Authors: Theresa Jones
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #romance, #Paranormal, #Teen & Young Adult, #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Fantasy, #Angels, #Paranormal & Urban
“Yes. I am fine, Alex. Like I said, there are lots of cops on the road. We seriously cannot afford a ticket right now.” I said, knowing he could not argue with that. The only bad part about driving fast is that I get caught too often.
He answered, “Fine, okay whatever.” It’s pretty sad the way he tries to control every little thing about life. Maybe if he was more easygoing and didn’t have to regulate every portion of everyone’s life, we would be happier, still in love. Who knows…
“Just be safe, ok?” he said.
“I always am.”
“Ok. I’ll talk to you later. Bye.” And with that, he hung up the phone. It was always depressing talking to him now. We used to be so in love. I was head over heels for him; the kind of love you think only exists in the movies. Yes he was older than me, but that didn’t bother me at all. He was sweet, kind, comforting, understanding, handsome, and absolutely everything I thought I could ever want in a guy. He
was
like that. But ever since I got pregnant and refused to have an abortion, he seemed to resent me for having his child. Like I somehow did it to myself?
He was the older more responsible one that should have known better. I had been so young and still lived in this dream reality where everyone really did grow up and live happily ever after. And yes, it was my choice to keep her, but I’m glad I did. I could never imagine my life without her now.
“Daddy says he loves you, Sam!” I said to her, like I did every Sunday. She rarely got to see Alex anymore, since he was too busy with work and who knows what else to make time for his daughter.
Surprisingly, when we got home Alex’s car was there waiting. I guess my explanation about too many cops wasn’t good enough for him. It was one thing to lie about things being fine over the phone, but it had always been hard for me to look someone in the eye and lie. And it would only make things worse if I told him the truth – that I’m all flustered over a dream and a guy my mom used to know years ago. But really, what could I say to him?
Oh babe, the only thing wrong with me is that I am having crazy dreams about scary evil men chasing me and a sudden ability to remove clouds from the sky. Oh, and this guy I used to know a long time ago has come back and told me that I have some part in a battle between good and evil. That’s all…
I rolled my eyes as I ushered Sam to the back door where I knew we would find him.
“Hey, you came?” I asked just as I heard Sam yell “Daddy!” and saw her run to him. He still looked so beautiful, just the same as he ever was. A little older and angrier looking, but still stunning. I used to wonder how I could have gotten a man like that when I was so young. Now it didn’t even matter, and it certainly didn’t feel like I still had him.
“I just wanted to talk to you before I had to go back to work. Can we go into the other room for a second?” It may have sounded like a question, but it was not meant as one. That was just a friendly way of telling me what to do. He didn’t even say one word to Sam. Yes, I still loved this man but usually I couldn’t even stand him to be around him.
“Sure” I said as I walked into the family room – the one room of the house children weren’t allowed into. He was right behind me until he decided to turn around and demand, “Stay in the living room with your grandmother, Sam. Daddy and Mommy need to talk.” Her face was priceless, filled with a defiant independent attitude. She did as commanded, but showed her dislike of the situation on her face.
“Allison, what is going on with you? I know you better than you know yourself. And if you think telling me that it was just a lot of cops that made you take an hour to get home when it is a 45 minute drive, and you usually make it in 30 minutes, you are very mistaken. You have no reason to lie to me. Just tell me what is going on, now.”
I had sat in a very old, yellow rocking chair. It was my grandmother’s chair and matched nothing at all in the room; but my mom wanted to keep it despite that. I always felt like that chair. It had the potential to be grand and beautiful, yet always seemed misplaced and odd looking. The rest of the room was filled with all of my mother’s nicest items, including an antique grandfather clock in one corner and the matching grandmother clock on the opposite wall. Little odds and ends that were all old and needed dusting were scattered throughout the room. Not one of them matched another, but somehow it all fit together.
I took a deep breath. I really wasn’t in the mood to deal with his belligerent attitude. I had done nothing wrong, and really, I just wanted to go to sleep and start the day over again.
“Alex, there is nothing going on. I have been a little off lately because I haven’t been sleeping well due to some weird dreams, ok? And there were a lot of cops out. I just did not want to get pulled over so I took my time getting home. Is that ok? Am I allowed to drive slow, or do I have to speed?” A little more sarcastic than I wanted, but it got the message across.
“Damn it, Allison! Don’t be a smart ass. Of course you are allowed to drive the speed limit, but even someone driving the speed limit wouldn’t have taken so long to get here. Did you stop somewhere and you just don’t want me to know, or what? I am only asking for the truth. Is that too much to ask for?”
Great, now he’s cussing, yelling, and calling me names. “Chill out, Alex! Please. Sam is right in the other room. Listen, I am not lying to you. I did not stop anywhere. Next time I’ll drive faster.” We were both seething now. He looked ready to scream, yell, and throw a fit, and I was about ready to scream and cry. Ugh. Why could he never be supportive when I needed him to be? Why did he always have to freak out about everything?
“Fine, whatever,” he sighed. And for the briefest of moments I thought it would be ok, but then he continued, “I have to get back to work, but we need to meet after I get off to finish this discussion. I’ll call you when I get off. Just meet me at the park.”
He was referring to the biggest park around here, Fiesta Park, which was conveniently located only 5 miles from my mother’s house. It is where we had our first date, shared our first kiss, and where he proposed to me, but that is not the reason he wants me to meet him there. Anytime past 9:30 at night the park is very nearly empty. If we got into a fight and started yelling, we wouldn’t bother anybody. And of course, he wouldn’t ask me to come to his house like he actually wanted me there.
“Fine, I’ll leave when you call me,” I said right before he started walking away. “Please, Alex, tell Sam bye and give her a hug and a kiss,” I pleaded with him as he approached the living room. And, thankfully, he did as I asked.
***
The day went by pretty normally after that, until about 4:00 in the afternoon when I got a phone call from an “unknown caller.” As usual, I did not answer the call. I have no idea who it is, and thus have no desire to talk to them. But this unknown caller was very persistent. They called four times in 20 minutes before I finally decided to answer.
“Allison? It’s Rick.”
I sighed directly into the phone, but he went on, “Please do not hang up on me. Please just listen to me. I am in no way confused or insane, quite the contrary. I know exactly what I came here for and what I need to do. Please, please listen to what I have to say.”
With my patience wearing thin I said, “Rick, you have been gone from my life for too long for me to care what you have to say now. And I have way too many things going on in my life to add anything to the mix. I don’t know if you have had someone watching me or what, but please just leave me alone.”
“Watching you? Of course not. I don’t even know where you live now. I am not kidding. But there are things happening that you need to be aware of. You and your loved ones are not safe.” There was so much concern in his voice; I wanted to believe him, but…
Sighing, I asked, “What the hell does that mean? Are you threatening me?”. No one would be allowed to endanger my family. Maybe this guy had really gone crazy, like real crazy, where he randomly kills people he used to know.
“Of course not, I’m trying to help you and keep you safe. I still care about you and your mother. Can you meet me somewhere, please? If what I have to say to you means nothing after that, then I will leave and stay out of your life. You have my word.”
He sounded so sincere. Even if there was only a miniscule amount of truth in his statement, I needed to know. Giving in to his requests I asked, “When and where?”
“Where are you at now?” There was so much joy thrown into that statement, it almost made me change my mind. But I decided to hear him out, and then hopefully he would leave me alone. At least then I could get some answers too.
“We live in the same place we used to. Haven’t moved yet. Do you remember Fiesta Park? It’s like 5 minutes from the house. I have to meet someone there later anyways, so I can talk to you for a little while there. Ok?”
“Yes, of course I remember the park. We spent many afternoons there together, you, your mother, and me. How soon can you meet me there?”
Pulling the phone away from my ear, I looked at the clock. Already 4:45, if I left now, that would give me about 20 minutes, thirty at the most, to talk to Rick before Alex would be calling me. “I can be there in five minutes. How soon can you get there??”
“I am about 15 minutes away. I will head that way now,” he said, again sounding elated.
“Fine. I'll see you in 15. Good bye, Rick.”
“See you soon, darling.” Then he hung up. Darling? That’s what he used to call me when I was five years old. But I was definitely no longer his ‘darling.’
Sighing, I walked back into the house to talk to my mother. She was in her favorite rocking chair reading, just as she almost always was. I inherited a passion for reading from her, it was a wonderful way to pretend your own life was different. Books offered an escape from reality.
“Mom, I need to get out for a while. Since I already told Alex that I would meet him at the park, I was thinking I could go a little early and walk off some extra energy. Do you mind watching Sam for me?”
“Of course not, Sweetie.” She answered without looking up from the novel. But as I turned to go, she looked up as if remembering something. “Did you finish your painting yet?”
I had been working on the darn thing for almost a month now, you would think it would be finished, but with my dreams bothering me, I had been too tired to focus on it.
“No. I know the deadline is soon, and I really will try to finish it.” Painting was one of my favorite pastimes and I frequently entered them in contests. When nothing else would calm me, usually putting my emotions on a canvas would do the trick.
“Well, don’t rush it. And don’t force it. If you make it something required you may stop loving it.” I nodded, though I didn’t really agree with her. I doubt anything could ever take the joy of painting away.
“Well, go ahead to the park. Just be safe.” I couldn’t help but love her more every day. We were so much more than just mother and daughter. She was my very best friend in the whole world and I owed her so much more than I would ever be able to repay.
I seriously considered telling her about Rick and his crazy notions. About my terrifying dreams and my overwhelming fears. The disgusting and terrifying man that haunts me. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t bring up our past with Rick, it would only hurt her. I couldn’t tell her I was going crazy, it would only worry her. I had to keep this to myself. When this was all over, then I could confide in her as I was used to doing.
“Thank you, Mom,” I said as I bent down to give her a hug. I whispered to her, “I love you so much.” And I really did. I loved her more than words can explain. She was there for me always, helped me raise Sam more than her own father did, and she always knew exactly what I needed. So I knew she would be there for me when I figured all of this out.
Right before I walked out the door, she hollered, “Be home in time for cake and ice cream later.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I yelled back as I shut the door behind me. Everything would be fine. I would talk to Rick, maybe get some answers, then talk to Alex, and maybe even get a Happy Birthday from my fiancé, and then come home to my family – the best in the world – for cake and ice cream.
Chapter 3
Fiesta Park
Fiesta Park is one of the largest parks in central Texas. It is nearly 250 acres and is an arboretum with over 70 species of trees. It has a miniature train, a golf course, a waterfall, paddle boats and glass bottom boats. There is a stage where local bands play every Tuesday and Thursday night for free just to get their names out. With a two and a half mile round trip nature walk, several picnic areas, five different gazebos, two different swimming pools, and a huge playground area, it is as close to paradise as a family can get.
I pulled in to my favorite spot right next to the swing sets, where I knew Rick would find me. Everything I remembered from last night had been a part of my dream. Nothing like that could ever happen in real life. But then, how could Rick have known about it? Could my dreams really be tied into the crazy war going on or the madness in the world right now?
I sat down on the bench and felt the warm Texas breeze blow my hair across my face before I tied it back into a knot on the back of my head. Even in the dark, I could see that the flowers would spring up soon with a little more rain, which was often scarce.. The trees were full and thick with green leaves, but most of them never changed, even in the winter. The cicadas and crickets played their calming symphony which worked wonders on my nerves. My fingers stopped tapping the wooden bench, and the knot in my stomch finally loosened. Sitting there, you could almost forget everything that was happening.
I turned to look when a dark blue sedan pulled up. It seemed like a nice little car, much more expensive than anything I could ever afford. Rick, with his dark brown hair fading into different shades of gray, a protruding jaw, and wise deep blue eyes, stepped out of the driver side with a large smile on his face, flashing his perfect white teeth.
“Allison! Thank you so much for agreeing to meet me. You do not have any idea how much it means to me, to everyone!” He was so enthusiastic he was nearly bouncing.
“No problem, Rick. There were some questions I wanted answered anyways.” After taking in his nonchalant expression, I continued. “For example, why is my family in danger? How did you know anything about my dreams? How did you remember my birthday? Why did you really come back after all this time? Why did you leave in the first place, when my mom really needed a friend? Why…”
He cut me off, “Can I answer any of these questions, or do you expect me to remember all of them?” He waited for my response, and when I nodded my head in approval, he continued. “I do not know anything about your dreams, how would I? Why do you think I do?”
I tried so hard to read his expression. He seemed sincere enough. Like he really had no clue what I was talking about. How could he not know though? “You mentioned something strange happening to me at 3:38 in the morning. That’s when I had my dream.”
“You thought it was a dream? Do you mind telling me what happened?” He spoke in a soft voice like he was trying to coax a response from me. But I wouldn’t budge so easily.
“I thought I was the one asking questions here. How did you know about it?” I pushed. He had to know. He had mentioned it at church.
“Like I said earlier, I do not know about any of your dreams. I did, however, know that something would happen to you at that exact time because that was the time you were born – February 7
, 1988, at 3:38 in the morning. I knew that you would get your power back at that exact moment. And as for your earlier question as to how I remembered it, it is quite simple actually. I have had your birthday memorized since I first found out about you. I do not want you to take this the wrong way, but I came into your life for a very distinct reason. You were born special, darling.”
What the hell was he talking about? He came into my life because I was ‘born special’? He knew I would get my ‘power’ back? “What are you talking about, Rick? I have never had powers before, and I don’t have them now! And please, don’t call me darling!”
“Okay, Allison, I apologize. I suppose that may have been slightly inappropriate. Maybe I could explain it a little better if you would tell me exactly what happened in this dream of yours?”
Man, he seemed so sure of what he was saying. I couldn’t help but wonder what the hell had happened to my normal life.
“Will you tell me about it, please?” he pleaded.
What the heck. I may as well play his game. It seemed to be the only way to get my answers. “Fine, it started out like it usually does. I’ve had these dreams for a while now, maybe a couple of weeks.” Actually, three weeks and five days to be exact. “I was running, sometimes through a desert and sometimes through abandoned streets, but this time through a forest. He was chasing me, and…”
“He? Who was chasing you?” he asked, cutting me off.
Sighing as loud as I could, I continued, “the same man who is always chasing me. Tall, dark, evil looking, really creepy and scary, and stinks like nothing you have ever smelled before. Anyways, he was chasing me, and like always, something got in the way of my escape. That’s when I usually wake up. But this time, after a huge weird looking wall came up outta the ground, he actually caught up to me. It was the first time we were ever that close. I thought he was just going to kill me, but then this awful feeling of hate and despair washed over me. It was the worst feeling in the world! I felt like he was draining the life out of me and burning me from the inside out.” The look on his face made me stop. “Do you know what I mean?” Saying it out loud sounded crazy, but since Rick seemed crazy anyways, maybe he did know what I was talking about.
“Yes, Allison, I know exactly what you mean, and who you mean as well. His name is Damien, and he is very bad news. He is the leader of The Rising. Have you ever seen this man in real life, or only in your dreams?” he asked, dripping with honest concern.
“No, of course I’ve never seen him before. He isn’t real! What do you mean, ‘He is part of the Rising’? What does that even mean?”
“That is a long story, best told another time. I am sorry I interrupted you again. Please continue.”
“Fine. Anyways, like I was saying, I felt like he was burning me from the inside out, and right at the last moment something changed. I started filling up with… energy or something. I’m not exactly sure how to explain it. It was really weird. I felt like I could overcome anything. I felt strong and powerful!”
“That was your power returning!” After another loud sigh from me, he apologized and I continued again.
“So, I felt like that… power came out of me somehow and went over to him. It was strong. I felt like I could beat him for once. Then I thought I woke up but I still felt that same power stuff. It was so overwhelming it started to hurt me. Actually, it hurt a lot. So I got out of bed and ran outside,” I paused then, not sure if I wanted to continue. But Rick seemed like he believed me and it felt so good to actually say it all out loud, so I did. “That’s when I screamed. Just once, but really loud. Looking back on it, I can’t believe I didn’t wake anyone up. Anyways, when I screamed, it looked like… umm…” I tried to think of how to word it. “Well, it looked like some kind of wind or something came out of me and moved the clouds or something.” Oddly enough, despite how strange the words were, it felt right when I said it out loud.
Waiting for a reaction, I looked up and he simply said, “I suppose you think that you running outside and moving the clouds was part of the dream?”
“Well, yeah! Of course! Nobody can actually move the clouds with purple wind coming out of their hands,” I said incredulously.
Drenched with sarcasm, he said, “But of course.” Then shook his head slightly and continued. “Listen, to make a long story short, until you have full control of your power, when you get upset in any way it will keep overloading you like that. Though I must say, I am impressed that you managed to release it without doing damage to anything. Large outbursts of power like that are easy to trace though, and with good usually comes evil. You have already seen Damien in your dreams, which means he knows about you. Now that you have your power back, and released it in such an obvious way, he will be tracking you. You need to come with me now so that I can keep you safe…” he paused briefly, presumably to assess my reaction. “What?”
“Go with you? Are you completely nuts? I have had enough of this. Rick, I don’t know what happened to you, but there is no such thing as ‘power’ not the way you mean it anyways. I will not go anywhere with you. And I can take care of myself. Like I said earlier, it was all just a strange dream. How you found out about it, I have no idea. I came here thinking I would get some answers, but really, I got nothing. Now, if you will kindly leave, I would appreciate it. I would go, but like I said earlier, I am meeting someone else here.”
As I stood and walked away from him, toward the spot where Alex and I usually met, I heard him almost shout back at me, “Please be careful, darling! You are not safe like this and neither is your family.”
I stopped and faced him one last time, “Don’t ever threaten my family again or I will call the police on you! Stay away from us!”
I walked toward the smallest gazebo, fuming at the way I had been sucked into Rick’s story. The wood was old and looked darker than usual now that the sun was dropping in the sky. It was maybe ten feet across, but was shaded completely by several trees which cast eerie shadows across the floor.
This had been my favorite place to come almost my entire life. I always felt so at peace in this park. It was the place that Alex proposed to me when I was only six months pregnant, where we used to sneak away to cuddle and talk about our futures. That wasn’t going to happen now though. How could any of this be happening? What had happened to him? To us? Just then my little, bright blue phone started vibrating in my pocket, perfectly timed.
“Hi, babe,” I said into the phone.
“I’m on my way to the park now. Meet me there,” he said.
As always. No hello or anything, just demands. Sighing I said, “Fine.”
Sitting on the middle bench, I waited for Alex to get there. Obviously something had happened to Rick to make him change so much. There could not be any way the things he was telling me were actually true. My life used to be so normal. And other than last night, it still was. I mean the wars going on were crazy, but what did that have to do with me? I sighed again and laid back on the bench.
I tried to push all the crazy thoughts away and prepare myself for Alex. I couldn’t help but think of the good stuff, our first kiss, how soft and sweet he had been. He was older than me, which was admittedly a huge turn on back then and I remembered when I first had Sam, how he looked at her with complete love and admiration. But then, over the years, he kept pulling away, distancing himself from us. Was it fear? Was it work? I couldn’t guess what was going on inside his head.
Alex came walking up the path to the gazebo; he always looked so angry nowadays. Noticing me, he veered off the paved walking trail and headed straight for me. I only wished that we were still as close as we used to be.
“Hello, Alex, how was work?” I figured asking a nice question, showing that I still cared, might distract from the situation.
“Fine, thanks. Listen, I need to know what is really going on with you, Allison. The way you have been acting lately is not just cops and dreams. Tell me what is going on in that head of yours.” Yeah, like I would actually be able to distract him. He was always so mean now, no more mister nice guy these days.
Trying to gain some composure, I replied, “Alex, I don’t know why you always think that I am lying to you, but that is exactly it. These dreams have been more than an ordinary nightmare. I am really scared. I have had this same dream over and over again and now this guy we used to know from church when I was like five or something came back and has gone completely insane and says he knows about my dreams and shit. I don’t know what the hell is going on anymore. He was talking about the wars and stuff and he just didn’t make any sense at all.” Obviously any composure I thought I had gained was gone, and I was rambling. I paused for a breath and looked up at him. “What? You don’t believe me?”
“So this is all about another guy?” It was almost as if he was looking for things to fight about. If I didn’t give him a reason to be upset, he would find one. I swear he had this urge to be the unhappiest person in the world. He had never been one of those happy-go-lucky people, but at least at one time he had been content.
“Damn it, Alex! Do you listen to anything I say? It is about my dreams. How would some
old
guy that I haven’t seen in 15 years know anything about them? I don’t need a fight now, I need you. Please, just be here for me!” I pleaded.
“You need
me
, now? Obviously you don’t, not if your problems are regarding another man. I so knew it, Allison! I knew there was someone else.”
Were all men as self-centered and inconsiderate as the one I got stuck with? Heartbroken, I lost the small control I still had. “How can you even think that? I am always trying to be there for you, always trying to see you, trying to be close to you – like we used to be.
You
are always running away from me. Running to work, or home… anywhere as long as I am not there, right?”
I was fuming now. When I really needed him, he was trying to turn the situation into some wrong doing on my part. We were both standing now, right up in each other’s faces, shouting. My eyes were starting to tear up, which angered me even more than the things he was saying. I hated showing any weakness in front of him.
But the watering wouldn’t stop, making me angrier and making them water even more. What a repulsive endless cycle. My head was starting to hurt, right along with the ache in my heart. “Alex, please help me make sense of this!” Choking up, I added, “I need you right now.”
I didn’t really believe that though. At times I felt like I needed him, but it wasn’t really him that I needed. I wasn’t even sure why we were still trying at this. Or maybe that was the real problem, we both had stopped trying a long time ago.