Finding Eden

by Dinsdale, Megan

  I stepped out into the open. For a change, all was still and quiet. It felt wrong, almost eerie. It was like being in the eye of a storm. And that was when, out of nowhere, I was tackled to the ground. My body fell hard with a thud, bringing with it a shot of pain from my head to my toes. It was quickly replaced with adrenaline when I realized who the culprit was. Blondie had one knee digging into my sternum and the other into my neck.

  “Payback’s a bitch, Tex.” She pulled her knife from its holder once more, stood up, and gave me one of those come-get-me looks. It stirred something in me that I refused to acknowledge.

  She gave me another look. It was one that I couldn’t really place and it made me uncomfortable. It was a mixture of trust and just-you-fucking-wait. And with that, she tossed her Bowie to the side and took off like a jet in my direction. I hadn’t noticed before, but her speed was impressive. Within seconds she was in front of me, flinging her body into the air and I was her target. I was ready this time and before she could tackle me again, I wrapped my arms around her body, turned her around, and dropped her—gently, mind you—onto her back.

  “Argh!” She hissed as she moved violently beneath me.

  I just laughed. I weighed more than twice as much as she did and she thought she could just wiggle her way out?

  “Good luck, Kid.” I was literally just holding her down by her shoulders. “Ow!” I yelled as I examined the teeth marks on my forearm. “You fucking bit me!”

  She flashed her straight, pearly-whites and slipped out from underneath me. “I got free, didn’t I?” And then her arms were in a deadlock around my neck. I let her have her fun for a minute or so, and then I wrapped my fingers around her wrists, pulling her arms away from my neck.

  “I thought we were going to improve on your knife fighting skills?” I let go of her wrists and heard her fall on her ass behind me, but she was quick. As soon as I turned around, she pounced me again. The chick was a fucking jumping spider or some shit. Her legs were wrapped around my waist, and her arms were back around my neck.

  “I need to learn hand to hand combat.” As she spoke, her warm breath hit my neck, causing goose bumps to form across my body. I shuddered and could only hope she hadn't noticed. I tried to pull her off, but she adjusted her position around me, resulting in her lips brushing beneath my earlobe. I sucked in a sharp breath, but that didn’t help. It made things worse as I inhaled the natural perfume from her skin. I closed my eyes, trying to compose myself. Blondie was completely still. I didn’t want to make this awkward; I kept telling myself to grow some balls and just keep on training, but instead, like the dumbass I was quickly becoming, I pulled her off of me and turned around.

  “That’s it for now. We’ll continue another day.” I absently scratched my ear and walked back into the cave.

  “I don’t know why you have to be so awkward, Tex,” was all she said as I left her outside.

  I was suddenly exhausted. I lay back on the blanket and closed my eyes, choosing a nap over anything else at that moment. I fell asleep with her scent invading my dreams.

  Chapter 9

  [ Elle ]

  We were both quiet the next evening. The man was an enigma. I knew he’d been to hell and back, while wrestling Satan all the way, but one second he was all for our friendship and the next time, if I got just a little too close to him, he’d dig a hole and disappear into it.

  I went deeper back into the inky dark cave, leaving him to his thoughts. I cleaned up and put on a new pair of socks and panties. It was amazing how much better a person could feel from just changing into clean clothing. I situated myself into my clothes and boots before returning to Tex. He was already pulling his pack over his shoulders. He looked at me for only a second before nodding towards the cave entrance. Not even a once-over.

  I got all my belongings together and caught up with him. Minutes ticked by and still nothing. It seemed I had to grow some balls since he was in short supply.

  “How long is tonight’s trek?” I chirped.

  “Huh?” Tex mumbled and then looked at me surprised, like he had just then noticed my presence. “Sorry?”

  I raised my eyebrow and repeated myself.

  “About four hours.” He pulled out his map and scanned the landscape ahead of us. The sky had cleared of the smoky contrails. The moon was gigantic and crisp in the sky, lighting our way. It was brighter than usual, so unless we were looking at the map, we didn’t need the flashlights. A bright moon really wasn’t a good thing though. It foretold the ominous details of the following day.

  Even though I was in the presence of someone who really didn’t want me around, I began to feel like each day was a blessing. Anything could happen to keep us from getting to our next safepoint, but so far, even with the horrid obstacles, we always made it. Since we had successfully journeyed this far, I really, truly hoped that we were meant to make it all the way. Thinking that way gave me a little extra strength to carry on.

  We made it to the next safepoint without a hitch. Our conversations along the way were limited to the weather and fighting styles. There had to have been a million more nagging questions that I’d liked to have asked him, but I knew they would have been met with a death glare, a cold shoulder, and an impenetrable brick wall.

  I tossed my bag to the side and found a flat rock to sit on to catch my breath. Tex was busy fiddling with the lantern. I licked my lips; they were dry and chapped. I detested the feeling of it and asked Tex to retrieve my lip balm from my bag.

  “It’s in the front pocket with the batteries,” I directed.

  He unzipped the pocket and felt around. He pulled out my lip balm along with something else. It was the wallet-sized portrait of my mom and dad. Thinking of their faces caused a lump to develop in my throat. In the dull light of the lantern, everything changed.

  I saw his eyes narrow as he looked down at the photograph, but then they widened; his eyebrows knitted together in some emotion that was bigger than anger—an emotion that could devour anger whole. The muscles in his jaw twitched and then solidified as he clenched his teeth. He suddenly seemed larger than he actually was. Somehow he sucked the empty space from our little cave, filling it with himself, or what he was about to become.

  “Tex?” I squeaked.

  “Who the fuck is this?” He roared, pointing at the portrait.

  I had never been that frightened of him before. The night we had met and his knee was jammed into my throat was nothing compared to this. I actually felt threatened by him. I sat up and backed myself into the wall.

  “M-my p-parents.” Why was I being so weak? I should have walked over there, yanked the photo from his hand, and asked him why the fuck it mattered.

  He stormed over to me and I pressed myself into the wall, trying to disappear into the crags. It hurt, but I didn’t care. I wanted to leave. I’d been so hell bent on not feeling alone, but suddenly, I wanted to disappear again.

  “This man,” he turned the photo around, so I could see my parents’ faces. They were both smiling, happy. My dad had his copyrighted crooked smile that seemed to show just how eccentric he was and my mom wore the usual curve of her lips that seemed to say: “Forgive my irrational husband”.

  “What abou-about him?” I asked, straightening my shoulders and lifting my chin, trying not to appear too weak, but I knew I had failed.

  “Your father,” he spat out the word like it was disease. “He’s the one that killed my family. Fuck him and fuck you.”

  He grabbed his pack and he was gone.

  [ Tex ]

  I couldn’t even comprehend the moment. Out of all the fucking people I had to run into, to become friends with even, it had to be the daughter of the man who ruined my life.

  I paced at the entrance of the cave, back and forth. I had to leave; I had to get out of here. I couldn’t be around her. It may have been wrong of me to curse at her, but I just couldn’t think straight. I ran my hands through my hair. I was breaking out in a cold sweat.

 
; Blondie’s face looked so pained, so crushed, and—frightened. She had been scared of me.

  I groaned. I couldn’t be here, but I couldn’t leave her now. I had really screwed up this time. If I had just followed my rules, I wouldn’t have been in this situation. If I had kept her at a distance, like I'd originally planned, I wouldn’t feel bad about leaving her behind. I shouldn’t have invited her to accompany me in the first place.

  This was a real clusterfuck and I had no one to blame but myself.

  Chapter 10

  [ Elle ]

  This

  couldn’t

  be

  happening.

  It had to be a case of mistaken identity. Yes, that was it, I decided. His family’s killer was my dad’s doppelganger. I remember one of his work buddies had looked eerily similar to him. Maybe he was the man who killed them. Not my dad, no.

  I put my head between my legs, squeezing my knees against my ears, trying in vain to drown out the sound of Tex pacing back and forth. I threw up both MREs. When my stomach was completely emptied, I dry heaved instead.

  I loved my dad, but I had a horrible, gut-wrenching feeling that Tex was right. I felt like I betrayed my dad by simply thinking that.

  Maybe I was just a horrible daughter who came from an even more horrible father. Maybe it was engraved in my DNA.

  And then I asked myself: would I have done the same thing my father had apparently done?

  The pacing stopped. I picked up my bag and ran after Tex.

  [ Tex ]

  As soon as I took one single step out of the cave and into the vast, expansive desert, I knew something was off. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to react to that feeling; my arms were suddenly locked behind my back in a steel grip and a rifle barrel was biting into my temple.

  I was surrounded by four men. Each one had a gun pointed at me, except the one behind me, who had to use both hands to keep me from kicking his ass. I evaluated the situation, scanning the environment and who inhabited it. I couldn’t see a way out. If only I was Chuck Norris, I could roundhouse kick their sorry faces, but I wasn’t.

  Before I could tell these men not to fuck with me because they’d regret it, I saw the dim light of the lantern against the inner cave walls, and Blondie’s shadow getting larger—closer.

  As she stepped out of the cave, unaware, one of the men turned his rifle towards her and he said with a sickeningly sweet tone, “Now who do we have here?”

  Chapter 11

  [ Elle ]

  The first thing I heard when I left the safepoint was a man who seemed way too happy to see me. His voice made goose bumps form on every inch of my flesh. My eyes found Tex’s and he looked pained, panic-stricken. I realized too late it wasn’t for him, but for me. I took a step back, but it was no use; it happened so fast.

  One of the men surrounding Tex began to walk towards me. His rifle was pointed at me, but his finger was off the trigger. The flight or fight response took over and every nerve-ending in me pleaded for me to run and leave Tex behind. They told me that was what he was doing anyway—leaving me behind. But if it was my father who committed that inhumane crime, I wanted to do the exact opposite, so I chose to fight. I unsheathed my Bowie knife and stood in my practiced stance. The man coming towards me had a wicked grin spread across his face. He didn’t think I had a chance and was patronizing me. I was about to lunge forward when I saw Tex trying to free himself. He was putting up a good fight. The man in front of me quickly turned around and ran to help his cohorts.

  I yelled Tex’s name to warn him and before I could go over to aid him, I was knocked out cold with what I assumed was the butt of a rifle by the man who gave me goose bumps. Before completely blacking out, I heard a familiar voice screaming, “No!” and pleading to leave me alone. The voice brought back memories of better days—days spent with my father—a man who would do anything to protect his little girl. How cruel.

  I turned my head ever-so-slightly, though it took all my strength to do so. I once again saw Tex’s agonized expression as he watched me drop to my knees—and it was still for me.

  Chapter 12

  [ Tex ]

  It was déjà vu—everything was happening all over again—just like before. She screamed my name and then she was silenced.

  I watched her fall to her knees and her beautiful, green eyes were vacant, empty.

  Chapter 13

  [ Elle ]

  I woke up. I couldn’t see.

  Seconds later, I was asleep.

  I was alone. I could hear Tex’s laughter surrounding me; he was mocking me, making fun of me because I was alone again. I had a solitary existence. Below me was a dirt floor. I looked up and I saw a dirt ceiling. I was surrounded by four dirt walls. Then for what seemed like forever, I was falling until I landed in water. It was burning and boiling with the heat of the unrelenting sun, scalding me, and my skin bubbled and blistered before finally sliding from my muscle and bone. I saw my dad and was relieved. He would help me stitch my flesh back onto my body.

  “Daddy,” I called out and there was his crooked, trademark smile. I was numb to the pain now because he was here. He made everything better, but his face changed to the creepy, goose bump man—and then back to my dad. He called me his sweet little Elle and reached out to me. I was saved! He laughed then. He laughed, wrapping his arms around me and not letting go until I was dead, drowned at the bottom of the sea.

  My head was throbbing when I reawakened, and I instinctively felt the back of my skull. The touch stung and my hand came back wet and sticky. I was bleeding, at least I had been and the blood was now coagulating or whatever.

  It was darker than pitch and my eyes were taking forever to adjust to it. For once, I didn’t feel the desert ground around me, but wherever I was did smell earthy. I was sitting on what felt like cheap, linoleum tile. Behind me was a thick, metal pole and my arms were wrapped around it, tied together at the wrists. I pulled at it, trying different maneuvers to free myself, but all I got out of it were rope burns.

  I hadn’t realized that Tex was across from me until my eyes finally adapted to the dark. I said his name, but there was no movement or reply. They must have knocked him out as well. I didn’t have to look to know that he was tied up too. I angled my body in such a way that I could touch his foot with my own. I nudged his boot, but I was still too far away to affect him. I moved as close as I could; the act made my head pound and my wrists ache. I kicked his boot harder and there was finally a change in him. He grumbled and shuffled around.

  “Tex,” I said. “Are you okay?” And then it hit. “Oh, shit! The map! Do you have it?”

  “Huh?” He mumbled. I heard him move again. He was disoriented.

  “The map!” I hurriedly whispered, hoping that no one could overhear.

  “It was in my backpack, but they have it.”

  “Crap!” I struggled against my binds and it sounded like Tex was doing the same. “We have to find it and get out of here.”

  “Agreed.”

  It was as if we’d both forgotten what had gone down at the cave. We were living in a world where my dad hadn’t done the unthinkable and Tex hadn’t been about to walk out on me. We had one solitary objective right now: retrieve the map and find a way out, and when we did, we’d have to pray it wasn’t daylight.

  I, of course, forgave him the instant he walked out that cave. He was hurt and it was understandable. I was regrettably growing too attached to him and it would destroy me if he left. It was bound to happen though, with him being the first person I had come upon since my parents died. I suddenly had the urgent need to touch him, to confirm that he was there and real, that I wasn’t imagining him.

  “Tex…” I whispered, but I didn’t know what I was going to say. I didn’t have a chance to figure it out; all of the sudden, light filled the room.

  I looked across and Tex was there; I hadn’t been imagining it. He appeared to be bruised, broken, and slightly off kilter. There was a dry trail o
f blood that looked painted across the side of his face—temple to chin. He was far worse off than me. The innate desire to heal him had returned.

  “Your dad…” Tex managed to cough out.

  “What— ”

  “You’re awake, darling. I thought I heard voices.” I had temporarily forgotten that we weren’t alone.

  It was that creepy man again. The way he looked at me got under my skin and made me feel crass. He didn’t spare a glance at Tex; he was intent on me. I shuddered and had the sudden urge to vomit all over his feet; I wish I had.

  “You first.” He smiled down at me and gestured to someone outside the door; two familiar men came in. “Untie her and follow me,” he instructed as he turned away.

  “You don’t fucking touch her!” Tex bellowed. It had a deadly edge and I felt intimidated for these men.

  They laughed at him, especially the creepy one. He snickered and walked out. One of the men untied me and I took advantage of the situation and pulled away from him. I almost got away, but the other man, who was tall and dark-skinned, grabbed me by my neck and threw me against the concrete wall. It hurt and I narrowly missed smashing my head. I wobbled on my feet, but somehow managed to stay standing. I felt for my knife; it was missing.

  “You bastards!” Tex growled. It was a sound that came from deep down—guttural—almost primal.

  Each man grabbed one of my forearms and led me towards the door. I spared one more look towards Tex. His head hung low and he looked ashamed of himself. I wouldn’t allow that.

  “I’ll be fine, Tex.” He looked up at me and I put on my best smile. “Don’t you dare blame yourself for any of this.”