on her location. The anguish emitting from the dark form made Mike sick to his stomach. His first instinct was to put it out of its misery.
Slowly the creature rose up and tried to stand. Even in the darkness, the agony this person was in vibrated on the breeze and made Mike glad he hadn’t approached it. Reaching down, his hand slid gently down his side until he could feel the cold hard grip of his Glock. Calmly, his index finger found its target and pressed in ever so gently releasing the firearm from its captivity. With one quick jerk, Mike removed the firearm from the holster and brought the gun towards his torso, keeping it in front of him. His finger now alongside the trigger, Mike looked in the direction of the wounded human, habitually aligning his sites for full impact.
Mike caught his breath as the clouds parted overhead. Luminosity from the moon caught the gold strands in the woman’s hair before him. “Oh my god” he muttered under his breath.
Emma.
Cautiously, Mike made his way up onto his haunches. He needed to get down there to Emma but didn’t want to risk being blindsided by whatever had attacked her. Keeping his firearm at the ready, he traced his way along the line of trees until he could see clearly behind her.
Nothing.
She was trying to say something but Mike couldn’t make out the words. He walked out of the safety of the trees and stood still. She looked directly at him with a horrifying glassed over glare.
Emma? He said
She heard him. From her body language alone he knew she had heard him. Taking a step closer, he paused and checked out the area. Still nothing.
Mike took a step closer. It was like she was seeing straight through him.
Taking a deep breath, Mike skirted the tree line quickly and came up behind her.
Weird, she hadn’t even moved, he thought
Peering into the night, there was no other movement, no other sound but himself and his sister. He walked up behind her and just stood there. The hair on the back of her head was matted with what looked like blood. Her clothes disheveled.
Emma!
Emma spun around so fast that she lost her balance and
collapsed into Mike. Her face pallid, he watched as her eyes rotated so that all Mike saw was the bloodshot sclera. She tried to say something but he couldn’t make out the words.
Catching her into his arms, Mike stared in horror at her appearance.
What the hell!
6
“Just calm down!” Johnisse said to Tiffany. “Let me try and figure this out!”
Tiffany paced back and forth across the floor. “Honey, we need to get out of here! Something very wrong is going on out there.”
“You don’t think I know that?” Johnisse spat back at her
“Listen, I’m sorry but I need time to think. We don’t know what’s going on and from the sounds of it, whatever happened wasn’t pleasant. It’s been quiet for a while now though”
“FINE!” Johnisse screamed with frustration as she made her way to the door.
“Hello?” Johnisse spoke into the door tentatively. No sound.
“Hello?” her voice now carrying more bravado.
“There’s no one there Johnisse, just go!” Tiffany blurted out
Johnisse tried the handle, locked.
“Now what?” Tiffany asked
“I don’t know” Johnisse said as she was clearly frustrated. “Emma would have made a way out somehow” she replied as she began feeling along the doorframe.
A slow mischievous grin crawled across Johnisse’ face as her fingers lit upon the small metallic device.
“Damn that girl!” She whispered as she pulled the key from its hiding place.
“What’s going on?” Tiffany asked.
“Long ago, Emma told me about a secret door, or a way to build a door so you never get locked inside a room. She told me that we should put them in our house, kinda like a safe room but with a twist. The safe room should have a secret exit. I guess they did this kinda stuff back when this house was part of the Underground Railroad.”
“Seriously? You’re talking to a black women here. Give me that key!” Tiffany smirked and grabbed it from Johnisse hand.
Looking around the room, Tiffany was looking for any clue as to a secret door way. She walked over and knocked on the walls, felt along the window, checked under the bed and popped her head into the closet. She was obviously perplexed from the look on her face.
“Well my gorgeous black women, can this black women give it a shot now?”
Tiffany looked at the key and willingly handed it over to Johnisse
“Hurry, I need to tinkle”, Tiffany quipped
Exasperated, Johnisse clicked her tongue, grabbed the key and walked away.
“Ok, let me try and remember what Emma told me, geesh it’s been years.”
“Jay!” Tiffany screeched
“Oh hush, let me think.” Johnisse replied
Feeling along the door frame, Johnisse found what she was looking for. Sliding her finger into the faint grove, she pressed inward and instantly heard a pop. Pulling outward, the fancy detailed frame of the door swung outward.
Tiffany stood watching in dismayed shock.
“I would have found that if I had more time” she said
Johnisse looked over at her with unbelief beaming from her eyes “Oh really?”
“Just hurry up baby. I still need to pee!”
Following the doorframe down to level with where the doorknob was, Johnisse pressed against the wall. Surprisingly, it gave way. Johnisse could now take the key and unlock the door.
Tiffany was about to rush past her when Johnisse grabbed her by the arm.
“Hold up! We don’t know what’s going on out there. Give me a minute to check it out.”
7
Chloe stretched in bed as she rolled over. Grabbing anxiously at her calf, she winced as a Charlie horse took control of her muscles.
Ooh! That smarts! She thought.
Flexing her foot to try and speed the muscle spasm gone, Chloe heard her stomach grumble.
Wow! Is there any part of me that’s not having a problem?
Sitting up, Chloe felt the pressure behind her eyes and a headache creep in.
“No, I guess not”
Looking around the room, she needed to find something to put on as she wanted to make her way down to the kitchen. Some aspirin and a glass of milk sounded like the ticket to feeling better.
I should have gotten my bag out of the RV, she thought as she opened the closet door. To her surprise, it was full of clothes. Luckily the decision was easy as hanging on the back of the door was a bathrobe. And not just any robe, this was one of those big furry grandmother type bathrobes with the big flowers stained onto the fabric.
This will work just fine, she cooed
Chloe slid it on over her bare shoulders and folded the comfort around her naked body. Delicious, she thought. I can understand why old ladies wear these all the time, she thought
Catching a glimpse of herself in the vanity mirror, she had to give a chuckle. Her punk hair with the robe was far from a fashion statement. If only her Johns could see her now.
A bit of regret crept across her heart. Life was different now. There was no going back to the way it was. This was her home now and no one ever had to find out about California. If there was a god, she would beg at this point to make sure her previous escapades were long forgotten.
How would they even find her now?
She shuddered at how naive she was being. These men had money, and lots of it. They also had the determination to not stop until they got what they wanted. Was that her? Was she what they wanted? She was quite close to several, about as close as a prostitute and a John could get, but there was one… one in particular that made her heart beat faster. Feelings were an enemy in her line of business, but this man had the power to drive her demons deep under the wall she had built around her heart. He knew her. He knew every inch of her. He knew how to manipulate her body to surrender to his demands. She had tried to fight him. He made her look like a schoolgirl with her first crush.
Oh Chloe, she cooed.
She was taken aback at the emotion surfacing against her struggle. She would miss him? Yes, the cat and mouse game they played she would definitely miss, but would she miss the man behind the mask? Possibly.
She glanced down at the floor with an enormous amount of shame as Mike entered her thoughts. Could he offer her the tease that she craved between two lovers? Was he worth the effort if he couldn't? He did have other traits that could come in handy. Eye candy, yes. Intelligent, of course. Trustworthy? Ohhh, she breathed out. That one took her aback. Trust. What was trust? She had never needed it before but now? Now it teased her like the sticky strands of cotton candy against a child’s face, just far enough out of reach of her tongue.
Miss Chloe, what have you gotten yourself into? She murmured beneath her breath.
Opening the door to the room, she headed out to find the kitchen.
8
Not sure what exactly was going on, Mike wanted to take every precaution in the world to keep his sister and himself as safe as possible. It wasn’t like Emma to go traipsing off after dark with blood all over her so something was obviously seriously wrong.
Slowly lowering her to the ground, Mike gently cupped her head and rested it on the dirt beneath them. Quickly walking around behind her shoulders, Mike slid his hands under her armpits and tugged as tenderly as he could. He wanted to get her out of view in case someone or something was still out there.
“Sorry Sis”, he whispered as he dragged her limp body to the tree line. Emma started to stir so Mike knelt down beside her.
“Emma?”
His voice teased at her senses… pulling at some unseen string connecting her still to reality.
“Em…” Mike groaned as he started to assess his sister’s condition
“Damnit, what the hell happened between last night and now?” He muttered under his breath
Taking a deep breath, he peered around. Nothing. He couldn’t see nor could he sense anything or anyone. History had proved to him that if h
e sensed something, whether he could see it or not, he better pay attention. Tonight there was nothing but emptiness drifting on the wind.
“Emma.” He said with more authority.
Gently tapping her cheek, he watched as her eyelashes fluttered briefly.
“Emma!” This time he barely caught himself from yelling at her. He gave her cheek a solid smack and backed up a bit. Wouldn’t surprise him one bit to have her come up swinging.
“Damnit Emma, wake up!” He was shouting now, having grabbed hold of her chin and shaking her skull back and forth.
Emma let out a low moan
“Come on girl, come back to me.”
“Tommy?” the name tumbled off her tongue.
“No honey, it’s Mike.” he gently said as he brushed her hair back. Trying to be patient, he waited for her to come around more into reality as it was obvious she was still incoherent
“Mike?” Her lips mouthed his name as she fought to wake up. Her head moving slowly back and forth, she tried lifting her hand to her head. Missing it the first time, her arm thudded quickly back to the ground. Lifting it again, her hand made contact with her eyes.
“Mike? Wha….”
“Shh”, Mike said. “Give yourself a minute.”
Bending her leg at the knee, Emma tried rolling to her side
“Mike, Tommy.” She sputtered as she tried to roll to a sitting position
“Hey, slow down a bit”, Mike’s command fell on deaf ears as Emma was now raised up on her elbow and trying to sit up. “OK, well since you aren’t going to listen to me, what the hell is going on?”
Emma tilted her head to look at her brother. Tears rimming her eyes as she tried to speak.
