STORM: IT'S A CURSE TO REMEMBER

  He gave her a pained smile. “When you love someone so much, you stop thinking about yourself. You can’t blame yourself for something someone else was willing to do. All he wanted to do was to protect you. You protect those you love. He risked his life for you and he wouldn’t have done that if you didn’t mean the world to him.” He walked forward. “C’mon, let me show you to his room.”

  Bruce led the way, with Shadow walking not too far behind him. As they approached Evan’s room, Bruce opened the door for Shadow. She smiled and thanked him. He watched through the window as Shadow cautiously walked over to Evan’s bedside, placing her purse on the floor and unbuttoning her coat. Bruce noticed that Shadow’s focus remained on Evan the entire time. Once she got closer, she kissed him on the cheek, making sure not to press too hard. She pulled the chair closer to his bedside and held his hand gently.

  Evan’s eyes fluttered open from Shadow’s soft touch. “Hey,” he said, his voice hoarse.

  She kissed his hand and met his gaze. “How are you feeling?”

  “I’ve seen better days,” he replied with a chuckle. His face cringed with pain.

  Shadow’s faint smile appeared and disappeared with a blink of an eye. “In my past life, you were the love of my life.”

  “Shadow,” Evan slowly managed to say.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “We don’t have to do this right now.”

  “I know, but I need to get it off my chest.”

  “Fine. But if I don’t remember any of this when I wake up, you’re gonna have to repeat yourself.” He saw a faint smile appear across her face.

  It took her a moment before she responded. “Everything’s foggy to me but what I remember is that I lied. I cheated. I broke your heart. I stole from you. I did a lot of things that someone who wasn’t in their right mind would do. You were always there for me…I never understood why you stuck around.”

  Evan cleared his voice. “I wondered the same thing about you.”

  “What if we hurt each other again this time around? I can’t—”

  “Shadow, listen to me,” he said, locking eyes with Shadow. He began to feel drowsy again. “We have another chance to be together. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not going to leave you. All I want to do is love you and be your support system. Does that sound good to you?”

  His eyes fluttered. Evan tried his best to stay awake but he drifted in and out of consciousness.

  “Yes. I love you too, Evan,” she said and softly kissed his hand.

  “Huh…?”

  Shadow smiled and watched as Evan fell deep into sleep.

  Bruce fidgeted in his chair outside of Evan’s room. He thought about Shadow and felt sympathetic for what she’d been through. After bombarding her with questions, Bruce realized Shadow had no idea what her father did for a living or the fact that it seemed Marvin was intentionally put into her life—but for what reason? That’s what stumped Bruce. What reason did Roy have to recruit an agent to seduce his own daughter and stand by as she feared for her life? For the life of him, he couldn’t figure it out but knew that whatever Roy was hiding was bound to come to light.

  Bruce got up from his seat and walked toward the door. He peered through the window before he quietly entered the room. Bruce could see her puffy pink eyes and nose as she looked at him.

  They maintained eye contact as Bruce made his way over.

  “I’m so scared of losing him,” she whispered as a tear streamed down her cheek.

  “You’re not going to lose him.” He said walking closer.

  “How are you so sure? As long as he’s out there—”

  “We’re going to put an end to all of this.”

  Shadow leaned back in her seat, feeling the world around her quietly and suddenly changing. “I want to help.”

  Bruce shook his head. “I can’t let you do that. Evan won’t let you do that. You two need to live your lives. Let us take care of this.”

  She let Bruce’s words digest in her mind. She looked back at Evan who was sound asleep. A sense of relief overcame her. She was finally going to be able to live in peace and have a future.

  ***

  And like every ending, there was always a new beginning. For Evan, Shadow, Denise, Ryan, and Bruce, this was their new beginning.

  Evan’s eyes fluttered open to the light dim in his room. He lay on his back, looking up at the ceiling. It took him a couple of seconds to figure out where he was and then everything began to register. In the corner of his eye, he saw someone in a dark gray pantsuit standing beside his bed. He didn’t feel the presence so it took Evan by surprise. He slowly shifted his head in the direction of the person only to look up to see Adrian peering down at him.

  “It’s not over yet, brother,” he whispered.

  Startled, Evan blinked to see if what he was seeing was correct and just like that, Adrian disappeared into thin air. What wasn’t over? Evan frantically looked around for a clock and when he spotted one on the opposite side of the wall, it was 3:30 in the morning.

  Evan sighed, terrified about what was going to unravel next.

  Epilogue

  It was September 16, 1933. Stephan Hex and Mary ogled the sleeping newborn as if they had never seen something so delicate and innocent.

  “The midwife said the mother had not named the little one.”

  “It is a pity, isn’t it? For the mother to die after childbirth breaks my heart.” He paused for a moment as he observed the baby. “Mary, I cannot imagine the pain her husband must be going through.”

  “It is very unfortunate,” she replied, unable to take her eyes off of the newborn. “Very.” She peered into the cradle with a smile. “I want to name him Dean.”

  Stephan let the name sink in. He met her eyes and slowly a grin crept across his face. “My darling, that is a lovely name.”

  She looked at Dean and then back at Stephan.

  “Stephan…”

  “Yes, my darling.”

  “I want Dean to carry on my family name.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes.”

  Stephan pondered on the thought for a moment. He knew it was not traditional for children to take on the mother’s maiden name, but he loved Mary more than anything and wanted to see her happy. The last few months after their miscarriage had been hard on Mary. The doctors informed them that Mary would be able to bear a child, but the chances were low due to complications after having a miscarriage. Adoption was their next option.

  From a previous marriage Stephan had a son, Ben, who was nine months old now. Bringing another baby into the family only would expand and bring more joy to their family. This was something Mary was yearning for.

  He took her hand and softly laid a peck on it. “Of course my darling.”

  She gazed at the bundle of joy. “Our little Dean Storm,” she whispered with delight.

  ***

  Samantha sat on her bed, as the sun shone through the drapes in her bedroom. The world continued to go round and round. No one out there knew the pain she was feeling. The moment where she held her newborn for the first time replayed in her mind like a broken record. She held on to that moment knowing it would never come again. She’d shed every last tear there was. She forced herself to eat, but after taking a bite, she no longer had the appetite.

  Derek hadn’t asked how she was doing. They hadn’t talked after that night. He would come home after he’d had dinner with the men from the office. He would play golf on the weekends and attend company events without Samantha. “She’s under the weather,” he would tell anyone who questioned her absence.

  Adrian, on the other hand, would stop by during the weekends when he knew Derek wasn’t going to be home. During the weekdays, he tried his best to come and comfort Samantha. Although neither of them said much to each other, it felt better to sulk togeth
er than alone.

  Samantha looked down at her lap. The revolver sat in her hands. For the past thirty minutes, she stared at the gun and came to the realization that she would no longer endure any more pain. Derek would no longer be able to hurt her, control her. She would be set free by the weapon. The answer was right there in her hands.

  This was it.

  She slipped her finger into the trigger and as she did, her heart began to pound louder and louder. She brought her hand up to the side of her head as she looked out the window. It was a beautiful day and she knew if she pressed the trigger, she’d finally be at peace. The torture would end, and somewhere in the unknown, a new beginning was waiting for her.

  She squeezed her eyes shut.

  And then…

  ***

  Evan woke up, gasping for air.

  It had been nine months since Marvin set the kitchen on fire, leaving him to die. That night changed everything and days moving forward; life itself felt overwhelming. He feared for his life each day knowing it wasn’t over yet. He wondered whether he would find Marvin waiting for him in his bedroom after work, with Shadow nowhere to be found. At times, he felt a panic attack about to arise. Months of sleepless and restless nights continued with different nightmares now. But he tried his best to hide his fears from Shadow as much as possible. The one thing he hid from Shadow was what happened in the hospital the night he’d seen her.

  “What did you do this time?” Shadow asked.

  Evan turned to look over at her. She was sitting up, her back resting against the headboard. She was smiling.

  Evan rubbed his eyes and looked at her stomach. As the due date neared, oddly, Shadow’s body craved less sleep. Some nights, she would get three to four hours, and then start the day, feeling completely rested. Granted she’d take a nap in the middle of the day or after work, to wind down. Evan didn’t know how she managed to do it. And Shadow insisted on working until the last two weeks before her delivery, which Evan wasn’t on board with. He had to convince Denise to put Shadow on maternity leave because Denise just so happened to side with Shadow. It didn’t surprise Evan since Denise heavily believed women were capable of doing anything they wanted, pregnant or not. Denise and Shadow supported each other like sisters from birth. Overall, Shadow’s pregnancy had gone smoothly, which both of them were thankful for.

  “Is it the same one? The one of me holding the gun?”

  Evan nodded.

  They sat in silence for a while.

  The memories raised questions that neither of them could get answers for. What was the memory hinting? Evan woke up right before he was able to see what happened next. That irritated him. And it made Shadow question herself. Was this memory hinting she was going to repeat the same cycle? She hadn’t remembered anything from her past life after she’d become pregnant with Bright. Both of them would spend afternoons entertaining the answers to their question but neither of them found the one that made any clear sense. They’d forget about it for a couple of days until Evan woke up from another memory.

  Evan placed his hand over her stomach and rubbed it in a circular motion. “What’s baby Bright doing?”

  She laid her hand on top of his. “He’s sleeping. He’s a good little boy.”

  “I hope he takes after his mom or otherwise we’re gonna be in big trouble.”

  Shadow giggled.

  “You know, I don’t think everyone’s going to be happy that we already named the baby without even asking for their input.”

  When Evan and Shadow found out they were having a boy, it took them a week to finalize a name they both liked: Bright Storm.

  “You’re probably right.” He leaned closer to her stomach and whispered, “Your mommy is sneaky. She’s going to try to feed you mashed cauliflower and tell you that it’s mashed potatoes.”

  She playfully shoved his face away from her stomach. “Oh, stop it.”

  “Let’s be serious for a minute. They tasted nothing like mashed potatoes!”

  She laughed as the image of Evan’s face the night he tried her new dish a week ago came into her mind’s eye. It was priceless.

  “We need to be more health conscious. I don’t want to feed our child processed foods. Have you seen the videos online? It’s disgusting what goes into the food we buy from the grocery store.”

  “And what you eat is so good? Yeah, that’s right, I know what you bring home in those grocery bags, Mrs. Storm,” he teased.

  “I’m a pregnant woman,” she said. She grabbed his pillow from behind him and smacked him across the chest. “What am I supposed to do? Starve?”

  “And you’ve become so violent in the past few months, too,” he giggled, taking the pillow from her hands.

  She leaned closer and gave him the glare that he never took seriously. “And again, I’m pregnant.”

  Evan mustered a laugh, placing the pillow behind his back. He gazed at her. “I love you so much.” He kissed her on the forehead and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her in closer and leaving enough room for Shadow to switch positions whenever she felt the need to.

  She laid her head on his chest, enjoying the peaceful night with her husband. “I love you too.”

  It was nights like these that made Evan feel like the luckiest guy alive. Soon, he was going to become a father. His heart filled with joy knowing they were having a baby together and he would be born into a family that would shower him with love and protection.

  And then he was reminded of what he’d done to Samantha. How he’d given her and Adrian’s baby away. It pierced his heart thinking about how Samantha must have felt that night when he’d instructed the midwife to give the baby to what he thought was a more deserving family. Evan played the devil’s advocate at times to make himself feel less like crap. Maybe giving the baby away was actually a good thing. The baby probably would have had a better life in a different home, he’d tell himself. Still, he couldn’t justify what he’d done. The life he once lived was still unclear to him.

  He ran his fingers through Shadow’s hair. “Are you hungry? Are you craving anything?”

  Shadow didn’t respond. He craned his neck sideways to find her fast asleep.

  About the Author

  Born and raised in California, Gurpreet Kaur Sidhu always felt different from the other kids. With an insatiable appetite for reading and writing, Gurpreet would often find herself at the receiving end of a cold stare from one of her teachers – reprimanding her for working on literary ventures when she should have been paying attention.

  All those secretive moments spent scribbling paid off, however, and now Gurpreet is launching her debut novel “STORM”.

  In addition to being a highly accomplished writer, Gurpreet is a passionate businesswoman, holding a bachelor’s degree in Business Management while running a women’s clothing company with her younger sister.

  Aside from fervently writing and managing a burgeoning business empire, Gurpreet can be found savoring the scents of her most recent kitchen-made delicacy or pumping away stress at the gym.

  Follow Gurpreet on Instagram @gurpreetksidhu316 to get the latest updates from her developments.