Trapped (17 page)

“Adam!” I shouted. T
ears
were
pouring down my cheeks
as I searched every room looking for him.
I
began to slow
my pace when I realized he wasn’t here. This was
some kind of
cruel dream. I slowly walked
back
downstairs. I sank down on
to the sofa, still covered in
the
white sheet
we made love on
. I curled up into a ball and closed my eyes. I couldn’t cry anymore
,
all my tears have
dried up. As I lay there trembling I heard t
hat man’s
voice
again, he’s
still in my head, he’s
following me
.

“I told you she’s
in love with a gh
ost,” he said callously.

“I was
but I’m not anymore. Stop talking about
me. G
et out of here,
” I shouted
bitterly, anger rising in me. Why am
I being tortured like
this? I just want to go home. I want
to go home
to Hayden. He i
s alive
and he loves
me
.

~~~

“Is she still breathing?” Clive
asked as he entered the tent
. Hayden lied beside
her
all night. H
e
only
just recently dozed off.
He reached for her
w
rist
and waited
for the pulse. He leaned over the
lifeless body and
tilted his head to listen for her
breath
.

“Yes
, she is still breathing Clive,” he answered
calmly
.

“
I have been up all night contacting people
from
all over the wo
rld who have been witness to any
type of outer body experience
s
.
I’m afraid to say that t
he biggest fear
we have now
is that she dies in the other realm or
for some reason she
can’t find her way
back to her body,
” Clive
tried to explain
t
he
different
scenarios or possible outcomes.

“I
wish you hadn’t told me that
Clive. I have to believe that
she is going to come back to me,
” Hayden sho
o
k his head. He
wouldn’t allow himself to think the worst. Carlos sat up on the other side of the
te
nt. He moved closer to her. He checked
for himself that she
was still breathing.
He had to touch her.

“Sorry Hayden
, I didn’t mean to be insensitive. I think for now we should
leave her
here
in the tent
though
.
I don’t want to move her until we have too
. She will
have to
be
watch
ed closely
,
”
Clive explained.
Hayden could tell
he
i
s worried
, unsure of what to do next.

“She will come back
to us
. She is strong
. She i
s happy here
Clive, you know that
. She is stable
with me,
” Hayden
vented. He
was confident Natalie would fight as hard as she could.
He prayed she wouldn’t give up. He pushed the thoughts of her in the hospital after Adam
left her from his mind.
Natalie loves
him and he needed
to believe that she knew he loved her too. He hoped it wo
uld be enough
.
He looked down at her
and gently brushed her hair from her face. He leaned down and kissed her lips as a sin
gle tear rolled down his cheek.

~~~

I awoke
back in the hospital
again
. The laughing
had finally
stopped. The doctor i
s gon
e
. I looked through
the window in the door and didn’t see a
nyone in the hall. The lights w
ere dim
. I
turn
ed
back to
the
bed when th
e door squeaked open.
I looked back but n
o one
appeared
to have opened it
.
I didn’t eve
n sense a spirit with me. It’s
always
such an odd feeling to
be
so completely alone.

I opened the door
just
enough
to walk through and
quickly
ran
down the hall. The
nurse
wasn’t
at her
d
esk. The other patient’s rooms w
ere empty. I ran towards the exit, praying I would be able to reach the outside. I had to leave this place.
The sun was shining through the open doors.
I ran out laughing, I smiled
with such re
lief.
I’m
finally free
of that place. It seemed like a dream. A
beautiful garden
spanned out before me
, full of cherry tree blossoms and magnolias. Everywhere I lo
oked there were bursts of color
. I skipped along the trail, completely ignoring the fact that I didn’t know where I was or where I was going. I just didn’t seem to care at tha
t moment. I felt
so high
and so free
.
I didn’t thin
k anything could bring me down.

I hummed
as I stopped
to smell the vibrant and lush
red roses.
I moved on to the little fragrant white jasmine flowers and collapsed on
to
the purp
l
e thyme. I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath.
As I exhaled
I felt
a cool breeze wash over me.
I opened my eyes
and saw that
all the flowers were
dead. There was a coating of fr
ost on the ground. I shook as I stood up.

“No!” I shout
ed.
I began to run. I didn’t know
in which direction to go, I just had to
keep running. Something i
s after me.

I began
to feel physically exhausted when I came upon a
campfire and a tent set up in a clearing in the woods. I hoped that maybe these campers would have an idea of where I was and how
I could
get back to the city. I approached the tent cautiously. I didn’t w
ant to scare them. The fire drew me in
.
I s
tood by it and warmed my hands.

“Hello,
” I said aloud, looking towards the tent. No one responded. I opened the
flap to the tent and peaked in.
I actually let out a small moan
as I peered inside
.
The pillows and blankets looked so invit
ing and the smell of cinnamon and chocolate soothed me. I sighed as I stretched out on the soft pillows. I wrapped the
warm blankets around me and dosed off. I awoke
hours later
to the smell of food cooking on the fire. I couldn’t remember how long it
’s
been since I ate last. I opened the tent flap and was greeted by Anton, standing by the fire, grilling sa
lmon he must have caught
.
He smiled as I approached him.
I knew in that moment all of this is just a dream, it’s too good to be real.

“Anton? Is that really you?” I reached m
y hands out to touch him. He felt warm and
real
to me
though
. I lost control of my emotions. I began to cry and laugh as I wrapped my arms around him
, holding him as tightly as I could
. His embrace felt so good
and I have been so lonely. If this is
a dream I didn’t want to wake
from it. He kissed me softly
and
continued cooking again. Something wasn’t right
though
.

“Anton? Why are you here?” I asked, unsure i
f I wanted to hear him explain.

“Eat Natalie,” h
e simply stated as he passed me a plate of food. I obeyed. I sat on the ground and ravenously ate everyth
ing he gave me. He continued to stand
by the fire, glancing my way from time to time. When I finished I stood up, brushing the dirt from my pants. To my surprise Anton picked me up and carried me
back
in
to the tent. He placed
me gently
on
to
the blankets and
lied
down
beside me. He
stared at me
as he reached for my hands
.

“Natalie, I am only here for a little while. I need to warn you
about something
. This place and time you are in is not real
, do you know that?
Your body is somewhere else
, in a different world
, in your world
. It lays protected
back in the woods
. Don’t worry, you will get back to it
, but you have no one here to protect you. You are all alone and you have to find your way back
soon
. You can’t keep running from what’s coming
Natalie
. You have to stand tall and face it, only then will you be able to come out the other side. As frightened as you are, you have to
face it.
Trust me Natalie, know
that you will get through it, especially when you’re in the heart of it,
in
the darkest part
s
of it
,
just
remember
you will get through
it
,” h
e
said as he
gently held me in his arms.
I breathed in his familiar scent. I w
rapped my arms around him, rem
ember
ing
how much it hurt when he left
me
in that dark, dirty basement. I wondered if the carpet is still there. I think I want it in my beach house now
.
I needed him so much once.

“I don’t want you to go,
” I whispered. I don’t remember what happened after t
hat. I awoke all alone in the
field
again
.
I couldn’t see much, the sta
l
ks were really tall
this time
. I began to walk quickly, hoping I would emerge somewhere
out of this. I tried not to panic when the field wouldn’t end. I worried that maybe I was
going
in the wrong direction. I began to run the other way.
I felt the ground begin t
o
shake below me. I heard the dull rumbl
e of a tractor in the distance.

“Oh no,” I gasp
ed. I
t’
s harvest sea
son
.
This couldn’t be what I’m
suppose
d
to wait for, could it?

“Anton!” I shouted as I ran. When
I looked up at the sun,
I tripped on a
rock and fell hard. My knee began to bleed and my hands were scrap
ed. I sat up and
screamed. I just wanted this nightmare to end
. I stood and ran again.
I continued to ru
n
as the tractor raced toward me
. I finally saw
a cl
earing
up
ahead.
I ran as fast as I
could, finally emerging
from the field
, I
collapsed in the darkness of the
bordering
trees. I
rolled over and looked back at the fi
eld. The tractor vanished. The corn field
looked
complet
e
ly harvested
now. M
y old white house
appeared in front of me again.