Trapped (32 page)

“Beth, will you come here. I want to talk to you,” I said seriously. I backed towards the door. It slammed
shut before I could get to it.

“Come into my room
if you want to talk,” she ordered.

“I don’t think so and just so y
ou know your scare tactics w
on
’t work on me,” I informed her.

“Oh come on,
not
just a little
bit
,” she laughed
again
as I heard windows breaking from above.
What is wrong with her?

“Beth, just come out here and talk to me,” I shouted, trying to control my anger. I walked toward the basement
window
and thought about leaving.

“Hi Natalie, I have missed you,” Beth whispered from behind me. I quickly turned a
nd saw her smile turn to anger.

“What did you do to my sister? What did y
o
u do to Stella?” she asked angril
y. I should have expected this.

“I’ll tell you
after you tell me what happened that day we crawled out the window and ran to
wards the trees. Who really chased
u
s
Beth
? No wait
, I know,
Stella
. So why did you leave me alone in the woods and how did I get to
that other realm that left me trapped
for more than seven months? How about you do some explaining Beth?” I replied matching her anger.

             
“Oh Natalie, haven’t your boyfriends filled you in yet? You know all about Stella wanting your life. She wouldn’t stop. I had no choice. I know we were friends but blood is thicker right. I can’t explain how you made i
t into our realm. I know she drained
your energy, which is why you couldn’t escape from her. We believed that somehow she drained so much of your energy
that you crossed a line
, you came as close as one can get to death without really dying. At least that is wha
t we determined when Stella
began to drain Hayden of his energy
too
. H
e didn’t fight
it though
because he wanted to enter the other realm. He was curious
, actually he was curious about more than just entering new realms,” she s
mirked. I ignored this last
comment. She is
just trying to hurt me more.

“
I tried to tell him that his realm would be different from yours but he didn’t want to believe that. There may have been a crossover at some point but the chances of meeting each other would be slim. Everyone has a different afterlife, a different limbo. We all have our o
wn special demons to run from, d
on’t we Natalie?”
Beth turned from me.

             
“So tell me Natalie, is Stella really gone?” she asked calmly. How could I lie to her, she a
lready knew the answer to this.

“Beth, she came for Hayden
. Do you really think I would have
let him go without a fight?”
I wanted to leave now. There’s n
othing new Beth can tell me. It i
s obvious Stella
held
all the power. I climbed up
to the window and crawled out.

             
“Good bye Beth,” I whispered as I stood outside. A blood
curdling
scream rang out from the school. I wondered if maybe I should end her torment. Maybe I’ll send another seeker here to do it. I walked slowly around the school and jumped when Beth stood towering over me. I quickly without thought reached my hand into my coat pocket and wrapped my fingers around my
Kris
.

Beth stared at me with pained eyes. She wanted it. I moved with unfathomable speed and sunk my blade into her ribs. She let out a moan. Hayden’s car pulled up just as I wrapped my hands around her light. I stared at him as he opened his trunk and waited for me. I began to walk quickly ove
r to him. I placed her in gentl
y the
n closed the
lid
. I stood back from Hayden.

“How did you k
now?” I asked shocked.

“I knew you
were coming
to see her. Remember we have changed Natalie, I can get g
limpses into your mind and I know how you’re
feeling. Just as you can do the same if you think about it,” he smiled as he opened the car door fo
r me. I smiled back and got in.

             
After
we dropped off Beth at the dock
I reached for
Hayden’s hand as we drove home.

“Can we stop at the place with the dancing ghosts?” I asked. I wasn’t sure why but I wanted to see them again. I think maybe I wanted to see happy ghosts again. The ones that didn’t want to hurt me. Hayden nodded and drove q
uickly, as he always did. I felt the pain of knowing I wasn’t going to have him with me soon
, but I also felt
relieved,
know
ing
that he knew th
is without me having to say it.

             
When the car stopped I jumped out and ran to the window. I looked in and at first thought maybe they weren’t here anymore. That’s when I turned to see Hayden standing in the middle of t
he road beside them. The car came for them.

“Hayden, run!” I shouted. The car hit them all. I closed my eyes at the
impact. I couldn’t watch, but it didn’t matter how tight I closed my eyes.
The whole scene ran quickly through my head. The driver
jumped out and saw the couple l
yi
ng in front of his car. They
both
were
thrown ten feet
ahead
.
Their legs and arms were positioned in an unnatural way and they
were
looking straight ahead as though
in deep thought. They were
killed instantly. I wondered if they had both drawn their last breaths at the same moment. I heard laughing. I spun around and saw the beautiful young couple heading
into the restaurant. They will
be dancing soon.
Where i
s Hayden?

             
“Hayden,” I called.
As I turned
around
I saw him holding
open the door to the abandoned restaurant,
gesturing
for me to en
ter. I quickly looked ran to him and
wa
lked in. He closed the door and
reached his hand out for mine. I placed
it in his. He pulled me close to him, resting his
other
hand on the small of
my back.

“May I have
this dance?” he asked sweetly.

“Yes you may,” I replied. He twirled me around the dance floor. At times I could see my ghost couple and at other moments they were gone. Just like the music, I c
ould hear it when I saw them the
n it would go quiet
when they disappeared from me.

I loved b
eing with Hayden again but I know it i
sn’t
in
our destiny to stay together right no
w. A tear fell down my cheek as Hayden kissed me.

“It will all work out in the end my love, I promise I will not let you go forever,”
he whispered as he le
d me out
into the darkness.

             
After dinner that night w
e sat up and ch
atted about so many things
I needed answers to.
I thought back to the time I met Hayden at a party. I remembered thinking he might be a Satanist or a dr
ug dealer. I laughed to myself.

“What is so funny?” he asked, surprised by my laughter. Something he hasn’t heard enough
of from me, I thought.

“You are,”
I told him.

“Well, if I make you laugh than I’m happy, but what exactly is so funny about me?” he asked, seeming a little self-conscious, which is strange t
o see in my confident, strikingly handsome
Hayden. I savored his squirming then laughed again.

“Did you know that when I met you at that party I thought you and your friends may have been drug dealers?”

“Um, wow, no I didn’t and what friends are you referring too?” he asked as he took a sip of his red wine.

“You know, those guys in the room with us at that party, when you had to drive me home because Jeremy passed out,” I said, taking a sip myself.

“They were not my friends Natalie. You thought they were real didn’t you?”
he asked, like he hadn’t thought of that before. I stood up, wondering who else in my past wasn’t living either. I raced through that night, trying to remember everyone in that room.

“You knew I couldn’t tell, you were testing me,”
I said before I sat back down beside him.

“I was actually shocked by your vision, but I promise, I wasn’t testing you. They were there to protect Adam from me. He still had friends from the other side that wanted him back. They followed me there, so I just let
it go, not wanting to scare you. Just to clear the table, I have never been a drug dealer. Jeremy was the younger brother of a good friend of mine that passed away. I promised him that I would watch over him for a while, which I tried, but as you know he is a little difficult,
” he informed me.

I brought out the old picture of Hayden with a familiar looking woman from his den. He smiled as he looked at
it
then back to me. I believe Clive took this picture. I had only just met you that day. I remember being so taken by you. I didn’t wan
t you to go. You were leaving
for Europe that evening,” he sighed as I stared at
him, trying not to tremble at the idea of us living different lives
.

“
It is just one of many times I have met yo
u but you continue to leave me, but don’t worry, I always find you again. This time it’s different, I have made you a Seeker. I know that when I find you again we will still have many years together,” he said kissing me. I pressed my body against his. I needed to have him one more time. I needed to remember the way he made me feel. I needed to remember that I belonged to him.

In the early morning I woke up and
quietly rolled out of
bed, trying not to wake him. I
put on my robe and
walked out to the living room.
I
glanc
ed
at
my phone
, noticing it
lit up. I picked it up off the tab
le and listened to the message.

             
“Natalie, it’s me, Carlos. I just wanted to tell you that I have arrived here in London. I will be here for a week before I begin my tour. I really hope you
’
r
e still
considering joining me. I’ve already met with a few other seekers here that plan to show me around all the hot spots if you know what I mean. Hope to chat so
on darling.”
I knew what he meant.
H
e’
s going on a tour of
all the secret, underground haunted places for some serious
‘
light
’
harvesting. I have
to go.
I placed the phone down and went back to b
ed, falling
into a deep sleep.

             
Later that
morning
I
awoke to find Hayden
already up. He came walking in with a cup of coffee for me. He set it down on my night table and sat on the bed beside me. He pulled an envelope out of his pocket and placed it in my
hands.

“What is this
?” I asked.

“It’s your itinerary. You are all set to leave for London this evening. He smiled as he stood and reached for my robe.

“Come, I’ve made you brea
kfast,” he said, passing it to me
. I stood, still trying to absorb the fact that
I’m
going to London tonight. I excitedly wrapped my arms aro
und him and jumped up and down.

“Really
Hayden, are you sure?” I asked.

“Of course I’m sure.
I will miss you terribly but I want you to go. Now, come eat,” he grabbed me and tu
rned to go. I followed him quickly.

             
He had
a la
rge breakfast laid out on the table
. How long has he been up I wondered.
I sat down and began to fill my plate with pancakes, bacon and sc
r
ambled eggs. I poured maple syrup over everything. Hayden sat in
front of me and began to laugh.