Vilmo's Wrath: Deglon Blood (4 page)

“Nora, your time has come,” he says, as he and the rest of the men walk into the bedroom and close the door.

“What the hell does that mean?” Nora mumbles, folding her arms.

All but one of the men followed Noah into the room. The young man that saved Nora’s life now stands leaning against the kitchen wall staring at her. She is seconds away from fidgeting from nervousness. She refuses to allow him to see how nervous he makes her, nor does she want to be unsociable. So, she stands and walks into the kitchen.

“Do you think anyone would mind if I grabbed a drink?” Nora asks, raiding the icebox, trying desperately not to look his way.

To her surprised the icebox is full. Not only full, it has all of her favorite things in it.

“No one will mind. This is your house,” the man says.

“What?”

As Nora chokes, she tries not to spit fruit punch all over him.

“You have to be kidding! There is no way my father would buy this raggedy house for me,” she says. “You mean the house we are staying in for a while, right?”

The man shakes his head. She looks around furiously. The walls are covered with holes as if someone had purposely bashed them in with a bat. The beige carpet is so badly stained that it is almost completely brown. The smell is the worst, she swears she will smell rotting wood and animal urine for the next year. The only good thing about the house is the appliances in the kitchen, and the small table, for they look new.

“There is no way my dad would do this to me.
Is this my father’s way of telling me it was time for me to move out? Why wouldn’t he just talk to me? He could have told me he thinks I’m getting too old to live at home,” Nora says softly, sadden by the thought of her father wanting her to leave home.

“Some birthday gift,” she says, plopping onto a chair at the table.

Just as she is about to let her anger get the best of her, the man speaks, sending chills up her spine.

“You are taking things the wrong way. Your father would keep you home forever if he could. That is not what this is about.”

“And you know this, how?”

“You will see,” he says.

“Thanks again for saving my life. I know how dangerous that was. You know … risking your life and all,” Nora says.

He nods.

“I will always be willing to risk my life for you,” he says softly.

She looks up at him, then quickly looks away.

“Come on, Nora. Are you really that mad at me?” he says, sitting in the chair across from her.

Nora gets up and stands next to the sink, not wanting to get too close. The closer he is, the more nervous she gets. She looks at him a moment. She has no idea of what he is talking about, but she loves every word that comes out of his mouth. She quickly looks down, so that her mind couldn’t embarrass her again with realistic fantasies about him.

“You really don’t know who I am,” he says, walking toward her.

She wants to run, but she doesn’t. She should ask him what he is talking about, but feared that something ridiculous will come out of her mouth, so she says nothing. She's stuck with nowhere to go. She wants him to go away, but at the same time her body wants him closer than two strangers should be. With her head down, she sips her drink so she doesn’t have to speak. He takes her drink from her hand, lifts her chin. The warmth of his finger on her chin makes her shiver. Softly he speaks the words she has held in her heart since she was sixteen years old. He tells her things that only one person could know.

“We will never be apart. When the time is right, I will find you, and we will be married. You are my life and I am not complete without you,” he says.

Nora’s heart stops. It takes everything in her not to fall as her knees begin to tremble. The first letter that Robbie sent to her after their separation, read those exact words. Those were the only words in that letter. She read it every night faithfully. Even after he and she stopped talking, she read it and she believed it. Only a few months ago, she freed herself of his false promise. It was only then that she began to heal from the heartbreak of his abandonment. Now every feeling she told herself she had to let go, is back, refilling the empty space he left in her heart. She looks stunned. For a moment, she doesn’t seem to understand what he is telling her. Her cheeks turn red and her eyes shimmer with tears.

“Robbie?” she whispers.

He gently plants a kiss on her lips. Her heart melts, she wraps her arms around him, and instantly her love for him fills her with warmth. If he had not pulled away, she may have never let him go.

“Wow! Miss Nora, you really are beautiful. I’ve missed you. You are one hell of a fighter,” he says.

He sits at the table. Nora follows, a bit in shock that she didn’t recognize him. Her mind battles with her heart. She finds it hard to be bitter with him for crushing her world, but deep down she wanted him to know how bad he hurt her. She just stares getting lost within his eyes, just as she had so many years ago.

“Apparently not good enough. You did have to come and rescue me. How did you know where I was?”

“I came as soon as I got the message that you and your father were being attacked and that the two of you were separated. I always know where you are. I am the only one other than your father that can feel where you are,” Robbie answers.

“You can
feel
me?” she whispers. “That’s kind of romantic. In an odd sort of way.”

Robbie smiles when he sees the embarrassment on her face.

“I got your letters and birthday cards, Nora. Thank you.”

As much as it hurts to be reminded that he was just ignoring her while she spent every waking moment thinking of him, she smiles.

“It’s fine, Robbie. I’m over it. People change. Right? They grow up, get new friends and …”

She stops when she starts to get choked up. The last thing she wants is to let him see that she is still hurting. Robbie smiles and grabs her hands.

“Nora, I have no new friends. My absence from you was to prepare myself to be with you.”

“What are you talking about, Robbie? You wanna tell me what’s going on? First, my dad is talking all weird, then
things
try to kill me and now you.”

Robbie’s smile fades and Nora clenches her stomach as it twists into knots. He pulls his chair close to hers.

“Nora, I never meant to hurt you. I need you to understand that everything I have done was for you. I will show you everything, but I need you to trust me and allow me to do so without question,” he says.

Nora’s heart flutters slightly when she feels his pulse in her hand. She nods.

“Okay. I will allow you to show me whatever it is you need to, but it will not be without questions. I’m sick of everyone telling me not to ask questions. I have lots of them and I think I deserve some answers.”

She leans against the back of her chair and sips on her drink. She waits patiently for Robbie to object as her father always did, but he simply smiles.

“Okay. Ask anything you like, but please try to wait until I have explained all that there is to be explained,” he says.

Nora nods.

The men exiting the bedroom quickly interrupt Robbie and Nora’s gaze upon one another.

“Nora, let’s talk,” Noah says.

He leads her into the room. She can tell no good will come from this conversation by the look on his face. Therefore, she prepared herself for the worst.

“I’m glad to see you and Robbie have gotten reacquainted,” he says, closing the door.

“Dad, what’s going on?”

The same dark look he gave her at their house creeps into his eyes. He takes her hands in his and kisses them.

“I have to leave, Nora. This house has everything you need until it is time for you to go.”

“Go? Where am I going?”

“Shh, Nora, just listen.”

He touches her face. More angry and confused than she’d ever been, she restrains herself from yelling at him.

“It is for your own safety that you do not know this exact location. Robbie is here to help you understand all that I have not told you. Nora, it is very important that you listen to him carefully. The two of you have a lot to learn, but you must learn it together. Now is the time you get answers to all your unanswered questions.”

“Dad, Please. I don’t understand. None of this makes any sense.”

Her chest grows tight and her eyes fill with tears.

“Dad, please don’t leave me!” she cries.

She falls silent when he hugs her.

“I know you don’t understand now, but soon you will. Remember your training. Be strong no matter how much this life weakens you. I am so proud of you, Nora,” he says kissing her cheek.

She wipes her cheek free from tears as she watches him walk to the closet and pull out a wooden box.

“Dad, am I still in danger?”

He sighs.

“Dad, please! Are you in danger?”

“Not here. You are safe here,” he says quickly.

“And you? Are you in danger? Where are you going? Why are you talking to me like this is our last conversation?”

“Nora, please! You have to trust me when I say you will know all soon!” he snaps.

She folds her arms.

“Look—I’m sorry. This box contains all you will need. I love you, Nora,” he says handing her the box.

Nora takes the box. Tears roll down her cheeks as he kisses her forehead. In the pit of her stomach, she knows this is her last moment with her father. She embraces the feeling of his love for her and envisions him laughing so that it is imprinted in her mind. He wipes her face clean with his hand and quickly leaves the room.

Her stomach feels as if it bleeds internally from the strike of a blunt object. She sits on the floor holding the box, staring at it.
What’s in this box?
She thinks. It frightens her to think of how much her life could change if she opens that box. Yes, it is just a box, but it is the scariest thing she has ever come in contact with. Not knowing what to expect from the contents of this box scares her more than the possibility that she may be in danger. What the box holds, she is not ready for, so she places the box back in the closet and closes the door.

A tap at the door makes her jump.

“Nora?”

Rod sticks his head through the door just a little before coming in. He pulls Nora to his chest and squeezes her gently. She holds him tight.

“Please, Uncle Rod!”

Nora sobs into his chest.

“Oh, Nora. I wish I could take all this away for you,” he says, kissing her forehead.

He takes her face in his hands and looks her in the eyes. His bright green eyes are so calming, but again, she knows this will be their last hug.

“Nora, never give up, never stop fighting, and always depend on the ones that love you. Your father and I will see that you are safe,” he says, fighting back his tears.

Nora wraps her arms around his neck and squeezes.

“Tell me, please tell me,” Nora begs.

He gives a small laugh.

“You’re strong and you’ll be fine. Robbie will explain everything and soon your pain will be gone. I love you, Nora.”

Before she can respond, he kisses her forehead and walks out of the room.

Nora spent most of her life learning different ways to defend herself, unaware that she would actually need to use anything that she was taught. She spent her whole life desperate to know what the rest of her family kept from her. Now that the time has come, she has no interest in knowing what hides behind all of the secrets her father held.

Nora’s life has turned into one of her nightmares, but now the pain is fiercer. She prays that she will wake up, but reality swallows her whole.

She sits on the floor of her empty room, staring at the flame of the candle that burns beside her. For nearly an hour, she has been trying to make sense of what was happening, but she can’t think clearly. A haze fills her vision. Thick clouds of emptiness fill her head and she gives up on thinking and cries.

N
ora sulks for nearly an hour and a half, torn by the crushing last moment she thought she’d ever have with her father. She questioned if having Robbie back in her life was a fair enough trade-off and asked many times why she could not have them both, but like many of her questions, it receives no answer.

Although her world feels like it is crashing down on her, just knowing the Robbie is in the next room makes it bearable.

After feeling sorry for herself, Nora heads to the living room, wiping her face clean of leftover tears or snot that may completely embarrass her before she opens the door. When she enters the small living room, a sudden urgency to leave rushes over her. She fears her nightmares are attacking her while she’s awake.

Like some sort of messed up fairy-tale, the room almost sparkled. Nothing but beauty surrounds her. Nora tenses with worry as she waits for something to jump at her. She takes a few fear-filled deep breaths and waits for the horror to begin. She tightens her fists.

She stops at the edge of the living room, just outside the bedroom. Candlelight glimmers off of the ivory walls. Large potted, plastic violets sit on each side of two tall arched windows that are covered with beautiful white silk drapes. The charming ivory leather furniture with wood trim glows next to the fireplace near the kitchen. The glass tables that surround the furniture hold small lilac scented candles that fill the home with its sweet aroma.

Robbie sits quietly at the kitchen table sipping wine. When he sees the fear written in Nora’s expression, he quickly stands and rushes toward her.

Nora becomes agitated when she realizes she has allowed the beauty of the house to temporarily distract her. “Come on! Where are you? I won’t be too late this time. Where are those kids?” She asks as she braces herself for a fight when she hears footsteps. “No, Nora. There are no kids. Wake up! Wake up now!” she says aloud.

Her stomach begins to rumble. Once again she is terrified, searching for something to jump out and attack her.

“Nora, what’s wrong?”

“Robbie? You're not safe here. No! He’s not really here. Wake up! Wake up, Nora!” she yells repeatedly, as she hits the sides of her head with both fists.

Robbie grabs her hands and pulls her to his chest, hugging her tightly.

“Nora, calm down. You're not dreaming, I am really here,” he says.

“What?” she asks, looking around the room.

“You're not dreaming.”

“What happened, Robbie? Where are we?”

He only smiles.

“I hope you like it. Sorry, I didn’t expect this reaction,” he says.

For a moment, her speech is impaired.

“It’s great, but—how and when did you have time for all this?”

He smiles lovingly and gently takes her hand, then leads her to the table. The moment he touches her hand an instant calm comes over her.

“We’ll get to that later. How do you feel? What was happening to you?”

Nora sits in the chair across from his.

“Sometimes I have very realistic nightmares. I’m fine. It’s just—I’m so confused.”

With another touch of his hand on hers, she is calm again. It is as if their hearts beat as one. Nora stares curiously at Robbie, then smiles

“I will explain everything, but first I will cook us something to eat,” Robbie says kissing her hand.

Robbie prepares Nora’s favorite meal of baked chicken and mashed potatoes. It takes them an hour to finish their meal. They talk and laugh as they reminisce about their childhood. Although they spent years apart their hearts feel as if it were only days. 

Nora and Robbie move into the living room after their meal. Robbie sprawls on the sofa and watches Nora’s expression to the new TV. He smiles as her eyes light up with excitement and curiosity. As Robbie flips through the channels with the remote control, Nora’s eyes grow wider.

“Robbie, what is this? How is it changing like that? This is unlike any TV I have ever seen,” she says, kneeling in front of the television.

She strokes the screen a few times.

“That is color television. Do you see that small glass dot on the front of it? That is what makes this hand controller work the TV. Everything that is or will be on this planet is created by a Szion. Boligon is over a century ahead of us. I thought it was pretty amazing myself when my dad first brought one into our home. I thought you’d like it.”

Nora stares at him with question in her eyes. Robbie smiles.

“Later, okay,” he says, pulling her on the couch by her hand.

Nora nods and keeps all of her questions in.

For an hour or so, they joke and play as if they are still teenagers. Each growing more attached to each other and both remembering how much they loved one another.

“Hey, I know it’s been a pretty hectic night for you, why don’t you get some rest, and tomorrow we can talk. It will be midnight soon,” Robbie says, as he brushes a strand of hair from Nora’s face.

He gently strokes her cheek with his finger. His tender touch is like a persuasive power that compels her to look into his eyes. His warm gaze holds her as if she is being wrapped in a heated blanket. Her clothes suddenly feel heavy and too tight. Involuntarily she kisses his finger when it glides toward her mouth. Embarrassed, she quickly jumps from the couch.

“I’m sorry. Good night,” she says, heading to the bedroom quickly.

“Good night, Nora,” Robbie replies, with a smile.

“Oh, wait. I need a blanket and a pillow, or something. I don’t think I will be too comfortable on the floor without them,” Nora says, trying not to look at him.

Robbie walks to the bedroom door and opens it.

“What the hell! My room? How did—forget it? I don’t want to know,” Nora says. “Thank you.”

She quickly kisses his cheek and turns away.

He grabs her hand, turning her toward him, then lifts her chin.

“Why are you so nervous?” he asks softly kissing her lips. “Good night, Nora.”

Nora bashfully smiles and walks away.

Nora lies down on her bed for only a few minutes, then sits up. Past and present memories of her and Robbie, play tag with her last memory with her father and Uncle. Each thought tugging at her heart and each pulling her further away from sleep. She picks up a book from her nightstand, hoping the story will pull her in so that she didn’t have to think about her painful day, but the first few pages she reads are about a young couple trying to fight the love they have for one another. She slams the book closed and tosses it across the room. It was no help at all, it does nothing but remind her of who is in the next room. She looks at the clock.

After a few more minutes, Nora turns off the television, she turns on soft music on the small music box Robbie left on her nightstand and lies back down. Another half an hour passes and still she battles the greatly required rest she aches for. After a while, it is not images and thoughts of Robbie that keeps her awake, it is fear. Fear for her father and uncle, fear of the nightmares that have haunted her for the last few months, and fear of her new life.

She gives up her fight for sleep and gets out of bed, hoping Robbie is as restless as she is and is still awake. She’d like to blame her restlessness on her dramatic evening, but this is not the first time her dreams have kept her from sleeping. At times, her dreams seem more like memories of a dark life. Even though she has convinced herself that they come from all the novels she’s read, they still seem more real than they should. Sometimes there are moments when she is dreaming and awakes unsure of the reality around her. She has learned not to let her dreams completely control her life, but she is terrified that one night her nightmare may not allow her to wake up.

Robbie is in the kitchen with two bowls of strawberry ice-cream.

“Hey, I was just headed your way. I heard you tossing and turning and figured you could use this.”

He smiles, showing his deep dimples. They sit silently nibbling at the ice-cream.

“Robbie, will you sleep with me? I mean, next to me. I’ve been having nightmares. I thought maybe if you could just lie with me until I fall asleep … I just thought that I may not be so afraid if you are next to me.”

“Sure. Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be? We used to sleep in the same bed when we were kids. It will be nice. Just like old times,” she says, unsure if she truly believed what was coming out of her mouth.

Just the thought of him lying next to her made her warm with lustful thoughts.

“Nora, we are no longer kids,” Robbie says, placing their bowls in the sink.

Nora scrambles for words but finds none that wouldn’t make her sound stupid.

“Do you want to talk about these nightmares?” Robbie asks as they climb into bed.

She shakes her head.

They lie down and she finds a warm spot on Robbie’s chest, letting the sound of his beating heart put her to sleep.

“Get up you fool! Get up, you traitorous bastard! Get up and face me! No? Fine! Say good night.”

A dark-haired woman stands firm in front of a man. With a forceful swipe of her blade, the man’s head falls to the ground and his body goes limp. She wipes the splattered blood from her face and smiles wide as she licks her bloody hand. The loud cries of a woman and a young man that runs to his side makes her laugh. She tosses the woman aside and kicks the dead man’s body before walking off into the blackness of the night. Just as she is set to head home for the night, pain paralyzes her.

“Ahhhhh!” the cruel woman clenches her stomach and drops to her knees. Blood pours out of her mouth and she grows weaker with each passing second.

“Did you honestly think that I wouldn’t find you?” another woman says standing over her.

“You know killing me means your own death.”

“Then we will die together,” the stranger says.

Cold travels through their bodies until they are no longer able to move.

Nora almost jumps out of her skin at the sound of her own howl. She awoke to Robbie at her side with a worried look in his eyes.

“You’re safe, Nora! You're safe.”

He holds her as she fights for air. Once her consciousness floods back, she sits against the headboard of the bed.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, just a bad dream,” she says, running her hands through her hair, trying to will her heartbeat to slow down.

“Some dream. Maybe it’s time you tell me about these dreams.”

“Okay, but later,” she says.

Robbie nods.

“Sorry, I woke you.”

“I've been up for hours, just watching you sleep. You scared me quite a few times,” he says.

“Sorry about that. Was I the reason you didn’t sleep?”

“No. I slept fine, and so did you until a few hours ago.”

Robbie kisses her, climbs out of bed, and heads to the kitchen.

“I’ll be done with brunch in a few minutes. You get cleaned up, then you can tell me all about that dream of yours,” he calls from the next room.

“Brunch?”

Nora glances at the clock wondering why he would make brunch in the middle of the night. It’s 12:30 p.m. and the sun is bright.

“What do you know? I slept through the night. I need to keep him around,” she says softly, as she walks into the bathroom.

“I would like that very much,” Robbie says, startling her.

She turns and finds him standing in the doorway of the bathroom, smiling.

“You shouldn’t sneak up on people,” she says playfully hitting him with a bath towel.

“I’m sorry,” he says, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“I love you, Nora Langly. I meant what I wrote in that letter when you and your father moved away.”

Nora’s throat tightens, and she freezes. She waited so long to hear him say that. She just never thought it would come.

“Robbie.”

He kisses her cheek.

“Although it’s been five years, my love for you has only increased. I know I hurt you, but can you look at me and tell me you don’t love me?”