Misery Saves the Night

by Brittany Allen

  “Ugh!” She screamed as Recarie turned the baby to face heads down. “Oh my, ugh!”

  “I said relax damn it!” Recarie could feel the child move with her hands and everything seemed to be going well. She knew the woman was in pain and should be in a hospital giving birth to her child. On the bright side, Recarie also knew she was not in hell, but then just where was she? “Almost there…” Inside the woman’s stomach Recarie knew the baby had been turned and that it was getting time for her to push. “Okay, for real now just relax. Think about, um, like the smell of fresh cut grass or the way a sunset looks as you watch it from a hill.”

  “Humph, humph, humph.” She inhaled and exhaled a couple of times and was able to clear her mind. “Thank you. Do you have a name?”

  “It’s Recarie and you’re welcome.” The sweat poured down her face and her tattered tank top had splotches of sweat all over it. “How’d you get here anyways? Shouldn’t you be in a hospital?”

  “Funny story really. Well I was… Oh gawd dear lord help now.” She grabbed Recarie’s arm, as it was the closest thing to her. “I’d hate to ask this of you after you have already done so much for me, but ugh!”

  “No, no, no!” Recarie flinched as the woman’s nails dug deep into her skin.

  “Just get down there and use the towel there to catch my baby!” Recarie did as the woman asked. How could she refuse a distressed woman in labor?

  “So.” She wanted the woman to relax. “Tell me about that story.”

  “Alright, well this is not my first. I have been through this a couple times before.” Since Recarie was not near her, the woman had to settle for a nearby weathered tree limb to grab while passing her next contraction. “My husband and I are out here on business and when the storm clouds, who, who! When the storm clouds came, I stopped off in this cave to wait for him to get the car. Some four miles back along the coast…”

  “Here it comes! Push during this contraction and that should do it.” At the other end of the woman she was able to see the baby’s head. “Just a little bit more!” The woman grabbed the back of her legs and pushed with everything she had. “Almost there!” First the head then the tiny arms followed. Recarie guided the rest of the newborns body out. The child was a pale blue, but it’s whining and strong movement assured them, the bouncing baby girl was perfectly fine.

  “Got something to…?” Before Recarie could finish her sentence the woman cut the umbilical cord with a safe shot of her power. Recarie wiped the girl off and the handed her to the exhausted woman who was crying for some reason. She peered at the loud baby closely for the first time and saw she had a head full of mauve hair. “Mom?!” Her voice startled the woman.

  “Excuse me?” The woman held her daughter and looked at the stranger. “Wait…” She saw the two girls had the same hair color.

  Recarie backed up. “Shit! I am in another memory! How do I keep finding myself in looping situations?” She rubbed her forehead.

  “Honey!” A man shouted from the entrance of the cave. “Rheanne.” He rushed right past the ragged girl who was heading in the direction he had come from.

  “Whah!” The newborn cried and it made Cirri blush as he knelt down to check on his wife.

  “Meet your daughter.” Rheanne cooed at the baby.

  “And her name?” He let Rheanne sterilize his hands before stroking the girl’s cheek.

  “I want it to be unique, like us. Like she is. Ha, ha, ha. And like her birth.” She kissed the musky smelling man. “A combination of our names.”

  “Ciranne?” Cirri gave it a shot.

  “No, I was hoping we would call her Recarie.” The baby giggled at the suggestion.

  “Then Recarie it is.” Baby Recarie giggled again. “She likes it. Oh, and who was that young woman that passed me? Did she help you?”

  “Like you have no idea.” Not wanting to, but needing some rest, Rheanne handed her husband the daughter. “I need rest, if you would.”

  “This is a fifty-fifty relationship, remember?” He smiled and held his daughter for the first time.

  “If that were true, you would have held her for four and a half months.” She chuckled while leaning against her husband. “Goodnight.”

  Recarie raced off the side of the cliff. Things were getting too confusing for her. She dived into the water, but when she opened her eyes above the water, it was day time. It was the same secluded area she was in just moments before, but something seemed different.

  “What is that smell? Like burning wood…” Recarie scanned her surroundings and off some ten miles she could see smoke.

  Before she knew what was happening, Recarie was off flying down the beach. For some reason her nose tingled and she was getting teary eyed. Maybe it had something to do with the cries for help she was hearing. It was a man screaming somewhere inside the burning home.

  Recarie watched four men dressed in white polyester uniforms get into a black van and drive away. As much as she wanted to go after the people she was sure had caused the fire, there might still have been someone in the house.

  The fire had spread to the dried, dead grass in the front yard, but Recarie used her powers to create a protective blue orb. She was able to cross through the flames and put them out as she walked. What she found inside the house was not good. There in the kitchen was the man she was pretty sure was the one screaming for help. His body was charred and Recarie knew he was already dead. Her next stop was the top floor.

  Up the remnants of the stairs, Recarie came to the master bedroom. Inside she watched what was left of what she believed to be the man’s wife burn into ashes. Upon seeing this, Recarie puked up anything she might have had in her stomach.

  “Whah!” A little boy cried.

  “Someone’s alive.” Recarie was moving faster and more of the fire was going out. She could feel the child’s energy, but the flames made it difficult for her to exactly pinpoint him.

  There was no time for her to stop and concentrate, but with some luck she found the boy in the parent’s closet. He was tucked away behind secret panel at the back of the closet. Coughing out the smoke, Recarie pulled him close and blasted a hole in the other side of the house allowing them to get out. The boy, no more the three, was cradled in her arms and just before he passed out from that day’s excitement, Recarie was able to look into his stunningly blue eyes.

  “No…” Recarie stood on the edge of the beach. Her hot feet were able to relax in the cold water.

  “Hey!” A familiar woman’s voice screamed from a little ways down the beach.

  “Hm…?” Still cradling the boy Recarie turned around to see the woman she had just helped deliver her baby, but she seemed different somehow. Her hair had streaks of gray in it and she had lost all of the baby weight.

  “Damn!” Rheanne panted. “We’re too late!” She fell on the ground to try and catch her breath. “Hey!”

  Recarie wanted to run rather than facing the awkward situation. She knew her mother would have put two and two together and figured out that she was an older Recarie. “Yeah…?” Her one word sentence stretched.

  “Is that the boy from the house over there?” Rheanne admired the pose Recarie held. She looked very protective of the young boy. “Were there any other survivors?”

  “No, just this little one.” The boy still slept in her arms.

  “My husband and I were here celebrating the first birthday of our youngest daughter and we saw the flames from up the coast.” She eyed Recarie up and down. “I never had a chance to thank you for your help last year. Taking off as suddenly as you did.”

  “He, he.” The situation was indeed awkward. “You remembered that, huh? Ha, ha, ha.” Recarie laughed nervously. “The NSSH was the one to deprive this boy of his family and home…” She rocked him gently in her dirty arms.

  “Them again! Ha, you don’t need to tell me. That night a year ago, we were on a mission. Thankfully Cirri made it to the meeting point.” She looked back to see Cirri approaching
.

  “Eek!” Recarie could not take seeing her father as well in her current state. “Well.” She said in a hurry. “You don’t need worry too much about them. The NSSH will surly get what they deserve. And as for thanking me, I could really use a favor.”

  “Anything to such a wonderful young woman as yourself.” She meant every word.

  “Could you take this boy and watch over him. Not adopting or anything, but more like supporting him from afar and when he’s older you could be his mentor.” That was sure not asking for a lot.

  “Most assuredly.” She took little Ian from Recarie who turned to leave. “If I may say one last thing.” Rheanne put a hand on her daughters shoulder. “This journey you are on will be a healing one. You may not know where it will lead, but in the end you’ll be in the one place you’re meant to be.”

  Teary eyed, Recarie kept her back to Rheanne. “Thank you.” She put a hand on her mother’s hand that was on her shoulder. “Oh, one more thing. You have son named Trey. He would make a great guardian for young Ian here.”

  “Sure.” Her hand slipped away. “Our clan does not age like everyone else, but time does take its toll. Like these strands of gray.” She flicked her hair.

  “You’ll always look beautiful.” Recarie started to take off in a run. “Thank you!” Eyes closed, fist clenched, and head down, Recarie was unsure where her next time jump would take her.

  It was not long before her feet stopped touching sand and started stepping on crisp blades of grass. The sky was dark and once again Recarie found herself in the middle of a wooded area.

  “Shit!” A woman grunted running right past Recarie. Tree roots came out of the ground and wrapped around the stick of a woman. “And they have a nature ability… Damn!”

  In no time at all Recarie went to fighting off the attacks of the NSSH squad that shortly followed the suspended woman. Her silver wings left lines of same colored dust as she knocked each goon out one by one. The woman hanging by the tree roots admired the look of rage on her saviors face. It was like she hated the NSSH as much as she did.

  Once Recarie had the last man lying on the ground unconscious, she went over to the girl tangled in tree roots. She had sparkling silver eyes against the night sky that looked like they belonged with the stars. Her short lemon blond hair was stained with dried blood. This girl must have been in one hell of a battle from what Recarie could tell. Without any words, Recarie cut the girl down from her bindings.

  Before falling to the ground, the girl was able to straighten herself and land knees first on the ground. “Thank you.”

  “No problem.” Recarie reached out a hand and helped the girl up. “I was, uh, just passing through.”

  “I am grateful for you saving my life and all, but what is an ability enabled human doing out here?” Acting on suspicions, the girl went straight to the grilling. “Are you from Neara or Farous?”

  “I am with the society. On kind of journey at the moment.” All of it was true, sort of anyways.

  “You know.” The girl dusted herself off. “I believe you. Not many people have eyes or that sort of weird hair color outside of the families. My little sister, for example, has the same hair color. Well it sort of a chestnut right now because of an illness, but when she gets over it, it’ll be shining mauve.”

  Instead of blurting out the girls name, Recarie decided to leave. It looked like Justine could make it out of the woods safely at that point. “Please be careful out there.”

  “Wait!” Justine stopped Recarie. “You saved my life. In my family we always repay debts, especially ones of this magnitude. Just tell me anything to do for you.”

  There was only one thing Recarie needed. “I have something I need guarded, but it is too much of a hassle to ask of a stranger.”

  “No! Anything. Name it.” Justine meant every word.

  “There’s this guy. He is probably in his mid to late twenties.” Recarie turned to face her sister. “I need someone to give him extra protection. I only ask that you stay by his side and make him happy until I come back again.”

  “Sure. Who is this man that you care for so much?” She flicked her bangs out of her eyes.

  “His name is Ian and I am sure your mother has someone watching him already.” Tears fell from her eyes and sparkled as they burst on the grass below her.

  “Oh, okay.” Justine stood there as the girl disappeared in a without a warning.

  Opening her eyes, Recarie found herself surrounded by an infinite darkness. “Hello?” Her voice echoed in the abyss. “Hello?” She asked again. It was not hot there, but not cold either. No noise other than Recarie’s breathing rattled the space. “Not much to do here…”

  Trying to keep her sanity, Recarie continued to float around the emptiness. No sounds or sights to entertain her, she dug into her thoughts.

  “Sure do miss everyone. Wondering how they are all doing. They should be just fine. If I have learned anything, they’ve been just fine without me. I mean, what do I have to offer the world anyways?” She twirled sideways. “With the NSSH out of the way, everyone should be able to live their lives now. Where would I fit into any of it? Any reasons I can think of are purely selfish.” Recarie dipped her finger in the dark and touched some black liquid that she swirled with her index finger. “I have played out my part in that story and am only excess now. No one needs me and I can’t see what more I need in life. Hm.”

  She stopped playing with the liquid. Standing up straight, Recarie walked all over the confine. “Forwards, backwards, and side to side. Nothing, nothing, everywhere and yet there’s no limit to it!” Any more of the ‘nothing’ and Recarie was afraid she’d go insane. “I have begun to miss how the humidity of the morning felt after having stayed up all night. Oh, and the way the morning clouds change colors depending on the season.” The liquid around her began to ripple. “Then there’s that big oaf of a brother, Trey. Justine was the best older sister and even through that whole amnesia thing, she stayed true to her promise. Dad, ha! That’s where Trey gets his craziness, or maybe it’s from mom. Hm… Auntie was always there to help me with anything that might be troubling me. She could whip up the best cherry pies anytime of the year. Ha, ha, ha. What a cast of characters.” She ended the memory trip with a heart heavy sigh.

  A swirl of white appeared in the mix of black. It did not blend into gray, but began to spur more white swirls.

  “Damn.” She gasped for breath. “And my first love… I will miss him. Even if we would not have lasted, we would have would have at least given it a try. There would not have been all these ‘how it could have turned out’s’ or what might have been.” Recarie floated to the ground. All the while she failed to notice the swirls of blue and green that joined the white as it twirled around her. “You’ll always be in my heart no matter how much I say I have moved on. And, humph!” She wiped her eyes. “And I’ll always be with you no matter what worlds we may be in. My only regret is not being brave enough to say it sooner even if you rejected me. You were the one I would have never been able to forget. I catch myself thinking about you at all hours of the day! I love you Ian more than life itself! I will find my way back to you!”

  At those words the once dark realm pulsed with energy, shook, and contracted. Recarie searched for something to hold on to, but she should have known better. Colors blotted out the black and gravity pushed Recarie to the ground. She was pinned there and unable to move. All around her the walls seemed to be getting closer and they actually were.

  “Ugh!” There was no fighting the force. She stayed there with the pressure building on top of her. All the liquid in her body felt like gel beneath her skin. “Humph! Recarie took a deep breath readying herself for when her skin exploded.

  POOF! Something popped. Recarie opened her eyes to find her body intact.

  “Damn!” She also saw that she was falling through the air.

  Her hair, loose and in her eyes, prevented Recarie from seeing the stars in the dark night sky as th
ey shinned like diamonds. Falling fast, she tried to slow herself down, but her powers seemed to have weakened. This was all very bad for the little girl as the ground was fast approaching. The only thing she could do now was brace her body for whatever impact that was coming.

  It was not long before she felt the first brush of a tree against her skin. Recarie tipped and tumbled through the thick tree limbs and heard something crack. Her body was too numb from the cold fall that nothing hurt her. Sharp twigs scratched and tore her skin. If there was a bright side to this, it was that at least she was slowing down.

  “Omph!” Finally Recarie stopped. She was upside down and her legs had latched onto a tree limb. “Hm?” Once her heart rate turned back to normal, Recarie noticed that the bottom of the tree seemed to be on fire.

  Recarie lowered herself out of the tree to discover that it was actually candles at the base of the tree, but that was not all that was there. Bouquets of flowers and balloons lined the base of the tree. Stepping back, Recarie knew where she was. She knew she was back to where her real life had begun.

  Clinque! The bell chimed and Recarie kicked up her heels. She knew where she had to be. Recarie could tell that by the snow on the ground, it was not long after she had ‘left.’ Anyone would have been smart to stay out of her way. Her large and giddy smile was enough to make crowds part. If Recarie’s smile did not work, her outfit would have. Large rips in her purple plaid tank top and white skirt along with her dirty body made her look like she had just crawled out of a grave.

  “Alright.” Even while running, Recarie was able to take in the sights.

  Land where Zone’s used to be was now cleared and waiting for neighborhood playgrounds and community centers to be put up. The NSSH headquarters was now a vacant lot. Decisions about what to do with the haunted land had yet to be made. Everything made Recarie’s heart leap with almost as much joy as the thought of where she was heading.

  “Woot!” Unable to control her excitement, Recarie startled several passerbyers.

  All she needed to do was take a left turn, two rights, take exit nine, another left, down a lengthy dirt road, and Recarie had finally made it to the lake her family’s lair was hidden at. Up a steep hill and through the pine trees and she was there. Before going behind the waterfall to her home, Recarie washed in the healing emerald waters. After running that marathon, Recarie needed that break. She wrapped her hair into a ponytail and put on the clothes she had ‘borrowed’ from a clothes line on the way there. As much as she wanted to see her family, Recarie needed to look presentable and now she did.