Veracity: The Veracity Diaries

by E. M. Bernal

  “I hate you, YOU sorry son-of-a-bitch!”

  “Mom!???” I started trying to get her attention through the speaker.

  She finally grabbed the phone after a short shouting match between them.

  I’m not leaving until he talks to me Veracity.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I drove all the way over here for two hours and he has some other whore here!”

  Unity was trying to speak but within the sentences she was slurring. It was mostly gibberish.

  “Mom are you drinking?”

  She sounded incredibly lost or even weird to describe it best.

  I could hear Luke with a harsh tone say he didn’t want her and how she should kill herself and stop threatening him. I became increasingly worried.

  “I’m not leaving until we talk!” Unity kept repeating.

  I started to feel sick to my stomach.

  “Mom don’t do this!” I kept yelling through the phone.

  She finally put the phone back up to her mouth. I heard a loud door slam as if Luke pushed her outside and slammed it.

  “I’m not going to let him do this to me or I’m done, I’m not going to be here anymore.” Unity stated crying and slurring.

  “Mom what are you talking about?”

  “I don’t want to be here Veracity without Luke.” Her tears and sniffles were so server it sounded like she could barely breath.

  “Mom you have me! What about me!?! I yelled back. I suddenly was having flash backs of my past and became angry, almost forgetting that she was acting crazy.

  “Veracity the only reason I’m here is to be with Luke. I don’t have anything to live for anymore.”

  “You don’t know what you’re saying. Just tell me where you are, and I’ll come get you!”

  I heard a door slam. I think she finally got back in her car.

  “I took a whole bunch of pills because I’m tired.”

  “Mom? What are you talking about!???”

  BANG!!!THUMP! The phone must have hit the ground.

  “Hello! Hello!” I yelled and yelled.

  Desperation to hear my mom’s voice was painful because I didn’t know what happen to her. I couldn’t hear Luke at all in the background. But, he must have picked up the phone and hung it up because I only heard a click after that.

  I didn’t know what to do. I wish to use my powers, but how. I started to breath heavily. I wanted to call grandma Amelia, but I had so much anxiety that I had to calm my breath first.

  All of a sudden, every color in florescent lighting surrounded my thoughts as I drifted.

  I could hear Unity’s tears. Still crying. But her voice was slow and wheezing out.

  My sixth sense came crashing in and she was dying. Her soul faded from me slowly but surely. I could sense every part of her death. I screamed with an excruciating amount of pain. I could hear a voice saying, “come to me, come to me.” I fell off the bed to the ground crying. I knew I would have to go now. It was done. I could not save her.

  I went through all her cabinets to find something, anything that would take me out. I finally found her bottle of vodka almost full, considering the one next to it was gone. I had her other pills in my backpack. I rushed to my car, still in tears but I went straight to the garden. I knew Ren would be able to sense my trouble and he would find me there.

  The Battle

  Diary 17

  I left my stuff in the car, I wasn’t going to need it anyway. I even threw my keys on the seat. I figured I would be alone with Ren there since it was getting late. Not to mention it was a weeknight.

  I walked in and a breeze came across my face. It had a chill to it. Something eerie I thought. Someone was there. I could sense it, but I didn’t care. Probably just some kids from school making out, hiding somewhere.

  I saw Ren and walked over to our favorite secluded spot under the trees, but I couldn’t smile. I wanted to cry but I didn’t want him to try to stop me, so I had to look strong with certainty.

  “Hi…” I said with a blank face.

  “You okay?” Ren asked but already knew what I was planning to do.

  “She is dead Ren. She’s gone.” I said as I tucked my head down, staring at the leaves on the ground.

  “Your mom? You felt her pass?” Ren asked with a little confusion.

  “Yes. I didn’t get say goodbye, but I will see her on the other side.”

  Ren hugged me tightly as long as he could until he turned transparent again.

  I heard a noise of some kind from behind. I turned to look and anxiety filled my chest.

  I guess with all the trauma I was feeling I didn’t realize Robert was the one watching us. He must have sensed that I was in danger. He must have used his powers to ensure I couldn’t sense him, but now it’s coming through. He was standing behind a tree, using his bionic hearing to listen to us. He closed his eyes and clinched his fist, the diagem on his back lit up with colors piercing through his jacket. He became angry quickly. He took off his shirt and was just standing there with his back glowing in array of colors. He had a look on his face was with a glare in his eyes that I had never seen before. The colors on his back made the garden change to a different array of colors on everything around us. The leaves, petals and ground seemed to glitter like a rainbow with a hint of black running through them. The wind got colder and swifter.

  My eyes widened. Robert stare was intensity, and it was directed at Ren.

  “Veracity? What are you doing?” He asked but didn’t remove his eyes off Ren.

  “Robert… Where did you come from? What are you doing here?”

  “I know what you are trying to do, and I had to come. I’m not going to let this happen.”

  Robert, it’s me. Not Ren. My mom is dead, and I don’t want to be here anymore.”

  “What? How?” His eyes finally shifted towards mine.

  “It doesn’t matter. Please just go away.”

  Ren stayed quiet and stood close to me the whole time.

  “He’s not right for you. You shouldn’t kill yourself for him. I can take care of you. Don’t do this.” Robert started to plead.

  Robert walked closer to us. I stood in between, not letting Robert get too close. But I had to put my hand out to stop Ren. But it was no use.

  I knew it hurt Ren to hear Robert say those words to me. But he let him speak with a deep seeded look in his eyes, which he never took off Robert.

  “This her choice.” Ren couldn’t hold it in any longer.

  “If you had never come into her life as you know you shouldn’t have, this would be no choice of hers at all.”

  The colors of the diagem came piercing even brighter and Ren started to flare into a solid color but with white smoke filtering in and out, without completely disappearing. My face took on a look of confusion as Robert stared back at Ren. I knew something was about to happen.

  “Robert stop!” I yelled with anger. I felt like I was about to have a mental break down between them and my mother’s death.

  “I want you to leave her alone. This is my last warning.” Robert demanded as one last attempt to appease me but still stepping closer.

  The hostility began to take hold and there was no way I could stop them.

  “Veracity step out of the way.” Ren grabbed my arm softly but with demand, allowing himself to get close to Robert.

  I then realized we weren’t in the garden anymore. Or at least I couldn’t see it clearly. Each image was scattered in a fast motion of light. The air had a strong vibrant wind as if a storm was brewing. You could see some colors in between and make out what some things were, but it was almost as if the I went into another dimension with them while still in the same exact place.

  I was still holding the bottle of pills when I looked down to understand where I was. I started to feel dizzy and was trying to see them, but I couldn’t.

  “You are not going to take her from me!” Robert yelled with intensity. I couldn’t see either of them anymore, bu
t I could hear them clearly. They must have charged at each other because Ren let out a yell. A sonic boom shifted and pushed me to the gate of the garden, slamming my back against it. I fell to the ground. My heart started to beat with anxiety because I was alone all of a sudden.

  I closed my eyes to try to meditate but I couldn’t do much with my psychic abilities other than read their thoughts. It was all anger. It felt like they were both in danger. But I knew it was from each other. I realized I put them in a position that I shouldn’t have, and my guilt started to fill my soul. “STOP! STOP!” I yelled hoping they could hear me, but nothing came back.

  Another sonic boom came in one after another. A deep breath and fear started to emerge. And, then there was lighting, and the wind stayed strong. The energy source from everything around me was breaking apart and coming back together within seconds. I couldn’t understand what was going on. It was illuminating the entire garden. It felt as if a gust of wind was passing through every solid thing with the speed of light faster than a second. Yet Robert and Ren’s voice sounded, as they fought each other, as if was in slow motion. My tears started to fall because there was nothing I could do to stop them.

  I put myself in an Indian sitting position, trying to reach them again in mediation. I closed my eyes. The trees, stone bricks, gazebos, gates were crashing and coming back together very quickly over and over again. It the scariest thing I had ever felt. I froze in my position and I could finally see Ren getting thrown around by Robert. Ren tried to filter his body out into smoke, but it kept coming back together. Yet, I couldn’t see Robert and Ren at the same time. I saw bits of them one at a time in a very quick motion. Everything around me was distractive. There were all colors of bright lights in and out of the dark. Tears kept coming trying to think of what to do but no clever thoughts came through. I took a deep breath over and over, but I kept going in and out of a mediative state as the wind, lights and shades of smoke vibrated around me. Sonic booms kept pressing against my ears with their angry grunts and words pushing each other in and out trying to kill each other.

  Ren was starting to defeat him. I could feel it. I kept trying to concentrate my energy towards them with deep breathing, after what seemed like a decade of chaos, I finally was in another dimension and I could see! I wiped my tears away and I knew I was floating. When my eyes opened, Ren had Robert by the neck against a tree as they bashed each other back-and-forth within seconds from one end of the garden to the next. Each object was designated for a second still, while maneuvering back in place on the earth’s dimension as if it never took place. Robert finally got a hold of Ren and twisted his arm back enough to pull him away, kicking him forward across the garden, again with a loud boom against the ground. He crashed into every stone until his body seemed to slow down. They both kept charging at each other without taking a breath.

  I could see Robert’s back clearly now. His tattooed star and diagem turned all black from anger. He yanked Ren back by his shirt and ripped it apart. The dirt from the stones and the rocks flipped up and down in waves and Ren landed on his chest after his shirt was completely removed.

  I felt a sudden yank and a deep breath emerged from my thought. My grandma pulled me from behind and dragged me an inch over by surprise. I didn’t know what was happening for almost a minute.

  “You need to come with me now.” Grandma Amelia said. The garden was still full of thunder and instances of destruction.

  “No grandma! I need to stop them.” You can’t!”

  “This place is too dangerous for your body, Veracity we need to leave now!”

  “No, mom is dead! I’m not leaving without Ren!”

  Grandma Amelia grabbed me by my shoulders hard. Look at me Veracity, she’s alive. Let’s go. My eyes fluttered against hers back and forth. And even though the garden was falling apart and the men I loved were in harm’s way, my shock wanted to go find Unity if my grandma was telling the truth.

  I composed myself off the ground as quickly as I could and followed my grandma out without looking back.

  Ren got up quickly. They grabbed on to each other, but both froze, neither one could move from their position while standing as they tried to push each other back. They are struggling with each other as they held each other by the shoulder and neck when Ren’s back began to glow. The tattooed star and clan name were missing but the diagem was clear and bright as it shimmered. Robert noticed it and stopped with shock. He released Ren by kicking him down to the ground.

  “Talk Ren!”

  Ren grabbed his ankle while he held his chest down with his foot. Ren felt defeated. He couldn’t move. The light on his back was simmering in and out with dark shadows across the ground. Fading, as if he was dying.

  “We have the same mother!” Ren said as he could barely breath, but with enormous strength moved Robert’s ankle enough to gasp. Robert stepped back. He decided not to charge at Ren. He was skeptical but knew he what he was.

  “You are a necromancer?” Robert asked with distress in his voice.

  “A dead one. But, yes.” Ren answered as he picked himself off the base of energy that seemed like a ground.

  “Why didn’t you say something?”

  “Would it have made a difference?”

  “No…” Robert said with disappointment and anger in voice.

  “You are my mother’s son? From who?”

  “It was before you and it doesn’t matter now.”

  Robert realized how true that was. His anger calmed and even though his curiosity was lingering, he wanted the fight to the end. Especially now that he discovered something about Ren that disturbed his soul about his mother. He hated knowing there was a secret between him and her, but Veracity is what is important now, he thought.

  “You need to let her go. You can’t let her do this to herself Ren.”

  “I have tried to stop her; she is not going to listen.”

  “She won’t go if you’re dead.” Ren suggested with mean sarcasm.

  Ren’s face shifted to the left to take his eyes of Robert. Ren felt the truth arising in his heart. His thoughts took hold. If I really love her, I would want her to live with or without me.

  Ren stepped closer to Robert and the energy faded back to the reality of the garden. Everything slowly looked normal again.

  “You tell her I love her, and I said that before you killed me, you hear me? Otherwise, I won’t agree.”

  “Yes. I promise.”

  “I know she’s better off with you.” Ren agreed.

  Roberts face took on a sense of relief.

  “I’m sorry. But I promise to take care of her Ren.”

  “I know you will brother.” Ren said with animosity.

  Ren vanished into to smoke and Robert ran to his truck to go find me.

  Getting My Mom Back

  Diary 18

  We arrived at the Chief Bernal Hospital. It was the largest medical center that serviced mostly military, but it was the closet to where Unity almost died. My grandma was holding on to my shoulders as we walked into the sliding front doors. I was still trying to calm my breathing. I was so worried about Unity, but in the back of my mind, I was also feeling major guilt that Ren and Robert were fighting because of me.

  The admissions or clerk lady was in a daze on her phone as we approached the desk from the entrance. She pushed her blonde long hair behind her shoulders when we got closer with a smile.

  “Hi, how can help?” She stated as she put her phone down.

  “Hi, we are looking for Unity Clarevoy. I dropped her off here about an hour ago.” Grandma Amelia asked and told the clerk at the same time. The pretty blonde typed in the information right away and then directed us to the third-floor recovery station, room 1221. When we arrived on the floor, two nurses were busy with incoming calls and data entry on their computers.

  Stepping towards the nurse’s station felt eerie since I was barely starting to take in that Unity was still alive. Everything felt like slow motion, seconds apart. W
e finally stepped closer to the main station and again my grandma spoke for us. I took a deep breath when she asked.

  “Hello, may you direct us to room 1221, Clarevoy?” Grandma Amelia asked in a low tone.

  “Sure, go down the hall to the right and it will be on your left.” The nurse directed us with her finger. I started to sniffle as I was trying to contain my tears. As we approached the room, a tall Hispanic good-looking man in a white jacket open the door from the inside.

  “Hello, he put his hand out, but was startled by the close encounter as he ran into us, the door slowly closed behind them. I couldn’t see her yet, but I did try before the door shut.

  “I’m doctor Holiday. I just checked on Unity. She’s not in critical condition anymore and we know for sure she is in recovery now, I happy to report.” The doctor smiled as he explained.

  I appreciate you brining her in.” He stated with a sense of relief.

  “She’s been asking for a Veracity quite a bit.” The doctor stated while staring at me. He then put his hand on my grandma’s shoulder. “She’s a little bit groggy but you guys can see her now.”