by KA Young
Chapter 3
As I coasted on autopilot through life during the next few weeks, things did seem to get back to normal, well as normal as they could be without Joe.
Dan stayed in my guest room. He worked long hours most days at his current job. He was a contractor and it was his busy season. At night, we sat on the sofa, watching movies and eating dinner while reminiscing a lot about Joe. His mom made it clear from the beginning that she thought I needed to adjust to being alone. She said it was out of concern for me. I heard a different story around town, though; that she would be damned if I got my hooks into another one of her sons. She blamed me for Joe’s death. I still hadn’t figured out how she could blame a brain aneurism on me, but whatever, I intended to move forward.
The only other difference in my day to day routine was that I couldn’t shake the feeling I was being watched. I could swear I’d seen the red-eyed freak here and there, but when I’d look again, he was gone. I was trying to move past it, to convince myself that Julie was right and this was somehow all a product of my over active imagination, but hadn’t quite been successful with it as of yet. There hadn’t been anymore cemetery man sightings; I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I should be relieved, but oddly, I wasn’t. Ever since that day at the graveside, a part of me longed to be near him, to see him—if only from a distance—and then the sane part of me would scream at the other, stating I was completely losing it. I couldn’t explain that to myself, either, yet.
Today was the day I had to go down to Joe’s office and clean out his things. I was sick of the looks of pity I received from everyone around town, so I decided to fix myself up a little today. I straightened my hair and put on some makeup, then pulled out my pink sundress with brown scrolls on it. It was my favorite dress purchase of the season. The dress did flatter my figure quite well. After slipping on my pink, thong sandals, I was ready to go. Fake it till you make it, right?
I checked the clock on the microwave as I poured a cup of coffee in my thermal mug. I doctored it with lots of cream and Splenda to make it more palatable since it was 10:15 and the coffee was set to brew at 8:30.
“Oh well.” I muttered, grabbing my keys off the hall table along with my bag, before entering the garage. I walked past Joe’s silver Porsche, letting my fingers drag across the hood as I went. Joe loved that car. He washed and waxed it every weekend, even though he didn’t drive it very often. He only took it out for a leisurely drive through the mountains about once a month, and only on the condition that the weather cooperated, meaning there had to be a low percentage chance of precipitation. I wasn’t sure what to do with it now.
I got into my much less flashy, 2011 Lexus LS and started it up. My lease was up this month, but I’d have to deal with that later. I hit the garage door opener and pulled out.
When I reached the office that was located in the town square, there were no spaces to park. So I drove down to a small parking lot about a block from the square. I got out and paid the attendant my seven dollars, surprised I had any cash on me. As I turned the corner, I noticed I flash on my left. Stunned, I stopped for a moment, bumping into a woman on the sidewalk.
“What was that?” I wondered aloud, although I was sure I knew.
“Excuse me?” the woman I almost trampled asked me. She was an older woman in her late sixties. She wore a loud, red pants suit. I knew she was a friend of my in-laws, but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember her name.
“Hun, are you okay?” I turned to face her. “Oh, Anna Wilkins, I didn’t recognize you.” Her mouth turned down into a slight frown. Yeah, right, she knew exactly who I was. She had her hair fixed once a week at the same salon my mother-in-law went to, those two were as we say, thick as thieves.,
“I am so sorry to hear about your husband, dear. He was such a sweet, young man and came from such a marvelous family. This whole ordeal has just torn me up on the inside.” We moved to the side of the brick building, letting others pass us. I wanted to make this quick and get on with my business.
“Yes, it was tragic. I am doing just fine, though, thank you.” I attempted a smile, but didn’t quite make it. She began rattling on about Joe’s mother. I nodded politely, to hurry her along, but then I noticed a pair of red eyes staring at me from the other side of the street, and froze. I couldn’t make out the face; however, it seemed to recognize me. It dashed toward me.
Terrified, I took off down the sidewalk, nearly knocking over red pantsuit lady. I almost tripped over my stupid sandals before I kicked them off and sprinted across the street. I weaved in and out of traffic, almost getting clipped by a careless dump truck driver. Cars blew their horns at me and men were screaming out their windows as I rounded the corner of the brick building that housed Joe’s office where I crashed into Dan, who was leaving the building through the front door with a box full of stuff. The box flew out of Dan’s arms, spilling its contents onto the ground.
“Anna!” Dan shouted as he straightened up from the awkward, stooped position he had been forced into by me. “What’s wrong? Did you see that man again? Did he come to the house?”
“Where did it go?” I didn’t see any trace of the monster. It was gone.
Come on, Anna, get it together. You’re a big girl. You don’t believe in monsters; it is all in your head. It wasn’t actually there. I attempted to convince myself.
Nope it was there. Dammit!
“Where did what go?” He began picking up the mess on the street. I glanced down, suddenly realizing that Dan had cleaned out Joe’s office for me. The pictures Joe had on his desk were now scattered all over the sidewalk. He was smiling in them, looking so happy. This should never have happened, not to Joe; he didn’t deserve to die the way he did. I couldn’t focus on what Dan was saying through all of the chaos going through my mind.
“Something’s not right, Dan. As much as I don’t want to believe it, I saw that thing again, and it was chasing me. It was real. I know it sounds crazy.” Ahh, I wanted to scream. “I gotta get out of here. I need to figure out what the hell is going on.” I turned to leave as Dan set the box down that he had just picked up then grabbed my arm, steering us out of the pedestrian traffic and into the alley. I leaned my head against the brick building.
“Wait a second. Let’s just calm down and think about this for a minute. You are under a lot of stress. Maybe you and I should take off for a while. My job is finished today and it would be beneficial for us to have a change of scenery. It might help us get a grip on things.”
I was suddenly furious. “I’m not insane, Dan! Something killed Joe and now it’s after me! It was in my backyard the other night! I keep sensing it everywhere I go!” My voice rose to a hysterical level. I was beginning to attract attention.
“I don’t think you’re insane, sweetheart, I just hoped that…”
“Hey y'all!” We were interrupted by an unusually chipper Christy. She was walking over to us, her arms loaded with shopping bags. Taking notice of my bare feet, she turned her nose up at me before she smiled sweetly up at him. “Dan, is everything okay? I heard shrieking when I was coming out of B&B’s.”
The B&B’s boutique was owned by her best friend, Helen Besler. I went to school with Helen. You could say we weren’t the best of friends then, and she certainly wasn’t a fan of mine now.
“We’re okay, Christy. There’s nothing for you to concern yourself with.” He frowned down at her.
“Oh, well, that’s good.” She pretended not to notice his disapproving tone. “Would you mind helping me with my bags, sweetie? Your mom told me that you were off today and we should stop by her house for lunch. Wouldn’t that be nice? She’s making your favorite, fried chicken with gravy.” She held out her bags to him. He sighed, taking the bags from her just as I pushed off the wall and did my best to smile.
“Christy, it appears you had a successful shopping trip. Why don’t you guys go on? Mary is expecting you both.” I calmed my tone. “I’ve got a few things to do.” I grinned so har
d, I knew I looked like a mental patient, but it was the best I could do in my current state of panic.
“No, you wait for me. I’ll be right back. We need to talk about all this,” Dan instructed me. Christy pouted, but took his arm while they went to find her car.
I watched them walk away as I took a deep, cleansing breath; I needed to get it together. As soon as I closed my eyes and tried to focus on calming down, I felt a strong presence beside me again. This time, when I turned to see who or what it was, I found myself face to face with the man from the cemetery. Taken by surprise, I opened my mouth to scream, however, faster than my mind could process, he pulled me in front of him and covered my mouth with his hand. I tensed in his arms as he leaned his head close to my ear. “Shh… Annabelle. It’s time. You must come with me now. Please, don’t be frightened.”
How did he know my name was Annabelle? That question had been plaguing me for weeks.
“I know a lot of things about you.” Startled by his response, I struggled against him, trying desperately to get away. It was impossible, though; his arms were like a steel pipe wrapped around me. I was at his mercy.
“It’s okay. I won’t hurt you. If you look inside yourself, you will find a part of you that knows that.” The tone of his voice was different when he spoke this time. It was doing something to me, but I wasn’t sure what. I should have been alarmed, although instead, his voice amazingly calmed my heart rate. I relaxed against him and he loosened his grip on me. I turned slowly in his arms, facing him still a bit frightened. He was even bigger than I remembered.
He towered over me as he looked down at me. His eyes bore an imaginary hole into mine. I sensed from the expression on his face that he could see straight into my soul; that I was unable to stop him, even if I wanted to.
“Focus on my eyes, Annabelle. Look deep and you will see that I have not come to harm you. ” Still unable to turn away I saw that his eyes were warm and held great strength within them. Staring intently, I began to see a tiny flicker of a flame, but when I blinked, it was gone. I sighed, he was beautiful and I needed to be closer to him. I stepped closer, shaking my head. What was I thinking? I had no idea who this guy was. He smiled as though he knew precisely what I was thinking.
“My name is Eli. I am here to protect you.” He stood up to his full height, appearing proud by his statement. “I am your only chance of survival,” he spoke sternly. I stepped away and stared at him for a moment. The whole display suddenly struck me as funny, and I started laughing. It was the first time I had laughed in over a month and it felt fantastic. Was this guy for real? I mean seriously, who says stuff like that? It was like something out of a cheesy movie or a romance novel. He looked shocked by my response, maybe even a little insulted, so I attempted to pull myself together.
“Is this some kind of joke?” I asked, although part of me knew that it wasn’t. I just had to ask anyway.
“I assure you, Annabelle, this is no joke. You are in a terribly real and extremely dangerous situation. I can help you, but you must come with me.”
I giggled again. I do that sometimes when I am nervous.
How could any of this be happening? Why would anyone be after me?
“You are someone incredibly extraordinary and far more valuable than you realize.”
I stepped forward and looked into his eyes. I could always tell if someone was lying to me and I needed the answer to this question now. “Do you know who killed Joe and why?”
“Yes.”
“Well, be completely honest and tell me what happened to him!”
“I will, but we can’t talk here.” He looked around and held out his hand to me. I reached for it then hesitated.
“Hurry with your decision. We don’t have much time.” I really needed to know what happened to Joe, but the sane side of me was screaming for me to run like hell, while the insane side felt completely comfortable going anywhere this man wanted to take me. I glanced up into his face, his warm eyes flickered once more with a tiny flame, and it began to warm me from the inside out and the pull to this strange man strengthened even more. I slid my hand in his and allowed him to lead me out of the alley and onto the sidewalk.
As we walked, I observed Dan arguing with Christy by her car parked in front of B&B’s.
“You need to figure out what you want,” Christy was shouting at him, not caring that she was drawing attention. Dan seemed about to respond, but his eyes went wide with surprise as he noticed I was walking hand in hand with Eli. As we made eye contact, I stopped, my feet wouldn’t move forward.
Dan came around the car and started running toward me.
“Dan, don’t you walk away from me!” Christy yelled.
“Anna! Wait! You have no idea the mistake you are about to make.” I looked from Dan to Eli. I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, I could trust Dan.
Eli tightened his grip on my hand. Dan was getting closer. “Keep walking, Annabelle. You will only put him in danger if you go to him.”
Would I put Dan in danger? Was I to blame for Joe’s death? Could all this possibly be about me? In that moment of my thinking, Dan recognized the fear on my face. “Get away from her, you bastard, or I swear to God, I’ll kill you.” People were staring at us from all over the square.
My heart sank and I began to shake as Eli answered my unspoken questions, “No, it was not your fault that was entirely out of your control.”
How could he possibly know what I was thinking? But some part of me was beginning to think he was able to, and immensely more than that.
My head started to pound. My brain was undergoing a tremendous strain attempting to comprehend all of this. This was just too much to cope with after all I had been through. My knees buckled and I reached for Eli. He scooped me up in his arms saying, “It’s okay; everything is going to be all right now. Inhale my scent, it will calm you.”
I did as he suggested, burying my face into his neck. The smell of sandalwood, spice and everything that was male bombarded my senses. His smell was intoxicating and it had an extremely calming effect on me. I wasn’t questioning my response to it; I just allowed him to soothe me.
I could hear Dan bellowing, but I shut it out; it was too painful to hear.
Eli wasted no time getting us around the corner to the parking lot. He reached into my bag that was hanging awkwardly off my shoulder, swiped my keys, unlocked the door, and deposited me into the passenger seat. I sat stunned, gazing at my hands lying limply in my lap. I vaguely heard the door shut and the car start.
We sat in silence through the ride. I didn’t look up until the car stopped. I had no idea where we were, but it appeared to be an old warehouse.
My anxiety level spiked, wondering if I had just made a massive mistake as Eli got out, walked around the car, and proceeded to open my door. He stood beside the car waiting for me to get out before he eventually reached his hand inside the car, offering it to me. When I didn’t take his hand immediately, he squatted down, bracing his hands on the top of the car. His tone was soft when he spoke. “I know all of this is difficult for you. I will explain things the best way I know how. You are safe here. You must believe I would never allow harm to come to you.” I turned to face him.
“How can I trust you? I don’t even know who you are or why I’m so drawn to you. I need to go home.” I needed to go back and find Dan. He must be going nuts.
“You can leave if you wish to.”
I didn’t budge, though. I was engaged in an inward battle with myself. Since Joe’s death, I had been set on finding out what had actually happened to him, and now I had a chance to find all of that out. I had to get myself together and stop acting like a pathetic victim if I wanted some answers.
“There is considerable strength in you that you will soon find. Come, there are things I wish to show you.” He stood up and started walking.
I made my decision and got out, hurrying to catch up with him while also remembering a special on TV about six months ago on how to surviv
e abduction. I was trying to recall everything they advised doing. I examined my surroundings, putting to memory anything that might help me figure out where I was and how to find my way back out of here.
We couldn’t be far from the town’s center. The place was clean, but smelled of grease. It was probably once some sort of a mechanic’s shop. We reached the far end of the building, and he opened what looked to be a security system pad before inputting a code. The wall immediately began to open, revealing a dimly lit passageway.
I jumped, surprised. Eli reached to take my hand. I let him, and he squeezed it reassuringly.
We proceeded forward down a long hallway with many different passageways. The place could only be described as having old world elegance. The cement floor was covered with a runner, but was cold, reminding me that I was still barefoot. I noticed a few other people scurrying around, but they all stopped when they saw us. Some would smile while others just stood there staring. One particular woman stood out to me.
She had a creamy complexion, long, dark hair, and beautiful, hazel eyes that simply sparkled. She waved enthusiastically at me. It was a little strange, but I threw my hand up, giving her a little wave before Eli hurried me down a hallway that dead-ended into a large oak door with a symbol on it.
It appeared to be a pyramid with the symbol in the middle of it. I gasped. The symbol held an uncanny resemblance to something decidedly familiar to me. I reached down, rubbing the spot on my hip that held my birthmark. I let go of Eli’s hand, stepping forward to get a better look and the symbol began to glow the closer I got to it. He placed his hand in the center of the symbol. The door opened. I cautiously followed him into the room just as the heavy door slammed shut, sealing us inside.
Chapter 4
I was awestruck. . No one on the planet loved books more than I and I had just walked into some sort of ancient library. There were floor to ceiling shelves filled with old, leather-bound books Two, leather, Queen Anne-style chairs sat on either side of a fireplace burned in the corner of the room with cherry wood end tables positioned beside each chair. The lighting was achieved by a large, iron chandelier that hung from the center of the cherry wood beams along with tall, iron lamps strategically placed around the enormous room.
