The Protector

by Stormi Lewis

  “You hate it don’t you?” Tina whispered, crushed by her husband’s lack of excitement.

  James elbowed his friend quickly in the ribs forcing Ben to stutter out, “It’s just a bit of a shock since you’ve been blonde since we met in the first grade.”

  James gave her a reassuring smile, but Tina never took her eyes off of Ben, begging for his approval.

  “We had to change it,” she stammered grimly. “It’s just hair. It will grow back. I thought you would like it,” Tina said staring at the floor both disappointed and hurt. “I thought it looked really cool,” she added sulking.

  “Cool is not the word I would use,” Ben said with no emotion in his voice. No one moved or spoke for what seemed like forever.

  Then, out of nowhere, Ben strutted over to his wife, and threw her over his shoulder as she giggled like a school girl.

  “We’ll be right back,” he announced, as he carried her to their bedroom and shut the door.

  James chuckled and shook his head at his friends. It was good to see them in good spirits. They had been working so hard, and everyone needed a break.

  “Well, that went over well,” James hollered in the direction of the bathroom. “I think it’s safe to come out,” he shouted to Sophie. “They’re going to be a bit.”

  “You may change your mind,” he heard Sophie shout in dismay.

  Oh crap, that meant she had done something to change her appearance too. Well, he wasn’t going to hesitate as much as Ben, he told himself. However, the fiery red head that emerged from the bathroom had him unable to move.

  Sophie’s hair had grown some since they had first met, and now was just about an inch above her shoulders. The color was a bright, dark red wine that forced James’ jaw to nearly hit the ground.

  “It’s way brighter than we expected,” Sophie said wrinkling her nose up in uncertainty.

  “Well, it’s definitely going to be hard to blend in,” James whispered as he tried to slow down his pulse and force the blood to come back to his brain. “You always stick out,” he added hurriedly after seeing the concern on face.

  Sophie retreated back into the bathroom to see what she could do about her hair, when she heard James shout, “Oh no you don’t!” He ran in after her. “Please don’t change it again,” James begged. “I,” he stumbled, “I really like it.”

  “It’s too bright,” Sophie said in confusion. “There’s no way I will blend in! I need to try and fix it,” she said grabbing at the remaining boxes and checking the color options left.

  “Babe,” James whispered softly into her ear, as he gently wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. “It’s absolutely stunning,” he said kissing her on the cheek.

  “This is why I have to stay dark. The red just makes me stick out too much. I told Tina going natural wasn’t going to be the best idea, but she insisted,” Sophie said frowning while she looked at her other options.

  “That’s your natural color?” James asked surprised.

  Sophie looked at him and raised her eyebrows. “Not every red head looks like Orphan Annie,” she said shaking her head and trying to come up with a solution.

  James laughed against her neck as he nibbled on it. “What better way to hide then the original version?” he offered, praying desperately that she would decide to keep this color. Sophie had always stirred up desire in him. He was learning he just might have a thing for red heads.

  Sophie’s knees were growing weak with his touch, and her core was warming with desire. “Got a thing for red heads, huh?” she laughed, trying to get her focus back on the task at hand.

  “Nope,” he murmured against her neck. “Just this one.”

  “You always know how to save an argument don’t you?” Sophie giggled as she closed her eyes and moaned with pleasure at his touch. “What about Tina and Ben?” she asked letting her hands roam.

  “Ben’s admiring your handy work,” James smirked, quickly spinning her around so she was sitting on the bathroom counter. “I think they’re going to be awhile,” he added with his usual boyish smile.

  “Well, then you should probably lock the adjoining door,” Sophie whispered with her Cheshire grin.

  “Yes, Ma’am,” James saluted and ran off to lock the door.

  “Can you believe that’s her natural color?” Tina asked in excitement as she took another bite of pasta.

  “No,” Ben answered, unable to take his eyes off his wife.

  “Ben!” Tina giggled. “If I would have known, I wouldn’t have waited until we were on the run to change my hair,” she laughed and shook her head.

  They ate, watched a movie, and the boys offered the girls massages after attempting to paint their nails for them. Spa night had definitely turned out to be a bigger success than Sophie expected. There was plenty of time to work on the puzzle. Well, not really. However, they would have much greater success by taking a break.

  A light flickered in the bathroom, and it caught Sophie’s eye. Her instincts went into overdrive, but Sophie shook her head assuming she was just seeing things.

  The bathroom hadn’t been updated to current code and matched the décor in the bedroom. She went back to watching the movie assuming it was old wiring. After she did the light continued to flicker at a more rapid rate. Sophie focused on the bathroom door that remained cracked open.

  “What is it?” James whispered to Sophie, as he felt her body tense up hard against his.

  “I don’t know,” Sophie said absentmindedly before getting up slowly and heading to the bathroom.

  Tina and Ben also turned to watch her as she cautiously walked towards the flickering light. James grabbed the gun on the night stand next to the bed. Something wasn’t right. They could all feel the temperature drop a couple of degrees.

  James came up behind Sophie and signaled her to wait while he went in first. Sophie shook her head no. She pushed open the door and remained on the other side of the doorway. She looked around the obviously empty room. The light went out completely. Sophie’s eyes adjusted quickly. She stared at the familiar face that looked back at her. Only, it wasn’t her own.

  “Run!” her mother screamed at her, before she was pulled back by a large skeletal hand. Sophie couldn’t believe what she had just seen but knew better then to ignore it.

  “Grab your stuff! We need to move now!” Sophie shouted, slowly backing away from the bathroom.

  “What’s going on?” Ben asked confused and alarmed.

  James couldn’t believe what he had just seen either. He also knew if Sophie said it was time to go, questions would have to wait until later.

  “Now!” Sophie yelled, before going to grab her own stuff.

  They had learned the lesson to never fully unpack, so it was easy to quickly grab what had been left out and shove it back into their bags. Sophie had already carefully disposed of the hair dye earlier so there would be no trace of their changed looks.

  As rehearsed, everyone met in the one room within three minutes, and they quickly used their assigned escape routes and headed for the next meeting spot. No one hesitated. No one dared to look back.

  Something more dangerous than usual had to have found them for her mother to appear before Sophie like that. She was chilled to the bone.

  She continued to push on with the look of horror on her mother’s face ingrained into her mind followed by the large skeletal hand that gipped her mother tightly and dragged her into darkness.

  The sound of his cane echoed on the sidewalk as it pounded against it. He rarely left his home; however, this was a trip worth making. He stopped to stare up at the secluded bed and breakfast in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania. Its siding needed to be replaced, and it was a sickening yellow. Probably to entice people to choose it for their getaway.

  The flowers were dying and the trees were starting to lose their leaves. Summer was long gone, and a crisp fall breeze replaced the summer heat. Plenty of greenery surrounded the isolated building. There was nothing ow
ners could do to make this cold rainy weather look enticing. The carved pumpkins on the peeling antique white porch reminded him that his favorite holiday was around the corner.

  “Hello, old friend,” growled a familiar voice from the bench off to the side of the yard, under a tree that was clearly dying.

  “Bates,” the man with the cane replied, lacking any emotion before sitting down next to the man waiting for him.

  “I found him like you asked,” Bates answered nonchalantly.

  “That’s good news for you,” the old man replied, staring off into the abandoned street ahead of him.

  “What do you need an oneironaut for?” Bates asked curiously.

  “Testing a theory,” replied the old man dryly.

  “Anything I should be concerned about?” Bates chuckled.

  The old man remained silent. He was quietly debating if he still had use for Bates, or if maybe he should be the first test subject. He settled for simply replying, “Don’t ask me questions.” He hated questions, yet everyone seemed to have them.

  Bates knew better than to keep pushing. He merely pulled the piece of paper out of his jacket pocket, handed it over, and got up to walk away. He had managed to stay alive this long. He wanted to keep it that way.

  The old man watched Bates sleek back into the shadows. Two could play this little game he thought to himself. Jess and Jack wouldn’t suspect he would have figured out what they had been doing. Jess never gave him enough credit. She would learn the hard way, even in death, that he always got what he wanted. And he wanted Sophie. Now.

  Chapter 2

  T he next meeting spot was Buffalo, NY. There was something at the FBI location that Tina needed to get. Buffalo was a hard place to go back to, though. Sophie contemplated if putting flowers on Bill’s grave was going to be too risky. Despite all of her efforts, the vision of her mother being dragged away by a large skeletal hand continued to haunt her as she looked out the bus window at the passing dreary scenery.

  Everyone was traveling different ways to get there for precaution. However, being alone was the last thing Sophie wanted right now. She knew she couldn’t be selfish and put them all at risk. It didn’t make the ache for her friends any less severe. Sophie gave a deep sigh, crossed her arms across her chest, and decided to try and rest while she could.

  The wooden door appeared in the middle of the darkness, and Sophie eagerly grabbed the handle and flung open the door.

  “Mom!” she yelled into the light. There was no answer. “Mom?” Sophie asked full of concern.

  “She’s not here right now, Peanut,” her father answered walking towards her.

  “Is she okay?” Sophie asked in full blown panic.

  “She’ll be fine,” he answered, but the uncertainty came through his voice.

  “What happened?” Sophie asked him urgently.

  “There’s rules in death, Sophie,” her father answered gloomily staring at the floor. “Your mother broke one reaching out to you like she did, but it was an emergency. Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.”

  “Don’t worry?!” Sophie exclaimed. “How can I not worry about it?”

  Jack looked sternly at his daughter for the first time in Sophie’s life that she could remember. “This is not your world. I will take care of your mother,” he responded firmly.

  Sophie knew better than to argue. “Well, at least tell me why she had to break the rules,” she requested more softly.

  “He was coming. She didn’t have a choice,” Jack said deep in thought.

  “The man with the cane?” Sophie asked confused. “I was so careful.”

  Jack put his hand on his daughter’s shoulder. Sophie immediately felt his warmth. “It had nothing to do with you,” he assured.

  “What do we do now?” Sophie asked, pleading for guidance. She hadn’t heard from them since they left Maine. Maybe she was off course.

  As if sensing her hesitation, Jack answered,” You’re on course. Just keep going.”

  “I haven’t seen you in so long. I thought you were mad at me or something,” Sophie said avoiding Jack’s line of sight.

  Jack lifted her head up to look into his eyes with his free hand. “You were doing just fine without us,” he chuckled. “You didn’t need us.”

  “I always need you!” Sophie cried out.

  “And you will always have us. However, right now I have to help your mother,” Jack said backing away. “Stay on course. Keep your friends safe. And Peanut…” he said smiling. “We’re so very proud of you.”

  Before Sophie could respond, she was pulled back through the door and it slammed in her face. She opened her eyes to rain pounding against the window. Everything swirled around in her head making it impossible to relax.

  “Sleep, Peanut,” she heard her father call before she felt his finger lightly brush her forehead and she fell into a deep empty sleep.

  James sat on a bus from a different carrier and stared out the gloomy window while he watched the rain make intricate patterns as it streaked down the pane. That was bizarre, he thought to himself as he replayed the image of Sophie’s mother being dragged back by a large skeletal hand.

  James had recognized Jess’ face from the picture behind Mario’s bar. This was not the first time he had seen Jess. Jack and Jess had come to James in a dream. Or at least he thought they had. It was a surreal moment indeed. He hated the thought of Sophie being alone right now, most likely replaying the same image James was, trying to figure out the meaning of it all.

  He always felt like a huge part of him was missing when they weren’t together. James hated the emptiness. He thought his world had shattered after Hellen had left him at the altar, but nothing compared to the loss that being apart from Sophie gave him. James had thought he would never find love again, only to realize that he hadn’t found it in the first place until he met Sophie. He kicked himself for not recognizing it right off the bat.

  Life hadn’t exactly gone as planned for James. He was recruited right out of college to join the CIA. He assumed it had a lot to do with his remarkable test scores and ability to hold his own. James was much smarter than most gave him credit for. Although his dad most likely wanted James to follow in his own footsteps and also become a doctor, it just wasn’t what James wanted. Not that he really knew what he wanted. Serving his country just seemed to be a better fit. His dad never gave him grief, though.

  However, James wasn’t willing to play the political games that came with the job. If someone needed help or to be saved, James couldn’t figure out why any red tape was needed. Or the constant lying it took to accomplish the simplest of tasks. So, he walked away.

  There was a lot of talk about how he couldn’t “cut it” or “do what needed to be done,” but that wasn’t the case at all. He understood lying was necessary in some situations. However, lying just for personal gain was completely different. And there was a lot of lying for personal gain in the CIA.

  Tina had tried to get him to switch to the FBI, however, James needed a break from the government gig. It wasn’t that he didn’t have offers. They were piling up in his old apartment, and he had to disconnect his phone so it would stop ringing long enough for him to get sleep at night.

  Then James met Hellen. She was of money, too, but Hellen didn’t have a problem spending it regularly. Her dad was a CEO of a huge oil company. Her mother was a stay-at-home charity housewife. In the beginning, Hellen had been sweet and wanted to save the world like James did. Protect the weak and stop the bullies of the world. Or so he thought.

  Hellen volunteered at the animal shelter, protested for animal and human rights while saving the planet in her free time. She was full of confidence and always said she loved James for his “simpleness.”

  After a year of dating seriously, James proposed. That was what you were supposed to do when you found someone that loved you for being yourself. Hellen had jumped at his proposal for marriage and began planning immediately.

  Despite the
bride’s father traditionally paying for the wedding, James began to notice that his family was covering the bill more often than not. Suddenly, Hellen had expensive taste for everything that was “required for a wedding” as she put it. James wanted something small and intimate. Hellen wanted the Cinderella ball.

  She spent a lot more time away from him stating that she was planning, but “planning” turned out to mean that she was having sex with Curtis from her father’s corporation.

  Hellen tried to get James to commit to her father’s business. When he didn’t the arguing only increased. James saw all of the signs. He just wasn’t willing to admit it.

  Then the big day came, and the seats were filled to capacity. Over 6,000 people, most of them James didn’t even know, shifted in their seats uncomfortably as they continued to wait for Hellen to walk down the aisle with her father.

  However, Hellen would never come. She had left a note in her dressing room stating she had found true love with Curtis, and he was going to be able to provide her with the life she deserved. Whatever the hell that meant.

  James thought he was going to have to lock Tina up once she found out. James’ parents and friends took care of the guests while he remained on his spot at the front of the runner in his tux and his hands crossed in front of him. Everyone tried to get him to move, but he just couldn’t.

  He continued to look out at the lake behind him in shock that life had gotten so far off course. Once he heard the clock from inside the reception hall chime midnight, James finally turned around, walked right out the door, and got in his car and drove.

  He found himself outside the graveyard where his grandparents laid. “I’m sorry,” James whispered to them both. “I tried.” He curled up between the gravestones and fell asleep.