by Morgan, SL
“We ‘girls’?” said Lori. “You ‘men’? Learn to cook yourself, Jack! Until then, just park the car and quit complaining, or you can wait with it until we finish.” They pulled into an extra parking area and found a spot. Before he was out of his car, Jack noticed another car nearby. “Are you serious?” He said, walking up to it. “Check out this car, guys. It’s like some prototype or something.”
Mitch walked over to the car while Reece and Lori stared at them both, annoyed by the delay.
Lori called out to them, “It’s nice, Jack. What is it, a Porsche or something?”
Jack laughed as he walked the length of the sporty black car. “It’s not a Porsche. I’ve never read, or heard, about anything like this! I wonder whose it is; this car has to be worth well over a hundred thousand bucks!”
As he walked closer, the car emitted a warning sound. Reece crossed her arms. “Jack, can we GO? You are most likely about to meet the owner; I’m sure it has some kind of pager. I’m ready to eat.”
Jack’s head snapped up, and he walked away from the car; turning back over and over, as if he wanted to check it out one more time.
Once inside the restaurant, they were seated in a secluded, candle-lit nook behind a red brick archway. While waiting for their orders, they engaged in conversation about their challenging finals earlier that day. As usual, Jack entertained the group with his natural humor. It was definitely the environment Reece needed to take her mind off of the strange events from earlier.
In the midst of her laughter, Reece glanced up to see if the waitress was returning with their meals, only to be frozen in shock. Across the way, the two men from the plane were sitting at a table which faced theirs. The blond man was staring directly at her, and when she tried to act as though she hadn’t noticed them, he raised his wine glass in her direction and smiled.
She looked back to Lori and Mitch sitting across from her, trying to shake herself into reality. Are they following me? Who are these guys?
Lori looked at her quizzically. “Reece, are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Reece shook her head and tightened her fist angrily. This could not be happening.
“What do you need?” Jack said. “I’ll get the waitress. Why are you so tense?”
Reece heard all of their voices like echoes in the background as she pulled herself together. She closed her eyes and unclenched her fists. “Water,” she said softly. “I just wanted to see if refills were coming.”
She had to pull it together, and she would do it now. Reece would not allow these men to intimidate her in anyway. Whether or not these two interesting men had anything to do with the strange occurrences on the plane, or if they were following her now, she would prove to them she wasn’t afraid of them. Inwardly she was concerned, but she would not let them see that.
Jack was the one to break the silence. “All of this over a glass of water? Stay here; I’ll go get the waitress.” Reece clutched his hand. “Sheesh, Reece, can you release the death grip? I won’t make a scene, but Lori’s right; you look like you’ve had a paranormal experience or something.”
Shortly thereafter, the waitress appeared with refills, followed by other staff with their plates. Jack sat back, and once the staff left, Reece laughed. “Sorry guys, it has been a very long day. I think I just need to eat. This food smells delicious, doesn’t it?”
Her friends looked worried. She knew they’d never seen her act this way. And quite frankly, she was beginning to worry herself.
Reece ignored their discomfort. She started in on her plate, took a bite, and smiled brilliantly. “Guys, stop staring at me, we don’t need any more drama.” She laughed as she took another bite, “Now, what were we talking about before I almost melted down over a glass of water?”
Jack didn’t hesitate to break up the awkward moment. While he continued to relax everyone at the table with his humor, Reece reached for her glass of wine. She felt the eyes of the men stealing glances at her, and now it was time to show them, they didn’t intimidate her.
She looked over at their table. Both men were engaged in conversation, but must have noticed Reece watching them. The dark haired man looked over at her, bringing the blond one’s eyes to follow his gaze. After Reece had the blond man’s attention, she arched her brow, raised her wineglass to him, and smiled with confidence. The darker one’s lips turned up slightly, while he brought his attention back to his friend, the one who Reece was gazing directly at. The blond chuckled softly, and returned her smile with amusement. Then, without another glance back to Reece, he returned to his plate before him.
Handsome or not, Reece was annoyed that these two mysterious men were playing games with her. It was best if she just ignored them from here on out. She knew if she didn’t, it would not take much for her to walk over to their table and start demanding answers. With that in mind, she engaged herself in the lively conversation her friends were now having, and ignored any desire to return her attention back to the men.
The rest of dinner was uneventful, and Jack entertained everyone so well that they seemed to forget about Reece’s odd behavior.
Back at the apartment, Reece wished Lori a good night, and fell into bed. The alarm clock would ring soon enough.
Chapter 2
After all of her worries and false starts, Reece found the trip to San Diego went a lot better than she’d expected. She had convinced herself that the bizarre occurrence on the flight, and encountering the vision of her father, was strictly due to stress and worry.
She forced herself to view this as a business trip. After three days, the business was promptly handled, and she returned to Philadelphia. A few tears while going through the storage locker, and a few difficult decisions. She finally got rid of Dad’s favorite old chair. But on the whole, it was almost an anticlimax.
She walked out of the airport to find Lori’s car, which was first in the line of cars to pick her up. Reece wasted no time in getting into the front seat, ready to get home.
“Whew. Sorry to arrive during rush hour.”
Lori smiled sympathetically. “It’s okay. How did it all go?”
“A lot better than I thought. I really think it was the closure that I needed.”
Lori pulled the car into the traffic leaving the airport. She looked back over at her friend. “Reece, you really are one of the strongest people I have ever met. I’m happy it went well for you.”
The women spent the entire evening at their apartment. Reece was happy to pick back up where she left off, having girl talk with her friend. It was after midnight when they finally headed for bed.
Reece found she was so tired that she considered sleeping on the couch. She reluctantly got up from it, clicked off the end table lamp, and walked into her room. She quickly changed into a t-shirt and her flannel pajama bottoms, and crawled into bed. She let her mind drift off to memories of Dad.
Reece lay in bed, completely relaxed. She stared out of her window, watching light snowflakes being pushed around like feathers in the wind. Her eyes fell closed and she was almost asleep, when she heard a shuffling noise in her room. Trying not to panic, she lay still, and scanned the room.
It was Dad, standing in the corner of the room. He walked over to her bed, a bright smile on his face. But there was something extremely odd about his eyes. They seemed vacant, as if no one was home. Reece had to force herself to keep looking; the little-girl part of her wanted to close her eyes and pull the covers over her head.
But as he drew closer, she began to experience an odd sensation of comfort. She pulled herself up in bed, sitting and facing him.
His smile widened and he spoke. “Reece, do not be afraid. I am not going to hurt you.”
“I know. I’m not afraid. Dad, why are you here? Am I dreaming?”
He smiled and sat on the edge of the bed beside her. “No, you are not dreaming. It’s me, I am here.” He smiled and reached to touch her, but pulled back his hand quickly, as if he had burned it on so
mething.
“I’ve missed you so much.” She spoke softly to him. “I have thought, over and over in my head, about what I would say to you if I only had that second chance. How I would tell you goodbye the right way, how I would thank you for all that you did for me. So many things.” She sat there trying to gather her thoughts, but the weird sense of calm was almost controlling them.
He stood up and walked toward her window. Her confused eyes followed his every move. As he stared out of the window, he said quietly, “Reece, my beautiful daughter, there is no need for such talk. I am here now and that is all that matters for us. I have been given, what you could call, a second chance; I choose to spend it with you. I have been watching over you since my death, but I was not able to manifest myself for you to see me. I have been with you this entire time.”
He continued to stare out the window. Reece could not understand why he would not look at her anymore, and her fear began to build again.
When he finally turned around to face her, smiling, the strange calm returned to her. “Reece, I must leave; you must rest. I return again, soon. Until then, my sweet young girl, appreciate what we both have been given.”
His voice seemed odd. It was her father’s voice, but there was something strange about his tone. He stared deeply into her wide eyes. “Close your eyes, precious daughter, and sleep.”
Overwhelming exhaustion overcame her. She lay back and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
The next morning, Reece woke in a state of panic. Had it really been her dad’s ghost? Was she losing her mind? She checked out her bedroom window to see if the previous night’s snow had accumulated much. Just a sprinkling. Good. If there was any day she needed a morning run, this was it.
She went to her closet, put on her usual running attire, and then a warmer track suit over it. She pulled on her running shoes, scribbled a note for Lori, and was out in the crisp air fifteen minutes after waking.
She was that thankful no one stopped her on the way out; she was in no state for conversation. She needed to be alone and let the therapy of running take her mind off everything.
She did some minor stretching and then set off toward her favorite park. As her muscles loosened up, she picked up her pace. At her favorite running path, she increased speed even more. In the exhilaration of the run, she felt the tension from the night before leave her body. Her heart was beating fast, but it was the strong beat of exercise, not the flutter of fear. Her stomach unknotted itself; her leg muscles, given a job to do, forgot to tremble.
It had been nearly thirty minutes when she came to her usual resting place, an open area with park benches. In warmer weather, the benches would be occupied, but today they were empty. She slowly jogged toward them, bringing her heart rate down in the process. She stopped and leaned over, hands on her knees, and caught her breath. She luxuriated in the comparative calm of her mind. Hallucinations weren’t always a bad thing. Maybe her subconscious was telling her she could let go of Dad—or telling her that she could think of him without pain.
She straightened up and headed for a bench. Two other runners—or possibly walkers—were coming toward her. They were men, dressed for running, but a surprising number of casual strollers dressed that way. The sight of two men together made Reece a bit apprehensive. As they came closer, she noticed that they were regular, fairly homely men; not the two from the airplane and the restaurant.
Relieved, she smiled at them.
When their paths crossed, Reece was suddenly grabbed by the upper arm. Before she could react, her other arm was gripped, too, and she was being moved rapidly along the ground. She did not have time to react, as it was the last thing she expected to happen. All she knew now was that she had to find a way out of the man’s grasp.
She struggled to free herself from the man’s tight grips. She was successful in freeing one of her arms and reached out to his face. The man violently caught her loosed arm, and brought her back into his secure clutches. Reece screamed and found his hand tightly over her mouth. It was all too much; the man was faster than any sudden move she could manage. She fought as hard as she could, tried to scream, kick, scratch, but was unsuccessful. The harder she fought, the weaker she became. She had nothing left, and the man knew it.
One of the men spoke into her ear. “We were paid a pretty high price to capture you. You must be one important person.”
“Let’s get her out of here,” said the other. “This was too easy.”
Just as Reece felt she might pass out from terror, she heard a deep voice call out, “Let the woman go.”
She had never heard the voice before, but when she saw its owner, somehow she wasn’t surprised. Coming off the path toward her, was the dark haired stranger from the airport. The mysterious man was sharply dressed, in a dark suit and overcoat. His eyes were fierce and intently focused on the man holding her.
As he approached their location with an air of authority and command, Reece felt a twinge of hope that this mysterious man might in fact, save her. His features darkened. “Release her…now!” His voice seemed to boom, even though he had not shouted.
He continued to approach them, confidently and slowly, with a calculating look in his eye.
“This isn’t any of your business!” One of the attackers shouted out to him. “You would be wise to get out of here, now!”
The man ignored him, and again, ordered the captors to let Reece go.
“Get rid of him!” One said to the other.
One of the men holding her released his hold, pulled out his knife, and lunged aggressively toward the man from the airport. Without any effort, the dark-haired man disarmed his attacker and left him on the ground, writhing in pain. He moved so quickly that Reece had no idea how or what he had done to defend himself from the attack. She used this opportunity to wrench away from the man who held her, but he twisted her arm painfully.
The mysterious man turned his darkened gaze to the man restraining Reece. “You will join your friend,” he said, lowly, “if you don’t release her, this instant.”
The man grabbed his knife and held it to Reece’s throat. “You don’t know who you’re messing with. Back off, or I will kill her.”
The familiar man’s eyes narrowed, his expression was now lethal. Then he did—something. He went through a series of movements that Reece couldn’t follow. Suddenly, two men lay on the ground, and Reece was in the arms of the man who had saved her. She looked up into vibrant blue eyes. She didn’t know what to say to him.
“Are you all right?” he asked, unsmiling.
She nodded. He helped her to regain her balance, and suddenly looked back at the trees behind her. His face darkened. “I must get you out of here.”
“What?” said Reece, “What’s going on?”
“You’re being followed.”
“What?” Brilliant, Reece.
His face was extremely grave, and his eyes kept returning to the trees at the edge of the clearing. “Come,” he said.
Reece told herself she had no option but to trust him. It wasn’t true, but it was true that she did trust him, with some instinctive, animal trust.
“Okay,” she answered softly.
Her legs were still searching for strength. He drew her arm into his, and led her at a rapid pace away from the trees.
“Why do you keep staring back into the trees?”
“Someone is waiting for you there, and I just complicated his plans. You need to get safely out of the park, this instant.”
Reece felt her heart racing again. “You mean this was planned?”
He kept her walking them toward the opposite side of the park at a quick pace. “Explanations will have to wait. For now, I need you to trust me, and allow me to protect you.”
Reece felt tears welling up in her eyes; she softly spoke only to herself. “Why me…why now…what’s going on?”
He looked down at her. “You’ve been through quite a lot recently. I’m sorry for that.”
“Wh
at do you mean? How would you know what I have been through?”
He continued walking them at a brisk pace. “It’s my job to know these things.”
She froze in place, forcing the young man to stop with her. She looked up at him questioningly. “What are you talking about? Know what things?”
He looked down into her eyes sympathetically. “Miss Bryant, I know you have a lot of questions, and for those, I’ll give you answers. Right now is not the time.”
Reece’s eyes filled with tears. She swallowed and asked, “How do you know my name?”
He turned down to her; his eyes seemed to be searching for something in hers. He exhaled softly. “As I said, it’s my job.”
He resumed their walk and headed off the path and uphill, toward and through a grove of mixed trees.
“Could you at least tell me who you are, then?”
Looking straight ahead and forcing them into a faster walking pace he answered, “My name? I must have forgotten my manners; forgive me.” He looked down at her, but seemed distracted. “My name is Levi.”
The trees were becoming denser. It was obvious they were nowhere near the park. She had no idea where they were, and began to have second thoughts. She stopped dead, forcing him to stop with her. “How do you know my name?”
He sighed impatiently. “Tell me, Miss Bryant, do you believe in ghosts?”
Reece stared at him in alarm, her mouth open. She swallowed hard, and her answer, when it came, was a very soft and questioning, “No.”
“Good, because they do not exist; at least, not the way you might imagine them to. Last night in your room—that was not your father.”
“No.” Not Dad. She had known that, though, hadn’t she?
“Reece, you’ll get the answers you seek. I would love nothing more than to give you those answers right now.” Levi looked back along their path. “Right now you must make a choice. You can choose to seek your answers from the one who is pursuing us, or you can trust that I’ll give them to you when we’re safely out of his reach.” He stared somberly at her and waited.
