Trapped (30 page)

“
Hayden loves me, he always has and he would nev
er leave me for some dead woman
.
He is
obviously be
ing controlled by her and she i
s
slowly
killing him. It i
s
just
one of her spells,
” I cried. I felt
sure of this. My
head began to spin
, the room turned
black. I
struggled to regain
my composure.
A
doct
or on the ward came running in
then
.

“
A woman has just tried to enter
the room.
I don’t know how she
managed
to get this far. I just tho
ught I should warn you,” he told Clive quickly before running out
. Clive and Carlos
bo
th stared
at me. They m
ust have noticed
me falter
.

“
Stella is here and she knows I don’t trust her. She is c
ontrolling Hayden
. She will kill him if we don’t stop her. A seeker has to be here, twenty-four hours
a day until he is awake
. When she appears she must be struck, she has to end
immediately,” I told them. I
couldn’t think about Hayden with Stella.
He wants to come back to me, this I
must believe
.

“I have to go, one or both of you have to s
tay here until I return,” I ordered
as I bent over Hayden and kissed his lips. I held his hands as I listened for his breath
again. I smiled when
I
felt it against my cheek. I have
to bring my Hayden back
to me
, this weak man lay
ing here in this hospital bed i
s not the man I fell in love with, but I will get him back. I looked at Clive and he nodded
slowly, unsure of what I thought I could do but not wanting to stop me.

“Y
ou have to promise
me you will not
leave him alone, even for
a second. Stella is waiting
for her chance. She will kill him,” I tried to stress
this
, needing them to understand.
I don’t know how I knew this
e
xactly I just knew
. I realized as I stood there before them that Beth let me know
, it was her that entered the room, not Stella
.

“Yes Natalie, I will not le
ave his side and if she tries to
ent
er again I will destroy her,” Clive reassured me
as he pulled out his
Kris
. I smiled and gave him a
hug. He held me tightly
, knowing I planned on destroying her myself
.

“Don’t worry about us. Just go do what you feel y
ou
must but be careful, please,” Carlos
whispered
, looking into my eyes as he kissed my fingers that were now wrapped in his hand
.

I quickly opened the heavy door to the stairwell and ran up the stairs
. I reached the top,
opened the door and walked out on to the roof. The
wind whipped at my face
but
strangely
it
felt calming
. I walked to the edge of the building and pulled my hood u
p
to cover my e
ars. The sounds of the city rumbled
from down below. T
he dark night glowed from
the city lights. I wished I could
have
see
n
the stars. I stood on the ledge and looke
d down.
I waited here for
her
on the rooftop
. She will be arriving soon. S
he has
no
choice but to come.

She needs me and this is the o
nly way she can have me. I
made her
choose between
us,
him
or me
.
As much as she loves
him
she wants
my life more.
The chance to feel
alive again i
s
just too tempting for
her, to
o
irresistible
to give up.
When Beth entered Hayden’s hospital room I told her to tell Stella to meet me on the roof if she still wants me and to let Hayden go.

I stood
in the wind and from in between the shadows she walked calmly toward
me. She walked as though she stilled
live
d
, as though her b
ody is
still
weighted with blood
. I smiled as s
he walked toward me. The deal i
s she let
s
go of
her hold on
Hayden and brings
him back, immediately. I held my cell in my hand waiting for one of
them to call, waiting for one of them to
tell me he is
awake.
I waited
patiently as she stood in front of me, expressionless. They should have called by now. I sco
wled at her, angered by her brea
ch in our agreement.

“Well, is he a
wake yet?” I questioned
her. She looked
from me
up to the night sky then returned her gaze on me.

“H
e is
,
but I don’t understand, maybe they are waiting to call you
, I don’t know
,
” she stammered, as though it’
s insignif
icant if I got the call or not.

“He is awake and tha
t is all that matters,” she replied
angrily. She made an attempt to come at me but I dodged her quickly. She floated in the air on the other
side of the ledge I
had
stood
on for a few seconds b
efore she returned to the roof.

“We have
a deal,” she
hissed as she ran at me again.

“The
deal
is
that you return Hayden to me. A
s far as I can tell you have not held up your end
yet
,” I shouted back to her as I avoided her grasp again.
She couldn’
t hide the
anger she felt
towards me.
I remembered the
Kris
in my pocket.
I reached my hand in
and gripped the cold metal. Just as I
pull
ed
it out I heard her scream and disappear into a ball of light in front of me. Behind her
,
Hayden stood holding his
Kris
in one hand and a cane in the other. I ran to
him, throwing my arms around his shoulders
,
I felt him falter. I held him
close
as we
stumbled to the ground. I placed my hands on his pale face and kissed him. Tears were streaming down my face as I
laughed, not letting go of him.

“Oh Natalie, I am so sorry
,
” he cried as he held me closer.
Clive and Carlos came running through the door and onto the rooftop. Once they spotted
us relief crossed their faces.

“Oh, thank god,” Clive said as he came over and hugged us both. He helped H
ayden up and gave him his cane.

“Let’s get you back downstairs, I don’t know how protected yo
u are up here,
”
Clive said as
I wrapped my arm around Hayden’s thin waist
and helped him down the stairs.

Once we reached his room
I noticed the doctor sitting on
the bed,
waiting patiently
for our return
. “Can I
see my patient now?” he asked sternly.

“Yes, please, tell me how he is,” I pleaded.

“Natalie, he has
the light, he’
ll get strong
quickly, don’t worry. I just want to give him a check,
just to make sure he hasn’t suffered
any serious damage,” he smiled at me b
efore he turned back to Hayden.

“
Aside from your weak muscles do you feel any pain or numbness?” he asked him as he looked in his ears, eyes and throat. He listened to his h
eartbeat and checked his pulse.

“No doc, I just feel a little tired, physically, but nothing else,” he told him as he sat back in his bed. I rac
ed over and jumped on to the bed
. I stretched out beside him and placed my hands on his chest. I kissed him as I brushed his hair from his face.

“I’
ll leave you for now Hayden, I’
ll be back later,” he said as he tur
ned and walked toward the door, pausing before leaving.

“So is this trespassing spirit gone now?” he asked. I smiled and nodde
d. He turned and shut the door.

“Carlos has taken her. I think I’m going to leave myself. I’ll return tomorrow to say goodbye before I return home. It’s good to see you both ba
ck and in action again,” Clive grinned
as he put on his coat and left.

“
H
ow did you know I was on the roof with her?” I asked, as I sat up.

“She told me she was meeting you. When I awoke Clive told me you were looking for her. I somehow received a vision of her on the roof and miraculously I still held my speed as I raced up, just in time I think,” he sighed as he sat up beside me.

“H
ayden, why did you do this
to yourself
?” I as
ked as I held his hand in mine.

“I’ll tell you everything I promise,
but
know that all I really want
ed
i
s
to
prote
ct you. It hurt so much that I had let you go
,” he squeezed my hand
. I
placed my head back down on his chest. He seemed tired so I didn’t press him, there would be
lots of time for talking late
r.

I traced my fingers along his
tattoo
, the woman that
res
embled the girl in the painting, the woman that resembled me.
I still felt the rush of
confronting Stella, a part of me wished I had sunk my blade in to her.

The sun poured
throu
gh the windows as I felt Hayden move away from me.
I rubbed my eyes
, surprised by how deeply I slept. I
leaned back against the pillows Hayden had just sat up from. He tu
rned
toward
s
me and smiled.

“Good morning my love, I hope you slept well,” he said as he kissed my forehead. I smiled, enjoying this moment.
I had my Hayden back and I am
not about to let go of him again.
I shook the image of him with Stella from my head.

“I’m sorry about Stella. I have a feeling you know more about us than I wanted. You have to know that I went into those realms because I searched for you. Stella took advantage of my despair,” he explained.

“Did you sleep with her Hayden?” I asked, standing up, staring at him. A vision in my mind appeared of the two of them naked, in a different time and place. I gasped when the door opened.

             
“Good morning
!”
Carlos greeted us as he came bounding into the room.
I tried quickly to regain my composure.

“I believe I have good news,” he explained as he placed a coffee in my hands. “Thank you Carlos, so what’s your good news?” I asked as I took a sip. He smiled at
me then looked over at Hayden
.

“I ran into your doc
tor
on my way
in, it looks like you’ve been
release
d
. Everything checked out.
I’d be happy to drive you when you’re ready,” he
said as he
looked at me again. It seemed like he wanted to say something
else
but he was hol
ding back.

             
“Thank you Carlos. I think
that would be great. I’ll try not to keep you waiting,” he said as he attempted to stand. He qui
ckly reached for the cane he used
last night befo
re he took another step. I hope he
gain
s
his strength back quickly
he’s going to need it
, I thought as I looked back to Carlos. I couldn’t
watch
him
,
knowing his pride i
s hurting
having me see him like this. I looked over to Carlos and gestured to the door. He nodded and walked out. I followed once Hayden closed the bathroom door.